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Permanent Peace Treaty Between the Two Koreas; Trapped Gold Miners in South Africa See the Light Again; More in the Situation in Myanmar; How the U.N. and Neighboring Asian Countries are Reacting to the Violence

Aired October 04, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: A toast to a new era. The two Koreans pledge to seek a permanent peace treaty and much more during a landmark summit.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: A close call, hundreds of gold miners in South Africa see daylight again after being trapped underground.

GORANI: And a contingent offer. Myanmar's military chief says he will meet pro-democracy leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi under certain conditions.

HOLMES: And, wanted, women in East Germany, few jobs, fewer opportunities force many to leave while the men folks stay behind.

GORANI: It is 1:00 a.m. in Seoul, 6:00 p.m. in Berlin. Hello and welcome to everyone, our reporters broadcast around the globe this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes, from Cape Town to Yangon, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

We begin with some good news for thousands of miners trapped in a South African gold mine. There was a power outage that has not been restored, but it did keep them underground for more than a day. And they are all being brought to the surface. Robyn Curnow is there, she has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNNI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leaping out from the darkness, just some of the thousands of miners rescued from the South African gold mine. For these men, this was their first breath of fresh air and a glimpse of sunshine in more than a day. For others, a hug and a promise that life will be the same again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm happy to see my wife. (INAUDIBLE)

CURNOW: Over 200 female miners were among those trapped more than a mile underground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are thinking that we are going to die. But I'm happy because now we are out and everything is OK. CURNOW: On Wednesday morning, deep down underground in a working environment similar to this, a burst pipe triggered an electrical failure and damaged an elevator cage. Stranding all the miners underground, their main exits blocked.

PETER BAILEY, NATIONAL UNION OF MINEWORKERS: People are fortunate that none of the workers were in the immediate vicinity of the cage. Otherwise, we could have had one of the largest mining disasters in South Africa.

CURNOW: But the number of deaths in South African mines is already high, 200 dying last year on the job.

GRAHAM BRIGGS, ACTING CEO HARMONY GOLD: We are not proud of those statistics at all. At Harmony, we have improved over the last few years but we need to keep working at it and keep improving.

CURNOW: This shaft is normally used to bring up rocks from deep underground. Today, this lift was turned into a makeshift escape route, slowly hoisting up miners 75 at a time.

(on camera): South Africa is the world's largest gold producer and the precious metal is also a vital source of revenue for this country, but many warn here, including the mining minister of the dangers to these men of over a century of mining in this region, this aging infrastructure and the need to go ever deeper and deeper underground.

(voice-over): For these fortunate men, a song of celebration, for having survived another day in a dangerous job.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, Carletonville, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Celebration in one part of Africa, tragedy in another. A plane crash in Congo has killed at least 30 people, including eight people on the ground. It happened in the capital city of Kinshasa. The pilot of a cargo plane headed for central Congo began dumping fuel just minutes after takeoff. A few seconds later, the plane crashed into the market area of a poor and crowded suburb, hitting at least one house.

Now, cargo planes in Congo are usually flown by experienced pilots but the planes themselves are often old, overcrowded and poorly maintained. Now, there have been at least 24 plane crashes in Congo since last year alone.

HOLMES: It is being hailed as a possible end to the world's last Cold War conflict, a pact signed between north and South Korea whose 1950s war to this day never formally ended. But now South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun and the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong- Il are promising to work on a permanent peace treaty. They also agreed to boost economic ties and cooperation, including setting up a joint fishing area and increasing family reunions. Now, all of this comes one day after Pyongyang agreed to also disable its nuclear facilities by the end of the year. Sohn Jie Aie has been following all of this from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOHN JIE-AIE, CNNI CORRESPONDENT: The South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun told a crowd of South Koreans about his visit to North Korea that he just finished. He gave pretty much a details about his meetings with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. He talked a lot about, initially at least, about the two talking about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

He said that both leaders had agreed that denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula was vital to maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula, he said he had been briefed by the North Korean representative in the six-party talks about the progress of the six- party talks. He said that the North Korean leader had agreed that faithfully implementing the agreement reached within this multi- lateral nuclear talks was important, and said that because the North Korean leader expressed the willingness to follow through that he saw -- that he expected the nuclear agreement to follow through without any problems.

The South Korean president also said once this is achieved, there needs to be a more permanent peace on the Korean peninsula. That is, transforming the cease-fire agreement that was -- that led to the end of the Korean War and making that into a peace agreement. And in that process, he said there was a role that South Korea could play in trying to reflect the thoughts of the United States.

ROH MOO-HYUN, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): That I explained was President Bush had suggested before the peace treaty, the technical peace treaty, and head of state Kim, President Kim said that he agreed to that. He agreed to the idea.

JIE-AIE: Now, the South Korean leader said that both leaders had also agreed to set up a special -- a joint fishing zone on the west coast. That would ease a seaboard of tensions between the two Koreas. He talked about South Korean companies investing in North Korean infrastructure, trying to help North Korea build railroads, highways, tried to get North Korea to develop its natural resources, even investing in North Korean shipyards.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right, that was Sohn Jie-Aie reporting there from Seoul, South Korea. It is a historic event, the last conflict of the cold war perhaps solved, also that nuclear program in North Korea that has America so upset, perhaps a resolution to that too. We'll keep following that story.

Now let's take you to the United Kingdom. A jury in London is soaking up some captivating new information detailing events that led up to Princess Diana's deadly car crash. The panel is being asked to determine whether the crash was simply an accident or the result of something more sinister. CNN's Phil Black is covering the inquest and he joins us now with a live report. Phil, tell us what new pictures we saw today.

PHIL BLACK, CNNI CORRESPONDENT: Hala, indeed on this third day of the inquest into Princess Diana's death and that of her lover, Dodi Al Fayed, the jury once again watched security camera video from within the Ritz Hotel in Paris, and in this case, this footage followed events right up until the point that the couple left that hotel to begin their fateful car journey.

It shows the couple leaving their suite, taking a service elevator to the ground floor, where they waited for their car to arrive. Just near the service exit, at the rear of the hotel. This was all part of the strategy to try and fool or elude the pack of photographers who were waiting outside the front door.

Now, it is for the seven or so minutes that the couple wait for their car to arrive near the rear exit that makes for some compelling viewing, largely because it captures them in a fairly intimate moment. They're seen standing closely to one another, Dodi often with his arm around Diana, frequently holding hands, comforting each other. An intimate moment before they then eventually step out onto the street into the car and take that fateful car journey.

Now, the other images that the jury was shown here today, largely focus on the movements and actions of other players in this story, in particular that of their driver, Henri Paul, who was later behind the wheel and died in that same car accident. He is seen a number of times talking to members of the paparazzi outside the hotel, and quite crucially, just seconds before he emerges through that -- sorry, just seconds before Diana and Dodi emerge through that back exit, he is seen stepping outside and waving to two waiting photographers who then take up a ready position, if you like.

Royal commentators are suggesting that this implies -- it will perhaps be borne out further as the hearings continue -- that he was in some way colluding with a number of the photographers -- Hala?

GORANI: All right, very interesting and we do see these pictures and for the first time, 10 years after the death of the princess, very, very briefly, Phil, what happens next now with this investigation?

BLACK: Well, the investigation, the inquest has wrapped up for this week here in London. It starts again on Monday in Paris. Jurors have had the chance to watch all the key locations, the hotel, the route the car took that night, the crash location itself on video. For Monday, they will be investigating it themselves, firsthand in Paris -- Hala?

GORANI: All right. Phil Black, thanks very much, live in London.

HOLMES: The military government in Myanmar speaks out about pro democracy protests. GORANI: A lot more ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, including the lead general of Myanmar, agrees to meet with opposition leader (INAUDIBLE), but there are strings attached.

HOLMES: Also ahead, something of a German mystery. Where have all the women gone?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International and you are very welcome.

Let's turn now to the crisis in Myanmar. State media there are reporting that the head of the military junta says he is willing to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi if she drops her support of sanctions against the country. State media also reporting that more than 2,000 people were arrested in last week's crackdown that we reported on right here on CNN. Of those, it says nearly 700 have been released, but soldiers are still, according to reports, going door to door, arresting anyone with ties to those demonstrations.

Matthew Chance looks into the missing Buddhist monks who led the protest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Latest pictures smuggled out of Myanmar's biggest city raise a troubling question. Where are the thousands of monks so visible on the streets here just days ago?

CNN has spoken to pro-democracy student activists inside Myanmar who say hundreds of monks have been detained and scores are trying to escape, fearing arrest. One reporter managed to get inside this monastery which he was told usually has 100 monks inside, but he saw only three. There was this scene of young children studying at one of the country's many monasteries.

Right outside, the reporter's hidden camera recorded images of soldiers standing guard. Monks have been at the front and center of Myanmar's dramatic protests. Activists inside Myanmar tell CNN at least 40 monks alone may have been killed. Images have emerged from the aftermath of monks and civilians too, being beaten by soldiers. One shows an officer who seemed to be happily in charge.

But now a dissenting face of the Myanmar military may be showing through. An army major who fled his country because of the crackdown speaking in neighboring Thailand. He says his conscience forced him to leave.

"When I heard monks had been shot dead on the streets and that others had been shot, too, I felt very upset," he says. "As a Buddhist, I didn't want to see such killing."

Reports from inside Myanmar say troops are now trolling the streets, warning they'll arrest anyone suspected of taking part in the anti-government protests. "It's impossible," he says, "that under the rule of the military regime Myanmar will be prosperous and peaceful."

So far, there's little sign many others in Myanmar's military rank and file feel the same.

(on camera): Amid all this tension, the United Nations special envoy to Myanmar has now left the country, having met its generals and its main opposition figure, Aung Sung San Suu Kyi, his report is expected by the end of the week. But now the United Nations' human rights commission says it also wants a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to find out how many people were killed in the crackdown and what's happened to so many of the country's monks.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: There is pressure on many Southeast Asian nations, including India, China, Thailand and others, to apply pressure on Myanmar over the crackdown, Japan included.

Meanwhile, the body of the Japanese national killed in last week's protest has been returned home. Photojournalist Kenji Nagai's casket arrived in Japan on Thursday. Officials say an autopsy will be held to determine the exact cause of death.

Myanmar says Nagai was killed by accident. Other witnesses say he was shot at close range. Nagai's employer, the Japanese agency, ADF, has asked for the camera he was using at the time of his death, but Myanmar has only returned a backup camera he had with him.

GORANI: Well, we continue to talk about Myanmar. The U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon says his special envoy delivered a strong message to Myanmar's military leaders. But Ban concedes Ibrahim Gambari's trip was not a success.

CNN U.N. correspondent Richard Roth reports the Security Council will hear the envoy's report on the situation tomorrow, Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Believe it or not, the United Nations' reaction to the crackdown in Myanmar has been at the speed of light compared to the way it usually responds to crises.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to do whatever I can.

ROTH: A unified Security Council quickly passed its first critical statement against Myanmar, and Tuesday in Geneva, the U.N.'s human rights council, including China and Russia, strongly deplored what's going on in Myanmar, the first critical statement ever directed against a U.N. country that was not Israel.

JEFF LAURENTI, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTURY FOUNDATION: It is extraordinarily significant that they have begun to signal that their interests go far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian situation and that they are doing Myanmar.

ROTH: But as the old song goes, is that all there is?

NICHOLAS BURNS, U.S. UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE: We should be passing sanctions resolutions at the U.N., but the U.N. is failing to act right now.

ROTH: U.N. countries act at their own pace, despite the alarming pictures.

PAUL BADJI, SENEGALESE AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Doing something the U.N. is trying to do here, we do it by negotiation.

PALITHA KOHONA, U.N. LEGAL AFFAIRS OFFICE: I think it's a very difficult and complicated situation and simple answers will not solve the situation on the ground.

ROTH: Countries have been reluctant to pressure Myanmar in the past, partly because of its lucrative natural resources.

PETER ROSENBLUM, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL: I think the fear is that it will very quickly see a return to business as usual, and the role of the importance of natural gas and gem sales will displace this momentary interest in the humanitarian disaster.

ROTH: Myanmar's big power neighbor, China and India, are those with the most potential influence. India has expressed more concern than usual but a stable border with Myanmar is its main priority.

T.P. SREENIVASAN, FMR. INDIAN AMBASSADOR TO MYANMAR: We are dealing with the present regime in Myanmar. India does not have to establish its democratic credentials in each place as such.

ROTH: And China once again thinks this is a Myanmar-only affair.

WANG BAODONG, CHINESE EMBASSY SPOKESMAN: We regard the current situation in the country as basically a domestic issue.

ROSENBLUM: Myanmar certainly will thumb its nose as it's done before, but a change of heart from Japan, a show of interest from Russia and something from China, I think, would have a quick impact on Burma.

ROTH (on camera): It seems odd now, but the United Nations' first secretary-general from the developing world was (INAUDIBLE) of Burma. The current U.N. leader says the human rights situation there is one of the top concerns of the international community.

Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Of course, we have been reporting on the trade that helps keep the junta in power with China, India, Thailand and others. Western governments say they really can't do much to affect that. But interestingly enough, maybe you have some power right in your hand. Jonathan Mann now with some fascinating insight.

JONATHAN MANN, CNNI CORRESPONDENT: You may have heard of blood diamonds or seen the Hollywood movie about how gems from Africa fuel and finance war.

In Myanmar, they have blood rubies. The ring on your finger could be helping to keep the junta in power there. Myanmar has lots of stones, in fact, sapphires, pearls, jade and rubies, especially rubies. More than 90 percent of the world's rubies. Carat for carat they're actually more valuable than diamonds.

The military relies on sales of precious gems to help fund the regime. Many of the stones come from a region about 200 kilometers north of the city of Mandalay, a remote, mountainous area known as the valley of rubies. Just one of them can fetch tens of thousands of dollars. Myanmar's generals are estimated to have earned about $750 million by selling gems, but that's really a guess more than an estimate.

Myanmar doesn't exactly have honest statistics or honest generals, for that matter. There is a lot of smuggling and a lot of graft. Officially they used to auction them off twice a year. To make more money they held three auctions in 2005. Last year, there were four and this year, they have scheduled at least five. Who's buying them? Everybody.

There's a thriving market for Myanmar rubies all across Asia and despite international sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, Americans and Europeans still buy them, too. The E.U. is now considering a trade ban. Officially, the U.S. already bans gems from Myanmar, but get this, there's a loophole you could drive a truck through. The law allows Myanmar's rubies into the U.S. legally if they're cut or polished somewhere else. Somewhere outside of Myanmar and virtually all of them are. So, next time you see a ruby, chances are it's one of the general's gems.

Back to you.

GORANI: All right, Jonathan Mann, thanks very much. Fascinating stuff.

Next, they felt and saw the earth move right under their feet.

HOLMES: Dozens of millionaire homeowners in California now in the hole.

GORANI: Plus, Cowen on the run. Why getting a date is nearly impossible for a guy in Germany's former communist east. We'll bring you that story and more. You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GORANI: Welcome back. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. Around the world this hour, including the United States. I'm Hala Gorani.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Time to update you on the top stories to this minute.

State media is reporting the head of Myanmar's military junta told a U.N. envoy last week that he will meet with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi if she drops support of sanctions against Myanmar. State media are also saying that more than 2,000 people were arrested and that nearly 700 of those have been released.

GORANI: Also in the headlines, a sigh of relief in South Africa. More than two thirds of the trapped gold miners are now safely back on the surface; 3,200 workers were stuck underground for more than a day after an accident cut power in the mine.

HOLMES: The leaders of North and South Korea have signed a pact pledging to seek a peace treaty that would officially end the Korean war 54 years after an armistice was signed. President Roh Moo-Hyun and the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il also agreed to boost economic ties and cooperation, including increasing family reunions.

GORANI: Turning now to a growing problem in Germany, and it is bad news for men looking for a mate. It seems that women in Eastern Germany have become an endangered species. It's getting so bad that city mayors are coming up with some extreme ideas to solve what is a serious problem. Frederik Pleitgen is in Berlin with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: The streets are almost never crowded in the east German town of Vichstok (ph). More and more people are moving away, especially young, well-educated women, women like Zilka (ph), Francesca (ph) and Katarina (ph). The three are about to finish high school and once they do, they say, they will be out of the Vichstok, as well.

"All my female cousins have already left for the West, and have started families there. All the young males have stayed here because they want to work in the area," Cadina Schmidt (ph) says.

The reasons they're leaving? Few jobs, few opportunities for higher education, little prosperity; 17 years after German reunification, the formerly Communist east is still struggling, but while many Eastern German women go to where the jobs and universities are, the guys most often stay behind. And wind up talking guy talk and playing guy games in the local pubs, alone.

"The girls don't want to rot here," this man called Niko (ph) says. "They want to experience something new."

Researchers say Niko (ph) is absolutely right. In some areas, there are 25 percent more men than women. A recent study found East German women generally do better in school than their male counterparts. And Steffen Kroehnert of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development says, women leave because they want to further advance their education, their careers and their social lives.

"Many women are looking for partners with the same level of education, but they can't find enough well-educated men in Eastern Germany," he says, "Because women are just so much better educated, they try and get out."

Researchers say aside from a major decrease in population, the exodus of women could also lead to a brain drain in an area already hit by unemployment. One mayor is even thinking about paying women to live in his city. A drastic measure for a drastic problem, he says, as Eastern German politicians are fighting to keep women in their towns.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The U.S. State Department says the FBI is now in charge of the investigation into last month's Baghdad shooting involving private security firm Blackwater.

Also, the U.S. military, not Blackwater, will guard the FBI agents when they leave the green zone. As many as 20 people were killed last month in that shooting that happened while members of the private security firm were escorting diplomats through Baghdad. The Blackwater contractors are accused of firing indiscriminately into the crowd. They say they were under attack.

GORANI: Now, this story: Iran is accusing the United States of engaging in psychological warfare with its warnings of a possible attack. The foreign minister for Iran says Washington has threatened a possible strike against his country every six months over the past two years. But speaking to reporters at the United Nations, he said, quote, "The U.S. is not in a position to impose another war in our region against their taxpayers," unquote.

HOLMES: For some people adopting a child from Guatemala is a wonderful thing. They help a child in need, and they become, in the process, parents. But what about the biological mothers? Are they giving up a baby they can't care, or serving as part of a baby-selling network? Harris Whitbeck investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (Voice over): Sean and Ellen Darcy wanted a family, so like thousands of other Americans they traveled to Guatemala. Their adopted son, Dylan thrived in suburban Boston. So they decided to go back for a girl. Guatemala's government says the country provides more babies per capita than any other country in the world. An average of 17 a day to the United States.

ELLEN DARCY, ADOPTIVE PARENT: We contacted them probably early March, end of February, and within two weeks, Carolina was born and we were told we could proceed with this adoption.

These were before we went to visit her.

WHITBECK: An American agency named Casa Quivira told the Darcys they could visit baby Carolina.

DARCY: Carolina, Carolina.

WHITBECK: And have her home within six months. But without warning, one night in August -- police raided Casa Quivira and seized 46 babies, including Carolina. They arrested the agency's lawyers and charged them with child abduction. No plea has yet been entered, but the agency's owners deny doing anything illegal. Prosecutors allege some babies were conceived simply for adoptions, and that other mothers were coerced into giving up their children.

Now, Guatemala's chief prosecutor plans to investigate allegations several other U.S. agencies trafficked in babies. And the Guatemalan government says it won't allow any more American adoptions under the current system after the first of the year. But what will happen to the 46 babies seized from Casa Quivira?

DARCY: We want to know. We do not want to complete an adoption that is anything but completely legal, and where this little girl has been relinquished willingly.

WHITBECK (on camera): Just a few weeks ago this room was teeming with Guatemalan babies, all destined for adoption in the United States. This is the crib where baby Carolina spent her entire life. Now it is considered part of a criminal investigation.

(Voice over): More than a decade ago, the Guatemalan president gave Casa de Vida (ph) permission to operate a non-profit operation for children. But Guatemala's Department of Social Services refused a license to foster children for adoption. Claiming presidential permission, Casa Quivira did it anyway. So far, the agency claims they've sent about 1,000 children to the U.S. for a fee of $30,000 each.

(on camera): Casa Quivira, in your eyes, it wasn't an orphanage, wasn't a home for children. What was it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was the end of the assembly line. They had the final product. They had to send it at the best price.

WHITBECK: Guatemala has had a simple adoption process. Lawyers can solicit birth mothers and process adoptions with little oversight. We wanted to see what kind of oversight there had been in the case of baby Carolina. We started by interviewing the midwife whose name appeared on the birth certificate.

As for Carolina's mother, Casa Quivira gave authorities an address just across town. But after searching for more than an hour, we found the address doesn't exist. It's not just the Guatemalan government that's concerned about shady adoptions from here. The U.S. is so dubious in that August it began demanding double DNA tests to prove children had not been stolen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just the first DNA.

WHITBECK: But Guatemalan officials say that won't stop mothers who give birth just to sell their babies. So, with a suspect birth record, and no viable address, we pressed Casa Quivira to produce Carolina's mother. We were introduced to this woman who asked us not to show her face. She came accompanied by another woman she called her translator. We showed her a picture of Carolina. Is this your baby?

Our search for the truth about why baby Carolina's mother had given her up for adoption had taken a so far to a suspect birth record and a non-existent address. But Casa Quivira produced this woman whose first DNA test matched baby Carolina's. She spoke to us in a Mayan dialect through someone she called her translator. We showed her a picture of Carolina.

(On camera): Is this your baby?

She didn't seem to recognize the picture, and she stumbled on Carolina's birth date, initially saying she was born in April, not March. I asked if money problems motivated her to give up her baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I would love to raise my child, but I can't afford to. I have other children and I'm too poor.

WHITBECK: But then the so-called translator jumped in. Tell them you took no money for the baby, she told her in her Mayan dialect. Say that you want her back with Casa Quivira.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My child is not a chicken to sell.

WHITBECK: Skeptical of our interview, we challenged one of Casa Quivira owners, Sandra Gonzalez. Who insisted the mother gave up her baby because she could not afford to keep her.

(Voice over): Are you confident that every baby that has passed through Casa Quivira was a legitimate baby, a child that had a legitimate need to be adopted?

SANDRA GONZALES, CO-OWNER, CASA QUIVIRA: Yes, some of them, there are very bad stories, like rapes. They come from prostitution. There are mothers that have a bunch of kids and they can't support the kids anymore. Some of them have come very ill. They go directly to the hospital.

WHITBECK (on camera): But are these documents enough to prove that there is no baby stealing going on, no coercion going on? No baby trafficking going on?

GONZALEZ: Yes.

WHITBECK: Is this enough?

GONZALEZ: Yes, for us it is.

WHITBECK (voice over): Casa Quivira says it is fighting to get adoptions back on track. Meanwhile, of the 46 babies seized by the government, 38 remain in foster care. (On camera): Many of the children Casa Quivira were placed in foster homes like this one run by Cheryl and Steve Osborne in Guatemala City. And even here there are questions about the origins of these children. Cheryl believes these two little girls are identical twins, but they will be separated today. One of them will be turned over to American adoptive parents as part of an adoption that was run by Casa Quivira.

(Voice over): Then, there's the question about little Carolina.

(On camera): You are living the milestone in a baby's life that the parents should be living.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That the parents should be living, absolutely. They should be being smiled at and touched by their mothers, right?

WHITBECK: But in this case, there's a couple up in Boston who is just as willing to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, absolutely.

WHITBECK: It's kind of tough dilemma isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because there's corruption in the system, which birth mothers were real any in dire straits and really needed to -- they really couldn't care for their child.

WHITBECK (voice over): This week, the U.S. government urged Americans to stop adopting from Guatemala until the country can answer those questions. But American couples still fill the hotels hoping to take home children they believe desperately need new parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The amount of money that is involved in this process in a country that's very poor, almost all the babies come from the indigenous regions here in Guatemala. In many cases, people who are really very unsophisticated. And do they really understand what kind of decisions they are making?

WHITBECK: But for baby Carolina and hundreds of others, the decisions were made, and parents like the Darcys sit in the U.S. hoping an adoptive boy or girl will soon make their families complete. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Antigua (ph), Guatemala.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: A lot more ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY It is also a question of money, sometimes.

HOLMES: He is running low in the polls but when it comes to fundraising, this Republican candidate running for the White House is raking it in. We will explain why when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hard to believe perhaps but the U.S. presidential election still more than a year away. Not much more, though. Time to crunch some numbers, see how the two top candidates in each party stack up against each other. Let's do that for you now, an ABC/"Washington Post" newspaper poll came up with some good news for the Democrats.

Their front runner, Senator Hillary Clinton, is running well ahead of the current Republican leader, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The numbers, 51 percent for Hillary, 43 percent for Rudy. More intriguing perhaps, most voters said they have no problem with a former president becoming the country's first husband. And 60 percent said they would be comfortable with Bill Clinton in a new role at the White House; 30 percent said they didn't like the idea much.

GORANI: All right. Now we are hearing that John McCain, of course, the Republican presidential hopeful, has raised $6 million in the last three months in campaign money. That is a little more than $3.5 million cash on hand for the Republican candidate.

Now, Ron Paul is not a front runner by any stretch of the imagination. The Texas Republican presidential candidate barely rates a blip in the polls. But when it comes to fundraising, Paul stands tall. As Mary Snow reports, it's all thanks to a little something called the Internet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Ron Paul. I'm a Congressman from Texas, serving in my 10th term. I am the champion of the Constitution.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Republican presidential hopeful is low in the national and state polls, but when it comes to fundraising, Ron Paul's now standing tall. His campaign reports that Paul hauled in just over $5 million the past three months. That's more than the $3 million he raised the first half of this year. It's also in the same neighborhood as what rival John McCain is expected to report, and it's five times what former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee raised. Both McCain and Huckabee are above Paul in most polls.

Paul's a former Air Force flight surgeon and a long time congressman from the Gulf Coast of Texas. He also ran for president in 1988 as a Libertarian. Now he's the only Republican presidential hopeful who's against the war in Iraq. Paul can partially credit his big bucks to his strong following online.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: His supporters range from anti-tax, limited government, pro-life activists to people who simply oppose the war. For many of them, they are knitted together by one common thread, the Internet.

SNOW: The big question is whether Paul's new bundle of cash will help his bid for the White House.

Ron Paul is still a long, long, long shot to win the Republican presidential nomination, but with $5 million, he might be able to influence the debate within his own party.

SNOW (on camera): Paul's campaign put out a statement saying that fundraising numbers show that more Americans each day are embracing Doctor Paul's message. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

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HOLMES: When we come back, the shot heard around the world.

GORANI: Space shot, that is, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik when we return. Stay with us.

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HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth. The Soviet Union's achievement in putting their historic payload into its intended trajectory stunned the scientific world.

GORANI: All right. It did, but it was the beginning of the arms race. As a result, it terrified many Americans. And it fascinated nearly everyone. Miles O'Brien looks at the U.S. government's reaction to a very significant accomplishment by an archrival.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to believe that something this small can cause such a huge fervor that remains with us to this very day.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No, this is not a scale model. It's the real thing. One of a handful of the first Sputniks the Russians built to launch an era. The sphere is about the size of a beach ball, the four antennas about eight feet long, it weighed a little more than 180 pounds, but pound for pound, you would be hard-pressed to find a cold war PR weapon with more impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It freaked them out, because you could be in Anywhere, USA, and there's a Russian thing going over your head. I mean, what's next? Atomic bombs? The whole country just went nuts.

O'BRIEN: But 50 years later we know a lot more about what the Soviets were thinking. Russian rocket genius Serge Korelaff (ph) was busy working on bigger, more sophisticated satellites as well as rockets that's could carry hydrogen bombs. But the work was moving slowly and he feared the U.S. team, led by Werner von Braun, was ahead, so he formed a team to quickly make a simple small satellite that would put the Communists in space first. Ironically, the Kremlin and the Russian military thought it was nothing more than a stunt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it was successfully launched it wasn't headline news in Russia. It was buried in the back page because they didn't think it was really that big a deal until the United States just freaked out. And then it became front page news around the world, and the Russians didn't realize how -- what a PR coup they had until days later.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, Garden City, New York.

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HOLMES: That will do it.

GORANI: I meant space race, not arms race. There we go. That will do it for this hour.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes.

GORANI: And I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with us.

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