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CNN Live Today

Constitution Delay in Iraq; Gang Violence in U.S.

Aired August 16, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are right at the half hour.
I'm Daryn Kagan.

Here's a look at what's happening now in the news.

Japan is cleaning up today following a 7.2 earthquake. It was centered deep under the ocean floor off of Japan's northeastern coast. Some 60 people were hurt. Many were swimming in an indoor pool when the roof fell in.

A Colombian airliner crashed today in western Venezuela. All 160 people aboard are feared dead. The pilot reported engine trouble. The plane took from Panama on a flight to the Caribbean island of Martinique.

A helicopter carrying Spanish troops crashed in Afghanistan today. Seventeen soldiers were killed. Spain says it's too early to determine if the crash was an accident or the result of hostile fire.

And arrests in Gaza as settlers protest Israeli government orders to leave. Israel predicts more than half of the Jewish settlers will be out of Gaza before today's evacuation deadline. That is just five and a half hours away. Israel says settlers who don't leave the territory will be removed by force.

The Bush administration says the delay in drafting an Iraqi constitution is not a major setback. Iraqi officials were not able to resolve their differences in time to meet yesterday's deadline so they extended it by one week.

Joining us from Baghdad to talk about the delay is Adnan Pachachi. he is a former Iraqi foreign minister and former president of the Iraqi Governing Council.

Mr. Pachachi, good afternoon to you in Baghdad. Thank you for joining us.

ADNAN PACHACHI, FORMER PRESIDENT OF IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: Good evening.

KAGAN: Are you concerned about this one-week delay?

PACHACHI: No, I'm not concerned because I think obviously we need this time. And this week, I think the latest (ph) political leaders who have been engaged in these discussions will be watched by the people and will be under increasing pressure by the public to reach some sort of an accommodation and agreement.

There are really two options. Either there is disagreement, in which case the national assembly will be dissolved and new elections would be held in December, and then the whole process would be delayed for almost a year. But this is something that nobody wants, really. What else -- they will try to agree.

If they are not able to agree on some of the contentious issues, then they will have a constitution which will avoid these issues. Hopefully, that after the new government is installed next -- early next year, it will tackle these problems and eventually include them or incorporate them in the constitution as amendments.

KAGAN: Mr. Pachachi, let's talk about some of these differences. They are huge -- everything from oil rights, to the role of women, to the role of Islam. Huge, huge differences in how people see the future of Iraq.

What could one week possibly make in a difference in resolving that and moving this country's political process forward?

PACHACHI: Well, obviously, people have different visions of Iraq.

But the whole point is that in the constitution we have to have that to agree on a vision that is acceptable, perhaps not ideal for all concerned, but acceptable to some and acceptable to the others also.

There are differences, really differences of principle, but I think they can be resolved. They are not really irreconcilable or insurmountable.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: I'm sorry, sir, with the satellite delay we've been stepping on each other a little bit.

I want to ask you, as a Sunni, how do you see the role of Sunnis in this government? Do you see more participation or do you see them being cut out of the process?

PACHACHI: Well, I don't think of myself as a Sunni. I think of myself as an Iraqi democrat who believes in a secular democracy for the country.

And the people who work with me belong to all sects. We have an even majority of Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Arabs, Christians.

And I think we hope to enter the elections next December as a bloc, a unified bloc, a coalition of these democratic and liberal elements of the country, because this is really the issue that's before the country -- what kind of future will Iraq have. Will it be a secular democracy or will it be a theocratic system of government?

KAGAN: The other question, too, is just how separated and segregated will it be?

The Kurds with their autonomous region in the north, now the Shiites in the south saying, "Well, we want something like that too for the people in the middle of the country." And also, the Sunnis feeling cut out of that formula.

PACHACHI: Yes.

But, you know, the Kurdish question is really a special one. The Iraqi state from its inception has recognized that the Kurds are a distinct nationality, different from the Arab majority of the country. And therefore, they have a special status.

And the Iraqi government, when it became independent, and that the League of Nations in 1932 recognized this and gave them certain rights and privileges in the area.

Actually, the status of the Kurds in Iraq can be resolved by discussions between the central government and the Kurds, Kurdish leadership.

But we have recognized that the Kurds have a special status. And I think we'll be able to agree on the principles and the -- you know, the ways and means of having this special status in practice.

Regarding the rest of the country, you know, there is no such distinctions at all, because I mean, they're all one nationality, they speak the same language, they have the same religion. There has been a tremendous amount of intermarriages between Shias and Sunnis.

And I believe there is a large section of the population, both on the Sunni and the Shia side, who have really liberal and secular tendencies. And you hope these will assert themselves in the next elections.

KAGAN: Well, and as you were pointing out, there are many, many people in your country that want to see the country move forward even if they can't agree exactly how that was supposed to happen. They do want to move forward and find peace in your country.

And we wish you well with that.

PACHACHI: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: Thank you for your time.

Adnan Pachachi, the former president of the Iraqi Governing Council and former foreign minister of Iraq.

It is a problem that seemingly will not go away: gang violence in America. Now a new twist. One gang in particular whose influence is spreading with members who shouldn't even be in the country.

CNN's Lisa Sylvester has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Target store in suburban Maryland recently became a crime scene. Four people were stabbed in the store as frightened shoppers looked on.

Earlier the same day, two other teens were attacked at the nearby Springbrook High School. Both stabbings were gang related.

JEFFREY WENNAR, MONTGOMERY COUNTY ASSISTANT STATE'S ATTORNEY: At the Springbrook event, the attackers shouted "MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha" before stabbing the two victims.

SYLVESTER: A few years ago, hardly anyone outside of Los Angeles had heard of the MS-13 gang formed by people fleeing the war in El Salvador. But now the gang has reached into at least 31 cities and the District of Columbia, spawning a deadly and violent crime wave, including the murder of pregnant 17-year-old Brenda Paz. She was killed in northern Virginia after she tried to leave the gang.

Most of the MS-13 members are not even supposed to be in the United States.

HEATHER MACDONALD, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: The vast preponderance are illegal aliens, according to police officers that have worked with them and have been begging for the authority to use immigration laws against violent gang members.

SYLVESTER: What's frustrating local law enforcement is the revolving door. Illegal aliens are put on planes and sent back to their home country, but many, like Roberto Madrigal-Lopez, an MS-13 gang member, returned. He's a convicted sex offender who has been deported six times, but keeps re-entering through our porous border with Mexico.

MIKE CUTLER, FORMER INS AGENT: What we're seeing is more emphasis made to secure Iraq's borders than our own borders.

SYLVESTER: Until U.S. officials control the border, law enforcement officers believe the wave of violence will continue as the MS-13 gang moves into new cities.

(on camera): Law enforcement officials in Maryland point out that a person is more likely to be attacked by a gang member than a terrorist, a sign there needs to be more resources devoted to the problem.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The Justice Department counts as many as 750,000 gang members here in the U.S. -- about a third of them are younger than the age of 18.

Our guests, father and son, Walter Dean and Christopher Myers, join me live to discuss their book, which explores some of the reasons that kids might join gangs. Gentlemen, good morning to you.

WALTER DEAN MYERS, AUTHOR, "SHOOTER": Good morning.

CHRISTOPHER MYERS, ILLUSTRATOR, "SHOOTER": How are you?

KAGAN: We're going to start with dad here.

W. MYERS: OK.

KAGAN: Looking at the question, your book does, of why some kids do join gangs. How do you answer that?

W. MYERS: They join gangs because gangs offer sort of a fake security. The kids have been abused very often, very often their communities don't protect them adequately. Very often the parents are drug abusers or are so tied up with their own problems that they can't pay adequate attention to the kids. The gangs offer this sense of belonging, the sense of join us and you'll be safe.

KAGAN: Chris, let's bring you in here. The book is such an interesting way of doing it, with your dad's words and your illustrations. You're telling the story of a character named Jesse. I think we have some of your pictures that we're going to put up on the screen. And as they go by, just not necessarily each specific picture, but tell us the story you're trying to tell with your pictures and drawings.

C. MYERS: Well, you know, as the story that was preceding this story. I mean, this is a worldwide problem, and I wanted to kind of bring the humanity of these young men and women to the floor. I wanted to bring the fact that these are kids that we all know, and they are kids that we have a say in their lives. We can speak to their lives. We can speak to, you know, the lives of the children around us and the teenagers around us in order to ask questions, about why have you chosen this as your lifestyle? Why did you make this choice versus that choice?

There are pressures like police, and there are pressures like, you know, bad family situations, and I wanted to humanize those things. I wanted to take them away from being statistics and issues that we talk about in a very abstract way, and to talk about, you know, these are children. These are kids. And, you know, they are kids that we can be very close to. They are kids that we know.

KAGAN: So at the end of the day, this is a story about loyalty and making good choices?

W. MYERS: It's about loyalty and making good choices, but what we want to do is have the kids intellectually confront the issues in books before they find them on streets.

KAGAN: And quickly, I just want to ask you a personal question. How was it -- you guys belong to each other. So how was it working with dad and son?

C. MYERS: It was horrible.

W. MYERS: It was not.

C. MYERS: Every day. I almost -- no, no, no, no, It was beautiful.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: That's the next book you'll sell, Chris.

C. MYERS: Yes, that's the next book.

KAGAN: If you only knew the real side of my dad. Congratulations on the book, and I'm sure a lot of people looking for it. It's described as very emotional, and heartbreaking and touching a lot of people, "The Autobiography of My Dead Brother." Walter Dean Myers, illustrations very the very talented son, Christopher Myers.

Gentlemen, thank you.

C. MYERS: Thank you.

W. MYERS: Thank you.

KAGAN: And now to our daily dose of health news. The FDA -- we'll be talking about that, just ahead. And Accutane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The FDA is imposing tough new restrictions on the acne drug Accutane. The new rules are designed to prevent birth defects associated with the drug. Accutane has also been linked to depression in some patients.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien has more now on the concerns about the drug in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For years, the FDA and the makers of Accutane have known the drug can cause severe birth defects. More recently, it's been linked to depression, even suicide.

Well now, thousands of Americans who take the popular acne drug, along with those who prescribe it and dispense it, will have to enroll in a national registry. It's part of a major government program called "I Pledge." In it, steps to ensure that women know the risks and don't get pregnant while taking Accutane or its generic versions.

The action comes after decades of safety warnings and other restrictions, and a study last fall showing a biological connection to depression in teenagers. That study compared the brains of young adults taking Accutane with those taking antibiotics. In the so- called "Accutane brain," activity in the front part of the brain was down 21 percent. DR. DOUGLAS BREMMER, PSYCHIATRIST: This plays a critical role in emotion. If there's a decrease in function in that part of the brain, then it would make sense there would be changes in mood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The FDA commissioner appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" to talk about the restrictions. He was asked whether the drug should be taken off the market entirely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER CRAWFORD, FDA COMMISSIONER: We think, on balance, to take this drug away from those people that would be permanently scarred and otherwise injured, unless they had access to this, the most effective drug for patients that do not respond to other medications, would be wrong. And so, therefore, we are doing this particular strong program, which is precedential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Patients, doctors and pharmacists must enroll in the new registry by December 31. For your daily dose of health news online, log on to our Web Site. You'll find the latest medical news, special reports and a health library. The address is CNN.com/health.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: It is never too late. Really. It's not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold up, hold up, hold up. Yo, answer this question. Are you a virgin? Are you a virgin?

STEVE CARELL, ACTOR: Yes, not since I was 10.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It all makes sense. You're a virgin.

CARELL: I am -- shut up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" comes to theaters on Friday. And as the title suggests, this is a middle-age coming of age story. Steve Carell plays a virgin. He also plays the film's executive producer. So go figure that. "Daily Show" fans will recognize him as one of Jon Stewart's fake correspondents. But he's our real live guest. Good morning, Steve.

CARELL: Good morning. How are you?

KAGAN; I'm doing. I want to see how good my research is here.

CARELL: OK, go ahead.

KAGAN: Happy birthday.

CARELL: Thank you.

KAGAN: Did I get it right?

CARELL: You're one of the first who have -- you and my wife have now wished me happy birthday.

KAGAN: Oh. Very good.

CARELL: Thank you.

KAGAN: Well, I just kind of stumbled upon that little factoid and added it up.

CARELL: Did you get -- did you get me a cake?

KAGAN: I did not, but we're a big fan of birthday cakes on this program, so we owe you one. But if I also did my math right, that makes you a 42-year-old movie star instead of a 40-year-old virgin. Because you mentioned the wife.

CARELL: Well, it makes me a 42-year-old, I don't know about the movie star stuff, but...

KAGAN: OK.

CARELL: ... that's how I old I am.

KAGAN: And you got the wife, so probably this is not based on real life, the title of the movie?

CARELL: No. We do have two children. So I'm actually going to have a t-shirt with their pictures on it so people know it's, in fact, just a part I'm playing.

KAGAN: Just to be clear.

CARELL: Right.

KAGAN: This actually comes from a sketch that you came up with back in your -- back in day, as we like to say here, in your Second City days.

CARELL: Yes, there was an improv that we used to do involving what essentially became that poker sequence that you showed. It's a guy who's just out of his element, trying to tell a dirty sex story. And he just starts to invent his own story and kind of fails miserably.

KAGAN: But really at the end of the day, this is something that many of us can relate to. It's about feeling out of place, feeling like you're not as good as the next guy and looking for love and happiness.

CARELL: That's really what it is. It's not so much his pursuit of sex, per se. It's really him kind of growing up, coming out of his shell and learning about love and relationships.

KAGAN: And about chest wax.

CARELL: And about chest waxing, yes. I personally...

KAGAN: Let's talk about that lovely experience.

CARELL: I had a firsthand -- well, there we go.

KAGAN: This is real, this is really happening.

CARELL: This is -- at this point I'm thinking, this is a very bad idea.

KAGAN: Yes.

CARELL: That I subjected myself to this.

KAGAN: So, at this point, you didn't know. And then...

CARELL: I didn't know how painful it would be, and I'm trying to kind of maintain composure. And none of this was scripted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready?

CARELL: Augh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That's just your job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That one little patch looks sexy, though.

CARELL: Does it look good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks really good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Welcome to our world, women around the country are saying.

CARELL: See, that's the thing. I have such respect for women for doing the waxing and giving birth. And just a little chest wax scene is nothing in comparison.

KAGAN: The other behind the scenes story here is, as we mentioned, you're the executive producer. So you've got to go and pitch this to Universal, and like in a week, they say, OK, go make the movie.

CARELL: Yes. I don't think that happens very often. So we were really lucky. Man, that's an awful...

KAGAN: Did you walk around? How long did it take for regrowth to happen there? I just have to ask.

CARELL: About two months before it started looked like a human being AGAIN. And my wife actually made me wear a t-shirt around the house and in bed, because she just couldn't stand it.

KAGAN: And let's just say, I think that's all the information we need on that. Thank you. Good luck with the movie. Comes out Friday, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Looks very funny.

CARELL: Thank you.

KAGAN: Steve Carell.

And we're going to have a check of business news, coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHANNON COOK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT; Some say Hollywood isn't what it used to be. At CNN.com, a look at the film industry then and now.

In the '90s, independent films were the next big thing. And now, hit movies like "Napoleon Dynamite" are moving indie flicks into the mainstream. And movies have certainly changed since the '40s and '50s, but doting over film stars has not. See how today's Hollywood heroes and heroines measure up to their predecessors in this gallery. Some might argue that actress Angelina Jolie is fitting quite comfortably into Elizabeth Taylor's femme fatale shoes.

Technology has had a huge impact on today's movie making. This gallery shows some of the techniques behind films like "The Matrix" and "Toy Story." And industry insiders say cinema audiences are in decline, and that the growth of home theaters doesn't bode well for the future of the box office.

But for those of you who will see movies anywhere any time, take CNN.com's film personality quiz. We'll tell what you kind of movie buff you are, plus the must-sees for your type. We're laying out the red carpet for you at CNN.com/hollywood.

At the dot-com desk, I'm Shannon Cook.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me for this hour. Daryn Kagan.

International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. They'll be up after a quick break. I will see you tomorrow morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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