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CNN Live At Daybreak
Idaho Search; Terror Strategy; Battle Over Judges
Aired May 19, 2005 - 05:00 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, police in Idaho find their person of interest, but they still have not found two missing children.
Plus, is it judgment day? The Senate gears up for a battle on judicial nominations.
And the wait is over for die-hard "Star Wars" fans. The force will be with you starting today.
It is Thursday, May 19. 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," two assassinations in Iraq this morning. Police say an aide to a top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, was gunned down in Baghdad's Sadr City. And gunmen killed a senior Iraqi oil ministry official outside of his home in Baghdad.
A new tape said to be from the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq justified suicide bombings. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls for the killing of infidels by any means necessary, even if it means killing innocent Muslims.
And U.S. and North Korean officials have been talking. An American diplomat describes the meeting as working-level contact at the U.N. last Friday. Washington has been trying to convince Pyongyang to return to six-nation talks over its nuclear program.
To the forecast center and Chad.
May the force be with you.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And also with you, Carol. That's not how it goes, though, I know.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: There is still no sign of those two missing children in northern Idaho. Police say they have no new information even after talking to a person of interest in the case.
CNN's Sean Callebs has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heavy rain just another obstacle for small town investigators trying to piece together a triple murder mystery and the disappearance of two children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation's really slow right now.
CALLEBS: The Amber Alert continues to flash, but so far no sign of the missing children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his little sister Shasta. It's been a challenge for investigators from the outset. Three victims who were tied up, and no one in the house to tell investigators that two small children were missing.
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Well, obviously that was very important. There was just no way for us to know that until we had identified who the people were or had an idea of who they were, found their next of kin and then learned about the children.
CALLEBS: Amber Alert calls are steadily streaming in from the public.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kootenai County Sheriff's Department assistance hotline?
CALLEBS: But even this emergency management post is a work in progress.
SANDRA VON BEHREN, KOOTENAI COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: This is the first time that we've activated it for the Amber Alert. Actually, I guess it is something that, you know, we didn't expect to have here in Coeur d'Alene, happen here in Coeur d'Alene. So it is, you know, kind of a shock to us.
CALLEBS: The sheriff's office identified 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner as a person of interest, and authorities questioned the man late Wednesday after he alerted them to his whereabouts.
Sean Callebs, CNN, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In our "Security Watch" this morning, a defense of suicide bombings from a man who claims he carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of people. That new audiotape believed to be from terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He justifies the killing of innocent Muslims in the service of a broader holy war.
Our Ryan Chilcote has more on the strategy of terror in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A senior U.S. military official says Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted terrorist, ordered insurgents associated with his terror network to increase their use of car bombings. The military, according to the official, has intelligence that Zarqawi's lieutenant's met last month in Syria. It is not clear if Zarqawi was present at the meeting, but the military believes he gave the order to his lieutenants to include car bombings in their daily operations.
Before, the official said, car bombs were used normally for spectacular attacks, like this assassination of an Iraqi government official last year filmed by insurgents. Just after the reported meeting in Syria, Baghdad was awash in bombings. On this day, 11 car bombs went off before lunch.
According to new data on attacks in the Iraqi capital, there were twice as many car bombings in the last two-and-a-half months alone than there were in all of last year. The official called last month Iraq's most violent since the offensive in Falluja.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHILCOTE: That official is saying that the insurgency is not gaining ground and that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist network is not gaining ground. However, he says they have shown an ability to learn from the situation on the ground and adapt.
Some encouraging news. They say just in the last few days they've seen a relative lull in the violence. They're also saying that they've gotten some encouraging intelligence from recent U.S. military offensives, including Operation Matador, which concluded last week -- Carol
COSTELLO: Ryan, so I'm confused about something. And let's talk about that intelligence about Zarqawi himself. There was word that he was ill, that he needed hospital care. There is word he's being cornered and on the run.
What's true and what's not true?
CHILCOTE: Good question. Every U.S. military official that we have spoken to on background and on camera says they just simply don't know the answer to whether Zarqawi is ill or wounded. So we cannot by any stretch of the imagination confirm that, and I think the U.S. military and the Iraqi military simply don't know the answer to that.
What we do know about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi often is what he says himself. And, in fact, just yesterday he posted an audio recording -- at least it's purportedly from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- on the Internet.
Interestingly, in that audio recording he says that because of the wide open geography in Iraq, unlike in Afghanistan, insurgents need to use a tactic that really relies on direct confrontation with their enemy. And he, in that audio recording, justified using suicide car bombings even when they kill innocent Muslims if the ultimate target is infidels -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad this morning.
Back on the home front, the biggest terrorism threat in the United States isn't from al Qaeda. It's from violent extremists in environmental and animal rights' groups. That's the word from the federal government.
Federal law enforcement officials told a Senate panel that attacks by groups like the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front are becoming more frequent and increasingly involve the use of explosives or incendiary devices. But some senators were skeptical, questioning whether those acts are worse than, say, the threat of an attack on chemical, nuclear or waste-water facilities.
Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Democrats are arming themselves for another Senate battle. This one over John Bolton's nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused Bolton of misleading them. They've issued a 63-page report disputing his testimony in which he tried to -- he denied trying to discipline or fire intelligence analysts who disagreed with him. The Democrats are recommending that senators vote against Bolton's nomination. It could reach the Senate floor as early as next week.
Also on Capitol Hill, where round two in the battle over the president's judicial nominees gets under way this morning, CNN Congressional Correspondent Joe Johns reports on what's going on in public and behind the scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats on the Capitol steps vowing defiance.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: They want it all, all the say, all the control, all the power. It's their way or the highway.
JOHNS: Party leaders squaring off.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: It's the partisan leadership-led use of closure vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees.
JOHNS: But while senators gave emotional and sometimes bitter speeches about nominees Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, behind the scenes, away from all the attention, a handful of Democrats and Republicans were meeting privately, looking for a way to break the impasse.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: There are 10 people in the room, there are 11 opinions. So, you know, we're going to continue to do that. But I think -- but they're not -- they're not so diverse that it doesn't look like you can -- bringing them together.
JOHNS: So who are the leaders of this behind-the-scenes effort? On the Democratic side, Ben Nelson, the junior senator from Nebraska who's making a name for himself as someone unafraid to cross party lines. Also, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the youngest members of the Senate. On the Republican side, John McCain, the maverick conservative who has no problem crossing his party and his president when he thinks he's right.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We're making some progress, but we have no -- no conclusion yet.
JOHNS: And Virginia's John Warner, one of the old bulls of the Senate, a powerful committee chairman with a courtly manner and a deep love for the institution. And the two senators from Maine, the last bastion of Yankee moderate Republicanism, influential because their votes can never be taken for granted.
So as the conversation grows louder in the public arena...
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: It's contemptible. It's contemptible.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics. And it's shameful.
JOHNS: Behind the scenes, a hint of compromise. The mission is to find 12 senators to sign on to an agreement. Republicans would refuse to change the rules on filibusters and Democrats would promise to let some but not all disputed judicial nominations go through and be more careful about who they try to block in the future.
Why 12? Because the way the Senate breaks down, six Republicans would be enough to deny GOP leader Bill Frist the 51 votes needed to kill the filibuster. And six Democrats would be enough to make the filibuster unsustainable in the first place.
If either side abuses the deal, all bets would be off. In nuclear terms, it's a gradual disarmament, a version of the old axiom, trust, but verify.
Leadership...
FRIST: All we want is a vote, an up-or-down vote. Accept, reject, confirm, yes, no, that's all that we're asking for.
REID: And the majority is moving toward breaking the rules to change the rules. That's improper, it will change the Senate forever.
JOHNS: ... and leadership.
MCCAIN: We'll just continue to work right up until the last minute.
NELSON: And we wouldn't continue to do it if we didn't have some expectation of achieving an agreement.
JOHNS: Two tracks. One headed to a showdown fueled by political pressure from activist groups, the other headed toward compromise.
(on camera): Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been warned by conservative groups that if he loses he won't get points for trying, which raises the stakes for him and any senator in his party who strikes a deal that does not include up-or-down votes for all of the president's nominees.
Joe Johns, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In other news "Across America" now, police in Philadelphia are looking for help in finding a shooting suspect. They released security pictures that show the suspect in white -- see him there -- shooting. He's shooting 48-year-old Patricia McDermott (ph). She was shot in the head shortly after getting off a bus on Tuesday morning. If you know anything, call Philadelphia police.
The suspect in a high drama bank robbery in Kansas is in critical condition after a shootout with police. The man was apparently trying to make his getaway by hijacking a small plane when he was shot. Earlier, he had taken at least six people hostage and forced them to go with him to the airport.
A conspiracy charge has been added against the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili. Investigators say Anna Ayala and her husband were trying to extort money from the fast-food chain. The California judge refused to reduce Ayala's $500,000 bail during a hearing on her grand theft charges.
Coming up on DAYBREAK, apparently it really was a close call for President Bush, and only a malfunction kept a live grenade from exploding near him. We'll have new details in 21 minutes.
Pamela Smart was convicted of having her teenage lover kill her husband. We'll hear her new plea in her own words in 24 minutes.
And, well, bet you thought the new "Star Wars" movie had already debuted, but it's only just begun. The force is with Sibila Vargas in 43 minutes.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:16 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
More violence in Baghdad. An aide to the Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani was gunned down by unknown attackers in the city's Sadr City neighborhood. Sistani is considered to be Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric. The Senate has begun debating one of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees. Senator Arlen Specter says both sides are still working on a compromise that would lead to the confirmation of some of the nominees.
In money news, the investment (ph) for Morgan Stanley has been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages to settle a lawsuit. The fraud suit was brought by the owner of the Coleman Camping Equipment Company.
In culture, she's out of here A tearful Vonzell Solomon, the 20- year-old "Idol" wannabe affectionately known as "Baby V." was kicked off the show. And that leaves Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood. Which one will become the next "American Idol?" Who knows.
In sports, Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash proves why he's the league's MVP. During his team's 114-108 win over the Dallas Mavericks, Nash had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Suns to a 3-2 lead in their playoff series.
Wow.
MYERS: Oh.
COSTELLO: Good morning, Chad.
MYERS: Oh, that's a slap in the face, so to speak.
COSTELLO: Oh, it certainly was.
MYERS: Oh, my oh my.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Oh, it's e-mail time. You can't go away quite yet, Chad.
MYERS: Well, you know, it's all about "Star Wars" all the time now. So, we'll see how that goes.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Because, you know, the wait is over.
MYERS: Finally.
COSTELLO: It's finally -- yes. "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith," the sixth and final installment of the "Star Wars" saga, officially opened at midnight tonight -- like in five hours ago.
MYERS: Right. COSTELLO: You saw people standing in line. This was at a theater outside of Los Angeles. And as you can see, a big party was being held for all of those people waiting to get into the premier of this movie.
MYERS: Carol, I don't mean to be a spoiled sport, but do you get it? Do you get this whole thing?
COSTELLO: You know, I really don't.
MYERS: All right. Well...
COSTELLO: I enjoyed -- I saw the first one, and I enjoyed it. And I saw one of the latter ones and I fell asleep.
MYERS: But that was 25 years ago, Carol.
COSTELLO: No, no. The last one I saw was the one with the horrible Jar Jar Binks in it. Remember that?
MYERS: Oh, right.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: Well, this kind of leads up to our e-mail question: what is it? Do you get it? Tell us, why are "Star Wars" fans so devoted to this? Stand in line, spend weeks in line, in some spots, trying to be the first person to see "Star Wars."
COSTELLO: And then they dress up like the characters.
MYERS: Well, yes. Well, you know, that's almost turning into that -- that late night midnight movie kind of thing, you know.
COSTELLO: Like the "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
MYERS: Remember we used to do that, "Rocky Horror Picture Show?" Yes, you bring the hot dogs and all that kind of stuff.
COSTELLO: God, we're old.
MYERS: Thanks for reminding me.
COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com. I know. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
Forget the proverbial china shop. We'll tell you how a bull got loose in a Florida high school. Look at that, right in the hallway.
And it doesn't get much better than this. We're going to hang ten in Tahiti.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday, May 19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "Newsweek," that story that just will not go away. MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Boy, did it occupy David Letterman's thoughts last night.
MYERS: It's not going away at late-night TV.
COSTELLO: No. He also wanted to set the record straight about his show, too.
MYERS: Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Ladies and Gentlemen, at this time, I would like to retract last night's show.
(LAUGHTER)
And we apologize for the rioting it caused. It was such a slow news day that "Newsweek" couldn't even make up a story today.
(LAUGHTER)
They didn't know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's not going to go away for "Newsweek" anytime soon.
MYERS: Now, do you think there are legal repercussions from this? Do you think international law says anything about this? No?
COSTELLO: No. No. They retracted it in their -- they're getting their punishment without a lawsuit -- no.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: No, because you'd have to prove malice. And that would be hard to prove in any case.
MYERS: Sure. But Jay Leno had other things on his mind.
COSTELLO: He certainly did. And of course it was "Star Wars."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The new "Star Wars" is supposed to be very, very good. And it finally explains the transformation of how Anakin Skywalker went from a young white boy into James Earl Jones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: I love to see Darth Vader, "This is CNN." Wouldn't that be great? COSTELLO: It would be great.
MYERS: Anyway...
COSTELLO: Maybe we can convince Mr. Lucas to have him do that...
MYERS: We'll see.
COSTELLO: ... because that would help us. Who knows?
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" now, and get those eyes open for some amazing pictures. You're watching something that does not happen very often.
American Kelly Slater is dominating the tube. That's surfing lingo for conquering the waves, dude. Try to keep up.
Slater scored two perfect 10s during the surfing championship in Tahiti. That record-setting performance easily won him his third title there. Ah, beautiful.
MYERS: I guess that would really be hanging ten, so to speak...
COSTELLO: Yes. I think that's hanging 20.
MYERS: ... with a score of 10.
COSTELLO: Check out this grainy surveillance video, Chad. You're actually watching a bull in the hallway of a high school in Vero Beach, Florida. Four seniors -- what?
MYERS: Can you see some Chick-Fil-A commercial coming out of this?
COSTELLO: Maybe so. They use cows, don't they?
Four seniors were also caught on the tape putting the animal in there. It was a school prank, in case you're wondering how they (INAUDIBLE) in the school.
MYERS: Oh, OK. All right. It was a prank.
COSTELLO: Jasper is the bull's name.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: He was unharmed, but the students, well, they got suspended for three days.
MYERS: Good.
COSTELLO: It was quite a sight off of Key West this week. A total of nine waterspouts were spotted off the coast. These are always amazing to look at, Chad.
MYERS: They really are. And that little streak you see on the water, that's actually the line where the waterspout had been. And it was moving off to the east here.
The Keys obviously, where it was a little stormy on Wednesday, even on Tuesday, some of these pictures shot there. Some of them were actually waterspouts that touched all the way to the ground.
I know some of them, you call them only funnels. Funnels don't reach the ground, but tornadoes or waterspouts do. If that actually would have made it on land, it probably would have been classified as an F0.
COSTELLO: I'm going to ask our e-mail question again before we head to a break. The e-mail "Question of the Day," Chad?
MYERS: What makes "Star Wars" so amazing to these people? Why are "Star Wars" fans so devoted? Maybe you get it better than I do.
Let us know. I know there's a reason. E-mail us, DAYBREAK@CNN.com -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 19, 2005 - 05:00 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, police in Idaho find their person of interest, but they still have not found two missing children.
Plus, is it judgment day? The Senate gears up for a battle on judicial nominations.
And the wait is over for die-hard "Star Wars" fans. The force will be with you starting today.
It is Thursday, May 19. 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," two assassinations in Iraq this morning. Police say an aide to a top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, was gunned down in Baghdad's Sadr City. And gunmen killed a senior Iraqi oil ministry official outside of his home in Baghdad.
A new tape said to be from the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq justified suicide bombings. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls for the killing of infidels by any means necessary, even if it means killing innocent Muslims.
And U.S. and North Korean officials have been talking. An American diplomat describes the meeting as working-level contact at the U.N. last Friday. Washington has been trying to convince Pyongyang to return to six-nation talks over its nuclear program.
To the forecast center and Chad.
May the force be with you.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And also with you, Carol. That's not how it goes, though, I know.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: There is still no sign of those two missing children in northern Idaho. Police say they have no new information even after talking to a person of interest in the case.
CNN's Sean Callebs has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heavy rain just another obstacle for small town investigators trying to piece together a triple murder mystery and the disappearance of two children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation's really slow right now.
CALLEBS: The Amber Alert continues to flash, but so far no sign of the missing children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his little sister Shasta. It's been a challenge for investigators from the outset. Three victims who were tied up, and no one in the house to tell investigators that two small children were missing.
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Well, obviously that was very important. There was just no way for us to know that until we had identified who the people were or had an idea of who they were, found their next of kin and then learned about the children.
CALLEBS: Amber Alert calls are steadily streaming in from the public.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kootenai County Sheriff's Department assistance hotline?
CALLEBS: But even this emergency management post is a work in progress.
SANDRA VON BEHREN, KOOTENAI COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: This is the first time that we've activated it for the Amber Alert. Actually, I guess it is something that, you know, we didn't expect to have here in Coeur d'Alene, happen here in Coeur d'Alene. So it is, you know, kind of a shock to us.
CALLEBS: The sheriff's office identified 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner as a person of interest, and authorities questioned the man late Wednesday after he alerted them to his whereabouts.
Sean Callebs, CNN, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In our "Security Watch" this morning, a defense of suicide bombings from a man who claims he carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of people. That new audiotape believed to be from terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He justifies the killing of innocent Muslims in the service of a broader holy war.
Our Ryan Chilcote has more on the strategy of terror in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A senior U.S. military official says Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted terrorist, ordered insurgents associated with his terror network to increase their use of car bombings. The military, according to the official, has intelligence that Zarqawi's lieutenant's met last month in Syria. It is not clear if Zarqawi was present at the meeting, but the military believes he gave the order to his lieutenants to include car bombings in their daily operations.
Before, the official said, car bombs were used normally for spectacular attacks, like this assassination of an Iraqi government official last year filmed by insurgents. Just after the reported meeting in Syria, Baghdad was awash in bombings. On this day, 11 car bombs went off before lunch.
According to new data on attacks in the Iraqi capital, there were twice as many car bombings in the last two-and-a-half months alone than there were in all of last year. The official called last month Iraq's most violent since the offensive in Falluja.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHILCOTE: That official is saying that the insurgency is not gaining ground and that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist network is not gaining ground. However, he says they have shown an ability to learn from the situation on the ground and adapt.
Some encouraging news. They say just in the last few days they've seen a relative lull in the violence. They're also saying that they've gotten some encouraging intelligence from recent U.S. military offensives, including Operation Matador, which concluded last week -- Carol
COSTELLO: Ryan, so I'm confused about something. And let's talk about that intelligence about Zarqawi himself. There was word that he was ill, that he needed hospital care. There is word he's being cornered and on the run.
What's true and what's not true?
CHILCOTE: Good question. Every U.S. military official that we have spoken to on background and on camera says they just simply don't know the answer to whether Zarqawi is ill or wounded. So we cannot by any stretch of the imagination confirm that, and I think the U.S. military and the Iraqi military simply don't know the answer to that.
What we do know about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi often is what he says himself. And, in fact, just yesterday he posted an audio recording -- at least it's purportedly from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- on the Internet.
Interestingly, in that audio recording he says that because of the wide open geography in Iraq, unlike in Afghanistan, insurgents need to use a tactic that really relies on direct confrontation with their enemy. And he, in that audio recording, justified using suicide car bombings even when they kill innocent Muslims if the ultimate target is infidels -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad this morning.
Back on the home front, the biggest terrorism threat in the United States isn't from al Qaeda. It's from violent extremists in environmental and animal rights' groups. That's the word from the federal government.
Federal law enforcement officials told a Senate panel that attacks by groups like the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front are becoming more frequent and increasingly involve the use of explosives or incendiary devices. But some senators were skeptical, questioning whether those acts are worse than, say, the threat of an attack on chemical, nuclear or waste-water facilities.
Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Democrats are arming themselves for another Senate battle. This one over John Bolton's nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused Bolton of misleading them. They've issued a 63-page report disputing his testimony in which he tried to -- he denied trying to discipline or fire intelligence analysts who disagreed with him. The Democrats are recommending that senators vote against Bolton's nomination. It could reach the Senate floor as early as next week.
Also on Capitol Hill, where round two in the battle over the president's judicial nominees gets under way this morning, CNN Congressional Correspondent Joe Johns reports on what's going on in public and behind the scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats on the Capitol steps vowing defiance.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: They want it all, all the say, all the control, all the power. It's their way or the highway.
JOHNS: Party leaders squaring off.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: It's the partisan leadership-led use of closure vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees.
JOHNS: But while senators gave emotional and sometimes bitter speeches about nominees Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, behind the scenes, away from all the attention, a handful of Democrats and Republicans were meeting privately, looking for a way to break the impasse.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: There are 10 people in the room, there are 11 opinions. So, you know, we're going to continue to do that. But I think -- but they're not -- they're not so diverse that it doesn't look like you can -- bringing them together.
JOHNS: So who are the leaders of this behind-the-scenes effort? On the Democratic side, Ben Nelson, the junior senator from Nebraska who's making a name for himself as someone unafraid to cross party lines. Also, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the youngest members of the Senate. On the Republican side, John McCain, the maverick conservative who has no problem crossing his party and his president when he thinks he's right.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We're making some progress, but we have no -- no conclusion yet.
JOHNS: And Virginia's John Warner, one of the old bulls of the Senate, a powerful committee chairman with a courtly manner and a deep love for the institution. And the two senators from Maine, the last bastion of Yankee moderate Republicanism, influential because their votes can never be taken for granted.
So as the conversation grows louder in the public arena...
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: It's contemptible. It's contemptible.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics. And it's shameful.
JOHNS: Behind the scenes, a hint of compromise. The mission is to find 12 senators to sign on to an agreement. Republicans would refuse to change the rules on filibusters and Democrats would promise to let some but not all disputed judicial nominations go through and be more careful about who they try to block in the future.
Why 12? Because the way the Senate breaks down, six Republicans would be enough to deny GOP leader Bill Frist the 51 votes needed to kill the filibuster. And six Democrats would be enough to make the filibuster unsustainable in the first place.
If either side abuses the deal, all bets would be off. In nuclear terms, it's a gradual disarmament, a version of the old axiom, trust, but verify.
Leadership...
FRIST: All we want is a vote, an up-or-down vote. Accept, reject, confirm, yes, no, that's all that we're asking for.
REID: And the majority is moving toward breaking the rules to change the rules. That's improper, it will change the Senate forever.
JOHNS: ... and leadership.
MCCAIN: We'll just continue to work right up until the last minute.
NELSON: And we wouldn't continue to do it if we didn't have some expectation of achieving an agreement.
JOHNS: Two tracks. One headed to a showdown fueled by political pressure from activist groups, the other headed toward compromise.
(on camera): Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been warned by conservative groups that if he loses he won't get points for trying, which raises the stakes for him and any senator in his party who strikes a deal that does not include up-or-down votes for all of the president's nominees.
Joe Johns, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In other news "Across America" now, police in Philadelphia are looking for help in finding a shooting suspect. They released security pictures that show the suspect in white -- see him there -- shooting. He's shooting 48-year-old Patricia McDermott (ph). She was shot in the head shortly after getting off a bus on Tuesday morning. If you know anything, call Philadelphia police.
The suspect in a high drama bank robbery in Kansas is in critical condition after a shootout with police. The man was apparently trying to make his getaway by hijacking a small plane when he was shot. Earlier, he had taken at least six people hostage and forced them to go with him to the airport.
A conspiracy charge has been added against the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili. Investigators say Anna Ayala and her husband were trying to extort money from the fast-food chain. The California judge refused to reduce Ayala's $500,000 bail during a hearing on her grand theft charges.
Coming up on DAYBREAK, apparently it really was a close call for President Bush, and only a malfunction kept a live grenade from exploding near him. We'll have new details in 21 minutes.
Pamela Smart was convicted of having her teenage lover kill her husband. We'll hear her new plea in her own words in 24 minutes.
And, well, bet you thought the new "Star Wars" movie had already debuted, but it's only just begun. The force is with Sibila Vargas in 43 minutes.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:16 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
More violence in Baghdad. An aide to the Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani was gunned down by unknown attackers in the city's Sadr City neighborhood. Sistani is considered to be Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric. The Senate has begun debating one of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees. Senator Arlen Specter says both sides are still working on a compromise that would lead to the confirmation of some of the nominees.
In money news, the investment (ph) for Morgan Stanley has been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages to settle a lawsuit. The fraud suit was brought by the owner of the Coleman Camping Equipment Company.
In culture, she's out of here A tearful Vonzell Solomon, the 20- year-old "Idol" wannabe affectionately known as "Baby V." was kicked off the show. And that leaves Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood. Which one will become the next "American Idol?" Who knows.
In sports, Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash proves why he's the league's MVP. During his team's 114-108 win over the Dallas Mavericks, Nash had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Suns to a 3-2 lead in their playoff series.
Wow.
MYERS: Oh.
COSTELLO: Good morning, Chad.
MYERS: Oh, that's a slap in the face, so to speak.
COSTELLO: Oh, it certainly was.
MYERS: Oh, my oh my.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Oh, it's e-mail time. You can't go away quite yet, Chad.
MYERS: Well, you know, it's all about "Star Wars" all the time now. So, we'll see how that goes.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Because, you know, the wait is over.
MYERS: Finally.
COSTELLO: It's finally -- yes. "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith," the sixth and final installment of the "Star Wars" saga, officially opened at midnight tonight -- like in five hours ago.
MYERS: Right. COSTELLO: You saw people standing in line. This was at a theater outside of Los Angeles. And as you can see, a big party was being held for all of those people waiting to get into the premier of this movie.
MYERS: Carol, I don't mean to be a spoiled sport, but do you get it? Do you get this whole thing?
COSTELLO: You know, I really don't.
MYERS: All right. Well...
COSTELLO: I enjoyed -- I saw the first one, and I enjoyed it. And I saw one of the latter ones and I fell asleep.
MYERS: But that was 25 years ago, Carol.
COSTELLO: No, no. The last one I saw was the one with the horrible Jar Jar Binks in it. Remember that?
MYERS: Oh, right.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: Well, this kind of leads up to our e-mail question: what is it? Do you get it? Tell us, why are "Star Wars" fans so devoted to this? Stand in line, spend weeks in line, in some spots, trying to be the first person to see "Star Wars."
COSTELLO: And then they dress up like the characters.
MYERS: Well, yes. Well, you know, that's almost turning into that -- that late night midnight movie kind of thing, you know.
COSTELLO: Like the "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
MYERS: Remember we used to do that, "Rocky Horror Picture Show?" Yes, you bring the hot dogs and all that kind of stuff.
COSTELLO: God, we're old.
MYERS: Thanks for reminding me.
COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com. I know. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
Forget the proverbial china shop. We'll tell you how a bull got loose in a Florida high school. Look at that, right in the hallway.
And it doesn't get much better than this. We're going to hang ten in Tahiti.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday, May 19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "Newsweek," that story that just will not go away. MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Boy, did it occupy David Letterman's thoughts last night.
MYERS: It's not going away at late-night TV.
COSTELLO: No. He also wanted to set the record straight about his show, too.
MYERS: Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Ladies and Gentlemen, at this time, I would like to retract last night's show.
(LAUGHTER)
And we apologize for the rioting it caused. It was such a slow news day that "Newsweek" couldn't even make up a story today.
(LAUGHTER)
They didn't know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's not going to go away for "Newsweek" anytime soon.
MYERS: Now, do you think there are legal repercussions from this? Do you think international law says anything about this? No?
COSTELLO: No. No. They retracted it in their -- they're getting their punishment without a lawsuit -- no.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: No, because you'd have to prove malice. And that would be hard to prove in any case.
MYERS: Sure. But Jay Leno had other things on his mind.
COSTELLO: He certainly did. And of course it was "Star Wars."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The new "Star Wars" is supposed to be very, very good. And it finally explains the transformation of how Anakin Skywalker went from a young white boy into James Earl Jones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: I love to see Darth Vader, "This is CNN." Wouldn't that be great? COSTELLO: It would be great.
MYERS: Anyway...
COSTELLO: Maybe we can convince Mr. Lucas to have him do that...
MYERS: We'll see.
COSTELLO: ... because that would help us. Who knows?
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" now, and get those eyes open for some amazing pictures. You're watching something that does not happen very often.
American Kelly Slater is dominating the tube. That's surfing lingo for conquering the waves, dude. Try to keep up.
Slater scored two perfect 10s during the surfing championship in Tahiti. That record-setting performance easily won him his third title there. Ah, beautiful.
MYERS: I guess that would really be hanging ten, so to speak...
COSTELLO: Yes. I think that's hanging 20.
MYERS: ... with a score of 10.
COSTELLO: Check out this grainy surveillance video, Chad. You're actually watching a bull in the hallway of a high school in Vero Beach, Florida. Four seniors -- what?
MYERS: Can you see some Chick-Fil-A commercial coming out of this?
COSTELLO: Maybe so. They use cows, don't they?
Four seniors were also caught on the tape putting the animal in there. It was a school prank, in case you're wondering how they (INAUDIBLE) in the school.
MYERS: Oh, OK. All right. It was a prank.
COSTELLO: Jasper is the bull's name.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: He was unharmed, but the students, well, they got suspended for three days.
MYERS: Good.
COSTELLO: It was quite a sight off of Key West this week. A total of nine waterspouts were spotted off the coast. These are always amazing to look at, Chad.
MYERS: They really are. And that little streak you see on the water, that's actually the line where the waterspout had been. And it was moving off to the east here.
The Keys obviously, where it was a little stormy on Wednesday, even on Tuesday, some of these pictures shot there. Some of them were actually waterspouts that touched all the way to the ground.
I know some of them, you call them only funnels. Funnels don't reach the ground, but tornadoes or waterspouts do. If that actually would have made it on land, it probably would have been classified as an F0.
COSTELLO: I'm going to ask our e-mail question again before we head to a break. The e-mail "Question of the Day," Chad?
MYERS: What makes "Star Wars" so amazing to these people? Why are "Star Wars" fans so devoted? Maybe you get it better than I do.
Let us know. I know there's a reason. E-mail us, DAYBREAK@CNN.com -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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