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CNN Live At Daybreak

Day Four of Operation Steel Curtain; Off-Year Election Day

Aired November 08, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Tuesday, November 8, Election Day for thousands of us. And even though it's an off year vote, the political heat is definitely on. We'll run down the key races for u.
Also, wrecked homes and wrecked lives. Can people in the Midwest tornado zone salvage anything?

And can you get sent up the river for what your kids are downloading? We'll tell you some online dos and don'ts.

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

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

We'll have more on today's elections in just a minute.

Also ahead, an attack on the high seas worried vacationers. How secure are cruise ships?

And President Bush's Supreme Court nominee could tip the scale on abortion. But with so many states taking action, how relevant is "Row v. Wade" anyway?

But first, now in the news, after 12 straight nights of violence in France, the prime minister is vowing what he calls a firm and just response. That includes implementing a rarely used 1955 law allowing local officials to impose curfews and declare states of emergency. President Jacques Chirac is signing off on the curfews.

Captured death row inmate Charles Victor Thompson is now back behind bars in Texas. Prison officials say he'll be under constant surveillance and will lose some privileges. Authorities still haven't figured out how Thompson slipped out of custody last week.

And the British royals will head home tomorrow after an apparently successful week long charm offensive in the United States. Many Americans now say the eco-friendly Prince Charles and his down to earth duchess were a hit.

To the Forecast Center and Jacqui Jeras -- good morning.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Glad they were well received.

COSTELLO: They were. JERAS: Good.

COSTELLO: All that organic farming talk paid off.

JERAS: That's a hot topic with a lot of people, organic food. It keeps you healthy. I don't know.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Today is day four of Operation Steel Curtain, the latest U.S. offensive against insurgents in western Iraq.

Let's take you to the heart of the battle right now.

Lieutenant Colonel Dale Alford, a battalion commander, joins us live from the town of Husayba.

Good morning, sir.

LT. COL. DALE ALFORD, U.S. MARINES: Good morning.

How are you doing?

COSTELLO: I'm doing fine. Hopefully you're doing well, but I don't think you're doing as well as I am, frankly.

Tell me what's going on there right now.

ALFORD: Well, I'm standing on the east end of Husayba and this is the final line that we came through in order to clear this town out. And we're continuing to move out to the east and continuing to clear the villages to the east of Husayba. On the east side here, we found a significant amount of IED making material, prepared positions, a lot of rockets, suicide vests, cars that were rigged for -- suicide bomb cars it looks like the insurgents just left in place as we moved through.

COSTELLO: You found actual suicide belts, Colonel?

Can you describe them for us?

ALFORD: They take like small tubes and fill them full of washers and bolts and C4, tape them up and then they strap them to a vest that they wear underneath their shirt. So we found those. And, as a matter of fact, we're getting ready to blow a large cache that we found just across the street, so you may hear a boom here in a minute.

COSTELLO: Oh, I see. So that's what you do, you just blow up the weapons.

ALFORD: Yes, with the ammunition.

COSTELLO: Also, are the Marines going door-to-door and can you describe how -- what that mission entails?

ALFORD: Yes, we've -- we go through and clear every house and make sure that, one, there's no cache, ammo caches in there; and, two, that no insurgents are left behind. And then we -- if we find any people, we direct them to our civil military operations center, which we have set up here in the west side of Husayba and that help the people get back on their feet, get food and water and try to get electricity and water going again.

COSTELLO: Colonel, how do you know who is an insurgent and who is not?

ALFORD: Well, the guy that's carrying a gun shooting at you or shooting a rocket at you is what -- is who an insurgent is. We do interview some of the military age males that we find and we have specialists who can talk to them, along with the -- mainly the Iraqi Army is our best source of information to talk to these people to find out if they're just people trying to survive in the town or they're actually insurgents.

COSTELLO: We have reports that 36 insurgents have been killed.

Are you taking more into custody?

ALFORD: We've taken a number into custody and like I said, we interview them and we have teams to decide if they're people who we believe that were part of the insurgency. If they're not, we take them back to their homes.

COSTELLO: How will you know that your operation there is a success?

ALFORD: Well, when this town holds elections on December 15 and people start to get back to their lives, and, you know, the town is rebuilding, we'll know that we were successful.

COSTELLO: I guess what I'm really asking is when will this intense fighting stop in the town you're in now?

ALFORD: Well, as we move through, we're securing the areas and we're leaving behind positions where the Iraqi Army and the U.S. Marines can stay and help these people. So we'll patrol the towns, we'll help police the town until the Iraqi government can get on its feet here in this part of Iraq.

COSTELLO: We also have reports one Marine has been killed in this operation.

Could you tell us how?

ALFORD: He was one of my Marines. And my condolences go out to his family. I just wrote a letter, as a matter of fact, to his family this morning.

He was going into a building. He was the lead Marine taking down a building. And an insurgent was dug into the back of the house. He had a machine gun and the Marine was hit with a machine gun, along with another Marine that was wounded.

COSTELLO: You wrote a letter to the family.

How did you -- how do you decide what to write?

ALFORD: It's tough. It's not easy. I don't know, you just write what's in your heart and you tell them that their Marine was serving his country and we'll continue the mission in order to honor him.

COSTELLO: He was one of your Marines.

Tell us what made him special.

ALFORD: Well, all these young men that join the Marine Corps, you know, 18, 19, 20 years old, that join to serve their country and to come to a different country across the world to try to make people free. So he's just like all the rest. They're all special.

COSTELLO: Lieutenant Colonel Dale Alford, talking to us live from Iraq this morning.

Thank you, sir.

We appreciate your comments.

ALFORD: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And stay safe.

Will there be fewer U.S. troops in Iraq in the coming years? No way to tell for sure, at least when you look at the Pentagon's latest rotation plan. It calls for 92,000 soldiers to rotate -- to rotate in, I should say, through 2008. On paper, that's lower than the usual troop level in Iraq. But the Pentagon says more troops could be needed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This rotation will maintain the coalition's commitment to helping the Iraqi people and will also give commanders flexibility as conditions on the ground continue to evolve.

This rotation is just that -- units identified to replace those whose tours in Iraq will be coming to an end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: There are now about 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. That's higher than the usual 138,000 because of the need for election security.

Here in this country, it is an off-year Election Day and thousands of you are gearing up to make some key decisions at the voting booth. At least we hope you are. Some polls are already opening at this hour and some of the races are neck and neck.

CNN's Sumi Das breaks down the ballots.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On this off year Election Day, it's not the White House that's up for grabs, but top spots in a handful of states and cities. And the results may offer an indication of the nation's mood.

In Virginia, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore are vying for the governor's seat. The popular sitting Democrat, Mark Warner, must vacate due to term limits, running as a third independent candidate, Republican State Senator Russell Potts may help secure a victory for Kaine.

At a rally Monday night, President Bush lent his support to Kilgore.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tell them if they want good government, good, solid, sound, conservative government, to put this good man in the governor's chair in Richmond.

DAS: Over in the Big Apple, an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton isn't enough for Democrat Fernando Ferrer, a former Bronx borough president, to take over the mayor's office from incumbent Michael Bloomberg, who is expected to easily win a second term. Bloomberg spent a cool $28 million from his own pocket for his television ad campaign.

On the West Coast, California voters will vote on four ballot initiatives backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fellow celebrity Warren Beatty has been outspoken in his position against the measures.

WARREN BEATTY, ACTOR: I would be happy to challenge him, but I think he'd probably say well, I don't want to debate an actor. But I say debate anybody.

DAS (on camera): Beatty's comments have raised questions about a possible gubernatorial run. The actor says that he hasn't ever wanted to run for office, but that he hasn't ruled out the possibility because he doesn't think a good citizen should do that.

Sumi Das, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, piracy on the high seas. Should cruise ship vacationers be worried? Should you be worried about your next cruise? We're going to talk to an expert.

And the entertainment industry is cracking down on pirated material. We'll look at the dos and don'ts of downloading.

And later, with Judge Alito up for the Supreme Court, the decades old abortion debate is firing up again.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": When you're looking for financial help and you're going to go out and talk to advisers, it's a really good idea to have ready a few questions that you can pose to them, just to make sure that you're getting hooked up with the right person.

One question that you certainly want to ask is what kind of plans do you offer. Some may only give investing advice. Others specialize more in broader advice.

For the money that I'll be spending, what kind of advice and what kind of services will I get? How much time will I be spending with the adviser? How will I know if I'm meeting the goals that we talked about? Will I be getting quarterly updates?

When it comes to fees and what you're paying, you should be getting all of this in writing. It should all be very detailed and all disclosed up front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: By now you've heard about the attack on Saturday by suspected pirates on a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia. The ship's captain and crew prevented the attackers from boarding.

But we're asking this question this morning -- should you be worried if you're about to go on a cruise?

Kim Petersen is the president of SeaSecure, the largest and oldest maritime security company in the United States.

He's live with us in Miami this morning.

Good morning, sir.

Thank you for joining us.

KIM PETERSEN, SEASECURE: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: First of all, let's talk about this alleged pirate attack on this cruise ship.

Is that something that normally happens to cruise ships?

PETERSEN: No. In fact, we have never had a case of pirates attacking a cruise ship in the past. And this, while Somalia is a very dangerous area and that's where this attack took place, there have been some 25 cases of piracy just since March of this year.

But this particular case doesn't have the hallmarks of a piracy attack and it may be something altogether different. COSTELLO: Well, let's go back a bit. I mean it would be difficult -- you know, they use these little boats and they were firing weapons at the ship. But this is a huge ship.

How are they going to board?

PETERSEN: Well, that's a really good question. Pirates in general are -- modern day pirates -- are looking for a slow moving, relatively low commercial ships with very few people on board. And the reasons are obvious. A cruise ship doesn't make for a very good target for pirates because they're large, relatively fast compared to the type of boats that modern day pirates use and they have very high freeboard, as you mentioned, the distance from the water line to the first deck that they would have to negotiate to get on board.

In the case of the Seaborne Spirit, they arrived on the scene not, apparently, attempting to stop the ship by firing their RPG-7 grenade launchers at the rudder or at the water line, but rather firing at the balconies with their machine guns and their grenade launchers, more in an attempt to harass or intimidate the ship rather than to have them stop.

If you're going to mug somebody, you don't start shooting at them from a distance. And if you do, the person is going to take flight. And that's precisely what the captain did in this case.

COSTELLO: OK. So if it wasn't pirates -- I mean why would they want to scare the people on board this ship, whoever these people were?

PETERSEN: Well, that's a really good question. Like I mentioned that this -- Somalia is within a few hundred miles of two significant maritime terrorist attacks in just the last three years -- the USS Cole in the port of Aden and the VLCC Lindbergh, which occurred off the coast of Yemen. She was an oil tanker.

Both of those incidents have the fingerprints of al Qaeda. And we also know that al Qaeda is operating in Somalia.

This is a country in political turmoil, with no coherent control government. And it may well be that the previous -- some of the previous piracy attacks, including the seizure recently of a charter vessel carrying tsunami relief for the United Nations to Somalia, and this attack, may be part of a program of harassment and intimidation directed at Western shipping in general and the United States in particular.

COSTELLO: OK, so if I'm going on a cruise ship, let's say -- like normally Americans go to the Caribbean or something like that -- that it's al Qaeda, I guess that makes me feel a little more nervous.

PETERSEN: Well, it's important to keep in mind that the cruise line industry has spent more, taken more efforts and worked in partnership with more governments with respect to security than any other eliminate of the maritime industry. Their record is extraordinary in providing a very safe and secure vacation. But this was an area of the world that is renowned for significant violence and perhaps it's not surprising that an event like this would eventually occur, especially in an area like Somalia.

COSTELLO: OK, I must ask you about this sonic weapon that was used on board this ship to escape.

What is that?

PETERSEN: Well, we work with the cruise lines a great deal on a variety of security measures and I think it would be irresponsible to go into any sort of detail about the type of capabilities that cruise ships have to defend themselves against either criminal or terrorist attacks.

Suffice it to say that cruise ships are working in partnership with governments and industry to find a number of innovative ways in order to ensure a safe vacation.

COSTELLO: OK. But it's safe to say that the device sends out this very shrill sound that is hard on the ears and it's meant to scare people away?

PETERSEN: Well, that's the theory, anyway. But I don't know the degree to which it's going to have an effect on people that are firing .50 caliber and 7.62 millimeter machine guns at you.

COSTELLO: Yes.

PETERSEN: That's probably a pretty loud environment for the people on board those gunboats.

COSTELLO: True.

And the ship's captain did a great job in just getting away from those people.

Kim Petersen from SeaSecure, joining us live from Miami.

Thank you, sir.

We appreciate it.

PETERSEN: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, do you miss your favorite TV shows? Well, very soon you can download episodes the day after. We'll tell you how after the break.

And speaking of downloads, the entertainment industry is cracking down on pirated material. So what's legal and what's not?

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: The days of the family making that appointed time to gather around the TV for their favorite TV show, well, you know, that's coming to an end.

Allan Chernoff is here to tell you about a couple of deals, though, that may change the way we watch television -- good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, Carol, you know, it's not too early for the family to gather around. Maybe they should be...

COSTELLO: Watching DAYBREAK.

CHERNOFF: Exactly.

COSTELLO: From my computer.

OK.

CHERNOFF: Don't worry about school, don't worry about work, gather around the TV.

Well, CBS and NBC have both signed agreements to offer some of their prime time shows for $0.99 an episode right after the shows air for free on the network.

Here are some details.

NBC shows will be available to DirecTV subscribers who buy a new receiver box, which will be available later this month. They're starting off with just a few programs, episodes of "Law and Order," "Monk" and "Battlestar Galactica" will be available.

COSTELLO: Wow!

CHERNOFF: CBS's deal...

COSTELLO: "Battlestar Galactic."

CHERNOFF: That's a good one.

COSTELLO: Yes.

CHERNOFF: CBS's deal with Comcast will start in January and Comcast digital subscribers in 17 markets, including the seven biggest cities, will be able to buy episodes of "Survivor," "CSI" and "The Amazing Race."

No one knows exactly how much revenue these deals may generate. After all, four-and-a-half million Americans will have digital video recorders like TiVo by the end of the year.

The deals come only a week after ABC signed with Apple to make "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" available on the new digital iPod for $1.99 an episode. NBC also, reportedly, is in talks with Apple to make some of its programs available for the iPod. And, Carol, that has a lot of appeal, of course, because then you can watch anywhere you want -- on the train.

COSTELLO: Driving. No, I'm just kidding. But some people do watch while they're driving, which is scary.

CHERNOFF: There are some cars that have television -- I mean 10 years ago...

COSTELLO: Right beside the steering wheel. It's crazy.

CHERNOFF: Ten years ago they had that in Japan.

COSTELLO: And...

CHERNOFF: I don't know what the accident rate is in Japan, though.

COSTELLO: It can't be good.

Anyways, a quick look at the futures before you go?

CHERNOFF: That's right, the stock futures? Well, they're pointing to a mixed open for the market right now. Stocks did rally yesterday. Oil prices fell a little bit, so that's helping out -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Allan.

Appreciate it.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the movie and recording industry is cracking down on Internet downloads. So what's legal and what's not?

And what if your kid does it and you don't know about it?

And later, many of us are heading to the polls today for local and state elections. Some hot contests in the East and West.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Music fans looking to download songs have one less place to find them this morning. Internet provider Grokster shut down its service as part of a settlement agreement with the recording industry. The move comes four months after the Supreme Court ruled that Grokster could be sued for Internet piracy.

Last week, a federal lawsuit was brought against a Wisconsin grandfather for movie downloads. The Motion Picture Association of America is seeking, get this, $600,000 in damages over four movies.

Fred Lawrence says his grandson downloaded the films and his grandson was 12 at the time, didn't know it was illegal. The family says they're being used as an example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEILA LAWRENCE, HUSBAND SUED: The grandkids and the neighbor kids are always playing here and the computer is downstairs. And that, you know, they must have done it.

It scares me and it just seems preposterous that they would even ask. I think we're being used to scare the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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