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CNN Live At Daybreak

Rescuers Finding Only Bodies in Storm-Ravished Town in Philippines; Coping with the Winter Blues

Aired December 10, 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: And 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, a jury in California goes back to work this morning. They're still trying to decide if Scott Peterson lives or dies, the same jury that convicted Peterson of murdering his wife and unborn son. The jurors deliberated for two hours yesterday in the penalty phase of that trial.

In Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is inviting the labor party to join a new coalition government. That could avert early elections and it has the backing of Sharon's Likud party central committee.

Wangari Maathai of Kenya receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Matai, an environmentalist, hopes the award will convince people to protect the world's resources.

The FBI is warning that terrorists could use lasers to blind airline pilots in flight. A September incident in Salt Lake City where a pilot was injured by a laser during landing is still under investigation.

To the forecast center now and Rob Marciano. Good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning Carol. This time yesterday we were talking about a lot of tornado warnings and that's when the radar looks like it's seen a tornado, put the warning out and not all of them actually reach the ground from the cloud (ph). Yesterday, there were four reports of tornadoes, one of which did some damage and had some injuries. We have one now that is just east of Columbia, South Carolina. You see it in this little blob of red basically and it's heading towards Sumpter, which is a pretty big town. So not reports of anything on the ground yet, but right now the radar is indicating it could be one there.

We don't have that threat across the northeast today, just rain and right now there's a bit of a dry spell across New York to Philly, so that's good news. I think most of the heaviest amounts of rain will stay offshore, but the rain is going to be with you not only today, but tomorrow.

Cooler air try to filter in from Canada. We'll cool down in Chicago and Minneapolis a little bit today. Minneapolis will probably see some snow showers, but not quite cold enough for that in Chicago just year, 48, 54 degrees for a high temperature. It looks like 48 degrees for a high temperature in New York City. That's the latest from here Carol. Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you Rob.

When American troops stormed Falluja last month, they saw some evidence of a case involving one of their own. As a result, that U.S. Marine now faces desertion charges. Details from our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE McINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Corporal Wassef Hassoun claimed he was abducted from a U.S. military camp near Falluja, Iraq in June and a videotape aired on al Jazeera television appeared to show him as a captive of Islamic militants. After he showed up in Lebanon more than two weeks later, he was brought back to the United States where he denied deserting or staging his own kidnapping.

CPL. WASSEF HASSOUN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I did not desert my post. I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days.

McINTYRE: But after a five month investigation delayed by months granted Hassoun to recuperate from his traumatic experience, the Marine Corps has charged him with desertion and larceny. A Marine Corps statement says Hassoun is alleged to have taken unauthorized leave of the unit where he served as an Arab interpreter. In addition, Hassoun is charged with loss of government property and theft of a military firearm for allegedly taking a government vehicle and his nine millimeter service pistol with him.

New evidence in the case surfaced during the U.S. siege of Falluja last month, which sources say extended the investigation of Hassoun's disappearance. Among the items found by U.S. troops in Falluja, Hassoun's civilian passport, military ID card and uniform.

(on-camera): Hassoun is not being confined while he waits at Camp Lejuene for a pretrial hearing to determine if there's enough evidence for a court martial. If convicted, he faces up to five years for desertion and up to 10 years in prison for each theft charge. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Rescuers are finding only bodies today in a storm- ravished town in the Philippines. The scene is of pure devastation. Back to back storms and mudslides have killed more than 800 people and the death toll continues to rise. Let's head live to Manila and Aneesh Raman. Aneesh, good morning.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. Somber news out of Manila tonight, the death toll rising again, for the second day going up significantly. We now have a death toll of 941, the missing also going up to 836. We're standing now at one of the main staging areas where the aircraft go into and out of the effected areas. Ground zero remains Kazon (ph) province, which is about 40 miles east of where we are.

The overall statistics quite staggering, more than half a million people are, as we speak, unable to get clean water or access to food. Overall some three million people affected by these storms. The government puts the estimated cost of the storms upwards of $55 million U.S., nowhere near the $12 million they have allocated in their budget for emergency aid. So clearly looking to international donations now.

Some of that international help starting to come in. U.S. Marines and Navy personnel based in Okinawa, Japan part of the third Marine expeditionary brigade, have started coming in yesterday and will finish this weekend, some 600 of them. They will be helping with air evacuations as well as supply drops. But daily stories that are both incredible as well as tragic.

Yesterday, some survivors were pulled out. They were besieged basically by layers of mud and rubble for days, surviving only by the water that was dripping from the ceiling. One relative described them as (INAUDIBLE) between heaven and earth. But today at a hospital nearby, we spoke to a woman, who as the water was rising, went in with her, I think it was a nine month old and five year old and they both washed away, so just insane stories of tragedy as well as incredible stories of survival.

COSTELLO: Really astounding. The number of dead astounding too, 900 people dead. It's just like you can't even almost - you can't comprehend it. Was there any way to avoid these many deaths Aneesh?

RAMAN: There was. The root cause that's being blamed right now is rampant illegal logging that was taking place in that area, something similar to what we saw in Haiti, where you have this kind of confluence of bad events. Both illegal logging as well as these major weather systems coming in, massive flooding resulted in a lot of these deaths. The president of the country has given her cabinet one month to put people behind bars who were responsible for this logging but for many of these residents, quite simply is too little, too late, given the death toll. And as the situation stabilizes, we should mention Carol, this death will continue to rise by dramatic amounts because they're getting into these effected areas with more ease. So it's likely that in the days ahead, we'll see death tolls rise by 100 each day.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman, reporting live from Manila in the Philippines this morning.

Onto Italy now where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could make history today, but it may not be the legacy he'd prefer. Our Rome bureau chief is Alessio Vinci.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throughout his political career, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has faced several trials and investigations, all instigated by Milan magistrates, but this case is the most serious against him.

He is accused of bribing judges in the mid 1980s, a decade before entering politics to block a corporate takeover by one of his rivals. A day before judges were expected to issue the verdict, Berlusconi said he was confident there would be no conviction.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Those who believe that money was paid or worse, that a judge was corrupted, are out of this world he said. So I'm totally serene and I do not believe that there will be a conviction, which in some ways could change the present political situation.

VINCI: The judiciary has changed the face of politics in Italy before. In the early 1990s, the entire political class which had ruled Italy for 40 years, was swept away by magistrates who uncovered corruption at the highest levels of the state; 3,000 people went to trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until '93, it was also in the open. I mean politicians were talking about 10 percent kickbacks as for political life as something acceptable after all, why not?

VINCI: And there are still magistrates hunting down Italy's culture of bribery. Berlusconi, who appeared in court only a few times, has always maintained his innocence, suggesting instead that left leaning magistrates are out to get him.

The trial was briefly suspended after Berlusconi's allies rushed through parliament a law granting Italy's top officials immunity from prosecution. But the highest court in the country ruled the bill was unconstitutional and the trial resumed.

(on-camera): This is the sixth time Berlusconi has stood trial over the last decade, but this trial, like no other before, has poisoned Italian politics.

(voice-over): A conviction would be a serious blow to the prime minister's prestige, but aides and the prime minister himself say he will not resign. But some analysts believe he might call for new elections to win a fresh mandate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He would call for the prosecution of, the persecution by the judges against him and that would be the tone of the campaign, which politically scares a lot of people, to have a national election based about this kind of situation.

VINCI: Even if convicted, Berlusconi won't face jail time anytime soon. He has the right to two appeals and they would take years, so long in fact that the statute of limitations would probably kill off the case against him. Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: On to Cairo now, where it might be good news for the world's motorists, but it's bad news for OPEC. Crude oil prices have been falling sharply, but today at least, U.S. crude is trading up 49 cents. It's now just above $43 a barrel and the OPEC oil ministers are meeting in Cairo to consider propping prices up. Let's go live now to CNN's Ben Wedeman from the Egyptian capital. Good morning Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Carol. It looks like the OPEC oil ministers meeting here in Cairo in what has been described as an extraordinary meeting are going to try to cut what's called excess production. Basically OPEC has set for itself a self- imposed production quota ceiling of 27 million barrels per day, but at the moment, they're exceeding that by about 1.7 million barrels per day.

So what they want to do is soak up that extra supply to shore up prices and make sure they don't continue their (INAUDIBLE) which began in late October when the price hit an all-time high of about $55 a barrel and since then, since the end of October, has fallen by about 25 percent. They want to make sure that the price of oil stabilizes. Carol.

COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman reporting live from Cairo this morning.

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, the government recalls nearly 600,000 Dodge trucks, plus good news for Atkins dieters. Tracking your carbs will soon be easier. But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Christmas is coming and Rob, I have a question for you.

MARCIANO: What have you got Carol?

COSTELLO: Are you ready?

MARCIANO: Sure.

COSTELLO: What do you give a dog for Christmas?

MARCIANO: I don't know but I suppose people are spending a lot of money on their dogs and their kitties and all that kind of stuff.

COSTELLO: Definitely, so in fact my family gets other family members with dogs presents for their dogs. It's bizarre.

MARCIANO: Well, they're like part of the family. I mean you get connected to them and you spend, it's all about giving Carol.

COSTELLO: Exactly but what do you get a dog? Do you get him a bone, a ball or maybe a diamond tiara. CNN's Malika Kapour (ph) takes a look at some of the must haves for your pricey pooch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALIKA KAPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a catwalk show with a difference. The models aren't the leggy kind, but the furry type, promoting clothes and jewels, including a $25,000 diamond collar for her, not her owner. ISABELLA HERVEY, MODEL: Yeah, she's my little baby and at Christmas time, my mother's got two boxers and they're like the family goats (ph) and the dog's (ph) biggest stockings and us children.

KAPOUR: What's in the stocking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, just an assortment of things, treats, chews, squeaky toys (INAUDIBLE)

KAPOUR: Or you can pick up a personalized gift at designer boutique Paul & Joe, founded by Marcelle Metta.

MARCELLE METTA, PAUL & JOE BOUTIQUE: Today he's wearing a bandanna, which we made for him on a leash, which we were selling in the shop actually and he's wearing a Burberry's (ph) sweater.

KAPOUR: At $400, some say that's a hefty price tag for a pooch.

METTA: When you really love someone, you just really want to spoil it.

KAPOUR: Wonder what Rio's (ph) getting this Christmas?

METTA: A turkey because it's his favorite.

HERVEY: This Christmas I will be getting her, I don't know...

KAPOUR: Stuck for ideas?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're talking about what the dog would like, I would go for a squeaky toy. Talking about what you would like, I would go for one of the nice collars.

KAPOUR: There's always the one with diamonds.

HERVEY: No, definitely not. I think (INAUDIBLE) I love my dog very much, but I wouldn't even buy myself something like that.

KAPOUR Marcelle says she wouldn't bite either. Some things are just off limits, especially when customers ask, how much is that doggy in the window? Her answer, he's not for sale. Malika Kapour, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Just a few ideas for you this morning. DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The government is asking for a recall of nearly 600,000 Dodge trucks. An investigation of Dodge Dakotas and Durangos found that the wheels could fall off. So far, there have been no injuries connected with this particular problem. Again we're talking about the 2000 through 2003 models of the Dodge Durango SUV and the Dodge Dakota pickup truck. Parent company DaimlerChrysler has until Monday to respond to that recall request.

In health headlines for you this morning, Pfizer's pain killer Bextra will come with a new warning. It's particularly for patients who have just had heart bypass surgery. The Food and Drug Administration wants them to be aware that the drug may increase the risk of heart attack and blood clots.

Atkins is turning to technology to reach more of you low-carb dieters. The company behind the Atkins diet will introduce new computer software next year that lets you track the carbohydrate contents of food, as well as your own daily carb intake on mobile phones and hand held computers. Wow.

And pretty soon, you may want to check with "Consumer Reports" before buying your medicine. The magazine best known for comparing the prices and performance of cars, TVs and household appliances, is adding medication to its checklist. They'll compare drug prices to help you save money on your health care.

Doctors say we all tend to get the case of the winter blues, but some people are way more affected than others. They have what's called seasonal affective disorder and we have some suggestions on how to cope with it. Here's CNN's Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the winter, Luann Hughes dresses her three children before the sun comes up. She eats breakfast before the sun comes up.

LUANN HUGHES, SAD PATIENT: You get out of the shower and it's still dark and you have your cup of coffee and it's still dark.

COHEN: In winters past, all that darkness made her feel depressed and irritable with her children.

HUGHES: Mostly those are the things that really cause me trouble in the winter is not being able to beat the effective parent that I wanted to be. Those months were tough.

COHEN: At first, Hughes tried an antidepressant drug, which she says didn't work very well and then she tried light, safe (ph) light for about half an hour a day in the winter.

HUGHES: It took only about two weeks until I really started noticing something's different.

COHEN: Hughes had seasonal affective disorder or winter depression. Her doctor explained to her that the light outside affects so many things inside the body such as hormone levels, which in turn affect mood.

DR. MICHAEL TERMAN, NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INST.: The clock in our head depends on seeing sunrise every day, to keep in synch with local time. COHEN: Dr. Michael Terman, director of the winter depression program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, says 80 percent of the time light therapy helps patients with winter depression feel better.

TERMAN: It's a rapid turn around. It's a faster effect than you get with anti-depressant drugs.

COHEN: Safe light and getting as much real light as she can has been the answer for Hughes. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story head to our website. The address, cnn.com/health. A lot more coming up in the next hour of DAYBREAK. We will be joined by the editor in chief of "Guitar World" magazine. (INAUDIBLE) was meant to be the only living artist featured in the March 2005 issue. As you know, he was killed yesterday.

Plus an update on the terror target list compiled by the Department of Homeland Security. Is it ready? Those stories plus much more in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: (INAUDIBLE) your funny this morning. We're talking about our e-mail question of the morning having to do with cell phones. You know, airplanes no longer have smoking sections but they could soon have cell phone sections, yes in flight. That's one of the ideas airlines have come up with to try to lure business passengers. Before that can happen, the FCC must change their rules on cell phone use in flight. Remember, they always say dangerous, but it may not be. It may be perfectly safe to talk on your cell phone in flight. The FCC plans to review those policies during meetings next week.

So our e-mail question of the morning, do you really want people to be talking on cell phones in flight? Can you even imagine that? This is my favorite one. And unfortunately, oh, it is Jim, Jim you did sign your name. He says if the guy next to me on my flight is talking on his cell phone, I'm going to read out loud for the duration of the flight. I love that.

This one is from Dave. Please, can't we all just shut up for the duration of a plane flight? Let's face it. It's one of the last great excuses for why we couldn't answer the phone. I'm with you Dave.

This is from Will from Springfield, Illinois. I would like to say that in a free country, we should be able to use cell phones whenever we want but I don't believe we Americans have shown much responsibility with our cell phones. If we didn't use them constantly in every kind of public setting, I would say we should let people use them on airplanes. But since on an airplane, you can't get away from these idiots who talk loud and incessantly on their cell phones, I say keep them banned. I'm with you. This is from Ray. I have no problem with that, as long as airlines designate a cell phone section like they have smoking sections in restaurants. But planes aren't that big.

I say only allow cell phone talking in first class. That would be great. The next hour of DAYBREAK begins right now.

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Aired December 10, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO: And 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, a jury in California goes back to work this morning. They're still trying to decide if Scott Peterson lives or dies, the same jury that convicted Peterson of murdering his wife and unborn son. The jurors deliberated for two hours yesterday in the penalty phase of that trial.

In Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is inviting the labor party to join a new coalition government. That could avert early elections and it has the backing of Sharon's Likud party central committee.

Wangari Maathai of Kenya receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Matai, an environmentalist, hopes the award will convince people to protect the world's resources.

The FBI is warning that terrorists could use lasers to blind airline pilots in flight. A September incident in Salt Lake City where a pilot was injured by a laser during landing is still under investigation.

To the forecast center now and Rob Marciano. Good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning Carol. This time yesterday we were talking about a lot of tornado warnings and that's when the radar looks like it's seen a tornado, put the warning out and not all of them actually reach the ground from the cloud (ph). Yesterday, there were four reports of tornadoes, one of which did some damage and had some injuries. We have one now that is just east of Columbia, South Carolina. You see it in this little blob of red basically and it's heading towards Sumpter, which is a pretty big town. So not reports of anything on the ground yet, but right now the radar is indicating it could be one there.

We don't have that threat across the northeast today, just rain and right now there's a bit of a dry spell across New York to Philly, so that's good news. I think most of the heaviest amounts of rain will stay offshore, but the rain is going to be with you not only today, but tomorrow.

Cooler air try to filter in from Canada. We'll cool down in Chicago and Minneapolis a little bit today. Minneapolis will probably see some snow showers, but not quite cold enough for that in Chicago just year, 48, 54 degrees for a high temperature. It looks like 48 degrees for a high temperature in New York City. That's the latest from here Carol. Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you Rob.

When American troops stormed Falluja last month, they saw some evidence of a case involving one of their own. As a result, that U.S. Marine now faces desertion charges. Details from our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE McINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Corporal Wassef Hassoun claimed he was abducted from a U.S. military camp near Falluja, Iraq in June and a videotape aired on al Jazeera television appeared to show him as a captive of Islamic militants. After he showed up in Lebanon more than two weeks later, he was brought back to the United States where he denied deserting or staging his own kidnapping.

CPL. WASSEF HASSOUN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I did not desert my post. I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days.

McINTYRE: But after a five month investigation delayed by months granted Hassoun to recuperate from his traumatic experience, the Marine Corps has charged him with desertion and larceny. A Marine Corps statement says Hassoun is alleged to have taken unauthorized leave of the unit where he served as an Arab interpreter. In addition, Hassoun is charged with loss of government property and theft of a military firearm for allegedly taking a government vehicle and his nine millimeter service pistol with him.

New evidence in the case surfaced during the U.S. siege of Falluja last month, which sources say extended the investigation of Hassoun's disappearance. Among the items found by U.S. troops in Falluja, Hassoun's civilian passport, military ID card and uniform.

(on-camera): Hassoun is not being confined while he waits at Camp Lejuene for a pretrial hearing to determine if there's enough evidence for a court martial. If convicted, he faces up to five years for desertion and up to 10 years in prison for each theft charge. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Rescuers are finding only bodies today in a storm- ravished town in the Philippines. The scene is of pure devastation. Back to back storms and mudslides have killed more than 800 people and the death toll continues to rise. Let's head live to Manila and Aneesh Raman. Aneesh, good morning.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. Somber news out of Manila tonight, the death toll rising again, for the second day going up significantly. We now have a death toll of 941, the missing also going up to 836. We're standing now at one of the main staging areas where the aircraft go into and out of the effected areas. Ground zero remains Kazon (ph) province, which is about 40 miles east of where we are.

The overall statistics quite staggering, more than half a million people are, as we speak, unable to get clean water or access to food. Overall some three million people affected by these storms. The government puts the estimated cost of the storms upwards of $55 million U.S., nowhere near the $12 million they have allocated in their budget for emergency aid. So clearly looking to international donations now.

Some of that international help starting to come in. U.S. Marines and Navy personnel based in Okinawa, Japan part of the third Marine expeditionary brigade, have started coming in yesterday and will finish this weekend, some 600 of them. They will be helping with air evacuations as well as supply drops. But daily stories that are both incredible as well as tragic.

Yesterday, some survivors were pulled out. They were besieged basically by layers of mud and rubble for days, surviving only by the water that was dripping from the ceiling. One relative described them as (INAUDIBLE) between heaven and earth. But today at a hospital nearby, we spoke to a woman, who as the water was rising, went in with her, I think it was a nine month old and five year old and they both washed away, so just insane stories of tragedy as well as incredible stories of survival.

COSTELLO: Really astounding. The number of dead astounding too, 900 people dead. It's just like you can't even almost - you can't comprehend it. Was there any way to avoid these many deaths Aneesh?

RAMAN: There was. The root cause that's being blamed right now is rampant illegal logging that was taking place in that area, something similar to what we saw in Haiti, where you have this kind of confluence of bad events. Both illegal logging as well as these major weather systems coming in, massive flooding resulted in a lot of these deaths. The president of the country has given her cabinet one month to put people behind bars who were responsible for this logging but for many of these residents, quite simply is too little, too late, given the death toll. And as the situation stabilizes, we should mention Carol, this death will continue to rise by dramatic amounts because they're getting into these effected areas with more ease. So it's likely that in the days ahead, we'll see death tolls rise by 100 each day.

COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman, reporting live from Manila in the Philippines this morning.

Onto Italy now where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could make history today, but it may not be the legacy he'd prefer. Our Rome bureau chief is Alessio Vinci.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throughout his political career, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has faced several trials and investigations, all instigated by Milan magistrates, but this case is the most serious against him.

He is accused of bribing judges in the mid 1980s, a decade before entering politics to block a corporate takeover by one of his rivals. A day before judges were expected to issue the verdict, Berlusconi said he was confident there would be no conviction.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Those who believe that money was paid or worse, that a judge was corrupted, are out of this world he said. So I'm totally serene and I do not believe that there will be a conviction, which in some ways could change the present political situation.

VINCI: The judiciary has changed the face of politics in Italy before. In the early 1990s, the entire political class which had ruled Italy for 40 years, was swept away by magistrates who uncovered corruption at the highest levels of the state; 3,000 people went to trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until '93, it was also in the open. I mean politicians were talking about 10 percent kickbacks as for political life as something acceptable after all, why not?

VINCI: And there are still magistrates hunting down Italy's culture of bribery. Berlusconi, who appeared in court only a few times, has always maintained his innocence, suggesting instead that left leaning magistrates are out to get him.

The trial was briefly suspended after Berlusconi's allies rushed through parliament a law granting Italy's top officials immunity from prosecution. But the highest court in the country ruled the bill was unconstitutional and the trial resumed.

(on-camera): This is the sixth time Berlusconi has stood trial over the last decade, but this trial, like no other before, has poisoned Italian politics.

(voice-over): A conviction would be a serious blow to the prime minister's prestige, but aides and the prime minister himself say he will not resign. But some analysts believe he might call for new elections to win a fresh mandate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He would call for the prosecution of, the persecution by the judges against him and that would be the tone of the campaign, which politically scares a lot of people, to have a national election based about this kind of situation.

VINCI: Even if convicted, Berlusconi won't face jail time anytime soon. He has the right to two appeals and they would take years, so long in fact that the statute of limitations would probably kill off the case against him. Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: On to Cairo now, where it might be good news for the world's motorists, but it's bad news for OPEC. Crude oil prices have been falling sharply, but today at least, U.S. crude is trading up 49 cents. It's now just above $43 a barrel and the OPEC oil ministers are meeting in Cairo to consider propping prices up. Let's go live now to CNN's Ben Wedeman from the Egyptian capital. Good morning Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Carol. It looks like the OPEC oil ministers meeting here in Cairo in what has been described as an extraordinary meeting are going to try to cut what's called excess production. Basically OPEC has set for itself a self- imposed production quota ceiling of 27 million barrels per day, but at the moment, they're exceeding that by about 1.7 million barrels per day.

So what they want to do is soak up that extra supply to shore up prices and make sure they don't continue their (INAUDIBLE) which began in late October when the price hit an all-time high of about $55 a barrel and since then, since the end of October, has fallen by about 25 percent. They want to make sure that the price of oil stabilizes. Carol.

COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman reporting live from Cairo this morning.

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, the government recalls nearly 600,000 Dodge trucks, plus good news for Atkins dieters. Tracking your carbs will soon be easier. But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Christmas is coming and Rob, I have a question for you.

MARCIANO: What have you got Carol?

COSTELLO: Are you ready?

MARCIANO: Sure.

COSTELLO: What do you give a dog for Christmas?

MARCIANO: I don't know but I suppose people are spending a lot of money on their dogs and their kitties and all that kind of stuff.

COSTELLO: Definitely, so in fact my family gets other family members with dogs presents for their dogs. It's bizarre.

MARCIANO: Well, they're like part of the family. I mean you get connected to them and you spend, it's all about giving Carol.

COSTELLO: Exactly but what do you get a dog? Do you get him a bone, a ball or maybe a diamond tiara. CNN's Malika Kapour (ph) takes a look at some of the must haves for your pricey pooch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALIKA KAPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a catwalk show with a difference. The models aren't the leggy kind, but the furry type, promoting clothes and jewels, including a $25,000 diamond collar for her, not her owner. ISABELLA HERVEY, MODEL: Yeah, she's my little baby and at Christmas time, my mother's got two boxers and they're like the family goats (ph) and the dog's (ph) biggest stockings and us children.

KAPOUR: What's in the stocking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, just an assortment of things, treats, chews, squeaky toys (INAUDIBLE)

KAPOUR: Or you can pick up a personalized gift at designer boutique Paul & Joe, founded by Marcelle Metta.

MARCELLE METTA, PAUL & JOE BOUTIQUE: Today he's wearing a bandanna, which we made for him on a leash, which we were selling in the shop actually and he's wearing a Burberry's (ph) sweater.

KAPOUR: At $400, some say that's a hefty price tag for a pooch.

METTA: When you really love someone, you just really want to spoil it.

KAPOUR: Wonder what Rio's (ph) getting this Christmas?

METTA: A turkey because it's his favorite.

HERVEY: This Christmas I will be getting her, I don't know...

KAPOUR: Stuck for ideas?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're talking about what the dog would like, I would go for a squeaky toy. Talking about what you would like, I would go for one of the nice collars.

KAPOUR: There's always the one with diamonds.

HERVEY: No, definitely not. I think (INAUDIBLE) I love my dog very much, but I wouldn't even buy myself something like that.

KAPOUR Marcelle says she wouldn't bite either. Some things are just off limits, especially when customers ask, how much is that doggy in the window? Her answer, he's not for sale. Malika Kapour, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Just a few ideas for you this morning. DAYBREAK will be right back.

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COSTELLO: The government is asking for a recall of nearly 600,000 Dodge trucks. An investigation of Dodge Dakotas and Durangos found that the wheels could fall off. So far, there have been no injuries connected with this particular problem. Again we're talking about the 2000 through 2003 models of the Dodge Durango SUV and the Dodge Dakota pickup truck. Parent company DaimlerChrysler has until Monday to respond to that recall request.

In health headlines for you this morning, Pfizer's pain killer Bextra will come with a new warning. It's particularly for patients who have just had heart bypass surgery. The Food and Drug Administration wants them to be aware that the drug may increase the risk of heart attack and blood clots.

Atkins is turning to technology to reach more of you low-carb dieters. The company behind the Atkins diet will introduce new computer software next year that lets you track the carbohydrate contents of food, as well as your own daily carb intake on mobile phones and hand held computers. Wow.

And pretty soon, you may want to check with "Consumer Reports" before buying your medicine. The magazine best known for comparing the prices and performance of cars, TVs and household appliances, is adding medication to its checklist. They'll compare drug prices to help you save money on your health care.

Doctors say we all tend to get the case of the winter blues, but some people are way more affected than others. They have what's called seasonal affective disorder and we have some suggestions on how to cope with it. Here's CNN's Elizabeth Cohen.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the winter, Luann Hughes dresses her three children before the sun comes up. She eats breakfast before the sun comes up.

LUANN HUGHES, SAD PATIENT: You get out of the shower and it's still dark and you have your cup of coffee and it's still dark.

COHEN: In winters past, all that darkness made her feel depressed and irritable with her children.

HUGHES: Mostly those are the things that really cause me trouble in the winter is not being able to beat the effective parent that I wanted to be. Those months were tough.

COHEN: At first, Hughes tried an antidepressant drug, which she says didn't work very well and then she tried light, safe (ph) light for about half an hour a day in the winter.

HUGHES: It took only about two weeks until I really started noticing something's different.

COHEN: Hughes had seasonal affective disorder or winter depression. Her doctor explained to her that the light outside affects so many things inside the body such as hormone levels, which in turn affect mood.

DR. MICHAEL TERMAN, NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INST.: The clock in our head depends on seeing sunrise every day, to keep in synch with local time. COHEN: Dr. Michael Terman, director of the winter depression program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, says 80 percent of the time light therapy helps patients with winter depression feel better.

TERMAN: It's a rapid turn around. It's a faster effect than you get with anti-depressant drugs.

COHEN: Safe light and getting as much real light as she can has been the answer for Hughes. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story head to our website. The address, cnn.com/health. A lot more coming up in the next hour of DAYBREAK. We will be joined by the editor in chief of "Guitar World" magazine. (INAUDIBLE) was meant to be the only living artist featured in the March 2005 issue. As you know, he was killed yesterday.

Plus an update on the terror target list compiled by the Department of Homeland Security. Is it ready? Those stories plus much more in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK.

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COSTELLO: (INAUDIBLE) your funny this morning. We're talking about our e-mail question of the morning having to do with cell phones. You know, airplanes no longer have smoking sections but they could soon have cell phone sections, yes in flight. That's one of the ideas airlines have come up with to try to lure business passengers. Before that can happen, the FCC must change their rules on cell phone use in flight. Remember, they always say dangerous, but it may not be. It may be perfectly safe to talk on your cell phone in flight. The FCC plans to review those policies during meetings next week.

So our e-mail question of the morning, do you really want people to be talking on cell phones in flight? Can you even imagine that? This is my favorite one. And unfortunately, oh, it is Jim, Jim you did sign your name. He says if the guy next to me on my flight is talking on his cell phone, I'm going to read out loud for the duration of the flight. I love that.

This one is from Dave. Please, can't we all just shut up for the duration of a plane flight? Let's face it. It's one of the last great excuses for why we couldn't answer the phone. I'm with you Dave.

This is from Will from Springfield, Illinois. I would like to say that in a free country, we should be able to use cell phones whenever we want but I don't believe we Americans have shown much responsibility with our cell phones. If we didn't use them constantly in every kind of public setting, I would say we should let people use them on airplanes. But since on an airplane, you can't get away from these idiots who talk loud and incessantly on their cell phones, I say keep them banned. I'm with you. This is from Ray. I have no problem with that, as long as airlines designate a cell phone section like they have smoking sections in restaurants. But planes aren't that big.

I say only allow cell phone talking in first class. That would be great. The next hour of DAYBREAK begins right now.

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