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Your World Today

The Trial of Saddam Hussein; Spain Arrest Warrant; Hurricane Wilma

Aired October 19, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Mr. Saddam, are you guilty or innocent?

SADDAM HUSSEIN, DEPOSED IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): I said what I said. And I'm not guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A momentous day in Iraq watched throughout the world. The deposed dictator proclaims his innocence from the dock.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A ferocious storm prompts worry and questions about where it's heading. Many wonder, what does Wilma have in store for them?

VERJEE: And more troubling news from Pakistan. The death toll from the recent earthquake is much worse than had been imagined.

It's 7:00 p.m. in Baghdad and noon across a broad swath of the Caribbean.

I'm Zain Verjee.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes. Welcome to our viewers throughout the world. This is CNN International, and ahead is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: A trial watched around the globe. Saddam Hussein makes his long-awaited appearance in court on charges of widespread killing and torture.

HOLMES: And a storm nervously watched in the Americas. Hurricane Wilma on the move, breaking records and prompting alarm bells as it barrels across the Caribbean. More on Wilma in just a moment.

However, let's begin in Baghdad, where Iraqis witnessed an event they thought they might never see.

VERJEE: The trial of Saddam Hussein. Soon after he entered the courtroom with seven other defendants, Hussein struck a defiant tone. He challenged the legitimacy of the court and refused to give his name. In the end, he pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity.

HOLMES: Now, this case centers around the massacre of more than 140 Shiites in the small village of Dujail in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt against Hussein. The court granted a defense request for a delay. The trial will now resume on November 28.

VERJEE: Iraqis and the rest of the Arab world were glued to their television sets to watch this historic event. In Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, dozens took to the streets in protest.

HOLMES: Now, this trial is taking place in a marble building that once served as the national headquarters of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party.

Our Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour was inside the courtroom. She joins us now from Baghdad with some insight.

What went on that we couldn't see, Christiane?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you saw most of it. There were a few moments during recess and other times that the cameras were not on. And there were a few faces that the cameras were not permitted to capture.

You probably saw only the face of the presiding judge because the other judges did not want to have their faces or their identities revealed, nor did the clerks, nor did some of the prosecutors. But you did see the defense table, although some of them also did not want their identities revealed.

You saw, of course, all the eight defendants led by Saddam Hussein in the dock, in the center of the courtroom. He was, as you say, asked to first, like all the other defendants, enter his name and his profession simply for the record.

He wouldn't do that. He did not recognize the jurisdiction of this court. He said several times that it was based on illegal means. He said the U.S. invasion in 2003 that overthrew him was illegal and that everything built after that is therefore illegal.

However, when he was asked, he did -- he was asked by the judge, who you see there, the presiding judge, to enter a plea, and he did say, "Not guilty." He also said that he was still the president of Iraq. He said, "That's because the people gave voice to that, and the people chose me."

So when they were -- the judge, referring to him as a former president, he said, "I never said that. I am the president of Iraq."

When the judge wanted to introduce for today a CD that the prosecutors say shows a video of a document that apparently, according to the prosecution, bears Saddam Hussein's signature agreeing to the execution of the 143 Shiite men from Dujail, Saddam Hussein tried to stop that.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSSEIN (through translator): I'll talk to you as an Iraqi to help you get the truth to uncover those that are fake. They -- it is known that -- that sounds can be voice-overed, and the court should not take them. You can listen to it to follow up and investigate further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So Saddam said "thank you" and sat down. He kept getting up, though, to say his peace.

Indeed, there was some confusion in this first day of this trial. As we know, of course, it has been adjourned until November 28 on the direct request of Saddam's defense attorney. But for the three hours that we were in court, there was a sort of sense of, what are the rules here?

Defendants trying to get up to speak, defense lawyers getting up. One of the defendants firing his lawyer. Another defendant asking one of his co-defense lawyers if he would represent him. All this in court.

The chief prosecutor getting up and making a long speech about all of Saddam's crimes, including the Iran-Iraq war. Defense lawyers jumping up and saying, what has this got to do with this trial?

So a certain sense of kind of anything goes. There were also technical difficulties which we hope for broadcast's sake and for the record will be smoothed out by the time this trial resumes on November 28.

However, as you can imagine, the government, now, the transitional government of Iraq, had observers there. And after this session, they had this to say about it...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAITH KUBBA, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S SPOKESMAN (through translator): We are proud that this trial is controlled by the Iraqis on Iraqi land, by Iraqi judges. And this is something very important, because Saddam is now facing many accusations because of violating many international laws and other rights (ph) related to the many international conventions. And thank god the trial is taking place on Iraqi land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: As you can imagine, many, many Iraqis were glued to this trial. It's the first of its kind not only here but across the Arab world. And we had talked to many people yesterday, and you'll hear their reactions today, that they are looking for the day that Saddam Hussein faces justice. And many of them asked, what will he say to the crimes, all those crimes that he is accused of? Many just want to hear him answer and try to see what defense he might be able to come up with.

There were in several parts -- for instance, in Tikrit, his hometown -- some demonstrations in his favor with his picture being waved around and people chanting for him. But that, by and large, was the minority -- Zain.

HOLMES: All right. Michael here, Christiane. Thanks very much.

Christiane Amanpour there in Baghdad.

VERJEE: We spoke just a few minutes ago to Saddam Hussein's legal adviser -- legal adviser, actually, to his daughter, Raghad, who said that this trial is just not fair and the court itself illegitimate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDEL HAQ ALANI, HUSSEIN FAMILY LEGAL ADVISER: Well, I'm not interested in emotional sentiments. I'm more interested in legality. And if it was left for emotions, Saddam Hussein used to have 90 people in the jail and thousands greeting him. That's not the issue.

The issue is about the legality. I want to avoid any emotional or moral judgment. In terms of the legal essence of this case, this court is completely illegal. It has created contrary to international and domestic law. It's as simple as that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, as Christiane Amanpour mentioned a little earlier, there are people across Iraq glued to their television sets, not surprisingly, riveted by the sight of a once feared dictator on trial. The proceedings were aired on state-run Iraqi television, also on satellite stations in the region. While people in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit said the trial was unjust, many others said they were waiting for just this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All residents of Dujail call for executing Saddam and his aides. And we call for punishing all those who contributed to harming residents of Dujail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Saddam should be executed, as he tortured us and killed our sons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is an illegitimate trial, and it is not based on international laws and norms. He is still the legitimate president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a farce. It's an unjust trial. How could the adversary be the judge? It's an unfair trial. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, critics, of course, are saying that the trial is unfair. That's not surprising either. The group the Human Rights Watch is one of them. We are going to be talking to the director of their international justice program a little later in the show -- Zain.

VERJEE: What we'd really like to do, though, is to get your thoughts about all of this, about the trial of Saddam Hussein. We have a question for you.

HOLMES: Yes. Get on to the computer. We are asking you, do you think Saddam Hussein will get a fair trial? E-mail us your thoughts, YWT@CNN.com. We'll read a little of your responses a little later in the show.

Do let us know where you are. And try to keep your comments brief.

As Saddam Hussein confronts his accusers, U.S. administration officials are confronting more questions about the situation, the big picture in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefing the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee about that. She has been talking about the progress in the Iraqi military and in the police, the progress they're making securing the country compared to one year ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: With more capable Iraqi forces, we can implement this element of the strategy, holding secure areas neighborhood by neighborhood. And this process has already begun.

Compare the situation a year ago in places like Haifa Street (ph) in Baghdad, or Baghdad's Sadr City, or downtown Mosul or Naja or Falluja with the situation today. Security along the once notorious Airport Road in Baghdad has measurably improved. Najaf, where American forces fought a major battle last year, is now entirely under independent Iraqi military control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Rice also reiterated U.S. accusations that Syria and Iran are allowing fighters and military assistance to reach the insurgents in Iraq -- Zain.

VERJEE: Michael, a Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for three U.S. soldiers, charging them with murder in the death of a Spanish TV cameraman in Iraq.

Our Madrid bureau chief, Al Goodman, brings us the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: The latest and most dramatic development in this case that's been going on since April of 2003, when the Spanish TV cameraman Jose Couso, who was on duty in Baghdad videotaping the war scene for his Spanish Telecinco network here in Spain, he died when apparently a tank round from a U.S. tank fired into the Palestine Hotel. Now, that was the hotel where a lot of international journalists were based.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: A Reuters cameraman was also killed in that incident. Then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said U.S. troops responded with justified force as they were coming under hostile fire from the Palestine Hotel.

HOLMES: U.S. authorities in the Florida Keys have ordered mandatory evacuations ahead of Hurricane Wilma -- and what a hurricane it is. On Tuesday, Wilma was just a tropical storm dumping heavy rains on Jamaica. Now it is a massive Category 5 hurricane. Wilma's maximum sustained winds nearing 280 kilometers an hour, even higher gusts being registered.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center confirms that Wilma has the lowest pressure ever recorded in a storm in that region. Low pressure one indicator only of a hurricane's intensity. And authorities are warning people to take this storm very seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: We really want to make sure that everyone in the Florida Keys understands the seriousness of the situation. I'm very glad to hear that they are getting the nonresidents out of the Florida Keys starting at noon today. That's a very good move, in my opinion. And there'll be further actions going on down there as time goes on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: We want to bring you more on this very dangerous hurricane now from Martyn Jeanes at the international weather center -- Martin.

MARTYN JEANES, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Zain, we've been talking about the lowest pressure ever recorded. That low pressure actually 882 milibars, and that breaks a previous record set by Hurricane Gilbert way back in 1988.

It's a huge storm, as we've seen. One of the most intense we've ever seen in the Atlantic hurricane basin.

Now certainly, I think the rain bands will be our biggest concern in the days ahead. Already covering Cuba, Jamaica, and of course all the way down here into Central America. And I think a real concern along that northern coast, more particularly of Honduras, I think, in the next 12 to 24 hours, we could well see some tremendous amounts of rain there. Much of the rain, though, will be out over the open waters. But by Friday, we'll find the torrential rains really hitting it looks like in our forecast the eastern Yucatan Peninsula. And then certainly will be that western side of Cuba where we will see some of the heaviest rains.

Now, we've seen the forecast track way out into the weekend. And it does look likely as if we'll see a landfall in southern Florida. Potentially as a Category 4, 3 over the weekend. We'll continue to keep you up to date.

Michael, Zain, back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Thank you, Martyn.

VERJEE: We're going to bring you a live report from Lucia Newman from Havana in Cuba when we come back.

HOLMES: Yes, looking in on that. Hurricane Wilma is causing a lot of concern in the region.

Also, we're going to update you on the latest on the deadly bird flu.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers around the world as we bring you up to date on what is happening in the world on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Let's move on now to bird flu. Russia confirming finding a deadly form of bird flu in the village of Yandovka (ph), about 250 kilometers south of Moscow.

The ministry of agriculture says the presence of the H5N1 strain turned up in sick chickens. The strain has also been found in Romania and in Turkey. Bird flu has killed more than a million birds and also 60 people in Asia since 2003.

VERJEE: The Hungarian health minister's office says a bird flu vaccine tested on humans has yielded positive results. The office is to send an official report to the World Health Organization.

In the meantime, there are mounting fears of human infection and mounting pressure on drug companies to help.

Mallika Kapur reports from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tamiflu is an antiviral pill made by the Swiss company Roche. Relenza, which has to be inhaled, is made by GlaxoSmithKline. Neither are cures for the virus but can lessen the symptoms of flu. Fearing a global outbreak that could kill millions of people, many governments are stockpiling these drugs and putting pressure on Roche to loosen its hold on the patents that protect Tamiflu. Roches response, it says it will consider giving other companies a sub- license to make the drug.

DAVID REDDY, ROCHE: Our primary concern and our primary discussion point would be, can the company manufacture it, can they do it to appropriate quantity and quality specifications? And then we can get into the other elements of the discussion.

KAPUR: Analysts welcome the move.

STEPHEN POPE, CANTOR FITZGERALD: I think that they realize that they have to step up production of this new product of Tamiflu. They have to work in terms of solving solutions for, you know, the greater good.

KAPUR: Roche says it's planning to double it's Tamiflu production between now and the middle of next year. Even then, there are fears that there could be a shortage.

And Indian drug maker Cipla has already begun making what they say is a generic version of Tamiflu. Thailand says it will bypass Russia's patent to make its own antiviral, a version of Tamiflu by next October. Despite some of the limitations of Tamiflu and Relenza, worldwide health experts say it's the best bet right now.

MARKOS KYPRIANOU, EU COMMISSIONER: The antiviral's first line of defense, vaccines, we'll work to have them produced and distributed as soon as possible after the detection of the pandemic virus. And that deals with (INAUDIBLE) of developing the vaccine.

KAPUR: At the moment, there is no vaccine for bird flu. GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the antiviral Relenza, is amongst many companies and organizations in the process of developing one.

U.S.-based Chiron aims to test its vaccine later this year. And Europe's Akzo Nobel says its vaccine is in the early stages.

France's Sanofi-Aventis is the furthest along. It's testing a vaccine that so far has shown it may be effective against bird flu. But the flu virus is constantly changing, and any vaccine could be ineffective by the time it's mass produced.

Mallika Kapur, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right.

Ten days after a massive earthquake in South Asia, two strong aftershocks rattled the devastated region on Wednesday, in Muzaffrabad, in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. That was near the epicenter of the first quake.

Pakistan raised the death toll, meanwhile, to about 48,000 on Wednesday. It says another 67,000 people were injured.

With many roads ruined, helicopters have been the best way of getting aid to the mountains and getting the injured out. In Beijing, the U.N.'s top relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, asked China for helicopters and also winter tents and cash donations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: We have too little input, relief material. And especially tents has become a nightmare in this operation. We have emptied all the stocks on earth that we know of. That's why China's enormous resource in this is so important for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, India is mulling Pakistan's proposal to allow residents to cross the line that divides the disputed region of Kashmir.

VERJEE: Still ahead, it wasn't only in Iraq that Iraqis were glued to television sets.

HOLMES: Iraqi exiles gathered in many other places around the world. In some cases to share a meal and to see the man who once ruled them with an iron fist, now a criminal defendant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in a few minutes. But first, a check of stories making headlines here in the U.S.

Tourists are being told to leave the Florida Keys starting right now as Hurricane Wilma, the most intense Atlantic storm on record, slowly turned some 300 miles off Mexico. Evacuations are also under way in parts of Cuba. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is tracking the Category 5 storm from the CNN weather center -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredricka, it's holding its record status at this time. Winds are at 175 miles per hour. That central pressure is down there at 882 millibars. That's well below what Hurricane Gilbert did back in 1988.

The storm has been wobbling all over the place here in the northwestern Caribbean. But a general northwesterly track is what we are expecting.

We will see some fluctuations in intensity. It will likely be weakening, and a new eye wall will replace itself.

So we are expecting to go down to possibly a Category 4. We are very concerned about a potential landfall along the Yucatan Peninsula, or possibly near Cozumel. That would be happening early on Friday morning, and then a sharp right-hand hook is expected towards the Florida peninsula, with possible landfall there we think late on Saturday into the evening hours.

Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqui. Thank you so much.

Well, just as there is another hurricane on the horizon, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says FEMA needs to be fixed. Chertoff appeared today before a House panel that's investigating the government's response to Katrina. Chertoff outlined changes aimed at moving FEMA's resources more quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have to meet the challenge of those catastrophes. It's not enough to say something's unprecedented. We have to build capabilities to deal with the unprecedented.

So one of the things we are doing is this: within our current programs and resources, DHS is establishing emergency reconnaissance teams that can go in, in the immediate aftermath of a true ultra catastrophe to get us real-time reporting of the facts on the ground and to help us understand where the priorities are and get the resources where they need to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Federal Emergency Management Agency was folded into Homeland Security after September 11.

Stay tuned to CNN, your hurricane headquarters. We'll have updates on Wilma throughout the day.

There's word today that hearings for Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers will begin on November 7. Republican and Democratic aides say Senate Judiciary chairman Arlen Specter will make the announcement less than two hours from now. Democrats had been pushing to start the hearings later in the month. They say they need more time to review Miers' qualifications.

High-profile attorney Daniel Horowitz is speaking publicly about his wife's brutal killing. The body of Pamela Vitale was found Saturday on the couple's northern California property. Police say she was bludgeoned to death.

Horowitz spoke of finding his wife's body in an exclusive interview with Nancy Grace on CNN Headline News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I dialed the regular police number, and then I just was with her. And I just -- I didn't know exactly what I said, between -- you know, you scream, you cry, but I know I just basically sat with her and I just told her, "I love you, and you're beautiful," and, you know, just everything you say to somebody you love, because to me, at that point, all that was there was the person I loved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, you can hear more from Horowitz on "NANCY GRACE" tonight. That's on our sister network, Headline News, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Counterterrorism officials now believe that an apparent terror plot in Baltimore was not credible. The perceived threat yesterday led to the temporary closure of two tunnels. A senior U.S. official tells CNN the source of the information originated in the Netherlands. But so far, authorities have found no potential terrorists.

Feeling lucky? Well, it might be a good idea to purchase a Powerball lottery ticket. Tonight' jackpot is a record $340 million for a single winner. Would-be winners are lining up in 27 states, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But know this, the odds of scoring a ticket that matches all six numbers are one in 146.1 million.

Well, they are serving up beignets and chicory-laced coffee again at Cafe Du Monde. The New Orleans landmark reopened today for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit. Cafe Du Monde sustained only minor damage. There was no flooding there. But it will be a while before business is completely back to normal.

A curfew still remains in effect in New Orleans. And only about a third of its employees have been able to make it back to work.

CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, was in the courtroom today when Saddam Hussein entered his plea to charges that he ordered the torture and killings of scores of people. What she witnessed at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM."

Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back, everyone, to YOUR WORLD TODAY right here on CNN International. I'm Michael Holmes.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Here are some of the top stories we're following.

The trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been delayed until November 28th after defense attorneys asked for more time to review their evidence. Hussein appeared defiant in court with his seven co-defendants, and refused to give his name. But he later pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with an alleged massacres some 23 years ago.

HOLMES: Pakistan has raised its death toll estimate from the earthquake that hit the region ten days ago to nearly 48,000. Two aftershocks hit northern Pakistan early Wednesday morning, causing panic and unleashing some more of those landslides. Meanwhile, U.N. officials are pleading for more aid for the region, especially for more helicopters and more tents before the harsh winter blankets the region.

VERJEE: U.S. authorities in the Florida Keys have ordered mandatory evacuations ahead of Hurricane Wilma. The Category 5 hurricane has maximum sustained winds nearing 280 kilometers an hour, with even higher gusts. The U.S. National Hurricane Center confirms Wilma is the most intense storm on record for the region.

HOLMES: Iraqis around the world are tuning into the trial of their former president Saddam Hussein. In New York, more than 100 Shiite Muslims from Iraq attended a mosque there.

Kelly Wallace caught up with some members and reports that many of them are hoping that the trial will be a new chapter for the new Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Queens, at this Shia Muslim mosque, where 100 of the 5,000 members are from Iraq, we met Abdul Jabbar, who told us when he was 19 years old, his father was executed by Saddam Hussein's regime.

ABDUL JABBAR, FATHER KILLED IRAQ: Every time I talk about it, I feel like I'm going to cry any minute. So it really has been over 20 years, but the way it ended, and the way it ended for me is that the way it ended for me was not right.

WALLACE: The father of two, who came to the U.S. for school in 1980, says he will be thinking about his father a lot as he watches the former Iraqi dictator stand trial for the very first time.

JABBAR: I'm sure the emotion will come back but, you know, God willing, that this will, hopefully, they did not go for no good reason. Hopefully, this will help put a new chapter in Iraq, have these people actually live in peace for a change.

WALLACE: The director of the mosque also comes from Iraq, and also has a tragic story to tell. Shaikh Fadhel Al-Sahlani says more than 25 members of his extended family were killed during Saddam's reign.

(on camera): Did you ever think this day would come that you would see Saddam Hussein on trial?

FADHEL AL-SAHLANI, IMAM AL-KHOEI ISLAMIC CENTER: Not really.

WALLACE: Al Sahlani says his faith does not allow him to seek revenge. Instead, he says, he is looking for justice.

AL-SAHLANI: I keep this picture always with me.

WALLACE (on camera): Oh!

AL-SAHLANI: And I sometimes I just look to it and see the life, how it has been changed to this man. It is a lesson to anyone who misused the power. This man, he misused the power, and this is the reason.

WALLACE (voice-over): A conviction and a death penalty, he says, would bring grieving Iraqis enormous relief, but would it help bring an end to the insurgency? Jabbar says he doesn't know.

JABBAR: Hopefully, the, you know, people will come to their senses. I mean, that's what we're hopeful for. Is that going to happen? Nobody knows.

WALLACE: Holding out hope for a peaceful Iraq and the end of an era...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goodbye, Saddam!

WALLACE: ... that caused so much pain.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Human Rights Watch says it's crucial the trial of Saddam Hussein be fair to ensure justice for the victims. The human rights group has expressed concern over certain aspects of the proceedings.

Joining us now to talk about this is Richard Dicker. He's the director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. He was also in the courtroom during today's proceedings. Thanks so much for joining us.

What was your impression of the proceeding today in court, sir? Was it fair or did you perceive it as a victor's justice?

RICHARD DICKER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Well, first and foremost, I think it was very stirring to see Saddam Hussein in the dark as a defendant in a criminal trial. There were horrific crimes that occurred in Iraq over three decades of Baath party rule. And I think it's been a long time coming that those most responsible be brought to book before a court of law in determining guilt or innocence. So I think it was very stirring. At the same time, it's crucial this tribunal get it right.

VERJEE: What do they need to do, according to you, to get it right?

DICKER: Well, I think if justice is going to be done, the trial has to be fair. And fair trials have basic components that this tribunal's law doesn't satisfy specifically. If an accused refuses to answer a question or remain silent, that silence can be considered by the judge as evidence against him. That flies in the face of the most basic due process and international law of fair trial standards. That needs to be changed.

Similarly, the accused, Saddam Hussein or anyone else, can be convicted if the judges are merely satisfied that the evidence establishes guilt. That's qualitatively different than a standard of beyond reasonable doubt, which is an appropriate standard to determine guilt in a trial like this. Those are some of the concerns we have.

VERJEE: Saddam Hussein's defense team says, in its entirety, this tribunal is just illegitimate. What is your sense or your response to that? Does it uphold international standards?

DICKER: Well, I think there are two points here. Saddam Hussein's lawyers are claiming it's illegitimate perhaps because he is the former president of Iraq, this tribunal has no right to try him, or it emerged as a result of the invasion of Iraq. I don't think, legally, there's any basis now to claim that this tribunal is not lawfully constituted. A new Iraqi law has been adopted that creates this tribunal. I don't think there's much merit to that argument.

At the same time, our concerns are on a different level, having to do with fairness. And as I said earlier, for justice to be done, for truth to be demonstrated here, the trial has to be fair. Because if not, it could risk degenerating into a political show trial. If that happens, I think a large opportunity will be lost to strengthen respect for the rule of law in a new Iraq.

VERJEE: Witnesses, it seems, are afraid to appear at the tribunal. How much of a problem do you think this poses to the entire process?

DICKER: I think the security situation here in Baghdad is such that it poses enormous challenges to this tribunal, in terms of security -- certainly for witnesses who would come, and I mean both prosecution and defense witnesses -- as well as security for the court personnel, the judges, the prosecutor and the defense attorneys. It's an enormous challenge, and I think it's going to take a lot to overcome it. I do believe it's important that the trial be here so that the process will be more accessible to those who suffer.

VERJEE: Richard Dicker the director of the International Justice Program at the Human Rights Watch. He was there today at the historical court proceeding as Saddam Hussein stood in the dark. Thank you.

Our Web site has a special report on Saddam Hussein's trial. It includes a full report from our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, who is in the courtroom today as well to witness the proceedings. You will find a link to the special reports CNN.com.

HOLMES: Moving on to South Korea, solidifying its position as a world leader in stem-cell research. Seoul Bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae shows us now how the country is becoming an international center for the science, despite the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The switchboards at Seoul National University Hospital were bombarded with calls, with the news of an establishment of an international consortium for stem-cell storage and research called the World Stem Cell Hub. Patients with diseases like Diabetes or Parkinson's Disease wanted to sign up to become test cases or just ask when a cure would be found. Dr. Wang Husak (ph) says it's way too early for such hope. He heads the laboratory at Seoul National, which leads the world ion the production of patient-specific and disease-specific embryonic stem cell lines, cells offering the possibility to combat many diseases and conditions.

The World Stem Cell Hub plans to create embryonic stem cells for scientists around the world.

"Our team can bring to the table our expertise in such somatic cell nuclear transfer," says Dr. Ann Kurie (ph).

South Korea's President was on hand at the opening ceremonies.

ROH MOO-HYUN, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is the responsibility of us politicians not the let the controversy of life ethics stand in the way of such significant research and progress.

JIE-AE: The Seoul government gave more than $24 million to Wang's (ph) team this year, and promises millions more in the years ahead.

But stem cells remain controversial in many parts of the world, because they require the creation of embryos for research purposes and the recruitment of women as egg donors. Bernard Siegel heads the Genetic Policy Institute, a non-profit institute aimed at advancing scientific research for cures.

BERNARD SIEGEL, GPI, EXEC. DIR.: When other countries can see what Korea has done ethically with transparency and guidelines in place, hopefully they, too, will set up similar research in their own countries.

IM JUNG-KI, SEOUL NATL. UNIV. HOSPITAL (through translator): We think that the initial process and the clinical application in diseases will be done at this hospital in the World Stem Cell Hum.

JIE-AE (on camera): All the ethical issues remain. The participants of this foundation say by making it easier for stem cell technology to cross national barriers, it makes it that much easier for the technology to go from the laboratory to the patient.

Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: People are fleeing Florida as the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded heads straight for the States.

HOLMES: Yes, this is amazing, this storm. People in Central America are also getting out of the way of Hurricane Wilma. The very latest on its track coming up next on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Soothing sounds for the sick at heart.

VERJEE: Still ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a New Orleans doctor's musical prescription post-hurricane.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We've been asking viewers to send us e-mails about the Saddam Hussein trial.

VERJEE: Our question was this: Do you think Saddam Hussein will get a fair trial?

HOLMES: OK, let's read a couple of them now.

Ekanem in Nigeria -- thanks for writing: "Saddam's trial will certainly be influenced the United States. I can't envision that they would let him go, even if he is innocent."

VERJEE: Craig in Houston says: "I don't think it will be fair. But the relevant question is, will this trial benefit Iraq? No. It will inflame sectarian differences and further incite the insurgency."

HOLMES: And from Pakistan, Mahnaz says: "Whether Saddam's trial will be fair is a superfluous question. That a trial under public glare has been allowed is fair enough treatment."

VERJEE: YWT@CNN.com. Let us know what you think.

HOLMES: Yes, thanks everyone for writing. We'll be reading more later. In post-Katrina Louisiana, perhaps no government official's job is more stressful than that of the New Orleans coroner.

VERJEE: To endure it, he's concocted a salve of medicine and music.

Gary Tuchman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He loves his hometown.

DR. FRANK MINYARD, NEW ORLEANS CORONER (singing): Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I miss it each night and day.

TUCHMAN: Singing helps Frank Minyard stay calm and focused in a very stressful job. He's the coroner of New Orleans, in charge of the autopsies of more than 1,000 victims who have been brought to this heavily secured temporary morgue in Saint Gabriel, Louisiana. Dr. Minyard has had the job this elected job for 31 years and knows many of these victims. MINYARD: One friend of mine went back to the city, saw the total destruction of his house and his neighborhood and he committed suicide.

TUCHMAN (on camera): And you saw him inside the morgue here?

MINYARD: I saw him and it was very, very difficult.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): It's also been difficult processing the victims because many morgue workers were missing and there was no telephone service. But that situation has now improved. Frank Minyard is not only known as the city's longtime coroner...

(on camera): What is your nickname?

MINYARD: "Dr. Jazz."

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Dr. Jazz plays the trumpet, the 76-year- old is part of a group that performs regularly at one of New Orleans' famous venues, Preservation Hall. He gained musical fame playing this song on a New Orleans radio show in the late '60s.

MINYARD: And all of a sudden, all of my friends, Pete Fountain called up and asked what that was. Al Hirt called up and said he was going to kill himself. He didn't want to be associated with trumpets. Fats Domino called up. All the biggies called the radio station.

TUCHMAN: Dr. Minyard now spends 24 hours a day at the morgue. After seven weeks, he decided the timing was right to play "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" to his staff at a morning meeting.

MINYARD: I felt good about it. I didn't cry. And the people applauded.

TUCHMAN: As he played, he thought about how New Orleans was before Katrina.

MINYARD: We have a spirit that is different from everybody else. We will rebuild. We'll make it better. It might even be the city of the future with a past.

TUCHMAN: He may not have cried in the meeting, but he had tears this time.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Saint Gabriel, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: An amazing story.

VERJEE: yes.

HOLMES: And what a job, as well.

VERJEE: That's it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. HOLMES: That's right. For our viewers in the United States, CNN's "LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips is coming up next. All right. We're going to back with more of YOUR WORLD TODAY for the rest of you. Stay with us.

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