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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

First TV Ads of Bush Re-election Campaign Begin Airing; Same- Sex Marriage Procession Keeps Heading Down Aisle

Aired March 4, 2004 - 05:00   ET

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

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.
It is Thursday, March 4.

And from the CNN global headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway. I'm in for Carol Costello this morning.

We begin with the headlines. Jury selection begins today in Scott Peterson's double trial. Potential jury members will be asked to answer almost 30 pages of questions.

And another high profile trial is winding up. Jurors return for a second day of deliberations to decide if Martha Stewart lied to cover-up a stock sale.

Portland, Oregon is the latest city to have same-sex weddings. The governor says that he won't stop them until Oregon's attorney general reports on the legality of those marriages.

And the presence of U.S. Marines in Haiti causes a rebel leader to reverse his decision. He now says that his forces will lay down their arms.

We update the top stories every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming up at 5:15 Eastern time.

The first television ads of the Bush reelection campaign begin airing this morning and the president was sharpening his stump speech at the Los Angeles fund-raiser last night. He's casting himself as the decisive leader John Kerry could never be.

As CNN's John King reports, the battle is joined.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new day in the presidential campaign and an immediate effort to frame the choice.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's spent two decades in Congress. He's built up quite a record. In fact, Senator Kerry has been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue.

KING: And in TV commercials, a message that the incumbent is the right man for the challenges still ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH-CHENEY '04 CAMPAIGN AD)

BUSH: I know exactly where I want to lead this country. I know what we need to do to make the world more free and more peaceful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The first ads of the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign portray a president forced to deal with recession then terrorism. Images of September 11 meant to remind voters of the first term's biggest test.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH-CHENEY '04 CAMPAIGN AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But America rose to the challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Mr. Bush talked of a spirited race in a call to congratulate Senator Kerry Tuesday night. And by early Wednesday, the president's allies opened the effort to paint the Massachusetts Democrat as an elitist liberal bent on raising taxes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's either insincere about his new spending, dishonest about his new taxes, uninterested in the deficit or they just didn't teach him arithmetic at the European boarding school that he went to.

KING: The president trails Senator Kerry in national polls. His immediate short-term goal, to revitalize his standing now that the Democratic campaign is all but over.

ED GILLESPIE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Understand that the Democratic candidates in their primary have aired $17 million in attack ads against the president over the course of the past six months.

KING: Mr. Bush is upbeat about his chances, but sees Senator Kerry as a tenacious foe, crediting him with fighting back when it looked like he would fall early in the Democratic race. But in studying the senator's record and campaign statements, the president sees himself as a decisive leader and his opponent as indecisive, someone who zigs and zags on major issues and who gives meandering answers when asked about major challenges.

(on camera): The election is still eight months away, but the early sparring is intense. Steady leadership in times of change is the slogan of those early Bush TV ads. Senator Kerry was quick to respond that the president's leadership is steady, all right, but in his view, steadily heading in the wrong direction.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And we'll get some inside information on the Bush campaign on AMERICAN MORNING. Bush adviser Karen Hughes will be a guest in the same hour. Stay with us for that. Political satirist Bill Maher says that John Kerry is more vulnerable to Republican attacks now that the Democratic race is over.

He was a guest on CNN's "Larry King Live" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")

BILL MAHER, HBO'S "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": I think John Kerry probably would have actually liked it better if John Edwards had been in it for a long time, because this way, you know, it's all about him now. He's walking point, as he might say about his Vietnam service. And the Republican slime machine, of course, will be getting busy. I'm sure there'll be pictures of him tomorrow on a chopper with Peter Fonda going to New Orleans to sell acid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And "Larry King Live" airs every week night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

From now through election day in November, keep your eye on the candidates by logging onto our Web site. Today, you can check out the House Republican attacks on John Kerry. And there's also a report on what some voters find appealing about Kerry. The address is cnn.com/allpolitics.

Well, the legal challenges keep coming, but the same-sex marriage procession keeps heading down the aisle. This morning, demonstrators will converge on city hall in New York demanding licenses in ceremonies there.

A wrap-up now on this threat of same-sex marriages from CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wish to enter a plea at this time? MAYOR JASON WEST, NEW PALTZ, NEW YORK: Yes, sir. I would like to enter a plea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. And that is?

WEST: Not guilty.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jason West, the mayor of New Paltz, New York, pleads not guilty to 19 counts of solemnizing marriages without a license after he conducted same-sex ceremonies last week. He says the misdemeanor charges, which could send him to jail, will not deter him from allowing gays to marry.

WEST: The issue before us today is one of civil rights, it's one of human rights. It's an issue of basic human decency.

MARQUEZ: And undeterred by the charges, the openly gay mayor of Nyack, New York announced that he would begin allowing same-sex marriages, too. New York's attorney general concluded that even though there may be room in the constitution to allow for gay marriage, right now the law says they are illegal.

ELIOT SPITZER, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Today's opinion concludes that New York State statutes do not permit same-sex marriages.

MARQUEZ: In Portland, Oregon, the county attorney says that state's constitution guarantees equal protection for homosexuals so she opened up the doors to gay marriage. Hundreds of same sex couples lined up to apply. More than 300 licenses were granted.

JOHN DOYLE, MARRIAGE LICENSEE: I'm not making a political statement. I'm just saying I'm a citizen and I love this man and I want to have the same legal protections as heterosexual couples.

MARQUEZ: Oregon's governor says the county attorney moved too quickly and without public oversight in deciding to grant the licenses. He says that the Oregon law defining marriage may have been written long ago, but he believes it does not allow for gay marriage today.

GOV. TED KULONGOSKI, OREGON: At the time of the history of when the statute was written, I think that it's clear that they were thinking about a man and a woman getting married.

MARQUEZ (on camera): A spokesman for Oregon's attorney general says the law is ambiguous as to whether or not gay marriage is legal and expects to issue an opinion on that matter next week.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Portland, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: A house filled a undocumented immigrants tops our look at stories across America. Police in Phoenix, Arizona found nearly 200 immigrants crammed into one house. Within four weeks, Phoenix police have found nearly 750 illegal immigrants in 13 so-called drop houses. Police have taken 20 suspected smugglers into custody.

And in Chicago, the fire department is investigating the latest of five racial slurs heard over its radio frequencies. Now, the most recent was a derogatory comment about some city council members. A city official says that somebody needs to be fired.

And in Los Angeles, California's first lady, Maria Shriver, has been called to jury duty. She's sitting on a federal jury hearing a product liability case involving a man injured when he fell from an extension ladder.

I'm sure it won't subtract from the trial at all, right, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's right.

CALLAWAY: No one will be looking at her. MARCIANO: How are you doing, Catherine?

CALLAWAY: Doing well.

How are you, Rob?

MARCIANO: Great.

Nice to see you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Rob, I just want to point out to everybody that I am not wearing a big huge daisy.

MARCIANO: Oh, yes? It looks great, doesn't it?

CALLAWAY: What is this 16 days until spring? I don't know how I missed this Monday. I'm sure Carol loves that big thing.

MARCIANO: Well, we're looking forward to spring here.

CALLAWAY: Yes, we are. Even with the daisy.

See you in a little bit, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

CALLAWAY: Still to come, this isn't your father's golf buddy. Meet Mianne Bagger and find out why she's all the talk, both on and off the court.

Also coming up, the high priced haul. You won't believe what police found in the gas tanks of this 18 wheeler.

The non-campaign campaign, no multi-million dollar events, no fanfare. So why will Russian President Vladimir Putin probably win anyway?

Also coming up, the new public enemy number one. But is this the guy behind the horrific holy day attacks in Iraq?

It is Thursday, March 4, and you're watching DAYBREAK.

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: Coming up on 15 minutes after the hour now.

Here's a quick check of the headlines this morning.

President Bush is launching his first reelection campaign television ads this morning. The ads say that he's a steady leader in uncertain times.

The federal jury hearing obstruction of justice charges against Martha Stewart will resume its deliberations this morning. And the FBI is posting on its Web site the faces of people suspected of being involved in child pornography. The day old effort has already resulted in the arrests of two people.

We update the top stories every 15 minutes. The next update coming up at 5:30 Eastern time.

Well, he is no longer chairman of the kingdom, but Michael Eisner still has enough magic to keep his job as the Walt Disney CEO. Well, that's the bottom line from yesterday's shareholders meeting in Philadelphia. When it ended, Eisner appeared on ABC, which is, of course, one of the Disney companies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE")

MICHAEL EISNER, DISNEY CEO: Certainly there must have been people out there that were dissatisfied with our performance post-9/11 and the wars in Iraq. Our tourism dropped during that period. And the messages that we're getting from that kind of vote are multiple. And they're about corporate America, they're about messages to other corporations and there are obviously certain people that are not happy with me personally, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: In fact, more than 40 percent of the shareholders who voted wanted Eisner off the board.

We have more now from CNN's Jen Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EISNER: Excuse my voice.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Eisner may have had trouble speaking at the Walt Disney Company's annual meeting, but shareholders were heard loud and clear. Eisner, up for reelection to the Disney board, was dealt a staggering no confidence blow, as 43 percent of votes went against him.

SARAH TESLIK, INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS COUNCIL: Forty-three percent is astronomical in the investor world.

ROGERS: The high anti-Eisner vote kicked Disney into action. Late Wednesday night, the board of directors announced it is splitting the chairman and CEO roles, two jobs Mr. Eisner used to hold. Now, former Senator George Mitchell will serve as chairman at the board. Michael Eisner remains CEO.

While Eisner's power is certainly curbed, the move won't be enough for the men leading the campaign against him, former Disney board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold.

STANLEY GOLD, FORMER BOARD MEMBER: The real commission is getting rid of Michael Eisner.

ROGERS: For now, Eisner keeps one job and he gave no hint he's planning on leaving the company entirely.

EISNER: I love this company.

ROGERS: Neither Gold nor Disney would detail their next step, preferring to relish Wednesday's victory.

ROY DISNEY, FORMER BOARD MEMBER: Well, we have already knew the numbers or something pretty close to them (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROGERS: With Michael Eisner's nine lives likability, we'll see if that's a smile that lasts.

Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: All right, here's a heads up for radio and television broadcasters. The House Commerce Committee has voted to substantially increase the fines for broadcasters who air indecent material. The current FCC fine is just $27,500. Well, the Commerce Committee now wants that fine to be a whopping $500,000.

A key U.S. jobs report is due out tomorrow and there are expectations that the data will be positive.

So let's see if the overseas financial markets are reacting to these positive expectations.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Moving on now to Iraq, Saddam Hussein's in custody, his sons are dead, other former regime figures are almost all caught. But now there seems to be a new public enemy number one -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He's the top suspect in Tuesday's deadly attacks in Baghdad and Karbala.

And Jamie McIntyre has the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While the evidence is far from conclusive, U.S. commanders are already blaming the deadly twin attacks in Iraq on the influence of this man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian said to be a collaborator with Osama bin Laden.

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTRAL COMMANDER: The level of organization and the desire to cause casualties among innocent worshippers is a clear hallmark of the Zarqawi network and we have intelligence that ties Zarqawi to this attack.

MCINTYRE: The holy day attacks against Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad and Karbala would seem to follow Zarqawi's script, as the Coalition Provisional Authority Web site put it, a reference to a letter the U.S. says it intercepted from Zarqawi in January which called for attacks against Shiite religious sites to spark a civil war between Shiite and Sunni Iraqis.

The U.S. says leaflets planted after the explosions blamed Americans for the attack, as did an e-mail purportedly from al Qaeda sent to an Arab newspaper in London.

U.S. commanders labeled that claim ludicrous and also rejected criticism from Shiite leaders that U.S. troops should have provided more security.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: I think any Monday morning quarterbacking on there should have been more done, I think, is relatively unhelpful.

MCINTYRE: Nevertheless, convinced it's fighting a foreign foe, the U.S. is dispatching more Iraqi police to the borders with Iran and Syria.

L. PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: There are 8,000 border police on duty today and more are on the way. We are adding hundreds of vehicles and doubling border police staffing in selected areas.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The U.S. military is on a manhunt for Zarqawi and has already captured or killed two of his top lieutenants. When it comes, though, to defeating the insurgents, a top U.S. commander says it will ultimately take Iraqi intelligence and Iraqi troops to finish the job.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Coming up on DAYBREAK, could she really go to jail? The fate of a home and garden guru rests in the hands of a jury.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM BUSH-CHENEY '04 CAMPAIGN AD)

BUSH: One of the things that must never change is the entrepreneurial spirit of America. This country needs a president...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, the air war begins. The Bush campaign launches its first television ad of the campaign.

And home sweet home, a stranded sea lion feels the call of the wild.

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: A routine traffic stop near Houston results in a big haul. That tops our DAYBREAK Eye-Opener this morning. Police pulled more than million dollars from the gas tank of an 18 wheeler. Wow. They became suspicious when the truck's two drivers gave inconsistent stories and a drug sniffing dog later alerted police to the fuel tank. Look at that money. There is a new nickel in your future. The U.S. Mint has begun distributing the first redesigned coin in 66 years. It commemorates the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson remains on one side but his home of Monticello has been replaced by an image of clasped hands.

And remember Chippy, the sea lion? He was found more than 60 miles from the Pacific in California's San Joaquin Valley last month. Somebody had shot him in the head. Well, Chippy's wound has been treated and he's now being released back into the ocean. Good for Chippy.

Rob Marciano with us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Coming up in the next half hour of DAYBREAK, politics abroad. Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes his reelection bid into high gear. We'll take you live to Moscow.

And U.S. Marines take up positions around the Haitian capital as the prime minister declares a state of national emergency.

Also, cracking down on child predators. The FBI wants your help and they are turning to the television and the Internet to do it.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday.

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.

It is Thursday, March 4, and from CNN's headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway. I'm in for Carol this morning.

Thanks for being with us.

You will be seeing a lot of ads like this beginning today. President Bush's new campaign commercials -- a steady leader in uncertain times -- bills him as a steady leader in uncertain times.

And in Germany, we have just gotten word that an appeals court has ordered a retrial for the only person convicted in the September 11 attacks. Mounir El Motassadeq was accused of aiding the Hamburg cell of hijackers. No word on just why a retrial was ordered.

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



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