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Your World Today
Zimbabwe in Crisis; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Invited to Speak at Columbia University
Aired September 21, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A tarnished legacy. Once an iconic figure, Robert Mugabe now demonized by those who blame him for Zimbabwe's many ills.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN GEISSLER, REPORTER, ITV NEWS: The currency is losing its value all the time. So next week this will probably be worth this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A country in crisis. Zimbabwe has a hungry population, high inflation, and human rights violations.
HOLMES: And educational dialogue or a forum for hate speech. Controversy rages over a U.S. university's invitation to Iran's president.
VASSILEVA: And the long road ahead. A little Iraqi boy has the first of many painful surgeries to minimize his scars.
It is 6:00 p.m. in Harari, noon in New York.
Hello and welcome to our broadcast around the globe.
I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.
HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes.
From Los Angeles to Luxembourg, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
And today we focus on Zimbabwe. Once the prosperous country ruled by a man held up as an example of a new generation of enlightened African leaders, now Zimbabwe is falling apart and its leader is viewed by many inside and outside the country as a dangerous despot.
Western reporters are barred from Zimbabwe but ITN journalists have managed to get inside for a rare look at a crumbling nation. They saw the effects of one of Zimbabwe's most pressing problems, the highest inflation rate in the world.
Martin Geissler hit the streets for this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEISSLER (voice over): Another day, another black market deal on the streets of Zimbabwe's capital. This is what happens when a country's economy collapses, when you don't buy your petrol from the pumps but from the boot of a car across the road, when it doesn't matter that the buses don't run because the average day's pay wouldn't buy your ticket home.
The money dealers are driving this economy. One call and they turn up with a suitcase full of cash. Foreign currency is everything here.
Peter changed my money. He gave me 10 times more than I would have got at the bank.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The customers are any ordinary people from local life and companies.
GEISSLER (on camera): So everybody's changing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's changing.
GEISSLER: Always on the black market?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always on the black market.
GEISSLER: So you guys are running the economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we are. I can say that. We are, because we demand (ph) the rates (INAUDIBLE), and also looking at the demand.
GEISSLER: So I've got my money. This is $100 worth for now. But with the highest inflation rate in the world, this currency is losing its value all the time, so next week this will probably be worth this.
So, I've got to spend it. But even that isn't easy in Zimbabwe these days.
(voice over): In the supermarkets the shelves are empty. No bread, no milk, no meat, no maize meal. Luxury goods are available, but life's essentials have gone.
The privileged few can still eat out, if the restaurants have food. Paying the bill is like playing monopoly.
Every day life is a struggle here in Zimbabwe. Even if you have money. It's far, far worse, of course, for the vast majority who don't.
Martin Geissler, ITV News, Harari, Zimbabwe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Martin Geissler's eyewitness report. Zimbabwe's economy is in free-fall. The International Crisis Group, for example, puts the inflation rate at more than 6,000 percent. But other independent groups say it could well be twice that, a staggering 12,000 percent. The International Monetary Fund estimates by the end of the year it could be 100,000 percent.
So how did Zimbabwe get here? Well, at independence the country was a net exporter of maize, a staple in the southern African region. Export was high as 250,000 tons a year by 1993.
But in 2000, some of the farmers responsible for those exports became the target of President Mugabe's fast-track land reform program. The president's argument, whites made up three percent of Zimbabwe's population but controlled 75 percent of the land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MUGABE, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT: And built our struggle on it, the grievance that the people had been deprived of their land. And land to us, as indeed it is to every community, every society, every nation in the world, is very close to our heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: White-owned farms were seized and then turned over to some black farmers. The government says some 300,000 black farmers have been resettled. Critics say that is an exaggeration.
Experts say the government failed to provide those black farmers with the tools and the knowledge needed to become productive. And thus, the country is now not able to export. Its, in fact, unable to feed itself.
President Mugabe's critics say he exploited the land issue for political gain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL SHUMBA, ZIMBABWEAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: Land is not (INAUDIBLE) in Zimbabwe. It's not a black or a white issue. It's about fundamental principles.
(INAUDIBLE) government. Mugabe's misgoverned Zimbabwe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, in the years that followed the controversial land reform program, Mr. Mugabe is accused of cracking down on the opposition and on the media, forcing thousands of Zimbabwean technocrats into exile. Well, the situation, as you can imagine, is now very bleak indeed. But back in 1980, President Mugabe was swept to power on a wave of popular support, viewed as a statesman, a heroic symbol of independent Africa.
Well, that history may help explain why Zimbabwe's African neighbors are reluctant to criticize him even now. Robyn Curnow with that from South Africa.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Zimbabwean artist Kudzanai Chiarai stencils images of Robert Mugabe in some of his work.
KUDZANAI CHIURAI, ZIMBABWEAN ARTIST: Well, the stencil is easier because you get straight to the point. The image is very direct. You don't have to explain it. It speaks for itself.
CURNOW: He won't be drawn on what this image means to him, but the burning head of Robert Mugabe seems on first impression to represent the Zimbabwean president as the devil.
With Zimbabwe's economy in tatters and political intimidation commonplace, Mugabe is routinely demonized by those who blame him for Zimbabwe's ills. But it wasn't always like that, says exiled Zimbabwean journalist Basildon Peta.
BASILDON PETA, ZIMBABWEAN JOURNALIST: He was an iconic figure and we all admired him. He did a lot of good things for Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, when power began to slip through his fingers, he became -- he became an autocrat.
CURNOW: Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980. (INAUDIBLE) his own people as a liberation hero.
MUGABE: I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, do swear that I...
CURNOW: But nearly 30 years on, for many the Zimbabwean president has become a caricature of a despotic African leader, wearing shirts emblazoned with his own image and stubbornly refusing to give up his grip on power. So different from his early image, says journalist Jean-Jacques Cornish.
JEAN-JACQUES CORNISH, JOURNALIST: I first met him in 1976. I thought he was one of the most impressive African leaders I had ever met.
CURNOW: But Mugabe still commands great respect. Leaders in neighboring African countries are hesitant to condemn him and his policies.
(on camera): South Africa has repeatedly downplayed the crisis across their border. (INAUDIBLE) refuses to publicly criticize Robert Mugabe. In fact, many here view him as a friend of South Africa's liberation struggle and as an elder statesman who they don't want to antagonize.
(voice over): Thabo Mbeki's government favor words like "facilitation" and "consultation" when talking about the Zimbabwean crisis. A softly, softly approach that's been labeled as quiet diplomacy. They believe Washington and London's so-called megaphone diplomacy has been counterproductive. AZIZ PAHAD, SOUTH AFRICAN DEP. FOREIGN MINISTER: And we've always been shown that history will prove that those who attempted to find a solution that was not antagonistic and not creating further problems will be proved to be right.
CURNOW: Such is his influence in the region and at home. Robert Mugabe looks set to be elected to another term in next year's election. His grip on power remains absolute, it seems. But for artists like Kudzanai, his legacy is already clearly defined.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, Robyn now joins us live from Johannesburg in South Africa.
Let me ask you this, there has been in recent days what appears to be a rapprochement of sorts between the opposition and the government. An opposition that's had its members beaten up and thrown into jail.
Is this a rapprochement or is it not really?
CURNOW: You know, Michael, I think it's a little bit early to try and analyze that because this is still very early days. But there does appear to be some sort of shift in the political landscape ion Zimbabwe. Let me explain.
The MDC, the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition, surprised everybody by allowing the government to make some very key changes to the constitution. In fact, it's the 18th time the constitution has been amended.
Now, the big question is, why has the MDC allowed themselves to make these concessions, these compromises? Critics say they've sold out to the people of Zimbabwe, that they are naive to think that they are going to get anything back from the Mugabe government. But the MDC and (INAUDIBLE) government in Zimbabwe both hailing this as quite an historic move. Many people, many observers saying this is perhaps the first time there's a glimmer of hope of some sort of negotiated solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Now, Michael, the big question is, is if the MDC has conceded some important points and allowed for these changes to the constitution, has perhaps Robert Mugabe and his party also conceded on some ground? That we don't know. But there has been an initiative by the South Africans in the past five months to create some sort of solution.
Have -- behind the scenes has Mugabe, that's the big question, climbed down on some big issues? Or, perhaps, is this just a consolidation of his power? We don't know. But it's going to be very interesting days in the weeks and months ahead of next year's elections.
HOLMES: All right, Robyn. Thanks for that.
Robyn Curnow there in South Africa.
Of course we want to give Zimbabwe a chance to respond to these reports and offer ideas on how to pull the country out of this crisis. The Zimbabwean ambassador to the United States, Machivenyika Mapuranga, joins us now from Washington.
Mr. Ambassador, first of all, let me ask you, has the discussion that has been taken with South Africa, mediating, has it led to anything substantial in terms of rapprochement between the opposition and the ruling party?
MACHIVENYIKA MAPURANGA, ZIMBABWEAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Some time back I was asked the question whether I was optimistic about the ongoing talks between the ruling party and the two factions of the MDC, and my answer was, well, I'm cautiously optimistic. And we might make progress, provided, and I repeat it, provided, these people do not take instructions from London and Washington, as they've been doing all along.
And when I heard that, they had agreed with the ruling party on these reforms that are enshrined in the 80th (ph) amendment of the constitution, I was taken aback. And then I say to myself, oh, perhaps this time around they did not listen to instructions from London and Washington. This -- this has been...
HOLMES: But the question is, has there been a breakthrough in terms of -- what is Mr. Mugabe giving up in return for the opposition agreeing to certain things constitutionally?
MAPURANGA: Oh, you know, take, for example, the appointment of up to 30 seats in the -- in the lower house -- that's the house of assembly. That has been taken away. And as you know, the -- the -- let me say -- let me put it this way, the parliamentary elections have been brought to -- forward to 2008, whereas, in fact, the vast majority of the MPs were (INAUDIBLE) MPs and they should have, you know, proceeded to, you know, two more years.
HOLMES: All right.
MAPURANGA: 2010.
HOLMES: All right. Let's touch -- we've only got a limited amount of time. I want to touch on what is clearly a dire situation in your country.
Eighty percent unemployment, staggering amount. Inflation that's in -- could be in the tens of thousands of percent, staggering, again. Thirty-seven-year-old life expectancy.
Is this someone else's fault, or is this just gross mismanagement of the country by the government?
MAPURANGA: Well, we didn't have these problems. Everybody who is really, you know, into this matter knows that it all started with the land reform program that we launched in the year 2000. And the British and their allies then imposed sanctions on us, here in the United States.
HOLMES: Those sanctions are fairly targeted. They are targeted at senior members of the administration. They're not targeted at the population.
MAPURANGA: But this is the fallacy that is being, you know, propagated. If you take the sanctions package in the United States, for example, it consists of two baskets.
The first basket is the -- the executive order, which the president proclaims from time to time, giving a list of Zimbabwean leaders who should not come to the United States. That does not harm our economy.
What really harms our economy is the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act which was passed by Congress in the year 2001. And that imposed financial sanctions.
HOLMES: You know, Ambassador, there's so much going on in Zimbabwe, such a complex situation, you have your version, the U.S. government has its. The EU has its. Why not let media organizations like CNN come into your country and observe on the ground?
MAPURANGA: Well, it's just because, you know, at the beginning we gave them the benefit of the doubt. Then we saw there was a consistent pattern of distortions, you know, that we're not in the -- you know, in our national interests, but for the -- in the interests of the British and the Americans. And so, these organizations proved themselves to be totally biased and unprofessional when it comes to the questions of Zimbabwe, and they probably...
HOLMES: The reality is, though, Ambassador, you're on our air right now. You're talking to the world.
How is that influencing the message from Zimbabwe? And why would not having international organizations like CNN on the ground help your case? And you would be heard, to a broader audience, even.
MAPURANGA: Well, no. We are saying that you only invite us to give a comment when it suits you. But the general pattern is this consistent distortion of the situation in our country and the motivations by government.
HOLMES: OK. I have to leave it there, unfortunately.
Ambassador Machivenyika Mapuranga, thanks so much for your time.
MAPURANGA: Thank you. You're welcome.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, a U.S. university's invitation to Iran's president has drawn some fire. Students get a chance to pose questions to a leader who called the Holocaust a myth.
Also coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, diplomacy Zebari style. Post-Saddam Iraq has three prime ministers, two parliaments and only one top diplomat.
We'll investigate.
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VASSILEVA: Welcome back.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in the U.S. this weekend, and protests are expected for at least one of his speaking engagements. Mr. Ahmadinejad was invited to New York's Columbia University a day before he addresses the U.N.'s general assembly.
As Alina Cho reports, critics say the university is giving Iran's president an unnecessary platform.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New York City police firmly rejected the Iranian president's request to visit Ground Zero. But a few miles away, Columbia University is rolling out the welcome mat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regardless of what you think of his policies, he's one of the most important people in the world right now. And, you know, I would love the opportunity to hear him speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think definitely he should be given a platform. I mean, whether you agree with his policies or not, I think he still should be given the right to speak.
CHO: Columbia professor and Iran expert Richard Bulliet handled negotiations for the visit with the Iranian government. He calls Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's upcoming exchange with students a unique educational dialogue.
RICHARD BULLIET, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Here we have an opportunity in a situation where there's potentially another war to hear directly from the president of the country that we could find ourselves at war with.
CHO: But it marks a turnaround. Just last year, Columbia's president, Lee Bollinger, withdrew an offer for Ahmadinejad to speak, saying his views were repugnant. This year Bollinger uses the term "odious" and says he plans to personally challenge the Iranian president, who denies the Holocaust ever happened and has called for the destruction of Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we should legitimize his power at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I find his views to be absolutely offensive.
CHO: Free speech at Columbia has been challenged before. Just last year, students stormed the stage during a speech by an anti- immigration activist. And Senator John McCain got this reaction from Columbia students protesting his support for the war in Iraq. And with Ahmadinejad on the way, there will likely be more protests on Monday.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Iran's nuclear ambitions remain a top concern for leaders around the world, really. Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, appeared on the British political talk show "Question Time" this week. This excerpt on possible approaches to apply pressure on Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEOFF HOON, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY: I think we have to ensure that Iran does not development a nuclear weapon, but we have to do so in a way that isolates Iran and makes sure that the full will of the international community brought to bear that.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But isn't that mixed messages to Iran? On the one hand, France is suggesting potentially that there's bombing. On the other hand, you've just said for the British government that you think it's completely unlikely that that's going to happen.
HOON: Well, I know Iran (ph) very well, and I think it's important that we do find a consistent voice in these matters. That's why we work so closely with our European partners.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's not happening on this?
HOON: Well, I can't argue against what he said, in the sense that he said the words, but I wouldn't have said it in that way. And when I was responsible for dealing with Iran, I would not have used that kind of language.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And Christiane is going to be interviewing Mr. Ahmadinejad as well. Her interview will air next Wednesday right here on CNN International.
VASSILEVA: Still ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, race, rage and politics.
HOLMES: All in a small southern U.S. town which finds itself suddenly at the center of a civil rights firestorm. Thousands rally in Jena, Louisiana.
The latest on the case just ahead.
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HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Michael Holmes.
VASSILEVA: And I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.
We bring you now the story of a young Iraqi boy that we've been following for several weeks now. He is Youssif, the five-year-old boy who was savagely doused in petrol and set on fire by masked men outside his Baghdad home nine months ago.
HOLMES: Extraordinary story.
VASSILEVA: Unbelievable cruelty.
HOLMES: Arwa Damon has reported on that. And then everybody got involved, if you like. He has now undergone his first reconstructive facial surgery in Los Angeles, the beginning of a long and painful road. Arwa Damon picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A father's last touch, a mother's final hug.
DAMON: Little Youssif is taken away; his cries piercing his parents' hearts. The petrified five-year-old wails echoed down the hospital hallway.
"Mommy, mommy," he shrieked, fighting the doctors. Finally, he went to sleep.
DR. PETER GROSSMAN, GROSSMAN BURN CENTER: Right now, we got great exposure. I'm really happy.
DAMON: And Dr. Peter Grossman and his team went to work. This is the first and main operation to try and restore what a vicious attack in Baghdad took from an innocent child. The doctors injected steroids into his swollen scars, to flatten and soften them.
GROSS: We want to go slow. Controlling bleeding.
Done next door?
DAMON: Tissue expanders, balloon-like modules were placed in his neck and right cheek.
GROSSMAN: Right underneath where I'm over here, you get into the side of the neck, that's where you can get into trouble if you go too deep. That's where your carotid vessels are.
DAMON: But everything went smoothly. The expanders will be fully inflated over the next three months to create good skin that will then be stretched over the scar tissue. The doctors also removed the scars running along his nose, covering them with temporary cadaver skin. Three and a half hours later, Youssif's ordeal was over. Dr. Grossman has warned the family that Youssif would be looking worse, before he started to look better. But nothing could have prepared his young parents for this.
Youssif starts to stir.
"My darling, my darling, I am here. Sleep, rest," Zainab (ph) whispers, fighting back tears. "I am next to you, Youssif. I am with you. No one will hurt you," Youssif's father says, struggling to keep his voice from cracking. Trying to stay strong, holding on to the dream that one day, their child's agony will end. Arwa Damon, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VASSILEVA: And if you would like to help other young burn victims like Youssif, go to our Web site, CNN.com/impact, and then you can click on "Iraq burn victim" just one of many victims.
HOLMES: An extraordinary story.
Well, Iraq's leaders will be taking their vision of the future to the United Nations next week. On Wednesday Iraq will address the General Assembly. One member of that delegation is Hoshyar Zebari, the current minister of foreign affairs with Iraq.
Aneesh Raman sat down with the man who is charged to build a relationship with Iraq's neighbors, and the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Diplomacy Zebari style starts with a smile, and it's led to success.
HOSHYAR ZEBARI, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFIARS, IRAQ: I am a survivor.
RAMAN: In post-Saddam Iraq. There have been three prime ministers, two parliaments, but only one top diplomat. I sat down with Hoshyar Zebari over two days, as he's a rare Iraqi politician, who is tangibly getting things done. Perhaps, most importantly, getting Iran and the U.S. to sit down and talk for the first time in decades.
A year ago --
ZEBARI: It was impossible. It was impossible. It was like a taboo.
RAMAN: And internally there's a sense his ministry is further than most in reconciliation.
ZEBARI: We removed at the beginning those bad diplomats, but we maintain, we kept the bulk of the foreign service.
RAMAN: The key to building such trust, the minister's sense of humor. ZABARI: When we talk about the insurgency with General Petraeus and others, I joke with them, I say, as a former insurgent, let me tell you.
RAMAN: A Kurdish fighter for years during Saddam's reign, at his home Zabari shows me a picture from the late '80s. It's a unique background for a global diplomat.
ZABARI: I've dealt with many -- this country's underground, OK? So I know how they operate. How they feel. How they act, and so on. Now, formally were officially I deal with them. The other world you see of the diplomacy and the openness, and so on. I have the understanding. I know the real policies, the real position, OK? And could challenge them.
RAMAN: At a recent neighbor's conference in Baghdad, Zebari did just that. Saying many countries publicly support Iraq, but are meddling in its affairs.
(On camera): Were you there speaking about Iran?
ZABARI: Well, we are speaking about many neighbors, really.
RAMAN: Who specifically?
ZABARI: Well, Iran, Syria, Turkey, I would say even other countries are seen in our neighborhood.
RAMAN: That's pretty much all of your neighbors.
ZABARI: Most of our neighbors in different ways.
RAMAN: Doing something about it is, in foreign policy terms, Iraq's biggest hurdle. But for the moment Zebari clearly relishes the change from fighter to diplomat. Last year, in New York, the story goes, he was approached by a stranger.
ZABARI: The guy had worked here in Baghdad, in the Rasheed Hotel, and said I was working there. I had good friends. I was serving most of the time the Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, and so on. So what happened to him? Well, I took his job.
(LAUGHTER)
RAMAN: Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VASSILEVA: Well, in the race for the White House, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy or Nice Gal.
HOLMES: That's true. Just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY --
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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can always tell when the Republicans are restless, because the vice president's motorcade pulls into the capitol, and Darth Vader emerges.
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HOLMES: Oh, boy, the gloves are off in the campaign for the president of the United States.
VASSILEVA: Darth Vader.
HOLMES: Just ahead, we'll take a look at the he said/she said of presidential politics.
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HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.
In the race for the White House, gun control -- or lack of it -- tops the agenda. The American gun rights group, the National Rifle Association or the NRA, is having its national convention in Washington. Every Republican candidate, and even one Democrat, will address the group, either in person or by videotape.
VASSILEVA: Well, in the early days of the campaign, the candidates were ultra-polite and differential when referring to each other. Well, the gloves are off. Not any longer. As election day draws closer politics is getting rougher and the dominating theory seems to be that nice guys finish last, so don't be there. Candy Crowley has more.
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CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Clinton nicks Cheney, Vilsack skewers Giuliani, and Edwards, Elizabeth that is, hits Clinton. The presidential campaign has succumbed to a mild case of the nasties.
Closing in on the third quarter fund-raising deadline, Hillary Clinton was in New York raising money, chatting up the crowd about how hard it is to win over Republicans on Iraq.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can always tell when the Republicans are restless, because the vice president's motorcade pulls into the capitol. And Darth Vader emerges.
CROWLEY: Kid stuff compared to the former governor of Iowa Tom Vilsack. He MCed Clinton's New York fund-raiser and took her case to TV, laughing at the idea of a Giuliani candidacy.
TOM VILSACK, FMR. GOVERNOR OF IOWA: I can't even get into the number of marriages, and the fact his children, the relationship he has with his children and what kind of circumstance New York was in before September the 11th.
CROWLEY: What does she think of using an opponent's personal life as a campaign issue?
HILLARY: Well, I'm not engaging in any of that. CROWLEY: Moving south, Elizabeth Edwards, appointed weapon in her husband's arsenal pummeled Clinton for a recent Washington fund- raiser where $1,000-Clinton donors got to meet with powerful committee chairmen on Capitol Hill.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: What this is saying is, she is willing to sell special access, to the government, if you have the check.
CROWLEY: The Clinton campaign had no on-the-record comment. Just another day in the fall campaign. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
The Left-wing group, MoveOn.org, recently caused quite a stir with an advertisement criticizing General David Petraeus. Republicans, and even some Democrats, of course, were quick to condemn it. But there is no question, that it drew a lot of attention to their cause. Carol Costello now reports on the ad, the controversy, and the group that started it all.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If the liberal group MoveOn.org meant to rile things up with its "General Betray Us" ad, it did. It so angered Republicans even the president lashed out, calling it disgusting.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I felt the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military.
COSTELLO: And senators weren't far behind with Republicans introducing a resolution condemning the ad, while challenging Democrats.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: This amendment gives our colleagues a chance to distance themselves from these despicable tactics, distance themselves from the notion that some group literally has them on a leash, like puppet on a string.
COSTELLO: In the end senators voted to condemn the ad, with 21 Democrats joining in. But the moves on MoveOn point out how powerful this activist group has become. MoveOn.org was born in 1998. Created by Internet entrepreneurs Wes Floyd and Joan Blades, who invented the screen saver, the flying toasters. They were angry Congress was spending so much time trying to impeach President Clinton over the Lewinsky affair. They wanted the government to move on. After 9/11, recent college grad Eli Pariser (ph) joined them. They claimed to have had 3.3 million supporters online who donate on average 45 bucks apiece.
(BEGIN POLITICAL AD)
ANNOUNCER: Rudy Giuliani has always been a big fan of George Bush's war in Iraq.
(END POLITICAL AD)
COSTELLO: That money buys MoveOn.org plenty of clout.
RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wish MoveOn.org would do several more commercials attacking me. Because if they do, they could get me nominated. They are not exactly the most popular group among Republicans. They have spent $200 to $300 million assassinating the character of Republican candidates.
COSTELLO: But GOP Senator John Cornyn says MoveOn.org has moved beyond that into dangerous territory with its Petraeus ad.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: The reason why MoveOn.org was the focus here today because this was not a political campaign. General Petraeus is not a candidate running for office. He is merely a uniformed member of the United States military, trying to do his duty.
COSTELLO (on camera): Dangerous territory, he says, for any activist group, when America is at war. Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, if the presidential candidates don't show up now for the debates, well voters be no-shows for them on election day? That story and a lot more political comment is on our Web site, cnn.com/politics. Surprise, surprise, politics.
VASSILEVA: Still ahead, dispatches from the front line.
HOLMES: That's right. Coming up, you were first on the scene. Your contributions, the I-Report, just ahead.
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HOLMES: All right, it is Friday. And that means we're going to take a moment to look at what we've seen from you this week; your contributions to I-Report.
VASSILEVA: That's right. More and more of you are sending us your amazing eyewitness images of stories and news. And sometimes the story behind the story is the most interesting part. So, here is Jonathan Mann.
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JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was the scene in Horshtabit (ph), Beirut. Toufic Chebib was working at the neighborhood flower shop he owns when a bomb struck just 30 meters down the street.
TOUFIC CHEBIB, BEIRUT RESIDENT: A big noise. A big -- we heard the explosion happen. And it was like a big bomb and we couldn't -- we couldn't hear anything else.
MANN: It was so loud, he says he still cannot hear very well. CHEBIB: I called one of the employees, I told him, quickly bring me the camera from -- from the shop.
MANN: Chebib didn't know that he was going to be a photographer that morning or one of the first people to help on the scene.
CHEBIB: We tried all the best, but it's a big explosion. After 15 minutes, around 15 minutes, the Red Cross and everyone came and started their investigations.
MANN: In Phuket, Thailand, another rescue effort for I-Report. This is Jeff Craig and other rescue workers thick in the rubble of the ill-fated One To Go jet that crashed Sunday. A teammate captured this image. Craig sent it to us to share his experience.
JEFF CRAIG, I-REPORTER: In the picture it showed what we were going through. Standing in the fire, and all the foam, all the water on us. So I that was -- I just wanted people to see sort of what it was like.
MANN: He was part of the team that got the last survivor, a flight attendant, out of the wreckage. Ted Gugelyk, and his wife, live just 30 minutes away from the scene. They traveled through back roads in rural Phuket to take these images of the relief efforts Monday morning.
TED GUGELYK, I-REPORTER: Strong smell of jet fuel, diesel oil, and I don't know what else. Very unpleasant. People started crying when they were removing -- removing the last of the bodies, the village folks. Everyone was very silent, of course, very respectful.
MANN: Manoj Rana told us he was driving by the airport when he saw smoke from the crash.
MANOJ RANA, I-REPORTER: We saw some people start running away from the plane. We went back another place, and behind the jungle, behind the airport, and we take a picture there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for cutting my mic. Thank you. Are you going to arrest me? Excuse me.
MANN: Our I-Reporters also sent us images of a lecture gone wrong in Florida. Former U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry was speaking to students at the University of Florida, when one questioner became very belligerent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off (EXPLETIVE DELETED) me, man. I didn't do anything!
MANN: This is Andrew Meyer before asking the questions, he gave his camera to another student in line with instructions to record him. Meyer is suddenly famous for this phrase --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't Tase me, bro.
MANN: Campus police did. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. Ow, ow!
MANN: And many students recording the scene spread the word fast. The student movement was spawned almost overnight. With "Don't Tase me, bro" as their slogan. They soon electrified the web and used I-Report as their voice.
Jonathan Mann reporting for I-Report.
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HOLMES: Dramatic scenes there with that. But it took less than 24 hours for a Web site to come out with T-shirts that said "Don't Tase me, bro."
SANCHEZ: "Don't Tase Me, Bro". It's amazing.
HOLMES: Only in America. All right.
Well, if you come across news where you are, we'd like to hear from you.
VASSILEVA: Certainly. Send us your photos, video, comments, or anything you want to share with us. Just go to cnn.com or cnn.com/international and then click on the I-Report logo.
HOLMES: Send your photos from your phone actually, you can do it that way as well. I-Report@cnn.com. Maybe you'll make it on to air. It's actually working out to be a very helpful, very productive little thing. Lots of reports.
VASSILEVA: We really appreciate it. Looking forward to more of them.
HOLMES: Don't Tase me, bro.
VASSILEVA: Not today.
HOLMES: OK.
VASSILEVA: That's it for this hour. I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.
HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. This is CNN. Have a great weekend.
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