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Your World Today
Judge Rules Wilson Should be Released From Prison; Albania Shows Admiration for President Bush
Aired June 11, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The petitioner, it says, obviously talking about Generalow Wilson, is hereby sentenced to 12 months to serve with credit for time served. Well, he's already been in for two years.
What that means is that he's essentially sprung. He's free.
And boy, the reaction, Tony, when that last page that I'm reading to you now came over and that was read by the attorney, the jubilation, the reaction, the tears from his mother is really something to see. This has been an ongoing fight for an awful long time by these attorneys and by this mother.
And at that very moment, it really captured the sense of relief that they felt. We will be sharing that with you momentarily, as soon as we're able to turn the tape around -- Tony.
HARRIS: Well, you know what? Hey, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Yes, go ahead, Tony.
HARRIS: Hey, Rick, we are actually -- your team has been great. We are actually watching the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B.J. BERNSTEIN, ATTORNEY: Yes!
SANCHEZ: Read us what it says. Can you read it to us?
BERNSTEIN: Habeas Corpus is granted.
SANCHEZ: The sentence is void. That means he's cleared. That means he's cleared.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Rick, I have got so many questions. First of all, what is it that you think this judge responded to in the filing, in the brief? And then I want to ask you what it was like in those hours leading up to the decision and what kind of spirits that team was in.
SANCHEZ: By the way, I think there is an interview coming up with Juanessa right here. And we tried to get her reaction. If you guys -- let me know when that's ready.
HARRIS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Let me know when you guys have that ready and I will stop talking and you guys can get it. But essentially, Tony...
HARRIS: There it is. Here it is. Here it is, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It must be incredible relief for you right now. Do you feel -- explain to us in the best words you can why you feel what this judge has done is the right thing for your son.
JUANESSA BENNETT, GENARLOW WILSON'S MOTHER: Because it is the right thing.
SANCHEZ: Why?
BENNETT: Because he didn't deserve to have the sexual predator status on top of him.
SANCHEZ: Your son is not a sexual predator.
BENNETT: No.
SANCHEZ: Your son you believe did not deserve to go to prison for 10 years.
BENNETT: No.
SANCHEZ: Why did they make him go through this?
BENNETT: I don't even know.
SANCHEZ: What do you say to Judge Thomas Wilson, who has made this decision?
BENNETT: He has got a lot of heart. And god bless him.
SANCHEZ: You are grateful.
BENNETT: I am.
SANCHEZ: What are you going to say to your son with you finally see him?
BENNETT: I don't even know right now.
BERNSTEIN: Let's go tell him.
SANCHEZ: How happy are you?
BENNETT: Lord, I'm happy.
SANCHEZ: Congratulations.
BERNSTEIN: Come on.
SANCHEZ: Congratulations.
BERNSTEIN: Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Oh, Rick, talk to us about that moment. Talk to us about the moments leading up to that decision, as we see Juanessa and B.J. sprint for the cameras.
Just talk us through it.
SANCHEZ: Well, you have been following this case for a long time. And so have I.
This is -- this is an interesting case, because this young man did something stupid. OK?
But guess what? When you are 17 years old, you do stupid things. However -- and here's the question that I think everyone from "The New York Times," to former president Jimmy Carter, to the owner of the Dallas Mavericks has been asking, 10 years for a stupid act by a young man with a consenting act with another teenager -- it essentially is two teenagers having sex, but there is an antiquated law on the books that used to say that any time a 15-year-old has sex with any other person, then that other person has to be charged as if he was a rapist.
HARRIS: And Rick, that was a set of laws passed in the middle '90s, when everyone was trying to get tough and be tough on crime. And the Clinton administration went along with it. It was a part of a package here in Georgia called the Seven Deadly Sins. And this was one of the laws, and the aggravated child molestation law was what he was convicted under.
SANCHEZ: Until they looked at it again after this case and they said, come on, a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old having sex doesn't really fit the standard of an aggressive sexual act or an aggravated sexual act. So we probably should change this. And that's exactly what they did.
They changed the law, and now it's just a minor -- it's a misdemeanor. So, what they are arguing and what they have won on now, as the merits of the case seem to state in this ruling that I'm looking at right here, Tony, is just what you had intimated earlier. And that is, if this young man committed this act yesterday or tomorrow, he would get a misdemeanor charge with no more than one year in prison. But because the rule wasn't changed when he did it, he's getting 10 years and has to live the rest of his life as a sexual batterer or sexual criminal.
And that's what they were fighting, and that's what they are saying is basically crime...
HARRIS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Is basically unusual punishment against him. And that's the reason that the judge seems to have gone in this direction.
HARRIS: And Rick, the legislature didn't just sort of reduce the -- keep the law essentially the same and reduced the penalty. They gutted it and made the same crime a misdemeanor.
SANCHEZ: Oh, there's no question. They gutted the law, but they didn't grandfather him in.
HARRIS: Didn't make it retroactive.
SANCHEZ: See, they didn't -- given the fact that it was this young man's case that made us change this law, one would think they would say well, then, let's grandfather this young man's case in.
HARRIS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Instead, they say, from now on the penalty will be this. But sorry, Generalow Wilson, you have to stay in prison for 10 years.
And that has essentially been the holding in this case. Speaking legally, that has been brought forward by his parents, his attorneys, and everyone else who has been associated with this case.
HARRIS: Hey, Rick...
SANCHEZ: And I think finally today they got the answer.
HARRIS: Rick, stay there for just a moment. We may have a moment to come back to you after we hear this moment again, this sound of the ultimate moment when mom and attorney learned that Generalow Wilson has been ordered free.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNSTEIN: We win!
SANCHEZ: Yes. He's out.
SANCHEZ: Read us what it says. Can you read it to us?
BERNSTEIN: Habeas Corpus is granted.
SANCHEZ: The sentence is void. That means he's cleared. That means he's cleared.
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: B.J., explain to us what this means, if you could.
BERNSTEIN: The order -- the order. He's released. He's released.
SANCHEZ: So the judge is saying that he agrees on habeas corpus grounds that he should be released?
BERNSTEIN: He's released. He's released.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. Let's give you a bit of backgrounder on this case.
Here again is CNN's Rick Sanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Genarlow Wilson is a convicted felon, a prisoner, despite being a good son, a good athlete, a high school student with a 3.2 GPA with no criminal past.
He was a track and football star, being recruited by several universities. He was his school's homecoming king. He was the boy who seemed to have it all.
GENARLOW WILSON, CONVICTED FOR SEXUAL CHARGES: I was somewhat popular, you know, maybe too much in the spotlight, you know, for my own good.
SANCHEZ: Imagine now going from that to this: living behind bars for a minimum of ten years for something he did that some may consider immoral, maybe stupid, maybe even criminal, but ten years in prison?
"The New York Times", in an editorial, is calling for his release. Web sites are dedicated to freeing him. Even conservative talk show host Neal Boortz has taken on Genarlow's cause.
NEAL BOORTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The kid broke a ridiculous law passed by the General Assembly that did not -- can we use the phrase -- grade on a curve.
SANCHEZ (on camera): You lost your freedom. What's that like, to lose your freedom?
WILSON: It's real hard, because I started off -- it was like I had everything one day, and the next day, I didn't have nothing.
SANCHEZ: Where and when did this all begin? Right here, at this Days Inn in suburban Atlanta. December 31, 2003, Genarlow and some of his friends decided they would come here, rent a room and ring in the new year. It was a decision that has forever changed his life.
(voice-over): Here's why. During the night, several girls showed up. One of the boys whips out a video camera to record what's about to happen. CNN obtained the tape, but we've blurred it out to protect the other teen's identity. In that video, the teens are seen having sex right out in the open. In one scene, Genarlow receives oral sex from one of the girls. He's 17. She's 15. It appears to be a consensual act between two teens.
(on camera): At no time did you tell that young lady that she had to give you oral sex?
WILSON: No, sir.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Eddie Barker, who prosecuted Genarlow, shows us the tape that he used to prove his case.
(on camera): He says he never used any force, that he didn't force the girl at all. Is he telling the truth?
EDDIE BARKER, DOUGLAS COUNTY PROSECUTOR: From what we've seen on the videotape and heard from the victim herself, we do not believe there was any physical force used.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): So if there was no force, why then is Genarlow in prison for ten years, surrounded by real, hard-core criminals, even murderers and rapists?
The answer to that question is found here in this now outdated Georgia criminal statute which comes down hard on any act of sodomy and includes oral sex. It states if a person giving oral sex is under the age of 16, then the person receiving it is guilty of aggravated child molestation, even if he's a teenager himself. Ten years, mandatory, no way around it.
(on camera): Do you see this as a travesty of justice in Genarlow's case?
B.J. BERNSTEIN, GENARLOW WILSON'S ATTORNEY: A hundred percent, because we have consensual teen sex, criminalized to the extent that this kid has got ten years in prison, and everyone is just saying, "Well, we can't help that. That's the law."
SANCHEZ: That law that ensnared Genarlow does seem illogical. For example, if he'd intercourse with a 15-year-old instead of oral sex, he would only have been charged with a misdemeanor.
(on camera): If you had known that it was illegal for a 17-year- old to have sex with a 15-year-old, would you have done it?
WILSON: No.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): So draconian is the law, that since Genarlow's case, the governor has signed a new law doing away with it. Now consensual teen sex is regarded as a misdemeanor.
The change in the law, though, comes too late for Genarlow, and too late for the juries who say they felt horrible about having to find him guilty.
(on camera): So you weren't allowed to look at the spirit of the law...
MARIE MANIGAULT, JURY FOREMAN: Correct.
SANCHEZ: ... any other meaning? You had to look at it concretely?
MANIGAULT: Absolutely. And that was our biggest argument in the deliberating room. With the spirit of the law, he was not guilty. You know, with the letter of the law, based on what we were told, he was guilty.
WILSON: Even when someone says a sex offender is someone who has a history of continually committing the same crimes with kids, someone who's weak. They prey on the weak. I wasn't preying on the weak when that happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And the news just in to CNN a short time ago. A judge has ruled that Genarlow Wilson should be released from a 10-year prison sentenced.
Here is the moment a short time ago when Genarlow's mom and his attorney received the judge's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNSTEIN: We win!
SANCHEZ: Yes. He's out?
SANCHEZ: Read us what it says. Can you read it to us?
BERNSTEIN: Habeas Corpus is granted.
SANCHEZ: The sentence is void. That means he's cleared. That means he's cleared.
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: B.J., explain to us what this means, if you could.
BERNSTEIN: The order -- the order. He's released. He's released.
SANCHEZ: So the judge is saying that he agrees on habeas corpus grounds that he should be released?
BERNSTEIN: He's released. He's released.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The decision now rests with Georgia's attorney general, Thurbert Baker. He could appeal this decision.
We will continue to follow this story throughout the afternoon here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And before we sync back up with YOUR WORLD TODAY, we want to make sure we get a chance to check in with Jacqui Jeras.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And a warm welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: We're covering the news the world wants, sometimes needs to know. Plus, trying to give you a little bit of perspective that goes deeper into the stories of the day.
Now, U.S. President George W. Bush heading back to Washington right now after concluding his trip to Bulgaria. The capital city of Sofia was his last stop on that European swing.
Mr. Bush was warmly welcomed in Bulgaria, which is contributing troops to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
CHURCH: Now, Mr. Bush may have taken a cue from a song lyric from the '70s -- "If you can't be with the one you love, well, love the one you're with."
CLANCY: Yes. In the case of his stop in Albania, he may have turned that around a bit, as Ed Henry explains for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The kind of welcome President Bush doesn't get these days at home or anywhere in the world, like Italy and Germany, where he was greeted by thousands of angry protesters. For a limping president wondering, where's the love, the answer is Albania, which issued three postage stamps in Mr. Bush's honor, named a street after him, and welcomed him with a massive 21-gun salute.
SALI BERISHA, ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER: The greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had in all times, the president of the United States of America, the leading country of the free world, George W. Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm proud to be the first American sitting president to visit Albania.
HENRY: A carefully choreographed White House attempt to close the president's European tour on a high note, with a quick stop in a country that's adored America for 85 years, thanks to Woodrow Wilson's refusal to partition Albania and the first President Bush's help in ending communism. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One George Bush, one America. Albania -- George Bush, American, OK?
HENRY: Mr. Bush was here to give thanks of his own for Albania contributing small numbers of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
BUSH: Albanians know the horror of tyranny, and so they're working to bring hope of freedom to people who haven't known it. And that's a noble effort and a sacrifice.
HENRY: He also pushed independence for Kosovo, a province of Serbia dominated by Albanians.
BUSH: Two things -- one that -- we need to get moving. And two, that the end result is independence.
HENRY: That's why people here don't understand why Mr. Bush is heckled elsewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they are crazy people, because the democracy begins in America. And America wants to be the democracy all around the world.
HENRY (on camera): The love for America is nonpartisan. After then-President Clinton rescued ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo war, a lot of babies here were named Bill and Hillary. Locals now expect a baby boom of Georges and Lauras.
Ed Henry, CNN, with the president in Tirana, Albania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: An interesting story.
CHURCH: They certainly loved him. They couldn't stop kissing him.
CLANCY: That's right.
But we're going to have a check of the world's markets coming up just ahead in our business news segment.
CHURCH: That's right.
Also on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a highly charged debate in Britain over Muslim schools. Does it amount to immersion in faith or simple separation?
CLANCY: And then, Rosemary, a little bit later, we saw Sunday night the last episode of that ever popular American television show "The Sopranos". We're going to look at the end of an era and the unsettling ending.
Stay with us.
(NEWSBREAK) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: A warm welcome back to our viewers. Joining us from more than 200 countries and territories right around the globe, including here in the United States.
CHURCH: That's right. This is Your World Today, and I'm Rosemary Church.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.
These are the stories that are making headlines around the world. The Lebanese army continuing to pound a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli, where an unknown number of al Qaeda linked militants remain holed up. The fighting reintensified this weekend, and could signal that an all-out push very near to clear out those militants. Thousands of civilians either can't or will not leave the area. Two Red Cross workers killed on Monday.
CHURCH: Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded in a suicide bombing south of Baghdad Sunday. The blast destroyed an overpass in Mahmoudiya, sending a concrete bridge crashing down on the soldiers checkpoint underneath. And on Monday, a suicide truck bomber destroyed part of a major bridge in Diyala province. No word yet on casualties in that attack.
CLANCY: And it may be just a virtual game, but it has the Church of England up in arms. The Dean of Manchester Cathedral wants Sony to pull it's video game Resistance Fall of Man. That is a game that features a gunfight. Where? Inside the Cathedral. Officials call that a desecration. Manchester has also faced a surge of gun violence all its own.
CHURCH: In Egypt, a troubled election for the upper house of Parliament. Opposition groups are claiming widespread fraud. And one man was killed in clashes between rival parties in the northern Nile Delta region. Aneesh Raman has the latest from Cairo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When a country turns apathetic, the ballot boxes start to look too big. Admittedly, the stakes in Monday's elections for the Shura Council were low. Turnout expected at under 10 percent. But the significance of the occasion was high, because battling at the polls were 19 candidates from Egypt's main opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Two years ago the Brotherhood, while officially banned from political activity, catapulted to renewed prominence after winning big as independents in parliamentary elections. But since then, they have endured an unrelenting crackdown by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood says more than 1,000 supporters have been jailed in the past 10 days alone.
ELIJAH ZARWAN, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Well certainly by the numbers, the crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest political repression in Egypt today.
RAMAN: Ahead of Monday's elections, Human Rights Watch released interviews with a number of Brotherhood members detailing alleged torture while in police custody. Isaan Iryan, the head of the group's political affairs was one of them.
ISSAN IRYAN, MUSLIN BROTHERHOOD: Some of our colleagues and opposition groups focusing on Mubarak. It's not the problem that one individual is the problem, because we suffered during Sadat and during (INAUDIBLE) the problem is undemocratic system. Dictatorship.
RAMAN: Mubarak's government alleges the Brotherhood is looking to create an Islamic state in Egypt, and that it is arming student militia, both charges the Brotherhood deny. And they allege that the government Monday blocked Brotherhood supporters from voting. Backers of Mubarak claim the opposite.
HASAN FAHMY, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (through translator): This is something very beautiful, Hasan Fahmy says. There is democracy in the streets. Anyone independent can participate without any problems. But without voters, opposition leaders contend Monday's elections were a far cry from democracy.
Aneesh Raman, CNN Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Authorities in Afghanistan say that they have arrested seven people after an apparent assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Karzai addressing tribal elders Sunday; three rockets came crashing down nearby. A presidential spokesman says Mr. Karzai will not change his travel plans because of the attack. You saw it -- he appeared to be unfazed. This -- the third attempt on his life since 2001. Taliban fighters say they were the ones that fired the rockets Sunday.
CHURCH: The wife of U.S. President George W. Bush has released a statement condemning the murder of a female Afghan journalist. Zakia Zaki was the director of Afghan Radio Peace. First Lady Laura Bush says, Zaki's brutal killing is a reminder of the threat terrorism poses to the most fundamental individual rights, including the rights to free speech, to a free press and to equal dignity for women. Zaki was the second prominent female Afghan journalist to be murdered in a week. And Nic Robertson profiled Zaki and Afghan Radio Peace back in 2002.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outside of one of Afghanistan's rare independent radio station, U.S. troops begin a visit to promote peace. Inside, soldiers catalogue the meager studio equipment that is unused most of the day, with help, they hope reach of this tiny broadcaster can be extended. The reason why they help, the station's message is compatible with their own. During the four hours of air time every day, the station promotes women's affairs. And as their name, Voice Of Peace suggests, peace in Afghanistan. UZRA, NEWS READER, VOICE OF PEACE (through translator): We want to encourage women. We have got subjects for them, how to train their kids; to know about their rights. We want to explain to them all women's issues. And from what we see, people are very happy about these views on this program.
ROBERTSON: Unusual for Afghanistan, four of the 16 staffers are women. What little international funding the station has is running out. Most work for free and hold a second job. President of the station, Zakia Zaki also runs a girls' school, and is a local political representative.
ZAKIA ZAKI (through translator): Regarding women's issue on radio Afghanistan I'm not satisfied with it because they have got a lot of people and they can't raise the woman's voice at all.
ROBERTSON: She says she wants to expand her station to reach the whole country, even turn it into a TV channel. These days, the dilapidated antenna only gets the fm single as far as the nearby villages. Far shorter of the capital Kabul, 95 kilometers, about 60 miles away.
ABRAHIM KAWISH, ENGINEER, VOICE OF PEACE (through translator): Some of our American friends came to see what our needs are. We gave them a list. Wires, cables, to get electricity from the power stations. And now we are waiting.
ROBERTSON: So far U.S. forces have donated a few small items. Cds, blank tapes and some music. They say that they hope the station does soon get some new equipment, because they say with friends like this their job is made easier.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Jamul Surash, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: That was a report that was filed some time ago. But it is good to look back, because the Taliban is targeting precisely these kinds of people that are really a springboard for sentiment all across the country.
CHURCH: That's right. The whole aim, of course to silence them, but a lot of them are refusing to cave under that sort of pressure.
CLANCY: All right. We have to take a short break. Wild weather -- no, we are not taking a break. Wild weather striking the southwest portion of the United States, let's take a closer look.
CHURCH: We want to show you some amazing footage sent in here by one of our viewers. Let's bring it up. There it is. Whitney Purvis shot this video of a huge twister in New Mexico, look at that.
CLANCY: Amazingly steady, if that was coming towards one of us, I wonder how steady it would be. She said she was stuck under an overpass for two hours and sort of afraid, those are her words, because tornado really not normal in that area. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITNEY PURVIS, I-REPORTER: OK. I'm trying to get this in perspective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: You can hear her talking behind this. Sort of afraid. An understatement there. Luckily the tornado did not cause any damages or injuries and if you have pictures of the wild weather in your area, we would certainly would like to hear from you and see some of those pictures.
CLANCY: It does necessarily have to be that dramatic. And don't go out there and stand in front of a tornado to do it. But send us your video to logging in to CNN.com and clicking on I-Reports, that little I-Report icon will tell you everything you need to know. You are watching YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CHURCH: Coming up, the debate over an Islamic school in Britain. Supporters say it teaches the true meaning of Islam. Detractors say it fosters isolation and segregation.
CLANCY: And then baada-bing-bang-baada done? The Sopranos is over, folks. We will visit some of the show's famous locales when we come back.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to you all. You are watching YOUR WORLD TODAY here on CNN International.
CLANCY: That's right, and seen live, we might point out, in more than 200 countries and territories all around the globe.
CHURCH: Well, there is nothing radical about the idea of mixing education and faith.
CLANCY: But the success of a new Islamic academy in Britain is provoking some bitter accusations amidst some familiar fears.
CHURCH: And the debate could determine the future of faith-based education.
CLANCY: Our International Security Correspondent Paula Newton has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As pious as their prayers, as earnest as they are about their studies. Students at the Leicester Islamic Academy know there is no escaping it. That crude and suspicious stereotype.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Islam does not teach to bomb people and kill others. It is like they teach us stuff like more values. NEWTON: There is waiting list to get in here. More and more Muslim families are opting for faith schools and the British government approves. It will spend millions of dollars fully funding this academy next fall. There are seven more like it.
MOHAMMED MUKADAM, LEICESTER ISLAMIC ACADEMY: They become good Muslims, and as I put it, you know, they have a holistic approach to life as Muslims. So we don't radicalize them. We just give them an opportunity to be able to develop their faith.
NEWTON: There is a highly charged debate going on about Muslim schools with a familiar vocabulary. Segregation, isolation, sectarian.
(on camera): And all of it inflamed by the accusations of a teacher that worked here, at the King Fahad Academy in London. His allegations that textbooks supply to this school by the Saudi Arabian government were teaching hate.
COLIN COOK, FORMER ISLAMIC SCHOOL TEACHER: God almighty, punish the Jews.
NEWTON: Allegedly referring to Jews as apes and Christians as pigs.
COOK: I was appalled because this is contrary to the teachings of Islam. Islam teaches tolerance. This is intolerant. It is teaching racial hatred.
NEWTON: For it's part the school says the books were removed and it has passed a recent government inspection. But the stereotype clings to every Muslim school.
ZAINAB ELGAZIARI, LEICESTER ISLAMIC ACADEMY: We certainly don't teach hate. Islam does not teach hate.
NEWTON: Zainab Elgaziari, is a convert to Islam. And the Leicester Academy's vice principal.
Gross characters of Muslim education anger her but she makes no apologies for the traditional tenants of her faith.
ELGAZIARI: In Islam, marrying a non-Muslim for a woman is not acceptable. That is Islam. We are not hiding that or trying to -- this is who we are. I don't see why that should be threatening to non-Muslims.
NEWTON: But some do find it threatening. The "Last White Kids" is a British documentary that foretells the story of segregated schools.
You can't have 98 percent and just a little two percent. And that little two percent is our kids.
NEWTON: Parents here complain schools need to be more racially mixed. If children are to be confident of who they are in British society and their place in it. The young white girls in this film wear a head scarf and go to mosques to fit in.
The boys, they have divided their school along the crudest of racial lines.
NEWTON: The boys whose study at the Leicster Academy, though, say the fear is misplaced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People, if they think that Islamic schools make us anti-social, then they got -- they got the wrong idea. We do socialize with other people. And other groups as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Racial harmony in Islam.
NEWTON: But from some of the young women here, a revealing insight. They identify themselves first and foremost as Muslims.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whereas being British, it is like question what is being British. Nobody has answered that question as of yet.
NEWTON: As more and more Muslim children live and breathe their faith at school, racial and cultural integration seems to become an ever more complicated idea.
Pauline Newton, CNN Leicster England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, when we come back, some of your reactions to the video games set in a British a cathedral. The Church of England demanding an apology, they want that game pulled.
NEWTON: They do. What do you think? Are the Church of England's demands justified? Send us your e-mails to yourviews@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Alright, back to one of our top stories. The Church of England is calling on the Sony Corporation to repent. The dean of Manchester Cathedral want's Sony to pull its video game, it's called "Resistance, Fall of Man." The game feature a gunfight in the cathedral, seen in those pictures there, which officials call a desecration.
CLANCY: Yes. A lot of debate over this. And it brings us to the question of the day. We want you to join the debate.
CHURCH: That's right, what we are asking, is what do you think of this issue between Sony and the Church of England? Are the church's demands justified? Mantar from Malaysia says the place of worship has to be respected. Whatever religion. Sony must have some respect.
CLANCY: Now, Olu Elliot from England had this to say: It is totally unacceptable that a cathedral, a symbol of refuge and peace, is being used as a site for a game. CHURCH: And finally, this last email comes from Sara Hughes from California. She says, I find it laughable a church founded by one of the most monarchs in England's history can complain. Not to mention the fact that the Bible has to be one of the most violent books in print ... plagues, floods and killings of first borns.
Quite a cross section of views there.
CLANCY: Yes, well, keep those emails coming. The email address to send your views? It's your views, one word, at CNN.com.
CHURCH: That's right. It was one of the most anticipated TV finales in recent history.
CLANCY: Yes, I didn't really know about it so I turned it off in the middle. Not realizing it was the finale. The Sopranos closed shop Sunday night. I missed it, after 86 episodes spread out over the past eight years -- it does not seem like eight years.
CHURCH: It certainly is. Now, if you are a fan who hasn't watched yet, don't worry. We are not going to tell you exactly how it ended. But we can tell you that it ends abruptly.
CLANCY: Yes, it ends so abruptly that the viewers across the U.S. were left wondering whether their cable or satellite systems had just blinked out as the screen cut to black.
CHURCH: That's right. A lot of them very unhappy. In fact, the ending elicited so much reaction, it temporarily crashed the HBO website and would should point out that HBO, which airs the series, is a sister company of CNN.
CLANCY: And I don't know about Rosemary but I know myself they never asked me about how to script the ending, so don't blame me.
CHURCH: I guess -- well, we won't mention how it ends. Right. Even though The Sopranos is history, the show lives on in geography.
CLANCY: It's really true. Fans flock to real world locales that are famous because you see them in the TV series. Jim Acosti takes us on the tour.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Take heart, Sopranos fans. There is life after HBO. Fans of the show can still walk in Tony Soprano's shoes by taking a stroll through the crime family's famous stomping grounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh! Massachusetts!
ACOSTA: But you better hurry if you are dying to see the notorious but fictional Satrielle's (ph) pork store.
MANNY COSTERA, REX PROPERTIES: Well, the front of the building is a very popular site, you know, on the show.
ACOSTA: Real Estate Developer, Manny Costera, plans to whack the building in favor of a new condominium project he calls Sopranos Court. The signs out front and the store's interior, all added by the show's makers, during production are gone.
COSTERA: This is where Tony had his little confrontation with the FBI guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't get so bent out of shape. You are a big boy, Tony.
COSTERA: So this is a pretty significant little corner here.
ACOSTA: Want more? Twice a week, on location tours will show you 47 of the show's best-known locales.
LINDA DOLL, SOPRANOS FAN: It makes me want to go back and watch all the episodes again so we can see these sites.
ACOSTA (on camera): The popularity of the Sopranos has turned ordinary businesses in New Jersey into cultural landmarks. Even a one second appearance on the show can mean a fortune.
(voice over): Take Pizza Land Pizza, which stars in the program's opening credits.
AL PAWLOWICZ, PIZZALAND OWNER: Now with the Sopranos you go by Pizza Land, and you go oh, that's pizza land, we have to go in there.
ACOSTA: If you want a taste, owner Al Pawlowicz and his son will deliver their pies shipped on ice, of course, across the country. .
PAWLOWICZ: From Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wisconsin, California.
PAWLOWICZ: California, everywhere. And they weren't just like one pie orders. They were three, four, five pie orders.
ACOSTA: Because of the show?
PAWLOWICZ: Because of the show.
ACOSTA: One attraction you won't find on any Soprano tour is Tony Soprano's house. That's because the actual owner of the home and his neighbors have fought to keep the tour buses out of their community. And what Sopranos tour would be complete without the bada- bing where the club's actual name, Satin Dolls. Shy about visitors here? Forget about it.
SUSIE QUIGLEY, SATIN DOLLS: People from all over the world, London Japan, Ireland.
ACOSTA: And what tourist can resist picking up a few souvenirs?
QYUGLEY: We have grandmother's coming in and stealing shot glasses off the bar, salt and pepper shakers from off the bar because it came from the bada-bing. It was very strange. But we have gotten used to it.
ACOSTA: But it may take time getting used to life without the Sopranos, for some of the show's 12 million fans it will feel like a loss in the family.
Jim Acosta, CNN, North Arlington, New Jersey.
CLANCY: And that's our report for this hour. I'm Jim Clancy.
ACOSTA: And I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN.
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