CNN.com - Transcripts

Transcript Providers

Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Who Knows What?; Terror Indictment; Kitty Cat Hunting

Aired April 13, 2005 - 5:00 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: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, how much do people out there know about you? And what are they doing with that information? We will look into identity theft.
Plus, how do police protect a witness who's scared out of their wits to testify? Now there's a whole new way to intimidate a witness.

And is it about to become a -- is it about to become cat hunting season in Wisconsin?

It's Wednesday, April 13. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

"Now in the News," it will be a busy day for Eric Rudolph. He appears in two courtrooms in two cities to plead guilty to a total of four bombings. The plea deal spares Rudolph the death penalty.

After a quick trip to Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Afghanistan this morning. He's meeting with U.S. commanders and troops fighting in the war on terrorism. In Iraq, Rumsfeld met with the newly elected transitional president and prime minister.

Former President Bill Clinton is making his first appearance today at the United Nations as the top envoy to countries devastated by the South Asia tsunami. He'll spend at least two years in his new role. His aides say he'll oversee billions of dollars in relief effort.

And the FDA has rejected at least one company's effort to end the ban on silicone breast implants. Another company will make its case today on why its implants should be allowed on the market.

To the forecast center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Chad, did you hear about Britney Spears?

MYERS: She's pregnant.

COSTELLO: I'm going to tease you about that all morning. MYERS: I said that to my wife yesterday. I said, "Look, Britney Spears is pregnant." She says, "By who?" I go, "By her husband, I hope."

COSTELLO: You never know, Chad. All right.

MYERS: It's Hollywood.

COSTELLO: We'll talk more about that later.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: I'm sure you're excited about that.

MYERS: I am.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: We begin this hour, though, with a look at your personal information. Who has it, who can get it, and how are they getting it? The problem is so big a Senate committee is looking into it this morning.

Now, the bad news doesn't stop there. A second major database company called LexisNexis is announcing it has suffered a massive security breach, one much larger than originally thought.

The company says some 310,000 people had their personal information hacked. All of this follows the incident at the data warehouse ChoicePoint. Back in February, that company admitted that it had inadvertently given the identity of 145,000 of its customers to identity thieves.

So we asked this morning, how concerned are you personally about being one of those victims of identity theft? Do you worry someone can steal your personal information and use it to commit fraud? A new CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll finds a majority, that's 59 percent, are very concerned about identity theft, 31 percent are somewhat concerned, only 7 percent were not worried about it at all.

You may wonder, then, how do these mega-corporations go about collection information about you? Which tidbits of data get stored, and how long will the information follow you around? CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may never have heard about ChoicePoint, may not know about LexisNexis, but chances are they know about you. Not just your name, but where you live, what you buy, your driver's license and Social Security number. In short, they know just about everything.

MARK RASCH, SOLUTIONARY INC.: Every place you've ever lived, every address, everything you've ever owned in terms of real estate, every time you've been sued, all that information is collected.

FEYERICK: Databases are huge businesses, buying and selling your personal details to virtually anyone who wants to make sure your credit's good, like stores, credit rating agencies, even potential employers. And companies buy and sell your information not just in the United States but around the world, making identity theft a global problem.

(on camera): How serious of a problem is this?

KEVIN BARROWS, RENAISSANCE ASSOCIATES: It's a very serious problem. And it's growing every year. You know, the greater technology becomes, and the more advanced technology becomes, the greater the risk, of course. The greater the criminal element becomes.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Kevin Barrows cracked his first big computer hacking case as an FBI agent. He says, if you think this doesn't apply to you, think again. Because if you've ever had a job, owned a home, rented a car, gone to college, used a credit card or paid a bill, you're in a database. And once you're in, there's no way out. And it can be virtually impossible to stop others who want to know about you and hide behind your identity.

BARROWS: The realities are it's not just financial loss that you have to be concerned with identity theft. It's terrorism, it's the ability to get into this country by using someone else's identification. It's the ability to commit crimes under someone else's name. And there are hundreds of thousands of stories of people who have been victimized in this way.

FEYERICK: Last year, the Federal Trade Commission received over 635,000 complaints of consumer fraud and identity theft. And the thing about identity, once it's gone, it's up to you to get it back.

RASCH: It's really, really difficult for people to be able to prove to banks and insurance companies and other entities that, whoever it was who charged these accounts or created these false identities, wasn't you. And getting your own identity back is very, very difficult to do.

FEYERICK: LexisNexis says it's sending out letters to everyone affected. But except in California, there are no laws forcing companies to tell you if someone's accessed your identity. A subject so popular, we found "Wired News" reporter Kim Zetter at a yearly news conference on it.

KIM ZETTER, WIRED NEWS: There should be, perhaps, laws, that say that companies should be required to encrypt data, which would make it more a little more difficult if someone did get into a system to interpret what the data says. There definitely are things that legislators could do, but currently there isn't anything like that.

FEYERICK: In February, data broker ChoicePoint says it sold 145,000 personal profiles to identity thieves by mistake. The irony? It appears ChoicePoint never did a background check on the bogus company that bought its files.

Congress is now looking into that, fearful this is just the beginning.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Now to a CNN "Security Watch."

Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment against three terror suspects. The men are accused of scouting financial buildings here in the United States as possible targets. Prosecutors say there was a terrorist conspiracy to launch the attacks as recently as August of last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't believe this is any example of a failure. I believe this is an example of a success.

Information was developed, it was brought to the attention of the American people when the threat level was elevated. We have followed up on it very, very aggressively. But again, it highlights the nature of the enemy we face. And that's an enemy that is patient, that is spread throughout the world, and that is bent on killing Americans in a spectacular way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The suspects he's referring to all British citizens and are already in British custody. Let's go live to London to find out more and CNN's Matthew Chance.

Hello, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, hello to you as well.

And these three individuals are indeed in British custody. They face terrorism-related charges here in Britain as well. But what's interesting is that these are the first indictments that have been officially made in the public realm, as it were, by the U.S. government connecting these three individuals with a specific security alert in the United States.

All of the four indictments connecting these individuals with scouting various financial buildings in the United States, the Citibank building in New York, the New York Stock Exchange. The World Bank offices and the IMF offices in Washington, D.C. as well.

These are things -- there was a big security alert surrounding (ph) back in August 2004, when they were swooped upon by British security forces in and around Britain. All of the three individuals are British nationals. They're said to be all of South Asian origin and all part of this big roundup that's been under way in Britain over the past year or so of terror suspects in and around the country, in conjunction with U.S. and other intelligence networks around the world -- Carol.

COSTELLO: What will happen to these men now?

CHANCE: Well, these men now are remanded in custody in one of Britain's highest -- highest security facilities just outside of London. They're not given any access to obviously the media at all.

Also, the charges against them have not been made public here in Britain. The trial is taking place behind closed doors. So, again, that makes these specific indictments that have been made in the United States even more interesting for us here in Britain.

COSTELLO: More to come, I'm sure. Matthew Chance live from London this morning. Thank you.

Also in our "Security Watch," the man who caused a brief standoff at the U.S. Capitol may soon be packing his bags. It was on Monday the man stood before the Capitol with two suitcases by his side. Capitol Police tackled him, checked his bag for explosives. All they found was a CD player.

A Homeland Security Department spokesman says the man entered the country through a program not requiring a visa. And he will be deported because officials don't think he's mentally competent to be prosecuted.

Just a few blocks away from the Capitol, two U.S. Supreme Court justices were asking for more security. Justices Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy say they're worried about inadequate security at the high court, as well as their homes. The justices are asking Congress for nearly $640,000 to hire 11 new officers around the court.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

"A serial abuser," some of the many scathing words used to describe President Bush's choice for U.N. ambassador. But that's apparently not causing Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to waver in their support of John Bolton. And the Republicans do have the majority. So it looks like Bolton's nomination will pass when it comes to a vote later this week.

A former top State Department official was the only witness called to testify about Bolton. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL FORD, FMR. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: He's a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy. There are a lot of them around. I'm sure you've met them. But the fact is that he stands out, that he's got a bigger kick, and it gets bigger and stronger the further down the bureaucracy is kicking.

SEN. MEL MARTINEZ (R), FLORIDA: But you really cannot in good faith under oath suggest that you have the ability to tell this committee that this now represents a broader character flaw in Mr. Bolton's part. Can you?

FORD: You're absolutely correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Bolton has testified that he never tried to fire officials who disagreed with him.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, two courts, two states, four please. That's on suspected bomber Eric Rudolph's to-do list today. We'll explain just ahead.

Also, we'll meet a woman whose daughter paid the ultimate price for just witnessing a crime. We'll tell you her story.

Plus, hunters in Wisconsin take their sport very seriously. But look at what animal they've got in the crosshairs now. Those little kitties.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets are mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down by 32 points. The London FTSE up nearly 22. The German DAX up by, oh, 28.5 points or so.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:15 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

A New York grand jury has indicted three men accused of planning terrorist attacks on the New York Stock Exchange and other financial targets. The men, all with suspected al Qaeda ties, are already in custody in Britain.

Hundreds of pilgrims passed by the grave of Pope John Paul II this morning. The crypt underneath St. Peter's Basilica is opened to the public for the first time since the pope's burial. We'll have a live report from the Vatican coming up in less than 30 minutes.

In money news, rising oil prices are partially to blame for a new record trade deficit. February numbers show the U.S. deficit has risen to $61 billion.

In culture, Chad's favorite story of the morning. Britney Spears telling her fans that she's pregnant. It will be Britney's first, but husband Kevin Federline already has two children with an ex- girlfriend, one he never married. No word yet on a due date, but she signed the message on her Web page, "Love, Britney."

In sports, Sammy Sosa finally got his first homerun for his new team. His first Oriole's homerun was also the 575th of his career. He's eight behind Mark McGwire for six all time. And, by the way, the Orioles beat the Devil Rays 7-6 -- Chad.

MYERS: Hey, good morning, Carol. How are you this fine morning?

COSTELLO: I'm fine.

MYERS: Good.

COSTELLO: I'm happy for Britney.

MYERS: I am too.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: Although she has no idea how her life is going to change. And neither did I four months ago.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You know, Chad, I was checking out the price of a hotel room in Washington for next weekend.

MYERS: Isn't it now the most expensive city? I think the hotel...

COSTELLO: I was looking at a very modest hotel...

MYERS: Yes?

COSTELLO: ... right on Connecticut Avenue.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: The rooms were something like $350 per night.

MYERS: Wow.

COSTELLO: So we're staying in Virginia.

MYERS: I was going to say, you know, I used to live up in Greenbelt. You can get something nice around Goddard Space Flight Center for about $89.

COSTELLO: It will take us 45 minutes to get into Washington from there, but who cares?

MYERS: That's all right. Take the orange line.

COSTELLO: All right.

This is an interesting story we're going to report now, Chad. Are you listening?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Because it's part of our email "Question of the Morning."

MYERS: I know. This is so hard to report. I mean, where do you go...

COSTELLO: I know.

MYERS: You just have to read the text on this. It's so hard.

COSTELLO: It is, so I'm going to give it a go.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: In some parts of the world big cat hunting is considered the sport of kings. But what about small cat hunting?

In Wisconsin, they're considering a plan to make feral cats fair game. CNN's Wolf Blitzer takes a closer look at this brewing cat fight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where I can speak. Let me speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much love. He's so fluffy that a collar -- the collar can't be seen on him.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's enough to drive cat lovers crazy. In Madison, Wisconsin, a public hearing with more than 1,300 people. For many, the thought of shooting cats, wild or not, was intolerable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have to kill them, no. That's terrible.

BLITZER: More than a million feral, or wild cats, are believed to live in Wisconsin, and some say the population is out of control. They're proposing that feral cats be removed from the state's protected species list, which could make it legal to shoot them, like skunks or possums.

The Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a neutral group which sponsored the meetings, took a non-binding vote on the issue which will be passed on to the State Department of Natural Resources.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people that are here voting against it aren't realizing the whole question. We're not shooting cats in the city. We're shooting cats out in the wild.

BLITZER: Proponents say feral cats are wiping out some bird populations, while competing with owls and hawks for food. They also say feral cats can spread disease to other animals and even humans.

Opponents of the proposal don't buy it, and say it puts people's pets in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although there are inherent risks to being outdoors for any pet, being legally shot should not be one of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's almost impossible, for somebody, especially at a distance, to determine if a cat is somebody's beloved companion or a feral cat.

BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: OK. An update now. The ballots are in. Voters at the Conservation Congress approved the cat hunt by a pretty wide margin. But there are still several hurdles left before hunters can lock and load.

Here to talk more about the proposed measure is leading animal rescue expert Leo Grillo, who has volunteered to help save the feral cats of Wisconsin.

Welcome, Leo.

LEO GRILLO, FOUNDER, DELTA RESCUE: Good morning.

COSTELLO: OK. I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

GRILLO: OK.

COSTELLO: A feral cat ain't pleasant. They can be very mean, can't they?

GRILLO: You know, a feral cat's not going to get near you, first of all. So I wouldn't worry about running into a ferocious feral cat.

The cats are just like your house cat, except somebody's abandoned them. They've been domesticated for 5,000 years. Somebody abandoned one, they had kids, now they're feral cats.

Part of the problem here, though, is they're saying there are two million of these cats out there. And, you know, you've got to question the numbers.

Who did the counting? What are their credentials? Who compiled the figures and multiplied by the total square miles in Wisconsin, you know, to get two million?

You people are cold out in Wisconsin. Feral cats don't live an entire year in Wisconsin.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say, because I've covered these kinds of stories a lot throughout my career, that these cats can multiply very quickly, and they can really introduce some things into the community that you don't want. They're not especially clean, right?

GRILLO: No.

COSTELLO: And if you do corner them, they can be dangerous.

GRILLO: Well, I've never -- I've been rescuing them for 25 years. I don't corner feral cats. I don't even know what that is.

They always escape. I would love to corner them and catch them quicker. It doesn't happen.

Look, litters -- litters of kittens are born and most die. Most of the litters perish, you know, without -- without shelter. They perish from disease, they perish from exposure.

So, you know, I don't know believe these numbers of one unspayed cat will give you 10,000 kittens in a year. That's if you play the numbers. But they die, they just -- they simply don't -- don't make it. Now...

COSTELLO: So are you saying -- so are you saying there is no problem in Wisconsin and people just want to, you know, hunt cats for sport?

GRILLO: Well, that's a good point. However, I think if they do have a problem, if they're calling it a problem, I would say this... humans eat chicken, cats eat birds. You don't kill the cats for eating birds. You feed them cat food.

I think the problem is people's cats are roaming, free-roaming cats. They're owned cats; they're not feral cats. They're owned cats, they're cats that should be kept indoors. And this may be part of the problem. But you don't extrapolate numbers of one colony or one dense area and say that you have two million cats that are the problem.

COSTELLO: Just to get the other side in, I want to read a statement from Mark Smith. He's a proponent of this cat legislation.

He says, "The don't belong in the environment. All I want is for people to be responsible for them. If I catch a cat in the yard in a live trap, I should be able to put that animal down."

And, of course, there are many different ways you can put that animal down. You don't have to shoot the cat, right?

GRILLO: You know, oh my god. I mean, if he's getting off on putting something "down," I mean, I can't help the guy. But the fact of the matter is, these cats, once you trap them, give them a home, for god's sake.

They're unobtrusive. I mean, you can give a feral cat a home. You can have a couple of feral cats in your home and never see them and just know that you've fed them and...

COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Leo. You can't -- you can't have a feral...

GRILLO: Go on my Web site.

COSTELLO: ... cat for a house pet or a pet.

GRILLO: Thank you, Carol. You're a sweetheart. Go on my Web site. You're going to see over 500 feral cats running all over and being asked to be petted and jumping in people's laps. We rescue feral cats. DELTA Rescue rescues feral and abandoned cats, mostly feral. And when you go on the Web site, DeltaRescue.tv, you're going to see 500 cats that are just like your house cat. These are the animals that they're talking about.

I was "Cats: Caressing the Tiger." Fifteen years this has been on the air from "National Geographic," all right?

We've been out there 15 years with this very same point around the country. The fact of the matter is the cats that are abandoned, you can watch a rescue on the "National Geographic" show. The cats that are abandoned, the cats that are feral, are simply pets one step removed, all right?

And the cats that you see, hundreds of them, were all the cats that this man wants to kill in that trap. Look, if you can trap a cat, then you've done a wonderful thing. Now give them a home.

COSTELLO: Leo Grillo, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We do appreciate it.

GRILLO: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Well, we want to know what you think about Wisconsin's plan. Is shooting strays right or wrong? Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.COM, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. We want to know what you think.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I'm still recovering from the feral cat interview. I have a cat.

MYERS: I'm glad you had to do it. I was sitting here listening to it, and they wanted me to say something. And I didn't know what to say.

The guy's rescued 500 cats. Well, he's got 995,500 to go if there's a million cats in Wisconsin.

COSTELLO: Well, it will be interesting to see what people think about that.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Right now, though, we want to laugh a bit.

MYERS: Oh, please.

COSTELLO: We have a mixed bag of comedians this morning, Chad.

MYERS: Oh, good. Something.

COSTELLO: So let's check it out.

MYERS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": The president has an iPod. And I don't believe the president should have an iPod. I'm sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

I believe that the iPod is -- I don't like the idea of the president sitting at a computer downloading songs. Just sitting around going, what's that song I like from Deep Purple? I like Deep Purple. I like Deep Purple. I want to -- I want to find that song.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Listen, don't get me started. I am having such a miserable day. Here's what happened today.

For lunch today I just said, "I'm going over to Wendy's." And I get over to Wendy's, they're all out of body parts.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well, MSNBC is predicting that the archbishop of Bombay could be the new pope. Bombay? Even the job of pope being outsourced to India now. This is unbelievable.

(LAUGHTER)

Are there any jobs left? Any jobs?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: That was the best one, I think.

COSTELLO: Nothing is sacred, though. You can joke about anything these days, right?

MYERS: Well, the body part one wasn't very funny actually from Leno -- or from Letterman. Anyway.

COSTELLO: Yes, it was about that woman who supposedly found the finger -- yes, we won't get into that.

MYERS: Parts -- parts, I know.

COSTELLO: It's too early, and I know people are eating breakfast.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Openers" right now. Let's get right to them.

Nearly half a million people every year take a ride on Hungary's Children's Railway. The full-size train is operated almost entirely by children between the ages of 10 and 14. The kids to do everything but drive the train. And thank goodness for that.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Yes, I was wondering.

COSTELLO: That would be bad. Anyway, they're excused from school to work on the railroad.

There's a real live whale swimming in Trenton, New Jersey, Chad.

MYERS: The Delaware River. There he is.

COSTELLO: That's crazy.

MYERS: He's a beluga.

COSTELLO: This is -- this is right near the city's minor league baseball stadium. Somehow this 11-foot long beluga made its way 80 miles up the Delaware River from the Atlantic Ocean. Police patrolling the river have been keeping boaters at a safe distance while trying to coax the whale back down the river.

MYERS: I think all that fresh water that we had, all that rain in the past couple of weeks, will probably coax him back down toward the salt water eventually.

COSTELLO: We hope so.

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 13, 2005 - 5:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, how much do people out there know about you? And what are they doing with that information? We will look into identity theft.
Plus, how do police protect a witness who's scared out of their wits to testify? Now there's a whole new way to intimidate a witness.

And is it about to become a -- is it about to become cat hunting season in Wisconsin?

It's Wednesday, April 13. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

"Now in the News," it will be a busy day for Eric Rudolph. He appears in two courtrooms in two cities to plead guilty to a total of four bombings. The plea deal spares Rudolph the death penalty.

After a quick trip to Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Afghanistan this morning. He's meeting with U.S. commanders and troops fighting in the war on terrorism. In Iraq, Rumsfeld met with the newly elected transitional president and prime minister.

Former President Bill Clinton is making his first appearance today at the United Nations as the top envoy to countries devastated by the South Asia tsunami. He'll spend at least two years in his new role. His aides say he'll oversee billions of dollars in relief effort.

And the FDA has rejected at least one company's effort to end the ban on silicone breast implants. Another company will make its case today on why its implants should be allowed on the market.

To the forecast center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Chad, did you hear about Britney Spears?

MYERS: She's pregnant.

COSTELLO: I'm going to tease you about that all morning. MYERS: I said that to my wife yesterday. I said, "Look, Britney Spears is pregnant." She says, "By who?" I go, "By her husband, I hope."

COSTELLO: You never know, Chad. All right.

MYERS: It's Hollywood.

COSTELLO: We'll talk more about that later.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: I'm sure you're excited about that.

MYERS: I am.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: We begin this hour, though, with a look at your personal information. Who has it, who can get it, and how are they getting it? The problem is so big a Senate committee is looking into it this morning.

Now, the bad news doesn't stop there. A second major database company called LexisNexis is announcing it has suffered a massive security breach, one much larger than originally thought.

The company says some 310,000 people had their personal information hacked. All of this follows the incident at the data warehouse ChoicePoint. Back in February, that company admitted that it had inadvertently given the identity of 145,000 of its customers to identity thieves.

So we asked this morning, how concerned are you personally about being one of those victims of identity theft? Do you worry someone can steal your personal information and use it to commit fraud? A new CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll finds a majority, that's 59 percent, are very concerned about identity theft, 31 percent are somewhat concerned, only 7 percent were not worried about it at all.

You may wonder, then, how do these mega-corporations go about collection information about you? Which tidbits of data get stored, and how long will the information follow you around? CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may never have heard about ChoicePoint, may not know about LexisNexis, but chances are they know about you. Not just your name, but where you live, what you buy, your driver's license and Social Security number. In short, they know just about everything.

MARK RASCH, SOLUTIONARY INC.: Every place you've ever lived, every address, everything you've ever owned in terms of real estate, every time you've been sued, all that information is collected.

FEYERICK: Databases are huge businesses, buying and selling your personal details to virtually anyone who wants to make sure your credit's good, like stores, credit rating agencies, even potential employers. And companies buy and sell your information not just in the United States but around the world, making identity theft a global problem.

(on camera): How serious of a problem is this?

KEVIN BARROWS, RENAISSANCE ASSOCIATES: It's a very serious problem. And it's growing every year. You know, the greater technology becomes, and the more advanced technology becomes, the greater the risk, of course. The greater the criminal element becomes.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Kevin Barrows cracked his first big computer hacking case as an FBI agent. He says, if you think this doesn't apply to you, think again. Because if you've ever had a job, owned a home, rented a car, gone to college, used a credit card or paid a bill, you're in a database. And once you're in, there's no way out. And it can be virtually impossible to stop others who want to know about you and hide behind your identity.

BARROWS: The realities are it's not just financial loss that you have to be concerned with identity theft. It's terrorism, it's the ability to get into this country by using someone else's identification. It's the ability to commit crimes under someone else's name. And there are hundreds of thousands of stories of people who have been victimized in this way.

FEYERICK: Last year, the Federal Trade Commission received over 635,000 complaints of consumer fraud and identity theft. And the thing about identity, once it's gone, it's up to you to get it back.

RASCH: It's really, really difficult for people to be able to prove to banks and insurance companies and other entities that, whoever it was who charged these accounts or created these false identities, wasn't you. And getting your own identity back is very, very difficult to do.

FEYERICK: LexisNexis says it's sending out letters to everyone affected. But except in California, there are no laws forcing companies to tell you if someone's accessed your identity. A subject so popular, we found "Wired News" reporter Kim Zetter at a yearly news conference on it.

KIM ZETTER, WIRED NEWS: There should be, perhaps, laws, that say that companies should be required to encrypt data, which would make it more a little more difficult if someone did get into a system to interpret what the data says. There definitely are things that legislators could do, but currently there isn't anything like that.

FEYERICK: In February, data broker ChoicePoint says it sold 145,000 personal profiles to identity thieves by mistake. The irony? It appears ChoicePoint never did a background check on the bogus company that bought its files.

Congress is now looking into that, fearful this is just the beginning.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Now to a CNN "Security Watch."

Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment against three terror suspects. The men are accused of scouting financial buildings here in the United States as possible targets. Prosecutors say there was a terrorist conspiracy to launch the attacks as recently as August of last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't believe this is any example of a failure. I believe this is an example of a success.

Information was developed, it was brought to the attention of the American people when the threat level was elevated. We have followed up on it very, very aggressively. But again, it highlights the nature of the enemy we face. And that's an enemy that is patient, that is spread throughout the world, and that is bent on killing Americans in a spectacular way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The suspects he's referring to all British citizens and are already in British custody. Let's go live to London to find out more and CNN's Matthew Chance.

Hello, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, hello to you as well.

And these three individuals are indeed in British custody. They face terrorism-related charges here in Britain as well. But what's interesting is that these are the first indictments that have been officially made in the public realm, as it were, by the U.S. government connecting these three individuals with a specific security alert in the United States.

All of the four indictments connecting these individuals with scouting various financial buildings in the United States, the Citibank building in New York, the New York Stock Exchange. The World Bank offices and the IMF offices in Washington, D.C. as well.

These are things -- there was a big security alert surrounding (ph) back in August 2004, when they were swooped upon by British security forces in and around Britain. All of the three individuals are British nationals. They're said to be all of South Asian origin and all part of this big roundup that's been under way in Britain over the past year or so of terror suspects in and around the country, in conjunction with U.S. and other intelligence networks around the world -- Carol.

COSTELLO: What will happen to these men now?

CHANCE: Well, these men now are remanded in custody in one of Britain's highest -- highest security facilities just outside of London. They're not given any access to obviously the media at all.

Also, the charges against them have not been made public here in Britain. The trial is taking place behind closed doors. So, again, that makes these specific indictments that have been made in the United States even more interesting for us here in Britain.

COSTELLO: More to come, I'm sure. Matthew Chance live from London this morning. Thank you.

Also in our "Security Watch," the man who caused a brief standoff at the U.S. Capitol may soon be packing his bags. It was on Monday the man stood before the Capitol with two suitcases by his side. Capitol Police tackled him, checked his bag for explosives. All they found was a CD player.

A Homeland Security Department spokesman says the man entered the country through a program not requiring a visa. And he will be deported because officials don't think he's mentally competent to be prosecuted.

Just a few blocks away from the Capitol, two U.S. Supreme Court justices were asking for more security. Justices Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy say they're worried about inadequate security at the high court, as well as their homes. The justices are asking Congress for nearly $640,000 to hire 11 new officers around the court.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

"A serial abuser," some of the many scathing words used to describe President Bush's choice for U.N. ambassador. But that's apparently not causing Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to waver in their support of John Bolton. And the Republicans do have the majority. So it looks like Bolton's nomination will pass when it comes to a vote later this week.

A former top State Department official was the only witness called to testify about Bolton. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL FORD, FMR. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: He's a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy. There are a lot of them around. I'm sure you've met them. But the fact is that he stands out, that he's got a bigger kick, and it gets bigger and stronger the further down the bureaucracy is kicking.

SEN. MEL MARTINEZ (R), FLORIDA: But you really cannot in good faith under oath suggest that you have the ability to tell this committee that this now represents a broader character flaw in Mr. Bolton's part. Can you?

FORD: You're absolutely correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Bolton has testified that he never tried to fire officials who disagreed with him.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, two courts, two states, four please. That's on suspected bomber Eric Rudolph's to-do list today. We'll explain just ahead.

Also, we'll meet a woman whose daughter paid the ultimate price for just witnessing a crime. We'll tell you her story.

Plus, hunters in Wisconsin take their sport very seriously. But look at what animal they've got in the crosshairs now. Those little kitties.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets are mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down by 32 points. The London FTSE up nearly 22. The German DAX up by, oh, 28.5 points or so.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:15 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

A New York grand jury has indicted three men accused of planning terrorist attacks on the New York Stock Exchange and other financial targets. The men, all with suspected al Qaeda ties, are already in custody in Britain.

Hundreds of pilgrims passed by the grave of Pope John Paul II this morning. The crypt underneath St. Peter's Basilica is opened to the public for the first time since the pope's burial. We'll have a live report from the Vatican coming up in less than 30 minutes.

In money news, rising oil prices are partially to blame for a new record trade deficit. February numbers show the U.S. deficit has risen to $61 billion.

In culture, Chad's favorite story of the morning. Britney Spears telling her fans that she's pregnant. It will be Britney's first, but husband Kevin Federline already has two children with an ex- girlfriend, one he never married. No word yet on a due date, but she signed the message on her Web page, "Love, Britney."

In sports, Sammy Sosa finally got his first homerun for his new team. His first Oriole's homerun was also the 575th of his career. He's eight behind Mark McGwire for six all time. And, by the way, the Orioles beat the Devil Rays 7-6 -- Chad.

MYERS: Hey, good morning, Carol. How are you this fine morning?

COSTELLO: I'm fine.

MYERS: Good.

COSTELLO: I'm happy for Britney.

MYERS: I am too.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: Although she has no idea how her life is going to change. And neither did I four months ago.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You know, Chad, I was checking out the price of a hotel room in Washington for next weekend.

MYERS: Isn't it now the most expensive city? I think the hotel...

COSTELLO: I was looking at a very modest hotel...

MYERS: Yes?

COSTELLO: ... right on Connecticut Avenue.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: The rooms were something like $350 per night.

MYERS: Wow.

COSTELLO: So we're staying in Virginia.

MYERS: I was going to say, you know, I used to live up in Greenbelt. You can get something nice around Goddard Space Flight Center for about $89.

COSTELLO: It will take us 45 minutes to get into Washington from there, but who cares?

MYERS: That's all right. Take the orange line.

COSTELLO: All right.

This is an interesting story we're going to report now, Chad. Are you listening?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Because it's part of our email "Question of the Morning."

MYERS: I know. This is so hard to report. I mean, where do you go...

COSTELLO: I know.

MYERS: You just have to read the text on this. It's so hard.

COSTELLO: It is, so I'm going to give it a go.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: In some parts of the world big cat hunting is considered the sport of kings. But what about small cat hunting?

In Wisconsin, they're considering a plan to make feral cats fair game. CNN's Wolf Blitzer takes a closer look at this brewing cat fight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where I can speak. Let me speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much love. He's so fluffy that a collar -- the collar can't be seen on him.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's enough to drive cat lovers crazy. In Madison, Wisconsin, a public hearing with more than 1,300 people. For many, the thought of shooting cats, wild or not, was intolerable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have to kill them, no. That's terrible.

BLITZER: More than a million feral, or wild cats, are believed to live in Wisconsin, and some say the population is out of control. They're proposing that feral cats be removed from the state's protected species list, which could make it legal to shoot them, like skunks or possums.

The Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a neutral group which sponsored the meetings, took a non-binding vote on the issue which will be passed on to the State Department of Natural Resources.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people that are here voting against it aren't realizing the whole question. We're not shooting cats in the city. We're shooting cats out in the wild.

BLITZER: Proponents say feral cats are wiping out some bird populations, while competing with owls and hawks for food. They also say feral cats can spread disease to other animals and even humans.

Opponents of the proposal don't buy it, and say it puts people's pets in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although there are inherent risks to being outdoors for any pet, being legally shot should not be one of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's almost impossible, for somebody, especially at a distance, to determine if a cat is somebody's beloved companion or a feral cat.

BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: OK. An update now. The ballots are in. Voters at the Conservation Congress approved the cat hunt by a pretty wide margin. But there are still several hurdles left before hunters can lock and load.

Here to talk more about the proposed measure is leading animal rescue expert Leo Grillo, who has volunteered to help save the feral cats of Wisconsin.

Welcome, Leo.

LEO GRILLO, FOUNDER, DELTA RESCUE: Good morning.

COSTELLO: OK. I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

GRILLO: OK.

COSTELLO: A feral cat ain't pleasant. They can be very mean, can't they?

GRILLO: You know, a feral cat's not going to get near you, first of all. So I wouldn't worry about running into a ferocious feral cat.

The cats are just like your house cat, except somebody's abandoned them. They've been domesticated for 5,000 years. Somebody abandoned one, they had kids, now they're feral cats.

Part of the problem here, though, is they're saying there are two million of these cats out there. And, you know, you've got to question the numbers.

Who did the counting? What are their credentials? Who compiled the figures and multiplied by the total square miles in Wisconsin, you know, to get two million?

You people are cold out in Wisconsin. Feral cats don't live an entire year in Wisconsin.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say, because I've covered these kinds of stories a lot throughout my career, that these cats can multiply very quickly, and they can really introduce some things into the community that you don't want. They're not especially clean, right?

GRILLO: No.

COSTELLO: And if you do corner them, they can be dangerous.

GRILLO: Well, I've never -- I've been rescuing them for 25 years. I don't corner feral cats. I don't even know what that is.

They always escape. I would love to corner them and catch them quicker. It doesn't happen.

Look, litters -- litters of kittens are born and most die. Most of the litters perish, you know, without -- without shelter. They perish from disease, they perish from exposure.

So, you know, I don't know believe these numbers of one unspayed cat will give you 10,000 kittens in a year. That's if you play the numbers. But they die, they just -- they simply don't -- don't make it. Now...

COSTELLO: So are you saying -- so are you saying there is no problem in Wisconsin and people just want to, you know, hunt cats for sport?

GRILLO: Well, that's a good point. However, I think if they do have a problem, if they're calling it a problem, I would say this... humans eat chicken, cats eat birds. You don't kill the cats for eating birds. You feed them cat food.

I think the problem is people's cats are roaming, free-roaming cats. They're owned cats; they're not feral cats. They're owned cats, they're cats that should be kept indoors. And this may be part of the problem. But you don't extrapolate numbers of one colony or one dense area and say that you have two million cats that are the problem.

COSTELLO: Just to get the other side in, I want to read a statement from Mark Smith. He's a proponent of this cat legislation.

He says, "The don't belong in the environment. All I want is for people to be responsible for them. If I catch a cat in the yard in a live trap, I should be able to put that animal down."

And, of course, there are many different ways you can put that animal down. You don't have to shoot the cat, right?

GRILLO: You know, oh my god. I mean, if he's getting off on putting something "down," I mean, I can't help the guy. But the fact of the matter is, these cats, once you trap them, give them a home, for god's sake.

They're unobtrusive. I mean, you can give a feral cat a home. You can have a couple of feral cats in your home and never see them and just know that you've fed them and...

COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Leo. You can't -- you can't have a feral...

GRILLO: Go on my Web site.

COSTELLO: ... cat for a house pet or a pet.

GRILLO: Thank you, Carol. You're a sweetheart. Go on my Web site. You're going to see over 500 feral cats running all over and being asked to be petted and jumping in people's laps. We rescue feral cats. DELTA Rescue rescues feral and abandoned cats, mostly feral. And when you go on the Web site, DeltaRescue.tv, you're going to see 500 cats that are just like your house cat. These are the animals that they're talking about.

I was "Cats: Caressing the Tiger." Fifteen years this has been on the air from "National Geographic," all right?

We've been out there 15 years with this very same point around the country. The fact of the matter is the cats that are abandoned, you can watch a rescue on the "National Geographic" show. The cats that are abandoned, the cats that are feral, are simply pets one step removed, all right?

And the cats that you see, hundreds of them, were all the cats that this man wants to kill in that trap. Look, if you can trap a cat, then you've done a wonderful thing. Now give them a home.

COSTELLO: Leo Grillo, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We do appreciate it.

GRILLO: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Well, we want to know what you think about Wisconsin's plan. Is shooting strays right or wrong? Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.COM, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. We want to know what you think.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I'm still recovering from the feral cat interview. I have a cat.

MYERS: I'm glad you had to do it. I was sitting here listening to it, and they wanted me to say something. And I didn't know what to say.

The guy's rescued 500 cats. Well, he's got 995,500 to go if there's a million cats in Wisconsin.

COSTELLO: Well, it will be interesting to see what people think about that.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Right now, though, we want to laugh a bit.

MYERS: Oh, please.

COSTELLO: We have a mixed bag of comedians this morning, Chad.

MYERS: Oh, good. Something.

COSTELLO: So let's check it out.

MYERS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": The president has an iPod. And I don't believe the president should have an iPod. I'm sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

I believe that the iPod is -- I don't like the idea of the president sitting at a computer downloading songs. Just sitting around going, what's that song I like from Deep Purple? I like Deep Purple. I like Deep Purple. I want to -- I want to find that song.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Listen, don't get me started. I am having such a miserable day. Here's what happened today.

For lunch today I just said, "I'm going over to Wendy's." And I get over to Wendy's, they're all out of body parts.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well, MSNBC is predicting that the archbishop of Bombay could be the new pope. Bombay? Even the job of pope being outsourced to India now. This is unbelievable.

(LAUGHTER)

Are there any jobs left? Any jobs?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: That was the best one, I think.

COSTELLO: Nothing is sacred, though. You can joke about anything these days, right?

MYERS: Well, the body part one wasn't very funny actually from Leno -- or from Letterman. Anyway.

COSTELLO: Yes, it was about that woman who supposedly found the finger -- yes, we won't get into that.

MYERS: Parts -- parts, I know.

COSTELLO: It's too early, and I know people are eating breakfast.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Openers" right now. Let's get right to them.

Nearly half a million people every year take a ride on Hungary's Children's Railway. The full-size train is operated almost entirely by children between the ages of 10 and 14. The kids to do everything but drive the train. And thank goodness for that.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Yes, I was wondering.

COSTELLO: That would be bad. Anyway, they're excused from school to work on the railroad.

There's a real live whale swimming in Trenton, New Jersey, Chad.

MYERS: The Delaware River. There he is.

COSTELLO: That's crazy.

MYERS: He's a beluga.

COSTELLO: This is -- this is right near the city's minor league baseball stadium. Somehow this 11-foot long beluga made its way 80 miles up the Delaware River from the Atlantic Ocean. Police patrolling the river have been keeping boaters at a safe distance while trying to coax the whale back down the river.

MYERS: I think all that fresh water that we had, all that rain in the past couple of weeks, will probably coax him back down toward the salt water eventually.

COSTELLO: We hope so.

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