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CNN Student News for April 3, 2002

Aired April 03, 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.

SUSAN FREIDMAN, CO-HOST: Business and politics top our Wednesday STUDENT NEWS. We'll examine the cost of war and find out how fear threatens economic survival.

SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: More on the world economy as we look at oil. We'll focus on supply and demand and the use of oil as a weapon.

FREIDMAN: Once a fortification, now a famous tourist attraction. "Perspectives" takes us to the Great Wall of China.

WALCOTT: Plus, saddle up for a Student Bureau adventure as we take on the topic of horse therapy.

FREIDMAN: Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Susan Freidman.

WALCOTT: And I'm Shelley Walcott.

Israel steps up military action in the West Bank while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposes a one-way ticket out of town for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

FREIDMAN: The Palestinian security headquarters in Ramallah is devastated after a major assault by Israeli tanks and troops. About 200 Palestinians inside the compound survived yesterday morning's onslaught and surrendered. Israel says the Palestinian militants were the target of the attack. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, meanwhile, remains confined to his Ramallah compound. A top Palestinian official says Arafat will never accept exile. And the Bush administration says Arafat still has a legitimate role in the Palestinian movement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Chairman Arafat is head of the Palestinian Authority and he is recognized, whether you approve of it or not, as the leader of the Palestinian people. And he will be the leader of the Palestinian people whether he is sitting in Ramallah or whether he is sitting in some exile location elsewhere in the Middle East or somewhere in Europe, he will still have that role. So it seems to me let's deal with him where he is and let's continue to apply pressure to him and other leaders of the Palestinian people to get into the Tenet work plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREIDMAN: The uncertain situation in the Middle East brings the threat of violence straight to the doorstep of many people living there.

CNN's John Vause finds out how families are dealing with the danger and the economic consequences. Our Joel Hochmuth will follow that with a look at how Israel's neighbors are reacting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day that Deganit Refoua opens her souvenir shop in downtown Jerusalem, she knows it will be another day of losing money. There are no tourists, no one to buy the gifts and ornaments like the engraved Israeli crystal which once sold so well.

DEGANIT REFOUA, SHOP OWNER: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

VAUSE (on camera): Is that a big seller?

REFOUA: Yes.

VAUSE (voice-over): She's owned this store with her husband for the past 20 years. Never, they say, has it been this bad.

REFOUA: I want to make my living, to give my children to eat, to be quiet, don't let them to be in panic all the time, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

VAUSE: Deganit Refoua now spends most of her time at home. Her 12-year-old son helped set up a Web site so they can sell online because she says most of her customers are too afraid to come to the store.

(on camera): Because here in the heart of Jerusalem's commercial district there's been at least eight suicide bombings and attacks in the last six months alone, all of them within less than a mile of the Refoua's souvenir shop.

REFOUA: The situation here, it's so bad that I -- believe me, I understand them. But afraid, I afraid.

VAUSE (voice-over): The government here estimates in the last 18 months the economy has taken a hit of $5 billion U.S. dollars, mostly through lost tourism, extra unemployment benefits and especially security. The call up last week of 20,000 reservists is costing $50 million U.S. a month.

HAGAI GOLAN, (ph) (through translator): We don't have any choice in this war. First you enter it, then later you balance the books. VAUSE: For shop owners like the Refoua's it will be a long time before their books are balanced again. Peace for them now means economic survival as well.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEL HOCHMUTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is causing a ripple effect throughout the region. Thousands of Jordanians, some waving Palestinian flags, took to the streets of the capital city of Amman Tuesday. They're demanding that their government cut its ties with Israel. The protests come as no real surprise since sympathies for Palestinians there run deep. After all, about 60 percent of Jordan's five million people are Palestinian refugees or their descendants who fled or were driven from their homes following wars with Israel in 1948 to 1967.

Jordan was a natural place to run. About the size of Indiana, it sits just to the east of Israel across the Jordan River. Its population is about 96 percent Muslim. Still, the government is reportedly doing its best to keep the protests under wraps, confiscating videotapes from reporters, leaving many demonstrations virtually unreported locally. It wants to protect its image as a stable country at a time when it's trying to attract foreign investment.

Jordan has long held a reputation as a moderate Arab State with friendly relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It was in 1994 under the rule of King Hussein that it signed a peace treaty with Israel, joining Egypt as the only two Arab nations to do so.

In 1998 while battling cancer, Hussein helped President Clinton broker an interim peace agreement between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the ongoing violence in Israel and the occupied territories is testing Jordan's role as a mediator.

King Abdullah, who took over when his father died in 1999, was a no show at last week's Arab summit in Lebanon, irritating the Bush administration. Jordan has threatened to take unspecified measures in its relations with Israel to protest Israel's increased military action against Palestinians and Arafat in particular. But don't look for Abdullah to give in to protesters and cut off ties altogether. Jordanian officials say that would serve no purpose and that keeping communication channels open would help influence Israel to make peace with the Palestinians.

Joel Hochmuth, CNN STUDENT NEWS.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WALCOTT: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is pledging to fight terrorism. During his first official visit to Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, Musharraf gave a public show of support to Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai. He promised to help Karzai rebuild his country and backed his words with a check for a very sizeable amount of money.

CNN's Walter Rodgers has more on their meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf paid a surprise call on Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, and Musharraf officially confirmed several dozen of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda fighters arrested in two Pakistani cities have been turned over to the United States.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT, PAKISTAN: It was Pakistani law enforcement agency, then Pakistani intelligence organization, which moved against them, and arrested about 40, 50 of them and undertook this operation very successfully.

RODGERS: On the matter of U.S. special forces operating in Afghanistan, Musharraf said there is no need for them to engage in hot pursuit of any al Qaeda fighters into Pakistan. The Pakistani leader saying it is not in his country's interest for U.S. forces to conduct a military operation in Pakistani territory.

As for Osama bin Laden, the Pakistani leader again tried to discourage speculation that bin Laden may be hiding in Pakistan's northwest frontier province. Musharraf said he thinks bin Laden's security entourage would be too large to go unnoticed. And he still thinks bin Laden may have fallen victim to earlier American bombing.

MUSHARRAF: He may be dead or alive, I don't know. But if you ask my view, maybe he is dead.

RODGERS: The U.S.-led coalition apparently still believes bin Laden may be in Afghanistan, but Afghanistan's interim leader says he, like Musharraf, does not know where bin Laden is.

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT CHAIRMAN: If we find out that he is alive and somewhere, we will definitely go look for him.

RODGERS: The Pakistani leader gave Karzai a check for $10 million to help rebuild Afghanistan. But both men said it would take a huge effort by the international community to make this a secure country again.

(on camera): Still there remains the question of how much security there can be for Afghanistan as long as there's the possibility Osama bin Laden may still be out there. And, the U.S.-led military coalition here is operating on the assumption bin Laden is still alive.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Kabul. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: The trickledown effect is starting to show up in the Middle East. The region's volatility, combined with the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, is having an effect on the world's financial markets. Oil has risen almost 50 percent since a mid-January dip below $18 a barrel. For more on oil and its global impact, check out our Web site, CNNstudentnews.com.

Meantime, here's Lisa Barron on oil and the Asia markets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA BARRON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rise in crude oil prices to levels not seen since September comes amid increasing violence in the Middle East and in the early stages of a precarious recovery in the world economy.

MIKE NEWTON, HSBC: Investors are getting nervous over political conditions in the Middle East. That would be the supply reason why the price has gone higher. The demand side is obviously that the speed of the global industrial recovery is surprising people. I mean we've come off a very low base when it comes to commodity prices. Now the world manufacturing cycle is kicking back faster than any of us thought, then the demand for oil is going through the roof.

BARRON: Added to that, Iraq's proposal to use oil as a weapon to punish nations supporting Israel. An Arab embargo in 1973 quadrupled oil prices severely hurting Western countries. Now Asian economies, many of which are struggling to recover from recession, are not immune to higher energy prices.

MICHAEL SPENCER, DEUTSCHE BANK: It is broadly a north-south issue in Southern Asia. Indonesia is a major oil exporter, Singapore is a major oil refiner, Malaysia does a little bit of both so those three countries would seem to benefit objectively from an increase in prices. North Asia is almost entirely dependent on imported oil, Philippines somewhere in between.

BARRON: Still, at this stage increased prices are likely to have a minimal effect on Asia's oil importing nations.

SPENCER: Direct impact on inflation is going to be very limited. In most countries, the first round effect is less than 1 percent of the CPI is directly oil related. And with inflation or -- low inflation or deflation in most countries, we really aren't concerned about the inflationary impact of oil prices.

BARRON: Nor are economists overly worried about an embargo.

NEWTON: People as well are forgetting that places such as the former Soviet Union, Russia, Azerbaijan, et cetera, could increase production to offset lost oil production from places such as Iran. But at the end of the day, let's not forget that the Muslim countries need the dollar income that comes from oil so they will be hurting themselves as much as the U.S. if they were to cut supplies. BARRON (on camera): Even if crude prices hit more than $30 a barrel, economists say that would trigger a response from suppliers. Many believe a more likely scenario is that prices will fall to the $20 to $25 range by the end of the year if not sooner.

Lisa Barron, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Slick around. I mean stick around, STUDENT NEWS visits the world's biggest oil producer next week. Can you guess which country that is? Think so, well you might be in for a surprise.

Adopting a child can be a very complicated process. It's especially difficult when the child lives in an orphanage half a world away. But more and more there is help for prospective parents looking to adopt a child from China and it's thanks in large part to the World Wide Web.

Lisa Rose Weaver has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the joys of daily life at the end of a long day that bring Wendy and her father closer together. Their bond goes beyond blood ties, it was founded on a decision to create a family through adoption.

Jim Gradoville decided to adopt in China, and more than two years ago picked up his daughter from the orphanage where she'd spent the first year of her life. Gradoville was a special case -- as a single man, he needed to narrow his search for an adoption agency that would accept his application.

He found help on the Internet.

JIM GRADOVILLE, ADOPTIVE FATHER: Without the Internet, I could have still done it. It would have made the process a little bit tougher in terms of finding the right agency to work with, and maybe find out some other information I had to get along the way.

WEAVER: For prospective parents to reach the end of the average year-long wait and collect their babies, there are a lot of steps to go through first -- from finding an agency in the parent's home country that facilitates adoptions to understanding China's regulations. There's huge demand for information on how to start the process.

China's adoption authority has its own Web page. More than 77,000 hits so far. Elyn MacInnis provides spiritual support and helps parents navigate the system.

ELYN MACINNIS, ADOPTION ADVISER: I got e-mails from people all across the U.S. asking me, what was it like, what were the children like, was it safe. Most people who are nervous, who have been worrying about it, but when they got up on the Internet, they could see that adopting from China wasn't as scary as they thought it would be.

WEAVER (on camera): Internet guidance has also exposed understaffed and underfunded Chinese orphanages, but not in order to criticize conditions there, rather to generate outside income to improve the way Chinese orphans live.

(voice-over): The basic cost of adopting, about $3,000 U.S. per child, is the primary source of income for Chinese orphanages. But there are foundations and Web sites dedicated to providing extras, like medical treatment and money for more staff -- funds which adoption experts say have dramatically improved the conditions inside.

From 1992, when China legalized international adoptions, the numbers have more than doubled. And for Americans who want to adopt, China is now a favorite destination.

JANE LIEDTKE, ADOPTION EXPERT: When the China adoption started, it was just like the Internet just sprouted at the same time. And so, by comparison, it was just amazing. The people had the system that they wanted to put into place of giving each other support and helping each other learn about kids being from China and about China.

WEAVER: The Internet is no substitute for the paperwork and commitment needed to adopt, but it has brought families like this together a little faster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Lisa Rose Weaver, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

WALCOTT: It is more than 2,000 years old but the Great Wall of China remains one of the greatest wonders of the world. Historians say the wall was originally built to protect ancient China from outside attack. And today, this structure, which can be seen from the moon, remains one of the must see attractions on Earth.

With more, here's Stephanie Oswald, our guide through China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE OSWALD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leaving Beijing behind, less than an hour's drive leads to the man-made wonder so many travelers dream of climbing. But before reaching the famous steps, you have to suffer through a tourist trap gauntlet.

(PEOPLE TALKING)

OSWALD: The next challenge, navigating through the crowds on top of the magnificent structure. Looking around, it feels like we're on a human anthill. (on camera): It's one of the most incredible attractions in the world and the highlight of many vacations in China, the Great Wall. This stone masterpiece stretches more than 3,500 miles. That's about equal to the distance between Seattle and Boston. Travelers can only walk on about 10 percent of the wall. We've chosen the newest section, Jiayu Pass. Newly renovated, it's only been open to the public since 1998.

(voice-over): The parts standing today are not continuous and only a handful of areas are set up as official tourist sites. Historians disagree on the age of the wall. Earliest accounts say it dates back to the 9th century B.C. Human hands put each brick and stone in place. Its original purpose was to ward off nomadic tribes.

GRACE (ph): In ancient times, the barbaring (ph) from north always invaded China and so the emperors in the ancient times built a piece of the Great Wall in the northern bonger (ph) to defend the barbaring's invasion.

OSWALD: A visit is a pilgrimage not only for international visitors but also for the Chinese themselves.

(on camera): So, Grace, tell me the big thing -- the famous thing about the wall.

GRACE: In Chinese we say (SPEAKING CHINESE). In Chinese it means he who hasn't been to the wall is not a real hero.

OSWALD: OK. And do you need to go all the way to the top in order to be a hero?

GRACE: Well not necessary. So long as we are on the wall, we are heroes already.

OSWALD: All right. So even if we don't make it all the way to the top, we're still heroes.

(voice-over): In search of an older section of the wall, we decided to double our heroic efforts and visit Badaling, the most popular section of the wall open to tourists. A gondola ride lifts you far from the highway into a landscape more dramatic than the one we saw on our first visit to the wall. From this view, it looks like a massive stone caterpillar sitting on a mountaintop. We were overwhelmed imagining the work involved without the help of modern technology.

It's a first time visit for this Beijing couple and their 7-year- old son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Because this is a great education on the son when he is still little to experience the greatness from our ancestors who built the Great Wall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very, very impressive. And knowing that it's the only thing that you can see from outer space, a manmade structure. OSWALD: For the Lee (ph) family from northeast China, this was a dream come true. They joyfully helped their older brother, who is in poor health and walks with a cane. But today, they became a family of heroes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That he was very happy to be on the very top of the wall to overlook at other parts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He says that he want to prove that he's a complete Chinese because is a Korean nationality, one of the minority groups, but he want to prove he is from official China.

OSWALD (on camera): All but three of China's 24 dynasties had a hand in either building, expanding or preserving the Great Wall. The Ming Dynasty was the last one to contribute, and that dynasty is responsible for making the wall look the way it is today. That dynasty ended in 1644. Meanwhile, this century, I'm still trying to get to the top.

(voice-over): Going back thousands of years, if you measured and connected every section of the Great Wall ever built during all the dynasties, it would stretch for more than 31,000 miles. That's around the globe and then some. Once a rampart of defense, now a symbol of Chinese civilization. The Great Wall welcomes today's invasion of tourists.

Stephanie Oswald, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: You know companies spend millions of dollars every year to sign contracts with TV shows and motion picture corporations. The reason, to place their products in the scenes and thus in the public eye. But what if your product makes an unplanned appearance at a moment when the world is watching? Inadvertent advertising, good or bad?

Peter Viles finds out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can spend millions carefully shaping the image of your brand, making sure it's all warm and fuzzy, but then comes the day when your brand is front and center on live television and you have lost all control.

This was Jeff Skilling letting the world know that his beverage of choice is Diet Coke. But is the exposure good or bad for the brand? Coca-Cola didn't dare to say, telling MONEYLINE the hearings were -- quote -- "a serious matter, and it would be inappropriate to comment." Brand experts say the old adage still holds almost any publicity is good publicity.

BARBARA LIPPERT, "ADWEEK": All in all, I think they don't really mind the placement. It's in the halls of Congress. It's powerful. And it's on TV all day.

Reporter: Now Diet Coke has been on the hot seat in Washington before. Of course, the former president had many favorite brands, including Canada Dry. He was famous for jogging into McDonalds. And if you look closely, he also wore a Timex Iron Man Triathalon Watch. The watch some believe Osama bin Laden was wearing in this video.

So good or bad for Timex. Well, the company tells MONEYLINE -- quote -- "we've examined the pictures as closely as possible and we are convinced it is not a Timex." Every big story seems to touch a few brands. O.J. Simpson put the Ford Bronco on the map, also the Italian shoe maker, Bruno Mali. For Monica Lewinsky, it was the infamous blue dress from the Gap.

VILES: (on camera): Now it may not be ideal, but these are ultimately signs of a successful brand, like the Timex watch. A reminder that real people, even reporters use them in real life.

Peter Viles, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express leaves Missouri for California carrying the U.S. mail.

WALCOTT: Sir Winston Churchill once said there's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of man. Well some North Carolina children are learning this lesson firsthand and getting a dose of therapy in the process. The sense of accomplishment that comes with mastering, grooming and caring for a horse is helping to foster their personal development.

Our CNN Student Bureau explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTY FAIR, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Working as one comes naturally for Kathy Beirlein and her horse Chinook. They're one of Helping Horse's success stories. Kathy has difficulty communicating, but after seven years in the Wake County Therapeutic Riding Program, she's much more outgoing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa! Silly horse, she tripped.

FAIR: Each week her mom watches her and her sister Jana (ph) from the sidelines. She's proud of the progress made by the two kids she's adopted.

ELLEN BEIRLEIN, MOTHER: There have been some really interesting bumps along the way, but it's -- you know you have no guarantees with normal kids.

FAIR: These kids have special needs and Ellen says they are special kids.

BEIRLEIN: My children are not cookie cutter kids. They don't fit into any mold.

FAIR: But they both fit in the saddle. Volunteers lend a helping hand giving physical and emotional support. They learn to appreciate life in the process.

BETH CALHOUN, PROGRAM COUNSELOR: When you work with people who have so much limitations, you learn how many you don't have and it makes you really grateful for all that you have.

FAIR (on camera): Controlling a thousand pound horse isn't an easy job, but it gives these riders a confidence they can use in the ring and out.

(voice-over): Riders navigate barrels, cones and a bridge. Good therapy, but more important, it's fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. Good.

FAIR: Instructor Holly Tyndall says the goal of the program is to...

HOLLY TYNDALL, INSTRUCTOR: Celebrate little successes, that's right, and build on those.

FAIR: The Helping Horse program gives kids with disabilities something to connect to and helps them build lifelong bonds.

Kristy Fair, CNN Student Bureau, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World" highest point: Jabal Ram (5,755 ft.), lowest point: Dead Sea (-1,310 ft.), voting age is 20, Independence Day is May 26 (1946)? Can you name this country? Jordan.

WALCOTT: So "Where in the World" will we take you tomorrow? Well, we'll enter the world of the paranormal to take a look at your aura.

FREIDMAN: What does your electromagnetic energy say about you? Don't miss our report. I'm Susan Freidman.

WALCOTT: And I'm Shelley Walcott. We'll see you tomorrow right here on CNN STUDENT NEWS.

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