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Your World Today
Plane Crash in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Cuban Oil: Exploration Heats Up; Iran, U.S. Vie for Control of Iraq Intelligence
Aired March 07, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Flames and dark smoke fill the sky after a plane crash in Indonesia. What caused the tragedy? And how did most on board survive?
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Iraq's hidden war, far from the combat zones. Iran and the U.S. wage a high-stakes battle of wits.
GORANI: So close, yet so far. American companies can only sit and watch as other world powers hunt for oil off Cuba.
CLANCY: Lady Liberty versus the Pyramids of Egypt? Why a famous statue faces some tough competition to enter the ranks of modern wonder.
It's midnight right now in Jakarta. It is noon in Havana and New York.
Hello and welcome, everyone, to our report broadcast around the globe.
I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.
From Yogyakarta to New York, to Najaf, in Iraq, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: It almost seems each day brings word of a new disaster of one form or another in Indonesia.
GORANI: Well, they're earthquakes, tsunamis, ferry accidents, just some of the tragedies, both natural and manmade, to strike Indonesia in recent days, weeks and months.
CLANCY: Now you can add to that list a plane crash.
GORANI: Now, authorities say 23 people died when a packed airliner overshot a runway and crash-landed into a rice patty field. But most of those on board the flight into Yogyakarta actually survived by leaping from emergency exits to escape the burning wreckage.
Daniel Rivers is on the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Within seconds of overshooting the runway, Garuda Airlines Flight 200 was an inferno. This remarkable video was taken by a news cameraman who was aboard. Moments after, he'd scrambled out. In spite of his injuries, he manages to film the awful scenes behind him.
Inside the burning fuselage, passengers who weren't so quick. Many horribly burnt, stretchered (ph) away by rescuers who fought the flames for two hours. But, incredibly, many did make it out alive.
RUTH BAMGGADAN, CRASH SURVIVOR: We were about to land. And the plane was going lower and lower. But unlike the usual process of landing, we got turbulences (ph). Even when we were just only a little above the roofs of houses.
And suddenly we got (ph) like a bomb. And then we hit the ground for a while. And when it stopped, I already see fire outside of the plane. I sat on the right side of the plane, so the fire was outside the window.
RIVERS: Among the 140 passengers and crew were nine Australians preparing for a visit by foreign minister Alexander Downer. They included embassy officials, police officers and journalists.
ALEXANDER DOWNER, AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: We have no reason to believe this accident was as a result of sabotage or terrorist attack or anything like that. It does look like just a straight accident, where the aircraft apparently ran off the end of the runway.
RIVERS: Hospitals in Yogyakarta were inundated with more than 90 injured passengers and crew, with distressed relatives desperately praying for good news.
(on camera): What caused this plane to catastrophically overshoot the runway and burst into flames is still not clear. It's possible it was simply coming in too fast along the runway, skidding off the end and smashing through this fence. It is also possible there was a problem with the landing gear.
Either way, the Indonesian president has now ordered an urgent investigation as to why this flight ended in such horrible tragedy.
(voice over): On New Year's Day, an identical Boeing 737-400 operated by Adam Air mysteriously plunged into the sea of Sulawesi, killing all 102 people aboard. Now there are renewed concerns about Indonesia's air safety record.
The key question: Was this mechanical failure or pilot error?
Dan Rivers, CNN, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Now, this air disaster comes as Indonesia is struggling to cope with a powerful earthquake that rattled the island of Sumatra. Relatives setting about burying the dead on Wednesday, even as relief workers were still clearing debris and distributing emergency aid. At least 52 people are known to have died, including some young children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My daughter could still look at me, but she could not speak. I held her and felt that she was still strong, but then blood flowed from her face and she was gone. She died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck on Tuesday. It was followed by an aftershock that was nearly that strong. The tremor was felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore.
GORANI: All right. Well, taking you to Iraq now, and Shia pilgrims are defying continued insurgent attacks, and still heading to the Iraqi holy city of Karbala. Shiite security forces are doing their best to watch over them as the pilgrims run a gauntlet of violence through some Sunni-dominated areas.
Now, at least 17 people were killed today, Wednesday. This comes a day after more than 100 Shiite pilgrims were killed in attacks across Iraq. The bloodiest came in Hilla, when two suicide bombers attacked a crowd of Shiites marching to Karbala to observe a religious ritual this weekend.
CLANCY: All right, Hala. Let's check some of the other stories that are making news around the world right now.
(NEWSBREAK)
GORANI: Well, China's going to become a very important economic power all over the world, and the U.S. Treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, is there. He's making a pitch for Beijing to drop its trade barriers.
On Wednesday, he met Chinese premiere Wu Yi for talks at the airport before flying to Shanghai. That is China's commercial capital.
There is pressure from the Democratic-controlled Congress to address the U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a record $232 billion last year. Now, Paulson is also urging China to loosen currency controls that make Chinese goods relatively cheap and adds to that trade imbalance.
CLANCY: Now, China, like other nations, needs energy, of course, to fuel its booming economy. And the search for resources has led it to Cuba, which holds substantial reserves of crude and natural gas.
GORANI: But why is the United States ignoring a set of billion- dollar oilfields right next door?
Morgan Neill has our story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tattered as it may be, the Chinese flag already flies over some small oil rigs on Cuban soil. Now many in the U.S. government fear China could soon move into the Florida Straits in search of bigger oil reserves.
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Right next door, stand on a high place in the lower Florida Keys and some day you may see an oil rig, and it won't be ours. It could be Red China's.
NEILL: A U.S. Geological Survey study in 2005 indicated the North Cuba Basin could hold substantial deep water reserves of crude and natural gas. Nothing like the huge deposits of the Middle East, but much closer to U.S. shores.
China has already been drilling onshore in Cuba for years. Offshore, Canada, Spain, Norway and India have all bought rights to plots off Cuba's northwestern coast.
JONATHAN BENJAMIN ALVARADO, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: And we are actually...
NEILL: Professor Jonathan Benjamin Alvarado is an expert on Cuban energy policy.
ALVARADO: There's a potential for investment in the billions of dollars on the part of the United States, especially in the energy infrastructure.
NEILL: That can't happen as long as the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba remains. Embargo supporters say it keeps money from the coffers of Fidel Castro's government. But as one proponent of trade with the island points out, U.S. competitors face no such obstacle.
KIRBY JONES, U.S.-CUBA TRADE ASSOC.: They're going to get their oil. It's a question whether they get it in partnership with India, Canada and Spain, or in partnership with the United States. So, our relevance to their economic future is getting less and less each month and each year as other companies from around the world step in.
NEILL: If there's one industry with the influence to seriously threaten the embargo, it would seem to be big oil.
(on camera): But for now, the embargo stands in the way of a sector start (ph) for new opportunities, and the clock is ticking. Currently, Cuba is still selling plots here off the coast. But once drilling begins, other sections could disappear quickly.
(voice over): And that could happen soon.
ALVARADO: I would say that within the next two to three years we could legitimately see oil drilling.
NEILL: Analysts say a partnership with U.S. companies would make a lot of business sense in terms of technology and proximity. But the decision on whether U.S. companies will take part or leave the field open to rivals like China won't come from Havana, but Washington.
Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right.
Now, the man who helped create the U.S. wine market has died. Ernest Gallo, he was a pioneer and a giant among winemakers.
In 1933, he and his brother Julio founded Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery in the California town of Modesto. Now, their business grew at the time from three employees to eventually become the world's largest winemaking empire. Now they've lost that title to a New York state company, but are still a name to be reckoned with in that business.
CLANCY: Now, Ernest Gallo's contributions to winemaking made California's vineyards famous all around the world.
GORANI: Well, that leads us to our "Question of the Day" today. And there's much debate in France and Europe, all over the world. Do you think California wines measure up to other wines from around the world?
CLANCY: What do you think? Send us your comments to yourviews@cnn.com.
We're going to read some of these out on the air.
GORANI: And definitely California wines have become more successful over the last decade. And French winemakers are feeling the heat as well from California and from Australia.
CLANCY: All right.
GORANI: Both those regions.
So, anyway, e-mail us with your thoughts.
Now, at least two mega-size celebrations are going on today.
CLANCY: Presumably in or around Dalton, Georgia, and Woodbine, New Jersey.
GORANI: All right. Not too far from here, one of those tickets was bought. And we know that's where winning tickets were sold.
And get this -- how much is the jackpot? $370 million. The biggest lottery prize in U.S. history.
But there's a little problem. There was a glitch in California's reporting system, and it means that that state's results are not yet final. So, there could be additional winners.
CLANCY: Now, brisk ticket sales pushed the jackpot $7 million over the previous lottery record. Organizers deciding to move the drawing from its normal location, right here in Atlanta, to Times Square in New York City.
And there you see them. Those are the winning numbers. Pretty hard to hit those -- that many numbers.
GORANI: I'm telling you. It's good to always have the same ones...
CLANCY: That it was easy...
GORANI: ... because then you can be reassured every time that you wouldn't have won.
Anyway, we have a lot more coming up here on YOUR WORLD TODAY after a short break.
The U.S. and Iran battle for influence over Iraq's intelligence apparatus. And so far, it looks like the U.S. is losing.
CLANCY: And then a little bit later, "INSIGHT" is going to explain why the road to winning the hearts and minds in Afghanistan runs right through this dam in the restless Helmand Province.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. You're with CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: A special welcome to our viewers in the United States.
We're giving you some perspective that goes a little bit deeper into the stories of the day. Certainly the relations between Iran and the U.S. are cause for concern both in Washington and Tehran. And now...
GORANI: With Iraq in the middle, Iran has confirmed it will send a representative to Saturday's international conference on Iraq. It will be the first public encounter of U.S. and Iranian envoys since 2004.
CLANCY: Now, we've got to be realistic. Representatives of the U.S. and Iran are going to be sitting face to face in Baghdad, yes, but it certainly won't be seeing eye to eye when it comes to the future of Iraq, and the strategies.
GORANI: Now, their latest conflict deals with control over Iraq's intelligence. As Michael Ware tells us, it's a battle the U.S. is in danger of losing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the face of the intelligence wars here, an Iraqi officer unable to show his identity amid the shambles of his agency's southern headquarters. It was stormed not by insurgents or Shia militia, but by coalition troops and Iraqi special forces who suspect he's working for another side. It's a scene far from the other Iraq war on TV screens of roadside bombs, suicide attacks and firefights. This is a conflict waged in the hidden world of espionage, between intelligence agencies sponsored by the CIA and Iran.
It's about who controls Iraqi intelligence. And it's a battle the U.S. risks losing.
It's all here in this document from Iraq's National Security Council. In these pages, the blueprint for the nation's new intelligence community. A blueprint that would merge all intelligence gathering under Iraqi government control, a government heavily influenced by Iran.
It would be a damaging blow to the CIA, which since the fall of Saddam's regime has built its largest station in the world here. U.S. intelligence sources tell CNN the agency has around 500 offices. More than the CIA presence in Saigon during the Vietnam War.
At stake is control of an organization ensconced inside this heavily-defended building, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, or INIS. It's headed by this man, Mohammed Abdullah Shehwani, a man so secretive, this is one of the few known photographs of him.
Appointed three years ago by the U.S., military and intelligence sources say Shehwani's INIS is funded completely by the CIA. Though an Iraqi agency, not one cent comes from the government in Baghdad.
Top Iraqi government officials complain the agency is beyond Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's control. But now the Shia-led government is trying to assert that control.
Shehwani, currently under Iraqi government investigation over unspecified corruption allegations, has not been seen in the country for at least three months. U.S. ally and former prime minister Ayad Allawi says Shehwani is being unfairly targeted.
AYAD ALLAWI, FMR. IRAQ PRIME MINISTER: I don't know whether it's an attack on the U.S. intelligence, but definitely it's an attack, a political attack against Shehwani.
WARE: One of Shehwani's rivals is this man, Shirwan al-Wa'eli, Iraq's minister for national security, here on a recent tour of Baghdad neighborhoods. He leads the agencies that over the past two years, according to U.S. intelligence, has grown to almost 3,000 operatives. The goal, to compete with the CIA. And under the new intelligence plan, this agency is set to grow even more, with the minister applauding his relationship with Iran and distancing himself from the U.S.
SHIRWAN KAMIL AL-WA'ELI, MINISTER OF STATE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY (through translator): Multinational forces are in Iraq. And they're supportive on the security issue. And we have a good relationship with them. But we do not bargain Iraq to any side. The Americans give us only moral support, not logistical support. WARE: While the CIA-backed agency suffers, this ministry has become an intelligence organization the American government and its allies never meant it to be.
CNN's repeated requests for on-the-record comments from the U.S. military, embassy and intelligence agencies in Iraq went unanswered.
Meanwhile, the intelligence plan is due to go to the Iraqi parliament. And what happens there may be every bit as important as the battles on the streets of Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right. Well, Michael Ware joins us now live from Baghdad to follow up on his report.
I suppose the question is, Michael, what are the long-term effects if Americans end up completely losing control of this intelligence apparatus in Iraq? What are the long-term effects for the U.S.?
WARE: Well, this is strictly through the prism, Hala, of American interests. And in terms of everything that America has invested in this country, in terms of treasure and the blood of its service personnel, a lot is at stake.
And in this story, what we're seeing is the lid being peeled off a secret world we rarely get to see. We see organizations the CIA created during the administration of U.S. pro-counsel Paul Bremer and forced upon the Iraqis. We then see them with the help of Iran develop a rival intelligence agency. This is for the future of Iraq's intelligence community.
GORANI: All right. Michael Ware, live in Baghdad.
Thank you, Michael -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right, coming up, we're going to head to New York to get the latest on business news.
GORANI: Now, can the Dow Jones build on its best one-day rally in months in the wake of higher oil prices?
And then, we will take you to northern Ireland, where voters have a say in once and for all ending decades of political strife.
You're with CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
GORANI: Hopes are high that today's election in Northern Ireland will pave the way for a power-sharing government. Voters are choosing a new national assembly. But it's only a first step, and the assembly itself may be disbanded if it can't come to terms in sharing power by March 26th.
Let's get more perspective on Northern Ireland's elections and what's at stake. We're joined now from Belfast by my colleague Finnoula Sweeney.
Finnoula, what is exactly at stake here at voter goes to the polls in Northern Ireland?
FINNOULA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, for the last three or four years, Northern Ireland has been ruled directly from Westminster in London, whereas up until then, under the Good Friday Agreement, there had been local self-government, and what is at stake today is whether or not voters decide that they can return to self- government.
The outcome is really quite certain. We know that the Protestant DUP party under Ian Paisley is likely to garner the most votes. He's perhaps the most extreme of the hardline Protestant parties. On the other side of the political and religious divide is Sinn Fein. They are likely to get the second highest number of votes.
So the outcome we know is pretty certain, but the question is, can they do a deal? Ian Paisley says it is not yet time, that Sinn Fein hasn't moved as closely toward its policies as it would like. And the results should be known on Friday officially, and then the Northern Ireland secretary, Pija Hayne (ph), will sit down with the political parties and give them less than three weeks to hammer out an agreement for self-rule to return to Northern Ireland, or else Northern Ireland will be ruled indefinitely from Westminster. And while that may not seem a huge political loss in itself to some people, it might breathe life into the paramilitaries here once more -- Hala.
GORANI: A lot at stake there. It's either essentially self- reliance or continuing to be ruled by the UK. Were voters very passionate about this? Was it a high turnout today?
GORANI: Well, actually projected voter is at around 61 percent. It has been 63 percent in the past. And I suppose there is a degree of apathy among voters here, because since the historic Good Friday agreement of 1997, which was ratified by the public here a year later, voters have been told, many, many times -- this is the 10th election in Northern Ireland since then, that this is historic. election. So they're growing a little weary of that.
But perhaps a sign that things are returning to some degree of normality in Northern Ireland, one of the fears on the nationalist side for low voter turnout is the fact there are several crucial football matches taking place tonight involves Manchester United, Arsenal, and also the Scottish Celtic team, which is a hugely nationalist Catholic side in Scotland, as well as in Northern Ireland, so the fear among the nationalist side is that their vote might even go down further today, because there will be too many people at the pubs watching football matches.
GORANI: All right, well, soccer definitely igniting passions there in the U.K. and Northern Ireland, and perhaps keeping some people away from the polls.
Thank you, Finnoula Sweeney, live in Belfast -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right, let's take a couple of minutes here and look at the developments out of the Middle East. For the second time in the past week, Israeli soldiers conducted a raid into the Palestinian territories.
This overnight raid came against the Palestinian military intelligence headquarters. Israeli soldiers outside called for wanted suspects to turn themselves in, they came out of the building, and all Israel netted 18 fugitives. Some of them had been wanted for years, were members of an offshoot of President Abbas's Fatah Party, the Al- Aqsa Martyr's Brigade. Israel says this compound has been used as a hideout by the militants, and that the Palestinian Authority took absolutely no action. Witnesses say the Israeli soldiers searched the compound and took evidence. No reports of anybody being injured in that.
Members of the U.S. Congress heard an impassioned and eloquent plea for help from an old friend in the past hour. Jordan's King Abdullah II wants the U.S. to take the lead in efforts to try to restart is the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
U.S. affairs editor Jill Dougherty is following the king's visit. She joins us now live with a little bit more.
Jill, quite a good speech and quite a good reception from members of Congress, but what comes of it?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Jim, it really was, as you said, impassioned and emotional. And this is a man who can speak that way to an American audience. After all, as a teenager he studied in the United States, in Massachusetts, and right from the beginning, he spoke of, quote, "the America I know so well." That familiarity gives him an unusual ability to make his case, which is, no one can live with the status quo in the Middle East. The status quo is pulling the world toward increasing danger, and this is a moment of opportunity, he said. No one can be a bystander in the 21st century.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING ABDULLAH II, JORDAN: Your responsibility today is paramount. Your potential to hemp Palestinians and Israelis find peace is unrivalled. This is because the people of the region still regard the United States as the key to peace. The one country most capable of bringing the two sides closer together, holding them accountable and making a just settlement reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: King Abdullah said although the issue of Iraq is important, the core issue is Palestine, and the effort to create a viable Palestinian state. He said, there is now a movement in the Arab world to revive the Arab Peace Initiative, begun in 2002, to provide security guarantees for Israel and to establish a viable Palestinian state.
King Abdullah didn't speak in generalities or political platitudes. He evoked vivid images of people in the street, both in the Middle East and around the world, urging the U.S. Congress to, quote, "Let them have a life of peace."
Jim?
CLANCY: All right, Jill Dougherty, reporting to us there live from Washington. Latest on King Abdullah of Jordan's impassioned speech this day. Thank you.
GORANI: All right, NATO launches Operation Achilles to end the resistance in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
CLANCY: I know they did it last year, but, well, it's kind of complicated. We'll get some insight to straighten it all out.
And then later...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's now up to the population around the globe to decide what will be the new seven wonders of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, people complained that the new nominees for the new list of the seven wonders of the world can't hold a candle to the old ones. But, hey, at least they're still around. We'll bring you the complete list. You can vote, too.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back. You're watching "YOUR WORLD TODAY" right here on CNN International.
GORANI: All right, welcome to our American viewers, as well, part of the 200 countries that see this show. NATO forces in Afghanistan are fighting the Taliban militants in the second day of the alliance's largest ever offensive there. The fighting is taking place in the southern Helmand province. As the offensive gets under way, one of the most important battles is for something as unexciting and important as electricity.
Jonathan Mann joins us now with some insight -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In just about every war fought in Afghanistan for the last half of the century, one big dam in Helmand province has been either a target or a prize. Now NATO is hoping that it can use the dam to generate electricity and do something more, find support from the Afghan people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. TON VAN-LOON, NATO/ISAF REGIONAL COMMANDER: This operation is for you. There are challenging times ahead, but this operation is our first step for building a better future in Northern Helmand, one in which ordinary Afghans in this area will see a fundamental improvement in their quality of life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: High in the mountains of the south of the country, Kajaki is the biggest dam in Afghanistan. It has a span of 900 feet across the Helmand River, and creates an irrigation reservoir, you can see, enormous, goes back 32 miles, some 50 kilometers. Kajaki was originally built during the Cold War by the Soviet Union, and upgraded into a power station by the U.S. Its transmission lines were destroyed, though, by the U.S.-backed anti-Soviet Mujahadin, then repaired by the Taliban, and then knocked out again in the war that toppled the Taliban.
British troops control the dam itself, and the U.S. has funded an overhaul, but they're fighting there because they need more than just the dam. They need to reopen roads through Taliban-controlled territory and to protect the new transmission lines that they plan to build.
CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is embedded with British troops nearby.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, the fighting has been particularly fierce around the Kajaki Dam, according to commanders here. Soldiers have been fighting at such close quarters with the Taliban, that they'd had to fission bayonets, just fighting a few feet apart. The Taliban have been using the land, the terrain, because they know it well. They've got tunnels built between various positions, but the commanders so far say they are very satisfied and happy with the results. So far they they'd had at least one decisive engagement with the Taliban. One British soldier has been killed, however, so far in the first day of Operation Achilles.
The operation around the dam, the Kajaki Dam, spreads for about 150 square kilometers. The aim to provide enough stability so that this dam can be refurbished. It has two power turbines at the moment to produce electricity, and it's producing electricity for about 300,000 people. Those turbines will be refurbished. Another turbine will very likely be put into place in the dam. That will provide electricity for about 1.7 million people, we're told, according to NATO officials. This is something the Afghan government has asked NATO to help them with. This operation, we understand, will likely take at least several weeks, refurbishing the dam. Refurbishing the Kajaki dam, however, will likely take the next several years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: So as the NATO offensive progresses, keep Kajaki in mind. It may be the best measure of how much success NATO really has, not only defeating the Taliban, but maybe more important in winning support of its own.
Back to you.
CLANCY: All right, Jonathan Mann there, and a very important story, one that we can keep an eye on, and measure some of the progress here. You know, this offensive has been threatened from the Taliban side, and now NATO forces trying to gain the upper hand.
Well, something completely different here. A bit of a mopping up operation under way in New York City. It seems British supermodel, actress and bad girl Naomi Campbell is going to have to report to the New York City Sanitation Department to complete her community service later this month. A judge sentenced her to five days of service as punishment for throwing her mobile phone at her housekeeper. And other employees said she wasn't much fun to work for. Weather will apparently not be a factor. Naomi is going to be deciding her outfit for her community service. She said that she may be sweeping up or even mopping floors somewhere indoors. The cell phone photos will come later.
All right, coming up this hour, the clock's ticking on your chance to have a part in changing history.
GORANI: Well, one of the most famous lists in the world is getting an update. Find out how long you have left to vote for the new seven wonders of the world. And -- get a bit of a taste there -- which sites are still in contention?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, President George Bush leaves Thursday, tomorrow, for a weeklong tour of Latin America. He wants to show the region that it is not off of Washington's radar, among other things. Mr. Bush just finished an interview with CNN Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez who joins us now from the White House, with a preview of what the president told you in this interview.
Juan Carlos?
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN ESPANOL ANCHOR: Yes, Hala, we just spoke to the president, different topics, mostly concentrated on his trip to Latin America. He will first go to Brazil, then Paraguay, Columbia, Guatemala and Mexico.
He talked about the different initiatives that the government has, and he says that they haven't done a very good job of making people aware of the U.S. presence in the region. And he says that he doesn't agree with those who say that he has neglected Latin America during the past six years.
But he says, his message is one of hope. He talked about free trade, and the free trade, of the impact that he believes free trade might have in people's lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I also know that trade enhances the wealth of all people. It is in our interest that Mexico generate wealth. That people can make a living. If you are a person deeply concerned about immigration, and as you know this is a hot issue here in the United States, it -- doesn't it make sense to encourage trade so that people can find a job at home, rather than feel compelled to try to find work elsewhere?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOPEZ: He says that he faces -- or, free trade faces protectionism, not only in Latin America, where a lot of people feel that free trade with the U.S. is one-sided, but also in the U.S., where a lot of people feel that free trade with the region isn't good.
GORANI: Now, Juan Carlos, did the president say anything about the new political landscape in Latin America, with countries, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, with new leftist leaders there in power. Is this something that he made comments on that concerns him or the administration?
LOPEZ: Well, I began the interview asking why he is going right now. Why is he going when Democrats control the Congress and why such a long trip.
He said, and he said that it's important for the region to see that he cares. He believes that even though countries have elected leftist leaders, that the U.S. can have a dialogue with the region, and that he respects -- that's what he said, that he respects countries that elect their leaders freely, and it didn't seem to be an issue.
I asked him if this trip was a counter offensive to the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and he says it wasn't. It's just U.S. foreign policy, U.S. trying to make inroads in the region.
GORANI: All right, Juan Carlos Lopez, thanks very much, reporting there from the White House.
Jim?
CLANCY: All right, he's probably hoping that he travels a little bit, get out of that snow in Washington, head for Latin America.
Now, if you love to travel, or even imagine yourself from far away lands, no doubt you have at least some opinion on the world's most incredible sites. Well, organizers want your input as they compile a list of the new seven wonders of the world.
With the contest and the final stages now, we spoke today with the founder and the president of new seven wonders, Bernard Weber.
BERNARD WEBER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, NEW7WONDERS: We're here to promote the U.S. candidate, which is the Statue of Liberty. So this is our final stop. And we hope to encourage all Americans to vote for their icon.
CLANCY: Well -- people, that's what sets this apart from, you know, other classifications, if you will, of the seven wonders of the world. This is something that's going to be by popular choice.
WEBER: That's correct. It's now up to the population around the globe to decide what will be the new seven wonders of the world.
CLANCY: All right. A little bit of controversy, Bernard, this year, when we heard from Zahi Hawass, who is of course, the supreme director of antiquities for Egypt saying that the pyramids shouldn't even be in a contest like this. Let's listen first to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHI HAWASS, SUPREME DIRECTOR OF ANTIQUITIES FOR EGYPT: The pyramids has to be away from this list completely. The pyramids are still existing onto today, as a symbol, the symbol of the genius of the ancient people, and we should not put them in any modern list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Shouldn't be in a modern list like this one -- what do you think?
WEBER: Well, you know, I basically agree, personally, because I believe that the pyramids of Egypt is the last remaining wonder of the ancient wonders. And I basically agree. But the problem is it's not up to me to decide. It's up to the people and the world, to suggestion to the panel who decide. It's going to be in the 21 finalists.
CLANCY: Well, so, he might argue, others might argue that, you know, it is archaeologists and others that should make up this list. What's the rationale for saying it should be ordinary people?
WEBER: Well, you know, this is the first time we have the opportunity to have a global vote, and by the way, also to invite children. This is the first time children can vote. And they vote out of passion, not out of nationalism. So, this is the first-time opportunity. And I think we should seize that opportunity, so that everybody can decide what the new seven wonders should be and not some government, not some individuals, not some institutions.
CLANCY: But you are going to have controversy over that, as well. Already, the Parthenon in Greece, out of the running. Hard to imagine.
WEBER: Well, it was not in the ancient seven wonders to start with, and I agree. It probably should be up there, because it was not in the ancient wonders list. But again, it's up to the people. And if the Greeks don't step up for themselves, then, you know, we hope that the rest of the world will, but that's to be seen. CLANCY: All right, but you know, as people look at this thing, they wonder, you know, the Statue of Liberty isn't that old. The Sydney Opera House, certainly a beautiful piece of architecture, but who is out there voting? Who is the most active?
WEBER: Well, the most active, it's like a wave around the world. So, we see different countries stepping up at different times. And first of all, the most important thing is that we have this huge community of children around the world, who are totally objective.
So, we have had the United States being top voters a couple of weeks ago, and yet the Statue of Liberty wasn't up, it was in the bottom seven. So, really we are here to encourage Americans and living abroad, living around the world to step up for the Statue of Liberty.
CLANCY: And you do that everyone by voting. You go on the worldwide web to new7wonders.com, that's N-E-W 7 wonders.com and there you can see all about this project. As it moves forward, 7/7/07 is the date when the results come out. You got about 122 days left to vote.
I want to thank you very much, Bernard Weber for being with us.
All right. That has to be it for this hour. I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN and CNN International. A lot more news straight ahead.
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