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CNN Live At Daybreak
Attempts by U.S. Military to Free Hostages Held in Iraq; Study Shows Nearly 9 Percent of S&P 500 Companies Have Female CFOs
Aired October 13, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The stage is set for the last debate. The candidates prepare to square off in Tempe.
It is Wednesday, October 13.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, setting up the arena at Arizona State University in Tempe. It is the site of tonight's third and final presidential debate. George Bush says he'll point out major differences with John Kerry. Kerry's aides say he won the previous debates and they expect an encore.
In Iraq, another deadly attack on U.S. soldiers. Three soldiers are dead after a roadside bomb goes off in eastern Baghdad.
Is it constitutional to put teenaged killers to death? That's the question the Supreme Court will start weighing today. Nineteen states allow the death penalty for 16 and 17-year-olds. More on the cases before the court at 27 past the hour with our CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey.
Time to switch crews on the international space station. A NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut are set to blast off in a Russian rocket tonight. They'll relieve the current space station crew after a week long hand over.
To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Less than three weeks to go now until the election, 20 days left. George Bush and John Kerry are, of course, gearing up for their final showdown tonight. And America will be watching. Tonight, President Bush and his Democratic opponent face off for a third and final time in an incredibly close election.
Let's get the inside track on what to expect from CNN's Bill Prasad.
He's live in Washington this morning -- good morning, Bill.
BILL PRASAD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It will definitely be a big night. Both men know the presidency is up for grabs. This could be their last opportunity on the big stage to score some points and win some votes.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PRASAD (voice-over): Tonight, the debate hits home, tackling domestic issues like jobs, taxes and health care. President Bush likely to paint John Kerry as a tax and spend liberal.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're not going to have fiscal sanity if John Kerry is the president.
PRASAD: Kerry's strategists believe they have the momentum, saying they're moving up in the polls and tonight facing the president where he's vulnerable. The Kerry camp predicts victory.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And one of the reasons he's going to win is because George Bush is out of touch.
PRASAD: In the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Senator Kerry has a giant edge on health care, the economy is more of a tossup and the president has a slight edge on taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All things considered, I don't know that you'd say either one has much of an advantage at this point.
PRASAD: In Tempe, Arizona, the auditorium is being prepared for the duel in the desert. In this state, 10 electoral votes are at stake. But across the country, with polls running neck and neck, it's clear everything is at stake.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PRASAD: Many political observers say the first two debates did, indeed, affect the polls. This third debate could help decide who wins the presidency.
And, Carol, this is definitely something we will be talking about tomorrow morning.
COSTELLO: I think that's a safe bet.
Bill Prasad live in Washington this morning.
Of course, we'll gauge some of the reactions of some undecided voters live during the debate, plus we're live in the post-debate spin rooms. Trust CNN for complete live coverage of the presidential debate. That's tonight beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
The elections have at least one U.S. senator deeply concerned about security in the nation's capital. Democrat Mark Dayton of Minnesota actually closed his Capitol Hill office, saying he fears a possible terrorist attack and he won't reopen the office until after November 2.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: I would not bring my two sons to Capitol Hill between now and the elections. That's my -- that would be my measure of acceptable risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The government says there are no recommendations that members of Congress close their offices and there is no specific threat to the Capitol.
Turning now to another closely watched political race, this one in Illinois, at stake a U.S. Senate seat. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Alan Keyes had their first face-to-face debate. They clashed over Iraq, with Keyes praising U.S. policy there and Obama saying the U.S. bungled the war. But they both agreed that government spending needs to be tamed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: I think it is an enormous problem. This has been THE most fiscally irresponsible administration in certainly my memory. We have gone from trillion dollar surpluses to trillion dollar deficits in the blink of an eye. Not all of those costs are the fault of the administration. Obviously, 9/11 occurred and the decline in the economy.
ALAN KEYES (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: You're going to have to change the whole Christmas tree approach to politics that sadly is represented by many of our politicians, particularly those of the liberal persuasion who want to hang the Christmas tree ornaments of gimme politics, whether it's for corporations or others, on the tree of government budgeting. I think we've got to realize that a different approach is required.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Obama and Keyes plan to debate two more times.
U.S. officials are not the only ones trying to get people to head to the polls. Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani is urging all Iraqis to register to vote in their January election. Some Iraqis say any vote held with U.S. troops still around will not be valid.
In the meantime, Iraqi officials are pleading for more money this morning. A donors meeting has now opened in Tokyo. Fifty-five nations are taking part, including the United States. Iraq's deputy prime minister told them rebuilding cannot be done through the barrels of guns. In the meantime, a top State Department official admits the U.S. was too slow at first in sending money to Iraq.
And new information for you on secret operations by the U.S. military. Twice American forces tried to free hostages being held in Iraq, but both times they came away empty-handed.
We get the story from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back in September, shortly after Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley and Briton Kenneth Bigley were kidnapped from their home in Baghdad, the U.S. launched a military operation to rescue them. In fact, there were two attempts, both in Baghdad, according to an official with direct knowledge of the operations. The first came in mid-September, when all of the hostages were believed to still be alive. But CNN has been told it failed because when the rescue team reached the location, no one was there.
It's not clear if the hostages had been moved or whether the intelligence was flawed and they were never there.
After Eugene Armstrong was beheaded a few days later, a second rescue mission was also launched, the official says. Again, the result was the same -- no one was at the targeted location.
The failed rescue attempts have not been publicly acknowledged. But at the time, U.S. military officials said everything possible was being done to free the hostages, either by rescuing them or arranging for their release.
(on camera): In this case, all three hostages eventually were murdered. And while the rescue attempts failed, it was not for lack of trying. As one U.S. official put it, a lot of people had a lot of sleepless nights trying to find them.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Right now at least 10 people are still being held by militant groups in Iraq. More than 150 foreigners have been abducted since the beginning of the war.
In News Across America this Wednesday morning, it was all too familiar for suspected serial killer Derrick Todd Lee. It took a Louisiana jury only 80 minutes to convict him of murder. They must now decide whether to recommend the death penalty. Lee's already been sentenced to life in prison for another murder and police say DNA evidence links him to the deaths of seven other women.
It took an Illinois family only two days to file the first wrongful death claim in that fatal tour bus crash in Arkansas. The lawsuit seeks $50,000 in damages. The husband of the 71-year-old victim is alleging negligence. Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened. Fourteen people, including the bus driver, were killed in Saturday's crash.
Here's part of a call to 911. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Communications, may I help you?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes, sweetie, I'm the one that just called?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: There's about 30 people out here. I mean people are laying all in the field. A lot of them hurt. You got about 30 on the bus.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. Stay on the line with me, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: To New York now. Emergency crews sprang into action when a Long Island car dealership building partially collapsed. Nine people were hurt, none seriously. A natural gas explosion is suspected of causing this collapse.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, why more women are controlling the purse strings in corporate America. Our "Business Buzz" at 6:15 Eastern.
And is that weapons hand over in Iraq really improving anything? We'll hear the Arab voice at 18 minutes past.
And at 53 minutes past the hour, good eating habits for the youngest members at the dinner table, as in babies.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
More and more women are not hitting the glass ceiling when it comes to the top jobs in finance. Can you believe it?
Carrie Lee has all the facts for us -- tell us.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy to hear this, right, Carol?
COSTELLO: Um-hmm.
LEE: A growing portion of women are becoming the top -- into the top financial spot for companies, and this is the title of chief financial officer. According to "USA Today," they analyzed some data from Hoovers. About 8.7 percent of companies in the S&P 500 now have female CFOs. And that's well above the 3.5 percent that have female chief operating officers and the 1.8 percent with female CEOs, the chief executive officer. Now, these companies include household names such as Yahoo!, Pepsico, Home Depot. And the number of large companies with a female CEO has grown more than 20 percent, this according to a study by Catalyst, and that which researches issues concerning women in business.
So, more and more women hitting the CFO spot. Part of the reason, Carol, is that women have greater representation in finance related positions. Obviously, studying for this and good news for us, right?
COSTELLO: You know what, Carrie? I was just thinking. Most women control the purse strings at home, right? They control where the money goes.
LEE: There you go.
COSTELLO: So it makes perfect sense.
LEE: Shift it from the house into the office. That's right. And some reports say that women are better at communicating. And, of course, if you're the CFO, you're controlling the money...
COSTELLO: Well, that's a true story.
LEE: ... talking to a different -- a lot of different people within the company. So there you go. "USA Today" reporting this today.
COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures, Carrie.
LEE: Yes, things looking a little bit bullish. We could see a slightly higher open for stocks today. One name to watch is Intel. The chip giant posted a 15 percent increase in third quarter profits. But they're still suffering from lackluster personal computer demand and they have some inventory issues to work through. So Intel one stock to watch today.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:14 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Last week's attacks in Egypt may not have been carried out by suicide bombers. Egypt's biggest newspaper reports that the drivers of the explosive laden vehicles all fled the scene shortly before the blast. At least 34 people were killed in those explosions.
A drifter accused of stalking Mel Gibson is now under arrest. The man was arrested just a day after a judge ordered him to stay at least 100 yards away from the actor and his family. He's now in jail facing a felony stalking charge. In money news, there's a change brewing at Starbucks. The CEO has decided to step down, and, boy, does that have investors feeling a bit jittery. Stock prices dipped after Orin Smith announced he will retire next year to devote more time to philanthropy.
In culture, the Berlin Wall is being built again, but this time it's part of a temporary exhibit at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Germany's capital. Some former East Germans aren't so happy with the reminder of their time behind the barrier. But barrier, the temporary barrier, is scheduled to be torn down again before Christmas.
In sports, the New York Yankees held on to beat the Boston Red Sox in game one of the American League championship series. The Yanks jumped out to an 8-0 lead but had to settle for a 10-7 victory. Game two...
MYERS: How about that guy?
COSTELLO: Oh...
MYERS: Matsui, five RBIs.
COSTELLO: He's something else, isn't he?
MYERS: Oh, man.
COSTELLO: Curt Schilling got shelved, Chad.
MYERS: He did. It was 8-0 at one point. He was responsible for six of those. And then obviously it went down to that 10-7 final so.
COSTELLO: Well, you noticed Pedro Martinez pitching in game two.
MYERS: Yes, you know what? I know Schilling was the -- is the ace and all that, but this series isn't over by a long shot.
COSTELLO: You're right, Chad.
MYERS: Boston's got a lot more ammo in there.
COSTELLO: You're right.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
A deal aimed at ending violence in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood seems to be holding. Militia fighters there are gradually giving up their weapons.
So what's been the reaction in the Arab world?
To give us that perspective, we're joined by CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr -- good morning, Octavia.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: So how are the Arab networks reporting this part of the story out of Iraq?
NASR: Well, they're reporting it in a way, in an upbeat way. They think that this is a good thing, that this is going to end the violence. Now, the interesting thing is the details of this deal. So the Sadr group, the Sadr militia will put down their weapons. In return, they have a few things like, you know, releasing the prisoners and that the Iraqi government has to promise not to harass their members. But they also want to participate in the politics of the country, which is very interesting.
I mean we've heard things about that...
COSTELLO: Actually, it's very scary.
NASR: Well, yes.
COSTELLO: Here are these guys running around killing Iraqis and they want to take part in the government now.
NASR: And that's what makes the deal interesting. And from the Sadr perspective, you're hearing a lot of cheers that this is a major win for them, because they're going to participate in politics. Now from the U.S. and Iraqi side, of course, there's not much talk about this. But on Arab media that is the focus, that, yes, the Sadr group, the Sadr militia is going to put down their weapons, but in return they're going to be wanting to participate in politics.
COSTELLO: So Muqtada al-Sadr, that guy we're seeing right there, what...
NASR: Oh, he wants to run for office.
COSTELLO: Will they give him a role in the government just to like keep him from creating more trouble?
NASR: Well, we don't know if this is going to happen yet, of course. I mean he did indicate that he is interested in participating in politics. That was part of their initiative, because remember, there was an initiative from them that was accepted by the government. So it is yet to be seen whether he is going to participate or not.
But, again, looking at it from the Arab media perspective, this is the focus, whereas on our media, for example, the focus is so much on the weapons and that they're putting down their weapons and the fighting is going to end. From that perspective, it's their way.
COSTELLO: But, you know, there's some controversy about the weapons being put into the pile. Some are good weapons, but Iraqis own lots of weapons.
NASR: Right. And Arab media say that. Arab media -- they've been cautioning about the underestimation of these groups and -- by the U.S., and also Western media. They've been saying you have to be careful to look at these weapons. Are they everything that these guys have? Is this a ploy? Does this mean that they're playing a game now...
COSTELLO: Well, you know what they're saying? They're getting all this money for these weapons and they can just turn around, use the money and buy more weapons.
NASR: Right.
COSTELLO: That are readily available.
NASR: Right. So this is not an easy thing to talk about. And when you look at Arab media, really, on this story, this is a good story to see how two different views on this. One, every side thinks they won. Every side thinks that this is, you know, the deal that's going to make things a lot better in Iraq. But you're right, there are the skeptics and, you know, as journalists, we have to be skeptics. Arab media, it's the same thing. Arab journalists are very skeptical about this whole deal, going wait a minute, how is this going to work out? What does this really mean?
And, of course, there's something else that's on Arab media that's playing very, very highly on every headline and so forth. There was an offensive, a U.S. and Iraqi, let's say, coalition and Iraqi forces offensive in Hiat (ph) and in Samara. And these offensives have targeted mosques. And this is playing very high. And you have the Council of Muslim Clerics in Iraq even calling on the pope at the Vatican to say you have to denounce these acts, because they're saying that the coalition and the Iraqi forces have attacked mosques. They, well, of course, the U.S. is saying that they were taking fire from these mosques.
COSTELLO: Yes, but the mosques are a lot -- well, but exactly.
NASR: Right.
COSTELLO: And a lot of guns and weaponry stored in the mosques. And U.S. forces are staying away from them. They're sending the Iraqi forces into them.
NASR: Right. But on Arab media -- and this is, again, where you see the difference in how this is reported -- Arab media they're showing you Koran books on the floor. They're showing you mosques that are being destroyed, chaos inside mosques, and they're saying OK, where are the weapons? OK, where are the insurgents? You said you bombed them and you attacked them because they're full of weapons and insurgents, just show us these people so that we can quiet our people down. And this is where the outcries are coming from. And you hear a lot of those on Arab media.
COSTELLO: Fascinating, as usual.
Octavia Nasr, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
NASR: Any time.
COSTELLO: What does a can of tuna have to do with the highest court in the land? That's ahead in our legal segment. Plus, a delay in the Peterson trial. What's the holdup now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Hurry up and wait -- jurors in the Scott Peterson case will spend another week waiting for the defense to begin its case. But at least now they know the trial is nearing a conclusion.
CNN's Ted Rowlands explains the schedule and the reason for the delay.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A packed courtroom waiting to hear the start of the defense case heard instead that the Scott Peterson murder trial has been delayed. A source close to the case tells CNN that prosecutors needed more time after receiving witness information over the weekend.
JANEY PETERSON, SISTER-IN-LAW: Any delay is disappointing, but we'll be back next week.
ROWLANDS: Judge Al Delucchi told the jury that having to tell them about another delay was like pulling teeth, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The judge says he anticipates deliberations will start the first week of November.
According to people in the courtroom, some jurors seemed frustrated by the latest delay.
JIM HAMMER, LEGAL ANALYST: Because I'll tell you, the one thing that really angers jurors, besides lawyers talking secretly up at the bench without them listening, is delays. And they came in 40 minutes late today and now another dead week. So they look very frustrated, downcast, frankly.
ROWLANDS (on camera): The defense case is scheduled to begin when court resumes next Monday. Closing arguments are tentatively set for November 1 and 2, with the jury scheduled to get the case November 3.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Redwood City, California.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: So, the Peterson jury is likely to start deliberating Peterson's case just after election day.
Now, we'd like to talk about a little girl, a can of tuna and her injured finger. It's all heading to the Supreme Court; yes, the highest court in the land.
Live from Miami, our legal analyst Kendall Coffey -- good morning, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: So this is a simple tale. A 9-year-old girl opens a can of Starkist tuna at school and she cuts her finger on the aluminum lid. It bleeds for like 30 minutes. She suffers emotional distress. She has a little scar on her finger and her family wants to sue.
How did this case get all the way to the Supreme Court?
COFFEY: Well, because this case involves a question that doesn't come up usually at the beginning of the case, but does when you're trying to get into federal court. You've got to show in this kind of case that there's $75,000 worth of damages at a minimum. So what they're dealing with is what is a case like this worth?
Originally the court said no, her damages could not be worth $75,000. She was contending that there was a 3 percent partial permanent impairment of the hand. And the appeals court said yes, it could be worth at least $75,000, but we don't think the parents' pain and suffering could be worth $75,000.
So in a way, Carol, it's part of this sort of nationwide controversy of how do you value personal injuries, the emotional pain and suffering of individuals in what appear to be less than catastrophic injuries.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Kendall, it just seems like another frivolous lawsuit. It reminded me so much of the McDonald's case, when the woman spilled a cup of hot coffee in her lap. And that started this slew of lawsuits similar to that across the country.
COFFEY: Well, that case sort of became, in a sense, the poster for this concern about whether small lawsuits are getting too much attention and whether this case was really a tempest in a coffee pot. The other side of the case, Carol, there's always two sides to everything, would be that McDonald's had been consistently overheating coffee 20 degrees above what other people were doing. There have been 700 complaints of scalding in the past. The woman that was involved suffered third degree burns and was hospitalized for seven or eight days.
There's always two sides for everything, but there's no doubt that there's a lot of concern in this country about relatively small injuries, maybe even things that the victim could have prevented that seemed to result in big jury numbers.
COSTELLO: You know, a lot of people don't know the true outcome of that coffee case, so I'm glad you enlightened them, because the woman really was seriously hurt by that.
But in this case, the kid opens a can of tuna and cuts her finger and it bleeds and she's going to be fine. And the parents suffer like this mental stress over this?
COFFEY: But, you know, one of the interesting things is we don't really know that there would have been a crazy jury with that one. That one hasn't gotten into a courtroom. And I'll tell you, Carol, there are certainly a lot of crazy outcomes. But more often than not, I think juries are pretty sensible. So I don't think there's any guarantee that if this young lady and her family ever got in front of a jury that they're going to get lots of money.
All it was dealing with was really whether they get to walk into the federal courthouse door in the first place.
COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey, live from Miami this morning.
Thank you.
The issue of state sponsored religion will also be taken up by the Supreme Court early next year. The court has agreed to hear arguments concerning displays of the Ten Commandments. Two separate cases brought in Texas and Kentucky will be the focus of their decision. It will be the first time such a case has been heard by the high court since 1980. That was when the court banned the posting of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms.
If all goes well, the Supreme Court won't have to get involved in the election this year. Oh, we hope not. Coming up, debate No. 3 and how the candidates are preparing for tonight's last showdown.
CNN's coverage, by the way, begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, and we'll take you right through primetime for all of post-debate spin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired October 13, 2004 - 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: The stage is set for the last debate. The candidates prepare to square off in Tempe.
It is Wednesday, October 13.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, setting up the arena at Arizona State University in Tempe. It is the site of tonight's third and final presidential debate. George Bush says he'll point out major differences with John Kerry. Kerry's aides say he won the previous debates and they expect an encore.
In Iraq, another deadly attack on U.S. soldiers. Three soldiers are dead after a roadside bomb goes off in eastern Baghdad.
Is it constitutional to put teenaged killers to death? That's the question the Supreme Court will start weighing today. Nineteen states allow the death penalty for 16 and 17-year-olds. More on the cases before the court at 27 past the hour with our CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey.
Time to switch crews on the international space station. A NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut are set to blast off in a Russian rocket tonight. They'll relieve the current space station crew after a week long hand over.
To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Less than three weeks to go now until the election, 20 days left. George Bush and John Kerry are, of course, gearing up for their final showdown tonight. And America will be watching. Tonight, President Bush and his Democratic opponent face off for a third and final time in an incredibly close election.
Let's get the inside track on what to expect from CNN's Bill Prasad.
He's live in Washington this morning -- good morning, Bill.
BILL PRASAD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It will definitely be a big night. Both men know the presidency is up for grabs. This could be their last opportunity on the big stage to score some points and win some votes.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PRASAD (voice-over): Tonight, the debate hits home, tackling domestic issues like jobs, taxes and health care. President Bush likely to paint John Kerry as a tax and spend liberal.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're not going to have fiscal sanity if John Kerry is the president.
PRASAD: Kerry's strategists believe they have the momentum, saying they're moving up in the polls and tonight facing the president where he's vulnerable. The Kerry camp predicts victory.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And one of the reasons he's going to win is because George Bush is out of touch.
PRASAD: In the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Senator Kerry has a giant edge on health care, the economy is more of a tossup and the president has a slight edge on taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All things considered, I don't know that you'd say either one has much of an advantage at this point.
PRASAD: In Tempe, Arizona, the auditorium is being prepared for the duel in the desert. In this state, 10 electoral votes are at stake. But across the country, with polls running neck and neck, it's clear everything is at stake.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PRASAD: Many political observers say the first two debates did, indeed, affect the polls. This third debate could help decide who wins the presidency.
And, Carol, this is definitely something we will be talking about tomorrow morning.
COSTELLO: I think that's a safe bet.
Bill Prasad live in Washington this morning.
Of course, we'll gauge some of the reactions of some undecided voters live during the debate, plus we're live in the post-debate spin rooms. Trust CNN for complete live coverage of the presidential debate. That's tonight beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
The elections have at least one U.S. senator deeply concerned about security in the nation's capital. Democrat Mark Dayton of Minnesota actually closed his Capitol Hill office, saying he fears a possible terrorist attack and he won't reopen the office until after November 2.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: I would not bring my two sons to Capitol Hill between now and the elections. That's my -- that would be my measure of acceptable risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The government says there are no recommendations that members of Congress close their offices and there is no specific threat to the Capitol.
Turning now to another closely watched political race, this one in Illinois, at stake a U.S. Senate seat. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Alan Keyes had their first face-to-face debate. They clashed over Iraq, with Keyes praising U.S. policy there and Obama saying the U.S. bungled the war. But they both agreed that government spending needs to be tamed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: I think it is an enormous problem. This has been THE most fiscally irresponsible administration in certainly my memory. We have gone from trillion dollar surpluses to trillion dollar deficits in the blink of an eye. Not all of those costs are the fault of the administration. Obviously, 9/11 occurred and the decline in the economy.
ALAN KEYES (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: You're going to have to change the whole Christmas tree approach to politics that sadly is represented by many of our politicians, particularly those of the liberal persuasion who want to hang the Christmas tree ornaments of gimme politics, whether it's for corporations or others, on the tree of government budgeting. I think we've got to realize that a different approach is required.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Obama and Keyes plan to debate two more times.
U.S. officials are not the only ones trying to get people to head to the polls. Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani is urging all Iraqis to register to vote in their January election. Some Iraqis say any vote held with U.S. troops still around will not be valid.
In the meantime, Iraqi officials are pleading for more money this morning. A donors meeting has now opened in Tokyo. Fifty-five nations are taking part, including the United States. Iraq's deputy prime minister told them rebuilding cannot be done through the barrels of guns. In the meantime, a top State Department official admits the U.S. was too slow at first in sending money to Iraq.
And new information for you on secret operations by the U.S. military. Twice American forces tried to free hostages being held in Iraq, but both times they came away empty-handed.
We get the story from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back in September, shortly after Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley and Briton Kenneth Bigley were kidnapped from their home in Baghdad, the U.S. launched a military operation to rescue them. In fact, there were two attempts, both in Baghdad, according to an official with direct knowledge of the operations. The first came in mid-September, when all of the hostages were believed to still be alive. But CNN has been told it failed because when the rescue team reached the location, no one was there.
It's not clear if the hostages had been moved or whether the intelligence was flawed and they were never there.
After Eugene Armstrong was beheaded a few days later, a second rescue mission was also launched, the official says. Again, the result was the same -- no one was at the targeted location.
The failed rescue attempts have not been publicly acknowledged. But at the time, U.S. military officials said everything possible was being done to free the hostages, either by rescuing them or arranging for their release.
(on camera): In this case, all three hostages eventually were murdered. And while the rescue attempts failed, it was not for lack of trying. As one U.S. official put it, a lot of people had a lot of sleepless nights trying to find them.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Right now at least 10 people are still being held by militant groups in Iraq. More than 150 foreigners have been abducted since the beginning of the war.
In News Across America this Wednesday morning, it was all too familiar for suspected serial killer Derrick Todd Lee. It took a Louisiana jury only 80 minutes to convict him of murder. They must now decide whether to recommend the death penalty. Lee's already been sentenced to life in prison for another murder and police say DNA evidence links him to the deaths of seven other women.
It took an Illinois family only two days to file the first wrongful death claim in that fatal tour bus crash in Arkansas. The lawsuit seeks $50,000 in damages. The husband of the 71-year-old victim is alleging negligence. Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened. Fourteen people, including the bus driver, were killed in Saturday's crash.
Here's part of a call to 911. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Communications, may I help you?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes, sweetie, I'm the one that just called?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: There's about 30 people out here. I mean people are laying all in the field. A lot of them hurt. You got about 30 on the bus.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. Stay on the line with me, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: To New York now. Emergency crews sprang into action when a Long Island car dealership building partially collapsed. Nine people were hurt, none seriously. A natural gas explosion is suspected of causing this collapse.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, why more women are controlling the purse strings in corporate America. Our "Business Buzz" at 6:15 Eastern.
And is that weapons hand over in Iraq really improving anything? We'll hear the Arab voice at 18 minutes past.
And at 53 minutes past the hour, good eating habits for the youngest members at the dinner table, as in babies.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
More and more women are not hitting the glass ceiling when it comes to the top jobs in finance. Can you believe it?
Carrie Lee has all the facts for us -- tell us.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy to hear this, right, Carol?
COSTELLO: Um-hmm.
LEE: A growing portion of women are becoming the top -- into the top financial spot for companies, and this is the title of chief financial officer. According to "USA Today," they analyzed some data from Hoovers. About 8.7 percent of companies in the S&P 500 now have female CFOs. And that's well above the 3.5 percent that have female chief operating officers and the 1.8 percent with female CEOs, the chief executive officer. Now, these companies include household names such as Yahoo!, Pepsico, Home Depot. And the number of large companies with a female CEO has grown more than 20 percent, this according to a study by Catalyst, and that which researches issues concerning women in business.
So, more and more women hitting the CFO spot. Part of the reason, Carol, is that women have greater representation in finance related positions. Obviously, studying for this and good news for us, right?
COSTELLO: You know what, Carrie? I was just thinking. Most women control the purse strings at home, right? They control where the money goes.
LEE: There you go.
COSTELLO: So it makes perfect sense.
LEE: Shift it from the house into the office. That's right. And some reports say that women are better at communicating. And, of course, if you're the CFO, you're controlling the money...
COSTELLO: Well, that's a true story.
LEE: ... talking to a different -- a lot of different people within the company. So there you go. "USA Today" reporting this today.
COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures, Carrie.
LEE: Yes, things looking a little bit bullish. We could see a slightly higher open for stocks today. One name to watch is Intel. The chip giant posted a 15 percent increase in third quarter profits. But they're still suffering from lackluster personal computer demand and they have some inventory issues to work through. So Intel one stock to watch today.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:14 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Last week's attacks in Egypt may not have been carried out by suicide bombers. Egypt's biggest newspaper reports that the drivers of the explosive laden vehicles all fled the scene shortly before the blast. At least 34 people were killed in those explosions.
A drifter accused of stalking Mel Gibson is now under arrest. The man was arrested just a day after a judge ordered him to stay at least 100 yards away from the actor and his family. He's now in jail facing a felony stalking charge. In money news, there's a change brewing at Starbucks. The CEO has decided to step down, and, boy, does that have investors feeling a bit jittery. Stock prices dipped after Orin Smith announced he will retire next year to devote more time to philanthropy.
In culture, the Berlin Wall is being built again, but this time it's part of a temporary exhibit at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Germany's capital. Some former East Germans aren't so happy with the reminder of their time behind the barrier. But barrier, the temporary barrier, is scheduled to be torn down again before Christmas.
In sports, the New York Yankees held on to beat the Boston Red Sox in game one of the American League championship series. The Yanks jumped out to an 8-0 lead but had to settle for a 10-7 victory. Game two...
MYERS: How about that guy?
COSTELLO: Oh...
MYERS: Matsui, five RBIs.
COSTELLO: He's something else, isn't he?
MYERS: Oh, man.
COSTELLO: Curt Schilling got shelved, Chad.
MYERS: He did. It was 8-0 at one point. He was responsible for six of those. And then obviously it went down to that 10-7 final so.
COSTELLO: Well, you noticed Pedro Martinez pitching in game two.
MYERS: Yes, you know what? I know Schilling was the -- is the ace and all that, but this series isn't over by a long shot.
COSTELLO: You're right, Chad.
MYERS: Boston's got a lot more ammo in there.
COSTELLO: You're right.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
A deal aimed at ending violence in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood seems to be holding. Militia fighters there are gradually giving up their weapons.
So what's been the reaction in the Arab world?
To give us that perspective, we're joined by CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr -- good morning, Octavia.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: So how are the Arab networks reporting this part of the story out of Iraq?
NASR: Well, they're reporting it in a way, in an upbeat way. They think that this is a good thing, that this is going to end the violence. Now, the interesting thing is the details of this deal. So the Sadr group, the Sadr militia will put down their weapons. In return, they have a few things like, you know, releasing the prisoners and that the Iraqi government has to promise not to harass their members. But they also want to participate in the politics of the country, which is very interesting.
I mean we've heard things about that...
COSTELLO: Actually, it's very scary.
NASR: Well, yes.
COSTELLO: Here are these guys running around killing Iraqis and they want to take part in the government now.
NASR: And that's what makes the deal interesting. And from the Sadr perspective, you're hearing a lot of cheers that this is a major win for them, because they're going to participate in politics. Now from the U.S. and Iraqi side, of course, there's not much talk about this. But on Arab media that is the focus, that, yes, the Sadr group, the Sadr militia is going to put down their weapons, but in return they're going to be wanting to participate in politics.
COSTELLO: So Muqtada al-Sadr, that guy we're seeing right there, what...
NASR: Oh, he wants to run for office.
COSTELLO: Will they give him a role in the government just to like keep him from creating more trouble?
NASR: Well, we don't know if this is going to happen yet, of course. I mean he did indicate that he is interested in participating in politics. That was part of their initiative, because remember, there was an initiative from them that was accepted by the government. So it is yet to be seen whether he is going to participate or not.
But, again, looking at it from the Arab media perspective, this is the focus, whereas on our media, for example, the focus is so much on the weapons and that they're putting down their weapons and the fighting is going to end. From that perspective, it's their way.
COSTELLO: But, you know, there's some controversy about the weapons being put into the pile. Some are good weapons, but Iraqis own lots of weapons.
NASR: Right. And Arab media say that. Arab media -- they've been cautioning about the underestimation of these groups and -- by the U.S., and also Western media. They've been saying you have to be careful to look at these weapons. Are they everything that these guys have? Is this a ploy? Does this mean that they're playing a game now...
COSTELLO: Well, you know what they're saying? They're getting all this money for these weapons and they can just turn around, use the money and buy more weapons.
NASR: Right.
COSTELLO: That are readily available.
NASR: Right. So this is not an easy thing to talk about. And when you look at Arab media, really, on this story, this is a good story to see how two different views on this. One, every side thinks they won. Every side thinks that this is, you know, the deal that's going to make things a lot better in Iraq. But you're right, there are the skeptics and, you know, as journalists, we have to be skeptics. Arab media, it's the same thing. Arab journalists are very skeptical about this whole deal, going wait a minute, how is this going to work out? What does this really mean?
And, of course, there's something else that's on Arab media that's playing very, very highly on every headline and so forth. There was an offensive, a U.S. and Iraqi, let's say, coalition and Iraqi forces offensive in Hiat (ph) and in Samara. And these offensives have targeted mosques. And this is playing very high. And you have the Council of Muslim Clerics in Iraq even calling on the pope at the Vatican to say you have to denounce these acts, because they're saying that the coalition and the Iraqi forces have attacked mosques. They, well, of course, the U.S. is saying that they were taking fire from these mosques.
COSTELLO: Yes, but the mosques are a lot -- well, but exactly.
NASR: Right.
COSTELLO: And a lot of guns and weaponry stored in the mosques. And U.S. forces are staying away from them. They're sending the Iraqi forces into them.
NASR: Right. But on Arab media -- and this is, again, where you see the difference in how this is reported -- Arab media they're showing you Koran books on the floor. They're showing you mosques that are being destroyed, chaos inside mosques, and they're saying OK, where are the weapons? OK, where are the insurgents? You said you bombed them and you attacked them because they're full of weapons and insurgents, just show us these people so that we can quiet our people down. And this is where the outcries are coming from. And you hear a lot of those on Arab media.
COSTELLO: Fascinating, as usual.
Octavia Nasr, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
NASR: Any time.
COSTELLO: What does a can of tuna have to do with the highest court in the land? That's ahead in our legal segment. Plus, a delay in the Peterson trial. What's the holdup now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Hurry up and wait -- jurors in the Scott Peterson case will spend another week waiting for the defense to begin its case. But at least now they know the trial is nearing a conclusion.
CNN's Ted Rowlands explains the schedule and the reason for the delay.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A packed courtroom waiting to hear the start of the defense case heard instead that the Scott Peterson murder trial has been delayed. A source close to the case tells CNN that prosecutors needed more time after receiving witness information over the weekend.
JANEY PETERSON, SISTER-IN-LAW: Any delay is disappointing, but we'll be back next week.
ROWLANDS: Judge Al Delucchi told the jury that having to tell them about another delay was like pulling teeth, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The judge says he anticipates deliberations will start the first week of November.
According to people in the courtroom, some jurors seemed frustrated by the latest delay.
JIM HAMMER, LEGAL ANALYST: Because I'll tell you, the one thing that really angers jurors, besides lawyers talking secretly up at the bench without them listening, is delays. And they came in 40 minutes late today and now another dead week. So they look very frustrated, downcast, frankly.
ROWLANDS (on camera): The defense case is scheduled to begin when court resumes next Monday. Closing arguments are tentatively set for November 1 and 2, with the jury scheduled to get the case November 3.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Redwood City, California.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: So, the Peterson jury is likely to start deliberating Peterson's case just after election day.
Now, we'd like to talk about a little girl, a can of tuna and her injured finger. It's all heading to the Supreme Court; yes, the highest court in the land.
Live from Miami, our legal analyst Kendall Coffey -- good morning, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: So this is a simple tale. A 9-year-old girl opens a can of Starkist tuna at school and she cuts her finger on the aluminum lid. It bleeds for like 30 minutes. She suffers emotional distress. She has a little scar on her finger and her family wants to sue.
How did this case get all the way to the Supreme Court?
COFFEY: Well, because this case involves a question that doesn't come up usually at the beginning of the case, but does when you're trying to get into federal court. You've got to show in this kind of case that there's $75,000 worth of damages at a minimum. So what they're dealing with is what is a case like this worth?
Originally the court said no, her damages could not be worth $75,000. She was contending that there was a 3 percent partial permanent impairment of the hand. And the appeals court said yes, it could be worth at least $75,000, but we don't think the parents' pain and suffering could be worth $75,000.
So in a way, Carol, it's part of this sort of nationwide controversy of how do you value personal injuries, the emotional pain and suffering of individuals in what appear to be less than catastrophic injuries.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Kendall, it just seems like another frivolous lawsuit. It reminded me so much of the McDonald's case, when the woman spilled a cup of hot coffee in her lap. And that started this slew of lawsuits similar to that across the country.
COFFEY: Well, that case sort of became, in a sense, the poster for this concern about whether small lawsuits are getting too much attention and whether this case was really a tempest in a coffee pot. The other side of the case, Carol, there's always two sides to everything, would be that McDonald's had been consistently overheating coffee 20 degrees above what other people were doing. There have been 700 complaints of scalding in the past. The woman that was involved suffered third degree burns and was hospitalized for seven or eight days.
There's always two sides for everything, but there's no doubt that there's a lot of concern in this country about relatively small injuries, maybe even things that the victim could have prevented that seemed to result in big jury numbers.
COSTELLO: You know, a lot of people don't know the true outcome of that coffee case, so I'm glad you enlightened them, because the woman really was seriously hurt by that.
But in this case, the kid opens a can of tuna and cuts her finger and it bleeds and she's going to be fine. And the parents suffer like this mental stress over this?
COFFEY: But, you know, one of the interesting things is we don't really know that there would have been a crazy jury with that one. That one hasn't gotten into a courtroom. And I'll tell you, Carol, there are certainly a lot of crazy outcomes. But more often than not, I think juries are pretty sensible. So I don't think there's any guarantee that if this young lady and her family ever got in front of a jury that they're going to get lots of money.
All it was dealing with was really whether they get to walk into the federal courthouse door in the first place.
COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey, live from Miami this morning.
Thank you.
The issue of state sponsored religion will also be taken up by the Supreme Court early next year. The court has agreed to hear arguments concerning displays of the Ten Commandments. Two separate cases brought in Texas and Kentucky will be the focus of their decision. It will be the first time such a case has been heard by the high court since 1980. That was when the court banned the posting of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms.
If all goes well, the Supreme Court won't have to get involved in the election this year. Oh, we hope not. Coming up, debate No. 3 and how the candidates are preparing for tonight's last showdown.
CNN's coverage, by the way, begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, and we'll take you right through primetime for all of post-debate spin.
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