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CNN Live At Daybreak

Worsening Crisis in Haiti; Democrats Debate

Aired February 27, 2004 - 05:00   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.
Happy Friday.

It's February 27th.

From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date.

Search crews find the wreckage of a plane carrying Macedonia's president. All nine people aboard died in yesterday's crash in Bosnia. Up to 10 women brutally killed in six states. Investigators from those states meet today to see if they have a serial killer on their hands.

A report on sexual abuse commissioned by the nation's Catholic bishops comes out today. It shows that nearly 11,000 children have alleged molestation -- have been allegedly abused in the Catholic Church over the last century.

They failed to see eye to eye on Iraq, but today President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sit down to talk about post- war plans.

We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next news update comes your way at 5:15 Eastern.

We begin this hour with the worsening crisis in Haiti. The Caribbean community warns that time is running out to find a political solution to the rebel uprising. Rebel leaders say their forces are closing in on the capital and they are poised to attack unless President Aristide steps down.

But Aristide says no chance of that.

CNN's Lucia Newman brings us up to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the presidential palace, impassioned Aristide supporters vow to defend their president with their life. Shouting, "Five years!," the length of his term. International as well as local pressure for Aristide to resign is mounting. But when CNN asked him if he would even consider leaving the palace, he flatly said no. JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: We have 32 coup d'etats. It's enough. We need now to respect the constitutional order and I will leave the palace on February 7, 2006, which is good for our democracy.

NEWMAN: In the capital, nerves are on edge. Almost all businesses are closed. Gas stations, normally open 24 hours, are closing at dusk, while people scramble to stock up on fuel just in case. Rumors, both of attacks by mobs, by Aristide supporters and of his resignation are spreading like wildfire. U.S. Marines escorted more than 100 non-essential U.N. personnel and their families to the airport. Wednesday, they couldn't be evacuated because of enormous roadblocks set up along the main road by often aggressive groups claiming to support the president.

In Saint-Marc, the only city in between the capital and rebel held territory, the Belgian-based aid organization, Doctors Without Borders, is preparing for the worst.

DR. ALBERT TSHIULA, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The people are scared, but at least we can say that we are guaranteeing the security of the population.

NEWMAN: This as the rebels promise to march towards the capital as soon as the time is right, which they claim could be very soon.

(on camera): In the meantime, many airlines have started canceling their flights to Haiti, prompting some countries, such as the numbering Dominican Republic, Mexico, and even Canada, to use their military aircraft to come here and evacuate some of their nationals.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Secretary of State Colin Powell has openly questioned whether Jean-Bertrand Aristide can continue to serve effectively as Haiti's president. Last night on CNN's "Paula Zahn," he called on Mr. Aristide to do what's best for his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want President Aristide to do what he thinks is best for his country. What we are looking for is a political solution to end the violence. We've been pressing a CARICOM approach which would require both sides to enter into negotiations to form a new kind of government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The Haitian crisis is having a ripple effect around the world. The Haitian government and opposition leaders are meeting with French officials in Paris this morning in an effort to end the crisis.

CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us live by phone from Paris with what's happening there -- hello, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

In fact, the opposition didn't make it. As Lucia Newman pointed out, the airports are closing down to some flights and apparently they had logistics problems getting out of Port-au-Prince and they did not make it this morning. So we have only the official government delegation on hand here, the foreign minister, Joseph Philippe Antonio, is here, along with the cultural minister, Lilas Desquiron, and probably, most importantly, Jean-Claude Desgranges, who is the director of President Aristide's cabinet.

Now, they're going to meet any moment now with Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. The press are being kept away from this meeting and sort of unusually we're not being allowed into the foreign ministry building where these talks are being held. And we're not sure what kind of information we're going to get out of this. There's a normal Friday briefing today and the -- at the French foreign ministry, so we may get some kind of read. But it could be they want to keep things very much low key here, or at least as much as they can, because there's a lot of interest in this story, obviously.

Now, the French basically, the French position seems to be that they've been coordinating their approach here pretty closely with the Americans. They've been pushing, however, a little bit harder than the United States has for some kind of a military intervention force. The U.S. basically feels there should be some kind of political settlement before, or some political arrangement before any kind of military force intervenes, whereas the French think that a military force ought to be sent straight away.

So it's not clear where these talks are going to go or if they'll even be talks. It will be just, basically, it's just Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, meeting with the Haitian government representatives here. It's kind of one-sided and it's not clear exactly how far they can get -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, I was just going to ask you, with the opposition groups not being able to get there, is there any point to the talks at all?

BITTERMANN: Well, there may be, because I think there could be some clue into exactly what the president, President Aristide is thinking right now, especially since we have the director of his cabinet here. So there is a possibility that there would be some usefulness to this.

Also, the opposition groups, or at least one member of one, one leading member of the opposition groups in Haiti was saying that they were very, very appreciative of the idea that there are some kind of talks being set up. So, there is at least one member of the opposition is in favor of something happening here. It's just that they're not here and not represented.

COSTELLO: Yes, something happening, but what? Jim Bittermann live from Paris on the phone with us this morning.

Let's talk American politics right now. With Super Tuesday just around the corner, John Edwards had a chance to score some points and pull closer to front runner John Kerry in the latest debate.

But as CNN's Candy Crowley reports, the day's headlines brought our more similarities than differences between the two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is their least favorite subject, but Rosie O'Donnell got married in San Francisco today, and here they were in California, at a debate. Of course they discussed gay marriage.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president is talking about, first, amending the United States constitution for a problem that does not exist.

REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The issue in 2004 is not if gays marry. The issue is not who you go to bed with. The issue is whether either of you have a job when you get up in the morning.

CROWLEY: And they hated every minute of it.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This discussion we've just had is exactly where the Republicans want us to spend our time.

CROWLEY: In the oldie but goodie category, the war on Iraq, still a difficult subject for the two leading contenders, who voted for the Iraq resolution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a blank check.

Why?

EDWARDS: But those, but those -- what we did is we voted on a resolution. The answer is what we did is we voted on a resolution.

KERRY: And I have a slightly different take from John on this. Let me make it very clear. We did not give the president any authority that the president of the United States didn't have. Did we ratify what he was doing? Yes. But Clinton went to Haiti without the Congress. Clinton went to Kosovo without the Congress. And the fact is the president was determined to go, evidently, but we changed the dynamics.

LARRY KING, HOST: Do you regret your vote?

EDWARDS: I did what I believed was right at the time.

KING: Do you regret it?

EDWARDS: I believe I did what was right at the time.

KING: No, do you regret it?

KERRY: I do not regret my vote, I regret that we have a president of the United States who misled America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.

CROWLEY: Save for the usual pithy comments from Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich, this was a relatively mild debate. John Kerry, the front runner, has nothing to win by being aggressive. He stayed above the fray. As for John Edwards, he is tied down by his own campaign rhetoric that he would not attack a fellow Democrat.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And John Kerry will be -- will bring a former Democratic candidate into his fold. CNN has learned Senator Bob Graham of Florida will endorse Kerry next week. The senator from Florida dropped out of the Democratic race last year, citing a lack of funds and organization.

California's attorney general is joining those asking the state supreme court to jump into the gay marriage fray. Attorney General Bill Lockyer is expected to ask the court today to decide if San Francisco is violating state law by issuing gay licenses -- or by issuing marriage licenses to gays.

In the meantime, Rosie O'Donnell is now a married woman. She married long time girlfriend Kelly Carpenter in a private ceremony in San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE O'DONNELL, FORMER TALK SHOW HOST: And I'd like to thank the City of San Francisco for this amazing...

(APPLAUSE)

O'DONNELL: ... for the amazing stance that the mayor has taken and for all of the people here who assisted not just us, but the thousands and thousands of other law abiding, loving American families who want the rights that every other married couple is entitled to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The couple is raising four children together.

The longest supermarket strike in U.S. history may be nearing an end. That tops our look at news across America.

Negotiators for three supermarket chains and grocery clerks in southern California have finally reached a tentative agreement. Some 70,000 workers have been affected by the four and a half month long strike. Clerks begin voting on the agreement tomorrow. Imagine, chunks of concrete, pieces of metal, flags and a Tiffany globe paperweight all taken from the rubble of the World Trade Center. The Justice Department says 13 FBI agents took those items. No one has been charged with a crime, but the agency now bans agents from taking anything from crime scenes.

And in Quincy, Massachusetts, unusual divorce proceedings. Fourteen-year-old Patrick Holland has lost the legal fight to end any relations with his father, Daniel Holland. Patrick's dad is serving a live sentence for murdering his estranged wife, Patrick's mom. The judge says Patrick will have to file the case in New Hampshire, because that's where the boy is living with his guardians. A sad story there.

Chad, where the heck are you this morning?

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol!

COSTELLO: That doesn't look like the forecast center.

MYERS: There's no blue board behind me this morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: What's up with that?

MYERS: No.

Hey, good morning.

We are in Spartanburg, South Carolina this morning. At Morgan Square, nine inches of snow on the ground. About eight down in Greenville. And if we head on up the highway, which we probably will later today, about 50 miles, South Park, right around Charlotte, basically in part of Charlotte, 17 inches of snow on the ground, Carol.

It has been one ugly night for drivers around here. But actually, very pretty over my shoulder. Things look really nice. The city itself, the town itself, this is the town square here, very calm, kind of tranquil, and, in fact, not even that cold this morning. It's about 32 out here.

But as we were driving here, I-26, I-85 all down to about a single lane. Most roads look better than the one you're seeing here. This is actually just the road through town square.

But as we get into the rest of the day, believe it or not, Carol, it's going to get to 42 here this afternoon. So all this is going to be gone. All the kids basically have the day off. They'll be making snowmen. This is perfect snowmen snow, by the way. It is still snowing across parts of North Carolina. In fact, Raleigh, you're right in the thick of it now, all the way east of Charlotte. The snow has stopped in Charlotte; stopped, obviously, across all of upstate South Carolina and the Piedmont.

And if you zoom in just a little bit, I-85 still a little bit tough. Raleigh, you're still seeing the snow. Fayetteville, you're now back into some rain-snow-sleet mix, and that's not going to be a pleasant commute for you today. Take your time on I-95. Basically down to about one lane and still driving in the train tracks there of the cars ahead of you.

There's what I was talking about, South Park, North Carolina. It's really part of Charlotte, 17 inches; Roan Mountain, Tennessee, about 14 now. And this is the third greatest snowfall on record, on record, for one day in Charlotte, North Carolina. The one that we have here that I'm standing in, Carol, is the seventh greatest snowfall in Spartanburg history, history.

COSTELLO: Wow! Wow!

MYERS: Nine inches of snow we're standing in this morning.

COSTELLO: I can't believe they...

MYERS: And it's not even cold.

COSTELLO: I can't believe they made you drive there.

MYERS: They did. Actually, I rode in the back of a Suburban, but, yes, the planes weren't flying well yesterday.

COSTELLO: OK, I understand now.

MYERS: Dropped in 10.

COSTELLO: Are you ever going to get out of there today?

MYERS: I am. Sure, I've got happy hour at 3:00 down, back down in Atlanta, so I'd better be making it.

COSTELLO: That's the spirit, Chad. That's why we love you on DAYBREAK.

Thank you.

We'll get back to you.

MYERS: See you.

COSTELLO: Coming up next, a flying squirrel. Yes, that's what I said. Look at that thing go, a flying squirrel.

Plus, a major tire recall you'll want to know about before you roll onto work.

Also, passionate about "The Passion."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's not in the scripture, then Mel Gibson has inserted something which is blatantly anti-Semitic.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: We talk to a group of people from different religions who watched the movie. It's a feud over the flick you won't want to miss.

And ogling over Oscar. We're two days away now. Charlize, Rene, Sean, Clint, who's your fave?

It's Friday, February 27.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

COMMERCIAL

COSTELLO: Is my microphone open now? It is.

It is 5:16 Eastern time.

Time to take a quick look at the top stories now in our DAYBREAK early briefing.

In Haiti, rebel leaders say they're closing in on the capital and it's just a matter of time before they attack if President Aristide does not step down.

The issue of gay marriage came up in last night's Democratic debate. John Kerry and John Edwards both say they are opposed to it, but they're also against a constitutional ban.

And German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder meets with President Bush at the White House today. The weak American dollar is one item on the agenda.

We update our top stories every 15 minutes. Our next update comes your way at 5:30 Eastern.

More Firestone tires are reportedly being recalled three and a half years after a massive recall because of deadly roll-over accidents. Bridgestone says it's voluntarily recalling about 490,000 Firestone Steeltex tires. The tires are linked to SUV crashes that have killed five people.

Time now to check the overseas markets to see what Wall Street investors may expect today.

For that, let's head live to London and Hala Gorani -- good morning, Hala.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

It's positive out there. We're looking at gains of between three quarters of a percent and one percent. The FTSE 100 and the DAX are gaining, both about three quarters of a percent. The CAC 40 (ph), one percent.

Overall, good results from companies like Roche or WPP, the advertising group, boosting sentiment across the region. A quick word on the dollar. And we've been talking in the last year of how weak the dollar has been. In the last few sessions, it is at one month highs and keeping that level against the euro. The Euro- dollar under $1.24, $1.2394. A couple of factors there weighing on the euro. First of all, the European Central Bank meets March 4th. Some traders perhaps expecting that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates in order to weaken the euro, which is hurting exporting stocks because it's been so high. And then Gerhard Schroeder is in the United States today meeting with the U.S. president, George W. Bush. Talk perhaps that he might say a few things about the euro that might help, as well, weaken it against the U.S. currency.

That's a quick look at the financial world on this side of the Atlantic. A positive day all around -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Hala Gorani.

Take this ball and destroy it. Cubs fans try to put a curse to rest.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We'll show you how this little critter takes a leap of faith. There he goes. Look at him, he's going to do it. We'll show you more in a little bit.

From beauty to the beast, a Hollywood siren makes killer moves on the big screen. But what's the real story behind her controversial role?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MONSTER")

CHARLIZE THERON, BEST LEAD ACTRESS NOMINEE: You didn't get it because I'm so hard up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL

COSTELLO: More toilets. That tops our DAYBREAK Eye-Opener.

Tommy Smith, a member of the Georgia statehouse, has introduced a bill requiring twice as many toilets in women's rest rooms as in men's. The measure would apply to government buildings built after July. Smith says if you talk to any woman, she'll tell you it's a serious problem. There you go, your tax dollars at work.

Chicago Cubs fans can rejoice. The foul tipped baseball last fall that started the Cubs' spiral out of the playoffs, look at that, it's been destroyed. Kaboom! It was obliterated by a Hollywood special effects expert. Operators of Harry Caray's Restaurant Group paid more than $113,000 for the ball, but maybe, just maybe the curse is gone.

All right, what would you do if you were caught on a burning roof? Well, if you're this squirrel -- look at the little squirrel -- you make one heck of a leap of faith. There he goes. A camera operator for CNN affiliate KSDK in St. Louis caught the daring escape. We just thought you'd like to see a flying squirrel that isn't officially a flying squirrel. I've got to see it again. Ooh! There's the reporter.

But that's not because of the squirrel. This is in northern California. A reporter for KRON gets a little too close to his subject, which would be high surf. Waves are up to 35 feet, some of the highest in a decade. Residents were advised of the possibility of coastal flooding. But you've got to admit, it makes for good viewing.

MYERS: It does.

COSTELLO: Chad, that guy has nothing on you. You're standing in, what, three inches of snow?

MYERS: No, we've got nine inches here, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sorry.

MYERS: Don't even, don't even go anywhere with that one, OK? I don't know, it's great snowman weather, really. I mean that's the good part about this, you can really make good snowballs with it. And probably all the kids will be out there -- you know, they've got the, they got a sleigh about three years ago for Christmas, they haven't been able to use it. But finally today you've got enough snow to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: Would you tell viewers where the heck you are?

MYERS: We are in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at Morgan Square, a lovely part of town, really. I mean if you've never been to a small town in North Carolina, South Carolina, this is the quintessential town square. You've got antique shops. You've got appliance stores. You've got sandwich factories, basically coffee shops all up and down the street. And obviously you see the two cars there that didn't make it home last night.

We're literally looking at about six or seven inches on the ground simply because a lot of it didn't melt that did hit the ground. We had a couple of lawn chairs at our hotel and there was probably snow about that deep. Now, those were insulated from the ground and that's about how much snow we actually saw here in Spartanburg, Carol.

But you know where I want to take you now?

COSTELLO: Where?

MYERS: Poipu.

COSTELLO: Oh, I'd love to go there.

MYERS: Hawaii, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MYERS: Because, you know, you know, it's always a good day in Hawaii.

COSTELLO: It's always a good day in Poipu.

MYERS: Even if it rains.

COSTELLO: It's always pretty in Poipu.

MYERS: Exactly.

There are, there's a lot of rain coming in, though, in fact. In fact, Poipu only gets to 75 today in the rain showers. Oh, poor them. Anyway, good morning, Hawaii. Temperatures will be warmer down on the Big Island, where you don't get quite as much rain.

A lot of snow, though, still coming out of North Carolina, kind of a serious situation now still for Raleigh and points eastward through Durham. And I-95 really a mess this morning. A lot of tractor trailers skidding off the roads. In fact, just on the way here to our live shot, we saw three cars in the ditch. And something else that we saw, too, a lot of very heavy trees, a lot of snow on these pine trees and on the cypress, and everything kind of going urrr and kind of falling down a little bit. So be careful. I even noticed a couple of power lines that were pretty much getting stretched there by the falling or the sagging trees.

So watch out. If you do see some power lines, stay away from them. Otherwise, Carol, we'll be back with the forecast in about 15 minutes.

COSTELLO: Your lips are starting to freeze, aren't they?

MYERS: No, actually, it's not cold out here at all. In fact, hold on. I have a thermometer. It is, it's exactly 32. So not -- and, in fact, later on today, it's going to be 42. So not bad at all.

COSTELLO: Wow!

MYERS: Otherwise February in (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: Thirty-two is cold in my book.

All right, thank you, Chad.

MYERS: I'm from Buffalo, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm from Ohio. It's still cold.

Anyway, thank you, Chad.

We'll get back to you later this hour on DAYBREAK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEL GIBSON: That's a given. You know, you're going to touch a few nerves. I didn't expect to sort of hit a main artery, though, you know? (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He is the man behind the movie. Mel Gibson talks with Jay Leno about his passion for "The Passion."

A political deadline looms -- is Iraq ready? We'll get you the latest live from Baghdad.

And after years of unrelenting suicide bombings and shattered lives, we'll show you how Israelis have learned to get the upper hand in foiling terrorist attacks.

This is DAYBREAK for Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's Oscar season again and if there were a golden statue for largest theater owner, it would go to Regal Entertainment. The cinema chain controls over 20 percent of screens in the U.S. on which best picture nominees play. Beyond its Regal brand, it also controls United Artists and Hoyt's Multiplexes.

Rivals AMC and Lowe's recently broke off merger talks that would have threatened Regal's claim to the top spot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COMMERCIAL

COSTELLO: Good morning to you.

Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.

Happy Friday to you.

It's February 27.

From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date now.

Hashing out the Haitian crisis, government officials from Haiti and France are meeting right now in Paris, looking for ways to restore order in the former French colony. France wants President Jean- Bertrand Aristide to resign and it wants an international peace force sent to Haiti.

FBI agents will no longer be allowed to remove personal mementoes or souvenirs from crime scenes. Thirteen agents removed items from the World Trade Center site in New York.

A death sentence handed down today in the 1995 serin gas attack in the Tokyo subway. Cult leader Shoko Ashara was sentenced for that attack, which killed 12 people.

In San Francisco, with its same-sex marriages, is it violating California law? The state's attorney general will ask the state supreme court that question today.

We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next update comes your way at 5:45 Eastern.

The deadline is tomorrow and Iraqis are waiting to see a new draft -- a draft, rather, of a new interim constitution for their country.

CNN correspondent Brent Sadler is live from Baghdad to tell us more -- hello, Brent.

I don't believe Brent can hear me.

Brent, can you hear me?

It doesn't seem like he can.

That interim constitution is supposed to be presented to the Iraqi public today. We're going to find out what's in it when we try to get Brent back when we have our technical problems worked out.

Now to another segment in our week long series on terrorism and efforts to combat it. As you know, we always report suicide bombings. What we don't report, say Israeli officials, is the number of foiled suicide bombings.

Here's CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On buses, at cafes, in shopping malls, at universities, nightclubs and marketplaces, 139 suicide bombings in almost three and a half years. The peak came in March, 2002. Seventeen in that month alone, the worst at Netanyahu. Twenty-nine dead.

But since then, the untold story, say Israeli officials, is the number of foiled suicide bombers. Between the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000 and March 2002, Israel intercepted 31 would be bombers. But in almost two years since, it says it's foiled 283. At the same time, the number of successful suicide missions has fallen dramatically.

MAJ. SHARON FEINGOLD, IDF SPOKESPERSON: I don't think this is measured in terms of winning or losing. I think both sides are losing. But the Palestinians are losing more.

VAUSE: Sources within Israeli intelligence tell CNN they were caught off guard in the first few months of the violence. But not now. Eran Lerman was a senior officer with military intelligence.

ERAN LERMAN, FORMER SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: We literally know every house in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. And we, if we are told a story, we are in a position to check it.

VAUSE: Lerman says it's a combination of high tech surveillance from drones, video cameras and observation posts combined with extensive human intelligence on the ground, including information from Palestinians themselves.

LERMAN: There are many Palestinians who bring information. It can be money. It can be, you know, a small operator caught in a dragnet and he just starts talking. And even the great heroes of the revolution end up telling us quite a lot one way or the other.

VAUSE: Every piece of information, he says, is methodically recorded to create a detailed picture not only of every Palestinian city, town and village, but also the social infrastructure, who's talking to whom.

MICHAEL TARAZI, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY LEGAL ADVISOR: There's undoubtedly a huge collaborator network within the Palestinian society. This is nothing new in occupations around the world. This is one of the ways of controlling the population.

VAUSE (on camera): Israel says the suicide bombers and other militants are still trying every day. Intelligence sources estimate that at any one time about 300 militants are actively preparing attacks. According to the Israelis, most of them are either caught in the act or sent running. Most, but not all.

(voice-over): Bus 19 blown apart in Jerusalem last month. Despite an average of 60 terrorist alerts a day, Israeli authorities were caught totally off guard. Eleven people dead, 50 wounded. Three weeks later, another suicide bombing, another eight people killed. Here, when there is an intelligence failure, it can often have deadly consequences.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Our series on terrorism concludes tonight with Intelligence Under Fire. Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, looks at the intelligence tools used in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. That airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

All right, as I said, the deadline is approaching tomorrow for the Iraqi Governing Council. They're going to present an interim constitution to the public.

So let's head live to Baghdad and talk with Brent Sadler -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the deadline for the formulation of a basic law or a transitional law, is, indeed, slipping. That's what we're hearing from sources inside the Iraqi Governing Council.

Now, this is one of many blanks as we run up to this four month period to the hand over of sovereignty to the Iraqis by the end of June. They're supposed to be taking power by july the 4th. Now, some of the disagreements, we understand, are very big, indeed. Some of them are quite small. But the big ones to think about are really the devolvement of power from the center, how much autonomy, for example, should the Kurds have? The Kurds are pushing for guarantees. They're not getting what they want yet. The Sunnis, certainly less vocal and certainly less organized than the Shia, supposedly majority here in Iraq, are disgruntled at what they think is a Shia dominated influence in the Iraqi Governing Council.

So many, many issues there. There are other blanks, also, on the political scene, not least the fact that there is still no idea, clear idea of who the U.S.-led coalition is going to hand power over to by that June 30th deadline. That is still up in the air.

However, there is some encouraging news. The Shia spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has agreed that there should be a delay in elections. He was originally pushing before the June 30th deadline, but he now concedes that that should be allowed to expand and that elections should take place, he says, by January the 1st at the latest, earlier than the U.S. would like -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Brent Sadler reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Now, let's head to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where Chad is standing in the snow being cold and...

MYERS: A man out standing in his field.

COSTELLO: I like that.

MYERS: Good morning, dear.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

MYERS: How are you in that warm studio back there?

COSTELLO: It's toasty here.

MYERS: Actually, it's 32 here in Spartanburg. It's not bad. You know, temperatures could be a lot worse. And, in fact, later today it's going to be all the way up to 42. The problem here are the roads. And this is the town square here in Spartanburg, South Carolina. We picked up about nine inches of snow overnight. A little bit farther south, down in Greeneville, about eight. Up in Charlotte, much, much more than that.

But this is what most of the roads are looking like. And the overpasses look like this, as well. We were on the road today, we were on I-26, came up the I-85 and things were pretty good, one, maybe one and a half lanes at times. But then you get on the exit ramp and then all whatever breaks loose because very few plows had been on the exit ramps and very few cars had been on exit ramps and saw already one car spun out there. So you have to watch out this morning. And very few cars already on the road.

Here's what it looks like right now, though. Snow still coming down across parts of North Carolina. Also, the snow heavy at times into Raleigh, I-85, even a little bit of snow up into southern Virginia. You have to watch out for that. And the upstate of South Carolina, obviously, where we are, still seeing some light flurries.

But other than that, here are the snow totals. And, in fact, South Park, North Carolina, 17 inches. That's the biggest number we can find. So almost a foot and a half. And we expected this. We talked about a foot and a half of snow. And even into Greenville at about eight and from Raleigh three plus. But it is snowing heavily in Raleigh.

It's going to be a cold day across all of Florida. Temperatures there only in the upper 50s today, maybe to around 65 down in Miami. And fairly mild on up the East Coast. In fact, Carol, today it's going to be 42. And it's not cold this morning. It's one of those Denver kind of colds, you know? It looks like it's cold, there's snow on the ground, but if it's not windy, it doesn't blow through you.

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






Aired February 27, 2004 - 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: Good morning to you.
Happy Friday.

It's February 27th.

From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date.

Search crews find the wreckage of a plane carrying Macedonia's president. All nine people aboard died in yesterday's crash in Bosnia. Up to 10 women brutally killed in six states. Investigators from those states meet today to see if they have a serial killer on their hands.

A report on sexual abuse commissioned by the nation's Catholic bishops comes out today. It shows that nearly 11,000 children have alleged molestation -- have been allegedly abused in the Catholic Church over the last century.

They failed to see eye to eye on Iraq, but today President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sit down to talk about post- war plans.

We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next news update comes your way at 5:15 Eastern.

We begin this hour with the worsening crisis in Haiti. The Caribbean community warns that time is running out to find a political solution to the rebel uprising. Rebel leaders say their forces are closing in on the capital and they are poised to attack unless President Aristide steps down.

But Aristide says no chance of that.

CNN's Lucia Newman brings us up to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the presidential palace, impassioned Aristide supporters vow to defend their president with their life. Shouting, "Five years!," the length of his term. International as well as local pressure for Aristide to resign is mounting. But when CNN asked him if he would even consider leaving the palace, he flatly said no. JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: We have 32 coup d'etats. It's enough. We need now to respect the constitutional order and I will leave the palace on February 7, 2006, which is good for our democracy.

NEWMAN: In the capital, nerves are on edge. Almost all businesses are closed. Gas stations, normally open 24 hours, are closing at dusk, while people scramble to stock up on fuel just in case. Rumors, both of attacks by mobs, by Aristide supporters and of his resignation are spreading like wildfire. U.S. Marines escorted more than 100 non-essential U.N. personnel and their families to the airport. Wednesday, they couldn't be evacuated because of enormous roadblocks set up along the main road by often aggressive groups claiming to support the president.

In Saint-Marc, the only city in between the capital and rebel held territory, the Belgian-based aid organization, Doctors Without Borders, is preparing for the worst.

DR. ALBERT TSHIULA, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The people are scared, but at least we can say that we are guaranteeing the security of the population.

NEWMAN: This as the rebels promise to march towards the capital as soon as the time is right, which they claim could be very soon.

(on camera): In the meantime, many airlines have started canceling their flights to Haiti, prompting some countries, such as the numbering Dominican Republic, Mexico, and even Canada, to use their military aircraft to come here and evacuate some of their nationals.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Secretary of State Colin Powell has openly questioned whether Jean-Bertrand Aristide can continue to serve effectively as Haiti's president. Last night on CNN's "Paula Zahn," he called on Mr. Aristide to do what's best for his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want President Aristide to do what he thinks is best for his country. What we are looking for is a political solution to end the violence. We've been pressing a CARICOM approach which would require both sides to enter into negotiations to form a new kind of government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The Haitian crisis is having a ripple effect around the world. The Haitian government and opposition leaders are meeting with French officials in Paris this morning in an effort to end the crisis.

CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us live by phone from Paris with what's happening there -- hello, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

In fact, the opposition didn't make it. As Lucia Newman pointed out, the airports are closing down to some flights and apparently they had logistics problems getting out of Port-au-Prince and they did not make it this morning. So we have only the official government delegation on hand here, the foreign minister, Joseph Philippe Antonio, is here, along with the cultural minister, Lilas Desquiron, and probably, most importantly, Jean-Claude Desgranges, who is the director of President Aristide's cabinet.

Now, they're going to meet any moment now with Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. The press are being kept away from this meeting and sort of unusually we're not being allowed into the foreign ministry building where these talks are being held. And we're not sure what kind of information we're going to get out of this. There's a normal Friday briefing today and the -- at the French foreign ministry, so we may get some kind of read. But it could be they want to keep things very much low key here, or at least as much as they can, because there's a lot of interest in this story, obviously.

Now, the French basically, the French position seems to be that they've been coordinating their approach here pretty closely with the Americans. They've been pushing, however, a little bit harder than the United States has for some kind of a military intervention force. The U.S. basically feels there should be some kind of political settlement before, or some political arrangement before any kind of military force intervenes, whereas the French think that a military force ought to be sent straight away.

So it's not clear where these talks are going to go or if they'll even be talks. It will be just, basically, it's just Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, meeting with the Haitian government representatives here. It's kind of one-sided and it's not clear exactly how far they can get -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, I was just going to ask you, with the opposition groups not being able to get there, is there any point to the talks at all?

BITTERMANN: Well, there may be, because I think there could be some clue into exactly what the president, President Aristide is thinking right now, especially since we have the director of his cabinet here. So there is a possibility that there would be some usefulness to this.

Also, the opposition groups, or at least one member of one, one leading member of the opposition groups in Haiti was saying that they were very, very appreciative of the idea that there are some kind of talks being set up. So, there is at least one member of the opposition is in favor of something happening here. It's just that they're not here and not represented.

COSTELLO: Yes, something happening, but what? Jim Bittermann live from Paris on the phone with us this morning.

Let's talk American politics right now. With Super Tuesday just around the corner, John Edwards had a chance to score some points and pull closer to front runner John Kerry in the latest debate.

But as CNN's Candy Crowley reports, the day's headlines brought our more similarities than differences between the two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is their least favorite subject, but Rosie O'Donnell got married in San Francisco today, and here they were in California, at a debate. Of course they discussed gay marriage.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president is talking about, first, amending the United States constitution for a problem that does not exist.

REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The issue in 2004 is not if gays marry. The issue is not who you go to bed with. The issue is whether either of you have a job when you get up in the morning.

CROWLEY: And they hated every minute of it.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This discussion we've just had is exactly where the Republicans want us to spend our time.

CROWLEY: In the oldie but goodie category, the war on Iraq, still a difficult subject for the two leading contenders, who voted for the Iraq resolution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a blank check.

Why?

EDWARDS: But those, but those -- what we did is we voted on a resolution. The answer is what we did is we voted on a resolution.

KERRY: And I have a slightly different take from John on this. Let me make it very clear. We did not give the president any authority that the president of the United States didn't have. Did we ratify what he was doing? Yes. But Clinton went to Haiti without the Congress. Clinton went to Kosovo without the Congress. And the fact is the president was determined to go, evidently, but we changed the dynamics.

LARRY KING, HOST: Do you regret your vote?

EDWARDS: I did what I believed was right at the time.

KING: Do you regret it?

EDWARDS: I believe I did what was right at the time.

KING: No, do you regret it?

KERRY: I do not regret my vote, I regret that we have a president of the United States who misled America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.

CROWLEY: Save for the usual pithy comments from Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich, this was a relatively mild debate. John Kerry, the front runner, has nothing to win by being aggressive. He stayed above the fray. As for John Edwards, he is tied down by his own campaign rhetoric that he would not attack a fellow Democrat.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And John Kerry will be -- will bring a former Democratic candidate into his fold. CNN has learned Senator Bob Graham of Florida will endorse Kerry next week. The senator from Florida dropped out of the Democratic race last year, citing a lack of funds and organization.

California's attorney general is joining those asking the state supreme court to jump into the gay marriage fray. Attorney General Bill Lockyer is expected to ask the court today to decide if San Francisco is violating state law by issuing gay licenses -- or by issuing marriage licenses to gays.

In the meantime, Rosie O'Donnell is now a married woman. She married long time girlfriend Kelly Carpenter in a private ceremony in San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE O'DONNELL, FORMER TALK SHOW HOST: And I'd like to thank the City of San Francisco for this amazing...

(APPLAUSE)

O'DONNELL: ... for the amazing stance that the mayor has taken and for all of the people here who assisted not just us, but the thousands and thousands of other law abiding, loving American families who want the rights that every other married couple is entitled to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The couple is raising four children together.

The longest supermarket strike in U.S. history may be nearing an end. That tops our look at news across America.

Negotiators for three supermarket chains and grocery clerks in southern California have finally reached a tentative agreement. Some 70,000 workers have been affected by the four and a half month long strike. Clerks begin voting on the agreement tomorrow. Imagine, chunks of concrete, pieces of metal, flags and a Tiffany globe paperweight all taken from the rubble of the World Trade Center. The Justice Department says 13 FBI agents took those items. No one has been charged with a crime, but the agency now bans agents from taking anything from crime scenes.

And in Quincy, Massachusetts, unusual divorce proceedings. Fourteen-year-old Patrick Holland has lost the legal fight to end any relations with his father, Daniel Holland. Patrick's dad is serving a live sentence for murdering his estranged wife, Patrick's mom. The judge says Patrick will have to file the case in New Hampshire, because that's where the boy is living with his guardians. A sad story there.

Chad, where the heck are you this morning?

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol!

COSTELLO: That doesn't look like the forecast center.

MYERS: There's no blue board behind me this morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: What's up with that?

MYERS: No.

Hey, good morning.

We are in Spartanburg, South Carolina this morning. At Morgan Square, nine inches of snow on the ground. About eight down in Greenville. And if we head on up the highway, which we probably will later today, about 50 miles, South Park, right around Charlotte, basically in part of Charlotte, 17 inches of snow on the ground, Carol.

It has been one ugly night for drivers around here. But actually, very pretty over my shoulder. Things look really nice. The city itself, the town itself, this is the town square here, very calm, kind of tranquil, and, in fact, not even that cold this morning. It's about 32 out here.

But as we were driving here, I-26, I-85 all down to about a single lane. Most roads look better than the one you're seeing here. This is actually just the road through town square.

But as we get into the rest of the day, believe it or not, Carol, it's going to get to 42 here this afternoon. So all this is going to be gone. All the kids basically have the day off. They'll be making snowmen. This is perfect snowmen snow, by the way. It is still snowing across parts of North Carolina. In fact, Raleigh, you're right in the thick of it now, all the way east of Charlotte. The snow has stopped in Charlotte; stopped, obviously, across all of upstate South Carolina and the Piedmont.

And if you zoom in just a little bit, I-85 still a little bit tough. Raleigh, you're still seeing the snow. Fayetteville, you're now back into some rain-snow-sleet mix, and that's not going to be a pleasant commute for you today. Take your time on I-95. Basically down to about one lane and still driving in the train tracks there of the cars ahead of you.

There's what I was talking about, South Park, North Carolina. It's really part of Charlotte, 17 inches; Roan Mountain, Tennessee, about 14 now. And this is the third greatest snowfall on record, on record, for one day in Charlotte, North Carolina. The one that we have here that I'm standing in, Carol, is the seventh greatest snowfall in Spartanburg history, history.

COSTELLO: Wow! Wow!

MYERS: Nine inches of snow we're standing in this morning.

COSTELLO: I can't believe they...

MYERS: And it's not even cold.

COSTELLO: I can't believe they made you drive there.

MYERS: They did. Actually, I rode in the back of a Suburban, but, yes, the planes weren't flying well yesterday.

COSTELLO: OK, I understand now.

MYERS: Dropped in 10.

COSTELLO: Are you ever going to get out of there today?

MYERS: I am. Sure, I've got happy hour at 3:00 down, back down in Atlanta, so I'd better be making it.

COSTELLO: That's the spirit, Chad. That's why we love you on DAYBREAK.

Thank you.

We'll get back to you.

MYERS: See you.

COSTELLO: Coming up next, a flying squirrel. Yes, that's what I said. Look at that thing go, a flying squirrel.

Plus, a major tire recall you'll want to know about before you roll onto work.

Also, passionate about "The Passion."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's not in the scripture, then Mel Gibson has inserted something which is blatantly anti-Semitic.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: We talk to a group of people from different religions who watched the movie. It's a feud over the flick you won't want to miss.

And ogling over Oscar. We're two days away now. Charlize, Rene, Sean, Clint, who's your fave?

It's Friday, February 27.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

COMMERCIAL

COSTELLO: Is my microphone open now? It is.

It is 5:16 Eastern time.

Time to take a quick look at the top stories now in our DAYBREAK early briefing.

In Haiti, rebel leaders say they're closing in on the capital and it's just a matter of time before they attack if President Aristide does not step down.

The issue of gay marriage came up in last night's Democratic debate. John Kerry and John Edwards both say they are opposed to it, but they're also against a constitutional ban.

And German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder meets with President Bush at the White House today. The weak American dollar is one item on the agenda.

We update our top stories every 15 minutes. Our next update comes your way at 5:30 Eastern.

More Firestone tires are reportedly being recalled three and a half years after a massive recall because of deadly roll-over accidents. Bridgestone says it's voluntarily recalling about 490,000 Firestone Steeltex tires. The tires are linked to SUV crashes that have killed five people.

Time now to check the overseas markets to see what Wall Street investors may expect today.

For that, let's head live to London and Hala Gorani -- good morning, Hala.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

It's positive out there. We're looking at gains of between three quarters of a percent and one percent. The FTSE 100 and the DAX are gaining, both about three quarters of a percent. The CAC 40 (ph), one percent.

Overall, good results from companies like Roche or WPP, the advertising group, boosting sentiment across the region. A quick word on the dollar. And we've been talking in the last year of how weak the dollar has been. In the last few sessions, it is at one month highs and keeping that level against the euro. The Euro- dollar under $1.24, $1.2394. A couple of factors there weighing on the euro. First of all, the European Central Bank meets March 4th. Some traders perhaps expecting that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates in order to weaken the euro, which is hurting exporting stocks because it's been so high. And then Gerhard Schroeder is in the United States today meeting with the U.S. president, George W. Bush. Talk perhaps that he might say a few things about the euro that might help, as well, weaken it against the U.S. currency.

That's a quick look at the financial world on this side of the Atlantic. A positive day all around -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Hala Gorani.

Take this ball and destroy it. Cubs fans try to put a curse to rest.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We'll show you how this little critter takes a leap of faith. There he goes. Look at him, he's going to do it. We'll show you more in a little bit.

From beauty to the beast, a Hollywood siren makes killer moves on the big screen. But what's the real story behind her controversial role?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MONSTER")

CHARLIZE THERON, BEST LEAD ACTRESS NOMINEE: You didn't get it because I'm so hard up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL

COSTELLO: More toilets. That tops our DAYBREAK Eye-Opener.

Tommy Smith, a member of the Georgia statehouse, has introduced a bill requiring twice as many toilets in women's rest rooms as in men's. The measure would apply to government buildings built after July. Smith says if you talk to any woman, she'll tell you it's a serious problem. There you go, your tax dollars at work.

Chicago Cubs fans can rejoice. The foul tipped baseball last fall that started the Cubs' spiral out of the playoffs, look at that, it's been destroyed. Kaboom! It was obliterated by a Hollywood special effects expert. Operators of Harry Caray's Restaurant Group paid more than $113,000 for the ball, but maybe, just maybe the curse is gone.

All right, what would you do if you were caught on a burning roof? Well, if you're this squirrel -- look at the little squirrel -- you make one heck of a leap of faith. There he goes. A camera operator for CNN affiliate KSDK in St. Louis caught the daring escape. We just thought you'd like to see a flying squirrel that isn't officially a flying squirrel. I've got to see it again. Ooh! There's the reporter.

But that's not because of the squirrel. This is in northern California. A reporter for KRON gets a little too close to his subject, which would be high surf. Waves are up to 35 feet, some of the highest in a decade. Residents were advised of the possibility of coastal flooding. But you've got to admit, it makes for good viewing.

MYERS: It does.

COSTELLO: Chad, that guy has nothing on you. You're standing in, what, three inches of snow?

MYERS: No, we've got nine inches here, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sorry.

MYERS: Don't even, don't even go anywhere with that one, OK? I don't know, it's great snowman weather, really. I mean that's the good part about this, you can really make good snowballs with it. And probably all the kids will be out there -- you know, they've got the, they got a sleigh about three years ago for Christmas, they haven't been able to use it. But finally today you've got enough snow to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: Would you tell viewers where the heck you are?

MYERS: We are in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at Morgan Square, a lovely part of town, really. I mean if you've never been to a small town in North Carolina, South Carolina, this is the quintessential town square. You've got antique shops. You've got appliance stores. You've got sandwich factories, basically coffee shops all up and down the street. And obviously you see the two cars there that didn't make it home last night.

We're literally looking at about six or seven inches on the ground simply because a lot of it didn't melt that did hit the ground. We had a couple of lawn chairs at our hotel and there was probably snow about that deep. Now, those were insulated from the ground and that's about how much snow we actually saw here in Spartanburg, Carol.

But you know where I want to take you now?

COSTELLO: Where?

MYERS: Poipu.

COSTELLO: Oh, I'd love to go there.

MYERS: Hawaii, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh.

MYERS: Because, you know, you know, it's always a good day in Hawaii.

COSTELLO: It's always a good day in Poipu.

MYERS: Even if it rains.

COSTELLO: It's always pretty in Poipu.

MYERS: Exactly.

There are, there's a lot of rain coming in, though, in fact. In fact, Poipu only gets to 75 today in the rain showers. Oh, poor them. Anyway, good morning, Hawaii. Temperatures will be warmer down on the Big Island, where you don't get quite as much rain.

A lot of snow, though, still coming out of North Carolina, kind of a serious situation now still for Raleigh and points eastward through Durham. And I-95 really a mess this morning. A lot of tractor trailers skidding off the roads. In fact, just on the way here to our live shot, we saw three cars in the ditch. And something else that we saw, too, a lot of very heavy trees, a lot of snow on these pine trees and on the cypress, and everything kind of going urrr and kind of falling down a little bit. So be careful. I even noticed a couple of power lines that were pretty much getting stretched there by the falling or the sagging trees.

So watch out. If you do see some power lines, stay away from them. Otherwise, Carol, we'll be back with the forecast in about 15 minutes.

COSTELLO: Your lips are starting to freeze, aren't they?

MYERS: No, actually, it's not cold out here at all. In fact, hold on. I have a thermometer. It is, it's exactly 32. So not -- and, in fact, later on today, it's going to be 42. So not bad at all.

COSTELLO: Wow!

MYERS: Otherwise February in (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: Thirty-two is cold in my book.

All right, thank you, Chad.

MYERS: I'm from Buffalo, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm from Ohio. It's still cold.

Anyway, thank you, Chad.

We'll get back to you later this hour on DAYBREAK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEL GIBSON: That's a given. You know, you're going to touch a few nerves. I didn't expect to sort of hit a main artery, though, you know? (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He is the man behind the movie. Mel Gibson talks with Jay Leno about his passion for "The Passion."

A political deadline looms -- is Iraq ready? We'll get you the latest live from Baghdad.

And after years of unrelenting suicide bombings and shattered lives, we'll show you how Israelis have learned to get the upper hand in foiling terrorist attacks.

This is DAYBREAK for Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's Oscar season again and if there were a golden statue for largest theater owner, it would go to Regal Entertainment. The cinema chain controls over 20 percent of screens in the U.S. on which best picture nominees play. Beyond its Regal brand, it also controls United Artists and Hoyt's Multiplexes.

Rivals AMC and Lowe's recently broke off merger talks that would have threatened Regal's claim to the top spot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COMMERCIAL

COSTELLO: Good morning to you.

Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK.

Happy Friday to you.

It's February 27.

From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date now.

Hashing out the Haitian crisis, government officials from Haiti and France are meeting right now in Paris, looking for ways to restore order in the former French colony. France wants President Jean- Bertrand Aristide to resign and it wants an international peace force sent to Haiti.

FBI agents will no longer be allowed to remove personal mementoes or souvenirs from crime scenes. Thirteen agents removed items from the World Trade Center site in New York.

A death sentence handed down today in the 1995 serin gas attack in the Tokyo subway. Cult leader Shoko Ashara was sentenced for that attack, which killed 12 people.

In San Francisco, with its same-sex marriages, is it violating California law? The state's attorney general will ask the state supreme court that question today.

We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next update comes your way at 5:45 Eastern.

The deadline is tomorrow and Iraqis are waiting to see a new draft -- a draft, rather, of a new interim constitution for their country.

CNN correspondent Brent Sadler is live from Baghdad to tell us more -- hello, Brent.

I don't believe Brent can hear me.

Brent, can you hear me?

It doesn't seem like he can.

That interim constitution is supposed to be presented to the Iraqi public today. We're going to find out what's in it when we try to get Brent back when we have our technical problems worked out.

Now to another segment in our week long series on terrorism and efforts to combat it. As you know, we always report suicide bombings. What we don't report, say Israeli officials, is the number of foiled suicide bombings.

Here's CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On buses, at cafes, in shopping malls, at universities, nightclubs and marketplaces, 139 suicide bombings in almost three and a half years. The peak came in March, 2002. Seventeen in that month alone, the worst at Netanyahu. Twenty-nine dead.

But since then, the untold story, say Israeli officials, is the number of foiled suicide bombers. Between the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000 and March 2002, Israel intercepted 31 would be bombers. But in almost two years since, it says it's foiled 283. At the same time, the number of successful suicide missions has fallen dramatically.

MAJ. SHARON FEINGOLD, IDF SPOKESPERSON: I don't think this is measured in terms of winning or losing. I think both sides are losing. But the Palestinians are losing more.

VAUSE: Sources within Israeli intelligence tell CNN they were caught off guard in the first few months of the violence. But not now. Eran Lerman was a senior officer with military intelligence.

ERAN LERMAN, FORMER SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: We literally know every house in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. And we, if we are told a story, we are in a position to check it.

VAUSE: Lerman says it's a combination of high tech surveillance from drones, video cameras and observation posts combined with extensive human intelligence on the ground, including information from Palestinians themselves.

LERMAN: There are many Palestinians who bring information. It can be money. It can be, you know, a small operator caught in a dragnet and he just starts talking. And even the great heroes of the revolution end up telling us quite a lot one way or the other.

VAUSE: Every piece of information, he says, is methodically recorded to create a detailed picture not only of every Palestinian city, town and village, but also the social infrastructure, who's talking to whom.

MICHAEL TARAZI, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY LEGAL ADVISOR: There's undoubtedly a huge collaborator network within the Palestinian society. This is nothing new in occupations around the world. This is one of the ways of controlling the population.

VAUSE (on camera): Israel says the suicide bombers and other militants are still trying every day. Intelligence sources estimate that at any one time about 300 militants are actively preparing attacks. According to the Israelis, most of them are either caught in the act or sent running. Most, but not all.

(voice-over): Bus 19 blown apart in Jerusalem last month. Despite an average of 60 terrorist alerts a day, Israeli authorities were caught totally off guard. Eleven people dead, 50 wounded. Three weeks later, another suicide bombing, another eight people killed. Here, when there is an intelligence failure, it can often have deadly consequences.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Our series on terrorism concludes tonight with Intelligence Under Fire. Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, looks at the intelligence tools used in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. That airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

All right, as I said, the deadline is approaching tomorrow for the Iraqi Governing Council. They're going to present an interim constitution to the public.

So let's head live to Baghdad and talk with Brent Sadler -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the deadline for the formulation of a basic law or a transitional law, is, indeed, slipping. That's what we're hearing from sources inside the Iraqi Governing Council.

Now, this is one of many blanks as we run up to this four month period to the hand over of sovereignty to the Iraqis by the end of June. They're supposed to be taking power by july the 4th. Now, some of the disagreements, we understand, are very big, indeed. Some of them are quite small. But the big ones to think about are really the devolvement of power from the center, how much autonomy, for example, should the Kurds have? The Kurds are pushing for guarantees. They're not getting what they want yet. The Sunnis, certainly less vocal and certainly less organized than the Shia, supposedly majority here in Iraq, are disgruntled at what they think is a Shia dominated influence in the Iraqi Governing Council.

So many, many issues there. There are other blanks, also, on the political scene, not least the fact that there is still no idea, clear idea of who the U.S.-led coalition is going to hand power over to by that June 30th deadline. That is still up in the air.

However, there is some encouraging news. The Shia spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has agreed that there should be a delay in elections. He was originally pushing before the June 30th deadline, but he now concedes that that should be allowed to expand and that elections should take place, he says, by January the 1st at the latest, earlier than the U.S. would like -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Brent Sadler reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Now, let's head to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where Chad is standing in the snow being cold and...

MYERS: A man out standing in his field.

COSTELLO: I like that.

MYERS: Good morning, dear.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

MYERS: How are you in that warm studio back there?

COSTELLO: It's toasty here.

MYERS: Actually, it's 32 here in Spartanburg. It's not bad. You know, temperatures could be a lot worse. And, in fact, later today it's going to be all the way up to 42. The problem here are the roads. And this is the town square here in Spartanburg, South Carolina. We picked up about nine inches of snow overnight. A little bit farther south, down in Greeneville, about eight. Up in Charlotte, much, much more than that.

But this is what most of the roads are looking like. And the overpasses look like this, as well. We were on the road today, we were on I-26, came up the I-85 and things were pretty good, one, maybe one and a half lanes at times. But then you get on the exit ramp and then all whatever breaks loose because very few plows had been on the exit ramps and very few cars had been on exit ramps and saw already one car spun out there. So you have to watch out this morning. And very few cars already on the road.

Here's what it looks like right now, though. Snow still coming down across parts of North Carolina. Also, the snow heavy at times into Raleigh, I-85, even a little bit of snow up into southern Virginia. You have to watch out for that. And the upstate of South Carolina, obviously, where we are, still seeing some light flurries.

But other than that, here are the snow totals. And, in fact, South Park, North Carolina, 17 inches. That's the biggest number we can find. So almost a foot and a half. And we expected this. We talked about a foot and a half of snow. And even into Greenville at about eight and from Raleigh three plus. But it is snowing heavily in Raleigh.

It's going to be a cold day across all of Florida. Temperatures there only in the upper 50s today, maybe to around 65 down in Miami. And fairly mild on up the East Coast. In fact, Carol, today it's going to be 42. And it's not cold this morning. It's one of those Denver kind of colds, you know? It looks like it's cold, there's snow on the ground, but if it's not windy, it doesn't blow through you.

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