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CNN Live At Daybreak

Runaway Bride; Prison Abuse Plea; New Planet

Aired May 02, 2005 - 06:30   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, cold feet. They could land this bride-to-be in hot water.
And it's big. It's faraway, and it has never been seen before. We'll tell you what has astronomers all abuzz.

It is Monday, May 2. You are watching 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."

The White House is consulting with governments in Asia after North Korea apparently tested a short-range missile that landed in the Sea of Japan. The State Department is using Pyongyang to continue its moratorium on ballistic tests.

The North Korean missile test will be discussed today when the United Nations gathers to review the Nuclear and Nonproliferation Treaty. U.S. negotiators want the conference on keeping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but non-nuclear states also want to look at nations that have already have the bomb, like the United States.

In Baghdad, there have been four car bombings today. At least 11 Iraqi civilians are killed, another 29 injured. The head of Iraq's commando forces escaped one of the blasts.

Australian Douglas Woods appears in a videotape. He's been taken hostage in Iraq and urges Australia to withdraw its troops from Iraq. The prime minister, John Howard, is standing firm. He says no withdrawal.

To the forecast center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: This will be another anxious day for the Georgia runaway bride. There is a possibility now she could face charges. Jennifer Wilbanks, wearing that towel over her head, returned home to Georgia from New Mexico on Saturday, but did she walk straight into legal trouble.

CNN's Charles Molineaux joins us from Duluth, Georgia with the latest.

What are prosecutors saying?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a real possibility we could see something happen on that front, Carol. This is the sort of thing that you normally see worked out between two people, or at most two families. But now, we've got the whole country in on it.

Let the society columns report that the bride wore stripes, colored ones, for her walk down the concourse in Albuquerque's airport on Saturday. That's when Jennifer Wilbanks made her flight back home to Georgia to face the music. Her fiance, John Mason, their families and their hometown, Duluth, Georgia, were expecting the worst when she went missing last Tuesday.

The news that she took off on a bus to Las Vegas and ended up in Albuquerque, telling a phony story about being kidnapped, stunned two families and a whole community, keeping in mind that they spent a lot of energy, effort, emotion and money looking for her.

Well, now the district attorney here in Gwinnett County, Georgia, says that freaking out and skipping town before a big wedding on the spur of the moment is one thing, but if Jennifer Wilbanks actually planned out her disappearance, she could get hit with criminal charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Two crimes could be applicable. One is misdemeanor false report of a crime. The second is a felony and it's called false statements. And that's any false statement in any governmental matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOLINEAUX: That's D.A. Danny Porter. And he says that his office is going to start going over the evidence today. Some of it doesn't look so good. A source close to the investigation tells CNN Jennifer Wilbanks bought her bus ticket days in advance, arranged transportation to the bus station in advance, and cut her hair to avoid being recognized.

But some people close to the couple say that they have, in fact, spoken. And on her trip home, Wilbanks said that the wedding has been merely postponed, not canceled, although one development they may now have to wait for is a criminal investigation of the bride -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, Charles, I wanted to ask you about this, because that was our e-mail question in the 5:00 a.m. Eastern hour of DAYBREAK. You know, people could pretty much understand if she wanted to disappear because she had cold feet, right? But when she made that 911 call, that's when the tide turned for most of our viewers. Will that be the deciding factor? I mean, the premeditation stuff I understand, too, but the 911 call, where she said a Mexican and a white woman abducted her in a blue van. She was crying. She is a great actress. MOLINEAUX: Oh, disturbingly so. You've got to wonder if perhaps this emotional state that you heard was not so much that of someone who had just been kidnapped, but maybe someone who realized that she had made some colossal mistake an was in the process of doing some serious tap dance to cover for it.

But the fact that she actually did plan this out, you can almost imagine, OK, maybe she really did have some sort of a moment and just took off. But it doesn't look like that, and that is something that the investigators are looking at. If she actually did something along the lines of setting up this bus ticket ahead of time, now we're talking about a plan to deceive people.

And a deceptive plan is something that the D.A. said that he does not like the sound of. As he put it, if she just freaked out and skipped out, that would be one thing. It's a little different if she actually was making a plan to disappear, and then on top of everything else, starts making fake statements to the police and the FBI, who are also involved in Duluth and in Albuquerque.

Now we're talking about some possible serious charges that may not have been the product of somebody in a state of pre-wedding jitters, but somebody actually thinking this through and trying to deceive people.

COSTELLO: OK, one last question. She says that the marriage has been postponed. Really?

MOLINEAUX: That's what she said on the plane flying back. We have not heard much from her fiance about this. We're told that they have spoken. But everybody in the family has been very quiet. If the wedding goes forward, he's got to be one really understanding guy.

COSTELLO: That's the understatement of the morning. Charles Molineaux reporting live for us from Duluth, Georgia. Thank you.

Let's talk about Army Reservist Lynndie England now. She's expected to plead guilty today. She's hoping for a lesser sentence for her part in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

For more on the England plea, we're joined by CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's in Fort Hood, Texas, this morning.

Good morning -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, this is supposed to start in about three-and-a-half hours from now. The young Army reservist from rural West Virginia, whose face is now known around the world as those notorious photos from Abu Ghraib, will face a jury.

The plea comes as no surprise to many. She gave birth to a baby boy last October, said to be fathered by the soldier convicted as the ringleader of the abuse, Charles Graner. And she doesn't want to be separated from her baby.

England has long maintained, as have others, that she was following orders to soften up detainees for interrogation, including holding a prisoner by a leash and that now infamous naked human pyramid.

So far, a court-martial judge and juries have rejected that defense. CNN has been told that England, who, remember, was a clerk, not a prison guard, is expected to plead guilty to reduced charges, including conspiracy and abuse. That means that her maximum penalty exposure drops from 16 to 11 years.

Now, once a plea is accepted, England is expected to ask the judge for a jury to decide her penalty. That would probably begin on Tuesday. And there are signs that both sides have agreed to a ceiling or a cap on the penalty, such as two years.

So, if a jury ultimately gives her more time, that would be ignored, and a lower cap would be presented upon her, and that would work, of course, to England's advantage.

COSTELLO: It certainly would. We are looking at pictures of Lynndie England with Charles Graner, who was also involved in this prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. Is she going to say that he sort of led her down the wrong path? I mean, he supposedly got her pregnant. Her education level is going to come up. Can you expound on those things for us?

CANDIOTTI: Well, these are things that no one would be surprised if they came up. But naturally, we don't know exactly what her defense attorneys have planned. But Charles Graner, as you indicated, he is on her witness list. It's interesting to note that he is now married to someone else who was convicted in this scandal. And, of course, England herself will have an opportunity to take the stand to, for the first time, explain what happened in her own words, explain that to a jury.

So, we'll have to see what happens later in the week.

COSTELLO: We'll all be listening. It should be fascinating. Susan Candiotti reporting live from Fort Hood, Texas, this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, we'll look at the celestial red speck that has astronomers all over the world talking.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets are mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down more than 6 points, the London FTSE up 11.5, the German DAX up 45.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. The White House is urging North Korea to continue its moratorium on ballistic missile tests. It comes one day after the communist test-fired a short-range missile that landed in the Sea of Japan.

In money news, Alan Greenspan and his gang are poised to raise interest rates tomorrow. Experts predict a quarter-point hike to help combat inflation. That will bring interest rates on short-term loans to 3 percent.

In culture, the weeklong New Orleans Jazz Fest is a wrap. The Nevelle Brothers and Isaac Hayes were among the featured acts in the Big Easy on the final day, Sunday.

In sports, the reigning NBA champion Detroit Pistons have a 3-1 playoff series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers after last night's 97- 92 overtime win. Miami and Phoenix each won their first-round series.

To the forecast center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, a new planet that may be five times the size of Jupiter. Miles, what gives?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the question is, Carol: Would you want to live there? It's not the best place to be, not the kind of place to raise your kids. Coming up, we'll show you what it's like to go planet-hunting as DAYBREAK spins along.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Pentagon finally agrees to release photos of flag- draped coffins carrying U.S. soldiers killed in action.

Bill Hemmer is here with a preview of "AMERICAN MORNING's" look at this controversial story.

Good morning -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you on a Monday.

An unusual move, too, from the Pentagon, releasing hundreds of these photos, showing the coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers, this from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's somewhat of a turnaround by the Department of Defense. We will meet the man this morning who fought so hard to make it happen.

Also, that remarkable story, two teenage boys lost at sea for almost a week. They were found on Saturday a hundred miles from where they were last seen. How they survived, and we'll talk to one of the boys' fathers, too. They say it rained once over that period, Carol. And that is tough-going. So, you'll meet them this morning and let you know how they're doing today. It's a Monday.

COSTELLO: We were wondering...

HEMMER: What's that?

COSTELLO: We were wondering whether that was close to the Bermuda Triangle.

HEMMER: I don't think they went far enough east to get out into that. But we'll get an answer for you on that.

COSTELLO: That would be a good twist, wouldn't it?

HEMMER: I think I like that. See you later.

COSTELLO: We'll ask Chad.

HEMMER: All right.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Bill.

It is 6:50 Eastern. Here is what will be making news today.

A month-long conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty begins today at the United Nations. Washington wants the sessions to focus on keeping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Prosecutors in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial plan to wrap up their case this week. They'll call their final witnesses today and tomorrow.

And the battle over same-sex marriages goes before the highest court in Massachusetts today. A Catholic advocacy group wants to halt gay marriage until voters can decide the issue. Around 5,000 such marriages have taken place since they were legalized one year ago.

All of that stuff you learned about stars and planets, well, some of it is changing. It seems that some astronomers believe they have found another planet.

For all of the info on this, we turn to CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien. He's live in Atlanta, and he knows everything about space.

O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh, Carol, thank you so much. With that introduction, I'm doomed.

But anyway, let's talk about planets. Actually, the truth is astronomers in recent years have discovered about 140 extra solar planets, planets outside our solar system. But the way they discover them is kind of tricky, because -- well, let's look at this other camera here. Let's say you wanted to find Earth, all right? Earth is spinning around here. The problem with Earth or any other planet out there around the solar system is its nearest star. OK? And as that star lights up the planet, it makes it nearly impossible for the astronomers to pick it out. OK? So, what they've done over the years, Carol, is they have noticed that those stars wobble ever so imperceptibly as those planets orbit about them. You see a wobbling star, you can say, hey, there's a planet.

Now, what makes this discovery kind of interesting is that they've actually seen what they think, they think, could be another planet. Let's show you the picture, first of all. It's -- OK, it's nothing to write home about unless you're an astronomer.

Now, first of all, what we're talking here is this object right over here on the left-hand portion of the screen here. And this particular object could be a planet, and it could be what's known as a brown dwarf. This larger object is, in fact, a brown dwarf. It's about 20 times larger than Jupiter. And the distance between these two objects is about 55 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

So, if you were to be on this particular, perhaps, planet, it would be rather cold. It's about 5 times bigger than Jupiter, and it is about 100 times lighter than the larger object is nearby. A brown dwarf, by the way, Carol -- I know you want to know...

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... a failed star.

COSTELLO: Oh.

O'BRIEN: A star that doesn't have enough nuclear fuel to have a fusion.

Now, let's do an artist rendering of this, because this kind of helps out a little bit. In the foreground is the brown dwarf, which is a star that just never got going. It could have been a contender. It didn't quite make it. Off in the distance is this item.

Now, could it be just a mini-brown dwarf maybe? Scientists aren't sure. How do you define a planet is the big question?

Let's look at Jupiter, because we've been talking about Jupiter so much. Jupiter is 10 times the size of our planet, and these objects are much bigger than Jupiter. But you can't land on Jupiter. It's just a big gas bag. And so, while it's a planet, it's not a planet in the sense that we would think of a planet having life.

No, the real object is defined this: Coming up, the pale blue dot. Now, this would be hard to find, because, of course, it's not nearly as big. Jupiter is 10 times bigger than we are. All right? And you want to find a planet that is terrestrial, has a hard surface. And the key is you want to find the Goldilocks planet. You know what that means, right?

COSTELLO: That the three bears are there?

O'BRIEN: No, no. Well, three bears would be good, yes.

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Not too hot, not too cold.

COSTELLO: Oh.

O'BRIEN: Just the right temperature for liquid water to exist. And if you find that Goldilocks planet, then you have found the Holy Grail.

COSTELLO: OK...

O'BRIEN: In the meantime, this is exciting for scientists, because they've actually laid eyes, they think, on another planet without having to do the wobble thing.

COSTELLO: So, how do they figure out if it has these characteristics? How do they find out? Do they have to, like, go up there and send a probe?

O'BRIEN: Yes, you want to go? You want to come with me?

COSTELLO: Oh, that would be great.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's go.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll plan that out.

O'BRIEN: All right.

COSTELLO: You talk to NASA. You've got the sources.

O'BRIEN: Yes, all right.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: We'll get it taken care of.

COSTELLO: Fascinating stuff. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right, OK, see you.

COSTELLO: Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol.

COSTELLO: It is time to give away the DAYBREAK coffee mug.

MYERS: It is. But I've been working on the Bermuda Triangle for you.

COSTELLO: Oh! Were they in the Bermuda Triangle?

MYERS: They were not, because the line is from Miami to Bermuda, and that's a far cry from where they were just off Cape Fear.

COSTELLO: OK. Thanks for checking. MYERS: I was making a graphic, but Miles didn't talk long enough for me to actually get it all done. But that's all right.

Let's give away a coffee mug from Friday. The questions and the answers here now. The first question was about, I think about the Wynn resort, the Wynn Las Vegas and all of that. So, how many employees does the Wynn Las Vegas, the new big casino out there? Ten thousand employees now. And that's actually more employees than people. So there you go. And now the second question was, what state legislature just approved daylight saving time? And that was Indiana.

The winner, John Brittigan from Atlanta, Texas. That's a DAYBREAK mug going to Texas today.

Now the questions for today. Where did the North Korea missile land? They shot a little missile off yesterday, the day before yesterday. Where did it actually come down? And the second question, how many arrests have there been in the Massachusetts buried treasure case? "Arrests" is the key word there.

CNN.com/daybreak. Your answers there, please. We'll give away that mug tomorrow.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will. And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Travelers' update.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello along Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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 May 2, 2005 - 06:30   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, cold feet. They could land this bride-to-be in hot water.
And it's big. It's faraway, and it has never been seen before. We'll tell you what has astronomers all abuzz.

It is Monday, May 2. You are watching 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."

The White House is consulting with governments in Asia after North Korea apparently tested a short-range missile that landed in the Sea of Japan. The State Department is using Pyongyang to continue its moratorium on ballistic tests.

The North Korean missile test will be discussed today when the United Nations gathers to review the Nuclear and Nonproliferation Treaty. U.S. negotiators want the conference on keeping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but non-nuclear states also want to look at nations that have already have the bomb, like the United States.

In Baghdad, there have been four car bombings today. At least 11 Iraqi civilians are killed, another 29 injured. The head of Iraq's commando forces escaped one of the blasts.

Australian Douglas Woods appears in a videotape. He's been taken hostage in Iraq and urges Australia to withdraw its troops from Iraq. The prime minister, John Howard, is standing firm. He says no withdrawal.

To the forecast center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: This will be another anxious day for the Georgia runaway bride. There is a possibility now she could face charges. Jennifer Wilbanks, wearing that towel over her head, returned home to Georgia from New Mexico on Saturday, but did she walk straight into legal trouble.

CNN's Charles Molineaux joins us from Duluth, Georgia with the latest.

What are prosecutors saying?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a real possibility we could see something happen on that front, Carol. This is the sort of thing that you normally see worked out between two people, or at most two families. But now, we've got the whole country in on it.

Let the society columns report that the bride wore stripes, colored ones, for her walk down the concourse in Albuquerque's airport on Saturday. That's when Jennifer Wilbanks made her flight back home to Georgia to face the music. Her fiance, John Mason, their families and their hometown, Duluth, Georgia, were expecting the worst when she went missing last Tuesday.

The news that she took off on a bus to Las Vegas and ended up in Albuquerque, telling a phony story about being kidnapped, stunned two families and a whole community, keeping in mind that they spent a lot of energy, effort, emotion and money looking for her.

Well, now the district attorney here in Gwinnett County, Georgia, says that freaking out and skipping town before a big wedding on the spur of the moment is one thing, but if Jennifer Wilbanks actually planned out her disappearance, she could get hit with criminal charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Two crimes could be applicable. One is misdemeanor false report of a crime. The second is a felony and it's called false statements. And that's any false statement in any governmental matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOLINEAUX: That's D.A. Danny Porter. And he says that his office is going to start going over the evidence today. Some of it doesn't look so good. A source close to the investigation tells CNN Jennifer Wilbanks bought her bus ticket days in advance, arranged transportation to the bus station in advance, and cut her hair to avoid being recognized.

But some people close to the couple say that they have, in fact, spoken. And on her trip home, Wilbanks said that the wedding has been merely postponed, not canceled, although one development they may now have to wait for is a criminal investigation of the bride -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, Charles, I wanted to ask you about this, because that was our e-mail question in the 5:00 a.m. Eastern hour of DAYBREAK. You know, people could pretty much understand if she wanted to disappear because she had cold feet, right? But when she made that 911 call, that's when the tide turned for most of our viewers. Will that be the deciding factor? I mean, the premeditation stuff I understand, too, but the 911 call, where she said a Mexican and a white woman abducted her in a blue van. She was crying. She is a great actress. MOLINEAUX: Oh, disturbingly so. You've got to wonder if perhaps this emotional state that you heard was not so much that of someone who had just been kidnapped, but maybe someone who realized that she had made some colossal mistake an was in the process of doing some serious tap dance to cover for it.

But the fact that she actually did plan this out, you can almost imagine, OK, maybe she really did have some sort of a moment and just took off. But it doesn't look like that, and that is something that the investigators are looking at. If she actually did something along the lines of setting up this bus ticket ahead of time, now we're talking about a plan to deceive people.

And a deceptive plan is something that the D.A. said that he does not like the sound of. As he put it, if she just freaked out and skipped out, that would be one thing. It's a little different if she actually was making a plan to disappear, and then on top of everything else, starts making fake statements to the police and the FBI, who are also involved in Duluth and in Albuquerque.

Now we're talking about some possible serious charges that may not have been the product of somebody in a state of pre-wedding jitters, but somebody actually thinking this through and trying to deceive people.

COSTELLO: OK, one last question. She says that the marriage has been postponed. Really?

MOLINEAUX: That's what she said on the plane flying back. We have not heard much from her fiance about this. We're told that they have spoken. But everybody in the family has been very quiet. If the wedding goes forward, he's got to be one really understanding guy.

COSTELLO: That's the understatement of the morning. Charles Molineaux reporting live for us from Duluth, Georgia. Thank you.

Let's talk about Army Reservist Lynndie England now. She's expected to plead guilty today. She's hoping for a lesser sentence for her part in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

For more on the England plea, we're joined by CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's in Fort Hood, Texas, this morning.

Good morning -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, this is supposed to start in about three-and-a-half hours from now. The young Army reservist from rural West Virginia, whose face is now known around the world as those notorious photos from Abu Ghraib, will face a jury.

The plea comes as no surprise to many. She gave birth to a baby boy last October, said to be fathered by the soldier convicted as the ringleader of the abuse, Charles Graner. And she doesn't want to be separated from her baby.

England has long maintained, as have others, that she was following orders to soften up detainees for interrogation, including holding a prisoner by a leash and that now infamous naked human pyramid.

So far, a court-martial judge and juries have rejected that defense. CNN has been told that England, who, remember, was a clerk, not a prison guard, is expected to plead guilty to reduced charges, including conspiracy and abuse. That means that her maximum penalty exposure drops from 16 to 11 years.

Now, once a plea is accepted, England is expected to ask the judge for a jury to decide her penalty. That would probably begin on Tuesday. And there are signs that both sides have agreed to a ceiling or a cap on the penalty, such as two years.

So, if a jury ultimately gives her more time, that would be ignored, and a lower cap would be presented upon her, and that would work, of course, to England's advantage.

COSTELLO: It certainly would. We are looking at pictures of Lynndie England with Charles Graner, who was also involved in this prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. Is she going to say that he sort of led her down the wrong path? I mean, he supposedly got her pregnant. Her education level is going to come up. Can you expound on those things for us?

CANDIOTTI: Well, these are things that no one would be surprised if they came up. But naturally, we don't know exactly what her defense attorneys have planned. But Charles Graner, as you indicated, he is on her witness list. It's interesting to note that he is now married to someone else who was convicted in this scandal. And, of course, England herself will have an opportunity to take the stand to, for the first time, explain what happened in her own words, explain that to a jury.

So, we'll have to see what happens later in the week.

COSTELLO: We'll all be listening. It should be fascinating. Susan Candiotti reporting live from Fort Hood, Texas, this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, we'll look at the celestial red speck that has astronomers all over the world talking.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets are mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down more than 6 points, the London FTSE up 11.5, the German DAX up 45.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. The White House is urging North Korea to continue its moratorium on ballistic missile tests. It comes one day after the communist test-fired a short-range missile that landed in the Sea of Japan.

In money news, Alan Greenspan and his gang are poised to raise interest rates tomorrow. Experts predict a quarter-point hike to help combat inflation. That will bring interest rates on short-term loans to 3 percent.

In culture, the weeklong New Orleans Jazz Fest is a wrap. The Nevelle Brothers and Isaac Hayes were among the featured acts in the Big Easy on the final day, Sunday.

In sports, the reigning NBA champion Detroit Pistons have a 3-1 playoff series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers after last night's 97- 92 overtime win. Miami and Phoenix each won their first-round series.

To the forecast center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, a new planet that may be five times the size of Jupiter. Miles, what gives?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the question is, Carol: Would you want to live there? It's not the best place to be, not the kind of place to raise your kids. Coming up, we'll show you what it's like to go planet-hunting as DAYBREAK spins along.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Pentagon finally agrees to release photos of flag- draped coffins carrying U.S. soldiers killed in action.

Bill Hemmer is here with a preview of "AMERICAN MORNING's" look at this controversial story.

Good morning -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you on a Monday.

An unusual move, too, from the Pentagon, releasing hundreds of these photos, showing the coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers, this from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's somewhat of a turnaround by the Department of Defense. We will meet the man this morning who fought so hard to make it happen.

Also, that remarkable story, two teenage boys lost at sea for almost a week. They were found on Saturday a hundred miles from where they were last seen. How they survived, and we'll talk to one of the boys' fathers, too. They say it rained once over that period, Carol. And that is tough-going. So, you'll meet them this morning and let you know how they're doing today. It's a Monday.

COSTELLO: We were wondering...

HEMMER: What's that?

COSTELLO: We were wondering whether that was close to the Bermuda Triangle.

HEMMER: I don't think they went far enough east to get out into that. But we'll get an answer for you on that.

COSTELLO: That would be a good twist, wouldn't it?

HEMMER: I think I like that. See you later.

COSTELLO: We'll ask Chad.

HEMMER: All right.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Bill.

It is 6:50 Eastern. Here is what will be making news today.

A month-long conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty begins today at the United Nations. Washington wants the sessions to focus on keeping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Prosecutors in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial plan to wrap up their case this week. They'll call their final witnesses today and tomorrow.

And the battle over same-sex marriages goes before the highest court in Massachusetts today. A Catholic advocacy group wants to halt gay marriage until voters can decide the issue. Around 5,000 such marriages have taken place since they were legalized one year ago.

All of that stuff you learned about stars and planets, well, some of it is changing. It seems that some astronomers believe they have found another planet.

For all of the info on this, we turn to CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien. He's live in Atlanta, and he knows everything about space.

O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh, Carol, thank you so much. With that introduction, I'm doomed.

But anyway, let's talk about planets. Actually, the truth is astronomers in recent years have discovered about 140 extra solar planets, planets outside our solar system. But the way they discover them is kind of tricky, because -- well, let's look at this other camera here. Let's say you wanted to find Earth, all right? Earth is spinning around here. The problem with Earth or any other planet out there around the solar system is its nearest star. OK? And as that star lights up the planet, it makes it nearly impossible for the astronomers to pick it out. OK? So, what they've done over the years, Carol, is they have noticed that those stars wobble ever so imperceptibly as those planets orbit about them. You see a wobbling star, you can say, hey, there's a planet.

Now, what makes this discovery kind of interesting is that they've actually seen what they think, they think, could be another planet. Let's show you the picture, first of all. It's -- OK, it's nothing to write home about unless you're an astronomer.

Now, first of all, what we're talking here is this object right over here on the left-hand portion of the screen here. And this particular object could be a planet, and it could be what's known as a brown dwarf. This larger object is, in fact, a brown dwarf. It's about 20 times larger than Jupiter. And the distance between these two objects is about 55 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

So, if you were to be on this particular, perhaps, planet, it would be rather cold. It's about 5 times bigger than Jupiter, and it is about 100 times lighter than the larger object is nearby. A brown dwarf, by the way, Carol -- I know you want to know...

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... a failed star.

COSTELLO: Oh.

O'BRIEN: A star that doesn't have enough nuclear fuel to have a fusion.

Now, let's do an artist rendering of this, because this kind of helps out a little bit. In the foreground is the brown dwarf, which is a star that just never got going. It could have been a contender. It didn't quite make it. Off in the distance is this item.

Now, could it be just a mini-brown dwarf maybe? Scientists aren't sure. How do you define a planet is the big question?

Let's look at Jupiter, because we've been talking about Jupiter so much. Jupiter is 10 times the size of our planet, and these objects are much bigger than Jupiter. But you can't land on Jupiter. It's just a big gas bag. And so, while it's a planet, it's not a planet in the sense that we would think of a planet having life.

No, the real object is defined this: Coming up, the pale blue dot. Now, this would be hard to find, because, of course, it's not nearly as big. Jupiter is 10 times bigger than we are. All right? And you want to find a planet that is terrestrial, has a hard surface. And the key is you want to find the Goldilocks planet. You know what that means, right?

COSTELLO: That the three bears are there?

O'BRIEN: No, no. Well, three bears would be good, yes.

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Not too hot, not too cold.

COSTELLO: Oh.

O'BRIEN: Just the right temperature for liquid water to exist. And if you find that Goldilocks planet, then you have found the Holy Grail.

COSTELLO: OK...

O'BRIEN: In the meantime, this is exciting for scientists, because they've actually laid eyes, they think, on another planet without having to do the wobble thing.

COSTELLO: So, how do they figure out if it has these characteristics? How do they find out? Do they have to, like, go up there and send a probe?

O'BRIEN: Yes, you want to go? You want to come with me?

COSTELLO: Oh, that would be great.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's go.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll plan that out.

O'BRIEN: All right.

COSTELLO: You talk to NASA. You've got the sources.

O'BRIEN: Yes, all right.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: We'll get it taken care of.

COSTELLO: Fascinating stuff. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right, OK, see you.

COSTELLO: Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol.

COSTELLO: It is time to give away the DAYBREAK coffee mug.

MYERS: It is. But I've been working on the Bermuda Triangle for you.

COSTELLO: Oh! Were they in the Bermuda Triangle?

MYERS: They were not, because the line is from Miami to Bermuda, and that's a far cry from where they were just off Cape Fear.

COSTELLO: OK. Thanks for checking. MYERS: I was making a graphic, but Miles didn't talk long enough for me to actually get it all done. But that's all right.

Let's give away a coffee mug from Friday. The questions and the answers here now. The first question was about, I think about the Wynn resort, the Wynn Las Vegas and all of that. So, how many employees does the Wynn Las Vegas, the new big casino out there? Ten thousand employees now. And that's actually more employees than people. So there you go. And now the second question was, what state legislature just approved daylight saving time? And that was Indiana.

The winner, John Brittigan from Atlanta, Texas. That's a DAYBREAK mug going to Texas today.

Now the questions for today. Where did the North Korea missile land? They shot a little missile off yesterday, the day before yesterday. Where did it actually come down? And the second question, how many arrests have there been in the Massachusetts buried treasure case? "Arrests" is the key word there.

CNN.com/daybreak. Your answers there, please. We'll give away that mug tomorrow.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will. And you are watching DAYBREAK for a Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Travelers' update.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello along Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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