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CNN Live At Daybreak

Nuclear Emergency; NASA Waves Off Today's 1st, 2nd Landing Attempts; Cashing Out?

Aired August 09, 2005 - 06:29   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You could call it a nuclear emergency this morning. The International Atomic Energy Agency is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss Iran's decision to start up some nuclear activity once again.
For more on what's at stake, we turn to senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers. He's in Vienna.

Walt -- what are they going to discuss today?

WALT RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to discuss Iran. And, Carol, it's helpful to think of this in terms of being a high-stakes diplomatic poker game. And the end game is, of course, does Iran get nuclear weapons? Or does the West prevent it from getting those weapons?

Now, sitting at this poker table you've got the Europeans -- principally the French, the Germans and the British -- on one side, with the Americans looking over their shoulder, the Iranians on the other side of the table.

In November, the European big three asked the Iranians to freeze and cease and desist from all uranium enrichment programs; that, because, of course, that can be converted to a nuclear bomb, although in fairness, the Iranians also point out it can also be used for nuclear energy.

The Iranians studied this European proposal, actually froze their uranium enrichment process since last November, and then Monday restarted their uranium enrichment process at the Isfahan nuclear plant.

The Europeans see this as a crisis, because it says essentially that the Iranians are going ahead with uranium enrichment, and that, as most of our viewers know, could well be used for a nuclear bomb. Indeed, the United States has long contended that the Iranians have been disingenuous, claiming they only want it for peaceful electrical energy.

And so, that's where we are today. The International Atomic Energy Agency here in Vienna is meeting, a 35-member board. They've got to decide where they want to go next diplomatically. Do they want to go to the Security Council in New York in September? And perhaps then invoke sanctions against Iran, which would be devastating to the Iranian economy, if it happens -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Walter Rodgers live in Vienna this morning.

A United Nations panel investigating to the now defunct oil-for- food program says the former chief got nearly $150,000 in illegal kickbacks. Investigators say the money was funneled to Benon Sevan though an oil-for-food contractor, African Middle East Petroleum. That was the contractor. That company was run by a friend of Sevan's.

The investigation found he helped get his friend lucrative oil deals in exchange for cash. Sevan says he's done nothing wrong. But the man leading the investigation says Sevan had a chance to tell his side of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL A. VOLCKER, IIC CHAIRMAN: We have offered Mr. Sevan the opportunity to meet with us, where we could discuss these charges and he could say what he wanted to say, giving him a one-way avenue. After six months of refusing to meet with us, at the last minute, saying give me all of your evidence and I may give you a written answer, without any chance for us to respond is simply out of the question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sevan resigned from the United Nations a day before the panel released its findings.

More delays for the shuttle Discovery this morning. But now, it looks like the crew will be California dreaming in just a couple of hours. The planned Florida landing was waved off twice this morning due to weather. So Edwards it is.

CNN's John Zarrella is at Mission Control in Houston, where they have had a few problems.

Good morning -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, I was going to say that, Carol. I guess it would be the hotel California where they're going for this one, this landing.

And, yes, they tried their best today to get the crew into the Kennedy Space Center. There were a couple of opportunities this morning. But the weather just did not cooperate, as is often the case at the Kennedy Space Center.

So, NASA has opted to go ahead and bring them home to the Edwards Air Force Base out in California. They'll be landing at about 8:12 a.m. Eastern Time.

And if you live out in L.A. and you're up right now, out between Ventura and Oxnard -- Oxnard and Ventura -- that's where the shuttle will be approaching the coastline, crossing the coastline, about six minutes before landing. It should cross there. That's north of L.A. So, you should get a pretty good picture of the shuttle coming in out there. And this will be the 50th landing at the Edwards Air Force Base. They'll be landing on a concrete runway, Runway 22 it's called, and the 6th night landing at the Edwards Air Force Base.

Now, you know, here at the Johnson Space Center, there has been quite a gathering of the Japanese media and press corps here, because, of course, Soichi Noguchi, one of the two spacewalking astronauts, a Japanese astronaut here. So, lots of excitement here this morning that Soichi Noguchi is going to be coming home. And they'll see him here tomorrow when the astronauts and all of their families are reunited -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, they're waiting in Japan, too. We're going to get to Atika Shubert in just a minute...

ZARRELLA: Yes, indeed.

COSTELLO: ... to hear more about that. But tell me, a lot of people are e-mailing, asking whether they'll be able to see the shuttle as it lands, you know, from other places besides California.

ZARRELLA: Well, you won't see -- if they had come in yesterday, you probably would have seen it coming up over Florida, over Havana, Cuba. But because of the landing path today, they're coming in pretty much straight over the Pacific Ocean. And until it crosses the -- when it crosses the California coastline, the folks there should be able to see it again right between Ventura and Oxnard, north of L.A. And it should be quite a spectacular sight, seeing that bird flying through the night sky -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, man, you're right about that. John Zarrella, many thanks, live from Houston this morning.

As John said, Americans are not the only ones watching and waiting for Discovery's return to Earth. Some people in Japan are eagerly awaiting the return of Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who is, of course, on board Discovery.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins us from Noguchi's hometown, not too far from Tokyo.

Good morning.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

I'm actually here in the gymnasium of the grade school that Soichi Noguchi graduated from. And here in Chigasaki, which is the name of his hometown, friends and neighbors are gathering. There's a lot of excitement here. People have been watching his every move very avidly, everything from what did he eat in space to that unprecedented spacewalk mission he was on. As you can imagine a lot of excitement.

And actually here today, we have Ayako Sugawara, who is a high school student from Chigasaki.

Thank you for joining us today. Now, you've actually been a part of all this. You've been helping to translate what's been going on NASA Mission Control into Japanese. How does that make you feel?

AYAKO SUGAWARA, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Oh, (INAUDIBLE) from here.

SHUBERT: That's great. And now, what does it mean to you to see Soichi Noguchi in space? He's from your hometown, from the same street. What did it mean to you when you see him accomplish his mission?

SUGAWARA: (INAUDIBLE) for all of the little children and all of the adults that have been supporting him (INAUDIBLE).

SHUBERT: Do you think people here are pretty excited to see him come home?

SUGAWARA: Oh, they are, yes, we are very much (INAUDIBLE). We're pretty stressed at the same time as well.

SHUBERT: I can imagine. Well, thank you very much. You've been doing a great job tonight.

SUGAWARA: Thank you very much.

SHUBERT: Thank you.

SUGAWARA: Thank you.

SHUBERT: Now, as you can tell, a lot of excitement here. People are very eager. They're waiting and watching for their local town hero finally come home -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, terrific. Thank you so much. Atika Shubert live from near Tokyo this morning.

Now for some stories making news across America this morning.

The man who admitted to a series of Ohio highway shootings is expected to plead guilty today. Attorneys for Charles McCoy, Jr. says he'll drop his insanity plea. One woman was killed in the shootings, which took place over five months in 2003 and '04.

Singer Marc Cohn has been released from the hospital just hours after getting shot in the head. He was shot during an attempted carjacking in Denver. Cohn is best known for his song "Walking in Memphis."

They're hailing a hero this morning in Newport, Delaware. That's because a fisherman jumped in the Christina River to rescue a 7-year- old boy. The boy was trapped in a car that had rolled down an embankment and into the river. His mother says he was alone in the family car when he accidentally put it into gear.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, President Bush has been called a cowboy before. Now he's (INAUDIBLE). We'll show you more. But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:40 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

NASA is going to plan B. The space agency has directed the shuttle Discovery to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California this morning. Mission Control waved off two landing opportunities in Florida because of the storms there. The landing will now take place at 8:12 a.m. Eastern Time out in California.

In money news, get ready for more interest rate hikes. Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan meets with his colleagues today. They're expected to raise rates by a quarter-point, and there could even be more hikes ahead if the economy keeps growing.

In culture, trailblazing publisher John Johnson has died. Johnson is best known for founding "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines more than 50 years ago. He also built the world's largest African- American-owned publishing company. Johnson was 87 years old.

In sports, Todd Bertuzzi has been re-instated. You'll remember Bertuzzi for his vicious hit on Steve Moore 17 months ago. Bertuzzi has signed to play for the Vancouver -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Canucks.

COSTELLO: Thank you. Because I must have mispronounced it, because a lot of our Canadian friends were sending me angry e-mails. So I apologize.

MYERS: What did you call it, the Canucks?

COSTELLO: I don't know.

MYERS: I didn't hear it. I don't think it was that bad, or I would have said something.

COSTELLO: Anyway, continuing on with this story. He'll play for the Canucks this year, while Moore still isn't able to play since he suffered a broken neck.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: You have to stick around for this story, because you're the dad. You're the new, fairly new dad.

MYERS: Yes, yes. COSTELLO: This miracle of birth, wife lives in West Virginia, husband is in Iraq. She's giving birth to his baby, of course. And he wants to be there somehow. So the hospital devises this system where it's like a satellite link-up, and he could actually see the baby being born.

MYERS: Oh, wow!

COSTELLO: Via satellite audio links.

MYERS: Through the Internet, wow! How cool is that?

COSTELLO: Isn't it?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: This is -- Elena Jo Hamerick (ph) is the baby. She came into the world healthy.

MYERS: And I guess he was even coaching her through the contractions, too.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: How great of a story is that?

COSTELLO: And the hospital absorbed all of the costs. And the military was very cooperative in Baghdad.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: And you've got to think that they'll do more of this kind of stuff.

MYERS: Yes. The only thing better is it's like a 12-day or a 15-day leave to come home and, you know, be there. But...

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: ... that's a little tougher, huh?

COSTELLO: Yes. Sergeant William Hamerick (ph) II. That's the happy father.

MYERS: Oh, good.

COSTELLO: And you can see mom there, and she's doing just fine.

MYERS: Excellent. Mom and baby doing good?

COSTELLO: Mom and baby are doing fine.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: That's just incredible.

MYERS: That is a great story.

COSTELLO: I'm just excited to share that this morning.

MYERS: Good stuff.

COSTELLO: To bring a smile to your face, because it's Tuesday, and it's, you know, four days till Friday. CNN...

MYERS: Thanks for that.

COSTELLO: Oh, CNN -- actually, Miles O'Brien has some breaking news about the space shuttle. So let's head out to the Kennedy Space Center.

What do you got -- Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's all official now. They just gave them the go for the de-orbit burn. And what happens in that case is Discovery is pointed tail first. The rocket fires for two minutes or so, and that slows it down by 200 miles an hour or so in that ballpark. That's all it takes to start Discovery's descent down ultimately to Edwards Air Force Base.

Let me just show you quickly what we've been seeing this morning. First of all, pictures of the shuttle, training aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base doing some practice approaches there, checking the weather, Mike Bloomfield at the controls. He's a NASA astronaut. Nary a problem to report there. The skies are clear, albeit dark. These are infrared pictures. The white stuff indicates heat, and that's why you're seeing that.

And let's contrast that to where I sit a few hours ago, and the reason that that landing is occurring at Edwards Air Force Base -- there it is, a beautiful shot, unless you're trying to land a shuttle that is. No shuttle coming home here.

"AMERICAN MORNING" will be your shuttle landing program this morning. So, we invite you to stay with us. You won't miss a single step of the fiery descent, the first re-entry since Columbia on "AMERICAN MORNING" today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. So just to clarify, the shuttle will indeed land at 8:12 Eastern Time at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

M. O'BRIEN: You can set your watch to it.

COSTELLO: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: OK?

COSTELLO: I can't wait to...

M. O'BRIEN: It's wider. It's coming down. There are no holding patterns.

COSTELLO: I'm so happy about that. And I'm sure the astronauts are, too. All right, Miles, thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Me, too. I'm ready. I'm ready, too.

COSTELLO: I bet you're ready to take a break. But Miles has been doing such a great job out there, and we appreciate it.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, if you watch the market and you own a home, you may be wondering, is it time to sell to make some big bucks? An expert weighs in with some advice for you who are considering your options.

But first, let's say happy birthday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Welcome back. It's 6:50 Eastern. Here is what will be making news today.

Breaking news from coast to coast and beyond. Stormy weather in Florida forced NASA to wave off two landing opportunities for Discovery. So now it is official. NASA will land the shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base in California in under 90 minutes, 8:12 Eastern Time.

Congresswoman Katherine Harris of Florida will formally announce she's running for the U.S. Senate today. But some fellow Republicans fear her role in the 2000 presidential recount might work against her. Back then, Harris was Florida's top elections official.

And finally, the next installment of the wildly popular Madden video games series went on sale at midnight. You can see that's Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his brother, the president. It's a special game they made just for them. Virtual football action here. The game-makers are based in Florida.

In the past year or so some homeowners are seeing an astounding increase in the value of their homes in Sunbelt states like Arizona, Nevada and California. Home prices have soared 20 to 30 percent. Obviously, that kind of increase is hard to sustain. So, we asked this question: Is it worthwhile to cash out and wait for the bubble to pop?

That's the topic in the latest edition of "Money" magazine. And Cybele Weisser from the publication is here to talk about it.

It's such an interesting article.

CYBELE WEISSER, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: I know. You're sitting on a pile of cash, and you think...

COSTELLO: I could make so much money in one fell swoop.

WEISSER: You see your neighbors sell, and you think, what did they get for this place?

COSTELLO: Exactly. WEISSER: Yes.

COSTELLO: You have some options for us.

WEISSER: We do.

COSTELLO: You can really make an informed decision. So let's go over option one, which would be to cash out and sit it out.

WEISSER: That's right. Cash it out, rent, wait for this bubble to burst, and then buy back again, I suppose.

Now, we caution that this scenario really pretty much never works for anybody. And the reason is that people aren't taking into account the transaction costs, which could add up to 10 to 15000, even more, of your home price.

COSTELLO: You mean the stuff you pay your real estate agent?

WEISSER: That's right. A real estate agent, closings costs. There's going to be some moving costs associated with it. The numbers really add up astoundingly.

COSTELLO: But what if you're making a good, like, hardy profit?

WEISSER: Well, you know, even so, housing prices would have to drop in your local market 15-20 percent for you to actually come out ahead. That's a big drop. That would be really major, historical, actually.

COSTELLO: And when you say sit it out, do you mean rent a place, or do you mean buy a new place?

WEISSER: We mean rent a place and then later plan to buy a new place. That is how we ran the numbers. You're also losing that tax deduction. And if interest rates continue to increase -- and we just heard that they are going to -- you're probably going to be looking at paying more for your mortgage. It's hard to make these numbers work.

COSTELLO: You're not kidding. OK. Option two, cash out and invest.

WEISSER: Right, OK. Take the pile of money and do something with it. Well, again, this is going to be a hard scenario to make work. And the reason is it's almost impossible to time the market. You just -- you know, you could end up losing all of this cash that you've built up in your home rather than actually coming out ahead.

COSTELLO: You've got to be awfully good at...

(CROSSTALK)

WEISSER: Awfully good.

COSTELLO: Option three, cash out and downsize. WEISSER: OK. Well, now we're talking about something that could work. You know, if you're an empty nester, your kids are grown, they've moved away from home, yes, this may be a good time to think about selling and getting into something smaller. Even better, people who are holding risky mortgages, short-term adjustable rate mortgages, interest-only loans, yes, you may want to think that, you know, you could get into the house that you could afford.

COSTELLO: Who came up with those interest-only loans?

WEISSER: Oh, they are selling like wildfire.

COSTELLO: Right. It's just because it's so cheap to get a mortgage that way.

WEISSER: Well, with home prices as they are, sometimes it's really hard for people to get into the home they want. They may need to think about a different home.

COSTELLO: Exactly. Because, man, that's putting yourself into a hole. OK, option four, cash out and stay put.

WEISSER: Right. This is what we're calling reverse mortgage. This is only available if you are 62 or over. That's where essentially it's a mirror image of a regular mortgage. The bank kind of pays you for your home. They give you either regular installments or a lump sum.

COSTELLO: And that's really good for, as you said, over 62.

WEISSER: Over 62.

COSTELLO: And why would that be a good option for someone who is retired?

WEISSER: Well, basically, you know, at this point, you know, you're looking at draining the equity out of your home. But it's an opportunity to stay in the home and put some of that equity to use without having to move.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much, Cybele Weisser, from "Money" magazine. And I apologize for my ringing phone. I'm sure it's someone very important calling.

WEISSER: I'm sure. It's sensational. Thank you so much.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

All right, Chad, it is time to give away a DAYBREAK coffee mug.

MYERS: You could take the DAYBREAK coffee mug, put it on eBay, and make so much money you could buy a new house.

COSTELLO: Good idea!

MYERS: Or not. Good morning. You know, it's been so long since we've asked the question that these are from last week. Which states will have a tax-free weekend back this last weekend? And those states, there was a bunch of them, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. That was last weekend, so if you didn't get it tax-free you missed it. And which underground line reopened that day -- whatever day that was, it was Thursday -- for the first time since July 7? And that was Piccadilly.

And the winner, the winner is actually from Missouri today, Marla Hargadine. Good morning. Congratulations from Brookfield, Missouri, or Missouri if you live there. Your DAYBREAK CNN coffee mug is in the mail.

Hard questions for today. Crewmembers from a Russian Navy sub, they were rescued from what body of water? And insurance rates on what car may drop in 2007, because this car company worked with the insurance companies to make the car less costly to fix?

CNN.com/daybreak -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: We'll be right back with a final look at the headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: To our own mission control and Chad with a travel forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello along with Chad Myers. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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