Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Deadline Approaching in Gaza; Constitution Delay; Carry-On Changes?

Aired August 16, 2005 - 10:59   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Spain's defense minister says hostile fire has not been ruled out in the deadly helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Seventeen Spanish troops were killed when the chopper went down in western Afghanistan. Spain has about 800 troops in the country as part of a NATO peacekeeping force.

A Colombian plane with 160 people on board crashed in a remote area of western Venezuela today. No survivors have been found. Officials say the pilot reported engine problems. He asked for permission to make an emergency landing just before controllers lost contact with the plane.

Israeli settlers in Gaza have just six hours to leave their homes voluntarily or be forced out. This morning, troops cut down the gate to the largest Gaza settlement. Later, they clashed with protesters, arresting about 50 of them. The withdrawal is part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to restart the peace process.

A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan early today. Thirty-nine were injured when the roof over a swimming pool collapsed. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake had a magnitude of 7.2. It shook buildings as far away as Tokyo.

Good morning, and welcome to the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. It is 11:00 a.m. in Caracas, Venezuela; 6:00 p.m. in Gaza City; and in Tokyo, it is midnight.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

First up this hour, deadline day. Jewish settlers in Gaza have just six hours to get out. If they don't, Israeli soldiers will use force to remove the holdouts. Some settlers and thousands of activists who have snuck into Gaza seem intent on a showdown.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins me now. The Palestinian town that he's at is very near the largest Jewish settlement in Gaza.

Good morning -- good afternoon.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good afternoon, Daryn.

Yes, we're in Khan Yunis, which is right next to the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements. This is a town that's been very much on the front lines of the Palestinian uprising since September 2000. And in fact, right now I'm hearing a loud speaker coming from the streets. There's obviously yet another rally put on by one of the militant groups here this morning.

We were on hand when Hamas, the militant Islamic organization, sent hundreds of its supporters and gunmen into the streets right at the edge of town within view of the Jewish settlement. Many of them had AK-47 rifles, other them -- other of them rocket-propelled grenades, parading in an area where normally they would not be because they would be in range of the gun -- the guns of the Israeli settlement.

Nonetheless, they are out there announcing what they believe is their triumph by the use of armed resistance which led to, of course, in their opinion, the Israeli pullout. But as much as we spend a lot of time looking at them...

KAGAN: All right. That's our Ben Wedeman reporting there from Gaza. We'll work on getting him back.

Meanwhile, while we do that, let's talk about Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. It does have a hefty price tag. But the Israeli government hopes the U.S. will pick up at least part of that bill. Here now are the facts.

Israel is asking the U.S. for $2.2 billion in aid for the Gaza withdrawal. That's on top of the $2.8 billion the United States already gives Israel each year. Israeli officials say much of the requested money would go to help develop the Galilee and Negev regions of Israel where Jewish settlers have been encouraged to relocate. But most of them will have to live in temporary housing, at least at first.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says the president is considering Israel's request.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: It's an issue the president has expressed support for directly to Prime Minister Sharon. I think at this point, what we're doing is we're sending -- sending some teams. We're going to be sending some teams to Israel to assess what might be possible. But there are no commitments at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: If the U.S. agrees to the request, it would be the largest aid package for Israel since 1992, when the United States gave $3 billion to help pay for damage done by Iraqi scud missiles during the Gulf War.

And it bears mention that the Palestinian Authority is getting its share of international aid for Gaza. World leaders agreed to a $3 billion aid package at last month's G8 summit. A helicopter carrying Spanish troops goes down in Afghanistan today. Officials say 17 soldiers were killed. Spain's defense minister says it's not clear whether the chopper was shot down or accidentally crashed. The Spanish troops were part of NATO's peacekeeping contingent.

Rescuers reached the wreckage of a Colombian passenger plane this morning. It crashed before dawn in a remote stretch of western Venezuela. There appears to be no survivors.

A hundred and sixty people were aboard that plane, which was traveling from Panama to the Caribbean island of Martinique. Venezuelan officials say the pilot reported engine trouble. Ten minutes later, they lost contact.

And turning now to the deadly plane crash in Greece. Investigators are looking into whether there was a catastrophic loss of air pressure or whether those on board were alive at the time of the crash. One hundred and twenty-one people died when the plane went down on Sunday.

Meanwhile, police raided the office of Helios Airlines in Cyprus. Prosecutors say they were dissatisfied with the amount of information they were given. It's part of an investigation into the cause of that crash.

Japan is on edge today after a strong earthquake. Cameras captured nature's power.

You're looking at a 7.2 quake shaking skyscrapers. It was centered 50 miles off the northeastern coast. Authorities say some 60 people were hurt.

Many of the injuries occurred when the roof on this indoor swimming pool collapsed. The pool was filled with swimmers, many of them children, when glass, tiles and metal showered down on them.

A disappointment, but not a significant setback. That is how the U.S. ambassador to Iraq is responding to the country's delay in drafting a new constitution.

Iraqi lawmakers have approved a one-week extension to try to resolve their remaining differences. President Bush is praising Iraq's efforts, despite the delay.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now with more on the administration's reaction.

Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, the Bush administration is involved in two campaigns here. On the one hand, of course, to push the Iraqis to try to govern themselves as quickly as possible. On the other hand, to try to convince Americans that the Iraq war was worth it all in the end, a sacrifice.

Now, clearly this is a setback for the administration, a disappointment, but they are trying to make the best of it. They are saying this is not the worst-case scenario. That would have been the dissolving of the Iraqi government and starting from scratch. Rather, we heard from President Bush, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a statement from Bush saying that these are heroic acts that the Iraqis are going through here.

Secretary Rice downplaying what some political observers say is, quite frankly, an embarrassment to the administration that they were not more flexible when it came to that deadline. But both of them in various statements yesterday saying that they believe ultimately with more time the Iraqis will be successful, that democracy is messy.

We heard from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on "AMERICAN MORNING" earlier today reiterating that point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: It's a disappointment, not a significant setback. Look, Iraq is in the middle of a conflict, disagreement among people about the future. The constitution is supposed to bring them together.

They set themselves a target of August 15 to produce a draft. They are very close. They ran out of time last night. And they gave themselves an additional week. That was allowed in the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Daryn, of course an additional week is not a lot time here. And U.S. officials are in overdrive trying to push, trying to make sure they hit that next deadline -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne, let's talk about what's happening outside the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Protesting mother Cindy Sheehan still there. And things not really getting resolved, it doesn't look like.

MALVEAUX: Well, our own Dana Bash is there. And she's been basically keeping an eye on all of the developments. And it seems as if the tension really seems to be increasing here, that things have deteriorated somewhat outside of the ranch.

What we've been told, what Dana's been told by the McLennan County Police, is that a man was arrested last night for criminal mischief. That he was found by the side of the road in their truck that had a flat tire that he was fixing. A piece of wood that had like actually caught in one of those tires damaged the tire.

That piece of wood allegedly from the row of crosses, wooden crosses that had been set aside across from the Crawford ranch, essentially a memorial to fallen soldiers that had been desecrated the night before. So clearly there's a lot of people who are upset about this. They believe that this particular man may have been responsible for that.

We're waiting for a bond hearing out there in Crawford, Texas. We've also seen, Dana has seen arguments erupting outside because of this whole situation, the desecration of that memorial site. We expect to actually hear from Cindy Sheehan and some of her supporters later in the afternoon -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House. Thank you.

Yes, we do have information on that Cindy Sheehan news conference. She's expected to hold a telephone news conference today at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. She says she's going to discuss the candlelight vigils planned around the country tomorrow and her efforts to meet with President Bush.

Later this hour, I'll talk with a key Iraqi politician. Adnan Pachachi claims there are too many American and British fingerprints on the new constitution.

And coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, babies may be cute and irresistible, but airport screeners have stopped some of them from boarding flights. We'll tell you why.

The safety concerns over an acne drug lead to a first of its kind registry. That's in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

: Ooh. You know what, guys? This is not a good look for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look like a man-o-lantern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We dare you not to laugh. He's the most popular virgin around. Steve Carell stars -- all right -- a star and executive producer of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," joins me to talk about his new movie.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Gas is fueling inflation. The government says overall prices rose a half-percent in July. Gas led the way, showing a six percent increase. With pump prices at a record average, $2.55 a gallon, you've got to stretch those MPGs.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: A cute little baby face, but it's the name that is causing problems at airports. We're going to tell you why some babies are ending up on the government's no-fly list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The United States is deporting a California-based Muslim cleric. That tops our CNN "Security Watch" this hour.

Shabbir Ahmed will be sent back to Pakistan because of a visa violation. An FBI agent alleges Ahmed worked as a recruiter for an al Qaeda-linked group. Ahmed denies that allegation. He is one of five men arrested at a mosque in the farming community of Lodi, California. Two others have already been deported.

Ahmed denies any link to terrorism, but he says he didn't fight immigration charges because the public will now see him as a terrorist and he fears for his safety.

All right, don't laugh about this next one. Some airlines are keeping babies off of planes. Not because they're crying, because their names match those or are similar to possible terrorists on a government no-fly list.

Two Washington-area couples say they were not allowed to born with their children. One of the infants was 1, the other 11 months.

The Transportation Security Administration says it tells airlines not to deny boarding to kids under the age of 12. Some, though, obviously are doing that anyway.

The government is thinking about changing some post-9/11 rules regarding air travel. CNN's Mary Snow takes a look now from New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Is it time toll allow airline passengers to carry some items banned in the wake of 9/11? The Transportation Security Administration thinks so. The spokesman says the agency is looking into easing restrictions on things like razor blades, scissors, knives under five inches, as well as lifting requirements for passengers to remove their shoes.

Also on the table, exempting groups like lawmakers and pilots from screening. A spokesman says the TSA is looking to update it's approach towards threats and be more consumer friendly.

"The process," he says, "is to stimulate creative thinking and challenge conventional beliefs. In the end it will allow us to work smarter and better as we secure America's transportation system."

Passengers have mixed feelings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is kind of a bad idea. You know? I mean, people want to feel safe on the airline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's pretty obvious that most senators are not going to turn out to be terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Swinging to the other end of the pendulum isn't the answer for me. Moderation, and common sense.

SNOW: Some security experts applaud the move, saying screeners are not being used most effectively.

RAPHAEL RON, NEW AGE SECURITY SOLUTIONS: And we should not waste our resources on our searches of people that they do not carry risk whatsoever. This is a waste of resources, it takes us -- it takes our focus away from where the problems are.

SNOW: Other security experts say easing security restrictions is a mistake.

GEORGE BAURIES, CRITERION STRATEGIES: To change regulations right in the midst of what we saw a couple weeks ago in London, it really does not make sense. And I don't think the American public would be pleased knowing that the only thing between an individual getting on an aircraft with a sharp-edged instrument would be the kind of sixth sense that an individual from TSA might have as they go through.

SNOW (on camera): The debate over whether easing some security measures is a help or hazard is right now just debate. A spokesperson for the TSA says the agency will meet in the near future to consider the proposals.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's check in on weather news. Jacqui Jeras has that for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, for the last six months now, CNN has been tracking a potentially dangerous problem with some Ford vehicles made with an electrical switch that Ford stopped using two years ago. Certain models could possibly erupt in flames while parked and turned off, and in some cases, allegedly catch fire in people's garages, burning down entire houses.

So what's the government agency that is charged with overseeing the vehicle's safety doing about it? Our correspondent Drew Griffin searches for the answer and investigates whether enough is being done to protect you.

We have him here now with an update -- hello.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Daryn, hello to you.

A Washington family here in Georgia has decided to sue Ford to find out exactly why there has been no warning. You know, for months, the family thought they were to blame, possibly because of a fireplace they left on the night of the fire. It was not until months after the fire that they learned the cruise control switch from reports like ours may have actually started their fire.

Ford says there's no way to know what caused the fire that killed little Blake Washington. But like so many other people we talked to, including Ford owners, the Washingtons want to find out why there was no warning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice over): The federal agency that is supposed to make sure cars and trucks are safe also issued no warning to the public about the nearly 15 million non-recalled vehicles. For months, CNN asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about any advice or any warning it might give to Ford owners whose vehicle contained the switch.

Finally, last week, the agency known as NHTSA sent us this e- mail: "It is as close as NHTSA has come to issuing a warning. It says, 'Any Ford owner experiencing problems related to the cruise control switch should get the problem repaired at a Ford dealer. And until do you, NHTSA now tells Ford owners, do not park your vehicle in your garage.'"

That warning has never been placed on NHTSA's Web site. NHTSA never took out an ad. The agency never held a press conference.

Nancy Lopez is a friend of the Washingtons.

NANCY LOPEZ, FRIEND OF CAR FIRE VICTIM: If somebody knows, government, whoever, knows that there's a potential risk for such a tragedy, why wouldn't you say something? Why would you not give people the opportunity to fix it before something terrible and tragic happens? I can't understand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time, we'll have an in-depth report trying to answer that question. But NHTSA says they have acted appropriately, because right now fire rates of non-recalled vehicles are not the same as those found in recalled ones.

KAGAN: Well, let's talk about those recalled vehicles. Sixteen million cars and trucks?

GRIFFIN: Sixteen millions cars or trucks have been built with the same or similar switch.

KAGAN: But...

GRIFFIN: Just 1.1 million of those have actually been recalled.

KAGAN: What about the other 15 or so million?

GRIFFIN: That is the big question. NHTSA, of course, investigating fire rates, but tells us the fire rates alone in those non-recalled vehicles are not as big as a threat right now to order a recall. But again, the investigations -- there have been four, one is active right now -- are still wide open.

KAGAN: All right. And we'll be looking for more tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Thank you, Drew.

Straight ahead, teens and gangs a deadly combination, but one that mixes all too often. Up next, one man captures in words the tough choices that many adolescents face. And his son captures it in pictures.

(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