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CNN Live At Daybreak

Gaza Pullout; President's Offensive; Iraq on Deadline; London Shooting

Aired August 22, 2005 - 05:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I just wish I were in any one of those places.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll take the Catskills.

COSTELLO: I'll take the Adirondacks.

MYERS: OK, I'll go Poconos.

See you soon.

COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: Bye.

COSTELLO: It is the last of the Israeli settlements in Gaza. There were 21 last week. Today, all but one is empty.

Matthew Chance covering the removal of the last of the families from Netzarim.

Good morning -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, as well, Carol.

It has indeed been a very traumatic period for many people in Israel, not the least those in this the Netzarim Jewish settlement in the heart of the Gaza Strip.

I can show you around here. Soldiers have been coming out across this whole settlement. Some 2,500 Israeli security forces here, at the moment, in order to make sure the evacuation of this, the last Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, goes without any violence. And certainly that seems to be what the residents here in Netzarim are saying they want to happen as well.

That doesn't mean they're not going to resist. We've spoken to many families who say that they're going to have to be carried out of their homes. They won't leave of their own accord.

But at the same time, there seems to be a resignation to the fact that that is indeed what will happen. It's happened to 20 settlements here in the Gaza Strip over the past several days. It's going to happen to them as well. And you can see that some of the residents type of people who live in this villa here in Netzarim have already packed up their boxes, waiting for them to be taken away when the final call comes and the time for this disengagement from the Gaza Strip has arrived. And that seems to be a call that many people are now expecting to come within the next couple of hours.

This is a controversial settlement. Of course they all are, really, in the Gaza Strip. This one, in particular, because it is an isolated settlement of about 500 people, all of them devout Jews living right in the middle of 1.3 million Palestinians. I don't know whether you can see where the Palestinian areas are from this angle, but I just want to get the camera over here so you can see just how close this settlement is to the Palestinian areas. Those high-rise buildings in the distance, that's where many, many Palestinians live.

Gaza, of course, one of the most densely populated areas on the face of the earth. And when these Jewish settlements are finally handed back to Palestinian Authority control in October, one of the things the Palestinian Authority says it wants to do is to demolish these homes. That process has already begun by the Israelis. They wants these homes demolished so they can build high-rise apartments to alleviate the population and the housing problems inside the Gaza Strip itself among Palestinians.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Matthew Chance live in Gaza this morning.

To the issue of Iraq now, President Bush will break away from his vacation today to begin a new round of speeches aimed at rallying support for the Iraq war.

As CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash reports, the president's PR offensive comes amid declining public support for the war and a growing protest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of additional white crosses commemorating U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq are now planted just outside the Bush ranch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did their children die for, Mr. President?

BASH: A "bring the troops home" message White House officials concede attracted much more attention than they anticipated when the president refused to meet again with Cindy Sheehan. And after an August of continued violent images from Iraq, even some Republican lawmakers, representing mostly conservative constituents, uttered the same word: concern.

SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: The people of Virginia, as I see it, are very concerned. We're all concerned. We're concerned about our troops.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: I sense a considerable shift from where a lot of the people in Nebraska were last year at this time. People are confused. They're concerned.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well nobody wants to withdraw, but people are concerned. It's going on longer than we thought.

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I think, after having been home, that he needs to talk more about it, give people confidence.

BASH: Out of sight for eight days, the president will now try to do just that in a series of speeches beginning this week. Senior aides say Mr. Bush will attempt to put Iraq in the context of long wars, like World War II, and again invoke September 11, say terrorists attacking in Iraq share the ideology of those who hit the U.S. nearly four years ago.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know Americans ask the question, is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it.

BASH: The White House had promised a -- quote -- "sharper focus on Iraq" starting with this prime-time address at the end of June, aimed at turning around public opinion. Then, 53 percent of Americans thought it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq. The latest poll found little change, 54 percent of Americans call it a mistake. That same poll showed a spike in concern, Iraq makes America less safe rather than more.

(on camera): The White House plans to aggressively use the upcoming anniversary of September 11 to argue it's better to fight terrorism abroad in Iraq and urge patience. But linking Iraq to 9/11 is something critics have long called disingenuous. They say it is now a haven for terrorists that did not exist before the U.S. attacked.

Dana Bash, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: In Baghdad this morning, the clock is ticking on the interim government. It has until midnight, which would be 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time our time, to come up with a draft constitution. Sticking points remain. And we want to talk about those this morning.

Edmund Ghareeb is a Professor of Mid East Studies at American University in Washington. He joins us live by phone.

Good morning.

PROF. EDMUND GHAREEB, MID EAST STUDIES, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So, I don't know, it's hard to read whether they'll meet this deadline or not. Aneesh Raman reported earlier that they may not reach it. What is your assessment?

GHAREEB: Well I think it's going to be very close. There are some very important, very sticking points that prevent an agreement. However, they are saying, the last I've heard, that at least one of the main points they have reached agreement upon and that's the question about the role of Islam within the constitution. And that it has been decided that it would be said that Islam would be the main source for legislation, not a main source or not just a source or the only source. So it's something of a compromise. So at least that would be one...

COSTELLO: Well let me stop you there and ask you what exactly that means?

GHAREEB: Well, basically, if you say that Islam is the religion of the state, there's an agreement on that. If you say that if it is a main source, that means that this would be a step forward or an advance for those groups within Iraq. Especially secular groups, among the Shi'a, among the Kurds, among the Sunnis who want to at least accept and have the constitution be less -- not controlled simply by the religious establishments or by the clerical authorities. So that it would be an important source and legislation would not contradict the basic premise of Islam, but it would be simply that just one source.

However, if it says it's the only source, then that enshrines Islam and puts a lot of pressure on the secularists and especially those who have supported women's rights in the past in this area.

COSTELLO: Yes, I was just going to ask you how that might affect women's rights. So this is a positive thing for women in Iraq?

GHAREEB: If it is just a main source, then this would be a step forward. But a great deal depends also on the personal set of laws and this -- what role are the clerical authorities going to have in that? Because there is still some opposition from the Sunnis and from the secular Shi'a on this that there should be perhaps one law that affects all Iraqis instead of going, choosing their own clerical authorities. Because if every citizen decides on what kind of personal set of law he's going to accept, then that means that you're enshrining sectarianism in the constitution.

COSTELLO: OK, the issue, I guess it surprises me that this issue is the one that's the sticking point and not the role of Islam in the government, but this idea of a central government.

GHAREEB: That has been actually one of the more important issues, a question of federalism, the question of how do you divide resources, particularly oil, between the provinces and the central government. Because there are those, especially among the Sunnis and among some of the Shi'a, while they are accepting, they've agreed to some kind of a federal arrangement with the Kurds because of their own unique history, because they are a different nationality from the majority of the Arabs.

There has been opposition to the idea of giving too much control, too much authority to the provinces or to region governments at the cost of the central government. Because that would be seen as not dividing the natural resources in an equal and fair way and it would be undermining the central government. And critics have said it might lead to the division of the country.

COSTELLO: OK, final question, from an American perspective, if they have to postpone this again, is it a big deal?

GHAREEB: I think, on the one hand, and if we take your report into account of the fact that that administration is facing a lot of problems internally over the Iraq policy. There's also a great deal of tension and pressure because of the situation in Iraq, the rise in violence, the continued failure on the part to deal with the basic issues of their today lives of the Iraqi's question of security, question of their ethnicity, question of water and rebuilding the infrastructure. That administration is under pressure to show that advances. And that if the constitution is achieved then that this is going to be seen as a gain.

At the same time, however, an imposed constitution, a constitution that does not take the concerns of the different parties into account, is likely to lead to opposition and likely to where we might see down the road a deterioration and a slight douse (ph) of the war.

COSTELLO: We'll see what happens come 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Edmund Ghareeb from American University, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.

Now let's get to our e-mail segment. A lot of people weighing in on whether Saddam Hussein should be allowed to write letters, because, apparently, he writes this letter to a friend. The friend hands it over to a Jordanian reporter. Ends up in two Jordanian newspapers. And even the Red Cross is kind of concerned that the language in there might be a call to arms...

MYERS: Although it was,...

COSTELLO: ... from within Iraq.

MYERS: ... in a word,...

COSTELLO: Heavily censored.

MYERS: ... censored. Yes. So I mean it was allowed. It was read by someone else, inked out.

COSTELLO: By the military.

MYERS: Inked out and then handed over. So it wasn't like we didn't know what was going out. But the question is should he be allowed to write them at all?

And from Sarah (ph) in Alabama says, well what are the Iraqi rules? A prisoner of the Iraqi government, isn't he? It's their business, not the U.S.'. Hopefully they are guided by the Red Cross rules. If not, we should encourage them to follow the Red Cross regulations. He is charged for crimes against the Iraqi people, not the U.S. And from Chip (ph) says, guys, Saddam should of course be able to write letters, if that's what the law says. It's not a matter of opinion, it's black and white.

And from Sarah (ph) says in the interest of having American prisoners treated well, I would allow anyone, including Saddam, to send letters to whomever they please, as long as these letters pose no threat to the national security.

And more to come in the next segment -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, why Harrah's casino wants rocker Rod Stewart to pay up. That story still ahead.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

It is judgment day for confessed serial bomber Eric Rudolph. He'll be formally sentenced to two life terms for three bombings in Atlanta, including the 1996 Olympic Park attack. That bombing killed a woman and wounded more than 100 others.

It was a Tour de Crawford. President Bush and seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong went bike riding for about two hours Saturday at the president's ranch. We're told Armstrong respected the first rule of biking which is the president gets to lead.

In money news, it's Miller time. The nation's second largest brewer threw a big time party Saturday night in Milwaukee to celebrate its 150th birthday. More than 100 descendants of the Miller family attended the beer bash.

In culture, country music star Garth Brooks makes a deal with Wal-Mart. The singer has announced he'll sell his music exclusively through the world's largest retailer.

In sports, Tiger Woods beats Chris DiMarco by one shot to win the NEC Invitational at Akron, Ohio. It's his fifth tournament victory this year.

To the Forecast Center and -- Chad.

MYERS: And he literally beat Chris DiMarco with that putt right there. It made that big hard left turn. And Chris DiMarco was sitting in the clubhouse watching it, and at that point he knew it was over. He knew Tiger was on a tear.

COSTELLO: He began sobbing.

MYERS: And a two putt from there was all he needed to win. And clearly that was a tap in for par and that was all there was. Congratulations to Tiger, a decent round for him. But I'll tell you, all the guys struggled yesterday. They all struggled. A very few under par scores of all.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

That's a look at the latest headlines this morning.

Brazilian officials want answers from London police about why they gunned down an innocent Brazilian man. The shooting death at the London Underground, or subway, came just one day after failed bombings on the city's transit system.

CNN's Mallika Kapur joins us live from Scotland Yard with more on this shooting.

Good morning.

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Carol.

You're absolutely right, Brazilians -- a delegation of Brazilian officials is arriving in London today looking for many answers surrounding the death of a Brazilian national, Jean Charles De Menezes, who was shot and killed by British police authorities on July 22. That shooting coming just one day after we did see four botched bomb attacked on London's public transport system.

Brazilian officials wanting and demanding evidence of the reasons behind this attack and what led to the killing of the Brazilian national on that day. The British police authorities earlier had released statements saying that De Menezes' behavior was suspicious and that he was wearing a thick black, heavy coat in the middle of summer and that he was running away from police authorities on July the 22nd.

Now they chased him into a Tube station where he jumped over a barrier and he was fleeing from the police. He resisted their calls for him to stop and that's why they did shoot him, because they did firmly believe, at that time, that he was in fact a suicide bomber himself.

But since then, we have seen some documents and images released by our British news partner, ITV, which paints a rather different picture of what happened on July 22. The information we have from ITV is suggesting that Jean Charles De Menezes in fact was not wearing a thick black, heavy coat in the middle of summer. That he was in fact wearing a light denim jacket. That he was not running into the Tube station and that he walked calmly through the Tube station.

So these pictures, of course, painting a very different image from what police reports had suggested earlier. And that's why the Brazilian national's family and police authorities in Brazil are here in London today demanding an investigation into what went wrong -- Carol. COSTELLO: Mallika Kapur live in London this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, more on our DAYBREAK "Question of the Day," should Saddam Hussein be allowed to write letters, letters to people outside of his family, and should they wind up in newspapers? What do you think? We'll read your e-mails after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time to check out our "Web Clicks" this morning, because we're always interested in what you're clicking on to on CNN.com.

Two very bizarre, well, actually, one's a pretty interesting story, one is just bizarre, and that would be the sledding down a volcano in Hawaii on dried up lava.

MYERS: Yes, they seem to try to find a very smooth spot that the lava flow was a nice hot flow and it made its way all the way down to the ocean. And then they build these little things and think that they're sledding on snow. But in fact, it's a rock -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And it goes really fast.

MYERS: Sixty miles an hour.

COSTELLO: I mean you can really -- that's crazy. And you know I don't care how smooth you say the lava is there's going to be some bumps in the road.

MYERS: Well you can't do this without money. This guy that you see him making these things here.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: He sells them for up to $3,000 each.

COSTELLO: You're kidding?

MYERS: No.

COSTELLO: What are they made of?

MYERS: Bamboo and we can see maybe some teak and other natural hardwoods. They said they have found a sled that is over 800 years old. So clearly this is not a new thing.

COSTELLO: But there's a reason why they stopped doing it for such a lengthy period of time.

MYERS: Could be.

COSTELLO: OK.

On to the next story that people are really interested in online. Iraq has its own version of the TV show "Cops." MYERS: Without the "Bad Boys, Bad Boys, what you going to do?"

COSTELLO: Yes. Yes. Thank god without that song. It features Kirkuk officers in action. And it has a live call-in portion.

MYERS: Right.

COSTELLO: And it gives the public a chance to praise the security forces or they can gripe about them, too.

MYERS: Right. And it's getting pretty good ratings, too. This was a station that we call a satellite station. It was only allowed to broadcast what Baghdad was broadcasting. Now they can broadcast their own stuff.

COSTELLO: Good. We're going to try to get a clip from that, because I find that really interesting.

On to something else equally fascinating.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: And of course our e-mail -- if you want to know about our "Web Clicks," click on to www.cnn.com/mostpopular and you'll get all the most popular stuff on our Web site.

Now to our e-mail segment, we're asking you this question this morning, should Saddam Hussein be allowed to write letters?

MYERS: Well, and I read three positive ones a little bit ago, so here you go.

Breathing is too good for this monster. If his jailers were applied the same standards to him that he applied to his own people, he would not have eyes to see the paper, fingers to hold the pen or an operable brain which to compose one sentence, much less one letter.

That was from Pat (ph) in California.

COSTELLO: Wow!

MYERS: Sorry, Pat.

COSTELLO: Pat is fired up this morning.

MYERS: Pat, I want to be your friend, Pat.

And from Mouseworks (ph), I would like to -- I would like this monster to deny him the base of human contact and deny him the liberties he would deny any prisoners of his own nation to sink below his level. So, yes, we must let this monster, unfortunately he is, serve by -- serves him no good by denying him the right to express his sentiments whatever form they may take -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, we're going to talk to someone from the Red Cross, because they delivered this letter. That's how it works. And according to the Geneva Convention, you can write letters to family. But the concern here is is this went to someone outside of Saddam Hussein's family and it ended up in these newspapers and some of the language that was printed might be rather disturbing. But we're going to ask the Red Cross about that.

MYERS: Well my question to some of the producers here, being held as an Iraqi prisoner, prisoner of war, crimes against the Iraqi people, you know who's really, really in charge of this guy?

COSTELLO: Well we'll ask the Red Cross that very question.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "Entertainment Headlines" for you this morning.

The Cartoon Network is going after your babies, in a good way. Starting this morning, the station begins a two-hour block of cartoons for preschoolers, even children under a year old. The Cartoon Network is a unit of Time Warner, which owns CNN. So a little free pub for our sister station.

Rod Stewart and gambling giant Harrah's Entertainment head to court tomorrow. Harrah's casinos want Stewart to pay back $2 million for canceling a December 2000 concert. The singer's lawyer says the show was canceled because Stewart under went thyroid cancer surgery and is now willing to perform the show but Harrah's won't let him.

Victoria Gotti is breaking her silence about her battle with breast cancer. She tells the "New York Daily News" she kept her illness a secret from her three sons because she didn't want them to think mommy was dying, nor did she tell producers of her reality show "Growing Up Gotti." The daughter of the late mob boss, John Gotti, says her prognosis is good.

You can get more entertainment news every night on "ShowBiz Tonight." That's at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Headline News.

And the next hour of DAYBREAK starts in a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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