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CNN Live Today

Emotional Moments in Gaza Withdrawal; Community Vigils Held for Grieving Iraq Families

Aired August 17, 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: Let's take a look at what's happening now, in the news. In the West Bank, three Palestinians are dead after an Israeli driver allegedly opened fire. Police say the suspect typically gives rides to Palestinian workers in the settlement of Shilo. Authorities say the man grabbed a gun from an Israeli guard and show two Palestinians in his car. Police say he then killed another Palestinian and wounded others in a nearby industrial area.
Here in the U.S., Cindy Sheehan, the mother at the center of an anti-war protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch is expected to hold a news conference any minute now. We'll go there live as soon as she begins. Sheehan is demanding a meeting with President Bush.

In Iraq, four people have been arrested after a trio of insurgent bombings today killed at least 43 Iraqis and wounded 88 others. Two of the blasts were car bombs at a bus station. The third explosion was near a hospital where the wounded are being treated. Also, the U.S. military says one American soldier died yesterday in Baghdad, and another soldier was killed Monday in Mosul.

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

And now, to a very emotional scene. Israeli soldiers dragging Jewish settlers from their homes in Gaza today. They're simply enforcing a government order to evacuate the territory. International correspondent John Vause is in the largest Jewish settlement now, in Gaza.

Hello.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Right now, in Neveh Dekalim, a number of the settlers are burning what's left of their homes. If you look at this house behind me, you can see the smoke rising from the back yard there. Earlier, the owner of this house went through with a crowbar, smashing windows and walls inside.

And if we cross over the road, just over here, just through where all these policemen are standing. In fact, if you look in the distance there, you can see another house is burning. The roof has caught fire. The Fire Brigade arrived a short time ago to bring that fire under control. The people who own these homes say, in many ways, this is a symbolic protest. They do now want their homes left behind. They don't want to be leaving Gush Katif and the Gaza Strip to begin with.

It's all really a moot point anyway. These homes will be destroyed. The Israeli government does not want Palestinian militants to be moving into these homes. And the Palestinian authority does not want the homes either. It's just simply not suitable for the kind of high density living which the Palestinian wants.

But before we get to that area of demolishing these homes, they have to get the settlers out first. And if you look around me here, you can see all of these police, who are now on standby, to go through these homes to remove the remaining settlers who are still here.

It is very slow going, Fredricka, and the reason for that is because the Israeli government and the Israeli police say they are being as flexible as possible when it comes to this evacuation of the settlers. One area of concern, though, here in Neveh Dekalim, is in fact the synagogue. It's up the road that way a bit, about a mile or so away.

Now, inside the synagogue, a number of the protesters have gathered. They're surrounded by police and army officers on the outside. And we're now waiting to see what happens with the protesters inside. The IDF and the police say they will be the last to go -- Fredricka?

KAGAN: Actually it's Daryn, but...

VAUSE: Daryn. Sorry.

KAGAN: That's okay, John. You've got more things to worry about there where you are. John Vause, live from Gaza. Thank you.

I want to go live now to Crawford, Texas. Cindy Sheehan, the protesting mother, holding a news conference. Let's listen for a bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY SHEEHAN, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: ... but there's Camp Caseys springing up all over the country. People who can't come to Crawford, Texas, and people who have been here and had to leave but still want to keep the atmosphere of Camp Casey going. So we are very, very, very, like I said, just amazed at the amount of outpouring of love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The one in D.C. has over 400 people signed up for it right now, the vigil. So we think that those are going to be really good tonight. And I have some military families and Iraq veterans against the war who are going to talk about the vigils in their communities right now.

CHARLIE ANDERSON, IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR: Good morning. I'm Charlie Anderson from Iraq Veterans Against the War. My home town in Norfolk, Virginia, will be hosting a vigil tonight and they'll also be doing a vigil tomorrow night as well. The local community didn't want to try to -- they wanted to have different vigils in different parts of the Hampton Roads.

We'd like to encourage people to attend vigils wherever their local communities are. And anyone they can get here to come to ours would be wonderful. The support from the nation, the support from this community, has been absolutely phenomenal.

AIDEN DELGADO, IRAQ VETERAN: Hi, my name's Aiden Delgado (ph). I'm an Iraq veteran against the war. I'm from the Sarasota, Florida. I just wanted to say about the vigils, and from my perspective as an Iraq veteran, I just want to thank everybody for supporting the troops. Because never in my life have I felt so supported than being here in the peace movement and hearing all these vigils.

And these are the real people supporting the troops in a meaningful way. More so than anyone sticking a yellow ribbon bumper sticker on their car. These people are going out and protesting and trying to save the soldiers' lives. These are the people who are really supporting us. And behalf of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, I really just want to say thank you for everyone, and encourage them to continue to support the troops in a real way.

QUESTION: Are these all at the same time tonight?

DELGADO: I don't know. I can't imagine they're going to coordinate them across the country. But there's one going on in Sarasota, there's one going on in everybody's hometown that I know of.

KAGAN: We've been listening in to a news conference in Crawford, Texas. It was started by Cindy Sheehan, the mother who has been very vocal, waiting outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, trying to get a meeting with him. Talking about candlelight vigils that they're trying to set up across the country today.

Also hearing from a few Iraq veterans that say they are now against the war. Cindy Sheehan being a very vocal mother, saying that she lost her son, that it's time to bring the troops home. Not all mothers who have suffered that same fate agree with Cindy Sheehan. Two of those spoke earlier with our Soledad O'Brien. Let's listen to what they have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN JOHNSON, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: I think if he does, he's starting a whole new ball game as far as setting a precedent. When she leaves, then other people are going to be wanting to meet with him if they have a disagreement about one of his policies.

So I think he's just, you know, protecting himself as far as that goes by not meeting with her. I'm not for the protest. I believe that we should stay the course. We need to be there. To me, in a way, she's disgracing Casey because Casey was over there trying to serve his country and help the Iraqi people. And by what she's doing, it's kind of taking away from the meaning of his death. ROSEMARY PALMER, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: At this point, he's starting to come off as Darth Vader verses Luke Skywalker, you know. The force of evil to many people, which I don't think he wants that image to come across to people. And so she's gaining more support because of his refusal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And those were two mothers, who like Cindy Sheehan, have lost sons in the Iraq war with different opinions on whether President Bush should or not meet with Cindy Sheehan once again.

Lot of news coming out of Gaza today, as settlers removed from their homes. We'll go back their live and talk about the situation just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We go back to Gaza now. The Israeli pull out is getting tough now that the deadline for voluntary withdrawal has passed. The military is using force to evacuate residents and protesters. Our guest, reporter Hisham Melhem, has been following the Israeli disengagement and joins us now from Washington.

Good morning, thank you for being here.

HISHAM MELHEM, DC BUREAU CHIEF, AN-NAHAR: Thank you.

KAGAN: Let's look at the next step past when the settles are removed from their homes. Are the Palestinians ready to take over this area and keep it safe?

MELHEM: I think the Palestinian Authority is ready, but the Palestinian Authority needs support. It needs the support of the United States, international community, the Arab states. But more importantly, it needs the support of the Israelis directly.

I'll give you a simple example. Continued Israeli settlements in the West Bank, for instance, which is taking place at this moment, undermines the authority and the moral voice of President Mahmoud Abbas to stand up to those elements within the Palestinian society like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, who are arguing and saying essentially, that this move -- the Israeli move and disengagement from Gaza is only a prelude for more intensification of Israeli settlements and a grip on the West Bank.

So this could be meaningful only if you put it in a larger context, which is this is a promising first step, because it is setting a precedent. This is the first time the Israelis are vacating Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. But if would be meaningful if it is followed by the revival of the road map and negotiations over the West Bank, that would lead essentially to the realization of President Bush's vision, which is two states roughly on the...

KAGAN: Hisham, let me just jump in for a second. I want to get back to a point you were making in the middle of that thought. And you were bringing up Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad. There is a lot of in-fighting, a lot of struggle within the Palestinian movement, about who is going to control this area. Does Mahmoud Abbas, does Palestinian authority have the power, have the wherewithal, to be in control, and over those organizations?

MELHEM: I think he will be in control. But I would agree with you, it would be a precarious control, because Hamas and the Jihad -- particularly Hamas because it is the larger one of the two, -- is positioning itself to be not only a major, but also an important player in the security domain. And that's why it is extremely important for Mahmoud Abbas to appear as if he's in control, to have the moral as well as the political authority to control the situation.

KAGAN: How does he do that?

MELHEM: Well, by getting support from the United States, from the Arab states, helping him in training Palestinian security forces. And Israel is making it easy for him by not maintaining a total grip on Gaza. The Israelis are leaving Gaza as settlers, but they're going to remain control over the crossing borders, the air space, and the territorial waters of Gaza.

We should not allow Gaza to become a large prison, so to speak, and isolated. And we should help the people of Gaza to make that strip of land, which is the most densely populated are in the world, somewhat viable economically. It cannot be viable economically on its own, and that's why it has to be part of a wider Palestinian state.

KAGAN: What about the fears we're hearing on the Israeli side, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying this is just going to be a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists.

MELHEM: Well I would argue -- one would argue that the Israeli policies so far have played into Hamas and the Islamic jihad. The Israeli physical control over Gaza did not prevent Hamas from emerging. People talk about Hamas and the Jihad, and they don't realize that Hamas and Jihad are recent developments in Palestinians history.

For a long time, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza continued before the existence of Hamas and the West Bank. So this is really a red herring. This is not a convincing argument. And one way of undermining Hamas, if you want, is to build up a Palestinian Authority that will have the moral and political will and authority, but only if this is part of a broader picture, i.e., a state that includes the West Bank and Gaza, too.

KAGAN: Hisham Melhem, thank you for your insights and your experience in covering the story. Appreciate it.

We are talking technology ahead. There is a worm out there, eating its way through computers. Will your company be its next bite?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: Several companies, including us here at CNN, are struggling to get back on their high-tech feet. Invaders wormed their way into computer systems, causing an ugly rash of reboot-itis. Our tech correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: There's a reason it's called malicious software. It goes by a couple names, Zotob or Rbot, but the names don't matter. What matters is that the latest Internet worm has caused a loss of productivity and maybe worse for several major companies and even home users across the country.

PETER ALLOR, INTERNET SECURITY SYSTEMS: It's spreading across the Internet. It's looking for vulnerable machines. And if it finds a vulnerable machine, it opens a command on your machine and downloads a file to your machine. And from there, your machine will try to infect other machines as well.

SIEBERG: It spreads without the user even seeing it. There are no email attachments. It looks for computers running Windows 2000 or some versions of Windows XP, and ones that have an unpatched Microsoft hole. When the worm finds a hole, it causes the machines to reboot over and over again, and could open a back door, so someone out there could take over your computer.

DEBBY FRY WILSON, MICROSOFT: Certainly, a worm, by definition, is malicious software. It is somebody intending to cause harm to computer users. This is criminal activity and we are working with law enforcement to identify who's responsible.

SIEBERG: Security analysts say it's unclear who is to blame or whether certain companies were targeted. With CNN, ABC, and the "New York Times" all reeling from this latest computer worm, some speculate it's at least an attempt to garner media attentions. The best point at this point, head to microsoft.com and get the patch.

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Some people worshipping the sun in the search for the perfect tan. But can that turn into an addiction? That's our "Daily Dose," coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: You think the folks in Pittsburgh might want to call it Four River Stadium? A fourth river flowing through Pittsburgh. Big water mane break. And we can be a little light-hearted on this just because we're hearing of no injuries or damage at this point. But this is flowing through downtown Pittsburgh, just outside the KDKA studios, by the way.

Maybe somebody should send a big plug on that FedEx truck. That would certainly help out. But a huge water mane break, flowing the water through Pittsburgh. Workers having trouble locating exactly where the water break is in that water mane. So wishing them well on cleaning up a river they had not planned on.

We expect to learn more today about the health of civil rights matriarch Coretta Scott King. She's in the hospital this morning. The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. went to the emergency room yesterday. Hospital officials say she is in fair condition, they would not elaborate on why she was admitted. The family is expected to issue a statement later today.

In California, a man severely injured in a chimpanzee attack is back home after months in the hospital. St. James Davis and his wife were attacked by two chimpanzees while visiting an annual sanctuary in March. He suffered severe facial and genital injuries and lost a foot. His wife was also injured but not as seriously.

Most of us who know people who look tan all the time, even in the middle of winter. But for some people, soaking up the sun may actually be an addiction. Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're talking 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: The 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, you know, like a snow ball.

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

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

GUPTA: The 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 sun. There's 17 questions they asked sunbathers. 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 or 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 said that this is not like a cigarette addiction or an alcohol addiction. But there is a psychological and physical component to the sun addiction as well. The psychological one perhaps easier 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. 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?" that's sort of an interesting question.

If you are someone who has had a history of skin cancer, for example, then you are someone who needs to get help if you are still 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 your family, then it might be time to get help as well.

There's 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're 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)

KAGAN: Your daily dose of health news is always just a click away. Log on to CNN.com/health for the latest medical news. You'll also find special reports and a health library.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I'm wondering, what's it like outside? And Rob Marciano is here to tell me.

ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST, AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY: Across the southeast, where we're based, it's that same soupy kind of...

KAGAN: I'm looking out the window.

MARCIANO: There's no windows where you are.

KAGAN: Yes, I'll show you when you come downstairs.

MARCIANO: OK, there's no windows up here, that's for sure. That's hwy nobody visits. Here you go, Daryn, looking at daytime highs today across the U.S. This is much more comfortable today than it was a week ago in places like Chicago, places like St. Louis, places like D.C., New York, and Boston. I mean, mid-80s, you'll take that. Lower levels of humidity is definitely more comfortable. 84 degrees in Denver, Colorado.

There are a couple of spots that are seeing showers, sprinkled across the central plains and the South as well. Fort Smith, Arkansas, heading up towards Springfield, action there. It's pretty mundane stuff right now, but later on today, we may see some of these grow into larger thunderstorms. The potential for severe weather is there.

South of Lincoln, Nebraska, we're looking at a little batch that's heading into parts of Kansas as well. Up across the northern plains, towards the arrowhead (ph) of Minnesota, and across the border towards Canada, some lighter rain showers as well. And some sprinkles heading into the Olympic Mountains, or at least, I should say, across the cascades.

Seattle, Portland seeing a cooler trend today with an on-tour (ph) flow, and that's why you get your 66 degree high temperature across Seattle. How about tomorrow? If you're traveling to Orlando, 97 degrees. It was 83 for a low temperature yesterday in Miami. I mean, that's not cooling off by any stretch.

82 in New York City tomorrow for a day time high. That's pretty good looking weather. Warming up tomorrow, that warming trend begins to creep into places like St. Louis and Chicago. It'll be a nicer day tomorrow in Seattle and San Diego. And still hot across Dallas. So the heat will build back into the northeast, it looks like, the next couple days, but next week looks to be pretty nice again with some cooler weather.

Hurricane Irene, Daryn, heading out to sea. No problem there. We're watching this batch of cloud cover well east of Puerto Rico. That could develop into something more interesting. That's the latest from here. Back over to you.

KAGAN: Thank you so much. And for this hour, that's going to wrap it up. But don't go anywhere, the news continues right here on CNN. International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY" with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. I'm Daryn Kagan, I'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.

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