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Your World Today

Explosion in Nigeria; Somalia Fighting; Prying for Protection

Aired May 12, 2006 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Prying for your protection. The U.S. president insists that data mining on phone records could save lives.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Running for their lives. Somalis flee battles between Islamic and secular fighters.

CLANCY: Gay men in a macho culture. Cuba riveted by a gay soap opera.

GORANI: And golf is a game for getting out. Urban kids go for the green.

CLANCY: It is 12:00 noon right now in Washington, D.C., 7:00 p.m. in Mogadishu, Somalia.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

Welcome to our viewers throughout the world and the United States.

This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: All right, everyone. We'll have those stories in just a moment. But first, this developing story from Nigeria.

Officials say between at least 150 and 200 people have been killed in a massive oil pipeline explosion. It happened on the outskirts of the Nigerian city of Lagos, the country's largest city. Nigeria is the largest oil producer in the African continent and the fifth largest supplier of oil to the United States.

Our Africa correspondent, Jeff Koinange, is en route to the scene. He joins us now on the line with more details on what happened this day -- Jeff.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hala. And in a word, total devastation. It looks like a bomb exploded in this area.

Smoke billowing into the sky, charred bodies everywhere. It's terrible. A terrible situation. In the words of the Nigerian police chief, what a terrible way to die.

Now, this is what happened. Basically, overnight, vandals punctured a hole into the pipeline, a pipeline that supplies petrol into Lagos. What they did is they siphoned it off in order to sell it, and someone may have lit a match, or a motorcycle may have started up, and literally, it instantly exploded, incinerating everyone -- Hala.

GORANI: Now, Jeff, we're not at all at this point, according to authorities, suspecting any find of foul play, any kind of attack. They're saying this is an accident?

KOINANGE: It looks like it so far, because with the foul play, the militants in the south, they attack crude oil facilities. They don't attack actual pipelines with -- you know, carrying fuel into cities. They attack the pipelines where the multinationals are.

This looks like vandals. And this happens so often. Unfortunately, for an explosion like this, we don't hear about such things. But literally, the police chief told us don't be surprised if the death toll rises, because a similar incident a couple of years ago killed over a thousand people -- Hala.

GORANI: So a quick last question. This is a situation where we're suspecting vandals, people tapping in to the pipeline itself, and then the accident happened that led to so many deaths.

KOINANGE: That's right. It's basically opportunists, vandals going in, puncturing a hole, loading it on to barrels in order to sell it into the city. And that's basically what they were -- you know, they do this so often because a lot of the times thee pipelines run over ground. But with the refineries, what they see is, once a pipeline is punctured, they can see it and quickly switch it off, but there's still a lot of fuel in the pipeline. And the vandals continue to siphon it off until accidents like this happen -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. On his way to the scene, our Jeff Koinange, our Africa correspondent, joining us from Nigeria -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, to the other side of Africa, the Horn of Africa, to be specific, in Somalia, the worst violence in a decade gripping the capital city of Mogadishu. That is according to the residents, many of them now on the run.

Islamic fighters pitted against secular warlords in the East African nation. Civilians caught in the crossfire. At least 130 people have been killed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY (voice over): Pitched battles were reported raging in Mogadishu as fighters who support Islamic courts answer the call to face an assault by the country's secular warlords. Civilians rush their wounded children to the main hospital or rush to get out of town. Hundreds are report wounded.

MOHAMED AMIN, JOURNALIST: The fighting has now intensified. And as you have mentioned, the casualties very high among civilians. And (INAUDIBLE) is hitting everywhere and people are very scared. CLANCY: The battles pit the so-called Mogadishu Anti-terrorism Coalition against a union of Islamic fighters who support traditional Sharia courts in the capital. The Anti-terror Coalition claims the Islamists are allied with al Qaeda. The Islamists accuse the U.S. of funneling cash to the warlords.

CHRISTOPHER EADS, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: The new flash point here is you had one group, the Islamist courts (ph), that were exerting a huge amount of influence in the city. They were spreading their influence wider and wider, getting more and more support. And that became a direct challenge to a lot of the warlords who had been enjoying the seat of power for quite a long time.

And so now you see these group of warlords coming together to now battle the Islamist courts (ph). And that, then, on the preface that there are al Qaeda involvement with the courts (ph). That then kind of justifies their attacks.

CLANCY: Some intelligence analysts say there's evidence al Qaeda uses Somalia as a transit point. Its status as a completely failed state certainly makes it a potentially safe haven.

There is also the possibility the Somali warlords have deliberately exaggerated the al Qaeda threat to gain U.S. financial backing. Whoever wins in the end may have important international implications, but for many of the Somalis who have seen it all before, it's more important to get out of the crossfire and simply survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: There have been 14 attempts in the last 15 years to try to restore some measure of authority and peace and stability in Somalia. All of those attempts have failed.

GORANI: Now, moving on t the south of Africa, in Zimbabwe, an economic crisis is worsening there. The country, led by President Robert Mugabe, reports that its annual inflation has topped -- listen to this -- 1,000 percent yearly. According to some economists, that is the highest inflation rate in the world.

The World Bank says Zimbabwe is in its eighth year of recession and has the fastest-shrinking economy of any country outside a war zone. Analysts say Mr. Mugabe shattered Zimbabwe's investment image by seizing white-owned commercial farms for blacks.

CLANCY: A delegation from the European parliament is in Washington right now. They're investigating reports of those secret CIA prisons allegedly in Europe. But they say the most repeated phrase coming from the U.S. State Department is "No comment."

One EU official says the Bush administration set a tone of non- cooperation from the start by saying the EU has no jurisdiction over it. Another EU delegate says this: "There's goodwill on both sides, but it's difficult to find common ground."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARLO COELHO, PORTUGUESE EU DELEGATE: Perhaps I'll say in a more malicious way there are people who know too much and they don't want to share what they think about -- about the issue. Or perhaps there are people who want to hide something. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: U.S. officials haven't yet confirmed or denied reports of secret prisons, saying they can't comment on cases that involve intelligence.

GORANI: Well, a man who says he was a victim of the CIA's program of secret kidnapping and detention is taking his case to court, but it's up to a U.S. federal judge to decide whether his lawsuit can proceed. German citizen Khalid al-Masri (ph) is suing former CIA director George Tenet and other CIA employees. Al-Masri (ph) says he was abducted and taken to Afghanistan, where he says he was tortured.

On Friday, U.S. government attorneys say the allegations can neither be confirmed nor denied because of security concerns. A judge says he'll rule soon on a government request to drop the case.

CLANCY: Well, a new twist on a story that made headlines yesterday. The man who might be the next head of the CIA may be right in the middle of this controversy over just how far the U.S. government is willing to go in the name of national security.

David Ensor explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The newspaper report that the National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of American with help from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth hit the Senate and Bush administration like a ton of bricks.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: Now, are you telling me that tens of millions of Americans are involved with al Qaeda? If that's the case, we've really failed in any kind of a war on terror.

ENSOR: The timing could hardly be worse for the administration given that the president's nominee for CIA director, Michael Hayden, on the Hill seeking support, was director of the NSA when the program to collect phone call data on Americans reportedly started after the 9/11 attack.

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: All I would want to say is that everything that NSA does is lawful and very carefully done.

ENSOR: That from the general after the president had already been out doing damage control.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities.

ENSOR: So, what is the point of collecting all the billions of telephone numbers we all call and putting them into the massive computers out at the NSA headquarters? To look for patterns, experts say, that might catch a terrorist sleeper cell in this country.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISOR: This data might help the government identify a communication link between a known or suspected al Qaeda operative abroad and one at home that had multiple cut-outs within it. Meaning there was not a direct communication between terrorist A and Terrorist B, but they work through a series of intermediaries, C, D, E and F.

ENSOR: The government can collect the numbers of C, D, E and F without needing to know their names or what they say.

FALKENRATH: Big brother is not listening to those calls, does not know what the content is.

ENSOR: The phone companies declined comment, but the idea big brother may have most Americans' complete phone call records strikes some as outrageous.

JAMES BAMFORD, AUTHOR, "BODY OF SECRETS": This doesn't give you a right to spy on everybody just because you think you're going to prevent terrorism. There's got to be real reason before you start spying on Americans.

I mean, how many people are killed everyday by people in stickups or people that rob 7-Elevens? Does that mean that we begin spying on everybody that goes into a 7-Eleven?

ENSOR (on camera): A knowledgeable former U.S. official says the program is legal because there is no law against the government accepting information voluntarily provided. While the companies may not turn over names and addresses, a long list of phone numbers only can, experts say, be legally given to the government. Of course, anyone with Internet access can then trace most telephone numbers to a person.

David Ensor, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: A poll that I heard here today said that about two- thirds of Americans, 66 percent, say it's OK, if you're doing this to stop terrorists, that's fine with me, you can collect the phone records.

GORANI: All right. In the last 24 hours?

CLANCY: Yes.

GORANI: Or initially?

CLANCY: No, in the last -- since this story broke. GORANI: All right. OK.

Well, we would like to know what you think about this matter, and today's question looks at the controversy over the NSA's monitoring of phone records.

CLANCY: We're asking you this: Would you mind if your government kept track of your phone calls? E-mail your thoughts to ywt@cnn.com.

GORANI: Include your name, where you're writing from. We'll read a selection of your answer a bit later in the show.

CLANCY: Well, travel at your own risk, that's the warning from Tamil Tiger rebels to truce monitors aboard Sri Lankan navy ships. All of it comes after the rebels unleashed attacks on a Sri Lankan troop transport vessel and its escorts Thursday.

The three-hour battle left about 50 of the rebels and 19 Sri Lankan troops dead. The rebels say the monitors are being used as human shields.

GORANI: Indonesia's attorney general says he is dropping all corruption charges against ailing former President Suharto. The top law enforcement official says Suharto is simply too weak to stand trial.

Critics say Suharto and members of his family illegally amassed a $45 billion fortune. Suharto stepped down as Indonesia's leader in 1998. The final decision on whether to close the case now rests with current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. . CLANCY: All right. Now, to shift gears here in the news, it's less than a month away from the World Cup. And that's got a lot of people excited. The focus of the football world has turned, though, to a scandal.

Friday, police visiting the Rome offices of the Italian Football Federation, they had a search that was connected to ongoing allegation that teams tried to influence referees' match assignments. The probe now includes four of the top Serie A clubs -- that's Series A -- and as many as 41 people. This is a huge scandal in Italy right now.

GORANI: Now, in the United States, the political turns personal for the family of one congressman.

CLANCY: Coming up, how two brothers found themselves on opposite sides of the immigration divide. We'll have a report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: In any government, the -- you've got a Shia, is the prime minister designate, a Sunni is the speaker, a Kurd is the president, all of whom have dedicated themselves to a country moving forward that meets the hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people. (END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, an extraordinary sight at the White House. President Bush met with a host of important people, not only his current secretaries of state and defense, but people who held those positions in former administrations going back to the early '60s.

They had a lot to talk about, but especially Iraq, as we heard there from the president. George W. Bush says militias are the biggest roadblock to getting a unity government up and running in Iraq.

Staying with the White House, President Bush has asked America's TV networks for time to make remarks on immigration and related legislation. If the networks agree, the address is expected to air next Monday at 8:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, lobby groups are campaigning to influence this high- agenda debate. One such group, the Minuteman Caravan. It's just rallied in D.C.

The caravan was organized to protest the amnesty bills being discussed in Congress and to counter recent marchers by supporters of immigration reform. Minutemen groups in various places monitor the U.S.-Mexican border on their own, unofficially looking for illegal immigrants.

CLANCY: A little bit more on this immigration issue. U.S. senators reaching a deal on immigration reform. And their bill, a new law, is expected to be passed by the end of the month. But it's not going to be able to be signed into law until President George W. Bush and Republicans in the House can agree on the fate of America's illegal immigrants.

Kathleen Koch has more now on where the contentious bill or new law actually stands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: We try very, very hard to move things along. And it's not easy with the political atmosphere we find in the country today.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Senate immigration bill had been in limbo for weeks while hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters took to the streets. The Senate plan gives the demonstrators some of what they want, a path for legal immigrants who have been in the United States more than five years to earn citizenship, and a guest worker program.

Reopening debate on the bill puts the Senate back on a collision course with the House, which approved a get-tough bill that focuses on border security.

REP. TOM TANCREDO (R), COLORADO: I think that the compromise is not a good one, from what I understand. Anything over on the Senate side that has guest worker is also an amnesty bill.

KOCH: The Senate deal limits the number of amendments or changes that can be made to the bill which Senate leaders say they hope to pass by Memorial Day. It also includes a compromise on the negotiating team that will try to bridge the huge gap between the Senate's final immigration bill and the House version. The conference committees will be made up of senators more supportive of the key provision of the Senate bill, something Democrats wanted.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We both anticipate a lot of challenging times over the period which will begin on -- in all likelihood on Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, as we heard there, and as we've been hearing for the last few weeks, this immigration reform has sparked a lot of debate across the United States.

Chris Lawrence now has the story of one family clearly divided on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two brothers separated by 2,000 miles and their opinions on illegal immigration.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: It's a national security issue.

LAWRENCE: Congressman Duncan Hunter is in Washington, where he'll have a chance to negotiate a compromise with the Senate. The California Republican helped pass a House bill that toughened penalties on illegal immigrants and those who help them.

JOHN HUNTER, CONGRESSMAN'S BROTHER: My wife and I talked about it a little bit and we said we'd break the law if it came down to it.

LAWRENCE: His brother John is on the Mexican border helping illegal immigrants. John builds water stations in the California desert to help thirsty migrants who cross the border in between a giant fence Duncan wants to expand.

D. HUNTER: You have to have a border. And to have a border, you have to have an impediment.

LAWRENCE: Duncan Hunter refused to support John's plan to build cell phone towers so stranded migrants could call for help, but he did help John get official permits for those water stations.

J. HUNTER: He's really a great brother.

LAWRENCE: And they actually agree that an open border makes no sense.

J. HUNTER: On the other hand, I don't think they should die, the penalty for wanting an $8 an hour job should be death.

LAWRENCE: John shows us a cemetery and the graves of unidentified migrants who died crossing the border illegally. John blames immigration policy, not people, especially Duncan.

J. HUNTER: In fact, Duncan's one of the few guys I really, really admire in the political arena. I really admire him.

LAWRENCE: Even when they end up literally on opposite sides of the fence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Keyboarding past the censors.

GORANI: Still ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, Iranians use the Internet in their hunt for forbidden information.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, though, let's check on stories making headlines here in the U.S., beginning with two breaking news stories.

This is live pictures from Forsyth County, Georgia, just north of Atlanta, a plane into a house. We're getting word that two people died in this crash. Unclear if the fatalities were only on board the plane or if somebody inside the house was killed as well.

The fire chief of Forsyth County says, again, that two people have -- actually one person was believed to have been on the -- on the plane. A neighbor who saw this happen says she heard nothing and saw no smoke. So that happening just a little while ago in Forsyth County, Georgia, north of Atlanta.

Now to Washington, D.C., the group calling themselves the minutemen, they patrol the southern border of the U.S. with Mexico. They have gone to Washington, D.C., for a rally, and apparently met there by supporters -- by supporters and detractors as well.

Let's listen a little bit.

Those on both sides of the issue making their voices heard today in Washington, D.C.

On to Tennessee now, where a manhunt is under way. Police are looking for a killer at this hour. The man is suspected in the death of a sheriff's deputy and his friend.

Police say the men were ambushed and shot to death. Their bodies were found alongside the highway south of Kingston. One suspect, Rocky Houston, was apparently -- or was arrested after apparently seeking medical help for a hip wound. Police say his brother Leon is still on the loose and he could be heavily armed.

Making the rounds an answering his critics, the president's nominee for CIA director is back on Capitol Hill today. General Michael Hayden met with Senator Chuck Hagel. The Nebraska Republican says Hayden will have to address the latest domestic surveillance controversy. It stems from a report the government collected phone call records on millions of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: He's going to have to explain what his role was to start with. Did he put that program forward, whose idea was it? Why was it started?

He knows that. He welcomes those questions. He knows that he's not going to be confirmed without answering those questions. Whether that will be a complicating factor or just a factor remains to be seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The White House today expressed 100 percent support for Hayden. His confirmation hearings begin next Thursday.

Tax cuts are pretty much a done deal. President Bush says he's looking forward to signing a $70 billion package. That's expected to happen next week.

The Senate passed the measure yesterday. It extends the 15 percent tax rate on dividends and capital gains until 2010.

Republicans say it will prevent a tax increase on investors which would hurt the economy. Democrats say the benefits are tilted toward the wealthy. They say the very rich get tens of thousands of dollars in tax breaks, the middle class, less than $50.

Her accused killer hasn't gone to trial, but Imette St. Guillen's family is making plans to sue. The New York graduate student was found dead earlier this year. Bar bouncer Darryl Littlejohn has been charged with rape and murder.

An attorney says the family plans to sue Littlejohn, as well as the owners of a bar where he worked. The family also plans to sue the state agency that freed Littlejohn on parole. He had been serving time for armed robbery.

A wheelchair-bound woman suddenly gets up and walks. Runs, actually. A miracle? Not quite.

Laura Lee Medley (ph) said she was paralyzed in a drunk driving accident. She repeatedly filed lawsuits over access for the disabled. Police accuse her of fraud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They found out that all the medical documentation that she provided for the claim was fraudulent. They contacted San Remo Community Hospital (ph), where the medical treatment supposedly took place. They never heard of her, never heard the account number that she used.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Medley (ph) was arrested in Las Vegas and taken to a hospital complaining of medical problems. That's when police say she practically sprinted from the wheelchair. She faces extradition to California on theft and fraud charges.

Fire and ice in Washington State earlier today. The Mountaineers Club Lodge at Snoqualmie Pass burned to a snow-covered ground. No reports of injuries. No word on the cause. Firefighters say the lodge was in flames when they arrived and there was no way to save it.

Let's check in on weather. Reynolds Wolf has that for us -- Reynolds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: On this Mother's Day weekend, a mom who feels love times seven. Bobbi McCaughey, her septuplets are 8 years old now. CNN's "LIVE FROM" will check in with the hardest-working mom in Iowa today at 1:00 Eastern.

YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Daryn Kagan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CLANCY: While people all over the world debate all angles of Iran's nuclear ambitions, inside Iran it's a different story. Information doesn't flow freely there at all.

But as Aneesh Raman reports, some Iranis are managing to circumvent the government controls with an Internet connection.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Iran, you can get tens of thousands of people to show up on a day off for a book fair. This one is the biggest, the Annual International Fair. They come here to read about the world, at least the world their government allows them to see. Some books are banned. And Ali Moin of Cambridge University Press tells us which ones.

ALI MOIN, CAMBRIDGE UNIV. PRESS: Titles which are against Iran or against the Islamic (INAUDIBLE). There are some guys here coming and seeing and read some of the chapters of the titles, then they're going to let us decide which titles we can sell and which titles we cannot.

(on camera): So if the only restrictions are on books about Iran, what about books about the West. We've come here to the biggest political section in this whole book fair, we're told. We found some interesting books, first on Israel, a book called "Israel: The First 100 Years." "Israel and the International Arena." In terms of the U.S., there are a couple of books that are on Iraq, we found this one, "The Iraq War and Democratic Politics."

(voice-over): But what about daily news? Where do Iranians get that? Iran newspapers, each with stated political views. And on TV, the only news is state-run. Outside channels, like CNN, get blocked at times, we're told, by the government.

But at Internet cafes such as this one, young, educated Iranians, like 18-year-old Kasra (ph), are reading whatever they want.

"There are a number of site which are political or inappropriate that are blocked," he says, "but we have proxies we can use, then they try to block those, but we can still get through." Sites like those on Iranian resistance. Type it into Google, and you hit a wall.

"Young people use the Internet," says 21-year-old Ocean (ph), "because of limits on society, so can talk more easily online, especially if you want to talk to the opposite sex. Most people go online for fun."

And when it comes to fun in this conservative country, there are ways around every boundary, even if it's just by finding cover in a crowd.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Let's go back, if we can, to that controversy over A domestic surveillance program in the United States. A program that collects the telephone records, doesn't collect the phone calls, wouldn't listen in to the them, the records of million of Americans, from the phone companies all in the name of fighting terror. Now this revelation is this stirring up intense political heat for the U.S. president on Capitol Hill. Some heat, too, for the phone companies.

Senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us now live from Washington. Bill, the biggest casualty in all of this, or is there a casualty?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Well, I think civil liberties, at least civil libertarians would say, have been compromise by this, because these are phone records of ordinary Americans making domestic phone call. No one apparently is listening in on these calls. It's just a record of what numbers were called and what times, and that bothers a lot of people.

CLANCY: Well, you know, there's one, and we're getting this in. We asked a question about this to our viewers. It's unbelievable how they're responding to this, the flood, avalanche of e-mail, and a lot of people saying, I'm switching my phone company. I mean, there are some out there, they refuse to give the government the records, right?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, there is one phone company that went give the government their records. Some are suing the phone company.

But here's an interesting finding, "The Washington Post" and ABC News just did a poll last night to get people's instant reaction to this. And here's a surprise.

Is collecting phone records acceptable as a way to fight terrorism? Sixty-three percent of Americans said yes, it is. They don't mind that. And what about, would it bother you if there's a record of the phone calls you made? And 66 percent said no, it wouldn't bother them either. When it comes to fighting terrorism, apparently, Americans are willing to make significant compromises in their personal liberties.

CLANCY: But a lot of noise where you are there in Washington, Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Oh, yes.

CLANCY: Let's just hear what the CIA, the nominee for the CIA job, had to say about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: All I would want to say is that everything NSA does is lawful and very carefully done, and that the appropriate members of the Congress, House and Senate, are briefed on all NSA activities, and I think I'll just leave it at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: All right, he wants to leave it at that, but boy, have I heard grumbling from the Democrats, who say just because I'm Security Subcommittee doesn't mean I know what's going on.

SCHNEIDER: Right. Well, keep this in mind. A lot of people in Washington suspect that the revelation about the NSA collection of telephone records was actually deliberately leaked by a critic of General Hayden who wants to kill his nomination to be the director of the CIA. This is not unusual in Washington, which is a very leaky town, that there was a political motive behind that revelation.

CLANCY: All right. What does it do to President Bush in his conservative credentials, or do the conservatives in that 66 percent that say if it's for terrorism, you got to did it?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they are, but almost half the Democrats also say to combat terrorism this is acceptable.

Keep in mind that there are no indications that the government is actually eavesdrop, listening in to the content of those calls. The president denied any eavesdropping yesterday, simply that they're keeping a record of what calls are being made. Conservatives are OK with it. A lot of Democrats are OK with it. But conservatives have been restive about a lot of other policies, particularly deficit spending, immigration, the president is going to talk about on Monday night. They don't approve of the president's policies.

He just did something that will make conservatives happy, however; he passed a tax cut, or literally an extension of prior tax cuts for another couple of years. That the one issue conservatives care a great deal about, and the one issue that holds the Republican Party together.

CLANCY: Very quickly, Bill, the president came out almost immediately when this NSA story broke. He addressed the American people and said, don't worry about it, this is just targeting al Qaeda; your privacy is safe. Did that work?

SCHNEIDER: Apparently it did, from those poll results, from the poll that was taken overnight. Again, there's going to be a lot of discussion of this over the weekend. Instant polls are not always the most reflective kinds of devices. You have to wait until people hear the discussion, the debate and see how they think.

But keep in mind, when it comes to fighting terrorism, Americans seem to be willing to make compromises if it will protect the country.

CLANCY: Bill Schneider, laying it out as always. Bill, as always, we thank you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

GORANI: Well, Jim, we had a quick vote on our Web site today actually. How did the NSA wiretapping program make you feel? Seventy-six percent, according to those who responded -- so it's nonscientific -- makes me feel creepy; 24 percent, it makes me feel more secure. This is 184,366 votes on CNN.com.

CLANCY: CNN.com, that's where that came from. Right now, we want to know what you think.

GORANI: And we've been asking you, would you mind if your government kept track of your phone calls. E-mail your thoughts to YWT@CNN.com. I'll get it out. A little bit later, we're going to read some of these on the air and find out what you think, CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: We now need a U.N. peacekeeping force to help implement the Darfur peace agreement. We would expect the government of Sudan to be a partner in this effort, lending its full support to the United Nations, the African Union and others that might assist, like NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GORANI: Welcome back. The U.S. secretary of state there putting pressure on Khartoum to allow other international troops into its conflict-ravaged Darfur region. For more on the possibility of U.N. peacekeepers joining efforts to stop the violence there, we turn to Jean-Marie Guehenno. He's the U.N.'s undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, and joins us now from New York. Thank you for being with us.

What those hundreds of thousands of refugees and those who are suffering at the hands of militia in Sudan and in Darfur are saying, is when, when will U.N. peacekeepers hit the ground in Sudan?

JEAN-MARIE GUEHENNO, U.N. PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS CHIEF: Well, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has already written to President Bashir. We would like to work very closely with the government of Sudan, with the African Union to have a smooth transition.

The Abuja agreement is an extraordinarily ambitious agreement. It really can make historical difference for Darfur, so one has to work very hard now for its implementation.

GORANI: So working hard, but a timetable in sight?

GUEHENNO: Well, the mandate of the African Union goes until October, but between now and the end of the year, a lot needs to be done. The agreement provides for disengagement of force, redeployment, partial disarmament. So we are going to look at the situation on the ground. The troop contributors will look at the situation on the ground. They will look at the mandate that will be given, and that will dictate the timetable.

GORANI: You know, those who criticize international peacekeeping efforts at this stage are saying there isn't that much time to assess and to monitor, that it should be done quickly.

GUEHENNO: Well, there is no U.N. standing army. We will be work with member states. We will be work with the government of Sudan.

I think the key really depends on the party's committing to -- implementing their commitments, and there are major commitments in the agreement. The government of Sudan commits to controlling the militias. I mean, the commitments to disarm their commitment to create demilitarized zones, to protect the roads where humanitarian convoys go, so it could make a big difference.

GORANI: Let me ask you a bit about numbers, because the number of camps that we're hearing about within Darfur, almost a thousand, or about a thousand. The number of African peacekeepers, 7,000. So really how many U.N. peacekeepers would it take? Darfur is the size of France. Now how many peacekeepers are we talking about realistically here?

GUEHENNO: You're right. And that -- what you're saying really points to the absolute necessity to have a political process on the ground. Force alone will not suffice. If people are to go back to their villages, that means that the whole of Darfur need to be secure, and you're not going to put a peacekeeper in every village, so you do need to have a political process on the ground. And that's actually provided for by the agreement. As for an international force, we believe that we need to consult the government of Sudan, it will have a very strong African component. It will have to be a mobile force, because we're not going to be able, as I said, to be everywhere, so we have to compensate huge numbers, which would not be sustainable with mobility.

GORANI: Just in terms of numbers, some of those floating around have been 20,000, 25,000 U.N. peacekeepers with a strong African contingent, Does that sound realistic to you?

GUEHENNO: I don't think at this stage, one should commit to a specific number. One has to look really what the threats on ground. It should be bigger than the present force, but if it gets too big then the logistics in a place where there's no water, where the infrastructure is in bad shape, the logistics would just become unmanageable.

GORANI: All right. And you've just started listing some of those challenges. Jean-Marie Guehenno, U.N. undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations. Thank you, sir, for being with us on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GUEHENNO: Thank you.

CLANCY: Indians in Pakistan -- India and Pakistan have been battling an oppressive heatwave for days. hand right now, there's no relief in sights.

GORANI: In both countries, the death toll is already over 50, 50 people dying because of heat alone.

Guillermo Arduinio has more details.

GUILLERMO ARDUINIO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Hala, it's a very dramatic story that keeps getting worse and worse. The day temperatures in both countries continue to be above 45 degrees Celsius. That is 113 Fahrenheit. No rain in sight. Most at risk are old and homeless, who would consume any water possible in order to quench their thirst, even bad water.

Now north and central parts of India are worst being (INAUDIBLE), in the extreme north, at risk of dust storm as well.

Satinder Bindra now is in New Delhi and reports on the price of staying cool.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heat shimmers off the road as millions try to cope with record-breaking temperatures. Indians are used to hot and sultry summers, but this week as temperatures soared to 45 degrees centigrade, or 111 degrees Fahrenheit, all schools in India's capital are being advised to shutdown. Many feel so drained by this energy-sapping heart, they retreat to the coolest possible spots.

These children are from the poorest parts of New Delhi and this is the only way they can beat the heat.

"There's no place to bathe at home," he says, "There's no tap. It's really hot, so we come here to bathe."

None of the children seem to be overly concerned about the stale and brackish water that could make them ill.

Just a few hundred yards away, the only relief from the heat from Delhi's commuters is this water stand. Gansham Verma (ph) has been selling chilled water for one cent a glass at this same spot for eight years.

"This is record breaking heat," he says. "We haven't had heat like this before. It's making life hell."

(on camera): This how richer Indians try to cool off. With rising incomes, such amusement parks are coming up everywhere. Admission here costs $5.50 a head, steep by Indian standards.

(voice-over): But 26-year-old visitor Raj Kumar (ph) says he'll make it worthwhile by spending the whole day here. "The water keeps things cool," he says. "I'm feeling cooler and relieved. I'm enjoying myself."

Unable to afford such luxury, New Delhi's less well-to-do patiently wait for the sun to go down. Then as a mild breeze blows across the city, life is suddenly transformed. Thousands flock to these open air parks and enjoy a treat. Hockers do come to sell their wares.

Everyone makes the most of the moment. They all know that when the sun rises tomorrow, the oppressive heat will once again make their lives a misery.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: After a break, in the U.S., using golf to get ahead.

CLANCY: That's right. How some young players are using the sport to get a shot at a better life. We'll explain when we come back.

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CLANCY: Time to open our "Inbox." I think we set a record today, Hala.

GORANI: Yes, absolutely. Hundreds and hundreds of response. Our question was today, would you mind if your government kept track of your phone calls? CLANCY: And Heath from the Netherlands says, "Let the government track our calls if they want to waste their time. They should hear nothing but boring conversation and gossip."

GORANI: Well, Oyewole in the United States says, "I would not mind the government collecting my phone records, as long as I'm not doing anything against the law."

CLANCY: Anita in Belgium weight in with this: "I feel I have to be careful not to mention personal details and not mention certain states, cities, et cetera. I don't even mention my family members my name. Paranoia?"

GORANI: And finally, Dong in Dubai says, "It's a clear disregard of the government to its citizens' right to privacy."

CLANCY: Wow.

GORANI: Now, how we're going to turn our attention to another story.

CLANCY: That's right. Many think of the sport of golf as a province of the privileged, but for a group of underprivileged American teenagers, golf has become a ticket and a source for better a life.

GORANI: Larry Smith introduce us to a foursome from Atlanta, Georgia who casting aside bleak prospects and hoping for brighter futures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are the product of a successful urban redevelopment program. Four boys, living in East Lake, once one of Atlanta's poorest neighborhoods, before it was transformed into a new community that introduced them to the game of golf.

ROD LOWERY, GOLFER: From, I would say about the age 9, I knew that I really wanted to play golf because I can use that for a ticket to get out of there. I was like, I don't want to sell drugs, I don't want to locked up or killed, so I use golf as a tool to get me out of there.

SMITH: Thanks to their participation in The First Tee of East Lake, a year round golf instruction and mentoring program, Rod Lowery, Willie Brown, Shelton Davis and Brandon Bradley will all be leaving the neighborhood in the fall to attend Grambling State University on golf scholarships.

R. LOWERY: I want to kind of show off my skills and show them that people from the project have more to offer if they just step up to the bat and try different things instead of sticking to the mentality of I'm oppressed, I'm not going to do that.

SAM PURYEAR, FMR. PROGRAM DIRECTOR: It means that dreams come true. It shows that a lot of hard work, patience, preparation and a lot of faith definitely can make dreams come true. These kids have worked very hard to achieve a certain goal and they believed, even when sometimes it looked pretty bleak.

SMITH: Beyond college, golf has provided Lowery and the others with an opportunity to see the world by travelling to places like Bermuda and Scotland.

R. LOWERY: I think I have been to more places than people have been in their lifetime.

GERALDINE LOWERY, ROD LOWERY'S MOTHER: They've been places that I never could afford to do and through that, he really -- have enjoyed themselves, traveling and playing golf different places around and I've enjoyed it with them.

SMITH (on camera): Most of the boys have dreams of a pro golf career, but regardless of whether they make it to the next level, their current success has been a beacon for an entire community.

Larry Smith, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right. That's it for this hour. We want to confirm you -- we'll have more details. There's been an arrest warrant or a search warrant that has been executed on the home and the office of the outgoing executive director of the CIA.

GORANI: Kyle "Dusty" Foggo.

CLANCY: Yes, Foggo. Now this isn't -- he wasn't the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He's the executive director. We'll have more on that. "LIVE FROM" is up next for viewers in the United States.

GORANI: And for our viewers elsewhere, another hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY is next. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and this is CNN.

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