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American Morning

Millions of Iraqis Conquer Fear in a Free Election; Jury Selections Begins in Michael Jackson Trial

Aired January 31, 2005 - 07:00   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Millions of Iraqis conquer fear in a free election to mold their own future. Votes are being counted.
Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court. I deserve a fair trial, like every other American citizen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BFRIEN: Perhaps the biggest celebrity trial of all time begins today. A jury must be picked to judge Michael Jackson.

O'BRIEN: Plus, the deep freeze in the Deep South. Georgia counting on the power of the sun, because tens of thousands still have no electricity on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. On a Monday morning, 7:00 here in New York City. Watching the fallout from the elections over the weekend, fascinating to watch the television reports and get the word out of Iraq. They are finished, many saying a success now. The turnout was good, better than expected. There was violence, 29 dead. But nothing like the bloodbath that insurgents had promised. There is not much time for celebrating.

Now Iraq gets down to the work of governing itself. That is job one today. Some are already asking when U.S. troops can come home. Is that a possibility? The U.S. ambassador in Iraq is John Negroponte. He's our guest, and he'll address that this morning in a few moments.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the Michael Jackson case begins today. He is most arguably the most famous man to ever stand trial. More than 1,000 journalists from all over the world have requested access. No one is expecting to find a jury that's never heard of Jackson or the sexual molestation charges against him. The court, though, is looking for enough people in little Santa Maria, California who think they can judge him fairly.

HEMMER: We'll talk with Lisa Bloom about that in a few minutes. Jack Cafferty, good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I could be on the jury. Get a little time off. Do they have enough Vaseline on the lens of the camera when they did that Web site thing. It looked like they were shooting Bette Davis or something.

You got to figure yesterday was not a good day for Osama your mama over there in his cave in Afghanistan. That vote in Iraq was not exactly a ringing endorsement of fundamentalist Islam, calling for the return of the Taliban. We're going to take a look at how the election might have reverberated around the rest of the Middle East, particularly the countries which don't have freedom, which is most of them, In a few minutes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

Let's get Baghdad, starting our coverage this morning, vote counting already starting in that country. Election workers began adding up the ballots as soon as the polls closed Sunday.

Christiane Amanpour starts our coverage in Baghdad today, the day after.

Christiane, hello.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, hello.

And so far this morning, so good, fingers crossed. Still no reports of any significant violence, and that was really the story of yesterday, the fact that the people came out, defied the threats, and that the insurgents didn't dare disrupt this process in any significant way.

So today, there is vote counting going on. It started as the polls closed, into the darkness. And we're not sure when, exactly, we're going to get the results. It could start trickling out in the next couple of days, but we've been told that it may not be for several days before they give us the official results and the official turnout figure.

Certainly, what was expected happened. There was heavy turnout in the Shiite south, in the Kurdish north, and lower turnout in the Sunni central part of the country. Many of those Sunnis had threatened to boycott, which apparently some of them did, and many of them were afraid of coming out because of the violence.

Nonetheless, it went off much better than people had expected. We heard incredible stories from the people that we saw. We went to a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad and spent most of election day there. And many people telling us that this was just such an unbelievable opportunity, they couldn't imagine that they could have ever had the chance to vote free.

They recalled that under Saddam Hussein, there was no such thing as a free ballot, not even an election, as you can imagine. It was yes or no to Saddam. And anybody who voted no was probably voting to get put in prison, or worse. So people were really, really enthusiastic, and many of them came out with their children, saying that this would be something they would tell their children about when they grew up and were able to understand it.

And just one final note, I heard the report a few minutes ago that one Iraqi woman has called her child (INAUDIBLE), which means "the election." And my colleagues here, my Iraqi colleagues, remind me that over the last 25 years, the way to curry favor was to call your son, at least, Saddam. So that's one change.

HEMMER: Indeed. Much more later this hour. Thanks, Christiane, in Baghdad -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: One of many changes you have to imagine.

Carol Costello has a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. She's over at the Time Warner Center in New York with the stories now in the news.

Hey, Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad, thank you. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, jury selection begins in California today, the child molestation trial of pop star Michael Jackson. The entertainer issued a video statement, calling recent grand jury leaks, quote, "disgusting and false," and asking that he be allowed his day in court. Jackson is expected to be present in the Santa Maria courtroom during the jury-screening process. More on what we can expect coming up with Court TV's Lisa Bloom.

Word of casualties in an ongoing gun battle outside of Kuwait City. At least four militants and a Kuwaiti national guardsman were killed in the fighting. A Kuwaiti security source telling CNN the suspected leader of a terror cell was captured along with five other militants. They're believed to have loyalties to al Qaeda.

An SBC spokesman is calling it's a done deal. SBC Communications confirming this morning that it will acquire AT&T for $16 billion. Shareholders still have to give their OK. Andy Serwer will have details just ahead.

And more than 50,000 people are still without power in parts of Georgia this morning. An icy winter storm knocking out electricity for more than 300,000 people over the weekend. The bad weather slowing down traffic and shutting down Atlanta's airport. At least two deaths are blamed on weather-related traffic accidents.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: They are now counting the ballots. It will be days before the official results of Iraq's national election are in. But yesterday, with the eyes of the world upon them, Iraqis streamed to the polls, defying insurgents and determined to make history. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very happy today. Very, very happy.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): With the simple act of voting, Iraqis spoke volumes about their desire for freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraqi people make Iraqi future this day.

O'BRIEN: Millions cast their ballots on Sunday in Iraq's first free election in half a century. President Bush declared it a resounding success.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Men and women have taken rightful control of their country's destiny, and they have chosen a future of freedom and peace.

O'BRIEN: But it comes at a price. At least 29 people were killed in election-day violence. Despite the threat of attacks, Iraqis went to the polls in large numbers. Their ink-stained fingers a symbolic badge of honor and, perhaps, a sign that they will not be intimidated by the insurgents.

ADNAN PACHACI, FMR. IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: Obviously, they could not carry out their threats, either because they did not have the ability or because of the determination of the Iraqi people to, really to oppose them and to defy them.

O'BRIEN: While the actual voter turnout is not yet known, officials say it exceeded expectations, and that's led some to question whether this is the beginning of the end for U.S. troops in Iraq. America's new secretary of state dismissed any timetable.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: But there will be a very clear point at which American and coalition forces are stepping back as Iraqis are more capable in their own right. And we just have to get to that point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, was also a witness to history in Baghdad. Just a little bit earlier, I asked him about the estimate that 60 percent of eligible voters turned out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: When I spoke to the head of the electoral commission last night, he told me that he expected that either sometime later today or tomorrow, that the commission would be able to give us an idea of the extent of voter turnout. So I'm keeping my powder dry until we know what the electoral commission has to say.

O'BRIEN: No official comment then until we really know the numbers. Last week when we spoke...

NEGROPONTE: Well, no, it's really up to them.

O'BRIEN: Last week when we spoke, you said that just the fact that this was happening at all constituted, in your mind, success. What's your definition of success now? Has that obviously changed?

NEGROPONTE: Well, you know, all you have to do is look at the images of yesterday to know that the election was a success. I think it was an overt demonstration by the people of Iraq of their overwhelming commitment to democracy, and I think that it really gives this country, its people, its government a boost as they move forward to carrying out their political timetable and working to improve their country.

O'BRIEN: I know you had a chance to visit some specific polling places. Where did you go? And give me a sense what was the mood was like when you were visiting.

NEGROPONTE: Well, we had a lot of different people all over the country actually visiting the places. I was able to overfly a number of them yesterday, six or seven. So I was able to see the steady streams of people, men and women, headed for the different voter centers. But all the accounts that we received, and we had embassy people all over the country, were ones of a very committed atmosphere, almost festive, people going with their children. You've seen the pictures. The commitment of the people of Iraq to this process was just palpable. It was visible throughout the country.

O'BRIEN: Some lives were lost, but the violence was kept, I think, lower than some had predicted. Of course, as you recall, the insurgents said the streets will run with blood. Do you expect now that this is a turning point, that the insurgency will lessen? Or some have predicted that, in fact, after a brief, respite, it might actually increase again. Where do you stand on that?

NEGROPONTE: Well, lives were indeed lost, but let's remember, there were 5,300 different voting centers throughout the country, and I think the Iraqi armed forces and police did a terrific job.

Going forward, we would like to work hard to train, and equip and motivate those forces so that over time, they're going to be able to take the lead for security in their country. And I think that you're going to see a lot of effort in that direction during the course of the year 2005. I'd be reluctant to put a time limit on when they can take over the full lead, if you will, but I certainly expect that we're going to be seeing progress in that regard. And yesterday was a good test. And I think demonstrated how well the Iraqi police and armed forces can do when they put their minds to it and when they have a clear objective to accomplish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Iraqi officials said there were 14.2 million eligible voters for the election in Iraq, 280,000 more expatriates registered to vote worldwide -- Bill.

HEMMER: Almost 13 minutes past the hour now. Our coverage of the Iraq election continues, this the day after. Will the vote have a ripple effect on one of Iraq's most troublesome neighbors? A look at that is coming up -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Also the Deep South in a deep freeze. How much longer before the region thaws out?

HEMMER: Also, Michael Jackson's statement to the world just hours before jury selection begins. We'll play it for you in a moment here, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The commute under way here in New York. But in northeast Georgia, they're cleaning up after a weekend ice storm left tens of thousands of folks without power. Stacey Turner from our affiliate WGCL, is in Atlanta this morning, at the Georgia Power headquarters.

Hey, Stacey, good morning to you. How is it looking?

STACEY TURNER, WGCL REPORTER: Good morning, Soledad. It is looking better. They brought in about 5,700 crewmen from as far away as Oklahoma to help get the power back on. They took a little respite last night, back up and back out there this morning.

But here's a look at what they've been dealing with this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (voice-over): The thick layer of ice coating north Georgia early Saturday pushed trees to the breaking point, and many of them did, bringing down with them power lines that turned off the lights to more than 230,000 homes.

That's where these guys come in. Linemen from across the southeast worked in 12-hour shifts to turn the juice back on as quickly as they could, sometimes with an audience of shivering residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, they're going to get it going for us here in a minute.

TURNER: Billy and Toy Willowby (ph) lost power Saturday morning, and pulled out the camping gear to make do, even using the pickup for a little bit of power for necessities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; Cold, a little stressful. Everybody being on the edge, wanting power, wanting to watch TV, and there's nothing really to do.

TURNER: Thirty-six hours later, crews rolled up on their street, finally stopping in front of their house, even though they passed it many times before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said they couldn't do anything without a work order. So you know, they're standing there and looking at the pole, saying we can't do nothing till they tell us we can, then they drive off. You know, and that was probably 1:00 today.

TURNER: One more down, thousands still to go, crews will pick up where they left off again today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: Now, Soledad, we're still looking at about 57,000 residents here across the state of Georgia without power. But Georgia Power says they're going to try to get everyone back up and running by the end of the day today, kind of a bold statement, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that it'll clear up pretty soon.

O'BRIEN: Let's hope so for their sake. Stacey Turner for us this morning from WGCL. Stacey, thanks -- Bill.

TURNER: Sure.

HEMMER: Jury selection begins in a few hours in Michael Jackson's trial in child molestation charges. Yesterday, the singer released a court-approved video statement on his Web site. Here is part of what Michael Jackson had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Years ago, I allowed a family to visit and spend some time at Neverland. Neverland is my home. I allowed them into my home because they told me their son was ill with cancer and needed my help. Through the years, I've helped thousands of children who are ill or in distress. These events have caused a nightmare for my family, my children and me. I never intended to place myself in so vulnerable a position ever again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was yesterday. Lisa Bloom of Court TV is back with us today.

Good morning to you.

LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Good morning.

HEMMER: How significant is that statement, coming out a day before?

BLOOM: Well, I think it's significant to the defense. There were leaks of grand jury transcripts. That's a one-sided proceeding, where the defense didn't have a right to be present, and they want to counteract that by having Michael Jackson straightforwardly, obviously reading a statement written by his attorney, but trying to leveling the playing field. That's all it is.

HEMMER: So you think that's what the judge was trying to do? Because the judge had to approve that. BLOOM: That's right, there's a gag order in the case. He couldn't have done that without the judge's approval. And what he's trying to say, essentially, is look, let the evidence come out at trial, give me a fair trial, I'm entitled to that, just like every other American.

HEMMER: How hard is it to pick a jury in this case?

BLOOM: You know, I don't think it's going to be that hard. I'm going to be counter what I think most of the commentators are saying. We're not looking for a jury that's never heard of Michael Jackson. That would be absurd. We're not looking for someone who's never heard of these allegations. We're looking for fair-minded people who can weigh the evidence and come to a conclusion, based on the trial, and I don't think there will be too much trouble doing that.

HEMMER: Some of the evidence that has leaked out also is this adult magazine, that apparently has fingerprints on it.

BLOOM: That's right, fingerprints of Michael Jackson and the accuser.

HEMMER: And the accuser, right, who at the time was 13, I believe. Now he's 15.

BLOOM: That's right.

HEMMER: Is that evidence, is that the most damaging to this point that we know of?

BLOOM: Well, I think that's important case. I think the most damaging evidence will be the testimony of the accuser, and his brother, who apparently is an eyewitness to some of the accusations, according to the prosecution.

But juries love forensic evidence, Bill. They love to have a fingerprint. They love to have DNA evidence. That's the kind of thing that could corroborate the story, that could really bring it home for the prosecution.

HEMMER: But you touched on it a little bit, once the child goes on the stand, or now he's a young man, we should say, his testimony is the linchpin for whether or not the prosecution can be successful?

BLOOM: Well, the jury has to believe this little boy. They have to believe that he came forward because he's telling the truth, not out of economic motivation. They have to understand why he initially denied any molestation to a Child Protective Service worker and later changed his view and said I was molested. That's going to be key for the prosecution.

HEMMER: Overall, when you look at the decisions the judge has made so far in these pretrial hearings and motions, does one hearing or one decision favor the defense over the prosecution overall?

BLOOM: Well, I think allowing in the erotic material that was found in Michael Jackson's home, especially a book that has been called "Child Erotica" by some, pictures of boys of various states of undress, not engaging in sexual activity, but that could be looked at as erotica, especially in context of other pornography found in the home. I think that's damaging for Michael Jackson.

But the biggest ruling is yet to come. They're ruling that the judge reserved, will other alleged victims be allowed to testify in the case? We still don't know. I think that's the most explosive evidence in the trial.

HEMMER: Jury selection could take how long, do you think?

BLOOM: I think it could take a month.

HEMMER: Wow.

BLOOM: Yes, it's going to be a long process.

HEMMER: Thank you, Lisa. Come on back.

BLOOM: I will. Thank you.

HEMMER: I think we're going to be talking about this for some time.

Nice to see you, Lisa Bloom -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, it is official, the most famous company in the telephone business is history. Andy's "Minding Your Business," just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.

Say bye-bye to Ma Bell. Two big mergers topping the headlines today for Wall Street. Andy Serwer, first check on a Monday, "Minding Your Business."

How are you, Drew? Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'm doing just fine, Bill. Nice to see you.

A raft of merger activity these days on Wall Street. First of all, it's official, SBC Communications is buying AT&T for $16 billion. We talked about this deal last week. Former parent, of course, AT&T, is of SBC. SBC a Baby Bell, which incorporates Ameritech, Pac Bell and Southwestern Bell down in San Antonio, Texas. AT&T, of course, broken up in 1984 when the Baby Bells were spun off, and then subsequently got rid of Lucent and Avia. Now it's just a long- distance company, and that's what SBC is buying. Shouldn't be any interruptions of course for customers of AT&T. But there's no news on whether they're going to keep the AT&T name. So far, SBC has not done that, buying those other companies. So that remains to be seen.

The other big deal, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Metlife is close to buying Travelers from Citigroup for $12 billion. The investment bankers love these deals. That's the red umbrella. That is the symbol of travelers. And of course The symbol of Metlife is Snoopy. So I guess Snoopy gets a big umbrella.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: Do you remember what Citibank paid for travelers when they bought that company, not very long ago either, just a few years ago?

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Do you remember offhand?

SERWER: No, I do not remember, but we can check that.

CAFFERTY: No, I was just curious, what kind of a profit old Sandy Wyle (ph) and the boys turned on this.

SERWER: Yes, and they got rid of the other part of the insurance business, property and casualty business. So this is the second part of that deal. But everyone's happy on Wall Street with this stuff, believe me.

O'BRIEN: Andy, thank you very much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Elections are the big story other the weekend, and we continue to talk about them today.

CAFFERTY: Indeed they are. Thanks, Soledad.

In the end, the Iraqi people delivered the message better than any foreign army or government. With a sense of pride and celebration, and no sign of fear, millions of ordinary Iraqis turned out to reject the insurgents, the fundamentalists, and those who would rule Iraq by force. It was a powerful message, one that exceeded the most optimistic expectations. It repudiated the insurgents as the bunch of punks they are, and sent a signal that freedom is, in fact, the order of the day.

Were they listening in places like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia? Bet on it. Here's the question: What message do the Iraqi elections send to the Middle East? am@CNN.com.

HEMMER: A lot to talk about there. How about some of these reports were fascinating over the weekend, about the children. The reporters were saying they saw more children in the streets of Iraqi cities than they had in almost two years since the Americans went into Baghdad. They were wearing their best clothes to go to those polling stations.

CAFFERTY: Good stuff.

HEMMER: The image you're going to have is, what, the finger with the purple-stained ink.

CAFFERTY: And a bouquet to the American military. I mean, they put a lid of security on that country that allowed these people to exercise that franchise. That was pretty spectacular. I mean, they shut it down pretty good.

HEMMER: Indeed.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack. Looking forward to that.

On a much lighter note, Tony and Carmella making the move to basic cable. But is anybody going to want to watch a cleaned-up version of "The Sopranos?" "90-Second Pop" is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 31, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Millions of Iraqis conquer fear in a free election to mold their own future. Votes are being counted.
Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court. I deserve a fair trial, like every other American citizen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BFRIEN: Perhaps the biggest celebrity trial of all time begins today. A jury must be picked to judge Michael Jackson.

O'BRIEN: Plus, the deep freeze in the Deep South. Georgia counting on the power of the sun, because tens of thousands still have no electricity on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. On a Monday morning, 7:00 here in New York City. Watching the fallout from the elections over the weekend, fascinating to watch the television reports and get the word out of Iraq. They are finished, many saying a success now. The turnout was good, better than expected. There was violence, 29 dead. But nothing like the bloodbath that insurgents had promised. There is not much time for celebrating.

Now Iraq gets down to the work of governing itself. That is job one today. Some are already asking when U.S. troops can come home. Is that a possibility? The U.S. ambassador in Iraq is John Negroponte. He's our guest, and he'll address that this morning in a few moments.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the Michael Jackson case begins today. He is most arguably the most famous man to ever stand trial. More than 1,000 journalists from all over the world have requested access. No one is expecting to find a jury that's never heard of Jackson or the sexual molestation charges against him. The court, though, is looking for enough people in little Santa Maria, California who think they can judge him fairly.

HEMMER: We'll talk with Lisa Bloom about that in a few minutes. Jack Cafferty, good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I could be on the jury. Get a little time off. Do they have enough Vaseline on the lens of the camera when they did that Web site thing. It looked like they were shooting Bette Davis or something.

You got to figure yesterday was not a good day for Osama your mama over there in his cave in Afghanistan. That vote in Iraq was not exactly a ringing endorsement of fundamentalist Islam, calling for the return of the Taliban. We're going to take a look at how the election might have reverberated around the rest of the Middle East, particularly the countries which don't have freedom, which is most of them, In a few minutes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

Let's get Baghdad, starting our coverage this morning, vote counting already starting in that country. Election workers began adding up the ballots as soon as the polls closed Sunday.

Christiane Amanpour starts our coverage in Baghdad today, the day after.

Christiane, hello.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, hello.

And so far this morning, so good, fingers crossed. Still no reports of any significant violence, and that was really the story of yesterday, the fact that the people came out, defied the threats, and that the insurgents didn't dare disrupt this process in any significant way.

So today, there is vote counting going on. It started as the polls closed, into the darkness. And we're not sure when, exactly, we're going to get the results. It could start trickling out in the next couple of days, but we've been told that it may not be for several days before they give us the official results and the official turnout figure.

Certainly, what was expected happened. There was heavy turnout in the Shiite south, in the Kurdish north, and lower turnout in the Sunni central part of the country. Many of those Sunnis had threatened to boycott, which apparently some of them did, and many of them were afraid of coming out because of the violence.

Nonetheless, it went off much better than people had expected. We heard incredible stories from the people that we saw. We went to a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad and spent most of election day there. And many people telling us that this was just such an unbelievable opportunity, they couldn't imagine that they could have ever had the chance to vote free.

They recalled that under Saddam Hussein, there was no such thing as a free ballot, not even an election, as you can imagine. It was yes or no to Saddam. And anybody who voted no was probably voting to get put in prison, or worse. So people were really, really enthusiastic, and many of them came out with their children, saying that this would be something they would tell their children about when they grew up and were able to understand it.

And just one final note, I heard the report a few minutes ago that one Iraqi woman has called her child (INAUDIBLE), which means "the election." And my colleagues here, my Iraqi colleagues, remind me that over the last 25 years, the way to curry favor was to call your son, at least, Saddam. So that's one change.

HEMMER: Indeed. Much more later this hour. Thanks, Christiane, in Baghdad -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: One of many changes you have to imagine.

Carol Costello has a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. She's over at the Time Warner Center in New York with the stories now in the news.

Hey, Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad, thank you. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, jury selection begins in California today, the child molestation trial of pop star Michael Jackson. The entertainer issued a video statement, calling recent grand jury leaks, quote, "disgusting and false," and asking that he be allowed his day in court. Jackson is expected to be present in the Santa Maria courtroom during the jury-screening process. More on what we can expect coming up with Court TV's Lisa Bloom.

Word of casualties in an ongoing gun battle outside of Kuwait City. At least four militants and a Kuwaiti national guardsman were killed in the fighting. A Kuwaiti security source telling CNN the suspected leader of a terror cell was captured along with five other militants. They're believed to have loyalties to al Qaeda.

An SBC spokesman is calling it's a done deal. SBC Communications confirming this morning that it will acquire AT&T for $16 billion. Shareholders still have to give their OK. Andy Serwer will have details just ahead.

And more than 50,000 people are still without power in parts of Georgia this morning. An icy winter storm knocking out electricity for more than 300,000 people over the weekend. The bad weather slowing down traffic and shutting down Atlanta's airport. At least two deaths are blamed on weather-related traffic accidents.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: They are now counting the ballots. It will be days before the official results of Iraq's national election are in. But yesterday, with the eyes of the world upon them, Iraqis streamed to the polls, defying insurgents and determined to make history. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very happy today. Very, very happy.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): With the simple act of voting, Iraqis spoke volumes about their desire for freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraqi people make Iraqi future this day.

O'BRIEN: Millions cast their ballots on Sunday in Iraq's first free election in half a century. President Bush declared it a resounding success.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Men and women have taken rightful control of their country's destiny, and they have chosen a future of freedom and peace.

O'BRIEN: But it comes at a price. At least 29 people were killed in election-day violence. Despite the threat of attacks, Iraqis went to the polls in large numbers. Their ink-stained fingers a symbolic badge of honor and, perhaps, a sign that they will not be intimidated by the insurgents.

ADNAN PACHACI, FMR. IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: Obviously, they could not carry out their threats, either because they did not have the ability or because of the determination of the Iraqi people to, really to oppose them and to defy them.

O'BRIEN: While the actual voter turnout is not yet known, officials say it exceeded expectations, and that's led some to question whether this is the beginning of the end for U.S. troops in Iraq. America's new secretary of state dismissed any timetable.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: But there will be a very clear point at which American and coalition forces are stepping back as Iraqis are more capable in their own right. And we just have to get to that point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, was also a witness to history in Baghdad. Just a little bit earlier, I asked him about the estimate that 60 percent of eligible voters turned out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: When I spoke to the head of the electoral commission last night, he told me that he expected that either sometime later today or tomorrow, that the commission would be able to give us an idea of the extent of voter turnout. So I'm keeping my powder dry until we know what the electoral commission has to say.

O'BRIEN: No official comment then until we really know the numbers. Last week when we spoke...

NEGROPONTE: Well, no, it's really up to them.

O'BRIEN: Last week when we spoke, you said that just the fact that this was happening at all constituted, in your mind, success. What's your definition of success now? Has that obviously changed?

NEGROPONTE: Well, you know, all you have to do is look at the images of yesterday to know that the election was a success. I think it was an overt demonstration by the people of Iraq of their overwhelming commitment to democracy, and I think that it really gives this country, its people, its government a boost as they move forward to carrying out their political timetable and working to improve their country.

O'BRIEN: I know you had a chance to visit some specific polling places. Where did you go? And give me a sense what was the mood was like when you were visiting.

NEGROPONTE: Well, we had a lot of different people all over the country actually visiting the places. I was able to overfly a number of them yesterday, six or seven. So I was able to see the steady streams of people, men and women, headed for the different voter centers. But all the accounts that we received, and we had embassy people all over the country, were ones of a very committed atmosphere, almost festive, people going with their children. You've seen the pictures. The commitment of the people of Iraq to this process was just palpable. It was visible throughout the country.

O'BRIEN: Some lives were lost, but the violence was kept, I think, lower than some had predicted. Of course, as you recall, the insurgents said the streets will run with blood. Do you expect now that this is a turning point, that the insurgency will lessen? Or some have predicted that, in fact, after a brief, respite, it might actually increase again. Where do you stand on that?

NEGROPONTE: Well, lives were indeed lost, but let's remember, there were 5,300 different voting centers throughout the country, and I think the Iraqi armed forces and police did a terrific job.

Going forward, we would like to work hard to train, and equip and motivate those forces so that over time, they're going to be able to take the lead for security in their country. And I think that you're going to see a lot of effort in that direction during the course of the year 2005. I'd be reluctant to put a time limit on when they can take over the full lead, if you will, but I certainly expect that we're going to be seeing progress in that regard. And yesterday was a good test. And I think demonstrated how well the Iraqi police and armed forces can do when they put their minds to it and when they have a clear objective to accomplish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Iraqi officials said there were 14.2 million eligible voters for the election in Iraq, 280,000 more expatriates registered to vote worldwide -- Bill.

HEMMER: Almost 13 minutes past the hour now. Our coverage of the Iraq election continues, this the day after. Will the vote have a ripple effect on one of Iraq's most troublesome neighbors? A look at that is coming up -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Also the Deep South in a deep freeze. How much longer before the region thaws out?

HEMMER: Also, Michael Jackson's statement to the world just hours before jury selection begins. We'll play it for you in a moment here, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The commute under way here in New York. But in northeast Georgia, they're cleaning up after a weekend ice storm left tens of thousands of folks without power. Stacey Turner from our affiliate WGCL, is in Atlanta this morning, at the Georgia Power headquarters.

Hey, Stacey, good morning to you. How is it looking?

STACEY TURNER, WGCL REPORTER: Good morning, Soledad. It is looking better. They brought in about 5,700 crewmen from as far away as Oklahoma to help get the power back on. They took a little respite last night, back up and back out there this morning.

But here's a look at what they've been dealing with this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (voice-over): The thick layer of ice coating north Georgia early Saturday pushed trees to the breaking point, and many of them did, bringing down with them power lines that turned off the lights to more than 230,000 homes.

That's where these guys come in. Linemen from across the southeast worked in 12-hour shifts to turn the juice back on as quickly as they could, sometimes with an audience of shivering residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, they're going to get it going for us here in a minute.

TURNER: Billy and Toy Willowby (ph) lost power Saturday morning, and pulled out the camping gear to make do, even using the pickup for a little bit of power for necessities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; Cold, a little stressful. Everybody being on the edge, wanting power, wanting to watch TV, and there's nothing really to do.

TURNER: Thirty-six hours later, crews rolled up on their street, finally stopping in front of their house, even though they passed it many times before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said they couldn't do anything without a work order. So you know, they're standing there and looking at the pole, saying we can't do nothing till they tell us we can, then they drive off. You know, and that was probably 1:00 today.

TURNER: One more down, thousands still to go, crews will pick up where they left off again today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: Now, Soledad, we're still looking at about 57,000 residents here across the state of Georgia without power. But Georgia Power says they're going to try to get everyone back up and running by the end of the day today, kind of a bold statement, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that it'll clear up pretty soon.

O'BRIEN: Let's hope so for their sake. Stacey Turner for us this morning from WGCL. Stacey, thanks -- Bill.

TURNER: Sure.

HEMMER: Jury selection begins in a few hours in Michael Jackson's trial in child molestation charges. Yesterday, the singer released a court-approved video statement on his Web site. Here is part of what Michael Jackson had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Years ago, I allowed a family to visit and spend some time at Neverland. Neverland is my home. I allowed them into my home because they told me their son was ill with cancer and needed my help. Through the years, I've helped thousands of children who are ill or in distress. These events have caused a nightmare for my family, my children and me. I never intended to place myself in so vulnerable a position ever again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was yesterday. Lisa Bloom of Court TV is back with us today.

Good morning to you.

LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Good morning.

HEMMER: How significant is that statement, coming out a day before?

BLOOM: Well, I think it's significant to the defense. There were leaks of grand jury transcripts. That's a one-sided proceeding, where the defense didn't have a right to be present, and they want to counteract that by having Michael Jackson straightforwardly, obviously reading a statement written by his attorney, but trying to leveling the playing field. That's all it is.

HEMMER: So you think that's what the judge was trying to do? Because the judge had to approve that. BLOOM: That's right, there's a gag order in the case. He couldn't have done that without the judge's approval. And what he's trying to say, essentially, is look, let the evidence come out at trial, give me a fair trial, I'm entitled to that, just like every other American.

HEMMER: How hard is it to pick a jury in this case?

BLOOM: You know, I don't think it's going to be that hard. I'm going to be counter what I think most of the commentators are saying. We're not looking for a jury that's never heard of Michael Jackson. That would be absurd. We're not looking for someone who's never heard of these allegations. We're looking for fair-minded people who can weigh the evidence and come to a conclusion, based on the trial, and I don't think there will be too much trouble doing that.

HEMMER: Some of the evidence that has leaked out also is this adult magazine, that apparently has fingerprints on it.

BLOOM: That's right, fingerprints of Michael Jackson and the accuser.

HEMMER: And the accuser, right, who at the time was 13, I believe. Now he's 15.

BLOOM: That's right.

HEMMER: Is that evidence, is that the most damaging to this point that we know of?

BLOOM: Well, I think that's important case. I think the most damaging evidence will be the testimony of the accuser, and his brother, who apparently is an eyewitness to some of the accusations, according to the prosecution.

But juries love forensic evidence, Bill. They love to have a fingerprint. They love to have DNA evidence. That's the kind of thing that could corroborate the story, that could really bring it home for the prosecution.

HEMMER: But you touched on it a little bit, once the child goes on the stand, or now he's a young man, we should say, his testimony is the linchpin for whether or not the prosecution can be successful?

BLOOM: Well, the jury has to believe this little boy. They have to believe that he came forward because he's telling the truth, not out of economic motivation. They have to understand why he initially denied any molestation to a Child Protective Service worker and later changed his view and said I was molested. That's going to be key for the prosecution.

HEMMER: Overall, when you look at the decisions the judge has made so far in these pretrial hearings and motions, does one hearing or one decision favor the defense over the prosecution overall?

BLOOM: Well, I think allowing in the erotic material that was found in Michael Jackson's home, especially a book that has been called "Child Erotica" by some, pictures of boys of various states of undress, not engaging in sexual activity, but that could be looked at as erotica, especially in context of other pornography found in the home. I think that's damaging for Michael Jackson.

But the biggest ruling is yet to come. They're ruling that the judge reserved, will other alleged victims be allowed to testify in the case? We still don't know. I think that's the most explosive evidence in the trial.

HEMMER: Jury selection could take how long, do you think?

BLOOM: I think it could take a month.

HEMMER: Wow.

BLOOM: Yes, it's going to be a long process.

HEMMER: Thank you, Lisa. Come on back.

BLOOM: I will. Thank you.

HEMMER: I think we're going to be talking about this for some time.

Nice to see you, Lisa Bloom -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, it is official, the most famous company in the telephone business is history. Andy's "Minding Your Business," just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.

Say bye-bye to Ma Bell. Two big mergers topping the headlines today for Wall Street. Andy Serwer, first check on a Monday, "Minding Your Business."

How are you, Drew? Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'm doing just fine, Bill. Nice to see you.

A raft of merger activity these days on Wall Street. First of all, it's official, SBC Communications is buying AT&T for $16 billion. We talked about this deal last week. Former parent, of course, AT&T, is of SBC. SBC a Baby Bell, which incorporates Ameritech, Pac Bell and Southwestern Bell down in San Antonio, Texas. AT&T, of course, broken up in 1984 when the Baby Bells were spun off, and then subsequently got rid of Lucent and Avia. Now it's just a long- distance company, and that's what SBC is buying. Shouldn't be any interruptions of course for customers of AT&T. But there's no news on whether they're going to keep the AT&T name. So far, SBC has not done that, buying those other companies. So that remains to be seen.

The other big deal, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Metlife is close to buying Travelers from Citigroup for $12 billion. The investment bankers love these deals. That's the red umbrella. That is the symbol of travelers. And of course The symbol of Metlife is Snoopy. So I guess Snoopy gets a big umbrella.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: Do you remember what Citibank paid for travelers when they bought that company, not very long ago either, just a few years ago?

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Do you remember offhand?

SERWER: No, I do not remember, but we can check that.

CAFFERTY: No, I was just curious, what kind of a profit old Sandy Wyle (ph) and the boys turned on this.

SERWER: Yes, and they got rid of the other part of the insurance business, property and casualty business. So this is the second part of that deal. But everyone's happy on Wall Street with this stuff, believe me.

O'BRIEN: Andy, thank you very much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Elections are the big story other the weekend, and we continue to talk about them today.

CAFFERTY: Indeed they are. Thanks, Soledad.

In the end, the Iraqi people delivered the message better than any foreign army or government. With a sense of pride and celebration, and no sign of fear, millions of ordinary Iraqis turned out to reject the insurgents, the fundamentalists, and those who would rule Iraq by force. It was a powerful message, one that exceeded the most optimistic expectations. It repudiated the insurgents as the bunch of punks they are, and sent a signal that freedom is, in fact, the order of the day.

Were they listening in places like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia? Bet on it. Here's the question: What message do the Iraqi elections send to the Middle East? am@CNN.com.

HEMMER: A lot to talk about there. How about some of these reports were fascinating over the weekend, about the children. The reporters were saying they saw more children in the streets of Iraqi cities than they had in almost two years since the Americans went into Baghdad. They were wearing their best clothes to go to those polling stations.

CAFFERTY: Good stuff.

HEMMER: The image you're going to have is, what, the finger with the purple-stained ink.

CAFFERTY: And a bouquet to the American military. I mean, they put a lid of security on that country that allowed these people to exercise that franchise. That was pretty spectacular. I mean, they shut it down pretty good.

HEMMER: Indeed.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack. Looking forward to that.

On a much lighter note, Tony and Carmella making the move to basic cable. But is anybody going to want to watch a cleaned-up version of "The Sopranos?" "90-Second Pop" is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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