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Hamas Fighters Seize Control of Gaza; Possible Fatal Flaw in Computers Controlling International Space Station; Duke Lacrosse Case
Aired June 15, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Friday morning. It is June the 15th.
Here's what on the rundown.
Masked men in the president's office. Hamas controls Gaza. What's next for the Palestinians, the Middle East and the U.S.?
HARRIS: D.A. on the defense. The Duke lacrosse prosecutor expected to take the stand today. Hearing resumes this hour.
COLLINS: And a report this morning of a source in the Russian space agency saying there is a fatal flaw in the space station computer system. No word on this from NASA.
We're checking into it. Developments unfolding this hour in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top this hour in the Middle East, the battle is over for the United States. The questions begin. The stakes of this powder keg are extremely high.
Militant Hamas fighters have seized control of Gaza and ousted the U.S.-backed Fatah movement. It is feared it also creates a potential haven for Islamic extremists right next door to Washington's -- at least one of Washington's top allies.
Here top sort through all of the fast-moving developments, CNN's Atika Shubert in Jerusalem.
Atika, good morning to you.
There are some extraordinary new pictures out this morning. What can you tell us about those?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They clearly show that Hamas forces are reveling in their victory over Fatah forces. The still pictures to come in from Associated Press show Hamas gunmen inside the residential compound of Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. They show the gunmen posing at his desk, also making a mock phone call to Condoleezza Rice, saying, "Sorry, Condoleezza" -- this is according to Associated Press -- "but you have to deal with us now, not with President Abbas."
So clearly Hamas is in charge. They're trying to come to terms with their new power.
They say they want to negotiate with Fatah, but at the same time, it was only yesterday that there were reports coming in that they were executing Fatah leaders in the streets of Gaza City. So now Hamas has to show what kind of a governing authority are they going to be.
Are they going to be thugs committing more violence? Or are they going to be able to actually install law and order in Gaza?
HARRIS: Well, Atika, what is -- boy. Interesting questions. Answers to be determined soon here. But the big question, perhaps, is what's ahead for the region?
SHUBERT: Well, the question now is, is the violence going to stop here? For now, the fighting has stopped in Gaza. It has not spread to the West Bank. But the Palestinian territories are split into two -- Islamic militants in control in Gaza, the U.S.-backed Fatah in control in the West Bank.
Israel, as you can imagine, is not happy to have Hamas in charge in Gaza, and they say they're not going to intervene for now. But if they are attacked, they will have to take some sort of military action.
HARRIS: CNN's Akita Shubert for us in Jerusalem.
Atika, thank you.
COLLINS: So what exactly are the differences between Hamas and Fatah? Both Palestinian groups have attacked Israel in the past. Fatah is secular. Hamas, Islamist.
Fatah is seen as the more moderate party. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S.
Fatah was founded by the late Yasser Arafat, and is now led by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who is backed by the United States. Fatah has recognized Israel's right to exist, but many Palestinians view Fatah's long leadership as corrupt and inept.
Last year, Palestinians spoke with their ballots, voting Hamas into power. Responding to those elections Israel, the United States and the European Union launched a financial boycott of the Hamas-led government.
Still, Hamas stands by its policy of what it calls armed resistance against Israel and has refused to renounce terrorism. Its charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
The other side of Hamas, social programs for impoverished people. The group offers programs like free food, education and medical care to Palestinians, while at the same time its suicide bombers launch attacks against Israelis.
HARRIS: What stake does Iran and al Qaeda have in the region? Stay with CNN NEWSROOM throughout the day as we explore the issue. And be sure to catch a special edition of YOUR WORLD TODAY: "Where Does the Middle East Go from Here?"
That comes your way at noon Eastern, right here on CNN.
COLLINS: There is a report this hour of a possible fatal flaw in computers controlling the International Space Station. ABC News citing a source inside the Russian space agency.
Our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, is checking into all this.
All right, Miles. So what's the deal here?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, first of all, that's an unnamed source in the Russian space agency, and it could be anybody working on one of those trenches who may or may not have the authority to say that. Let's put that aside for just a moment. But the picture is not good this morning.
All while we were sleeping overnight, the Russians, in several ground passes, as the International Space Station flew overhead, tried repeatedly to reboot those crucial computers. There are two sets of three, six in all, that are the heart and soul of the Russian side of the International Space Station.
What they did was, when they isolated the power from these solar arrays which were attached to the International Space Station Monday by a crew from the space shuttle Atlantis, the initial thinking was that somehow the power from these solar arrays as it was introduced into the ISS grid caused these sensitive computers made in Germany by Daimler-Benz to trip off. So they sequestered all of the U.S. power. They completely turned these computers on using only Russian-generated power overnight, and repeatedly tried to reboot them, all with very limited to no success.
So, they decided just a little while ago to stop trying for a little while, and to just think about it. And so the experts in Korolyov, just outside Moscow, are going through their data, trying to see if there's something else. But the leading cause that we were talking about yesterday, electromagnetic interference, or so-called noise...
COLLINS: Right.
O'BRIEN: ... some kind of dirty power, whatever you want to call it, appears to not be the problem. And so they're back to square one. Now, is this a fatal flaw? I can say this definitively -- without these computers, the space station cannot continue on. These computers need to run in order for the space station to do work, to continue on.
Will it happen tomorrow? Will they have to abandon ship tomorrow? No. This will take a long period of time, and there will be a lot of time for the Russians to come up with work-arounds and a fix.
But for now, these computers are not working, and they are essential to the operation of the space station over the long run. So if you want to call that a fatal flaw, I think maybe that's a little premature right now.
COLLINS: OK. Understood.
Anything like this, even remotely close to this, ever happen before?
O'BRIEN: No. This is -- this is the most serious problem that's occurred on the space station, because it does, after all, affect its ability to continue on, and does have -- mission managers down here at least saying one of the possibilities down the road here is, if we can't have these computers operating -- in other words, if the space station cannot point properly toward the sun and maintain proper latitude (ph), we can't have that -- with those computers gone -- we might have to consider the possibility of demanning the space station.
COLLINS: Wow. All right.
Miles O'Brien, our space correspondent here at CNN, looking into this one for us.
Miles, let us know if you find out anything else. Appreciate it.
HARRIS: Immigration reform resuscitated. A bill that was in critical condition showing new signs of life this morning.
Senate leaders reached a deal last night to bring the bill back to the floor. That could happen as early as next week. At the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast last hour, the president made another appeal for Congress to pass immigration reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Each day our nation fails to act, the problem only grows worse. I will continue to work closely with members of both parties to get past our differences and pass a bill I can sign this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The president has thrown his support behind an amendment aimed at winning over some critics of the bill. It would provide an additional $4.4 billion in immediate funding for border security. COLLINS: Five more U.S. soldiers dead in Iraq. According to today's military statement, three of the soldiers were killed in an explosion near their vehicle during operations in Kirkuk. Another died from small arms fire in Diyala province. And a fifth soldier died in a non-combat-related incident.
That raises the total number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war to 3,519.
HARRIS: Let's get a check of weather now with Chad Myers in the severe weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Meanwhile, Fred Goldman versus O.J. Simpson. At issue, Simpson's controversial book. Why Goldman wants it published ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Four brothers off to war. Their mom letting go, but holding on to faith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe in God. I believe it's more than just a stray bullet or what might happen. So I refuse to even get used (ph) to the idea of odds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A mom and four brothers in arms, their story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: It shocked Los Angeles and the nation, that deadly baseball bat attack. An arrest to tell about this morning in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A wild ride atop her daddy's truck. A 3-year-old on the mends.
Cutie pie.
A family most thankful.
The amazing story in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A D.A. on trial could testify today. The ethics trial of Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong resumes this hour in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Live pictures now.
The prosecution is expected to call one final witness. The defense plans to call Nifong to testify possibly this afternoon. The state bar has charged Nifong with breaking rules of professional conduct in the Duke lacrosse case. He could lose his license to practice law in the state.
Three players accused of rape were cleared of the charges. The state attorney called them victims of a tragic rush to accuse.
In fact, that there is Reade Seligmann, one of the accused. As we said, those charges were dropped. Let's listen for just a moment to some of his testimony today.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
READE SELIGMANN, FMR. DUKE LACROSSE PLAYER ACCUSED OF RAPE: ... still from what we thought we were going to practice that day. And I said, "This is great. This will be the easiest way to resolve the situation, is to go right away and give DNA." So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you become aware during this time period that District Attorney Mr. Nifong began making statements to the media about this alleged assault?
SELIGMANN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And from your perspective, how did that affect the reaction on the Duke campus and among the community towards the allegation?
SELIGMANN: Well, I mean, it -- it really turned our world upside down. We had always been really -- you know, respected on campus, and we had a lot of friends on campus. And we all got along with our teachers really well.
And it was -- everyone looked at you differently. It wasn't -- it was a different look. You know?
Previously, everyone had given you a pat on back and said, you know, "Who do you have this week? Who are you guys playing this week? Hope you guys are number one, hope you win the national championship" -- to nobody really wants to talk to you. Everybody looks at you a little bit differently.
Teachers certainly looked at you differently. And just the feeling on campus was -- I mean, it was as lonely of a feeling as you can ever imagine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you recall any protests going on at the house where the party occurred?
SELIGMANN: Yes. I believe there were a few.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you recall -- what do you recall about those?
SELIGMANN: Well, I wasn't there. I didn't live there. I lived on west campus. But I believe there were congregations of people banging pots together. There were signs being held up, "Don't protect rapists." Signs that said "Castrate".
And those same protesters had gone to our field after the -- or before the Georgetown game, but that -- around -- around 610 Buchanan, there were tons and tons of people. They were singing songs. They were given speeches and -- I mean, we were in their minds completely guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And do you recall any protests...
COLLINS: We have been listening in for just a moment there for the case against the man on the right, District Attorney Mike Nifong, Raleigh, North Carolina. And on the left, one of the formerly accused lacrosse players, everything that happened there at Duke University, Reade Seligmann.
We will continue to watch this and bring you any interesting testimony that we see.
HARRIS: In Los Angeles, an arrest in a deadly baseball bat attack. An alert motorist calls police after recognizing the suspected attacker from surveillance video.
Chris Wolf (ph) has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Brutal and senseless describe what you are about to see. May 29th, Olympic Boulevard and Wilton Place, near Koreatown. Forty-one-year-old James McKinney is walking along a sidewalk when a man jumps from behind and slams him in the head full force with an aluminum baseball bat.
The tape shows McKinney struggling to get up. He later died from massive head injuries. A surveillance camera from a local business captured the attack. Now Los Angeles police have captured a murder suspect.
He is 28-year-old Jason Farador (ph).
CAPT. RICHARD WEMMER, LOS ANGELES POLICE: Our investigation has shown this to be a random attack. No other crimes have been linked to the arrestee. And the motive is unknown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities say there is no evidence the man they say killed James McKinney is connected to any gang. Police arrested Jason Farador (ph), who they believe is the attacker in this picture Wednesday night.
WEMMER: It is a perfect example of the media sharing the video that allowed a proactive member of our community to come forward and identify an individual and provide us with information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The key witness is Fidel Salcedo. He saw the crime footage on TV and couldn't stop thinking about it because he drives past that same intersection every day on his way to work. Then something happened Monday.
FIDEL SALCEDO, WITNESS: I was going to work and I just happened to see a guy there that looked pretty much like the suspect on the tape. And he was carrying a baseball bat. You know? Just swinging it in the air like -- I don't know. Playing. And so, I thought, he could be the guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salcedo, driving his car, followed the man to a house in the 1,000 block of Arlington, about a half mile away. Then, Salcedo called the police.
SALCEDO: I said, "Well, if this is the guy, I want him caught." You know? I think we all have to do our parts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Man. The suspect in that deadly attack is being held on $1 million bail.
COLLINS: The latest powder keg in the Middle East. The fuse is lit. And Washington is worried.
Why should you care? The answers in the NEWSROOM.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Susan Candiotti in Miami.
If you thought you heard the last of that book by O.J. Simpson called "If I Did It," you are wrong. It's the subject of a federal bankruptcy court hearing this day.
More on that story coming up live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Call it confessions of a double murderer. That is the title the family of Ron Goldman wants to give O.J. Simpson's unpublished book, "If I Did It". The Goldmans are suing for the right to publish it and get the profits.
CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Miami with details.
Susan, good morning to you.
Why has this fight ended up in bankruptcy court?
CANDIOTTI: Good morning. Because there's still a battle over who gets the rights to that book.
We all remember the huge outcry over the book, "If I Did It," penned by O.J. Simpson, where he says, I didn't do it, but if I did murder my wife and Ron Goldman, here's how I would have done it. And you remember, of course, the huge outrage over it. And the book never got published.
But O.J. did get paid an advance of almost, according to his lawyers, almost $900,000. And he retained the rights. The rights to that book went to a corporation, that it was set up in his children's name and it is run by his daughter Arnelle.
Well, that corporation turned around and filed for bankruptcy. And Fred Goldman, Ron's father, has had a long-running lawsuit to get the rights to that book as a creditor.
He is trying to get payment, of course, for that $30 million wrongful death civil judgment that he has, and Goldman's lawyers maintain that that corporation was a sham and a way to avoid paying off that wrongful death judgment. And that is why they're going after the money, to stop -- to stop them from -- they say that O.J. Simpson, rather, is trying to prevent him from collecting that money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BATTISTA, GOLDMAN'S ATTORNEY: People have judgments against them and have assets and try to hide those assets from the creditors. And it's very simple. Mr. Simpson was going to receive a lot of money for this book and wanted to hide it from Mr. Goldman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: And O.J.'s lawyers maintain they are not hiding anything from anybody. His lawyers say he has a right to make money. And O.J.'s daughter Arnelle was recently deposed as part of this bankruptcy case.
CNN obtained a videotape of her deposition. And she, who also makes a living, she says, as a wardrobe consultant, denied that the bankruptcy was done deliberately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNELLE SIMPSON, O.J. SIMPSON'S DAUGHTER: I was overwhelmed with things. You know?
Things were coming at me which I'm not used to, by no means. I never thought it was going to be this hard to have a corporation and to start something new like this. Have I made a lot of mistakes? Excuse me. Hell, yeah, I did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: O.J. Simpson is not expected in court today. A lot of lawyers are.
Mr. Goldman's lawyer says it is possible they might get a decision in this case today, but it's been going on for a very long time. And he said if Mr. Goldman gets the rights to that book, as you said, Tony, Mr. Goldman will turn around and publish it himself and instead call it "Confessions of a Double Murderer".
Back to you.
HARRIS: Boy.
Susan Candiotti for us this morning.
Susan, thank you.
COLLINS: Drugs in school, you have heard it before. But in day care? Heroin mistaken for candy, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Immigration debate. A reform bill left for dead on Capitol Hill gets revived. Find out what happens next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR:
And good morning.
The bottom of the hour.
You're back in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning to you.
I'm Tony Harris. Insurgencies and alliances in the Middle East, and great concerns that ripple all the way to Washington. Today in Gaza, Hamas supporters celebrate their bloody takeover. After five days of battle, militant fighters ousted the U.N. z-backed Fatah movement. Hamas' seizure of Gaza stokes deep fears for Israel and its chief ally, the United States.
Could Gaza become a haven and an operating base for Islamic extremists throughout the region?
The takeover by the militants also leaves many countries scrambling to determine their next moves.
Should they recognize a new leadership or isolate it diplomatically?
The Arab League is meeting this morning to discuss all those options.
What stake does Iran and Al Qaeda have in the region?
Stay with CNN NEWSROOM throughout the day as we explore the issue. And be sure to catch a special edition of "YOUR WORLD TODAY" -- "Where Does the Middle East Go From Here?"
That comes your way at 12:00 Eastern right here on CNN. COLLINS: Political CPR breathing new life into the immigration reform bill. Senate leaders reached a deal last night to revive the legislation and bring it back to the floor. But the prognosis for passage still uncertain. Congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel joins us from Capitol Hill with the very latest -- Andrea, what about the breakthrough -- breakthrough or no breakthrough?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's at least a temporary breakthrough and in no small measure due to arm twisting, brinksmanship. And it didn't hurt that President Bush made a rare personal visit up here this week to meet with Senate Republicans behind closed doors to make his case.
You know, in a nutshell, you have President Bush, who has reiterated again this morning why passing immigration reform is one of his top domestic priorities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Each day our nation fails to act, the problem only grows worse. I will continue to work closely with members of both parties to get past our differences and pass a bill I can sign this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, as a way to make that a reality, President Bush yesterday said -- to try to appease those Republicans who don't want a repeat of what they say was the 1986 amnesty reform legislation, he said he's ready to ante up immediately $4.4 billion to increase border security and also to boost workplace enforcement. These are key demands of conservatives, Heidi, who said that they really couldn't support the bill unless that came first.
COLLINS: OK.
So that all being said, any idea the chances now that the bill will actually pass?
KOPPEL: Nobody really knows. And certainly I don't think people would want to lay a wager on it. I think things look better a heck of a lot better today than they did this time a week ago, when everyone was declaring it all but dead. The fact is, you've got these now 20 plus amendments that were offered by people who opposed the bill as it now stands. Because we don't know what most of those amendments are, there could be what's known as a poisoned pill, an amendment designed to sink the bill if it gets on -- if it gets attached to it. And already there are amendments on there, Heidi, that some say are already poisoned pills, like one that has an only five years for this temporary worker program to be in place. So it's really a huge question mark at this point.
COLLINS: No question about that, certainly.
Andrea Koppel, thanks so much.
HARRIS: Let's take you back to Raleigh, North Carolina right now.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong on trial, as you know, facing several ethics charges. One of the players Nifong brought charges against in the now debunked Duke lacrosse rape case, Reade Seligmann, is testifying.
READE SELIGMANN, EXONERATED LACROSSE PLAYER: ... who it was. And I never called because I was told I wasn't allowed. And I had to go walk into -- she was sitting in a friend's room, in a dorm room. And initially she was angry at me.
She want -- why didn't you call me? What have you been doing all day?
I've been so worried.
And I had to take her outside and I remember she was wrapped up in a blanket. And I had to tell her, I said, she picked me. And she just collapsed. And I literally had to carry my girlfriend. And it was -- it was a long walk.
HARRIS: What we'd like to do right now is take you back a few moments ago. Reade Seligmann telling everyone in the courtroom about a conversation he had with his mother about the case as it was unfolding and the charges as they were coming against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SELIGMANN: I could hear her on the other end of the phone. The life was sucked right out of her. And then I tried to calm her down. And I just told her everything was going to be all right and that, you know, we were going to prove that this didn't happen.
And she didn't need me to tell her that. But from that point on, we just -- we had been -- we had to go from there that night. We were told that we couldn't tell anybody because if we -- if it got out to the press -- if it got out to the press, Mr. Nifong -- they were going to have Mr. Nifong wanted to come and take us out of class and arrest us. And if we -- if it had gotten out...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And that was the testimony from just moments ago.
Let's go back live now to hear from Reade Seligmann.
SELIGMANN: ... come down at the end of the semester. And I, you know, I had to pretty much -- I had to pretty much do it on my own at the end there and we just communicated through Duke and my guidance counselor. I had to get in it touch with -- it took about three months for me to do, get all the information to finish the finals up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you do academically under those circumstances?
SELIGMANN: I believe I ended up getting a -- I ended that semester with a 3.5 GPA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the media attention like after you were indicted and arrested?
SELIGMANN: I mean, it was -- it was like a gauntlet of people. I mean they j just they just swarmed us everywhere we went. My mom and my brothers, the day -- the day I was indicted, my mom and my brothers had to pack up and drive to a friend's house because they parked big trucks -- all the trucks that you see outside with satellite dishes and whatnot on our front yard. And I mean they were, from what I heard from our neighbors that they were just going after every single person that they could.
I believe even in a -- one reporter got hit by a car trying to get an interview. He probably deserved it, but I mean it was just everywhere you went. And we -- I had spent, after I got out, I walked over to or -- excuse me -- we walked to our car. We tried to come out the back entrance of the jail. And, you know, we were completely just -- they just rushed us at our car. And we had to pretty much had to -- to run to our car to get to get there. And, you know, from that point on, from that, you know, initial bum rush to our car, that was -- that was the beginning of just a media frenzy for an entire year. And it continues now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the indictments, did you take any actions to prove that you were innocent of these charges?
SELIGMANN: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what did you do, generally?
SELIGMANN: Well, my attorney at the time, Kirk Osborn, attempted to go to Mr. Nifong to show him my alibi evidence. We collected a number of different items -- credit card receipts, the dorm video footage. There was the cab driver. Just a number of different items. And Kirk had gone to his office. And he didn't speak to Mr. Nifong directly, from what he told me when he came back, that someone in his office had come out and said Mr. Nifong saw your alibi information on TV and there's nothing to talk about and that he wasn't in the mood to hear fiction right now.
COLLINS: We have been listening to some pretty emotional testimony here by one of the formerly accused Duke lacrosse players in this case now, whereas we've said before, the tables have been turned. And we are actually watching the trial of District Attorney Mike Nifong, trying to figure out whether or not he will be able to hang onto his law license in all of it.
We'll continue to watch it and bring you any more information just as soon as we get it.
HARRIS: And right now, as you know, we've been following the fast moving developments in Gaza in the Middle East. Certainly, in a bit of turmoil, to say the least, right now.
With us, joining us is Saeb Erakat, chief Palestinian negotiator. He joins us from Ramallah.
Good to talk to you, Mr. Erakat.
First of all, let me ask you, if you would, to give us your assessment of the situation on the ground in Gaza right now.
SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: The Gaza Strip is out of the control of the Palestinian Authority. As a matter of fact, the -- President Abbas' compound and his house has been occupied, also. I think the legal term is mutiny. The president decided to declare a state of emergency under the power given to him by the basic law. He is the one who appoints the prime minister and sacks the prime minister.
The dismissed prime minister decided to defy the orders, which means that we are facing a very, very serious problem. And the legal term is mutiny.
I'm afraid this, number one, will lead -- was leading to the separation between the West Bank and Gaza. We have to keep in mind that the course of action now President Abbas had officially -- has officially nominated Dr. Salam Fayyad to be the new prime minister.
What we need to do, number one, is to make sure that this -- what happened in Gaza will not travel to the West Bank. And we urge all in the West Bank, if these people in Gaza, these mutineers, burned homes, executed people with this cruelty and so on, we should present the rule of law. We should present the authority. We should represent legitimacy and we should stop. And these methods should not be tolerated in the West Bank under any circumstances.
HARRIS: Mr. Erakat...
ERAKAT: Secondly, the West Bank and Gaza are a single territory and unit.
Yes?
HARRIS: Mr. Erakat, I have to ask you -- stop you just for a moment to ask you, is -- is the West Bank the next target for Hamas?
ERAKAT: Well, this will not happen. We will not allow this to happen, under any circumstances. The point about what happened in Gaza, at a time when we were not able to pay our security forces, our police; at a time we would not even have bullets and guns for our police, where are these hundreds of millions of dollars that we have seen in the streets of Gaza in the last five days, these weapons, where did they come from?
I believe what's happening -- what happened in Gaza -- what's happening in Gaza is not isolated from what's happening in North Lebanon in the Bared Refugee Camp and what's happening in Beirut. It's the bigger picture in this region. This region is approaching the eye of the storm. I think Palestinian blood is being used now to fuel this eye of the storm in this region. Nevertheless, we don't have enough shoulders to shoulder all the developments in the region. There will be a day after. Now we're going to focus on the West Bank in order to prevent anything from happening in the West Bank similar to what's happening in Gaza.
I need to say that we have 1.5 million people in Gaza and these people should not suffer. We need to ensure that these people need medical supplies, food supplies, water, electricity, everything. And we appeal to the international community to help us in order to provide all these needs to our people. Our people should not be punished.
Number three, what's happening in Gaza today is something outside of our control. It's like a Mogadishu syndrome. And I really don't think anyone can help us if we don't help ourselves.
I believe that...
HARRIS: How do you answer...
ERAKAT: ... that the Palestinian people...
HARRIS: Finally, before we -- Mr. Erakat, I just have to ask you one more quick question before we lose the window and we lose you.
How is it that President Abbas can hope to even control the West Bank when he is viewed in so many quarters as having allowed the situation in Gaza to spin out of control?
ERAKAT: That's absolutely unfair. Abu Mazen's hands were tied. His legs were tied. He was thrown to the sea without money, without weapons, without support -- so much bear hugging. And now we are determined not to allow what happened in the Gaza to happen in the West Bank. And we stand tall with this.
If we don't help ourselves as Palestinians -- we have heard so much words of support to Abu Mazen, so much deeds were lacking of support. But at this point, believe me, the Palestinian people are the highest in education in this region. This will not stand. And I'm sure that very, very soon the 1.5 million people in Gaza will stand tall against this mutiny in Gaza. And Gaza and the West Bank would remain one single territorial unit and I'm not undermining that, as the Palestinian people, our aspirations for a state, for independence, for statehood, has been set back for at least 40 years.
HARRIS: Mr. Erakat, thank you for the time.
We're about to lose our window with you. But we thank you for the time this morning.
Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
ERAKAT: Thank you.
HARRIS: Joining us from Ramallah.
Thank you for the time, sir.
What stake does Iran and Al Qaeda have in the region?
Stay with CNN NEWSROOM throughout the day as we explore the issue. And be sure to catch a special edition of "YOUR WORLD TODAY" -- "Where Does the Middle East Go From Here?"
And that comes your way at 12:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: And still to come this morning, the bullet holes patched, bloody flooring removed. The site of Virginia Tech's killing spree two months later. We'll have a tour ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: In Buffalo, New York, an unusual drug case, to say the least. Children taken to a hospital to be evaluated after one of them shared a bag of what he thought was candy. It wasn't. Police say it was heroin.
Reporter Steve Barber of affiliate WKBW has that story.
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STEVE BARBER, WKBW CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wayne Clamp walks out of his house with a bag of M&Ms candy. He says it is what his kids, a 5-year-old boy and two younger daughters, were eating before walking to day care alone early Tuesday morning. But on the way, they picked up something else -- heroin.
WAYNE CLAMP: The cop showed me there was four packets that were chewed up. And what he picked up, the drugs, happened to have a smiley face on them. I mean, it's -- it's -- it's unbelievable.
KARI LYN LEE: He thought it was candy because it had a smiley face on it.
BARBER: Worse yet, Wayne Clamp the kids shared heroin they thought was candy with three other children. All six went to Children's Hospital.
CLAMP: He's all right. He's fine now. Him and my daughter both tested positive, but they're OK now. They didn't ingest much.
BARBER: The names and conditions of the other children are not yet known. The day care at the YWCA Early Childhood Center at the Schoolhouse Commons had its license formally suspended. They did not return our phone calls and were not in when Seven News went by.
As for Wayne Clamp and Kari Lee, their kids are now in the custody of her mother and they are only allowed supervised visits.
CLAMP: They couldn't -- they couldn't prove that they were our drugs to arrest us, but they could prove that they're our drugs to take our kids?
LEE: I go to my mom's house every day and visit my kids every day. And I've got to deal with them screaming when I leave at nighttime.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: So far, no charges have been filed in the case.
COLLINS: Computer troubles bug the International Space Station -- new developments this morning. And this hour we're going to be talking about it, trying to figure out exactly what's going on up there. That's coming your way in THE NEWSROOM.
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COLLINS: We've been reporting to you this morning that there is trouble aboard the International Space Station. We want to try and get more information about exactly what's going on.
We heard from our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, to help us understand better about how large this problem could be.
But let's go straight to Moscow mission control.
We have Sergei Krikalyov.
He is the deputy space mission control director.
And, Sergei, if you can hear me all right, I'd love for you to tell us exactly what you know about what's happening at the International Space Station.
SERGEI KRIKALYOV, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, RUSSIAN MISSION CONTROL: We have a problem on -- with computers on the Russian side. And this -- the beginning of this problem coincided with the installation of solar arrays on the American side. So we are troubleshooting now. We are looking for the problem and trying to understand what's going on.
COLLINS: Well, if you could back up for me just a minute, I know that the computers on the Space Station have actually been shut down.
What exactly does that mean for the work that is going on there and possibly long-term.
KRIKALYOV: For short-term, it doesn't mean anything because we have the capability to do attitude control of the station using American side or Russian side. And the Russian side is not available now for attitude control. And the planned attitude control is done by shuttle when the shuttle is docked with the Station.
So there is not any kind or immediate problems for the station at this point. For the future, all will depend on how deep the problem is with power supplies for computers. If we're able to fix it, we are going to return back to nominal mode. If not, we may need to -- to change attitude control and maybe deliver some spare parts to the Station.
COLLINS: OK. Trying to maintain that attitude. We heard space correspondent talking about that, Miles O'Brien, a little bit earlier.
So, as you mentioned, short-term, I guess you would say this is not a crisis at the moment. However, this would be something, if it is not corrected, that could put an end to the work that is going on on the International Space Station.
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COLLINS: Sergei, unfortunately it sounds like we have lost you. If you can still hear me, let me know.
KRIKALYOV: Yes, I can hear you. But, again, very weak. (INAUDIBLE).
COLLINS: OK. Let me say one more time quickly.
Tell us if, ultimately, this could mean the end of the International Space Station if experts are not able to determine exactly what has gone wrong and ultimately be able to correct the problem.
KRIKALYOV: No. That's not a problem. And the Station is built in such a way that we have several different ways of doing things. We have backup systems. And when we have problems on the American side, we can use some of Russian assets, and the same if we have problems on the Russian side, we may continue to use American attitude controls or American sensors.
COLLINS: All right...
KRIKALYOV: So it may create some problems, but for sure not any kind of crisis.
COLLINS: All right, very good.
We appreciate your time here.
I know you are attending a meeting very shortly and I imagine it's about this very thing.
Sergei Krikalyov, we appreciate your time here, deputy space mission control director, coming to us out of the Moscow mission control.
We'll continue to watch that story for you.
HARRIS: Another story we're watching this morning -- Hamas in control of Gaza.
What's next for the region and the U.N. z?
That story in THE NEWSROOM.
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