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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Free at Last; Fires Spread; Penguin Preference

Aired September 30, 2005 - 5:00   ET

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


KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: It is Friday, September 30. The first full day of freedom for a newspaper reporter who kept her word. Judith Miller promised not to reveal a source in the leak of a CIA operative's name. It caused "The New York Times" reporter 85 days of freedom. This morning she goes before a federal grand jury.
Also, the flames and the fears. An eruption of wildfires in southern California keeps residents on edge.

And...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN RILEY, ACTING SUPT., NEW ORLEANS POLICE: When we talk about looting, if someone took jewelry, or a television, or something like that, then we have a serious problem with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: ... New Orleans' new top cop says he won't allow the silver badge to be tarnished. He's promising action against rogue officers.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK, for Friday. I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.

Good morning, everyone. Thanks so much for waking up with us.

We will have much more on Judith Miller in just a moment.

Also ahead, a twisted and chilly love triangle at the Central Park Zoo. Our Jeanne Moos investigates.

But first, these stories "Now in the News."

Around Los Angeles and elsewhere in southern California, raging wildfires threaten more than 2,000 homes and businesses. Some worth millions of dollars. Already, more than 17,000 acres have burned, and several structures destroyed. We'll have much more on this in just a few minutes.

This is probably as easy as it will get for John Roberts, taking the oath as the new chief justice of the United States. The oath was administered by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stephens.

More residents of New Orleans are going home today as part of the mayor's zip code by zip code return plan, except, that is, for the 9th Ward, the area hit hardest by flooding by Hurricane Katrina. We'll be going live to New Orleans later this hour.

How's this for a vacation? Businessman Gregory Olson (ph) of New Jersey lifts off tonight for the International Space Station, along with a new crew. The space tourist will spend 10 days in space. Speculation is it's costing him $20 million. Not cheap at all there.

Bonnie Schneider joining us today for Chad Myers, who is off today.

Bonnie, good to see you.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, good to see you as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Bonnie, we'll talk to you in a few minutes. Thanks so much.

Turning to our top story this morning, this is about Judith Miller. After spending 12 weeks in jail for refusing to testify about a confidential source, "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller is free and testifying before a grand jury this morning about the disclosure of a CIA officer's identity.

Miller was released from a Virginia detention center yesterday after reaching an agreement with a federal prosecutor. The grand jury, you'll recall, is investigating who leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and whether any laws were violated. Miller was jailed even though she never wrote an article about Plame.

Miller issued this statement last night: she says, "I went to jail to preserve the time-honored principle that a journalist must respect a promise not to reveal the identity of a confidential source. I chose to take the consequences, 85 days in prison, rather than violate that promise. The principle was more important to uphold than my personal freedom."

She goes on to say, "I'm leaving jail today because my source has now voluntarily and personally released me from my promise of confidentiality regarding our conversations relating to the Wilson- Plame matter."

Miller's source is Lewis Scooter Libby. That's Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, and this is according to Libby's attorney, who spoke with our White House correspondent, Dana Bash, and also "The New York Times."

To give you a little bit of background here on a very complicated story, Plame is the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. In a "New York Times" op-ed piece back in July of 2003, he accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence about Iraq's weapons program to justify going to war.

The leak of Plame's name as a CIA operative was first reported a few days later by newspaper columnist and CNN contributor Robert Novak. Wilson accused the Bush administration of leaking his wife's name as payback for his criticism.

Well, coming up next hour, we'll talk much more about this. We'll be talking with "Newsweek" senior editor Michael Isikoff about the implications of all of this for the news media and the administration. And you can catch that interview at 6:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on DAYBREAK.

Turning to another story, have you heard what Bill Bennett said? The former Education secretary and self-styled moralist, he wrote the book "The Book of Virtues," is under attack. He made a comment linking the crime rate to the abortion of African-American babies.

On his radio show, Bennett says he takes issue with the argument in the book "Freakonomics" that crime rates have fallen in the years since abortion was legalized. Just listen to what he said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BILL BENNETT, FMR. EDUCATION SECRETARY: I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do. But your crime rate would go down.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: Now, Bennett is saying his comments have been mischaracterized, taken out of context. Here's his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENNETT: I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition. Put that forward, examined it, and then said about it that it's morally reprehensible to recommend abortion of an entire group of people in order to lower your crime rate, is morally reprehensible. But this is what happens when you argue that the ends can justify the means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And Bennett says his point is that supporting abortion to reduce crime is wrong. For the record, the book "Freakonomics" does not suggest abortion rights should be reported as a crime reduction method.

Well, turning to another story, more mandatory evacuations. This time the danger is fire.

The damage from a wildfire near Los Angeles has grown to more than 17,000 acres. Schools in the area of Chatsworth -- the Chatsworth area are -- the Chatsworth fire, excuse me, are also closed. And entire neighborhoods have been cleared just in case firefighters can't contain the blaze.

CNN's Rusty Dornin has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fire above Patty Leonard's house is just over the ridge, about 400 yards away. The winds have shifted. No one quite knows where the fire is going now.

(on camera) You can see the flame coming over that ridge. I mean, if the wind shifts, are you going to leave?

PATTY LEONARD, RESIDENT: No. It would have to come much closer.

DORNIN (voice-over): It's too close for many residents here, who have already fled the neighborhood. L.A. firefighter Ken Coneval (ph) fought fire all night protecting other people's homes. Now it's getting close to his.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So right now it's blowing the fire to us, instead of away, which is a bad thing.

DORNIN (on camera): Are you planning on leaving?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. Not at all.

DORNIN (voice-over): Bravado? Maybe. But it's also plenty of experience around southern California wild land fires.

(on camera) Some residents here describe it like a dance. The fires don't come every year, but the decision to evacuate doesn't come from the fire department. For them it comes from their gut.

(voice-over) It's a waiting game.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the last minute you just -- you know when you have to go. And so far that hasn't happened. We're still here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's much darker over there now.

DORNIN: Less than an hour later again the wind shifts, the sky blackens. And now people here begin to change their minds about what's safe.

(on camera) You and I were talking earlier and you were not concerned about leaving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

DORNIN: What about now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now it's getting to the point where it's a wind-driven fire, and the fire is generating its own wind.

DORNIN (voice-over): We can feel the heat of the fire now. It's about 200 yards away. Down the hill we're about to talk to evacuee John McLaughlin when the fire trucks race up with a warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to blow up.

DORNIN: And we're told we have to make a decision.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys need to either hunker down in place or leave now.

DORNIN: A decision from the gut. One that could be a life saver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And that was our Rusty Dornin, reporting from California.

Thousands of firefighters are building a 25-mile-long buffer to try to contain the fire. The fear now is that the fire will jump Highway 101 into Malibu.

News "Across America" this morning.

California residents can forget about buying prescription drugs from outside the United States. Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have required the state's health department to create a Web site for people to buy cheaper drugs from Canada, the U.K. and Ireland. The governor also vetoed a bill that would have allowed gay couples to marry.

A mystery in Pittsfield Township, Michigan. For the second time this week, Saline High School was evacuated after several students became sick. Earlier in the week, it was evacuated after five students suffered nausea and passed out. Initial environmental tests reveal no toxins that would explain these illnesses.

And he says he just wanted to learn English. A Guatemalan man was arrested after posing as an 18-year-old student at Pasco County High School. He was actually 27. He's being held on $5,000 bail and is accused of forgery.

Well, still to come here on this busy Friday morning here at DAYBREAK, FEMA is not exactly cruising on this one. Hurricane victims are on board, trying to get their lives back together, but for taxpayers it looks like money that's just floating away.

Plus, he's a funny man on a serious mission. Comedian Chris Rock makes a big difference at a family shelter in Houston. We've got the exclusive story of what he's doing to help.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning, September 30.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: The international markets are mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei is down 42 points, but the London FTSE is adding 16, and the German DAX is higher by 25 points.

In futures trading, crude oil is down a quarter. It's down to $66.54 a barrel this morning.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's about 14 minutes after the hour, and here is what is all new this morning.

"New York Times" reporter Judith Miller will appear before a federal grand jury today. She spent 12 weeks in prison after refusing to reveal her confidential source in connection with the investigation into who leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent. Miller left prison yesterday after that source gave her permission to testify.

Call him Mr. Chief Justice. John Roberts was easily confirmed by the Senate and has been sworn in as the 17th chief justice of the United States. The court's next term begins Monday morning.

In money, Delta Airlines says it plans to be profitable again by the end of 2007. The airline's chief operating officer says the airline will move quickly to reorganize in the wake of the company's bankruptcy protection filing.

In culture, Academy Award winner Charlize Theron is the latest celebrity to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you want to visit her star, you'll find her right next to Burt Lancaster, Britney Spears and Kermit the Frog.

In sports, the Chicago White Sox are in. The Southsiders beat the Detroit Tigers to clinch the American League Central Division. It's just their fourth division title in the past 40 years.

To the forecast center now. Bonnie Schneider in today for Chad Myers.

Bonnie, it's good baseball weather right now, at least on the East Coast.

SCHNEIDER: Oh, absolutely, Kelly.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: OK, Bonnie. We'll talk to you in a few minutes. Thanks so much.

Still to come this morning on this Friday edition of DAYBREAK, it's hard to find the perfect mate, especially if you're a penguin. A love story with a unique twist is next. You won't want to miss that.

You're watching DAYBREAK for a Friday. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Time now for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener."

OK, so you're in London and want to break the ice with a new date. Try this: The Ice Bar opens tomorrow. The walls, stools, even the drinking glasses and the bar, all made from ice imported from Sweden. But it is not for the faint of heart. The temperature is kept below 5 degrees. Yes, that's cold.

Remember Philippine's former first lady, Imelda Marcos, and that closet packed with hundreds and hundreds of shoes? You'll remember that. It seems now the government is considering auctioning the shoes, gowns and her jewelry collection. Manila apparently needs the cash more than the footwear.

Well, that hugely popular "March of the Penguins" movie has raised interest in the birds. Maybe too much interest. A case in point, maybe national attention paid to the breakup of a unique penguin pair. CNN's Jeanne Moos has a story from the Central Park Zoo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There's nothing like sexual orientation to touch off a feeding frenzy of gossip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were really, like, I guess, boyfriend and boyfriend.

MOOS: But at the Central Park Zoo?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were getting tangled (ph). They were happy.

MOOS: Maybe you've heard of Silo and Roy, two males. They were together for six years, building nests, trying to copulate. But then...

REGIS PHILBIN, TALK SHOW HOST: Silo has left Roy.

KELLY RIPA, TALK SHOW HOST: Ah!

MOOS: Not only did Silo and Roy split, Silo eventually went straight with a chick named Scrappy.

(on camera): Is Scrappy exceptionally attractive or anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a cute bird, like they all are.

RIPA: That little home wrecker.

MOOS (voice over): But if you think penguins can get snippy, you should see the press. Ever since the hit documentary "March of the Penguins" came out, French kissing penguin style, traditionalists have praised the birds for their devotion to monogamy and child rearing, to which gay blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote, "When they're not gay, these birds have as many spouses as Larry King."

Sorry, Larry.

"The New York Post" came up with four reasons Silo could have gone straight. Number one: the zoo doesn't offer penguins domestic partner health benefits.

The conservative Web site Focus on the Family was gleeful: "Silo Rains on the Penguin Pride Parade."

(on camera): So we're not going to see Roy and Silo in the, like, gay pride parade or anything here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, they would have to be in a very climate-controlled situation.

MOOS (voice over): A 34-degree parade. We humans can't tell male penguins from females. It takes a blood test. As for the penguins...

(on camera): You're sure they know the boys from the girls?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

MOOS (voice over): At this German zoo, there were so many same- sex penguin pairs that the zoo brought in females from Sweden to try to increase breeding, upsetting those worried that the zoo was trying to change the penguins' preferences. But wait. The saga of Silo and Roy isn't over.

ROB GRAMAZY, SENIOR KEEPER, POLAR BIRDS: In '99, we found them incubating a large rock.

MOOS: So keepers gave them a real egg to incubate. And Tango was born. She inspired a kids' book for being a penguin with two daddies. And who is Tango dancing with these days?

GRAMAZY: The last two years, she's been paired up with another female.

MOOS (on camera): What's going on? What do you guys have in the water here?

KELLY YOUNGS-SCHMITT, ZOO VISITOR: Oh, we didn't hear that part of it. So the baby was a little confused, too, maybe, because she had two daddies. We say it doesn't matter.

MOOS: OK.

YOUNGS-SCHMITT: It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as it's not humans.

MOOS (voice over): "As long as it's not humans," he said.

YOUNGS-SCHMITT: No, no, no. It's OK for humans if that's their preference. But it's not your preference, right?

MOOS: Don't ask, don't tell.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: That brings the old "Seinfeld" line, "Not that there's anything wrong with it."

We thank Jeanne Moos for that incredible penguin tale.

Coming up next in the next half-hour of DAYBREAK, Chris Rock on tour, but of a different kind. He's in Houston to visit Katrina evacuees living at the Bonita House. We'll tag along. That story still to come.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK. I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.

Good morning, everyone. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.

Coming up in the next 30 minutes, bringing humor and a helping hand to Katrina evacuees. Comedian Chris Rock adopts a shelter in Houston and takes us on a tour.

That's all just ahead, but first, these stories "Now in the News."

"New York Times" reporter Judith Miller is out of jail and testifying this morning before a federal grand jury. The jury is investigating the disclosure of an undercover CIA operative's name. Miller spent 12 weeks in jail for refusing to reveal a confidential source. She says that source has now released her from that promise.

General Richard Myers stepping down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will host a farewell tribute this morning. President Bush plans to be there.

More than 2,000 homes and businesses are threatened by an out-of- control fire in California. The blaze has already scorched about 17,000 acres between the western edge of Los Angeles and its suburbs.

To the forecast center now. Bonnie Schneider in for Chad Myers.

And Bonnie, you're saying those firefighters may -- might get a little relief today.

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: All right, Bonnie. We'll talk to you in a few minutes. Thanks again.

Turning now to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. We all remember the scenes of looting in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Well, now an investigation is under way into possible involvement by police.

Two separate investigations have been launched by the New Orleans Police Department and the Louisiana attorney general's office. There already have been suspensions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RILEY: I stand before you today to inform the public that I have ordered an immediate internal investigation by the department's Public Integrity Bureau which will focus on at least 12 police officers who are being accused of misconduct. Already, I have suspended four officers in connection with the investigation, and I have reassigned one officer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The suspended officers are accused of either looting actual items such as jewelry, or failing to take action while watching looting take place.

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