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CNN Live Today

Dozens Arrested During G-8 Protests; G-8 Junkie

Aired July 05, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening now in the news. Natalee Holloway's mother went before cameras in Aruba this morning. She urged countries to deny entry to two former suspects in her daughter's disappearance. The Kalpoe brothers were freed Monday by a judge. Their from Suriname. Holloway's family hears they'll flee Aruba before the case is resolved, but their attorney tells CNN they are innocent, and they do not plan to leave the island.
A security camera captured Shasta Groene and her alleged kidnaper in Idaho on Friday. The tape was shot just hours before Joseph Duncan was arrested. He'll be in court in a few hours.

Meanwhile, authorities are using DNA tests to determine if possible remains of those of Shasta's missing brother, Dylan.

Senior military officials say the bodies of two missing Navy SEALS have been found in the mountains of Afghanistan. One serviceman remains missing. Another has been rescued and is recovering. The four-man team was reported missing a week ago.

A 6.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia, Sumatra Island today. It's very near the epicenter of the quake that kicked up last winter's deadly tsunami. A tsunami watch was issued today, but officials discounted the chances of a major wave.

Air Force One is over the Atlantic this morning, carrying President Bush to the G-8 summit in Scotland, but first, a thank-you stopover in Denmark.

Our Elaine Quijano is in Copenhagen today, ahead of the president.

Hello.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.

That's right, President Bush will be delivering a personal thank you to the prime minister of Denmark when he arrives here, just a short time from now. But this will be the president's first trip to this country. He told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation before he left that he is looking forward to discussing common interests and talking about promoting freedom and democracy.

Now, the Bush administration, of course, views the Danish government as a key ally on the war on terror. Denmark, unlike some of their neighbors here in Europe, has been a staunch supporter of U.S. military efforts, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Danish government, in fact, contributed some 500 troops to help with the security situation in Iraq.

And while the Danish people largely support the U.S.-led efforts, they are also asking the question, when will their troops be able to leave Iraq? Now President Bush, as he has said before, when talking about U.S. forces, says he will not set a timetable, because he feels that would only serve to give the enemy an advantage, but President Bush due to arrive here in Denmark. His only event toady will be meeting with the queen and the prince consort. Tomorrow morning he will be meeting with the prime minister before moving on to Scotland for the G-8 summit -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano, live from Copenhagen. Thank you.

Queen Elizabeth will open the G-8 with a dinner for the leaders tomorrow at Gleneagles Resort. That is just north of Edinburgh.

Our Paula Hancocks already there, joining us live. Hello.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, I'm standing in the middle of Murray Field Stadium here in Edinburgh. This is a stadium that's more used to rugby and soccer matches. But as you can probably hear behind me, it's now in the middle of a sound check. This is where the long walk to justice will come to an end. Edinburgh 50,000 is going to be the concert on Wednesday evening, hosted by Bob Geldof. Annie Lennox will be here, many other pop stars as well. It's called 50,000 because they want to remind people how many of those in the world's poorest nations will die unnecessarily on the day that they are watching that concert.

Now back in the center of Edinburgh, things are all calm at the moment. All the roads are clear, very little police presence, but it was a very different story on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): It was billed as a carnival for full enjoyment. This is how it ended: hard-core protesters throwing bottles and stones at police in certain areas of Edinburgh, riot police responding in force.

Large areas of the city center were closed off by lines of police. They then disbursed demonstrators. Many bystanders being caught up in the chaos.

Police say approximately 90 protesters were arrested. More than two dozen treated for minor injuries, including some police.

Many criticized the police for heavy-handed tactics. The police say their actions were justified.

TOM HALPIN, ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE: What we've seen today is behavior that's absolutely irresponsible and unacceptable. The police response to that has been measured in proportion. Indeed, I would say that we've been professional in how we've engaged with the protesters.

HANCOCKS: Earlier Monday, in western Scotland, more than 400 protesters blocked the entrance to the major naval base that houses Britain's nuclear-armed Trident submarine fleet. Some areas of Edinburgh managed to maintain a carnival atmosphere, protesters making their voices heard through song and dance, some spelling it out for the G8 leaders meeting next week 40 miles north from here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Many of those protesters are actually in court today facing charges of public disorder. Now, they say there's about 10,000 police at the fingertips from England, from Wales and Scotland, all around this area, ready to be deployed if necessary. There were 2,000 on the streets on Monday. But many of the police in Edinburgh think that their job is done now. They're expecting if there is going to be trouble, it will move 40 miles north of here, to the Gleneagles Hotel, where that summit is taking place -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Paula Hancocks, live from Scotland, thank you.

Well, you might or you might not be fascinated with the policy side of the G-8 summit, but one activist admits he is a G-8 junkie.

Jamie Drummond is executive director for DATA. That stands for Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa. It was set up by the rock star Bono. Our Richard Quest tags along from Philadelphia to Scotland, as Drummond and DATA gear up for G-8.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE DRUMMOND, EXEC. DIR., DATA: It was really Live 8 that rallied together all these citizens, groups and activists and campaigners from across America.

Well, I guess you could call me a G-8 junkie. You know, I've been going to these summits for nearly a decade, watching progress, faltering falling back, and getting all caught up in the wording of the communique. You know, where did the leaders agree this time? What did they slip back on this time? And then the whole crazy interesting crowd of people got on that plane, and filled up the aisles and got together. And you know, we've had this long, very sleepless nights.

It was lovely to sort of, you know, Fall off the plane, stumble out into the lounge, and then have Bob look like he'd stumbled out with us almost. And he, you know -- knowing the emotional roller coaster that he's just been through, and knowing Bob quite well as I do, for him to get up that early to come meet us all off the plane was a big thing, and -- but he was very excited to do that.

BOB GELDOF, LIVE 8 ORGANIZER: Certainly for people the mood is one of possibility, but that's part. You know, you've got to temper it out with the reality of politics.

DRUMMOND: I couldn't keep beginning to these G-8 summits if we never make progress. You have to, you know, fight for the improvements along the way. You know, we got some of that consolation. We want more, but we got some of that consolation, and that means you can keep going when you know that you can win, that all this effort doesn't make progress.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): And this is what the activists came for, a chance to make their protest to the G-8. Of course, after a long trip from Philadelphia, they might have expected this. They have, of course, been met by the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep moving...

DRUMMOND: This happens all the time, and it's all part of people, you know, getting on the street and expressing their impatience and anger at the lack of progress, the lack of political progress. Sometimes the politicians don't keep their promises. Sometimes they don't make promises that are big enough and up to the task.

QUEST: This is what it's all about.

DRUMMOND: Yes, this is what happens. G-8 summits are always like this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We're going to hear more from Richard Quest as the G-8 summit unfolds in Scotland. Stay tuned.

Still ahead, the embattled sport of boxing. Is it destined for a cultural comeback? Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: CNN.com/online explores the Internet revolution, including the key developments and technologies that have made our lives easier. But we also look into the darker side of the Internet.

Let's start with spam. Not just a pink pork product, it's slang for unsolicited junk e-mail, not to mention a multimillion dollar business. And what about annoying chain e-mails? You know, those messages in your in-box that promise that Bill Gates is giving away free money or threatened bad luck if you don't forward to ten of your pals? Well, besides souring your friendship, you could be breaking the law. It's actually illegal to start or forward an e-mail chain letter that promises any kind of return. Users could be prosecuted for mail fraud.

Terrorism has also gone high-tech, with many terrorists logging onto communicate with the world via video streams and shared information online. Identity masking and other techniques allow groups to post their messages with little fear of being tracked down.

But along with the bad, there's a world of good that came out of the World Wide Web, like dot-com desk for one. For your complete online guide, logon to CNN.com/online.

I'm Christina Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: This just into CNN. A disturbing sign in Bosnia, and it's just days before the ten-year anniversary marking the memorial site that's honoring the 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys that were killed in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. That incident took place during the Bosnian war in the last decade.

Well, there's a memorial on that site right now. And they've now discovered many pounds of explosives that were put there, as many as 77 pounds of explosives near the site of the '95 killings. That is according to Bosnian-Serb police. They have discovered those and an investigation goes on as to who would have put those there at a time when the memorial is about to take place. Much more out of Bosnia just ahead. Right now, another break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Athletes and politicians, even the queen, representing five international cities are in Singapore today, all making their final appeals for the right to host the 2012 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will vote tomorrow. Paris and London are said to be the favorites, but New York, Moscow and Madrid are still in contention.

From Olympic hopes to boxing blues. The world of boxing has recently taken a lot of hits. Mexican boxer Martin Sanchez died Saturday. That was just one day after he was knocked out in a super lightweight fight in Las Vegas. He had bleeding from the nose and mouth, but he left the ring under his own power. He was reportedly cleared by two doctors after the fight. It's the fifth boxing death in Nevada since 1994.

Here to talk about the current state of the sport, Steve Overmyer from CNN Sports. Good morning.

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

KAGAN: Yes, not such a good morning for the world of boxing. The state of the sport, not so good right now.

OVERMYER: Yes, it's not right now, but they're trying to improve it in a number of ways. Just this past week on Wednesday, a House committee actually passed a bill that could actually enforce or create the U.S. Boxing Commission. Now, right now, every boxing -- or every state is commissioned in boxing and they're trying to uniform the boxing commission and make it basically the first federally run sport in America.

They would have to license the boxers, the promoters, the managers and create a uniform health standards throughout boxing. And I think if they create this U.S. boxing commission, which, you know, right now has been approved by a committee and will be going to the House, it could improve the state of boxing.

KAGAN: We'll see. The federal government getting in the boxing business there.

OVERMYER: Yes

KAGAN: Probably more than most sports, boxing relies on stars.

OVERMYER: Yes.

KAGAN: Big stars. Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson.

OVERMYER: Yes.

KAGAN: Who's out there?

OVERMYER: The problem is, you just don't have any charismatic stars anymore. I mean, there's no Muhammad Alis, there's no George Foremans. I mean, Mike Tyson right now is getting beat up by Kevin McBride...

KAGAN: Who?

OVERMYER: ... a journeyman. Exactly. I mean, we used to get excited about seeing a Mike Tyson fight. We used to get excited about getting ready to watch the real deal Evander Holyfield fight on Saturday night. But now, we can pretty much watch him every week...

KAGAN: Ballroom dancing.

OVERMYER: ... ballroom dancing.

KAGAN: I love him on that show, by the way. It was an outrage that he got voted off. Different story.

OVERMYER: Nonetheless, I mean, we don't have any charismatic fighters right now. And that's what this sport is in desperate need of. If you look at who the champions right now, there are actually four champions. Vitali Klitschko, John Ruiz, Chris Byrd, I mean...

KAGAN: Who?

OVERMYER: None of these guys are household names, and the sport is in dire need of someone with punching power, someone with star power. What's amazing is it's so vacant right now. 46-year-old Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns is saying that he wants to come back and challenge for the light heavyweight title. Kendall Gill, former NBA player, made his pro debut a couple of weeks ago. He says he wants another fight and he wants to get back into the NBA. There's Kendall Gill. I mean, it's amazing how everybody wants to get into boxing right now because...

KAGAN: It's an open...

OVERMYER: ... there's just. It's wide open.

KAGAN: Open ring, so to speak. I did hear, you know, Evander Holyfield is just outside Atlanta. He was in the local news yesterday. He's planning a fight for September.

OVERMYER: Oh, well, and another comeback.

KAGAN: Yes, and perhaps a comeback in the ballroom dancing. Steve Overmyer. Thank you., Steve.

OVERMYER: Sure.

KAGAN: Well, there's still more to come this hour. But first, here's a preview of what's coming up in the noon hour on "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Jim Clancy.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee. Coming up at the top of the hour, red, white and blue, but not green. Environmentalists criticize the U.S. ahead of the G-8 Summit.

CLANCY: A spark at a sectarian tinderbox. Attackers targeting a Hindu temple in northern India.

VERJEE: And the games begin to land the 2012 Olympics. Notables from five cities descend on Singapore for some Gold Medal marketing.

All that and more just ahead on CNN International.

CLANCY: "YOUR WORLD TODAY," join us.

KAGAN: We will get to the world in just a few minutes. First, though, a check of weather and business coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Recapping a sports note for you here. Lance Armstrong and his discovery channel squad won today's fourth stage of the Tour De France. We have these new pictures from today's race. The 33- year-old Texan led his squad to victory, which means he gets the yellow jersey as overall race leader. Armstrong is going for his seventh straight Tour De France win.

Oh, look, and there's Sheryl Crow, yellow jersey and Sheryl Crow.

All right, here's a look at other stories making news overseas this morning. A shootout in a Hindu temple in India today. Police say gunmen set off a bomb-filled jeep to blowout a security wall, then stormed the building with machine guns and grenades. Six attackers were killed in the gun battle. A seventh is in police custody. Both Hindus and Muslims claim the temple site as sacred.

One of Canada's most notorious killers is a free woman today. Karla Homolka served 12 years for the rapes, tortures and murder of three girls. Her own sister was among the victims. Her light sentence came in a deal with prosecutors. She testified against her ex-husband who is serving a life sentence for his role in the crimes.

And a judge in Indonesia is reopening the case against Schapelle Corby. The Australian woman was sentenced to 20 years for drug smuggling. The lengthy prison term generated outrage among Australians. Now the judge will allow 12 new witnesses. They're expected to say the marijuana was planted in Corby's surfboard bag.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan.

International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. They're up after a quick break.

I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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