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Your World Today

Interview With NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer; Tehran Appears to Have Resumed Uranium Enrichment; Huge Forest Fire Burns out of Control in California

Aired October 27, 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: A slap in the face of sanctions. Iran resumes uranium enrichment while the world watches.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Back to the front line. U.S. troops return to a Baghdad neighborhood where Iraqi forces are failing to keep the peace.

CLANCY: An orchid by any other name. Scientists discovered dozens of new species in the rain forest of Papua, New Guinea.

MCEDWARDS: And Borat, he's sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, and just plain funny. So why aren't residents of Kazakhstan laughing?

Hello, and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Iran to Papua, New Guinea, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We will have those stories in just a moment for you, but we want to begin with growing concern over the number of civilians in Afghanistan who are paying for the war with their lives.

The United Nations is joining the Afghan president in urging all sides to respect civilian life here. Even so, 14 villagers in Uruzgan province were killed in the latest violence. Officials say a bomb ripped through their bus as they headed for religious celebrations.

Now, in Kandahar, an investigation is under way to determine how many civilians were killed earlier this week during a NATO operation against the Taliban there. Local officials are saying between 30 and 80 were killed, while NATO is acknowledging just 12. NATO also saying it regrets any civilian casualties in operations that target militants.

Now, Afghan president Hamid Karzai says one way to avoid such deaths is to use more Afghan troops who can better distinguish militants from villagers.

CLANCY: NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says he regrets the civilian casualties as well. De Hoop Scheffer made those comments just a short while ago after talks with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House. The NATO leader is hoping to increase the ranks of the 31,000 alliance members current serving in Afghanistan. That could mean, though, persuading Mr. Bush to reinforce the 12,000 U.S. troops already present there, and that could be a tough sell with U.S. forces already spread thin in Iraq.

Well, the NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, joins us now from the lawn of the White House.

Sir, the concern over the civilian casualties the key question. Do your commanders on the ground think that those risks can be at least reduced greatly, if not eliminated altogether?

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: It is always a tragedy when civilians are killed in these kinds of actions. Every civilian victim is one too many. But allow me to look to the bigger picture with you.

What do the Taliban do? They're using innocent civilians as human shields. They mix with the opposing military forces.

And we are there, NATO forces are there, to foster and to support democracy. The Taliban are there to destroy democracy.

They were huge human rights violators. Girls did not go to school. We saw public executions.

So if you look at the bigger picture, one has to realize why NATO is there. We're doing a successful job there in supporting democracy. And unfortunately, and I say, again, that's the tragedy, you have to mourn civilian victims.

But the real culprits are the Taliban, who are using these innocent civilians, and you see they're blowing up buses as well with innocent civilians. They're using those innocent civilians as human shields.

I will ask you, who's to blame?

CLANCY: Now, the Taliban obviously making a determined effort to have a resurgence, a major resurgence on the battlefield, in public pronouncements. Is this a lot tougher going than NATO originally thought it would be?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: The resistance is certainly tough from time to time, but NATO has prevailed and NATO will prevail. We have -- we are out there now with over 30,000 forces. We are in the south. We are northwest and in the east at the moment as well.

NATO is answering in Afghanistan the big challenges. And that's what I discussed with the president of the United States as well, the big challenges and the threats of the 21st century. And I can tell you that it might be tough from time to time, but we are prevailing.

A lot of reconstruction is going on in Afghanistan. We are providing the security the Afghan people need. And do not forget, NATO forces are there under a mandate of the United Nations.

In other words, we are doing a difficult job. But I think we're doing it well.

CLANCY: I want to talk for a moment about that -- the larger role of NATO around the world. Do you see it as inevitable that if NATO is going to be a part of the war against terrorism, that it's going to have to look at reshaping itself in one way or another?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Yes, indeed. The challenges are global. Terrorism is global.

Terrorism doesn't have a face. But when it has, it's showing in New York and in Madrid and in London and in Istanbul and in other -- all those other places in the world. That's a global phenomenon.

Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a global phenomenon. You just introduced Iran. I can mention North Korea.

Failed and failing states are global. So without saying that NATO should become a global policeman, the world's policeman, NATO needs to answer these global threats and challenges, the attack on our basic values. And we have to do that with global partners, and we have to do that in theaters like Afghanistan, which perhaps five or six or seven years ago were up thinkable. But it has to be done because NATO, I think, is best placed -- is best placed and situated to defend the values you and I hold so dearly.

CLANCY: Speaking of values, one U.S. commander has said that it may be another 10 years that NATO is to deployed there. It is not just -- and many people have said this -- not just a military fight.

How crucial is development aid and education and health care to winning in Afghanistan?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: It is the answer. You're exactly right when you say that there is no military solution for Afghanistan.

The solution for Afghanistan is reconstruction, is development, is nation building. And that's the reason, and that worries me from time to time, I must say, that the other members of the international community, United Nations, European Union, the bilateral donor nations, the G-8 group of richest industrial nations, they should also realize that the answer is not a military one.

NATO can create the conditions for development to take place because we will not see development without security. But the opposite is also true. You'll never have lasting security without sustainable development.

So I entirely agree, Afghanistan is about building schools. It's about building roads. It's about the rule of law. It's about health care. It's about education.

And 30,000 NATO forces, including 12,000 Americans, are there to make that possible and to create the climate that development can take place.

CLANCY: NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, I want to thank you very much for joining us here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: A pleasure. Thank you. Thank you.

MCEDWARDS: All right, Jim. We want to turn to Iran now.

Tehran appearing to have resumed its sensitive nuclear activities, and that has a lot of people concerned. An Iranian semi- official news agency reports Tehran has restarted uranium enrichment with a second network of centrifuges.

Now, the Students News Agency, as its known, says Iran has now doubled its capacity to enrich uranium. This comes almost two months after Tehran ignored an August 31st U.N. deadline to halt its program completely. The U.N. Security Council is working on a draft resolution to impose limited sanctions on Iran.

Now, France especially wants those sanctions to be temporary and reversible. China and Russia pushing for more dialogue instead of any sanctions or punishment.

Moscow has strong commercial ties to Tehran and plans to build a nuclear power station in southern Iran.

Our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, joins us now from the Russian capital with more reaction to this -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Colleen.

Well, I've certainly been speaking to officials of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog in Vienna, the Austrian capital, where the headquarters is. They say at this stage officially they have not verified that this second cascade of centrifuges indeed have been put into operation. But if it has -- and they have their inspectors on the ground -- they say they wouldn't be surprised by that because this is something they reported the existence of for some time now, but it would be a new development if Iran has injected that gas of uranium into it and produced quantities of enriched uranium.

The other point the officials at the IAEA make is that technologically speaking, this is not necessarily a big step forward for Iran's nuclear program. They already have the capability to produce small quantities of enriched uranium. That capability has now been doubled, but it's still a small capability indeed -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Help us understand Russia's position here and how difficult it is, because in a way it has to try to save some face here, doesn't it?

CHANCE: Well, Russia has made its position quite clear over the months when it comes to this Iranian nuclear issue, and indeed within the past few minutes we've had a reaction from the Russian defense minister, Sergey Ivanov, about this latest development. He says that he does not believe this second cascade of centrifuges is a matter for real concern.

Certainly Moscow has strong, as you mentioned, economic ties with Iran. They have a contract worth about a billion dollars to build Iran's first nuclear reactor. That could get much bigger, of course, if Russia builds a commissioned network of reactors across the Islamic republic. But it's not just about money for Russia.

It also has strong strategic interests in maintaining a close alliance with Iran and in casting itself as the key to this nuclear crisis with the Islamic republic. It's something it wants to maintain -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Matthew Chance in Moscow for us.

Thanks very much, Matthew.

CLANCY: Let's check some other stories that are making news around the world right now.

MCEDWARDS: All right. We're going to begin in South Korea.

Actually, South Korean troops were out in force for an annual military drill involving the army, navy and air force. Some 20 ships and 40 aircraft took part. This show of military might takes place amid heightened tensions in the region after North Korea's nuclear test.

CLANCY: A United Nations committee has approved a resolution that could pave the way for a treaty restricting the sale of small arms worldwide. One hundred thirty-nine countries voted yes. Only the United States voted no. More arms are manufactured in the U.S. than in any other country.

MCEDWARDS: In Australia, a controversial Muslim cleric volunteered to stop giving sermons for two to three months after making some controversial comments. Sheikh Taj El Din al-Hilali compared women who don't wear head scarves to uncovered meat who invite rape or sexual assault. Al-Hilali apologized but says he doesn't have any plans to step down.

CLANCY: We're going to take a short break.

When we come back, Michael J. Fox speaking out again.

MCEDWARDS: That's right. The actor suffers from Parkinson's Disease, as you probably know, and he's responding to the controversy over his appearance in U.S. campaign ads.

Lots of talk about benchmarks and milestones for Iraqis to take over security from U.S. troops, but what's the reality on the ground? We'll have a report on that.

Plus...

CLANCY: We'll have a look at the fuss over what we can only say is a bizarre film. It's called "Borat". Why its star is infuriating people in one former Soviet republic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back. Seen live in more than 200 countries all around the globe, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

It has blackened thousands of acres, destroyed homes, killed four firefighters. And officials say a huge forest fire that is still raging near Palm Springs, California, was started deliberately.

Chris Lawrence is covering that story for us. He's in Riverside County, west of Palm Springs.

Chris, what's the situation like today?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, the winds are still howling, almost just as fiercely as they were overnight. Right now, officials are treating this as a clear case of arson. And because firefighters were killed trying to contain the fire, the person who started it could be charged with murder.

Now, take a look from a view from the air to give you a bird's eye perspective, a big picture perspective on what this fire is doing.

It has literally been burning through the canyons here in southern California, scorching at least 24,000 acres. And as of overnight, firefighters had it about five percent contained.

Now take a different look on the ground, and you can see and hear what it's like for some of the 1,000 firefighters here when they look in almost every direction and all they see is a wall of flame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm down at the bottom end of it, and it does look like it's -- it's coming pretty hard. I don't know if it's heading for you (INAUDIBLE) or not. Also, I guess did you guys notice, you got power lines running behind the structures there?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Yes, you can hear the radio traffic trying to warn each other in those situations. Even after the residents evacuate, the firefighters stay behind to protect their homes.

And this is the end of the wildfire season here in southern California, which means we've had very little rain for the last five months.. There's nothing but dry brush and vegetation and even drier Santa Ana winds to fuel this fire.

These pictures give you some idea of what that five-man crew was dealing with yesterday morning when they were trying to protect a home. The wind shifted and a wall of fire literally collapsed right on top of them.

Fire officials say there was almost no chance for those men to react, to take cover, or to save themselves. Four of them were killed in that fire. A fifth man remains in critical condition this morning. He has burns over 90 percent of his body -- Jim.

CLANCY: Parts of southern California still ablaze.

Chris Lawrence continuing to follow that story.

Chris, thank you.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Turning now to the situation in Iraq, we're learning more about the fierce fighting between insurgents and Iraqi police North of Baghdad.

The U.S. military now says 24 police officers were killed in Baquba Thursday, along with 18 insurgents, one civilian killed as well. It says the clashes began after a police unit was ambushed. U.S. troops nearby joined the fight, which spread from house to house over dozens of kilometers.

CLANCY: Troops re-entering some parts of Baghdad they had handed over to Iraqi forces after the security situation there crumbled.

As Arwa Damon reports, policing the streets of the capital comes at a high cost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we got attacked the other night, Friday night, attacked twice.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Task Force 126 was called back to Iraq a month early to the Baghdad neighborhood of Adamiyah (ph), because the Iraqi troops were not getting the job done. These battle-scarred streets were once a favorite hangout for Baghdad's youth.

(GUNFIRE)

DAMON: That's outgoing gunfire from an Iraqi army checkpoint a few meters away. It just came under attack, so the soldiers are jumpier than usual.

Down the street, U.S. troops are conducting what they call a soft-knock search. No kicking down doors. They don't want to make new enemies as they look for a suspected bomb maker. But there is nothing in this house, just a frightened family and a distraught father who doesn't know how to keep them safe.

"No one knows how to protect themselves anymore," he says. Even the Americans struggle with that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we get our mission, scan the rooftops and scan out into the fields.

DAMON: The Americans handed this neighborhood over to the Iraqi army 10 months ago. Soon afterwards, security crumbled and sectarian killings spiked. Hundreds of people who live in this predominantly Sunni neighborhood were abducted and killed by what are believed to be Shia death squads who live a short drive away.

LT. ALAN ETIENNE, U.S. ARMY: We haven't had too many people getting -- too many civilians being killed, too many IDs going off, mortars coming into the neighborhood. And so -- and they actually asked for the help of the Americans, to help, I guess, quell the situation there.

DAMON: U.S. commanders estimate that since they took over, sectarian violence in Adamiyah (ph) has decreased about 80 percent. But bringing down Iraqi deaths cost the men of Captain William Wade's company five of their own in their first six weeks here.

CAPT. WILLIAM WADE, U.S. ARMY: This is tough, but it's the mission, it's what we're given. And it's tough to lose soldiers. We've lost quite a few already.

DAMON: And the violence here is far from over.

The patrol stops to check on their Iraqi army counterparts and finds them at what is now a familiar sight in Iraq -- a bomb killed two Iraqis outside a shop in a predominantly Sunni residential area. The Iraqi army colonel on site says the attack was only to drive the Shia and Sunni apart.

The Americans here are starting from scratch, getting to know the neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about security concerns? Do you guys have any security concerns? Are there any bad elements coming into this area?

DAMON: Mahajawad's (ph) son siphons fuel out of his mother's car to run their generator.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a generator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're rich. OK.

DAMON: It's safer than waiting in line at the pump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For this? You see what I do for generator.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) generator.

DAMON: The Americans have managed to improve security here, at least for now. But it has come at a high cost.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Coming up, once again the U.S. election campaign getting a little ugly.

MCEDWARDS: Oh, news flash there, huh? The final two weeks or so, less than two weeks. How ugly, though? Two people who aren't even running for office are trading some pretty serious campaign rhetoric. We'll tell you what they're arguing about.

CLANCY: And then a little bit later, Colleen and I will be bringing you a bouquet of flowers no one's ever seen before. Now, where else but right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY. You won't want to miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And 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 of stories making headlines in the United States.

The slaying of a family in Florida. The killers were after drugs, money or both. That's what authorities are saying about the deaths of Jose Luis Escobedo, his wife, and two young sons. And now one investigator seas he believes the person who shot them is in custody.

The bodies were found along the Florida turnpike October 13th. Four people are being held on federal drug charges in West Palm Beach. They're not charged in the killings but are described as persons of interests. The shooter believed to be among them.

Authorities say Escobedo has a brother involved in the distribution of heroin and cocaine.

A raging wildfire turns deadly in southern California. Here's what we know now.

The Riverside County fire has swept across some 24,000 acres. That's about 38 square miles, if you can imagine. The wind-driven flames trapped five firefighters. Four have died. The lone survivor has burns over 90 percent of his body.

Authorities say the fire was intentionally set and that the arsonist will face murder charges if caught.

Let's get a check on conditions in Riverside County now. Rob Marciano is standing by in the weather center.

Hi, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Tony.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: President Bush questioned about interrogation techniques during a meeting with the NATO secretary-general. Mr. Bush responded to questions about Vice President Cheney's comment earlier this week. The vice president was asked whether dunking terror suspects in water during questioning was a no-brainer if it saved lives. The vice president said yes.

The president had this to say...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This country doesn't torture. We're not going to torture. We will interrogate people we pick up off the battlefield to determine whether or not they've got information that will be helpful to protect the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The White House says Cheney's response was not an endorsement of waterboarding. That's when a person is made to believe he is about to drown.

The Iraq you rarely get to see now.

CNN's Michael Holmes is just back from Baghdad. He joined me earlier with his unique images and insights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The kids are everywhere. The kids are everywhere.

And they're lovely kids, too. They come up, we give them candy. The troops give them candy. And we always try to interact and talk to them.

HARRIS: Yes, roll through these if you would, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, this is just some of the...

HARRIS: A ferris wheel.

HOLMES: A ferris wheel, it's completely wrecked. The playground is a wreck. The whole infrastructure in Iraq has crumbled.

You talk about reconstruction, there's not a lot going on.

HARRIS: You just mentioned that.

HOLMES: That's an Iraqi army Humvee, actually, and they're Iraqi troops, who were with American troops in Ghazaliya. This was part of Operation Together Forward.

Now since the U.S. troops pulled out of there, the troubles are back on.

HARRIS: Yes. Look at this. Look at this.

HOLMES: Yes.

HARRIS: We don't see this. It's a little Iraqi kid...

HOLMES: Sent out to do their shopping. They're very -- very independent at an early age. I mean, mom and dad will send them down to the shop to get all the food.

HARRIS: And very quickly, and I shouldn't do this to you, but I have to bring it up before we let you go. You were part -- your convoy was ambushed a few years back.

HOLMES: Yes, January 27, 2004. We were hit just south of a place called Mahmoudiyah, which at the time nobody had heard of. It's now a bit of a hotbed.

But, yes, we were driving back in two cars and we were ambushed by two cars. A guy standing out of his sunroof with AK-47s, and they lit us up pretty bad. We -- my friends, my translator and one of our drivers was killed.

HARRIS: The other significance of this is that it kind of paints the demarcation line from this point on.

HOLMES: Yes.

HARRIS: You really couldn't travel freely in...

HARRIS: That was really it. That was really it. That attack on our -- our cameraman, Scott McWinney (ph), was wounded, shot in the head but lived. Two dead.

And it was really the turning point where we could move unilaterally, as the military calls it, on our own. We'd been two hours south of Baghdad doing a story on democracy classes and stuff like that.

You can't do that now. You can't do that now.

HARRIS: You can't do it.

HOLMES: You want to go drive two hours south, you will probably be killed.

HARRIS: And the final thought is that you can't really get to Tikrit and talk to everyday Iraqis.

HOLMES: Not unless you embed with guys like this. This is when we were embedded with the Stryker Brigade and we were embedded with the 10th Cav, and these are just some of the guys, our cameraman there, Gabe (ph) and Nicky Robertson (ph), our producer. And this was out in a Stryker on patrol, 130 degrees that day.

HARRIS: Man.

HOLMES: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Michael Holmes with his images from Iraq.

At the top of the hour, the search for answers in the probe of that deadly California wildfire. Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon will talk to a former arson investigator. That's in the "NEWSROOM" starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Tony Harris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and these are some of the stories that are making headlines around the world.

Iran appears to have resumed sensitive nuclear activities. The Iranian Students News Agency reporting Tehran has restarted uranium enrichment for a second network of centrifuges. It says Iran has now doubled its capacity to enrich uranium. The U.N. Security Council now working on a draft resolution to impose limited sanctions against the country.

MCEDWARDS: Security is tight in Bangladesh's capital. The prime minister is preparing to hand over power to a caretaker authority ahead of elections. More than 20,000 security officials are patrolling the streets of Dhaka. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's five- year term expires at midnight Friday. The changeover takes place as thousands of rival political activists clashed in the capital. This happening on Friday.

CLANCY: Germany suspending two soldiers from duty in Afghanistan in connection with graphic photos that showed the troops desecrating a skull. Germany's defense minister says he hopes the photos won't endanger the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. A new batch of photos aired on German television Thursday.

MCEDWARDS: Well, turning to the war in Afghanistan now. The key to winning there is the total defeat of the Taliban. But improving the lives of the Afghan people is crucial, as well.

Jennifer Eccleston is embedded with the U.S. Army in the Paktika Province, along the border with Pakistan. She gives us this update on the reconstruction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mongol (ph) has no idea that American military commanders say he is the key to success in Afghanistan. The father of six scratches a living from this parched corner of Paktika Province, along Afghanistan's poorest southeastern border with Pakistan. That living, courtesy of American reconstruction dollars. And he is grateful. (on camera): This is just one of the ways to keep the local population both engaged and employed: hiring men and young boys for $4 a day to fill sandbags to help fortify this Afghan and American outpost.

(voice-over): It is back-breaking work, but it is work. And here in this part of Afghanistan, that $4 a day is enough to feed Mongol's entire family.

After the 2001 invasion that toppled the Taliban, billions of dollars were pledged to modernize this broken, backwards country, one of the world's neediest. Most of that aid -- new schools, new hospitals, new roads -- went to large population centers. It was only two years ago that Afghanistan's remote provinces like Paktika started seeing development dollars.

LT. COMMANDER CLAY DAVIS, U.S. NAVY: Problem number one was we had to have regime change, we had to get rid of the Taliban. So '01 to '03 was removing that Taliban and making sure that all the pockets of resistance and everything else were eradicated. Then, it quickly became apparent that there was nothing to fill that vacuum.

ECCLESTON: Commander Clay Davis heads the provincial reconstruction team tasked with filling that vacuum, by funding and policing major and minor projects in all of Paktika. One hundred and fifteen soldiers and sailors covering an area slightly bigger than Maryland. A little goes a long way here, and the stakes are high.

DAVIS: If we can allow the government to have that reach and to show the -- you know, that there is a hope and a future for Afghanistan and for them with the government, then that keeps them from hopefully going over to be influenced by Taliban elements.

ECCLESTON: Mongol's sandbagging contract expires in a couple weeks. The Americans promised him more work. If that happens, he says, there's no room for the Taliban in Paktika.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Paktika Province, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians seem to affect every aspect of daily life in that part of the world.

MCEDWARDS: It really does, so it shouldn't be a surprise that it's also affecting something as old as the Middle East itself: olives.

CLANCY: Our Ben Wedeman takes us to some olive groves that are in dire need of an olive branch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's olive harvesting season in the hills of the West Bank, the branches heavy with a bumper crop. The Shabanas (ph), an extended Palestinian family, have been at work since shortly after sunrise, joined by members of an Israeli peace group, Rabbis for Human Rights.

Rabbi Yehi El Gramaman (ph) probably knows far more about the Torah than he does about olives. But he hopes just by being there, the harvest will be uneventful.

Previous olive harvests have been violent. Palestinian farmers say Jewish settlers routinely attacked them and damaged their trees. The settlers accuse the farmers of shielding militants.

But really, it all goes back to the heart of this bitter conflict: control of the land.

(on camera): It's hoped that this year, the harvest will be more peaceful. In June, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Israeli Army, as the occupying force, is obliged to protect local inhabitants. And that, of course, includes these farmers.

(voice-over): Israeli soldiers watch from a hillside overlooking the Shabanas' olive trees. Here, the harvest went off without incident, just across the valley from the Jewish settlement of Elle (ph).

"This year, it's been calm," Sayyid Shabana (ph) tells me. "This is the first year I'm not afraid."

Elsewhere, there were problems. The Palestinian medic checks the dressings on Basal Sala (ph), who witnesses say was attacked while picking olives by Jewish settlers wielding metal pipes. The army intervened, temporarily detaining Palestinians. No settlers were arrested.

Arik Asherman, coordinator for Rabbis for Human Rights, is cautiously optimistic the soldiers will prevent a larger confrontation.

ARIK ASHERMAN, RABBIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Well, the army has done a better job of preparing this year. They are being more attentive to the needs of Palestinians than they have in past years.

WEDEMAN: Back in the Shabanas' olive grove, retired Israeli civil servant Eron Brin (ph) is still working away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot talk to them, because I don't know Arabic, you know, but we manage together, you know?

WEDEMAN: And if some Palestinians and Israelis can manage together among the olive branches, that's an accomplishment.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, in the northern West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS:: Some powerful symbolism there. When YOUR WORLD TODAY returns...

CLANCY: A present from a tropical paradise.

MCEDWARDS: Botanist discover a veritable bouquet of new orchids, entire new speeches of these beautiful flowers. You'll love this. We'll show you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Amid fears of violence and an expanded police presence, protesters gathered in a Paris suburb to remember two young men whose deaths sparked a wave of rioting a year ago.

CLANCY: Demonstrators, led by families the teenagers, marched to the power station where they died. Crowds have been mostly peaceful, but police report a few incidents of violence leading up to the anniversary.

MCEDWARDS: We are seen live around the globe.

CLANCY: That's right. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MCEDWARDS: Well, we don't often talk about flora and fauna on YOUR WORLD TODAY...

CLANCY: No, we don't.

MCEDWARDS: Unless we're talking about orchids. Maybe they're special. The only ones I can grow are made of silk.

CLANCY: I love this. There are some people that can grow them. I'm not one of them. It's not often the botanists find what you'd actually call an incredible gold mine of orchids. That's their words, not mine.

MCEDWARDS: We want to take you to one of the world's remote corner, north of Australia, to Papa New Guinea actually.

CLANCY: World Wildife Fund scientists exploring tropical rain forests in what's called the Kakouri region, found at least eight new species of orchids. Now Wayne Harris, a botanist from Queensland Herbarium (ph), as it's called, was part of this group, and we talked to him a little bit earlier about the significance of the finding. It's interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WAYNE HARRIS, BOTANIST: It is little explored, and the areas that we have explored in, we're turning up new species. And from that we can predict there's a lot more new species that are to be described and found in that area. And it just emphasizes how little we know about some of these regions. And of course we know little about the diversity. And, therefore, we don't know what resources we really have in those areas.

CLANCY: What do we know about perhaps what these flowers could mean, for medicine, for health, for really relating to the rest of the environment that they grow in?

HARRIS: We know nothing about that at all. No research has been directed in that direction in that part of Papua New Guinea. Certainly orchids elsewhere in the world. The famous vanilla (ph) is an orchid, and that's an extremely valuable cash crop now, even in New Guinea.

With these others, we don't know what they might bring, and That is a reflection of our knowledge on the whole of the plant life in that area. We just don't know what it holds and, therefore, we don't know what benefit it can be to mankind.

CLANCY: When we've been looking at some of the flowers there, some of the new species that have been found. But I want to share with our viewers some of the other species, because there are literally hundreds of them in Papua New Guinea, some of them spectacularly beautiful, like this one, it looks like lace with purple and other colors streaming down from a fine-looking plant.

HARRIS: There is an incredible range of diversity in the orchids of New Guinea. You get very, very tiny ones that are little bigger than a pinhead. And then you get large flamboyant specimens, or species, which have flowers that are several centimeters in diameter. So the range is enormous.

CLANCY: Now this whole area where these flowers grow is -- all these different species, it's extremely delicate, isn't it?

HARRIS: Oh, yes. Any removal of large forest trees in that environment will virtually destroy the diversity. And that's -- the reason for that is most of these orchids, by far the majority, grow up in the canopy of the larger trees. So if they're (ph) filled, clear- filled (ph), in forestry operations, we lose all of those species.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: We thanks Wayne Harris for being with us on the line. He was talking to us from Australia, a botanist from Queensland, Herbarium, as it's called, just fantastic pictures. And he said, you know, it's amazing, they don't grow -- those grow on the top of the trees; they don't grow on the ground. I always thought they did.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, no, it's really interesting. These are amazing. They're almost more than creatures than plants. I've tried to grow them. You know what it's like, not fun.

CLANCY: All right, we've got to take a break...

MCEDWARDS: Still ahead, license to offend.

CLANCY: Yes, he puts down women, he kisses men, he pokes fun at just about everyone and everything.

MCEDWARDS: An actor who lives his role, and we mean lives it, when we return.

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CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone. Well, a certain -- can we say -- journalist from Kazakhstan known as Borat causing quite a stir.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, put journalist in quotes, right? At least he's -- in the movies, he's a journalist from Kazakhstan. In reality, he's comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who always stays in character. And Kazakhstan wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

CLANCY: And for good reason, as you may find out. It's something that he's using to full effect. He's prompting side- splitting laughter, just -- that's an understatement, probably.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, exactly. I think everybody finds him funny, at least on some level. So far, he's refused interviews from female reporters. As he says, women would not be allowed to hold such a job in his own country. Let's see if he's made an exception for our Becky Anderson.

One note: This is a man who thrives from breaking the rules, and in this case, we did too. We agreed to provide the questions in advance as he insisted.

My goodness, we're down a slippery slope on this one, Becky.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Colleen.

He did grant me an interview. I'm not entirely convinced that it was a good idea. Let's meet the man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): The latest media onslaught, which followed stunts outside the White House and the Kazakh embassy in the U.S., began on Monday, with the film's Hollywood premiere.

Next, the circus moved to Europe. And on a wet Wednesday, the Borat camp came to London. Meanwhile, in Oxford, the Kazakh ambassador in the U.K. was defending his nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If someone believes that he is a civilized person, well, it's up to you. I don't think that he is -- Borat Sagdiyev is a nice person. Sacha Baron Cohen has created a grotesque to mock many imperfections in this society.

ANDERSON (on camera): No shaking of hands?

(voice-over): And finally on Friday, it was my turn to meet the man himself.

(on camera): So just who is Borat Sagdiyev?

SACHA BARON COHEN, COMEDIAN: I am son of Asimbala Sagdijev and Boltok The Rapist. I am former husband of Marlian Tulliakbi, who was daughter of Urriana Tulliakbi and Boltok the Rapist. I am from Keczek, which is a town in Kazakhstan. It is located three miles north from the fence of Jewtown. And Kazakhstan is locate between Tajikstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. She is my sister.

ANDERSON: Listen, I am a great fan of yours. As a journalist, tell me, how did you get your job, how did you get to where you are now?

COHEN: It was not easy. I was educate in Astana University where I studied English, journalism and plague research. I developed two new ones, which killed over five million goats in Uzbekistan. But before this, I didn't just jump into the journalisms. You don't do it. As you know. I was originally an icemaker, and then I was a gypsy catcher...

ANDERSON: This is all good experience for being a journalist. I mean, there's some great stories in that in itself. What's the best assignment you've ever had?

COHEN: You are jumping and going too close to me, woman.

ANDERSON: I'm so sorry.

COHEN: Yes, keep back.

ANDERSON: I'll get back in the cage or maybe -- I left my cage outside but ...

COHEN: Yes, that's ...

ANDERSON: I'll get back in that later.

COHEN: I will put you in my cage later. You will not run far.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Ouch. The sheer wrongness of it all. Should anyone be allowed to do this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can I be like you?

COHEN: What's up vanilla face?

ANDERSON: This is pure anarchy, it's craziness, but it is also very funny.

(on camera): Let me talk a little about Pamela Anderson, because you went to America effectively to find her. What made you so desperate to find Pamela Anderson?

COHEN: She is a very beautiful woman. Wow! Yes? Very nice. She is unlike any Kazakh woman I have ever seen. Pamela only had teeth that grow on inside of her mouth. And she have more hair on her head than on her back.

ANDERSON (voice-over): At this point in time, I was told there was only time for last question. Perhaps it was the surreal nature of it all, but I found myself asking one of the most peculiar questions I have ever asked as a journalist.

(on camera): Let me just ask you, I wondered whether there was any opportunity for me. I've got plow experience, I've got no retardation in the family and I'm not Jewish. Any chance that you and could I have a little ...

COHEN: Well, I don't want to go on wrong track, because last time I buy a wife, she was very good for first three years and then suddenly she started grow hair on her chest, voice became very deep. Borat, Borat. And her -- how you say -- did not work well.

ANDERSON (voice-over): His backward behavior and outlandish humor go beyond satire, laughing slightly nervously, I wound it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And he's been variously described as subversive, as hilarious, jaw-dropping -- the whole thing, Colleen. I mean, it is the most extraordinary experience interviewing somebody who is in character like that.

The Kazakhs, of course, were extremely unhappy about this movie and the way it portrayed their country. They have, though, now, asked him -- extended an invitation to him to travel to the country, to meet the people and work out whether, you know, women really should be driving cars and -- out of their cages and all the various other extremely painful things that he says about the people of Kazakhstan -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Becky, I think you made off pretty well because I think the last female reporter he talked to, I heard him refer to her as a lady of the night, so you escaped that anyway.

ANDERSON: Only just, left me tell you. It was extremely painful.

MCEDWARDS: All right.

CLANCY: Thanks for hanging in there in the rain in London this night to bring us your interview, first played here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MCEDWARDS: And that is it for our program. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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