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CNN Live At Daybreak

One Year Later; BTK Killer Confessions; Daybreak Mailbag; Decisions, Decisions

Aired June 28, 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: Later on today.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Picture, if you will, big, tall ships firing at each other. Then it would be great.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol. Obviously it's too early for that, but we have pictures anyway.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: U.S. and Iraqi troops launched their fifth operation in Iraq today designed to take out suspected insurgence and foreign fighters. Operation Sword (ph) targets an area in Western Iraq along the Euphrates River, about 100 miles from Baghdad.

In other news this morning, a suicide bomber killed an Iraqi Shiite legislature about three hours ago in Northern Baghdad. His son and three bodyguards also killed.

About 45 miles south of Baghdad, police say a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security post outside the entrance to a hospital. An Iraqi police officer was killed, 17 others wounded.

It has been a year since the U.S. handed over power to the Iraqis and 881 U.S. military members have been killed since that handover. That's an average of more than two a day. And one year after gaining sovereignty, has life improved for the Iraqis. From Baghdad, CNN's Jennifer Eccleston takes a look at how far Iraq has come and where it stands now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite today's anniversary, or perhaps because of it, the violence continues. A prominent Shiite tribal leader, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly, was killed in a suicide car bomb attack Tuesday morning in Northern Baghdad. Shiite Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, his son, and three bodyguards died when a suicide car bomber slammed into his convoy.

But today marks the one-year anniversary of the handing over of sovereignty to Iraqis. One step in many political landmarks, including the historic January election of the transitional assembly, the adoption of a government in April, and this summer and fall the writing and the adoption of a constitution and elections of a five- year government which is scheduled for later this year in December.

But clouding the political process is a spike in violence over the last year. A surge in insurgent attacks across the country, a surge in car bombs and suicide bombers, the most effective means now to kill large numbers of Iraqi people. Over 800 U.S. forces have been killed and thousands of Iraqis. And despite the number of major U.S. operations to rid the country of its insurgency, it still remains effective. And Iraqis and the U.S. military says the political process, getting all Iraqis involved, getting all Iraqis to take ownership of their country is key to stemming the insurgency here in Iraq.

And one year later, many Iraqis still live under substandard living conditions. Not enough power. Not enough water. Not enough clean drinking water. And sub par sanitation and sewage. These day- to-day hardships, on top of the grinding violence, especially here in the capital, limits the Iraqis ability to believe their government and American assertations that life is indeed improving in Baghdad and across the country one year after the handover of sovereignty.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Despite the deadly violence, President Bush will argue in a speech tonight that the United States should stay the course in Iraq. But polls show he could have a tough time making his case. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll asked if it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq. Fifty-three percent of those responding say yes, 46 percent say no. As for how the president is handling Iraq, 40 percent approve, 58 percent disapprove. What about the future? The poll asked if the president has a clear plan for Iraq. Thirty-seven percent now say yes, and that's down from 49 percent who felt the same way back in January. Sixty-one percent now say no. That's up from 50 percent in January.

We'll bring you live coverage of the president's speech tonight from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Join us at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific, right here on CNN.

"The Boston Globe" is weighing in on Iraq and a U.S. withdrawal. An editorial in today's paper says Iraqi insurgents are not in their last throes as suggested by Vice President Cheney. But the editor adds, and I'm quoting here, "nevertheless, this would not be the right time to announce a date for removing U.S. forces . . . It would make no sense to impose a deadline for withdrawal before enough Iraqi forces have been trained to defend the populace and before the new Iraqi government is elected."

In the meantime, President Bush's one-time rival is offering his take on tonight's speech. In a "New York Times" op-ed, Democratic Senator John Kerry says, quoting here, "so what should the president say tonight? The first thing he should do is tell the truth to the American people. Happy talk about the insurgency being in the last throes' leads to frustrated expectations at home."

So what do you think? What do you want to hear from the president tonight? We want to hear from you, daybreak@cnn.com.

Go ahead, Chad, read the question.

MYERS: One year after the insurgency, one year after the handover that we gave them, what do you want to hear from President Bush tonight?

Basically we gave them power a year ago. What has happened since and where do you want us to go in the next year. Give us some plans.

I'll tell you what, Carol, I'm getting an awful lot of e-mails that just say they want the truth or they want an apology.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

MYERS: So might get some other sides of that story.

COSTELLO: OK. Are we going to read some e-mail now or later?

MYERS: Later.

COSTELLO: Later. OK.

In news across America this morning then, the search for missing Boy Scott Luke Sanburg in Wyoming is now a recovery effort. On Friday, the 13-year-old boy fell into the fast moving Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park. Tennis shoes believed belonging to the youth were found in the river over the weekend.

A stage is going up in Philadelphia for Saturday's Live 8 Concert. Actor Will Smith will be the host. Among the performers, Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, Josh Groban, Deaf Leopard, Maroon 5. You name them, they'll be there. But not the Spice Girls. The nine global Live 8 concerts are aimed at pressuring leaders of the world's richest countries to cancel debts for African nations.

A wildfire has forced the Utah community of New Harmony to evacuate. The evacuation of 1,200 homes was ordered after a shift in the winds last night. South of there, a fire near St. Georges burned 68,000 acres but officials expect to have it contained later today.

It's almost too hard to believe. Dennis Rader, the man accused of being the BTK killer, describing how he killed ten people. Rader waved his right to a trial, entered a guilty plea, and then began a horribly riveting history of his crimes. We have some of that, but we caution you this morning, it is graphic and disturbing. Anderson Cooper describes Rader's matter of fact admissions to a reign of terror.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DENNIS RADER, CONFESSED BTK KILLER: I had never strangled anyone before, so I really didn't know how much pressure you had to put on a person, or how long it would take.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His mater of fact delivery, the diary of a serial killer, describing the crimes he committed, the people he killed.

RADER: And then I proceeded to tie her up. She got sick, threw up. I got her a glass of water, comforted her a little bit, and then I went ahead and tied her up and then but a bag over her head and strangled her.

COOPER: For the last 25 years, Dennis Rader has been the serial killer next door. Husband, father, church leader. Sixty-years-old, he was born in 1945. After earning a bachelor's degree in Administration of Justice from Wichita State University, Rader served in the Air Force as a mechanic in the Vietnam War.

He worked at a security company, and later became a city code compliance officer. His responsibilities included dog catching. He was also a U.S. census field operator. Rader has been married for 34 years and has two grown children. Somehow he was able to keep his killings a secret.

Rader would begin by looking for victims. Trolling, he called it. Then he would stalk them. He called victims like Nancy Fox his projects. After breaking into her house and cutting the phone lines, Rader waited for the 25-year-old secretary to come home.

RADER: I handcuffed her, had her lay on the bed, and then I tied her feet. And then I was also undressing her to a certain degree. And then I got on top of her and I reached over -- took -- either her feet were tied or not tied. Anyway, I took -- I think I had a belt. I took a belt and then strangled her with a belt at that time.

COOPER: To get into another victim's home, Vicki Wegerle, Rader pretended to work for the phone company.

RADER: I went over and found out where the telephone was, simulated I was checking the telephone. I had a make believe instrument. And after she was looking away, I drew a pistol at her and asked her if she'd go back to the bedroom with me. And after I tied her hands, she broke that and we started fighting. And we fought quite a bit back and forth.

JUDGE GREGORY WALLER: All right. She was physically fighting you?

RADER: Oh, yes. Yes, sir.

WALLER: What happened then?

RADER: I finally got the hand on her and got a nylon sock and started strangling her.

COOPER: His reign of terror ended in 1991 with 62-year-old Delores Davis, his last victim.

RADER: Her car and I kind of (INAUDIBLE), you know, walked and talked with her a little bit, calmed her down a little bit, and then eventually I checked -- I think she was still handcuffed. I went back and checked out where the car was, simulated getting some food, odds and ends in the house, kind of like I was leaving, and then went back and removed her handcuffs and then tied her up. And then -- and then eventually strangled her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Since Kansas did not have the death penalty when Rader committed those murders, he can not be sentenced to death. We'll have much more on this in the 6:00 hour, including a criminologist who -- I don't know, try to make sense of it all.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the Supreme Court ends its term on a hot button issue, displaying the 10 Commandments on public property. Coming up, why the ruling has some scratching their heads. What exactly does it mean anyway?

And later, another high court ruling that put a smile on the face of the entertainment industry.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is time to get to our e-mail segment right now. We've been getting a lot of e-mails in this morning.

Chad.

MYERS: Yes, I want to get to a couple of them now. We'll get to a few of them later.

Kelly in Florida. What do you want to hear from the president one year after the handover? What she wants to hear is an apology. What we'll probably hear is a speech leaning toward staying the course and protecting Americas from the evils of terrorism.

From J.T. in Brooklyn. The president should admit the war was a mistake and devise a plan to get our kids out of there. We have been mislead, he says.

Carol from Oklahoma City. I would simply like to hear, I'm sorry.

And Sunny from Minneapolis. I want to hear we caught bin Laden, the troops are coming home and that he is resigning.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MYERS: Carol -- and I really got quite a few of those.

And from Sam wants to know -- actually, Nathaniel. Sam's his e- mail name. He wants to know the truth. We, as Americans, know some of the truth but we've never heard the president speak truthfully and honestly about the war, what we've really accomplished there and what we still have to accomplish. We'll probably get more lies though and the same old spin. I bet we'll hear 9/11 so many times and we know Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Keep the e-mails coming. We're interested. Thank you.

The Supreme Court ended its term with a series of decisions, including a pair on the 10 Commandments. But the justices also made news with one case they decided to stay away from. CNN's Wolf Blitzer has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): A pair of cases asked, can the 10 Commandments be displayed on public property. The Supreme Court answered, that depends. In a five to four ruling, the justices said a six foot granite monument on the grounds of the Texas state capital is a permissible display of the 10 Commandments. Then in another five to four ruling, they decreed that framed copies of the commandments inside two Kentucky courthouses crossed the line separating church and state.

With the different rulings, the justices said in effect that such displays must be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the context and intent of the display. As Chief Justice William Rehnquist conceded in one of the rulings, there is no exact formula. People on both sides of the issue found reason to celebrate.

REV. ROB SCHENCK, NATIONAL CLERGY COUNCIL: This is a victory for our acknowledgment of God, for religious liberty, and for our Judeo- Christian heritage.

RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN, ACTION CTR. OF REFORM JUDAISM: The bottom line is, that separation of church and state that says that the government can not endorse or oppose religious messages, is held in tact.

BLITZER: In another closely watched case, the high court declined to hear an appeal from two journalists facing jail time for refusing to reveal their sources. Matthew Cooper of "Time" magazine and Judith Miller of "The New York Times" have been held in contempt of court for refusing to tell a grand jury who leaked the name of a CIA operative to them. Each faces up to 18 months in jail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: One decision that apparently has not been made yet, is on the future of the chief justice. Eighty-year-old William Rehnquist did not make an announcement on whether he plans to step down from the court. We'll keep an ear on it.

Here are some other rulings handed down by the court for you.

In a Colorado case, they ruled that police are not liable for violating a victim's rights when harm results from failure to enforce retraining orders. That means police can not be sued over enforcement of a restraining order.

Also the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that said cable high- speed Internet lines should be open to rival Internet providers. That was seen as a victory for some major cable providers.

And the Supreme Court ruled companies offering file-sharing services can be held liable for copyright infringement when users swap songs or movies illegally. We'll have more on that decision coming up in our entertainment news segment. That will come your way in just about 15 minutes.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, why those of you who like to download movies, music and video games may want to change your tune.

And a reminder, our e-mail question this morning. One year after the handover in Iraq, what do you want to hear from President Bush tonight? Tell us what you think, daybreak@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A follow-up now on the Red Tide outbreak in Massachusetts. There is good news for the bay state shell fish growers. They're now eligible to receive some emergency federal aid to help them get through the toxic algae outbreak. The outbreak makes shellfish unsafe to eat and shut down most of the state's shell fishing beds. The state biologist says things are improving and some beds could reopen by Friday.

In our "Security Watch" this morning, two U.S. citizens indicted on terror related charges will be formally arraigned today in New York. They were indicted for allegedly conspiring to provide support to al Qaeda. One of the men, a doctor arrested last month in Florida. The other is a jazz musician who was arrested in New York.

A setback for a California father and son being held on terrorism related charges. The men are charged with lying to the FBI about allegations the son attended a terror camp in Pakistan. A federal judge ruled prosecutors must disclose only limited evidence to prove the men lied. The defense may file motions seeking more disclosures.

The government says it's denied visas to almost 3,000 people trying to enter the United States because of its new fingerprint system. Homeland Security says 700 people were stopped at U.S. border checkpoints. The system matches the fingerprints of visa applicants against government watch lists.

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

And it is time to read some more e-mails because, I'm telling you, Chad, we have three or four hundred and they're coming in fast and furious.

MYERS: Sure are. Can't even keep up with them. Can't print them all out but I'm doing my best. What I'd like to hear tonight, I'd like very much to hear the truth. However, since I have zero confidence that that's going to happen, I'd settle for him properly pronouncing the world nuclear.

Let's hear some truth from the president like, I was wrong, I was given bad information upon which to base my decisions. However, we're there now, we must stay at least till we rebuild what we destroyed and the Iraqi government can take care of their own country.

From Jay in Louisiana. Tell us the good things the coalition and the countries in Iraq have been accomplishing. Compare Iraq's fiscal size and population to other states so that we can get a more relevant accomplishment of what's going on here and tell everybody that the news media inherently is telling only the negative news.

The president needs to explain to the American people, according to Gloria, again and again why the war is so important and show his leadership to the world of doubters. Democracy can succeed. And if does, it will spread throughout the region. We must stay the course.

Don wants to hear about the Downing Street Memo. I want the truth. I want him to tell me if he lied to me and every other American to justify his war on Iraq. First we attack Saddam because of his connections to 9/11. Then he had weapons of mass destruction. Then it was because he was a tyrant. How dare he ever accuse someone else of being a flip-flopper.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting stuff this morning. I can't wait to hear his speech myself. We'll see if he addresses any of this. And I'm sure he will.

MYERS: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: Let's give him a little bit of a break here.

All new the next hour of daybreak, a second shark attack on the Florida Gulf Coast. We'll talk with CNN's Adaora Udoji about this latest incident.

Also, after the confessed BTK killer's day in court, we'll talk with a forensic psychiatrist to go inside the mind of a serial killer.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Oh, you caught me. I was just trying to neaten up the desk because I know it's messy all the time.

Entertainment headlines for you this morning.

More big names have been added to the Philadelphia leg of the Live 8 Concert. Alicia Keys and the Black Eyed Peas will join host Will Smith at the July 2nd show. Other acts include groups Deaf Leopard, Bon Jovi and Destiny's Child.

Miss America may have to turn in her crown for a ten-gallon hat. That's because the pageant will be moving to the Country Music Television station. The cable channel signed a two-year deal to show the decades old pageant starting this January. ABC blamed low ratings for its decision to drop Miss America.

Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx is among the more than 100 people invited to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences. That means he will be able to vote for next year's Oscar winners. Pixar Animation Chief Steve Jobs is also among those invited to join the more than 5,700 voting members.

Thousands of fans were on hand to watch Tom Cruise arrive at his big Los Angeles premier. The seemingly inseparable couple of Cruise and fiance Katie Holmes attended the showing of "The War of the Worlds." We'll have more on Cruise and the movie coming up in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

You can get more entertainment news every night on "Showbiz Tonight." That's at 7 p.m. Eastern on Headline News.

And the nest hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: CNN, the most trusted name in news.

COSTELLO: It is Tuesday, June 28th.

The Florida Panhandle relives a watery nightmare. Another shark attack. Is it safe to go back into the water. We'll talk to the experts.

Plus, it was blunt, it was graphic and, oh, was it chilling. A confessed serial killer details his crimes.

And marking a milestone in Iraq, President Bush wants to stay the course. But do American's think he's on track?

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

We'll have more on those Florida shark attacks in just a moment.

Also ahead, he's fighting a war of the worlds on screen and a war of words off screen. Is Tom Cruise engaging in some risky business?

And do you like swapping songs and movies over the Internet. You will want to know what the Supreme Court has to say about that.

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