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CNN Live Saturday

Despite Early Reports, Paul Johnson's Body Not Found; Interview With Bill Maher From Maui Film Festival; Governor Schwartzenegger Enjoys 65 Percent Approval Rating

Aired June 19, 2004 - 18:00   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Lin and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Ahead this hour, Arab reaction to the killing of Paul Johnson. CNN's senior editor of Arab Affairs will look at how the Arab TV stations are reporting and reacting to the news. Also, a cold case reopened, now possibly a closed case. The story of one family's push to solve the murder of a 13-year-old girl and how they helped find a suspect 35 years later.
But first, there was another shock this afternoon for Paul Johnson's family. A Saudi official announced that his body has not been found, contrary to earlier reports, but that his killers were caught in a shootout. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is keeping up with this changing story.

Suzanne, what have you learned?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, really the political fall-out over Johnson's beheading here, of course, is really just beginning to unfold as we have learned new details as they emerge about the events in the last 24 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDEL AL-JUBER, SAUDI FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR: And our people derive satisfaction from the fact that we have killed those responsible.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): That is the message the Saudi government wants the world to hear. Friday, within hours of the Saudis confirmation of Paul Johnson's brutal death, Crown Prince Abdullah called President Bush to tell him they had killed those allegedly responsible for beheading the kidnapped American, including the country's top al Qaeda leader and three of his associates. A dozen more have been arrested.

AL-JUBER: We'll show no mercy. We are working closely with other countries, including the United States, to ensure the safety of our citizens and our residents and to rid the world of the evil of terror.

MALVEAUX: But the debate continues over whether the more than 30,000 Americans living in Saudi Arabia should leave the country. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday "if they leave, then the terrorists have won." But his own department has issued travel warnings, urging Americans for their own safety to get out of the kingdom as quickly as possible. The Saudis believe the U.S. is overreacting.

AL-JUBER: We believe that the situation is under control. We believe that the attacks that we're seeing are random acts of violence and murder. We see the organization as having been weakened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Carol, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia says that despite those assurances, that those warnings will remain in effect in the foreseeable future.

And as you have mentioned before, of course, on another matter, there are conflicting reports from Saudi officials whether or not Paul Johnson's body has, in fact, been recovered. Now, Saudi officials say they have confirmed Johnson's death based on analysis from those who have taken a look at the videotape of the beheading. They've been able to identify him that way, but so far, as you can imagine, a very difficult situation for the family. They are still searching for the body, say Saudi officials. Others believe that perhaps they have found him.

LIN: Suzanne, how can the Saudis be so sure that the militants that they went after in that raid yesterday were actually the people responsible for Paul Johnson's murder?

MALVEAUX: Well, they say that this is a group essentially that is responsible for a number of terrorist incidents dating back to some months ago. They believe that they have the top al Qaeda leader as well as his three top associates, all that were in that gun battle that were all killed. They believe that they not only have eyewitnesses, that they have proof that these are the people that were responsible, that these were the people that were actually on that videotape before you see the beheading of Paul Johnson.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Suzanne Malveaux reporting live from the White House.

Well, Paul Johnson's family is in seclusion and asking the media to respect their privacy. Alina Cho is following the development in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

Alina, you've gotten some reaction from that community. What do folks have to say out there?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I certainly have, Carol. A lot. We can tell you that Paul Johnson's family is said to be doing remarkably well given the circumstances. As you mentioned, they do remain in seclusion, but they are getting plenty of support from the community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, we pray for the Johnson family today and Lord, we pray a peace upon them. We pray...

CHO: Today began with pray at a local firehouse. Then, an annual charity lawnmower race that on any other day would be strictly fun and games. Just two days, earlier a prayer vigil was held here back when residents still had hope. Now, there are questions....

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) something like that?

CHO: ...and grief...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess we're devastated.

CHO: ...for the family of a native son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hits home.

CHO: As the family of Paul Johnson remains in seclusion, residents in small town, America are showing their support in a big way, including the mayor.

MAYOR JIM PINE, EAGLESWOOD TOWNSHIP, NJ: There is a lot of emotions running through the community. At times, you feel anger. You're -- we're frustrated by what took place. There's no doubt. We're deeply saddened and now we're just going to continue to pray for the Johnson family.

CHO: There are signs offering prayers at churches, businesses, even Johnson's high school where flags are flying at half-staff. One angry sign called his killers cowards.

Back at the firehouse...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi Cody, you got a ribbon, honey?

CHO: Volunteers handed out yellow ribbons in Johnson's memory...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a ribbon.

CHO: ...even to those too young to know what happened. For those who know the family....

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my heart and my sympathy deeply goes out to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Even though Johnson has not lived here in New Jersey for more than 20 years, residents here certainly remember him very fondly. In fact, one man we spoke to said he actually looked up to him growing up because Johnson used to drive a baby blue Mustang. And because of that, he was considered the cool kid in town -- Carol.

LIN: The things we learn about folks. Thanks very much. Alina Cho reporting live.

Well, the Saudi government announced that the al Qaeda terrorist cell leaders who killed Johnson were captured or killed just hours after Johnson was declared dead. But are the Saudis doing everything they can to protect Americans? CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joins me from Washington. He was a member of the U.S. Special Forces that worked in Saudi Arabia for 16 years, both during the Iran/Iraq War as well as the first Gulf War.

Ken, good to have you on this day.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Hi, Carol.

LIN: Why in the world have they not found this body? And how could it be that the Saudis announced yesterday that the body of Paul Johnson was indeed found?

ROBINSON: You know first reports are always wrong. In the intelligence business, you're always very skeptical of that. And they've had some very conflicting reports come out. They said that the way that they were able to close in so rapidly on al Muqrin was that they saw the dumping of the body and then gave chase. And then, from that, they were able to go into this gun battle where they claim to have killed and captured many members of the al Qaeda Saudi cell. But now, they're saying that they don't have the body. And it's just unexplained. We're going to have to wait in the next 12 hours to see what they say next.

LIN: You know you talk about this eyewitness report, Ken. I mean what a coincidence or an incredibly lucky break that eyewitnesses reported the dumping of this body just hours after Paul Johnson was declared dead. Do you -- how do you feel about the timing of all this?

ROBINSON: Well, it's -- the timing is suspicious, but it could be attributed to a veil attempt to maybe protect another collection method. It may be possible that after they had done the killing of Mr. Johnson that they were communicated on some device and that was intercepted. And from that, that drew them to the neighborhood where they made the attack. And there may be -- the reason there may conflicting information by the Saudis is they're trying to protect the method by which they collected -- they were saying today that they received a tip.

LIN: Right. And you would think -- or do you think that if they were able to get these guys just hours after Paul Johnson was declared dead, could they have prevented this from happening? Do they have the authority? Do they have the knowledge?

ROBINSON: They certainly are working very carefully with a task force of the FBI and have been very aggressive since the bombings in Riyadh. In the past, they've been very slow to react and have been very hesitant to engage aggressively. But since the bombing in Riyadh, they have been working very closely and collaborating. It may simply -- it may simply be that they just barely missed being able to read the tea leaves. I believe personally that had they bean able to conduct a rescue operation, they certainly would have because this is devastating for the kingdom because of the warnings and the recommendations to leave.

LIN: Right. Ken, I just want to let you know it's crossed the wires. Reuters is now reporting that al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia is confirming now the death -- the killing of its leader, Abdel Aziz Al Muqrin, the man that you just mentioned before, the leader of this al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia suspected of being responsible for the murder of Paul Johnson. What do you think the impact of his death is going to be on any terrorists' actions against Americans in Saudi Arabia?

ROBINSON: I think there's going to be retribution. I believe there's going to be more of these attacks because they're effective. I also believe that Al Muqrin has probably already been replaced just like he replaced Al Haj, who had been killed by the Saudis in a gun battle before his demise. Simply taking out two or three people in the leadership is not going to slow down their intent or their ideology.

LIN: So is kidnapping and the beheading of Americans going to be the action of choice, the propaganda of war for these terrorists from here on out?

ROBINSON: It's going to be the short term future because it's information warfare. They are -- the act of killing this individual is tragic but their larger message, the ability to declare a deadline, the ability to make the entire media drumbeat and wait for the deadline to pass and then wait for the execution, it gives them an enormous platform to pass their message of hate and fear.

LIN: Well, it certainly is hateful act indeed. Ken Robinson, thank you very much. We'll see you in our primetime show at 10:00 tonight.

ROBINSON: Thanks, Carol.

LIN: Eleven days before the historic handover power in Iraq and the country is still swirling in conflict. Eighteen Iraqis were killed in Fallujah today when coalition forces fired precision missiles at a safe house linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nine others were wounded. Zarqawi is believed to be the leader of the insurgent network. Russian intel led coalition forces to believe he and his group may be hiding in the area.

The damage tally from a tax against the country's oil infrastructure in now known. Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says the sabotage has caused $1 billion in lawsuits. Despite the damage, the violent -- and the violence, three U.S. senators are optimistic about Iraq's future. Senate Minority leader, Tom Daschle, Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Lindsey Graham made a surprise visit to Baghdad and met with Iraq's prime minister today.

Well, the world is watching as Iraq prepares to take over sovereignty. Monday, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN is going to bring you a special look at how the Arab world views the conflict and America's changing role. On Thursday, CNN takes the European pulse on Iraq. And then on Friday, CNN hosts a live town meeting as we hear how Americans feel about the handover.

And just ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, public perception of the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. We're going to hear their point-of-view when we return. Plus, it's a murder mystery that took 35 years to solve. Find out how officials broke the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: As we speak, Saudi officials are going out of their way to reassure Americans and other westerners that they are safe and welcome inside the kingdom. But what do the Saudi people themselves think? Kathleen Koch has been looking into Saudi perception of the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL-JUBEIR: Nobody -- no person with the sense of decency and humanity can support murders.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saudi officials insist their citizens oppose terrorism and are outraged by the brutal murder of Paul Johnson. Yet, a recent poll of Saudis conducted last year and interviewing more than 15,000 found nearly half had a favorable opinion of the sermons and rhetoric of Osama bin Laden. Only five percent thought he should be president. Fifty-seven percent had an unfavorable view of strong and close relations with the United States.

NAWAF OBAID, SAUDI NATIONAL SECURITY CONSULTANT: The alarm here is about how a sizable amount of the Saudi population actually find in bin Laden's words some form of hero.

KOCH: Bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia. And 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were also Saudi. There's been widespread concern that the Saudi government has been slow to crack down on terrorist organizations.

ROBERT JORDAN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: The Crown Prince, within the last two or three days has said that they have had a patience with this sort of terrorist activity and that patience has worn out.

KOCH: Some experts believe the Saudi regime is one of many in the Arab world that has found radical fundamentalism and anger against the west useful distractions for a young population facing high unemployment and eager for reform.


Aired June 19, 2004 - 18:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Lin and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Ahead this hour, Arab reaction to the killing of Paul Johnson. CNN's senior editor of Arab Affairs will look at how the Arab TV stations are reporting and reacting to the news. Also, a cold case reopened, now possibly a closed case. The story of one family's push to solve the murder of a 13-year-old girl and how they helped find a suspect 35 years later.
But first, there was another shock this afternoon for Paul Johnson's family. A Saudi official announced that his body has not been found, contrary to earlier reports, but that his killers were caught in a shootout. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is keeping up with this changing story.

Suzanne, what have you learned?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, really the political fall-out over Johnson's beheading here, of course, is really just beginning to unfold as we have learned new details as they emerge about the events in the last 24 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDEL AL-JUBER, SAUDI FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR: And our people derive satisfaction from the fact that we have killed those responsible.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): That is the message the Saudi government wants the world to hear. Friday, within hours of the Saudis confirmation of Paul Johnson's brutal death, Crown Prince Abdullah called President Bush to tell him they had killed those allegedly responsible for beheading the kidnapped American, including the country's top al Qaeda leader and three of his associates. A dozen more have been arrested.

AL-JUBER: We'll show no mercy. We are working closely with other countries, including the United States, to ensure the safety of our citizens and our residents and to rid the world of the evil of terror.

MALVEAUX: But the debate continues over whether the more than 30,000 Americans living in Saudi Arabia should leave the country. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday "if they leave, then the terrorists have won." But his own department has issued travel warnings, urging Americans for their own safety to get out of the kingdom as quickly as possible. The Saudis believe the U.S. is overreacting.

AL-JUBER: We believe that the situation is under control. We believe that the attacks that we're seeing are random acts of violence and murder. We see the organization as having been weakened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Carol, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia says that despite those assurances, that those warnings will remain in effect in the foreseeable future.

And as you have mentioned before, of course, on another matter, there are conflicting reports from Saudi officials whether or not Paul Johnson's body has, in fact, been recovered. Now, Saudi officials say they have confirmed Johnson's death based on analysis from those who have taken a look at the videotape of the beheading. They've been able to identify him that way, but so far, as you can imagine, a very difficult situation for the family. They are still searching for the body, say Saudi officials. Others believe that perhaps they have found him.

LIN: Suzanne, how can the Saudis be so sure that the militants that they went after in that raid yesterday were actually the people responsible for Paul Johnson's murder?

MALVEAUX: Well, they say that this is a group essentially that is responsible for a number of terrorist incidents dating back to some months ago. They believe that they have the top al Qaeda leader as well as his three top associates, all that were in that gun battle that were all killed. They believe that they not only have eyewitnesses, that they have proof that these are the people that were responsible, that these were the people that were actually on that videotape before you see the beheading of Paul Johnson.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Suzanne Malveaux reporting live from the White House.

Well, Paul Johnson's family is in seclusion and asking the media to respect their privacy. Alina Cho is following the development in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

Alina, you've gotten some reaction from that community. What do folks have to say out there?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I certainly have, Carol. A lot. We can tell you that Paul Johnson's family is said to be doing remarkably well given the circumstances. As you mentioned, they do remain in seclusion, but they are getting plenty of support from the community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, we pray for the Johnson family today and Lord, we pray a peace upon them. We pray...

CHO: Today began with pray at a local firehouse. Then, an annual charity lawnmower race that on any other day would be strictly fun and games. Just two days, earlier a prayer vigil was held here back when residents still had hope. Now, there are questions....

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) something like that?

CHO: ...and grief...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess we're devastated.

CHO: ...for the family of a native son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hits home.

CHO: As the family of Paul Johnson remains in seclusion, residents in small town, America are showing their support in a big way, including the mayor.

MAYOR JIM PINE, EAGLESWOOD TOWNSHIP, NJ: There is a lot of emotions running through the community. At times, you feel anger. You're -- we're frustrated by what took place. There's no doubt. We're deeply saddened and now we're just going to continue to pray for the Johnson family.

CHO: There are signs offering prayers at churches, businesses, even Johnson's high school where flags are flying at half-staff. One angry sign called his killers cowards.

Back at the firehouse...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi Cody, you got a ribbon, honey?

CHO: Volunteers handed out yellow ribbons in Johnson's memory...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a ribbon.

CHO: ...even to those too young to know what happened. For those who know the family....

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my heart and my sympathy deeply goes out to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Even though Johnson has not lived here in New Jersey for more than 20 years, residents here certainly remember him very fondly. In fact, one man we spoke to said he actually looked up to him growing up because Johnson used to drive a baby blue Mustang. And because of that, he was considered the cool kid in town -- Carol.

LIN: The things we learn about folks. Thanks very much. Alina Cho reporting live.

Well, the Saudi government announced that the al Qaeda terrorist cell leaders who killed Johnson were captured or killed just hours after Johnson was declared dead. But are the Saudis doing everything they can to protect Americans? CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joins me from Washington. He was a member of the U.S. Special Forces that worked in Saudi Arabia for 16 years, both during the Iran/Iraq War as well as the first Gulf War.

Ken, good to have you on this day.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Hi, Carol.

LIN: Why in the world have they not found this body? And how could it be that the Saudis announced yesterday that the body of Paul Johnson was indeed found?

ROBINSON: You know first reports are always wrong. In the intelligence business, you're always very skeptical of that. And they've had some very conflicting reports come out. They said that the way that they were able to close in so rapidly on al Muqrin was that they saw the dumping of the body and then gave chase. And then, from that, they were able to go into this gun battle where they claim to have killed and captured many members of the al Qaeda Saudi cell. But now, they're saying that they don't have the body. And it's just unexplained. We're going to have to wait in the next 12 hours to see what they say next.

LIN: You know you talk about this eyewitness report, Ken. I mean what a coincidence or an incredibly lucky break that eyewitnesses reported the dumping of this body just hours after Paul Johnson was declared dead. Do you -- how do you feel about the timing of all this?

ROBINSON: Well, it's -- the timing is suspicious, but it could be attributed to a veil attempt to maybe protect another collection method. It may be possible that after they had done the killing of Mr. Johnson that they were communicated on some device and that was intercepted. And from that, that drew them to the neighborhood where they made the attack. And there may be -- the reason there may conflicting information by the Saudis is they're trying to protect the method by which they collected -- they were saying today that they received a tip.

LIN: Right. And you would think -- or do you think that if they were able to get these guys just hours after Paul Johnson was declared dead, could they have prevented this from happening? Do they have the authority? Do they have the knowledge?

ROBINSON: They certainly are working very carefully with a task force of the FBI and have been very aggressive since the bombings in Riyadh. In the past, they've been very slow to react and have been very hesitant to engage aggressively. But since the bombing in Riyadh, they have been working very closely and collaborating. It may simply -- it may simply be that they just barely missed being able to read the tea leaves. I believe personally that had they bean able to conduct a rescue operation, they certainly would have because this is devastating for the kingdom because of the warnings and the recommendations to leave.

LIN: Right. Ken, I just want to let you know it's crossed the wires. Reuters is now reporting that al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia is confirming now the death -- the killing of its leader, Abdel Aziz Al Muqrin, the man that you just mentioned before, the leader of this al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia suspected of being responsible for the murder of Paul Johnson. What do you think the impact of his death is going to be on any terrorists' actions against Americans in Saudi Arabia?

ROBINSON: I think there's going to be retribution. I believe there's going to be more of these attacks because they're effective. I also believe that Al Muqrin has probably already been replaced just like he replaced Al Haj, who had been killed by the Saudis in a gun battle before his demise. Simply taking out two or three people in the leadership is not going to slow down their intent or their ideology.

LIN: So is kidnapping and the beheading of Americans going to be the action of choice, the propaganda of war for these terrorists from here on out?

ROBINSON: It's going to be the short term future because it's information warfare. They are -- the act of killing this individual is tragic but their larger message, the ability to declare a deadline, the ability to make the entire media drumbeat and wait for the deadline to pass and then wait for the execution, it gives them an enormous platform to pass their message of hate and fear.

LIN: Well, it certainly is hateful act indeed. Ken Robinson, thank you very much. We'll see you in our primetime show at 10:00 tonight.

ROBINSON: Thanks, Carol.

LIN: Eleven days before the historic handover power in Iraq and the country is still swirling in conflict. Eighteen Iraqis were killed in Fallujah today when coalition forces fired precision missiles at a safe house linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nine others were wounded. Zarqawi is believed to be the leader of the insurgent network. Russian intel led coalition forces to believe he and his group may be hiding in the area.

The damage tally from a tax against the country's oil infrastructure in now known. Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says the sabotage has caused $1 billion in lawsuits. Despite the damage, the violent -- and the violence, three U.S. senators are optimistic about Iraq's future. Senate Minority leader, Tom Daschle, Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Lindsey Graham made a surprise visit to Baghdad and met with Iraq's prime minister today.

Well, the world is watching as Iraq prepares to take over sovereignty. Monday, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN is going to bring you a special look at how the Arab world views the conflict and America's changing role. On Thursday, CNN takes the European pulse on Iraq. And then on Friday, CNN hosts a live town meeting as we hear how Americans feel about the handover.

And just ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, public perception of the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. We're going to hear their point-of-view when we return. Plus, it's a murder mystery that took 35 years to solve. Find out how officials broke the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: As we speak, Saudi officials are going out of their way to reassure Americans and other westerners that they are safe and welcome inside the kingdom. But what do the Saudi people themselves think? Kathleen Koch has been looking into Saudi perception of the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL-JUBEIR: Nobody -- no person with the sense of decency and humanity can support murders.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saudi officials insist their citizens oppose terrorism and are outraged by the brutal murder of Paul Johnson. Yet, a recent poll of Saudis conducted last year and interviewing more than 15,000 found nearly half had a favorable opinion of the sermons and rhetoric of Osama bin Laden. Only five percent thought he should be president. Fifty-seven percent had an unfavorable view of strong and close relations with the United States.

NAWAF OBAID, SAUDI NATIONAL SECURITY CONSULTANT: The alarm here is about how a sizable amount of the Saudi population actually find in bin Laden's words some form of hero.

KOCH: Bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia. And 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were also Saudi. There's been widespread concern that the Saudi government has been slow to crack down on terrorist organizations.

ROBERT JORDAN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: The Crown Prince, within the last two or three days has said that they have had a patience with this sort of terrorist activity and that patience has worn out.

KOCH: Some experts believe the Saudi regime is one of many in the Arab world that has found radical fundamentalism and anger against the west useful distractions for a young population facing high unemployment and eager for reform.