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CNN Live Event/Special
President Bush, President Fox and Prime Minister Harper Hold News Conference; Capitol Hill Clash; Supreme Gesture by Antonin Scalia; Supermodel Arrest
Aired March 31, 2006 - 10:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's be clear, we're looking at live pictures from our CNN diner downstairs from where I sit here at CNN. They do a lovely job at the hygiene and keeping things clean and getting me fresh lemons for my tea every morning. They do a great job.
But we're talking kitchens, so we wanted a pictures of the kitchen. And frankly, this next story might leave you a little queasy, because we're talking food poisoning. The germ resides close to home. The germs might be as close as your own kitchen.
Our Randi Kaye has been investigating, and here is what she found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hector De La Cruz, an inspector with the Los Angeles Health Department, prowls through pantries, raids refrigerators and scopes out sinks. He's knocking on bacteria's door.
With 76 million people in this country suffering from food borne illnesses each year, De La Cruz and the L.A. Health Department are looking to clean up California kitchens. So they've developed an at home test similar to those used in restaurants around the country.
We asked if he would tag along as we checked out three Los Angeles area kitchens and what might be lurking inside them. Our test kitchens belong to Ari and Vera Miller and their two children; Jack Smiler and his cat; and Suzy Wells and her family.
(on camera): Ari, we're here to inspect your kitchen. De La Cruz and his assistant, Kathy, get right to it. Checking refrigerator temperature and inspecting the food. On the surface, the Millers' kitchen is spotless.
ARI MILLER, HOME OWNER: Like a good marriage, we never go to bed angry, we never leave dishes in the sink.
KAYE: But De La Cruz has concerns about the sponge, the dish towel and Mom's chicken barley soup. At first he was just slightly concerned, but then Ari Miller revealed the soup was still hot when it was put in the fridge.
HECTOR DE LA CRUZ, INSPECTOR, L.A. HEALTH DEPARTMENT: You got any other dark deep secrets in there?
KAYE: That increases the possibility bacteria will grow where the soup didn't cool properly.
DE LA CRUZ: This is what we consider a potentially hazardous food product, meaning that it could, at the proper temperatures and the right amount of time, start to support the growth of microorganisms that could get you sick.
KAYE: If De La Cruz was concerned, we thought maybe we should be, too. So we took a sample of Mom's homemade soup to send to the lab.
(on camera): Please forgive me if we find something in your soup, Mom.
(voice-over): And we grabbed the sponge and the dish towel for testing, too.
Then we were off to Venice Beach, to Jack's Smiler's house.
While De La Cruz went to work inspecting the kitchen, Smiler went online to take the Health Department's food safety test.
JACK SMILER, HOME OWNER: I see a score of 72 points.
KAYE: But Smiler took it all in stride.
SMILER: I don't think that we need -- that your personal kitchen needs to be held to the same standards that a public kitchen should be held to.
KAYE: But would a restaurant chef hang his fly swatter with his pots and pans?
DE LA CRUZ: You have the fly swatter with the clean pots and pans.
KAYE (on camera): That's a no no.
(voice-over): So we decided to help Smiler out. We sent his fly swatter to the lab. We also took some leftover steak and a sample from the floor around his cat's litter box to see what she may be dragging around the house and into the kitchen.
Now, it was time to visit Suzy Wells' house in Los Angeles. Our final kitchen impressed even our meticulous inspector.
DE LA CRUZ: You received an A.
SUZY WELLS, HOME OWNER: Oh, thank you.
KAYE: But De La Cruz's test only captured what the eye could see. What the eye couldn't see was sent off to this New Jersey lab. And the results were surprising. While the health inspectors gave the Millers' kitchen an A, Ron Schnitzer, the lab director who tested our samples, had a different grade in mind.
RON SCHNITZER, LAB DIRECTOR, SANI-PURE FOOD LABORATORIES: Microbiologically, it was a horror.
KAYE: The Millers' sponge turned up over 1 million bacteria per milliliter. That's a lot of bacteria in just about one-fifth of a teaspoon. The lab found 840 chloroforms in the sponge, too, which means when the Millers thought they were cleaning up, they were actually spreading bacteria; same story on the dish towel.
But the worst offender? Mom's homemade chicken barley soup.
MILLER: The soup sometimes stays out. And my mom's soup is a mixture of old things that she just, you know, throws in, some of the stuff in there might be suspect.
KAYE: The soup surprised even our lab director. It had more than 50 times the amount of bacteria than is expected in prepared foods. It had 5 million bacteria and 2.5 million chloroforms -- all that in less than a teaspoon of soup.
SCHNITZER: It probably started out with a bad ingredients to start with, with very high bacteria counts. Probably improperly cooked, then transferred into non-clean -- with non-clean utensils into a non-sterile container. So just one problem after another.
KAYE: And remember Jack Smiler's home? The health inspectors gave him a C. But in the lab, he came out ahead and so did his cat. The sample from his kitty's litter box had less bacteria than anything we tested in the Miller's kitchen.
So is it really possible to keep our kitchens that clean? Or will bacteria continue to get the best of us?
DE LA CRUZ: Bacteria doesn't care whether or not it's growing in Jack's kitchen, Suzy's kitchen or Ari's kitchen or the restaurant down the street. They just want a place to grow.
KAYE: Bottom line -- Inspector De La Cruz can't visit everyone's home, so you have to be your own inspector. Let foods cool before refrigerating them. Change your sponges often, wash your dishtowels, and clean, clean, clean.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.
I'm Daryn Kagan.
As we begin this next hour, elected to make laws, now a congresswoman could be charged with breaking one. Georgia Democrat Cynthia McKinney had been scheduled to hold a news conference on her altercation with a Capitol Hill police officer. She changed her mind. She canceled the news conference. It's not the first time that McKinney is the focal point of a high-profile confrontation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN (voice over): Cynthia McKinney does not shy away from controversy or cameras. You might remember as the congresswoman who ignited national outrage after the 9/11 attacks. In a 2002 radio interview, she implied the Bush administration knew of the terrorist plan but did nothing in order to profit from the fallout.
REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY (D), GEORGIA: We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11. What did this administration know and when did it know it?
KAGAN: The furor helped lead to her reelection defeat in 2002. But when she returned to Congress this year, a camera crew was in tow and her treatment as an African-American lawmaker again surfaced as an issue.
Yesterday, her congressional Web site featured this clip from the documentary "American Blackout." It includes an incident earlier this year when a white Capitol Hill police officer stopped McKinney. When he's told that she's a lawmaker, he apologizes profusely.
MCKINNEY: It's typical. So I'm not surprised and I'm not offended.
KAGAN: But McKinney did voice outrage at a similar incident at the White House in 1988. A guard there stopped her because they didn't recognize her as a member of Congress. She demanded an apology and the Clinton administration issued one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And we do expect -- as we said, Cynthia McKinney was going to hold a news conference and then she decided that she wasn't. But it looks like she has committed to come on and talk to us tomorrow morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern. So we'll see what she has to say.
Since it's Friday and we found a bunch of stories, we decided to go with a theme of public figures who have been accused of behaving badly as we move on.
Mamma Mia. You've got to hand it to one Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia, raising a fuss with a raised hand. Now, I can't say what the gesture means. I'm not going to, at least on TV. So we asked our Jeanne Moos to ask around.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is an Italian gesture...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who cares?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like that.
MOOS: ... not normally associated with the Supreme Court, but there he is...
(on camera): This is Supreme Court Justice Scalia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, gee.
MOOS (voice-over): ... on the front page of the "Boston Herald."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To call it obscene, I think that's kind of strong. I would say it was being rude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he was just scratching his chin.
MOOS: Unfortunately, there is no videotape, just this one still picture just as Scalia was coming out of mass when a reporter asked him how he responds to critics who might question his impartiality as a judge given his public worship.
That's when Justice Scalia fanned his hand away from his chin.
(on camera): And he supposedly said this world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MOOS: The photographer says he said this word and he said he didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Photographer said he said that?
MOOS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's bad. That's very bad. Forget about it, that's very bad. No Italians talk that way, we don't like that to each other unless we hate you.
MOOS (voice-over): But Justice Scalia cited a book called "The Italians." "The extended fingers of one hand moving slowly back and forth under the raised chin means I couldn't care less. It's no business of mine."
The conflicting interpretations call for expert analysis.
(on camera): Are you guys Italian? You Italian?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used to be Italian, now I'm American.
(voice-over): We headed for Little Italy in the Bronx. For some the gesture was too delicate, even to discuss.
(on camera): What do you mean you don't know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I don't know what it means. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not really bad, but it's not quite like the finger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be obscene or it could be like don't bother me. I don't want to be bothered. I don't take that as being anything bad because in my family, they did it all the time and they still do it.
MOOS (voice-over): In a letter to the "Boston Herald," Justice Scalia accused staffers of having watched too many episodes of "The Sopranos."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anti-Italian discrimination.
MOOS: So the "Herald" ran the gesture past "Sopranos" cast members. The guy who plays Vito said, "It's not like crabbing your crotch. Not that bad an obscenity, but it's an obscenity."
Even if you can't define it, you know it when you see it or you can see what you want in it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you, I love you.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And then there's this uptick to this story. The photographer that took that picture of Antonin Scalia lass been fired by the Archdiocese of Boston. He had freelanced with the church pepper "The Pilot" for a decade. The photographer says he has no regrets about releasing the picture for the public to see.
On to more bad behavior.
This may be model behavior at its worst. Supermodel Naomi Campbell arrested at her New York penthouse. She should be arrested for falling out of that top. But that's a different story. She is charged with assaulting her housekeeper. And this is not her first scrape with the law.
Joe Torres of our affiliate WABC has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE TORRES, REPORTER, WABC (voice over): A model's smile and a poncho to hide handcuffs for Naomi Campbell's perp walk. The supermodel is charged with assault after she allegedly threw a cell phone at a housekeeper.
Police arrested Campbell at her Park Avenue penthouse after the victim received four stitches to her head at Lenox Hill Hospital. No comment from Campbell's employees as they lived the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No comment, please. TORRES: Police say Campbell accused the 41-year-old housekeeper of stealing a pair of jeans she noticed were missing after returning from a trip.
DAVID BREITBART, CAMPBELL'S ATTORNEY: She found things that were missing and this particular individual was going to be separated. And as a result of which, I guess we have all seen the tactic known as the best defense is a good offense.
TORRES: This report (ph) isn't the first legal strap for the British-born model. In 2003, she was sued by a former assistant who also claimed Campbell threw a phone at her. In 1998, she was ordered to complete anger management treatment after she pleaded guilty to beating an assistant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She better get a handle on her problem.
TORRES: Campbell is charged with second-degree assault, a development that the British press says will be front-page news in the U.K.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love Naomi Campbell. She's one of our biggest British supermodels. And she's got the most spectacular behavior record as well. So we love a bit of bad behavior and we love Naomi. So this is going to be big.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Campbell was released on her own recognizance.
After all this bad behavior perhaps a little prayer might be in order. Sick people who don't have a prayer might, though, be better off than those who do. Researchers have been testing the power of prayer to help heart patients recover. The results: prayers from strangers, the study said, had no effect. In fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had more complications.
It's a big study done over 10 years. It raises a lot of questions about whether science is equipped to study the spiritual. And what about the prayers from family and friends?
We're going to look into this more on Tuesday when the full report comes out in the "American Heart Journal." Join me and my guests on CNN LIVE TODAY for this discussion for prayer and medicine. And we'll plan to include you in that discussion as well with e-mail.
That's Tuesday. Prayer and medicine.
You can call it a sign of job security for Pope Benedict XVI. He has sold his house back home in Germany. Actually the Catholic Church has taken possession of the house. It's in a Bavarian village where the pontiff was born. A church foundation plans to turn it into a museum.
And this programming note. We're going to take you inside the secret world of the Vatican for a revealing look at the last days of Pope John Paul II. "CNN PRESENTS" tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Eastern and again at 10:00.
Talking business just ahead, personal business.
J.J., a lot of folks out there saying forget the home phone, they're just going to keep their cell phone.
J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? I'm one of those people, actually.
KAGAN: Really?
RAMBERG: And I'm going to tell you more about the rest of them after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: She is free and she looks fit. Jill Carroll's days as a hostage are over, but the big question this morning, when will she come home here to the states? The American journalist was released after nearly three months in captivity in Iraq.
CNN's Nic Robertson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know Jill is still in Baghdad. We do know that she's had a medical exam to see how she has come through this ordeal physically. What we probably won't know is exactly when she leaves the country.
Now, as we have seen when previous hostages have been released, for security reasons we're not told until after they go wheels up. And that's to protect -- to protect them. That's what we've seen in the past.
It's still a question exactly how and why Jill came to be released. Even the "Christian Science Monitor," her employer, says they didn't expect this, they didn't know that it was coming. They had no idea. Indeed, they say they weren't in any type of talks with her hostage-takers at all.
They do point out that there are two other journalists still in captivity here in Baghdad. They had been taken hostage in February, two Iraqi journalists, Rim Zid (ph) and Marwan Kazil (ph), both working for an Iraqi television station. Both taken in February, and very little been heard of them since.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Good protective body armor a sore spot nagging the U.S. military. Some soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan complain the military did not supply enough armor. So, what did they do? They just went out and bought their own. Now The Associated Press reports the Army is banning all commercially-purchased body armor. The military says it can't vouch for its quality. Soldiers wearing their own armor will have to turn it in and have it replaced with authorized gear.
Just a few days before the shouts of "Play ball!" and Major League Baseball is launching a steroids probe. Former senator George Mitchell will lead that investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE MITCHELL, STEROIDS INVESTIGATOR: I've been assured by the commissioner that I will have complete independence and discretion as to the manner in which this investigation will be conducted and that I will have unhindered authority to follow the evidence wherever it might lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Commissioner Bud Selig says the probe's timing is partly linked to a new book. Two San Francisco newspaper reporters allege Barry Bonds used steroids over the last several years. Bonds has denied that.
It seems that more Americans are cutting the cord, so to speak. J.J. Ramberg joins us from the New York Stock Exchange, talking to us about this trend of forgetting a home phone and just sticking with your cell phone.
And J.J., you said you made that choice as well.
RAMBERG: Yes, exactly. It's a little misleading. I still actually am stupidly paying for that home phone, but I never use it. I don't even think anyone knows the phone number there.
But I think there are a lot of kids out there who probably don't even know what landlines are. American households are increasingly ditching those traditional wired phones. Instead, as I do, they're just using their cell phones.
According to a survey by Forrester Research, about 8 percent of U.S. households that subscribe to a cell phone service have no landline at all. That's up from 5 percent in 2004.
Now, among the reasons for this, one, well, of course, cell phones have been getting cheaper and their quality has been improving. And then also, fewer people need those wired landlines to access the Internet. So they don't need their home phone anymore -- Daryn.
KAGAN: So it can't just be the young kids like yourself that are figuring this out.
RAMBERG: We're going to keep saying that I'm young. But no...
KAGAN: Yes. No, you are. RAMBERG: ... it's not just for young kids. These so-called cord-cutters -- I love that name -- they're getting older. One fact, it's the 35 to 44 age category. In that category, 9 percent of mobile subscribers gave up their home phones last year. And that's up from just 3 percent in 2004.
But look, this is interesting. The reason why older people and younger people are doing this is different. The under-35 crowd is often forced to choose between a cell phone and a home phone because they don't have enough money to pay for both. But the older folks tend to cut the cord after they realize, hey, they simply just don't need a landline anymore.
Now let me just quickly turn to the markets now.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
RAMBERG: And that's the latest from Wall Street. CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Look at all those great people working with me behind the scenes.
All right. So you think winning is everything? Losing can actually be the key. That is the philosophy in Iowa.
Watch this. It might inspire you.
Here's CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta with Fit Nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is Iowa's homegrown version of those other games, the annual Iowa Games.
JIM HALLIHAN, IOWA GAMES DIRECTOR: We have 50 sports, everything from, I'd say, A to W, archery to wrestling, but we have equestrian. We have soccer. We have basketball, baseball, track and field.
GUPTA: But there's one thing different about these games. They're not about winning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice job. Nice job.
GUPTA: The Iowa Games are about losing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've lost 156 pounds.
GUPTA: The games began 20 years ago as a venue for fun and competition, but a growing obesity epidemic caused a sea change. The games' sponsor shifted the emphasis to getting active. HALLIHAN: We've got to provide an environment where people have fun doing it, and they don't realize it, but they're moving around a lot and being very active.
GUPTA: During the past four decades, obesity levels in Iowa have been steadily rising. According to the Iowa Health Department, 61 percent of adults in Iowa are either overweight or obese. Only 12 states have a higher percentage of overweight adults.
Concern about obesity in this state spawned another program in 2003 sponsored by the same group that puts on the games, Lighten Up, Iowa. It stresses teamwork. People sign up for a five-month health program where they and their teammates get ideas about how to be more active and eat healthier.
The idea has caught on.
HALLIHAN: Two years ago we had 8,500 people. Last year we had 19,300 who lost 93,000 pounds and logged 4.6 million miles of activity.
GUPTA: Back at the games, a father and son team have been carving up the slope at Iowa's winter games for the past several years.
TROY ROBBINS, IOWA WINTER GAMES PARTICIPANT: Yes, my dad and I are pretty competitive, whether it's skiing or losing weight. And so we both kind of jumped on the boat and started losing weight together, and each week we had to outdo each other.
GUPTA: The competition has paid off.
GARY ROBBINS, IOWA WINTER GAMES PARTICIPANT: We lost a couple hundred pounds total, and it's just something -- it's a time for Troy and I to bond together. And we just have a great time doing it.
GUPTA: At this year's games, more than 20,000 participated. And that translates to potentially thousands of pounds of weight loss.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Big weather story today in the Midwest. Severe weather, in fact.
Chad Myers watching that for us -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Daryn, there really is a chance of severe weather again today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Back to you. KAGAN: People bummed with their Hawaiian vacations out there.
MYERS: A little bit.
KAGAN: Hey, don't go anywhere. Getting kind of close to lunchtime here in the Eastern -- oh, yes. In fact, before I do my -- my big food story, I'm supposed to ask you about turning your clocks back -- no spring forward.
MYERS: Spring forward. You lose that -- you lose an hour of sleep this weekend. And we lose an hour of sleep at night because the sun's up so late you can't fall asleep trying to get the times that we're trying to fall asleep.
KAGAN: But here's the best part.
MYERS: What's that?
KAGAN: You can play outside after dinner until the street lights come on, and then your mom says you've got to come in the house.
MYERS: Right.
KAGAN: Yes.
Don't you remember that when you were a kid? It was the best. "See you. I'm outside to play again."
OK. Now, we're kind of close to lunchtime. Stretching here. I have some big stories for you.
Stay with me for these, OK?
MYERS: I'm ready.
KAGAN: How about an all-you-can-eat salad bar? Folks in Gary, West Virginia, tossed themselves a swimming-pool sized salad. Well, it was a kiddy pool. But still, this is what it takes, Chad: 110 heads of lettuce, 165 pounds of carrots, a few dozen cucumbers, buckets of dressing.
It took them four hours to devour the big salad. The salad makers were celebrating diet success.
Good for them, right?
MYERS: Yes, but the heads are still all together. You've got to cut all that stuff up.
KAGAN: Well, maybe that's how they lost the weight. Twenty- seven people lost a total of 500 pounds.
MYERS: Now, that's some roughage there.
KAGAN: That is some roughage. We leave it to you.
OK. Let's toss this one in. Pucker up on this one, Chad. Mammoth lemons -- and I want to see how you're going to explain this.
Look at this. It looks like a grapefruit.
MYERS: That's not a lemon.
KAGAN: It's a lemon. And it's mystifying farmers in Cyprus.
MYERS: Wow.
KAGAN: The villagers say they all come from a single tree, one that's been grafted and planted in other orchards. Even though the trees share the same soil, chemical-free care as the other lemon trees, this is the one -- Chad.
MYERS: It looks like a -- it looks like a pumpkin gourd. Wow.
KAGAN: Now, some of these weigh more than five pounds. That's like as big as your kid's head.
MYERS: I have a lemon tree in Florida, my little Florida house.
KAGAN: Yes?
MYERS: But they're only -- they're probably as big as your fist.
KAGAN: Not doing that?
MYERS: No, they don't do that.
KAGAN: How do you explain that? You're kind of a science guy.
MYERS: Yes. If you get lemons, make lemonade.
KAGAN: Yes, that's a lot of lemonade.
MYERS: That's a lot of lemonade.
KAGAN: All right, Chad. We'll see you in a bit.
MYERS: All right.
KAGAN: Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
KAGAN: Coming up, they share borders, but do they share similar views? Immigration a key issue on the table for President Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada. The three men are wrapping up their spring break summit in Cancun.
We're going to hear from all three of them live. That's coming up in just a bit here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: And we're looking at pictures that were taken the other day, Cancun, Mexico. President Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada holding a North American summit. They're expected to come out very shortly and hold a three-way news conference. And we'll show that to you live here on CNN.
But while we wait for that to begin, let's go ahead and get some other news in.
It held some of the most hated prisoners of the 20th century. Now an Arizona facility is playing a central role in border security.
CNN's Rick Sanchez has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It sits on 23 acres, among the cactus in Arizona's Sonora desert, a site that originated as a prisoner of war camp where Nazis were detained during World War II. This is where we arrive, at the Florence Detention and Processing Center, a last stop for those apprehended in America's battle to secure its borders.
(On camera): These are people who are going to be removed from the United States because they're here illegally?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eventually.
SANCHEZ: And they're likely going to a country other than Mexico?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): In fact, the majority of the men and the women in this facility are from places like Honduras and Guatemala, too far away for them to be driven across the border, so they're flown instead. The few Mexicans here are detained because they're convicted criminals.
It's not a prison, but make no mistake, some of these men and women can be dangerous. Officials say some have to be separated and placed in these small cells for disciplinary reasons or because they themselves choose to be there.
(On camera): So they come to you and they say I want to be put in a cell by myself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want protective custody, for these reasons.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): They won't be their long, though. The average stay for detainees is only 16 days. That's how long it takes to process them, barring legal challenges that can either prolong their stay or get them released.
(On camera): Mr. Johnson, how are you? Why don't you have a seat.
(Voice-over): That's what Efwit Johnson (ph) from Cameroon is hoping for. He says he was a political prisoner and is now seeking asylum.
EFWIT JOHNSON (ph) PRISONER: They'll eventually kill me.
SANCHEZ: They'll kill you?
JOHNSON: Yes, because I run from the prison.
SANCHEZ: Johnson left the African nation of Cameroon on a freighter. But like most of these detainees, he arrived here by crossing the U.S.-Mexican border into Arizona. Arizona leads the nation in undocumented border crossings, which explains why no facility in the country ships out more people than this one.
But while they're here, they get three squares. In fact, they're fed the same food that U.S. soldiers eat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly before they leave, they can't fit into their street clothes because they put on some weight.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's kind of ironic.
SANCHEZ: A lot of calories.
They also get something most have never experienced -- medical and dental checkups.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first time they have talked to a medical provider in their entire life.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Never sat in a dentist chair?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never sat in a dentist chair...
SANCHEZ: Until they were detained in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): As a result of 9/11 and rising concerns over illegal immigrants, officials at Florence have a new motto for how they handle undocumented arrivals. It used to be, catch and release. Now, it's catch and return.
Rick Sanchez, CNN, Florence, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And April 22nd, New Orleans residents. I think that's what we're talking about. Yes, it is. OK, we'll find out why we have muse flick the picture in a moment. New Orleans residents near and far choosing a mayor. They may need the weeks ahead to study all the candidates and the chaos surrounding the vote.
For more on that, here's CNN's Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By now, most Americans have heard of Mayor Ray Nagin.
MYR. RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Hello there. How are you?
CHO: But what about James Ary (ph)?
Around New Orleans, he's known as...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The singing mayor.
CHO: The 38-year-old radio show host is one of 23 candidates vying for Nagin's job. Ary's platform, bringing back the arts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope to win, don't expect to.
CHO: Ary is running a bare-bones campaign. So is Mac Rahman, an immigrant from India who has lived in New Orleans for 32 years. Rahman owns a restaurant and feels the concerns of small business owners are being ignored. He also believes money past pollutes the political process.
MAC RAHMAN, NEW ORLEANS MAYORAL CANDIDATE: That's why I'm not spending any money.
CHO (on camera): But how do you get your word out then?
RAHMAN: I spent some money on my yard sign.
CHO (voice-over): Twenty-four-year-old candidate Nick Bacque gets his word out on the Internet.
NICK BACQUE, NEW ORLEANS MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Check it out, dude, Bacque.com.
CHO: The unlikely candidate is a medical student at Tulane, and president of all the graduate schools. His message, getting young professionals back to the Crescent City.
BACQUE: Assuming I don't win the mayoral race, I'll be returning to medical school in the fall.
CHO: Political pundits say only three candidates are serious contenders. Ron Forman, best known for bringing a world-class aquarium to New Orleans is well funded, and is building a coalition around business leaders.
RON FORMAN, NEW ORLEANS MAYORAL CANDIDATE: We need to dream a dream about a different New Orleans. What's the city going to look like? And its' got to be different New Orleans than the city we left behind.
CHO: Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu's biggest asset may be his name. His sister is U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. His father was the last white mayor of New Orleans back in the '70s. Landrieu says his base crosses racial lines.
MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Even though I happen to be -- my skin happens to be white, I've always enjoyed tremendous support in the African-American community and the white community.
CHO: Incumbent Ray Nagin has the best name recognition.
NAGIN: I think most of the candidates don't really understand the challenge of this job. It looks sexy, it's high profile, but there's significant challenges.
CHO: Like managing his image. Who could forget on Martin Luther King Day when Nagin said that New Orleans would be a Chocolate City again.
NAGIN: I'm kind of speaking to everyone, but as I speak to the white community, it has tended to offend the black community, and vice versa.
CHO: Nagin was elected in 2002 by an overwhelming majority of the white vote. It remains to be seen who voters will support this time.
Alina Cho, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: So that has to be someone's job, getting the vote out. It's a challenge in any election. How does New Orleans do it with residents scattered across the country? Joining me now Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ader. He's launched a voter road tour, so to speak. You must feel like a rock star on tour.
AL ATER, LOUISIANA SECY. OF STATE: We're just making an effort to make certain that every person that is legally registered and wants to participate in this race has the opportunity to. And trying to let them know that our legislature has passed some historic things to make this election very accessible.
KAGAN: Because there are people out there who think that it is not fair and the election shouldn't happen on April 22nd. They even took it to court. The court tossed out. What would you say to those who say that, especially African-American, seem disenfranchised, to pick the leader of this city?
ATER: Well, what we're doing is working very hard, as you've stated. We're not charge of making the laws, and we're not in charge of judging whether the laws are fair or anything else. We're charged in administering the election and seeing that it's run properly, and we're working very hard to do that. So I would say that every person has an opportunity to participate. We set up toll-free numbers, 1- 800-883, 2805, mailed out 737,000 information packets and doing everything possible including this tour of cities where we know we have large numbers of displaced voters to make certain that they know how to participate and to tell them not only do we -- can they participate, but we want them to participate.
KAGAN: I mean, the numbers are staggering here, the job that you have to do, 23 candidates, hundreds of thousands of voters spread over four, five, maybe six more states, all to elect a mayor.
ATER: But it's a very important thing. Democracy is a great thing. And this office and our state, I think, has done something that we should be extremely proud of. We're investing substantial amount of dollars to make certain that what I believe is a very sacred right, and that right to choose our leaders is done, and it's done properly. And I like to say we make sure that three things done. This election is accessible, it's accurate and it's accountable. And we're spending probably $3 million on what normally is a $400,000 race.
KAGAN: Interesting. So let's someone living here in Atlanta, how's it going to work? How do they vote?
ATER: There's three ways to cast a vote in the election. Obviously in person back there in New Orleans at your regular poling place.
KAGAN: That's so retro.
ATER: Well, that's the first way. Our state passed satellite voting. We put satellite voting all over the state during the week of early voting. The third way is by mail. And I'm encouraging people to utilize that option. It's safe, it's reliable, the ballot will be held secret. Some people expressed concerns...
KAGAN: Where do you get those ballots?
ATER: They request a ballot and tell us where they want to sent it. We mail it to them. They mail it back in. Special laws were passed to facilitate displaced residents. That's the reason I encourage them to call that toll-free number.
KAGAN: How do you -- did you have to be a registered voter before?
ATER: No, you could have registered after the hurricane, and several people have registered.
KAGAN: Well then, how do you know -- I'd like to vote in that. How do you check that?
ATER: Well, we have laws in our state that say you have to be a resident and you have to prove residency, and all that's in our state statutes. But a lot of people have turned 18 since they've been displaced and things of that nature, so they were first-time eligible voters. And not a lot have, but there's about 299,000 registered voters in Orleans. And a typical turnout is about 40 to 45 percent. So we're making every effort that we can to make certain that this election goes off good, that that city that very desperately needs to get on with its rebuilding process can choose its leaders, and those leaders can start the process of making it what it used to be. KAGAN: Do you expect with this large amount of candidates on April 23rd there will be a mayor? Or is that just a kind of little thing?
ATER: No, my guess is that there will be a runoff. The two highest vote-getters will then go to another election on May 20th, to where there will finally be an ultimate winner. But I expect it will be a great deal of interests. I have to tell you we've already received a record number of absentee-by-mail requests.
KAGAN: I'm not surprised.
ATER: We have a toll-free number that's receiving hundreds of calls a day.
KAGAN: Tell us what that is.
ATER: I-800-883-2805.
KAGAN: And what's the threshold? Do you have to get a simple majority, or...
ATER: In Louisiana, we have an open primary system, which means Democrats, Republicans, independents. All of them run at the same time, and someone has to get 50 percent-plus one. If not, the two top vote getters go to a runoff.
KAGAN: Got it. Very good. Secretary of State Al Ater, from Louisiana. Good luck.
ATER: Oh, we need it.
KAGAN: Congratulations on finishing this road tour here.
ATER: Thank you very much. We feel very good about it. We've got a good process in place. The legislature has provided us all the tools. And folks like y'all have you helped us an awful lot. We want to thank you. And I want to thank the metro area here in Atlanta. I know y'all beam out everyplace. But we're in Atlanta today.
KAGAN: We're all those places you've been as well.
ATER: Absolutely. And I thanked every one of them. Y'all have truly done a great job in helping our people and helping us get this message out so that democracy can work.
KAGAN: Good luck. You got an interesting couple months ahead of you.
ATER: Thank you very much.
KAGAN: Thank you, sir.
ATER: All right.
KAGAN: Good to see you. To find out more about the elections in New Orleans and how the city leaders plan to get out the vote, you can tune into "AMERICAN MORNING." That's Monday starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
And once again, we're standing by waiting to see in Mexico, President Bush is there, along with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. They're holding a news conference. We'll see that live here on CNN in just a moment. Right now, a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Lawyers for Duke's lacrosse team say that DNA tests will clear the players. The campus is under the glare of rape allegations against some players on the team. DNA test results on 46 men are due very soon. The case stems from an off-campus party two and a half weeks ago. An erotic dancer claims she was sexually assaulted at that party. The district attorney says he already believed the crime occurred. Defense attorneys accuse the prosecutor of creating a mob mentality. Nobody has been charged in the case.
A late update for you in a Capitol Hill lobby investigation. The Associated Press says a former top aide to Congressman Tom DeLay has agreed to plead guilty. AP quotes the top law enforcement official as saying that Tony Rudy will enter that plea in federal court today. Court papers link Rudy's wife to mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He is a central figure in the lobbying investigation and has admitted guilt. Rudy's guilty plea appears to bring the probe a step closer to Tom DeLay. Delay has denied any wrongdoing.
Ross Perot predicted this giant sucking sound. Did the North American Free Trade Agreement siphon jobs out of the U.S.? Supporters said that NAFTA would do just the opposite, even cut illegal immigration. Is NAFTA a disaster or a godsend?
CNN's Lisa Sylvester investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The three leaders reaffirm their country's commitment to NAFTA, the North America Free Trade Agreement, enacted 13 years ago. Since then, trade and investments have nearly tripled and factories have sprouted up in border towns.
Despite these signs of success, labor groups say NAFTA has been an utter disaster.
JAMES HOFFA, JR., PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS UNION: What we were told about NAFTA has been a complete lie. Basically, American corporations moved across the Rio Grande to export back into the United States.
SYLVESTER: The United States is now facing a $50 billion trade deficit with Mexico. The largest in history. The overall U.S. trade deficit is closing in on a record $800 billion, and the United States has lost nearly $3 million manufacturing jobs since NAFTA took effect.
Just look what happened to the auto industry.
The U.S. auto trade deficit surged from $3.6 billion in 1993 to $27.3 billion today. Ford, GM and Chrysler are shedding tens of thousands of jobs. And it's not just Detroit's big three. Auto part's makers like Delphi have gone bankrupt.
FRANK GAFFNEY, PRESIDENT, MICHIGAN AFL-CIO: What you're doing is you're trading good American jobs for not very good Mexican jobs. These jobs are not lifting the Mexican work into their middle class. They're continuing to exploit them.
It's a lose for the worker in America, and it's a lose for the worker in Mexico. The only people making out are the corporations and the stockholders.
SYLVESTER: The standard of living in Mexico is lower than it was in 1993. And the wage gap has widened. Mexico's rural areas and poor have been displaced by having to compete with multinational corporations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): (INAUDIBLE) abandon the countrysides perhaps because they don't support them.
JASON ACKLESON, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIV.: A small Mexican farmer who was used to selling his corn or rice to -- on the market, that individual has had a hard time competing now that rice or corn from the United States, for instance, is actually cheaper in Mexico.
SYLVESTER: That's fueled illegal immigration and the crisis that's now facing the United States.
(on camera): U.S. labor unions want President Bush to use the summit as an opportunity to renegotiate NAFTA, and Mexico's leading candidate in the presidential race also wants to get rid of the current form of the trade agreement because of the negative impact it has had on Mexico's poor.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Cancun, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And want to show you live pictures now from Cancun, Mexico. President Bush coming out, along with Mexican President Vicente Fox. Also the new prime minister of Canada. They've been holding a two-day summit talking about North American unity and issues like immigration and trade. The three wrapping up meetings with a fleet of major corporations, and now they are going to answer questions.
Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
STEPHEN HARPER, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): First of all, we believe that it is an engine of competitiveness made up of members of the private sector that will allow us to make our economies even more competitive.
Our ministers will be working on this. They will be identifying our priorities. And they will make sure that they are followed up.
We will be cooperating on issues of importance, on border security, management of urgent situations, as well as energy security. We will prepare a coordinated and exhaustive way to approach the issues of the bird flu. And we will be guided by common principles.
Over the course of the next few months, we will be doing everything possible to ensure the security along our borders and to be able to move our merchandise back and forth. We will be working in the area of energy, the area of research and innovation, to be able to deal with clean technologies.
We are happy with the discussions of our trade ministers on cooperation and of the negotiation of our countries. And we encourage them to follow up this work.
These talks were productive, and I am, of course, very pleased that President Bush and President Fox have accepted my invitation to have the next leaders' meeting in Canada in 2007.
Thank you.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. President, thank you for your hospitality. It's a really good choice to pick Cancun to meet. My press corps will tell you they're looking forward to staying by the pool after I leave.
It's a beautiful part of the country.
I want to thank you for your friendship, as well. Been a joy discussing very important issues with you over the course of my presidency. And this is probably one of the most productive meetings we've had.
Also been a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister Harper in his official capacity as the prime minister of Canada. I find him to be a very open, straightforward fella. If he's got a problem, he's willing to express it in a way that's clear for all to understand. And that's the way I like to deal with people.
We've got big goals for this very important relationship. One goal is prosperity. You can't achieve a standard of living increase for your people unless you have a prosperous neighborhood. And it's this prosperity that has been much of the focus on NAFTA.
And one of my vows -- and I know the other leaders share this goal -- is to make sure that people are able to connect the NAFTA relationship with an improvement of their own quality of life.
I know there's deep concern about social justice throughout the neighborhood. And social justice can be achieved more likely if people are able to realize their dreams and if there is a prosperity society. And prosperity has been increased as a result of the trade between our nations.
And we want to make sure that trade continues in a way that's fair and free, but also in a way that enables our countries to be able to compete with the great challenges we face.
And we face prosperity challenges from abroad like never before: the challenge of a growing Chinese economy or the challenge of an Indian economy. And my attitude we shouldn't fear these challenges, we ought to welcome them, and position ourselves so that we can compete.
And I think the leaders share that sense of unity when it comes to being a competitive part of the world in the future.
We talked about security. Look, we've got long borders. And we've got to make sure we work hard to secure the borders.
We also have got to make sure we have got smart borders. And so the whole vision of our borders has got to be to enhance trade and tourism, but to prevent smugglers and terrorists and dope runners from polluting our countries.
And I'm confident, with the use of technology and a close collaboration, we'll be able to achieve those objectives.
I want to thank the CEOs and the business leaders from the three countries who are here. I thought we had a very constructive discussion about ways to make sure that there's harmonization between our industries so that the people benefit. And they brought some really good ideas.
We talked about, of course, bird flu, avian flu and the need to be prepared in case there is an outbreak.
You know, we spent a lot of time in my own country preparing for an avian flu outbreak; strategizing as to how to coordinate efforts between the federal, state and local governments; working to wisely spend money to come up with, hopefully, a vaccine that would then be available for sharing around the world.
And I do want to thank Canada for having taken the lead early in this issue and preparing the world for what is possible so that there's good information-sharing if the bird flu were, you know, to break out in Southeast Asia, for example.
But my point is: It's very important for us to share information and data and strategies amongst our three countries so that, if this were to happen, there is a focused, coordinated, intelligent response.
We talked about energy. My view of the energy initiative is that we've got to be wise about the resources we have and be smart about the investment for research and development so we can change our energy habits.
I mean, the truth of the matter is that we'll all be better off if we use alternative sources of energy, like ethanol, or explore how to use hybrid batteries in a better way.
I mean, there's some really interesting things coming down the pike. And I look forward to not only leading my own nation to spend money to be on the leading edge of technological change when it comes to energy, but also sharing those technologies and ideas with our counterparts.
Because we want to make sure that we've got national security concerns addressed when it comes to energy. We also want to be good stewards of the environment. And we can do both by the use of proper technologies.
It's been a good meeting. I want to thank you for your leadership. I like coming to meetings where people put things on the table and we try to come up with solutions.
And this has been such a meeting, Mr. President. Good job.
VICENTE FOX, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you. Thank you so much.
Undoubtedly these two days have brought about spaces for a meeting of both friends and partners. And undoubtedly we have made a very good use of time. The visit to Chichen-Itza was excellent, as well as yesterday evening's dinner, in a relaxed atmosphere, but likewise creating this association and making a very productive association.
Equally important were the different working meetings. We took advantage of time. We were not working isolated. We touched upon fundamental items in that meeting.
First of all, we carried out an evaluation meeting. Then we got information about the development of programs. And then we gave the necessary instructions for the work that should be carried out in the next period of work.
This is a most important thing, and this association has become a dynamic and professional process, a constructive process, a short-term action process, and great vision and perspective at a long term.
Consequently, we have concluded that institutionalizing all these mechanisms is of utmost importance, so that they will have continuity, so that there will be a follow-up, a necessary follow-up, so that they will be fruitful both at a short, middle and long term.
So we have established the next meeting. The prime minister of Canada has suggested and has invited us to Canada.
Next June we shall have, let's say, an information, evaluation and results study of the work of this association, this security and prosperity partnership. And we have carried out a series of actions that should be integrated in this report.
First of all, I would like to make clear what has been the results of 12 years of joint work in the free trade agreement, NAFTA. The three nations are fully satisfied of what we have been able to achieve. We have seen the fruits of work through this (INAUDIBLE) of cooperation, trade and investment.
Nonetheless, we're not truly satisfied. We have to give the steps forward. We have many an opportunity and many a challenge.
I want to mention two figures in reference to the results of NAFTA.
Mexico has a commercial balance trade of $535 billion. That is seventh in size throughout the world. And these would be a direct product of both trade and investment that has been carried out amongst the three partner countries.
And then we should point out that every single day our border states with the United States have per capita income to December as of last year that go beyond to $10,000, the per capita of the average income has to do with $7,500, the highest in Latin America.
Nonetheless, border-line states are above $10,000 per capita income, and some of them have a per capita rate of $10,000.
We're not talking about small numbers -- small figures. We're talking about a concrete result of the efforts in work through trade. It is achieved through investment, and likewise it is achieved through joint work -- everybody's work. Behind all this there's nothing else but work, work and work.
Now, I would like to mention a couple of items and the goals.
First, strengthen and maintain growing the free trade agreement. First of all, benefits are evident, but before the new reality of the 21st century, we have decided to give steps forward and strengthen the relationship.
Now, we have the alliance both for security and prosperity; one item as important as the other. Shared responsibility, an important element; one as important as the other. And that is what the three countries think.
We started with a constitution of the North American Competitiveness Council so as to consider public and private policies, face a challenge of our region.
We want to institutionalize our mechanisms as a clear project for the next month of June.
It would imply mechanisms by means of which we will give the necessary importance and long-term action -- something constant -- and continuity will be achieved as well. That has been fruitful and that can give very good results for our region.
We are not renegotiating what has been successful or open the free-trade agreement. It's going beyond the agreement, both for prosperity and security. Summarizing, we have to increase competitiveness of our economies, of our companies, our enterprises, our structure, and, likewise, our technological and educational levels so as to face competition of other blocs in the world.
We have to homogenize the normativities, standards, so as to have common standards to facilitate jobs and productivity. We have to make borders much more modern with technology so as to guarantee security, but the good flow of commodities and products.
We have invested a good amount of time to logistics, efficiency and efficacy in customs, topics that have to do with sharing these efficiencies.
We are totally aware that we require infrastructure studies in the border-line areas so as to analyze needs to facilitate both trade and passage of people and goods.
This is fundamental. Security is a fundamental priority to development. It is a problem and a challenge shared by the three countries.
Migration can only be solved in that we agree upon, under the framework of a legislation that will guarantee legal orders, safe and respectful migration, respecting the rights of people.
We have spoken about the collaboration of the three countries to support development and generation of opportunities for Central American countries and the Caribbean-area countries. We have seen an excellent level of relationship, and these are giving steps forward that are better and better.
We have more points of coincidence amongst the three countries.
I would like to thank the attendants, the presence, in this beautiful port of Cancun, in this area of the Riviera Maya. You can see it is dynamic, a beautiful place, as it always has been. We receive millions of tourists every single year, people that come over and we're proud to receive.
We want to thank President Bush, we want to thank Prime Minister Harper. My acknowledgement, my thanks and my commitment we shall be working together, no doubt about it, to give steps forward in the field of prosperity and security.
May you have a happy return back home. Thank you.
For the question-and-answer period, we have two questions for the journalists of each country.
QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Good morning, Presidents and Prime Minister.
President Fox, what are the concrete measures that Mexico is implementing to guarantee this indispensable security so as to have a legal, safe and ordered migration? For President Bush and Prime Minister Harper, do you consider that there should be a continuity on the economic policy in Mexico before the change of president in our country?
Last but not least, how can the partners of NAFTA be competitive before the Asian countries, if there's so many differences that are leading us to talk about security, then productivity? And what are the unilateral decisions on migration matters?
FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): On security, many actions have been implemented. Many actions have to do with close cooperation with the security authorities with the United States; this effort headed by the representative of homeland security, Mr. Chertoff, and minister of the interior here in Mexico, Mr. Abascal, and the cooperation based upon mutual trust, co-responsibility on what has to do with security in the borders.
Likewise, we're doing our own work in cases of homicides and crimes amongst the different mafias, the drug cartels. We shall continue working on this. There's a presence of federal forces in the main points in the border, and then a great commitment to win the battle against organized crime and drug trafficking, particularly in the city of Nueva Laredo (ph).
We have programs such as OASISS Project, so as to attack the people that are trafficking with people, with migrants. And, fortunately, there are more than 120 in jail. And then we have a permanent program, 24 hours a day, so as to achieve this.
We are working in the inner part and in the southern part of the country to stop migration flows that come from Central America that are crossing illegally the southern border of Mexico. And with all due respect to the dignity of these people, respecting their human rights, they are stopped, they remain on temporary basis in the stations. We offer them services with dignity. And then we send them back to their communities of origin: 240,000 people, people that were detained, and then they were sent back to Central America.
We are working jointly with the Central American governments. We have spoken about the fact that the position of Mexico is not only assuming our responsibilities migration-wise, but we have a firm commitment of generating jobs and employment.
We're working jointly with Central America so as to achieve this, so each country will absorb our commitment and a total commitment generating opportunities within our own country.
And so, this program, like the energy initiative for Central America, is one that has the purpose of bringing development and growth to the Central American economies.
Thus, we're working on a broad spectrum on the issue of security in all of its facets.
BUSH: You can't be prosperous if you don't have security. I mean, if people are concerned that, for example, the towns along the border aren't secure, it's going to be difficult to keep prosperity alive.
And so I appreciate the president's commitment to security along our border. And we share the same commitment.
It's very important to enforce laws. A robust economy depends upon the rule of law. And therefore, when countries enforce law, it, kind of, creates the conditions for continued economic growth.
You know, when you have robust trade, like we have, there are issues that come up. One way to look at it is if we had no trade, there'd be no issues. And the more issues there are, and the more opportunities there are to discuss them, the likelier it is these economies will continue to grow.
And so, I don't worry about having to deal with problems. As a matter of fact, I view the problems that have arisen as a result of complex and active trade as positive.
And the fundamental question is, can we resolve these issues in a responsible way? And one of the reasons we meet is to put ourselves in the position to do so.
You mentioned something about the elections. I'm not going to talk about them. The only thing I am going to talk about is I love to have a strong, vibrant democracy on our southern border.
And I want to thank the president for his strong leadership and his recognition that democracy is a very important legacy of his administration and the previous administration; that we certainly hope there will be a peaceful transition of power. And I'm confident there will be one.
HARPER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Obviously, I don't want to get into the issue of Mexican politics, but I can say the same thing that I said yesterday with regard to the leadership of President Fox.
We've had both bilateral and multilateral relationships progressively growing without precedent. I trust that the president is going to leave a stronger economy that is shared, a firm democracy, respect for human rights and faithfulness to the most important principles for our shared progress for the security and prosperity partnership for North America and all the good results that come from a free market economy.
All of these things lead to more progress, which we hold the next president will be able to build upon, which will benefit all of our countries.
QUESTION: Mr. President, would you veto an immigration bill that did not include a guest worker program? And how do you counter the angry argument from conservatives on Capitol Hill who are saying that your demand for one could hurt the Republican Party this fall?
BUSH: The migration issue has been a topic of discussion here, as you can imagine. I told the president exactly what I told our country: that, one, I expect the debate to bring dignity to America, in recognition that America is a land of immigrants and people ought to be treated with respect and this debate ought to be a debate that does not pit neighbor against neighbor; that focuses on three elements.
One is that we are a nation of laws and, therefore, must enforce our laws. And that includes enforcing the laws of people coming into our country illegally.
President Fox and I discussed this issue at length. I don't know if people recognize, but his government -- all aspects of the Mexican government came together to send a clear message to the American people. The Mexican government understands it has a responsibility, as well, to protect the border. It is a nation of law.
You heard the president talk about not only enforcing the northern border but also the southern border.
I also have said to the American people that we must enforce our laws in the interior of the country. Employers must be held to account if they're employing the people in our country illegally.
However, part of the problem that complicates the lives of our many employers who are providing employment for people who are here legally is that there has been a lot of document forgery. There's an industry that has sprung up.
And part of that industry is to provide forged documents so that our employers don't know whether a person is in our country legally or not.
I also believe strongly that an important part of securing the border and enforcing our laws is to recognize there are people in our country doing work that Americans will not do, and those people ought to be given a chance to have a tamper-proof card that enables them to work in our country legally for a period of time.
That's called a guest worker program.
One of the important issues about a guest worker program is what does that mean for someone's desire to become a citizen of our country?
I believe that if someone has been here in our country illegally, they should not get at the head of the line if they want to become a citizen. In other words, we have a line of people waiting, people who were in our country legally, waiting to become a citizen. And people who have been in our country illegally should not get ahead of the line who are there legally.
A nation of laws can also be a welcoming nation. And I believe a guest worker program will help us rid the society on the border of these coyotes who smuggle people in the back of 18-wheelers. I believe it'll help get rid of the document forgers. I believe it'll help people on both sides of our border respect the laws of our border and enforce our borders.
I believe it is important to bring people out of the shadows of American society, so they don't have to fear the life they live. I believe it's important for our nation to uphold human rights and human dignity.
And the plan I've just proposed is one that'll do all that and achieve important objectives.
And I'm looking forward to working with the Congress. I told the president we're making progress. You know, there's a legislative process. It's -- some guy, some wag one time quipped it's like watching people make sausage; looks kind of -- probably appears a little unpleasant from your perspective.
But we're making progress. And I want a comprehensive bill. And I've made that very clear to the members of the Congress. And I will continue making it clear to members of Congress.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BUSH: So no answer. I said I want a comprehensive bill. You're presuming there won't be a comprehensive bill. I believe there will be a comprehensive bill.
QUESTION: Mr. President, can you explain to Canadians...
BUSH: Which one?
QUESTION: That would be you, Mr. Bush.
BUSH: Me?
QUESTION: Could you explain to Canadians why they'll need to have a passport or an unspecified secure document before they cross over into the United States? And what would the impact be on both of our countries economically if Canada doesn't follow through by the deadline of the end of next year?
BUSH: I appreciate your bringing up this issue. This is an issue, obviously, that affects not only border crossings with Canada, it also affects border crossings with Mexico.
Congress passed a law and I intend to enforce the law. But the law said there ought to be a passport or passport-like document that I believe, if properly implemented, will facilitate travel and facilitate trade, not hinder travel and trade.
And the reason I believe that is I think we can be wise about the use of technologies to -- I mean, envision a card that can be swiped across a reading device that facilitates the movement of people.
Look, I understand this issue has created consternation. Your prime minister made it very clear to me that he's very worried that such an implementation of the law on the books will make it less likely people will want to travel between our countries. I've heard from business leaders who are concerned about the bookings for conventions.
And so what I've told the prime minister, and told President Fox as well, is that we have an obligation to work very closely with our counterparts to provide a set of standards as to what will meet the obligations of the law.
Again, I repeat to you, I believe this can be done in such a way that it makes future travel, future relations stronger, not weaker.
HARPER: Maybe I could just add to that.
Obviously, we are concerned. I expressed those concerns to President Bush and I know they've been expressed by Canadian business leaders as well.
The president is confronted with legislation passed by Congress and has a responsibility to act upon that legislation. And we understand that, we understand the security concerns that are behind that.
At the same time, we're obviously concerned that if we don't move quickly and properly on this, that this could have effects on trade and movement of people, conventions, you name it, that is not helpful to our economy or to our relationship.
So we've agreed that Minister Day and Secretary Chertoff will meet as soon as possible to make this their top priority.
QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Mr. President Fox, two questions. The first is our Senate, last night, passed a law and I'd like to know what you're going to do. Will you veto that law or will you leave the legislative packet to the next president of our country?
And second you have spoken and you warned us Mexicans against populism and the demagogues who exist in presidential campaigns, and that we are going through a very difficult stage.
I'd like to ask, if you already forgot the populist language that you used in your own presidential campaign when you even talked about lipokatas (ph) and thing like that, what about talking about democracy using a populist language in the past, but now you are against candidates doing that?
FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): In reference to the first item, the ministry of the interior will inform, on behalf of the federal government, our position.
And I celebrate. I'm glad that both the Congress, the lower chamber and the upper chamber, have exercised their autonomy, their freedom. They have discussed and approved one more of the many laws that have been approved in our country in these last five years of democratic and respectful government -- the autonomous and the independence and the other two powers.
As never before, we have lived this reality that's has been positive, fruitful in reference to the application of autonomy and constitutional freedom that all the other powers have.
Now, in reference to the second item, I can only say -- and I will say it very clearly -- from the 2nd of July, and since the 2nd of July of the year 2000, there has been absolute freedom. And that is of utmost importance for all of us.
Every single person should express according to its own decision and convenience, by all means respecting the rights of third parties.
But above all this, we have the freedom of both Mexican ladies and gentlemen that work in the mass media, press, newspapers, journals, TV. We have now a freedom that we never had in the past. Every single citizen in our country nowadays exercises this freedom openly. This is one of the great fruits and results of democracy won in the 2 of July of the year 2000.
QUESTION: President Bush, Secretary of State Rice is finding common ground with the British today on the view that the next step against Iran could be sanctions.
Do you agree that's the way to go if Iran fails to comply with the Security Council's 30-day deadline on its nuclear program?
BUSH: First, I do want to offer my country's assistance to the people affected by the recent earthquakes in Iran. We, obviously, have our differences with the Iranian government, but we do care about the suffering of Iranian people.
There is common agreement that the Iranians should not have a nuclear weapon, the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon.
And the reason there's common agreement is because the Iranian government with such a weapon, as it's now constituted, would pose a serious threat to world security.
Condoleezza Rice is in Europe today to discuss with the P- 5, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany a strategy to go forward in a unified way that says to the Iranian government, "The world rejects your desires to have a nuclear weapon."
Condi is strategizing with those who will be making the U.N. Security Council decisions as to that united front. In other words, we agree on a goal. Now the question is how do we work together to achieve that goal.
And you're watching Secretary of State Rice work with our friends to remind the Iranians on a regular and consistent basis that if they want to participate in the international order of things, if they don't want to isolate themselves, they must listen very carefully to what we are saying with a unified voice.
QUESTION: My question is to President Fox, and I wonder if we could prevail upon you, sir, to answer it in English.
A few weeks ago, there as a very bloody murder here with the Ianiero family in Cancun. Two young Canadian mothers are very concerned back in Canada that Mexican authorities have mistakenly made them suspects. And there's concerns, also in Canada, the Mexicans may have bungled this investigation.
Can you tell us where this investigation is going? And can you assure those two young women that indeed they are not suspects?
FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, we are absolutely sorry, and we have our, well, feelings, that a crime has been carried out here in a hotel in Cancun. The attorneyship (ph) office is working, both the federal one and the local one, they're working on the only information we have at hand.
We're working closely. We're reporting -- the government and the authorities of Canada. Investigation is being carried out. So far we cannot make any further comments.
Thank you.
HARPER: (OFF-MIKE) say that we do appreciate the full cooperation of the Mexican government, Mexican police at all levels. There have been consultations with our officials. And I've spoken to the RCMP and they assure me that that has been the case, particularly since the commitments made by Secretary Derbez in Ottawa.
So we are working together on this. We're fully apprised of the situation.
I can just add one small thing, which is that we're told once again -- and I think we've been saying this repeatedly for some time -- there is no extradition demand pending, nor is there one anticipated in the near future.
And that's probably about all I can say.
FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
KAGAN: We've been listening in as the presidents of the United States and Mexico and the prime minister of Canada hold a news conference for reporters as they wrap up their two-day summit in Cancun, Mexico.
We have a lot more news ahead. We're going to join CNN International in their full news coverage in just a moment.
Right now, a quick break. I'm Daryn Kagan.
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