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CNN Live At Daybreak

Gaza Pullout; Plane Crash; Big Smoke Screen?

Aired August 15, 2005 - 05:29   ET

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


KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Kelly Wallace in today for Carol Costello.
Coming up here on DAYBREAK, Israel's withdrawal plan is under way with eviction notices being handed out to Jewish settlers in Gaza. The latest on the pullout, live, moments away.

And searching for answers in Greece, family members head to the crash site today.

But first, here are stories "Now in the News."

In Iraq, it is a last-minute rush to finish drafting a constitution by today's deadline. Sticking points still to be hammered out include what role Islam should play in the new Iraq and the Sunni Arabs' objections to federalism.

One of Asia's longest-running conflicts ends with a truce. Indonesia's government and separatist rebels from the Aceh region signed a peace agreement today in Finland. Negotiation efforts between the two sides were renewed last year after the tsunami that devastated the province. The Aceh rebellion began in 1976.

And for those of you who needed extra time to file taxes for 2004, well, the tax extension deadline is today. Need more time? Filing for a second extension can get you two more months before you have to settle up with the IRS.

And, Chad, eventually you do have to settle up, right, with the IRS?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well,...

WALLACE: You can only get so many extensions.

MYERS: In fact, you're supposed to settle up before your extension. If you don't, then you owe a penalty because you didn't pay enough and yikes.

WALLACE: It gets complicated.

MYERS: It's ugly. I want to read Neil Bortz' (ph) book.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: It feels really good -- Chad.

MYERS: Good.

WALLACE: People are smiling here because...

MYERS: But it's Monday.

WALLACE: I know, but...

MYERS: Would have liked that cold front on Friday.

WALLACE: It would have been good, but it was hot this weekend.

MYERS: It was.

WALLACE: So a little bit of coolness in the morning, even at three in the morning is fine.

All right, Chad, we'll talk to you in a little bit.

MYERS: OK.

WALLACE: And to our top story this half-hour, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israelis soldiers are delivering eviction orders to Jewish settlers in Gaza. Settlers must move out by tomorrow night or they will be forced out.

CNN's John Vause reports from one community where settlers refuse to evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The road to the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, deep inside occupied Palestinian territory, is long and dangerous, protected by Israeli watchtowers and tanks. The settlers travel in convoy, guarded by soldiers against attacks by Palestinian militants armed with automatic weapons, rockets and mortars.

Beyond the heavy steel gate, suburbia, rows of neat brick homes. No moving vans here. No one appears to be packing ahead of the August 15 deadline. And no one, we are told, has applied for compensation. No one is ready to leave.

SHLOMIT ZIV, NETZARIM SPOKESWOMAN: Can't cooperate with something so bad. I can't pack up and, well, say I'm helping Sharon.

VAUSE: By ignoring the disengagement, they risk losing tens of thousands of dollars in compensation and, quite possibly, their personal possessions. The army warns it won't pack for those who are still here once the deadline has come and gone.

ZIV: We see a value more important than our money.

VAUSE: Not only does life go on but here they're building new homes.

(on camera): Why build a house in a community which you will have to leave?

ZIV: Because we believe that, first of all, things can change. And in God's eyes, doing whatever we can to stay here is also continuing the daily life.

VAUSE (voice-over): Shira and Mosha (ph) Miller, recently married, are planting a new garden. A day earlier, they rolled out new grass.

SHIRA MILLER, NETZARIM RESIDENT: I believe that when we show that we are going to live here and we still have the courage to put down grass and put flowers in the pots and do everything we need to do, then the country will also get courage from what we do.

VAUSE (on camera): The Jewish settlers in Netzarim are deeply religious. And even now, just days before Israeli police and soldiers begin the evacuation, many here are waiting for some kind of miracle, divine intervention to stop the disengagement.

(voice-over): Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon once said Netzarim was as important to Israel as Tel Aviv, but now he says it's just as important to give it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And that was our John Vause reporting from the Netzarim settlement in Gaza.

Many Jewish settlers consider Gaza their birthright, while Palestinians consider the land their future state.

Well Debby Rozen is a spokeswoman for settlers in Gaza. She's joining us now live from the Neve Dekalim settlement in Gaza.

Ms. Rozen, thank you so much for joining us. First, what are you seeing today when it comes to settlers? Are, for the most part, people leaving Gaza?

Ms. Rozen, I don't know if you can hear me, let me try again. Are the majority of settlers choosing to leave Gaza before the Tuesday midnight deadline?

OK, I think we're having a technical problem there with Debby Rozen, a settler spokeswoman in Gaza. We'll try to work that out and get back to her.

But it takes us, of course, to our e-mail "Question of the Day," Chad. We've talking to people about this question of the Gaza withdrawal,...

MYERS: Right.

WALLACE: ... will the pullout help bring peace to the Middle East?

What have you been seeing so far -- Chad? MYERS: Not a lot of optimism, I'm afraid, but I'd like to hear some at DAYBREAK@CNN.com. Here are a couple of them.

Elizabeth (ph) from Toronto, no, and here's why. The Palestinians want the Jews totally gone from the Middle East and altogether. They believe that they will achieve this and won't stop attacking Israelis, or even U.S. interests in the Middle East, until that occurs.

And from John (ph) in Geneva, New York, I think the Jewish settlers should get out of Gaza. It's a start to peace in the world. And you know this is where all the terrorism began in the first place.

And then from Mike (ph), they have been fighting for 2,000 years. No one has jobs. It's 120 degrees in the shade, if you can find any. Everyone has guns and explosives. They expect peace, and all they're going to get is pieces. We'll never transform the Middle East into a copy of the U.S.-Mexican-Canadian border. By the way, Nuevo Laredo seems to be trying to catch up to Gaza lately, don't they? And that was from Mike -- Kelly.

WALLACE: You know, Chad, it's interesting, you know when you look at sort of the majority, the majority of Israelis, I believe, the majority of Palestinians believing this is a good thing that it potentially could be a hopeful step. But you always have other feelings there. You have some Israelis who believe by Israel pulling out of Gaza it's sending a message that it's a reward for any kind of violence against Israelis. And some Palestinians believe that, you know, this is only one step, that much more should be done on the part of Israelis.

MYERS: I don't...

WALLACE: So it's interesting to see how this plays out.

MYERS: I was getting some e-mails. I think people are a little bit confused. I think they think that they're removing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. In fact, the Israelis are removing Israelis from that area, correct? Am I correct on this?

WALLACE: Absolutely, yes.

MYERS: And this really, although the little bit of violence that we're hearing, that's because the settlers just don't want to move. They've been there so long. Wait a minute, you moved us here, now you're moving us out.

WALLACE: Right.

MYERS: But they're going to get some kind of a cash settlement for the home that they're leaving, comes to about $870 million total, and then they'll be relocated somewhere else. And obviously a difficult process when you get ripped out of your house, anyway, but it's...

WALLACE: A difficult process indeed. And, Chad, we have someone in Gaza who we want to talk to.

MYERS: Good.

WALLACE: We worked out the kinks, some technical problems we were having, Debby Rozen, a settler spokeswoman in Gaza.

Ms. Rozen, thanks again. We're sorry for some technical problems. First question to you, are the majority of settlers choosing to leave now or they are going to wait until that midnight Tuesday deadline?

DEBBY ROZEN, SETTLER SPOKESWOMAN: OK, the majority of the people here in Gushkatif (ph) decided to stay until the deadline. We are not going to move. We are not going to accept the eviction notes from the army. And, as you see, you know just next to the gate of the community, a lot of people are just standing and don't let the policemen and the army come into the community, because we are going to stay home. We are not going to let them come in until the deadline.

WALLACE: Ms. Rozen,...

ROZEN: Our home. All this process was immoral. All this process was immoral, although never (ph) even though they said we are not going to get a compensation, we are going to stay here. I don't think that we are going to lose anything, because there is no solution. Our government has no solution for us, even though Sharon is saying there is a solution for every settler.

WALLACE: But, Ms. Rozen, let me just -- Ms. Rozen, let -- let me jump in just a little bit. Don't the settlers, though, that choose not to leave run the risk of potentially losing their belongings? The army saying it's not going to sort of pack up any belongings if it comes to forcibly removing settlers, and possibly even lose the option of compensation to resettle in parts of Israel?

ROZEN: You know there are things that you can't buy by money. I mean they didn't promise us a rose garden outside. They didn't even suggest a home or any place to educate our kids. I registered my youngest kid to the school here and they -- that's what they asked for six months ago. And they didn't say two weeks before September 1 when our kids have to start the new year for just going to school. Two weeks before we didn't know where to go, we didn't know where our kids are going to study.

There is no solution. There is only advertisement of the government who says in the Internet and on the newspapers and radio and TV we find solutions to every settler, which is a lie, because we are more than 600 families who has no solution. And our only request was to stay together, and that was -- we said it to the prime minister six months ago.

WALLACE: Let me, Ms. Rozen, let me...

ROZEN: And they said, OK, you are going to build your new homes in Itan (ph). WALLACE: Let me jump in -- Ms. Rozen,...

ROZEN: And they didn't build enough at the rate...

WALLACE: ... and ask you this, because it is an incredibly difficult situation, impossible for all of us to comprehend, but you do have Israeli leaders, including Shimon Peres who was saying -- quote -- "history will justify our choice." Saying that the Israelis need to do this in terms of future peaceful hopes for Israelis and Palestinians in the region. What do you say to that?

ROZEN: I just couldn't believe my prime minister anymore, because the rate that he did it, most of the people in Israel think that -- I mean it's a dangerous plan because there is no partner to talk to, there is no peace agreement, there is nothing.

We are, in a way, just he chose weakness for terror, because we don't achieve anything by doing this process. It's even frightening, because we are leaving and we know that the Hamas is ruling this movement, it's ruling the street here. And we know, and they know, that the life would be much worse. I mean all the security, all the defense of Israel, because the border would be much closer to the communities which is on the right side of the Green Line today.

In a way, you know we were his favorite. Just two years ago he said that we are his very favorite. We are in the front line and we are taking care of the southern border of Israel. So what has been changed since then? Nothing has been changed. We had only terror attacks all over Israel. Nobody promised us any rose garden. Nobody promised us any better life.

WALLACE: Debby Rozen, we're going to have to leave it there.

ROZEN: All that he does now is just destroyed our lives.

WALLACE: Debby Rozen, we are going to have to leave it there. We thank you for talking with us, and we wish the best to you and your family. Debby Rozen, a spokeswoman for settlers in Gushkatif, Gaza.

We're also going to talk, in the next hour of DAYBREAK, to settlers who are choosing to leave, but they are leaving now and deciding it is time to go.

Much more ahead on this Monday edition of DAYBREAK, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Some pictures of New York City on this Monday morning.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It's just about 46 minutes after the hour, and here is what is all new this morning.

The Iraqi interim government is expected to have a constitutional draft by this morning. Among the looming issues, whether Islam will be the basis of Iraqi law and the roles for various communities, particularly Sunni Arabs.

In Washington, law enforcement sources say it was just a big mistake. The Mayflower Hotel was evacuated after a suspicious package was found. A Secret Service contractor left the device there by mistake.

In money, it took "Four Brothers" to knock "The Dukes of Hazzard" out of the top spot at the box office. The film, "Four Brothers," took in $20.7 million over the weekend. The Duke boys and Jessica Simpson fell to number three.

In culture, pretty soon you can own some of the music former President Clinton likes best. The "Bill Clinton Collection" CD includes music from Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Judy Collins. The CD should go on sale at the Clinton Library some time next month.

In sports, Phil Mickelson holds a one-shot lead in the delayed final round of the PGA Championship. Weather forced the one-day delay. Mickelson is 1 of 12 players who will finish up when play resumes this morning.

And, Chad, is it going to be clear for them on this day?

MYERS: It was so hot there yesterday. It was just ugly. Yes, today is a little bit better. There could be a couple of showers still around today, but not the oppressive heat like they saw yesterday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: All right, Chad, thanks so much, we'll talk to you in a few minutes.

Turning now to a very tragic story over the weekend, family members heading to the scene of a plane crash near Athens, Greece today. They say it's a horrendous task identifying the more than 120 victims of the crash. Meanwhile, investigators are hoping to get important answers from the plane's data and voice recorders.

CNN's Chris Burns joining us on the phone live there, Grammatiko, Greece.

And, Chris, thanks for joining us. Any more word on what caused this crash?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kelly, there are some bits of information coming out of this. And, really, seeing this on the top of a mountain looking down at this ravine there were -- all that's left is the tail section of this plane. And the smell is almost overpowering from the wreckage and the remains that are left here. It's just awful. And a view -- a beautiful view of the Aegean Sea in the background, it's incredibly surreal.

And this is the setting for firefighters, fire crews as they're going in and picking through the wreckage, looking for, not only pieces of the wreckage, but also pieces of bodies. You know grimly -- the grim search for those remains. They're still looking for the remains of two passengers. They have found 119 bodies, including that of the co-pilot.

And this is something that we just found out just minutes ago is a senior government official says that it does appear that the two people that were being talked about, the F-16 pilots saw in the cabin before the plane crashed, they believe that one of them was a stewardess who was trying to get a hold of the controls and to try to keep the plan from crashing. That is because they found her body next to that of the co-pilot that was slumped over.

The pilot was missing from the cockpit as the F-16 jets looked in there inside the cockpit as they were following along after the plane lost radio contact with it yesterday. So very strange, mysterious sort of happenings there, but it does appear that the stewardess was trying to save the plane.

We also heard that the two black boxes, both voice and data recorders, were found in the wreckage and are being sent to Paris for analysis -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Chris, what you're reporting is just chilling. Also, we know reports of some passengers sending out text messages on that plane, apparently saying that they were freezing. Is there any sense that there were air conditioning problems on this plane that could have led to a loss of air pressure that led to this crash?

BURNS: Well, Kelly, it does appear that there was an air conditioning problem. But the pilot, before the radio contact was lost with the plane yesterday, that the pilot had been saying that there was some kind of an air conditioning problem. And after that point, the contact was lost.

And the SMS (ph) or text message that was sent by one of the passengers on the plane said that the pilot was turning blue and that, cousin (ph), farewell, we are all freezing. So that does indicate, according to officials, that there was a tragic and dramatic loss of cabin pressure that caused it to be very cold and a loss of oxygen. They were up 30,000 feet up in the air. That's as high as Mount Everest. You're not going to last very long at that height.

WALLACE: Chris, an unbelievable and horrible story. Chris Burns reporting from Grammatiko, Greece. And Chris will be reporting, of course, throughout the day about this on CNN.

Still to come here on DAYBREAK, there is no doubt that it's bad for your health. So why, why are so many actors lighting up on the big screen? That story straight ahead.

You are watching DAYBREAK for a Monday morning. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Welcome back to DAYBREAK.

The debate over smoking and Hollywood's glamorization of lighting up is heating up once again, but perception is not always reality.

"ShowBiz Tonight's" David Haffenreffer has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" (voice-over): You see it all the time, celebrities taking a puff on the silver screen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you smoke -- Richard?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do.

HAFFENREFFER: And in a renewed debate about whether Hollywood glamorizes cigarettes, "ShowBiz Tonight" wanted to find out what smoking on the big screen conveys to moviegoers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well I think it sends a wrong message to, particularly, young people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sends a message that it's socially acceptable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess that it does glamorize it in some way.

HAFFENREFFER: There's a notion that the beautiful, rich, hero- type characters, like the ones we see in old movies, glamorize smoking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get the point.

HAFFENREFFER: But, Bogie, is that really true?

(on camera): A new study says no. As a matter of fact, they found just the opposite. After looking at over 400 movies from the past 15 years, they found that people who light up on the big screen are usually the bad guys and they're poor, a far cry from the era of James Dean.

JAMES DEAN, ACTOR: Certainly is.

HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): "ShowBiz Tonight" looked at a study published in the medical journal of "Chest," yes, "Chest," that shows of all the top 10 box office grossers since 1990, more than 35 percent of the characters that smoked were the antagonists, 25 percent of them were men and almost half were in a lower socioeconomic class.

The findings weren't all that glamorous. As a matter of fact, they pretty much mimic real life smoking habits.

DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: We don't roll like that no more.

HAFFENREFFER: And it's not only the so-called glamour of smoking, but how much it influences children to smoke.

Curtis Mekemson, who wrote "Hollywood Speaks out on Tobacco," told "ShowBiz Tonight" there's a direct link between celebrities lighting up on the big screen and teens following suit.

CURTIS MEKEMSON, "HOLLYWOOD SPEAKS OUT ON TOBACCO," AUTHOR: It sends a very powerful message to young people that smoking is a highly desirable activity.

HAFFENREFFER: The American Lung Association reports that a startling 5,000 teens under 18 try a cigarette for the first time every single day, and more than 2,000 keep smoking.

Are the movies really that influential in getting teens to smoke? Here at "ShowBiz Tonight," we decided to find out for ourselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it could have an influence on younger people because you notice a lot of younger people smoking again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think so. I think if they're going to smoke, they're going to smoke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people are much more likely to start smoking if they're exposed to it on the street with their family.

HAFFENREFFER: Reviews were mixed, at best, but some critics want Hollywood to change and impose stricter ratings on films with smoking scenes. That means certain films could one day be off limits to teens.

JIM CARREY, ACTOR: Smoking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And that was David Haffenreffer from "ShowBiz Tonight."

And you can get more entertainment news every night on "ShowBiz Tonight" and that's at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Headline News.

Well the next hour of DAYBREAK begins in just two minutes. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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