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Connect the World
Queen Elizabeth Visits Ireland; Schwarzenegger's Secret; Controversy Over Dominique Strauss-Kahn's Treatment
Aired May 17, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Paying her respects to those who fought for Ireland's independence -- Queen Elizabeth makes an historic visit to the republic. Well, it's a trip fueled with emotion. And Britain's detractors are making their voices heard.
Plus, he was handcuffed and led away -- how these images of the head of the IMF are causing a stir in France.
And why these Saudi women are all revved up.
These stories and more tonight, as we connect the world.
Well, history is unfolding in Ireland today. For the first time since the War of Independence, a British monarch has set foot in the republic. We are talking 90 years.
But it seems time does not mend all wounds. Queen Elizabeth's four day visit to the Emerald Isle is controversial, at best, and has already been marred by two bomb threats.
Fionnuala Sweeney is in Dublin and she joins us now -- Finn.
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, the bomb threats had been expected. One was an incendiary device planted on a private coach as it was heading into Dublin about two hours -- 24 hours ago now, this time last night. And the other turned out to be a hoax.
This was a highly anticipated and long scheduled visit. And there was much anticipation, as the queen's plane touched down just nine hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY (voice-over): Queen Elizabeth arrived just outside Dublin shortly before noon and wearing green -- a gesture not lost on anyone on either side of the Irish border or the Irish Sea. Then it was straight to Arizanuchthran (ph) to meet the Irish president -- two women, two heads of state whose warm personal relationship hastened this historic visit.
But not everyone is welcoming the queen. Sinn Fein opposes this visit despite signing onto the Good Friday Agreement. Dissidents or extreme republicans oppose it precisely because the Good Friday Agreement has pushed them to the fringes of mainstream republicanism.
DECLAN POWER, SECURITY ANALYST: What they're hoping for is by their activities that they will inspire some sort of a catalyst that will put them back on the main scene.
SWEENEY: In a gesture that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, the British monarch laid a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in commemoration of those who gave their lives in the fight for Irish independence.
FINTAN O'TOOLE, "IRISH TIMES": This visit comes at a time when, obviously, Ireland is in a very, very confused state about what it means to be Irish. A lot the old sense of being Irish was -- was just not being British and, indeed, being anti-British. And the queen actually arrives here at an -- an interesting time, where, you know, even the anti- Britishness, we now find, doesn't really work.
SWEENEY: The queen will attend a state dinner at Dublin Castle Wednesday evening. She's expected to make a short speech that will be regarded as a pivotal moment of her visit.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SWEENEY: Well, more on that in a moment.
But as she was laying that wreath at the Garden of Remembrance, not far away on O'Connell Street, outside the GPO, the general post office, the scene of the Easter Rising of 1916, protesters demonstrated, clashing with police. Twenty-one arrests were made.
But tomorrow may well prove to be the most controversial, if not significant, day of the queen's visit. She will remain in Dublin. She will be visiting Enda Kenny, the new Irish prime minister. That's not the most controversial part. But she will be holding talks with him before she goes onto that state dinner. The Taoiseach has declared the queen's visit to Ireland as the start of, quote, "a new era."
The British monarch will then head into the public arena, most notably to Croke Park Stadium, the infamous site of the original Bloody Sunday massacre in 1920. It's where British forces fired into the crowd at a Gaelic football match, killing 14 spectators and players. That was in retaliation for the murders of 14 British intelligence officers earlier that day, at the height of the War of Independence.
So British and Irish authorities both playing up Ireland's and Britain's close links. There is a lot of history between these two countries and the queen coming here made some history herself.
Both sides will be heaving a sigh of relief that this first day has passed off relatively peacefully.
ANDERSON: Yes.
Fionnuala Sweeney in Dublin for you.
Well, the protests and bomb threats surrounding the queen's visit suggest that for some, reconciliation doesn't exist.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, explores what is a credible threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are dissident Irish republicans. They reject the 1998 Good Friday peace deal that eventually led the IRA to lay down its arms. They are still fighting for a united Ireland.
At this rally earlier this month, a masked gunman warned the queen she is not wanted on Irish soil. For them, the queen's historic Ireland visit embodies everything they hate -- British presence in Ireland.
I met with their spokesman a year -and-a-half ago.
GARY DONNELLY, 32 COUNTY SOVEREIGNTY MOVEMENT: The Good Friday Agreement never addressed the core issue for republicans, which was the violation of Irish national sovereignty by a foreign occupying power, namely Britain.
ROBERTSON: In the past few years, these dissidents, who call themselves the real IRA, have gone on the offensive. Recently, they killed a young Catholic police officer in Northern Ireland, detonating a bomb attached to his car. Another policeman and soldier have also been killed, car bombs detonated, rockets fired, sometimes several incidents a week.
DONNELLY: People have reorganized and -- and I think are more confident now.
ROBERTSON: This former police chief has watched the transformation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With each incident that occurs, with the new people involved, those people have become more confident and become more vicious and therefore become more threatening in what they can do in the future.
ROBERTSON: The pipe bomb found on the bus headed to Dublin was small -- a relatively easy device for dissidents to make. The danger to the queen remote. But if it was the work of the dissidents, it served as a marker to get them noticed.
They are far smaller and far less deadly than the IRA at its peak in the 1970s and '80s, but they are growing.
(on camera): Even before she left Buckingham Palace, the queen will have been well aware of the dissident threats. Her officials saying her trip will carry on regardless of the latest incidents.
The dissidents say they will continue, too, threatening to bring their attacks to Mainland Britain.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: All right, so, (INAUDIBLE) Enda Kenny suggests we're now into the new era in Ireland.
One man well placed to talk about Irish troubles is Toby Harnden, whose work as a correspondent in Ireland in the 1990s culminated in the publication of his book, which was entitled "Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh".
He joins me now from CNN's Washington bureau.
Before we get onto the -- the threats from dissident groups.
Toby, just how significant is this trip for the British monarch?
TOBY HARNDEN, AUTHOR, "BANDIT COUNTRY: THE IRA & SOUTH ARMAGH": Well, I think it's extremely significant. I mean it would have been unthinkable years ago. I mean when I was reporting from Northern Ireland full-time in the late 1990s, I mean it wasn't even on the agenda. And I think it's been, you know, a long process to -- to get to this point.
ANDERSON: And there is an ever present threat despite the Good Friday Agreement, of course, which is a sort of Blair initiative back in the late '90s, early 2000.
How significant is that threat at this point, do you think?
HARNDEN: Oh, I think it remains very significant. I mean, ever since the republican movement split in 1997 in the -- in the run-up to what became the -- the Good Friday Agreement, there's been a hard core of republican dissidents who want to carry the fight on against the British. And the last sort of 90 years or so, the history of the last 90 years, shows that while there is a British presence in Northern Ireland, while part of the island of Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, there will always be a group that is -- is prepared to attack British targets. And there -- there are signs that -- that new members are joining, that there's perhaps fundraising and even the procurement of weapons going on overseas.
So while it's -- it's not a large number of people, you can't be complacent about the threat or -- or discount it.
ANDERSON: And when you say overseas, when do you mean?
Where is the support?
HARNDEN: Well, I think, I mean you have to say that it's both in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that the public support is -- is very, very small. And that is one of the big handicaps that the dissident republicans face, because at its height, the Provisional IRA had a significant -- never a majority, but a significant amount of -- of support in -- you know, on both sides of the border.
But I've -- I've certainly had, you know, indications from -- from British government sources that they're looking very carefully at -- over here at Irish-American groups that, in the past, supported the Provisional IRA and may -- may now be supporting the dissidents. And historically, that's where IRA groups have...
ANDERSON: Yes...
HARNDEN: -- raised money and -- and also bought weapons.
ANDERSON: Yes, certainly Northern Ireland well supported in the past, dissident groups, by Noraid, which, of course, was an organization that was an organization that was raising money in the States.
For those viewers who aren't fully engaged with this story as perhaps you and I have been as we've grown up here in the U.K., is this -- are these dissident groups now acting because of an ideology or is it something different these days? have things changed?
HARNDEN: Well, I think there are always mixed motivations, both within individuals and amongst different people. I mean, the sort of purist, if you like, will see themselves as keeping the republican flame burning as it was...
ANDERSON: Yes.
HARNDEN: -- kept burning between the IRA's border campaign that ended in the early '60s and -- and the modern Troubles.
Also, you have a -- you have a criminal element. You have people that may have been involved in crime and sort of attached themselves to ideology. You have -- you have cross-border smuggling. You have all those sorts of -- sorts of elements.
ANDERSON: Toby, always a pleasure.
Thank you very much, indeed, for joining us tonight, your expert on the subject out of Washington this evening.
Well, CNN will have, of course, live coverage of Queen Elizabeth's speech on this historic visit. See her remarks at Dublin Castle right here, Wednesday, 20:00 in London, 21:00 in Berlin, right before CONNECT THE WORLD, the show here on CNN.
Coming up this evening, it's 21:12 in London.
From a hotel suite to a prison cell, one of the world's leading financial figures is being held at a notorious New York jail -- why many in France are shocked by this particular video.
Plus, on a mission to lift restrictions -- an American doctor cured of arthritis through a controversial therapy.
And driving through social barriers -- women in Saudi getting behind the wheel.
That, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: From a posh hotel to a prison cell, the head of the IMF has joined 15,000 other inmates at Rikers Island, New York's most notorious jail. But it's not the signs in his cell or details of his new routine that have outraged many people in France. It's this video. And we're going to explain why coming up.
I'm Becky Anderson in London.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.
And a look at the other stories that we are following for you this evening.
And a former Rwandan Army chief has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide. A U.N. war crimes tribunal found this man guilty of crimes against humanity, ruling he was directly responsible for the men under his command, who killed and raped Tutsi civilians. Well, he also encouraged the mass killings on, saying Tutsis were cockroaches who deserved to die.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani military reports a blow against terror. It says Muhammad Ali Qasim has been arrested in Karachi. Now, the military describes him as a senior Al Qaeda operative who was active along the Afghan-Pakistani border, although a U.S. official says that he's a mid- level operative.
Well, the arrest comes just two weeks after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.
Well, Syrian government's denies reports that a mass grave has been found near Daraa, in the heart of the protest movement.
A warning -- these images that you're about to see may be slightly hard to watch.
A farmer tells CNN that he made the discovery after smelling bodies and spotting a human hand. An opposition leader says up to 20 people were uncovered. These pictures from YouTube reportedly show the scene but because we can't report from Syria, we cannot confirm the authenticity of these videos.
Meanwhile, a U.S. official tells us more sanctions will be announced within 48 hours. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, discussed additional steps against Damascus.
Earlier today, Ashton said time is of the essence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHERINE ASHTON, EU FOREIGN AFFAIRS CHIEF: I think we're all very aware that the situation is so grave, that it's now in a situation where we need to consider all of the options. And I think there will be a number of moves in the coming hours and days that you will see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, shocking revelations from California today have shed light on the separation between former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver. Well, the pair announced last week that they were parting ways after 25 years of marriage. But they didn't give a reason at the time.
Well, today, at least, part of the cause became clear.
CNN's Casey Wian has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Acknowledging that before he ran for office in 2003, he fathered a child with a member of his household staff.
In a statement, Schwarzenegger said, quote, "After leaving the governor's office, I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago. I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry."
The story was first reported by the "Los Angeles Times" and has now been confirmed by CNN.
And, as we mentioned, the woman worked for the Schwarzeneggers for about two decades. And the governor says he has been providing financial support for the child.
Only a week ago, Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced they had separated after 25 years of marriage. At that time, the couple said they were working on the future of their relationship.
Today, Shriver released a statement saying, quote: "This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: All right. Well, news just coming into CNN Center here. And Libyan state TV says that Libyan armed forces have exchanged fire with NATO vessels that were shelling west of Misrata. They say they've struck one of them directly and severely.
As we get more on this story, of course, we will bring it to you.
Well, coming up, the big story making waves in France -- it's been 24 hours since Dominique-Strauss Kahn was sent to Rikers Island jail.
So why is Paris still abuzz about this video from Sunday?
We're going to explain that for you.
Plus, taking risks to hit the road -- how Saudi women are fighting for the right to drive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.
I'm Becky Anderson for you.
Well, the International Monetary Fund says its chief does not have diplomatic immunity for the sexual assault charges that he is facing in New York. In a brief statement released today, a spokesman for the organization called the immunities limited and not applicable to this case.
Well, Dominique-Strauss Kahn remains behind bars this evening. Well, it's a dramatic and drastic change from the life that he was leading just three days ago.
Have a look at these images.
On Saturday, he was staying in the multi-room suite at this hotel in Manhattan. That's him, of course. That's the hotel. Well, by today, he's an inmate at Rikers Island Prison. He's being held in an 11 by 13 foot cell, separated from the general population. He's only allowed outside for an hour each day, but how can watch TV in the corridor, apparently, of his housing area.
Well, the prison is located in the East River near Queens and the Bronx. It's home to about 15,000 prisoners, who are divided into 10 separate jails.
The facility also has schools, a grocery store, a power plant, we're told, a bus depot and even a car wash for visitors and staff to use.
CNN's Jeffrey Toobin explains how the IMF chief ended up there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: He's in state court, not in federal court. In federal court, they are used to more high profile detainees. Remember, Bernie Madoff was allowed to stay out of prison for a long time because he wore an ankle bracelet.
They don't do that as often in state court. So he is where most non- citizens are who are arrested in New York State court, which is Rikers Island.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right, well, here's what's on the menu, if you were wondering, at Rikers Island. Breakfast, banana and apple box of cereal, two pieces of toast, milk and/or coffee. Lunch, that's what it is. Slightly different from what he was eating when he was in Washington. And dinner, veal patties, noodles, cabbage, whole wheat bread and a piece of fruit.
So, it's not bad food or the jail cell that's been upsetting many people in France. It's this -- this picture in the US. It's a familiar sight, known as a perp walk. But it's virtually non-existent in France, even in Europe.
CNN's Ivan Watson has been following that part of the story for us and filed this report from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: France is still reeling from news that one of its leading politicians, Dominique-Strauss Kahn, was arrested on charges of rape. Nowhere was that confusion and shock more felt than at the headquarters of Strauss-Kahn's Socialist political party.
After the meeting of party leaders on Tuesday, the chief of the party gave a brief statement to journalists, saying she was shocked and overwhelmed at images of her colleague in handcuffs being escorted by New York police officers, appearing -- arraigned in court. She underscored that in the French judicial system, cameras are not allowed in the courtroom. She emphasized that Strauss-Kahn should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Party officials pointed out other differences between American and French systems, particularly in the field of media, that traditionally, the French media does not report on extramarital affairs or the personal lives of French politicians.
GENOIT HAMON, SOCIALIST PARTY SPOKESMAN: When a French journalist knows that there is a relation between one politician and a girl who is not, for example, his wife, he will not write about that.
WATSON: Why?
HAMON: Because that's private life. If this relation was accepted by both, he will not write about that. If it's not that, if it's a crime, of course, he -- he must. He has to talk about that.
WATSON: Whether or not Dominique-Strauss Kahn is proven innocent or guilty, already the French media are writing his political obituary. With magazine covers like this, that say: "The Fall of DSK," Dominique-Strauss Kahn, or "KOed" -- Knock Out" of a man that some believed could have been France's next president.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, my next guest says extramarital affairs -- and you may know this -- are not scandals in France. But what Dominique-Strauss Kahn is accused of doing is, quote, "totally different."
Agnes Poirier is a French political commentator.
And she joins us now live from Cannes.
Before we talk about what -- what he's accused of and whether cultural, there are differences, I just want to talk to you about the images that seem to have upset France so much, the perp walk, as it's called in -- in the States.
Not an image that -- that we, even in Europe, would expect to see, it is?
AGNES POIRIER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, it's not. It is actually illegal in France to show a suspect handcuffed until he is proven or she is proven guilty. So, you know, it's -- political life stopped in France two days ago, when, on Sunday morning, we all woke up to that news that Dominique-Strauss Kahn had been arrested in a midtown New York hotel. It sounds like a seedy tragedy to us.
ANDERSON: You say it stopped, political life stopped.
That's probably an understatement at this point, isn't it?
What are the opinion writers and editorial writers saying at this point?
I mean the -- there certainly is sort of a schism between those who support him and those who don't, isn't there?
POIRIER: Sorry, the connection is not very good.
ANDERSON: Yes, there's a schism between...
POIRIER: (INAUDIBLE)...
ANDERSON: -- those who support Dominique-Strauss Kahn and those who don't. But it's not just about this case.
I mean he had his detractors in the past and his supporters, didn't he?
POIRIER: Well, actually, the shock is, apart from a few voices who are totally marginal, I can tell you that across a very wide political spectrum, those images of him in cuffed with his hands, you know, cuffed behind his back got to the -- you know, to the core of the French, who -- who, you know, whatever party that they support, I mean just -- I don't know whether it's a good comparison, but imagine a few weeks or a few months before his election, Barack Obama being arrested in Paris and handcuffed. That would be quite a shock to you.
Well, it's -- it's a shock to a lot of French people.
Of course now, three days after the fact, the shock is still here. But a lot of journalists, to start, are asking the question, well, should - - is there something we did wrong?
Should we have revealed his womanizing?
And the only problem we have is that womanizing is not a crime. But, of course, being charged with attempted rape is a totally different matter. And this is a crime. And, you know, we treat that crime the same way in France as we do anywhere else. It's just that, you know, what exactly should we have done that we didn't do?
ANDERSON: Is there also a sense that this is not just Dominique- Strauss Kahn we're looking at here, but the sort of image of France around the world?
Is there a sense of shame across France for being French at this time?
POIRIER: Well, I wouldn't go that far. But I mean it is the -- you know, a great citizen is the ambassador of their own country. And it is extremely painful and violent to see the image of Dominique-Strauss Kahn. It's a bit like seeing France handcuffed coming out of (INAUDIBLE). It is, yes, a dreadful image to see it.
Now, you know, Dominique-Strauss Kahn is a man.
Was he weak?
We don't know whether he's innocent or guilty. We'll know that in a few weeks, a few month's time. Perhaps we'll never know, because perhaps there will be a sort of negotiation, a plea bargain, as you call it in the US. It's difficult to say.
I mean, for the moment, we're just coming back from a sort of total shock and disbelief of what's happened.
ANDERSON: All right, we're going to have to leave it there.
We thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
The view from France on a story that, of course, is rippling around the world.
Well, it has the potential to revolutionize the world of medicine, offering hope to millions beyond the reach of treatments available today.
So why does stem cell research generate such controversy in some corners of the world?
We'll debate the ethics after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. I'm Becky Anderson in London. Let's get you a quick check of the headlines this hour.
For the first time in a century, a British monarch has stepped foot on Irish soil. Queen Elizabeth's historic four-day visit to the Emerald Isle is not without controversy and has been marred by two bomb threats.
A skirmish along the Afghan border. A NATO official says two coalition helicopters came under fire from the Pakistani side of the border and then returned fire. Pakistan says two of its soldiers were wounded in the incident which started when a NATO fighter jet illegally entered Pakistani air space.
US officials tell CNN more sanctions on Syria will be announced in the next 48 hours. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, met in Washington earlier on Tuesday and discussed additional steps against Damascus.
Well, Jordan's King Abdullah II has been talking strategy with the US president at the White House. On the agenda, the Arab Spring uprisings and a new push for peace among Palestinians and Israelis.
And former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- Californian governor, of course -- admits he fathered a child out of wedlock more than a decade ago. One week ago, he and his wife announced that they were separating.
Those are your headlines this hour.
Cancer, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's. Just some of the medical conditions that could one day benefit from stem- cell therapy if considerable obstacles are first overcome.
Not only is there a lot of scientific uncertainty surrounding the research, but also significant ethical concerns. We kick off this part of the show with Paula Hancocks, who met one man who says he's walking proof that stem-cell therapy works. But he had to travel halfway around the world to find a treatment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The word "miracle" is not a word that Stanley Jones uses. A spinal surgeon in Texas, he prefers medical facts.
STANLEY JONES, US SPINAL SURGEON: Oh, I couldn't walk and my knee hurt so bad I just barely got out of bed here.
HANCOCKS: Jones says he had a sudden onset of autoimmune arthritis two years ago, which affected his knees, hip, and wrists. He says within a week, he couldn't walk and had to cancel 70 percent of his surgeries.
JONES: I never considered stem-cell therapy. I thought it was probably voodoo.
HANCOCKS: Fat cells were extracted from Jones's abdomen in the US and sent to South Korea to be cultivated. He then traveled to Japan to have the stem cells injected back into his body.
JONES: Oh! I feel great! I mean, I -- I can jump, run, play. I can dance again. I can walk without a limp.
HANCOCKS: Jones is now a man on a mission to push his home state of Texas and countries around the world to increase stem-cell therapy.
HANCOCKS (on camera): Regulations here in South Korea mean that stem cells can be cultivated and banked. Clinical trials can take place in country, but actual treatment is not allowed.
RNL Bio, the Korean biopharmaceutical company who cultivated Jones's stem cells wants restrictions in Korea relaxed so patients do not have to travel to Japan for treatment.
At this Seoul press conference, they introduced Jones, along with two other patients who say stem cell treatment cured their ailments, to the media in the hope of boosting public support for stem-cell therapy.
JONES: I suspect that soon, we will write prescriptions for stem-cell therapy, and that will be in lieu of drugs that are potentially harmful. So, my plea would be to have people accept the seamlessness, the simpleness, the easiness of the process.
HANCOCKS: Stem-cell expert, Professor Chris Mason, cautions the medical world of getting ahead of itself.
CHRIS MASON, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: And the big temptation is not to publish, for example, any negative clinical trial, where maybe it didn't work. But actually, you can learn an awful lot from those negative trials.
Positive trials, yes they tend to be published. Negative trials, no. So, we -- there is a risk of reinventing the wheel.
HANCOCKS: RNL Bio estimates over 120 million people worldwide could be treated with stem-cell therapy if restrictions are lifted. Until then, Stanley Jones says he's willing to be the public proof that it can work. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, scientists call them the Holy Grail of medical research. But what really are stem cells?
The raw material of the human body, unspecialized cells, have the potential to develop into many different cell types. Now, doctors say that makes them a sort of repair kit, if you like, able to grow healthy tissue to replace parts of the body damaged by disease.
Well, as we saw in Paula's report, stem cells can be taken from adults, but they are also found in embryos, and this is the crux. Scientists say embryonic stem cells are more versatile and therefore have greater potential for regeneration and repair.
But they're also much, much more controversial. Opponents say embryos are human life and shouldn't be destroyed to make -- or try to make -- another human life better.
Well, I'm going to take a look at both sides of this debate. It's an ethical debate, of course. Let's bring in our guests.
Professor David Prentice, a senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council. He's in Washington. And for you tonight, George Daley joins us from Key Biscayne in Florida. He's with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and also director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at the Children's Hospital in Boston.
David, let me start with you, because you don't buy this idea that while, on the one hand, you can take stem cells from adults, that you should be exploring the opportunities, at least, to take them from embryos. You don't buy that. Why?
DAVID PRENTICE, SENIOR FELLOW FOR LIFE SCIENCES, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Well, I think there are a couple of ethical problems right away. Number one, of course, is you have to destroy this young embryo, this young human, early in its development, to get the embryonic stem cells.
There are also problems in terms of controlling those cells. They may be very flexible, but that flexibility becomes their downfall, because then they tend to show formation of tumors.
In the meantime, the adult stem cells from our own bodies, bone marrow, blood, even liposuction fat, are already showing published scientific evidence that they can treat these same things that embryonic is only hypothesized to treat.
ANDERSON: David?
PRENTICE: Yes?
ANDERSON: Your response.
GEORGE DALEY, DIRECTOR OF STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION PROGRAM, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Oh, you mean George.
ANDERSON: Sorry, George, sorry.
DALEY: Pardon me.
ANDERSON: Go on.
DALEY: Yes. Well, I support research on adult stem cells. I'm the director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Children's Hospital in Boston, where we use blood stem cells to treat and cure kids with cancer.
Unfortunately, not all disease can be treated with adult stem cells, despite 50 or 60 years of research. So, most leading scientists actually are looking to use a variety of new approaches, which include embryonic stem cells.
ANDERSON: We need them, David. It's called "science."
PRENTICE: Well, actually, I would say the evidence weighs against that. Beyond the cancers and the anemias and so on that George actually is treating kids with adult stem cells for, adult stem cells have also shown published scientific evidence that they can treat things like spinal cord injury, juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and the list goes on and on and on.
And in the meantime, the ethical problems, both in terms of destruction of young life and risking the health, frankly, with embryonic stem cells weighs against them.
ANDERSON: And George, that's a big argument, not only in the States, but around the world, but specifically in the States. I mean, this is make or break as a presidential candidate, where do you stand on this issue? David makes a good point, of course, doesn't he?
DALEY: Well, I would take great issue, as a practicing scientists and a clinician actually using these adult stem cells, I am very skeptical about the claims of their cures in this whole range of diseases. This is still all very experimental.
And in fact, at this time, we're looking at a variety of approaches, including embryonic stem cells and this variety of other adult stem cells.
Virtually every leading scientist, the director of our national institutes of health, internationally, there is overwhelming support for research in all areas of stem cells.
ANDERSON: Well, certainly, chaps, the world is sharply divided over the ethics of embryonic stem-cell treatment. Let me just get our viewers some figures, here.
In the US, such research isn't banned, but for years the government refused to fund it. That changed after President Barack Obama took office.
Now, Sweden, among the European countries that allow research using human embryos. Others include Finland, Belgium, and Greece, I believe, while Germany, Italy, Ireland, and others have either an outright ban or server restrictions.
I'm just talking our viewers through some of the figures, here. South Africa, one of the few African nations to support stem-cell research.
Does it surprise either of you that we see such a sort of dichotomy between those who buy George's argument and those who don't? David?
PRENTICE: It doesn't surprise me that there is this spectrum of opinions. And it spans the scientific community, the public policy community, obviously the faith community in terms of this. I think we do need to proceed cautiously.
There does need to be published evidence. And again, it's only the adult stem cells that have shown that, and not just for a few diseases, but for many. But we need to consider the ethical aspects, as well.
ANDERSON: Just briefly, George, as you give us your last sort of thought this evening, how many people around the world are we talking about, here, who need this sort of treatment?
DALEY: Well, we believe that stem-cell research is going to be the future of many new treatments. And it's not all about just delivering cells. It's also about making new drugs.
Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that are discarded as medical waste from in vitro fertilization clinics. So, if you're going to oppose embryonic stem-cell research, you're going to have to oppose all IVF. And that is, actually, a widely accepted and, frankly, a wonderful way of creating new families.
So, I think there is debate, but there is also very widespread support among bioethicists. Not all religions oppose this research. Islam and Judaism are in support of it, and the vast majority of scientists, as well. So, I think we're going to see the work continue, and it's going to bear fruit in the future.
ANDERSON: George, David, we thank you very much, indeed, for joining us here on CONNECT THE WORLD this evening. Both sides of the argument for you.
Well, coming up, a small step on the road to equal rights for women in the Middle East. After the break, we're going to take you Saudi Arabia, where some women are defying custom and getting behind the wheel. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: A special report for you here on CONNECT THE WORLD tonight. Women in Saudi Arabia don't have the same right as men. You probably know that. They're not allowed to travel without authorization from their male guardians, and they can't vote in municipal elections.
Driving is an issue, too. While there are no traffic laws that make it illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, there are religious edicts that are often interpreted as a ban on women drivers.
Well now, a group of women in the country wants to change that as Atika Shubert reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC - "I GOTTA FEELING")
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hands on the wheel, keys in the ignition, and the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" plays as the rallying soundtrack for women to drive. A groundbreaking initiative organized on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to get women into the driver's seat in Saudi Arabia.
Hundreds of women have signed up to hit the road on June 17, and Manal Al Sharif is one of them.
MANAL AL SHARIF, WOMEN 2 DRIVE: We are not against the law, we are not protesting, we are not doing anything that's breaking the law. We made this clear, and we are all Saudis who started this thing, and we love our country.
SHUBERT: The streets of Riyadh and Jeddah are full of cars driven exclusively by men. Strict segregation by sex means women can't travel without a male relative, and they can't take public transport. To get around, women hire expensive drivers or taxis.
It's a daily frustration for a single mother like Manal. She describes getting stuck after dark trying to make it home last month to her five-year-old son.
AL SHARIF: I had to walk in the streets for half an hour looking for a cab. I was harassed by every single car. Most of the cars passed by, they were harassing me because it was late at night, 9:00 PM, and I was walking alone.
And I kept calling my brother, his phone was off, to come pick me up. And I was crying in the streets. I'm a grownup woman, I'm a 32-year-old woman, a mother, and I was crying like a kid in the street because I couldn't find someone to pick me up to take me back home.
I would say, first of all, where is your -- put your left foot --
SHUBERT: So Manal and dozens of other women decided it was time to take the wheel. She and other women with international licenses are also offering driving lessons in Saudi's rural areas. Manal took this video of giving her first lesson.
But this is only a small step on a long road. Women still do not have the right to vote in Saudi Arabia. Any woman wanting to travel, work, get an education, or even open a bank account, requires the permission of her husband, father, or other male guardian. Getting a driver's license is not enough, say women's rights activists.
DINA EL MAHMOUN, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: The bigger problem is the other restrictions, the more severe restrictions on women's rights. And that's what will take much longer and a lot more sustained campaigning for -- to actually have any change on those.
SHUBERT: But Women 2 Drive says their push is a start. The initiative has already encouraged several women to drive on their own with no male guardians, uploading their stories onto Women 2 Drive's YouTube channel.
AL SHARIF: We have a saying in Arabic. (Speaks in Arabic) The rain starts with a drop. So, this thing is really a symbolic thing for us women, driving. Very basic need, very insignificant right for us. And we're -- I think this will encourage women to take action, to take lead in their lives.
SHUBERT: Now, Women 2 Drive is gathering signatures for a letter to Saudi's King Abdullah informing him that, as of June 17th, women will be in the driver's seat. Atika Shubert, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, women across the Middle East are breaking down barriers. Right here on CNN, we featured some of their stories. Here's Reza Sayah for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Pakistani pilot Ambreen Gul, the toughest thing about learning how to fly an F-7 fighter jet wasn't controlling its super-sonic speed or its lethal weapons system. It was convincing her mother she could do it.
AMBREEN GUL, PAKISTANI FIGHTER PILOT : She was like, "You're a girl. How will you do? How will you fly?"
SAYAH: "I'll fly just like the men do," was Ambreen's answer.
In 2003, when the Pakistan air force opened up combat jobs for women, Ambreen was among the first in line. Today, the 26-year-old is among Pakistan's first-ever women fighter pilots.
GUL: This is a feeling which makes you proud, also and makes you humble, also.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that's Pakistan for you. This is Ali, an Egyptian woman in Cairo. Back in October, she was one of only eight female cabbies. Well, she told CNN Egyptian society is still getting used to the idea and that a high rate of sexual harassment takes -- makes it difficult for women to break into male-dominated professions.
Well, in Afghanistan, some women risk their lives doing something that elsewhere is pretty normal. In secret and covered up, they are learning to read. Only an estimated one in ten women in Kandahar are literate, but their ambition and drive is too strong for fear of the Taliban to hold them back.
Some good stories for you this evening. Well, still to come here on CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Unlikely peace negotiator -- not me -- was the man behind the secret talks that led to the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the eventual release of Nelson Mandela. Your Connector of the Day shares his recipe for peace, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, it's been two decades since the fall of Apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela. Images from these events are famous, of course. But less so the secret talks that led to the historic changes.
And central to these was tonight's Connector of the Day, a man whose template for peace has since been used to promote reconciliation in other conflicted parts of the world, including Ireland and the Middle East. My colleague Max Foster gets us connected with an unlikely peace negotiator.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may only know his name if you've seen the political thriller "Endgame."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "ENDGAME")
UNIDENTIFIED BOY (through translator): Let him be!
JONNY LEE MILLER AS MICHAEL YOUNG, "ENDGAME": Michael Young.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The 2009 film is based on a series of meeting initiated by British businessman Michael Young and hosted in secret at a country house in England over a period of five years.
Played by Jonny Lee Miller, the oil company official brought together an influential Africana and the then outlawed ANC led by future president Thabo Mbeki.
Talks were game-changing and have since been used as a template for other conflict resolutions around the world. I asked the real Michael Young how he succeeded where others had failed.
MICHAEL YOUNG, FASCILITATED END OF APARTHEID: I decided, first of all, to try and find the ANC. And, of course, they were headquartered in London. The late Oliver Tambo lived in London as well as Lusaka.
I was able to meet Oliver Tambo and pose the question to him, "What does a British business do that really wants to make a difference to South Africa?"
And he thought about this for a long while. I remember the event, because he -- I was shaking his hand and saying farewell after a meeting. And he looked into the near distance for a long time, holding my hand, and then fixed his eyes back on me and said, "I want you to help me build a bridge to Pretoria."
And that was a big ask for an English-speaking house that didn't reside in South Africa. The country was young by PW Botha, who didn't tolerate dissent easily. So, I had to pick my potential contacts with great care.
But I eventually, after a lot of hesitant observation, happened upon a very brave man called Professor Willie Esterhuyse, who was an academic at Stellenborsch, but very close to PW Botha.
And Stellenborsch in those days was the intellectual heartland of Africanadom. So this was a man very close to the president and the structure.
FOSTER (on camera): What made you so interesting in diplomatic circles is how you then got the negotiations going, and you used your own techniques, didn't you? But just describe what you did to try to build up a trust between the sides before you could even start talking?
YOUNG: Well, I think the first thing you've got to realize, as a facilitator, it's not your show. If you want some cheap points for yourself, then don't go into this area. The show is theirs. And if they don't own it, the show won't go anywhere.
But as soon as these guys began, after a period of three or four meetings, to sense that there was something here, it was a silent process, they felt secure in the process. And they began to own it.
What I tried to do very much in order to build up the notion that they were South Africans together and I was the Brit was to leave them, very often, at the end of a long working day in the library with a couple of bottles of Glenfiddich so that they could become relaxed, and the Englishman had left, so they could be South Africans together.
FOSTER: Brilliant. We've got a question from Jurgen. "Do you think that the work you did back then still has a potential to further improve the world?" I guess what he's talking about, there, is actually in other negotiations around the world, political negotiations, your techniques have been used, haven't they?
YOUNG: I think they have. I think the central issue here is that the process has got to be silent. Politicians, if you expose them to the media or to their constituency, as it were, they will play to the gallery. So it has got to be a process away from the theater and a silent process.
You have to choose your players very carefully. They should be sufficiently strong within their own community, but they shouldn't be at the apex of their structure, because at that point, they've arrived. Their positioned. The capacity for flexibility is that much less.
So you choose your players with great care. You keep a secret process. You make sure that it's a disciplined process, and that you note every agreement that you make so that you don't have to revisit that, unless something substantial changes. So, there's incremental process and incremental progress in a fairly ordered and structured way.
FOSTER: Could you tell me your favorite personal Nelson Mandela story, because you got a really interesting perspective on Nelson Mandela.
YOUNG: Well don't forget, when I was doing this, Nelson was in prison. So, I was working with his boss, the late Oliver Tambo, not with Nelson Mandela. But Nelson Mandela was very gracious and invited me to his inauguration.
Sitting in the amphitheater of the union building on this highly emotional day, and then, I was sitting with some colleagues from the ANC and the people that I'd been working with, and suddenly we heard the rotor blades of helicopters. And they got louder and louder.
And the interesting thing is, that my guys, my colleagues from the ANC ducked. That was a knee-jerk reaction. But Nelson stood tall, and the helicopters and the airplanes came over. And that was a marvelous illustration of what this man had helped to do, not just for South Africa, but for the world. This huge man, and a man that we all owe much to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: What a great story. Well, tomorrow's Connector of the Day is writer Jane Bussmann, who's going to tell us how -- about how a quest to impress a humanitarian worker turned into the worst date ever. If you're confused, join us tomorrow night.
Find out more about your upcoming Connectors, head to cnn.com/connect. Let me tell you, Jane Bussmann is absolutely worth a watch.
Well, a rambunctious fan delighted the crowd at a baseball game over the weekend with a mad dash across the field right into our Parting Shots for you this evening.
For reasons that are unclear, a man jumped out of his seat and took off like a shot as the crowd cheered him on. Check out this Houdini-like escape from the officers trying to catch him, climbing over fences to get away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(MAN SCREAMING)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Fully-clothed at least as he's -- they cannot be fully- clothed when they do that across a cricket ground. Anyway, despite his great escape, officers reportedly caught up with him outside the ballpark. We have no idea what happened next.
I'm Becky Anderson, that is your world connected this evening. Thank you for watching. The world news headlines and "BackStory" will follow this short break. From the team here, it's a very good evening.
END
