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CNN Live At Daybreak

Murder Mystery; Stand-Down Day

Aired May 20, 2005 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, military recruiters across the country are not doing their jobs today. We'll tell you why.
Plus, one major step forward in stem cell research, but will the United States take two steps back?

And it's been 30 years since a big hunk of rubber scared you off the beach. We'll look back at the summer of "Jaws."

It is Friday, May 20. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

"Now in the News," new information this morning on the missing children from northwestern -- from the northwestern United States. Police in Montana say a man in a pawn shop was seen with two children who resembled Dylan and Shasta Groene. They are the two children missing from that scene of a triple homicide in Idaho. The three were reportedly seen in a light colored van with Washington State plates.

U.S. Airways and America West are merging. It will create the first nationwide, full service, low-cost airline. Under the plan, America West buys bankrupt U.S. Airways for $1.5 billion.

The first named storm of the season is pummeling the coast of Central America. Adrian has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it's still tearing up Guatemala and El Salvador. Heavy rain -- well, what am I saying? Chad knows more about this than I do.

Good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's a tropical storm now, Carol, but it was a hurricane like six hours ago.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: This word just into CNN. In fact, we've just confirmed it. Authorities in Idaho may have a break in the case of those two missing children. There may, may have been a sighting of 9- year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister Shasta. They've been missing since Monday, when the bodies of their mother and brother and their mother's boyfriend were found in their home in Coeur d'Alene. Police got a tip that the children may have been spotted in an Idaho store yesterday. Now, that's prompted a lookout for a man driving a light colored full-size van with Washington State plates.

Sean Callebs has the latest on the triple murder mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's day four. Investigators still searching for telling shreds of evidence.

Two children, a sister and brother ages 8 and 9, are still missing without a clue. They were last seen at their mother's House. The mother was killed there, along with their 13-year-old brother and the mother's boyfriend.

Authorities now say all three died of blunt force trauma to the head. The sheriff's office still has no idea why or who committed the grisly crimes.

The missing children's distraught and devastated father, no longer married to their mother, issued a public plea Thursday to their possible abductors.

STEVE GROENE, FATHER OF CHILDREN: Please, please release my children safely. They had nothing to do with any of this. Release them in a safe area where law enforcement can find them. Call the help line, let them know where they're -- they can be found.

CALLEBS: The FBI and sheriff's office interviewed a man they had called a "person of interest," 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner, who was first to call authorities. Officers say that he was questioned for seven hours and that Lutner voluntarily took and passed a lie detector test. Investigators determined he had no apparent ties to the triple slayings or missing children.

The bottom line at this point, investigators say they are coming up empty with absolutely no leads in the case.

CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It's hard for everybody involved and the public. We're as concerned about these children as anyone.

CALLEBS: The best information Lutner could provide, that there was a gathering of friends at this house hours before the killings. But police don't know whether that gathering led in any way to the deaths and to the disappearance of the children. The sheriff's office is pleading that anyone with information come forward.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And authorities are still asking for your help. They set up these hotline numbers: 208-446-2292 and 208-446-2293.

Today, Army recruiters will do something they have never done before, suspend operations for a single day to focus on the ethics and rules governing recruiting. The unusual move called a stand-down is in response to recent allegation of improper tactics by some recruiters.

As CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports, those tactics were uncovered by a 17-year-old boy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): David McSwane knew he was on to a big story.

DAVID MCSWANE, HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALIST: I wanted to see how far they would go to get one more soldier.

GUTIERREZ: What he uncovered at one Army recruiting center is making waves all the way up to the Pentagon.

LT. COL. JEFFREY BRODEUR, U.S. ARMY: We aggressively and immediately started an investigation.

GUTIERREZ: David McSwane is not a professional journalist. He's 17 years old, a senior at Arvada West High School outside Denver, Colorado. And he's a prime target for military recruiters.

MCSWANE: This is just something that affects everyone in my age group, everyone in high school across America.

GUTIERREZ: So David, a reporter for the high school newspaper, set out to find out just how far Army recruiters would go to enlist a new soldier.

MCSWANE: The scenario I came up with was that I'm a 17-year-old dropout and that I have a drug problem that I just -- I just can't kick.

GUTIERREZ: The Army requires a high school diploma or GED, and they don't accept recruits with drug problems. But David says a recruiter at this center in Golden, Colorado, told him not to worry.

MCSWANE: These are the transcripts that go along with the diploma.

GUTIERREZ: David says his recruiter told him to go to the Internet to buy this fake high school diploma and bogus school transcripts. David taped the conversations.

MCSWANE: So they accepted my diploma and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's what they told us, bro.

MCSWANE: All right. I mean -- all right. So they don't -- they don't know that it's fake or anything. I'm not going to get in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. You won't, bro.

MCSWANE: All right. Cool.

GUTIERREZ: As for his made-up drug problem...

MCSWANE: This is the detox he told me to buy.

GUTIERREZ: ... David says the recruiter told him to buy this product to pass the Army's drug test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just have to follow the instructions to a T. I mean, it's got like 150 percent guarantee that you'll pass.

MCSWANE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen it work before.

GUTIERREZ: The recruiter then took David to a store to buy the product while someone videotaped.

MCSWANE: He went as far as driving me down to the place to buy the detox drink in a government vehicle.

GUTIERREZ: After David's investigation was published in his high school newspaper, it snowballed into a P.R. nightmare for the Army.

BRODEUR: Disappointment, wrapped up into one word.

GUTIERREZ: Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Brodeur has 129 recruiters under his command. Two of the four recruiters of this Golden, Colorado, center are now under investigation for alleged recruiting abuses.

BRODEUR: So far today it appears to be a character issue. We're trained not to do that.

GUTIERREZ: Jim Massey was a Marine recruiter for three years.

JIM MASSEY, FMR. MARINE RECRUITER: This isn't just an isolated incident. This is a widespread epidemic.

GUTIERREZ: Massey says military recruiters are under such intense pressure to make their quota, they'll often stretch the truth to sign up new recruits. He says he did it, too.

MASSEY: I was a recruiter for three years. And I recruited 75 young men, and I would say 98 percent of the young men that I signed up for the Marine Corps were fraudulated (ph) -- or were frauded (ph) into the military in some capacity.

GUTIERREZ: Massey says when he failed to sign up two recruits a month, he received these letters of reprimand.

MASSEY: I had never had any types of -- any type or signs or symptoms of depression in my entire life until I went out on recruiting duty. By my second year out on recruiting duty, I was taking antidepressants.

GUTIERREZ: Massey fought in Iraq, then came home with a change of heart. He's now an antiwar activist.

MASSEY: I sold my soul a long time ago to the Marine Corps. And each day I strive to get a little bit of it better.

GUTIERREZ: Major General Michael Rochelle, command in general in charge of the U.S. Army, shut down 1,700 recruiting offices across the country for one day to review procedures for the Army's 7,500 recruiters in direct response to the allegations made by David McSwane and others.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY: I was disappointed by it. I was very disappointed by it. I've been around the Army a long time, so very little shocks me, if you will. It hurts personally and professionally.

GUTIERREZ: General Rochelle says the target is 80,000 new recruits a year. It's a tough task, he says, to recruit an all- volunteer Army at a time of war. Many parents use their influence to discourage enlistment.

ROCHELLE: One is the fear of loss of life or limb. And that's real. Take those two factors, along with the seeming resistance on the part of influencers, and you present a pretty daunting challenge for the Army.

SHELLY HANSEN, MOTHER: I read that people think he wasn't patriotic.

GUTIERREZ: Shelly Hansen says she feared a backlash against her son for exposing his recruiters.

HANSEN: He's probably one of the most patriotic kids that I know. He was in the Young Marines for almost a year and earned a couple of awards.

GUTIERREZ: Now David has an award from his school for his expose on the Army.

MCSWANE: If I were a soldier, out on the front line, I wouldn't want someone next to me who my life could be dependent on going through withdrawal, or having a drug addiction, or just being someone I can't trust. I just don't think that's something we need on our front lines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reporting.

I want to talk a little bit about this, because this is our e- mail "Question of the Day."

Chad, just so our viewers know, the Army's recruitment goal is 80,000 a year.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: That's a lot of people.

MYERS: It is. It's a lot of young men and women.

COSTELLO: Sixty-six hundred a month. The Army has missed its recruiting goal for the past three months for the first time ever.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: You know...

MYERS: So what's the solution here? I mean, where -- obviously, you don't want to get into that "draft" word, because that's just...

COSTELLO: No, no. We do.

MYERS: ... like, oh, my goodness.

COSTELLO: No, no, no. Wait. We do, because that could be a possible solution.

MYERS: It sure could be.

COSTELLO: I mean, bottom line. And I'm going to read you what Donald Rumsfeld recently said about the draft. And he said this before members of Congress. He says, "I think the only people who could conceivably be talking about a draft are people who are speaking from pinnacles of near-perfect ignorance."

So the Bush administration wants to part of the draft, but might it be forced to do that? And if it doesn't, what is the solution to these recruiting problems?

MYERS: Could it be a monetary bonus? I mean, obviously...

COSTELLO: They've tried that.

MYERS: ... I know -- I know a number of men and women that went in there because they knew that when they get off, and the GI bill, they could go to school for free. Do we need to enhance that more? I don't have the answer. Maybe people out there do.

COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

And, by the way, 17-year-old David McSwane, the high school journalist who blew the lid off that story in Colorado, he'll be our guest in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

In other news "Across America" now, Indiana prosecutors are expected to announce more charges against the suspects in the murder of a 10-year-old girl. One suspect, Charles Hickman, was already charged with murder after he originally confessed to drowning Katie Coleman. Police say the girl may have been killed because she saw the suspects running a meth lab near her home.

Sacramento police called in the search dogs to track down a robbery suspect. The suspect was treated for several dog bites after he was discovered hiding on the banks of a nearby canal. The man and three other suspects were arrested for allegedly stealing four pairs of pants from a Target store. Police also found several weapons in the car.

Sex offenders are not welcomed at Six Flags amusement parks. Season passes at all 30 of the companies' parks have a warning saying they can refuse entry to any registered sex offender who tries to get in. The park officials say they are not prepared to do background checks on every park visitor, so that might be a little hard to enforce.

Coming up on DAYBREAK, scientists call it therapeutic cloning, leading researchers to announce they've successfully cloned human embryos. We'll have details for you in 20 minutes.

And temptation. A winning lottery ticket and felony charges. Details on that in 10.

And call it what happens in China hopefully stays in China. We will adopt that story in 30 minutes.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down nearly 40 points. The London FTSE up two. And the German DAX is down by just over seven.

A possible break this morning in the case of those two missing Idaho children. Authorities say they received a tip yesterday that 9- year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister Shasta were spotted alive at an Idaho store. Now, that's prompted a search for a tall man driving a light colored van with Washington State license plates. Authorities believe he may be in northwestern Montana.

All Army recruiting being suspended today. The so-called stand- down is in response to reports of widespread abuses of recruiting rules. The Army will spend the day retraining its recruiters.

In money news, the cost of oil is back at $47 a barrel. The increase came as OPEC warned it might start to reign in supplies because inventories were building up too quickly. There's a different twist.

In culture, Donald Trump has chosen his first female apprentice. Oh, yeah. Twenty-six-year-old Kendra Todd won The Donald's approval and was hired. Her trophy is a $250,000 job developing a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

In sports, the Detroit Pistons moved one step closer to defending their NBA title by dismissing the Indiana Pacers. The Pistons eliminated the Pacers 88-79. They'll now move on to face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals -- which, Chad, they begin on Monday.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And they go until whenever.

MYERS: Oh, yes. I can't wait.

But you know what? There was absolutely no -- no ill feelings between these two teams at all for the entire -- entire playoffs, which is...

COSTELLO: Oh, sure.

MYERS: Yes, OK. That's just a -- that's a good spin on things.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Can you believe it's been 30 years already? We're going to take you back to the day. That was one realistic looking shark, wasn't it?

Plus, want that Merlot to go along with your doggie bag? One restaurant's broad interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling on wine.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Friday, May 20.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Candy-gram.

MYERS: Candy-gram.

COSTELLO: Remember that?

MYERS: Pizza man.

COSTELLO: We're going to be talking about "Jaws" in a little bit. That was the funniest skit on "Saturday Night Live."

MYERS: Chevy Chase. I know it was.

COSTELLO: It's like, "Candy-gram."

Anyway, we're going to have more "Late Night Laughs" right now, because in case you missed it, Jay Leno was taking some swipes at the president's security forces. Can you believe it?

MYERS: Wow.

COSTELLO: He was taking swipes at anchor Dan Rather, too. So let's hear it.

MYERS: Say it ain't so. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Remember that hand grenade that was thrown towards President Bush when he was in Russia last week? It turns out it was real. It could have exploded. And the Secret Service said today they're examining whether security changes need to be made.

Duh.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Gee, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, yes. A guy walks up, throws a hand grenade at the president, I can't get on a plane because I have a nose clipper. Hello? There's something wrong.

CBS has canceled "60 Minutes II," which means Dan Rather lost another job. Yes. I understand there's an opening at "Newsweek," so he might go there. He might go there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: Oh, he's got to let that go. Can't hear you, Carol. I can't hear you.

Can you hear her? OK.

We can't hear you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well (INAUDIBLE).

MYERS: We're going to be right back. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Welcome to the second half- hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

"Now in the News," new information this morning on those two children missing from the scene of a triple homicide in Idaho. Investigators now say a man has been spotted with the two children who resemble Dylan and Shasta Groene. They were seen alive at a store in Montana with a tall man in a light colored full-size van.

All Army recruiting operations are on hold today. It's called a stand-down. Recruiters will get a refresher on military laws that dictate what they can and cannot do to enlist someone. It's in response to recent allegations of improper tactics by some recruiters.

U.S. Airways and America West have announced a merger agreement, and it could mean cheaper airline tickets for you. That's because their combined operations will create the first nationwide full service, low-cost airline.

And the first hurricane of the season is pounding Central America's Pacific Coast. Hurricane Adrian hit El Salvador, killing two people, forcing thousands from their homes.

But, Chad, it's now been downgraded, right, to a tropical storm?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You bet.

COSTELLO: A little bit more information to tell you on that late word into CNN that authorities in Idaho may have a break in the case of those two missing children. Here's what we know.

There may, may have been a sighting of 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister Shasta. As you know, they've been missing since Monday, when the bodies of their mother, brother and their mother's boyfriend were found in their home in Coeur d'Alene.

Now, police got a tip that the children may have been spotted in an Idaho store yesterday. And that has prompted a lookout for a tall man driving a light colored full-size van with Washington State plates. Don't know who this man is.

Here's the tip line number: 208-446-2292. You can also call this number: 208-446-2293.

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 May 20, 2005 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, military recruiters across the country are not doing their jobs today. We'll tell you why.
Plus, one major step forward in stem cell research, but will the United States take two steps back?

And it's been 30 years since a big hunk of rubber scared you off the beach. We'll look back at the summer of "Jaws."

It is Friday, May 20. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

"Now in the News," new information this morning on the missing children from northwestern -- from the northwestern United States. Police in Montana say a man in a pawn shop was seen with two children who resembled Dylan and Shasta Groene. They are the two children missing from that scene of a triple homicide in Idaho. The three were reportedly seen in a light colored van with Washington State plates.

U.S. Airways and America West are merging. It will create the first nationwide, full service, low-cost airline. Under the plan, America West buys bankrupt U.S. Airways for $1.5 billion.

The first named storm of the season is pummeling the coast of Central America. Adrian has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it's still tearing up Guatemala and El Salvador. Heavy rain -- well, what am I saying? Chad knows more about this than I do.

Good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's a tropical storm now, Carol, but it was a hurricane like six hours ago.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: This word just into CNN. In fact, we've just confirmed it. Authorities in Idaho may have a break in the case of those two missing children. There may, may have been a sighting of 9- year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister Shasta. They've been missing since Monday, when the bodies of their mother and brother and their mother's boyfriend were found in their home in Coeur d'Alene. Police got a tip that the children may have been spotted in an Idaho store yesterday. Now, that's prompted a lookout for a man driving a light colored full-size van with Washington State plates.

Sean Callebs has the latest on the triple murder mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's day four. Investigators still searching for telling shreds of evidence.

Two children, a sister and brother ages 8 and 9, are still missing without a clue. They were last seen at their mother's House. The mother was killed there, along with their 13-year-old brother and the mother's boyfriend.

Authorities now say all three died of blunt force trauma to the head. The sheriff's office still has no idea why or who committed the grisly crimes.

The missing children's distraught and devastated father, no longer married to their mother, issued a public plea Thursday to their possible abductors.

STEVE GROENE, FATHER OF CHILDREN: Please, please release my children safely. They had nothing to do with any of this. Release them in a safe area where law enforcement can find them. Call the help line, let them know where they're -- they can be found.

CALLEBS: The FBI and sheriff's office interviewed a man they had called a "person of interest," 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner, who was first to call authorities. Officers say that he was questioned for seven hours and that Lutner voluntarily took and passed a lie detector test. Investigators determined he had no apparent ties to the triple slayings or missing children.

The bottom line at this point, investigators say they are coming up empty with absolutely no leads in the case.

CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It's hard for everybody involved and the public. We're as concerned about these children as anyone.

CALLEBS: The best information Lutner could provide, that there was a gathering of friends at this house hours before the killings. But police don't know whether that gathering led in any way to the deaths and to the disappearance of the children. The sheriff's office is pleading that anyone with information come forward.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And authorities are still asking for your help. They set up these hotline numbers: 208-446-2292 and 208-446-2293.

Today, Army recruiters will do something they have never done before, suspend operations for a single day to focus on the ethics and rules governing recruiting. The unusual move called a stand-down is in response to recent allegation of improper tactics by some recruiters.

As CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports, those tactics were uncovered by a 17-year-old boy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): David McSwane knew he was on to a big story.

DAVID MCSWANE, HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALIST: I wanted to see how far they would go to get one more soldier.

GUTIERREZ: What he uncovered at one Army recruiting center is making waves all the way up to the Pentagon.

LT. COL. JEFFREY BRODEUR, U.S. ARMY: We aggressively and immediately started an investigation.

GUTIERREZ: David McSwane is not a professional journalist. He's 17 years old, a senior at Arvada West High School outside Denver, Colorado. And he's a prime target for military recruiters.

MCSWANE: This is just something that affects everyone in my age group, everyone in high school across America.

GUTIERREZ: So David, a reporter for the high school newspaper, set out to find out just how far Army recruiters would go to enlist a new soldier.

MCSWANE: The scenario I came up with was that I'm a 17-year-old dropout and that I have a drug problem that I just -- I just can't kick.

GUTIERREZ: The Army requires a high school diploma or GED, and they don't accept recruits with drug problems. But David says a recruiter at this center in Golden, Colorado, told him not to worry.

MCSWANE: These are the transcripts that go along with the diploma.

GUTIERREZ: David says his recruiter told him to go to the Internet to buy this fake high school diploma and bogus school transcripts. David taped the conversations.

MCSWANE: So they accepted my diploma and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's what they told us, bro.

MCSWANE: All right. I mean -- all right. So they don't -- they don't know that it's fake or anything. I'm not going to get in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. You won't, bro.

MCSWANE: All right. Cool.

GUTIERREZ: As for his made-up drug problem...

MCSWANE: This is the detox he told me to buy.

GUTIERREZ: ... David says the recruiter told him to buy this product to pass the Army's drug test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just have to follow the instructions to a T. I mean, it's got like 150 percent guarantee that you'll pass.

MCSWANE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen it work before.

GUTIERREZ: The recruiter then took David to a store to buy the product while someone videotaped.

MCSWANE: He went as far as driving me down to the place to buy the detox drink in a government vehicle.

GUTIERREZ: After David's investigation was published in his high school newspaper, it snowballed into a P.R. nightmare for the Army.

BRODEUR: Disappointment, wrapped up into one word.

GUTIERREZ: Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Brodeur has 129 recruiters under his command. Two of the four recruiters of this Golden, Colorado, center are now under investigation for alleged recruiting abuses.

BRODEUR: So far today it appears to be a character issue. We're trained not to do that.

GUTIERREZ: Jim Massey was a Marine recruiter for three years.

JIM MASSEY, FMR. MARINE RECRUITER: This isn't just an isolated incident. This is a widespread epidemic.

GUTIERREZ: Massey says military recruiters are under such intense pressure to make their quota, they'll often stretch the truth to sign up new recruits. He says he did it, too.

MASSEY: I was a recruiter for three years. And I recruited 75 young men, and I would say 98 percent of the young men that I signed up for the Marine Corps were fraudulated (ph) -- or were frauded (ph) into the military in some capacity.

GUTIERREZ: Massey says when he failed to sign up two recruits a month, he received these letters of reprimand.

MASSEY: I had never had any types of -- any type or signs or symptoms of depression in my entire life until I went out on recruiting duty. By my second year out on recruiting duty, I was taking antidepressants.

GUTIERREZ: Massey fought in Iraq, then came home with a change of heart. He's now an antiwar activist.

MASSEY: I sold my soul a long time ago to the Marine Corps. And each day I strive to get a little bit of it better.

GUTIERREZ: Major General Michael Rochelle, command in general in charge of the U.S. Army, shut down 1,700 recruiting offices across the country for one day to review procedures for the Army's 7,500 recruiters in direct response to the allegations made by David McSwane and others.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY: I was disappointed by it. I was very disappointed by it. I've been around the Army a long time, so very little shocks me, if you will. It hurts personally and professionally.

GUTIERREZ: General Rochelle says the target is 80,000 new recruits a year. It's a tough task, he says, to recruit an all- volunteer Army at a time of war. Many parents use their influence to discourage enlistment.

ROCHELLE: One is the fear of loss of life or limb. And that's real. Take those two factors, along with the seeming resistance on the part of influencers, and you present a pretty daunting challenge for the Army.

SHELLY HANSEN, MOTHER: I read that people think he wasn't patriotic.

GUTIERREZ: Shelly Hansen says she feared a backlash against her son for exposing his recruiters.

HANSEN: He's probably one of the most patriotic kids that I know. He was in the Young Marines for almost a year and earned a couple of awards.

GUTIERREZ: Now David has an award from his school for his expose on the Army.

MCSWANE: If I were a soldier, out on the front line, I wouldn't want someone next to me who my life could be dependent on going through withdrawal, or having a drug addiction, or just being someone I can't trust. I just don't think that's something we need on our front lines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reporting.

I want to talk a little bit about this, because this is our e- mail "Question of the Day."

Chad, just so our viewers know, the Army's recruitment goal is 80,000 a year.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: That's a lot of people.

MYERS: It is. It's a lot of young men and women.

COSTELLO: Sixty-six hundred a month. The Army has missed its recruiting goal for the past three months for the first time ever.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: You know...

MYERS: So what's the solution here? I mean, where -- obviously, you don't want to get into that "draft" word, because that's just...

COSTELLO: No, no. We do.

MYERS: ... like, oh, my goodness.

COSTELLO: No, no, no. Wait. We do, because that could be a possible solution.

MYERS: It sure could be.

COSTELLO: I mean, bottom line. And I'm going to read you what Donald Rumsfeld recently said about the draft. And he said this before members of Congress. He says, "I think the only people who could conceivably be talking about a draft are people who are speaking from pinnacles of near-perfect ignorance."

So the Bush administration wants to part of the draft, but might it be forced to do that? And if it doesn't, what is the solution to these recruiting problems?

MYERS: Could it be a monetary bonus? I mean, obviously...

COSTELLO: They've tried that.

MYERS: ... I know -- I know a number of men and women that went in there because they knew that when they get off, and the GI bill, they could go to school for free. Do we need to enhance that more? I don't have the answer. Maybe people out there do.

COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

And, by the way, 17-year-old David McSwane, the high school journalist who blew the lid off that story in Colorado, he'll be our guest in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

In other news "Across America" now, Indiana prosecutors are expected to announce more charges against the suspects in the murder of a 10-year-old girl. One suspect, Charles Hickman, was already charged with murder after he originally confessed to drowning Katie Coleman. Police say the girl may have been killed because she saw the suspects running a meth lab near her home.

Sacramento police called in the search dogs to track down a robbery suspect. The suspect was treated for several dog bites after he was discovered hiding on the banks of a nearby canal. The man and three other suspects were arrested for allegedly stealing four pairs of pants from a Target store. Police also found several weapons in the car.

Sex offenders are not welcomed at Six Flags amusement parks. Season passes at all 30 of the companies' parks have a warning saying they can refuse entry to any registered sex offender who tries to get in. The park officials say they are not prepared to do background checks on every park visitor, so that might be a little hard to enforce.

Coming up on DAYBREAK, scientists call it therapeutic cloning, leading researchers to announce they've successfully cloned human embryos. We'll have details for you in 20 minutes.

And temptation. A winning lottery ticket and felony charges. Details on that in 10.

And call it what happens in China hopefully stays in China. We will adopt that story in 30 minutes.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down nearly 40 points. The London FTSE up two. And the German DAX is down by just over seven.

A possible break this morning in the case of those two missing Idaho children. Authorities say they received a tip yesterday that 9- year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister Shasta were spotted alive at an Idaho store. Now, that's prompted a search for a tall man driving a light colored van with Washington State license plates. Authorities believe he may be in northwestern Montana.

All Army recruiting being suspended today. The so-called stand- down is in response to reports of widespread abuses of recruiting rules. The Army will spend the day retraining its recruiters.

In money news, the cost of oil is back at $47 a barrel. The increase came as OPEC warned it might start to reign in supplies because inventories were building up too quickly. There's a different twist.

In culture, Donald Trump has chosen his first female apprentice. Oh, yeah. Twenty-six-year-old Kendra Todd won The Donald's approval and was hired. Her trophy is a $250,000 job developing a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

In sports, the Detroit Pistons moved one step closer to defending their NBA title by dismissing the Indiana Pacers. The Pistons eliminated the Pacers 88-79. They'll now move on to face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals -- which, Chad, they begin on Monday.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And they go until whenever.

MYERS: Oh, yes. I can't wait.

But you know what? There was absolutely no -- no ill feelings between these two teams at all for the entire -- entire playoffs, which is...

COSTELLO: Oh, sure.

MYERS: Yes, OK. That's just a -- that's a good spin on things.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Can you believe it's been 30 years already? We're going to take you back to the day. That was one realistic looking shark, wasn't it?

Plus, want that Merlot to go along with your doggie bag? One restaurant's broad interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling on wine.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Friday, May 20.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Candy-gram.

MYERS: Candy-gram.

COSTELLO: Remember that?

MYERS: Pizza man.

COSTELLO: We're going to be talking about "Jaws" in a little bit. That was the funniest skit on "Saturday Night Live."

MYERS: Chevy Chase. I know it was.

COSTELLO: It's like, "Candy-gram."

Anyway, we're going to have more "Late Night Laughs" right now, because in case you missed it, Jay Leno was taking some swipes at the president's security forces. Can you believe it?

MYERS: Wow.

COSTELLO: He was taking swipes at anchor Dan Rather, too. So let's hear it.

MYERS: Say it ain't so. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Remember that hand grenade that was thrown towards President Bush when he was in Russia last week? It turns out it was real. It could have exploded. And the Secret Service said today they're examining whether security changes need to be made.

Duh.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Gee, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, yes. A guy walks up, throws a hand grenade at the president, I can't get on a plane because I have a nose clipper. Hello? There's something wrong.

CBS has canceled "60 Minutes II," which means Dan Rather lost another job. Yes. I understand there's an opening at "Newsweek," so he might go there. He might go there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: Oh, he's got to let that go. Can't hear you, Carol. I can't hear you.

Can you hear her? OK.

We can't hear you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well (INAUDIBLE).

MYERS: We're going to be right back. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Welcome to the second half- hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

"Now in the News," new information this morning on those two children missing from the scene of a triple homicide in Idaho. Investigators now say a man has been spotted with the two children who resemble Dylan and Shasta Groene. They were seen alive at a store in Montana with a tall man in a light colored full-size van.

All Army recruiting operations are on hold today. It's called a stand-down. Recruiters will get a refresher on military laws that dictate what they can and cannot do to enlist someone. It's in response to recent allegations of improper tactics by some recruiters.

U.S. Airways and America West have announced a merger agreement, and it could mean cheaper airline tickets for you. That's because their combined operations will create the first nationwide full service, low-cost airline.

And the first hurricane of the season is pounding Central America's Pacific Coast. Hurricane Adrian hit El Salvador, killing two people, forcing thousands from their homes.

But, Chad, it's now been downgraded, right, to a tropical storm?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You bet.

COSTELLO: A little bit more information to tell you on that late word into CNN that authorities in Idaho may have a break in the case of those two missing children. Here's what we know.

There may, may have been a sighting of 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister Shasta. As you know, they've been missing since Monday, when the bodies of their mother, brother and their mother's boyfriend were found in their home in Coeur d'Alene.

Now, police got a tip that the children may have been spotted in an Idaho store yesterday. And that has prompted a lookout for a tall man driving a light colored full-size van with Washington State plates. Don't know who this man is.

Here's the tip line number: 208-446-2292. You can also call this number: 208-446-2293.

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