Return to Transcripts main page

Your World Today

Tony Blair Announces Troop Reduction From Iraq; Bush Administration: U.K. Pullout Signals Progress; IAEA Report Could Results in More Serious Sanctions Against Iran

Aired February 21, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: In Basra, over the coming months, we will transfer more of the responsibility directly to Iraqis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Britain's prime minister saying the troops will start coming home soon. But for those left behind, what is the reality on the ground?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: War games on, grace period over. Iran flexes its muscle in the Gulf and ignores a call to halt its nuclear program.

CLANCY: A birthday party for one of Africa's longest-serving rulers, but many in his country aren't celebrating. They're struggling to put food on the table.

GORANI: And a sobering new study for women on the career fast track. It may be much tougher for females to reach the top of the corporate ladder.

It is 5:00 p.m. in London, 7:00 p.m. in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From London, to Tehran, to Harare, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: America's chief ally in the Iraq war is planning a significant troop scaleback just as thousands more American troops are arriving.

CLANCY: That's right. We heard from Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier. He said Britain will soon withdraw almost one quarter of its troops from southern Iraq.

CLANCY: He says the region isn't yet "how we want it to be," but says the next chapter can be written by Iraqis themselves.

We are covering this story from many angles.

CLANCY: That's right. We've got Robin Oakley watching details of Britain's announcement in London and possible further troop withdrawals.

Kathleen Koch will be joining us with U.S. reaction.

And Arwa Damon explaining how this is going to affect the situation on the ground in Iraq.

GORANI: Let's start with Robin, our European political editor, who is in London at 10 Downing Street.

Is this seen as a strategic or a political decision, Robin?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: It's a combination of the two, Hala.

The aftermath of the Iraq war has been a political nightmare for Tony Blair. But at last, today he was able to give British lawmakers the kind of news they wanted to hear, troop reductions in Iraq.

First, how the numbers will look in future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAIR: Already we have handed over prime responsibility for security to the Iraqi authorities in al-Matuna (ph) and Dykar (ph). Now in Basra, over the coming months, we will transfer more of the responsibility directly to Iraqis.

I should say that none of this will mean a diminution in our combat capability. The actual reduction in forces will be from the present 7,100, itself down from over 9,000 two years ago and 40,000 at the time of the conflict, to roughly 5,500.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OAKLEY: Mr. Blair set out, too, how the role of those British troops remaining in Basra and southern Iraq will change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAIR: The British forces that remain will have the following tasks: training and support to Iraqi forces, securing the Iraq-Iran border, securing supply routes, and above all, the ability to conduct operations against extremist groups and be there in support of the Iraqi army when called upon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OAKLEY: Mr. Blair is holding out the hope of more British troop reductions to come, but is signaling also that so long as they are needed, they will stay on in Iraq until the year 2008 -- Hala.

GORANI: Robin, we know the war is unpopular in the U.K., but is there a sense among officials you speak to, military and civilian, that the U.K. was able to succeed, relatively speaking, where the U.S. has failed in Iraq?

OAKLEY: Well, Tony Blair himself accepts that there's a great difference between what's happening in Baghdad, where U.S. forces are, where there are deliberate attempts to goad sectarian violence, and the situation in Basra, where there is much less Shia-Sunni conflict, where there's not much of an al Qaeda operation in terms of suicide bombing and so on.

And so Tony Blair felt that while it was right for the Americans to be boosting troop numbers in Baghdad as part of the worldwide war against terror, of which Iraq has become the cockpit, he felt that you have to demonstrate in Basra, where the Iraqi authorities were able to take some responsibility, that the multilateral forces would not outstay their welcome -- Hala.

GORANI: Robin Oakley live at 10 Downing Street.

Thank you, Robin -- Jim.

CLANCY: Let's go to the other side of the Atlantic now and the White House. It's not looking at Britain's troop scaleback as a retreat, but rather a sign of success that conditions in Basra and, indeed, southern Iraq are improving. Critics, though, say that's just spin, warning Britain's announcement should be a wakeup call to the administration.

Let's bring in Kathleen Koch, who's traveling with U.S. president George W. Bush in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

What is the White House reaction this day? They see this as a sign of success. Are they really convinced?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's obviously, Jim, as you mentioned, the positive spin that the White House is very much trying to put on this difficult announcement. But it is very tough at this point to see it as anything but a blow for the White House.

A major ally in Iraq, the ally with the largest number of troops in Iraq, now announcing it's going to be pulling out nearly a quarter of those troops at the same time the U.S. is sending in thousands more troops. You used the word "success". National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe says, yes, that is the way President Bush views this announcement.

Press Secretary Tony Snow on Air Force One, as he and the president were flying here to Chattanooga this morning, said the British still have a significant commitment in Iraq, adding, "But the facts that they have made some progress on the ground is going to enable them to move some of the forces out. And that's ultimately the kind of thing we want to be able to see throughout Iraq."

Gordon Johndroe says that the president got the word from Prime Minister Blair Tuesday morning in one of their regular phone calls that this was going to happen. No reaction, though, from the White House yet to the announcement by Denmark that it's going to be pulling out its troops. And clearly, the concern is that the British announcement could begin to have some sort of domino effect, that the smaller allies among the 23 countries in the U.S.-led coalition could now say, well, it's time for us to pull our forces out.

So, again, a lot of concern at the White House, and in particular, concern that these begin to look like timetables. And that's something the Bush administration has clearly rejected.

Now, Tony Snow says these aren't timelines, these are based on decisions. But again, these countries are giving dates, they're giving times by which they want to have these forces out. And President Bush has said all along that would embolden the enemy.

Back to you, Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Traveling with the president this day in the state of Tennessee, Kathleen Koch.

Thank you.

GORANI: Well, let's take you to the streets of Iraq and reaction there to Mr. Blair's announcement. In some cases, well received.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The move that Blair was following to withdraw the British forces from Iraq is a great and strong move. We hope that Bush will move to withdraw his forces, and then Iraqis and the Iraqi government will be sporesponsible for their country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The withdrawal of the British forces from Basra, with God's will, be a good step for the future of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right. Well, those remarks an indication of the views of Iraqis, ordinary Iraqis in general. But while the U.S. and Britain call the move a sign of progress, is this supported by the actual situation on the ground?

Let's get some perspective. Arwa Damon joins us now live from Baghdad.

First off, what is the likely impact of this phased staggered troop withdrawal of U.K. forces from Iraq, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, it really depends on what the Iraqi security forces in Basra end up doing and how they perform. They are largely infiltrated by militias down there. And while they are not plagued by the sectarian violence or the nature of attacks that we see coming from groups like al Qaeda in Iraq, there does exist in southern Iraq Shia-on-Shia violence, rival Shia factions that are trying to gain power and gain a foothold in that area. Take, for example, the city of Amara, that the British troops handed over to the Iraqis back at the end of August. About two months after that hand-over, there were clashes between militia-infiltrated local Iraqi police and a rival militia faction -- in this case, the Medhi militia, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Now, eventually the Iraqi security forces were able to regain control of that area, but it does underscore a reality that it is a very delicate balance that exists in southern Iraq with so many of these militias vying for power and many of them backed by Iran -- Hala.

GORANI: And what about the likely impact over any Iranian influence in southern Iraq?

DAMON: Well, one of the concerns here is that by decreasing coalition British boots on the ground, one is merely opening a gate for Iran to simply increase its influence. Again, many of the Iraqi security forces that operate down there are infiltrated by militias. Those militias in turn are backed by Iran.

In fact, British troops first discovered those explosively-formed penetrators, the EFPs that are able to rip through any sort of armor that the British and the American forces here use. Those were first discovered by the British troops in southern Iraq.

So the concern is that by drawing down British presence in that area, one is merely opening a gateway for Iran to increase its influence. And though levels of violence in southern Iraq may not specifically increase because of that, the concern is that this will become an avenue for more weapons, Iranian-made weapons, and for fighters to be trained in that area and then move on and attack in other parts of country -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Well, this move certainly raising many questions.

Arwa Damon, live in Baghdad -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, as Kathleen Koch was telling us earlier -- she's traveling with the U.S. president -- Denmark has announced some plans it's going to pull out a very small contingent, 470 troops from southern Iraq. The unit is under British command, and like British forces, it does serve near Basra in the south. Now, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the Danish troops will transfer security responsibilities to Iraqi forces and withdraw by August.

Meantime, Lithuania says it is also considering withdrawing its forces from Iraq. That country has barely 60 troops in Basra.

Other countries contributing forces to Iraq include South Korea. It has 2,300 troops. Australia, Poland, Georgia and Romania all have hundreds of troops serving in Iraq.

GORANI: All right. It's our top story, and we want to know what you think about the troop reduction.

CLANCY: That's right. Today we are asking this: Do you agree with the White House that this is, in its words, a sign of success in southern Iraq?

GORANI: Our e-mail address, as always, yourviews@cnn.com. Tell us where you are from -- where you're writing from and your name, and we'll read some of your comments a bit later in this program.

CLANCY: Well, the U.S. vice president says American troops aren't going to be leaving Iraq before completing their mission. Dick Cheney addressing U.S. forces aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk at Yokosuka Navy Base near Tokyo. Cheney telling the audience there, if the U.S. leaves Iraq early, the enemy will, in his words, "come after us."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I want you to know that the American people will not support a policy of retreat.

(APPLAUSE)

CHENEY: We want to complete the mission. We want to get it done right. And then we want to return home with honor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, Cheney's brief visit to Japan really considered a gesture of appreciation to Tokyo. A country that has offered non- combat troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

GORANI: When we come back, Iran's Revolutionary Guard battles it out.

CLANCY: With itself. The war games rage on in the Gulf, while politicians wrestling with Iran's intransigence over its nuclear program.

GORANI: And it's not exactly a happy birthday for the rest of Zimbabwe when Robert Mugabe turns 83 with a lavish party.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: All right. This is where we bring CNN's international and American viewers up to speed on those important international stories of the hour.

We focus on Iran now. The deadline is passing, their president is defiant. And Iran seems fully committed to its plan to expand its uranium enrichment program.

With much of the international community pressing the Iranians to abandon those efforts, another report detailing their nuclear intransigence, as some are calling it, will be issued on Thursday. The IAEA director, Mohamed ElBaradei, is expected to tell the U.N. Security Council that Iran is refusing to suspend those enrichment efforts.

CLANCY: Now, that report could result in more serious sanctions against Iran. So what is next?

With me now from New York at the United Nations is Liz Neisloss.

What is the talk there? Everybody -- they are waiting for this report to drop, it should come today, later today, or tomorrow?

LIZ NEISLOSS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are expecting, and the talk is there will be more talk, basically, Jim. Talk and more talk until they can figure out what extra measures they can all agree on to squeeze Iran.

Now, there are no alarm bells going off here in the hallways. No diplomats running around looking at their watches worried about a deadline.

In fact, when they get this report from the IAEA, they will study it, discuss it, and perhaps wait even further as the IAEA's own board of directors discusses the report. So options are not great on the diplomatic front, but certainly potentially limited more sanctions in the near term -- Jim.

CLANCY: When I talk to some of the nonproliferation experts, some of the people, the Iran experts, they're looking at this situation and saying, look, the military option really isn't there if you look at it hard. That negotiations are the only way forward. And there's a quiet confidence that, you know, the pressure will continue, months will pass, perhaps, but all those parties are going to have to sit down and end this through negotiations.

Is that the sense there?

NEISLOSS: That is certainly the sense because there are no good options seen in terms of military. The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, he calls it a sure recipe for further disaster if there is more threatening of military action. That's the surest way he thinks to get a regime to come down even harder, to push back even harder.

So on the sanctions front, there may be a little more give, a little more willingness for some of the member states to say we have to come up with something because the options are not great -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Liz Neisloss there reporting to us from U.N. headquarters in New York.

Thanks.

GORANI: Well, outside the conference rooms and consultation over Iran's nuclear ambitions there are also military maneuvers. Iran's Revolutionary Guard is holding military exercises, showing off its weaponry and its ability to fight.

These pictures that you see on your screen there were broadcast on Iranian television. This is the third phase of the Revolutionary Guard scheduled war games.

All right. Let's move on now to some other news we're following for you today.

CLANCY: And we're going to begin with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She's been in Berlin for a meeting of the Mideast quartet. It's under way right now.

The U.S., the United Nations, Russia, and the European Union joining together to push forward the stalled Middle East process. Before the meeting, Secretary Rice repeated the U.S. position that the emerging Palestinian unity government still must recognize Israel and renounce violence.

GORANI: Well, the Palestinian unity government is also expected to be the focus of today's meeting between British prime minister Tony Blair and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, in London. Mr. Blair says he thinks it will be easier to achieve progress in the Middle East if Hamas and Fatah take part in a true power-sharing government.

They're expected to answer questions after their meeting. We will bring that to you live here on CNN -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Shifting our focus a bit, India and Pakistan pledging to fight terrorism and remain committed to peace following Sunday's deadly train bombing and blaze in northern India.

The country's foreign ministers met in New Delhi on Wednesday. They witnessed the signing of an agreement that aims to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons accidents between the two nuclear nations. Investigators are still searching for two suspects in Sunday's train attack.

GORANI: One-sided and unfair. That's what Philippine government and military officials are calling a report by a U.N. human rights expert that links Philippine soldiers to the killing of left-wing activists.

The U.N. official says that he doesn't know the exact number of victims, but he adds it's likely quite high. A local human rights group claims security forces have killed hundreds of those left-wing activists since 2001.

CLANCY: All right. We're going to check the markets for you when we come back after a short break.

GORANI: Also coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY, our Christiane Amanpour returns from Iran with some surprising revelations about what Tehran wants most from Washington.

CLANCY: Also coming up, breaking the glass ceiling, the barriers many women face as they try to climb the corporate ladder.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

(NEWSBREAK)

CLANCY: CNN's Christiane Amanpour recently returned to France from a trip to Tehran, and she reports some surprising news from inside the highest reaches of the Iranian government. Her sources describe that Iran that wants nothing more from the United States than to have a serious conversation.

She spoke with Rosemary Church earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTL. CORRESPONDENT: The main point was at the moment, as you know, there has been this escalating cycle of rhetoric between both Iran and the United States. And this government official, actually as well as others who said this publicly, has said that we need to be very, very careful because this rhetoric is dangerous and the cycle can lead to a dangerous reaction, even a mistaken reaction, that could eventually end up in war. So he was very, very concerned about that.

But beyond that, this government official laid out the rationale for why it was time for the United States and Iran to get its relationship back on track. A relationship that, as you know, was ruptured back in 1979 when Iran took Americans hostage for more than a year.

I asked him what was motivating this state of mind right now. And he says peace for the Iranian people. But like many of the Iranian officials, he said that it can't be a peace that's dictated by anybody else; it must be a peace with security, and he kept using the word "mutual." It must have mutual benefits for the U.S. and Iran, mutual security for the U.S. and Iran, and mutual interests.

He did confide that what he was saying in that it was time to have this serious conversation and to sit down and for each country to say they recognize each other. He did say that this was not necessarily shared by everybody in the government, but he did say that it was accepted by the very highest levels in the religious leadership, which, as you know, is the center of the major decisionmaking power in Iran. He basically went on to say that Iran and the United States need just to sit down and say we recognize each other, and he said that the reason he believed that this hasn't happened all these years, was that both countries were stuck in what he calls a mentality, a mentality that had each country not wanting to look weak by taking the first step. So he was insistent that this now should change, and it would be to the benefit of both countries. And he said why, because both countries main enemy right now is al Qaeda.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And, Christian, it will certainly be interesting to see what the next step is here.

But reading that article of yours on CNN.com, there was one point where he implied that Iran's nuclear intentions were not peaceful. Just talk us through that.

AMANPOUR: Well, no, actually it may have seemed so, and I pounced on it, but he was very, very clear in repeating the Iranian line, which is that their nuclear program is entirely peaceful. He said our nuclear program is not about projecting force, it's about showing that we are strong enough do this. And his rationale was we are able do this without any help from the outside. He mentioned the United States, Britain, France. We want to show the world we're able to do this kind of technological leap forward without help. Why do we want to do this? Because we need to be strong in our own house. We have had centuries -- and he listed all the great powers that invaded Iran over the last several centuries. And we need to, you know, be strong in our own house.

And that's when I said, so, well, maybe do you want the bomb then. And he insisted that, no, that is not what they want; what they want is the nuclear energy and the capacity to take this scientific step forward. They insist, from every level of government, that they do not want a military nuclear capability, just a civilian nuclear capability. And indeed other officials have told me that getting that position accepted by the international community is a focus of their international efforts right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right, that was Christiane Amanpour. She's written a full account of what she saw, what she heard there in Tehran. It would be worth while to find it on our Web site and read through it. It's at CNN.com.

Now we have been asking your opinions on Tony Blair's announcement of a reduction of British troops in Southern Iraq.

GORANI: And our question today, do you agree with the White House that it is, quote, a sign of success in southern Iraq, this troop withdrawal. We received many e-mails today.

Here's what some of you had to say.

CLANCY: Yes, let's start off with Teresa. She's in the U.S.

She says, "I think the statement about the British troop withdrawal is a face-saving bit of a propaganda by the White House."

Also in the U.S., John writes, "For the U.K. to rollback their troops from the southern region is a sign of success in that the Iraqis are becoming capable to defend their own country."

We have a note coming in from Cameroon, and Lenjo, who says, "Blair is simply telling Bush that it is time for us to quit Iraq as the destiny of Iraq lies in the hands of their local government and people." From Serbia, Nikola writes, "I think that Blair's decision is good because the British have stabilized their part of Iraq. The terms between the U.K. and the U.S. will not change."

CLANCY: Now we've got to say, we love hearing from you. We've gotten an avalanche, really, of e-mails on this one.

GORANI: Absolutely. Our e-mail address is yourviews@CNN.com. Keep them coming.

CLANCY: All right, we're going to take a short break.

Birthday party, yes. Political parties? No.

GORANI: Coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a look at how an African president's lavish celebration fly in the face of his country's crumbling circumstances.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: All right. Let's return now to one of our top stories. The U.S. secretary of state is in Berlin for a meeting of the Middle East quartet there. It will assess progress made in the Palestinian peace process.

But at the same time, back in Jerusalem, the Old City continues to be a regional flashpoint. Though it's relatively small every inch of the city of Jerusalem, the old city in the heart of it, is important for political and religious reasons.

Ben Wedeman reports, who lives where within those walls of that old city is every resident's concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's one thing Palestinians and Israelis have agreed on for decades, that Jerusalem's old city is worth fighting for. Sometimes as in recent weeks the fighting is in the open. And sometimes the struggle is less violent though no less bitter, ywaged behind closed doors with dollars and deeds. Jerusalem's old city is less than a mile squared, divided into Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian quarters and sacred to all.

DANIEL LURIA, JERUSALEM RESIDENT: The street is not only close to the Temple Mount, but it is directly opposite of the holy of holies where the golden dome is, the center of the Jewish world.

WEDEMAN: Daniel Luria is intimately familiar and sympathizes passionately with Jewish groups trying to regain control of homes outside the Jewish quarter once owned by Jews or to buy property Arabs are willing to sell. He explained the group's philosophy as we walked through the old city, taken over by Israel in the 1967 war.

LURIA: It is involved in bringing Jewish life backs to the heart of Jerusalem, strengthening Jewish roots, call it whatever you like. The Jews in the old city year-round are walking side by side with Arabs, under Jewish sovereignty of course, side by side.

WEDEMAN: Side by side with Israelis is not how some Palestinians are prepared to live.

"I was born here," Palestinian Nasr Krain (ph) man tells me. "I grew up here. I married here."

He lives next door to a compound bought by Jews in the 1980s, now home to two Israeli families. Their neighbors in name only, contact is minimal. Nasr (ph) says he is under constant pressure from Israelis to sell.

"I told them," he says, "they'd have to pay the weight of every stone in this house in gold just to tempt me to think about selling my house and still I would say no."

Nasr insists he refuses to sell for patriotic reasons, though it's widely believed any Palestinian in the old city who sells to an Israeli will be killed by militant groups. Some have sold and promptly skipped town. The Jewish house next to Nasr's, one of more than 40 properties controlled by Jews outside the Jewish quarter is guarded round the clock.

A resident who declined to be interviewed on camera told us the city's holiness makes tensions bearable. Those tensions may explode into violence if a new project just a minute's walk away goes ahead.

(on camera): At the moment, this open area is an archaeological site, but there are plans, according to this map put out by Ateran Gohanenn (ph), which is a Jewish group that buys properties in the old city, they would like to build this structure here, which, according to the legend, is a Jewish residential and educational complex.

(voice-over): Palestinians say such projects are part of an attempt to drive them out of the old city, replacing the Palestinian majority with a Jewish one, thereby ensuring it will remain under Israeli control in any final peace settlement. It's an uneven struggle claims Palestinian demographer Khalil Tufakji, in which Israel holds all the cards.

KHALIL TUFAKJI, DEMOGRAPHER: They have the strategy, they have the money. They have the law.

WEDEMAN: But both sides are deep in their faiths. And neither appears willing to cede much of their holy ground. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Let's shift our focus now to Africa. Hyper inflation, plummeting life expectancy, soaring AIDS rates, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is facing strikes today as well as violent demonstrations against his leadership. So what exactly is there to celebrate? Jeff Koinange has a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A birthday celebration fit for a king, or, in this case, one of Africa's longest- serving rulers. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is celebrating his 83rd birthday, holding on to power for almost three decades.

The birthday celebrations are legendary. The tab for last year's was almost $1 million. This year, the government is asking citizens to pitch in.

But this country's economy is on the skids. The inflation rate is the highest in the world. People in Zimbabwe say a loaf of bread costs 10 times as much as it did barely a year ago. It is a country of lines for fuel and food, a country filled with shacks and squatters.

Zimbabwe once had the highest literacy rate in Africa. But now some experts say half of school-going children have dropped out, unable to afford skyrocketing school fees. This has forced teenagers like Tandim Birei (ph) to resort to desperate means. In his case, illegally panning for gold in an effort to make a few bucks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that gold panning is illegal, I'm doing it so that I can afford to pay school fees and continue with my school.

KOINANGE: High unemployment rates have also turned these angry young men into illegal miners, chipping away at the side of this rock, aware they could be arrested, but determined to do whatever they have to make ends meet.

(on camera): It was in that building there behind me, Lancaster House, that the British government signed over the documents making Zimbabwe an independent nation back in 1980 and Robert Mugabe, the country's first president.

Now, more than 27 years later, an aging Mugabe is more determined than ever to remain in power for the rest of his natural life even as this country continues to disintegrate around him. Jeff Koinange, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right, well it was very frustrating for journalists because it's difficult to enter Zimbabwe and actually report from that country. There are bans there that are in effect against many of the western journalists.

CLANCY: Well and this day on Robert Mugabe's birthday, his 83rd, you have got a situation where the political parties have been banned from doing anything. The teachers though, the majority of them, like 56,000 out of 90,000 have declared a strike.

GORANI: Rallies also.

CLANCY: Yes.

GORANI: More reallies today, everything under control.

CLANCY: Zimbabwe is a sad, sad story, 1,600 percent inflation. People just do not know what to do. Military men, teachers, other workers not going to their jobs. Not really as a protest, but they can't afford the bus fare. The reality in Zimbabwe today.

GORANI: Again, getting in the country would be a good thing to be able to go check out some of these things for ourselves.

Well we have a lot more ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: How far have women really come in the corporate world?

GORANI: A new study yields some disturbing answers. It says all old assumptions and false perceptions seem to be getting in the way of breaking that glass ceiling. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: All right. Well, there you see the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He's in London right now meeting with the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

CLANCY: They are talking alongside one another. We're going to monitor this and we'll bring you any of the comments, you know, as they make news in this conference.

This is seen as an effort by Mr. Blair to sure up the drive to get the peace process moving again. It's a drive that not many people have much confidence in.

GORANI: Sure. And also in parallel, of course, you have Condoleezza Rice in Berlin. We'll continue to follow this story from all angles.

But for now, let's move on to this. Women have been making great strides in the business world over the last few decades.

CLANCY: But a new study shows some women are facing serious stumbling blocks that are really hard to overcome.

GORANI: Dan Lothian explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sobering reality for women trying to get to the top of the corporate ladder.

SUSAN CABRERA, CORNELL RESEARCHER: You're assumed to be less competent, less committed, less credible, less of a fit in the organization.

LOTHIAN: Is that disturbing?

CABRERA: It is disturbing. It's certainly discouraging.

LOTHIAN: Two researchers at Cornell's the Johnson School uncovered bias against female executives in a study they're calling "Risky Business."

PROF. MELISSA THOMAS HUNT, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: There's a perception that women are considered to be riskier candidates, although there's no evidence that they actually are.

CABRERA: I don't think people are purposely trying to discriminate. I think they believe quite genuinely that they aren't using bias. But extensive research has demonstrated that there are subtle biases.

LOTHIAN: Or perhaps not so subtle. Like women being held to a higher standard than men when it comes to hiring and promotion or considered less committed if they respond to family obligations. And their successes are sometimes chalked up to luck or, worse yet --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frequently they're actually not given credit for those successes so the attribution is actually given to someone else.

CHRIS COLE, EXECUTIVE HEADHUNTER: It's a very male-dominated society. And so a woman in the boardroom just does have the same gravitas that a man does.

LOTHIAN: While every corporation will publicly deny gender bias, executive headhunter Chris Cole says in reality it does happen.

COLE: There's a lot of old boy networks out there.

LOTHIAN: But some women executives say the business world has been welcoming.

JOANNE JAXIMER, SENIOR VP, MELLON FINANCIAL CORP: I would have to say that if there is a glass ceiling and I'm not sure there is, there's a huge crack in it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're talking about, you know, ways of opening those cracks wider and getting to the other side.

LOTHIAN (on-camera): Women have been making progress in business over the past few decades. They're sitting in boardrooms, running "Fortune" 500 companies and getting the respect of Wall Street. Pepsico recently named Indra Noohi (ph) as CEO and there's eBay's long time chief executive Meg Whitman. "Fortune" magazine trumpeted female titans and in Boston, the Chamber of Commerce awarded women at the top.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think women are starting to find a real foothold at all levels of business world, government.

COLE: A female voice is very, very important. We're just not there yet. And I hope we get there but we're not there yet.

LOTHIAN: The Cornell researchers recognize women are making strides but say what's still below the surface is disturbing.

CABRERA: These are the built-in assumptions that are part of our society that frankly aren't going to change overnight.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Ithaca, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: OK, we have another story that says women may be thinking about something else other than that boardroom, love and marriage though not in the air in England and Wales.

GORANI: No, more people saying I don't than I do than ever before. The Office of National Statistics says there was a 10 percent drop in the number of weddings in 2005. This brings the marriage rate to the lowest level since marriage rates were ever calculated, first calculated. That was in 1862.

CLANCY: A while ago.

GORANI: Right. Well and this is the lowest that's on record. So officials say the drop might reflect a crackdown on sham marriages that allow immigrants to stay in the country or it could be a social trend, to be quite honest. But the trend is definitely very clear and heading in a clear direction there.

CLANCY: Even in Wales, the women have something else on their minds.

All right, it may be down, but it's not out yet. U.S. airline jetBlue doing everything it can to make up for its many mistakes.

GORANI: And if that means setting a world record for groveling, then jetBlue's big boss is more than willing. Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gone are the days of exuberant posing on the wing of a JetBlue plane. Got to say one thing for chairman and CEO David Neeleman. He sure knows how to grovel with dignity.

DAVID NEELEMAN, CEO, JETBLUE: There's no excuse. We have learned a painful lesson.

MOOS: He groveled on every network. He groveled on JetBlue's website.

NEELEMAN: ... will never happen again.

MOOS: He groveled in the strongest terms.

NEELEMAN: It was horrifying.

MOOS: He suffered personally.

NEELEMAN: I didn't eat for three days. I lost seven pounds.

MOOS: Remember the good old days of JetBlue's launch?

Back then, the big topic was color.

NEELEMAN: How about baby blue?

How about a marine blue?

Navy blue?

We're getting close.

JetBlue.

MOOS: Now the airline has to contend with word play like Jet Blues and Jet Blew It. On the airline's website, Neeleman calls passengers...

NEELEMAN: My dear JetBlue customers...

MOOS: Those dear JetBlue customers were practically blue in the face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody gave us any answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will never fly them again.

MOOS: CEO Neeleman has won respect for sitting in the hot seat, not hiding.

(on camera): You don't want his head?

AMY SCHULMAN, CNN PRODUCER: I don't want his head.

MOOS: What do you want?

SCHULMAN: I want my money.

MOOS (voice-over): She'll probably get it. Amy Schulman (ph) is a producer for CNN "SHOWBIZ". She got hung up for the better part of two days at JFK as she tried to fly to California to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. I invited her to join me for a conference call JetBlue set up for reporters.

(on camera): You want him to grovel. What do you want him to say?

SCHULMAN: I am so sorry that you had to sit in dirt and filth for two days.

MOOS (voice-over): Neeleman announced a passenger's bill of rights. Say you're grounded for more than four hours, you get a free round-trip ticket. The airline chief told the "New York Times" he was mortified and humiliated.

SCHULMAN: I want to see the chief crying over what he put his passengers through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was, you know, the worst possible thing imaginably.

MOOS: Amy had little sympathy when Neeleman mentioned how little he slept during the crisis.

SCHULMAN: Please. Who cares?

MOOS (on camera): He lost seven pounds.

SCHULMAN: I lost weight, too. That wasn't a bad thing.

MOOS (voice-over): These days, passengers are weighing apologies, not just luggage.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: She wanted him to cry.

CLANCY: I bet he did.

GORANI: That's it for this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. You're watching CNN.

(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