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Small Plane Lands Safely After Landing Gear Problems; Israeli Elections

Aired November 17, 2005 - 12:17   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to everyone to YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN International.

I'm Zain Verjee.

HOLMES: Welcome to all of our viewers in the United States joining us now, too.

I'm Michael Holmes.

Well, the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the new chairman of the Labor Party have agreed to hold early elections. That vote could come as early as February.

Guy Raz tells us now more about Mr. Sharon's new political challenger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is a man the world will soon get to know, Amir Peretz, a firebrand socialist who now heads Israel's largest opposition party, Labor, is pulling his party out of the coalition government, forcing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to hold early elections.

AMIR PERETZ, LABOR PARTY LEADER (through translator): Any attempt to delay the elections is anti-democratic. In any democratic country, this would be illegal.

RAZ: Peretz ousted the longtime Labor Party chief Shimon Perez in a party primary last week. For years, Peretz headed Israel's largest labor union. Now he's set his sights on the top job of prime minister. With his class warfare rhetoric and (INAUDIBLE) moustache, Amir Peretz has become a favorite of this country's sharp-penned cartoonists. And the party (INAUDIBLE) loves his style.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is eastern and left. And it's a great combination.

RAZ: Peretz is of Moroccan-Jewish origin and something of a maverick in a Labor Party traditionally dominated by Jews of European descent. If elected, Peretz promises to enter final status talks with Palestinians over statehood, but his emphasis is economics. The platform, to decrease the gap between rich and poor in Israel.

GIL HOFFMAN, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: In America, people say, "It's the economy, stupid." In Israel, a politician would have to be stupid to bring up the economy, because they know that even if people are on welfare, what they care most about is the diplomatic future of this country.

RAZ: And the man most Israelis still trust to safeguard their security is Ariel Sharon. Polls show he's popular as ever, despite a rebellion within his center-right Likud Party and a campaign finance scandal that's led his Omri to plead guilty to receiving illegal contributions.

(on camera): Israel hasn't braced itself for an election quite like this one in decades. Amir Peretz, the man who wants to take center stage at the parliament, is a throwback to Israel's socialist past. Six decades of fighting wars here has cost this country dearly, and Amir Peretz is hoping his message of welfare and not warfare will pay off.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: To Sri Lanka now, where people are awaiting the results of a presidential election that they hope will set the stage for peace. The election commissioner says voter turnout was about 75 percent. While 13 candidates vied for the country's top position, the election was a close race between two familiar faces.

Opposition leader and former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe brokered a cease-fire with the Tamil Tiger rebels three years ago. He's seen widely by many as being in a position to achieve a lasting peace agreement with them. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has strongly opposed negotiating with the rebels. Roadblocks and intimidation kept some Tamils from voting. Meanwhile, others heeded a call to boycott the election.

Let's check on what's moving the financial markets up next.

HOLMES: That's going to come up next. Could a looming strike in the United States further cripple the world's top automaker? Who knows. We'll tell you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.

Just in time for us to check on what is moving the markets in the United States. Valerie Morris knows more than I. Let's go to her in New York -- Val.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HOLMES: OK. Top stories in a moment. VERJEE: Also ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, protesters fork an effigy of the U.S. president, but that doesn't sway George W. Bush's stance at the APEC summit in South Korea.

HOLMES: We're also going to tell you about the agreement Mr. Bush reached with his South Korean counterpart. That's when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HOLMES: Security very tight a day ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, or APEC. That's set to begin on Friday.

Our senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy has a preview now of what is topping this year's agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-one leaders from both side of the Pacific, but one fashion state. Here they are in Thailand. Before that they were in China. Last year they were in Chile. If anyone remembers APEC at all, it's because of the attire, and little else.

PROF. DAVID ZWEIG, HONG KONG UNIV.: Shirts rather than substance. So you get this big picture of the 21 leaders all standing buddy buddy, close together, wearing the same shirt. That seems to be, in many ways, the defining moment.

CHINOY: Since it's creation in 1989 as a vehicle to promote free trade, APEC has largely been a sideshow, a talking shop with few concrete achievements.

PROF. LEE CHONG MIN, SINGAPORE NATL. UNIV.: Whether it's on free trade, on regional-trade agreements there's a lot of posturing on when APEC will become a real dynamic integrated economic body, and that has not happened until now.

CHINOY: But beyond the annual tradition of wearing costumes of the host nation, that talking shop has now become increasingly important. Take a look at this year's agenda, a laundry list of global crises: the risk of a bird flu pandemic, the disease originating in Asia, combating terrorism with Indonesia, a key front line, what to do about North Korea's nuclear ambitions, how to give a boost to flagging talks on a global-trade deal.

And while anti-globalization demonstrators will be protesting, and maybe rioting, outside the meeting in Busan, South Korea, as they've done at previous summits, hovering over the gathering inside will be the shadow of the world's newest power, China, who's president Hu Jintao, is likely to be the star of the show.

ZWEIG: China is a full player. Everybody, I'm sure, will want to have a meeting with Hu Jintao. CHINOY: For a weakened President Bush, fresh from a not-very- successful Latin American Summit earlier this month, That makes this gathering particularly important.

(on camera): Especially as the APEC meeting here will be followed next month by the inaugural meeting of what's been dubbed the East Asian Summit, a gathering of key Asian nations in Malaysia, with the U.S., at China's insistence, specifically not invited.

Mike Chinoy, CNN, Busan, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: One of the issues expected to be discussed during the APEC summit is North Korea. As we've been saying, the U.S. president met his South Korean counterpart ahead of the summit. The two leaders set aside their differences and said in a joint statement that a nuclear-armed Pyongyang was unacceptable. They also agreed the international standoff of the communist nation should be resolved through diplomacy. And they outlined their vision for the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROH MOO-HYUN, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): With regard to the North Korean issue, we reiterate that a nuclear-armed North Korea would not be tolerated, and reaffirmed that the issue should be resolved through peaceful and diplomatic means. In order to implement the September 19th joint statement of the six-party talks, Korea and the U.S. agree to work closely together. We especially felt that the second phase should of the fifth round of six-party talks should be held as soon as possible in order to find a break through in resolving the nuclear issue.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I see a peninsula one day that is united and at peace. That's a vision, Mr. President, that I know you share as well. And that's the right vision. There's a real possibility that by working together at some point in time the peninsula will be united and at peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Analyst Mitchell Reiss said the Bush no statement was one that was critical as talks go forward. I spoke with him a little earlier. He's a former White House fellow and State Department official. He has some considerable expertise about Korean peninsula. He says that that statement of unity is critical.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MITCHELL REISS, COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY: It's a very important statement to be made public, because it keeps the pressure up on the North Koreans to actually get rid of their nuclear weapons.

It also is a very important symbol of the alliance and the strong ties that bind the United States and South Korea together, to have the two presidents there side by side, putting out this statement of unity, and also directing it toward the North Korean nuclear program.

HOLMES: There's more than two countries involved in these talks. Of course George W. Bush planning to press on his Chinese and Russian counterparts to join this unified front. His chances of success in getting everyone on exactly the same page?

REISS: Well, I think we've actually had a great deal of success. Last week we concluded the round with the six-party talks in Beijing, and they were noticeable for a couple points. First and foremost, the U.S. was able to solidify the position with the other four countries, except North Korea, that the key issues in these talks was really the de-nuclearization of the north. That has to take place first before we can talk about normalization, diplomatic relations and economic development there.

The other issue that came up at these talks had to do with the north being upset that we were enforcing treasury regulations against a bank in Maccaw (ph) that has been laundering North Korean currency illegally. So the good-news message is that we are keeping the pressure up on the North Koreans, and we've got our partners united in this effort with us.

HOLMES: Would you the bad news be that you're still in a situation where the north and the other countries that are negotiating with it are engaging in a game of you first?

REISS: Well, there's some of that, and of course the big question when you start to get down to the details is going to be the sequencing. Who goes first? Who provides X in return for Y.

HOLMES: And a climate of distrust.

REISS: Well, that's part of what the negotiations are designed to overcome. It's not surprising that there be mistrust. But again, there's been an enormous effort by all these parties to these talks try to break through that. We've been wanting to have these negotiations with the North Koreans, and they've been the ones that have been delaying so far.

So I think the U.S. position is that we'd like to get back together with them next month. Hopefully that will take place. If not, then earlier in the new year, so we can get on with business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: That was Mitchell Reiss, the vice provost for international affairs at the College of William and Mary.

VERJEE: As Mr. Bush continues his Asia trip, it's really a war of words over the Iraq war, and it's getting more and more heated here in the United States.

HOLMES: Starting to sound like an election campaign.

We wanted to get you involved in the debate. Our question today has been, do you think the Bush administration was deliberately misleading about prewar intelligence?

Russ from Spain writes, "Of course this administration lied, profusely. Read the speeches: Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld. Not one of Powell's excuses for the war proved to be true."

VERJEE: Michael in the U.S. says, "This is a desperate play by Democrats to try to distance themselves fro their agreement with Bush to go to war.

HOLMES: Richard in France writes to us, "They were lying through their teeth! It was absolutely obvious. The only surprising this is how many people allowed themselves to be deceived."

VERJEE: And Jeffrey from Malaysia says, "Bush has not only misled Americans, but also the rest of the world. Not one shred of evidence has been uncovered since the days when the world was told of possible weapons of mass destruction."

Australian officials say they will not be intimidated into withdrawing their troops in Iraq. They're pledging to keep them there as long as they're needed, defying videotaped threats said to have been made by the most wanted terrorist in Asia.

Lorry Oaks has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LORRY OAKS, NATIONAL 9 NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): According to Indonesian police, this is Noordin Top, the mastermind of the bombings in Bali and the attack on Australia's Jakarta embassy.

With his face covered by a black balaclava and wearing a shoulder holster and pistol, the feared Jama (ph), Islamic operative has used a videotape to send a chilling message to Western countries, particularly Australia, singling out Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Prime Minister John Howard for special mention.

"America, Australia, England and Italy are all our enemies," he says. "We especially remind Australia that you, Downer and Howard, are killing Australia, leading it into darkness and misfortune and mujahedeen terror."

ALEXANDER DOWNER, AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Noordin Top is now is the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia, and no democratic country like Australia should be intimidated by a fanatic like Noordin Top.

OAKS: Attending the APEC Summit in South Korea, Mr. Howard said he was not the least bit surprised by the videotape.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: No self-respecting democracy can or will have its policy determined by threats from terrorists.

OAKS: The videotape, also containing messages from three suicide bombers who killed 20 people in the most recent attacks on Bali restaurants, was found last week after Top's partner, bomb-maker Azahari Bin Husin, died in a shoot-out with Indonesian police.

(on camera): Noordin Top's threat is that Australia will continue to experience intimidation and terror while our troops remain in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the government says that pulling out would not stop terrorist attacks.

Lorrie Oaks, National 9 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now to another country fighting terrorism. Spain still dealing with legal aftermath of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people. A British judge has ordered a man wanted in that case extradited to Spain. Spanish citizen Moutaz Almallah Dabas was arrested in Britain back in March.

The warrant, issued by Spain, alleges that the Syrian-born Dabas provided support for Islamic terrorists in Madrid, including some of the train bombers. Dabas is expected to be extradited within the next ten days. He has one week to appeal to Britain's high court.

VERJEE: And an update from to Libya on two seemingly different cases with international implications. Libya's supreme court has delayed a decision until January of next year on the fate of five Bulgarian nurses. Now the nurses, along with a Palestinian doctor, have been sentenced to death for allegedly injecting Libyan children with blood contaminated with HIV. Fifty children have died.

A former foreign minister of Bulgaria says Libya once offered to exchange the nurses for a Libyan man serving time in a Scottish prison for the bombing of a Pan-Am, Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988.

HOLMES: All right, we're going to check in on what is topping the news in the United States. That's for our viewers in the U.S.

VERJEE: And for the rest of our viewers around the world, it's the size of the textbook but volumes apart from the average student manual. We're going to give you a look at $100 laptop that could revolutionize the way the world's neediest children are educated.

(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 other stories making headlines here in the U.S.

Drama in the skies in Atlanta, Georgia, just moments ago seen live here on CNN. A small plane runs into trouble with its landing gear while approaching a county airport. It circled a few times after trying to make an unsuccessful attempt to touchdown before taking off and then again circling and then right here making another attempt, an emergency landing, a belly landing, as you're seeing right here. A picture perfect landing. Three people on board the plane eventually emerged once the plane came to a full stop. All were uninjured, unscathed.

One of two escaped Iowa inmates has been captured. The Iowa governor confirms that Martin Moon was apprehended in Randolph County, Illinois, about 250 miles from the maximum security prison in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TOM VILSACK, IOWA: Mr. Moon was apparently in a car which he had stolen, which was parked outside of the Menard State Prison in Chester, Illinois. Prison officials, during a routine security check, noticed the suspicious car and advised the local police department of its whereabouts. Upon investigation, Mr. Moon attempted to escape, hit a post, ran from the vehicle and was ultimately apprehended by the Chester, Illinois Police Department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The other inmate, Robert Legendre, is still at large. Both men broke out Monday night by scaling a 30-foot wall, which is located near an unmanned guard tower. Moon and Legendre were each serving life sentences for a murder convictions. So, again, Moon has been captured and Legendre is still at large.

The fate of the man accused of kidnapping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia is now in the hands of a Florida jury. Deliberations are under way in the murder trial of Joseph Smith, that man right here. The kidnapping attracted nationwide attention after it was captured by a surveillance video at a car wash on February of 2004. Carlie's body was later found.

Police in Florida say a missing 17-year-old girl has been found and is safe. The teen, covered by a blanket right here in this video, was recovered this morning. She had been missing since yesterday. Police say the suspect in her kidnapping, Robert Laird, shot and killed himself. Laird was a convicted sex offender.

The House is set to vote on renewing the Patriot Act today. President Bush signed the original bill into law after the 9/11 attacks. House and Senate negotiators reached agreement yesterday on making most of the provisions permanent and extended others for seven years. Democrats complained that they've been mostly kept out of loop in recent negotiations.

A top House Democrat is demanding an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. His emotional reasons for getting the troops out now, at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM." Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

HOLMES: Including our viewers right here in the United States. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is calling for more aid for survivors of last month's earthquake in Pakistan. Annan made that appeal shortly after arriving in Pakistan, where he will attend a donor's conference in Islamabad this weekend.

The U.N. and Pakistani aid agencies, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank estimate the recovery effort will cost more than $5 billion. Pakistan's president Pervez Musharaf says only a negligible amount of aid has arrived so far.

VERJEE: Kashmiri's are being allowed to cross part of the de facto border dividing their homeland to check on loved ones affected by the quake. Indian and Pakistan have agreed to relax border restrictions as a humanitarian gesture. Four crossing points will be opened on two days, each in November and December, While another point will be open for four days. People wanting to cross must apply for a permit from government officials.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: We want to go on to a different story. We normally bring different kinds of news from the West Bank, but today we have something else.

HOLMES: Police officers have been known to be creative at times when it comes to directing traffic at intersection. But one officer, here he is in Ramallah, is a special case. For years, Raid Ismail Abu Awad (ph) has been working dance routines into his efforts at a busy intersection when he's able to go on duty.

VERJEE: Is that break dancing?

HOLMES: I don't know. I hope not. They're going to send the traffic the wrong way. He started by learning the basics of traffic control. But it wasn't long before he started to improvise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (thorough translator): I took a course in Nablus that was sponsored by Sweden. During this course, I learned the basics of how to control the cars on the street and then I started working on my own, giving a flavor of my own. I got a lot of compliments from people and I'm glad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: I love the lean back on the car there. After an open question of whether he helps or hurts the traffic.

VERJEE: His performances are so amazing, or at least entertaining, that many drivers can't help but stop and stare.

See you tomorrow. Got to go, bye.

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