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Your World Today

Military Death Toll Hits Grim Milestone; Report from United Kingdom: Global Warming Could Cost Economy $7 Trillion; U.N. Security Council Debates Sanctions on Iran

Aired October 30, 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)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime.

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JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying the world must take action against global warming now to prevent catastrophe in the future.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: More bombings in Baghdad this day, as U.S. forces in Iraq pass a milestone they never hoped to reach.

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

I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From London to Baghdad, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

We're going to begin our report this hour with one of the bloodiest days in Baghdad in weeks. A series of bombings killing at least 35 people, most of them laborers, poor laborers who had gathered in a crowded Shia district.

As Arwa Damon tells us, the U.S. military's death toll in Iraq now climbing as well, hitting a grim milestone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The familiar sound of grief carried through Sadr City Monday morning as more Iraqis buried their loved ones. A bomb hidden in a plastic bag exploded on a crowd of day laborers. They had left their homes looking for work. Now, over two dozen of them are in body bags.

Poorly-equipped and understaffed hospitals were crammed with scores of the wounded. The explosion bore all the hallmarks of a sectarian attack. This Shia district has a history of attacks for which Sunni extremist groups have taken credit. This one, too, seemingly intended to deliberately provoke Iraq's majority Shia population.

Sadr City is a Mehdi militia stronghold, loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many residents say it is the militia that keeps them safe. But for nearly a week now, the militia has been less visible, as U.S. forces search the area for one of their soldiers kidnapped here on Monday.

Residents here blame the American presence for this latest attack.

"The Americans did it," this resident says. "It is an ugly act. They did it when they came in here with their vehicles."

Violence here is so all consuming that few Iraqis are paying attention to the trial of their former president. Saddam Hussein back in court, facing charges of genocide in the Anfal trial. His chief attorney, Khalil Dulaimi, interrupted his boycott of the proceedings to read a list of 12 demands to the chief judge. Among them, a call for an investigation, into allegations that one of the defendants, Hussein Rasheed (ph), was beaten after being physically removed from court three weeks ago.

And as verdict day for the first trial, the Dujail case, approaches, Saddam and his chief defense attorney made public letters, accusing the U.S. administration of manipulating the verdict so that it is delivered on November 5th, just two days before the U.S. midterm elections. The U.S. says the court is under Iraqi control and denies any effort to manipulate the timetable.

Saddam Hussein could face the death penalty if found guilty.

(on camera): And a grim milestone for U.S. forces. The military announcing the death of a Marine in Iraq's volatile Al Anbar province. This is the 100th death here in October, making it the fourth deadliest month for American troops.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, the war in Iraq is a major issue in next week's U.S. midterm elections, of course. While some Republican congressional candidates are saying, thanks but no thanks to President Bush's company on the campaign trail, some are welcoming his presence with open arms.

The president is in Statesboro, Georgia, campaigning for former U.S. congressman Max Burns, whose comeback could critical for the Republican Party to keep control of the House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are eight days away from the election, and you can bet one thing. We're going to sprint to the finish line.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: And we need your help. I appreciate you coming out because I know you know what I know, this election is far from over, although there are some people in Washington who already think they know the outcome of the election. Some of them are already picking out their new offices at the Capitol.

You might remember, you might remember that around this time in 2004, some of them were picking out their new offices in the West Wing.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: The movers never got the call.

And this November 7th, when our voters show up at the polls, we're going to elect people like Max Burns to Congress, and we will keep control of the House and the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, President Bush is in Georgia again tomorrow to campaign for another former Republican congressman there -- Jim.

CLANCY: From the United Kingdom, a dire warning about climate change. New research by the British government indicates unchecked global warming could leave millions of people homeless and devastate the global economy.

We get more from James Blake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES BLAKE, REPORTER (voice over): It is civilization's biggest challenge. That's the conclusion of Sir Nicholas Stern, the former World Bank economist on the global threat of climate change. Tony Blair has called his report the most important analysis into the future since he became prime minister.

BLAIR: It is demolished the last remaining argument for inaction in the face of climate change. We know climate change is happening. We know the consequences for our planet. We now know urgent action will present a catastrophe and investment in preventing it now will pay us back many times in the future.

BLAKE: For the first time, the report calculates the economic cost of climate change. Sir Nicholas Stern predicts a global recession bigger than the great depression of the 1930s.

SIR. NICHOLAS STERN, REPORT AUTHOR: The science tells us that greenhouse gas emissions are an (INAUDIBLE). In other words, our emissions affect the lives of others. When people do not pay for the consequences of their actions, we have market failure. This is the greatest market failure the world has seen.

BLAKE: He claims that one ton of carbon emissions costs about 60 pounds in economic damage. For an average family, that's 600 pounds a year. If the world does nothing, it could cost up to 20 percent of global GDP. But if countries act now, it would cost one percent. That's about 184 billion pounds.

The government will announce a new climate change bill this afternoon, outlining an expansion of the EU carbon trading scheme, where emissions are given an economic value and can be bought and sold to meet targets.

GORDON BROWN, BRITISH CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: We propose a long-term framework, a worldwide carbon market. Not the old way of rigid regulation, but the modern way of working with the market, harnessing its power to set a global price for carbon, incentivizing the most efficient, and innovative ways of tackling climate change.

BLAKE: But how to persuade the world's best polluters, China, India and America, to come on board? Gordon Brown has appointed the former presidential candidate Al Gore as a consultant.

In Britain, consumers can expect a range of new taxes in the next budget. Owners of high-emission cars will pay out more, and there may be penalties for buying inefficient household goods. Today the conservative leader accused Labour of being too slow to act.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE LEADER: Clearly, we haven't done enough over the last 10 years. Britain's carbon emissions are up. The target that the government put in three manifestos to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent, they have now dropped.

So, we do need action. And we need action -- all parties are going to have to work together on this issue.

BLAKE: Even if Britain turned itself off completely, the industrial growth in China would be enough to fill the emissions gap in less than two years. Britain is now working with China and India to develop clean coal technology. But the real challenge will be persuading international corporations that there is a strong economic incentive to go green.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right. That was James Blake who was reporting there.

Now, the United Kingdom is going to get another chance to state its case next week. It's going to the United Nations climate summit. That will be held in Kenya.

GORANI: All right. A little bit later in the show, also, we'll be speaking to an economist who thinks that one percent of GDP to solve the world's climate problems isn't nearly enough. So, we will be hearing from him a bit later.

CLANCY: All right. Change subjects.

GORANI: Absolutely. A controversial attack in Pakistan tops our check of other stories making news around the world.

CLANCY: That's right. Now, some are seeing this as a U.S. plot, if you want to call it that.

Pakistani troops and helicopter gun ships attacked a religious school on Monday. The government's -- reports that the school was run by a pro-Taliban warlord and that it harbored al Qaeda terrorists. Now, those are allegations that the U.S. has made in the past.

Some reports say as many as 80 people may have been killed in this incident.

GORANI: Also in the headlines around the world, residents of the northern Philippines are suffering through the second major typhoon to hit in as many months. At least eight people were reported killed when Typhoon Cimaron roared across Luzon Monday. It's expected to hit Vietnam next.

CLANCY: Mexican federal police tightening their group on Oaxaca Monday. Leftist protesters had held that city for months. Riot police were sent in over the weekend after two Americans and a local resident were killed. That was on Friday.

GORANI: All right. A short break here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

When we come back, what if another government said your country had no right to exist?

CLANCY: And what if you were convinced that the nation was developing nuclear weapons? Well, that is the position that Israel says it finds itself in as it tries to figure out what to do about Iran.

GORANI: And celebrations in Brazil. Coming up, details on what these people are so excited about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, welcome back to CNN International.

CLANCY: All right.

You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY. This is where we try to bring our viewers, especially in the United States, more of an international perspective on the news, the international stories of the day.

All right.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promises what he terms an appropriate and firm response to any U.N. sanctions imposed on his country. He spoke as U.N. Security Council members gathered to consider exactly what form those sanctions should take to punish Iran for its nuclear ambitions.

Let's bring in Liz Neisloss now, live from the United Nations.

Liz, the Russians say the current draft is too tough. The U.S. says it's not tough enough.

What do the other diplomats there at the U.N. say?

LIZ NEISLOSS, CNN SR. U.N. PRODUCER: Well, it's a push and pull process. Right now, the other diplomats that are involved in the negotiations are saying, look, this is a classic case of go for what you can get at the beginning of a negotiation with the U.S. on one end, the Russians on the other, you have the British, the French and the Germans in the middle.

So, this is a matter, as what diplomat put it, of seeing what the market can bear. One lead negotiator told me, "Look, if we throw a tantrum too early, if we push for too much in this resolution, we'll lose these guys." These guys are the Russians and the Chinese -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. So how long is it going to take? Is there a good timeline on when the Security Council might actually meet and vote?

NEISLOSS: Well, there isn't one diplomat I've spoken to, no matter what they are feeling on the sanctions, that hasn't said this is going to be very long, very hard, very tough negotiations. It's not expected, Jim, that we'll see a resolution on Iran for at least a few weeks.

CLANCY: The Russians, what do they want to do?

NEISLOSS: Well, the Russians are really interested in protecting their interests in the beginning, not surprising in a negotiation. They have a light-water reactor plant, an $800 million plant called Bushehr, that is included in this resolution. It's an exemption that there would be from sanctions on Iran.

So, already, kind of a bonus was given to the Russians, knowing -- the other diplomats knew that was going to be a red line that Bushehr could not be put under sanctions. But the Russians are pushing for even more, Jim. They want not just construction of Bushehr to be exempted from sanctions, they want to see fuel delivery exempted from sanctions, and that's something that will be a tough battle with the U.S., which didn't even want Bushehr in the resolution -- Jim.

CLANCY: Liz Neisloss at the United Nations.

Thank you, as always -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, one country particularly concerned about Iran's nuclear program is Israel. Its cabinet has paved the way for a hard- liner to become the first-ever minister of strategic threats.

As Ben Wedeman reports, it's just one Israel is looking to protect itself from the prospect, it says, of a nuclear-armed Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In a valley below Jerusalem, trucks come and trucks go as work precedes on a massive bunker and underground government command center designed to shelter Israel's leaders in the event of a nuclear, chemical or biological attack.

Two years ago, Israeli Channel 10 reported from inside the structure, a labyrinth of tunnels crisscrossing the bowels of the mountain. That Israel is building this doomsday fortification should come as no surprise, especially as concern mounts over Iran's nuclear program and the fiery anti-Israeli rhetoric of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The first time that a leader of a very big and important nation openly, in public declares that the aim of his nation is to wipe off the map the existence of the state of Israel...

WEDEMAN: Israel, which is widely believed to possess its own nuclear arsenal, watched the relatively muted international response to North Korea's recent nuclear test, which has sparked worry here that the international community, specifically the United States, may not have the diplomatic stomach to confront Iran, leaving Israel to go it alone. Something its done before.

Twenty-five years ago, Israeli warplanes destroyed Iraq's nuclear program in one fail swoop. But unlike Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Iran poses a far more serious challenge.

DAVID HOROVITZ, "JERUSALEM POST": There's not a single site. There are multiple sites, they are well protected. Iran can rebuild. Iran has the expertise. Iran has the raw materials.

And Iran has a retaliatory capacity. It has terrorist tentacles with Hamas, with Hezbollah, other means of hitting back. So there's no good military option for Israel. Israel does not want to militarily intervene, but increasingly it seems like there is a stark choice: military intervention or a nuclear Iran.

WEDEMAN: A nuclear Iran is the top concern of this man, hard- liner Avigdor Lieberman, the latest edition to Prime Minister ehud Olmert's cabinet. Lieberman's task in government will be to focus on strategic threats facing Israel.

(on camera): The bunker under construction here represents Israel's passive response to potential threats. But Israel has never taken a passive approach to what it regards as real threats to its existence.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: We're going to take a short break. Still coming up here, voters in Brazil have spoken -- and how. GORANI: It's a resounding "yes" in Brazil for President Lula. But what lies ahead as he gets ready for a second term?

CLANCY: Also coming up on our report, a report card on the fight against world hunger. And it isn't good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins 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.

New developments today in the fight for Iraq. President Bush's national security advisor makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad.

Stephen Hadley met first with his Iraqi counterpart, then with Iraq's prime minister. The focus, the training of Iraqi security forces and the transfer of security responsibilities to the Iraqi government.

This, as the U.S. military reports a grim milestone with its 100th death in October. That makes this month the fourth deadliest since the war began in March of 2003. The Pentagon says the spike was fueled by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on increased patrols in hostile areas.

And across Baghdad, at least six bombs rock the capital. The deadliest in the crowded Shiite slum of Sadr City. At least 26 people are dead there. Another 60 wounded.

Missing in Iraq, thousands of weapons bought with U.S. tax dollars. According to a new report to Congress, the Pentagon cannot account for nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraqi security forces. That adds up to more than 14,000 assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers and other weapons.

It is not clear where the weapons are. Even more U.S.-provided firepower is out of commission because parts or technical manuals are not available.

On the road and on the stump. President Bush pumps up the party faithful today at rallies in Georgia and Texas. He predicts a week from tomorrow many pundits will be proven wrong in their forecast for Democratic gains in the midterm elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Now those Democrats in Washington are making another prediction. They're telling you they're going to win on Election Day. Well, if their electoral predictions are as reliable as their economic predictions, November 7th is going to be a good day for the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: That Election Day just eight days from today. And so, for the very latest breaking political news, you can check for updates throughout the day on the CNN Political Ticker at CNN.com, all politics, all the time.

In parts of the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic and New England, some wicked weather on the weekend before Halloween. Cleanup is under way after howling winds and flooding rains pounded the region.

This scene in Portland, Maine, after high winds knocked over a construction crane. It fell on several houses, but no injuries are reported.

The storm system also brought down trees and power lines in Massachusetts. A motorcyclist was killed by a falling tree.

Northeastern Ohio also pounded by high winds, heavy rain and sleet. More than 30,000 people there lost power during the storm.

A healthier New York. The city's health department says it's possible, but to do that, the city's almost 25,000 restaurants must stop using artificial trans fatty acids. French fries, pizza, cookies are out.

A public hearing prohibiting trans fats being held today in the KFC Corporation. The people with the buckets of fried chicken announced today it's going to stop using artery-clogging fats. Harvard researchers say trans fat contributes to 30,000 deaths a year.

So if you need to stop at an ATM before you head to lunch today, you should listen up. If the ATM isn't with your bank, you are paying more than ever in fees and surcharges.

Bankrate.com keeps track of this kind of stuff. In a survey just released, it found the average charge for using another bank's ATM is $1.64. That's up 10 cents from a year ago. Bouncing a check also costing more. The average bounced check fee hit a record high, $27.40.

Stem cell research, it's a hot topic in next week's election, thanks a large part to Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's Disease. But what's living with the disease really like? Especially when you are in the public eye?

Former U.S. attorney general Janet Reno joins Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon live to talk about how she found out she had Parkinson's and how it affects her.

That and more in the "NEWSROOM" at the top of the hour.

Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Heidi Collins.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY, I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. These are the stories that are making headlines around the world.

U.S. President George W. Bush hitting the campaign trail as next week's midterm elections draw ever closer. He's in Statesboro, Georgia today, campaigning for Max Burns, a comeback by the former Congressman would be critical for the Republican Party to keep control of the House. President Bush will be returning to Georgia, then tomorrow to campaign for another Republican House candidate.

GORANI: A bomb has ripped through the Shia section of Baghdad known as Sadr City, killing at least 26 people and wounding 60. Meanwhile, the genocide trial of former president Saddam Hussein resumes. His chief attorney broke a boycott of the proceedings, only to make a list of demands, and he warned against U.S. manipulation before walking out.

CLANCY: New research by the British government indicates unchecked global warming could leave millions of people homeless. That report also suggests global warming could shrink the world's economy by one-fifth, that's some $7 trillion dollars.

GORANI: Well, that report also says if action is taken now, it could cost just 1 percent of global GDP. How realistic are those estimates? I spoke with an University of Oxford economist Dieter Helm to get a handle on the numbers from him.

DIETER HELM, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: In my own view, that seems to be an implausibly low number. I mean, what's being asked for here is that we can transform industrialized economies from being high carbon to low carbon. We can make that entire transformation and have another three billion people on the planet by the middle of the century -- and do all of that for what is effectively a trivial sum of money...

GORANI: So Dieter Helm, if I could just jump in just in the interest of time. If you say one percent of GDP is implausibly low figure, then, what is a plausible figure?

HELM: I think it's very, very hard to come one with a precise percentage cost over that sort of time period. But if one's looking at a transition from the structure of world economies now to the structure of world economies we'll need to be in a low carbon world by 2050, this is a major effort. This is the sort of scale of exercise which is comparable, for example in the 1930s, taking a peacetime economy and turning it into a wartime economy. And it's really impossible to say it, you know, two, three, four percent. But it's going to be a number which I think is larger than this particular one which is being put out.

GORANI: I see, so, regardless of what the number is though -- regardless of the percentage of GDP is spent on climate control, where should the money be spent, where should government's prioritize the spending essentially? HELM: Well, there are two broad areas of priority. The first is to generate energy in a low carbon way. And to make much difference the problem, that means focusing on large-scale technologies. Clean coal, nuclear power, technologies further ahead like hydrogen. That's the big ticket areas. And indeed, that's the area where the United States is making by far the greatest contribution to the climate change problem. And then, at the other dimension, there are a whole series of things we are currently doing, which we shouldn't be doing, or will have to do differently. And the major area where we need to concentrate is on air transport. Air transport is devastating from a climate change perspective, and the projections in the U.S., and in Europe for the expansion of air transport are just incompatible with doing something serious about climate change.

GORANI: Alright, let me ask you again to look into the future. What happens to our economies, then, how bad will the impact be if we don't make a major effort today to avoid a catastrophe in the future?

HELM: If we do nothing, if it's business as usual, we will go from current levels of concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere to something like three times the pre-industrial level, and then we're talking about increases of temperature between two and five degrees centigrade. And at five degrees centigrade that's bigger than the difference between previous ice ages and the sort of climate that we have today. So, by the end of the century, no action is pretty catastrophic.

GORANI: Alright, quite a prediction there, Dieter Helm of Oxford University speaking to me a bit earlier -- Jim.

CLANCY: A sobering report card now on the world's hungry. The United Nations says there's been no improvement in eradicating hunger over the past decade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY (voice-over): Virtually no progress in the fight to feed the world. Tonight, 854 million people will go to bed hungry -- half of them children. Ten years ago, world leaders say they would tackle the problem with urgency and determination.

JACQUES DIOUF, FAO DIRECTOR GENERAL: We set the goal of cutting by half the number of hungry people by the year 2015. Yet, we cut by half, the investment in the sector, that is providing the livelihood to the poor.

CLANCY: Throughout the 1990s, the amount of development assistance in agriculture declined from around $9 billion a year to $5 billion. Where investments in water and irrigations were made, like here in Mozambique, there was dramatic progress. Small farmers got crops and livestock to supermarket shelves. Roads were built, linking farms to consumers, but Mozambique is an exception. In the view of many experts that almost half of the world's hungry are children is cause for great concern and action.

JIM MORRIS, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: It is not rocket science to figure out how to see that a child is fed. There's plenty of food in the world. And there are places in the world that need to have just simple additional investment of basic agricultural infrastructure so they can become productive environments.

CLANCY: While developing countries gave the world's poorest farmers about $5 billion last year, they helped their own farmers with subsidies amounting to almost a billion dollars a day.

DIOUF: Developed countries are providing around $300 billion dollars a year to support their agriculture sector. If I take cotton for example, in one country, each farmer is receiving every year, $250,000. So, how can the cotton producers of developing countries compete?

CLANCY: The answer is, they can't. While significant progress has been made in Asia, and some in Latin America, Africa remains a stubborn trouble spot in need of investment in roads, irrigation, and storage facilities. Diouf says that if world leaders don't want to invest in agriculture for the developing nations, they should do it for themselves.

DIOUF: What would happen if the 854 million people who are hungry in the world, and who were transformed into consumers with the adequate effective demand, how much they will consume in goods and services from developed countries?

CLANCY: No one knows the answer to that either, but the U.N. report makes it clear that unless world leaders want to cope with continuing emergency aid to help millions in the grip of drought and hunger, they need to invest heavily in the irrigation infrastructure and expertise needed to address the root cause of hunger around the globe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Now, on a positive note, the report says by the year 2015, 10 percent of the developing world's population will be hungry. Now, that compares with 20 percent in 1990.

GORANI: The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will reportedly face trial for corruption again. A report from the Italian News Agency says Berlusconi, along with British lawyer David Mills will face trial in connection with a $600,000 payment made by Berlusconi's family law firm. The payment was allegedly made in exchange for favorable evidence by Mills in two previous corruption trials.

CLANCY: Well, coming up a little bit later, we are going to have a report from Afghanistan.

GORANI: American soldiers speak up about the situation in that country, and what they believe to be its future.

CLANCY: Also, ahead, Fidel Castro, sending a message to his friends, and to his enemies, as well. We'll tune in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. We're seen live in more than 200 countries across the globe. This is CNN International.

Now the U.S. military has reached a somber milestone in Iraq. One hundred U.S. troops have been killed there since the beginning of October. That makes October the fourth-deadliest month since the war began three years ago. More than three years ago. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr now joining us live with that from the Pentagon.

What is being said about this milestone, Barbara, three and a half years into this conflict?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Hala, here at the Pentagon, military commanders, DOD officials, they don't really deal with the issue of milestones because they have a very strong view here that all of the deaths in Iraq are tragedies for the families of those involved. One of the questions we've asked though is, what has led to so many deaths this month? And we are hearing two things basically.

There has been an increase in sniper activity against U.S. troops. More sniper attacks and more effective sniper attacks. And still, however, the IEDs, the improvised explosive devices, are the number one killer of U.S. troops. They are seeing those continue to evolve. Military sources telling us in recent months, they're seeing a new twist on those roadside bombs, that they're also being filled with accelerant, you know, material that causes a major fire to occur that causes the massive casualties that we have seen.

Hala.

GORANI: A question about Donald Rumsfeld there. There's been a lot of sparring between Democrats and Republicans regarding Donald Rumsfeld. Is his job safe at the Pentagon?

STARR: Oh, I think so, at the moment. The president just last week said that he was satisfied with Mr. Rumsfeld's performance as defense secretary. Not only in the conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also the transformation work that the secretary's doing here to try and move the Pentagon along into being a 21st century fighting force.

Now, what may happen after the mid-term elections here in the states, if perhaps either House of Congress changes hands from Republican to Democrat, that would be something else. But at the moment, they say, the president is satisfied.

GORANI: All right, thanks very much, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is election season and, understandably, U.S. policy in Iraq comes to the fore again and again. How to understand it? Well our colleague, Michael Holmes, spoke with David Satterfield. He's the U.S. State Department's coordinator of Iraqi affairs. The interview began as Michael asked him about the recently announced benchmarks we've heard so much about that deal with key security requirements.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID SATTERFIELD, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: The situation in Iraq is extraordinary difficult and the president has spoken to the need, not just for the best possible efforts on our part, that is the coalition of the U.S. government, but leadership on the part of the Iraqis, starting with the Prime Minister Maliki. It's very important that there be clear goals and benchmarks out there on security, on the political process, including reconciliation at a national level, and on economic development, not just to give the Iraqi people, but also the American people, the international community, a sense that Iraq is willing to take the difficult decisions its leadership is willing to face up to the difficult challenges confronting the Iraqi people.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, one of the most problematic situations, we both know, is the militias. The Mehdi army, the Bata (ph) brigades. Both with Iranian links. The Bata brigade, in fact, formed in Iraq. The prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki has, let's face it, done nothing about those militias. And it's ironic that their political wings are helping support his government as members of the coalition. Is it not, frankly, absurd that these militias are operating with impunity?

SATTERFIELD: Militias are, indeed, a major part of the strategic challenge facing Iraq and facing the Iraqi people, particularly their involvement in sectarian killings in Baghdad and elsewhere, and there can be no alternate authority sources, power sources, other than the Iraqi government.

HOLMES: But there is.

SATTERFIELD: Now Prime Minister Maliki has pledged to work to dissolve militias, to end their role in sectarian violence, but those pledges need to be realized in the form of action.

HOLMES: And there must be a timetable for that. Surely the president, or your bosses, has had a word in the ear of Mr. al-Maliki that this needs to happen and soon. People are dying every single day because of militias. And in Sadr City, where the Mehdi army rules, no one goes in there.

SATTERFIELD: A reconciliation process that includes a timetable and a plan for dissolving all militias is absolutely necessary. It is very much a part of our discussions. And it needs to happen as urgently as possible.

HOLMES: Do you believe that the politics of this is playing a role, the fact that Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of SCIRI and the Badr Brigade and Muqtada al-Sadr of the Mehdi army, are both politically involved with the coalition that is running the country? So, essentially, elements of the government are the ones linked with the militias. The irony would be delicious if it wasn't so deadly.

SATTERFIELD: We certainly understand that the political circumstances on this issue are quite complex and quite difficult for the prime minister. But he is the leader of Iraq. And it is his role as a leader to take these kinds of decisions for the sake of his country and the sake of his people.

HOLMES: We're now three years more into this war. Are you concerned, also, at the performance of the Iraqi military, the numbers of soldiers recruited into the military, as one stat we hear quoted, but the reality is that at any given time more than a quarter of them are awol. You've got battalions and brigades that won't serve in various parts of the country. Refuse to. And when they get into a fight, quite often their performance is less than perfect. The only time the military has taken on a militia, for example, was Dewanira (ph) a couple of months ago and they essentially got smacked around.

SATTERFIELD: Well, that's not correct. The Iraqi army has taken on elements of all militias, including the Jashelmadi (ph), on a daily basis in and around Baghdad and have done so for the last several months. The army does have very high performing units, high performing elements. But Iraqi security forces as a hole need to have the ability, as well as the order, to take the lead.

HOLMES: One of your colleagues, one of the senior State Department people, Dr. Philip Zelikow, was quoted in a memorandum not that long ago saying that there is the potential for Iraq to become, in his words, a catastrophic failure. What evidence is there that this is not already happening?

SATTERFIELD: Well, I'm not going to comment on reports of confidential memoranda. What I will say is this. Success in Iraq is extremely important. Important for the Iraqi people above all, but also important for the U.S. people and for this administration. For that to happen, for success to be achieved, the Iraqi government is going to have to lead. It's going to have to lead on security, on the political track, and it's going to have to lead in helping to regrow the country economically.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Michael Holmes there, who just recently returned from a stint in Baghdad, seeing the situation firsthand, on the ground, and who knows a lot of the players there very well, engaging with David Satterfield, the U.S. State Department's coordinator for Iraq.

GORANI: All right, let's turn to Afghanistan now. NATO there says at least 55 insurgents, suspected insurgents, were killed during a firefight in the south. One peacekeeper was reported killed. Thousands of U.S. soldiers are serving with forces there, focusing on reconstruction and counterterrorism operations. CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is imbedded with the U.S. Army and spoke to soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division. Here's their take on the situation in Afghanistan in their own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all for this war. This is where we need to be. Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost and this is where I think we should be fighting this war on terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hear to fight for the right for them to say and feel however they want to feel. They can like us here, not like us here, but when it all comes down to it, if we ever become attacked again in our homeland, they're going to want us right back over here.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): What will it take to win that war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to take the government of Afghanistan standing on their own two feet and taking the flag from us. Taking the fight from us. Kind of like in the picture where it portrayed us taking the flag over from the firemen in New York City. Well, it's going to be taken from us by the Afghan government. And it might take 20 years. It might take five years. It's going to take as long as it takes and we're here for the push.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pullout now would be -- we'd be failing the people of Afghanistan. Not only would we be failing the people back home, but we'd be failing the people of Afghanistan because there's a chance. There's a good chance that they're going to be successful and it's going to work out. But it takes time to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We pull out, we'll give the Taliban a sense of victory. If we give them a sense of victory, they'll be like, OK, let's go hit them on their turf. And then it's just 9/11 all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back home, they talk about the loss, it's too great. Well to me, that's right, the loss is too great. The loss is too great to quit now, because everyone that we've lost, would be for nothing if they pulled us out now.

We went in there with an objective, a goal, a mission. And in a war you lose soldiers, but to quit? It's going to create, in the public's perception, another Vietnam, another failed war. And I don't want to have that feeling. Those veterans lived with, for years, they were failures, that the public, losing its backing of the military, you know, cost us that war. We're here, let us finish our jobs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right. In their own words.

GORANI: Jennifer Eccleston reporting there.

A lot more coming up here on YOUR WORLD TODAY. Proof of life?

CLANCY: Many people, friends and enemies had written him off months ago.

GORANI: But the Cuban leader Fidel Castro is anxious to show the world he's not about to go quietly. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Now to Cuba. Many have speculated that the island nation would be transitioning to a new leader by now, with Fidel Castro out of sight for any kind of a long period.

GORANI: Well some suspected Mr. Castro had actually died. But as Morgan Neill reports, el presidente is apparently very much alive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cuban leader Fidel Castro doesn't have to wonder what they'll say about him when he's gone, he's already heard it time and time again.

Rumors of Castro's death pop up whenever he's out of the public eye. By now, he knows how to dispel those rumors. In a new video broadcast on Cuban television Saturday evening, Castro appears to relish the opportunity.

"Now, when our enemy has declared me dying or dead," he says, "it gives me pleasure to send this little video to my countrymen and friends around the world." Wearing a track suit in the colors of Cuba's flag, he's seen walking and reading aloud from the day's newspapers. While he looked better than he did in his last appearance six weeks ago, the Cuban leader is still thin and his walking is obviously labored.

(on camera): Castro was forced to hand over power to his brother Raul on July 31st, following what the state said was surgery to stop intestinal bleeding. But even before the procedure, he showed the effects of his age. The leader, now 80-years-old.

(voice-over): In the streets of the capital, most people said they haven't seen the new video. There were a few who had. "His ability to keep going is impressive," says Yavida (ph). "He's passed through his illness very well."

Manuel, a cab driver, says he looks good. The problem is the United States and the American mafia. They are playing with his life and saying he's dead. And it's all a lie.

Cuban officials insist Fidel Castro is recovering and will reassume the presidency. Many observers are looking toward December 2nd, the date set by Castro for a belated birthday celebration as the day he could make his first public appearance since surgery. For now, the ailing leader is content to jab at his opponents. "Now, we'll see what they say. They are going to have to bring me back to life," he said. At least, until the next set of rumors come around. Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Looking a little frail. That has to be it for this hour. I'm Jim Clancy. GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. Thank you for watching. This is CNN. Stay with us.

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