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CNN Live At Daybreak

Iraq Elections Begin in 14 Countries; Iraqi Government Arrests Two Top Lieutenants of Zarqawi

Aired January 28, 2005 - 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: Are you cruising for trouble in a Ford truck or SUV? We'll tell you about a huge recall.
Another car dealer goes after a bogus Internet ad. Volkswagen says it doesn't need or want this kind of free press.

Also, we'll explain this series of billboards in Wisconsin. But if you're a Green Bay Packers fan, well, you get it already.

Plus, an update on the Florida husband who made a big investment in his ailing marriage. Did Larry's $17,000 ad pay off?

It is Friday, January 28.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

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

Now in the news, the voting begins. Iraqis living overseas have started casting ballots in their country's historic elections. These pictures are from Sydney, Australia. The vote will take place over the next three days in 14 different countries. In Iraq itself, election day is Sunday.

The Iraqi government says it has arrested two lieutenants of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. One of the suspects is head of his Baghdad operation. Al-Zarqawi has long pledged to disrupt Sunday's Iraqi elections and has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks.

A man accusing a former priest of sexual abuse broke down during his emotional testimony. The 27-year-old begged the Massachusetts judge in the case against Paul Shanley if he could avoid a third day of questioning.

And Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette. The price tag? $57 billion. It would create the world's largest producer of household goods. The deal is subject to approval by regulators. Our Carrie Lee will join us live from the Nasdaq with more details at 19 minutes past the hour.

Now to the forecast center.

Rob Marciano in for Chad Myers this morning -- good morning, Rob. ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Desperate Southerners tomorrow morning may be using Gillette razors to scrape off their windshield.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: We've been telling you about this breaking news out of Iraq all morning long. About an hour ago, the Iraqi government announced it arrested two top lieutenants of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This could be important because supposedly one of these lieutenants was in charge of the Baghdad operations of Zarqawi.

Let's head live to Baghdad now and check in with Jeff Koinange to see if he knows more about this -- hello, Jeff.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

And it must come as good news for the beleaguered government here. Casinder Wood (ph), he's the top security adviser to Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. He announced at a press conference a short while ago two very close associates of the terror mastermind, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have been arrested in previous days. And one of them, as you mentioned, was head of his Baghdad operation. That must come as good news, with elections just tow days away.

But, Carol, the bombs continue across this country. Suicide car bombers, two of them in the space of just a few minutes of each other here in Baghdad. The first one, an SUV right outside a police station. That killed four people and wounded several others. And another one, about several hundred meters away outside a blast wall at a school that's been designated as a polling center. No one was killed in that incident.

So Iraqis, with two days to go, are still extremely nervous at this final hour, if you will. A lot of them are stocking up on food supplies because there will be a -- no shops will be open in the coming days. There's a curfew in effect. Borders will be sealed. The airport will be closed. And we understand some residents who are living close by schools which have been designated as polling centers, they are actually leaving their homes and going to live with friends, because they don't want to be anywhere near just in case something does happen less than two days away -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jeff, I know you don't much about this because it is breaking news in Iraq, about these arrests. But it seems like the intelligence has just suddenly gotten better. I mean they've arrested these two top lieutenants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A couple of days ago they arrested a man who claimed he was response for dozens and dozens of car bombings.

What's up with that?

Can you tell us more?

KOINANGE: That's right, Carol. They are. And there have been -- the interim government here has been telling Iraqis we are working as hard as we can to make sure that everyone feels safe on election day. So they have stepped up their campaign. They are arrested suspected insurgents. They are discovering huge caches of weapons across this city and across the country, with hundreds of AK-47s, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

So they are working very hard just to assure Iraqis.

But, again, Carol, we have just under 13 million eligible voters registered for Sunday's poll. Just how many show up on Sunday is a total different issue -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll be watching.

Jeff Koinange live in Baghdad this morning.

Thank you.

Of course, election day has already come for Iraqis living outside of that country. Expatriate Iraqis in Australia were the first to cast their ballots. Iraq's ambassador to Australia calls it "history in the making."

But voter registration was lower than expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BERNIE HOGAN, AUSTRALIAN VOTING OFFICIAL: Over the next three days, I'm hoping that of the 11,800 people that were registered that we get about 90 percent of them who will come and vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Voting is also underway across Europe, in London, Paris and parts of the Middle East; also, in Syria this morning. And it's slow going at the polls there. Despite a $92 million international registration drive, only 16,000 Iraqi expatriates registered. And there are 200,000 living there.

Brent Sadler is in Damascus this morning.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There has been no rush to vote here in the Syrian capital, Damascus. During the registration process, only some 16,000 Iraqi voters registered to ballot this day and the next two days out of a potential electorate living in Syria of some 200,000. Election officials say here that is disappointingly low.

Now, as far as Iraqis themselves taking part in the balloting at this polling station, varying reactions. Some people have been puzzled about the length of the voting sheet -- 111 political entities to choose from. And people have been taking a long time to make their mark.

In terms of security, well, as we expected, that's tight around all of the 10 polling stations here in the Syrian capital. As far as election officials are concerned, they are satisfied with the way it's going so far and the reaction they're hearing on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS MARTINEZ-BETANZOS, INTERNATIONAL OFFICE FOR MIGRATION: I think they're very happy. My impression from the voters I saw, and we had voters coming from hours to drive from Damascus, the voters, the first ones said the people is extremely happy. People, they really thought about this. The people who registered were extremely committed with the process. They are very happy that elections are taking place today. It means a lot for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SADLER: Despite varying levels of puzzlement and confusion, if not bewilderment, by many of the voters, some Iraqis came out after depositing their ballot slips quite euphoric. One man told me that while he was 49 years old, he felt as though he had just been born.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Damascus.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's a nice sentiment.

Don't miss CNN's special report on the Iraqi vote. Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour live from Iraq; plus Paula Zahn in New York; Aaron Brown in Dearborn, Michigan with Iraqis voting far from home. That's today at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific time.

There is a bit of new information about that Marine helicopter crash in western Iraq on Wednesday. Investigators are increasingly confident the crash was an accident. Twenty-six Marines, the four crew members and a Navy medical corpsman were killed. Initial reports indicated the accident may have been weather related, as the crash occurred during a sandstorm.

Nancy Ramos' son Hector is among the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY RAMOS, MOTHER: He signed up at 9/11 at school. He came home from school and told me, mom -- he always wanted to join. But he came back on 9/11 and he told me, "Mom, I joined the Marines. I signed up."

I'm proud of him. I'm a mom, a proud mom of a Marine. I am. But it hurts. It hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That same day, four other Marines were killed in action, ambushed west of Baghdad.

WABC reporter Jim Dolan and photojournalist Joe Tsaro (ph) are embedded with U.S. Marines in western Iraq. They were with the convoy during that ambush and there when the unit said good-bye to its brothers.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JIM DOLAN, WABC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Marine base in Haditha, they stood before the memorial for four fallen Marines. One by one they came to offer a final, a crisp salute. And they knelt and they prayed and they wept for all that was lost in the desert.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is now going to miss out on what these four Marines had to offer. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, for he who sheds his blood with me today will always be my brother.

DOLAN: The four Marines were killed in an ambush on Wednesday morning in the middle of a fierce and deafening firefight in Hachlanea (ph), a small village in western Iraq, on a mission to capture enemy insurgents. Their vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade. Two died instantly, two on the way to the hospital.

(on camera): They were veteran Marines, but they were young men. Two of these men hadn't yet decided what they wanted to do with their careers, but one wanted to be a park ranger and one wanted to be a state trooper. And one of these Marines who bravely faced fire every time he left this base, was trying to get up the courage to ask his girlfriend to marry him.

They were friends, of course, but it was so much more than that. The Marines said they were honored to have served with them, honored to have known them.

(voice-over): Corporal Jonathan Bowling, Patrick, Virginia, 23 years old; Corporal Christopher Weaver, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 24 years old; Lance Corporal Karl Linn, Chesterfield, Virginia, 20 years old. The fourth Marine's family has not yet been notified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like those that have gone before us, we that continue the mission do so with our brothers in our hearts. See you all on the beach. Semper fidelis.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Since Jim Dolan attended that memorial service, the fourth Marine's family has been notified that he was killed in action. Marine Sergeant Jesse Strong, 24 years old. He's from Vermont.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: There seems to be no shortage of bad taste or bad judgment these days. And a British advertising team may have to pay a steep price for this controversial Volkswagen ad. You will not believe how this ad ends up. Robyn Curnow will have that story for you in three minutes. Oh, you have an idea now.

And in this country, it's another marriage made on Wall Street. The invitations could be going out today. Carrie Lee with more on that story just eight minutes away. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Expatriates worldwide are casting the first ballots in Iraq's landmark election. This is a polling location in Sydney, Australia.

A congressional delegation in Sudan is getting support from an Oscar nominee. Actor Don Cheadle is in Darfur to call for an end to what he called a tsunami of violence. Cheadle earned an Oscar nomination for his role in the film "Hotel Rwanda," which explores genocide in that country.

In money news, the medical journal "BMJ" is apologizing for claims involving Prozac maker Eli Lilly. "BMJ" had placed suspicion on the company over supposedly missing internal documents. Well, those documents were actually never missing. But the journal does say Eli Lilly knew about the link between Prozac and suicides.

In culture, Janet Jackson is trying something new for this year's Super Bowl. Instead of a wardrobe malfunction moment, she'll be attending a Super Bowl eve scholarship fundraiser. The event is sponsored by the Black Family Channel.

In sports, just one year after NASCAR lost Winston cigarettes as its primary sponsor, Nicorette is moving in. The stop smoking product will be a sponsor for the number 41 car, driven by Casey Mears. It'll also send a mobile smoking cessation exhibit to 23 races.

To the forecast center and Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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

No doubt it's bad taste, but it is making the rounds on the Web -- a car bombing inside of an advertisement for Volkswagen. The problem is it's a fake ad.

CNN's Robyn Curnow uncovers who's behind these ads that has Volkswagen up in arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At first glance, it looks genuine enough. A man drives through the streets of London in a Volkswagen, stopping outside a restaurant, where he then detonates the car. The fake commercial, complete with logo, enraging the car maker. A spokesperson telling CNN: "We are disgusted. There is the chance that people could believe we condone this, which we do not. It is in incredibly bad taste." The creators of the bogus commercial are two advertising professionals with a Web site of their own. CNN's efforts to reach them have been unsuccessful.

Now, the ad may be in poor taste, but there's no doubting its popularity. It's been e-mailed around the world and downloaded from Web sites like Boreme.com.

RICHARD LEISHMAN, BOREME.COM: It's been very popular. In the last week, and it's only been up for a week or so, and we've had hundreds of thousands of downloads. And people generally rank it, you know, fairly highly. In other words, they quite like it.

CURNOW: And it's not alone. This commercial, showing a cat being mauled by a sunroof, was created for Ford. The company was appalled and rejected the ad, but then it was leaked onto the Internet. Industry analysts saying these professionally made bogus ads can harm a company's reputation if they spread quickly online. But the Internet is also being used effectively for legitimate advertising.

MICHAEL WALL, PRESIDENT, FALLON WORLDWIDE: What the Internet has provided in its most simplest sense is a new form of media, a means of getting through and talking to a lot of people globally, very easily, very cheaply.

So from an advertising agency's perspective, it is an incredibly powerful tool, potentially, in telling people the message that you want to in a quick and rapid way.

CURNOW: Some commercials are made specifically for online distribution.

WALL: One of the examples that my company has had great success with is Bmwfilms.com, which is a series of online films featuring Clivo (ph) in action packed chases shot by Hollywood directors.

CURNOW: As for Volkswagen, it's just launched its latest official commercial, which is itself a spoof with Gene Kelly break dancing in the rain. Art imitating art?

Robyn Curnow, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, the Oscar nod could mean big box office bucks for "Million Dollar Baby" and "Sideways" as they debut nationwide this week. Do the Academy nominations make you want to check out these movies? We'll talk about the impact next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES)

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Keep your head back.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette in a move that will give it greater presence on retailers' shelves and medicine cabinet shelves, as well.

Carrie Lee live at the Nasdaq market site with more details on this mega merger -- good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest mega merger, Carol, and this is a very big one. P&G buying Gillette for $57 billion in stock. P&G has been after Gillette for a long time and the combined company would be the largest consumer products company in the world, with 21 brands, over $1 billion in annual sales. P&G, of course, owns products like Tide, Crest, Pantene, Gillette, obviously big on shaving products. They also own Duracell batteries.

Together, though, there's little product overlap, so the chance for regulatory issues probably pretty slim here compared to most mergers.

Now, other things happening here, the deal helps the company expand its presence on retailers' shelves, also gives P&G the ability to combine brands. Think of, say, a Gillette women's shaver with Olay skin products. A lot of razors trying to have some benefits to skin when you're shaving these days. That's the latest trend.

There's also a down side, though. We often see job cuts when two companies come together and the estimate here, about 4 percent of the combined 140,000 employees will be let go.

But, Carol, we're certainly keeping an eye on these stocks today, as well as Colgate-Palmolive. Obviously a big competitor here. It could be bad news for that stock.

But mergers overall seen as good news on Wall Street and, in fact, futures are pointing slightly higher right now. So we'll see what happens officially in about three hours -- back to you.

COSTELLO: We'll be there.

Thank you, Carrie Lee.

Let's go to the movie with Tom O'Neil and see how Oscar nominations for "Sideways" and "Million Dollar Baby" will affect their nationwide release this weekend.

And oh, no, Leona. You might say the hotel magnate finds herself in double trouble. It's a shaggy dog story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES) HILARY SWANK, ACTOR: I'm 32, Mr. Dunne. And I'm here celebrating the fact that I spent another year scraping dishes and waitressing, which is what I've been doing since 13. And according to you, I'll be 37 before I can even throw a decent punch, which after working this speed bag for nowhere, I now realize it may be god's simple truth.

Other truth is my brother is in prison, my sister cheats on welfare by pretending one of her babies is still alive, my daddy's dead and my mama weighs 312 pounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" packs quite a punch as it enters the national ring this weekend. And "Sideways" is no lightweight either. Both movies have Academy Award nominations in their corner.

Tom O'Neil of "In-Touch Weekly" is here to tell us how this affects their nationwide release.

This is quite unusual. I mean Oscar nominations come out and most of the country hasn't even seen the movie yet.

TOM O'NEIL, "IN-TOUCH WEEKLY: It's certainly unusual for regular movies, but not for Oscar movies. Going back to "The Deer Hunter" in the 1970s, Hollywood first tried this trick that we're seeing right now -- open a movie in L.A. and New York for one week in late December, get it Oscar eligible, pull it back and then roll out with it when Oscar nominations come out.

COSTELLO: So it's kind of a subtle form of cheating.

O'NEIL: It's very much so, but it works. Look it, it helped "The Deer Hunter," which was a little movie about the Vietnam War nobody wanted to see.

COSTELLO: So why don't all movie houses do it? I mean why don't all movie makers do that, just wait?

O'NEIL: Because there isn't the element of Oscars a month or two after that key eligibility date, that kind of delay. In fact, "Sideways" has been in theaters since October 25, but only in about 200 theaters. "Million Dollar Baby" has been in about 150 theaters starting at Christmas time. This weekend, they'll both be in about 2,000.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you a question about "Sideways," because that seems to be the movie where people are most upset about who didn't get nominated, which would be Paul Giamatti.

O'NEIL: Of course.

COSTELLO: In fact, I want to read something in the "Washington Post" this morning. They did a poll. More than 20,000 readers voted to select this year's most egregious Oscar snub. Tops was Giamatti, named by 32.8 percent of voters.

O'NEIL: Absolutely. His movie is in every major category except the star.

COSTELLO: It doesn't make any sense.

O'NEIL: It doesn't.

COSTELLO: I mean by releasing the movie so late, did that at all hurt him?

O'NEIL: Not in his case. I think he just had the misfortune of being in this crowded category. Look, Liam Neeson didn't get nominated for "Kinsey." Many people thought he could be in there. There were a lot of top contenders for best actor.

COSTELLO: OK. So tell us again, well, you've made your predictions before. You think "Million Dollar Baby" will clean up.

O'NEIL: We do. Monday morning, my Web site, Goldderby.com, that has eight experts from "USA Today," Associated Press, we're going to issue formal odds. And I think it will startle some people that we, that so many experts believe that this is out front, because it shouldn't be. By all logic, "The Aviator" should be the frontrunner. It has the most nominations, it has the overdue director element. But "Million Dollar Baby" is much like "Chariots of Fire" in 1982, it took on the epic. It's a movie about athletic underdogs and it's a great movie, Carol.

You think this is a movie about boxing and halfway through it gives you this left hook and it becomes a movie about something else and it stays with you for weeks.

COSTELLO: And very smartly they released it at this particular time nationwide, in wide release, anyway.

O'NEIL: Yes. Very shrewd of them. Probably -- and they had to wait until the Oscars, because people don't see boxing movies. In general, they perform very poorly at the box office.

COSTELLO: Oh. So more people might go see it, probably so.

O'NEIL: Yes.

COSTELLO: Since you're touting it as such a great movie.

O'NEIL: You'll love it when you see it. Just you wait.

COSTELLO: All right.

Tom O'Neil from "In-Touch Weekly."

Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

Leona Helmsley says she will fight tooth and nail for her dog. The hotel magnate is being sued by a woman who says Helmsley's female Maltese bit her and caused her serious injuries. Ironically, I guess, the dog's name is Trouble. The lawsuit claims Trouble is likely to attack more people.

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, Iraqi expatriates begin voting this morning in the United States. We'll go live to a polling place in Michigan.

And the Arab language media all over this Iraqi election. We'll talk with the editor of an Arab newspaper out of London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 28, 2005 - 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: Are you cruising for trouble in a Ford truck or SUV? We'll tell you about a huge recall.
Another car dealer goes after a bogus Internet ad. Volkswagen says it doesn't need or want this kind of free press.

Also, we'll explain this series of billboards in Wisconsin. But if you're a Green Bay Packers fan, well, you get it already.

Plus, an update on the Florida husband who made a big investment in his ailing marriage. Did Larry's $17,000 ad pay off?

It is Friday, January 28.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

And good morning to you.

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

Now in the news, the voting begins. Iraqis living overseas have started casting ballots in their country's historic elections. These pictures are from Sydney, Australia. The vote will take place over the next three days in 14 different countries. In Iraq itself, election day is Sunday.

The Iraqi government says it has arrested two lieutenants of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. One of the suspects is head of his Baghdad operation. Al-Zarqawi has long pledged to disrupt Sunday's Iraqi elections and has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks.

A man accusing a former priest of sexual abuse broke down during his emotional testimony. The 27-year-old begged the Massachusetts judge in the case against Paul Shanley if he could avoid a third day of questioning.

And Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette. The price tag? $57 billion. It would create the world's largest producer of household goods. The deal is subject to approval by regulators. Our Carrie Lee will join us live from the Nasdaq with more details at 19 minutes past the hour.

Now to the forecast center.

Rob Marciano in for Chad Myers this morning -- good morning, Rob. ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

Desperate Southerners tomorrow morning may be using Gillette razors to scrape off their windshield.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: We've been telling you about this breaking news out of Iraq all morning long. About an hour ago, the Iraqi government announced it arrested two top lieutenants of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This could be important because supposedly one of these lieutenants was in charge of the Baghdad operations of Zarqawi.

Let's head live to Baghdad now and check in with Jeff Koinange to see if he knows more about this -- hello, Jeff.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

And it must come as good news for the beleaguered government here. Casinder Wood (ph), he's the top security adviser to Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. He announced at a press conference a short while ago two very close associates of the terror mastermind, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have been arrested in previous days. And one of them, as you mentioned, was head of his Baghdad operation. That must come as good news, with elections just tow days away.

But, Carol, the bombs continue across this country. Suicide car bombers, two of them in the space of just a few minutes of each other here in Baghdad. The first one, an SUV right outside a police station. That killed four people and wounded several others. And another one, about several hundred meters away outside a blast wall at a school that's been designated as a polling center. No one was killed in that incident.

So Iraqis, with two days to go, are still extremely nervous at this final hour, if you will. A lot of them are stocking up on food supplies because there will be a -- no shops will be open in the coming days. There's a curfew in effect. Borders will be sealed. The airport will be closed. And we understand some residents who are living close by schools which have been designated as polling centers, they are actually leaving their homes and going to live with friends, because they don't want to be anywhere near just in case something does happen less than two days away -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jeff, I know you don't much about this because it is breaking news in Iraq, about these arrests. But it seems like the intelligence has just suddenly gotten better. I mean they've arrested these two top lieutenants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A couple of days ago they arrested a man who claimed he was response for dozens and dozens of car bombings.

What's up with that?

Can you tell us more?

KOINANGE: That's right, Carol. They are. And there have been -- the interim government here has been telling Iraqis we are working as hard as we can to make sure that everyone feels safe on election day. So they have stepped up their campaign. They are arrested suspected insurgents. They are discovering huge caches of weapons across this city and across the country, with hundreds of AK-47s, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

So they are working very hard just to assure Iraqis.

But, again, Carol, we have just under 13 million eligible voters registered for Sunday's poll. Just how many show up on Sunday is a total different issue -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll be watching.

Jeff Koinange live in Baghdad this morning.

Thank you.

Of course, election day has already come for Iraqis living outside of that country. Expatriate Iraqis in Australia were the first to cast their ballots. Iraq's ambassador to Australia calls it "history in the making."

But voter registration was lower than expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BERNIE HOGAN, AUSTRALIAN VOTING OFFICIAL: Over the next three days, I'm hoping that of the 11,800 people that were registered that we get about 90 percent of them who will come and vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Voting is also underway across Europe, in London, Paris and parts of the Middle East; also, in Syria this morning. And it's slow going at the polls there. Despite a $92 million international registration drive, only 16,000 Iraqi expatriates registered. And there are 200,000 living there.

Brent Sadler is in Damascus this morning.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There has been no rush to vote here in the Syrian capital, Damascus. During the registration process, only some 16,000 Iraqi voters registered to ballot this day and the next two days out of a potential electorate living in Syria of some 200,000. Election officials say here that is disappointingly low.

Now, as far as Iraqis themselves taking part in the balloting at this polling station, varying reactions. Some people have been puzzled about the length of the voting sheet -- 111 political entities to choose from. And people have been taking a long time to make their mark.

In terms of security, well, as we expected, that's tight around all of the 10 polling stations here in the Syrian capital. As far as election officials are concerned, they are satisfied with the way it's going so far and the reaction they're hearing on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS MARTINEZ-BETANZOS, INTERNATIONAL OFFICE FOR MIGRATION: I think they're very happy. My impression from the voters I saw, and we had voters coming from hours to drive from Damascus, the voters, the first ones said the people is extremely happy. People, they really thought about this. The people who registered were extremely committed with the process. They are very happy that elections are taking place today. It means a lot for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SADLER: Despite varying levels of puzzlement and confusion, if not bewilderment, by many of the voters, some Iraqis came out after depositing their ballot slips quite euphoric. One man told me that while he was 49 years old, he felt as though he had just been born.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Damascus.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's a nice sentiment.

Don't miss CNN's special report on the Iraqi vote. Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour live from Iraq; plus Paula Zahn in New York; Aaron Brown in Dearborn, Michigan with Iraqis voting far from home. That's today at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific time.

There is a bit of new information about that Marine helicopter crash in western Iraq on Wednesday. Investigators are increasingly confident the crash was an accident. Twenty-six Marines, the four crew members and a Navy medical corpsman were killed. Initial reports indicated the accident may have been weather related, as the crash occurred during a sandstorm.

Nancy Ramos' son Hector is among the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY RAMOS, MOTHER: He signed up at 9/11 at school. He came home from school and told me, mom -- he always wanted to join. But he came back on 9/11 and he told me, "Mom, I joined the Marines. I signed up."

I'm proud of him. I'm a mom, a proud mom of a Marine. I am. But it hurts. It hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That same day, four other Marines were killed in action, ambushed west of Baghdad.

WABC reporter Jim Dolan and photojournalist Joe Tsaro (ph) are embedded with U.S. Marines in western Iraq. They were with the convoy during that ambush and there when the unit said good-bye to its brothers.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JIM DOLAN, WABC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Marine base in Haditha, they stood before the memorial for four fallen Marines. One by one they came to offer a final, a crisp salute. And they knelt and they prayed and they wept for all that was lost in the desert.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is now going to miss out on what these four Marines had to offer. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, for he who sheds his blood with me today will always be my brother.

DOLAN: The four Marines were killed in an ambush on Wednesday morning in the middle of a fierce and deafening firefight in Hachlanea (ph), a small village in western Iraq, on a mission to capture enemy insurgents. Their vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade. Two died instantly, two on the way to the hospital.

(on camera): They were veteran Marines, but they were young men. Two of these men hadn't yet decided what they wanted to do with their careers, but one wanted to be a park ranger and one wanted to be a state trooper. And one of these Marines who bravely faced fire every time he left this base, was trying to get up the courage to ask his girlfriend to marry him.

They were friends, of course, but it was so much more than that. The Marines said they were honored to have served with them, honored to have known them.

(voice-over): Corporal Jonathan Bowling, Patrick, Virginia, 23 years old; Corporal Christopher Weaver, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 24 years old; Lance Corporal Karl Linn, Chesterfield, Virginia, 20 years old. The fourth Marine's family has not yet been notified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like those that have gone before us, we that continue the mission do so with our brothers in our hearts. See you all on the beach. Semper fidelis.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Since Jim Dolan attended that memorial service, the fourth Marine's family has been notified that he was killed in action. Marine Sergeant Jesse Strong, 24 years old. He's from Vermont.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: There seems to be no shortage of bad taste or bad judgment these days. And a British advertising team may have to pay a steep price for this controversial Volkswagen ad. You will not believe how this ad ends up. Robyn Curnow will have that story for you in three minutes. Oh, you have an idea now.

And in this country, it's another marriage made on Wall Street. The invitations could be going out today. Carrie Lee with more on that story just eight minutes away. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Expatriates worldwide are casting the first ballots in Iraq's landmark election. This is a polling location in Sydney, Australia.

A congressional delegation in Sudan is getting support from an Oscar nominee. Actor Don Cheadle is in Darfur to call for an end to what he called a tsunami of violence. Cheadle earned an Oscar nomination for his role in the film "Hotel Rwanda," which explores genocide in that country.

In money news, the medical journal "BMJ" is apologizing for claims involving Prozac maker Eli Lilly. "BMJ" had placed suspicion on the company over supposedly missing internal documents. Well, those documents were actually never missing. But the journal does say Eli Lilly knew about the link between Prozac and suicides.

In culture, Janet Jackson is trying something new for this year's Super Bowl. Instead of a wardrobe malfunction moment, she'll be attending a Super Bowl eve scholarship fundraiser. The event is sponsored by the Black Family Channel.

In sports, just one year after NASCAR lost Winston cigarettes as its primary sponsor, Nicorette is moving in. The stop smoking product will be a sponsor for the number 41 car, driven by Casey Mears. It'll also send a mobile smoking cessation exhibit to 23 races.

To the forecast center and Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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

No doubt it's bad taste, but it is making the rounds on the Web -- a car bombing inside of an advertisement for Volkswagen. The problem is it's a fake ad.

CNN's Robyn Curnow uncovers who's behind these ads that has Volkswagen up in arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At first glance, it looks genuine enough. A man drives through the streets of London in a Volkswagen, stopping outside a restaurant, where he then detonates the car. The fake commercial, complete with logo, enraging the car maker. A spokesperson telling CNN: "We are disgusted. There is the chance that people could believe we condone this, which we do not. It is in incredibly bad taste." The creators of the bogus commercial are two advertising professionals with a Web site of their own. CNN's efforts to reach them have been unsuccessful.

Now, the ad may be in poor taste, but there's no doubting its popularity. It's been e-mailed around the world and downloaded from Web sites like Boreme.com.

RICHARD LEISHMAN, BOREME.COM: It's been very popular. In the last week, and it's only been up for a week or so, and we've had hundreds of thousands of downloads. And people generally rank it, you know, fairly highly. In other words, they quite like it.

CURNOW: And it's not alone. This commercial, showing a cat being mauled by a sunroof, was created for Ford. The company was appalled and rejected the ad, but then it was leaked onto the Internet. Industry analysts saying these professionally made bogus ads can harm a company's reputation if they spread quickly online. But the Internet is also being used effectively for legitimate advertising.

MICHAEL WALL, PRESIDENT, FALLON WORLDWIDE: What the Internet has provided in its most simplest sense is a new form of media, a means of getting through and talking to a lot of people globally, very easily, very cheaply.

So from an advertising agency's perspective, it is an incredibly powerful tool, potentially, in telling people the message that you want to in a quick and rapid way.

CURNOW: Some commercials are made specifically for online distribution.

WALL: One of the examples that my company has had great success with is Bmwfilms.com, which is a series of online films featuring Clivo (ph) in action packed chases shot by Hollywood directors.

CURNOW: As for Volkswagen, it's just launched its latest official commercial, which is itself a spoof with Gene Kelly break dancing in the rain. Art imitating art?

Robyn Curnow, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, the Oscar nod could mean big box office bucks for "Million Dollar Baby" and "Sideways" as they debut nationwide this week. Do the Academy nominations make you want to check out these movies? We'll talk about the impact next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES)

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Keep your head back.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette in a move that will give it greater presence on retailers' shelves and medicine cabinet shelves, as well.

Carrie Lee live at the Nasdaq market site with more details on this mega merger -- good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest mega merger, Carol, and this is a very big one. P&G buying Gillette for $57 billion in stock. P&G has been after Gillette for a long time and the combined company would be the largest consumer products company in the world, with 21 brands, over $1 billion in annual sales. P&G, of course, owns products like Tide, Crest, Pantene, Gillette, obviously big on shaving products. They also own Duracell batteries.

Together, though, there's little product overlap, so the chance for regulatory issues probably pretty slim here compared to most mergers.

Now, other things happening here, the deal helps the company expand its presence on retailers' shelves, also gives P&G the ability to combine brands. Think of, say, a Gillette women's shaver with Olay skin products. A lot of razors trying to have some benefits to skin when you're shaving these days. That's the latest trend.

There's also a down side, though. We often see job cuts when two companies come together and the estimate here, about 4 percent of the combined 140,000 employees will be let go.

But, Carol, we're certainly keeping an eye on these stocks today, as well as Colgate-Palmolive. Obviously a big competitor here. It could be bad news for that stock.

But mergers overall seen as good news on Wall Street and, in fact, futures are pointing slightly higher right now. So we'll see what happens officially in about three hours -- back to you.

COSTELLO: We'll be there.

Thank you, Carrie Lee.

Let's go to the movie with Tom O'Neil and see how Oscar nominations for "Sideways" and "Million Dollar Baby" will affect their nationwide release this weekend.

And oh, no, Leona. You might say the hotel magnate finds herself in double trouble. It's a shaggy dog story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES) HILARY SWANK, ACTOR: I'm 32, Mr. Dunne. And I'm here celebrating the fact that I spent another year scraping dishes and waitressing, which is what I've been doing since 13. And according to you, I'll be 37 before I can even throw a decent punch, which after working this speed bag for nowhere, I now realize it may be god's simple truth.

Other truth is my brother is in prison, my sister cheats on welfare by pretending one of her babies is still alive, my daddy's dead and my mama weighs 312 pounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" packs quite a punch as it enters the national ring this weekend. And "Sideways" is no lightweight either. Both movies have Academy Award nominations in their corner.

Tom O'Neil of "In-Touch Weekly" is here to tell us how this affects their nationwide release.

This is quite unusual. I mean Oscar nominations come out and most of the country hasn't even seen the movie yet.

TOM O'NEIL, "IN-TOUCH WEEKLY: It's certainly unusual for regular movies, but not for Oscar movies. Going back to "The Deer Hunter" in the 1970s, Hollywood first tried this trick that we're seeing right now -- open a movie in L.A. and New York for one week in late December, get it Oscar eligible, pull it back and then roll out with it when Oscar nominations come out.

COSTELLO: So it's kind of a subtle form of cheating.

O'NEIL: It's very much so, but it works. Look it, it helped "The Deer Hunter," which was a little movie about the Vietnam War nobody wanted to see.

COSTELLO: So why don't all movie houses do it? I mean why don't all movie makers do that, just wait?

O'NEIL: Because there isn't the element of Oscars a month or two after that key eligibility date, that kind of delay. In fact, "Sideways" has been in theaters since October 25, but only in about 200 theaters. "Million Dollar Baby" has been in about 150 theaters starting at Christmas time. This weekend, they'll both be in about 2,000.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you a question about "Sideways," because that seems to be the movie where people are most upset about who didn't get nominated, which would be Paul Giamatti.

O'NEIL: Of course.

COSTELLO: In fact, I want to read something in the "Washington Post" this morning. They did a poll. More than 20,000 readers voted to select this year's most egregious Oscar snub. Tops was Giamatti, named by 32.8 percent of voters.

O'NEIL: Absolutely. His movie is in every major category except the star.

COSTELLO: It doesn't make any sense.

O'NEIL: It doesn't.

COSTELLO: I mean by releasing the movie so late, did that at all hurt him?

O'NEIL: Not in his case. I think he just had the misfortune of being in this crowded category. Look, Liam Neeson didn't get nominated for "Kinsey." Many people thought he could be in there. There were a lot of top contenders for best actor.

COSTELLO: OK. So tell us again, well, you've made your predictions before. You think "Million Dollar Baby" will clean up.

O'NEIL: We do. Monday morning, my Web site, Goldderby.com, that has eight experts from "USA Today," Associated Press, we're going to issue formal odds. And I think it will startle some people that we, that so many experts believe that this is out front, because it shouldn't be. By all logic, "The Aviator" should be the frontrunner. It has the most nominations, it has the overdue director element. But "Million Dollar Baby" is much like "Chariots of Fire" in 1982, it took on the epic. It's a movie about athletic underdogs and it's a great movie, Carol.

You think this is a movie about boxing and halfway through it gives you this left hook and it becomes a movie about something else and it stays with you for weeks.

COSTELLO: And very smartly they released it at this particular time nationwide, in wide release, anyway.

O'NEIL: Yes. Very shrewd of them. Probably -- and they had to wait until the Oscars, because people don't see boxing movies. In general, they perform very poorly at the box office.

COSTELLO: Oh. So more people might go see it, probably so.

O'NEIL: Yes.

COSTELLO: Since you're touting it as such a great movie.

O'NEIL: You'll love it when you see it. Just you wait.

COSTELLO: All right.

Tom O'Neil from "In-Touch Weekly."

Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

Leona Helmsley says she will fight tooth and nail for her dog. The hotel magnate is being sued by a woman who says Helmsley's female Maltese bit her and caused her serious injuries. Ironically, I guess, the dog's name is Trouble. The lawsuit claims Trouble is likely to attack more people.

Still ahead on DAYBREAK, Iraqi expatriates begin voting this morning in the United States. We'll go live to a polling place in Michigan.

And the Arab language media all over this Iraqi election. We'll talk with the editor of an Arab newspaper out of London.

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