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Your World Today

War Against Terror; Gaza Withdrawal; Iraq Offensive

Aired June 09, 2005 - 12:00   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: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Terrorism on trial. Two high-profile court proceedings in Europe and Africa end with setbacks for the prosecution.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Digging in. Israeli settlers ignore a supreme court ruling upholding Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan.

VERJEE: And the heat of battle claimed their children and left them wounded. Now these Iraqis and others like them are rebuilding their lives in America.

It's 6:00 p.m. in Germany, 11:00 a.m. in St. Louis in the U.S. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. To your viewers in the United States and around the world, hello and welcome. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Terrorism and the response to it at the forefront in many parts of the world this day.

VERJEE: In Germany, in Kenya, setbacks in the prosecution of terror suspects. An appeals court in Germany upholds the acquittal of a 9/11 terror suspect. And a Kenyan judge acquits four men in the bombing of an Israeli hotel.

CLANCY: Meantime, in the U.S., questions about that case against five Pakistani suspects as authorities in California, at least are pulling back on some of their allegations.

VERJEE: This as President Bush makes his case for continuing the Patriot Act.

We'll have details on all of this. But we begin in Germany, where prosecutors had pursued a case of guilt by association with some of the 9/11 hijackers, but a Moroccan man acquitted last year on charges he helped the terrorists has won another victory in a German appeals court.

Our coverage begins with CNN's Chris Burns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another setback for prosecutors hoping to put 9/11 suspects behind bars. The German high court upheld the acquittal of Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, charged as an accomplice in the attacks.

Though Mzoudi is walking free, Hamburg state authorities say they want to deport him to his native Morocco as a terrorist threat. Mzoudi can try to stay in Germany by asking political asylum.

German prosecutors said Mzoudi knew ringleader Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 hijackers. He trained with some of them in an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, helped arrange their housing and financial transactions in Hamburg to stay clear of authorities. But the defense argued Mzoudi knew nothing about the 9/11 plans, and the high courts said a lower court in Hamburg was right to acquit Mzoudi last year for lack of evidence.

A Hamburg judge called Mzoudi a fringe figure and said it was incomprehensible that U.S. authorities didn't help provide more evidence by refusing to allow U.S.-held 9/11 suspects to testify, raising issues about how and where those suspects are held.

It was the second major setback for German investigators of the Hamburg cell. Mounir Motassadeq, facing the same charges, had his conviction also overturned for lack of evidence from German and U.S. authorities. His retrial is under way in Hamburg, and a decision is expected in August. German authorities also want to deport Motassadeq if he's acquitted.

German terror experts speculate that if Mzoudi and Motassadeq are sent back to Morocco, they could be handed over to U.S. authorities. Asked here about that possibility, U.S. Undersecretary of State for European Affairs, Dan Fried, declined to comment. He did say the two terror cases weren't poisoning U.S.-German relations.

But German authorities have grumbled that, while they have been accused of failing to track down the Hamburg cell, they are not getting enough cooperation across the Atlantic.

Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: In the meantime, in another case, this time in Kenya, a judge cited lack of evidence in the acquittal of four suspects. They had been charged in the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa. Fifteen people died in that attack.

The judge said prosecutors failed to link the four men to the bombers or to al Qaeda. Human rights groups and Muslim organizations welcome the verdict. They say Kenyan police were panicked into a hurried, incompetent investigation by pressure from western governments.

VERJEE: A small town in a wine-growing region in California is the focus of an anti-terrorist sweep by U.S. federal authorities. Five members of a Pakistani community in Lodi have been taken into custody this week. FBI officials says there could be more arrests, even as questions about the case arise.

Chris Lawrence is in the town of Lodi. He joins us now.

Chris, why have authorities pulled back on some of their allegations?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, the original federal affidavit that was released in Washington, D.C., stated that one of the people, Hamid Hayat, considered grocery stores and hospitals to be potential targets. In the later version that was finally filed here in federal court in California, the FBI backed off and deleted all references to that. They also clarified, saying that none of the men were caught in the middle of planning an attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Federal agents say some residents of this small town were making big plans to wage holy war in America.

KEITH SLOTTER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Although we believe these individuals are committed to acts of jihad against the U.S., we do not possess information concerning exact plans, timing, or specific targets of opportunity.

LAWRENCE: Two U.S. citizens are being held in the Sacramento County jail. Umer Hayat and his son, Hamid, have been accused of lying to FBI investigators. Court documents show that both men denied that Hamid Hayat attended a terrorist training camp. But after hours of interrogation the affidavit states, Hamid admitted he attended the camp in Pakistan. Photos of President Bush were used as targets during weapons training. And he specifically asked to come back to the U.S. to carry out his mission.

SCOTT MCGREGOR, U.S. ATTY: He also confirmed that the camp was run by al Qaeda operatives and that they were being trained on how to kill Americans.

LAWRENCE: The accusations shocked this rural town south of Sacramento, where Umer Hayat drove an ice cream truck.

KARINA MURILLO, NEIGHBOR: He was very friendly with the kids.

LAWRENCE: Some neighbors tell us the Hayats have been in Lodi for years.

MURILLO: He never did anything to lead us to believe he would be planning something like this.

JOHNNY GRIFFIN, UMER HAYAT'S ATTORNEY.: It's important for everyone to push the pause button.

LAWRENCE: Attorney Johnny Griffin says Umer Hayat is being labeled a terrorist without actually being accused.

GRIFFIN: Is he charged with any of those crimes? The answer is no. He is only charged with making a false statement.

LAWRENCE: Two local Islamic leaders have also been detained, at least one for violating his visa. But federal agents won't say how they may be connected to the Hayats. Their attorney tells CNN, "They are victims of guilt by association" and "completely innocent."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Now, law enforcement forces are telling CNN that investigators are looking to see if the men acted as a conduit between terror groups overseas and people right here in the U.S. So far, no charges to that effect have been filed -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Chris Lawrence reporting. Thank -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. We're going to stay on the subject of terror and look at it from a political perspective. U.S. President Bush in the state of Ohio, campaigning for renewal of parts of the Patriot Act which are due to expire. Mr. Bush seen here speaking in Columbus, Ohio. He was talking to police at a training center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Since September the 11th, 2001, we have gone on the offensive against the terrorists. We have dealt the enemy a series of powerful blows.

The terrorists are on the run. And we will keep them on the run. Yet they are still active. They are still seeking to do us harm.

The terrorists are patient and determined. And so are we. They are hoping we'll get complacent and forget our responsibilities.

Once again, they're proving that will they don't understand our nation. The United States of America will never let down its guard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, passed by the Congress after the September 11 attacks, the Patriot Act gives police and the FBI expanded search and surveillance powers. Mr. Bush says it is a crucial weapon in the fight against al Qaeda. Civil libertarians complain it's open to abuse.

VERJEE: Israel's supreme court has ruled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements is constitutional. That clears the last major legal hurdle for the pullout set to begin in August. But, as guy Raz reports, some of the 9,000 Jewish settlers earmarked for evacuation are digging in their heels even more, saying they will fight to stay on the land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Digging in further in Gaza, two months to go before Israeli settlers will be removed from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So welcome to my new home.

RAZ: But hard-core opponents of the plan continue to move in, determined to thwart the evacuation.

An abandoned hotel inside this Gaza settlement now a base camp for the most militant settlers, men and women convinced this strip of land is part of biblical Israel.

NADIA MATAR, SETTLER SPOKESWOMAN: We're going to defend ourselves to stay here, and we are going to succeed.

RAZ: To be certain, these radicals are numerically small, but a group winning over more grassroots support. A new poll in Israel now shows 48 percent of the public supports the Gaza pullout plan, down from a height of 65 percent in January.

But if there was any doubt as to whether disengagement will go forward, the country's supreme court quashed it, throwing out a legal challenge to the plan. And the embattled Israeli prime minister struck out at critics.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Israel will leave Gaza and the northern West Bank. I repeat, let there be no illusion, Israel will leave Gaza and the northern West Bank according to the government decision.

RAZ: Palestinian officials are complaining that Israel isn't coordinating the pullout to their satisfaction.

MUHAMMED DAHLAN, PALESTINIAN CABINET MINISTER (through translator): Over the past two months we have yet to receive any information from the Israeli side in respect to this engagement.

RAZ: The Palestinian government is struggling to ensure it can control Gaza once Israel withdraws.

A recent barrage of rocket attacks launched by Palestinian militants against Israeli targets is widely interpreted as an open challenge to President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian leader held talks with militant leaders in a bid to persuade them to hold their fire.

(on camera): Both Abbas and Sharon face deep internal challenges. The two leaders have always stood on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, but now these two aging men may finally have found something in common.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: The U.S. and South Korean presidents are set to meet on Friday in an effort to shore up an increasingly strained alliance. The two countries at odds over just how to deal with North Korea.

Talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program have been stalled for almost a year now. A top North Korean official says his country is building more nuclear weapons. That was in an interview with the U.S. television network ABC. North Korea's vice foreign minister quoted as saying this: "I should say that we have enough nuclear bombs to defend against a U.S. attack. As for specifically how many we have, that is a secret."

VERJEE: Coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY, an embrace from Europe.

CLANCY: European officials pay an unannounced visit to Baghdad and pledge financial support for the struggling democracy there. We'll have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: It was unannounced, but European officials arrived in Baghdad with a pledge to support the people of Iraq. That was a visit that set the groundwork for an international conference on Iraqi reconstruction. It's to be held in Brussels later this month.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw saying it's time to put the past behind and help to join the country's rebuilding. Straw and the Iraqi prime minister address the ongoing issue of security problems in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The perception that I have is this, that there are many parts of Iraq where the situation is significantly better now and the security has greatly improved. And overall, the Iraqi security forces have greatly improved their capacity, even in the six months since I was here in November.

We all accept that there are some parts of Baghdad, and indeed some parts of Iraq, where the situation is very difficult, as you describe. Why? The answer is one word, terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have sent a clear message through the foreign ministers that Iraq is in need of aid. As for security, we hope to have Iraqi capability to restore security. In this particular field, we welcome any help from our friends in Europe to preserve the security of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi security force remain engaged in an offensive against insurgents in the northwest city of Tal Afar, not far from the Syrian border.

Jane Arraf is embedded with U.S. troops taking part in the operation. And she talked about how Iraqi civilians are involved in the effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: What we are seeing in Tal Afar after all of this violence is tribal sheikhs standing up and saying, this is terrorism, this is not an insurgency. We are seeing people calling in to a tip line to say, "I know where the insurgents are." We are seeing people, Iraqis, actually showing up and leading U.S. soldiers to places where they believe bombs are being made.

It's what the U.S. military has always said they need to do to get a handle on this. And here we're beginning to see it happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: A Sunni politician who served as minister of electricity in the Iraqi government says he's closer to getting some of those people that he calls resistance groups to join in the political process. Ayham Al-Samarie talked with us about the complicated process of trying to bring the U.S. and Iraqi groups together to talk their way out of the current conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AYHAM AL-SAMARIE, FMR. IRAQI MINISTER: There is too many things we have to sit down, all of us, and talk about it. Of course, those so-called insurgents, and we call them resistance, and some people, they call them terrorists, the bottom line, those resistance people in Iraq, they have the power to make all the Sunni, all the Sunni, don't participate in the next election.

So do we want that? Or we want to talk with them and see their demand?

Their demands are simple. One of them is to have some type of recognition in them as a political group. Second, to talk with American face to face, not to talk through anybody else.

CLANCY: Have you been able to talk with the American side and get them to agree to that possibility? Have you held that discussion?

AL-SAMARIE: Well, yes, yes. We talk...

CLANCY: What did they say?

AL-SAMARIE: ... I talked with the American -- you know that Americans are willing in these days to talk more than before. And they are willing to separate these groups. Some groups are terrorists, and some groups are nationalists, and they think they are resisting the foreign troops.

CLANCY: Are you trying to arrange that meeting now?

AL-SAMARIE: Well, it's already -- I think there have been Americans involved for a while to talk with them. But I am, right now, trying to encourage the resistance to be part of the political so-called game and send us their own representatives live, and sit down with us. And it looks like two groups of them willing to do that. CLANCY: As you have talked to some of the Sunnis who have taken up arms against the current Iraqi government, are they ready to quit? Are they tired of this fight? Do they want to have peace in Iraq and end the suicide bombings, which, after all, are taking a toll not of just one side, but of all sides, and all of them Iraqi civilians, innocent people?

AL-SAMARIE: Yes. I -- just to clarify it, I talk with the groups who are not killing civilians or killing soldiers, who are not fighting them. Those guys, groups, they are defending themselves.

But anyway, they are willing to put their weapons down, provided they get their political demands, as I mentioned to you before. And this means they have to sit down and talk with the government and with the Americans. And they have to recognize by Americans that they are a factor, very important factor in Iraq right now.

We cannot just say they are terrorists, we have to clean them up. We can not clean them up, even if we stay there 10 years.

The reason behind that, there are too many. And if you are saying they are half of the nation, not the resistance, but half of the nation willing to give them some -- some new life over our blood, that means this war will never end.

So we need to sit down, all of us together, and we solve it. And they don't have to talk one. One side, like the government right now saying everybody carrying weapons is a terrorist. This is not true.

CLANCY: Ayham al-Samarie, I want to thank you very much for joining us on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

AL-SAMARIE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Politics today in Iraq.

VERJEE: Still to come, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman weighs in on whether an economic slowdown's on the horizon.

CLANCY: Also ahead, Aruba police rounding up more suspects in the case of the missing U.S. teenage tourist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Let's check some of the other stories that are making news around the U.S.

In Aruba, three more suspects arrested in the disappearance of a female tourist more than a week ago. The three men telling police that they left a nightclub with Natalee Holloway and went to the beach with the 18-year-old before they took her back to her hotel. Police continue to hold two other suspects in this case.

Day five of deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial under way now in Santa Maria, California. Jurors are scheduled to deliberate half a day this day. The pop star awaiting the verdict at his home with family and friends. His spokeswoman says he is still being plagued by back pain.

And a new census reports finds one out of every seven people in the U.S. is Hispanic. The reports says Hispanics also accounted for half the 2.9 million U.S. population growth from 2003, to 2004.

VERJEE: Let's check in now on what's moving the markets in the U.S. For that, over to New York and to Kathleen Hays.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CLANCY: We'll have a roundup of the main stories coming up.

VERJEE: Also ahead, a debate over the Guantanamo Bay prison facility in Cuba. Should it be shut down?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

These are the stories making headlines around the world.

A core group of Israeli settlers say they will fight to stay in Gaza. This after the Supreme Court in Israel ruled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements does not violate the settler's human rights. That clears the last major legal hurdle for the evacuation of some 9,000 Jewish settlers that is set to begin in August.

VERJEE: A German federal appeals court has upheld the acquittal of a Moroccan suspect accused of having ties with September 11th hijackers. Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi was acquitted last year of charges he helped three of the terrorists in their plot to attack the United States. Hamburg's top security official wants him deported back to Morocco.

CLANCY: Authorities in California have detained a fifth person of part of an ongoing U.S. anti-terror operation in California. It began with the arrest of a father and son on charges of lying to investigators. Court affidavits revealing one of them admitted attending a terror training camp in Pakistan.

VERJEE: The U.S. president says all options are on the table regarding the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. There have been recent calls by prominent news makers to shutdown the facility. Mr. Bush said, quote, "We are exploring all alternatives as to how best to do the main objective, which is to protect America. What we don't want to do is let someone out that comes back and harms us."

About 540 detainees are being held at the Guantanamo Bay facility. The prison's been in the spotlight recently after reports of incidents in which the Koran, the Muslim holy book, was mishandled. Is the facility becoming a cause for the embarrassment for the U.S., and should it be shutdown?

Joining us now to discuss that, James Carafano with the Heritage Foundation. He's in favor of keeping the facility. Michael O'Hanlon is with the Brookings Institution. He's been critical of the administration's handling of Guantanamo. Thanks so much for joining us.

Former President Jimmy Carter saying the U.S. is suffering a terrible embarrassment, a blow to its reputation as a champion of human rights, because of reports of prisoner abuse, and that Guantanamo Bay should be shut down.

Michael O'Hanlon, do you agree?

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Not totally. I think this would be one option, but it's not necessarily the most logical one to me. I think the most important thing is to continue to improve the process, whereby detainees can seek a second opinion, an appeals process, if they think they are unjustifiably held.

Now there could be a case that we'd be better off not having the individuals at Guantanamo because of the symbolism.

But I think the more important issue is to address the appeals process that has improved already. It took us too long to improve it. I think we'd be better off making sure the appeals process is sound and solid and the world knows it, rather than doing the symbolic thing of shutting down Guantanamo. I understand where President Carter is coming from. I sympathize with some of his diagnosis of the problem. but I'm not sure it's the best.

VERJEE: James Carafano, do you agree with that?

JAMES CARAFANO, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, look, quite frankly, I don't care if they close down Guantanamo or not. There's only a couple hundred prisoners there. There's no legal advantage to being there. The Supreme Court ruled. Some debate the ruling, but the Supreme Court ruled that they have jurisdiction over it. So, really, I don't care if they close it down or not.

But what they're still going to have to do, is they're still going to have to do the legitimate functions that they do at Guantanamo. They're going to have to detain people, they're going to have to interrogate them and they're going to have to have hearings to determine their status. So they're going to have to do that somewhere.

I think closing it down for P.R. purposes is just, quite frankly silly. The world opinion is not going to change because we leave Guantanamo open, or close it down or not.

VERJEE: How much actual intelligence that we get from Guantanamo Bay is valuable, is even actionable, do we know, Michael O'Hanlon? O'HANLON: We don't know a lot, but I think we can be confident that some of this intelligence is important, because we actually have found a lot of the top 24 Al Qaeda leadership, either killed or arrested them in the time since September 11th. Most of that was not in Afghanistan, but in places like Pakistan. So either Pakistani intelligence or American intelligence was getting some good leads, and quite often, apparently, the information came from prisoner interrogations. I think that purpose has to be preserved.

VERJEE: James Carafano, Democratic Senator Joe Biden on Guantanamo Bay has said it's the greatest propaganda tool that exists for the recruitment of terrorists around the world. Do you think that's the case?

CARAFANO: Well, you know, in every war the United States has ever fought, somebody tried to demonize the United States. When we were planning the invasion of Germany during WWII for example, the Nazis were saying, oh, you can't let the Americans in here, they're going to do all these terrible, horrible things to you; you must fight them to the bitter end. I mean, that's part of the nature of war. So the notion is that you can fight a war, and not have people try to demonize you is just silly. And if the senator thinks there's some way to fight war and not have a struggle of ideas as part of that, he's just flat wrong.

VERJEE: Is perception the problem, Michael O'Hanlon, or is it just silly, James Carafano says?

O'HANLON: Well, first of all, it is important to note that Senator Biden has been a pretty strong supporter of the administration overall in the war on terror, and so if he's concerned, I think we have to take his concern seriously. And I do think he is at least partially right to say there is a big perception problem here, and the perception translates into more anger at the United States, and potentially more recruits around the world for Al Qaeda.

So it's a national security problem for us, not just some psychological or public relations issue.

On the other hand, what is the best way to address that matter? I tend to agree with Jay, that we're better off not viewing Guantanamo itself as the issue, but thinking more broadly about what policies we do need and which ones don't need in this era. I think we could have been much better much earlier at making sure we signal to the world strong protection for these prisoners, but that's a separate issue than shutting down Guantanamo.

CARAFANO: Yes, I think Michael's really hit on the key issue. The rhetoric about the P.R. thing is not the real issue. The real issue here is the adjudication of the status of the people who live there. And quite frankly, Michael's exactly right. They were slow to accept procedure. Understandably, we never had one before, but it's important to get that right.

VERJEE: The issue, national security, when it comes down to it, if Guantanamo Bay's prison facility is shutdown, to both of you, will Americans be safer, or not? James?

CARAFANO: Well, the point, again, is you have to do those legitimate functions. You have to pick up people who don't play by the rules, have to find a way to legitimately contain them, respect their rights, conduct legitimate intelligence investigations, and then adjudicate them and find out where they belong. That's going to be a constant problem.

VERJEE: Michael?

O'HANLON: Yes. I think that we have to maintain these functions. And there is a better way to do it than we started out doing. I think we've made a lot of progress. So I'm not sure there's quite as huge as a problem anymore. We are living large on the legacy of past mistakes, which are regrettable. Unfortunately, even though we've corrected some of them, the perception lives on.

VERJEE: Michael O'Hanlon with the Brookings Institution, James Carafano with the Heritage Foundation, thanks so much, gentlemen, for your perspectives.

CLANCY: Thank you.

Well, turning to another, well, you could say it's sensitive topic in Washington. Mohammed ElBaradei, he is there in the U.S. capital for talks that may determine whether or not he serves a third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Bush administration has said in the past it wants that diplomat out when his second term runs out. But Washington now appears to be taking a bit of a softer stand on ElBaradei. He is meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at this hour. Earlier Rice suggested any decision to support ElBaradei could hinge on how he wants to deal with Iran and its nuclear program.

VERJEE: In Brussels NATO defense minister have agreed to move swiftly to help the African Union with logistics and training for an expanding peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region. Despite a dispute within the alliance, NATO representatives agreed later on Wednesday that the airlift of some 5,000 African peacekeepers to Darfur should be carried out by NATO, as well as the European Union.

CLANCY: Your international weather forecast is coming up here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: But first, a report on what the fog of war can hide. We're going to show you the pain and the hope that can emerge from a hail of gunfire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Let's check some stories now making news around the United States. U.S. military officials confirm to CNN the Pentagon is set to announce on Friday that the army his missed its recruiting goal for the fourth straight month. The target for May had been 6,700 new recruits, but only about 5,000 signed up. The recruiters attribute the shortfall to a strong economy and an unwillingness by many to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is facing criticism from members of his own party for recent comments about Republicans. He met with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. This week, Dean calls the Republican party, quote, "pretty much a white Christian party." Many Democrats have distanced themselves from that position.

And Democratic lawmakers are keeping their end of a deal to let the U.S. Senate vote on some of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees. California justice Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed to a federal appeals court seat on Wednesday. And on Thursday, the Senate's expected to vote on appeals court nominee William Pryor. Democrats had been using filibusters to obstruct the confirmations.

CLANCY: In Iraq, coalition forces haven't released civilian casualty figures from this conflict. That's been standard policy. A Web site, Iraq Body Count, that records estimated civilian deaths according to the news media since the start of the war, puts the minimum figure somewhere around 22,000.

VERJEE: One man in Iraq, faced with the reality of war in 2003, tried to remove his family from danger. His actions met with tragedy at a U.S. checkpoint.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are many stories in the Arabian nights, the interpreter who pulled Saddam from his spider hole, the waitress who fled Kurdistan, the electrical engineer who came to St. Louis by way of tragedy of Nasiriyah.

DAHAM KASSIM, IRAQI REFUGEE: There is a sandstorm there. And I don't see -- I see nothing because of the sandstorm. So, there is, I think, four of three tanks, American tanks, in the gate, Nasiriyah Gate.

CROWLEY: In March of '03, U.S. troops were battling for control of Nasiriyah. The fighting was intense, the scene chaotic. Hoping to find safety on his father's farm, Daham Kassim drove north, out of town, into a blinding sandstorm, straight at a U.S. checkpoint.

KASSIM: I stop my car and I wait. I wait less than one minute, really, and they shoot me.

CROWLEY: He was wounded in his face, his chest, his arm. He lost his right leg and so much more.

KASSIM: I don't know how one minute, two minute, still shoot my car. Then, my brother also with me. My brother and my wife and four kids, my kids.

CROWLEY: He bears unspeakable sadness, but cannot stop talking.

KASSIM: Two Americans come. One is Chris and the other is Joe. I remember them. And they took two of my daughters. And I saw by my eyes, they are dead.

CROWLEY: His brother-in-law helps sometimes with the translation, but Daham's broken English articulates his broken heart.

KASSIM: And also, I saw them take my son, Mohammed, 7 years. It is difficult to breathing. And my daughter, the fourth one, my daughter is Zainab is still OK as I see her.

CROWLEY: Mohammed died within minutes; five-and-a-half-year-old Zainab, with her father and mother, spent several hours in a field hospital, but the trio was moved, just as chill took over the Iraqi night.

KASSIM: Then, my daughter Zainab said, pop, it is very cold. But, you know, I have nothing to help her, because I can't stand up. I can't -- this is broken, and my legs is also broken, and the other also. And my wife, also, the two arms -- two arms are broken. It is difficult to help my daughter, and also die.

CROWLEY: This is the death certificate for the 5-and-a-half- year-old Zainab. Cause of death, blast injury causing penetration of skull and exposure of brain. The space for Social Security number is all zeros, ending in 27. Verifying Daham's records, an Army spokeswoman says that means Zainab, in March of 2003, was the 27th civilian casualty at the Nasiriyah Air Base hospital, ages 5-and-a- half to 9. Four children were dead.

(on camera): I'm a mother. I think that I would hate Americans if I were you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says, the person, whoever who did -- she says she hate that person, because what he have done, because he is not careful. And she love the people who help her. So, it's not country. It is individual.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Daham and his wife, Gufran (ph), are in the U.S. now staying with her sister and brother-in-law on a six-month visa sponsored by a manufacturing company, so Daham can update his skills. They are two years and a world away from the day of the sandstorm. But the pain is just a breath away.

KASSIM: Thank you very much.

CROWLEY: In January, they went to Tennessee to vote in the Iraqi collections. Few have paid so dear a cost to cast a ballot.

KASSIM: I feel the same feeling for the Americans which they lost sons or daughter. I have same feeling, sad feeling. But we must see the hope for many million peoples in Iraq also. This is the goal.

CROWLEY: The U.S. military found an incident fighting Daham's description of events. No one would talk on camera. But the Marines provided a written statement. It was determined, the statement said, "that the shooting did not violate our rules of engagement, nor the law of war." KASSIM: They don't care my story. And the American government, I mean, and the American Army and the American -- and they don't care of my story. But, in the other side, there is many, many American people help me.

CROWLEY: There are the Americans aboard the USS Comfort, who cared for the couple, the American who owns the electrical company that sponsored the visas, the ones who coaxed him, free of charge, through rehab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You step into the gray and then back.

CROWLEY: And there is the American company which gave him a new prosthesis and something he dearly wanted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that good?

KASSIM: Uh-huh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful.

CROWLEY: The ability to kneel down to pray. This is not a story that can have a happy ending. But there are reasons to smile.

(on camera): You have some big news.

KASSIM: Yes. My wife...

CROWLEY: Tell me.

KASSIM: My wife pregnant now, I think, before two months.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Her health is delicate. They are trying to extend their visa in the U.S., at least until the baby comes

KASSIM: The name is not so difficult. But, I am sure -- I mean if she -- if come a daughter, the same name of my big daughter. And if come a boy, the same of my boy. This is sure.

CROWLEY: By one estimate, as many as 25,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the start of the war. No one knows how many have been injured.

Candy Crowley, CNN, St. Louis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Baseball fans in the United States and around the world take note: A-Rod reaches a milestone.

VERJEE: Here's Patrick Snell with more -- Patrick.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks so much, Zain and Jim, yes. Did you know it's exactly one year until the start of the 2006 World Cup finals are played in Germany? And precise as ever, organizers there have their timing down to a fine art. The countdown's well and truly under way. And in the nation's capital, Berlin, a prominently placed two-and-a-half meter digital clock was unveiled near the city's Brandenburg Gate. The tournament's opening game will be played in a brand new stadium, too, the sparkling Allianz Arena in Munich.

Now, there are few bigger rivalries, if any, in international football than Argentina and Brazil, who have no less than seven World Cup titles between them. And the two Latin American superpowers going head to head in Buenos Aires Wednesday. The home (INAUDIBLE) win would put them through to Germany.

After just three minutes, the dream starts. It's Hernan Krespo doing the damage for 1-0 Argentina. And if you thought that was good, check out the strike coming up from Juan Roman Riquelme, who unleashes one from way out, 2-0. And it just got even better for the home side.

All of these strikes coming before the half-time break. Krespo, again, on the end of a very slick move, across from Saviola. 3-1 the final score. Brazil not quite there yet.

The United States is in very good position to make it for the fifth straight time to World Cup final after a 3-0 win in Panama. Like group leaders Mexico, Bruce Arena's team needs to win just two of its remaining five games. Bocanegra with the first Wednesday, then Landon Donovan, away again with the second from the Steve Ralston cross. That made it 2-0 USA.

Now, Panama could have scored themselves, but once again, they came up an inspired Casey Keller. A fine triple save coming from the much-traveled keeper from point-blank range to keep the opponents out. Somehow this game would be also settled before the break. Brian McBride scoring the third for his country to add to his effort over the weekend. Three-nil the final score.

Special night for Alex Rodriguez, as the New York Yankees trounced the Milwaukee Brewers, top of the eighth. A-Rod taking Jorge Delarosa deep to right for the solo home run, his second of the game, 19th of the season. And in terms of his career, he's arrived now at the magical 400 mark.

That is the international sports for now.

CLANCY: All right. Thank you very much, Patrick.

VERJEE: Thanks.

CLANCY: Well, more news is straight ahead here on CNN. And I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 9, 2005 - 12:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Terrorism on trial. Two high-profile court proceedings in Europe and Africa end with setbacks for the prosecution.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Digging in. Israeli settlers ignore a supreme court ruling upholding Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan.

VERJEE: And the heat of battle claimed their children and left them wounded. Now these Iraqis and others like them are rebuilding their lives in America.

It's 6:00 p.m. in Germany, 11:00 a.m. in St. Louis in the U.S. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. To your viewers in the United States and around the world, hello and welcome. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Terrorism and the response to it at the forefront in many parts of the world this day.

VERJEE: In Germany, in Kenya, setbacks in the prosecution of terror suspects. An appeals court in Germany upholds the acquittal of a 9/11 terror suspect. And a Kenyan judge acquits four men in the bombing of an Israeli hotel.

CLANCY: Meantime, in the U.S., questions about that case against five Pakistani suspects as authorities in California, at least are pulling back on some of their allegations.

VERJEE: This as President Bush makes his case for continuing the Patriot Act.

We'll have details on all of this. But we begin in Germany, where prosecutors had pursued a case of guilt by association with some of the 9/11 hijackers, but a Moroccan man acquitted last year on charges he helped the terrorists has won another victory in a German appeals court.

Our coverage begins with CNN's Chris Burns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another setback for prosecutors hoping to put 9/11 suspects behind bars. The German high court upheld the acquittal of Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, charged as an accomplice in the attacks.

Though Mzoudi is walking free, Hamburg state authorities say they want to deport him to his native Morocco as a terrorist threat. Mzoudi can try to stay in Germany by asking political asylum.

German prosecutors said Mzoudi knew ringleader Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 hijackers. He trained with some of them in an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, helped arrange their housing and financial transactions in Hamburg to stay clear of authorities. But the defense argued Mzoudi knew nothing about the 9/11 plans, and the high courts said a lower court in Hamburg was right to acquit Mzoudi last year for lack of evidence.

A Hamburg judge called Mzoudi a fringe figure and said it was incomprehensible that U.S. authorities didn't help provide more evidence by refusing to allow U.S.-held 9/11 suspects to testify, raising issues about how and where those suspects are held.

It was the second major setback for German investigators of the Hamburg cell. Mounir Motassadeq, facing the same charges, had his conviction also overturned for lack of evidence from German and U.S. authorities. His retrial is under way in Hamburg, and a decision is expected in August. German authorities also want to deport Motassadeq if he's acquitted.

German terror experts speculate that if Mzoudi and Motassadeq are sent back to Morocco, they could be handed over to U.S. authorities. Asked here about that possibility, U.S. Undersecretary of State for European Affairs, Dan Fried, declined to comment. He did say the two terror cases weren't poisoning U.S.-German relations.

But German authorities have grumbled that, while they have been accused of failing to track down the Hamburg cell, they are not getting enough cooperation across the Atlantic.

Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: In the meantime, in another case, this time in Kenya, a judge cited lack of evidence in the acquittal of four suspects. They had been charged in the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa. Fifteen people died in that attack.

The judge said prosecutors failed to link the four men to the bombers or to al Qaeda. Human rights groups and Muslim organizations welcome the verdict. They say Kenyan police were panicked into a hurried, incompetent investigation by pressure from western governments.

VERJEE: A small town in a wine-growing region in California is the focus of an anti-terrorist sweep by U.S. federal authorities. Five members of a Pakistani community in Lodi have been taken into custody this week. FBI officials says there could be more arrests, even as questions about the case arise.

Chris Lawrence is in the town of Lodi. He joins us now.

Chris, why have authorities pulled back on some of their allegations?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, the original federal affidavit that was released in Washington, D.C., stated that one of the people, Hamid Hayat, considered grocery stores and hospitals to be potential targets. In the later version that was finally filed here in federal court in California, the FBI backed off and deleted all references to that. They also clarified, saying that none of the men were caught in the middle of planning an attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Federal agents say some residents of this small town were making big plans to wage holy war in America.

KEITH SLOTTER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Although we believe these individuals are committed to acts of jihad against the U.S., we do not possess information concerning exact plans, timing, or specific targets of opportunity.

LAWRENCE: Two U.S. citizens are being held in the Sacramento County jail. Umer Hayat and his son, Hamid, have been accused of lying to FBI investigators. Court documents show that both men denied that Hamid Hayat attended a terrorist training camp. But after hours of interrogation the affidavit states, Hamid admitted he attended the camp in Pakistan. Photos of President Bush were used as targets during weapons training. And he specifically asked to come back to the U.S. to carry out his mission.

SCOTT MCGREGOR, U.S. ATTY: He also confirmed that the camp was run by al Qaeda operatives and that they were being trained on how to kill Americans.

LAWRENCE: The accusations shocked this rural town south of Sacramento, where Umer Hayat drove an ice cream truck.

KARINA MURILLO, NEIGHBOR: He was very friendly with the kids.

LAWRENCE: Some neighbors tell us the Hayats have been in Lodi for years.

MURILLO: He never did anything to lead us to believe he would be planning something like this.

JOHNNY GRIFFIN, UMER HAYAT'S ATTORNEY.: It's important for everyone to push the pause button.

LAWRENCE: Attorney Johnny Griffin says Umer Hayat is being labeled a terrorist without actually being accused.

GRIFFIN: Is he charged with any of those crimes? The answer is no. He is only charged with making a false statement.

LAWRENCE: Two local Islamic leaders have also been detained, at least one for violating his visa. But federal agents won't say how they may be connected to the Hayats. Their attorney tells CNN, "They are victims of guilt by association" and "completely innocent."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Now, law enforcement forces are telling CNN that investigators are looking to see if the men acted as a conduit between terror groups overseas and people right here in the U.S. So far, no charges to that effect have been filed -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Chris Lawrence reporting. Thank -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. We're going to stay on the subject of terror and look at it from a political perspective. U.S. President Bush in the state of Ohio, campaigning for renewal of parts of the Patriot Act which are due to expire. Mr. Bush seen here speaking in Columbus, Ohio. He was talking to police at a training center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Since September the 11th, 2001, we have gone on the offensive against the terrorists. We have dealt the enemy a series of powerful blows.

The terrorists are on the run. And we will keep them on the run. Yet they are still active. They are still seeking to do us harm.

The terrorists are patient and determined. And so are we. They are hoping we'll get complacent and forget our responsibilities.

Once again, they're proving that will they don't understand our nation. The United States of America will never let down its guard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, passed by the Congress after the September 11 attacks, the Patriot Act gives police and the FBI expanded search and surveillance powers. Mr. Bush says it is a crucial weapon in the fight against al Qaeda. Civil libertarians complain it's open to abuse.

VERJEE: Israel's supreme court has ruled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements is constitutional. That clears the last major legal hurdle for the pullout set to begin in August. But, as guy Raz reports, some of the 9,000 Jewish settlers earmarked for evacuation are digging in their heels even more, saying they will fight to stay on the land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Digging in further in Gaza, two months to go before Israeli settlers will be removed from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So welcome to my new home.

RAZ: But hard-core opponents of the plan continue to move in, determined to thwart the evacuation.

An abandoned hotel inside this Gaza settlement now a base camp for the most militant settlers, men and women convinced this strip of land is part of biblical Israel.

NADIA MATAR, SETTLER SPOKESWOMAN: We're going to defend ourselves to stay here, and we are going to succeed.

RAZ: To be certain, these radicals are numerically small, but a group winning over more grassroots support. A new poll in Israel now shows 48 percent of the public supports the Gaza pullout plan, down from a height of 65 percent in January.

But if there was any doubt as to whether disengagement will go forward, the country's supreme court quashed it, throwing out a legal challenge to the plan. And the embattled Israeli prime minister struck out at critics.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Israel will leave Gaza and the northern West Bank. I repeat, let there be no illusion, Israel will leave Gaza and the northern West Bank according to the government decision.

RAZ: Palestinian officials are complaining that Israel isn't coordinating the pullout to their satisfaction.

MUHAMMED DAHLAN, PALESTINIAN CABINET MINISTER (through translator): Over the past two months we have yet to receive any information from the Israeli side in respect to this engagement.

RAZ: The Palestinian government is struggling to ensure it can control Gaza once Israel withdraws.

A recent barrage of rocket attacks launched by Palestinian militants against Israeli targets is widely interpreted as an open challenge to President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian leader held talks with militant leaders in a bid to persuade them to hold their fire.

(on camera): Both Abbas and Sharon face deep internal challenges. The two leaders have always stood on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, but now these two aging men may finally have found something in common.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: The U.S. and South Korean presidents are set to meet on Friday in an effort to shore up an increasingly strained alliance. The two countries at odds over just how to deal with North Korea.

Talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program have been stalled for almost a year now. A top North Korean official says his country is building more nuclear weapons. That was in an interview with the U.S. television network ABC. North Korea's vice foreign minister quoted as saying this: "I should say that we have enough nuclear bombs to defend against a U.S. attack. As for specifically how many we have, that is a secret."

VERJEE: Coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY, an embrace from Europe.

CLANCY: European officials pay an unannounced visit to Baghdad and pledge financial support for the struggling democracy there. We'll have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: It was unannounced, but European officials arrived in Baghdad with a pledge to support the people of Iraq. That was a visit that set the groundwork for an international conference on Iraqi reconstruction. It's to be held in Brussels later this month.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw saying it's time to put the past behind and help to join the country's rebuilding. Straw and the Iraqi prime minister address the ongoing issue of security problems in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The perception that I have is this, that there are many parts of Iraq where the situation is significantly better now and the security has greatly improved. And overall, the Iraqi security forces have greatly improved their capacity, even in the six months since I was here in November.

We all accept that there are some parts of Baghdad, and indeed some parts of Iraq, where the situation is very difficult, as you describe. Why? The answer is one word, terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have sent a clear message through the foreign ministers that Iraq is in need of aid. As for security, we hope to have Iraqi capability to restore security. In this particular field, we welcome any help from our friends in Europe to preserve the security of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi security force remain engaged in an offensive against insurgents in the northwest city of Tal Afar, not far from the Syrian border.

Jane Arraf is embedded with U.S. troops taking part in the operation. And she talked about how Iraqi civilians are involved in the effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: What we are seeing in Tal Afar after all of this violence is tribal sheikhs standing up and saying, this is terrorism, this is not an insurgency. We are seeing people calling in to a tip line to say, "I know where the insurgents are." We are seeing people, Iraqis, actually showing up and leading U.S. soldiers to places where they believe bombs are being made.

It's what the U.S. military has always said they need to do to get a handle on this. And here we're beginning to see it happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: A Sunni politician who served as minister of electricity in the Iraqi government says he's closer to getting some of those people that he calls resistance groups to join in the political process. Ayham Al-Samarie talked with us about the complicated process of trying to bring the U.S. and Iraqi groups together to talk their way out of the current conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AYHAM AL-SAMARIE, FMR. IRAQI MINISTER: There is too many things we have to sit down, all of us, and talk about it. Of course, those so-called insurgents, and we call them resistance, and some people, they call them terrorists, the bottom line, those resistance people in Iraq, they have the power to make all the Sunni, all the Sunni, don't participate in the next election.

So do we want that? Or we want to talk with them and see their demand?

Their demands are simple. One of them is to have some type of recognition in them as a political group. Second, to talk with American face to face, not to talk through anybody else.

CLANCY: Have you been able to talk with the American side and get them to agree to that possibility? Have you held that discussion?

AL-SAMARIE: Well, yes, yes. We talk...

CLANCY: What did they say?

AL-SAMARIE: ... I talked with the American -- you know that Americans are willing in these days to talk more than before. And they are willing to separate these groups. Some groups are terrorists, and some groups are nationalists, and they think they are resisting the foreign troops.

CLANCY: Are you trying to arrange that meeting now?

AL-SAMARIE: Well, it's already -- I think there have been Americans involved for a while to talk with them. But I am, right now, trying to encourage the resistance to be part of the political so-called game and send us their own representatives live, and sit down with us. And it looks like two groups of them willing to do that. CLANCY: As you have talked to some of the Sunnis who have taken up arms against the current Iraqi government, are they ready to quit? Are they tired of this fight? Do they want to have peace in Iraq and end the suicide bombings, which, after all, are taking a toll not of just one side, but of all sides, and all of them Iraqi civilians, innocent people?

AL-SAMARIE: Yes. I -- just to clarify it, I talk with the groups who are not killing civilians or killing soldiers, who are not fighting them. Those guys, groups, they are defending themselves.

But anyway, they are willing to put their weapons down, provided they get their political demands, as I mentioned to you before. And this means they have to sit down and talk with the government and with the Americans. And they have to recognize by Americans that they are a factor, very important factor in Iraq right now.

We cannot just say they are terrorists, we have to clean them up. We can not clean them up, even if we stay there 10 years.

The reason behind that, there are too many. And if you are saying they are half of the nation, not the resistance, but half of the nation willing to give them some -- some new life over our blood, that means this war will never end.

So we need to sit down, all of us together, and we solve it. And they don't have to talk one. One side, like the government right now saying everybody carrying weapons is a terrorist. This is not true.

CLANCY: Ayham al-Samarie, I want to thank you very much for joining us on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

AL-SAMARIE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Politics today in Iraq.

VERJEE: Still to come, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman weighs in on whether an economic slowdown's on the horizon.

CLANCY: Also ahead, Aruba police rounding up more suspects in the case of the missing U.S. teenage tourist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Let's check some of the other stories that are making news around the U.S.

In Aruba, three more suspects arrested in the disappearance of a female tourist more than a week ago. The three men telling police that they left a nightclub with Natalee Holloway and went to the beach with the 18-year-old before they took her back to her hotel. Police continue to hold two other suspects in this case.

Day five of deliberations in the Michael Jackson trial under way now in Santa Maria, California. Jurors are scheduled to deliberate half a day this day. The pop star awaiting the verdict at his home with family and friends. His spokeswoman says he is still being plagued by back pain.

And a new census reports finds one out of every seven people in the U.S. is Hispanic. The reports says Hispanics also accounted for half the 2.9 million U.S. population growth from 2003, to 2004.

VERJEE: Let's check in now on what's moving the markets in the U.S. For that, over to New York and to Kathleen Hays.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CLANCY: We'll have a roundup of the main stories coming up.

VERJEE: Also ahead, a debate over the Guantanamo Bay prison facility in Cuba. Should it be shut down?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

These are the stories making headlines around the world.

A core group of Israeli settlers say they will fight to stay in Gaza. This after the Supreme Court in Israel ruled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements does not violate the settler's human rights. That clears the last major legal hurdle for the evacuation of some 9,000 Jewish settlers that is set to begin in August.

VERJEE: A German federal appeals court has upheld the acquittal of a Moroccan suspect accused of having ties with September 11th hijackers. Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi was acquitted last year of charges he helped three of the terrorists in their plot to attack the United States. Hamburg's top security official wants him deported back to Morocco.

CLANCY: Authorities in California have detained a fifth person of part of an ongoing U.S. anti-terror operation in California. It began with the arrest of a father and son on charges of lying to investigators. Court affidavits revealing one of them admitted attending a terror training camp in Pakistan.

VERJEE: The U.S. president says all options are on the table regarding the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. There have been recent calls by prominent news makers to shutdown the facility. Mr. Bush said, quote, "We are exploring all alternatives as to how best to do the main objective, which is to protect America. What we don't want to do is let someone out that comes back and harms us."

About 540 detainees are being held at the Guantanamo Bay facility. The prison's been in the spotlight recently after reports of incidents in which the Koran, the Muslim holy book, was mishandled. Is the facility becoming a cause for the embarrassment for the U.S., and should it be shutdown?

Joining us now to discuss that, James Carafano with the Heritage Foundation. He's in favor of keeping the facility. Michael O'Hanlon is with the Brookings Institution. He's been critical of the administration's handling of Guantanamo. Thanks so much for joining us.

Former President Jimmy Carter saying the U.S. is suffering a terrible embarrassment, a blow to its reputation as a champion of human rights, because of reports of prisoner abuse, and that Guantanamo Bay should be shut down.

Michael O'Hanlon, do you agree?

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Not totally. I think this would be one option, but it's not necessarily the most logical one to me. I think the most important thing is to continue to improve the process, whereby detainees can seek a second opinion, an appeals process, if they think they are unjustifiably held.

Now there could be a case that we'd be better off not having the individuals at Guantanamo because of the symbolism.

But I think the more important issue is to address the appeals process that has improved already. It took us too long to improve it. I think we'd be better off making sure the appeals process is sound and solid and the world knows it, rather than doing the symbolic thing of shutting down Guantanamo. I understand where President Carter is coming from. I sympathize with some of his diagnosis of the problem. but I'm not sure it's the best.

VERJEE: James Carafano, do you agree with that?

JAMES CARAFANO, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, look, quite frankly, I don't care if they close down Guantanamo or not. There's only a couple hundred prisoners there. There's no legal advantage to being there. The Supreme Court ruled. Some debate the ruling, but the Supreme Court ruled that they have jurisdiction over it. So, really, I don't care if they close it down or not.

But what they're still going to have to do, is they're still going to have to do the legitimate functions that they do at Guantanamo. They're going to have to detain people, they're going to have to interrogate them and they're going to have to have hearings to determine their status. So they're going to have to do that somewhere.

I think closing it down for P.R. purposes is just, quite frankly silly. The world opinion is not going to change because we leave Guantanamo open, or close it down or not.

VERJEE: How much actual intelligence that we get from Guantanamo Bay is valuable, is even actionable, do we know, Michael O'Hanlon? O'HANLON: We don't know a lot, but I think we can be confident that some of this intelligence is important, because we actually have found a lot of the top 24 Al Qaeda leadership, either killed or arrested them in the time since September 11th. Most of that was not in Afghanistan, but in places like Pakistan. So either Pakistani intelligence or American intelligence was getting some good leads, and quite often, apparently, the information came from prisoner interrogations. I think that purpose has to be preserved.

VERJEE: James Carafano, Democratic Senator Joe Biden on Guantanamo Bay has said it's the greatest propaganda tool that exists for the recruitment of terrorists around the world. Do you think that's the case?

CARAFANO: Well, you know, in every war the United States has ever fought, somebody tried to demonize the United States. When we were planning the invasion of Germany during WWII for example, the Nazis were saying, oh, you can't let the Americans in here, they're going to do all these terrible, horrible things to you; you must fight them to the bitter end. I mean, that's part of the nature of war. So the notion is that you can fight a war, and not have people try to demonize you is just silly. And if the senator thinks there's some way to fight war and not have a struggle of ideas as part of that, he's just flat wrong.

VERJEE: Is perception the problem, Michael O'Hanlon, or is it just silly, James Carafano says?

O'HANLON: Well, first of all, it is important to note that Senator Biden has been a pretty strong supporter of the administration overall in the war on terror, and so if he's concerned, I think we have to take his concern seriously. And I do think he is at least partially right to say there is a big perception problem here, and the perception translates into more anger at the United States, and potentially more recruits around the world for Al Qaeda.

So it's a national security problem for us, not just some psychological or public relations issue.

On the other hand, what is the best way to address that matter? I tend to agree with Jay, that we're better off not viewing Guantanamo itself as the issue, but thinking more broadly about what policies we do need and which ones don't need in this era. I think we could have been much better much earlier at making sure we signal to the world strong protection for these prisoners, but that's a separate issue than shutting down Guantanamo.

CARAFANO: Yes, I think Michael's really hit on the key issue. The rhetoric about the P.R. thing is not the real issue. The real issue here is the adjudication of the status of the people who live there. And quite frankly, Michael's exactly right. They were slow to accept procedure. Understandably, we never had one before, but it's important to get that right.

VERJEE: The issue, national security, when it comes down to it, if Guantanamo Bay's prison facility is shutdown, to both of you, will Americans be safer, or not? James?

CARAFANO: Well, the point, again, is you have to do those legitimate functions. You have to pick up people who don't play by the rules, have to find a way to legitimately contain them, respect their rights, conduct legitimate intelligence investigations, and then adjudicate them and find out where they belong. That's going to be a constant problem.

VERJEE: Michael?

O'HANLON: Yes. I think that we have to maintain these functions. And there is a better way to do it than we started out doing. I think we've made a lot of progress. So I'm not sure there's quite as huge as a problem anymore. We are living large on the legacy of past mistakes, which are regrettable. Unfortunately, even though we've corrected some of them, the perception lives on.

VERJEE: Michael O'Hanlon with the Brookings Institution, James Carafano with the Heritage Foundation, thanks so much, gentlemen, for your perspectives.

CLANCY: Thank you.

Well, turning to another, well, you could say it's sensitive topic in Washington. Mohammed ElBaradei, he is there in the U.S. capital for talks that may determine whether or not he serves a third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Bush administration has said in the past it wants that diplomat out when his second term runs out. But Washington now appears to be taking a bit of a softer stand on ElBaradei. He is meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at this hour. Earlier Rice suggested any decision to support ElBaradei could hinge on how he wants to deal with Iran and its nuclear program.

VERJEE: In Brussels NATO defense minister have agreed to move swiftly to help the African Union with logistics and training for an expanding peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region. Despite a dispute within the alliance, NATO representatives agreed later on Wednesday that the airlift of some 5,000 African peacekeepers to Darfur should be carried out by NATO, as well as the European Union.

CLANCY: Your international weather forecast is coming up here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: But first, a report on what the fog of war can hide. We're going to show you the pain and the hope that can emerge from a hail of gunfire.

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VERJEE: Let's check some stories now making news around the United States. U.S. military officials confirm to CNN the Pentagon is set to announce on Friday that the army his missed its recruiting goal for the fourth straight month. The target for May had been 6,700 new recruits, but only about 5,000 signed up. The recruiters attribute the shortfall to a strong economy and an unwillingness by many to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is facing criticism from members of his own party for recent comments about Republicans. He met with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. This week, Dean calls the Republican party, quote, "pretty much a white Christian party." Many Democrats have distanced themselves from that position.

And Democratic lawmakers are keeping their end of a deal to let the U.S. Senate vote on some of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees. California justice Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed to a federal appeals court seat on Wednesday. And on Thursday, the Senate's expected to vote on appeals court nominee William Pryor. Democrats had been using filibusters to obstruct the confirmations.

CLANCY: In Iraq, coalition forces haven't released civilian casualty figures from this conflict. That's been standard policy. A Web site, Iraq Body Count, that records estimated civilian deaths according to the news media since the start of the war, puts the minimum figure somewhere around 22,000.

VERJEE: One man in Iraq, faced with the reality of war in 2003, tried to remove his family from danger. His actions met with tragedy at a U.S. checkpoint.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are many stories in the Arabian nights, the interpreter who pulled Saddam from his spider hole, the waitress who fled Kurdistan, the electrical engineer who came to St. Louis by way of tragedy of Nasiriyah.

DAHAM KASSIM, IRAQI REFUGEE: There is a sandstorm there. And I don't see -- I see nothing because of the sandstorm. So, there is, I think, four of three tanks, American tanks, in the gate, Nasiriyah Gate.

CROWLEY: In March of '03, U.S. troops were battling for control of Nasiriyah. The fighting was intense, the scene chaotic. Hoping to find safety on his father's farm, Daham Kassim drove north, out of town, into a blinding sandstorm, straight at a U.S. checkpoint.

KASSIM: I stop my car and I wait. I wait less than one minute, really, and they shoot me.

CROWLEY: He was wounded in his face, his chest, his arm. He lost his right leg and so much more.

KASSIM: I don't know how one minute, two minute, still shoot my car. Then, my brother also with me. My brother and my wife and four kids, my kids.

CROWLEY: He bears unspeakable sadness, but cannot stop talking.

KASSIM: Two Americans come. One is Chris and the other is Joe. I remember them. And they took two of my daughters. And I saw by my eyes, they are dead.

CROWLEY: His brother-in-law helps sometimes with the translation, but Daham's broken English articulates his broken heart.

KASSIM: And also, I saw them take my son, Mohammed, 7 years. It is difficult to breathing. And my daughter, the fourth one, my daughter is Zainab is still OK as I see her.

CROWLEY: Mohammed died within minutes; five-and-a-half-year-old Zainab, with her father and mother, spent several hours in a field hospital, but the trio was moved, just as chill took over the Iraqi night.

KASSIM: Then, my daughter Zainab said, pop, it is very cold. But, you know, I have nothing to help her, because I can't stand up. I can't -- this is broken, and my legs is also broken, and the other also. And my wife, also, the two arms -- two arms are broken. It is difficult to help my daughter, and also die.

CROWLEY: This is the death certificate for the 5-and-a-half- year-old Zainab. Cause of death, blast injury causing penetration of skull and exposure of brain. The space for Social Security number is all zeros, ending in 27. Verifying Daham's records, an Army spokeswoman says that means Zainab, in March of 2003, was the 27th civilian casualty at the Nasiriyah Air Base hospital, ages 5-and-a- half to 9. Four children were dead.

(on camera): I'm a mother. I think that I would hate Americans if I were you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says, the person, whoever who did -- she says she hate that person, because what he have done, because he is not careful. And she love the people who help her. So, it's not country. It is individual.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Daham and his wife, Gufran (ph), are in the U.S. now staying with her sister and brother-in-law on a six-month visa sponsored by a manufacturing company, so Daham can update his skills. They are two years and a world away from the day of the sandstorm. But the pain is just a breath away.

KASSIM: Thank you very much.

CROWLEY: In January, they went to Tennessee to vote in the Iraqi collections. Few have paid so dear a cost to cast a ballot.

KASSIM: I feel the same feeling for the Americans which they lost sons or daughter. I have same feeling, sad feeling. But we must see the hope for many million peoples in Iraq also. This is the goal.

CROWLEY: The U.S. military found an incident fighting Daham's description of events. No one would talk on camera. But the Marines provided a written statement. It was determined, the statement said, "that the shooting did not violate our rules of engagement, nor the law of war." KASSIM: They don't care my story. And the American government, I mean, and the American Army and the American -- and they don't care of my story. But, in the other side, there is many, many American people help me.

CROWLEY: There are the Americans aboard the USS Comfort, who cared for the couple, the American who owns the electrical company that sponsored the visas, the ones who coaxed him, free of charge, through rehab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You step into the gray and then back.

CROWLEY: And there is the American company which gave him a new prosthesis and something he dearly wanted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that good?

KASSIM: Uh-huh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful.

CROWLEY: The ability to kneel down to pray. This is not a story that can have a happy ending. But there are reasons to smile.

(on camera): You have some big news.

KASSIM: Yes. My wife...

CROWLEY: Tell me.

KASSIM: My wife pregnant now, I think, before two months.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Her health is delicate. They are trying to extend their visa in the U.S., at least until the baby comes

KASSIM: The name is not so difficult. But, I am sure -- I mean if she -- if come a daughter, the same name of my big daughter. And if come a boy, the same of my boy. This is sure.

CROWLEY: By one estimate, as many as 25,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the start of the war. No one knows how many have been injured.

Candy Crowley, CNN, St. Louis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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CLANCY: Baseball fans in the United States and around the world take note: A-Rod reaches a milestone.

VERJEE: Here's Patrick Snell with more -- Patrick.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks so much, Zain and Jim, yes. Did you know it's exactly one year until the start of the 2006 World Cup finals are played in Germany? And precise as ever, organizers there have their timing down to a fine art. The countdown's well and truly under way. And in the nation's capital, Berlin, a prominently placed two-and-a-half meter digital clock was unveiled near the city's Brandenburg Gate. The tournament's opening game will be played in a brand new stadium, too, the sparkling Allianz Arena in Munich.

Now, there are few bigger rivalries, if any, in international football than Argentina and Brazil, who have no less than seven World Cup titles between them. And the two Latin American superpowers going head to head in Buenos Aires Wednesday. The home (INAUDIBLE) win would put them through to Germany.

After just three minutes, the dream starts. It's Hernan Krespo doing the damage for 1-0 Argentina. And if you thought that was good, check out the strike coming up from Juan Roman Riquelme, who unleashes one from way out, 2-0. And it just got even better for the home side.

All of these strikes coming before the half-time break. Krespo, again, on the end of a very slick move, across from Saviola. 3-1 the final score. Brazil not quite there yet.

The United States is in very good position to make it for the fifth straight time to World Cup final after a 3-0 win in Panama. Like group leaders Mexico, Bruce Arena's team needs to win just two of its remaining five games. Bocanegra with the first Wednesday, then Landon Donovan, away again with the second from the Steve Ralston cross. That made it 2-0 USA.

Now, Panama could have scored themselves, but once again, they came up an inspired Casey Keller. A fine triple save coming from the much-traveled keeper from point-blank range to keep the opponents out. Somehow this game would be also settled before the break. Brian McBride scoring the third for his country to add to his effort over the weekend. Three-nil the final score.

Special night for Alex Rodriguez, as the New York Yankees trounced the Milwaukee Brewers, top of the eighth. A-Rod taking Jorge Delarosa deep to right for the solo home run, his second of the game, 19th of the season. And in terms of his career, he's arrived now at the magical 400 mark.

That is the international sports for now.

CLANCY: All right. Thank you very much, Patrick.

VERJEE: Thanks.

CLANCY: Well, more news is straight ahead here on CNN. And I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Stay with CNN.

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