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CNN Live At Daybreak

Iraqi Election Preps; Beyond the Bar Code; Bush Bash Glitz

Aired January 17, 2005 - 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.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Live from the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK. I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

Just under two weeks to go before the Iraqis hold their national election, and gearing up for it involves a lot more than just printing ballots and getting polling places up and running.

CNN's Jeff Koinange has the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, there you go.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. troops on a mission to win hearts and minds. Alpha Company of the 1st Calvary distributing medical and school supplies in a suburb south of Baghdad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you.

KOINANGE: And along with this humanitarian gesture, they hand out election leaflets as part of their goal of helping bring democracy here after decades of dictatorship.

LT. ANDREW FORNEY, 1ST CALVARY DIVISION, U.S. ARMY: The Iraqis don't have a full sense of democracy in the sense of what it means to vote, that their vote counts and what it means to have elected officials.

KOINANGE: And one of the candidates, Ayad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister, was heavily guarded as he campaigned at Baghdad University Sunday, an example of what is a low-key, rare political campaign being held with a backdrop of insurgent violence.

Some 50 million Iraqis worldwide are eligible to vote. Newspapers here are printing a detailed walkthrough of what to do when voters go to one of the 5,500 polling areas around the country on election day.

But along with instructions on how to vote, there is a curfew in place and a national holiday has been scheduled around election day to keep vehicles off the streets. Security cordons will be set up around all polling centers and there will be a restriction on all vehicle movement around the country. More than 100,000 Iraqi security forces will be on patrol. And another 150,000 U.S. troops out of sight, but close enough to deploy in case of any trouble: muscle behind the will to have the elections take place.

BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: It's not going to be easy, but it will be done.

KOINANGE: Despite continuing attacks and assassinations aimed at disrupting the elections, many groups and parties remain undeterred. Like the National Consensus Alliance, a mostly Shiite Group, they submitted a list of 45 candidates but not before stressing the road to democracy is taking a toll on the people.

AZIZ AL-TAT, NATIONAL CONSENSUS ALLIANCE: We do have a serious challenge of terrorism in Iraq, and we feel that the Iraqi citizen is paying a dear price and a heavy tax of the blood of its children, women and men.

KOINANGE: Some, mostly Sunni-dominated parties or coalitions, have pulled out of the elections, although some in the government downplay what others see as a rift along religious, ethnic or tribal lines.

MUAFFEK EL-RUBAIE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This is not a competition between Sunnis and Shiites, this is not a competition between Arab and Kurds, this is between Democratic forces of Iraq and anti-Democratic forces of Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: And, Carol, the wave of violence continues across this country on this Monday. In the town of Baharoots (ph), 10 kilometers south of Baquba in the Sunni Triangle, a fierce gun battle between insurgents and Iraqi national guardsmen left seven guardsmen dead and four wounded. So with less than two weeks to go before that crucial January 30 poll, Iraq seems to resemble more a country at war than a nation going to the polls -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange, live in Baghdad this morning, thank you.

We're seeing what's happening before the Iraqi election, but what about after the vote? Will this election truly mark a turning point for Iraq's future or has its significance been lost in a cloud of violence and political spin?

Joining us now to look at the bigger picture is CNN's senior international editor David Clinch.

Good morning -- David.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Carol, good morning, and all of those very good questions.

Look at Jeff's reporting there from Baghdad this morning. I think we all have to keep in mind that we at CNN, our reporters in the field risking their lives every day, are going to do our best to bring the most complete picture that we possibly can of what's happening in the lead up to these elections in Iraq and what happens after the vote.

Now it is true, though, nevertheless, if you remember when we were with the troops embedded coming in in the invasion, we put health warnings on our reporting saying we could only, at best, hope to give you one little part of it, a fractious view of everything that was happening in Iraq as we came in with various units.

I would say that we have to kind of give the same warning for our reporting, and everybody's reporting from Iraq, over the next few weeks. We are only going to be able to pick small parts of the story, bring them to you as best as we can and hope that in the end they will give something close to a complete picture.

But there is an awful lot of spin, as you mentioned there, coming from all sides. Spin, if you want to call it that, from all of the different political parties in Iraq. Spin, in some senses, from the insurgents. They are shooting video of the attacks that they are carrying it out and putting it on the Web. And spin in some form from the U.S. military as well.

We had a press release come out from the press office in Baghdad today, quotes from General Casey, one of the top commanders of the multinational forces there, indicating that, in his view, that this will be what he says is an Iraqi election, run by the Iraqis, secured by the Iraqis, with some assistance from us.

Now it is true that we do not expect the U.S. forces to be at every election point, but it is nevertheless true that there are 150,000 U.S. troops in the region. And there is no doubt at all that the U.S. is trying its best to distance itself from these elections.

On the other hand, the U.S. is there and they're going to be there during the elections and afterwards and this spin from all sides will continue. We're going to try our best to bring you a complete picture today and every day as we go forward, but it's not easy.

COSTELLO: No, it's not easy, there are 5,000 polling places throughout the country of Iraq. There are also polling places here in the United States so that Iraqis living here can vote in the election.

Let's talk about the security. This general is saying that Iraqi forces will provide security. That's difficult to believe -- David.

CLINCH: Well the way we understand it's going to work is that it will be Iraqi forces at the election points, but the U.S. will be watching. The forces will be ready. They'll be nearby. If anything happens, the American forces can come in and they will come in to provide security if needed.

But again, the idea is that the Iraqis run the election and the U.S. forces pull in to the background. But believe me, the U.S. forces will be there if and when they need to be if a security situation arises.

COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, live in Atlanta this morning, thank you.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: It is the size of a grain of sand and it's changing the way the world goes round. We'll show you how radio frequency identification works and all of the places you can find it. In Ali Velshi's arm, for example.

Also ahead, from fancy champagne to down-home Texas treats. We'll preview the glitz and glamour in store for some inauguration guests.

And do not forget our e-mail "Question of the Morning," has Martin Luther King, Jr. received appropriate recognition for his fight for civil rights? Send us your thoughts, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Radio frequency identification, it can be used to track your goods, your pets and your medical records, and in the future, perhaps to track you.

As our DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi tells us, it's efficient, expensive and kind of scary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): It gets you through the toll booth without stopping. It lets you into your office without keys and it lets you fill your tank without a wallet. Simple, convenient technology. A microchip with an antenna exchanges data with a receiver used in radio waves. The receiver converts the waves into digital information which is then passed on to computers. Unlike bar codes, you don't have to see RFID tags to scan them. The sturdy tiny microchips can be implanted inside virtually anything, like goods on a store shelf.

RICHARD SAMSON, FUTURIST & DIR. OF ERANOVA INSTITUTE: You don't have to scan it. You don't even have to worry where the RFID tag is because it's only as big as a grain of sand.

VELSHI: So small that for years, they've been implanted in pets to get them back to their owners when they're lost.

(on camera): Now the FDA has approved an implantable chip for humans. In an emergency, it would give health care workers access to this, a patient's files. I've got one of those chips implanted in me, so if I were unconscious and rushed to a hospital that used the technology, they'd just scan my arm and a number would come up linking them to my medical records.

Now this is only approved for health care in the United States, but some privacy advocates are worried about other possible uses and misuses.

(voice-over): But widespread adoption of RFID in people or on products is still a few years away. By the end of the year, however, every new U.S. passport will contain an RFID tag.

There is one issue: there is no uniform standard for the technology.

SANJAY SARMA, MIT: We've got tags on each one of those cases.

VELSHI: It's a problem MIT's Sanjay Sarma is working on.

SARMA: My goal for RFID standards, indeed all standards, is for as many people as possible, hopefully the whole world, to agree on one or two standards and to use them, make them better.

VELSHI: Better and cheaper. Bar codes cost a fraction of a cent. Basic RFID tags still cost more than 10 cents a piece. That means for now, RFID tags are likely to be used on pallets of goods, rather than on individual items. But RFID does have some big backers, like the Department of Defense, which is ordering its major suppliers to tag deliveries with RFID and Wal-Mart, too. All shipments to the giant retailer's warehouses will soon require RFID tags on them.

Both of these developments will help drive the cost of the technology down. If the trend continues, buying everyday items could soon be as simple as picking them up and walking out of the store.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now let's be clear, the FDA has not approved RFID tags for financial transactions. But in Barcelona, there is a bar where you know all the hip kids who don't really want to be carrying wallets and credit cards and things like that are allowed to use these tags to pay their bar tab.

Can you imagine, will that be cash or that little chip in you?

COSTELLO: Let's talk about how they implanted that chip in your arm and what it feels like.

VELSHI: Yes, really simple. It's like a big dental needle that goes into your arm and they sort of put it in, injected it. And it feels like, you can touch it, and it feels like a grain of rice underneath my arm.

COSTELLO: Freaky.

VELSHI: Typically it doesn't go there, it goes in the back of your shoulder where it's out of harm's way, you can't injure it. But remember there's nothing on here except a number. So it's not a credit card number, it's just a number that ties up to a databank that keeps, theoretically, information.

COSTELLO: So if you're at a grocery store, you can't go through and scan your arm?

VELSHI: I can't scan my way out. It's theoretically possible, the same technology, but it's not an allowed use right now in the United States.

COSTELLO: Fascinating.

VELSHI: So you know I didn't put it up here because to show you, then I would have had to take my shirt off and it would have caused a ratings slide.

COSTELLO: Well you know this is a family program.

VELSHI: It's a family program.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Ali, we appreciate it.

VELSHI: All right.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Two deadly attacks in Iraq at checkpoints in two cities. Insurgents killed seven Iraqi soldiers and a civilian near Baquba. Another attack near Tikrit left seven Iraqi police officers dead.

Zhao Ziyang, the former Communist Party chief in China, has died at the age of 85. An architect of China's economic reform, Zhao was ousted after the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989. He spent his last 15 years under house arrest.

In money news, $23.5 million for the take -- that's the take for the Samuel Jackson basketball film, "Coach Carter." It won at the weekend box office. It won that championship. "Meet the Fockers" finished second and "Racing Stripes" third.

In culture, Jerry Springer will host a new talk show on radio in Cincinnati, the city he once served as mayor. But Springer will keep his TV show, the one noted for fistfights, chair throwing and bleeped out obscenities.

In sports, Freddie Mitchell of the Philadelphia Eagles filled in for the injured Terrell Owens and scored two touchdowns on Sunday. Eagles 27, Minnesota Vikings 14. Philly hosts Atlanta next Sunday.

Did you catch Randy Moss in that game -- Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I did. I did, Carol, and my two new favorite teams, Atlanta and any team that plays against Randy Moss.

COSTELLO: Yes, that's good.

MYERS: He didn't play that well, did he?

COSTELLO: No, he didn't.

MYERS: No.

COSTELLO: He only had a couple of catches...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... and then that weird play where he walked off the field when he wasn't supposed to.

MYERS: Yes, oops. Well maybe his head wasn't in the game that day. You know you get things going sometimes and he wasn't thinking about what they were doing there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

The inaugural fund raisers are well past the half-way mark toward their $40 million goal. That buys a lot of glitz for the second George W. Bush inauguration on Thursday. But even more is available in Washington, if you're a high roller who is willing and able to pay for it.

Details now from Ed Henry our congressional correspondent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Button down Washington is not known for glitz or glamour, but for the inaugural, everybody likes to party.

Yes, even dogs flash bling-bling or jewels when the rich and famous let it all hang out.

PAUL WESTBROOK, GENERAL MANAGER, RITZ CARLTON: This is truly our Super Bowl and we are ready.

HENRY: The general manager of the Ritz Carlton is offering his presidential suite in a four night package for a whopping $150,000.

WESTBROOK: We are including almost everything that a customer would ever want, including a butler that would go to their private residence, that would pack up all their belongings, that would fly them here first class, unpack all of their belongings in $20,000 worth of luggage.

HENRY: There is fancy champagne and chocolate goodies with a Texas flair.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Yeeha! HENRY: Plus the butler at your beck and call to draw your bath. The couple gets two tickets to an inaugural ball. Sax's Fifth Avenue outfits the lady in a swank Bagley Mishka gown, just like the Bush twins, while the guy gets an Armani tux. The pooch gets a designer jacket, collar and leash.

(on-camera): For the inaugural, the Ritz has ordered dozens of new bathrobes, 800 towels, five miles of bed linens and in this $150,000 suite, you get a romantic turndown of rose petals in the shape of a W. And these embroidered pillowcases, you get to keep them too.

(voice-over) Then there's the best suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

DARRELL SHEAFFER, GENERAL MANAGER, MANDARIN HOTEL: It's over 3,000 square feet. It has 10 flat panel televisions. It has views of some of the most recognizable sites and monuments in Washington, D.C. So it's an experience in itself.

HENRY: It comes with a chauffeur, spa treatments, jewels and Oscar de la Renta gown for the lady and tickets to the A list events.

SHEAFFER: This is all about the inauguration and this particular week is all about access. It's all about power and this gives you a front row seat during this great week.

HENRY (on-camera): Four nights in the Mandarin Oriental presidential suite just over $200,000. Getting to sit here in a fake oval office in the hotel lobby, priceless.

Covering Sax Fifth Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, de la Renta and de president, Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Day-to-day living in Indonesia is still bad, but it is getting better. Many people seeking water, clothes and shelters or shelter, rather, are turning to mosques. Many of those buildings were left standing despite the carnage caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

CNN's Atika Shubert reports from the hard-hit Aceh Province.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the devastation, all along the coast you see them, black minarets standing tall in a muddied wasteland, silver domes gleaming in the opened air. Aceh's mosques left untouched by this disaster. Often the only buildings left standing.

In a land of devout religion, particularly Islam, these have become much more than places of worship. Some are famous, Aceh's great mosque still white in a sea of debris and death, an iconic image of Aceh's will to survive.

Some serve as shelters, makeshift homes, a place for survivors to get food, clean water, clothing and information. Others stand empty, the faithful killed or missing, a lonely reminder of what once was.

(on camera): Just meters from the ocean, this mosque should not have survived. Yet here it is. Was it simply better built? Did the high arcs and the pillars divide the water allowing the giant wave to simply pass through? Or is it as many Acehianese believe, something else?

(voice-over): The Lagoey (ph) Mosque is small. It used to serve 600 villagers in this seaside community. Only 200 survived, every single home destroyed. The mosque still stands, barely. In the last two days, survivors have returned. Living off of relief aid, they used donated clothes to clean the floor, dresses and skirts. When everything else is destroyed, the village head explains, they need a place to pray.

All the houses of God were saved, he tells us, seeing the mosque still standing amid all of this destruction only increases my faith and I think everyone else here feels the same.

The reasons why these mosques survived, hardly matters anymore. Their standing pillars have become the foundation for a new life in Aceh.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All across the country, Americans are marking the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. King's marches, speeches, sit-ins and peaceful protests are legendary in his fight for equality. It was more than two decades ago that a law was passed making King's birthday a national holiday.

And that brings us to our e-mail "Question of the Morning."

VELSHI: And that is has Martin Luther King, Jr. received appropriate recognition for his fight for civil rights? The e-mails, as always, are flowing in.

Adam (ph) writes to say Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has statues all over the country. Go to any major American city, I guarantee you there's a street named MLK. He even has a federal holiday named after him. How much more can you honor a man, rename the country the United States of Dr. King?

Sarah (ph) in New York says Martin Luther King can't be honored enough. This holiday reminds us of his dream and helps to keep it alive. I hope to live to see the day that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Obviously quoting from Dr. King's famous speech.

And finally, Chuck (ph) in Tennessee. As a 47-year-old white male raised and living in the South, I think enough attention has been paid to Mr. King on his fight for civil rights. What concerns me is the racism in this country. I think things are worse between blacks and whites in this country than they were when I grew up in the 1960s. I wish his memory could be used more for bringing an end to racism than just to draw attention to the civil rights struggle.

COSTELLO: What eloquent e-mails this morning.

VELSHI: Yes, yes, excellent e-mails from everybody.

COSTELLO: Fascinating.

All right, thank you, Ali.

The next hour of DAYBREAK begins right now.

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Aired January 17, 2005 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Live from the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK. I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.

Just under two weeks to go before the Iraqis hold their national election, and gearing up for it involves a lot more than just printing ballots and getting polling places up and running.

CNN's Jeff Koinange has the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, there you go.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. troops on a mission to win hearts and minds. Alpha Company of the 1st Calvary distributing medical and school supplies in a suburb south of Baghdad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you.

KOINANGE: And along with this humanitarian gesture, they hand out election leaflets as part of their goal of helping bring democracy here after decades of dictatorship.

LT. ANDREW FORNEY, 1ST CALVARY DIVISION, U.S. ARMY: The Iraqis don't have a full sense of democracy in the sense of what it means to vote, that their vote counts and what it means to have elected officials.

KOINANGE: And one of the candidates, Ayad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister, was heavily guarded as he campaigned at Baghdad University Sunday, an example of what is a low-key, rare political campaign being held with a backdrop of insurgent violence.

Some 50 million Iraqis worldwide are eligible to vote. Newspapers here are printing a detailed walkthrough of what to do when voters go to one of the 5,500 polling areas around the country on election day.

But along with instructions on how to vote, there is a curfew in place and a national holiday has been scheduled around election day to keep vehicles off the streets. Security cordons will be set up around all polling centers and there will be a restriction on all vehicle movement around the country. More than 100,000 Iraqi security forces will be on patrol. And another 150,000 U.S. troops out of sight, but close enough to deploy in case of any trouble: muscle behind the will to have the elections take place.

BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: It's not going to be easy, but it will be done.

KOINANGE: Despite continuing attacks and assassinations aimed at disrupting the elections, many groups and parties remain undeterred. Like the National Consensus Alliance, a mostly Shiite Group, they submitted a list of 45 candidates but not before stressing the road to democracy is taking a toll on the people.

AZIZ AL-TAT, NATIONAL CONSENSUS ALLIANCE: We do have a serious challenge of terrorism in Iraq, and we feel that the Iraqi citizen is paying a dear price and a heavy tax of the blood of its children, women and men.

KOINANGE: Some, mostly Sunni-dominated parties or coalitions, have pulled out of the elections, although some in the government downplay what others see as a rift along religious, ethnic or tribal lines.

MUAFFEK EL-RUBAIE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This is not a competition between Sunnis and Shiites, this is not a competition between Arab and Kurds, this is between Democratic forces of Iraq and anti-Democratic forces of Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: And, Carol, the wave of violence continues across this country on this Monday. In the town of Baharoots (ph), 10 kilometers south of Baquba in the Sunni Triangle, a fierce gun battle between insurgents and Iraqi national guardsmen left seven guardsmen dead and four wounded. So with less than two weeks to go before that crucial January 30 poll, Iraq seems to resemble more a country at war than a nation going to the polls -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jeff Koinange, live in Baghdad this morning, thank you.

We're seeing what's happening before the Iraqi election, but what about after the vote? Will this election truly mark a turning point for Iraq's future or has its significance been lost in a cloud of violence and political spin?

Joining us now to look at the bigger picture is CNN's senior international editor David Clinch.

Good morning -- David.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Carol, good morning, and all of those very good questions.

Look at Jeff's reporting there from Baghdad this morning. I think we all have to keep in mind that we at CNN, our reporters in the field risking their lives every day, are going to do our best to bring the most complete picture that we possibly can of what's happening in the lead up to these elections in Iraq and what happens after the vote.

Now it is true, though, nevertheless, if you remember when we were with the troops embedded coming in in the invasion, we put health warnings on our reporting saying we could only, at best, hope to give you one little part of it, a fractious view of everything that was happening in Iraq as we came in with various units.

I would say that we have to kind of give the same warning for our reporting, and everybody's reporting from Iraq, over the next few weeks. We are only going to be able to pick small parts of the story, bring them to you as best as we can and hope that in the end they will give something close to a complete picture.

But there is an awful lot of spin, as you mentioned there, coming from all sides. Spin, if you want to call it that, from all of the different political parties in Iraq. Spin, in some senses, from the insurgents. They are shooting video of the attacks that they are carrying it out and putting it on the Web. And spin in some form from the U.S. military as well.

We had a press release come out from the press office in Baghdad today, quotes from General Casey, one of the top commanders of the multinational forces there, indicating that, in his view, that this will be what he says is an Iraqi election, run by the Iraqis, secured by the Iraqis, with some assistance from us.

Now it is true that we do not expect the U.S. forces to be at every election point, but it is nevertheless true that there are 150,000 U.S. troops in the region. And there is no doubt at all that the U.S. is trying its best to distance itself from these elections.

On the other hand, the U.S. is there and they're going to be there during the elections and afterwards and this spin from all sides will continue. We're going to try our best to bring you a complete picture today and every day as we go forward, but it's not easy.

COSTELLO: No, it's not easy, there are 5,000 polling places throughout the country of Iraq. There are also polling places here in the United States so that Iraqis living here can vote in the election.

Let's talk about the security. This general is saying that Iraqi forces will provide security. That's difficult to believe -- David.

CLINCH: Well the way we understand it's going to work is that it will be Iraqi forces at the election points, but the U.S. will be watching. The forces will be ready. They'll be nearby. If anything happens, the American forces can come in and they will come in to provide security if needed.

But again, the idea is that the Iraqis run the election and the U.S. forces pull in to the background. But believe me, the U.S. forces will be there if and when they need to be if a security situation arises.

COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, live in Atlanta this morning, thank you.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: It is the size of a grain of sand and it's changing the way the world goes round. We'll show you how radio frequency identification works and all of the places you can find it. In Ali Velshi's arm, for example.

Also ahead, from fancy champagne to down-home Texas treats. We'll preview the glitz and glamour in store for some inauguration guests.

And do not forget our e-mail "Question of the Morning," has Martin Luther King, Jr. received appropriate recognition for his fight for civil rights? Send us your thoughts, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. That's DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Radio frequency identification, it can be used to track your goods, your pets and your medical records, and in the future, perhaps to track you.

As our DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi tells us, it's efficient, expensive and kind of scary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): It gets you through the toll booth without stopping. It lets you into your office without keys and it lets you fill your tank without a wallet. Simple, convenient technology. A microchip with an antenna exchanges data with a receiver used in radio waves. The receiver converts the waves into digital information which is then passed on to computers. Unlike bar codes, you don't have to see RFID tags to scan them. The sturdy tiny microchips can be implanted inside virtually anything, like goods on a store shelf.

RICHARD SAMSON, FUTURIST & DIR. OF ERANOVA INSTITUTE: You don't have to scan it. You don't even have to worry where the RFID tag is because it's only as big as a grain of sand.

VELSHI: So small that for years, they've been implanted in pets to get them back to their owners when they're lost.

(on camera): Now the FDA has approved an implantable chip for humans. In an emergency, it would give health care workers access to this, a patient's files. I've got one of those chips implanted in me, so if I were unconscious and rushed to a hospital that used the technology, they'd just scan my arm and a number would come up linking them to my medical records.

Now this is only approved for health care in the United States, but some privacy advocates are worried about other possible uses and misuses.

(voice-over): But widespread adoption of RFID in people or on products is still a few years away. By the end of the year, however, every new U.S. passport will contain an RFID tag.

There is one issue: there is no uniform standard for the technology.

SANJAY SARMA, MIT: We've got tags on each one of those cases.

VELSHI: It's a problem MIT's Sanjay Sarma is working on.

SARMA: My goal for RFID standards, indeed all standards, is for as many people as possible, hopefully the whole world, to agree on one or two standards and to use them, make them better.

VELSHI: Better and cheaper. Bar codes cost a fraction of a cent. Basic RFID tags still cost more than 10 cents a piece. That means for now, RFID tags are likely to be used on pallets of goods, rather than on individual items. But RFID does have some big backers, like the Department of Defense, which is ordering its major suppliers to tag deliveries with RFID and Wal-Mart, too. All shipments to the giant retailer's warehouses will soon require RFID tags on them.

Both of these developments will help drive the cost of the technology down. If the trend continues, buying everyday items could soon be as simple as picking them up and walking out of the store.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now let's be clear, the FDA has not approved RFID tags for financial transactions. But in Barcelona, there is a bar where you know all the hip kids who don't really want to be carrying wallets and credit cards and things like that are allowed to use these tags to pay their bar tab.

Can you imagine, will that be cash or that little chip in you?

COSTELLO: Let's talk about how they implanted that chip in your arm and what it feels like.

VELSHI: Yes, really simple. It's like a big dental needle that goes into your arm and they sort of put it in, injected it. And it feels like, you can touch it, and it feels like a grain of rice underneath my arm.

COSTELLO: Freaky.

VELSHI: Typically it doesn't go there, it goes in the back of your shoulder where it's out of harm's way, you can't injure it. But remember there's nothing on here except a number. So it's not a credit card number, it's just a number that ties up to a databank that keeps, theoretically, information.

COSTELLO: So if you're at a grocery store, you can't go through and scan your arm?

VELSHI: I can't scan my way out. It's theoretically possible, the same technology, but it's not an allowed use right now in the United States.

COSTELLO: Fascinating.

VELSHI: So you know I didn't put it up here because to show you, then I would have had to take my shirt off and it would have caused a ratings slide.

COSTELLO: Well you know this is a family program.

VELSHI: It's a family program.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Ali, we appreciate it.

VELSHI: All right.

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

Two deadly attacks in Iraq at checkpoints in two cities. Insurgents killed seven Iraqi soldiers and a civilian near Baquba. Another attack near Tikrit left seven Iraqi police officers dead.

Zhao Ziyang, the former Communist Party chief in China, has died at the age of 85. An architect of China's economic reform, Zhao was ousted after the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989. He spent his last 15 years under house arrest.

In money news, $23.5 million for the take -- that's the take for the Samuel Jackson basketball film, "Coach Carter." It won at the weekend box office. It won that championship. "Meet the Fockers" finished second and "Racing Stripes" third.

In culture, Jerry Springer will host a new talk show on radio in Cincinnati, the city he once served as mayor. But Springer will keep his TV show, the one noted for fistfights, chair throwing and bleeped out obscenities.

In sports, Freddie Mitchell of the Philadelphia Eagles filled in for the injured Terrell Owens and scored two touchdowns on Sunday. Eagles 27, Minnesota Vikings 14. Philly hosts Atlanta next Sunday.

Did you catch Randy Moss in that game -- Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I did. I did, Carol, and my two new favorite teams, Atlanta and any team that plays against Randy Moss.

COSTELLO: Yes, that's good.

MYERS: He didn't play that well, did he?

COSTELLO: No, he didn't.

MYERS: No.

COSTELLO: He only had a couple of catches...

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... and then that weird play where he walked off the field when he wasn't supposed to.

MYERS: Yes, oops. Well maybe his head wasn't in the game that day. You know you get things going sometimes and he wasn't thinking about what they were doing there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

The inaugural fund raisers are well past the half-way mark toward their $40 million goal. That buys a lot of glitz for the second George W. Bush inauguration on Thursday. But even more is available in Washington, if you're a high roller who is willing and able to pay for it.

Details now from Ed Henry our congressional correspondent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Button down Washington is not known for glitz or glamour, but for the inaugural, everybody likes to party.

Yes, even dogs flash bling-bling or jewels when the rich and famous let it all hang out.

PAUL WESTBROOK, GENERAL MANAGER, RITZ CARLTON: This is truly our Super Bowl and we are ready.

HENRY: The general manager of the Ritz Carlton is offering his presidential suite in a four night package for a whopping $150,000.

WESTBROOK: We are including almost everything that a customer would ever want, including a butler that would go to their private residence, that would pack up all their belongings, that would fly them here first class, unpack all of their belongings in $20,000 worth of luggage.

HENRY: There is fancy champagne and chocolate goodies with a Texas flair.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Yeeha! HENRY: Plus the butler at your beck and call to draw your bath. The couple gets two tickets to an inaugural ball. Sax's Fifth Avenue outfits the lady in a swank Bagley Mishka gown, just like the Bush twins, while the guy gets an Armani tux. The pooch gets a designer jacket, collar and leash.

(on-camera): For the inaugural, the Ritz has ordered dozens of new bathrobes, 800 towels, five miles of bed linens and in this $150,000 suite, you get a romantic turndown of rose petals in the shape of a W. And these embroidered pillowcases, you get to keep them too.

(voice-over) Then there's the best suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

DARRELL SHEAFFER, GENERAL MANAGER, MANDARIN HOTEL: It's over 3,000 square feet. It has 10 flat panel televisions. It has views of some of the most recognizable sites and monuments in Washington, D.C. So it's an experience in itself.

HENRY: It comes with a chauffeur, spa treatments, jewels and Oscar de la Renta gown for the lady and tickets to the A list events.

SHEAFFER: This is all about the inauguration and this particular week is all about access. It's all about power and this gives you a front row seat during this great week.

HENRY (on-camera): Four nights in the Mandarin Oriental presidential suite just over $200,000. Getting to sit here in a fake oval office in the hotel lobby, priceless.

Covering Sax Fifth Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, de la Renta and de president, Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Day-to-day living in Indonesia is still bad, but it is getting better. Many people seeking water, clothes and shelters or shelter, rather, are turning to mosques. Many of those buildings were left standing despite the carnage caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

CNN's Atika Shubert reports from the hard-hit Aceh Province.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the devastation, all along the coast you see them, black minarets standing tall in a muddied wasteland, silver domes gleaming in the opened air. Aceh's mosques left untouched by this disaster. Often the only buildings left standing.

In a land of devout religion, particularly Islam, these have become much more than places of worship. Some are famous, Aceh's great mosque still white in a sea of debris and death, an iconic image of Aceh's will to survive.

Some serve as shelters, makeshift homes, a place for survivors to get food, clean water, clothing and information. Others stand empty, the faithful killed or missing, a lonely reminder of what once was.

(on camera): Just meters from the ocean, this mosque should not have survived. Yet here it is. Was it simply better built? Did the high arcs and the pillars divide the water allowing the giant wave to simply pass through? Or is it as many Acehianese believe, something else?

(voice-over): The Lagoey (ph) Mosque is small. It used to serve 600 villagers in this seaside community. Only 200 survived, every single home destroyed. The mosque still stands, barely. In the last two days, survivors have returned. Living off of relief aid, they used donated clothes to clean the floor, dresses and skirts. When everything else is destroyed, the village head explains, they need a place to pray.

All the houses of God were saved, he tells us, seeing the mosque still standing amid all of this destruction only increases my faith and I think everyone else here feels the same.

The reasons why these mosques survived, hardly matters anymore. Their standing pillars have become the foundation for a new life in Aceh.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All across the country, Americans are marking the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. King's marches, speeches, sit-ins and peaceful protests are legendary in his fight for equality. It was more than two decades ago that a law was passed making King's birthday a national holiday.

And that brings us to our e-mail "Question of the Morning."

VELSHI: And that is has Martin Luther King, Jr. received appropriate recognition for his fight for civil rights? The e-mails, as always, are flowing in.

Adam (ph) writes to say Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has statues all over the country. Go to any major American city, I guarantee you there's a street named MLK. He even has a federal holiday named after him. How much more can you honor a man, rename the country the United States of Dr. King?

Sarah (ph) in New York says Martin Luther King can't be honored enough. This holiday reminds us of his dream and helps to keep it alive. I hope to live to see the day that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Obviously quoting from Dr. King's famous speech.

And finally, Chuck (ph) in Tennessee. As a 47-year-old white male raised and living in the South, I think enough attention has been paid to Mr. King on his fight for civil rights. What concerns me is the racism in this country. I think things are worse between blacks and whites in this country than they were when I grew up in the 1960s. I wish his memory could be used more for bringing an end to racism than just to draw attention to the civil rights struggle.

COSTELLO: What eloquent e-mails this morning.

VELSHI: Yes, yes, excellent e-mails from everybody.

COSTELLO: Fascinating.

All right, thank you, Ali.

The next hour of DAYBREAK begins right now.

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