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American Morning

Iraq Violence; Gaza Protest Against Israeli Pullout

Aired July 19, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hurricane warnings now posted from south Texas to La Cruz, Mexico, as Emily bears down on coastal towns. The storm expected to gain strength. A live report from southern Texas.
Mourners rush the streets in an Iraqi town near Baghdad after another bloody attack. Ten civilians gunned down. We're live with the latest.

And high alert in the Middle East -- a huge protest in Gaza. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people are expected. We are live on the scene on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.

Glad you're w us.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.

Also ahead, stunning sales of the new Harry Potter book. Almost nine million copies sold in the first day.

O'BRIEN: Wow!

COSTELLO: We'll talk about where this series fits in within the all time literary records, when we talk about the power of Harry Potter, coming up.

O'BRIEN: I would say power is an understatement.

Let's get the headlines, though, first.

Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center with that -- good morning, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a lot of power with Potter.

But now in the news, let's talk about this. President Bush could name his pick to the Supreme Court as early as today. The president said Monday he wants to move quickly on a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and possibly get a confirmation by October. Now, the man who led American troops through much of the Vietnam War has died. A controversial figure, General William Westmoreland never admitted Americans lost the war. He blamed the government and the media for turning people against the conflict. His son says he spent the last years of his life talking to veterans. Westmoreland passed away last night in Charleston, South Carolina. He was 91 years old.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heading overseas today on a week long visit that includes stops in the Middle East. Before arriving in Israel, the secretary will attend an African economic conference in Senegal. She will also visit a refugee camp in the war ravaged Sudanese region of Darfur. Rice is set to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials at the end of the week. And we will have more on the situation in the Middle East in just a second.

But first, NASA says it will continue to work on the Space Shuttle Discovery until next week. After five days of testing and retesting, NASA still can't figure out what's wrong with the fuel gauge sensor. The problem could delay the launch until September.

But, Miles, as they say, better safe than sorry.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

They want to understand that first before they light the candle, as they say.

Thank you, Betty, very much.

New developments in a deadly insurgent attack in Iraq today. Iraqi police have arrested three people in connection with an ambush outside a U.S. military base today. Mourners poured onto the streets of Khalis, 37 miles northeast of Baghdad. Ten civilians were shot when gunmen attacked their minivan. Three more people died when the van crashed into another car.

Aneesh Raman live now in Baghdad -- Aneesh, the tempo of violence just continues.

Are people just numb to this situation?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, Iraqis are certainly fatigued. Attacks like the one this morning have become part of the daily fabric of life here. And in recent weeks, we've seen a rise in suicide bombings. That has injected a great deal of fear into the Iraqi society.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RAMAN (voice-over): Alaa Abbass is a walking target. Manning this checkpoint, every car, every person is a potential killer. Such is life in a world of suicide bombings.

ALAA ABBASS, IRAQI POLICE OFFICER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Our job is 100 percent dangerous. You can see, searching vehicles and checking I.D.s, yes, it is 100 percent dangerous.

RAMAN: His estimation is no exaggeration. In the past week alone, suicide attacks killed over 170 Iraqis. The worst incident on Saturday in the town of Mussayib, where 90 people died after a bomber detonated himself next to a fuel truck.

For the forces on the ground, it is easily the most formidable insight tactic.

BRIG. GEN. DONALD ALSTON, SPOKESMAN, U.S. MILITARY: The suicide bombing absolutely picks precisely the time and precisely the place to cause the effect that they're going to cause. It is very difficult when the suicide bomber is -- when the attack is imminent, in order to deflect that.

RAMAN (on camera): And perhaps the most powerful effect of the suicide attacks is the fear they spread. A few weeks ago, this Baghdad restaurant was hit. Twenty-three people were killed after a man entered inside and detonated himself. For Iraqi civilians, who bear the brunt of the casualties, it seems these days there is nowhere completely safe.

(voice-over): So in Iraq, the question is how to prevent the bombings. Military officials say borders must be sealed so those willing to die can't enter the country so easily. And better intelligence is needed to catch the bombers at a point when they can still be stopped, both wholly dependent upon the still fledgling Iraqi forces.

But...

LAITH KUBBA, SPOKESMAN, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: The police is not fully equipped to deal with the insurgency yet.

RAMAN: Therein is the difficult reality for those like Alaa.

ABBASS (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Day after day we control the situation, but we all know it will take time to really control everything.

RAMAN: Suicide bombers are the worst of insurgent attacks in every way. But eradicating them soon in Iraq seems impossible. All those on the front line at any time can do is try to minimize the casualties.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RAMAN: Now, Miles, that point cannot be overstated. Once a suicide bomber is out on the streets with an explosives vest, there is literally nothing that can be done, as we've see in the past, to prevent the bombing. And that is the difficulty that forces are confronting -- how to stop it before it gets to that point. That hasn't been found yet -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: That's a tough one.

Aneesh Raman in Baghdad.

Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Israeli police on high alert today as anti-pullout demonstrators plan to march to Gaza. Organizers expect as many as 100,000 demonstrators to take part in this three day rally. They're protesting the Israeli government's plan to pull out of Gaza and a small part of the West Bank.

John Vause is in Kfar Maymon, Israel -- John, how many people are there now?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad -- or, Carol, rather -- it's very difficult to estimate just precisely the number of protesters who are here right now. The Israeli police put the number at around 20,000 people. The organizers say it's much more than that. They say it's probably around 20,000 to 40,000 people at this small community of Kfar Maymon here in southern Israel. It's about five miles away from the border with Gaza.

We have learned a short time ago that the organizers still intend to march on the Gaza Strip. They'll do it later this afternoon, when it cools down a bit.

Now, the plan is for that march to be led by rabbis. Now, behind the rabbis there will be three rows of about 50 people. They will lock arms. Now, they will not march directly toward the border, we're told. They'll head off in all different directions to confuse and to tie up the police and the Israeli soldiers.

Now, the organizers say once they come across the police and the soldiers, there will be no violence, there will be no clashes. Instead, the marchers will just simply sit down where they stop.

Now, 20,000 police and soldiers have been sent to the southern part of Israel to try and stop these protesters from reaching the border. The orders from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is that this is as far as these protesters get. The soldiers have been told to do whatever it takes to stop them from getting to the border with Gaza.

And the settler leaders are saying right now they are winning this battle with the government because so many soldiers, so many police are tied up here in Kfar Maymon that it is, in fact, delaying the government's preparations for the disengagement plan.

And across Israel right now, police are on high alert. They call it Stage D. They're worried about more protests across the country.

Now, Stage D alert is one level short of war time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John Vause live in Israel this morning.

O'BRIEN: Turning now to hurricane Emily. The storm is building strength. Winds now 90 miles an hour, a category one storm. But they could reach category three, which means 130 miles an hour, at least, when it hits land late tonight.

Northeast Mexico expected to get the worst of it. But southern Texas still is in the danger zone. Folks there should pay attention.

Chris Lawrence is in South Padre Island, Texas -- and, Chris, are they paying attention there?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, many people are. In fact, the judge has ordered families living in R.V. parks to evacuate the island. And as those winds start to whip up and as that water starts to churn, a lot of people here are starting to take this storm a little more seriously than they did just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): On South Padre Island, everyone prepares in his or her own way. A lot of businessmen boarded up the windows of their stores, while a few boys put their boards to a completely different use. To some, sand was just the means to start building the perfect castle. For others, it was the only thing that may help fortify their homes.

Officials in south Texas have been keeping an eye on Emily since it ripped through Cozumel and Cancun, then churned into the Gulf of Mexico.

DAN QUANDT, SOUTH PADRE ISLAND OFFICIAL: The worst case scenario would be if the hurricane turned north on us.

LAWRENCE: Dan Quandt says south Texas could be hurt even if it doesn't get a direct hit.

QUANDT: The reason we're still watching closely is that, you know, the eye, it's still south of us, but that puts us in the strongest part of the storm, up in the northeast part now.

LAWRENCE: Still, some folks are confident the hurricane's worse weather will miss them.

BOB JENEVEIN, RESIDENT: So, are we worried? No. We're respecting the storm and its danger, but we think we can avoid it.

LAWRENCE: It's a risk a lot of people here are willing to take.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LAWRENCE: Even if the winds don't to tremendous damage, the rain could be just as big of a problem. The area is suffering from a drought, but the amount of rain that Emily could bring could flood a lot of these areas -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence on South Padre Island.

Thank you very much.

Chad Myers is looking at things from way high above there -- and, Chad, we shouldn't get folks in that part of Texas to think they're going to avoid this one, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, no. Absolutely not. This storm still has to turn left to miss them. If it doesn't turn left, it's going right into Matamoros. Now, the forecast is for it to turn left, but I'll show you where it is right now.

The brand new 8:00 advisory keeps it at 90 miles an hour, still a pretty good storm, still a strong category one. At about 96 miles per hour it becomes a category two.

We're now actually able to see some of the outer bands of the hurricane back out here, to the east of South Padre. I was noticing how the skies were getting darker behind Chris Lawrence and that's the cloud cover coming in and one of the first layers of the wind that still start to come in with that first band.

There is the storm right there, obviously getting much stronger, although officially the Hurricane Center did not increase the intensity yet. By the time it does cross land, down here south of Matamoros, it is forecast to be a category three, 115 miles per hour, maybe even a little bit stronger than that. And there you see the forecast track as it turns it to the left.

If that does not turn, guess where it goes? Right here, south of South Padre. South Padre, Brownsville, all those areas here, very, very populated area right through here, right along the Rio Grande. And that will get the right front quadrant of the storm. So we have to watch that as the day goes on. And it's going to be a significant storm, too, for someone, even into Monterey, Mexico, the potential for flooding is there, as well.

O'BRIEN: We've got to watch that. All right, we were watching those reports.

Let's talk about the heat. Some serious business today across much of the nation.

MYERS: Wow!

O'BRIEN: Big numbers.

MYERS: Yes, 100, 105, heat index, even across the Northeast. Temperatures there are going to feel like 105 to 110. So we do have heat advisories all across, from the Northeast all the way to Arizona. So it's a hot one.

But you know what? Today is the hottest day of the year, typically, for the Northern Hemisphere. It's not summer. It's not the end of summer. This is the middle, so we kind of go down from here.

O'BRIEN: Let me get this straight. This particular day...

MYERS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... is the hottest day of the year? MYERS: For the Northern Hemisphere on average.

O'BRIEN: OK.

MYERS: After this, there's more outgoing radiation, heat, than incoming radiation, so our temperatures, although like a tenth of a degree a day, they begin to cool down, on average.

O'BRIEN: OK. So we have that to look forward to.

COSTELLO: So August is not the hottest month.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: There's a little bit of lag time involved here or something.

MYERS: That's a lag, yes. That's exactly what it is.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

All right.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Still to come, the latest in the CIA leak probe. Did the president back off his pledge to fire anyone involved? We'll take a look.

O'BRIEN: Also, a CNN "Security Watch" for you. We'll show you the right way to evacuate if terrorists attack a subway.

COSTELLO: And the controversy over cell phone use and brain cancer. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for both sides of that debate.

That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: At Ten Downing Street in London today, British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with leaders of the Muslim community in Great Britain. They discussed ways to stop the influence of Islamic radicals. The meeting comes a day after Pakistani officials told CNN that two of the four London bombers traveled to Pakistan in the last year.

Arshad Chawdhry is chairman of the Leeds Muslim Forum.

He joins us from Leeds this morning.

Mr. Chawdhry, good to have you with us.

Tell us about this Pakistan connection.

ARSHAD CHAWDHRY, LEEDS MUSLIM FORUM: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Is that significant?

CHAWDHRY: Well, it could be. But I think the media is probably running all over the idea that there's some kind of hotbed of extremism out there. It's not like that at all. I mean I go there very regularly. And most of the Muslim community have connections back there. And I think every year a family would normally visit Pakistan, so...

O'BRIEN: So you would not give...

CHAWDHRY: ... we won't be advising them to be careful or anything, because, you know...

O'BRIEN: You wouldn't put too much significance in those travels...

CHAWDHRY: ... we aren't really concerned about extremism...

O'BRIEN: ... necessarily?

CHAWDHRY: Not necessarily. Of course, you know, if these guys are seeking out radicals out there, to go and meet them, clearly, that can happen anywhere. But I don't think I'd sort of take too significant an issue of this.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's forecast for a moment about the mosques. A lot of attention has been placed in recent years, particularly since 9/11, on the impact that imams can have in dispensing radical thought to young people.

Do you think that's a key in all of this?

CHAWDHRY: No, Miles. I think this is a bit of a smokescreen here, really, because -- a bit of a myth because, you know, the mosques here don't really play any role whatsoever because, you know, this is one of the concerns the Muslim community is, in fact, discussing later on tonight, when we get a debriefing on the Blair meeting, as well, today, how to basically resolve the issue. Because the imams in most of the mosques here are just spineless fuddy-duddies incapable, really, of playing any role in current affairs whatsoever. They don't have the ability to communicate with the congregation, particularly the younger elements.

So what basically happens is, you know, the youngsters then basically go outside the mosques and, you know, if a radical or somebody else gives them their ear, that's where they get -- go astray. So really it's a big of a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that imams in mosques are playing any role in terms of extremism. Because not only the imams, even the committees are run by middle-aged, very timid members of the community. And, you know, it's just -- they're incapable of communicating these things in a congregation.

Although we, you know, certainly the intellectual wing of the Muslim community feel that, you know, if you keep putting a lid on these things, it doesn't really work. You know, we are living in a democratic society. People have concerns, for example, if perceptions about, you know, injustices in Iraq or any other places. And these should be brought out in the open in a political environment, you know?

If you don't do that and keep putting a lid on these things, what happens is eventually youngsters who feel that their leaders are not representing them, the mosques are not representing them, they will fall into the wrong hands.

O'BRIEN: Well, Mr. Chawdhry, I'd like to ask you a question about good Islamic citizens...

CHAWDHRY: Sure.

O'BRIEN: ... and whether enough is being done to try to stop this radicalization of young people. In other words, are people in your community sort of turning their back to all of this? And would you call upon them to do more?

CHAWDHRY: Well, certainly we need to do more and it's not simply the Muslim community that needs to do more, but the community as a whole. Because, you know, Muslims are being marginalized here and the more you marginalize Muslims, the greater the risk of some of them falling into the wrong hands.

There isn't rampant radicalism here by any means. This is a very small minority. But even one is too many. And, you know, the only way this situation is going to be resolved is by taking the lid off issues that Muslims are unhappy about. And Muslim communities are now getting together. But if you look at government statistics out just today, you know, Muslim graduates in Leeds, for example, have an 11 percent greater unemployment rate than the rest of the community. Now why is that? Is that a Muslim problem?

It's a problem of the government here. So, you know, they need to embrace the Muslim population just as well as the rest of the population and to stop them being marginalized, because when you get marginalized, you lose your self-esteem. And that's a dangerous thing in the mind of a young person.

O'BRIEN: Let's hope that changes.

Arshad Chawdhry is the chairman of the Leeds Muslim Forum.

Thank you for your time, sir -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come, can cell phone use cause brain cancer? We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for both sides of this controversial issue.

That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A lot of happy kids out there. The sixth Harry Potter book released on Saturday set a publishing sales record as the fastest selling book in history. In its first 24 hours, it sold 8.9 million copies in the United States and Britain.

So, just what is the power of Potter?

Joining us this morning is Steven Zeitchik, senior news editor at "Publishers Weekly."

He recently wrote an article about what he called "the Potter effect."

Welcome.

STEVEN ZEITCHIK, "PUBLISHERS WEEKLY": Thank you very much, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, what is the Potter effect?

ZEITCHIK: Well, the Potter effect is something that's happening kind of on several levels. The Potter effect is certainly something that's happening from a business perspective, where we've never seen something this powerful happen this quickly in publishing history.

COSTELLO: I can't imagine. The numbers are mind-boggling -- 10 million copies in the first 24 hours.

ZEITCHIK: Well, it's true, they are mind-boggling. And they're more than mind-boggling, they're also something that's very much related to Hollywood, which the book industry almost never sees, a book that can do, in the first 24 hours, what it takes most titles, you know, months, if not years, to accomplish.

COSTELLO: Can you compare it to another book? I mean we have -- well, let me just read you some of the other best-sellers in history. "Gone With the Wind" is one.

ZEITCHIK: Right.

COSTELLO: "To Kill A Mockingbird" is another.

ZEITCHIK: Sure.

COSTELLO: But those only sold, what, 30 million copies plus.

ZEITCHIK: Those sold 30 million copies. And, of course, you know, "Gone With the Wind" has been, you know, in print for 60 years and keeps going. I mean "Harry Potter" has sold over 100 million copies. Now, granted, that's across six books, or at least five books, through the last title. But there's really no sign of it slowing down. And what people forget here is that we're really in the phenomenon's infancy. And I know that's an odd thing to say because, you know, given anyone who walked down to a bookstore this last weekend and saw all the kids with their cardboard hats probably thought wait a second, this is already happening now.

But I think when you look at really popular books, I mean you look at Dickens, you look at Twain, you look at, you know, really putting that -- putting J.K. Rawling in the same literary category as some of the greats, there's a kind of renaissance -- and we saw it with Jane Austen a few years ago -- there's a renaissance that happens that we really can predict.

COSTELLO: But can you put Ms. Rawling in with those others, like Dickens?

ZEITCHIK: Well, certainly from a popularity standpoint you could put her in with Dickens. And I think what's really interesting is that people tend to assume that someone who's really popular is not necessarily someone who's going to be taken seriously artistically. And I think all the people I mentioned, you mentioned "Gone With the Wind," Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, these people were phenomenally successful, sometimes not as much in their own time as later, and I think that's what's interesting here, because she's already very popular in her own time.

The question is will people later on take it to be the kind of historically significant...

COSTELLO: Well, for example, "To Kill A Mockingbird," kids read that in school.

ZEITCHIK: Sure.

COSTELLO: I mean it's an educational tool.

ZEITCHIK: Right. Right.

COSTELLO: Will this series of books become educational tools?

ZEITCHIK: I think they will be. I think the one thing that you really need -- well, there are two things you probably need to be really successful that way. One is to be very popular when you come out. The other is to have a few people saying you shouldn't be read at all, the banning effect, perhaps, you could call it. And I think that the Harry Potter, of course, has both. It's phenomenally successful and it's also being banned, much in the way, you know, to throw another example out there, "Catcher In the Rye" was banned when it came out more than 50 years ago. And look how we study that in school now.

So, I think the jury is still out on how successful it will be as a literary phenomenon, whether professors will study it. But I certainly think when you're talking about school, it'll be wildly successful.

COSTELLO: OK, so J.K. Rawling says she's going to write one more book.

Do you think that's true?

ZEITCHIK: Well, I think it's true for the moment. I think that's what she thinks is true. I have no reason to doubt her. She's shown, though -- she's someone who has shown that she can go off and do little side projects. Perhaps it won't be another Harry Potter book after the next one, but it's very likely it'll be something else. COSTELLO: What's amazing about her, she's written six very successful books. All of them got pretty good reviews.

ZEITCHIK: Sure.

COSTELLO: I mean you look at Margaret Mitchell, she wrote one book, one best-selling book, and that's it.

ZEITCHIK: Yes. Well, the amazing thing that Rawling has been able to do, as you say, is to really kind of take an entire -- an idea and kind of tease seven different books out of it. I mean serial publishing is something we haven't seen in a long time. Harper Lee, "To Kill A Mockingbird"; Margaret Mitchell, "Gone With the Wind;" these are flashes in the pan. And very good ones. But when you talk about someone like Dickens or Twain, these people were able to really kind of keep it going over the course of a series, and that's what she's been able to do.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

ZEITCHIK: It is.

COSTELLO: Did you read the book? Did you read all six?

ZEITCHIK: I haven't read the newest one yet, but it's waiting on the nightstand.

COSTELLO: I'm sure it is.

Steve Zeitchik, senior news editor at "Publishers Weekly."

Thank you for joining us this morning.

ZEITCHIK: Great.

Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: Miles.

O'BRIEN: There was a 13-year-old at dinner with me and she was reading the book. And she got to the point where the person dies.

COSTELLO: Oh.

O'BRIEN: Should I tell?

COSTELLO: No.

O'BRIEN: I know now, because I know this -- I should share.

COSTELLO: No, do not tell.

O'BRIEN: Don't -- I won't share.

OK. Still to come, we will give you the latest on the CIA leak probe. The president responses to questions about the controversy. We'll look at whether his answers let Karl Rove off the hook, perhaps.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Still to come, would you know what to do if you became trapped during a terrorist attack? Ahead, escaping a subway train, potentially deadly in its own right. We'll show you the safe way.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: About half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.

Coming up, we're going to talk about speculation in Washington that President Bush is just about to announce his Supreme Court nominee. Some believe it could happen as early as today. We'll talk about that and how an announcement could change the controversy in the CIA leak investigation.

O'BRIEN: A new lead story for us. Who knows?

First, a check of the morning's headlines with Betty Nguyen -- good morning, Betty.

NGUYEN: Good morning.

Now in the news, a hurricane warning is in effect this hour for parts of lower Texas. People in the region are boarding up windows and stacking sandbags ahead of a possible hit from Hurricane Emily. Emily is now a strong category one, packing winds of about 90 miles per hour, but the storm could pick up again.

Emily slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Monday, with strong winds, leaving behind flooding and downed trees.

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