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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Italy Mourns; 'War Room'; Syrian Pullback Plan; Black Box Warnings

Aired March 7, 2005 - 05:30   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."

Funeral services now under way in Rome for an Italian intelligence agent. You're looking at live pictures. Nicola Calipari was killed on Friday by U.S. troops in Iraq in what the White House calls a horrific accident. Calipari died trying to protect Giuliana Sgrena, an Italian journalist who had just been released by kidnappers.

A summit meeting this morning in Damascus could produce a timetable for a pullback of Syrian troops in Lebanon, and phase one of a two-stage withdrawal could begin later today.

An update on the condition of Pope John Paul II is expected about an hour from now. On Sunday, the pope appeared at his hospital window and he blessed the crowd.

President Bush heads south later this week trying to sell his plan to change Social Security. The president will visit Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

To the Forecast Center.

Good morning -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Now to Italy, a nation in mourning. We've been showing you live pictures of services now under way in Rome for an intelligence agent who was killed by American soldiers in Iraq. The U.S. military says it was a terrible mistake, but the Italian journalist riding in the car tells a very different story.

CNN's Alessio Vinci has that account from Rome. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Giuliana Sgrena called her account "La mia verita." In English, "my truth." It is her initial description of what happened in Baghdad on Friday published in the Sunday edition of "Il Manifesto," the communist newspaper for which she filed dozens of reports before being kidnapped in early February, most of her articles highly critical of the U.S. military invasion of Iraq.

In her account of what happened, she writes that she was traveling to the Baghdad Airport. With her, two Italian intelligence agents. One is driving. The other is Nicola Calipari, the officer who negotiated her release and who paid the ultimate price to save her life.

GIULIANA SGRENA, JOURNALIST (through translator): Nicola Calipari sat next to me. The driver twice informed the embassy and in Italy that we were heading towards the airport, which I knew was heavily patrolled by U.S. troops. They told me that we were less than a kilometer away when I only remember fire. At that point, a rain of fire and bullets hit us.

VINCI: The U.S. has said that the car was speeding towards the checkpoint, ignoring warnings to stop. But Sgrena writes, the car was not speeding and calls the shooting unjustified.

SGRENA (through translator): The driver started yelling that we were Italians. "We're Italians. We're Italians." Nicola Calipari threw himself on me to protect me. And immediately, I repeat, immediately, I heard his last breath as he was dying on me.

VINCI: The autopsy reveals he was hit by a single bullet to his head. Sgrena, who is currently recovering from her wounds in an Italian hospital, also remembers something one of her captors said moments before releasing her.

SGRENA (through translator): Don't give any signals of your presence with us, otherwise the Americans could intervene. It was the confirmation that I didn't want to hear. It was altogether the most happy and most dangerous moment. If we bumped into someone, meaning American military, there would be an exchange of fire. My captors were ready and they would have responded.

VINCI: By the time Sgrena's car reached the American checkpoint, her captors were no longer with her. Moments before coming under fire she writes the mood in the car was joyful.

SGRENA (through translator): The car kept on the road, going under an underpass full of puddles and almost losing control to avoid them. We all incredibly laughed. It was liberating. Losing control of the car in a street full of water in Baghdad and maybe wind up in a bad car accident after all I had been through would really be a tale I would not be able to tell.

VINCI: Instead, her tale is of a harrowing experience, a day of joy turned to tragedy. Italian media suggests a ransom of several million dollars was paid for her release. Government officials are not commenting. But Calipari was an experienced negotiator, who previously secured the release of other Italian hostages in Baghdad. On Sunday, his body lay in state at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Rome. Thousands came to pay their last respects.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: To "The War Room" now to help us better understand the rules of engagement and why this is a difficult issue for the U.S. military in Iraq.

Live to our senior international editor David Clinch now.

Good morning -- David.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Hey, first of all, tell us what the rules are here as it applies to checkpoints and the U.S. military.

CLINCH: Right. Well we've looked at this issue before. And in a general sense, the rules of engagement at a U.S. military checkpoint are issuing hand signals of warning. Lights, if it's at night, as was the case here, flashing lights, handheld lights. Warning shots if the car is still approaching. And then of course there is the authority to fire at any vehicle that is approaching a U.S. checkpoint. So those rules of engagement are well established.

There are of course other questions that the U.S. military will be looking into in this particular case. One, there are pretty strong indications in the early part of this investigation that this was a temporary checkpoint, that is that it was set up on this particular road ad hoc by the U.S. military, something that happens all the time.

But, nevertheless, does that have, does the circumstances of where the checkpoint is and when it was set up have any effect on the rules of engagement? And the answer, generally speaking, from the U.S. military is no. The rules are the rules no matter whether it's temporary or permanent.

Now of course in a permanent situation, you might also have signposts. We've looked in previous cases where Iraqi civilians have been hit at checkpoints, which they approached at speed. And the U.S. military has said we've set up signposts, they are clear for everybody to see. We can't understand why people would drive through those signposts.

Now in this case, it's not clear whether there were any signposts. And if it was a temporary checkpoint, would the Italians have had any notice that it was there?

Of course also the question, since the Italians were freeing their own hostage here, what kind of communication took place? And this will be something both the U.S. and the Italians will be looking into. There are indications that the Italians informed the U.S. in a general sense they were rescuing the hostage, but did they note exactly when this convoy was coming along this road? That's a very key question that both sides will be looking into.

COSTELLO: And we know all about the fog of war and about how many times a suicide bomber has gotten through those checkpoints, and that's really the biggest concern here. The other thing that we should keep in mind is the political, perhaps what some might call a bias on the part of this Italian journalist.

CLINCH: Well certainly this Italian journalist, in particular, the one who is making the accusations now, she, of course, was injured in this incident, has a history of writing from Iraq and from outside Iraq of her criticism of the U.S. military there.

And the accusation, the basis of her accusation at this point, and it sort of seems to have softened a little bit over the last 24 hours, but it still, in essence, is that if a ransom was paid for her to be freed, in her opinion, the U.S. military, which makes no secret that it does not want ransoms paid for any hostage to be freed, would have been angered by that and might have targeted her. That of course will be looked into by the Italians. The U.S. military denying of course that any issue like that would come into play here.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, live in Atlanta this morning, thank you.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, is Syria the key to peace in the Middle East? We'll talk to an expert about how the U.S. should deal with that country.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

A former U.S. official tells CNN the CIA has transferred terrorism suspects overseas for interrogation. Various reports say detainees are secretly taken to countries that condone torture. The White House says the U.S. does not -- quote -- "export torture."

The majority of small cars, domestic and foreign, rated poor in side-impact crash tests. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the Chevy Cobalt and the Toyota Corolla passed, but only with optional side airbags.

In money news, expect more pain at the gas pump. I'm sure you've noticed by now. The Lundberg Survey says the average retail price jumped to $2 a gallon as of Friday. That's up nearly 7 cents in two weeks. Lundberg says a combination of factors could push pump prices even higher. In culture, "The Pacifier" kept movie audiences pretty content over the weekend. The Vin Diesel flick was tops at the box office with $30.2 million. John Travolta's "Get Shorty" sequel, "Be Cool," finished in second place.

In sports, Illinois' perfect season sank with a last second three-pointer by Ohio State. Isn't that something? Illinois had won 29 straight games. They were trying to become the first team in more than a dozen years to enter the NCAA tournament with no losses, but thanks to Ohio State, no go -- Chad.

MYERS: They will still go in, obviously, as the No. 1 seed, Carol, but they didn't score a point. The last 12 points were all Ohio State. It was just -- it was just not a game that they wanted to finish it seemed like.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.

Syrian and Lebanese leaders are just minutes away from talks to plan a pullback of Syrian troops in Lebanon. It could change the entire make up of the Middle East.

Joining me live from London to discuss the importance of this is Middle East expert Robert Springborg of the University of London and Director of the London Middle East Institute.

Welcome.

ROBERT SPRINGBORG, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Morning.

COSTELLO: The plan right now is a two-part withdrawal. What exactly does that mean?

SPRINGBORG: Well the first stage is a withdrawal to the Bekaa Valley, as provided for both in the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 and in the Taif accord of 1989, but the difference between the two is the former then requires full withdrawal. The Taif plan, which is what the Syrian president really put on the table on Saturday in his speech, is for a stage to be of a partial withdrawal to the border, not a complete withdrawal from the Bekaan (ph). So that's right now an issue presumably on the table in Damascus.

COSTELLO: Well the interesting thing that I found is the leader of Hezbollah is planning large protests to kind of protest a foreign influence in Lebanese politics. How might this play in to that two- part withdrawal plan?

SPRINGBORG: I don't know that the demonstration is necessarily targeted around the issue of the withdrawal. I think the demonstration is more to the effect of stating by Hezbollah, and the Shi'a community more generally, look it, we're here, we're an important factor in Lebanese politics, and whatever happens, we're going to continue to exist. And you cannot necessarily disarm us as part of this withdrawal plan, which is provided for in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.

So the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, is quite a clever figure indeed. And he sees writing on the wall, I think, for that troop withdrawal. So he is not going to sacrifice his movement, or the Shi'a community more generally, to prevent -- to try to prevent that withdrawal from occurring.

COSTELLO: And just to remind our viewers about Hezbollah, linked to the bombings in Beirut back in 1983 of the U.S. Embassy and also the Marine barracks there. They have a legitimate political party within Lebanon right now, though, don't they?

SPRINGBORG: Well they do indeed. Two elections back, they won more seats than any other party. They now have a dozen or so seats to 128-member parliament. So they have both the political wing and the military wing. And the issue of course is the military wing and whether they should continue to exist in a privileged status, because all other private militias were essentially disbanded as a result of the Taif accord. So there is this anomaly and the Security Council Resolution 1559 calls for that anomaly to be removed.

COSTELLO: So the demonstrations that they plan might dwarf the pro democracy demonstrations that took place in the past. Again, how might this affect the withdrawal of Syrian troops?

SPRINGBORG: Well if Damascus chooses to try to say look it, there is not agreement among the Lebanese on the withdrawal of Lebanese troops, then Taif, which provides for a consensus among the Lebanese on that withdrawal, they can say well look it, the Taif accord takes preeminence over Resolution 1559 and we should therefore not withdrawal.

Now this would be right in the face of the U.N. and the world community, and the Syrians would be hard pressed to maintain it. But they could maintain that position if they really wanted to gamble. I doubt that they will, but it's possible.

COSTELLO: You never know. Robert Springborg of the University of London joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you, sir.

Chivalry isn't dead, why President Clinton slept on the floor. That story still ahead on DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Those FDA black box warnings that come with your prescription drugs, usually not a riveting read, but ignoring them could be disastrous, maybe even fatal.

More on this now from our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ADRIENNE MIMS, PHYSICIAN: Now, remembering that medicine, did it cause any problems when you were taking it before?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Adrienne Mims finds herself talking about drug safety more and more these days. Patients are concerned about recent FDA warnings and are confused by what exactly a black box warning means.

MIMS: When it's issued by the FDA, it means that this is the most serious of the warnings, that there could be complications, including death, from the use of a medication.

GUPTA: Problem is, how many patients actually see the warnings in those little inserts?

MIMS: If a consumer got the actual black box warning, they often toss them. And they probably should toss them because it's not really written in patient language.

GUPTA: Nowadays, many pharmacies provide easier to understand inserts, but the message is the same.

MIMS: Nothing is safe for everybody. And so whenever you get a medication, even over-the-counter, do look at the warnings.

GUPTA (on camera): Now the FDA does not keep track of the number of drugs that carry these black boxes, but it is estimated that several hundred of the approximately 10,000 it has approved do carry these warnings.

(voice-over): The best advice is to be an educated patient. For example, know if you're in the subset of patients that may be harmed by a drug. With ace inhibitors, a heart medicine, pregnant women can be affected. With oral contraceptives, smokers need to be careful. Antidepressants will soon carry labels for children and adolescents. And a decision on labeling for arthritis medicines called COX-2 inhibitors is now under consideration by the FDA.

MIMS: Let's try another maneuver.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: For more on this or any other health story, head to our Web site. The address, CNN.com/health.

We're back in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time to check our "Web Clicks" this morning. We're always interested in what you're clicking on to on CNN.com. And one of the most popular stories, Chad, is about President Clinton and the elder President Bush. MYERS: You thought he was sleeping on his floor at home, didn't you? No, he's sleeping on the floor in the plane. You can believe it.

COSTELLO: Because you know that President Bush and President Clinton went over to help out the tsunami victims and tour the areas. There you see them. But on the plane they flew over on, there was only one large bedroom and one bed.

MYERS: And the elder Bush, being 80 years old, President Clinton said you take the bed, I'm going to go in the other room and play poker. But he really didn't. That was just a ploy. In fact, when the elder Bush got up and looked around the corner, he was sleeping on the floor.

COSTELLO: Isn't that nice. And President Bush said he really did appreciate that.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: He did.

And the other story people are really clicking on to in droves are about these small car crash tests.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Not good news here.

MYERS: Not really. The Neon took it hard. These are the side- impact air crashes. Some of the airbags helping out a little bit, but a lot of poor rated cars. The small cars, you just expect, you can't get hit by a big car or this big thing at 31 miles an hour and expect that car to hold up pretty well. It's a small car, it's built light, it's built to get good gas mileage.

COSTELLO: Exactly. We're going to have much more on this in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


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