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FIFA in a Flap; Mladic Fights Extradition; Clashes in Yemen

Aired May 30, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: Welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet.

I'm Kristie Lu Stout, in Hong Kong.

Now, FIFA's president calls for an emergency meeting as allegations of corruption continue to swirl around World Football's governing body just days before a presidential election.

The lawyer of Ratko Mladic says the former general is too ill to face a war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

And Jacob Zuma flies into Tripoli. Now, can South Africa's president mediate a solution to the crisis in Libya?

Now, football's world governing body is in damage control mode. Claims of corruption mean this week's election for FIFA president is now a foregone conclusion.

Now, the current chief, Sepp Blatter, on the left here, will stand for reelection for a fourth term unopposed. It is after two men, Jack Warner and Mohamed bin Hammam, were suspended pending a corruption investigation. Now, Bin Hammam was planning to stand against Blatter, who himself was cleared of corruption charges this weekend by FIFA's own Ethics Committee.

As it stands, Wednesday's election will go ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME VALCKE, FIFA GENERAL SECRETARY: There's no reason to postpone it. I mean, the allegations and what has been said against Blatter has been cleared by the committee, and the other candidate withdrew even before a decision of the Ethics Committee came out.

FIFA will make the necessary changes in order not to avoid to have to suspend people, but just to make sure that the institution has all the systems in place to avoid this to happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now, I want to show you who the main players in all of this are.

Now, Sepp Blatter has run FIFA since 1998, overseeing World Cups in Japan and South Korea in 2002; Germany in 2006; and South Africa last year.

Now, Qatar's Mohamed bin Hammam, this man here, he had hoped to replace Blatter as president. It has been a big few months for the Asian Football Confederation president. He was part of the team that delivered the World Cup to his home country in 2022, but he is now suspended and won't have a vote in Wednesday's presidential election.

And neither will this man, Jack Warner. Now, he is the FIFA vice president and the president of CONCACAF. That's the body that runs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

So why does all this matter? Well, these men, they sit on FIFA's executive committee, along with Blatter. And one of their main jobs is to choose where the World Cup will be held, and the World Cup brings in a lot of money for FIFA.

Now, in the four years after the 2006 World Cup, it brought in $2.6 billion. Now take a look at how much FIFA got over the next four years to the 2010 World Cup. You can see the number there, close to $4.2 billion, and most of that comes from TV rights and sponsorship.

In a state of disarray, and with its reputation tarnished, questions are being asked about what the future holds for football's governing body.

Kate Giles joins me now live from London.

Kate, what happens now?

KATE GILES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know right now is that FIFA has announced earlier on this morning that they're going to hold this emergency meeting for their executive committee. That was scheduled to start now, pretty much, 1:00 p.m. London time, 2:00 p.m. at their headquarters in Zurich.

And FIFA president Sepp Blatter is then scheduled after that to hold a press conference at 6:00 p.m. in Zurich. That's Central European Time.

Now, it seems that we could have another big development coming out of this. After Sunday's hearing, you had Jerome Valcke of the Ethics Committee there deciding that the election should go ahead despite this massive cloud which is hanging over FIFA, and despite the fact that Sepp Blatter is now the only man left standing in this election.

Jerome Valcke, the general secretary of FIFA. We heard him just earlier with you there. He's very, very dismissive of the idea that these are not the right circumstances to hold an election in, and that holding an election now will certainly do FIFA's reputation no favors whatsoever, which is actually probably a bit of a wider feeling from the general public and football fans, and perhaps other football officials around the world.

So, you know, if they have now decided to call this emergency meeting, it's surely because a new line is going to come out of it. That's what we're thinking anyway.

Pedro Pinto is actually on his way to Zurich as we speak, so he'll be there for us and he'll be able to bring us the very latest from Zurich as we begin to hear what's been discussed at that meeting -- Kristie.

STOUT: And Kate, we're hearing more and more allegations about FIFA members come out every day. What are you hearing now?

GILES: Yes. I mean, you're right, we are almost waiting to hear more on this as well.

Jack Warner, one of the men suspended as a result of yesterday's hearing, and at the heart of this controversy, of course, he has warned that a tsunami is ready to hit FIFA, and he has a whole list of claims that can do an awful lot of damage. He very much indicated that Sepp Blatter, the current present, is the man that needs to be investigated and the man needs to be stopped, in fact.

Now, initially, his warnings were perhaps taken with a little bit of skepticism, simply because Warner himself has been in trouble in the past, and on more than one occasion, in fact. For example, the former chairman of the English FA accused him of requesting financial favors in return for his vote on the decision who to award the World Cup to -- the 2018 World Cup to. But one of his bigger claims in this instance has already been confirmed.

Warner read out an e-mail to the press recently in which he said that the FIFA general secretary, Jerome Valcke, had questioned why Bin Hammam was even running, and then said this: "Or he thought you can buy FIFA as they bought the World Cup." Now, that is, of course, a very, very damning quote.

And Valcke has actually come out and confirmed that he indeed send that e- mail. So I think we can certainly expect more from Warner as well. He basically has seemed to suggest that if FIFA is taking him down, well, he'll take them with him -- Kristie.

STOUT: All right.

Kate Giles, joining us live from London with that.

Thank you very much, Kate.

And as we wait to hear what Sepp Blatter will say at his press conference, some are calling for the head of European Football, Michel Platini, to take over the global game. On Saturday, before Blatter was cleared and Bin Hammam was suspended, Pedro Pinto sat down for an exclusive interview with him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRO PINTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You were an insider. What is FIFA's biggest problem, do you think? What is their biggest challenge? Why are there so many allegations now?

MICHEL PLATINI, UEFA PRESIDENT: I think that FIFA is like the IOC was some years ago. I think we are at the end of a system based on politics.

The future of this big international sports company owned by people who are specialists, not political people like you have Mr. Samaranch in the IOC, Mr. Havelange, Mr. Blatter, who comes from politics, and you have many companies like that in sport. I think it will finish in the next few years and we will have people from the sport -- and I think FIFA has to come back to football.

PINTO: So I have to ask the question -- you're a football man. Are you going to take over at FIFA? Would you like to?

PLATINI: I am elected just for four years.

PINTO: But if there is an issue with the election, for example -- there's been some talk that there could be new candidates, that they could start from scratch. And would you --

PLATINI: (INAUDIBLE). You have to (INAUDIBLE). I mean, (INAUDIBLE), they don't want to vote. If they don't want to vote, there will be no election. The election is for a person for four years. (INAUDIBLE)

PINTO: Has this been a big blow for the image of football?

PLATINI: Yes.

PINTO: You understand that fans are disappointed?

PLATINI: Which fans?

PINTO: Football fans. Football fans.

PLATINI: (INAUDIBLE)

PINTO: No, but with all that -- with everything that has happened with FIFA regarding the votes, regarding corruption --

PLATINI: That is another matter. I don't know nothing --

PINTO: Yes. But all of this said, what do you think it does for the image of football? Even if it's true or not, what -- everything that has been said, is it a big blow for football?

PLATINI: I think it is (INAUDIBLE) FIFA. And FIFA has to be strong. It has to be pulled (ph) upward. It has to be (INAUDIBLE), and we have to come back to the football. That is my point of view, and we have to do it. We seem to come back to the values of football.

As the fans, OK, football is for the fans. That is politicking. We have to come back to (INAUDIBLE) football.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: And we will continue to follow this story in the hours ahead. As Kate said, our Pedro Pinto is in Zurich, and he will be there for the FIFA president's press conference later today.

And turning now to Serbia.

Now, the lawyer for war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic has requested a new round of medical tests. Now, he says Mladic is too ill to face genocide charges at The Hague.

Last week, doctors cleared the 69-year-old for extradition. Now, he is accused of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. Now, Mladic spent some 15 years in hiding before he was captured on Thursday, and prosecutors say he is lively and he is not in poor health.

Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is standing by in Belgrade.

And Nic, give us more details on the appeal being fired by the lawyer of Ratko Mladic and the likely response to that appeal.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the lawyer has about another three hours here to file the final appeal, and he's saying that he will do it at the last minute, and he'll send it in by mail, which will, in the defense's estimation, slow down Mladic's extradition to The Hague. The prosecution, chief prosecutor, I talked to him a little earlier. He said that he's very happy with the way things are going so far.

What the defense lawyer has said, however, he wants another set of medical examinations performed. He says Mladic, while the court (ph) is thought to say that he's capable of standing the trial, the defense lawyer is saying look, he's capable of being in the courtroom, but not really participating in what's happening.

The defense lawyer wants a series of tests done by experts, cardiologist experts, neurologist experts, psychologists, gastroenterologists, just some of the doctors, specialties that he listed. But the chief prosecutor says look, Mladic, in court, has been well. He's been lively, even been joking in court, and said one of the reasons that the prosecution team has said that they released information about what Mladic has requested, which is some quite lengthy Russian books to read, novels, is to indicate and show that he is quite mentally capable. The fact that he's asking for Tolstoy and other such lengthy tones (ph) to read, the prosecutor says look, this means this is a man who's got his mental faculties and he's quite capable of going through the legal process here -- Kristie.

STOUT: OK. So some details there about his mental health, but what about his physical health? What more do we know about the condition of Ratko Mladic and if there's a chance that he, like Slobodan Milosevic, will not live to see a verdict handed down?

ROBERTSON: Well, there doesn't seem to be any doubt at the moment that he has had a medical of issues. Certainly the reports that he has had strokes before, nobody is discounting those reports at the moment.

And I talked to somebody who saw him this morning walking down the corridor, somebody who was very familiar with him through the war in Bosnia, and who remembered him as being a big, strong man. They told me that no longer does he have this healthy, big, bold appearance. He seems much more like an older man who literally shuffled down the corridor.

But when they heard him speak, he was very lively, speaking as he went into the courtroom, saying, "Where's the judges, the judge here?" So it does seem to be somebody who is physically not as strong as he was, but mentally, if the chief prosecutor is correct in his analysis, and other witnesses are correct, Mladic does sound as if he is still quite mentally capable -- Kristie.

STOUT: OK, Nic. Thank you very much for sharing those key details with us here on NEWS STREAM.

Nic Robertson, joining us live from Belgrade.

And still ahead on the program, recent fighting in Yemen raises fears of a full-blown civil war as the death toll in the city of Taiz just keeps on climbing.

Plus, looking to the end of the war in Libya. Can new mediation efforts find middle ground between Colonel Gadhafi and the opposition?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, in Yemen, military forces are facing off on two very different fronts. Now, in Taiz, they opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters. This was the scene Sunday night.

Medical officials tell us 20 are dead in this crackdown, hundreds are injured. That, as government troops battle suspected Islamic militants for control of a coastal city in Yemen. Now, witnesses are telling CNN that dozens of soldiers have been killed since that battle broke out on Saturday.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom has been following the violence in Yemen. He joins us now live from Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed, first, give us an update on the situation in Taiz, where government forces fired on the protesters. What are eyewitnesses telling you?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, starting last night, we started getting very disturbing reports from eyewitnesses and medical officials on the ground in Taiz. Government security forces started firing on them directly, trying to clear those crowds of tends of thousands of anti-government protesters in Taiz' Freedom Square.

Now, during the overnight hours, we heard of even more clashes. Medical officials, eyewitnesses telling us the government forces tried to basically burn camps there, tried to burn tents that anti-government demonstrators were in, that they started firing water cannons and tear gas canisters at these protesters.

We started getting more and more dramatic pictures that were posting on social media sites like YouTube. We can't verify the authenticity of those, but it certainly sounds like what we were hearing described from all the eyewitnesses on the ground there in Taiz.

As of this morning and today, we're hearing the situation has calmed. Medical officials telling us at least 20 people killed since the beginning of those clashes, and close to 200 people injured, all from gunshot wounds. Today, we're hearing the situation is more calm, that there is no more shooting, but we are hearing the security forces are using water cannons on protesters there to again try to clear those crowds, although members of the youth revolutionary movement we've been speaking with and e-mailing with, saying they're committed to continue coming out into the streets, to continue their peaceful revolution, until President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen steps down -- Kristie.

STOUT: And also, Mohammed, the situation in Zinjibar, now that is about not between the government and protesters, but between the government and militants. Are the militants making use of the political instability? And are these militants linked to al Qaeda?

JAMJOOM: Well, Kristie, this is what everybody is wondering. For a while now, since the political turmoil began in Yemen, people have wondered if Islamic militants or al Qaeda-affiliated groups there would try to take advantage of the strife in Yemen.

Now, they've been fairly quiet the last few months. People have wondered if they would start making their presence known.

We heard yesterday that starting early Saturday, Islamic militants basically seized the town of Zinjibar. That's in Abyan province.

What makes it more worrying is that Abyan province is a province that's known to be a stronghold for militants and al Qaeda-affiliated groups there. We've heard from eyewitnesses, residences there, there have been clashes since yesterday, fierce clashes. We're hearing this morning there have been airstrikes from Yemen's air force against targets held by those Islamic militants, that fierce clashes are going on, but hundreds of people evacuating the city.

People very concerned that al Qaeda is going to try to get involved now, going to try to take advantage of the political turmoil in Yemen. Now, whether or not this is actually al Qaeda, that's yet to be discerned.

Some people in the government speculating this is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Some just blaming it on Islamic militants. Nonetheless, a very worrying development at a time when there's so much strife in the country of Yemen. Everywhere you look there's a problem, whether it's the anti- government demonstrations, whether it's the tribal war that's going on in the capital and other major cities, or now Islamic militants seizing an entire city in a province that's known to be a stronghold for militancy there -- Kristie.

STOUT: All right.

Mohammed Jamjoom, briefing us on the turmoil in Yemen.

Thank you very much indeed.

Now, let's go to Syria now and a security sweep in the central part of the country over the weekend.

Now, witnesses say government forces shelled one town, entered others in tanks and armored cars, and opened fire on civilians.

Arwa Damon is watching this story closely from Beirut. She joins us now.

And Arwa, the crackdown continues inside Syria. What is the latest?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It most certainly not only continues, Kristie, but it also appears to be spreading.

As you mentioned there, according to activists, Syrian troops storming into a number of towns around the central city of Homs. This is information that is coming out from what is being called the local coordinating council of Syria. This is an umbrella organization that has been formed by activists.

They reported that a number of towns had been stormed, resulting in at least eight deaths. Amongst them, two schoolchildren. The schoolchildren reported to have been killed when a shell struck their bus. We also heard reports of a number of individuals who were trying to flee these crackdowns, forced to run through the fields because the main roads had been blocked off, and they were shot at by Syrian security forces.

A number of them, according to these councils, were injured, mostly men in their 20s. And when they went to the national hospital to receive treatment, they were reported to have been taken away by Syrian security forces. Their whereabouts, currently unknown.

And this, Kristie, has pretty much been what appears to be the status quo in Syria ever since this uprising began. This, again, only serving to emphasize what activists are saying are their claims that the ongoing brutality with which the regime is continuing to target these demonstrators -- Kristie.

STOUT: You know, just now, Arwa, we were screening some very heartbreaking video of the young victims of this bloody crackdown.

How is the international community and, in particular, the U.N., responding to these new reports of a bloody crackdown?

DAMON: Yes. Kristie, this most certainly appears to have been an uprising followed by this crackdown that is not discriminating when it comes to age or gender. We've had numerous stories of incredibly young victims, to include children, babies also being targeted.

When it comes to the international community, we did just hear from the U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights, who came out slamming both the Syrian and Libyan governments, in fact, for their particularly -- as being particularly shocking in their outright disregard for basic human rights. However, it is important to take note of the fact that unlike when it comes to Libya, there has been no U.N. resolution calling for the protection for civilians, there has been no U.N. resolution authorizing a no-fly zone.

In fact, when it comes to this most recent uprising in Syria, there has been no U.N. resolution at all. A number of Western countries, including France, were trying to circulate a draft that would actually only really go so far as to condemn the Syrian government's actions. That draft has not been put to a vote, and according to France's ambassador to the United Nations, that is not likely to take place before the end of this month because, some diplomats are saying, there are great concerns of a veto possibly from China or from Russia.

This type of division though within the Security Council, within the international community, analysts are saying, is playing straight into and in fact strengthening Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's hand -- Kristie.

STOUT: Arwa Damon, staying on this story for us, live from Beirut.

Thank you very much indeed for that latest update, Arwa.

Now, the first typhoon of the season, it brought heavy rain to Japan. But China is dealing with a drought. It is battling the lowest river levels in decades.

We've got a check on the weather. That's straight ahead. So do stay with NEWS STREAM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

STOUT: Now, up next here on NEWS STREAM, as fighting rages in Libya, a mediator has arrived in the capital. We'll have more on the latest bid to bring peace to the country.

And we'll bring you the secret to a long life. And for this woman, it's been a life long devoted to helping others.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout, in Hong Kong.

You're watching NEWS STREAM, and these are your world headlines.

Now, Sepp Blatter will stand unopposed in this week's election for president of FIFA, football's governing body. The Ethics Committee cleared him of any involvement in corruption, but suspended his only rival. FIFA executive Mohamed bin Hammam is under investigation for alleged bribery, and he denies any wrongdoing.





(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Under investigation for alleged bribery and he denies any wrong doing.

Lawyers for alleged war criminal Ratko Mladic have launched an appeal against his extradition to The Hague. Mladic is in custody in Belgrade and is expected to be transferred to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in the Netherlands this week. But his lawyers say he is too ill to face trial.

Two suicide bomb attacks in western Afghanistan have killed four people and wounded dozens more. Explosions happened within minutes of each other in the city of Heart once struck the Transport Ministry. Other heads of compound occupied by an Italian reconstruction team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: NATO secretary general says lives are being saved in Libya every day as they took command of operations two months ago. Airstrikes have increasingly put pressure on leader Moammar Gadhafi and Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the colonel's time is running out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Gadhafi's reign of terror is coming to an end. He is increasingly isolated at home and abroad. Even those closest to him are departing, defecting or deserting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Well, Rasmussen says force is not enough and there must be a political resolution between groups on the ground.

Now the president of South Africa is hoping to bring that about. Jacobs Zuma is in Tripoli for talks with Gadhafi. This is his second trip since the unrest began. This visit comes after Russia joined the other nations in calling for Gadhafi's exit. Moscow's surprise move may limit Gadhafi's options.

Over the weekend, forces loyal to Colonel Gadhafi have ramped fighting about Misrata and either side has seen a major victory in weeks and the country is essentially split into two. The opposition leadership in Benghazi says the movement desperately needs money to be successful.

And (inaudible) of some rebel-held towns live in fear that their homes will become battlegrounds once again. Ajdabiya was on the crossfire for months and Sara Sidner shows us the city now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER: Two and a half months ago, Ajdabiya was a scene of intense fighting between Gadhafi forces and the opposition. Control of the city swayed back and forth between the two with the rebels finally claiming victory.

What's left is the destruction of war. You'll see buildings that are completely destroyed like this coffee shop. You'll see bullet holes and you'll see some of the soot from burns, but most of the buildings in this city remained intact.

One month ago, this was a virtual ghost town. The frightened residents had abandoned their homes and their businesses trying to find refuge in other cities. And now things are slowly changing.

These traders are here. This is the main drag and they're selling vegetables and they say day by day, residents are returning. You've even seeing a few coffee shops opened with people sitting around smoking and talking to each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The fighting was really close and the shelling was sporadic so I picked up my family and we all left for 20 days before returning home. My wife and our only son were really terrorized from the shelling, but life is almost back to normal now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Most residents though have decided to stay away from Ajdabiya and there's a good reason why. You can see here on the western gate of the city just on the outskirts, the remnants of war.

These are tanks that have been hit by NATO airstrikes and some of the armored vehicles that have been blown apart. But you can also see the rebels going to and from the frontlines, which are just 10 minutes away from here and that's enough to keep residents away from their city worried that war might return. Sara Sidner, CNN, Ajdabiya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: And we are also hearing more about the alleged horrors of this war. Our Nic Robertson spoke to some former government soldiers who say they were ordered to use rape as a weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this makeshift rebel jail, this Gadhafi army deserter tells us what he saw before he fled his post.

I saw cell phone video of several soldiers raping two school girls, 15 and 17 years old. They were six days in Tripoli he says. As I was told, they were acting on military orders.

He tells me he ran away from the army when he realized officers were giving soldiers sexual stimulants and others to keep them awake.

I found Viagra and (inaudible) he says before a raid, they would hang them out to keep us awake for 72 hours. We were told when you go into a house, it's all yours. You can take what you want, rape the women.

Impossible for us to verify his claims, however, they were echoed by more prisoners at a different jail.

(on camera): There are 16 of them here. They say they all surrendered on the 24th of April, a month ago. I've been into talk to them already. Those that don't want to appear on camera have moved to one side.

So the prisoners were going to meet are the ones that have agreed to talk to us.

(voice-over): When I get back to their basement cell, half are willing to talk. None have met the other prisoner at the other jail.

Rape by soldiers was common, this prisoner tells me. We all knew it was going on. They all have similar accounts. All talk about cell phone videos.

Mobile phone video of rape, there were lots of them he says. In an odd twist of faith, the rebel in charge of the prisoners, a former pilot knows some of his captives, vouchers for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a flight engineer. This one is a flight engineer too and they will return him back to his family because I know his father. I know his mother. I know his brothers.

ROBERTSON: He agrees, he tells me he was an aircraft engineer given only a few hours weapons training and sent direct to the frontline. They all say their commanders lied to them.

They told us we'd be fighting al Qaeda and Algerians he says. Another adds, but when we saw they were Libyans like us, we surrendered.

(on camera): Well, the rebel commander tells us that keeping the prisoners here is a huge drain on their resources. That they have to feed them, get them water, get them everything that they need. It takes up men to guard them and what they've really like to happen is for international community to take care of these prisoners for them. Take them off their hands in fact.

(voice-over): Perhaps then the allegations of rape these men are making can begin to be investigate. The International Criminal Court wants to do. Nic Robertson, CNN, Libya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Germany relies heavily on nuclear power for its energy needs, but it is not to everyone's liking. These protesters demanded the end of nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. I'll tell you why they are now in a jubilant move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Welcome back. Now it has been four weeks since Osama Bin Laden was killed in the U.S. raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Our Stan Grant returned to the town to find that empty American sentiment is running high in some quarters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One month on, killing Osama Bin Laden has not won America too many friends here. The shopkeeper lives less than 200 meters from where Bin Laden lived and died. He has more sympathy for the slain al Qaeda leader - swearing at us, calling us pigs.

Are Muslims terrorist every way, he says. Actually America is the biggest terrorist. Others though are friendlier. This boy, Zara, approaches us with a story to tell.

He and his sister, Aza, befriended Bin Laden's youngest children and grandchildren. They say they were two boys, one girl, seven, four and three years old. Zara relived the cricket games he played with them. That's the white Bin Laden you can see behind us.

Contradicting reports that no outsiders have reached the Bin Laden security, Zara says he actually played inside the compound itself hitting a close look at a secret world. Despite being neighbors, the brother and sister, he didn't know the Bin Laden children's names.

The children told them their father was the family courier they called Nadin. Only now that they know who their playmates really were. My grandmother asked in Pashto who is your father, Aza says, they say Nadin. They always say Nadin.

Through this brother and sister, we get to piece together daily life in the Bin Laden compound. Rather than speaking from local language, the Bin Laden's preferred Pashto, the language of the Afghanistan-Pakistan order.

They were normal family, friendly the children say. They live as were Osama Bin Laden, he remained well hidden. They did meet the Bin Laden wives. They were two aunties standing in the house, Zara says.

They asked me how was I, where did I live, what did my mother do. I told them my mother was a housewife. They wore orden, Pakistani clothes. Zara says he noticed the women were different from other mothers in the neighborhood.

They spoke in a strange language he says, very poor (inaudible) then I thought probably they were Arabic and the children were different too. Even in this Muslim community, they were especially devoted.

They were very religious, Zara says. Whenever I went there to play, they ask me to wait until afternoon prayer and then they would stop playing later for evening prayer. Aza shows us pet rabbits, a gift from the Bin Laden family.

After everything she says, she misses her friends. They were young. They were beautiful. I really miss them. They were the only children we played with. Zara and Aza's father is a government official in the Justice Department.

Yet, Osama Bin Laden lived right next door and no one knew. The Bin Laden's lived this way for years in the hearth of Abbottabad, a military city in the mountains, two hours' drive north from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Now the area is in lockdown. In recent days, it's been open to the CIA to collect material and information, but no such access for us. As we tried to get close, this is what happens. The police say they are under instructions to smash our camera to get us back and we weren't be going in further.

(on camera): Well, this is clearly as far as we're going to go. We're not going to get any closer to the Bin Laden compound. Here life continues as normal. Beyond here though, 200 meters or so away is the Bin Laden house. Still holding in so many of the secrets of his life here in Abbottabad.

OK, we're finished. Thank you very much. Thank you. Stan Grant, CNN, Abbottabad, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Now Germany is turning its back on nuclear power. The government has announced a complete shutdown of the country's nuclear plants by 2022 and just nine months ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced an extension of the life span of the country's nuclear power plants.

But now, in the wake of Japan's nuclear disaster, the government has announced a dramatic u-turn. Now seven plants were taken offline for safety checks after the Japan quake and will not be restarted. Others will be shutdown over the coming years.

Now a single court case in California could have repercussions for freedom of speech around the world. Twitter has been ordered to reveal a user's identity after a series of tweets about a local authority in the U.K.

Atika Shubert has been following this for us and just now live from London. Atika, exactly what prompted the counsel to go after Twitter in a court in California?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically this was a dispute that was happening at a local town in the north of England and there was an anonymous blogger that was making allegations.

Allegations that councilors there said were unfounded. Now what they did was they applied to the courts in California saying that they were seeking a defamation case and asked that they needed information about certain accounts on Twitter including some of the accounts from anonymous bloggers.

Now Twitter then notified the various people in this account. We know this because we spoke one councilor who was notified by Twitter saying that he -- that the microblogging site was going to release his information if he did try and make an appeal or find some way to quash that request.

And in the end, about a month later, that information was released. So this could set an interesting precedent where - where around the world, people who are seeking information will file court orders in California to compel Twitter to give up that information.

And obviously, for many people this is a big concern. The councilor I spoke to said he's afraid that whistle blowers and other constituents will no longer be able to communicate with him on Twitter because they won't see it as being confidential anymore.

STOUT: Yes, I mean, this has huge ramifications. On Twitter, there are a lot of fake accounts along with news updates from the serious stuff. I mean, there are a lot of smack talks and trash being tweeted. Will this case change the culture of Twitter?

SHUBERT: It will. Certainly, it won't change it immediately. This is going to take a lot of time to trickle down. I think the question is, is this going to change whether or not a whole bunch of lawsuits are suddenly going to be start being filed in California.

We have seen one lawsuit - one legal action for example being taken place here, in the U.K. with injunctions for example. But filing a legal action here in the U.K. doesn't have the same impact than it does in California where Twitter will be affected. And Twitter may - says that they will comply with the court order if it's issued there.

STOUT: Now this could be the beginning of many more court cases to come being filed in California as you said. Atika Shubert joining us live from London. Thank you for that.

And coming up next on NEWS STREAM, perhaps you've heard of the losa loops and there's a vertical drop roller coasters. Well, we are checking out a new thrill ride. It's complete with both. So fasten your seatbelts. We're going to take you on a ride.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Welcome back. Now, do you think you've got what it takes to tackle the latest dare devil roller coaster? Our Rob Marciano heats up the challenge and he lives to tell us about it. In fact, he turns us now from CNN Center in Atlanta. Rob, how did it go?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not too bad, you know. There's a number of Six Flags Parks around the country and there's one just to the west of CNN Center here in Atlanta.

And they had a little media preview of one of their newest roller coasters. It goes straight up and then straight down and by no means a dare devil, but the name of the ride is the "Dare Devil Dive."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: What do we expect from (inaudible)?

ALEX WALKER, CNN PRODUCER: We're going to get 2,000 feet in two minutes, but the most important thing, first and foremost, is -

MARCIANO: -- going straight up.

WALKER: Yes, 10 stories straight up.

MARCIANO: OK, that doesn't look pretty scary.

WALKER: And at the back end of this -

MARCIANO: Yes.

WALKER: -- is a 95 -

MARCIANO: -- degree drop.

WALKER: Not 9 degree, not straight down. You're going in and down. You're going 95 degrees.

MARCIANO: This is 90 degrees.

WALKER: We're just at an angle here at the top before it drops.

MARCIANO: Wow! That was awesome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: My stomach still hurts in that. My watch, almost lost at pop - from the G forces. Kristie, just give you an idea of some other roller coasters around the world. I mean, they're getting more and more intense.

The largest drop, the (Calls) was actually in New Jersey, that one is over 150 meters high. The longest one is in Japan. It's called the "Stealth Dragon 2000." That's like 2-1/2 kilometers long and the fastest one, this one's in Dubai and that one goes 240 kilometers an hour.

So these things are getting more and more intense and actually they're getting smoother. It's - you know, you get banged around as far as G forces go, but you know, if you'd like to go fast, if you'd like that feeling of losing your stomach, Kristie. They're a lot of fun.

STOUT: I for one am not a fan of that feeling of losing my stomach, but I'm just hoping that you can do it again so the next time you do it, both arms straight up in the air. All right, a new watch.

MARCIANO: Whatever. I just do what I'm told. That's life still a job. I'm glad you know it.

STOUT: Great story and thanks for sharing the video with us. Rob Marciano joining us live from CNN Center. Take care.

Now let's get back to our Kate Giles for more from the world of sports and this time, we're (inaudible) into action on the course and the track. Is that right, Kate?

KATE GILES, CNN SPORT ANCHOR: That's totally right. Yes, we're fed up of corruptions - right now. Let's go over some positive sporting stories and a new world number one in gold.

Newt Donald won the BMW championship on Sunday and that means, of course, that he now overtakes Lee Westwood for that top spot in the world rankings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GILES (voice-over): Let me take you over now to the Westward Club for the final day's action. Look at that. Westwood entered Sunday two strokes off to lead, but he went ahead after producing a front 9-33. The Englishman finds himself too clear when he birdie the 15th following that brilliant approach within 3 feet.

But Westwood would then boggy his following his hole and looped on overtakes full advantage of that. Westwood's compatriot drew level by collecting a birdie at the same hole and both men would then end on a total of 278, which meant that that forced a playoff.

For the first extra holes, Donald struck a wedge at the 18th and the ball amazingly spun back to finish 3 meters from the hole. That - put all the pressure on Westwood for a moment and then it did appear that Westwood would duplicate Donald's shot, but his ball took an even ugly thin back and it made its way over the edge and into the ward.

Now that left him, of course, with a very difficult hit from the drop. This one, as Donald touching for victory, he makes it. No mistake and Donald wins the BMW championship and he replaces Westwood as the number one golfer in the world. Another new number one in golf.

LUKE DONALD, BECOMES WORLD NUMBER ONE ON MONDAY: That means a lot. It's just - you know, it means the hard work is paying off. And doing the right things, kind of good strong belief that I could get there and it's happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GILES: And most as well tell you as well the Indy 500 celebrated its 100th Anniversary this year and you won't believe how this year's race ended. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GILES (voice-over): An estimated crowd of over 200,000 fans of Indy 500 were on hand for an incredible finish. Rookie J.R. Helterbrand surprised almost everyone. He led the field on the final lap, but tragedy would follow.

He tried to pass on the outside and crashed his right into the wall on turn four. Watch that again. He just slams right into the wall. He tries to clear the lap car and unfortunately for the rookie, his 800th turn of the race would be his worth effort.

That opened the door then for Dan Wheldon. He took full advantage of the mistake and shoot passed Helterbrand to get his second Indy 500 win of his career.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GILES: All right, Kristie, back to you. So don't forget that we have San Pedro to Zurich. He'll be covering FIFA president's press conference. That happens in just over three hours from now, Kristie.

STOUT: All right, Kate. Thank you very much indeed for that. Kate Giles there.

Now, yoga, vanilla ice cream and charity work. Could those be the keys to a long life? They are for Singapore's Teresa Hsu. (Inaudible) 112 year old who is still going strong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): In the quiet corner of Singapore's Chinatown, Teresa Hsu hands out food to the needy. She's far older than these women and she loves to get a laugh.

She's a good person and helps us, this woman says. Theresa's charitable work has always been personal, small scale, but filling the void for many in need. For decades, she was a familiar face at the doorways of Singapore's less fortunate. But time understandably has slowed her down, Teresa Hsu is 112.

(on camera): What is it that you want to share with people that you want them to learn?

TERESA HSU, 112 YEARS OLD: To be healthy and be loving to everybody, good or bad. Those who are not nice people, they're unhealthy so we should help them more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And she has lived by those words. Teresa became a nurse to help the poor. Here at work in Paraguay in 1952 and in Vietnam, she helped a school of orphans. Years of quiet effort eventually drawing public recognition. At a local school, she shared her philosophy.

HSU: Whoever you see hungry, go out and help them. These are all our fellow human beings. Let nobody go hungry - your power to relief the hunger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN first met Teresa in 1988, busy at a home for Singapore's elderly. She started with her sister. She explained what motivated her.

HSU: It's the love of humanity and the thought of serving the poor and the sick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And back then she called her good health a gift to be put to use. To stay healthy, she had begun learning yoga at age 69. Decades later, Teresa was teaching. Here at 102 at a demonstration in Taiwan. Recent falls led her to stop yoga, but she hopes to start again.

HSU: Yoga keeps your body healthy and if you're physically healthy, you are mentally healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And being happy said Teresa is the main reason for her good health. If you wonder about her diet, Teresa has always been a vegetarian, but one food brings the biggest smile to Teresa, vanilla ice cream. Her long time friend and assistant, Sherona takes her for her favorite treat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delicious. Tell me, is the old people - of ice cream?

HSU: They're not old and only hungry and -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And not ready to stop helping others.

HSU: I don't think I'll stop. My disability will stop me, but - can run 10 miles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Lisney Par), CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: An amazing woman, and that is NEWS STREAM. But the news continues at CNN. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.

END