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Baghdad Records Deadliest Month for Civilians; 17 Men & Juveniles in custody in Canada on Terror Charges; Tehran Sees 'Positive' Elements in Recent Proposal

Aired June 06, 2006 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Baghdad setting a grim record, the deadliest month for civilians since the conflict began.
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Court proceedings for 17 Canadian terrorism suspects may have hit a snag.

CLANCY: At the World Cup, the world's oldest profession cashes in on the world's most popular sport.

GORANI: And we take the pulse of a new transplant technology.

It's 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad, noon in Toronto, Canada.

I'm Hala Gorani.

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

We're going to begin our report with the war in Iraq and the growing number of Iraqi civilians who are paying with their lives.

GORANI: More and more innocent civilians are dying in the war.

CLANCY: And in a few cases, U.S. troops being accused in those killings.

The month of May recorded the largest number of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion began three years ago. According to the count from the morgue in Baghdad, 1,400 people killed in May in Iraq, 1,300 died in March, and more than 1,000 in January.

The cycle of violence continuing this month, as well. Iraqi police have found more than a dozen severed heads in Hadid (ph). That's west of Baquba.

John Vause joins us live from Baghdad.

John, when you look at the scene there, what story does it tell? What do the numbers say?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the numbers are staggering. Based on a body count at the Baghdad city morgue, this month alone, 400 victims could not be identified. And those numbers do not include Iraqis who have died in explosions or bombings because, quite simply, their bodies never make it to the morgue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE (voice over): Even by Iraqi standards, this was gruesome: nine severed heads wrapped in plastic and stuffed inside fruit boxes. Police say they made the discovery not far from the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad.

On Saturday, they say, they found another eight severed heads, also stuffed in boxes. Police believe the victims may have been Sunni in what could have been a revenge attack for the killing of Shiites.

In recent weeks, Iraq has seen a dramatic escalation in violence. And from the prime minister, a promise to quickly put in place a new security plan to restore law and order to the capital.

"The parties that are against the political process have increased their bloody attacks," he said. Not naming the groups, but accusing them of trying to topple his unity government.

Hours earlier in Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed one woman at a bus stop. A U.S. military convoy was the target. Four mortars were fired near the interior ministry, killing two civilians.

"Where is the government? Where is Bush? Who occupied our country? Why do they kill us?" said this woman, grieving after two students were killed on their way to high school Monday. Police say gunmen had opened fire on their bus.

(on camera): In fact, figures from the health ministry show almost 1,400 Iraqi civilians died in shootings and other violent attacks last month in Baghdad alone. More than any other month since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

(voice over): To end the violence, the prime minister will need to rely heavily on Iraqi security forces. And Sunni groups have accused them of being involved in Monday's mass kidnapping of at least 50 people from downtown Baghdad. "We have enough evidence to prove the involvement of the Iraqi authorities," he said, but did not say just what that evidence was.

The new Iraqi government has been in office little more than two weeks. There is no honeymoon period in Iraqi politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And the Iraqi prime minister said today that his security forces cannot do this alone. They will need the trust and the support of Iraqis. But that is something which is in short supply, to say the least -- Jim.

CLANCY: John, we've seen all of this before, the killings, this pattern. Now we are hearing very strong words coming from the new prime minister. Still, the security forces unable, obviously, to deal with it.

VAUSE: Well, Maliki will come across the same problems as every other prime minister, interim prime minister has faced in this country. The security forces are riddled with insurgents. We've heard that time and time again from a number of Iraqi politicians. They complain that the proper background checks were never carried out in the early stages of recruiting.

Also, around Baghdad and around the country, large areas are still under the control of militias. Here in Sadr City, for example, the Mehdi militia, a Shiite militia, is in charge there. It's a no-go area for anyone.

And this government is still deeply divided. There's a great deal of distrust between these two groups, the Shiites, which control the interior ministry, and the police, who are accused by the Sunnis of acting like death squads. The Shiites accuse the Sunnis of fostering the insurgency and carrying out sectarian violence.

So there is still so much work for this government to go, but they have so little time to do it -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. John Vause, some perspective there from the streets in Baghdad.

U.S. Marines once again under fire in the death of an Iraqi civilian under questionable circumstances. A Pentagon source is telling CNN that Navy investigators have evidence some Marines may have committed premeditated murder, in their words.

It happened in the down of Hamdaniya, west of Baghdad, last April. The source says some of the Marines admitted to having staged the death of an Iraqi man to make him look like an insurgent. Seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman are being held at Camp Pendleton in California until officials decide on possible charges.

GORANI: Now to Canada, where suspects arrested in the country's largest counterterrorism investigation moved forward in their court case on Tuesday. The 17 men -- five of them are under the age of 18 -- are accused of plotting to bomb Canadian targets. A lawyer for one of the accused men spoke shortly after the hearing in a courtroom near Toronto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY BATASER, LAWYER FOR SUSPECT STEVEN CHAND: Well, he's charged with some very serious offenses or allegations that are before the court that are very serious. And it appears to me that whether you're in Ottawa or Toronto or Crawford, Texas, or Washington, D.C., what is wanting to be instilled in the public is fear. And that's precisely why everybody's here today. And that's unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, Jeanne Meserve reports now on charges against the men and how they include trying to build bombs and training as terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIKE COTE, TOWNSHIP RESIDENT: Well, this is basically their link (ph) to. This is where they were camped underneath here. You can see they've got these branches here, they've pulled this maple over. And this here was just a tent over the top of here.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the remote Ramara Township, 90 miles north of Toronto, Mike Cote says he came across a group of men in what he called seek camouflage. The men told him they were doing extreme camping, but he suspected they were up to something more dangerous and alerted the police, who told him they already had the group under surveillance.

COTE: You just hear about, you know, what's going on in the rest of the world, and, you know, you do put two and two together. It's not -- you know, I guess it's stereotyping in its own way.

MESERVE: Canadian officials allege the men Cote saw were part of an al Qaeda-inspired group training to blow up targets in Canada with three tons of ammonium nitrate, the fertilizer that, fashioned into a bomb, devastated the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Police seized ammonium nitrate in raids over the weekend, along with what appeared to be a detonator.

MIKE MCDONELL, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: This group posed a real and serious threat. It had the capacity and intent to carry out these acts.

MESERVE: Of the 17 being held in the probe, 12 men face terror- related charges. The charges against five juveniles have not been released. Canadian authorities say the arrests capped a two-year investigation, and officials said Monday more arrests are possible.

MCDONELL: We're following every investigative lead that we have right now. And anybody that was involved in aiding, facilitating or participating in this terrorist threat will be arrested.

MESERVE: Family members and attorneys for the suspects dispute the charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no criminal past whatsoever.

MESERVE: Two of the men now charged with terrorism were already in custody for allegedly trying to import firearms and ammunition into Canada from the U.S. And a U.S. counterterrorism official says two of the Canadian suspects had e-mail communications with two U.S. citizens arrested this spring on terrorism charges.

Saed Haris Ahmed (ph) and Isanel Islam Sadiki (ph) had allegedly videotaped locations including the U.S. Capitol and a fuel tank farm. CNN was unable to reach their lawyers.

U.S. officials say some of the Canadians also had contact with British terrorism suspects arrested last fall and with Islamic militants in Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark, and Sweden. The arrests have further heightened concerns about local terror groups working independent of al Qaeda. Officials say they are much harder to detect and stop.

JOHN MILLER, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: It's a real challenge. If you look at the old model, where you focused on the camps, the base, the leadership, and thought, if we look at this right, we'll see the threads of whatever comes out of there coming towards us, the new model is much more disparate.

MESERVE (on camera): Officials say Customs and Border Protection has increased scrutiny of people and vehicles coming into the U.S. from Canada out of an abundance of caution.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Turning to the diplomatic dilemma over Iran's nuclear program, Tehran now says the new proposal to encourage Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions does contain, in its words, positive elements. But Iran's chief nuclear negotiator says more negotiations are definitely needed.

CNN's European political editor, Robin Oakley, is on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR (voice over): Iran's leaders have been given details of the incentives the world's biggest powers have prepared to offer if it will agree to suspend its uranium enrichment program, a program which Iran insists is for peaceful energy purposes and which others fear could be hiding a nuclear weapons ambition.

The plans, together with an indication of the penalties that might follow Iran's refusal to cooperate, were delivered Tuesday by the European Union's international policy chief, Javier Solana, on behalf of the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia. Mr. Solana said Iran now had the chance of restarting negotiations.

JAVIER SOLANA, EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: It's important that we (INAUDIBLE). We think there will be proposals that will allow us to get engaged in that negotiation, as I said, based on trust, respect and confidence.

OAKLEY: After they met for two hours, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said he hoped for more talks once some ambiguities had been cleared up.

ALI LARIJANI, CHIEF IRANIAN NUCLEAR NEGOTIATOR (through translator): We recognize Europe's proposal for solving Iran's nuclear issue through negotiations as a positive step. We welcome this move.

OAKLEY: But Iran last week said it wouldn't drop its nuclear enrichment program as a condition for the Europeans and America restarting talks. And there was no hint of a change of heart on that. (on camera): European sources have indicated that in return for suspending its uranium enrichment program, Iran would be offered light-water nuclear reactors and assured nuclear fuel supply. According to a "New York Times" report, Iran would also be allowed to buy spare parts from its aging airliners from the U.S. manufacturer Boeing, sanctions on the supply of agricultural technology would be ended, and the U.S. and Europe would push for Iran's membership of the World Trade Organization.

It's less clear what China and Russia would agree to as the penalties if Iran doesn't cooperate. But they're expected to include visa restrictions on Iranian officials, a freeze on assets held overseas, and an arms sales ban.

(voice over): So how long will Iran be given to make up its mind?

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We really do have to have this settled over -- over a matter of weeks, not months.

OAKLEY: And this question, too, from whom should the outside world take Iran's turn (ph), form Mr. Larijani or from the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who this week suggested that if the U.S. made a wrong move on negotiations, then Iran would be prepared to disrupt the shipment of oil from the Gulf.

Robin Oakley, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Joining us now is the U.S. State Department's lead diplomat on Iran, Ambassador Jim Jeffrey. Jeffrey is the principal deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs. He also served as Condoleezza Rice's senior adviser on Iraq.

Mr. Jeffrey, thank you for being with us.

We're hearing from Ali Larijani, the chief nuclear negotiator in Iran, that the talks were good, that they're going to study the proposal. It's a marked difference from what we heard last week.

Why do you think that is?

JAMES JEFFREY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, first of all, we don't like to do negotiations through media statements, and with us waiting for a report back from Mr. Solana. We do believe that any positive response to this can be traced in good part to the unanimity of the international community as represented in the Vienna meetings this week and to the decision by President Bush announced by Secretary Rice that the U.S. would be willing, if Iran accepted certain conditions, to join in the talks directly.

GORANI: What do you think are some of those incentives that are in this proposal that was taken to Tehran by Javier Solana of the European Union? What are the incentives, do you think, that would appeal to Iran enough to give up what it says is its right to develop nuclear technology?

JEFFREY: Well, we're not going to get into the contents of this agreement, which remain secret until the Iranians give us a comprehensive response. But I would refer you back to what Secretary Rice said in her interview last week, where she said -- and I want to get this exactly right -- "The Iranian people believe they have a right to civil nuclear energy. We acknowledge that right."

The benefits of the second path for Iran -- that is, cooperating with the international community -- would go beyond civil nuclear energy and could include progressively greater economic cooperation with the international community. I think you can assume that the package that has been provided is consistent with the secretary's views.

GORANI: All right. Without going into detail, then, those incentives might include World Trade Organization membership discussions, spare parts for Iran's air fleet, that kind of thing?

JEFFREY: Once again, I'm not going to go into the details beyond what I've already said. The spare parts issue, I think, is a separate issue. We have dealt with that in the past under the rubric of aviation security.

GORANI: OK. Jim Jeffrey, what next, though? Let's say the proposal is rejected. Then what next?

JEFFREY: Well, there, I think, the international community has taken a clear position. And once again, I would like to read the statement that was made by the British foreign minister after the conclusion of the Vienna talks. "We have also agreed that if Iran decides not to engage in negotiation, further steps would have to be taken in the Security Council."

As you're all aware, the International Atomic Energy Agency referred Iran to the Security Council, which is a very serious step based upon its noncompliance with IAEA regulations.

GORANI: So we've heard the further steps expression many times. But I think what the world really wants to know is, what do you mean by "further steps"? Economic sanctions? Do you mean potentially military action?

JEFFREY: Well, I think, as the secretary has said, we are pursuing the diplomatic track at the present time. And that would include these further steps that the British foreign minister did announce. But again, we're going to wait and see what the Iranian response is. If the response is negative, we will go back and meet with our friends who are participating in this with us.

GORANI: How long will you give Iran, very briefly, sir?

JEFFREY: Well, as the secretary said, it's a question of weeks. We don't put timelines on these things. What we do do is negotiate as deliberately as we can.

GORANI: All right. Jim Jeffrey, deputy assistant secretary for Near East Affairs at the State Department.

Many thanks for joining us.

JEFFREY: Thank you.

GORANI: A quick break on YOUR WORLD TODAY. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

It's a delicate diplomatic mission for a U.N. delegation right now in Sudan. The government in Khartoum reluctant to allow U.N. peacekeepers to take over for the African Union force, which has been unable and unauthorized to stop the violence in Darfur.

We spoke earlier with the envoy leading the delegations, Emyr Jones-Perry, the British ambassador to the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMYR JONES-PERRY, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I'm reasonably confident that our arguments were understood. I think we've appreciated the concerns that both the government, the foreign minister, the president, and the parliamentarians have. I think we can take account of those and create the conditions for this mission to do the job on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, the Security Council has tried -- assures Sudan it doesn't have any intention of trying to take over the country -- Hala.

GORANI: The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, is giving Hamas a little more time to change its mind on recognizing Israel. Mr. Abbas says he will wait until Thursday to announce the date for a referendum on that topic.

The vote would ask Palestinians if they agree to a two-state solution that implicitly, therefore, accepts Israel's right to exist. Hamas' charter calls for Israel's destruction. The Palestinian president originally wanted to announce the date for the referendum on Tuesday.

CLANCY: All right. To a different kind of story now. It's -- well, you've seen it on -- more people today throwing salt over their shoulder, maybe avoiding black cats or walking under a ladder, because this isn't just any day.

GORANI: It's not any other day. Today is June 6th, and it's June 6th of the year 2006 -- Jim.

CLANCY: That makes it 6-6-06. You know what that means?

GORANI: Well, the words alone send shivers down the spine as the mark of Satan. I really don't believe that, but anyway, that's what some people think.

CLANCY: Because the term "666" came from the Book of Revelations in the bible. It's code for the Roman emperor Nero, who persecuted Christians.

GORANI: All right. Let's just -- it's not meant to be taken literally, but the numbers have come to be synonymous with the devil. We've seen it in movies. We see it...

CLANCY: Oh, especially in movies.

GORANI: Yes, absolutely. All right.

So, new mother Carrie McFarland had her labor induced last Sunday so her son would not have the devilish birth date.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE MCFARLAND, NEW MOTHER: We weren't completely concerned that the child was going to come out with horns if he came out on Tuesday, but we were excited to find out that we were going to be able to get him before 6-6-06.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: All right.

GORANI: Oh, dear.

CLANCY: A just-relieved mother.

GORANI: All right. That brings us to our "Question of the Day" -- Jim.

CLANCY: That's right. We're asking you this: Are you superstitious? I mean, not just 666, but what do you think about everything, the salt over the shoulder, all of that?

GORANI: And what are your superstitions, if you have them? YWT@CNN.com.

Secretly, I think -- I think pretty much everybody is, Jim, on some level. All right.

CLANCY: We're going to be reading out your superstitions and whether or not you are superstitious a little bit later on the air right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a couple of minutes. But first, a check of stories making headlines in the United States.

President Bush is on the road and on the stump this hour. Right now, he's in New Mexico to tour a law enforcement training center in Artesia. He's focusing on border security, but also stepping up his campaign on immigration reform.

Next hour, he's scheduled to speak on immigration, and we will carry his remarks live. That event is scheduled for 1:10 Eastern, 10:10 Pacific.

Found safe and sound, a kidnapped newborn baby has been reunited with her parents. The baby was found yesterday, left in a condominium carport in Lubbock, Texas, in 100-degree heat. Police have arrested a 33-year-old woman on kidnapping charges. They say she posed as a nurse to befriend the child's mother, then stole the infant from her on Sunday.

The mom talked about the ordeal on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA YSASAGA, BABY'S MOTHER: She came over, she asked about my baby. She had brought up about stuff she was going to give me, the baby stuff she was going to give me. And then she said if she could take my baby on the next block, that some relatives lived on the next block from me -- and if she could take Priscilla.

And I told her no. And she kept on insisting. And I told her no.

And I finally went with her. And then we were walking. We walked over there. And then she said nobody was at that house.

And then we were walking back, and my son distracted me. When I turned around, she was gone with Priscilla.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The 6-day-old baby Priscilla is said to be doing fine.

Five people shot inside a home in West Virginia. Police on the move right now looking for a suspect. The shooting happened just west of Charleston in the tiny town of Amandaville.

Police say three of the five shot were killed, and the other two injured. A sixth person was hurt when he jumped through a window to escape.

Police were called to the house overnight, and they've been working the crime scene all morning. They're also looking for a car witnesses spotted at the home before the shootings.

The prosecutor says the crime scene was a house of horrors. Now he plans to seek the death penalty for two Indianapolis men accused of gunning down seven family members. Three of the victims were children. The youngest just 5 years old.

The judge appointed public defenders today for Desmond Turner and James Stewart. They're accused of shooting the victims in a home on the city's east side during a robbery attempt. The D.A. says he'll file formal murder charges against the suspects later this afternoon.

A Florida high school field trip on criminology turned into a frightening lesson on forensics. A teacher set up a mock crime scene at a park in Ft. Lauderdale. As the students took photos and bagged evidence, they spotted a man's body.

At first they didn't think it was real. When they realized it was real, they told their teacher and police. Investigators say it appears the man likely died of natural causes.

Let's get the latest on the nation's weather now from Jacqui Jeras in the weather center.

Hello, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Tony.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: OK, Jacqui. Thank you.

Is canned tuna safe for pregnant women? "Consumer Reports" is adding its voice to the debate. The magazine reported on government tests of canned light tuna and albacore.

"Consumer Reports" says the tests showed both types can have harmful levels of mercury. It is now recommending that pregnant women not eat any canned tuna. The government says there's no research to suggest pregnant women would be harmed by an occasional serving, even if it has higher than average mercury levels. And a tuna trade group says the benefits of seafood outweigh any risk from trace amounts of mercury.

Let's check the numbers on Wall Street. Wow! The Dow down 99 points. The NASDAQ, down 18 points. The Dow below 1,100 for the first time since early march.

President Bush on the U.S./Mexican border, live coverage at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips. Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and these are the stories that are making headlines around the world.

Iraqi officials report nearly 1,400 of their countrymen killed in Baghdad in May, the largest number of deaths in one month since the start of the war. The number doesn't even include civilians killed in explosions. Hundreds of those victims cannot even be identified. The figures are the numbers of bodies that have been brought to the Baghdad morgue alone.

GORANI: The case against at least some of the suspects charged with terrorism-related offenses in Canada have been delayed. The 17 Muslim men and boys, five of them under the age of 18, were arrested last week in Canada's largest counterterrorism operation. Charges include trying to build bombs and training or being trained as terrorists.

Iran says a new proposal to end the nuclear standoff over uranium enrichment needs a little more time to study. The chief negotiator Ali Larijani says the incentives package does contain what he termed "positive elements." The E.U.'s foreign policy chief Javier Solana presenting that proposal in Tehran on Tuesday. Larijani says it contains what he termed "ambiguities that must be removed." The contents of the offer haven't been made public.

Let's turn our spotlight on illegal immigration once again. The U.S. president, George Bush, is revisiting the thorny issue as he tours the border with Mexico. The excursion comes as 6,000 National Guard soldiers are being drafted in, welcomed by some, spurned by others.

Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president and updates us now from Artesia in the state of New Mexico. Hello, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Hala.

That's right, President Bush is here in Artesia, New Mexico, which is home to the only United States Border Patrol training academy here in the U.S. And, in fact, at this hour just behind me, just beyond the camera's view, is, in fact, the president taking a look at three demonstrations, including a bus check, a train check as well as checkpoint operations being demonstrated by students here. Students go undergo about 19 and a half weeks of training, everything from immigration law to firearms training.

But the president's visit, White House officials note, comes at a time when there has been unnecessary polarization, they say, on this issue. And the president today wants to show where there are points of commonality. At the same time, Mr. Bush's visit comes as he is trying to demonstrate to conservative lawmakers from within his own party, specifically U.S. members of the House, that he is serious about enforcing the country's borders.

Some of those lawmakers believe that some of the president's immigration proposals amount to amnesty because they would allow some people who arrived here illegally to get on a path to U.S. citizenship. It is certainly an emotional debate and it is happening against the backdrop of U.S. congressional midterm elections in five months. Nevertheless, the president is intent on pushing forward on this issue. He is showing no signs of backing down from another proposal for a temporary guest worker program. But today here in New Mexico, Hala, the emphasis on border security -- Hala.

GORANI: Elaine Quijano, thank you very much -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, here is a dilemma that most U.S. college students would want. Do I stay in a prestigious university like Princeton? Or what if I have the opportunity to go to Oxford University in England? As Tom Foreman explains for us, the question takes on scary significance for one -- get this -- one illegal immigrant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even amid the storied towers and ivy walls of Princeton, Dan-el Padilla Peralta is special. Fluent in five languages, highly honored for his study of Greek and Latin classics -- not bad for a kid from a homeless shelter.

DAN-EL PADILLA PERALTA, PRINCETON STUDENT: My family wasn't able, for example, to afford toys. And so I would borrow books from the public library.

FOREMAN: But now his academic ambition has led him to a hard lesson in life. He has publicly admitted he is an illegal immigrant, and he may not be able to stay in America.

PERALTA: I will take everything as it comes. And I will say that I -- I worry about things, but I'm not afraid of them. And if that should happen, then that is what will happen. I hope that does not happen.

FOREMAN: Dan-el says his mother, Maria, came with him to New York from the Dominican Republic on a temporary visa for medical treatment when he was a toddler. But the visa expired, and they remained. Dan-el excelled at school. And when he was ready for college, Princeton was ready for him, illegally here or not.

PERALTA: They said that they would not look at that, that it would not matter in their decision, that they would admit me strictly on the merits and award me financial aid strictly on the merits.

FOREMAN: Now, however, Oxford University in England wants him to continue his education there. Here's the catch. If he leaves America, he will be banned from re-entering for at least ten years.

In many ways, Dan-el has nothing in common with the unskilled laborers at the heart of the illegal immigration debate. The fact is, under federal law, were he not here illegally, he might even be sought after because the U.S. encourages legal immigration by the academically gifted.

(on camera): But Dan-el is united to all those others by a stubborn fact: even though he had no say in coming to America and has scant memories of living anywhere else, he is here illegally.

PERALTA: I can and I do often on an emotional level identify with people who are in my predicament, simply because we are all being lumped together. As a result of that, we all sort of try to come to each other's defense.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Did he take a place at Princeton that could have gone to a legal resident? Absolutely. Has that given him a unique chance to argue for legal citizenship? Probably. Is that fair? Who knows? PERALTA: Hey, Ami (ph), what's up?

FOREMAN: Nevertheless, Dan-el Padilla believes, like millions of other far less skilled illegals, he has earned a right to stay.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Wherever he ends up, good luck to him.

All right, still to come on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a look at a fascinating medical breakthrough.

CLANCY: Doctors in the United Kingdom performing a heart transplant while the donor heart continues to beat. We go under the scalpel, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Doctors in the United Kingdom performing a heart transplant while the donor heart continues to beat. We go under the scalpel just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back. You're with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Doctors in Shanghai say the breakthrough operation, another one, was a success. They say a procedure to remove a third arm from a 2- month-old Chinese boy went well. Neither of the boy's two left arms was fully functional, but doctors decided to remove the one growing closer to the chest after tests showed that it was less developed. The baby is under close observation, of course, for possible bleeding or infection and faces long-term physical therapy after this.

CLANCY: Well, in other medical news, there was a breakthrough, really in Cambridge, England. Doctors there successfully transplanting a beating heart. Instead of being packed in ice, the heart was kept alive inside a new machine.

Let's get a report on this from Julian Rush. I want to caution our viewers, though, some of the pictures may make you a little bit squeamish. This is, after all, a real beating heart.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIAN RUSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beating in a box, this human heart is plumbed into its own portable support system. The technology designed to take the pressure off in the race to get organs from their donors to the patients whose lives will be saved by a transplant.

Up 'til now, transplant organs have been rushed to where they're needed on ice. But more than five hours in the freezer and the heart, or lung, or liver has deteriorated so much, it's useless. The new machine keeps the heart warm, not cold, and with blood, oxygen and nutrients constantly pumped through it. In tests, they've been kept going for up to 12 hours, and even end up in better condition than when they started.

PROF. BRUCE ROSENGARD, SURGEON, PAPWORTH HOSPITAL: When you store a heart on ice the heart deteriorates at a finite rate. When you profuse a heart with blood, it's oxygenated, warm, and nutrient- enhanced, that heart beats and functions normally. It doesn't deteriorate at all. In fact, it resuscitates.

RUSH: Two weeks ago, Professor Rosengard used the system for the first time in Britain. The heart it carried is now beating well in a 58-year-old man whose own heart had been badly damaged.

CHRIS RUDGE, TRANSPLANT DIR., U.K. TRANSPLANT: I think there are two real possibilities here. One is that it will make heart transplants more successful. The heart will be a better heart when it's transplanted so the patient has a better outcome. Looking a little bit further into the future, there's the possibility to take hearts which at the moment would not be suitable for a transplant. Storing them in this way allows the heart actually to improve the way it works. And therefore, it would be suitable for a transplant, and that would increase the number of hearts that are transplanted, and that is the real issue at the moment in this country.

RUSH: You place the heart in the organ chamber, and you make three connections to various structures on the heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And we want to interrupt YOUR WORLD TODAY to take to you New Mexico, now, Artesia, New Mexico, where the president is making remarks on immigrations.

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