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Relief Workers Struggling to Reach Survivors in Bangladesh; Italy Student Murder; Genocide Trial: Survivors Still Live With Horrors of Khmer Rouge; U.S. Presidential Politics; Fewer HIV Cases

Aired November 20, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Struggling to help the survivors. Aid workers try to ward off what they call the second wave of death days after a cyclone hit Bangladesh.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Trying to hitch a free ride cost a fugitive murder suspect his freedom. How Italian police nabbed another person wanted in the killing of a student.

CLANCY: Finally, a fall in the number of people suffering from AIDS worldwide. We're going to ask what is behind a major revision of the figures?

MCEDWARDS: And, do U.S. voters want a fresh face or an experienced hand? Democratic presidential hopefuls try to set themselves apart as the race gets a little tighter.

It is noon in Washington, it's 6:00 p.m. in Rome.

Hello and welcome. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Dhaka to Delhi to Durban, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

They need food, fresh water, and they need shelter. Aid agencies rushing to help tens of thousands of people who survived Cyclone Sidr.

MCEDWARDS: It was the deadliest storm in a decade and it slammed into Bangladesh on Thursday. The full impact of the devastation, though, just now really beginning to be felt.

The official death toll tops 3,000. Aid groups though saying the final figure could be a lot higher. They're saying now closer to 10,000.

Storms regularly batter Bangladesh. Much of the country is low- lying. It's vulnerable to flooding, it's vulnerable to cyclones as well. Still, this time many villagers say they were caught unaware.

Dan Rivers found scores of survivors huddled on one island.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Speeding through a labyrinth of rivers and canals, it's taken us four days to get this far south. The logistics of this country are a nightmare. The army, like us, has to rely on boats to reach the many isolated islands.

This is what we find when we land on Chorlata (ph), thousands of survivors arriving by the boatload, scrambling ashore, hoping to find food. Some unable to walk through the viscous mud.

Almost every house here has been smashed apart. There's barely a building left standing.

AGM MIR MOSHOUR ALAM, LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL: About 90 to 95 percent houses already damaged, fully damaged.

RIVERS: This is what he means by fully damaged -- a pile of rubble. This family is so desperate, they're attempting to salvage the soaked stuffing from a mattress.

Agira Begam (ph) says all their livestock was in the house when the cyclone hit. The animals died. "How will we survive?" she asks. I ask her father-in-law to show me how high this storm surge was.

(on camera): The floodwaters have subsided now and this island is being used as an emergency aid distribution center. But during the height of the storm surge, these people would have been up to their necks in water.

(voice over): The most senior officer in the Bangladesh army is here checking the aid is getting to those who need it.

(on camera): What do you anticipate the final death toll will be across country?

GEN. MOEEN U. AHMAD, HEAD OF BANGLADESH ARMY: More than 4,000 to 5,000, definitely.

RIVERS (voice over): These people are receiving help now, but getting supplies in is not easy. They are vulnerable, desperate and bewildered, and reliant on the generosity of others to survive the coming months.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Chorlata (ph) Island, Bangladesh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Some amazing images there from Dan. Personal stories as well. And as Dan mentioned, getting aid into some of these areas has been a major challenge, extremely difficult to report on this as well.

Dan Rivers joins us now on the phone for more.

Dan, just describe what it's been like.

RIVERS: Well, Colleen, it has been a logistical challenge, to put it mildly, getting into these places and getting the story back out. I mean, nothing for the challenge that the people are undergoing themselves, but to give you an example, you know, today we spent six hours on a speedboat trying to get to this island.

It is an absolute maze of rivers and islands. It's very easy to get lost. It's very difficult to get a phone signal out of this area.

Much of the southern half of Bangladesh is still without electricity. So it's really quite tough.

My colleague, Cal Perry, had to even climb a tree to get a phone signal at one point. So, I mean, we really are feeling really up against it, trying to get you those images. But it's important to get those images out to show you what it's like down here.

And the scale of the devastation really is only just beginning to be shown in some areas. There are still bodies being found in some towns. There are still large areas that are cut off from the outside world.

MCEDWARDS: Understood.

Dan Rivers there.

Appreciate your work. Thanks very much.

If you are inclined to help the people suffering in this region, we've got a great resource for you. Log on to CNN's "Impact Your World" Web site. It's at CNN.com/impact. If you click on "Bangladesh Cyclone" there on the page, you'll find a comprehensive list of the aid agencies operating there and how you can contribute -- Jim.

CLANCY: We want to shift our focus now to Pakistan, where the government released thousands of opposition supporters who have been jailed since the declaration of emergency powers. But as many as 2,000 remain in custody, including some key opposition leaders, such as Imran Khan. The Agence France-Presse news agency reporting that ousted supreme court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is now free from house arrest.

Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, has arrived in Saudi Arabia. That is his first trip outside the country since this crisis began. He is meeting with the king to discuss the ongoing problems in his country.

Meantime, back in Islamabad, the government confirmed January 8th as the date for controversial legislative elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QAZI MUHAMMAD FAROOQ, CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER (through translator): Free and fair elections in Pakistan will be of international importance. And all the world is focusing on us. In this context, the conduct of free and fair elections becomes our moral duty. If we do not fulfill our duty, we will be answerable in front of the nation and God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, Pakistan, of course, a key ally of the U.S. in the war on terror. There's no word yet from opposition forces about whether they're actually going to take part in those elections. Many of them have said they won't participate unless emergency rule is lifted first.

MCEDWARDS: Well, there's a glimmer of hope to tell you about, a possible breakthrough, a possible breakthrough in that hostage crisis in Russia. That crisis includes a number of children people feel are at risk.

A Russian doomsday cult leader is going to be brought to the site. That's where his followers have holed up in an underground hideout.

Twenty-nine people, including kids, the youngest 18 months old, entered that hideout earlier this month. A government official says this is an effort to win the release at least of the children. Bringing the leader there to talk. The hideout is in the Russian countryside, it's about 600 kilometers southeast of Moscow.

CLANCY: All right. We want to go now to some new developments in that murder mystery that stunned an Italian town and triggered an international manhunt.

Jennifer Eccleston is watching developments in the case. She joins us now from Rome.

What are you hearing now from prosecutors or your sources?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, many, many fast-moving developments this day.

First of all, we learned that the former jailed suspect, Patrick Lamumba, from the Congo, is now a free man. Prosecutors tell us he no longer needs to remain in jail. They did not have enough evidence to keep him in jail, but they still consider him to be a suspect.

This comes on the very same day that we learned that Rudy Hermann Guede was arrested this morning in the German city of (INAUDIBLE) because he was traveling without a ticket. Now, once in custody, German authorities realized that this is the fourth suspect. He is wanted here in Italy as a suspect in the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.

Now, he's 20 years old. He is from the Ivory Coast. And that international arrest warrant was issued last night.

In a very bizarre twist, Guede posted a message on the Internet last night saying that he was aware of the arrest warrant and he wanted to clear his name. Italian authorities say he is wanted in connection with Kercher's murder because two of his DNA samples were found at the crime scene. Those two samples were a bloody fingerprint and feces. He is thought to be an acquaintance of Amanda Knox. She's the 20-year-old American roommate of Kercher. She and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, remain in prison as suspects to this murder case. So a very, very difficult case still unfolding tonight in Perugia -- Jim.

CLANCY: As we look at this case, a very bloody, brutal murder of a young student there. The American, Amanda Knox, still being held by Italian authorities. She was her roommate.

Has she got attorneys? Is the family coming to her side?

ECCLESTON: Oh, absolutely. In fact, I believe she has three attorneys. She has an attorney in Being held by Italian authorities. She was her roommate. Has she got attorneys? Is the family coming to her side?

Oh, absolutely. In fact, I believe she has three attorneys. She has an attorney in Perugia, she has an attorney here in Rome, one of the best in the capital city. And I understand there's some representation back in the United States.

Her mother and her father flew to Perugia shortly after she was detained. They're staying in the city at the invitation of the city council, paid for by Perugian taxpayer dollars.

They go to the prison during visiting hours. They say they want to be with her as much as they can, to give her that moral support -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. More details there in the murder mystery in Perugia, Italy.

Jennifer Eccleston, thank you.

MCEDWARDS: This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Still ahead this hour, justice in Cambodia.

CLANCY: A United Nation's tribunal opening its first public session, and a man considered one of the most notorious of the Khmer Rouge leaders appears before a packed courthouse.

Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My family, my wife, my child died! Nobody cared about them! Nobody cared for them!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCEDWARDS: The heartbreaking stories of those who survived the killing fields.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

The United Nations suddenly, drastically cutting its estimate of the number of people worldwide infected with the virus that causes AIDS. But the good news does come with some controversy.

The joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS says the number of people living with HIV has leveled off, and that the rate of new infections is actually declining. The group's annual report revised the 2006 estimate downwards to 32.7 million cases worldwide. That's more than six million down from the 39.5 million announced earlier.

The U.N. says the decline due in part to the impact of HIV education programs. But some reports say the U.N. has consistently inflated its AIDS estimates, especially in India. Some charge for political purposes or the purposes of fund-raising. They say that the decline represents progress on paper only.

MCEDWARDS: Well, the first public session of a U.N.-backed genocide tribunal convened in Cambodia's capital on Tuesday. And the first person to appear, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch. Protesters say he presided over a torture center at the heart of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Sixteen thousand people died at that center alone. Duch is appealing his detention, pending a trial that's scheduled for next year. Four other Khmer Rouge leaders are also awaiting trial.

CLANCY: And for those survivors of that notorious regime, these trials cannot come soon enough.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, they have been long enough in the making -- decades later -- horrific bouts of torture, images of mass executions though still fresh in their minds. And as Hugh Riminton tells us, it's a pain they will live with for the rest of their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The dead of the Cambodian genocide do not sleep easy. The killing fields outside the capital of Phnom Penh contain the most compelling witnesses for the prosecution as the five most senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge face, at last, a day in court.

Even though he was always blindfolded back then, Cham Mai (ph) still remembers exactly his prison cell -- five steps on the left from the door. Here, during Cambodia's self-destruction, he lay, naked, shackled at the feet, hearing the cries of tortured prisoners and the nightly trucks carrying the doomed away to execution.

"It was very painful," he said, "because through all of it, I never knew what I had done wrong. What mistake could I have made that they could hit me and torture me? I still don't know." The Cambodian nightmare remains inexplicable, a nation that destroyed itself. As the U.S. was scrambling through neighboring Vietnam, Pol Pot, Paris-educated, but inspired by Maoist China, seized Cambodia in a civil war. His vision was of a purified peasant state. His Khmer Rouge fighters, often children, emptied the cities, killed professionals, intellectuals, anyone who wore glasses. Purged with such numbing ferocity, in four years almost a quarter of the population was slaughtered.

This was Tuol Sleng, prison S-21, the largest and most notorious torture center of the Khmer Rouge. Seventeen thousand people came through here -- men, women, children. Only seven emerged alive.

Cham Mai's (ph) photo is here, one of those seven. One of only three still alive today.

He was tortured in this classroom, beaten once for 12 days straight. His toenails were torn out. But he says there was something worse.

"They put electricity through my ears," he says. "I heard a noise of a machine. I felt like fire was exploding out of my eyes. I was unconscious for a long time after that."

His torturers wanted to know of his links with the CIA and the KGB. He was a simple mechanic, he says. He has never even heard of them. He told them anything, anything he could think of.

And he focused his thoughts on his beloved wife, Sawar (ph), pregnant when he had last seen her. And he prayed.

(on camera): In early 1979, as Vietnamese forces were moving in, Cham Mai (ph) and the few other remaining prisoners who could still walk were ordered to move to another prison. As they were moving through the city, they linked up with another group of prisoners from another center. And incredibly, among their number was Cham Mai's (ph) wife and the baby son he had never seen. It was 7:00 in the morning.

(voice over): At midnight that night, he says, he learned the guards had orders to shoot them all. He and his wife made a run for it. In a burst of fire, his wife and their son were killed.

He wants the United Nations now to bring him justice, but he doesn't trust the process. And he's outraged at the pampered conditions the accused enjoy at the (INAUDIBLE) court.

"I heard on the radio," he says, "that these five now awaiting trial have mattresses to sleep on and air conditioning and medical care and television. I didn't even have trousers. I had nothing at all."

"The government has always looked after these people, always protected them. These people have never accepted responsibility for what they did. They just lie."

"My family, my wife, my child died. Nobody cared about them. Nobody cared for them."

The dead don't sleep easy in Cambodia, and nor still do many of the living.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Phnom Penh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Moving testimony, justice so long coming.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, absolutely.

We have to take a short break here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, but when we come back, that labor strike in France. The president is vowing to stand his ground. How the French are dealing with a strike that's growing bigger by the day.

CLANCY: Also, we are learning more details of a controversial rape case in Saudi Arabia where the female victim is punished harshly.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello and welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories all around the globe, including the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY and these are some of the top stories we're following.

Aid slowly trickling in to survivors of Cyclone Sidr. The worst storm to hit Bangladesh in a decade. The official death toll topping 3,000. Aid agencies say the number is far higher. More than 4 million people have lost their homes.

Another suspect now in custody in the case of a British exchange student killed in Italy. Rudy Hermann Guede was tracked down in Germany. Italian police, meantime, have released one of three people they arrested earlier. Bar owner Patrick Lumumba is still under investigation.

A new United Nations report says the number of HIV cases worldwide has declined. The United Nation's program on HIV/AIDS estimates there are 6 million fewer people infected with the virus this year than last.

MCEDWARDS: Well, the U.S. presidential election is still a year away, but a busy schedule of primaries and caucuses set to begin just about six weeks from now. And the candidates are jockeying for the lead in some key states. Let's take a look at Iowa because that is the site of the first caucuses and they get started January 3rd.

A new "Washington Post"/ABC poll shows a tightening race leading into Iowa. Senator Barack Obama has a little bit of an edge here. You see him here with 30 percent. That is ahead of Hillary Clinton's 26 percent. Although with the margin of error, plus or minus four percent here, they're really statistically in a dead heat. And then you see former Senator John Edwards down at the bottom with 22 percent.

Now on the Republican side, there was a new poll from the first state to hold a primary, and that would be New Hampshire. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney widening his lead in the latest CNN/WMUR poll. He is at 33 percent there. Senator John McCain at 18 percent. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, leading in many national polls, but in New Hampshire he is down in third place with just 16 percent there.

So we just threw a lot of numbers at you, but let's get a look at how the campaigns are doing. We have two reports now on both fields of candidates. Bill Schneider reports on the Republicans from New Hampshire.

But first, Jessica Yellin on the Democrats in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Hillary Clinton says the economy is in trouble and no rookie can fix it.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One job we can't afford on the job training for, that is the job of our next president. That could be the costliest job training in history.

YELLIN: But guess who does have the know-how to hit the ground running, at least according to Clinton.

CLINTON: We need a president who understands the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face and has the strength and experience to address them from day one.

YELLIN: She didn't name names, but it's meant as a broadside against her leading Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, who she's previously suggested needs on-the-job training on foreign policy matters. Obama hit back fast.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My understanding was that she wasn't treasure secretary in the Clinton administration.

YELLIN: And argued that Clinton's experience isn't the kind that will bring about change.

OBAMA: This sort of general notion of experience based on longevity in Washington, I don't think is sufficient to make the case to the voters of Iowa or the American people.

YELLIN: The two were in Iowa, vying for support, where the first in the nation nominating contest is just over six weeks away. While Clinton leads in national polls, she's in a statistical dead heat with Obama and Edwards in the state. And all sides are looking for every possible advantage.

John Edwards released a statement, turning Clinton's boast about Washington experience on its head, saying "I believe if you defend the system in Washington, as Senator Clinton does, you're for the status quo."

The Obama campaign says Clinton's critical new tone means she's panicked that the race is getting so tight. But the Clinton camp says she's simply reminding voters of her track record.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Where does the Republican race stand in New Hampshire? Now a new poll shows Mitt Romney still leads. In fact, Romney's support has increased. Only two other Republicans are in double digits in New Hampshire, John McCain, whose support has been steady, and Rudy Giuliani, who's been losing strength.

New Hampshire voters demand a lot of attention and they may not feel Giuliani has given them enough. The big shock is Fred Thompson. He's getting nowhere in New Hampshire. He's now fallen behind Ron Paul. New Hampshire Republicans are beginning to see a two-man race for the nomination, Romney versus Giuliani. Only 8 percent believe McCain is a likely national winner. That could be holding his numbers down in New Hampshire, a state he has to win.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can win in New Hampshire as I did in 2000.

SCHNEIDER: Here's some more bad news for McCain. McCain has staked his candidacy on the success of President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq.

MCCAIN: I would much rather lose a campaign than lose a war.

SCHNEIDER: New Hampshire Republicans think McCain would be the best candidate to handle Iraq. But Iraq has declined in importance as an issue among New Hampshire Republicans. Growing in importance, illegal immigration. That's Romney's issue, along with taxes and the economy.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I think my record as someone who has fought to protect legal immigration, but to stop illegal immigration, stands up against anybody's in the country.

SCHNEIDER: The issue of terrorism is also important to Republicans, but it's an issue McCain has to share with Giuliani.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am used to having the responsibility of other people's safety and security on my shoulders. Millions of other people.

SCHNEIDER: From New Hampshire, there's good news for Romney, not such good news for Thompson and McCain. And Giuliani? He looks like a big player, but not yet in New Hampshire.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: And you have seen the Democrats in the CNN/YouTube debates. But coming up next week in our continuing coverage of America votes 2008, it's going to be the Republican's turn. You can watch the candidates debate your video questions. CNN's Anderson Cooper is going to host that. And that will be Wednesday, November 28th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. And for international viewers, it will air Thursday the 29th at that will be at 0100 GMT.

And if you haven't submitted your video yet, just go to cnnpolitics.com. Click on the link there for the CNN/YouTube debate. You'll see it right there on the page. And then submit your video. It is that easy -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right.

Some men and even some women say many rape victims invited the attack with their behavior or with their clothes. In Saudi Arabia, the company you keep can also be a huge factor, as one woman there is paying a heavy penalty for it.

Carol Costello has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): A rape victim violated by seven men, not only blamed for her own attack, but sentenced to prison and 200 lashes. The 19-year-old victim, interviewed by the Human Rights Watch organization, said "everyone looks at me as if I'm wrong. I wanted to die."

In Saudi Arabia, women cannot travel without permission from a male relative. And that night, the Saudi victim, without permission, met a male friend to retrieve some photographs. "The first man with the knife raped me. I was destroyed. The fifth and sixth ones were the most abusive. After the seventh one, I couldn't feel my body anymore."

The woman's original trial took place last year. Her attackers got sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in jail. And the Saudi judge determined the victim was also to blame for illegally mingling.

CHRISTOPH WILCKE, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: What this case boils down to -- and we can see it in what the judge has said to her -- is this lady should not have been where she was at the time. She somehow facilitated what happened to her. She was responsible for what happened to her.

COSTELLO: The woman's attorney, Abdual Rahman Alahim (ph), did appeal. And for his trouble, he's been stripped of his law license. And the judge ruled because his client spoke to the media, her sentence would double from 90 lashes to six months in prison, plus those 200 lashes with a bamboo reed. And if you're wondering what that looks like . . .

WILCKE: They use about a one, one and a half-yard long, thin stick, thin bamboo stick usually, which you're supposed to whip the person with on the back, either publicly or non publicly --it depends on the judge's verdict -- in a marketplace, in front of a supermarket. That's where it usually happens.

COSTELLO: Over here, the U.S. State Department would only say the situation was astonishing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to be clear, in no way condemning the sentence at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I have said what I'm going to say about it.

COSTELLO: As for what the Saudi embassy here in D.C. is saying about this, it says it can't comment because the case is still in court.

Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, here is some more information for you on women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Many look at the situation and say Saudi women suffer from discrimination in the workplace, in the home and in the courts. Women are not allowed to vote. They are not allowed to stand as candidates in municipal elections. They cannot work, study or travel without explicit permission from a male relative. They cannot drive a car or any other vehicle. They must adhere to public dress codes for a head to toe covering.

Now, there was a new law passed in 2005 that expanded the professional fields where women are allowed to work. Once again, with permission from a male relative.

MCEDWARDS: Still ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, the United Nations slashes its estimate of the number of people worldwide infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

CLANCY: But it's controversial. It doesn't necessarily mean the number of AIDS cases worldwide has declined, or does it? Is this just numbers on paper? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: We've been talking about the new United Nation's report that says there are 6 million fewer HIV cases worldwide. That there's a decline underway. Very controversial. Some say this is only a decline on paper. Why? Because the United Nations changing the way that it does the counting of HIV victims. It may be more accurate. But is it telling us, giving us a real picture? South Africa, one of the country's hardest hit by AIDS. Let's go there and to our own Robyn Curnow in Johannesburg. And, Robyn, let me just begin by asking you, OK, there are the numbers from the U.N., but at the same time are people on the ground seeing an improvement?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think what's important about these figures, Jim, is that they show, for 2007, for these revised figures, that outside southern and central Africa, there is no indication that there is a mass epidemic. So in the case of India, for example, it seems to be going the way of, say, Thailand and Cambodia, where there is a manageable HIV/AIDS situation there.

And it's not going the way of, say, Malawi or South Africa, where you're seeing 1,000 people dying a day. So in some senses these new statistics revised, though they are, are good news on the ground. That there does seem to be showing trends that are positive outside, I might just add, of southern and central Africa.

CLANCY: Well, some say the United Nations intentionally, or perhaps not intentionally, exaggerated the number of AIDS victims in an effort to get -- raise more donations to help those living with AIDS. What does this report mean for them?

CURNOW: I think this is an example of the U.N. saying, listen, hey, we made a mistake. And it was a bad mistake. But these are the revised figures. And let's try and be transparent about how we made the mistake and what we're doing to fix it.

But there are always going to be conspiracy theories and there are conspiracy theories about AIDS and HIV statistics. I spoke to an AIDS activist just an hour or two ago and he said that these new statistics make no difference. The fact on the ground is, is that there is a mass epidemic here in south Africa. The situation in southern Africa is dire. Outside of this region, things might be looking slightly more positive on a trend note.

But when it boils down to it, it's the people living with HIV/AIDS. And, you know, no matter what the conspiracy theorists say, it's down here in the south of this continent that the real effects of this virus and this epidemic are being felt. And for the people on the ground, they say it doesn't matter if the U.N. revises its figures to 33 million or 39 million or the conspiracy theorists disagree with those figures.

For the people on the ground here, they're dying and they're not getting enough treatment to help them live their life or even to help them survive. So that's the crucial point of the AIDS activists here. They say treatment is important, even if these figures were 10 million less, even if they were down -- the projections were even much less, it still wouldn't change the fact that there's not enough treatment, there are not enough anti-viral (ph) drugs to help all the people living with HIV and being infected every single day.

CLANCY: All right. Some very important perspective there, coming to us from Johannesburg, South Africa, and our correspondent there, Robyn Curnow.

Robyn, thank you -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Well, a breakthrough in genetic research to tell you about. And this one just might take the controversy out of stem cell cloning. Listen to this. Professor Shinyah Hamonaka (ph) leads one of two team that is have almost simultaneously developed a new process. Now this is a process that can give ordinary human skin cells the same ability to change into any other type of cell. Like a stem cell. And that's a quality that's currently found only in those highly controversial embryonic stem cells.

The process is controversial because it requires the destruction of the embryos. And many people object to this on various grounds. Some of them religious. A second team working in the lab of stem cell pioneer James Thompson (ph) also reported similar results here as well.

Now, in a White House statement, President Bush, who has opposed embryonic stem cell research, says that he is pleased by the advancement and he says this encourages "scientific advancement within ethical boundaries."

CLANCY: A lot of scientists really very enthused about that finding.

MCEDWARDS: It's a really exciting finding, if it pans out, then it could really change the controversy.

CLANCY: If it pans out. All right. We'll have more on that, follow that story for you.

Now in our series, "CNN Heroes," we've been bringing you inspiring stories of, well, ordinary people but they're doing extraordinary things.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, I love this series. Oscar winning actor Forest Whitaker introduces us now to a healer determined to pass his skills on to the next generation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREST WHITAKER, ACTOR: Unfortunately, right now, tumors of the brain are the biggest cause of death in children, really, over leukemia. And I don't think people really understand that or know.

Hi. I'm Forest Whitaker and my hero is Dr. Keith Black, who is a neurosurgeon a researcher who has saved many lives in his work.

DR. KEITH BLACK, NEUROSURGEON: There is nothing more frightening than a brain tumor that effects our ability to speak, to feel, to interact with the environment. We're dedicated to finding effective treatments for that.

WHITAKER: My grandmother had a brain tumor. They told us that it was inoperable and that she wouldn't live out the year. And my mother and my sister, they found Dr. Black. And he did conduct the surgery. And she lived about nine years from that time. BLACK: You get to help people. You get to try to have an impact on their lives of people facing very difficult problems.

What you see here is probably a metastatic tumor. This would be a good patient, actually, for the gama (ph) knife.

One of the most important things I think that we can do is reach back into the community, is to provide for the next generation, who hopefully will do even better than we've done in making discoveries. So we created a program called Brainworks. We bring about 200 students from lower income schools. They get to be a neurosurgeon for a day.

WHITAKER: They're able to play around with neurological toys, looking through microscopes, doing surgery on different things, and having discussions where their voice is being heard.

BLACK: Some of the students, they're now getting ready to apply to medical school. They want to go into neurology, science as a result of that exposure.

WHITAKER: It's that seed that I think he gives to people. That seed of hope when people come and sit in his chair. That seed that those kids have when they hear that, yes, I can do that. He did that. He's allowed them to embrace their futures and believe in their dreams. He's a hero.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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MCEDWARDS: Well, typecasting is certainly nothing new in Hollywood, but it's a particular problem for some Arab American actors.

CLANCY: Since September 11, 2001, they say they're hard pressed to find roles in Hollywood. Well, at least roles that don't cast them as terrorists.

Brooke Anderson gives us a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Terrorists. Terrorists. Terrorists. Arab-American actor Sayed Badreya. For much of his career, Hollywood offered him only one kind of role, terrorist.

SAYED BADREYA, ARAB-AMERICAN ACTOR: That's the only role available for me. For 10 years I had one line, "in the name of Allah, I will kill you all." That's it. Every movie I go in and somehow I end up with that line.

ANDERSON: Arab characters have long been Hollywood's stock villain, all the way back to the silent era, with the sheikh, to today's post 9/11 world, when the number of terrorist roles has only increased with films like "United 93," "Unix," "Syriana," and "The Kingdom." That's created more employment opportunities for Arab actors, but at what costs?

MARC CASABANI, ARAB-AMERICAN ACTOR: Often times they play terrorists. The material that was available was very one-sided or very -- it was pigeon holed.

ANDERSON: Marc Casabani, who like Badreya, is of Egyptian decent, played a terrorist in season two of "24" but has turned down parts he feels perpetuate a harmful stereotype.

CASABANI: I remember my niece writing me and saying, uncle, are you still playing a terrorist? Because someone in school today said, you know what, I saw your uncle on TV and you must be a terrorist too.

ANDERSON: Felicia Fasano was the casting director for Showtime's terrorism theme " "Sleeper Cell." She says she understands the Arab-American actors' dilemma.

FELICIA FASANO, CASTING DIRECTOR: If these jobs come up, if you don't feel comfortable with it, don't take it.

ANDERSON: And, Fasano assets, type casting isn't unique to Arab- American actors.

FASANO: For years, that's what we've gotten with the Latino actors, was, I don't want to play a maid. I don't want to play a gangbanger. But that's what all the roles are. And most stories about Italian-Americans are about the mob. And they keep making them. And actors get jobs.

ANDERSON: Casabani and Badreya are working independently to change the Arab stereotype.

BADREYA: Ninety-five or 100 percent of movie done about Arab is written by a white guy.

You want to talk about it?

ANDERSON: Hoping to present a more balanced view of Arab- Americans, Badreya co-wrote and stars in the upcoming feature film, "American East," which isn't about terrorists but an Arab family man who opens a Middle Eastern restaurant with his Jewish friend. Likewise, Casabani is developing a sympathetic comedy called, "The Rules of a Muslim in Love."

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: And that's it for this hour. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. Stay with CNN.

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