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CNN Live At Daybreak

Celebrating July 4th in Baghdad; Comet Collision Success

Aired July 04, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is Monday, July 4, Independence Day 2005, a day to remember freedom.
While we celebrate with hot dogs and fireworks, in Iraq, the holiday is marked with a special visit.

In Afghanistan, hope restored as a missing member of special-ops is found.

And in Aruba, the investigation into a missing girl moves ahead with an unusual trip to the beach.

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

WALLACE: Good morning and Happy July 4, everyone.

Thanks for being with us.

I'm Kelly Wallace in today for Carol Costello.

We will have more on 4th of July celebrations in a moment.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Team, we've got a confirmation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: A smashing success as an outer space probe collides with a comet.

And who are these people who cram food into their mouths on the 4th of July? We will introduce you to the International Federal of Competitive Eating.

But first, stories now in the news.

President Bush heading to the Mountain State today. He will be at a 4th of July celebration on the West Virginia University campus in just under four 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 four hours ago. It is the first time a spacecraft has touched the surface of a comet. We'll have a live report this hour.

And a watery, debris filled mess across Kansas this morning. Storms and high winds damages boats and campers, flooded roads and downed trees and power lines. At least four people were hurt.

Chad Myers in Atlanta -- good morning.

Chad, what are the folks in Kansas going to see today?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they have a lot of flooding still going on there. That was a tornado that actually went on like Lake Cheney across parts of Kansas yesterday. But that -- all that weather has now slid on down to the south.

These are all live lightning strikes right now happening. You can see them around Paul's Valley and Adah just to the east there of I-35 and then back out toward Weatherford.

Another round of severe weather is headed toward Oklahoma City now for you this morning. Here's your big line coming through. It looks like Ukon (ph), Mustang, headed back over to Edmund (ph) and then eventually into Oklahoma City. And then, yes, finally toward Midwest City again, back toward Moore (ph) as the day and the morning goes on, probably an hour or so from there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: And we are beginning our 4th of July coverage with U.S. troops in Iraq. As most of you get ready for fireworks and barbecue this Independence Day, we want to see what the holiday is like for the men and women serving overseas.

Our Aneesh Raman joins us live from U.S. forward operating base Hope in Baghdad -- Aneesh, lots of smiles there. And people here in the United States have been watching DAYBREAK and have seen -- at least one woman saying she saw her husband during your live reports.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes? It's a great day for these troops out here, Kelly, a break from the daily duties they have. It's hot, sandstorm, but they're playing basketball behind me. They've got some football going. A 4th of July away from home, but a holiday, nonetheless, for the guys here at a forward operating base in eastern Baghdad.

They're in charge of Sadr City, members of the 3rd I.D., 2nd Brigade. Their home is Fort Stewart, Georgia. But half of these guys, Kelly, were involved in the initial push into Baghdad two years ago.

But the two I've got with me have been involved prior to that.

I've got Captain Jason Pelletier and Staff Sergeant Irol Jackson (ph).

Captain Pelletier, you were in Afghanistan back in 2002. You've now been part of this war on terror for three years. What are your impressions on how things are going both here, but as you compare it to what you saw in Afghanistan, overall?

CAPT. JASON PELLETIER: I think being here is really increasing people, now they can go to school free. They can have the things, the satellite dishes, the things that they -- that we enjoy as Americans, now they can.

RAMAN: And do you think back home people are getting the full picture? There's a lot of violence that still goes on here. There's a lot of stuff that hasn't changed, but a lot that has.

But what are we missing back home in terms of what's happening here?

PELLETIER: Length of time -- I mean you can't measure it in just a snapshot. It's over time. Last year there was intense fighting here and now there's peace in every street. I mean the differences you see, you have to see over time.

RAMAN: Staff Sergeant Jackson, you were here back in '91, Gulf War 1.

When you look at what's happened here, that was a much different war, a much different time.

How are things different?

STAFF SGT. IROL JACKSON: Well, it's different because now it's more of an unseen enemy. Back then it was more one-on-one fighting. You'd know who the enemy was. But now it's a lot different. So you, you know, that's the big difference between now and then.

RAMAN: And this is your first tour out here. So you had some time watching what was happening here back home from the U.S.

Having been out here, what are your impressions on the ground?

JACKSON: Well, my impressions on the ground is that we're making a real, real big difference, a huge difference here. We're getting the infrastructure of a country set up that didn't have an infrastructure. So we're making a big difference here.

RAMAN: And being away from home on holidays like this, it's got to be difficult.

JACKSON: Very difficult. Hey, I miss my wife. I miss my family.

RAMAN: Do you want to say hi to them?

JACKSON: Hey, hey, I want to say hi to my beautiful wife back in Fort Stewart, Georgia, Latanya (ph). Hi. And my mother back in Augusta, Arkansas. Hi.

PELLETIER: And Captain Pelletier, for you, too, it must be tough on these days.

PELLETIER: Absolutely. It's much easier to be home, but we have a mission to do and we have to do that mission.

JACKSON: Anyone you want to say hi to?

PELLETIER: Absolutely, my wife at home with our daughter, Jennifer; and, of course, all my family and friends up in New England. Thank you and have a great holiday.

RAMAN: So, Kelly, we're gearing up for the championship game behind me. They're taking a little break right now. They also, as I said, had football going on. Tonight, a big dinner. They're going to have some lobster and steak and some fireworks. Not real ones. They've got to be put up on a projector for these guys -- Kelly, back to you.

WALLACE: Aneesh, we'll be looking forward to having you do some play by play of that championship basketball game a little bit later.

Aneesh Raman reporting from Baghdad.

RAMAN: We've been having some good dunks here, a good alley-oop just happened.

WALLACE: All right.

Thanks, Aneesh.

We will be checking in with you throughout the day. And you can see Aneesh's reports throughout the day, as well as on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Well, U.S. troops in Iraq definitely got a surprise visitor this 4th of July weekend. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales popped in and gave a bit of a pep talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And Gonzalez 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.

U.S. troops are pushing on with an urgent search in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan this morning. They've rescued one member of an elite U.S. military team. Now they're looking for the rest of the team. That team went missing last Tuesday near the Pakistani border. An initial rescue effort last week ended in tragedy. Sixteen U.S. troops were killed when their helicopter was shot down.

Turning to other news, we could be turning 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 was certainly a dramatic weekend in the search for two Idaho children. One of them has been found alive. The other, though, is feared dead. Eight-year-old Shasta Groene was found with a convicted sex offender at a Denny's restaurant near her home. Joseph Duncan is expected to appear in court tomorrow. Police fear the girl's 9-year- old brother, Dylan, is dead.

The kids vanished nearly seven weeks ago after their mother, brother and the mom's boyfriend were found beaten to death.

Shasta, though, is back with her father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN GROENE, FATHER: Thank you all very much. My whole family appreciates your help and the community's help.

QUESTION: How is Shasta?

GROENE: She's doing very good.

Thank you.

QUESTION: Is she going to be getting out of the hospital soon?

GROENE: I'm not sure of that yet. They haven't told me. And I'm going...

QUESTION: Her spirits are pretty good?

GROENE: She is. And I'm going back there to be; with her right now.

QUESTION: How's the family holding up?

GROENE: They're doing a lot better now.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The father there of Shasta Groene.

Police have been taking toys, flowers and balloons to the hospital in Couer d'Alene, where the girl is recovering.

And we will have a live report from CNN's Rusty Dornin in Couer d'Alene about 30 minutes from now right here on DAYBREAK.

"News Across America" now.

Driver inattention is being blamed for a summer camp bus accident in Maine. Three children remained in the hospital overnight, but none of the injuries is considered life threatening. Thirty-seven campers and 10 counselors were on board. Investigators say the bus veered off the road and then rolled over after the driver over compensated.

Police in New York City say 15-year-old Christopher Rose was killed -- you won't believe this -- for his I-Pod. Two other teenagers have been arrested and face murder charges. Rose was allegedly stabbed several times after he refused to hand over that I- Pod.

The federal government wants some of its money back from hurricane victims. As much as $27 million in over payments were made following the four hurricanes that hit Florida last year. In many cases, federal payments were made for items later covered by insurance policies.

Well, no matter where he goes, it seems as if President Bush has to duck, and we're not talking about politics. A small plane flew into the prohibited air space 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 saying the pilot will not face charges.

Still to come on this July 4 edition of DAYBREAK, impress your friends and neighbors with the top political buzz words straight ahead from inside the beltway. We'll show you what made the list after the break.

And a smashing success for NASA as scientists take aim to unravel some of the secrets to the origins of the universe. Our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, will joins us in a few moments.

And later, there is much more to competitive eating than cramming food down your throat. That's right. We will talk with the president of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. MICHAEL WELLS, U.S. ARMY: Hi.

I'm Sergeant Michael Wells. I'm with the 48th Brigade, Georgia Army National Guard. I'm currently assigned in Momadi (ph), Iraq. I am currently with the PSD for the colonel. That's his personal security detail. I'm a civilian police officer with the Holly Springs Police Department in Cherokee County, Georgia.

I want to wish them and my family a Happy 4th of July and we thank you for all your support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And welcome back to DAYBREAK.

News about Terry Nichols. He reportedly has been coming clean About his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. Nichols' mother tells the Associated Press her son has given the FBI additional details about the 1995 attack and that bombing destroyed the Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people.

Nichols is serving life in prison on federal and state convictions. He revealed he helped Timothy McVeigh obtain fertilizer and racing fuel and put the bomb together.

Nichols' mother, Joyce Wilt, tells the Associated Press: "It just breaks my heart because he was a good kid. He got out in the world and people started taking advantage of him."

McVeigh was convicted of conspiracy and murder and was executed four years ago.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's just about 15 minutes after the hour and here is what is all new this morning.

President Bush hitting the road, heading to West Virginia today. He will be at a July 4 celebration on the West Virginia University campus in just under four hours. He leaves for Denmark tomorrow ahead of the G8 summit in Scotland.

In money, Wal-Mart says it has been a good summer so far. Sales at the retail giant rose by nearly 5 percent in June, which is better than expected. It is Wal-Mart's biggest monthly gain in more than a year.

In culture, moviegoers flocked to see Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds." The movie has made nearly $102 million since it debuted on Wednesday. But that's still $50 million less than "Spider Man 2" made over the 4th of July 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 -- Chad, he won again and again and again.

MYERS: Yes. He's turning into the Lance Armstrong of tennis.

WALLACE: He sure is.

MYERS: Maybe we can go for seven in a row in a couple of years.

And good morning, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: All right, Chad.

And you're going to be joining me for this.

MYERS: What's that?

WALLACE: The buzz in Washington. The Global Language Monitor is out with its top 15 political buzz words of 2005.

MYERS: Oh, yes.

WALLACE: You know, those are the words you hear over and over again from the mouths of politicians.

Number one, Chad, was throes. And that is thanks to Vice President Cheney talking about the Iraqi insurgency, saying it is in "its last throes."

MYERS: In the last throes, right.

WALLACE: Number two, yes, reveal it there, quagmire.

MYERS: Ooh.

WALLACE: And that word has obviously gotten a lot of attention. And that is followed by credibility. Coming in number four, insurgency, of course.

MYERS: Of course.

WALLACE: Because of what we're talking about in Iraq.

But, Chad, it's interesting, I think you've looking at some of the others, as well.

MYERS: Yes.

WALLACE: The Supreme Court, words related to the court very much featured on this list, including the Supremes. Also...

MYERS: Really? Now, I've not heard that one.

WALLACE: Activist -- I love that, the Supremes. Activist judges. We've heard that one quite a bit. Out of the mainstream and also this one which, you know, we always talk in these buzz words, the nuclear option. And viewers are probably like what is the nuclear option? And that is a movement to try and change the Senate rules so you can't have a filibuster of a judicial nominee.

MYERS: Correct.

WALLACE: Anyway, lots of those words making it on the list, Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

WALLACE: We'll talk about that some more.

MYERS: I like this.

WALLACE: All right.

Still to come here on DAYBREAK, a high speed smash up in outer space has NASA cheering. Yes, our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, joins us after the break.

Later, stuffing your face is no laughing matter for these competitors. No way. We will talk with the president of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

But first, we want to say good morning to Atlanta as it prepares for today's Peachtree Road Race.

Good luck to all you runners out there.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And here's a look at what's happening in the week ahead.

It wouldn't be July 4 in Atlanta without the Peachtree Road Race. It gets underway at the top of the hour. You are looking at live pictures of the starting line right now. It is the biggest 10K race in the world, with more than 50,000 runners taking part.

Wednesday, security will be tight in Scotland when the G8 summit kicks off. President Bush and other world leaders will focus on boosting aid to Africa.

Also Wednesday, it is the final laps in the race for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Delegates from five major cities, including New York, are in Singapore for last minute lobbying. Olympic officials vote Wednesday on which city gets the nod.

Thursday, the streets of Pamplona, Spain will rumble with the annual running of the bulls. Hundreds of runners will try to keep ahead of the horns and hooves.

Friday, a Washington judge will sentenced former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. You'll recall he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of improperly removing secret documents from the National Archives back in 2003. Well, while most of you were sleeping, there was a major collision. You might not have heard it because it was several million miles away from your house, away from Earth.

CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg is in Atlanta with details on Deep Impact.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASA might as well have painted a bull's eye on comet Tempel 1 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 toward this comet.

The whole explosion took place at about 23,000 miles per hour. A huge impact. You can see there the probe on its way -- the flyby 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, Tempel 1, 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 four-and-a-half 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 the 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 flyby 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 that 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, Tempel 1. 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. And to quote one of the NASA scientists: "It was a smashing success."

And we can show you some more images that have come in in the last couple of hours from NASA. These are images from the actual impactor on its way toward the comet. These are amazing images right down to this detail you can see on the surface of the comet. Really, these are the swan song pictures from this impactor, which was essentially vaporized after this collision. But that was fine with NASA because that was the whole point of the mission.

Again, you're seeing here pictures from the impactor itself just before it was destroyed. And all of this captured by the fly by spacecraft about 5,000 miles away to get those amazing pictures you saw of the explosion happening, give or take, about 83 million miles from here -- Kelly.

So quite an amazing endeavor from NASA and very successful.

WALLACE: Just a short distance, right, Daniel?

SIEBERG: Yes, just around the block, you know?

WALLACE: Yes.

SIEBERG: In our neighborhood, galactically speaking.

WALLACE: Exactly. Incredible stuff.

SIEBERG: Yes.

WALLACE: And I know you are continuing to work throughout the night and the day.

SIEBERG: Yes.

WALLACE: More of your story on "AMERICAN MORNING" coming up about 30 minutes from now.

SIEBERG: Right.

WALLACE: Daniel, thanks so much.

SIEBERG: You bet.

WALLACE: Daniel Sieberg reporting from Atlanta.

Well, NASA still has another em -- another mission ahead, I should say, and that would be the return to space of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The shuttle program has been on hold since the Columbia disaster in February of 2003. That Discovery flight is just over nine days away and NASA has a countdown clock going on its Web site so you can watch along as the July 13 launch date gets closer.

Still to come today on DAYBREAK, an unusual location for an interrogation as Aruban authorities continue to search for what happened to a missing Alabama teenager.

We'll be right back.

Don't go away.

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