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Your World Today
International Community Reacts to Hamas Victory; Journalists Wounded in Iraq; Enron Trial Gets Under Way
Aired January 30, 2006 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: International donations and armed resistance. Like oil and water, they don't seem to mix. Hamas is finding that out as it struggles to assume control of the Palestinian authority.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Charges of corporate corruption in the spotlight in the United States. The trial of two former top Enron executives finally getting under way.
VERJEE: And wait until we show you what's on the menu for the Year of the Dog. You might just want to go back to the Year of the Rooster. It's 7:00 p.m. in Ramallah, 11:00 a.m. in Houston, Texas. I'm Zain Verjee.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, welcome. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Green flags are in abundance, but there's some question about greenbacks after Hamas' stunning election victory. The question is whether the economically destitute Palestinian Authority will continue to get international aid. That's on the agenda of two high-level meetings.
In Brussels, European foreign ministers called on the militant group to recognize Israel, denounce violence, and disarm. The European Union is the biggest donor to the Palestinians, giving more than $600 million last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA PLASSNIK, AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We have expressed once more the continuous policy that we have been following in the Middle East, that violence and terror are incompatible with democratic processes. And in that respect, we have urged Hamas and all other factions to renounce violence, to recognize Israel's right to exist, and to disarm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in London to discuss Hamas with the Middle East quartet. That includes Russia, the E.U., and the United Nations. Back home, her boss stood firm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Hamas party has made it clear that they do not support the right of Israel to exist. And I have made it clear so long as that's their policy that we will not support a Palestinian government made up of Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Well, the Europeans had a voice right in the region. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she's prepared for a new Palestinian Authority to continue receiving European aid if -- and it's a big if -- if it accepts certain conditions. She made those remarks after meeting with the Palestinian Authority's President Mahmoud Abbas Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I made it clear that Germany expects all political forces that carry responsibility to accept the preconditions for political activity. That means for me, firstly, that Israel's existence is recognized. And secondly, there is no use of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: In Gaza meanwhile, a Hamas leader is calling on the international community to just keep the aid flowing. Ismail Haniya promised not to use the money for violent activities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISMAIL HANIYA, HAMAS LEADER: We appeal to you to channel the aid to money to the Palestinian Treasury Ministry in order to be spent on priorities to build and develop the Palestinian scene. And we assure you that this money will be spent on employee salaries, day-to-day necessities, and some of the much-needed infrastructure for the people. And you will be able to check all that through measures upon which we agree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: The whole world is talking about them. What is Hamas saying? Their leaders came out with this. They will consider a long- term truce with Israel in exchange for a complete withdrawal from lands occupied during the 1967 war. That's actually a stand that's being repeated from several years ago. Even some veteran Palestinian negotiators say the very charter of Hamas leaves little room to compromise.
Guy Raz is on the ground. He explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The diplomatic formula in the Arab- Israeli conflict has always been land for peace. It was the philosophical basis for the 2000 Camp David talks between then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. End of occupation would mean an end to conflict and full diplomatic and economic ties. But Hamas has a very different vision. MAHMOUD ZAHAR, HAMAS LEADER: Negotiation is not our aim. Negotiation is a missile. If Israel is ready to give us the national demand to withdraw from the occupied areas '67, to release our detainees, to stop their aggression, (inaudible) between Gaza Strip and West Bank, at that time, with assurance from other side, we are going to accept to establish our independent state.
RAZ: In other words, Hamas is offering Israel neither recognition nor an end to conflict. But a long-term cease fire in exchange for Israeli withdrawal to its boundaries before the Six Day War of 1967.
YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI, SENIOR FELLOW, SHALEM CENTER: I would say that that offer is so ludicrous that it won't even get anywhere near the table.
RAZ: Hamas' charter leaves little room for compromise. Article 11 of the Hamas Covenant states, "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf, consecrated for future Muslim generations until judgment day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered. It, or any part of it, should not be given up."
RAZ: Veteran Palestinian peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi sees Hamas' stated position as problematic.
HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: When you deal with the land as an Islamic Waqf land, as a trust given by God, then you automatically tie your hands, and you have automatically have linked it to a question of face and absolutism. So you cannot reach any compromise on the land.
RAZ: Indeed, despite the many pitfalls since 1994, Palestinian- Israeli negotiations have always been sponsored by the international community. Hamas sees that as a problem. Article 13 of its chart states, "Initiatives and so-called peaceful solution at international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. The conference are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Muslims as arbiters."
RAZ: Conceptually, then, Hamas is in a bind. If the group abandons its uncompromising positions, it ceases to be Hamas. But if not, the international community may decide to isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And that leaves us to our question of the day. We want you to weigh in on it.
CLANCY: We are asking you this. Do you think international aid should be cut off to a Hamas-led government? Send us your response to YWT@CNN.com. We're going to read out some of these responses later here on YOUR WORLD TODAY. VERJEE: Iran's controversial nuclear program was also high on the agenda for the European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. But France says last-ditch talks achieved nothing.
French, British, and German officials met with Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator. The French foreign minister says it's clear that the involvement of the U.N. Security Council is now necessary.
Iran defied international pressure this month and restarted sensitive nuclear work. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog will meet on Thursday to discuss whether Iran should be referred to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions.
CLANCY: Turning now to Poland, where officials are reporting they don't believe anyone else is going to be found alive in the rubble of a collapsed exhibition center. Now, they're going to try to focus on what was the cause of this disaster. Why did it give way Saturday? At least 67 people were killed. Many more were injured.
Fionnuala Sweeney is on the scene. She's been looking over what is left of that.
Fionnuala, what've officials there said now?
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the officials at the moment are trying to determine that there are no more corpses left inside the exhibition center, which you can probably just see behind me. But if we show you another picture, an aerial picture of the exhibition hall, you can see just outside that people have laid a lot of candles there in mourning.
Poland is now in a national state of mourning. Sixty-seven people have died, another 34-year-old man succumbing to his injuries last night when the roof collapsed on this exhibition center in which there had been something like 500 people at about 4:30 on Saturday afternoon.
It is a very sad time for Poland. The Polish president Kaczynski describing it as the worst disaster in Poland's post-communist history. Now, the investigation is under way, but we are not allowed anywhere near the actual scene of the devastation. However, just before night fell, and it is about 6:00 here in the evening, the authorities did allow us in for a few minutes to take a look for ourselves at the scale of the devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: Well the police have been taking us around this building, and we've been stopping periodically to view the extent of the damage. We're, of course, not allowed into the building itself. It's far too dangerous. But we have been able to get up close. And from here, you can see just how the walls of this exhibition hall have fallen in towards the exhibition center itself.
And when you look inside, you can see a lot of snow lying on those steel beams and girders among the benches, which once had cages for the homing pigeons who are still flying around here. Homing pigeons in a sense without a home.
But the police saying it's way too dangerous for us to go any closer, and they're constantly monitoring what we are doing as we travel around this exhibition hall, which is the size of a football- soccer pitch (ph). And so 500 people inside that hall.
People have described that when the roof began to collapse, they heard a sound like matches breaking. And if you can see from inside the hall, pictures we've taken, these steel girders and concrete beams breaking like matches. It must have been truly a terrifying ordeal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: Now what remains of the convention center is now a crime scene. Police are working on a number of theories. Mainly, that snow on a flat roof caused the building to collapse. But there are a number of other theories, including the differentiation in the heat inside of the building with all those people and the subzero temperatures outside -- Jim?
CLANCY: Fionnuala Sweeney reporting to us there live from the scene. Fionnuala, thank you. Good report. And let's hope they find some answers.
VERJEE: Another mining accident to report. The third in North America this month. But this one has a happy ending. All 72 potash miners trapped under ground by a fire in central Canada have been rescued. After a fire broke out on Sunday, the miners took refuge inside sealed emergency rooms that were stocked with oxygen, food, and water, good for about 36 hours. Earlier this month, 14 miners died in two separate accidents in the U.S. state of West Virginia.
CLANCY: Well, one of the biggest headlines in the financial world this day is one of the biggest corporate corruption trials in the U.S. and its history. It's under way right now in the state of Texas.
Enron Energy founder Kenneth Lay, his former chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling, both men accused of fraud and conspiracy. The company's collapse cost 4,000 employees their jobs. Many of them have gathered at the scene of the trial. Chris Huntington is reporting from Houston.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Angie Chappel lost her job and her life savings when Enron imploded more than four years ago.
ANGIE CHAPPEL, FORMER ENRON EMPLOYEE: It was my retirement. It was my kids' college fund. You know, I put a lot of money into my 401k. It made a big impact on all of us. I mean, we lived a very comfortable life, and then we didn't.
HUNTINGTON: Chappel and her family are still trying to work their way out of that financial hole. And she blames the two Enron executives about to go on trial for running her family's future into the ground.
CHAPPEL: Jack's the only income. We have so much more than the rest of the Enron employees. While they were telling us to buy stock, they were selling theirs.
HUNTINGTON: Ken Lay insists he is innocent.
KENNETH LAY, FORMER ENRON CHAIRMAN: We're going to have a long trial and a tough trial, but we're going to be fine.
HUNTINGTON: Last month, Lay said the government had falsely charged him with misleading investigators and regulators about Enron's financial problems.
LAY: Most of what was and is still being said heard or read was, and still is, either grossly exaggerated, distorted, or just flat false.
HUNTINGTON: Lay's main defense will be that he was out of the loop when chief executive Jeff Skilling and chief financial officer Andrew Fastow created improper off-the-book deals to hide Enron's debt and pump up its appearance of profitability. Fastow has pleaded guilty to two counts and is expected to be the government's key witness against Lay and Skilling, who also insists he is innocent.
JEFFREY SKILLING, FORMER ENRON CEO: And I have no knowledge of any -- and had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.
HUNTINGTON: Sharon Watkins, the former Enron vice president who blew the whistle when she correctly warned that the company would implode in a wave of accounting scandal, is also likely to testify.
SHARON WATKINS, FORMER ENRON VICE PRESIDENT: I certainly would like to see Jeff Skilling charged, because I think he's the one that drove us over the cliff. Ken Lay, idiot or criminal, those are his two choices. Neither one's very positive.
HUNTINGTON: Another former Enron employee agrees.
CHAPPEL: Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay, if they're guilty of anything, it's of not knowing what their company was up to. But they're responsible for it. They're responsible for whatever goes on, and they should pay the price.
HUNTINGTON: Chris Huntington, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: In Iraq, the U.S. military is facing an increasingly lethal threat.
CLANCY: Coming up, how insurgents are able to pierce their best defenses. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VERJEE: Hello, and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN international. Hostages are freed in Nigeria. Militants have released four foreign oil workers held captive for nearly three weeks. A (inaudible) state government official says the hostages, an American, a Briton, a Bulgarian, and a Honduran are doing well.
Gunmen abducted the men on board a ship just off Nigeria's coast on the 11th of January. For weeks, militants have waged production- crippling attacks on oil platforms, pipelines, and workers. They're demanding more local government control over Nigeria's oil wealth.
CLANCY: Two American journalists covering the war in Iraq are now undergoing treatment for very serious wounds that were caused when a vehicle they were riding in were hit by an improvised explosive device, or IED. ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt have now been transported to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. They're getting some additional treatment there.
The men were traveling in an Iraqi military vehicle. It was part of a joint U.S.-Iraqi convoy. They were just a few kilometers -- or miles north of Baghdad. The network said in a statement just a short while ago that both men are showing some signs of improvement. But the same statement noted that they have a long way to go.
Now, the type of roadside bomb used by the insurgency in Iraq described by the U.S. military as improvised. Now, the word suggests something less than sophisticated. In reality, this is a device that has proven itself to be highly effective as a tool to kill and maim. It is really oftentimes a huge artillery shell. As Barbara Starr reports, the technology for the insurgents is improving.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In Iraq, insurgents take 120 seconds, two minutes, to set and conceal a roadside bomb. The infamous IEDs, improvised explosive devices, kill more U.S. troops than any other weapon. The bad news is, they are getting even more lethal.
This is one of the first images made public by the army of the damage caused by a new and more sophisticated IED. It can penetrate U.S. armored vehicles because it uses a so-called explosively formed projectile. Brigadier General Carter Ham is a combat veteran of Iraq.
BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, U.S. ARMY: We are seeing greater degrees of sophistication, different techniques, different technological approaches. And that's a great challenge for us.
STARR: The new armor-piercing bombs focus the blast at the vehicle. In this case, it badly wounded four soldiers. In May, two explosively formed projectiles hit the door and ripped through the armor. In this attack, a contractor's armored vehicle is pierced by two of the new bombs.
The technology to build them has been available for decades. None of the information we are telling you is classified. All the details were provided by the Army. When detonated, the weapon becomes a lethal dart, flying at a rate of more than a mile per second. It can penetrate several inches of armor plate from a distance of more than 300 feet, according to the Army.
GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY: When the energy is concentrated in a small area, it projects out that metal. And that metal can be effective against almost any armor, including the M1 tank.
STARR: So what can be done about all of this? Commanders say more armor isn't the answer. A big enough bomb can destroy any armored vehicle. So much of the classified IED work now focuses on detection technology, finding the IEDs before they can explode and kill.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, coming up, we're going to be talking with a friend and a long-time colleague of Bob Woodruff's. He's the anchorman that was wounded there in Iraq.
VERJEE: And also ahead, it's one of the most important speeches the U.S. president will make all year.
CLANCY: When YOUR WORLD TODAY returns, we're going to preview George W. Bush's annual State of the Union address.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at the 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.
President Bush met with his cabinet just a couple hours ago in -- well, that would be the wrong video of President Bush. All right. OK.
We will talk about the hazmat in Jacksonville, Florida, an explosion on the south side of town. Apparently, this explosion was at a manufacturing plant, and it manufactures aviation equipment at the site. Apparently, some hazardous material was released in that explosion. One person hurt. More on that in just a bit.
Other news today. President Bush meeting with his cabinet just a couple hours ago in final preparation for the most important presidential speech of the year. He delivers the State of the Union address tomorrow night on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We talked about how to make sure this economy of ours stays the strongest economy in the world, that we recognize we can't just sit back and hope for the best, that we have to lead. And so we had a good discussion about matters such as healthcare and energy and education, all of which I will address tomorrow night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: CNN will have extensive live coverage surrounding tomorrow night's State of the Union speech. Our primetime lineup begins at 7:00 Eastern with a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM with Wolf Blitzer. Paula Zahn will also be along.
Then, the president's speech at 9:00 Eastern. After that, Anderson Cooper brings you immediate reaction. And at midnight Eastern, 9:00 Pacific, Larry King hosts an hour of insight and analysis.
Senate debate of Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court is coming to a head. Senate Democrats are mounting a last stand against the nominee, but a group of bipartisan moderates aim to clear the way for the nomination.
Our Ed Henry is on Capitol Hill with the latest on that -- Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon again, Daryn. That's right. The final hours of this Senate debate going on right now live on the Senate floor. We're expecting Senator John Kerry, who's been help to lead this filibuster, along with his colleague, Senator Edward Kennedy, will be speaking on the floor in about ten minutes or so.
But the Democrats really going through the motions, as you suggest, at this point. This is all but over. And the moderates you refer to, the so-called Gang of 14 moderates, we're learning they're meeting this afternoon, 3:30, in the office of Democratic Senator Ben Nelson. That's significant because he was the first Democrat a couple of weeks back to come out and say he's supporting the Alito nomination.
And the Gang of 14, as you remember, signed a pact last year saying that they would not support a filibuster of any of the president's lower court nominees unless there were extraordinary circumstances. They're expected to come out later today and say they do not see any extraordinary circumstances. It's time to end the Senate filibuster.
And in fact, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has acknowledged the votes are not there to continue it. So when the test vote, the procedural vote comes, down at about 4:30 Eastern time today, it's expected that the filibuster will basically have to end. That will bring a close to the Senate debate. And then a final confirmation vote will be tomorrow morning, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Judge Alito expected to become the 110th justice on the Supreme Court -- Daryn?
KAGAN: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Thank you.
More fallout to tell you about today from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. New documents obtained by CNN show FEMA never took up an offer for critically need resources during the search and rescue effort. A Department of Interior official says the agency tried to give FEMA boats, helicopters, and workers experienced in water rescues, but FEMA never accepted that offer.
Email also shows FEMA decided to ground its search and rescue teams three days after the storm hit because of security concerns. But the Interior Department had already offered hundreds of specially trained officers to help with the effort. The documents are part of the Senate investigation into the government's response to Katrina.
(WEATHER BREAK)
KAGAN: Here's a story line for you. American inner city youth packed up and sent thousands of miles away to Africa for schooling. That's the topic of a new documentary that could get an Oscar nod tomorrow morning. Here are some of the real life stars of the film today at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM."
Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break. I'm Daryn Kagan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. To our viewers in the United States and around the globe, this is CNN International. I'm Jim Clancy.
VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Here are some of the top stories we're following.
The Hamas victory and funding for the Palestinian Authority is on the agenda of two high-level meetings. In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers called on Hamas to recognize the state of Israel, denounce violence and disarm.
In London, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed the same sentiments. She'll discuss strategy with other members of the Mideast Quartet: Russia, the E.U. and the U.N.
CLANCY: It was a new paradigm energy company, and it may be the corruption trial of the new century. Two former top Enron executives now going on trial. Former Chairman Kenneth Lay, who we see here, as well as former chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling (ph). Both men accused of fraud and conspiracy, both pleading not guilty. Energy giant Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after investigators found it was hiding more than $1 billion in debt from investors, stock holders and its own employees. At the same time, it pretended it was making a profit.
VERJEE: Officials in Poland say it's unlikely that anyone inside an exhibition center when the roof collapsed will be found alive. Sixty-two people were killed on Saturday when the building's roof just gave way under heavy snow. Most of the survivors were pulled out in the first few hours. Poland's declared three days of mourning.
CLANCY: For more now on our top story, the Middle East politics in the wake of a Hamas victory. Decisions taken when that party begins to wield its power could redefine the Palestinian economy. Ben Wedeman looks at some of the possibilities that lie ahead. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Palestinian farmers dump rotten produce. Destined for market in Israel and beyond, it's going nowhere. The main commercial crossing from Gaza to Israel is closed yet again for security reasons.
The Palestinian economy is hostage to politics and war. When tensions rise, profits plummet.
AID RAMADHAN, GAZA FARMER: I'm afraid the day will come that I cannot absorb any more losses and close the project. This means I will lose all my greenhouses, all my plants and all my (INAUDIBLE) will be in the street.
WEDEMAN: Trade between Israel and the Palestinian territories is regulated by agreement, signed when the two sides were on much better terms. Hamas, now set to take over the Palestinian Authority, wants to redefine those ties by cutting them.
MAHMOUD ZAHAR, HAMAS LEADER: Our intention is to open the gate between the Palestinian land and the Arabic and Islamic world.
WEDEMAN: Storeowner Abdallah Joha stocks Israeli detergents and soaps and says it's good idea. "Palestinians need a new economy," he says. "Now Israel completely controls everything."
(on camera): Hamas' proposal to cut economic ties between the Palestinian territories and Israel is a popular one here. The problem is, it's not necessarily very practical.
(voice-over): One need only stroll through the old market in Gaza to see how many products come from Israel. All business is done in Israel shekels. Palestinians, including these policemen filling up their armored personnel carrier, depend on Israel for fuel. Gaza and the West Bank are on the Israeli power grid. And when tensions ease, thousands of Palestinians go to Israel for work.
MOHAMMED QUDWAH, GAZA GOVERNOR: Everything now is joined with Israel. This is not easy to take a political position to limit your relation with Israeli outside. I think without the negotiations with Israel, the result will be so bad for the Palestinians.
WEDEMAN: So Hamas' goal of economic separation from Israel, like this rotten produce, may also end up being dumped.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: For the very latest on developments in the Middle East and the political scene there and all the other stories that we continue to follow, log on to our international edition at CNN.com/international.
VERJEE: More now on those ABC journalists wounded in an attack over the weekend in Iraq. ABC says Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt are showing improvement, but they still need thoughts and prayers. The attack, of course, underscores the perils of reporting from a war zone.
Gary Nurenberg looks at the dangers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is "World News Tonight."
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ABC News reported Sunday evening an attack on two of its own.
ELIZABETH VARGAS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: My co-anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were on assignment in Iraq with a military convoy near the city of Taji, north of Baghdad, when a roadside bomb exploded. Bob and Doug were hit by shrapnel and both men sustained head injuries.
NURENBERG: The network says the men were traveling with an Iraqi army unit in its one of its mechanized vehicles. ABC reports the two men were wearing body armor, but received severe injuries in the attack that the U.S. military says also wounded an Iraqi national.
CLARENCE PAGE, CMTE. TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS: Iraq now leads the planet for the most journalists killed in the 24 years that our organization's been around.
NURENBERG: Clarence Page is on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists and has just returned from the Middle East. He says Iraq poses particular hazards for reporters.
PAGE: Journalists are being targeted in ways that they were never targeted before.
NURENBERG: American journalist Jill Carroll was kidnapped earlier this month and remains missing.
PAGE: If you kidnap a journalist, naturally, you get a lot more attention.
NURENBERG: The host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," Howard Kurtz, wrote about Woodruff in Sunday's "Washington Post" and interviewed him just before he left the United States last week.
HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES": He was excited. He saw it as part of his job to go places, to get on planes and go to places like Israel and Iraq and Pakistan and be a foreign correspondent in the Peter Jennings mold. And he wasn't worried much about the danger.
NURENBERG: Woodruff talked about that recently on CNN Headline Prime's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."
BOB WOODRUFF, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Something Peter said to me many times over the years is be careful about wanting to go into a position like this of anchoring, because it's going to take away from what is really greatest things you love to do, which is reporting out on the field. And he -- it was his favorite thing to do, and I think it was always a regret that he was not able to get out more as well.
NURENBERG: Woodruff is known as an active reporter, likely not content to stay in the relatively safe environs of Baghdad's protective green zone.
PAGE: If you don't get out of the green zone, you're missing over 99 percent of that country. And how can we as journalists honestly say we're covering the war, covering what happening in Iraq, if we don't get out and see Iraq?
NURENBERG: That is what Woodruff and Vogt were doing Sunday.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Now for many of our international viewers, there's, you know, a bit of perhaps not understanding why a top American news anchor that's going to be making top money in the business would take these kinds of risks and not leave it to somebody else. Well, let's learn a little bit more about Bob Woodruff, his commitment to the story in Iraq, the story everywhere.
We've asked Bill Spencer, who's a journalist himself and a friend of Woodruff's, to join us. He's with WXYZ Television up in the state of Michigan, the city of Detroit, joining us now.
And Bill, describe -- you got to know Bob Woodruff over the years when you worked together there. Did you ever talk to him about the risks of going into Iraq?
BILL SPENCER, JOURNALIST: You know, Bob doesn't think about the dangers that come with this job. I mean, I wish you could see into Bob more easily on television. But I can tell that he is just the warmest, sweetest, smallest-egoed person you've ever met. I mean, there is nothing pretentious...
CLANCY: Not a typical anchorman?
SPENCER: He's not a typical anchorman in any way. He doesn't care about any of the pomp or any of that stuff. He does not take himself very seriously at all. He is always joking around, and he is just so warm and kind. You're going to see more of that, I think; if he returns to the anchor desk, you will see more of his personality start to come out as he gets used to that job.
I can tell you that, no, he never worried about anything. We used to call him at this TV station where we worked together in Phoenix, we use cod call him the human test pilot, because whatever story demand something risky, Bob would do it. And I can tell you, he was injured pretty badly one time. He was doing an investigative story on airbag safety, and he wanted to get in there, and he wanted the airbag to go off in his face, OK, which was a risky thing to do, and the guys told him, well, I don't know if you should really do this.
He said, look, just give me some goggles and let's do it. He wanted to do a stand up inside the car. And sure enough, the airbag went off, and he was a little bit too close to it. And he got severely blasted in the face. He got burned very badly. He looked terrible afterwards. He couldn't be on the air for like six weeks.
CLANCY: But obviously he learned from that, and so did everybody that was viewing that. Now there's a lot of discussion about the Iraq War in the United States, and people hear from bloggers who have never been to Iraq. And here we have somebody that wanted to go and tell people what it was really like, and that is why he took these risks. Typical of him?
SPENCER: Oh, yes. Completely. Completely. Bob wants to go out, and he wants to show you every bit of the story. He doesn't just want to tell you the story, like a lot of television journalists do. He wants to take you into the story, the sound and the very closest pictures, and the most in-depth interviews. If you've watched "ABC World News Tonight" since he took over from Peter Jennings, you've seen him interviewing all of these leaders in different parts of the world. He has been crisscrossing the globe in a matter of weeks talking to all of these people one on one. And you've seen him in the video doing that. He doesn't send a producer or somebody, you know, below him, which he could very easily do.
CLANCY: Bill, you know, that's a fine question. At the same time, everybody, he's so high profile -- everybody looks and they say if it can happen to Bob Woodruff, it can happen to any of us. True, on one hand. As you hear the news room discussions there and elsewhere around the country, what's the consensus? Is an incident like this going to stop Americans from going out and covering this war? Or is it going to encourage people to follow his example of getting the story firsthand?
SPENCER: I don't think so it's going to stop the journalists who have it running through their veins, like Bob, who live and breathe this job. Not at all. And I can tell you that Bob went out there and before the explosion, as I understand it, he was in the middle of doing a stand-up, and standing outside of this vehicle. And I can tell you that it improved the story, if it got you closer to the events that were happening there, Bob would do it, and I don't think that he would take the risk into account. He would try to protect himself as best he could. But he was going to get as close to that story as he possibly could.
I love him dearly and I'm praying for him, and I just pray he's going to be OK.
CLANCY: Bill Spencer, I want to thank you for being with us. I think the thoughts and prayers of everybody for Bob Woodruff, Doug Vogt, his cameraman, and certainly with the kidnapped American journalist as well are with Americans this day.
Thank you very much for being with us.
SPENCER: Thank you, Jim.
CLANCY: We're going to take a short break. We're going to be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Well, with all the fireworks, Zain, if you were a dog, you could take a bow.
VERJEE: Wow -- bow wow. That's right, it's the Year of the Dog.
CLANCY: As usual, the lunar new year being marked in Hong Kong and other places with lots of fireworks, as you see here, as well as some flowers.
Another way to celebrate, eat your way through the new year. The Chinese have come up with a wide array of special new year's foods. But not to put it too delicately, not everyone may find all of the menu items delectable.
Our gallivanting Hugh Rimington takes us on a gastronomic tour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGH RIMINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): As you can imagine with the biggest Chinese holiday of the year, food's going to play a great part of it in China. Food is never simply food. It's always invested with heavy symbolic meaning, especially at a holiday like this, and my guide to navigate me through is Belinda Wong (ph) here.
What is it that Chinese people everyone eats at a time like this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is what every Chinese family has for new year. It's go (ph). And the name "go" means "fobogosing (ph), which means everything rises in the new year, and advancement in your career, in your world and in your health.
RIMINGTON: OK, well, let's get a shopping bag and you can lead me through what I need.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. My pleasure. Nuts and seeds are very important for new year. Now we have this black melon seeds, which is very nice.
Try one.
And the action of you picking them up and eating them constantly is like picking up money all the time and eating them.
RIMINGTON: I'll tell you what, I'll put one in the basket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
RIMINGTON: And what about these ones?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are really happy, happy nuts, because pistachios in Cantonese is happy, happy.
RIMINGTON: So this ensures a happy Year of the Dog?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.
RIMINGTON: What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now peanuts stand for longevity, so you'll have a long life in the new year, and this means lots of sons.
RIMINGTON: Lots of suns. What are they?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, lotus seeds. You can use them for sweets and also for soups.
RIMINGTON: So if you want to have lots of sons in this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You better have more of them.
RIMINGTON: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is called new yi, which the literal meaning is "everything as you wish in the new year."
RIMINGTON: It looks disgusting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. If cooked properly it's really delicious.
RIMINGTON: Really? I'll take your word for it. But I'll chuck that into my basket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now those two are new year's favorites. This one is black moss, hair vegetable.
RIMINGTON: Hairy vegetable?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it looks like our hair.
RIMINGTON: OK, and what's good about this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds exactly the same as gohin fachoy (ph). So it means prosperity and making lots of wealth.
RIMINGTON: And what do you do, make soup out of it or something?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You make stews, you make kanji; you make soups out of it.
RIMINGTON: All right. At your recommendation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Highly recommend.
RIMINGTON: And what's...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is dried oysters, which is cosi (ph), and it's good market.
RIMINGTON: Good market. That means you are going to do well in the markets in the new year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
RIMINGTON: Well, in terms of my belly and in terms of good luck, I'm going to have many children, long life. I'm going to be very happy and everything's going to rise in the new year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
RIMINGTON: So thank you very much.
Gohin fachoy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gohin fachoy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: I'm hungry.
CLANCY: Well you can have indigestion, too.
VERJEE: I'm hungry after that. Well still ahead, a prelude to the Oscars.
CLANCY: Hungry for gold, Hollywood turning out in force for this Annual Screen Actor's Guild Awards. We're going to take you far look at the big winners, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERJEE: It was a night for Hollywood actors and actresses to honor their own. There were some surprises as the Screen Actor's Guild Awards were handed out in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The awards are considered a strong predictor of Oscar success. Sibila Vargas reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ensemble cast of "Crash" was the big winner of the night for Best Performances in a Motion Picture.
DON CHEADLE, ACTOR, "CRASH": We believe that it really celebrates the definition of what an ensemble is all about. I mean there's 74 of us.
VARGAS: "Crash," a film about racial tension pulled off a surprise upset over the much hyped film "Brokeback Mountain."
Individual actors honored for their film roles including the recent Golden Globe winners Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Capote" and Reese Witherspoon for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line." REESE WITHERSPOON, ACTRESS, "WALK THE LINE": I wanted to be a country western singer when I was little. And I went to a camp. I sang there and they told me no matter what I did please don't ever sing ever again.
VARGAS: In supporting film roles Rachel Weiss won top honors once again for her performance in "The Constant Gardner." And Paul Giamatti thanked his fellow actors for honoring his work in "Cinderella Man."
PAUL GIAMATTI, ACTOR, "CINDERELLA MAN": There are weird interesting people in our business. And I'm proud to be numbered among them.
VARGAS: Television ensembles receiving awards included ABC's "Lost" in a dramatic series and "Desperate Housewives" for best TV comedy case. "Housewives" star Felicity Huffman was also honored for her individual work on the show.
FELICITY HUFFMAN, "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES": I'm such an old broad. I've had so many times where I haven't worked for a long time.
VARGAS: Sean Hayes, star of the sitcom "Will and Grace" received his third SAG award for Best Performance in a TV Comedy.
SEAN HAYES, "WILL & GRACE": I know everyone in Hollywood knows that it's such a risk to play a gay character.
VARGAS: Keifer Sutherland picked up the best dramatic award for "24." Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh, picked up another prize for acting in "Gray's Anatomy."
And the Emmy and Golden Globe Winner, S. Epatha Merkerson, picked up her third award for the TV movie "Lackawanna Blues."
S. EPATHA MERKERSON, "LACKAWANA BLUES": I'm not 37. And I'm not a size two. You know what I'm saying? And a lot of women are like me.
VARGAS: Shirley Temple Black received a standing ovation when she was honored with her Lifetime Achievement Award.
SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK: For those of you who want to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Start early.
VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well onto my favorite awards here. The, you know, this isn't really a merit so much.
VERJEE: Best anchor award?
CLANCY: It's about embarrassment. They're called The Razzies. VERJEE: It's really far from laudatory. You may suspect, it makes the note of the worst achievements in film with special honors for celebrities that we are just all sick and tired of.
CLANCY: It should come as no surprise that followers of celebrity doings. Tom cruise, the front runner among all of the nominees this year. The group that does this says Cruise delivered notably bad performances in the movie "War of the Worlds," and his off screen antics, well, they've been every bit as bad.
VERJEE: Let's open our inbox now. We like doing that and seeing what you have to say.
CLANCY: Serious topic today.
VERJEE: We've been asking your thoughts about funding for the Palestinian government.
CLANCY: Our question. Do you think international aid should be cut off to a Hamas-led government? Here's how some of you replied.
VERJEE: A viewer from Israel says, "No financial aid should be given until Hamas renounces in Arabic their charter which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist."
CLANCY: Hassan from Pakistan writes this: "Palestinians have chosen Hamas to represent them, so funding should not stop. If it does, that suggests the world community was funding Fatah, not the Palestinians.
VERJEE: Geert writes from Belgium. "I hope EU funding to Hamas is cut off. Aid is given to Palestinians each year, but the people are still poor. Obviously the aid isn't going to them."
CLANCY: And finally Tiffany from Hollywood, California tells us this: "It's unfair to punish the Palestinians for a decision we pushed them to make, one they make democratically. We shouldn't send aid for weapons, but humanitarian aid is a must."
That's our report for this hour. I'm Jim Clancy.
VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. This is CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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