The Web    CNN.com      Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SERVICES
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SEARCH
Web CNN.com
powered by Yahoo!
TRANSCRIPTS


 

Return to Transcripts main page

CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Iraqi Election; The World in 2020; To Titan...And Beyond!; Health Deductions

Aired January 14, 2005 - 05:30   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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."

The court martial of Army Specialist Charles Graner, charged with torturing prisoners in Iraq, goes to a jury today at Fort Hood, Texas. Graner did not testify in his own defense. He could get 17 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

A car bomb exploded last night outside of a mosque north of Baghdad. It killed four Iraqi police officers and three civilians. Two U.S. Marines were killed in Anbar Province west of the capital, no details on those deaths.

More families are returning today to their homes in Graniteville, South Carolina. Fifty-five hundred fled last week when a train wreck released chlorine gas killing nine people. About half of those evacuees are back home now.

A space probe is plunging through the murky atmosphere of Titan preparing to land on the mysterious Saturn moon. Scientists think Titan resembles Earth when it was young and could yield clues to how life evolved here.

To the Forecast Center and, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: All right.

COSTELLO: It is 16 days until the polls open in Iraq, will Iraqi forces be able to make things safe enough for their nation's first post-Saddam election and what exact role will U.S. troops play?

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq's 125,000 security forces will face their biggest challenge ever on January 30: keeping the country calm enough for just one day so that Iraqis feel safe enough to go to the polls. If it all goes well, the one thing you won't see, U.S. troops anywhere near a ballot box.

The 150,000 troops in Iraq will be on duty, but the U.S. military strategy: keep the troops behind the scenes and let Iraqis guard more than 5,000 polling places.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: This is an Iraqi election, and the Iraqi people need to see their security forces protecting those sites.

STARR: Top commanders are extraordinarily cautious.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, U.S. GROUND FORCES COMMANDER: I can't guarantee that every person in Iraq that wants to vote goes to a polling booth and can do that safely.

STARR: U.S. military commanders know they may indeed have to back up Iraqi units that still have an uncertain track record in fighting the insurgents. The U.S. military role remains helping Iraqis plan election security, continuing to conduct missions against insurgents, providing near-by election day firepower if Iraqis request help.

LARRY DIAMOND, HOOVER INSTITUTION: It will be somewhat awkward for American soldiers and Marines to be right in the polling booth. Many Iraqis will feel that that will be intimidating and unacceptable.

STARR: The U.S. has beefed up troops in the four key provinces of the Sunni Triangle, including parts of Baghdad that are most likely to see violence. This is 42 percent of Iraq's population. Any voting by Sunni minorities here would be critical.

(on camera): Finding a way for Iraqis to safely vote is the top priority. One potential idea, consolidate the number of polling places so there are less targets to defend against election day attacks.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: West of Baghdad, two U.S. Marines have been killed while conducting operations in Al Anbar Province. The Marines were with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and a soldier with the 1st Infantry Division died near Mosul in a non-combat related death.

Back here in the States, one of the bottom lines of the 9/11 investigation was about the sharing of information or the lack thereof. Now there's a good possibility a computer software project, intended to allow FBI agents to share information as quickly, won't work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: And frustrated by the delays. I am frustrated that we cannot have on every agent's desk the capability of a modern case management system. At the same time, we have made substantial changes in the way we handle information technology within the FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The agency has spent $170 million on the virtual case file system.

In Florida, a 22-year-old man has been arrested by the FBI after they found the highly toxic ricin in his home. The agency says Michael Ekberg has no known link to terrorists or extremists. He's being charged with possession of a biological weapon.

And a quick 101 on ricin, it's a poison made from castor beans. Ricin can be deadly when inhaled, swallowed or injected, but ricin is not contagious. Still, there is no vaccine or antidote for it.

Ricin, other biological weapons, nuclear devices, just what do you think will threaten global security a few years from now? Well the National Intelligence Council has issued a report on just that. It's entitled "Mapping the Global Future," and it looks at the world in 2020.

Our national correspondent David Ensor brings us the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headline from the U.S. Intelligence Community's report about the world in 2020, the rise of Asia, and especially China. The likely emergence of China and India, as well as others, as new major global players, says the report, "will transform the geopolitical landscape, with impacts potentially as dramatic as those in the previous two centuries."

JOHN GANNON, FMR. CHAIR, NATL. INTEL. COUNCIL: We are moving from, you know, a century of the United States domination to one where it's going to have to share the stage with some very powerful actors, and China being the principal one.

ENSOR: The key to who thrives and who suffers, says the report, could be how well each nation's people use new technologies, nanotechnologies, genetically modified organisms and the like. The report warns in 2020, the world will still be grappling with terrorism, though maybe not al Qaeda.

ELI LAIPSON, FMR. VICE CHAIR, NATL. INTEL. COUNCIL: It will be some kind of a loose network of terrorist groups that are very spread geographically.

ENSOR: The greatest new terrorist danger in 2020, the report says, could be bioterror attacks that could kill millions.

GANNON: It is relatively easy again for a terrorist group to get access to the capabilities to build bioweapons. ENSOR: The report contains imaginary scenarios, including one with this text message exchange between two arms dealers working together despite their different motivations. Yes, I know you're committed, says one, I'm in it for the money. Doesn't matter too much who pays, just as long as they do. I want my people in faith to be respected, says the other. The bomb is important.

While the reports say globalization should mean greater prosperity in 2020, worldwide and in the U.S., it warns that two developments could prevent that: a global pandemic or epidemic of major disease or what it calls a cycle of fear caused by multiple, large-scale terrorist attacks that could lead governments to clamp down on personal liberties, travel and trade to a degree unimaginable today.

(on camera): The authors were careful not to predict the future of Iraq. At a briefing at the CIA, they said Iraq is too political a topic and there are just too many variables. It could go either way

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

A new moon called Titan and it's getting ready for its close up. We'll update you on the upcoming landing on Saturn's moon after the break.

And if we're so obese, why won't the government give us a tax break on our health club dues? We'll tackle that issue this half- hour.

And do not forget our e-mail "Question of the Morning," how do you feel about Prince Harry's choice of costume: international incident or much ado about nothing? DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Before we penetrate the atmosphere around Titan's moon, we must go to the Forecast Center because Chad has yet another warning to tell us about.

MYERS: Carol, don't even have time to get coffee this morning. Wade County now, northern Wade County, central North Carolina, and Raleigh, north Raleigh, even into Wake Forest. I'm going to zoom in a couple of spots here for you. Here's Raleigh, the I-85, Wake Forest not in it yet, but you are close, one more spot. You can see this very strong line of severe weather headed into Raleigh this morning, headed into Wake Forest. I'm going to put the sheer markers on here. Not quite as impressive as the storm that was very close to Ashland, Virginia, but you can see some of the purples in here just to the north of Raleigh downtown moving up to the northeast. So Wake Forest and northern Wade County, it is time for you to take cover. Tornado warning for you until 5:50 Eastern Standard Time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, thanks for the warning.

We're searching for Miles O'Brien. We know he's somewhere in Atlanta watching that probe and we're going to get to that right after a break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We are tracking some news taking place this hour 750 million miles away. The Cassini spacecraft is dropping a probe that will try to touch down on Titan, which is Saturn's largest moon.

We have found our space correspondent Miles O'Brien. He joins us live, not from Saturn, oh no, he's in Atlanta.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Were you looking for me? Were you looking for me? I'm so sorry.

COSTELLO: Good morning -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I am so sorry, Carol, I didn't know you were looking for me.

The good news is in Darmstadt, Germany, the European Space Agency, they have not only found the Huygens probe, they have heard back from it. Hasn't sent any data just yet, but it sent back a dial tone, in effect a dial tone, indicating I'm alive, I'm well, my parachute has unfurled and I'm on my way down to the surface of Titan. It's happening as we speak.

These are live pictures. I guess that's the European Space Agency news anchor there as he tells the world about it from there. The control room behind him there getting a little more busy as they get ready to receive this data as this nine-foot wide wok-shaped probe makes its way down into the murky, hazy surface of Titan.

Let's take a look at the animation, give you an idea of what's going to happen. It was released from NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Christmas Eve, on it's way down now. Two parachutes will allow it to glide down carefully. As it goes down into that hazy surface, toward the hazy surface of Titan, two parachutes and several cameras will take panoramic pictures. There will be spectrometers that will be taking samples of the gases in there.

Titan is sort of the last great mystery of our solar system. And a lot of scientists believe, as they have looked at it over the years, that it might very well be sort of like Earth in a deep freeze, early Earth in a deep freeze, before life took hold here. And it could give us a lot of indications as to how things evolved here on Earth by taking a look at Titan.

We talked to one of the scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab, Candice Hansen, about what she expects to see on the surface.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDICE HANSEN, TITAN EXPERT: It's going to be the most exotic place we've ever seen. We've never landed on the surface of an icy satellite. We know from our pictures that there are very different kinds of geological processes, lava flows of ice, icy liquid. And it's going to be like nothing we've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: There's a good chance, Carol, that ultimately, when Huygens lands, instead of landing, it will be a splashdown in a lake made of methane. So I think it's safe to say Titan is a nonsmoking moon.

COSTELLO: I was trying to wrap my mind around a lake filled with methane.

MYERS: Yes.

ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: There's just endless jokes to be had about that one.

COSTELLO: I know. Ali is sitting over here saying why do I care about this?

VELSHI: No, that's specific guy talk, a lake full of methane.

COSTELLO: Yes. I'm going to tell him what you said...

O'BRIEN: A lake full of methane.

COSTELLO: ... so that Miles can answer it, OK?

VELSHI: Yes, I know, fair enough.

COSTELLO: All right.

VELSHI: I've said, Miles, what's this going to do for me? Is this going to get me like a better nonstick pot or something?

O'BRIEN: Come on, Ali, got to think big this morning. Think big. If I have to explain to you why it's important to know about the origins of our planet, I've lost you anyway.

VELSHI: All right.

O'BRIEN: I mean I think it's kind of cool. I think it's kind of cool to know this stuff, all right.

VELSHI: Give me another 20 minutes and I'll be fully awake.

O'BRIEN: You know, no,...

VELSHI: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... you're not going to get Teflon or Velcro out of this particular mission, but it's going to be cool to see something no humans have ever seen before.

VELSHI: We'll be better people for it.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: So put that in your pipe and smoke it -- Ali Velshi.

VELSHI: Yes, all right.

O'BRIEN: And smoke it, yes, don't smoke it on Titan, though.

VELSHI: Not on Titan, no.

COSTELLO: OK. Thank you, Miles, we'll get back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:49 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Closing arguments are expected about three hours from now in the court martial of Army Specialist Charles Graner. He's the accused ringleader in the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal. Graner never did testify in his own defense.

A huge fire started after a tornado touched down in Lawrence, South Carolina. A tire distribution center went up in flames. That forced nearby residents to evacuate. Nobody hurt here.

In money news, Macy's reaches a settlement deal in a racial profiling case involving its east branch. The case involves African- American and Hispanic customers. Some claim the store targeted minorities more often than whites when trying to catch suspected shoplifters.

In culture, rare gold coins from the ancient world are on display in New York before being auctioned off. They're the last treasures of the fabled collector Louis Eliasberg, and they're valued at $5 million.

In sports, Minnesota's Randy Moss says a $10,000 fine is no big deal, he's Randy Moss. The NFL fined Moss for pretending to pull down his pants to moon Green Bay fans during a playoff win last weekend. And Moss hints he might do something even more extreme the next time.

VELSHI: Like what -- Carol?

COSTELLO: Well he said he'd shake something else -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. That's just... COSTELLO: Hi, Chad.

VELSHI: Lake of methane and shaking things.

MYERS: That's why...

VELSHI: This is some kind of show.

MYERS: That's why money doesn't matter to these guys. You've got to figure out something to fine them with, something that's more important. I don't know what it is.

COSTELLO: I think they should make him cut his hair off.

MYERS: Maybe that's an e-mail "Question of the Day" someday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Back to you.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

Let's talk health issues right now. Let's talk taxes, which medical expenses are tax deductible?

DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi is here with some answers.

VELSHI: I'm surprised I'm still here after my side commentary.

All right. Here's the thing, Carol, in the last three years, I've lost 45 pounds.

COSTELLO: Wow!

VELSHI: I've been exercising more, I've been eating better. It has all been on my dime, but I think I'm a healthier person for it, and theoretically that costs my health insurance company less, probably costs the government less, except that I'll probably live longer, in which case it will cost them more, but that's an entirely different story.

Here is what the IRS says about the cost of gyms and health club memberships. It says "you cannot include in medical expenses health cub dues or amounts paid to improve one's general health or to relieve physical or mental discomfort not related to a particular medical condition."

Now this is under IRS Section 125. And if you do want to deduct any kind of expenses related to getting more healthy, it needs to be done under your flexible savings account, which we talked about a few weeks ago. Not a big fan of those, but you have to put the money aside to start with. Which in the case of a gym membership, you can probably figure out because you know what it's going to cost monthly. You have to itemize your tax return. The expenses have got to be deemed "medically necessary" by a doctor. And if that's not enough of a threshold to meet, they must relate specifically and only to weight loss, not generally being fit. And your total out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses for a given year have got to exceed 7.5 percent of your income.

COSTELLO: Wow!

VELSHI: So if you earn $50,000 a year, that's $3,500 in your out-of-pocket expenses. In other words, the government's not interested in giving you a tax credit for working out and getting fit.

Seems a little odd to me, because according to the Centers for Disease Control, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. The Surgeon General says that costs the economy about $117 billion a year in healthcare and lost productivity. The American Obesity Association says treating illnesses related to obesity $100 billion a year. And get this, more than 40 percent of Americans are described as sedentary. I think we fall in that category because we sit around and do our jobs. I think they should give you a tax credit.

COSTELLO: I think so too, but why won't the insurance companies come up with a break?

VELSHI: Well that's the other thing, insurance companies. And there are constantly bills going through Congress to do both, encourage tax breaks for people who spend money to get more fit and to insurance companies to say give these people a break, they're going to cost you less money in the end. It's a $40 billion industry what people spend on supplements, weight loss, books, diets, things like that. People apparently are prepared to put a few bucks out to get fit, a little push from the government is going to save everybody money in the end.

COSTELLO: Well that would be terrific. So you go lobby Congress and we'll appreciate it.

VELSHI: Yes.

COSTELLO: What do you have for us coming up at 6:00?

VELSHI: I'm going to talk about some of the things involved in joining a fitness program or health club, things you should look out for, how to make sure you don't end up doing what I do, financing the renovations at a health club because you never go but you pay lots of money.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Ali.

Here's what's all new in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

The world's largest retailer is out to dispel some urban legends, one on one with Wal-Mart Chief Lee Scott.

Plus, it's a big weekend for football fans. Is it ever. We'll talk with the sports writer for the "Pittsburgh Post Gazette." Can you guess which team he's rooting for?

Those stories and much more in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Call it a wardrobe miscalculation. Prince Harry's now infamous choice of costume has many up in arms. And now his dad might send him on a mandatory trip to Auschwitz for a harsh lesson in history and reality.

Of course that brings us to our e-mail "Question of the Morning," Prince Harry's costume: international incident or much ado about nothing?

Ali, we've been getting several hundred e-mails this morning on that subject.

VELSHI: Yes, boy yes, people have an opinion on this one, let me tell you.

William (ph) in Oakland, Maryland says I think they're making something from nothing. Harry may be a prince, but he's a kid. Kids make mistakes, errors in judgement and no title you give him is going to change that.

On the other side, Fran (ph) says his wearing of the Nazi costume just goes to show that all the money in the kingdom can't buy intelligence, class or sensitivity. He's not just a 20-year-old kid who deserves a break, he's a privileged heir to the throne, and as such must be held to higher standards. Let's hope he gets the education and discipline he so desperately needs.

COSTELLO: I think dad is going to make sure of that now.

VELSHI: Dad is undertaking to make sure he does get that. You're absolutely right. And remember we were talking just earlier about the importance of symbols.

Paul in Washington State says normally I believe symbols are just that, symbols, they have no intrinsic power. I'm making an exception for this one. The only proper place for that particular symbol is in our history books, but never on the arm of a future world leader. Adolf Hitler was a future world leader at one time.

Interesting point. This isn't just a celebrity, the Royals, and there's another e-mail question for us at one point, what exactly are they and why are they there. But they are, they do enjoy a leadership position in the world, so kind of, I think, changes the equation a little bit more than say a movie star.

COSTELLO: And there is some bad history attached to the Royal Family in general when it comes to Nazism...

VELSHI: Right.

COSTELLO: ... and what happened during World War II. VELSHI: They kind of need all the good press on this one they can get.

COSTELLO: Got you.

Thank you -- Ali.

VELSHI: Yes.

COSTELLO: Appreciate it, and we appreciate all of your e-mails. Always keep them coming.

The next hour of DAYBREAK begins right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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


International Edition
CNN TV CNN International Headline News Transcripts Advertise With Us About Us
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.
Add RSS headlines.