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African Leaders in U.S.; Africa Debt Relief; New Saddam Video

Aired June 13, 2005 - 12:00 ET

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

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

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Debt relief and democracy top the agenda as U.S. President George W. Bush hosts five African leaders at the White House.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: In the hot seat, an Iraqi judge questioning Saddam Hussein about a 1980s massacre as an expected trial draws closer.

VERJEE: And a long, delayed search for justice. A former preacher goes on trial for murders that shocked a nation and drew attention to the struggle for full human rights in America.

It is noon in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.

We're going to begin our report here, where the Bush administration's push for freedom and democracy around the world focusing this day in the White House, but on the African continent.

VERJEE: President George W. Bush paid tribute to five African nations that held democratic elections last year.

CLANCY: Now, the meeting is coming after Britain and the United States reached an agreement to wipe out the foreign debt of some 18 poor countries. President Bush welcomed the presidents of Ghana, Niger, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia to the White House. They were there to talk trade and aid.

Mr. Bush praised the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, that was passed by Congress back in 2000. The act is designed to increase trade and investments between the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In 2004, we saw dramatic evidence of the results that this new engagement between the United States and Africa is helping produce. Last year, exports to the United States from AGOA nations were up 88 percent over the year before. And not (ph) all exports were up by 22 percent. In other words, we pledged to open our markets. We have opened our markets. And people are now making goods that the United States consumers want to buy, and that's helpful. That's how you spread wealth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: One of the countries left out of the debt relief package is Nigeria. Joining us now by videophone is our Lagos bureau chief, Jeff Koinange.

Jeff, the message from President Bush, trade not aid?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN LAGOS BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Zain. President Bush has been saying all along he's not going to throw any good money after bad. He wants African governments first to show good governance, and then he wants them to trade on an equal level with their U.S. counterpart.

The Africans are saying, fine, we'll do that, open up the markets. AGOA is one example. The African Growth and Opportunities Act, a couple of years ago just a dozen countries, now 37 trading on an even par with the west -- Zain.

VERJEE: He also talked about the AIDS pandemic in Africa and of U.S. efforts there. How much have U.S. efforts helped to counter the pandemic in Africa?

KOINANGE: Well, Zain, President Bush saying a couple of moments ago that 200,000 people have been helped in Africa under what he called the emergency plan for AIDS relief. And then the next five years, two million people will be treated under this plan.

Zain, we're talking about 20 million people with HIV-AIDS on the continent. This is a disease that's literally decimating large parts of the continent. It has to be tackled, it has to be attacked, it has to be fought. Hopefully, these governments which have now gotten this debt relief, that money which was going to finance loans and interest rates, that can now go into fighting this dreaded disease -- Zain.

VERJEE: The crucial country, though, of Nigeria, Jeff, left out. It's seen by many as an anchor of stability in West Africa. What's been the reaction in Nigeria?

KOINANGE: Initially, Zain, disappointment, because Nigerians know that the rest of the continent cannot function without this country. It is the continent's most popular country because it's the largest producer of oil in the continent, but it doesn't fall in the same category as the other world's poorest countries.

Hopefully, with the Paris (INAUDIBLE) meeting today, something will come out of it. And you saw Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank president, meeting with (INAUDIBLE) earlier Monday. He was saying that Nigeria very important for the African continent. The World Bank is going to do everything it can to help Africa, but Nigeria has to be at the forefront of that -- Zain. VERJEE: Is there a feeling, Jeff, that the focus by the United States, by Britain on Africa will, in any way, detract from the whole idea of African solutions for an African problem?

KOINANGE: That's a very good point right there, Zain. And Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is the one who has been spearheading that, African solutions to African problems.

He's, as you know, the chairman of the African Union. What he says is, we have the manpower, we have the boots on the ground, we have the technology, we have the talent. What we need is an injection, an injection of funds. We need help from our friends in the west. They need everything they can to make sure the manpower on the ground is put to its best use.

So, yes, African solutions to African problems, but give us a little helping hand and we'll push forward. And trying to eradicate, as British Prime Minister Tony Blair says, poverty by the year 2015 -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Jeff Koinange reporting. Jeff, thank you.

CLANCY: Well, a little bit more on the debt relief. Russia is backing those plans to push for a reduction of African debt, at least, at next month's G8 summit. British Prime Minister Tony Blair meeting on Monday in Moscow with Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

This the first stop on his tour of four European nations trying to win agreement on his priorities that include increasing aid and debt relief for Africa. Mr. Blair's next stop, Germany.

Well, the prime minister says a debt relief package that was reached by G8 finance ministers this weekend is a good omen for that summit. The ministers agreed to cancel more than $40 billion in debt. The initial agreement benefits 18 of the world's poorest nations. It could be expanded to number some 20 more provided those countries meet targets for good governance and corruption reduction.

Fourteen of the beneficiaries are African right now. The remaining four are in Latin America.

VERJEE: A blast in Indian-controlled Kashmir has killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 100. It happened in a busy town about 40 kilometers south of Srinagar.

Police say a car or truck bomb loaded with explosives blew up near a school and a post office. The blast damaged the school and several businesses and set many vehicles ablaze. No group's claimed responsibility for the attack.

CLANCY: The Iraqi tribunal that will put Saddam Hussein on trial released a section of videotape this day that includes pictures of Saddam Hussein. It shows him and other members of his regime being questioned about a massacre, a massacre from almost 20 years ago.

Jennifer Eccleston joins us now from Baghdad with details -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. Well, an Iraqi judge has questioned former President Saddam Hussein about the killings of a dozen men from a Shiite village where he survived an assassination attempt in 1982.

Now, Iraq's special tribunal released that film today of Saddam being questioned by an investigative judge of that tribunal who said the interviewing process is ongoing. He also said that Saddam's lawyer was with him. And this, of course, follows a string of Iraqi officials who made statement that, in an effort to expedite Saddam Hussein's prosecution, the former dictator will go on trial in connection with just 12 of the best documented crimes among the more than 500 allegedly committed by the president.

Now, a spokesman for Iraq's interim prime minister, Ibrahim al- Jaafari, said there's no time to waste in preparing for the trial. And he said that the government was confident that court proceedings could begin within the next two months.

Of course, Iraq's special tribunal quickly retorted, stressing its independence, saying that there was no time frame set for that trial. But let me give you a little background on why they whittled down the charges from 12.

The spokesman for the prime minister said it would help ensure that the former president would receive the death sentence, which is available in Iraq's criminal code, one that was drafted actually under the rule of Saddam Hussein. And you can remember last July, Saddam Hussein was arraigned in Baghdad on several broad counts. These included the assassinations of political opponents, the 1988 gassing of Kurds in Halabja, the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the suppression of Kurdish and Shiite uprising in 1991 that followed the war.

CLANCY: All right. Jennifer, where was Saddam Hussein's attorney in this? Do we see him pictured there? And why would they release this?

ECCLESTON: Saddam Hussein's attorney, according to the special tribunal, was with him. It's unclear at this stage what we saw. The video we saw just showed the former president.

As to why they would release it, I guess this is twofold. In one respect, it's the Iraqi tribunal -- independent tribunal flexing its muscles, saying, you know, despite all these statements coming out from the political side of Iraq, they are operating on their own timeline.

They are going to operate under judicial process. They are making sure that they are going through with their information- gathering process. And until that process is over, there won't be a trial.

And the other side of it could be that they want to make a show. They want to put -- put out these videos, this image to the Iraqi people to say that work is getting done, you may not see it all the time, but we are continuing the investigation, we are continuing our information gathering. And at the end of that, there will be a trial not only of the former president, but most of his cronies as well -- Jim.

CLANCY: Jennifer Eccleston reporting to us there live from Baghdad -- Zain.

VERJEE: Jim, an Italian referendum to relax rules on assisted fertility has gone down to defeat. Voter turnout in the two-day ballot was well below the 50 percent of the electorate needed to validate the results. The Catholic Church had urged its members to boycott the referendum in what some saw as a test of the church's influence.

CLANCY: Well, coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY...

VERJEE: A dramatic comeback for a Lebanese leader who spent years in exile.

CLANCY: We're going to be taking a look at Michel Aoun's surprising victory at the ballot box.

VERJEE: And it was a crime that changed the course of the U.S. civil right's movement. Now, decades later, a murder trial begins in the killing of three young activists.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: A political alliance led by former army commander Michel Aoun wins a surprising victory in the third round of Lebanon's elections. Aoun, a Maronite Christian, returned from 14 years in exile in France only five weeks ago. Now, he fell out with established opposition forces, and then sided with a pro-Syrian candidates for the vote.

For more on Michel Aoun's dramatic political comeback, and to try to sort out the complex web of Lebanese politics, let's go now to Salameh Nematt. He is the Washington bureau chief of the International Arab Daily, "Al-Hayat."

Thank you so much for being with us. Let's begin here.

Everyone woke up this morning, and suddenly, you know, the headlines on the wire services were that a pro-Syrian candidate had won. Well, certainly he was on a pro-Syrian ticket. But who is Michel Aoun, really?

SALAMEH NEMATT, WASHINGTON BUREAU, "AL-HAYAT": Well, basically, he' a Christian leader. He was in an army general, commander of the army in 1991.

A deal between the Syrians and the United States, believe it or not, where -- by which the Syrians sent troops to join the U.S.-led alliance against Iraq, paved the way for the Syrians to move on Michel Aoun and oust him from power and end his campaign to liberate Lebanon from Syrian forces. He was ousted, he took exile. He went on exile in France.

CLANCY: Now, during that entire exile -- we talked with him several times -- he remained fiercely, fiercely anti-Syrian. But when he got back to Lebanon, and more or less, he was shunned, wasn't he, by the anti-Syrian forces that had formed a political opposition?

NEMATT: Yes. He was basically left out in the cold by the coalition created by Jumblatt, the Druze leader, as well as Saad Hariri, the son of the former prime minister who was assassinated a couple of months ago.

I think that -- you know, at the same time, you know, the Syrians need an ally in Lebanon. And so they did offer him support. And he, in return, also -- this is political (INAUDIBLE), if you like. He wanted to gain power.

He has been waiting for 14 years for this day. And this is his opportunity. And the Christians did not see any other Christian leader to vote for with the Druze and the Sunni Muslims basically creating this coalition.

CLANCY: Now, a lot of people would point to this ticket that he was on and say, well, this is a victory, then, for Emile Lahoud, the standing president of Lebanon, considered to be pro-Syrian. But is Michel Aoun also a candidate to be the president at this point?

NEMATT: Yes, I think that Michel Aoun knows that it's a question of time before Emile Lahoud is either ousted or basically undermined, politically speaking. And he wants to become the next president.

And we know that according to the Lebanese system, the president is always Christian. He's the now prominent candidate. He swept victories in Mount Lebanon. He is positioning himself in that respect.

The question is, how does the relationship develop with Syria from now on? Is Syria going to feel emboldened by these results?

As they say, out of the door, back through the window. The Syrians now probably feel happy that they have a powerbroker in the Lebanese parliament.

CLANCY: Well, they have a powerbroker, but they have a man that's a little bit unpredictable. What does Michel Aoun, his presence, the vote in his -- in support of him really mean for Lebanese politics in the coming months?

NEMATT: Although the Christian Lebanese were dismayed with him allying himself with actually Druze candidates, pro-Syrian candidates and others, they do feel that he's the least of the two evils, if you like. And they had no choice but to vote for him.

They trust that he is genuinely anti-Syrian. They do trust that his position, his alliances now are pragmatic, opportunistic, and that eventually he's going to carry out an anti-Syrian agenda. At the end of the day, people say that Michel Aoun is for Michel Aoun and not for the Syrians or anybody else.

CLANCY: An analysis sounding pretty accurate there. Salameh Nematt, Washington bureau chief of "Al-Hayat." Thank you so much for being with us.

VERJEE: Let's check some stories making news now around the United States.

New York police are questioning a Middle Eastern man found with fake identification and sketches of the city's subway system. The detainee was among a small group of men found in a commercial building by the city's firefighters. The other men fled after the police were called.

Concerned about his nation's tourism industry, Aruba's prime minister is calling the disappearance of a U.S. teenager there an isolated incident. And he says the government is doing the utmost to solve the case. Eighteen-year-old Natalee Holloway was reported missing nearly two weeks ago. None of the five men arrested in the case has been formally charged.

The United States Senate is apologizing for more than 100 years of inaction over lynching. Since 1890, lawmakers have blocked legislation to outlaw the crime. An estimated 4,700 people, mostly African-Americans, were killed over the decades in mob violence.

CLANCY: Another case of long-awaited justice taking center stage in a courthouse this day in the state of Mississippi. Jury selection getting under way in the notorious killings of three civil rights workers. That was in 1964. The case has drawn worldwide attention as one that helped turn the tide of the civil rights movement in the United States.

We get more from Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a chapter of the civil rights struggle that remains incomplete and still haunts Philadelphia, Mississippi. It was the 1964 Summer of Freedom. Idealistic young people from around the country had come to the South to register black voters.

At the center of command among those freedom writers, as they were called, were three young men. Two white, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and one black, James Chaney. It was June 21.

The three men were heading down the Mississippi back roads to investigate a recently torched church. The FBI says, after beating several church members, Ku Klux Klan members set fire to the church, leaving it a charred ruin. But before they reached the church, the group was pulled off the road by local police. Arrested for speeding, they were tossed into the Neshoba County jail.

Prosecutors say, while the three sat in jail, a gang of about 20 Klan members put a plan in motion to kill them. Accused of leading the effort, part time Baptist preacher Edgar Ray Killen. Some hours later, the three young civil rights workers were released from jail and drove away in their station wagon. Right behind them were two carloads of Klan members.

After a long chase, the mob forced them off the road. Taken from their cars, the three were killed, shot dead at close range, Schwerner, then Goodman, then Chaney. A bulldozer was brought in to bury them. The bodies disappeared.

The state of Mississippi never charged any of the culprits with murder. There was no federal murder charge back then. So instead, the men were brought up on civil rights violations, with only seven serving minimal prison sentences.

The man considered to be one of the key instigators, Edgar Ray Killen, walked free, an 11-1 hung jury verdict. Although the jury was all white, there was one holdout, who said at the time she could never convict a preacher.

Killen left the courtroom that day a free man, but for more than 30 years, groups of civil rights activists, politicians and journalists refused to accept that ruling as the last word. Killen's murder case is the latest in a series of civil rights cases that have been rekindled, looking to right the wrongs of the past.

(on camera): Edgar Ray Killen is now 80 years old. Friends and supporters consider him to be weak and frail. But even 41 years after the murders of the three civil rights workers, Killen still says he's innocent.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Philadelphia, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Coming up next in our report, a check of financial news.

VERJEE: And also, the controversy and the arguments continue. Should the United States close its prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Time for a check of what's moving the markets in the U.S. And for that, it's over to Gerri Willis in New York City.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

VERJEE: We're going to update or top stories just ahead.

CLANCY: Then, some questionable interrogation methods at Guantanamo Bay. A "TIME" magazine article sparks some U.S. senators to call for its closure.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

And these are some of the stories making headlines around the world. U.S. President George W. Bush welcoming the presidents of Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia and Niger to the White House, highlighting Democratic principals in those countries. The five African nations held elections in the last year. Three of those nations will benefit from a relief-package agreement that will wipe out their foreign debt.

VERJEE: Official results show a political alliance led by former Army Commander Michel Aoun has scored a key victory in the third round of Lebanon's parliamentary election. Aoun, a Maronite Christian, returned from 14 years in exile in France only five weeks ago. He fell out with established opposition forces, and sided with pro-Syrian candidates for the vote.

CLANCY: The Iraqi tribunal that will consider the evidence when Saddam Hussein is put on trial, releasing new video of the former dictator. It shows him and four officials from his regime being questioned by an Iraqi judge. The interrogation involved the killings of dozens of men in a Shia village where Saddam Hussein survived an assassination attempt in 1982.

U.S. President George W. Bush is facing calls from lawmakers in his own party to revamp U.S. policy in Iraq because of the relentless insurgency. One Republican Congressman says he'll introduce legislation this week that will set a timetable from the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Walter Jones, who voted to send troops to Iraq, says he believes, quote, "We've done about as much as we can do."

CLANCY: In the meantime, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says there's no plan at this time to close the detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. This in the wake of a "Time" magazine report on the controversial interrogations that are used there, the methods used there at that prison.

From the White House, Joe Johns reports on growing demands that Gitmo be shut down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Spotlight on the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, where government designated enemy combatants are taken and interrogated. The question, should the place be closed? Even some congressional Republicans are starting to wonder.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: This can't be a situation where we just hold them forever and ever until they just die of old age. What are our plans here?

JOHNS: Republican Senator Mel Martinez asked of Florida also asked over the weekend whether the political costs of the camp are starting to outweigh the benefits.

But the view of many in the party controlling the Congress is that a prisoner at Gitmo gets pretty good treatment.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: We're going to serve him rice pilaf. We're going to serve him oven fried chicken. We're going to serve him three types of fruit and pita bread, and he's going top that all off with a glass of tea.

JOHNS: Among the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Mohammed al- Kahtani, a suspected 20th hijacker who never made it to the plane on September 11.

A new report in "TIME," magazine, citing a secret interrogation diary, says the government used stress strategies on him like standing for prolonged periods, isolation for as long as 30 days, removal of clothing, forced shaving of facial hair, playing on individual phobias, such as dogs." Interrogation techniques that are not new and some say are not over the line.

REP. PETE KING (D), NEW YORK: Quite frankly, if it's going to save American lives just by shaving someone's hair or by holding him in isolation, I think we have to keep this in context and not be so quick to criticize the military.

JOHNS: A Pentagon statement said Guantanamo provides valuable intelligence information and said al-Kahtani's interrogation "was guided by a very detailed plan and conducted by trained professionals." The administration has been clear on its views of the Guantanamo detainees.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They're enemy combatants for a reason, because they seek to do harm to the American people.

JOHNS: But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee calls Guantanamo a legal black hole.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: I think Guantanamo Bay has become a black eye for the United States. We have people there held under dubious reasons. We won't -- we are unwilling to follow even our own rules in holding them. We ought to either charge these people or release them.

JOHNS (on camera): The problem is, there's no clear alternative to Guantanamo right now. And as long as that's true, they say it's a waste of time to debate shutting it down.

Joe Johns, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VERJEE: For more on the so-called 20th hijacker and some of the specific tactics interrogators used on him in Guantanamo Bay, we go now to Adam Zagorin. He is a "Time" magazine correspondent, one of the reporters who contributed to the story.

Thanks so much for being with us.

What methods were used to break him?

ADAM ZAGORIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of the methods were described in your lead-in. They did a lot of humiliation. They got him to obey dog commands. Barking, come, go, things like that. He was obliged to wet his pants. He was -- a female interrogator violated his space, things of that nature. He was also -- they manipulated his permission to pray during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. They also encouraged him to drink water to alleviate what they feared, according to the log, is dehydration. But this was also during Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast and do not take water during daylight hours. So they did a lot of things like that.

They also showed him videos of 9/11, showed him pictures of victims, encouraged him to write letters to victim's families. They didn't encourage; they told him to. And they had a religious dialogue with him where he was supposed to be the 20th hijacker. So they said, he survived. Nineteen of your colleagues died in an enormous fireball. You were saved because God saved you in order for you to tell us about Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. They used that as a justification, trying to give him a justification to talk more than he was at a certain point in the interrogation. So they did a great deal of things, and they did get some intelligence from him.

VERJEE: Well, that was what I was going to ask you. Did that specific interrogation, those harsher techniques translate valuable actionable intelligence?

ZAGORIN: Well, they say yes. The Pentagon says yes. Some of this is indicated in the log, where he gives up various details of things that he did with Al Qaeda. The Pentagon has told us that he also discussed his meetings with Bin Laden, his meetings with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the alleged mastermind of 9/11. He described his sojourn in an Afghan training camp for high-level Al Qaeda people, where Osama bin Laden had at one point lived. So he gave them, according to them, a lot of information.

VERJEE: There was gaps in the log, weren't there? There were parts of that were incomplete?

ZAGORIN: Yes, there were gaps, where it just sort of doesn't say what is going on. There are also things that I guess you'd have to say were not fully explained. By that, I mean, at one point, for example, his feet are swelling. His heart rate goes very low, less than 40 beats per minute, which is extremely low. He is give a CAT scan, an EKG. So they're obviously monitoring him medically very closely. But the question is, what would have brought him to the point where he would have had those symptoms? The log doesn't plain explain. VERJEE: "Time" magazine correspondent Adam Zagorin. Thank you so much -- Jim.

ZAGORIN: Thank you.

CLANCY: The International Agency has confirmed that Mohammed ElBaradei, the international chief for a third term. The IAEA board in Vienna gave ElBaredei a unanimous vote for another four years as the head of the nuclear watchdog agency. Reuters is quoting ElBaradei as saying, that after this vote, he wants Iran to increase its cooperation with the IAEA's probe into its nuclear activities.

We're going to be checking international weather coming up just ahead.

VERJEE: And a modern day David and Goliath story in Egypt. The little guys are trading in their slings for an Internet modem in a showdown with the monolithic media. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Egypt's Ministry of Information spends millions of dollars year to get out the government's message, but some opposition activists with a low budget are using a high-tech approach to wage a war of words.

Ben Wedeman listens in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BED WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Broadcasting for the first time ever from the heart of Cairo, the voice of the Egyptian opposition. In a makeshift studio, using equipment bought at a local Radio Shack, members of the opposition Ghad (ph), or Tomorrow Party, last week began to broadcast over the Internet. Using new technology to challenge a regime that's always tried to manage the message.

Party activist Wael Nawara says the appetite for an alternative is huge.

WAEL NAWARA, PARTY ACTIVIST: People are looking to hear the other side of things and the government attempt to try to silence that other side, or other story, makes the people more interested to hear that story.

WEDEMAN: They're live on the Web from 6:00 in the evening 'til 2:00 in the morning, offering Egyptians with Internet access a totally different view.

(on camera): But amateur Internet broadcasters are up against a Goliath, Egypt's massive Ministry of Information, which is staffed by thousands, funded with millions and sits on what amounts to a national radio and television monopoly.

(voice-over): Every day, it cranks out a low calorie diet of upbeat news, regularly highlighting the exploits 77-year-old president Hosni Mubarak. Regime opponents rarely get a mention. But that monopoly is crumbling fast. Satellite dishes now clog Cairo's skyline, while the information superhighway is proving to be a popular escape route from the official line. The old approach of regime knows best seems increasingly dated.

PROF. HUSSEIN AMIN, AMERICAN UNIV. OF CAIRO: You know, we need to see some change from an authoritarian-controlled system to at least a semi-libertarian, freer system.

NAWARA: The government is denying nature. It's -- you try trying tell the government that 24 years of assisting a certain regime is enough, and the government says no.

WEDEMAN: Via the Internet, the opposition is showing Egyptians they don't have to take no for an answer.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CLANCY: All right. Femi, thank you very much for that. We want to take a look right now at some of the other stories that are making news around the U.S.

Aides to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger say he's going to be calling a special election come November. Schwarzenegger wants voters to weigh on his package of planned reforms, some of which would give him more power over state spending. The official announcement is expected in a televised statewide address later on Monday.

A U.S. soldier who deserted to North Korea 40 years ago will make a homecomings of sorts. Charles Jenkins is scheduled to fly into Washington Tuesday and spend a week in the United States. Jenkins settled in Japan last year after serving a brief stint in U.S. military jail for desertion.

The Michael Jackson jury has begun its second full week of deliberations. Jurors have reportedly asked to go back over portions of testimony from the alleged molestation victim. Jackson is at his Neverland Ranch with his family awaiting the verdict.

VERJEE: Jury deliberation in the Jackson trial is now in its seventh day. And as Chris Lawrence reports, how long it takes them to reach a verdict is anybody's guess.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): If Michael Jackson's fans had their way, jurors would have needed six minutes to deliberate, not the six days it's taken so far. But the jury has to consider what 141 witnesses said and try to come to a unanimous decision on all 10 counts. Sources tell CNN they passed several questions to the judge on Friday and asked to have portions of the teenaged accuser's testimony read back to them. The attorneys also had three meetings with the judge.

DEBRA OPRI, JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: It could mean anything. Nine days to acquit Robert Blake, so many hours to convict someone else.

LAWRENCE: Prosecutors accuse Jackson of sexually molesting a 13- year-old cancer survivor, giving the boy alcohol and conspiring to keep him and his family captive. Jackson denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. In deciding who they believe, jurors have had about 28 hours of deliberation so far.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they took two weeks, if they took three days, I would trust in it, because they're the ones that have been sitting in there every day.

LAWRENCE: The first full week is over, a second about to begin.

(on camera): And those jurors are being guided by nearly 100 pages of jury instructions. It's a lot of very detailed legal jargon, but the judge wanted to cover all his bases to lessen the chances of any appeal.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Santa Maria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: It's shaping up to be a magical year for a Swedish golf (INAUDIBLE).

CLANCY: Patrick Snow has highlights of her grand slam chase after the break with our world sport update.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Sports now. And the San Antonio spurs are halfway home in their pursuit of a third NBA title.

Patrick Snow will have that NBA story in a moment. But first, it's all about Annika, the Swede.

PATRICK SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's all about Annika, indeed. Thanks, Zain. Thank you, Jim.

Yes, Annika Sorenstam has now won the season's first two majors following her triumph at the LPGA championship in Maryland, USA, which means if she wins the remain two, she will become the first golfer ever to win all four majors in one single season. To hole 10 we go. A valiant effort, though, overall, from Anna to Michelle Wie. The teenage Hawaiian rolling in the birdie to go to six under par. She would end in second place at eight under. Hole three now, the two- time defending champion from Sweden who is looking to make it three in a row at this tournament. And on the last, she would confirm the expected victory to end at 11 under par. She has now won six of her last eight LPGA events. Career earnings now standing at a cool $17 million. Almost unbelievable Annika.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIKA SORENSTAM, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I do have to pinch myself sometimes when I look at my results. I mean, I feel like I'm just, you know, a little girl from Sweden that came over here to follow my dreams and hoped to win a few golf tournaments. So when I look at my bio on the LPGA book, I get so overwhelmed definitely. I just feel like sometimes, wow, have I really done this? Is this really true?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: To Europe and the Netherlands we go for some sparkling golf on the European tour. And you can't keep a good man down. Here's the tournament winner. Fernandez Gastano (ph) with his approach to the par four third, and he holes it for an eagle, no less, straight in without a bounce, stuff that dreams are made of. With that kind of form, he must have known he was en route to victory in Holland.

The Wimbledon champion Roger Federer is in great form as well, as he prepares to defend his title, though he was pushed to three sets by Australian open champ Marat Safin. This is the final Vihalla (ph) Open in Germany. And the world's number one winning his 29th straight match on grass went Safin's backhand went long. Federer winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

To England, where the American Andy Roddick took on Croatia's Illo Calovic (ph) in the final (INAUDIBLE) Championship. Roddick covering a lot of court before curling it down the line for the winner. Roddick taking both sets. In fact, on the breaker, he joins Lleyton Hewitt and John McEnroe as the only players to win three straight titles at the Wimbledon warm-up event in London.

On to the NBA Finals, where the San Antonio Spurs have take an 2- 0 lead in their contest with the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli combining well. And the Argentine having another truly inspired game. He sinks the big three pointer to help set up the commanding lead. The Spurs winning it in convincing fashion. Ginobli with 27 points in total.

And that is the sports for now.

CLANCY: All right. Annika going all the way for the grand slam in a word?

SNOW: I think so. I think you can't really knock her form at the moment. She's halfway there. She's got two more. She's got the British open coming up, the WETABIX (ph), and of course the U.S. open. She has history very much on her side. She became the first woman to claim the same major three years in a row, and you know, she even wound up with a couple of bogeys en route to that finish. Michelle Wie, very good performance from her, but I don't think anyone at the moment can live with Sorenstam.

CLANCY: All right, Patrick Snow, our thanks to you.

VERJEE: Thank you.

There's more news after the break. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. You're watching CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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Aired June 13, 2005 - 12:00 ET
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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Debt relief and democracy top the agenda as U.S. President George W. Bush hosts five African leaders at the White House.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: In the hot seat, an Iraqi judge questioning Saddam Hussein about a 1980s massacre as an expected trial draws closer.

VERJEE: And a long, delayed search for justice. A former preacher goes on trial for murders that shocked a nation and drew attention to the struggle for full human rights in America.

It is noon in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.

We're going to begin our report here, where the Bush administration's push for freedom and democracy around the world focusing this day in the White House, but on the African continent.

VERJEE: President George W. Bush paid tribute to five African nations that held democratic elections last year.

CLANCY: Now, the meeting is coming after Britain and the United States reached an agreement to wipe out the foreign debt of some 18 poor countries. President Bush welcomed the presidents of Ghana, Niger, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia to the White House. They were there to talk trade and aid.

Mr. Bush praised the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, that was passed by Congress back in 2000. The act is designed to increase trade and investments between the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In 2004, we saw dramatic evidence of the results that this new engagement between the United States and Africa is helping produce. Last year, exports to the United States from AGOA nations were up 88 percent over the year before. And not (ph) all exports were up by 22 percent. In other words, we pledged to open our markets. We have opened our markets. And people are now making goods that the United States consumers want to buy, and that's helpful. That's how you spread wealth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: One of the countries left out of the debt relief package is Nigeria. Joining us now by videophone is our Lagos bureau chief, Jeff Koinange.

Jeff, the message from President Bush, trade not aid?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN LAGOS BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Zain. President Bush has been saying all along he's not going to throw any good money after bad. He wants African governments first to show good governance, and then he wants them to trade on an equal level with their U.S. counterpart.

The Africans are saying, fine, we'll do that, open up the markets. AGOA is one example. The African Growth and Opportunities Act, a couple of years ago just a dozen countries, now 37 trading on an even par with the west -- Zain.

VERJEE: He also talked about the AIDS pandemic in Africa and of U.S. efforts there. How much have U.S. efforts helped to counter the pandemic in Africa?

KOINANGE: Well, Zain, President Bush saying a couple of moments ago that 200,000 people have been helped in Africa under what he called the emergency plan for AIDS relief. And then the next five years, two million people will be treated under this plan.

Zain, we're talking about 20 million people with HIV-AIDS on the continent. This is a disease that's literally decimating large parts of the continent. It has to be tackled, it has to be attacked, it has to be fought. Hopefully, these governments which have now gotten this debt relief, that money which was going to finance loans and interest rates, that can now go into fighting this dreaded disease -- Zain.

VERJEE: The crucial country, though, of Nigeria, Jeff, left out. It's seen by many as an anchor of stability in West Africa. What's been the reaction in Nigeria?

KOINANGE: Initially, Zain, disappointment, because Nigerians know that the rest of the continent cannot function without this country. It is the continent's most popular country because it's the largest producer of oil in the continent, but it doesn't fall in the same category as the other world's poorest countries.

Hopefully, with the Paris (INAUDIBLE) meeting today, something will come out of it. And you saw Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank president, meeting with (INAUDIBLE) earlier Monday. He was saying that Nigeria very important for the African continent. The World Bank is going to do everything it can to help Africa, but Nigeria has to be at the forefront of that -- Zain. VERJEE: Is there a feeling, Jeff, that the focus by the United States, by Britain on Africa will, in any way, detract from the whole idea of African solutions for an African problem?

KOINANGE: That's a very good point right there, Zain. And Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is the one who has been spearheading that, African solutions to African problems.

He's, as you know, the chairman of the African Union. What he says is, we have the manpower, we have the boots on the ground, we have the technology, we have the talent. What we need is an injection, an injection of funds. We need help from our friends in the west. They need everything they can to make sure the manpower on the ground is put to its best use.

So, yes, African solutions to African problems, but give us a little helping hand and we'll push forward. And trying to eradicate, as British Prime Minister Tony Blair says, poverty by the year 2015 -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Jeff Koinange reporting. Jeff, thank you.

CLANCY: Well, a little bit more on the debt relief. Russia is backing those plans to push for a reduction of African debt, at least, at next month's G8 summit. British Prime Minister Tony Blair meeting on Monday in Moscow with Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

This the first stop on his tour of four European nations trying to win agreement on his priorities that include increasing aid and debt relief for Africa. Mr. Blair's next stop, Germany.

Well, the prime minister says a debt relief package that was reached by G8 finance ministers this weekend is a good omen for that summit. The ministers agreed to cancel more than $40 billion in debt. The initial agreement benefits 18 of the world's poorest nations. It could be expanded to number some 20 more provided those countries meet targets for good governance and corruption reduction.

Fourteen of the beneficiaries are African right now. The remaining four are in Latin America.

VERJEE: A blast in Indian-controlled Kashmir has killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 100. It happened in a busy town about 40 kilometers south of Srinagar.

Police say a car or truck bomb loaded with explosives blew up near a school and a post office. The blast damaged the school and several businesses and set many vehicles ablaze. No group's claimed responsibility for the attack.

CLANCY: The Iraqi tribunal that will put Saddam Hussein on trial released a section of videotape this day that includes pictures of Saddam Hussein. It shows him and other members of his regime being questioned about a massacre, a massacre from almost 20 years ago.

Jennifer Eccleston joins us now from Baghdad with details -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. Well, an Iraqi judge has questioned former President Saddam Hussein about the killings of a dozen men from a Shiite village where he survived an assassination attempt in 1982.

Now, Iraq's special tribunal released that film today of Saddam being questioned by an investigative judge of that tribunal who said the interviewing process is ongoing. He also said that Saddam's lawyer was with him. And this, of course, follows a string of Iraqi officials who made statement that, in an effort to expedite Saddam Hussein's prosecution, the former dictator will go on trial in connection with just 12 of the best documented crimes among the more than 500 allegedly committed by the president.

Now, a spokesman for Iraq's interim prime minister, Ibrahim al- Jaafari, said there's no time to waste in preparing for the trial. And he said that the government was confident that court proceedings could begin within the next two months.

Of course, Iraq's special tribunal quickly retorted, stressing its independence, saying that there was no time frame set for that trial. But let me give you a little background on why they whittled down the charges from 12.

The spokesman for the prime minister said it would help ensure that the former president would receive the death sentence, which is available in Iraq's criminal code, one that was drafted actually under the rule of Saddam Hussein. And you can remember last July, Saddam Hussein was arraigned in Baghdad on several broad counts. These included the assassinations of political opponents, the 1988 gassing of Kurds in Halabja, the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the suppression of Kurdish and Shiite uprising in 1991 that followed the war.

CLANCY: All right. Jennifer, where was Saddam Hussein's attorney in this? Do we see him pictured there? And why would they release this?

ECCLESTON: Saddam Hussein's attorney, according to the special tribunal, was with him. It's unclear at this stage what we saw. The video we saw just showed the former president.

As to why they would release it, I guess this is twofold. In one respect, it's the Iraqi tribunal -- independent tribunal flexing its muscles, saying, you know, despite all these statements coming out from the political side of Iraq, they are operating on their own timeline.

They are going to operate under judicial process. They are making sure that they are going through with their information- gathering process. And until that process is over, there won't be a trial.

And the other side of it could be that they want to make a show. They want to put -- put out these videos, this image to the Iraqi people to say that work is getting done, you may not see it all the time, but we are continuing the investigation, we are continuing our information gathering. And at the end of that, there will be a trial not only of the former president, but most of his cronies as well -- Jim.

CLANCY: Jennifer Eccleston reporting to us there live from Baghdad -- Zain.

VERJEE: Jim, an Italian referendum to relax rules on assisted fertility has gone down to defeat. Voter turnout in the two-day ballot was well below the 50 percent of the electorate needed to validate the results. The Catholic Church had urged its members to boycott the referendum in what some saw as a test of the church's influence.

CLANCY: Well, coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY...

VERJEE: A dramatic comeback for a Lebanese leader who spent years in exile.

CLANCY: We're going to be taking a look at Michel Aoun's surprising victory at the ballot box.

VERJEE: And it was a crime that changed the course of the U.S. civil right's movement. Now, decades later, a murder trial begins in the killing of three young activists.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: A political alliance led by former army commander Michel Aoun wins a surprising victory in the third round of Lebanon's elections. Aoun, a Maronite Christian, returned from 14 years in exile in France only five weeks ago. Now, he fell out with established opposition forces, and then sided with a pro-Syrian candidates for the vote.

For more on Michel Aoun's dramatic political comeback, and to try to sort out the complex web of Lebanese politics, let's go now to Salameh Nematt. He is the Washington bureau chief of the International Arab Daily, "Al-Hayat."

Thank you so much for being with us. Let's begin here.

Everyone woke up this morning, and suddenly, you know, the headlines on the wire services were that a pro-Syrian candidate had won. Well, certainly he was on a pro-Syrian ticket. But who is Michel Aoun, really?

SALAMEH NEMATT, WASHINGTON BUREAU, "AL-HAYAT": Well, basically, he' a Christian leader. He was in an army general, commander of the army in 1991.

A deal between the Syrians and the United States, believe it or not, where -- by which the Syrians sent troops to join the U.S.-led alliance against Iraq, paved the way for the Syrians to move on Michel Aoun and oust him from power and end his campaign to liberate Lebanon from Syrian forces. He was ousted, he took exile. He went on exile in France.

CLANCY: Now, during that entire exile -- we talked with him several times -- he remained fiercely, fiercely anti-Syrian. But when he got back to Lebanon, and more or less, he was shunned, wasn't he, by the anti-Syrian forces that had formed a political opposition?

NEMATT: Yes. He was basically left out in the cold by the coalition created by Jumblatt, the Druze leader, as well as Saad Hariri, the son of the former prime minister who was assassinated a couple of months ago.

I think that -- you know, at the same time, you know, the Syrians need an ally in Lebanon. And so they did offer him support. And he, in return, also -- this is political (INAUDIBLE), if you like. He wanted to gain power.

He has been waiting for 14 years for this day. And this is his opportunity. And the Christians did not see any other Christian leader to vote for with the Druze and the Sunni Muslims basically creating this coalition.

CLANCY: Now, a lot of people would point to this ticket that he was on and say, well, this is a victory, then, for Emile Lahoud, the standing president of Lebanon, considered to be pro-Syrian. But is Michel Aoun also a candidate to be the president at this point?

NEMATT: Yes, I think that Michel Aoun knows that it's a question of time before Emile Lahoud is either ousted or basically undermined, politically speaking. And he wants to become the next president.

And we know that according to the Lebanese system, the president is always Christian. He's the now prominent candidate. He swept victories in Mount Lebanon. He is positioning himself in that respect.

The question is, how does the relationship develop with Syria from now on? Is Syria going to feel emboldened by these results?

As they say, out of the door, back through the window. The Syrians now probably feel happy that they have a powerbroker in the Lebanese parliament.

CLANCY: Well, they have a powerbroker, but they have a man that's a little bit unpredictable. What does Michel Aoun, his presence, the vote in his -- in support of him really mean for Lebanese politics in the coming months?

NEMATT: Although the Christian Lebanese were dismayed with him allying himself with actually Druze candidates, pro-Syrian candidates and others, they do feel that he's the least of the two evils, if you like. And they had no choice but to vote for him.

They trust that he is genuinely anti-Syrian. They do trust that his position, his alliances now are pragmatic, opportunistic, and that eventually he's going to carry out an anti-Syrian agenda. At the end of the day, people say that Michel Aoun is for Michel Aoun and not for the Syrians or anybody else.

CLANCY: An analysis sounding pretty accurate there. Salameh Nematt, Washington bureau chief of "Al-Hayat." Thank you so much for being with us.

VERJEE: Let's check some stories making news now around the United States.

New York police are questioning a Middle Eastern man found with fake identification and sketches of the city's subway system. The detainee was among a small group of men found in a commercial building by the city's firefighters. The other men fled after the police were called.

Concerned about his nation's tourism industry, Aruba's prime minister is calling the disappearance of a U.S. teenager there an isolated incident. And he says the government is doing the utmost to solve the case. Eighteen-year-old Natalee Holloway was reported missing nearly two weeks ago. None of the five men arrested in the case has been formally charged.

The United States Senate is apologizing for more than 100 years of inaction over lynching. Since 1890, lawmakers have blocked legislation to outlaw the crime. An estimated 4,700 people, mostly African-Americans, were killed over the decades in mob violence.

CLANCY: Another case of long-awaited justice taking center stage in a courthouse this day in the state of Mississippi. Jury selection getting under way in the notorious killings of three civil rights workers. That was in 1964. The case has drawn worldwide attention as one that helped turn the tide of the civil rights movement in the United States.

We get more from Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a chapter of the civil rights struggle that remains incomplete and still haunts Philadelphia, Mississippi. It was the 1964 Summer of Freedom. Idealistic young people from around the country had come to the South to register black voters.

At the center of command among those freedom writers, as they were called, were three young men. Two white, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and one black, James Chaney. It was June 21.

The three men were heading down the Mississippi back roads to investigate a recently torched church. The FBI says, after beating several church members, Ku Klux Klan members set fire to the church, leaving it a charred ruin. But before they reached the church, the group was pulled off the road by local police. Arrested for speeding, they were tossed into the Neshoba County jail.

Prosecutors say, while the three sat in jail, a gang of about 20 Klan members put a plan in motion to kill them. Accused of leading the effort, part time Baptist preacher Edgar Ray Killen. Some hours later, the three young civil rights workers were released from jail and drove away in their station wagon. Right behind them were two carloads of Klan members.

After a long chase, the mob forced them off the road. Taken from their cars, the three were killed, shot dead at close range, Schwerner, then Goodman, then Chaney. A bulldozer was brought in to bury them. The bodies disappeared.

The state of Mississippi never charged any of the culprits with murder. There was no federal murder charge back then. So instead, the men were brought up on civil rights violations, with only seven serving minimal prison sentences.

The man considered to be one of the key instigators, Edgar Ray Killen, walked free, an 11-1 hung jury verdict. Although the jury was all white, there was one holdout, who said at the time she could never convict a preacher.

Killen left the courtroom that day a free man, but for more than 30 years, groups of civil rights activists, politicians and journalists refused to accept that ruling as the last word. Killen's murder case is the latest in a series of civil rights cases that have been rekindled, looking to right the wrongs of the past.

(on camera): Edgar Ray Killen is now 80 years old. Friends and supporters consider him to be weak and frail. But even 41 years after the murders of the three civil rights workers, Killen still says he's innocent.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Philadelphia, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Coming up next in our report, a check of financial news.

VERJEE: And also, the controversy and the arguments continue. Should the United States close its prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Time for a check of what's moving the markets in the U.S. And for that, it's over to Gerri Willis in New York City.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

VERJEE: We're going to update or top stories just ahead.

CLANCY: Then, some questionable interrogation methods at Guantanamo Bay. A "TIME" magazine article sparks some U.S. senators to call for its closure.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

And these are some of the stories making headlines around the world. U.S. President George W. Bush welcoming the presidents of Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia and Niger to the White House, highlighting Democratic principals in those countries. The five African nations held elections in the last year. Three of those nations will benefit from a relief-package agreement that will wipe out their foreign debt.

VERJEE: Official results show a political alliance led by former Army Commander Michel Aoun has scored a key victory in the third round of Lebanon's parliamentary election. Aoun, a Maronite Christian, returned from 14 years in exile in France only five weeks ago. He fell out with established opposition forces, and sided with pro-Syrian candidates for the vote.

CLANCY: The Iraqi tribunal that will consider the evidence when Saddam Hussein is put on trial, releasing new video of the former dictator. It shows him and four officials from his regime being questioned by an Iraqi judge. The interrogation involved the killings of dozens of men in a Shia village where Saddam Hussein survived an assassination attempt in 1982.

U.S. President George W. Bush is facing calls from lawmakers in his own party to revamp U.S. policy in Iraq because of the relentless insurgency. One Republican Congressman says he'll introduce legislation this week that will set a timetable from the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Walter Jones, who voted to send troops to Iraq, says he believes, quote, "We've done about as much as we can do."

CLANCY: In the meantime, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says there's no plan at this time to close the detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. This in the wake of a "Time" magazine report on the controversial interrogations that are used there, the methods used there at that prison.

From the White House, Joe Johns reports on growing demands that Gitmo be shut down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Spotlight on the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, where government designated enemy combatants are taken and interrogated. The question, should the place be closed? Even some congressional Republicans are starting to wonder.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: This can't be a situation where we just hold them forever and ever until they just die of old age. What are our plans here?

JOHNS: Republican Senator Mel Martinez asked of Florida also asked over the weekend whether the political costs of the camp are starting to outweigh the benefits.

But the view of many in the party controlling the Congress is that a prisoner at Gitmo gets pretty good treatment.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: We're going to serve him rice pilaf. We're going to serve him oven fried chicken. We're going to serve him three types of fruit and pita bread, and he's going top that all off with a glass of tea.

JOHNS: Among the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Mohammed al- Kahtani, a suspected 20th hijacker who never made it to the plane on September 11.

A new report in "TIME," magazine, citing a secret interrogation diary, says the government used stress strategies on him like standing for prolonged periods, isolation for as long as 30 days, removal of clothing, forced shaving of facial hair, playing on individual phobias, such as dogs." Interrogation techniques that are not new and some say are not over the line.

REP. PETE KING (D), NEW YORK: Quite frankly, if it's going to save American lives just by shaving someone's hair or by holding him in isolation, I think we have to keep this in context and not be so quick to criticize the military.

JOHNS: A Pentagon statement said Guantanamo provides valuable intelligence information and said al-Kahtani's interrogation "was guided by a very detailed plan and conducted by trained professionals." The administration has been clear on its views of the Guantanamo detainees.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They're enemy combatants for a reason, because they seek to do harm to the American people.

JOHNS: But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee calls Guantanamo a legal black hole.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: I think Guantanamo Bay has become a black eye for the United States. We have people there held under dubious reasons. We won't -- we are unwilling to follow even our own rules in holding them. We ought to either charge these people or release them.

JOHNS (on camera): The problem is, there's no clear alternative to Guantanamo right now. And as long as that's true, they say it's a waste of time to debate shutting it down.

Joe Johns, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VERJEE: For more on the so-called 20th hijacker and some of the specific tactics interrogators used on him in Guantanamo Bay, we go now to Adam Zagorin. He is a "Time" magazine correspondent, one of the reporters who contributed to the story.

Thanks so much for being with us.

What methods were used to break him?

ADAM ZAGORIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of the methods were described in your lead-in. They did a lot of humiliation. They got him to obey dog commands. Barking, come, go, things like that. He was obliged to wet his pants. He was -- a female interrogator violated his space, things of that nature. He was also -- they manipulated his permission to pray during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. They also encouraged him to drink water to alleviate what they feared, according to the log, is dehydration. But this was also during Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast and do not take water during daylight hours. So they did a lot of things like that.

They also showed him videos of 9/11, showed him pictures of victims, encouraged him to write letters to victim's families. They didn't encourage; they told him to. And they had a religious dialogue with him where he was supposed to be the 20th hijacker. So they said, he survived. Nineteen of your colleagues died in an enormous fireball. You were saved because God saved you in order for you to tell us about Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. They used that as a justification, trying to give him a justification to talk more than he was at a certain point in the interrogation. So they did a great deal of things, and they did get some intelligence from him.

VERJEE: Well, that was what I was going to ask you. Did that specific interrogation, those harsher techniques translate valuable actionable intelligence?

ZAGORIN: Well, they say yes. The Pentagon says yes. Some of this is indicated in the log, where he gives up various details of things that he did with Al Qaeda. The Pentagon has told us that he also discussed his meetings with Bin Laden, his meetings with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the alleged mastermind of 9/11. He described his sojourn in an Afghan training camp for high-level Al Qaeda people, where Osama bin Laden had at one point lived. So he gave them, according to them, a lot of information.

VERJEE: There was gaps in the log, weren't there? There were parts of that were incomplete?

ZAGORIN: Yes, there were gaps, where it just sort of doesn't say what is going on. There are also things that I guess you'd have to say were not fully explained. By that, I mean, at one point, for example, his feet are swelling. His heart rate goes very low, less than 40 beats per minute, which is extremely low. He is give a CAT scan, an EKG. So they're obviously monitoring him medically very closely. But the question is, what would have brought him to the point where he would have had those symptoms? The log doesn't plain explain. VERJEE: "Time" magazine correspondent Adam Zagorin. Thank you so much -- Jim.

ZAGORIN: Thank you.

CLANCY: The International Agency has confirmed that Mohammed ElBaradei, the international chief for a third term. The IAEA board in Vienna gave ElBaredei a unanimous vote for another four years as the head of the nuclear watchdog agency. Reuters is quoting ElBaradei as saying, that after this vote, he wants Iran to increase its cooperation with the IAEA's probe into its nuclear activities.

We're going to be checking international weather coming up just ahead.

VERJEE: And a modern day David and Goliath story in Egypt. The little guys are trading in their slings for an Internet modem in a showdown with the monolithic media. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Egypt's Ministry of Information spends millions of dollars year to get out the government's message, but some opposition activists with a low budget are using a high-tech approach to wage a war of words.

Ben Wedeman listens in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BED WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Broadcasting for the first time ever from the heart of Cairo, the voice of the Egyptian opposition. In a makeshift studio, using equipment bought at a local Radio Shack, members of the opposition Ghad (ph), or Tomorrow Party, last week began to broadcast over the Internet. Using new technology to challenge a regime that's always tried to manage the message.

Party activist Wael Nawara says the appetite for an alternative is huge.

WAEL NAWARA, PARTY ACTIVIST: People are looking to hear the other side of things and the government attempt to try to silence that other side, or other story, makes the people more interested to hear that story.

WEDEMAN: They're live on the Web from 6:00 in the evening 'til 2:00 in the morning, offering Egyptians with Internet access a totally different view.

(on camera): But amateur Internet broadcasters are up against a Goliath, Egypt's massive Ministry of Information, which is staffed by thousands, funded with millions and sits on what amounts to a national radio and television monopoly.

(voice-over): Every day, it cranks out a low calorie diet of upbeat news, regularly highlighting the exploits 77-year-old president Hosni Mubarak. Regime opponents rarely get a mention. But that monopoly is crumbling fast. Satellite dishes now clog Cairo's skyline, while the information superhighway is proving to be a popular escape route from the official line. The old approach of regime knows best seems increasingly dated.

PROF. HUSSEIN AMIN, AMERICAN UNIV. OF CAIRO: You know, we need to see some change from an authoritarian-controlled system to at least a semi-libertarian, freer system.

NAWARA: The government is denying nature. It's -- you try trying tell the government that 24 years of assisting a certain regime is enough, and the government says no.

WEDEMAN: Via the Internet, the opposition is showing Egyptians they don't have to take no for an answer.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CLANCY: All right. Femi, thank you very much for that. We want to take a look right now at some of the other stories that are making news around the U.S.

Aides to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger say he's going to be calling a special election come November. Schwarzenegger wants voters to weigh on his package of planned reforms, some of which would give him more power over state spending. The official announcement is expected in a televised statewide address later on Monday.

A U.S. soldier who deserted to North Korea 40 years ago will make a homecomings of sorts. Charles Jenkins is scheduled to fly into Washington Tuesday and spend a week in the United States. Jenkins settled in Japan last year after serving a brief stint in U.S. military jail for desertion.

The Michael Jackson jury has begun its second full week of deliberations. Jurors have reportedly asked to go back over portions of testimony from the alleged molestation victim. Jackson is at his Neverland Ranch with his family awaiting the verdict.

VERJEE: Jury deliberation in the Jackson trial is now in its seventh day. And as Chris Lawrence reports, how long it takes them to reach a verdict is anybody's guess.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): If Michael Jackson's fans had their way, jurors would have needed six minutes to deliberate, not the six days it's taken so far. But the jury has to consider what 141 witnesses said and try to come to a unanimous decision on all 10 counts. Sources tell CNN they passed several questions to the judge on Friday and asked to have portions of the teenaged accuser's testimony read back to them. The attorneys also had three meetings with the judge.

DEBRA OPRI, JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: It could mean anything. Nine days to acquit Robert Blake, so many hours to convict someone else.

LAWRENCE: Prosecutors accuse Jackson of sexually molesting a 13- year-old cancer survivor, giving the boy alcohol and conspiring to keep him and his family captive. Jackson denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. In deciding who they believe, jurors have had about 28 hours of deliberation so far.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they took two weeks, if they took three days, I would trust in it, because they're the ones that have been sitting in there every day.

LAWRENCE: The first full week is over, a second about to begin.

(on camera): And those jurors are being guided by nearly 100 pages of jury instructions. It's a lot of very detailed legal jargon, but the judge wanted to cover all his bases to lessen the chances of any appeal.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Santa Maria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: It's shaping up to be a magical year for a Swedish golf (INAUDIBLE).

CLANCY: Patrick Snow has highlights of her grand slam chase after the break with our world sport update.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Sports now. And the San Antonio spurs are halfway home in their pursuit of a third NBA title.

Patrick Snow will have that NBA story in a moment. But first, it's all about Annika, the Swede.

PATRICK SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's all about Annika, indeed. Thanks, Zain. Thank you, Jim.

Yes, Annika Sorenstam has now won the season's first two majors following her triumph at the LPGA championship in Maryland, USA, which means if she wins the remain two, she will become the first golfer ever to win all four majors in one single season. To hole 10 we go. A valiant effort, though, overall, from Anna to Michelle Wie. The teenage Hawaiian rolling in the birdie to go to six under par. She would end in second place at eight under. Hole three now, the two- time defending champion from Sweden who is looking to make it three in a row at this tournament. And on the last, she would confirm the expected victory to end at 11 under par. She has now won six of her last eight LPGA events. Career earnings now standing at a cool $17 million. Almost unbelievable Annika.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIKA SORENSTAM, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I do have to pinch myself sometimes when I look at my results. I mean, I feel like I'm just, you know, a little girl from Sweden that came over here to follow my dreams and hoped to win a few golf tournaments. So when I look at my bio on the LPGA book, I get so overwhelmed definitely. I just feel like sometimes, wow, have I really done this? Is this really true?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: To Europe and the Netherlands we go for some sparkling golf on the European tour. And you can't keep a good man down. Here's the tournament winner. Fernandez Gastano (ph) with his approach to the par four third, and he holes it for an eagle, no less, straight in without a bounce, stuff that dreams are made of. With that kind of form, he must have known he was en route to victory in Holland.

The Wimbledon champion Roger Federer is in great form as well, as he prepares to defend his title, though he was pushed to three sets by Australian open champ Marat Safin. This is the final Vihalla (ph) Open in Germany. And the world's number one winning his 29th straight match on grass went Safin's backhand went long. Federer winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

To England, where the American Andy Roddick took on Croatia's Illo Calovic (ph) in the final (INAUDIBLE) Championship. Roddick covering a lot of court before curling it down the line for the winner. Roddick taking both sets. In fact, on the breaker, he joins Lleyton Hewitt and John McEnroe as the only players to win three straight titles at the Wimbledon warm-up event in London.

On to the NBA Finals, where the San Antonio Spurs have take an 2- 0 lead in their contest with the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli combining well. And the Argentine having another truly inspired game. He sinks the big three pointer to help set up the commanding lead. The Spurs winning it in convincing fashion. Ginobli with 27 points in total.

And that is the sports for now.

CLANCY: All right. Annika going all the way for the grand slam in a word?

SNOW: I think so. I think you can't really knock her form at the moment. She's halfway there. She's got two more. She's got the British open coming up, the WETABIX (ph), and of course the U.S. open. She has history very much on her side. She became the first woman to claim the same major three years in a row, and you know, she even wound up with a couple of bogeys en route to that finish. Michelle Wie, very good performance from her, but I don't think anyone at the moment can live with Sorenstam.

CLANCY: All right, Patrick Snow, our thanks to you.

VERJEE: Thank you.

There's more news after the break. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. You're watching CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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