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CNN Live At Daybreak
Archbishop Released; 'America's Voice'; Picking a PDA; 'Today's Talker'
Aired January 18, 2005 - 06:28 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: Word just in to CNN minutes ago. A Catholic archbishop abducted yesterday in Mosul has been released. CNN has just confirmed that with the Vatican.
Let's head live now to Jeff Koinange in Baghdad for more.
Hello -- Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN LAGOS BUREAU CHIEF: Hello there, Carol.
Yes, a bit of good news coming out this Tuesday morning. We can confirm that Archbishop Basil George Casmoussa has been released, according to the Vatican spokesman here in Baghdad. He says he is actually spoken to the archbishop, and he is in good health. He is well. And that the Vatican did not pay a ransom for his release.
This is contrary to reports in the last 24 hours or so that said that the kidnappers had actually demanded up to $200,000 for the release of the archbishop. The Vatican denying that, saying the archbishop has been released with a ransom.
All of this coming on the day when Iraq's interior ministry has announced some new security measures. Starting January 29 and through the 31st, all borders will be closed as, in their words, a security precaution in the period of the elections.
This coming on a day when yet another suicide bombing right here in Baghdad. In fact, it was so loud, we heard the explosion right here in our offices, which shook the walls and rattled the windows.
According to the spokesman for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, or SCIRI -- that's the main Shia political party -- a vehicle tried to make its way past the first barrier leading to the headquarters. The guards there opened fire on the vehicle, which detonated, killing one of the guards and injuring up to nine people.
U.S. forces on the ground have secured the area. Ambulances have taken the injured to nearby hospitals.
Now, this is the second such attack on this political party. The first attack on December 27 killed six people and wounded up to 33.
So, the violence continues with elections now just 12 days away -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange live in Baghdad this morning. Thank you.
An estimated one million eligible Iraqis living here in the United States and in 13 other countries are registering to vote in their country's first independent election in 50 years. Registration is possible at seven cities in the United States. Many Iraqis say they're happy to travel any distance just for a chance to help determine Iraq's future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's wonderful (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We've had (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Now, we feel so great. We are freedom. We are free in this country. But the people there are going to be free, have their ideas, their freedom and everything. This is a great day for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first stage to change Iraq to the better and to grow democratic and democracy in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Voting sites are in Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
We've got new numbers for you this morning about Iraq, about Condoleezza Rice and her confirmation hearings later this morning. So, let's head live to Princeton, New Jersey, and Mr. Numbers, Frank Newport.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Condoleezza Rice, as we know, begins the confirmation hearing process in the Senate today. Well, we'll be tracking her for the next four years, assuming she is confirmed, which everybody assumes she will be.
How does she stand as she starts? Right here, a 63 percent favorable rating from the American public. Certainly not nearly as high as her predecessor, Colin Powell. Look at that 87 percent number.
Going back to Madeleine Albright, Carol, secretary of state under Bill Clinton back in 1999 when we tested her, 61 percent, about the same as Condoleezza Rice.
But right now, she's doing about average for secretary of states. We'll see where she goes from this point.
COSTELLO: Interesting. The current secretary of state, Colin Powell, said U.S. troops could be leaving Iraq later this year. Are Americans buying that, Frank?
NEWPORT: Well, mixed sentiments on the part of the American public. We gave them a question. We asked them when they thought troops would be leaving Iraq, and I'll show you the answers right here. Only about 15 percent are optimistic enough to say the troops will be able to leave after the elections within the next few months.
But a sizable number of Americans do agree that in the next few years -- not this year as Secretary of State Powell said -- they'll leave, at 43 percent. But the rest of Americans say they don't know, indeterminate, when troops will be able to leave.
I should point out, we updated a number that we had been asking this same question, Carol, about the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and we've been asking it about the Iraq War, so we have a lot of trend on this. Was it a mistake for the U.S. to have been involved? The numbers had been a little more optimistic this fall during the election, but now we're back up to slightly over half, 52 percent of Americans who say yes it was a mistake.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about President Bush's second term. It begins on Thursday. What are his approval ratings?
NEWPORT: Well, his approval ratings are hovering right now in the 51-52 percent range. In fact, we've got a whole spate of new polls that have just come out, and they're all showing roughly the same thing.
One thing we will point out, though, Carol, is that Americans now are less satisfied with the way things are going than they were when he first was inaugurated. Asked backwards four years to January '01, 56 percent of Americans were satisfied. Now that's down to 46.
Carol, a lot of it has to do with the economy and the Iraq War. A lot has changed in the last four years.
COSTELLO: Boy, you're not kidding. Frank Newport live in Princeton, New Jersey. Thank you.
We've talked about the magnitude of the security operation under way in the nation's capital for Thursday's inauguration. But perhaps no one has a more intense job on that day than the Secret Service.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien joins us now with a look at what she's working on this morning for "AMERICAN MORNING."
Hello -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol. Good morning to you.
Yes, as you mentioned, security is going to be unprecedented. This, of course, is because this is the first post-9/11 inauguration.
This morning, we're going to talk to a security professional. Joseph Petro (ph), was, in fact, in charge of the inauguration back in 1989. We're going to ask him what the security measures are like this time around. How do you protect not only the president, but the entire city of Washington? We're going to get a special inside look from a Secret Service insider. That's a little bit ahead this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING" -- Carol. COSTELLO: And we look forward to it. Thank you, Soledad.
Back to one of our top stories in just a few minutes, Condoleezza Rice preparing to be grilled on the Hill. How will her new role play into the political power struggle? That is today's hot talker.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Gadgets to go. Even though you're on the move, you don't have to be out of touch. There are all kinds of personal digital assistants out there. But how do you pick on that's right for you?
DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi is here to help us narrow down the choices.
And there are a lot of choices these days.
ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, there's a lot of stuff actually. I was looking through all of the things that you can use if you don't get your gadget through your place of work. So, we carry them around. But if you don't work somewhere where you need to have your e-mail all the time or you don't want to connect into your work, there are a number of things that you can buy now where you can use your own e-mail account and retrieve your own e-mail on the road.
Now, the ubiquitous one, obviously, is the Blackberry. And there are many, many different kinds of Blackberrys. But they've come out with this new gadget really aimed at the home user, about $200. And this particular one is only available through T-Mobile. Now, you can get different Blackberrys through all sorts of other users.
Now, just for those of you who don't use them or don't know what they're about, the idea is you get your e-mail directly to a handheld device. You can check it. You can send it. You can do all of your e-mail stuff. The ones I looked at, the various ones I've looked at today all have those thumb keyboards...
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: ... the ones that give you thumbitis (ph). You can attach it to your personal e-mail very easily. You can use a cell phone network. The idea is that these are offered by the cell phone providers, and it uses that network. In most cases, they're always on, which means you can get these things whenever they come in. So, that was a Blackberry, about $200 depending on the offer that you get.
Now, one of the cheap competitors to the Blackberry, certainly in the business world for corporate users, for heavy users, is the PalmOne Treo. Now, this is a 650. You notice it's smaller than the Blackberry in terms of its keyboard. So, you know, a little harder to push buttons on if you've got, you know, hand knuckles like mine. But it's a phone. It's got all sorts of functionality. The 650 is about $450. You can buy a 600 for about $300, and that will give you everything you need in one little device with a little keyboard.
One of the things that a lot of the kids use, although I've seen a lot of adults use it because it's a neat little gadget, is also from T-Mobile. It's called a Sidekick, kind of shaped like -- this is my old Blackberry. It's kind of shaped like that. And the screen flips over, and you can send -- well, maybe I should hold that up for the camera. The screen flips over, and you can use it to send your e- mails and get attachments and things. Very, very convenient for the average user.
I'm actually holding an old Blackberry in my hand. I'm just giving you a sense of what it feels like to use this Sidekick. I think we might have a picture of the Sidekick. Some people call it the "danger" as well, which is an odd name. There it is. That's the one from T-Mobile.
And finally, also very funky is this one from Nokia, which looks really weird when you look at it. I think we can bring that up. It's also got e-mail functionality. That's the Treo that I was just showing you. That's from PalmOne. The Nokia device is sort of elongated. I think we probably got something of that. And also the kids like that, because it kind of looks like a video game.
So, there are all sorts of devices for people who want to get their e-mail...
COSTELLO: Yes, you're talking about the initial price to buy one of those things. But per month, how much does it cost you, especially as a parent?
VELSHI: It's $40 to $60 a month. And I'm actually kind of recommending them for people who have some reason to want their e- mail. That's the Nokia one there. Forty to $60 a month in addition to your normal cell service, but all of these are also phones. So, you're paying -- you've got all of your phone calls available, and in most cases unlimited e-mail messages and data.
COSTELLO: That's something else. So, you can just work constantly.
VELSHI: You can just work constantly. But exercise those thumbs.
COSTELLO: That's right, because we talked in the 5:00 hour about them. You know, it's that carpal tunnel syndrome from a phone.
VELSHI: Yes, I mean, there's really no natural reason to exercise your thumbs. So, if you don't do it deliberately...
COSTELLO: You know, I never thought about that, but you're right.
VELSHI: Yes. E-mail question tomorrow, I think.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Ali Velshi.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:41 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
There has been a suicide car bombing in Baghdad right outside of an office of one of Iraq's biggest Shiite political parties. A guard who tried to stop the vehicle was killed, several other people were hurt.
Love among the ruins. An Indian couple who survived the tsunamis got married at a relief camp. They were separated during the disaster, but managed to find each other again.
In money news, Electronic Arts, which makes video games like "Madden NFL," says it's signed a 15-year deal with ESPN. It will pay ESPN $750 million to $850 million for exclusive rights to use the ESPN brand name on its games.
In culture, actress Virginia Mayo, who appeared in such films as "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "White Heat," has died at the age of 84. She died yesterday of pneumonia near Los Angeles.
In sports, it took American Andy Roddick just over 90 minutes to win his first round match at the Australian Open. The No. 2 seed reached the semifinals of the Aussie last year. Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport also won their first round matches.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I wasn't paying complete attention to you, because finally they have unveiled this Airbus in Toulouse, France. You can see all of the government leaders and all of the company officials standing by this humongous airplane. And it is enormous. It's a two-level Airbus A380. It is the largest passenger jet ever built. It cost a staggering $13 billion to develop.
This thing can seat 555 passengers, and maybe even up to 800 passengers. It travels at 647 miles per hour. And inside they're even thinking of putting, like, spas and shopping, full-service wet bars, and maybe even nurseries and playrooms for the kids. That's how big this thing is. It's a double-decker plane.
We're going to have much more about this Airbus.
Chad...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, if this...
COSTELLO: ... do you want to say something about this amazing plane?
MYERS: If this thing had ears it would be Dumbo. It's a Dumbo jet. Holy cow!
COSTELLO: Well, a lot of airports within the United States had to, like, tweak their runways to accommodate it, because it's just so darn big.
MYERS: You'll have to arrive three hours before your plane, because it's going to take so long to get that many people on.
COSTELLO: And it's so expensive. They don't quite know how much the price of a ticket will be yet.
MYERS: It would be nice, though, if you are claustrophobic, or if you just don't like the small RJ's (ph) to be able to fly on something that large, where you can actually get up and move around.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. And actually, you'll get a massage and maybe their legs waxed as you fly.
MYERS: Well maybe not on the wax, but anyway I'll take the massage.
COSTELLO: Exactly. All right, DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "AMERICAN MORNING" is helping creating a "New You." So, let's check in with Bill Hemmer for a look at what's coming up on today's show.
A "New You." Does that mean a new Bill Hemmer?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No, not necessarily. I can learn something from these people, though, Carol. Yes, we went out and we took thousands of e-mails here at "AMERICAN MORNING." We chose five people to take us through the "New You Revolution." We did this a year ago, enormously successful, and the reaction we got from our viewers demanded a repeat performance this year.
Today, you'll meet the Reverend Leigh Ann Raynor. She's a minister in Thomasville, Georgia. She's looking to lose 60 pounds. She wants to stop smoking and have her own congregation. A very tall order. A tall order for our own Sanjay Gupta to help tackle that. So, she is the second participant you will be introduced to this week. So, you'll meet her coming up this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
And also, all of the talk about Condoleezza Rice building up to the beginning of the confirmation hearings that go down at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll have it all for you then -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Sure.
COSTELLO: You are watching DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's most likely a slam dunk. Condoleezza Rice will appear before senators for her confirmation hearing later this morning. It will be a slam dunk, because no one thinks she will not be confirmed as the next secretary of state. So, why bother?
Debating the issue from the right, Brendan Miniter from "The Wall Street Journal," and from the left, syndicated talker Nancy Skinner.
Welcome to you both.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
BRENDAN MINITER, "OPINION JOURNAL": Good morning.
COSTELLO: OK. Will there really be a spirited debate, Nancy?
SKINNER: I think there will be some discussion. With this administration, nothing succeeds like failure. So, she has a record, Condoleezza Rice. She may be brilliant, but she was the person at the center of the dispute over intelligence in the war in Iraq.
She was the one telling Colin Powell to keep all of that junk intelligence in, as he went to the United Nations. She was the one who missed that presidential briefing that said Saddam -- or Osama bin Laden was seeking to attack the United States. The famous speech, the Niger uranium speech, she let that continue to go into the president's State of the Union address.
And we're rewarding her, much as the rest of this administration rewards others, gives them Medals of Freedom for failure. It's astounding, but she'll slide right by.
COSTELLO: She's like grace under pressure is her middle name, it seems. Brendan, do you agree with Nancy?
MINITER: Well, I think it will certainly be controversial today. This is the first chance since the election that we really have a chance to rehash Iraq, and we're going to certainly see that done.
But there are two other things to watch today, and that essentially is Condoleezza Rice is going to be on the spot to say where she wants to take state, what she wants to do different than Colin Powell, how she's going to repair relations with Europe in particular.
And then also, there are a few new faces on the committee. Certainly, John Kerry is on the committee. But also Barack Obama and Mel Martinez are on the committee, faces that we saw lot of this year.
COSTELLO: Have we gotten any hints at all as to how she might perform as secretary of state, Nancy?
SKINNER: Well, she's not well-received in the rest of the world. She may be a rock star here, but the rest of the world understands the pivotal role she played in pushing bogus intelligence and leading us to war. They know that. They know she was a pivotal player.
So, it's really a slap in the face of many of the allies that we're trying to recover. She doesn't play in Peoria like she plays abroad.
COSTELLO: Brendan, do you agree with that? MINITER: No, I don't. You know, look, she certainly has been a key player in the administration, particularly on Iraq policy and in the war on terror in general. And so, now she gets to actually stand up and be a face of diplomacy. And is that going to play well in Peoria? Yes. She's actually popular.
You had numbers on here this morning. She has a favorable rating of 63 percent. And, you know, she's very personable if you meet her or when she gets on stage and you listen to her talk. She's very well-received.
SKINNER: That's here in the United States. What I'm saying is abroad, where people know the role she played in the Iraq War. It's not covered up. They don't perceive her the same way they do here in the United States.
MINITER: Well, I guess we're going to find out.
COSTELLO: Yes, we will. Brendan Miniter and Nancy Skinner, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
SKINNER: Hey, Carol, it's my last DAYBREAK. I'm starting my new radio gig in morning drive at WXCX in Detroit. So...
COSTELLO: You know, every time that we have a wonderful guest you on DAYBREAK, they get a great job somewhere.
SKINNER: Yes. Well, you can find me at the airwaves in Detroit, progressive talk by Jerry Springer and Al Franken and the rest of the mornings, every 6:00 to 9:00, the same time as you, Carol. Thanks a lot.
MINITER: Well, lots of luck, Nancy.
COSTELLO: Congratulations, yes.
SKINNER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Brendan. Thank you, Nancy.
Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following this week. Leaders are meeting in Japan for the World Conference on disaster reduction. One of the main points of discussion will be the establishment of a tsunami early warning system for Southern Asia.
And the state of the U.S. economy is the focus of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which will be released tomorrow afternoon. Its contents will surely have an impact on the stock market.
And at the end of the week, a group of brave and crazy souls will take a plunge in some icy water. Alaska's 19th annual Polar Bear Jump-Off Festival will raise money for the American Cancer Society.
And as long as we're talking about Alaska, we have a picture that's just too pretty not to share. It's the Aurora Borealis.
Chad, have you seen this picture?
MYERS: I've haven't seen it yet, Carol, but I've been reading all about the latest solar flare, the new solar wind that's coming out. This was actually last night up in Alaska. But there is another event that actually -- it takes about two to three days for the event. After you get a solar flare, after you get a CME, a chromal (ph) mass ejection, after you get that coming out of the sun, it takes a little while to actually get to the Earth.
And because this one was pointed directly at the Earth, it was a small solar flare. But because it was pointed directly at it and, let's say, not away from the Earth, we got these pretty pictures up there from Alaska yesterday. It's pretty amazing stuff there.
COSTELLO: Absolutely gorgeous.
MYERS: Yes, up in the ionosphere. It will be visible again today and tomorrow, but as we get later into the forecast, that same area, the same area that had the solar flare is still very active. So, this could be going on for a couple of weeks maybe.
COSTELLO: Oh, cool.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: I just wish I was in Alaska, because it's probably warmer there than here this morning.
MYERS: At times it is, yes.
COSTELLO: Yes. I was taking a look at the headlines this morning, and I found an interesting article in "The Wall Street Journal." Did you get a lot of gift cards for Christmas?
MYERS: I did get a couple of them, places I don't shop. But, yes.
COSTELLO: Perfect then. Perfect. According to this article, there are actually Web sites that you can auction them off to people. So, if you got a $100 gift card from, let's say, Borders, and you don't want it, you put it online, and then people bid on it. And that could be an easy 75 bucks cash for you.
MYERS: It kind of makes sense, except if it's old, you don't know it's old when you buy it, right? Because they start reducing the amount that it's worth?
COSTELLO: Yes. But, yes, you can't figure that out. But as the seller, it's all plus, plus, plus.
MYERS: Well, of course.
COSTELLO: Of course. Some of the Web sites, let me run through these. There's the SwapAGift.com, S-W-A-P-A-G-I-F-T.com. That's one. And let me see if there are any others in here. CardAvenue.com, and it's all one word. CardAvenue.com. But you can see the whole article in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning.
MYERS: Good.
COSTELLO: That does it for us. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
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Aired January 18, 2005 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Word just in to CNN minutes ago. A Catholic archbishop abducted yesterday in Mosul has been released. CNN has just confirmed that with the Vatican.
Let's head live now to Jeff Koinange in Baghdad for more.
Hello -- Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN LAGOS BUREAU CHIEF: Hello there, Carol.
Yes, a bit of good news coming out this Tuesday morning. We can confirm that Archbishop Basil George Casmoussa has been released, according to the Vatican spokesman here in Baghdad. He says he is actually spoken to the archbishop, and he is in good health. He is well. And that the Vatican did not pay a ransom for his release.
This is contrary to reports in the last 24 hours or so that said that the kidnappers had actually demanded up to $200,000 for the release of the archbishop. The Vatican denying that, saying the archbishop has been released with a ransom.
All of this coming on the day when Iraq's interior ministry has announced some new security measures. Starting January 29 and through the 31st, all borders will be closed as, in their words, a security precaution in the period of the elections.
This coming on a day when yet another suicide bombing right here in Baghdad. In fact, it was so loud, we heard the explosion right here in our offices, which shook the walls and rattled the windows.
According to the spokesman for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, or SCIRI -- that's the main Shia political party -- a vehicle tried to make its way past the first barrier leading to the headquarters. The guards there opened fire on the vehicle, which detonated, killing one of the guards and injuring up to nine people.
U.S. forces on the ground have secured the area. Ambulances have taken the injured to nearby hospitals.
Now, this is the second such attack on this political party. The first attack on December 27 killed six people and wounded up to 33.
So, the violence continues with elections now just 12 days away -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange live in Baghdad this morning. Thank you.
An estimated one million eligible Iraqis living here in the United States and in 13 other countries are registering to vote in their country's first independent election in 50 years. Registration is possible at seven cities in the United States. Many Iraqis say they're happy to travel any distance just for a chance to help determine Iraq's future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's wonderful (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We've had (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Now, we feel so great. We are freedom. We are free in this country. But the people there are going to be free, have their ideas, their freedom and everything. This is a great day for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first stage to change Iraq to the better and to grow democratic and democracy in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Voting sites are in Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
We've got new numbers for you this morning about Iraq, about Condoleezza Rice and her confirmation hearings later this morning. So, let's head live to Princeton, New Jersey, and Mr. Numbers, Frank Newport.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Condoleezza Rice, as we know, begins the confirmation hearing process in the Senate today. Well, we'll be tracking her for the next four years, assuming she is confirmed, which everybody assumes she will be.
How does she stand as she starts? Right here, a 63 percent favorable rating from the American public. Certainly not nearly as high as her predecessor, Colin Powell. Look at that 87 percent number.
Going back to Madeleine Albright, Carol, secretary of state under Bill Clinton back in 1999 when we tested her, 61 percent, about the same as Condoleezza Rice.
But right now, she's doing about average for secretary of states. We'll see where she goes from this point.
COSTELLO: Interesting. The current secretary of state, Colin Powell, said U.S. troops could be leaving Iraq later this year. Are Americans buying that, Frank?
NEWPORT: Well, mixed sentiments on the part of the American public. We gave them a question. We asked them when they thought troops would be leaving Iraq, and I'll show you the answers right here. Only about 15 percent are optimistic enough to say the troops will be able to leave after the elections within the next few months.
But a sizable number of Americans do agree that in the next few years -- not this year as Secretary of State Powell said -- they'll leave, at 43 percent. But the rest of Americans say they don't know, indeterminate, when troops will be able to leave.
I should point out, we updated a number that we had been asking this same question, Carol, about the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and we've been asking it about the Iraq War, so we have a lot of trend on this. Was it a mistake for the U.S. to have been involved? The numbers had been a little more optimistic this fall during the election, but now we're back up to slightly over half, 52 percent of Americans who say yes it was a mistake.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about President Bush's second term. It begins on Thursday. What are his approval ratings?
NEWPORT: Well, his approval ratings are hovering right now in the 51-52 percent range. In fact, we've got a whole spate of new polls that have just come out, and they're all showing roughly the same thing.
One thing we will point out, though, Carol, is that Americans now are less satisfied with the way things are going than they were when he first was inaugurated. Asked backwards four years to January '01, 56 percent of Americans were satisfied. Now that's down to 46.
Carol, a lot of it has to do with the economy and the Iraq War. A lot has changed in the last four years.
COSTELLO: Boy, you're not kidding. Frank Newport live in Princeton, New Jersey. Thank you.
We've talked about the magnitude of the security operation under way in the nation's capital for Thursday's inauguration. But perhaps no one has a more intense job on that day than the Secret Service.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien joins us now with a look at what she's working on this morning for "AMERICAN MORNING."
Hello -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol. Good morning to you.
Yes, as you mentioned, security is going to be unprecedented. This, of course, is because this is the first post-9/11 inauguration.
This morning, we're going to talk to a security professional. Joseph Petro (ph), was, in fact, in charge of the inauguration back in 1989. We're going to ask him what the security measures are like this time around. How do you protect not only the president, but the entire city of Washington? We're going to get a special inside look from a Secret Service insider. That's a little bit ahead this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING" -- Carol. COSTELLO: And we look forward to it. Thank you, Soledad.
Back to one of our top stories in just a few minutes, Condoleezza Rice preparing to be grilled on the Hill. How will her new role play into the political power struggle? That is today's hot talker.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Gadgets to go. Even though you're on the move, you don't have to be out of touch. There are all kinds of personal digital assistants out there. But how do you pick on that's right for you?
DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi is here to help us narrow down the choices.
And there are a lot of choices these days.
ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, there's a lot of stuff actually. I was looking through all of the things that you can use if you don't get your gadget through your place of work. So, we carry them around. But if you don't work somewhere where you need to have your e-mail all the time or you don't want to connect into your work, there are a number of things that you can buy now where you can use your own e-mail account and retrieve your own e-mail on the road.
Now, the ubiquitous one, obviously, is the Blackberry. And there are many, many different kinds of Blackberrys. But they've come out with this new gadget really aimed at the home user, about $200. And this particular one is only available through T-Mobile. Now, you can get different Blackberrys through all sorts of other users.
Now, just for those of you who don't use them or don't know what they're about, the idea is you get your e-mail directly to a handheld device. You can check it. You can send it. You can do all of your e-mail stuff. The ones I looked at, the various ones I've looked at today all have those thumb keyboards...
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: ... the ones that give you thumbitis (ph). You can attach it to your personal e-mail very easily. You can use a cell phone network. The idea is that these are offered by the cell phone providers, and it uses that network. In most cases, they're always on, which means you can get these things whenever they come in. So, that was a Blackberry, about $200 depending on the offer that you get.
Now, one of the cheap competitors to the Blackberry, certainly in the business world for corporate users, for heavy users, is the PalmOne Treo. Now, this is a 650. You notice it's smaller than the Blackberry in terms of its keyboard. So, you know, a little harder to push buttons on if you've got, you know, hand knuckles like mine. But it's a phone. It's got all sorts of functionality. The 650 is about $450. You can buy a 600 for about $300, and that will give you everything you need in one little device with a little keyboard.
One of the things that a lot of the kids use, although I've seen a lot of adults use it because it's a neat little gadget, is also from T-Mobile. It's called a Sidekick, kind of shaped like -- this is my old Blackberry. It's kind of shaped like that. And the screen flips over, and you can send -- well, maybe I should hold that up for the camera. The screen flips over, and you can use it to send your e- mails and get attachments and things. Very, very convenient for the average user.
I'm actually holding an old Blackberry in my hand. I'm just giving you a sense of what it feels like to use this Sidekick. I think we might have a picture of the Sidekick. Some people call it the "danger" as well, which is an odd name. There it is. That's the one from T-Mobile.
And finally, also very funky is this one from Nokia, which looks really weird when you look at it. I think we can bring that up. It's also got e-mail functionality. That's the Treo that I was just showing you. That's from PalmOne. The Nokia device is sort of elongated. I think we probably got something of that. And also the kids like that, because it kind of looks like a video game.
So, there are all sorts of devices for people who want to get their e-mail...
COSTELLO: Yes, you're talking about the initial price to buy one of those things. But per month, how much does it cost you, especially as a parent?
VELSHI: It's $40 to $60 a month. And I'm actually kind of recommending them for people who have some reason to want their e- mail. That's the Nokia one there. Forty to $60 a month in addition to your normal cell service, but all of these are also phones. So, you're paying -- you've got all of your phone calls available, and in most cases unlimited e-mail messages and data.
COSTELLO: That's something else. So, you can just work constantly.
VELSHI: You can just work constantly. But exercise those thumbs.
COSTELLO: That's right, because we talked in the 5:00 hour about them. You know, it's that carpal tunnel syndrome from a phone.
VELSHI: Yes, I mean, there's really no natural reason to exercise your thumbs. So, if you don't do it deliberately...
COSTELLO: You know, I never thought about that, but you're right.
VELSHI: Yes. E-mail question tomorrow, I think.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Ali Velshi.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:41 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
There has been a suicide car bombing in Baghdad right outside of an office of one of Iraq's biggest Shiite political parties. A guard who tried to stop the vehicle was killed, several other people were hurt.
Love among the ruins. An Indian couple who survived the tsunamis got married at a relief camp. They were separated during the disaster, but managed to find each other again.
In money news, Electronic Arts, which makes video games like "Madden NFL," says it's signed a 15-year deal with ESPN. It will pay ESPN $750 million to $850 million for exclusive rights to use the ESPN brand name on its games.
In culture, actress Virginia Mayo, who appeared in such films as "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "White Heat," has died at the age of 84. She died yesterday of pneumonia near Los Angeles.
In sports, it took American Andy Roddick just over 90 minutes to win his first round match at the Australian Open. The No. 2 seed reached the semifinals of the Aussie last year. Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport also won their first round matches.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I wasn't paying complete attention to you, because finally they have unveiled this Airbus in Toulouse, France. You can see all of the government leaders and all of the company officials standing by this humongous airplane. And it is enormous. It's a two-level Airbus A380. It is the largest passenger jet ever built. It cost a staggering $13 billion to develop.
This thing can seat 555 passengers, and maybe even up to 800 passengers. It travels at 647 miles per hour. And inside they're even thinking of putting, like, spas and shopping, full-service wet bars, and maybe even nurseries and playrooms for the kids. That's how big this thing is. It's a double-decker plane.
We're going to have much more about this Airbus.
Chad...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, if this...
COSTELLO: ... do you want to say something about this amazing plane?
MYERS: If this thing had ears it would be Dumbo. It's a Dumbo jet. Holy cow!
COSTELLO: Well, a lot of airports within the United States had to, like, tweak their runways to accommodate it, because it's just so darn big.
MYERS: You'll have to arrive three hours before your plane, because it's going to take so long to get that many people on.
COSTELLO: And it's so expensive. They don't quite know how much the price of a ticket will be yet.
MYERS: It would be nice, though, if you are claustrophobic, or if you just don't like the small RJ's (ph) to be able to fly on something that large, where you can actually get up and move around.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. And actually, you'll get a massage and maybe their legs waxed as you fly.
MYERS: Well maybe not on the wax, but anyway I'll take the massage.
COSTELLO: Exactly. All right, DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "AMERICAN MORNING" is helping creating a "New You." So, let's check in with Bill Hemmer for a look at what's coming up on today's show.
A "New You." Does that mean a new Bill Hemmer?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No, not necessarily. I can learn something from these people, though, Carol. Yes, we went out and we took thousands of e-mails here at "AMERICAN MORNING." We chose five people to take us through the "New You Revolution." We did this a year ago, enormously successful, and the reaction we got from our viewers demanded a repeat performance this year.
Today, you'll meet the Reverend Leigh Ann Raynor. She's a minister in Thomasville, Georgia. She's looking to lose 60 pounds. She wants to stop smoking and have her own congregation. A very tall order. A tall order for our own Sanjay Gupta to help tackle that. So, she is the second participant you will be introduced to this week. So, you'll meet her coming up this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
And also, all of the talk about Condoleezza Rice building up to the beginning of the confirmation hearings that go down at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll have it all for you then -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Sure.
COSTELLO: You are watching DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's most likely a slam dunk. Condoleezza Rice will appear before senators for her confirmation hearing later this morning. It will be a slam dunk, because no one thinks she will not be confirmed as the next secretary of state. So, why bother?
Debating the issue from the right, Brendan Miniter from "The Wall Street Journal," and from the left, syndicated talker Nancy Skinner.
Welcome to you both.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
BRENDAN MINITER, "OPINION JOURNAL": Good morning.
COSTELLO: OK. Will there really be a spirited debate, Nancy?
SKINNER: I think there will be some discussion. With this administration, nothing succeeds like failure. So, she has a record, Condoleezza Rice. She may be brilliant, but she was the person at the center of the dispute over intelligence in the war in Iraq.
She was the one telling Colin Powell to keep all of that junk intelligence in, as he went to the United Nations. She was the one who missed that presidential briefing that said Saddam -- or Osama bin Laden was seeking to attack the United States. The famous speech, the Niger uranium speech, she let that continue to go into the president's State of the Union address.
And we're rewarding her, much as the rest of this administration rewards others, gives them Medals of Freedom for failure. It's astounding, but she'll slide right by.
COSTELLO: She's like grace under pressure is her middle name, it seems. Brendan, do you agree with Nancy?
MINITER: Well, I think it will certainly be controversial today. This is the first chance since the election that we really have a chance to rehash Iraq, and we're going to certainly see that done.
But there are two other things to watch today, and that essentially is Condoleezza Rice is going to be on the spot to say where she wants to take state, what she wants to do different than Colin Powell, how she's going to repair relations with Europe in particular.
And then also, there are a few new faces on the committee. Certainly, John Kerry is on the committee. But also Barack Obama and Mel Martinez are on the committee, faces that we saw lot of this year.
COSTELLO: Have we gotten any hints at all as to how she might perform as secretary of state, Nancy?
SKINNER: Well, she's not well-received in the rest of the world. She may be a rock star here, but the rest of the world understands the pivotal role she played in pushing bogus intelligence and leading us to war. They know that. They know she was a pivotal player.
So, it's really a slap in the face of many of the allies that we're trying to recover. She doesn't play in Peoria like she plays abroad.
COSTELLO: Brendan, do you agree with that? MINITER: No, I don't. You know, look, she certainly has been a key player in the administration, particularly on Iraq policy and in the war on terror in general. And so, now she gets to actually stand up and be a face of diplomacy. And is that going to play well in Peoria? Yes. She's actually popular.
You had numbers on here this morning. She has a favorable rating of 63 percent. And, you know, she's very personable if you meet her or when she gets on stage and you listen to her talk. She's very well-received.
SKINNER: That's here in the United States. What I'm saying is abroad, where people know the role she played in the Iraq War. It's not covered up. They don't perceive her the same way they do here in the United States.
MINITER: Well, I guess we're going to find out.
COSTELLO: Yes, we will. Brendan Miniter and Nancy Skinner, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
SKINNER: Hey, Carol, it's my last DAYBREAK. I'm starting my new radio gig in morning drive at WXCX in Detroit. So...
COSTELLO: You know, every time that we have a wonderful guest you on DAYBREAK, they get a great job somewhere.
SKINNER: Yes. Well, you can find me at the airwaves in Detroit, progressive talk by Jerry Springer and Al Franken and the rest of the mornings, every 6:00 to 9:00, the same time as you, Carol. Thanks a lot.
MINITER: Well, lots of luck, Nancy.
COSTELLO: Congratulations, yes.
SKINNER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Brendan. Thank you, Nancy.
Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following this week. Leaders are meeting in Japan for the World Conference on disaster reduction. One of the main points of discussion will be the establishment of a tsunami early warning system for Southern Asia.
And the state of the U.S. economy is the focus of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which will be released tomorrow afternoon. Its contents will surely have an impact on the stock market.
And at the end of the week, a group of brave and crazy souls will take a plunge in some icy water. Alaska's 19th annual Polar Bear Jump-Off Festival will raise money for the American Cancer Society.
And as long as we're talking about Alaska, we have a picture that's just too pretty not to share. It's the Aurora Borealis.
Chad, have you seen this picture?
MYERS: I've haven't seen it yet, Carol, but I've been reading all about the latest solar flare, the new solar wind that's coming out. This was actually last night up in Alaska. But there is another event that actually -- it takes about two to three days for the event. After you get a solar flare, after you get a CME, a chromal (ph) mass ejection, after you get that coming out of the sun, it takes a little while to actually get to the Earth.
And because this one was pointed directly at the Earth, it was a small solar flare. But because it was pointed directly at it and, let's say, not away from the Earth, we got these pretty pictures up there from Alaska yesterday. It's pretty amazing stuff there.
COSTELLO: Absolutely gorgeous.
MYERS: Yes, up in the ionosphere. It will be visible again today and tomorrow, but as we get later into the forecast, that same area, the same area that had the solar flare is still very active. So, this could be going on for a couple of weeks maybe.
COSTELLO: Oh, cool.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: I just wish I was in Alaska, because it's probably warmer there than here this morning.
MYERS: At times it is, yes.
COSTELLO: Yes. I was taking a look at the headlines this morning, and I found an interesting article in "The Wall Street Journal." Did you get a lot of gift cards for Christmas?
MYERS: I did get a couple of them, places I don't shop. But, yes.
COSTELLO: Perfect then. Perfect. According to this article, there are actually Web sites that you can auction them off to people. So, if you got a $100 gift card from, let's say, Borders, and you don't want it, you put it online, and then people bid on it. And that could be an easy 75 bucks cash for you.
MYERS: It kind of makes sense, except if it's old, you don't know it's old when you buy it, right? Because they start reducing the amount that it's worth?
COSTELLO: Yes. But, yes, you can't figure that out. But as the seller, it's all plus, plus, plus.
MYERS: Well, of course.
COSTELLO: Of course. Some of the Web sites, let me run through these. There's the SwapAGift.com, S-W-A-P-A-G-I-F-T.com. That's one. And let me see if there are any others in here. CardAvenue.com, and it's all one word. CardAvenue.com. But you can see the whole article in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning.
MYERS: Good.
COSTELLO: That does it for us. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
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