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Your World Today
War Over the War; Show of Force by New Iraqi Government; World Cup Action; Photojournalist Remembers a Deadly Student Protest
Aired June 16, 2006 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Is it the war in Iraq or the battle between Republicans and Democrats that's the main issue? In any case, there's a lot of heated talk in Washington.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: While in South Africa, looking back on a protest that changed history. They're marching again in the streets of Soweto.
GORANI: And in Indonesia, it's more than just football fever. At this point, passion for the World Cup is all that some people have to cling to.
CLANCY: And Happy Birthday, Paul. Now, you're matching the lyrics in your own sweet song. Who could have imagined it.
Right now, it is noon in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in Soweto, South Africa.
I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.
Welcome to our viewers throughout the world and the United States.
And this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: We're going to begin our report this hour in Iraq. There's more violence in the capital despite that massive security clamp down.
GORANI: Now, in the worst carnage, a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers.
CLANCY: And yet, there is some cautious talk of progress in Iraq.
GORANI: Now, we're also getting closer to finding out what the U.S. military says happened in Haditha and right afterward. The allegations are that Marines retaliated for a roadside bombing by killing 24 men, women, and children, some in their night clothes, in the Iraqi town last November.
Now, that has prompted two investigations. One of them is looking at what happened, and the other at whether it was covered up. The inquiry on a possible cover-up has now gone to a top commander in Iraq. Details haven't been released yet, but we'll be sure to let you know when they are.
CLANCY: More now on the violence this day in the capital, despite that four-hour ban on street traffic during Friday prayers. A suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt managed to make his way near to a mosque shortly before noon. Officials say 11 people were killed, 25 others wounded.
This is the second such attack on the Buratha shrine. More than 80 people were killed as suicide bombers hit that mosque in April during Friday prayers. The latest strike comes as Iraq's prime minister put nearly 70,000 soldier and police out to patrol the streets of Baghdad.
GORANI: The British prime minister, Tony Blair, says he is confident that there is progress in Iraq. He says there is a new sense of optimism now that the new government has taken office there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Of course, it is the very purpose of our strategy is, progressively, over time, as the Iraqis are capable of handling the security themselves and take responsibility for their own destiny and charge of their own country, which is what they want, then of course that -- that situation will arise where we can step down as they step up to the mark. But that's a matter for the Iraq government.
I think what is interesting is that over the past few weeks, since the government's been formed, you can see a sense of momentum. And it's very encouraging, I think, to see the first-ever fully elected Iraqi government taking decisions and moving forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: All right. As I look at our next story on Iraq, I think it should begin with a disclaimer. And that is that members of the U.S. House, the politicians in Washington, many of them up for re- election this fall. And it is in that politically charged atmosphere that lawmakers in Washington closed their contentious debate over the war in Iraq. It was a 256-153 vote.
The Republican-led House approved a non-binding resolution that praises U.S. troops but rejects any timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq.
Candy Crowley has more for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A House divided debating a controversial war five months before an election produce sound bites and fury.
REP. JOHN MURTHA, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I know standing here does not solve the problem and it hasn't gotten better. It's gotten worse. That's the problem. CROWLEY: They argued over the rationale for war, the conduct of war, when and how to end the war.
REP. IKE SKELTON, (D) MISSOURI: We have just reached a sad milestone, 2,500 Americans have lost their lives in the Iraq war.
CROWLEY: But first they went silent over the cost of war.
Otherwise, it was an agonizing, antagonizing, acrid debate around a Republican resolution. Democrats had been pressing for an Iraq debate. This is not what they had in mind.
REP. JOHN LARSON, (D), CONNECTICUT: And you guys bring to the floor a political document not designed for a new direction or to bring the country together to discuss this issue the way it should be, but instead as talking points outlined by Karl Rove in New Hampshire, sandwiched in between the president's photo-op and a picnic this evening.
CROWLEY: The resolution is merely a vehicle for debate on Iraq, the single most important issue of the election year. It is a piece of paper with no force of law, but, Republicans hope, the potential to force divided Democrats into a corner.
REP. CHARLES NORWOOD, (R) GEORGIA: Is it al Qaeda or is it America? Let the voters take note of this debate.
CROWLEY: The resolution basically backs Bush policy in Iraq, ties it to the war on terror, and includes this: "It is not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment of the United States Armed Forces from Iraq."
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: Let's send this message to every soldier, every Marine who's watching this thing from the mess halls in Mosul and Tikrit and Baghdad and Falluja, the message that the United States House of Representatives stand with them.
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: It's a trap. It's an attempt to force Democrats to sign on to a resolution that will do nothing to bring our troops home. All they want to make us sound is if we're unpatriotic.
CROWLEY: Debate talking points from the Pentagon and the Republican majority circulated the Hill. Democrats called the resolution a cheap election-year ploy. Republicans called it a vital election-year debate with huge consequence.
REP. HENRY HYDE (R), ILLINOIS: The more valuable our descent into weakness, dissension and inaction, the greater the aid and comfort we give to our enemies.
CROWLEY: Members of Congress will vote Friday on the resolution. In November, Americans will vote on members of Congress.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, if politics is the big question in Washington, certainly security is the big question in Baghdad. People wondering how this new crackdown is going to achieve the results desired.
Well, Iraqi journalist Ahmad al-Rikaby and the founder of Radio Dijla listens to the voices of ordinary Iraqis as they call into his radio station every day. He says what they're telling him is that a tough show of force by the new government is welcome and necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMAD AL-RIKABY, IRAQI JOURNALIST: It's more than welcomed by the majority of the Iraqi people, although it's inconvenience for most of the people. But what people were criticizing the previous government and the government before -- the previous government for is what they considered the lack of toughness. So this is what they really want to see, a tough government, a tough attitude towards terrorists and criminal gangs. And they're willing to live with this for two or three or even six months, maybe, if it's going to lead to any serious results.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Now, Ahmad al-Rikaby says another of the hot topics that Iraqis talk about today, it's still electricity. Two years ago, they had eight hours of electricity a day in Baghdad. A year ago, they had four hours of electricity a day. And today I think many people would be surprised to find out they have only two hours -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. Moving on to this now.
The U.S. military says at least 40 insurgents have been killed in a new offensive in southeastern Afghanistan. The U.S.-led coalition launched the operation this week.
Now, they're trying to count a resurgence of the Taliban there in Afghanistan. Military officials say Operation Mountain Thrust began with an air-raid early Wednesday on a remote mountain stronghold. That was followed by a ground assault conducted by coalition and Afghan troops.
CLANCY: Well, you know what that means by now, World Cup.
Ivory Coast looking for their first win at the World Cup. They're playing The Netherlands right now, and you can bet Argentina fans have their eyes glued to the pitch as well. That game could allow their team to advance after it routed Serbia and Montenegro today.
Mark McKay is in Berlin. He has more on the day's action.
Where do we begin?
MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Why don't we begin with group C, Jim? That was supposed to be the toughest of them all when these finals kicked off.
And you mentioned Argentina. They are very close to making these collection of opening round games all kid's play.
As you mentioned, the South Americans very keenly interested in what's going on in Stuttgart. Let me take you out there.
The fan-fest mile finds fans from both Holland and Ivory Coast gathered as they watch the beginning moments of a match that just began. Another wind by The Netherlands would put them into the last 16. Checking the current score, we find The Netherlands and Ivory Coast still at nil-nil.
Again, the fans have gathered. They're wearing all kinds of colors. Not only hear at the fan-fest in Berlin, Jim, but also in Stuttgart.
Many Argentina fans are also, as you mentioned, keenly interested into how this match plays out. Yes, Jim, their South American team completely routed Serbia and Montenegro earlier today.
CLANCY: Well, after what we saw in the first match of the day, can we expect everyone to call Argentina favorites now?
MCKAY: I think so. Yes, they put on -- what a display of football they put on.
This was a match that began with Argentina looking to make amends for what they did four years ago, going out in the opening round. And this was one determined two-time World Cup champion as they routed Serbia and Montenegro, 6-0 the final in Gelsenkirken earlier on Friday.
This was the biggest route of this World Cup, three goals coming in the span of 10 second half-minutes. Argentina equaling their best- ever World Cup result, that in 1978, drubbing up Peru and a finals host (ph) won by Argentina.
Mexico, who started impressively in their own right, they will take to the pitch a little later today, Jim. They'll do so in Hanover against Angola.
Back to you at CNN Center.
CLANCY: All right. Mark McKay there in Berlin.
Mark, you look like you're having too much fun.
GORANI: All right. Passion for the World Cup is overflowing around the globe. But in one place, it is more than just a welcome diversion -- Jim.
CLANCY: Survivors of last month's earthquake in Indonesia, some of the world's most avid fans, no doubt about that. Dan Rivers brings us the story that their love of the game is all that some of them have left to cling to. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After the death and anguish of the earthquake, they are finally clearing the rubble in the village of Jati. This devastated Indonesian community is trying to get back on its feet. Amidst such sorrow, you'd expect the World Cup to have been completely forgotten. That faced with such destruction, people would have given up caring about what's on TV.
But Indonesians are passionate about their football. For young avid fans, like 13-year-old Anga (ph), the World Cup matters a lot. It's all he has left. In the ruins of his bedroom, the treasured icons of his favorite team still cling to the crumbling wall. Anga (ph) has never been to England, but you'd struggle to find a more devoted fan.
In the sultry Java night, he watches each match on a salvaged TV that illuminates the tent he now shares with 11 relatives.
He says it's important for me to watch the match. It makes this tent feel like a home.
I join him to watch his beloved England play. For a few precious minutes, we're both absorbed in the agony so familiar to fans the world over.
(on camera): What are they doing?
For Anga (ph) and thousands of other children in this disaster zone, the World Cup provides a vital form of escape. For 90 minutes he's no longer an earthquake survivor, he's just a boy watching a football match utterly absorbed in the game.
(voice-over): And what better way to forget the daily grind of survival here than your team winning and qualifying for the final stages of the World Cup.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Jati, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, we're into the game there in Indonesia. We're into YOUR WORLD TODAY here.
We're going to take a short break, but Bill Gates moves the goal post. The Microsoft chairman considers quitting the day job and refocusing his energies.
GORANI: And in moving remembrance of an event that stunned the world, marchers retrace the steps of the Soweto uprising.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Welcome back to our viewers around the United States and the world.
This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
A global whaling group is about to start is yearly debate on an emotion issue for many people around the world, whether the hunting of the world's largest animal should be banned or not. A whale hunting moratorium has been in place now for two decades, but all that could change if pro-whaling nations like Japan swing the balance of power their way on the International Whaling Commission.
Environmental groups and anti-whaling nations like Australia fear Tokyo may have finally garnered enough support to chip away at that ban. But Japan's commissioner says he's not so sure as he heads into the meeting on Caribbean island of St. Kitts in Nevis.
GORANI: Well, that takes us to our "Question of the Day" today.
CLANCY: How do you feel about eating whale meat? Have you ever done it? Well, tell us.
E-mail us at YWT@CNN.com.
GORANI: We'll read some of your comments later on the program.
Now switching gears, 30 years ago, South African students set off on a protest that changed a nation. And once again there are marches throughout the streets of Soweto, led by South African President Tabo Mbeki to commemorate the uprising and the hundreds of young people believed to have been killed by riot police.
Now, back in 1976, the protest followed a government plan to teach Afrikaans, the language of South Africa's white ruling class. That's what the students were protesting.
CLANCY: Former South African president Nelson Mandela is calling on South Africans to remember Hector Peterson. The 13-year-old protester was the first of all those black students shot and killed by police. That was, as we said, 30 years ago.
The Soweto uprising started as a peaceful protest, but the lethal police response left hundreds dead.
Alphonso Van Marsh sat down with one of the photojournalist who captured the images on the streets that shocked the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The images from June, 1976, are iconic. A youth protest against teaching black students in Afrikaans, the language of apartheid South Africa's white minority, and the violent police crackdown that killed at least 500 people, many of them teenagers, as the Soweto demonstration spread worldwide.
Peter Magubane is one of the photographers who brought the Soweto uprising to the world. He says it was a turning point in the wider struggle to end white rule.
PETER MAGUBANE, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Well, it was significant in the sense that there were thousands of children in the streets. They came from all over Soweto, from different schools. The police came with (INAUDIBLE) tear gas. They just opened up. Children had to scuttle all over.
I closed my eyes and I just -- you know, just keep on focusing. And I know focusing and shooting at the same time, there would be one or two, three shots that I shot.
This child was tear-gassed. She's being helped by school children. Unfortunately, the police opened fire and killed Hector Peterson, the 13-year-old boy. South Africa was never the same again.
Everyone that gets -- that gets injured or killed or shot at, I do get affected, but after I have done my work for the day. When I get home, I ask myself, "What are you doing?" You know, because you might get killed. You know?
But then, you say, "I'm a newsman." People want to see what is going on.
What people should remember is these children, their blood flowed in rivers and brought us this democracy that we have.
VAN MARSH: A democracy that remembers 13-year-old Hector Peterson and hundreds like him who died in the name of equality.
Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, Johannesburg.
(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.
Let's begin with a standoff just west of New Orleans. This is River Ridge, Louisiana.
Police are trying to get to John Lee Cheaky (ph), the 31-year-old suspect now accused of killing a sheriff's deputy. After allegedly doing that, he broke into the home of an elderly man and took him hostage. So that standoff taking place right now in River Ridge. We'll continue to follow that.
Meanwhile, other news to get to.
A show of support for U.S. troops or is it a political play? Either way, the House has approved a non-binding resolution on Iraq.
It expresses support for U.S. forces and rejects a timetable for bringing them home. The Republican-backed measure also labels the Iraq war part of the larger war on terrorism.
Some Democrats called the resolution a political stunned. The final vote, 256-153. Forty-two Democrats did vote for that measure.
Troubling allegations against U.S. Marines. This morning, a new development in the Haditha investigation.
Military sources say one of their reports on the deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha is now complete. The report focused on whether there was a cover-up. It now goes to the second in command in Iraq for review.
Another probe into possible criminal charges will continue. Marines are accused of killing innocent Iraqis after one of their own was killed by a roadside bomb.
It's official, Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson is off of a powerful House committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: House Resolution 872 resolved that Mr. Jefferson is hereby removed from the Committee on Ways and Means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: That vote came down just about an hour ago. No debate, no dissent. It followed last night's vote by the Democratic Caucus to suspend Jefferson over ethical issues.
Jefferson is mired in a federal bribery investigation. There are allegations he took nearly $100,000 to help business ventures in Africa. Jefferson has not been charged and he denies any wrongdoing. He can reclaim his seat if his legal problems are resolved.
Troubling, insufficient, unprepared, not exactly the words you want to hear when talking about disaster planning. But that's exactly what a new Homeland Security report says about emergency plans across the country.
The report was obtained by The Associated Press. It finds problems in 131 state and city emergency response programs. The review says when it comes to planning evacuations like the one you see here, there is what they call profound concern. President Bush ordered the review of emergency plans back in September, just weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
Hot and dry. Fires in the West. Crews in New Mexico are having some success fighting a 150-acre fire south of Albuquerque. It jumped the Rio Grande and shut down Interstate 25 yesterday, but now it's mostly contained and the highway is opened again. But now there's a 6,900-acre blaze in southern New Mexico threatening homes and forcing evacuations.
And in Flagstaff, Arizona, a wind-driven fire sent residents of about a thousand homes fleeing for cover. That fire is now contained.
Let's see what weather looks like not just in the Southwest, but across the country. (WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Hey, remember this story of a skydiver taking a terrifying plunge when her parachute failed? Shana West (ph) fell 10,000 feet face first. She survived. She had several surgeries.
But while she was in the hospital, doctors told her something that really shocked her. She was pregnant. Doctors said the baby was fine, but West (ph) had her doubts. Now relief. West (ph) gave birth this week to 7 pound 13 ounce baby boy -- a very healthy baby boy.
A good ending there.
It is pay-out time for these students in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Eight years ago, back in fourth grade, they made a real deal with real estate developer Rob Hill.
They promised not to smoke. Hill agreed to pay each of them $500 if they remained smoke-free until they turned 18. More than 130 of them collected yesterday. Hill paid out, and he calls it a real bargain.
We're going to talk with him, by the way, Monday here on "CNN LIVE TODAY."
At the top of the hour, crisis in America's emergency rooms. One doctor has taken his complaints all the way to Capitol Hill. You'll hear what he says is going wrong on CNN's "LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips.
Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.
I'm Daryn Kagan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani, and here are some of the top stories we're following for you.
In just 90 minutes, Argentina became the team all World Cup contenders will want to avoid. Argentina gave fans a lot to cheer about when they shredded Serbia and Montenegro in game one today, 6-0 was the final score. Argentina can advance with the Netherlands win, or tie against Ivory Coast. That game is underway right now. The Netherlands lead by two goals.
CLANCY: Thirty years after black student protesters died when police opened fire, South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki led a march through the streets of Soweto to mark the struggle against apartheid. The 1976 Soweto uprising set off a wave of protests that drew international attention to the brutality of the apartheid system.
GORANI: Well, a vehicle ban in Baghdad is not stopping attacks. There was one on a Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capitol. At least 11 people were killed, 25 wounded, when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt himself up in the city's Baratha Mosque. An April attack on the same mosque killed more than 80 people.
CLANCY: Meantime, U.S. lawmakers locked in a contentious debate over the war. Some of the key questions being asked: when will Iraq be ready to move forward, take charge of its own destiny, and therefore, when will U.S. troops be able to come home?
More from Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One-six, what do you need?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How does one measure progress in Iraq? Are there specific benchmarks for when less violence means U.S. troops can start coming home? Military officials indicate they'll know the time when they see it.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECY.: There will be meetings with General Casey and the minister of defense and the prime minister in the weeks ahead, discussing at what pace we're going to be able to draw down our forces, and it'll all be done in a very orderly way.
STARR: The Bush administration hopes to end up with about 100,000 troops in Iraq by year's end, a reduction of about 30,000. That depends on the strength of the Iraqi military.
RUMSFELD: They are vastly larger than we are, and they are increasing every day, every week, in both size and capability, and experience.
STARR: Another potential marker? If the security crackdown in Baghdad improves the situation long-term, it could be a turning point. But many security experts say any progress will be gradual.
RUMSFELD: If we want to make Iraq a success, we're going to have to be there for the long haul. That's just the nature of the insurgencies.
STARR: The administration appears to mean it when it says a drawdown depends on conditions, not a specific reduction in the number of attacks, IEDs or kidnappings.
QUESTION: Do you have a specific target for how much you want that violence to be reduced?
BUSH: Enough for the government to succeed, in other words, it's -- the Iraqi people have got to have confidence in this unity government, and reduction in violence will enable the people to have confidence.
STARR: But no answer to the key question: can the new government deliver the long-term reduction in violence that will allow U.S. troops to come home?
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: France is asking the United Nations to come up with ways to protect refugee camps in Chad. The camps house survivors of attacks by Sudanese militias in Darfur, but they're also the recruiting ground of rebel groups. France has about 1,000 airmen stationed in the former colony, but says it cannot provide protection for these camps at the border. The French ambassador is calling instead for the United Nations to consider an international operation, which it says it will support.
UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow is among those turning the spotlight on Sudan's Darfur region. During a recent visit, she appealed to government officials, as well as rebel factions, to focus on the plight of the children of Darfur.
The Hollywood actress joins us now live from our London studios with more on that. Mia Farrow, thank you so much for being with us.
MIA FARROW, UNICEF GOODWILL AMBASSADOR: Thank you.
GORANI: What struck you most during your visit to Darfur?
FARROW: Well, I visited camps in north and south Darfur, and I had been there 18 months earlier. And I could no longer go into west Darfur along the Chad border because the security situation is so out of control. The entire region of Darfur is completely unstable. And the defenseless population, civilian population, the people are absolutely desperate.
There is no safety. And as far as I could see, the only infrastructure and only thing keeping upwards of three million people alive is the humanitarian, the relief agencies. UNICEF and other aid agencies are the only semblance of infrastructure support. I mean, we're talking about utter lack of security and people desperate for water, food, just basic life support.
GORANI: So you're saying in the year and half -- I'm sorry to interrupt you. In the year and a half since you've been to this region, you weren't able, this time, to go into western Sudan, that Darfur region, because basically the security situation has gotten much, much worse?
FARROW: Yes. It has gotten worse. And I think -- I mean, at best, you could look at this as a transition period. Because there has been the Darfur Peace Agreement, but that in itself has caused many splinter groups and you see factions hardening, solidifying against each other.
So what had been a perilous situation is now quadruply so because you have the internal population, the camp population, turning against each other as well as outside parties turning against camps and each other. I mean, I think that, as Jan Egeland has said, if the humanitarian agencies have to withdraw from the Darfur region, we would see hundreds of thousands of deaths in a very short time. GORANI: And the -- and UNICEF, for instance, has only received 20 percent, according to it, of the funding that it would need just to be able to provide basic humanitarian assistance.
FARROW: Yes.
GORANI: And it's not just a question of money, it's a question of getting troops in there, of getting the security situation to a point where these charitable organizations can start working.
FARROW: That's right. There's no security for the aid agencies whatsoever. So they are really doing -- keeping people alive under difficult and dangerous circumstances. One hopes that this Darfur peace accord could be implemented, get all parties to the table. And one prays that the United Nations will come to support the existing African Union, who are virtually helpless themselves right now.
GORANI: Now, as a UNICEF ambassador and a celebrity and a recognizable face around the world, your job is to turn the spotlight on this. And if you were to send one message out to people watching today in order for ordinary citizens of the world to help, what would that message be?
FARROW: Help the relief agencies. UNICEF and other agencies desperately need support. As you have said, UNICEF has only has 20 percent of what it needs to carry on. Other agencies have had to withdraw. They, too, have shortfalls. So support them. And the only existing force there, the only good guys in this picture, are the African Union. So whatever their incapacities, they need to be supported, too.
GORANI: All right, Mia Farrow, many thanks for joining us live from London. And as Mia Farrow said there, in order to donate to one of the organizations helping, UNICEF -- and she's a goodwill ambassador for that U.N. agency -- log on to unicef.org -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right, we have an important development coming into us, one that affects West Africa. The U.N. Security Council has authorized the transfer of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor to the Hague to stand trial for war crimes there. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council. It asks Secretary- General Kofi Annan to help with the legal and practical arrangements required to send Taylor to the Netherlands.
Taylor's now being held in a jail in Sierra Leone. He is accused of fueling a bloody war in that country that led to widespread murder, rape and mutilation, chopping the arms of school children, child soldiers being forced to do that. In April appearing before a U.N.- backed tribunal in Sierra Leone, he pleaded not guilty to 11 separate war crimes charges. Important development.
GORANI: From Kabul to Paris, we'll focus on women in Afghanistan, when YOUR WORLD TODAY returns.
CLANCY: And more than two dozen are visiting France right now. Very interesting story. Jim Bittermann tells us they're learning the lessons of democracy. And what did they learn about French ways in the French parliament? We'll have their story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Women in Afghanistan emerging from years of oppression under the rule of the Taliban regime. They've become a powerful new force in that young democracy. So a group of Afghan women politicians travel to Paris for a look at institutions of an established democracy.
But Jim Bittermann tells us that independence was not something that these women really had to learn.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a long trip from Kabul to Paris, but nothing like the personal journey taken by 30 women members of the Afghan parliament over the past five years.
Take Quodria Yzdan Parast for instance, a professor and women's leader in the pre-Taliban day, when they came to power, she went on the run, in fear for her life, spending years in hiding, forced to abandon her husband and three young children.
QUODRIA YZDAN PARAST, AFGHAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (through translator): I had no idea whether they were alive, whether my husband was in prison, whether my kids were kidnapped. I had no news of them.
BITTERMANN: They were reunited shortly before the Taliban fell. For the past week, Quodria and the others, all once victimized by the Taliban, have been striding along the Paris boulevards, ignoring designer shops, invited here by French and American women activists who wanted to lend support and coach them in the ways of Western democracy. But it has not always worked out that way.
(on camera): The visitors did as much teaching as they did learning, particularly about the political realities in Afghanistan. Throughout much of their visit, there were skirmishes over language differences, political agendas and even whether or not French food is suitable to eat.
(voice-over): When they sat in to watch a session of the French National Assembly, it was lost on no one. Proportionately, there are more women in the Afghanistan parliament than here or in the U.S. Congress.
Quodria thought the French parliamentarians were too boisterous.
PARAST (through translator): I learned that in Afghanistan, we make less noise, so we are now going to be making more noise when we go back.
BITTERMANN: At every stop along the way, the Afghans were hardly shy, happy to tell the Westerners exactly what they wanted. Quodria carefully practiced a speech in English to make her case at a regional council meeting. And later, at what might have been a tame reception at the U.S. embassy, Ambassador Craig Stapleton (ph) convened what one Democrat could only describe as a loya jirga on the lawn, where Quodria and the other women insisted that Afghan prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay be transferred to Afghan prisons. They also demanded that Washington should do more for Afghan security, without patronizing Afghanistan.
CONNIE BORDER, AFGHAN WOMEN'S ADVOCATE: They have a lot more to teach us. It's amazing what's going on in their country, and it's amazing what they're going through..
BITTERMANN: Most of the women have never been outside Afghanistan, but just about everywhere they went, they impressed their hosts with their determination to make their democracy work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In friendship, we are very insistent, but we are also insistent on equality.
BITTERMANN: Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Let's bring you up to date with the latest from Group C. It's 2-1 now, two for the Netherlands, one for the Ivory Coast. But Cary Koney (ph) put one into the net for the Ivory Coast, and they're almost at halftime right now. I think they're playing extra time in the first half. We'll keep following that game for you.
CLANCY: Well, it's what you might call an inevitable case of life imitating art.
GORANI: And now, the time has come to face the music.
Coming up, the man who brought us the tune, when I'm 64. We'll the latest, after this.
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CLANCY: Well, while you were taking a break, we were here debating. It's really just a number but there is a debate over what is the most famous birth date in musical terms, in musical history.
GORANI: All right. Now, Chuck Barry, Billy Idol, Destiny's Child have all sung about sweet 16.
CLANCY: So did Frank Zappa. Frank Sinatra said that when he was 21, it was a very good year.
GORANI: But somehow, Paul McCartney musings on middle age -- and that was the debate, is 64 middle age?
CLANCY: It was a little old.
GORANI: Strike a -- right. Strikes a very special note. When I'm 64, and now, well, he actually is 64.
CLANCY: Paula Newton has the story now of Sir Paul reaching his own musical milestone.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When he wrote those lyrics at the age of 16, Paul McCartney had no idea how bittersweet his own 64th might be.
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NEWTON: Sir Paul will finally turn 64 this weekend, just a month after separating from Heather Mills, his second wife of four years.
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NEWTON: Who could turn Paul McCartney away? Apparently, Heather Mills McCartney.
The British tabloids have been ruthless, relentless. Mills says it was the media scrutiny that destroyed her marriage, but the separation is said to be destroying her. The newspapers are plastered with photos from Mills' past. They allege a career in soft porn and prostitution.
Mills says the tabs are printing lies, and she says she will sue. But her publicist adds the last month has been hideous.
MAX CLIFFORD, PUBLICIST: The public perception is, well, he's been taken for a fool, he's been taken for a ride and is very sad. He obviously loved her and showed that. So we feel very sorry for him. I mean, you know, the crueler ones will say, well, there's no fool like an old fool.
NEWTON: And the divorce settlement could be staggering. Mills stands to gain as much as a quarter of McCartney's $1.5 billion fortune.
IAN CAPLIN, LEGAL ANALYST: So even in the case where there's been a short marriage, you know, three to five years or something like that, the courts can still make, they have decided, a substantial award of the husband's assets in favor of the wife.
NEWTON (on camera): Paul McCartney and The Beatles recorded "When I'm 64" back in the '60s, here at Abbey Road Studios, and fans can't help but think that they actually believed that the lyrics to that song would one day ring true for all of them.
(voice-over): A fact not lost on anyone at the well-worn crossing on Abbey Road. Fans scribble their birthday notes and wax poetic about this grandfather's life at 64.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of ironic. I'm sure he's kicking himself for that one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lyrics in the song are kind of poignant. When you're going through a divorce, you're probably rethinking a lot of things right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just change it to 84. "When I'm 84," yes.
NEWTON: Sir Paul himself jokes he might change the lyrics. He is said to be having a quiet birthday at his country retreat this weekend. We can only wonder if he'll be tempted, just a little, to play the song.
Paula Newton, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Let's just say happy birthday and leave it at that.
Let's get a quick check now on the second game of World Cup -- at the World Cup right now, Ivory Coast looking for their first win as they take on the Netherlands. They've gotten on the board now, just a short while ago. They still trail by one, it's 2-1, and it's halftime there. There you see the score.
GORANI: Well, since the beginning of the World Cup, we've been asking you, our viewers, to e-mail us photos and videos from the World Cup, and your response has been terrific.
CLANCY: Well, at least most of them. Here are some of the sights and the sounds from some of you citizen journalists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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(APPLAUSE)
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GORANI: How orderly those Swiss fans were.
CLANCY: Yes, but the Australians. You see them dancing to "Down Under." They're quite the fans, no doubt about.
GORANI: Having -- guess what -- a whale of a time.
CLANCY: Yes, having a whale of a time. You know, the Australians are really upset, many of them about -- they think Japan is going to change the laws, the whaling commission and allow whaling again, and that brings us to our question of the day.
GORANI: Now the question was, how do you feel about hunting whale and also eating whale meat? Now we've gotten some answers to this question.
Aaron from Seoul, South Korean, writes, "I've eaten some, quote, 'unconventional' things, but the idea of eating very intelligent animals like dolphins, mountains gorillas or whales is just sick." CLANCY: Shaw writes this: "The people of Japan have had enough of this dish. They remember the wartime song by Vera Lynn, 'Whale Meat Again?'"
GORANI: James from Canada writes, "The hunting of whales is among the most uncivilized activities that humans undertake. It is a shameful demonstration."
CLANCY: Morten in Vancouver had this to say: "I don't see any problem with whaling. The whales that are hunted are not in danger of extinction, and the methods used are no longer inhumane."
GORANI: If this is a topic that is of interest to you, keep on e-mailing us at YWT@CNN.com.
CLANCY: And we're going to bring more of your responses next hour. That's it for this hour. "LIVE FROM" is up next for our viewers in the United States. I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. For viewers elsewhere, another hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY is next. Stay with us.
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