[Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Governor-elect:] As I have said in my campaign all along, I want to reach out. I want to be the people's governor.
[John Negroponte, U.s. Amb. To The U.n:] You're always trying to drag me into domestic politics.
[Richard Roth, Cnn Anchor:] It's not every day that the president of a country sends an invitation to a state governor of one of the 50 United States of America, but then it's not every day that a movie star bodybuilder becomes governor of California, a state by itself in the top ten of global economies. Welcome to DIPLOMATIC LICENSE. I'm Richard Roth. The president of Georgia says is Arnold Schwarzenegger would visit, they will name a mountain for him in the Caucasus. The new governor climbed a mountain to win election in a rare recall of the governor of the state.
[Schwarzenegger:] Let me tell you something. I will do everything I can to live up to that trust. I will not fail you. I will not disappoint you and I will not let you down.
[Roth:] Schwarzenegger's switch from "Terminator" to governor was the top story the next day around the world.
[Schwarzenegger:] There will be no time for movies or anything else.
[Roth:] And there may be far-reaching implications. The Schwarzenegger victory may carry weight in, of all places, Baghdad.
[Unidentified Male:] Arnold is a sportsman and a man with a great knowledge of life. He's a good politician as a result, and God willing he will the state and, God willing, he will bring peace to Iraq.
[Roth:] We have asked other more fully-clothed guests to give us their perspective. They all headed west to California and covered some of the campaigning. Back in London now, the BBC's David Willis; in Washington, German television ARD's Thomas Berbner; and at the U.N., Portuguese magazine "Expresso's" correspondent Tony Jenkins. Now, all of you, in a brief headline, starting with David, what is your sum-up of what you witnessed in California, first. Just to get a sense of where you stand, and then we'll ask Thomas and Tony.
[David Willis, Bbc:] Richard, I have to say, I think it's an irresistible story to anyone, basically. This is a man who just over two months ago was an actor, albeit an extremely well-known actor, and then just a short while later he fights this amazing campaign and emerges as the leader of the wealthiest state and the fifth largest economy in the world. It's the sort of story, really, which nobody could resist, and that's why it was leading the bulletins all around the world.
[Roth:] All right. Thomas, your sense of what you witnessed there, very briefly, first. Your sense of California.
[Thomas Berbner, Ard:] When I was there, it was on the last day, one of the last rallies of Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Sunday, in Sacramento, and I also had some bad emotions, because what I saw there reminded me of some elections we had in Germany on the state level also where the conservative and right-wing party picked up some of the vote, and also was the same mechanism of populism Arnold used when he was standing there with the broom yelling, "I'm here to clean house."
[Roth:] All right, we'll get back to that in a moment, history there, in that country. Tony, your headline, please. Headline first.
[Tony Jenkins, "expresso":] Well, two things. First, Californians are wacky and the United States needs to do something about its democratic system, where you can toss somebody out of office, not having done any kind of malfeasance, a few months after they're elected. The other thing is that it seemed to me to signal the sense of frustration and anger in the California electorate, and I suspect that that may spread across the country.
[Roth:] All right, let's take a look at the bigger picture. David, can this be translated into any warning for politicians around the world? I've seen in some countries they're demanding now that their political leaders speak simply and clearly for the voters to understand.
[Willis:] Well, I think that this was a very exceptional circumstance, Richard. Here we had a candidate who was known literally around the world, fighting against a man who was known, really, for being challenged charismatically. So I think it was no contest in the end. We had the Schwarzenegger celebrity steamroller, if you like, casting all aside. These were very, very exceptional.
[Roth:] Tony Jenkins, you witnessed some of that celebrity hang on. Tony, you witnessed that celebrity effect, didn't you, at a press conference and a few other places?
[Jenkins:] That's right. It was a press conference in San Francisco. Halfway through Arnold's press conference, the "Saturday Night Live" comic star, Dana Carvey, walked in. Arnold stepped away from the microphone and gestured for Dana Carvey to do his shtick, and he promptly started to imitate the Arnold and say "I'm going to pump you up to vote for the Arnold," and the journalists, or at least I, stood there in stunned silence for about a minute, and then I thought, this can't go on, and I piped up, and said "Excuse me, is this an election or is this a circus"? It certainly had a circus atmosphere to it. And I have to say, the California press are pathetic. They're a bunch of pansies. Weren't asking any questions. One of them, a journalist next to me, said, "Shhh, don't interrupt. It's Dana Carvey," as if, I guess, Hollywood royalty can't be interrupted. You can't ask them serious questions. Nobody was asking this guy serious questions. The few serious questions that were asked, he didn't give serious answers.
[Roth:] Tony, you talked about a circus atmosphere. Thomas, you talked in your first comment there about a different kind of atmosphere. Were you saying, in effect, that this conservative atmosphere reminded you of pre-World War II times in Germany?
[Berbner:] No, it's not that long ago. We had that 10 years ago, where the conservative parties came up, out of the blue, taking up 10 percent or 12 percent of the vote, but at the end they vanished as fast as they came up, because they weren't able to solve the problems. And Arnold didn't tell anything specific, how he will solve the problem. When I was going around there in Sacramento, I asked some of his supporters and they told me that's exactly what we want. A normal guy can become governor, then he surrounds himself with good advisors and does the job. That's it.
[Roth:] But this is what I mean, isn't television and all of the correspondents, like us, who follow it, it's all an easy story, it's all show. I mean, David, you were never going to be sent there if it was Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante running alone in this race, right?
[Willis:] Well, that's very true, Richard. I think what's happened here is that people have bought in, if you like, to the fantasy rather than the reality. Arnold Schwarzenegger stands there and says, "I'm going to terminate the car tax, I'm going to terminate the budget deficit, I'm going to terminate Gray Davis," and they go, "Wow, maybe this is just the guy who can go to Sacramento and clean house. Hello? This is a movie star. A movie star with absolutely zero political experience. A man who just nine weeks ago, as I mentioned earlier, was an actor. The people have bought into the fantasy, not the reality.
[Jenkins:] But he hasn't fed them any reality, either, Richard. I mean, I asked him a specific question. He says he's going to fix workers comp, which is a huge tax issue in California. So I said, "Can you give me some specifics on how you're going to fix it," and he said, "Well, we'll negotiate." And I said, "Negotiate? Well, that's a political skill, and you haven't demonstrated any political skills. What makes you think you can do it"? And he said, "Well, Gray Davis obviously has lots of political skills. He's been in Sacramento for 30 years." And it was a good answer in the sense that it was a good way of dodging the question, but he dodged the question.
[Roth:] But I've had people, though, say, what's wrong with a recall? There should be more politicians on alert that at anytime, they can be yanked from office. Thomas, what about that, and covering these stories.
[Berbner:] At the end, I was of the opinion that it's not a bad thing, the recall.
[Willis:] We saw a campaign that was really more of a presidential campaign here. Very impressive. True, he said absolutely nothing, but it was extremely well managed, and perhaps he seems as though he's surrounding himself with some smart people, perhaps he can take that and.
[Roth:] All right, final word, Tony, briefly.
[Jenkins:] If this guy had been born in America rather than Austria, he would immediately be on the short list of potential candidates to succeed George W. Bush as the Republican candidate for the presidency.
[Roth:] Which he can't by the constitution of the United States. He can't be, but of course it seems like the U.N. dream guy from Austria that becomes the governor of California, but more of that in a later show. We've got to thank everybody here. On the left, there, David Willis, of the BBC, just back in the United Kingdom after California; Thomas Berbner is in Washington for ARD German television; Tony Jenkins, of "Expresso" magazine, a Portuguese publication, at the United Nations, where he's currently president of the U.N. Correspondents Association. Maybe Schwarzenegger will run for that post later. Thank you all. All right, Tony the Terminator. Schwarzenegger's best move may have been where he announced that he was running for political office. He did so on "The Tonight Show," a late night running American late night entertainment program, and it's still running 30 years later. The host, Jay Leno, didn't exactly reward Schwarzenegger with this tribute after the votes were in.
[Jay Leno, Tv:] You know, the critics said, "Well, Arnold can't be an administrator. He's an actor. Arnold can't be an environmentalist. He's an actor. Arnold can't be governor. He's an actor. And of course, Arnold was thrilled. For the first time in his career, the critics are calling him an actor, ladies and gentlemen.
[Ted Turner, U.s. Media Mogul:] I don't like to see my country make mistakes. You know. I mean, I'd rather seen us do the most intelligent thing and not something that's not quite as smart, in my opinion.
[Roth:] U.N. booster and American Ted Turner commenting on the U.S. war on Iraq. There's been a simmering verbal U.S. war with U.N. boss Kofi Annan on power conflict Iraq. The ink was barely dry last week on the U.S. revised Iraq resolution on who will run the country, when the Secretary- General said from what he saw, the resolution was going in the wrong direction. A lot of phone calls between Washington and the United Nations this week. Annan and his senior aides kept a lower profile, though CNN chased the secretary-general to the basement of the United Nations.
[Kofi Annan, U.n. Secy.-gen:] It's not a forcefulness against the resolution. Obviously, that's a Council decision, but I did indicate our concerns and what we would like to see.
[Unidentified Female:] What are the U.N.'s concerns?
[Roth:] The United States is also facing similar resistance from France, Germany and others on the Council. The United States must now decide whether to hold fast, compromise or fold its cards.
[Negroponte:] We're still in a pause period here while capitals, including our own, consider next steps.
[Roth:] The U.S. ambassador said don't expect radical changes, though. At week's end, the resolution was stalled with conversation still going on. Following the flow, from "The Washington Post," Colum Lynch; from Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arab-language news network television-wise, Abderrahim Foukara. Both are sitting in our United Nations office but in separate isolation chambers. Abderrahim, what is going on with this resolution? Will the United States, as was hinted widely this week, consider pulling it, or is it going to be charge ahead and try again?
[Abderrahim Foukara, Al-jazeera:] Richard, I think regardless of what the United States does with that resolution in the future, the main thing is that the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, when he made that declaration that the resolution was not going in the direction that he had recommended, what he did there, he basically put lead in the wings of that draft resolution. And it is really a measure of the irony of the situation that at a time when the United Nations is saying that we cannot go into Iraq, we cannot help the United States in Iraq under the present terms in the new U.S. draft resolution, it is actually regaining some of its credibility in the Arab world. People are saying finally Kofi Annan is speaking out against the United States and he's putting some distance between New York and Washington.
[Column Lynch, "the Washington Post":] It's interesting what you said earlier, you mentioned your conversation with the secretary-general. The Americans have been asking him to quiet down a little bit, and it sounded like he's trying not to sort of promote this kind of rebellion within the Council against the American resolution. My guess is that they will probably get a resolution one way or another with 9 votes, 10 votes, nothing like the kind of slam dunk vote they were hoping for, but they've got enough support, enough political pressure that they can bring to bear to get their way.
[Roth:] So nobody is going to veto this thing? Is there going to be a revised text anytime soon?
[Lynch:] Yes, there will be a revised text. It'll have some minor cosmetic changes. There might be some language, as absurd as it might sound, on the role of the secretary-general, even though he's made it quite clear that he's not going to play any role in the near future. They'll probably have language suggesting he may have a role down the road, when things start to stabilize a little bit. But there isn't a single country that has indicated in any way that they're going to veto this resolution, but Russia, France, Germany, the anti-war coalition in the Council earlier in the year are not going to vote for it. They will likely abstain.
[Roth:] What kind of message does that send, Abderrahim? It's such an empty resolution when five or six key members abstain, don't even vote in favor of it.
[Foukara:] Well, obviously, I mean, everyone is saying that for such a resolution to have any effect, or at least to have the desired effect from the point of view of the United Nations and the United States, obviously it has to enjoy some sort of consensus in the Council. That sort of consensus that the resolution seems to require does not seem to be anywhere in sight. But I go back to my original point. Regardless of whether the draft resolution gains consensus in the Council or not, I think Kofi Annan, the United Nations, has made a hit, at least in the Middle East. They may not be able to do the kind of work that they would like to do in Iraq, but in the Middle East at large, especially now that the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis seems to be getting out of hand.
[Roth:] I'm glad that you're mentioning that, because that brings us to other resolutions competing for attention at the Security Council, but also somewhat stalled. Column Lynch, you have a resolution that the Syrians were pushing somewhat after Israel attacked near Damascus in response to another terror attack in Israel last weekend, and then you also have a resolution that the Palestinians want, saying the Council should condemn and reverse the building of that war on mostly Palestinian territory. Go ahead.
[Lynch:] Yes, it's been a bad week for the Syrians. I mean, they came, guns blazing, to the Security Council last weekend, after the attack. This is a pretty rare act, the Israelis going into Syrian territory, launching an air strike. The Council, though, was not in the mood to support them. I mean, they couldn't get the 9 votes to pass a pretty straightforward resolution condemning Israel.
[Roth:] Abderrahim, go ahead.
[Foukara:] Column, you know, the flip side of the coin, you could also say that from the point of view from the Syrians, because they know when they came to the Council with that draft resolution, they know from previous experience, from the previous draft resolution on Arafat, that if they go to the Council with the kind of text that they did go to the Council with, it's not going to fly. The flip side of the coin is that the Syrians must have made the calculation and decided that the most important thing for them is not actually for the Council to adopt the resolution. Just the fact that the Council actually decided to convene at their request and at the request of the Arab group, is a hit for them.
[Lynch:] Yes, it's a hit for them, but I mean, you don't want to sort of show signs that you're kind of losing support, not only in the Council but among the Europeans, who generally would, I think, be behind the Syrians on this. I mean, what this is sort of revealing is that a sort of growing sort of support in the Council for not immediately signing on to Middle East resolutions that don't deal sufficiently with acts of suicide attacks against Israelis.
[Roth:] On Tuesday, we're going to have a day full of speeches on the wall, but has that resolution hit the wall? In two seconds, is that ever going to get passed, or are U.S. vetoes going to hit it? Either one of you.
[Foukara:] Well, the Syrians are basically saying that their draft resolution is still afloat. Now for the United States, the draft resolution that will be discussed on Tuesday, if they veto it, obviously that's going to complicate their task in the Security Council with regard to the previous resolution, with regard to the resolution
[Lynch:] I'm going to say veto, but it is going to make it more
[Roth:] OK. We've got to stop right there. On the left, Colum Lynch, of "The Washington Post," Abderrahim Foukara, of Al-Jazeera, both based at the United Nations. Thank you very much.
[Lynch:] Thanks.
[Roth:] A story this week that should have gotten coverage to rival Arnold Schwarzenegger's election was the murder of Annalena Tonelli. Who was she? Tonelli was an aide worker giving 33 years of her life to helping the people of Somalia in Africa. She raised her own money and took charge of her own aid programs. She was shot and killed in a hospital she ran in northwestern Somalia, which was the breakaway Somaliland region. It was just last June 25, in Geneva, that the Italian humanitarian was honored by the U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, with the Manson Refugee Award in recognition of her work I Somalia.
[Annalena Tonelli, Fmr. Aide Worker:] I've been in the middle of wars, of conflicts. I've been a witness, part, of devastating famines, hunger-stricken populations, displaced people, victims of injustice, of exploitation, of violation of human rights, of genocide. I thought I felt that I would never be able to smile again in my life if I survived those catastrophes.
[Negroponte:] Yes, sir, right there?
[Unidentified Male:] Mr. Ambassador, you now have been here for quite a while at the United Nations. How do you find your experience? Do you have any personal observations?
[Negroponte:] How much time have you got?
[Roth:] The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, who had served everywhere from Vietnam to Honduras, sounding a little world-weary at the United Nations. Well, how about some new blood? The next generation of diplomats may have passed through the United Nations hallways with little fanfare this past summer. 50 students from 20 countries learned leadership at the United Nations from those in power now, including the U.S. envoy, Mr. Negroponte.
[Unidentified Male:] One more time. One more picture.
[Stephanie Bell-rose, Goldman Sachs Foundation:] The program was setup in 2002 to identify and honor some of the brightest college students that we would find around the world. And the idea was to promote their leadership potential.
[Unidentified Male:] You emphasized in your speech that I guess America is rather a benign country and one that's really doing the best job ever, and so my first question to you is, is that enough?
[Bell-rose:] The students have a chance to connect with leaders from several walks of life civic leaders, government leaders, business leaders, and with each other, in a way that we hope will build bonds that enable them to draw on those key relationships to build their own leadership careers.
[Unidentified Female:] I have a lot of questions that I'd like to ask you if I can.
[Allan Goodman, Inst. Of Intl. Education:] They believe they can make a difference, and they want to build a different future for themselves, their family, their community, their society, and they haven't achieved the cynicism of age.
[Coceka Mfundisi, Student:] We've had workshops on how to identify problems and in identifying the problem, how to identify solutions. We've had workshops on
[Unidentified Female:] I think for me what I really learned form the secretary-general, in watching him, was that confidence is extremely important to good leadership.
[Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore Amb. To U.n:] Ask yourself this question, as you look at the world around you. Where is the, in a sense, the global leadership, going to come from?
[John Whitehead, Fmr. Dep. Secy. Of State:] We're counting on you to become leaders. The world cries out for leadership in every area. Where are the great leaders in the world today?
[Mfundisi:] We plan to work around something on infectious disease education in Africa, and I have actually learned that people are concerned about what is happening in other countries.
[Roth:] The money for the Global Leaders Program comes from the Goldman Sachs Foundation, which works with the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit group. If we had met with the students, DIPLOMATIC LICENSE would have said keep the speeches shorter as you get older. The e-mail keeps trailing in after our identify the global leader contest. We dip into the weekly e-mail cable bag for this one piece of correspondence. "Didn't anybody hear him talk? Norway indeed. Your mystery man is Jeff Sessions, former Republican Senator from Alabama and a long-time friend and supporter of the Bush family." That's from Grady Lloyd, who identifies himself as a "redneck abroad in Prague." The person who was the mystery man was still, as we insist, the prime minister of Norway. You can e-mail us with your correspondence and questions at DIPLOMATIC.LICENSE@CNN.COM. You don't have to be a redneck. And that is DIPLOMATIC LICENSE. Thank you for spending your valuable weekend time with CNN. Please feel free to do as I do, stay indoors all weekend and start getting ready for the work week ahead of schedule. I'm Richard Roth. My least favorite holiday is Halloween. Thanks for watching. END TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com