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American Morning

Iraqi Women's Rights

Aired August 23, 2005 - 09:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Coming up, a decision this week to make Islamic law a major basis for Iraqi law could have profound affects on women in the country. Think burkas, for example, a possibility.
Certainly many actually are talking about the fallout this morning, and it really depends on how the laws are interpreted, but women could be forbidden by their husbands to leave the house. Girls could legally be married at the age of nine. Lots of things could happen. Of course, we're going to talk this morning about what might happen and find out if women could have fewer rights under this new constitution as it's drafted and not approved than they had under Saddam Hussein. A look at that's ahead. Another check of the headlines with carol. Good morning.

First, though, another check of the headlines with Carol Costello.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to you.

Now in the news, it is the final phase of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout plan. Hundreds of protesters had to be removed in the West Bank, many by force, as the Israeli army began clearing out protesters and activists in the Sanur settlement. All 21 settlements in Gaza have already been evacuated.

The man suspected of kidnapping Dylan and Shasta Groene and killing their family members in Idaho is expected to enter a plea today. Until now Joseph Duncan has appeared in court via videolink. All six charges carry he faces carry the death penalty. Duncan was arrested last month with 8-year-old Shasta. The body of her 9-year- old brother Dylan was found a few days later in Montana.

Showed you pictures of this earlier. A freight-train derailment affecting Amtrak service this morning. The derailment happened over two hours ago, and Apparently damaged some overhead power lines. So if you're traveling on Amtrak from New York's Penn Station, well, you might be directed to Metro north service (ph), and we wish you a hearty good luck. Well, it's just the truth.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow!

COSTELLO: I know.

Here's a happy story for you now. To politics. Yes, there are happy stories in the world of politics. So he didn't come close to becoming president of the United States, but he did score a wife. Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is a married man. Kucinich announced to the country he was look for a bride during his presidential run. Remember that? Well, he got a wife. Kucinich tied the knot with his British girlfriend Elizabeth Harper, did it right outside of Cleveland Hall.

M. O'BRIEN: Get a room! Can you tell them to get a room?

COSTELLO: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It's their wedding!

S. O'BRIEN: It's their wedding.

COSTELLO: She's taller than he is.

M. O'BRIEN: Obviously not intimidate by the height issue.

COSTELLO: I was just starting to say that, but I stopped myself, but leave it to Miles. Anyway, they're very happy.

S. O'BRIEN: Sorry, you guys weren't supposed to get that on. First of all, we want to wish the happy couple the biggest of congratulations. We're very happy for them. The good news, he's married. The bad news...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: No, I'm just polite.

COSTELLO: But Shirley McClain and Sean Penn were said to be among the guests. Did it right outside of Cleveland Hall, and of course he was mayor of Cleveland long ago.

S. O'BRIEN: I think that's fantastic. Good for him. Congratulations to the happy couple.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm not saying anything more. I got backhanded just a moment ago.

S. O'BRIEN: Anything you want to add, Miles, before we move on to serious news.

M. O'BRIEN: I got a welt. I'm going on.

S. O'BRIEN: You'll be all right. Don't worry about that.

Let's get to our stop story. Iraqi leaders still lots to iron out. Outstanding points, they call it, in the draft of the constitution, that was submitted to the national assembly on Monday. Iraqi women's rights advocates say they're concerned about the role of women in the new constitution. Some say the current draft leaves plenty of room for interpretation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) S. O'BRIEN: Zainab Al-Suwaij is with the American Islamic Congress. It's nice to have you. Thank you for talking with us. Could it turn out that women have fewer rights under this new government than they had under Saddam Hussein?

ZAINAB AL-SUWAIJ, AMERICAN-ISLAMIC CONGRESS: Well, this is the critical point right now, is to have what I saw in the constitution as Islam being a source, not the main source for the law in Iraq, which is a little bit of space for women to have rights, but also there's another sentence following it up, which is unless do not contradict with Islamic law. So that's actually banned a lot of rights for women inside Iraq, which is going to be really difficult.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me interrupt you there, because I think you're pointing out something that is critical. It's both vague and specific in a way at the same time when you're talking about Islamic law. So walk us through why that matters. For example, the constitution under the draft declares Islam as a main source, not the main source, but also not a source. And those are big differences to a large degree. So what does that literally mean, a main source?

AL-SUWAIJ: Well, if Islam is the main source of the constitution, that means implementing the sharia law strictly on Iraq, especially when it comes to the social law of the country. So what we mean by social law means marriages, divorces, children custody, age of marriage, inheritance and all of these issues. But having Islam being a source, that's -- will open the field for more interpretations, more laws and regulations to be implemented within the constitution. So it's not very clear, even they say it's a source, but it's not very clear that it is going to be implemented in that way, or it's just a matter of languages being used in the constitution.

S. O'BRIEN: But that sounds kind of fuzzy when you're talking about the law, that you could have a choice between going to a civil court or going to a religious leader, because, of course, one would assume both parties may not want to go to the same person. For example, let's walk through a specific example. A woman wants to get a divorce, how would it work? Under civil law, both parties would be treated fairly and equally under the law. If the law is based on Islamic law or can't contradict Islamic law, what happens to a woman who, say, wants to get a divorce from her husband?

AL-SUWAIJ: Well, this is going to be very hard for her to get a divorce from her husband, because the husband is going to control that divorce, and he has the rights. But since she did not clarify this from the from the beginning in the contract marriage, about that she had equal rights as he is in divorcing him, then she doesn't have any rights. And many Iraqi women are not really aware of that.

After that, for example, women are not going to be allowed to leave the house without the permission of her husband. The age of marriage is going to be nine years old for girls.

S. O'BRIEN: Nine years old?

AL-SUWAIJ: And she can't -- nine years old. And women cannot choose, cannot get married without having a companion, male from her family, agreeing to that marriage. And so it's a lot of interpretation, a lot of sides that are not going necessarily to help women in the upcoming future of -- in Iraq.

S. O'BRIEN: All those, if indeed, they rely on the sharia law, as opposed to civil law as it stands right now. Wow. Well, obviously lots left to be figured out on all fronts. Zainab Al-Suwaij, thanks for talking to us. She, of course, is the executive director of the American Islamic Congress.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The nation has its eye on the Northwest Airlines mechanics strike this week, but there's another aviation issue causing some concern, questions being raised about the rising number of close calls on runways at busy airports nation nationwide, especially at Boston Logan Airport.

That's where we find Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's like a high- wire act in which precision is paramount. Air traffic controller Tom Coronite has been directing planes from this tower at Logan Airport in Boston for a dozen years.

TOM CORONITE, BOSTON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER: My purpose to be there is to prevent a collision between aircraft. And I'm cognizant of that every minute of every shift that I work.

LOTHIAN: A job that lately has been even more demanding with a burst of so-called runway incursions or close calls. In June, two fully-loaded passenger jets barely avoided a high-speed collision here.

TOM KINTON, LOGAN AIRPORT DIRECTOR: We have gone from an error- free year to 14 official runway incursions in the last 12 months. And that is the wrong trend.

LOTHIAN (on camera): There are various scenarios. But what often happens is that a plane is cleared for takeoff and moves on to the runway. At the same time, another plane taxiing to a terminal moves on to the active runway right into the path of the plane that's been given a green light.

CORONITE: There's nothing, no detail more important than the safety of that airplane going from the gate to the runways, going from the runways to the gate.

LOTHIAN (voice over): In another near disaster, an airplane is cleared to land on the very same runway where another airplane has been cleared to take off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 248, clear to land. LOTHIAN: That's exactly what happened last August at Los Angeles International Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board released this animation and tape recordings of the incidents involving a Southwest Airlines 737 and an Asiana Airline 747.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was close.

LOTHIAN: What's behind these mistakes? Officials blame everything from human error to confusing signs to complex airport layouts.

DENNIS DOLAN, AIR LINE PILOTS' ASSOCIATION: Some of the older airports where there's a lot of different crossing runways and associated taxiways, it can be very confusing.

LOTHIAN: Logan, which has had twice the number of incidents as other airports of similar size, has five runways with another on the way. And they all intersect. The FAA, which insists it has zero tolerance for any kind of aviation mishaps, say overall runway incursions are down. Nonetheless, the agency is investing in new technology, like enhanced ground radar, to assist controllers and pilots.

RUSS CHEW, FAA DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: We'll continue to add more layers of safety to further improve the system as time goes on.

LOTHIAN: At Logan Airport, the FAA is evaluating procedures, and signs are being updated. Coronite also wants what he considers to be a major problem addressed.

CORONITE: We need more controllers, and we need more eyes watching the skies.

LOTHIAN: An effort to eliminate a runway hazard that's too close for comfort.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: One of the points made in Dan's piece is that at older airports, this is a bigger problem. Take a look at the runway schematic used by pilots for Boston Logan Airport. You can see why there's a problem there. Five runways, as Dan mentioned: one, two, three, four and five.

Now, imagine, if you will -- first of all, all of them intersect each other. Very frequently, you'll have arrivals coming in this way, departures going out that way, possibly even departures going out that way at the same time.

Add to that, simultaneous to all that, planes using these taxi ways to get to the various ends of the runway, in many cases intersecting. Now that's an old airport, bound by Boston Harbor limited space. Take a look at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport. Much newer facility, space not as big a concern. This is the terminal area in the middle. And at the top and bottom, four parallel runways that can have simultaneous operations, departures in that direction, arrivals in that direction. You'll notice none of the four runways intersect, thus, making it generally a safer situation.

Chad Myers at the weather center taking a look at the weather for Hartsfield, Logan and many other locations this morning.

Chad, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, some surprising new revelations about the life of Jimi Hendrix. We'll talk live with the author of a revealing new biography.

M. O'BRIEN: But, first, the quiz for you. Jimi Hendrix played guitar for which of the following singers? Was it Richie Havens, Little Richard or Smokey Robinson? The answer after our break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Before the break, we asked which of the following singers Jimi Hendrix played guitar for before he was a solo act himself. The answer is B, Little Richard. Hendrix also worked with the Isley Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner before he hit it big on his own. And hit it big, he certainly did.

Hendrix is one of rock music's enduring legends, of course. As we approach the 35th anniversary of his death, a new book explores his life.

In a moment, we'll talk to the author of it. But, first, more about the man considered to be the greatest rock guitarist of all time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock, summer of '69, perhaps the most memorable of his brilliant but short career.

Hendrix was on top of the rock world. A year later, he was dead of a drug overdose. Jimi Hendrix was only 27.

For decades, his music has inspired and humbled some of the best guitar players in the world.

It was the Army that first helped Hendrix escape his impoverished background in Seattle where he was born. Later, after being discharged, he paid his dues as a back-up guitarist touring with R&B bands like Little Richard and Ike and Tina Turner before going to England in 1966 and becoming a star. In London, he formed the Jimi Hendrix experience. And in 1967, released his signature song "Purple Haze." Later that year, the experience made a big splash back in the States at the Monterey Pop Festival. His career was defined by an enormous appetite for sex, drugs and rock'n' roll.

Now, almost 35 years after his death, Hendrix's legacy and his legend live on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M.O'BRIEN (on camera): And joining us now is the author of the book, "Room Full of Mirrors," a biography of Jimi Hendrix, author Charles Cross from Seattle where Jimi Hendrix grew up in some poverty and obscurity and ultimately went on to obviously great fame.

Charles, good to have you with us.

CHARLES CROSS, AUTHOR, "ROOM FULL OF MIRRORS": Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: What drew you to Jimi Hendrix?

CROSS: Well, a lot was simply being in Seattle. In Seattle, Jimi Hendrix is a real person. You can walk down the street and meet people that went to high school with him and knew him as an infant, and he's almost like a real, you know, living person with a great history. And I felt that there was so much about him that hadn't been said. And I spent four years documenting the sort of secret part of his life.

M. O'BRIEN: And there's a lot that comes to the fore in this book. One of them that has been reported widely this week as the book came out, that he ducked out of military service by saying that he was gay, which, of course, when you learn a little bit about him is anything but the case.

CROSS: And it's almost funny for us to think about Jimi who was so identified as this unbelievably handsome heterosexual sex symbol. But he was in the Army for 13 months and really enjoyed the Army. He was in the toughest division of the Army, the 101st Airborne Paratroopers, but he was more in love with the guitar and really wanted to get out and to get going with his career. And at that point, there wasn't much he could do to quit. And the one thing that worked was pretending to be gay. I kind of joke he was like the Corporal Klinger of the 101st Airborne.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's interesting. As you look back on his history and understand a little bit about his personality, there are so many contradictions. An African-American who really broke out playing music that was identified with white people generally. Was he accepted easily because of his tremendous abilities?

CROSS: Well, I think his ability was tremendous, but I think race was forever this lens that he was struggling with. I mean, Jimi pretty much had to go to England to become popular because in America, in 1966 and '67, there was this race line in music that very few artists were able to cross.

And then, ironically, when Hendrix came back to America, he still struggled to be accepted in the African-American community and always wanted to be on black radio, and they rarely played his songs.

M. O'BRIEN: He died at the age of 27. It was a drug overdose. I guess accidental. That's basically your conclusion in all of this. But there's prophetic line that he gave to an interview just two weeks before he died. He said this, and it's in your book, "I'm not sure I will live to be 28 years old. I mean, the moment, I feel I have nothing more to give musically. I will not be around on this planet anymore."

What do you think was going on in his head at that time?

CROSS: Well, one of the more remarkable things that I found out was that a year before his death, just two weeks before Woodstock, Jimi had had a tarot card reading and gotten the card of death.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

CROSS: And it was almost like that last year of life, he was on this sort of spooked out by things. And so he actually said those kind of things in many interviews. It's hard to know how much he really realized he was going to die early or how much getting that reading made him live more recklessly. Hard to know what really led to his death other than poor choices he made in his life, clearly in the last year.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I think we're all diminished by his early death. You can only imagine what he would have gone on to do.

CROSS: It's remarkable to think that his entire career is one week short of four years. What a remarkable impact for such a small period of time in fame.

M. O'BRIEN: It's astounding.

The book is "Room Full of Mirrors," a biography of Jimi Hendrix. The author Charles Cross joining us from Seattle.

Thanks for being with us -- Soledad.

CROSS: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, a music monopoly? From now on, it's one-stop shopping when it comes to buying CDs from one of music's biggest stars. We'll explain as we mind your business, up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: You're only going to have one place to look for Garth Brooks music in the future. Plus, top dollar demanded for a soon to be satellite shock jock. Those stories, check of Wall Street, too. Susan Lisovicz is in Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning. Let's start with the market.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. It's a tepid Tuesday start. How's that for another mouthful, yes. I mean, it's kind of a slow news day, but everybody's got their eye once again on oil prices. And oil prices right now about $66 a barrel. That's about a buck off the all-time high. The concern there, of course, will consumers rein in spending accordingly and what that will do to corporate profits. And so you see, markets not doing a whole heck of a lot. Not surprising given where oil is at.

S. O'BRIEN: And no indication people are going to rein in any of their oil use.

Let's talk a little bit about this Garth Brooks news. It's sort of a shocker, because he could start a trend.

LISOVICZ: That's right. What we have seen is a number of retailers like Best Buy, Target, Starbucks do these exclusive deals, but they're usually for one work, like, say, a special DVD from The Rolling Stones. Garth Brooks, this is his entire collection, something like 15 albums. He's one of country music's biggest stars. Guess what, Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is the biggest seller of country music. It's a win-win deal, one would think.

Interesting, though, Garth doesn't perform anymore and he doesn't record anymore. He stopped doing that four years ago. He says he wants to wait until about another 10 years, until his youngest daughter graduates from high school.

S. O'BRIEN: I thought that was great, because I mean, obviously, when you go out on the road you're gone for a long time, and you know, he clearly...

LISOVICZ: But he still makes a lot of money from the records that sell.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, easy for him to say, because he's making tons of dough by not leaving home at all.

LISOVICZ: Exactly. Exactly. Find it right at Wal-Mart. That's the only place you can find it.

S. O'BRIEN: Howard Stern also in the news. Why?

LISOVICZ: We're not the core demographic for Howard Stern.

S. O'BRIEN: What?

LISOVICZ: But there are plenty of others.

S. O'BRIEN: Is that your headline?

LISOVICZ: Yes, so maybe you wouldn't know that Sirius Satellite Radio is going to start airing Howard Stern in January. But what's interesting here is that they're going to charge the same rates, according to Ad Age, which is one of the bibles of Madison Avenue. The same ad rates for about half the audience. Right now, Infinity Broadcasting draws six to seven million viewers. Sirius says by the end of the year, they're hoping for three million. It's an interesting strategy.

Susan Lisovicz, thanks.

LISOVICZ: Trying to recoup all that money that paid him.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, clearly. Thanks, Susan.

Short break. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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