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Britain Expels Four Russian Diplomats Over Extradition; Pakistan Violence: Government Trying to Salvage Truce in Lawless Region; Catholic Church to pay $660 million settlement to sexual abuse victims. Small Iraqi police outpost struggles to rebuild again, and again, after insurgent attacks, but keeps hope alive

Aired July 16, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Britain raising the stakes in a diplomat row over the murder of a former KGB spy. Russian diplomats get booted from the U.K.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Pakistan attempts to be bring order to a region of the country awash in chaos.

CLANCY: Last hope for reprieve. A parole board in the U.S. state of Georgia will decide if a murder convict lives or dies.

CHURCH: And there's something fishy about the next generation of sushi. Seafood lovers may be crying foul.

CLANCY: It's 5:00 p.m. right now in London, 1:00 in the morning in Tokyo.

CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our report broadcast all around the globe.

I'm Rosemary Church.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From London to Moscow to Tokyo, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Diplomacy turns dramatic in London as the murder of a former KGB agent on British soil and the Kremlin's refusal to help in the investigation escalate the standoff between Russia and the West. Now London's giving four Russian diplomats the heave-ho and reconsideration its cooperation with Moscow on other issues.

Now, we're covering the story from all angles with Matthew Chance in Moscow and Alphonso Van Marsh in London. That's where we're going to begin right now.

Alphonso, what was announced today and why? What so worries the United Kingdom about this case?

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this is what is shaping up to be the first national -- or international diplomatic crisis for Prime Minister Gordon Brown since he moved into 10 Downing Street here behind me. As you mentioned, his foreign secretary, David Miliband, speaking with the House of Commons just in the last hour or two, announcing, as you mentioned, the expulsion of four Russian diplomats. That is this country's response to Russia's refusal to extradite what British authorities believe is the chief suspect in that radioactive poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko.

Let's listen a little bit to what David Miliband had to say about Russia's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MILIBAND, BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Given the seriousness of the crime and our ambitions for our bilateral relationship with Russia, Russia's reply to the CPS' extradition request is extremely disappointing. It suggests that the Russian government has failed to register either how seriously we treat this case or the seriousness of the issues involved, despite lobbying at the highest level and clear explanation for our need for a satisfactory response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: Now, it's important to note that Alexander Litvinenko did die last November, and the person accused, Andrei Lugovoi, has said that he had nothing to do with that death. But again, from foreign secretary Miliband today, the expulsion of four Russian diplomats.

Also worth noting from that announcement from Miliband that visa issuing, the negotiations to make the process easier between the two countries, well, those talks, that's been stopped, as well as if the suspect is possibly going to go to another country. Well, it's still possible that international agreements could be enforced to have him extradited to the U.K. -- Jim.

CLANCY: At the same time, there's a Russian law that says its citizens cannot be extradited. And that's what the Kremlin is going off of right now. But from Britain's viewpoint, I think there was a statement coming out of government officials saying that what this appeared to amount to was Russia settling the score against a Kremlin critic on their territory.

Is that what bothers them?

VAN MARSH: Well, what we heard from the foreign secretary today, when he did speak with the House of Commons, is saying that Russia, according to David Miliband, isn't even willing to discuss the option of trying to work on that process. David Miliband saying that there has been precedent in the past where such extradition treaties could be worked out, but he's saying that Russian officials in this particular case aren't even willing to talk about it, as we heard him say on our air just a few moments ago, that this process needs to move forward and that the integrity and independence of the judicial process in this country needs to move forward. And this is what Britain needs to do to enforce, to get Russia to know how seriously the U.K. is taking the situation -- Jim.

CLANCY: Alphonso Van Marsh there, live from 10 Downing Street on London's side in all of this. Of course, there are two sides.

A Kremlin response has not been announced, but let's get more, go to our senior international corespondent, Matthew Chance, there in Moscow.

It is expected that the Russians are going to have some kind of response for the expulsion of four of their diplomats, but nothing so far?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, nothing so far, Jim. But we do expect there to be a furious reaction from the Kremlin, having listened to these four very tough measures that the British foreign secretary announced to the British parliament just an hour or so ago.

There's a great deal of anger and indignation here in Russia that Britain even asked for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi. President Putin, the Russian leader, said several weeks ago that he thought it was a stupid decision on the part of the British to do it, because he says that the Russian constitution -- and they have been holding this up as the main reason for not extraditing him -- the Russian constitution does not allow the Russians to extradite one of their own citizens to a second country to stand trial.

Now, there's been a lot of Cold War rhetoric being bandied around over the past several months, and indeed the past several weeks, over this Litvinenko case and the request for extradition. It's very unlikely these very tough words coming out of Britain today are likely to ease that tension that is growing now between Britain and Russia.

CLANCY: All right. Right now, the Russian position in all of this, we are not going to turn anybody over, we have nothing to cooperate on at this point? Or do they say there's room to negotiate?

CHANCE: No, they say there's no room to negotiate on this point at all.

What they have done is offer to hold a trial for Andrei Lugovoi in a Russian court. But as we heard from the British foreign secretary earlier, that's been rejected repeatedly in London because they say they are concerned about the impartiality of any trial in Russia. They're also concerned that the crime which Britain has made very clear it takes very seriously, indeed, this poisoning of a British citizen, a poisoning that affected hundreds of other Britons in the British capital, the appropriate venue for that, they say, is in London.

And so, both sides are locked in this stalemate now, which it's going to be very difficult to break out of -- Jim.

CLANCY: Matthew Chance reporting there live from Moscow -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Jim.

Now to this other story we have been covering. Just hours after a deadly earthquake rocked Japan, another one hit off the coast, rattling nerves but causing no further casualties or damage. Now, that initial quake, though, left a wide swathe of destruction. Seven people were killed, 875 were injured when that 6.8-magnitude quake struck off the northwestern coast, turning buildings into piles of lumber.

Now, the quake also caused a fire and a radioactive water leak at a nuclear power plant. But officials say there is no threat to the environment.

All right. Another story we are covering.

One of the biggest U.S. allies in the war on terror is trying to stop a surge of violence in a hotbed of Taliban and al Qaeda support. Pakistan is calling together tribal and militant leaders in Waziristan after a weekend of deadly attacks. The government wants to salvage a 10-month-old truce, but critics, like the U.S., say it was flawed from the very start.

Well, Nic Robertson is following this story from London.

Nic, explain to us, what exactly does this mean? And where is it going?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, the breakdown in this apparent truce seems to have led to the death of almost 70 Pakistani policemen and soldiers over the weekend in a massive spike in violence that comes hard on the heels of the Pakistani government's ending of that standoff and siege at the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice over): Police cadets, the target in this suicide attack Sunday. Twenty-six killed as they sat (ph) recruitment exams not far from the Afghan border. Hours earlier, a double suicide attack killed 19 soldiers. They were on patrol further north, also in the border region.

It was the second attack on Pakistani troops in as many days. Twenty-four soldiers were killed in another attack in north Waziristan, also close to the Afghan border, on Saturday.

The spike in violence coming just days after Pakistani troops ended a standoff with Taliban-aligned Islamic radicals at the Red Mosque religious school in the capital. Many students were killed.

Now the Taliban say they are ending a 10-month-old truce with President Pervez Musharraf. His critics say this means more attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

WAJID SHAMSUL HASAN, FMR. HIGH COMMISSIONER TO U.K.: There will be renewed trouble across the border, you know. There will be more activity into Afghanistan, both for him as well as for the Karzai government. ROBERTSON: The deal, first brokered in north Waziristan, called on tribesmen and Taliban to stop attacks on Pakistani troops. In return, the troops would stay on base, effectively leaving the Taliban to police themselves. But attacks on U.S. troop across the border in Afghanistan went up. At the time, Pakistani officials denied they had done a deal with the Taliban, said they needed to stop the Taliban before they got too strong.

Musharraf is due to hold elections late this year or early next. His critics fear he may use the current escalation in violence to call a state of emergency and hold off on democratic progress.

HASAN: They would like to get out of the elections, as everybody is saying, that this scenario is being created to postpone the election, to impose a state of emergency.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Well, the big fear for President Musharraf and his critics alike is that the Taliban could escalate their attacks not just on policemen and soldiers in the border region, but take their strikes against civilians in some of those densely-populated cities in Pakistan -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Nic, just very quickly, what sort of impact is this escalation in violence likely to have on U.S.-Pakistan relations?

ROBERTSON: Well, it's going to put it into an area of uncertainty. Pakistan is moving more troops to that border region, but it puts more pressure on President Musharraf to face off, if you will, the Islamic radicals who are taking deeper root in that border region.

It potentially puts those Islamic radicals in a stronger position in the border region, and the stronger they are there, the greater the number of attacks against NATO and U.S. troops inside Afghanistan. So at the moment, it potentially strains the relationship.

But there are many things happening in Pakistan, not least of which is the elections. And any threat to that is obviously a threat to the support of President Musharraf by the United States, because the United States, as do the Europeans, they want to see President Musharraf hold those elections and move the democratic process in Pakistan forward.

CHURCH: All right.

Our Nic Robertson following the story there from London.

Thanks so much -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Coming up this hour, a record settlement in a U.S. church abuse case. But can money help heal the emotional scars of the victims?

Building up a police force from scratch. We'll show you the difficulty of enforcing the law in Iraq.

And a death row controversy in the U.S. state of Georgia. Supporters of a convicted killer make a last-ditch effort to halt his execution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Cold swim. A British man who went to the North Pole, swimming on Sunday, calls the achievement both a triumph and a tragedy.

CHURCH: Lewis Gordon Pugh spent almost 19 minutes in waters measured -- listen to this -- at minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.

CLANCY: Now, he said the tragedy is that it's even possible to swim to the North Pole.

CHURCH: Now, he hopes the feat will motivate world leaders to take climate change seriously.

Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We're covering the news that the world wants to know, the stories that so often cross international borders.

Now, in about 15 minutes' time, the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States expected to formally announce the largest-ever settlement in a clergy sex abuse case. This deal calls for a $660 million payout to settle hundreds of lawsuits.

Kara Finnstrom has the details now for us from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY, L.A. DIOCESE: Once again, I apologize.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With those words, the cardinal Roger Mahony announced the L.A. Archdiocese' record settlement, $660 million to 508 people who have accused priests of sexual abuse.

MAHONY: It should not have happened and should not ever happen again.

FINNSTROM: The cardinal was then repeatedly asked whether he had made mistakes handling the allegations.

MAHONY: Spiritually, because sometimes I honestly had reached the bottom, I didn't know what to do, what to do next. It seemed like everything I tried to do was wrong.

FINNSTROM: Sunday's announcement came one day before the civil trials were slated to start. Trials where Mahony might have had to testify.

ESTHER MILLER, ABUSE VICTIM: Mahony decided for a purely business decision to settle this so that he wouldn't stand in front of god and his colleagues and the media.

FINNSTROM: Esther Miller is one of the alleged victims who belongs to SNAP, the Survivors Networks for Those Abused by Priests.

MARY GRANT, ABUSE VICTIM: This is a picture of my around the age of 13, when I began to be repeatedly raped by a priest.

FINNSTROM: Mary Grant is another.

GRANT: No amount of money or guilty verdicts will give back those kids who lost their childhood.

FINNSTROM: Mahony says the church is now using new screening programs and education to prevent future abuse. He says the settlement cost will largely be split between the archdiocese, insurers and the religious orders whose priests were accused.

Parishioners here are divided over how deeply the church has been tainted.

MYRITA VARNA, PARISHIONER: I don't believe that all of these claims are legitimate.

PAULINA ZANUDIO, PARISHIONER: Well, priests need to be, you know, taken into justice, just like anybody else, whether they're priests are not priests.

FINNSTROM (on camera): The $660 million settlement that brings a legal end to these cases is by far the largest settlement in the child molestation scandal that's rocked this church. The next largest, $157 million and the Archdiocese of Boston.

Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, the settlement in Los Angeles is by far the largest of its kind, as we've heard. In the five years since the abuse scandal emerged, all together the U.S. Church has agreed to pay at least $2.1 billion to sexual abuse victims.

Now, the Los Angeles settlement alone represents nearly a third of that total. The Boston Archdiocese, where the abuse scandal first came to life back in 2002, has had to close more than 60 churches to help pay its $84 million settlement. Five other U.S. dioceses had to file for bankruptcy protection from lawsuits by abuse victims.

While the scandal is most prominent in the United States, it's not limited to that country. A priest in France was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual abuse. And archbishops in Austria and Poland have resigned after they were accused of abuse.

Additionally, church leaders in Britain and Ireland have acknowledged failing to adequately deal with known abusers and allowing them to continue serving as priests. Well, still ahead, bullets and tear gas. It's the summer of living dangerously for foreign students and activists risking their lives to protest a part of Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

And in the U.S. state of Georgia, an 11th hour battle is under way to save a convicted cop killer from execution after witnesses recant their testimony.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church. Here are some of the top stories we have been following.

CLANCY: Britain plans to expel four Russian diplomats in retaliation for Moscow's refusal to extradite a suspect in the murder of this man, Alexander Litvinenko. Andrei Lugavoi (ph) is accused of poisoning the former KGB agent and spy Litvinenko. Britain also plans to suspend visa negotiations with Russia and is reviewing cooperation on a range of other issues.

CHURCH: Japan has been hit by a second strong earthquake in the Sea of Japan, near Kiyoto. The initial quake had triggered a fire near the world's largest nuclear power plant and leak of radioactive water. Seven people were killed in that initial quake and more than 800 people were injured. The quake collapsed houses and buckled roads.

CLANCY: The leader of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese has apologized for sexual abuse by priests. Cardinal Roger Mahoney making a statement on Sunday, and in just a matter of moments, the Los Angeles archdiocese is expected to announce a $660 million settlement between the archdiocese and lawyers for hundreds of alleged abuse victims.

Now, Cardinal Roger Mahoney said he hopes this settlement will begin a new chapter for the church but he acknowledges not everyone will be satisfied. Joining us now from Washington to discuss this, is Teresa Kettlecamp, she's the director of Office and Child and Youth Protection at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Teresa, your whole job is designed to do what, to make people feel safe in their parishes today?

TERESA KETTLECAMP, DIR., CHILD & YOUTH PROTECTION: No -- well, that's part of it, Jim. The purpose of the job is to implement the charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. And that was the charter that was voted on and established by the bishops in June of 2002.

In the charter, it comprises about 17 articles, which set up areas in which the church can implement to outreach to victims, to ensure policies and procedures are in all of the diocese, in the United States, background evaluation procedures, and accountability measures, which would be the audits and establishment of this office and the National Review Board.

CLANCY: All right. You were a police officer with the Illinois state police for, what, almost 30 years.

KETTLECAMP: Correct.

CLANCY: Let me just ask you something on an obvious level, yes, you pay out hundreds of millions of dollars. Can the victims have justice? Is justice really served if nobody is put on trial and goes to prison?

KETTELCAMP: I wasn't at the table in L.A., so I don't know if what the victims feel as far as justice in this case. The hope is that when you reach a settlement of this magnitude, there is help and healing for the victims. And they feel a certain amount of justice has been reached.

CLANCY: As a police officer, somebody that's concerned about children, isn't there a sense here that something is still being swept under the carpet?

KETTELCAMP: The settlement is huge, and the apology is important. I think when you put an apology together with actions, such as the charter in the settlement, I think it speaks volumes.

And I don't think there's an indication -- many cases come to settlement prior to going to trial. So this is not unusual in the criminal justice system here. So, for that to reach resolution prior to going to trial, I don't see that as sweeping anything under the rug at all.

CLANCY: You know, a lot of the victims say they are not satisfied, they think the church has paid its way out of this one. At the same time, there has got to be a lot of people among the Catholic Church, the priests, the nuns, and the others who feel they have seen their lives -- their life's work smeared by all of this.

KETTELCAMP: I think all of us, to include myself as a Catholic, feel hit by this horrific criminal, sinful tragedy. Nobody can be a Catholic or in the U.S. society and not feel impacted by this. The tragedy raised our awareness for the abuse of children, which exists not only in the church but in society. And I think as Catholics, we all take heart to what has been a terrible tragedy and very sinful.

I think -- also I just wanted to add, there are many good men within the church, as priests, and they, too, have felt the scourge of this crises.

CLANCY: Teresa Kettlecamp, I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us this day. She's the director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection for the U.S. Conference of Bishops.

KETTELCAMP: I want to thank you for your interest. Thank you. CLANCY: Rosemary.

CHURCH: We want to turn to Iraq now where officials in the northern city of Kirkuk have had their fears realized. They say the death toll from the powerful truck bomb has now risen to at least 80 people. And 170 people were wounded in that attack that happened in a crowded downtown area. Now several shots were badly damaged by the blast, and a Kurdish political office suffered minor damage.

One of the most difficult tasks the U.S. has in Iraq is building up the Iraqi police force. One town southwest of Baghdad has not had any police presence for over two years. Frederik Pleitgen talked to an American Army captain working around the clock to get a police force up and ready.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is arguably one of the worst police stations in Iraq, Jerfasakker (ph), west of Baghdad. There's not a single piece of furniture in the building. The officers sleep on the floor. And the only radio is powered by a car battery. But the sheer existence of the police headquarters is a big success for Captain Henry Moltz. He says he spent months to get this far.

CAPT. HENRY MOLTZ, U.S. ARMY: It's been two years. In two years' time they have been bombed out three times. Three different I.P. stations completely destroyed. This is the third that we have established. So, it seems that this place is rudimentary. It doesn't have furniture. It doesn't have good electricity. But it's something. We have a flag on top of this building and I.P.s back here, into this town. Guys who are willing to fight for Iraq and preserve security (ph).

PLEITGEN: This is what's left of the last police station, reduced to rubble by an insurgent bomb that killed several officers and left Jerfasakker (ph), an insurgent stronghold, without a police force.

(On camera): Every time this unit tried to set up a police department, insurgents would come and bomb the building. Now they are trying to set up a new police force, basically from scratch, and that is proving to be a very difficult process.

(Voice over): A flag over station, machine gun positions on the roof, but not much more. U.S. troops say without American support, the Iraqi police unit would not last a day, even though the officers try to display confidence.

"There's no danger here," the policeman says, "Because the coalition forces, Iraqi army and Iraqi police are working together to kill the insurgents. The bad guys are now outside the city."

But it's only with the protection of the Iraqi army and U.S. soldiers that the Iraqi officers can even walk the streets of Jerfasakker (ph) The policemen live in constant fear of being killed. Even so, Captain Moltz says, they've made significant progress in the past weeks. And, he says, he believes eventually they will be ready to take over security in Jerfasakker.

MOLTZ: Absolutely, very soon. As soon as we get more I.P.s in here, which are coming, and as soon as we can get them what they need to run the station on their own, these I.P.s will take over this area.

PLEITGEN (voice over): But Moltz also says he knows there will be setbacks along the way, in a town that has not had a police force for more than two years. Frederik Pleitgen, Jerfasakker (ph), Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Two detained Iranian-Americans have been shown on Iranian state television. It's the first time the two scholars have been seen since they were charged with -- and I'm quoting here -- "endangering state security." The images are undated, but the broadcast promises more video to come. They are among four Americans held on similar charges by Tehran.

We will take a short break. Coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY sentenced to die. Time running out for a man facing execution in the U.S. State of Georgia. But his supporters are mounting a high-profile appeal to try to spare his life. We will have details of that.

And then later -- not your typical holiday break. Tourists face down tear gas, even bullets as they travel to the Palestinian territories to make a point.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

CLANCY: That's right. Seen live in more than 200 countries and territories all around the globe.

The defense said witnesses change their stories. The death sentence still stands. Today attorneys for a Georgia death row inmate will have one more chance to make their case before Tuesday's scheduled execution. We have more on the story now from our own Correspondent Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTINA CORREIA, TROY DAVIS' SISTER: I'm trying to answer all of these emails and things about Troy.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On a mission Martina Correia works 18-hour days with one aim -- to save her brother Troy's life. Troy Davis was convicted of killing Savannah Police Officer Mark McPhail in 1989. He's scheduled to be executed on Tuesday. There was no physical evidence, no murder weapon found. Correia says that alone should cast doubt on the jury's guilty verdict.

CARREIA: When you only have eyewitness testimony, you have no physical evidence. People have fallacies and we make mistakes.

DORNIN: A case of mistaken identity. That's what Davis' lawyers and supporters claim. This was the scene in 1989. This parking lot at the Greyhound bus station in Savannah, Georgia. Some witnesses say Davis and two other men were following a homeless man across the street harassing him. Off-duty Officer Mark McPhail ran out to break up the fight. That's when some witnesses claim Troy Davis shot the policeman twice and ran. In Savannah, the manhunt was on; Davis surrendered to investigators days later.

Since Davis' conviction, the defense claims seven witnesses have changed, and sometimes even contradicted, their own stories. During the trial the defense claims it was another man that shot McPhail in this parking lot. Now some of the witnesses are pointing their finger at the same man, claiming that fear of reprisal and police coercion caused them to accuse Davis.

Monty Holmes is one witness who changed his story. Now he claims he was coerced by police.

MONTY HOLMES, WITNESS: They were trying to get me to say that he did it, but he didn't do it.

DORNIN: Major Everett Ragan, headed of the homicide investigation back then. He dismisses allegations of coercion and as for witnesses changing their story, he doesn't believe it.

MAJOR EVERETT RAGAN, SAVANNAH, GA. POLICE: There's no doubt in my mind we arrested the right person.

DORNIN (on camera): There's no element of doubt it could have been the other man?

RAGAN: No.

DORNIN: Sergeant David Owens has no doubts either. He was a close friend of the victim, a man everyone called Mack. It was Owens you see here, trying to save McPhail's life in the back of the ambulance in 1989. Owens now hopes the victim won't be forgotten.

SGT. DAVID OWENS, SAVANNAH, GA. POLICE: Just hope that people will remember that this man stood for what's good in society and he was murdered for it. And now the punishment needs to be fulfilled.

DORNIN: But how can you fulfill the punishment, argue dense attorneys, if you execute the wrong man? They claim other witnesses who were there that night have never testified, but have submitted affidavits. Prosecutors in Savannah declined comment, but in court papers state, "These affidavits have been presented to other courts and found insufficient to materially affect the verdict in this case..."

The Supreme Court also refused to hear the case. Here in Savannah, his lawyers filed an extraordinary motion for a new trial.

JASON EWART, TROY DAVIS' ATTORNEY: No court has ever been able to sit down and take a look at the evidence. They have never heard testimony. They have never talked to the witnesses again.

DORNIN: And no court will. Davis' plea for a new trial was denied late Friday. Within the last week, there was a rally by civil rights activists and Amnesty International in hopes of saving Davis' life.

We spoke to him on death row on Friday. During the trial, he never pointed the finger at anyone else.

TROY DAVIS, VIA SPEAKER, DEATH ROW INMATE: Because I didn't want to be labeled as a snitch.

DORNIN (on camera): That's the only reason?

DAVIS: Yeah, which is stupid.

DORNIN (voice over): Davis says he remains optimistic that his cries will be heard but --

(On camera): How are you preparing for the idea that these efforts to save your life may not work?

DAVIS: I put it all in God's hands and just being -- being prayerful.

DORNIN (voice over): Monday both sides will present evidence to the state parole board in Atlanta. The board could allow the execution to go forward the next day or commute Davis' death sentence, in what may be Troy Davis' last chance for life. Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are going to go to the Middle East now.

A newly installed Israeli President Shimon Peres is pledging to devote his time in office to achieving his lifelong dream of Middle East peace. After six decades spent in Israeli politics, the 83-year- old Peres says he wants to push Israel to make peace with the Palestinians and Arab countries. Political power in Israel is concentrated in the hands of the prime minister, and the presidency is largely a ceremonial post. But Peres says he will do what he can.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PERES, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL: I think I have a window of opportunity like never before and I'm going to encourage people the government people to do so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How?

PERES: You know, in public life, you don't use force (ph), you use words, you to talk to people, you have dialogue. That's what I'm going to do. You don't have any force, but the force of my conviction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime 250 Palestinian prisoners are expected to walk free of Israeli jails on Friday, as part of the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to bolster support for Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah-led government.

Olmert and the Palestinian Authority president met for two hours today to discuss that release. Both sides described the talks as positive, although the Palestinians are urging Olmert to free even more of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners believed held in Israeli jails.

CLANCY: U.S. officials say President George W. Bush will soon announce a huge increase in aid for the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They say he will pledge $190 million to boost the Fatah leader in his power struggle with rival Hamas. Mr. Bush is also expected to call for an international conference this fall to help restart Middle East peace talks.

Mr. Bush is expected to make his remarks in about a half an hour from now. We will bring that to you live.

You can forget backpacking across Europe or lazing on the beach. Summer vacation is taking a violent turn for some. Students and activists from Europe to the United States are traveling to the Middle East. What are they doing there? They are joining protests by the Palestinians. Cal Perry goes along to find out why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAL PERRY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: It looks like the first Palestinian uprising in the late '80s. Palestinian children fling rocks towards Israeli troops. Each rock answered by an authoritative incoming Israeli round.

But it's not the late '80s, it's now. And this is the village of Beline (ph), deep in the West Bank. Recently, this tiny village was divided by the Israeli separation fence, sparking weekly organized demonstrations. But not all of the protesters are who you might think they are. They are from Sweden, Chicago, even Canada, beginning their day with a military style briefing. Tips on how to be careful out there, given by an Israeli activist, who has obvious experience.

JONATHAN POLLAK, ISRAELI ACTIVIST: Do not wash your face. Tear gas sticks to wet surfaces and will stick more if you water your face. What you can use is baby wipes or alcohol pads to wipe away the tear gas.

PERRY: So while those that actually live here battle it out for every inch, a strange community of outsiders have formed. For many it's their summer of living dangerously. As the bullet fly and people run, they telltales of life and death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was here a guy got hit --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A guy got shot in the head?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, he hit his buddy in the head with a rock. Everybody was like -- real bullets!

PERRY: There are, of course, those who are ideologically devoted among the group. Americans with staunch political views.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid and I disagree with what's being done with our money. I believe this is the least I could do.

PERRY: Of course, a bullet whipping past your head --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (BLEEP)! Right in front of you.

PERRY: Can change your outlook on things, especially when you're from Arizona and on summer break from college.

(On camera): What worries you the most when you're out here doing this?

BARNABAS FISK, AMERICAN ACTIVIST: Getting shot with American ammunition. Getting shot with rubber bullets. Tear gas, we're going to start crying in a few. There's another.

PERRY (on camera): In this valley, it all starts and ends the same way. Protesters march to the fence. Israeli push them back. Nothing ever really changes. Both sides will meet here and do it get next week. Cal Perry, CNN, Beline (ph), in the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: All right. We are just getting these pictures in. Want to take them to you. Alhambra, in California, that is about 10 miles east of downtown L.A. It started just before 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. That's about 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

We know at this stage part of the building collapsed. We are not getting any word at this point on injury, or even the cause of that fire. Just looking there, Alhambra in California, that's just about 10 miles east of downtown L.A.

At this point we are not getting any word of injury or the cause of that fire. But we do know at this point, that part of that building has collapsed. We will keep an eye on that as more pictures and more information coming to us here at CNN.

But we will take a short break now. When we come back, Japanese sushi bars serve up something just a little more exotic than you're used to. Raw meat, even raw chicken. But just how safe is it? That story is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back.

Well, in Japan sushi once was a rare delicacy reserved for the most sophisticated of palettes. CLANCY: That's right. And once it was fish, and now it's mass produced, sold at supermarkets everywhere. What is a gourmet supposed to do, Rosemary?

CHURCH: That's right. Consider this, chicken sashimi, anyone? Deer dipped in soy sauce. That's a thought.

CLANCY: While our Eunice Yoon seems to be somebody that's game for some raw game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sushi lovers all over the world can't wait to dig into a stack of raw tuna or salmon. But could you stomach raw deer? While rare outside Japan, here dinner at the local sushi bar is not limited to the standard seafood fare. That could include raw meat like deer, horse, whale, chicken and pork. Food writer Lauren Shannon said all are considered healthy delicacies.

LAUREN SHANNON, "TOKYO JOURNAL": Historically, if you had money, if you had influence, you could have the freshest fish killed right at your table, have it served to you by a very skilled chef. It takes a lot of skill to serve raw food, so this was all a status symbol.

YOON: Is it popular?

SHANNON: The taste is very different. Just like beef, different parts of the cow taste differently. So they choose the freshest, tastiest parts of the animal to serve raw, because that's the main flavor you're getting. You're not seasoning it with anything else.

YOON: Now this one seems a bit unusual.

SHANNON: Yes. Chicken sashimi.

YOON: When I think of raw chicken, I think of salmonella.

SHANNON: Exactly.

YOON: Is it safe to eat?

SHANNON: You know, they eat fugu (ph) here, blow fish. And it can be dangerous. It's a poisonous fish, if you do it the wrong way. I think the same principals apply to the chicken.

YOON (voice over): To learn more about those principles, we spoke to one of the chefs.

SUKENOBU KAWABE, OWNER, GENPACHI RESTAURANT (through translator): The sashimi is only cut from the bird's back shoulder and is best eaten fresh. The meat is from organic chickens.

YOON (voice over): So how does it taste?

(On camera): This is the moment of truth.

SHANNON: In Japanese we say, Eta daki-mase (ph).

YOON: Tastes like chicken.

SHANNON: There you go.

(LAUGHTER)

YOON: Eunice Yoon, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: That is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.

CHURCH: I'm rosemary church. Thanks for watching us here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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