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CNN Live At Daybreak
Blair's Victory; A Harrowing Tale; Mob Doctors
Aired May 06, 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."
This just in to CNN, the bodies of 14 people who had been shot and killed were found in Baghdad this morning. An Iraqi soldier says some of the victims were blindfolded and then shot in the head execution style. The victims, believed to be Iraqis, were found buried in shallow graves and they're believed to have been killed recently.
President Bush is getting ready to leave for Europe. The main event will be a celebration in Moscow Monday marking the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Tony Blair has won a third term as British Prime Minister, something his Labour Party has never done before, but the party has lost a lot of seats in Parliament. It's seen as backlash over Blair's support for the Iraq War.
Florida police are looking for this man, Patrick Wayne Bell. He's described as a repeat sexual offender who preys on children. Police say Bell cut off his tracking device and fled from his mother's home in Riviera Beach.
And NASA has released this image of what's known as the "Sombrero Galaxy," because, of course, of its resemblance to the Mexican hat. The picture combines images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and its Hubble Telescope. The Sombrero is the size of 800 billion suns. That's hard to wrap your mind around, 800 billion suns -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The size of our universe is hard to get your hand around as well. I mean just -- I didn't see the sombrero part. It kind of looked like the rings...
COSTELLO: Well it's the rim of the sombrero.
MYERS: Well it should be called the rim of the sombrero galaxy, shouldn't it?
COSTELLO: Picky, picky.
MYERS: I know.
Good morning, everybody. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: President Bush's staunchest European ally, Tony Blair, has won re-election as Prime Minister of Britain. But that alliance with the president and his war in Iraq has hurt the British leader.
CNN's Matthew Chance has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a birthday victory for Tony Blair, but at a cost. At 52, he has led his Labour Party to an historic third term but with its parliamentary majority slashed. They celebrated anyway.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I know it's been very tough and hard at points over these past few weeks, but I think we can be really proud of what we've achieved and we can be very determined and committed as to what we can achieve now. We've got a mandate to govern this country again.
CHANCE: But this was also a public rebuke for the Blair leadership. One candidate who stood against him, the father of a British soldier killed in Iraq, spoke against the war, many in the country opposed, and blamed Tony Blair for unjustifiably involving Britain.
REG KEYS, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: If this law (ph) had been justified by international law, I would have grieved and not campaigned. If weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, again, I would have grieved, not campaigned. Tonight there are lessons to be learned. And I hope in my heart that one day the prime minister may be able to say sorry.
CHANCE: Another of Blair's archrivals over Iraq went further. This time, after overturning a Labour majority in East London for the anti-war party Respect.
GEORGE GALLOWAY, RESPECT PARTY: Mr. Blair, this is for Iraq. This defeat that you have suffered and all the other defeats that new Labour has suffered this evening is for Iraq. All the people you killed, all the lies you told have come back to haunt you. And the best thing the Labour Party could do is sack you tomorrow morning.
CHANCE: Standing to benefit from Blair's poor showing is his finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown has tips to succeed him as prime minister, perhaps midterm.
Opposition parties have also been strengthened. The Conservative leader, Michael Howard, campaigned hard for tougher immigration controls, more pleating (ph) and lower taxes, issues that proved potent among the electorate but not enough to topple the government. Charles Kennedy and his liberal Democrats have also gained ground, winning seats on public approval of their opposition to the Iraq War.
Voter turnout was an estimated 65 percent, relatively low in Britain. And after a lackluster campaign, apathy seems to have been a factor in returning the same family for a third time to the prime minister's house.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still in Britain, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain will reopen today after being closed because of a whole slew of problems. The multi-million dollar park will reopen with an improved drainage system, tougher grass, a new footpath. And the fountain will get a rougher surface, because people would slip and fall in the water because the fountain was made to walk in but it was too slippery and people were being injured. So now they've put a different floor in the fountain. Repairs have been made.
Some people say the new safer features have destroyed, though, the peace and tranquility of the park -- tranquility the park was meant to represent.
Now some follow up reports.
Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks says she's sorry. Wilbanks issued a statement apologizing for the trouble she caused when she flew to New Mexico just days before her wedding. She has asked for forgiveness and said she is seeking professional treatment. Wilbanks said her actions had nothing to do with her not wanting to get married.
Of course she didn't say anything and she didn't say this herself. Her statement was read by her family's minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. THOMAS SMILEY, PASTOR, LAKEWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH: Jennifer writes, at this time I cannot fully explain what happened to me last week. I had a host of compelling issues, which seemed out of control. Issues for which I was unable to address or confine. Please may I assure you that my running away had nothing to do with cold feet, nor was it ever about leaving John.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now an update on the Atlanta courthouse shooting case. Suspect Brian Nichols faces a 54-count indictment. The charges stem from the March 11 rampage that left four people dead, including a judge and a sheriff's deputy. No trial date has been set.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL HOWARD, FULTON CO. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The Fulton County grand jury has returned a 54-count indictment against Brian Gene Nichols for the March 11 murder of Judge Rowland Barnes, the court reporter Julie Brandau, Sergeant Hoyt Teasely and Special Agent David Wilhelm. After discussions with the family members involved with each of the victims, the state is announcing today our intention to seek the death penalty in this matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: New York investigators are asking for your help in tracking down whoever is responsible for yesterday's explosion in Manhattan. Two grenades exploded outside of an office building housing the British Consulate Office. Police are going over surveillance video that seemed to show at least one grenade being thrown at the building.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: We're here, we're asking for help, asking for the public's help to say we're -- you know, again, anyone in the area who said they were -- people there just shortly before, this bicyclist, there was a jogger and someone in a taxicab. Anybody with information, we ask them to call our tips hotline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police say they're not even sure what the target of the explosion was or what the motive was. The blast caused minor damage and no injuries.
There is much more ahead on DAYBREAK.
At 19 minutes before the hour, the Coast Guard did all it could for these fishermen caught in a storm at sea. We'll bring you their story.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Two South Carolina teenagers are eternally thankful for their rescue at sea before a fishing boat found them 15 miles out in the Atlantic. The teenagers survived nearly a week adrift, starving, freezing at night, sunburned during the day.
Unfortunately, the harrowing tale of four Georgia fishing buddies did not end so happily.
Gary Tuchman has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is beautiful and peaceful, and that's why this area outside of Monticello, Georgia is where Mike Jackson likes to fish and likes to think. The solitude is atonic, as he recovers from a 54-hour nightmare that profoundly changed his life.
MIKE JACKSON, FISHERMAN: I was completely delirious. There's still some things I can't remember.
TUCHMAN: This is the Coast Guard videotape of a rescue in the Gulf of Mexico, 15 miles off the Florida coast. The fishing boat Mike Jackson was on had lost power in a storm, then it capsized. For two days, the four friends aboard, Jackson, Keith Smith (ph), Jake Fish (ph) and his son, John, the group's 31-year-old leader, struggled to stay alive the three tiny battles (ph) of water.
But John, a husband and father, became desperately ill. He had swallowed gasoline as he swam under the boat to empty the fuel tanks in an attempt to keep the craft from sinking.
JACKSON: I was on the bow of the boat and he was in front of me, and he carved a note to his daughter.
TUCHMAN: John did not survive. The three remaining men were rescued the next day. John's father, lying here on the Coast Guard cutter, held his son's lifeless body in the jellyfish infested waters against the boat. He told John's grieving mother what happened next.
KAY FISH, MOTHER: He held him for hours then and still didn't let him go. And said he finally just took his jacket off and took his hands and pushed him down and let him fill up so he'd go to the bottom. And I know it's killing him. And I told him, I said the only thing I can say is I'm glad if it had to happen that you were with him and that he had you with him when it happened and he wasn't by himself.
TUCHMAN: When John's wife, Mary Dell, heard the men had been rescued, she assumed everything was all right.
MARY DELL FISH, WIFE: I thought that I was going to the hospital to see him and he was going to be OK.
TUCHMAN: Nobody had the heart to tell Mary Dell right away John did not make it. Today, their daughter, 6-year-old Maddie, sleeps with the red bandana her dad always wore. Her mother encourages Maddie to keep the memories of her father in her heart.
(on camera): What was your favorite thing to do with your daddy?
MADDIE FISH, DAUGHTER: Go fishing.
TUCHMAN: Did you catch fish when you went with him? Who caught more fish, your daddy or you?
M. FISH: Sometimes me and sometimes him.
TUCHMAN: Mike Jackson hasn't been in a boat fishing since this incident happened, but he hopes to soon. The hardest part, he says, won't be the anxiety, it will be fishing without his friend, John.
(voice-over): And as for John's family, time has not healed the hurt. But when the boat was finally recovered, something very valuable was found, the carving John made with a message that will leave no doubt in his only child's mind how much she was loved.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Monticello, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
It looks like British Prime Minister Tony Blair has managed to win a third term in office. Early polling results show Blair's Labour Party has won enough votes for a majority in Parliament, although by a much slimmer margin than before.
President Bush leaves today for a trip to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. He'll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from other Baltic States. He'll also visit an American cemetery in the Netherlands where thousands of American war dead are buried.
In money news, embattled drugmaker Merck has a new top dog. Still reeling from the loss of arthritis medicine Vioxx, Merck has replaced its Chief and CEO Raymond Gilmartin with a former employee. Former Medco CEO Richard Clark takes the reins.
In culture, it may not be a pope-mobile anymore, but someone really wanted Pope Benedict's old Volkswagen Golf. The car sold for over $244,000 on eBay. The online auction house says the buyer is from Austin, Texas.
In sports, the New York Mets couldn't have asked for a better day over the Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-5 win. The Mets, for the first time this year, had all of their top guys playing -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Hey, Chad, get your mint julep glass ready.
MYERS: I'm ready.
COSTELLO: Do you like the music this morning? I like that. It's post time for the Kentucky Derby. It's drawing ever closer.
MYERS: Yes, it's close. It's a strong fit (ph), but I'm not sure that that's post time music.
COSTELLO: Whatever, it sounds good. Anyway...
MYERS: It's the Lone Ranger -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It is the Lone Ranger, isn't it? Well it brings to mind a horse running fast, doesn't it?
MYERS: Yes, yes, yes.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: And a hearty hi-ho, Silver, away.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Want to talk about the Pegasus Parade, because this is a major event of the Derby festival. This year is the 50th anniversary of the parade. The grand marshal, Chubby Checker.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: Post time for the 131st running of the Kentucky Derby is 6:27 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Untold thousands of race fans are expected to pack Churchill Downs. Fancy hats included.
MYERS: The high tomorrow, 79 degrees there, beautiful day in Kentucky.
COSTELLO: Beautiful. They'll be there to watch Derby favorite, by the way, Bellamy Road. But jockey Gary Stevens thinks his mount, Nobel Causeway, has a fair shot at the roses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY STEVENS, JOCKEY, NOBLE CAUSEWAY: Right now I think the trainer is just pretty much just hold your breath time for the next 48 hours. He wanted just to make sure the horse have already gone through their major works and everything. You want to make sure that something stupid doesn't happen, where they step on a horseshoe nail, don't get cast (ph) in a stall. I mean it's just hold your breath time right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: By the way, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's horse is Bellamy Road and he is the odds on favorite. Steinbrenner hopes his luck at the racetrack will be better than his luck on the baseball diamond so far. The Yankees are tied for last place in the AL East, right?
MYERS: But Steinbrenner, this is now his sixth horse in a derby, and he has not won one. So he is being very quiet as this is now the five on -- odds on favorite, 5 to 2 favorite. So, well I don't know that that 5 to 2 is going to last through tomorrow, but we'll see.
COSTELLO: We'll see. We'll be watching, 6:27 p.m. Eastern.
Time to...
MYERS: No rain in the forecast. A fast track, for sure -- Carol. COSTELLO: Loving that.
Time to do our -- we're going to a break right now. No time to do "Web Clicks" this morning, so we're going to head to a break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We do have "Web Clicks" this morning, and two pretty good stories, actually. So, you know we're always interested in what people are clicking on to on CNN.com.
One of the top stories is about Carl Yastrzemski.
MYERS: And his late son.
COSTELLO: It's a sad story.
MYERS: It is. Late son died of complications from surgery at the age of, what, 44 or something like that, and had a bunch of debt in Carl Yaz, the baseball player's name. And now the money that he has spent, his son spent, now they want it back from dad -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well dad says the son stole his identity and ran up these huge credit card bills,...
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: ... so he's not really responsible since the son stole his identity. It's very painful for him because he loved his son very much, but...
MYERS: Sure.
COSTELLO: ... he's in debt, what, $40,000 or more.
MYERS: Forty-six thousand dollars for an IRS lean. Now they're not too quick to get rid of those leans, Carol. So we're going to have to see who has to pay for that.
COSTELLO: Well Mr. Yastrzemski has hired a lawyer, so we will see.
An interesting story, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor. Now the difficult part about this is what do you do when a man walks in to donate his sperm, do you say are you gay, have you had sex for five years? How do you tell? And couldn't someone lie?
MYERS: Sure they could, absolutely. And they're going to force people to lie. That's the odd part about all of this. They still say that if, let's say, a gay couple, two ladies, want to have a man, a gay man, give sperm so that they can have a baby that that would still be OK, but then you lose the anonymous part about all of that, Carol, yes.
COSTELLO: Well, and the other part, you know heterosexuals sometimes have risky sex as well.
MYERS: Well of course.
COSTELLO: So are they going to be tested? Shouldn't everyone be tested to see if the sperm is safe?
MYERS: Well, yes, of course. And then what they said they're going to do, they're going to actually test them, wait six months as the sperm is frozen and then test them again to make sure that the HIV hasn't been...
COSTELLO: Well that's what they want to do, don't know if they will be able to do that.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: That can get pretty expensive.
MYERS: Of course it could.
COSTELLO: Well alleged doctors to the mob have been nailed in New York. The U.S. attorney alleges that members of the Gambino crime family apparently needed a little help keeping their enterprise up and running and they got the boost they needed from the three MDs.
CNN's Chris Huntington has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. attorney in New York is accusing thoracic surgeon Arlen Fleisher, cardiologist George Shapiro and neurologist Stephen Klass with illegally supplying large amounts of prescription drugs, notably Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and even Vioxx and Celebrex, to reputed members of the Gambino organized crime family for more than two years, primarily through this man, Gregory DePalma, whom the Feds say was an acting capo in the Gambino family.
DePalma was one of 31 alleged Gambino associates arrested in March, the result of a major undercover sting operation by the FBI. The case against the doctors unexpectedly popped up from information gathered through wiretaps, as well as an undercover agent and a confidential source put in place for that bigger case against the Gambinos.
In one allegedly intercepted conversation included in the criminal complaint, DePalma says to Dr. Shapiro -- quote -- "You've been giving out Viagra and Levitra to my friends that come there. You save me any Viagras?" To which Shapiro allegedly responded, "I have a lot for you."
Shapiro's attorney tells CNN, "Dr. Shapiro treated DePalma for a cardiac condition since the late 1990s. Whatever medication he gave DePalma was in accordance with their relationship as doctor and patient. Dr. Shapiro never did anything illegal or unethical."
Dr. Fleisher's attorney tells CNN, "My client performed surgery on DePalma. This is a case of the government sensationalizing a common practice between a doctor and a patient."
Dr. Klass' attorney says his client is innocent.
Federal prosecutors allege that in return for providing prescription drugs, sometimes by the boxload to DePalma and his crew, the doctors were given discounts on home renovations and auto repair from Gambino-controlled companies, and even access to DePalma's table at the exclusive Rao's Italian restaurant in Harlem.
(on camera): The FBI says that by the end of its investigation, DePalma was running a virtual pharmacy for himself and his associates. He is currently in federal custody awaiting trial. As for the doctors, they are all out on $50,000 bail, but could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of illegally distributing prescription drugs.
Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Here's some of the stories we're working on for you in the next hour of CNN DAYBREAK.
We are taking you inside the wire for a look at what it's really like at the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. You may be shocked to hear what's going on there.
Also, we'll let you know which new movies are worth your time and money this weekend.
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Looks like Michael Jackson is sinking into deeper financial trouble and it could cost him big time. Sources say that Bank of America has sold two loans it made to Jackson estimated at $270 million. If Jackson defaults on the loans, he could lose his stake in the lucrative Beatles Music Catalog, as well as some of his own compositions.
U2's Bono takes his fight against poverty to Canada, urging Prime Minister Paul Martin to keep his promise. At a sold out rock concert in Vancouver, Bono told fans to flood Martin with phone calls demanding he cut foreign aid. Fans booed the prime minister and then lit up their cell phones.
The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair wins re-election but loses big time at the polls. We'll explain.
Surveillance videos now at the center of the search for who is behind that explosion in New York.
And has the media run amuck over the runaway bride? We'll take a look at the fascination.
It is Friday, May 6, you are watching DAYBREAK.
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Aired May 6, 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."
This just in to CNN, the bodies of 14 people who had been shot and killed were found in Baghdad this morning. An Iraqi soldier says some of the victims were blindfolded and then shot in the head execution style. The victims, believed to be Iraqis, were found buried in shallow graves and they're believed to have been killed recently.
President Bush is getting ready to leave for Europe. The main event will be a celebration in Moscow Monday marking the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Tony Blair has won a third term as British Prime Minister, something his Labour Party has never done before, but the party has lost a lot of seats in Parliament. It's seen as backlash over Blair's support for the Iraq War.
Florida police are looking for this man, Patrick Wayne Bell. He's described as a repeat sexual offender who preys on children. Police say Bell cut off his tracking device and fled from his mother's home in Riviera Beach.
And NASA has released this image of what's known as the "Sombrero Galaxy," because, of course, of its resemblance to the Mexican hat. The picture combines images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and its Hubble Telescope. The Sombrero is the size of 800 billion suns. That's hard to wrap your mind around, 800 billion suns -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The size of our universe is hard to get your hand around as well. I mean just -- I didn't see the sombrero part. It kind of looked like the rings...
COSTELLO: Well it's the rim of the sombrero.
MYERS: Well it should be called the rim of the sombrero galaxy, shouldn't it?
COSTELLO: Picky, picky.
MYERS: I know.
Good morning, everybody. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: President Bush's staunchest European ally, Tony Blair, has won re-election as Prime Minister of Britain. But that alliance with the president and his war in Iraq has hurt the British leader.
CNN's Matthew Chance has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a birthday victory for Tony Blair, but at a cost. At 52, he has led his Labour Party to an historic third term but with its parliamentary majority slashed. They celebrated anyway.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I know it's been very tough and hard at points over these past few weeks, but I think we can be really proud of what we've achieved and we can be very determined and committed as to what we can achieve now. We've got a mandate to govern this country again.
CHANCE: But this was also a public rebuke for the Blair leadership. One candidate who stood against him, the father of a British soldier killed in Iraq, spoke against the war, many in the country opposed, and blamed Tony Blair for unjustifiably involving Britain.
REG KEYS, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: If this law (ph) had been justified by international law, I would have grieved and not campaigned. If weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, again, I would have grieved, not campaigned. Tonight there are lessons to be learned. And I hope in my heart that one day the prime minister may be able to say sorry.
CHANCE: Another of Blair's archrivals over Iraq went further. This time, after overturning a Labour majority in East London for the anti-war party Respect.
GEORGE GALLOWAY, RESPECT PARTY: Mr. Blair, this is for Iraq. This defeat that you have suffered and all the other defeats that new Labour has suffered this evening is for Iraq. All the people you killed, all the lies you told have come back to haunt you. And the best thing the Labour Party could do is sack you tomorrow morning.
CHANCE: Standing to benefit from Blair's poor showing is his finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown has tips to succeed him as prime minister, perhaps midterm.
Opposition parties have also been strengthened. The Conservative leader, Michael Howard, campaigned hard for tougher immigration controls, more pleating (ph) and lower taxes, issues that proved potent among the electorate but not enough to topple the government. Charles Kennedy and his liberal Democrats have also gained ground, winning seats on public approval of their opposition to the Iraq War.
Voter turnout was an estimated 65 percent, relatively low in Britain. And after a lackluster campaign, apathy seems to have been a factor in returning the same family for a third time to the prime minister's house.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still in Britain, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain will reopen today after being closed because of a whole slew of problems. The multi-million dollar park will reopen with an improved drainage system, tougher grass, a new footpath. And the fountain will get a rougher surface, because people would slip and fall in the water because the fountain was made to walk in but it was too slippery and people were being injured. So now they've put a different floor in the fountain. Repairs have been made.
Some people say the new safer features have destroyed, though, the peace and tranquility of the park -- tranquility the park was meant to represent.
Now some follow up reports.
Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks says she's sorry. Wilbanks issued a statement apologizing for the trouble she caused when she flew to New Mexico just days before her wedding. She has asked for forgiveness and said she is seeking professional treatment. Wilbanks said her actions had nothing to do with her not wanting to get married.
Of course she didn't say anything and she didn't say this herself. Her statement was read by her family's minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. THOMAS SMILEY, PASTOR, LAKEWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH: Jennifer writes, at this time I cannot fully explain what happened to me last week. I had a host of compelling issues, which seemed out of control. Issues for which I was unable to address or confine. Please may I assure you that my running away had nothing to do with cold feet, nor was it ever about leaving John.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now an update on the Atlanta courthouse shooting case. Suspect Brian Nichols faces a 54-count indictment. The charges stem from the March 11 rampage that left four people dead, including a judge and a sheriff's deputy. No trial date has been set.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL HOWARD, FULTON CO. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The Fulton County grand jury has returned a 54-count indictment against Brian Gene Nichols for the March 11 murder of Judge Rowland Barnes, the court reporter Julie Brandau, Sergeant Hoyt Teasely and Special Agent David Wilhelm. After discussions with the family members involved with each of the victims, the state is announcing today our intention to seek the death penalty in this matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: New York investigators are asking for your help in tracking down whoever is responsible for yesterday's explosion in Manhattan. Two grenades exploded outside of an office building housing the British Consulate Office. Police are going over surveillance video that seemed to show at least one grenade being thrown at the building.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: We're here, we're asking for help, asking for the public's help to say we're -- you know, again, anyone in the area who said they were -- people there just shortly before, this bicyclist, there was a jogger and someone in a taxicab. Anybody with information, we ask them to call our tips hotline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police say they're not even sure what the target of the explosion was or what the motive was. The blast caused minor damage and no injuries.
There is much more ahead on DAYBREAK.
At 19 minutes before the hour, the Coast Guard did all it could for these fishermen caught in a storm at sea. We'll bring you their story.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Two South Carolina teenagers are eternally thankful for their rescue at sea before a fishing boat found them 15 miles out in the Atlantic. The teenagers survived nearly a week adrift, starving, freezing at night, sunburned during the day.
Unfortunately, the harrowing tale of four Georgia fishing buddies did not end so happily.
Gary Tuchman has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is beautiful and peaceful, and that's why this area outside of Monticello, Georgia is where Mike Jackson likes to fish and likes to think. The solitude is atonic, as he recovers from a 54-hour nightmare that profoundly changed his life.
MIKE JACKSON, FISHERMAN: I was completely delirious. There's still some things I can't remember.
TUCHMAN: This is the Coast Guard videotape of a rescue in the Gulf of Mexico, 15 miles off the Florida coast. The fishing boat Mike Jackson was on had lost power in a storm, then it capsized. For two days, the four friends aboard, Jackson, Keith Smith (ph), Jake Fish (ph) and his son, John, the group's 31-year-old leader, struggled to stay alive the three tiny battles (ph) of water.
But John, a husband and father, became desperately ill. He had swallowed gasoline as he swam under the boat to empty the fuel tanks in an attempt to keep the craft from sinking.
JACKSON: I was on the bow of the boat and he was in front of me, and he carved a note to his daughter.
TUCHMAN: John did not survive. The three remaining men were rescued the next day. John's father, lying here on the Coast Guard cutter, held his son's lifeless body in the jellyfish infested waters against the boat. He told John's grieving mother what happened next.
KAY FISH, MOTHER: He held him for hours then and still didn't let him go. And said he finally just took his jacket off and took his hands and pushed him down and let him fill up so he'd go to the bottom. And I know it's killing him. And I told him, I said the only thing I can say is I'm glad if it had to happen that you were with him and that he had you with him when it happened and he wasn't by himself.
TUCHMAN: When John's wife, Mary Dell, heard the men had been rescued, she assumed everything was all right.
MARY DELL FISH, WIFE: I thought that I was going to the hospital to see him and he was going to be OK.
TUCHMAN: Nobody had the heart to tell Mary Dell right away John did not make it. Today, their daughter, 6-year-old Maddie, sleeps with the red bandana her dad always wore. Her mother encourages Maddie to keep the memories of her father in her heart.
(on camera): What was your favorite thing to do with your daddy?
MADDIE FISH, DAUGHTER: Go fishing.
TUCHMAN: Did you catch fish when you went with him? Who caught more fish, your daddy or you?
M. FISH: Sometimes me and sometimes him.
TUCHMAN: Mike Jackson hasn't been in a boat fishing since this incident happened, but he hopes to soon. The hardest part, he says, won't be the anxiety, it will be fishing without his friend, John.
(voice-over): And as for John's family, time has not healed the hurt. But when the boat was finally recovered, something very valuable was found, the carving John made with a message that will leave no doubt in his only child's mind how much she was loved.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Monticello, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
It looks like British Prime Minister Tony Blair has managed to win a third term in office. Early polling results show Blair's Labour Party has won enough votes for a majority in Parliament, although by a much slimmer margin than before.
President Bush leaves today for a trip to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. He'll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from other Baltic States. He'll also visit an American cemetery in the Netherlands where thousands of American war dead are buried.
In money news, embattled drugmaker Merck has a new top dog. Still reeling from the loss of arthritis medicine Vioxx, Merck has replaced its Chief and CEO Raymond Gilmartin with a former employee. Former Medco CEO Richard Clark takes the reins.
In culture, it may not be a pope-mobile anymore, but someone really wanted Pope Benedict's old Volkswagen Golf. The car sold for over $244,000 on eBay. The online auction house says the buyer is from Austin, Texas.
In sports, the New York Mets couldn't have asked for a better day over the Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-5 win. The Mets, for the first time this year, had all of their top guys playing -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Hey, Chad, get your mint julep glass ready.
MYERS: I'm ready.
COSTELLO: Do you like the music this morning? I like that. It's post time for the Kentucky Derby. It's drawing ever closer.
MYERS: Yes, it's close. It's a strong fit (ph), but I'm not sure that that's post time music.
COSTELLO: Whatever, it sounds good. Anyway...
MYERS: It's the Lone Ranger -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It is the Lone Ranger, isn't it? Well it brings to mind a horse running fast, doesn't it?
MYERS: Yes, yes, yes.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: And a hearty hi-ho, Silver, away.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Want to talk about the Pegasus Parade, because this is a major event of the Derby festival. This year is the 50th anniversary of the parade. The grand marshal, Chubby Checker.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: Post time for the 131st running of the Kentucky Derby is 6:27 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Untold thousands of race fans are expected to pack Churchill Downs. Fancy hats included.
MYERS: The high tomorrow, 79 degrees there, beautiful day in Kentucky.
COSTELLO: Beautiful. They'll be there to watch Derby favorite, by the way, Bellamy Road. But jockey Gary Stevens thinks his mount, Nobel Causeway, has a fair shot at the roses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY STEVENS, JOCKEY, NOBLE CAUSEWAY: Right now I think the trainer is just pretty much just hold your breath time for the next 48 hours. He wanted just to make sure the horse have already gone through their major works and everything. You want to make sure that something stupid doesn't happen, where they step on a horseshoe nail, don't get cast (ph) in a stall. I mean it's just hold your breath time right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: By the way, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's horse is Bellamy Road and he is the odds on favorite. Steinbrenner hopes his luck at the racetrack will be better than his luck on the baseball diamond so far. The Yankees are tied for last place in the AL East, right?
MYERS: But Steinbrenner, this is now his sixth horse in a derby, and he has not won one. So he is being very quiet as this is now the five on -- odds on favorite, 5 to 2 favorite. So, well I don't know that that 5 to 2 is going to last through tomorrow, but we'll see.
COSTELLO: We'll see. We'll be watching, 6:27 p.m. Eastern.
Time to...
MYERS: No rain in the forecast. A fast track, for sure -- Carol. COSTELLO: Loving that.
Time to do our -- we're going to a break right now. No time to do "Web Clicks" this morning, so we're going to head to a break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We do have "Web Clicks" this morning, and two pretty good stories, actually. So, you know we're always interested in what people are clicking on to on CNN.com.
One of the top stories is about Carl Yastrzemski.
MYERS: And his late son.
COSTELLO: It's a sad story.
MYERS: It is. Late son died of complications from surgery at the age of, what, 44 or something like that, and had a bunch of debt in Carl Yaz, the baseball player's name. And now the money that he has spent, his son spent, now they want it back from dad -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well dad says the son stole his identity and ran up these huge credit card bills,...
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: ... so he's not really responsible since the son stole his identity. It's very painful for him because he loved his son very much, but...
MYERS: Sure.
COSTELLO: ... he's in debt, what, $40,000 or more.
MYERS: Forty-six thousand dollars for an IRS lean. Now they're not too quick to get rid of those leans, Carol. So we're going to have to see who has to pay for that.
COSTELLO: Well Mr. Yastrzemski has hired a lawyer, so we will see.
An interesting story, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor. Now the difficult part about this is what do you do when a man walks in to donate his sperm, do you say are you gay, have you had sex for five years? How do you tell? And couldn't someone lie?
MYERS: Sure they could, absolutely. And they're going to force people to lie. That's the odd part about all of this. They still say that if, let's say, a gay couple, two ladies, want to have a man, a gay man, give sperm so that they can have a baby that that would still be OK, but then you lose the anonymous part about all of that, Carol, yes.
COSTELLO: Well, and the other part, you know heterosexuals sometimes have risky sex as well.
MYERS: Well of course.
COSTELLO: So are they going to be tested? Shouldn't everyone be tested to see if the sperm is safe?
MYERS: Well, yes, of course. And then what they said they're going to do, they're going to actually test them, wait six months as the sperm is frozen and then test them again to make sure that the HIV hasn't been...
COSTELLO: Well that's what they want to do, don't know if they will be able to do that.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: That can get pretty expensive.
MYERS: Of course it could.
COSTELLO: Well alleged doctors to the mob have been nailed in New York. The U.S. attorney alleges that members of the Gambino crime family apparently needed a little help keeping their enterprise up and running and they got the boost they needed from the three MDs.
CNN's Chris Huntington has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. attorney in New York is accusing thoracic surgeon Arlen Fleisher, cardiologist George Shapiro and neurologist Stephen Klass with illegally supplying large amounts of prescription drugs, notably Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and even Vioxx and Celebrex, to reputed members of the Gambino organized crime family for more than two years, primarily through this man, Gregory DePalma, whom the Feds say was an acting capo in the Gambino family.
DePalma was one of 31 alleged Gambino associates arrested in March, the result of a major undercover sting operation by the FBI. The case against the doctors unexpectedly popped up from information gathered through wiretaps, as well as an undercover agent and a confidential source put in place for that bigger case against the Gambinos.
In one allegedly intercepted conversation included in the criminal complaint, DePalma says to Dr. Shapiro -- quote -- "You've been giving out Viagra and Levitra to my friends that come there. You save me any Viagras?" To which Shapiro allegedly responded, "I have a lot for you."
Shapiro's attorney tells CNN, "Dr. Shapiro treated DePalma for a cardiac condition since the late 1990s. Whatever medication he gave DePalma was in accordance with their relationship as doctor and patient. Dr. Shapiro never did anything illegal or unethical."
Dr. Fleisher's attorney tells CNN, "My client performed surgery on DePalma. This is a case of the government sensationalizing a common practice between a doctor and a patient."
Dr. Klass' attorney says his client is innocent.
Federal prosecutors allege that in return for providing prescription drugs, sometimes by the boxload to DePalma and his crew, the doctors were given discounts on home renovations and auto repair from Gambino-controlled companies, and even access to DePalma's table at the exclusive Rao's Italian restaurant in Harlem.
(on camera): The FBI says that by the end of its investigation, DePalma was running a virtual pharmacy for himself and his associates. He is currently in federal custody awaiting trial. As for the doctors, they are all out on $50,000 bail, but could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of illegally distributing prescription drugs.
Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Here's some of the stories we're working on for you in the next hour of CNN DAYBREAK.
We are taking you inside the wire for a look at what it's really like at the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. You may be shocked to hear what's going on there.
Also, we'll let you know which new movies are worth your time and money this weekend.
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Looks like Michael Jackson is sinking into deeper financial trouble and it could cost him big time. Sources say that Bank of America has sold two loans it made to Jackson estimated at $270 million. If Jackson defaults on the loans, he could lose his stake in the lucrative Beatles Music Catalog, as well as some of his own compositions.
U2's Bono takes his fight against poverty to Canada, urging Prime Minister Paul Martin to keep his promise. At a sold out rock concert in Vancouver, Bono told fans to flood Martin with phone calls demanding he cut foreign aid. Fans booed the prime minister and then lit up their cell phones.
The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair wins re-election but loses big time at the polls. We'll explain.
Surveillance videos now at the center of the search for who is behind that explosion in New York.
And has the media run amuck over the runaway bride? We'll take a look at the fascination.
It is Friday, May 6, you are watching DAYBREAK.
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