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French President Announces Increase in Troops to Lebanon; Mideast War Crimes; Austrian Woman Found After Eight Years; Neighborhood Debate Over Profanity in Utah
Aired August 24, 2006 - 14:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, on second thought, make it 2,000 troops. In a speech to his nation minutes ago, French President Jacques Chirac announced a ten-fold increase to France's military contribution to the U.N. military force in Lebanon.
CNN's Jim Bittermann joins me now from Paris with more on that.
What happened? Why the change?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the French were waiting to hear some things from United Nations about the rules of engagement and the chain of command, something that has caused them and other U.N. peacekeeping forces problems in the past, in Bosnia, for instance.
And Jacques Chirac said tonight in his speech, committing 2,000 troops to the UNIFIL forces that, in fact, the issues that the French have had with the problems with the chain of command and rules of engagement have been set told their satisfaction, and so they're going to be dispatching to the troops.
In fairness, one should say that, in fact, the French are the only government so far that has added any additional troops to UNIFIL to meet what the United Nations hopes will be a force of 15,000 eventually in Southern Lebanon, keeping the peace between the Israelis and Hezbollah.
So, in fact, they're dispatching 1,600 more to go along with the 400 they already have that are part of the UNIFIL force, bringing the UNIFIL force up past the 3,500 figure that the United Nations was hoping to have in place by September 2nd. It's not clear when the French forces will be arriving, but one can assume that they'll probably be going fairly rapidly -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, Jim, what's the advantage for Jacques Chirac? Why make this decision? Why bolster the troop number? Politically, is this is good move for him?
BITTERMANN: Well, I think both internally and externally there was an awful lot of criticism about this meager commitment of only 200. It looked kind of pathetic, and, in fact, it was kind of a communications problem, because like I said, mentioned before, no other country has stepped to the and offered up troops that have actually been dispatched. I mean, they've sent -- the 200 troops went right away, and they'll be sending the 1,600 fairly quickly. So, I think that they were smarting under the criticism that they took over the fact that it appeared that they were going to try to avoid responsibility in Lebanon, the kind of responsibility that they feel that they have.
And Jacques Chirac, in fact, in his remarks tonight said we are going to fulfill our responsibility to Lebanon. They've always had this traditional bond with the Lebanese people, and I think that they feel that they have an obligation, especially after having worked so hard to get that U.N. Security Council resolution through -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jim Bittermann, live from Paris. Thanks, Jim.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Back to the crisis in the Middle East now. A close look and a promise. Israel's prime minister gets an eyeful of towns hit hard by Hezbollah rockets. He also pledges more than $2 billion to help them rebuild. Just where the money will come from, Ehud Olmert hasn't said.
Thirty-four days of fighting, a lifetime of pain. The Israeli/Hezbollah conflict was brutal for civilians in both Lebanon and Israel. Most of the more than 1,200 people reported killed were neither soldiers nor militants. Many were children.
CNN's Jim Clancy reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah will go down in the books as a conflict that killed more children than combatants, according to the U.N.
Most of the civilian casualties and most of the destruction of civilian infrastructure came in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. But Hezbollah rocket attacks were indiscriminate. Israelis, too, felt the pain and terror of being targets.
(on camera): This conflicts has been singularly brutal on civilians. It doesn't matter if you are in Haifa, or here in Beirut. When you look at the collapsed apartment blocks or counting casualties, a single question keeps recurring, washing over you -- why isn't anyone up for war crimes charges for all of this?
(voice-over): As more civilian casualties are uncovered on the battlefield in Southern Lebanon, human rights groups and individual activists vow to investigate both sides.
KADIM HOURY, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INVESTIGATORS: We're not mincing our words on both sides here. Firing indiscriminate attacks on Israeli cities amounts to a war crime, there is no doubt about it. The point we're trying to make is also the IDF indiscriminate attacks on Lebanese civilians also amounts to a war crime.
CLANCY: Israel said it warned civilians off the likely battlefield and maintained throughout the conflict that Hezbollah was using civilians as human shields.
GHASSAN MOUKHEIBAR, PARLIAMENT HUMAN RIGHTS CMTE.: What we need here is a real, determined will of the international community to say truly no more, and for everybody. We don't make exceptions for Israel.
CLANCY (on camera): And Hezbollah?
MOUKHEIBAR: Including Hezbollah. Why not? If they're found guilty, let them be prosecuted, let this be up to the Israelis to do it, but no more crimes. And let's start with the big criminals, which are the Israelis. It is so incommensurate.
CLANCY: Human Rights Watch has already published a report about Israel's military campaign.
HOURY: We studied 20 case studies on attacks on homes and on convoys in Southern Lebanon, and what we found in those cases is Israel was failing systematically to distinguish between civilians and combatants. And the systematic failure, we could not explain by blaming it on mistakes, we could not explain by blaming it on Hezbollah practices. These are grave violations of the Geneva Conventions, and they amount to war crimes.
MARK REGEV, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY: The accusation that Israel deliberately targeted civilians is simply false; it's not true. Israel was as surgical as we could be under difficult circumstances. We don't see the Lebanese people as our enemy.
CLANCY: Bringing charges could be tricky. If Lebanon asks the international criminal court to prosecute Israelis for war crimes, its own citizens, like Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, automatically become vulnerable. Israel, too, could file charges, but would open up its politicians and military to prosecution.
MOUKHEIBAR: If you kill one individual person, this is prosecuted in a court. If you kill a thousand, some generals think that you can get away with it. I say -- no more.
CLANCY: But when it is in neither side's interest to take their complaints to a world court, maybe the war that killed more children than combatants is destined to be fought all over again. Jim Clancy, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Day ten of captivity for two Fox journalists. American reporter Steve Centanni and his New Zealand photographer, Olaf Wiig. New Zealand joined the U.S. in refusing to negotiate with the group that released this video yesterday. The group is demanding the release of Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails by Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANITA MCNAUGHT, WIFE OF OLAF WIIG: It was a source of great relief and comfort to me and to Olaf and Steve's family and friends to see that our men are being well-looked after by you, the kidnappers, and we trust that you will continue to care for them until their release.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That was the wife of the photographer.
U.S. and New Zealand diplomats are working with Palestinian authorities to try to win the mens' freedom.
Cold case closed in Austria? A teenaged girl, kidnapped as a child in 1998, escapes from a homemade prison cell. Details, when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: This is a pretty amazing story. A family in Vienna is rejoicing eight years after their lives took a heartbreaking turn. CNN's Tim Lister reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Natascha Kampusch was ten when she disappeared, walking to school in Vienna on a March morning in 1998. A massive police search found no trace of her.
Eight years later, a young woman is found wandering in a garden. Her stunned family gets a call from police.
Natascha's father, in shock, tells a reporter, "We'd still be sitting here tomorrow if I had to tell you what I did to find her. Everything a man could possibly do." Then he's asked what he will do first if the young woman is confirmed as Natascha.
Austrian police are still piecing together what happened to Natascha. They believe she was abducted that March morning in 1998 by this man, Wolfgang Priklopil. For eight years, he kept her in a cell under a garage, occasionally allowing her into his garden.
After she escaped on Wednesday, police launched a manhunt for 44- year-old Priklopil, and found his car abandoned at a shopping mall near Vienna. Hours later, he committed suicide, jumping in front of an express train.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (in German): Und die sagen, es ist Natascha Kampusch.
LISTER: Police say Natascha is in good health and bears no sign of abuse. They're awaiting DNA tests, but they say are quite sure the young woman is Natascha Kampusch. They say Natascha has so far told them little about her captivity, but that she had apparently escaped from Priklopil's garden when he was busy.
She may have been deprived of the chance to grow up like any other teenager, and traumatized by her captivity, but Natascha is alive and free again. Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer, host of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Hey, A.J., what's on tap?
A.J. HAMMER, CNN HEADLINE NEWS HOST: Hey, Kyra. This season's "Survivor" is already stirring up some controversy months before it goes on the air. And Tom Cruise doesn't need Paramount -- he's got his own production company. I'll have all those stories when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hollywood is still buzzing over Tom Cruise's split from Paramount Pictures, and a new, segregated "Survivor" -- SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's A.J. Hammer has all the inside scoop.
Hey, A.J.
HAMMER: Hey, Kyra.
Well, if you thought segregation was a thing of the past, think again, because the newest edition of "Survivor" is going to split 20 contestants into four teams by race: Latino, black, Asian, and white. While some people are already outraged at the concept, it seems that most organizations are actually waiting until they actually screen an episode before they pass judgment.
The show's executive producer, Mark Burnett, calls the show "a social experiment," and he has said that this year's edition is just another layer to that experiment and that it comes in response to criticisms "Survivor" has received in the past that the show's not ethnically diverse.
Well, last year, the tribes were split up by age, although they were merged together after just one episode. We'll have to wait and see what happens with this season.
"Survivor" is still a top 10 show among younger viewers, but it may face some stiffer competition on Thursday nights this season. It's facing off against NBC's "My Name is Earl" and ABC's highly- anticipated new show, "Ugly Betty." With the filming already finished on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, "Survivor" is making its premiere in just a couple of weeks, September 14th on CBS.
Well, the divorce between Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures certainly captured the headlines yesterday, and today a follow-up for you. Tom Cruise's producing partner Paula Wagner spoke with CNN. They told us that they have an independent financing deal already set up and their production company will be, as she put it, "freestanding and the wave of the future." We'll have to wait to see what that means.
Wagner also said she was shocked by comments criticizing Cruise made by Viacom's CEO Sumner Redstone. Viacom, which is the parents company to Paramount, had no new comments on the split, beyond a terse statement that Paramount confirms what we already know, that they will not be renewing its deal with Tom Cruise.
The financing for Cruise/Wagner Productions is apparently coming from Wall Street where hedge funds have been reportedly been pouring more than $4 billion into Hollywood productions.
So, Kyra, the whole strange thing in what has unfolded in the last couple of days with this, to me, is Sumner Redstone coming out and swinging like he did, because he's the CEO of Viacom, the parent company to Paramount.
You know, deals break up all the time. Companies split up with talent all the time, they release a press release and they go on their merry way. And instead, we had Sumner Redstone coming out with some pretty strong words about Tom Cruise and his behavior.
PHILLIPS: Well, what do you think it is? Do you think it's Tom Cruise just from jumping on the couch on "Oprah" to Scientology, to challenging morning anchors? Remember the whole Brooke Shields, you know, fiasco?
HAMMER: Yes, I think that's all the obvious stuff to point a finger at. As I believe Harvey Levin from TMZ said on your show yesterday, there's something else going on here, and perhaps it's of a personal nature, between Sumner Redstone and Tom Cruise. I'm not going to speculate on that, though.
PHILLIPS: What do you think? Tom Cruise, big star, it's -- probably he won't take much of a hit.
HAMMER: I don't think so at all.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
HAMMER: You know, they still have some movies that are in development with Paramount. The production company -- his production company said we're going to see those through. Tom is still one of the most bankable stars out there. Even with "War of the Worlds" not doing as well as, obviously, Paramount had hoped, it was still a blockbuster by any standards.
PHILLIPS: A.J. Hammer, appreciate it. We'll see you tonight.
HAMMER: Let me give you a sneak peak of what's coming up ...
PHILLIPS: Give us a sneak peak? OK, go for it.
HAMMER: ...because we're going to be talking about what's going on with "Survivor." Outwit, outlast, outplay, and now outrage! As we told you a moment ago, scandal has erupted as one of America's most popular reality shows is segregating its contestants by race.
The question is, is it a social experiment or just a stunt for publicity? Not all black and white here, and you'll find out why on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN Headline Prime. Kyra, I got to get the plug in.
PHILLIPS: Of course, I should know better. I apologize. I wanted to talk about this next story. All right, see you later.
On sight and ready for launch, six astronauts arrived today at Kennedy Space Center for the countdown to Sunday's scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The mission aims to get back to construction work on the international Space Station and the shuttle's commander says the crew is counting the minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENT JETT, ATLANTIS COMMANDER: Speaking for myself and my fellow crew mates, I can assure you that we are ready for the challenge, and we're anxious to start the -- restart the station assembly sequence. All we need is a little good weather on Sunday, and we'll be out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Yes, his last name really is Jett. He is the commander. CNN will have special coverage of the shuttle launch attempt starting at the 4:00 hour Sunday afternoon.
Well, turn in your membership card, Pluto, you've been kicked out of the club. After 76 years as one of nine planets in Earth's solar system, Pluto has been demoted.
At a meeting today, the Czech Republic astronomers decided Pluto's small size and oblong orbit no longer fit the evolving definition of what constitutes a major planet. Pluto is now defined as a dwarf planet, joining two much more obscure orbiting objects named Ceres and Xena.
Well, you know those inkblot pictures that look like one thing to person A and something totally different person B? Well, think of those and listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK EASTON, NEIGHBOR: It's a pretty tough point if you consider what that symbol means to have the F bomb flown at you all day every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, is there a cactus or profanity in these paints? A neighborhood debate, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, this next story is about a cactus, or maybe even a obscene gesture. It depends how you look at it.
Reporter Susan Wood of CNN affiliate KTVX in Salt Lake City, Utah, shows and tells.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right where -- you just keep walking. You'll see it.
SUSAN WOOD, KTVX REPORTER (voice-over): Mark Easton lives directly behind the symbol on this home. He sees it every time he looks out the back windows.
EASTON: It's a pretty tough point if you consider what that symbol means, to have the F bomb flown at you all day, every day.
WOOD: In fact, the display is quite visible from the road, and a lot of neighbors are offended.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just couldn't believe it.
WOOD: Now they are signing a petition telling the city council that the display is obscene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the state of Utah, we all have good family values, and we don't feel our children to be exposed to this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's just bad that anyone would do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's gone too far.
WOOD: Not only do their children pass by wondering why it's there, so do dozens of curious onlookers.
JOHN SPENCE, NEIGHBOR: I sat here for about 25 minutes and I counted 23 cars that came by and stopped and looked.
WOOD: They say what apparently started as a feud between neighbors is completely out of hand, so to speak. They want the city to define the standard of what is considered open expression, and what is out of line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you think about it, it's just terrible that someone would show that much hatred in such a nice family environment.
EASTON: Can you imagine, how you try to describe that to grandchildren?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, that was Susan Wood of CNN affiliate KTVX. The petition was apparently presented to the city council last night. If the neighbors can't settle it, the issue could land in court.
An update in the John Mark Karr case. The next hour of LIVE FROM starts in just one minute.
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