Return to Transcripts main page

CNN 10

CNN STUDENT NEWS for April 12, 2002

Aired April 12, 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.

SHELLEY WALCOTT, CO-HOST: As the week ends, CNN STUDENT NEWS gears up to bring you the latest from the Middle East, starting with Secretary Powell's quest for peace and the profile of the man leading the nation of Jordan. Our next stop finds us in Russia examining the growing problem of homeless young people. Final destination, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., home of some world famous barbecue.

Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Shelley Walcott.

Secretary of State Colin Powell enters a critical stage in his mission in the Middle East. He arrived in Israel yesterday after briefly touching base with King Abdullah of Jordan, a leader we'll profile in our "News Focus." Powell meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today in Jerusalem. Tomorrow he plans to venture into Ramallah for talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Powell remains optimistic about the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm going in here because it's necessary for me to go. It's necessary for me to go to represent President Bush and his desire to see this crisis brought to an end and to get us back to a track that will lead to discussions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALCOTT: The stakes are high in the battle to attain some type of truce.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel looks at the obstacles threatening the chance for lasting peace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This time, the would-be suicide bomber came up short, blowing only himself up, not the Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, a bleak prelude to the mission of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. For Mr. Powell, a mixed Israeli message: fighting ends in the Jenin refugee camp, one of the hotspots during the two-week offensive. Israeli forces remain poised outside Jenin, and they have also pulled out from 24 smaller West Bank towns and villages, just as they conduct fresh sweeps through two other sizable villages.

A mixed message from Mr. Powell himself, speaking alongside Russia's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov. For the first time in a week, we heard no public insistence on the need for the Israeli military offensive to end immediately, without delay, or at least hastily, but a public distancing by Mr. Powell from the value of the Israeli campaign.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: However long the Israeli incursions occur, whether they pull out of everywhere today or whether they pull out of everywhere they are now in over a longer period of time, the problem will still be there of people who need to be brought into a negotiating process that will lead to peace.

KESSEL: The difficulty with the Powell mission is that it does not seem to have a commonly-agreed goal: The U.S. looking for a stabilizing cease-fire; Ariel Sharon saying there can be no valid cease-fire until he's completed his war on terror; Yasser Arafat insisting not only on a military cease-fire, but on immediate reopening of political talks that would lead to a Palestinian state.

There has been a slight easing in the isolation in which the Palestinian leader has been held, Sharon allowing Arafat to meet with his top aides in advance of Powell's arrival. Palestinians still insist that there's nothing to talk about until the Israeli onslaught is rolled back. The rhetorical question of their top negotiator, Saeb Erakat: If the U.S. can't end this Israeli reoccupation right away, how can we expect them ever to be able to get an end to the whole Israeli occupation?

Prime Minister Sharon may be pleased that others have heard the forceful message he delivered on Wednesday, when he met with his troops who'd been involved in the fierce Jenin battle, that the operation will only be over only when he says the goal of scuttling terror has been secured. But the political direction in which the United States is seeking to prod both sides is already ringing Israeli alarm bells.

CHEMI SHALEV, ISRAELI ANALYST: He is concerned that, from his point of view, Arafat will pull the wool over Powell's eyes, will make noises about a cease-fire and perhaps a diplomatic process, and then, once again, Sharon will have to fend off American pressure to renew direct contacts with Arafat. But I think generally speaking in Israel, there is the thought that Arafat will not be an easy partner for Powell.

KESSEL (on camera): For the Palestinians, the most important thing is how to bring about the immediate end to what they consider Israel's reoccupation in the West Bank. For Israel, the issue is how to avoid cease-fire talks and political negotiations starting at the same time. The success or failure of the Powell mission may very well be determined by his ability to bridge the chasm of these two conflicting demands.

Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Coming up, Michael Holmes talks to one couple who is fighting for Palestinians' rights and wellbeing. But first, CNN's Bill Hemmer looks at what Israelis are saying as he takes the pulse of Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israelis see Tel Aviv as something like their own version of New York City, loaded with energy and attitude. And if you want opinion, there's plenty of that here, too. These days some Israelis say they feel as if they are alone on their own island. Vascilya Levy (ph) is a 25-year-old nanny.

(on camera): I get the sense that Israel is a nation that has come together, almost united right now. Yet the whole world is telling you you are wrong. Get out of the West Bank, stop the military action. From an Israeli perspective, how would you explain that attitude to the world?

VASCILYA LEVY (ph), ISRAELI NANNY: I want every leader of all the nations of Europe that don't understand us to come here to live in Jerusalem one night. OK, then they'll see the situation. They will know the Arab's war. And they see where we come from; how we feel. Why we do this.

HEMMER (voice-over): The tension here is intense. Shoppers browse largely empty stores. Hyne Carr (ph) is a 30-year-old musician. He works in Tel Aviv.

(on camera): We saw some poll numbers that said, well over 70 percent of Israeli people support the current military operation. Tell us why there is so much support right now within Israel about the current action.

HYNE CARR (ph), ISRAELI MUSICIAN: Well you know, Israelis see the situation different from what you see in the media. Because every life of an Israeli that dies is like an entire family of Israel.

HEMMER (voice-over): In terms of geography, Tel Aviv feels removed from the front lines of the conflict. But the terror bombers have not skipped this town. Ten days ago, on a busy Saturday night, a suicide attack ripped apart a cafe. Some fear if the military pulls out of the West Bank, more bombers will then come back to places like Tel Aviv. Annat Cooper (ph) is not sure what to think, other than knowing the conflict, for her, has made her tired.

(on camera): How far away are the Palestinians and the Israelis from that point right now?

ANNAT COOPER (ph), ISRAELI CITIZEN: I think, night and day. That's why I think we need intermediates. It's like two young children quarreling. And they will quarrel the same stupid quarrel until mommy comes in the room and gives just gives one thing to one, and the other to the other and just separates them. And I think this is where the world comes in, because the Israelis and the Palestinians have been going at it forever.

HEMMER (voice-over): Bill Hemmer, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't be so arrogant as to go out there...

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some call them the odd couple, the American Jew, his Palestinian-American fiancee. Instead of planning their wedding in the states, they're challenging the Israeli Army in the West Bank.

HUWAIDA ARRAF, ACTIVIST: My family is extremely worried. My mom calls me every day to come home.

HOLMES: During our interview, gunfire. They don't even notice.

ADAM SHAPIRO, ACTIVIST: I feel good about what I'm doing and I think it's the right thing to do at this moment. So, you know, if a bullet were to hit me and this was to happen, at least I feel secure, and I think my family feels secure and people who know me know that I'm doing what I feel is right, to be doing at this time.

HOLMES: They're among dozens of foreign nationals in the West Bank defying curfews, delivering food taking, what they call nonviolent direction action, hoping white vests and bravado will keep them alive.

(on-camera): A day after the tanks rolled into Ramallah, they started appearing on these empty streets, from Europe, the United States, even from Israel, supporting, they say, Palestinian civilians and opposing occupation.

(voice-over): They're still arriving. This, a strategy meeting for new arrivals, advice for the uninitiated.

ARRAF: I can tell you when I'm standing in front of a tank who has just fired, you know, and you're determined not to move, it's really -- you're holding onto the just nature of this struggle and believing that you're right is stronger than their might.

HOLMES: Perhaps no better example of their audacity, some say foolishness, than when this group strolled past tanks, soldiers and warning shots to enter Yasser Arafat's office last week. Some 30 or so are still there.

Chivvas Moore born in Missouri delivers food to houses, among other things. To do so, she walks past soldiers trying to enforce a 24-hour a day curfew. CHIVVAS MOORE, ACTIVIST: Yesterday morning, a soldier said, "I'm going to shoot you then," and I said "then shoot me."

HOMES: Are you prepared to take a bullet for this cause?

MOORE: Yes, I am. I'm prepared to die. To me, to be alive and do nothing against what I believe is wrong is worth nothing. I would rather be dead.

HOLMES: The risks, despite some obvious Israeli restraint are enormous. After the fighting died down at this apartment loft, activists literally play a tug of war with an injured Palestinian. The army won, but nothing seems to deter these people.

HUWAIDA ARRAF, ACTIVIST: People that I think are motivated and moved to come and put their lives at risk are operating basically on, you know, the fundamentals of humanity that we would hope everyone, that would motivate everyone to act.

HOLMES: For Adam Shapiro, who has lived in Ramallah for six months now, the price is not just his safety but that of his family in New York.

ADAM SHAPIRO: My family has faced death threats. They've had a very small march on their home, but it's become very difficult for them. They have to have police protection.

HOLMES: He, too, has had death threats. There's going to be plenty of people who say, "look, you just shouldn't be here. You're setting yourselves up and if you get shot, well it's your own fault."

SHAPIRO: I'd say that's true. We do take responsibility for ourselves and we don't seek to, you know, lay that responsibility if we get hurt.

HOLMES: Adam Shapiro is keenly aware of his Jewish name, not he says in Ramallah, but when he crosses Israeli military checkpoints.

SHAPIRO: When soldiers see my name and I'm crossing a checkpoint and coming into Ramallah and they find out I live here, I think it forces them to question for a second like how I can exist and live here perfectly normally and not have any problems when they're trained to think that this is a hotbed of terrorism and that, you know, that the Jews, the people here want to kill all the Jews and it's just simply not the fact.

HOLMES: For now, the odd couple are staying put. They will leave, but only because Adam's visa expires soon.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Ramallah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Before arriving in Israel yesterday, Secretary of State Colin Powell made a stop in Jordan to talk to King Abdullah. That meeting could turn out to be crucial to the success of his Mideast mission.

CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman looks at the monarch who is emerging as a key player in the quest for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is the son of the late King Hussein, who is proclaimed to be the 43rd generation direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed. King Abdullah has now been the ruler of Jordan for over three years, following the death of his father. He was educated at Oxford in England and at Georgetown in the United States. So it is not surprising that his English is excellent and showed when he met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington this past January.

KING ABDULLAH II, JORDAN: The other day, let's forget about the politics and the leadership, the peoples -- I believe the majority of Israelis and Palestinians are just sick and tired of the cycle of violence and want a way out.

TUCHMAN: The U.S. government regards King Abdullah as a trustworthy and pragmatic partner for peace in the Middle East.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is always a pleasure to receive, if I may say, my good friend, his Majesty, King Abdullah.

RAGHIDA DERGHAM, "AL-HAYAT" NEWSPAPER: King Abdullah has shown quite a remarkable statesmanship. He is well in his skin as a king as well as he is able to stand up when necessary and be counted such as at the time terrorist attacks September 11.

TUCHMAN: Politically, the king, who recently turned 40, has to tread carefully. His country is a population that is between 60 and 70 percent Palestinian. The anger on the streets has resulted in many demonstrations, including this one in Amman this week, led by his wife, Queen Rania. She is of Palestinian origin herself.

QUEEN RANIA, JORDAN: What we are trying to do here is highlight the flagrant violation of human rights in the occupied territories. And we want the international community to put pressure on Israel, to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.

TUCHMAN: The king says he is frustrated, angry and dispirited over the bloodshed and is under pressure from many in the Arab world to renounce the peace treaty King Hussein signed with Israel in 1994. The former attack pilot in the Royal Jordanian Air Force has given no indication he will retreat from the commitment his father made to peace.

Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Head to any major city in the U.S. and you'll have no problem finding a coffeehouse. The beverage is a North American favorite, and this coffee culture is brewing in other parts of the world as well. Countries are developing their own coffee traditions.

CNN's Jill Dougherty takes us to Moscow where coffee has become a passion and a pastime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coffee Mania, Coffeehouse, Coffee Bean, Zen Coffee, the coffee craze has hit Moscow like a jolt of caffeine.

ANDREW, COFFEE DRINKER: One year ago, two years ago, there was just one, maybe two coffee shops in the neighborhood. Right now in this area we have five and they're all different.

DOUGHERTY: Less than five years ago, you couldn't find a place like this in Moscow. Even if you don't speak Russian, you'll understand the menu.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKING RUSSIAN.

DOUGHERTY: It's one of 40 coffee shops in the capital, serving an estimated 10,000 customers a day, Russians, many of them young professionals, who can afford to spend the equivalent of $1 to $5 for a cappuccino.

LIZA, COFFEE DRINKER: And you just come here and relax, you know, forget about your problems and just have a good time.

DOUGHERTY: Russia traditionally is a tea drinking country, and while embracing the coffee culture, Russians are turning it into something their own.

GLEB NEVEKIN, COFFEE MANIA (through translator): The expression, let's have a cup of coffee doesn't mean let's drink coffee. People don't come here just to drink coffee, they come here for the atmosphere, to be with other people.

DOUGHERTY: Or on dates, or to study.

"We don't have that many places where you can just sit and talk," says Nikolai, "and that's what you can do here."

DOUGHERTY (on camera): One thing that hasn't become popular here in Moscow is takeout coffee. Russians like to linger over a cup of coffee and they also like to drink it at night. In fact, the peak hours here at Coffee Mania are from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

(voice-over): Opening a coffee shop in Moscow isn't cheap. The equipment is imported, and at Coffee Mania, they import their beans as well from the United States. Russia doesn't have coffee-roasting facilities.

With a population of 10 million, Moscow has enormous potential for growth, say the owners of Coffee Mania. And the rest of Russia is almost an untapped market. There's no doubt about it, they say, coffee's got the sweet smell of success. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is CNN STUDENT NEWS "Perspectives."

WALCOTT: It's a problem in virtually all of the world's biggest cities, homeless people. But the problem is especially severe in Russia where the number of children on the streets appears to be growing.

Matthew Chance reports on the youngest victims of Russia's shattered economy and the dangers they face everyday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The grim face of life on the Russian streets, cold, unforgiving. Images of homelessness are familiar to many cities, but in Moscow the problem's particular acute as there (UNINTELLIGIBLE) support beyond handouts of hot soup. And worse, young children exposed to drugs, crime and the elements are increasingly at risk.

On the roadside, we found little Sergei (ph), not an orphan, but homeless at just seven. He told me his mother is saving money to buy a house. Until then though, he says, we can't leave this place and has to beg.

Public outcry has been fueled by Russian television reports like this one exposing the hardships endured by Moscow's army of street children. Criminal gangs have been identified as behind a range of activities exploiting homeless children, from begging rackets to child prostitution. A nighttime curfew has been imposed for the underage, but critics say police still have too few powers to intervene.

(on camera): In fact, official estimates say as many as 50,000 children are now living, surviving on these freezing Moscow streets. Back in the times of the Soviet Union, they may well have just been rounded up and herded out of the city or else committed to years in harsh institutions. But in modern Russia, that's no longer seen as a solution, and the search is now on for a more sensitive approach.

(voice-over): Help for street children at the moment comes from privately funded shelters. This one, called The Road Home (ph), has room for just 40. They're washed, fed and educated. Russia's government has promised many more facilities. Still, care workers like Alfara Jilosova (ph) is skeptical.

"This doesn't solve the problem," she told me, "or anywhere close." "Children need a family, a home, not a shelter."

And it's the underlying reasons for homelessness, poverty, violence, alcoholism, those close to the issue say must be addressed to stem the flow of children onto Russia's streets.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Britons said goodbye this week to the Queen Mother Elizabeth. Hundreds of thousands of people joined to pay respects to the 101-year-old matriarch who died March 30.

Our Joel Hochmuth has more on the life and death of the Queen Mother in our "Week in Review."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEL HOCHMUTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A week of both sadness and celebration in Britain. Sadness as the nation said a final farewell to its beloved Queen Mother, celebration of her remarkable life. Clearly she had an impact from Buckingham Palace to commoners on the street.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, UNITED KINGDOM: Because it was the warmth and affection of people everywhere which inspired her resolve, dedication and enthusiasm for life. I thank you for the support you are giving me and my family as we come to terms with her death and the void she has left in our midst.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just felt we had to come and say farewell to a grand old lady to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude for all the marvelous memories and the way she's held the country so much at heart.

HOCHMUTH: More than a million turned out for her funeral, the largest Royal commemoration since Princess Diana's five years ago. The overwhelming show of support came as a surprise to many Royal watchers who predicted public indifference towards the monarchy would keep turnout low.

SIR DAVID FROST, ROYAL FAMILY FRIEND: It was a million people. It was so many more than anybody expected. What a surprise. What a triumph.

HAROLD BROOKS-BAKER, BURKES PEERAGE: This amazing funeral has touched the hearts of everyone, and the love that they had for the Queen Mother will not be forgotten. And it will be to a large extent translated to the other members of the Royal Family.

HOCHMUTH: She was born Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon in 1900. She carried the title of the Queen Mother, of course, because she was the mother of the current Queen, her daughter Elizabeth.

The elder Elizabeth first won the love of Britons during World War II as the wife of King George VI. Her famous response to pleas to send her daughters overseas to safety, the children could not leave with me, I could not leave without the King and the King will never leave.

ANDREW ROBERTS, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: People loved her for it, and it wasn't just the war but it was the primary moment which she actually personified that spirit of resistance and defiance of totalitarianism, one of the reasons that she was so loved.

HOCHMUTH: Many credit Elizabeth with preserving the relevancy of the monarchy in an era when it no longer held any real political power. In later years, long after the death of her husband, she was patron of hundreds of charities and honorary colonel of more than a dozen British regiments. She was the glue that held the Royal Family together, first through turmoil, then tragedy. Now she too is gone. Though her death at 101 was not totally unexpected, it still comes as a blow to a nation she helped define through the 20th century.

Joel Hochmuth, CNN STUDENT NEWS.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALCOTT: Here's a story from the big leagues, the barbecue big leagues that is. Kansas City, Missouri has a reputation for some of the best barbecue in the country, and each year the city is host to one of the largest barbecue contests in the world.

Our Student Bureau reporter Barbara Hedges followed one of the younger teams competing to see what's hot on the grill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA HEDGES, CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): Flames rising, smokers working overtime, fresh meat on the grill, but be warned, this isn't your typical backyard barbecue. This is Kansas City, home of the American Royal (ph) and the largest barbecue contest on the planet. More than 300 teams from across the nation met for three days of grilling, parties and tough competition. Many are seasoned competitors, but others like We Be Smokin are entering the event for the first time. Something else that makes this team stand out, they're all under 24.

BRIAN BRIGHT, BBQ TEAM: My dad had the barbecue team, him and his partner Steve Grim, and they had it for about four or five years, and this is about the sixth year of the barbecue team. Last year they opened up a restaurant, We Be Smokin, at Miami County Airport in Paola, and we basically just took over from there. We're probably one of the youngest ones out here, but we have a good time and that's all that matters.

MARK STONNER, BBQ TEAM: They kind of looked at us a little funny the first couple times we went out. And then when the ribbons -- started winning ribbons on our first barbecue, second barbecue, then everybody kind of laid off and realized that we knew what was going on.

HEDGES: Brian and April (ph) Bright and their friend, Mark Stonner, make up the current team. They may have just started competing this year but already seem to have a firm grip on the contest circuit.

BRIGHT: This is our seventh competition. It just mainly consists of chicken, ribs, pork butt or pork shoulder and brisket. Some of them -- some of the competitions has got sausage. We had one competition this year that had dessert. We threw cheesecake in there and they had a vegetable. So we started having some fun with that. We got a perfect score on our dessert.

HEDGES: On this day, all teams cook for family, friends and spectators. Then, they'll fire up their grills again and cook into the wee hours of the morning preparing their entries for competition. You may be wondering is there a secret for success?

STONNER: No secret, it's just cook it by the rules and hope it turns out good when it comes out of the smoker.

HEDGES: Barbara Hedges, CNN Student Bureau, Kansas City, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

"Where in the World" legal system based on Islamic law and French codes, currency: the Dinar, formerly known as Transjordan? Can you name this country? Jordan.

WALCOTT: That's another edition of STUDENT NEWS. Have a great weekend. We'll catch you back here Monday. Bye-bye.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com