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CNN Live At Daybreak
Voting for Iraqi Elections Begins Outside the Country
Aired January 28, 2005 - 05:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, a nation at the crossroads -- expatriates are the first to vote in Iraq's historic elections. We'll tell you where the polls are now open.
Plus, portrait of a nation -- politics may not be first on every Iraqi's agenda. We'll introduce you to some young people focusing on their artistic talents.
And catch this, big number 83 was planning to watch the big game, not play in it. We'll have his story.
It is Friday, January 28.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, the voting begins. Iraqi expatriates have started casting their ballots in their country's historic elections. This is in Sydney, Australia. The vote will take place over the next three days in 14 countries. In Iraq itself, election is set for Sunday.
Hundreds of Palestinian police are taking up positions in southern Gaza. They're there to protect Israelis from Palestinian attackers. It's the latest move toward new relations between the two sides.
Ford is recalling nearly 800,000 pickups and SUVs because they could catch fire. The vehicles being recalled are the 2000 model F150 pickups, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators and the 2001 model F Series Super Crew trucks.
And Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette. Price tag? $57 billion. It would create the world's largest producer of household goods. The deal is subject to approval by regulators.
To the forecast center now.
Rob Marciano in for Chad today -- good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Carol.
That was my razor that you guys just showed on there.
COSTELLO: Really?
MARCIANO: Will we get a discount now? Can I get like maybe a month's supply of that stuff?
COSTELLO: No, the price will probably go up. That's a big price tag.
MARCIANO: Yes. And razors aren't cheap as they are.
Anyway, I'm showing my cheap side.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
The voting began this morning in Iraq's election, but it began in other countries. No voting until Sunday in Iraq itself, where the violence continues unabated.
Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us live now from Baghdad -- hello.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, hello from Baghdad.
Around Iraq, of course, the question is will the people be brave enough to come out on Sunday and cast their vote amid this relentless campaign to intimidate them and keep them away from their first free election?
Today, the intimidation continued here in Baghdad. There were two car bombs, one before the other in virtually the same district. One was against a police station in the southern part of Baghdad and it did, in fact, according to police officials, kill four people and wounded a couple of others, according to the Iraqi police. The bomb was in an SUV and it was detonated outside the police station, as I said.
The next one shortly afterwards, about 700 meters away, was directed at a boys high school, which will be used as an election day polling center. There, there were no casualties. Nobody was wounded or killed. There was some damage.
Apparently the car could not get past the blast walls that surrounded that area and detonated and exploded as it crashed into the concrete. So that's good news, that there is some security in some of these places that perhaps may keep some of these determined terrorists away from disrupting the elections, because there have also continued to be fliers that are being dropped in some neighborhoods. I'll just show you, if you can see, I mean you won't be able to read it, but it's in Arabic and it's been dropped in neighborhoods around Baghdad. It's anonymous. And it's warning people to stay away, saying that they have prepared bombs, mortars, car bombs and the like for every "polling station." And in other parts of Iraq, there are also leaflets and fliers and Internet warnings posted by the Zarqawi group, warning people to stay away. So almost it's like the people of Iraq are not just preparing for an election, but for war, as well. They're worried about the violence. They're stockpiling because of a lockdown that's going on for the next three days and they're getting prepared for Sunday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour live in Baghdad this morning.
Thank you.
Among the 14 nations where Iraqi expatriates can vote are several surrounding Iraq -- Jordan, Iran, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
CNN correspondent Brent Sadler is in Damascus -- how is it going there, Brent?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, there's been no rush so far to vote in Iraq's first election. Doors opened here just a few hours ago. There were two lone voters waiting outside the door, but they had to wait a lot longer, in fact, 30 minutes. The vote was delayed from starting here because of confusion inside the building itself over who should fit where and how the procedures here should be meticulously followed.
Nevertheless, this is the first chance we're getting in one of Iraq's neighboring countries to see how Iraqi voters themselves, first timers, are reacting to this balloting process.
Now, I've been out and about amongst those who have been showing up here over the past few hours. Some have been telling me that, one man, in fact, said he was 49 years old and he said having just balloted, he felt as though he had just been reborn.
Others are expressing some degree of puzzlement about the process, even though there's been a fairly wide voter education campaign that's been going on in Syria for the past couple of weeks. There's a long list of political entities on the voting sheet, 111 in all, and Iraqis clearly feel somewhat confused about who they should be thinking about to vote for. In fact, words about who they should vote for have been spreading along the line of people waiting outside this voting station.
Nevertheless, election officials here in Syria say they're satisfied with how it's going so far and how people here are reacting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUIS MARTINEZ-BETANZOS, INTERNATIONAL OFFICE FOR MIGRATION: I think they're very happy. My impression from the voters has shown, and we have voters coming from hours to drive from Damascus, they vote the first one. So the people is extremely happy. People, they've really thought about this. The people who registered are extremely committed with the process. They are very happy that elections are taking place today. It means a lot for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SADLER: Nevertheless, voter turnout will be quite low, 16,000 or so Iraqis registered in the process before the start of today's vote out of a possible potential electorate of 200,000 Iraqis who might have been able to vote had they registered, living in Syria. That's disappointing -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Brent Sadler live in Damascus, Syria this morning.
Thank you.
Iraqis living in Turkey also casting ballots.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh joins us live from Istanbul -- good morning, Alphonso.
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
We've got a very interesting situation here, like Christiane and Brent mentioned. Iraqis are going to the polls. They are here in Istanbul and Ankara, as well. Now, there are an eligible 30,000 Iraqis living in Turkey, but only about 4,100 have actually registered to vote. The numbers at this polling station, the numbers of people showing up, aren't so high.
But those who are coming are very happy to see this. This is a list of the candidates who will eventually fill the seats for this election, more than 7,000 people running for -- running with about 100 different political parties. People here say that they're very excited to be participating in this election. Also excited, too, is the Turkish government, neighboring Iraq. Turkey is very concerned over the security situation in Iraq. They say that they want the U.S. to do more to secure the borders, to keep what Turkey says are very unstable elements from coming over here and perhaps even trying to cause damage to Turkish troops.
Lastly for you, Carol, the big issue with this election is what's going to happen to ethnic Kurds in the northern part of Iraq? Turkey is very sensitive about the Kurdish issue and feels that if there is a political victory for Kurds in Iraq, that might urge Kurds on this side of the border to spark their own independence movement -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alphonso Van Marsh reporting live for us this morning from Turkey.
Thank you.
Stay tuned to CNN all weekend for complete coverage of the Iraqi elections. Throughout the day and overnight, our team of journalists will bring you every single angle of this story.
In News Across America this morning, Houston's legal gun owners can now carry their concealed weapons on buses and trains. The city's mass transit authority repealed its 10-year-old gun ban. The move is partly a response to several lawsuits that came after the state told cities they couldn't ban guns in public buildings.
New Jersey has arrested 39 people on child pornography charges. Among them is a high school coach and a pediatric neurosurgeon. The suspects were identified through a new computer software -- through new computer software, rather, that traced the distribution of a child porn video over the Internet.
A soldier returning from Iraq caused a commotion at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Two live grenades were found in his luggage. Arriving passengers were kept out of the international concourse while the grenades were removed. The unidentified soldier was turned over to the military.
Environmental groups are suing the federal government over the planned cutting down of giant sequoias. The Forest Service says logging is necessary to prevent wildfires. Two thirds of the world's largest trees are located in California's Giant Sequoia National Monument.
Just ahead on DAYBREAK, churches bombed, bishops kidnapped, a tough time for Iraqi Christians. We'll have more details for you at 19 minutes after.
Also, all she wants are two tickets to the big game just down the street. Barbara Langston will be with us to tell us the interesting way she got tickets to the Super Bowl for her sons.
And a dog named Trouble is big trouble for hotel baroness Leona Helmsley. We'll tell you about that.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We have breaking news to tell you about out of Iraq this morning.
Apparently the U.S. military has arrested two top lieutenants in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror group. One of these top lieutenants was apparently head of the Baghdad operations.
Now, we don't know much information beyond that. When we get more information, we'll take you back live to Baghdad to talk about this. But if this is, indeed, true, and we think it is, this is an important development out of Iraq.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 5:14 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be sworn in again today. This time it's only ceremonial, though. Yesterday, she jumped right into her new job, speaking to workers at the State Department. Next week, Rice begins a seven day trip to Europe and to the Middle East.
Ford Motor Company is recalling nearly 800,000 pickup trucks and SUVs. The cruise control switch on the vehicles could short out and start a fire. The recall includes F150 trucks, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators made in the year 2000.
In money news, the medical journal "BMJ" is apologizing for claims involving Prozac maker Eli Lily. "BMJ" had placed suspicion on the company over supposedly missing internal documents. Those documents actually were never missing. But the journal says Eli Lily knew about the link between Prozac and suicide.
In culture, Ringo Starr superhero? Uh-huh. Comic book pioneer Stan Lee plans to make Ringo into an Earth saving animated hero with a great sense of rhythm. DVDs featuring Ringo and his superpowers should be available next year.
In sports, just one year after NASCAR lost Winston cigarettes as its primary sponsor, Nicorette is moving in. Nicorette will be a sponsor for the number 41 car, driven by Casey Mears. They will also send a mobile smoking cessation exhibit to 23 races.
To the forecast center and Rob.
Somehow that doesn't fit with NASCAR, but who am I? I think it's a good thing in the end.
MARCIANO: Hey, we're moving forward, Carol, and it's a good thing. Nice, green, fresh. It makes me just want to chew a piece of gum.
COSTELLO: Yes, a piece of Nicorette gum.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines this morning.
It will be a complex election in Iraq and some feel unfair. Christians in Iraq feel left out and those Iraqi Christians who live in this country plan a demonstration this weekend.
Joining us now, the Reverend Ken Joseph, who is an Assyrian Christian living here.
Good morning and thank you for coming in so early.
We do appreciate it.
You know, even the Bush administration says this election will not be perfect.
What is your concern?
REV. KEN JOSEPH, ASSYRIAN CHRISTIAN: I don't think it will be. I think the main concern that we have is that it gives legitimacy to a government that takes place afterwards that is not necessarily what we want. I think the Iraqis are very passionate that they do not want to be like Iran. I think that's the big fear, I think, that we have.
COSTELLO: Well, why would this election make them more like Iran?
JOSEPH: Because I think the U.N. has really, frankly, quite bungled it. They bungled the overseas voting and they've bungled the within country voting. They've put in a system called proportional representation that essentially is winner take all. And I met with the head of it and I said you're essentially putting together an election that will create, essentially, an Islamic republic. That's what we're concerned about.
COSTELLO: And by that you mean because the majority are Shiites.
JOSEPH: Yes.
COSTELLO: That they'll win the election easily.
JOSEPH: In other words, you don't vote for your local representative. It would be like going to vote for Congress members that don't represent states. That's the big concern that we have.
COSTELLO: But even in democratic elections held here, and you have to admit that Christians are a very small minority within Iraq, minorities sometimes don't win elections in countries, in democratic countries.
JOSEPH: Yes. So that's the bad side.
The good side is, for example, the Assyrian Christians are the original people of Iraq, OK? They were there long before the Arabs came. So I think the flip side is that we believe that in the end that Iraq will evolve into different areas. And, for example, this is our Assyrian administrative region. And we believe that this would provide the security and the level of democracy will be different according to the regions.
So I think part of the regions may very well not have a very good future. But we're very confident the Assyrian area will be -- because of the history as well as the future.
COSTELLO: You've said before that it's really more important to keep watch on Iraq after the elections, more so than before, perhaps.
Why?
JOSEPH: Because, for those of us that were there, I have been there essentially since before the war and immediately afterwards, we see a very dangerous pattern happening from neighboring Iran. Iran has sent a large number of people into Iraq. We believe some of them will even be voting. And so the concern is, is to what degree -- see, something like this happened in Iran shortly after Khomeini came back. There's nothing worse than a flawed election that gives legitimacy to something that the people don't feel...
COSTELLO: So, wait a minute. What you're saying is that Iranians will cross the border, try to pass themselves off as Iraqis so they can vote for the Shiites, which, of course, rule Iran. But, right now today the U.S. military and Iraqi forces are trying to seal the borders to prevent that from happening.
So what proof do you have that they're coming out?
JOSEPH: It's too late. It's too late. But I'll tell you the way you can, the numbers of Iraqis that have voted, have registered to vote overseas, the largest number of overseas registered Iraqis to vote, by far, is in Iran, not exactly, you know, a medium of democratic principles. So we're very concerned that if twice the percent -- the numbers of the closest country of Iraqis voting overseas is in Iran, that pattern, I think you can see it translated into Iraq.
But as the Christians, from the Assyrian Christian perspective, we feel that whereas the future may not be as perfect -- see, this is not the best plan. The original plan was for there to have been a constitution, elections and then a government, and then the hand over was supposed to happen. This whole process was rushed.
But that's in the past. And we feel positive because regardless of what happens, if the Assyrian Christians can have their own administrative area which is provided for in the constitution -- Article 53 grants the Assyrian Christians the right to manage their own area.
COSTELLO: In the interim constitution.
JOSEPH: Yes. Then we believe, then the rest is up to us, what we will make from our area. And I think that's really where there's light at the end of the tunnel in spite of all the bad news.
COSTELLO: Reverend, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
We appreciate it.
We're going to take a short break.
We'll be right back with more.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, Rob, it's time for some laughing this morning.
MARCIANO: Make me laugh, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, I'm not going to make you laugh, but Jon Stewart is.
MARCIANO: All right, cool. COSTELLO: You know, with the Iraqi elections just two days away, even the late night talk shows are taking on President Bush's international policy, and you can bet Jon Stewart was one of them.
MARCIANO: I would think so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
JOHN STEWART, HOST: As for foreign policy, the president addressed why certain countries were given ultimatums to be democratic while Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, not so much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think foreign policy is an either or proposition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Really?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Adding boo!
As to other countries and their alleged anger toward the United States, Bush again says ah, not so much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: When I've talked with people, I feel like people are looking forward to working with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: I think that's because these are the only people you talk to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That one got me, I have to admit. That was funny. Whatever you believe, that was funny.
Why aren't you not laughing?
MARCIANO: Good things. Good things.
COSTELLO: Stewart also touched on President Bush's promise to stop the practice of paying journalists to promote his agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Listen, there needs to be a nice, independent relationship between the White House and the press and the administration and the press.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Absolutely! Completely independent. The White House has its press and you guys can have yours.
The president then demonstrated how he will deal with this new independent press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Well, I can't speak specifically to the case.
I haven't seen the article. I didn't read the article.
You've asked me to comment on something that I didn't know took place.
I haven't seen the article you're referring to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: How many times do I have to tell you guys, if it's in the paper and doesn't involve a cat eating lasagna, I haven't read it. So stop asking me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That is just wrong. But it's interesting what the president says, because, you know, with all the anti-Bush books coming out, I mean the administration's answer was always a haven't read it, don't know what's in it, won't read it, only read a chapter, put it down. So that's sort of the thing they say. But you know they've really read it.
MARCIANO: Do you? I mean I would think they would be busy like running the rest of the world and have to sit down and read a book all the time.
COSTELLO: I don't know. But when a book has like allegations against your administration, wouldn't you want to read it?
MARCIANO: Yes. Well, you would probably have an intern reading it and giving you the crib notes.
COSTELLO: No, I think they read it themselves and they just don't want to place too much importance on it, perhaps, and say well, didn't read it.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK. The voices of Iraq -- the art of war is not the only course of study for a few young people in Iraq. In the next half hour we'll meet Iraqis focusing on the finer arts.
Plus, people are doing whatever it takes to score Super Bowl tickets. We're going to talk to one Florida mother and find out if her super efforts were enough to get her kids to that game.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 28, 2005 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, a nation at the crossroads -- expatriates are the first to vote in Iraq's historic elections. We'll tell you where the polls are now open.
Plus, portrait of a nation -- politics may not be first on every Iraqi's agenda. We'll introduce you to some young people focusing on their artistic talents.
And catch this, big number 83 was planning to watch the big game, not play in it. We'll have his story.
It is Friday, January 28.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, the voting begins. Iraqi expatriates have started casting their ballots in their country's historic elections. This is in Sydney, Australia. The vote will take place over the next three days in 14 countries. In Iraq itself, election is set for Sunday.
Hundreds of Palestinian police are taking up positions in southern Gaza. They're there to protect Israelis from Palestinian attackers. It's the latest move toward new relations between the two sides.
Ford is recalling nearly 800,000 pickups and SUVs because they could catch fire. The vehicles being recalled are the 2000 model F150 pickups, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators and the 2001 model F Series Super Crew trucks.
And Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette. Price tag? $57 billion. It would create the world's largest producer of household goods. The deal is subject to approval by regulators.
To the forecast center now.
Rob Marciano in for Chad today -- good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Carol.
That was my razor that you guys just showed on there.
COSTELLO: Really?
MARCIANO: Will we get a discount now? Can I get like maybe a month's supply of that stuff?
COSTELLO: No, the price will probably go up. That's a big price tag.
MARCIANO: Yes. And razors aren't cheap as they are.
Anyway, I'm showing my cheap side.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
The voting began this morning in Iraq's election, but it began in other countries. No voting until Sunday in Iraq itself, where the violence continues unabated.
Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us live now from Baghdad -- hello.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, hello from Baghdad.
Around Iraq, of course, the question is will the people be brave enough to come out on Sunday and cast their vote amid this relentless campaign to intimidate them and keep them away from their first free election?
Today, the intimidation continued here in Baghdad. There were two car bombs, one before the other in virtually the same district. One was against a police station in the southern part of Baghdad and it did, in fact, according to police officials, kill four people and wounded a couple of others, according to the Iraqi police. The bomb was in an SUV and it was detonated outside the police station, as I said.
The next one shortly afterwards, about 700 meters away, was directed at a boys high school, which will be used as an election day polling center. There, there were no casualties. Nobody was wounded or killed. There was some damage.
Apparently the car could not get past the blast walls that surrounded that area and detonated and exploded as it crashed into the concrete. So that's good news, that there is some security in some of these places that perhaps may keep some of these determined terrorists away from disrupting the elections, because there have also continued to be fliers that are being dropped in some neighborhoods. I'll just show you, if you can see, I mean you won't be able to read it, but it's in Arabic and it's been dropped in neighborhoods around Baghdad. It's anonymous. And it's warning people to stay away, saying that they have prepared bombs, mortars, car bombs and the like for every "polling station." And in other parts of Iraq, there are also leaflets and fliers and Internet warnings posted by the Zarqawi group, warning people to stay away. So almost it's like the people of Iraq are not just preparing for an election, but for war, as well. They're worried about the violence. They're stockpiling because of a lockdown that's going on for the next three days and they're getting prepared for Sunday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour live in Baghdad this morning.
Thank you.
Among the 14 nations where Iraqi expatriates can vote are several surrounding Iraq -- Jordan, Iran, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
CNN correspondent Brent Sadler is in Damascus -- how is it going there, Brent?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, there's been no rush so far to vote in Iraq's first election. Doors opened here just a few hours ago. There were two lone voters waiting outside the door, but they had to wait a lot longer, in fact, 30 minutes. The vote was delayed from starting here because of confusion inside the building itself over who should fit where and how the procedures here should be meticulously followed.
Nevertheless, this is the first chance we're getting in one of Iraq's neighboring countries to see how Iraqi voters themselves, first timers, are reacting to this balloting process.
Now, I've been out and about amongst those who have been showing up here over the past few hours. Some have been telling me that, one man, in fact, said he was 49 years old and he said having just balloted, he felt as though he had just been reborn.
Others are expressing some degree of puzzlement about the process, even though there's been a fairly wide voter education campaign that's been going on in Syria for the past couple of weeks. There's a long list of political entities on the voting sheet, 111 in all, and Iraqis clearly feel somewhat confused about who they should be thinking about to vote for. In fact, words about who they should vote for have been spreading along the line of people waiting outside this voting station.
Nevertheless, election officials here in Syria say they're satisfied with how it's going so far and how people here are reacting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUIS MARTINEZ-BETANZOS, INTERNATIONAL OFFICE FOR MIGRATION: I think they're very happy. My impression from the voters has shown, and we have voters coming from hours to drive from Damascus, they vote the first one. So the people is extremely happy. People, they've really thought about this. The people who registered are extremely committed with the process. They are very happy that elections are taking place today. It means a lot for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SADLER: Nevertheless, voter turnout will be quite low, 16,000 or so Iraqis registered in the process before the start of today's vote out of a possible potential electorate of 200,000 Iraqis who might have been able to vote had they registered, living in Syria. That's disappointing -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Brent Sadler live in Damascus, Syria this morning.
Thank you.
Iraqis living in Turkey also casting ballots.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh joins us live from Istanbul -- good morning, Alphonso.
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
We've got a very interesting situation here, like Christiane and Brent mentioned. Iraqis are going to the polls. They are here in Istanbul and Ankara, as well. Now, there are an eligible 30,000 Iraqis living in Turkey, but only about 4,100 have actually registered to vote. The numbers at this polling station, the numbers of people showing up, aren't so high.
But those who are coming are very happy to see this. This is a list of the candidates who will eventually fill the seats for this election, more than 7,000 people running for -- running with about 100 different political parties. People here say that they're very excited to be participating in this election. Also excited, too, is the Turkish government, neighboring Iraq. Turkey is very concerned over the security situation in Iraq. They say that they want the U.S. to do more to secure the borders, to keep what Turkey says are very unstable elements from coming over here and perhaps even trying to cause damage to Turkish troops.
Lastly for you, Carol, the big issue with this election is what's going to happen to ethnic Kurds in the northern part of Iraq? Turkey is very sensitive about the Kurdish issue and feels that if there is a political victory for Kurds in Iraq, that might urge Kurds on this side of the border to spark their own independence movement -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alphonso Van Marsh reporting live for us this morning from Turkey.
Thank you.
Stay tuned to CNN all weekend for complete coverage of the Iraqi elections. Throughout the day and overnight, our team of journalists will bring you every single angle of this story.
In News Across America this morning, Houston's legal gun owners can now carry their concealed weapons on buses and trains. The city's mass transit authority repealed its 10-year-old gun ban. The move is partly a response to several lawsuits that came after the state told cities they couldn't ban guns in public buildings.
New Jersey has arrested 39 people on child pornography charges. Among them is a high school coach and a pediatric neurosurgeon. The suspects were identified through a new computer software -- through new computer software, rather, that traced the distribution of a child porn video over the Internet.
A soldier returning from Iraq caused a commotion at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Two live grenades were found in his luggage. Arriving passengers were kept out of the international concourse while the grenades were removed. The unidentified soldier was turned over to the military.
Environmental groups are suing the federal government over the planned cutting down of giant sequoias. The Forest Service says logging is necessary to prevent wildfires. Two thirds of the world's largest trees are located in California's Giant Sequoia National Monument.
Just ahead on DAYBREAK, churches bombed, bishops kidnapped, a tough time for Iraqi Christians. We'll have more details for you at 19 minutes after.
Also, all she wants are two tickets to the big game just down the street. Barbara Langston will be with us to tell us the interesting way she got tickets to the Super Bowl for her sons.
And a dog named Trouble is big trouble for hotel baroness Leona Helmsley. We'll tell you about that.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We have breaking news to tell you about out of Iraq this morning.
Apparently the U.S. military has arrested two top lieutenants in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror group. One of these top lieutenants was apparently head of the Baghdad operations.
Now, we don't know much information beyond that. When we get more information, we'll take you back live to Baghdad to talk about this. But if this is, indeed, true, and we think it is, this is an important development out of Iraq.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 5:14 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be sworn in again today. This time it's only ceremonial, though. Yesterday, she jumped right into her new job, speaking to workers at the State Department. Next week, Rice begins a seven day trip to Europe and to the Middle East.
Ford Motor Company is recalling nearly 800,000 pickup trucks and SUVs. The cruise control switch on the vehicles could short out and start a fire. The recall includes F150 trucks, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators made in the year 2000.
In money news, the medical journal "BMJ" is apologizing for claims involving Prozac maker Eli Lily. "BMJ" had placed suspicion on the company over supposedly missing internal documents. Those documents actually were never missing. But the journal says Eli Lily knew about the link between Prozac and suicide.
In culture, Ringo Starr superhero? Uh-huh. Comic book pioneer Stan Lee plans to make Ringo into an Earth saving animated hero with a great sense of rhythm. DVDs featuring Ringo and his superpowers should be available next year.
In sports, just one year after NASCAR lost Winston cigarettes as its primary sponsor, Nicorette is moving in. Nicorette will be a sponsor for the number 41 car, driven by Casey Mears. They will also send a mobile smoking cessation exhibit to 23 races.
To the forecast center and Rob.
Somehow that doesn't fit with NASCAR, but who am I? I think it's a good thing in the end.
MARCIANO: Hey, we're moving forward, Carol, and it's a good thing. Nice, green, fresh. It makes me just want to chew a piece of gum.
COSTELLO: Yes, a piece of Nicorette gum.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines this morning.
It will be a complex election in Iraq and some feel unfair. Christians in Iraq feel left out and those Iraqi Christians who live in this country plan a demonstration this weekend.
Joining us now, the Reverend Ken Joseph, who is an Assyrian Christian living here.
Good morning and thank you for coming in so early.
We do appreciate it.
You know, even the Bush administration says this election will not be perfect.
What is your concern?
REV. KEN JOSEPH, ASSYRIAN CHRISTIAN: I don't think it will be. I think the main concern that we have is that it gives legitimacy to a government that takes place afterwards that is not necessarily what we want. I think the Iraqis are very passionate that they do not want to be like Iran. I think that's the big fear, I think, that we have.
COSTELLO: Well, why would this election make them more like Iran?
JOSEPH: Because I think the U.N. has really, frankly, quite bungled it. They bungled the overseas voting and they've bungled the within country voting. They've put in a system called proportional representation that essentially is winner take all. And I met with the head of it and I said you're essentially putting together an election that will create, essentially, an Islamic republic. That's what we're concerned about.
COSTELLO: And by that you mean because the majority are Shiites.
JOSEPH: Yes.
COSTELLO: That they'll win the election easily.
JOSEPH: In other words, you don't vote for your local representative. It would be like going to vote for Congress members that don't represent states. That's the big concern that we have.
COSTELLO: But even in democratic elections held here, and you have to admit that Christians are a very small minority within Iraq, minorities sometimes don't win elections in countries, in democratic countries.
JOSEPH: Yes. So that's the bad side.
The good side is, for example, the Assyrian Christians are the original people of Iraq, OK? They were there long before the Arabs came. So I think the flip side is that we believe that in the end that Iraq will evolve into different areas. And, for example, this is our Assyrian administrative region. And we believe that this would provide the security and the level of democracy will be different according to the regions.
So I think part of the regions may very well not have a very good future. But we're very confident the Assyrian area will be -- because of the history as well as the future.
COSTELLO: You've said before that it's really more important to keep watch on Iraq after the elections, more so than before, perhaps.
Why?
JOSEPH: Because, for those of us that were there, I have been there essentially since before the war and immediately afterwards, we see a very dangerous pattern happening from neighboring Iran. Iran has sent a large number of people into Iraq. We believe some of them will even be voting. And so the concern is, is to what degree -- see, something like this happened in Iran shortly after Khomeini came back. There's nothing worse than a flawed election that gives legitimacy to something that the people don't feel...
COSTELLO: So, wait a minute. What you're saying is that Iranians will cross the border, try to pass themselves off as Iraqis so they can vote for the Shiites, which, of course, rule Iran. But, right now today the U.S. military and Iraqi forces are trying to seal the borders to prevent that from happening.
So what proof do you have that they're coming out?
JOSEPH: It's too late. It's too late. But I'll tell you the way you can, the numbers of Iraqis that have voted, have registered to vote overseas, the largest number of overseas registered Iraqis to vote, by far, is in Iran, not exactly, you know, a medium of democratic principles. So we're very concerned that if twice the percent -- the numbers of the closest country of Iraqis voting overseas is in Iran, that pattern, I think you can see it translated into Iraq.
But as the Christians, from the Assyrian Christian perspective, we feel that whereas the future may not be as perfect -- see, this is not the best plan. The original plan was for there to have been a constitution, elections and then a government, and then the hand over was supposed to happen. This whole process was rushed.
But that's in the past. And we feel positive because regardless of what happens, if the Assyrian Christians can have their own administrative area which is provided for in the constitution -- Article 53 grants the Assyrian Christians the right to manage their own area.
COSTELLO: In the interim constitution.
JOSEPH: Yes. Then we believe, then the rest is up to us, what we will make from our area. And I think that's really where there's light at the end of the tunnel in spite of all the bad news.
COSTELLO: Reverend, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
We appreciate it.
We're going to take a short break.
We'll be right back with more.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, Rob, it's time for some laughing this morning.
MARCIANO: Make me laugh, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, I'm not going to make you laugh, but Jon Stewart is.
MARCIANO: All right, cool. COSTELLO: You know, with the Iraqi elections just two days away, even the late night talk shows are taking on President Bush's international policy, and you can bet Jon Stewart was one of them.
MARCIANO: I would think so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
JOHN STEWART, HOST: As for foreign policy, the president addressed why certain countries were given ultimatums to be democratic while Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, not so much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think foreign policy is an either or proposition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Really?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Adding boo!
As to other countries and their alleged anger toward the United States, Bush again says ah, not so much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: When I've talked with people, I feel like people are looking forward to working with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: I think that's because these are the only people you talk to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That one got me, I have to admit. That was funny. Whatever you believe, that was funny.
Why aren't you not laughing?
MARCIANO: Good things. Good things.
COSTELLO: Stewart also touched on President Bush's promise to stop the practice of paying journalists to promote his agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Listen, there needs to be a nice, independent relationship between the White House and the press and the administration and the press.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Absolutely! Completely independent. The White House has its press and you guys can have yours.
The president then demonstrated how he will deal with this new independent press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Well, I can't speak specifically to the case.
I haven't seen the article. I didn't read the article.
You've asked me to comment on something that I didn't know took place.
I haven't seen the article you're referring to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: How many times do I have to tell you guys, if it's in the paper and doesn't involve a cat eating lasagna, I haven't read it. So stop asking me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That is just wrong. But it's interesting what the president says, because, you know, with all the anti-Bush books coming out, I mean the administration's answer was always a haven't read it, don't know what's in it, won't read it, only read a chapter, put it down. So that's sort of the thing they say. But you know they've really read it.
MARCIANO: Do you? I mean I would think they would be busy like running the rest of the world and have to sit down and read a book all the time.
COSTELLO: I don't know. But when a book has like allegations against your administration, wouldn't you want to read it?
MARCIANO: Yes. Well, you would probably have an intern reading it and giving you the crib notes.
COSTELLO: No, I think they read it themselves and they just don't want to place too much importance on it, perhaps, and say well, didn't read it.
Here's what's all new in the next half hour of DAYBREAK. The voices of Iraq -- the art of war is not the only course of study for a few young people in Iraq. In the next half hour we'll meet Iraqis focusing on the finer arts.
Plus, people are doing whatever it takes to score Super Bowl tickets. We're going to talk to one Florida mother and find out if her super efforts were enough to get her kids to that game.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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