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CNN Student News

Aired February 27, 2002 - 04:30   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching "CNN STUDENT NEWS" seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.

SUSAN FREIDMAN, CO-HOST: Here with your "Headlines," we are "CNN STUDENT NEWS". Topping our agenda, the latest in the investigation of the slaying of journalist Daniel Pearl. Later, meet screen star and Trumpet Award honoree Sidney Poitier and get a taste of neo-soul in our business report.

Welcome to "CNN STUDENT NEWS". I'm Susan Freidman.

The investigation into the death of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl moves forward. Discussions about whether to extradite the key suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh are underway at the highest levels in Pakistan. Saeed Sheikh was arrested in Pakistan two weeks ago on separate kidnapping charges. In a Pakistani court Tuesday, a witness said Saeed Sheik passed himself off as a go-between with the head of a fundamentalist group that Pearl was trying to interview. Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan last month and later killed.

The slain reporter was a graduate of Stanford University in California. A memorial was held there for him Monday night. Hundreds of former classmates and teachers showed up.

Pearl's widow, Mariane, talked for the first time Tuesday about her husband's killing in an interview with CNN's Chris Burns. Mariane, who is seven months pregnant with the couple's first child, says Daniel's spirit and conviction will live on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mariane, thank you for joining us. You came to Pakistan in peace. You came here seeking the truth with your husband. You leave Pakistan as a widow after your husband was brutally murdered.

What message would you have to the people of Pakistan?

MARIANE PEARL, WIDOW: Well, first of all I would tell them that my feelings and my affection for this country have not changed because of what happened here. On the contrary, people -- the people have shown tremendous support to me. They have shared my sorrow. I know they feel bad, ashamed, sad about what happened.

Also, the people who have been actually around me during this ordeal and this terrible time have -- investigators, basically, have been people of heart and of tremendous professionalism, with very, very limited resources; very limited resources. They have shown unlimited amount of courage, of commitment -- indeed (ph), to our commitment as well to try and find Danny.

That has meant a lot to me. And I know that the people of Danny's family and Danny's friends have not shared that. And it's even harder in a way for them because, having been surrounded by such human quality, regardless of whether they are Pakistani or some other nationality, but just human, you know, they were shook as much as I was. Maybe not as much. But, I mean, they really shared my suffering. And it meant a lot.

So I really want to tell them that, and thank them for that, all of them, all of the investigators as well as the anonymous people who have shown their support.

And I also want to tell them to find the people who have killed Danny.

BURNS: And how much hope do you have that they will?

PEARL: Well, honestly that depends, I think, a lot on how the world responds to it. I was mentioning the lack of resources. As it happens, Karachi is at the front line of the battle that it's leading, and it is fighting on behalf of the rest of the world. Because this is -- this happens to be at the front line for a lot of reasons.

There are immediate political and historical reasons. Yes, Pakistan has supported the Taliban before. Yes, there's been the war in Afghanistan. All of these people -- you know, Pakistan is also the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the second front, right. So that's a reality.

There's also deeper reasons that we all know, but more or less vaguely, right. Lack of education is a major one -- absolutely major one. Lack of resources, lack of hope, lack of scope for the people.

I don't think that anymore we can consider that that's the problem of Pakistan alone. It's not anymore. Danny was killed. And only this month 10 other people were killed by terrorists, and they were all Pakistani. So they're suffering as much as we are, right.

BURNS: So you see that -- the death of your husband as being a symptom of wider problems, deeper problems in the country?

PEARL: No, no; I see it as being like an alarm for everybody. It means that if people in the world do not realize that they're not immune against this anymore, then nothing will -- we will never fight this war. This is a vast, international, dangerous network of people. So if we consider it as being a problem in Pakistan, I mean, this is completely wrong.

So I think now it is high time that people in the world -- I'm talking about the United States. I'm also talking about Europe and other parts of the world. Governments should take even more responsibility in fighting against terrorism, but also people. At community level, at individual level, ask themselves questions like what do I know about my country's foreign policy? Is my country fighting terrorism? Am I making efforts to promote dialogue? Am I, you know, am I committed?

BURNS: Which is what you've been asking throughout. You've been asking for more dialogue.

PEARL: Exactly.

BURNS: You've addressed the Pakistanis who have been supportive of you. How do you address the Pakistanis who have sympathies for militant groups as those who killed your husband?

PEARL: I really don't -- I mean, if you talk in terms of Pakistan itself, it's a very minor group; it's a very small group. It is not a group like -- you know, everyone says that so much. It is not a group of only extremist Pakistani, it is a vast and international network of terrorists.

You know, wherever there's misery, they'll find people. And there's misery, you know, in large parts of the world.

BURNS: There's compassion across the world for the ordeal you went through, for the pain, for the grief. There is also -- there are also people who have sympathies for militant groups and that is, as you've talked about, how there is support in some ways for some of these groups around the world, groups that take advantage of situations, of poverty and so forth.

How do you address both groups of people, those who empathize with you and sympathize with you and those who sympathize with those militants around the world?

PEARL: Well, I'll tell you what. Danny, he's, now we're going to have like, you know, memorial services all over the world for him. There are going to be, you know, cosmopolitan and they're going to celebrate someone, as you say, who seeks the truth, you know, who had courage.

This in itself says a lot, you know? The goal of terrorism is to input terror in people. If we -- I know, and that's like a personal thing I share with you, but it's personal conviction, you know, and that's why I'm sitting here with you is I know Danny has not been defeated by the people who killed him.

His spirit, his faith, his conviction have not been defeated, you know. And I'm extremely proud of him, you know.

The only thing -- I don't even want to address the people who support -- you know, I mean, whatever. What I'm saying is that if people do not let terror, you know, get in their heart and they react and they realize the real nature of the terrorism, then they will be defeated. I don't have a political message for them, you know. The message I have is -- for the people -- is just, do like Danny. Just don't be defeated by them.

BURNS: And try to address the underlying problems that bring about these kinds of groups?

PEARL: Exactly. Ask yourselves a question.

BURNS: Mariane vous estes Francaise. You're French, your husband was from California. You're seven months pregnant now. Where do you go from here? What will you do?

PEARL: Well, as I said I will, you know, first thing, hold this memorial. I will carry on this message, because I think Danny and I are very much alike. We have the same kind of conviction. As I say, we are not defeated. And so I will, you know, make sure that his pain and my pain will help, you know, change the world in that sense, you know, at our level.

BURNS: Concretely, what do you mean? Where will you do that? How will you do that?

PEARL: I think, you know, again the key word is "dialogue," you know. So I can share my experience, I do like when, you know, inviting other people to do. What am I doing? What do I know? How can I help? So I do that at my own level. And of course I will also, as you say, I'm seven months pregnant; and I will give life, give birth to Danny's son -- just go on.

BURNS: And what will you tell your son?

PEARL: About?

BURNS: About what happened to your husband?

PEARL: Well, that depends on, you know, how people -- no, it depends on how people react to that. You know, if I can talk to my son, you know, yes, he was brutally and cowardly murdered, but the ultimate objective of these people never reached his goal thanks to him, you know, what he passed on to me and what he passed on to other people, and hopefully other people to other people. Danny's a hero.

BURNS: Thank you Mariane.

PEARL: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: Another day in Washington and that meant another day of Enron hearings. Yesterday, it was the Senate Commerce subcommittee's turn to question executives and former executives about the company's downfall. Most of the questioning focused on Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of Enron. Mr. Skilling made it clear to the committee he did now know and did not believe his company was ever in peril. Skilling accused lawmakers of grandstanding and wasting the public's time as they chastised him for claiming to know little about the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Afghanistan's interim government leader Hamid Karzai wraps up a three-day visit to Iran on a positive note. He left Tuesday with the assurance that U.S.-Iranian differences would not affect either nation's contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction. Some U.S. officials have expressed concern that Afghanistan is being threatened by interference from Iran. But in the Afghan city Herat, Iran's influence seems to be nothing more than neighborly.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the traffic lights that catch the eye first in Heart, then the fact that the traffic obeys them. On these wide, clean and apparently law-abiding streets, one can be forgiven for thinking you'd left Afghanistan.

Inside the city's public hospital, reality returns. Shortages of almost all medical necessities are clear, but clear too is that something about this city is different from other provincial capitals.

DR. MOHAMMAD OMAR SAMIM, HOSPITAL DIRECTOR (through translator): We are working together with the government. That's why we're getting paid on time and so we don't have any problems.

ROBERTSON: The government here is personified in the governor, Ismail Khan, former Taliban prisoner, former governor, former mujahedeen commander or warlord, now restored to his position of leadership to which none here openly challenge.

KHAN (through translator): All the government offices are working well together. So that's why we have peace in the city and people are calm.

ROBERTSON: In the downtown markets, he appears to be viewed favorably.

"Ismail Khan is a good ruler and a good governor," according to this student. Indeed, following the Taliban, Khan has made a huge hit among women, vowing to help with their problems.

DR. SOHIALLA ARAB, PUBLIC HOSPITAL: He is very caring and free man. He wants to -- the woman staff the facility, start the schools.

ROBERTSON: Proximity to Iran and Turkmenistan means lucrative customs duties on these busy trade routes. The taxes have eased the financial concerns, and kept the city solvent.

Khan's problem isn't money, it's image. Outside the region, he is viewed as a warlord, supported by Iran. Just outside Herat, the 75 miles of road now under construction to the Iranian border by an Iranian contractor helps cement the image of close ties with the neighbor. Adjacent to the new highway and close to the city, is a military camp used by troops loyal to Khan. Dissatisfied soldiers say Iranians are regular visitors there and claim they have been receiving weapons from Iran. This soldier lifts rockets, kalashnikovs, and ammunition. He says it's come from Iran. Although, he adds later, there have been no shipments in the last month.

Western observers in the city say they have seen no Iranian military activity. For his part, Khan has been denying receiving military aid from Iran.

KHAN (through translator): We have no need of any arms. All hope from anybody, and there is no war in our country. Besides, we have a lot of weapons left from the last 23 years of war here.

ROBERTSON (on-camera): From hairstyles to clothes, to products in the stores, there's no doubting Iranian influence here. That's no surprise say residents and city officials, given their proximity and historic ties with their neighbor. Khan blames the Taliban for starting rumors that his relationship with Iran is anything other than neighborly.

(voice-over): Despite stability and good neighborly relations, trade at this car dealership has been slow since the Taliban left town, a product of internal Afghan problems, not access to outside markets, according to this car dealer.

"People are not coming from the old Taliban stronghold provinces," Doud (ph) explains. "They are worried about Ismail Khan"

Last month, Kandahar's governor threatened to send troops to Herat. In the end, a delegation came, appealing to Khan to release relatives from jail. Khan regards many as Taliban and most are still behind bars.

The affair strengthened Khan's image here, but hints regional tensions are just below the surface.

HAMID GILANI, PASHTUN LEADER: He thinks Herat is just belonged to him, but Herat is belonged to Afghanistan, not to a person. It's belonged to a country and we should look for that.

ROBERTSON: There is no talk of military expansion here. In fact, Khan boasts of being ahead of other regions in helping prepare for a national Army. He says everyone should be happy with what he is achieving.

KHAN: Washington wants to make peace and stability in our country. They are supporting the new government. So they must be happy about the situation in Herat because in Herat, the peace and stability is better than any other area.

ROBERTSON: For now, most in this ancient city seem willing to give Khan the benefit of the doubt, that he is acting in theirs and the nation's best interests.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is "CNN STUDENT NEWS" "Perspectives."

FREIDMAN: The Trumpet Awards honor people from all walks of life and various fields of endeavor. Today's featured recipient is a pioneer who brought people of color to the forefront in the world of film. His name is Sidney Poitier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNEY POITIER, TRUMPET AWARD HONOREE: My introduction to racism was withheld until later in my years, somewhere around 10 1/2 or 11. Well that's an awful long time to be alive in a world and not become either victimized by, influenced by the energies of race.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the simple life on Cat Island to the bustling streets of Nassau, Sidney continued to see positive images.

POITIER: So it was a place where I saw black policemen. I was chased by a lot of them, too. So that if I chose at that early age to latch on to someone as a role model, there were teachers and there were successful businessmen, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

JAMES EARL JONES, ACTOR: He was raised in the Caribbean. And when he confronted the side that I knew as a Mississippi boy, he came to it with some context, his, not the societies.

POITIER: When I first faced racism, I had to say oh no, you've got it wrong. That's not the kind of person I am. My mother is not like that. My dad's not like that. My brothers and sisters are not like -- the people I grew up with are not like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While looking for a job, an ad caught his attention.

POITIER: Well I figured, well, I've tried dishwashing and I was a porter and I was a janitor, maybe I'll try this. So when I got to the American Negro Theater in to New York, I could barely read. I could read but I wasn't quick at it. I didn't know very many words. My vocabulary was a very limited one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The director's reaction was immediate.

POITIER: He says you can't even talk. He said -- he said why don't you go out and get yourself a job as a dishwasher or something. Opened the door, threw me out. So I decided before I got to the bus stop that I was going to become an actor, but I -- it was to show him that he was wrong in that prognostication of me.

I had noticed that they did not have a janitor at the American Negro Theater. So I got the idea to go and ask them if in exchange for the janitor work, would they let me take lessons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thus began a career that spans five decades and includes 54 movies to date.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are things that Sidney Poitier accomplished on the screen that were historical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Poitier became Hollywood's first black movie star. He was ranked the No. 1 star in the country, black or white. In 1963, Poitier won the Academy Award for best actor, another first.

JONES: The moment Sidney won the Academy Award meant for the whole world that he had established a height to which actors could go, should go and should achieve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In real life, he is an actor, director, Knight of the British Empire (ph), ambassador to Japan, a husband, father, grandfather, author and citizen of the world who continues to define himself not by limitation but by possibilities.

POITIER: It was not my intent to be a role model. I don't for a moment downplay its importance. I couldn't see myself as a worthy person unless I carried myself as a worthy person would.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Virgil, you take care, you hear.

POITIER: Yeah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: From moviemakers to music makers. Tonight, fans everywhere will be tuned into the Grammy Awards as singers and songwriters vie for the industry's top honors. After all, music is big business.

So what happens when you mix that moneymaker with another? Just ask the folks at Coca-Cola, because as Daryn Kagan explains, they set out to find what a little soul music can do for sales.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The authentic sounds of neo-classic soul have emerged from underground straight into the heart of American popular culture. Coca-Cola, a pop culture icon if there ever was one, is producing a series of commercials featuring neo-classic soul artists. But what is neo-classic soul? It's an organic fusion of jazz, hip hop and soul. Young people love it and that's why Coke likes it too.

CARALENE ROBINSON, COCA-COLA: We looked at a lot of passions among kids today with music, film, fashion, and we identified neo- classic soul as one of the best fits for brand Coke.

KAGAN: Coca-Cola has turned to the pioneers of the classic sound of neo-soul for a three-part commercial series aimed at changing the image of the world's most popular soft drink.

ROBINSON: One of the things that we wanted to do was have consumers think about Coke in a very new and different way.

KAGAN: The Roots family are the original ambassadors of this organic hip hop jazz sound. Other neo-classic soul artists featured in the Coke commercial include Jaguar, a newcomer to the neo scene, and celebrated choreographer Fatima.

FATIMA, CHOREOGRAPHER: When Coca-Cola approached me about doing this and they said you know we're going for the whole neo-soul vib, I just went that is right down my alley.

KAGAN: Critically acclaimed director Frances Lawrence is best known for directing videos for Janet Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys. He's set to direct this new ad series.

FRANCES LAWRENCE, DIRECTOR: I like to create, you know, work with tone, work with community, work with youth to really just sort of create a world that Coke belongs in.

KAGAN: The Roots, Jaguar and Fatima are the first to be featured in the neo-soul ad series. They will establish the tone of Coke's new image.

Daryn Kagan, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREIDMAN: As you know, February is Black History Month, and here on "CNN STUDENT NEWS" we've been celebrating the event over the past couple of weeks. But what does focusing on black heritage, accomplishments and culture really mean to today's students and educators?

Here's our CNN Student Bureau with questions, answers and some perspective on the month long celebration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIAN PRICE, "CNN STUDENT NEWS" (voice-over): Here on the campus of Clark-Atlanta University, the celebration of African-American history is a year long event. However, in the month of February, even more reverence is given.

JEANETTE FOREMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR: Well Black History Month, it's a time that was agitated for so that we could really codify something that had been put into our culture, that is the need to formally keep our young people aware.

DWIGHT WILLIAMS, FRESHMAN: For me to recognize, you know, and acknowledge the accomplishments of our forefathers that accomplished a lot of things that we wouldn't be able to do today if it wasn't for them.

JANET MELNYK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR: I think it's most important because in the history of the United States blacks have been left out.

DEANNA HARRISON, FRESHMAN: I feel as though black people do not get appreciation. They don't get enough appreciation.

MELNYK: It's been essentially a white history and a white male history, and so it -- I think it's very important as a corrective to how history has been presented.

PRICE: Although many generations value the importance of Black History Month, some question whether younger generations appreciate it as much as they should.

MALCHUS CALLAWAY, JUNIOR: I don't think that the younger generation recognizes it as much.

FLOYD MEYERS, FRESHMAN: I feel like they live back in that time so they probably can relate to it a little bit more.

FOREMAN: You don't have the same outrage that we had.

WILLIAMS: They knew what the struggle was like and younger generation, you know we're just hearing from stories and books.

MELNYK: In my experience, it's not a generational matter as much as an individual matter and so with some of the older generation, I see more than I see in the younger generation. But on the other hand, I have many students who are very aware of their culture and interested in it and committed and dedicated to finding out more about it.

PRICE: There are many influential people involved in African- American history, and the month of February gives us an opportunity to recognize several important historical figures.

CHICAL JENNINS, FRESHMAN: Martin Luther King because he stood up for what he believed in without using violence.

CALLAWAY: Malcolm X because he was all about power.

DR. CARLOS MORRISON, PROFESSOR: I'd have to say Booker T. Washington, and I say that not just because he also was a spokesperson for our people but the fact that he built an institution.

MELNYK: Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. I -- the more I read of them, the more their visionary writing is so relevant for today.

PRICE: From 1926, when the month was initiated, until 2002, Black History Month continues to remind African-Americans of the many accomplishments of the people who have paved their way in American history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a criticism of course about the fact that why should this be just (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There is so much that we contribute. There's so much that's marvelous about us. There's so many things, we can't even begin to squeeze it all into one month.

PRICE: Arian Price, CNN Student Bureau, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World" suffers from frequent earthquakes, currency: the Rupee, in dispute over status of Kashmir? Can you name this country? Pakistan.

FREIDMAN: That's it for today's show, but there's more online. Head to CNNstudentnews.com to view the entire CNN interview with Mariane Pearl. While there, you can also find out more on our special Black History Month coverage.

Be sure to check us out again tomorrow. I'm Susan Freidman. Have a great day.

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