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CNN Live At Daybreak

Last Full Measure; Holiday at War; Deep Impact

Aired July 04, 2005 - 5:00   ET

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

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: It is July 4, Independence Day, and NASA has already started the fireworks.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Team, we've got a confirmation.

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WALLACE: Mission controllers erupt in cheers after the first space mission of its kind turns into a real smash.

Also...

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: I've got a little girl here with a tall gentleman, and she look so much like that Shasta.

OPERATOR: OK. Are they still in the building. Yes. They're at table 20.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: Drama at a Denny's. Some quick-thinking patrons helped bring a kidnapping ordeal to an end.

And retracing their steps. Police in Aruba take a closer look at the suspects in the Natalee Holloway case.

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

WALLACE: Good Monday morning, everyone. I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining us.

We will have much more on Deep Impact in a moment.

Also ahead, she gave her life serving her country. A look at fallen Marine Ramona Valdez.

And he's won three times. Roger Federer tells us what it's like to be a Wimbledon champ again and again and again.

But first, these stories "Now in the News."

President Bush heading to the Mountain State today. He'll be at a July 4 celebration on the West Virginia University campus in just under five hours. He leaves for Denmark tomorrow, ahead of the G8 summit in Scotland.

Some new out-of-this-world pictures this morning. A NASA probe smashed into a comet about three hours ago. It is the first time a spacecraft has touched the surface of a comet. We'll have a full report this hour.

A watery, debris-filled mess -- Yes, a mess this morning across camps this morning. Storms and high winds damaged boats and campers, flooded roads, and downed trees and power lines. At least four people were hurt.

To the weather center now, Chad Myers.

Chad, happy 4th of July to you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: To you, too, Kelly. Happy 4th of July. Thanks for coming in this morning.

WALLACE: Good to be here.

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WALLACE: And on this July 4, a lot of people thinking, of course, about the military men and women overseas. Just a few moments from now we will go live to our own Aneesh Raman, who is in Baghdad talking to the troops. That coming up just moments from now.

First, though, U.S. troops in Iraq getting quite a surprise on this 4th of July weekend. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales popped in and gave a pep talk.

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ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: As the president talked about this week, what you're doing here in Iraq is so very important to the security of our country and the promotion of freedom around the world. There is so much at stake here. So what you do is so very, very important.

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WALLACE: Gonzales didn't only have encouraging words for the troops, he also met with top Iraqi officials and Justice Department employees. He praised their commitment to democracy despite sustained attacks by insurgents.

And you may recall the attack last week on a U.S. convoy. Six U.S. military personnel were killed, three of them women. It was the worst single day for female service members in Iraq. Our Jason Carroll spoke to the family of Marine Ramona Valdez, who gave the last full measure for her country and her family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ramona Valdez grew up in the Bronx, watching her mother, a single parent, work 12 hours a day, every day, as a home healthcare worker. She joined the Marines to help her family out.

ELIDA NUNEZ, CORPORAL VALDEZ'S MOTHER (through translator): Since I was alone with three children, she decided she wanted to do something. I told her, "You can do it without joining the Marines. You can do other things." She said, "No, I want more. I want to do my best."

CARROLL: Elida Nunez says the decision to allow her 17-year-old daughter to enlist wasn't easy, but her daughter assured her it would be safe.

NUNEZ: She told me, "Mommy, they don't send women to war. I won't be at the battlefront. I'll be in an office. I'll be doing different things. I won't be with a rifle in hand."

CARROLL: Ramona's sister Fiorella says one of her greatest wishes had been to get her family away from the city.

FIORELA VALDEZ, CORPORAL VALDEZ'S SISTER: She wanted my mother to move out of New York so my mother could be in a more quiet place.

CARROLL: Shortly after Ramona left for Iraq in February, her family, with the extra income from her military pay, was finally able to move to Reading, Pennsylvania, a new home that she was never able to see, but where she will return to be buried. Corporal Ramona Valdez was killed June 23 when a suicide car bomber attacked her convoy, returning from her assignment manning a checkpoint outside Falluja. Elida Nunez says she opposed U.S. military action in Iraq from the beginning. Now her doubts are absolute.

NUNEZ: I don't think this war has any meaning. What I see is that every day there are mothers like me in pain who have lost their children, and that today, tomorrow and every day we're suffering.

CARROLL: Ramona Valdez died just a few days short of her 21st birthday.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Thoughts of Americans will be with Ramona Valdez on this day, and the other men and women who have been killed in Iraq. Fourth of July at home for many of us, fireworks, barbecues and flag- waving. But overseas, a very, very different story. And we are continuing today talking about the 4th of July in Iraq. How are U.S. troops marking Independence Day in the middle of a war?

We go live now to Baghdad, where CNN's Aneesh Raman is at the U.S. forward operating base Hope.

Aneesh, what is the morale there of the troops on this day? ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kelly, good morning.

The morale is actually pretty high. Today's a break from their normal duties. You'll see behind me they're playing some basketball, football as well today. They're doing a big tournament.

A holiday weekend back at home. Away from home for these guys, but a holiday weekend nonetheless.

The troops here with the 3rd ID Second Brigade, they're in charge of Sadr City. And they've seen a remarkable transition in that city since they were here last.

Their home base is Fort Stewart, Georgia, and for about half of these guys, Kelly, this is the second time they've been out here. A couple of them here in the initial charge into Baghdad.

Now, joining me to talk is Sergeant Randy Swallows, Specialist Anthony Misuraca

Sergeant Swallows, we'll start with you. The president has made a lot of parallels with what we're doing here to Independence Day back home. As you celebrate this holiday here in Iraq, what are your impressions, what are your thoughts?

SERGEANT RANDALL SWALLOWS, U.S. ARMY: Well, with any -- any time you start a country you're going to have -- you're trying to get systems in place and implemented and everything. And we're in the middle of trying to do that here, take people that have not really, you know, been in leadership roles and kind of thrust them into those. And like I said, get a government established and try to empower these people.

So, I mean, it's kind of the same things we went through with our country, you know, 230 years ago, running into a lot of the same problems and everything. But I think it's going well.

RAMAN: And Specialist Misuraca, you were here two years ago. You're here now. Sadr City's changed, the country's changed. A lot of things, though, still the same.

What are your impressions on the ground? When you talk to folks about home, what do you tell them?

SPEC. ANTHONY MISURACA, U.S. ARMY: About home in America?

RAMAN: Yes, when you tell them about what's going on here in Iraq.

MISURACA: I tell them that the people, they're trying -- they're trying to control their country. They're trying to build up their country, build up the trust within their organizations and empower their people to take over.

RAMAN: And what have you seen change, and wasn't hasn't changed since you were here two years ago. MISURACA: I would say the most is the people working in the city. Like sewage, they're doing their doing their own sewage. They're starting to build trash -- trash bins, throwing their trash in. They were throwing trash all over the streets. So mostly they're service, public service.

RAMAN: And Sergeant Swallows, days like this, holidays where you might have memories back at home, what you'd be doing, is it tough to be out here?

SWALLOWS: It's difficult any, I mean, holiday or not, any time you're away from home and everything. But definitely on holidays, you know, special occasions and everything, you kind of -- you just miss the little things. You learn to not take them for granted. But just times with my wife and everything to -- of things we used to do, yes, you definitely -- definitely miss them.

RAMAN: Well, let me let you guys say hi to anyone back home you want to.

SWALLOWS: I want to say to my wife -- hello to my beautiful wife Meg back in Savannah, Georgia, and also my family in the Dallas area. I love you. I'll be coming home soon.

MISURACA: I want to say hello to my wife Lori (ph) and my parents in Georgia. I'm coming home soon.

RAMAN: All right. So a day of rest for troops that are usually out patrolling the streets of Sadr City. At the end of today they've got a big dinner planned, some steak, some lobster and some fireworks -- not real ones. They'll be broadcast on a projection screen.

Back to you.

WALLACE: Aneesh, thank you so much. And thanks to Sergeant Swallows and Specialist Misuraca. Tell them we are thinking about them. And hope their family members were watching DAYBREAK this morning.

Aneesh, thanks again.

Aneesh Raman, reporting live for us from Baghdad on this day.

Well, U.S. troops that we've been talking about are on a faraway mission of war, but they are definitely thinking of home on this 4th of July. And as we celebrate with fireworks and picnics and lots of food, our thoughts are also with the men and women serving overseas.

President Bush just last week said, "Independence Day is a chance to say thank you to the troops." We'll be hearing hellos from the troops all morning long. And we want to give you a chance to say hello -- Chad.

MYERS: Kelly, that brings us to our DAYBREAK "Question of the Day," kind of a special "Question of the Day." It's more of a statement, if you will. But what is your message to the men and women serving in the military?

Send us your comments, your questions, your feelings, and we'll get as many on as we possibly can this morning. We have some extra time to read emails this morning. Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com and send us your message to the military this morning, the special 4th of July "Question of the Day."

Back to you.

WALLACE: A special one, indeed. Keep those emails coming. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WALLACE: We'll talk to you in a few minutes.

Well, no matter where he goes, it seems as if President Bush has to duck. And we are not talking about politics.

A small plane flew into the prohibited airspace over Camp David Saturday night. Two F-16 fighter jets intercepted the plane eight miles from Camp David and forced it to land in Frederick, Maryland. The pilot was questioned and released. The Secret Service said the pilot will not face charges.

Turning to other news on this day, we could be close to a turning point in the investigation of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba. Three suspects held in the disappearance of the 18-year-old will appear in court today or tomorrow.

The suspects were taken separately to a beach on Sunday near where Holloway was staying before she disappeared back on May 30. Police wanted the three to go over their accounts of the night the teen was last seen. The court appearance will be to determine if the three suspects can be held 60 more days or if they should be released.

It has certainly been a dramatic weekend in the search for two Idaho children. One of them has been found; the other, though, is feared dead.

Eight-year-old Shasta Groene was found with convicted sex offender Joseph Duncan at a Denny's restaurant near her home. Duncan appears in court tomorrow on a kidnapping charge.

Denny's patrons called 911 when they saw the girl. Take a listen to that tape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: Central dispatch. This is Jenna.

CALLER: Yes, Jenna. I just have something to tell you.

I'm sitting down here at Denny's, and there's a little girl that just walked in that looks exactly like the Shasta girl.

OPERATOR: OK. Is she still inside?

CALLER: Yes, she is. And she's with an older man.

OPERATOR: With an older man?

CALLER: Yes. And the thing that really triggered me the most though is I was reading the "Nicklesworth," and I'd seen her picture in the "Nickelsworth," and I showed it to one of the waitresses here. And she said, "Oh, my god. She's in here."

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: Great to those Denny's patrons for thinking so quickly. Shasta and her 9-year-old brother Dylan vanished nearly seven weeks ago after a triple murder at their home. Police believe Dylan is dead, but their father says he is holding out hope is son is still alive.

And we will have much more on this story coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING." Denny's waitress Amber Dean and manager Linda Olsen are the guests. That is at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

Well, coming up on this July 4th edition of DAYBREAK, the people with those pocket protectors had it figured right down to the millimeter. And NASA's Deep Impact space probe scores a direct hit 83 million miles away. A live report just ahead.

And it is a wrap at Wimbledon, and the Swiss has it. Not since 1936 has this feat been accomplished.

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

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WALLACE: Yes, it is July 4th, and we are saluting the men and women serving overseas on this day.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's just about 17 minute after the hour. And here is what is all new this morning.

Who will replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court? Whoever it is could be in for a tough political battle. But top lawmakers are toning down their rhetoric for now and urging President Bush to pick a mainstream candidate.

Eight-year-old Shasta Groene has been reunited with her dad nearly seven weeks after the Idaho girl went missing. But police, though, fear her nine-year-old brother Dylan is dead. Shasta was found with a convicted sex offender at a Denny's restaurant.

In money, Wal-Mart says it's been a good summer so far. Sales at the retail giant rose by nearly five percent in June, which is better than expected. It is Wal-Mart's biggest monthly gain in over a year.

In culture, moviegoers flocked to see Tom Cruise on the big screen in "War of the Worlds." The movie made nearly $102 million at the box office since it debuted on Wednesday. But that is still less than $50 million -- $50 million less than "Spider-Man 2" made over the July 4th holiday last year.

In sports, Roger Federer swept past American Andy Roddick to win his third straight Wimbledon title. Federer is now the fourth player since 1922 to win three straight at the all-England club. We will have more on Federer's reign coming up a little later.

Chad, did you watch the match? It was pretty incredible.

MYERS: No, I didn't because I was still watching the NASCAR race from the night before on my TiVo, because it went to about 3:00 in the morning. And then the Formula One race was on and I didn't get any...

WALLACE: I thought you were saying you were still watching the American women's final on Saturday, the longest women's final ever in Wimbledon history.

MYERS: Oh, no. Didn't see that one there. No.

WALLACE: All right. We'll talk later.

MYERS: All right.

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WALLACE: All right, Chad. We'll check in with you again in about 15 minutes.

Well, it looks like mission accomplished. NASA says its Deep Impact space probe has successfully hit its target. For more on the colossal collision, we hear from CNN's technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, in Atlanta.

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DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: NASA might as well have painted a bull's eye on Comet Temple One because they hit their target from about 83 million miles or 120 million kilometers away. We can show you some of the footage that took place.

This is animation, we should point out, on the left there from NASA, showing this probe or the impactor heading towards this comet. The whole explosion took place at about 23,000 per hour, a huge impact. You can see there the probe on its way -- the fly-by spacecraft, I should say, monitoring the probe on its way into the comet.

And on the right, what you're looking at there are some pictures from the actual explosion that took place. And you can see in the animation right there, right as that hit. And that on the right is the actual image. On the left is the NASA animation exactly as they predicted it would happen.

This probe or impactor really smacked into this comet which is about half the size of the island of Manhattan in New York, creating about a five ton of TNT explosion. And you can see here again some of the images of hitting this comet, Temple One, again, about 83 million miles or 120 million kilometers away.

So why did NASA do this? Well, the whole point is to discover the ingredients of a comet. They're almost like a time capsule. They want to get some understanding of how the solar system was formed about 4.5 billion years ago.

This is the first time that NASA has attempted anything like this to get beneath the surface of a comet. Previously, we've had pictures of a comet from a distance, but never right up close and beneath the surface of a comet, hoping for a hole or a crater about the size of a football field. And you can see there the debris, the ice and the dust that's kicked up by this explosion as the impactor hits it.

There's a fly-by spacecraft, which you can see from the animation, that's getting these pictures and sending them back down to Earth about 1:52 Eastern Time, which is exactly when NASA had predicted this would happen. The spacecraft itself took off about six months ago. The whole mission itself has been planned and been in the works for several years.

So a lot of excitement at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California when these pictures came in. And you can see here again some of the images illuminated by sunlight, this explosion that took place on the comet, Temple One. And you can see here the high-fives and the celebration at the Jet Propulsion Lab.

The scientists extremely happy with what happened. It almost surpassed their expectations. And really, this was threading the needle for these scientists to hit this comet that far away at those speeds, almost like one bullet hitting another bullet, with another bullet taking pictures of all of this and sending it back down to Earth.

So an unprecedented and historic mission. Again, NASA very excited about what clues it could provide to the origins of our solar system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: And really, the best way to describe it in the words of one NASA person was a "smashing success," Kelly. They couldn't resist, and I couldn't resist either. They're very happy with this mission. And again, it's going to take some days and weeks and months to look at this data, but a very interesting and unprecedented look back in time.

WALLACE: Incredible stuff, Daniel. And we'll talk to you again in the next hour.

Daniel Sieberg in Atlanta.

Much more on this DAYBREAK edition. We'll be right back.

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WALLACE: Chad, isn't it great, listening to the men and women overseas saluting their family. I hope they're watching. I hope they set their TiVo or their VCRs, if they're not on right now.

MYERS: Yes, exactly. All those guys that were live, that was pretty amazing, too.

Bill in Kansas says, "Words cannot say how proud I am of all of you. The mission you've been given is not easy. You deserve the best. We miss you. Come back safe."

And that's our email "Question of the Day." Actually, it's more of a statement of the day, what's your message to the men and women serving in the military? We have some extra time today -- DAYBREAK@CNN.com. We'd like to let you know and let you know that you can say whatever you'd like to the guys over there, and women, obviously. And we will read them on the air, within reason, but you know what I mean.

DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's our email address. Send them in, and send them quick. Got to read them in a few minutes -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Chad. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say.

MYERS: Yes.

WALLACE: Thanks so much.

And time now, though, Chad, for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener."

It looks like it may be an island born in the Pacific Ocean. An underwater volcano has erupted near Iwo Jima. Plumes of water vapor burst out of the ocean as far as 300 feet into the air.

Chad, you know this, I'm sure.

An eruption of this same volcano in the early 1900s formed a small island that was later swallowed up by the ocean.

You knew that, right? Yes, I think you did.

Some of the world's top eaters weighing in before today's hot dog eating contest in Coney Island. One-hundred-thirty-two pound Takiru Kobayasha (ph) is looking to win his fifth straight hot dog title. Last year he set a world record by, get this, eating 53-and-a-half dogs in just 12 minutes.

Coming up next hour we'll take a closer look at the world of competitive eaters to find out why someone would want to do that. Hard to understand that, but we'll get some answers later.

Well, turning to the Tour de France, stage three is under way this morning. The 132-mile trek through the French countryside should be a test for Lance Armstrong and his team. Yesterday's stage two was won by Belgian Tom Boonen.

Armstrong finished 19th but didn't lose any time in the overall standing. Armstrong has been strong early in the tour, but some of his teammates fear that they may be too strong too early. But Armstrong was in almost the same position last year.

The tour itself has 18 more stages to go after today's. Armstrong is in second place right now, behind fellow American David Zabriskie. But he's only behind by two seconds.

Well, much more ahead on this 4th of July edition of DAYBREAK. We'll be right back. Don't go away.

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