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CNN Live At Daybreak

Getting Ready; Iraq Attacks; Under Fire; Russia & Terrorism; Anti-depressants & Kids

Aired September 15, 2004 - 05:30   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Getting ready for another beating, Gulf Coast residents brace for Ivan.
It is Wednesday, September 15. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news -- Spanish police have some terror suspects in custody this morning. They have arrested 10 people, mostly Pakistani nationals, in Barcelona. The suspects are accused of taking part in terrorist activities, but police haven't confirmed any link to the Madrid train bombings back in March.

Back home, it could be good news for cash-strapped seniors. Health officials are announcing changes to the Medicare drug discount program this morning. They say the changes will allow seniors to save more money on prescription drugs.

An airborne salute later today to the men and women of the U.S. Air Force. Warplanes will fly over as the Air Force breaks ground near the Pentagon on a memorial honoring its troops.

And along the Gulf Coast, a lot of people are not sticking around to see what Hurricane Ivan has in store for them. Roads are packed as coastal residents in Mississippi and Louisiana flee the coming storm.

Tell us more about Ivan -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Mobile just talking about how this could exceed the damage done by Frederick so many years ago. A very strong storm, 140 miles per hour. You can see the scope of this storm now already spreading showers to Tampa. Some of the outer bands will begin to make contact here with Pensacola, all the way to Panama City, rather quickly.

We tend to focus on where the eye is, where the eye is going, blah, blah, blah, eye, eye, eye. But I'll tell you what, this is such a large storm, there will be hurricane winds in excess of 100 miles away from the eye, all the way over to Apalachicola. That's where the hurricane warnings exist, from Apalachicola, Florida, all the way over to Grand Isle, Louisiana.

The parishes of Louisiana going to get it, Pascagoula going to get it. But then, the eye makes landfall itself very close to Mobile Bay, a little bit after probably 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning coming up this morning, so about 24 hours or less from now.

Don't so much focus on the eye, although, yes, the winds around the eye are 140. And if you are keeping track, 26.1, 87.8, those are the latest numbers. And that eye will take it right through Mobile Bay on this current latest track. As that does, obviously the storm surge up the Mobile Bay will be incredible. Ten to 16 feet of water pushing right through and up Mobile Bay. The models are already saying how high that water will go and how far it will actually inundate the city.

You can't just take 16 feet of water and then say it's going to stop at some point. It just keeps going all the way up the rivers as well, Carol. So, this is obviously a major storm for this part of the country. And it's going to have a major impact, Pensacola, Dolphin Island, Gulf Shores, Mobile, Pascagoula, even Biloxi. You're not going to -- it's such a large area, you can't just focus on one point, like Punta Gorda. You get north of Punta Gorda 40 miles, there was really very little. It's not going to happen with this one.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: A lot of Gulf Coast residents, as a result, are heeding the warnings to get out. These are preparations you are looking at now in Louisiana. Well the highway across the northern part of the city was bumper-to-bumper traffic for something like 30 miles yesterday night or last night, rather.

East of the New Orleans area, residents of the Mississippi coastline also have been getting ready for the powerful winds and torrential rains. Take a look at what it's like for people trying to leave Biloxi, Mississippi. State officials estimate more than a quarter million people are leaving the coastline there.

You just saw what it looks like to get out of Biloxi. Reporter Dave McNamara of CNN affiliate WWL in New Orleans traveled to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a look at hurricane preparations there. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVE MCNAMARA, WWL-TV REPORTER (voice-over): The town of Bay St. Louis is quiet, except for the sound of plywood. As friends and family help Lily West board up her waterfront flower shop, this business owner prays.

LILY WEST, BUSINESS OWNER: I just pray that the Lord, you know, just put it back out.

MCNAMARA (on camera): You're worried about this?

WEST: Yes, definitely. But with the help of the Lord, you know he can just send it back out, not to the right or the left, just back out. MCNAMARA (voice-over): A few blocks away, Woody Santa Cruz remembers that Hurricane Camille pushed water to the front steps of his home.

WOODY SANTA CRUZ, BAY ST. LOUIS RESIDENT: The sea level here is maybe 20 feet, something like that, close to it.

MCNAMARA (on camera): So, you're right on the edge?

SANTA CRUZ: Right on the edge, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The holes are here, dad, but no boards.

MCNAMARA (voice-over): And in Pass Christian, 89-year-old Ben Bell is getting help boarding up his beachfront home, a structure that was built after Hurricane Camille.

BEN BELL, HOMEOWNER: Well it was a big two story house, much larger house than this is today, and it was washed away.

MCNAMARA: All of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from the beach north to Interstate 10, is under a mandatory evacuation order. And all residents have been told to get out by noon tomorrow.

JIM POLLARD, MISS. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: The coroner's office has gone as far as to create a form for public safety officials to take to those residents, who we hope will be extremely few in number, asking them to give information to identify their bodies, even to the point of asking for identifying scars and tattoos and birthmarks. We're that serious about this storm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was Dave McNamara of CNN affiliate WWL reporting from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll get more on the preparations for Ivan from our meteorologist Rob Marciano. He's live in Mobile, Alabama this morning. And Sara Dorsey will join us from Pensacola. That's in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK.

And DAYBREAK'S special coverage of Ivan's anticipated landfall begins an hour earlier than usual tomorrow morning at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific Time.

Some developing news coming out of Iraq this morning, a grizzly sight.

Let's bring in our senior international editor David Clinch to tell us more about this. We've been trying to confirm this.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, just an early report from Reuters's today in Iraq that three beheaded bodies have been found in northern Iraq thought to be foreigners. Now that may mean that they are Turkish, it may mean that they are American, we don't know. We have no idea what that means. It's an initial report from local Iraqi police that they appear to be foreigners, non-Iraqis.

COSTELLO: Well we know that one American hasn't been seen for quite some time. He was taken hostage.

CLINCH: Right, that is true, and we're going to pay very close attention to that. But obviously there are also a number of people of other nationalities who have been held hostage. And just earlier today, we had a report that one Turkish truck driver had been let go. That he apparently had agreed to convert to Islam and his truck company had agreed not to operate in Iraq anymore, and he has been released.

Three bodies, though, apparently found in northern Iraq, who are foreigners, and we've been trying to get some more information on that. And it just continues.

There is violence elsewhere, also in Ramadi today. Tension, no violence reported yet, in Baghdad, at least, in the area yesterday where we saw that massive bombing and 47 people killed in Haifa Street in central Baghdad, but very tense there.

And really, I mean this is the challenge that we face covering this story now and for the next few months, up until the planned elections in January. There is, of course, the appearance on a day like yesterday that it's all black and white, but it's all falling apart, that it's chaos.

And then, of course, there's the other point of view we're seeing information coming from other parts of Iraq. Just today in Basra, British forces handing over control of the last offices there to Iraqis, an atmosphere of great friendliness and optimism there.

So, it's not black and white, it's gray. It's shades of gray everywhere in Iraq. All of the indications on a day like yesterday that it's heading towards civil war, that the U.S. has failed, all of those things can be seen in a very different point of view when you go to a different part of the country.

If you talk to Iraqis in other parts of the country, they are filled with enthusiasm. They are joining the Iraqi national forces. They are becoming policemen. And they believe, they may not necessarily love the United States that much, they may be quite keen for them to leave, but they are very enthusiastic about the idea of being a democratic country and a free country.

The question, though, of course, remains open. And we will have to make sure that our coverage over the next few months reflects both sides of that, not an easy thing to do when it's many cases too dangerous for us to even leave the hotel. So, quite a difficult task, but we do our best.

COSTELLO: We do. Thank you -- David.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Under attack. For some U.S. troops in Iraq, facing enemy fire has become part of their daily lives, especially in one Baghdad neighborhood.

CNN's Diana Muriel takes us to Sadr City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make a hole, make a hole, make a hole.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the sun goes down, the shooting starts. For the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, it's a daily part of their routine at this base, an abandoned school building in the north of Sadr City.

(on camera): What you've been hearing is like a warmup for what is to come, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, and mortars have been landing around this forward operating base here in Sadr City. It happens every night. And it will probably only get worse.

(voice-over): Waiting to go out on a mission, the tension building. A few try to snatch some sleep. Most are alert, watchful.

Finally, the night operation is under way, 20 armored vehicles on patrol, with air support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), are you ready?

MURIEL: The tactic, drawing out the Mehdi Militia, who have been attacking with rockets and AK-47s. The helicopter is the bait.

Tonight, the patrol has been successful. Two fighters killed in action. In all, the day's tally, 18 militiamen killed, an unknown number wounded. The commander considers it a quiet night.

LT. COL. GARY VOLESKY, 5th CAVALRY, U.S. ARMY: Maybe they just didn't want to come out and fight us tonight.

MURIEL: But these soldiers rarely get much of a break.

(on camera): This base, to the northeast of Sadr City, is where U.S. forces come back to regroup and reform. But even here, they're vulnerable to attack. The black smoke is rising from a mortar attack on a fuel truck within the walls of this compound.

(voice-over): Despite the problems, U.S. forces have been trying to improve the desperate living conditions for the people of this sprawling slum district. But work on most of the projects has had to stop. We found out why.

At a sewage pumping station the U.S. military had helped to refurbish, we came under attack from militiamen firing AK-47s. We made a run for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go.

MURIEL: The cavalry will be back, but only once they've finished fighting.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Sadr City, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, school is back in session in Beslan; but two weeks after the deadly terrorist siege, fear and questions remain. Our Matthew Chance was there. He'll join me live right here on the set with a firsthand account.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLETTE MCLEROY, SUCCESS WITH ANTI-DEPRESSANTS: For the first time that I can remember, I was genuinely happy for an entire day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the reality is not every teenager fighting depression responds that way to drug therapy. Coming up, what the experts want you parents to know.

But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Welcome back to DAYBREAK. It's 5:44 Eastern Time.

Russia calls it its 9/11. I'm talking about that deadly hostage taking at a school in Beslan two weeks ago, 335 people died, most of them children. The tragedy left the nation reeling in grief. And now Russia's president is making a new push to fight terrorism.

Our Matthew Chance covered the school siege, and he is in Atlanta this morning to tell us more about that.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nice to be here (ph).

COSTELLO: What a horrible experience it must have been just to be there witnessing that.

CHANCE: It was a terrible experience. And you know we've all sort of seen quite a lot in our travels for CNN covering the terrible news that we cover around the world. But this was something quite different. So many people, such a large number of the most vulnerable members of that society. Was it something like 330, 335 people were killed. It's only a town of 50,000 people. So, this was something in the region of 1 percent of the entire population.

And so, there wasn't a single family in Beslan that wasn't directly affected by this tragedy. They'd either lost a mother or a father or a brother or a sister or they lived next door to somebody who did. And so, virtually the whole town was in grief.

COSTELLO: Well you know just the thought of somebody opening fire on small children. I mean did anybody really believe that would happen when these children were initially taken hostage?

CHANCE: Well I mean certainly the Russian's government position from the outset is that they were going to do absolutely everything they could to bring this hostage crisis to a peaceful negotiated end. And that's one of the reasons why things happened so sort of unexpectedly, because the Russian special forces had been pulled away, the area hadn't been sealed off properly from the local community, so there were certain mistakes made.

And then when all these explosions took place and the actual gun battle, which lasted eight hours, sort of took place, it ended in the worst possible way. Virtually everybody inside was either killed outright or extremely serious injuries.

COSTELLO: You know I've read a lot of articles about the Russian government and how Vladimir Putin has taken a lot of power away from the local governments. And some say that's part of the reason why this didn't go down as well as it should from a military standpoint. Because if you have weak leaders in local places, they can't respond, they are waiting for Vladimir Putin to fly in and tell them what to do.

CHANCE: That's certainly an aspect. You know all over Russia there is this attitude that you know on big issues like this they have to wait for the one man in the country who is empowered or has empowered himself to make these important decisions and that's Vladimir Putin. Which obviously it means that when you're dealing with people on the ground that have to make decisions immediately, they are holding back, they are waiting for the leadership to come over and to make that decision for them. And that was certainly a contributing factor.

COSTELLO: Well, and he's even tightening the reins more now, isn't he?

CHANCE: Yes, and this is interesting, because obviously the whole country in the aftermath of this atrocity were looking to their president to take some kind of action to show that he was, you know, dealing with it in some way. And so, what he's done is gone out there in front of the country and he has announced that he is taking power away from the people who elect the local governors and he is now going to be appointing those governors of these many, many republics in Russia directly.

And so it, in some way, centralizing power in Russia, in the Kremlin, in Vladimir Putin's hands. That's been criticized by a lot of pro democracy activists in Russia and elsewhere as being steps away from the progress towards democracy Russia was taking. But the irony is, I think, Carol, is that many people in Russia actually want to see this happening. They want strong leadership at this time, and this is how they see strong leadership, central Kremlin power.

COSTELLO: It just sounds, you know, growing up in the Cold War era, it sounds like a return to Communism almost.

CHANCE: Well I mean, and certainly there's a great deal of nostalgia amongst the people in Russia who were sort of living this insecurity on a day-to-day basis. They have had so many of these terrorist attacks. They've had the week before this Beslan bombing, two airliners were brought out of the sky by suspected Chechen suicide bombers. There have been suicide bombs. There have been apartment bombings in the Russian capital and towns across the country. And so, I think a lot of people look back nostalgically to the time during the Soviet Union when there was at least security.

COSTELLO: Yes. Matthew Chance, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it. And enjoy your time in Atlanta.

CHANCE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:48 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

In Barcelona, Spain, police arrested 10 people for suspected Islamic terrorist activities. A court official says most of the suspects are Pakistani nationals. There is no indication of a link to the March 11 train bombings in Madrid.

A scheduled speech by disgraced journalist Jayson Blair is raising eyebrows at a school in North Carolina. Blair, who resigned from the "New York Times," speaks this morning at Winston-Salem State University.

In money news, as if Hurricane Ivan isn't creating enough anxiety, it's also causing a 60 percent cut in the production of oil from the Gulf of Mexico. More than half of the Gulf's 880 oil rigs and platforms have now been evacuated.

In culture, the nominations are out for the American Music Awards. R&B singer Usher tops the list with four nominations, including best album in two different categories. The awards will be handed out in November.

In sports, extra security was on hand for the return of the Texas Rangers to play the Oakland A's. The move came after Ranger's pitcher Frank Francisco was arrested for throwing a chair into the stands and breaking the nose of a fan -- Chad.

MYERS: Carol, good morning.

I've drawn a line on the map here and we're trying to kind of keep the left side of the eyewall on this line the entire time from when it was in the Yucatan Channel now making its way. And I've really drawn that line right to New Orleans, because we've talked about this. If the storm did not turn, then in fact, New Orleans, you are really under the gun for this thing.

But if you'll notice, there's a little gap now right there between where the eye was, the eye was right here on this line, and now there was a gap between that. I'll draw that line back for you. There is that red line and now there is that gap. Really makes a difference because now this storm is beginning to make its turn. Beginning to turn just a little bit to the right. And as that happens, it's going to take it up toward Mobile Bay. That's the official forecast track.

But one of the models that did a very, very good job with Charley was actually turning that storm much farther to the east towards Pensacola. We'll have to worry about that as it gets closer. But there's a lot more to go on this storm before it makes landfall, 140 miles per hour -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You have a long night ahead of you. Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

Yesterday we told you about concerns that some anti-depressants may actually increase a child's risk of attempting suicide. Well now FDA advisers are calling for stronger warning labels.

Our medical correspondent Christy Feig has an update for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And usually the drugs can't be...

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FDA's advisory committee came to a consensus after just one day of reviewing data that in some children anti-depressants increase the risk of attempting suicide.

DR. THOMAS LAUGHREN, FDA: Out of 100 patients treated, this is short term now, short-term treatment, you can expect that 2 or 3 out of that 100 will have some excess of suicidality.

FEIG: For mothers, like Kathy Woodward, that confirmed what she already believed. Her 17-year-old daughter, Julie, was prescribed an anti-depressant. Weeks later, she killed herself.

KATHY WOODWARD, DAUGHTER KILLED HERSELF: We believed what the doctors told us, it was safe and mild and the side effects were nausea and diarrhea.

FEIG: But others are adamant depression alone can be deadly and this medicine saves lives.

MCLEROY: The day after I started taking them, for the first time that I can remember, I was genuinely happy for an entire day.

FEIG: The committee agreed the FDA should not ban the use of the drugs in children the way Britain has. But they did recommend adding the strongest warning a drug can get to the label of anti-depressants, a black box warning.

DR. DELBERT ROBINSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER: There is a potentially fatal side effect that might occur in 2 to 3 percent of children taking these drugs. I think we have to, in some way, make sure that that information gets out. FEIG: And most important, they want better clinical trials done that study the medicine in kids for longer than three months and aren't paid for by the makers of the drugs.

Christy Feig, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The blood pressure was definitely high in Oakland on Monday night. Did you see the basebrawl -- and not just the players, either? This turned into a fan fracas. We're going to read some of your responses to our e-mail "Question of the Morning": What is the best way to deal with rowdy fans and players? Daybreak@cnn.com.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Texas Ranger's pitcher Frank Francisco joins Bobby Knight and Geraldo Rivera in the annals of chair throwing incidents. His entry into the books came during Monday night's game in Oakland. Francisco's toss hit a woman in the face and broke her nose. You can see it there.

He has now been arrested on aggravated battery charges. This woman here says she might file a civil suit. Francisco spent two hours in jail before posting $15,000 bond. Showed up for last night's game in Oakland, but he did not play.

So, our e-mail "Question of the Day": What's the best way to deal with these rowdy fans -- and rowdy baseball players, for that matter? I mean, do you separate them with a big old net or maybe some Plexiglas?

We've gotten a lot of responses this morning.

This one from James (ph) in Virginia Beach: "This is simple, if a fan charges out onto the field, then players can take whatever measure is necessary to protect themselves. A loud, annoying fan should be ignored. Pro baseball players are among the highest paid athletes in the country. There is no reason for that kind of behavior."

This one is from John (ph). He says, "Rowdiness at sporting events? That's easy: Cease selling alcohol at the venues.

And this from Chris (ph) from San Francisco. He says, "I think sports players should take a leaf from politicians, when was the last time you saw John Kerry or George Bush jumping into the crowd and throwing things at hecklers, although I'd pay money to see that one."

And this one from Steve (ph) from Springfield, Illinois. He says, "The right thing would be for the player to act like they are paid to and get over the ego. The fans, too, should act like decent people and respect the player regardless of the team."

But you know, that never really happens, especially if you're rooting for the other side.

We're going to have much more on this story in the next hour of DAYBREAK. Sports talk, actually our sports contributor, Chris Cotter, joins us with his take on the Francisco fiasco.

Also, residents along the Gulf Coast brace for the worst as the nation keeps an eye on Ivan. We'll have several live reports for you straight ahead.

This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 15, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Getting ready for another beating, Gulf Coast residents brace for Ivan.
It is Wednesday, September 15. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news -- Spanish police have some terror suspects in custody this morning. They have arrested 10 people, mostly Pakistani nationals, in Barcelona. The suspects are accused of taking part in terrorist activities, but police haven't confirmed any link to the Madrid train bombings back in March.

Back home, it could be good news for cash-strapped seniors. Health officials are announcing changes to the Medicare drug discount program this morning. They say the changes will allow seniors to save more money on prescription drugs.

An airborne salute later today to the men and women of the U.S. Air Force. Warplanes will fly over as the Air Force breaks ground near the Pentagon on a memorial honoring its troops.

And along the Gulf Coast, a lot of people are not sticking around to see what Hurricane Ivan has in store for them. Roads are packed as coastal residents in Mississippi and Louisiana flee the coming storm.

Tell us more about Ivan -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Mobile just talking about how this could exceed the damage done by Frederick so many years ago. A very strong storm, 140 miles per hour. You can see the scope of this storm now already spreading showers to Tampa. Some of the outer bands will begin to make contact here with Pensacola, all the way to Panama City, rather quickly.

We tend to focus on where the eye is, where the eye is going, blah, blah, blah, eye, eye, eye. But I'll tell you what, this is such a large storm, there will be hurricane winds in excess of 100 miles away from the eye, all the way over to Apalachicola. That's where the hurricane warnings exist, from Apalachicola, Florida, all the way over to Grand Isle, Louisiana.

The parishes of Louisiana going to get it, Pascagoula going to get it. But then, the eye makes landfall itself very close to Mobile Bay, a little bit after probably 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning coming up this morning, so about 24 hours or less from now.

Don't so much focus on the eye, although, yes, the winds around the eye are 140. And if you are keeping track, 26.1, 87.8, those are the latest numbers. And that eye will take it right through Mobile Bay on this current latest track. As that does, obviously the storm surge up the Mobile Bay will be incredible. Ten to 16 feet of water pushing right through and up Mobile Bay. The models are already saying how high that water will go and how far it will actually inundate the city.

You can't just take 16 feet of water and then say it's going to stop at some point. It just keeps going all the way up the rivers as well, Carol. So, this is obviously a major storm for this part of the country. And it's going to have a major impact, Pensacola, Dolphin Island, Gulf Shores, Mobile, Pascagoula, even Biloxi. You're not going to -- it's such a large area, you can't just focus on one point, like Punta Gorda. You get north of Punta Gorda 40 miles, there was really very little. It's not going to happen with this one.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: A lot of Gulf Coast residents, as a result, are heeding the warnings to get out. These are preparations you are looking at now in Louisiana. Well the highway across the northern part of the city was bumper-to-bumper traffic for something like 30 miles yesterday night or last night, rather.

East of the New Orleans area, residents of the Mississippi coastline also have been getting ready for the powerful winds and torrential rains. Take a look at what it's like for people trying to leave Biloxi, Mississippi. State officials estimate more than a quarter million people are leaving the coastline there.

You just saw what it looks like to get out of Biloxi. Reporter Dave McNamara of CNN affiliate WWL in New Orleans traveled to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a look at hurricane preparations there. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVE MCNAMARA, WWL-TV REPORTER (voice-over): The town of Bay St. Louis is quiet, except for the sound of plywood. As friends and family help Lily West board up her waterfront flower shop, this business owner prays.

LILY WEST, BUSINESS OWNER: I just pray that the Lord, you know, just put it back out.

MCNAMARA (on camera): You're worried about this?

WEST: Yes, definitely. But with the help of the Lord, you know he can just send it back out, not to the right or the left, just back out. MCNAMARA (voice-over): A few blocks away, Woody Santa Cruz remembers that Hurricane Camille pushed water to the front steps of his home.

WOODY SANTA CRUZ, BAY ST. LOUIS RESIDENT: The sea level here is maybe 20 feet, something like that, close to it.

MCNAMARA (on camera): So, you're right on the edge?

SANTA CRUZ: Right on the edge, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The holes are here, dad, but no boards.

MCNAMARA (voice-over): And in Pass Christian, 89-year-old Ben Bell is getting help boarding up his beachfront home, a structure that was built after Hurricane Camille.

BEN BELL, HOMEOWNER: Well it was a big two story house, much larger house than this is today, and it was washed away.

MCNAMARA: All of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from the beach north to Interstate 10, is under a mandatory evacuation order. And all residents have been told to get out by noon tomorrow.

JIM POLLARD, MISS. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: The coroner's office has gone as far as to create a form for public safety officials to take to those residents, who we hope will be extremely few in number, asking them to give information to identify their bodies, even to the point of asking for identifying scars and tattoos and birthmarks. We're that serious about this storm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was Dave McNamara of CNN affiliate WWL reporting from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In the next hour of DAYBREAK, we'll get more on the preparations for Ivan from our meteorologist Rob Marciano. He's live in Mobile, Alabama this morning. And Sara Dorsey will join us from Pensacola. That's in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK.

And DAYBREAK'S special coverage of Ivan's anticipated landfall begins an hour earlier than usual tomorrow morning at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific Time.

Some developing news coming out of Iraq this morning, a grizzly sight.

Let's bring in our senior international editor David Clinch to tell us more about this. We've been trying to confirm this.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, just an early report from Reuters's today in Iraq that three beheaded bodies have been found in northern Iraq thought to be foreigners. Now that may mean that they are Turkish, it may mean that they are American, we don't know. We have no idea what that means. It's an initial report from local Iraqi police that they appear to be foreigners, non-Iraqis.

COSTELLO: Well we know that one American hasn't been seen for quite some time. He was taken hostage.

CLINCH: Right, that is true, and we're going to pay very close attention to that. But obviously there are also a number of people of other nationalities who have been held hostage. And just earlier today, we had a report that one Turkish truck driver had been let go. That he apparently had agreed to convert to Islam and his truck company had agreed not to operate in Iraq anymore, and he has been released.

Three bodies, though, apparently found in northern Iraq, who are foreigners, and we've been trying to get some more information on that. And it just continues.

There is violence elsewhere, also in Ramadi today. Tension, no violence reported yet, in Baghdad, at least, in the area yesterday where we saw that massive bombing and 47 people killed in Haifa Street in central Baghdad, but very tense there.

And really, I mean this is the challenge that we face covering this story now and for the next few months, up until the planned elections in January. There is, of course, the appearance on a day like yesterday that it's all black and white, but it's all falling apart, that it's chaos.

And then, of course, there's the other point of view we're seeing information coming from other parts of Iraq. Just today in Basra, British forces handing over control of the last offices there to Iraqis, an atmosphere of great friendliness and optimism there.

So, it's not black and white, it's gray. It's shades of gray everywhere in Iraq. All of the indications on a day like yesterday that it's heading towards civil war, that the U.S. has failed, all of those things can be seen in a very different point of view when you go to a different part of the country.

If you talk to Iraqis in other parts of the country, they are filled with enthusiasm. They are joining the Iraqi national forces. They are becoming policemen. And they believe, they may not necessarily love the United States that much, they may be quite keen for them to leave, but they are very enthusiastic about the idea of being a democratic country and a free country.

The question, though, of course, remains open. And we will have to make sure that our coverage over the next few months reflects both sides of that, not an easy thing to do when it's many cases too dangerous for us to even leave the hotel. So, quite a difficult task, but we do our best.

COSTELLO: We do. Thank you -- David.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Under attack. For some U.S. troops in Iraq, facing enemy fire has become part of their daily lives, especially in one Baghdad neighborhood.

CNN's Diana Muriel takes us to Sadr City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make a hole, make a hole, make a hole.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the sun goes down, the shooting starts. For the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, it's a daily part of their routine at this base, an abandoned school building in the north of Sadr City.

(on camera): What you've been hearing is like a warmup for what is to come, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, and mortars have been landing around this forward operating base here in Sadr City. It happens every night. And it will probably only get worse.

(voice-over): Waiting to go out on a mission, the tension building. A few try to snatch some sleep. Most are alert, watchful.

Finally, the night operation is under way, 20 armored vehicles on patrol, with air support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), are you ready?

MURIEL: The tactic, drawing out the Mehdi Militia, who have been attacking with rockets and AK-47s. The helicopter is the bait.

Tonight, the patrol has been successful. Two fighters killed in action. In all, the day's tally, 18 militiamen killed, an unknown number wounded. The commander considers it a quiet night.

LT. COL. GARY VOLESKY, 5th CAVALRY, U.S. ARMY: Maybe they just didn't want to come out and fight us tonight.

MURIEL: But these soldiers rarely get much of a break.

(on camera): This base, to the northeast of Sadr City, is where U.S. forces come back to regroup and reform. But even here, they're vulnerable to attack. The black smoke is rising from a mortar attack on a fuel truck within the walls of this compound.

(voice-over): Despite the problems, U.S. forces have been trying to improve the desperate living conditions for the people of this sprawling slum district. But work on most of the projects has had to stop. We found out why.

At a sewage pumping station the U.S. military had helped to refurbish, we came under attack from militiamen firing AK-47s. We made a run for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go.

MURIEL: The cavalry will be back, but only once they've finished fighting.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Sadr City, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, school is back in session in Beslan; but two weeks after the deadly terrorist siege, fear and questions remain. Our Matthew Chance was there. He'll join me live right here on the set with a firsthand account.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLETTE MCLEROY, SUCCESS WITH ANTI-DEPRESSANTS: For the first time that I can remember, I was genuinely happy for an entire day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the reality is not every teenager fighting depression responds that way to drug therapy. Coming up, what the experts want you parents to know.

But first, here is a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Welcome back to DAYBREAK. It's 5:44 Eastern Time.

Russia calls it its 9/11. I'm talking about that deadly hostage taking at a school in Beslan two weeks ago, 335 people died, most of them children. The tragedy left the nation reeling in grief. And now Russia's president is making a new push to fight terrorism.

Our Matthew Chance covered the school siege, and he is in Atlanta this morning to tell us more about that.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nice to be here (ph).

COSTELLO: What a horrible experience it must have been just to be there witnessing that.

CHANCE: It was a terrible experience. And you know we've all sort of seen quite a lot in our travels for CNN covering the terrible news that we cover around the world. But this was something quite different. So many people, such a large number of the most vulnerable members of that society. Was it something like 330, 335 people were killed. It's only a town of 50,000 people. So, this was something in the region of 1 percent of the entire population.

And so, there wasn't a single family in Beslan that wasn't directly affected by this tragedy. They'd either lost a mother or a father or a brother or a sister or they lived next door to somebody who did. And so, virtually the whole town was in grief.

COSTELLO: Well you know just the thought of somebody opening fire on small children. I mean did anybody really believe that would happen when these children were initially taken hostage?

CHANCE: Well I mean certainly the Russian's government position from the outset is that they were going to do absolutely everything they could to bring this hostage crisis to a peaceful negotiated end. And that's one of the reasons why things happened so sort of unexpectedly, because the Russian special forces had been pulled away, the area hadn't been sealed off properly from the local community, so there were certain mistakes made.

And then when all these explosions took place and the actual gun battle, which lasted eight hours, sort of took place, it ended in the worst possible way. Virtually everybody inside was either killed outright or extremely serious injuries.

COSTELLO: You know I've read a lot of articles about the Russian government and how Vladimir Putin has taken a lot of power away from the local governments. And some say that's part of the reason why this didn't go down as well as it should from a military standpoint. Because if you have weak leaders in local places, they can't respond, they are waiting for Vladimir Putin to fly in and tell them what to do.

CHANCE: That's certainly an aspect. You know all over Russia there is this attitude that you know on big issues like this they have to wait for the one man in the country who is empowered or has empowered himself to make these important decisions and that's Vladimir Putin. Which obviously it means that when you're dealing with people on the ground that have to make decisions immediately, they are holding back, they are waiting for the leadership to come over and to make that decision for them. And that was certainly a contributing factor.

COSTELLO: Well, and he's even tightening the reins more now, isn't he?

CHANCE: Yes, and this is interesting, because obviously the whole country in the aftermath of this atrocity were looking to their president to take some kind of action to show that he was, you know, dealing with it in some way. And so, what he's done is gone out there in front of the country and he has announced that he is taking power away from the people who elect the local governors and he is now going to be appointing those governors of these many, many republics in Russia directly.

And so it, in some way, centralizing power in Russia, in the Kremlin, in Vladimir Putin's hands. That's been criticized by a lot of pro democracy activists in Russia and elsewhere as being steps away from the progress towards democracy Russia was taking. But the irony is, I think, Carol, is that many people in Russia actually want to see this happening. They want strong leadership at this time, and this is how they see strong leadership, central Kremlin power.

COSTELLO: It just sounds, you know, growing up in the Cold War era, it sounds like a return to Communism almost.

CHANCE: Well I mean, and certainly there's a great deal of nostalgia amongst the people in Russia who were sort of living this insecurity on a day-to-day basis. They have had so many of these terrorist attacks. They've had the week before this Beslan bombing, two airliners were brought out of the sky by suspected Chechen suicide bombers. There have been suicide bombs. There have been apartment bombings in the Russian capital and towns across the country. And so, I think a lot of people look back nostalgically to the time during the Soviet Union when there was at least security.

COSTELLO: Yes. Matthew Chance, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it. And enjoy your time in Atlanta.

CHANCE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:48 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

In Barcelona, Spain, police arrested 10 people for suspected Islamic terrorist activities. A court official says most of the suspects are Pakistani nationals. There is no indication of a link to the March 11 train bombings in Madrid.

A scheduled speech by disgraced journalist Jayson Blair is raising eyebrows at a school in North Carolina. Blair, who resigned from the "New York Times," speaks this morning at Winston-Salem State University.

In money news, as if Hurricane Ivan isn't creating enough anxiety, it's also causing a 60 percent cut in the production of oil from the Gulf of Mexico. More than half of the Gulf's 880 oil rigs and platforms have now been evacuated.

In culture, the nominations are out for the American Music Awards. R&B singer Usher tops the list with four nominations, including best album in two different categories. The awards will be handed out in November.

In sports, extra security was on hand for the return of the Texas Rangers to play the Oakland A's. The move came after Ranger's pitcher Frank Francisco was arrested for throwing a chair into the stands and breaking the nose of a fan -- Chad.

MYERS: Carol, good morning.

I've drawn a line on the map here and we're trying to kind of keep the left side of the eyewall on this line the entire time from when it was in the Yucatan Channel now making its way. And I've really drawn that line right to New Orleans, because we've talked about this. If the storm did not turn, then in fact, New Orleans, you are really under the gun for this thing.

But if you'll notice, there's a little gap now right there between where the eye was, the eye was right here on this line, and now there was a gap between that. I'll draw that line back for you. There is that red line and now there is that gap. Really makes a difference because now this storm is beginning to make its turn. Beginning to turn just a little bit to the right. And as that happens, it's going to take it up toward Mobile Bay. That's the official forecast track.

But one of the models that did a very, very good job with Charley was actually turning that storm much farther to the east towards Pensacola. We'll have to worry about that as it gets closer. But there's a lot more to go on this storm before it makes landfall, 140 miles per hour -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You have a long night ahead of you. Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

Yesterday we told you about concerns that some anti-depressants may actually increase a child's risk of attempting suicide. Well now FDA advisers are calling for stronger warning labels.

Our medical correspondent Christy Feig has an update for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And usually the drugs can't be...

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FDA's advisory committee came to a consensus after just one day of reviewing data that in some children anti-depressants increase the risk of attempting suicide.

DR. THOMAS LAUGHREN, FDA: Out of 100 patients treated, this is short term now, short-term treatment, you can expect that 2 or 3 out of that 100 will have some excess of suicidality.

FEIG: For mothers, like Kathy Woodward, that confirmed what she already believed. Her 17-year-old daughter, Julie, was prescribed an anti-depressant. Weeks later, she killed herself.

KATHY WOODWARD, DAUGHTER KILLED HERSELF: We believed what the doctors told us, it was safe and mild and the side effects were nausea and diarrhea.

FEIG: But others are adamant depression alone can be deadly and this medicine saves lives.

MCLEROY: The day after I started taking them, for the first time that I can remember, I was genuinely happy for an entire day.

FEIG: The committee agreed the FDA should not ban the use of the drugs in children the way Britain has. But they did recommend adding the strongest warning a drug can get to the label of anti-depressants, a black box warning.

DR. DELBERT ROBINSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER: There is a potentially fatal side effect that might occur in 2 to 3 percent of children taking these drugs. I think we have to, in some way, make sure that that information gets out. FEIG: And most important, they want better clinical trials done that study the medicine in kids for longer than three months and aren't paid for by the makers of the drugs.

Christy Feig, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The blood pressure was definitely high in Oakland on Monday night. Did you see the basebrawl -- and not just the players, either? This turned into a fan fracas. We're going to read some of your responses to our e-mail "Question of the Morning": What is the best way to deal with rowdy fans and players? Daybreak@cnn.com.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Texas Ranger's pitcher Frank Francisco joins Bobby Knight and Geraldo Rivera in the annals of chair throwing incidents. His entry into the books came during Monday night's game in Oakland. Francisco's toss hit a woman in the face and broke her nose. You can see it there.

He has now been arrested on aggravated battery charges. This woman here says she might file a civil suit. Francisco spent two hours in jail before posting $15,000 bond. Showed up for last night's game in Oakland, but he did not play.

So, our e-mail "Question of the Day": What's the best way to deal with these rowdy fans -- and rowdy baseball players, for that matter? I mean, do you separate them with a big old net or maybe some Plexiglas?

We've gotten a lot of responses this morning.

This one from James (ph) in Virginia Beach: "This is simple, if a fan charges out onto the field, then players can take whatever measure is necessary to protect themselves. A loud, annoying fan should be ignored. Pro baseball players are among the highest paid athletes in the country. There is no reason for that kind of behavior."

This one is from John (ph). He says, "Rowdiness at sporting events? That's easy: Cease selling alcohol at the venues.

And this from Chris (ph) from San Francisco. He says, "I think sports players should take a leaf from politicians, when was the last time you saw John Kerry or George Bush jumping into the crowd and throwing things at hecklers, although I'd pay money to see that one."

And this one from Steve (ph) from Springfield, Illinois. He says, "The right thing would be for the player to act like they are paid to and get over the ego. The fans, too, should act like decent people and respect the player regardless of the team."

But you know, that never really happens, especially if you're rooting for the other side.

We're going to have much more on this story in the next hour of DAYBREAK. Sports talk, actually our sports contributor, Chris Cotter, joins us with his take on the Francisco fiasco.

Also, residents along the Gulf Coast brace for the worst as the nation keeps an eye on Ivan. We'll have several live reports for you straight ahead.

This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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