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Your World Today

Crackdown on Terrorists; Rescue Under Way for Russia Mini-Sub Crew; Anger in Israel; Remembering Hiroshima

Aired August 05, 2005 - 12:00   ET

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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm sorry. People can't come here and abuse our good nature and our tolerance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Prime Minister Tony Blair gets tough with Islamic extremists. The Muslim community expresses alarm.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The U.S. Navy lends a hand to Russia, where sailors are trapped in a mini-submarine with only hours of oxygen left.

CLANCY: And anger in Israel. Israeli Arabs taking to the streets after a Jewish soldier opposed to the Gaza pullout opens fire on a public bus.

It is 5:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Moscow. I'm Jim Clancy.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. Welcome to our viewers around the world. This is CNN International, and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Looking for answers in the face of terror. Britain's prime minister coming out with a sharp response to the looming threat in London.

MCEDWARDS: That's right. Tony Blair saying things are about to get much tougher for extremists and those who incite terrorism. Mr. Blair's crackdown is promising some big changes in deportation and asylum policies. His basic message is this: if you want to meddle in extremism, he says, you cannot do it in the U.K.

CLANCY: Now, in other developments, two women who were charged in connection with the July 21 failed attacks remain in custody after making their first court appearance. They are accused of withholding information that could have helped police in the investigation. One of them, the common law wife of suspected would-be bomber Hamdi Issac.

MCEDWARDS: Meanwhile, the victims are remembered. A joint funeral was held a short time ago for a couple caught up in the underground blast near King's Cross Station. That was on July 7. They were among the 52 people who were killed that day.

Well, we'll have more on those proposals now put forward by Prime Minister Blair.

Harry Smith has our report from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY SMITH, REPORTER, ITV NEWS (voice-over): The prime minister unveiled his tough new measures with a stern warning.

BLAIR: Let no one be in any doubt the rules of the game are changing.

SMITH: His announcement came just hours after a chilling new video was issued by Ayman al-Zawahiri, widely regarded as Osama bin Laden's deputy. He warned the west to expect more attacks and said Tony Blair was to blame for the bombs in London.

BLAIR: Yes, the British people know how to deal with the type of comments that were made yesterday in that video. But I think the other thing that is important to point out worldwide is that these very same people who were making those remarks yesterday are the people supporting the killing of wholly innocent people in Iraq, wholly innocent people in Afghanistan, innocent people anywhere in the world who want to live by the rules of democracy.

SMITH: The government's crackdown will provide new grounds for excluding or deporting religious extremists who incite hatred. They'll include fostering hatred, advocating or justifying violence. And he also issued a ban on two Muslim organizations: Hizb ut Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroun.

The new measures should make it easier to deport clerics such as Syrian-born Omar Bakri Muhammad and Abu Katada, who has been sentenced to life in his native Jordan.

The prime minister was asked why it had taken his government so long to bring in measures many had been demanding for years.

BLAIR: And I think, to be frank, what has changed in the past four weeks since the attacks on the 7th of July is that people now understand that when we warn of a terrorist threat, this is not scaremongering. It's real.

SMITH: The prime minister said there will be a short period of consultation, just one month, with legislation in the autumn.

Harry Smith, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: And you heard Harry Smith mention there Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad. He is one of the U.K.'s most outspoken Islamic clerics. And he also predicted last year that al Qaeda would one day attack London. He gave his reaction to Mr. Blair's crackdown at a news conference a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEIKH OMAR BAKRI MUHAMMAD, MUSLIM CLERIC: Now, if you speak about Britain, I condemn the killing of innocent people in Britain. I did that publicly. Not because I fear for man-made law.

Believe me, I never, ever feel for man-made law or British police. So (INAUDIBLE) something outside the framework of the law. What surprised me really about, you know, today's Tony Blair, that he really got down on the same law of Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak, who always, whenever they are angry with their opposition, they will issue new law and back-date it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Well, that is one view certainly. Our European political editor, Robin Oakley, really following all of this from many different facets. He joins us now. He's outside 10 Downing Street, or he was outside 10 Downing Street.

I see you're back in the studio there. Robin, tell us, how is this going over with the public? How much support?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, I think Tony Blair is recognizing a change in the public mood. And he perceives a change in the parliamentary mood as well, Jim, in the sense that he said, the British people are retaining their tolerance of different ethnic groups, different cultural groups, different religious groups in their midst. But they are growing angrier with the extremists who, as he puts it, exploit the traditional tolerance and traditional liberal values of British society.

And he says people are angry, too, now, and that the government has got to react to that anger. And he's been reminding people that when the government tried measures to crack down on terrorism in the last year or so, there were lots of objections from people on civil liberties grounds. There was a furious battle in parliament over plans to have effective house arrest for terrorist suspects.

Now he said there's a different climate facing any legislation. And he is prepared to get a lot tougher.

He talked about basically a change in the rules of the game. And what he's changing is the balance, really, between civil liberties and the protection of the citizen.

So now, anybody who comes along and advocates hatred or condones terrorism, is going to be make themselves liable to deportation. And that isn't going to need new legislation. That can be done under changing the administrative rules that already exist for the home secretary.

So many more undesirables are going to go out on those sort of grounds. And a lot of people worried on civil liberties grounds, because the government is going to draw up a list of extremist Web sites, of book shops, of groups. And if those -- if people are associated with any of those organizations on the list, they will become liable to deportation -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Robin Oakley summing it up there for us in London. Thanks, Robin.

Well, we're going to hear more from the Muslim community of Britain later in the program -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Well, an international rescue effort is under way in a race to save seven sailors who are trapped on a mini-submarine at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. This sub is stuck about 200 meters down off the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The Russian navy says crew members have about 24 hours of air left. We are getting conflicting reports about that, though. Some saying there's more time than that. But in any event, time is of the essence.

Here, the Navy is contact with the crew of the sub. It's similar to the one you see right there in the video. Moscow has asked the U.S., Japan and Britain for help.

A navy spokesman explains how this vessel got stuck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMITRY BURMISTOW, RUSSIAN NAVY SPOKESMAN (through translator): The AS-28 submersible's propeller caught a fragment of fishing net, and it is wrapped around the propeller. As the crew tried to break free from the net, a metal cord was caught in the propeller which then trapped the vessel in deep water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCEDWARDS: Well, the U.S. Navy is sending unmanned submersibles to help with this rescue effort.

Barbara Starr joins us now with the latest on that.

Barbara, everybody talking about the time factor here. It takes time for this equipment to get deployed, get where it needs to go. And it looks like time is really running out here.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Colleen, that is the question right now. What U.S. Navy officials are saying is they are going to proceed with this rescue mission no matter what.

They are not going to be concerned right now about how much air that Russian crew has. They are going to get under way and get there as fast as they can.

What happened overnight was really extraordinary as this all unfolded. Apparently, top Russian navy officials contacted the U.S. naval attache overnight in Moscow, saying that this incident had unfolded, that their sailors were in jeopardy. The U.S. naval attache and the Russians then contacting the Pacific fleet in Hawaii.

This rescue mission being put together very rapidly. You see the kind of technology here that is being sent.

The U.S. Navy is sending two undersea remotely-piloted, unmanned vehicles and 30 Navy personnel. All of that being loaded in San Diego, California. It will fly in the next several hours to the eastern coast of Russia, to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

It will be put on board a Russian navy surface vessel. They will go out to the site. And then the U.S. Navy personnel will go to work.

They will lower these unmanned vehicles over the side of the navy ship, the Russian navy ship. And those robotic vehicles have cameras, have arms, have cutters. They will go down and they will try and pilot them remotely and try and cut that Russian sub loose.

You see again the kind of vehicle that the U.S. Navy is sending. They will also send U.S. Navy divers with deep sea diving capability in case the divers have to go over the side of that Russian ship and help in cutting that Navy sub loose.

All of this still unfolding. The Navy getting ready to go, getting ready to deploy out of San Diego, California, and make that 12-hour flight across the Pacific, to the eastern coast of Russia, so they can get going on this rescue mission -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Wow. Barbara, you know, you mentioned that call coming in, and this level of cooperation. How different this scenario is than when the Kursk went down, a much larger sub that went down five years ago. Of course, under different circumstances, but the reaction, the response, the reaching out from Russia very different here.

STARR: Well, indeed, Colleen. All of the U.S. Navy officials we've spoken to today so far are remarking on that, and how pleased they are.

They say that the Russians apparently did contact them this time very readily. The Russians also, as you say, contacting the Japanese, asking if the Japanese have anything that they can do to help.

It is not clear at this point exactly whether the Russian navy itself has any technology readily available at exactly that point on their eastern coast that they are also sending. We're assuming that they are sending everything that they can. But since that incident with the Kursk about five years ago, in which more than 100 Russian sailors died, there certainly has been much more international cooperation by the Russians.

They've really joined the international naval community on this issue of undersea rescue, we are told. And so a lot of very remarkable activity unfolding very quickly in the last few hours -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Yes. Time being the big factor here. Barbara Starr at the pentagon. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

STARR: Sure.

MCEDWARDS: Jim.

CLANCY: Just this week, Iran got a new president. And the big question is whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is going to defuse a crisis over the nuclear program that his country wants to sponsor or provoke an international crisis of further dimensions.

Britain, France and German offering Tehran long-term support for civilian nuclear access, including nuclear fuel. But they say they want a binding commitment from Tehran that it will not try to develop nuclear weapons.

Now, the proposals are all contained in a document that was given to Tehran on Friday. Iran's foreign ministry says it will issue a response soon. Tehran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. It recently threatened to resume suspended nuclear activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency says it's going to be holding an emergency meeting on Iran Tuesday.

MCEDWARDS: In Beijing, meanwhile, an unprecedented 11th day of talks that are aimed at resolving a deadlock over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. But there is still no sign that the delegates have broken an impasse.

And all of this is over a statement they plan to make -- a statement of principles, really, here. These are six-party talks. They have been controversial. They've been on again-off again.

The chief negotiators for the U.S. and North Korea did meet again on Friday. U.S. envoy Christopher Hill says he's determined to reach an agreement in Beijing, and that is a sentiment that is very much echoed by Japan. These talks are to resume on Saturday.

CLANCY: Right now, Israel is on alert for a possible wave of Arab unrest. That after a Jewish militant killed four Israeli Arabs in an unprovoked bus shooting late Thursday.

Paula Hancocks is in Jerusalem with more details on that -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jim.

Well, the entire town in the north of Israel of Shfaram turned out for the funerals this Friday. The funerals of two of the four victims that were killed on Thursday by that Jewish right wing opponent of the disengagement.

Two sisters, 20 years old and 21 years old, were followed in the Muslim funeral march by thousands in the streets of Shfaram. And many of them were saying that they were very shocked that this small town, which has Jewish, Muslim, Christians living in peace side by side, has been thrown into the heart of what they call this Jewish terror. Now, this attack has been met by condemnation on all sides. Ariel Sharon calling the terrorist a blood-thirsty terrorist immediately after the attack. It's been condemned also by Palestinians, and it's been condemned by all sides, including the mayor, who has said that he's calling on the prime minister to do more to try and stop these kind of attacks.

Now, the police deployment is noticeable in the area itself. Many people were worried that there could be some Arab unrest or there could be some riots following this attack which killed four Israeli Arabs and wounded about 22 more.

Also, the Israeli radio has been quoting the mother of the gunman, Eden Natan-Zada, who is a 19-year-old who went AWOL from the Israeli military, saying that she had warned the Israeli military two weeks ago that her son had become dangerous, potentially dangerous, and he did still have a gun and they should do something to try and prevent him doing anything.

The Israeli military did nothing. The Israeli military saying they are looking into this at the moment to try and figure out why he still did have an army weapon -- Jim.

CLANCY: Paula Hancocks, reporting there live from Jerusalem -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Coming up here, the U.S. military says that it was planned even before the killing of those 21 Marines.

CLANCY: When YOUR WORLD TODAY continues, a new anti-insurgent drive in western Iraq. We'll have details after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back. You are watching an hour of world news on CNN International.

The U.S. military says it was planning a new anti-insurgent push in western Iraq even before this week's killing of nearly two dozen Marines. And now it is under way. And the prime minister meets with the revered Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf.

Let's bring in CNN's Aneesh Raman, who is in Baghdad for us.

Hi, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Colleen.

Yes, planned before, the military says. But given the deadly attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq this week, the timing of clear import.

We're told Operation Quick Strike launched on Wednesday in the volatile northwestern Al Anbar Province of Iraq. Some 1,000 troops, we're told, are involved. Those both U.S. Marines, as well as Iraqi forces. That is a sizable amount. It gives us a sense of the scale of the operation. They only tell us the bare essentials as these engagements go forward.

We do know that today Iraqi special forces directed U.S. Marine air fire on to a building where insurgents were firing back. Also, reports from the ground, from witnesses, that these troops were doing house-to-house cordon operations. That would be consistent with them having actionable intelligence against suspected insurgents in that area.

Now, as we mentioned, it comes on a week where we've seen some 28 U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq. Fourteen of those were U.S. Marines killed northwest of the capital in the town of Haditha, within the Al Anbar Province. They were killed after a massive improvised explosive device essentially destroyed the vehicle you are looking at there, their assault vehicle.

It is a hotbed of insurgent activity there, Colleen. This -- and these images a clear sign of that.

It is also where the military has put a good number of its troops and a good deal of its efforts. But the fact that the enemy still is able to pull off these casualty numbers shows, in the Pentagon's words, how lethal and adaptive they are.

MCEDWARDS: Now, the prime minister meeting with a pretty influential voice in Najaf. Tell us more about that.

RAMAN: Yes. The prime minister on a day that was meant to be a meeting of political leaders in Iraq, in Baghdad, talking about the constitution, that's been delayed until Sunday. The prime minister instead traveling to the Shia holy city Of Najaf. There, meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

He is, of course, a key figure in terms of the religious faith of Shia here in Iraq, but also a political figure. His blessing was what put the national assembly on track, was what really ended the standoff in Najaf.

You're seeing there the prime minister after his meeting. The grand ayatollah never really taking part in any photo ops.

But as interesting, Colleen, was an embrace that happened between the prime minister and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. You'll recall just about a year ago this week, he was involved with pitch battles with the U.S. forces in Najaf. He has gone through a remarkable transition the course of the year.

Today, in terms of this photo op, really coming out on his own as a political leader. He was asked in that press conference if he would run in the upcoming elections. He said instead, surrogates will be running on his behalf.

It tells us both the tale of Muqtada al-Sadr, but also Prime Minister Jaafari here, clearly shoring up support among his base that he needs now more than ever -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Aneesh Raman for us in Baghdad. Thanks very much.

CLANCY: American disenchantment with the war in Iraq appears to be growing, at least by some estimates. That story tops our quick check of U.S. headlines.

A poll of 1,000 adult Americans indicates shrinking support for U.S. President George W. Bush's handling of Iraq. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll finds 38 percent of those questioned approve of his handling of Iraq. Now, that is down just 2 percent from July.

The number disapproving unchanged at 59 percent. Two percent had some mixed feelings. Another one percent were not sure.

The city of Cleveland, Ohio, holding a memorial service this day for more than a dozen Marines who lost their lives in Iraq. Ohio was the home state of the servicemen who died in several attacks by insurgents just in the past week alone. Many of them were from the very same unit.

Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist is home again after being taken to a hospital Thursday with a fever. He was examined and released without being admitted. It was Rehnquist's second emergency visit in a month. He suffers from thyroid cancer, but says he is not yet ready to step down from the bench.

MCEDWARDS: Well, our report on business is going to be just ahead for you.

CLANCY: And then later, a tantalizing look into the private lives of complete strangers, though those details were found in very public places. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: A riot in Belfast has left 40 policemen injured and a trail of devastation. Detectives poring over some videotape of this five-hour clash with the Protestant militant faction.

The trouble followed a crackdown on paramilitary groups in northern Ireland. The mob threw gasoline bombs, torched 10 cars and a double-decker bus before riot police broke the whole thing up.

It is time now for a check on what is moving the market in the United States and Europe.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CLANCY: We're going to have a roundup of the main stories coming up in just a moment.

MCEDWARDS: That's right.

Also ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, aid is arriving in Niger finally. But can these supplies ever meet the overwhelming demand? We'll have a report on that.

CLANCY: It happened in the blink of an eye, but the memories have endured for decades. Sixty years after Hiroshima, we hear a survivor's story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Jim Clancy.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. Here are some of the top stories that we're following for you. British Prime Minister Tony Blair says big changes are on the way for how his country handles extremism and the incitement of terrorism. Proposed measures include wider grounds on which foreign nationals may be deported. Mr. Blair also named two radical Islamic groups that would be banned from operating in Britain, Hisboud Tarir (ph) and successor organization as well, Al Wuhad Jaroon (ph).

CLANCY: An international rescue effort now under way. Seven sailors are trapped on a Russian mini-submarine at the bottom of the Pacific. The sub is very similar to this one. It became trapped when its propeller snagged fishing nets and a cable. Russia's Navy says the crew's air supply is fast running out. The U.S. is expected to deliver unmanned submersibles to this site within about 12 hours.

MCEDWARDS: Israeli police and security forces on high alert after a bus shooting late Thursday that killed four Arab-Israelis. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called the attack by an AWOL Israeli soldier "a sinful act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist." Victims of the attack all residents of Shafaram (ph). A mass funeral in this small town Friday was attended by thousands of people.

We want to bring you another view of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair's crackdown on terrorism. And for that, we're joined in London by Ihtisham Hibatullah. He is the director of media for the Muslim Association of Britain.

Hello, and welcome.

Some of the voices in the Muslim community are frankly concerned about this announcement. Are you?

IHTISHAM HIBATULLAH, MUSLIM ASSOC. OF BRITAIN: Yes, certainly. The whole of Muslim community and large portion of the British community is in concern the way the prime minister is handling the whole -- the terrorist attack in July 7th and subsequent one.

CLANCY: Well, all right, but the Muslim community is constantly saying these terrorists are not Islamic, that the people who call for this kind of action, attacking innocent civilians, suicide bombings, they're not Islamic. So why should the Muslim community defend these kind of people? Why not say to the government, yes, get them out of the country?

HIBATULLAH: Muslim association of Britain and the Muslim community at large in this country, we are in the forefront of attacking the terrorists and revealing out the extremists from our community and the society at large.

What we have seen over the past few weeks is the hate crimes against the Muslims themselves has risen unproportionate level, 600 percentage. So we have to admit a fact that in our community, and the society at large, these extremists do exist. So we need to have a mechanism whereby we can -- we should be able to tackle this extreme voices who preaches hatred, with the Muslims or the Muslims against the other community. So we cannot differentiate a death caused by these terrorists and the underground or buses or hate crimes committed against the Muslims. Currently it seems all the agenda coming out of number 10 and elsewhere is targeting and alienating the white and Muslim community for the crime of -- small number of extreme radicals.

CLANCY: All right. Small number of extreme radicals that you say you want to get out of your midst as well. You also talk there about attacks on the Muslim community and, yes, those figures are up sharply. There's great cause for concern here. Should -- all of the power here is going to rest with the home secretary. He will decide, should a mosque be shut down? Should an Islamic center be shut down for radical activities? Should someone be deported? Should he be talking with, liaising with you and other Muslim groups in the community?

HIBATULLAH: Let me take this very clearly. The Muslim community in the forefront, as I said earlier, is in tackling the extremism among Muslims in this country. The (INAUDIBLE) part, which used to preach, and we took over, and we provided a solution for the extremism, and it is a place of worship today. It is a place for various religious leaders from the various community leaders come to sit and talk to, discuss. They should (INAUDIBLE) the communities. So we manage to transform when the government decided to engage with the communities.

What we are once again saying is let's have two-way process. One, engage with the community, whereby we can root out these radicals. On the other hand, if we find anyone breaking the law, let's deal it through the court of law, rather than having a blanket -- yes?

CLANCY: Has prime minister -- just very briefly, has Prime Minister Blair made matters worse with this announcement?

HIBATULLAH: It seems that he has created -- it must be aware, fear overtakes everything else. But we fear that by doing this, that you're going to alienate a large portion of the younger generation. They won't be having any voice, any platform to have a political voice. When you alienate this, we are going to have a large section of the crowd voiceless. We fear when you have such a situation, that can play into the hands of the extremists, rather than all along, the Muslim Association of Britain and the rest of the community is trying to integrate young Muslims onto the mainstream political system. Let's work together on this process.

CLANCY: All right, we want to thank you very much for being with us here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

HIBATULLAH: Thank you.

MCEDWARDS: All right, to Niger now. The United Nations and other humanitarian agencies rushing food there. Thousands of malnourished women and children are turning up at distribution centers, trying to get food, trying to get aid.

And as Geraint Vincent reports, this massive turnout at some of the sites is exhausting the aid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERAINT VINCENT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Word had spread that help was on its way, and the women came from miles around, hundreds of them cued from daybreak. All of their children need food, but there's only so much to go around. So the doctors have to work out who is most in need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm checking their weights and their heights and comparing their heights and weights to see if the child is malnourished or not.

VINCENT: Those judged not to be needy enough go home with just a bar of soap. Of those who stay, some are more needy than others.

NICK ABRAHAMS, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Over here, we have little ones being entered into the feeding program. They're going to be given high-protein biscuits and sent home for fattening up.

Over here, we have the children with red bracelets. They're in a much worse state. So they're going to be sent to a hospital, to a feeding center for medical attention as quickly as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that we have the problem with the people are doing (ph) order. They don't respect...

VINCENT: It's slow progress, and some of the women get frustrated.

In seconds, the queue disintegrates and tempers flair.

VINCENT (on camera): These women have been queuing in the baking hot sun all day for a packet of biscuits they're not even sure they're going to get. They are desperate people, and I guess it's no great surprise that it's got out of hand.

ABRAHAMS: I think it's anxiety. It's the first time that the distribution has been done in this village, and they're just worried that if they don't get food today, we won't come back. But we'll be here for a while.

VINCENT: The distribution point reopens and one by one, the children are seen and the nurses do their job. A few boxes of biscuits, not much, but enough to know, my child has a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: And that was Geraint Vincent there. It is estimated that two-and-a-half million people in Niger are currently at risk.

Well, it was a moment that no one before had ever imagined ever happening.

CLANCY: Coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, how the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is remembered by a woman who lived through it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Saturday marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and a remarkable survival story from the rubble of the once flattened city has been uncovered. This is not about a person. It's about a piano, this one. When the United States dropped the atomic bomb, thousands and thousands of people were killed instantly, but this piano escaped unscathed, apart from some of the scratches that you see right there.

Its 19-year-old owner Akiko Kowamoto (ph) did not survive, though. She died the day after the bomb was dropped. Her beloved piano has not been played since, until now. It took center stage at a special concert to remember the day.

CLANCY: Of course, for the people who survived the atomic bombing, the memories are still real and they are still painful.

MCEDWARDS: Atika Shubert visited with one resident of Hiroshima who has her own incredible story of the bombing, an incredible story of survival and death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hiroko Yamashita remembers August 6th, 1945. Her parents told her to stay at home in Hiroshima and mind her younger brother, Usako (ph). She was 18, he was six. At 8:15 that morning, the atomic bomb exploded.

"I remember the figure of my little brother coming home from our neighbor's house," she says, "silhouetted in a white flash."

(on camera): Where I'm standing now is almost directly under where the atomic bomb exploded. Behind me is Hiroshima Dome, one of the few buildings left standing after the attack. Hiroko's home was about 900 meters, about half a mile away from this spot. And this is her incredible story of survival.

(voice-over): Hiroko awoke under a pile of rubble, her three- story home collapsed around her. But she had only one thought.

"I had to protect my brother. I struggled to get free and crawled up the pile of debris. I did not think about the pain," she says. "My brother saw me first, and climbed up to me. We held each other and cried for a long time. We're OK, is all we could say, over and over." All around them, devastation, survivors with burned skin hanging from their bodies. Usako seemed unhurt, but Hiroko suffered serious burns and gaping pounds that exposed her bones. She had to get help immediately.

"I still remember the voices of the dying, calling out, help, help us. But we could not help them," she says. "I wonder where I found the power to move on. If I did not have my little brother with me, I am sure I would have died right there. I think my brother was the one who rescued me after all."

Hiroko guided her brother to a nearby military air field, a place where she thought she would die.

"I crawled to a long line of victims waiting in the open sun for treatment. Many died while they were waiting on line," she recalls. "I was careful not to let go of my brother's hand, because I knew I would lose him. I saw many people lying around us, looking very close to death. One mother was still nursing her child, but she already looked dead."

The pair was saved when some of Hiroko's co-workers, looking for survivors, discovered them and brought them to her parents. Hiroko seemed worse than her brother. Then Usako suddenly fell ill.

"He collapsed, bleeding from his nose. We used towel after towel to staunch the bleeding. I have never seen so much blood," she says. "You would not believe that such a small body could hold so much blood."

Like so many radiation victims, his hair fell out, his nosebleeds more frequent. Hiroko's dreams for her brother vanished before her eyes.

"He used to press his ear up against the speakers to hear the classical records we used to play," she says. "If Usako had lived, I'm sure he would have grown up to practice music."

Her brother died in the bed next to her. Days later, Hiroko's hair also began to fall out. Her mother collected each strand in preparation for the moment her daughter would die.

"They told us, once you lose your hair, you will die," she says. "I did not have any will to live, honestly, because my little brother had already died, and I wondered,why I was allowed to live."

Hiroko's body slowly recovered. Her hair grew back. She still suffers recurring cancer. But in the post-war years, she defied her doctors to have a baby boy, a son who grew up to be a symphony conductor with the same love of music that her brother had long ago.

"I sometimes wonder that my brother's spirit seems to be reborn in my son."

The strands of hair her mother lovingly saved for her funeral are now on display at the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Her suffering, like so many survivors, now a part of history.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Hiroshima, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: This programming note for international viewers. Join us for live coverage as the world pauses to remember the exact moment of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 60 years ago. Our coverage starts at 2300 Greenwich Mean Time Friday. That's 1:00 a.m. Saturday in Berlin and Paris, 8:00 in the morning in Tokyo.

We're going to take a short break. We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CLANCY: Well, from garbage cans and shopping carts to the wisdom of ages. Doodles and scrawled notes provide really a window on people's innermost thoughts.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, if you find them in the right place. One man is trying to preserve some of those insights and interpret them a little bit.

Our look from Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Davy Rothbart went to his car one morning a few years ago to find this angry note on his windshield, written to some guy named Mario.

DAVY ROTHBART, "FOUND" MAGAZINE: It said, "Mario, I hate you. You said you had to work. Then why is your car here at her place? You're a liar. I hate you. I hate you. Signed Amber. P.S., page me later." She's so upset with him, and yet, she's still hopeful and in love with him.

I showed it to everybody I met, because I thought it was so striking. But I wished that there was a way to share it with more people.

NISSEN: There was. Rothbart created "Found" magazine, an annually published collection and updated Web site of lost notes, tossed notes, Post-Its, misplaced doodles and discarded photos that he and a small staff edit together with scotch tape and merriment in his Ann Arbor Michigan basement.

ROTHBART: There's so many other people who share my fascination with the little scraps of other people's lives.

NISSEN: Scraps like shopping lists found on supermarket floors and in shopping carts.

ROTHBART: I can't explain why I love this one so much, but I do. It just says roach spray, batteries, watermelon. What these found notes capture is just the smallest moments of everyday life. There might be a list, Dennis' list, what I have to do today. You know, and you'll see all these small things. Take clothes to the dry cleaner. Return videos. And learn to live free.

NISSEN: There are a lot of flyers, for rent signs. "For three bad rooms on Montrose." For sale signs. His and hers gold wedding bands, never used.

ROTHBART: People still use that kind of old-school tactic of taping up flyers all around town. And then, the flyers inevitably end up blowing around the streets. People pick them up and send them into us.

NISSEN: Flyers about pets, lost and found. Lost, a cobra that answers to "Psycho." This cat and this cat. Found, a pet bunny who looks like this from the front and this from behind.

ROTHBART: One of my favorite kinds of flyers are the do you want to join my band type of flyer.

NISSEN: A band looking for a bass player. A band looking for a guitarist and a bass player and a drummer and a lead singer.

ROTHBART: The kid who made the flyer, what was he going to do?

NISSEN: Another common category, notes found on windshields.

ROTHBART: A whole genre of notes is angry parking notes.

NISSEN: This was on a car illegally parked in a church parking lot. "If this persists, we will have you towed, in Jesus' name." This Yoda-like note was on a car taking up two spaces. "Inconsiderate must come to the minds of all that think of you."

Rothbart depends on a broad range and growing number of volunteer finders across the U.S. and outside it. Ground gazers, he calls them.

ROTHBART: Kids as young as six years old have found stuff and sent it in, people as old as 96. Teachers. Kids are great at losing things. And the stuff that teachers have found and sent in to us are priceless. One of my favorite kinds of notes are the ones that seventh-graders might write in class, back and forth to each other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and it's so retarded. Sexual reproduction. Eww.

NISSEN: Many found notes are written by those clearly out of that eww stage.

ROTHBART: So many of these notes seem to revolve around love and relationships.

NISSEN: Expressing perfect love and imperfect love.

ROTHBART: I'm always struck by how short a note can be and still give you such a powerful sense of somebody and what's going on with them.

NISSEN: Like this pro and con list, apparently written by a woman trying to decide between Andrew and Paul.

ROTHBART: Bad things. Andrew crazy, Paul crazier. Then the good things, Andrew sex, Paul money. A lot of the time s-- I think a lot of the notes you find, are someone just kind of sorting out their thoughts about something.

NISSEN: There are found letters from 1928. Photos from 1942. E-mails from 1999. There are warnings, hints, and a flyer that just advertises Steve.

ROTHBART: Some of the found notes are hilarious. They're crazy. Some of them are really sad. Some of them, someone apologizing. Any emotion that has ever been felt in this universe has been expressed in a note that's probably been lost and is blowing down the street right now.

NISSEN: Waiting to be found.

Beth Nissen, CNN, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: And those are our news notes for today. I'm Jim Clancy.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. Thanks for watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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