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Your World Today
Iraqi Prime Minister Pledges to Crack Down on Militias; President Bush: U.S. Won't Leave Iraq Until Job is Done; NATO Reports Heavy Fighting West of Kandahar City
Aired October 25, 2006 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq. I'm not satisfied either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Damage control. The U.S. president insisting America will win the war in Iraq even as new clashes expose new rifts between the U.S. and the Iraqi government.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Some positive news from Gaza. A journalist kidnapped at gunpoint is released unharmed.
CLANCY: Marked for death? An Italian lawmaker gets police protection after passing judgment on what the Koran says about women and the veil.
GORANI: And watching and waiting. An American mother says she can't wait to see her daughter's killer executed.
CLANCY: Hello and welcome, everyone. This is our report broadcast around the globe.
I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. From Washington to Baghdad, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: Welcome.
The U.S. president calls the violence in Iraq a serious concern, but says progress is being made toward a political solution. He says the U.S. will not put more pressure on Iraq's government than it can bear.
GORANI: Well, those comments come hours after Iraq's prime minister distanced himself from a U.S.-announced timeline to end sectarian violence, and he criticized a raid into Baghdad's Sadr City, a Shia militia stronghold.
CLANCY: And all of these differences that we're talking about really reflect the political pressures both the leaders face at home.
GORANI: And we're going to cover all of this.
Arwa Damon is in Baghdad and Elaine Quijano is at the White House.
Let's start with Arwa and that raid into Sadr City -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hala, that raid left, according to Iraqi officials, at least four civilians dead, another 20 wounded. It was a fight that broke out between the U.S. military and Iraqi security forces and the Mehdi militia, really underscoring only one of the many problems this young Iraqi government faces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice over): The Mehdi militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demonstrating its control of Sadr City. Parading around the streets, boldly brandishing weapons just hours after Iraqi special forces and their U.S. advisers launched a raid against, according to the U.S. military, a top death squad commander.
Later in the day, and less than four miles away, fighter jets screamed overhead as the Iraqi prime minister, desperate to establish his authority to his people, reacted harshly to new benchmarks the United States have set for his government.
NOURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I have found that this government represents the will of the Iraqi people and the national will, and no one has the right to impose timetables on it.
DAMON: But many of the U.S. benchmarks are goals the prime minister set himself over the summer. Topping that list, dealing with the militias.
AL-MALIKI (through translator): This state is the only one that has the right to carry weapons, and we will deal with anybody who is outside the law. Everyone now realizes that the existence of armed groups and militias harms the stability and unity of the state.
DAMON: But complicating the situation is that al-Maliki owes his prime ministership largely to the support of al-Sadr's bloc. Its military wing, the heavily armed and largely lawless Mehdi militia.
Besides, his words are nothing new. And many here feel that it's time for al-Maliki kto stop talking and start acting decisively.
As crowds in Sadr City look at the damage left from the overnight fighting between the Mehdi militia and the Iraqi and American forces, the cost of military action is all too clear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Sleeping in her bed, she wasn't out on the streets, she wasn't fighting or carrying weapons. Why do they bomb homes?
DAMON: She feels that the Iraqi government has made too many promises it has not kept. So like many residents here, she turns to the Mehdi militia for protection.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: It's going to take action, not more promises from the Iraqi government, to change this perception that it is the militias who are really in charge. Operation Together Forward, which was meant to secure Baghdad and rid it of its weapons, stopped right on the edge of Sadr City. The U.S. military is right now waiting for the Iraqi government to give the go-ahead so they can finally move in there and take control of the Mehdi militia -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. Arwa, we're going to analyze George W. Bush's speech from the White House in great detail in just a bit. But first, let me get this from you from the ground -- and you've been embedded with U.S. troops -- quite often, I should say.
Now, the president said that he would send more troops to Iraq if more were needed. What do commanders, military commanders in Iraq tell you about what they need? More troops? Or is it something else?
DAMON: Well, Hala, this had started back in 2003, where we had been hearing on the ground from military commanders that they want more troops. As early as 2003, as recently as two weeks ago when we were embedded, we are hearing commanders saying that they want more troops. This is from company commanders, to brigade commanders, to division commanders.
Quite frankly, from the perspective over here, it appears that somewhere along there is a miscommunication or lack of communication between the chain of command -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. Arwa Damon in Baghdad -- Jim.
CLANCY: Well, as we've been noting, U.S. President George W. Bush saying he's not satisfied with the war in Iraq, acknowledging the U.S. doesn't have unlimited patience. But he also says the U.S. is winning and will not leave until the job is done.
Let's bring in Elaine Quijano now at the White House.
It was quite an address. You could see the politics was really having a role to play here. But the president believes strongly in what is the right course.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Jim. And interesting to note, we are seeing -- we saw this news conference taking place, happening just two weeks after the president's last news conference. But also, of course, less than two weeks before those critical U.S. congressional midterm elections.
This was an opportunity, as we saw from the president's lengthy opening statement, for the president to once more press his staunch defense of his Iraq policy. But at the same time, at a moment when his fellow Republicans are feeling quite vulnerable because of the effect, they worry, about the Iraq war on their re-election prospects, the president again trying to sound flexible as well, saying that his administration is remaining flexible when it comes to the tactics and adjusting those tactics as necessary.
Now, the president also pushed back against criticisms that he has led the U.S. into an open-ended commitment in Iraq. He noted that the U.S. and the Iraqi governments are working closely together on those benchmarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We're asking Iraq's leaders to take bold measures to save their country. We are making it clear that America's patience is not unlimited. Yet, we also understand the difficult challenges Iraq's leaders face, and we will not put more pressure on the Iraqi government than it can bear.
The way to succeed in Iraq is to help Iraq's government grow in strength and assume more control over its country as quickly as possible. I know the American people understand the stakes in Iraq. They want to win. They will support the war as long as they see a path to victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And again, so perhaps equally as important as asking what exactly the president said, the question of why is the president saying it now? As we noted, this is a critical time for domestic politics for President Bush. Republicans looking to him perhaps for some wiggle room, according to one analyst, in terms of perhaps calling for an adjustment in tactics.
This is an administration that understands full well that the previous "stay the course" message is something that Democrats have tried to use to their advantage to try and illustrate, in the president's critics' words, that his administration has been inflexible and has stuck with a failed policy. So, what we heard from the president today, again, trying to emphasize that his administration has not been inflexible. That in fact, it has adjusted to tactics.
But the president, at the same time, saying very clearly he understands Americans are not satisfied with the way things are going in Iraq. And he himself saying he agrees -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right. Elaine Quijano at the White House.
And this reminder. We're going to have Senator Jack Reed with us a little bit later in the program to give us the Democratic view of the president's speech and his own observations. He has just returned from Iraq -- Hala.
GORANI: There are reports of intense fighting in southern Afghanistan. NATO says its forces have killed 38 Taliban fighters in battles just west of Kandahar City.
The fighters were caught trying to return to areas they were driven from last month following nearly two weeks of intense fighting. And that its forces and Afghan troops handed the Taliban its worst defeat since they were driven from power in 2001.
Well, currently, there are about 20,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, and an additional 21,000 from the U.S.
CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is embedded with the U.S. Army's Task Force Eagle. It's a military reconstruction team in Paktia Province in southeastern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan.
She joins us now.
We heard the president talk a lot about Iraq. What is the mood among U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, another front of this war that the Bush administration is waging?
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Hala, it's -- it's something of a concern to the troops here who feel that -- and we've heard just before, that they are -- this is the forgotten war. And it burns a bit for them because, of course, this is the initial front on the war on terror, and many here express concerns that with the re- emergence of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, in Kandahar Province, and in Helmand Province, and also here in Paktia Province, which is in southeastern Afghanistan, which, of course, borders up to Pakistan, with the re-emergence, with the cross-border activity, that they -- they may be losing the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, that they're seeing again the Taliban is coming back. They're seeing -- perceived this attention is now being taken away, or has been for quite some time from this country to Iraq, that resources have been taken away, and also manpower.
Simply not enough boots on the ground to get the job. And with respect to the team here, the job done is stepping up those crucial reconstruction efforts that will stem the frustration among the people, especially in this -- in this part of Afghanistan, that not enough has been done to make their lives that much better.
And preventing this opportunity by the Taliban here to exploit those grievances, is to say, hey, the Americans came here and what do they give you? Well, nothing. And we're here to give you a better life, to re-institute security and get back to an Afghanistan which is more secure and stable.
And this is the great fear amongst the coalition forces here, that that is -- that is getting some weight here, gaining some credibility in this part of the world. And that if this part of the world is not -- is not secure, then the United States won't be secure as well -- Hala.
GORANI: OK. Jennifer Eccleston in Paktia Province there in Afghanistan, embedded with U.S. reconstruction troops.
Thanks very much.
CLANCY: All right, Hala let's take a couple of minutes here and survey some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. GORANI: Starting with Iran's apparent aim to join the nuclear club. An Iranian news agency is reporting a second uranium enrichment facility will be brought on line in a matter of days. The process involves feeding uranium gas into a network of 164 centrifuges. Western powers fear it is a step towards making nuclear devices, although Tehran says it's only interested in making electricity.
CLANCY: Russian president Vladimir Putin says he's not going to run for president again, but will he retain his influence even after he leaves office. That will be in 2008.
He also called for a resumption of the six-party talks on the North Korea nuclear standoff, saying pressuring Pyongyang is counterproductive. Mr. Putin made the comments during a live television phone-in program.
GORANI: Also, a hacker with a history of cracking computer codes claims to have found a way to unlock the code that prevents iPod users from playing songs downloaded from non-Apple music sites. John Lech Johansson (ph) is famous for cracking the encryption code on DVDs which allows them to be copied and played back on any device. He was 15 years old at the time.
CLANCY: All right. We've got a lot more coming up today.
GORANI: Well, we're going to get the latest on the release of a kidnapped journalist. He was freed unharmed after his abduction in Gaza.
CLANCY: And next week's vote could put Democrats in charge of the U.S. Congress. But with a Republican in the White House for at least two more years, would it really make that much difference?
CLANCY: And law and custom collide in Italy, where veils worn by Muslim women are at the center of yet another controversy.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: This notion about, you know, a fixed timetable of withdrawal, in my judgment, is a -- means defeat. You can't leave until the job is done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, bringing together all of our international resources of CNN from all over the globe to bring you an international perspective on the stories of the day.
Well, President Bush today said he's going to avoid putting more pressure on the Iraqi government. He says that won't work. But he says America's patience isn't unlimited. His comments coming a day after other top U.S. officials said Iraq's leaders would have to set a timetable to solve some of the key issues.
Now, Senator Jack Reed, he's a Democrat. He's a member of the Armed Services Committee. Recently, he visited Iraq earlier this month. He joins us now from Capitol Hill.
Senator Reed, you heard the president say it's no longer -- it's not just stay the course, it's get the job done. Now, you've just been to Iraq. Did you see this reflected there or in any of the comments? In this, you know, run-up to this election, are we really seeing a substantive change in policy?
SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: Well, the president is trying to change the rhetoric, but he's not really changing the policy. And not, I think, effectively taking the steps that we need and the Iraqis need to secure a stable Iraq.
He has never in his administration committed the civilian resources necessary, the AID workers, the State Department personnel to help develop the institutions of the Iraqi government. And now he has to put much more pressure on the Maliki government to take steps such as eliminating the militias, bringing the Sunnis in with true reconciliation. And it's a lot of rhetoric, but it's not -- it's not followed up with real action.
CLANCY: Well, you know, the decisions are going to be difficult, Senator Reed. Anybody that looks at it, the reason the militias have really thrived is because nobody else is out there providing security for the neighborhoods, for the different factions, the people of Iraq. They are going in that direction.
How much evidence do you see? Let's talk about the Shia, about Muqtada al-Sadr. In southern Iraq, how much evidence do you see there of Iranian influence?
REED: Well, there is Iranian influence. There is, in fact, Iranian influence throughout the Shia community because of their religious ties, because in many cases personalities such as Sadr and also Hakim (ph), who is in charge of the Badr organization, has spent time in Iran.
That influence is there. And that's something that is developing, unfortunately, because it undercuts our ability to deal with Iran or other issues, like nuclear proliferation.
CLANCY: Do the Democrats really have another plan? I know you worked with Senator Carl Levin to make proposals.
REED: We have a plan. In fact, the president, I think, is trying to get the best of both worlds.
Talking about benchmarks, we were talking about a policy of deploying our forces back, hopefully within a certain time frame, without a schedule, though, or some type of specific deadline. But certainly make it our policy to begin our redeployment. And also talking about making the Iraqi government stand up and do things in their best interest that will help us reduce our military levels there.
So, I think the president is talking about something that we've suggested for months now. I would hope that it was not -- it would be more than just discussion, that he would follow through on it.
CLANCY: Well, all right. You talk about the influence here. And I know one of the points that you have brought out is that the Iraqi government is sitting on more than $10 billion in resources, but they are simply not spending them. When it comes to health care, they don't want to spend it because don't they want to spend it everywhere?
REED: Well, that's absolutely true, Jim. The Iraqi government has resources, and they have ministers, though, that are not working for the national effort. They are working for sectarian goals.
The minister of health, we're told in visiting with our military commanders, is doing all he can to undermine health care in Sunni communities because he's a Shia. The finance minister, there's real questions about he is supporting a national effort or simply trying to save funds, if you will, for an emerging, more dominant Shia position in Iraq.
So, it's a situation both of capability. They have difficulties budgeting, they have difficulties contracting. But beyond that, there is a situation of, what is their intent? And I think, unfortunately, there are some political actors in Iraq whose intent is not to help with national reunification, but to build up their own sectarian interests.
CLANCY: Well, speaking of intent, I mean, it is right and fair to put some of the pressure on the Iraqis themselves. But on the other hand, how many billions of dollars have been wasted? One estimated said the Coalition Provisional Authority couldn't account for $9 billion. All of this blood and treasure the U.S. taxpayers have poured forward hasn't accomplished much.
Is there going to be an accounting, and will the Democrats and Republicans really work together to get it right?
REED: There has to be an accounting. And you are absolutely right.
The billions of dollars that have been spent in Iraq incompetently, the profits have gone to the contractors. The results have not benefited the Iraqi people in significant ways.
We have to do more. First, we have to go ahead and insist that the Iraqis shoulder their fair share. If they have resources, they should commit it to the reconstruction of the country.
We should help them. But we should do it in a way that doesn't enrich contractors, that actually helps stabilize the situation in Iraq. And again, I think this is a stunning indictment of the administration's incompetence over the last three years of trying to reconstruct or help the Iraqis reconstruct their country.
CLANCY: Senator Jack Reed coming to us there from Capitol Hill.
I want to thank you very much for joining us.
REED: Thanks, Jim.
GORANI: Well, with U.S. midterm elections less than two weeks away -- here we are -- Democrats continue to lead in many polls.
CLANCY: And still coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, what would Democratic control of Congress mean both for foreign policy -- not only in Iraq -- And what would it mean for domestic issues?
GORANI: And the family of a murdered college student seeks a measure of justice as an execution in the U.S. state of Florida is just hours away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes, but first a check on stories making headlines in the United States.
Open to suggestions. President Bush says his administration will consider any proposal to achieve victory in Iraq. He says that includes sending in more troops, but only if his top commander in Iraq, General George Casey, asks for them. The president says the U.S. military is already making changes and encouraging Iraq's leaders to take bold steps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: As the enemy shifts tactics, we are shifting our tactics as well. Americans have no intention of taking sides in a sectarian struggle or standing in the crossfire between rival factions. Our mission is to help the elected government in Iraq defeat common enemies, to bring peace and stability to Iraq, and make our nation more secure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: President Bush adds the road to victory in Iraq will not be easy and Americans should not expect a simple solution.
A key aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert on the hot seat today on Capitol Hill. Sources tell CNN Hastert's in-house counsel, Ted Vandermeade (ph), heads behind closed doors today. He appears before the House ethics panel investigating the Mark Foley page scandal.
Hastert himself spent two hours testifying yesterday. Hastert says he answered questions "to the best of my ability."
This week here on CNN, a look at "Broken Government". Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, Lou Dobbs is live form San Antonio, Texas, with "Broken Borders". It is something you'll see only on CNN.
Will same-sex marriage become legal in New Jersey? We are expecting to learn the answer to that question this afternoon. New Jersey's highest court is set to post its gay marriage ruling on its Web site at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The case was brought by seven gay couples who say the New Jersey state constitution allows them to marry.
Right now Massachusetts is the only state where same-sex marriage is legal.
A drug bust at a trailer park exposes a possible security breach at a nuclear weapons lab. Police in New Mexico say they found what appears to be classified information from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. They discovered it while arrested a man suspected of dealing methamphetamine.
FBI agents traced the documents to a woman linked to the suspect. An FBI official tells The Associated Press the woman is an employee at the Los Alamos Lab.
The lab has had several high-profile security problems during the past decade.
He terrorized the college town and the memory still haunted to this day. Now this convicted murderer faces his own death sentence, scheduled just hours from now. Danny Rolling is to be executed for the 1990 slayings of five college students in Gainesville, Florida.
The gruesome killings ignited panic on the University of Florida campus and the community that surrounds it. Some of his victims were sexually assaulted. Some were mutilated. Some bodies were even staged for the most horrific shock effect.
Rates on the rise or staying steady? Chairman Ben Bernanke and other Federal Reserve officials meeting this hour to answer that question.
The federal rate is now at 5.25 percent, unchanged since August. Many experts believe it will remain at that level.
An announcement is expected at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. We will bring you that decision.
Let's get you to Rob Marciano now in the CNN weather center, where the elements are coming together for something of a severe storm.
Rob, good to see you.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good to see you, Tony.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: A manatee in Memphis, and ripples that extend far beyond the Wolf River Harbor. This wayward sea cow has traveled more than 700 miles beyond its familiar war waters to the south.
Federal wildlife crews plan to capture the docile mammal before it suffers some ill effects from the chilly temps. In the meantime, boaters and tourists are being kept at a distance.
Days before the midterm election, pressure on Congress to get U.S. troops out of Iraq from an unlikely source.
Some currently serving military members are asking for a big change. One of them is in the "NEWSROOM" at the top of the hour with Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon.
Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.
I'm Tony Harris.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and these are the stories that are making headlines around the world right now.
Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki criticizing a raid into Baghdad's Sadr City. That's a Shia militia stronghold. He wasn't consulted about it, he says. And he says his government will deal with those outside the law.
Four people were killed in that raid. The U.S. says the joint U.S./Iraqi operation was conducted to capture the leader of one of Iraq's notorious death squads.
GORANI: U.S. President George W. Bush says he's not satisfied with the situation in Iraq, and he acknowledges the U.S. doesn't have unlimited patience. But Mr. Bush says the U.S. is winning the war and won't leave until in job is done. Under heavy pressure at home to change strategy in Iraq, the president says tactics are constantly evolving, but the goals remain unchanged.
CLANCY: Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti released unharmed one day after he was kidnapped in Gaza. He was captured as he left his home early on Tuesday morning. Palestinian officials say they know the identity of Morenatti's kidnappers, and say they are being pursued.
GORANI: Well, turning now to the growing debate in Europe over the wearing of head scarves by Muslim women. Another high-profile politician is in hot water, this one in Italy after making controversial remarks on a TV show.
Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): She is known to be outspoken and fashionable, but Daniela Santanche, a member of parliament, never expected she'd need police protection because of something she said.
DANIELA SANTANCHE, PARLIAMENT MEMBER: (SPEAKING IN ITALIAN)
VINCI: During this recent television debate, Santanche argued the veil is not the symbol of female liberty, as some Muslims claim, and is not required by Islamic religion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN ITALIAN)
VINCI: That drew a furious response from an imam appearing on the same program, who claimed the veil is an obligation required by God and called her ignorant and infidel. And it didn't stop there.
"I realized after the show, when this gentleman waited for me to add insults," she says, "That something bad was happening."
What happened was, as some observers noted, that the imam's comments amounted to a fatwa, a religious pronouncement which some could interpret as a death sentence.
(on camera): Are you afraid for your life?
(voice-over): "No, I'm not afraid, because we must not bow our heads," she tells me, while drinking her first morning coffee while under the discreet but vigilant watch of two bodyguards. "I cannot be afraid because my thought goes to the millions of women who suffer for this admission."
The imam later explained he never intended to threaten her, and in interviews said that putting her under police protection was aimed at putting him and Islam in a bad light.
Santanche, who has recently written a book on the condition of women and Islam, says her problem isn't with the veil, but with the fact that some immigrant women, not used to wearing the veil back home, are forced by their families to wear it when they move to Italy.
"They wear it for that submission towards the male clan," she says. "The family, the father, the brothers and the brothers-in-law, who want to submit, who want to show us in the West that they are different. So they carry on this separatist culture."
Santanche says for too long, politicians, hostage of political correctness, failed to address the issue seriously. Integration, she says, means Muslims must adhere to the rules and customs of the host country.
(on camera): Anti-terror legislation dating back to the 1970s already prohibits people from hiding their faces in public. The problem is how to enforce a law that is more than 30 years old that strikes hard at a growing Muslim immigrant population that is learning to make its voice heard.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GORANI: Well, now to Germany, which is a radically restructuring its military to reflect its growing global role. The government has just approved new security guidelines that set the scene for more German peacekeepers to serve in trouble spots around the world. The review, started last year by Chancellor Angela Merkel, it recommends that the armed forces be expanded. The goal is to have some 14,000 troops that can be deployed on five international missions simultaneously. Germany now has some 9,000 troops abroad, deployed in the Congo, the Balkans, Lebanon, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Well there is shock and outrage in Germany over published images that show German troops in Afghanistan posing with a skull. The macabre pictures were printed by Germany's biggest-selling daily, the tabloid "Bild." The paper says the photo dates back to the early days of 2003, and shows German troops near the Afghan capital, Kabul. Germany's defense minister says if the incident is confirmed, those involved will face disciplinary, even criminal, measures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSET JUNG, GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The incident shown in the photos is diametrically opposed to the values and ways of behavior which troops are taught in training. These pictures arouse repugnance and horror. We are conducting the investigation at full steam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Now the defense minister added the two suspects are being questioned. One is still in the German military -- Hala.
GORANI: In about six hours, the U.S. state of Florida is set to execute Danny Rolling for murder. In 1990, Rolling went on a three- day crime a spree on the University of Florida campus, killing five people.
Susan Candiotti tells about one of his victims, a young girl whose family has faced tragedy again and again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why does it help you to put together these scrapbooks?
ADA LARSON, MOTHER OF VICTIM: It seems like I always have to have a project that involves Sonya.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Ada Larson takes comfort in remembering a daughter frozen in time.
A. LARSON: I have her picture at 18, and she'll be forever 18 for me.
CANDIOTTI: Had she lived, Sonya Larson would be 34 today. Her mother still wears her daughter's high school ring. A. LARSON: It just warms my heart. It's just a little symbol of Sonya.
CANDIOTTI: The University of Florida freshman was the first of drifter Danny Rolling's five victims. Ada Larson will watch Dan Rolling's execution by lethal injection.
A. LARSON: It will be very humanely done, in contrast to the way he killed our loved ones.
CANDIOTTI: Larson was in court the day Rolling pleaded guilty.
(on camera): I've often wondered what you thought when he said, quote, "There's much I'd like to say, your honor --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY ROLLING, CONVICTED MURDER, ON DEATH ROW: ...if only I could bend back the hands on that ageless clock and change the past, but alas, I am not the keeper of time.
A. LARSON: He was trying to make a name for himself. He wants to be a poet or something or philosopher. He's just an idiot, that's all.
CANDIOTTI: Can you ever forgive him?
LARSON: What I think about that is the people that need to forgive him are unavailable. They are dead.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Ada Larson's heartache goes well beyond her daughter's murder. Since then, her husband died of cancer and her son Jim lost his wife Karla, murdered in a carjacking. Her killer also sits on Florida's death row. Jim Larson is now raising their daughter Jessica alone. He'll be with his mother to see his sister's killer put to death.
(on camera): And then will you say, we have one more to go?
JIM LARSON, BROTHER OF VICTIM: Yeah, well, that's the shame of that. We still have something else to do. But, you know, we'll take care of that in time.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): But first comes Rolling. Ada Larson knows what she'll say to her daughter when the execution is over.
A. LARSON: I'll talk to her and say it's done, honey. He got what he deserved, and I'll see you soon.
CANDIOTTI: Susan Candiotti, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Defeat will only come if the United States becomes isolationists and refuses to, one, protect ourselves and, two, help those who desire to become -- to live in a moderate, peaceful world. And it's a hard struggle, no question about it. And it's a different struggle. Absolutely we're winning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone.
Seen live in more than 200 countries all around the globe, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY, and this is CNN International. Well the U.S. president there speaking just a short time ago. He was at the White House. By most accounts, Iraq, in the president's estimation, and just about everyone else's, is going to be front and center as voters go to the polls less than two weeks from now.
But there are other issues here on the voters minds to be sure. The debate over embryonic stem cell research may be one of them.
Tom Foreman reports from Missouri, where things have gotten particularly ugly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): In Missouri's furious Senate battle, Democrat Claire McCaskill has picked up a famous ally to try to help her knock off Republican incumbent Jim Talent.
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: They say all politics is local, but that's not always the case.
FOREMAN: Actor Michael J. Fox is now quite visibly suffering from Parkinson's disease and he is campaigning for a number of Democrats who support stem cell research, aimed at finding a cure for Parkinson's and other disorders.
FOX: Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent opposes expanding stem cell research. Senator Talent even wanted to criminalize the science that gives us a chance for hope.
FOREMAN: But now radio host Rush Limbaugh is accusing the ailing actor of faking it.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST: He is moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act. This is the only time I have ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has.
FOREMAN: Fox has undeniably appeared steadier at other times. The shaking caused by Parkinson's is that way. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. It's just as undeniable that the disease effectively ended his once ascended career. But Limbaugh is hearing none of it.
LIMBAUGH: This is really shameless, folks. This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting. One of the two.
FOREMAN: Church groups and others who oppose stem cell research are conducting their own campaigns in Missouri where a ballot initiative to support the research is also under consideration.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Embryonic stem cell research will require millions of eggs and women will pay a terrible price.
FOREMAN: But even some conservatives are backing away from Limbaugh's attack.
RAMESH PONNURU, SENIOR EDITOR, NATIONAL REVIEW: Well, I don't think Republicans are going to be hurt because one talk show host, however influential, said something foolish, although it wasn't helpful.
FOREMAN: Fox, at least publicly, is acting like it's all clean fun.
FOX: It's as ironic, given some things that have been said in the last couple days, that my pills are working really well right now.
FOREMAN: But, without question, this dirty campaign season just got dirtier.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: It's sometimes overlooked. But there's millions people that vote that don't even live in the United States. There are Americans that live abroad.
GORANI: In France in particular. We are going to take a short break. When we come back, we'll have a report from Paris on what Americans are saying about the upcoming crucial midterm election.
Stay with us.
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GORANI: Well, the elections are a hot topic not just in America, but also among American expatriates in France. Jim Bittermann joins us now live from Paris, where it seems you don't have to be an American, though, to have a strong opinion.
First, let's start with the American ex-pats who are going to vote in these midterm elections. What have they been telling you, Jim?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely, Hala. In fact, for both the Republicans and Democrats abroad, we've been hearing that Americans are more engaged than ever before in these midterm elections. It's unusual for midterm elections to see the kind of engagement that they tell us. And so just to take a look at the political temperature, we went out in the streets in a few bars and cafes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's great that we can sit here and talk. But I think we need to find a way to actually take action.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): Arguing politics in a bar in the Paris Latin quarter is hardly unusual, except that this debate is in English, and the subject is the upcoming American elections.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you think of the annual budget of the U.N., it's 32 hours of the budget of the Pentagon.
BITTERMANN: For weeks now, expatriate Americans and anyone else who wants to join in have thrashed over the issues. But as you might expect from those on the receiving end of U.S. foreign policy, that is the subject which dominates. That and the need for expatriates to get involved in politics.
MAX HAUFFMAN, LAW STUDENT: See, what happened for me, was that -- over the past few years, with this whole war in Iraq, it's really made me understand that it's very important to take an interest in politics.
JEREMY GOLDSTEIN, DEBATE ORGANIZER: I would be fooling myself if I really thought that my one vote from overseas was going to have a huge impact. But I also feel strongly if you don't vote, you don't have anything to say.
BITTERMANN: And while outside the United States, Americans clearly have the most at stake in the upcoming elections, non- Americans, too, are watching the campaigning and considering the implications of a defeat for President Bush.
ANNE DEYSINE, AUTHOR: If the Democrats have a majority in the House and more importantly in the Senate, maybe they can stop a few of the policies and force the president to reorient his policies.
BITTERMANN: And so while the Americans seem politically engaged in this vote more than any midterm election in recent memory, their neighbors abroad are, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BITTERMANN: And Hala, there are somewhere between four and six million Americans living abroad, all of them, I suppose potential voters. But in fact, their vote gets somewhat diluted in this kind of a midterm election, because their voting -- their districts are scattered all across the United States -- Hala.
GORANI: And so, compared to other midterm elections, in your experience, covering this type of story before from France, there is a lot more interest this time around?
BITTERMANN: I would say for a midterm election, there's a lot of interest. And one of the reasons I think is -- there's two reasons, perhaps. One is it's a very close race, and everybody's been saying it. The other thing is that Americans abroad don't always necessary engage on domestic issues. But this time around, one of the big issues is foreign policy. And so I think they feel that there is something that they can get their teeth into just like the rest of Americans are. That is to say, the issue of foreign policy.
GORANI: All right. Jim Bittermann in Paris. Thank you. Jim?
CLANCY: Well, we saw earlier that President Bush had a press conference. Well, not everybody was watching that. For them, perhaps, Madonna's press conference, speaking publicly for the first time about her planned adoption of a Malawian boy. It was an interview, not really a press conference, and it was with Oprah Winfrey. The queen of pop claims she was surprised, of course, that the boy's father did not realize that he was giving away his son for good. Now, this is what some of the audience members had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought she was very sincere and made a big impact on the audience about her mission as to why she went over there and what she did. And I support her. I think she's doing a great thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don't think she's doing anything illegal?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not at all. I think she's doing a great thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madonna actually stated that, when they went to court for the first part of the adoption process, she looked at her in her eyes, and told her, I thank you for doing this. For, you know, thank you for offering my son a better life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: All right. Well, there you hear some of their views. The father now says he's not really contesting all of this. A Malawi government minister tells Reuters News that every detail of the adoption process was explained to the boy's father. Quite a story.
GORANI: Right. It hasn't aired in the U.S. yet. This is today's Oprah Winfrey show. And it's interesting to see such a famous and powerful pop star turn to the talk show format to get her message across.
CLANCY: You're surprised? I'm not.
GORANI: Well, not surprised, but it's an interesting trend, though.
CLANCY: It is.
GORANI: And we're seeing it more and more.
Now, let's talk about something entirely different. A creature that's on the endangered species list.
CLANCY: Don't expect, though, environmental groups to get outraged about this one. We're talking about the pink flamingo. And, you know, not the real flamingo, ladies and gentlemen. It's this one, the plastic one, the front yard symbol of style or kitsch, you might say. What would you say?
GORANI: Well, I don't know. I'm not a big fan. But it depends on who you ask.
CLANCY: Oh, aren't those gorgeous?
GORANI: And -- oh, they're gorgeous. And which decade you pose the question. The U.S. maker of the state birds, Union Products, oh, gosh. Leo Minster (ph)?
CLANCY: Yes.
GORANI: ... is to close November 1st, citing high costs. That would end a half century of selling plastic lawn ornaments to people for whom simple grass was never enough.
CLANCY: Yes, they added a lot of contrast to a lot of lawns.
GORANI: All right. Well, that is it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: All right. I'm Jim Clancy. Stay tuned. You're watching the world's news leader, CNN.
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