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CNN Live At Daybreak
Quake 101; Energized; Disney Death
Aired June 15, 2005 - 5:00 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: An earthquake hits northern California. Buildings shook, warning sirens went off and people evacuated. It's been a scary night out West.
Also, they searched for hours, but did police in Aruba find what they were looking for?
And he's older, he's grayer, and he's been through a 40-year ordeal. Now he's finally back home, at least for a while.
ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.
COSTELLO: And good morning, everyone. We'll have more on the California quake in just a minute.
Also ahead, a new baby is exciting, but it can create feelings of stress and anxiety, even for the dads. A look at postpartum depression in new fathers.
And coming up, talk about striking it rich. We'll meet one man who's thrilled that the price of oil keeps on rising.
But first, "Now in the News," rumblings in northern California. A magnitude 7 earthquake struck about 90 miles off the coast last night. That triggered a tsunami warning and some coastal evacuations. But the warning was later canceled. No reports of damage or injuries.
A bipartisan taskforce says the state of the U.N. is not so good. It presents a report to Congress this morning saying U.N. chief Kofi Annan could face opposition to reform. In the meantime, another taskforce is renewing a probe into whether Annan acted improperly in the oil-for-food program in Iraq.
Police in Spain say they've arrested 16 suspected Islamic terrorists, including five believed link to last year's Madrid train bombings. Authorities say 11 of the suspects are linked to the terrorist group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He's al Qaeda's main operative in Iraq.
They wouldn't dare leave the Bronx, but the New York Yankees want some new digs. The team will announce plans today for a new $800 million ballpark. It will be built next to the current Yankee Stadium.
To the forecast center now and Chad.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm speechless if we're going to get rid of Yankee Stadium.
COSTELLO: They're going to build one right beside it. Don't worry.
MYERS: But it's not going to be Yankee Stadium.
COSTELLO: It will look just like it, except it will be bigger and nicer and more expensive to get in.
MYERS: They're cloning it. They're cloning the stadium.
COSTELLO: No they're not.
MYERS: Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Oh, don't go away, because we want to talk some more about last night's earthquake. As we told you at the top of the show, offshore tremors, a tsunami warning, evacuations ordered, but it wasn't south Asia this time. It was California.
So why did it happen? Could it happen again? What makes this different from the events that caused the December tsunami disaster overseas?
And that's what we want to ask you this morning about too, Chad.
MYERS: This was a triple point, Carol. Hold on. Let me get rid of my weather -- let me show you here.
This was an earthquake of two different plates. Two different plates. They're -- they're the plates that are floating on the magma down below us, down underneath the Earth. Obviously it's molten lava down there like it comes out of the -- the volcanoes.
What happened yesterday is that these plates, as they're moving, they moved this way. They slid against each other rather than the subduction zone that they had in Asia, where the plates went up and down. And that up and down makes a wave, where the slide doesn't make a wave. And so there was not a tsunami yesterday.
Didn't know that at the time. When you get a 7.0 quake, it could have been a subduction quake, there could have been a tsunami. So the warning was put out. About an hour later the warning was canceled.
COSTELLO: Yes. I just want to make it clear where exactly this took place.
MYERS: Actually...
COSTELLO: It rumbled off the coast of northern California -- go ahead. Show it. MYERS: Actually, right there. Actually, right there, about 90 miles from Crescent City.
COSTELLO: OK. We'll talk more about this a little later. And we also have some reaction from the kind of shaken folks in California.
MYERS: Oh, sure.
COSTELLO: Although, you know what? They seem so resilient out there, don't they?
MYERS: Always. They'll come back.
COSTELLO: From earthquakes to energy, you just got a lesson on one. Now President Bush wants you to -- wants to teach you about the other. He says his energy plan would give you more options and make the U.S. more energy independent and efficient.
At a Washington dinner last night, he urged Congress to stop stalling and pass a national energy bill. Now, here's a rundown of the president's plan.
It would promote conservation and energy efficiency through technology. It also calls for producing and refining more crude oil in the United States and for developing alternative energy resources, like renewable ethanol and biodiesel fuel. The president also wants to help other countries become more energy efficient.
In the meantime, the Senate has kicked off debate on a massive energy bill, one that's a bit more ambitious than President Bush's plan. But Democrats want to take it even farther. They're laying out a competing energy proposal today.
The Democrats say their plan will put America on a path toward independence from Middle East oil. They also want to reduce the growth of oil imports over the next 20 years. They say the current Senate plan doesn't do enough to wean the nation off of foreign oil.
For most of us, rising energy prices mean shelling out more at the gas pump. But $50 barrels of oil have independent energy producers gushing. And for one Kentucky producer, the price is definitely right.
CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. FINANCE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as Bill Daugherty launched his energy company in 1984, oil prices started to fall.
BILL DAUGHERTY, OIL & GAS EXECUTIVE: Little did I know that's probably the worst time in the history of oil and gas to start a company.
CHERNOFF: Bill put everything he had into the company, and, at first, got nothing in return.
DAUGHERTY: My wife was expecting. We hadn't had a paycheck in about six months. Zero inspiration and 100 percent desperation.
CHERNOFF: Desperate no more, today, oil prices are above $50 a barrel, and Bill's one-man firm, NGAS Resources, is 66 employees strong. He's president and CEO, and he took the company public in 1993.
But it wasn't until oil prices began to rise in the late '90s that things really picked up. NGAS stock has jumped 1,500 percent since 1999. The company is searching for oil at a breakneck pace.
In '98, Bill drilled only five wells. Last year, 155. Recently, he bought two helicopters so now he can get from his offices in Lexington to the wells in eastern Kentucky in under an hour.
DAUGHERTY: I think the biggest thing is that, you know, I don't have to worry about money. It's given us an opportunity to grow the company. And that's an immense amount of fun.
CHERNOFF: Married 32 years, Bill and his wife Zella remember the early days, when he worked from home with a part-time secretary and no salary.
Along with watching the company grow, Zella has seen her own life change, too.
ZELLA DAUGHERTY, BILL'S WIFE: It was a lot different than it is now. I think the greatest thing is we got to take a vacation this past year.
Cheers to our new home.
We both grew up on a farm. We always have worked really hard. And it's kind of fun to be able to have a few toys.
CHERNOFF: Bill and Zella's two sons also are riding the wave of rising oil prices.
B. DAUGHERTY: It's given them the ability to have more fun and go to the schools they want to go to. My 20-year-old son William is at Center College. And, you know, he was there when there just was no money.
CHERNOFF: Just like day one, Bill has everything he owns in the company. Ninety percent of his investments are in company stock. And his salary, which has risen considerably since '99, is tied to the stock and, consequently, to the price of oil.
So what if prices fall again?
B. DAUGHERTY: We just batten down the hatch and keep on producing, because I will guarantee you one thing, if oil drops to $10 a barrel, it will go back up.
CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In other news "Across America" now, one tourist is in a coma after a New York sightseeing helicopter crashed in the East River. The helicopter did a 360-degree roll shortly after takeoff. Five other passengers and the pilot were quickly fished out of the water by the harbor patrol.
There are no serious injuries in Upstate New York following a massive mudslide. Large boulders and debris swept across an interstate highway in Bolton, New York. A couple of drivers suffered minor injuries when they crashed into the debris.
A Kentucky couple was jailed after leading police on a chase into Ohio. The chase started after a woman pulled a knife on a security guard at a Target store. He was trying to stop her from stealing several boxes of decongestant.
A realistic space ride at Epcot Center proved fatal for one 4- year-old, but doctors haven't been able to determine exactly what caused his death. Just one day after the death, the ride was reopened to the public.
We get more now from Jodie Fleischer of CNN affiliate WFTV in Orlando, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JODIE FLEISCHER, REPORTER, WFTV (voice-over): Mission: Space is known as a thriller. Even adults wowed by its lifelike astronaut experience. But the ride's G forces might have been too much for 4- year-old Daudi Bamuwamye to handle.
CRYSTAL CANDY, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: He was motionless, so the mom actually had to carry him off of the ride. She approached the nearest Disney employee.
FLEISCHER: The employee laid him on a nearby bench and started CPR. Paramedics took him to Celebration Hospital but couldn't revive him.
CANDY: At this point, the boy has no known medical problems. And so it's going to be up to the medical examiner to determine exactly why this child died.
FLEISCHER: The Pennsylvania boy was visiting Epcot with his mother and 9-year-old sister. He was 46 inches tall, barely enough to meet the height requirement to ride. Mission: Space spins passengers in circles. So stressful on the body, people with heart conditions are urged to stay away. Disney shut down the ride Monday afternoon, but inspectors found no mechanical problems.
CANDY: At this point it's a mystery.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: That report was from Jodie Fleischer of CNN affiliate WFTV in Orlando.
Mission: Space is one of the more popular rides at Disney's Epcot Center. The simulated space flight subjects riders to twice the normal force of gravity. Since it opened in 2003, several people have been taken to the hospital after either fainting or complaining of chest pains.
Now, there is a height requirement for the ride, although it's less than four feet. Riders suffering from heart problems are warned they can be in danger.
So we checked out the policies at other amusement parks, and this is what we found. Six Flags has height requirements and instructs visitors to check at every ride for further restrictions and warnings. On the Busch Gardens Web site they include disabled visitors and their height requirements. And at Kings Dominion, they also list height restrictions and medical warnings.
And you know, Chad, I went to the Disney site to read about who should go on that ride, Mission: Space, and it says big kids. But they don't specify what age -- at what age a kid becomes a "big kid."
MYERS: Sure.
COSTELLO: In the picture on the Web site it shows kids that look to be about 9, 10 or 11 years old. Certainly no 4-year-olds. You know?
MYERS: Well, this kid was 46 inches tall, and you had to be 44 to ride the ride. And I don't think a lot of 4-year-olds are 46 inches tall. So maybe he was -- you know, he was tall for his age. And so I guess the "Question of the Day," the email "Question of the Day," should there also be an age requirement?
Should that have been a 6 or a 5, or is it just the height? What should we be caring about here? Should there be an age requirement on amusement park rides?
In all fairness, though, 8.7 million people have been on this ride, Carol, and only 10 people have even walked off with chest pains or shortness of breath or fainting. So...
COSTELLO: Well, we thought it was an apt question, because also on the Web site, they do have -- they do point to preschoolers and what rides they should ride. And Mission: Space was not on that list.
MYERS: I'm not sure I'd put my 4-year-old on that.
COSTELLO: I know. It's a tough question. And, you know, we don't want to blame the parents at all, because that's certainly unfair.
MYERS: Absolutely. Sad -- already a sad situation already. COSTELLO: Oh, it really is. But we do want to know what you think. I mean, should parents be more in the know? Should amusement parks let us really know what an age requirement is for their ride? It's always something.
MYERS: Maybe the parents should get on it first to feel it. You know, how do you know? Maybe that was the first time on. I don't know.
COSTELLO: Well, this thing -- this thing goes so fast it distorts your face as you're going.
MYERS: Yes, sure. Well, it's 2 Gs. I mean, I've pulled a lot more than that. With the Blue Angels I pulled 7 Gs. But I was a 40...
COSTELLO: Yes, but you're not 4.
MYERS: ... I was a 40-year-old kid, right.
COSTELLO: That's right.
Email us, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
Still to come, they've been trying for five years to find common ground, but despite nuclear threats, the two Koreas, they're finding reasons to celebrate this morning. We'll explain that at 17 minutes past.
And an American soldier who deserted to North Korea is back in the states decades later. We have the next chapter in Charles Jenkins' life story.
And later, we'll meet some new dads having a rough time learning how to adjust to life after baby.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This news just into CNN. The prime minister of Australia, John Howard, announcing to his parliament that a contractor, an Australian contractor, has been released in Iraq. These are pictures of him.
He was taken hostage there six weeks ago. But apparently, he has been released. And as far as we know, he is safe and sound. Don't know if he's still in Iraq or back home in Australia. We'll keep following this story, but good news this morning.
Douglas Wood, this civilian contractor from Australia, released by his captors this morning.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:17 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. No reports of damage or injuries after a magnitude 7 earthquake hits about 90 miles off the northern California coast last night. A tsunami warning was issued but later canceled.
Gitmo in the spotlight. In just over four hours, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay. It comes a day after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended the U.S. prison camp.
In money news, satellite radio is coming to your cell phones. Sirius Radio signed a deal with Sprint to provide music channels to phone users. It will cost about $6 a month for the music service.
In culture, eBay has banned sales of tickets for the Live 8 charity concert in London. The tickets are free, but some of them popped up on the Internet auction site. And that led to criticism from the concert organizer, Bob Geldof.
In sports, the Detroit Pistons stormed back into contention against the San Antonio Spurs. They finally woke up. The Pistons won game three of the NBA finals, 96-79, but the Spurs still lead the series two games to one.
Game four, Chad, tomorrow night.
MYERS: You know, I don't know what it is about Auburn Hills, but it is tough to beat the Pistons in Auburn Hills up in Pontiac, or in Detroit, if you will.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.
North and South Korea celebrating together. To mark the fifth anniversary of unification talks between North and South Korea, officials on both sides are indeed celebrating. They're also renewing their commitment to unification despite being overshadowed by the north's nuclear ambitions.
Joining us now with more from Seoul is CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae.
Good morning, Jie-Ae.
JIE-AE SOHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
South and North Korean officials are. And in Pyongyang, 340 South Koreans actually are in Pyongyang celebrating with their North Korean counterparts. They're marking the fifth anniversary of a summit between the leaders of South and North Korea.
It happened in 2000, but since then, the two leaders have not been -- two leaders of their two countries have not seen each other since. Nevertheless, in the fifth anniversary, the two sides are celebrating and trying to relive the -- the moment of 2000, when the two sides that had been hostile since the Korean War in the 1950s started down a road which many considered to be toward reconciliation and possibly reunification.
Although, the two sides at this point have to deal with a very tough issue, and that is resolving North Korea's nuclear weapons issue, that is not expected to be a major topic. But that will be one of the things that South Korea will urge North Korea to resolve if the two sides are really -- are indeed going to go beyond just celebrations and nice talk -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you that. I mean, of course, we, as Americans, are concerned about North Korea's alleged nukes. Might anything come of this celebration that would, I don't know, arrive at any conclusion about the nukes?
SOHN: Well, there's always hope. The South Korean unification minister is expected to meet Kim Jong-nam (ph), who is the head of state. He is another (INAUDIBLE) from the Kim Jong-il that we know, who is actually the leader of North Korea. And the South Korean unification minister is expected to urge North Korea to come back to the talks and to emphasize the fact that North Korea really does need to resolve its nuclear weapons program if inter-Korean relations are really to develop beyond a certain point.
So we'll have to see. But the hopes at this point are not that high -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae, reporting live from Seoul, South Korea, this morning.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, an area known as Lovers Lane part of the search for Natalee Holloway. Does it result in any clues? We'll bring you the latest from Aruba.
You are watching DAYBREAK for Wednesday, June 15.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: I used to love that song.
MYERS: Oh, Eric Clapton.
COSTELLO: You didn't like it?
MYERS: No, I love the song. I was just looking at that mugginess over your city.
COSTELLO: Oh, I know. It's like -- it's like weather you can wear here in New York City.
MYERS: It is -- it feels like the temperature right now is still 86 degrees. It just never cools down. And, you know, a lot of those pre-war apartments don't even have air conditioning. So folks out there are just, ugh. Anyway...
COSTELLO: It's steamy.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: But it is time to laugh and make our spirits rise. So let's get to our "Late Night Laughs" segment, shall we?
As you might expect, Michael Jackson's still in the sights of late night talk show hosts.
MYERS: Of course.
COSTELLO: So, too, is Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Howard Dean in trouble now for saying the Republicans are nothing but a party of white Christians. And today in their prayers, Republicans thanked God for Howard Dean.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW": The jurors, after they handed down the decision, they said that the accuser's mother -- the accuser's mother made them uncomfortable. Wow. I mean, you know your case is in trouble when Michael is the second creepiest person.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was good. And so true.
MYERS: I know. One of those jurors said she shook her finger at them. And the juror said, don't you shake your finger at me.
COSTELLO: No, she kept snapping her fingers...
MYERS: That's right, yes.
COSTELLO: ... to get their attention, supposedly. It was very strange, but, you know, we weren't supposed to talk about that again today, but we have. So that's it.
MYERS: That's it. We're done.
COSTELLO: OK.
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener."
There was a rare black bear sighting near the desert in Palm Springs, California. Take a look.
Wildlife experts believe the 150-pound female came down from the mountain searching for food. But what she got instead...
MYERS (SINGING): The bear when over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain. No, go ahead.
COSTELLO: Oh. It did, actually. But she got a tranquilizer dart for coming over the mountain. The bear will be weighed, measured and put back into its normal habitat.
MYERS: Oh, good.
COSTELLO: We've all heard of wax replicas of famous celebrities, but in England they're changing things a bit. Madame Tussaud's has made an Elton John completely out of chocolate.
Cadbury held the contest, and voters chose to make Sir Elton into a giant candy bar. It took 227 pounds of milk to make the life-size confection. But he may not want to know that.
MYERS: Elton with a tan.
COSTELLO: It's amazingly lifelike, isn't it?
MYERS: It looks pretty darn good. Just don't put it out in Vegas, where he is. It will melt.
COSTELLO: Or somebody will eat it.
Here's what's all new in the next half-hour of DAYBREAK.
A special sort of homecoming. After 40 years, Charles Jenkins is back in the United States. We'll get the hometown reaction. And it wasn't good.
And in case you didn't know, it is the 230th birthday of the U.S. Army. We go to break with some Army facts that we found interesting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 15, 2005 - 5:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: An earthquake hits northern California. Buildings shook, warning sirens went off and people evacuated. It's been a scary night out West.
Also, they searched for hours, but did police in Aruba find what they were looking for?
And he's older, he's grayer, and he's been through a 40-year ordeal. Now he's finally back home, at least for a while.
ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.
COSTELLO: And good morning, everyone. We'll have more on the California quake in just a minute.
Also ahead, a new baby is exciting, but it can create feelings of stress and anxiety, even for the dads. A look at postpartum depression in new fathers.
And coming up, talk about striking it rich. We'll meet one man who's thrilled that the price of oil keeps on rising.
But first, "Now in the News," rumblings in northern California. A magnitude 7 earthquake struck about 90 miles off the coast last night. That triggered a tsunami warning and some coastal evacuations. But the warning was later canceled. No reports of damage or injuries.
A bipartisan taskforce says the state of the U.N. is not so good. It presents a report to Congress this morning saying U.N. chief Kofi Annan could face opposition to reform. In the meantime, another taskforce is renewing a probe into whether Annan acted improperly in the oil-for-food program in Iraq.
Police in Spain say they've arrested 16 suspected Islamic terrorists, including five believed link to last year's Madrid train bombings. Authorities say 11 of the suspects are linked to the terrorist group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He's al Qaeda's main operative in Iraq.
They wouldn't dare leave the Bronx, but the New York Yankees want some new digs. The team will announce plans today for a new $800 million ballpark. It will be built next to the current Yankee Stadium.
To the forecast center now and Chad.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm speechless if we're going to get rid of Yankee Stadium.
COSTELLO: They're going to build one right beside it. Don't worry.
MYERS: But it's not going to be Yankee Stadium.
COSTELLO: It will look just like it, except it will be bigger and nicer and more expensive to get in.
MYERS: They're cloning it. They're cloning the stadium.
COSTELLO: No they're not.
MYERS: Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Oh, don't go away, because we want to talk some more about last night's earthquake. As we told you at the top of the show, offshore tremors, a tsunami warning, evacuations ordered, but it wasn't south Asia this time. It was California.
So why did it happen? Could it happen again? What makes this different from the events that caused the December tsunami disaster overseas?
And that's what we want to ask you this morning about too, Chad.
MYERS: This was a triple point, Carol. Hold on. Let me get rid of my weather -- let me show you here.
This was an earthquake of two different plates. Two different plates. They're -- they're the plates that are floating on the magma down below us, down underneath the Earth. Obviously it's molten lava down there like it comes out of the -- the volcanoes.
What happened yesterday is that these plates, as they're moving, they moved this way. They slid against each other rather than the subduction zone that they had in Asia, where the plates went up and down. And that up and down makes a wave, where the slide doesn't make a wave. And so there was not a tsunami yesterday.
Didn't know that at the time. When you get a 7.0 quake, it could have been a subduction quake, there could have been a tsunami. So the warning was put out. About an hour later the warning was canceled.
COSTELLO: Yes. I just want to make it clear where exactly this took place.
MYERS: Actually...
COSTELLO: It rumbled off the coast of northern California -- go ahead. Show it. MYERS: Actually, right there. Actually, right there, about 90 miles from Crescent City.
COSTELLO: OK. We'll talk more about this a little later. And we also have some reaction from the kind of shaken folks in California.
MYERS: Oh, sure.
COSTELLO: Although, you know what? They seem so resilient out there, don't they?
MYERS: Always. They'll come back.
COSTELLO: From earthquakes to energy, you just got a lesson on one. Now President Bush wants you to -- wants to teach you about the other. He says his energy plan would give you more options and make the U.S. more energy independent and efficient.
At a Washington dinner last night, he urged Congress to stop stalling and pass a national energy bill. Now, here's a rundown of the president's plan.
It would promote conservation and energy efficiency through technology. It also calls for producing and refining more crude oil in the United States and for developing alternative energy resources, like renewable ethanol and biodiesel fuel. The president also wants to help other countries become more energy efficient.
In the meantime, the Senate has kicked off debate on a massive energy bill, one that's a bit more ambitious than President Bush's plan. But Democrats want to take it even farther. They're laying out a competing energy proposal today.
The Democrats say their plan will put America on a path toward independence from Middle East oil. They also want to reduce the growth of oil imports over the next 20 years. They say the current Senate plan doesn't do enough to wean the nation off of foreign oil.
For most of us, rising energy prices mean shelling out more at the gas pump. But $50 barrels of oil have independent energy producers gushing. And for one Kentucky producer, the price is definitely right.
CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. FINANCE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as Bill Daugherty launched his energy company in 1984, oil prices started to fall.
BILL DAUGHERTY, OIL & GAS EXECUTIVE: Little did I know that's probably the worst time in the history of oil and gas to start a company.
CHERNOFF: Bill put everything he had into the company, and, at first, got nothing in return.
DAUGHERTY: My wife was expecting. We hadn't had a paycheck in about six months. Zero inspiration and 100 percent desperation.
CHERNOFF: Desperate no more, today, oil prices are above $50 a barrel, and Bill's one-man firm, NGAS Resources, is 66 employees strong. He's president and CEO, and he took the company public in 1993.
But it wasn't until oil prices began to rise in the late '90s that things really picked up. NGAS stock has jumped 1,500 percent since 1999. The company is searching for oil at a breakneck pace.
In '98, Bill drilled only five wells. Last year, 155. Recently, he bought two helicopters so now he can get from his offices in Lexington to the wells in eastern Kentucky in under an hour.
DAUGHERTY: I think the biggest thing is that, you know, I don't have to worry about money. It's given us an opportunity to grow the company. And that's an immense amount of fun.
CHERNOFF: Married 32 years, Bill and his wife Zella remember the early days, when he worked from home with a part-time secretary and no salary.
Along with watching the company grow, Zella has seen her own life change, too.
ZELLA DAUGHERTY, BILL'S WIFE: It was a lot different than it is now. I think the greatest thing is we got to take a vacation this past year.
Cheers to our new home.
We both grew up on a farm. We always have worked really hard. And it's kind of fun to be able to have a few toys.
CHERNOFF: Bill and Zella's two sons also are riding the wave of rising oil prices.
B. DAUGHERTY: It's given them the ability to have more fun and go to the schools they want to go to. My 20-year-old son William is at Center College. And, you know, he was there when there just was no money.
CHERNOFF: Just like day one, Bill has everything he owns in the company. Ninety percent of his investments are in company stock. And his salary, which has risen considerably since '99, is tied to the stock and, consequently, to the price of oil.
So what if prices fall again?
B. DAUGHERTY: We just batten down the hatch and keep on producing, because I will guarantee you one thing, if oil drops to $10 a barrel, it will go back up.
CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In other news "Across America" now, one tourist is in a coma after a New York sightseeing helicopter crashed in the East River. The helicopter did a 360-degree roll shortly after takeoff. Five other passengers and the pilot were quickly fished out of the water by the harbor patrol.
There are no serious injuries in Upstate New York following a massive mudslide. Large boulders and debris swept across an interstate highway in Bolton, New York. A couple of drivers suffered minor injuries when they crashed into the debris.
A Kentucky couple was jailed after leading police on a chase into Ohio. The chase started after a woman pulled a knife on a security guard at a Target store. He was trying to stop her from stealing several boxes of decongestant.
A realistic space ride at Epcot Center proved fatal for one 4- year-old, but doctors haven't been able to determine exactly what caused his death. Just one day after the death, the ride was reopened to the public.
We get more now from Jodie Fleischer of CNN affiliate WFTV in Orlando, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JODIE FLEISCHER, REPORTER, WFTV (voice-over): Mission: Space is known as a thriller. Even adults wowed by its lifelike astronaut experience. But the ride's G forces might have been too much for 4- year-old Daudi Bamuwamye to handle.
CRYSTAL CANDY, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: He was motionless, so the mom actually had to carry him off of the ride. She approached the nearest Disney employee.
FLEISCHER: The employee laid him on a nearby bench and started CPR. Paramedics took him to Celebration Hospital but couldn't revive him.
CANDY: At this point, the boy has no known medical problems. And so it's going to be up to the medical examiner to determine exactly why this child died.
FLEISCHER: The Pennsylvania boy was visiting Epcot with his mother and 9-year-old sister. He was 46 inches tall, barely enough to meet the height requirement to ride. Mission: Space spins passengers in circles. So stressful on the body, people with heart conditions are urged to stay away. Disney shut down the ride Monday afternoon, but inspectors found no mechanical problems.
CANDY: At this point it's a mystery.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: That report was from Jodie Fleischer of CNN affiliate WFTV in Orlando.
Mission: Space is one of the more popular rides at Disney's Epcot Center. The simulated space flight subjects riders to twice the normal force of gravity. Since it opened in 2003, several people have been taken to the hospital after either fainting or complaining of chest pains.
Now, there is a height requirement for the ride, although it's less than four feet. Riders suffering from heart problems are warned they can be in danger.
So we checked out the policies at other amusement parks, and this is what we found. Six Flags has height requirements and instructs visitors to check at every ride for further restrictions and warnings. On the Busch Gardens Web site they include disabled visitors and their height requirements. And at Kings Dominion, they also list height restrictions and medical warnings.
And you know, Chad, I went to the Disney site to read about who should go on that ride, Mission: Space, and it says big kids. But they don't specify what age -- at what age a kid becomes a "big kid."
MYERS: Sure.
COSTELLO: In the picture on the Web site it shows kids that look to be about 9, 10 or 11 years old. Certainly no 4-year-olds. You know?
MYERS: Well, this kid was 46 inches tall, and you had to be 44 to ride the ride. And I don't think a lot of 4-year-olds are 46 inches tall. So maybe he was -- you know, he was tall for his age. And so I guess the "Question of the Day," the email "Question of the Day," should there also be an age requirement?
Should that have been a 6 or a 5, or is it just the height? What should we be caring about here? Should there be an age requirement on amusement park rides?
In all fairness, though, 8.7 million people have been on this ride, Carol, and only 10 people have even walked off with chest pains or shortness of breath or fainting. So...
COSTELLO: Well, we thought it was an apt question, because also on the Web site, they do have -- they do point to preschoolers and what rides they should ride. And Mission: Space was not on that list.
MYERS: I'm not sure I'd put my 4-year-old on that.
COSTELLO: I know. It's a tough question. And, you know, we don't want to blame the parents at all, because that's certainly unfair.
MYERS: Absolutely. Sad -- already a sad situation already. COSTELLO: Oh, it really is. But we do want to know what you think. I mean, should parents be more in the know? Should amusement parks let us really know what an age requirement is for their ride? It's always something.
MYERS: Maybe the parents should get on it first to feel it. You know, how do you know? Maybe that was the first time on. I don't know.
COSTELLO: Well, this thing -- this thing goes so fast it distorts your face as you're going.
MYERS: Yes, sure. Well, it's 2 Gs. I mean, I've pulled a lot more than that. With the Blue Angels I pulled 7 Gs. But I was a 40...
COSTELLO: Yes, but you're not 4.
MYERS: ... I was a 40-year-old kid, right.
COSTELLO: That's right.
Email us, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
Still to come, they've been trying for five years to find common ground, but despite nuclear threats, the two Koreas, they're finding reasons to celebrate this morning. We'll explain that at 17 minutes past.
And an American soldier who deserted to North Korea is back in the states decades later. We have the next chapter in Charles Jenkins' life story.
And later, we'll meet some new dads having a rough time learning how to adjust to life after baby.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This news just into CNN. The prime minister of Australia, John Howard, announcing to his parliament that a contractor, an Australian contractor, has been released in Iraq. These are pictures of him.
He was taken hostage there six weeks ago. But apparently, he has been released. And as far as we know, he is safe and sound. Don't know if he's still in Iraq or back home in Australia. We'll keep following this story, but good news this morning.
Douglas Wood, this civilian contractor from Australia, released by his captors this morning.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:17 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning. No reports of damage or injuries after a magnitude 7 earthquake hits about 90 miles off the northern California coast last night. A tsunami warning was issued but later canceled.
Gitmo in the spotlight. In just over four hours, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay. It comes a day after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended the U.S. prison camp.
In money news, satellite radio is coming to your cell phones. Sirius Radio signed a deal with Sprint to provide music channels to phone users. It will cost about $6 a month for the music service.
In culture, eBay has banned sales of tickets for the Live 8 charity concert in London. The tickets are free, but some of them popped up on the Internet auction site. And that led to criticism from the concert organizer, Bob Geldof.
In sports, the Detroit Pistons stormed back into contention against the San Antonio Spurs. They finally woke up. The Pistons won game three of the NBA finals, 96-79, but the Spurs still lead the series two games to one.
Game four, Chad, tomorrow night.
MYERS: You know, I don't know what it is about Auburn Hills, but it is tough to beat the Pistons in Auburn Hills up in Pontiac, or in Detroit, if you will.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.
North and South Korea celebrating together. To mark the fifth anniversary of unification talks between North and South Korea, officials on both sides are indeed celebrating. They're also renewing their commitment to unification despite being overshadowed by the north's nuclear ambitions.
Joining us now with more from Seoul is CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae.
Good morning, Jie-Ae.
JIE-AE SOHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
South and North Korean officials are. And in Pyongyang, 340 South Koreans actually are in Pyongyang celebrating with their North Korean counterparts. They're marking the fifth anniversary of a summit between the leaders of South and North Korea.
It happened in 2000, but since then, the two leaders have not been -- two leaders of their two countries have not seen each other since. Nevertheless, in the fifth anniversary, the two sides are celebrating and trying to relive the -- the moment of 2000, when the two sides that had been hostile since the Korean War in the 1950s started down a road which many considered to be toward reconciliation and possibly reunification.
Although, the two sides at this point have to deal with a very tough issue, and that is resolving North Korea's nuclear weapons issue, that is not expected to be a major topic. But that will be one of the things that South Korea will urge North Korea to resolve if the two sides are really -- are indeed going to go beyond just celebrations and nice talk -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you that. I mean, of course, we, as Americans, are concerned about North Korea's alleged nukes. Might anything come of this celebration that would, I don't know, arrive at any conclusion about the nukes?
SOHN: Well, there's always hope. The South Korean unification minister is expected to meet Kim Jong-nam (ph), who is the head of state. He is another (INAUDIBLE) from the Kim Jong-il that we know, who is actually the leader of North Korea. And the South Korean unification minister is expected to urge North Korea to come back to the talks and to emphasize the fact that North Korea really does need to resolve its nuclear weapons program if inter-Korean relations are really to develop beyond a certain point.
So we'll have to see. But the hopes at this point are not that high -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae, reporting live from Seoul, South Korea, this morning.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, an area known as Lovers Lane part of the search for Natalee Holloway. Does it result in any clues? We'll bring you the latest from Aruba.
You are watching DAYBREAK for Wednesday, June 15.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: I used to love that song.
MYERS: Oh, Eric Clapton.
COSTELLO: You didn't like it?
MYERS: No, I love the song. I was just looking at that mugginess over your city.
COSTELLO: Oh, I know. It's like -- it's like weather you can wear here in New York City.
MYERS: It is -- it feels like the temperature right now is still 86 degrees. It just never cools down. And, you know, a lot of those pre-war apartments don't even have air conditioning. So folks out there are just, ugh. Anyway...
COSTELLO: It's steamy.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: But it is time to laugh and make our spirits rise. So let's get to our "Late Night Laughs" segment, shall we?
As you might expect, Michael Jackson's still in the sights of late night talk show hosts.
MYERS: Of course.
COSTELLO: So, too, is Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Howard Dean in trouble now for saying the Republicans are nothing but a party of white Christians. And today in their prayers, Republicans thanked God for Howard Dean.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW": The jurors, after they handed down the decision, they said that the accuser's mother -- the accuser's mother made them uncomfortable. Wow. I mean, you know your case is in trouble when Michael is the second creepiest person.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was good. And so true.
MYERS: I know. One of those jurors said she shook her finger at them. And the juror said, don't you shake your finger at me.
COSTELLO: No, she kept snapping her fingers...
MYERS: That's right, yes.
COSTELLO: ... to get their attention, supposedly. It was very strange, but, you know, we weren't supposed to talk about that again today, but we have. So that's it.
MYERS: That's it. We're done.
COSTELLO: OK.
Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener."
There was a rare black bear sighting near the desert in Palm Springs, California. Take a look.
Wildlife experts believe the 150-pound female came down from the mountain searching for food. But what she got instead...
MYERS (SINGING): The bear when over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain. No, go ahead.
COSTELLO: Oh. It did, actually. But she got a tranquilizer dart for coming over the mountain. The bear will be weighed, measured and put back into its normal habitat.
MYERS: Oh, good.
COSTELLO: We've all heard of wax replicas of famous celebrities, but in England they're changing things a bit. Madame Tussaud's has made an Elton John completely out of chocolate.
Cadbury held the contest, and voters chose to make Sir Elton into a giant candy bar. It took 227 pounds of milk to make the life-size confection. But he may not want to know that.
MYERS: Elton with a tan.
COSTELLO: It's amazingly lifelike, isn't it?
MYERS: It looks pretty darn good. Just don't put it out in Vegas, where he is. It will melt.
COSTELLO: Or somebody will eat it.
Here's what's all new in the next half-hour of DAYBREAK.
A special sort of homecoming. After 40 years, Charles Jenkins is back in the United States. We'll get the hometown reaction. And it wasn't good.
And in case you didn't know, it is the 230th birthday of the U.S. Army. We go to break with some Army facts that we found interesting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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