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Congress Examines Role of Security Contractors in Iraq; British Prime Minister Plans to Withdraw 1,000 Troops From Iraq; Korean Leaders Meet for Summit

Aired October 02, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Under the gun. Blackwater faces tough questions in the U.S. Congress after a fatal firefight in Iraq.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: North meets South. A rare summit of the Koreas begins in Pyongyang.

GORANI: Journey's end. We'll chronicle one man's very long, very grueling trip around the world using only his own power.

HOLMES: And yes, again, Britney and her blunders. The pop star hits the skids, loses custody of the kids.

Hello, everyone. It is 1:00 a.m., Wednesday morning, in Pyongyang. It is noon in Washington.

Welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Michael Holmes.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

From Washington to Wellington, London to Los Angeles, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

HOLMES: And we begin with the Blackwater security firm called to account by the U.S. Congress, not for the recent shooting in Baghdad, which, of course, thrust the company into the spotlight. Instead, it must justify its entire role in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Does Blackwater fulfill a vital task, assisting U.S. troops, or are its employees, or at least some of them, cowboys, acting without oversight or restraint?

For more on the hearings, let's go to Barbara Starr in Washington.

Barbara, for many people who have been observing the behavior of at least some contractors, this was not a matter of if, but when they would be called to account.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that's right, Michael.

Of course, there are thousands of security contractors in Iraq. They've been there for many years. They are in a very violent situation there. But Blackwater, of course, one of the best known, one of the largest. And that September 16th shooting incident in Baghdad really brought all of this to the front.

Blackwater chairman Erik Prince is on Capitol Hill today, as you see these pictures of the live hearings still ongoing, trying to explain his company and his position. What's most interesting, perhaps, is the hearing opened with the chairman, Congressman Waxman, you saw there, announcing that they would not discuss the September 16th incident, because the FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the matter and has asked for it not to be publicly discussed.

Be that as it may, in Mr. Prince's prepared testimony for the hearing, there was a discussion of the incident where he laid out how they came under fire and his belief that they fired back in self- defense. Now, many Iraqis don't buy it. Many people in Iraq believe Blackwater is a cowboy, rogue organization firing without provocation.

Many of the congressmen asked some very pointed questions about that. But Mr. Prince came back, repeatedly, defended his company's practices and explained what he really felt their job in Iraq is.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIK PRINCE, CHAIRMAN, BLACKWATER USA: Most of the attacks we get in Iraq are complex, meaning it's not just one bad thing, it's a host of bad things -- a car bomb followed by a small arms attack, RPGs followed by sniper fire. An incident occurs typically when our men fear for their life, they're not able to extract themselves from the situation. They have to use sufficient defensive fire to get off the X, to get off that place where the bad guys have tried to kill Americans that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And Mr. Prince went on to explain -- what does he really mean by getting off the X? Well, that's part of what happened in Baghdad that day, when, by Blackwater's account, they came under fire. That is their view of what happened.

He said the job that they had was to get the convoy they were guarding out of the way as fast as possible, not to stay and engage in combat with the insurgents. Their job is to get the people they are protecting out of harm's way as fast as they can. But, certainly, Michael, all of this raises many, many questions about the role of these contractors in the war in Iraq -- Michael.

HOLMES: And indeed, Barbara, it is about the role. You have private contractors, a for-profit company that's been paid nearly $1 billion so far, doing, really, a military job. But the missions are different.

The U.S. military wants to win hearts and minds, as well as achieve its goals. Blackwater and other companies like it, their mission is their client. They don't have the same role, if you like.

STARR: Well, that's absolutely true. Let's just take this one incident on September 16th that the FBI doesn't want to talk about too much.

Blackwater, that day, was protecting a State Department convoy moving through Baghdad. They were providing security for that convoy. And there is no question, the company, the security guards that day knew and felt that that was their only job, to get those people from one point to another point. And when they felt they were under threat, they felt they had the right to fire in self-defense.

They're not out there, they say, to win hearts and minds. They're out there to move people around in a secure manner. And they say that their testament to that success is that, in all the time they've been doing this, they've never had anyone they've been protecting killed in Iraq.

So, again, this is becoming a matter of great controversy, something Congress is likely to continue to look into -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, where missions literally collide.

Barbara Starr, thanks so much -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, the British contingent in Iraq is getting smaller. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Britain plans to pull 1,000 troops from Iraq by year's end. He met with his Iraqi counterpart during a surprise visit to Baghdad today.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says his government will be able to take full control of the area around Basra and the south within two months. Mr. Brown says the move is a sign of the improving security climate there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And I believe that by the end of the year, the British forces which have been 5,500 can be reduced to 4,500, and that by the end of the year, indeed by Christmas, a thousand of our troops can be brought back to the United Kingdom and to other purposes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, Britain currently has about 5,500 troops stationed at the Basra airport. Mr. Brown's announcement means there will be 4,500 British troops left in Basra by the end of this year, '07.

The British are the second largest foreign force in Iraq behind American's more than 160,000 troops. U.K. commanders hope to hand over full responsibility for Basra's security to the Iraqis in the next two months.

For more on the implications of Mr. Brown's announcement and his talks with senior politicians in Iraq, let's turn to our European political editor and prime ministerial watcher, Robin Oakley. He joins us now live from London.

This is the beginning of the end of the British mission in Iraq, isn't it, Robin?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Absolutely, Hala. All the movement of British troops since Gordon Brown took over for Tony Blair as Britain's prime minister has been in one direction. And while you can say this is very good news for British troops and their families, that 1,000 of will be home for Christmas, you could also say it's very good news for a prime minister who is clearly thinking about calling a snap election.

Britain is in a ferment about whether Gordon Brown is about to call an early election to secure his own mandate as prime minister, having just inherited the job from Tony Blair when he became the Labour Party leader. And the expectation is that there will be further cutbacks in British troops in Iraq next year.

Mr. Brown today was outlining that the role is going to change with the Iraqis taking up greater responsibility in the Basra province. The role of those remaining British troops is going to move from combat to overwatch -- Hala.

GORANI: So does this change the relationship between the United Kingdom and the USA?

OAKLEY: Not the relationship between the U.K. and the U.S., no. But we've already seen a change in the relationship between the British prime minister and the U.S. president.

Gordon Brown has deliberately distanced himself, to a degree, from President Bush. We saw that in their meeting at Camp David.

He says British decisions on Iraq now are going to be taken in British interests. He is clearly not in the game of doing anything to help President Bush politically. And there has been some argument among the British military that the British troops stayed in the center of Basra rather longer than was necessary at some cost to them as a result of American political pressure -- Hala.

GORANI: All right.

Robin Oakley at 10 Downing Street.

As always, thanks, Robin -- Michael.

(NEWSBREAK)

HOLMES: And now let's turn to a historic meeting in North Korea. For only the second time since the Korean peninsula was divided after World War II, the North and the South are holding a summit in Pyongyang.

Sohn Jie-Ae has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SOHN JIE-AE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): North Korean leader Kim Jong-il personally greeted the visiting South Korean president, Roh Moo-Hyun. In the background, hundreds of North Koreans waved Kimjongil Hwa, the flower named for its leader.

The two leaders walked together, but in marked contrast. Kim in his trademark cocky military jumpsuit, walking stiffly and occasionally clapping. And the slightly younger Roh smiling broadly and dressed in a dark western-style suit. A dramatic mood set for a start of the three-day summit between the two Koreas.

It all started earlier in the day as Roh stopped his motorcade just before the demarcation line between South and North Korea. He got out of the car and made the crossing by foot, becoming the first South Korean leader ever to do so.

"As president, I'm crossing this forbidden line this time," says Roh. "After I'm back, I hope that more people will follow suit and then this for bidden line will be erased."

The meeting between Kim and Roh was compared to that seven years ago between Kim and then South Korean president Kim Dae-jung. High hopes for long-awaited peace on the Korean peninsula were dashed soon afterwards when North Korea embarked on a path to develop nuclear weapons.

Now the reaction on Seoul streets is more cautious. "Unification is an issue," says this Seoul citizen. "But I don't think unification is that easy."

LEE CHONG-MIN, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: Roh realizes that the way you differentiate with the peacemaker, Mr. Peacemaker, Kim Dae-jung, is to be the Mr. Problem Solver. And he wants to go down in history as the South Korean president who helped de-nuclearize the Korean peninsula and to institutionalize reforms between South and North Korea.

SOHN: In a televised address to South Koreans before he embarked on his troop to North Korea, Roh himself set more realistic expectations, characterizing his trip as one that would aim to remove stumbling blocks in opening a new era in inter-Korean relations, a move towards hastening the slow mark towards unification.

Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Still ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, an update on the situation in Myanmar.

HOLMES: Now, since that military crackdown, there are few protests and fewer pictures of the monks out on the streets, but there is some troubling news.

GORANI: Also ahead, an extraordinary feat. One man undertakes an epic journey around the world using his own power. HOLMES: And she's in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons again. Pop singer Britney Spears gets some bad news about custody of her children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: And a special welcome to our viewers joining us in the U.S. this hour.

Now this story -- a U.N. envoy has wrapped up meetings in Myanmar. He spoke for a second time with democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi hours after his audience with Myanmar's military leader. The past week's crackdown on protesters has left cities and villages across Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, of course, all of those eerily quiet. But no one is mistaking this as business as usual there.

John Vause has our report. And we must warn you, this story contains graphic and disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These three Buddhist monks are now on the run among the few who have managed to cross the border into neighboring Thailand, fleeing persecution by Myanmar's military.

"When I first started protesting, I wasn't afraid," he says. "But when the problems began, I became scared and ran."

They say many monks have been arrested and beaten. There are reports that hundreds have been killed. Sources inside Myanmar have told CNN many of the monasteries in Yangon are deserted.

And then there was this, disturbing video shot by a member of a network of dissident Myanmar journalists. It shows the body of a Buddhist monk found Sunday in a stream not far from where the pro- democracy protests have taken place. This is not believed to be an isolated case.

In a country where there are nearly as many monks as there are soldiers, the men of peace in the saffron robes may be paying a heavy price in this showdown with the military rulers of Myanmar. And judging from the limited images that have made their way out of Myanmar today, the protesters are, for the most part, gone too, terrified to leave their homes. Sources we've contacted inside Myanmar say as many as 1,000 people have been arrested in the past 48 hours.

The streets are now controlled by police and soldiers. Witnesses tell CNN passersby are being stopped and searched for cameras and cell phones, anything to keep the military government's actions from the eyes of the world.

Myanmar's military has ruled this country for more than 40 years, brutally putting down any challenge to its authority. Only this time, the rest of the world witnessed the crackdown virtually in real time, as images and video were uploaded over the Internet and sent out to the world. The authorities have tried to sever that connection and it remains sporadic at best.

JOHN JACKSON, ACTIVIST: The anger and determination is there. So there may be a lull, but once the troops are back in their barracks, once the Internet is up and running, I think you'll see further protests.

VAUSE: Over the weekend, the U.N.'s special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, met with Myanmar's most prominent human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

(on camera): And Gambari has now met with the country's most senior ruling general to deliver the world's outrage. But Myanmar's generals have never listened before. It's not expected to be any different this time.

John Vause, CNN, Bangkok, Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, I suppose traveling the globe these days is fairly simple. If you can afford it, you buy a ticket, and then get in a plane, or on a ship, relax, and arrive at your destination. But you're about to meet a man who has clearly never heard the word "easy". He took the long way home. A very, very long way.

Here is Neil Connery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEIL CONNERY, REPORTER, ITV NEWS (voice over): The country Jason Lewis left 13 years ago is a very different place to the one he has returned to.

In 1994, John Major was prime minister. Wet Wet Wet's single "Love is all Around" was number one. And the average house price was 50,000 pounds.

After all the challenges Jason has overcome on his grueling journey, powering himself around the world using his own strength, there were just a few more obstacles to navigate around as he headed into Dover.

JASON LEWIS, ADVENTURER: I can see the white cliffs of Dover over there. I'm pedaling towards them right now. And this sort of theoretical -- theoretical place on the map that I've been pedaling towards for all these years, England, is now in my sights. And it's getting bigger by the -- by the hour, by the minute. It's very exciting.

CONNERY: Jason's journey began at the age of 26, when he set off on his 46,000-mile trip from Greenwich. He cycled across Europe in his bid to become the first man to circumnavigate the planet using only human power.

He crossed the Atlantic in his 26-foot pedal boat Moksha and traveled across America on roller blades. Yesterday, the 40-year-old arrived in Dover, having set off from Cape Granay (ph) near Cali (ph) on the last leg of his journey, which he will complete by pedaling up the Thames.

LEWIS: That simple idea of circumnavigating the world using only just the power of the human body and mind and spirit has always -- has always fascinated me. You know, it's been done by sailing boats, of course, and motor boats and everything like this, but not just using their own body.

CONNERY: There's still a few days left to make it to London. But for now, Jason is relieved to be near journey's end.

(on camera): So, after 13 years, Jason Lewis finally arrives back in Britain after his epic solo-powered global circumnavigation. Much has changed while he has been away, but at least he has came back to find that the British weather is, well, pretty much the same.

Neil Connery, ITV News, Dover.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: That's one thing you can count on, the British weather.

HOLMES: That is a long way.

GORANI: Absolutely. There's a constant there.

It is a long way.

Coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY....

HOLMES: It has been weeks since the 10th anniversary of the deaths of Princess Diana and her companion, Dodi Fayed. And now Britain has opened an inquest into the car accident that claimed their lives. But will this stop rumors of a conspiracy theory?

GORANI: And later, the laugh heard around the political world. Is Hillary Clinton's chuckle a laughing matter or is she giving opponents the last laugh?

Stay with us.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back, everyone. Our viewers all over the world, including this hour from the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes. Let's update you now on the top stories to this minute. Leaders of North and South Korea shaking hands ahead of the second summit between those two countries, only the second one since the world war. South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun traveled to Pyongyang by car. He says he wants to build ties and ensure peace across the Korean Peninsula.

GORANI: The United Nations' envoy Ibrahim Gambari has wrapped up his meeting in Myanmar and left the country, he spoke with the democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi for a second time hours after talks with junta leader Than Shwe.

HOLMES: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he will pull another 1,000 troops from Iraq by year's end. Mr. Brown met with his Iraqi counterpart on an unannounced visit to Baghdad.

GORANI: Now the head of a private security firm, Blackwater, is on Capitol Hill. The hearing was originally scheduled to look at the company's actions in a shooting incident in Iraq last month. But the chairman of the U.S. House committee investigating the incident asked the panel, and all its witnesses, not to discuss that September 16th shooting because of an ongoing FBI investigation.

HOLMES: Iraqis, many of them feel that Blackwater operates on its own. No one answers to no one. In fact, the U.S. government does have authority over Blackwater, if it cares to exercise it. It does not. Jonathan Mann has some "Insight".

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To begin with, contractors like Blackwater get the benefit of a lucky coincidence, or maybe a conflict of interest. Private guards protect the staff of the U.S. government. So the U.S. government has every reason to protect its private guards.

But there's more to it than that, permissive laws, loopholes, and the like. From the start, for example, Blackwater was shielded from Iraqi oversight. Coalition Provisional Authority order No. 17, adopted back in 2004, promised foreign contractors that they shall be immune from any form of arrest or detention other than by persons acting on behalf of their sending states. In short, immunity from Iraqi law.

There is U.S. law, of course, both civilian and military. For civilians, the military Extra Territorial Jurisdiction Act gives U.S. prosecutors jurisdiction on foreign battlefields. But that law has never been used against contractors. For several years, contractors were exempt from U.S. military law, as well, because of a technicality. Civilians only fall under the uniform code of military justice in a declared war.

Get this, there was never a declaration of war in Iraq. It wasn't until the end of 2006 that the U.S. Congress passed a little noticed change to the military code. One small phrase by "jurisdiction in time of war" became "in time of declared war or a contingency operation".

If you can't see Iraq as a war, it is at least a contingency operation under U.S. law. That change was less than a year ago, and that new provision of that law has also, never been used. In fact, no military contractor has ever been arrested or tried or punished by the United States since the war in Iraq began.

Back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Jonathan Mann there.

Let's get more insight into the role of private contractors working in Iraq. We're joined by Michael Hirsh, the senior editor of "Newsweek" magazine.

Good to see you, Michael. First of all, really it was a matter of time before something like this happened. There's been many, many incidents. Not one contractor ever convicted of anything. Are you surprised?

MICHAEL HIRSH, "NEWSWEEK": No, no. Like anyone who has been to Iraq, I've been there a few times. It was clear that Blackwater and other security firms were basically acting without constraint. As your previous report indicated, there simply were no laws under which they could be held accountable and to the extent there was a possible penalty, it was never pursued.

Basically you've had the ability to kill for free, for several years. The effect on the Iraqi population has been devastating. I mean, just imagine the sense of helpless you have if you're an Iraqi and a family member is killed, and you have no recourse to justice. That's been the situation. Now, of course, we're looking at a lot more incidents.

HOLMES: As you put it, in an article yourself, a moral vacuum that exists there. Why is there no accountability? These videos of misbehavior have been on the Internet, literally, for years. Anyone with a Google can go out and find them.

HIRSH: Yeah.

HOLMES: Why has nothing been done?

HIRSH: Failure by the U.S. government, by the Bush administration to act. As I pointed out in that article, as far back as late 2003, Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense secretary, new knew there would be legal, moral issues involving the privatization of war. He convened a task force to look into it. There simply was never real any action to close these loopholes and make sure that U.S. contractors would be held liable in the same way that U.S. military, under the under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

HOLMES: What's the big picture wisdom here -- and the risk -- of outsourcing, essentially, a military style operation to a for-profit company, that has a different mission focus than the military does?

HIRSH: It is precisely this. I mean, at the hearing today, Christopher Shays, Republican from Connecticut, praised Blackwater for it's perfect record, entirely focused on its success in protecting U.S. personnel. What went by the wayside is what this effect this has had on the occupation, and the main goal of the occupation, which is to win over the Iraqi population. That's the whole point of counter- insurgency and these types of operations, these sort of rogue operators, are acting directly against that.

HOLMES: Is it too late now to wind back the clock, if you like, and have the U.S. military doing military style operations all the time, instead of having guys with black T-shirts going around, doing it?

HIRSH: No.

HOLMES: Now the military can't operate without these guys.

HIRSH: That's right. It's mainly a question of personnel, simply not having enough troops. You know, the U.S. military during the surge, is acting on the front line, actually fighting the insurgents whereas these guys are doing, again, protective security for the thousands of U.S. personnel on the ground there. We simply don't have the troops to do that. Everyone knows that. That's why Blackwater has been asked to stay.

HOLMES: Yeah. Michael Hirsh of "Newsweek", appreciate your analysis. Thanks.

HIRSH: Thank you.

GORANI: All right. Switching gears now, 10 years and one month since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Britain finally opens its official inquest into her death in Paris. A French court and police in France and Britain have already weighed in. But many are still not satisfied. The get the latest on this story, we're joined by Richard Quest in London.

Richard, why has it taken so long for the official inquest to kick off?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: The reason is very simple. Although there was always going to be this official coroner's inquest, as it's called, it couldn't take place until the other investigations, the French investigating magistrate, and then the British Padgett (ph) inquiry had to all look into it. So, year after year went by, other inquiries came and reported.

But now, finally, the jury of six women and five men sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice here in London will investigate to see what were the facts, which facts should be believed, and what was the real cause of death of Diana and Dodi in that Paris tunnel 10 years ago?

Arriving at court this morning, Dodi's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of the famous Herrod's store. He left no doubt, he has always said it was a conspiracy to murder the couple by the British establishment and by the Royal family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED AL FAYED, FATHER OF DODI FAYED: I am always hoping to God to find the murderer, the gangster, who have taken the life of two innocent people. And I'm not going to rest until I see the justice. I hope by a jury I get the verdict, which all the nation are looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, what was surprising, to those of us sitting in the Court Annex, is that the M question, if you like, the murder issue, was not shied away from. Very quickly on, Lord Justice Scott Baker, the judge sitting as the coroner, went straight to the heart of it. Time and again, telling the jury, you will have to decide issues like was Diana pregnant at the time? Was she going to get engaged to Dodi al Fayed? And, of course, was there this conspiracy?

Of course, those comments by saying, or is the alternative, and some say more likely suggestion that this was an accident in Paris? We've got at least six months of this. The one thing we can say for certain is that any idea that they were going to shy away from difficult, tough questions has certainly been dispelled today.

GORANI: All right. Richard, it's Hala. Remember me? We worked together for three years? Not Ralitsa.

QUEST: Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll have to apologize. It's raining, noise, the whole lot.

GORANI: You are forgiven. Let me ask you this. Does anybody in the UK feel like the findings of this inquest will say anything other than this was simply a tragic accident?

QUEST: Just after the accident, and the months thereafter, probably about 90 percent of the British public believed that there was something more to this than meets the eye. That number is down to 30 percent at the moment, 30, 35 percent. However, what you have to remember is that over the next six months, the jury will hear from the paparazzi. They will hear from Trevor Reese Jones, the surviving body guard. They will hear from all of the medical experts. They will go into great detail.

Questions, for instance, would Diana had lived if she hadn't been treated at the scene for so long, but instead been taken to the nearest hospital? Why wasn't she taken to the nearest hospital? What was the route that the driver Henri Paul took that night? It certainly wasn't the most direct route.

What I was impressed today by was that the coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, basically said to the jury by the end of this, you will have decided what took place. But not who was responsible.

GORANI: All right. Something tells me conspiracy theorists still won't be satisfied. Richard Quest, thank you very much, live in London.

HOLMES: All right, Richard Quest and Ralitsa.

GORANI: Yeah, we made quite a pair.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: It's hard when you're out there, you don't have a monitor. It was a girl's voice. That's all we needed to know.

GORANI: Right.

HOLMES: There was a time when it seems she had it all. Now Britney Spears seems to be losing it.

GORANI: Just ahead, the faltering pop princess facing a parental nightmare.

And later ...

HOLMES: They say laughter is the best medicine. But can it win an election? Much is being made of Hillary Clinton's recent bursts of mirth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

HOLMES: Seen live in more than 200 countries and territories right across the globe.

Well, the troubled pop singer, Britney Spears, has until Wednesday to give up her two young sons.

GORANI: A judge has granted custody to their father, Spears' ex- husband, Kevin Federline. Randi Kaye has more on the singer's continuing fall from grace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Swarmed by the paparazzi in this footage from Hollywood.TV, we see Britney Spears leaving a Malibu restaurant with her two young children. Less than 24 hours later, the pop princess learned they would be taken away from her.

LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: I'm not surprised by the ruling. Britney has been given so many opportunities to prove herself a worthy parent. It's another, "Oops I did it, again!" moment.

KAYE: This is the order from the Los Angeles County court, granting Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline, physical custody of two- year-old Shawn and one-year-old Jayden, until further order of the court. It is a stunning decision, but not a surprise in what has become a sad and very public cautionary tale.

HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: The day the judge issued the ruling, saying she had to go to parenting classes, take random drug tests. She chose to go out to two nightclubs that night. It was pretty apparent then it was not registering with her how serious a problem this is.

KAYE: Britney Spears is only 25-years-old. Yet she has been famous for almost her entire life. As a child, the Louisiana native was on Broadway, a member of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club. By 17, Spears was a superstar. Her debut album and accompanying racy video made the blonde-haired teenager a household name.

There would be more albums, more memorable moments like this kiss with Madonna on MTV. There would also be signs of trouble. Spears wed a childhood friend in Las Vegas; she annulled the marriage days later. Then she married a dance, an aspiring rapper, Kevin Federline. The union lasted two years.

Soon Spears was in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. There were photographs of her driving with her baby boy in her lap. There were also rumors of drug and alcohol use. In February, another shocking turn. Spears walks into a Los Angeles salon and shaves her head. Spears would enter a rehabilitation center later that month.

Incredibly, her life spun more out of control when she emerged. In July, reports she broke down and appeared disoriented at a photo shoot. Then, Kevin Federline sued her for custody of their children.

Weeks later, her hopes for a comeback fizzled in a lazy lip sync performance at the MTV music awards. Some say she couldn't even remember the words to her own song. The news kept getting worse. Spears was charged in an alleged hit and run incident in Los Angeles, that carries a maximum jail sentence of one year. And now she has lost physical custody of her kids. In the end, it wasn't really about Spears anymore. It was about them.

BLOOM: This has got to be devastated for Britney. She clearly loves those children. I don't think anybody disputes that. The good news is, this is hitting bottom, Britney. You can turn it around. You can come back. No custody order is ever final. Prove yourself a worthy parent and that judge is going to want to give you your kids back.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Oh, dear, when you see it all put together like that, it's quite a list, isn't it?

GORANI: And there are children involved. So you can't really make a joke about it.

HOLMES: What about the children?

GORANI: Absolutely.

Well, coming up, five years ago, a little-known Democrat went public with his opposition to the war in Iraq.

HOLMES: Now Barack Obama is going back to the future to remind viewers his main rival in the U.S. presidential race can't make the same sort of statement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back. Senator Barack Obama is hoping to gain an edge on rival Democratic presidential candidates with a rally called "Turn the Page in Iraq." It marks the fifth anniversary of his original speech opposing the war in Iraq. Obama took the occasion to remind the crowd of another Democratic senator who didn't take the same stand against the war back then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The hard truth is that the war in Iraq is not about a catalog of many mistakes. It is about one big mistake. The war in Iraq should have never been fought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, Obama also used the occasion to clarify earlier remarks on whether he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons in the war against terrorism.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Democratic frontrunner is also beating out her rivals in another key area. That is fundraising; Hillary Clinton raising $27 million in the third quarter. An aide says more than 100,000 new donors contributed to the senator's presidential campaign. That's $7 million more than Barack Obama. Senator Obama raised $20 million. Not a bad sum, anyways. Senator John Edwards' campaign pulled in $7 million last quarter.

GORANI: Well, to politicians fundraising is no laughing matter.

HOLMES: Neither is laughing for that matter. Everything about the U.S. presidential candidates is scrutinized.

GORANI: That brings us to the current controversy over one candidate's curious cackle. Here is Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Is it a cackle?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, what would your husband ...

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D-NY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Or is it a chortle?

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would require among other things ...

CLINTON: I'm sorry, Bob.

MOOS: Or is it a calculated cackle? Hillary Clinton's laughing echoing all over the web.

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Who needs a laugh track to get a reaction to Hillary's laughter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask you about health care.

CLINTON: Yeah, I would love for you to ask about health care (LAUGHTER).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did come up with ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your response?

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder if you want to respond to the former mayor.

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would have ...

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

JON STEWART: Ha-ha-ha. I'm joyful.

MOOS: Hillary's contagious laughter spread to the Editorial Page of "The New York Times" where heavy weight columnist snickered. Wrote Frank Rich, "Now Mrs. Clinton is erupting into laugh with all the spontaneity of an alarm clock buzzer."

Critics say she's trying to undercut difficult questions.

BILL MAHER, "REAL TIME": Why should Americans vote for someone who can be fooled by George Bush?

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

MOOS: While supporters say she has a great sense of humor. It seems to run in the family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a disaster.

BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Back when Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, called the press a disaster. Bill Clinton was beside himself. Some say Hillary's laugh is as overdone as Al Gore's kiss. But maybe Hillary should kiss off the criticism. Though, her campaign wouldn't comment. She may feel like she did after the time she said she had experience with bad men.

CLINTON: You guys keep telling me, lighten up. Be funny. I get a little funny and now I'm being psychoanalyzed.

MOOS: Hillary's not the only frontrunner to be accused of calculated mannerisms.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is my wife calling, I think. Hello, dear? MOOS: That was September. This was June.

GIULIANI: This is my wife on the phone.

(CHEERS)

MOOS: September?

GIULIANI: I'm talking to the members of the NRA right now. Would you like to say hello?

MOOS: June.

GIULIANI: Say, hello.

MOOS: September.

GIULIANI: Talk to you later, dear. I love you.

MOOS: June.

GIULIANI: OK, dear. I love you, bye.

MOOS: But at least no one described Rudy as cackling.

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Cackling is what witches do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (CACKLING)

MOOS: "I like Hillary's laugh," read one Internet post.

"What was she laughing about?" read another. And for once, web shorthand, lol, laughing out loud, seemed perfect. At least they didn't say col, cackling out loud.

CLINTON: (LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Oh, that's nasty.

GORANI: That's it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. This is CNN.

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