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Your World Today
Rare Glimpse Behind Barbed Wire at Guantanamo Bay; Gunman Goes on Rampage at Canadian College; Bush Meets with South Korean President
Aired September 14, 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: A walk through the halls of Gitmo. We take a look inside the controversial prison as it takes center stage on Capitol Hill.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Senseless violence in the Canadian city of Montreal. Now authorities are trying to figure out why.
GORANI: Add one more victim to the pattern of high-level assassinations in Russia. A top Central Bank official becomes the latest example.
CLANCY: And an historic ordination in Dresden when these three men became the first rabbis ordained in Germany since World War II.
GORANI: Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.
I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.
From Guantanamo Bay to Montreal, Moscow to Dresden, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
In the headlines this day, the U.S. president making a personal appeal to lawmakers for greater powers to fight the war on terror.
GORANI: George W. Bush is pushing legislation that would make it easier to spy on, imprison and interrogate terrorism suspects.
CLANCY: But some of his own critics from within his own party are pushing back with their own proposals. They say the president goes too far and he could be endangering how captured Americans should be treated.
GORANI: So Mr. Bush is trying to rally the Republican troops today, stepping behind closed doors in one house of Congress.
Before we take you to Capitol Hill, we want to go inside the detention facility that is at the heart of the controversy over how the U.S. treats terrorism suspects.
Keme Nzerem gives us a glimpse behind the barbed wire at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Here's part one of his report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our troops can take great pride in the work they do at Guantanamo Bay, and so can the American people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guantanamo Bay has come to stand now for an island with no laws.
KEME NZEREM, REPORTER, CHANNEL 4 (voice over): Another dawn in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For the 460 prisoners here captured after 9/11, another ordinary day. This is what the U.S. government wants the world to see: clean, calm, complicit detainees. Channel 4 News only allowed to film here under constant supervision.
For the detainees' safety, no faces. For camp security, no guard towers without guards. No radar dishes, nothing to reveal the lay of the land. All our pictures checked and approved.
Gitmo's mission: to detain, interrogate and try enemy combatants. Its reputation among many lawyers a legal black hole.
REAR ADM. HARRY HARRIS, COMMANDER, JOINT TASK FORCE, GUANTANAMO BAY: I don't question the mission at all. I believe firmly in the mission and the rightness of the mission. I believe that we're the most transparent detention facility in the world. Bar none. And so when people say we are a gulag, I find that preposterous.
NZEREM: This is Camp 5. It's home to 70 of Guantanamo's least complicit detainees and enemy combatants with high intelligence value.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can walk around, exercise, use different equipment. And the only things that we do not allow them to do, like pull-ups or exercises off of the fencing.
NZEREM: And now it's home to 14 of America's most wanted. While we were filming these pictures, the very architects of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, quietly being flown in from secret CIA prisons overseas.
Earlier this summer the president called for Gitmo's closure. But now giving it urgent new purpose. Just days before the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Bush looking the families of World Trade Center victims in the eye to tell them that at last he wants to charge the men that planned the murder of their relatives, the men that started the global war on terror.
BUSH: As soon as Congress acts to authorize the military commissions I have proposed, the man our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans on September the 11th, 2001 can face justice.
NZEREM: Words carefully timed to persuade Americans they are beating al Qaeda. First, Congress must approve new trials called military commissions to replace the ones the Supreme Court says broke the Geneva Convention. But Channel 4 news has learned that Pentagon lawyers appointed to defend detainees are on the verge of mutiny, seeking independent legal advice because the new system, just like the old, breaks their ethical codes.
MAJ. TOM FLEENER, DEFENSE LAWYER, GUANTANAMO BAY MILITARY COMMISSIONS: My government didn't have -- they forced attorneys on people. And so I was there because they were making me. I believe I was there to be a fig leaf.
NZEREM: The new commissions will controversially accept the use of both secret and hearsay evidence.
FLEENER: If I'm going to be forced to represent a guy against his will, I want a court to tell me I'm going to represent a guy against his will.
NZEREM (on camera): How far are you prepared to take this? Would you go so far as to sue them?
FLEENER: Yes, I would go as far -- I would go as far as to do whatever I need to do to get the issue before a neutral judge or party to decide what role lawyers are to take.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, U.S. officials at Guantanamo Bay say they are still even years later getting valuable information from many of the detainees incarcerated there. Later this hour, we'll hear from them in part two of our report from Keme Nzerem -- Jim.
CLANCY: Now, the White House says President Bush's meeting with House Republicans was a chance for him to air questions and concerns over his terror legislation. But that session wasn't for the cameras. They met in a basement conference room to talk about two bills now pending.
One would redefine the U.S. interpretation of the Geneva Conventions to allow tougher interrogation of detainees. Now, the other bill would give congressional approval to the administration's practice of wiretapping without a court warrant.
President Bush spoke to reporters after the brief meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I just had a great visit with House members, House Republican members. Again, talked about a lot of issues and answered questions.
I thanked them for the House Armed Services Committee passing a very important piece of legislation in a bipartisan fashion that will give us the tools and wherewithal to protect this country. I reminded them that the most important job of government is to protect the homeland. And yesterday they advanced an important piece of legislation to do just that.
I'll continue to work with members of the Congress to get good legislation so we can do our duty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: All right. Well the political climate may be a bit different on the other side of Capitol Hill. The House very supportive of the president, but some members of the president's own party in the Senate are putting up a fight over his plan to try terror suspects held in Guantanamo Bay.
There at the battleground looking on, Andrea Koppel joins us from the Senate building -- Andrea.
Jim, this story is taking twists and turns every hour. Just now, the Senate Armed Services Committee was meeting. This is the forum where three Republican senators, very powerful senators, were blocking the president's legislation and were really going to just go through the motion of getting the committee's approval for an alternate bill in direct opposition to what the president wanted.
But just a few moments ago, there was a parliamentary maneuver that took place that was raised by an anonymous senator which basically ended the committee's business for the day. And so right now, that meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee is stalled. One senator who left the meeting said it was an act of cowardice.
At issue here, Jim, is a couple of the key parts of President Bush's legislation that would keep intelligence from a defendant, from a detainee. And it would be provided to the jury.
Another key part has to do with defining war crimes, defining what's known as the Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. President Bush wants to amend it. John Warner, John McCain, Lindsey Graham are blocking that -- Jim.
CLANCY: Now, these senators are credible, they are supporters of the war on terror. And they are also getting some added firepower from another source today, I understand.
KOPPEL: Absolutely. A man best known to -- in the United States and around the world as former secretary of state Colin Powell, who also was the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, four-star general retired. Wrote a letter to John McCain in support of what he, Warner and Graham are trying to do.
In the letter, he said, "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to these doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."
The Bush administration saying they need these tools, they have to have these tools in order to extract information from suspected terrorists to foil future plots and also to protect the intelligence officers, the military officers who are doing the interrogating. That is what John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham are trying to block -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right. Andrea Koppel reporting to us there live from the Senate building.
Andrea, thank you.
GORANI: Now to Iraq. A surprising exchange at the trial of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.
While much of the world holds the former Iraqi president up as the consummate dictator, the presiding judge apparently does not. Judge Abdullah al-Amiri made this remark in an exchange with Hussein in court on Thursday. A day earlier, the prosecution asked him to step down from the trial because it alleged he was biased, in favor of the defendant.
This exchange will do little to change their opinion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM HUSSEIN, FMR. IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): Why did he speak to meet Saddam Hussein, given, according to him, Saddam Hussein was a dictator against the Kurds?
ABDULLAH AL-AMIRI, CHIEF JUDGE OF HUSSEIN TRIAL (through translator): You are not a dictator. Not a dictator.
HUSSEIN (through translator): At any rate, I thank you. It is the people around a person that makes a dictator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Hussein and his co-defendants stand accused of genocide stemming from an offensive against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s.
CLANCY: Well, turning now to some terrible news that broke out of Canada yesterday. A Web site is hopefully going to provide some clues as to why a man went on a shooting rampage at a Montreal college leaving one person dead, 19 others wounded. Two of them very critically.
The man identified as the gunman published an online gallery with more than 50 photos of himself holding a rifle and other weapons. He also made a number of chilling postings on that Web in which he spoke of a love of guns and hatred of people.
Allan Chernoff has more now on the attack from Montreal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A scene of panic and terror after a gunman opens fire at Dawson College in the center of Montreal. Students pour out in a frenzied stamped to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some guy came in the cafeteria out of nowhere and started shooting. Shot like three or four shots. Everybody got down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw one man go down. He was shot either in the head or the neck because he was a lot, a lot of blood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he shot the people right next to us. So we were all running. We were hiding in the bushes. And there was debris flying from the bullet shots right next to us.
CHERNOFF: Emergency personnel wheeled stretchers to ambulances. Police sealed off the campus. In the confusion, it was thought there was more than one shooter, but police say they killed the lone gunman, described as wearing a black trench coat and having a Mohawk haircut.
CHIEF YVAN DELORME, MONTREAL POLICE: The first policeman took charge of the situation and shot in the dark (ph) kind of the suspect and he died. The suspect died.
CHERNOFF: The college is closed for now after a horror reminiscent of scenes played out in American high schools.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the Canadian version of Columbine.
CHERNOFF: A dozen students and a teacher died in that Colorado tragedy after two students went on a shooting rampage and then committed suicide. Yesterday was not the first time Montreal has seen such terror. Nearly 17 years ago, 14 female students were killed at another school and 13 others were wounded before the gunman killed himself.
RICHARD FILION, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DAWSON COLLEGE: We are never expecting such a situation. Dawson is a very tight community and it's very sad for Dawson. It has been a very long day for all of us.
CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, Montreal
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: All right. We've got some news coming in right now breaking in London, where Scotland Yard is confirming to CNN that its antiterrorist squad, an explosives unit, is in action right now.
GORANI: All right. Apparently explosive experts have taken away several bags off of the M-40, which is a main motorway outside of London there. We don't really have any information exactly as to whether or not this is relation to the foiled terror plot, but it's in the same area where other searches were conducted -- Jim.
CLANCY: That's right. Last night, according to some of the wire services, last night young people in that area reported to police finding some of these bags, or from substances that were there. And the police are now believed to be taking those away.
Again, what's inside the bags, we don't know. Is it related to the investigation and to the plot to use liquid chemicals aboard airliners? We're not sure.
GORANI: All right. We know very little at this stage, but we'll keep following this story, of course, here on CNN.
CLANCY: Right. Minute by minute we'll keep you updated.
We're gong to take a short break here. We'll be right back.
GORANI: Stay with us.
(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 a few minutes. But first, stories making headlines here in the United States.
The president says he needs more power to wage the war on terror. And he went to Capitol Hill today to make his case.
The president met with House Republicans. He's pushing for legislation that would allow tougher interrogation of detainees. Critics say they're concerned because it would redefine U.S. compliance with part of the Geneva Conventions. The president says he reminded lawmakers that protecting the country is the government's most important job.
It is back to school today, finally, in Detroit. One hundred thirty thousand public school students returned to the classroom. Their summer break was extended by 16 days because of a teachers' strike.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers voted yesterday to return to work. Union leaders and district officials have reached a tentative deal on a new contract. It calls for a 1 percent pay hike next year, 2.5 percent in 2008. It may not sound like much, but it's a better deal than the 5.5 percent pay cut they were facing.
Mother Nature may come to the aid of firefighters in California. They are battling a blaze that has already charred more than 40 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest.
A forestry officials say cooler, drier weather is coming at the perfect time. Flames have marched within a mile of a mobile home park. There's apparently no immediate danger though. The fire is now about 30 percent contained.
The news is not so good in Montana. A wildfire southeast of Livingston doubling in size. Twenty-nine square miles have already burned. Evacuation orders now cover more than 300 homes in Park and Sweet Grass counties.
A second wildfire in the state has burned about 2,000 acres in the Scapegoat Wilderness area. About 50 homes there are being evacuated, along with a couple of resorts.
Let's get a check of weather now. Reynolds Wolf in the weather center.
Hi, Reynolds. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Tony.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: OK, Reynolds.
And we're just moments away from getting pictures we have been waiting for throughout the day. The president meeting with South Korea's president, Roh. The two leaders talking about the best approach to getting North Korea back to six-party talks. But, in what you're about to see, the president takes a question from reporters about Colin Powell joining forces with those who are against the idea of amending the Geneva Conventions so that terror suspects can face tougher interrogations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: He said that he (ph) had great doubts about the moral basis for the U.S. fighting terrorists (INAUDIBLE).
BUSH: We have proposed legislation that will enable the Central Intelligence Agency to be able to conduct a -- a program to get information from high-value detainees in a lawful way. And that -- that idea was approved yesterday by a House committee in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion.
It is very important for the American people to understand that in order to protect this country, we must be able to interrogate people who have information about future attacks. So the question I ask about any piece of legislation is, will the program provide legal clarity so that our professionals will feel comfortable about going forward with the program?
That's what I'm going to ask. And I will resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity. And there's all kinds of letters coming out.
And today, by the way, active duty personnel in the Pentagon, the JAG, supported the concept that I have just outlined to you. This is an important program for the security of this country. And we want to work with Congress to make sure that the program can go forward.
If there's not clarity, if there's ambiguity, if there's any doubt in our professionals' minds that they can conduct their operation in a legal way, with support of the Congress, the program won't go forward and the American people will be endangered.
Mr. President?
QUESTION: (SPEAKING IN KOREAN)
BUSH: Sir, I'll interpret the question for you.
(LAUGHTER)
How come you look so beautiful in your blue tie, Mr. President? (LAUGHTER)
No.
He asked about operational control and the date -- the appropriate date, of operational control.
My message to the Korean people is that the United States is committed to the security of the Korean Peninsula.
Decisions about the placement of our troops and the size of our troops will be made in consultation with the South Korean government.
We will work in a consultative way at the appropriate level of government to come up with an appropriate date.
I agree with the president that the issue should not become a political issue.
I have talked to our secretary of defense about making sure that the issue is done in a consultative way and at the appropriate level of government. And that's how we will end up deciding the appropriate transfer of operational authority.
That answer your question?
QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, that was a very good answer. Thank you, Mr. President.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: I hope everybody else agreed with it.
ROH MOO-HYUN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): For the question about the common and broad approach being talked about this in our two countries for the restart of the six-party talks, I must tell you that we are, at the working level, consulting very closely on this issue. But we have not yet reached a conclusion.
And this issue is very complex. And I would be hesitant and it would be difficult for me to answer the question at the moment.
The important thing to remember: that South Korea now faces the issue of North Korean nuclear issue. And this, I would say, is one important issue that we're facing.
On the other hand, the United States has a host of other issues to deal with: the Iran-Lebanon crisis, the war in Iraq.
So what is important to remember is that the fact that we are consulting closely on the North Korean nuclear issue and we're consulting on ways to restart the six-party process. And I believe this is the important point.
This is, in fact, very meaningful, that the United States is devoting much of its efforts to resolving the North Korean issue. This is very significant for the Korean government.
QUESTION: Mr. President, North Korea has refused to engage in the six-party talks for nearly a year. What's the incentive to get them back to the table?
BUSH: I appreciate that.
First and foremost, the incentive is for Kim Jong Il to understand there is a better way to improve the lives of his people than being isolated; that stability in the region is in his interests -- the ultimate interests for the people of Korea to be able to benefit and for families to be able to have food on table.
His refusal to come back to the six-party talks has really strengthened an alliance of five nations who are determined to solve this issue peacefully but recognize a threat posed by a country in the region armed with a nuclear weapon.
If he were to verifiably get rid of his weapons programs, there is clearly a better way forward. And that is the message we've been sending to the North Korean government through the six-party talks.
Final question?
You want to call on somebody?
QUESTION: (SPEAKING IN KOREAN)
ROH (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): As for your question that there is a concern in Korea that the United States will take further sanctions against North Korea and whether this will jeopardize the chance of a successful six-party process, my answer is that we are working very hard on restarting the six-party talks.
That is what the president and I have discussed this morning. And this is not the appropriate time to think about the possibility of a failure of the six-party process. So this is my answer.
And my government has taken certain measures. And although, because we do not want to hurt the inter- Korean relations, we do not label these measures as sanctions, we are, in fact, taking measures tantamount to sanctions after the North Korean missile launches. This is we have suspended rice and fertilizer aid to North Korea. And this is in a practice similar to sanctions in its effect.
And we are, in fact -- this measure of suspension of aid to North Korea I believe is in line with the implementation of the U.N. Security resolution on North Korea.
And as for other sanctions you have mentioned by the United States, these are being done in line with the U.S. law enforcement. And so we would not delve into this at this time.
BUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
HARRIS: And there you have it, some moments from President Bush and South Korea's President Roh from earlier today. First you heard the president taking a question about a letter from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in opposition to the administration's plan to amend the Geneva Conventions so that terror suspects can face tougher investigations.
And then there was a conversation that we got a bit of, a flavor of a conversation the two leaders had about getting back to the negotiating table for six-party talks or North Korea's nuclear program.
We will take a break. More of this at the top of the hour in the "NEWSROOM."
More of YOUR WORLD TODAY after a quick break. I'm Tony Harris.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back.
U.S. President George bush facing a tough audience as he asked a divided House Republicans to support more powers to spy on, imprison and interrogate terror suspects. But a short time ago, the president defended in a White House photo-op opportunity. Even some prominent Republicans, though, are balking at some of the rules the president wants for trials of foreign detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.
CLANCY: A little bit earlier on our program, we gave you a rare glimpse inside a U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
We want to return there for the second part of Kemem Nzerem's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NZEREM (voice-over): Camp X-Ray. Now disused and overgrown, where the first detainees arrived from Afghanistan a few months into the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where the interrogations, or interviews, were held.
NZEREM: Lawyers say regular courts-martial, not the illegal military commissions, should have been set up right from the start. And enemy combatants separated from innocents. Over 300 have since been released or transferred. But instead, these old images continue to define Guantanamo.
Over 100 currently awaiting transfer, but the U.S. can't find anywhere willing to take them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he is. There is. Coming out.
NZEREM: Meanwhile, interrogations continue. Three-quarters of the population no longer questioned, yet actionable intelligence apparently still flowing. REAR ADM. HARRY HARRIS, COMMANDER, JOINT TASK FORCE, GUANTANAMO BAY: In many cases, the value of time is the only weapon we have against the detainees. And so you would be surprised that after four years some detainees say, I'm going to tell you more stuff. And the information that we have gotten, I believe, is of tactical relevance to the fighter on the ground, the soldier and the Marine on the ground, in Afghanistan and Iraq today.
NZEREM: And on the ground here with 9/11 foremost in America's mind, the mission taking on new purpose.
(on camera): The U.S. government says it wants to bring all operations here in Guantanamo Bay into line with the Geneva Conventions. But as for the idea that the prison itself may soon close, well, it couldn't be farther from the truth. Because this here is Camp Six, brand new, $110 million' worth of new cells and interrogation facilities.
Camp Six was to open months ago. But engineers redesigned increasing security after violence and deaths in Camp One. Detainees learned how to fashion taps as weapons. These cells, too, now being rebuilt. Guards nervous after an ambush in May, the floors slicked with excrement.
SENIOR CHIEF MACKEAN, GUANTANAMO BAY GUARD: I've had urine thrown on me, feces thrown on me. It's -- it's just part of the job.
NZEREM (on camera): How often does a violent event happen here?
MACKEAN: A detainee is normally -- or a guard is normally assaulted at least once a week.
NZEREM (voice-over): Lawyers claim a different story, one telling Channel 4 news that since three detainees committed suicide in June, the regime has responded with increased violence and harassment, believing many a seasoned terrorist, from al Qaeda financiers to foot soldiers, will attack at any opportunity.
HARRIS: We have detainees here who have sworn to kill Americans if they ever get out of here.
NZEREM (on camera): How many of them have been caught again fighting for the other side?
HARRIS: We're suggesting that over 20 and maybe as high as 50 have gone back to the fight.
"JAMES," GUANTANAMO BAY SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER: Through the window is our nursing station.
NZEREM (voice-over): Our itinerary carefully managed, we're shown the full service hospital and whisked passed the feeding chair used for the detainees currently on hunger strike, restrained while they're fed through tubes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our goal here is to preserve life. What we do is in someone whose physical health and life is in danger because of the degree of their hunger strike, we will provide nutritional support.
NZEREM: Twelve hundred prescriptions are processed each month, many for detainees suffering mental health problems; one independent study claiming the government is withholding the number of attempted suicides by calling them something else, euphemisms such as "hanging gestures." There's been around 40 official suicide attempts since Gitmo opened, some fear many more.
"DR. K," GUANTANAMO BAY PSYCHOLOGIST; A suicide attempt is a suicide attempt. We certainly don't mince those words. It's a detention facility. It's not, you know, a happy, wonderful place. But the people here are not, you know -- they're not all depressed and they're not all sick the way, you know, I think we've all been led to believe.
NZEREM: While interview rooms are on the tour...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, I have two cameras...
NZEREM: ... detainees shackled to the floor whenever they leave their cells, intelligence and interrogation agents not available for interview. Guards, however, free to speak, their mood one of utter conviction.
PETTY OFFICER KENNEDY-TURNER, GUANTANAMO BAY GUARD: Freedom of speech and everything, that's what we're defending. We're not going to all agree, but the majority is definitely for the mission.
NZEREM (on camera): Those that don't, what do they say?
KENNEDY-TURNER: We don't really listen to the ones that don't support the mission.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to focus every day on this job. And the political side of the house, I'll leave it to the upper chain of command.
NZEREM: There are things you'd rather not think about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly. So, just here doing my job, doing the best I can.
NZEREM (voice-over): The focus now on the prison's latest arrivals, the first new detainees since 2004. But Gitmo's legal system still discredited as designed on the fly, without regard to international law or human rights.
MAJOR TOM FLEENER, DEFENSE LAWYER, GUANTANAMO BAY MILITARY COMMISSIONS: The concept to protect America and gather intelligence was a good concept. It was a good idea. Guantanamo Bay right now is a bad idea. It should be closed.
NZEREM (on camera): So how long do you think the facility will be open for? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I don't know. Until the president says to close it.
NZEREM (voice-over): If the president gets his way, 75 of Guantanamo's detainees will be tried in commissions, now some five years after their long war began.
But, 400 or so others are still in legal limbo, their lawyers urging the government to either charge them or set them free.
Keme Nzerem, Channel 4 News, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Now to Afghanistan as the battle against the Taliban rages on. Poland now says it will send some 1,000 troops to boost NATO contingence there. Anderson Cooper was embedded with U.S. troops who say they're surprised by the intensity of the fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAPT. JASON DYE, U.S. ARMY: All the fighting's back in the mountains.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain Jason Dye (ph) has served in Iraq, but says his mission in Afghanistan is far more dangerous.
DYE: Even before I came here, I was like, thank god I'm going to Afghanistan, it's going to be safer than Iraq. And now that I've gotten here, I can say for sure it is exactly the opposite of what I thought. It is dangerous here. There's a lot of stuff going on.
COOPER: Dye commands Bravo Company, Third Brigade of the Tenth Mountain Division. His base is dangerously close to the Pakistan border.
DYE: This is one of the main infiltration routes of the enemy. You know, they have begun to do a lot more rocket attacks. We used to get a rocket attack maybe once a week. Now it's every other day, every couple of days, every day. And they've resorted to that and IEDs and mines.
COOPER: Captain Dye doesn't know for sure, but he believes Taliban militants are learning how to make IEDs from foreign fighters trained in Iraq.
DYE: There's a trainer coming out here, telling them how to do stuff. That's what my intelligence tells me
COOPER: To stop jihadists and the Taliban from crossing into Afghanistan, Captain Dye and his men routinely patrol the rugged mountains along the border.
COOPER (on camera): The unit has just received some intelligence, and we can't tell you how they received it, but it indicates there may be fighters in this area. It could mean an ambush. It could be just talk and could be nothing at all. It just means the soldiers will have to be extra vigilant as they head back down the mountain.
What do you look for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Movement, personnel, anybody gathering in a spot that looks odd. People trying to hide in the tree line, that sort of thing. Spotters. Usually locals don't go up into these hills if you see someone sitting on them, that's a spotter.
COOPER (voice-over) On this patrol, however, there are no spotters. No ambush after all. Captain Dye and his men head safely back to base. One mission down, countless more to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a family. All these guys have families. We are out here fighting so that we don't have to do this at home, so that our families can stay safe. And that makes you feel good. Make you feel like you are doing something.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Anderson Cooper there reporting from Afghanistan.
CLANCY: All right. We are going to take a short break here. There's more to come, though, on YOUR WORLD TODAY. We are going to look at another story, this time in Germany where the Jewish communities coming together.
GORANI: All right. So they are celebrating apparently. We'll show you a ceremony that hasn't been seen there in Germany in decades when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: It is a milestone in a country still grappling, still living in a shadow because of the Holocaust.
GORANI: Now, for the first time since World War II, Germany has ordained rabbis. Three men were handed certificates at Dresden's new synagogue. People from Jewish communities across Europe, as well as Israel, attended the ceremony. The college president seeks the ordination as a symbol of rebirth for Judaism in Germany.
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WALTER JACOB, ABRAHAM GEIGER COLLEGE (through translator): Today, we have a new beginning, a beginning with a school and our first rabbis. We thank God for this. For me, this is something personal. My father, Rabbi Ernst (ph) Jacob, and my mother and my brother never, ever thought that a new German Jewish life would begin to exist.
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CLANCY: Germany's Jewish community now numbers only some 100,000 members. That is up from just 10,000 to 15,000 in 1945.
GORANI: All right. Well, that is it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and this is CNN.
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