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CNN Live At Daybreak

More U.S. Marines Arrive as Haiti Falls Apart; Iraqis Work Through the Night to Finish Constitution

Aired March 01, 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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Movement into harm's way, more U.S. Marines arrive as Haiti falls apart.
Good morning everyone.

It is Monday, March 1.

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

Thank you very much for being with us.

Well, Iraqis worked through the night to finish writing their constitution, even though the agreement comes late. The June 30 hand over of power isn't expected to be delayed, however. And she's free of her most serious charge, but Martha Stewart still faces four other charges. Today, prosecutors will try to make them stick in closing arguments.

And the search for 18 crew members missing after a tanker explosion resumes this morning in the Atlantic off of Virginia. But the Coast Guard says that the possibility of finding anyone alive is remote.

It runs rings around the competition. The "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" goes 11 for 11 at the Academy Awards.

And, of course, we update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update coming up at 5:15.

Our top focus this morning, Haiti, a nation in crisis and under new leadership. There are several fast moving developments to tell you about this morning.

Overnight, more than 150 U.S. Marines arrive in Port-au-Prince and more are expected soon. About 130 French troops are also due today. The United Nations Security Council voted last night to send an international force into Haiti.

All of this was triggered by the resignation early Sunday of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the face of growing armed opposition. Aristide arrived today in the capital of the Central African Republic. Within hours of Aristide's resignation, Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandre was sworn in as president.

And it will be up to an international force to calm things down there in Haiti.

And our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, tells us about the Security Council decision to send the troops to the Caribbean nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... for, please raise their hand.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Security Council didn't wait long to approve international peacekeepers for Haiti. Hours after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left, the Security Council voted unanimously to approve a multinational force for up to three months.

JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We think this is an important step. We think with the developments of today, Haiti has turned a new page in its history and it's got an opportunity and the international community has an opportunity to assist the country of Haiti in getting back on the path towards the establishment of a stable and democratic society.

ROTH: The resolution gives international authorization and legitimacy for troops, coming first from the U.S. and France.

JEAN-MARC DE LA SABLIERE, FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The Council has shown tonight the capacity, its capacity to respond in a very swift matter to an urgent need. And a member of the Council tonight really reacted in a very, very swift manner and this will help, certainly, a lot the Haitian people.

ROTH: France and the U.S. were both unwilling to send peacekeepers just a few days ago, after the appeal of Caribbean nations. Secretary General Kofi Annan is well aware 10 years ago the Security Council also approved a peacekeeping force for Haiti.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: And this time I hope the international community is not going to put a Band-Aid on and that we are not only going to help stabilize the current situation, but assist the Haitians over the long haul and really help them pick up the pieces and build a stable country.

ROTH (on camera): The resolution calls on the U.N. to pick up the mantle from the international peacekeeping force in three months. For the U.N., just another country to a growing list of nations it's trying to help with peacekeepers.

Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: The Democratic presidential hopefuls are criticizing the Bush administration's handling of Haiti. During last night's televised debate in New York, they accused the president of doing too little too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president always makes decisions late, after things have happened that could have been different had the president made a different decision earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kerry, what would you have done in this situation?

KERRY: Well, first of all, I would never have allowed it to get out of control the way it did. This administration empowered the insurgents.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When this problem began to develop, this president did exactly what he's done with other problems around the world, which is do nothing, do nothing, and when it gets to crisis stage, then we act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Both Edwards and Kerry agree that the U.S. should send troops to Haiti.

Well, south Florida is home to one of the largest Haitian populations in the nation, at least 150,000.

And our John Zarrella tells us how residents of Miami's Little Haiti are reacting to these developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Haitians in Miami who supported President Jean-Bertrand Aristide were not happy and showed it. They smashed the window of a car belonging to someone who was glad to see Aristide go. The confrontation was quickly calmed by Miami police. A bit surprisingly, in Miami's Little Haiti, the nation's largest Haitian community, there wasn't a major outpouring of happiness or disgust.

Aristide's supporters gathered on a main street. About 40 people spent much of Sunday bemoaning the fact that, in their opinions, Aristide had been their homeland's best hope at democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's what President Aristide was doing. That's what we were doing and that's what was stopped today. Now you cannot tell us that we are the poorest nation, because we were trying to do something and you stopped us today.

ZARRELLA: Haitians living in the United States have been somewhat divided over what's best for their country. A survey taken a couple of weeks ago of 600 U.S. Haitians found 52 percent wanted Aristide to finish his term. Thirty-five percent thought he should resign and another 13 percent weren't sure.

With Aristide now gone, there is concern here that those in Haiti who backed the president face an uncertain future.

MARLEINE BASTIEN, MIAMI HAITIAN ACTIVIST: You have to remember that Aristide was democratically elected and there are a lot of people who support him there. These people are not going to be happy with his resignation. And then they can, they can, anything can happen. I think the Haitian civilians still will need protection.

ZARRELLA: For Haiti and Haitians everywhere, Aristide's departure is another sad chapter in the book.

(on camera): But unlike past coups and the succession of dictators, this is different. It is the second time Aristide, the country's first democratically elected president, has been unable to serve a full term.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And you can hear more about the official U.S. position on Haiti on AMERICAN MORNING. Coming up, Secretary of State Colin Powell will be the guest. That's at 7:15 Eastern time.

As we told you this morning, members of the Iraqi Governing Council reached agreement on an interim constitution for the new Iraq.

And Jane Arraf is joining us now live from Baghdad with the very latest on this -- hello, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.

According to a coalition official, there were cheers and standing ovations at the end of this. Just before dawn, the members of the Governing Council unanimously, according to the Council members and coalition officials, reached agreement on a draft constitution.

Now, this is important because for the first time it sets out essentially a bill of rights, something that process individual and collective rights in Iraq. And it's a way forward that, a step down that path towards democracy.

Now, just in brief, in practical terms what it does is set up the process for elections to be held late this year, preferably, but if not, by the end of January of next year. In the meantime, there will be some sort of transitional government. That has not yet been decided. But among the highlights -- and this is why almost everyone has signed onto this -- it says that Islam will be a source of law, that there will be some sort of federalist system. In short, it answers questions that the Shi'a population, the Kurdish population and other minorities had that had to be addressed.

Whether it's implemented, that's another story -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Right, a very good point, Jane.

A big delay in getting this constitution drafted, but things expected to go as planned for the hand over in June?

ARRAF: Absolutely. It really only was delayed a day, which, if you look at it in big picture terms, it was kind of extraordinary that they got there at all. Now, these are the 25 remaining members of a 25 member -- sorry, 24 remaining members of the U.S. appointed Governing Council, all with their own constituencies and all with their own interests. And essentially, in the course of the last two days, they were locked in rooms and hammered out their disagreements and came out with a document.

And we have to remember, this is, for the region, extraordinary. One of the other things it does is set a target that 25 percent women should be in any elected assembly, extraordinary, according to coalition officials, not just for the region, in fact, but for the West, as well -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jane, thank you very much.

Jane Arraf live in Baghdad this morning for us.

And for more on Iraq's draft constitution and a special report on the transition of power, just log onto our Web site at cnn.com/world.

Time now to check some other stories that are making headlines across America this morning.

The Coast Guard plans to resume its search this morning for 18 missing crew members from a tanker that exploded and sank off the coast of Virginia over the weekend. Officials still don't know what caused the tanker to blow up. Six survivors, however, have been recovered.

And charges will be filed this morning against a relative of a missing Mississippi family. An inheritance dispute is believed to be at the center of the case against adopted cousin Ernest Lee Hargan (ph). After two days, police ended their search for the family at his 160 acre property.

And in Maui, outgoing flights at the main airport were grounded for a few hours for passenger -- and passengers were evacuated there after a man drove his SUV into the ticketing area and then set fire to the vehicle. Hawaii police and the FBI say that it was not an act of terrorism.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: From the red carpet to center stage, the fashion dos and don't of the Oscars. We'll take you to the Kodak Theater in just a few minutes.

Also coming up, a show of a different kind. Martha Stewart's trial almost coming to an end.

Also ahead, fed up and firing back -- John Edwards comes out slinging in the last debate before Super Tuesday. So did it work?

And, finding WMDs in Iraq, what a former superpower is saying about weapons intelligence.

It is Monday, everyone, March 1, and you're watching DAYBREAK.

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: It's about 15 minutes after the hour now and here is a quick look at our top stories in the DAYBREAK early briefing.

Late last night, more than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital to begin securing the city there. They're part of an international peacekeeping force.

And Iraq's Governing Council has finally agreed on a constitution two days after missing the deadline. U.S. administrator Paul Bremer still has to sign off on it, however.

And the search resumes this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank over the weekend. Six people survived.

We update the stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming up at 5:30 Eastern time.

Well, Washington is coming under World Trade Organization penalties for the first time today. The five percent penalty tariff is aimed at getting Washington in line with international trade rulings.

Let's see if that's affecting our overseas financial markets.

(MARKET UPDATE)

CALLAWAY: Closing arguments in the Martha Stewart trial top this hour's legal briefs. Government lawyers will go first this morning. A judge has dropped the most serious charge against Stewart, but she still faces four counts related to an alleged cover-up of a stock sale. Jurors are expected to get that case on Wednesday.

And jury selection is scheduled again this morning in the state murder trial of Terry Nichols. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the Oklahoma City bombing case. Nichols is already serving a life sentence without parole on a federal conviction.

A two day hearing in the Kobe Bryant case will help determine if his accuser's sexual conduct before Martin Bryant is admissible at trial. The 19-year-old woman, who accuses Bryant of rape, will testify behind closed doors tomorrow.

And opening statements begin this morning in the trial of four Adelphia Communications executives, including CEO John Rigas and his two sons. Prosecutors accuse the defendants of turning the company -- cable company into their personal piggy bank by cheating investors out of billions of dollars.

Aristide steps aside as Haiti hangs on the brink. So, what is next for this besieged country? Also coming up, U.S. and British intelligence, faulty or deliberately misused to start a war in Iraq? We'll tell you what the Russians have to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And why did you quit hooking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cause, cause I needed to, all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And from beast to belle of the ball, a Hollywood siren scores a monster win the at the Academy Awards. We'll tell you all about in a live report, coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MONSTER")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said that we were going to party, party, party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, are you worried that there's this five second delay?

ROBIN WILLIAMS, AWARD PRESENTER: Yes.

KAGAN: Not for us. We're live, Robin.

WILLIAMS: Five second delay and then they do that witness protection thing. If a nipple appears like I'm no longer here, I'm living in Missouri with the name Anthony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, there was plenty of joking around at last night's Academy Awards, as Hollywood's best and brightest came to honor each other for a job well done. We'll tell you all about the winners and the losers coming up in just a little bit. A lot of fun to watch the Academy Awards.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Quite a night in Hollywood. The "Lord of the Rings" was truly the king of the Oscars. A clean sweep and a record haul for the third installment of the trilogy.

And for more on "The Return of the King" and the rest of the award winners, we turn to our Kimberly Osias, who's joining us from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood -- good morning to you.

Did you ever go to bed last night or did you just go ahead and stay up?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I'll tell you, no. I stayed up just like you did. I feel like we all need toothpicks in our eyes. But it was definitely well worth it, Catherine.

The spotlight is certainly on Peter Jackson, director. He is certainly going to be waking up as the new main man of Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

STEVEN SPIELBERG, AWARD PRESENTER: And the Oscar goes to -- it's a clean sweep, "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS (voice-over): Eleven nominations, 11 wins in all, including best picture and best director. Now, the epic of Middle Earth ties "Titanic" and "Ben Hur" for the most wins in Academy history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

PETER JACKSON, WINNER, BEST DIRECTOR: Oh, this is just unbelievable and I'm so honored to actually relieve. (END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Charlize Theron snagged her first Oscar for the body transforming portrayal of serial killer Eileen Warnos in "Monster."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

CHARLIZE THERON, WINNER, BEST ACTRESS: My mom. You have sacrificed so much for me to be able to live here and make my dreams come true.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sean Penn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: A standing ovation for first time winner Sean Penn, who wasn't the only "Mystic River" actor to receive Oscar's favor. In a supporting role, Tim Robbins won for his portrayal of an emotionally tortured murder suspect. Robbins used his time on the podium to urge abuse victims to seek help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

TIM ROBBINS, WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: There is no shame and no weakness in seeking help and counseling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: In a best supporting actress role, Renee Zellweger earned an Oscar for her work in the Civil War epic "Cold Mountain."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

RENEE ZELLWEGER, WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: I am overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OSIAS: I apologize, we've got the cleanup crews here. But Sofia Coppola also took home her very first Oscar for best original screenplay for "Lost In Translation" -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: We can still hear you. We can hear the clean up crew, too.

Billy Crystal was back. What, you know, what a thrill he was to watch. He was funny.

OSIAS: Oh, he really is. You know, it's been a long four years. We all were reminded of that. I'll tell you, when he opened in the very beginning montage that we all have grown to love, when he opened a Cracker Jack box and the present, the toy surprise was a ring, fabulous.

CALLAWAY: Yes, a lot of fun.

OSIAS: Really great moment, yes.

CALLAWAY: Well, thanks for staying up for us today. Get some sleep.

OSIAS: Thank you.

Take care.

CALLAWAY: Bye-bye.

Well, Democratic candidates go head to head on the issues. We'll find out who has the edge heading into Super Tuesday. History in the making -- the embattled president is out, as international troops head in. We get the latest from Haiti.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday.

COMMERCIAL

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

It is Monday, March 1. And from CNN's headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway.

I'm in today for Carol.

In the headlines this hour, Iraq's Governing Council reached agreement in the early morning hours on a new draft constitution. The last sticking point had been the role Islam will playing guiding the new government. All sides are expected to sign the constitution on Wednesday.

And jury selection begins this morning in the state murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols. He's already serving a federal life sentence for his part in the 1995 blast that killed 163 people.

The Coast Guard resumes its search this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank off the Virginia coast this weekend. Six people were rescued.

And the award goes to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." In fact, 11 awards in all, including best picture and best director.

And we update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update, of course, will be at 5:45 this morning.

Our focus this morning, Haiti, a nation in chaos and crisis under new leadership. There are several fast moving developments to tell you about.

Overnight, more than 150 U.S. Marines arrived in Port-au-Prince and more are expected soon. About 130 French troops are also due there today. The United Nations Security Council voted last night to send an international force into Haiti.

Now, all of this was triggered by the resignation early Sunday of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the face of growing armed opposition there. Aristide arrived today in the capital of the Central African Republic and within hours of Aristide's resignation, Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre was sworn in as president.

Well, the caldron of discontent in Haiti began to bubble more than three weeks ago when rebels began a campaign to overthrow President Aristide.

And CNN's Lucia Newman reports that Aristide finally saw the handwriting on the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was once seen as Haiti's savior, the man who until just a couple of days ago said he would rather die than leave office. But President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Sunday morning did just that -- he left the palace and his country, perhaps not just to save his own life, but also, in his words, to prevent a bloodbath in this country.

The streets of Haiti were absolutely in anarchy after the news was known. Armed supporters of the now former president roaming the streets, killing people and looting, as well. And now there are new armed people in this country. The armed rebels, who already control half of Haiti, came into the capital and started patrolling the streets themselves, claiming that they're trying to help the police restore order.

They have also said that they welcome the presence of the U.S. Marines and other international peacekeepers. But they are not volunteering, at least yet, to hand in their own weapons.

All this, of course, has sparked fear in the hearts of the former president's supporters, not only his armed supporters, but also civilians, who fear that there will now be a whole spree of revenge killings, of vendettas and score settling.

That's something that Haiti's new interim president, Boniface Alexandre, is also afraid of, which is why he was very clear to call upon his countrymen to refrain from acts of violence and vengeance. He said it was time for Haitians to finally accept the norms of a civilized society.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And, of course, we have our eyes on Haiti this morning in our International Wrap. And our senior international editor David Clinch is joining us.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: David, is Aristide out, Alexandre in?

CLINCH: Yes, quite a weekend in Haiti. Really, this arrival of U.S. Marines last night, our team there last night, just a small team working overtime to get these pictures of the U.S. Marines arriving last night. And the arrival of these Marines does nothing to lower our sights on this story at all, if anything, now these Marines will be there for at least three months or so. Our coverage will be there the whole time. It's going to be very interesting, a lot of unanswered questions, as Lucia has been pointing out, about exactly what reception they’ll receive. So many different factions, so much violence, even right up to the middle of the day yesterday, just really vicious scenes of violence.

CALLAWAY: And this was such a difficult story to cover in Haiti years and years ago.

What about the safety of the crews there now?

CLINCH: Yes, well, that's always a concern for us. I mean we are there because the story is there, but we have to maintain safety for our crew and crews that we'll bring in over the next few weeks. It's a very different situation from Iraq, where you go in and you are embedded with the U.S. troops and you have a certain degree of protection.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: We have our own training and everything -- we've talked about this a lot -- for our, for the people who are there.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: But basically it boils down to being cautious and not taking unnecessary risks.

But it's a nasty place.

CALLAWAY: And as we heard Jane Arraf say, speaking of Iraq there, we have a new constitution in Iraq now.

CLINCH: Yes. Some answers today on this new constitution, which has been agreed to, not signed yet. But as usual in Iraq, the devil is in the details.

We've heard some of the details now about the constitution -- what the constitution will likely say about the role of Islam. And this was sort of predicted now, that Islam, rather than being THE source of law in Iraq, which would basically make it an Islamic state, it will be A source of law. So there's a certain compromise there.

The other area, though, a federalism of exactly how much power the different groups will have, we don't know the details on that yet. So we'll see on Wednesday, I think that's going to be signed.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and Jane was very quick to point out when I said this was a bit late, you know, it was like a day or two late...

CLINCH: Yes.

CALLAWAY: She said yes, but look how far they've come.

CLINCH: Right. I don't think anybody's going to make a big fuss about how late this has been. They're still aiming for this June 30 hand over and that, I think, is pretty much set in stone.

But, again, the long-term vision of this constitution, it's going to be very interesting to look at the details.

Also, internationally, believe it or not, following up on the Oscars, as well. There's a couple of interesting international angles on that. The one most interesting to me, Charlize Theron, from South Africa.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: Thanked the people of South Africa. The people of New Zealand were thanked again and again and again. But in South Africa, we took a visit to her hometown, just outside of Johannesburg, a couple of weeks ago. Fascinating background to her. You know, the reports that her mother killed her father in mysterious circumstances.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: She has, you know, lost her accent and sort of estranged herself from South Africa in some ways. But she says she's going to be bringing it home. I heard her say bringing the reward -- award home to South Africa in a couple of days, I think.

So apparently some estranged members of her family there quite keen to be not so estranged anymore.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

CLINCH: They say they don't want her money, but they definitely want to be friends again. So we'll be watching that.

And, of course, in New Zealand, huge reaction their to the win for "Lord of the Rings."

CALLAWAY: "Lord of the Rings."

CLINCH: A little bit of disappointment that Kiesha Castle- Hughes, the young girl from "Whale Rider," didn't win, as well.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: But a big day for New Zealand. It's like a walking tourism ad for them, "Lord of the Rings."

CALLAWAY: She's just, what, 13? She's got time to waste, another day.

CLINCH: She'll have more chances.

CALLAWAY: All right, David, thank you very much.

CLINCH: All right.

CALLAWAY: Good to see you.

Well, we are just a day away from nine state primaries and a caucus, and the Democratic front runners are blitzing some of the Super Tuesday states. John Kerry in Maryland, Georgia and Ohio. We've got John Edwards in Ohio and Georgia. And the two finally took some jabs at each other in the latest debate.

Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let him finish. But I want...

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was not pretty. The Democratic presidential candidates tangling more with the questioners than with each other, with the Reverend Al Sharpton charging the New York City debate was turning into a Kerry-Edwards forum.

SHARPTON: What you're trying to do is try to decide for the voters how we go forward. The voters need to hear this morning from four candidates.

WALLACE: And that was just the beginning. It was a more forceful John Edwards than we saw in Thursday's debate on CNN. This time he quickly pounced on John Kerry and his proposal for a 120 day review of all trade agreements.

EDWARDS: What you're going to say to a family that's lost their job because of bad trade agreements is don't worry, we've got a Washington committee that's studying this for you.

WALLACE: The Democratic front runner, who overall seemed more subdued than their last face-off, took this opportunity to fire back.

KERRY: John Edwards has been in the Senate for five years. He's talked more in the last five weeks about trade than he has in the entire five years.

WALLACE: This was, perhaps, the senator from North Carolina's last chance to change the dynamics before Tuesday's 10 presidential contests. The Massachusetts senator touted his experience, but questioners asked, is he likable enough to beat President Bush?

KERRY: Give me a living room, give me a barn, give me a VFW hall, give me a one-on-one and I think I can talk to anybody in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Edwards?

EDWARDS: I don't think this is a personality contest. I think what people are looking for in a president is somebody who when they hear them speak, speaks their language.

WALLACE (on camera): The question now is did this debate change any minds? John Edwards, trailing in the polls in the Super Tuesday states, had the most to gain. John Kerry, so far out in front, had the most to lose.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And CNN's live coverage of the Super Tuesday primaries and the caucus begins tomorrow evening after the polls close in the East. That's 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, 4:00 Pacific.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Who is hot and who is not? We'll show you which celebrity favorites are the talk of Tinsletown. But first, we'll talk about the war in Iraq. What did Russian intelligent sources have to say about potential weapons of mass destruction? We're going to take you live to Moscow for some answers. This is DAYBREAK. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: It is 45 minutes after the hour now and here is a quick look at our top stories in the DAYBREAK 'Early Briefing.'

Late last night, more than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital to begin securing the city. They are part of an international peacekeeping force there.

And Iraq's governing council has finally agreed on a constitution two days after missing the deadline. The U.S. administrator Paul Bremer still has to sign off on it.

And the search resumes this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank over the weekend. Six people survived.

We update the stories -- top stories every 15 minutes. Our next update coming up at the top of the hour at 6:00.

The fallout from the search for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction continues to dog the White House. Russian officials say that they believe the war was a political mistake. They say their own intelligence concluded that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction.

And our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In the last days of Saddam Hussein's rule as U.N. inspectors searched for weapons of mass destruction, intelligence services in Moscow were analyzing data trying to determine whether there were nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in Iraq.

Russia had long standing relations with Iraq, stretching back to Soviet times. Politicians and businessmen went back and forth. But informed sources say even Moscow did not know for sure whether Saddam really had WMD.

Alexei Arbatov, former Deputy Chairman of the Russian Parliament's Defense Committee.

ALEXEI ARBATOV, FORMER RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER (through translator): On the eve of the war, Russia was not sure that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Russia wasn't sure, nor was any other country. The problem was what to do with this lack of definition. Given the criminal history of Saddam Hussein's regime, we couldn't count on their good intentions, so the Russian position was continue the U.N. inspections.

DOUGHERTY: President Vladimir Putin was careful in his public statements not coming down on either side of the argument. We should check, he said.

Checking meant keeping U.N. weapons inspectors on the job in Iraq and that is what the Russian military advised.

GEN. YURI BALUYEVSKY, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES (through translator): We, in the military, recommended to our political leadership and they followed this policy which boiled down to this idea, let's continue the inspections. Let them find any nuclear weapons and destroy them according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency. But they didn't find any.

DOUGHERTY: When faced with intelligence from the U.S. and Britain that Iraq did have WMD, the Russian Foreign Ministry says it was surprised.

YURI FEDOTOV, RUSSIAN DEP. FOREIGN MIN.: We studied carefully. On the background of our own information, the conclusion coincided with a conclusion of U.N. inspectors, there had been no weaponized WMD in Iraq, at least at a large scale.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: So was U.S. and British intelligence faulty or deliberately used to make the case for going to war? Russian officials won't really comment. All they will say is they believe the war was a political mistake -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Do you think this, Jill, will have any effect on U.S.- Russian relations, this announcement?

DOUGHERTY: It would appear to -- that they put this pretty much in the back on the backburner, because after all, Russia made this case probably not as directly as it's making it now, but they made it all the way through. And obviously the U.S. and Russia have said let's have bygones be bygones on this issue.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jill, thank you.

That's Jill Dougherty.

In the next hour of DAYBREAK, big decisions in the Kobe Bryant case this week. This week he faces his accuser in court and we are live in Eagle, Colorado.

After all of that hype about "The Passion," how did it actually do at the box office?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: "The Passion of the Christ" is king at the box office. Mel Gibson's controversial movie about the crucifixion of Jesus has taken in more than $117 million since it opened on Ash Wednesday. That's more money than the rest of the top 12 movies combined. Now, this weekend alone, "Passion" brought in more than $76 million. "51st Dates" came in a distant second, with $12.6 million, and the Ashley Judd crime thriller "Twisted" debuted at number three. "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" opened in fifth place.

(WEATHER REPORT) CALLAWAY: It was a night for the who's who of Hollywood, who's who of Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Tom Ford for Gucci.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Denelle (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, look at that. And were they ever dressed to impress. We will go to the red carpet catalog, where the stars did their strutting, in just a minute. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have some Eight Stern (ph) earrings on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The jewelry is, of course, Harry Winston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: In case you couldn't stay up for last night's Academy Awards show, here are the bit winners. Charlize Theron won in the best actress category for her performance as a serial killer in "Monster." Nominated three previous times, Sean Penn won his first Oscar for best actor in "Mystic River." And "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" won a record time 11 Academy Awards, including best film.

Here's the other winners: Renee Zellweger, best supporting actress for "Cold Mountain," and Tim Robbins for best supporting actor for "Mystic River."

And now for why everybody really watches the Oscar, for the fashions. After two years of basic black to reflect the somber post- 9/11 Iraq war mode, colors came out of the closet last night, everything from pastels to bold shades of the rainbow.

Here's the scene from the red carpet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Tom Ford for Gucci.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Denelle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bling Bling is out of control. Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have some Eight Stern earrings on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The jewelry is, of course, Harry Winston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And there you have it.

The next hour of CNN DAYBREAK begins right now.

The United States Marines land in Haiti overnight. Can they help bring peace to a troubled nation?

Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for being with us this morning.

Iraqis worked through the night to finish writing their constitution, even though the agreement comes late. The June 30 handover of power, however, is not expected to be delayed.

And the search for 18 crewmembers missing after a tanker explosion resumes this morning off Virginia, but the Coast Guard says that the possibility of finding anyone alive is remote.

Charges will be filed this morning against a relative of a missing Mississippi family. An inheritance dispute is believed to be at the center of the case against adopted cousin, Earnest Lee Hargon.

She is free of her most serious charges, but Martha Stewart still faces four others today. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will make their closing arguments.

It runs rings around the competition. "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is batting 1,000. It goes 11 for 11 at the Academy Awards last night.

We update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming at 6:15.

Haiti is the hot spot this morning. Here is the latest on the crisis there.

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife landed in the Central African Republic several hours ago. It is not known yet if he will stay in exile there or go on to some other country.

And in Haiti, a third U.S. military plane landed early this morning in the capital, Port-au-Prince. More than 150 Marines are there now. More are expected soon. They are part of an international peacekeeping force to secure that country.

A peacekeeping force was approved by the U.N. Security Council overnight in a unanimous resolution.

Well, the U.N. acted swiftly after Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and fled the country. Haitians were also quick to react there, and our Lucia Newman has that angle from Port-au-Prince.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NEWMAN (voice-over): The news of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure spread like wildfire as opponents celebrated. And armed supporters of the former president roamed the streets, setting barricades on fire and killing people.

With an insurgent army demanding his resignation, closing in on the capital, Jean-Bertrand Aristide left, telling his prime minister he wanted to avoid a bloodbath.

EVON NEPTUNE, HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's with the hope that the constitution will not be betrayed, but he decided, he accepted, to make such a great sacrifice.

NEWMAN: Haiti's new interim president, as stipulated by the constitution, is the Supreme Court president, Boniface Alexander, a man with a reputation for honesty. He appealed to Haitians to refrain from acts of vengeance and violence.

"I call on all citizens to respect the norms governing a civilized society," he said.

As Washington announced the arrival of a peacekeeping force, the leader of the insurgents that control half of Haiti told CNN he would, in fact, welcome the U.S. Marines.

GUY PHILIPPE, REBEL LEADER: I think the worst is over now, and we're waiting for the international force to -- they will have our full cooperation.

NEWMAN: Some of the insurgents came out from their sleeper cells and began patrolling the streets of the capital to help the police, they said, restore law and order in troubled areas -- areas where the former president had strong support.

(voice-over): The rebels say they'll respect the new government and democratic elections, but they're demanding that Haiti reinstate its disbanded army -- an army which in the past has ruled with brutality and repeatedly overthrown elected governments.

(on camera): The wild card in all of this now is the armed supporters of the former president, who may or may not be willing to welcome the U.S. Marines and other foreign peacekeepers with open arms.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Meanwhile, President Bush is urging Haitians to give peace a chance. He says it is essential that Haiti have a hopeful future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the beginning of a new chapter in the country's history. I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work, and the United States is prepared to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: The Democratic presidential hopefuls are criticizing President Bush's handling of the crisis in Haiti. They accuse the president of doing too little too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: I never would have allowed it to get out of control the way it did. This administration empowered the insurgents.

EDWARDS: At its best for the president and the administration, this has been neglect. In other words, they paid no attention, and they haven't been engaged. At its worst, they have actually facilitated the ouster of Aristide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And, of course, Republicans view that situation quite differently. Florida Representative Mark Foley says that the removal of Aristide means that the prospect of peace is on the horizon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK FOLEY (R), FLORIDA: To suggest we took place -- or took part of a coup-d'etat, that's simply incorrect. Mr. Aristide had a number of years and a lot of money from the U.S. to rebuild his country, help his people, strengthen democracy and maintain law and order in his country. He failed miserably. It was time for him to go. He did the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, Dick Cheney will be asked about the Haiti crisis tomorrow when he's Wolf Blitzer's guest on CNN. A special interview with the vice president on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 2:00 Pacific.

CALLAWAY: Iraq does not have a new government yet, but it should have a new constitution after Wednesday. That's when members of the Iraqi Governing Council are expected to sign the new interim constitution that they finished drafting this morning.

Let's go right to our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, who has all of the details on this.

Jane -- quite an accomplishment.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: It sure is, Catherine. And it was very early this morning when they finished drafting it -- just before dawn, in fact.

Now, a coalition official who was there described cheering and standing ovations as they agreed to this document. And it is an incredible accomplishment when you think of it. It's a bill of rights, a constitution, something that sets forth individual and collective freedoms, and it moves this country forward to some sort of country where everyone has a stake in it and everyone has the freedom to practice their religion.

Now, specifically, it details Islam as a source of law. That had been a contentious point for Shias particularly, some of whom felt that Islam should be the only source of law. But it is a compromise -- one that people seem prepared to live with. It calls for a federal system, referring to Kurdish demands that they maintain autonomy. Now, that's still going to have to be negotiated, but that federal system is a bottom line of what they wanted.

It calls, remarkably, for a target of 25 percent women to be elected in general elections, something that's unprecedented in this region and in other regions. And it calls for those elections to be held by the end of this year or by the end of next January at the latest.

Now, the problem will be, the challenge, the challenge going forward will be implementing this. But so far, the people involved say that they're proud of this document. It was reached by consensus, and it's a great step forward for this country -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: You touched on this a minute ago, Jane, but there are so many different factions to please, to represent in this constitution. How will this set with the minority groups in Iraq?

ARRAF: Well, it's been a very delicate balancing act, but even the minority groups say essentially -- officially anyway -- that they're satisfied. The Turkmen, for instance, one of the significant minorities here, say that they're satisfied that this agreement protects their cultural heritage. For instance, they will be able to have their language taught in schools. It entrenches Kurdish as one of two official languages.

Again, the basis is there for minority rights to be protected, and that is perhaps the most significant thing. But the challenge going forward will be exactly how it's implemented -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right. All right, Jane, still an exciting accomplishment this morning with the new constitution. Thank you very much, Jane. Jane is from Baghdad this morning.

Our Web site has details on the new interim constitution for Iraq, and you can find that at CNN.com.

The next two days could change the complexion of the Kobe Bryant sexual assault trial. The judge is scheduled to listen to a challenge to the state's rape shield law, which will include the first courtroom testimony of Kobe Bryant's accuser.

Adrian Baschuk joins us now from Eagle, Colorado, with a preview.

Well, good morning.

ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That rape shield law has stood for 30 years here in Colorado, and challenges like these are routine by defense attorneys.

Now, they are asking the judge to declare this law -- which experts who drafted it describe as fair and balanced -- unconstitutional.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK (voice-over): In a closed-door hearing beginning today, Kobe Bryant's attorneys will argue that part of the alleged victim's sexual, medical and mental health history should be admitted as trial evidence.

LARRY POZNER, FORMER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY'S ASSOCIATION: Every time the prosecution loses one of those motions, their case gets weaker and weaker and weaker.

BASCHUK: Legal analysts say the jury may hear plenty about the accuser's past, despite Colorado's stringent rape shield law.

POZNER: This case is upside down. In this case, it's the defense that's filing the motion, saying, judge, we have a great deal of evidence, facts, we want a jury to hear.

BASCHUK: The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a group vigorously fighting for sexual victims' rights, has publicly criticized Bryant's defense team for, it says, trying this case in the court of public opinion.

CYNTHIA STONE, COLORADO COALITION AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT: We've been very disturbed about this case from the very beginning, because of the way that the victim's privacy has been violated many times -- we feel deliberately by the defense team.

BASCHUK: What concerns the organization most is whether this case will cause fewer women nationwide to report the crime of rape. They say only 16 percent of rapes are actually reported to police.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK: Now tomorrow, for the first time, the 19-year-old alleged victim in this case will appear in court to testify. Also the first time that she and Kobe Bryant will be in the same room together since the night of that alleged rape.

Back to you.

CALLAWAY: And, Adrian, what is -- he is expected to rule, the judge expected to rule on suppressing the statement?

BASCHUK: Yes, also a motion that is said to be heard is whether or not Kobe Bryant's statements to police can be suppressed. The key in all that is whether or not Kobe Bryant felt himself free to leave police presence.

The judge is going to have to hear from detectives, once again, behind closed doors as to how many detectives were in the room, if a reasonable person would have felt that they were free to leave. Because, we are told, that he had not been read -- he was not read his rights while being surreptitiously recorded by police.

CALLAWAY: All right. Adrian Baschuk, apologize for mispronouncing your name earlier. Indeed, Adrian Baschuk, thanks for being with us this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Overnight developments in Haiti, the Marines have landed. New information on the crisis in the Caribbean nation coming up on CNN DAYBREAK. Also, one last debate before Super Tuesday, some tough punches still ahead. And the climax of the Martha Stewart trial, a preview of some closing arguments. And also,...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlize Theron.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: No surprises there, she was Oscar's odds on favorite. But were there any upsets? We'll tell you coming up.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, March 1.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: It is just about a quarter past the hour. Here's a quick look at our top stories.

Late last night, more than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital to begin securing the city there. They are part of an international peacekeeping force.

And Iraq's governing council has finally agreed on the constitution, just two days after missing the deadline, and U.S. administrator Paul Bremer still has to sign off on it.

The search resumes this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Virginia. Six people survived.

We update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update coming up at 6:30 this morning.

Let's take a look now at who took home the gold at the 76th Annual Academy Awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN SPIELBERG, OSCAR PRESENTER: And the Oscar goes to, it's a clean sweep, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Sam Waltz (ph) producers. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" tied a record. It won all 11 awards it was up for, including best picture and best director.

And Charlize Theron's performance as a serial killer in "Monster" captured the best actress award.

While he has dissed them in the past, but he didn't diss them this time, Sean Penn collected the best actor and in person. Best actor Oscar, rather, in person. It was the fourth time that he was nominated.

And the fishy tale that turned into a blockbuster, "Finding Nemo," won best animated feature. No surprise there.

Here are some other good winners. Renee Zellweger won best supporting actress for her performance in "Cold Mountain." And "Mystic River" served up a second award, best supporting actor for Tim Robbins.

Meanwhile, "The Passion of the Christ" is king at the box office. Mel Gibson's controversial movie about the crucifixion of Jesus has taken in more than $117 million since it opened on Ash Wednesday. That's more money than the rest of the top 12 movies combined. And this weekend alone, "Passion" brought in more than $76 billion. Wow!

Time for a little 'Business Buzz' this morning. UPS wants out of a $1.5 billion deal, and Carrie Lee reports now from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square.

Good morning -- Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, -- Catherine.

That's right, "The Wall Street Journal" reporting today that UPS is in negotiations with the airplane maker Airbus to cancel over $1.6 billion worth of orders for aircraft. Now the shipping company has been hit pretty hard recently by a shift in consumer preferences to less expensive ground delivery services.

So "The Journal" says that UPS recently notified Airbus, as well as an engine supplier, Prattony (ph) & Whitney -- Pratt & Whitney, that it no longer wanted at least 20 of the 90 Airbus planes it's already ordered. But because some of those airplanes have already entered early stages of production, the carrier was told it could cancel no more than 16. So these negotiations, again, according to "The Journal," have been quite contentious. That's the latest there.

Meanwhile, "The Journal" also reporting that Ameritrade, the online brokerage firm, is going to be the only financial services company to advertise between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. on some of these television news programs on CNBC, Bloomberg and DirecTV. Kind of a different idea here. The advertising roadblock is going to start tomorrow and go on for four to six weeks. Advertisers doing what they can, Catherine, to kind of get out there and give themselves an edge. So it will be interesting to see if other companies follow suit.

CALLAWAY: All right, we'll be watching, Carrie, thank you. Carrie Lee from the Nasdaq market site.

Search crews hunt for a missing family who disappeared on Valentine's Day. New information about the suspect expected this morning. We'll have that for you.

Also,...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't just limit the discussion. And I think that your attempt to do this is blatant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Wow, tempers fly at the last debate before Super Tuesday. We'll have that story right on CNN DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: On the campaign trail, the Democratic candidates' primary focus is Super Tuesday. The 1,151 delegates are up for grabs tomorrow in 10 states, more than half the number needed to win the nomination. So the contenders took their last shots at one another before Super Tuesday. Two of the four sparred politically -- or politely, rather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARDS: Senator Kerry has consistently said that he can pay for all the things that he's proposing and substantially reduce the deficit. I think I've heard him say cut it in half in his first term.

KERRY: Correct.

EDWARDS: Well, the "Washington Post" today just analyzed his proposals and it's the same old thing. Here we go again. In fact, in fact, he over spends in terms of being able to pay for all of his proposals, he over spends by $165 billion in his first term.

KERRY: I think John would have learned by now not to believe everything he reads in the newspaper. And he should do his homework, because the fact is that what's printed in the "Washington Post" today is inaccurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Now, one of the other four candidates didn't like the way the debate was being directed so the Reverend Al Sharpton directed this message to the moderators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we're going to have a discussion just between two and your advocates, you can try that. But that's one of the reasons we will -- we're going to have delegates so that you can't just limit the discussion. And I think that your attempts to do this is blatant and I'm going to call you out on it because I'm not going to sit here and be window dressing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm not going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like this.

SHARPTON: Well, then let's -- let all of us speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And stick right here for the -- with us for the results of the Super Tuesday voting. Live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN.

Rebels celebrate in Haiti as former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrives in Africa in search of a new home. We'll have that story coming up.

Plus, he's the chief suspect in the case of the missing family in the Deep South. The next step in the search for the three people who disappeared on Valentine's Day.

And take a look at this live picture from Karbala. News of a new constitution, while the Shi'ite Muslims celebrate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: The U.S. steps in to help quell the violence in Haiti.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to DAYBREAK. I'm Catherine Callaway. I'm in for Carol this morning.

It is Monday, March 1. Our top story in just a moment, but first, here are the headlines.

Iraq's Governing Council reached agreement in the early-morning hours on a new draft constitution. Now, the last sticking point had been the role that Islam will play in guiding the new government. All sides are expected to sign the constitution on Wednesday. Jury selection begins this morning in the state murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator, Terry Nichols. He's already serving a federal life sentence for his part in the 1995 blast that killed 168 people.

Striking grocery workers in California voted overwhelmingly to accept a new contract proposal and will head back to work in the next few days. The strike and subsequent lockout lasted more than four months.

And the award goes to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" -- in fact, 11 awards in all, including best picture and best director.

And we update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming up at 6:45 this morning.

Haiti is the hot spot this morning. Here's the latest on the crisis there.

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife landed in the Central African Republic several hours ago. It isn't known yet if he will stay in exile there or go on to some other country.

And in Haiti, a third U.S. military plane landed early this morning in the capital of Port-au-Prince. More than 150 Marines are there now; more expected soon. They're part of an international peacekeeping force to secure the country.

Well, that peacekeeping force was approved by the U.N. Security Council overnight in a unanimous resolution.

Meanwhile, President Bush is urging Haitians to give peace a chance there. He says it is essential that Haiti have a hopeful future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: This is the beginning of a new chapter in the country's history. I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work. And the United States is prepared to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Now, critics say that the U.S. is acting too late. Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, who is just back from Haiti, wonders what kind of help President Bush intends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: I think the United States government should, first, tell us what they're going to do with the thugs that they were joined with for this overthrow. Are they going to take over the country? Is this who they're going to turn it over to?

I don't know these answers. And perhaps the news media would do well to try and find out from Secretary Colin Powell and others not only what have they done with Mr. Aristide, but are they turning the country over to the thugs that we ran out before?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, Secretary of State Colin Powell will talk more about Aristide's fall from power and the future of Haiti coming up in the next hour of CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," which begins at 7:00 Eastern Time.

And you can keep up with the fast-moving developments in Haiti by clicking on to our Web site, which is, of course, at CNN.com.

The prosecution in the Martha Stewart trial sums up its case this morning in closing arguments that, thanks to a ruling last week, they have less to argue about.

Our Mary Snow has more from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martha Stewart was smiling Friday after the most serious charge against her of securities fraud was dismissed. Although it carries the harshest possible sentence, some legal experts say it's likely to have little impact.

HOWARD WILSON, FORMER PROSECUTOR: The jury is going to hardly notice at the end of the day that one of the charges that they had heard about earlier in the case is now gone. So, I don't think it's going to have much of an impact at all.

SNOW: While Stewart's team scored a legal win with the dismissal of Count IX, the jury must still decide if there is reasonable doubt about the government's charge that Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, lied to government investigators about Stewart's sale of ImClone stock in late 2001. Prosecutors claim the two lied when they said they had an agreement to sell the stock once it hit $60 a share, and that Bacanovic altered a document to cover it up.

Closing arguments will be key, since the entire 43-minute Stewart defense case consisted of one witness: Stewart's attorney during the time she was first interviewed by investigators in 2002.

ROBERT HEIM, FORMER SEC ATTORNEY: As he said in his opening, this is a circumstantial case. There is no direct evidence on point, and there is conflicting testimony. So, his closing argument is going to be a critical part of her defense.

SNOW: In an effort to show Stewart and Bacanovic never had an agreement, prosecutors relied on the testimony of Bacanovic's former assistant, Doug Faneuil, who swore the agreement never existed. Closing arguments are set for Monday and Tuesday. The four remaining counts each carry a sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine. The judge has said she will instruct the jury to begin deliberations on Wednesday.

Mary Snow, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Well, Iraq is a step closer to democracy. As we've been telling you this morning, the Governing Council today agreed on a draft constitution, intended to govern the country until elections are held there.

And CNN's Brent Sadler is joining us now with reaction from Karbala, where Shiites are observing a religious holiday -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Catherine. Good morning.

This is the religious festival of Ashoura (ph), and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shia are congregating here in this city, very important here, because some 1,300 years ago there was a battle in which the Imam Hussein was killed at the hands of an important papal and tyrannical Sunni. And that has relevance to Shias today, given that it's been more than 30 years since they've been able to hold these sorts of dramatic and passionate demonstrations of their faith in Karbala.

And, of course, very important, because many of these Shia here -- and there are many countless thousands -- are supporting their political leadership in attempts to make sure that the Shia have more than their fair share of say in the new government. And that interim constitution agreement that's been signed is very, very important, because it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that road map to elections that the Shia believe that they can eventually take majority rule -- elections coming possibly as early by the end of this year.

So, it's very important not only that signing that agreement of an interim constitution, but also these festivities, these celebrations of an important day in Shia religious history is taking place here in Karbala.

Back to you -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: OK, Brent, thank you very much for bringing that to us this morning. That's Brent Sadler in Karbala.

And now to Chad for a quick look at the travel forecast.

Good morning -- Chad.

(WEATHER BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Who left last night's Oscar ceremonies with big smiles on their faces? Stick around. We've got all the big winners for you. And did you forget something? But don't even think about joining one group of contestants in the Big Apple. We'll tell you why. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Well the show after the show still to come. We're going to take you to the Governor's Ball where all of the stars were after the Oscars.

Also ahead, the Great Wall of China actually shrinking. We'll tell you about that.

But first, the case of a Mississippi family that disappeared on Valentine's Day is back in the news and getting some national attention now. The scene is Taylorsville, Mississippi where a relative of the family suspected in this case will be arraigned today. Authorities searched the property of Earnest Lee Hargon over the weekend but had no luck in finding the family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN STRAIN, DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: This point, Earnest Lee Hargon has been charged with possession of methamphetamine while also in possession of a firearm. This is what in Mississippi is known as an enhanced charge with holds on him by Yazoo County. At this point, the whereabouts of the Hargon family are still unknown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And authorities haven't said whether they believe that Michael and Rebecca Hargon, along with their 4-year-old son, James, are still alive.

Well jury selection gets under way today in the murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols. And this time the prosecution is pushing for the death penalty.

Here is CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Victim's families are divided over a second effort to get a death sentence for Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing. Roy Sills (ph) lost his wife Lee (ph).

ROY SILLS: I think he deserves nothing less than the death penalty.

CANDIOTTI: But Welch lost his daughter Julie. He says another trial is an expensive waste of time.

WELCH: You go through all of these emotions. It's been nine years now, and it's just scraping the scabs off all over again. CANDIOTTI: When Nichols and Timothy McVeigh were tried separately in federal court, McVeigh was sentenced to death. Nichols was convicted only of being part of the bomb plot, and got life in prison without parole. Now the state is putting Nichols on trial on 161 murder counts that were not part of the federal indictment. A recent Oklahoma newspaper poll show 70 percent opposed to this trial estimated to cost at least $4 million.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a waste. Waste of money to try him again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to bring anybody back and it's not going to change anything.

CANDIOTTI: In a last minute twist, the FBI has begun an investigation into whether its own agents failed to look hard enough into possible links between white supremacist bank robbers and McVeigh.

One of the robbers is ready to testify for the defense that another gang member said they were involved with McVeigh. And this intriguing note. When first arrested, Nichols said, a few days before the bombing McVeigh told him, something big is going to happen. Nichols' reply, are you going to rob a bank?

CANDIOTTI (on-camera): The judge set an early morning hearing on the bank robbery issues, only two hours before the start of jury selection. But has remained firm in his insistence the trial will begin on time. It could last as long as six months.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, McAlister (ph), Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's now coming up on 6:46 Eastern Time. Here are the headlines this morning.

More than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital late last night to begin securing the city there. They are part of an international peacekeeping force.

And as for former President Aristide, just hours ago he landed in the Central African Republic. And according to state radio, he will be there for at least a few days. It's unknown if that will be his final destination or if he is headed for exile somewhere else.

The search will resume this morning for 18 missing crew members who were lost when their tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Virginia over the weekend. Six crew members survived.

And in money news, you're probably paying more at the pump. A survey shows gas prices have risen nearly seven cents over the past two weeks for an average price per gallon of $1.75. Wow!

In sports this morning, Tiger Woods shot his way past Davis Love III to capture his second straight Match Play Championship. Tiger pocketed a cool $1.2 million. Wow!

In culture this morning, prosecutors dropped 7 of the 21 child pornography charges against R&D singer R. Kelly. Kelly still faces 14 counts in Illinois and an additional 12 counts in Florida.

And in the weather, expect some cold and wet weather in the Midwest, but there is clear sailing along the East Coast.

Those are the headlines for you. Your next update coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING" at the top of the hour.

Speaking of that, let's check in with Bill and Soledad in New York for a look at what's coming up.

Good morning to you both.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Catherine. How are you?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning.

CALLAWAY: Doing well, thank you.

HEMMER: Yes, excellent.

Among the headlines this morning, the very latest from Haiti. Overnight, we are told, the streets of Port-au-Prince were quiet, but we'll see what happens when the sun comes up. Secretary of State Colin Powell waiting in the wings in D.C. We'll talk to him about this issue in a few moments.

O'BRIEN: And if you are a Democratic presidential candidate, big day tomorrow as the Democrats get ready to face off for Super Tuesday. This morning we've got a recap from Bob Franken.

Also, we're going to talk with the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge a year after the creation of his department, and we'll see exactly how much safer we are today.

HEMMER: Also late night last night in California, huh?

O'BRIEN: Yes, always is.

HEMMER: Oscars, I think they wrapped around 11:30 at night. B.J. Sigesmund was behind the scenes for all the parties. We'll talk to B.J. in California.

O'BRIEN: We went home to bed, but B.J. was out.

HEMMER: That's right, we went to bed, he did not.

Also, '90-Second Pop' panel. We had some prognostication on Friday from Toure and Sarah and Andy.

O'BRIEN: Did you -- did you weigh in?

HEMMER: On what? O'BRIEN: On who you thought would win?

HEMMER: Did I? Yes, I picked "Lord of the Rings" to win 11 times in every category.

O'BRIEN: Well then you did well. Congratulations. It was a good night for you.

HEMMER: Saving myself. See you at the...

CALLAWAY: I was just thinking, Soledad, if you don't remember what he picked, of course he picked it, right?

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, he did it.

CALLAWAY: Yes, "Lord of the Rings."

HEMMER: Sure I did it, are you kidding me?

O'BRIEN: Charlize Theron "Monster."

HEMMER: Also one other quick note, Jack is here, too. He's got an interesting question about the Kobe Bryant case that's happening in Colorado today, so we'll get to it at the top of the hour -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: OK. We love Jack. We want to hear what he has to say about the Oscars, too, right?

HEMMER: You got it.

O'BRIEN: Always. The fashion, especially. Jack, fashion. When you think Jack, you think fashion, you know.

CALLAWAY: Of course. We'll be watching, guys. Have a good one.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

HEMMER: See you later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlize Theron for "Monster."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well it was Hollywood's big night and Charlize Theron's star was shining brightly. A look at the other winners when we come back.

Also, this year will be a day longer and we'll take you to a celebration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Let's take a look at who took home the gold at the 76th Annual Academy Awards, "The Lord of the Rings."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPIELBERG: And the Oscar goes to -- it's a clean sweep, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Barry M. Osbourne (ph), Peter Jackson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And with that, a record was set. It won all 11 awards it was up for, including best picture and best director.

And Charlize Theron's performance as a serial killer in "Monster" captured the best actress award.

He has dissed them in the past, but he didn't dis them this time. Sean Penn collected the best actor Oscar in person. It's the fourth time that Penn was nominated.

And the fishy tale that turned into a blockbuster, "Finding Nemo," won best animated picture, or feature, rather. Other big winners, Renee Zellweger. She won for best supporting actress for her performance in "Cold Mountain" and "Mystic River" served up a second award, best supporting actor for Tim Robbins.

And after all the awards are given, the fun really begins at the Oscar parties. And we'll bet some bashes are still going on right now.

Now, this is video from the governor's ball, winners like Charlize Theron, Tim Robbins, all showed up there. Their trophies. That's when all the fun begins, right?

Time now for a little "Business Buzz," though. Students are turning away from computer science. Bill Gates wants to change their minds.

And Carrie Lee reports from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square -- hey, Carrie.

LEE: Hey, Catherine.

He's certainly trying to. The "New York Times" today reporting that Microsoft's cofounder, Bill Gates, really hit the campaign circuit of sorts last week, trying to reinvigorate student interest in computer sciences. The number of students majoring in computer sciences is falling, even at our nation's most elite universities. So Gates visited the University of Illinois, Carnegie-Melon, Cornell, MIT and Harvard, telling students that they can still make a good living in America, even as the nation's industry is sending some computing jobs like software programming abroad.

He did later note the fear of widespread job losses, but he did say people are over reacting and Gates urged students to stay in the game no matter where they worked, for Microsoft, a rival, a startup or a research lab. So we'll see if his words have any influence on students.

That's the latest here -- back to you.

CALLAWAY: All right, have a great day.

LEE: You, too.

CALLAWAY: And Chad joins me for the lightning round coming up. But first we have the headlines for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: And, Chad, it is time for the lightning round.

And we begin at the Texas-New Mexico state line, where, believe it or not, there is the fifth quadrennial leap year festival.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Easy for you to say.

CALLAWAY: No it wasn't. The special guests were people, of course, born on February 29th, people with a birthday every four years. Hey, I'd like that.

MYERS: Happy birthday.

CALLAWAY: Want a condo at the Great Wall? It could be possible in the future. Look at that, oh, it's so beautiful.

MYERS: That's amazing.

CALLAWAY: Development and tourism are damaging and shrinking the 2000-year-old Great Wall of China and preservationists are fighting to keep it intact. Let's hope they do.

Meanwhile, mental athletes meet in New York over the weekend. They competed in the U.S. Memory Championships. Scott Hagwood was the winner, for the fifth time, by the way. He memorized shuffled decks of cards.

Congratulations. He goes to Malaysia now, Chad, for the big time.

MYERS: That's right, see?

CALLAWAY: That's it for us.

I'm Catherine Callaway.

MYERS: Have a great day.

CALLAWAY: Thanks.

Yes, bye-bye.

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



Through the Night to Finish Constitution>


Aired March 1, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Movement into harm's way, more U.S. Marines arrive as Haiti falls apart.
Good morning everyone.

It is Monday, March 1.

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

Thank you very much for being with us.

Well, Iraqis worked through the night to finish writing their constitution, even though the agreement comes late. The June 30 hand over of power isn't expected to be delayed, however. And she's free of her most serious charge, but Martha Stewart still faces four other charges. Today, prosecutors will try to make them stick in closing arguments.

And the search for 18 crew members missing after a tanker explosion resumes this morning in the Atlantic off of Virginia. But the Coast Guard says that the possibility of finding anyone alive is remote.

It runs rings around the competition. The "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" goes 11 for 11 at the Academy Awards.

And, of course, we update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update coming up at 5:15.

Our top focus this morning, Haiti, a nation in crisis and under new leadership. There are several fast moving developments to tell you about this morning.

Overnight, more than 150 U.S. Marines arrive in Port-au-Prince and more are expected soon. About 130 French troops are also due today. The United Nations Security Council voted last night to send an international force into Haiti.

All of this was triggered by the resignation early Sunday of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the face of growing armed opposition. Aristide arrived today in the capital of the Central African Republic. Within hours of Aristide's resignation, Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandre was sworn in as president.

And it will be up to an international force to calm things down there in Haiti.

And our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, tells us about the Security Council decision to send the troops to the Caribbean nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... for, please raise their hand.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Security Council didn't wait long to approve international peacekeepers for Haiti. Hours after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left, the Security Council voted unanimously to approve a multinational force for up to three months.

JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We think this is an important step. We think with the developments of today, Haiti has turned a new page in its history and it's got an opportunity and the international community has an opportunity to assist the country of Haiti in getting back on the path towards the establishment of a stable and democratic society.

ROTH: The resolution gives international authorization and legitimacy for troops, coming first from the U.S. and France.

JEAN-MARC DE LA SABLIERE, FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The Council has shown tonight the capacity, its capacity to respond in a very swift matter to an urgent need. And a member of the Council tonight really reacted in a very, very swift manner and this will help, certainly, a lot the Haitian people.

ROTH: France and the U.S. were both unwilling to send peacekeepers just a few days ago, after the appeal of Caribbean nations. Secretary General Kofi Annan is well aware 10 years ago the Security Council also approved a peacekeeping force for Haiti.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: And this time I hope the international community is not going to put a Band-Aid on and that we are not only going to help stabilize the current situation, but assist the Haitians over the long haul and really help them pick up the pieces and build a stable country.

ROTH (on camera): The resolution calls on the U.N. to pick up the mantle from the international peacekeeping force in three months. For the U.N., just another country to a growing list of nations it's trying to help with peacekeepers.

Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: The Democratic presidential hopefuls are criticizing the Bush administration's handling of Haiti. During last night's televised debate in New York, they accused the president of doing too little too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president always makes decisions late, after things have happened that could have been different had the president made a different decision earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kerry, what would you have done in this situation?

KERRY: Well, first of all, I would never have allowed it to get out of control the way it did. This administration empowered the insurgents.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When this problem began to develop, this president did exactly what he's done with other problems around the world, which is do nothing, do nothing, and when it gets to crisis stage, then we act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Both Edwards and Kerry agree that the U.S. should send troops to Haiti.

Well, south Florida is home to one of the largest Haitian populations in the nation, at least 150,000.

And our John Zarrella tells us how residents of Miami's Little Haiti are reacting to these developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Haitians in Miami who supported President Jean-Bertrand Aristide were not happy and showed it. They smashed the window of a car belonging to someone who was glad to see Aristide go. The confrontation was quickly calmed by Miami police. A bit surprisingly, in Miami's Little Haiti, the nation's largest Haitian community, there wasn't a major outpouring of happiness or disgust.

Aristide's supporters gathered on a main street. About 40 people spent much of Sunday bemoaning the fact that, in their opinions, Aristide had been their homeland's best hope at democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's what President Aristide was doing. That's what we were doing and that's what was stopped today. Now you cannot tell us that we are the poorest nation, because we were trying to do something and you stopped us today.

ZARRELLA: Haitians living in the United States have been somewhat divided over what's best for their country. A survey taken a couple of weeks ago of 600 U.S. Haitians found 52 percent wanted Aristide to finish his term. Thirty-five percent thought he should resign and another 13 percent weren't sure.

With Aristide now gone, there is concern here that those in Haiti who backed the president face an uncertain future.

MARLEINE BASTIEN, MIAMI HAITIAN ACTIVIST: You have to remember that Aristide was democratically elected and there are a lot of people who support him there. These people are not going to be happy with his resignation. And then they can, they can, anything can happen. I think the Haitian civilians still will need protection.

ZARRELLA: For Haiti and Haitians everywhere, Aristide's departure is another sad chapter in the book.

(on camera): But unlike past coups and the succession of dictators, this is different. It is the second time Aristide, the country's first democratically elected president, has been unable to serve a full term.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And you can hear more about the official U.S. position on Haiti on AMERICAN MORNING. Coming up, Secretary of State Colin Powell will be the guest. That's at 7:15 Eastern time.

As we told you this morning, members of the Iraqi Governing Council reached agreement on an interim constitution for the new Iraq.

And Jane Arraf is joining us now live from Baghdad with the very latest on this -- hello, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.

According to a coalition official, there were cheers and standing ovations at the end of this. Just before dawn, the members of the Governing Council unanimously, according to the Council members and coalition officials, reached agreement on a draft constitution.

Now, this is important because for the first time it sets out essentially a bill of rights, something that process individual and collective rights in Iraq. And it's a way forward that, a step down that path towards democracy.

Now, just in brief, in practical terms what it does is set up the process for elections to be held late this year, preferably, but if not, by the end of January of next year. In the meantime, there will be some sort of transitional government. That has not yet been decided. But among the highlights -- and this is why almost everyone has signed onto this -- it says that Islam will be a source of law, that there will be some sort of federalist system. In short, it answers questions that the Shi'a population, the Kurdish population and other minorities had that had to be addressed.

Whether it's implemented, that's another story -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Right, a very good point, Jane.

A big delay in getting this constitution drafted, but things expected to go as planned for the hand over in June?

ARRAF: Absolutely. It really only was delayed a day, which, if you look at it in big picture terms, it was kind of extraordinary that they got there at all. Now, these are the 25 remaining members of a 25 member -- sorry, 24 remaining members of the U.S. appointed Governing Council, all with their own constituencies and all with their own interests. And essentially, in the course of the last two days, they were locked in rooms and hammered out their disagreements and came out with a document.

And we have to remember, this is, for the region, extraordinary. One of the other things it does is set a target that 25 percent women should be in any elected assembly, extraordinary, according to coalition officials, not just for the region, in fact, but for the West, as well -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jane, thank you very much.

Jane Arraf live in Baghdad this morning for us.

And for more on Iraq's draft constitution and a special report on the transition of power, just log onto our Web site at cnn.com/world.

Time now to check some other stories that are making headlines across America this morning.

The Coast Guard plans to resume its search this morning for 18 missing crew members from a tanker that exploded and sank off the coast of Virginia over the weekend. Officials still don't know what caused the tanker to blow up. Six survivors, however, have been recovered.

And charges will be filed this morning against a relative of a missing Mississippi family. An inheritance dispute is believed to be at the center of the case against adopted cousin Ernest Lee Hargan (ph). After two days, police ended their search for the family at his 160 acre property.

And in Maui, outgoing flights at the main airport were grounded for a few hours for passenger -- and passengers were evacuated there after a man drove his SUV into the ticketing area and then set fire to the vehicle. Hawaii police and the FBI say that it was not an act of terrorism.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: From the red carpet to center stage, the fashion dos and don't of the Oscars. We'll take you to the Kodak Theater in just a few minutes.

Also coming up, a show of a different kind. Martha Stewart's trial almost coming to an end.

Also ahead, fed up and firing back -- John Edwards comes out slinging in the last debate before Super Tuesday. So did it work?

And, finding WMDs in Iraq, what a former superpower is saying about weapons intelligence.

It is Monday, everyone, March 1, and you're watching DAYBREAK.

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: It's about 15 minutes after the hour now and here is a quick look at our top stories in the DAYBREAK early briefing.

Late last night, more than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital to begin securing the city there. They're part of an international peacekeeping force.

And Iraq's Governing Council has finally agreed on a constitution two days after missing the deadline. U.S. administrator Paul Bremer still has to sign off on it, however.

And the search resumes this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank over the weekend. Six people survived.

We update the stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming up at 5:30 Eastern time.

Well, Washington is coming under World Trade Organization penalties for the first time today. The five percent penalty tariff is aimed at getting Washington in line with international trade rulings.

Let's see if that's affecting our overseas financial markets.

(MARKET UPDATE)

CALLAWAY: Closing arguments in the Martha Stewart trial top this hour's legal briefs. Government lawyers will go first this morning. A judge has dropped the most serious charge against Stewart, but she still faces four counts related to an alleged cover-up of a stock sale. Jurors are expected to get that case on Wednesday.

And jury selection is scheduled again this morning in the state murder trial of Terry Nichols. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the Oklahoma City bombing case. Nichols is already serving a life sentence without parole on a federal conviction.

A two day hearing in the Kobe Bryant case will help determine if his accuser's sexual conduct before Martin Bryant is admissible at trial. The 19-year-old woman, who accuses Bryant of rape, will testify behind closed doors tomorrow.

And opening statements begin this morning in the trial of four Adelphia Communications executives, including CEO John Rigas and his two sons. Prosecutors accuse the defendants of turning the company -- cable company into their personal piggy bank by cheating investors out of billions of dollars.

Aristide steps aside as Haiti hangs on the brink. So, what is next for this besieged country? Also coming up, U.S. and British intelligence, faulty or deliberately misused to start a war in Iraq? We'll tell you what the Russians have to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And why did you quit hooking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cause, cause I needed to, all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And from beast to belle of the ball, a Hollywood siren scores a monster win the at the Academy Awards. We'll tell you all about in a live report, coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MONSTER")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said that we were going to party, party, party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, are you worried that there's this five second delay?

ROBIN WILLIAMS, AWARD PRESENTER: Yes.

KAGAN: Not for us. We're live, Robin.

WILLIAMS: Five second delay and then they do that witness protection thing. If a nipple appears like I'm no longer here, I'm living in Missouri with the name Anthony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, there was plenty of joking around at last night's Academy Awards, as Hollywood's best and brightest came to honor each other for a job well done. We'll tell you all about the winners and the losers coming up in just a little bit. A lot of fun to watch the Academy Awards.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Quite a night in Hollywood. The "Lord of the Rings" was truly the king of the Oscars. A clean sweep and a record haul for the third installment of the trilogy.

And for more on "The Return of the King" and the rest of the award winners, we turn to our Kimberly Osias, who's joining us from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood -- good morning to you.

Did you ever go to bed last night or did you just go ahead and stay up?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I'll tell you, no. I stayed up just like you did. I feel like we all need toothpicks in our eyes. But it was definitely well worth it, Catherine.

The spotlight is certainly on Peter Jackson, director. He is certainly going to be waking up as the new main man of Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

STEVEN SPIELBERG, AWARD PRESENTER: And the Oscar goes to -- it's a clean sweep, "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS (voice-over): Eleven nominations, 11 wins in all, including best picture and best director. Now, the epic of Middle Earth ties "Titanic" and "Ben Hur" for the most wins in Academy history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

PETER JACKSON, WINNER, BEST DIRECTOR: Oh, this is just unbelievable and I'm so honored to actually relieve. (END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Charlize Theron snagged her first Oscar for the body transforming portrayal of serial killer Eileen Warnos in "Monster."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

CHARLIZE THERON, WINNER, BEST ACTRESS: My mom. You have sacrificed so much for me to be able to live here and make my dreams come true.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sean Penn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: A standing ovation for first time winner Sean Penn, who wasn't the only "Mystic River" actor to receive Oscar's favor. In a supporting role, Tim Robbins won for his portrayal of an emotionally tortured murder suspect. Robbins used his time on the podium to urge abuse victims to seek help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

TIM ROBBINS, WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: There is no shame and no weakness in seeking help and counseling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: In a best supporting actress role, Renee Zellweger earned an Oscar for her work in the Civil War epic "Cold Mountain."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCAR CEREMONY, COURTESY A.M.P.A.S. (C) 2004)

RENEE ZELLWEGER, WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: I am overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OSIAS: I apologize, we've got the cleanup crews here. But Sofia Coppola also took home her very first Oscar for best original screenplay for "Lost In Translation" -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: We can still hear you. We can hear the clean up crew, too.

Billy Crystal was back. What, you know, what a thrill he was to watch. He was funny.

OSIAS: Oh, he really is. You know, it's been a long four years. We all were reminded of that. I'll tell you, when he opened in the very beginning montage that we all have grown to love, when he opened a Cracker Jack box and the present, the toy surprise was a ring, fabulous.

CALLAWAY: Yes, a lot of fun.

OSIAS: Really great moment, yes.

CALLAWAY: Well, thanks for staying up for us today. Get some sleep.

OSIAS: Thank you.

Take care.

CALLAWAY: Bye-bye.

Well, Democratic candidates go head to head on the issues. We'll find out who has the edge heading into Super Tuesday. History in the making -- the embattled president is out, as international troops head in. We get the latest from Haiti.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday.

COMMERCIAL

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

It is Monday, March 1. And from CNN's headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway.

I'm in today for Carol.

In the headlines this hour, Iraq's Governing Council reached agreement in the early morning hours on a new draft constitution. The last sticking point had been the role Islam will playing guiding the new government. All sides are expected to sign the constitution on Wednesday.

And jury selection begins this morning in the state murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols. He's already serving a federal life sentence for his part in the 1995 blast that killed 163 people.

The Coast Guard resumes its search this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank off the Virginia coast this weekend. Six people were rescued.

And the award goes to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." In fact, 11 awards in all, including best picture and best director.

And we update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update, of course, will be at 5:45 this morning.

Our focus this morning, Haiti, a nation in chaos and crisis under new leadership. There are several fast moving developments to tell you about.

Overnight, more than 150 U.S. Marines arrived in Port-au-Prince and more are expected soon. About 130 French troops are also due there today. The United Nations Security Council voted last night to send an international force into Haiti.

Now, all of this was triggered by the resignation early Sunday of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the face of growing armed opposition there. Aristide arrived today in the capital of the Central African Republic and within hours of Aristide's resignation, Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre was sworn in as president.

Well, the caldron of discontent in Haiti began to bubble more than three weeks ago when rebels began a campaign to overthrow President Aristide.

And CNN's Lucia Newman reports that Aristide finally saw the handwriting on the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was once seen as Haiti's savior, the man who until just a couple of days ago said he would rather die than leave office. But President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Sunday morning did just that -- he left the palace and his country, perhaps not just to save his own life, but also, in his words, to prevent a bloodbath in this country.

The streets of Haiti were absolutely in anarchy after the news was known. Armed supporters of the now former president roaming the streets, killing people and looting, as well. And now there are new armed people in this country. The armed rebels, who already control half of Haiti, came into the capital and started patrolling the streets themselves, claiming that they're trying to help the police restore order.

They have also said that they welcome the presence of the U.S. Marines and other international peacekeepers. But they are not volunteering, at least yet, to hand in their own weapons.

All this, of course, has sparked fear in the hearts of the former president's supporters, not only his armed supporters, but also civilians, who fear that there will now be a whole spree of revenge killings, of vendettas and score settling.

That's something that Haiti's new interim president, Boniface Alexandre, is also afraid of, which is why he was very clear to call upon his countrymen to refrain from acts of violence and vengeance. He said it was time for Haitians to finally accept the norms of a civilized society.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And, of course, we have our eyes on Haiti this morning in our International Wrap. And our senior international editor David Clinch is joining us.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: David, is Aristide out, Alexandre in?

CLINCH: Yes, quite a weekend in Haiti. Really, this arrival of U.S. Marines last night, our team there last night, just a small team working overtime to get these pictures of the U.S. Marines arriving last night. And the arrival of these Marines does nothing to lower our sights on this story at all, if anything, now these Marines will be there for at least three months or so. Our coverage will be there the whole time. It's going to be very interesting, a lot of unanswered questions, as Lucia has been pointing out, about exactly what reception they’ll receive. So many different factions, so much violence, even right up to the middle of the day yesterday, just really vicious scenes of violence.

CALLAWAY: And this was such a difficult story to cover in Haiti years and years ago.

What about the safety of the crews there now?

CLINCH: Yes, well, that's always a concern for us. I mean we are there because the story is there, but we have to maintain safety for our crew and crews that we'll bring in over the next few weeks. It's a very different situation from Iraq, where you go in and you are embedded with the U.S. troops and you have a certain degree of protection.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: We have our own training and everything -- we've talked about this a lot -- for our, for the people who are there.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: But basically it boils down to being cautious and not taking unnecessary risks.

But it's a nasty place.

CALLAWAY: And as we heard Jane Arraf say, speaking of Iraq there, we have a new constitution in Iraq now.

CLINCH: Yes. Some answers today on this new constitution, which has been agreed to, not signed yet. But as usual in Iraq, the devil is in the details.

We've heard some of the details now about the constitution -- what the constitution will likely say about the role of Islam. And this was sort of predicted now, that Islam, rather than being THE source of law in Iraq, which would basically make it an Islamic state, it will be A source of law. So there's a certain compromise there.

The other area, though, a federalism of exactly how much power the different groups will have, we don't know the details on that yet. So we'll see on Wednesday, I think that's going to be signed.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and Jane was very quick to point out when I said this was a bit late, you know, it was like a day or two late...

CLINCH: Yes.

CALLAWAY: She said yes, but look how far they've come.

CLINCH: Right. I don't think anybody's going to make a big fuss about how late this has been. They're still aiming for this June 30 hand over and that, I think, is pretty much set in stone.

But, again, the long-term vision of this constitution, it's going to be very interesting to look at the details.

Also, internationally, believe it or not, following up on the Oscars, as well. There's a couple of interesting international angles on that. The one most interesting to me, Charlize Theron, from South Africa.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: Thanked the people of South Africa. The people of New Zealand were thanked again and again and again. But in South Africa, we took a visit to her hometown, just outside of Johannesburg, a couple of weeks ago. Fascinating background to her. You know, the reports that her mother killed her father in mysterious circumstances.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: She has, you know, lost her accent and sort of estranged herself from South Africa in some ways. But she says she's going to be bringing it home. I heard her say bringing the reward -- award home to South Africa in a couple of days, I think.

So apparently some estranged members of her family there quite keen to be not so estranged anymore.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

CLINCH: They say they don't want her money, but they definitely want to be friends again. So we'll be watching that.

And, of course, in New Zealand, huge reaction their to the win for "Lord of the Rings."

CALLAWAY: "Lord of the Rings."

CLINCH: A little bit of disappointment that Kiesha Castle- Hughes, the young girl from "Whale Rider," didn't win, as well.

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLINCH: But a big day for New Zealand. It's like a walking tourism ad for them, "Lord of the Rings."

CALLAWAY: She's just, what, 13? She's got time to waste, another day.

CLINCH: She'll have more chances.

CALLAWAY: All right, David, thank you very much.

CLINCH: All right.

CALLAWAY: Good to see you.

Well, we are just a day away from nine state primaries and a caucus, and the Democratic front runners are blitzing some of the Super Tuesday states. John Kerry in Maryland, Georgia and Ohio. We've got John Edwards in Ohio and Georgia. And the two finally took some jabs at each other in the latest debate.

Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let him finish. But I want...

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was not pretty. The Democratic presidential candidates tangling more with the questioners than with each other, with the Reverend Al Sharpton charging the New York City debate was turning into a Kerry-Edwards forum.

SHARPTON: What you're trying to do is try to decide for the voters how we go forward. The voters need to hear this morning from four candidates.

WALLACE: And that was just the beginning. It was a more forceful John Edwards than we saw in Thursday's debate on CNN. This time he quickly pounced on John Kerry and his proposal for a 120 day review of all trade agreements.

EDWARDS: What you're going to say to a family that's lost their job because of bad trade agreements is don't worry, we've got a Washington committee that's studying this for you.

WALLACE: The Democratic front runner, who overall seemed more subdued than their last face-off, took this opportunity to fire back.

KERRY: John Edwards has been in the Senate for five years. He's talked more in the last five weeks about trade than he has in the entire five years.

WALLACE: This was, perhaps, the senator from North Carolina's last chance to change the dynamics before Tuesday's 10 presidential contests. The Massachusetts senator touted his experience, but questioners asked, is he likable enough to beat President Bush?

KERRY: Give me a living room, give me a barn, give me a VFW hall, give me a one-on-one and I think I can talk to anybody in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Edwards?

EDWARDS: I don't think this is a personality contest. I think what people are looking for in a president is somebody who when they hear them speak, speaks their language.

WALLACE (on camera): The question now is did this debate change any minds? John Edwards, trailing in the polls in the Super Tuesday states, had the most to gain. John Kerry, so far out in front, had the most to lose.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And CNN's live coverage of the Super Tuesday primaries and the caucus begins tomorrow evening after the polls close in the East. That's 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, 4:00 Pacific.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Who is hot and who is not? We'll show you which celebrity favorites are the talk of Tinsletown. But first, we'll talk about the war in Iraq. What did Russian intelligent sources have to say about potential weapons of mass destruction? We're going to take you live to Moscow for some answers. This is DAYBREAK. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: It is 45 minutes after the hour now and here is a quick look at our top stories in the DAYBREAK 'Early Briefing.'

Late last night, more than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital to begin securing the city. They are part of an international peacekeeping force there.

And Iraq's governing council has finally agreed on a constitution two days after missing the deadline. The U.S. administrator Paul Bremer still has to sign off on it.

And the search resumes this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank over the weekend. Six people survived.

We update the stories -- top stories every 15 minutes. Our next update coming up at the top of the hour at 6:00.

The fallout from the search for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction continues to dog the White House. Russian officials say that they believe the war was a political mistake. They say their own intelligence concluded that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction.

And our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In the last days of Saddam Hussein's rule as U.N. inspectors searched for weapons of mass destruction, intelligence services in Moscow were analyzing data trying to determine whether there were nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in Iraq.

Russia had long standing relations with Iraq, stretching back to Soviet times. Politicians and businessmen went back and forth. But informed sources say even Moscow did not know for sure whether Saddam really had WMD.

Alexei Arbatov, former Deputy Chairman of the Russian Parliament's Defense Committee.

ALEXEI ARBATOV, FORMER RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER (through translator): On the eve of the war, Russia was not sure that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Russia wasn't sure, nor was any other country. The problem was what to do with this lack of definition. Given the criminal history of Saddam Hussein's regime, we couldn't count on their good intentions, so the Russian position was continue the U.N. inspections.

DOUGHERTY: President Vladimir Putin was careful in his public statements not coming down on either side of the argument. We should check, he said.

Checking meant keeping U.N. weapons inspectors on the job in Iraq and that is what the Russian military advised.

GEN. YURI BALUYEVSKY, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES (through translator): We, in the military, recommended to our political leadership and they followed this policy which boiled down to this idea, let's continue the inspections. Let them find any nuclear weapons and destroy them according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency. But they didn't find any.

DOUGHERTY: When faced with intelligence from the U.S. and Britain that Iraq did have WMD, the Russian Foreign Ministry says it was surprised.

YURI FEDOTOV, RUSSIAN DEP. FOREIGN MIN.: We studied carefully. On the background of our own information, the conclusion coincided with a conclusion of U.N. inspectors, there had been no weaponized WMD in Iraq, at least at a large scale.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: So was U.S. and British intelligence faulty or deliberately used to make the case for going to war? Russian officials won't really comment. All they will say is they believe the war was a political mistake -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Do you think this, Jill, will have any effect on U.S.- Russian relations, this announcement?

DOUGHERTY: It would appear to -- that they put this pretty much in the back on the backburner, because after all, Russia made this case probably not as directly as it's making it now, but they made it all the way through. And obviously the U.S. and Russia have said let's have bygones be bygones on this issue.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jill, thank you.

That's Jill Dougherty.

In the next hour of DAYBREAK, big decisions in the Kobe Bryant case this week. This week he faces his accuser in court and we are live in Eagle, Colorado.

After all of that hype about "The Passion," how did it actually do at the box office?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: "The Passion of the Christ" is king at the box office. Mel Gibson's controversial movie about the crucifixion of Jesus has taken in more than $117 million since it opened on Ash Wednesday. That's more money than the rest of the top 12 movies combined. Now, this weekend alone, "Passion" brought in more than $76 million. "51st Dates" came in a distant second, with $12.6 million, and the Ashley Judd crime thriller "Twisted" debuted at number three. "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" opened in fifth place.

(WEATHER REPORT) CALLAWAY: It was a night for the who's who of Hollywood, who's who of Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Tom Ford for Gucci.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Denelle (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, look at that. And were they ever dressed to impress. We will go to the red carpet catalog, where the stars did their strutting, in just a minute. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have some Eight Stern (ph) earrings on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The jewelry is, of course, Harry Winston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL

CALLAWAY: In case you couldn't stay up for last night's Academy Awards show, here are the bit winners. Charlize Theron won in the best actress category for her performance as a serial killer in "Monster." Nominated three previous times, Sean Penn won his first Oscar for best actor in "Mystic River." And "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" won a record time 11 Academy Awards, including best film.

Here's the other winners: Renee Zellweger, best supporting actress for "Cold Mountain," and Tim Robbins for best supporting actor for "Mystic River."

And now for why everybody really watches the Oscar, for the fashions. After two years of basic black to reflect the somber post- 9/11 Iraq war mode, colors came out of the closet last night, everything from pastels to bold shades of the rainbow.

Here's the scene from the red carpet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Tom Ford for Gucci.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Denelle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bling Bling is out of control. Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have some Eight Stern earrings on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The jewelry is, of course, Harry Winston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And there you have it.

The next hour of CNN DAYBREAK begins right now.

The United States Marines land in Haiti overnight. Can they help bring peace to a troubled nation?

Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for being with us this morning.

Iraqis worked through the night to finish writing their constitution, even though the agreement comes late. The June 30 handover of power, however, is not expected to be delayed.

And the search for 18 crewmembers missing after a tanker explosion resumes this morning off Virginia, but the Coast Guard says that the possibility of finding anyone alive is remote.

Charges will be filed this morning against a relative of a missing Mississippi family. An inheritance dispute is believed to be at the center of the case against adopted cousin, Earnest Lee Hargon.

She is free of her most serious charges, but Martha Stewart still faces four others today. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will make their closing arguments.

It runs rings around the competition. "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is batting 1,000. It goes 11 for 11 at the Academy Awards last night.

We update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming at 6:15.

Haiti is the hot spot this morning. Here is the latest on the crisis there.

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife landed in the Central African Republic several hours ago. It is not known yet if he will stay in exile there or go on to some other country.

And in Haiti, a third U.S. military plane landed early this morning in the capital, Port-au-Prince. More than 150 Marines are there now. More are expected soon. They are part of an international peacekeeping force to secure that country.

A peacekeeping force was approved by the U.N. Security Council overnight in a unanimous resolution.

Well, the U.N. acted swiftly after Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and fled the country. Haitians were also quick to react there, and our Lucia Newman has that angle from Port-au-Prince.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NEWMAN (voice-over): The news of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure spread like wildfire as opponents celebrated. And armed supporters of the former president roamed the streets, setting barricades on fire and killing people.

With an insurgent army demanding his resignation, closing in on the capital, Jean-Bertrand Aristide left, telling his prime minister he wanted to avoid a bloodbath.

EVON NEPTUNE, HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's with the hope that the constitution will not be betrayed, but he decided, he accepted, to make such a great sacrifice.

NEWMAN: Haiti's new interim president, as stipulated by the constitution, is the Supreme Court president, Boniface Alexander, a man with a reputation for honesty. He appealed to Haitians to refrain from acts of vengeance and violence.

"I call on all citizens to respect the norms governing a civilized society," he said.

As Washington announced the arrival of a peacekeeping force, the leader of the insurgents that control half of Haiti told CNN he would, in fact, welcome the U.S. Marines.

GUY PHILIPPE, REBEL LEADER: I think the worst is over now, and we're waiting for the international force to -- they will have our full cooperation.

NEWMAN: Some of the insurgents came out from their sleeper cells and began patrolling the streets of the capital to help the police, they said, restore law and order in troubled areas -- areas where the former president had strong support.

(voice-over): The rebels say they'll respect the new government and democratic elections, but they're demanding that Haiti reinstate its disbanded army -- an army which in the past has ruled with brutality and repeatedly overthrown elected governments.

(on camera): The wild card in all of this now is the armed supporters of the former president, who may or may not be willing to welcome the U.S. Marines and other foreign peacekeepers with open arms.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Meanwhile, President Bush is urging Haitians to give peace a chance. He says it is essential that Haiti have a hopeful future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the beginning of a new chapter in the country's history. I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work, and the United States is prepared to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: The Democratic presidential hopefuls are criticizing President Bush's handling of the crisis in Haiti. They accuse the president of doing too little too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: I never would have allowed it to get out of control the way it did. This administration empowered the insurgents.

EDWARDS: At its best for the president and the administration, this has been neglect. In other words, they paid no attention, and they haven't been engaged. At its worst, they have actually facilitated the ouster of Aristide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And, of course, Republicans view that situation quite differently. Florida Representative Mark Foley says that the removal of Aristide means that the prospect of peace is on the horizon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK FOLEY (R), FLORIDA: To suggest we took place -- or took part of a coup-d'etat, that's simply incorrect. Mr. Aristide had a number of years and a lot of money from the U.S. to rebuild his country, help his people, strengthen democracy and maintain law and order in his country. He failed miserably. It was time for him to go. He did the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, Dick Cheney will be asked about the Haiti crisis tomorrow when he's Wolf Blitzer's guest on CNN. A special interview with the vice president on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 2:00 Pacific.

CALLAWAY: Iraq does not have a new government yet, but it should have a new constitution after Wednesday. That's when members of the Iraqi Governing Council are expected to sign the new interim constitution that they finished drafting this morning.

Let's go right to our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, who has all of the details on this.

Jane -- quite an accomplishment.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: It sure is, Catherine. And it was very early this morning when they finished drafting it -- just before dawn, in fact.

Now, a coalition official who was there described cheering and standing ovations as they agreed to this document. And it is an incredible accomplishment when you think of it. It's a bill of rights, a constitution, something that sets forth individual and collective freedoms, and it moves this country forward to some sort of country where everyone has a stake in it and everyone has the freedom to practice their religion.

Now, specifically, it details Islam as a source of law. That had been a contentious point for Shias particularly, some of whom felt that Islam should be the only source of law. But it is a compromise -- one that people seem prepared to live with. It calls for a federal system, referring to Kurdish demands that they maintain autonomy. Now, that's still going to have to be negotiated, but that federal system is a bottom line of what they wanted.

It calls, remarkably, for a target of 25 percent women to be elected in general elections, something that's unprecedented in this region and in other regions. And it calls for those elections to be held by the end of this year or by the end of next January at the latest.

Now, the problem will be, the challenge, the challenge going forward will be implementing this. But so far, the people involved say that they're proud of this document. It was reached by consensus, and it's a great step forward for this country -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: You touched on this a minute ago, Jane, but there are so many different factions to please, to represent in this constitution. How will this set with the minority groups in Iraq?

ARRAF: Well, it's been a very delicate balancing act, but even the minority groups say essentially -- officially anyway -- that they're satisfied. The Turkmen, for instance, one of the significant minorities here, say that they're satisfied that this agreement protects their cultural heritage. For instance, they will be able to have their language taught in schools. It entrenches Kurdish as one of two official languages.

Again, the basis is there for minority rights to be protected, and that is perhaps the most significant thing. But the challenge going forward will be exactly how it's implemented -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right. All right, Jane, still an exciting accomplishment this morning with the new constitution. Thank you very much, Jane. Jane is from Baghdad this morning.

Our Web site has details on the new interim constitution for Iraq, and you can find that at CNN.com.

The next two days could change the complexion of the Kobe Bryant sexual assault trial. The judge is scheduled to listen to a challenge to the state's rape shield law, which will include the first courtroom testimony of Kobe Bryant's accuser.

Adrian Baschuk joins us now from Eagle, Colorado, with a preview.

Well, good morning.

ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That rape shield law has stood for 30 years here in Colorado, and challenges like these are routine by defense attorneys.

Now, they are asking the judge to declare this law -- which experts who drafted it describe as fair and balanced -- unconstitutional.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK (voice-over): In a closed-door hearing beginning today, Kobe Bryant's attorneys will argue that part of the alleged victim's sexual, medical and mental health history should be admitted as trial evidence.

LARRY POZNER, FORMER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY'S ASSOCIATION: Every time the prosecution loses one of those motions, their case gets weaker and weaker and weaker.

BASCHUK: Legal analysts say the jury may hear plenty about the accuser's past, despite Colorado's stringent rape shield law.

POZNER: This case is upside down. In this case, it's the defense that's filing the motion, saying, judge, we have a great deal of evidence, facts, we want a jury to hear.

BASCHUK: The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a group vigorously fighting for sexual victims' rights, has publicly criticized Bryant's defense team for, it says, trying this case in the court of public opinion.

CYNTHIA STONE, COLORADO COALITION AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT: We've been very disturbed about this case from the very beginning, because of the way that the victim's privacy has been violated many times -- we feel deliberately by the defense team.

BASCHUK: What concerns the organization most is whether this case will cause fewer women nationwide to report the crime of rape. They say only 16 percent of rapes are actually reported to police.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK: Now tomorrow, for the first time, the 19-year-old alleged victim in this case will appear in court to testify. Also the first time that she and Kobe Bryant will be in the same room together since the night of that alleged rape.

Back to you.

CALLAWAY: And, Adrian, what is -- he is expected to rule, the judge expected to rule on suppressing the statement?

BASCHUK: Yes, also a motion that is said to be heard is whether or not Kobe Bryant's statements to police can be suppressed. The key in all that is whether or not Kobe Bryant felt himself free to leave police presence.

The judge is going to have to hear from detectives, once again, behind closed doors as to how many detectives were in the room, if a reasonable person would have felt that they were free to leave. Because, we are told, that he had not been read -- he was not read his rights while being surreptitiously recorded by police.

CALLAWAY: All right. Adrian Baschuk, apologize for mispronouncing your name earlier. Indeed, Adrian Baschuk, thanks for being with us this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: Overnight developments in Haiti, the Marines have landed. New information on the crisis in the Caribbean nation coming up on CNN DAYBREAK. Also, one last debate before Super Tuesday, some tough punches still ahead. And the climax of the Martha Stewart trial, a preview of some closing arguments. And also,...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlize Theron.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: No surprises there, she was Oscar's odds on favorite. But were there any upsets? We'll tell you coming up.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, March 1.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: It is just about a quarter past the hour. Here's a quick look at our top stories.

Late last night, more than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital to begin securing the city there. They are part of an international peacekeeping force.

And Iraq's governing council has finally agreed on the constitution, just two days after missing the deadline, and U.S. administrator Paul Bremer still has to sign off on it.

The search resumes this morning for 18 crew members lost when their tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Virginia. Six people survived.

We update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update coming up at 6:30 this morning.

Let's take a look now at who took home the gold at the 76th Annual Academy Awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN SPIELBERG, OSCAR PRESENTER: And the Oscar goes to, it's a clean sweep, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Sam Waltz (ph) producers. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" tied a record. It won all 11 awards it was up for, including best picture and best director.

And Charlize Theron's performance as a serial killer in "Monster" captured the best actress award.

While he has dissed them in the past, but he didn't diss them this time, Sean Penn collected the best actor and in person. Best actor Oscar, rather, in person. It was the fourth time that he was nominated.

And the fishy tale that turned into a blockbuster, "Finding Nemo," won best animated feature. No surprise there.

Here are some other good winners. Renee Zellweger won best supporting actress for her performance in "Cold Mountain." And "Mystic River" served up a second award, best supporting actor for Tim Robbins.

Meanwhile, "The Passion of the Christ" is king at the box office. Mel Gibson's controversial movie about the crucifixion of Jesus has taken in more than $117 million since it opened on Ash Wednesday. That's more money than the rest of the top 12 movies combined. And this weekend alone, "Passion" brought in more than $76 billion. Wow!

Time for a little 'Business Buzz' this morning. UPS wants out of a $1.5 billion deal, and Carrie Lee reports now from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square.

Good morning -- Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, -- Catherine.

That's right, "The Wall Street Journal" reporting today that UPS is in negotiations with the airplane maker Airbus to cancel over $1.6 billion worth of orders for aircraft. Now the shipping company has been hit pretty hard recently by a shift in consumer preferences to less expensive ground delivery services.

So "The Journal" says that UPS recently notified Airbus, as well as an engine supplier, Prattony (ph) & Whitney -- Pratt & Whitney, that it no longer wanted at least 20 of the 90 Airbus planes it's already ordered. But because some of those airplanes have already entered early stages of production, the carrier was told it could cancel no more than 16. So these negotiations, again, according to "The Journal," have been quite contentious. That's the latest there.

Meanwhile, "The Journal" also reporting that Ameritrade, the online brokerage firm, is going to be the only financial services company to advertise between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. on some of these television news programs on CNBC, Bloomberg and DirecTV. Kind of a different idea here. The advertising roadblock is going to start tomorrow and go on for four to six weeks. Advertisers doing what they can, Catherine, to kind of get out there and give themselves an edge. So it will be interesting to see if other companies follow suit.

CALLAWAY: All right, we'll be watching, Carrie, thank you. Carrie Lee from the Nasdaq market site.

Search crews hunt for a missing family who disappeared on Valentine's Day. New information about the suspect expected this morning. We'll have that for you.

Also,...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't just limit the discussion. And I think that your attempt to do this is blatant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Wow, tempers fly at the last debate before Super Tuesday. We'll have that story right on CNN DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CALLAWAY: On the campaign trail, the Democratic candidates' primary focus is Super Tuesday. The 1,151 delegates are up for grabs tomorrow in 10 states, more than half the number needed to win the nomination. So the contenders took their last shots at one another before Super Tuesday. Two of the four sparred politically -- or politely, rather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARDS: Senator Kerry has consistently said that he can pay for all the things that he's proposing and substantially reduce the deficit. I think I've heard him say cut it in half in his first term.

KERRY: Correct.

EDWARDS: Well, the "Washington Post" today just analyzed his proposals and it's the same old thing. Here we go again. In fact, in fact, he over spends in terms of being able to pay for all of his proposals, he over spends by $165 billion in his first term.

KERRY: I think John would have learned by now not to believe everything he reads in the newspaper. And he should do his homework, because the fact is that what's printed in the "Washington Post" today is inaccurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Now, one of the other four candidates didn't like the way the debate was being directed so the Reverend Al Sharpton directed this message to the moderators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we're going to have a discussion just between two and your advocates, you can try that. But that's one of the reasons we will -- we're going to have delegates so that you can't just limit the discussion. And I think that your attempts to do this is blatant and I'm going to call you out on it because I'm not going to sit here and be window dressing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm not going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like this.

SHARPTON: Well, then let's -- let all of us speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And stick right here for the -- with us for the results of the Super Tuesday voting. Live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN.

Rebels celebrate in Haiti as former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrives in Africa in search of a new home. We'll have that story coming up.

Plus, he's the chief suspect in the case of the missing family in the Deep South. The next step in the search for the three people who disappeared on Valentine's Day.

And take a look at this live picture from Karbala. News of a new constitution, while the Shi'ite Muslims celebrate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: The U.S. steps in to help quell the violence in Haiti.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to DAYBREAK. I'm Catherine Callaway. I'm in for Carol this morning.

It is Monday, March 1. Our top story in just a moment, but first, here are the headlines.

Iraq's Governing Council reached agreement in the early-morning hours on a new draft constitution. Now, the last sticking point had been the role that Islam will play in guiding the new government. All sides are expected to sign the constitution on Wednesday. Jury selection begins this morning in the state murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator, Terry Nichols. He's already serving a federal life sentence for his part in the 1995 blast that killed 168 people.

Striking grocery workers in California voted overwhelmingly to accept a new contract proposal and will head back to work in the next few days. The strike and subsequent lockout lasted more than four months.

And the award goes to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" -- in fact, 11 awards in all, including best picture and best director.

And we update the top stories for you every 15 minutes. Our next update is coming up at 6:45 this morning.

Haiti is the hot spot this morning. Here's the latest on the crisis there.

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife landed in the Central African Republic several hours ago. It isn't known yet if he will stay in exile there or go on to some other country.

And in Haiti, a third U.S. military plane landed early this morning in the capital of Port-au-Prince. More than 150 Marines are there now; more expected soon. They're part of an international peacekeeping force to secure the country.

Well, that peacekeeping force was approved by the U.N. Security Council overnight in a unanimous resolution.

Meanwhile, President Bush is urging Haitians to give peace a chance there. He says it is essential that Haiti have a hopeful future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: This is the beginning of a new chapter in the country's history. I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work. And the United States is prepared to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Now, critics say that the U.S. is acting too late. Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, who is just back from Haiti, wonders what kind of help President Bush intends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: I think the United States government should, first, tell us what they're going to do with the thugs that they were joined with for this overthrow. Are they going to take over the country? Is this who they're going to turn it over to?

I don't know these answers. And perhaps the news media would do well to try and find out from Secretary Colin Powell and others not only what have they done with Mr. Aristide, but are they turning the country over to the thugs that we ran out before?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well, Secretary of State Colin Powell will talk more about Aristide's fall from power and the future of Haiti coming up in the next hour of CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," which begins at 7:00 Eastern Time.

And you can keep up with the fast-moving developments in Haiti by clicking on to our Web site, which is, of course, at CNN.com.

The prosecution in the Martha Stewart trial sums up its case this morning in closing arguments that, thanks to a ruling last week, they have less to argue about.

Our Mary Snow has more from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martha Stewart was smiling Friday after the most serious charge against her of securities fraud was dismissed. Although it carries the harshest possible sentence, some legal experts say it's likely to have little impact.

HOWARD WILSON, FORMER PROSECUTOR: The jury is going to hardly notice at the end of the day that one of the charges that they had heard about earlier in the case is now gone. So, I don't think it's going to have much of an impact at all.

SNOW: While Stewart's team scored a legal win with the dismissal of Count IX, the jury must still decide if there is reasonable doubt about the government's charge that Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, lied to government investigators about Stewart's sale of ImClone stock in late 2001. Prosecutors claim the two lied when they said they had an agreement to sell the stock once it hit $60 a share, and that Bacanovic altered a document to cover it up.

Closing arguments will be key, since the entire 43-minute Stewart defense case consisted of one witness: Stewart's attorney during the time she was first interviewed by investigators in 2002.

ROBERT HEIM, FORMER SEC ATTORNEY: As he said in his opening, this is a circumstantial case. There is no direct evidence on point, and there is conflicting testimony. So, his closing argument is going to be a critical part of her defense.

SNOW: In an effort to show Stewart and Bacanovic never had an agreement, prosecutors relied on the testimony of Bacanovic's former assistant, Doug Faneuil, who swore the agreement never existed. Closing arguments are set for Monday and Tuesday. The four remaining counts each carry a sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine. The judge has said she will instruct the jury to begin deliberations on Wednesday.

Mary Snow, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Well, Iraq is a step closer to democracy. As we've been telling you this morning, the Governing Council today agreed on a draft constitution, intended to govern the country until elections are held there.

And CNN's Brent Sadler is joining us now with reaction from Karbala, where Shiites are observing a religious holiday -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Catherine. Good morning.

This is the religious festival of Ashoura (ph), and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shia are congregating here in this city, very important here, because some 1,300 years ago there was a battle in which the Imam Hussein was killed at the hands of an important papal and tyrannical Sunni. And that has relevance to Shias today, given that it's been more than 30 years since they've been able to hold these sorts of dramatic and passionate demonstrations of their faith in Karbala.

And, of course, very important, because many of these Shia here -- and there are many countless thousands -- are supporting their political leadership in attempts to make sure that the Shia have more than their fair share of say in the new government. And that interim constitution agreement that's been signed is very, very important, because it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that road map to elections that the Shia believe that they can eventually take majority rule -- elections coming possibly as early by the end of this year.

So, it's very important not only that signing that agreement of an interim constitution, but also these festivities, these celebrations of an important day in Shia religious history is taking place here in Karbala.

Back to you -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: OK, Brent, thank you very much for bringing that to us this morning. That's Brent Sadler in Karbala.

And now to Chad for a quick look at the travel forecast.

Good morning -- Chad.

(WEATHER BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Who left last night's Oscar ceremonies with big smiles on their faces? Stick around. We've got all the big winners for you. And did you forget something? But don't even think about joining one group of contestants in the Big Apple. We'll tell you why. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Well the show after the show still to come. We're going to take you to the Governor's Ball where all of the stars were after the Oscars.

Also ahead, the Great Wall of China actually shrinking. We'll tell you about that.

But first, the case of a Mississippi family that disappeared on Valentine's Day is back in the news and getting some national attention now. The scene is Taylorsville, Mississippi where a relative of the family suspected in this case will be arraigned today. Authorities searched the property of Earnest Lee Hargon over the weekend but had no luck in finding the family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN STRAIN, DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: This point, Earnest Lee Hargon has been charged with possession of methamphetamine while also in possession of a firearm. This is what in Mississippi is known as an enhanced charge with holds on him by Yazoo County. At this point, the whereabouts of the Hargon family are still unknown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And authorities haven't said whether they believe that Michael and Rebecca Hargon, along with their 4-year-old son, James, are still alive.

Well jury selection gets under way today in the murder trial of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols. And this time the prosecution is pushing for the death penalty.

Here is CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Victim's families are divided over a second effort to get a death sentence for Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing. Roy Sills (ph) lost his wife Lee (ph).

ROY SILLS: I think he deserves nothing less than the death penalty.

CANDIOTTI: But Welch lost his daughter Julie. He says another trial is an expensive waste of time.

WELCH: You go through all of these emotions. It's been nine years now, and it's just scraping the scabs off all over again. CANDIOTTI: When Nichols and Timothy McVeigh were tried separately in federal court, McVeigh was sentenced to death. Nichols was convicted only of being part of the bomb plot, and got life in prison without parole. Now the state is putting Nichols on trial on 161 murder counts that were not part of the federal indictment. A recent Oklahoma newspaper poll show 70 percent opposed to this trial estimated to cost at least $4 million.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a waste. Waste of money to try him again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to bring anybody back and it's not going to change anything.

CANDIOTTI: In a last minute twist, the FBI has begun an investigation into whether its own agents failed to look hard enough into possible links between white supremacist bank robbers and McVeigh.

One of the robbers is ready to testify for the defense that another gang member said they were involved with McVeigh. And this intriguing note. When first arrested, Nichols said, a few days before the bombing McVeigh told him, something big is going to happen. Nichols' reply, are you going to rob a bank?

CANDIOTTI (on-camera): The judge set an early morning hearing on the bank robbery issues, only two hours before the start of jury selection. But has remained firm in his insistence the trial will begin on time. It could last as long as six months.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, McAlister (ph), Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's now coming up on 6:46 Eastern Time. Here are the headlines this morning.

More than 150 U.S. Marines landed in Haiti's capital late last night to begin securing the city there. They are part of an international peacekeeping force.

And as for former President Aristide, just hours ago he landed in the Central African Republic. And according to state radio, he will be there for at least a few days. It's unknown if that will be his final destination or if he is headed for exile somewhere else.

The search will resume this morning for 18 missing crew members who were lost when their tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Virginia over the weekend. Six crew members survived.

And in money news, you're probably paying more at the pump. A survey shows gas prices have risen nearly seven cents over the past two weeks for an average price per gallon of $1.75. Wow!

In sports this morning, Tiger Woods shot his way past Davis Love III to capture his second straight Match Play Championship. Tiger pocketed a cool $1.2 million. Wow!

In culture this morning, prosecutors dropped 7 of the 21 child pornography charges against R&D singer R. Kelly. Kelly still faces 14 counts in Illinois and an additional 12 counts in Florida.

And in the weather, expect some cold and wet weather in the Midwest, but there is clear sailing along the East Coast.

Those are the headlines for you. Your next update coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING" at the top of the hour.

Speaking of that, let's check in with Bill and Soledad in New York for a look at what's coming up.

Good morning to you both.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Catherine. How are you?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning.

CALLAWAY: Doing well, thank you.

HEMMER: Yes, excellent.

Among the headlines this morning, the very latest from Haiti. Overnight, we are told, the streets of Port-au-Prince were quiet, but we'll see what happens when the sun comes up. Secretary of State Colin Powell waiting in the wings in D.C. We'll talk to him about this issue in a few moments.

O'BRIEN: And if you are a Democratic presidential candidate, big day tomorrow as the Democrats get ready to face off for Super Tuesday. This morning we've got a recap from Bob Franken.

Also, we're going to talk with the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge a year after the creation of his department, and we'll see exactly how much safer we are today.

HEMMER: Also late night last night in California, huh?

O'BRIEN: Yes, always is.

HEMMER: Oscars, I think they wrapped around 11:30 at night. B.J. Sigesmund was behind the scenes for all the parties. We'll talk to B.J. in California.

O'BRIEN: We went home to bed, but B.J. was out.

HEMMER: That's right, we went to bed, he did not.

Also, '90-Second Pop' panel. We had some prognostication on Friday from Toure and Sarah and Andy.

O'BRIEN: Did you -- did you weigh in?

HEMMER: On what? O'BRIEN: On who you thought would win?

HEMMER: Did I? Yes, I picked "Lord of the Rings" to win 11 times in every category.

O'BRIEN: Well then you did well. Congratulations. It was a good night for you.

HEMMER: Saving myself. See you at the...

CALLAWAY: I was just thinking, Soledad, if you don't remember what he picked, of course he picked it, right?

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, he did it.

CALLAWAY: Yes, "Lord of the Rings."

HEMMER: Sure I did it, are you kidding me?

O'BRIEN: Charlize Theron "Monster."

HEMMER: Also one other quick note, Jack is here, too. He's got an interesting question about the Kobe Bryant case that's happening in Colorado today, so we'll get to it at the top of the hour -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: OK. We love Jack. We want to hear what he has to say about the Oscars, too, right?

HEMMER: You got it.

O'BRIEN: Always. The fashion, especially. Jack, fashion. When you think Jack, you think fashion, you know.

CALLAWAY: Of course. We'll be watching, guys. Have a good one.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

HEMMER: See you later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlize Theron for "Monster."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Well it was Hollywood's big night and Charlize Theron's star was shining brightly. A look at the other winners when we come back.

Also, this year will be a day longer and we'll take you to a celebration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Let's take a look at who took home the gold at the 76th Annual Academy Awards, "The Lord of the Rings."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPIELBERG: And the Oscar goes to -- it's a clean sweep, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Barry M. Osbourne (ph), Peter Jackson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: And with that, a record was set. It won all 11 awards it was up for, including best picture and best director.

And Charlize Theron's performance as a serial killer in "Monster" captured the best actress award.

He has dissed them in the past, but he didn't dis them this time. Sean Penn collected the best actor Oscar in person. It's the fourth time that Penn was nominated.

And the fishy tale that turned into a blockbuster, "Finding Nemo," won best animated picture, or feature, rather. Other big winners, Renee Zellweger. She won for best supporting actress for her performance in "Cold Mountain" and "Mystic River" served up a second award, best supporting actor for Tim Robbins.

And after all the awards are given, the fun really begins at the Oscar parties. And we'll bet some bashes are still going on right now.

Now, this is video from the governor's ball, winners like Charlize Theron, Tim Robbins, all showed up there. Their trophies. That's when all the fun begins, right?

Time now for a little "Business Buzz," though. Students are turning away from computer science. Bill Gates wants to change their minds.

And Carrie Lee reports from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square -- hey, Carrie.

LEE: Hey, Catherine.

He's certainly trying to. The "New York Times" today reporting that Microsoft's cofounder, Bill Gates, really hit the campaign circuit of sorts last week, trying to reinvigorate student interest in computer sciences. The number of students majoring in computer sciences is falling, even at our nation's most elite universities. So Gates visited the University of Illinois, Carnegie-Melon, Cornell, MIT and Harvard, telling students that they can still make a good living in America, even as the nation's industry is sending some computing jobs like software programming abroad.

He did later note the fear of widespread job losses, but he did say people are over reacting and Gates urged students to stay in the game no matter where they worked, for Microsoft, a rival, a startup or a research lab. So we'll see if his words have any influence on students.

That's the latest here -- back to you.

CALLAWAY: All right, have a great day.

LEE: You, too.

CALLAWAY: And Chad joins me for the lightning round coming up. But first we have the headlines for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: And, Chad, it is time for the lightning round.

And we begin at the Texas-New Mexico state line, where, believe it or not, there is the fifth quadrennial leap year festival.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Easy for you to say.

CALLAWAY: No it wasn't. The special guests were people, of course, born on February 29th, people with a birthday every four years. Hey, I'd like that.

MYERS: Happy birthday.

CALLAWAY: Want a condo at the Great Wall? It could be possible in the future. Look at that, oh, it's so beautiful.

MYERS: That's amazing.

CALLAWAY: Development and tourism are damaging and shrinking the 2000-year-old Great Wall of China and preservationists are fighting to keep it intact. Let's hope they do.

Meanwhile, mental athletes meet in New York over the weekend. They competed in the U.S. Memory Championships. Scott Hagwood was the winner, for the fifth time, by the way. He memorized shuffled decks of cards.

Congratulations. He goes to Malaysia now, Chad, for the big time.

MYERS: That's right, see?

CALLAWAY: That's it for us.

I'm Catherine Callaway.

MYERS: Have a great day.

CALLAWAY: Thanks.

Yes, bye-bye.

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