I am familiar with the aborted Hawaii Five-0 TV pilot Cannell did in 1997, and in fact was able to purchase a copy of the script several years ago at a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/TV collectible convention.
As I understand it, Cannell actually shot the pilot that CBS had commissioned, with the major star being Gary Busey (seriously!). CBS execs saw it and passed on picking it up as a series, presumably because it was horrible. To the best of my knowledge, this pilot has never turned up on the internet or for sale as a bootleg at any conventions.
While it's been a few years since I read the script, I recall that the new characters they created were pretty two-dimensional in their development and backstory, and the focus of the show was more on Miami Vice-style action. Yes, the old characters (Chin and Kono) were present, but had little to do other than to simply create a connection to the old show. (One thing I recall was that Chin spoke the worst pidgin-English in the script, worse than anything he ever said in the old show, in a way that was completely offensive). I think they originally had Danno as the Governor in the script, and he gets shot near the beginning if I recall correctly, which then sets the plot into motion. (Originally they wanted Jack Lord to appear as the Governor, but he was obviously unavailable). According to IMDB, James MacArthur did indeed reprise his role as Governor Dan Williams (I would love to email his fansite sometime and ask him why he chose to participate in this thing). Here's a link to the IMDB pilot info:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0948096/
I will have to dig the script up again and take another look at it if anyone has further questions about it. It was pretty unmemorable, and was a complete departure from the quality of the old show. I think Cannell saw an opportunity for a fast buck and tried to cash in, but he wasn't able to fool CBS in the end.