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Balcony Collapse Details; Al-Qaeda in Yemen Leader Killed; Latest Fighting in Syria; Egyptian Boys Pressed into Illegal Activities

Aired June 16, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

ROBYN CURNOW: Hello there, and welcome to the International Desk. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center. Our top story this hour, a tragedy in the

US state of California has claimed the lives of a number of young people from Ireland. Now, it happened in the City of Berkeley when a balcony

collapsed there in an apartment complex late Monday night. Our Dan Simon is standing by with the latest. Hi, there, Dan. What do you know what

happened?

DAN SIMON: Well, hi, Robyn, the call came in at 12:40 in the morning local time. I'm standing in front of the apartment complex, and you can see that

balcony is gingerly perched above -- it came from the top floor, the fourth floor, and it's just sitting on the level right below it. Again, just

before 1:00 in the morning, there was some type of party or gathering going on. At least 13 people were apparently on that balcony when it gave way.

We know that at -- five people have died, and at least eight others have been taken area hospitals. Now, in terms of the victims, we were told that

all five of them are Irish Nationals, that we should -- that this complex is just a few blocks from UC Berkley, which is a very famous institution

here in the States. We don't know if (inaudible) but it certainly attracts a lot of people from overseas because of its academic excellence. This is

just a heartbreaking situation. Crews are still trying to figure out what caused that balcony to give way (inaudible). Here

at the scene, this is has all been taped off, and just an absolute tragedy, Robyn.

CURNOW: Thanks for that update, Dan Simon, there. Our apologizes to our viewers, the communications connection was slightly spotty, but I believe

you got the gist of it. Ten people -- eight people injured, five killed in that balcony collapse in California. Well, now to word of another big blow

to the terror group al-Qaeda. Its Yemen branch is regrouping after saying its leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, was killed in a US drone strike. He was

second in command of al-Qaeda overall, and this comes as the US works to confirm the death of another terror leader. Libya says Mokhtar Belmokhtar

was killed in an air strike over the weekend. He led al-Qaeda's North African operation. Well, let's get more details on all of this and take a

look at what these killings might mean for the terror group. Our terror analyst, Paul Cruickshank, joins me now from our London studio. Hi there,

Paul, how important are these deaths?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK: Well, the death of Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al- Qaeda in Yemen is a massive blow against the global al-Qaeda network, going to be the biggest below against it since the death of Osama bin Laden a

number of years ago. Wuhayshi was the global number two of al-Qaeda, somebody who was probably destined to take over the whole organization at

some point in the future. Many people saw him as the long-term successor of Osama bin Laden. He was charismatic. He was beloved of his fighters in

Yemen, and al-Qaeda here have really lost, perhaps their brightest star in terms of the context with ISIS globally for recruits. Wuhayshi was very,

very, very popular at a time when a number of groups were going over to the ISIS side, so it will be a big loss for both al-Qaeda in Yemen, and al-

Qaeda globally that he's gone. Now, in the case of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian terrorist, also part of the al-Qaeda network, it's not clear yet

whether he was killed in that strike in Ajdabiya in Libya.

There are some indications that he may have survived the attacks, and Jihadies are claiming that he wasn't there in that farmhouse at that time,

so we'll have to wait and see on the Belmokhtar front.

CURNOW: Yeah. And I think the lack of confirmation there, again, highlighting the complexities of this drone program.

CRUICKSHANK: Absolutely, because the United States may wish to target a particular terrorist leader, but it's not always clear if they're going to

be there at any one point and time, and it's difficult to tell, often in very chaotic circumstances in places like Libya, places like Yemen, which

are places where there's a civil war going on to a certain degree, whether somebody has been killed or not, very difficult to go in and do some DNA

analysis, but in the case of Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the leader of AQAP, a few hours ago this morning, it was the group themselves that announced that

Nasir al-Wuhayshi had been killed. They announced that a new successor had come in, Qasm al-Rimi, who is a very, very capable and veteran figure in

the group, really very much ran the group with Nasir al-Wuhayshi, so they'll be a degree of continuity here for AQAP, but a big blow against the

organization, nevertheless, Robyn.

CURNOW: Thank you so much there, appreciate your analysis as always. Well, the death sentence for Egypt's first democratically-elected leader

has been upheld. A Cairo Court confirmed last month's ruling against Mohamed Morsi for his role in a 2011 prison break. The former president

was also sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges. Both verdicts can be appealed. Now, we'll have much more on those rulings coming up in

the next hour on Connect the World. Our Betsy Anderson will be hosting a special edition of the program from Cairo where she'll get all the

reaction. Well, there's been a new wave of deadly violence that has struck the contested Syrian City of Aleppo. An activist group says at least 34

people have been killed in rebel attacks, more than 300 rockets were fired on the government-held western side of the city. Nearly 200 others were

wounded. A spokesman for the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it marks the bloodiest day for government-controlled parts of Aleppo since the

civil war began. And authorities in England and Turkey are trying to figure out if a British family may be making their way into ISIS territory

in Syria. Three sisters and their nine children are missing after all but two of them apparently flew to Istanbul during a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Well, CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now from Bradford, England. Hi there, Nic, what do you know?

NIC ROBERTSON: Well, Robyn, we do expect to learn a little more in a little over an hour. A lawyer representing the husbands of those three

sisters and the father of the three sisters, are expected to give a press conference shortly. They say that they're concerned that the three sisters

and the nine children, or at least seven of those nine children, may have gone to Syria. The reason that they say that is because what -- the

brother of those three sisters is already in Syria. The family alerted the police here on the 11th of June because their sisters were due to come back

home from this trip to Saudi Arabia, a religious pilgrimage. They were due to come back home on the 9th of June, but, instead, of flying from Saudi

Arabia back to Britain, they actually boarded a plane for Turkey, and that is what's given rise to these fears and concerns. Adding to it, adding to

that, the concerns are amplified because their phones have not -- have been switched off, and their social media accounts have not been

used, so the authorities, the police here, the West Yorkshire Police, have been in contact with Turkish authorities to try to find out what additional

information they can find out from inside Turkey. Did these women and the children try to travel into Syria? These children are aged between 3 and

15. There is concern, a very big concern, and bigger concern by authorities here for their safety and welfare, and that of the three

sisters. The three sisters are aged 30, 33, and 34. The question about two of their children, did they get on the flight from Saudi Arabia? It's

not clear at the moment if there was some kind of computer glitch, we're being told, where they got on the flight, and they didn't register that

they were getting on the plane, but right now, the big concern is -- and we're -- I talked to a local MP here -- is getting the children back safe

and sound to the UK, Robyn.

CURNOW: I'm just reading here the press release that was put out by the family, and it seems quite desperate in a sense that they've actually come

to the media asking for media attention because they, in a sense, feel frustrated with what local authorities have done to try and help them.

ROBERTSON: Yeah. Well, what British officials are saying is there's a limit to what they can do in terms of getting information from Syria

because they don't have access there. They don't have anyone that they can turn to for information. This is why they've turned to the Turkish

authorities for it, but the family do seem and have said with all those people that they've met, with lawyers, with members of Parliament and a

parliamentarian I talked to earlier today. I've met with some of the husbands. They're desperate to get their wives back home and know where

they were. They said they had no idea that this was about to happen, that the -- that these three sisters were planning to do something like this,

take off to Syria at this time, so they are concerned, and we do expect to hear more in the next hour or so, Robyn.

CURNOW: Thanks so much, Nic Robertson, there, appreciate it. Well, still to come at the International Desk, they're promised paradise only to

disappear without a trace. How Egypt's illegal people smuggling operations are robbing the country of its young people. And a woman at the center of

a controversy about race and identity finally breaks her silence. Rachel Dolezal was born blue-eyed and blonde, and she says she identifies as a

black woman, all that and more at the International Desk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. Now, a civil rights activist who set off a firestorm about racial identity in the US is finally speaking

directly to the media. Rachel Dolezal stepped down as the leader of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the NAACP after her white parents told

reporters their daughter had been lying about her race. Well, Dolezal told Matt Lauer of NBC's Today Show that she has viewed herself as black since

childhood.

MATT LAUER: Are you an African-American woman?

RACHEL DOLEZAL: I identify as black.

LAUER: You identify as black. Let me put a picture up of you in your early 20's, though.

DOLEZAL: Uh-huh.

LAUER: And when you see this picture, is this an African-American woman, or is that a Caucasian woman?

DOLEZAL: That's -- I -- not in my early 20's, but.....

LAUER: That's a little younger, I guess, yeah.

DOLEZAL: Yes. I was 16 in that picture.

LAUER: Is she a Caucasian woman or an African-American woman?

DOLEZAL: I would say that visibly, she would be identified as white by people who see her.

LAUER: But at that time, were you identifying yourself as African- American?

DOLEZAL: In that picture, during that time? No.

LAUER: Your parents were asked this question this week, and they didn't have any trouble answering it. Here's what they said. She's clearly our

birth daughter, and we're clearly Caucasian. That's just a fact. Your father went onto say, she's a very talented woman doing work she believes

in. Why can't she do that as a Caucasian woman? Which is what she is. How do you answer that question?

DOLEZAL: Well, first of all, I really don't see why they're in such a rush to whitewash some of the work that I have done, and who I am and how I've

identified, and this goes back to a very early age with my self- identification with the black experience as a very young child.

LAUER: When did it start?

DOLEZAL: I would say about five years old.

LAUER: You began identifying yourself as African-American.

DOLEZAL: I was drawing self portrait with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon, and the black -- you know -- black curly hair, and, you know,

yeah, that was how I was portraying myself.

CURNOW: Well, this story has got people talking. That is for sure. Well, let's talk then more about this controversy. I'm joined from -- our CNN

Bureau by CNN commentator, Michaela Angela Davis. Hi there, what did you make of Rachel's comments? I mean, she seemed quite unrepentant, didn't

she?

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS: Yes. And, good morning from New York. You know, I was struck that she did not open with an apology; with and apology to her

family, with an apology to the people she might have hurt, with an apology to the scores of black women who have had to come out and defend their

experience, their history, and their heritage as the result of one woman's case, so it was striking, and also there were so many questions still left

unanswered; particular, the one, you know, presented that her father said, why couldn't she have done this great work as an openly white woman? And

her, you know -- and I think it's always not a good idea to use the word whitewash when answering questions about race, but I feel like she really

did not get to any of these answers directly, so we even have more frustration and more questions as a result of this first interview.

CURNOW: During that interview, Matt --

DAVIS: Uh-huh.

CURNOW: -- Lauer then commented on a piece of writing on the -- in the Washington Post where somebody --

DAVIS: Uh-huh.

CURNOW: -- said, black face is racist no matter how down with the cause you are. Rachel then says, this was not black face as a performance. I

mean, this is really going at racial stereotypes and questioning --

DAVIS: Uh-huh.

CURNOW: -- what it means to be black.

DAVIS: Yes. And the thing is, she's a scholar, right? If you look at some of her lectures, she's very studied and learned on the complexities of

the black experience and also the complexities of white supremacy in America, so she knows that there are -- there's a wide array of say hues

that black women have, like mine and my hair, so she knows to exploit certain kind of performances of blackness that would go unchallenged, but

also, you know, her response to bringing a lawsuit against one of the most prestigious black institutions in America, Howard University, as a white

woman not long ago. She never addressed that directly, so there she was identifying as white. She was saying at 16, she was identifying as white.

At five she was identifying at black, so her -- I feel like she's shape- shifting her identity to fit the circumstances, and, you know, her parents said that they hoped that she would get help for what she needs, so I think

that might suggest some kind of identity disorder, but what it has

sparked again, is this kind of conversation, and what's troublesome for some of us is that is the black woman's experience so fragile that one

woman's issue would have us questioning our very existence. Like, we have no data. We have no series of face -- case studies. We have no science,

unlike what we have with transgender experience, there's been lots of research and thoughtful conversations about it and real life experiences,

and this kind of negates that whole experience as well. Like, lived black lives matter. History matters. Loving versus the Board of Education --

Loving verse the State of Virginia matters. Our whole complex history seems to be in question from this one woman's experience that she never

even identified what this black experience she's been living is.

CURNOW: Well, there was one Tweet I saw from somebody saying, she's taking on an oppression that's not hers. I mean --

DAVIS: Yes.

CURNOW: -- there has -- really has --

DAVIS: Uh-huh.

CURNOW: -- fueled a lot of self-questioning --

DAVIS: Yeah.

CURNOW: -- across color lines here, but that brings, you mentioned it briefly, the issue of trans-racialism. Is it the same as transgender, and

a quick answer, if you don't mind. My producer is saying we're running out of time, but I really want --

DAVIS: No.

CURNOW: -- you to answer this question.

DAVIS: No. Quick answer, no.

CURNOW: I didn't expect that quick. But -- so why is it different?

DAVIS: Well, because transgender people are not pretending to be something. They are living an authentic life. She is pretending. She's

trying on hair and trying on, you know, different makeup at different times. It is a disrespect to the transgender experience; particularly,

black transgender women who have been threatened, who do get hate crimes, that this woman who's -- again, this sparked as investigation against hate

crimes that may be fraudulent, so all of this, you know, comparing and conflating these two issues and identities is a -- is disgraceful.

CURNOW: Okay. Opinions, and there have been a lot of them. Thank you so much for coming on the iDesk, Michaela --

DAVIS: Thank you.

CURNOW: -- Angela Davis. Thank you. Well, coming up at the International Desk, the latest on the search for two escaped killers in New York State.

Find out what officials are saying about the trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Hi there. Welcome back. Now, a village on the coast of Egypt has become ground zero for missing sons. The young men have been heading to

Italy with smugglers in search of a better life, but in some cases, they've been tricked, and they're just never seen again. In this Freedom Project

report, we take a closer look at a deadly trade.

NIMA ELBAGIR: The sun rising over Egypt's Mediterranean Coast. The Nile Delta is home to generations of Egyptian fishermen casting out onto Med.

It's also the country's smuggling heartland. Those very same boats loaded up with human cargo heading for Europe. Some eventually make the journey

home, but too many never return. My son left on September 6th. Seven days later, they told us the ship he was on has sunk. Imma (ph) Graheim's (ph)

son was 17 when he disappeared. She says smugglers later told her he was crewing one of that he ships headed to Italy, and she's not alone. As we

spoke to Imma (ph) Graheim's (ph), another mother sits quietly crying, waiting to tell us her story.

THE INTERPRETER: He never stole. He never worked in smuggling or any of these things. They told him, come work for Tunday's (ph) Fishing and come

back, and since September, and up to this moment, this fire is burning us. We can't eat, drink, or rest.

ELBAGIR: A lot of the parents don't want to show their faces, but they do want us to show the pictures of their sons. This is Scarum (ph). His

mother still doesn't know where he is. He's amongst at least six of the kids from this village that went down on that boat. Their families have

been searching for the last nine months and they still have no idea where these boys are. Both mothers hope that by telling their stories, someone

somewhere will recognize the boys. We've been investigating the trafficking of teenagers and boys from Egypt to Italy for several months

now, boys forced to work on smuggling ships and then dumped on the Italian Coast, manning the boats ferrying illegal migrants. As we finished up the

interviews, news had spread that the next stop on our journey was Italy. Mothers crowded us in the street with pictures and documents. It looks

like this entire village is (inaudible). This has become such a (inaudible) place. A lot of these mothers that are flooding around as they

say that their sons were forced on these ships, were forced to man these ships, and now they say that they've been imprisoned (inaudible) in Sicily.

But they're not just crewing the boats. They often make up the bulk of the passengers. The brutal uncertainty of recent years as plunged Egypt into

economic turmoil. All those who are able, sometimes as young as nine and ten, are risking the sea crossing to Italy, sometimes risking jail, the

other side. Smuggling inlets like Burj Mughayzil dot this coastline. Captain Mahmor (ph) and his ship's mate have made the journey to Italy many

times, smuggling over boatloads of kids. The parents, he says, are as much to blame as the smugglers.

THE INTERPRETER: People here in this village, they're selling their kids. They think, we're 10 and we can't find enough to eat. When we're nine, we

can eat a little better. If we're eight, we can eat a little better still. If two get locked up, better. Then we all die together.

ELBAGIR: If the smuggled children do make it to Italy and find work there, it could change their entire family's fate. We leave Burj Mughayzil.

There are many more villages along this coast where parents have stories to tell, but before we arrive at the next one, we receive a phone call. The

families say, we're no longer welcome. Further evidence perhaps, of the smugglers' influence. There are laws in place to protect vulnerable

children here, but we asked the government body tackling this issue, is it enough?

THE INTERPRETER: There are families who have lost two children on the sea crossing to Egypt, and they still send their last remaining son. Can you

believe it? There has to be zero tolerance under the law for the brokers of this. They tempt parents with an awaiting paradise.

ELBAGIR: Gazing out across the Med from here, it must feel like they're looking towards a promised land that is just within reach, but for so many

who do make that journey, what they find is hardship and heartbreak and more children who have carried with them the burden of their families'

dreams. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Burj Mughayzil, Egypt.

CURNOW: And you can watch the rest of CNN's report on Egypt's child migrants and follow the story all the way to the streets of the Italian

capitol, Rome, this week on Amanpour. That's at 7:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Rome and Cairo only on CNN. Well, rain, wind and choppy seas,

still ahead, we are live from Texas as a tropical storm makes its presence felt, and the manhunt for two escaped killers goes on nearly two weeks

after they broke out of a New York prison. We'll have an update on the search.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back to the International Desk. I'm Robyn Curnow. Here are the headlines. The US is still working to confirm the death of al-

Qaeda leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi. The group's Yemen affiliate announced he was killed in a US drone strike last week. al-Wuhayshi led the Yemen

branch, and he was the number two man in the global al-Qaeda organization. And a Cairo Court has upheld the death sentence for deposed Egypt president

Mohamed Morsi. He was found guilty last month for his role in a mass prison break during the 2011 up rising. The Court also gave Morsi a life

sentence for espionage, both rulings can be appealed. New numbers on the MERS outbreak in the South Korea. Officials say 19 people have died, and

now there are a total of 154 cases, 16 patients are described as being unstable, and hundreds more are under quarantine, but the World Health

Organization says new cases seem to be declining, as the outbreak could be slowing down. Ireland is confirming that several young Irish Citizens were

killed in a balcony collapse in the US State of California late Monday night. Eight people were taken to the hospital with serious to life-

threatening injures. A police official says it isn't clear what caused the balcony at a Berkeley apartment complex to collapse. And officials in New

York say the search for two convicted killers who escaped from prison is now gone cold, but prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, is behind bars, accused

of helping them pull it all off. A source says the fugitives planned to kill Mitchell's husband, which raises new questions for investigators. The

men broke out of the maximum security facility nearly two weeks ago. Well, let's go to Alexandra Field in West Plattsburgh, New York for the latest.

Hi, Alexandra. I mean, as role reversals go, this is pretty striking. The prison employee sits in jail while the two murders she helped escape are

free and on the run.

ALEXANDRA FIELD: That's right, Robyn. She's facing up to eight years behind bars accused of assisting these two men in breaking out of the

prison. That's the allegation from law enforcement. Officers who say that she was intending to drive the getaway car, but never showed up. It's not

clear if any of the invest -- the information that she has provided to investigators remains helpful at this point, because these two men have

been on the run for some 11 days now. The search continues out here. The road behind me here is still closed off, every car being searched as it

passes through, but investigators say they have seen no clear sign that either of these men remain in the area since last week. Closely monitored

behind bars, officials say former prison employee, Joyce Mitchell, is calm and cooperative as we learn more about her alleged deep involvement with

fugitives Richard Matt and David Sweat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's apparent that she's -- you know -- she's trying to be as truthful, I think, as possible.

FIELD: A source with detailed knowledge of the investigation told CNN Mitchell had a sexual relationship with Matt, and in the past, she had been

investigated for having an inappropriate relationship with Sweat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They'll exploit someone. They'll see a weakness in someone, and they'll use whatever they can to befriend them.

FIELD: This, as officials say, she had been sneaking both men certain supplies like glasses with lights on them beginning over a year-and-a-half

ago. She claims she had no idea back then the tools were going to be used to help them dig out of the maximum security prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was told by Matt that they're using those to stay up late at night to paint pictures or to read.

FIELD: The sources also say the escapees planned to kill Mitchell's husband, and that she was aware, but it's unclear if she knew the exact

details. Investigators say the possible murder of her husband, Lyle, was one of the reasons she got cold feet and backed out of being their getaway

driver, but officials say they can't imagine Matt and Sweat would go through something so elaborate and so meticulous to then rely on one person

to get them out of the town, and that they may have always had a better plan. So, Robyn, last week, investigators and searchers were expressing a

great deal of confidence saying that they believed they were closing in on these two fugitives, and that the fugitives remained in the area outside of

the prison, a very heavily-wooded area. When you speak to searchers this week, there is the acknowledgment and the admission that it seems that

these two men could be here or anywhere.

CURNOW: Absolutely, and we're also hearing from reports that they her husband visited her in jail today. That must have been a pretty

interesting conversation. Alexandra Field, thank you very much for your reporting. Thanks. Well, right now, a fierce storm is pounding parts of

the Texas Coast. It's bringing a lot of rain, even though, a lot of this comes after a very long drought, but that's precisely what this region

doesn't need any more of. Our Jennifer Gray is tracking Tropical Storm Bill for us from Galveston. She joins us now. Hi there. You're all

rugged up. How is Tropical Storm Bill shaping up. What's the trajectory?

JENNIFER GRAY: Yeah. Tropical Storm Bill is definitely going to be bad news for Texas, and the main reason is because of all of the rain they've

already gotten. They've set records. They're so saturated, Houston, Dallas, the Hill Country, all of the rivers, the creeks, are filled to

capacity, and so when you add more rain on top of that, it is going to be the potential for major flooding. We are expected to get another foot of

rain with Tropical Storm Bill, and so that's the concern. We are getting winds. The winds are 40, 45 miles per hour, so the winds aren't going to

be as big of an issue. The storm surge isn't all that bad either. We're walk -- we're right along the seawall. This is a wall in Galveston that

protects the city from storm surge. It's stretches 10 miles, and it's about 17 feet high, and you can see the water coming in. The tides are

running four to five feet above normal, and we had high tide about 6:30 this morning, and believe it or not, we actually noticed a decrease in the

tide, so a little bit of improvement there, but this is normally a public beach, and you can see the water has come in, so completely washed the

beach away, so a little bit of beach erosion going on here, but in Galveston they did voluntary evacuate one of the highways just to east the

island and so they told people that live there, you know, rescue crews won't be able to get to you because flooding is already occurring in some

of those low-lying areas, areas that don't have a seawall like Galveston Island, but the City of Galveston, as well as Houston, schools are closed

here. They're telling people just to stay indoors, and hunker down and definitely be aware of that flooding. If the water gets high, seek higher

ground immediately. Crews are ready to be deployed if need be, but, of course, this is not what Texas needs. It is a tropical system that's going

to bring additional rain fall for the state, Robyn.

CURNOW: Absolutely. Keep dry. Well, I don't suppose you can because you're going to be reporting out there, but thanks so much, Jennifer Gray,

there. How the cost of walking down the aisle is soaring in China. Couples there are adopting western wedding traditions which tend to be

super pricey, now some brides and grooms are getting creative to cut costs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Hot ash rises over Indonesia as Mount Sinabung spews plumes of smoke into the sky. The volcano erupted earlier today after becoming

increasingly active this month. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated in the past two weeks. Now, if you remember, Sinabung killed

several people during an eruption in February last year. And when you add up just the cost of rings, a white gown, and a venue, as we all know, a

wedding can become a huge financial burden, but in China, the average wedding cost has soared in recent years, prompting some couples to find

cheaper, alternative ways to tie the knot. Here's CNN's Steven Jiang with the story.

STEVEN JIANG: More than 200 vendors fill up China's National Convention Center fighting for the attention and wallets of thousands of couples.

Welcome to Beijing's Olympic-size wedding expo where everything is on sale, shiny rings, white gowns, and professional planners, all yours for a price.

Throw in a banquet and a photo shoot, the total bill easily goes over 20,000 US dollars, an amount unthinkable just a few years ago and similar

to the average cost of a wedding in the US. Even with faster-rising incomes, the average Chinese still makes only a fraction of their American

counterpart, but for many young Chinese planning to tie the knot, cutting back is not always an option.

THE INTERPRETER: It's a once-in-a-lifetime event. I have to show my commitment to her and her parents through the wedding. We may not care

that much about the ceremony, but the parents and other relatives do.

JIANG: While most Chinese still seem to feel obligated to go through this increasingly extravagant ritual, some young couples are getting creative

for their big day. At this courtyard house in suburban Beijing, the bride on stage is kicking off her high heels and the ultimate do-it-yourself

wedding. The venue is the couple's home, and decorations, entertainment, even this eye-catching poster, all courtesy of artistic friends.

(SCREAMS)

THE INTERPRETER: Letting everyone have fun is the most important thing. Many Chinese weddings now are more about flaunting your wealth and giving

your parents faith through extravagance.

JIANG: With a wedding bill of less than 2000 US dollars, this couple is happy to have more money to begin their married life, and also inspiring

others.

THE INTERPRETER: My wedding budget won't be that high. I just want a big party and then (inaudible), and, most importantly, lots of alcohol.

JIANG: And that definitely sounds like a winning proposal. Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.

CURNOW: Well, on that note, that's it for this show. You've been watching the International Desk. I'm Robyn Curnow. But don't go anywhere, World

Sport with Christina Macfarlane is up next.

END