Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Iraqi Election; Iraqis With No Voice; Voices of Iraq; Hard Hat for Helmet; Super Plea; Sacrifice of War

Aired January 28, 2005 - 05:30   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: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."

It started this morning in Australia, the first votes were cast in Iraq's first post Saddam election. Iraqi ex-patriots will vote in 14 countries, a run up to the election in Iraq on Sunday. Two hundred fifty thousand ex-patriots are registered to vote.

A running start for the new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, she leaves next week on a tour of eight European countries and Israel.

Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest employer, says it will now recognize same-sex partners in its ethics policies. But the company is making no such commitment as far as employee benefits are concerned.

Procter & Gamble will buy the Gillette Company for $57 billion. The boards of both firms have given the marriage their blessing. The deal is expected to close next fall.

To the Forecast Center and -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now the G just goes right into the P&G, so that will eliminate that ticker symbol and it will be very efficient.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MARCIANO: Eight degrees right now in New York, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

So we could see a half an inch of ice here tomorrow morning, Carol. Getting into the act, and ice is nasty. Doesn't look as nice as snow, and it is certainly pretty bad.

COSTELLO: True, but at least it's coming on Saturday. That's a good thing.

MARCIANO: Yes.

COSTELLO: Ex-patriot voting got under way this morning in other countries, but not in Iraq. Shimon Hadad (ph) is the manager of the biggest voting center in Sydney, Australia, and the first Iraqi to vote worldwide. He marked his ballot 15 minutes before officially opening the polls. That was before the ex-pat polls opened up in London, but they're voting now in the British capital.

And CNN's Robin Curnow is in the London suburb of Wembley.

Good morning.

ROBIN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

It is, it's very far away from the violence of Iraq over here. In this conference center behind me, Iraqis have been lining up for the last three-and-a-half hours making their mark.

One of them is standing here with me, Sokar Sabir.

Thank you very much. How did it feel?

SOKAR SABIR, IRAQI KURD: It felt great. It felt great. Yes.

CURNOW: Historic moment for you?

SABIR: Very historic moment for me, yes.

CURNOW: And what did you think when you put your mark down on that paper?

SABIR: Say it again.

CURNOW: When you put your mark down on that paper to vote,...

SABIR: Yes.

CURNOW: ... what were your feelings?

SABIR: As I told you, I just feel great. I feel I've done something for my country and for my -- for our future, for children's future. We've done something for first time in our life, yes,...

CURNOW: Exactly.

SABIR: ... something we were waiting for.

CURNOW: Exactly. This is the first time many Iraqis have voted post Saddam, of course. This is a historic election, but still many ex-patriot Iraqis have not registered and will not vote, why?

SABIR: Well maybe they don't feel secure. Maybe they don't have that confidence yet. But I am sure lots of people, they will turn up. And I'll ask every Iraqi, would you please go to vote. It's something -- there's a chance in your life. I mean I don't know what to say already, but you must go and vote for Iraqi people.

CURNOW: Thank you.

SABIR: Yes. CURNOW: Thank you.

That was Sokar Sabir.

She, as you can see, is very enthusiastic. Many optimistic Iraqis here very excited about their future and about Iraq's future.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Robin Curnow, live this morning, thank you.

Iraqi Jews living in Israel cannot vote in Sunday's election. Israel has no diplomatic ties with Iraq, and that is one of the requirements that must be met before Iraqi exiles can vote.

But as CNN's Guy Raz reports, the ex-patriots are closely following the events in their homeland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sights and smells of Baghdad, old men speak in Arabic, stone ovens to bake traditional Iraqi bread, but this is Israel and the town of Yehuda where more than half the population is of Iraqi origin.

Mordechai Ben Porat was born with the Arabic name Murad. He left Baghdad for Israel at the age of 22.

MORDECHAI "MURAD" BEN PORAT, IRAQI-ISRAELI: We, the Iraqis, outside Iraq, we still feel sympathy to the people of Iraq.

RAZ: A quarter million Israelis are of Iraqi origin. Most of Iraq's once thriving Jewish community fled to Israel in the early 1950s. The establishment of Israel unleashed a wave of persecution against the Iraqi Jews. A museum in Yehuda chronicles the history of the community. They lived in Iraq for more than 2,500 years.

(on camera): This is a reconstruction of a world that no longer exists. The Jewish community of Baghdad long gone, but the thousands of Israelis who were born there still follow events in Iraq with deep interest.

(voice-over): Like Binyamin Ben Eliezer, an Israeli Cabinet Minister, who was born and raised in the Iraqi city of Basra. In Israel he's known as Fuad, the name he was given at birth.

BINYAMIN "FUAD" BEN ELIEZER, NATL. INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER: If you were to ask me, I would definitely vote for a change. I mean to change back to stability, to change back to democracy.

RAZ: Eighty-three-year-old Ezra Levy was spirited out of Iraq more than a year ago. He now lives in central Israel and follows events in Iraq on Arabic news channels.

The best man for Iraq seems to me to be Iyad Allawi, he says in Arabic. His Hebrew is still rusty. More than anything, the Iraqis of Israel say they'd like to see the two countries establish diplomatic relations.

(on camera): Before the end of your life, do you think you will see the place where you were born?

ELIEZER: Yes. I don't know how. I cannot, you know, this is bother (ph) the thing that you live with that and you believe that one day will return. That I will be able to go there to take my kids and my grandkids and to tell them here your grandfather had been born.

RAZ (voice-over): A dream shared by many of the Israelis who still have a bit of Iraq deep in their hearts.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Talk to any Iraqis and the one thing that affects them most in their day-to-day lives is the tenuous security situations. Despite that, for a few, there is a sense of normalcy.

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour visited an art school and listened to the voices of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world sees a lot of the chaos and violence that's plaguing large parts of Iraq, and yet in some parts aspects of normal life still go on.

The Academy of Fine Arts in Basra remained open throughout Saddam's regime and the American and British occupation. Ahmed (ph) is in the second year of a painting degree at the academy.

AHMED, STUDENT (through translator): My passion is painting. I am prepared for an exhibition of my oil paintings. All of us wish to be successful in our professional career. After the occupation, I feel a change in the way we live our lives. Each Iraqi nowadays kindly free as an individual without interfering or damaging other people's lives.

AMANPOUR: Like Ahmed, his friend, who wants to be called Ismile (ph), is also a student of the academy. He's in his final year of studying music.

Both students feel these security concerns as they look towards Sunday's elections. And like all Iraqis, they must decide whether or not to go out and vote.

ISMILE, STUDENT (through translator): Of course my participation and my parent's participation in the elections are very important. Fear, I think all human beings are afraid of the unknown or the unknown future that is facing us. AHMED (through translator): This is very important, now each Iraqi woman and man has to vote for the benefit and future of Iraq. Every Iraqi should participate, not only the elderly. Fear exists amongst all of us. Anyone can overcome it. I wish I could live to see Iraq secure and settled, then I can lead a normal life on the grounds of Iraq.

ISMILE (through translator): I wish in the future we can have an exchange with the West and be able to visit each other. We have a prominent culture and have high standards for life and great principles. I hope we'd be able to know more about their cultures and they'd know ours better and change their misconceptions about us that we are all terrorists. Islam has great values and does not promote terrorism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was CNN's Christian Amanpour reporting.

We'll have more voices of Iraq throughout the weekend. And stay tuned to CNN all weekend long for complete coverage of the Iraqi elections. Throughout the day and overnight, our team of journalists will bring you every angle of this historic event, from election security throughout the country, to Iraqis around the world exercising their right to vote.

Still ahead this morning on DAYBREAK, take a look at this guy. Last weekend he was a project manager trainee for a construction company. You won't believe where he'll be next weekend. We'll have a report on him.

And in Jacksonville, they live close to the stadium where the Super Bowl will be played; and thanks to mom, they've got those impossible-to-get tickets. We'll ask her how that happened.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

A developing story just in to CNN. The Iraqi government says it has arrested two lieutenants of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. One of the suspects includes the head of his Baghdad operation. Iraq's Minister of State for National Security calls the two important leading members of the insurgent's group. Al-Zarqawi has long pledged to disrupt Sunday's Iraqi elections and has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks.

Another blockbuster business marriage could be announced today. Procter & Gamble announces it is buying the Gillette Company for more than $57 billion in stock.

In money news, this year at the end of Super Bowl No. 39 nobody will announce I'm going to Disney World. After 19 years, Disney is benching its "What's Next" promotion.

In culture, singer Beyonce has a new release, her own fashion collection. She's designed a line of apparel for young women with her mother, Tina Knowles, and naming it after her grandmother.

In sports, just one year after NASCAR lost Winston cigarettes as its primary sponsor, Nicorette is moving in. Nicorette will be a sponsor for the No. 41 car driven by Casey Mears. They'll also send a mobile smoking cessation exhibit to 23 races.

To the Forecast Center and, Rob Marciano, good morning.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

That's the latest from here, Carol, back over to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Rob.

Talk about second chances, we're going to tell you about a guy who's getting the chance to suit up again long after trading in his shoulder pads for a briefcase.

This is DAYBREAK for a Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, you have to pay attention now, because this is a very cool story. Many people have to work two jobs from time to time to make ends meet. But get this, a New Jersey construction manager is moonlighting as a pro football player. He got the call Monday from the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kathy Gandolfo of our affiliate station WPVI in Philadelphia has the rest of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, three, J-E-F-F, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff.

KATHY GANDOLFO, WPVI-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Co-workers of Jeff Thomason celebrated his good fortune with a good old Eagles tailgate party and, of course, the Eagles cheer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles.

GANDOLFO: Best wishes were spray painted on the snow at Chesterfield Green, a Toll Brothers community in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County. Jeff Thomason has spent the last year working as a project manager trainee for the company.

JOHN VITELLA, CO-WORKER: They learn all of the basic sales construction, all of the basics of the real estate business. And then he came out in the field and he's been here about three or four months and he's doing great, just a good, humble guy. GANDOLFO: Thomason works in this trailer with a few family pictures, but no sign of his 10-year career in the NFL, including a Super Bowl win with the Green Bay Packers and his two years with the Eagles.

BILL CODY, CO-WORKER: It couldn't have happened to a better person. He's a great guy and hard worker, a good family man. It's unbelievable.

GANDOLFO: Toll Brothers Vice President Tony Casapoulla thought Thomason was kidding when he told them the Eagles had called for him to try out for the Super Bowl team.

TONY CASAPOULLA, V.P. TOLL BROTHERS: He asked me if I could. And I said of course you could, what am I going to do, hold you back, but go play in the Super Bowl. And he's talking about vacation days. And I'm like, Jeff, we'll work that out later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Isn't that something else. Thomason says his salary for the next two weeks will probably surpass his entire annual salary in construction. So good-luck to him, and we'll be looking out for him during the Super Bowl.

And by the way, Super Bowl 39 is going to be within walking distance of her house in Jacksonville, Florida. Her sons would love to go, but getting tickets is just about impossible. So what's a mother to do? Earlier this week, she took out a classified ad in "The Florida Times-Union" seeking tickets, saying "two, kind, polite, well mannered, teenage boys looking for Super Bowl tickets. Call their mom."

So, was she successful? Well, Barbara joins us from Jacksonville this morning.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA LANGSTON, SUPER BOWL MOM: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So spill it, success?

LANGSTON: Success.

COSTELLO: I cannot believe it.

LANGSTON: Yes, a local couple actually had won them in the lotto and weren't going to use them, gave them to the boys.

COSTELLO: You didn't even have to pay for them?

LANGSTON: No, they wouldn't accept money for them. They wanted good boys to have the tickets.

COSTELLO: So what makes your boys so special? LANGSTON: Well, I'm told by other people that they're exceptional. They actually do good things when we're not around as well. They're well mannered, they're well groomed, they do well in school. They help around the house tremendously. My boys can cook and clean and their room is always half decent. There's not a lot of 17 year olds that come up to their mom and say we need to cut the grass, mom, it needs to be done. So they...

COSTELLO: Well that alone is worth the price of a Super Bowl ticket.

LANGSTON: Yes.

COSTELLO: Who are they rooting for?

LANGSTON: We have a split family in that aspect, one boy is going for one team and one is going for the other.

COSTELLO: So when you put this ad in the paper, did you really think that anyone would take you up on it?

LANGSTON: I didn't. And actually, like the first three to four days, I had no reply whatsoever. And then the media picked up on it, and by that evening, I had gotten tickets from a Jacksonville couple. They're business owners in town.

COSTELLO: So what are your boys saying this morning?

LANGSTON: They are just overwhelmed at the thought of going to the Super Bowl. They haven't slept well since they got the tickets. First of all, they have one eye on the tickets to make sure nothing happens to them. And just the thought of being there is so exciting for them.

COSTELLO: So they're going on their own. What are you going to do, like just drop them off at the front gate?

LANGSTON: Well we live pretty close, so they are -- then they're runners, they're athletic. They're in to athletics, both of them, so they could actually run there if they desire to.

COSTELLO: Well that is so awesome. Is this Jacksonville couple, are they remaining anonymous?

LANGSTON: No, they're not. It's Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Collins (ph), and they own the Collins Group (ph) in Jacksonville, Florida. I understand that they are builders of homes in town.

COSTELLO: Well that's terrific. That is very generous of them. And, Barbara Langston, thank you for sharing your story with us on DAYBREAK.

That's just terrific. I'm going to have to try that. I don't think I'm as good as her boys, though.

Here's what we're working on in the next hour of DAYBREAK. Certainly the Western media, including CNN, focusing on the Iraqi elections. You'll get a first-hand look, though, at how the story is being played in the Arab world.

Back here in the States, well update you on a lovelorn Florida guy who paid a bundle to try to win his wife back. Did his desperate measure pay off?

Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: As Iraqis at home and abroad head to the polls this weekend, we're reminded of the heavy price Americans have paid to make it possible. More than 1,400 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. More than 10,000 have been wounded.

CNN's David Mattingly reports on one family's sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)


Aired January 28, 2005 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."

It started this morning in Australia, the first votes were cast in Iraq's first post Saddam election. Iraqi ex-patriots will vote in 14 countries, a run up to the election in Iraq on Sunday. Two hundred fifty thousand ex-patriots are registered to vote.

A running start for the new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, she leaves next week on a tour of eight European countries and Israel.

Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest employer, says it will now recognize same-sex partners in its ethics policies. But the company is making no such commitment as far as employee benefits are concerned.

Procter & Gamble will buy the Gillette Company for $57 billion. The boards of both firms have given the marriage their blessing. The deal is expected to close next fall.

To the Forecast Center and -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now the G just goes right into the P&G, so that will eliminate that ticker symbol and it will be very efficient.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

MARCIANO: Eight degrees right now in New York, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

So we could see a half an inch of ice here tomorrow morning, Carol. Getting into the act, and ice is nasty. Doesn't look as nice as snow, and it is certainly pretty bad.

COSTELLO: True, but at least it's coming on Saturday. That's a good thing.

MARCIANO: Yes.

COSTELLO: Ex-patriot voting got under way this morning in other countries, but not in Iraq. Shimon Hadad (ph) is the manager of the biggest voting center in Sydney, Australia, and the first Iraqi to vote worldwide. He marked his ballot 15 minutes before officially opening the polls. That was before the ex-pat polls opened up in London, but they're voting now in the British capital.

And CNN's Robin Curnow is in the London suburb of Wembley.

Good morning.

ROBIN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

It is, it's very far away from the violence of Iraq over here. In this conference center behind me, Iraqis have been lining up for the last three-and-a-half hours making their mark.

One of them is standing here with me, Sokar Sabir.

Thank you very much. How did it feel?

SOKAR SABIR, IRAQI KURD: It felt great. It felt great. Yes.

CURNOW: Historic moment for you?

SABIR: Very historic moment for me, yes.

CURNOW: And what did you think when you put your mark down on that paper?

SABIR: Say it again.

CURNOW: When you put your mark down on that paper to vote,...

SABIR: Yes.

CURNOW: ... what were your feelings?

SABIR: As I told you, I just feel great. I feel I've done something for my country and for my -- for our future, for children's future. We've done something for first time in our life, yes,...

CURNOW: Exactly.

SABIR: ... something we were waiting for.

CURNOW: Exactly. This is the first time many Iraqis have voted post Saddam, of course. This is a historic election, but still many ex-patriot Iraqis have not registered and will not vote, why?

SABIR: Well maybe they don't feel secure. Maybe they don't have that confidence yet. But I am sure lots of people, they will turn up. And I'll ask every Iraqi, would you please go to vote. It's something -- there's a chance in your life. I mean I don't know what to say already, but you must go and vote for Iraqi people.

CURNOW: Thank you.

SABIR: Yes. CURNOW: Thank you.

That was Sokar Sabir.

She, as you can see, is very enthusiastic. Many optimistic Iraqis here very excited about their future and about Iraq's future.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Robin Curnow, live this morning, thank you.

Iraqi Jews living in Israel cannot vote in Sunday's election. Israel has no diplomatic ties with Iraq, and that is one of the requirements that must be met before Iraqi exiles can vote.

But as CNN's Guy Raz reports, the ex-patriots are closely following the events in their homeland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sights and smells of Baghdad, old men speak in Arabic, stone ovens to bake traditional Iraqi bread, but this is Israel and the town of Yehuda where more than half the population is of Iraqi origin.

Mordechai Ben Porat was born with the Arabic name Murad. He left Baghdad for Israel at the age of 22.

MORDECHAI "MURAD" BEN PORAT, IRAQI-ISRAELI: We, the Iraqis, outside Iraq, we still feel sympathy to the people of Iraq.

RAZ: A quarter million Israelis are of Iraqi origin. Most of Iraq's once thriving Jewish community fled to Israel in the early 1950s. The establishment of Israel unleashed a wave of persecution against the Iraqi Jews. A museum in Yehuda chronicles the history of the community. They lived in Iraq for more than 2,500 years.

(on camera): This is a reconstruction of a world that no longer exists. The Jewish community of Baghdad long gone, but the thousands of Israelis who were born there still follow events in Iraq with deep interest.

(voice-over): Like Binyamin Ben Eliezer, an Israeli Cabinet Minister, who was born and raised in the Iraqi city of Basra. In Israel he's known as Fuad, the name he was given at birth.

BINYAMIN "FUAD" BEN ELIEZER, NATL. INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER: If you were to ask me, I would definitely vote for a change. I mean to change back to stability, to change back to democracy.

RAZ: Eighty-three-year-old Ezra Levy was spirited out of Iraq more than a year ago. He now lives in central Israel and follows events in Iraq on Arabic news channels.

The best man for Iraq seems to me to be Iyad Allawi, he says in Arabic. His Hebrew is still rusty. More than anything, the Iraqis of Israel say they'd like to see the two countries establish diplomatic relations.

(on camera): Before the end of your life, do you think you will see the place where you were born?

ELIEZER: Yes. I don't know how. I cannot, you know, this is bother (ph) the thing that you live with that and you believe that one day will return. That I will be able to go there to take my kids and my grandkids and to tell them here your grandfather had been born.

RAZ (voice-over): A dream shared by many of the Israelis who still have a bit of Iraq deep in their hearts.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Talk to any Iraqis and the one thing that affects them most in their day-to-day lives is the tenuous security situations. Despite that, for a few, there is a sense of normalcy.

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour visited an art school and listened to the voices of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world sees a lot of the chaos and violence that's plaguing large parts of Iraq, and yet in some parts aspects of normal life still go on.

The Academy of Fine Arts in Basra remained open throughout Saddam's regime and the American and British occupation. Ahmed (ph) is in the second year of a painting degree at the academy.

AHMED, STUDENT (through translator): My passion is painting. I am prepared for an exhibition of my oil paintings. All of us wish to be successful in our professional career. After the occupation, I feel a change in the way we live our lives. Each Iraqi nowadays kindly free as an individual without interfering or damaging other people's lives.

AMANPOUR: Like Ahmed, his friend, who wants to be called Ismile (ph), is also a student of the academy. He's in his final year of studying music.

Both students feel these security concerns as they look towards Sunday's elections. And like all Iraqis, they must decide whether or not to go out and vote.

ISMILE, STUDENT (through translator): Of course my participation and my parent's participation in the elections are very important. Fear, I think all human beings are afraid of the unknown or the unknown future that is facing us. AHMED (through translator): This is very important, now each Iraqi woman and man has to vote for the benefit and future of Iraq. Every Iraqi should participate, not only the elderly. Fear exists amongst all of us. Anyone can overcome it. I wish I could live to see Iraq secure and settled, then I can lead a normal life on the grounds of Iraq.

ISMILE (through translator): I wish in the future we can have an exchange with the West and be able to visit each other. We have a prominent culture and have high standards for life and great principles. I hope we'd be able to know more about their cultures and they'd know ours better and change their misconceptions about us that we are all terrorists. Islam has great values and does not promote terrorism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was CNN's Christian Amanpour reporting.

We'll have more voices of Iraq throughout the weekend. And stay tuned to CNN all weekend long for complete coverage of the Iraqi elections. Throughout the day and overnight, our team of journalists will bring you every angle of this historic event, from election security throughout the country, to Iraqis around the world exercising their right to vote.

Still ahead this morning on DAYBREAK, take a look at this guy. Last weekend he was a project manager trainee for a construction company. You won't believe where he'll be next weekend. We'll have a report on him.

And in Jacksonville, they live close to the stadium where the Super Bowl will be played; and thanks to mom, they've got those impossible-to-get tickets. We'll ask her how that happened.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

A developing story just in to CNN. The Iraqi government says it has arrested two lieutenants of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. One of the suspects includes the head of his Baghdad operation. Iraq's Minister of State for National Security calls the two important leading members of the insurgent's group. Al-Zarqawi has long pledged to disrupt Sunday's Iraqi elections and has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks.

Another blockbuster business marriage could be announced today. Procter & Gamble announces it is buying the Gillette Company for more than $57 billion in stock.

In money news, this year at the end of Super Bowl No. 39 nobody will announce I'm going to Disney World. After 19 years, Disney is benching its "What's Next" promotion.

In culture, singer Beyonce has a new release, her own fashion collection. She's designed a line of apparel for young women with her mother, Tina Knowles, and naming it after her grandmother.

In sports, just one year after NASCAR lost Winston cigarettes as its primary sponsor, Nicorette is moving in. Nicorette will be a sponsor for the No. 41 car driven by Casey Mears. They'll also send a mobile smoking cessation exhibit to 23 races.

To the Forecast Center and, Rob Marciano, good morning.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

That's the latest from here, Carol, back over to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Rob.

Talk about second chances, we're going to tell you about a guy who's getting the chance to suit up again long after trading in his shoulder pads for a briefcase.

This is DAYBREAK for a Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, you have to pay attention now, because this is a very cool story. Many people have to work two jobs from time to time to make ends meet. But get this, a New Jersey construction manager is moonlighting as a pro football player. He got the call Monday from the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kathy Gandolfo of our affiliate station WPVI in Philadelphia has the rest of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, three, J-E-F-F, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff.

KATHY GANDOLFO, WPVI-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Co-workers of Jeff Thomason celebrated his good fortune with a good old Eagles tailgate party and, of course, the Eagles cheer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles.

GANDOLFO: Best wishes were spray painted on the snow at Chesterfield Green, a Toll Brothers community in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County. Jeff Thomason has spent the last year working as a project manager trainee for the company.

JOHN VITELLA, CO-WORKER: They learn all of the basic sales construction, all of the basics of the real estate business. And then he came out in the field and he's been here about three or four months and he's doing great, just a good, humble guy. GANDOLFO: Thomason works in this trailer with a few family pictures, but no sign of his 10-year career in the NFL, including a Super Bowl win with the Green Bay Packers and his two years with the Eagles.

BILL CODY, CO-WORKER: It couldn't have happened to a better person. He's a great guy and hard worker, a good family man. It's unbelievable.

GANDOLFO: Toll Brothers Vice President Tony Casapoulla thought Thomason was kidding when he told them the Eagles had called for him to try out for the Super Bowl team.

TONY CASAPOULLA, V.P. TOLL BROTHERS: He asked me if I could. And I said of course you could, what am I going to do, hold you back, but go play in the Super Bowl. And he's talking about vacation days. And I'm like, Jeff, we'll work that out later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Isn't that something else. Thomason says his salary for the next two weeks will probably surpass his entire annual salary in construction. So good-luck to him, and we'll be looking out for him during the Super Bowl.

And by the way, Super Bowl 39 is going to be within walking distance of her house in Jacksonville, Florida. Her sons would love to go, but getting tickets is just about impossible. So what's a mother to do? Earlier this week, she took out a classified ad in "The Florida Times-Union" seeking tickets, saying "two, kind, polite, well mannered, teenage boys looking for Super Bowl tickets. Call their mom."

So, was she successful? Well, Barbara joins us from Jacksonville this morning.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA LANGSTON, SUPER BOWL MOM: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So spill it, success?

LANGSTON: Success.

COSTELLO: I cannot believe it.

LANGSTON: Yes, a local couple actually had won them in the lotto and weren't going to use them, gave them to the boys.

COSTELLO: You didn't even have to pay for them?

LANGSTON: No, they wouldn't accept money for them. They wanted good boys to have the tickets.

COSTELLO: So what makes your boys so special? LANGSTON: Well, I'm told by other people that they're exceptional. They actually do good things when we're not around as well. They're well mannered, they're well groomed, they do well in school. They help around the house tremendously. My boys can cook and clean and their room is always half decent. There's not a lot of 17 year olds that come up to their mom and say we need to cut the grass, mom, it needs to be done. So they...

COSTELLO: Well that alone is worth the price of a Super Bowl ticket.

LANGSTON: Yes.

COSTELLO: Who are they rooting for?

LANGSTON: We have a split family in that aspect, one boy is going for one team and one is going for the other.

COSTELLO: So when you put this ad in the paper, did you really think that anyone would take you up on it?

LANGSTON: I didn't. And actually, like the first three to four days, I had no reply whatsoever. And then the media picked up on it, and by that evening, I had gotten tickets from a Jacksonville couple. They're business owners in town.

COSTELLO: So what are your boys saying this morning?

LANGSTON: They are just overwhelmed at the thought of going to the Super Bowl. They haven't slept well since they got the tickets. First of all, they have one eye on the tickets to make sure nothing happens to them. And just the thought of being there is so exciting for them.

COSTELLO: So they're going on their own. What are you going to do, like just drop them off at the front gate?

LANGSTON: Well we live pretty close, so they are -- then they're runners, they're athletic. They're in to athletics, both of them, so they could actually run there if they desire to.

COSTELLO: Well that is so awesome. Is this Jacksonville couple, are they remaining anonymous?

LANGSTON: No, they're not. It's Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Collins (ph), and they own the Collins Group (ph) in Jacksonville, Florida. I understand that they are builders of homes in town.

COSTELLO: Well that's terrific. That is very generous of them. And, Barbara Langston, thank you for sharing your story with us on DAYBREAK.

That's just terrific. I'm going to have to try that. I don't think I'm as good as her boys, though.

Here's what we're working on in the next hour of DAYBREAK. Certainly the Western media, including CNN, focusing on the Iraqi elections. You'll get a first-hand look, though, at how the story is being played in the Arab world.

Back here in the States, well update you on a lovelorn Florida guy who paid a bundle to try to win his wife back. Did his desperate measure pay off?

Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: As Iraqis at home and abroad head to the polls this weekend, we're reminded of the heavy price Americans have paid to make it possible. More than 1,400 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. More than 10,000 have been wounded.

CNN's David Mattingly reports on one family's sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)