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CNN Sunday Morning
Aristide Leaves Haiti; Legal Roundtable
Aired February 29, 2004 - 08:00 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It is 8:00 Eastern Time now, and from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Heidi Collins, joined by Martin Savidge this morning.
We want to get back to our lead story and some breaking news out of Haiti this morning. Getting word, and CNN has confirmed through the White House, that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has left Haiti. You are looking at a live picture now of the presidential palace there in Haiti.
The latest is -- we are trying to learn a little bit more, that is, about the exact details to his departure. We know that there was a pretty high-level meeting yesterday, as you would imagine, of President Bush's national security advisers. Wondering how much that and direct discussions with Secretary of State Colin Powell had to do with the departure of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. As you know, much violence and chaos happening in that country and certainly around the city of Port-au-Prince.
Rebel forces there, many people killed. And the violence, we are wondering now if it will continue or subside. Those are just some of the questions this morning coming to us from Haiti -- Marty.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is the one that broke this story for us, coming out of the White House with information. She is joining us now to talk more about developments there.
First of all, Suzanne, do we know exactly where the President of Haiti has gone to?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We don't know those level of details at this point. What we do know is that this involves a situation, a deal that was brokered largely by State Department officials, top officials here at the White House overnight. Secretary Powell was intimately involved in those discussions in these late-night hours to try to arrange for Aristide to leave the country peacefully.
We understand that they are going to be giving us more details. What they are waiting for now is an announcement to come out of Haiti before they release some of the details that we have been looking for this morning. But essentially, this comes really just 12, 13 hours after the White House yesterday released a very strongly worded statement, essentially saying this crisis was of Aristide's making, that called into question whether or not he would really be able to govern the country effectively.
This is something over the last couple of days we have heard from State Department officials, saying that they have increasingly been putting pressure on Aristide to leave the country. You may recall that initially the Bush administration put out this power-sharing plan, said we believe that Aristide can fulfill his term, that he can share power with the opponents, and that it would be backed up by a multinational force. The Bush administration realized they had to abandon that plan, and increasingly put international pressure on Aristide to leave because they realize that just was not going to work.
But as you can imagine, the big question here is the transfer of power. How is that going to work? Is there going to be a power vacuum? The administration intimately involved in trying to make sure there is some sort of coalition government, some sort of transfer so you don't have this power vacuum inside of Haiti -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Well, if U.S. officials have been talking with the president, have they also been talking or trying to open up lines of communication with the rebel forces to figure this out?
MALVEAUX: Well, certainly Secretary Powell has been intimately involved with discussing issues not only with the opponents, with the rebels, but also with the United Nations. He spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday, with his French counterpart. This has been an international effort. It has also involved these opponents, these rebels in trying to broker some sort of agreement here. But it is clear that the big question here now is just who is in charge in Haiti.
SAVIDGE: That is. Suzanne Malveaux, at the White House. Thank you very much for that information -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I want to take a moment now to refresh your history a little bit on the subject, the history of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, how he came to power, and now how he is apparently gone. Still getting more information on that, as we said.
We do have a live shot, as you can see here, of the Port-au- Prince Airport. Keeping our eye on that in case anything should happen there, in case we should happen to see him. We, of course, will have that shot and continue to keep our eye on it. You see it there on the screen.
For now, though, we want to go to John Zarrella, who has put the story together for us to remind us a little bit how it all happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Jean-Bertrand Aristide dropped his ballot into the box, there was for the people of Haiti a sense of hope and promise. It was December of 1990. The former Roman Catholic priest whose power base resided in the squalor of the urban slums of Port-au-Prince was making history. Two months later, in February of 1991, Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president.
JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE, HAITIAN PRESIDENT: I'm just here to serve, to try to love. And if it's necessary to give my life, no problem for that.
ZARRELLA: He didn't lose his life, but less than a year later Aristide lost his job and his country. Haiti's military, led by General Raul Cedras, staged what was the 32 coup in Haiti's history. Aristide went into exile in the United States, and his countrymen began building boats to get to the United States. And by the time Bill Clinton took office in January 1993, 40,000 Haitians had taken to the sea since the fall of their first democracy.
In the summer of '93, the United Nations worked a deal between Aristide and Cedras. The deposed president would return. The coup leader would resign, but Cedras never left and the boat people kept leaving. A year later, 20,000 U.S. troops took back the country for Aristide, who returned to finish out his term.
ARISTIDE: We have peace, 54 (ph) people. And we can improve it. This is the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) message.
ZARRELLA: Term limits prevented Aristide from immediately running again. Rene Preval kept the seat warm until Aristide's return in 2000, an election marred by irregularities and a 10 percent voter turnout.
Internal grumblings grew. His support outside his Port-au-Prince stronghold began to erode. Violence spread. Those who once stood by his side were, near the end, opposing him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Aristide promised us justice, transparency and participation. He gave us violence, corruption and lies.
ZARRELLA: And in the end, Jean-Bertrand Aristide could not keep his vow to remain in office until his term expired.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: With the departure of Haiti's president, the question becomes, what happens next and what is going on in the streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital? For that, we are joined by CNN's Lucia Newman with the view from there -- Lucia.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Martin. Well, right now, we're seeing some fireworks (UNINTELLIGIBLE), where a lot of President Aristide's opponents live. However, we are still getting contradictory information here.
The president's or ex-president's lawyers continues to say that it is not true, that he has not resigned, but rather he has moved from the location for his own security. So at least officially there's been no announcement here of anyone saying that the president has gone from power. But, of course, the information is already spreading.
The fireworks are going off here in the middle of the morning, the day. It's still early, 8:00 in the morning, people are at church. And another curious side of it, cell phones have stopped working here. So information is not flowing as quickly as it might otherwise -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: And who right now, Lucia, controls the media? In other words, the radio stations television, anything like that that might communicate to the public what is going on?
NEWMAN: Well, the opposition television station has been taken off air in the last couple of days. They weren't functioning. Only the official government television station, and that's not working at this very moment either.
There were even, in fact, rumors that the national TV station was on fire. We checked it out. It wasn't the case. But it's a very fluid situation right now.
Theoretically, the president of the supreme court would take power now if the president steps down or resigns, or is ill, if anything happens to him. He, in turn, would open the way for a new government, a transition government until new elections can be held.
So that is the scenario, the immediate scenario, if the president indeed has left the country. But it is not widely known at this moment here in Haiti, Martin, that that is the case.
SAVIDGE: All right. Lucia, as you speak, we're taking a live picture of the presidential palace. Of course, you can't tell much from this vantage point exactly what is going on.
What do you see on the streets this morning? You mention the fireworks, but any signs of violence, or does it seem to be very calm and quiet on a Sunday, as you would think it would be?
NEWMAN: It's a fairly large city. And where I am, from my vantage point, it is still fairly calm. The fireworks -- although we had heard just a little bit before that sporadic gunfire. But things here change on a heartbeat. It can be calm now, and there could be riots in this part of the city, or even right here in just a short time. So we are going to have to keep a very close eye on developments -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: And the rebel forces, as you know them, are they still projected to be about 25 miles away? They have said they were going to take a pause. Could this change all of that?
NEWMAN: Well, they said -- yes, it certainly could. They had said that they were on the outskirts of town, just waiting to pounce on the capital and get President Aristide out of the palace. Today, in fact, according to Guy Philippe, the main rebel commander, he said he wanted to mark his birthday or celebrate his birthday by taking the capital and ridding the country of its president. But now, if the president is gone, there would be no reason, theoretically, for them to march on to the capital. We don't know what they are going to do next -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Well, I assume they would still want to take over the seat of power. Or could that be negotiated?
NEWMAN: They say they're not. What they say is one thing. What they will do could be well another.
But they are saying that they did not want to take power. What they wanted to do was to "liberate" the country from President Aristide, who was being accused by his opponents, both the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) rebels and the political opposition here, as ruling as a despot, of not respecting the laws of democracy. And what they are all saying is what they want now are new and free elections. We'll have to see what they do -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Lucia Newman, you are absolutely correct. We'll stay very close to you, as far as information. Thanks so much -- Heidi.
COLLINS: As you can tell, never a dull moment here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Want to get you up to speed on all of our stories that we're following. Once again, a live shot of the presidential palace in Haiti, where we are watching the story of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his departure from that country. We, of course, will continue to update you and give you the very latest information as it develops from there.
Also watching the story in Virginia this morning. Eighteen crewmembers still missing after a tanker explosion there. Some ethanol being carried in those international waters. Three people dead, six survivors, though. We have our Elaine Quijano there, who's going to give us the very latest on that story.
Also, to Mississippi this morning for the very latest on this family, the Hargon family, missing since Valentine's Day. Charges expected to be filed against a relative today. We'll check in with Mike Brooks for that story in just a moment.
Stick around. CNN SUNDAY MORNING will be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: All right. Now to the shipwreck off the coast of Virginia. The chemical tanker radioed an urgent mayday last night following a fiery explosion, and then it sank a short time later.
CNN's Elaine Quijano is in Portsmouth, Virginia, with an update on the search and the rescue operation -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Marty.
Well, we are here at the U.S. Coast Guard Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. And officials here are telling us they are getting their first look by the light of day at this area about 55 miles east of Chincoteague. That's off the coast of Virginia.
Now, officials are still searching for 18 missing crewmen. Three have been confirmed killed. Six others, we are told, survived. Now, they were apparently plucked from a life raft that was floating in the water.
Now, earlier this morning, Coast Guard officials released some very dramatic infrared images of what the area, the wreckage and the debris in the area, looked like. We have seen video images of the back end, what appears to be the back end of the ship disappearing underneath the waves. We have also seen what Coast Guard officials believe is evidence of the fuel oil that was onboard, mixing in with the ethanol, creating an oil slick in the water, as well as empty life rafts.
Now, the Coast Guard got the call shortly after 6:00 last night. Officials dispatched three helicopters, a C-130, and two patrol boats.
Now, the tanker was a Singapore flagship that was heading from New York City to Houston. The crew onboard consisted of 24 Filipinos and three Greeks. The
Now, this tanker, as you said, was carrying 3.5 million gallons of ethanol. It was also carrying some 700 metric tons of fuel oil before.
Now, Coast Guard officials say last night they were able to interview the survivors. And so far, they have not come to any conclusion as to what has happened. They have been able to piece together bits of information that some of the crewmembers were apparently sleeping, that others were apparently working on deck at the time. But so far, they have no reason to suspect that this was anything other than an accident.
Now, as for the investigation itself, officials saying this morning that they have received authorization from the Singapore government that the U.S. will be taking the lead in this investigation. That coming after consultations with the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Department of State. '
But, again, officials here saying at this time no reason to believe that this is anything other than an accident. The investigation now continuing, as is the search for the survivors. Officials also saying that how long they continue that search depends on a number of factors. Things like the air temperature, the water temperature, the body mass, the survivability depends on all of those issues. They will continue the search as long as they believe that it is reasonable -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: That is always a very difficult decision to make. Elaine Quijano, thank you very much, joining us live from Portsmouth -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Of course, want to remind you we are following the story very, very closely in Haiti, getting more information as it comes to us about the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Still trying to determine where he is now and where he could be going. And how he will get there. Of course, watching that story, have correspondents on the ground, and, of course, at the White House to keep us up to date on that story.
Also, in just a moment, going to be talking with our legal eagles about an interesting story, a possible landmark child custody story about one mother providing the eggs and the other mother -- this is a lesbian couple who actually carried the twins. We'll talk about that in just a moment.
We are also getting word now from Mike Brooks, who is standing by to give us the very latest information in Mississippi about the family that has been missing there since Valentine's Day.
Mike, we know a family member is actually in custody, expected that some charges will be filed against him today. What are you hearing this morning?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Heidi. Later on today, multiple felony charges will be filed against Earnest Lee Hargon, who is the adopted cousin of Michael Hargon, one of three people who have been missing since February 14, Valentine's Day.
Just a moment ago, two K9 dogs came back here to the scene. It's a 160-acre complex, if you will, here with five different structures, that is actually a veterinary clinic. Last evening, we heard from Warren Strain from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, who gave us an update on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN STRAIN, SPOKESMAN, MISSISSIPPI DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: ... will be charged with multiple felony counts. At this point, the whereabouts of the Hargons is still unknown. We really, really, really have something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Now, Mr. Strain also said this morning that they have been going through the evidence that they collected yesterday. And have been working on the charging papers. We don't know exactly what time the charges will be filed, but they say it will be sometime later on today.
And again, Heidi, they still do not know where the three members of the Hargon family are. But they will be back out here hoping to gather more evidence hopefully to find them later today -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Obviously, still a lot of questions to be answered there, Mike. Thanks so very much for the update coming from Mississippi this morning.
We are going to take a quick break here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: It is the top story of the morning, likely to be the top story of the day. And that is the departure of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. His whereabouts currently are unknown. According to Suzanne Malveaux, CNN's Suzanne at the White House, he left early this morning, and reportedly with a security detail. It is thought perhaps he might go first to the Dominican Republic.
Lucia Newman for CNN, on the streets of Port-au-Prince, says that right now things are calm. The big question is, what will come out through the remainder of the day? We are watching and will report as soon as we have further information.
COLLINS: On the docket today, a legal twist in same-sex union. What happens when couples split? An unusual child custody case in San Francisco could have major fallout in the area of family law. And what will happen in the Martha Stewart case now that one of the charges has been tossed out?
Joining us this morning for our legal roundtable, civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff in Philadelphia this morning, and former prosecutor Nelda Blair in Houston.
Got you guys separated today. It may be a better idea.
All right. Thanks so much for being with us, ladies, as usual.
Got to be fast this morning. I want to ask you about the Martha Stewart case first. As we said, the securities fraud charge, the one that carried the most serious penalty, 10 years prison sentence, and possibly $1 million fine, what does it mean to the remainder of the case, Lida?
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: Well, the prosecution just got its case handed to it Christmas in February. It helps the prosecution because the security fraud case was a dog. It was -- it had been dismissed.
No jury would have convicted. Therefore, likely the jury would have acquitted of the other charges, too. Without it in there the prosecution has a much better chance.
COLLINS: All right.
Nelda, do you think there will be other charges to answer to here?
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Oh, I think that the other charges are going to be very, very devastating to Martha Stewart. And the reason is because the defense wanted those tossed out, too. The judge did not toss them out. And even one conviction, one conviction, takes Martha from starched white to dirty.
COLLINS: All right. Unfortunately, got to move on to the next topic, which is something that is quite a talker, especially in light of the gay marriage debate that is going on right now.
Child custody case here between two lesbian mothers. One provided the eggs, the other gave birth to the children. There are two female twins here. The sticky part, though, is that when the mother donated her eggs, she signed a form waiving parental rights. What exactly does this mean?
Nelda, why don't you go ahead and start this one.
BLAIR: That's exactly what this has been hinged on, this particular case, is the fact that she signed this waiver. Everyone who gives up eggs for artificial insemination signs a waiver. I think that that piece of paper probably won't have a lot to do with whether or not she gets her parental rights.
You know, more and more, courts are recognizing that gays and lesbians have rights. And if we are going to allow them to marry legally, then we are going to allow them to be biological parents and legal parents.
COLLINS: Actually, you know, I think, Lida, that you are saying that not only is this going to be a landmark case for gays and lesbians, but also for heterosexual families as well.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Yes. I hate to disagree with Nelda on this one. This is a terrible, terrible case, if you gave parental rights to a woman who gave up the rights when she donated an ago.
This spins adoption law on its head. Basically, every person who has had a donated egg or donated sperm and had a child with it now has to start looking at their -- behind their back to determine whether or not their child is going to be taken away by somebody who signed a waiver. This is ridiculous.
BLAIR: But it's going to happen, Lida. It's going to happen.
COLLINS: Go ahead and tell us what you think the sort of recourse the mother who donated the eggs may have at this point.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: I don't think she has any recourse, nor should she have any recourse. We have to -- we give parents constitutional rights. And as a result of that, we need to be very careful to make sure that parental rights are clearly defined. They have always been clearly defined. This is a new definition of parental rights. I know them when I see them, and it makes no sense.
BLAIR: No they haven't.
COLLINS: Nelda, last word here.
BLAIR: Other states have already given biological status to non- -- people who did not donate the eggs in lesbian and gay couples. It is going to happen.
COLLINS: All right. To the two of you, we certainly appreciate your curt answers there, and very much to the point. Thanks so much ladies, as usual.
Lida Rodriguez-Taseff this morning, and Nelda Blair. Thanks, ladies.
BLAIR: Thank you. COLLINS: Marty.
SAVIDGE: Returning now to our top story, we've been reporting the streets of Haiti said to be quiet this morning. So is the presidential palace, because the president has left.
Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left early this morning. His whereabouts currently are unknown. This apparently was a situation that was brought about after late-night talks involving the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, and we are told that the big question now is, who is going to be in power next? What will the violence level be in that nation, and what likely aid could be coming to the people who have been suffering for a long time?
We'll follow this story. In the meantime, take a break and be back.
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Aired February 29, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It is 8:00 Eastern Time now, and from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Heidi Collins, joined by Martin Savidge this morning.
We want to get back to our lead story and some breaking news out of Haiti this morning. Getting word, and CNN has confirmed through the White House, that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has left Haiti. You are looking at a live picture now of the presidential palace there in Haiti.
The latest is -- we are trying to learn a little bit more, that is, about the exact details to his departure. We know that there was a pretty high-level meeting yesterday, as you would imagine, of President Bush's national security advisers. Wondering how much that and direct discussions with Secretary of State Colin Powell had to do with the departure of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. As you know, much violence and chaos happening in that country and certainly around the city of Port-au-Prince.
Rebel forces there, many people killed. And the violence, we are wondering now if it will continue or subside. Those are just some of the questions this morning coming to us from Haiti -- Marty.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is the one that broke this story for us, coming out of the White House with information. She is joining us now to talk more about developments there.
First of all, Suzanne, do we know exactly where the President of Haiti has gone to?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We don't know those level of details at this point. What we do know is that this involves a situation, a deal that was brokered largely by State Department officials, top officials here at the White House overnight. Secretary Powell was intimately involved in those discussions in these late-night hours to try to arrange for Aristide to leave the country peacefully.
We understand that they are going to be giving us more details. What they are waiting for now is an announcement to come out of Haiti before they release some of the details that we have been looking for this morning. But essentially, this comes really just 12, 13 hours after the White House yesterday released a very strongly worded statement, essentially saying this crisis was of Aristide's making, that called into question whether or not he would really be able to govern the country effectively.
This is something over the last couple of days we have heard from State Department officials, saying that they have increasingly been putting pressure on Aristide to leave the country. You may recall that initially the Bush administration put out this power-sharing plan, said we believe that Aristide can fulfill his term, that he can share power with the opponents, and that it would be backed up by a multinational force. The Bush administration realized they had to abandon that plan, and increasingly put international pressure on Aristide to leave because they realize that just was not going to work.
But as you can imagine, the big question here is the transfer of power. How is that going to work? Is there going to be a power vacuum? The administration intimately involved in trying to make sure there is some sort of coalition government, some sort of transfer so you don't have this power vacuum inside of Haiti -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Well, if U.S. officials have been talking with the president, have they also been talking or trying to open up lines of communication with the rebel forces to figure this out?
MALVEAUX: Well, certainly Secretary Powell has been intimately involved with discussing issues not only with the opponents, with the rebels, but also with the United Nations. He spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday, with his French counterpart. This has been an international effort. It has also involved these opponents, these rebels in trying to broker some sort of agreement here. But it is clear that the big question here now is just who is in charge in Haiti.
SAVIDGE: That is. Suzanne Malveaux, at the White House. Thank you very much for that information -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I want to take a moment now to refresh your history a little bit on the subject, the history of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, how he came to power, and now how he is apparently gone. Still getting more information on that, as we said.
We do have a live shot, as you can see here, of the Port-au- Prince Airport. Keeping our eye on that in case anything should happen there, in case we should happen to see him. We, of course, will have that shot and continue to keep our eye on it. You see it there on the screen.
For now, though, we want to go to John Zarrella, who has put the story together for us to remind us a little bit how it all happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Jean-Bertrand Aristide dropped his ballot into the box, there was for the people of Haiti a sense of hope and promise. It was December of 1990. The former Roman Catholic priest whose power base resided in the squalor of the urban slums of Port-au-Prince was making history. Two months later, in February of 1991, Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president.
JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE, HAITIAN PRESIDENT: I'm just here to serve, to try to love. And if it's necessary to give my life, no problem for that.
ZARRELLA: He didn't lose his life, but less than a year later Aristide lost his job and his country. Haiti's military, led by General Raul Cedras, staged what was the 32 coup in Haiti's history. Aristide went into exile in the United States, and his countrymen began building boats to get to the United States. And by the time Bill Clinton took office in January 1993, 40,000 Haitians had taken to the sea since the fall of their first democracy.
In the summer of '93, the United Nations worked a deal between Aristide and Cedras. The deposed president would return. The coup leader would resign, but Cedras never left and the boat people kept leaving. A year later, 20,000 U.S. troops took back the country for Aristide, who returned to finish out his term.
ARISTIDE: We have peace, 54 (ph) people. And we can improve it. This is the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) message.
ZARRELLA: Term limits prevented Aristide from immediately running again. Rene Preval kept the seat warm until Aristide's return in 2000, an election marred by irregularities and a 10 percent voter turnout.
Internal grumblings grew. His support outside his Port-au-Prince stronghold began to erode. Violence spread. Those who once stood by his side were, near the end, opposing him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Aristide promised us justice, transparency and participation. He gave us violence, corruption and lies.
ZARRELLA: And in the end, Jean-Bertrand Aristide could not keep his vow to remain in office until his term expired.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: With the departure of Haiti's president, the question becomes, what happens next and what is going on in the streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital? For that, we are joined by CNN's Lucia Newman with the view from there -- Lucia.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Martin. Well, right now, we're seeing some fireworks (UNINTELLIGIBLE), where a lot of President Aristide's opponents live. However, we are still getting contradictory information here.
The president's or ex-president's lawyers continues to say that it is not true, that he has not resigned, but rather he has moved from the location for his own security. So at least officially there's been no announcement here of anyone saying that the president has gone from power. But, of course, the information is already spreading.
The fireworks are going off here in the middle of the morning, the day. It's still early, 8:00 in the morning, people are at church. And another curious side of it, cell phones have stopped working here. So information is not flowing as quickly as it might otherwise -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: And who right now, Lucia, controls the media? In other words, the radio stations television, anything like that that might communicate to the public what is going on?
NEWMAN: Well, the opposition television station has been taken off air in the last couple of days. They weren't functioning. Only the official government television station, and that's not working at this very moment either.
There were even, in fact, rumors that the national TV station was on fire. We checked it out. It wasn't the case. But it's a very fluid situation right now.
Theoretically, the president of the supreme court would take power now if the president steps down or resigns, or is ill, if anything happens to him. He, in turn, would open the way for a new government, a transition government until new elections can be held.
So that is the scenario, the immediate scenario, if the president indeed has left the country. But it is not widely known at this moment here in Haiti, Martin, that that is the case.
SAVIDGE: All right. Lucia, as you speak, we're taking a live picture of the presidential palace. Of course, you can't tell much from this vantage point exactly what is going on.
What do you see on the streets this morning? You mention the fireworks, but any signs of violence, or does it seem to be very calm and quiet on a Sunday, as you would think it would be?
NEWMAN: It's a fairly large city. And where I am, from my vantage point, it is still fairly calm. The fireworks -- although we had heard just a little bit before that sporadic gunfire. But things here change on a heartbeat. It can be calm now, and there could be riots in this part of the city, or even right here in just a short time. So we are going to have to keep a very close eye on developments -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: And the rebel forces, as you know them, are they still projected to be about 25 miles away? They have said they were going to take a pause. Could this change all of that?
NEWMAN: Well, they said -- yes, it certainly could. They had said that they were on the outskirts of town, just waiting to pounce on the capital and get President Aristide out of the palace. Today, in fact, according to Guy Philippe, the main rebel commander, he said he wanted to mark his birthday or celebrate his birthday by taking the capital and ridding the country of its president. But now, if the president is gone, there would be no reason, theoretically, for them to march on to the capital. We don't know what they are going to do next -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Well, I assume they would still want to take over the seat of power. Or could that be negotiated?
NEWMAN: They say they're not. What they say is one thing. What they will do could be well another.
But they are saying that they did not want to take power. What they wanted to do was to "liberate" the country from President Aristide, who was being accused by his opponents, both the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) rebels and the political opposition here, as ruling as a despot, of not respecting the laws of democracy. And what they are all saying is what they want now are new and free elections. We'll have to see what they do -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Lucia Newman, you are absolutely correct. We'll stay very close to you, as far as information. Thanks so much -- Heidi.
COLLINS: As you can tell, never a dull moment here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Want to get you up to speed on all of our stories that we're following. Once again, a live shot of the presidential palace in Haiti, where we are watching the story of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his departure from that country. We, of course, will continue to update you and give you the very latest information as it develops from there.
Also watching the story in Virginia this morning. Eighteen crewmembers still missing after a tanker explosion there. Some ethanol being carried in those international waters. Three people dead, six survivors, though. We have our Elaine Quijano there, who's going to give us the very latest on that story.
Also, to Mississippi this morning for the very latest on this family, the Hargon family, missing since Valentine's Day. Charges expected to be filed against a relative today. We'll check in with Mike Brooks for that story in just a moment.
Stick around. CNN SUNDAY MORNING will be back in a moment.
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SAVIDGE: All right. Now to the shipwreck off the coast of Virginia. The chemical tanker radioed an urgent mayday last night following a fiery explosion, and then it sank a short time later.
CNN's Elaine Quijano is in Portsmouth, Virginia, with an update on the search and the rescue operation -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Marty.
Well, we are here at the U.S. Coast Guard Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. And officials here are telling us they are getting their first look by the light of day at this area about 55 miles east of Chincoteague. That's off the coast of Virginia.
Now, officials are still searching for 18 missing crewmen. Three have been confirmed killed. Six others, we are told, survived. Now, they were apparently plucked from a life raft that was floating in the water.
Now, earlier this morning, Coast Guard officials released some very dramatic infrared images of what the area, the wreckage and the debris in the area, looked like. We have seen video images of the back end, what appears to be the back end of the ship disappearing underneath the waves. We have also seen what Coast Guard officials believe is evidence of the fuel oil that was onboard, mixing in with the ethanol, creating an oil slick in the water, as well as empty life rafts.
Now, the Coast Guard got the call shortly after 6:00 last night. Officials dispatched three helicopters, a C-130, and two patrol boats.
Now, the tanker was a Singapore flagship that was heading from New York City to Houston. The crew onboard consisted of 24 Filipinos and three Greeks. The
Now, this tanker, as you said, was carrying 3.5 million gallons of ethanol. It was also carrying some 700 metric tons of fuel oil before.
Now, Coast Guard officials say last night they were able to interview the survivors. And so far, they have not come to any conclusion as to what has happened. They have been able to piece together bits of information that some of the crewmembers were apparently sleeping, that others were apparently working on deck at the time. But so far, they have no reason to suspect that this was anything other than an accident.
Now, as for the investigation itself, officials saying this morning that they have received authorization from the Singapore government that the U.S. will be taking the lead in this investigation. That coming after consultations with the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Department of State. '
But, again, officials here saying at this time no reason to believe that this is anything other than an accident. The investigation now continuing, as is the search for the survivors. Officials also saying that how long they continue that search depends on a number of factors. Things like the air temperature, the water temperature, the body mass, the survivability depends on all of those issues. They will continue the search as long as they believe that it is reasonable -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: That is always a very difficult decision to make. Elaine Quijano, thank you very much, joining us live from Portsmouth -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Of course, want to remind you we are following the story very, very closely in Haiti, getting more information as it comes to us about the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Still trying to determine where he is now and where he could be going. And how he will get there. Of course, watching that story, have correspondents on the ground, and, of course, at the White House to keep us up to date on that story.
Also, in just a moment, going to be talking with our legal eagles about an interesting story, a possible landmark child custody story about one mother providing the eggs and the other mother -- this is a lesbian couple who actually carried the twins. We'll talk about that in just a moment.
We are also getting word now from Mike Brooks, who is standing by to give us the very latest information in Mississippi about the family that has been missing there since Valentine's Day.
Mike, we know a family member is actually in custody, expected that some charges will be filed against him today. What are you hearing this morning?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Heidi. Later on today, multiple felony charges will be filed against Earnest Lee Hargon, who is the adopted cousin of Michael Hargon, one of three people who have been missing since February 14, Valentine's Day.
Just a moment ago, two K9 dogs came back here to the scene. It's a 160-acre complex, if you will, here with five different structures, that is actually a veterinary clinic. Last evening, we heard from Warren Strain from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, who gave us an update on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN STRAIN, SPOKESMAN, MISSISSIPPI DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: ... will be charged with multiple felony counts. At this point, the whereabouts of the Hargons is still unknown. We really, really, really have something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Now, Mr. Strain also said this morning that they have been going through the evidence that they collected yesterday. And have been working on the charging papers. We don't know exactly what time the charges will be filed, but they say it will be sometime later on today.
And again, Heidi, they still do not know where the three members of the Hargon family are. But they will be back out here hoping to gather more evidence hopefully to find them later today -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Obviously, still a lot of questions to be answered there, Mike. Thanks so very much for the update coming from Mississippi this morning.
We are going to take a quick break here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We'll be back in just a moment.
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SAVIDGE: It is the top story of the morning, likely to be the top story of the day. And that is the departure of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. His whereabouts currently are unknown. According to Suzanne Malveaux, CNN's Suzanne at the White House, he left early this morning, and reportedly with a security detail. It is thought perhaps he might go first to the Dominican Republic.
Lucia Newman for CNN, on the streets of Port-au-Prince, says that right now things are calm. The big question is, what will come out through the remainder of the day? We are watching and will report as soon as we have further information.
COLLINS: On the docket today, a legal twist in same-sex union. What happens when couples split? An unusual child custody case in San Francisco could have major fallout in the area of family law. And what will happen in the Martha Stewart case now that one of the charges has been tossed out?
Joining us this morning for our legal roundtable, civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff in Philadelphia this morning, and former prosecutor Nelda Blair in Houston.
Got you guys separated today. It may be a better idea.
All right. Thanks so much for being with us, ladies, as usual.
Got to be fast this morning. I want to ask you about the Martha Stewart case first. As we said, the securities fraud charge, the one that carried the most serious penalty, 10 years prison sentence, and possibly $1 million fine, what does it mean to the remainder of the case, Lida?
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: Well, the prosecution just got its case handed to it Christmas in February. It helps the prosecution because the security fraud case was a dog. It was -- it had been dismissed.
No jury would have convicted. Therefore, likely the jury would have acquitted of the other charges, too. Without it in there the prosecution has a much better chance.
COLLINS: All right.
Nelda, do you think there will be other charges to answer to here?
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Oh, I think that the other charges are going to be very, very devastating to Martha Stewart. And the reason is because the defense wanted those tossed out, too. The judge did not toss them out. And even one conviction, one conviction, takes Martha from starched white to dirty.
COLLINS: All right. Unfortunately, got to move on to the next topic, which is something that is quite a talker, especially in light of the gay marriage debate that is going on right now.
Child custody case here between two lesbian mothers. One provided the eggs, the other gave birth to the children. There are two female twins here. The sticky part, though, is that when the mother donated her eggs, she signed a form waiving parental rights. What exactly does this mean?
Nelda, why don't you go ahead and start this one.
BLAIR: That's exactly what this has been hinged on, this particular case, is the fact that she signed this waiver. Everyone who gives up eggs for artificial insemination signs a waiver. I think that that piece of paper probably won't have a lot to do with whether or not she gets her parental rights.
You know, more and more, courts are recognizing that gays and lesbians have rights. And if we are going to allow them to marry legally, then we are going to allow them to be biological parents and legal parents.
COLLINS: Actually, you know, I think, Lida, that you are saying that not only is this going to be a landmark case for gays and lesbians, but also for heterosexual families as well.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Yes. I hate to disagree with Nelda on this one. This is a terrible, terrible case, if you gave parental rights to a woman who gave up the rights when she donated an ago.
This spins adoption law on its head. Basically, every person who has had a donated egg or donated sperm and had a child with it now has to start looking at their -- behind their back to determine whether or not their child is going to be taken away by somebody who signed a waiver. This is ridiculous.
BLAIR: But it's going to happen, Lida. It's going to happen.
COLLINS: Go ahead and tell us what you think the sort of recourse the mother who donated the eggs may have at this point.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: I don't think she has any recourse, nor should she have any recourse. We have to -- we give parents constitutional rights. And as a result of that, we need to be very careful to make sure that parental rights are clearly defined. They have always been clearly defined. This is a new definition of parental rights. I know them when I see them, and it makes no sense.
BLAIR: No they haven't.
COLLINS: Nelda, last word here.
BLAIR: Other states have already given biological status to non- -- people who did not donate the eggs in lesbian and gay couples. It is going to happen.
COLLINS: All right. To the two of you, we certainly appreciate your curt answers there, and very much to the point. Thanks so much ladies, as usual.
Lida Rodriguez-Taseff this morning, and Nelda Blair. Thanks, ladies.
BLAIR: Thank you. COLLINS: Marty.
SAVIDGE: Returning now to our top story, we've been reporting the streets of Haiti said to be quiet this morning. So is the presidential palace, because the president has left.
Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left early this morning. His whereabouts currently are unknown. This apparently was a situation that was brought about after late-night talks involving the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, and we are told that the big question now is, who is going to be in power next? What will the violence level be in that nation, and what likely aid could be coming to the people who have been suffering for a long time?
We'll follow this story. In the meantime, take a break and be back.
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