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Zimbabwe Tries To Curb Inflation With Prices Freezes; Consumers Empty Shops, Horde Basic Goods At Cheap Prices; U.S. Presidential Candidates Campaign In Iowa On The Fourth Of July; Sochi, Russia Chosen To Host 2014 Winter Games

Aired July 05, 2007 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: One last chance to surrender, Pakistan's military ratchets up the pressure on a group of students at a radical mosque.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Farmers cutting too many corners. China's government looking into practices that are sacrificing quality and safety of products.

MCEDWARDS: Stay in the shade or stay inside. Health officials issue warnings as the southwestern U.S. sizzles amid dangerous temperatures.

CLANCY: And forget soothing spa treatments. A Spanish hotel chain is offering, well, a new method for stress relief for some hand picked guests.

Sounds good to me. It is 6:00 p.m. in Madrid, it's 9:00 p.m. in Islamabad.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. From Beijing to Berlin, Las Vegas to London, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

The arrested head cleric of a besieged Pakistani mosque urging those still holed up to surrender, but his own brother is leading the resistance from within the mosque's walls.

MCEDWARDS: We begin with the government's tense standoff with hard line Islamists. They've been trying to impose Taliban style law, essentially in the heart of Islamabad.

CLANCY: Security forces are surrounding this mosque, but they have not yet stormed it fearing women and children inside may be used as human shields. Troops are trying to weaken the resolve through warning tactics, sporadic explosions. Officials believe nearly 1,000 people are still inside.

MCEDWARDS: Now the head cleric was arrested trying to escape. He was disguised in a woman's burqa. He was later interviewed on state-run television wearing a similar garment. You see it right there. The cleric says only students remain in the mosque but acknowledged that some are armed with assault rifles. CLANCY: This standoff is a tremendous challenge to President Pervez Musharraf, a critical U.S. ally in the war on terror. Many are watching to see how he will handle the threat of a Taliban-style movement right in the heart of his capital city. Andrew Stevens has more now on the standoff and how it developed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the predawn hours in Pakistan's capital Thursday, troops were moving in. Strengthening positions around the besieged red mosque. Then this -- explosions echoed around the darkened city, set off by the military, a warning to up to 1,000 radicals in the mosque to surrender. Followed by verbal warnings from loud speakers.

Just a few hours earlier, the head cleric at the mosque (INAUDIBLE) had been arrested trying to flee under the cover of darkness. Disguised under a full length woman's black burqa. He was caught when a female police officer tried to search him as he left the mosque. The full extent of the military presence became apparent with daylight. Soldiers and armored vehicles patrolled the streets and set up roadblocks around the building in downtown Islamabad.

Several deadlines for the radicals to surrender have already passed as the military weighs its options. The standoff is now in its third day after a gun battle on Tuesday left at least 16 dead. About 1100 people have already given up, those inside include hundreds of women according to Aziz.

MAULANA ABDUL AZIZ, RED MOSQUE HEAD CLERIC: If they get out quietly, they should go or they can surrender if they want to.

STEVENS: Islamic extremists at the Red Mosque also known as the (INAUDIBLE) have been defying the government for months. They want to establish fundamental or Sharia law in Pakistan's capital city.

MARVIN WEINBAUM, FMR. U.S. STATE DEPT. ANALYST: This is part of a larger process of Talibanization which should up until this time had been pretty much confined to the border areas, although spreading. This represents a leap over to the capital itself. And it's something which has challenged the credibility, the authority of this military government.

STEVENS: The defiance provides yet another problem for Pakistan's secular military chief, General Pervez Musharraf, who is already under intense dismissal of the country's top judge and the growing insurgency in Pakistan's border regions with Afghanistan. Andrew Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Well the violence inside Islamabad's (INAUDIBLE) puts a renewed focus on that fine line being towed by Pakistan's president in the global crackdown against the Taliban and al Qaeda. It also casts a critical new light on the role of those radical religious schools. Their role in Islamist extremism. Now in this clip from our CNN special "Pakistan, The Threat Within," which airs this weekend, Nic Robertson poses the question, are the madrasas, the religious schools, are they religious schools or are they incubators of terror.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's late at night in (INAUDIBLE) Pakistan. Children, some as young as 5 years old, are memorizing the Koran. I've come to this madrasa, a religious school, because suicide bomber (INAUDIBLE) reportedly stayed here shortly before the London bombings known as 7/7. Madrasas like this one can help us better understand what turns some young men like (INAUDIBLE) into killers.

(on camera): These children begin their studies at about 6:00 in the morning. They get a break for breakfast around 8:00 a.m. then they go back to their books. They get a break for lunch. Then studying again all afternoon, a long break in the early evening, and then back to their books again.

(voice-over): There are thousands of madrasas like this one in Pakistan and hundreds of thousands of children attend them. That worries former Pakistani police officer Hassan Abbas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to all accounts, about 10 to 15 percent of madrasas in Pakistan are involved in militancy, support of Taliban and terrorism, religious extremism.

ROBERTSON: Abbas, a fellow at Harvard University and an expert on madrasas has no doubt some turn students into terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hatred for minorities, hatred for all things un-Islamic is being entrenched and pumped into the minds of the kids every other day.

ROBERTSON: This man runs some of the largest madrasas in Pakistan and not just for boys. For girls, too. He met Osama bin Laden years ago in Afghanistan and says his beliefs are ideologically close to the world's most wanted terrorist. He preaches that jihad, war with oneself, and against Islam's enemies, is a basic tenant of the Koran.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been asked by the (INAUDIBLE) many times that you should stop teaching the chapter of jihad. So we tell them that we can't stop it because we cannot make any amendment in Islam.

ROBERTSON: For decades, Pakistan's madrasas have been teaching Islamic holy warriors. Gazy tells his students that America's war on terror is a campaign against all Muslims.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: And our international viewers can see more of what Nic Robertson discovered in his CNN special investigation. That again is "Pakistan: The Threat Within." You can catch it Saturday on CNN International at 06:00 GMT all throughout the weekend as well. It is going to air in the United States as well at a later date, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

CLANCY: All right. We're going to change topics here now. Firefighters appearing to gain the upper hand in one of two wildfires that's just tearing its way through the French Rivera. The flames near the resort town of Mandalu reportedly burned more than 1,000 hectors, that's about 2500 acres of trees and brush. Hundreds of residents and vacationers as well had to be evacuated. (INAUDIBLE) France press reporting many of them are now being allowed to return. A regional fire department told the "Associated Press" the wildfires spread from a car that was ablaze just along a highway.

MCEDWARDS: British authorities are working to learn more about the recent terror attempts in London and Glasgow. Officials reduced the threat level now from critical to severe. They say they believe all the major suspects are now in custody. Meanwhile, a British Anglican cleric working in Baghdad tells CNN that he received an ominous message about three months ago that he now believers was a warning about the UK attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANON ANDREW WHITE, ANGLICAN PRIEST: During the meeting with him, I experienced longing litany of how he was going to kill British and American people. It was really quite terrible. In fact, I said that day it in my update, I have seen the devil today. And it was during that meeting that he said to me those who cure you will kill you. And I said to him, I never want to see you again.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MCEDWARDS: White says that he told British officials about that conversation but that he didn't specifically mention the kill you comment because it didn't seem to mean much to him, at least not at that time.

CLANCY: A big controversy down under. Australia's prime minister contradicting his defense minister, a defense minister who said oil was a key factor in his country's decision to send troops to Iraq. John Howard though telling Australian media there is no connection between the invasion and oil. Earlier Brendan Nelson said global energy security is a reason to keep Australian soldiers in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDAN NELSON, AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: Obviously, the Middle East itself, not only Iraq, but the entire region is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world. And Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Australia currently has about 1600 soldiers, air force, navy personnel in Iraq.

MCEDWARDS: Iraq certainly does remain a very dangerous place, especially for non-combat ants who're trying to tell the story of the war. As Frederik Pleitgen reports, those journalists can be the targets of all sides.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A city under siege, Baqubah, north of Baghdad. American troops are conducting what they say is one of the largest military operations since the beginning of the war. Their targets, al Qaeda insurgents. While these images show the broader picture of the operation, these show the human faces of the conflict. Alleged al Qaeda insurgents captured by Iraqi police and Sunni tribesmen awaiting their fate, flies eating away at their wounds. While the new strongmen in town patrol the streets.

These pictures, so important to help us understand the conflict in Iraq, are captured by a breed of video journalists who's risk their lives to go where western reporters can't. Journalists like Ahmed, an Iraqi freelance reporter working for CNN who won't let us show his face or use his real name for good reasons.

"When I film attacks against the U.S. Army, the Americans consider me to be a terrorist. The same is true for the Iraqi army. And when I film al Qaeda members being arrested, they believe I'm working for the Americans," Ahmed tells me. "Images like these of suspected al Qaeda members captured and blindfolded are bound to enrage al Qaeda leadership," Ahmed says. "That could spell death for a photographer of an unpopular with all sides and with no protection in the battle zone. If al Qaeda gets me, I'll be beheaded, that's for sure. They might even totally shred me to pieces," Ahmed says.

And, yet, all sides, Sunni, Shia, al Qaeda, and American forces realize they need media coverage. As U.S. tanks roll into Baqubah, a commander gets out of his vehicle just to talk to Ahmed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see the provincial joint coordination center actually has been getting ambulances in here. We've evacuated several people using local national ambulances.

PLEITGEN: But Ahmed's video paints a different picture, ambulances stuck behind armored vehicles, unable to reach those in need of help. The families are in a semi-tragic situation because there is no water and no electricity and there hasn't been for over ten days. There is the organization of the red crescent which delivered some aid but it's not enough, Ahmed recalls. Different angles of a complicated conflict. Thanks to journalists like Ahmed we can begin to understand the bigger picture of the war in Iraq.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Baghdad.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: We're going to take a short break on YOUR WORLD TODAY, but when we come back, the goods may be cheap but there is a price to pay.

MCEDWARDS: Yeah there sure is from contaminated fish to toxic toothpaste. More than half of all recalled products in the U.S. have come from China. Is anything being done about this?

CLANCY: Also coming up, record temperatures. A heat wave sizzling, searing its way across the southwestern U.S. while people are getting heated up too, trying to keep cool?

MCEDWARDS: An affair to remember. The Los Angeles mayor shown here with his family, is involved in a relationship. Will there be a political price for an affair of the heart? We'll take a look at that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CNN international and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MCEDWARDS: We're covering the news that the world wants to know. We're trying to give you some deeper perspective as well into the stories of the day. Well made in China, it's certainly a tag that's been synonymous with high volume production and cheap goods, right?

CLANCY: Absolutely. A number of Chinese exports, though, becoming known under a new label -- tainted. China says it is trying to crack down now.

MCEDWARDS: Yeah but it's not just exports we're talking about here. Beijing says nearly a fifth of food and consumer products inspected inside the country this year did not meet standards.

CLANCY: That's right. John Vause, been looking into that following this story. He reports now from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So, could you eat pork from pigs force fed waste water? Drink milk from cows given so many antibiotics it's impossible to make yogurt from their milk? How about a serving of lard made from sewage? Because all of that and much more has been on China's menus in recent months.

Joel Chin is a descendent writer who has researched this country's appalling food standards. The threat is so much more serious than people could ever imagine. He says many farmers and producers are continual finding new and dangerous ways to cut costs. China has low labor costs but you can you work out how low the price should be. Businessmen should know something is wrong if the product is cheaper than it should be.

Last week the U.S. banned four types of fish and shrimp from China because inspectors found traces of cancer causing chemicals and antibiotics, including malachi grain which help fish survive in polluted, overcrowded fisheries. It is still being used despite being banned here five years ago. While in the U.S., it was banned 24 years ago.

SALLY GREENBERG, CONSUMER'S UNION: We have no real sense of the regulatory infrastructure in China, which probably is about 100 years behind where we are in the United States.

VAUSE: And the World Health Organization says time has run out for China to act.

DR. ROGER SKINNER, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: China is at a cross roads. And I feel, you know, they have to make a decision as to what they're going to do. It's a decision we cannot be put off.

VAUSE: It's not just food. Consumer alerts have been issued for products from toxic toothpaste to lead painted toys. So far this year 60 percent of all recalled consumer products in the U.S. have come from China. The government here blames media hype. Consumers shouldn't be scared of Chinese products, he says. They should have the reputation of being good quality, cheap and safe.

(on camera): Well, one out of three isn't bad. No one ever said Chinese goods weren't cheap. John Vause, CNN, Beijing.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: They say that you can glimpse the past by studying sand formations.

MCEDWARDS: They do. Well now international artists in Turkey are trying to re-create history from the sand, if you will.

CLANCY: All of the sculptures at the international sand sculptures festival is underway right now in Istanbul must in one or another relate to Turkish history.

MCEDWARDS: One sculpture depicts the conquest of Istanbul. These sculptures are going to last until September or I guess until it rains. Beautiful stuff though. Coming up, having a heat wave.

CLANCY: It's going on. Los Angeles to Seattle. Cities in the western United States posting record or near record temperatures and there is no relief in sight.

MCEDWARDS: And later, used to be you had to be a rock star to smash up a hotel room like this. Well now all you need is a hammer and a whole lot of stress. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first, a check on the stories making headlines right here in the United States.

A scare in the air, apparently a false alarm, though. The FAA says a Southwest flight was heading from Salt Lake City to Seattle when a light came on indicating fire and smoke in the cargo hold. The crew released a fire suppressant. The light went out and the plane landed safely. Southwest says there was no fire and apparently a sensor malfunctioned.

Feeling the heat, sweltering temperatures sweep the southwest. They're expected to climb well into the triple digits in Nevada. In California the state is opening more than a dozen cooling centers. Officials are urging people to limit their time outdoors, wear light clothing and drink lots of water.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: We're getting this news in just handed to me from Denver, Colorado, there appears to be a collapse of some type -- a building collapse, 14 people hurt. We're getting it. It's called the Greenwood Village Building. There are retail spaces in it as well as condominiums there. They're checking to see how many people have been hurt but we are told that a floor, one of the floors possibly collapsed during a construction accident. We're going to have details on this happening in Denver coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM beginning at the top of the hour, 1:00 p.m. eastern.

Let's move on now and talk about new momentum this hour in a push to free a young Georgia man convicted in a teenage sex case. This is a live picture from Douglasville, Georgia where civil rights veteran Joseph Lowery and the Reverend Al Sharpton, they're leading a vigil calling for the release of Genarlow Wilson. Wilson is serving a 10- year sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. He was scheduled for a bond hearing today but a judge canceled it saying the 21-year-old is ineligible for bond while he appeals his sentence.

A fireworks celebration turns deadly and a firefighter is in custody. Police say three people were shot and killed in Cleveland early today, two others were wounded in an apparent dispute over noisy fireworks. 35-year-old Terrance Howe Jr. was arrested, he is a Cleveland firefighter.

And more holiday fireworks celebrations gone awry. One woman dead in Michigan. At least two dozen people injured in numerous other states. An explosion at this fireworks tent north of Tampa, Florida, lit up the night sky. No word of any injuries there. But there is a report of an arrest on arson charges. In Washington, three workers were hurt after fireworks leftover from the spectacular National Mall exploded. The display exploded. And in Omaha, Nebraska, this 5-year- old girl was critically burned when fireworks hit her during a Fourth of July block party.

A little boy in critical condition, a mother and two children killed. It happened during a Fourth of July barbecue. A van plunged into a pond. Police in Bridgeport, Connecticut say Michelle McIntosh had gotten out of the minivan, she noticed it was rolling away and managed to jump back in the van just before it sank. The woman was killed along with two children. She was a mother of at least one of those youngsters. Authorities are trying to determine what caused the vehicle to start rolling. A horrific crash on an interstate near Cincinnati this morning. This semi trailer filled with watermelons overturned on a ramp. The truck apparently slammed into a pillar underneath the overpass. The crash closed the interstate for a short time during morning rush hour. No immediate word on the condition of that driver.

That's it for now. YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break. I'm Don Lemon, make sure you join us at the top of the hour for CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be here with Kyra Phillips. See you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe including here in the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.

MCEDWARDS: I'm Colleen McEdwards.

Here are some of the top stories that we're following.

The arrested head cleric of the besieged mosque in Islamabad is urging his followers still hold up inside to flee, or surrender. Officials believe nearly 1,000 people are still inside that mosque, including women and children. They fear the militants could use them as human shields.

Security forces are trying to force people out with some warning tactics, including some sporadic gunfire, some bursts of gunfire, and also some explosions have been heard.

CLANCY: British authorities are working to uncover more details about the recently botched terror attacks in London and Glasgow. The nation's terror threat level has been lowered from critical to severe. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is calling for increased scrutiny of foreign workers recruited to take jobs in the U.K.

MCEDWARDS: Australian Prime Minister John Howard downplaying comments from his defense minister who implied that oil was the reason to keep troops in Iraq. Mr. Howard said, this is a quote, "We're not there because of oil. And we didn't go there because of oil."

Earlier Brendan Nelson told a radio station that protecting energy supplies is a vital objective for the Australian military.

CLANCY: Now to Gaza, where there were fierce clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants. At least six Hamas fighters --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: At least six Hamas fighters killed in this clash. Israeli army said its troops came under fire as they were in there and undercover units searching for tunnels and rocket launchers in Palestinian territory. Hamas says its field commander in central Gaza was among those killed.

MCEDWARDS: Well a bad situation is getting even worse in Zimbabwe. Authorities banned bulk sales of basic goods. It's a desperate bid to try to avert some shortages.

CLANCY: What they had was a price freeze in place that was triggered by a buying spree, a buying spree that literally emptied the store shelves as everyone came out and tried to buy things at a lower price.

MCEDWARDS: Isha Sesay has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Scenes of panic buying in Zimbabwe's capital, Harari. After months of surging inflation, a government order to half prices has sent people rushing to stock up on basic necessities. Leaving store shelves normally stocked with staples such as cornmeal, cooking oil, and sugar bare. But the Mugabe government directive to prop up the economy has been greeted with dismay by retailers.

CALLISTO JOKONYA, ZIMBABWE INDUSTRIES CONFEDERATION: Government is driving inflation because 80 percent of their own revenue is nonproductive money. It is printed money, by the Reserve Bank. And that is where the major cause of the price increase is, because price increase is a function of inflation.

SESAY: Police have confirmed they have arrested a number of retailers for the crime of charging more than the official prices. Meanwhile, smaller shops have shut down after running out of stock.

By some estimates, unemployment in Zimbabwe is running as high as 80 percent, while officially inflation is running rampant at 4,500 percent, the highest in the world. The actual inflation rate is widely believed to be at least double the official number.

But the nation's leader, Robert Mugabe, is laying the blame for the economic situation at the of Britain and its Western allies. He's now threatening to seize and nationalize all retail outlets and manufacturers who fail to follow his June 26th price directive.

ROBERT MUGABE, PRESIDENT OF ZIMBABWE: There is not going to be blame, those in the industry, those in commerce, those elsewhere, producers and retailers take note. The nonsense of escalating prices is going to come to an end.

SESAY: Human rights violations, political turmoil, and economic disarray have left Zimbabwe in crises. Nearly three decades after Robert Mugabe came to power, poverty in the country is over 80 percent. Zimbabwe's trouble were not officially on the agenda as Robert Mugabe and other African leaders gathered for an African Union Summit this past week in Ghana. There the strong man leader was greeted with warm cheers as he addressed the crowd of supporters at the two of Ghana's first president in the capital, Accra.

While it was a case of all smiles at the summit, Mr. Mugabe's problems at home are mounting. As with each passing day, his country appears to slip further into chaos.

Isha Sesay, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore says his son is getting treatment. His son faces felony drug possession charges. Al Gore III arrested in Southern California for speeding on the Fourth of July holiday. Police say they found a number of prescription drugs and also a small amount of marijuana in the car. He apparently didn't have a prescription for any of the drugs.

Now, Al Gore is going to be Larry King's special guest. We'll hear about this weekend's Live Earth Concert, and more. I'm sure Larry is going to ask him about this business with his son as well, when he sits down with Larry.

Our international viewers can catch that Friday at 0900 GMT. And for viewers in the United States, you can catch that CNN exclusive. It's going to be tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

CLANCY: Well the United States, of course, celebrated Independence Day on Wednesday, July the Fourth. And along with all of the food and the hotdogs, we saw more than enough of that here, fireworks, too came a heaping helping of politics. Many presidential contenders showing up in the Midwestern state of Iowa, which stages a very first presidential contest beginning in January.

Now as Candy Crowley tells us, it's never too early to campaign for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's the Fourth of July and this is Iowa. You know what that means.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi there. How are you?

CROWLEY: Candidates on parade. Make that candidates and their spouses. Bill Clinton is an uncomfortable fit in the role of second fiddle, still, he has played it well over the past three days in Iowa with his wife, the presidential candidate.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wouldn't you like to be free of George Bush and Dick Cheney?

CROWLEY: His part is to say supportive things and get off the stage. He has been pretty much substance free. But he is still a huge draw and together they stole the headlines though they were far from alone. From Clear Lake to Oscaloosa (ph), Pella to Waterloo, Iowa is awash with parades and presidential candidates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, happy Fourth of July to ya!

CROWLEY: It's a big state but a small world, so nobody was that surprised when Mitt Romney showed up to march the same parade as the Clintons. Down state Barack Obama and family filled the holiday gripping, grinning, and suggesting that the Clintons are yesterday's news. We're more interested in looking forward, not backward, he told the Associated Press. Barack sees himself, not Hillary, as the agent of change.

SEN. BARAK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can't just be a slogan. Change has to be something that is demonstrated day to day, on an on going basis.

CROWLEY: At the other end of the presidential tier, Chris Dodd is on a river-to-river trip, bussing it from the Mississippi to the Missouri. And Joe Biden was on schedule for a parade, a picnic and a house party. They run on the politics of hope.

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe I will win in Iowa. Because I believe Iowans have not even begun to make up their mind.

CROWLEY: It is, after all, only the Fourth of July. Candy Crowley, CNN, Waterloo, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Here's a question for you, what would you ask the U.S. presidential candidates? Go to CNN.com/politics. Then click on the YouTube debates link and submit your videotaped question. You could see it broadcast and answered on live television in the Democratic or Republican debates which will air right here on CNN. That's CNN.com/politics.

Have you put in your question yet?

MCEDWARDS: Not yet. But I think I will.

Some other people who may have questions are in Los Angeles. A city that's become used to some high profile extramarital love affairs, that mix politics, and all kinds of other stuff. The latest one has tongues wagging, though, involves the mayor. His, estranged wife and a television news anchor who covered city hall, of all things. Jason Carroll reports on the potential political fallout or maybe, it's the lack thereof. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): She is Mirthala Salinas, a journalist for a Spanish language TV station, who at one point covered politics in Los Angeles. And he is Antonio Villaraigosa, L.A.'s mayor. They're the characters in the story of an affair, no longer being kept secret.

ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES MAYOR: It's true. I have a relationship with Miss Salinas and I take full responsibility for my actions.

CARROLL: The media began raising questions about Villaraigosa's marriage in January when he stopped wearing his wedding ring. Then last month he announced he and his wife, Corina, were breaking up.

And this week both the mayor and Salinas acknowledged they were having a relationship. Salinas told the Associated Press: "While we are both public figures, I hope that everyone can understand and respect my desire to maintain my privacy."

Salinas works for Telemundo. A networks spokesman says they won't comment on personal matters.

MANUEL ABUD, TELEMUNDO: There is only one thing that matters to us and that is our credibility, our connection with our audience. Our credibility is our most important asset.

CARROLL: Villaraigosa doesn't believe this personal matter will effect his ability to be mayor.

VILLARAIGOSA: I don't believe that details of my personal life are relevant to my job as mayor.

CARROLL: A number of political figures have had affairs and have gone on to successes. New York's former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, for example, now presidential candidate.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Will it be politically wounding? Will there be repercussions? I'm not sure. I doubt it, because first of all, he's not up for re-election until 2009, which is two years away. Second of all, if he runs for governor, that would be in 2010. That's a lot of time between now and then.

CARROLL: In a city where the private lives of public figures often become tabloid news, Angelinos have mixed views.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's anybody's business, really. That is his private life. It should remain private.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's on the image to the public. So, I mean, doing those -- he shouldn't be doing those things. Just doesn't look right.

CARROLL (on camera): Telemundo said Salinas stopped covering politics back in August. Telemundo also says that Salinas will continue to work there as a correspondent, but will not cover city hall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Jason Carroll reporting there.

CLANCY: We're going to take a short little break. Colleen, we have a lot more coming up.

But, hey, you probably want to try this stress relief tech technique at home.

MCEDWARDS: Not at your own home, that's for sure. We'll see how some people are blowing off steam by smashing up a hotel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY right here on CNN International.

CLANCY: Seen live in more than 200 countries and territories around the globe.

MCEDWARDS: One of the most striking facts about the recent terror attempts in Britain is this: Nearly all of those accused of being involved are doctors, a profession that is associated more with affluence and helping, than radicalism and killing. So how did they come to hatch such a plot? Our Matthew Chance spoke with a man that knew one of the accused. Their conversation provides as many questions as answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He was wrestled from the burning wreckage of the car bomb that slammed into Glasgow airport last week. Now one of Bilal Abdullah's close friends is speaking out about the Iraqi-trained doctor suspected of plotting mass murder.

SHIRAZ MAHER, SUSPECT'S FORMER FRIEND: I knew Bilal Abdullah quite well. When I was at Cambridge studying for post-graduate degree, I got to know him over the course of the year pretty well.

CHANCE: Shiraz Maher is a former member of the radical Islamic group Hezboltarea (ph). He now renounces fundamentalism, but says he remembers Bilal Abdullah as a hard-liner, especially over Iraq.

MAHER: He resented quite deeply the presence of American and British troops on what he considered to be Muslim land. He was supportive of the insurgency in Iraq. And also supportive, actually, and it's very unusual, of the sectarian conflict and he supported the Sunni attacks against the Shias and believed that Shias should be killed, which was something very, very different.

And I remember him telling me at one point that a very good friend of his, if not his best friend at university in Baghdad, was killed by a Shia militia gang. And he described it quite some detail that this guy hadn't been just killed in a swift way, but actually been tortured, beaten quite brutally and shot several times, repeatedly. And so for him it was a very raw and a very real issue.

CHANCE (on camera): Did he strike you at any point as the kind of person that might want to translate those political views into an attack on the United Kingdom? MAHER: Well, the kinds of views that Bilal was espousing, although extreme, weren't so distinctly different to the kind of rhetoric and anger we've seen from radical Muslims before. So there wasn't anything overtly obvious about him that made you think or stand up and take notice certainly that he was -- or to set off an alarm bell, for example, that he would be the kind of person to go off and do this kind of thing in reality.

CHANCE (voice over): But the reality could have been horrific. Although he's not officially been named as one of those detained, British police are linking Dr. Abdullah, who worked at a hospital outside Glasgow, to the two failed car bombs packed with nails in London last week.

(On camera): This is a man who is very educated. He was a doctor. Obviously is a doctor. And middle class, presumably came from a relatively affluent background. What it is that drives middle class respectable, establishment people, essentially, to commit acts of terrorism in your experience?

MAHER: When you look at the profile of pretty much all the people involved in terrorist activity in Britain, they seem to have come from this relatively affluent upwardly mobile, or certainly emerging Muslim middle class kind of background. You know, same is true of Shizat Tenware (ph) and Mohammad Ziti Khan (ph) from 7/7, and Omar Sharrif and Assa Faneef (ph), they're two British suicide bombers in Israel.

CHANCE: Maher says that after 9/11, radical Islam in Britain went underground.

MAHER: I think the reality of that is multifaceted. But the main reason is mosques in this country after 9/11, their response to the problem of growing polarization and growing radical debate was although well-intentioned, they just shut down all discussion of politics within the mosque. They said, right, we're not going to give anybody a platform. We're not going to discuss this issue at all, in any way.

And what's that really caused is a subculture, which is breeding now away from the mosques and that subculture is entirely undetected.

CHANCE: Undetected and potentially deadly. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: It was hard fought but someone had to win. This the reaction in Russia after the Black Sea resort was named as host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Sochi gets the games. It is the first time Russia will host a Winter Games. Sochi is a long way from Moscow, but the Kremlin was very close to this contest. The 2014 winner of the Olympic Games and Jonathan Mann brings us a little bit of insight about that -- Jonathan.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Russian President Vladimir Putin will probably be long out of office by the time 2014 games roll around, but the choice of Sochi is a victory for the president, and his resurgent Russia, as well as the city itself.

No matter how the 2014 Winter Olympics turn out, President Putin has already won his prize.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): This is without a doubt not just a recognition of Russia's sporting achievements, but it is beyond any doubt judgment on our country. It is a recognition of our growing capability first of all economically and socially.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: The Soviet Union hosted the games just once in the summer of 1980. But that year the U.S. and other countries boycotted to protest the invasion of Afghanistan. And even though it's winter sports power house, Russia never had the Winter Games until now.

Sochi, in particular, is a resort town nestled between the palm lined coast of the Black Sea, the Russian Rivera, and the snow capped Caucuses Mountains. Think Hawaii with snow shoes and Stoli. Here's the thing, though, it stays warm in the winter in Sochi itself, but drive into the mountains and suddenly you're knee deep in snow.

Sochi has bid for the games twice before, but apart from the mountains themselves, it has no venues. It would have to build them all from scratch. Now, though, there is a man who promises to do it. President Putin likes Sochi so much he skis in the region himself. His oil-rich government can build up Sochi all at once because it has the money to do it. Putin campaigned personally making a point of being seen there and his government is planning to spend, as we've been reporting, at least $12 billion getting the hills and the rest of the city ready. He is an athletic president but getting the Olympics was no game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKOLAY PETROV, MOSCOW CARNEGIE CENTER: It's much more important for him from political point of view because that's the final stage of his second term. It will be possible for him to show everybody, including the Russians, first of all, a kind of, well, recognition of his and Russia's achievements during his rule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Now, remember, Russia is an Olympic power house. In the Winter Games when you combine the Russian medal count with that of the Soviet Union's, we're talking 293 medals, second only to East and West Germany's combined medal total. It has had similar success in the summer, too. With a total of 1,373 medals, second only, as you can see, though, by quite some distance, to the U.S. with 2,191.

When it comes to the Olympics, Russia isn't rebuilding from scratch. It has stayed strong, one more thing that President Putin can be proud of.

Back to you.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm sure he is.

Bringing down the house -- or rather bringing down the hotel.

CLANCY: That's right. We've all had those moments when we really wanted to take a sledgehammer to our room. Well now you actually can.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Guess what? Smashing up hotel rooms is not just for rock stars anymore.

CLANCY: And our Al Goodman has the story of the hotel chain in Spain trying to ease the pain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My boss! The main thing! The job! My mortgage!

AL GOODMAN, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: This Spanish executive is stressed out -- and apparently with good reason.

FERNANDO SUMMERS, STRESSED EXECUTIVE: My job is so stressing. I work in banking. And, well, I don't have to work with clients, but it's worse, I have to work with my boss.

GOODMAN: He's tried yoga. No luck. But when Spain's multinational hotel company NH Hotels, offered a chance to work off some steam in a hotel slated for renovation, Fernando jumped at it.

ENRIQUE TELLECHEA, NH HOTELS: It's having a great acceptance from everyone here. We have had more than 1,000 --

(CRASHING SOUNDS)

TELLECHEA: More than 1,000 applicants, people willing to participate.

GOODMAN: Only 40 survived the rigorous selection process. Experts picked people who appeared the most stressed out and, therefore, most in need.

SUMMERS: For sure it is one, you apply your energy on, you know? And after all, it's like you love it. I feel much better now.

GOODMAN: But not everyone here feels better.

(On camera): You know, covering this story with all these people banging around and making so much noise, it's really kind of stressful for the reporter.

(Voice over): And people might get the wrong idea. You're saying that normal guests at your hotels can't do this?

TELLECHEA: They shouldn't do this.

GOODMAN: But there is no stopping Fernando on the road to relaxation. Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: I feel better just watching.

MCEDWARDS: I like it. I would do it.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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