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Your World Today
Palestinian Ruling: Ousted Top Judge Reinstated; Israel Frees 255 Palestinian Prisoners; Fans Lining Up to Buy Latest "Harry Potter" Book
Aired July 20, 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: A setback for Pakistan's president that evokes two very different reactions. The supreme court reinstates the country's suspended chief justice.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Kissing the ground. Hundreds of Palestinians mark their release from an Israeli prison in a deal to boost the Palestinian president.
Countdown to a grand finale. Readers lining up to find out a teen wizard's fate in what could be the final "Harry Potter" book.
Also...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In exchange for risking life and limb in the big city traffic, you get to be a fair-weather rider, leaving the rainy days to those people who own bicycles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VASSILEVA: A two-wheel solution. The French capital roles out thousands of rental bikes to cut back on traffic and pollution.
CLANCY: It is 9:00 p.m. right now in Islamabad, Pakistan, 6:00 p.m. in Paris.
Hello and welcome to our report broadcast all around the world.
I'm Jim Clancy.
VASSILEVA: And I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.
From Warsaw to the West Bank, London to Los Angeles, wherever you're watching us, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: It wasn't his doing entirely, but he did become a symbol of resistance to the Pakistani president's grip on power. Now his supporters say civil society has prevailed over military rule in their country.
Pakistan's chief justice has won a major league challenge against president and army general Pervez Musharraf. It comes during what some call the worst crisis of President Musharraf's eight-year rule, the rising tide of Islamic extremism.
Nic Robertson is following it all from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was the verdict most of Pakistan's lawyers were hoping for, the supreme court's reinstatement of its chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, backed up by a strong condemnation of President Musharraf. The court ruling he acted illegally, forcing Chaudhry's suspension in March.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have seized the day for the government. That is for the first time in front of the establishment. And we will keep judicially strong (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTSON: Jubilation flowing on to the streets after a long hard-fought case. Chaudhry was accused of embezzlement and nepotism and was Pakistan's first chief justice to stand up to presidential demands to resign. His supporters say it's the beginning of the end of President Musharraf's autocratic rule.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The writing on the wall is really clear, that now the journey has started and the whole society is going to be freed from these (INAUDIBLE) dictators.
ROBERTSON: In the past few months there have been bloody and violent demonstrations in support of the chief justice. In Karachi, dozens were killed in clashes with police.
Even in his own government, President Musharraf has had little support for removing the chief justice. Described by one leading senator as ill-advised. But it wasn't just demanding the chief justice resign that played against Musharraf. It was his personal handling of the case, using tactics described by his opponents as strong-arm. Now that Musharraf has backed down, his government is claiming success.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Musharraf position probably would be strengthened. I mean, let's face it that, for the first time in history (INAUDIBLE) did not choose any pressure on the judges and they were left to interpret the constitution as freely and as they felt the way it should be interpreted.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: All right. Let's bring in Nic Robertson now for a little discussion of all of this. Nic joins us from London.
Nic, you've got that political crisis, people asking, is President Musharraf stronger or weaker? But at the same time, you have a security crisis, increased attacks by Islamic militants on the army. How does that affect the situation?
ROBERTSON: Well, by any measure, that he has one less crisis to deal with and one that has already been bloody and volatile. He has perhaps now -- can focus more of his attention on dealing with radical Islamists. So in that context, he is perhaps freer and more capable to exercise his authority, rather than facing perhaps bloody demonstrations with the middle classes in Pakistan, as well as the radical Islamists.
So, in that respect, perhaps he's slightly better off. But in respect that now there will perhaps be a stronger move to oust him from power, that there will perhaps be more controls put on him, particularly as the country moves towards elections by the judiciary, then perhaps he is going to find himself much more limited in terms of his power -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right.
Nic Robertson there joining us from London -- Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: Jim, all of this comes as Pakistan is burying its dead. On Friday, police in the southwestern province of Baluchistan laid to rest seven of their colleagues. They were killed on Thursday when suicide bombers targeted the convoy carrying Chinese engineers near Karachi. At least 29 people died in that attack. Scores more have died in similar attacks following an army raid on an Islamabad mosque last week.
CLANCY: Well, let's check some of the other stories that are making news around the world.
(NEWSBREAK)
CLANCY: Israel has freed 255 Palestinian prisoners. Most of them from the moderate Fatah Party. The move is a goodwill gesture to strengthen the hand of President Mahmoud Abbas and his power struggle with Hamas. Still, thousands are held by Israel, some 10,000 in all.
It was a bittersweet homecoming, and Atika Shubert has the report from Ramallah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Despite the talk of politics, security and peace, this is what Friday's prisoner release came down to -- a man coming home to his family after more than six years in jail. His youngest daughters born while he was in prison.
Thayer Mahmoud Khalil embraces his mother and finally his wife, weeping with joy.
"It's a strange feeling that's difficult to describe," he said. "I'm very happy and very glad. I thank President Abbas. I just hope in shalah (ph) that all prisoners will be released and the occupation will soon come to an end."
The same story repeated 255 times. All share a joyful hero's welcome but also sadness in knowing they are the lucky few. More than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners remain behind bars in Israel. (on camera): This is what it's about, the release of family members from Israeli jails to show, according to Israel, that President Abbas is the only one that can deliver these kind of concrete political goals. The question is, will this work?
(voice over): President Abbas greeted the freed prisoners in person. And though many thanked him for their release, not everyone was happy.
Isha Gemat (ph) was one of a handful of women released, jailed for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier when she was 15 years old. She had only four days left in her 10-month sentence.
"I'm happy, but not really," she says. "There are still so many prisoner, so many women still in jail."
Despite scenes like this, their empty places in jail may already have been filled. Human rights groups say more than 200 Palestinians have been arrested since Olmert first offered to release prisoners last month, undercutting perhaps Israel's goodwill gesture and any support intended for President Abbas.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VASSILEVA: Well, we're going to take a short break now.
When we come back, we will take a look at a mother who tries to track China's reach into her household.
CLANCY: Coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to look at one woman's year-long experiment to try to avoid food and goods made in China.
VASSILEVA: Also ahead, putting a solution in motion. Paris offers thousands of bikes for the rental fee of just pennies a day.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Becky Anderson outside one of the biggest bookstores in Europe with hundreds of "Harry Potter" fans waiting patiently for the witching hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY.
VASSILEVA: We are seen live in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe.
Well, in less than seven hours, the seventh and final book of "Harry Potter" series will finally be released in Britain. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will hit bookshelves at one minute past midnight.
And our Becky Anderson is outside one of London's busiest bookstores where fans are lining up -- Becky.
ANDERSON: That's right, Ralitsa. It's actually one of the biggest bookstores in Europe here. And I've got what seems to be thousands of "Harry Potter" fans behind me.
They're down here, they're down the side of the road, and they're right around the back of this bookstore. I mean, there's no doubt, this is big business, of course.
There's been something like 325 (ph) copies of the first six books in this series sold, some $9 million worth of revenue. This is big business. This, of course, is the last in the series of "Harry Potter" books, as you say.
At the stroke of midnight here, the store will reopen for all of these lucky fans behind me. We're going to have a quick chat with them. We're going to take my lapel mic off here and just find out exactly who we've got behind us.
Now, guys, where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the Netherlands.
ANDERSON: And how long you have been here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two days.
ANDERSON: Two day? You're here for two days? Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're crazy Dutch people. We're really crazy, yes.
ANDERSON: These are crazy Dutch people.
Who are you? Why are you here? Who are you, anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a death eater.
ANDERSON: You're a what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A death eater. A follower of the dark lord.
ANDERSON: A follower of the dark lord. My goodness. All right.
Well, they're all here for us. I'm just holding on to my lapel mic. They're all, of course, for what is a very exciting day for those amongst us who are "Harry Potter" fans.
There's been a lot of secrecy, of course, around this book. The publishers trying to keep a lot down effectively on exactly what happens, but not been necessarily successful as they might have been.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON (voice over): There's nothing quite like a secret to get people's attention. But even the best kept secrets can be broken, especially when you're talking about the seventh and final book in the "Harry Potter" series.
Trying to preserve the mystery of this manuscript was one of the tightest security operations in publishing history, the one that relied on money, not magic. Even $20 million, though, couldn't guarantee that the secret remained under wraps.
(on camera): Well, of course, this bag doesn't actually contain the "Harry Potter" script. In the U.K., that is in this building. It's Bloomsbury Publishing.
When J.K. Rowling decided how to end the series, she shared the secret with her publishers. It's their job to keep it confidential.
(voice over): They succeeded. That is, until just days before the official release, when an American distributes shipped over 1,000 books to customers and leaks surfaced on the Internet.
One man who knows how to keep a secret is Alan Samson. He kept the cover on the diaries of Princess Diana's bodyguard and the revelations of rogue trader Nick Leeson.
ALAN SAMPSON, PUBLISHER: Books like "Harry Potter," which everyone wants to gets hold of sooner than everybody else, I think in a world with this fragmenting media and everybody wants to get a slice of the action quicker than everybody else, that is one of the challenges as publishers we face.
ANDERSON: It proved too great a challenge despite an elaborate network of covert warehouses, tracking systems and sealed pallets.
J.K. ROWLING, AUTHOR: "Here with the scathing (ph) snap (ph) boxes that the twins had perfected during their last unfinished year at Hogwarts...
ANDERSON: J.K. Rowling made an appeal on her Web site. "Let's all please ignore the misinformation popping up on the Web and in the press. I'd like to ask everyone who calls himself a "Harry Potter" fan to help preserve the secrecy of the plot," she said.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "HARRY POTTER AND ORDER OF PHOENIX": But a certain dark wizard is at large once again.
ANDERSON: Call it marketing mischief or magic, the fate of "Harry Potter" has generated massive interest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "HARRY POTTER & ORDER OF PHOENIX": If they can do it, why not us?
RUPERT ADAMS, BETTING AGENT: And we put out some odds back in November of who -- whether Harry Potter would die or not. Vast sums of money coming in saying he would die. We had to change the betting and make it, who will actually do that killing? ANDERSON: So is it really surprising that the book slipped through the net when it was so coveted.
In Hollywood...
MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS, "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA": We have all the published "Harry Potter" books. The twins want to know what happens next.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA": Do you want the unpublished manuscript?
ANDERSON: ... and in the real world...
MELISSA DIAZ, HARRY POTTER FAN: If I see a lock, I'll try and break it. And if I get into prison, I'd still try and get it.
ANDERSON: The code many have been cracked, but the publishers hope that no amount of dark wizardry will spoil that final magic moment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Now, I can tell you, Ralitsa and Jim, the weather here has been absolutely atrocious today. It's been absolutely pouring with rain at times. But this lot still waiting patiently for what is witching hour. That's in about six and a half hours from now.
Back to you two.
VASSILEVA: Becky, are they taking any bets as to what's going to happen? Or they just don't want to think about it, they're keeping their ears closed?
ANDERSON: I think this lot behind me aren't taking any bets, because, I mean, they are waiting patiently. They don't want to know what effectively happens in the book, the fate of Harry Potter. Whatever else happens in the book, they're waiting patiently.
I know there have been leaks on the Internet. We do know that some books went out, probably errantly. And, you know, ultimately, I don't think anybody in this queue wants to know until one minute past midnight London time, when they will go into this store.
And I remember last year doing this, and they were there. They got -- I mean, they sped-read his book. They got halfway through by about half past midnight last year. So they're pretty quick readers. They'll find out then -- Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: And it's quite -- it's quite a large book. I mean, it's hundreds of pages.
ANDERSON: Yes. I mean, it's a very large book.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: That's right. That's what I'm going to do, ultimately. Of course, "The Order of the Phoenix" came out.
And, you know, and we've just seen -- and we've just seen the last movie, and you saw just how big a movie that was. I mean, there's no doubt the sort of mania around "Harry Potter" and this Muggles mafia behind me, as I say, waiting for that witching hour.
VASSILEVA: All right, Becky. Thank you very much.
Good luck to all of those waiting, and you, too.
CLANCY: All right.
We've got a little bit of a note here coming in on our national wires from The Associated Press saying that President Bush is going to be going to the doctor -- or actually, the doctor is coming to him on Saturday at his Camp David retreat. President Bush is going to undergo a routine colonoscopy on Saturday.
This is the routine procedure that is done in order to detect any polyps that might be precursors to colon cancer, recommended for all men over the age of 50 or so. And so President Bush is going to have that done on Saturday.
All right. We're going to take a short break here.
VASSILEVA: That's right. We will come up next with a check on the markets, how they're doing after the Dow's record close yesterday.
CLANCY: Yes. It looks a little different today.
VASSILEVA: Yes.
CLANCY: Also ahead, Chinese products in scrutiny, but identifying what is made in China, well, that may be a lot harder than you think.
VASSILEVA: And hero or a cheat? Baseball's Barry Bonds is close to breaking the all-time homerun record. Why many fans won't be cheering.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VASSILEVA: Welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the world, including United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. These are the stories making headlines in YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Tasting freedom, some 255 of some 11,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel set free today. The Israelis say it's a goodwill gesture meant to boost the standing of moderate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel said none of those release had blood on their hands. Harry Potter fans are lining up all over the world to get their final fix. In six and a half hours, the seventh book in the best- selling series will hit bookshelves in Britain. The release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has been somewhat marred by alleged leaks of the book's content. Author J.K. Rowling also criticized to U.S. newspapers for running early reviews.
CLANCY: The White House has just announced that President George W. Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy on Saturday. His Spokesman Tony Snow said during the two and a half hour procedure there's going to be a transfer of power to Vice President Dick Cheney. The vice president will be on his home in the Eastern Shore of Maryland during that time.
VASSILEVA: Critics of Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, are celebrating a challenge to his authority as a victory for his civil society. The country's supreme court rules his suspension of the chief justice was illegal and overturned it.
President Musharraf had accused the judge of abusing his powers, but a presidential spokesman says Musharraf accepts the decision.
Meanwhile, parts of Pakistan have become a hot bed or Islamic extremists. Last week militants launched a series of suicide attacks on government forces. U.S. State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee has more on the latest violence and efforts to rein in the extremists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Militants take revenge on Pakistan's president, hitting back after Pervez Musharraf ordered an attack on the pro-Taliban Red Mosque. So, they tore up a truce and declared war. Now, Pakistan is in flames.
(On camera): Just to give you a sense of the crises, the attacks happened hours apart from each other on Thursday, around Karachi, and in the oil-rich south. Hundreds of miles away close to the Afghan border, a mountainous area, known as Waziristan; now this is the problem area. It's a tribal region. It's lawless. And it's very remote. It's here that U.S. intelligence officials say that Al Qaeda and the Taliban have regrouped, and it's become a safe haven.
(Voice over): Pakistani troops are going in to rout extremists out. They failed the last time. Experts say, to win, the president has to make a choice.
TERESITA SCHAFFER, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: Mr. Musharraf take this as a signal that he needs to reactivate his kind of double-barreled policy of keeping the militants quiet, but not putting them out of business, or whether he's really going to take them on.
VERJEE: A senior State Department official says the U.S. is beefing up Pakistani troops, providing equipment, border security and intelligence. Remember, U.S. and NATO troops are right next door in Afghanistan. That official acknowledges the bloodshed is likely to worsen and Pakistan will be a mess for a while.
Musharraf himself is a target. The U.S. backs him, an important ally since 9/11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's shown the determination and the authority and the ability to deal with some of these very difficult situations.
VERJEE: Washington says Musharraf is the man to bring democracy to Pakistan. But critics wonder if he's committed.
SCHAFFER: Musharraf has really treated the civilian, secular parties as his real enemy. And he has treated the religious parties as potential allies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: If Musharraf is not effective in cracking down on militants, the U.S. has threatened to do the job itself. And, remember, too, that everything that's happening in Pakistan right now has extra significance, and is more amplified because it's an election year. And President Musharraf wants to preserve himself. Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Pakistan's foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, says it's a bad idea for U.S. forces to go into Waziristan, unannounced, and alone. He defends Pakistan's army as being quite capable of dealing with extremists there.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KHURSHID KASURI, FOREIGN MINISTER, PAKISTAN: The United States Army is not magicians. We know what they're going to do in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistan army is quite capable of doing whatever the American army can do, provided we have intelligence.
Let's be fair. And this is sort of a reckless comment, which comes, does a lot of damage. And this war against terrorism, or this war that -- you know, extremism cannot be won by any unilateral actions. You need support of the international. You need support of the people involved.
In this case, we need support of the people of Pakistan. Any action that United States takes, which will lessen the support for action against militants, and extremists, will be counterproductive.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CLANCY: All right, now the U.S. military has been offering to lend a hand in the fight against the terrorist near that Pakistani/Afghan border, but that doesn't equate with sending in U.S. troops, at least in the Pakistani view. Our Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon with some more details of the offer, though.
Jamie, what's on board with this offer?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.S. military is anxious to help Pakistan if it goes into that Waziristan area. But it well knows, it's a very tricky situation.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Peter Pace just traveled to Afghanistan with CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, who is traveling with him. Here's what General Pace told my colleague Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. PETER PACE, CHRM., JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We're working real hard with President Musharraf, offering to work as closely with intel and with kinetic effects, as he is comfortable working with us. And we're working through that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: So you can see they're walking a very fine line. The U.S. wants to provide any assistance. Essentially, it's offering that assistance. But it's well aware that Pakistan may not take it. Because too much help from the United States -- as you just pointed out in that previous statement from the Pakistani official -- too much help can actually hurt.
CLANCY: Does the foreign minister make a good point? It is reflected there that it could be counterproductive for the U.S. to try to put its own troops in there. But you know, in another part of that interview, when we talked to him, he did say very clearly that Pakistan -- I believe they're already receiving some U.S. military aid. But he talked about the police there in Waziristan, the frontier police, things like that, where they may be asking for help.
MCINTYRE: Yes, no. He's absolutely right that it would be counterproductive. That's why you see the United States being very careful about staying on the sidelines. That doesn't mean that the United States would never go into Pakistan without Pakistani permission, if they had enough intelligence, they really thought, for instance, they could get Osama bin Laden, it might be a case where the U.S. would act and try to get forgiveness later, rather than permission ahead of time.
But they're also aware that's a very risky proposition, because anything that they do like that -- any unilateral action they take without close consultation and approval of Pakistan really threatens to undermine the position of Pervez Musharraf, whose grip on power appears to be more tenuous by the day.
CLANCY: All right. Jamie McIntyre, or correspondent there at the Pentagon. Jamie, as always, thanks.
VASSILEVA: Russia's foreign minister says Moscow hopes to get relations with Britain back on track soon. They derailed quite a bit this week over a bitter extradition fight. The man in the middle is Andrei Lugovoi, a key suspect in the poisoning death of a former KGB agent. Our Matthew Chance talked with Lugovoi and joins us now from Moscow with details.
So, Matthew, what did he have to say?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ralitsa, he is, as you say, the man at the center, not just of a murder investigation now, but also of a very high-profile and damaging diplomatic spat between Russia and Britain.
I sat down with Andrei Lugovoi, the prime suspect in the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London, last November, according to the British authorities. He told me about how he was concerned for his own safety and about how the accusations of poisoning and of murder against him have cost him millions in lost business. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE (on camera): Guilty or not, you find yourself at the center, not just of a murder investigation, but also at the center of a big diplomatic spat between Britain and Russia.
ANDREI LUGOVOI, MURDER SUSPECT (through translator): Of course, I could not imagine in my worst nightmare that I would be the subject of confrontation between the two countries. I think that Britain is deliberately fanning out this diplomatic row. I can't understand why they have to resort to such inadequate measures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Well, Andrei Lugovoi, there, the prime suspect in the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, expressing his anger at the way the situation has affected him personally. Back to you, Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: Matthew, who does he think committed this?
CHANCE: Well, I asked him that very question in the interview, and he pointed the finger of blame clearly at the British security services. He says that he believes that Alexander Litvinenko was an agent of the British secret service. He said the British secret service has attempted repeatedly to recruit him. And he believes that they're in some way implicated in his death.
Of course, he didn't offer any evidence for that, though. But this is claim he's made again and again, as an attempt to perhaps deflect the spotlight from his position, Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you very much.
CLANCY: All right. We're going to take a short break. When we come back, a very interesting election coming up. We're going to take you on the campaign trail in Turkey.
VASSILEVA: This is a country caught between two worlds. We gauged the temperature of a nation ahead of a historic election.
CLANCY: Also ahead, Ralitsa, we're going to talk about the baseball hero, or just a guy pumped up on steroids? The verdicts is out on Barry Bonds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VASSILEVA: Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: Covering some of the news that the world wants to know, and on days like today, needs to know. What's happening with Harry Potter? And other big stories.
Anyway, we've got to look at some political news from around the world. And probably one of the most prominent stories is the situation in Turkey, where voters are going to go to the polls this weekend and elect a new parliament.
VASSILEVA: That's right. And polls are suggesting that the ruling party is headed for another victory, and critics say the party's Islamist tendencies could bring the country away from its secularist principles.
CLANCY: That's right and this is a huge debate. Jennifer Eccleston gives us a closer look at what hangs in the balance for Turkey and it's predominantly Muslim population.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For many people in Turkey, this is a facet of democracy, a facet of a cherished liberal lifestyle that faces extinction under the Islamic influenced government.
And that is why 23-year-old American-educated Onur Yalcin is on the campaign trail for Turkey's secular opposition; pounding the pavement in Istanbul instead of pounding beers at the beach during his summer vacation.
ONUR YALCIN, MEMBER, CHP YOUTH GROUP: Democracy is the main reason why I can live like this. Why I can sit like this, and smoke my cigarette, and enjoy my whiskey.
ECCLESTON: Onur, like many secular Turks, insists his version of democracy is under attack by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose AK Party is a moderate off-shoot of a now banned Islamic movement. The party says it's disavowed it's radical past, but the opposition claims it's the same car with a new paint job. Scratch beneath the surface and you'll see its true color, promoting political Islam, they charge, while chipping away at secular freedoms.
Ali Khamel Achiolu (ph) is an ardent campaigner for the Erdogan government. At 29, he's no stranger to the privileged life. Heir to his father's booming construction firm, he owns a home in a trendy seaside neighborhood. Ali Khamel (ph), is also a devout Muslim, a self-proclaimed democrat, and the new urban face of a party who traditionally draws support from Turkey's poor, rural and uneducated heartland. For him, a moderate and free Turkey isn't just about wearing bikinis and drinking alcohol. It's about equality for his wife and daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all have same rights. Have to have the same rights.
ECCLESTON: By that, he means overturning one of the most contentious aspects of Turkey's secular tradition, a ban on Islamic dress in government offices and schools, in place since the 1920s when Mustaffa Kabal Oteger (ph) established modern Turkey.
DR. NECIA ARAT, CHP CANDIDATE: In this country, 98, 99 percent of the people are Muslims. So if you identify yourself, we as the Muslim women, or girls, the others are insulted. They are say, we are Muslims, too. Why are you segregating us?
ECCLESTON: The secular line is absolute nonsense says this observant resident of a conservative of an Istanbul neighborhood.
"I was not able to finish my education because of the head scarf ban," she says. "It's not justice. It's just not fair."
(On camera): Competing versions of civil liberties, competing versions of a lifestyles under threat. An example of a vibrant democracy, or a society at crossroads, caught between two worlds divided not only by identity but ideas. Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Istanbul, Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VASSILEVA: Let's go and take a look now at the sporting world. Baseball's Barry Bonds is within two home runs of tying Hank Aaron's record. But not everyone is cheering him on. Some consider him a cheat. Here's CNN Richard Roth with more on this controversial story.
Hi, Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Ralitsa.
We're here at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Sports fans all across America from New York to San Francisco, home for Bond's team the Giants, plus baseball fans around the world, will be watching closely.
Bonds is on the very edge of breaking the most cherished sports record in America. Barry Bonds hit two home runs yesterday. To bring him within two of the record set in the early '70s by Hank Aaron.
Bonds, though, is love and hated in America. His case crosses across sports lines, legal lines, lines of race, it's an amazingly divisive issue in America. Though, at this point, many sports fans may tell you that they're a bit tired of it all, because the Barry Bonds saga has been going on for years.
He's never been charged formally, or indicted for anything, but he is widely suspected, according to some, of having perhaps used steroids to boost his homerun power. Bonds denies ever knowingly using steroids.
It's a big issue sports fans here tonight will be watching the scoreboard as Bond plays in the Heartland of America in Milwaukee, the home of Hank Aaron, the Milwaukee Brewers, his last team; very poetic justice should he tie or break the record there. He'll have a very interesting weekend watched by all, Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: We'll be watching. Richard, thank you very much.
CLANCY: Coming up, Paris certainly isn't cheap, but you can get around the city for almost next to nothing right now.
VASSILEVA: That's right. Only if you're willing, though, to push some pedals and just a few rules. We'll explain when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Well, if you've ever seen Paris in the summertime, you know that the traffic can be a mess. Well, now might be a solution. The green route on two wheels.
VASSILEVA: That's right. Bicycles have been posted around Paris, and they're all up for rent, for pennies. Our Correspondent Jim Bittermann takes us for a ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Forget the Tour de France, the bicycles making news in Paris this summer are clunky looking models being ridden by older gentlemen in suits, not young studs in Spandex.
You'd have a hard time winning a race anyway with a two-wheeler that weighs in at 22 kilos, that's nearly 50 pounds. But these things have to be solid since they may be ridden by a dozen or more different cyclists each day, who, if they're clever pay next to nothing for the privilege.
In fact, all it takes is about 8 cents a day with a yearly subscription, or a euro a day without. And you can be weaving in and out. Among the ever so welcoming Paris drivers who have made the city's traffic famous.
And if you return the bike to one of the city's 750 parking stands within 30 minutes, your ride is absolutely free. More time costs extra because the point is to keep the bikes changing hands.
But you never need to return the bike to the same station. Not a bad thing if the weather turns bad or the return trip is up a hill.
ALBERT ASSERAT, JCDEAUX COMPANY: We learn day by day, we will know where people are taking bikes in the morning; where they leave it in the end. So we will learn very much. BITTERMAN: The company that runs the system for the city has trucks in motion all day to redistribute the bicycles to where they're needed. And it hopes to prevent theft or vandalism with a mandatory 150 euro damage deposit. Even so, the repair shops have plenty to keep them busy after just a few days of operation.
As you might expect, automobile associations think is might be just a little bit dangerous having tens of thousands of new and less- experienced bike riders launched into traffic.
CHRISTIAN GERONDAU, FRENCH AUTOMOBILE CLUBS ASSOC.: This is a very difficult problem to deal with. Because you cannot protect people on two wheels, as you protect people in cars.
BITTERMAN: Still, the new bike system seemed so appealing, 60,000 people gave it a try in the first 48 hours. Few in this town of cycling chic could remain blase.
(On camera): You didn't think you'd get through a report like this one without seeing your correspondent on the back of a bicycle. No way!
So, let me just review, in exchange for risking life and limb in the big city traffic, you get to be a fair weather rider. Leaving the rainy days to those people who own bicycles. You laugh, you laugh -- ha! -- at traffic jams. And if you plan out your route carefully, every ride can be downhill, with the wind at your back. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VASSILEVA: Very good advice to cheat on exercise.
Now, we're going to take you back outside of London's biggest bookstore and back to our Harry Potter book watch. Becky Anderson is standing by.
How are they doing there around you, Becky?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: They're doing fine. They're beginning to make some noise outside what is actually one of Europe's biggest bookstores.
I'm joined by somebody that Harry Potter fans will recognize, but for those who aren't Harry Potter fans, you're watching CNN today, who are you sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Dumbledore.
ANDERSON: And does Dumbledore have anything to do with Harry Potter's fate? Do we think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I can't be sure yet. But J.K. Rowling has said, no. But I think that Dumbledore will be in the book somewhere or other. It could be to do with Harry's fate.
ANDERSON: Now, how long you have been here, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here since 6:00 a.m.
ANDERSON: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, to soak in the atmosphere and also the precipitation.
ANDERSON: Yes, it's been awful weather, I mean to tell you, in London. Do you think that bothers anybody? Something like 1,000 people, let me tell you, in this queue. It's getting longer by the moment. Do you think it's bothered anybody?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bothered some people. Spirits stank for all of five minutes, but as you can see, their backed up again.
ANDERSON: Well, who have we got here? Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a witch in the background. One of the ones that probably one of the most important characters in the whole of the film, the actors in the background. You know the ones in the film, the ones that you have to represent. I'm here to represent the witches in the background. There.
ANDERSON: All right. Just one of the many people standing in the queue here. Let me tell you, Ralitsa, we've got people here who have been queuing for three days. They're from Iceland. Some one here has come from Australia. There's a lot of anticipation about what will be a very exciting moment for Harry Potter fans, getting into this building in about six hours' time, Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: Only six hours. Soak in the precipitation. Thank you so much.
CLANCY: That looks like a lot of fun there. A lot of people waiting for that final installment. We'll have more on that in the hours ahead here on CNN.
VASSILEVA: Absolutely.
CLANCY: But that has to be it for this hour. I'm Jim Clancy.
VASSILEVA: I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.
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