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Time's Up in Gaza; Hooked on Onyx

Aired August 17, 2005 - 13:30   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Likely an accident rather than an attack. The Spanish defense minister says that's how it appeared after visiting the site of yesterday's military helicopter crash in Western Afghanistan. All 17 Spanish soldiers onboard were killed. They were serving in NATO's peacekeeping source.
Prescription needed. In Oregon, you can't walk into a drug store anymore and buy certain over-the-counter medications over the counter. The new law applies to cold and allergy products that contain pseudoephedrine, which is used to make the street drug methamphetamine.

And order to stand trial. A former child actor and his wife are accused of killing a wealthy California couple, throwing them overboard their yacht, and they were bound and alive. Skyler Deleon once appeared on "The Power Rangers" show. More on that case next hour.

Dragging them out one by one Israeli troops unarmed, but determined to carry out their government's order to evacuate Jewish settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

CNN's John Vause is in the largest Jewish settlement of Neveh Dekalim. He joins us now.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

This evacuation seems to be going out an astonishing pace. Already today the first real day of this disengagement. Eight settlements have officially been evacuated according to either the Israeli police or the Israeli army. A ninth one, Ganar Talb (ph), we were told a few hours ago was in the final stages of the evacuation. Add two other settlements in the north of the Gaza strip. That brings a total of 11 settlements which have been completely evacuated in this first day alone.

Here in Neveh Kalim, though, it's been an emotional day as police move from door to door, first all trying to reason by sending in grief counselors and rabbis. I've asked these people to leave quietly, to leave peacefully. Many did, but many did not, and then the police moved in, carrying some settlers from their homes. It's still going very, very slowly from house to house, preferring to talk, preferring to dissuade some of these settlers to leave quietly. In some of the other settlements, though, there have been clashes with police. In Morag, for example, down south, there was a clashes when the police moved in early this morning, but that is now one of the settlements which has been completely evacuated and is now secure. Here in Neveh Dekalim, though, it seems that this last dance could well be in the synagogue. That's where I am right now, inside this synagogue. The locals here say there could be as many as 2,000 young, Jewish teenagers. Many of them do not live here in Neveh Dekalim. They managed to get past the checkpoints and the Israeli soldiers over the last couple of days. Right now they're on the roof of the synagogue. They're in the building as well, so a lot of people are outside the front lawn, and the locals say they've been told by the police and the army that these teenagers, these young people inside this synagogue, have until 8:00 tomorrow morning to leave without taking charges, without being arrested. Otherwise the police will move in and will use force to get them out of the synagogue -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, John, those synagogues are not safe havens, particularly because they are going to be among the structures that will be demolished as soon as the settlements are cleared out, right?

VAUSE: All the houses will be demolished and the community buildings will be demolished, but there is now still some debate over the synagogues. It was originally planned for the synagogues to be destroyed, but there has been a number of high court challenges to that decision. There are a lot of people in these communities. Because of the nature of these buildings, they want them to be relocated en masse. They say take it apart brick by brick, and then rebuild inside Israel proper. That's still being fought out inside the courts. We won't have any building demolitions for many, many weeks to come, because they're waiting to get all the settlers out, then the military will remove its hardware, and then they will move in the bulldozers to demolish the houses, so there's still a couple of weeks to sort that out -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, John, well, let's talk about the conflicting emotions of Israelis removing Israelis, talking about the soldiers removing the Israelis, and why some soldiers are being given a reprieve, so to speak, in order to help their family members who happen to be residents of those settlements move?

VAUSE: Yes, this has been a very difficult day, especially for the soldiers who come from the families in the Gaza Strip. Many were excused from the disengagement, but many decided to take part, because they wanted to be the ones who were removing their brothers, as they call them. There's a lot of psychological sort of counseling for the soldiers on how to deal with it. Several have been called Nazis in the course of the last 24 hours. Some of the settlers here have been wearing the Star of David stitched on to their clothing, a reminder of the Holocaust. Some settlers say that this disengagement is just like the Holocaust. Many Israelis disagree with that, saying that is disrespectful to the Holocaust, but for many of the settlers, what makes it so difficult is their religious beliefs. They believe very, very fervently that God promised Gaza to the Jews, and if they leave this land, then they're defying God's will.

And a lot of the soldiers have been put in a very difficult position, because a lot of prominent rabbis have told them if they take part in the disengagement, they, too, will be defying God's will. So it has been a very difficult day all around here, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, John, at the entry and exit points of some of these settlements, where apparently many Palestinians have gathered, aside from the one reported violent attack leading to the deaths of three Palestinians, is there any exchange of words or anything of in a sort between Palestinians and Israelis as the settlers are leaving those settlements?

VAUSE: As best as I can tell from where I've been and keeping an eye on the other reports, it's been fairly peaceful here in Gaza. We've heard a couple loud explosions, but we're not too sure what they are. Not too sure if they're a (INAUDIBLE). We're actually looking into that right now.

As far as exchanging of words or anything like that, these two sides are being kept very much apart. The Palestinian Authority has deployed more than 10,000 security personnel around the settlements in the Gaza Strip to keep the Palestinians away from the settlers as they leave. So the Palestinian Authority desperate to keep the calm in all this, to show that it is in charge of the Gaza Strip, not the militant group, and of course there's more than 50,000 soldiers on hand to take part in this evacuation, to ensure that it is carried out without militant fire -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, John Vause, in Neveh Dekalim, which is considered to the largest settlement in Gaza.

Health news is next on LIVE FROM. The perpetual pursuit of the perfect bronze glow. Does it qualify as an addiction? Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the answer to that burning question.

And later, a penguin gets a promotion and full military honors. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In medical news, has bird flu made it to Europe? Russian officials are investigating mass bird deaths in an area west of the Ural Mountains which separates Russia's Asian and European regions. While experts analyze what's behind the bird deaths, the government is taking no chances, burning, slaughter fowl by the thousands. The big fear is that domestic fowl will be infected by migratory wild birds carrying the H5-N1 strain of bird flu. Although Russia has reported no human cases of bird flu, there have been 112 confirmed cases in Southeast Asia, most of them in Vietnam. Roughly half of the people infected with bird flu have died.

Now to a new report about an unusual addiction. Get George Hamilton on the phone. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta say people who can't get enough of tanning may be literally hooked.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): That's right. We're talking about addiction to the sun here, not alcohol, not cigarettes. But apparently this is a real addiction. People sort of know about this. This is how some people put it:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People I know who go tanning, tan a lot, and they look tan all the time, even if it's, like, January.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just come once a week. I just like to maintain a little bit of color, look a little healthy without looking like a snowball.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Improves your confidence, I think. It makes you, like, just feel like you look better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, gives you a brighter smile too.

GUPTA: But researchers at the University of Texas wanted to put this to the test, so they hit the beaches of Galveston armed with a questionnaire, to try and figure out if there's an actual addiction to the sun. There's actually 17 questions they asked sun bathers.

Here are a few examples. Do you get annoyed when told not to tan? Do you think of it first thing in the morning? Do you believe that you can get skin cancer? And if so, does it keep you from tanning?

What they found, actually fascinating. Over half, 53 percent of people, actually qualified as having an addiction to the sun. Again, this is people who are actually out on the beach at this point addicted to the sun.

What's most interesting, again, we say that this is not like a cigarette addiction or alcohol addiction, but there is a psychological and physical component to the sun addiction as well. The psychological one perhaps more easy to understand. You think that you feel better, you look better because of the sun. As you heard one of the people say, it gives you a better smile even. It's all about appearance.

But the physical addiction, even more interesting. Apparently, there can be a release of endorphins. Those are the feel-good hormones. If you get those endorphins, you could potentially get addicted to the sun.

Now if you're watching this, wondering, gosh, maybe that's me. Do I need to get help? Well, that's sort of an interesting question. If you're someone who has had a history of skin cancer, for example, then you are someone who needs to get help if you're sort of out there sunbathing regularly. That's sort of obvious.

But if you also fit that psychological profile that we talked about earlier, you're thinking about it all the time, it's interfering with your work, with your play, with your time with family, then it might be time to get help as well. There are also some states that have taken the matter into their own hands. Three states out there actually have regulations. They won't allow people who are 12 years old and younger actually to sunbathe, and there are several states who are just doing that voluntarily as well. So perhaps there is help out there. For the time being, though, this is a new addiction, just newly being described. We'll give you details as they become available.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And the doctor is in, even on the weekends. Get a house call from our Dr. Sanjay Gupta Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30 Eastern, only here on CNN.

The LIVE FROM bonus story is coming up next. He's an officer and a penguin. He's the newest sergeant major in the Norwegian army.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: He's a king among penguins, as in the breed king, but this plucky fellow, a resident of Scotland's Edinborough Zoo, also has a military talent. Today Mills Allaf (ph) was promoted today to colonel-in-chief by the Royal Norwegian Guard, who are in Scotland to take part in the annual Edinborough military tattoo (ph). Mills, seen here reviewing his troops, of course, saying the formal greetings in his tux and tie and all, seemed unruffled by this new rank, and even by the new statue cast in his honor. But just don't offer Mills a cap decorated with scrambled eggs or he could raise a squawk.

LIVE FROM is back with more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And now the British television network ITV has obtained secret documents involving last month's mistaken shooting death of a Brazilian man on a London subway. The documents and photos revealed that the man appeared to be behaving normally before police mistakenly identified him as a terror suspect and fatally shot him.

ITV's Dan Rivers has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the story of how a series of mistaken assumptions led to the death of an entirely innocent man, how on the morning of July 22nd at Stockwell Underground Station Jean Charles De Menezes, was wrongly identified as a terrorist suspect, was pursued by armed police, and was shot dead. Documents of the shooting obtained by ITV News show claims that De Menesez fled from the police, that he was suspiciously dressed, and that he was behaving erratically are false.

Together with police photographs at the scene of the shooting, they point to a catastrophic failure of the police surveillance operation, which resulted in a violent and unnecessary killing.

(on camera): The story starts at this block of flats in Tolls Hills (ph), South London, where Jean Charles lived. We've seen key details about the undercover police deployment the day he was shot. We now know more about the operation on the morning of July 22nd. The police were here in Scotia Road, South London, monitoring this block of flats. Inside they thought were at least one of the terrorist suspects who'd attempted to blow up the tube less than 24 hours before. We know there was a covert surveillance team in the area, and we also know there was a firearms unit stationed just around the corner on standby. Everyone was highly trained, but everyone must have been very apprehensive.

(voice-over): Among the documents we've been given is a witness statement from a senior firearms officer who was there. He describes briefing the other men.

"I also said the team may be required to use unusual tactics toady because of the environment they were in... D.I. asked to me clarify what I meant by this. I then said, if we were deployed to intercept a subject and there was an opportunity to challenge, but the subject was non-compliant, a critical shot may be taken."

The police were watching the building after finding a gym membership card at the scene of one of the failed attacks. It was registered to Sciosia (ph) Road. The firearms officer says the address should have been tightly controlled.

"The current strategy around the address was as follows. No subject coming out of the address would be allowed to run and that an interception would take place as soon as possible away from the address, trying not to compromise it."

(on camera): At 9:30, Jean Charles left this block of flats, walking to the bus stop on a journey that would ultimately end in his death. But at that precise moment, there appears to have been a catastrophic failure of the surveillance operation. None of the police officers were sure he was one of the wanted men, but they decided to follow him anyway.

(voice-over): Among our documents is a witness statement from a member of the surveillance team who was separate from the firearms officers. This undercover officer was watching the door, but was unable to positively identify Jean Charles.

"As he walked out of my line of vision, I checked the photographs and transmitted that it would be worth somebody else having a look. I should point out that as I observed this male exited the block, I was in the process of relieving myself. At this time I was not able to transmit my observations and switch on the video camera at the same time. There is therefore no video footage of this male."

(on camera): It only took him a few minutes to get to this bus stop just around the corner, but in that time, the documents we've seen suggest the police were now convinced that he was one of the two terrorist suspects.

(voice-over): We've been given a briefing document describing the surveillance operation. It says: "De Menezes was observed walking to a bus stop, and then boarded a bus travelling to Stockwell Tube Station. During the course of this, his description and demeanor was assessed, and it was the belief that he matched the identity of one of the suspected wanted for terrorist offenses.

The information was passed through the Operation Center and Gold Command made the decision and gave appropriate instructions that De Menezes was to be prevented from entering the Tube station. At this state, the operation moved to code red, and the tactical responsibility was handed over to CO19."

(on camera): This was a crucial turning point in the operation. The firearms officers had been given permission to shoot at Jean Charles De Menezes. It was just a question of catching up with him. But as they raced into the Tube, Jean Charles himself was completely unaware he was being followed. The documents we've seen prove he made his way down to the train acting normally.

(voice-over): The briefing document goes on:

"CCTV has captured De Menezes entering the station at normal walking pace, collecting a free Metro newspaper from the paper rack and slowly descend on the elevator. At some point near the bottom, he is seen to run across the concourse and enter the carriage before sitting in an available seat. Almost simultaneously, armed officers were provided with positive identification."

(on camera): But it seems possible Jean Charles was simply running for a waiting train, as any commuter would. As he jump aboard and took his seat, he was unaware he was being pursued with armed police with an authorization to shoot to kill.

(voice-over): Witness statements we've seen give a clear picture of what happened inside the underground train. Jean Charles boarded the plane through the middle doors. He then paused, looked left, then right, then went to sit down in either the second or third seat facing the platform. An eyewitness sitting opposite describes Jean Charles as sitting down when he was shot.

But for the first time it's emerged a member of the surveillance team had followed him down the tube separately from the firearms team. His statement gives a different account:

"I heard shouting which included the word 'police' and turned to face the male in the denim jacket. He immediately stood up and advanced towards me and the SO19 officers. I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back onto the seat where he had been previously sitting. I then heard a gunshot very close to my left ear and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage."

The forensic police photos of the scene are shocking. Many are too graphic to show, but this one does confirm Jean Charles was not wearing a padded jacket, as had been reported by witnesses at the time. There are also blood stains on the third seat from the doors, apparently confirming reports Jean Charles was sitting down when shot.

We know from the documents one officer fired seven bullets. This photo shows one of the spent cartridges. Another policeman fired three times. The post-mortem shows Jean Charles was hit seven times in the head, and once in the shoulder.

(on camera): These documents and photos will, no doubt, be embarrassing to the police and will add to the sense of injustice felt by the De Menezes family. But we must remember the circumstances in which this operation was taking place. It happened just one day after those foiled attacks on the Tubes. The police only had a matter of minutes to make life and death decisions.

Dan Rivers, ITV News, Stockwell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And in response to ITV's report, British police released a statement saying that the independent police complaints commission, which is investigating the De Menezes shooting, was concerned about the leak of information about the case. The statement said that the victim's family will clearly be distressed that they did not receive the information before it aired on television. The statement goes on to say that the, quote, "IPCC made it clear that we would not speculate or release partial information about the investigation and that others should not do so. That remains the case." End quote.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Challenger, go with throttle up.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An unforgettable moment. Space Shuttle Challenger exploding in the sky over Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1986. Seven crew members were lost that day; among them, Grace Corrigan's 37-year-old daughter Christa McAuliffe, who had hoped to be the first teacher in space.

CHRISTA MCAULIFFE, DIED ON CHALLENGER: I don't think any teacher has ever been more ready.

GRACE CORRIGAN, CHRISTA MCAULIFFE'S MOTHER: I don't think it was that we didn't understand something very horrible had happened. I think it was the fact that we didn't want to.

O'BRIEN: Following the tragedy, McAuliffe's parents sought to keep her memory alive. Working along with Christa's alma mater, Framingham State College, the McAuliffe Center was established, honoring Christa's commitment to education. According to the center, there are 40 schools named after McAuliffe worldwide. Her legacy of education is also thriving through many scholarships and fellowships in her name. McAuliffe's children are grown now, and her husband, Scott, remarried. Grace Corrigan lost her husband Edward in 1990, but she still works closely with the McAuliffe Center in memory of her daughter.

CORRIGAN: The reason I still do it is because I feel Christa saying, hey, come on, Mom, I'm not there to do it. You know, do it for you. And I find it's been very rewarding and I'm very proud of her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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