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CNN Live At Daybreak
Research Battle; Who is She?
Aired May 25, 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, House lawmakers want to open the door to more stem cell research, but President Bush wants to shut them out.
Plus, she's been sidelined for years. Now Priscilla Owen could finally make the federal court team.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was hoping you'd notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big dog wants some candy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: ... are you getting turned off when you turn on the television? A lot of lawmakers want to make the boob tube a lot less revealing.
It is Wednesday, May 25. This is DAYBREAK.
Good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News," a car bomb went off in Madrid, Spain, just about an hour and a half ago. At least three people are hurt. The Basque separatist group ETA allegedly made a warning call to a newspaper before the blast.
U.S. forces are targeting insurgents in western Iraq this morning. About a thousand troops have launched Operation New Market around the city of Haditha. At least three insurgents have been killed and two Marines wounded.
The Senate moves forward on two of President Bush's most controversial nominees today. First, a midday vote on stalled judicial nominee Priscilla Owen, and then senators take up John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador.
And wrapping up. Michael Jackson's lawyers will rest their case today in the pop star's child molestation trial. The last defense witness, comedian Chris Tucker. Jackson himself will not be taking the stand.
To the forecast center now. Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Topping the news this half-hour, she's been waiting for years to be a federal judge. Today, the waiting comes to an end. The Senate plans to vote just a few hours from now on federal appeals court nominee Priscilla Owen. It is the first such vote since senators reached a compromise Monday on some of President Bush's long- stalled court nominees.
Owen became a Texas Supreme Court justice in 1995. Opponents say she's an extreme conservative who opposed abortion rights and favors big business. But supporters say she is a consistent, no-nonsense judge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over four years ago I put Judge Owen's name up to the Senate for confirmation, 5th Court of Appeals. Thanks to the good work of the leader, his work cleared the way. Judge Owen is finally going to get an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The Senate is expected to confirm Owen to the federal bench.
Now on to another controversial Bush nominee. The full Senate takes up John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador today after weeks of heated debate. Critics say Bolton is no diplomat because he's anti-U.N. and he bullies his underlings.
Those critics include Senator George Voinovich, a Republican who sent a letter to his colleagues urging them to vote "no" on Bolton. Voinovich writes, and I quote, "In these dangerous times, we cannot afford to put at risk our nation's ability to successfully wage and win a war on terror with a controversial and ineffective ambassador to the United Nations."
Bolton's supporters say he is a seasoned official, though, who can spearhead U.N. reform.
Some say it's akin to an abortion. Others say it's a scientific path that could help cure disease and injuries. But could stem cell research lead to the first veto of George W. Bush's presidency? He made the threat, and now Congress may be ready to call his bluff.
From Washington, here's more from CNN's Kathleen Koch. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Supporters set the stage with emotional pleas from parents like Beth Westbrook, who believe stem cell research might have prevented her daughter Katie's death at age 15 from cancer.
BETH WESTBROOK, STEM CELL ADVOCATE: No parent should ever have to look at their child and tell them there are no more options, there's no more hope.
KOCH: And hope was what authors claimed the two bills offered. One boosting federal spending on umbilical cord stem cell research, the more controversial measure allowing federal funding of stem cell research on excess embryos at fertility clinics.
REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: These are discarded embryos that were never in the womb. They weren't taken from it and they weren't put into it, but they can help save lives.
REP. DIANA DEGETTE (D), COLORADO: Every single American who suffers from a terrible disease should have the right to a cure.
KOCH: But many who supported umbilical cord research drew the line at embryonic stem cell research.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: It's morally wrong to take the tax dollars of millions of pro-life Americans who believe as I do that human life is sacred and use it to fund the destruction of human embryos for research.
KOCH: President Bush is promising to veto the embryonic research bill in an East Room speech surrounding himself with babies born from embryos that might have been destroyed but were instead adopted by others having children.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The children here today remind us that there is no such thing as a spare embryo.
KOCH: Still, even some ardent pro-life Republicans tearfully split from the president, voting for research that many believe holds the cure for diseases from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to juvenile diabetes.
REP. DUKE CUNNINGHAM (R), CALIFORNIA: I am for life, and I'm for the quality of life. But I don't want another six-year-old to die.
KOCH (on camera): Both measures passed the House. But the 238 votes approving federal funding of embryonic stem cell research are not enough to override a presidential veto.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: From the beginnings of life to enhancing the one you've already got, one of the steroids used by some pro athletes is called the clean and the clear, and now Congress is trying to make those very athletes clean and clear. We're talking about two bills that would overhaul the drug policies of the four major sports.
The Clean Sports Act of 2005 calls for a two-year ban for the first offense. The bill also calls for at least five random tests per year. An enforcement of the Clean Sports Act would fall under the purview of the White House drug czar. The bill's cosponsor, Senator John McCain, says the legislation is necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: If the professional leagues had taken action, we would not be here today. But they have not taken sufficient action, and it's our obligation, not because we like to get into the business of professional sports, but to protect high school athletes and junior high school athletes all over America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We did a little digging and found a very interesting piece of a bill. Get this: players can reduce their penalties by either proving they didn't know they were taking a banned substance or by turning in a fellow player who is violating the drug policy.
Controversy followed Indiana death row inmate Gregory Johnson right to the very end. Johnson was given a lethal injection just a few hours ago. He had asked that his execution be delayed so he could possibly donate part of his liver to his sister. Both the state's clemency board and the governor rejected his request.
Johnson was convicted of murder nearly 20 years ago. And at least one member of his victim's family said they wanted him remembered as a killer and not as an organ donor.
And of course, Chad, that brings us to our e-mail question this morning.
MYERS: Should executions be delayed for organ donations, Carol? Interesting.
This family had a little -- little thing going on. They really didn't want this organ, he was offering it, blah, blah, blah. But in general, not only for this case, in general, should executions be delayed for organ donation or stem cell donation or whatever?
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Well, specifically, his sister was dying because she needed this liver transplant.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Don't know if the brother's liver actually matched his sister's.
MYERS: Do not know that.
COSTELLO: Or if that were possible.
MYERS: Correct, do not know that.
COSTELLO: But there was the possibility of that.
MYERS: Correct.
COSTELLO: And they wanted to explore that. But the powers that be said no, and he was executed.
We want to know what you think, as Chad said. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
In other news "Across America" now, eight young children were injured when a car drove through the front of a daycare center in Dallas. The car was being driven by a 14-year-old girl, who, of course, had no driver's license. She now faces eight counts of injuring a child. At least seven of the kids between the ages of 2 and 10 were treated and released.
A traffic jam in Kansas City forced one family to make a very eventful detour on the way to the delivery room. Parents to be ran out of time and ended up delivering the child right on the side of the road. Oh. A quick-thinking highway trooper called in some help, and the healthy baby was born without anymore complications.
A former radio DJ in Detroit has won a big lawsuit over perfume. Erin Weber said she was fired when she complained about a coworker's expensive odor. Weber claimed that the perfume caused her to lose her voice. She was awarded more than $10 million, including $2 million for mental anguish.
What's that cologne you're wearing, Chad?
MYERS: I don't wear cologne, Carol.
COSTELLO: I think I smell it all the way here to New York.
MYERS: I absolutely know you can. It's a thousand miles away.
COSTELLO: A rescue crew in California successfully plucked a woman and her dog out of some rushing rapids. It's unknown how the pair ended up being swept away by the current in the recreation area, but neither appeared to suffer any injuries.
They were pulled to safety, we assure you. Look at them. Both woman and her dog doing OK this morning.
There you go. I just want to watch those pictures.
Coming up on DAYBREAK this hour, why has this woman sparked years of debate on Capitol Hill? We'll approach Judge Priscilla Owen's bench.
Also, are the reports about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi true? U.S. officials hope so, but they don't want to get fooled.
And hot and bothered. Some people say TV is getting too hot, and that has lawmakers bothered.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The international markets are in negative territory right now. Tokyo's Nikkei is down over 119 points. The London FTSE down 7. The German DAX down just over 17.
Imagine you're going to a job interview, talking with your future boss. You find out he really, really wants you for the job, but you have to wait four years before you can start. And one more thing. There are a number of people out there who are publicly saying you should not get the job.
Well, that's exactly what happened to a woman named Priscilla Owen. And the way it looks now, she might actually get the job she's long been waiting for.
From Austin, Texas, here's more from CNN's John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Priscilla Owen is an evangelical Christian, a Sunday school teacher, and a Texan, which of all the fights over the president's judicial nominees makes this one personal. To supporters, a soft-spoken, meticulous jurist who knows her job is to interpret the law, not write it.
GREG ABBOTT, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: She is a person who believes in what's called strict construction. She will not legislate from the bench.
KING: To critics, a conservative ideologue bent on using judicial powers to erode abortion rights and to protect big business at any cost.
CRAIG MCDONALD, TEXANS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE: Owen is unique. We term her a serial activist.
KING: Priscilla Owen was born in a small farm and fishing village. From the beginning an animal lover. Her father died when she was just 10 months old. Faith was a constant, as was determination.
Treasurer of the Richland High School Class of '72, then Baylor, and Baylor law. The highest score on the state bar exam in 1977 sent her into private practice with a focus on energy.
Then came 1994. Texas elects its judges, and Owen was an overwhelming underdog when she agreed to run for the state supreme court. Her political consultant had another underdog on the Texas ballot that year. Karl Rove was as much a winner come November as Priscilla Owen and George W. Bush.
Eleven years later, Rove is the deputy White House chief of staff, a key Owen backer. And such a larger-than-life presence in both Washington in Austin that Owen backers feel compelled to play down his role.
ABBOTT: Karl Rove isn't the one who scored the highest score on the state bar exam. Karl Rove is not the person who did all the great things that Priscilla Owen did, either as a lawyer or as a justice. He didn't write her opinions for her.
KING: Owen is active in this evangelical Church, and advocates of abortion rights see religion, not an even-handed jurist. In opinions that a minor seeking an abortion must demonstrate "she understands some women have experienced severe remorse and regret," and demonstrate she "has considered that there are philosophic, social, moral and religious arguments that can be brought to bear when considering an abortion."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...
KING: Back in 2002, Owen told the Senate Judiciary Committee her language had nothing to do with her faith.
JUDGE PRISCILLA OWEN, TEXAS SUPREME COURT: It's straight out of a majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court.
KING: Another abortion case put her at odds with Alberto Gonzales, then an Owen colleague on the Texas high court, now the Bush administration attorney general.
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have never accused her of being an activist judge.
KING: But five years ago, Gonzales said Owen and two others on the court wanted to go beyond the state legislature and create hurdles for minors seeking to bypass parental notification, something Gonzales characterized as unconscionable judicial activism. Again, Justice Owen told the Senate her position was consistent with U.S. Supreme Court rulings, and that personal views never affect her legal judgments.
OWEN: My position is that Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for many, many years now.
KING: Those who paint Owen as zealously pro-business cite rulings favoring Enron and other energy interests, and the heartbreaking case of Willy Searcy, paralyzed and on a ventilator at 14 after a 1993 car accident. The family won a more than $30 million verdict against Ford, but Owen sided with Ford on appeal, ordering a new trial because the suit had been filed in the wrong county.
What stung family attorney Jack Ayres even more than Owen's ruling was that it took her 16 months to write it.
JACK AYRES, SEARCY FAMILY ATTORNEY: I felt that my client and I had been ambushed. My view is that, in this instance, what happened was the court decided that they were going to reverse the case, and they had to find a way to do it.
KING: And Ayres was stunned by this: Even as they ordered a new trial, the justices separately issued this awkwardly-worded paragraph in which they conceded they should have put the case on a fast track.
AYRES: I have never seen anything like this. I'll be in my 35th year soon of practicing law in Texas.
KING: Owen noted in Senate testimony that Willy did not die until three years after her ruling. But also said she was not proud of how long it took to decide the case. The chief justice at the time says Owen and the entire court should have done a better job.
TOM PHILLIPS, FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE, TEXAS SUPREME COURT: She works very hard and is very diligent, and sometimes some work gets behind other work when you are doing everything. The Miles case was not our finest hour.
KING: But Phillips supports Owen and says her record is being distorted.
PHILLIPS: The idea that some of these groups are bringing out -- that she has an agenda, that she is not following the law -- is just -- is absolutely false. She is a rule-of-law judge.
KING: There is no question Justice Owen finds herself in a partisan brawl that goes well beyond any one nomination. But the fact that she was re-nominated after Democrats defeated her a first time and that she shares the president's Texas roots makes this one unique.
John King, CNN, Austin, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, reports surface that a prominent insurgent leader in Iraq may be wounded. We'll have a full report minutes away.
And our e-mail "Question of the Morning." Should executions be delayed to allow organ donations? In other words, if your loved one is convicted of a serious crime and is going to be executed, and you need an organ donation, should that execution be put off so you can receive that life-saving organ?
Tell us what you think this morning. DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's time for some "Late Night Laughs." And what would the topic possibly be on the Jay Leno show? MYERS: Harley Davidsons? No.
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: Michael Jackson.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, because...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... Jay Leno took the stand in that child molestation case.
MYERS: Yes, he did.
COSTELLO: Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Direct from testifying at the Michael Jackson trial, Jay Leno.
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well, you know, I've got to admit, I was a little nervous before I testified. Once I got to the courtroom, I wasn't uncomfortable at all. They really made me feel at home.
Show the security camera footage of me arriving in court today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next witness.
(APPLAUSE)
LENO: There was one kind of embarrassing moment. When I took the stand, they asked me to point to the defendant, and I pointed out LaToya. Yes.
Well, there was a lot of talk about Michael Jackson. If he's acquitted, he once to leave the country as soon as the trial is over. That's what they said.
One report said he wants to go to Africa and disappear. He wants to disappear in Africa. Africa. I think he has a better chance of disappearing in Sweden.
Well, after, what, 12 weeks of trial, Michael Jackson's attorneys, they have finally admitted that Michael slept with children, but it was about love, not sex. Which just goes to prove, that line works for all guys.
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: All guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: When are they -- when are they going to get the case?
COSTELLO: Pretty soon.
MYERS: Yes?
COSTELLO: Pretty soon. Michael Jackson is not going to take the stand.
MYERS: Correct.
COSTELLO: So it shouldn't be long now. I think it's time for the rebuttal witnesses, and then there's closing arguments, and then the case goes to the jury. Then who knows how long it will take the jury to make a decision.
MYERS: That's like -- that's like less than six weeks.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Oh, time for some DAYBREAK "Eye Openers," Chad.
MYERS: Yes, a couple of them. Identical quads.
COSTELLO: Oh, check out these little bundles of joy.
MYERS: Oh, no.
COSTELLO: Imagine having that many babies at one time, Chad.
MYERS: No, I cannot.
COSTELLO: A Houston couple does, or can imagine it, because they are making history with the birth of their identical quadruplets. That is a rare occurrence, and the four baby girls were born without the use of fertility drugs or in vitro. Mom says she'll use ankle bracelets to keep track of who's who.
Oh, and get this. The family's last name?
MYERS: Yes?
COSTELLO: Breedlove.
MYERS: They did that.
COSTELLO: They sure did.
MYERS: Congratulations to them. Wow.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's for sure.
What's this guy got in the cage? Why, it's a caiman. A caiman is a reptile that's related to the alligator family.
There he is. The animals were raised in captivity as part of a conservation program in Venezuela. They're now being released back into the river. So I wouldn't go swimming in it.
MYERS: Not when they grow up.
COSTELLO: We had to pause for that bit of screaming. The age- old story of "Don Quixote" is brought to life by inmates at a Mexican prison. The inmates do it all, act, sing, set design and wardrobe. The show's director says the experience is aimed at helping prisoners reflect on freedom.
And talk about a big fish story. This baby weighs in at a record-breaking 124 -- look at this...
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: ... 124 pounds. Oh, that's insane.
MYERS: Why is there -- why is there a little bug up there that says "True Value?"
COSTELLO: I don't know.
MYERS: Well, anyway, it's a True Value fish. Go on down to your local True Value and buy a fish. Wow, 124 pounds.
COSTELLO: No, no, no. This -- this is real. This fisherman is from Alton, Illinois. He snagged this massive blue catfish in the Mississippi River last weekend, but it wasn't easy, Chad.
At one point, the fish was in control, dragging the boat, carrying the fisherman, his wife and a friend. But they wrestled that catfish...
MYERS: Oh, I bet. I bet that thing's about 15 horsepower in its own. So...
COSTELLO: It would make a lot of filets.
MYERS: Oh, no. It's too big.
COSTELLO: We're going to take a break. We'll be back with more on DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 25, 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, House lawmakers want to open the door to more stem cell research, but President Bush wants to shut them out.
Plus, she's been sidelined for years. Now Priscilla Owen could finally make the federal court team.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was hoping you'd notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big dog wants some candy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: ... are you getting turned off when you turn on the television? A lot of lawmakers want to make the boob tube a lot less revealing.
It is Wednesday, May 25. This is DAYBREAK.
Good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News," a car bomb went off in Madrid, Spain, just about an hour and a half ago. At least three people are hurt. The Basque separatist group ETA allegedly made a warning call to a newspaper before the blast.
U.S. forces are targeting insurgents in western Iraq this morning. About a thousand troops have launched Operation New Market around the city of Haditha. At least three insurgents have been killed and two Marines wounded.
The Senate moves forward on two of President Bush's most controversial nominees today. First, a midday vote on stalled judicial nominee Priscilla Owen, and then senators take up John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador.
And wrapping up. Michael Jackson's lawyers will rest their case today in the pop star's child molestation trial. The last defense witness, comedian Chris Tucker. Jackson himself will not be taking the stand.
To the forecast center now. Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Topping the news this half-hour, she's been waiting for years to be a federal judge. Today, the waiting comes to an end. The Senate plans to vote just a few hours from now on federal appeals court nominee Priscilla Owen. It is the first such vote since senators reached a compromise Monday on some of President Bush's long- stalled court nominees.
Owen became a Texas Supreme Court justice in 1995. Opponents say she's an extreme conservative who opposed abortion rights and favors big business. But supporters say she is a consistent, no-nonsense judge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over four years ago I put Judge Owen's name up to the Senate for confirmation, 5th Court of Appeals. Thanks to the good work of the leader, his work cleared the way. Judge Owen is finally going to get an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The Senate is expected to confirm Owen to the federal bench.
Now on to another controversial Bush nominee. The full Senate takes up John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador today after weeks of heated debate. Critics say Bolton is no diplomat because he's anti-U.N. and he bullies his underlings.
Those critics include Senator George Voinovich, a Republican who sent a letter to his colleagues urging them to vote "no" on Bolton. Voinovich writes, and I quote, "In these dangerous times, we cannot afford to put at risk our nation's ability to successfully wage and win a war on terror with a controversial and ineffective ambassador to the United Nations."
Bolton's supporters say he is a seasoned official, though, who can spearhead U.N. reform.
Some say it's akin to an abortion. Others say it's a scientific path that could help cure disease and injuries. But could stem cell research lead to the first veto of George W. Bush's presidency? He made the threat, and now Congress may be ready to call his bluff.
From Washington, here's more from CNN's Kathleen Koch. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Supporters set the stage with emotional pleas from parents like Beth Westbrook, who believe stem cell research might have prevented her daughter Katie's death at age 15 from cancer.
BETH WESTBROOK, STEM CELL ADVOCATE: No parent should ever have to look at their child and tell them there are no more options, there's no more hope.
KOCH: And hope was what authors claimed the two bills offered. One boosting federal spending on umbilical cord stem cell research, the more controversial measure allowing federal funding of stem cell research on excess embryos at fertility clinics.
REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: These are discarded embryos that were never in the womb. They weren't taken from it and they weren't put into it, but they can help save lives.
REP. DIANA DEGETTE (D), COLORADO: Every single American who suffers from a terrible disease should have the right to a cure.
KOCH: But many who supported umbilical cord research drew the line at embryonic stem cell research.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: It's morally wrong to take the tax dollars of millions of pro-life Americans who believe as I do that human life is sacred and use it to fund the destruction of human embryos for research.
KOCH: President Bush is promising to veto the embryonic research bill in an East Room speech surrounding himself with babies born from embryos that might have been destroyed but were instead adopted by others having children.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The children here today remind us that there is no such thing as a spare embryo.
KOCH: Still, even some ardent pro-life Republicans tearfully split from the president, voting for research that many believe holds the cure for diseases from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to juvenile diabetes.
REP. DUKE CUNNINGHAM (R), CALIFORNIA: I am for life, and I'm for the quality of life. But I don't want another six-year-old to die.
KOCH (on camera): Both measures passed the House. But the 238 votes approving federal funding of embryonic stem cell research are not enough to override a presidential veto.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: From the beginnings of life to enhancing the one you've already got, one of the steroids used by some pro athletes is called the clean and the clear, and now Congress is trying to make those very athletes clean and clear. We're talking about two bills that would overhaul the drug policies of the four major sports.
The Clean Sports Act of 2005 calls for a two-year ban for the first offense. The bill also calls for at least five random tests per year. An enforcement of the Clean Sports Act would fall under the purview of the White House drug czar. The bill's cosponsor, Senator John McCain, says the legislation is necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: If the professional leagues had taken action, we would not be here today. But they have not taken sufficient action, and it's our obligation, not because we like to get into the business of professional sports, but to protect high school athletes and junior high school athletes all over America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We did a little digging and found a very interesting piece of a bill. Get this: players can reduce their penalties by either proving they didn't know they were taking a banned substance or by turning in a fellow player who is violating the drug policy.
Controversy followed Indiana death row inmate Gregory Johnson right to the very end. Johnson was given a lethal injection just a few hours ago. He had asked that his execution be delayed so he could possibly donate part of his liver to his sister. Both the state's clemency board and the governor rejected his request.
Johnson was convicted of murder nearly 20 years ago. And at least one member of his victim's family said they wanted him remembered as a killer and not as an organ donor.
And of course, Chad, that brings us to our e-mail question this morning.
MYERS: Should executions be delayed for organ donations, Carol? Interesting.
This family had a little -- little thing going on. They really didn't want this organ, he was offering it, blah, blah, blah. But in general, not only for this case, in general, should executions be delayed for organ donation or stem cell donation or whatever?
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Well, specifically, his sister was dying because she needed this liver transplant.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Don't know if the brother's liver actually matched his sister's.
MYERS: Do not know that.
COSTELLO: Or if that were possible.
MYERS: Correct, do not know that.
COSTELLO: But there was the possibility of that.
MYERS: Correct.
COSTELLO: And they wanted to explore that. But the powers that be said no, and he was executed.
We want to know what you think, as Chad said. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
In other news "Across America" now, eight young children were injured when a car drove through the front of a daycare center in Dallas. The car was being driven by a 14-year-old girl, who, of course, had no driver's license. She now faces eight counts of injuring a child. At least seven of the kids between the ages of 2 and 10 were treated and released.
A traffic jam in Kansas City forced one family to make a very eventful detour on the way to the delivery room. Parents to be ran out of time and ended up delivering the child right on the side of the road. Oh. A quick-thinking highway trooper called in some help, and the healthy baby was born without anymore complications.
A former radio DJ in Detroit has won a big lawsuit over perfume. Erin Weber said she was fired when she complained about a coworker's expensive odor. Weber claimed that the perfume caused her to lose her voice. She was awarded more than $10 million, including $2 million for mental anguish.
What's that cologne you're wearing, Chad?
MYERS: I don't wear cologne, Carol.
COSTELLO: I think I smell it all the way here to New York.
MYERS: I absolutely know you can. It's a thousand miles away.
COSTELLO: A rescue crew in California successfully plucked a woman and her dog out of some rushing rapids. It's unknown how the pair ended up being swept away by the current in the recreation area, but neither appeared to suffer any injuries.
They were pulled to safety, we assure you. Look at them. Both woman and her dog doing OK this morning.
There you go. I just want to watch those pictures.
Coming up on DAYBREAK this hour, why has this woman sparked years of debate on Capitol Hill? We'll approach Judge Priscilla Owen's bench.
Also, are the reports about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi true? U.S. officials hope so, but they don't want to get fooled.
And hot and bothered. Some people say TV is getting too hot, and that has lawmakers bothered.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
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COSTELLO: The international markets are in negative territory right now. Tokyo's Nikkei is down over 119 points. The London FTSE down 7. The German DAX down just over 17.
Imagine you're going to a job interview, talking with your future boss. You find out he really, really wants you for the job, but you have to wait four years before you can start. And one more thing. There are a number of people out there who are publicly saying you should not get the job.
Well, that's exactly what happened to a woman named Priscilla Owen. And the way it looks now, she might actually get the job she's long been waiting for.
From Austin, Texas, here's more from CNN's John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Priscilla Owen is an evangelical Christian, a Sunday school teacher, and a Texan, which of all the fights over the president's judicial nominees makes this one personal. To supporters, a soft-spoken, meticulous jurist who knows her job is to interpret the law, not write it.
GREG ABBOTT, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: She is a person who believes in what's called strict construction. She will not legislate from the bench.
KING: To critics, a conservative ideologue bent on using judicial powers to erode abortion rights and to protect big business at any cost.
CRAIG MCDONALD, TEXANS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE: Owen is unique. We term her a serial activist.
KING: Priscilla Owen was born in a small farm and fishing village. From the beginning an animal lover. Her father died when she was just 10 months old. Faith was a constant, as was determination.
Treasurer of the Richland High School Class of '72, then Baylor, and Baylor law. The highest score on the state bar exam in 1977 sent her into private practice with a focus on energy.
Then came 1994. Texas elects its judges, and Owen was an overwhelming underdog when she agreed to run for the state supreme court. Her political consultant had another underdog on the Texas ballot that year. Karl Rove was as much a winner come November as Priscilla Owen and George W. Bush.
Eleven years later, Rove is the deputy White House chief of staff, a key Owen backer. And such a larger-than-life presence in both Washington in Austin that Owen backers feel compelled to play down his role.
ABBOTT: Karl Rove isn't the one who scored the highest score on the state bar exam. Karl Rove is not the person who did all the great things that Priscilla Owen did, either as a lawyer or as a justice. He didn't write her opinions for her.
KING: Owen is active in this evangelical Church, and advocates of abortion rights see religion, not an even-handed jurist. In opinions that a minor seeking an abortion must demonstrate "she understands some women have experienced severe remorse and regret," and demonstrate she "has considered that there are philosophic, social, moral and religious arguments that can be brought to bear when considering an abortion."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...
KING: Back in 2002, Owen told the Senate Judiciary Committee her language had nothing to do with her faith.
JUDGE PRISCILLA OWEN, TEXAS SUPREME COURT: It's straight out of a majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court.
KING: Another abortion case put her at odds with Alberto Gonzales, then an Owen colleague on the Texas high court, now the Bush administration attorney general.
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have never accused her of being an activist judge.
KING: But five years ago, Gonzales said Owen and two others on the court wanted to go beyond the state legislature and create hurdles for minors seeking to bypass parental notification, something Gonzales characterized as unconscionable judicial activism. Again, Justice Owen told the Senate her position was consistent with U.S. Supreme Court rulings, and that personal views never affect her legal judgments.
OWEN: My position is that Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for many, many years now.
KING: Those who paint Owen as zealously pro-business cite rulings favoring Enron and other energy interests, and the heartbreaking case of Willy Searcy, paralyzed and on a ventilator at 14 after a 1993 car accident. The family won a more than $30 million verdict against Ford, but Owen sided with Ford on appeal, ordering a new trial because the suit had been filed in the wrong county.
What stung family attorney Jack Ayres even more than Owen's ruling was that it took her 16 months to write it.
JACK AYRES, SEARCY FAMILY ATTORNEY: I felt that my client and I had been ambushed. My view is that, in this instance, what happened was the court decided that they were going to reverse the case, and they had to find a way to do it.
KING: And Ayres was stunned by this: Even as they ordered a new trial, the justices separately issued this awkwardly-worded paragraph in which they conceded they should have put the case on a fast track.
AYRES: I have never seen anything like this. I'll be in my 35th year soon of practicing law in Texas.
KING: Owen noted in Senate testimony that Willy did not die until three years after her ruling. But also said she was not proud of how long it took to decide the case. The chief justice at the time says Owen and the entire court should have done a better job.
TOM PHILLIPS, FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE, TEXAS SUPREME COURT: She works very hard and is very diligent, and sometimes some work gets behind other work when you are doing everything. The Miles case was not our finest hour.
KING: But Phillips supports Owen and says her record is being distorted.
PHILLIPS: The idea that some of these groups are bringing out -- that she has an agenda, that she is not following the law -- is just -- is absolutely false. She is a rule-of-law judge.
KING: There is no question Justice Owen finds herself in a partisan brawl that goes well beyond any one nomination. But the fact that she was re-nominated after Democrats defeated her a first time and that she shares the president's Texas roots makes this one unique.
John King, CNN, Austin, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, reports surface that a prominent insurgent leader in Iraq may be wounded. We'll have a full report minutes away.
And our e-mail "Question of the Morning." Should executions be delayed to allow organ donations? In other words, if your loved one is convicted of a serious crime and is going to be executed, and you need an organ donation, should that execution be put off so you can receive that life-saving organ?
Tell us what you think this morning. DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's time for some "Late Night Laughs." And what would the topic possibly be on the Jay Leno show? MYERS: Harley Davidsons? No.
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: Michael Jackson.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, because...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... Jay Leno took the stand in that child molestation case.
MYERS: Yes, he did.
COSTELLO: Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Direct from testifying at the Michael Jackson trial, Jay Leno.
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well, you know, I've got to admit, I was a little nervous before I testified. Once I got to the courtroom, I wasn't uncomfortable at all. They really made me feel at home.
Show the security camera footage of me arriving in court today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next witness.
(APPLAUSE)
LENO: There was one kind of embarrassing moment. When I took the stand, they asked me to point to the defendant, and I pointed out LaToya. Yes.
Well, there was a lot of talk about Michael Jackson. If he's acquitted, he once to leave the country as soon as the trial is over. That's what they said.
One report said he wants to go to Africa and disappear. He wants to disappear in Africa. Africa. I think he has a better chance of disappearing in Sweden.
Well, after, what, 12 weeks of trial, Michael Jackson's attorneys, they have finally admitted that Michael slept with children, but it was about love, not sex. Which just goes to prove, that line works for all guys.
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: All guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: When are they -- when are they going to get the case?
COSTELLO: Pretty soon.
MYERS: Yes?
COSTELLO: Pretty soon. Michael Jackson is not going to take the stand.
MYERS: Correct.
COSTELLO: So it shouldn't be long now. I think it's time for the rebuttal witnesses, and then there's closing arguments, and then the case goes to the jury. Then who knows how long it will take the jury to make a decision.
MYERS: That's like -- that's like less than six weeks.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Oh, time for some DAYBREAK "Eye Openers," Chad.
MYERS: Yes, a couple of them. Identical quads.
COSTELLO: Oh, check out these little bundles of joy.
MYERS: Oh, no.
COSTELLO: Imagine having that many babies at one time, Chad.
MYERS: No, I cannot.
COSTELLO: A Houston couple does, or can imagine it, because they are making history with the birth of their identical quadruplets. That is a rare occurrence, and the four baby girls were born without the use of fertility drugs or in vitro. Mom says she'll use ankle bracelets to keep track of who's who.
Oh, and get this. The family's last name?
MYERS: Yes?
COSTELLO: Breedlove.
MYERS: They did that.
COSTELLO: They sure did.
MYERS: Congratulations to them. Wow.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's for sure.
What's this guy got in the cage? Why, it's a caiman. A caiman is a reptile that's related to the alligator family.
There he is. The animals were raised in captivity as part of a conservation program in Venezuela. They're now being released back into the river. So I wouldn't go swimming in it.
MYERS: Not when they grow up.
COSTELLO: We had to pause for that bit of screaming. The age- old story of "Don Quixote" is brought to life by inmates at a Mexican prison. The inmates do it all, act, sing, set design and wardrobe. The show's director says the experience is aimed at helping prisoners reflect on freedom.
And talk about a big fish story. This baby weighs in at a record-breaking 124 -- look at this...
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: ... 124 pounds. Oh, that's insane.
MYERS: Why is there -- why is there a little bug up there that says "True Value?"
COSTELLO: I don't know.
MYERS: Well, anyway, it's a True Value fish. Go on down to your local True Value and buy a fish. Wow, 124 pounds.
COSTELLO: No, no, no. This -- this is real. This fisherman is from Alton, Illinois. He snagged this massive blue catfish in the Mississippi River last weekend, but it wasn't easy, Chad.
At one point, the fish was in control, dragging the boat, carrying the fisherman, his wife and a friend. But they wrestled that catfish...
MYERS: Oh, I bet. I bet that thing's about 15 horsepower in its own. So...
COSTELLO: It would make a lot of filets.
MYERS: Oh, no. It's too big.
COSTELLO: We're going to take a break. We'll be back with more on DAYBREAK.
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