Return to Transcripts main page

Your World Today

Iraq Constitution; Europe Floods; Middle East Conflict

Aired August 25, 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.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Iraq. First it was insurgents against Americans and Sunnis against Shias. Now it's Shias against Shias.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: In the U.S., first it was a one-woman protest. Now it's an anti-war movement. Cindy Sheehan resumes her protest as others protest against her.

MANN: In Europe, fire and water. Too much water in some places. Not enough in others. Everywhere people are miserable.

VERJEE: And Lance and France. The American cycling champ vehemently denying that drugs helped him win.

It's 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 11:00 a.m. in Crawford, Texas. I'm Zain Verjee.

MANN: And I'm Jonathan Mann. Welcome to our viewers around the world. This is CNN International. And this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

First to Iraq, where the job of drafting a new constitution is getting more complicated by the hour. As a midnight deadline to complete the task is just hours away, the Iraqi National Assembly has decided to cancel its scheduled session with no agreement in sight.

Aneesh Raman joins us now from Baghdad.

Aneesh, lawmakers are having trouble. But insurgents have been busier, it would seem, than ever. What can you tell us first about the violence?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jonathan, we know that in the southern holy city of Najaf, south of the Iraqi capital, at least five people were killed, 10 others wounded last night, after followers of Muqtada al-Sadr broke out in clashes with demonstrators there. Buildings were essentially destroyed. It sparked violence in other Shia provinces in Iraq, really underscoring the tensions here.

Sectarian tensions are not just been the Sunni and the Shia, but also internally among the Shia as well. These followers of Muqtada al-Sadr clashing with a rival Shia faction. The government has called for calm; Muqtada al-Sadr himself coming out today, calling for an end to the violence.

Also today, Jonathan, Iraqi police say they found 36 bodies south of the capital in a river near the Iranian border. All of them were shot execution style, one bullet to the head. They were bound in the back, some by metal, some by plastic. We're also told all the victims were between the ages of 20 to 30.

Iraqi police, though, not saying whether this is the direct result of any insurgent activity. Instead, investigating this as anything, really.

The enormous security void that exists here has allowed for a lot of sort of internal strife and violence to take place in various regions in Iraq. It's unclear whether these 36 men were victims of insurgency or simply of regional violence -- Jonathan.

MANN: Tell us now about what's happening with the constitution, because at a distance, at least, it is confusing.

RAMAN: It is, and it gets more confusing every hour. We are just about four hours away from the deadline of compromise. And Iraq's National Assembly has canceled a meeting that was set for today.

The government essentially saying that it does not need a vote on this draft document. The only deadline that really mattered took place on Monday, by when they had to have a draft submitted to the National Assembly.

The Shia-Kurd coalition still in talks with the Sunni delegation, trying to bridge that increasingly deep divide over the main issue of federalism, regional autonomous governments, and whether that should be mentioned in this constitution. But as far as we can tell at this moment, at midnight tonight the drafting process ends, the constitution is written. And then a very fierce public debate will likely begin if they cannot find compromise to convince the public to vote for this referendum.

If you are the Shia or the Kurds to vote for it. If you are the Sunnis, to vote against it -- Jonathan.

MANN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad. Thanks very much -- Zain.

VERJEE: Jonathan, turning now to the weather disaster in Europe. The fires are out in Portugal, but floods still threaten central and eastern Europe. Although waters are beginning to recede in some regions. At least 34 people are dead from flooding caused by days of downpours.

In Switzerland, Alpine villages have been turned into disaster zones. The streets awash in mud, debris, and many homes still submerged. People still trapped in their homes. In Germany, authorities said the crisis had eased in some areas, but the situation remains critical along parts of the Danube.

Romania has been the worst hit in the disaster, with 31 people dead since the rains began nine days ago. Flash floods in Harghita County reportedly caused waves as high as four meters. So that's 13 feet. We get more now on the weather havoc in Europe from Jim Boulden.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The damage to her home was too much for this Romanian woman. Many were overcome as they returned Thursday to towns and villages across this stricken country.

Romania suffered the most deaths from the flooding in central Europe. Officials say many of the dead were trapped in their homes when the water came.

In some parts of Germany, efforts have turned from rescue to clean-up. The water is receding from many towns in the south. But cities along the Danube are just hoping the river doesn't rise much more. Residents of this monastery in Kilheim (ph) helped volunteers sandbag all night and into Thursday morning after hopes the local river wouldn't rise further proved wrong.

BROTHER BENEDICT, MONK (through translator): We were very surprised last night when we were told that the numbers we had were not correct, that the water was actually expected to rise much higher. We had to quickly evacuate the ground floor.

BOULDEN: In Switzerland, the military moved into Sarnen, south of Lucerne, to remove a collapsed bridge. Officials fear the bridge and the debris it's collected could be swept into the small village if more water comes.

STEPHEN CHRISTEN, SWISS ARMY: We are here to -- with this big problem that this bridge has fallen down into this river. And if there is coming more water and wood from the mountains, then we have the big danger, that's the whole river goes into the village. For that, we have to take out this bridge.

BOULDEN: In the Swiss capital of Bern, more residents were moved from low-lying areas along the river arm. Over 1,000 have left. Some of their homes in danger of collapse.

The water is receding now in some of Switzerland's more remote and mountainous towns. Residents of Kene (ph) are being allowed to return to assess the damage, but not to stay.

HEIDI KOCKER, FLOOD VICTIM (through translator): I don't know what we should do. First we have to clean up. And then we will see at the moment we are evacuated.

BOULDEN: But in Tun (ph), residents returned to find that some of the other local residents survived the deluge.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MANN: Now to a flare-up in violence in the Middle East just days after Israel completed its pullout from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Palestinian militants are threatening to retaliate for an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Troops shot and killed five Palestinians there, saying they were militants who had resisted arrest. The Palestinians say at least two of those killed were unarmed teenagers.

Hours later, militants in Gaza fired two missiles toward Israel. One landed in the town of Sderot, the other in Gaza. No one was hurt.

And Israeli police say they are searching for a Palestinian who stabbed to death a Jewish seminary student in Jerusalem's old city. Another student was also stabbed, but survived.

Adding to the tensions, Israel is planning to seize Palestinian land in the West Bank near Jerusalem to extend its separation barrier around a major settlement. Palestinians say the move would effectively annex the settlement to Jerusalem, cementing Israel's grip on the city.

Fionnuala Sweeney joins us now from Jerusalem.

Fionnuala, where exactly are they talking about? And how serious are the Israeli plans?

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are talking about an area about five kilometers or so east of Jerusalem, home to Israel's largest Jewish settlement, Maaleh Adumim, which is home to 30,000 people. Now, the plans are is that that settlement will be expanded by about 25,000 people in the coming years.

Now, according to the mayor of Maaleh Adumim, it's not really in violation of any roadmap or international law, because he says the plans were put in place some 20 years ago. But what has really caused consternation among the Palestinians has been the confirmation in recent days by the Israeli justice ministry that land confiscation orders have been issued on Palestinian land around Maaleh Adumim, some 60 square kilometers, in order to build a section of Israel's security barrier in the West Bank.

But as you mentioned, concern that that will separate thousands of Palestinians from each other in the West Bank. And also, of course, Arabs living in east Jerusalem.

And the Palestinians are accusing the Israeli authorities of using the Gaza disengagement of last week to overshadow what is now about to take place in Maaleh Adumim. And, of course, the whole controversy about the separation barrier, which America says it doesn't want to see built on disputed land, is that many here believe on the Palestinian side that this barrier will constitute a future boundary in any new Israeli state -- John.

MANN: Fionnuala Sweeney. Thanks very much.

VERJEE: Still ahead, she's back in the spotlight.

MANN: She is Cindy Sheehan, who's returned to her protest outside President Bush's ranch. Up next, we go live to Crawford for the latest on her activities and the protests for and against her. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back. You're watching an hour of world news here on CNN International.

She's become a lightning rod for the American antiwar movement. Now Cindy Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq, is back outside President Bush's Texas ranch after attending to her ailing mother in Los Angeles. And she brought something with her. Her son's combat boots, placing them by his cross among the array of crosses erected at the camp.

And just a short while ago, Sheehan was back before the TV cameras and offered some of her thoughts on her pain and the pain suffered by others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY SHEEHAN, MOTHER OF SLAIN SOLDIER: ... draped coffin. And if there is any family who says that they believe their child died for a noble cause, I say that is your right, if that helps you get through the day, if that helps you in your pain, because we all -- we might not have the same politic, but trust me, we have the same pain.

And we do what we have to do to get through our pain. And we hope they respect us for that. And we respect them in any way they have to do to get through their pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: She also talked about what's been happening at Camp Casey in her absence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEEHAN: And one good thing about Camp Casey, and what we started here, is that when I left, it didn't end. When I left, it thrived, and it grew. And it's because I am not alone.

I am not the only one that wants the answers to these questions. There's the people standing behind me here, but there's thousands of military families, hundreds of gold star families who want the same answers to the questions. You know?

And I never, ever got up here and said, I speak for every single gold star family, I speak for every single military family. I've never said that. But I know I speak for thousands of them.

I know we speak for thousands of them when we want to know what is the noble cause our children died for? What is the noble cause they are still fighting for and dying for every day?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Sheehan has attracted supporters to Camp Casey. She's also attracted critics.

What do conservatives make of the Sheehan firestorm? We are joined now by Tanya Gilly, who's with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Thanks so much for being with us.

TANYA GILLY, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: My pleasure.

MANN: Should President Bush meet her?

GILLY: Well, with Ms. Sheehan, she's actually entitled to her -- to her own opinion. And let me just start off by saying that, you know, we have to thank every one of the military families for the sacrifices they have made.

And, you know, her loss is a great one. And I think everybody appreciates this, whether it's here in America, or it's in the Middle East, and specifically in Iraq.

From my understanding, actually, the president has met with her. And I'm going to leave that decision of whether he's going to meet with her again up to him. I'm not going to comment on that.

MANN: Well, we have this specter of a woman who's asking for a meeting. Tell us about what you know about their previous meeting.

GILLY: From my understanding, and from the reports that I have seen, in her last meeting with the president, she came out in a press conference and she said that she felt he was very compassionate and he was very understanding in listening to her and to the other families that were present at the meeting. And, you know, she felt that he was on the right path.

MANN: Fifty-four percent of Americans say they disagree, essentially, with this war. They say it was a mistake. What does the president have to do to convince them, to convince the other Cindy Sheehans out there?

GILLY: I just want to read a little passage of something that I actually got, an e-mail from inside Iraq, if you just give me one second. And the e-mail is entitled "A Message to Cindy Sheehan."

"I realize how tragic your loss is. And I know how much pain there is crushing your heart. And I know the darkness (INAUDIBLE) to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams. And I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your questions, why you lost your loved one."

And then he goes on to say, "Your son sacrificed his life for a very noble cause. Know he sacrificed himself for a very most precious value in the existence. That is freedom."

So, we have to understand that what the United States and the coalition forces did in Iraq is for a good cause. It is for a noble cause. Yes, we have suffered greatly. And, yes, it is -- it's taking a toll on us. But let's not deviate from what we went in there for, and that is to spread democracy in that region.

And besides, and also, if we were to pull our troops out now, we are just creating another breeding ground for terrorists. And this is not going to help us on the war on terror.

MANN: Tanya Gilly, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Thanks very much.

GILLY: Thank you. My pleasure.

MANN: We want to know what you think of Cindy Sheehan's protest and other antiwar protesters like her.

VERJEE: Send us your opinion at YWT@CNN.com. We are going to try and read them a little bit later on YOUR WORLD TODAY. Don't forget to tell us your name and where you are from, also.

MANN: When we return, we will be seeing what's making news in the U.S.

VERJEE: Pat Robertson is speaking out again. Coming up, what he said, what he says he meant, and how he feels about it now.

MANN: And in western Sudan, U.N. officials are getting a first- hand look at the misery there. We'll join them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: The United Nations high commission for refugees is on a 10-day tour of Sudan. Antonio Guteress is talking with some of the many people displaced by the fighting in the western region of Darfur. The visit will provide the commissioner a firsthand look at how the conflict's affecting them.

Here's some background on Sudan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice over): The western Darfur region have been fighting the government for more than two years. The rebels want more political power and a share of the country's oil wealth.

Tens of thousands of people are being killed. And more than two million displaced. Rights groups have accused the Sudanese government of supporting the proxy militia called the Janjaweed to commit atrocities. The government has denied that. The U.S. has called it genocide.

African Union monitors are on the ground. The rebels and the government have agreed to hold talks next month.

The Bush administration has played a key role in ending the war in southern Sudan. That war went on for more than 20 years and killed more than two million people. Experts fear that peace deal could unravel after the key rebel leader, John Garang, was killed in a helicopter crash.

The deal was struck earlier this year between the government, northern Arabs, and the rebels in the south, mainly Christians and animists. The U.S. says it wants to make sure that the peace deal in the south is implemented. And it says it wants to end the war in Darfur.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Ryan Chilcote is traveling with the U.N. high commissioner for refugees. He joins us now from one of the camps in Sudan.

Ryan, a lot of people wondering whether things are better or worse for the people there in the refugee camps. What have you found? Set the scene for us.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, we're actually at the Riyadh camp for refugees. There are about 15,000 refugees at this camp.

I'm going to try and show you some of them. About 80,000 -- about 80 percent of the 15,000 refugees in this camp are actually women and children, which you are seeing right here. Almost all of them came here about a year and a half ago. Of course, fleeing villages quite nearby. Actually, they're not refugees, but internally displaced people, because they are in their own native country of Sudan.

They were driven from that area by Arab nomads known here as the Janjaweed. Many people here on the ground here say who were armed by the government of Sudan. They've been here ever since.

But believe it or not, this is a very small camp by the -- by the measure, if you will, of Sudanese refugee camps. As you just seed in your report, there are an estimated two million refugees in the Darfur area alone. So this is just one of the little ones, but still obviously way too many people to be in one camp that haven't been able to return for two years.

VERJEE: You've spoken to some of the refugees there. Give us a sense of what they've told you, what their stories are.

CHILCOTE: Well, like I said, 80 percent of the people in this camp are women and children. And interestingly enough, yesterday when I got here -- I had read a lot before I arrived about rape, about women being raped outside of the camp. And the very first woman I spoke with told me in confidence -- I was the first person that she shared this with -- that she had been raped just two months ago.

The problem is this -- we are going to try and show you if the cameraman can pan over. The camp's outskirts are actually right up there on that hill, that green hill. And the women have to leave the camp and go over that hill to fetch firewood, to get firewood to keep their stoves going.

And it is when they go outside of the campgrounds that they are most vulnerable to the violence that continues in Darfur. And in particular, of course, sexual violence. The French aid group Doctors Without Borders, in fact, released a report earlier this year saying that their doctors alone in the Darfur area have treated more than 500 women for rape just in this area alone.

VERJEE: The refugees there, Ryan, see officials coming in and out, making promises. Many of them say they feel let down because nothing has changed. It's been more than two years, and there is no established peace process for the people of Darfur.

How is the U.N. explaining this?

CHILCOTE: Well, it's very difficult to explain. And one of the ways that the U.N. high commissioner for refugees has explained it quite honestly, quite frankly, is that the world has forgotten Darfur.

It's interesting to compare this situation right now and how little Sudan and Darfur -- how little attention it gets in the world media, and how little the world knows about. It was a year and a half ago when we were hearing about the terror of the Janjaweed and about the Arab militia moving through this area, driving these people out of their homes. Very few people, of course, know that these people are still effectively prisoners in these refugee camps and can't return to their villages, in some cases just a few miles away.

VERJEE: CNN's Ryan Chilcote reporting.

Thanks a lot, Ryan -- John.

MANN: Time now for a check on what's moving the markets in the U.S.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

MANN: We'll have a roundup of the main news stories in just a moment.

VERJEE: And also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, SEVEN-TIME TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER: I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry you can't dream big. And I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The best cyclist in the world, seven straight times, addresses critics who accuse him of using performance-enhancing drugs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Zain Verjee.

MANN: And I'm Jonathan Mann. Here are some of the top stories that we're following this hour. It's possible that the final draft of the new Iraqi constitution will bypass the country's national assembly and go straight to the voters. Sources close to the negotiations say Shiite and Kurd lawmakers have been unable to compromise be with their Sunni counterparts on the document. The national assembly is to reconvene next week, but a vote on the draft constitution is not seen as required.

VERJEE: A grisly discovery south of Baghdad. Thirty-six bodies were found in a river near the Iranian border. All were killed assassination style with a gunshot wound to the head and their hands tied. Rival Shia factions clashed in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood and other provinces across Iraq. At least five people were killed.

Floods still threaten central and Eastern Europe, though waters are beginning to recede in some regions. Swiss villages have been turned into disaster zones, the streets awash and mud and debris, dozens of homes submerged. In Germany, authorities say the situation remains critical along parts of the Danube. The floods are being blamed for at least 34 deaths in Europe, including 31 of them in Romania alone.

ZERJEE: He is arguably the best cyclist in the world, the seven- time Tour De France champion who won a battle with cancer. Now Lance Armstrong is fighting back accusations of doping.

MANN: The French sports daily "L'Equipe" reports that Armstrong had a banned substance in his body called EPO back in 1999. Armstrong calls the allegations preposterous.

CNN's Aaron Brown has more on the controversy that some are calling Lance versus France.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To the victor goes the spoils, but rest assured, someone is always eager to spoil the victory. This has been the lot of Lance Armstrong, champion of champions and proud possessor of one of sports greatest come back stories. To proud maybe, even arrogant at times, certainly unwilling to concede those anything to those who assume he must have been using something to push past cancer and the best cyclists in the world seven straight times.

LANCE ARMSTRONG, CYCLIST: I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry you can't dream big. And I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles.

BROWN: Yesterday a French sporting newspaper claimed right out and claimed it, The Armstrong Lie. Claiming that during the 1999 Tour de France, the soon to be first time champion tested positive for EPO, a performance-boosting drug. The director of the Tour de France, Jean-Marie Leblanc, wasted no time in adding his two cents or two euros, if you will. For the first time there is, quote, compelling scientific evidence that we were all fooled, he said. Not so simple, it turns out.

Testing for EPO wasn't even begun until the 2001 tour two years after the urine samples in question were collected. And the samples were marked with numbers, not names. There are questions as to how easy it would be to match Armstrong's name with his number. Miguel Indurain of Spain, a five time winner of the tour himself, raised the issue of French resentment towards the American star. They have been out to get him in France for a number of years. And Eddie Merckx, of Belgium, he won five times, also said if I had to take a journalist's word or Armstrong's, I'd take Lance's.

So, as it turns out, would American officials.

GERARD BISCEGLIA, CEO, USA CYCLING: The fact that this man's won seven Tour de3 Frances, and he has been tested every day, practically, that he's been in the Tour de France, every day he's been in a yellow jersey. And nobody's come forward with any anomalies as it relates to those tests.

BROWN: Why, Bisceglia wonders, are hundreds of negative tests suddenly less compelling than allegations about a few positive ones from seven years ago.

BISCEGLIA: The evidence that I have in front of me says that I'm dealing with a clean athlete. And so somebody went far enough back in the archives, uncovered what they considered to be a salacious story that they don't have to substantiate.

BROWN: As for Lance Armstrong, his response was as inevitable as his victories. "I will simply restate what I've had said many times," he said, "I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs." He calls it a witch hunt and the likelihood is that the suspicion of sorcery will always ride beside him.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MANN: A programming note. Be sure to join us for "LARRY KING LIVE" when he talks to Lance Armstrong right here on CNN at 0100 hours GMT, depending on where you are around the world, or the times you can see on your screen.

VERJEE: Investigators have recovered the flight recorders from an airliner that crashed in the northeastern jungles of Peru. Authorities say at least 37 people were killed in the crash, including the pilot. They also say that at least 58 of the 98 people aboard survived.

Harris Whitbeck reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN ANCHOR: A young girl describes her experience after surviving Tuesday's crash of the airline 737. JOSHELYN VIVAS, CRASH SURVIVOR: To me, it was like a shocking present. Like I was so scared, but at least I came flew. And if this present gave me a lot of bravery now, a lot, to me like to worship actually to god, like I now really trust that and I still believe that god is still exists.

WHITBECK: In Lima, Peruvian Air Force planes land at a military base carrying 11 survivors. The survivors on stretchers are immediately taken to area hospitals.

Anez Vivada (ph) and her husband sat outside the air force base Wednesday afternoon, waiting to find out if family members were alive. Their infant nephew, nine-year-old niece and three other family members were passengers on the TANS airliner that crashed into the jungle of northern Peru Tuesday afternoon. Anez was able to talk to a doctor at the crash site who told them the two children and their mother survived. But they still have no information on the fate of the children's grandparents.

Anez says she first heard of the crash on the local news on Tuesday evening. At first, she says, she refused to believe her family was onboard the plane.

"At first I thought it couldn't be true," she says. Now she refuses to lose hope.

WHITBECK: Even with the arrival of first group of survivors, the uncertainly is palpable. Family members say they have received little news from either the airline or from Peruvian officials, and weather conditions at the site have made recovery efforts difficult.

(on camera): Many survivors have They have decided to stay near the crash site to try to retrieve luggage and personal items, first steps toward piecing together lives that were shattered in the jungle crash.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Lima, Peru.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: The crash in Peru was one of three fatal airline accidents in less than two weeks. And French officials are concerned. A hundred and sixty people, including 152 French citizens, died when a Colombian jet went down in Venezuela. Just two days earlier, 121 people were killed when a Cypriot airliner crashed in Greece. The French Aviation Authority says more scrutiny of airlines is needed. It plans to accomplish a list of airlines that are banned from landing in France. The E.U. plans a similar list of what it considers to be carriers with questionable safety records.

MANN: A round-up of stories making news in the U.S. next on your world today.

And also ahead, an update on the floods in Europe. We're going to bring you a live report from a Bavarian village deluged by the floodwaters. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, an hour of world news here on CNN International.

We want to return now to the flooding disaster in Europe, where many areas are still threatened by the rising waters from nine days of downpours.

For an update now on the situation in Germany, we go to Chris burns in the Bavarian village of Rosenau -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, this is a little village, about 35 people living here, and they've been under threat of the water breaking through a river over here, coming through here. And that's why they've sandbagged this area. And the vice mayor of this area, Peter -- I'm sorry, Peter Demiel joins us to tell us a little bit about how frantic it was the last 24 hours.

PETER DEMIEL, DEP. MAYOR, LANGENPREISING: Yes, it was pretty frantic. Because what you see in the back, it's pretty harmless right now. It was about not quite foot higher, and was pretty fast stream of water. And the sandbags were there to protect the housing.

BURNS: That was your last line of defense.

DEMIEL: The last line of defense.

BURNS: If it broke through that dike over there.

DEMIEL: If that -- it was breaking through the dike, if water had broken through the dike, then everything -- this one would have been swept away.

BURNS: So you're frantically putting up these bags...

DEMIEL: Hoping that...

BURNS: ... hoping it's going to hold. And you also have people in here that are refusing to leave.

DEMIEL: Yes, exactly. So the electricity was shut off. Everything was quiet. We have some electric generators for having light. We had about 200 people there, putting sandbags very frantically. So the water that's coming underneath the dam that was endangering those houses over there, that is kind of trying to get out of the town of the little part, and trying to get into an area where it could seep into the ground.

BURNS: And it seemed to hold, and it's still holding.

DEMIEL: It's still holding.

BURNS: But there's still a risk right now, and that's what you're watching.

DEMIEL: There's still a risk because the water level is still fairly high. And...

BURNS: You can hear it rumbling back there.

DEMIEL: And what's happening right now is the water is weakening the dam. And if you take another two or three days, then very careful that if you have a weak dam, a soft dam, when it breaks, then you got all the water just rushing through that part of town and endangering the houses.

BURNS: And that's a big problem. Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor.

DEMIEL: Thank you very much.

BURNS: Good luck to you.

DEMIEL: Thank you.

BURNS: Thank you. You can multiply this by a thousand times. This is what's going on across Europe, from here to Bulgaria. More than a half dozen countries are affected. Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage estimated across this region in central and eastern Europe. Dozens of people dead. And authorities hope that the water subsides, but in many place, it's actually going up.

Back to you -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Chris Burns reporting. Thank, Chris.

MANN: Femi Oke is also monitoring the situation.

VERJEE: She joins us now with some pretty incredible photos from Switzerland -- Femi.

FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, there.

We head from Germany down through towards Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Earlier on this week, they were actually air-lifting people out of the capital. Take a look at some of this video here, to give you an idea of how serious the flooding was. This was just a day ago. The flood waters are still pretty high.

I spoke to one Bern resident just a couple of minutes ago to find out what the situation was right now. Her name is Rena Katz (ph) and she's calling in from Bern.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on phone): The water has come down. It is not as bad as it was. It's no way very good, but it has come down a little bit.

OKE: You took some photographs for us. Thank you for doing that. There's a helicopter and a bridge. What's that all about? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The helicopter evacuated 69 people out of the very old houses in the eldest part of the city of Bern. And the Swiss authorities didn't want to take any chances that the houses would collapse.

OKE: The water level looks really high here. How are people coping?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are coping. Really, they have been taken out by the helicopter, they have been taken out by boats. And we just simply have to wait until the water comes down and to see what happens to their houses.

OKE: I see one hut that's literally surrounded by water. What's happening there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The houses surrounded by water, yes, that stands near the Aar. It's a very old house and the Aar, the river Aar, is completely, completely overflowing the whole part of the city there.

OKE: And how is it where you live right now there, Rena?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm fine, my feet are dry.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Let's check some stories making news in the United States.

As many as five million people in southeast Florida are being warned to prepare for the arrival of Katrina, the tropical storm that may reach much strength before landfall. Effects of the storm are already being felt in parts of Florida, and it's expected to dump heavy rains over much of the state for several days.

Pat Robertson says he's sorry. The Christian broadcaster's apologizing for his remarks earlier this week that Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez should be assassinated. In a statement, Robertson said, quote, "Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him." Robertson then went on to compare the Chavez situation to Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein.

MANN: A story now making news in the United States and France. A report linking Lance Armstrong, seven-time champion of the Tour de France with a banned performance-enhancing drug the year of his first victory back in 1999. The French media have often implied that France's most prestigious athletic event has been dominated by Armstrong because of some link with drugs. The newspaper in question, "L'Equipe" has been especially critical. It's linked to the Tour de France through its parent company, we should note. For more on the controversy, we go now to Charles Pelkey, news editor for "Velo News," really the bible of the sport, and Inside Communications. Joining us from Denver, Colorado. What do you make of this?

CHARLES PELKEY, NEWS EDITOR, "VELO NEWS": Well, it's been an ongoing story for years. I mean, there's always been a suspicion about Lance Armstrong and there have been allegations. He's obviously never tested positive. This is the first time that anybody's come close to producing anything that's remotely documented as a positive. I think most people are taking a wait and see attitude towards things as they are now.

MANN: Most people are, but astonishingly, the director of the Tour de France is not. He seems to have, with his remarks, convicted Armstrong on only the basis of the evidence he's seen in the newspaper. What do you make of that?

PELKEY: Well, Jean-Marie Leblanc, has also asked to see the documents that accompanied those -- that newspaper's story. And he says he's convinced. You know, it's remarkable in that the two have actually had a fairly good working relationship over the last five years.

I think his statement yesterday that Armstrong owes an explanation may have been a little bit premature, given the fact that there really hasn't been an in-depth examination of the results and the documents connecting what should have been anonymous urine samples to the documents connecting the name to the numbers. And I would think even someone as outspoken as Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, is withholding comment at this point.

MANN: How much of this is the French expressing their hostility to Armstrong? I mean, he's a man who came from the United States and essentially took over their tour. Is there some residual anger in this?

PELKEY: You know, I've heard that a lot. I've heard that certainly form our readers. I've certainly heard that from people outside of the sport, but you don't get that sense in France. The -- I don't think that there's this sort of Gaelic jealousy over the fact that Americans have won the tour 10 times since the last French winner. They have always played -- they have always been great hosts to an international event. And I really don't think that it is. I think that anyone who wins the event, however, is always subject to extra scrutiny.

MANN: Well what scrutiny is available now. The "L'equipe" report went on for pages and pages. Lance Armstrong's name is never on the labels it refers to. Is there any way that someone independent of the newspaper can actually look, and see and check. Or after six years, has it just been too long for anyone to know for sure that that sample really was his?

PELKEY: Well, there is documentation. It's just that it's removed and kept outside of the laboratory. When those tests were conducted on those 12 -- on the number of samples that ultimately led to 12 positive samples, six of which were his, the documentation is kept outside of the laboratory. Those tests are conducted on anonymous samples.

But in essence what the reporters did, is they pursued a French version of the Freedom of Information Act, and they were able to then get the documentation that made the connection between the samples, the numbered samples, and the names connected to those numbers. Again, I haven't personally seen any of that. So I'm basically operating like most of us are, and trying to get as much information as possible from "L'equipe" and other sources.

MANN: The allegations go back years, another new headline. Charles Pelkey of "Velo News." Thanks so much for talking to us.

PELKEY: Than you.

VERJEE: We're going to take a short break now.

MANN: And then your e-mails next. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Well, we asked you to write us your thoughts on anti-war protesters like Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, Texas, and you did. And we've got so many great e-mails.

MANN: Let's check one. This one's from Sweden: "Those protesters, from my European point of view, constitute the only hope for a malfunctioning nation."

VERJEE: There's this one from a U.S. viewer: "She inspired me to spend an hour digging back in my closet for my '60s vintage peace symbol now hanging in my window.

MANN: Rohit in Denmark commented about the war and terror in general, and he writes, "The war against terror symbolizes the American belief that it does no evil, says no evil and is the most perfect state and people ever in history."

VERJEE: And finally, this e-mail. It's from a U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq who says, "I feel that war protesters like Cindy Sheehan only serve to make Americans look like cowards around the world."

MANN: We get e-mail every day. We got a lot about Cindy Sheehan, and we want to get more. Keep writing us at ywt@CNN.com.

This has been YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jonathan Mann.

And I'm Zain Verjee. Thanks for watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com