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CNN Live Today

Complications of Gaza Withdrawal; Three Palestinians Killed in West Bank Shooting; Sky High Oil Prices Break Records

Aired August 17, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on the half hour -- in fact, we are there. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
A sentencing hearing is under way right now for confessed BTK killer Dennis Rader. A live but delayed picture from that Wichita courtroom for you. Law enforcement officers are on the stand today, discussing in graphic detail each of the ten murder scenes. Relatives of the victims will be allowed to speak tomorrow. Prosecutors want Rader to get the strongest possible sentence, a minimum of 175 years without a chance of parole.

Afghan officials say an accident caused the crash of a NATO peacekeeping helicopter pilot. Seventeen Spanish soldiers died in the crash near Harat on Tuesday. Another NATO chopper apparently got too close to the doomed chopper. Spanish officials initially suggested hostile fire may have been a possible cause.

Microsoft is working with law enforcement to find out who set off a computer worm. At least 125 corporate systems, including us here at CNN, have been infected. The FBI says the computer problems don't seem to be part of a widespread attack. And most home computer users shouldn't be affected.

And closing arguments are scheduled to begin shortly in the nation's first civil trial concerning Vioxx. A Texas woman alleges the painkiller caused her husband's death. Merck took Vioxx off the market a year ago. A study showed it could double the risk of heart attack or stroke if taken in the long term.

The Israeli military says the historic withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza is 60 percent complete. Unarmed Israeli troops carted off protesters and negotiated with rabbis in the largest Jewish settlement. But there apparently is a problem in the West Bank, with a shooting involving -- allegedly involving Israeli gunmen.

Our Paula Hancocks is standing by in the West Bank with more on that -- Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest information we have -- it's just still coming in from the Israeli police -- is that an Israeli opened fire on Palestinians working in one of the West Bank settlements. Now this happened in the West Bank settlement called Shiloh, which is about 20 miles north of Jerusalem. The Israeli gunman was from a nearby settlement. He ran to the gate of the entrance of that settlement. He grabbed a gun from one of the soldiers that was standing there and then went straight to the industrial center within Shiloh settlement and opened fire on Palestinians there.

The latest information we have on casualties from the medics is one has been killed, one person is critically injured at the moment, and a number of others have been injured. And according to the police, the gunman has now been arrested.

KAGAN: All right. Paula Hancocks live from Jerusalem, thank you. We'll be back with you to get more information on that situation. Meanwhile, Israel's deputy prime minister Shimon Peres says history will justify the Gaza pullout. Earlier I had a chance to speak with the veteran Israeli politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: There is no future for our 8,000 people living in Gaza among a million and a half Palestinians. If Israel remained in the situation, we should just see anger, hatred, violence to all of them. And we have had to decide to make a choice for their future, for our future. It's clearly a painful decisions, but (INAUDIBLE) is being judged by its capacity to make a painful choice; not just to get some good headlines in the papers, but to get a right verdict in the books of history.

KAGAN: You mention democracy. Does Israel have to make a choice of democracy or being a Jewish state when you look at the demography and who is living in this part of the world?

PERES: It's inseparable. You cannot be a Jewish state without being democratic and we cannot be democratic without having a Jewish majority. A Jewish state is not a religious definition, but a democratic definition. We are a Jewish state because the Jewish people are a majority. If we should leave -- lose our majority, we should stop being Jewish.

There were two non-Arab, non-Muslim states in the Middle East. One was Lebanon, basically Christen; the other was Israel, basically Jewish. The Christian lost their majority in Lebanon, and it stopped being a Christen state. Alas, Israel insisted on keeping a majority, on keeping a democracy, never did a day of war, postponed a day of freedom, in the 57 years of the history of Israel.

KAGAN: Not everyone, of course, agrees with you on this pullout. There are those like former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has very strong feelings. He resigned the government saying that he believes Gaza will become a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists. Let's listen to a little bit of what he had to say earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FMR. ISRAELI FINANCE MINISTER: After having failed to persuade the prime minister and the cabinet, I've decided that I will not be party to it. And, nevertheless, even though I oppose it for security reasons, I think this will in all likelihood become a base of terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: What do you say to that, Mr. Peres, that this will become a breeding ground for terrorists?

PERES: I think it's unfounded. Will 8,000 Jewish people stop Gaza from those dangers? What is our (INAUDIBLE)? Suppose the settlers will remain, will the situation settle or become worse? More agitated, more impatient. So I hardly understand what Mr. Netanyahu is talking about.

You know, you have to fight terror in two ways. The actual terror, the existing terrorists, but also the reasons for terror and the people that support terror. By us remaining there, would we handle the reasons for terror, would we handle the people that support terror, or on the contrary? It would be grown in size and scope and bitterness.

KAGAN: And on a personal note, what would you say to those people today who are packing up and leaving the home that they love?

PERES: My heart is with them, but their mind must be with their nation. Nothing was done in order to hold them personally. We appreciate what they did, we appreciate what they feel, we can see their difficulties, but they must understand that the nation did not have a choice. And from time to time, you have to make a cool decision at the moment in order to build a better future for them, their children and for the whole of Israel.

KAGAN: Shimon Peres, thank you for your time today, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And joining us now with more insight David Makovsky. He is an award-winning journalist and the director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute. Good morning. Thanks for being here with us.

DAVID MAKOVSKY, DIR., PROJECT ON MIDDLE EAST PEACE: Good to be with you.

KAGAN: You say what we're seeing happen today and this week the Gaza is more than just a remover of settlers, more than the easing up on Palestinian movement. A lot more is at stake here. What is that?

MAKOVSKY: There's a lot at stake here. I see this move as a critical boost, both for the future of Israel, as Shimon Peres just said to you, and also for a two-state solution, which is central for American objectives, but more importantly for the future of Israelis and Palestinians themselves. Because if you look at what's been ailing this peace process since 1993 when you had that famous handshake is that neither side wanted to take on their rejectionist.

And I'm not here to make moral equivalences between bombs and bulldozers, but nobody wanted to do it and always said, you go first. Sharon cut through that and said I'll go first. And he really shattered a taboo because no one had taken out settlements since 1967...

KAGAN: Right.

MAKOVSKY: ... and creates a dynamic whereby you hope now the next step is that Abu Mazen, Mahmoud Abbas, will take on his rejectionists and redefine the peace process as being not just about land, but about reconciliation.

KAGAN: He did that...

MAKOVSKY: And that is critical.

KAGAN: Sharon made his move unilaterally. There are those -- his critics say, you know, yes, that's all very nice, well and good you're pulling out of Gaza and these settlements, but what you're really doing is trying to distract from what's happening in the West Bank.

MAKOVSKY: Look, I think first of all if this becomes a fiasco in Gaza, his political future is on the line. If this fails, then everything fails. The point here is we have a chance for a positive dynamic. We haven't had that in five years of terror and violence with this intifada. We've been in a long tunnel, and I believe this move, if done right, will embolden moderates, revitalize the center that was decimated with this intifada, and marginalize extremists. It's not going to be easy, but for the first time in five years, at least we have a chance. There was no chance until now.

KAGAN: Well, and let's see what's happening. I don't know if you heard our news a little bit earlier, but in the West Bank, in Shiloh, apparently an Israeli took a -- or a person, a citizen, took a gun of a soldier and started shooting on a group of Palestinians. We're hearing now as many as three people dead at this time.

When you have this day supposed to be a step toward peace and things like this happen, how does a straight line toward peace continue to take place?

MAKOVSKY: Look, it's -- obviously it's very tragic, and I think that this gunman doesn't reflect -- we've seen the pictures now, most of these people are leaving peacefully. But let's admit it, the worldview of these people has been shattered. They feel their sacrifices are not appreciated, they've been done in vain and they wanted to deter the Israeli public for from along the lines you said, and this deranged person, or whoever it is, was giving a lot of these -- wants to give these people a bad name. There's going to be tragedy here.

But what's important here is we've ended the state of paralysis that has existed for so long. And we might have many sad days ahead, but I think it's important that the trajectory remains forward, and that now there will be some reciprocal action needed on the Palestinian side and that will fuel an Israeli next step. It's not going to be easy. After all it is the Middle East, but at least we have a chance.

We'll be watching. David Makovsky, thank you for your insight today.

MAKOVSKY: My pleasure.

KAGAN: On to more world news now. An Italian court granted a British request to extradite a suspect in the failed July 21st bombings in London. Hamdi Issac was arrested in Rome last month. In a hearing this morning an Italian judge ruled that Issac should be extradited to Britain in the next 35 days. The extra time will allow Italian prosecutors to complete their investigations. Issac's lawyer is likely to appeal that ruling.

A British television network is reporting that a Brazilian man was behaving normally moments before police mistakenly shot him to death in a London subway station. John Charles De Menezes was shot eight times after being cornered in a subway car the day after the failed bombings. ITV News says its report was based on secret data obtained by the network.

In a statement today, British police said, quote, "We do not know from which organization or from whom the documents shown on television this evening has come. The IPCC investigation into the shooting is continuing. Our priority is to disclose any findings direct to the family, who will clearly be distressed they have received information on television concerning his death. The IPCC made it clear that we will not speculate or release partial information about the investigation, and that others should not do so. That remains the case." End of that quote from British officials.

Back here at home, we don't have to tell you this, you are paying more at the pump. But where is all of your money going? Coming up own CNN LIVE TODAY, the breakdown in the price per gallon to see who is getting in on the cut.

Plus, it was a computer-age stampede. See what was just so spectacular about this sale that landed some people in the hospital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Once again, another punch in the stomach for American motorists. Gas prices have set another record. Before adjusting for inflation, $2.56 a gallon for unleaded self-serve. That is the national average. Drivers, though, in San Diego have extra hurt. They're paying an average of $2.80 a gallon. So, with these spiralling prices, where does all your money go?

We're going to New York, where CNN's J.J. Ramberg is going to break down the price for us -- hey, J.J.

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. We've been getting a lot of questions over here about where our money goes because recently we heard about those record profits that some of the oil companies are reporting. So we went down and we broke the price down for you. And this is based on a gallon of gas costing $2.55. I'm a penny off from today, but I needed a day to do my calculations. So anyone who's got their calculators out there, give me a break on the penny.

But let's just start. The bulk of your money at $2.55 goes to crude. We all hear about how crude prices go up, then gas prices go up. That makes sense. It takes about 56 percent of what we're paying goes to crude. Now, keep in mind, though, it does take about ten days to two weeks for the price of crude to make its way all the way to our pocketbook, to what we pay at the pump. So if you see crude go up now, you're going to feel that at the gas pump in about ten days from now.

Now, the second big chunk goes to refining costs. That's about 60 cents, or about 24 percent. We've been hearing a lot this summer about how refineries have had an unusual number of stoppages and that they've been operating at peak capacity. Now, those stoppages do add a little bit of money to what we have to pay refineries, because, in part, people are afraid that refineries won't be able to keep pumping out gas so they rise up the price of gas. And also, it costs refineries a little bit to repair all of these costs.

Keep going up the chart. Distribution and marketing. That takes up about 8 cents or 3 percent of what we're paying for a gallon of gas. And this includes everything, from physically getting that gas from the refinery to the gas station, to the gas station marketing the brand of that oil company to consumers. And also keep in mind, stations do have a mark-up. They have to make some money here, too, so they have to, you know, bump it a few cents.

Finally, the next chunk, 44 cents, 17 percent, goes to taxes. This is split between federal, state, local and city taxes. This seems high to you? Just be happy you're not in Europe, where it's about 70 percent -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Thanks for those numbers. If you explain it, it doesn't make us feel better, but at least we can understand a little better. J.J., thank you.

Let's go ahead and take a look at other stories making news coast to coast.

We know very little right now about the health of Coretta Scott King. The widow of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., entered an Atlanta hospital on Tuesday. The hospital says that she is in fair condition. A statement from the family only asks that people keep Mrs. King in their prayers.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling for a major overhaul in the state sex offender laws. One proposal would require paroled molesters to wear satellite tracking devices for life. Schwarzenegger also wants to increase the penalty for possession of child pornography. State legislature ends its session in just a few weeks. That leaves very little time to act on the bill this year. And a computer sale led to a mob scene. This is Richmond, Virginia. A school system was selling used Apple iBooks for $50. Those laptops usually cost $1,000 new. Thousands of people waited in line for hours and when the sale started, there was pushing, screaming, even trampling. Seventeen people were injured. People called in backup just to restore order.

In Hawaii, clouds of thick, dark smoke from a big brushfire have covered parts of Honolulu for the last few days. At last report, the blaze was about 75 percent contained. The flames have scorched at least 2,800 acres. So, it's overcast in Hawaii. It's the smoke. Otherwise things looking good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: That's going to do it for this hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.

A lot more still ahead. We're keeping our eyes on the sentencing of serial killer Dennis Rader. That is a live picture from the Wichita, Kansas, courtroom. He is getting closer to learning his fate.

Plus, some say they're addicted to tanning. What's up about that? We're going to talk about the science behind sun addiction as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins after a quick break.

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