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Your World Today
The Trial of Saddam Hussein; NYC Transit Workers' Union Agrees to Return to Work as Talks Resume; Annan Outburst; Thailand: A Year After the Tsunami
Aired December 22, 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.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: In another angry outburst, Saddam Hussein accuses the White House of lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And breakthrough in New York. Transit workers could get back on the job just in time for the holidays.
VERJEE: Also, Phuket is back. Tourists return to Thailand's famous vacation spot one year after the tsunami.
HOLMES: Hello, everyone. It is 12:00 midnight in Phuket, Thailand, and 12:00 noon in New York City.
I'm Michael Holmes.
VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. A very warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.
This is CNN International and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
HOLMES: Hello, everyone.
The trial of Saddam Hussein and his seven codefendants has now been adjourned until January 24. Now, earlier, Hussein used the trial as a bully pulpit to accuse the U.S. of lying to the world, but he did not stop witnesses from telling their stories of horror.
Aneesh Raman was in the courtroom during today's proceedings. He joins us now live from Baghdad.
Another dramatic day, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was, Michael. Good afternoon.
The judge again giving incredible latitude to the defendants to speak at will. Saddam Hussein again taking advantage of that.
At the end of yesterday's session, he alleged that he had been beaten by those who have him in custody. Today, he went in further detail, saying three times he has visited with American medical doctors and that they have documented the torture he says he endured, injuries that he says he sustained for the past three years.
Now, Saddam Hussein went even further, pointing the finger directly at the White House in a general sense and saying that they are at fault for a lot of the issues on the ground in Iraq and that they are, in essence, liars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM HUSSEIN, FMR. IRAQI DICTATOR (through translator): The White House lies once more. The number one liar in the world. They said in Iraq there is chemicals and a relationship to terrorism, and then they announced later that we couldn't find any of that in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: Now, the White House, Michael, has said of Saddam's charges of being beaten that they are preposterous. The Pentagon has said they are "simply untrue."
And today we heard from the court's chief investigative judge, Ra Juvi (ph). He said at beginning of his investigation process he asked all of the defendants if they had suffered any abuse and all of them said no. But, Michael, again, Saddam Hussein making this about himself rather than the charges he faces -- Michael.
HOLMES: Very much center stage. But also center stage, the evidence itself. What did we hear from the witnesses, Aneesh?
RAMAN: Yes, three more witnesses today, the final complaint witnesses. They all were anonymous, speaking behind that blue curtain. They all detailed again the torture and horrific abuse they suffered.
The witnesses all were between the ages of 10 and 14 at the time of that failed assassination attempt in July, 1982. Here's a glimpse of the witness testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Beating was continuous. They would take a group on the hallway. The guards would -- they would hit with cables and ask the group to crawl, and they would hit with cables, and the women would be watching this and screaming because they see their children being hit with the cables. They would not hold themselves, and they would start to cry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: Now, the defense, as they've done before, tried to discredit the witnesses, saying they were too young at the time to remember anything specific. Also, really alluding to the fact that some of these witnesses might have been involved in that failed assassination plot -- Michael.
HOLMES: OK. So we have an adjournment, another adjournment. This time until well into next month. What happens now? RAMAN: Well, we've officially -- or not officially, but it seems we've ended the first phase of this trial, which are these complaint witnesses, essentially victims' statements. Now, they'll reconvene on January 24 to begin hearing from witnesses with direct information that is relevant to this case. That means maybe former members of Saddam's government, officers in his army.
This beginning part is essentially the judges putting together a case. We will then see documentary evidence, and then there will be a formal charging document that will be issued after the court takes a break.
After that is when the adversarial part of this begins. The prosecution makes its case with its witnesses, the defense does the same, and then you hear closing arguments from the defense and the defendants. And then only is a verdict reached.
So the minimum estimate, Michael, on the ground is that we have about six more months or so to go in this first trial that Saddam Hussein faces. He could face up to 12 -- Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Aneesh.
Aneesh Raman, who was in the courtroom today.
Thanks.
VERJEE: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is giving a morale boost to British troops who won't be home for Christmas. He made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Thursday, thanking thousands of troops in Basra for their service. Mr. Blair told them that their mission is critical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The importance of this, probably, is greater today than it's ever been, because if Iraq does stabilize and become a democracy, then the region's more safe, the wider world is more safe, our own country is more safe because international terrorism will be dealt a huge body blow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Mr. Blair also promised his troops they could go home after Iraqi forces take over security operations, but he refused to set what he called an arbitrary timetable.
HOLMES: Well, the U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, is also on an unannounced trip to Iraq. He is in Baghdad to meet with commanders and assess the situation on the ground.
Rumsfeld arrived from Afghanistan. That's where he met with top government officials, as well as U.S. troops at the Bagram Air Base. He said a rapid withdrawal from either Afghanistan or Iraq would lead to a rise in regional terrorism. Now to escalating violence in the Middle East that could complicate upcoming elections for both Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli troops shooting and killing three militants on Thursday during an arrest raid in the West Bank town of Nablus. Hours later, militants in Gaza fired a homemade rocket into southern Israel, wounding five soldiers.
Israel responded with an artillery barrage of its own into Gaza. Officials also had a warning for Palestinians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RA'ANAN GISSIN, SR. SHARON ADVISER: We are going to respond to these attacks in very harsh measures, and we are going to employ, in exercising our right to self-defense, additional measures that we haven't used today. We're sending a very stern and clear warning message to the Palestinian terrorist organization and to the Palestinian population: Don't mess with Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This was the third time in less than a week that rockets fell near the Israeli city of Ashkelon. That's about nine kilometers from Gaza -- Zain.
VERJEE: A Tel Aviv court has sentenced an Israeli woman to three years in jail for aiding a wanted Palestinian militant leader. Israel arrested Tali Fahima in 2004 after she befriend the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Jenin. To avoid a life sentence, she pled guilty to charges of contact with a foreign agent, informing the enemy and disobeying an order. Fahima, who is Jewish, frequently spent time at the home of Zarqawi al-Zubaydi (ph), and she told journalists she was protecting him from an Israeli assassination.
Talks over pay, healthcare and pensions will resume in New York as commuters embrace news that the transit union has agreed to go back to work.
We're joined now by Allan Chernoff, who's been following the latest developments -- Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Zain, what's happened is that a state mediator has gotten the two parties to step back from the brink and at least to begin talking again and to end the strike. Now, this is not a total resolution of a dispute, but it is a framework to at least end the strike.
What's happened here is that the Metropolitan Transit Authority which runs the subways and buses has agreed for the moment to set aside the issue of pensions, changes to the pension plan which had been the critical issue over here. That would satisfy the union's request to protect its pension plan.
This, a major change, because only yesterday, the head of the union, Roger Toussaint, had said that only if the MTA dropped its demand for changes in the pension plan would people go back to work. So clearly a real breakthrough by the mediator over here, and the workers who have been on strike are quite pleased.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been very difficult watching my neighbors get up 4:00 in the morning to go to a job that more than likely they're only making $10 an hour. It's been very difficult to tell -- to tell my nieces and nephews the shortest way to get into Manhattan without running into a crowd. It has been very difficult to explain to the people I run into, the grocery stores, who I run into in the laundromats, who I see passing by the cleaners, asking me whether or not we're going to strike, and if we do strike, how long are we going to be on strike?
Remember, we are New Yorkers, and we're from the neighborhoods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: The executive board of the Transport Workers' Union has to approve this framework this afternoon, but it is likely that they will do so since the union leader is recommending a positive vote.
What will happen going forward in the negotiations between the two parties is that they will now explore potential cost savings for healthcare expenses, also a very important issue. But hopefully, if this all does go through, the subways and buses will be running once again in New York City tomorrow -- Zain.
VERJEE: Allan Chernoff reporting. That's good news for New Yorkers.
Thanks, Allan -- Michael.
HOLMES: Indeed. They'll get home tonight. While seven million New Yorkers were forced to seek other forms of transportation, New York City's mayor accused the union before this all came out of costing New Yorkers their livelihoods. Officials say the city has lost a staggering $1 billion in revenue over the last couple of days.
Adaora Udoji takes a look now at how the strike has affected small and even high-profile businesses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTY SHAPIRO, TRIBECA GRILL: In one word, it's devastating.
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Marty Shapiro's devastating feeling is blasting through businesses all over New York City, not just his upscale restaurant, Tribeca Grill, co-owned by actor Robert De Niro.
The transit strike's like a plague, keeping their regular customers and the tourists away. Not to mention preventing their employees from getting to work.
How did the sous-chef get in? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walking.
SHAPIRO: It's crippling. This is the busiest time of year. December is when most restaurants make most of their money.
UDOJI: Stores are also feeling the brunt of the strike. Fifth Avenue is one of the most expensive and famous streets in the world. It's busy, but not as busy as store owners hoped it would be during this all-important pre-holiday week. Analysts predict the luxury icon Tiffany's stands to lose a bundle.
Some smaller business have been forced to hang a shingle announcing limited hours. Hotels are facing unheard of cancellations, and they, like restaurants, are taking hits as high-rolling Wall Street bankers and others cancel expensive holiday parties.
SHAPIRO: I'd say we probably lost, you know, 80 percent of our business.
UDOJI: This cleaner has seen a 50 percent drop because the clothes party-goers would have worn are still in their closets.
PETER LEE, GREEN CLEANERS: I think it's hard to make up. How can you make that up? You know? What's done is done.
UDOJI: Businesses stand to lose anywhere from $250 to $400 million a day, according to many estimates. Huge losses at a time of expected big profits.
Marty Shapiro says the show will go on.
SHAPIRO: We're trying to, you know, try and make the best of a bad situation.
UDOJI: That means right now part of his job description is helping his employees get to work and get home, so the roasted red snapper will be served to whomever shows up.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Well, there could be new transit chaos brewing, this time in London. Subway workers there have voted to strike on New Year's Eve, one of the busiest nights of the year.
Union officials say the workers agreed overwhelmingly to strike for 24 hours beginning at midday on the 31st of December and again on January the 8th and 9th. The move follows a staffing dispute. An underground spokesman says the two sides are still negotiating and it's hoped that a strike will be avoided.
HOLMES: Well, that takes us to our inbox question of the day, which is: Should public employees be allowed to strike?
VERJEE: What do you think? E-mail us your thoughts, ywt@cnn.com. Tell us your name, where you're writing us from. And keep your e-mails brief and we'll try and get as many of them as we can on the air -- Michael.
HOLMES: All right. And Zain will respond to every one personally.
The world's top diplomat gets steamed.
VERJEE: Kofi Annan lashes out at a journalist at a year-end news conference. So what made the normally unflappable diplomat so angry? We're going to bring you the inside story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says resolving the Darfur conflict and stabilizing the Middle East will be his top priorities in 2006. Annan describes the last year as really difficult. And in a news conference he lashed out at the press for its coverage of the oil-for-food scandal, singling out one particular reporter.
Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the secretary-general of the United Nations.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was billed as an end-of-the-year news conference by the secretary-general. But any holiday cheer was soon shattered. At the start, Kofi Annan offered advice to his eventual successor.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: They need thick skin. Thick skin. They need a sense of humor.
ROTH: Up until now, the Nobel Peace Prize winner had in public kept his cool, but he lost it when asked by a British reporter about a Mercedes bought by his son and then shipped with a diplomatic discount to Africa, a slice of the overall oil-for-food scandal.
JAMES BONE, REPORTER: The Volcker report says the Mercedes was bought in your name. So as the owner of the car, can you tell us what happened to it and where it is now?
Now, my question is, it's true that we missed a lot of stories in the oil-for-food scandal, and the U.N. hasn't made it easy. And even your answer today on the Mercedes so far hasn't made it easy. Some of your own stories, your own version of events don't really make sense.
I would like to ask you particularly...
ANNAN: I think you're being very cheeky here.
BONE: Well, let me... ANNAN: And I have to tell you -- no, hold on, hold on.
BONE: May I ask my question?
ANNAN: Listen, James Bone, you've been behaving like an overgrown school boy in this room for many, many months and years. You're an embarrassment to your colleagues and to your profession. Please stop misbehaving and please let's move on to a more serious...
BONE: My question...
ANNAN: No, move on to a serious -- move on to a serious journalist.
Go ahead. You go ahead.
ROTH: The U.N. Correspondents Association, UNCA, protested Annan's response.
JAMES WURST, U.N. CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION: I have to tell you that James Bone is not an embarrassment. He's a member in good standing of UNCA. He had every right to ask the question.
ANNAN: I agree he has a right to ask questions, and I came here to answer questions. But I think you also have to understand that we have to treat each other with some respect. And you can ask questions. There are ways of asking questions and ways not to ask questions.
ROTH (on camera): The reporter, James Bone, has been on a one- man mission, consistently raising the Mercedes question at the daily briefings. However, the U.N. spokesmen always refer the matter to Paul Volcker's final investigative report which did not link Annan to his son's actions.
Annan may have ignited matters at the press conference by telling the U.S. press corps it missed the oil-for-food story, following leaks and private agendas.
Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Journalist James Bone talked to CNN about the incident just a short while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BONE, "TIMES OF LONDON": Well, you know, if I were a Freudian analyst, I'd say it was a question of displacement, that it's not me who's an embarrassment to my profession, it's Kofi Annan who feels that he's an embarrassment to his profession. You know, I cover rapists and child molesters and murderers, and I'm used to people not wanting to answer questions. As a journalist, it's an occupational hazard, as you know. You don't often get such an undiplomatic assault from the world's top diplomat, but, you know, it doesn't -- it doesn't really phase me at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Bone also said he thinks he hit a raw nerve because his question referred to Kofi Annan's son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please stop moving down. This is for your safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: 2005 about to come to an end, and what a year it has been. Do join us this Saturday for a look back at the year's top stories, 2005's "Defining Moments," Saturday at 00:30 hours GMT.
VERJEE: Toxic pollution grabs the headlines again in China.
HOLMES: Again, that's right. And the country's environmental policy isn't getting some high marks at the moment
We'll tell you how a chemical spill is polluting a Chinese river. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, though, let's check on stories making headlines here in the U.S. The buses and subways be rolling again soon in New York City. The transit union board meets next hour. They'll be considering a deal to send members back to work while contract talks go on. If the deal is approved, it would end a three-day-long strike that has forced million of New Yorkers to find other ways to get around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CURRERI, CHIEF STATE MEDIATOR: It is on this basis that we have requested the leadership of the TWU to take the actions necessary to direct its membership to immediately return to work, and they have agreed to take such actions. This will protect its membership's economic well-being in the short term by returning them to paid status, will permit the TWU leadership to focus its energy on reaching a negotiated resolution, and will restore services to the city's riding public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: This is obviously very positive for all New Yorkers, something we can all be happy about, because it has posed an enormous inconvenience and hardship on the people of New York who have responded with incredible strength and incredible courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Even if the union does agree to end the walkout today, it's not really clear when public transportation would be up and running again.
To Miami now. A suspected serial rapist remains at large two days after his jailbreak.
Police say Reynaldo Rapalo climbed through a ceiling vent, then rapelled down the maximum security jail using tied-up bed sheets. The police chief says Rapalo may have had help.
Football fans across the nation are posting their condolences to Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy. Dungy's 18-year-old son James was found dead in his apartment near Tampa early this morning. Foul play is not suspected.
Tony Dungy has left the team to be with his family. The Colts' team president, Bill Polian, spoke to reporters just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL POLIAN, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS PRESIDENT: Tony made it clear to both myself and to Jim that he wished for the organization and for the team to carry on, and we will. We have the greatest role model there is in Tony Dungy. And as Jim said to the team this morning, we'll emulate our leader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Colts assistant head coach, Jim Caldwell, will take over for Dungy for Saturday's game against Seattle.
Starting today, airline passengers will find new screening procedures in place. Passengers can now take small scissors and tools on board commercial airplanes. The move is designed to give screeners more time to focus on potential bombers.
We had some of this reaction this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm comfortable with it. I don't think it's going to make any difference. I share my husband's opinion. And I've had two cuticle snippers confiscated, so I'm kind of glad I can carry that stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In some ways, for those of us on the plane, it feels like -- it feels like weapons to us -- to me. And it makes me a little bit nervous. And so we're going to keep on flying, and still feel like everybody will do a good job. But I would have been perfectly happy if they kept it just the way it was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is all about priorities, I guess, when it comes to this sort of thing. So I think it's probably better that they're more concentrated on such, like, explosives or whatever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: However, passengers may now face more random searches. Screeners can now give more thorough pat-downs, but not by screeners of the opposite sex.
Let's check in on weather. Chad Myers has that covered today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Also, a big "Thank you" from halfway around the world. Coming up on "LIVE FROM," a soldier in Kuwait gets a chance to thank the man who gave his family a home for the holidays. I mean, he gave the house. You're going to see it live here.
Plus, plus the author of "A Purse-Driven Christmas" dispenses advice on keeping the holidays meaningful.
Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.
I'm Daryn Kagan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
I'm Zain Verjee.
HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes.
Let's update you on the top stories we're following today.
There has been a breakthrough in the New York transit strike. A state mediator has announced that the transit union has agreed to take steps toward a return to work while negotiations resume. The union's board must approve the agreement. That is expected by the end of the day.
VERJEE: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on an unannounced trip to Iraq. He's meeting with commanders in Baghdad to assess the situation on the ground. The U.S. government is under pressure to lay out benchmarks for when it might begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
HOLMES: Saddam Hussein, meanwhile, used his trial to accuse the United States of lying to the world by saying Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He also continued to claim that he was beaten while in U.S. custody.
Meanwhile, witnesses continued to testify about the torture and the beatings they said they suffered under Iraqi detention. The trial has now been adjourned until January 24.
VERJEE: For some perspective now on the testimony, as well as the legal issues surrounding the trial of Saddam Hussein, let's turn now to CNN's legal analyst David Scheffer in Washington. And we're joined from Baghdad now by Kevin Dooley, a regime crimes liaison at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Mr. Dooley, if I may start with you, Saddam Hussein saying the White House essentially lied to justify its invasion of Iraq, saying Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and saying the U.S. is lying again when it's denying his allegations that he's been tortured. Your response.
KEVIN DOOLEY, REGIME CRIMES LIAISON, U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD: Well, he can say whatever he wants but that's not really the issue here.
The issue here is what happened during the 35 years of his regime. And we're focusing on the evidence in this case, and the evidence is coming through very clearly. There's been six days of trial so far, and 15 witnesses have testified. And the world has seen the testimony of the 15 witnesses, the brutal crimes that have been committed, and the torture, the repression and the imprisonment of various people, the murders that occurred.
And that's the real story here, not what Saddam Hussein is saying.
VERJEE: OK.
David Scheffer, how do you assess Saddam Hussein's allegations?
DAVID SCHEFFER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it unfortunately will be the story, because that's of course what the world is seeing on the video screen in many different ways, whether it be Al Jazeera or CNN or otherwise.
So I think it does have to be dealt with very directly.
And I guess one of my questions for Kevin would be whether or not the U.S. government will in any particular way provide some rebuttal to this allegation of abusive or torturous treatment during detention.
I have a sense when he makes these allegations, Kevin, in the courtroom that he may be hearkening back to perhaps two, three years ago and some particular incident that may have occurred in the early stages of detention.
And I'm just wondering whether or not the U.S. government is going to try to particularize its rebuttal to Saddam Hussein on these particular charges, because I think a lot of Iraqis and others will be waiting for that clarification.
VERJEE: Kevin Dooley?
DOOLEY: Well, I think he'll be making all kinds of allegations during the course of the trial, and we have to decide whether every time he makes an allegation, we're going to jump and try to rebut every allegation he makes just because he says something in court. Saddam Hussein has been interviewed numerous times by investigates judges from the Iraqi high tribunal and he's never made allegations of abuse before.
So it's -- there's really -- there's been -- there's no evidence that he's ever been abused, and just for him to say that in court, in my view, does not support the allegation.
VERJEE: One of the things, Kevin Dooley, Saddam brought up was that on three occasions he had gone to U.S. medics and documented injuries. What can you tell us about that? Is that true?
DOOLEY: I'm not aware of him having any injuries documented as a result of any abuse.
Whether he's ever talked to a doctor, that may be the case; that he's spoken to doctors in the past about an illness he's had. There's never been any documentation of any injuries that he's received as a result of any abuse.
VERJEE: David Scheffer, an investigation presumably -- in spite of the fact that these are allegations and the U.S. is saying that this is not the case, presumably there will be some sort of investigation into this, right?
SCHEFFER: Well, that would be -- I think so.
There's a responsibility on the part of the investigating judge. And I understand he's already spoken to this.
Your reporter Aneesh Raman made reference to that this morning, that the investigating judge has made some reference to this and had satisfied himself on this issue.
But you would expect, perhaps, the Iraqi government to seize control of this very, very potentially explosive point and try to interject itself into this process by ensuring that the court is performing.
VERJEE: How would they get evidence, though, David?
SCHEFFER: Well, first, you would -- you know, the judge has every power under the rules of the court to require medical examinations of all of the accused at any time. So you could start there.
Secondly, the judge would have the power to ensure that each defendant is properly interviewed with respect to any of these allegations, make a record of that.
And then finally, I would presume the judge and the prosecutors would want to make sure that the detaining authority -- namely, the United States, and then of course, the Iraqi government -- has ultimate control of the detention, are interviewed so that a record is established.
And, frankly, you try to get this issue behind as quickly as possible but as accurately as possible.
VERJEE: Kevin Dooley, are you worried that these allegations of torture by Saddam Hussein will galvanize insurgents in Iraq and generate sympathy for him among Sunni Arabs both in Iraq and in the greater Arab world?
DOOLEY: I don't know that the allegations he's making in court are going to galvanize support for him any more than the supporters of him are already supporting him.
The people who are supporting him are going to support him anyway. There is absolutely no evidence that he has been abused while in custody, and as I said earlier, that's not really the story here.
Sometimes the focus of the story becomes a story because he makes an allegation and the media is focusing on the story. He has a bare allegation now. There is absolutely no evidence to support what he has said, and I think that will be -- that will come out in the end, that there's been absolutely no evidence of torture.
VERJEE: Kevin Dooley, a regime crimes liaison at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, and David Scheffer in Washington, CNN's legal analyst, thank you both for joining us on YOUR WORLD TODAY.
SCHEFFER: Thank you, Zain.
HOLMES: All right.
Turning now to an ongoing CNN investigation. There are new allegations of euthanasia at a New Orleans hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
VERJEE: Now, if you recall, after the storm there were hundreds of deaths at hospitals and nursing homes. All of these are being investigated by Louisiana authorities.
HOLMES: Yes. One investigation has focused on allegations that patients were intentionally killed at Memorial Hospital.
VERJEE: And now CNN has learned that more than one medical professional is under scrutiny as a possible person of interest in that investigation.
Drew Griffin has that exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Memorial Hospital had been a storm refuge for up to 2,000 people. Patients, staff and their families rode out the storm inside. But, by Thursday, four days after Katrina, despair was setting in. The hospital was surrounded by floodwater.
There was no power, no water. And the heat was stifling.
Nurses had to fan patients by hand. And, outside the hospital windows, nurses tell CNN they saw looters breaking into this credit union. Up on the seventh floor, Angela McManus was with her critically ill mother. Thursday, she noticed a change, too. Nurses, she says, were now discussing, for the first time, which patients would have to stay behind.
ANGELA MCMANUS, MOTHER DIED AT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: I mean, these were grown men that were buckling down to their knees, because they were like, they couldn't believe that FEMA was making them stay there and watch the people die. They had decided not to evacuate the DNR patients.
GRIFFIN (on camera): That's when you heard for the first time...
MCMANUS: Right.
GRIFFIN: ... your mom was not going to get out.
MCMANUS: The first time.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Angela McManus's had a DNR, a do-not- resuscitate order, but was alert. Her daughter says Wilda (ph) McManus did not make it out. She wants to believe her mother died peacefully from her illness, but now doesn't know.
On her death certificate lists the first cause of death merely as hurricane-related.
MCMANUS: I think she died from the infection. I don't know. I really don't know. And, you know, hearing -- this doctor was saying about euthanasia -- euthanasia at the hospital, I just don't know where to go.
GRIFFIN: The Louisiana Attorney General's Office is looking into what did happen to the patients at Memorial Hospital. Attorney General Charles Foti has told CNN that allegations of possible euthanasia there are -- quote -- "credible and worth investigating" -- end quote -- but that is all he will say.
While Foti will not provide any details of his investigation, a source familiar with it, who did not want to be identified, told CNN that more than one person is being actively looked at as a possible person of interest for crimes related to euthanasia there.
Dr. Bryant King, who has since left Memorial, was working as a contract physician at the hospital in the days after Katrina. This is what he saw in the triage area Thursday, September 1.
DR. BRYANT KING, FORMER CONTRACT PHYSICIAN AT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: ... and realized, there were no more fanners; there were no more nurses administer -- checking blood sugars or blood pressures. They were all pushed out.
And then there were -- there were people standing at the -- the -- the ramp at the Claire (ph) garage. There were people standing over by where the morgue were -- the chapel that we were using as the morgue. There were people standing at the entrance-way to where the -- the -- the emergency room led up to the second-floor area.
So, it was kind of just being blocked off. And that didn't make sense to me. It didn't make sense why would we stop what we had been doing, especially given the fact that we are evacuating patients.
GRIFFIN: Dr. King said another hospital administrator asked if he and two other remaining doctors should pray. King says, one of those doctors, Dr. Anna Pou, had a handful of syringes.
B. J. KING: This is on the second floor in the lobby. This -- and across that walkway, there's a group of patients. And Anna is standing over there with a handful of syringes.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Dr. Anna Pou.
B. J. KING: Talking to a patient. And the -- the words that I heard her say were, "I'm going to give you something to make you feel better."
And she had a handful of syringes. I don't -- and that was strange on a lot of -- on a lot of different levels. For one, we don't give medications. The nurses give medications. We almost never give medications ourselves, unless it's something critical. It's in the middle of a code or -- even in the middle of a code, the nurses give medications.
Nobody -- nobody walks around with a handful of syringes and goes and gives the same thing to each patient. That -- that's just not how we do it.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Dr. King had no way of knowing what was in those syringes. He left the hospital. He says he personally did not witness any acts of euthanasia.
Right after evacuating Memorial Hospital, Dr. Anna Pou had this to say to a Baton Rouge television station.
DR. ANNA POU, MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PHYSICIAN: There were some patients there that -- who were critically ill, and, regardless of the storm, were -- had the orders of, do not resuscitate, in other words, that if they died, to allow them to die naturally and not to use any heroic methods to resuscitate them.
We all did everything within our power to give the best treatment that we could to the patients in the hospital, to make them comfortable.
GRIFFIN: Dr. Pou talked to CNN in several phone calls in the days after the evacuation. She would not comment on the euthanasia allegations and has since hired an attorney.
Dr. Pou's attorney, Rick Simmons (ph), sent this statement to CNN on behalf of his client.
It reads: "The physicians and staff responsible for the care of patients, many of whom were gravely ill, faced loss of generator power, the absence of routine medical equipment to sustain life, lack of water and sanitation facilities, extreme heat, in excess of 100 degrees, all occurring," says the statement, "in an environment of deteriorating security, apparent social unrest, and the absence of governmental authority. Dr. Pou and other medical personnel," it reads, "at Memorial Hospital worked tirelessly for five days to save and evacuate patients, none of whom were abandoned. We feel confident that the facts will reveal heroic efforts by the physicians and the staff in a desperate situation."
(on camera): As part of its investigation, the attorney general's office has sent tissue samples from the bodies recovered to a lab for testing in the Orleans Parish corner. Frank Minford (ph) is confirming to CNN, that one of the tests is to determine if excessive amounts of morphine, a painkiller that in large doses could kill, has been found in any of the bodies. How many bodies is still under investigation and no charges have been filed.
There are two companies that handle patient care at Memorial Hospital. Tenent (ph) runs the hospital, and Life Care of New Orleans leases space on the seventh floor to care for long-term patients. Both of those companies have declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
But both say that the employees that they hired acted heroically under terrible circumstances and, both say, they are cooperating fully with the attorney general's investigation.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Looking back and looking ahead.
HOLMES: It's been a year now since the huge tsunami rolled ashore in South Asia. Recovery and rebuilding are still a work in progress, as well as the effort to get life back to normal. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.
VERJEE: This is CNN International. One year after a massive tsunami killed 200,000 people, reconstruction efforts are still under way in many areas of South and East Asia.
HOLMES: Indeed, but there are signs that economies in the hardest hit nations are slowly starting to revive.
VERJEE: Correspondent Aneesh Raman again. This time a look at how Thailand's most famous vacation spot is coming back a year after the disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN (voice-over): You see it everywhere, at the beachfront, at the stores, Phuket is back. Now everything is riding on the tourists coming back as well.
JAMES BATT, LAGUNA PHUKET: The big need is not to heap misery on top of tragedy. If we don't get the economy back up and running, the people here are going to be in need for a longer time than is necessary.
RAMAN: James runs a luxury hotel complex called Laguna Phuket, one of many businessman optimistic that the resort is back.
BATT: Once December, January are over, I'll be pretty confident in predicting that we're going to see a resurgence to normal levels, if not better than before.
RAMAN: The local tourist associations agrees. It's forecasting hotel occupancy at 80 to 90 percent in the first three months of 2006. And travel agencies are reporting healthy bookings on charter flights.
(on camera): Bringing tourists back to Phuket is a must, not just for the local population whose livelihoods are entirely dependent on the industry, but also for Thailand as a whole.
(voice-over): Before the tsunami, Phuket was one of Asia's vacation hotspots, accounting for one-third of Thailand's $8 billion in tourism revenue. Then it came to symbolize horror and destruction, thousands killed in mere moments.
The total loss for an industry still not yet measured. But now the feverish construction in Phuket includes siren towers that would sound the alert if another tsunami approached.
But it's also about reviving a brand. Michael Sagild is regional director for the Meridian group of hotels.
MICHAEL SAGILD, MERIDIAN HOTELS: Time heals it, time heals it. And the more people we can push through it, the more people we can convince that it is such a wonderful part of the world, the better.
RAMAN: Even before the season peaked, the signs are encouraging. The cruise ships are back, so are the jet skis. Korean Eun Yon Lee gazes across Phuket and hopes she can help simply by being here.
EUN YON LEE, TOURIST: If we come here and we have to pay the food, we have to pay the hotel and everything, that will help recover, like, and rebuild this country -- I mean this island.
RAMAN: It's impossible to fault the effort and determination of both local people and international hotel groups in restoring Phuket to its former beauty. They expect that resilience now to pay off as tourists converge on the island just one year after its moments of horror.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, Thailand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: In their own words, the survivors of last year's Asian tsunamis share their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not the same. I don't enjoy school anymore. I lost so many friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: As we mark the anniversary, join us for "Voices from the Tsunami" this Saturday at 1300 GMT.
HOLMES: Then on Sunday at 1330 GMT, as well, one year after the tsunami struck, we're going to show you how the region is rebounding and how the survivors are working to rebuild their shattered lives. What we saw from Aneesh earlier just a taste of what you'll see on that special, "Tsunami: One Year After."
VERJEE: Coming up next -- you.
HOLMES: Me?
VERJEE: Yes, you. No, not you.
HOLMES: OK, OK. We're going to be back with your thoughts on strikes by public employees, as we check the inbox.
VERJEE: And then if you won this, striking would be a moot point. In Spain they call it El Gordo, the fat one.
HOLMES: How dare you.
VERJEE: You're just El Bordo, the boring one. It's a very fat bundle of money. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: Time now to open our inbox. We've been asking you about the New York transit strike.
HOLMES: Yes, fortunately, it looks like it could be ending. But the question was this: should public employees be allowed to strike? Here's how some of you replied.
Giles Hulley from Switzerland writes: "They should be allowed to strike, only after prior negotiation. There can't be an absolute ban on strikes unless workers have some other protection against exploitation."
VERJEE: Taylor Jackson from here in Atlanta tell us: "Public workers shouldn't be allowed to strike. Their duties are vital to the livelihood of their municipalities. Strikes cause headaches for citizens and government officials."
HOLMES: And writing from Norway, Victor Elume -- I hope I said that right -- "workers deserve the right to strike anywhere in the world. When a strike is well-executed, the government acts quickly and the issues at stake are taken seriously."
VERJEE: And finally, John Himmens from Argentina tells us: "Workers should have the right to protest, but not to strike. Services are so often critical that a strike is unprofessional and should be illegal."
HOLMES: Thanks for contributing. A lot of e-mails from you guys. But before we go, Santa may be headed to Spain soon, but the country's much-anticipated lottery has already kicked off the festive holiday season.
VERJEE: Well, at least the winners think so. There's a reason that they call it El Gordo, the fat one. Almost $2.5 billion reasons, actually.
HOLMES: Indian. That is how many dollars were awarded during a nationally-televised draw, typically considered the world's richest lottery, this one.
VERJEE: Residents in one town north of Barcelona are especially happy, as winning ticket holders there scored over $600 million.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks very much for watching.
VERJEE: This has been CNN International.
HOLMES: See you tomorrow.
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