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CNN Live At Daybreak

Giuliani Reputation Impacted by Kerik Withdrawal?; Utah Authorities Search for Man After Avalanche

Aired December 13, 2004 - 06:00   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, it's been a year since he left the spider hole, but it looks like Saddam Hussein won't be in court any time soon.
Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've all heard about the perfect storm, and this is the perfect avalanche setup.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sifting through the snow -- a rough search in Utah's rugged back country.

And the politics of poison -- it's more than just the stuff of crime movies.

It is Monday, December 13.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

Thank you for waking up with us.

I'm Carol Costello live from the Time Warner Center in New York.

Let's get right to the headlines now.

Overnight, a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad. Six people have been killed in the blast. It happened just about five hours ago. Fifteen people are wounded. It happened at a checkpoint near the green zone government compound.

Seven Marines with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force have been killed in two separate incidents west of Baghdad. The military says the release of details about the deaths on Sunday could put U.S. forces at greater risk.

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

And 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.

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

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: More now on Sean O'Keefe. The NASA chief is launching a new career. NASA sources tell CNN he is stepping down as the space agency's administrator. He plans to take a job as chancellor at Louisiana State University. School officials have not confirmed that, but they say they've had their eye on O'Keefe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL TOHLINE, CHANCELLOR SEARCH COMMITTEE: I think, you know, as we've been looking for a strong candidate, Sean O'Keefe has certainly surfaced. He would bring a lot of very exciting qualities to the able and we look forward to meeting him and interacting some more with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: O'Keefe oversaw a big reorganization at NASA in the wake of the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Turning to another top government post, homeland security chief. The White House is looking for someone new after Bernard Kerik drops out. Kerik had the backing of officials in New York, where he once served as police chief. Now former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani is apologizing to President Bush for the doomed nomination.

In the meantime, New York Senator Chuck Schumer says Kerik had the right to take on the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I spoke to Bernie Kerik before he got the nomination. He had asked for my support. I had one question -- will you fight hard for New York and promise me you will do everything you can to change that formula so we're treated fairly? He said, unequivocally, yes. I hope and pray that the next person, whomever the president chooses, will have the same kind of attitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So as you know by now, Bernard Kerik had Nannygate to deal with. That's why he says he dropped out. And the "I'm sorrys" are out of the way, but questions remain. Like Rudy Giuliani's credibility -- has it been shot with the president? And who's next in line for the nomination? Perhaps a Democrat?

Let's head live to Washington and CNN Radio's Dick Uliano -- good morning, Dick.

DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: A very good morning to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Where do you want to start? Do you want to start with Rudy Giuliani's credibility?

ULIANO: Well, it's certainly interesting from the point of view that Bernard Kerik was a senior vice president in Rudy Giuliani's management consulting firm, Giuliani Partners. And we were told at the time, when the president nominated Kerik to be his secretary of homeland security, that Giuliani had pushed hard for Kerik to get this post.

So now there are people in Washington not only wondering, you know, is Giuliani a little embarrassed by this, but what happened to the White House vetting process? How did it get this far? How did he get nominated when he apparently had a nanny who was -- who her immigration status was questionable and he wasn't paying federal taxes on her?

COSTELLO: Good questions.

You know, some are saying Joe Lieberman may be the next one nominated.

Is that at all possible?

ULIANO: Absolutely. Some members of Congress are hoping, anyway, that Joe Lieberman might be a nominee by the president. He is a Democrat, of course. It's interesting in the sense that Lieberman, of course, created the bill. He established the bill that created the Department of Homeland Security. It was his bill. So, he also supported the Iraq war and the Connecticut Democrat spearheaded several major pieces of bipartisan legislation.

So, yes, the -- there are some in Washington hoping the president might reach across the aisle and pick Lieberman to be the second secretary of Homeland Security.

COSTELLO: You know, some people say that President Bush is kind of rushing things along by trying to fill these cabinet posts quickly.

Do you think that any nominee will be, I guess, nominated before Christmastime?

ULIANO: Well, they're going to want to get someone out there very quickly. But you're right, some members of Congress said on the Sunday talk shows they're concerned that the president, in the euphoric after phase of his election, moved too quickly nominating people and didn't conduct the background check that's required.

So, yes, the president would like to move quickly and Congress would like to get these nominations confirmed in the new -- early in the new year so that these organizations can get running.

COSTELLO: Dick Uliano from CNN Radio, joining us live from Washington this morning. Afghan President Hamid Karzai predicts results in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Karzai tells CNN that luck may play a role in catching the al Qaeda leader. But he says one way or another, bin Laden will be snared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: For a man like him, who's on the run, who's hiding, I would repeat my words that no fugitive can run forever. We will get him sooner or later. And trust me on that, we will do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Karzai says coalition forces are closing in on bin Laden. And he says they're counting on luck and good pursuit.

In other stories across America this first day of the week, it ain't over until it's over. Ohio's electoral college cast its vote for president today. But wait a second. Protest groups have paid for a recount. They demand the electoral college vote be put off until the recount is complete. Also, there are 92,000 ballots in which no vote for president was recorded. Senator John Kerry wants his people to examine them now.

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 kept him alive.

Near Salt Lake City, Utah, researchers are heading out this morning to look for a man missing after an avalanche over the weekend. What's making the search so difficult is the snow pack. The body of the man's friend was found after this report was filed by Susan Woods of CNN affiliate KTVX.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN WOODS, KTVX CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Several hours passed while avalanche control crews tried to make the area safe for searchers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is so dangerous right now and it's so unstable.

WOODS: After blasting the mountainside to trigger any more potential avalanches, crews, with their search dogs, finally left to look for the two missing men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is pretty sketchy out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can hardly dig into this at all. It's pretty firm. It's going to be really similar snow in the avalanche.

WOODS (on camera): This isn't a light powdery snow that skiers love. This is snow like you'd find in the spring. It's high in water content and it sets up like concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be tough to dig in. It'll actually be tough searching for the dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you've all heard about the perfect storm, and this is the perfect avalanche setup.

WOODS (voice-over): The heavy new snow fell on a very weak underlying base of snow. Add the wind and rising temperature and the factors are just right for a slide. And the slope on this mountainside is so steep, the danger was extreme.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Again, that was Susan Woods of CNN affiliate KTVX. Utah authorities say two other men were killed in separate avalanches over the weekend.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, your kids probably have one. Now it's all the rage in Japan. What are these people lining up for anyway?

Plus, I'll speak to the doctor who treated this disfigured leader. What caused Viktor Yushchenko's face to change so very dramatically?

And steroids in baseball -- could Congress really have to get involved? And who stands to benefit in the political arena if they do?

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."

This morning, we're talking about the Sony PlayStation.

Carrie Lee is live at the Nasdaq market site with more on this scoop.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not just the PlayStation, Carol, it's the PlayStation Portable, which went on sale in stores in Japan. This item drew big crowds, with fans standing in line all night to get their hands on this PSP, as some people call it, PlayStation Portable. The first day in stores in Japan, retailers almost completely sold out of the device, a very strong start for his handheld system that plays movies, music and games.

Sony only released 200,000 of these to Japanese retailers for early Sunday launch. Each costs just under $200, about $188 U.S. They plan to send out a total of 500,000 by the end of this year. People in the U.S., though, are going to have to wait a little bit. The players will start making their way to Europe and the U.S. by the end of March. Sony targeting the release of three million of those devices.

They look pretty cool -- Carol.

I'm sure they're going to be a hot ticket here, as well.

COSTELLO: Oh, I think you have that right.

A quick look at the futures.

LEE: Yes, futures looking solidly higher for this Monday morning start. We'll get numbers from the nation's retailers. We'll have the government's compilation of retail numbers today for November. That could give us some direction.

And Honeywell, one of the Dow 30, the diversified conglomerate, is paying about $1.5 billion in a deal to buy a London-based company called Novar. So just the latest merger news here. Novar makes things like fire systems. It's a British holding company. So Honeywell going to get even bigger -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site.

Thank you.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:14 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

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

Israeli helicopters fire missiles into eastern Gaza City, capping a day of violence in Gaza. Earlier, five Israeli soldiers and two Palestinians were killed in an explosion and a firefight at a checkpoint.

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 Natick, Massachusetts Historical Society. It had been stuff in a desk for 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 BCS title game on January 4. It'll be Leinart's Trojans versus Jason White's Oklahoma Sooners.

To the forecast center and Rob Marciano.

MARCIANO: Hi, Carol.

It should be a good Bowl season.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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

In the end, the picture did tell the story. The Ukrainian candidate for president, Viktor Yushchenko, apparently was poisoned. You can see how Mr. Yushchenko looked before he fell ill and how he looks now. Yushchenko was in a disputed battle for president of Ukraine. In fact, a revote is scheduled for December 26.

Live to Vienna, Austria and Yushchenko's physician, Dr. Michael Zimpfer.

Good morning, doctor.

DR. MICHAEL ZIMPFER, RUDOLFINERHAUS CLINIC: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Dr. Zimpfer, how did this poison get into Mr. Yushchenko's system?

ZIMPFER: Well, we suspect that it was simply ingested via the oral route because the first signs, the first organ damages that occurred where the poison was hitting consisted of the stomach, the large and small bowel, the liver and the pancreas.

COSTELLO: So you suspect it got in through some food source?

ZIMPFER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Dioxin, this poison, you've said the concentration of dioxin is a thousand times above the normal levels.

What exactly is dioxin?

ZIMPFER: Well, it's a free cyclic, organic compound. The dioxin is similar, in unpurified form is similar to the yellow rain, which is also called Agent Orange. And it's highly poisonous and can kill animals and men.

COSTELLO: Is it difficult to get a hold of?

ZIMPFER: Within the households, it's almost impossible. It's an industrial byproduct, so if someone works in a factory, he might get in contact with it. But for the regular citizen, no.

COSTELLO: You know, we can see from these pictures how it disfigures the face.

ZIMPFER: Right.

COSTELLO: It can also affect internal organs. How is Mr. Yushchenko doing in that regard?

ZIMPFER: Well, initially he was severely ill because of the internal organ damage. That completely resolved. He is now suffering from the skin lesion and has some residual neurologic symptoms, pain and a little numbness. But other than that, he's doing very fine. He is vigorous and mentally healthy. So he certainly could fill his position.

COSTELLO: Dr. Zimpfer, a final question.

Will his face ever go back to normal?

ZIMPFER: The previous experience shows that most patients completely recover. There can be residual scarring, which we hope will not be the case.

COSTELLO: Dr. Zimpfer, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

ZIMPFER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Fighting a war without the right equipment -- that's the allegation from some soldiers. In today's "Just In Time" segment, we'll tell you what "Time" magazine has found out about the armor issue.

Plus, Saddam's capture -- one year later, what is life like for the former dictator? Can you say poetry?

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "Just In Time" -- the reason why our troops don't have enough armor on their Humvees. As you know, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld struggled in Kuwait when a soldier asked him why troops must forage for rusted scrap metal to put on their vehicles.

"Time" magazine has found a few reasons why.

Correspondent Viveca Novak expands on that theme.

She joins us live from Washington this morning.

Good morning.

VIVECA NOVAK, "TIME" MAGAZINE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So is it a case of not planning for the fight in post- war Iraq?

NOVAK: Well, that is probably the number one reason. We had the number two Army officer, who is in the war, who was leading the war in Iraq. And he said, you know, the reason this is happening is bad intelligence. We relied on the wrong Iraqi exiles and we did not plan for an insurgency like this. And that is the reason we're having this problem.

COSTELLO: And, of course, that goes along with what Donald Rumsfeld said in that presser. He says we're going to war with what we have. Senator Joe Biden, a Democrat of Connecticut, said, "By that logic, we should send our troops into battle on bicycles." That's a quote from the "Time" magazine article.

Can you expound?

NOVAK: Well, he's just responding to the Rumsfeld quote, basically saying you can have all the armor in the world and a tank can still be blown up. Well, obviously that's true. But you want to do everything you can. There's about 20,000 of these Humvees now in Iraq and about a quarter of them have the full armor. They are fully up armored. About half of them have these armor survivability kits, which are bolted on sheets of metal. And the main flaw with those is they don't protect the floor. So you are very vulnerable to mines. And, you know, the -- I mean even the fully up armored Humvees will not protect soldiers from a rocket propelled grenade. But they will protect them from anything shot by an AK-47 and they will minimize, at least, any mine damage.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, these things aren't cheap. They're quite expensive. And reading the "Time" magazine article, something I found fascinating is that prewar, the Army only thought it would need about 235 Humvees. It turns out they need many, many thousands.

NOVAK: Right.

COSTELLO: That's astounding.

NOVAK: Yes, they need -- they're now saying about 35 times that number. And they're about $180,000 apiece. It's not cheap. But when you consider what's at stake, it's worth it.

COSTELLO: Interesting article.

Viveca Novak live from Washington this morning.

Thank you.

NOVAK: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, a year ago today, he turned up in a spider hole. Now he's awaiting trial. We'll get a progress report on Saddam Hussein live from Baghdad.

And will steroids in pro sports be the issue that boosts John McCain all the way to the White House? That's our political hot topic this morning.

(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 - 06:00   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, it's been a year since he left the spider hole, but it looks like Saddam Hussein won't be in court any time soon.
Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've all heard about the perfect storm, and this is the perfect avalanche setup.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sifting through the snow -- a rough search in Utah's rugged back country.

And the politics of poison -- it's more than just the stuff of crime movies.

It is Monday, December 13.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

Thank you for waking up with us.

I'm Carol Costello live from the Time Warner Center in New York.

Let's get right to the headlines now.

Overnight, a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad. Six people have been killed in the blast. It happened just about five hours ago. Fifteen people are wounded. It happened at a checkpoint near the green zone government compound.

Seven Marines with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force have been killed in two separate incidents west of Baghdad. The military says the release of details about the deaths on Sunday could put U.S. forces at greater risk.

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

And 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.

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

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: More now on Sean O'Keefe. The NASA chief is launching a new career. NASA sources tell CNN he is stepping down as the space agency's administrator. He plans to take a job as chancellor at Louisiana State University. School officials have not confirmed that, but they say they've had their eye on O'Keefe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL TOHLINE, CHANCELLOR SEARCH COMMITTEE: I think, you know, as we've been looking for a strong candidate, Sean O'Keefe has certainly surfaced. He would bring a lot of very exciting qualities to the able and we look forward to meeting him and interacting some more with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: O'Keefe oversaw a big reorganization at NASA in the wake of the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Turning to another top government post, homeland security chief. The White House is looking for someone new after Bernard Kerik drops out. Kerik had the backing of officials in New York, where he once served as police chief. Now former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani is apologizing to President Bush for the doomed nomination.

In the meantime, New York Senator Chuck Schumer says Kerik had the right to take on the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I spoke to Bernie Kerik before he got the nomination. He had asked for my support. I had one question -- will you fight hard for New York and promise me you will do everything you can to change that formula so we're treated fairly? He said, unequivocally, yes. I hope and pray that the next person, whomever the president chooses, will have the same kind of attitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So as you know by now, Bernard Kerik had Nannygate to deal with. That's why he says he dropped out. And the "I'm sorrys" are out of the way, but questions remain. Like Rudy Giuliani's credibility -- has it been shot with the president? And who's next in line for the nomination? Perhaps a Democrat?

Let's head live to Washington and CNN Radio's Dick Uliano -- good morning, Dick.

DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: A very good morning to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Where do you want to start? Do you want to start with Rudy Giuliani's credibility?

ULIANO: Well, it's certainly interesting from the point of view that Bernard Kerik was a senior vice president in Rudy Giuliani's management consulting firm, Giuliani Partners. And we were told at the time, when the president nominated Kerik to be his secretary of homeland security, that Giuliani had pushed hard for Kerik to get this post.

So now there are people in Washington not only wondering, you know, is Giuliani a little embarrassed by this, but what happened to the White House vetting process? How did it get this far? How did he get nominated when he apparently had a nanny who was -- who her immigration status was questionable and he wasn't paying federal taxes on her?

COSTELLO: Good questions.

You know, some are saying Joe Lieberman may be the next one nominated.

Is that at all possible?

ULIANO: Absolutely. Some members of Congress are hoping, anyway, that Joe Lieberman might be a nominee by the president. He is a Democrat, of course. It's interesting in the sense that Lieberman, of course, created the bill. He established the bill that created the Department of Homeland Security. It was his bill. So, he also supported the Iraq war and the Connecticut Democrat spearheaded several major pieces of bipartisan legislation.

So, yes, the -- there are some in Washington hoping the president might reach across the aisle and pick Lieberman to be the second secretary of Homeland Security.

COSTELLO: You know, some people say that President Bush is kind of rushing things along by trying to fill these cabinet posts quickly.

Do you think that any nominee will be, I guess, nominated before Christmastime?

ULIANO: Well, they're going to want to get someone out there very quickly. But you're right, some members of Congress said on the Sunday talk shows they're concerned that the president, in the euphoric after phase of his election, moved too quickly nominating people and didn't conduct the background check that's required.

So, yes, the president would like to move quickly and Congress would like to get these nominations confirmed in the new -- early in the new year so that these organizations can get running.

COSTELLO: Dick Uliano from CNN Radio, joining us live from Washington this morning. Afghan President Hamid Karzai predicts results in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Karzai tells CNN that luck may play a role in catching the al Qaeda leader. But he says one way or another, bin Laden will be snared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: For a man like him, who's on the run, who's hiding, I would repeat my words that no fugitive can run forever. We will get him sooner or later. And trust me on that, we will do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Karzai says coalition forces are closing in on bin Laden. And he says they're counting on luck and good pursuit.

In other stories across America this first day of the week, it ain't over until it's over. Ohio's electoral college cast its vote for president today. But wait a second. Protest groups have paid for a recount. They demand the electoral college vote be put off until the recount is complete. Also, there are 92,000 ballots in which no vote for president was recorded. Senator John Kerry wants his people to examine them now.

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 kept him alive.

Near Salt Lake City, Utah, researchers are heading out this morning to look for a man missing after an avalanche over the weekend. What's making the search so difficult is the snow pack. The body of the man's friend was found after this report was filed by Susan Woods of CNN affiliate KTVX.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN WOODS, KTVX CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Several hours passed while avalanche control crews tried to make the area safe for searchers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is so dangerous right now and it's so unstable.

WOODS: After blasting the mountainside to trigger any more potential avalanches, crews, with their search dogs, finally left to look for the two missing men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is pretty sketchy out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can hardly dig into this at all. It's pretty firm. It's going to be really similar snow in the avalanche.

WOODS (on camera): This isn't a light powdery snow that skiers love. This is snow like you'd find in the spring. It's high in water content and it sets up like concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be tough to dig in. It'll actually be tough searching for the dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you've all heard about the perfect storm, and this is the perfect avalanche setup.

WOODS (voice-over): The heavy new snow fell on a very weak underlying base of snow. Add the wind and rising temperature and the factors are just right for a slide. And the slope on this mountainside is so steep, the danger was extreme.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Again, that was Susan Woods of CNN affiliate KTVX. Utah authorities say two other men were killed in separate avalanches over the weekend.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, your kids probably have one. Now it's all the rage in Japan. What are these people lining up for anyway?

Plus, I'll speak to the doctor who treated this disfigured leader. What caused Viktor Yushchenko's face to change so very dramatically?

And steroids in baseball -- could Congress really have to get involved? And who stands to benefit in the political arena if they do?

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."

This morning, we're talking about the Sony PlayStation.

Carrie Lee is live at the Nasdaq market site with more on this scoop.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not just the PlayStation, Carol, it's the PlayStation Portable, which went on sale in stores in Japan. This item drew big crowds, with fans standing in line all night to get their hands on this PSP, as some people call it, PlayStation Portable. The first day in stores in Japan, retailers almost completely sold out of the device, a very strong start for his handheld system that plays movies, music and games.

Sony only released 200,000 of these to Japanese retailers for early Sunday launch. Each costs just under $200, about $188 U.S. They plan to send out a total of 500,000 by the end of this year. People in the U.S., though, are going to have to wait a little bit. The players will start making their way to Europe and the U.S. by the end of March. Sony targeting the release of three million of those devices.

They look pretty cool -- Carol.

I'm sure they're going to be a hot ticket here, as well.

COSTELLO: Oh, I think you have that right.

A quick look at the futures.

LEE: Yes, futures looking solidly higher for this Monday morning start. We'll get numbers from the nation's retailers. We'll have the government's compilation of retail numbers today for November. That could give us some direction.

And Honeywell, one of the Dow 30, the diversified conglomerate, is paying about $1.5 billion in a deal to buy a London-based company called Novar. So just the latest merger news here. Novar makes things like fire systems. It's a British holding company. So Honeywell going to get even bigger -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site.

Thank you.

Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:14 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

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

Israeli helicopters fire missiles into eastern Gaza City, capping a day of violence in Gaza. Earlier, five Israeli soldiers and two Palestinians were killed in an explosion and a firefight at a checkpoint.

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 Natick, Massachusetts Historical Society. It had been stuff in a desk for 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 BCS title game on January 4. It'll be Leinart's Trojans versus Jason White's Oklahoma Sooners.

To the forecast center and Rob Marciano.

MARCIANO: Hi, Carol.

It should be a good Bowl season.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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

In the end, the picture did tell the story. The Ukrainian candidate for president, Viktor Yushchenko, apparently was poisoned. You can see how Mr. Yushchenko looked before he fell ill and how he looks now. Yushchenko was in a disputed battle for president of Ukraine. In fact, a revote is scheduled for December 26.

Live to Vienna, Austria and Yushchenko's physician, Dr. Michael Zimpfer.

Good morning, doctor.

DR. MICHAEL ZIMPFER, RUDOLFINERHAUS CLINIC: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Dr. Zimpfer, how did this poison get into Mr. Yushchenko's system?

ZIMPFER: Well, we suspect that it was simply ingested via the oral route because the first signs, the first organ damages that occurred where the poison was hitting consisted of the stomach, the large and small bowel, the liver and the pancreas.

COSTELLO: So you suspect it got in through some food source?

ZIMPFER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Dioxin, this poison, you've said the concentration of dioxin is a thousand times above the normal levels.

What exactly is dioxin?

ZIMPFER: Well, it's a free cyclic, organic compound. The dioxin is similar, in unpurified form is similar to the yellow rain, which is also called Agent Orange. And it's highly poisonous and can kill animals and men.

COSTELLO: Is it difficult to get a hold of?

ZIMPFER: Within the households, it's almost impossible. It's an industrial byproduct, so if someone works in a factory, he might get in contact with it. But for the regular citizen, no.

COSTELLO: You know, we can see from these pictures how it disfigures the face.

ZIMPFER: Right.

COSTELLO: It can also affect internal organs. How is Mr. Yushchenko doing in that regard?

ZIMPFER: Well, initially he was severely ill because of the internal organ damage. That completely resolved. He is now suffering from the skin lesion and has some residual neurologic symptoms, pain and a little numbness. But other than that, he's doing very fine. He is vigorous and mentally healthy. So he certainly could fill his position.

COSTELLO: Dr. Zimpfer, a final question.

Will his face ever go back to normal?

ZIMPFER: The previous experience shows that most patients completely recover. There can be residual scarring, which we hope will not be the case.

COSTELLO: Dr. Zimpfer, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

ZIMPFER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Fighting a war without the right equipment -- that's the allegation from some soldiers. In today's "Just In Time" segment, we'll tell you what "Time" magazine has found out about the armor issue.

Plus, Saddam's capture -- one year later, what is life like for the former dictator? Can you say poetry?

We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: "Just In Time" -- the reason why our troops don't have enough armor on their Humvees. As you know, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld struggled in Kuwait when a soldier asked him why troops must forage for rusted scrap metal to put on their vehicles.

"Time" magazine has found a few reasons why.

Correspondent Viveca Novak expands on that theme.

She joins us live from Washington this morning.

Good morning.

VIVECA NOVAK, "TIME" MAGAZINE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So is it a case of not planning for the fight in post- war Iraq?

NOVAK: Well, that is probably the number one reason. We had the number two Army officer, who is in the war, who was leading the war in Iraq. And he said, you know, the reason this is happening is bad intelligence. We relied on the wrong Iraqi exiles and we did not plan for an insurgency like this. And that is the reason we're having this problem.

COSTELLO: And, of course, that goes along with what Donald Rumsfeld said in that presser. He says we're going to war with what we have. Senator Joe Biden, a Democrat of Connecticut, said, "By that logic, we should send our troops into battle on bicycles." That's a quote from the "Time" magazine article.

Can you expound?

NOVAK: Well, he's just responding to the Rumsfeld quote, basically saying you can have all the armor in the world and a tank can still be blown up. Well, obviously that's true. But you want to do everything you can. There's about 20,000 of these Humvees now in Iraq and about a quarter of them have the full armor. They are fully up armored. About half of them have these armor survivability kits, which are bolted on sheets of metal. And the main flaw with those is they don't protect the floor. So you are very vulnerable to mines. And, you know, the -- I mean even the fully up armored Humvees will not protect soldiers from a rocket propelled grenade. But they will protect them from anything shot by an AK-47 and they will minimize, at least, any mine damage.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, these things aren't cheap. They're quite expensive. And reading the "Time" magazine article, something I found fascinating is that prewar, the Army only thought it would need about 235 Humvees. It turns out they need many, many thousands.

NOVAK: Right.

COSTELLO: That's astounding.

NOVAK: Yes, they need -- they're now saying about 35 times that number. And they're about $180,000 apiece. It's not cheap. But when you consider what's at stake, it's worth it.

COSTELLO: Interesting article.

Viveca Novak live from Washington this morning.

Thank you.

NOVAK: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, a year ago today, he turned up in a spider hole. Now he's awaiting trial. We'll get a progress report on Saddam Hussein live from Baghdad.

And will steroids in pro sports be the issue that boosts John McCain all the way to the White House? That's our political hot topic this morning.

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