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CNN Live At Daybreak
President Bush's Trip to Canada; Continuing Conflict in Iraq as Date for Scheduled Elections Nears
Aired November 30, 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush tries to mend fences with an old ally. Meantime, he's putting a new face on his economic team.
And then it's a new way to pay and it's right at your fingertips.
Later this hour, reality shows aren't just sweeping the U.S. We'll show you reality TV Israeli style.
It's Tuesday, November 30, and you're watching DAYBREAK.
Good morning, everybody.
Thanks for waking up with us.
I'm Heidi Collins in today for Carol Costello.
A lot going on this morning, so we want to check the headlines now in the news.
In the northern Iraqi city of Baiji, a car bomb attack on a U.S. Army patrol has left three Americans injured, along with 17 Iraqis. Four Iraqi civilians were killed.
A warning from Iran this morning. It says a freeze on its nuclear program won't go on forever, only long enough to finish nuclear talks with Europe. Iran also says it doesn't want the talks to drag on.
Ukraine's parliament is holding an emergency session today to discuss the country's presidential election crisis. Members are considering a motion of no confidence in the election's declared winner, Viktor Yushchenko. They also passed a resolution several days ago declaring the election invalid.
The California Supreme Court turns down Scott Peterson's request for a new jury to hear life or death arguments. The Court also denied a request to move the trial out of Redwood City.
Rob Marciano now with a check of the weather for us -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: President Bush heads to Canada in the few hours, the first official visit there by a U.S. president in nearly a decade. Mr. Bush heads from Washington to the Canadian capital of Ottawa, where he meets with Prime Minister Paul Martin. Tomorrow, the president wraps up his trip in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He'll thank area provinces for taking in thousands of stranded Americans on 9/11. More than 200 planes heading for the U.S. were diverted to Canada after the terror attacks.
Security, as you would imagine, tight for the presidential visit amid ongoing tensions over the Iraq war. Anti-war protests are expected in Ottawa.
And when was the last time a U.S. president made a state visit to Canada? Well, it was in 1995, when Bill Clinton headed north.
The president's trip to Canada comes as more cabinet changes are being announced. This time it's the president's economic team feeling the impact.
For the comings and goings of the White House and on Capitol Hill, we go to CNN Radio's Dick Uliano in Washington -- Dick, good morning to you.
DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Tell us what's happening.
What's the biggest talker right now in Washington?
ULIANO: Well, the president's trip to Canada here comes amid the remaking of his economic team here in Washington. And the president's latest pick, of course, is that of commerce secretary, Carlos Gutierrez. He is the chief executive officer of Kellogg's, the cereal company. And Carlos Gutierrez, like the president's pick for attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, has the life story that President Bush so relishes -- individuals who pull themselves up from their own bootstraps.
After fleeing communist Cuba, Gutierrez sold Kellogg's Frosted Flakes from a van in Mexico and eventually rising to lead the company, Kellogg's. And Wall Street simply loves him because he's turned this company around in the past few years.
And another change, economic adviser Stephen Friedman, we are told by aides, is stepping down.
And also, Heidi, the president's trip to Canada, a two day visit, comes as the showdown in Washington continues over overhauling the intelligence community. There are still -- there's still staunch opposition about how to do this and whether a national intelligence director should have control over all 15 of the nation's intelligence agencies. And so that fight continues.
Congress won't be back, though, until December 6 or 7.
COLLINS: Yes, and people are waiting around trying to figure out what's going to happen there next.
All right, Dick Uliano, we certainly appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much.
In Colorado now, the Montrose County coroner says he is 99.9 percent sure they have recovered the body of Dick Ebersol's youngest son. The NBC executive and his two boys were on a charter jet heading for Indiana when it crashed just after takeoff in Colorado. Ebersol and his oldest son survived. It now appears likely that his 14-year- old son did not.
Here's what the coroner said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK YOUNG, MONTROSE COUNTY CORONER'S OFFICE: We recovered, about 5:00 p.m. local time this afternoon, a body that matches the description of Teddy Ebersol. We are 99.9 percent sure that it is him. We are having dental records flown in overnight. We'll make positive confirmation via dental records tomorrow morning and then he'll be released to his family.
May god bless us all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Federal investigators have recovered the plane's cockpit voice recorder and are hoping it will provide some clues as to what happened,.
There are new allegations this morning of Iraqi detainees being tortured by U.S. forces. The "New York Times" says a team from the International Red Cross sent confidential reports to Washington claiming torture was used on prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. Administration and military officials confirm the report was received in July and sharply reject the charges.
Meanwhile, there seems to be growing concern about whether Iraq's national elections should take place in two months. Iraqi leaders and the Bush administration are adamant the polls will open January 30th. But others aren't so sure.
Here's CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With U.S., Iraqi and British troops hunting down insurgents in operations like this one along the Euphrates River, the United States insists Iraqi elections will be held January 30 as scheduled.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no reason they shouldn't. We're working hard on it. The U.N. has increased its presence. There are thousands of Iraqis who are working on registration and getting ready for the elections.
MCINTYRE: But in many Sunni-dominated parts of Iraq, no one has yet been registered, two months before the elections. And insurgents continue to wage a campaign of organized crime-style intimidation, with tactics one journalist called more like "The Sopranos" than "Black Hawk Down." It's a description Pentagon officials do not dispute.
In Ramadi, a suicide bomber plowed into a crowd of police waiting outside the police station to be paid, killing a dozen people and wounding at least 10 others. In Mosul, 40 dead bodies have been found in the past week. Most had been bound and shot execution style. And there are even sporadic attacks in Falluja, three weeks after an offensive that routed insurgents. Large stockpiles of weapons are still turning up.
Pentagon officials say across Iraq, attacks in recent days have dropped, from more than 100 a day to an average of to only 50 or 60. But while violence may be down, the fear is up.
JOHN HENDREN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": In Ramadi, where I just was, I was told by military commanders there that the National Guard is basically ineffective because they're under so much threat to their families, in a very tightly knit tribal area. So they're going to have to import National Guard troops -- Iraqi National Guard troops -- from elsewhere.
MCINTYRE: With two months to go, the Pentagon lists 114,000 Iraqi security forces that, on paper, are trained and on hand, at least 10,000 shy of what it believes will be necessary to provide security for the elections.
(on camera): Meanwhile, the Pentagon has decided to extend the stay of some 6,500 U.S. soldiers to beef up U.S. troop levels in January. But no decision has yet been made to send fresh troops in early.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Life or death for Scott Peterson -- that's the question for a California jury, the same one that convicted him of murder. More at 12 after.
Later in the hour, the Supreme Court will weigh in, but what do you think? At 34 after, we'll get your take on some major issues before the high court.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning, November 30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is now 6:11.
Here's what's all new this morning.
As international trips go, it's not that far. President Bush leaves today for a two day visit to Canada. There's a lot of anti-war sentiment in Canada and the president will not be addressing Canada's parliament.
A new videotape from Osama bin Laden's right hand man airs on Al Jazeera TV. In the tape, Ayman el-Zawahiri promises to continue fighting the U.S. until America changes its policies on Muslims. The tape appears to have been made before this month's presidential elections.
In money, Saudi Arabia is trying to calm fears over high oil prices. The Saudi energy chief says his country will boost oil production. Prices are near $50 a barrel now.
In culture, a manuscript of Truman Capote's unpublished first book has been found among the late writer's old papers. Sotheby's auction house takes bids on it this week.
And in sports, another milestone for quarterback Brett Favre. Favre started his 200th consecutive regular game, season game, last night. He threw three T.D. passes as the Packers thumped the Rams 45- 7.
I think that's a very nice word for it, don't you -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Thumping? A good thumping?
COLLINS: Yes, thumping. They thumped it, mucked it on down.
MARCIANO: They got it done, that's for sure. And he would -- he's definitely the man.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that game, if you got a chance to watch it, as we head into -- closer to the playoffs. Always a good time of year.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: We want to get to something else, though, this morning.
Scott Peterson's life hangs in the balance. The penalty phase of Peterson's murder trial gets under way at 12:00 Eastern today. It's expected to be a very emotional day for the families and the jury deciding whether Peterson lives or dies.
Here to talk about it is Court TV correspondent Amanda Grove.
Amanda, thanks for being here.
AMANDA GROVE, COURT TV CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
COLLINS: It's going to be a really tough day. GROVE: It is. It's going to be very emotional, as you said, very painful for the family and for the jurors to listen to.
COLLINS: What do you think is going to happen?
GROVE: Ultimately I believe that Scott Peterson will get the death penalty. Certainly at this point the options are life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Either one is a very serious sentence. But there are other people on California death row for murdering spouses who were pregnant. He would not be the first. And I think that this jury could find that that is the appropriate sentence.
COLLINS: Well, what will the jury hear today? I mean who are they going to hear from?
GROVE: The penalty phase is a mini-trial. They're going to hear opening statements by both...
COLLINS: It usually takes like four or five days?
GROVE: It's going to take, in this case, four or five days, Judge Delucchi has said. We're going to hear openings from the attorneys, we're going to hear closings. And in the middle, there's going to be a trial. There's going to be witnesses, family witnesses from Laci's side. We expect her mother, her sister, her stepfather, her brother. On Scott Peterson's side, we don't have the list of who is going to appear, but we are guessing his parents may, relatives may, and others who have experienced the good in Scott Peterson -- acts of charitable kindness, anything that would mitigate his sentence.
COLLINS: If they were to come back with life in prison, what would it be, in your mind, that would change the jury? I mean we've already heard so much about they are not friendly toward Scott Peterson. We know that he's been convicted. We remember when he came into the courtroom and that sentence was -- I mean the verdict was actually being announced. They didn't make eye contact with him.
Is that also what kind of leads you to believe that this could actually be the death penalty that he would get?
GROVE: Well, from the beginning, this jury knew that it was a death penalty case. They have been qualified as a death penalty jury. They've heard all the testimony. They probably have made up their minds already, individually, as the trial went through. They're not supposed to. They're supposed to wait for the penalty phase. But I'm sure each of those jurors in their hearts know what they think is the appropriate sentence.
Now is the time to hear from the families, to hear both sides and to again sit down and make a very difficult decision.
But we know they've already convicted him. So certainly they are convinced of his guilt and it seems that they don't like him, as you said. But whether it will be life and death is something that they need to unanimously, completely unanimously decide at the end of this penalty phase.
COLLINS: And how difficult for Laci's mother to go up there. We remember way, way back when she went before the cameras and spoke about how angry she was and how emotional that was. She'll be going through that again.
GROVE: Yes. It is difficult. But in a way it is closure. She will finally be able to address the jurors, to speak about her loss and her love for her daughter, as will all the family members. And I think that there's something probably healthy from a psychological standpoint about finally being able to speak about her devastating loss.
COLLINS: Quickly before we let you go, I know Mark Geragos tried to get this trial moved out of Redwood City, tried to get a new jury seated for the penalty phase. Your thoughts on that.
GROVE: Yes...
COLLINS: I mean they were both denied.
GROVE: Yes, just yesterday the California Supreme Court said no. They denied his request. It will be this jury. It will be this venue. That was expected. His motions were expected and the ruling was expected. It cleared the way for today. If the Supreme Court had ruled otherwise, we would not be talking about it today. We'd been on hold once again.
COLLINS: Yes.
GROVE: And I think those justices have decided that, no, this is going forward.
COLLINS: Now is the time.
All right, Amanda Grove, thanks so much for that today.
GROVE: Thank you.
COLLINS: Well, one day soon, you may not need to carry a wallet because everything you need will literally be at your fingertips. Up next, we'll look at the benefits and the dangers of this new technology.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: That's a nice shot of the city this morning.
So will your fingers and eyes replace your checkbook and credit cards some day? It's a new way to pay and it's being tested in certain places now.
CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg does some buying of his own.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHELLE DEBOSE: I might forget my credit card, but I'm not forgetting my finger.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Michelle Debose (ph) shops for groceries at her Piggly Wiggly in South Carolina, a scan of her index finger takes the place of writing a check or swiping a credit card. Shoppers can enroll in the pay by touch biometrics system by providing a driver's license and their checking or credit card information.
DEBOSE: It's easy. It's quick. And you're not fumbling for your debit card and your checkbook to write it down.
SIEBERG (on camera): The Pig, as it's known here in the South, is testing the technology in four different stores before it rolls it out nationwide. Like any new technology, there's always a learning curve. Think back to ATM machines or buying something online. And so they want to make sure that they can balance convenience with security and privacy. I've already registered, so I can just go ahead and use my finger. Thank you.
(voice-over): And fingers aren't the only body parts with characteristics that can be used for security. There are at least half a dozen others that act as your personal password.
(on camera): I am Daniel Sieberg. I promise you I am who I say I am.
(voice-over): At the University of West Virginia's Center for Identification Technology Research, other studies include voice recognition.
MATTHEW MONACO, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA: There's actually a frequency or pitch of your voice. This is an iris scan. This is actually the most accuser biometric system in use today. This essentially is reading your palm.
SIEBERG (on camera): Not a fortune teller?
MONACO: No. It's actually...
SIEBERG: OK.
MONACO: I'm trying to see if you are actually who you say you are.
What it's measuring here is actually 14 different measurements.
SIEBERG (voice-over): Some other measures include hand geometry and facial geometry. Researchers here say a biometric can be more secure than a password or an I.D. card.
PROF. ARUN ROSS, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA: If I give my I.D. card to someone or someone stole it, then they would probably be able to misuse it. However, in biometrics, the person has to be at the point of transaction and he has to offer his biometric trait at that point.
SIEBERG: Before September 11, the focus of biometrics was mainly on making life a little easier for consumers while still helping to prevent identity theft. That focus changed dramatically after the terrorist attacks and the priority shifted to national security.
Legal experts are working directly with scientists on new security measures based on these physical characteristics.
PROF. LISA NELSON, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: People are very apprehensive about biometric technology and that fear means that they're going to be less willing to accept it as part of their daily routine. So the more that they -- the less they understand about it, the more fearful they are, which means, I think, that drive, the need for legislation, the need to build in privacy protections.
SIEBERG: Secure biometrics systems extract details from a fingerprint, iris scan or other body part, then get rid of that raw data so it can't be stolen.
PROF. LARRY HORNAK, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA: And one of the basic principles here is to make sure that you design the system and the algorithms such that you can't go backwards.
SIEBERG: Hollywood helps fuel one bizarre but common myth about biometrics. Might someone chop off my finger to get access to all my stuff? After all, it worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Sixth Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE SIXTH DAY")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: System access.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: Well, scientists say a new sensor, developed in 2003, will give a dismembered digit a definite thumbs down. Older sensors could not.
HORNAK: We've looked at the perspiration pattern that comes from the pores that you can then pick out living individuals relative to spoof or cadavers.
SIEBERG: But fingerprints can be faked -- Play Dough, melted Gummi Bears and a handful of other spoofing tools are used to create then fix vulnerabilities. A stolen fingerprint on Play Dough is a common fraud attempt.
HORNAK: With one of these, you really have only one try and then you've already deformed the spoof enough that it's not going to image very well.
SIEBERG: While biometric tools can work well for company security and retail sites, some privacy watchdogs warn that the technology is being peddled as a silver bullet for enormous tasks like securing airports and builders.
LEE TIEN, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: Our feeling is that it's just not ready for prime time right now. You can change a password. You can re-key locks. But, you know, your fingers, you know, your iris, your voice, they're you. So when someone compromises the security of that kind of biometric, you're stuck.
SIEBERG: So before getting stuck, biometric users must decide how high to set the bar to determine what's a match and what's not.
ROSS: The question is what is the cost of making an error? What is the cost of falsely accepting an imposter? If I'm falsely rejected, maybe I'm going to be upset for a couple of seconds, but I could place my finger again. But if it's a false accept, you just let the wrong person into the nuclear facility.
SIEBERG: Some systems combine two different traits, say, a fingerprint and an iris scan, that could dramatically improve security.
So as this technology grows, the next time you go to the grocery store, the cashier's question might not be paper or plastic, but rather finger or eye?
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SIEBERG: One quick sidebar on this technology is in crime fighting. The State of Illinois has been using biometrics to help curb fraud and identity theft. Since 1998, the secretary of state's office has used face geometry when residents have their pictures taken for their driver's license. And their database, which is actually one of the biggest in the world with 16 million images, has been used to track down criminals who had used more than a dozen fake identities to try to commit crimes -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It sounds incredibly cutting edge, Daniel. But it seems also that a lot of these biometric systems didn't really come to life until after 9/11.
SIEBERG: Right. Illinois is kind of ahead of a curve in a way. And face geometry, when you think about it, is fairly unobtrusive. You go to get a driver's license and you kind of expect to have your picture taken. This just adds another layer of information to that. And several other states have actually followed the lead of Illinois.
COLLINS: All right, so what have you got coming up tomorrow on DAYBREAK?
SIEBERG: Tomorrow is a very interesting story on a growing e- mail scam called phishing, the idea being that scammers are sending you what looks like an update on your billing and it turns out to be they're stealing your information. And a really interesting story here is they ended up hooking the wrong guy. They hooked an FBI agent. And we'll tell you tomorrow whether they -- whether he managed to land them in jail.
COLLINS: Huh. Not the guy who's door you want to be knocking on for something like that.
SIEBERG: That's right. Exactly.
COLLINS: All right, Daniel Sieberg, nice to see you.
SIEBERG: You, too, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thanks so much.
SIEBERG: Thanks.
COLLINS: The decision is in the hands of the Supreme Court now, but you might be surprised to hear how the American public feels about medical marijuana. That's ahead.
And later, do you know how to say you're fired in Hebrew? Israel's got its own version of "The Apprentice." We'll have a preview of it, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired November 30, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush tries to mend fences with an old ally. Meantime, he's putting a new face on his economic team.
And then it's a new way to pay and it's right at your fingertips.
Later this hour, reality shows aren't just sweeping the U.S. We'll show you reality TV Israeli style.
It's Tuesday, November 30, and you're watching DAYBREAK.
Good morning, everybody.
Thanks for waking up with us.
I'm Heidi Collins in today for Carol Costello.
A lot going on this morning, so we want to check the headlines now in the news.
In the northern Iraqi city of Baiji, a car bomb attack on a U.S. Army patrol has left three Americans injured, along with 17 Iraqis. Four Iraqi civilians were killed.
A warning from Iran this morning. It says a freeze on its nuclear program won't go on forever, only long enough to finish nuclear talks with Europe. Iran also says it doesn't want the talks to drag on.
Ukraine's parliament is holding an emergency session today to discuss the country's presidential election crisis. Members are considering a motion of no confidence in the election's declared winner, Viktor Yushchenko. They also passed a resolution several days ago declaring the election invalid.
The California Supreme Court turns down Scott Peterson's request for a new jury to hear life or death arguments. The Court also denied a request to move the trial out of Redwood City.
Rob Marciano now with a check of the weather for us -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: President Bush heads to Canada in the few hours, the first official visit there by a U.S. president in nearly a decade. Mr. Bush heads from Washington to the Canadian capital of Ottawa, where he meets with Prime Minister Paul Martin. Tomorrow, the president wraps up his trip in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He'll thank area provinces for taking in thousands of stranded Americans on 9/11. More than 200 planes heading for the U.S. were diverted to Canada after the terror attacks.
Security, as you would imagine, tight for the presidential visit amid ongoing tensions over the Iraq war. Anti-war protests are expected in Ottawa.
And when was the last time a U.S. president made a state visit to Canada? Well, it was in 1995, when Bill Clinton headed north.
The president's trip to Canada comes as more cabinet changes are being announced. This time it's the president's economic team feeling the impact.
For the comings and goings of the White House and on Capitol Hill, we go to CNN Radio's Dick Uliano in Washington -- Dick, good morning to you.
DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Tell us what's happening.
What's the biggest talker right now in Washington?
ULIANO: Well, the president's trip to Canada here comes amid the remaking of his economic team here in Washington. And the president's latest pick, of course, is that of commerce secretary, Carlos Gutierrez. He is the chief executive officer of Kellogg's, the cereal company. And Carlos Gutierrez, like the president's pick for attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, has the life story that President Bush so relishes -- individuals who pull themselves up from their own bootstraps.
After fleeing communist Cuba, Gutierrez sold Kellogg's Frosted Flakes from a van in Mexico and eventually rising to lead the company, Kellogg's. And Wall Street simply loves him because he's turned this company around in the past few years.
And another change, economic adviser Stephen Friedman, we are told by aides, is stepping down.
And also, Heidi, the president's trip to Canada, a two day visit, comes as the showdown in Washington continues over overhauling the intelligence community. There are still -- there's still staunch opposition about how to do this and whether a national intelligence director should have control over all 15 of the nation's intelligence agencies. And so that fight continues.
Congress won't be back, though, until December 6 or 7.
COLLINS: Yes, and people are waiting around trying to figure out what's going to happen there next.
All right, Dick Uliano, we certainly appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much.
In Colorado now, the Montrose County coroner says he is 99.9 percent sure they have recovered the body of Dick Ebersol's youngest son. The NBC executive and his two boys were on a charter jet heading for Indiana when it crashed just after takeoff in Colorado. Ebersol and his oldest son survived. It now appears likely that his 14-year- old son did not.
Here's what the coroner said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK YOUNG, MONTROSE COUNTY CORONER'S OFFICE: We recovered, about 5:00 p.m. local time this afternoon, a body that matches the description of Teddy Ebersol. We are 99.9 percent sure that it is him. We are having dental records flown in overnight. We'll make positive confirmation via dental records tomorrow morning and then he'll be released to his family.
May god bless us all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Federal investigators have recovered the plane's cockpit voice recorder and are hoping it will provide some clues as to what happened,.
There are new allegations this morning of Iraqi detainees being tortured by U.S. forces. The "New York Times" says a team from the International Red Cross sent confidential reports to Washington claiming torture was used on prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. Administration and military officials confirm the report was received in July and sharply reject the charges.
Meanwhile, there seems to be growing concern about whether Iraq's national elections should take place in two months. Iraqi leaders and the Bush administration are adamant the polls will open January 30th. But others aren't so sure.
Here's CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With U.S., Iraqi and British troops hunting down insurgents in operations like this one along the Euphrates River, the United States insists Iraqi elections will be held January 30 as scheduled.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no reason they shouldn't. We're working hard on it. The U.N. has increased its presence. There are thousands of Iraqis who are working on registration and getting ready for the elections.
MCINTYRE: But in many Sunni-dominated parts of Iraq, no one has yet been registered, two months before the elections. And insurgents continue to wage a campaign of organized crime-style intimidation, with tactics one journalist called more like "The Sopranos" than "Black Hawk Down." It's a description Pentagon officials do not dispute.
In Ramadi, a suicide bomber plowed into a crowd of police waiting outside the police station to be paid, killing a dozen people and wounding at least 10 others. In Mosul, 40 dead bodies have been found in the past week. Most had been bound and shot execution style. And there are even sporadic attacks in Falluja, three weeks after an offensive that routed insurgents. Large stockpiles of weapons are still turning up.
Pentagon officials say across Iraq, attacks in recent days have dropped, from more than 100 a day to an average of to only 50 or 60. But while violence may be down, the fear is up.
JOHN HENDREN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": In Ramadi, where I just was, I was told by military commanders there that the National Guard is basically ineffective because they're under so much threat to their families, in a very tightly knit tribal area. So they're going to have to import National Guard troops -- Iraqi National Guard troops -- from elsewhere.
MCINTYRE: With two months to go, the Pentagon lists 114,000 Iraqi security forces that, on paper, are trained and on hand, at least 10,000 shy of what it believes will be necessary to provide security for the elections.
(on camera): Meanwhile, the Pentagon has decided to extend the stay of some 6,500 U.S. soldiers to beef up U.S. troop levels in January. But no decision has yet been made to send fresh troops in early.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Life or death for Scott Peterson -- that's the question for a California jury, the same one that convicted him of murder. More at 12 after.
Later in the hour, the Supreme Court will weigh in, but what do you think? At 34 after, we'll get your take on some major issues before the high court.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning, November 30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It is now 6:11.
Here's what's all new this morning.
As international trips go, it's not that far. President Bush leaves today for a two day visit to Canada. There's a lot of anti-war sentiment in Canada and the president will not be addressing Canada's parliament.
A new videotape from Osama bin Laden's right hand man airs on Al Jazeera TV. In the tape, Ayman el-Zawahiri promises to continue fighting the U.S. until America changes its policies on Muslims. The tape appears to have been made before this month's presidential elections.
In money, Saudi Arabia is trying to calm fears over high oil prices. The Saudi energy chief says his country will boost oil production. Prices are near $50 a barrel now.
In culture, a manuscript of Truman Capote's unpublished first book has been found among the late writer's old papers. Sotheby's auction house takes bids on it this week.
And in sports, another milestone for quarterback Brett Favre. Favre started his 200th consecutive regular game, season game, last night. He threw three T.D. passes as the Packers thumped the Rams 45- 7.
I think that's a very nice word for it, don't you -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Thumping? A good thumping?
COLLINS: Yes, thumping. They thumped it, mucked it on down.
MARCIANO: They got it done, that's for sure. And he would -- he's definitely the man.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that game, if you got a chance to watch it, as we head into -- closer to the playoffs. Always a good time of year.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: We want to get to something else, though, this morning.
Scott Peterson's life hangs in the balance. The penalty phase of Peterson's murder trial gets under way at 12:00 Eastern today. It's expected to be a very emotional day for the families and the jury deciding whether Peterson lives or dies.
Here to talk about it is Court TV correspondent Amanda Grove.
Amanda, thanks for being here.
AMANDA GROVE, COURT TV CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
COLLINS: It's going to be a really tough day. GROVE: It is. It's going to be very emotional, as you said, very painful for the family and for the jurors to listen to.
COLLINS: What do you think is going to happen?
GROVE: Ultimately I believe that Scott Peterson will get the death penalty. Certainly at this point the options are life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Either one is a very serious sentence. But there are other people on California death row for murdering spouses who were pregnant. He would not be the first. And I think that this jury could find that that is the appropriate sentence.
COLLINS: Well, what will the jury hear today? I mean who are they going to hear from?
GROVE: The penalty phase is a mini-trial. They're going to hear opening statements by both...
COLLINS: It usually takes like four or five days?
GROVE: It's going to take, in this case, four or five days, Judge Delucchi has said. We're going to hear openings from the attorneys, we're going to hear closings. And in the middle, there's going to be a trial. There's going to be witnesses, family witnesses from Laci's side. We expect her mother, her sister, her stepfather, her brother. On Scott Peterson's side, we don't have the list of who is going to appear, but we are guessing his parents may, relatives may, and others who have experienced the good in Scott Peterson -- acts of charitable kindness, anything that would mitigate his sentence.
COLLINS: If they were to come back with life in prison, what would it be, in your mind, that would change the jury? I mean we've already heard so much about they are not friendly toward Scott Peterson. We know that he's been convicted. We remember when he came into the courtroom and that sentence was -- I mean the verdict was actually being announced. They didn't make eye contact with him.
Is that also what kind of leads you to believe that this could actually be the death penalty that he would get?
GROVE: Well, from the beginning, this jury knew that it was a death penalty case. They have been qualified as a death penalty jury. They've heard all the testimony. They probably have made up their minds already, individually, as the trial went through. They're not supposed to. They're supposed to wait for the penalty phase. But I'm sure each of those jurors in their hearts know what they think is the appropriate sentence.
Now is the time to hear from the families, to hear both sides and to again sit down and make a very difficult decision.
But we know they've already convicted him. So certainly they are convinced of his guilt and it seems that they don't like him, as you said. But whether it will be life and death is something that they need to unanimously, completely unanimously decide at the end of this penalty phase.
COLLINS: And how difficult for Laci's mother to go up there. We remember way, way back when she went before the cameras and spoke about how angry she was and how emotional that was. She'll be going through that again.
GROVE: Yes. It is difficult. But in a way it is closure. She will finally be able to address the jurors, to speak about her loss and her love for her daughter, as will all the family members. And I think that there's something probably healthy from a psychological standpoint about finally being able to speak about her devastating loss.
COLLINS: Quickly before we let you go, I know Mark Geragos tried to get this trial moved out of Redwood City, tried to get a new jury seated for the penalty phase. Your thoughts on that.
GROVE: Yes...
COLLINS: I mean they were both denied.
GROVE: Yes, just yesterday the California Supreme Court said no. They denied his request. It will be this jury. It will be this venue. That was expected. His motions were expected and the ruling was expected. It cleared the way for today. If the Supreme Court had ruled otherwise, we would not be talking about it today. We'd been on hold once again.
COLLINS: Yes.
GROVE: And I think those justices have decided that, no, this is going forward.
COLLINS: Now is the time.
All right, Amanda Grove, thanks so much for that today.
GROVE: Thank you.
COLLINS: Well, one day soon, you may not need to carry a wallet because everything you need will literally be at your fingertips. Up next, we'll look at the benefits and the dangers of this new technology.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: That's a nice shot of the city this morning.
So will your fingers and eyes replace your checkbook and credit cards some day? It's a new way to pay and it's being tested in certain places now.
CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg does some buying of his own.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHELLE DEBOSE: I might forget my credit card, but I'm not forgetting my finger.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Michelle Debose (ph) shops for groceries at her Piggly Wiggly in South Carolina, a scan of her index finger takes the place of writing a check or swiping a credit card. Shoppers can enroll in the pay by touch biometrics system by providing a driver's license and their checking or credit card information.
DEBOSE: It's easy. It's quick. And you're not fumbling for your debit card and your checkbook to write it down.
SIEBERG (on camera): The Pig, as it's known here in the South, is testing the technology in four different stores before it rolls it out nationwide. Like any new technology, there's always a learning curve. Think back to ATM machines or buying something online. And so they want to make sure that they can balance convenience with security and privacy. I've already registered, so I can just go ahead and use my finger. Thank you.
(voice-over): And fingers aren't the only body parts with characteristics that can be used for security. There are at least half a dozen others that act as your personal password.
(on camera): I am Daniel Sieberg. I promise you I am who I say I am.
(voice-over): At the University of West Virginia's Center for Identification Technology Research, other studies include voice recognition.
MATTHEW MONACO, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA: There's actually a frequency or pitch of your voice. This is an iris scan. This is actually the most accuser biometric system in use today. This essentially is reading your palm.
SIEBERG (on camera): Not a fortune teller?
MONACO: No. It's actually...
SIEBERG: OK.
MONACO: I'm trying to see if you are actually who you say you are.
What it's measuring here is actually 14 different measurements.
SIEBERG (voice-over): Some other measures include hand geometry and facial geometry. Researchers here say a biometric can be more secure than a password or an I.D. card.
PROF. ARUN ROSS, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA: If I give my I.D. card to someone or someone stole it, then they would probably be able to misuse it. However, in biometrics, the person has to be at the point of transaction and he has to offer his biometric trait at that point.
SIEBERG: Before September 11, the focus of biometrics was mainly on making life a little easier for consumers while still helping to prevent identity theft. That focus changed dramatically after the terrorist attacks and the priority shifted to national security.
Legal experts are working directly with scientists on new security measures based on these physical characteristics.
PROF. LISA NELSON, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: People are very apprehensive about biometric technology and that fear means that they're going to be less willing to accept it as part of their daily routine. So the more that they -- the less they understand about it, the more fearful they are, which means, I think, that drive, the need for legislation, the need to build in privacy protections.
SIEBERG: Secure biometrics systems extract details from a fingerprint, iris scan or other body part, then get rid of that raw data so it can't be stolen.
PROF. LARRY HORNAK, UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA: And one of the basic principles here is to make sure that you design the system and the algorithms such that you can't go backwards.
SIEBERG: Hollywood helps fuel one bizarre but common myth about biometrics. Might someone chop off my finger to get access to all my stuff? After all, it worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Sixth Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE SIXTH DAY")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: System access.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: Well, scientists say a new sensor, developed in 2003, will give a dismembered digit a definite thumbs down. Older sensors could not.
HORNAK: We've looked at the perspiration pattern that comes from the pores that you can then pick out living individuals relative to spoof or cadavers.
SIEBERG: But fingerprints can be faked -- Play Dough, melted Gummi Bears and a handful of other spoofing tools are used to create then fix vulnerabilities. A stolen fingerprint on Play Dough is a common fraud attempt.
HORNAK: With one of these, you really have only one try and then you've already deformed the spoof enough that it's not going to image very well.
SIEBERG: While biometric tools can work well for company security and retail sites, some privacy watchdogs warn that the technology is being peddled as a silver bullet for enormous tasks like securing airports and builders.
LEE TIEN, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: Our feeling is that it's just not ready for prime time right now. You can change a password. You can re-key locks. But, you know, your fingers, you know, your iris, your voice, they're you. So when someone compromises the security of that kind of biometric, you're stuck.
SIEBERG: So before getting stuck, biometric users must decide how high to set the bar to determine what's a match and what's not.
ROSS: The question is what is the cost of making an error? What is the cost of falsely accepting an imposter? If I'm falsely rejected, maybe I'm going to be upset for a couple of seconds, but I could place my finger again. But if it's a false accept, you just let the wrong person into the nuclear facility.
SIEBERG: Some systems combine two different traits, say, a fingerprint and an iris scan, that could dramatically improve security.
So as this technology grows, the next time you go to the grocery store, the cashier's question might not be paper or plastic, but rather finger or eye?
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SIEBERG: One quick sidebar on this technology is in crime fighting. The State of Illinois has been using biometrics to help curb fraud and identity theft. Since 1998, the secretary of state's office has used face geometry when residents have their pictures taken for their driver's license. And their database, which is actually one of the biggest in the world with 16 million images, has been used to track down criminals who had used more than a dozen fake identities to try to commit crimes -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It sounds incredibly cutting edge, Daniel. But it seems also that a lot of these biometric systems didn't really come to life until after 9/11.
SIEBERG: Right. Illinois is kind of ahead of a curve in a way. And face geometry, when you think about it, is fairly unobtrusive. You go to get a driver's license and you kind of expect to have your picture taken. This just adds another layer of information to that. And several other states have actually followed the lead of Illinois.
COLLINS: All right, so what have you got coming up tomorrow on DAYBREAK?
SIEBERG: Tomorrow is a very interesting story on a growing e- mail scam called phishing, the idea being that scammers are sending you what looks like an update on your billing and it turns out to be they're stealing your information. And a really interesting story here is they ended up hooking the wrong guy. They hooked an FBI agent. And we'll tell you tomorrow whether they -- whether he managed to land them in jail.
COLLINS: Huh. Not the guy who's door you want to be knocking on for something like that.
SIEBERG: That's right. Exactly.
COLLINS: All right, Daniel Sieberg, nice to see you.
SIEBERG: You, too, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thanks so much.
SIEBERG: Thanks.
COLLINS: The decision is in the hands of the Supreme Court now, but you might be surprised to hear how the American public feels about medical marijuana. That's ahead.
And later, do you know how to say you're fired in Hebrew? Israel's got its own version of "The Apprentice." We'll have a preview of it, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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