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Your World Today

France Takes Tough Measures to Clamp Down on Violence; Another Defense Lawyer Associated With Hussein Trial Killed in Iraq

Aired November 08, 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.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Riots in Paris. France taking tough new measures, trying to clamp down on successive nights of violence.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ambush in Iraq. Gunmen again target lawyers linked to Saddam Hussein's trial.

CLANCY: Arrests in Australia. Police say they foiled plans for a major terror attack in the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a flash of red. And then I heard something go crash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: And dangerous waters. Cruise ship passengers recount their brush with pirates off the coast of Somalia.

CLANCY: It is 6:00 p.m. right now in Paris, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad and Mogadishu.

I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee.

A warm welcome to our viewers around the world and in the United States. This is CNN International, and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We are going to begin our report this hour in France where the government is under intense pressure to try to stop the endless street rioting that's plaguing the country.

VERJEE: After 12 nights of violence and arson attacks, Paris is taking action.

CLANCY: French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announcing the implementation of a rarely used law. The law dates all the way back 50 years to 1955. It allows local authorities the power to impose curfews. The punishment for violating a curfew is now up to two months in jail.

VERJEE: The interior ministry says rioting was less severe on Monday night. Still, 1,200 vehicles were torched and about 300 people arrested.

CLANCY: Mr. De Villepin also says 8,000 police officers backed by 1,500 reserve officers are being deployed. But the army is not going to be used.

VERJEE: In Paris, itself, things were relatively calm on Monday night. But the violence has now spread to almost every major French city from Lille in the north to Toulouse in the south.

CNN's Jim Bittermann's keeping an eye on developments from the French capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With some calling it the worst rioting in decades, the French government took steps that confirm it. Meeting in an emergency cabinet session, the ministers reactivated a law first drawn up a half-century ago during the Algerian War of Independence, a measure that permits regional authorities to impose curfews when they feel it's necessary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have now the ability to be more efficient. The violent events that happened in our territory and the people responsible for the violence will be arrested and punished.

BITTERMANN: While Sarkozy and others said that the situation had improved somewhat overnight, with more than 300 arrests and nearly 1,200 vehicles destroyed, the numbers were only slightly better than the previous night. What has changed more clearly is that the rioting has shifted in location, taking place more in outlying French cities than around Paris.

All of it has raised serious concerns about what this is doing to the image of France. A sociologist says, though, what France is discovering about the misery in its suburbs is not that much different from what other countries have recently discovered.

OLIVIER ROY, SOCIOLOGIST: ... in New Orleans, or when the European (ph) public opinion spoke about the failure of the American dream. When the bombings happened in London, everybody was talking about the failure of the British modern mechanism (ph). The west, now, is experiencing a crisis of a different model of integration. It's of integration (INAUDIBLE) or integration of the under class.

BITTERMANN (on camera): In many way, imposing a curfew is a dramatic step which might help combat the rioting but which also could have a drastic impact on the life of a community. It is as well an unmistakable sign that until now, the government's approach has failed.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Let's go straight to the streets of Paris and get a live update now from Becky Anderson.

Becky, we hear a lot of talk about the potential of curfews being put in place. What are you hearing tonight?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just so you know, just in the past couple of minutes, we have heard of the first local official in a place called (INAUDIBLE) who has decided to impose a curfew from 10:00 tonight until 7:00 in the morning. That is the first.

Now, there are some 750 depressed neighborhoods that have been involved certainly around Paris in this sort of violence. As you say, some 226 towns and cities involved just last night.

But we have just heard, as I say, in the last couple of minutes that this law that's been invoked by the cabinet today at their special session is being used by at least one local official. One curfew now in place -- Jim.

CLANCY: We are just counting down the hours now until things get under way. Usually -- you had told me earlier it's about 9:30 at night when a lot of this trouble all begins. The police have acted. They've made a lot of arrests.

Do they think the worst is over? What are they thinking tonight?

ANDERSON: Well, it's interesting, because we heard from officials today saying things looked as if they were getting better last night. But that's if you live in Paris. If you don't live in Paris, in one of the 220-odd towns and cities across France, things aren't getting any better.

We saw a thousand cars torched once again. More than 350 people arrested.

That takes the total of people arrested to over a thousand in the last 12 days alone. And an enormous amount of property damaged and cars torched. Schools have been torched. Churches have been torched.

So, as far as the violence in Paris is concerned, well, these curfews may work, if indeed the local officials choose to use them. But when you hear state officials saying that things are getting better, that is because things were better last night in Paris. But they certainly weren't better elsewhere in France -- Jim.

CLANCY: The public reaction in all of this, what has it been?

ANDERSON: Shock, but not surprise, I think is the way that we should describe it. This is a country which is built on the ideas of the revolution and the republic in 1789, which offers legality and liberty to all.

And what people have been saying here is -- excuse me -- there isn't equality and liberty for everybody here. Many of the immigrant communities -- and it hasn't just been the immigrant communities, let's remember that, who have been involved in this trouble -- but many in the immigrant communities, second and third generation immigrants, saying they are not equal citizens here.

So effectively, people on the streets are saying they are shocked that this violence has been so ferocious and so intense for so long. But they are not surprised to see that in these depressed areas people have gotten extremely frustrated and they've hit the streets -- Jim.

CLANCY: Becky Anderson reporting live from the streets of Paris.

Thank you.

VERJEE: We want to get your thoughts on the situation in France.

CLANCY: Our "Question of the Day" asks this: Is the French government doing enough to stop the violence? E-mail us at YWT@CNN.com. Let us know what you think.

VERJEE: Remember to include your name, where you are from. And keep your answers brief. We'd like to get as many e-mails as possible and read them here on the air.

It's the second attack in a month on lawyers linked to Saddam Hussein's trial. An attorney representing one of Hussein's co- defendants was gunned down in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Aneesh Raman joins us now live from the Iraqi capital.

Aneesh, is it possible that a major trial can be conducted in this sort of environment, where domestic turmoil and the insurgency is still on?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... by any number of groups, not the least of which are the other defendant lawyers involved in this case. Human rights groups as well questioning whether this trial can go forward. An incredibly sensitive trial in an incredibly volatile country.

Today, as you mentioned, the second attack on defense lawyers. Today, Adil Muhammed Zubaidi was killed as he was driving in western Baghdad. He is a lawyer for Taha Yasin Ramadan, Iraq's former vice president, on trial with Saddam Hussein and six other defendants in this first trial.

You see there video from the incident. His car came under attack by three gunmen that intercepted the vehicle.

Also in the car was and Thamer Hamoud Khuzai, another lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants in this trial.

Now, it is, as you say, the second attack on a lawyer for the defense. A day after this trial commenced on October 19, Saadoun Janabi, the lawyer for Alwad Bandar (ph), the former chief judge of the revolutionary court, was abducted from his office, and then within hours was executed.

You see there video from the trial's first day. And that incident, coming just within 24 hours after the session began, immediately raised concerns among the defense counsel as to whether they had enough security the government says it is providing upon request -- Zain.

VERJEE: Protection for lawyers certainly an issue. What about protection for witnesses during the course of a trial?

RAMAN: Well, when we saw that first session end, the chief judge came out in public comments and said that witnesses were to have shown up on October 19, that they did not because of fear of security. And so that is something as well that this court is grappling with, how to provide suitable security for the witnesses who could testify, whether or not they will be shown on television.

These are the logistics among any number of others that this court now faces -- Zain.

VERJEE: From Baghdad, CNN's Aneesh Raman.

CLANCY: Terror suspects now behind bars in Australia.

VERJEE: Coming up, we'll bring you details of the capture and more on what police call a plan for a major attack.

CLANCY: And then later, heading to the polls in the United States. Will President Bush be a liability for some of his fellow Republicans?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. For our viewers in the U.S., this is one hour of international news as shown on CNN as it broadcasts around the world.

Focusing now on Australia, where police say that they have foiled plans for a major -- a major terror attack in their country. Raids involving hundreds of officers in Sydney and Melbourne netted 17 suspects on terror charges.

We get more details now from Joe O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE O'BRIEN, REPORTER, ABC NEWS, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (voice over): In the early hours of this morning, more than 400 police raided homes in southwest Sydney as part of Australia's biggest counterterrorism operation. Authorities say a terrorist cell was planning a catastrophic attack which could have killed hundreds of people.

MORRIS IEMMA, NEW SOUTH WALES PREMIER: Intelligence was received that a group was making arrangements to stockpile chemicals and other materials capable of making explosives.

O'BRIEN: Police helicopters played an integral role in the operation, tracking down one of the suspects and directing police to him. Authorities say they had no evidence the group had a particular target or when an attack may have occurred, but had to act. KEN MORONEY, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE COMM.: Well, I can't put a specific time on it. But I was not prepared. I don't believe that the law enforcement agencies were prepared to take that risk any longer. It's not a case of let's wait and see when it goes off and where it goes off.

O'BRIEN: Authorities stay the prime minister's announcement last week of a specific threat had not forced their hand. They had members of the group under surveillance for years and decided to pounce because enough evidence was finally gathered.

The operation continued today. Police tailed a man as he left a mosque in suburban Green Valley. It's alleged he shot as police when they approached him.

GRAEME MORGAN, ASST. POLICE COMMISSIONER: Witnesses have told the police that he produced a firearm and fired at the police. One officer was struck, we believe, in the hand.

O'BRIEN: A police officer shot back and hit the man in the neck. He's now under police guard in a serious but stable condition.

A robot was brought in to analyze the backpack the man was carrying. There were fears it may have had explosives inside. Instead, police allegedly found a handgun.

(on camera): Police say there will there was a very real possibility this could have resulted in something like the London or Madrid attacks. But they're confident now they've dealt a significant blow to this alleged terrorist cell.

(voice over): The London attacks on July the 7th claimed 56 lives and injured 700 people. Four suicide bombers there attacked trains and a bus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The linkages appear to be common in the sense of the chemicals that appear to have been used in London and the chemicals which we will allege were being gathered or being sought here in New South Wales and Victoria.

O'BRIEN: Police say the Australian cell was an Islamic-based group which followed a similar philosophy to Osama bin Laden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is what terrorism in its modern form is all about. And there's no doubt that this group followed that same philosophy.

O'BRIEN: Islamic leaders welcomed any efforts to stamp out terrorism, but also expressed concern for the Islamic community.

AMJAD MEHBOOB, AUSTRALIAN FED. OF ISLAMIC COUNCILS: At the same time, the Muslims are concerned that they could be, again, facing the fallout from this. And they will be fighting (INAUDIBLE) an attack from elements of the wider community.

O'BRIEN: This afternoon, amid tight security at a Sydney court, seven men charged with preparing for a terrorist act did not apply for bail.

ADAM HOUDA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There is no evidence in these cases that terrorism was contemplated or being planned by any particular persons at any particular time or at any particular place.

O'BRIEN: The men will return to court on Friday.

Joe O'Brien, ABC News, Sydney.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: The Council of Europe has opened an investigation into reports of secret CIA detention centers in Romania and in Poland. The decision follows reports that a U.S. intelligence agency has been hiding and interrogating al Qaeda captives at secret facilities. "The Washington Post" reports that some prisoners are being held in a Soviet-era compound in a former eastern bloc nation and in other European democracies.

The Council of Europe is the continent's top human rights watchdog.

The Pentagon has approved new guidelines on the interrogation of terror suspects and other prisoners by American soldiers. The issue has gained international attention in recent days.

Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with more on this.

Barbara, what exactly are the new guidelines, and do they reflect lessons learned from previous prisoner abuse scandals?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, Zain. The Pentagon says that's exactly the point, that all of this now is a result of the lesson they say they've learned from the many investigations into de detainee practices in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

They say they have learned that they need to have an overall policy set down in writing for everyone to follow. So today, we have the first of several new initiatives.

We have an 11-page policy document that now requires all interrogations to be humanely conducted. For example, no more use of dogs to harass or intimidate detainees. And certainly the Pentagon says no torture.

Now, that all is something that Senator John McCain of the Congress is watching very carefully. He has been pressing for all of this to be put into law. He spoke earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Everybody agrees that has been in combat and knows these situations, like General Colon Powell and others believe, that the price we pay for being able to torture people is huge throughout the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, what does this new initiative actually say? Well, several key points.

It specifically bans mental or physical torture. It requires all non-DOD questioners, such as CIA interrogators, to observe the Pentagon policy when they are questioning people being held by the Defense Department. And it establishes very specific procedures now for violating guidelines.

But the real question, Zain, what is really meant by this question of humane treatment? Would all practices that perhaps could be defined as abusive or humiliating actually be ruled out?

That's not something we have a clear picture of yet, because several more documents, several more policy statements are expected to be issued by the Pentagon. The key one that everyone is watching for is a new Army field manual that will spell out very specific interrogation procedures -- Zain.

VERJEE: Reporting to us from the Pentagon, CNN's Barbara Starr -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, coming up next, we'll have a look at what's topping the news in the United States for our viewers in North America.

VERJEE: And for the rest of us, we're going to get a report on what's moving financial markets.

And another person dies from bird flu. Tracking transmission when we come back.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes, but first, a check on stories making headlines here in the U.S.

A high-profile visit to Washington by a controversial Iraqi politician has some lawmakers on Capitol Hill very upset, and it's adding to the debate over prewar intelligence leading up to the Iraqi invasion.

State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel is live from Washington with reaction to the visit by Ahmed Chalabi.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration had touted Ahmed Chalabi, who was one of the founders of a major Iraqi opposition group, as the man who could become Iraq's George Washington. In fact, he was among the only Iraqi exiles flown into Iraq by the U.S. military immediately after invasion.

But Chalabi quickly fell out of favor with the White House when Iraq's alleged WMD were never found. Chalabi was a primary source of information for both U.S. officials and some U.S. journalists, insisting WMD existed.

Then in 2004, the U.S. and Iraq raided Chalabi's home and his office in Iraq and launched an investigation into whether he had leaked sensitive classified information to Iran. But what a difference a year makes.

Now Chalabi is one of two deputy prime ministers in Iraq's new government, and he's made no secret he'd like to be Iraq's next prime minister. With elections set for mid-December, the Bush administration now appears to be courting him all over again.

And over the next couple of days, Chalabi is said to meet with Treasury Secretary John Snow and with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

But that has got some Republicans and Democrats alike, including Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who's the Democrat from Illinois, scratching their heads asking why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: It is very difficult to track how this man who gave us such misleading information before the invasion of Iraq, now under active investigation for endangering American troops, is now the toast of the town at the Department of Treasury and the Department of State. I don't follow their logic, and I certainly don't follow the pursuit of justice if they don't have an active investigation concluded so that we know whether or not Mr. Chalabi has endangered American lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: In fact, a government official has told our Justice correspondent Kelli Arena that there is still an active investigation by the FBI into the activities of Ahmed Chalabi and whether he gave sensitive information to Iran -- Daryn.

KAGAN: He is a fascinating man, is one way to put that.

KOPPEL: Yes, you could.

KAGAN: Interesting story. It goes on with a new chapter.

Andrea Koppel, thank you.

On Capitol Hill, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is taking part in another round of meetings with senators who will decide whether he's confirmed. He is visiting both Democrats and Republicans today. Alito's confirmation hearing are scheduled to begin in January. Across parts of the U.S. today is Election Day. Voters in two states, Virginia and New Jersey, are choosing governors. And some big city mayor races are also on tap, including those in New York, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston and San Diego.

In several states, some key measures are on the ballot. In California, voters will decide four ballot initiatives pushed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

We have more coverage straight ahead here on CNN.

Meanwhile, to Evansville, Indiana. Two days after a deadly tornado, workers say this pond is deeper than expected and will take longer to drain than first thought. Of the 18 people confirmed killed in a trailer park, five were found in the pond.

Crews will see if there are any more, even though all residents are now accounted for. That community obviously is badly shaken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF BRAD ELLSWORTH, VANDERBURGH COUNTY, INDIANA: It's devastating. We know in natural disasters this is not on the level of Katrina. It's -- our area is very confined. And so -- so as far as the scene.

But it's devastated this community. You know, young children. I know the firefighters, the original responders, they're shook up.

This is their job. They do it. They do it because they love to help people. But when you pull a young child out of the rubble, or someone dies in your arms, it's devastating. And these guys need to be commended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: One hundred of the 350 homes in the mobile home park were destroyed. Another 125 were badly damaged. Residents will be allowed to return home tomorrow to search for belongings.

Let's actually take a live picture right now. Southern California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, going to vote at the polls. Very close to their home at Pacific Palisades. Of course, as we were just mentioning, California voters facing a number of important measures today, including four that the governor himself pushed to put on the ballot as he found himself in a power struggle with the state legislature.

He decided to take his battle, especially on process and budget matters, to the voters of California. Unsure right now if he has the political clout in order to make that pass in California. Of course we will be tracking all of it.

Also, a new program is trying to help improve the lives of young girls in the inner cities of America. A closer look at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM." Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Here are some of the top stories we are following.

A lawyer for a co-defendant of Saddam Hussein has been shot and killed in western Baghdad. The attorney was representing former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan. A second lawyer riding with the victim was wounded. The attack comes nearly three weeks after another attorney in the case was kidnapped and killed.

CLANCY: Seventeen terror suspects are in custody of Australian police after raids were carried out in Sydney and Melbourne. They're charged with crimes including conspiring to commit a terror act. Police say the suspects were stockpiling chemicals similar to those used in the London bombings. More arrests are expected.

VERJEE: After 12 nights of street violence in France, the government has invoked a 50-year-old law that allows local officials to impose curfews. Paris says it will stand firm against the ongoing rioting across the country. Twelve hundred motor vehicles were set ablaze overnight, and some 300 people arrested.

The anger and resentment in France's immigrant community have been brewing for decades. Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour looks at the crisis through the eyes of young people living in the affected neighborhoods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the worst social unrest in France since the 1968 student uprising. The mayhem started in the bleak and neglected housing project just beyond the Paris city lights, an explosion of anger by the disaffected youths who live here, after two of their own were electrocuted while hiding from what they believe was a police chase.

(on camera): The government built these apartment blocks after World War II, when they invited in tens of thousands of immigrants from Africa and Arab countries to fill low-skilled jobs. At the time, this was a step up from where they had come from.

But now, the jobs are gone and people are left here without basic services, with second-rate education and, worse, with no employment. Indeed, the unemployment rate in these outer city ghettos is four times the national average.

(voice-over): As another nervous night falls on these graffiti garbage-strewn blocks, we tried to get some answers. These young people tell us they do not support the violence. But Kareem (ph) says it's the only way they can express themselves. They are angry and upset. They're saying they're fed up. Fed up with a life, says Abdual Azeez (ph), that is just dreary survival.

"There's nothing for us, no jobs," he says. "When we look for jobs, employers look at us. They want to know our origin, our address, and that's the end of that."

The French Revolution's famous promise of liberty, equality, and fraternity has failed these young people, who were born in France and have nowhere else to call home. Instead of integrating, they are now increasingly turning towards their own.

Back at the housing project, 54-year-old Husara (ph) tells us the authorities alienate these young people. "As soon as the cops see a group of youngsters," she says, "they start chasing them. They ask for their papers. When the kids shout that they're French, the cops insult them and throw their papers on the ground."

"We hope it will improve," says Kareem, "but the authorities have to do their part. They have to do something for the young to help them, instead of leaving them to rot in these ghettos. They need to help us get jobs and improve our lives, then things will calm down."

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Clichy-sous-Bois, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Clichy-sous-Bois. That is where it all began. What's it like living now in one of these affected neighborhoods during these times when the streets are literally on fire by night?

Joining us is a resident of Clichy-sous-Bois, where it all started. He's asked us only to use his first name, Ibrahim. He's 21 years old. Ibrahim, how did this all get started?

IBRAHIM, RESIDENT OF CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS: I think all this has been provoked by spectacle methods used by the government here. And that's why, in front of that, we had spectacular violences.

CLANCY: Let me ask you this. We heard from young people there who said we have no other way to express ourselves. Do you agree?

IBRAHIM: I don't agree about that, because they have other ways. But we don't give them the possibility to use these ways, because these youths, people who are living in the suburbs, are treated like scum by the minister of interior. So they feel hurted. And when two of their brothers are killed after a simple check -- identity check, it's -- I think they express the anger by violence. But I'm sure that there are other ways to act.

CLANCY: Do you have a job?

IBRAHIM: I am a student in -- psychology student.

CLANCY: Do you hope to get a job? IBRAHIM: But I have no job.

CLANCY: Do you hope to get a job or do you think that you will be unemployed? How do you, how do your friends, deal with that problem?

IBRAHIM: I think that I could get a job, but not as easily as a Parisian, someone who lives in Paris. Because...

CLANCY: Do you know people in your neighborhood that are going out every night to burn cars, to burn buildings? And how much longer will they do it?

IBRAHIM: Not my friends, but I see -- what I've seen this week is that after the provocation of the methods of the police, the youths, people felt, like, an insecurity. So they answered, and that's why we had clashes between CRS and the youths in the suburbs. And I think that the last straw that breaks the camel's back was also the tear gas in the mosque...

CLANCY: Well, you were in that mosque. You knew that two young men who fled an identification check. They escaped from the police. They jumped over a fence into an electrical substation, and they lost their lives. They were electrocuted. Police say they were not chasing them. Whose fault is all of this? Is it the police's fault for the way they do things, or do you think that these young people must bear some of the blame?

IBRAHIM: Yes, police say that they -- the youths weren't running from the police. But three or four witnesses who were playing football, were playing soccer with these two young boys, were witnesses and -- have been to the police office. So the others, the three others, young boys, have escaped from the police. And two died. The third is in hospital now. And he is burned, strongly burned.

CLANCY: All right. Whose fault is all of this, though? You seem to be blaming the police.

IBRAHIM: Can you repeat?

CLANCY: Whose fault is all of this? Is it the police fault? Or must the young people also bear the responsibility for burning their neighborhoods?

IBRAHIM: I think people who burn because our -- it's their fault. But what we should say is that these have been provoked by the government fault, because of discrimination during many, many years in the suburbs because of segregation, because of many problems with what these youths are confronted every day.

CLANCY: OK.

IBRAHIM: And the deaths of two boys and the attack of the mosque was the last straw.

CLANCY: Ibrahim, we have to leave it there. But I want to thank you very much for being with us. Ibrahim there, from the neighborhood, the city where it all began.

IBRAHIM: You're welcome.

CLANCY: That brings us to our question of the day. Is the French government doing enough to stop the violence? E-mail us at ywt@CNN.com and let us know what you think. Remember, keep your answers brief and tell us where you are from.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back.

To northern Pakistan now, where U.N. aid workers are desperately trying to bring shelter to 350,000 earthquake survivors. They face a dwindling budget and the fast-approaching Himalayan winter.

Bill Neely is in Balakot, in Pakistan, and he reports on the plight of evacuees, evacuees whose future is far from certain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): Daybreak, there have been 30 since the disaster. But the days get no better. So much death, yet dawn brings more suffering. It breaks cold on bodies forever scarred, on five families living on the rubble next to 13 graves and in misery. They have little food and little water. And every day nature hits them with another earthquake.

In the valley below, buildings fell, the aftershock the second in six hours. They told me, it's like torture. Only tents stand upright in Balakot now. Things looked normal, but inside, nothing's normal.

The only way Ensha (ph) could be pulled from her school was by having her leg amputated. Her classmate's, Assad (ph), head was trapped. He's now brain damaged. Sadaf (ph) was buried for or two days. His arms are broken. His brother is dead. And the injured are still coming every day, from villages still cut off by landslides from everything but a helicopter, where the winter has bitten. The food's running out, and they are desperate to escape.

(on camera): The Army hopes to empty places like this because anyone who stays is in serious danger of dying in the coming cold. The troops are trying to coax survivors out now, but soon they'll start forcing them out.

(voice-over): It's an exodus across the snow that's fast approaching, every helicopter cramped from back to front. Most of these people have never seen a helicopter, much less travelled in one.

They were in safe hands, but not for long. There weren't no aid workers to greet them, no tents to sleep in. They had no idea where they were or where they were going.

But for a month now, it's been an even harder road for thousands of others. Many injuries from the earthquake have become septic, so this boy's fingers has been removed. Bilgese (ph) from Balakot is three -- her arm has been amputated.

And then there's this girl, no one knows who she is or where she's from, and no one visits her.

A vast area has to be reopened, and the towns within rebuilt. For now, though, these people just need to survive. But for the five families living under plastic on their shaking hillside, that's not as easy as it sounds.

(on camera): It is cold here now, and it's getting colder every night. But by January or February, it will be absolutely freezing. By then, the world's media, including us, the world's attention will be far, far from here.

(voice-over): But these survivors just a few of three million homeless, will have to fight here through a winter that may inflict a second disaster on a weakened, weary people.

Bill Neely, ITV News, Balakot, Pakistan.

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VERJEE: From Pakistan to the United States now where American voters are heading to the polls for state and local elections which could reflect the impact of U.S. President George W. Bush's low- approval ratings.

Kimberly Osias begins our coast-to-coast coverage of the major races. She joins us now from Washington -- Kimberly.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of excitement in this off-off year election, Zain. But Virginia and New Jersey voters already at the polls, two states that are electing governors and may serve as indicators of national sentiment. It's a tight race between Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine and Republican nominee Jerry Kilgore for the governor's mansion in Virginia. Both contenders have called in political heavyweights. Current Governor Democrat Mark Warner used his widespread popularity to campaign for Kain. The Republican nominee, Jerry Kilgore, has made a point of distancing himself from President Bush.

But just last night, Mr. Bush, who's approval ratings have reached an all-time low, appeared just off his South American visit to support Kilgore. A bit of a risk for Kilgore here, despite the state's support for President Bush in last year's presidential election. Big hot-button issues for the Commonwealth, the death penalty and abortion.

Moving further north to New Jersey, another interesting race to watch, interesting because Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester have taken the gloves off, and it's nasty. Both candidates are multi- millionaires in their own rights, and they have spent a come banned $70 million to win a job that pays $175,000. And you couldn't have a political showdown in New Jersey without mixing in scandal. Remember it was former Governor Jim McGreevy who resigned in disgrace when he came out last year saying he was gay. They've pumped big bucks into what's became a rancorous race, played out on the airwaves -- Zain.

VERJEE: Kimberly Osias, thank you -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, we said coast to coast. Actor-turned-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger all the way out in California is hoping that people of his state are going to warm up to four key initiatives that he is pressing. Let's get some perspective on all of that, and also on what Kimberly was talking there about President Bush.

CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us.

What is this, politicians don't want to be seen with the president? They think it will hurt their chances?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Well, for a long time he didn't show up in many of these campaigns, and at the last minute, just last night, in Virginia, he showed up at the 11th hour to have an evening rally on behalf of the Republican candidate for governor. Obviously the calculation was maybe George Bush could pull out some base Republican voters, loyal Republicans. But the Democrats are saying his showing up could also turn out some Democrats who don't like him.

CLANCY: All right, so as we look at the situation right now, are there a lot of people that are afraid that this president, the way that he's taking things, the politics of 2005, is very much against George Bush?

SCHNEIDER: The people who are afraid of exactly that are Republicans. They're very nervous right now, because the entire Congress, or almost all of it, is up for re-election next year -- a third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives. And they want to know, is Bush poisonous at the polls? His job ratings are very low right now. If it turns out that Republicans lose the races in New Jersey and Virginia, that's going to frighten off a lot of Republicans, and they may decide to go their own way and to keep a distance from this president.

CLANCY: Talking about low job ratings. How about the Terminator out there in California where you are. He's trying to push through some amendments, some proposals there on the ballot. How's he faring on that? It's basically a vote against himself, isn't it?

SCHNEIDER: That's right. And how things have changed since two years ago when he was elected in that triumphant recall against the former governor, Gray Davis. Well his fortunes have under the for the worse this year.

He picked a lot of fights, and a lot of voters want to know why did he have to pick fights? He picked them with the wrong people, with public-service unions, with Democrats in a very Democratic state. He's supporting four initiatives. He calls it his reform agenda. And all of those initiatives may be in trouble.

CLANCY: All right, Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst. As always, thanks to you for that. SCHNEIDER: Sure.

CLANCY: Well, new details about a luxury cruise ship's encounter with some well-armed pirates.

VERJEE: Still to come here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to tell you how the crew fought back and lived to tell the tale.

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CLANCY: Well, some holiday makers have memories to tell about. Passengers departing from the historic city of Alexandria, Egypt, several days ago thought that they were going to enjoy a leisurely 16- day voyage to Kenya.

VERJEE: Instead, RPG-wielding pirates interrupted their holiday just off the coast of Somalia. And many of the passengers have been able to recount their experience for Paul Davies.

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PAUL DAVIES, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): Safely back in port with an incredible story to tell and the scars to show for it. This was a cruise holiday that won't be forgotten in a hurry.

The luxury liner Seabourn Spirit is now docked in Maje Island in the Seychelles, but there were several reminders of her brush with pirates: the damage inflicted by automatic gunfire, and rocket- propelled grenades. And there's another dramatic souvenir, a photograph of the attackers in their high-speed boat taken by a holiday maker.

Passengers, including several Britons, recall the warning sounded by the captain as the liner came under fire off the coast of Somalia.

JAMES CANTER, PASSENGER: We heard in our room, we were still asleep, the captain, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, we are in trouble. We have something I don't like. And then...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay in your room.

CANTER: Stay in your room, because he didn't want to sound the alarm, because then you are told to go to the boats, to the lifeboats, you see?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't want us up there.

CANTER: And he didn't want us upon the deck. So the captain was very clever.

DAVIES: This man from Jersey saw the pirates open fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One chap at the front of the boat, and he had a red shirt on, pulled up this thing and held it over his shoulder like this, and I thought, what the hell's this? And then -- and there was a flash of red, and then I heard something go crash up above, and I thought it was a bloody airplane, and I said actually it was worse!

DAVIES: The luxury liner was able to outrun the pirates' boats, but the passengers say the close call hasn't put them off cruising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're English, old boy!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't get frightened by little things like this!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we don't.

DAVIES: None of the passengers were injured, but a crew member is being treated in hospital for gunshot wounds.

Paul Davies, ITV News.

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VERJEE: Time for the inbox now. We've been asking you all hour about the riots in France.

CLANCY: Our question, do you think that the French government is doing enough to stop the violence? Here's what some of you had to say.

Mark writes from France:

VERJEE: "French police and government have been cautious because the rioters hide within the rest of the population. The emergency state and more military resources should help."

CLANCY: Now, Susan from the United States says this: "It's not a question of what the French government is doing with this immediate problem, but rather, what France can do about its attitudes toward its minority population."

VERJEE: Bill in the United States writes and says: "No, the violence is only going to spread. The French government needs to get their hands around this before they really do have a revolution."

CLANCY: And Andrew in Israel tells us: "No, immigrants are being excluded and discriminated against. Instead of talking about how to quell violence, the government should treat the disease, not the symptoms."

VERJEE: Ywt@CNN.com. E-mail us. We love getting e-mails from you. And weigh in on this topic.

CLANCY: More to come. Here, more news on CNN for now, though. I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee.

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