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Turmoil in Pakistan; U.S. is Reconsidering Aid Package to Pakistan; Abuse Allegations: Winfrey Addresses South Africa School Scandal
Aired November 05, 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: White-collar crackdown. Pakistani police and troops target lawyers as western allies demand an end to emergency rule.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Oprah's apology. The American talk show host addresses the abuse scandal at her South African school.
GORANI: And King Tut unveiled. The public gets its first-ever glimpse at the face of the legendary boy king.
It is 10:00 p.m. in a Lahore, Pakistan, 7:00 p.m. in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hello and welcome. Our report is seen around the globe this hour.
I'm Hala Gorani.
HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes.
From Lahore to Luxor, Johannesburg to Jerusalem, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
GORANI: Welcome, everyone.
Democracy is on hold. Demonstrations have been brutally crushed and jails literally overflowing with dissenters. We begin with the growing crisis in Pakistan.
HOLMES: Yes, the western world is watching with great concern, and pressure is building for president General Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule. Here's the latest for you now.
GORANI: Police swinging clubs and firing tear gas broke up the first major protest since the state of emergency was imposed. At least 1,500 lawyers and activists were arrested.
HOLMES: Western nations, including the U.S. and Britain, are condemning the crackdown and reviewing their aid packages to Pakistan.
GORANI: The U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, says President Musharraf must even the state of emergency and honor past promises to step down as military chief. The violent police crackdowns are just part of the emergency rule. Pakistan's constitution has been suspended, independent media silenced, and elections, due in January, put on indefinite hold.
HOLMES: Russell Hookey now takes a look at what led to all of this, as well as what's happened today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSSELL HOOKEY, REPORTER, ITV NEWS (voice over): Members of Pakistan's judiciary no longer upholding the country's laws, but instead finding themselves rounded up by police wielding tear gas and batons. These are the tools of those trying to stamp out resistance, the imposition of martial law. Hundreds of legal professionals have been detained following clashes over the last 48 hours, but that hasn't silenced the angry protests.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Go, Musharraf, go! Go, Musharraf, go! Go, Musharraf, go!
M. M. TARIQ, HIGH COURT ADVOCATE: (INAUDIBLE). Nobody is favoring the present situation. Thereby, a lot have been taken oath. So the situation is very tense inside the high court and there's no working.
HOOKEY: It was on Saturday that President Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule, apparently to head off a decision by the country's supreme court to invalidate his re-election last month. Most judges have now been sacked, including the chief justice, to be replaced by Musharraf loyalists. As restrictions on Pakistan's media remain in place, there were denials of rumors this morning that the president had been detained by members of his own staff.
While the unrest continues to spread, Britain and the U.S. have described developments as disturbing and say they will be reviewing their aid packages to the Musharraf government. There's also deep concern over scenes like this in a country which is an important ally in the war against terror, with calls for an end to the continuing detention of opponents and for elections to be held at the earliest opportunity.
Russell Hookey, ITV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, the U.S. has been counting on Pakistan, of course, as a key ally in the region. It has given Pakistan more than $10 billion in aid since 2001. Much of that earmarked for fighting terrorism.
This year alone, the U.S. will give Pakistan about $700 million in both economic and military assistance, and it's expected to give another $800 million next year.
GORANI: The vast amount of aid reflects how crucially dependent the United States is on Pakistan's help in fighting terrorism, but Washington is also one of the world's leading defenders of democracy, and so, of course, it is walking a very fine line publicly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are reviewing all of our assistance programs, although we are mindful not to do anything that would undermine ongoing counterterrorism efforts. Because of the fluid and sensitive nature of the situation, I will have nothing further to say on this topic at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, a White House spokesman says the U.S. can't support emergency rule in Pakistan, calling it "deeply disturbing." President George Bush is expected to address the situation himself in the next couple of hours.
Let's get more now from White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano.
Elaine, this is difficult, because publicly the United States says we must support democracy around the world. But, of course, it needs strategic allies like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, other countries where democracy is either not functional at all or not fully functional.
So, what does it do now? Has the president spoken with Pervez Musharraf?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's interesting to note, Hala, President Bush has not spoken directly to General Pervez Musharraf since Musharraf's emergency proclamation on Saturday. But you are absolutely right, this is a very complicated intersection we are seeing. Bush administration policy here and its need for Pakistan in fighting the administration's war on terror intersecting and colliding really with President Bush's own push for democracy around the world.
Now, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said this morning the United States is deeply disturbed by this proclamation of emergency. She told reporters this morning the U.S. cannot support emergency rule or the extreme measures, as she put it, being taken during this emergency. She said such actions are not in Pakistan's best interests, and damaged, she said, the progress Pakistan has made on its path to democracy.
Now, on this question of aid and whether or not the U.S. is going to move forward with cutting U.S. aid to Pakistan, Perino said that a review was under way, but she did not give any kind of time frame or specifics on what criteria might be used to make that final determination. But as you noted, President Bush is expected to comment on the situation in Pakistan today. He has a scheduled meeting with the prime minister of Turkey in the Oval Office. And after that, it's likely he will make a statement or take questions from reporters in the Oval Office -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. And Elaine, had what happened in Pakistan not happened, probably the headline out of the White House today would have been that meeting with the prime minister of Turkey. Has this been completely overshadowed by the crisis in Pakistan?
QUIJANO: Yes, it's interesting to note, here is another ally that the United States very much needs. This time the situation in Turkey differing somewhat, of course, because Turkey does play an essential role, a critical role, really, in the U.S.'s military efforts when it comes to Iraq.
As you know, the Turkish government has not been happy at all with the U.S. government and the Iraqi government's failure, as they see it, to do enough in cracking down on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. So the Turkish prime minister is certainly going to be looking for some concrete steps from the Bush administration, but absolutely, you are right, Hala, this is another foreign policy flare-up for the Bush administration, the Turkey situation, even as the situation in Pakistan reaches a crisis point -- Hala..
GORANI: All right. Two very important allies for the United States, Turkey and Pakistan, both very much in the news today.
Thank you.
Elaine Quijano from the White House.
HOLMES: Oprah Winfrey says the abuse scandal at her home for girls in South Africa won't sway her from pursuing what she called her dream. The U.S. talk show host answered questions by satellite on Monday from her home base in Chicago.
Our Robyn Curnow was at the news conference in Johannesburg.
Robyn, did what you heard lead you to believe that her critics will be satisfied with what's going to happen?
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Michael.
Well, we are at the hotel now where the press conference took place. And Oprah was quite impressive on all accounts. She was quite transparent, she acknowledged that there had been failures in particularly screening the staff at her school. She said that many things had been changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: What I know is, is that no one, not the accused, nor any persons, can destroy the dream that I have held and the dream that each girl continues to hold for herself at this school. And I am prepared to do whatever is necessary to make sure that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls becomes the safe and nurturing and enriched setting that I had envisioned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Now, what Oprah said was quite ironic, that she had spent time and money building walls, setting up security systems to protect these girls from dangers of outside, but it was within the family, within the walls that the girls had faced danger. Seven victims, according to the police, who were abused. The person who is charged in the abuse appeared in court today south of Johannesburg. She denies those charges, but the charges ranged from assault to indecent assault to verbal abuse, all of those things happening within those walls by somebody that Oprah had hired to protect the very girls that she calls her daughters -- Michael.
HOLMES: Robyn, what did you hear about the screening process? As you say, I mean, walls are one thing, but when the danger is from within, what do we hear about the actual screening of employees?
CURNOW: Oprah acknowledged that there had been failures and that she had handpicked the girls for this exclusive academy, but she hadn't handpicked these dormitory mothers, as they call them, a woman who looked after the girls after hours.
What happened was, as soon as Oprah had heard about these allegations, she actually removed from -- removed all of the dormitory matrons, not just the one that is accused of abusing the girls. Also removed from her position is the head mistress.
Many believe, including Oprah, from the way she worded some statements in her press conference, many believe that the head mistress didn't do enough to protect the girls, didn't listen to their complaints. That the behavior of some of these dorm mothers was inappropriate.
So, Oprah saying that she has removed these people from her their positions, they are looking at new systems, new ways to hire new staff. And also interestingly, she's also going to be giving all of the girls cell phones so that they can phone her directly if anything of this sort happens again.
HOLMES: All right. Robyn Curnow, in Johannesburg.
Thanks for the update.
GORANI: All right. You're with YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Stepping down from the helm of the world's biggest bank.
HOLMES: Yes. Coming up, the global credit crisis hits Citigroup's top office.
GORANI: Also, tapping into a younger set of recruits. Authorities say terrorists may be grooming children to carry out plots in Britain.
Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
GORANI: All right. And a special welcome this hour to our viewers in the United States.
All right. Let's check on Britain's reaction to what's been happening in Pakistan.
The U.K.'s foreign secretary, David Miliband, is making a statement right now. And let's listen to something he said just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MILIBAND, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: There's a unanimous view from the international community that democracy and human rights and political freedoms and constitutional rule are the allies of security and stability in Pakistan. And there's a unanimous view that President Musharraf has very important responsibilities to fulfill his commitments at this vital time for Pakistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Very important responsibility, commitments to fulfill his responsibilities, that's the view from Britain.
Now, the president of the United States, George Bush, is going to make comments in the next couple of hours regarding what's been happening in Pakistan, and we will bring those to you, of course, as soon as they happen.
All right. Now moving on to this story. This might affect what you watch on television. The Screenwriters Guild making good on its promise to strike.
HOLMES: That's right. You might end up watching some silent movies.
Brooke Anderson now with more on what's behind the walkout, how it's going to affect what you will or maybe won't be seeing on TV, even at the movies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRIC VERRONE, WGA PRESIDENT: The studio has made it clear that they would rather shut down this town than reach a fair and reasonable deal.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Reality is hitting hard in Hollywood. Nearly 12,000 writers employed by TV and film studios are striking today.
ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: It's never good timing. It's horrible to cripple the business because it raises a kind of panic.
ANDERSON: The issue, new media. The writers want more money as studios distribute shows and movies on computers, cell phones and MP3 players.
RYAN MURPHY, "NIP TUCK" CREATOR: Our shows are being downloaded on the Internet. We receive nothing. Not even a penny.
ANDERSON: Viewers will see immediate changes in late-night TV, where shows are written fresh daily and can't stockpile scripts. So expect more repeats and a lot of reality-based shows.
Network heads say they're ready.
KEVIN REILLY, FOX PRESIDENT: We're advantaged over the other guys because we have "American Idol."
NINA TASSLER, CBS PRESIDENT: We're prepared. You know, we've got -- we've got plenty of reality, we've got plenty of news.
ANDERSON: But a long-lasting strike could have a devastating impact on southern California's economy. The film and TV industry is responsible for 1.3 million U.S. jobs, and many other unions are paying close attention.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an extremely defining moment for Hollywood, as a whole, because the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild, they're all looking at these same issues and the writers are kind of the canary in the coal mine for this process.
ANDERSON (on camera): Pickets will go up at 9:00 a.m. local time at TV and film studios across Los Angeles. More picket lines are forming in New York.
Now, the last major writers' strike in 1988 lasted five and a half months, cost the industry $500 million. This strike's economic impact could be much more, at a cost of $1 billion or more.
Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Brooke Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, we are going to take a short break now. When we come back, move over Exxon Mobil.
GORANI: Just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a Chinese company soars on its first day on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Find out which new corporate giant is now number one in the world.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back, everyone. To our viewers joining us from around the globe, including this hour the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.
HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes. Let's update on you the top stories to the minute now.
Police in Pakistan have used clubs and tear gas to break up the first major protest since a state of emergency was declared on Saturday. At least 1,500 lawyers and activists were arrested. Opposition groups put the number closer to 3,500.
GORANI: Also in the headlines, the White House says it can't support Pakistan's emergency rule or the extreme measures used to enforce it. President George Bush is expected to address the situation in about an hour. The U.S. and Britain are both reviewing their aid packages to Pakistan.
Twenty-four hours before President Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, the head of the U.S. Central Command warned him Washington doesn't support the move. Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with more on what's at stake.
Now, Barbara, so much of the military effort in Afghanistan relies on help and support from Pakistan. Does the U.S. really have any leverage here?
BARBARA STARR, Well, Hala, it is growing more limited by the day, perhaps, as this situation goes on. What we have confirmed from U.S. military sources is just what you are saying. Over half of all the U.S. military logistics, the supplies, the equipment, the operations that are used in the war in Afghanistan, over half of the logistics do come in through Pakistan. So, when the U.S. talks about reviewing all of its aid to Pakistan, that's at the top of the list of concerns. They don't want to cut off access because they need that.
Of course, we've talked so much about this delicate balance. The U.S. needs Pakistan in the war on terror, but cannot support what the government of President Pervez Musharraf is doing right now. So, as Secretary Gates says, they're reviewing it. What are they reviewing? They are reviewing arm sales, for example. There's a $3 billion sale of F-16 fighter aircraft. There's about $35 million in things like narcotics and law enforcement assistance. And the U.S. spends about $80 million a month reimbursing Pakistan for what it spends prosecuting the war on terror against Al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan.
So, that $80 million a month is actually very central to keeping Pakistan's efforts in the war on terror going. Admiral Fallon, well aware of all of this when we spoke to him earlier today he said to CNN, quote, "these actions " -- meaning Musharraf's actions, "these actions put our relationship at risk because of the unforeseen consequences." That's what Admiral Fallon is talking about. Once you start down this road, where does it all end? Hala.
GORANI: Absolutely, pause you mentioned the importance of the relationship the U.S. has with Pakistan in its war in Afghanistan and other conflicts, but does it really have a choice at this point? This is a nuclear power that is engulfed in a very big crisis. Withdrawing support could mean more internal turmoil.
STARR: Well, indeed, it could. The U.S., as we've reported so extensively, has this agenda of promoting democracy but that comes at a cost. At what point do you say that you can't deal with Pakistan because of those nuclear weapons. Perhaps the bottom line, worst-case scenario is if all of this provokes so much unrest that General Musharraf is overthrown. Because, make no mistake, the nuclear weapons and the nuclear components are secure right now because Musharraf loyalists are in charge of that portion of the military.
If this became so destabilizing that Musharraf was overthrown and some more fundamental or radical Islamic element came into power, there's really no telling who might be put in charge of the nuclear weapons or at least that's the fear certainly that the Bush administration has, Hala.
GORANI: Yes. Such a difficult balancing act and an important story. Thank you, Barbara Starr, at the pentagon.
Michael.
HOLMES: All right. What does all of this mean for relations between the U.S. and Pakistan? Let's investigate that a little further. How is this going to impact the U.S. war on terror? Joining us from Washington, Wendy Chamberlin, former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.
Very difficult place for the U.S., isn't it? I mean, they've tried to woo and court Mr. Musharraf for years really, as an ally in the war on terror, and here they are faced with him doing a very undemocratic thing.
WENDY CHAMBERLIN, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO PAKISTAN: Well, it is a shame. He has been a very good ally in the war on terror and I hope that continues. But our relationship is not with one man. It's with a Pakistani people. And we want to continue that relationship. I think it's -- it's really a shame what he's done. He's really committed the equivalency of political suicide bombing. He's blasted his own credibility and his legacy and he's taken with it innocent civilian democracy.
HOLMES: It might be the relationship with the Pakistani people but he is the leader. What is the U.S. going to do it about it? Who needs who more?
CHAMBERLIN: We need -- we need a good, strong, stable Pakistan, the government of Pakistan. But -- so I would urge President Bush and other European leaders to continue their assistance to Pakistan's government, but to make it very clear to Musharraf that this is really Musharraf move, that business is not going to be as usual. He can't pursue his own personal political ambitions and hold hostage the whole relationship.
HOLMES: How is the State Department, in your opinion, going to view this? What you've got here is a man who says this is all about terrorism and I think he called it an out of control judicial activism. Of course, his opponents are saying it's a power grab. How is the U.S. and the State Department going to view this, and what's the message to the world?
CHAMERBLIN: Well, I'm -- I'm not in the State Department anymore. I'm retired. I'm currently president of the Middle East Institute. But let me tell you, this clearly is not about terrorism. This is not about counter terrorism cooperation. This is about personal ambition for -- to continue on as president when he thought he wasn't going to be able to.
Frankly, one of the better things that's occurred in Pakistan over the last several months has been the development of an independent judiciary. And that must be restored.
So, what does the U.S. do, in particular, to make that happen? Pervez Musharraf clearly thought that he was in a strong enough position to do this in the first place without consulting its Western allies. What does the U.S. do about this? A bit of a punch in the nose really.
CHAMBERLIN: It is a punch in the nose. Condi Rice was very firm in August when she called him late on a Sunday and urged him not to do it, when he was first contemplating it some months ago. And he did -- he did -- it worked then. It didn't work now. We've had strong messages, even before his decision. He's just gone ahead and done it anyway. I would send, if I were advising President Bush and Condi Rice, very strong message to Musharraf that his personal relationship with us will not continue as usual. This -- but we will continue to have a relationship with his country, with the people of Pakistan.
HOLMES: Of course, he does have a very problematic area to cover up in the northwest of the country where most of the terror is grown or at least harbored. But do you think that he has done enough to really help the U.S. when it comes to the war on terror? How effective has he been?
CHAMBERLIN: Listen, it's a very difficult task before the Pakistan military, but also for NATO and U.S. on the other side of the border. It's one border, it's one problem. It's as much an Afghan problem as it is a Pakistan problem. I think they have been very good. Pakistan now has between 80,000 to 100,000 troops in a small area of Fatah, which is one 20th the size of Afghanistan, that's twice as many troops as the NATO and the U.S. have for all of Afghanistan, so there is a commitment.
They have lost a lot of lives, they are working hard on it but it's a rough, rough border. It's jagged. It's porous. And it's not an easy job. But they are cooperating and trying.
HOLMES: Appreciate it, Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.
GORANI: A 10-day detention is over for some Europeans caught up in a suspected child kidnapping ordeal in Chad. The seven released were either flight attendants or journalists covering what was billed as a child rescue operation. Others involved are still in limbo. One of the freed journalists, meanwhile, has an interesting story to tell. CNN's Jim Bittermann explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There were smiles and relief of as French President Nicolas Sarkozy brought home three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants from Chad. But while their ordeal is over it's just beginning for those they were linked with, the organizers of the Zoe's Ark Charity.
They were, once again, in Chad court for questioning by an investigating judge and while their lawyer says the kidnapping accusations against them are not valid, the description of what they did is becoming more clear.
As he was welcomed back by his colleagues, Marc Garmirian, one of the journalists who was free, said the further he investigated Zoe's Ark, the more he was surprised at the way it was operating in Chad without fully checking out the identity of the children.
MARC GARMIRIAN, CAPA PRESSE TV: We were wondering how they can -- how they would manage to do what they want. At the beginning it was 300 orphan children from Darfur that they wanted to bring in France. We were wondering how they can do that.
BITTERMANN: In the end, Zoe's Ark gathered 103 children and tried to fly them to France, but later investigations determined that most were neither orphans, nor from the Darfur region of Sudan.
Chadian officials also claimed that members of Zoe's Ark faked bandages and IV drips to make it look as if the children were being evacuated for medical reasons. Something those who have seen Garmirian's video say it clearly documents. And the Chadians working for the charity saw for themselves as the Zoe's Ark convoy headed for the airport.
GARMIRIAN: Well, I know the Chadian people were very hurt, that by what they saw. And I can understand that. You know, 10 leaders with 15 children, at 6:00 in the morning, in the field, going like this, it looks like children traffic.
BITTERMANN: A Zoe's Ark spokesman in Paris refused to comment on the content of the video.
Since the operation was stopped by authorities, some of the children gathered up by the charity are being taken back to their native villages, a process that may never be complete because some of the children are too young to say where they come from.
Imagine, a Chad official told the freed journalist, what would have happened if an African charity would have gone to France, gathered up 100 children and tried to take them back to Africa.
(On camera): While he was in Chad, the French President Sarkozy made a request to the Chadian President Deby to transfer the trial of the six French citizens to here, to their homeland. While Chad has not officially responded Deby has been quoted as saying he wants to see them tried in Chad first. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, don't go away. We will take a short break on YOUR WORLD TODAY. But when we come back, London on edge.
GORANI: The head of MI-5 has some disturbing news for people who think terrorism in Britain is becoming a thing of the past. Stay with us. Paula Newton has a report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back, everyone. You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
HOLMES: Yes, seen live in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe, including this hour right here in the United States.
All right. We're now less than a year away, only just a year away, from the U.S. presidential election. Just by one day, maybe, but it is getting closer. So, the candidates, well, they are doing everything they can to get their messages and their faces before the American public.
This week, "Saturday Night Live", you see it there, the sketch opened with a skit about a Halloween party hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton. All the democratic presidential candidates were there, or at least people playing them, cast members, of course, who seemed to think Clinton was dressed up as a witch, all except one, that is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, great Obama mask.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. Well, who is that under there?
(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, Hillary. Hello, Bill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice to see you, Barack. So you are dressed as yourself?
OBAMA: Well, you know, Hillary, I have nothing to hide. I enjoy being myself. I'm not going to change who I am just because it's Halloween.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, that's great.
OBAMA: And may I say you make a lovely bride.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a witch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill!
(LAUGHTER)
Please excuse my husband, Barack. Now were you saying something?
OBAMA: Yes, I just wanted to let the American people know that, live from New York, it's Saturday night!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's the traditional starting line, of course, for "Saturday Night Live" in the United States. That skit has generated a bit of controversy, especially when it was revealed that Barack Obama was allowed to, in the words of his people, I think, tweak his script a little. That brought charges that "Saturday Night Live" favored him at the expense of other Democratic candidates. Everybody, of course, denying all that.
GORANI: All right. Taking you now to Great Britain, more and more the country's being forced to look inward in its effort to fight the terrorist threat. The U.K.'s intelligence chief says at least 2,000 people within British borders are a threat to national security. That's a new figure, perhaps that has some people surprised. CNN's Paula Newton joins us now with more details from Monday's warning from MI5 -- Paula.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Hala, it was a very candid speech from what is normally a very secretive organization, but Jonathan Evans felt he had to make these kinds of comments. He meant it to get press, because he said it to a group of newspaper editors.
Essentially what he is saying is that the deeper they dig into the whole problem, the more they are finding. That's alarming them. Just last year they said there were 1,600 people that would pose a threat to national security, now they upped that number to at least 2,000 suspects who are posing a direct threat to national security right now in Britain. But maybe even more alarming, and what's been surprising as well, is he's saying that a lot of these people are getting younger and younger. And they are being targeted methodically, he says, sometimes initiated on the Internet by Al Qaeda, by agents of Al Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks.
You know, he was very, very blunt in his speech, Hala, saying that, in fact, they are being -- that they are radicalizing and indoctrinating and grooming of young people is going on right now. Vulnerable people are being asked to carry out these acts of terrorism. It's interesting, Hala, he chose this particular time. He's new in the job. He's been in the job about four or five months.
It is an admission. He was very candid in the speech saying, look, we cannot combat the terrorist threat here alone. He is saying it is more of a hearts and minds campaign. It will go on for a generation. And it is significant that they are saying that when they actually go to this problem, the heart of the problem, remembering that they have dozens of people under surveillance right now, they are saying we are coming to grips with how we're actually supposed to handle all this.
Hala, also very interesting. You know, he said that one thing that's keeping them from doing the counter-terrorism job they need to do is the amount of Cold War -- sorry, the amount of Russian spies and Chinese spies they still have in Britain. They say that the numbers have not been diminished since the Cold War, which comes as a surprise to many people here -- Hala.
GORANI: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Paula Newton, our international security correspondent reporting from London.
HOLMES: All right. Dollars or euros? That's the subject of controversy, apparently, for the supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
GORANI: Earlier, we reported that Bloomberg News and the BBC quoted Brazilian journalists as saying that Bundchen's sister, told them that the model, the beautiful leggy model, now prefers to be paid in euros because the dollar is so weak. Well, her manager responded today, flat-out denying it.
HOLMES: She calls that story ridiculous and untrue, adding that Bundchen gets paid in the currency of wherever she works.
GORANI: Getting paid in something other than dollars may not be such a bad thing, though, if you look at the figures.
HOLMES: The currency recently hit all-time lows against the euros, the pound, even the Canadian and the Australian dollar. Who would have thought?
GORANI: I'm telling you, I remember when the euro launched, we covered it. One euro was worth -- 1999, it was worth around 85 cents. Today, $1.42, $1.43. So if you bought euros five years ago and are selling them back today, you made a pretty good deal. And if you're paid in dollars -- you're in trouble.
HOLMES: Yes, even the Australian dollar is on parity now and that's saying something. We used to call it the Australian peso. Or we had a nickname for it. Anyway, I didn't even notice that she was leggy and blond.
GORANI: You didn't? I'm sure you didn't. Totally escapes you.
(CROSS TALK)
HOLMES: We are going to take a short break. Ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY thousands of years after his death, the world finally gets to see the face behind the mask.
GORANI: We are talking about King Tut, a look at his official unveiling in Egypt when we return.
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HOLMES: Well, it was a royal river parade in Thailand. Dozens of barges, you see there, decked out for the Thai king's 80th birthday celebration.
GORANI: Well, but the king actually missed his own party, apparently, sending his son in his place. HOLMES: The elderly monarch is still in hospital, actually, after having a fall last month.
GORANI: That didn't stop thousands of well-wishers from gathering outside to wish him a happy birthday, for the king of Thailand.
Well, an ancient monarch, make that -- considerably older than the Thai king makes a historic move in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
HOLMES: Yes, archeologists gingerly relocating King Tut's mummy in a very careful operation in the Valley of the Kings.
GORANI: The mummy was moved from a 3,000-year-old sarcophagus into a climate controlled glass case.
HOLMES: Aneesh Raman has been following the king's travels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: He's been dead for 3,000 years but on Sunday for the first time ever, the world got to see how King Tut was holding up. Gone were the casings and covers as the boy king was unveiled with, yep, bare hands. A low tech approach that faced some precarious moments going up the stairs.
In the end, Tut didn't look too bad. Tucked away in his new bed, a climate-controlled plexiglass container. It's meant to minimize damage done by thousands of visitors who every day pour in to see King Tut's tomb.
ZAHI HAWASS, SUPERIOR COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES: The mummy divided 18 into pieces. It's like stone. Therefore, I thought that the humidity and heat that 5,000 people a day enter the tomb, that would change the mummy to a powder. The only good thing in this mummy is the face. We need to preserve it, that face.
RAMAN: If the face doesn't look familiar, try this one. King Tut's golden mask that is today an icon of Egypt's if a pharaohnic past. It was exactly 85 years ago this week that right here in the Valley of the Kings, Howard Carter, a British archaeologist discovered the entrance to King Tut's tomb. It was the first found to have virtually everything inside intact, and because of that, the discovery catapulted a little known king who ruled in the mid 1300s B.C. and who died at 19, to modern-day prominence, even giving him a hit song.
STEVE MARTIN, SINGING: Now, if I had known they'd line up just to see me I'd have taken all my money and bought me a museum.
RAMAN: And 85 years later, the boy king is now baring it all.
JEFF RANKIND, BRITISH TOURIST: I was very impressed with it. It is something that -- it just took my breath away. Unbelievable.
RAMAN: Maybe, but for others it's a bit too much. BOB PHILPOTTS, BRITISH TOURIST: I saw the tomb, yeah. But really I think he ought to be left alone, just left quietly at peace. Leave him here where he was buried. It's as simple as that.
RAMAN: If only for eight decades King Tut has been a mystery, especially how he died. His body has been x-rayed three times, most recently in 2005. Was it murder? Was it an accident? The debate will now rage again as visitors pour in to see King Tut in his newfound glory. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A face only a mummy could love.
(LAUGHTER)
GORANI: Good one. Get it. Good one.
HOLMES: I've got to go now, after that one. I'm Michael Holmes.
GORANI: That's it. You can't top that.
HOLMES: I'm off.
GORANI: I'm hala gorani. A lot more ahead right here on CNN. Stay with us.
HOLMES: Bye for now.
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