Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Israelis Pulling out of Gaza Strip; Iraq Nears Deadline for Constitution; Dragon Platoon Searches for IEDs; Thousands of John Roberts Documents Released
Aired August 15, 2005 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Less than three hours to go for Iraqi leaders to avert a major political crisis. I'm Aneesh Raman, live in Baghdad. Where things stand on the country's constitution coming up.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Eyewitnesses speak out. A mother never gives up. A filmmaker makes history live again. Get the untold story of Emmett Lewis Till this hour.
(BEGAN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cancer changes people every day. The sun looks different and the rain looks different, the mornings look different.
(END VIDEO CLIP_
PHILLIPS: Also today on LIVE FROM, the war on cancer: the latest treatments, the most inspiring, heartbreaking stories. And your calls and e-mails answered.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
It's moving day in the Middle East, a controversial, contentious and complicated milestone in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Voluntarily or otherwise, roughly 9,000 Israeli settlers are beginning their long anticipated disengagement from 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. Some 55,000 Israeli soldiers are handing out eviction notices to many who believe their homes and land are gifts from God. They have until Wednesday to leave on their own.
CNN's Ben Wedeman joins me now with a moving experience in Gaza City -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra. Well, it is certainly a difficult time for many, but not all Israelis. Some of them, of course, support this pullout.
And it is a time for Palestinians to celebrate, many of them overjoyed that the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, which began in 1967, is about to come to an end.
And for Palestinian security forces, it is their job to make sure that nothing stops this pullout from happening. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): A pep talk to Palestinian security troops before taking up positions around the Jewish settlement of Nedzarene (ph).
"We bear a huge responsibility," Major Abu Ahmed (ph) tells his men, "to stop our people from bleeding, to stop anyone from preventing the Israeli pullout."
A triumphal cheer before boarding the buses to take up positions they fled at the beginning of the Palestinian uprising.
Israelis may be debating the significance of it all, but not the men on this bus. "This is a victory for all of the Palestinian people," Shadik (ph) tell me.
"From Gaza to south Lebanon because Palestine is ours," says another.
It will be the job of the somewhat disorderly force to ensure no one from the Palestinian side interferes with the evacuation.
Battle songs blaring, gunmen from Islamic Jihad stage a victory march through the streets of Gaza City. While shortly after midnight when the Israeli evacuation official began, Hamas holds thanksgiving prayers for what they see as a triumph of armed resistance.
And just to make clear who's the boss, the authority deployed policemen and a bulldozer to knock down a house belonging to a senior authority official who they say built illegally on state land. The authorities says this house demolition is a message to anyone, officials or militants, who thinks they're above the law.
FARAH ABU MADAIN, ADVISER TO PRESIDENT ABBAS: We are not going to accept to anybody, inside or outside the settlement to capture and prevent it.
WEDEMAN: So they're bringing down the house.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: And of course, with this challenge from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other militant groups, some of whom seem to be having a parade outside this window, the Palestinian Authority is certainly anxious to show everyone that it is still in command and in control -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.
And the architect of Israeli's unilateral pullout, one not found on the so-called road map from peace, is addressing his nation.
Ariel Sharon is staking his legacy on being the first Israeli prime minister to uproot Jews from territory taken from Palestinians. As a military man, Sharon did as much as any to take that land, and as recently as 1998, he rallied settlers to, quote, "seize the hill."
In a newspaper interview said Friday, Sharon said that Gaza does not appear in any settlement plan or political plan in the state of Israel.
Well, this is supposed to be a settlement day in Iraq, the deadline for settling any and all issues that are holding up the drafting of a permanent post-war constitution. After two postponements within just the past few hours, we're expecting some sort of announcement at the top of the next hour. That's 10 p.m. in Iraq. But nobody's holding his or her breath.
CNN's Aneesh Raman has an update now from Baghdad. A lot of back and north, Aneesh.
RAMAN: It is a late night for Iraqi politicians. It's seems politics as usual here, though: late night negotiating, delays until the very last moment. As you said, twice delayed, the national assembly now set to convene in about an hour. One of three things will happen, Kyra.
First, a draft of some sort will be presented to them. We're not sure with what specificity that draft will deal with the hugely contentious issues of federalism in the role of Islam.
Everyone is hoping it's a draft on the ground, at least, that everyone supports. If it is not, if it's a draft that only the Shiite and Kurds put through, and it alienates the Sunnis, that will have ramifications down the line when a referendum goes to the Iraqi people by mid-October, a referendum that the Sunnis have enough votes to reject.
Now, the second option is that the national assembly convenes and essentially amends the law. Three-fourths majority is needed. If they do that, they can delay for as long as they want, by a matter of days, by weeks. Perhaps, as one man suggested, by a month to try and hash out these issues.
But the third option is really the most dangerous, the most corrosive for politics in Iraq. If nothing happens by midnight, Kyra, technically, this government is essentially dissolved. It becomes a caretaker government. Elections in mid-December elect a new national assembly to begin this entire process again.
So everyone keen to avert that. All signs on the ground are that one of the former two options will take place, either a delay or a draft of some sort. We're now just waiting to see what happens, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Aneesh Raman, you let us know as soon as something happens. We'll go back to you live, of course, within a matter of minutes.
Now, if an agreement is reached on the draft constitution, the next step belongs to Iraq's parliament. The parliament can approve the document or send it back to be redone. If it passes the parliament, then the people get to vote. A referendum on the constitution must be held before October 15.
All the while, the Pentagon reportedly is fighting an uphill battle to upgrade the body armor worn by U.S. soldiers and Marines. "The New York Times" says it's the second time in 15 months that procurement officials have scrambled to keep pace with a versatile and well-armed enemy. The "Times" cites a shortage, both of raw materials and mass manufacturers.
And even the thickest body armor won't help much against the bombs, the kind that incinerate even the up armored Humvees that roll over them almost every week. The Pentagon and now the world knows those weapons as IEDs, improvised explosive devices.
CNN's Alex Quade rode along with a team of IED hunters for the new program, "THE SITUATION ROOM." She filed this explosive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It begins with break fast at Abu Ghraib prison and ends with a...
(IMAGE OF EXPLOSION)
QUADE: This is just another day for the marines of Dragon Platoon, a weapons company from Camp Le Jeune, North Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Son of a bitch. Welcome to freaking Iraq!
QUADE: Their mission started before dawn. Gunnery Sergeant Jeff Barne Daggenhart (ph) and his men hunt IEDs, improvised explosive devices.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody keep your head down.
QUADE: They've hit 22 in two weeks but only minor injuries so far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No freaking tonight today, all right? Everybody got me? Freaking bunch of weirdoes.
QUADE: On patrol, daylight breaks. Gunny Daggenhart (ph) is already suspicious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's in there?
QUADE: This is how his Marines battle the insurgency, searching for hidden explosives. One car, one person at a time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you can see the rest of Alex's report on "THE SITUATION ROOM," beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific, right here on CNN.
In Iraq a war veteran named Marine of the year is charged today with attempted murder in Massachusetts. Daniel Cotnoir allegedly fired a shotgun out of his apartment at a noisy throng congregated outside a nightclub nearby. Two people were slightly hurt. Cotnoir was a mortician in Iraq and was undergoing psychological counseling at the time of his award, presented by the "Marine Corps Times" last month.
Terrorism is all but ruled out in yesterday's catastrophic crash of a Cypriot 737. But sobering questions remain. Among them: were some or all of those passengers and crew already dead when the plane hit a mountain in Greece? Helios Airwaves Flight 522 was en route from Larnaca to Athens and then to Prague when it went down near the city of Marathon with 121 people on board.
CNN's Chris Burns has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The wreckage was scattered wide in the hills north of Athens. All that was left intact was the tail section. No survivors to be found.
The Helios Airlines Boeing 737, filled with vacationers, was on a flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens when the pilot reportedly radioed about a problem with the plane's air conditioning. Minutes later, air traffic controllers lost communication with the plane. The Greek air force scrambled two F-16s, whose pilots saw a chilling sight.
MAKIS CONSTANTINIDES, GREEK CYPRIOT OFFICIAL: It seemed that there goes without any control. I mean, the pilots were not there.
BURNS: Officials say the F-16s also saw the Boeing's co-pilot slumped over and oxygen masks hanging, indications of a catastrophic loss of cabin pressure.
One relative reported receiving a text message from one of the passengers saying, quote, "The pilot has turned blue (in the face). Cousin, farewell. We're all freezing."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over minutes, that would occur you to -- actually would suffocate. The blue color is from lack of oxygen in the tissues.
BURNS: Greek authorities confirm they have found at least one of the plane's two black box voice recorders, which could offer clues to the cause of the crash.
In the meantime, relatives have to go through the agonizing task of identifying their loved ones among the dead.
Chris Burns, CNN, Athens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A loss of cabin pressure on an airplane can be deadly, but not always. Let's check the facts. The National Transportation Safety Bureau cites only seven incidents in the last 23 years where loss of cabin pressure was proven to be a significant factor. Among those, two major incidents resulted in 15 fatalities.
The most recent you'll recall is that crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart six years ago. Stewart and five others died when their Lear jet crashed in South Darkota in October of 1999. That plane had flown more than four hours without radio contact. And it is believed that the crew and passengers were unconscious due to a lack of oxygen.
The other major accident occurred in 1989 when United Airlines flight 811 lost a cargo door en route from Hawaii to Australia. The decompression pulled nine passengers out of plane, and they were lost at sea. The other 347 passengers and crew members were returned safely to the airport in Honolulu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, 5,000 documents from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' past are in Joe Johns' hands. He'll tell us if there are any skeletons ready to leap out of the closet.
Ladies, you know what this stuff is. The lumps you loathe may have met their match! Get the goods on the new treatment that could change your body forever.
And next hour.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alexandria is the only child of Sandra and Ed Krowsky (ph). While on vacation, she suddenly blurts out, "My back hurts."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have that little voice saying something's wrong.
PHILLIPS: Strong medicine. A special replay of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's "TAMING THE BEAST: THE WAR ON CANCER." Today, cancer survivors will join us live, and we'll take your calls and e-mails. Don't miss this special addition of LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Senate may officially be on summer break, but it doesn't look or sound like it with the amount of clamor directed at the White House over documents on the president's nominee for the Supreme Court.
John Roberts served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are among those who insist past papers will factor heavily in his upcoming confirmation hearings.
Our Joe Johns is at the National Archives. He's got those papers in hand. What do they tell you, Joe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Actually, I'm at the bureau right now.
What we have here, 5,393 pages of presidential records from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, released by and through the archives, all concerning Judge John Roberts. These are documents that have been identified by Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as files of particular interest. High on the interest list, of course, is any hint of the nominee's views on abortion.
To give you a taste of what we're seeing in these documents, back when John Roberts was working as associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan, an early reading of these papers tends to suggest Roberts was essentially playing referee from time to time on the issue of abortion and some other issues.
For example, in 1985, a controversy arose over the discovery of a large number of aborted fetuses in California, and the White House was asked to provide a presidential message of some sort that was to be used at a memorial service for the fetuses.
John Roberts was asked to weigh in on what, if anything, the president was to say in that situation. He essentially changed the meaning of one sentence to make it clear that even in light of Roe versus Wade, there was still some law on the books that reflected the views of people who opposed abortion.
He also was asked to weigh in on proposed remarks by President Reagan on a phone call to on an antiabortion rally in June 1985, essentially stating the president had expressed similar positions in the past.
On the issue of school prayer there is also a memo in there that Roberts' support on the issue. There's also some missing documents, apparently. We're trying to get more information on this. Not sure what to make of it.
Apparently, the Reagan library has been unable to locate one folder entitled "affirmative action correspondence." The folder was previously reviewed in mid July by administration officials at the Reagan Library and then returned to the library staff. The staff appears to have misplaced the folder in the course of re-filing.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Joe Johns at the bureau, duly noted. Thank you very much. We'll keep up with you.
All right. The dreaded gas prices story. And I'm afraid there's nothing good to tell you. I'm sorry. Last week, a record high. This week, a record high.
Nationwide, $250 a gallon for self serve regular. At least one market watchdog shows that it's a 20 cent spike in the last few weeks but still, short of the all-time high of the inflation adjusted $3.03 back in 1981.
Now one dim but brighter spot in the future some analysts expect prices to peak and recede a bit just after Labor Day.
Other news across America now. Watch that folder. -- watch that boulder. Colorado is just a little rockier today after highway officials got all explosive on the mess covering a stretch of I-70 over the weekend. Three big rock slides in one 24-hour period. Some cars got banged up but no one hurt.
A dreadful scene near Tucson Arizona. A family's truck got stuck in a flash watch. Three children swept away in the rushing water. The father managed to rescue two of them. The third drowned. He was 3 years old.
Atlanta police still trying to learn what drove a man to shoot his elderly wife and then himself in a city hospital. Both of them are dead. The man's wife was a patient at the hospital's intensive care unit.
Sometimes a work of art changes history. Meet the documentary filmmaker who put the killing of Emmett Till back into the headlines and may change the lives of some of those responsible and still living for the murder that started the civil rights movement.
And post card from Johannesburg. Our favorite one-man band reporter starts by with his personal stories of life after apartheid.
Don't forget to send us your e-mail. We are taking questions with regard to cancer. We're actually going to talk to a doctor. He will take your calls and your e-mails. We want to hear from you. Send us your questions at LiveFrom@CNN.com. We'll be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHANNON COOK, CNN.COM: It's almost kickoff time for the college football season, so touchdown at SI.com/CollegeFootball for a preview.
"Sports Illustrated" does some crystal bowl gazing and reveals its top 25 teams to beat. At No. 1, the defending champs from USC. Will the Trojans snag their third title in a row? Well, armed with the nation's top quarterback, Matt Liner, holder of the Heisman trophy, "SI" says it's a good bet.
Junior running back Reggie Bush also makes the Trojans an unstoppable force. His power and speed position him as a top game breaker in this gallery.
Check out the five-minute guide for tips on games you simply shouldn't miss, as well as tidbits you've just got to know. Penn State's E.Z. Smith and Mike Sothern shot 30 arrows through a dorm room wall in January. Their Robin Hood antics caused $700 in damage and got them what the school is calling "temporarily expelled," but they can apply to go back to school this fall.
Finally, listen to five offensive experts talking through some of their most successful plays in this virtual playbook.
The countdown to college teams hitting the gridiron has started so get in the know at SI.com/CollegeFootball.
From the dot com desk, I'm Shannon Cook.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
