Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Pope John Paul II; Iraqi President; Escape Intrigue

Aired April 07, 2005 - 05:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."

The last of the pilgrims are in line to see the body of Pope John Paul II ahead of tomorrow's funeral. Hundreds of thousands of people are still waiting their turn, but police cut off the line about 12 hours ago to give officials time to prepare for the funeral.

Iraq's new president used his first public speech to pay tribute to those who died fighting Saddam Hussein's regime. Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was elected president by Iraq's Assembly on Wednesday.

Amid much fanfare, bus service now links the two disputed regions of Kashmir. It's the first time in 60 years a bus has serviced both the Pakistani-controlled side and the Indian-controlled region. Leaders call it a caravan of peace.

Today is the United Nations' World Health Day. This year's effort is focusing on mothers and children. The World Health Organization says more than half a million mothers a year die needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth.

To the Forecast Center now.

Good morning -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Exactly 24 hours from now, the pope's funeral will be under way. Let's head back to Vatican City now live to our Richard Quest at the CNN position overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Good morning -- Richard.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes, indeed, we are just 24 hours away and the final preparations are being made for the funeral service.

Let me update you of what's happened overnight. The authorities here in Rome basically said enough is enough. There were so many people joining the lines to get into St. Peter's Basilica that they had to stop any new people from coming along.

The reason was very simple, the fear was that those joining the back of the line wouldn't have enough time to get through and they didn't want to have disappointment. So there were some scenes of frustration, some testament, nothing untoward when people who had made the pilgrimage to Rome suddenly found that they were not going to be able to make it through the basilica.

Let me show you what's happening at the moment in St. Peter's Square. As you can see, the final numbers of people who have been waiting, and they've been waiting the best part of, I don't know, 12, 15 hours to snake their way through the streets of Rome across St. Peter's Square to get just 15 seconds in front of the body of late pope.

Security, as you can imagine, is absolutely tight now. President Bush is in Rome. He's having meetings during the course of the day with Italian government officials. Late last night, the president and the first lady, along with former Presidents Bush and Clinton, spent their own quiet time next to the body of Pope John Paul II where they said their own prayers.

What will happen, Carol, over the next few hours. The final pilgrims will go through the basilica. The square will be closed down. And as you can see, all those seats behind me, more seats will be put out. And, Carol, the final preparations will be made.

But a final thought, there will be, they are expecting upwards of four million people to descend in or around Vatican City. Now that is more than the number of people who live in Rome, which shows you the enormous logistical problem the authorities have. So many people, so many pilgrims, so many presidents, it's turning into a nightmare for them.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you, with four million people in the city it must be difficult to provide security. How are they going to do that? How are they going to make sure all those people are behaving?

QUEST: Well I think what they've done is they have recognized that some people need more security than others, President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, President Chirac, for example, and President Arroyo of the Philippines. And what they do is they create like a cocoon bubble around them and move them around the city. They're closing large numbers of roads so that those motorcades can get by. But ultimately, yes, that's why we've got helicopters now flying above. We're expecting some massive security sweeps.

Having said that, Carol, you know they have been planning this for many years. The pope has been a sickly man for many years. So it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that they have got to launch this security operation.

COSTELLO: Richard Quest, thank you, live from Vatican City this morning.

Be sure to tune in to CNN for complete coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our wall-to-wall coverage begins tomorrow morning at 3:00 a.m. Eastern.

Shifting focus now to politics and more troubles for House Republican Leader Tom DeLay. He's defending himself and getting some help from his GOP colleagues after new questions about his record surfaced.

"The Washington Post" reports DeLay's six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 was paid for by business interests. And "The New York Times" says DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by the congressman's political action and campaign committees.

Here's what DeLay told CNN -- and I quote -- "It's just like trips that every member takes. It's paid for by a non-profit organization, it was properly reported... What's going on here is a concerted effort to twist the truth to make it look seedy. And it's just not true."

DeLay also had this to say to us. He says, "My wife and daughter have any right, just like any other American, to be employed and be compensated for their employment... But it's just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me."

But here's what the Democratic House leader had to say about one part of this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: It's not about a trip, it's about a pattern of behavior that the leader has been involved in. That is really more his problem than the specifics of any one trip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Other political fallout to tell you about now. A man working for Republican Senator Mel Martinez of Florida was behind a controversial Terri Schiavo memo. "The Washington Post" is reporting that Martinez' legal council, Brian Darling, penned the memo and has since resigned. You might remember that memo, it was passed around on the Senate floor, called the fight over Schiavo a great political issue for the Republicans and said the pro-life base would be excited by the debate. So that infamous memo was indeed real.

Police capture a fugitive inmate, but their biggest shocker is who they found living with him. We'll tell you why his hostage did not try to escape.

And live to Baghdad with a preview of the new president's first task in office, who will he name as the new prime minister?

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Iraq's National Assembly elects a long-time foe of Saddam Hussein as its new president and actually Saddam watching the proceedings on TV from his jail cell. A top British envoy sees that as fitting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN CLWYD, BRITISH SPECIAL ENVOY TO IRAQ: For 60 years he's fought for a free democratic federal Iraq. And now, I think, you know the dream is coming true. And I think it's absolutely right for somebody who stayed in the country, fought the regime of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Next for Iraq is selecting a prime minister.

Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A president elected in a moment of poetic politics. Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurd who battled Saddam for years, whose people were brutally oppressed by the former regime, now holds the dictator's former title. It comes after weeks of political wrangling and days after the assembly elected its speaker. Finally, visible signs of real progress towards the formation of a transitional government.

Also elected, Sunni Ghazi al-Yawer and Shi'a Adel Abdul Mehdi as deputy presidents. The three men, the presidency council, will, within days, name a prime minister and his cabinet.

JALAL TALABANI, TRANSITIONAL IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): I will acknowledge your trust and the trust of the Iraqi people who have freely elected you in the first free elections in our dear Iraq.

RAMAN: Talabani's rise to president is a monumental achievement for Iraq, but also for the country's Kurds who now hold vested influence.

And from the man likely to become the prime minister, words of action.

IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI, UNITED IRAQI ALLIANCE (through translator): We will work to create progress that is actually felt by the citizen so that he can feel, with the passage of time, both services and prepare this country for the elections in 2006.

RAMAN: There is much to be done. The National Assembly has just over four months to draft a constitution, and the executive branch will soon take over those day-to-day affairs, managing huge unemployment, sustained insurgent violence and a need for basic services by many Iraqis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, Carol, the presidency council will be sworn in later today. At that point, they will unanimously, by all expectations, name Shi'a Ibrahim al-Jaafari as the prime minister-designate. They will then work with him to compile the entire cabinet. And some time next week, we expect that entire slate, including Jaafari, to go to the National Assembly for a simple majority vote -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman, live in Baghdad for us this morning, thank you.

The U.S. military says all victims of a helicopter crash in Afghanistan are American. The chopper went down in rough weather in southeast Afghanistan. The military says 13 of the 16 people killed were American service personnel. The three others were U.S. government contractors. Two other military personnel are unaccounted for.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:42 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Making it just in time, these people were among the last to make it to the back of the line for those waiting to view Pope John Paul's body in St. Peter's Basilica. The wait for just a few seconds in the basilica is hours and hours long. Gosh, they're saying sometimes it's up to 10 or 12 hours now.

Cell phone use on commercial jets is not allowed, but the FCC is considering ending the ban. They might want to think twice, though. A survey by the Association of Flight Attendants shows many Americans oppose cell phones on airplanes.

In money news, April 15 is getting closer, but be careful, the IRS says it will go after tax cheats with a vengeance. The Justice Department is offering its help to prosecute tax crimes. Last year, tax-related prosecutions were up 57 percent.

In culture, if you're looking for good eats, head to the Big Apple. The James Beard Foundation has announced its nominees for the best food in the biz. New York City pros dominate the categories of best chef and best new restaurant.

In sports, former sports star Bo Jackson filed a defamation lawsuit over claims that he used steroids. A Los Angeles area newspaper printed a story claiming that Jackson's career-ending hip injury was caused by steroid use. He's seeking damages and a retraction from the paper.

Wow, all the way to Bo Jackson now -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, don't mess with those steroids. Do not accuse anyone, because they will fight back.

Good morning, everybody. (WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.

The inmate and the warden's wife, sounds like a cheesy love story, but it could be a true tale of kidnapping, or not. That story still ahead on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now for our DAYBREAK "Legal Briefs."

White supremacist Matthew Hale has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for plotting to kill a federal judge. Hale tried to hire an undercover FBI agent to murder Judge Joan Lefkow. Lefkow's husband and mother were killed in their home earlier this year in an unrelated incident. Lefkow had ruled against Hale in a 2002 trademark case.

Hundreds of perspective jurors filled out questionnaires in the first phase of the Eric Rudolph trial. Rudolph could face the death penalty for the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama women's clinic. Twelve jurors and six alternates could be chosen by mid-May. Opening statements are tentatively scheduled for June 9.

The man accused of stalking former tennis star Anna Kournikova will not stand trial, at least not yet. A Florida judge ruled that William Lepeska is mentally unfit for trial. He will be reevaluated after he spends six months in a mental facility.

In Texas, a bizarre prison escape drama has played out after more than 10 years, and now a supposed hostage is back home after making a new life with her admitted abductor. Not kidding.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the strange details from Shelby County, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDOLPH DIAL, CAPTURED KILLER: Progression of events, you know. Houston...

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Randolph Dial's story reads more like outlandish fiction than real life. He was a chicken farming killer on the run, with self-proclaimed mob connections, and a flare for painting and sculpting in his spare time. And after his headline-grabbing arrest, it's clear the man likes to put on a show.

DIAL: Well, boys and girls, it's Howdy Doody time.

LAVANDERA: Randolph Dial first made headlines when he escaped from this Oklahoma prison 10 years ago. He says he forced the deputy warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, into a car to escape.

DIAL: I was armed only with a knife against her carotid artery in her leg.

LAVANDERA: Dial was a prison trustee, which means he had more freedom than most convicts. He convinced prison authorities to let him start an inmate pottery program. That's how he met Bobbi Parker who helped out with the class.

DIAL: I had worked on her for about a year trying to get her mind right. And I convinced her that the friend was the enemy and the enemy was the friend.

LAVANDERA: Nearly 11 years ago, Dial and Mrs. Parker disappeared. Her husband and two daughters feared she'd been killed, but the bad news never came. Then Monday afternoon, a tip was phoned in to the TV show "America's Most Wanted." Bobbi Parker was mowing a grass field. Dial was watching golf and cooking meat patties in their trailer when the past came knocking on the door.

CAPT. MIKE TOLLETT, SHELBY COUNTY, TEXAS SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Went in the front door and he was standing in the living room. And he was caught completely by surprise, had no idea that we were coming.

LAVANDERA: No one around Campti, Texas knew Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker. To anyone who asked, they were Richard and Samantha Deal (ph), a couple raising chickens and living a quiet life in this trailer.

TOLLETT: Not much out here at all. It'd be a good place to lay low, as you say, or to hide out.

SHERIFF NEWTON JOHNSON, SHELBY COUNTY, TEXAS: He kept real low keyed and stayed out of sight. And he didn't drive. He didn't have a driver's license. He didn't have a Social Security number. He didn't do anything to bring any attention to himself.

LAVANDERA (on camera): This is a great place to hide. The nearest main road is six miles down this dirt path. Apparently Randolph Dial was happy spending his days out here. He told authorities that in the five years he lived here, he only went in to town a couple of times, once to go to the grocery store, once to go to the library.

(voice-over): But Bobbi Parker was often seen in town coming to the Big M Market to cash checks and buy groceries.

TAMMY BROWN, BIG M MARKET: I don't buy her story at all. How could she be held hostage for 10 years. If you're able to come and get gas, why couldn't you just drive off?

LAVANDERA: Mrs. Parker and her family are back together, but they're not talking. Dial says he brainwashed Mrs. Parker into thinking that if she ever tried to get away he'd kill her daughters. He says he would never have done that.

DIAL: She's a very special person and very easy to like.

LAVANDERA: Three years ago, Oklahoma writer Charles Sasser wrote a book about Dial. Investigators say Dial went to a book signing in Tulsa.

(on camera): He stood face to face with the author?

KENT SHAFFER, SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: And in fact I want to say that he actually bought the book when he was having that signing, because he said he took it home and read it.

LAVANDERA: And after reading it, Dial called Sasser.

CHARLES SASSER, AUTHOR: And he says I read your book, at large, 12 times. And I figure, oh my, what a great fan I've got here, 12 times the same book. And he says you weren't always complimentary to me, but I love the book because you were fair.

LAVANDERA: The story of Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker isn't over yet. What's unfolded in the last few days has added new twists to a bizarre tale.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Shelby County, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All I can say is wow.

All new in the second hour of DAYBREAK, Pastor Benny Hinn, the popular televangelist, is in Rome for Pope John Paul's funeral. We will talk with Benny Hinn about his personal experiences with the pope.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Chad, we're getting a lot of e-mails this morning. We're talking about Jane Fonda. She appeared on "LARRY KING LIVE," and she apologized, in a way, for that picture with the North Vietnamese so many years ago.

I'm going to read you what she said on "LARRY KING." She said, "I'm sorry that I was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun. Me. That image made soldiers think I was against American soldiers. And I had spent the two years prior to going there working with the soldiers."

Larry King asked her, "How did you let yourself be photographed? Why did you even jump on the tank?

Fonda, "I didn't jump on the tank. It was the last day there, I was in kind of a raw state. And I went there to expose the lies that Nixon was telling us."

So we're asking you this question this morning, "Hanoi Jane," does it even matter anymore?

So take it away -- Chad. MYERS: Seems to matter to you more than it does to me, because I really couldn't care. But we got a lot of e-mails, so I'll read some of them.

Larry (ph) from Cleveland, Ohio, those were terrible pictures and the apology would mean a whole lot more if she wasn't promoting a book or a movie. How many of us regret mistakes we've made in the past, yes, yes, yes. Please stop fixating on Jane Fonda. She's probably not worth your time.

COSTELLO: This is from Phil (ph). He says I'm a Baby Boomer who was in college during the Vietnam War. I vividly remember the photo of Jane Fonda sitting on the anti-aircraft gun belonging to the North Vietnamese. That single photo burned a permanent negative opinion in my mind of Jane Fonda for the past 33 years. However, her well-spoken apology on the "LARRY KING" show for allowing that photo to even happen, in my mind, shows that she may still be a big celebrity but she is even a bigger person for apologizing for that photo on "LARRY KING."

MYERS: Jerry (ph) from Philadelphia says you better believe it still affects me. I'll boycott her book, her movie, her exercise video and then any other ploy to rob Americans of their money that she turned our back on so many years ago. Accept her apology, maybe; forget, never.

COSTELLO: This is from Major Blair (ph), U.S. Army retired, from Columbus, Georgia. He says as an Army captain serving in Vietnam in 1972 and now a disabled veteran, I never knew that Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam since the Army did not allow such information on their military radio broadcasts. I opposed the Vietnam War then, as did many of my fellow officers. The war in Iraq today has the same opposition of many officers.

Interesting.

MYERS: Andrew (ph) from Pennsylvania says let us not forget that she also handed secret messages that spoke of horrible treatment. She turned these notes over to the North Vietnamese, and those POWs that were over there were beaten and tortured because of her betrayal -- Carol.

COSTELLO: This is from Don (ph) from Colorado. "Hanoi Jane," I will never forgive her. She needs to go to The Wall and explain her actions to the over 59,000 American men and women who gave their lives while she was whooping it up with the enemy.

MYERS: And there are many that I can't read, Carol, or at least can't read on the air.

COSTELLO: Yes, we got a lot of them. Well we got about 200 in a matter of minutes this morning.

MYERS: Yes. Yes.

COSTELLO: Let me read a last one from Kevin (ph), since we have time.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: He's from Maine. "Hanoi Jane" is a traitor. She was a traitor then. She's a traitor now. I enlisted in the United States Navy in '71 and I made a career of service to my country. I gave 20 years of my life to protect the Constitution that allows "Hanoi Jane" to say what she thinks. However, her photos and actions during the Vietnam War were anti-American. I disagree with everything she did back then, but I would have given my life to protect her right to have her say, but I will never forgive her.

That one gave me chills. Thank you, Kevin.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired April 7, 2005 - 05:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."

The last of the pilgrims are in line to see the body of Pope John Paul II ahead of tomorrow's funeral. Hundreds of thousands of people are still waiting their turn, but police cut off the line about 12 hours ago to give officials time to prepare for the funeral.

Iraq's new president used his first public speech to pay tribute to those who died fighting Saddam Hussein's regime. Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was elected president by Iraq's Assembly on Wednesday.

Amid much fanfare, bus service now links the two disputed regions of Kashmir. It's the first time in 60 years a bus has serviced both the Pakistani-controlled side and the Indian-controlled region. Leaders call it a caravan of peace.

Today is the United Nations' World Health Day. This year's effort is focusing on mothers and children. The World Health Organization says more than half a million mothers a year die needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth.

To the Forecast Center now.

Good morning -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Exactly 24 hours from now, the pope's funeral will be under way. Let's head back to Vatican City now live to our Richard Quest at the CNN position overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Good morning -- Richard.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes, indeed, we are just 24 hours away and the final preparations are being made for the funeral service.

Let me update you of what's happened overnight. The authorities here in Rome basically said enough is enough. There were so many people joining the lines to get into St. Peter's Basilica that they had to stop any new people from coming along.

The reason was very simple, the fear was that those joining the back of the line wouldn't have enough time to get through and they didn't want to have disappointment. So there were some scenes of frustration, some testament, nothing untoward when people who had made the pilgrimage to Rome suddenly found that they were not going to be able to make it through the basilica.

Let me show you what's happening at the moment in St. Peter's Square. As you can see, the final numbers of people who have been waiting, and they've been waiting the best part of, I don't know, 12, 15 hours to snake their way through the streets of Rome across St. Peter's Square to get just 15 seconds in front of the body of late pope.

Security, as you can imagine, is absolutely tight now. President Bush is in Rome. He's having meetings during the course of the day with Italian government officials. Late last night, the president and the first lady, along with former Presidents Bush and Clinton, spent their own quiet time next to the body of Pope John Paul II where they said their own prayers.

What will happen, Carol, over the next few hours. The final pilgrims will go through the basilica. The square will be closed down. And as you can see, all those seats behind me, more seats will be put out. And, Carol, the final preparations will be made.

But a final thought, there will be, they are expecting upwards of four million people to descend in or around Vatican City. Now that is more than the number of people who live in Rome, which shows you the enormous logistical problem the authorities have. So many people, so many pilgrims, so many presidents, it's turning into a nightmare for them.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you, with four million people in the city it must be difficult to provide security. How are they going to do that? How are they going to make sure all those people are behaving?

QUEST: Well I think what they've done is they have recognized that some people need more security than others, President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, President Chirac, for example, and President Arroyo of the Philippines. And what they do is they create like a cocoon bubble around them and move them around the city. They're closing large numbers of roads so that those motorcades can get by. But ultimately, yes, that's why we've got helicopters now flying above. We're expecting some massive security sweeps.

Having said that, Carol, you know they have been planning this for many years. The pope has been a sickly man for many years. So it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that they have got to launch this security operation.

COSTELLO: Richard Quest, thank you, live from Vatican City this morning.

Be sure to tune in to CNN for complete coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our wall-to-wall coverage begins tomorrow morning at 3:00 a.m. Eastern.

Shifting focus now to politics and more troubles for House Republican Leader Tom DeLay. He's defending himself and getting some help from his GOP colleagues after new questions about his record surfaced.

"The Washington Post" reports DeLay's six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 was paid for by business interests. And "The New York Times" says DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by the congressman's political action and campaign committees.

Here's what DeLay told CNN -- and I quote -- "It's just like trips that every member takes. It's paid for by a non-profit organization, it was properly reported... What's going on here is a concerted effort to twist the truth to make it look seedy. And it's just not true."

DeLay also had this to say to us. He says, "My wife and daughter have any right, just like any other American, to be employed and be compensated for their employment... But it's just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me."

But here's what the Democratic House leader had to say about one part of this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: It's not about a trip, it's about a pattern of behavior that the leader has been involved in. That is really more his problem than the specifics of any one trip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Other political fallout to tell you about now. A man working for Republican Senator Mel Martinez of Florida was behind a controversial Terri Schiavo memo. "The Washington Post" is reporting that Martinez' legal council, Brian Darling, penned the memo and has since resigned. You might remember that memo, it was passed around on the Senate floor, called the fight over Schiavo a great political issue for the Republicans and said the pro-life base would be excited by the debate. So that infamous memo was indeed real.

Police capture a fugitive inmate, but their biggest shocker is who they found living with him. We'll tell you why his hostage did not try to escape.

And live to Baghdad with a preview of the new president's first task in office, who will he name as the new prime minister?

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Iraq's National Assembly elects a long-time foe of Saddam Hussein as its new president and actually Saddam watching the proceedings on TV from his jail cell. A top British envoy sees that as fitting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN CLWYD, BRITISH SPECIAL ENVOY TO IRAQ: For 60 years he's fought for a free democratic federal Iraq. And now, I think, you know the dream is coming true. And I think it's absolutely right for somebody who stayed in the country, fought the regime of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Next for Iraq is selecting a prime minister.

Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A president elected in a moment of poetic politics. Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurd who battled Saddam for years, whose people were brutally oppressed by the former regime, now holds the dictator's former title. It comes after weeks of political wrangling and days after the assembly elected its speaker. Finally, visible signs of real progress towards the formation of a transitional government.

Also elected, Sunni Ghazi al-Yawer and Shi'a Adel Abdul Mehdi as deputy presidents. The three men, the presidency council, will, within days, name a prime minister and his cabinet.

JALAL TALABANI, TRANSITIONAL IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): I will acknowledge your trust and the trust of the Iraqi people who have freely elected you in the first free elections in our dear Iraq.

RAMAN: Talabani's rise to president is a monumental achievement for Iraq, but also for the country's Kurds who now hold vested influence.

And from the man likely to become the prime minister, words of action.

IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI, UNITED IRAQI ALLIANCE (through translator): We will work to create progress that is actually felt by the citizen so that he can feel, with the passage of time, both services and prepare this country for the elections in 2006.

RAMAN: There is much to be done. The National Assembly has just over four months to draft a constitution, and the executive branch will soon take over those day-to-day affairs, managing huge unemployment, sustained insurgent violence and a need for basic services by many Iraqis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, Carol, the presidency council will be sworn in later today. At that point, they will unanimously, by all expectations, name Shi'a Ibrahim al-Jaafari as the prime minister-designate. They will then work with him to compile the entire cabinet. And some time next week, we expect that entire slate, including Jaafari, to go to the National Assembly for a simple majority vote -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman, live in Baghdad for us this morning, thank you.

The U.S. military says all victims of a helicopter crash in Afghanistan are American. The chopper went down in rough weather in southeast Afghanistan. The military says 13 of the 16 people killed were American service personnel. The three others were U.S. government contractors. Two other military personnel are unaccounted for.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:42 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Making it just in time, these people were among the last to make it to the back of the line for those waiting to view Pope John Paul's body in St. Peter's Basilica. The wait for just a few seconds in the basilica is hours and hours long. Gosh, they're saying sometimes it's up to 10 or 12 hours now.

Cell phone use on commercial jets is not allowed, but the FCC is considering ending the ban. They might want to think twice, though. A survey by the Association of Flight Attendants shows many Americans oppose cell phones on airplanes.

In money news, April 15 is getting closer, but be careful, the IRS says it will go after tax cheats with a vengeance. The Justice Department is offering its help to prosecute tax crimes. Last year, tax-related prosecutions were up 57 percent.

In culture, if you're looking for good eats, head to the Big Apple. The James Beard Foundation has announced its nominees for the best food in the biz. New York City pros dominate the categories of best chef and best new restaurant.

In sports, former sports star Bo Jackson filed a defamation lawsuit over claims that he used steroids. A Los Angeles area newspaper printed a story claiming that Jackson's career-ending hip injury was caused by steroid use. He's seeking damages and a retraction from the paper.

Wow, all the way to Bo Jackson now -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes, don't mess with those steroids. Do not accuse anyone, because they will fight back.

Good morning, everybody. (WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.

The inmate and the warden's wife, sounds like a cheesy love story, but it could be a true tale of kidnapping, or not. That story still ahead on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now for our DAYBREAK "Legal Briefs."

White supremacist Matthew Hale has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for plotting to kill a federal judge. Hale tried to hire an undercover FBI agent to murder Judge Joan Lefkow. Lefkow's husband and mother were killed in their home earlier this year in an unrelated incident. Lefkow had ruled against Hale in a 2002 trademark case.

Hundreds of perspective jurors filled out questionnaires in the first phase of the Eric Rudolph trial. Rudolph could face the death penalty for the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama women's clinic. Twelve jurors and six alternates could be chosen by mid-May. Opening statements are tentatively scheduled for June 9.

The man accused of stalking former tennis star Anna Kournikova will not stand trial, at least not yet. A Florida judge ruled that William Lepeska is mentally unfit for trial. He will be reevaluated after he spends six months in a mental facility.

In Texas, a bizarre prison escape drama has played out after more than 10 years, and now a supposed hostage is back home after making a new life with her admitted abductor. Not kidding.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the strange details from Shelby County, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDOLPH DIAL, CAPTURED KILLER: Progression of events, you know. Houston...

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Randolph Dial's story reads more like outlandish fiction than real life. He was a chicken farming killer on the run, with self-proclaimed mob connections, and a flare for painting and sculpting in his spare time. And after his headline-grabbing arrest, it's clear the man likes to put on a show.

DIAL: Well, boys and girls, it's Howdy Doody time.

LAVANDERA: Randolph Dial first made headlines when he escaped from this Oklahoma prison 10 years ago. He says he forced the deputy warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, into a car to escape.

DIAL: I was armed only with a knife against her carotid artery in her leg.

LAVANDERA: Dial was a prison trustee, which means he had more freedom than most convicts. He convinced prison authorities to let him start an inmate pottery program. That's how he met Bobbi Parker who helped out with the class.

DIAL: I had worked on her for about a year trying to get her mind right. And I convinced her that the friend was the enemy and the enemy was the friend.

LAVANDERA: Nearly 11 years ago, Dial and Mrs. Parker disappeared. Her husband and two daughters feared she'd been killed, but the bad news never came. Then Monday afternoon, a tip was phoned in to the TV show "America's Most Wanted." Bobbi Parker was mowing a grass field. Dial was watching golf and cooking meat patties in their trailer when the past came knocking on the door.

CAPT. MIKE TOLLETT, SHELBY COUNTY, TEXAS SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Went in the front door and he was standing in the living room. And he was caught completely by surprise, had no idea that we were coming.

LAVANDERA: No one around Campti, Texas knew Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker. To anyone who asked, they were Richard and Samantha Deal (ph), a couple raising chickens and living a quiet life in this trailer.

TOLLETT: Not much out here at all. It'd be a good place to lay low, as you say, or to hide out.

SHERIFF NEWTON JOHNSON, SHELBY COUNTY, TEXAS: He kept real low keyed and stayed out of sight. And he didn't drive. He didn't have a driver's license. He didn't have a Social Security number. He didn't do anything to bring any attention to himself.

LAVANDERA (on camera): This is a great place to hide. The nearest main road is six miles down this dirt path. Apparently Randolph Dial was happy spending his days out here. He told authorities that in the five years he lived here, he only went in to town a couple of times, once to go to the grocery store, once to go to the library.

(voice-over): But Bobbi Parker was often seen in town coming to the Big M Market to cash checks and buy groceries.

TAMMY BROWN, BIG M MARKET: I don't buy her story at all. How could she be held hostage for 10 years. If you're able to come and get gas, why couldn't you just drive off?

LAVANDERA: Mrs. Parker and her family are back together, but they're not talking. Dial says he brainwashed Mrs. Parker into thinking that if she ever tried to get away he'd kill her daughters. He says he would never have done that.

DIAL: She's a very special person and very easy to like.

LAVANDERA: Three years ago, Oklahoma writer Charles Sasser wrote a book about Dial. Investigators say Dial went to a book signing in Tulsa.

(on camera): He stood face to face with the author?

KENT SHAFFER, SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: And in fact I want to say that he actually bought the book when he was having that signing, because he said he took it home and read it.

LAVANDERA: And after reading it, Dial called Sasser.

CHARLES SASSER, AUTHOR: And he says I read your book, at large, 12 times. And I figure, oh my, what a great fan I've got here, 12 times the same book. And he says you weren't always complimentary to me, but I love the book because you were fair.

LAVANDERA: The story of Randolph Dial and Bobbi Parker isn't over yet. What's unfolded in the last few days has added new twists to a bizarre tale.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Shelby County, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All I can say is wow.

All new in the second hour of DAYBREAK, Pastor Benny Hinn, the popular televangelist, is in Rome for Pope John Paul's funeral. We will talk with Benny Hinn about his personal experiences with the pope.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Chad, we're getting a lot of e-mails this morning. We're talking about Jane Fonda. She appeared on "LARRY KING LIVE," and she apologized, in a way, for that picture with the North Vietnamese so many years ago.

I'm going to read you what she said on "LARRY KING." She said, "I'm sorry that I was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun. Me. That image made soldiers think I was against American soldiers. And I had spent the two years prior to going there working with the soldiers."

Larry King asked her, "How did you let yourself be photographed? Why did you even jump on the tank?

Fonda, "I didn't jump on the tank. It was the last day there, I was in kind of a raw state. And I went there to expose the lies that Nixon was telling us."

So we're asking you this question this morning, "Hanoi Jane," does it even matter anymore?

So take it away -- Chad. MYERS: Seems to matter to you more than it does to me, because I really couldn't care. But we got a lot of e-mails, so I'll read some of them.

Larry (ph) from Cleveland, Ohio, those were terrible pictures and the apology would mean a whole lot more if she wasn't promoting a book or a movie. How many of us regret mistakes we've made in the past, yes, yes, yes. Please stop fixating on Jane Fonda. She's probably not worth your time.

COSTELLO: This is from Phil (ph). He says I'm a Baby Boomer who was in college during the Vietnam War. I vividly remember the photo of Jane Fonda sitting on the anti-aircraft gun belonging to the North Vietnamese. That single photo burned a permanent negative opinion in my mind of Jane Fonda for the past 33 years. However, her well-spoken apology on the "LARRY KING" show for allowing that photo to even happen, in my mind, shows that she may still be a big celebrity but she is even a bigger person for apologizing for that photo on "LARRY KING."

MYERS: Jerry (ph) from Philadelphia says you better believe it still affects me. I'll boycott her book, her movie, her exercise video and then any other ploy to rob Americans of their money that she turned our back on so many years ago. Accept her apology, maybe; forget, never.

COSTELLO: This is from Major Blair (ph), U.S. Army retired, from Columbus, Georgia. He says as an Army captain serving in Vietnam in 1972 and now a disabled veteran, I never knew that Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam since the Army did not allow such information on their military radio broadcasts. I opposed the Vietnam War then, as did many of my fellow officers. The war in Iraq today has the same opposition of many officers.

Interesting.

MYERS: Andrew (ph) from Pennsylvania says let us not forget that she also handed secret messages that spoke of horrible treatment. She turned these notes over to the North Vietnamese, and those POWs that were over there were beaten and tortured because of her betrayal -- Carol.

COSTELLO: This is from Don (ph) from Colorado. "Hanoi Jane," I will never forgive her. She needs to go to The Wall and explain her actions to the over 59,000 American men and women who gave their lives while she was whooping it up with the enemy.

MYERS: And there are many that I can't read, Carol, or at least can't read on the air.

COSTELLO: Yes, we got a lot of them. Well we got about 200 in a matter of minutes this morning.

MYERS: Yes. Yes.

COSTELLO: Let me read a last one from Kevin (ph), since we have time.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: He's from Maine. "Hanoi Jane" is a traitor. She was a traitor then. She's a traitor now. I enlisted in the United States Navy in '71 and I made a career of service to my country. I gave 20 years of my life to protect the Constitution that allows "Hanoi Jane" to say what she thinks. However, her photos and actions during the Vietnam War were anti-American. I disagree with everything she did back then, but I would have given my life to protect her right to have her say, but I will never forgive her.

That one gave me chills. Thank you, Kevin.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com