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CNN Live At Daybreak

Operation Lightning; Terrorism Arrests; Stripper Party; Talking Rock

Aired May 31, 2005 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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."

More aftershocks shake the tsunami-battered Asian subcontinent. A 5.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the province of Banda Aceh, Indonesia this morning. The epicenter is eerily close to the December 26 quake that spawned those killer tsunamis.

France's prime minister is likely to be leaving office. President Jacques Chirac expected to replace Jean-Pierre Raffarin following Sunday's resounding no from French voters against the E.U. constitution.

Remember that big brouhaha over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's trips paid for by special interest groups? Well The Associated Press has done a follow-up story. Apparently 198 lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, are now rushing to come clean about their own past trips.

U.S. security officials divert a Korean air flight bound for San Francisco because a passenger's name matched one on a terrorist no-fly list. The plane was directed to Japan where officials determined the passenger was not a danger.

To the Forecast Center now and, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: The CIA says it should know in about a day or so if the speaker on a new audiotape is wanted terrorist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. This new message, posted on an Islamic Web site, is addressed to Osama bin Laden. In it the speaker says he suffered only a minor wound in combat but he's still directing insurgent attacks. We'll have more on the tape in the next hour with our Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr.

An Italian Air Force helicopter has crashed in southern Iraq this morning. Italy's military command says all four Italians on board were killed. The cause of the crash is not immediately known. The wreckage of the helicopter was found about 13 miles south of Nasiriya.

Still in Iraq, the U.S. military hopes Operation Lightning will mark a turning point in the war against insurgents in and around Baghdad. Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops have been deployed to the capital to hunt down insurgents and their weapons.

But as CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports, things aren't going exactly as planned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The operation may be dubbed Lightning, but it's getting off to a slow start, according to U.S. military sources, who say so far most of the raids have been conducted by American troops, while Iraqi forces have been preparing.

But the Pentagon has high hopes that in the coming days Iraqis will begin to free their capital from the grip of insurgents by manning some 675 checkpoints and conducting massive sweeps of Baghdad streets. It's more basic cop work than combat.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The good news about it is it's cooperation between the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense. It's important they cooperate. That's the police and the army, of course. It's important they cooperate, given the security situation they have. So that's all very, very encouraging.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon says of Iraq's 100 battalions, only about 25 can operate without a lot of U.S. support. Military sources tell CNN the government's boast that there will be 40,000 Iraqi forces on the street might be a little inflated. But even if only half that number takes part, the U.S. believes it could make a big difference, both militarily and symbolically.

BRIG. GEN. DANIEL BOLGER, U.S. ARMY: Because, frankly, a lot of the people who live in Iraq, the common folks who live here, are tired of getting their children blown up. They're tired of being shot at on the way to work or school. And they've just had about enough of this. And Operation Lightning is the Iraqi government's way of reinforcing that effort here in the city with their great new police forces and their army forces taking a really important leading role.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The U.S. really hopes Operation Lightning succeeds, not just because it would deal a blow to the insurgents, but because the more Iraqi forces show they're up to the job, the sooner the U.S. can begin to bring its troops home.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Have questions about the military's planned base closures? Get ready for some answers. A new Defense Department database will offer information about how specific bases were chosen for closure or job cuts. Lawmakers will be able to view the database today or tomorrow. The rest of us, well, we'll have to wait until June 4.

Two U.S. terror suspects are due in court this morning in New York and Florida. They're charged with conspiring to help al Qaeda. Court papers show they became enthusiastic followers of Osama bin Laden and his terror network.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to the criminal complaint, there was a lot of talk, talk of training al Qaeda terrorists in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, talk of treating wounded Muslim fighters, talk that has two Americans facing charges of planning to help al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: They clearly have said that they wanted to destroy our way of life and hurt the people of America. And if that's your definition of terrorism, I guess that certainly qualifies.

FEYERICK: The two men, friends for 20 years, were arrested over the weekend, Dr. Rafiq Sabir at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, Terik Shah at an apartment in the Bronx.

The complaint alleges Shah did most of the talking, first to a convicted robber-turned-government-informant wearing a wire, then to an undercover FBI agent posing as a recruiter for Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors say Shah scoped out a Long Island warehouse as a possible place for training, while Sabir was ready to go to Saudi Arabia this week.

Sabir graduated from Columbia University Medical School. He worked at Harlem Hospital, before moving several years ago to Florida to work as an emergency room doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a surprise for everybody, to be honest. They are nice people, you know?

FEYERICK: Both Sabir and Shah allegedly swore an oath of allegiance to bin Laden.

BLOOMBERG: It doesn't look like they really did very much. We saw what happens when you don't go after terrorists.

FEYERICK (on camera): Both men face one count of material support of terrorism. Repeated calls to their families and a lawyer went unanswered. Each faces a federal judge Tuesday to answer the charge.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, Chris Rock talks about fame, fortune and the education he wishes he had.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Whatever happened to the good old days when parents hired a clown for their kid's birthday parties? The reason I ask is because a mother in Tennessee has been arrested. She's accused of hiring a stripper for her son's Sweet 16.

We get the story from Andy Cordan of CNN affiliate WKRN in Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY CORDAN, WKRN-TV REPORTER (voice-over): September 25, 2004, Landon Pharris Jr. turned 16 years old.

LANDON PHARRIS JR., 16 YEARS OLD: She come in and then she just started stripping.

CORDAN: That's the night the teenager says 29-year-old Cassandra Park dances completely nude for him and many of his teenage friends inside the family's kitchen.

LA. PHARRIS: I enjoyed every bit of it. But now that when the police showed up and the first night took my mom to jail, I get kind of upset.

CORDAN: Landon's mother, Lilly, tells me she paid $250 for this exotic dancer known as Sassy (ph).

LILLY PHARRIS, MOTHER: You know I was trying to give him a 16th that he wouldn't forget, you know. I mean Sweet 16 only comes once.

CORDAN: Lilly Pharris says she notified other parents about the party. She says she also told the exotic dance company there would be minors in the house.

LI. PHARRIS: The youngest one was 14, and that was my son.

CORDAN (on camera): Do you think it was inappropriate, appropriate?

LA. PHARRIS: I mean it was, you know, I'm a teenager, so...

CORDAN: So it was fun?

LA. PHARRIS: Yes, it was fun.

CORDAN (voice-over): As the four-hour party rages on, the boys begin to take pictures of the performance. LI. PHARRIS: They got a hold of my camera and got some really close-up shots of her.

CORDAN (on camera): It's unlikely that the police would have ever known about this party except for the fact that Mrs. Pharris brought three roles of film from the party to this Walgreen's to have the film developed. Walgreen's saw the photos. They called the cops.

DET. MATT CHANCE, NASHVILLE POLICE: And she left nothing to the imagination.

CORDAN (voice-over): Sex crimes Detective Matt Chance views all 100-plus pictures.

CHANCE: And her head is in some of the child's lap as if she's performing oral sex. That was, like I say, our concern.

CORDAN: Eight months after the party, a Davidson County grand jury indicts Mr. and Mrs. Pharris, the dancer, her escort and the owner of the exotic dance company.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report was from Andy Cordan of CNN affiliate WKRN. And that Pharris defended her decision by saying -- quote -- "my son is very mature."

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

An Iraqi-led crackdown on insurgents in and around Baghdad is off to a very encouraging start, so says the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. The crackdown is called Operation Lightning.

A man claiming to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, has released a new tape with a message addressed to Osama bin Laden. In it he says he suffered only a minor wound in combat and remains in Iraq.

In money news, the U.S. is moving ahead with a trade case against the European Union. Excuse me. Washington wants to stop European governments from allegedly providing illegal subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus. Airbus is the major competitor to America's Boeing.

In culture, it is a done deal. "Project Runway" will return to Bravo this fall. And Heidi Klum, who is one of the hit show's executive producers and creators, will return as host.

In sports, it was a bit of a miracle. That's how Justine Henin- Hardenne describes her win at the French Open. She beat the reigning U.S. Open champion and advances to the quarterfinals -- Chad.

MYERS: Morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Did you see the Indy 500? Chad, come back.

MYERS: Yes, I'm here. I'm here.

COSTELLO: The Indy 500.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Did you watch it?

MYERS: I watched the end. I had the opportunity to go fishing in northern Kentucky at the beginning. And so only very, very few things will take me away from racing, and that's one of them, but anyway.

COSTELLO: Well Danica Patrick,...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... she did a terrific job. She came in fourth.

MYERS: She really did, Carol. She really did. She led laps. She didn't just lead yellow laps, she led green flag laps. And I think she would have even been farther ahead than fourth if she didn't have to turn down the fuel mixture and taking away the horsepower from her car, because they were really on a gas mileage, a fuel mileage run there. And they really had a -- Bobby Rahal did a phenomenal job with that young lady. And she is a rookie and she will win races.

COSTELLO: Definitely so.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: But the big news about her today is ABC was hoping that her presence in the race would increase ratings. And guess what?

MYERS: Of course it did.

COSTELLO: It did 40 percent.

MYERS: Wow, good.

COSTELLO: Forty percent above what it was last year.

MYERS: Now if we can get the Champ cars and the Indy cars together so we get all the good drivers together, then you're going to see some ratings boost. But you've got all this Tony George and thing going on.

COSTELLO: Yes. Also, Danica Patrick, I think we're going to have this story later, but she went to a party after the Indianapolis. Here it is. See the dress she's wearing?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Is that Dan Wheldon? No, that's not Dan Wheldon.

MYERS: No, no, no, she has a fiance -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. I know she does. That's her fiance. But Dan Wheldon, the winner of the Indianapolis 500, he went to this very same party with his girlfriend or wife,...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... and she had the same dress on as Danica Patrick.

MYERS: No way. But one of the announcers -- I don't even know who it was -- did call her Danica Wheldon during the show at one point in time. So don't know if that was a Freudian Slip.

COSTELLO: I don't know. I wish we had the other picture, then it would have had a -- there it is, but she's behind him.

MYERS: I see.

COSTELLO: But you can see it's the same dress.

MYERS: Nice. What are the odds?

COSTELLO: Yes, what are the odds?

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, on the heels of the new animated film "Madagascar," Chris Rock talks about Oscars, high school and attorneys in Phoenix. Hear the one-on-one interview when DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Don't know if you know this, but it is World No Tobacco Day. And that's perfect timing for news of a smoking vaccine. A number of pharmaceutical companies say they're testing this new addiction treatment. It works by producing specific antibodies that recognize nicotine and prevent it from reaching the brain. That means there's no pleasure sensation and less reason for you to smoke.

Harvard researchers say the tobacco industry's efforts to get women addicted to smoking are much more far ranging than previously thought. The new information comes from a detailed study of internal tobacco company documents. Among the findings, companies modified their cigarettes to make them easier for women to inhale and designed them to be more appealing to women. The lead author of the study will be a guest in the 7:00 a.m. hour on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

Now it's time to get to our e-mail segment, because our audience just woke up and there are students awake.

MYERS: They are.

COSTELLO: And I apologize for that for saying that you're not awake and busy. You are. MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: At least some of you.

MYERS: Got a couple of them here.

One from Lou Dobbs. No, I'm sorry. This is from Sarah (ph) in Long Island. With the outsourcing of high-tech jobs overseas, the 2005 grads can look forward to a highly rewarding job in the service industry.

And Kevin (ph) in Naples, Florida says I fear that the 2005 will get a lot of experience saying would you like to super size that?

COSTELLO: Man, that's a pessimistic outlook.

MYERS: I think a lot of the adults have a pessimistic view of the 2005 grads. I got a lot of them saying that they're going to be great playing with PS2s and Xboxes and so on and so on because that's what they like to do best.

Now we'll go from a recently graduated guy from ASU with an MBA. I've experienced that employers are certainly interested and he makes me likely to move to California to find that job and then record a record album. Because I'd rather take my chances with celebrity than do it with the job market and the future of these white collared indentured servants are getting. That was from Nicholas (ph) in Arizona -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Man, I'm a little depressed now.

MYERS: Well now we'll get to the other side next hour, maybe the happy ones, the ones that actually did find a job.

COSTELLO: Yes, there are some.

MYERS: Some.

COSTELLO: Coming up all new in the next hour of DAYBREAK, a topic on the minds of many undergrads is a Master's degree in business worth the time, effort and expense? We will answer that question and more from your e-mails this morning.

Also, the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, he has a new audiotape out. How does this affect the Iraqi insurgency?

These stories and much more as DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In "Entertainment Headlines" for you this morning, Miss Canada is the new Miss Universe. Twenty-three-year-old brunette Natalie Glebova won the crown in Thailand. She beat out 80 of the world's most beautiful women, and an estimated one billion people in 170 countries were watching. Kenny Chesney, who was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards this month, will appear in his first network TV special. It will air the day before Thanksgiving on ABC. And for those of you who don't know, Chesney is now married to actress Renee Zellweger.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman doesn't have a wife, so he'll borrow one to take part in the Wife-Carrying World Championships in Finland in July. So you're going to have some competition -- Chad.

The whimsical...

MYERS: What? He can dress up as a wife and he can carry himself.

COSTELLO: That's right. That's right, he used to dress up like a woman a lot.

MYERS: He sure did.

COSTELLO: This is an annual event. It's like a steeplechase in which the wife rides upside-down on the runner's back with her legs slung over his shoulders. You've seen that.

MYERS: Can't wait. Yes, I've seen it. It's not pretty.

COSTELLO: I tape it every year. I'm just kidding.

You can plan on seeing a lot of former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Chris Rock this summer. Rock stars in not one, but two big movies on the silver screen right now. The remake of the Burt Reynolds classic "The Longest Yard" and the more animated offering from DreamWorks "Madagascar."

CNN's Sibila Vargas sits down with the now 40-year-old comic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So Marty has big dreams.

CHRIS ROCK, COMIC: Marty is a big dreamer, you know. Marty dreams of leaving the zoo and going out into the wild. You know I guess he saw blue shore or some commercial or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, what did you wish for?

ROCK: Nope, can't tell you that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, tell.

ROCK: No siree, I'm telling you, bad luck.

VARGAS: Talking about big dreams, you know, you're a guy from Bed-Stuy.

ROCK: That's me.

VARGAS: Did you ever think and imagine that you would be at the place that you are right now?

ROCK: I never thought or imagined I would be at the place. All I wanted to be -- I mean you know if you would have offered me a job making $6.00 an hour, you know, whatever, 20 years ago, I would have took it and never told a joke the rest of -- ever. I mean you know. So that was my idea of, you know, success.

VARGAS: How did it all change for you? What was the turning point?

ROCK: I don't know. You know once I got into comedy and you know it was like a calling. It's weird, because I'm from a -- like my grandpa is a preacher and my other grandpa is a preacher. So like preaching is in my blood, and people -- you know preachers have a calling.

VARGAS: Right.

ROCK: But I wasn't called to preach. I was called to do stand up.

VARGAS: And then you hosted the Oscars. I mean only a handful of people get to do that. That is huge.

ROCK: Yes, that's what I hear. Yes, the Oscars went great. I had a ball. I've never had -- you know I've never gotten such a positive reaction for anything I've ever done.

VARGAS: Have you been approached to do another Oscar gig?

ROCK: No one's called yet. It's still early. But if they want me to do it again, I'll do it.

VARGAS: If you could talk to yourself, I mean if you could go back 15 years and talk to a younger Chris,...

ROCK: A younger Chris.

VARGAS: ... what would you tell yourself?

ROCK: Here's the thing, if I could do it -- and I love my life -- but I would probably go to school, pay attention to school, graduate, get a high school diploma, go to college, live a normal life. And I love my life, but you know being in show business, emotionally it's so up and down and all around the place. And you, really, you take your friends and your loved ones on this roller- coast.

VARGAS: Yes.

ROCK: And it would probably be nicer to, you know, be like an attorney in Phoenix.

VARGAS: That's going to be easier for sure.

ROCK: It'd be like an easier life. But I don't know, I'm having ball. And what would I tell Chris. It's going to work out, man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Chris Rock, thanks to Sibila Vargas. So the next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, a possible message from the terror front. A new tape believed to be number one terror suspect Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. And he's got something to tell Osama bin Laden.

Also, a shocking story out of Florida this morning. Police say two teenagers went on the deadly rampage just for fun.

And what are today's college graduates going to do with their lives? Are there opportunities in the real world?

It is Tuesday May 31.

You're watching DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

Now in the news, Indonesia has been shaken by another earthquake. This one is a moderate 5.4 magnitude, but it was centered in almost the same spot as the quake that spawned the killer tsunami six months ago.

An aid worker in Sudan has been arrested after releasing a report alleging widespread rapes in the Darfur region. Paul Foreman, the head of the Dutch arm of Doctors Without Borders, is charged with spreading false information. But the agency says the information came directly from women who said they were raped by Sudanese soldiers.

This news in just moments ago. The French president, Jacques Chirac, has appointed Dominique De Villepin as the new prime minister. This after the former prime minister resigned earlier today. The government shakeup comes following Sunday's resounding no from French voters against the E.U. constitution.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Going on the offensive -- Iraqi troops are leading a massive security crackdown against insurgents in Baghdad. It's called Operation Lightning and a lot is on the line.

Let's head live to Baghdad and CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan, bring us up to date.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, we finally got a read out from the Iraqi security forces as to what is going on with Operation Lightning. It's now in day two and this is what they're telling us. They say that this morning they disabled a car bomb in Baghdad. They're also saying that they detained two suspected insurgents.

Yesterday, they say, was a very busy day. They say that they disabled two car bombs, detained some 63 suspected insurgents, killed another 12. They're also saying that insurgents themselves launched attacks on two different Iraqi police stations.

I think the most interesting thing in all of this that I've heard so far, Carol, are these reports that the Iraqi police have disabled car bombs. Remember that the month of May has been a record month for the number of car bombings throughout Iraq, more than 140 of them, and that was as of two days ago.

The Iraqi prime minister told us that one of the reasons why Operation Lightning was launched for -- to begin with was because that Iraqi officials are increasingly alarmed at the insurgents' ability to put out these car bombs and to use them, oftentimes against Iraqi civilians. In fact, the prime minister told us that they had found a bomb factory in the Iraqi capital where the -- where cars, if you would, could be weaponized, could have bombs installed inside of them in les than an hour.

So the fact that they're getting out there and say that they're disabling these car bombs could be very significant -- Carol.

COSTELLO:

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT:

COSTELLO: Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad this morning.

Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is alive and apparently recovering from injuries he may have received in brushes with U.S.-led forces. These are the most recent pictures of the Jordanian native, who has a $25 million bounty on his head. The CIA is checking out a new audiotape believed to be from al-Zarqawi. It was posted on an Islamic Web site and is addressed to Osama bin Laden.

With some insight on this latest tape, senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, joins us live -- good morning, Octavia.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, in essence, what does this message say?

NASR: In essence, it's a message to Osama bin Laden, as the man on that tape says, and to the Muslim world, telling them that he's all right, that all the news about him being gravely wounded are rumors, that he's all right, he's still in Iraq and he's still leading his forces.

COSTELLO: OK, so I'm confused about this. He was terribly injured. He was treated in the hospital. He's shot. But he's really not that hurt, at least according to this audiotape. He's well enough to make it.

What should we make of all these conflicting reports about his injuries?

NASR: Well, this is where you really understand the power of CNN. We're extremely cautious with these things. When you look at what we've reported, everything we've reported so far is correct. We never went with this sensual, we never went with the extreme. You're right, there were many, many conflicting reports on those Islamist Web sites since last week.

Now, you go back, what happened is that there is a person who has been playing the role of media coordinator and spokesperson for al Qaeda in Iraq. And when we see this name, the name of this man, and when we see a posting on a certain Web site, this is when we tend to believe that this is coming from the Zarqawi group. And this is what happened last week. This person, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi went on the Internet and announced to their supporters that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been injured and asked for the followers and supporters to pray for him.

After that, the speculations were galore on those Internet postings. As you said, some said he was gravely injured. Some even said he was dead. There were reports about him crossing over from Iraq to a foreign country; others saying no, he's still there.

So basically you're dealing here with an insurgency group who totally understands what's going on. They're definitely following up on the latest news and they felt that it is very important to release an audiotape -- whether it's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or not is yet to be confirmed -- but they figured we need to release a tape and announce to supporters that everything is sort of under control.

COSTELLO: OK, so maybe there are two things going. Maybe they want to create confusion. Maybe there's a power struggle going on and somebody wants to push al-Zarqawi aside.

Is that possible?

NASR: That's possible, of course. I mean we do not -- we do not have direct contact with the insurgency, obviously. So we cannot confirm any of this stuff. What we do, we monitor Web sites and we read messages and chats. And we analyze them. And there are those that tend to be more believable than others, those who tend to be coming from Zarqawi and his supporters, and others that are not credible enough.

Now, what's interesting about this audio, it does sound, the style is very much like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It's very much like the previous tapes that we've gotten from him. The voice is a bit different. And, again, if he's, indeed, injured, that would explain why the voice sounds different -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Octavia Nasr reporting for us from Atlanta.

Thank you.

Two American citizens accused of aiding al Qaeda will appear in separate federal courts today. Rafiq Sabir will be in Florida when he hears the charges of conspiracy to support terrorism against him. Court papers say the two men were recorded in an apartment in the Bronx pledging their allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: These men have been under surveillance. It doesn't look like they really did very much, but, you know, you wonder what can cause people to not appreciate the freedoms that we have. And we saw what happens when you don't go after terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sabir was arrested at his home in Boca Raton. His neighbors there say they knew federal officers were watching the house, but had no idea what the doctor was up to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a surprise for everybody, to be honest. They are nice people, you know? She's very nice. And to me, he's, I mean, a normal person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Both men are charged with conspiring to give support to terrorists. They face up to 15 years in prison.

In other "News Across America" now, plumes of smoke reached hundreds of feet into the air after a fuel tanker rolled over and burst into flames near Orlando, Florida. The driver was killed. Police say they think the truck was going too fast for a curve.

The pilot of this small float plane is OK after his rough landing in a lake near Detroit. He suffered only minor cuts and bruises. The pilot says the plane flipped over when he tried a water landing with wheels down.

Plenty of colorful characters lined the finish line of the 37th annual Kinetic Sculpture Race in Eureka, California. The three day, 42-mile race features people powered works of art. Highlights this year included a giant sea slug and a 2,000-pound moving camp site.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the Bush administration is threatening the European Union over its subsidies to Airbus. In 10 minutes, Carrie Lee explains why that has the White House so very upset.

And a little later, our special 25th anniversary look on a devastating event that shook San Francisco to the core.

And is a master's degree worth the extra time, money and effort? A closer look at a quarter until.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": An investment club is basically a group of people, they usually get together on a monthly basis, and they contribute a certain amount of money, typically $20 to $100 a month. And they sit around and they pick investments.

Ideally, the club should be a way for people to learn how to research stocks, to learn how to evaluate companies, and the best clubs actually work that way. And when you present your stock or your company to the group as a whole, you should be doing it in kind of a disciplined, systematic way, talking about why you think this company is a "buy."

It does give you a good education in terms of, you know, how to value stocks and also how to look at the market.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:14 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

The CIA checking out a new audiotape believed to be from terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It was posted on an Islamic Web site and addressed to Osama bin Laden. In it, the speaker says he suffered only a minor witnessed in combat, but is still directing insurgent attacks.

In money news, "The Revenge of the Sith" was tops at the box office over the long holiday weekend. "Episode Three" pulled in just over $70 million in the United States and has now topped hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide in less than two weeks.

In culture, Paris is engaged to Paris. Paris Hilton said that's hot to her long-time boyfriend Paris Latsis. He's a Greek shipping heir and she's, well, well, she's an heiress, too. No wedding date has been set for Paris and Paris.

In sports, the Phoenix Suns avoided a series sweep by finally beating the San Antonio Spurs. Their 111-106 win still leaves them down three games to one in the Western Conference finals. Game five tomorrow night -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the skies just got a little less friendly for all the pretzel eaters out there. We'll explain, when DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time now for some "Business Buzz" and a warning about online ticket prices.

The "Wall Street Journal" reports that American Airlines is joining the growing number of airlines that do not list taxes or fees when quoting prices. Those fees can add up to 20 percent to the price of your ticket, and they do that so you won't really notice that until after you've put in your credit card number.

No pretzels for you. Northwest Airlines is pulling the pretzels away from its passengers. The airline says it can save $2 million a year by no longer offering these salty snacks in flight. But do not worry, you can buy a three ounce bag of trail mix for a dollar a bag. Three ounces for a buck!

I'm looking at Carrie Lee here. I just can't...

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's not bad, a dollar.

COSTELLO: For a little...

LEE: It's $2 million a year for those pretzels. It's amazing how the numbers add up for the airlines.

COSTELLO: You'd think they'd get a big price break because they buy so many bags of pretzels. And there are only like five pretzels in the bag.

LEE: For two million bucks a year, you know, they need to really save every penny they can. So, it's amazing.

COSTELLO: Well, they certainly are.

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about something that has to do with Airbus.

LEE: Yes. This is a very interesting story, a big business story. The United States is now bringing its case against Airbus to the World Trade Organization. What's happening here is the U.S. says that the European Union is providing illegal subsidies to Airbus, which give it an unfair advantage over its U.S. competitor, Boeing.

Now, the E.U. says it is going to go ahead with $1.7 billion in subsidies to help Airbus launch its new A350. But the E.U. says Boeing also receives similar launch aid. It recently got $1.6 billion from Japan to build the wings for its new 787; also tax breaks and other advantages from the U.S. government.

Now, the two sides did work out an agreement, tried to work out an agreement for 90 days. No deal was reached, so this next step is for the WTO to get involved, form a dispute settlement panel. Both sides say not uncommon for disputes to reach this point. The question, Carol, how long is it going to take?

So it's a very big business story. This could be the most expensive dispute in the WTO's history.

COSTELLO: Wow!

LEE: So, we'll see what happens.

COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures?

LEE: Looking a little bit weak for today's session. But, hey, we're coming off of two weeks of gains for the Dow, Nasdaq, S&P. Friday, a big jobs report -- a lot of people waiting for that -- for the month of May.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Carrie Lee.

LEE: OK.

COSTELLO: Did you see that little CNN 25 logo down in the corner of your travel screen? Yes, you see it down there. We put it there this week to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Twenty-five years of bringing you the top stories, breaking news that have shaped our lives.

One of those events happened the night of October 17, 1989. I'll bet you were watching a baseball game that night. That's also the night the San Francisco earthquake hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHUCK AFFLERBACH, CNN PRODUCER: One of the memorable images was from a surveillance camera at the time that the shaking began. Everyone's reaction was, uh-oh, something's happening, I've got to get out of here.

We made our way through San Francisco. It was dark. It was spooky. When we got to the bureau, it was dark also, because there was no power in the city. Except the building had an emergency generator which provided lights for the exit signs. And our bureau chief, Ken Chamberlain, had ingeniously found a way to tap into the power from the exit sign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ken, what can you tell us?

KEN CHAMBERLAIN: The power is out in our building.

AFFLERBACH: So that's how we managed to send pictures and reports out of the San Francisco bureau during the power failure. The three areas hardest hit by the quake were the Bay Bridge, where a 50-foot section collapsed. There was also a mile long section of double-decker freeway pancaked on top of itself. And then, of course, the marina district in San Francisco, where a whole city block went up in flames.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For God sakes, go and help yourselves out.

AFFLERBACH: The footage of the fire in the arena district, with the collapsed building in front of it, it was propped up by beams, and fire was threatening it, that was one of the images that we've seen over and over again. And it also produced one of the more dramatic rescue stories out of the earthquake.

SHERRA COX: The walls started caving in toward me and then the ceiling fell on me, literally.

AFFLERBACH: A woman named Sherra Cox was trapped in the rubble when her building collapsed around her. And a firefighter by the name of Gerry Shannon crawled through the rubble in an attempt to rescue her. And that story was one of the more powerful stories that we told during the '89 earthquake.

COX: I heard a voice asking if anyone was in the building. And I tried to shout, but I could tell they couldn't quite hear me. So I found this iron pole and started banging on the door.

GERRY SHANNON, FIREFIGHTER: After the first chainsaw went dull, they said, you know, don't go back. It looks like this building is on fire. And it just wasn't recommended. But I had already made contact with her and promised her that I wouldn't leave her.

COX: I knew he'd be back. I never doubted for a moment that he wouldn't get me out.

SHANNON: When the earthquake happened, I was sitting right there. I didn't think at the time that it was anything special. And it's turned out to be, obviously, the biggest event of my life.

COX: When I think about what happened, I mostly feel today that I'm -- was very fortunate. Whatever injuries I had, they were all taken care of right away.

I lost only possessions, nothing of my friends. And I didn't realize how many friends I really had until that happened. One little boy wrote me a long note about all these things. And at the very end he said, "I'd send you money, but I don't know you."

SHANNON: I was amazed at her attitude, you know? Here's a woman who lost everything in 10 seconds. And here everything she had on the face of the Earth was wiped out.

I think during the quake I had a moment of clarity, you know, that possessions, again, from Sherra mean nothing. My best friend Rick always goes, "The earthquake screwed you up. You know, you're not same guy." And I'm not the same guy, because my value system changed.

COX: I know, we're very, very good friends, and always will be. You don't want that sort of thing to happen, but it does prove that good things do happen out of a really terrible situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Our celebration of CNN's 25th anniversary continues all week. Wednesday night, we'll share the network's defining moments, 25 stories that touched our lives. That's tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern.

More DAYBREAK in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

Now in the news, you can soon get more details on the military's planned base closures. A new Defense Department database will reveal how specific bases were chosen to be shut down or downsized. The database will be available to lawmakers today or tomorrow and to the rest of us on June 4.

Remember that big brouhaha over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's trips paid for by special interest groups? The Associated Press has done a follow-up story. Apparently, 198 lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, are now rushing to come clean about their own past trips.

U.S. security officials divert a Korean Air flight bound for San Francisco because a passenger's name matched one on a terrorist no fly list. The plane was directed to Japan, where officials determined the passenger was not a danger.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.

MYERS: And good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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


Aired May 31, 2005 - 05:30   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."

More aftershocks shake the tsunami-battered Asian subcontinent. A 5.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the province of Banda Aceh, Indonesia this morning. The epicenter is eerily close to the December 26 quake that spawned those killer tsunamis.

France's prime minister is likely to be leaving office. President Jacques Chirac expected to replace Jean-Pierre Raffarin following Sunday's resounding no from French voters against the E.U. constitution.

Remember that big brouhaha over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's trips paid for by special interest groups? Well The Associated Press has done a follow-up story. Apparently 198 lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, are now rushing to come clean about their own past trips.

U.S. security officials divert a Korean air flight bound for San Francisco because a passenger's name matched one on a terrorist no-fly list. The plane was directed to Japan where officials determined the passenger was not a danger.

To the Forecast Center now and, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: The CIA says it should know in about a day or so if the speaker on a new audiotape is wanted terrorist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. This new message, posted on an Islamic Web site, is addressed to Osama bin Laden. In it the speaker says he suffered only a minor wound in combat but he's still directing insurgent attacks. We'll have more on the tape in the next hour with our Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr.

An Italian Air Force helicopter has crashed in southern Iraq this morning. Italy's military command says all four Italians on board were killed. The cause of the crash is not immediately known. The wreckage of the helicopter was found about 13 miles south of Nasiriya.

Still in Iraq, the U.S. military hopes Operation Lightning will mark a turning point in the war against insurgents in and around Baghdad. Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops have been deployed to the capital to hunt down insurgents and their weapons.

But as CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports, things aren't going exactly as planned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The operation may be dubbed Lightning, but it's getting off to a slow start, according to U.S. military sources, who say so far most of the raids have been conducted by American troops, while Iraqi forces have been preparing.

But the Pentagon has high hopes that in the coming days Iraqis will begin to free their capital from the grip of insurgents by manning some 675 checkpoints and conducting massive sweeps of Baghdad streets. It's more basic cop work than combat.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The good news about it is it's cooperation between the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense. It's important they cooperate. That's the police and the army, of course. It's important they cooperate, given the security situation they have. So that's all very, very encouraging.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon says of Iraq's 100 battalions, only about 25 can operate without a lot of U.S. support. Military sources tell CNN the government's boast that there will be 40,000 Iraqi forces on the street might be a little inflated. But even if only half that number takes part, the U.S. believes it could make a big difference, both militarily and symbolically.

BRIG. GEN. DANIEL BOLGER, U.S. ARMY: Because, frankly, a lot of the people who live in Iraq, the common folks who live here, are tired of getting their children blown up. They're tired of being shot at on the way to work or school. And they've just had about enough of this. And Operation Lightning is the Iraqi government's way of reinforcing that effort here in the city with their great new police forces and their army forces taking a really important leading role.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The U.S. really hopes Operation Lightning succeeds, not just because it would deal a blow to the insurgents, but because the more Iraqi forces show they're up to the job, the sooner the U.S. can begin to bring its troops home.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Have questions about the military's planned base closures? Get ready for some answers. A new Defense Department database will offer information about how specific bases were chosen for closure or job cuts. Lawmakers will be able to view the database today or tomorrow. The rest of us, well, we'll have to wait until June 4.

Two U.S. terror suspects are due in court this morning in New York and Florida. They're charged with conspiring to help al Qaeda. Court papers show they became enthusiastic followers of Osama bin Laden and his terror network.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to the criminal complaint, there was a lot of talk, talk of training al Qaeda terrorists in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, talk of treating wounded Muslim fighters, talk that has two Americans facing charges of planning to help al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: They clearly have said that they wanted to destroy our way of life and hurt the people of America. And if that's your definition of terrorism, I guess that certainly qualifies.

FEYERICK: The two men, friends for 20 years, were arrested over the weekend, Dr. Rafiq Sabir at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, Terik Shah at an apartment in the Bronx.

The complaint alleges Shah did most of the talking, first to a convicted robber-turned-government-informant wearing a wire, then to an undercover FBI agent posing as a recruiter for Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors say Shah scoped out a Long Island warehouse as a possible place for training, while Sabir was ready to go to Saudi Arabia this week.

Sabir graduated from Columbia University Medical School. He worked at Harlem Hospital, before moving several years ago to Florida to work as an emergency room doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a surprise for everybody, to be honest. They are nice people, you know?

FEYERICK: Both Sabir and Shah allegedly swore an oath of allegiance to bin Laden.

BLOOMBERG: It doesn't look like they really did very much. We saw what happens when you don't go after terrorists.

FEYERICK (on camera): Both men face one count of material support of terrorism. Repeated calls to their families and a lawyer went unanswered. Each faces a federal judge Tuesday to answer the charge.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, Chris Rock talks about fame, fortune and the education he wishes he had.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Whatever happened to the good old days when parents hired a clown for their kid's birthday parties? The reason I ask is because a mother in Tennessee has been arrested. She's accused of hiring a stripper for her son's Sweet 16.

We get the story from Andy Cordan of CNN affiliate WKRN in Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY CORDAN, WKRN-TV REPORTER (voice-over): September 25, 2004, Landon Pharris Jr. turned 16 years old.

LANDON PHARRIS JR., 16 YEARS OLD: She come in and then she just started stripping.

CORDAN: That's the night the teenager says 29-year-old Cassandra Park dances completely nude for him and many of his teenage friends inside the family's kitchen.

LA. PHARRIS: I enjoyed every bit of it. But now that when the police showed up and the first night took my mom to jail, I get kind of upset.

CORDAN: Landon's mother, Lilly, tells me she paid $250 for this exotic dancer known as Sassy (ph).

LILLY PHARRIS, MOTHER: You know I was trying to give him a 16th that he wouldn't forget, you know. I mean Sweet 16 only comes once.

CORDAN: Lilly Pharris says she notified other parents about the party. She says she also told the exotic dance company there would be minors in the house.

LI. PHARRIS: The youngest one was 14, and that was my son.

CORDAN (on camera): Do you think it was inappropriate, appropriate?

LA. PHARRIS: I mean it was, you know, I'm a teenager, so...

CORDAN: So it was fun?

LA. PHARRIS: Yes, it was fun.

CORDAN (voice-over): As the four-hour party rages on, the boys begin to take pictures of the performance. LI. PHARRIS: They got a hold of my camera and got some really close-up shots of her.

CORDAN (on camera): It's unlikely that the police would have ever known about this party except for the fact that Mrs. Pharris brought three roles of film from the party to this Walgreen's to have the film developed. Walgreen's saw the photos. They called the cops.

DET. MATT CHANCE, NASHVILLE POLICE: And she left nothing to the imagination.

CORDAN (voice-over): Sex crimes Detective Matt Chance views all 100-plus pictures.

CHANCE: And her head is in some of the child's lap as if she's performing oral sex. That was, like I say, our concern.

CORDAN: Eight months after the party, a Davidson County grand jury indicts Mr. and Mrs. Pharris, the dancer, her escort and the owner of the exotic dance company.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report was from Andy Cordan of CNN affiliate WKRN. And that Pharris defended her decision by saying -- quote -- "my son is very mature."

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

An Iraqi-led crackdown on insurgents in and around Baghdad is off to a very encouraging start, so says the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. The crackdown is called Operation Lightning.

A man claiming to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, has released a new tape with a message addressed to Osama bin Laden. In it he says he suffered only a minor wound in combat and remains in Iraq.

In money news, the U.S. is moving ahead with a trade case against the European Union. Excuse me. Washington wants to stop European governments from allegedly providing illegal subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus. Airbus is the major competitor to America's Boeing.

In culture, it is a done deal. "Project Runway" will return to Bravo this fall. And Heidi Klum, who is one of the hit show's executive producers and creators, will return as host.

In sports, it was a bit of a miracle. That's how Justine Henin- Hardenne describes her win at the French Open. She beat the reigning U.S. Open champion and advances to the quarterfinals -- Chad.

MYERS: Morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Did you see the Indy 500? Chad, come back.

MYERS: Yes, I'm here. I'm here.

COSTELLO: The Indy 500.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Did you watch it?

MYERS: I watched the end. I had the opportunity to go fishing in northern Kentucky at the beginning. And so only very, very few things will take me away from racing, and that's one of them, but anyway.

COSTELLO: Well Danica Patrick,...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... she did a terrific job. She came in fourth.

MYERS: She really did, Carol. She really did. She led laps. She didn't just lead yellow laps, she led green flag laps. And I think she would have even been farther ahead than fourth if she didn't have to turn down the fuel mixture and taking away the horsepower from her car, because they were really on a gas mileage, a fuel mileage run there. And they really had a -- Bobby Rahal did a phenomenal job with that young lady. And she is a rookie and she will win races.

COSTELLO: Definitely so.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: But the big news about her today is ABC was hoping that her presence in the race would increase ratings. And guess what?

MYERS: Of course it did.

COSTELLO: It did 40 percent.

MYERS: Wow, good.

COSTELLO: Forty percent above what it was last year.

MYERS: Now if we can get the Champ cars and the Indy cars together so we get all the good drivers together, then you're going to see some ratings boost. But you've got all this Tony George and thing going on.

COSTELLO: Yes. Also, Danica Patrick, I think we're going to have this story later, but she went to a party after the Indianapolis. Here it is. See the dress she's wearing?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Is that Dan Wheldon? No, that's not Dan Wheldon.

MYERS: No, no, no, she has a fiance -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. I know she does. That's her fiance. But Dan Wheldon, the winner of the Indianapolis 500, he went to this very same party with his girlfriend or wife,...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... and she had the same dress on as Danica Patrick.

MYERS: No way. But one of the announcers -- I don't even know who it was -- did call her Danica Wheldon during the show at one point in time. So don't know if that was a Freudian Slip.

COSTELLO: I don't know. I wish we had the other picture, then it would have had a -- there it is, but she's behind him.

MYERS: I see.

COSTELLO: But you can see it's the same dress.

MYERS: Nice. What are the odds?

COSTELLO: Yes, what are the odds?

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, on the heels of the new animated film "Madagascar," Chris Rock talks about Oscars, high school and attorneys in Phoenix. Hear the one-on-one interview when DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Don't know if you know this, but it is World No Tobacco Day. And that's perfect timing for news of a smoking vaccine. A number of pharmaceutical companies say they're testing this new addiction treatment. It works by producing specific antibodies that recognize nicotine and prevent it from reaching the brain. That means there's no pleasure sensation and less reason for you to smoke.

Harvard researchers say the tobacco industry's efforts to get women addicted to smoking are much more far ranging than previously thought. The new information comes from a detailed study of internal tobacco company documents. Among the findings, companies modified their cigarettes to make them easier for women to inhale and designed them to be more appealing to women. The lead author of the study will be a guest in the 7:00 a.m. hour on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

Now it's time to get to our e-mail segment, because our audience just woke up and there are students awake.

MYERS: They are.

COSTELLO: And I apologize for that for saying that you're not awake and busy. You are. MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: At least some of you.

MYERS: Got a couple of them here.

One from Lou Dobbs. No, I'm sorry. This is from Sarah (ph) in Long Island. With the outsourcing of high-tech jobs overseas, the 2005 grads can look forward to a highly rewarding job in the service industry.

And Kevin (ph) in Naples, Florida says I fear that the 2005 will get a lot of experience saying would you like to super size that?

COSTELLO: Man, that's a pessimistic outlook.

MYERS: I think a lot of the adults have a pessimistic view of the 2005 grads. I got a lot of them saying that they're going to be great playing with PS2s and Xboxes and so on and so on because that's what they like to do best.

Now we'll go from a recently graduated guy from ASU with an MBA. I've experienced that employers are certainly interested and he makes me likely to move to California to find that job and then record a record album. Because I'd rather take my chances with celebrity than do it with the job market and the future of these white collared indentured servants are getting. That was from Nicholas (ph) in Arizona -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Man, I'm a little depressed now.

MYERS: Well now we'll get to the other side next hour, maybe the happy ones, the ones that actually did find a job.

COSTELLO: Yes, there are some.

MYERS: Some.

COSTELLO: Coming up all new in the next hour of DAYBREAK, a topic on the minds of many undergrads is a Master's degree in business worth the time, effort and expense? We will answer that question and more from your e-mails this morning.

Also, the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, he has a new audiotape out. How does this affect the Iraqi insurgency?

These stories and much more as DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In "Entertainment Headlines" for you this morning, Miss Canada is the new Miss Universe. Twenty-three-year-old brunette Natalie Glebova won the crown in Thailand. She beat out 80 of the world's most beautiful women, and an estimated one billion people in 170 countries were watching. Kenny Chesney, who was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards this month, will appear in his first network TV special. It will air the day before Thanksgiving on ABC. And for those of you who don't know, Chesney is now married to actress Renee Zellweger.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman doesn't have a wife, so he'll borrow one to take part in the Wife-Carrying World Championships in Finland in July. So you're going to have some competition -- Chad.

The whimsical...

MYERS: What? He can dress up as a wife and he can carry himself.

COSTELLO: That's right. That's right, he used to dress up like a woman a lot.

MYERS: He sure did.

COSTELLO: This is an annual event. It's like a steeplechase in which the wife rides upside-down on the runner's back with her legs slung over his shoulders. You've seen that.

MYERS: Can't wait. Yes, I've seen it. It's not pretty.

COSTELLO: I tape it every year. I'm just kidding.

You can plan on seeing a lot of former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Chris Rock this summer. Rock stars in not one, but two big movies on the silver screen right now. The remake of the Burt Reynolds classic "The Longest Yard" and the more animated offering from DreamWorks "Madagascar."

CNN's Sibila Vargas sits down with the now 40-year-old comic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So Marty has big dreams.

CHRIS ROCK, COMIC: Marty is a big dreamer, you know. Marty dreams of leaving the zoo and going out into the wild. You know I guess he saw blue shore or some commercial or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, what did you wish for?

ROCK: Nope, can't tell you that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, tell.

ROCK: No siree, I'm telling you, bad luck.

VARGAS: Talking about big dreams, you know, you're a guy from Bed-Stuy.

ROCK: That's me.

VARGAS: Did you ever think and imagine that you would be at the place that you are right now?

ROCK: I never thought or imagined I would be at the place. All I wanted to be -- I mean you know if you would have offered me a job making $6.00 an hour, you know, whatever, 20 years ago, I would have took it and never told a joke the rest of -- ever. I mean you know. So that was my idea of, you know, success.

VARGAS: How did it all change for you? What was the turning point?

ROCK: I don't know. You know once I got into comedy and you know it was like a calling. It's weird, because I'm from a -- like my grandpa is a preacher and my other grandpa is a preacher. So like preaching is in my blood, and people -- you know preachers have a calling.

VARGAS: Right.

ROCK: But I wasn't called to preach. I was called to do stand up.

VARGAS: And then you hosted the Oscars. I mean only a handful of people get to do that. That is huge.

ROCK: Yes, that's what I hear. Yes, the Oscars went great. I had a ball. I've never had -- you know I've never gotten such a positive reaction for anything I've ever done.

VARGAS: Have you been approached to do another Oscar gig?

ROCK: No one's called yet. It's still early. But if they want me to do it again, I'll do it.

VARGAS: If you could talk to yourself, I mean if you could go back 15 years and talk to a younger Chris,...

ROCK: A younger Chris.

VARGAS: ... what would you tell yourself?

ROCK: Here's the thing, if I could do it -- and I love my life -- but I would probably go to school, pay attention to school, graduate, get a high school diploma, go to college, live a normal life. And I love my life, but you know being in show business, emotionally it's so up and down and all around the place. And you, really, you take your friends and your loved ones on this roller- coast.

VARGAS: Yes.

ROCK: And it would probably be nicer to, you know, be like an attorney in Phoenix.

VARGAS: That's going to be easier for sure.

ROCK: It'd be like an easier life. But I don't know, I'm having ball. And what would I tell Chris. It's going to work out, man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Chris Rock, thanks to Sibila Vargas. So the next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

Just ahead on DAYBREAK, a possible message from the terror front. A new tape believed to be number one terror suspect Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. And he's got something to tell Osama bin Laden.

Also, a shocking story out of Florida this morning. Police say two teenagers went on the deadly rampage just for fun.

And what are today's college graduates going to do with their lives? Are there opportunities in the real world?

It is Tuesday May 31.

You're watching DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

Now in the news, Indonesia has been shaken by another earthquake. This one is a moderate 5.4 magnitude, but it was centered in almost the same spot as the quake that spawned the killer tsunami six months ago.

An aid worker in Sudan has been arrested after releasing a report alleging widespread rapes in the Darfur region. Paul Foreman, the head of the Dutch arm of Doctors Without Borders, is charged with spreading false information. But the agency says the information came directly from women who said they were raped by Sudanese soldiers.

This news in just moments ago. The French president, Jacques Chirac, has appointed Dominique De Villepin as the new prime minister. This after the former prime minister resigned earlier today. The government shakeup comes following Sunday's resounding no from French voters against the E.U. constitution.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

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COSTELLO: Going on the offensive -- Iraqi troops are leading a massive security crackdown against insurgents in Baghdad. It's called Operation Lightning and a lot is on the line.

Let's head live to Baghdad and CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan, bring us up to date.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, we finally got a read out from the Iraqi security forces as to what is going on with Operation Lightning. It's now in day two and this is what they're telling us. They say that this morning they disabled a car bomb in Baghdad. They're also saying that they detained two suspected insurgents.

Yesterday, they say, was a very busy day. They say that they disabled two car bombs, detained some 63 suspected insurgents, killed another 12. They're also saying that insurgents themselves launched attacks on two different Iraqi police stations.

I think the most interesting thing in all of this that I've heard so far, Carol, are these reports that the Iraqi police have disabled car bombs. Remember that the month of May has been a record month for the number of car bombings throughout Iraq, more than 140 of them, and that was as of two days ago.

The Iraqi prime minister told us that one of the reasons why Operation Lightning was launched for -- to begin with was because that Iraqi officials are increasingly alarmed at the insurgents' ability to put out these car bombs and to use them, oftentimes against Iraqi civilians. In fact, the prime minister told us that they had found a bomb factory in the Iraqi capital where the -- where cars, if you would, could be weaponized, could have bombs installed inside of them in les than an hour.

So the fact that they're getting out there and say that they're disabling these car bombs could be very significant -- Carol.

COSTELLO:

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT:

COSTELLO: Ryan Chilcote live in Baghdad this morning.

Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is alive and apparently recovering from injuries he may have received in brushes with U.S.-led forces. These are the most recent pictures of the Jordanian native, who has a $25 million bounty on his head. The CIA is checking out a new audiotape believed to be from al-Zarqawi. It was posted on an Islamic Web site and is addressed to Osama bin Laden.

With some insight on this latest tape, senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, joins us live -- good morning, Octavia.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, in essence, what does this message say?

NASR: In essence, it's a message to Osama bin Laden, as the man on that tape says, and to the Muslim world, telling them that he's all right, that all the news about him being gravely wounded are rumors, that he's all right, he's still in Iraq and he's still leading his forces.

COSTELLO: OK, so I'm confused about this. He was terribly injured. He was treated in the hospital. He's shot. But he's really not that hurt, at least according to this audiotape. He's well enough to make it.

What should we make of all these conflicting reports about his injuries?

NASR: Well, this is where you really understand the power of CNN. We're extremely cautious with these things. When you look at what we've reported, everything we've reported so far is correct. We never went with this sensual, we never went with the extreme. You're right, there were many, many conflicting reports on those Islamist Web sites since last week.

Now, you go back, what happened is that there is a person who has been playing the role of media coordinator and spokesperson for al Qaeda in Iraq. And when we see this name, the name of this man, and when we see a posting on a certain Web site, this is when we tend to believe that this is coming from the Zarqawi group. And this is what happened last week. This person, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi went on the Internet and announced to their supporters that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been injured and asked for the followers and supporters to pray for him.

After that, the speculations were galore on those Internet postings. As you said, some said he was gravely injured. Some even said he was dead. There were reports about him crossing over from Iraq to a foreign country; others saying no, he's still there.

So basically you're dealing here with an insurgency group who totally understands what's going on. They're definitely following up on the latest news and they felt that it is very important to release an audiotape -- whether it's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or not is yet to be confirmed -- but they figured we need to release a tape and announce to supporters that everything is sort of under control.

COSTELLO: OK, so maybe there are two things going. Maybe they want to create confusion. Maybe there's a power struggle going on and somebody wants to push al-Zarqawi aside.

Is that possible?

NASR: That's possible, of course. I mean we do not -- we do not have direct contact with the insurgency, obviously. So we cannot confirm any of this stuff. What we do, we monitor Web sites and we read messages and chats. And we analyze them. And there are those that tend to be more believable than others, those who tend to be coming from Zarqawi and his supporters, and others that are not credible enough.

Now, what's interesting about this audio, it does sound, the style is very much like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It's very much like the previous tapes that we've gotten from him. The voice is a bit different. And, again, if he's, indeed, injured, that would explain why the voice sounds different -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Octavia Nasr reporting for us from Atlanta.

Thank you.

Two American citizens accused of aiding al Qaeda will appear in separate federal courts today. Rafiq Sabir will be in Florida when he hears the charges of conspiracy to support terrorism against him. Court papers say the two men were recorded in an apartment in the Bronx pledging their allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: These men have been under surveillance. It doesn't look like they really did very much, but, you know, you wonder what can cause people to not appreciate the freedoms that we have. And we saw what happens when you don't go after terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sabir was arrested at his home in Boca Raton. His neighbors there say they knew federal officers were watching the house, but had no idea what the doctor was up to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a surprise for everybody, to be honest. They are nice people, you know? She's very nice. And to me, he's, I mean, a normal person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Both men are charged with conspiring to give support to terrorists. They face up to 15 years in prison.

In other "News Across America" now, plumes of smoke reached hundreds of feet into the air after a fuel tanker rolled over and burst into flames near Orlando, Florida. The driver was killed. Police say they think the truck was going too fast for a curve.

The pilot of this small float plane is OK after his rough landing in a lake near Detroit. He suffered only minor cuts and bruises. The pilot says the plane flipped over when he tried a water landing with wheels down.

Plenty of colorful characters lined the finish line of the 37th annual Kinetic Sculpture Race in Eureka, California. The three day, 42-mile race features people powered works of art. Highlights this year included a giant sea slug and a 2,000-pound moving camp site.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the Bush administration is threatening the European Union over its subsidies to Airbus. In 10 minutes, Carrie Lee explains why that has the White House so very upset.

And a little later, our special 25th anniversary look on a devastating event that shook San Francisco to the core.

And is a master's degree worth the extra time, money and effort? A closer look at a quarter until.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": An investment club is basically a group of people, they usually get together on a monthly basis, and they contribute a certain amount of money, typically $20 to $100 a month. And they sit around and they pick investments.

Ideally, the club should be a way for people to learn how to research stocks, to learn how to evaluate companies, and the best clubs actually work that way. And when you present your stock or your company to the group as a whole, you should be doing it in kind of a disciplined, systematic way, talking about why you think this company is a "buy."

It does give you a good education in terms of, you know, how to value stocks and also how to look at the market.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:14 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

The CIA checking out a new audiotape believed to be from terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It was posted on an Islamic Web site and addressed to Osama bin Laden. In it, the speaker says he suffered only a minor witnessed in combat, but is still directing insurgent attacks.

In money news, "The Revenge of the Sith" was tops at the box office over the long holiday weekend. "Episode Three" pulled in just over $70 million in the United States and has now topped hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide in less than two weeks.

In culture, Paris is engaged to Paris. Paris Hilton said that's hot to her long-time boyfriend Paris Latsis. He's a Greek shipping heir and she's, well, well, she's an heiress, too. No wedding date has been set for Paris and Paris.

In sports, the Phoenix Suns avoided a series sweep by finally beating the San Antonio Spurs. Their 111-106 win still leaves them down three games to one in the Western Conference finals. Game five tomorrow night -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

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

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the skies just got a little less friendly for all the pretzel eaters out there. We'll explain, when DAYBREAK continues.

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COSTELLO: Time now for some "Business Buzz" and a warning about online ticket prices.

The "Wall Street Journal" reports that American Airlines is joining the growing number of airlines that do not list taxes or fees when quoting prices. Those fees can add up to 20 percent to the price of your ticket, and they do that so you won't really notice that until after you've put in your credit card number.

No pretzels for you. Northwest Airlines is pulling the pretzels away from its passengers. The airline says it can save $2 million a year by no longer offering these salty snacks in flight. But do not worry, you can buy a three ounce bag of trail mix for a dollar a bag. Three ounces for a buck!

I'm looking at Carrie Lee here. I just can't...

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's not bad, a dollar.

COSTELLO: For a little...

LEE: It's $2 million a year for those pretzels. It's amazing how the numbers add up for the airlines.

COSTELLO: You'd think they'd get a big price break because they buy so many bags of pretzels. And there are only like five pretzels in the bag.

LEE: For two million bucks a year, you know, they need to really save every penny they can. So, it's amazing.

COSTELLO: Well, they certainly are.

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about something that has to do with Airbus.

LEE: Yes. This is a very interesting story, a big business story. The United States is now bringing its case against Airbus to the World Trade Organization. What's happening here is the U.S. says that the European Union is providing illegal subsidies to Airbus, which give it an unfair advantage over its U.S. competitor, Boeing.

Now, the E.U. says it is going to go ahead with $1.7 billion in subsidies to help Airbus launch its new A350. But the E.U. says Boeing also receives similar launch aid. It recently got $1.6 billion from Japan to build the wings for its new 787; also tax breaks and other advantages from the U.S. government.

Now, the two sides did work out an agreement, tried to work out an agreement for 90 days. No deal was reached, so this next step is for the WTO to get involved, form a dispute settlement panel. Both sides say not uncommon for disputes to reach this point. The question, Carol, how long is it going to take?

So it's a very big business story. This could be the most expensive dispute in the WTO's history.

COSTELLO: Wow!

LEE: So, we'll see what happens.

COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures?

LEE: Looking a little bit weak for today's session. But, hey, we're coming off of two weeks of gains for the Dow, Nasdaq, S&P. Friday, a big jobs report -- a lot of people waiting for that -- for the month of May.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Carrie Lee.

LEE: OK.

COSTELLO: Did you see that little CNN 25 logo down in the corner of your travel screen? Yes, you see it down there. We put it there this week to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Twenty-five years of bringing you the top stories, breaking news that have shaped our lives.

One of those events happened the night of October 17, 1989. I'll bet you were watching a baseball game that night. That's also the night the San Francisco earthquake hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHUCK AFFLERBACH, CNN PRODUCER: One of the memorable images was from a surveillance camera at the time that the shaking began. Everyone's reaction was, uh-oh, something's happening, I've got to get out of here.

We made our way through San Francisco. It was dark. It was spooky. When we got to the bureau, it was dark also, because there was no power in the city. Except the building had an emergency generator which provided lights for the exit signs. And our bureau chief, Ken Chamberlain, had ingeniously found a way to tap into the power from the exit sign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ken, what can you tell us?

KEN CHAMBERLAIN: The power is out in our building.

AFFLERBACH: So that's how we managed to send pictures and reports out of the San Francisco bureau during the power failure. The three areas hardest hit by the quake were the Bay Bridge, where a 50-foot section collapsed. There was also a mile long section of double-decker freeway pancaked on top of itself. And then, of course, the marina district in San Francisco, where a whole city block went up in flames.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For God sakes, go and help yourselves out.

AFFLERBACH: The footage of the fire in the arena district, with the collapsed building in front of it, it was propped up by beams, and fire was threatening it, that was one of the images that we've seen over and over again. And it also produced one of the more dramatic rescue stories out of the earthquake.

SHERRA COX: The walls started caving in toward me and then the ceiling fell on me, literally.

AFFLERBACH: A woman named Sherra Cox was trapped in the rubble when her building collapsed around her. And a firefighter by the name of Gerry Shannon crawled through the rubble in an attempt to rescue her. And that story was one of the more powerful stories that we told during the '89 earthquake.

COX: I heard a voice asking if anyone was in the building. And I tried to shout, but I could tell they couldn't quite hear me. So I found this iron pole and started banging on the door.

GERRY SHANNON, FIREFIGHTER: After the first chainsaw went dull, they said, you know, don't go back. It looks like this building is on fire. And it just wasn't recommended. But I had already made contact with her and promised her that I wouldn't leave her.

COX: I knew he'd be back. I never doubted for a moment that he wouldn't get me out.

SHANNON: When the earthquake happened, I was sitting right there. I didn't think at the time that it was anything special. And it's turned out to be, obviously, the biggest event of my life.

COX: When I think about what happened, I mostly feel today that I'm -- was very fortunate. Whatever injuries I had, they were all taken care of right away.

I lost only possessions, nothing of my friends. And I didn't realize how many friends I really had until that happened. One little boy wrote me a long note about all these things. And at the very end he said, "I'd send you money, but I don't know you."

SHANNON: I was amazed at her attitude, you know? Here's a woman who lost everything in 10 seconds. And here everything she had on the face of the Earth was wiped out.

I think during the quake I had a moment of clarity, you know, that possessions, again, from Sherra mean nothing. My best friend Rick always goes, "The earthquake screwed you up. You know, you're not same guy." And I'm not the same guy, because my value system changed.

COX: I know, we're very, very good friends, and always will be. You don't want that sort of thing to happen, but it does prove that good things do happen out of a really terrible situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Our celebration of CNN's 25th anniversary continues all week. Wednesday night, we'll share the network's defining moments, 25 stories that touched our lives. That's tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern.

More DAYBREAK in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

Now in the news, you can soon get more details on the military's planned base closures. A new Defense Department database will reveal how specific bases were chosen to be shut down or downsized. The database will be available to lawmakers today or tomorrow and to the rest of us on June 4.

Remember that big brouhaha over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's trips paid for by special interest groups? The Associated Press has done a follow-up story. Apparently, 198 lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, are now rushing to come clean about their own past trips.

U.S. security officials divert a Korean Air flight bound for San Francisco because a passenger's name matched one on a terrorist no fly list. The plane was directed to Japan, where officials determined the passenger was not a danger.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.

MYERS: And good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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