Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Death Sentence of British Man Commuted; Impact Mass Kidnapping is Having on Iraqi Students; Iranian Scientists Breaking New Ground

Aired November 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: Spared. A British man who spent half of his life on death row in Pakistan is given a reprieve.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Should Catholic priests marry? The pope summons his cardinals to reexamine the ancient practice of celibacy.

GORANI: And running water. It's something we take for granted in most parts of the world. But for many, there is no easy access to clean water.

HOLMES: And 12 years after his celebrity trial of the century divided America, O.J. Simpson creating another uproar, revealing how he would have done it, if he did.

Hello, everyone. It's 10:00 p.m. in Pakistan, 9:00 a.m. in Los Angeles.

Welcome to our report broadcast right around the globe. I'm Michael Holmes.

GORANI: And I'm Hala Gorani.

From Lahore, Pakistan, to the Vatican, Iraq's Anbar Province to the streets of Los Angeles, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

HOLMES: Well, he has been behind bars in Pakistan for years, sentenced to death for a murder he says he did not commit.

GORANI: Now president Pervez Musharraf has decided to spare the life of Mirza Tahir Hussain, a British man who was just a teenager when he was sent to prison.

HENRY: Yes. As Paula Newton now reports, critics in Pakistan say the president is caving in to international pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sheer relief for a family who say they've been waiting 18 years for justice.

AMJAD HUSSAIN, MIRZA HUSSAIN'S BROTHER: It's emotional in a way as well for me, and that -- you know, at least (INAUDIBLE) lost 18 years has been hard for the family. NEWTON: Amjad Hussain's brother has spent his entire adult life in prison in Pakistan.

HUSSAIN: Well, at times, a bit desperate. And, you know, the situation was dire. And he knew that he hasn't done it. And he served his time and has suffered beyond belief.

NEWTON: The story of Briton Mirza Tahir Hussain is a cautionary one. In 1988, as a teenager, he traveled to Pakistan and claimed a taxi driver tried to sexually assault him. As they struggled, a gun went off and the taxi driver, Jamshed Khan, was killed. Hussain then found himself at the mercy of Pakistani justice.

CATHERINE WOLTHUIZEN, FAIR TRIALS ABROAD: He was an 18-year-old. It was the first day he was in Pakistan. But he was subsequently acquitted of having committed murder. He was deemed to have acted in self-defense. But before he could be let out of prison and returned home to his family, he was recharged under Sharia law, and his ordeal continued.

NEWTON: Hussain was sentenced to death in 1998, and then his family mounted an exhaustive international campaign to have him released, retried or be granted a reprieve.

Even the prince of Wales weighed in when he visited Pakistan last month. And the palace says Prince Charles is now very pleased Hussain has been spared the death penalty.

MARGARET BECKETT, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: I think the thing that is really commendable is the great number of people who have been engaged for a very considerable period of time in trying to help.

NEWTON: But the decision was ultimately up to Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, who has now spent significant political capital on this, risking criticism in his own country. The victim's family says the president is compromising Pakistani law to serve foreign masters.

But those who led the campaign to save Hussain's life say justice has been served.

GREG MULHOLLAND, BRITISH LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MP: It's a courageous decision by President Musharraf. But he's finally done it. He's righted the wrongs, and we hope that this matter is almost now at a positive conclusion.

NEWTON: That positive conclusion would be for Hussain to finally be allowed to come home to his family in Leeds, England, where he left as a teenager some 18 years ago.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right. Now the latest from Iraq. Two days after that mass kidnapping in Baghdad, Iraq's Ministry for Higher Education tells CNN some of the people who were abducted were tortured. The ministry says it got that information from some of the freed hostages.

Now, uncertainty and mystery, really, has clouded the kidnappings from the start, from how many were abducted, to how many were freed, and who is responsible. Now the incident itself is sewing fear among students.

Arwa Damon has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice over): For many of these students, any future is a dream. Each day a nightmare.

Fifty thousand students are officially enrolled in Baghdad University, but you couldn't tell it from looking at the campus. Even more deserted the day after a mass kidnapping at Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education.

MAHA NIDAL, COLLEGE STUDENT (through translator): If the ministry had someone kidnapped from it, how can we feel secure? Here at the university, there is not much security. If any militia wanted to come, we could be kidnapped easily.

DAMON: On campus, we met biology student Maha Nidal and her cousin. They were among the brave ones showing up. They fear their studies could be a casualty.

NIDAL (through translator): How do you know that a future of a country, any country, not necessarily Iraq, has been destroyed? It's when there is no justice, no security, and no education. If you reach the stage of no studies and no education, and when you lose that, that's it. The people are finished, there is no future.

DAMON (on camera): Students here estimate that on a good day, 40 percent of their classmates will show up at university. But they say more often than not, their professors aren't here to teach.

(voice over): Lectures have come to a near standstill. These students are lucky enough to have their biology class in session, though the professor did not want to be photographed and stepped out of the room. Most of the senior professors here already fled or were killed.

NIDAL (through translator): Rad Mala (ph), the head of our department, was killed last year. Gunmen came to his house and killed him. It was very hard for us. He was like one of the students. He kept us strong.

DAMON: Maha Nidal says extremist elements want to divide Iraqi society and drive out secular, moderate thought.

NIDAL (through translator): This is what they want, the gunmen, the terrorists. Any force right now with its hands in destruction wants this, no education, no learning, no future. They want ignorance to rule so they can have control.

DAMON: Deserted hallways, testimony to the fear that has already driven many away.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Now a new move by the Pentagon to bolster a deteriorating security situation in Iraq. The top U.S. general for the Middle East is ordering 2,200 Marines now stationed on ships into Iraq's troubled Anbar Province. It's hoped the extra combat power will make a difference in the volatile western province, which is largely Sunni. The move was announced by General John Abizaid -- Michael.

HOLMES: The White House, of course, under increasing pressure to engage with Iran and Syria to help stabilize the situation in Iraq. Earlier in the week, President George W. Bush said direct dialogue with Iran wouldn't happen until it suspended uranium enrichment, something it has refused to do, saying it is doing nothing wrong. But the U.S. coordinator for Iraq now say talks may not be out of the question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SATTERFIELD, U.S. COORDINATOR FOR IRAQ: We are prepared in principle for a direct dialogue with Iran. The timing of that dialogue is one that we are considering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Iran's top nuclear negotiator is urging the U.S. to clear up the mixed messages. Here's what he said: "Statements from their side are not very clear. And what is important is that they say clearly what it is they want."

GORANI: Well, Iran is pursuing nuclear technology at what some experts say is a breakneck pace. As Aneesh Raman explains, Iranian scientists are also in the forefront of another kind of controversial research.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Booming throughout the capital, throughout the day, the call to prayer is a religious pulse for this theocratic state, where women must cover their heads at all times, where a supreme leader has final say on all decisions.

(on camera): Which is why it might come as a surprise that tucked away on this nondescript Tehran street, behind these unmarked gates, lies one of the region's most advance centers for stem cell research. (voice over): The science here is cutting edge, because strange as it may seem, Iran has some of the world's most liberal laws on stem cell research. This institute works freely with human embryonic stem cells left over from fertilization trials.

And they are also cloning animals. The first attempt with this sheep failed, but a few months ago this one was born and is still alive. It's still a claim, but one scientists says they are eager to have foreign observers confirm.

And from government centers to private hospitals, scientists here speak with words those in the West would envy.

DR. BEHROOZ NIKBEEN, TEHRAN UNIVERSITY: He's quite open. And we can do our work very easily. We don't have any restriction, any problem.

RAMAN: Largely because Iran's clerics say life begins three months after conception, allowing scientists to work with human embryonic stem cells, and because Iran's leaders want science, which they say define an ancient past to define the future.

DR. HOSSEIN BAHARVAND, ROYAN INSTITUTE: The scientists now would like to go back to this era (ph) for this matter. The young scientist has good excitement.

RAMAN: Among the people eager for hope, science is breeding newfound pride. And when it comes to Iran's nuclear program, the fact that Iranian scientists themselves enriched uranium is critical to why people and politicians alike remain so defiant, and why in all aspects of science Iran is pushing ahead without pause.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Important developments in U.S. politics today for both the near and the far term.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have unanimously decided on their leader for the next Congress in January. And as expected, it is Nancy Pelosi. She has also been their leader while they've been in the minority. Now she'll be the first woman in the top spot in the House.

And Senator John McCain of Arizona edging closer to a run for president. He's filing initial papers and giving back-to-back speeches to conservative groups.

GORANI: Well, President George Bush assured Asian allies that U.S. global trade policies will not change following the shakeup in the midterm elections. The president spoke in Singapore on his way to this weekend's economic summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Elaine Quijano reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush wants to strike a confident note on his first overseas trip since his Republican Party lost control of Congress. A playful moment at a museum in Singapore was a prelude to a more serious overture as the president tried to convey to his counterparts in the Far East he hasn't lost his influence or resolve.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people of this region will have a partner in the American government and a friend in the American people.

QUIJANO: In a speech at the National University of Singapore, the president outlined familiar themes: democracy, free trade and global cooperation on proliferation and counterterrorism. But he also aimed part of his message squarely at anti-war, anti-free trade Democrats back home.

BUSH: We hear voices calling for us to retreat from the world and close our doors to its opportunities. These are the old temptations of isolationism and protectionism. And America must reject them.

QUIJANO (on camera): The president's speech here in Singapore was meant to set the tone ahead of his annual economic meeting with the leaders of 21 Pacific Rim nations.

(voice over): That meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum takes place this weekend in Hanoi. Already, though, a setback for President Bush and a disappointment for his Vietnamese hosts. The initiative the president called a priority did not happen as he planned after the House failed to approve permanent normalized trade relations with Vietnam.

MICHAEL GREEN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The notion that the leader of the country can't convince his Congress to pass trade legislation is very hard for the Vietnamese leadership to fathom.

QUIJANO: Also on the president's agenda, North Korea's nuclear weapons program. On the sidelines of the APEC summit, President Bush is set to meet with the leaders of Russia, China, Japan and South Korea, parties to the stalled six-nation talks.

BUSH: The only way for North Korea to move forward for the good of their people is to abandon its nuclear weapons programs and rejoin the international community.

QUIJANO: It's a familiar refrain, tough rhetoric from a president trying to walk a delicate line, maintaining a strong stance abroad while dealing with weakened political capital at home.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, with the president in Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right. Other news around the world.

It's back to court for a Moroccan man who was friends with a September 11th hijacker.

HOLMES: Yes. The case of Monia al-Montasatic (ph) tops our check of other stories making news around the world. Here we go.

Germany's highest appeals court found Montasatic (ph) guilty of being an accessory to murder and ordered him to return to court for the third time to receive a new sentence. It overturned a lower court's decision that had sentenced him to seven years in prison.

Montasatic (ph) could now face a 15-year sentence.

GORANI: In Congo, Joseph Kabila has emerged victorious in a bitterly-fought runoff for the presidency, with 58 percent of the vote. His supporters, you see it there, celebrating, but the rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, says he doesn't accept the results, saying it does not reflect the truth of the ballot.

HOLMES: A tornado in the U.S. state of North Carolina has killed at least five people. The dead were all residents of the same mobile home park. Authorities say the powerful storm also demolished houses and threw others off their foundations.

GORANI: A short break.

When we come back, it's one of the Vatican's most stringent requirements for clergy.

HOLMES: Calls are growing for it to be scrapped. Now the Vatican is holding a rare summit on celibacy to discuss how to handle clergymen who defy it.

GORANI: And outrage in the U.S. over a book that critics say commercializes a criminal act. A former football star acquitted of murder now floats the idea, if I'd done it.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Welcome back, everyone.

I'm Michael Holmes.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, where we bring CNN's viewers around the globe the most important international news stories of the day. And one of those news stories is happening at the Vatican.

Well, the Vatican says it has reaffirmed the importance of celibacy for Roman Catholic priests. Pope Benedict met with his top deputies Thursday for a summit that was spurred by a married African archbishop. The Vatican says the policy of celibacy itself was never up for discussion today, but, rather, it wanted to consider the implications of "disobedience."

Zambian archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was excommunicated in September when he ordained four married men as bishops. But he's continuing his campaign to change Vatican policy -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Let's get a little bit more now on this controversy from Delia Gallagher, who's covered the Vatican for many years. She joins us from New York.

Good to see you, Delia.

Tell me this: the end result of this meeting, just sum it up for us. What actually came out of it?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think this is very interesting, Michael, because a lot of people were wondering, what is this meeting all about? Because nobody expected Pope Benedict to actually come out and change any of the rules on celibacy. And so I think what you have here -- this was a three-hour closed-door meeting and a very short statement from the Vatican afterwards which Hala just read, sort of saying, we -- we reaffirm our commitment to the fact of priestly celibacy and to the formation of seminarians and priests in that tradition.

So, I think that this is Pope Benedict sort of stopping -- nipping problems in the bud, as it were, because you have Archbishop Milingo, who has been going on for some years now, you have -- now he's in charge of a movement of married priests and so on. And I think this is the pope coming very quickly on to these topics when they are raised and trying to get to his advisers and say, let's deal with this immediately. We all know what the teaching is, but let's reaffirm it.

It seems to me that's what's happening here at the Vatican.

HOLMES: Talk to me about the relevancy and how it's seen at the Vatican, of course, of celibacy for priests in the modern age. Why it is so important in the Church?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think this is one of those issues where the Catholic Church meets the modern world and they can't see eye to eye. One doesn't understand the other.

And, of course, it's a long tradition in the Catholic Church. The pope has said himself when he was cardinal that it's one of those questions that should be looked at from time to time, but that the uncoupling of the two -- i.e. celibacy and priesthood -- doesn't represent -- there might be more to lose than to gain from it because it's part of what they understand a priest to be about -- i.e. the representative of the person of Jesus.

It's a vocation they consider something which is a sacrament and in the same way that a married vocation is. So they wouldn't see that the two could actually work together.

But, of course, you have a modern culture which suggests that, you know, this should be allowed because priests need companionship and love and so on. So, it's one of those sticking points like a lot of the moral teachings of the Church which are quite hard for either side.

HOLMES: Yes, indeed. And, of course, there is a shortage of priests at the moment around the world. And this is probably having an impact on that.

But within the Church itself, is there is a specter of a schism?

GALLAGHER: Well, what essentially happens, as happened in the case of Archbishop Milingo, is they -- they get excommunicated. So, I mean, they do sort of leave -- they don't necessarily form their own church, they consider themselves still Catholics, but as far as the Vatican is concerned, if you're not in line with their teaching, you are effectively excommunicated.

And Archbishop Milingo, in fact, ordained four bishops in September, and that sort of led to this excommunication. So they do cause small schisms, but I don't think schisms in the great sense is possible because, of course, there are other churches, Protestant churches, which do allow married priests.

HOLMES: Yes, good point.

Delia, thanks very much.

Delia Gallagher, our Vatican expert -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, another issue the Catholic Church is dealing with, a ruling by the high court in Ireland. It said frozen embryos resulting from infertility treatment have no right to life. The case was brought by a woman who wanted to be implanted with her frozen embryos to have a child despite her estranged husband's objections.

But the judge ruled that the right to life of the unborn in the Irish constitution does not expend to embryos. The archbishop of Dublin says human life must be protected absolutely from the moment of conception.

HOLMES: Well, for more than a decade -- an extraordinary story, this -- O.J. Simpson insisted he did not commit the infamous double murders for which he was tried and then famously acquitted.

GORANI: Well, now, is he changing his story? At least he's selling a new one.

Still ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, Simpson writes a book that hypothetically explains how he would have committed the killings.

HOLMES: And later, scientists study the DNA of Neanderthals to learn more about ourselves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Heidi Collins at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first, we want to check stories making headlines in the United States.

Killer storms unleash deadly tornadoes. The South lashed with damaging winds and torrential rains. At least six people are dead. At least five in Riegelwood, North Carolina, where you see these pictures, just west of Wilmington. That number, though, could grow.

High winds shredded mobile homes and uprooted trees, knocked out power, and even split some brick homes in half. A North Carolina patrolman described the damage around this small community of Riegelwood as horrific.

For updates on this developing story you can check in at cnn.com/weather.

That's where we want to head right now. Reynolds Wolf standing by for the very latest.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And in Montgomery, Alabama, the picture of the day. That toddler one of more than 30 children who were huddled inside a collapsed skating rink. Montgomery, Alabama, savage winds turned the building into a pile of twisted metal. Two of the children were slightly injured, and the skating rink was also used as a daycare center.

Police in Detroit searching for two gunmen now. They're wanted for the shooting of five people in a series of attacks on the city's west side. Two of those people are dead.

The shooting spree first erupted around 6:00 a.m. and continued for about 10 minutes. No motives known. Police are hoping one of the survivors can identify the men.

A verdict in a Massachusetts murder trial. A jury has found Christopher McCowen guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of the Cape Cod fashion writer. Christa Worthington was found beaten and stabbed to death in her home in 2002 with her 2-year-old daughter clinging to her body.

McCowen worked as Worthington's trash collector. He was also convicted of rape and burglary.

The jury deadlocked for five days, was forced to start deliberations again on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Grief and anger turn into violence in an Ohio courtroom. A man accused of killing a woman and her three children was attacked by relatives of the victims.

Suspect Jason Howard was in court for a routine hearing on another case. After deputies pulled one the relative's of the victim off Howard, another began throwing punches. Both were arrested.

Howard denies fatally shooting the victim, strangling her daughter, and smothering her two sons. Authorities say the woman was Howard's girlfriend.

House Democrats make a decision and make history in the process. They've unanimously chosen Nancy Pelosi as speaker-elect. It becomes official when Democrats take control of the House in January.

And in a bruising fight to be Pelosi's number two, Representative Steny Hoyer has emerged as the winner. He beat out Representative John Murtha by a vote of 149 to 86 to be the majority leader. Hoyer has been Pelosi's top lieutenant for the past four years, but she came out publicly backed Murtha.

I want to show you this live picture now. This is the Cannon Office Building. We're waiting to hear from this new leadership of the Democratic majority party. And when we do, we will try and bring it to you just as soon as it happens.

Watching those microphones.

Meanwhile, a political maverick takes a step toward another presidential run. Arizona senator John McCain setting up an exploratory committee. He files paperwork today.

McCain was President Bush's top rival in the 2000 Republican primaries. The polls show the senator and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani leading the pack of possible GOP contenders.

Add another name to the list of possible Republican candidates. Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson says he is considering a run for the White House. Thompson served as Health and Human Services Secretary under President Bush. He is expected to form his exploratory committee after the first of the year. Lots of exploring.

I'm Heidi Collins. Thanks for watching. We will continue to follow Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer coming to the microphones to the Canon office building. You see the pictures live right there.

And just when you thought the white Bronco had ridden off into the sunset, O.J. Simpson, with a book with a book, with the title "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." What do you think, are you outraged or curious? Will you read the book? Send your e-mails to CNNnewsroom@CNN.com, and hear them when you join Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon at 1:00 Eastern in the NEWSROOM.

We want to get you back quickly to that live shot that we have been showing you, waiting for speaker elect Nancy Pelosi to come to the microphones. And we'll probably also be hearing from majority leader elect Steny Hoyer who sort of surprisingly, Dana Bash, who is standing by to talk about with us, sort of surprising, wouldn't you say, Dana, came to that position of majority leader elect?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's surprising, perhaps upsetting if you're the speaker elect, Nancy Pelosi, because she put a lot of effort and surprised a lot of people in trying to get his opponent John Murtha elected. And did not get very far. The vote was not even that close. It was 149-86.

But we have some information about what happened inside that room, behind closed doors. Nancy -- Steny Hoyer, I should say, got up, once he was elected and gave a speech, and he was very careful because of the frosty relationship between Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi, that's gotten a lot frostier because of this intense fight, he was careful to thank Nancy Pelosi, and in fact we're told that they even hugged after Steny Hoyer gave his speech. So certainly in talking to some Democrats around here, they say that Nancy Pelosi made a tactical error. Made a mistake in deciding -- really, a really unusual move for somebody at that level to get involved so deeply in the race for her No. 2, especially looking at what happened now, because she lost in the end. Steny Hoyer not the man she backed. John Murtha won.

However, immediately after that vote happened, even the people who are most concerned about this, they're trying use the 'u' word, unity, are trying to make this clear and make sure the Democrats are united in their new majority.

But there are some wounds here, especially because we're told that, you know, it's interesting, we have the first female, probably we'll have the first female speaker. But what we're hearing about is almost old school, frankly, old boy tactics, some of what we heard is incoming freshmen being sort of -- suggested to them that they could have certain committee assignments or not have certain committee assignments if they supported the speaker-to-be's pick for number two. And John Murtha saying that he's on the Appropriations Committee, very powerful, suggesting that he could help them get seats on the Appropriations Committee, so it's really old school, a lot of these leadership races here, Heidi.

Dana, what does it say, if anything, at this very early point about Nancy Pelosi's leadership?

BASH: Well, if you talk to Nancy Pelosi's supporters and allies, what they are trying to stress over and over again, is that what this shows is her loyalty, because John Murtha is somebody who she's been very close to for years and years. In fact John Murtha was the leader of her campaign, her leadership campaigns in the past, and did so successfully. So what they say, in fact, one of Nancy Pelosi's aides just said to me, look, what we hope this shows all 237 Democrat whose voted in this election, that if you are loyal to Nancy Pelosi, she will be loyal back.

COLLINS: What about Steny Hoyer, though, wouldn't he say that he was loyal, serving as her top lieutenant for the past four years?

BASH: Yes, he would, and yes he does. And that is what's going to makes this so interesting going forward, is because, you know, part of the back story here is that Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer ran against each other for leadership posts and Steny Hoyer lost. But they do also go back years. They were interns together I think like 40 years ago for a senator from Maryland together. But since then, because of the rivalry in the leadership, things have gotten a little frosty.

But you know, I was talking to a couple of Steny Hoyer's supporters, those who worked very hard to get him elected to majority leader, as he was today, who said, look, you know, despite the fact that the relationship is not good, that he understands that there needs to be unity and a unified feeling going forward if they want to get anything done. So that's definitely what you're hearing now in public talking about coming together.

But certainly, many people, many congressmen who we're talking to here, coming out of the room, are admitting it's going to take a while for that to happen.

COLLINS: Well, Dana, you've been covering Washington politics for quite sometime. And when I hear you say within seconds of the two words, rivalry within the leadership and unity, I mean, what will happen next? What will be the first order of business for Steny Hoyer where speaker-elect Pelosi will have to come together and say, OK, let's bygones be bygones and let's move forward with this, whatever this may be.

And I'd be willing to bet a lot on the fact that that is exactly what we're going to see momentarily when they step outside of those doors and come to the microphones, that they are going to -- it's going to be all smiles and probably some back slapping, and making it very clear that what you're seeing is the new leadership team, and they are going to try to immediately forget the fact that for the first week of the Democrats' victory, taking the majority in the House for the first time in 12 years, because of the surprise move that Nancy Pelosi made on Sunday night, backing the rival of her No. 2. But it's going to take a little time.

COLLINS: Yes, I bet it will. Talk for a minute, if you would, as we watch that door next to you -- oh, here she comes now, speaker- elect Nancy Pelosi and following behind her majority leader-elect Steny Hoyer. Let's go ahead and listen in to what they say as they emerge from their meetings and their voting earlier today. The Canon office building as the new leadership lines up.

Let's go ahead and listen in, Rahm Emanuel.

REP. RAHM EMANUEL, (D), NEW YORK: This is one of those few times that I will actually be short, brief and to the point. Madam speaker- elect, Speaker Pelosi.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER-ELECT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

What an honor it is to be nominated by my colleagues to be the speaker of the House. Everyone is very excited about the thought that I am the first woman speaker; I'm just absolutely delighted that we have a Democratic speaker and a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

It's a pretty exciting day that I wish my parents could see. I'm sure they do from up above.

We've had our differences in our party. We have come together. I wish all of the American people could have heard the discussion of our caucus this morning. They would have heard speeches of mutual respect, regardless of who anyone was supported for party office. They would have heard speeches of unity for a new direction for our country.

As you know, our colleagues chose our distinguished whip, Mr. Hoyer, to be the Democratic leader of the House. I extend great congratulations to him. And we will hear from him in a moment. But look forward to working with him in a very unified way to bring our country to a new direction for all Americans, not just the privileged few.

Before handing over to him the microphone, though, I want to acknowledge, the magnificent contribution of Mr. Murtha to this debate on the war in Iraq. I thank him for his courage and stepping forward one year ago to speak truth to power, to change the debate in this country in a way that I think gave us this majority in this November. Our Mr. Murtha has won the J.F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his courage. He's a great member of Congress. I was proud to support him for majority leader, because I thought that would be the best way to bring an end to the war in Iraq. I know he will continue it take the lead on that issue for our caucus, for this Congress, For our country. So I want to salute Mr. Murtha for his leadership. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

As I said, Steny came out a big winner today. It was a stunning victory for him. We've had our debates. We've had our disagreements in that room, and now, that is over. As I said to my colleagues, as we say in church, let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with us. Let the healing begin.

And with that, I would like to take with great pride, really, that I present a fellow Marylander -- that's where I was born -- a person who served in the Congress for many years with great distinction, a person who will make a magnificent difference to our country as the Democratic leader, the majority leader in the House of Representatives -- the distinguished new leader, leader-elect Steny Hoyer.

(APPLAUSE)

REP. STENY HOYER (D) HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER-ELECT: Thank you very much Madame Speaker. I have three daughters. I have two granddaughters. And I have one 14-day old great granddaughter. And those young women are going to be extraordinarily proud of the fact that Nancy Pelosi has been selected to lead the Congress, the House of Representatives. Not just the Democratic Party. But the House of Representatives as the first woman speak. But she is not the first speaker because she's a woman. She is the first woman speaker because she is a person of deep values, keen intellect, and extraordinary political ability. I am proud to have been selected by my colleagues as the majority leader. My pledge to my caucus and my pledge to the country is that I will work as hard as I can, exercise as much talent as I have, to ensure that the agenda that has been put before the American people by Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party -- an agenda of change, an agenda to take this country in a new direction, an agenda to make the lives of our people better. An agenda which is going to reach across to the President of the United States, and say, Mr. President, we need to make a transition in Iraq. It is not working. We need to change the policy, not stay the course.

I agree with Nancy Pelosi. Jack Murtha has been a courageous and outspoken leader for that cause. We've had differences Jack Murtha and I, but Jack Murtha will continue to be one of the most significant leaders in the Congress of the United States as chairman of the Defense Appropriations Committee. And we're all pleased that we're all going to be chairmen now of things.

So I begin my term as majority leader with that renewed pledge. Nancy and I have worked together for four years -- closely and effectively. And we have created the most unified caucus in the last half-century. Nancy and I, I think, have been a good team. In my opinion, it was not that somebody was rejected today. It was that a team that had been successful was asked to continue to do that job on behalf of the American people. Nancy, I look forward to doing that with you with great pleasure.

PELOSI: Mr. Murtha.

REP. JACK MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Thank you very much. I know you'd like to know why I didn't win. I didn't have enough votes. And so I'll go back to my small subcommittee that I have, Appropriations. Yes. But I appreciate, and I said, inside, that I work passionately all over the country trying to change the direction of the country. And I think I played a big role in that. I'll continue to do that.

Nancy asked me to set a policy for the Democratic Party. Most of the Democrats signed on to it. And I think the Bush Administration is beginning to get the word. I visit these young people every week, in the hospitals when I'm in Washington. And I talk to the military leaders all the time. The military leaders know there's a limitation of military power. They know that it's time for us to redeploy. And Nancy has led that fight and I appreciate that.

I congratulate Nancy. She's such a magnificent political leader. One of the best political minds I've ever seen. I congratulate Steny on his campaign. He ran a hell of a campaign. I can't fault anything that he did. My congratulations the other leaders and look forward to working with them to redeploy our troops and get these troops out of Iraq and get back on track and quit spending $8 billion dollars a month.

PELOSI: I know the focus has been on the fight. But the fact is today, we nominated a speaker -- a Democratic speaker of the House. And we elected a great and distinguished new Democratic whip, Jim Clyburn from South Carolina.

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP-ELECT: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Nancy. Like Steny Hoyer, I have three daughters. And just after ...

COLLINS: All right, we're listening now to Representative James Clyburn. Of course, he's the -- pardon me -- he's the majority whip and over on the other side of the fence, Republicans yesterday, that's was where the drama was there between Trent Lott and Lamar Alexander where that vote -- Trent Lott came out of sort of nowhere with just one vote for the minority whip-elect.

So once again, we were just hearing from the new Democratic leadership. You can always go to pipeline here at CNN, if you want to follow these stories and see how things develop throughout the day. But I want to go ahead and bring in Dana Bash now.

Dana, an interesting press conference, was it not to hear Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi come out and just moments after recognizing Steny Hoyer as the majority leader-elect, she took the time to recognize and thank Representative John Murtha -- who came out and made a joke, but he did not look all too happy, of course, with the outcome.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, definitely not. Because he really didn't come close in terms of the votes to beating Steny Hoyer. You know, look, Nancy Pelosi, what was interesting is that, you know, she made it abundantly clear that she got what the focus was. And she got, frankly, that it seems as though, reading between the lines, she got that this is the first big loss for a Democratic leader, somebody who just a week ago was riding high because of the enormous wins. And the fact that she helped to take the majority here.

But she said that -- she made clear that Steny Hoyer's win was a stunning victory. And as we talked about before this, immediately tried to say, she said, we need to say what I say in church, which is let there be peace on Earth. In trying to bring everybody together. But she didn't, as you said, she didn't sort of only let Steny Hoyer have his moment in the sun. She wanted to make clear why she supported John Murtha. She didn't say -- part of it is because of their loyal friendship, long-time friendship, but also because of what really the nation knows about John Murtha. And that is because he was one of the first members of Congress, somebody with strong military ties, to come out and say it's time to get out of Iraq. That was the point that she made. That's the point that John Murtha made there.

But, you know, as we expected. A lot of smiles, hugging. They understood that they needed to have this kind of photo op and this kind of healing. But it is, as we've been talking about, it's going to take a little bit of time to kind of move on from this internal fight, that Nancy Pelosi jumped right in to be in terms of who would be her number two. COLLINS: Dana, is that why, possibly, the rest of the leaders of the Democratic side did not vote, did not cast their vote for Representative Murtha? He mentioned Iraq and $8 billion dollars in his address right there. Was he too staunch of a critic of the Iraq war?

BASH: In some cases, yes. There were other issues. For example, he has said in recent days that he's somebody who is not necessarily embracing of reforms that the Democrats rode in on. They talked about the culture of corruption. He's somebody who has reluctantly supported lobbying reform -- didn't support campaign- finance reform for example. And there's something else, just in terms of how this all works. Steny Hoyer is somebody who was the number two Democrat and had been the number two Democrat. And he has worked tremendously hard to gather the votes. That's what this is all about. We talked about this yesterday on the Republican side. Well, it's the same on the Democratic side.

He campaigned very, very hard for incumbent Democrats, as well as the challengers. And they felt, many of them we talked to, felt an affinity and loyalty to him because he worked hard to get them elected, that they wanted to see him in the leadership. And that's another part of the theme we just heard here, is that the team that is now going to lead the Democratic majority is the same team that helped get them elected. That's a big part of why Steny Hoyer held on to the votes that he had commitments for before John Murtha even got into this race.

COLLINS: All right. She said it -- unity, unity, unity. So, we will continue to watch this story as it develops. Dana Bash, thanks so much for that.

BASH: Thank you.

COLLINS: And before we go, we want to make sure that we show you some of this new video that is coming into us from Columbus County, North Carolina. We've been following this story all day. Deadly storms there. You can imagine just by looking at these pictures of the semi truck overturned on the highway there. It's basically crushed. We have been learning about the death toll there. I believe that we are up to six now, as rescue workers in the area, Columbus County, to be particular, are still conducting their rescue operations. A very dense forestland surrounding a mobile-home park, which is where those deaths occurred. Riegelwood is the exact area.

So once again, some new video coming in there. We continue to watch that situation for you. In fact, coming up a little bit later, 2:00 p.m. today, Eastern, CNN will carry live for you a news conference by the North Carolina governor, Governor Easley there. So we will continue to follow the story, as you can imagine, throughout the day. A tough, tough day for the folks of North Carolina, Alabama as well.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back right here. You can join YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Coming up in just a little while, about eight minutes or so, you can see "CNN NEWSROOM" beginning at 1:00 Eastern, 1:00 until 4:00 with those people, Kyra Phillips, Don Lemon. They will be covering a variety of stories that we began here today.

A developing story in North Carolina -- or the south, I should say -- because these tornadoes have affected three states: North Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana. At least five deaths in North Carolina which -- we'll bring to a news conference from the governor of that state at 2:00 p.m. They'll have it in the "CNN NEWSROOM" coming up at 1:00. I'm Heidi Collins. Thanks for watching, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: All right, it's time for us to take a quick break. There's more YOUR WORLD TODAY coming up in a moment on CNN International, including a closer look at how violence in Baghdad is affecting some of its citizens. I'm Hala Gorani.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. See you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com