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CNN Live At Daybreak

West Bank Pullout; Iraq's Constitution; See No Evil; The Forgotten War?; Plea for Help

Aired August 23, 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: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK.
Coming up in the next 30 minutes, still searching for clues into the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522 in Greece. Now word of a mayday call.

And have we forgotten about the conflict in Afghanistan? U.S. troops are still there. Is Osama there, too?

But first, "Now in the News."

An alleged murder for sex scheme. Registered sex offender Joseph Duncan is set to enter a plea today in Idaho on three murder charges. He's accused of killing a woman, her son and her boyfriend. Police say he then abducted the woman's son and young daughter for sex. The boy, 8-year-old Dylan Groene, was killed.

A Mad Cow concern in Wisconsin. A plant there is recalling meat from three Canadian cows that were shipped to about a half dozen states. The U.S. government says it's a precautionary move because the beef was banned under rules for Mad Cow disease.

Want to get more miles to the gallon? Well, just a few hours from now the government will announce a major overhaul of fuel economy standards. They haven't been updated in more than 10 years and will cover SUVs. That should be interesting.

To the Forecast Center and -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they're starting to make some hybrid SUVs now. Maybe that can start ramping up a little bit of the fuel economy stuff in some of those cars. I really like the fact that those cars will charge the battery, or whatever the electric part is, when you step on the brakes. Because that's the worst part about driving is the stopping. Once you get going, you're not using that much gas, but then you got to stop again and then go again.

COSTELLO: You've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you?

MYERS: I digress.

Anyway, good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Within the last hour, some of the last of the Israeli holdouts in the West Bank settlement of Sanur walked out of a synagogue where they were making their last stand. The pullout is going better than Israeli authorities thought it would, so let's head back to Sanur and check in with Guy Raz.

Hello -- Guy.

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

The last faction, really, the last holdout here in Sanur, just behind us, the community building in this settlement, which is now surrounded by Israeli police and soldiers. They will begin to evacuate that property very shortly.

Now standing, I'm just going to step out of the frame for a moment so you can get a picture of the roof here, on top of the roof of this building, dozens of demonstrators, anti-disengagement activists. Disengagement, of course, the Israeli government's decision to remove 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza and 4 from here in the northern West Bank.

Now just below those demonstrators, you can see a large banner. That banner reads a curse upon any of those who remove us from their home. That's what many of these demonstrators, these nationalists regard this disengagement. They see it as a government plan to take them out of their homes. But of course the international community regards this area as occupied territory.

Now, so far, the evacuation in this settlement has gone far, far faster than the Israeli police and Israeli army anticipated. Earlier in the day, as you mentioned, a synagogue was evacuated very rapidly. Now we expect in the next, say, about an hour or so that this building behind us, this community center, will be evacuated, thus formally ending the period of disengagement -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Guy Raz live in the West Bank this morning.

Drafters of Iraq's new constitution still have tough issues to hammer out today. They did produce an incomplete draft just minutes before their second deadline.

Here's CNN's Aneesh Raman to explain what that means.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We have a constitution. Those the words of the head of Iraq's National Assembly just minutes before the country's second constitutional deadline was set to expire.

In, essentially, a political maneuver, they met that deadline, but have allowed themselves three more days to deal with outstanding issues. Those include the notion of federalism. How powerful will regional governments in Iraq be? Secondly, that of de-Baathification. What role should former members of Saddam's regime play in the new Iraq? And third, the issue of authority. How powerful will the various branches of government be?

At the end of that it is unclear what exactly will take place, but rhetoric suggested a vote could come. And if this constitution does go forward without the support of the Sunnis, which it seems is perhaps a possibility, the Shi'a and Kurds have long had an agreement that would include federalism in the draft constitution, that will raise serious questions about Sunni alienation and whether the Sunnis are able to mobilize and reject this constitution as a whole in a national referendum that is set to take place by mid-October.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Turning now to Iran and a possible answer to a troubling question, is Iran building nuclear weapons? A group of U.S. government experts and foreign scientists say no. According to "The Washington Post," the group found no proof of a secret weapons program. Traces of bomb-grade uranium were found two years ago in Iraq, but the group says it came from tainted equipment brought in from Pakistan. The Bush administration had pointed to the material as proof that Iran was trying to build nukes.

A Brazilian delegation is in London trying to find out why London police killed Jean Charles De Menezes last month. They thought he was a suicide bomber. It turns out he was innocent.

As ITN reporter Dan Rivers reports, the investigation is focusing on surveillance cameras.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, ITN-TV REPORTER (voice-over): This previously unseen police photograph shows the tube train just after Jean Charles was shot. It was taken by officers as they recorded the scene. But today there are questions about whether there's other key evidence that's not been handed over to the IPCC, mainly CCTV footage of the platform.

Tube sources have told the "Evening Standard" newspaper the CCTV system in Stockwell Station was working on the day, but documents obtained by ITV News show investigators at the IPCC had been told there was no such footage.

One briefing document about the surveillance operation says "Stockwell Tube Station and environs has been surveyed and all existing CCTV has been seized. During the course of this it has been established that although there was on-board CCTV in the train, due to previous incidents, the hard drive had been removed and not replaced. It has also been established that there has been a technical problem with the CCTV equipment on the relevant platform and no footage exists." UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not commonplace for CCTV cameras to fail, no, not in everyday use. It's highly unlikely that they would just fail.

RIVERS: There is little doubt the CCTV cameras at Stockwell Tube Station could hold vital information. So what exactly would they have captured?

In the main tube entrance, the two cameras trained on the ticket barriers would certainly have captured Jean Charles picking up his free newspaper and using his ticket to go through the barriers and not vaulting them.

Another pointing towards the Northern Line escalator and one on the way down would have recorded his movements as he neared the platform. When he reached the bottom, yes, another camera would have captured him.

And as he turned left onto the platform, a camera positioned above the track and three further cameras at either end would have caught the vital last seconds of Jean Charles' life. All this information should have been relayed to a control room where it should have been recorded onto VHS.

(on camera): But despite the extensive CCTV network here, there appears to be not one frame of Jean Charles on this platform. Tube sources insist the system was working at the time of the shooting. So, once again, even the most basic facts in this case are being closely questioned.

(voice-over): And this team of Brazilian investigators, which arrived at Heathrow today, is among those looking for the answers. After meeting officials at the Brazilian Embassy this afternoon, they went to Scotland Yard. The existence of those vital CCTV tapes is likely to be high up the agenda.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Family says every day they hear more lies about the shooting, and they're calling for a public inquiry and demanding those responsible for their son's death be punished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA OTONI DE MENEZES, MOTHER (through translator): All I want is that this man who killed my son be punished by God's justice or man's justice so that no other mother suffers the pain that I'm feeling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIOVANNI DE MENEZES, BROTHER (through translator): We were more shocked to find that the London police killed somebody without reason, without identifying that person, and executing an innocent man. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. DE MENEZES (through translator): He had nothing against England. The terrorists who attacked the country deserve to be destroyed, but my son was innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A memorial mass is planned this afternoon in London.

A follow-up now on that deadly plane crash in Greece a week ago Sunday. Investigators say a man sitting in the cockpit of the Siprient (ph) airliner twice sent out a mayday call minutes before the plane slammed into a mountainside near Athens. But they say the call was not heard because he was tuned to the wrong frequency. Authorities believe the man was a flight attendant who had some pilot training. Investigators also say the Boeing 737 had lost cabin pressure. All 121 people aboard the plane were killed.

Still to come, a strange and tragic tale, Olivia Newton-John's boyfriend has been missing for almost two months after taking a fishing trip. Was he lost at sea? More on that story to come.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:43 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

A West Bank showdown with Gaza emptied. Israeli forces are using some force to evacuate two West Bank settlements. Police broke down a barricade at a synagogue in the Sanur settlement and forced those protesters out.

Northwest Airlines says it expects to complete 96 percent of its flights during the first seven days of a mechanics strike. The walkout began on Saturday. The airline and the union don't have any new talks scheduled.

In money news, the NFL is looking for the official beer sponsor of the 2006 season. And, boy, it'll be worth some big bucks. "USA Today" reports two brewers in negotiations are Anheuser-Busch and Coors. Coors has a $300 million deal right now, which it is hoping to renew.

In culture, conservative radio host Michael Graham has been fired after he refused to apologize for calling Islam a terrorist organization. Graham's broadcast in late July drew protests from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In sports, she says she's dreamed of it all of her life. And now, Maria Sharapova is number one in world tennis rankings. The means she'll probably be the top seed in the U.S. Open, which starts here in New York on Monday -- Chad.

MYERS: All of her life, Carol, now how long is that, really?

COSTELLO: About 20 years maybe.

MYERS: Yes, exactly. Congratulations.

COSTELLO: Or is she 18 or 17? She's young.

MYERS: Congrats to her.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Maria Sharapova is 18.

MYERS: Eighteen years old.

COSTELLO: She was born in 1987.

MYERS: She's dreamed of it all of her life. That's how long I've been working.

COSTELLO: Well good for her. It's depressing, isn't it?

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Yes.

Still to come, it's been nearly four years since the 9/11 attacks and the hunt for Osama bin Laden is still on, but have we forgotten about Afghanistan? We'll have more on that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Day after day we hear about the war in Iraq and little about the war in Afghanistan. Just this morning, officials say three civilians were wounded when suspected Taliban militants opened fire on a vehicle in southern Afghanistan. In the past month alone, 14 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan, 11 of them in hostile situations. So has Afghanistan become the forgotten war?

Joining me to talk about that is Halima Kazem of the "Christian Science Monitor." She's in Kabul this morning.

Good morning.

HALIMA KAZEM, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Just making sure that you could hear me. Thanks for joining us this morning, we appreciate it.

Let's talk about those deaths of American soldiers in Afghanistan. Eleven of them died in hostile situations. At first blush, the blame goes to the Taliban. Is that wholly accurate, though? KAZEM: Well that's, you know, a great question, because most people don't understand that. The Taliban, the term the Taliban has become a very nebulous term and title. Most of the rebel and insurgent activity in Afghanistan will be labeled as Taliban activity, when in fact it could be various groups, such as al Qaeda cells, political parties, renegade groups like Gulbudin Hekmatyar is the Islami. Hekmatyar is wanted by the U.S. government and has actually carried out many anti-American and anti-government operations.

There are also Pakistani militants from what sources tell me. And intelligence officials have told me that and at times these groups even work together. There aren't any clear cut divisions within these groups, but immediately gets labeled as the Taliban.

COSTELLO: Are most of these people coming over from Pakistan or are they coming in from other places?

KAZEM: Well, you know the understanding in here is that the almost I believe it's 1,200 kilometer border with Pakistan is a very porous border with almost 10,000 entry points by foot, over mountains, by car. And you know the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan don't have the manpower to actually guard this border.

And so the believe here is, yes, they are coming from Pakistan. And apparently Pakistan has cracked down on border areas, you know, along this Afghan border. But most of the militants do cross over through the Pakistani border.

COSTELLO: When we hear the terms al Qaeda and Taliban we immediately think of Osama bin Laden. You know we've long heard that bin Laden might be hiding somewhere in the mountains of Pakistan near the Afghan border. Is he leading the charge? Is he involved, do you think?

KAZEM: That's hard to answer. You know the question -- the million-dollar question is where is Osama bin Laden? And you know no one, of course, will answer that. And it could very well be that he crosses whenever -- he crosses the border whenever, you know, he feels threatened, whether it's on Pakistan soil or Afghanistan soil.

So that northwest frontier, the northern part of Pakistan and the southern belt, the Pashtun belt with Afghanistan, could easily be his terrain. It's the area that coalition forces have targeted, where the war on terror is still continuing. And he actually has a large area that he can, you know, relatively move freely because of the insurgency down there.

COSTELLO: U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan for four years now and parliamentary elections are coming up. The Afghan army is fighting side by side with U.S. soldiers. All of these are positive things. Tell us of the positive things that are going on in Afghanistan.

KAZEM: Well, it's all along the streets of Kabul and many of the fences and provinces outside of Kabul are plastered with posters of parliamentary candidates. The election is the main topic of discussion at bus stops, restaurants and offices. I hear excitement in Afghan in the voices of Afghans, you know, when I go out, and I hear everybody is talking about the elections. Afghans are excited at the prospect of participating so closely in choosing their government representatives.

We have over, you know, 2,000 candidates for the parliamentary election. Some very young, as young as 18, a new generation. Some very old, as old as, you know 52, 53. That's old, you know, considering the Afghan population.

You know there is a lot of excitement in the air. There is a bit of nervous tension as to increasing violence, possibly, as we get closer to the election. But so far the violence has not been as much as was anticipated, you know, in the last couple of months.

But for some there are some concern that there are people running for Parliament that are connected with commanders, drug smugglers, representative of warlords. I mentioned earlier Gulbudin Hekmatyar, the renegade leader of the Hezb-e Islami group, his son-in-law is running for Parliament. You know Hekmatyar has carried out numerous anti-government and anti-American operations in the last couple of years. And when you actually look closer at the parliamentary candidates and you see candidates like Hekmatyar's son-in-law, you get a bit discouraged.

Outside of that, the parliamentary elections, again, is a very, very exciting time. But it is what most political analysts will agree an exercise in democracy and not necessarily will be a cure all for Afghanistan as many Afghans naively believe that the parliamentary elections will be --will happen and the government will be on a more stable track and so will the country. But with looking at the representatives, looking at the candidates, you are discouraged a bit about the legitimacy of the elections.

COSTELLO: Well of course we'll follow that along with you. Halima Kazem, thank you for joining us live from Kabul, Afghanistan this morning.

We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with more on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A plea this morning from singer Olivia Newton-John, she's asking anyone who knows where her long-time boyfriend is to please come forward. Patrick McDermott has been missing since June 30 when he went on an overnight fishing trip and he never came back.

Our Sibila Vargas has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "I Honestly Love You" was one of the multiple hits that Olivia Newton-John turned out in the 1970s, and it won her two Grammies. Fans loved her when she became Sandy in the 1978 movie "Grease." "Grease" became the top- grossing non-animated musical of all time.

Newton-John's career kept her in the spotlight over the years, but behind the scenes, she faced personal hurdles, including a 1992 diagnosis of breast cancer. Now the singer-actress is dealing with the heartbreak of a different sort.

Her boyfriend of nine years, Patrick McDermott, has been missing for almost two months. The 48-year-old TV cameraman told friends he was joining an overnight fishing excursion on this 80-foot boat, the Freedom, off the Los Angeles coast on June 30.

The landing manager said the trip included nearly two dozen other fishermen and several crew members. There were conflicting reports about whether McDermott was seen returning with the boat, and he hasn't been heard from since the vessel docked the next day at San Pedro Harbor.

SCOTT EPPERSON, U.S. COAST GUARD: The manifest showed that he signed on to the boat. He was spotted eating -- at least eating on the boat, or in the galley on the boat, sometime during the trip. And they're still trying to determine, through interviews, if someone had seen him actually get off the boat.

VARGAS: When he didn't show up for a family function nearly a week later, McDermott's family reported him missing. On July 11, they discovered his car in the marina parking lot. McDermott's backpack and personal belongings had been found on board the Freedom.

FRANK LIVERSEDGE, MANAGER, 22ND STREET LANDING: In 45 years down here, we've never lost a fisherman. We've lost divers that went down and drowned. I've had people jump over the side and swim to the shore at Catalina, or something like this, but I've never heard of a passenger drowning down here or falling overboard.

VARGAS: The Coast Guard isn't offering a theory of McDermott's disappearance. For now, it's treating it as a missing person's case rather than a crime.

McDermott and Newton-John met on a TV commercial set in 1996. Newton-John released a statement calling his disappearance a heartbreaking experience and says she hopes for answers. The Coast Guard is asking the public for help.

Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

The next hour of DAYBREAK starts in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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