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CNN Live At Daybreak
Several Explosions in Iraq's Holy City of Karbala; Super Tuesday Kicks Off
Aired March 02, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
It's Tuesday, March 2.
And from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin in for Carol Costello.
Several explosions in Iraq's holy city of Karbala come as thousands of pilgrims celebrate the year's holiest day for Shiites. More explosions at a mosque in Baghdad add to the death toll.
In the United States, today is Super Tuesday. Ten states hold election contests. More than 1,100 delegates are up for grabs. John Kerry hopes to put an iron grip on his front runner status.
Haiti's former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says the U.S. forced him out of office in a coup d'etat. The White House calls that nonsense.
In Colorado, an independent committee begins investigating allegations that the University of Colorado football program used sex and alcohol to recruit high school players.
NASA plans what it calls a significant announcement today regarding its Mars rover. There is speculation, though, that NASA will reveal the red planet was once capable of sustaining microscopic life forms.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes and our next update is at 6:15 Eastern.
The holiest day of the year for Shiite Muslims shattered in two Iraqi cities today by multiple explosions. Bodies of the dead and wounded spread over the streets.
We have live reports from both cities, beginning with Brent Sadler in Karbala -- Brent, give us the low down on exactly what happened today.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.
Good morning, Carol Lin.
This started about three hours ago when we first heard the detonation of a powerful explosion, not in the city center of Karbala, as you can see behind me, but a couple of miles on the perimeter. And this really sent shock waves through the religious ceremonies that had been taking place and continue to take place under these very difficult circumstances.
I want to show you some pretty gruesome pictures, exclusive pictures that we got hold of very recently. These were taken by one of the worshippers. He was shooting with his camera, joining a large group of pilgrims heading towards the center of Karbala when he heard a blast. He got the smoke rising after, we think it was the first explosion. And then he goes in with the camera to show us some of the dreadful scenes, terrible injuries and deaths, bodies scattered across the street after this, we think, the first explosion.
Now, there was no initial panic in that location. We believe this was at a place called the Baghdad Gate. We don't know the numbers of those killed, but certainly many dead and many, many more injured in these scenes that you can now see.
There were several other locations were bombs went off. It's not clear at this stage whether these were small devices carried by suicide bombers, whether they were some sort of improvised explosive device, possibly using mortar shells. Iraqi police suggesting that mortars may have been used, possibly fired, in at least two locations.
We counted up to nine explosions in various locations in a time scale of about one hour. Pretty soon after that, the city was shaken badly by this. We saw security being stepped up and we saw ambulances carving their way, forcing their way through the crowds and announcements on loudspeakers from the imam, whose same mosque, one of the central points here in Karbala, for pilgrims to step forward and donate blood to help those who have been injured in these bomb explosions -- Carol Lin.
LIN: Brent, let me just draw from your years of experience out in the field. The blasts in Karbala, the explosions at the mosque in Baghdad, were they somewhat simultaneous and what would it take to coordinate this scale of an attack in two cities?
SADLER: That's a very good question, Carol. And what I can tell you is that I was in the crowd when that first blast went off here in Karbala. You could barely hear it above all the prayers and drum beating and religious worshipping that was going on. So it took several minutes here for people to be aware of what had happened.
Now, in terms of Baghdad, as I was moving from that street behind me up to my rooftop position here, we continued to hear blasts and then we heard reports coming from my colleague, Jane Arraf, in Baghdad, that a mosque had been targeted there. All this in a space of a confusing 10, 15 minutes.
LIN: Wow.
SADLER: To coordinate these kind of attacks, well, all you have to do is look at your watch, I guess. But certainly in the time scale that we could see on the ground in both cities, these things happened more or less in the same 20 or 30 minutes -- Carol Lin.
LIN: A lot of thought put into place.
Thank you very much.
Brent Sadler reporting live in the holy city of Karbala.
In fact, our Jane Arraf had reported on Baghdad. We're going to be getting to her in just a minute.
We've got to touch on some election news right here in the United States, because it is a big day for the Democrats, because in about an hour, polls are going to start opening in some of the 10 state contests that make up Super Tuesday. More than half the delegates needed for the Democratic presidential nomination are at stake, which could pretty much close the door on the Democratic race. Or it could blow the door wide open.
Our Kimberly Osias has more from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me begin very direct with you about something. The voters deserve to know the differences between us. But if you are looking for the candidate who's going to do the best job of attacking other Democrats, that is not me. It's never been me.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Edwards needs to get his supporters to the polls. His only victory so far is in his native South Carolina. Today, a final push to separate himself from front runner Senator John Kerry. Edwards' focus now is bringing jobs back to the U.S.
John Kerry comes into the big day confident and relaxed. Having already won 19 out of 21 states, Kerry is the presumptive nominee. But he says he's taking nothing for granted. Instead of focusing his campaigning on Edwards, Kerry has been concentrating his energy on President Bush.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When November comes, George Bush is going, we're coming and don't let the door hit you on the way out, folks.
OSIAS: Super Tuesday's 10 state vote is critical, with more than half the delegates needed to win the nomination at stake. But even with a clean sweep today, Kerry would still be short of locking up the nomination.
(on camera): Almost most of the attention has certainly been focused on Kerry and Edwards, they are not the only two in the race. The Reverend Al Sharpton and Representative Dennis Kucinich remain in the race, as well.
Kimberly Osias, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: CNN is revved up for complete Super Tuesday coverage coast to coast.
Wolf Blitzer kicks off our prime time reports, as the first results roll in this evening at 7:00 Eastern.
Larry King picks up the ball at 9:00 with live updates from the campaign trail.
And later, at 10:00 Eastern, Wolf returns for another two hours with new results and reaction from the big prize, California.
Hang out late with us with a special edition -- for a special edition of "Larry King Live" at midnight.
And then at 1:00 a.m. Eastern, we're going to put it all into perspective with a special edition of "NewsNight With Aaron Brown."
Turning now, though, to Haiti and the ongoing developments there in the wake of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure.
Secretary of State Colin Powell calls Aristide's charge the U.S. kidnapped him baseless and absurd. Armed rebels driving -- or, actually, they drove into the capital of Port-au-Prince and they were greeted as conquering heroes by thousands of people.
In an exclusive interview with CNN from the Central African Republic, Aristide says he was forced out of the country in a coup d'etat led by the U.S. and Haitian rebels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE, FORMER HAITIAN PRESIDENT: What is very clear is the fact that we had military surrounding the airport, the palace, my house. In the streets, we had foreign militaries, maybe from other countries, I don't know. But I know for sure they were, some of them, American military with Haitians, well armed, ready to attack. And they told me in a clear and blunt way that thousands of people will get killed once they start. So I had to do my best to avoid that bloodshed.
They used force to push me out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right, well, about 200 U.S. Marines are in Port-au- Prince right now. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says up to 2,000 U.S. troops may ultimately be sent as peacekeepers.
In the meantime, we're going to turn back to Baghdad. The streets are calmer than they were before, but there's still a lot of anger out there.
And believe it or not, it's anger against U.S. troops and Iraqi police after a series of explosions and dozens, perhaps even more, of people now dead.
Our Jane Arraf is in the capital with the latest from there -- Jane, what can you tell us?
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the latest seems to be, according to the Baghdad police chief, he tells us that 55 people have now been confirmed dead and many, many more injured. This after four explosions hit the courtyard of the Khadimiya mosque.
Now, this is one of the holiest shrines in the world for Shia Muslims. After Najaf and Karbala, it is the holiest. And as these explosions hit, the place was packed with thousands of people. In the area were tens of thousands, many of them making their way towards the mosque in a procession in which they were whipping themselves with chains and cutting their heads with knives in commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein 14 centuries ago. A volatile situation made more volatile by these explosions.
We got into the courtyard of the mosque and found a horrific scene. The imam told us that no Muslim could have been responsible for this. He was standing next to pools of blood on the marble floor and people were still picking up the remains of people who were ripped apart by these explosions and putting them in straw baskets. So you can understand why people were so angry and why their anger was directed at anyone around, including American soldiers -- Carol.
LIN: Jane, I'd like to ask you the same question I asked Brent Sadler, who's covering the explosions and the aftermath in Karbala.
What would it take, given the security situation on the ground, from your perspective, what would it take to set up this kind of an operation, where you had virtually simultaneous blasts in two separate cities on a very important day for Shiite Muslims, where the U.S. coalition was well aware that both places could be easy targets?
ARRAF: From what we know of operations like this, it's not so easy to launch a coordinated attack, and this does appear to have been coordinated. And it was obviously something they had feared. We've been speaking for days to the U.S. military and to the local security forces about how exactly they would secure these areas. It's a nightmare scenario because we have to remember, Carol, that Iraqi Shias have not been allowed to commemorate this ceremony publicly for 30 years. There was no way in the world they would be told this year that they couldn't do it.
To allow tens of thousands of people into these places means that there's no way in the world you could do security checks on each and every one. You can't do searches on people who are slashing their heads with knives. Just impossible.
Now, they did what they thought would be a major deterrent, which is to keep cars away. And, indeed, there were no suicide car bombs here.
LIN: Right.
ARRAF: But what happened was something much more immediate.
LIN: Right. ARRAF: We don't know whether it was a rocket, other explosives, but clearly they breached the security -- Carol.
LIN: All right.
And the slashing of heads with knives is part of the religious ritual of the Ashura festival?
ARRAF: It is.
LIN: I just wanted to be clear about that. It wasn't part of the attack.
ARRAF: It commemorates the grief.
LIN: All right.
Thank you very much.
Jane Arraf live in Baghdad.
California's Supreme Court has issued a ruling upsetting to anti- abortion activists. That tops other stories making headlines across America. California's supreme court, the California Supreme Court ruled that a Catholic charity organization must provide for birth control as part of its employee health care plan. The Catholic Charities of Sacramento argued they should be exempt due to the church's moral opposition to birth control and their self-described status as a religious employer.
In Atlanta, hundreds of people attended a vigil for former high school football star Marcus Dixon. He is serving a 10 year sentence for aggravated child molestation. The 19-year-old Dixon, who is African-American, was arrested last year after he had sex with a 15- year-old white girl. The court is set to hear Dixon's appeal.
The three major grocery chains in California have until Friday to come up with a timetable for workers to return to work. Union members voted Sunday to end their four and a half month strike. The chain must also release the thousands of temporary workers who crossed the picket lines.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: Lots coming up on DAYBREAK -- an alleged arson, a possible kidnapping and a mother who discovers a daughter she thought was dead.
Also...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found what are the bodies of two adults and what appears to be the body of a child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Finally found -- police say a relative is responsible for the family's fate.
And mistakes in the air, who's really responsible?
Plus, Finnish freeze -- it's not exactly a day at the beach.
This is DAYBREAK for March 2.
COMMERCIAL
LIN: It's about quarter past the hour and here's a quick look at the top stories.
Several deadly explosions in Iraq today have killed scores of people, perhaps more than a hundred. Blasts in Baghdad and Karbala targeted the observance of a major Shiite Muslim holiday that had been banned for 30 years by Saddam Hussein.
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims the United States forced him out of office. The White House denies the allegation.
The judge in the Kobe Bryant case has postponed today's expected -year-old testimony from Bryant's accuser. She may appear later this month.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes and our next up[date is at 6:30 Eastern.
In the meantime, a gruesome story. Police in Mississippi believe they have finally found the remains of a family missing for more than two weeks. The discovery of the Hargon family came just hours after an adopted cousin was charged with their kidnapping and now their murder.
For more on this, we head to Yazoo County, Mississippi, where our Mike Brooks joins us by telephone -- Mike, you've been covering this story. I know this was sort of the last piece of the puzzle. It broke late last night.
Tell us what happened when the news came in about the bodies.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, this was definitely the last piece of the puzzle after searching all weekend and coming up with nothing. And then yesterday morning, Earnest Lee Hargon was supposed to have been -- to appear in Yazoo County court on multiple felony charges. But authorities came out and said we're putting everything on hold. We're not, we don't know when we're going to have an appearance. And then they said that they had developed new information through interviews from late the night before last and early yesterday morning.
And then we come back, then we see Earnest Lee Hargon in court yesterday, late yesterday afternoon, and he's charged with three counts of capital murder and held without bond in the murders of his cousin Michael, Rebecca and their 4-year-old son James Patrick. And then late last evening, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman came out and said that, in fact, that three bodies had been found, two adults and the body of the child, in a wooded area near Covington, Mississippi, which is very close to where they had been searching all weekend.
Now, sources yesterday also close to the investigation told me yesterday, Carol, that Earnest Lee Hargon had gone with investigators to this area and helped them find the bodies of Michael, Rebecca and 4-year-old James Patrick.
LIN: Why would he do something like that? Is there a plea bargain in the works?
BROOKS: Well, they said they are going, they are going to go ahead and seek the death penalty. So, you know, that was the first thing I was thinking, also, Carol. But right now it looks like they're going to seek the death penalty. The prosecution says they're going after the death penalty on three counts of capital murder.
He says that the murder took place during the commission of a kidnapping and authorities believe that it happened on February 14th, within 24 hours after their disappearance on the 14th, that he did kidnap them, murder them and take them to this wooded area in Covington, which is right next to the 160 acre plot of land that Earnest Lee and his wife Lisa owns, where they had been searching all Saturday and Sunday.
LIN: All right, very quickly, Mike, because I've got to wrap out of this, but the wife Lisa, is she a suspect in any of this?
BROOKS: They said really not. They said yesterday during a press conference they believe that Earnest Lee Hargon was acting alone. But they wouldn't say exactly what, if any, role that Lisa played in this, in the murders.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Mike.
It has just been a just gruesome story, I know, to cover.
Well, coming up, a totally different story here. Are your dieting habits hurting an entire American industry? See how the citrus business is fighting back.
COMMERCIAL
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: All right, up on Capitol Hill today, Congress is going to be considering a bill -- it looks like it has a pretty good chance of passing -- protecting the gun industry from any liability of lawsuits. We're going to have more on that.
And how much will your tax refund be this year? We've got a look, coming up.
COMMERCIAL
LIN: Good morning and welcome back to DAYBREAK.
I'm Carol Lin.
Carol Costello has the day off.
It is Tuesday, March 2.
At this hour, a deadly day in Iraq. Several explosions rock Karbala and Baghdad. The attacks targeted observances of a major Shiite Muslim holiday. Scores of people are dead. We are going to have a live report from Baghdad in just a moment.
Now, this is a big day for the Democratic presidential candidates, as voters head to the polls in 10 states this morning. More than 1,000 presidential delegates are at stake at the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.
In an interview with CNN, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says he is the victim of a U.S.-led coup. He adds he was whisked out of the country by the American military. The White House denies Aristide's charges.
In the Martha Stewart trial, Stewart's attorney will make his closing arguments today. Jurors will get the case as early as tomorrow.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes and our next update is at 6:45 Eastern.
Well, we want to get you up to date now on the nearly simultaneous bomb blasts in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Karbala on this, the holiest day in the Shiite Muslim calendar.
CNN's Brent Sadler was on the ground when the first explosion hit Karbala -- Brent, what was that like?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I can tell you, we could barely hear the first blast because the city streets behind me right next to the Imam Hussein mosque here in Karbala were absolutely jam packed full of worshippers. But pretty soon after that initial blast and a series of several others, people began to panic. What we can show you are some pretty graphic pictures, exclusive images taken by one of the worshippers as he and a crowd of pilgrims were heading to the city center.
And what you see in these pictures are pretty dreadful scenes of the immediate aftermath of what we believe was the first of the series of blasts here in Karbala. Dismembered bodies strewn across the street, many dead, many injured, shock in the faces of those in this area. People tried to help the wounded, trying to really deal with the enormity of what had happened. And even as they were clearing up the aftermath of that blast then people heard other blasts, creating even more panic.
It was then that we saw Iraqi security, the police, and Islamic party, their security personnel, going through the city, trying to calm the crowds, and then beginning a mammoth effort to try and get people to dissipate, to clear out the numbers of people in this very sensitive area -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Brent Sadler, reporting live in Karbala.
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Tuesday Kicks Off>
Aired March 2, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
It's Tuesday, March 2.
And from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin in for Carol Costello.
Several explosions in Iraq's holy city of Karbala come as thousands of pilgrims celebrate the year's holiest day for Shiites. More explosions at a mosque in Baghdad add to the death toll.
In the United States, today is Super Tuesday. Ten states hold election contests. More than 1,100 delegates are up for grabs. John Kerry hopes to put an iron grip on his front runner status.
Haiti's former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says the U.S. forced him out of office in a coup d'etat. The White House calls that nonsense.
In Colorado, an independent committee begins investigating allegations that the University of Colorado football program used sex and alcohol to recruit high school players.
NASA plans what it calls a significant announcement today regarding its Mars rover. There is speculation, though, that NASA will reveal the red planet was once capable of sustaining microscopic life forms.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes and our next update is at 6:15 Eastern.
The holiest day of the year for Shiite Muslims shattered in two Iraqi cities today by multiple explosions. Bodies of the dead and wounded spread over the streets.
We have live reports from both cities, beginning with Brent Sadler in Karbala -- Brent, give us the low down on exactly what happened today.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.
Good morning, Carol Lin.
This started about three hours ago when we first heard the detonation of a powerful explosion, not in the city center of Karbala, as you can see behind me, but a couple of miles on the perimeter. And this really sent shock waves through the religious ceremonies that had been taking place and continue to take place under these very difficult circumstances.
I want to show you some pretty gruesome pictures, exclusive pictures that we got hold of very recently. These were taken by one of the worshippers. He was shooting with his camera, joining a large group of pilgrims heading towards the center of Karbala when he heard a blast. He got the smoke rising after, we think it was the first explosion. And then he goes in with the camera to show us some of the dreadful scenes, terrible injuries and deaths, bodies scattered across the street after this, we think, the first explosion.
Now, there was no initial panic in that location. We believe this was at a place called the Baghdad Gate. We don't know the numbers of those killed, but certainly many dead and many, many more injured in these scenes that you can now see.
There were several other locations were bombs went off. It's not clear at this stage whether these were small devices carried by suicide bombers, whether they were some sort of improvised explosive device, possibly using mortar shells. Iraqi police suggesting that mortars may have been used, possibly fired, in at least two locations.
We counted up to nine explosions in various locations in a time scale of about one hour. Pretty soon after that, the city was shaken badly by this. We saw security being stepped up and we saw ambulances carving their way, forcing their way through the crowds and announcements on loudspeakers from the imam, whose same mosque, one of the central points here in Karbala, for pilgrims to step forward and donate blood to help those who have been injured in these bomb explosions -- Carol Lin.
LIN: Brent, let me just draw from your years of experience out in the field. The blasts in Karbala, the explosions at the mosque in Baghdad, were they somewhat simultaneous and what would it take to coordinate this scale of an attack in two cities?
SADLER: That's a very good question, Carol. And what I can tell you is that I was in the crowd when that first blast went off here in Karbala. You could barely hear it above all the prayers and drum beating and religious worshipping that was going on. So it took several minutes here for people to be aware of what had happened.
Now, in terms of Baghdad, as I was moving from that street behind me up to my rooftop position here, we continued to hear blasts and then we heard reports coming from my colleague, Jane Arraf, in Baghdad, that a mosque had been targeted there. All this in a space of a confusing 10, 15 minutes.
LIN: Wow.
SADLER: To coordinate these kind of attacks, well, all you have to do is look at your watch, I guess. But certainly in the time scale that we could see on the ground in both cities, these things happened more or less in the same 20 or 30 minutes -- Carol Lin.
LIN: A lot of thought put into place.
Thank you very much.
Brent Sadler reporting live in the holy city of Karbala.
In fact, our Jane Arraf had reported on Baghdad. We're going to be getting to her in just a minute.
We've got to touch on some election news right here in the United States, because it is a big day for the Democrats, because in about an hour, polls are going to start opening in some of the 10 state contests that make up Super Tuesday. More than half the delegates needed for the Democratic presidential nomination are at stake, which could pretty much close the door on the Democratic race. Or it could blow the door wide open.
Our Kimberly Osias has more from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me begin very direct with you about something. The voters deserve to know the differences between us. But if you are looking for the candidate who's going to do the best job of attacking other Democrats, that is not me. It's never been me.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Edwards needs to get his supporters to the polls. His only victory so far is in his native South Carolina. Today, a final push to separate himself from front runner Senator John Kerry. Edwards' focus now is bringing jobs back to the U.S.
John Kerry comes into the big day confident and relaxed. Having already won 19 out of 21 states, Kerry is the presumptive nominee. But he says he's taking nothing for granted. Instead of focusing his campaigning on Edwards, Kerry has been concentrating his energy on President Bush.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When November comes, George Bush is going, we're coming and don't let the door hit you on the way out, folks.
OSIAS: Super Tuesday's 10 state vote is critical, with more than half the delegates needed to win the nomination at stake. But even with a clean sweep today, Kerry would still be short of locking up the nomination.
(on camera): Almost most of the attention has certainly been focused on Kerry and Edwards, they are not the only two in the race. The Reverend Al Sharpton and Representative Dennis Kucinich remain in the race, as well.
Kimberly Osias, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: CNN is revved up for complete Super Tuesday coverage coast to coast.
Wolf Blitzer kicks off our prime time reports, as the first results roll in this evening at 7:00 Eastern.
Larry King picks up the ball at 9:00 with live updates from the campaign trail.
And later, at 10:00 Eastern, Wolf returns for another two hours with new results and reaction from the big prize, California.
Hang out late with us with a special edition -- for a special edition of "Larry King Live" at midnight.
And then at 1:00 a.m. Eastern, we're going to put it all into perspective with a special edition of "NewsNight With Aaron Brown."
Turning now, though, to Haiti and the ongoing developments there in the wake of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure.
Secretary of State Colin Powell calls Aristide's charge the U.S. kidnapped him baseless and absurd. Armed rebels driving -- or, actually, they drove into the capital of Port-au-Prince and they were greeted as conquering heroes by thousands of people.
In an exclusive interview with CNN from the Central African Republic, Aristide says he was forced out of the country in a coup d'etat led by the U.S. and Haitian rebels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE, FORMER HAITIAN PRESIDENT: What is very clear is the fact that we had military surrounding the airport, the palace, my house. In the streets, we had foreign militaries, maybe from other countries, I don't know. But I know for sure they were, some of them, American military with Haitians, well armed, ready to attack. And they told me in a clear and blunt way that thousands of people will get killed once they start. So I had to do my best to avoid that bloodshed.
They used force to push me out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right, well, about 200 U.S. Marines are in Port-au- Prince right now. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says up to 2,000 U.S. troops may ultimately be sent as peacekeepers.
In the meantime, we're going to turn back to Baghdad. The streets are calmer than they were before, but there's still a lot of anger out there.
And believe it or not, it's anger against U.S. troops and Iraqi police after a series of explosions and dozens, perhaps even more, of people now dead.
Our Jane Arraf is in the capital with the latest from there -- Jane, what can you tell us?
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the latest seems to be, according to the Baghdad police chief, he tells us that 55 people have now been confirmed dead and many, many more injured. This after four explosions hit the courtyard of the Khadimiya mosque.
Now, this is one of the holiest shrines in the world for Shia Muslims. After Najaf and Karbala, it is the holiest. And as these explosions hit, the place was packed with thousands of people. In the area were tens of thousands, many of them making their way towards the mosque in a procession in which they were whipping themselves with chains and cutting their heads with knives in commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein 14 centuries ago. A volatile situation made more volatile by these explosions.
We got into the courtyard of the mosque and found a horrific scene. The imam told us that no Muslim could have been responsible for this. He was standing next to pools of blood on the marble floor and people were still picking up the remains of people who were ripped apart by these explosions and putting them in straw baskets. So you can understand why people were so angry and why their anger was directed at anyone around, including American soldiers -- Carol.
LIN: Jane, I'd like to ask you the same question I asked Brent Sadler, who's covering the explosions and the aftermath in Karbala.
What would it take, given the security situation on the ground, from your perspective, what would it take to set up this kind of an operation, where you had virtually simultaneous blasts in two separate cities on a very important day for Shiite Muslims, where the U.S. coalition was well aware that both places could be easy targets?
ARRAF: From what we know of operations like this, it's not so easy to launch a coordinated attack, and this does appear to have been coordinated. And it was obviously something they had feared. We've been speaking for days to the U.S. military and to the local security forces about how exactly they would secure these areas. It's a nightmare scenario because we have to remember, Carol, that Iraqi Shias have not been allowed to commemorate this ceremony publicly for 30 years. There was no way in the world they would be told this year that they couldn't do it.
To allow tens of thousands of people into these places means that there's no way in the world you could do security checks on each and every one. You can't do searches on people who are slashing their heads with knives. Just impossible.
Now, they did what they thought would be a major deterrent, which is to keep cars away. And, indeed, there were no suicide car bombs here.
LIN: Right.
ARRAF: But what happened was something much more immediate.
LIN: Right. ARRAF: We don't know whether it was a rocket, other explosives, but clearly they breached the security -- Carol.
LIN: All right.
And the slashing of heads with knives is part of the religious ritual of the Ashura festival?
ARRAF: It is.
LIN: I just wanted to be clear about that. It wasn't part of the attack.
ARRAF: It commemorates the grief.
LIN: All right.
Thank you very much.
Jane Arraf live in Baghdad.
California's Supreme Court has issued a ruling upsetting to anti- abortion activists. That tops other stories making headlines across America. California's supreme court, the California Supreme Court ruled that a Catholic charity organization must provide for birth control as part of its employee health care plan. The Catholic Charities of Sacramento argued they should be exempt due to the church's moral opposition to birth control and their self-described status as a religious employer.
In Atlanta, hundreds of people attended a vigil for former high school football star Marcus Dixon. He is serving a 10 year sentence for aggravated child molestation. The 19-year-old Dixon, who is African-American, was arrested last year after he had sex with a 15- year-old white girl. The court is set to hear Dixon's appeal.
The three major grocery chains in California have until Friday to come up with a timetable for workers to return to work. Union members voted Sunday to end their four and a half month strike. The chain must also release the thousands of temporary workers who crossed the picket lines.
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LIN: Lots coming up on DAYBREAK -- an alleged arson, a possible kidnapping and a mother who discovers a daughter she thought was dead.
Also...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found what are the bodies of two adults and what appears to be the body of a child.
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LIN: Finally found -- police say a relative is responsible for the family's fate.
And mistakes in the air, who's really responsible?
Plus, Finnish freeze -- it's not exactly a day at the beach.
This is DAYBREAK for March 2.
COMMERCIAL
LIN: It's about quarter past the hour and here's a quick look at the top stories.
Several deadly explosions in Iraq today have killed scores of people, perhaps more than a hundred. Blasts in Baghdad and Karbala targeted the observance of a major Shiite Muslim holiday that had been banned for 30 years by Saddam Hussein.
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims the United States forced him out of office. The White House denies the allegation.
The judge in the Kobe Bryant case has postponed today's expected -year-old testimony from Bryant's accuser. She may appear later this month.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes and our next up[date is at 6:30 Eastern.
In the meantime, a gruesome story. Police in Mississippi believe they have finally found the remains of a family missing for more than two weeks. The discovery of the Hargon family came just hours after an adopted cousin was charged with their kidnapping and now their murder.
For more on this, we head to Yazoo County, Mississippi, where our Mike Brooks joins us by telephone -- Mike, you've been covering this story. I know this was sort of the last piece of the puzzle. It broke late last night.
Tell us what happened when the news came in about the bodies.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, this was definitely the last piece of the puzzle after searching all weekend and coming up with nothing. And then yesterday morning, Earnest Lee Hargon was supposed to have been -- to appear in Yazoo County court on multiple felony charges. But authorities came out and said we're putting everything on hold. We're not, we don't know when we're going to have an appearance. And then they said that they had developed new information through interviews from late the night before last and early yesterday morning.
And then we come back, then we see Earnest Lee Hargon in court yesterday, late yesterday afternoon, and he's charged with three counts of capital murder and held without bond in the murders of his cousin Michael, Rebecca and their 4-year-old son James Patrick. And then late last evening, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman came out and said that, in fact, that three bodies had been found, two adults and the body of the child, in a wooded area near Covington, Mississippi, which is very close to where they had been searching all weekend.
Now, sources yesterday also close to the investigation told me yesterday, Carol, that Earnest Lee Hargon had gone with investigators to this area and helped them find the bodies of Michael, Rebecca and 4-year-old James Patrick.
LIN: Why would he do something like that? Is there a plea bargain in the works?
BROOKS: Well, they said they are going, they are going to go ahead and seek the death penalty. So, you know, that was the first thing I was thinking, also, Carol. But right now it looks like they're going to seek the death penalty. The prosecution says they're going after the death penalty on three counts of capital murder.
He says that the murder took place during the commission of a kidnapping and authorities believe that it happened on February 14th, within 24 hours after their disappearance on the 14th, that he did kidnap them, murder them and take them to this wooded area in Covington, which is right next to the 160 acre plot of land that Earnest Lee and his wife Lisa owns, where they had been searching all Saturday and Sunday.
LIN: All right, very quickly, Mike, because I've got to wrap out of this, but the wife Lisa, is she a suspect in any of this?
BROOKS: They said really not. They said yesterday during a press conference they believe that Earnest Lee Hargon was acting alone. But they wouldn't say exactly what, if any, role that Lisa played in this, in the murders.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Mike.
It has just been a just gruesome story, I know, to cover.
Well, coming up, a totally different story here. Are your dieting habits hurting an entire American industry? See how the citrus business is fighting back.
COMMERCIAL
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LIN: All right, up on Capitol Hill today, Congress is going to be considering a bill -- it looks like it has a pretty good chance of passing -- protecting the gun industry from any liability of lawsuits. We're going to have more on that.
And how much will your tax refund be this year? We've got a look, coming up.
COMMERCIAL
LIN: Good morning and welcome back to DAYBREAK.
I'm Carol Lin.
Carol Costello has the day off.
It is Tuesday, March 2.
At this hour, a deadly day in Iraq. Several explosions rock Karbala and Baghdad. The attacks targeted observances of a major Shiite Muslim holiday. Scores of people are dead. We are going to have a live report from Baghdad in just a moment.
Now, this is a big day for the Democratic presidential candidates, as voters head to the polls in 10 states this morning. More than 1,000 presidential delegates are at stake at the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.
In an interview with CNN, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says he is the victim of a U.S.-led coup. He adds he was whisked out of the country by the American military. The White House denies Aristide's charges.
In the Martha Stewart trial, Stewart's attorney will make his closing arguments today. Jurors will get the case as early as tomorrow.
We update the top stories every 15 minutes and our next update is at 6:45 Eastern.
Well, we want to get you up to date now on the nearly simultaneous bomb blasts in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Karbala on this, the holiest day in the Shiite Muslim calendar.
CNN's Brent Sadler was on the ground when the first explosion hit Karbala -- Brent, what was that like?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I can tell you, we could barely hear the first blast because the city streets behind me right next to the Imam Hussein mosque here in Karbala were absolutely jam packed full of worshippers. But pretty soon after that initial blast and a series of several others, people began to panic. What we can show you are some pretty graphic pictures, exclusive images taken by one of the worshippers as he and a crowd of pilgrims were heading to the city center.
And what you see in these pictures are pretty dreadful scenes of the immediate aftermath of what we believe was the first of the series of blasts here in Karbala. Dismembered bodies strewn across the street, many dead, many injured, shock in the faces of those in this area. People tried to help the wounded, trying to really deal with the enormity of what had happened. And even as they were clearing up the aftermath of that blast then people heard other blasts, creating even more panic.
It was then that we saw Iraqi security, the police, and Islamic party, their security personnel, going through the city, trying to calm the crowds, and then beginning a mammoth effort to try and get people to dissipate, to clear out the numbers of people in this very sensitive area -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Brent Sadler, reporting live in Karbala.
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