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Your World Today

World's Largest Toy Maker Pulls Hazardous Products off Shelves; Recalls Threaten China's Reputation as Manufacturer; Baby Girl Rescued From Rubble After Family Killed in Iraq

Aired August 14, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY NORD, ACTING CHAIRWOMAN, CPSC: It is totally unacceptable and it needs to stop.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB ECKERT, CEO & CHAIRMAN MATTEL: Nobody likes recalls, and I apologize for the situation we're all facing.

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HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Toy troubles part two. The U.S. announces yet another massive recall of toys made in China.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Helpless and left dying, one of the smallest victims of the Iraq war making a startling recovery.

GORANI: Independence Day in the subcontinent. Pakistan marks 60 years since the end of British rule amid a backdrop of political turmoil.

CLANCY: And we're going to take you for a spin in the socialist speedster. A communist-era car revving up memories in the former East Germany.

It's midnight right now in Beijing, China, 6:00 p.m. in Berlin.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the world.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

From Beijing to Berlin, Karachi to Kabul, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Well, for the second time in two weeks, the world's largest toy maker is pulling hazardous products off the shelves.

CLANCY: It's not only another embarrassment for Mattel, it's an embarrassment for China, where the toys were manufactured. GORANI: Now, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as it's called, announced Tuesday's recall, saying that it hopes that eventually all toys made in China will be tested before they're shipped overseas.

CLANCY: Now, some of the problems that have been reported among the nine million toys don't appear to have been really problems with manufacturing in China, but rather with design perhaps done in the United States. We're going to be talking live with the chairwoman who broke the news.

But first, let's go to Allan Chernoff for some details of this massive recall.

Allan, what are we finding out here? What do consumers need to know right now?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: ... toys being recalled, and the larger one are actually toys that have small magnets. These are magnets that can actually come loose, and the kids, small kids, may be swallowing these magnets. So it certainly is a problem for many parents. They have to be on the lookout.

Some of the categories here that we're talking about: Polly Pocket, Barbie and Tanner, Doggie Daycare, as well as some Batman toys. And these are 18 million toys total, globally, we're talking about. Half of those, about half of those, in the United States.

The second category, toys that actually have some lead paint on them. And this is very similar to the problem that existed two weeks ago. There was a recall of some "Sesame Street" characters. Now the recall involves the Sarge toy, which is a jeep that is part of the "Cars" movie characters. So that also being recalled because of lead point.

Now, Mattel is saying that it is increasing its vigilance very aggressively.

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ECKERT: I'm disappointed, I'm upset, but I can ensure your viewers that we are doing everything we can about the situation. Every production batch of toys is being tested, and we'll continue to enforce the highest quality standards in the industry.

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CHERNOFF: Mattel says it is now going to be testing every batch of paint used on its toys. And with regard to the magnets, well, it says it now has toughened up its standards.

And Jim, you did point out that that area certainly appears to have been a design problem. Mattel first did a recall of some magnet toys back in November of last year. Now it's taking this additional step. CLANCY: You know, as we look at all of this, perhaps it's important to point out, is there anybody globally that looks at this? People have already told us that, you know, the Consumer Product Safety Commission doesn't really have a budget, doesn't really do any tests. It's still all up to the manufacturers. I mean, if you don't trust Mattel, you've got a problem.

CHERNOFF: Well, the Consumer Product Safety Commission actually, at the beginning of the month, put out its list of the five largest hidden hazards in a home. Magnets was at the very top of that list. So they knew that this was a major problem.

Mattel clearly was aware of that. And now they've taken this additional step.

And to answer that question, Jim, you know, when it comes to the safety of our children, I don't think any parent wants to rely on any company, any safety commission. Safety begins at the home, and the parents bear the prime responsibility for that.

CLANCY: All right. Good points from Allan Chernoff there. More to this story than just the business outlook.

Thanks so much, Allan, as always -- Hala.

GORANI: The recall just lengthens a string of problems for Chinese manufacturers who have seen goods from faulty tires, to tainted toothpaste, taken off the market.

Eunice Yoon looks at how China is responding to this latest crisis in consumer confidence.

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EUNICE YOON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): China is now the factory to the world, making everything from TVs, to T- shirts, to toothpaste and toys. The country ships over $20 billion of goods to the U.S. every month. These exports are key to China's double-digit economic growth. But that very growth is part of the issue with making safe products.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China is a developing country. It's been evolving for years and modernizing its regulatory systems. Ten years ago, it didn't even have product safety laws. What we're seeing today is that the regulations that China now has on the books are not evenly enforced.

YOON: The result, contaminants in things like pet food and toothpaste, and lead in paints for toys like the ones involved in the recall by Mattel's Fisher-Price division of over a million plastic Big Birds and Elmos.

Chinese officials say the manager of the plant making those toys killed himself over the weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pride is so strong these days, but there's also pressure to produce more and to maintain lower prices. And therefore, there's a lot of pressure on the suppliers to find ways to cut costs. There will be some that cut corners.

YOON: After the last recall, Mattel officials went to China to stress safety with its manufacturers.

The recalls are a blow to Mattel's business just ahead of the toy maker's crucial holiday season.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The latest scandals have served and should serve as a real wake-up call for Americans. You know, we've been importing more and more from China and we haven't necessarily been looking closely at where we're getting it.

YOON: The Chinese government has closed some factories and even executed an official in charge of product safety, but it may have to do much more to restore consumer confidence in the "Made in China" label.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, Eunice Yoon joins us now live from Hong Kong.

Eunice, a question on how pervasive this problem really is with regards to the quality of Chinese products. Are these isolated events and we're focusing on them, and rightly so, or is this really a big problem in China where every single product should be tested?

YOON: Well, it is very, very difficult to answer that question. A lot of people have been asking that question over here, wondering just how widespread this problem really is. But at this stage, it really looks like we have no really clear answer for that, just because there are thousands upon thousands of companies that produce products for -- for multinational companies around the world, and nobody really knows exactly to what degree these problems will continue to surface.

Now, some of the problems really have been surfacing because of the fact that China has been growing at such a breakneck speed. And in addition to that, of course, the government has been trying to manage that level of growth.

It's been having some trouble doing that. It has, of course, a lot of regulations in place. But it's not necessarily able to enforce a lot of those regulations.

So we are seeing a lot of growth out here. We're seeing not a government that's not quite able to manage that growth. And that's one of the reasons why we're seeing this problem.

GORANI: All right. Eunice Yoon reporting live from Hong Kong.

Thank you very much.

CLANCY: Well, announcing Tuesday's recall, the head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said there is, in her words, absolutely no excuse for such toys to even reach U.S. store shelves.

GORANI: Well, so what exactly went wrong?

Let's get some answers from the chairwoman of that commission. Nancy Nord joins us from Washington.

Ms. Nord, thanks for being with us.

Whose responsibility is it to check the safety of these toys? Is it yours? Is it Mattel's? Is it the manufacturer in China?

NORD: At the end of the day, there's shared responsibility here. Certainly, product sellers who wish to sell products in the United States bear the responsibility for ensuring that the products they sell meet U.S. safety standards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is here to make sure that the law is enforced.

GORANI: Now, do you even have the budget and the staff to do that? We're talking about hundreds of millions of toys that are coming in from China to U.S. store shelves.

NORD: The Consumer Product Safety Commission delivers incredible value to the United States taxpayers. Frankly, we are much more effective today than we were 10 years ago.

Yes, we are a small agency. But you know what? We are very tough, we're very tenacious, and we do our job and we deliver for the American taxpayer.

GORANI: All right.

Well, you've come up against criticism that you don't have either the manpower, really, or the power, just full stop, to make sure -- we're talking about volumes here. We're talking about hundreds of millions of toys, right, coming from China?

Who found this problem originally with the Mattel toys?

NORD: Mattel discovered the problem with the Sarge lead paint car when they were going through and looking at all of their manufacturing facilities in China. Mattel then brought it to the attention of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Companies have an obligation under our law to let us know if they discover issues that may pose a problem. And if they do discover those issues, they are to come to us. We look at the problems together and make a decision as to what is the appropriate remedy. In this case, we decided that a recall was appropriate.

GORANI: Do you think that with 80 percent of the world's toys produced in China, this is the tip of the iceberg? I mean, is this something that concerns you going forward, that more and more we're going to start seeing this in America and other countries in the world? Because for our international viewers, some 10 million of these toys are actually sold in other countries. NORD: You know, recalls are not a new phenomena. We've been doing recalls since this agency was set up. And every year we do more recalls than we did the year before. But that's to be expected.

Our economy is growing, there are more people in this country, more of them are buying products. So I don't think anyone should be surprised that recalls are occurring. Recalls are an indication that the Consumer Product safety Commission is doing its job.

GORANI: All right. Just to put this in perspective, though, nobody has been hurt by these toys. This is just a precaution, right?

NORD: That's right. And indeed, we also styled the recall to be very expansive, to make sure that we pick up all problems, and -- so that people won't be hurt by these products.

GORANI: All right.

Nancy Nord, chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Thanks so much for joining us here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

NORD: You're more than welcome.

GORANI: All right. Still much more to come on the show.

CLANCY: That's right.

Independence Day in Pakistan, a lot of celebrating there. A nation remembering its colonial past. But what does the future really hold for Pakistan? We're going to hear from President Musharraf on the political chaos and the religious turmoil in his country.

GORANI: And the smallest of survivors touches hearts at a Baghdad hospital. But where will baby Fatima end up?

Stay with us.

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CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: All right, covering the news the world wants to know.

Welcome to all of our viewers across the globe, and this hour, the United States.

Well, it has been six decades since the sun set on the British empire in South Asia, and the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan. That was 1947.

Pakistanis began their celebrations today in the backdrop of political turmoil and recent violence. Britain, the old colonial power, sent its congratulations, but the challenges of the president very much in evidence. President Pervez Musharraf is facing pressure from domestic opponents and from the American allies, pushing for more action against terrorists in the tribal northwest. Mr. Musharraf says he's 200 percent sure that the U.S. will not launch unilateral strikes against terrorists along his country's border with Afghanistan. He's also promising that upcoming legislative and presidential elections will be free and fair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT (through translator): The political year is an election year. It will bring political stability.

The political stability will be a continuation of the progress which Pakistan is making now and it will take us towards further improvements. This is all for the benefit of the public, and all these things which we will achieve, god willing, will be for the benefit of the people. The welfare of the public is ultimately the responsibility of government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, India marks the occasion Wednesday. Security is tight surrounding official celebrations, of course, after an al Qaeda videotape last week threatened Delhi with attacks.

CLANCY: She is one of the smallest survivors, a survivor of Iraq's seemingly ending killings and violence. Parentless baby Fatima was rescued from a pile of rubble in a violent Baghdad neighborhood.

Our own correspondent there in Baghdad, Arwa Damon, reports she's making an amazing recovery.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): She's 9 months old, but Fatima has already been through more than most people see in a lifetime.

SPEC. DESMOND CACCIOTTI, U.S. MILITARY: Well, she was found about -- I think two weeks ago under some scrap metal. One of the siblings actually found her and came (INAUDIBLE) and said, "Hey, can you take my kid sister? She needs help very badly. She's very sick."

DAMON: Found in the searing summer heat in Baghdad, Fatima's mother and uncle had just been killed by a death squad, probably because they were Sunnis. Her 7-year-old brother stopped a passing patrol and she was brought to a U.S. combat support hospital.

CACCIOTTI: She came to the hospital and she was diagnosed with malnutrition. She was very small for her size, only about eight pounds, less, give or take. Nowadays she's about -- about 12 pounds.

DAMON: For the hospital staff, baby Fatima is a welcome distraction from the daily violence. The head nurse was killed in a mortar attack last month.

In the words of one medic, "Fatima is a little happiness in a bad place."

(on camera): The U.S. military says it's looking for Fatima's extended family, but she just may end up joining her five brothers and sisters in an orphanage. Their lives, like thousands of other innocents, scarred by war and their future as uncertain as the future of their country.

Arwa Damon, CNN Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: At least 200 people are dead or missing in North Korea after days of heavy rains causing severe floods there. The United Nations World Food Program reports North Korea is seeking foreign assistance. For years, the country has struggled with chronic food shortages. Tens of thousands of hectors of farmland are feared flooded now or simply literally washed away.

GORANI: A state of emergency is in effect on the island of Hawaii. As you can see from the International Space Station there, that's a shot from the ISS.

Hurricane Flossie is edging closer with high winds, tides and heavy rains. The center of the Category 3 storm should pass south of the Hawaiian islands on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Back on dry land, people are stocking up with supplies. A flash flood warning is in effect there. Sparsely-populated areas might get up to 25 centimeters of rainfall.

CLANCY: A horrific scene in China's Hunan province after a just- completed bridge. This was a new bridge that collapsed. It crushed 29 people to death.

Dozens more are injured or feared missing in this collapse. Most of the victims were actually working on the new bridge. It was supposed to be opening later this month.

They took away some of the support scaffolding, and it just fell down on a roadway below. The tragedy raising fears about the stability of other structures in the country that is developing at breakneck speed.

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WENRAN JIANG, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA: In some cases, these bridges are actually public products, and the local governments or whatever, companies doing it, wanted to rush it to get it done. And many of the bridges, just like many of China's buildings, are having problems. And this is just one of the latest examples, tragic as it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CLANCY: Now, just the day before, the government identified more than 6,000 unsafe bridges. One expert says China should learn a lesson from the collapse of that bridge in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

GORANI: Well, coming up, another child caught in the crossfire.

CLANCY: We're going to bring you the story of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl. She almost lost her life once, and why going at home may put her at risk again.

GORANI: And it's been called the communist Ferrari. Now a limited edition version comes out from far behind -- far behind the old Iron Curtain.

Stay with us.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, welcome back to all of our viewers joining us from not only the United States, but 200 countries and territories right around the globe.

GORANI: This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. These are the stories making headlines in YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Pakistan celebrating 60 years of independence from British rule with ceremonies, gun salutes, and fireworks. Fears of militant violence, however, putting a damper on festivities in several cities. President Pervez Musharraf facing one of his toughest periods since taking power in a coup in 1999. Political opposition is growing despite his efforts to win a second term.

GORANI: The worlds largest toymaker has just announced another major recall. Mattel is recalling 9 million more Chinese-made toys off store shelves in the U.S. It's the company's second recall this month. About two weeks ago Mattel's Fisher-Price division recalled about 1.5 million preschool toys, also made in China.

CLANCY: Well, joining us now to discuss the very serious danger that lead poisoning poses toward children, and other issues, CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, what do we do if we think our child has been exposed?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you walk into a playroom, just any playroom in just any house around the world. There's an excellent chance you'll find one of these toys.

What you want to do, first of all, is get those toys out of your play room. And the second thing you want to do is not panic. If your child has been sucking or chewing or gnawing on these toys. Chances are their exposure to lead is pretty minimal. That's what experts we talked to, told us.

Now, if you're really concerned. If you say, gosh, this is just my child's favorite toy. They spend a lot of time with this toy in their mouth. I'm worried.

It's very simple. Take your child to the pediatrician, and ask for the child to be given a lead test. It's a finger prick test, that's how they get the blood. Pediatricians do them all the time. As a matter of fact, a lead test is a regular part of most childhood check ups. Chances are your child's already had a lead test. If you think it's too long since the last one or you're real worried. Just go in and ask them for the test.

CLANCY: What are the -- if you want to look for long-term effects, the acute effects of lead poisoning, what do you look for?

COHEN: There's not much to look for when you're talking about relatively low levels of exposure to lead. Chances are if your child has too much lead in your blood you'd not see anything. Very, very high levels, you will see something. You'll see abdominal pain, constipation and in the most very severe cases, seizures and actual coma. Chances are you're not going to see anything. That's why pediatricians check, at regular intervals, for lead poisoning for lead poisoning.

CLANCY: Is there any treatment at all that you can use in this?

COHEN: There is. If your child, again, has these very high levels of lead exposure, your doctor can do something called -- can order up something called chelation therapy. This is not something to be taken lightly. This is only done for children who have very high levels of lead. It's drugs that are given to the child to allow the lead to come out of the child's system.

Now, most kids who have lead in their blood don't do that. Because it's not that high. They just take away the sources of lead. At high levels there is a therapy.

CLANCY: We were talking earlier. You are really more concerned about the magnets. That affects far more toys, the 250,000 toys. We're talking about this little truck and other things. In that, it would seem the parents were the first line. They were the ones that brought it to the attention of Mattel. How many cases were there?

COHEN: There were more than 500 phone calls, or 500 contacts to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. You see there, my guess is that's a Polly Pocket. I know because they're in my house. These are toys that have little magnets on them.

The magnets -- it is supposed to be designed so the magnet doesn't come out. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission, part of the U.S. government, has received more than 500 reports from families saying they came out.

In there, there were three reports of serious injuries to children who swallowed more than one magnet. The magnets attracted to each other. These children suffered intestinal perforations.

CLANCY: That's serious.

COHEN: That required -- that's serious. So for the lead we're talking more long-term, these are acute situations. Because the child swallowed more than one magnet, they attracted each other causing intestinal perforation.

CLANCY: But it reminds us, once again, -- I mean, the parents are calling it in. The parents bring it to the attention of the manufacturer, and Product Safety Commission. It's the parents that are still the front line in all of this, aren't they?

COHEN: Absolutely. You need to be watching your child. Of course, every single second you're not going to have your eyes on your child, probably. But you really need to be watching your child. Especially if you notice, like when we showed that before, the little shirt that had the magnet on it. Think to yourself, gee, is there anything here that could come out? Is there anything that could cause my child problems?

Also, look at some of these pieces. They are tiny. I know, I have a one-year-old and I have a three-year-old. The three-year-old loves to play with Polly Pocket. The one-year-old really shouldn't because she'll put all that stuff in her mouth. You have to be very vigilant when you are talking about teeny, tiny pieces.

CLANCY: All right. Elizabeth, it's always great to have you with us. Elizabeth Cohen, our medical correspondent. Taking a realistic look. You're a mom, too.

COHEN: Right.

CLANCY: So, a realistic look here what the rest of us should be concerned about.

COHEN: That's right.

CLANCY: Thanks. as always.

COHEN: Thanks.

CLANCY: For more on this story, you can go to CNN.com, of course. We have an interactive guide showing many of the products that have been recalled. They were manufactured in China. But that's not necessarily a problem. Some could have been design problems in the U.S. It's not all about China, we want to make that clear. Find a link to the Mattel Web site set up for consumers to call.

Again, all of it waiting for you at cnn.com. A good place to get detailed information about this story.

GORANI: Do you ever wonder why there's lead on Chinese toys. Why the factory chose lead paint in particular? Jonathan Mann has been looking into and has some insight. JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: China builds things cheap. That's why so many companies and so many countries buy products there. IT doesn't answer the big question, though, why would they paint anything with poison?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBYN MEREDITH, "FORBES", SR. EDITOR: In the year 2000, 30 percent of the world's toys were made in China. That's huge, almost one in every three. But just five years later, 75 percent of the world's toys were made in China. But five years later 70 percent of the world's toys are made in China. We have to be watching what we're putting on those toys.

MANN: Now, officially China banned lead paint on consumer products, but lead paint is still cheap. And that's the key. Factories there are under pressure to keep costs down. Paint mixed with lead also dries quickly, that helps speeds up production, and in turn reduces manufacturing costs. Lead also makes paint more resistant to corrosion. Which means the paint stays on toys longer; and lead gives paint a nice shiny look, which is particularly appealing to youngsters. It really does look better.

Now, it's estimated there are more than 10,000 toy factories in China. Mattel alone uses or buys from about 3,000 of them. Just to be clear, lead paint isn't just showing up on toys in China. It shows up just about everywhere in China. A U.S. study found that a quarter of the paint that Chinese consumers can buy has more lead in it than the U.S. would allow. Even Chinese scientists have found one in three Chinese children has excessive lead in their blood. By comparison, in the U.S. and it's kids, we're talking about 5 percent, one in 20 youngsters, because the U.S. is so much more vigilant.

Some people say that really is the bottom line. That's why so many Western companies turn to China in the first place, to make all of the toys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED FISHMAN, AUTHOR, "CHINA, INC.": They make regular requirements of their Chinese suppliers to lower costs, to up production, and they are going to China, because China lacks the standards that they are -- have to abide by at home -- labor standards, environmental standards, safety standards.

And when you tell your suppliers to lower the cost, they also lower oversight, they go to cheaper materials. This is all done with a wing and nudge from the multi national customers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: So it's not entirely an accident. We're reporting on this in the U.S. context because Mattel is a U.S.-based company. But the recalls already announced covered dozens of toys distributed in more than 30 countries; talking about the recalls earlier this month. The newly recalled toys are believed to have been destined for markets around the world, 9 million of them, outside of the United States. And we're still waiting to hear from Mattel where they are.

GORANI: So, for our international viewers they don't know yet if their country is affected, essentially. What happens to the toys?

MANN: Two good questions. And Mattel has not volunteered information on either. If you go to the Mattel Web site, what you'll find out is a referral to a referral to a referral. It's not that easy to figure out if your country is concerned. Although, once again, if earlier this month, we knew better.

And what happens to the toys now is very interesting. Because a lot of these factories find -- well, if you can't sell the toy to the United States, sell it to Mexico, sell it to Brazil.

GORANI: Even though they're recalled toys? No?

MANN: The recalled -- I'm not going to speak of this particular case, because we just don't know. But in other cases, where a corporation decides we're not going to buy toys from Hala Gorani, anymore. Hala Gorani keeps making the toy, sells it to someone else.

GORANI: Right.

MANN: This has been documented. And, in fact, in previous recalls, factory owners have said well, if the U.S. cuts us off, there's always another market to sell to. And keep in mind, the Chinese may end up buying these toys. Chinese people buy a lot of their own toys. There's a lot of lead paint on Chinese toys. These toys, if not these particular toys, these factories while find a new market for the same manufacturing process.

GORANI: All right, Jon Mann, with some insight. Thanks so much.

CLANCY: We'll take a short break here and come back and tell you the story of a Palestinian girl who almost lost her life in a missile attack, now fearful of returning home to the Palestinian territories.

GORANI: Well, it's a father's very difficult choice, and we will tell you that story after the break. You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: The scene northern Lebanon, heavy fighting breaking out once again the Naral Barrad (ph) refugee camp. The camp is under siege. We cannot confirm the number of casualties this day. Fatah Al Islam militants are now in underground bunkers, again, fighting soldiers. It all started May 20th.

The Army's commander says they're linked to Al Qaeda and hopes -- they hope to use the camps as a safe haven. He thinks some 70 remain there, along with about 100 women and children.

Welcome back, everyone. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, on CNN International.

GORANI: All right. Welcome to all of our viewers across the world this hour. We're going to move on to this story from the West Bank.

CLANCY: Yeah, torn between two different lands, a Palestinian father, fighting to remain in Jerusalem after an Israeli air strike in Gaza left his daughter paralyzed.

GORANI: Now, at issue, the quality of health care in Palestinian territories and whether this injured little girl has any hope of a future there. Atika Shubert has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: (Voice over): Six-year- old Maria Iman (ph) depends on a ventilator to live. Without it her lungs would fail within a minute.

Maria is paralyzed and will need help breathing for the rest of her life. Her spinal cord was swerved and her lungs punctured on an Israeli air attack in on Palestinian militants in Gaza last year. Her family was in the car behind the targeted vehicle. Her mother and older brother were killed instantly. Only her father and younger brother now remain.

Israel's ministry of defense brought her here to the Alin (ph) Hospital, specializing in children's rehabilitation, the only facility of its kind in the Middle East. Here Maria has blossomed. Learning to write her name in Arabic, she has also earned to make jokes in Hebrew, charming hospital staff.

KOS WEBER, PHYSIOTHERAPIST: She's got a lot of will power. She's got a lot of will power. She is as normal and as happy as possible in her circumstances.

SHUBERT: But now the Defense Ministry wants to move her to the West Bank town of Ramallah, to a hospital that has neither the equipment, or expertise to care for her. Her father is refusing to budge.

"She would be the first of her kind at that hospital," he said. "It would be as though they were experimenting on her."

Alin's (ph) Hospital's director says Maria needs 24 hour supervision for her ventilator. Moving her now is out of the question.

SHIRLEY MEYER, ALYN HOSPITAL DIRECTOR: At (UNINTELLIGIBLE) There's no where to move her to. And there's no argument on that issue.

SHUBERT: The Israeli high court blocked the Defense Ministry's attempt to move Maria, but the ministry insists she should return to the Palestinian territories. A decision is due at the end of the month.

Maria, herself, is unaware of the controversy. She spends her days chatting to friends, playing on the computer, listening to music. More than anything else, she dreams at a normal life at school. "I'm happy. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I don't," she said. "I want a house for me and my brother and my dad, with a kitchen and big bathroom. I want a car to drive and an elevator. But I really want my dad to take me to school."

Dreams within her reach, doctors say, if she gets the care she needs. Atika Shubert, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Yes, and she's lucky to have that father looking after here.

CLANCY: She really is. She's getting good care and great story.

CLANCY: Well, talk about politics now for a minute, day after the White House Chief Adviser Karl Rove announced he was stepping down, newspapers in the U.S. weighing in on his legacy.

GORANI: According to "The New York Times", "President Bush took a risk when he put someone so focused on politics as blood sports, at the center of his White House. Once he did, he had an obligation to make sure Mr. Rove understood his job to was promote interests of American people, not solely the Republican Party."

CLANCY: A different view from "The Wall Street Journal", it says, "Mr. Rove is hardly any more divisive than any other political strategist. Has everyone forgotten James Carville, or Harold Ickes? The difference is that Mr. Rove's remarkable run of success has caused many on the political left to assume that he was cheating."

GORANI: Well, "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" are not the only ones opining on Karl Rove's departure.

CLANCY: Yes, you want something different? Our Jeanne Moos is getting in on the act as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Doing the news isn't brain surgery, but suddenly news people sure sounded like neurosurgeons, dissecting Karl Rove.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's Bush's brain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bush's brain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brain drain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rove's brain matter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Generally where there's brains, there's Rove.

MOOS: For liberal blogs it was a red letter day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, but we don't know the real story as to why he's leaving.

MOOS (on camera): Oh, you think there's some kind of hidden agenda?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There always is, isn't there?

MOOS: When Karl Rove got emotional announcing his resignation.

KARL ROVE: We've been at this a long time.

MOOS: It didn't get long for the HuffingtonPost to headline, "Quivering Farewell". Seconds after a soulful embrace. One newsman bellowed, "If you're so smart, how come you lost Congress?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How come you lost Congress?

MOOS: Rove is a man of nicknames. The president called him The Architect, or Boy Genius, then there was his rap name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it one more time, what's your name?

ROVE: It's T. Rove! (ph)

MOOS: The title Bush's Brain metastasized after it became a title of a book and documentary. Even non-human comedians had a field day, like Triumph, The Insult Dog.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's Karl Rove -- it's The Brains. You're Bush's Brains, Karl! I was expecting a much smaller man. I'm a dead man.

MOOS: Rove apparently appreciates a joke. He dressed up as a hunter for Halloween to mock John Kerry's public display of hunting prowess. And Rove sat down on the tarmac in front of Air Force One in a private joke with the president.

He's a man his critics love to hate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't loose your snarl, hit me back, where you at, what up Karl?

MOOS: The "I Love Karl Rove" Web site mocks him every holiday, from Ground Hog Day to Thanksgiving. That's nothing compared to the very special name the president has for Rove, Turd Blossom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would get rid of the blossom.

MOOS: When Doonesbury used the nickname in comic strips a few newspapers refused to run them, but it's good enough for the president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would they call him that, if he helps him so much?

MOOS: It is Texan, supposedly for a flower that grows out of cow dung. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, right, so.

MOOS: So, it's something good that comes out of something --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I see, as fertilizer, you mean.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's my Turd Blossom?

MOOS: This one may be too much for even Bush's brain to make sense of. Lucky for the president they call Rove Bush's rhythm. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right. Coming up, it was the fastest thing on the far side of the Iron Curtain.

GORANI: In fact they called it the Communist Ferrari, now East Germany's most famous sports car is making a comeback.

CLANCY: We'll meet the Melkus, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hala, two phrases that really don't sound like they ought to go together, East Germany and sports cars.

GORANI: Well, the engineers, though, in the east did manage to produce a socialist speedster with a powerful engine. If little else, though, in the way of features, well it did go quit fast. Frederik Pleitgen takes a spin in the Communist Ferrari.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Before the fall of the Wall, drivers in Eastern Europe generally had a choice between the gray car, the blue car, the brown car, and the green car. That was pretty much it.

(on camera): In the Communist bloc, almost all cars looked the same. That's why this one really stuck out. This is the Melkus RS- 1000. The only sports car ever built in East Germany. Today Zeth Melkus (ph) is going to take us for a ride. Ready?

(Voice over): Because of its slick design, they called it the Communist Ferrari. The Melkus has a 75 horsepower engine for a top speed of 105 miles an hour, and virtually no comfort. No power steering, no air conditioning, no seatbelts, driving in its purist form.

"It's completely different than driving today's car. You're sitting only 5.5 inches above the road. You're almost laying in the car. You feel like you're driving a race car," Zeth Melkus says. That's because it was designed to be a race car. Zeth Melkus' grandfather, Hines (ph), engineered the socialist speedster in it in 1969. It was supposed to give the Communist bloc prestige in auto racing.

Later, the regime allowed sales the general public. Only 101 RS- 1000s were ever built. In 1979, Hines (ph) Melkus had to stop production because of shortages at his suppliers. Now Zeth (ph) Melkus is revising the RS-1000. Manufacturing a limited edition, using only original parts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of the buyers are car collectors, but there are also many, back in the day had the dream of owning such a car, but never could, because they were either too young but didn't have the money. But today they can.

Melkus said he hopes to breathe new life into the RS-1000. A rare example of Communist flair.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Dresden, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, there it goes.

GORANI: Yeah.

CLANCY: Burning up the road.

Talk about burning up, there is a heat wave in the U.S. , that's not quitting. It's made things really hot on a little Ferrari, little red Ferrari out there.

GORANI: A man in the U.S. State of North Carolina sound a solution for his dog. He's affectionately called Mac-Daddy. He has a very cool dog house complete with air conditioning.

CLANCY: Yes, Mac, has A/C in his dog house. That's one dog that knows how to chill. No doubt about it. Look his owner looked a little bit like Karl Rove, didn't he?

(LAUGHTER)

GORANI: Maybe it is Karl Rove. At least he's not really working full time anymore.

That's it for this hour, I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and this is CNN.

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