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CNN Live Saturday

Pope Visits Poland; Interview With Dag Bohlin

Aired May 27, 2006 - 17:30   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Sources say the attorney general and the head of the FBI threatened to quit, if forced to give back evidence seized from a congressman's office. President Bush has ordered a cooling off period.
A U.S. helicopter down in Iraq. Two Marines are missing. The U.S. military says it doesn't look like an enemy attack is to blame.

The official death toll has topped 3,000 from the earthquake in Indonesia. And government officials are pleading for outside aid.

And General Motors recalls 30,000 Corvettes. The company says there's a chance the detachable roofs on some 2005 and 2006 models could fly off.

In Poland, Pope Benedict XVI is on a sentimental journey, he's touring John Paul II's birthplace and hinting about sainthood. Our Delia Gallagher reports from Poland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Nothing evokes the spirit of the late Pope John Paul II more than a youth gathering, and over 500,000 kids from Krakow have turned out with backpacks, flags and sleeping bags to welcome Pope Benedicts XVI, many of them hoping to hear that John Paul would be made a saint, but that process is not yet finished and Pope Benedict said today that he, along with them, hopes that that will happen in the near future.

The pope also visited John Paul's hometown of Wadowice, where he was greeted by honor guards in traditional dress and signs saying "santo subito" in Polish and Italian, "sainthood now," outside of Karol Wojtyla's childhood home. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls says that the pope had no real need to come to Poland at this time, except for his own desire to come and see the places most closely associated with John Paul II.

And, continuing a tradition of John Paul II, Pope Benedict went to visit the sick today at a Marian shrine in Krakow, embracing young children and adults in wheelchairs and telling them that their suffering was a sign of God bowing down to humanity in love.

The last stop in this papal trip is Sunday at Auschwitz where the pope will meet with survivors and offer a prayer in his native German language.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Krakow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: In our "World Wrap" tonight, a Berlin teenager is charged with attempted murder after going on a stabbing rampage. The teen wounded 28 people who were leaving a dedication ceremony for Berlin's new central rail station last night.

And violence in East Timor, armed gangs torched houses. There is a path of destruction across the capital today. Violence threatens to plunge the world's youngest nation into civil war.

And police and Russian nationalists and religious groups break up Moscow's first-ever gay rights march. Russian gay activists tried to march in downtown Moscow today, despite an official ban. The marchers called their short-lived protest a great victory.

And now a story from a lawless part of the world, where a man with a gun is a man with unchecked power. The place is eastern Congo, and this story is deeply disturbing. It's about epidemics, of unpunished rapists, many of them are members of the Congolese army. I'll be talking with a humanitarian worker from the region. But first, our report from CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They sing to comfort each other and to find strength. These mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters have all been raped again and again by men in uniform.

The crimes are not isolated incidents, 21-year-old Tintsi was attacked by 15 men wearing uniforms of the Congolese army. She says they raped her for eight days and eight nights. She was brought here on a stretcher, now she needs a cane to walk.

"They can take away my womanhood," she says, "but they will never be able to break my spirit."

The stories get even worse, 28-year-old Henriette Nyota says three years ago she was gang-raped while her husband and four children were forced to watch. The soldiers then disemboweled her husband and continued raping her and her two oldest daughters, ages 8 and 10. This went on for three days, she says.

"I wish they could have killed me right there along with my husband," she says. "What use am I now? Why did those animals leave me to suffer like this?"

Inzigide (ph) tells us soldiers used her as a sex slave for more than a month. She bore a child as a result. Every day, she says, feels like a death sentence. This 19-year-old mother struggles to keep her maternal instincts alive.

"I sometimes feel like killing myself and my daughter," she says. "I look at her, and all I see is hate. I look at myself, and all I see is misery. Sometimes I wish I were dead."

Officials here say this past year there were more than 4,000 reported rape cases in this one province of the eastern Congo alone. As part of the peace deal that ended the civil war here more than two years ago, the country's various militias were mixed into the Congo's army, warring factions now wearing the same uniform. Some, now raping at will.

But why? Local officials and aid workers notice the majority of victims are from one ethnic group. So they suspect the atrocities are being committed by soldiers of a rival ethnic group, who are now mixed into the army. Hate crimes on a mass scale.

Dr. Denis Mokwege Mukengere is the lone physician at this hospital that specializes in victims of sexual violence. In his 23 years practicing in this region, he admits he's never seen such brutality.

"When we hear stories of how some of them have knifes thrust into them after being raped," he says, "and how some suffered gunshot wounds after a pistol has been fired between their legs, it's the cruelest and most barbaric thing I have ever seen."

Here in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it's easy to find the victims of rape. Charities say there seems to be no effort to find the rapists. And so the women of this country must try to heal without justice. It makes the words of their song all the more powerful.

"We will never be broken," they sing. "We will never be broken."

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Bucabu (ph), in eastern Congo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We believe this story deserves further discussion. Joining me by telephone from Stockholm, Sweden, Dag Bohlin. Mr. Bohlin he heads up development projects in part of central Africa for a Swedish organization, PMU Interlife.

Dag Bohlin, to hear that story is disgusting and it is heartbreaking. What is the motivation behind these rapes?

DAG BOHLIN, PENTECOSTAL MISSION: Well, I think it's very difficult to say, but it's -- from the soldiers' side, it's more, I think, to destroy the spirit of these women and the ethnic groups, I think.

LIN: Is there nothing that these women can do to defend themselves?

BOHLIN: Well, it's to hide in the forest and to flee their home villages.

LIN: They have no weapons, no access to weapons?

BOHLIN: No, I don't think so.

LIN: And nor do their husbands?

BOHLIN: No, I don't think so.

LIN: Because if they were to retaliate, what would happen then?

BOHLIN: Well, it's getting more worse, probably.

LIN: And why isn't the government getting a handle on this, stopping the violence? These are government troops.

BOHLIN: Yes. I think -- but as the journalist said, it's also other different militia groups and as the capital is too far away, it's also very difficult for the government to handle the situation in the eastern part of the country.

LIN: So what happens next, then? What hope is there for these women?

BOHLIN: Well, there's an election coming on now in July, and hopefully the elections will bring a stronger government to the fore of the Congo, so maybe in the future there could be a solution.

LIN: What are you doing -- or your organization, what can you do for these women?

BOHLIN: Well, we are supporting this Panzi Hospital with aid and to try to help these victims of this sexual violence.

LIN: Dag, what accounts for their spirit? I mean, is that what I am seeing in the piece there? There is a spirit, a toughness to them?

BOHLIN: Yes, I think -- I have met many of these women. I can also see that there is a spirit, and that's the hope for these groups and these women.

LIN: Dag Bohlin, thank you very much.

BOHLIN: Thank you.

LIN: The Congo also faces other problems, the U.N. says 1,000 people die there each day as a result of violence and starvation and disease. Amnesty International says that number has reached almost 4 million in the last eight years. Now in just two provinces the fighting has displaced at least 137,000 people from their homes. Now if you are wondering how you can help, and you can help, go to cnn.com/360blog.

Political pandering at its finest. You know it's a campaign year when politicians promise to put money back into your pocket. CNN's Bill Schneider, part of the best political team on television, has gathered the top five gimmicks.

And straight ahead, a look at how Americans are remembering their fallen heroes this Memorial weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We noticed in a newspaper this week that there was a story about state and federal lawmakers working on tougher penalties for sex offenders. Well, there's some consensus out there that that's only going to drive offenders underground instead of forcing them to register. Then that got us thinking, in the meantime Congress is giving a $100 rebate to offset high gas prices? Is this really about making a better society or election-year gimmicks? CNN political analyst Bill Schneider comes back with more on this on the length that lawmakers are going to go to get your vote.

Does this bring back memories, Bill?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: A lot of memories. I think the most famous gimmick I've ever seen in an election year was George McGovern in 1972 when he ran for as the Democrat for president, proposed giving every American citizen a check for $1,000, man, woman, and child.

Well, this proposal got so much ridicule he had to abandon the idea in August of 1972, because nobody knew how he was going to pay for it.

LIN: And then was this more recent promise from President George Bush Sr.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, 41ST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Read my lips, no new taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: He lived to rue that day, Bill.

SCHNEIDER: He did. Though it helped him get elected. The problem was he had to violate that promise in 1990 when he allowed Congress -- went along with a tax increase and that was a very bitter experience for that first President Bush.

In a similar way, Bill Clinton, when he ran for president in 1992, he promised middle-class tax cuts. And you may remember that his opponent in that campaign, Paul Tsongas, called him the pander- bear for pandering to the voters. Remember, Tsongas said, I'm not running to be Santa Claus, well, what Paul Tsongas discovered was Santa Claus is a pretty popular fellow in this country.

LIN: You bet. So does it ever really work? I mean, is there a payoff for these politicians? Like when Congress says, all right, we want a $100 rebate this year for people who are paying high gas prices?

SCHNEIDER: Normally voters see through that. I would say there is a distinction. It does not work just to say we are going to give you money. People are very suspicious and they take offense at being bribed, like the $100 gas rebate which was originally suggested by Bill Frist, who may be a presidential candidate in 2008, he's now the Senate Republican majority leader.

People tend to see through those kind of things when you try to give them money. But when you talk about cutting taxes, as the first President Bush did, as Clinton did in 1992, that does often work, because when you talk about cutting taxes, people say, well, that's money we're paying anyway and the government takes too much of it, so why not give us a tax cut. Now that works.

LIN: So people don't care about the deficit, they don't care about sort of the bigger economic picture of what that might cost the country?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they think basically the government wastes so much money on all these worthless projects and overspending and fraud and waste and abuse that they can do without a little less -- without a little of my money that would subsidize all these terrible things.

LIN: All right. So what should we be looking forward to as the election gets closer?

SCHNEIDER: More pandering, more gimmicks, because, look, this is a real ground warfare. Look at the pork barrel spending that member of Congress have supported. There is outrage among liberals and conservative over these projects. Members of Congress are always proposing spending earmarks to get the money into their districts. The voters in their district love it, but then they say, look at Congress, they are irresponsible, they have the deficit all driven to pieces, they are spending too much money, but they like the money that they get brought home and that's how members of Congress get re- elected.

LIN: Bill, thanks for flying with this idea this week. Really interesting. Knew you would find some stuff.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

LIN: Bill Schneider, the best -- part of the best political team in television, thanks.

Well, when we return, honoring those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We certainly hope you are enjoying this Memorial Day weekend. But for the families of the fallen, it's a bittersweet holiday. So we wanted to share with you the sights and sounds from observances in our nation's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(TAPS PLAYING) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much for giving of your life and giving of your time so that we, today, can sit and stand in this amphitheater free, free, free. May we never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have seven brothers. Four of us were in World War II. Two of us also served in Korea (INAUDIBLE) the National Guard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I come up here every -- at least once a year, sometimes more than that, just to let them know that I still know they are alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public always wanted to forget about Vietnam, and we'd like to forget about Vietnam, but it's something that I'll never, ever be able to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was wounded, listed for dead, and made it back. So I figure I should come here and pay my respects to those who didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wall isn't just a tourist attraction. It's a memorial. It's a monument to my brothers that died and are missing in action, and we need to honor them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have 176 names on one column, my best friend is on column three west, he died in my arms. One of the guys in my team, well, right now, faces of the fallen down here, my son's portrait is there. He wanted to carry on the family tradition, as he put it. We read the last letter at his funeral, his simple statement was: "Before I could take advantage of the freedoms that have been given to me, have been fought for, I have to earn them myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were doing what we thought was right. History will say we did or history will say we didn't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Straight ahead in the next hour CNN LIVE SATURDAY, a massive earthquake in Indonesia. What overwhelmed hospitals are doing to treat the thousands of injured survivors.

And baby boom, how military moms cope with welcoming new little lives amid the chaos of war.

That and the rest of the day's headlines after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I yelled twice: "We have friendlies on top!" The crew must have not heard me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: What really happen when Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire? A CNN investigation uncovers details about the former NFL player's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tired of standing at long lines at the airport to check in your luggage? One airport has come up with a solution to save you time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: It is going to surprise you. Checking bags and getting your airplane tickets at your hotel, it's convenient, but is it foolproof? Susan Candiotti has more details.

Hello. I'm Carol Lin, and this is CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Those stories straight ahead.

But first the headlines.

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