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CNN Student News

Aired February 04, 2002 - 04:30   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN STUDENT NEWS seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.

SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: Thanks for beginning your week with CNN STUDENT NEWS.

We get things rolling along with the latest on the investigation into Enron. Up next, we focus on the so-called "axis of evil." Later, gorillas in the mist and volcanoes blowing their tops top our "Perspectives" section. Then, a trip to Togo for your Monday "Culture Report."

And welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Shelley Walcott.

Enron takes center stage on Capitol Hill this week. Former Enron CEO Ken Lay, who had been expected to appear before two subcommittees, has rejected an invitation to testify. Now that's led a Senate panel to cancel its Monday session. Other Enron executives, however, still plan to go forward with testimony this week, including board member William Powers, the author of a scathing internal report on Enron. The so-called Powers report blames accounting firm Arthur Andersen for profiting alongside Enron executives in an off-the-books partnership scheme.

Fred Katayama has more on the controversial report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED KATAYAMA, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One day before former Enron executives begin testifying on Capitol Hill, influential lawmakers blasted the company's practices, saying its managers could face criminal prosecution.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: There seemed to me to be a kind of culture of corporate corruption here that grew over time. I expect the Securities and Exchange Commission will be very interested in this, with respect to potential securities fraud.

KATAYAMA: Senate Consumer Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Byron Dorgan made those remarks in response to a report on Enron made public Saturday. That report found Enron had wildly inflated profits and hid debt, as some senior executives enriched themselves by up to millions of dollars. They did that by setting up partnerships that did complex deals with Enron.

The report said: "Many of the most significant transactions apparently were designed to accomplish favorable financial statement results, not to achieve bona fide economic objectives." The report was compiled by a special committee of Enron's board, led by University of Texas Law School Dean William Powers. It faulted players across the board, from senior executives to its outside advisers. It charged that former Chairman Ken Lay didn't do his job as chief executive, acting more like a director than a senior manager.

CHARLES PARKER, PLAINTIFF'S LAWYER: Ken Lay had the total oversight responsibility for this operation, and very unfortunately he set up a corporate structure that incentivized the officers of this company to make decisions that would immediately enhance their income and boost the supposed income of earnings.

KATAYAMA: The Enron executive controlling the partnerships, Andrew Fastow, received the sharpest censure, for violating company ethics and enriching himself to the tune of $30 million, while hiding critical information about the partnerships from the board.

The report faulted Enron's auditor, Arthur Andersen, and its counsel, Vinson & Elkins, of failing to inform the board of its concerns over the company's dealing with its partnerships.

Andersen lashed back, calling the report "self-serving." Enron would only say in a statement that "the report made its board aware of numerous past events for the first time. These events are deeply regretted by the board."

(on camera): The action moves to Washington beginning Monday. Former Chief Executive Jeff Skilling will testify. But Fastow and his former aide, Michael Kopper, are expected to take the Fifth and not answer questions.

Fred Katayama, CNN Financial News, Houston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: One day after the Powers report was released, the accounting firm Arthur Andersen held a press conference to announce changes in its practices and policies in response to the Enron collapse. The firm says it will bring in someone to conduct an internal review.

CNN's Allan Chernoff reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andersen's reputation severely tarnished, the Enron auditor is turning for help to someone with a sterling reputation. Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, will head an independent oversight board, with a mission to fix Andersen's auditing.

PAUL VOLCKER, CHAIR, ANDERSEN OVERSIGHT BOARD: I can remember when Arthur Andersen, made-in-America auditing firm, accounting firm, was considered the cream of the crop. And I would like to see Andersen return to leadership in the industry.

CHERNOFF: Andersen Chief Executive Joseph Berardino says his firm intends to rebuild its image by improving the quality of its work.

JOSEPH BERARDINO, CEO, ANDERSEN WORLDWIDE SC: This is not window washing. This is not something that just looks good, and then, you know, months later you get a report that says nothing. This is about helping us come up with answers to fundamental questions about what the American public expects from an auditing firm.

CHERNOFF: Andersen's reputation suffered another blow Saturday. An Enron internal investigation led by new board member William Powers found Andersen at fault for signing off on an investment partnership that led to the company's downfall. The Powers report concluded Andersen did not fulfill its professional responsibilities.

Andersen shot back at the report in a statement: "It does not reflect an independently credible assessment of the situation, but instead represents an attempt to insulate the company's leadership and the board of directors from criticism by shifting blame to others."

Mr. Berardino declined further comment.

BERARDINO: There's plenty of time to respond to what may have happened.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Indeed, Mr. Berardino will get plenty of time in front of Congress. He's scheduled to testify before a House subcommittee on Tuesday.

Allan Chernoff, CNN Financial News, New York.

WALCOTT: White House officials are defending remarks President Bush made about Iran during his State of the Union Address. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld both said this weekend that Mr. Bush was justified in referring to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil." Nevertheless, as our Joel Hochmuth reports, many people have expressed unease with Mr. Bush's comments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEL HOCHMUTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush's comments last Tuesday night in his State of the Union Address are still making waves. He singled out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as nations that pose a growing threat to America and beyond, calling them an "axis of evil." Sunday, members of his administration hit the talk show circuit to keep up the rhetoric.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: They are repressive to their own people, they are regional threats to their neighbors, and most importantly, they have shown an aggressiveness at seeking weapons of mass destruction which are the most dangerous weapons in the world. And that particular combination constitutes a real and clear and present threat.

HOCHMUTH: The president has drawn criticism for linking Iran, Iraq and North Korea together in such a way, something he's never done before. On the surface, at least, the three nations have few mutual interests, let alone forming an axis, as the president suggests. But there are signs of growing ties between two in particular.

Just a week ago, Iraqi's foreign minister was in Iran for talks aimed at normalizing relations between the longtime enemies. And Iran has released more than 500 Iraqi POWs, some held for more than 10 years since the end of the Iran-Iraq war. The two countries have also agreed to resume direct flights between their capitals. That hasn't happened in 20 years.

What makes all this so surprising is that historically Iran and Iraq have hated each other. After all, they fought the longest war in modern history between 1980 and 1988 and have never signed a peace agreement. One million Iranian and Iraqi troops are believed to have been killed in the conflict.

Will these developments complicate U.S. efforts to rally international support for potential military action against Iraq and in particular, support from Iran? Well that remains to be seen. While Iran has offered limited support for the U.S.-led fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan, it expressed offense at Mr. Bush's remarks.

JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: What was not expected and is a -- is a source of shock is for the United States president to have such a short memory and to forget what has happened in the past three months in Afghanistan and how Iran has played an immensely important role in bringing about the end of Taliban and bringing about the current government in Afghanistan, the interim administration of Mr. Hamid Karzai which we have supported and helped establish.

HOCHMUTH: Since then, though, reports have surfaced that Iran supplied weapons intended for Palestinians seized on a ship intercepted by Israel last month. And now Bush administration officials charge Iran with letting former Taliban and al Qaeda members slip across its border with Afghanistan.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: There isn't any doubt in my mind but that the porous border between Iran and Afghanistan has been used for al Qaeda and Taliban to move into Iran and find refuge and that the Iranians have not done what the Pakistan government has done, put troops along the border and prevent terrorists from escaping out of Afghanistan into their country.

HOCHMUTH: Iran and the U.S. haven't had official ties since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. This most recent war of words seems to put on hold any hopes relations between the two nations are improving.

Joel Hochmuth, CNN STUDENT NEWS.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WALCOTT: A strange animal may be roaming in a remote forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Evidence has been found pointing to it being some kind of an ape. It's in a part of the jungle where an ape shouldn't be and researchers want to know why. A field expedition is searching for the animal and our Gary Strieker followed along.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deep inside the forest, three hours on foot from the nearest path, the territory of the mystery ape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the bottom of the start of a river bed and it's soft here and here we regularly find tracks.

STRIEKER: Tracks, larger than that of any primate known to live here. This is where it sleeps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is an interesting combination because this is a ground nest about two days old, and then there's a tree nest of the same age group just next to it, but a pretty low tree nest.

STRIEKER: Here in north central Congo, scientists are puzzled by what they find. In a forest populated by chimpanzees that normally build sleeping nests high in the trees, there's evidence of large apes, as big as gorillas that sleep on the ground, just like gorillas.

The mystery is that gorillas are not supposed to be found here, in a region hundreds of miles from the ranges of the eastern and western lowland gorillas.

Wildlife photograher, Karl Ammann, has studied this puzzle for years, collecting reports from local villagers, describing huge apes that sleep on the ground exposed to danger, so powerful they have no fear of predators like lions, hyenas or leopards.

This hunter says he's seen them but they don't look like gorillas pictured in this book. Early last year, Ammann organized an expedition, bringing leading scientists here to study the evidence. But their findings are still inconclusive.

So far, remote triggered cameras have photographed only chimpanzees, an analysis of mitochondrial DNA inherent fecal samples, indicates the ground-sleeping ape is a chimpanzee.

This skull found in the area has teeth as small as a chimpanzee's, but it also has a sagital (ph) crest at the top, unlike a chimpanzee but just like a gorilla.

(on camera): These could be nesting sites of a great ape that's not yet been recognized by science. Apparently not a small type of gorilla, but probably some kind of chimpanzee that grows extremely large.

(voice-over): One theory, the mystery ape could be a hybrid. KARL AMMANN, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER: So if you had a male gorilla integrating himself with a bunch of chimps and breeding, which I'm told is theoretically possible, then that wouldn't show in the mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on from the mother. So all the tests we have done wouldn't tell us if we had a hybrid population of some kind.

STRIEKER: More DNA testing will check the hybrid theory, and more field expeditions will continue the search for the mystery ape.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ONSCREEN: Ape: any primate of the subfamily Hominoidea.

Gorilla: largest of the apes.

Apes are vegetarians.

ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is CNN STUDENT NEWS "Perspectives."

WALCOTT: Gary Strieker's journey continues now with a journey even deeper into Congo. For generations, land has been shared between chimpanzees, gorillas and humans. Unfortunately though, volcanic eruptions, civil upheaval and genocide have taken a toll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STRIEKER (voice-over): The Virunga chain of volcanoes got the world's attention the first time as the home of endangered mountain gorillas, when legendary researcher Diane Fossy started her crusade to save the gorillas from poachers. And then, nearly eight years ago, genocide in Rwanda triggered a flood of refugees, more than a million of them into sprawling camps bordering the Virunga National Park where thousands died from starvation and disease.

These cool high lands were once called the Switzerland of Africa, a vacation playground for European settlers. But after decades of economic decline, political upheaval and civil war, Nyiragongo's eruption was only the latest disaster to strike this corner of the Congo, just one more destabilizing event in a stunning landscape that experts say is critically important for nature conservation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the Virunga volcanoes, you have a classic, violent population that's surrounding dense human population. But within the forest, you have these mountain gorillas, you have golden monkeys, you have other species that are extremely rare and incredibly important for conservation.

STRIEKER: The eruption itself was certainly catastrophic on the slopes of Nyiragongo, for wildlife there, including chimpanzees though it was no threat to the nearest major population of mountain gorillas living on higher slopes of inactive volcanoes about 10 miles away.

But this new disaster aggravates the problem of growing human population. Forced from their homes by the eruption, families will look for more land, following others who have already invaded the national park, cutting down the forest and planting crops, forcing gorillas into a shrinking habitat. Conservationists say the Virunga's wildlife is a valuable asset that can generate millions of tourist dollars for all three countries that share the Virungas, the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

And through all the civil conflict, genocide and volcanic eruptions, the mountain gorillas have shown a determination to live. But while they've increased their number by 40 percent over the last few decades, there are still only about 650 of them surviving on the slopes of the volcanoes.

Gary Strieker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Well talent comes in many forms. Everyone has some degree of it in one area of life or another, but every once in a while we come across people with extraordinary talent. Often we refer to these people as prodigies.

Alphonso Van Marsh has the story of one such boy from the West African country Togo, gifted with an amazing musical ability.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A candy break in a South Carolina high school English class, and Kheli Fiadjoe in the short sleeved shirt with black hair is gunning for a second piece.

In many ways, a 16-year-old Kheli is like any student here, trying to pay attention in class, but Kheli, from the West African country Togo, is playing catch up. French is his native tongue and travel problems after the September 11 attacks made him miss the first few weeks of school.

KHELI FIADJOE, STUDENT: Feels kind of difficult. I couldn't get what the teacher said all the time because English is not my first language, but it was really hard at the beginning, but it's coming better now.

VAN MARSH: Kheli's a junior at the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. The school nurtures teenagers gifted in drama, dance, music and the arts.

(on camera): Put into a competitive environment like this South Carolina boarding school, Kheli almost seems ordinary. But to understand what makes him extraordinary, some even say a prodigy, you have to understand his journey here from Africa.

(voice-over): Classical piano, music that patients outside a medical clinic in Togo's capital, Lome, hear every day. The clinic and neighboring villa belong to Kheli's parents, both respected medical doctors. The music on this September afternoon comes from the same teenager better built to play football than Frederic Chopin. FIADJOE: But when I was really small, you know, it was like a dream, you know, like I see myself playing with orchestras and just being there a great musician, you know.

VAN MARSH: Kheli began playing a used piano when he was three. He mastered Beethoven's First Piano Concerto by age nine. This piano, in a humid port city where temperatures average 33 degrees Celsius, about 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it's seen better days, and its tuner lives five hours away in neighboring Ghana.

In a mostly rural agricultural country, often overlooked by the press, Kheli made news when his talent and family connections got him to the finals of a prestigious U.S. piano competition usually won by college students. Kheli was 14.

(on camera): Neighbors sometimes complain about the classical music coming down into the street. Understand that despite Togo's rich cultural past, for Kheli's generation there is no Togoli symphony, there's no national orchestra. In terms of classical music, Kheli is about the best that Togo has.

(voice-over): Professionals say Kheli is a prodigy because he's come so far with less than six years of formal training. His teacher, the only pianist here better than Kheli, was in a car accident in April. Not knowing, Kheli waited four days for him to show up for a scheduled lesson.

FIADJOE: And I just took the phone and called his house and somebody just told me he was dead and you know there was tears. I couldn't believe and, you know, that's how I knew that because my parent didn't want to -- parents didn't want to tell me, you know.

VAN MARSH: Neighbors heard a lot of music this summer as Kheli played through his grief.

FIADJOE: It was a time I just find out that I, you know, music, you know, I just have to play from my heart, you know. This, you know, thing inside really loves me and just playing from my heart.

VAN MARSH: Heart and family connections again earned Kheli a scholarship to the Governor's School. At a goodbye party, Kheli's mother said her son doesn't have to follow in his parents' relatively lucrative medical footsteps.

"For me it's not about money, it's about the courage of the human spirit," she says. "It's that courage that creates a more worthwhile society."

Today, Kheli's teacher at the Governor's School has a musical doctorate from Yale. James Lence says he's never seen such a disciplined student learn so quickly.

JAMES LENCE, PIANO INSTRUCTOR: There are times when I hear him play that, you know, I get -- I get goosebumps inside.

VAN MARSH: An end of this semester recital, and Kheli is the star of the show. He says he'll eventually return to Togo and open a music conservatory. For now, Kheli says, he's happy enough to soak up the best music in classroom education he can get his hands on.

Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, Greenville, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: When you think of Bangladesh, what comes to mind? Well unfortunately the country tends to conjur up images of floods, poverty and overpopulation. But what isn't widely known about Bangladesh is that the country is home to a lush, tropical rainforest, a forest facing a problem that's becoming all too common around the globe.

Our CNN Student Bureau report explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX UPHAUO (ph), CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): When you step into Lawachara National Forest, you feel like you are entering a world apart from the rest of Bangladesh. Home to over 200 different species of wildlife and 112 varieties of plants, Lawachara is a true treasure- trove of biodiversity in Bangladesh's otherwise denuded landscape. Most importantly, the forest is the last remaining home in Bangladesh for several primate species, including the pigtailed macock (ph) and fulog niban (ph). This refuge, however, is under assault.

Today Lawachara is only a small island of forest in the midst of tea, pineapple and other monoculture plantations. Busy highways and rail lines both run through the forest. Also, despite government protection, logging continues in Lawachara, both commercial logging and cutting of firewood by local villagers.

MUHAMMED DULAI MIA, WOOD CUTTER (through translator): We leave our houses at 8:00 in the morning and go to the forest of Lawachara. Then we go to the hills and cut firewood and put it in bundles. We take it to town and sell it to provide for the family.

UPHAUO: For the animals of the forest, especially the primates, this means the destruction of more habitat that they can ill afford to lose. Twenty species of wildlife have already become extinct in Bangladesh. The macoxin givens (ph) of Lawachara could be next.

DR. MUSTAFA FEEROZ: When I was in early 1990, the forest is almost as today as we see, but the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the whole forest become declining and the rate of the declining is also alarming. If this rate is going continue, then within I think five years I think there will be very little left for the wildlife species.

UPHAUO (on camera): Once much of Bangladesh was covered by lush biodiverse tropical forests like Lawachara. However, most of it has ended up like this, but the damage is not confined to the forest alone, its repercussions are also felt downstream.

(voice-over): In the valley below Lawachara lies the wetland area called Hail Haor, one of the most important fishing grounds in Bangladesh and 60,000 people depend on this key resource. However, the deforestation around Lawachara has caused a serious erosion problem. Soil in the highlands no longer being held down by forest cover is washed into the many rivers that run into the Haor.

AROSH MIA, FISHERMAN (through translator): The problem is that when the water comes down the hills it brings down sand and soil filling up the Haor.

UPHAUO: Eventually, this eroded soil ends up in the Haor. Because it has no outlet, the Haor is beginning to fill up with this soil. If this process of sedimentation continues, the vital fishing grounds here will be lost.

MIA (through translator): The difference in fish catches between now and 20 years ago is like day and night.

UPHAUO: The problems of Lawachara and the Hail Haor are complex and interconnected. But in the end, they have one source, continuing deforestation. The example of Lawachara shows us that people and their environment are linked and humans will ultimately feel the affects of their actions.

MIA (through translator): More fish instead of soil would come down from the hills, if the fish stay.

UPHAUO: Max Uphauo, CNN Student Bureau, Lawachara Forest, Bangladesh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World?" Formed in 1971, age of suffrage 18, exports jute, leather and seafood. Bangladesh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY SHIELDS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Hi. My name is Kimberly Shields. I am from Atlanta, Georgia. And the question I want to know is: How did the Super Bowl come about?

PETER KING, SENIOR WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Kimberly, you've got to think back to 1963, '64, '65. There were two football leagues, the American Football League, the upstart, and the established National Football League. The National Football League didn't want to give the American Football League the satisfaction of competing with it, but there were a couple of entrepreneurial types in the AFL, among them Lamar Hunt who is still the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, and they really wanted to put the two leagues together in the championship of the world.

It finally worked out in 1966, and in fact, it was Lamar Hunt's daughter who ended up naming this tremendous game. She was playing with a super ball one day, and she was bouncing the super ball on the ground, and all of a sudden it occurs to Lamar Hunt, "Super Bowl." And that's the way that the Super Bowl was born.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WALCOTT: Well the big game may be over but there's still another Super Bowl story to tell but this one's not about football, it's about charity. Since 1990, the Souper Bowl spelled S O U P E R is held on Super Bowl Sunday. The program is manned by young people in churches around the globe. It's goal, to raise money for local charities. This year, the organization was trying to raise $4 million. Check out their efforts at souperbowl.org.

It's a very inspiring effort and we hope we've inspired you to surf on over to CNNstudentnews.com for more of -- on some of the stories covered on today's show.

And that wraps up today's show. Have a good day. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. Bye-bye.

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