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CNN Live At Daybreak

Iraq Blasts; Killer in Court; Worm Worries

Aired August 17, 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: It is Wednesday, August 17. It is time to get out of Gaza. But some Israelis are staying put, and they're facing off with their own army.
Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They decide to push it off the convoy route with an uparmored Humvee when it happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out! Get out!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: U.S. troops in the line of fire. We will take you to the heart of the war zone.

Plus, BTK back in court. And the families of his victims may soon relive their nightmares.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers. We'll have more on the Gaza withdrawal in just a minute.

Also ahead, a crafty worm attacks and sends news agencies like us and the U.S. Senate reeling. Live from Microsoft's headquarters in a few minutes.

And she didn't fall off stage, but she did fall off her horse. Madonna ends her birthday in the hospital.

But first, "Now in the News."

There has been a string of deadly bombings in Baghdad this morning. Among them, two car bombs that went off just minutes apart. More than 40 are dead, 70 wounded. We'll take you live to Baghdad in just a minute.

New questions about the deadly police shooting of a Brazilian citizen in a London subway last month. A British TV network reports he was behaving normally. Police said he had acted suspiciously but later admitted he was not a terrorist.

Violent developments in Gaza this morning. Israeli troops have entered Jewish settlements there. They're forcibly removing people who are protesting Israel's pullout from the region. We'll take you live to Gaza at the half-hour. A series of bombs go off nearly simultaneously in more than a dozen cities across Bangladesh. The blasts struck many regional capitals, as well as the national capital of Dhaka. At least 25 have been hurt. Local media are reporting one dead.

To the forecast center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you.

MYERS: Sure.

COSTELLO: That makes me happy.

MYERS: OK. That's my job.

COSTELLO: All right. Let's get -- let's get right to the news right now, shall we?

We get started in Iraq, where at least 43 people are dead, dozens more wounded in a pair of car bombings at a bus station in central Baghdad. And those were not the only deadly blasts in Iraq this morning.

Let's head live to Baghdad and Aneesh Raman.

Tell us about it, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

The death toll has been rising all day after a trio of car bombs detonated in the Iraqi capital beginning at just before 8:00 a.m. local. The death toll now at 43. Upwards of 70 people were wounded.

The first two bombs, Carol, detonating at the al-Nahda bus station in central Baghdad at what would have been a very busy morning hour, people heading to various parts of the country. Those explosions within minutes of each other.

And then, just minutes later, another explosion at one of the hospitals where casualties from the first blast were being taken to, the al-Kindi hospital. Collectively, again, 43 people killed.

To give you a sense of the explosion, 22 cars were essentially destroyed. That's how big these blasts were.

And Carol, these images underscore really the need of Iraq's population to have security, to have stability, comes after a month of a lull for these big attacks, and also amidst incredible political turmoil in the capital as Iraq's leaders try to meet their new deadline for a constitution now next Monday. But these images underscore that for the average Iraqi, it is security today that matters to them, not the political future of tomorrow. And it is what they need from their government now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman, reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

American casualties are still on the rise in the war zone -- 1,857 U.S. troops have been killed since the war started. Fifty-nine killed this month alone.

You might remember the last name or the last time Dennis Rader was in court. The BTK serial killer gave a detailed, emotionless description of his crimes. Later this morning, we'll hear more graphic details. His sentencing is set for 10:00 a.m. Eastern in Wichita, Kansas.

Chris Lawrence is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dennis Rader admits he is BTK and has methodically ticked off how he murdered his victims.

DENNIS RADER, BTK KILLER: Well, after I strangled here with a belt, I took the belt off and retied that with pantyhose real tight.

LAWRENCE: We watched the tape of Rader's testimony with Dr. Helen Morrison, an expert who studied serial killers for 30 years.

DR. HELEN MORRISON, PSYCHIATRIST: He reports his crimes as if he were doing a grocery list.

LAWRENCE: Dr. Morrison says he'll thrive in prison because life there is so structured.

MORRISON: You just do what you need to do, which is exactly like his crimes: you do what you need to do.

LAWRENCE: Rader stalked and murdered 10 people around Wichita, Kansas, beginning in 1974. He was notorious for taunting police and sending messages through the media. The notes stopped coming about 20 years ago, until BTK suddenly resurfaced in March, 2004.

Within a year came this announcement...

CHIEF NORMAN WILLIAMS, WICHITA POLICE: BTK is arrested.

(APPLAUSE)

LAWRENCE: Dr. Morrison says Rader's ability to elude police will earn him a bit of fame in prison.

MORRISON: Then there'll be all the media attention, people who desperately want to talk to him, who say they'll do an exclusive interview. And he'll start keeping scrapbooks. He will become in his own mind a very special person.

LAWRENCE: His victims' relatives see a killer. And some of them will testify at Rader's sentencing.

(on camera): At some point during the sentencing, the family will want to see some emotion from him.

MORRISON: They will want remorse. And he has none.

LAWRENCE (voice over): Dr. Morrison has spent thousands of hours interviewing more than 80 serial killers, including the tapes she's seen of Rader.

MORRISON: These families expect that there are going to be closure. With any of these cases there will be nothing. They will get nothing from this man.

LAWRENCE: Chris Lawrence, CNN, Wichita.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Rader is not eligible for the death penalty. Kansas did not reinstate the death penalty until 1994, three years after the murder.

Many of you may be waking up today with computer problems. That's because a worm has worked its way through one of Microsoft's main operating systems, and no one knows how long it will last.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is up early. He's at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Good morning, Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Up early with folks here at Microsoft. They've been working through the night dealing with companies that are dealing with this virus.

They first started working on this on Sunday when they first started to see the signs of the virus. It has then spread throughout the week and affected more than 100 companies in the United States and companies around the world.

This does not affect personal computers. It is Intranet. Basically, companies' own systems are affected and it basically shuts down the computer. It turns it on and turns it off repeatedly. A very annoying virus, to say the least, and it has crippled many companies through this last week.

Microsoft does have a software patch, and what they're doing this morning and have been doing for the last day and a half is helping people with any questions and getting that software patch to them. They first released the patch last week, but not all companies installed the patch. And those companies were the ones that have been affected.

Overall, Microsoft is characterizing this as "moderate to low" in terms of the grand scheme of things and impact. It only affects Windows 2000 customers and only affects business Intranets, not home users. They do not know who is responsible, but they're looking into that as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBY FRY WILSON, MICROSOFT SECURITY DIRECTOR: We're doing some very deep forensic analysis. So we have captured the malicious code. We're analyzing it, we're sharing that code with law enforcement. So a lot of times this code has fingerprints on it and we're able to help identify the individuals responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Microsoft isn't sure how long this effect is going to last. They do say that help is free for anybody that needs it, and they're standing by to help companies that are having trouble with this virus -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, of course, one of those companies CNN. We were showing pictures, Ted, and one of our coworkers looked very frustrated. So, when you go to work today, we've issued (ph) you this morning.

Thank you.

Ted Rowlands, we'll get back to you.

In other news "Across America" now, several people hurt when things got out of hand at a laptop computer sale in Richmond, Virginia. Around 5,000 people showed up to buy the used Apple iBooks for just $50 each. Only a thousand of the computers were available. Many people had been waiting in line all night long for this sale.

Atlanta puts on a big party for NASCAR execs as part of the city's effort to secure the Stock Car Hall of Fame. They plan to spend $92 million on the project. Atlanta is one of six cities bidding to host the hall. Others include Charlotte and Daytona Beach.

Hey, can you spare some change? Most of you hear that maybe on a daily basis, but people in some cities are hearing it a lot less these days. That's because they're cracking down on panhandlers.

Beggers in Dayton, Ohio, have to get licenses. That's right, they have to get a license to ask people for money.

Chicago fines aggressive panhandlers. Minneapolis makes panhandling off limits near public bathrooms, bus stops and sidewalk cafes. Cincinnati makes panhandlers register with the health department. And just this week, Atlanta's city council approved a ban on panhandling near downtown tourist sites.

And that brings us to our e-mail "Question of the Day," because things were heated in Atlanta's city council, Chad.

MYERS: They -- there was people going out -- out of the building in handcuffs, Carol.

COSTELLO: A lot of people calling it racist...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... because most of the homeless are black men. A lot of people saying that's not the answer to the homeless problem, maybe we should build more homeless shelters or get the mentally ill who are on the streets some help.

So, should panhandling be criminalized? Because that's -- it's just pretty much what they're doing in Atlanta.

MYERS: Well, they're not saying they're going to put them in jail, but you just can't do it -- they'll move them out of there. So...

COSTELLO: Yes, move them out of there, but after a couple of warnings...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... you can bet they're going to head to jail.

MYERS: I would bet so. DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

What do you think? What do you think should happen to these men and women? Should panhandling be banned in some spots?

First of all, this all talk was about, let's -- let's ban this around ATM machines. Then it got a little bigger, then it got a little bigger. And now we see where it is.

Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com and give us an e-mail, please -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. We look forward to your comments, because we're going to have a homeless advocate in the next hour of DAYBREAK, and we're going to pose your questions to her.

Want to know what happens when the irresistible force meets the immovable object? Look no further than Gaza. It's moving day for settlers there, whether they like it or not. We'll have more for you next.

And from moving out to moving in, and not being able to afford new furniture. What's a guy to do? Find out what happens when you absolutely, positively need to get creative.

And later, bet your last birthday party didn't end with three cracked ribs and a broken hand, but then again, you're not Madonna. All the details ahead.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The international markets all lower this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down 42 points. The London FTSE down by 19. The German DAX lower by 30.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:15 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Israeli troops are removing Jewish settlers by force from Gaza. They've been scuffling with settlers who have vowed to stay put. Today's the deadline for them to leave. We will take you live to Gaza in just about 15 minutes.

Workers are recovering the bodies of 160 people killed in the crash of a West Caribbean Airways jet in Venezuela. The plane's flight data recorders have been found and will be examined for clues.

In money news, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons meets today with billionaire Carl Icahn. Icahn wants the company to sell its cable systems and buy back $20 billion in stock. CNN, of course, is a unite of Time Warner.

In culture, the family of Notorious B.I.G. wants Los Angeles to pay up. They're asking the city for more than $2 million in fees and costs. Earlier, a judge cited police misconduct and declaring a mistrial in the rap star's wrongful death case.

In sports, Barry Bonds says his bad knee is getting better. He says that means he might return to the San Francisco Giants this season, maybe as early as September.

Why bother, Chad?

MYERS: What? What did you say?

COSTELLO: He might return in September.

MYERS: Yes. And then what did you say?

COSTELLO: And the season's practically over.

MYERS: Oh, it's over. Well, not if they make it.

COSTELLO: Oh, San Francisco is in next to last place in their division.

MYERS: I know. OK. OK. Maybe it's over.

There's always next year, Carol. That's what we keep saying.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: How about a little quiz, Chad?

MYERS: A quiz?

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: We know surging gas prices have you pumping lots more money into your car or your SUV, but how savvy are you about saving gas?

I know you're pretty savvy, Chad.

MYERS: I coast as much as I can.

COSTELLO: You just turn the car off and roll down the hill.

MYERS: No. I put it in neutral, which I know it's illegal, but still, it saves gas.

COSTELLO: Stop it. Actually, we're putting your knowledge and the audience's knowledge to the test throughout the hour with our gas- guzzling quiz.

So, question number one, True or False: Turning off the AC and rolling down the windows saves gas?

Would you like to answer, Chad?

MYERS: I would say still depends on the car. Some cars, when you put the windows down, they act like a big parachute and probably slow you down with that wind resistance. Other cars are pretty much aerodynamic, put the windows up or down. And so true and false, but I don't know what these guys are looking at. But I would say the answer to that one is true, turning off the AC and rolling down the windows a little bit will save gas.

COSTELLO: I only know that that's wrong because I have the answer.

MYERS: Yes. Well...

COSTELLO: It is false. You do not save gas by turning off the air-conditioner. You just sweat. And when you roll down the windows, it like, you know, slows your car down.

MYERS: Well, sure. If you roll them all the way down -- I roll my back windows down in my car and this whole thing goes -- you can't even put the windows down it's so annoying, the windows in the back. I don't know who designed this thing aerodynamically. But sure, I can understand. It's like a parachute back there.

COSTELLO: Boy, you went on quite a tangent there.

MYERS: Well, I guess.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, we'll have more.

MYERS: Oh, good. Are there more of these? Are more coming?

COSTELLO: There will be more throughout the hour. And I know how excited you are. So stay right there, Chad.

MYERS: OK. All right.

COSTELLO: And the rest of you.

Want fries with your bride? Up next, super-size your commitment. We'll show you a marriage that will hopefully last longer than the calories that came with it.

And later, call her Madonna, call her the material girl, call her Esther. Call her at the hospital. Madonna takes a tumble.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: Ah, the Atlanta City Council last night banned panhandling from downtown areas where tourists are. Should panhandling be banned? Should we give them permits? Should we build them homeless shelters so they don't have to panhandle?

What's your answer? DAYBREAK@CNN.com. We're getting some good e-mails this morning. We'll read them in just a few minutes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Chad...

MYERS: Yes?

COSTELLO: ... you are so busted.

MYERS: Why?

COSTELLO: I know I've been off lately because I've been filling in on "AMERICAN MORNING." But I do watch DAYBREAK when I'm off, and I was a little upset by a comment you made about me, and I'd like...

MYERS: Well, you weren't really off, were you?

COSTELLO: No, I was still here, but I was just not doing DAYBREAK.

MYERS: Oh.

COSTELLO: But I was listening to the show, and here's what I heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Chad, let me just tell you, it was beautiful getting out this morning. So cool, I thought it was fall.

MYERS: I'm glad you said "beautiful," because I was afraid someone was going to say, "It's too cold out there." WALLACE: I know. We're already complaining.

MYERS: Not you. Not you. You're not the whiner of the group.

WALLACE: Yes.

MYERS: She's on "AMERICAN MORNING" filling in for Miles O'Brien today.

WALLACE: All right, Chad. Carol's going to be coming after you a little bit later this morning.

MYERS: Oh, she knows I always have the violin for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: My pinot noir is too warm.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: My pinot noir is too warm. I like that.

MYERS: That's the kind of wine...

COSTELLO: Remember that New Year's resolution I made like two years ago that I wasn't going to complain anymore?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Well, that -- I kind of never followed that after day two.

MYERS: Really?

COSTELLO: So...

MYERS: Remember that one that I said I was going to lose weight?

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: I didn't follow that either.

COSTELLO: Well, I guess that makes us even. OK. So I'm going to let you off the hook...

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: Because it's time for a little hip-hop humor in our "Late Night Laughs." The artist formerly known as Sean Combs, Puffy -- Puff Daddy...

MYERS: Puff Daddy...

COSTELLO: ... P. Diddy, he has another name.

MYERS: He just needs one symbol, like Prince. COSTELLO: Yes, really. That's coming next. But he has a step between that. The rap mogul will now be known only as "Diddy." He actually says the "P" was coming between him and his fans.

MYERS: Don't go there. I don't know what that means.

COSTELLO: I don't either. But it's a move that's reverberated all the way to those drafting Iraq's constitution. Of course, that's according to Comedy Central's Jon Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": So, has anything over there gotten done?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): One issue has been resolved. Instead of calling me P. Al-Hassani (ph), just call me Al- Hassani (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

CRISTETA COMERFORD, WHITE HOUSE CHEF: How many people are chosen? You know, they're called to serve -- to cook for, I mean, basically the number one person in the world?

STEWART: By the way, "number one person in the world" is something Comerford will be writing in syrup for the next thousand breakfasts.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I love that show.

Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" now.

It's not just a box, people. It's an apartment full of furniture made from Federal Express boxes: a couch, a bed, shelves, even a desk, Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Jose Avilla (ph) is the man responsible. He put this all together in his Tempe, Arizona, apartment. The software developer documents the furnishings on a Web site.

FedEx, though, is not so amused. "Keep the couch," says FedEx. "Just take down the Web site."

Check out this Viking ship in Amsterdam. No, look really, really close. It's made of ice cream sticks, 15 million of them.

MYERS: What?

COSTELLO: It floats. It actually floats, too. It took Robert McDonald two years to build. We don't know how long it took him to eat all that ice cream, though.

MYERS: It floats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to be your lawful wife? Do you pledge yourself to her?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That is so romantic. That is not someone getting fresh with the drive-through worker at McDonald's. It's a wedding, a wedding at the drive-through.

This couple fell in love at the Irwin, Pennsylvania, area McDonald's where the bride to be works. So they decided -- ah -- they decided to get married there.

Filling up your tank, emptying out the pockets of many of you drivers. But do you know the facts about fuel costs? We're putting your knowledge to the test this morning.

Yes, it's time again for our gas-guzzling quiz.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: You ready?

MYERS: I'm ready.

COSTELLO: I should make you read these.

MYERS: Gas prices go up on the weekends? Sure they do, true.

COSTELLO: True or false?

MYERS: True, absolutely.

COSTELLO: You think so?

MYERS: Sure. Not anymore, because you can't go up much higher than we are. But I know exactly -- I know exits on the interstate in Kentucky that I can gas up on Sunday going home, where it's cheaper than gassing up on Friday, when I got there.

COSTELLO: Well, according to the experts, that is false.

MYERS: Well, that's the only time...

COSTELLO: It just feels like the price is going up every time you fill up on the weekend.

That brings us to our e-mail segment. An interesting question this morning. Atlanta City Council just banned panhandling from the tourist triangle. That means business owners don't want them around their businesses, so they're not allowed to panhandle there any longer.

Of course, Shirley Franklin has to sign that bill into law. But she's all for it. That's the mayor in Atlanta.

So you got some?

MYERS: So, Carol, you know, my printer took the worm, I think. But a lot -- so I have to read them off my screen.

But the big story, I think, on all of this is that it's kind of a black and white thing. Some people are really in favor of the folks themselves, the panhandlers themselves, saying, wait a minute, this is a free country, you have the right to do anything you want. And other people, other people just say, wait a minute, this isn't going to work at all. You know, this is just -- this is absolutely illegal.

COSTELLO: Well, you can read them off the screen. We have video up now, so we won't see the back of your head.

MYERS: "The way" -- well, you can see right through. "The way to solve the problem would be to fix a few social issues first, don't you think?" That was from Don.

And then from Warren, "How about smaller starts? The big gas crunch, all this kind of stuff, trying to spend all this money this useless NASCAR, $92 million, how about helping out some of the homeless with that money?" they say.

"Chad, tell Carol that should get you..." -- I don't know what that says.

COSTELLO: Yes, don't read that part.

Anyway, we'll have it together. We'll get that worm out of our system soon, I'm sure. Should panhandling be banned? The e-mails are coming in. So it's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Here's what's all new in the next half-hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty close. I consider myself lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: There's the three little letters that strike fear into the hearts of soldiers in Iraq: IED. We'll look at the frightening hunt for a hidden threat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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