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CNN Live At Daybreak

Rumsfeld Meets with Troops in Kuwait; Southern Italy Raids Against Organized Crime

Aired December 08, 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: Good morning to you. Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now In The News": Congress is closer to final passage of the nation's intelligence reform bill. A compromise version has cleared the House and today the Senate is expected to approve it.

U.S. troops get to voice their concerns directly to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He held an unusual question and answer session with soldiers in Kuwait today. We'll discuss their criticism. And I said, criticisms. We'll discuss them in about two minutes.

Charges are expected to filed today against those involved in last month's NBA brawl. Reports out of Detroit say five Indiana Pacers players and five Detroit fans will be charged.

More Marines heading to Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon is sending an anti-terrorism team to Jeddah in response to Monday's deadly attack on the U.S. consulate. Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for that attack.

To the Forecast Center now, and Rob Marciano.

Good morning.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

COSTELLO: Let's go inside the "War Room" now, for a look at the big concerns expressed by troops heading to Iraq. The soldiers got to voice their concerns directly to the boss. That would be Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Let's head live to Atlanta and our Senior International Editor David Clinch, who watched that Q&A session between Rumsfeld and the troops.

This seemed unusual to me, David?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Well, it was unusual in a sense. These are all issues that we've heard troops complain about before. They are all issues we've heard Rumsfeld talk about before. But to see it actually happening in real time, out in the desert in Kuwait, with the soldiers grilling Rumsfeld, in some senses, at what was meant to be a pep talk by the secretary of Defense, was quite interesting.

One of the subjects that came up, one that we discussed earlier in the week, a number of soldiers have sued the Pentagon over the policy of stop/loss. The policy of preventing soldiers who should be able to quit or leave the military, from doing that until their deployment is over. Let's listen to the question and the Rumsfeld answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband and myself, we both joined a volunteer Army. Currently I'm serving under the stop/loss program. I would like to know how much longer do you foresee the military using this program.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Stop/loss has been used by the military for years and years and years. It is all well understood that when someone volunteers to join the service. It is something that you prefer not to have to use, obviously, in a perfect world.

But if you think about it, the whole principle of stop/loss is based on unit cohesion. And the principle is that in the event that there is something that requires a unit to be involved, and people are in a personal situation where their time was ending, they put a stop/loss on it so that the cohesion can be maintained.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLINCH: Well, a pretty straight forward answer from Secretary Rumsfeld. Their not one that is likely to be very popular amongst the troops. And there were some other issues the troops brought up. These troops in Kuwait, some of them just about to get a ready to go into Iraq, some of them for the second or even third time.

And one issue they're all complaining about, they perceive that there is a lack of sufficient armor on some of the vehicles they're using and not all the equipment they need in place. One of the soldiers got quite a big cheer when he brought up that issue of armor, saying that they were literally searching around for scrap metal to put on the vehicles that they are going to use to go into Iraq.

Now, the military and Rumsfeld saying, they're not aware of any situation where vehicles are now going in without the correct armor. But, obviously, the troops themselves very concerned about that.

COSTELLO: Does this seem a different reception than the last time Donald Rumsfeld was over there?

CLINCH: Well, it is I suppose in the sense that under normal circumstances these things are very controlled. Apparently, one of the generals there actually offered these soldiers the opportunity to ask these questions of Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld, in his usual style, saying that he'd answer any of those questions that he could, but he'd make the general answer any that he couldn't. Now, he actually didn't push the general to do that, except in one case, where the soldiers asked whether they'd be guaranteed access to watching the "Super Bowl" when that comes around in January.

And the general was able to tell them that they would get that. But that was abut the only light moment for Secretary Rumsfeld today in a pretty tough question and answer session in the desert in Kuwait today.

COSTELLO: Fascinating. David Clinch, live from Atlanta. Thank you.

Major raids against organized crime have been carried out in southern Italy. The arrested are aimed at stopping the gangland violence that has plagued the Naples area in recent months. CNN's Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci has more on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): Police concentrated their over night raids in this Scampia (ph) District of Naples. Long under the control of various local mafia clans, known here as the Camorra. More than 50 suspects were taken into custody.

The operation is part of a government plan to clamp down on organized crime in Naples. Twenty-three people have been killed here over the past month in a turf war among mafia factions.

Scampia, as seen in some of the latest killings is virtually under siege. Guns at the ready, officers search cars, motorcycles and even public buses. These daylight patrols may not produce any significant arrest. Their aim is to establish a presence.

Scampia is one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. This public housing project, known as La Villa (ph), is where illicit drugs, organized crime and poverty converge. Unemployment here is among the highest in Europe and the Camorra has plenty of potential recruits to choose from.

"Kids are afraid of us," says this officer, "because back at home they have parents who tell them, we are enemies."

Weary residents, fearing revenge, are afraid to discuss details of what happens here. This women has elected to talk, but says...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

VINCI: The police presence is being felt, they are hear to help.

Police officers are now able to patrol areas which only a few weeks ago were considered off limits to them.

This agent says the entrance of this building, for example, used to locked, allowing dealers to sell drugs through a peep hole.

"It took a while, but we managed to get through," he says. But it is a very small step, across the street, evidence of how widespread and virtually uncontrollable the drug market has become. Addicts shoot up in broad daylight. Police officers briefly detain and search a few, but these are the consumers, not the king pins of the drug trade.

The latest wave of killings and arrests has brought the problem to national attention. But some residents of Scampia are cynical. It took a series of brutal murders for the state to care about their neighborhood. And it may be just as quickly forgotten again. Alessio Vinci, CNN, Naples.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, nature versus nurture. Are pit bulls born vicious? One Canadian city is prepared to take dramatic steps against the breed.

There was no flu shot available in 1918 when getting the flu often meant death. We'll take a look at the pandemic that killed millions.

And don't forget our e-mail question of the day: The Ohio election results, should they just get over it. Should all of the appeals stop? Who wants a recount, really? We want your thoughts. Daybreak@cnn.com.

But first here is what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(GRAPHIC WITH HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports it is 5:42 Eastern. Here's what is all new this morning.

The Senate is expected to take up a sweeping intelligence reform bill today. It easily passed in the House last night. The measure establishes a counter-terrorism center and creates the post for a new national intelligence director.

A member of the group, Peter, Paul & Mary, undergoing treatment for leukemia. A publicists says Mary Travers is expected to be in full remission within a few months.

In money news, the pink slips are going out at Colgate-Palmolive. The company says it is going to cut 4,400 jobs and close about a third of its factories. IT is all part of a four-year restructuring effort.

And in culture, Howard Stern may be going nowhere fast. The shock jock's boss told a group of analysts that Viacom's Infinity Radio expects Stern to honor his contract until it expires at the end of next year. As you know, he wants to go to Sirius.

In sports, the International Olympic Committee is now investigating allegations that Marion Jones used banned drugs before and after the Sydney games. If it is true, Jones could eventually be stripped of her five medals.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

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

Are pit bulls born or bred to kill? We ask that question a lot in the world of news. In Ontario, Canada, a total ban on the breed is now under consideration. And here in the United States dozens of cities and communities have already restricted certain breeds including pit bulls. DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi joins us now with more on the dogs and the debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to the doggie. Yeah, what a good boy.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice over): It is kind of like taking candy from a baby.

Petie, from our gang was a pit bull, so was Nipper the dog from "His master's voice", for many though, the words pit bull evoke terror.

MICHAEL BRYANT, ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: We've seen enough evidence to say that this dog seems to be a breed apart. And if it is a breed apart, we have an obligation to do something about it.

VELSHI: Michael Bryant is behind legislation to ban pit bulls in Canada's largest province. He's Ontario's attorney generally, not a tyranny general.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we need to understand is that in any breed there can be individual dogs that have a problem, that have issues. And it is up to the owners to understand and take responsibility for their pet, regardless of breed.

VELSHI: At a pro pit bull really in Toronto, a familiar refrain, pit bulls aren't the problem. Irresponsible dog owners are. They say if raised properly the dogs are harmless.

Bryant is unmoved.

BRYANT: For me it is not actually about the people who own the dogs. It is about the dogs themselves. It is a classic nature versus nurture debate.

VELSHI (on camera): Rocco is a two and a half year old dog, who would be affected by the legislation. Now, Rocco's owner says this dog has never hurt anyone and while she doesn't object to legislation that to control dangerous dogs, what she does object to is breed specific legislation.

(Voice over): She'd rather see laws that punish the deed, not the breed.

(on camera): There is something about this breed that makes them very strong, they're jaws are big, they are strong dogs. So, for whatever reason this dog decides to be aggressive, I might get more hurt than I would with other dogs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As opposed to a poodle? Or opposed to a Rottweiler?

VELSHI (voice over): Half the dogs waiting for adoption at the Toronto Human Society are pit bulls. If the ban goes through, and that could happen by spring 2005, they can't be adopted.

(on camera): Ten minutes ago this dog was acting like it was going to bite somebody's head off. And now, she's acting like a family pet. But the Toronto Human Society says dogs like Dusty have a bad reputation.

(voice over): The contradiction is hard to explain, though, to 11-year-old Lindsey Grandy, who was attacked by her next door neighbor son's pit bull last summer.

LINDSEY GRANDY, ATTACKED BY PIT BULL: I think the whole pit bull breed is a bad breed, because it is bred to fight.

VELSHI: Good dogs, or bad, for Lindsey's father the question is much simpler.

STEVE GRANDY, FATHER: Why have them? Why do we need to have dogs that are bred to be vicious fighting animals in a populated area?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Well some developments this side of the border, too. This year Colorado became the fourteenth state to outlaw the banning of specific breeds by municipalities. Saying that breed specific legislation is unfair. The city of Denver is challenging that legislation. And there are so many cities in the United States, about 200 of them that have laws to control this.

What a passionate story. I have to tell you, I spoke to people on both sides of this. The people who love the dogs and say, it's not the dogs, it's the owners. And people, like Lindsey and her father.

COSTELLO: You can say that, you know, I owned a beautiful golden retriever who wouldn't attack anyone, but when I walk near a pit bull or a Rottweiler, actually. I mean, they always wanted to attack my dog or attack me. Not every time, but it went through your mind.

VELSHI: Right.

COSTELLO: Because the dogs have that reputation. And you see news stories all the time about these dogs going on the attack.

VELSHI: And a lot of the pit bull lovers, say -- they were saying, to us, isn't you guys who always do that. You do that the stories on that. I mean, we don't do a lot of stories of poodles that attack people.

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: Well, come on.

(CROSS TALK)

But golden retrievers, big dog, strong dog. They don't -- you don't hear many stories of golden retrievers killing people.

VELSHI: But is it the dogs or is it the way they are trained? Or is it the owners? I mean, this is the thing. It is a hard -- you saw those dogs I was with. They looked like the friendliest things in the entire world. Then you do see the reports and you hear people talk about it.

COSTELLO: I don't know. Years ago I did a story about a two- year-old who killed by a pit bull and ever since that story.

VELSHI: Your impressions have been set.

COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I'm just a little...

VELSHI: That's a tough one. And it is a tough one if you are otherwise a dog lover, because you kind of try and reconcile what is going on. It is a remarkably impassioned discussion.

COSTELLO: It certainly is. Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: All right.

COSTELLO: You'll be back at 6?

VELSHI: Will do.

COSTELLO: All right.

Coming up next on DAYBREAK the flu pandemic of 1918 was the deadliest infectious disease event of the last century. Could it happen again? We'll take a look back and a look ahead.

But now put on your thinking caps. I know you're awake this morning. You've had about 12 cups of coffee, as have I.

What singer songwriter died on this day in 1980?

The answer coming your way next. You are watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. Our history trivia question of the day: What singer songwriter died on this day in 1980? I'll give you a hint. He was shot near the Dakota. Ah, you got it. It was former Beatle, John Lennon. He was shot and killed by Mark Chapman, here in New York City, on this day in 1980.

Health officials worldwide are warning that we need to be prepared for the flu. A worst-case scenario could leave us with a global pandemic, killing millions. CNN's Beth Nissin takes this extremely sobering look back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It started in the first months of 1918, maybe in rural Kansas, maybe in China, maybe France. An influenza virus mutated into deadly form. By autumn it had spread in handshakes and through the air, through the Americas, Africa, Europe and the battlefields of World War I, infecting eventually one-fifths of the world's population.

Millions could not fight the virus or secondary infections like pneumonia and died horrible deaths.

JOHN BARRY, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT INFLUENZA": Some of the really terrifying symptoms were that people would bleed, not only from their nose or their mouth, but actually from their eyes and from their ears.

NISSIN: John Barry is the author of "The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History".

BARRY: People could die in 24 hours. They literally could wake up feeling OK and be dead by nightfall.

NISSIN: The lethal flu spread most quickly wherever people were concentrated in close quarters. Soldiers' barracks, troop ships, city tenements in Europe and the U.S.

BARRY: In almost every city in the country they ran out of coffins. And in Philadelphia they actually came to a situation where police were driving horse-drawn carriages down the street calling upon people to bring out their dead.

NISSIN: Influenza was no medieval mystery in 1918.

BARRY: People knew it was the contagious disease and the way to avoid getting it was to avoid other people.

NISSIN: But in the U.S. and elsewhere government officials kept secret how deadly the new flu strain was, fearful the news would hurt the war effort.

BARRY: The Wilson administration only cared about one thing, winning World War I. They told lies to protect morale, in their words. Initially they were telling everyone this is just ordinary influenza it is nothing to be afraid of.

People who otherwise would have protected themselves, would have stayed home, they were not protected. They were exposed and they died. NISSIN: Most of the dead were young adults ages 20 to 40.

BARRY: The best number for the United States is 675,000 deaths. The overwhelming majority died between mid-September and mid-November.

NISSIN: Worldwide the cost was literally incalculable.

BARRY: Probably at least 40 million people died. There is a Nobel Prize winner who thinks at least 50 million and possibly as many as 100 million deaths.

NISSIN: More people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century. Could it happen again?

BARRY: Another pandemic, unfortunately, is not only possible it is inevitable.

NISSIN: Inevitable that another influenza virus will some day, somewhere mutate to lethal form, spread among humans.

BARRY: The question is how prepared we are for it. Right now we are not even close to ready for it.

NISSIN: Beth Nissin, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story head to our web site, CNN.com/health.

A look at what's new in the next hour of DAYBREAK. Eco-terrorism in Maryland? We'll speak with the deputy state fire marshal about these devastating fires.

Plus, road tripping, with the Virgin Mary, the sandwich that is. Ah, yes there is more on this saga. You will not want to miss it. You are watching DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is e-mail bag time. Ohio is the state that officially put George Bush over the top on election day, but the vote there is still being contested.

Two third-party presidential candidates are officially asking for a recount. Both the Green and Libertarian party candidates say the Ohio election was full of irregularities. They say the state's new way of counting provisional ballots was just one of the problems.

The request comes a day after Ohio finally certified Bush as the winner. Democrat John Kerry's campaign says it supports the recount only to get a full and accurate accounting.

So, we want to ask you this question: Shouldn't we just let it go? I mean, why do a recount? It is not like the election was close in Ohio. President Bush officially won by 119,000 votes. So, the e-mails have been coming in. This is from Bob, from Manassas, Virginia: "The recount idiocy must stop. It is all over and done."

I think Bob is pretty clear about his opinion this morning.

This is from Ursula, from Michigan: "I would welcome a recount in Ohio. Would it not be the irony of the century if Bush lost this late in the game? It would make a lot of us Democrats very happy."

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


Aired December 8, 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: Good morning to you. Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
"Now In The News": Congress is closer to final passage of the nation's intelligence reform bill. A compromise version has cleared the House and today the Senate is expected to approve it.

U.S. troops get to voice their concerns directly to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He held an unusual question and answer session with soldiers in Kuwait today. We'll discuss their criticism. And I said, criticisms. We'll discuss them in about two minutes.

Charges are expected to filed today against those involved in last month's NBA brawl. Reports out of Detroit say five Indiana Pacers players and five Detroit fans will be charged.

More Marines heading to Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon is sending an anti-terrorism team to Jeddah in response to Monday's deadly attack on the U.S. consulate. Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for that attack.

To the Forecast Center now, and Rob Marciano.

Good morning.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

COSTELLO: Let's go inside the "War Room" now, for a look at the big concerns expressed by troops heading to Iraq. The soldiers got to voice their concerns directly to the boss. That would be Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Let's head live to Atlanta and our Senior International Editor David Clinch, who watched that Q&A session between Rumsfeld and the troops.

This seemed unusual to me, David?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Well, it was unusual in a sense. These are all issues that we've heard troops complain about before. They are all issues we've heard Rumsfeld talk about before. But to see it actually happening in real time, out in the desert in Kuwait, with the soldiers grilling Rumsfeld, in some senses, at what was meant to be a pep talk by the secretary of Defense, was quite interesting.

One of the subjects that came up, one that we discussed earlier in the week, a number of soldiers have sued the Pentagon over the policy of stop/loss. The policy of preventing soldiers who should be able to quit or leave the military, from doing that until their deployment is over. Let's listen to the question and the Rumsfeld answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband and myself, we both joined a volunteer Army. Currently I'm serving under the stop/loss program. I would like to know how much longer do you foresee the military using this program.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Stop/loss has been used by the military for years and years and years. It is all well understood that when someone volunteers to join the service. It is something that you prefer not to have to use, obviously, in a perfect world.

But if you think about it, the whole principle of stop/loss is based on unit cohesion. And the principle is that in the event that there is something that requires a unit to be involved, and people are in a personal situation where their time was ending, they put a stop/loss on it so that the cohesion can be maintained.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLINCH: Well, a pretty straight forward answer from Secretary Rumsfeld. Their not one that is likely to be very popular amongst the troops. And there were some other issues the troops brought up. These troops in Kuwait, some of them just about to get a ready to go into Iraq, some of them for the second or even third time.

And one issue they're all complaining about, they perceive that there is a lack of sufficient armor on some of the vehicles they're using and not all the equipment they need in place. One of the soldiers got quite a big cheer when he brought up that issue of armor, saying that they were literally searching around for scrap metal to put on the vehicles that they are going to use to go into Iraq.

Now, the military and Rumsfeld saying, they're not aware of any situation where vehicles are now going in without the correct armor. But, obviously, the troops themselves very concerned about that.

COSTELLO: Does this seem a different reception than the last time Donald Rumsfeld was over there?

CLINCH: Well, it is I suppose in the sense that under normal circumstances these things are very controlled. Apparently, one of the generals there actually offered these soldiers the opportunity to ask these questions of Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld, in his usual style, saying that he'd answer any of those questions that he could, but he'd make the general answer any that he couldn't. Now, he actually didn't push the general to do that, except in one case, where the soldiers asked whether they'd be guaranteed access to watching the "Super Bowl" when that comes around in January.

And the general was able to tell them that they would get that. But that was abut the only light moment for Secretary Rumsfeld today in a pretty tough question and answer session in the desert in Kuwait today.

COSTELLO: Fascinating. David Clinch, live from Atlanta. Thank you.

Major raids against organized crime have been carried out in southern Italy. The arrested are aimed at stopping the gangland violence that has plagued the Naples area in recent months. CNN's Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci has more on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): Police concentrated their over night raids in this Scampia (ph) District of Naples. Long under the control of various local mafia clans, known here as the Camorra. More than 50 suspects were taken into custody.

The operation is part of a government plan to clamp down on organized crime in Naples. Twenty-three people have been killed here over the past month in a turf war among mafia factions.

Scampia, as seen in some of the latest killings is virtually under siege. Guns at the ready, officers search cars, motorcycles and even public buses. These daylight patrols may not produce any significant arrest. Their aim is to establish a presence.

Scampia is one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. This public housing project, known as La Villa (ph), is where illicit drugs, organized crime and poverty converge. Unemployment here is among the highest in Europe and the Camorra has plenty of potential recruits to choose from.

"Kids are afraid of us," says this officer, "because back at home they have parents who tell them, we are enemies."

Weary residents, fearing revenge, are afraid to discuss details of what happens here. This women has elected to talk, but says...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

VINCI: The police presence is being felt, they are hear to help.

Police officers are now able to patrol areas which only a few weeks ago were considered off limits to them.

This agent says the entrance of this building, for example, used to locked, allowing dealers to sell drugs through a peep hole.

"It took a while, but we managed to get through," he says. But it is a very small step, across the street, evidence of how widespread and virtually uncontrollable the drug market has become. Addicts shoot up in broad daylight. Police officers briefly detain and search a few, but these are the consumers, not the king pins of the drug trade.

The latest wave of killings and arrests has brought the problem to national attention. But some residents of Scampia are cynical. It took a series of brutal murders for the state to care about their neighborhood. And it may be just as quickly forgotten again. Alessio Vinci, CNN, Naples.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And still to come on DAYBREAK, nature versus nurture. Are pit bulls born vicious? One Canadian city is prepared to take dramatic steps against the breed.

There was no flu shot available in 1918 when getting the flu often meant death. We'll take a look at the pandemic that killed millions.

And don't forget our e-mail question of the day: The Ohio election results, should they just get over it. Should all of the appeals stop? Who wants a recount, really? We want your thoughts. Daybreak@cnn.com.

But first here is what else is making news this Wednesday morning.

(GRAPHIC WITH HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports it is 5:42 Eastern. Here's what is all new this morning.

The Senate is expected to take up a sweeping intelligence reform bill today. It easily passed in the House last night. The measure establishes a counter-terrorism center and creates the post for a new national intelligence director.

A member of the group, Peter, Paul & Mary, undergoing treatment for leukemia. A publicists says Mary Travers is expected to be in full remission within a few months.

In money news, the pink slips are going out at Colgate-Palmolive. The company says it is going to cut 4,400 jobs and close about a third of its factories. IT is all part of a four-year restructuring effort.

And in culture, Howard Stern may be going nowhere fast. The shock jock's boss told a group of analysts that Viacom's Infinity Radio expects Stern to honor his contract until it expires at the end of next year. As you know, he wants to go to Sirius.

In sports, the International Olympic Committee is now investigating allegations that Marion Jones used banned drugs before and after the Sydney games. If it is true, Jones could eventually be stripped of her five medals.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

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

Are pit bulls born or bred to kill? We ask that question a lot in the world of news. In Ontario, Canada, a total ban on the breed is now under consideration. And here in the United States dozens of cities and communities have already restricted certain breeds including pit bulls. DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi joins us now with more on the dogs and the debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to the doggie. Yeah, what a good boy.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice over): It is kind of like taking candy from a baby.

Petie, from our gang was a pit bull, so was Nipper the dog from "His master's voice", for many though, the words pit bull evoke terror.

MICHAEL BRYANT, ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: We've seen enough evidence to say that this dog seems to be a breed apart. And if it is a breed apart, we have an obligation to do something about it.

VELSHI: Michael Bryant is behind legislation to ban pit bulls in Canada's largest province. He's Ontario's attorney generally, not a tyranny general.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we need to understand is that in any breed there can be individual dogs that have a problem, that have issues. And it is up to the owners to understand and take responsibility for their pet, regardless of breed.

VELSHI: At a pro pit bull really in Toronto, a familiar refrain, pit bulls aren't the problem. Irresponsible dog owners are. They say if raised properly the dogs are harmless.

Bryant is unmoved.

BRYANT: For me it is not actually about the people who own the dogs. It is about the dogs themselves. It is a classic nature versus nurture debate.

VELSHI (on camera): Rocco is a two and a half year old dog, who would be affected by the legislation. Now, Rocco's owner says this dog has never hurt anyone and while she doesn't object to legislation that to control dangerous dogs, what she does object to is breed specific legislation.

(Voice over): She'd rather see laws that punish the deed, not the breed.

(on camera): There is something about this breed that makes them very strong, they're jaws are big, they are strong dogs. So, for whatever reason this dog decides to be aggressive, I might get more hurt than I would with other dogs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As opposed to a poodle? Or opposed to a Rottweiler?

VELSHI (voice over): Half the dogs waiting for adoption at the Toronto Human Society are pit bulls. If the ban goes through, and that could happen by spring 2005, they can't be adopted.

(on camera): Ten minutes ago this dog was acting like it was going to bite somebody's head off. And now, she's acting like a family pet. But the Toronto Human Society says dogs like Dusty have a bad reputation.

(voice over): The contradiction is hard to explain, though, to 11-year-old Lindsey Grandy, who was attacked by her next door neighbor son's pit bull last summer.

LINDSEY GRANDY, ATTACKED BY PIT BULL: I think the whole pit bull breed is a bad breed, because it is bred to fight.

VELSHI: Good dogs, or bad, for Lindsey's father the question is much simpler.

STEVE GRANDY, FATHER: Why have them? Why do we need to have dogs that are bred to be vicious fighting animals in a populated area?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Well some developments this side of the border, too. This year Colorado became the fourteenth state to outlaw the banning of specific breeds by municipalities. Saying that breed specific legislation is unfair. The city of Denver is challenging that legislation. And there are so many cities in the United States, about 200 of them that have laws to control this.

What a passionate story. I have to tell you, I spoke to people on both sides of this. The people who love the dogs and say, it's not the dogs, it's the owners. And people, like Lindsey and her father.

COSTELLO: You can say that, you know, I owned a beautiful golden retriever who wouldn't attack anyone, but when I walk near a pit bull or a Rottweiler, actually. I mean, they always wanted to attack my dog or attack me. Not every time, but it went through your mind.

VELSHI: Right.

COSTELLO: Because the dogs have that reputation. And you see news stories all the time about these dogs going on the attack.

VELSHI: And a lot of the pit bull lovers, say -- they were saying, to us, isn't you guys who always do that. You do that the stories on that. I mean, we don't do a lot of stories of poodles that attack people.

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: Well, come on.

(CROSS TALK)

But golden retrievers, big dog, strong dog. They don't -- you don't hear many stories of golden retrievers killing people.

VELSHI: But is it the dogs or is it the way they are trained? Or is it the owners? I mean, this is the thing. It is a hard -- you saw those dogs I was with. They looked like the friendliest things in the entire world. Then you do see the reports and you hear people talk about it.

COSTELLO: I don't know. Years ago I did a story about a two- year-old who killed by a pit bull and ever since that story.

VELSHI: Your impressions have been set.

COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I'm just a little...

VELSHI: That's a tough one. And it is a tough one if you are otherwise a dog lover, because you kind of try and reconcile what is going on. It is a remarkably impassioned discussion.

COSTELLO: It certainly is. Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: All right.

COSTELLO: You'll be back at 6?

VELSHI: Will do.

COSTELLO: All right.

Coming up next on DAYBREAK the flu pandemic of 1918 was the deadliest infectious disease event of the last century. Could it happen again? We'll take a look back and a look ahead.

But now put on your thinking caps. I know you're awake this morning. You've had about 12 cups of coffee, as have I.

What singer songwriter died on this day in 1980?

The answer coming your way next. You are watching DAYBREAK for a Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. Our history trivia question of the day: What singer songwriter died on this day in 1980? I'll give you a hint. He was shot near the Dakota. Ah, you got it. It was former Beatle, John Lennon. He was shot and killed by Mark Chapman, here in New York City, on this day in 1980.

Health officials worldwide are warning that we need to be prepared for the flu. A worst-case scenario could leave us with a global pandemic, killing millions. CNN's Beth Nissin takes this extremely sobering look back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It started in the first months of 1918, maybe in rural Kansas, maybe in China, maybe France. An influenza virus mutated into deadly form. By autumn it had spread in handshakes and through the air, through the Americas, Africa, Europe and the battlefields of World War I, infecting eventually one-fifths of the world's population.

Millions could not fight the virus or secondary infections like pneumonia and died horrible deaths.

JOHN BARRY, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT INFLUENZA": Some of the really terrifying symptoms were that people would bleed, not only from their nose or their mouth, but actually from their eyes and from their ears.

NISSIN: John Barry is the author of "The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History".

BARRY: People could die in 24 hours. They literally could wake up feeling OK and be dead by nightfall.

NISSIN: The lethal flu spread most quickly wherever people were concentrated in close quarters. Soldiers' barracks, troop ships, city tenements in Europe and the U.S.

BARRY: In almost every city in the country they ran out of coffins. And in Philadelphia they actually came to a situation where police were driving horse-drawn carriages down the street calling upon people to bring out their dead.

NISSIN: Influenza was no medieval mystery in 1918.

BARRY: People knew it was the contagious disease and the way to avoid getting it was to avoid other people.

NISSIN: But in the U.S. and elsewhere government officials kept secret how deadly the new flu strain was, fearful the news would hurt the war effort.

BARRY: The Wilson administration only cared about one thing, winning World War I. They told lies to protect morale, in their words. Initially they were telling everyone this is just ordinary influenza it is nothing to be afraid of.

People who otherwise would have protected themselves, would have stayed home, they were not protected. They were exposed and they died. NISSIN: Most of the dead were young adults ages 20 to 40.

BARRY: The best number for the United States is 675,000 deaths. The overwhelming majority died between mid-September and mid-November.

NISSIN: Worldwide the cost was literally incalculable.

BARRY: Probably at least 40 million people died. There is a Nobel Prize winner who thinks at least 50 million and possibly as many as 100 million deaths.

NISSIN: More people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century. Could it happen again?

BARRY: Another pandemic, unfortunately, is not only possible it is inevitable.

NISSIN: Inevitable that another influenza virus will some day, somewhere mutate to lethal form, spread among humans.

BARRY: The question is how prepared we are for it. Right now we are not even close to ready for it.

NISSIN: Beth Nissin, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story head to our web site, CNN.com/health.

A look at what's new in the next hour of DAYBREAK. Eco-terrorism in Maryland? We'll speak with the deputy state fire marshal about these devastating fires.

Plus, road tripping, with the Virgin Mary, the sandwich that is. Ah, yes there is more on this saga. You will not want to miss it. You are watching DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is e-mail bag time. Ohio is the state that officially put George Bush over the top on election day, but the vote there is still being contested.

Two third-party presidential candidates are officially asking for a recount. Both the Green and Libertarian party candidates say the Ohio election was full of irregularities. They say the state's new way of counting provisional ballots was just one of the problems.

The request comes a day after Ohio finally certified Bush as the winner. Democrat John Kerry's campaign says it supports the recount only to get a full and accurate accounting.

So, we want to ask you this question: Shouldn't we just let it go? I mean, why do a recount? It is not like the election was close in Ohio. President Bush officially won by 119,000 votes. So, the e-mails have been coming in. This is from Bob, from Manassas, Virginia: "The recount idiocy must stop. It is all over and done."

I think Bob is pretty clear about his opinion this morning.

This is from Ursula, from Michigan: "I would welcome a recount in Ohio. Would it not be the irony of the century if Bush lost this late in the game? It would make a lot of us Democrats very happy."

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