Decisive Day in Najaf?; Governor's Scandal
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New clashes this morning in Najaf signal an end to peace negotiations. It is Wednesday, August 18. This is DAYBREAK. And good morning to you from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Carol Costello. Now in the news, court hearings are set to start any time now for eight terror suspects in Great Britain. Two of them allegedly conducted surveillance of the Prudential Building in New Jersey. And it was the cause of that recent heightened terror alert. Another allegedly had a how-to book for bomb-making. In Washington, the House Select Intelligence Committee meets two and a half hours from now. Set to appear is the co-chair of the 9/11 Commission. The former heads of the CIA and the FBI also will testify. Heavy fighting in the Iraqi city of Najaf this morning and it could get worse. Iraq's defense minister is giving Shiite militiamen just a few hours to give up. He says if they don't, Iraqi troops will storm the mosque where they are holed up now. And back home, firefighters are using helicopters to battle a Northern California wildfire. The blaze has grown to 10,000 acres. It burned more than 20 homes in the historic gold-mining town of French Gulch.</s>COSTELLO: Today could be a decisive day for the battle in Najaf. There were tough words from the Iraqi defense minister. To quote him: "The time for negotiations are over." Let's go live to our John Vause in Baghdad.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This latest attempt at peace in Najaf appears to have gone the same way as all before it: nowhere. It's a lesson of sorts for the Iraqis who are now calling the shots -- criticizing the U.S. is easy; dealing with people like Muqtada al-Sadr is hard.</s>VAUSE (voice over): The delegates arrived in a city under siege, smoke rising from buildings around the sacred Imam Ali Mosque, the sound of gunfire and explosions echoing through Najaf, as heavy fighting continued for most of the day, especially around this sprawling cemetery. This was a last attempt to end the standoff through negotiation. But the man at the center of the uprising, Shiite cleric Muqtada al- Sadr, refused to meet with the group of eight religious and political leaders from Baghdad. Al-Sadr's aides blamed the U.S. for the fighting, and said it just wasn't safe for a face-to-face meeting. So there they were: Muqtada al-Sadr in one part of the huge golden-domed mosque, the peace delegates in another. For three hours that's as close as they got. The delegation was sent from the Iraqi National Conference, a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Baghdad. For three days, they have debated little else apart from the standoff in Najaf. It has overshadowed the election of an interim council, a parliament of sorts, meant to advise the Iraqi government. But now these delegates may have just learned what the U.S. has known for more than a year: Dealing with Muqtada al-Sadr and trying to bring democracy to Iraq is more than just complicated and difficult; at times it can seem impossible.</s>COSTELLO: Thank you, John. And just to expound on that, we do have new pictures in to CNN of the fighting in Najaf that's been going on all morning. Not exactly sure exactly where this is -- we're not exactly sure where this is in the city of Najaf, but we know it is in Najaf. And to expound on what the Iraqi defense minister said, he said the Shiite Muslim militiamen fighting here in Najaf must surrender within hours. And he has given the all-clear for Iraqi troops to go into that mosque to root out the fighters if they do not lay down their arms. We expect more fierce fighting in Najaf throughout the morning and throughout the day. Of course, we'll keep you updated right here on CNN. About two months to go before the November elections, and the candidates are stepping it up. President Bush was in West Virginia Tuesday. Today, he's in Chippewa Falls and St. Croix, Wisconsin. Later, he heads to St. Paul, Minnesota, Like West Virginia, Wisconsin and Minnesota are among the so- called battleground states. John Kerry said good-bye to the people who came out to watch him leave Idaho. Kerry addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati this morning. He then heads to Boston, where he has no scheduled events. "CNN LIVE TODAY" will bring you Kerry's remarks this morning to the VFW. That starts at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Some of country music's big stars are kicking off their own get- out-the-vote campaign. They're calling it Your Country, Your Vote, and it's said to be nonpartisan. Performers like Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, Billy Dean and Martin Raybon are leading the effort. They say they're not going to let Hollywood choose who they'll vote for. Our Paula Zahn will be talking to some undecided voters in the battleground state of Ohio. Do not miss her town hall meeting in my hometown, Canton, Ohio. That's at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific time. And if you've got a question for the Bush or Kerry camps, but can't get to your -- but cannot get to Ohio, e-mail your questions for tonight's show to CNN.com/Paula. The man at the center of a stunning accusation surrounding New Jersey's governor is now trying to get out of the spotlight. But as CNN's Deborah Feyerick explains, even overseas it's not easy to disappear from a sex scandal.</s>DEBORAH FEYERICK>>, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Golan Cipel thought he could slip away from New Jersey and the scandal enveloping the governor there, he was wrong. The Israeli-born former aide to James McGreevey going home to a suburb outside Tel Aviv, to his parents, and to a mob of waiting cameras, making his first televised statement.</s>GOLAN CIPEL, FORMER MCGREEVEY AIDE (through translator): I have had a very difficult time. I have come to Israel to be with my family at this time. I cannot expand on anything for legal reasons.</s>FEYERICK: One former colleague tells CNN Cipel has been distraught since it came out he planned to file a sexual harassment suit against the governor. Cipel, through his lawyer, says he is straight and was subjected to repeated advances by McGreevey. Settlement talks between the two sides broke down Thursday, just hours before the governor announced he was gay and had had a consensual affair.</s>GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I have decided the right course of action is to resign.</s>FEYERICK: The sexual harassment suit appears to be on hold.</s>ALLEN LOWY, ATTORNEY FOR GOLAN CIPEL: When the governor resigned, I think my client in some way felt vindicated that the governor did own up to what he had done.</s>FEYERICK: On Tuesday, McGreevey was back running the state, first holding terrorism drills with the federal officials, then meeting with the man who will replace him if he stays until November. New Jersey Republicans and now Democrats are trying to force McGreevey out by September so that special elections can be held to choose who will govern next. Those close to McGreevey vow he will not go without a fight.</s>MICAH RASMUSSEN, MCGREEVEY SPOKESPERSON: To be quite blunt about it, if the last fight that he has is with the party bosses, that's a fight that we're willing to have.</s>FEYERICK (on camera): Political fund-raisers predicted that things would get worse for Governor McGreevey before getting better. CNN confirms that one of the government's top fund-raisers will plead guilty Wednesday. The fund-raiser, under investigation for, among other things, violating campaign contribution laws. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.</s>COSTELLO: Coming up next on DAYBREAK, the U.S. is racking up some gold at the Olympics. Details on one historic win live from Greece next. But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.