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CNN Live At Daybreak

Another Terror-Related Arrest in California; Day Five of Jury Deliberations in Michael Jackson Trial

Aired June 09, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

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


VALERIE MORRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, June 9.
Another terror related arrest in California. A fifth man taken into custody. We'll get a live report from Lodi, California.

Plus, a new report says major airlines may be cutting costs and cutting corners on your safety. We'll tell you the details.

And it's day five of jury deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial. But what's happening inside Jackson's own camp?

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

MORRIS: Good morning, everyone.

I'm Valerie Morris in for Carol Costello.

We're going to have more on the new arrest in the California terror investigation in a moment.

Also ahead, the debate over breast feeding -- why self-proclaimed lactavists are going public.

And division over the war in Iraq -- what's it doing to military families?

But first, now in the news, President Bush will make a sales pitch to extend the life of the Patriot Act today. He also wants to expand the subpoena powers of the FBI. He will make his case during a trip to Columbus, Ohio.

Donald Rumsfeld is talking about giving U.S. troops a limited role in helping to stop the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region. The defense secretary is at NATO headquarters in Brussels today.

In the Midwest, severe weather, and it could get worse. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma has issued a moderate risk for severe weather tomorrow for parts of the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas.

And that, of course, leads me to say once again -- Chad Myers, let's get a check of the weather from you.

How are things going?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Valerie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: We begin this hour with our "Security Watch" and more details on what the FBI says may have been a wide ranging al Qaeda plot being hatched in the quiet California community of Lodi. The FBI says 47-year-old Umer Hayat and his 32-year-old son Hamid were planning a holy war against American citizens. The two men are being held in the Sacramento County jail on charges they lied about the son's activities.

Federal officials say they've been tracking the son for a while.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREGOR SCOTT, U.S. ATTORNEY: Hamid admitted that he had, in fact, attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan for approximately six months in 2003 and 2004. He also confirmed that the camp was run by al Qaeda operatives and that they were being trained on how to kill Americans. He further stated that he had specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his Jihadi mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Two local Muslim leaders have also been arrested on immigration charges. And there's word this morning that the son of one of those men has also been detained.

Now to rail security. A scare aboard an Amtrak train forced the evacuation of homes and balloons in Richmond, California. Police say a passenger became agitated and made threatening statements when he'd learned he'd missed his stop yesterday. The bomb squad X-rayed his packages after suspecting one was a bomb. It turned out to be a computer.

Restricted air space over Washington will be the main topic on Senate hearings today. The Commerce Committee will review security procedures during two recent incursions into the no fly zone. They'll also review plans to reopen Reagan National Airport for charter aircraft.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Another government agency is also questioning the safety of our skies, but this time it has nothing to do with terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MORRIS (voice-over): A new government report says the airline industry and the FAA are not living up to their safety standards. Among the complaints, airline inspections aren't being done and that airlines may be scrimping on maintenance procedures. Both the FAA and major airlines point to budget and financial failures as part of the problem. The FAA says their budget cuts mean less inspectors are trying to do the same amount of work that used to be done by a full force. In fact, there are 300 fewer inspectors.

As for the airlines, they say they haven't done anything that could jeopardize passengers. But the government report points to an increased number of flights as a potential problem.

It was also determined that a series of incidents at one airline may have been caused by "prolonged psychological stress and fatigue that the pilots had experienced as a result of major pay cuts and flying extra hours to make up for the loss of pay." Not only does it mean that pilots and flight crews are logging more hours. It means there's less time to check out the planes between those flights. The report says the failure to follow prepare procedures could pose safety risks, like the plane's brakes not having enough time to cool down.

There are also questions about the effectiveness of outsourced maintenance crews. Outsourcing has been seen as a key way to cut costs for the major airlines.

The falling fortunes of the bigger airlines have also led to the growth of the low cost carriers. Their growing fleets have also provided pause for inspectors. But now, as a result of the report, the FAA has agreed to make some changes. Included will be increased analysis of airline operations and a greater emphasis on smaller air carriers.

Air travel expert Ben Mutzabaugh will have more on the report coming up a little later this hour. He's also going to let us know if small air carriers are really having an effect on airline safety.

And now to the case of missing teen Natalee Holloway. It's been nine days since the Alabama student disappeared while on a graduation trip to Aruba and there is still no sign of her. Two former security guards arrested in her disappearance haven't been charged. But a judge ordered them to be held for eight more days while prosecutors work to gather more evidence against them.

Meanwhile, the suspects' families are standing up for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA DE GRAF, SUSPECT'S GIRLFRIEND: He's always spending time with his daughter, with me. He's a -- I don't know -- he's not going to do anything wrong to anyone. I don't know even why. Why pick him?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Natalee Holloway's family says they're still trying to keep the faith that she's still alive.

Other "Stories Across America" this Thursday, jurors in Orlando have cleared Lear Jet of wrongdoing in the 1999 plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart. His family was suing for $200 million. They claimed a cracked adapter caused that plane to lose pressure. It flew for hours with all aboard presumably unconscious until it crashed in South Dakota. A student shot in the head during a shooting spree at Red Lake High School in Minnesota has been released from the hospital. Jeffrey May says he's looking forward to getting back to school and playing sports. He was shot in March by 16-year-old Jeff Weise, who killed five students, a guard and a teacher before taking his own life.

Police in Rogers, Arkansas are investigating this DVD that shows teen boys boxing and girls mud wrestling. Authorities say the teenagers are believed to have been drinking and that several under aged students were involved. The police chief says the DVD, entitled, "Fight Night," was turned in by a teacher.

Still to come this hour, the debate over breast feeding. Does this very personal act belong in public? Why lactavists are taking to the streets in protest.

Day five of the deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial. But has it become a case of look who's talking?

And war is hell on families. Fallout on the home front over the war in Iraq.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning, June 9.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORRIS: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 6:13 and here's what's all new this morning.

A fifth arrest has been made in the suspected terror case in Lodi, California. A 19-year-old man has been detained on an immigration violation. He's the son of a Muslim leader who was detained Sunday on similar immigration charges.

In money, HealthSouth, the rehabilitation hospital chain, will pay $100 million to settle civil charges with the SEC. The company overstated earnings by $2.7 billion from 1996 through 2003.

In culture, Tom Cruise is ready to take on another impossible mission. He has agreed to a deal with Paramount Pictures to star in "Mission Impossible 3." Filming starts in July, with an expected release date of May 5, 2006.

In sports, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez smacked his 400th career home run in record time. A-Rod is more than a month away from his 30th birthday, so he passed Ken Griffey, Jr. as the youngest to reach the 400 homer milestone.

And in weather -- Chad.

MYERS: Tropical depression number one, the first one of the season. It kind of makes sense. If it turns into a storm, it'll be Arlene. We're looking at it. It's south of Cuba, east of Cozumel, north of Honduras. Not all that far, actually, the center not all that far from Grand Cayman. Miami, you're going to get showers with it today, and more rain tomorrow and Saturday. The storm is forecast to head maybe up toward Pensacola, maybe over toward Destin, Fort Walton Beach. But that is still a long ways away. We could turn it left or turn it right. It's up to it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: And those are the headlines.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, Ronald McDonald goes on a health kick. We'll explain why in today's "Business Buzz."

Plus, the benefits of breast feeding are undisputed, but plenty of people feel uncomfortable when moms feed their babies in public. Now, lactavists are speaking out.

But first, we say good morning to Chicago, Illinois, where there's a chance of thunderstorms lingering out there today.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": By the time you're 50, you should have at least some kind of a sense of how much income you're actually going to need at age 65. And what you can do is you can look and see how much you have saved right now and what kind of return you're likely to earn from that and then how much you're likely to save and see what amount of money that will eventually generate when you retire.

Now, there are a lot of calculators out there on the Web that allow you to do this with a pretty good degree of accuracy. It's not 100 percent accuracy, but certainly enough for you to get a sense of whether you need to be saving more or whether you need to be changing the way you invest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORRIS: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."

North Carolina's furniture making industry is really taking a hit. More than 1,200 workers at Thomasville and Broyhill Furniture plants will be laid off. Furniture Brands International says it is closing four furniture plants in Davidson and Caldwell Counties.

Just how much do people without health insurance cost the rest of us? Well, a study by Families USA says about $341 annually for the average worker, about $922 for the average family. The study concludes that about $1 out of every $12 spent on health insurance indirectly pays for the uninsured.

McDonald's trying to shed its fattening image by giving Ronald McDonald a makeover. Carrie Lee is here and she joins us with this look at Ronald's new look -- hi there, Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really come full circle here, Val. Ronald McDonald now becoming a fitness guru, if you will. He's going to be trading in his baggy yellow jumpsuit for a more form fitting version and in a new television ad that will begin airing tomorrow, he's going to be seen kicking a soccer ball, riding a skateboard and even juggling fruits and vegetables. He's also going to be seen with basketball star Yao Ming, McDonald's' spokesman.

One thing you're not going to be seeing, however, is McDonald's food. There's going to be no shots of hamburgers or fries in the commercials. The move is the latest in an effort by McDonald's to fight back against criticism of its food as fattening and unhealthy. It already has added more fruit and veggies to its menu options, as well as offering milk as an alternative to soda in its Happy Meals. Good timing, Val, because 15 percent of kids are overweight in this country.

MORRIS: Yes.

LEE: So they're really trying to change their image. This is the latest move.

MORRIS: A big concern. And it is changing its image, also, with those kiosks where you can get pictures developed and all of those things so...

LEE: Trying to also branch out, expand the brand. Exactly.

MORRIS: Right.

As we look to the markets, of course, when Greenspan speaks, everyone listens.

What are the futures looking like from what...

LEE: That's right. He's speaking to Congress today. He's talking to the Joint Economic Committee.

Futures looking a bit weak so far. We had a pretty nice rally going yesterday. The Dow was up almost 100 points. Well, that fizzled when the White House gave a slightly lower estimate for GDP, gross domestic product growth, for 2005.

So that's the latest.

MORRIS: All right, Carrie, thanks, as always.

LEE: OK.

MORRIS: Babies and mamas -- they're making big news this morning. The doctor who performed the first known successful ovary transplant in the United States says he believes more influential women will seek out the procedure. An Alabama woman gave birth to a baby girl Monday after receiving transplanted ovarian tissue from her identical twin sister.

The new mom describes the delivery as a very tearful time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE YARBER, OVARY TISSUE RECIPIENT: She cried, she cried and I cried. Yes, it -- it was emotional for everybody in that room with us. You know, I had my mom and my grandmother and my sister and my husband. And everybody cried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Yarber became menopausal at age 14 and was unable to become pregnant without medical help.

The question now is to breastfeed or not to breastfeed in public. It's an issue that's a serious issue for many moms. They've declared themselves lactavists and staged protests outside ABC headquarters after Barbara Walters made a negative comment about public breast feeding on her talk show, "The View."

Breast feeding advocate Lorrie Leigh joins us now live from Silver Spring, Maryland with more on the controversy.

Good morning to you, Lorrie, and thank you so much for joining us.

Can you hear me?

LORRIE LEIGH, BREAST FEEDING ADVOCATE: Yes, I can.

MORRIS: OK.

This is especially important in light of the fact that you have twins and you are now six months pregnant with your second set of twins.

LEIGH: That is true.

MORRIS: And on bed rest, so we appreciate the time that you are spending with us.

What do lactavists want?

LEIGH: We want the right to take care of our babies and also live our lives in the public sphere.

MORRIS: With that, though, are you feeling that the problem is that this country has a different view about breasts, first of all, because it's viewed more sexually? Because in Europe, there is really not an outcry when babies are breastfed in public.

LEIGH: Absolutely. We have a very screwed up view of the breast. We have no issues with the breast when we see it on the cover of "Cosmo" or at the beach or at the mall on a teenage girl when she's got her little spaghetti strap shirt on. And we have no issues with that. And yet we get completely freaked out if we even know that there's somebody near us who's breast feeding, even though people keep saying women are exposing themselves when they breast fed. But a mother who's breast feeding, you usually can see almost nothing.

I have nursed in crowds. I have nursed in church. And nobody even knows it because the top of my shirt covers the top of my breast. The baby covers the front of the breast and the baby's body covers underneath. So you really can't see much.

MORRIS: My daughters are now -- my daughters are grown. I have a grandson. But I nursed both of them for a long time. Part of it, I think, is the manner in which women do it. You are describing something that is modest and I think is easier for people to deal with. Some mothers really are not quite as discrete.

Isn't that part of the problem?

LEIGH: Honestly, I have to disagree with you. I work as a breast feeding educator. I work with breast feeding mothers all the time. And I'd like to meet these expose -- these mothers who are trying to purposely expose themselves.

Everyone I've worked with, everyone I know, my girlfriends, who all are nursing mothers, all of us nurse, you know, we only expose enough to get the job done. We're not trying to make people uncomfortable. We're just trying to keep the baby happy and keep him from screaming and take care of their needs.

MORRIS: Lorrie, I think some people, if they would just think about it, what would they rather have, a crying, hungry baby or a mother discretely breast feeding, I would think that that would be a logical person's response would be discrete and quiet the baby.

LEIGH: Absolutely. And that's what made me laugh about Barbara Walters' comments on "The View," because she was talking about a plane ride and how many people complain about oh, I sat next to a screaming baby for four hours. It was horrible. Well, a nursing mother, her baby is happy and quiet. What would she have rather had next to her -- the baby screaming in her ear or the baby happily nursing and then going to sleep?

MORRIS: Well, Lorrie Leigh, thank you so much for joining us.

We wish you good luck with your babies. And I know you're on bed rest, so do take care.

I think a lot of people are saying do consider being discrete and also a little politeness in this whole thing goes a long way.

Thank you so much.

Still to come on DAYBREAK this morning, another terrorist related arrest overnight in Lodi, California. A live report is coming up with details.

Plus, remember those pilots who got caught drinking on the job? They are now laid over for a while.

You're watching DAYBREAK on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

MORRIS: Good morning to you.

I'm Valerie Morris in today for Carol Costello.

Also coming up this half hour, divorce is on the rise among military couples. We'll look at why it may be harder to keep a military marriage together.

And if safety is a top concern for airlines, why will there be fewer inspectors? Because of FAA budget cuts.

But first, now in the news, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today. He and two European Union officials met with Iraqi leaders about a conference on developing Iraq. That conference is set for Brussels later this month.

The Senate is expected to vote today on the federal appeals court nomination of Judge William Pryor. He is the last of three nominees that Democrats said could have a final vote as part of the agreement on filibusters.

And Arizona firefighters are battling a fast moving brush fire. It's charred about 1,000 acres and forced the evacuation of at least 30 people from their homes near the town of Wickenburg.

And Chad Myers always keeping an eye on the weather for us.

MYERS: Yes.

MORRIS: I had asked earlier how things are going to be going in that area. You said yesterday it would be impacted.

MYERS: Yes, you know...

MORRIS: What about today?

MYERS: Yes, you know, exactly. The wind still there, though. If you can go -- I don't know if we can get back to that video. Notice as the smoke was coming up from that plane, it was actually getting blown off to the right quite a bit. And that's the bad news.

See how quickly this smoke is moving? You like to see smoke just going straight up in the air. That means there is no wind. And the wind is always the calmest in the overnight hours. So they need to get a handle on this tonight, because as the day comes on today, the winds are going to pick up 15, 20 miles per hour, and that can send those sparks going everywhere.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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Aired June 9, 2005 - 06:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VALERIE MORRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, June 9.
Another terror related arrest in California. A fifth man taken into custody. We'll get a live report from Lodi, California.

Plus, a new report says major airlines may be cutting costs and cutting corners on your safety. We'll tell you the details.

And it's day five of jury deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial. But what's happening inside Jackson's own camp?

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

MORRIS: Good morning, everyone.

I'm Valerie Morris in for Carol Costello.

We're going to have more on the new arrest in the California terror investigation in a moment.

Also ahead, the debate over breast feeding -- why self-proclaimed lactavists are going public.

And division over the war in Iraq -- what's it doing to military families?

But first, now in the news, President Bush will make a sales pitch to extend the life of the Patriot Act today. He also wants to expand the subpoena powers of the FBI. He will make his case during a trip to Columbus, Ohio.

Donald Rumsfeld is talking about giving U.S. troops a limited role in helping to stop the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region. The defense secretary is at NATO headquarters in Brussels today.

In the Midwest, severe weather, and it could get worse. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma has issued a moderate risk for severe weather tomorrow for parts of the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas.

And that, of course, leads me to say once again -- Chad Myers, let's get a check of the weather from you.

How are things going?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Valerie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: We begin this hour with our "Security Watch" and more details on what the FBI says may have been a wide ranging al Qaeda plot being hatched in the quiet California community of Lodi. The FBI says 47-year-old Umer Hayat and his 32-year-old son Hamid were planning a holy war against American citizens. The two men are being held in the Sacramento County jail on charges they lied about the son's activities.

Federal officials say they've been tracking the son for a while.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREGOR SCOTT, U.S. ATTORNEY: Hamid admitted that he had, in fact, attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan for approximately six months in 2003 and 2004. He also confirmed that the camp was run by al Qaeda operatives and that they were being trained on how to kill Americans. He further stated that he had specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his Jihadi mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Two local Muslim leaders have also been arrested on immigration charges. And there's word this morning that the son of one of those men has also been detained.

Now to rail security. A scare aboard an Amtrak train forced the evacuation of homes and balloons in Richmond, California. Police say a passenger became agitated and made threatening statements when he'd learned he'd missed his stop yesterday. The bomb squad X-rayed his packages after suspecting one was a bomb. It turned out to be a computer.

Restricted air space over Washington will be the main topic on Senate hearings today. The Commerce Committee will review security procedures during two recent incursions into the no fly zone. They'll also review plans to reopen Reagan National Airport for charter aircraft.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Another government agency is also questioning the safety of our skies, but this time it has nothing to do with terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MORRIS (voice-over): A new government report says the airline industry and the FAA are not living up to their safety standards. Among the complaints, airline inspections aren't being done and that airlines may be scrimping on maintenance procedures. Both the FAA and major airlines point to budget and financial failures as part of the problem. The FAA says their budget cuts mean less inspectors are trying to do the same amount of work that used to be done by a full force. In fact, there are 300 fewer inspectors.

As for the airlines, they say they haven't done anything that could jeopardize passengers. But the government report points to an increased number of flights as a potential problem.

It was also determined that a series of incidents at one airline may have been caused by "prolonged psychological stress and fatigue that the pilots had experienced as a result of major pay cuts and flying extra hours to make up for the loss of pay." Not only does it mean that pilots and flight crews are logging more hours. It means there's less time to check out the planes between those flights. The report says the failure to follow prepare procedures could pose safety risks, like the plane's brakes not having enough time to cool down.

There are also questions about the effectiveness of outsourced maintenance crews. Outsourcing has been seen as a key way to cut costs for the major airlines.

The falling fortunes of the bigger airlines have also led to the growth of the low cost carriers. Their growing fleets have also provided pause for inspectors. But now, as a result of the report, the FAA has agreed to make some changes. Included will be increased analysis of airline operations and a greater emphasis on smaller air carriers.

Air travel expert Ben Mutzabaugh will have more on the report coming up a little later this hour. He's also going to let us know if small air carriers are really having an effect on airline safety.

And now to the case of missing teen Natalee Holloway. It's been nine days since the Alabama student disappeared while on a graduation trip to Aruba and there is still no sign of her. Two former security guards arrested in her disappearance haven't been charged. But a judge ordered them to be held for eight more days while prosecutors work to gather more evidence against them.

Meanwhile, the suspects' families are standing up for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA DE GRAF, SUSPECT'S GIRLFRIEND: He's always spending time with his daughter, with me. He's a -- I don't know -- he's not going to do anything wrong to anyone. I don't know even why. Why pick him?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Natalee Holloway's family says they're still trying to keep the faith that she's still alive.

Other "Stories Across America" this Thursday, jurors in Orlando have cleared Lear Jet of wrongdoing in the 1999 plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart. His family was suing for $200 million. They claimed a cracked adapter caused that plane to lose pressure. It flew for hours with all aboard presumably unconscious until it crashed in South Dakota. A student shot in the head during a shooting spree at Red Lake High School in Minnesota has been released from the hospital. Jeffrey May says he's looking forward to getting back to school and playing sports. He was shot in March by 16-year-old Jeff Weise, who killed five students, a guard and a teacher before taking his own life.

Police in Rogers, Arkansas are investigating this DVD that shows teen boys boxing and girls mud wrestling. Authorities say the teenagers are believed to have been drinking and that several under aged students were involved. The police chief says the DVD, entitled, "Fight Night," was turned in by a teacher.

Still to come this hour, the debate over breast feeding. Does this very personal act belong in public? Why lactavists are taking to the streets in protest.

Day five of the deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial. But has it become a case of look who's talking?

And war is hell on families. Fallout on the home front over the war in Iraq.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning, June 9.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORRIS: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 6:13 and here's what's all new this morning.

A fifth arrest has been made in the suspected terror case in Lodi, California. A 19-year-old man has been detained on an immigration violation. He's the son of a Muslim leader who was detained Sunday on similar immigration charges.

In money, HealthSouth, the rehabilitation hospital chain, will pay $100 million to settle civil charges with the SEC. The company overstated earnings by $2.7 billion from 1996 through 2003.

In culture, Tom Cruise is ready to take on another impossible mission. He has agreed to a deal with Paramount Pictures to star in "Mission Impossible 3." Filming starts in July, with an expected release date of May 5, 2006.

In sports, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez smacked his 400th career home run in record time. A-Rod is more than a month away from his 30th birthday, so he passed Ken Griffey, Jr. as the youngest to reach the 400 homer milestone.

And in weather -- Chad.

MYERS: Tropical depression number one, the first one of the season. It kind of makes sense. If it turns into a storm, it'll be Arlene. We're looking at it. It's south of Cuba, east of Cozumel, north of Honduras. Not all that far, actually, the center not all that far from Grand Cayman. Miami, you're going to get showers with it today, and more rain tomorrow and Saturday. The storm is forecast to head maybe up toward Pensacola, maybe over toward Destin, Fort Walton Beach. But that is still a long ways away. We could turn it left or turn it right. It's up to it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: And those are the headlines.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, Ronald McDonald goes on a health kick. We'll explain why in today's "Business Buzz."

Plus, the benefits of breast feeding are undisputed, but plenty of people feel uncomfortable when moms feed their babies in public. Now, lactavists are speaking out.

But first, we say good morning to Chicago, Illinois, where there's a chance of thunderstorms lingering out there today.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": By the time you're 50, you should have at least some kind of a sense of how much income you're actually going to need at age 65. And what you can do is you can look and see how much you have saved right now and what kind of return you're likely to earn from that and then how much you're likely to save and see what amount of money that will eventually generate when you retire.

Now, there are a lot of calculators out there on the Web that allow you to do this with a pretty good degree of accuracy. It's not 100 percent accuracy, but certainly enough for you to get a sense of whether you need to be saving more or whether you need to be changing the way you invest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORRIS: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."

North Carolina's furniture making industry is really taking a hit. More than 1,200 workers at Thomasville and Broyhill Furniture plants will be laid off. Furniture Brands International says it is closing four furniture plants in Davidson and Caldwell Counties.

Just how much do people without health insurance cost the rest of us? Well, a study by Families USA says about $341 annually for the average worker, about $922 for the average family. The study concludes that about $1 out of every $12 spent on health insurance indirectly pays for the uninsured.

McDonald's trying to shed its fattening image by giving Ronald McDonald a makeover. Carrie Lee is here and she joins us with this look at Ronald's new look -- hi there, Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really come full circle here, Val. Ronald McDonald now becoming a fitness guru, if you will. He's going to be trading in his baggy yellow jumpsuit for a more form fitting version and in a new television ad that will begin airing tomorrow, he's going to be seen kicking a soccer ball, riding a skateboard and even juggling fruits and vegetables. He's also going to be seen with basketball star Yao Ming, McDonald's' spokesman.

One thing you're not going to be seeing, however, is McDonald's food. There's going to be no shots of hamburgers or fries in the commercials. The move is the latest in an effort by McDonald's to fight back against criticism of its food as fattening and unhealthy. It already has added more fruit and veggies to its menu options, as well as offering milk as an alternative to soda in its Happy Meals. Good timing, Val, because 15 percent of kids are overweight in this country.

MORRIS: Yes.

LEE: So they're really trying to change their image. This is the latest move.

MORRIS: A big concern. And it is changing its image, also, with those kiosks where you can get pictures developed and all of those things so...

LEE: Trying to also branch out, expand the brand. Exactly.

MORRIS: Right.

As we look to the markets, of course, when Greenspan speaks, everyone listens.

What are the futures looking like from what...

LEE: That's right. He's speaking to Congress today. He's talking to the Joint Economic Committee.

Futures looking a bit weak so far. We had a pretty nice rally going yesterday. The Dow was up almost 100 points. Well, that fizzled when the White House gave a slightly lower estimate for GDP, gross domestic product growth, for 2005.

So that's the latest.

MORRIS: All right, Carrie, thanks, as always.

LEE: OK.

MORRIS: Babies and mamas -- they're making big news this morning. The doctor who performed the first known successful ovary transplant in the United States says he believes more influential women will seek out the procedure. An Alabama woman gave birth to a baby girl Monday after receiving transplanted ovarian tissue from her identical twin sister.

The new mom describes the delivery as a very tearful time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE YARBER, OVARY TISSUE RECIPIENT: She cried, she cried and I cried. Yes, it -- it was emotional for everybody in that room with us. You know, I had my mom and my grandmother and my sister and my husband. And everybody cried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Yarber became menopausal at age 14 and was unable to become pregnant without medical help.

The question now is to breastfeed or not to breastfeed in public. It's an issue that's a serious issue for many moms. They've declared themselves lactavists and staged protests outside ABC headquarters after Barbara Walters made a negative comment about public breast feeding on her talk show, "The View."

Breast feeding advocate Lorrie Leigh joins us now live from Silver Spring, Maryland with more on the controversy.

Good morning to you, Lorrie, and thank you so much for joining us.

Can you hear me?

LORRIE LEIGH, BREAST FEEDING ADVOCATE: Yes, I can.

MORRIS: OK.

This is especially important in light of the fact that you have twins and you are now six months pregnant with your second set of twins.

LEIGH: That is true.

MORRIS: And on bed rest, so we appreciate the time that you are spending with us.

What do lactavists want?

LEIGH: We want the right to take care of our babies and also live our lives in the public sphere.

MORRIS: With that, though, are you feeling that the problem is that this country has a different view about breasts, first of all, because it's viewed more sexually? Because in Europe, there is really not an outcry when babies are breastfed in public.

LEIGH: Absolutely. We have a very screwed up view of the breast. We have no issues with the breast when we see it on the cover of "Cosmo" or at the beach or at the mall on a teenage girl when she's got her little spaghetti strap shirt on. And we have no issues with that. And yet we get completely freaked out if we even know that there's somebody near us who's breast feeding, even though people keep saying women are exposing themselves when they breast fed. But a mother who's breast feeding, you usually can see almost nothing.

I have nursed in crowds. I have nursed in church. And nobody even knows it because the top of my shirt covers the top of my breast. The baby covers the front of the breast and the baby's body covers underneath. So you really can't see much.

MORRIS: My daughters are now -- my daughters are grown. I have a grandson. But I nursed both of them for a long time. Part of it, I think, is the manner in which women do it. You are describing something that is modest and I think is easier for people to deal with. Some mothers really are not quite as discrete.

Isn't that part of the problem?

LEIGH: Honestly, I have to disagree with you. I work as a breast feeding educator. I work with breast feeding mothers all the time. And I'd like to meet these expose -- these mothers who are trying to purposely expose themselves.

Everyone I've worked with, everyone I know, my girlfriends, who all are nursing mothers, all of us nurse, you know, we only expose enough to get the job done. We're not trying to make people uncomfortable. We're just trying to keep the baby happy and keep him from screaming and take care of their needs.

MORRIS: Lorrie, I think some people, if they would just think about it, what would they rather have, a crying, hungry baby or a mother discretely breast feeding, I would think that that would be a logical person's response would be discrete and quiet the baby.

LEIGH: Absolutely. And that's what made me laugh about Barbara Walters' comments on "The View," because she was talking about a plane ride and how many people complain about oh, I sat next to a screaming baby for four hours. It was horrible. Well, a nursing mother, her baby is happy and quiet. What would she have rather had next to her -- the baby screaming in her ear or the baby happily nursing and then going to sleep?

MORRIS: Well, Lorrie Leigh, thank you so much for joining us.

We wish you good luck with your babies. And I know you're on bed rest, so do take care.

I think a lot of people are saying do consider being discrete and also a little politeness in this whole thing goes a long way.

Thank you so much.

Still to come on DAYBREAK this morning, another terrorist related arrest overnight in Lodi, California. A live report is coming up with details.

Plus, remember those pilots who got caught drinking on the job? They are now laid over for a while.

You're watching DAYBREAK on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

MORRIS: Good morning to you.

I'm Valerie Morris in today for Carol Costello.

Also coming up this half hour, divorce is on the rise among military couples. We'll look at why it may be harder to keep a military marriage together.

And if safety is a top concern for airlines, why will there be fewer inspectors? Because of FAA budget cuts.

But first, now in the news, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today. He and two European Union officials met with Iraqi leaders about a conference on developing Iraq. That conference is set for Brussels later this month.

The Senate is expected to vote today on the federal appeals court nomination of Judge William Pryor. He is the last of three nominees that Democrats said could have a final vote as part of the agreement on filibusters.

And Arizona firefighters are battling a fast moving brush fire. It's charred about 1,000 acres and forced the evacuation of at least 30 people from their homes near the town of Wickenburg.

And Chad Myers always keeping an eye on the weather for us.

MYERS: Yes.

MORRIS: I had asked earlier how things are going to be going in that area. You said yesterday it would be impacted.

MYERS: Yes, you know...

MORRIS: What about today?

MYERS: Yes, you know, exactly. The wind still there, though. If you can go -- I don't know if we can get back to that video. Notice as the smoke was coming up from that plane, it was actually getting blown off to the right quite a bit. And that's the bad news.

See how quickly this smoke is moving? You like to see smoke just going straight up in the air. That means there is no wind. And the wind is always the calmest in the overnight hours. So they need to get a handle on this tonight, because as the day comes on today, the winds are going to pick up 15, 20 miles per hour, and that can send those sparks going everywhere.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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