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CNN Live At Daybreak

Paying For Good Press; Identity Theft; N.J. Governor, Shock Jock Trade Barbs

Aired January 27, 2005 - 06:30   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: And good morning to you. Welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."

People from 30 nations are gathered in Poland to observe the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi's Auschwitz death camp. The Nazis killed more than a million people at Auschwitz before Soviet troops arrived on January 27, 1945.

In Toledo, Ohio, police say a Jeep production plant worker killed one person and wounded two others before killing himself. A company spokeswoman says the gunman had been recently disciplined.

A 38-year-old man in jail in Illinois is expected to be charged today with the death of an Illinois woman. Larry Bright is the key suspect in the deaths of as many as eight women.

A federal appeals court will hear arguments this morning involving Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy task force. The issue is whether a federal open government law can be used to obtain records of task force meetings.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: For the first time, a black woman is the nation's top diplomat. Condoleezza Rice was confirmed by the full Senate as secretary of state after two days of intense debate and discussion. She was sworn in yesterday evening. Rice is already planning her first trip abroad in her new role. Possibly next week, she'll likely go to Europe and to the Middle East.

President Bush is doing some damage control. He says the practice of paying commentators to talk of his agenda must stop; this, after revelations that journalist Armstrong Williams and conservative columnist Maggie Gallagher were paid government money to put a positive spin in Bush policies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I expect my cabinet secretaries to make sure that that practice doesn't go forward. There needs to be independence. And Mr. Armstrong Williams admitted he made a mistake. And we didn't know about this in the White House. All of our cabinet secretaries must realize that we will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's talk more about this using federal money to push your agenda.

Let's head live to Washington and CNN political analyst and "Los Angeles Times" columnist Ron Brownstein.

Good morning.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, the president says he didn't know that payments were being made. So, who gave the order?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, presumably the departments themselves. It is a big government, and it's a plausible argument from the president. But this certainly qualifies -- fits under the category of headaches that you don't need as president.

I mean, if you take half-a-step back and you look at the situation the president is in, he's coming into a second term when he really needs to regain momentum, a very unusual situation. His overall approval rating is around 50 percent. The violence in Iraq is unrelenting. The Social Security plan that he's been floating has been getting a very mixed response at best on Capitol Hill. And this is simply a distraction and a controversy that he doesn't need.

But with the second revelation about Maggie Gallagher, a slightly different case, you can be sure it's going to go on for a little while more.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, it's difficult to believe that this suddenly has become an issue. I mean, have you heard whispers of it in the past of payments to conservative columnists or liberal columnists to push the president's agenda through?

BROWNSTEIN: I have not actually. I mean, I think this -- one thing we're going to find out here is a little bit about congressional oversight. This is the classic kind of story where you have the first -- the one revelation and then the other that would call out of the congressional committees to look into really what happened across the government. They're the ones who have the authority to get the information far more than the press does. And we'll see whether they are willing to do it.

As you know, the Republican majority has been reluctant to hold investigative hearings about the Bush administration, fearing that it would give ammunition to Democrats. But this is certainly one where their obligation and their duty would point them in that direction.

COSTELLO: Well, you talk about ammunition to Democrats. I think the Democrats have come through. A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday dubbed the "Federal Propaganda Prohibition Act of 2005." Tell us about this. BROWNSTEIN: Well, they obviously want to prevent this from happening, and they are calling for an investigation as well. This is what you do when you're the out party. You, you know, seize it and try to focus attention on the problems that the in party runs into.

By the way, this is one reason why the history of second terms for president has generally not been very happy ones. The longer you stay in Washington, the more these kinds of problems accumulate and emerge. And it's the kind of thing that I suspect, not exactly this story, but other kinds of little ethical quirks that you may run into more over a full second term.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Ron Brownstein live from Washington. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: And by the way, Maggie Gallagher will explain herself on "AMERICAN MORNING" in the 7:00 Eastern hour. That's with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

Two Florida boys were arrested and hauled out of their elementary school in handcuffs. We're talking 9 and 10 year olds. Their crime? Drawing stick figures depicting violence. See the drawing there? The police report says one of the drawings shows the 9 and 10 year old boys on both sides of the victims. And the figures have knives in their hands, and you can see they drew a big pool of blood below the victim. Another shows a stick figure hanging.

One of the boys' parents says it's something that had to be handled by the school and should not have been handled by the courts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH TRUDEL, FATHER OF ACCUSED STUDENT: My son is not a violent person. The stick figures (UNINTELLIGIBLE) do them in school. Disciplined and being accountable for his actions? Absolutely. The suspension I agree on, because he needs to understand that this was wrong. This is not Columbine. That's all I keep hearing from everybody officially is that, you know, we have to be careful with the Columbine and 9/11. These are 9 and 10 year old children that were friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The alleged target of the drawings says he feared for his life. School administrators say the charges show a zero-tolerance policy. "AMERICAN MORNING" will have more on this story with the police investigating that case.

Bill Hemmer joins us now with a look ahead.

Good morning.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you. You know where the father stands on this. We'll talk to an officer from the Ocala Police Department. What happens now to the boys who were arrested? And what about their own background? It seems, Carol, they had a history with the alleged victim. Plus, was it really necessary to take the boys away, ages 9 and 10, in handcuffs? Police are getting an angry response from some, and we'll talk to the police down there about what they're doing now, part of our three hours this morning.

Carol -- see you a bit later.

COSTELLO: It should be an interesting conversation. Thank you, Bill.

World leaders and social activists are in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. Several speakers have warned the world's most prosperous nations must work to reduce poverty in Africa. Among those doing that are billionaire Bill Gates, entertainer Bono, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes, Incorporated, and a former U.S. presidential candidate talked about the gluttony of Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE FORBES, CEO, FORBES, INC.: In terms of Social Security reform, it helps people on the lower end, because it gives them more benefits, not less, and protects their future benefits. And in terms of a welfare reform, we did that in the U.S. 10 years ago, and it's been a great success. What a slowdown in spending means is a lot less pork. There's no shortage of piggies in Washington today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Earlier, Prime Minister Blair said Washington must work with the rest of the world on issues it considers important. Among them: battling global terrorism.

You are watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A look at international markets now, where it's been a down day. Japan's Nikkei was down almost 36 points. Britain's FTSE is down about 4. Germany's Dax is down almost 18 points.

We've heard an awful lot lately about identity theft and how you can protect yourself from it. And a lot of it has centered around your computer. But a new survey may just have you checking your wallet instead of your password.

Carrie Lee has more live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.

Good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Well, this is probably going to be a surprise to a lot of people, but over two-thirds of the cases involving identity theft actually occur offline, the majority of those originating from a lost or stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card; this, according to the 2005 identity fraud survey report by the Better Business Bureau. Just a little more than 10 percent start as a cause of online transactions.

Identity theft cases were actually on the decline in 2004. The bottom line, though, is you have to protect yourself in any of these events. Don't carry around your Social Security card, whatever you do, because the Social Security number is key. That is really the gate to a lot of other information that people can get about you. Don't carry it in your wallet. It's a good idea to shred everything that has any sort of financial information on it. And don't carry your passport with you either unless absolutely necessary.

Also interesting, about 50 percent of the time when somebody is a victim of identity theft, the victim is -- the person who has taken your information is someone who actually knows the victim. So, try to protect yourself at all costs.

Turning to futures, the markets are looking a bit weak for today's session. Tech issues are looking solidly lower at this point.

One stock to watch is going to be Sears reporting profits today. They have a history of really widely missing or widely beating the Wall Street estimate. Wall Street is looking for $1.66 on the bottom line. That its profits for $2.24 a year ago.

Carol -- that's the latest. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

World leaders are gathered in Poland to remember Holocaust victims on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. More than one million people died at the Nazi death camp. Vice President Dick Cheney is representing the United States at the ceremony.

The Library of Congress has just posted personal memories of the September 11 terrorist attacks online. It includes about 40 hours of audio and video interviews, plus poems, writings, drawings and pictures. It's called -- it's part of a set called American Memory. You can check it out at Memory.loc.gov.

In money news, Budweiser has put the cap back on one of its Super Bowl ads. "The Wall Street Journal" reports the ad is meant to explain the real story behind Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction during last year's Super Bowl. In the ad, a stage hand accidentally rips the costume while using it to open a Bud Light. The company says it doesn't want to offend anyone, but it has the ad posted on its Web site just in case you want to see it.

In culture, New York's Plaza Hotel is getting a makeover. The landmark building overlooking Central Park will close at the end of April. The owner says it will reopen next year as a condominium/hotel/retail complex.

In sports, Duke suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of its conference rival, Maryland. The 75-66 loss leaves Illinois and Boston College as the only undefeated teams in college basketball.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

You just never can tell when you'll have to suddenly change your flight plans, and airlines make a bundle off those changes. Business travelers make the most changes, and they call this practice "skyway robbery."

"USA Today's" airline report Ben Mutzabaugh has the lowdown for us.

Good morning.

BEN MUTZABAUGH, "USA TODAY": Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I've never really figured out why airlines charged to change the ticket, because they don't lose a passenger.

MUTZABAUGH: Well, they say that they need to charge these fees to cover the administrative costs with switching passengers from one flight to another. Now, that's questionable, but admittedly there are some costs involved. But whether it's the $100 fee that most major airlines will charge you to change your ticket is sort of debatable. And that's led to the skyway robbery charge, which is what Tom Parsons, an expert, has called it, and I'm sure a lot of business travelers agree with him.

COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sure they do. So, let's run down. Tell us about Delta and how much it charges to change your ticket.

MUTZABAUGH: Sure. Most major carriers charge $100, and Delta was one of those until it recently announced its simpler fares program in which they try to simplify fares, simplify fees. And they lowered their domestic fee from $100 to $50, which, you know, I think if you're a business traveler or even a leisure traveler, you don't want to pay it, but $50 is certainly easier to stomach than 100.

COSTELLO: Definitely so. But I see that charge for $200 there for international changes. And those tickets cost a lot anyway.

MUTZABAUGH: Yes. If you're doing to London or Seoul, you'd better have your plans set or be prepared to pay a premium to change your ticket.

COSTELLO: Wow! OK. Let's talk about the discount airlines.

MUTZABAUGH: Well, some of them charge $100 as well, America West and Frontier among them. But a lot of them charge considerably less. JetBlue, for example, charges $25, and Independence Air charges $25. And JetBlue even has the unique option of allowing you, if you make your changes online they only charge you $20, because it's cheaper for, like for every other airline, it's cheaper for JetBlue to get you to do your transaction online. So, it cost them less money. So, whatever charges they have, they'll give you discount for doing it online.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about Southwest, because that's like a happy thing for travelers.

MUTZABAUGH: It sure is. Regardless of your -- when your plans change at Southwest, it doesn't matter what your change is they don't charge you a fee. And that has a lot of people saying, well, Southwest obviously is the only -- one of the only profitable airlines. AirTran eked out a profit for this year as well. But if Southwest can turn a profit, and they don't charge these fees, are they really necessary to recover some of these costs? And that's what some of the critics are saying.

And Southwest's policy is probably the most customer-friendly. If you change your plans, they give you whatever amount you paid for your ticket. They put that into a credit in your name, and you can use that for travel anytime for up to a year from the time your first ticket was purchased.

The only downside -- and in my opinion, it's a relatively small one -- is they don't allow standby travel. So, if you're on a 7:00 flight and want a 5:00 flight, you'll have to cancel and rebook at the last-minute fare, but that still probably won't be more than $100 or so.

COSTELLO: Yes. That's interesting. Interesting stuff this morning. Ben Mutzabaugh from "USA Today" joining DAYBREAK. Thank you.

MUTZABAUGH: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: The governor versus the shock jock. In the category of "you just don't go there," it's a battle brewing in the Garden State all because of what one said about the other's wife.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A verbal sparring match between New Jersey's acting governor and an outspoken radio talk show host is getting quite personal. WBPI's Nora Munanic (ph) has details on the feud.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. RICHARD CODEY (D), NEW JERSEY: Somebody made disparaging remarks about my wife. I've defended my wife, like any man or husband would.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Acting Governor Dick Codey is talking about his face-to-face confrontation with a controversial radio host who made fun of Codey's wife, Mary Jo (ph), on the air. Mrs. Codey has talked publicly about her serious bouts with post-partum depression, and how it led to thoughts of hurting her two children.

On Tuesday's show, 101.5 shock jock Craig Carton suggested Mrs. Codey would have benefited from medical marijuana.

CRAIG CARTON, RADIO HOST: Maybe you could give the crazy people marijuana. Maybe it would calm them down. Maybe you wouldn't try to microwave your baby if you were stoned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Codey was at the radio station later for a call-in show, he confronted Carton.

CARTON: My problem is that the acting governor came up to me nose-to-nose with three state -- four state troopers about a foot behind him, threatening me, telling me that if he wasn't governor he'd like to take me out.

CODEY: I didn't say I'd take him out. I'd take him outside. When you're Irish, you take them outside, not out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're kind of shocked at "Governor Soprano's" approach. Typical New Jersey, right?

CARTON: A woman who thinks about boiling her child, about microwaving her kid, about drowning her kid, that's offensive to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Station officials say they provide opinion- based radio that may offend some, but they and Carton make no apologies. In fact, Carton said he's waiting for an apology from the governor.

CODEY: And a woman who is going out of her way to help other people with the same disability would have this said about her just shows an absolutely complete ignorance about the whole disease.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report was from Nora Mucanic (ph) of our affiliate WPBI in Trenton, New Jersey.

More news across America now. Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson case wants the jury to see a BBC documentary called "Living With Michael Jackson." The TV show was the trigger for the child molestation investigation. The defense claims the documentary was heavily edited in the most sensational fashion possible. The Jackson trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Tom Brady, the quarterback, is suing General Motors over a Super Bowl ad. The Patriots' quarterback says Cadillac used his likeness in an ad tied to last year's Super Bowl after his contract with the company had expired. He's seeking $2 million plus punitive damages in the suit.

A Florida man is waiting to hear if a newspaper ad can save his marriage. Larry, who didn't give his last name, took out a $17,000 full-page ad to apologize to his estranged wife. She left him two weeks ago. A relative did tell Larry that she cried when she read the ad, but Larry hasn't really heard from her yet.

This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's time to take a look at the morning headlines, Rob Marciano.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I haven't had much time to go through all of them, but this stopped me cold in "The Wall Street Journal." Have you heard about this monster thick burger from Hardee's?

MARCIANO: No. Tell me about it, because I'm hungry.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MARCIANO: Is it bad news?

COSTELLO: Well, this will (UNINTELLIGIBLE) your hunger.

MARCIANO: OK.

COSTELLO: This thing is a monster. It has 1,418 calories and 107 grams of fat.

MARCIANO: Wow!

COSTELLO: It has bacon, two hamburger patties, and lots and lots of cheese on a sesame seed bun. There are many interesting quotes in this article. Food porn, cries the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Washington advocacy group. Jay Leno joked that the monster thick burger comes in a cardboard box shaped like a coffin. Would you like a defibrillator with that, wrote the "Chicago Tribune's restaurant critic, while describing the burger as unfortunately delicious.

MARCIANO: I bet if you asked for it without the special cause it wipes out maybe 20 or 30 grams of fat. It brings it down below 100.

COSTELLO: I don't think so. I don't think so. More snow forecast for the poor people of Massachusetts?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Tomorrow on DAYBREAK, Iraqis living in America. We'll talk to them as they watch their home country prepare for the polls. Plus, good behavior pays off. I'll talk to a proud mother who is helping her son get seats at the Super Bowl.

From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.


Aired January 27, 2005 - 06:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."

People from 30 nations are gathered in Poland to observe the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi's Auschwitz death camp. The Nazis killed more than a million people at Auschwitz before Soviet troops arrived on January 27, 1945.

In Toledo, Ohio, police say a Jeep production plant worker killed one person and wounded two others before killing himself. A company spokeswoman says the gunman had been recently disciplined.

A 38-year-old man in jail in Illinois is expected to be charged today with the death of an Illinois woman. Larry Bright is the key suspect in the deaths of as many as eight women.

A federal appeals court will hear arguments this morning involving Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy task force. The issue is whether a federal open government law can be used to obtain records of task force meetings.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: For the first time, a black woman is the nation's top diplomat. Condoleezza Rice was confirmed by the full Senate as secretary of state after two days of intense debate and discussion. She was sworn in yesterday evening. Rice is already planning her first trip abroad in her new role. Possibly next week, she'll likely go to Europe and to the Middle East.

President Bush is doing some damage control. He says the practice of paying commentators to talk of his agenda must stop; this, after revelations that journalist Armstrong Williams and conservative columnist Maggie Gallagher were paid government money to put a positive spin in Bush policies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I expect my cabinet secretaries to make sure that that practice doesn't go forward. There needs to be independence. And Mr. Armstrong Williams admitted he made a mistake. And we didn't know about this in the White House. All of our cabinet secretaries must realize that we will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's talk more about this using federal money to push your agenda.

Let's head live to Washington and CNN political analyst and "Los Angeles Times" columnist Ron Brownstein.

Good morning.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, the president says he didn't know that payments were being made. So, who gave the order?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, presumably the departments themselves. It is a big government, and it's a plausible argument from the president. But this certainly qualifies -- fits under the category of headaches that you don't need as president.

I mean, if you take half-a-step back and you look at the situation the president is in, he's coming into a second term when he really needs to regain momentum, a very unusual situation. His overall approval rating is around 50 percent. The violence in Iraq is unrelenting. The Social Security plan that he's been floating has been getting a very mixed response at best on Capitol Hill. And this is simply a distraction and a controversy that he doesn't need.

But with the second revelation about Maggie Gallagher, a slightly different case, you can be sure it's going to go on for a little while more.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, it's difficult to believe that this suddenly has become an issue. I mean, have you heard whispers of it in the past of payments to conservative columnists or liberal columnists to push the president's agenda through?

BROWNSTEIN: I have not actually. I mean, I think this -- one thing we're going to find out here is a little bit about congressional oversight. This is the classic kind of story where you have the first -- the one revelation and then the other that would call out of the congressional committees to look into really what happened across the government. They're the ones who have the authority to get the information far more than the press does. And we'll see whether they are willing to do it.

As you know, the Republican majority has been reluctant to hold investigative hearings about the Bush administration, fearing that it would give ammunition to Democrats. But this is certainly one where their obligation and their duty would point them in that direction.

COSTELLO: Well, you talk about ammunition to Democrats. I think the Democrats have come through. A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday dubbed the "Federal Propaganda Prohibition Act of 2005." Tell us about this. BROWNSTEIN: Well, they obviously want to prevent this from happening, and they are calling for an investigation as well. This is what you do when you're the out party. You, you know, seize it and try to focus attention on the problems that the in party runs into.

By the way, this is one reason why the history of second terms for president has generally not been very happy ones. The longer you stay in Washington, the more these kinds of problems accumulate and emerge. And it's the kind of thing that I suspect, not exactly this story, but other kinds of little ethical quirks that you may run into more over a full second term.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Ron Brownstein live from Washington. Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: And by the way, Maggie Gallagher will explain herself on "AMERICAN MORNING" in the 7:00 Eastern hour. That's with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

Two Florida boys were arrested and hauled out of their elementary school in handcuffs. We're talking 9 and 10 year olds. Their crime? Drawing stick figures depicting violence. See the drawing there? The police report says one of the drawings shows the 9 and 10 year old boys on both sides of the victims. And the figures have knives in their hands, and you can see they drew a big pool of blood below the victim. Another shows a stick figure hanging.

One of the boys' parents says it's something that had to be handled by the school and should not have been handled by the courts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH TRUDEL, FATHER OF ACCUSED STUDENT: My son is not a violent person. The stick figures (UNINTELLIGIBLE) do them in school. Disciplined and being accountable for his actions? Absolutely. The suspension I agree on, because he needs to understand that this was wrong. This is not Columbine. That's all I keep hearing from everybody officially is that, you know, we have to be careful with the Columbine and 9/11. These are 9 and 10 year old children that were friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The alleged target of the drawings says he feared for his life. School administrators say the charges show a zero-tolerance policy. "AMERICAN MORNING" will have more on this story with the police investigating that case.

Bill Hemmer joins us now with a look ahead.

Good morning.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning to you. You know where the father stands on this. We'll talk to an officer from the Ocala Police Department. What happens now to the boys who were arrested? And what about their own background? It seems, Carol, they had a history with the alleged victim. Plus, was it really necessary to take the boys away, ages 9 and 10, in handcuffs? Police are getting an angry response from some, and we'll talk to the police down there about what they're doing now, part of our three hours this morning.

Carol -- see you a bit later.

COSTELLO: It should be an interesting conversation. Thank you, Bill.

World leaders and social activists are in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. Several speakers have warned the world's most prosperous nations must work to reduce poverty in Africa. Among those doing that are billionaire Bill Gates, entertainer Bono, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes, Incorporated, and a former U.S. presidential candidate talked about the gluttony of Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE FORBES, CEO, FORBES, INC.: In terms of Social Security reform, it helps people on the lower end, because it gives them more benefits, not less, and protects their future benefits. And in terms of a welfare reform, we did that in the U.S. 10 years ago, and it's been a great success. What a slowdown in spending means is a lot less pork. There's no shortage of piggies in Washington today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Earlier, Prime Minister Blair said Washington must work with the rest of the world on issues it considers important. Among them: battling global terrorism.

You are watching DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A look at international markets now, where it's been a down day. Japan's Nikkei was down almost 36 points. Britain's FTSE is down about 4. Germany's Dax is down almost 18 points.

We've heard an awful lot lately about identity theft and how you can protect yourself from it. And a lot of it has centered around your computer. But a new survey may just have you checking your wallet instead of your password.

Carrie Lee has more live from the Nasdaq Marketsite.

Good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Well, this is probably going to be a surprise to a lot of people, but over two-thirds of the cases involving identity theft actually occur offline, the majority of those originating from a lost or stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card; this, according to the 2005 identity fraud survey report by the Better Business Bureau. Just a little more than 10 percent start as a cause of online transactions.

Identity theft cases were actually on the decline in 2004. The bottom line, though, is you have to protect yourself in any of these events. Don't carry around your Social Security card, whatever you do, because the Social Security number is key. That is really the gate to a lot of other information that people can get about you. Don't carry it in your wallet. It's a good idea to shred everything that has any sort of financial information on it. And don't carry your passport with you either unless absolutely necessary.

Also interesting, about 50 percent of the time when somebody is a victim of identity theft, the victim is -- the person who has taken your information is someone who actually knows the victim. So, try to protect yourself at all costs.

Turning to futures, the markets are looking a bit weak for today's session. Tech issues are looking solidly lower at this point.

One stock to watch is going to be Sears reporting profits today. They have a history of really widely missing or widely beating the Wall Street estimate. Wall Street is looking for $1.66 on the bottom line. That its profits for $2.24 a year ago.

Carol -- that's the latest. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

World leaders are gathered in Poland to remember Holocaust victims on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. More than one million people died at the Nazi death camp. Vice President Dick Cheney is representing the United States at the ceremony.

The Library of Congress has just posted personal memories of the September 11 terrorist attacks online. It includes about 40 hours of audio and video interviews, plus poems, writings, drawings and pictures. It's called -- it's part of a set called American Memory. You can check it out at Memory.loc.gov.

In money news, Budweiser has put the cap back on one of its Super Bowl ads. "The Wall Street Journal" reports the ad is meant to explain the real story behind Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction during last year's Super Bowl. In the ad, a stage hand accidentally rips the costume while using it to open a Bud Light. The company says it doesn't want to offend anyone, but it has the ad posted on its Web site just in case you want to see it.

In culture, New York's Plaza Hotel is getting a makeover. The landmark building overlooking Central Park will close at the end of April. The owner says it will reopen next year as a condominium/hotel/retail complex.

In sports, Duke suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of its conference rival, Maryland. The 75-66 loss leaves Illinois and Boston College as the only undefeated teams in college basketball.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

You just never can tell when you'll have to suddenly change your flight plans, and airlines make a bundle off those changes. Business travelers make the most changes, and they call this practice "skyway robbery."

"USA Today's" airline report Ben Mutzabaugh has the lowdown for us.

Good morning.

BEN MUTZABAUGH, "USA TODAY": Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I've never really figured out why airlines charged to change the ticket, because they don't lose a passenger.

MUTZABAUGH: Well, they say that they need to charge these fees to cover the administrative costs with switching passengers from one flight to another. Now, that's questionable, but admittedly there are some costs involved. But whether it's the $100 fee that most major airlines will charge you to change your ticket is sort of debatable. And that's led to the skyway robbery charge, which is what Tom Parsons, an expert, has called it, and I'm sure a lot of business travelers agree with him.

COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sure they do. So, let's run down. Tell us about Delta and how much it charges to change your ticket.

MUTZABAUGH: Sure. Most major carriers charge $100, and Delta was one of those until it recently announced its simpler fares program in which they try to simplify fares, simplify fees. And they lowered their domestic fee from $100 to $50, which, you know, I think if you're a business traveler or even a leisure traveler, you don't want to pay it, but $50 is certainly easier to stomach than 100.

COSTELLO: Definitely so. But I see that charge for $200 there for international changes. And those tickets cost a lot anyway.

MUTZABAUGH: Yes. If you're doing to London or Seoul, you'd better have your plans set or be prepared to pay a premium to change your ticket.

COSTELLO: Wow! OK. Let's talk about the discount airlines.

MUTZABAUGH: Well, some of them charge $100 as well, America West and Frontier among them. But a lot of them charge considerably less. JetBlue, for example, charges $25, and Independence Air charges $25. And JetBlue even has the unique option of allowing you, if you make your changes online they only charge you $20, because it's cheaper for, like for every other airline, it's cheaper for JetBlue to get you to do your transaction online. So, it cost them less money. So, whatever charges they have, they'll give you discount for doing it online.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about Southwest, because that's like a happy thing for travelers.

MUTZABAUGH: It sure is. Regardless of your -- when your plans change at Southwest, it doesn't matter what your change is they don't charge you a fee. And that has a lot of people saying, well, Southwest obviously is the only -- one of the only profitable airlines. AirTran eked out a profit for this year as well. But if Southwest can turn a profit, and they don't charge these fees, are they really necessary to recover some of these costs? And that's what some of the critics are saying.

And Southwest's policy is probably the most customer-friendly. If you change your plans, they give you whatever amount you paid for your ticket. They put that into a credit in your name, and you can use that for travel anytime for up to a year from the time your first ticket was purchased.

The only downside -- and in my opinion, it's a relatively small one -- is they don't allow standby travel. So, if you're on a 7:00 flight and want a 5:00 flight, you'll have to cancel and rebook at the last-minute fare, but that still probably won't be more than $100 or so.

COSTELLO: Yes. That's interesting. Interesting stuff this morning. Ben Mutzabaugh from "USA Today" joining DAYBREAK. Thank you.

MUTZABAUGH: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: The governor versus the shock jock. In the category of "you just don't go there," it's a battle brewing in the Garden State all because of what one said about the other's wife.

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COSTELLO: A verbal sparring match between New Jersey's acting governor and an outspoken radio talk show host is getting quite personal. WBPI's Nora Munanic (ph) has details on the feud.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. RICHARD CODEY (D), NEW JERSEY: Somebody made disparaging remarks about my wife. I've defended my wife, like any man or husband would.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Acting Governor Dick Codey is talking about his face-to-face confrontation with a controversial radio host who made fun of Codey's wife, Mary Jo (ph), on the air. Mrs. Codey has talked publicly about her serious bouts with post-partum depression, and how it led to thoughts of hurting her two children.

On Tuesday's show, 101.5 shock jock Craig Carton suggested Mrs. Codey would have benefited from medical marijuana.

CRAIG CARTON, RADIO HOST: Maybe you could give the crazy people marijuana. Maybe it would calm them down. Maybe you wouldn't try to microwave your baby if you were stoned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Codey was at the radio station later for a call-in show, he confronted Carton.

CARTON: My problem is that the acting governor came up to me nose-to-nose with three state -- four state troopers about a foot behind him, threatening me, telling me that if he wasn't governor he'd like to take me out.

CODEY: I didn't say I'd take him out. I'd take him outside. When you're Irish, you take them outside, not out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're kind of shocked at "Governor Soprano's" approach. Typical New Jersey, right?

CARTON: A woman who thinks about boiling her child, about microwaving her kid, about drowning her kid, that's offensive to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Station officials say they provide opinion- based radio that may offend some, but they and Carton make no apologies. In fact, Carton said he's waiting for an apology from the governor.

CODEY: And a woman who is going out of her way to help other people with the same disability would have this said about her just shows an absolutely complete ignorance about the whole disease.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report was from Nora Mucanic (ph) of our affiliate WPBI in Trenton, New Jersey.

More news across America now. Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson case wants the jury to see a BBC documentary called "Living With Michael Jackson." The TV show was the trigger for the child molestation investigation. The defense claims the documentary was heavily edited in the most sensational fashion possible. The Jackson trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Tom Brady, the quarterback, is suing General Motors over a Super Bowl ad. The Patriots' quarterback says Cadillac used his likeness in an ad tied to last year's Super Bowl after his contract with the company had expired. He's seeking $2 million plus punitive damages in the suit.

A Florida man is waiting to hear if a newspaper ad can save his marriage. Larry, who didn't give his last name, took out a $17,000 full-page ad to apologize to his estranged wife. She left him two weeks ago. A relative did tell Larry that she cried when she read the ad, but Larry hasn't really heard from her yet.

This is DAYBREAK for a Thursday morning.

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COSTELLO: It's time to take a look at the morning headlines, Rob Marciano.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I haven't had much time to go through all of them, but this stopped me cold in "The Wall Street Journal." Have you heard about this monster thick burger from Hardee's?

MARCIANO: No. Tell me about it, because I'm hungry.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MARCIANO: Is it bad news?

COSTELLO: Well, this will (UNINTELLIGIBLE) your hunger.

MARCIANO: OK.

COSTELLO: This thing is a monster. It has 1,418 calories and 107 grams of fat.

MARCIANO: Wow!

COSTELLO: It has bacon, two hamburger patties, and lots and lots of cheese on a sesame seed bun. There are many interesting quotes in this article. Food porn, cries the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Washington advocacy group. Jay Leno joked that the monster thick burger comes in a cardboard box shaped like a coffin. Would you like a defibrillator with that, wrote the "Chicago Tribune's restaurant critic, while describing the burger as unfortunately delicious.

MARCIANO: I bet if you asked for it without the special cause it wipes out maybe 20 or 30 grams of fat. It brings it down below 100.

COSTELLO: I don't think so. I don't think so. More snow forecast for the poor people of Massachusetts?

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COSTELLO: Tomorrow on DAYBREAK, Iraqis living in America. We'll talk to them as they watch their home country prepare for the polls. Plus, good behavior pays off. I'll talk to a proud mother who is helping her son get seats at the Super Bowl.

From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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