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CNN Live At Daybreak

Israeli Government Evicting Jewish Settlers From Gaza Strip; Sentencing of Dennis Rader

Aired August 17, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.
We'll have more news in just a minute.

Also ahead on DAYBREAK, a major city cracks down on panhandlers. But some say the approach just is not fair.

And what's best for your body? From vitamins to alcohol to time in the sun, we will share the bottom line on how much is too much.

But first, now in the news, Israeli soldiers are removing Gaza settlers by force this morning. Many settlers refused to leave before the mandatory deadline to withdraw. We'll have a live report from one settlement coming up in just a minute.

A pair of car bombs in Baghdad kill at least 43 people this morning. The blasts came 10 minutes apart at a bus station in the central part of that city. Close to 80 others were injured.

A British TV network reports that police thought a Brazilian man was a terrorist before they shot him last month. An ITV report says the electrician was not acting suspiciously before he was shot eight times in a subway station by British police.

Let's head to the forecast center and check in with Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: We start this morning with the use of force in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is calling the images heartbreaking. What he's talking about, Israeli soldiers forcibly removing settlers and protesters. As much as eight settlements holding 9,000 Jews are being cleared today. One of those settlements, Neveh Dekalim, which is where CNN's John Vause is standing by -- hello, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

So far so good, I guess is the best way of describing this evacuation, as far as the Israeli government is concerned. It appears to be going much faster than everyone expected. They're now talking days, not weeks, before all 21 settlements in Gaza are completely evacuated. Here in Neveh Dekalim, there have, in fact, been some clashes and some arrests between the police and the settlers and the infiltrators. In fact, behind me you can probably see some of the smoke still smoldering and there's a fire up there, in fact, behind that guy. You can still see possibly some fire. That was some tires which the demonstrators left on the road. They covered the road with debris and burning trash cans, that kind of thing, to try and stop the police and soldiers from getting in. You can still see the debris on the road, that kind of stuff.

So what their worst...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... story, show them the town that they're going to destroy.

VAUSE: This is one of the settlers who is actually leaving, Carol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... would this be done in any place? I was born in America. I'm living here now. Would this be done in America? Would any American be willing -- are you from America?

VAUSE: I'm from Australia, but we're talking to America right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're from Australia? America, would any American be willing to go into a neighbor town, burn the -- destroy the town, take the people out of their homes, destroy the churches, uproot the cemeteries? What's happened to this country? What's happened here?

VAUSE: OK, well, there we go, Carol, live television. What can you expect? They're very upset but they are leaving peacefully. In fact, there have been some...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... we are not leaving peacefully.

VAUSE: He's saying they're not leaving peacefully now.

Anyway...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

VAUSE: Anyway...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody is leaving peacefully. Nobody is...

VAUSE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are being forced out of their homes.

VAUSE: OK. Thank you very much, sir.

Anyway, Carol, we heard from the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, earlier today. He did, in fact, say that this is a very difficult decision for him, but he did say that if the settlers want anyone to blame, they should blame him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): There should be no attacking of the police forces, of the soldiers, male and female, alike. They shouldn't be accused of doing anything wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And, of course, Carol, this evacuation continues. So far, 14,000 troops have moved into five different settlements today. And even some of the more hard core settlements have done deals with the army and the police to leave peacefully, if not today, maybe tomorrow, maybe on Monday. The government showing a great deal of flexibility in this.

And the reason why, I think, why this is so -- winding up so very quickly compared to what everyone expected is because, quite simply, of an overwhelming number of soldiers and police who have moved into the Gaza Strip over the last few days -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, John Vause reporting live from Gaza. And, you know, just listening to that poor man breaks your heart. It's a tough -- a tough= thing for those living in Gaza.

Here in the States, this may be the most anticipated court date ever for the people of Wichita, Kansas. They now officially get to put the BTK killings behind them.

Dennis Rader faces sentencing today, but the death penalty not an option.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Wichita this morning -- hello, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

You know, believe it or not, prosecutors say they have even more graphic evidence of these killings than what we've heard so far. And they're going to start to present that later this morning, basically for two reasons. One, so that Dennis Rader himself doesn't get the last word on how this story is told. And, two, to convince the judge to impose the harshest penalty possible.

Now, the defense says that's unnecessary. One, because the death penalty was not in effect here in Kansas when these crimes were committed. So that's off the table. And Rader himself has already said that he is willing to accept the harshest penalty, which is life without parole.

Now, Rader nicknamed himself BTK, which stands for bind, torture, kill. It's a fairly appropriate description of how he stalked and murdered 10 people from 1974 to 1991. For years, he taunted police by sending them clues and strange messages to the media. But he is no loner like you see in some of these movies. After killing someone, Rader would Rader would go home to his wife and kids. He was also very involved in his local church here in Wichita. And yet he showed absolutely no emotion when he pleaded guilty and described his crimes, which means some of the victims' families that have shown up here may not hear any remorse from Rader if he decides to testify at the sentencing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE OTERO, FAMILY KILLED BY DENNIS RADER: I'm anticipating a lot of emotion. I'm anticipating a lot of anxiety and in the meantime I'm also anticipating an end to this Dennis Rader saga in my life and the chance to move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: We expect to hear from about eight law enforcement agents today, each of them talking about one of the victims. And, again, tomorrow or Friday, this case will probably wrap up. Rader will have the ability to say something to the court and to the families, if he chooses to do so -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris Lawrence live in Wichita this morning.

Thank you.

Listen up, there's a new bug attacking computers at companies across the nation. It could affect you at work this morning. A worm attacks a Microsoft operating system.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Bring us up to date -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Employees at Microsoft have been working throughout the night and for the last few days trying to help companies that have been affected by this worm across the United States and across the world. There have been reports of the worm infiltrating companies in Germany and parts of Asia.

This does not affect home users. It is just companies with intranet installed in their -- for their companies, for their workers. And it is affecting only Windows 2000.

Microsoft, on Sunday, started to operate their security response centers, basically, their situation room or their war room. And they have been staffing that pretty much since Sunday, when this first surfaced here in the U.S.

It has grown and now it's -- they're not quite sure if the worst is over, but they are still staffing it and they are still helping companies.

They first detected a possible problem last week and they issued a software patch. And they allowed folks to basically prevent this from getting into their systems. But anybody that did not take advantage of that software patch would be susceptible and many companies across the country, including CNN, had problems with this worm.

And basically the worm turns computers on and off repeatedly. It's very frustrating. The computer goes on and goes off, goes on and goes off, and it cripples, for the most part, a lot of these companies and has crippled them in the short-term. It is a fairly easy fix once they get in contact with Microsoft and that's what they're working on still here this morning.

That said, they're also looking for the person responsible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBY FRY WILSON, MICROSOFT SECURITY DIRECTOR: Oftentimes there's criminal intent involved, where criminals are trying to steal personal information or financial records or money. So as long as there's a negative intent, then we do face a battle in terms of going after these people. But the good news is that we are becoming more sophisticated. We're learning. We're working very hard. We have a dedicated team at Microsoft, the Microsoft Security Response Center, which does nothing else but to monitor for these kinds of situations and to work to get ahead of their activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And they continue to work here this morning. And they are offering free help for any company that is still struggling with this worm -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ted Rowlands live from Washington State this morning.

More news about computers and across America now.

Dot.xxx is on hold. The growing opposition to the proposed new domain for Internet pornography sites will be delayed for at least a month. Backers hoped the domain would help clean up the $12 billion online industry. But opponents say they're afraid the move would legitimize Internet porn.

Several people hurt when things got out of hand at a laptop computer sale in Richmond, Virginia. Around 5,000 people showed up to purchase 1,000 computers. The used Apple iBooks sold for just $50 each, and many of these people had been waiting in line all night long for this sale.

A former Marine Corps marksmanship instructor has been arrested in a helicopter shooting investigation. The Albuquerque, New Mexico police chopper was brought down by a single bullet on August 6th. One person was seriously hurt in the crash. Twenty-nine-year-old Jason Kerns was also a helicopter mechanic while he was in the Marines.

Still to come on DAYBREAK this hour, as the nation gets to the $3 a gallon mark, is the price of gas finally high enough to change you're driving habits? Also, how much do the homeless depend on your change and charity to get through the day? And what could taking it away mean? Should panhandling be banned? We'll find out.

And later, an anti-war protest outside the president's vacation home is gathering steam. The voices outside the Texas ranch will not be ignored.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:13 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Israeli troops are in the largest Jewish settlement in Gaza, forcing as many as 4,000 to evacuate. The deadline for residents to leave peacefully ends at midnight.

In money news, Hewlett-Packard's quarterly earnings beat the Street. The PC and printer company has a new CEO, leading a major restructuring. Sales of H.P. rose 10 percent this quarter.

In culture, it's not the way Madonna wanted to celebrate her 47th birthday. She broke a few bones when she fell off her horse at her country home outside of London. She's now out of the hospital.

In sports, Carlos Beltran says he'll suck it up. He's decided not to have surgery to repair a face fracture he got in this collision last week with Mike Cameron. In fact, he might even play tonight. Not so for Mike Cameron, though -- Chad.

He was hurt a lot more seriously.

MYERS: Yes. I mean that -- every time I look at that crash it just makes me cringe, you know what I mean?

COSTELLO: Oooh!

MYERS: I can't -- I just don't even want to see that anymore.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Let's talk about the high oil and gas prices, because finally they're affecting how much we're spending -- Carrie Lee joins us with a look at the problems those high prices are causing now.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's all interrelated -- inflation, the economy. Well, we know the national average for a gallon of self serve regular gasoline now above $2.50 a gallon. So we've seen some increases. A lot of areas of the country are looking at $3 a gallon.

Well, this is starting to cause inflation. Gas prices accounted for half of the increase in consumer prices in July and when prices rise, consumers have less money to spend.

Well, last quarter, consumers spent less at Wal-Mart. The company reported profits yesterday, showing its slowest growth in four years. Wal-Mart's chief blamed high gas prices, saying the rise in prices erased recent gains in shoppers' incomes. And it's not just Wal-Mart. Other retailers feeling the pinch, as well.

And, of course, oil affects every industry. Oil is needed to run factories and ship products.

So where do we go from here? That's the million dollar question, right?

Experts aren't sure. Some expect prices to ease after the summer driving season ends. But others think that will provide no relief, as winter demand for heating oil heats up.

What's interesting, Carol, we're seeing rising gas prices, record oil at the same time. Usually it takes some time for oil prices to trickle through for gas. Well, oil was a record Friday. So that indicates gas is going to continue to go up.

COSTELLO: It'll be really interesting to see if gas prices really do go down after Labor Day.

LEE: That's what the Energy Information Administration and Lundberg says.

COSTELLO: Yes.

LEE: But, yes, who knows? Exactly.

COSTELLO: Nothing's following the script these days.

LEE: It is not. And a big part of the reason is strong demand. So it's all supply and demand. So let's see what happens.

COSTELLO: A quick look at the futures?

LEE: Yes, futures right now are looking a bit up after the Dow lost 121 points yesterday.

Hewlett-Packard a stock to watch. They reported better than expected profits after the bell last night.

COSTELLO: That's right. They beat the Street.

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Carrie.

LEE: OK. COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, do beggars keep you away from parts of your town? We'll tell you about the efforts to stop panhandling in one city and hear from the new plan's critics. But first, good morning Tampa. Wake up.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Talk about a hot button issue, Atlanta's city council OKs a ban on panhandling in a downtown tourist area. Is it a smart move that will boost business or a heartless attack on the poor?

Feelings are strong on both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A man will do desperate things when he's not allowed to exercise his civil right to ask for alms in an international city.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Sound and fury over a downtown divided. It was a protest that landed several people in jail, including a former Atlanta city councilman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame on the council.

COSTELLO: At issue, the homeless and whether they should be allowed to beg for money in one of Atlanta's busiest tourist areas. Monday night, the city's council voted 12-3 to approve a plan to ban panhandling in the so-called tourist triangle downtown. Supporters of the move say the aggressive begging has simply gotten out of hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As an event coordinator working downtown, the number one problem and concern of my clients and the guests of this city is panhandling, aggressive panhandling.

COSTELLO: But critics and protesters say the ban unfairly targets the poor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Poor people need jobs. That's why they panhandle, see? I don't -- I'm sure in his right mind, he wouldn't want to panhandle if he had a job.

COSTELLO: The subject of race has also come up. The move is backed by Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, who's investing $200 million to build a new aquarium in downtown Atlanta. The council says the race issue is nonsense, though, since the person who pursued the ordinance was none other than Atlanta's African-American mayor, Shirley Franklin. All the ban needs now is her signature.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COSTELLO: She hasn't signed it yet, but she is expected to.

Advocates for the homeless say basic services like food and shelter, not new laws, are needed for these men and women.

Joining us now from Atlanta, Anita Beaty.

She's with the Metro Task Force for the Homeless.

Good morning.

ANITA BEATY, TASK FORCE FOR THE HOMELESS: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Anita, this new law, what will it really do to the panhandlers? Will the police just chase them away or after a few warnings will they actually take them to jail? BEATY: They will chase them away. And the fact of the ordinance is passing is chasing people into other neighborhoods now. We are really clear about the issue of panhandling as protected speech under the first amendment of the constitution.

What the ordinance has been sold on the issue of aggressive behavior and we already have plenty of ordinances to enforce that make aggressive behavior illegal. We need to point to the fact that the tourism industry is thriving in Atlanta and we can document that on -- based on trade publications, where we see that reservations are up.

COSTELLO: Well, Anita, you mentioned the tourism industry. I want to read you an e-mail. This is from Nicole. She's 14 years old. She says: "A school group of children and I were in Atlanta walking toward a museum when a homeless man approached us begging for money. Once we declined, stating we had no money, he chased after us, calling us vulgar names and threatening to kill us. Apparently the man was mentally ill. I believe it should be controlled."

That's frightening, especially to young girls, especially to tourists. So you can see why that kind of panhandling would chase tourists away. BEATY: It would, and that kind of aggressive behavior in pursuit of somebody else is illegal. But the point that even the young girl made is that the person needs mental health care and shelter and places to go to get that mental health care. Atlanta's closing shelters and closing programs that help people who need that kind of help.

We have lost hospital beds to treat that very person. And there are thousands of people every day like that person, who try to get into beds and treatment programs that don't exist.

COSTELLO: Well, some would say that the money you would make on new business coming to Atlanta might pay for some of those things because, you know, maybe the city coffers are empty. I know Atlanta has been struggling with its budget. BEATY: Atlanta has never spent any money on housing or programs for the poor that didn't generate or originate with federal dollars. So Atlanta, that's not a local Atlanta budget issue. We wish it were. If some of that money would trickle down to programs that are needed on the streets, then we could guarantee the services that we need for people right now.

I run a facility that houses the largest number of people in any one place in Atlanta and we are struggling, all the programs are struggling to support the people we support now.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you this. I have always heard that you should not give panhandlers money, even if they're not aggressive, because you don't know what they're going to do with the money. I mean, will they feed a drug habit? Will they buy alcohol? You should send them to a homeless shelter or buy them some food.

So, why is it so bad to try to get these panhandlers off the street, to prevent them from asking for money? BEATY: Well, there's not a single formerly homeless person I know who hasn't had to panhandle to get a Marta token to get to work at some point in the past. This law is to draconian that they will not even be able to ask for help. And we think there's no need for it. It's unnecessary.

We can protect against aggressive behavior and we need to serve people who are mentally ill. We don't have the facilities to serve them. That's the frightening issue, for those people as well as for people they face. If 10 people today came in and said we need mental health care, we would have to hold them for weeks until we had a space to get them into.

COSTELLO: Anita Beaty, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

We appreciate it.

Still to come on this program, face-to-face with the victims' families. The man who confessed to being the BTK finds out his sentence today. We will talk about the possible options.

And the mother of a fallen Marine makes a comparison which some may find offensive and others may agree with wholeheartedly.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

Thank you for waking up with us.

Chad will have your forecast in just a minute.

Also coming up this half hour, agony in August. Car bombs once again rock central Baghdad. Is there any hope the violence will end soon? We'll have a live report coming up.

And the long wait for justice ends in Wichita today. We'll look at what prison time awaits the BTK killer.

But first, now in the news, in Gaza, Israeli soldiers are removing Jewish settlers by force this morning. Many settlers refusing to leave before the mandatory deadline to withdraw. And this just in to us. One woman has set herself on fire in protest of the withdrawal. She's been taken to a hospital. She's in serious condition.

At least 115 people were injured by a series of nearly simultaneous bombings across Bangladesh. Three hundred fifty explosions targeted government buildings in more than a dozen cities. One government official said they had advanced intelligence pointing to such a coordinated attack.

An auto safety group has found that the shift by parents to buckle up children in the back seats of cars has helped cut child deaths in auto crashes by 18 percent.

To the Forecast Center and Chad -- good morning.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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