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CNN Live At Daybreak

Did White House Not Vet Kerik Enough?; Yushchenko Back in Kiev After Tests Confirmed Dioxin Poisoning

Aired December 13, 2004 - 05:00   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, who messed up on the collapse of the Bernard Kerik nomination?
Plus, Saddam Hussein one year after his capture -- what's next for the deposed leader?

And the Golden Globe Awards -- we'll look at the possible nominees.

It is Monday, December 13.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.

Thank you for joining us.

Now in the news, overnight, a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad. Six people have been killed in the blast. It happened just about four hours ago. Fifteen people now wounded. It happened at a checkpoint near the green zone government compound.

The nation's space agency is losing its director. NASA sources tell CNN the administrator, Sean O'Keefe, will resign today and accept an offer to be the chancellor at Louisiana State University.

The jury deliberating the life or death fate of convicted murderer Scott Peterson gets back to work today. The jurors took the weekend off after eight and a half hours of deliberations on Friday.

The U.S. Agency for International Development says reconstruction in Iraq is moving forward. But the agency says insurgent attacks have slowed the pace of some reconstruction, especially in Falluja. U.S. AID oversees about 9,000 projects throughout I'd.

To the forecast center and Rob Marciano, in for Chad Myers this morning -- good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Two more days. Chad will be back on Wednesday...

COSTELLO: He will.

MARCIANO: Glowing as the new father that he is.

COSTELLO: I think he'll be exhausted.

MARCIANO: Maybe that's the case, as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: More fallout this morning over Bernard Kerik. His nomination as homeland security chief fell apart last week. Now some lawmakers say the Bush administration did a poor job of checking out the background of its top nominee.

More details now from CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is defending its vetting process for cabinet picks, saying Bernard Kerik is to blame for not disclosing earlier the legal problems that sunk his nomination. But Bush officials are breathing a sigh of relief that this all happened now and now later, during what would have likely been a bruising confirmation process.

(voice-over): The president, at church, heard a sermon about Christmas, the date his aides are using as a gold post for finding a new candidate to run the homeland security department.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody.

BASH: But the hand wringing still isn't over about what went wrong with the first Bush choice -- Bernard Kerik.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: Is there something wrong when you announce the head of, I think, one of the most important agencies in our government to protect this country against terrorism and discover that you've missed a significant piece of the vetting process?

BASH: The White House dropped the ball, say some Democrats, by not knowing its pick to oversee immigration had a nanny with questionable legal status. Embarrassed, even annoyed, Bush officials deny rushing to a point the street cop turned 9/11 hero, insisting Kerik was asked if he had problems like this.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME), CHAIR GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: It is disturbing that apparently there was information in his background that was not shared with the White House. I know for a certainty that there were questions asked about domestic employees, financial matters and legal disputes.

BASH: The president's moving on, say top aides, who suggest he's taking another look at candidates considered the first time around, like the department's head of border security, Asa Hutchinson, EPA Commissioner Mike Leavitt and the president's homeland security adviser, Francis Townsend. Some say Mr. Bush should consider someone with broader experience.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Good morning.

BASH: And one senator, a Democrat, is passing many Washington lips.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to go the other side, you could go to Joe Lieberman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Lieberman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Lieberman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Lieberman.

REP. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Joe would be great, but I'd like to find a Republican from a blue state. Maybe we could pick up a seat.

BASH: All kidding aside, Republican sources do say the president has considered asking Lieberman to join his administration. A source close to the Democratic senator noted he's been careful not to openly criticize the White House recently. And he'd likely take a job if he's asked.

(on camera): The only other cabinet post still open is Health and Human Services secretary. And Bush officials tell CNN the president will likely announce his pick for that post on Monday.

Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Bernard Kerik's nomination was strongly backed by Rudy Giuliani. Now the former New York mayor is doing some damage control. Giuliani was at the White House for a Christmas dinner last night, but he was also there to apologize to President Bush. Giuliani insists Kerik did the right thing by backing out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I mean, Bernie did not want to put the president through a difficult confirmation process where the odds were, because of this issue, he wouldn't get confirmed. Maybe he could have been. Nobody will ever know. But it would have not been the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Today's "New York Times" says it wasn't the only -- it wasn't only the nanny issue that clouded Kerik's nomination. Other controversies include his ties to Interstate Industrial Corporation, a New Jersey company suspected of having links to the mob. The "Times" also says Kerik reaped big profits from companies doing business with the Homeland Security Department and there are also accusations he abused his authority 20 years ago, during the investigation of people working for a Saudi Arabian hospital, as well as questions over the effectiveness of his efforts to improve Iraq's police force.

In other news across America this morning, it's not the Grinch in St. Paul, it's the wind. Powerful winds in the upper Midwest knocked over the 25-foot Christmas tree at the Minnesota governor's mansion. The winds, as high as 60 miles an hour in some areas, also toppled trees and knocked out power for almost 60,000 power customers in the Twin Cities.

Police in Indianapolis are investigating a shooting in a bar that left two people dead and three others wounded. Police say the incident began when two men began arguing. One of them shot the other. The bar's bouncer then shot the gunmen. The three wounded victims were caught in the crossfire.

Off of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard has lowered a salvage crew to a stricken freighter. The vessel broke in half last week, spilling about 40,000 gallons of heavy oil and tons of soybeans. Six of the ship's crew members remain lost at sea.

And talk about tough, an 80-year-old diver was rescued off the Florida Keys after spending 18 hours in the water clinging to a buoy. Ignacio Siberio says his wet suit and 60 years of experience in free diving and spear fishing, he says that experience kept him alive.

Turning now to the disputed Ukrainian elections, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is now convinced the government tried to poison him.

Our Jill Dougherty has been following the story and the election that caused such an uproar.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His doctors by his side, his American born wife Katerina acting as interpreter, Viktor Yushchenko gave no details about how he thought he was poisoned with dioxin or who might have done it.

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I am very happy to be alive in this world today and I thank these people for this.

DOUGHERTY: But one of his physicians shed new light, saying the poison was not detectible in routine forensic tests and thanking his medical colleagues around the world for working on a complex case.

DR. MICHAEL ZIMPFER, RUDOLFINERHAUS HOSPITAL: Regardless of any political backgrounds who were helping us, who were consulting us to, again, to clarify the difficult Yushchenko illness. It has not been observed anywhere else beforehand.

DOUGHERTY: Yushchenko fell ill in September as he was beginning his presidential election campaign. A team of doctors in Vienna said Saturday there is no doubt he was poisoned with the toxic chemical dioxin, that it was likely administered orally in food or a liquid like soup, and most likely by an unnamed third party.

Yushchenko supporters believe he may have been poisoned at a dinner with the leadership of the Ukrainian Security Service and claim the plot may have been carried out with help from outside Ukraine, but have provided no evidence.

As he left the Vienna clinic, Yushchenko said his orange revolution had already turned Ukraine into a different country and the regime in power for 14 years is now "living its last days."

YUSHCHENKO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We hadn't seen anything like that for the past 100 years. I think it would be appropriate to compare this to the fall of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DOUGHERTY: So, Viktor Yushchenko is now back in Kiev after that visit to the Vienna clinic. He says now that it is the work of "the government," but he's not naming names yet. He said if the prosecutor general carries out the investigation as planned, according to the law, "soon Ukraine and the world will find out who did this."

Now, previously he has put the finger on the government. There has been no comment from President Kuchma and his opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, has been denying any connection -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jill, we've seen what this poison did to his face. But are there any other effects, like to his internal organs? Is he OK?

DOUGHERTY: Well, in fact, Carol, right after this happened -- and it was September 5, apparently, that he had this dinner with the security services of Ukraine and became very ill after that. And when he was examined in Vienna -- he did go to Vienna almost immediately, about four days later -- they found out that his entire digestive tract was basically burned by whatever he had ingested. So that created quite a lot of damage. It's taken a while for that to get back to normal. But doctors say he's definitely on the mend from that.

Overall, he's not in bad shape. He doesn't have as much pain, for example. But the long-term effects could be really quite significant. In fact, there is an increased chance of cancer, reproductive problems, and then not to mention his face, which could take literally years to get back to normal.

COSTELLO: Back to the investigation for just a bit, you mentioned how some of it's going down. But is it likely that they'll ever find who was responsible for this?

DOUGHERTY: Well, that is really the million dollar question, isn't it, because whoever did it, according to the specialists and doctors that we have been talking to, they have been saying that it was done very skillfully. You don't just go out and buy a little bit of dioxin. And to get it into somebody's food, which is what they suspect, that it was put in some type of liquid, like a soup, you'd have to know what you're doing. And that raises issues of exactly who could have carried that out.

Now, Yushchenko's aides are saying that they believe it's the security services, something like the KGB, who did it, but they don't have any proof either. So at this point it really is a mystery. But you can be very sure that it's a very high profile thing right now and the Yushchenko people are going to push for a very thorough investigation.

COSTELLO: Jill Dougherty live from Moscow.

And, by the way, in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK, we're going to talk to Mr. Yushchenko's doctor about the effects of a poison like dioxin and if Mr. Yushchenko will ever look as he did before.

Do you like to make swaps over the Internet? Well, you might want to keep an eye on the case before the Supreme Court today. The question, should Internet file sharing services be liable if people use the software to illegally swap copyrighted material? The entertainment industry says it needs extra protection against illegal swapping, but consumer groups warn a ruling against the file sharing services could hurt consumers. They say technology firms might end up killing products that give you more online control.

So that brings us to our E-Mail Question of the Morning. Should Internet file sharing services be held legally responsible for their customers' actions? Should they hold the company responsible instead of you? E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com.

Coming up this hour on DAYBREAK, a new burst of violence in the Middle East. We take you live to Jerusalem at 15 minutes past.

Also, a wet suit and his instincts -- an elderly diver says that's what saved his life. His story at 23 minutes past.

And later, how do you say "I'm poor" in French? Some American students are finding out. We'll have details for you at 42 minutes past.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning, December 13.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:17 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Another suicide bombing in Baghdad. Six people were killed and 15 wounded when a car blew up just outside the green zone government compound.

Sean O'Keefe is expected to announce today he's resigning as chief of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, otherwise known as NASA. Space agency sources tell CNN O'Keefe will become chancellor of Louisiana State University.

In money news, price relief at the gas pump. The president of OPEC expects world oil demand to drop by a million barrels per day next year. OPEC agreed Friday to cut output by that much.

In culture, the oldest known copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlett Letter" is being auctioned this week in New York. The manuscript was found at the Natick, Massachusetts Historical Society, stuffed in a desk, the last 118 years.

In sports, the Heisman Trophy award to USC quarterback Matt Leinart sets up a first in college football -- two Heisman winners competing in a BSC title game. On January 4, it'll be Leinart's Trojans versus Jason White's Oklahoma Sooners.

And in weather, well, let's head to the forecast center and Rob Marciano -- good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Carol.

A lot of NFL games yesterday having a little snow shower activity.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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

A day of unrestrained violence follows a month of relative quiet in the Middle East. Eight Palestinian children are wounded in Gaza and hours later, five Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen are killed.

CNN correspondent John Vause live in Jerusalem this morning -- hello, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

And in the early hours of this morning, Israeli Apache helicopters fired at least six missiles, according to witnesses, into two separate buildings in Gaza City. The Israelis say these buildings housed bomb making workshops. There was no reports of casualties from the missile strike. But it now appears that the relative calm which followed the death of Yasser Arafat is over with the militant group Hamas vowing more attacks like the one on an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: (voice-over): By all accounts the attack was well planned and deadly. According to the militant Islamic group Hamas, more than a ton of explosives was packed into a tunnel half a mile long, which took four months to dig. The target, an Israeli checkpoint where Palestinians cross from Gaza into Egypt. Moments after the blast, as rescue crews try to evacuate the wounded, militants opened fire with automatic weapons and mortars.

Hamas said this was a joint operation with the Fatah Hawks, a military offshoot of the Fatah political party, which was founded by the late Yasser Arafat. In a video released within hours of the attack, Hamas promised there would be no letup in the violence, saying it remains committed to the destruction of Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We will continue in the resistance until we expel the occupation from our land and teach the Zionist enemy that Hamas and the Palestinian people will not stand by with these crimes that are being committed daily.

VAUSE: Earlier in the day, Palestinian doctors say eight children were hurt when an Israeli tank shell exploded in a school yard in central Gaza.

In the month since the death of Yasser Arafat, it had been relatively quiet. Hopes were higher that the Israelis and Palestinians were working towards a lasting peace.

RA'ANAN GISSIN, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: It is clear that the effort here was to scuttle in any way the normalization process that the Palestinian Authority is trying to institute. And it teaches us one important lesson, that when the new leadership is elected, the first business of the day, their first mission would be to tackle the terrorist organization.

VAUSE: Controlling the militant groups is the biggest challenge for the next president of the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas is the front runner in next month's elections and his chances of winning have dramatically improved. His closest challenger Marwan Barghouti has pulled out.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: And Barghouti is currently serving five life sentences for direct involvement in attacks on Israelis. And ever since he announced he was running, he's been under pressure from senior Palestinian officials to withdraw so Mahmoud Abbas could have a clear run at the top job -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John Vause live in Jerusalem this morning.

Thank you.

We going to take a short break.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The White House says it may name a new nominee for homeland security before Christmas because, as you know, Bernard Kerik dropped out.

We have more now on Bernard Kerik from the man himself. We take you beyond the sound bite this morning with Kerik's own words. He explains why he pulled the plug on his nomination for homeland security secretary.

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Late Wednesday evening I became aware of what I thought may be a problem in some tax filings on a housekeeper, a nanny that I had working for us in my home with my children, a very lovely woman, a very good woman. She was good to my kids. My children loved her. She loved them. And over the next, I guess, 48 hours or so, I came to realize that, in addition to some of the tax issues that I thought I may have, there may have been a question with regard to her legal status in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Kerik says it was his own fault that the nanny issue didn't come to light earlier and he says dropping out was the right thing to do.

Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

We learn more about Bernie Kerik, the man and the former nominee. Yes, there is more in his background that is questionable.

And wondering what a tech savvy Santa would give this year? How about portable memory.

And a reminder, our E-Mail Question of the Morning, should Internet file sharing services be held legally responsible for their customers' actions, as in your actions?

We'll be right back.

Daybreak@cnn.com.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC FORSTER, DIRECTOR: Only do what you're really passionate about and sticking to what you believe in and what your heart tells you to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Marc Forster is following his own advice, building a career from something he loves to do -- make movies. He directed Halle Berry in her Oscar winning role in "Monster's Ball." And Forster's new film, about the creator of Peter Pan, "Finding Neverland," flew off with the 2004 Best Film Award by the New York National Board of Review.

FORSTER: One remains successful to constantly try to stay humble and try to have a certain consciousness of what's going on in the world, because I think ultimately that your own ego is your greatest enemy to destroy your creativity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 13, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, who messed up on the collapse of the Bernard Kerik nomination?
Plus, Saddam Hussein one year after his capture -- what's next for the deposed leader?

And the Golden Globe Awards -- we'll look at the possible nominees.

It is Monday, December 13.

This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.

Thank you for joining us.

Now in the news, overnight, a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad. Six people have been killed in the blast. It happened just about four hours ago. Fifteen people now wounded. It happened at a checkpoint near the green zone government compound.

The nation's space agency is losing its director. NASA sources tell CNN the administrator, Sean O'Keefe, will resign today and accept an offer to be the chancellor at Louisiana State University.

The jury deliberating the life or death fate of convicted murderer Scott Peterson gets back to work today. The jurors took the weekend off after eight and a half hours of deliberations on Friday.

The U.S. Agency for International Development says reconstruction in Iraq is moving forward. But the agency says insurgent attacks have slowed the pace of some reconstruction, especially in Falluja. U.S. AID oversees about 9,000 projects throughout I'd.

To the forecast center and Rob Marciano, in for Chad Myers this morning -- good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Two more days. Chad will be back on Wednesday...

COSTELLO: He will.

MARCIANO: Glowing as the new father that he is.

COSTELLO: I think he'll be exhausted.

MARCIANO: Maybe that's the case, as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: More fallout this morning over Bernard Kerik. His nomination as homeland security chief fell apart last week. Now some lawmakers say the Bush administration did a poor job of checking out the background of its top nominee.

More details now from CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is defending its vetting process for cabinet picks, saying Bernard Kerik is to blame for not disclosing earlier the legal problems that sunk his nomination. But Bush officials are breathing a sigh of relief that this all happened now and now later, during what would have likely been a bruising confirmation process.

(voice-over): The president, at church, heard a sermon about Christmas, the date his aides are using as a gold post for finding a new candidate to run the homeland security department.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody.

BASH: But the hand wringing still isn't over about what went wrong with the first Bush choice -- Bernard Kerik.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: Is there something wrong when you announce the head of, I think, one of the most important agencies in our government to protect this country against terrorism and discover that you've missed a significant piece of the vetting process?

BASH: The White House dropped the ball, say some Democrats, by not knowing its pick to oversee immigration had a nanny with questionable legal status. Embarrassed, even annoyed, Bush officials deny rushing to a point the street cop turned 9/11 hero, insisting Kerik was asked if he had problems like this.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME), CHAIR GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: It is disturbing that apparently there was information in his background that was not shared with the White House. I know for a certainty that there were questions asked about domestic employees, financial matters and legal disputes.

BASH: The president's moving on, say top aides, who suggest he's taking another look at candidates considered the first time around, like the department's head of border security, Asa Hutchinson, EPA Commissioner Mike Leavitt and the president's homeland security adviser, Francis Townsend. Some say Mr. Bush should consider someone with broader experience.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Good morning.

BASH: And one senator, a Democrat, is passing many Washington lips.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to go the other side, you could go to Joe Lieberman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Lieberman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Lieberman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Lieberman.

REP. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Joe would be great, but I'd like to find a Republican from a blue state. Maybe we could pick up a seat.

BASH: All kidding aside, Republican sources do say the president has considered asking Lieberman to join his administration. A source close to the Democratic senator noted he's been careful not to openly criticize the White House recently. And he'd likely take a job if he's asked.

(on camera): The only other cabinet post still open is Health and Human Services secretary. And Bush officials tell CNN the president will likely announce his pick for that post on Monday.

Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Bernard Kerik's nomination was strongly backed by Rudy Giuliani. Now the former New York mayor is doing some damage control. Giuliani was at the White House for a Christmas dinner last night, but he was also there to apologize to President Bush. Giuliani insists Kerik did the right thing by backing out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I mean, Bernie did not want to put the president through a difficult confirmation process where the odds were, because of this issue, he wouldn't get confirmed. Maybe he could have been. Nobody will ever know. But it would have not been the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Today's "New York Times" says it wasn't the only -- it wasn't only the nanny issue that clouded Kerik's nomination. Other controversies include his ties to Interstate Industrial Corporation, a New Jersey company suspected of having links to the mob. The "Times" also says Kerik reaped big profits from companies doing business with the Homeland Security Department and there are also accusations he abused his authority 20 years ago, during the investigation of people working for a Saudi Arabian hospital, as well as questions over the effectiveness of his efforts to improve Iraq's police force.

In other news across America this morning, it's not the Grinch in St. Paul, it's the wind. Powerful winds in the upper Midwest knocked over the 25-foot Christmas tree at the Minnesota governor's mansion. The winds, as high as 60 miles an hour in some areas, also toppled trees and knocked out power for almost 60,000 power customers in the Twin Cities.

Police in Indianapolis are investigating a shooting in a bar that left two people dead and three others wounded. Police say the incident began when two men began arguing. One of them shot the other. The bar's bouncer then shot the gunmen. The three wounded victims were caught in the crossfire.

Off of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard has lowered a salvage crew to a stricken freighter. The vessel broke in half last week, spilling about 40,000 gallons of heavy oil and tons of soybeans. Six of the ship's crew members remain lost at sea.

And talk about tough, an 80-year-old diver was rescued off the Florida Keys after spending 18 hours in the water clinging to a buoy. Ignacio Siberio says his wet suit and 60 years of experience in free diving and spear fishing, he says that experience kept him alive.

Turning now to the disputed Ukrainian elections, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is now convinced the government tried to poison him.

Our Jill Dougherty has been following the story and the election that caused such an uproar.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His doctors by his side, his American born wife Katerina acting as interpreter, Viktor Yushchenko gave no details about how he thought he was poisoned with dioxin or who might have done it.

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I am very happy to be alive in this world today and I thank these people for this.

DOUGHERTY: But one of his physicians shed new light, saying the poison was not detectible in routine forensic tests and thanking his medical colleagues around the world for working on a complex case.

DR. MICHAEL ZIMPFER, RUDOLFINERHAUS HOSPITAL: Regardless of any political backgrounds who were helping us, who were consulting us to, again, to clarify the difficult Yushchenko illness. It has not been observed anywhere else beforehand.

DOUGHERTY: Yushchenko fell ill in September as he was beginning his presidential election campaign. A team of doctors in Vienna said Saturday there is no doubt he was poisoned with the toxic chemical dioxin, that it was likely administered orally in food or a liquid like soup, and most likely by an unnamed third party.

Yushchenko supporters believe he may have been poisoned at a dinner with the leadership of the Ukrainian Security Service and claim the plot may have been carried out with help from outside Ukraine, but have provided no evidence.

As he left the Vienna clinic, Yushchenko said his orange revolution had already turned Ukraine into a different country and the regime in power for 14 years is now "living its last days."

YUSHCHENKO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We hadn't seen anything like that for the past 100 years. I think it would be appropriate to compare this to the fall of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DOUGHERTY: So, Viktor Yushchenko is now back in Kiev after that visit to the Vienna clinic. He says now that it is the work of "the government," but he's not naming names yet. He said if the prosecutor general carries out the investigation as planned, according to the law, "soon Ukraine and the world will find out who did this."

Now, previously he has put the finger on the government. There has been no comment from President Kuchma and his opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, has been denying any connection -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jill, we've seen what this poison did to his face. But are there any other effects, like to his internal organs? Is he OK?

DOUGHERTY: Well, in fact, Carol, right after this happened -- and it was September 5, apparently, that he had this dinner with the security services of Ukraine and became very ill after that. And when he was examined in Vienna -- he did go to Vienna almost immediately, about four days later -- they found out that his entire digestive tract was basically burned by whatever he had ingested. So that created quite a lot of damage. It's taken a while for that to get back to normal. But doctors say he's definitely on the mend from that.

Overall, he's not in bad shape. He doesn't have as much pain, for example. But the long-term effects could be really quite significant. In fact, there is an increased chance of cancer, reproductive problems, and then not to mention his face, which could take literally years to get back to normal.

COSTELLO: Back to the investigation for just a bit, you mentioned how some of it's going down. But is it likely that they'll ever find who was responsible for this?

DOUGHERTY: Well, that is really the million dollar question, isn't it, because whoever did it, according to the specialists and doctors that we have been talking to, they have been saying that it was done very skillfully. You don't just go out and buy a little bit of dioxin. And to get it into somebody's food, which is what they suspect, that it was put in some type of liquid, like a soup, you'd have to know what you're doing. And that raises issues of exactly who could have carried that out.

Now, Yushchenko's aides are saying that they believe it's the security services, something like the KGB, who did it, but they don't have any proof either. So at this point it really is a mystery. But you can be very sure that it's a very high profile thing right now and the Yushchenko people are going to push for a very thorough investigation.

COSTELLO: Jill Dougherty live from Moscow.

And, by the way, in the 6:00 hour of DAYBREAK, we're going to talk to Mr. Yushchenko's doctor about the effects of a poison like dioxin and if Mr. Yushchenko will ever look as he did before.

Do you like to make swaps over the Internet? Well, you might want to keep an eye on the case before the Supreme Court today. The question, should Internet file sharing services be liable if people use the software to illegally swap copyrighted material? The entertainment industry says it needs extra protection against illegal swapping, but consumer groups warn a ruling against the file sharing services could hurt consumers. They say technology firms might end up killing products that give you more online control.

So that brings us to our E-Mail Question of the Morning. Should Internet file sharing services be held legally responsible for their customers' actions? Should they hold the company responsible instead of you? E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com.

Coming up this hour on DAYBREAK, a new burst of violence in the Middle East. We take you live to Jerusalem at 15 minutes past.

Also, a wet suit and his instincts -- an elderly diver says that's what saved his life. His story at 23 minutes past.

And later, how do you say "I'm poor" in French? Some American students are finding out. We'll have details for you at 42 minutes past.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning, December 13.

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COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 5:17 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Another suicide bombing in Baghdad. Six people were killed and 15 wounded when a car blew up just outside the green zone government compound.

Sean O'Keefe is expected to announce today he's resigning as chief of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, otherwise known as NASA. Space agency sources tell CNN O'Keefe will become chancellor of Louisiana State University.

In money news, price relief at the gas pump. The president of OPEC expects world oil demand to drop by a million barrels per day next year. OPEC agreed Friday to cut output by that much.

In culture, the oldest known copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlett Letter" is being auctioned this week in New York. The manuscript was found at the Natick, Massachusetts Historical Society, stuffed in a desk, the last 118 years.

In sports, the Heisman Trophy award to USC quarterback Matt Leinart sets up a first in college football -- two Heisman winners competing in a BSC title game. On January 4, it'll be Leinart's Trojans versus Jason White's Oklahoma Sooners.

And in weather, well, let's head to the forecast center and Rob Marciano -- good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Carol.

A lot of NFL games yesterday having a little snow shower activity.

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

A day of unrestrained violence follows a month of relative quiet in the Middle East. Eight Palestinian children are wounded in Gaza and hours later, five Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen are killed.

CNN correspondent John Vause live in Jerusalem this morning -- hello, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

And in the early hours of this morning, Israeli Apache helicopters fired at least six missiles, according to witnesses, into two separate buildings in Gaza City. The Israelis say these buildings housed bomb making workshops. There was no reports of casualties from the missile strike. But it now appears that the relative calm which followed the death of Yasser Arafat is over with the militant group Hamas vowing more attacks like the one on an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza last night.

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VAUSE: (voice-over): By all accounts the attack was well planned and deadly. According to the militant Islamic group Hamas, more than a ton of explosives was packed into a tunnel half a mile long, which took four months to dig. The target, an Israeli checkpoint where Palestinians cross from Gaza into Egypt. Moments after the blast, as rescue crews try to evacuate the wounded, militants opened fire with automatic weapons and mortars.

Hamas said this was a joint operation with the Fatah Hawks, a military offshoot of the Fatah political party, which was founded by the late Yasser Arafat. In a video released within hours of the attack, Hamas promised there would be no letup in the violence, saying it remains committed to the destruction of Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We will continue in the resistance until we expel the occupation from our land and teach the Zionist enemy that Hamas and the Palestinian people will not stand by with these crimes that are being committed daily.

VAUSE: Earlier in the day, Palestinian doctors say eight children were hurt when an Israeli tank shell exploded in a school yard in central Gaza.

In the month since the death of Yasser Arafat, it had been relatively quiet. Hopes were higher that the Israelis and Palestinians were working towards a lasting peace.

RA'ANAN GISSIN, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: It is clear that the effort here was to scuttle in any way the normalization process that the Palestinian Authority is trying to institute. And it teaches us one important lesson, that when the new leadership is elected, the first business of the day, their first mission would be to tackle the terrorist organization.

VAUSE: Controlling the militant groups is the biggest challenge for the next president of the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas is the front runner in next month's elections and his chances of winning have dramatically improved. His closest challenger Marwan Barghouti has pulled out.

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VAUSE: And Barghouti is currently serving five life sentences for direct involvement in attacks on Israelis. And ever since he announced he was running, he's been under pressure from senior Palestinian officials to withdraw so Mahmoud Abbas could have a clear run at the top job -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John Vause live in Jerusalem this morning.

Thank you.

We going to take a short break.

DAYBREAK will be right back.

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COSTELLO: The White House says it may name a new nominee for homeland security before Christmas because, as you know, Bernard Kerik dropped out.

We have more now on Bernard Kerik from the man himself. We take you beyond the sound bite this morning with Kerik's own words. He explains why he pulled the plug on his nomination for homeland security secretary.

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Late Wednesday evening I became aware of what I thought may be a problem in some tax filings on a housekeeper, a nanny that I had working for us in my home with my children, a very lovely woman, a very good woman. She was good to my kids. My children loved her. She loved them. And over the next, I guess, 48 hours or so, I came to realize that, in addition to some of the tax issues that I thought I may have, there may have been a question with regard to her legal status in this country.

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COSTELLO: Kerik says it was his own fault that the nanny issue didn't come to light earlier and he says dropping out was the right thing to do.

Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

We learn more about Bernie Kerik, the man and the former nominee. Yes, there is more in his background that is questionable.

And wondering what a tech savvy Santa would give this year? How about portable memory.

And a reminder, our E-Mail Question of the Morning, should Internet file sharing services be held legally responsible for their customers' actions, as in your actions?

We'll be right back.

Daybreak@cnn.com.

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MARC FORSTER, DIRECTOR: Only do what you're really passionate about and sticking to what you believe in and what your heart tells you to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Marc Forster is following his own advice, building a career from something he loves to do -- make movies. He directed Halle Berry in her Oscar winning role in "Monster's Ball." And Forster's new film, about the creator of Peter Pan, "Finding Neverland," flew off with the 2004 Best Film Award by the New York National Board of Review.

FORSTER: One remains successful to constantly try to stay humble and try to have a certain consciousness of what's going on in the world, because I think ultimately that your own ego is your greatest enemy to destroy your creativity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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