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Your World Today
Kadima Party Declares Victory in Israel; Palestinians Ponder Future Peace With Israel; Women Talk About the Hamas Victory; Immigration Debate Heads to Senate
Aired March 29, 2006 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A historic Middle East moment. But are both sides up to the challenge? A Hamas- led cabinet is sworn in just a day after elections in Israel.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: On the ground in Liberia. The long-awaited homecoming for a former Liberian president has arrived. It leaves his fate in the balance.
MANN: And if you look directly at the screen, no problem. Africa, the Mediterranean and central Asia are following a solar eclipse. But they are using special eye gear.
It is 5:00 p.m. in Monrovia, 7:00 p.m. in Gaza City.
I'm Jonathan Mann.
VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee.
A warm welcome to our viewers throughout the world and in the United States.
This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
We begin in the Middle East with changes in the political landscapes in both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
MANN: Hamas has formally taken the reins of power in the Palestinian government with the swearing in of a new cabinet.
VERJEE: But first, we have a report from Israel, where the Kadima party is declaring victory in Tuesday's parliamentary elections.
MANN: It now faces the challenge of putting together a coalition. And as Guy Raz reports, it faces other challenges as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The man who will take the reins of one of the world's toughest jobs, Ehud Olmert, the 12th person to serve as Israeli prime minister.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be (INAUDIBLE) is a very demanding job. More than in any other very big countries because you are dealing with the survival of the state, security, foreign affairs. RAZ: The challenge ahead is daunting. Olmert's vision ambitious, to set down Israel's permanent borders within four years. A task that'll require the forced evacuation of more than 70,000 Israelis from the West Bank at a price tag that could exceed $20 billion.
The plan is called conversions. And as far as Olmert is concerned, it may go ahead with or without Palestinian agreement. But in a message to Palestinians, Olmert kept the possibility of future negotiations open.
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI ACTING PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are prepared to compromise, give up parts of our beloved land of Israel, painfully remove Jews who live there to allow you the conditions to achieve your hopes and to live in a state in peace and quiet.
RAZ: But the compromises Olmert talks about are not acceptable to most Palestinians. Olmert's plan would keep about 8 percent of the West Bank inside Israel, including most of east Jerusalem. And many Palestinians are ambivalent about the election on the other side of this conflict.
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: We will form (ph) together, no?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Maybe. And Olmert will...
ABBAS: And a coalition. And we hope that he will change his policy from (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any (INAUDIBLE)?
ABBAS: I hope.
RAZ (on camera): But those unilateral ideas are the most likely outcome. Israel says it can't negotiate peace with a group like Hamas now in charge of the Palestinian Authority. And Olmert is now saying if negotiations prove impossible, then Israel will "place its future in its own hands."
Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Palestinians are now wondering what lies ahead for them. With Hamas now firmly in charge, can the peace in the Middle East prevail from Gaza?
Here's Ben Wedeman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Gaza, they peer into the heavens at a partial eclipse of the sun. Store owner Jamal Hadad (ph) watched Tuesday's Israeli elections like he watches the eclipse, helpless, he says, to do anything about it.
A Kadima-led coalition is now in the making in Israel. Kadima's leaders advocating unilateral pullouts from the West Bank, while Wednesday evening, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas swore in the new Hamas-led cabinet. The new Palestinian foreign minister, a Hamas hard-liner, sees no progress ahead.
MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, HAMAS LEADER: So I think nobody from the Palestinian side (INAUDIBLE) has any -- has the confidence regarding -- regarding the expected Israeli policy.
WEDEMAN: The United States and the European Union have threatened to cut off badly-needed financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority when Hamas takes over. A move observers warn could cripple the already gutted Palestinian economy and possibly spark a humanitarian crisis.
But Hamas leaders insist their priority is to put the battered Palestinian house in order and arm (ph) struggle on the back burner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this government is meaning, really, to put any kind of bloodshed for the Palestinians on the firsthand, and for the others on the other. That means we will live in peace.
WEDEMAN: But in this conflict where things always seem to take a turn for the worse, the signs from heaven and from Earth are not good.
(on camera): Gaza is usually a fairly busy place. But with a partial eclipse of the sun here, it is relatively quiet.
Now, Muslims believe that an eclipse is not a good omen. And therefore, some people believe this is not the best day to swear in the new Hamas-led government.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: The world is watching Hamas very closely. Relations with Israel aside, many people are wondering if it will try to restrict the social freedoms that Palestinians now enjoy.
Christian Amanpour looks at the Hamas victory through the eyes of some very different women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This upscale bar is not in London or in New York. It's in the Palestinian town of Ramallah on the occupied West Bank.
The Islamic movement Hamas has just started running the government here. But that doesn't stop Nadia Najab (ph) and her friends from running up their tab.
(on camera): What did you feel yourself when you realized that Hamas had actually won?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked. Very shocked, actually. And I couldn't believe it at the beginning. I felt I was -- it was a dream.
AMANPOUR: A bad dream for women like Nadia (ph), who fear Hamas will impose strict Islamic law.
What most Westerners don't realize is that, historically, Palestinian women have been among the most liberated and educated in the Arab world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You should see the shock when I say I'm Palestinian, as if they want to confirm the very fact they have about Arab women.
AMANPOUR: And Nadia (ph) breaks all those stereotypes. She's a professor of psychology at the prestigious Birzeit University. And today she's headed to class to deliver a lecture on Freud and his theories of sexual development.
(on camera): It's interesting to come here to the West Bank and hear your teacher talk about Freud and sexual identity.
What are you getting out of this class?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like, you know, you actually have a chance to talk about this, because there are a lot of that taboos in this society where, if you do go out, you can't -- you can't have these conversations.
AMANPOUR (voice over): But this freedom of expression, even freedom to dress, is exactly what so many on this campus fear losing now that the Islamists are in charge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why I was worried about Hamas winning the election, because I believe in a secular state where religion is something up to you.
AMANPOUR: And they, you think, want an Islamic state?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course. I hear Hamas leaders say it all the time, "We believe that Islam is the solution to everything."
AMANPOUR: And that is most definitely the view of Amni Dal (ph), a Hamas member of the new Palestinian parliament. She makes no attempt to disguise her militancy.
(on camera): What is this big portrait here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This is my oldest son Nadal (ph), who died a martyr. And this is my son Mohammed (ph), who was killed attacking an Israeli settlement.
AMANPOUR: Do you want to see Palestine as an Islamic state? Do you want all women to be veiled like you? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Of course this is our message. Even before we ventured into politics, we invited people in the mosques, homes, schools to wear the hijab. Because we are an Islamic society, this is one of our most important issues. But it's only an invitation, not a decree.
AMANPOUR (voice over): That is the Hamas line. But in the Gaza Strip, where they've been strong for two decades, it's almost impossible to find a woman who isn't veiled.
(on camera): We are at the Islamic University of Gaza right now. And before I'm allowed to go in and do any interviews and talk to any of the women here, I have to wear this abaya. I already had a veil on. But that wasn't enough.
(voice over): A monitor inspects all female students entering the campus. Their abayas, the baggy cloak that hides their figures, must pass the test.
(on camera): Do you feel free behind all of that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course. I feel free. And so free. More than anyone without the scarf.
AMANPOUR: But why should I not see your face?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I want to be for my husband just.
AMANPOUR: Just for your husband?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, not for others.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) that we are very strict, you know, because we're wearing hijab or we're wearing this. We are not so strict. You know, we do whatever we want to do.
We can dance. We listen to music. We sing together. We laugh. We tell jokes.
But in a way, separated. You know, men is on the side and we are on the other side.
AMANPOUR (voice over): And the men are quite literally on the other side of this campus with their own separate buildings and classrooms.
But when we walked into an English class back in the women's section, these students were having a vigorous discussion about feminism, of all things.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Feminism became an organized movement at the beginning of the 19th century when people increasingly began to believe that women are treated unfairly.
AMANPOUR (on camera): Are you feminists? Because you know that the image in the West is that you are not feminists. In fact, you are the opposite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they don't understand the real meaning of feminist. And we here have all the rights.
AMANPOUR: There are many Palestinian women now who are not veiled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to ask these women, are they Muslim? It's an order from Allah to wear hijab. If you are a Muslim, you must do so.
AMANPOUR: What would you say to her back?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see an implicit threat that you will face god. Hamas came to the government through elections, by elections, right? By democracy. And democracy means accepting the other.
AMANPOUR (voice over): And in Gaza, these women also say they are ready to fight for that principle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will fight. We will not allow this to come easy. And we will try to raise our voices always.
AMANPOUR: To mark International Women's Day, Lama Hurani (ph) and scores of other Palestinian activists marched on parliament to make sure their new Hamas government hears them loud and clear.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: It is a time of change and challenge in the Middle East. Christiane Amanpour joins us now live to talk about what's under way.
Christiane, how much of a conflict is the Palestinian Authority in for, whether over weapons or ideas? The men of Fatah fighting for power and the women you spoke to pressing for their rights?
AMANPOUR: Jonathan, indeed. I think there is a challenge and certainly a political conflict that is going to be under way.
On the women's front, what we found was that most people do think that the pressures of people's demands for a better life is going to keep Hamas focused on domestic issues, so to speak, for the first term. They also believe that Hamas is a political party that wants to be reelected, and so it's going to do what it needs to do to get reelected.
However, they are very worried about what happens if Hamas is reelected. Because then, they say, that will give Hamas the opportunity to impose what they believe they want, which is an Islamic state.
And let's not forget that Hamas is the first-ever Islamist movement to come to power through a democratic election. And, by the way, it's the only democratically changed government in the Middle East. It's the only government that's changed through elections in modern times. Now, on the other issue, the Fatah people and independents are also bracing for a challenge. Already Hamas and this Fatah president, Mahmoud Abbas, are in some conflict about who controls aspects of the economic purse.
Certainly, Hamas needs to get its hands on any kind of money that's in the Palestinian Authority because the West, so far, the United States, Europe, Israel, doesn't want to deal with Hamas until it changes its charter, changes its position on terrorism and on recognizing Israel. And Hamas is concerned that it is not going to be able to deliver if it doesn't have money with which to improve people's lives.
So -- and we've already seen inside the territories that the militants on the Fatah side are actually with weapons challenging the fact that Hamas is in power. So it is a very unsettled moment right now.
MANN: Christiane Amanpour in London.
Thanks very much.
VERJEE: The former president of Liberia is in custody and back home. We are going to tell you what's ahead for Charles Taylor.
MANN: Also coming up, nobody's backing down. France faces increasing pressure from protesters who say they will do it again next week.
Stay with us
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Call it a kind of 21st century pilgrim's progress. The Afghan man who escaped the death penalty for converting to Christianity is now in Italy. This, despite the fact that the Afghan parliament said Abdul Rahman's release was against the law and appealed to Afghan president Hamid Karzai to intervene.
Rahman was offered asylum by Italy's cabinet. Italy already bracing for protests as a result of that decision.
VERJEE: Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is back home after three years of exile in Nigeria. His stops expected to be brief.
A senior Nigerian government officials say U.N. troops will take him into custody and then he will be sent to Sierra Leone. A court there has indicted him on 17 counts of alleged war crimes, accusing him of supporting rebels in that country. The one-time warlord and two-time fugitive was arrested after he vanished from his villa on Monday night.
MANN: Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, says he feels vindicated by the arrest and deportation of Taylor. The Nigerian president is actually now in Washington, where he met with U.S. President Bush Wednesday.
Before heading into that meeting, Mr. Obasanjo said he took in Taylor in Nigeria at great risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: It is therefore the responsibility of all to ensure that Mr. Taylor is not allowed to resort to his usual tactics. It is also important to note that Mr. Taylor is neither a friend of the president of Nigeria nor that of its people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: CNN's Richard Roth sits down for a one-on-one with the Nigerian president as he visits Washington. That interview coming up at 05:00 hours GMT.
VERJEE: The protesters who turned out to demonstrate against a new jobs law in France are promising another day of protests next Tuesday.
MANN: And if you saw what happened in Paris, you know what to expect. Maybe another day of getting sprayed with water cannons and pummeled by police.
Ironically, as Chris Burns reports, the French government is on the defensive about a law it says will actually reduce youth unemployment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The pressure on the French government over making it easier for business to hire and fire youth appears increasingly difficult to bear. At a breakfast for reporters, foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy insisted the conservative government was unwavering.
"We are in a period where the law has been voted in but not signed. So this is the moment that we ask the unions to get around the table and talk," he says.
But the unions refuse to talk unless Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin first withdraws the law. They've gotten conservative French governments to blink before. Paralyzing strikes in December 1995 forced a retreat on pension reform.
De Villepin is also under fire from his own interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, a popular and potential rival in next year's presidential race. He wants the youth job reform suspended pending negotiations.
The prime minister tried to persuade unions he's willing to change the labor reforms, cut a two-year probation period to one year, and add three months' training with pay for anyone who loses their job. But so far, unions and student groups aren't buying. And the country appears evenly split over the proposal the government says will curb high unemployment.
(on camera): After the reporters' breakfast here, Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy exhibited frustration at some persistent questions. He raised his voice, saying the law had yet to take effect and could still be discussed. He walked away when asked if De Villepin would resign.
(voice over): President Jacques Chirac must still sign the bill into law. It's being challenged in France's constitutional court. A ruling is expected before the end of the week.
Chirac could also send the law back to parliament. That's what the unions want. It could also save face for the man he'd most like to succeed him.
Chris Burns, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: OK. Now to the "Question of the Day."
VERJEE: Today we are asking you this: French students versus the government, who's making the stronger case? What do you think? E- mail us your thoughts, YWT@CNN.com.
MANN: Someone was screaming to me about this over the phone last night. Don't call back.
YOUR WORLD TODAY, though, will continue right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few moments.
First, though, a check on stories making headlines here in the U.S.
One last chance in the life-or-death legal fight of a confessed terrorist. Next hour, closing arguments will begin in Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing trial. He is the only man charged in the U.S. with involvement in the 9/11 terror plot. He pleaded guilty.
After lawyers have their say today, Moussaoui's fate will then be in the hands of the jury. They'll have to decide if he's eligible for the death penalty.
Now to the immigration debate in Washington. The Senate is talking about a bill that would create a guest worker program for the millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
President Bush supports it, and he's heading to Cancun today for a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. Topping the agenda there, the immigration issue.
Three heads of state and one tough reporter who says it's time for answers. Lou Dobbs is crossing the border in hot pursuit of those answers. Today, Lou Dobbs lands in Mexico. A "Broken Borders" special report on "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," live from Mexico in about five and a half hours.
Duke University's lacrosse team is getting unwelcome attention on campus and off. The team is suspended while allegations of rape and cove-up are investigated. Authorities await results of DNA tests on 46 team members.
An exotic dancer claims that three players raped her at a party two weeks ago. Some of the lacrosse players are refusing to talk to authorities, and that has triggered protests and outrage at the school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that the university needs to provide very strong pressure on these students to come forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is far beyond a legal issue. This is an ethical, a moral issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an evolving situation and we are monitoring it with a good deal of care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: So far, no one's been charged in connection with the alleged rape.
Remember the pictures from post-Katrina New Orleans? Today a state grand jury is taking a closer look at this beating. It happened last October on Bourbon Street.
A news crew covering the storm's damage videotaped the incident. Prosecutors are seeking indictments against two city police officers involved. A decision could come before the weekend.
Two teenage boys face arraignment in Massachusetts on charges they tampered with a city water supply. About 9,000 residents of Blackstone, Massachusetts, are being warned to not use their water until tests prove that it is safe. The warning also extends into neighboring North Smithfield in Rhode Island. Police say two 15-year- old boys were arrested after bragging to schoolmates that they slipped into a water facility and tainted the water.
Let's check in on weather. Bonnie Schneider has that for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: President Bush talking Iraq just about 20 minutes from now. We'll be back for coverage on CNN. And until then, YOUR WORLD TODAY. We'll be back tomorrow. "LIVE FROM" is with you at the top of the hour.
I'm Daryn Kagan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jonathan Mann.
VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. To our top stories now.
Hamas has formally taken the reins of the Palestinian government. The 24-member cabinet, dominated by the Islamic group, was sworn in just a short while ago. And Israel's Kadima party declared victory in Tuesday's parliamentary elections, but it made a weaker than expected showing. Even so, party officials say that they will move forward with plans to redraw Israel's border within four years.
MANN: As France tries to clean up after massive protests Tuesday, the protesters have already announced they're planning another day of demonstrations next Tuesday. More than a million people marched nationwide to protest against a new jobs law. The protesters say the law guts jobs protections, the French government says it will reduce unemployment among the young.
VERJEE: Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is airborne, being taken by helicopter from Liberia to Sierra Leone. A senior Nigerian government official says once he gets there, he's going to face war crimes charges.
MANN: U.S. President George Bush heads to Mexico for talks with his counterpart, Vicente Fox, officially, at least, to talk about trade. But also on Mr. Bush's mind will be the raging debate over immigration reform at home. The Senate is currently debating its own bill.
Juan Carlos Lopez of CNN Espanol interviewed the president Tuesday evening about the complex implications of guest workers in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUSH: And I'm interested in comprehensive immigration reform that includes not only border security, but also a temporary worker plan that recognizes there are hardworking people here doing jobs Americans won't do and they ought to be here in such a way so they don't have to hide in the shadows of our society.
And the fundamental issue, by the way, it seems like to me on the guest worker plan, is should somebody get ahead of the line when it comes to citizenship? And my answer is no, they ought to get in line, but they don't get to get ahead of the line. And that's where there's some of the tension about the debate that's taking place right now.
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: The debate is taking place in the Senate. They're discussing a plan and they're including your guest worker program that you've requested. But the House said no. The Sensenbrenner bill...
BUSH: Well, I wouldn't give up on yet. We're just starting. It's -- for your listeners, this is a process. The House has passed a bill. The Senate hopefully will pass a bill. And then they get to conference and work something out in conference. And I've called upon both the House and the Senate to pass a comprehensive bill.
And a comprehensive bill means to make sure you include a guest worker program as part of a comprehensive bill. I happen to believe a guest worker program recognizes reality, what's taking place in our economy today. But it also -- a guest worker program is part of border security.
I mean, rather than having people sneaking across the border to come and do jobs that Americans won't do, it seems like it makes sense for people to be given an identification card that they can come and use to do a job on a temporary basis. So they can go back and forth freely with this tamper-proof I.D. card and not have to sneak across. So that our border patrol agents on both sides of the border are really dealing with drugs smuggling or gun smuggling or terrorists trying to sneak into the country.
LOPEZ: So the question is, after those six years, if they get the six years in this program, how will you enforce sending people back who have to go back who have been living here?
BUSH: We'll have to have a tamper-proof card in order to work. I know there's -- there will be -- it will make it much easier to have employer enforcement in place when there is a card that you know is tamper-proof; in other words, one that can't be forged.
Right now there's a whole document forging industry that has evolved. There are people sneaking across in 180-wheelers. There are people risking their lives. And the system is inhumane, as far as I'm concerned. And it needs to be reformed.
LOPEZ: The White House imported the Sensenbrenner bill in the House, making the exception that you were going to pursue a temporary guest worker program. Now that bill includes the construction of 700 miles of border. And that is seen not only in Mexico, but in many Latin American countries, as a sign that the U.S. wants to isolate itself from the region. Is that a...
BUSH: No, I don't think people ought to read that into it. I think people ought to -- first of all, the House is the beginning of the process, as you know. But people shouldn't -- it's impractical to fence off the border. But it is also realistic to give our border patrol agents tools to be able to do their job.
We ought to enforce our borders. That's what the American people expect. You know, I've talked to President Fox about Mexico enforcing her southern border. And he agrees there ought to be border enforcement down there. But he, like I, understand, it's difficult to enforce large borders.
And I don't think anybody believes that you can totally fence off the border and be effective. But I do think we ought to be in a position to give our border patrol agents, you know, better tools, more effective ways to prevent people from smuggling people and/or drugs across our border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: A tough stance on immigration reform could be politically dangerous for Republicans, who credit part of the majority to Latino voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On one side, Republicans who say illegal immigrants broke the law get taxpayer benefits without paying taxes, and allowing them to stay sends exactly the wrong message.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: I think if you reward illegal behavior, you'll get more illegal behavior.
BASH: Prosecute, this hardline GOP camp says, and tighten Americans border, even with a wall if necessary.
Then the other side of the Republican immigration divide including the president. Those who say illegal workers should be able to stay in the U.S. legally because they're doing jobs Americans won't do.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We have to recognize that for several generations, people have made America home, and we've accepted the benefit of their labor.
BASH: But like anything in politics, there are shades of gray. Senator John Cornyn is a Texas Republican searching for a middle ground. He says illegal immigrants should be able to work in the U.S. legally, but only if they return to their country of origin first.
(on camera): How worried are you about the deep divide within your own party over this issue?
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I really am not worried about it. I think it's actually healthy.
BASH: You think it's healthy? In an election year it's healthy?
CORNYN: Well, you know, that's the problem in America, we're always having elections.
BASH (voice-over): One irony is that many conservatives fiercely oppose a new guest worker program because they felt burned on the issue by their hero, Ronald Reagan. Twenty years ago, he signed amnesty for some illegal workers, then didn't stop the flow of more illegal immigrants.
And conservatives cringe that some Republicans are aligned with their nemesis, Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy. SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The president deserves credit for talking about these issues. He comes from a border state, so he understands them.
BUSH: Es un gran honor para me de...
BASH: One big White House concern is that GOP opposition will anger Hispanic workers the president has courted feverishly. His share of the Latino vote grew from 35 percent in 2000 to 44 percent in 2004.
NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Now the immigration bill looks like a ticking time bomb that could destroy the emerging Republican Hispanic coalition.
BASH (on camera): Those competing election year pressures, conservative demands for a hard line and the potential backlash among Latino voters Republicans need leave many openly skeptical any compromise on immigration can be reached this year.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: Ultimately, it may be that the debate over immigration reform in the U.S. revolves around the dispute on how to create jobs. It affects employers and labor markets across the U.S.
Richard Roth reports now from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matthew Reindel, grandson of a German immigrant who came to America for a better life, runs a Long Island woodworking factory. Since his grandfather's arrival on U.S. shores, three generations of the Reindel family have been in business producing furniture, now for hospitals and medical offices.
But immigrants are making business tough for Matthew Reindel these days. Not immigrants like his German grandfather, but illegal immigrants.
MATTHEW REINDEL, BUSINESS OWNER: Well, what's happening is it's driving down the labor wage for my legal employees. And it's making it harder for my business to compete against other businesses that are breaking the law.
ROTH: Reindel says he respects U.S. law and refuses to hire illegal aliens. He testified last year before a U.S. congressional committee pleading for help.
REINDEL: Why do you have to compete against employers blatantly breaking immigration, tax, Social Security and insurance laws?
ROTH: Most of Reindel's nine employees are immigrants, some who Reindel sponsors so they could legally live in this country. The U.S. Congress is now considering passing a new immigration that might make it even easier for illegal aliens to work in America.
REINDEL: My employees feel it's a slap in the face, to them. Because they went through the process. They did it the right way.
ROTH: But the paradox is that not far from the furniture factory are government-supported sites where illegal immigrants can be snapped up for hire by other businesses. This job center waiting area in Glen Cove, Long Island has computer and TV screens for use by immigrants waiting for employment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once they are here. They are here. It's difficult. And they are going to stay. So the best thing is to let look, and let's build that potential that particular individual has.
ROTH: Back at the factory, there is some sympathy for the illegal immigrants, but only to a point. Luis Avila (ph) came from Colombia 35 years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me to say (INAUDIBLE), but they are breaking the law.
ROTH: Two sides of America's immigration battle. Tensions in this decades-old dispute are rising to their highest levels.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: When YOUR WORLD TODAY continues, we are going to take you to the East African nation of Somalia.
MANN: Where hunger and political uncertainty are raising questions that few have answers to.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back. Even if they haven't been there, Americans will remember Somalia. The United States went to war there 15 years ago and took casualties. The issue then was control the country.
VERJEE: And now the famine in Somalia can be blamed really on a conspiracy in a way between economic misfortune and deep political divides. It's estimated that 71 percent of the population is undernourished, and Somalia's infant mortality rates are among the world's highest.
MANN: Overfishing and the cutting of trees for charcoal have also brought severe environmental problems. In addition, concerns over widespread fever and disease have reduced economic activity. Some areas are just trying to recover from damage from the 2004 tsunami.
The famine results in part because no organized governments exist and the nation's run by an assortment of tribes.
Neil Connery looks at the scope of the crisis that Somalia faces every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEIL CONNERY, JOURNALIST (voice-over): Somalia is used to suffering, but never on a scale like this. The worst that nature and man can do are combining to create a humanitarian catastrophe, hidden from the world's gaze. A nation is on the move, fleeing drought and civil war in unprecedented numbers. Nearly 13,000 people live in this squalid camp on the outskirts of Waajid. Most have come in the past few months.
Mohammed (ph) invites me inside the few sticks and pieces of cloth he calls home. We are so desperate, he says, no one cares. We are just sitting here, waiting to die. This food convoy sets off as night falls, protected by militia. In this lawless land, there are no guarantees it will reach its destination. If it's attacked and looted, then the thousands who rely on it at the other end is their only lifeline, will starve. The stakes for all concerned couldn't be any higher.
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VERJEE: Neil Connery joins us now live from Somalia.
Neil, firstly, what was it like for you to be there?
CONNERY: Zain, a couple of weeks ago we were in Kenya covering the effect of the drought there, and the situation was incredibly bleak. I didn't think I'd see anything worse than that. But we found it here in Somalia. Because as you were saying earlier on, what is happening sufficient is you have the worst drought in living memory, being compounded by security inside Somalia, the fact that this country hasn't had a government in some 15 years.
You have a militia fighting with each other. All of these factors are working against the Somali people. You have the worst that nature can do and the worst that man can do conspiring against the Somali people. We have a situation here in which possibly up to two million people are under threats from famine. If aid doesn't get here quickly enough to the people who need it.
But one of the problems is getting that aid to these people. The aid shipments that come along the Somali coasts, some of those have been attacked by pirates recently. The aid convoys on land also coming under fire. Some aid workers have been kidnapped in the past month.
A whole catalogue of problems. This is one me of the most complex relief operations anywhere in the world.
VERJEE: How hard was it for you to get around the different areas given the insecurity, given the militia groups that operate? Where were you able to go and not go? CONNERY: Well, as you say, this is one of the most dangerous countries in Africa, if not the world. Given its recent history and the fighting still going on, even in Mogadishu. Last week the scenes we witnessed there, we have been fortunate in the area that we have working with security forces that have allowed us some access to some of the areas that have been effected.
We were able to go to some of the camps outside Waajid, which is where I'm talking to you tonight. Some 13,000 people crammed in one of those camps in the most squalid of conditions, with nothing more than a few sticks and pieces of cloth to provide shelter from a blazing midday sun that reaches over 40 degrees Celsius.
It is, I think, the bleakest place on Earth I've ever visited. And the fear here is that if the outside world just turns away from Somalia and ignores what is happening, and says, well, that's just Somalia, there's nothing we can do about it, I dread to think what the consequences will be for the people that we've met over the past few days. They want the world to become involved. They want the world to help. And there is no time to waste here.
VERJEE: Do they have hope? Do they think that the world will come to their help?
CONNERY: Well, I think the fear is given the recent history of this country, they understand why countries such as America and other nations may be a bit reluctant to become too involved in what is happening here on the ground. Having said that, the World Food Program is doing everything that it can to get support from donor governments. There has been a good response so far, but the U.N. has doubled its appeal in the last week, up to 150 million pounds sterling, to try and get aid in here as quickly as possible. It's two problems. One, getting that aid together. And then two, getting it to the people who need it. Those are the two biggest challenges that this aid operation faces in Somalia.
VERJEE: Giving us a sense of the reality of the situation on the ground and the issues that Somalis themselves are facing, Neil Connery giving us some good perspective from the ground in Somalia. Thank you.
We are going to take a short break. YOUR WORLD TODAY will continue in a moment.
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