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American Morning

Eviction Week for Thousands of Jewish Settlers in Gaza; Is Iraq's New Constitution Ready or Not?

Aired August 15, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is eviction week for thousands of Jewish settlers in Gaza. They have less than two days to get out, but some aren't going without a fight. We're live in Gaza for the historic change.
And there is another major deadline today, as well, this one in Iraq. Is the country's new constitution ready or not? Leaders there are meeting right now. We're live with the very latest there.

And in the war zone, the Pentagon has another new plan to protect more than a half million soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We'll explain 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.

Welcome, everybody.

This is not Miles O'Brien.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No.

O'BRIEN: Carol is filling in for Miles, who is off today.

Good morning and thank you.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

I am, indeed.

Coming up, they're not even in kindergarten yet, but more and more young children are already taking summer school. Reading and math on their little tiny minds. Is it too soon or is it necessary? We'll take a look.

O'BRIEN: Yes, the parents are just trying to get them out of the house. That's another potential...

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Not me, but other parents.

Let's get the headlines first with Kelly Wallace -- good morning, Kell. KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

Good morning, everyone.

And here are some of those stories now in the news.

Israeli soldiers are serving eviction notices to settlers who are staying beyond the pullout deadline. Hundreds of Israeli troops, including police, are moving into one of the biggest settlements in Gaza. Some of the settlers remain defiant, saying they will not leave. Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, plans to address the nation today.

Iraqi politicians are working to hammer out a new constitution. A deadline for the draft expires in just about two hours. Iraqi leaders have told the U.S. ambassador that they are optimistic about getting a draft in time, but have raised the possibility of a two week extension, if necessary.

A mother who lost her son in Iraq is still camped outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. While support for Cindy Sheehan continues, there appears to be some opposition from the president's neighbors. One of them fired a shot into the air over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY MATTLAGE, PRESIDENT BUSH'S NEIGHBOR: If you had your brother-in-law in your house for five days, wouldn't it start stinking after a while? You'd be ready for him to go home, won't you? Five weeks of this is too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Now the man said he had fired the shot because he is getting ready for dove season. But when asked if he was sending a message, the neighbor answered: "Figure it out."

And a first at the White House. A woman has been chosen to serve as the head chef. Chris Comerford has been part of the White House staff since 1995. She is filling a six-month void, replacing the chef hired by the Clinton White House. And very interesting, that chef, Walter Scheib, in an interview with the Associated Press, saying people keep talking about how wonderful it is that she's a woman. Well, he says, if there's a value in the gender, that's fine and dandy, but I say she's a great chef who happens to be a woman.

COSTELLO: Good for him.

WALLACE: I thought that was really nice to hear.

COSTELLO: Very nice to hear.

WALLACE: And we're happy a woman was chosen.

COSTELLO: We are. WALLACE: Good for women.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks a lot.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Well, five American soldiers died in explosions in Iraq this weekend. The Pentagon admits U.S. troops need better body armor, but it's having a hard time getting it to them.

Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us this morning -- Barbara, good morning.

Why is this a continual problem for the Pentagon?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is because the insurgents keep stepping up their capabilities. The Pentagon tries to protect soldiers against it and it becomes a back and forth.

Now, Soledad, the "New York Times" initially broke the story over the weekend that the military is now trying, again, to provide soldiers in Iraq with enhanced body armor, those vests that we have seen the soldiers wear in Iraq now for so many months.

What essentially has happened is this is the adaptive enemy that we keep hearing the Pentagon talk about. The vests that the soldiers had been wearing and still, some of them, continue to wear, had enhanced protection. But by all accounts now, those vests, over the last many months, becoming vulnerable to the increased capability of the insurgency, the bigger weapons that the insurgents are using, the types of armor piercing rounds that they are using.

So very quietly several months ago the Pentagon began contracting for these new, yet again improved, vests. They are trying to ship them at the rate of about 20,000 a month out to Iraq.

But this is so sensitive, Soledad, that the military took the extraordinary step over the weekend, after that "New York Times" article came out, of contacting the news media and asking the news media voluntarily not to report some of the very technical details about what exactly these new vests protect against. They feel that the insurgents are watching the news media to get information about soldiers' protection -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, I want to ask you about another report, the chemicals were found at this abandoned storage site near Mosul.

Do you have an update on that?

STARR: Well, they found that last week and they've been analyzing it. And now military sources tell us that, indeed, they do believe their assessment shows those chemicals that they captured were tied to the insurgents, that they believe many of those chemicals found in barrels at this facility, which an insurgent tip led them to, that they believe many of them were accelerants, key things used in explosives.

So by all accounts, this facility now, again, tied to the insurgency -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A wild find.

All right, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.

Barbara, thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: This week's "Time" magazine is reporting that the U.S. military's newest threat in Iraq is a man named Abu Mustafa al- Sheibani. He's not a Baathist or an al Qaeda member, but rather he works for Iran. According to a U.S. military intelligence document obtained by "Time," al-Sheibani heads an insurgent network whose purpose is to commit violence against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

Joining us now, the author of this report, "Time" magazine's Baghdad bureau chief, Michael Ware.

Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

COSTELLO: How did you discover this guy?

WARE: Well, this came to me through U.S. military intelligence sources. What we're basically looking at here is a major implication of the invasion of Iraq. Though deemed a member of the axis of evil by the Bush administration, the decision to invade has actually emboldened one of America's arch enemies, that being Iran.

It's sphere of influence has been able to grow, politically and militarily, and in terms of territory since the invasion. This is happening in all facets, the most sinister of which is the insurgency. Tehran is feeding very strategically into Shia paramilitary units. And the one that we've highlighted, led by Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, according to U.S. military documents, is in a partnership with Lebanese Hezbollah.

Some members have trained in Lebanon and they've brought to Iraq the most lethal type of roadside bombs we have seen so far.

COSTELLO: Well, wait. Before we get into that, Michael, I'm just curious as to how big this insurgent group is, led by this Sheibani.

WARE: Sheibani is, according to the U.S. intelligence document that I've had access to, his network comprises of about 280 members, divided into logistics cells and then 17 bomb making cells and assassination or death squads.

Now, this is just...

COSTELLO: And are these... WARE: ... one of many groups...

COSTELLO: Wait a second. Wait a second.

Are they Iraqis that he's recruiting? Do they come from other countries? Do they come from within Iran?

WARE: Look, when the U.S. invasion was coming, Tehran sat back and said this is a threat to our national interests, how do we respond?

Like Washington did in Afghanistan, it decided to use proxy forces, opposition groups it had been supporting for a long time, some of which the Revolutionary Guard created in the '80s and they fought with them against Saddam.

They used these groups to fill the vacuum of Saddam's collapse during the chaos of the invasion, to seize a de facto power they have not relinquished.

So, yes, Sheibani's group is one of these. He's a former chief of intelligence for one of the main Iraqi militia forces created by the Revolutionary Guard.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about these bombs, these explosives that they've developed. This can pierce pretty much any kind of armor on vehicles, right?

WARE: Absolutely. I mean, I've got to be careful about what I say in regard to the detail of this type of device. But it's described as a shape charge, so that when it explodes, the focus of the energy can be targeted toward a vehicle or anything else. So it's got the effect, in the up armor Humvees and even in the heavy armor, of punching through like a fist through a wall.

This is the most sophisticated device we've seen in the IEDs in Iraq so far.

COSTELLO: All right, can the United States do anything about this, especially if Sheibani is sort of working loosely with the Iranian government?

WARE: Well, according to U.S. intelligence, it's much more than working loosely with the Iranian government. But we're seeing a bit of a crisis or a paralysis of U.S. policy here. U.S. strategic policy on Iran and Iraq, this is the battleground, remember, where the confrontation between Washington and Tehran over nuclear arms comes to the front line. This is where the two powers are butting up against each other and competing for influence.

U.S. policy right now is gambling everything on the hope that Iran's allies, now that they're taking power here in Baghdad, will eventually distance themselves from Tehran.

Intelligence circles are skeptical of this and the Iranian intelligence network here is so strong, that may not matter, whether the leadership breaks away or not.

COSTELLO: All right, Michael Ware from "Time" magazine.

Thanks for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning.

O'BRIEN: Well, as our long, hot summer gets even longer and hotter, the demand for electricity is even greater. And that, in turn, is pushing the power grid to its limits. Many people are worried about another major blackout.

Kathleen Koch has our report this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Record summer heat from New York to California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The National Weather Service does have a heat advisory posted for...

KOCH: So sweltering, the week of July 17th saw the highest nationwide electricity demand in U.S. history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got my A.C. on daily.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daily. All the time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 24-7.

KOCH: The weeks following were a close third and second. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: There was a power failure in northern New York.

KOCH: It has many remembering another hot day, August 14, 2003, the blackout that left more than 50 million people in the dark. Some wonder if history could repeat itself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very concerned. I've noticed that since I've been here in New York, that they have air conditioning running in every building at all times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I just hope it doesn't happen again.

KOCH: The Energy Department warns the nation could lose power again.

DAVID GARMAN, UNDERSECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: We could. The margins are thin and fundamentally we have the same electricity grid that we had two years ago.

KOCH: A grid that's aging and has seen little investment in new transmission or generating capacity. There have been operational changes, more testing of the electricity system, more training for those who operate it and better coordination.

CAROL MURPHY, NEW YORK INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR: The people like the New York Independent System Operator, those out in the Midwest, New England, in terms of coordination, daily, multiple conference calls to look at system conditions, share information.

LLEWELLYN KING, PUBLISHER, "ENERGY DAILY": What they are doing is looking very carefully at the system to make sure that there are no cascades, that any malfunction, blackout, tree on a line, a truck hits a pole, is contained in a very small region.

KOCH: And the energy bill just signed by President Bush establishes the first ever mandatory reliability rules that all in the power industry must follow.

JIM OWEN, EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE: Unfortunately, compliance has always been voluntary. So for the first time under this new Energy Act that was just signed into law, those standards will, indeed, have teeth. There will be sanctions.

KOCH (on camera): But crafting those rules and deciding on the punishment for breaking them could take more than a year. So in the meantime experts urge consumers to save power to avoid losing it altogether.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

O'BRIEN: At 13 minutes past the hour, it's time to take a look at the weather.

Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the latest for us -- Chad, good morning to you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, breaking news out of Atlanta. Reports of a fatal shooting at a hospital there. We'll take you live to Atlanta to get you the latest.

O'BRIEN: And a former Klansman and convicted killer now free on bond. Why did it happen? That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi reeling this morning from a ruling that set former Klansman Edgar Ray Killen free on bond. The 80-year-old is appealing his manslaughter convictions. Killen was found guilty back in June of killing three civil rights workers 41 years ago.

Jim Prince is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia and the editor of the "Neshoba Democrat."

He's in Jackson, Mississippi this morning.

It's nice to see you.

Thanks for talking with us.

JIM PRINCE, EDITOR, "NESHOBA DEMOCRAT": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: The $600,000 bond was posted by family and friends, we're told.

What's the reaction been in the community?

PRINCE: Well, with this conviction, I think that most people had expected some closure and an end to the Klan's reign of terror. But it raises doubts that that reign of terror has ended. And quite frankly, a lot of people were surprised, I believe.

O'BRIEN: Why does it raise doubts that the reign of terror has ended? You're looking at a guy who's 80 years old, who's in poor health. He's taking the time, we're told, to work on his appeal.

PRINCE: Well, the jury spoke, I believe, with the conviction, and Mr. Killen should be behind bars. And I think a lot of people feel that way.

The Klan, since the 1960s, has instilled fear and struck fear in the hearts and minds of a lot of people, including a lot of white people. And so to have this killer free on bond is disturbing.

O'BRIEN: The judge says he's not a flight risk.

Do you think that he, at this age and in the health that he's in, has the potential to incite violence?

PRINCE: Well, Mr. Killen has a stature within a certain community. He may not physically be able to be a threat, but there are perhaps people within the realm that he has influence that could, because certainly some of his supporters have stated that pay day is coming.

O'BRIEN: There was a letter that was sent by the widow of one of the civil rights workers who was slain, an open letter to the court. And she said this: "Mr. Killen's made public statements applauding the murders of my then husband, Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman. By those statements, he has repeatedly let the community know that he continues to believe in the use of violence to suppress any person with whom he disagrees."

Then you had this corrections officer, an African-American who testified on Friday that he, to this day, felt threatened by Killen.

What are the details of his concerns?

PRINCE: Well, his testimony was quite convincing, I thought. When Mr. Killen was checked into the jail on the day that the sentencing was handed down, he told the jailer, when questioned, standard questions about might you commit suicide or have any suicidal thoughts, he told the corrections officer he'd kill him before he'd kill himself. And I think that could be construed as a threat.

O'BRIEN: How long is it expected that Edgar Ray Killen will stay out of prison as he works on his appeal?

PRINCE: The judge stated he thought the appeal might go through within a year. And certainly I hope so. I believe the Mississippi Supreme Court, they've streamlined and I believe the chief justice is committed to clearing some of these cases. And let's hope that they can move this case forward as quickly as possible so that we can bring closure.

O'BRIEN: Is the sense that potentially he could be convicted and then never actually spend any time in prison?

PRINCE: That's been stated, but, again, I believe that the authorities, the state leadership, we realize how important this case is and I think certainly the court does. The justice system performed perfectly in Neshoba County in June and I believe that you'll see it continue. And we have to remember that we've got to live with the system, and we've got to respect the system. So I think it's important that we remember that.

O'BRIEN: Jim Prince is the editor of the "Neshoba Democrat."

Jim, thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come, a lot of kids go to summer school, but in the summer before kindergarten? A closer look at the increasing pressure to perform.

That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The start of the new school year already here for some districts. How prepared do kids need to be to start kindergarten?

As Dan Simon reports, a growing number of parents feel that formal education should begin before the first day of school.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go get up. Go get Sophia.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five-year-old Sophia is just like most girls her age. She can show her pesky little brother who's boss and entertain herself with just about anything.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Hi, Sophia.

SIMON: But this summer, she's in a class all by herself, literally.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Is this upper case or lower case? SOPHIA: Upper case.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Upper case. Very good.

SIMON: Sophia is getting one-on-one tutoring a couple of days a week to learn how to read and write. It's in addition to preschool.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Can you print five upper case capital Bs for me? Very good.

SIMON: This is the Sylvan Learning Center in North Ridge, California. The company, like several others, recently added a pre- kindergarten course. Being kindergarten ready means more than it used to.

DR. RICHARD BAVARIA, SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER: The academic subjects that kids are learning in kindergarten now were traditionally taught in first grade.

SIMON: Dr. Richard Bavaria, who overseas Sylvan's curriculum, says the company only began offering the sessions after parents themselves started requesting them.

BAVARIA: Well, we had parents tell us that they were eager for their young children, their 4-and-a-half-year-old children to be able to get a leg up, to be able to have a little bit more confidence when they got ready for kindergarten.

SOPHIA'S MOTHER: I had to decide whether it was the reading or, say, the ballet for this summer break.

SIMON: Sophia's mother tells us reading won out after hearing that other moms were doing the same thing with their kids. She didn't want her daughter to be left behind.

SOPHIA'S MOTHER: I was aiming for her to know some things, so when she's called on in class, to have that confidence to put her hand up, because she knows it.

SIMON (on camera): When you think of 4 and 5-year-olds, you might picture them in a setting like this. But now, more and more parents are putting their kids in a classroom environment earlier to give them a leg up in school. The question, though, are these children being pushed too hard?

GISELE RAGUSA, USC SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: I think so. I think it's relatively significant.

SIMON (voice-over): Dr. Gisele Ragusa is an educational psychologist. She's concerned that kids these days aren't being aloud to be, well, kids.

RAGUSA: If their world is so structured by tutoring sessions, by structured play, by structured anything, they sometimes resist. And if they don't resist, they miss a piece of their social life that is critical. BAVARIA: I say baloney! I say if the child is ready to learn, if the child is motivated to learn, why would we not do that?

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Can you think of something that standards with buh? What might that be?

SOPHIA: Bus.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Yes.

SIMON: At $40 to $45 an hour, not everyone can afford the tutoring. But companies that offer it clearly hope more parents will look at it as something they can't afford not to do.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Do you want to draw a submarine over here?

SIMON: Dan Simon for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: Hey, you talk about a 4-year-old being motivated to learn, but does it have to be in a traditional setting like that?

O'BRIEN: Forty-five bucks an hour, too.

But, you know, the more parents who start doing that, of course, then it's going to increase the pressure. More kids will be, you know, sort of school ready, and so then the rest of the parents are going to have to have their kids.

But it looks like that little girl doesn't go to pre-school, she goes to -- this will be her first classroom experience. Here in New York City, most kids are in pre-school at age three and age four and age five.

COSTELLO: Age three?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Oh my gosh.

O'BRIEN: That's kind of standard because that's the way you, you know, you keep going into the upper grades. It's kind of weird, isn't it?

COSTELLO: Well, hopefully that will help them in the long run be better and smarter adults.

O'BRIEN: Citizens.

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: It's crazy.

COSTELLO: Still to come, some women think it's the magic formula for getting rid of cellulite. How about a cellulite cocktail? O'BRIEN: Is that a drink?

COSTELLO: Well, you'll see. The real question is does it really work?

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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