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Your World Today

Steep Declines in Europe, Asia Over U.S. Economy; Middle East Tensions; Study: Too Much Caffeine May Increase Miscarriage Risk

Aired January 21, 2008 - 12:00   ET

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

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The world's stock markets tank. Investors can't shake their fears about the U.S. economy.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Gaza's misery. Israel turning off the power but says growing chaos is a power play by Hamas.

CHURCH: A wake-up call for moms to be. A new study says too much caffeine can be a very bad idea.

CLANCY: And Martin Luther King Jr., what role did the civil rights leader play in the past and what is his role today?

It's 7:00 in the evening in Gaza City right now, noon in Washington.

Hello and welcome to our report seen around the globe.

I'm Jim Clancy.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.

From Tokyo to London, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY. .

CLANCY: The U.S. stock markets may be closed today in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, but that is not stopping a massive downward turn in markets around the world.

CHURCH: Exactly. Jittery investors are still very worried about a possible recession in the U.S. The global sell-off began in Asia today.

CLANCY: Now, the red arrows really tell the story if you take a look at this. Key markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, all down. The Nikkei in Japan tumbling to its lowest close in more than two years. Look at the numbers.

CHURCH: Look at those. Well, the sell-off kept going as European traders got into the act. It appears investors around the world doubt that President Bush's plan to stimulate the economy will actually work.

In London, the key benchmark FTSE closed down just a short time ago.

And Jim Boulden is watching all of the action right now in London.

Jim, just how bad is this?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this was one of the worst days we've seen in many years. In fact, percentage- wise, one of the steepest falls we've since the terror attacks of 9/11.

It's estimated some $300 billion was wiped off these three markets alone. Let's show you what happened here.

The FTSE 100 here in London, down nearly 5.5 percent. The XETRA DAX in Frankfurt down over 7 percent in just one day. The Paris CAC down nearly 7 percent, down 6.8 percent.

This was across the board -- banks, insurance companies, auto shares all hit hard. The idea, Americans might be into a recession, they might shop less, and the banks are being hit, of course, because of the credit crunch, Rosemary. So we've just seen an across-the- board wipeout which is continuing to see falls we've seen for the beginning of this year.

CHURCH: So, Jim, just give us an idea, what is it about the Bush administration's economic package that hasn't made anyone happy?

BOULDEN: One trader said to me, "Too little, too late." Simply, the money won't get into the pockets quick enough.

How much money is it really? If we see a Federal Reserve rate cut come out of Ben Bernanke, that will take months to filter through the system. Some people are saying the U.S. may already be technically be in a recession. It may be falling itself into a recession.

And if that happens, people will shop less, they will buy less imports coming from Europe into the U.S. And also, just a general malaise.

You know, maybe the markets went too high in 2007. We saw a lot of up and down, we saw a lot of steep falls. But you also saw steep rises in the markets toward the end of last year. So far this year, we've seen nothing but, down, down, down.

CHURCH: All right. Jim Boulden, a very nervous world out there on the markets.

Thanks so much for that, Jim.

CLANCY: And everybody has a different perspective. Take India's benchmark stock index. It took the hardest hit in all of Asia, tumbling more than 7 percent. That's an emerging market, an important one.

Eunice Yoon is monitoring Asia markets from Hong Kong. She has more details on how all of this was triggered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, India, a big sell-off in Asian markets with investors not buying President Bush's proposed economic stimulus plan. There's concern it's not sufficient or timely enough to help the U.S. dodge a recession.

LEE YUN, WOORI INVESTMENT AND SECURITIES (through translator): The capital started to flow out of emerging markets which have a huge amount of global liquidity.

YOON: The U.S. is one of the region's top export markets. If American shoppers cut back on buying goods from Asian companies, exporters like Toyota can lose significant sales. In Tokyo trading, Toyota was among the exporters hit hard. Mizuho, the Japanese bank that invested in U.S. financial firm Merrill Lynch, also took a beating.

NOBUTAKA MACHIMURA, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): There's a downturn in the economy, and we wonder if this should go on. Unlike in Japan, there are concerns over the growing impact from the subprime loans through the financial institutions in the U.S.

YOON: Subprime lending rattled China's banking sector, too.

(on camera): "The South China Morning Post" the Bank of China could announce a significant writedown during its fourth quarter results in April because of the bank's exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage market.

(voice over): It's reported the Bank of China has the biggest exposure to U.S. subprime-related securities of any Chinese firm.

FRANCIS LUN, FULBRIGHT SECURITIES: The subprime crisis, it definitely hurt the Bank of China's profits in 2007, because if they were to make sufficient (INAUDIBLE), the profit would probably decline 30 to 40 percent from 2006.

YOON: Even India, a country considered by some less vulnerable to a U.S. slowdown, saw its benchmark stock index fall more than 7 percent. Its second biggest percentage drop ever.

DHIRENDRA KUMAR, VALUE RESEARCH INDIA: Portfolios, we have only -- investors only understood that the market goes up. And I think there has been a reversal of trend. Now people are pulling out.

YOON: But he says longer term, stocks in India will likely rebound.

Meanwhile, investors are hoping for a rebound in the rest of Asia, too.

Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (NEWSBREAK)

CLANCY: All right. We are continuing to follow the situation in Gaza. Day four of a blockade. Growing Arab anger over this blockade, it is affecting all of Gaza.

Israel sealed the border crossings on Friday, blocking all the deliveries of food, fuel and other commodities in response to ongoing rocket attacks. Well, now the European Union is joining Arab leaders in criticizing the move as collective punishment, warning of a humanitarian crisis.

Let's get the latest here and bring in Ben Wedeman in Gaza.

Ben, some indication maybe Israel is feeling the heat.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly there is, Jim, because just a little while ago we heard that the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, has approved a one-time fuel shipment and a shipment of medical supplies as well. So that does appear -- it does appear that Israel is easing this blockade somewhat.

But what we've seen by going around Gaza today is that the situation is indeed fairly dire. We went to one hospital where only the intensive care unit had any life from one generator, a small generator, in the hospital. In the emergency ward, we saw doctors examining children who had been hurt in various domestic accidents and whatnot by flashlight and candlelight.

In other parts of the city, you see long lines outside of the bakeries, people very worried that food supplies are running out as well. We saw also that, for instance, gas stations are closed down because fuel simply isn't getting in. Much of Gaza City behind me is dark as a result of the blockade.

What -- so, yes, indeed the situation is, the situation is dire, and it does appear Israel is feeling the heat -- Jim.

CLANCY: But there's some dispute here. There's a lot of people who believe that Hamas is exaggerating the severity of all of that, perhaps even cutting off some of the fuel that comes in by pipeline into Gaza.

What's the reality there?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's really difficult to tell exactly what the reality, Jim -- is, Jim. We were at the only power station in the Gaza Strip which supplies about 30 percent of the electricity here. And they showed us that they simply do not have any fuel.

It's a private company. They insist they have no political agenda, that they have not been pressurized by Hamas, but simply that Israel, as of last Thursday, stopped sending in regular supplies of fuel for the power plant and that, therefore, they simply cannot generate any electricity. And it is that power plant that supplies the power for much of Gaza City and the central Gaza strip. Israel, of course, says this is really just a show, a show by Hamas, really fabricating a crisis. But when you go around Gaza City, whether it's fabricated or not, it is a crisis. People are living without electricity under very dire circumstances -- Jim.

CLANCY: Ben Wedeman reporting to us there live, giving us the latest from Gaza.

Thank you.

CHURCH: All right. A short break now.

Some Israelis living under constant fear of rocket attacks.

CLANCY: They say they're being forced to make a painful choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never give up. I love this place. I love the people here, everything. I just want to live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Coming up straight ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, will that desire to live force them to leave the only home that they have ever known? An inside perspective of day-to-day existence in the town of Sderot.

CHURCH: Plus, an important new warning for pregnant women. For years, there has been conflicting information about the risks of caffeine. What researchers are saying now about a possible link to miscarriages.

CLANCY: Plus, going after the African-American vote in the Bible Belt of the U.S., how the White House hopefuls are trying to convert the undecided.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, take a look at these pictures from Lawrence, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. This burning building was part of a seven-alarm fire that spread to 14 buildings and included a dozen homes.

CLANCY: One person hospitalized. The city's fire chief says frozen fire hydrants prevented his crews from controlling this blaze more quickly. It apparently was ignited inside an empty nightclub that was undergoing renovations.

CHURCH: Wow. Quite a scene there.

Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: And a special welcome to our viewers in the United States this hour. An uneasy calm is prevailing in Kenya's capital today after the opposition called for renewed protested over disputed presidential elections. Reports say several people were beaten, some of them hacked to death with machetes in weekend clashes around the slums of the capital city, Nairobi. Some 500 have been killed across Kenya since the election results were announced.

And meantime, former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan due to arrive Tuesday to try to mediate between the feuding political sides.

CHURCH: All right. Now to a new study that could have major implications for mothers to be. Researchers say pregnant women who consume just 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day may double their risk of miscarriage. Now, that's about the amount of caffeine in two regular cups of coffee.

Medical Correspondent Judy Fortin joins us now.

And Judy, how concerned should pregnant women be?

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Rosemary, just one more thing for pregnant moms, moms to be, to worry about. And here's why.

This new Kaiser study that's come out reports high doses of caffeine cause an increased risk of miscarriage. Now, we're talking about more than two cups of coffee, tea, caffeinated soda, or hot chocolate a day. Researchers recommend reducing daily caffeine intake or cutting it all out altogether -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Now, the interesting thing here, of course, is that, for most of us, this is nothing new. We've seen these studies before.

So how is this study any different?

FORTIN: Well, in fact, there have been about 15 different studies that have been done over the years. Although the results were similar, critics were quick to point out that there were biases such as small numbers of participants, not controlling for age, smoking, and even morning sickness, which causes some women to avoid caffeine altogether.

Researchers in this study looked at women early in their pregnancies who never changed their drinking patterns. And it was a large study, too, over a thousand women. And the results were pretty startling. Those who consumed 200 milligrams of caffeine per day had twice the miscarriage risk of women who consumed no caffeine at all.

Now, current recommendations from groups such as the March of Dimes warn women not to exceed 300 milligrams a day. So this may actually force a change in recommendations the next time women go to their doctors.

CHURCH: Indeed. So why do doctors think that caffeine can cause these miscarriages? FORTIN: Well, you know, there are a number of reasons that they already know about and that this study actually confirmed. The lead study author told us that caffeine crosses through the placenta to the fetus, but it can be difficult for the fetus to metabolize caffeine.

Caffeine may influence cell development and decrease blood flow to the placenta. If arteries are constricted, that will restrict blood flow to the fetus, which may result in miscarriage as well. So, there's a lot they know and a lot of reasons why moms really need to pay attention to this when they're pregnant.

CHURCH: They do have to pay attention, but for some moms it's going to be really difficult.

FORTIN: It is hard.

CHURCH: So what should they do?

FORTIN: People love their caffeine, don't they? And the doctors are telling us that cutting out caffeine is really the best bet. And not just when you find out that you're pregnant. Researchers told us that moms to be should do it three months before you get pregnant to help prepare your body for pregnancy and make it as healthy as it can be.

Now, if you can't do that, women are strongly urged to limit themselves to just one cup of caffeinated coffee, tea, soda, or hot chocolate a day. And Rosemary, we're talking about six to eight ounces, not the extra large cups. So I've got a couple of examples here.

We're talking about one of these cups. And we know that people love to have the 12 ounce or maybe even the 20 ounce cup. That's way too much coffee.

So, stick to the smaller one cup a day. Better yet, switch to decaffeinated. Just cut it out altogether and you don't have to worry about it. Even better than that, just cut out coffee altogether and try having some nuts or maybe some dried fruit. Try yoga or a brisk walk. Those things can all improve your energy as well.

Though it's easier said than done.

CHURCH: That's right. And we have to -- we mustn't forget soda drinks, too, and chocolate.

FORTIN: That's right.

CHURCH: It's not just the coffee.

FORTIN: Make sure that you're cutting back on those. That's right.

CHURCH: All right. Thanks so much, Judy. Appreciate it.

FORTIN: You're welcome. CHURCH: Jim.

CLANCY: All right. We're going to focus on the Middle East for a moment here. There's new violence to report in Iraq.

A car bomb killing two people in the northern city of Mosul. Police say the bomb exploded at an outdoor market. It was close to an Iraqi army convoy.

Meanwhile, three militants were killed in a joint operation involving U.S. and Iraqi forces. Eighteen others were captured.

So much of the violence in Iraq has been fueled by sectarian strife. But one Iraqi teenager who has endured tremendous loss himself hopes to end the hatred with a different kind of message.

Arwa Damon has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fourteen-year-old Taha is fed up with adults. For five years now he's watched grownups destroy his country. So he's taking matters into his own hands.

"To whomever picks up this letter," he writes, "please help in unifying Iraq." Signed, "Your brother, Taha."

A message in a bottle from a displaced Sunni boy now living in Falluja who lost his father and uncle to sectarian violence. It would be understandable if he were filled with hate. But his attitude is quite the opposite.

"Now I love all my brothers -- Sunni, Shia, Kurds," he says. From that came the idea for a simple message of peace to break Iraq's sectarian deadlock.

"Those people are Kurdish, Sunni, Shia. They are raising the Iraqi flag, and that means Iraq is one," he explains.

His plan is for the messages to be carried by the Euphrates River, from Iraq's Sunni heartland to the Shia south.

"Because that river passes through all of the sects of Iraq," he explains, "and both Sunnis and Shia drink from that river. So I thought that maybe someone will pick up the message and try to change something in the security situation."

It's an optimistic hope for a country so torn apart. But Taha and the small army of 30 friends he has brought together are determined to accomplish what this nation's adults have not.

Taha oversees the process, and when each child is armed with four bottles, the group heads off, arm in arm. These banks along the Euphrates in Falluja were once the most violent in Iraq. Burnt bodies hung from this bridge. Today, for one young boy and his friends, it symbolizes the start of a journey -- the nation's youngest, striving to reverse what years of conflict have created.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, top candidates are emerging, and voters forced to pick sides.

CHURCH: That's right. Coming up, undecided African-American voters are seeing community leaders split. The race for the Democratic nomination reveals a generational divide.

CLANCY: Also coming up, U.S. football fans sweat it out in freezing temperatures. Teams clashing on the ice in the quest for the Super Bowl.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome back to all of our viewers joining us whether you are in the globe, including right here in the United States this hour. You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church. And here are some of the top stories we've been fol lowing.

U.S. markets are on holiday today, but stocks across Asia and Europe took a beating over worries the U.S. may be headed toward a recession. Global investors are expressing doubts over President Bush's plan to stimulate the economy.

CLANCY: Expectant mothers may want to put down their cup of coffee. A new study says pregnant women who consumed just 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day may double their risk of miscarriage. In other words, if you have just a single standard sized cup of coffee, you're already above the limits.

CHURCH: Israel says it will allow some fuel and medicine supplies into Gaza on Tuesday. Border crossings have been sealed since Friday. Gaza's sole power plant has shut down. Arab leads and the European Union are urging Israel to lift the blockade entirely.

CLANCY: Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, saying the decision to seal off Gaza was simple. His government cannot allow Palestinians to keep firing rockets an, in his words, destroying life in southern Israel while life in Gaza goes on as usual. Let's get more from Atika Shubert in Jerusalem.

Atika, the government, in a sense, relenting under international pressure here? ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what appears to be happening. The defense ministry has confirmed that it will allow, in the morning -- tomorrow morning for a one-time only diesel fuel to be brought in, as well as some medicines. But they also say that this blockade will continue until the rockets stop. The fact is that border towns -- Israeli border towns on the Gaza-Israeli boarder there are taking the brunt of these rocket attacks on a nearly daily basis. And there's a lot of pressure coming from residents there on the Israeli government to put a stop to these rocket attacks because residents there say they simply don't know how much long they are can live there under the constant fear of rocket attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT, (voice over): There is no sound on this security camera video, but the flash of light, unmistakable. An explosion. It's the moment a rocket hit the Hollandia mattress factory in Sandarot (ph) last week. Just a kilometer, or half a mile, from the Israeli-Gaza border. Shortly after, panicked employees rush out. Rocket attacks like this have become a near daily occurrence for Israeli border towns.

This is where the rocket hit at around 7:30 in the morning, just as employees were coming into work. As you can see, most of it has been cleaned up. The rocket's been removed. But there's still a little bit of debris here. The blast was pretty strong and it left holes in the gate, also blew out the windows upstairs and damaged the roof. And, of course, employees were in shock. By that night, the owner had decided that the business had to be moved.

The owner Avi Barssessat says protective film on the glass may have saved the lives of his office staff. He paid for that himself. The government, he says, is not doing enough to protect his employees. That's why he's planning to move the factory and all its workers out of the reach of the rockets.

AVI BARSSESSAT, HOLLANDIA INTERNATIONAL: I choose to be here. But I didn't choose to play Russian roulette. The question of being clever. It's not question of giving up. I never give up on Sandarot. I love this place. I love the people here. Everything. I just want to live.

SHUBERT: Last week, militants in Gaza ramped up rocket attacks into Israel, sometimes two or three an hour. Avi Okanin was born and raised in Sandarot. He wants to stay, but he says the constant fear makes life unbearable.

AVI OKANIN, HOLLANDIA INTERNATIONAL, (through translator): We never leave the house. It's a bunker. I only go outside because I have to put food on the table.

SHUBERT: He voices what many here feel, that Israel must us use overpowering force in Gaza to stop the attacks.

OKANIN: It's not nice to say, but they only understand force. There was a time when the army went in and bombarded them all day. Here, it was quiet, and we didn't have to worry.

SHUBERT: Palestinian militants continue to launch rockets, a response, they say, to the Israeli aggression. And Israel continues to respond to the rockets with air strikes and closed borders. Israelis and Palestinian alike are wondering the same thing, whether a final military showdown in Gaza is inevitable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Now, over the weekend, the number of rocket attacks actually decreased from Gaza. But Israel says it's not enough to lift the blockade. That they want the rocket attacks to stop once and for all.

Jim.

CLANCY: Atika Shubert joining us there live from Jerusalem.

Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, most of Gaza's 1.5 million residents rely on international aid. But a U.N. agency warns it may have to suspend the vital distribution of food by week's end. John Ging is director of Gaza operations for the U.N. Relief and Worlds Agency. He joins us now from Gaza City.

John, we did just hear from our Ben Wedeman that some fuel and medicine will be allowed in. So Israel is responding to international pressure, easing this blockade somewhat. But what has been the impact so far on the people of Gaza?

JOHN GING, DIRECTOR, UNRWA: Well, I hope that it's not pressure of the international community, but it's actually responding in response to what they know is their responsibility as the occupying power and their concern for the plight of the civilian population here in Gaza. The plight of the civilian population here is bewildering. I mean, they have gone through so much over the last period of time and still the situation gets worse and worse.

It's a man-made crisis and they fully respect and understand the plight of their neighbors Sandarot. That is wholly and totally unacceptable, firing of rockets in there, terrorizing those people. Illegal, unjustifiable by any calculation.

But again, the response to that cannot be a retaliation. It cannot be a retaliation of illegal action, collectively punishing a civilian population on this side of the crossing, which is also trapped and a victim to the conflict. The power plant has gone down on Sunday night. No electricity. It's the mothers of Gaza who are suffer, not the militants, in the dark.

CHURCH: As you say, John, Israel is taking this action because of those rockets being fired into Israel. That's the strategy. Don't know whether that is working. But what's Israel supposed to do when those rockets are being fired at it? GING: Well, this is -- I mean, this is the challenge. There's no single sound bite or two cent solution to this conflict. It's a very provocative, destructive cycle of violence that has, you know -- it has inflicted such misery on -- to both populations for so long. It's very, very difficult to break out of that.

However, there is a prospect. There's always an opening. And the Annapolis prospect has created a political dynamic which gives hope. However, what has to also happen is a parallel process on the ground where efforts, extra efforts are made, notwithstanding the challenges, to help the good and decent people and show them that their interests lie in peace, stability, and security and that they will not be punished for the actions of others.

So, again, it's about putting the people first. It's going to be very tough. It's going to take a lot of restraint. It's going to, of course, take a lot of courage from political leaderships in the face of provocation. But it's the only way. We've gone through this cycle of violence for far too long. And as I said, all it has brought is misery.

So we have to start with each action. And that's what we're asking for at the U.N. The civilians on both sides deserve international humanitarian legal protection. We know what they are. We know what needs to be done. And the people here also know. And they ask for help and support.

CHURCH: All right. John Ging, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

CLANCY: We're going to take a short break here. But when we come back, like father, like son. You've heard that old adage. Well, sometimes it is the care.

CHURCH: That's right. Other times it's not. Take the case of Omar. His father is Osama bin Laden. And he's got a few differences with his dad. That's coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

There are millions of people all around the world who, in their minds, believe Osama bin Laden may be the world's worst terrorist.

CHURCH: Well, his son, Omar, says he disagrees but wants his father to find another way to achieve his goals. He told all this to our Aneesh Raman in Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At first glance, 26-year-old Omar seems the image of a modern Middle East. He drives a jeep, has dreadlocks and his wife is a British national. You'd never guess this is Osama bin Laden's son.

What age did you start training with al Qaeda?

OMAR OSAMA BIN LADEN, BIN LADEN'S SON: I started training maybe in 14.

RAMAN: As a child, Omar was a soldier in his father's army, training in Afghanistan like so many others. But by 2000, Omar felt al Qaeda was heading for a fight he didn't want any part of.

BIN LADEN: After a few years, the start of the war, the fight became bigger and bigger. And I see a lot of things being bigger and my eyes opened and a lot of things. And I think better if I go outside and see how the life outside.

RAMAN: It was a decision, Omar says, his father accepted.

BIN LADEN: He tell me, if this is you, your world.

ZAINA AL SABAH-BIN LADEN, WIFE: Your choice, your decision.

BIN LADEN: Yes, your decision. What I can't tell you. I'd like you to be with me, but this is your decision.

RAMAN: So father and son went their separate ways. But for Omar, there was no running from the bin Laden name. Not after September 11, 2001.

Where were you when 9/11 happened? How did you first learn about it?

BIN LADEN: I am in Saudi Arabia.

RAMAN: Did you immediately think your father was behind it when you saw the news?

BIN LADEN: Yes, maybe.

RAMAN: And what went through your mind?

BIN LADEN: That (INAUDIBLE) I didn't know how I have to feel.

AL SABAH-BIN LADEN: He was only 18, 19.

BIN LADEN: Sure, I say something killed. I feel sad.

RAMAN: Seven years later, his father is now the world's most- wanted man.

Are you in touch with your father at all right now?

BIN LADEN: Sure not.

RAMAN: Do you have any idea where he is?

BIN LADEN: No.

RAMAN: Do you think that he will ever get caught? BIN LADEN: I don't think, no.

RAMAN: The reason, Omar says wherever Osama is, the people around him will never turn.

BIN LADEN: The people there is different from here. The people there have freedom between them and the guards. They can do anything by God permission. They didn't care about government.

RAMAN: As for Omar, he's caught between love of a father -- do you think that your father is a terrorist?

BIN LADEN: No, I don't think my father's a terrorist.

RAMAN: And a hated of tactics that kill innocence civilians.

BIN LADEN: I like to say to my father, try to find another way to help or to find your goal. And this is a bomb or this is wibit (ph).

AL SABAH-BIN LADEN: Weapons.

BIN LADEN: Weapons. He's not good to use it for anybody.

RAMAN: To make the point, Omar and his wife Zaina (ph) are organizing a horse race later this year, hoping to cross North Africa with a message of peace. But finding sponsors is difficult when your last name is bin Laden.

AL SABAH-BIN LADEN: It would probably have been easier to do a race without having Omar's name. But then the race would be just a race. It wouldn't be a race for peace.

RAMAN: It is a big unknown. Can this son rebrand a name his father has made synonymous with terror?

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, people in the U.S. and around the world pause to remember Martin Luther King Jr.

CLANCY: It has been almost 40 years since an assassin silenced the civil rights leader, but his message lives on. We're going to look at his legacy. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, today is a national holiday in the United States honoring Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader. And Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are battling it out for the all-important black vote. On Sunday, Senator Obama spoke from the pulpit at a church in Atlanta, just across the street from where King preached. Senator Clinton delivered her appeal to black voters at a church in the New York neighborhood of Harlem. Along the way she picked up an endorsement from a prominent black church leader in Harlem.

CLANCY: As Americans remember the words, the actions, of Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights hero's legacy is also being re- examined. And Richard Roth gives us a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The reason Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was killed 40 years ago, was to support striking garbage men. Few remember that. Jesse Epps. will never forget. He helped organize that strike and spent three hours with King shortly before shots were fired.

Forty years later, Epps helped lead a symbolic march by New York City sanitation workers, who's own strike inspired the Memphis walkout. They have just now been granted the Martin Luther King observance as a paid day off.

JESSE EPPS, UNION ORGANIZER: Take that torch that has been passed into our hand and carry it across the finish line. That is a challenge for you today and for all of us.

ROTH: There's another big race underway with a chance a black man could win and become president of the United States.

EPPS: It would tell us how far we have come in this nation and how far yet we have to go with the kind of dialogue that we hear in the environment around us now.

ROTH: He's referring to the squabble over Martin Luther King's impact on history that heated up the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Needless rhetoric, says one senior New York leader.

WILLIAM THOMPSON, NEW YORK COMPTROLLER: As we look, you know, Dr. King's legacy in people like Barack Obama and people like me. I'm an elected official. You know, second African-American elected official in New York City's history. It is Dr. King's legacy and his shoulders that I stand on and so many others around the country.

ROTH: And an inspiration from Poland to South Africa.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN ANALYST: We think about all kind of different places around the world, they are often singing the hymns of the civil rights movement. They're invoking the legacy and the worlds of Dr. King. And so people forget, he was a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

ROTH: In Harlem, the heartbeat is Martin Luther King Boulevard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he'd be pleased with the current state of things in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think if he was alive today, I think he would have been president.

ROTH: Bill Clinton's office is on Martin Luther King Boulevard. His wives is a senator from New York state and may be tough for Obama to beat in the New York primary next month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martin Luther King wasn't a politician. You know, Martin Luther King was a reverend. You know, Obama is a politician. You know, so Obama is seeking change through the political arena, where Martin Luther King saw change through the people arena.

EPPS: I'm at home.

ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: The top three Democratic candidates are going to be debating on Monday night in South Carolina. An event organized by CNN and the congressional black caucus. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with a bit of a preview here.

Interesting race for the Democrats there.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is. You know, there have been some tensions between Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, over race. The candidates have tried to dampen those tensions, but the evidence of the division is certainly there.

Take a look at our entrance poll done with Nevada Democrat whose voted on Saturday. Look at the division over race. African-Americans who voted in Nevada supported Obama over Hillary Clinton by six to one.

Now African-Americans used to be reluctant to support Obama because they didn't think a black man could be elected president. But then Obama won Iowa and he nearly won New Hampshire and now they believe. Compare that with whites who supported Hillary Clinton by a margin of almost 20 points, a very big racial division there in Nevada. And we see that around the country.

But the division is actually more than black and white. Hispanic voters had a voice in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday and they voted nearly three to one for Clinton. So the division between blacks and Hispanic voters could generate some ethic and racial tensions that the Democrats certainly don't need.

CLANCY: Hillary Clinton. Looking at, you know, everything that has happened to her, this is a campaign really on the comeback and a lot of people say it's women that are voting. They may be telling the pollsters, no, they're not going to vote for Hillary Clinton, but they're going into the booth and they're casting their ballots that way. What's that demographic look like?

SCHNEIDER: The demographic looks like women are really becoming Hillary Clinton's base. She rallied women to her support. That's how she won that crucial New Hampshire primary. And the gender gap is now a very important feature of the Democratic race. Men supporting Obama, women supporting Clinton. And there's another division in the Democratic Party. You don't hear too much about it, but it's real. It's a generational division. Younger voters who are voting in the Democratic primaries support Obama. He's got the message of change, hope, inspiration, bringing people together. Older voters support Hillary Clinton. It's a very sharp division around the age of 45. Well, that means that if Obama is not on the ticket, there could be a whole younger generation of Democrats who are going to feel disillusioned.

CLANCY: All right. Our own Bill Schneider, a senior political analyst there, calling it like it is from South Carolina, part of the CNN political team, the premier team in television.

You can catch that debate live from South Carolina. Bill will be there on the sidelines. It comes up at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. That's 0100 hours Greenwich Mean Time Tuesday for our international viewers. And it's all right here on CNN.

CHURCH: Well, it was the kick seen round the country. The final score, 23-20, sending the New York Giants to American football's Super Bowl. But the game in Wisconsin was significant for another reason, as well. It was the third coldest game in National Football League history, minus 19 Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit. That is cold. And felt a good deal colder than that with arctic winds blowing through the stadium. The Giants will face the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in much warmer Arizona. That will be welcome, no doubt.

CLANCY: All right. That has to be it for our report this hour. I'm Jim Clancy.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN.

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