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CNN Live Saturday

Bomb Explodes Outside U.S. Embassy In Baghdad Green Zone; Voting For Iraqi Ex-Patriates Continues Today

Aired January 29, 2005 - 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: In Iraq, five hours and counting until the election begins and security forces are on alert. This as violence continues in Baghdad near the U.S. embassy and around the country.
And here in the United States, Iraqi expats see the vote as the dawning of a new day. Some of their stories straight ahead.

It's January 29 and you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

From CNN's global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin, and here's what's happening right now in the news. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone with a rocket. Two Americans are dead and five others wounded. More details on the attack coming up in just a moment.

In the meantime, attacks at the U.S. embassy and at polling stations in Iraq are seen as a violent prelude for what's expected to be a dangerous and historic day in Iraq tomorrow. But insurgents bent on undermining the vote vow to create a bloodbath.

And back in this country, winter has an icy grip on a new spot, the Southeast. A winter storm delivers freezing rain and sleet and ice from the Midwest to Georgia and the Carolinas. Travel is treacherous, at best, and hundreds of flights have been canceled. So far, at least two deaths are blamed on the storm.

Iraq's date with democracy is fast approaching. Right now, it is 2:00 a.m. in Iraq. In just five hours, voters will start heading to the polls to participate in the country's first free election in a half century. But turnout remains a big question especially in the face of a new bold attack by insurgents. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The explosion rocked the U.S. embassy complex in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified walled city within the city of Baghdad itself. Two U.S. personnel were killed, one civilian, one military. A number of other U.S. personnel were wounded. It was a rocket attack say U.S. military spokesmen. A rocket fired somewhere within the city of Baghdad by insurgents.

A number of polling centers have also been attacked over the last several hours. At least three Iraqi polling stations have been attacked. Five Iraqi personal have been wounded. Four of those have been Army, one of them Iraq -- an Iraqi police officer. The Iraqi security forces and the polling stations have become the prime targets of insurgents in these last days and hours leading up to Sunday's historic vote. They have become the prime target, and it is expected more will be hit as polls open 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning here in Baghdad.

Anderson Cooper reporting, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And CNN will be there live.

Now, what exactly will the Iraqis be voting on hours from now? Well, voters will be electing a 275-member national assembly, but it is a transitional assembly. The assembly will elect a president and two vice presidents. The president will then appoint a prime minister. The national assembly will also draft a constitution that Iraqis must vote upon in November.

Now because of the violence and threats and campaign of terror against Iraqi candidates and voters, Sunday's poll is unusual, to say the least. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour takes a close look at the main candidates and the extensive security now in place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This has been just a TV election campaign. The terrorists and their campaign have made sure of that. They even feature in these TV ads, but this one portrays a mounting popular resistance, a growing unity among Iraqis who will stare down their violence by going out to vote on Sunday.

This is just one of 30,000 polling stations around the country. Police are already outside. A bird's-eye view shows a massive lockdown already in effect across Iraq.

(on camera): Traveling in a helicopter across Baghdad, you can see that this is now a ghost town. Security is in full force.

(voice-over): From the window, you see miles and miles of empty roads. Barely a car is out on what is a normally bumper to bumper commuter streets and highways. The commander of all ground forces here does expect violence but hopes to cut down on the car bombs.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, COMMANDER, U.S. GROUND FORCES: Because of the ban on driving, we should be able to control to a better degree the vehicle-borne explosive device. There will probably be some suicide vests involved somewhere. And the enemy really wants to intimidate the people, so I think you will start early in the morning.

AMANPOUR: Amid this terror, ordinary Iraqis are expected to go out and choose from a bewildering array of 111 parties, 7,000 candidates and two elections, national assembly and provincial councils. AYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You have to elect the Iraqi list. It is the only list which can build a new and free and independent Iraq.

AMANPOUR: But the most powerful party is a coalition of Shiite groups, expected to win the most seats. And with that, some people fear that Iraq might become an Islamic republic.

ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM, SUP. COUN./ISLAMIC REV. IN IRAQ (through translator): Definitely not. Our goal is not to create an Islamic republic nor a religious government. Our goal is an Iraqi government.

AMANPOUR: The U.S. has made it clear that it won't stand for an Iran-style Islamic government but Hakim insists a new Iraq will have an Islamic identity, and he does not rule out clerics being in future governments.

AL-HAKIM (through translator): This will be a transitional phase. In the future, we will have more elections, and we shall see.

AMANPOUR: Even that possibility worries many Iraqis, especially the minority Sunnis who feel the U.S. war here has marginalized them while empowering the Shiites. Hard-line Sunnis have called for an election boycott, but moderates like veteran politician Adnan Pachachi think they have changed their minds in the past few days.

ADNAN PACHACI, IRAQI INDEPENDENT DEMOCRAT: Those people who decided not to take part in the election realize that the election is going to be -- is going to take place anyway and that they don't want to miss the vote completely.

AMANPOUR: With the prospect of a low Sunni turnout, the U.S. and Iraqi officials have swamped the airwaves with new ads designed to pull Sunnis into the process.

"Since when did our country become Sunni, Shiite, Arab or Kurd," says Abu Omar to his friend. "This is our Iraq, and it needs us all to take a stand. No one here wants this first free election to trigger Iraq's first civil war."

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, Iraqis living abroad already are casting their ballots in the historic election. Polling places opened yesterday in 14 countries. Five polling stations opened right here in the United States. Our Gary Nurenberg is monitoring the turnout in New Carrollton, Maryland. Thelma Gutierrez is in Irvine, California.

Let's start with you, Gary. What has the turnout been so far?

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good evening, Carol. The polls closed here an hour ago. A 1,000 Iraqis voted here today. Add that to yesterday's total, it comes to 1,500. Most of those we talked to seemed to be taking part happily. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG (voice-over): Iraqi voters, many of them Kurds from up and down the eastern seaboard, came to this cold Maryland parking lot after a long wait.

ABDULLAH AKU, IRAQI VOTER: More than 30 years Saddam has been like killing our people for no reason, you know. And we had no way to get our own government, so today is our victory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally, I mean, Iraq can get a taste of democracy.

NURENBERG: That taste today included having every voter searched and patted down. Dogs sniffed for explosives, a traffic checkpoint was established on a residential street outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's worth it because this is a future of our country. This is a freedom of our peoples.

NURENBERG: Parents brought children to watch them vote for the first time in their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're so very happy for you.

NURENBERG: As they left, voters encountered a small group of Americans who came to wish them well. Paula Halvorson's son, Andy, will soon be deployed to Iraq.

PAULA HALVORSON, ELECTION SUPPORTER: I believe in what we're doing there, and if I held my son back I would have no right to say I believe in this war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It strengthens my own enthusiasm and makes me more excited to play the role that I'll really have the privilege of playing over the next year.

NURENBERG: Naval Academy student, David Exner, has friends in the military.

DAVID EXNER, SUPPORTER: I know several of them are actually guarding the polling stations over in Iraq right now as we speak. And it's just a real privilege for me to be able to come out here and show the support for them and also for the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG: Whether it was disenchantment with the election process or the difficulty for some of driving hundreds of miles to the nearest polling place, the majority of Iraqis eligible to vote in the United States didn't. For whatever reason, nearly 90 percent of eligible voters are choosing, Carol, not to take part. LIN: Interesting. All right, thanks very much, Gary.

Well, the polls are still open out on the West Coast. In fact, two hours and counting until they actually close out at Irvine, California. That's where we find CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

Thelma, turnout any better where you are?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, it's funny. It's actually quite the same as it is on the East Coast. In the first five hours that this polling spot was open, we are told that more than 1,000 people actually voted here today, 3,800 are registered to vote here. And organizers say they are very confident that they are going to have 99 percent turnout by the end of the day tomorrow, when it all ends. Many here that we talked to say that this was a great moment of victory for them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTTIERREZ (voice-over): They are Christian Assyrians and Shia Muslims, Kurds in their native dress, and Sunni Muslims, men, women, young and old, expatriates voting for a new Iraq. At the polling stations, applause broke out every time a ballot was cast. For these voters, it was the sound of victory. For people like Izra Hassani (ph), who had lost loved ones during Saddam Hussein's regime, it was a bittersweet emotional moment, long coming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just feel bad for the people who couldn't see it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTTIERREZ: Family traveled all the way from Portland, Oregon, just to be able to be here to vote. They came last week to register and then they had to fly back again today to actually vote. They talked of the sacrifice and they said that it could not be compared in any way to the sacrifice that their family members are actually making in Iraq to go out and vote. They say here, they're just putting a little bit of money and effort into it. There they're putting their lives at stake.

LIN: Well put. Yes, Thelma, did the folks you talked to at the polling place, who were casting their ballots, did they talk about the difficulty of having only five polling places in the United States for thousands of Iraqi expats who might want to register and vote?

GUTTIERREZ: Yes, Carol, they did. In fact, they said they are very convinced that if there were more sites open to people, that they're sure that the numbers would have been higher. They said it was enormously difficult to have to register in a spot, come all the way from, say, Portland or Arizona or Utah to California just to register. Turn around, get back on a plane, fly home and then return again the following week. Many of these people have families and they say it was not easy. It would have been a higher turnout had they had more spots near home.

LIN: You bet. One would think so. All right, thanks very much. Thelma Gutierrez live in Irvine, California.

In about 20 minutes, I'm going to go live to Michigan to talk with an Iraqi expat whose family also is planning to vote in Baghdad. We're going to gauge their experiences on the second day of voting.

In the meantime, last weekend, it was the Northeast and now it's the Southeast getting a blast of brutal winter weather. Freezing rain and sleet have turned roads into ice rinks and brought major metropolitan areas to a crawl. CNN's Sara Dorsey reports on the slippery scene in Atlanta, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Icy, wintry weather bears down on the Southeast, making for a beautiful picture, but a mess if you're out in it. Ice scrapers became a necessity. And some Georgia drivers learned snow tires would have come in handy, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was driving down the street. I was driving normally and all of a sudden, I went to lightly put my foot on the brake and all of a sudden, the car just started skidding, and I couldn't stop it.

DORSEY: Sixteen cars crunched in this pile-up in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville. Some stretches of interstate in and out of metro Atlanta closed, backing up traffic for miles. Those that were actually moving were doing it at a snails pace. Waiting is the name of the game today on the roads and at the airport. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International is open, but passengers are stranded because of canceled and delayed flights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We actually got a rental car in this whole time, but we can't go anywhere. I'm supposed to be in Savannah, Georgia, at 2:00 for a wedding and it looks like I'm not going to make it.

DORSEY: For snow-starved kids, though, the wintry mix was a delight, even welcomed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was crazy, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), crazy.

DORSEY: Sara Dorsey, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right. Straight ahead, securing the vote. It is a daunting task for men dressed as women to vehicle-borne IEDs. What might Iraqi and coalition face as civilians prepare to vote? I'm going to be talking with military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson.

Plus, he thought he was just minutes from death so he wrote a final farewell in his own blood. And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SGT. CARLA BEST, WOUNDED IN IRAQ: I just was like, OK, this is it. And I don't know. It was almost like I was OK, I'm going to die here in the middle of Iraq in the middle of some Iraqi road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Wounded in war. A road side attack left her knee destroyed. So has the war been worth it? Well, you might be surprised by this soldier's story.

You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: What a feeling it must be to cast your ballot for the first time. Even with much of Baghdad under lockdown, insurgents have attacked three polling places. And there are other election security concerns. Officials fear militants may use hundreds of missing Iraqi uniforms as disguises to launch attacks. And that's not all. CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joining me from Los Angeles with more on what voters can expect.

Ken, good to have you on this important evening.

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

LIN: What are your sources telling you about what sort of violence, what sort of tactics might be used leading up to those critical hours at those polling places in Iraq?

ROBINSON: Well, we've really seen a preview of it already, Carol, with the mortar attack into the Green Zone. The coalition is cutting off all travel. They're not going to allow vehicles to be driven during the day. There's going to be an extended curfew. So the only way -- one of the only ways to reach these polling places will be by mortars and rockets, as well as individual pre-cached suicide vests that could be used.

Is there any place in the country that you think is safer to vote than others?

ROBINSON: No. I think that they need to anticipate the unanticipated. You know, everyone has written off the north and the south and said that really the clear area of violence will be the Sunni Triangle. I think it's short-sided to think that way. I believe that they're going to go to the path of least resistance and those areas where less security because of a less fear of attack may be the primary areas to attack.

LIN: Well, Iraqi officials are estimating that 57 percent of 14 million people registered to vote in that country are actually going to turn out to vote. That's a much higher percentage than the safe old United States here.

ROBINSON: Yes, I mean, Americans should be ashamed because they've been undergoing attacks every day. They've been attacking suspected polling sites every day. And...

LIN: They were actually dummy sites, too, that security operations had set up to try to lure the insurgents out and declare themselves.

ROBINSON: Right. The tipping point, Carol, I think, is going to be in the morning. You know at 7:00 in the morning, Iraq time, the polls open. But many Iraqis may take a wait and see attitude, and if that's the time of day that they choose to start bombing and shelling, it could prevent. But I think you're going to see a lot of Iraqis vote.

LIN: You really do?

ROBINSON: I do.

LIN: Who's actually turning out? I mean, you know, we amongst ourselves here in the newsroom have asked ourselves, if it meant risking your life or even the life of your family, these insurgents have threatened to stake out these polling places, follow people home, kill the voters and their children. Who actually would risk their lives to turn out?

ROBINSON: Well, I think we in the west have forgotten what it's like to be free and what that cost. And I think that after years of the battered wife syndrome that Iraqis went through, they've got this moment in time now that is probably pretty special to them. Think how many members of the Iraqi police and Iraqi military continue to sign up when their brothers are assassinated every day...

LIN: So it's more than...

ROBINSON: ...and they still keep coming.

LIN: And it's more than just the money is what you're saying.

ROBINSON: Right.

LIN: All right, Ken Robinson, thank you very much. We'll see what happens. CNN, of course, is going to be live when those polls open up in Iraq.

In the meantime, right here in the United States, thousands of Iraqis are heading to the polls, voting in their first ever Democratic election. So straight ahead I'm going to talk with an Iraqi expatriate whose family in Baghdad is also planning to cast their ballots.

But coming up next, Michael Jackson fights back. Ahead of Monday's jury selection, the pop star prepares to send out his own message. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Do you remember that horrible train wreck that we've been covering all week out in Los Angeles? Well, one story that stands out above the others, a train wreck victim who wrote a love message to his wife and children in his own blood. A man only known to the public as John was pinned in wreckage of Wednesday's commuter train disaster that killed 11 people. He scrawled what he thought were his dying words in blood on a seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN ROBERT ROSARIO, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: I'm talking to him, and he has -- he's got some of the chairs -- obviously, the train is on its side and he's got some of the chairs sitting on top of him pinning him down. As I turn it up, I notice in what looked like blood and now I know it was blood, he wrote, "I love my children, and I love" -- I think he was writing his wife's name, Leslie or Liz. I don't what it -- I could barely make it out but he used his own blood thinking this was it. I mean this was his final outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well, we're happy to report that this man we know as John left a hospital Thursday and the public is clamoring to know more about him, but he is right now guarding his privacy and lucky to be alive.

Elsewhere across America tonight, in Somers, Connecticut the convicted killer who wants to die of lethal injection won't get his wish until at least Monday. The state has postponed Michael Ross' execution until then because of questions about whether his attorney has a conflict of interest. Ross himself has rejected all efforts to escape the death penalty for the killing of four women back in the 1980s.

And pop star Michael Jackson will release a video statement tomorrow to comment on leaks of grand jury testimony in his child molestation case. The statement will be on Jackson's website one day before jury selection is to start in his trial. The judge, who has imposed a gag order, cleared the statement.

So how do you keep them on the studio lot when they've seen the suffering world? Well, Angelina Jolie says going back to making movies is tough after doing something as rewarding as helping refugees. The actress and subject of juicy Hollywood gossip has been traveling the world as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Well, CNN's Richard Quest caught up with her at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does it annoy you when people want to talk about other matters and you want to talk about your work with the U.N.H.C.R. and I mean that there are an entire raft of things you and I could be sitting here talking about, some of them you won't talk about, some of them I'd to ask about, some of them you can't talk about, some of them we shouldn't talk about, some of them everyone would love us to talk about.

ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: The answer is no to everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Perhaps she was addressing the rumors that she and Brad Pitt were having an affair and that's what caused his breakup with Jennifer Aniston. Anyway for more on Angelina Jolie, you can go to CNN.com. The story is the most popular on the website this hour.

In the meantime, voters in Iraq head to the polls in just a few hours. But thousands of Iraqis have already cast their ballots right here in the United States. So straight ahead, I'm going to talk with one Iraqi American about his first Democratic vote.

And later, the Harlem Hell Fighters, they were the first all- black regiment to fight overseas more than 80 years ago. And today the regiment lives on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back, I'm Carol Lin and here's a look at what's happening right now in the news. An insurgent attack penetrated Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, killing two Americans. A rocket attack tonight on Iraq's U.S. embassy killed a service member and a civilian and wounded five other Americans. And with historic national elections just hours away, Iraq is essentially under marshal law. Iraqi police and the U.S. military have shut down bridges and banned motor traffic near polling sites. Restricted travel and imposed a nighttime curfew. Insurgents have attacked three polling sites in northern Baghdad.

It's still tentative, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plan to meet in the second week of February. Now, if it happens, it'll be their first meeting since Abbas won election earlier this month.

And it's no ordinary passenger flight. A jetliner from China has landed in Taiwan for the first time in 56 years. The island had banned Chinese airlines since Communists took over the mainland in 1949. Business ties between the two rivals sparked the change.

Voting in Iraq's historic election is a dream come true for many Iraqis and that feeling was apparent as voters cast their ballots in five cities across the U.S. today. CNN's Keith Oppenheim spent the day at the poll in Southgate, Michigan.

How are things going out there, Keith?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a pretty busy day here, Carol. You know yesterday there were more than 2,000 voters here in Southgate, Michigan, more than anywhere else in the country. Today, there were significantly larger crowds. In fact, take a look at some video from this afternoon, and you can see that there are some long lines at the security checkpoint, at times as many as 60 people waiting to get in to cast a ballot.

The people we spoke to were quite aware that while they are under heavy security here in Michigan, they can exercise their right to vote with relative ease and without great fear. But as far as their relatives in Iraq, we heard a steady theme that voters here are afraid their relatives at Iraqi polling centers could be attacked. Yet at the same time, they believe those relatives and all Iraqis have an obligation to take part in this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIAD KONJA, IRAQI VOTER: We're coming in, walking in. We're not even concerned about anything happening outside. But for them, they don't know if they going to go in, are they going to come out safe or not, alive or not. But still, they're doing it, and I am really concerned about them.

GENE DICKNOW, IRAQI VOTER: We fear for their safety, of course. That's the No. 1 concern. There's a lot rumors about, you know if you take the chance to vote, you may never make it, and some are willing to take that chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: The voters that we spoke to today are telling us about what they're doing. They are picking members of a 275-member national assembly that will have some big tasks ahead, including electing a president, two vice presidents and writing a constitution for Iraq later this year.

There were some Shiite Muslims who we spoke to in the Southgate polling center, Carol, and many of them told us that they were going to vote for slate number 169. That is the slate of candidates that is backed by the Shiite cleric, the Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, and he is a figure who is very much revered in the Shiite Muslim community of Southeast Michigan.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: You bet. This whole election setting the stage for potentially a Shiite dominated government in Iraq. The people that you spoke to who are casting their ballots out there, did they talk about family members at home and their concern for their family members' safety if they decide to cast their ballot tomorrow?

OPPENHEIM: Absolutely. I think that's really the thing that's really on their minds because here in the U.S., they feel that they live in a society where the freedom to vote is almost taken for granted by Americans, not so much by them because of their past in Iraq. But they know that the circumstances of this weekend are very dicey, and that for their relatives, it's a real chance in certain communities in Iraq to go out and vote. But they want them to do it.

LIN: You bet. All right, thanks very much, Keith Oppenheim for reporting in.

I was asking Keith about Iraqi expats here in the United States with families abroad. Nick Najjar is an Iraqi expatriate whom I've spoken to before about casting his ballot here in the United States. Nick has family also in Iraq. He's joining me from Southfield, Michigan.

Nick, have you already voted?

NICK NAJJAR, IRAQI AMERICAN: Yes, ma'am.

LIN: What did it feel like for you?

NAJJAR: I have two time in my life I was very happy, and I have a joy. One time when I came to USA, two -- three years ago, and the second time was yesterday when I went with my family and we voted.

LIN: It meant that much to you. I think as someone said earlier in our broadcast tonight that we Americans take freedom for granted. Your family is planning on casting their ballots tomorrow in Iraq. The insurgents have said that they are going to stake out polling sites, that they will follow people home, they will kill them and they will kill their children in front of them, if they decide to participate in this election. Are you worried about your family members? What are they telling you about their plans?

NAJJAR: You know it's definitely worried about it. That's normal. But, you know, there's 14 million Iraqis that are eligible to vote. I don't think the insurgents are going to go kill every Iraqi that's going to go vote. And plus, there are certain areas of that are more dangerous, more than just others. If you take south of Baghdad all the way to Basra, there's about eight or nine states that area all -- they have more freedom, less violence. And if you take north of Mosul, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and other Kurdish area, there's another four or five states that are more safe. The only triangle, the Sunni triangles, they are the one, Mosul, Baghdad, Anbar and the others, they are more dangerous there.

So I believe in 80 percent of Iraqis that are eligible to vote, they will go vote because they are more safe than others.

LIN: Now, I imagine when you went to vote, you got in your car, right, and you drove to the polling place and you cast your ballot.

NAJJAR: That's right.

LIN: How is your family planning on getting to the polls tomorrow in Iraq?

NAJJAR: Well, I spoke to them a couple of days ago. I didn't have a chance -- I didn't -- I cannot reach them. The phone number was disconnected. There is no communication between Mosul. My family live in Mosul, north of Baghdad -- north of Iraq. And there's no communication with them. I get a hard time to reach them. So two days ago, they were insisting they are going to go voting.

As I said yesterday in an interview, I said my family said if the United States send their sons and daughters, the Americans send sons and daughters to liberate us and they went 7,000 miles and they put their life in jeopardy every day, we are willing to take that risk.

LIN: Nick, this election could set the stage for a Shiite dominated government. What are your feelings about that?

NAJJAR: You know, I'm a Christian myself but I believe that anybody in Iraq, if it's a Shiite or a Sunni or Kurdish or Christian or a Syrian or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or anybody rule in Iraq, as long as they rule fairly, they're going to give the right to every community, every nationality...

LIN: But how confident are you of that, Nick, really? I mean realistically, I mean you are talking pie in the sky, the greatest of all dreams for Iraq. But realistically, there has been a boycott called for Sunnis to not participate in this election. The Iraqi government says some 57 percent of the registered voters are expected to turn out to vote. But that may not be the case. So are you concerned at all that this election may be viewed as illegitimate?

NAJJAR: No, I don't. I'm more optimistic than that. I have a lot more optimistic than what I hear in the news and what I think other people are thinking. I don't think it's going to be 100 percent perfectly, not even 50 percent maybe. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be -- the way we -- the election we have in the United States and the other part of the free western countries, this is the first experience. Iraqi people lived under a dictatorship for over 35 years. This is the first time in their history, in my lifetime, in my parents' lifetime we have an election. We have a chance to go vote and elect their members. There's going to violence. There's going to be -- it's not going to be perfect, everything. But still, I'm more confident. I'm more optimistic than -- the future of Iraq, years from today maybe four years or eight years or 10 years from today, Iraqi people, they're going to get better life than what they had before.

LIN: It is a beginning. Nick Najjar, thank you very much.

NAJJAR: I -- Carol, I'd like to say something.

LIN: Very quickly.

NAJJAR: This is -- I said this to the American people. I would like to thank every man and women in the uniform, the one that is serving Iraq. Without them, we don't have an opportunity today to have the election today to go vote for. Thank you very much.

LIN: Nick Najjar, thank you very much.

NAJJAR: Thank you.

LIN: In the meantime, separated by continents but united by hope, Iraqi expatriates are voting worldwide. Turn out was brisk in Amman, Jordan where hundreds of Iraqis poured into 11 polling centers across the city today. And in neighboring Syria, officials say the flow of voters increased, but many Iraqis turned up to vote without registering and that led to arguments and in some cases disappointment. Not as many exiles who could be voting are casting ballots in London. Nearly 31,000 have registered to vote in Britain but an estimated 150,000 exiles are eligible to vote there. And some are complaining the low turnout is depressing. Straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, she was wounded in the war in Iraq. But now she's barely able to walk. So after a personal visit by President Bush, how does this soldier feel about the war now? Her story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Every week at this time we like to give you a more personal glimpse of life on the front lines in Iraq. Well, today, we hear from a young woman who was seriously injured by one of those ubiquitous road side bombs. Her legacy is not one of bitterness but determination. Here's our Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Remember this one? We're going to be starting with the left.

BEST: Step up and then step down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Carla Best is here five days a week determined to walk again. A roadside attack on a mission in Iraq left her knee completely destroyed. She's in constant pain, still much better than she was at Walter Reed Hospital in November when the commander in chief dropped in.

BEST: He gave me a coin, and I almost cried because I'm a big coin collector. You know, in the military they give coins when it's a big deal. And when I got a coin from the president, that's the highest you can go.

BASH: Sergeant Best recalls the president as compassionate, telling her to be strong. But in his private visit, she noticed he was careful not to ask questions he may not want answers to.

(on camera): Did he say do you have the equipment that you need?

BEST: No. He didn't ask anything about that because I probably would have -- I would have gotten political on him. It was a civilian van that I got hurt in and had I been in a humvee, I probably wouldn't be in the position that I'm in.

BASH: Sergeant Best does not know why she was sent into the Iraqi night in an unarmored van. She will always know the sound of the explosion.

BEST: And I just was like, OK, this is it, and I don't know. It was almost like I'm OK I'm going to die right here in Iraq in the middle of some Iraqi road.

BASH: By chance she was medevacked where her brother, also in Iraq, was based. He held her hand.

ANTHONY EBELING, CARLA BEST'S BROTHER: I do remember her in a lot of pain, and you know it was hard because I couldn't do anything for her. So you are just staring at -- you know it's my older sister, and she wasn't -- you know she wasn't supposed to get hurt.

BEST: If I were there, I'd be telling my soldiers, you know, be behind this 100 percent because this is our job.

BASH: Fifteen surgeries later, the sergeant supports the mission, but questions the war plan.

BEST: Just too much eagerness to get in there, into Iraq, but now there's these insurgents around that are just knocking us on our asses.

BASH: She's not shy about her disdain for the defense secretary.

BEST: When that soldier got up and straight up asked him about the up-armored vehicles and his answer, that smug answer that he gave...

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: As you know you go to war with the Army you have.

BEST: I have a coin from Donald Rumsfeld, and at that moment, I started cursing and I said I wish I could give this coin back to that man.

BASH: Back in the hospital, an optimistic president promised her knee would be fixed. She knew that wouldn't happen. Now her parents want people to realize she's just one of over 10,000 wounded in Iraq, and caregiving takes a toll.

VICKIE EBELING, CARLA BEST'S MOTHER: You give up your job and you don't even think twice about doing it. But then the bills come in.

BASH: The daughter remains idealistic.

BEST: I wish that younger people would get out and vote and think about the impact because there's people in Iraq right now that the only way they can get out and vote is if another country comes in and stands guard for them.

BASH: And despite her doubts, after all she's been through, she has to believe the war is winnable.

BEST: God, I hope so. I don't want my injury to be for nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, to the side, 25.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And, Carol, when the president visited Sergeant Best in the hospital, he said that her injury would not be for nothing. He promised her that democracy would hold in Iraq. The first test of that promise is, of course, in little more than four hours from now when the polls open in Iraq. And the president is here at this hour, watching and listening, basically through his national security adviser, getting briefings on developments there. He got one today right after the U.S. embassy in Iraq was hit by a rocket. And despite the fact that this is critically important for the president politically and what it means for the tone of his second term, Mr. Bush did use his radio address today to argue that it is just a first step and the mission will continue -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Dana. I know you're going to be following the story out of the White House tonight and you'll be with us during our prime-time special at 10:00 Eastern. We'll see you then.

In the meantime, it may not be the biggest winter storm this year, but it sure is making a mess of the Southeast tonight and it's heading north. So when is the big thaw going to come? Your forecast is next.

And later, an emotional reunion for a National Guard regiment rich in history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: In parts of the Southeast, freezing rain and sleet are still falling, covering trees and power lines and roads in a thick sheet of ice. Orelon Sidney live in the CNN Weather Center with the latest on this storm.

Orelon, I can honestly say that I walk on water today. It just happened to be frozen.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, you're a mom. You do not all the time.

LIN: Oh my gosh, it was tough.

SIDNEY: Yes, it's tough and it's going to be tough tonight. But there is good news tomorrow. Temperatures are expected to be above freezing for most locations. In the mountains, that won't be such a sure deal but most locations will see highs above the freezing mark.

Here's one low-pressure system. Here's the second. Obviously, the one in the east has been the one we're most concerned with and that continues to bring us freezing rain from the Atlanta metro area up northeastward continuing into the Carolinas and into Virginia. Some of the heaviest locations now around Charlotte. Raleigh still going to pick up a little bit more freezing rain. That area in the pink is where we're most concerned because that is the actual icing area.

We have seen some snow as well. Newland, North Carolina has most that I've seen so far. They got 7 inches. And some of these locations, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia could get a little coating of ice on top of the snow. So it is not over yet. I have seen as much as an inch and a half of ice reported in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. That's a rural area. Most other locations through Georgia and the Carolinas I've been looking at, about a quarter to a half inch, maybe a little bit more in some areas.

For tonight, you can see as much as an additional quarter inch stretching from Northeastern Georgia into southern parts of Virginia. That's just the situation we're going to see as this area of low pressure heads up the coast and then out to sea by Monday.

The second area of low pressure out to the west. You're going to see a chance there for some heavy rain and some snowfall. But tomorrow it gets better. The low moves northeastward, the warm air moves in and the ice begins to melt -- Carol.

LIN: All right, good news indeed. Thanks Orelon.

SIDNEY: You're welcome.

LIN: Straight ahead tonight, the Harlem Hell Fighters. Today, soldiers from a regiment dating back 80 years, but first, here's Al Hunt to tell us what's ahead on "THE CAPITAL GANG."

Hi, Al.

AL HUNT, CO-HOST, "THE CAPITAL GANG": Hey, Carol. Congressman Marty Meehan just returned from Iraq and joins the Gang to look at the war, Condoleezza Rice's confirmation and Ted Kennedy's plan for troop withdrawal. And we'll talk to the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. and Anderson Cooper in Baghdad. All that and more next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: They're called the Harlem Hell Fighters, and the name certainly fits. These soldiers from Harlem, New York's 369th Infantry Unit fought a fierce German army during World War I. And for the last year, members have served in Iraq. But the challenge is the Harlem Hell Fighters have encountered throughout their history haven't always been on the battlefield. CNN's Alina Cho has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sergeant First Class Yogindra Maharaj is answering to a different title now that he's home, husband and father. Daughter, Cavita (ph), was born a month after dad was deployed.

YOGINDRA MAHARAJ, 369TH SUPPORT BATTALION: Well, She gave me a look like, who is this guy and why is he in my face? I say I'm your daddy, you know, come on.

CHO: Maharaj is one of 54 members of the 369th Support Battalion National Guardsmen also known as the Harlem Hell Fighters. All 54 returned home to their families Friday after a 10-month tour in Iraq. Maharaj was awarded the Bronze Star.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations. We're very proud of you. MAHARAJ: There's a lot of sweat that went into the colors and into the name the 369 Harlem Hell Fighters.

CHO (on camera): The 369th has been mobilized four times, right?

LT. COL. IRVING DONALDSON, 369TH SUPPORT BATTALION: Four times.

CHO (voice-over): Lieutenant Colonel Irving Donaldson is the commander of the Harlem Hell Fighters, the first all-black regiment to fight overseas. The 369th was formed in 1916 just before the U.S. entered World War I, when black soldiers were not allowed to fight with white soldiers.

DONALDSON: They didn't mind them sweeping floors. They didn't mind them cleaning stalls, didn't mind them doing any kind of service related activities. But they...

CHO (on camera): Fighting was a different story.

DONALDSON: Fighting was a different story.

CHO (voice-over): SO the 369th fought alongside French soldiers. But it was the Germans who nicknamed them the Hell Fighters.

DONALDSON: Because they kept pushing them back. Because the unit came from Harlem, they were known as the Hell Fighters from Harlem.

CHO: The Hell Fighters are also credited with bringing jazz to France.

(on camera): To introduce a whole genre of music is incredible.

DONALDSON: Yes, because it was picked up. It was very well received.

CHO (voice-over): Today, the 369th is a multiracial unit. But Colonel Donaldson never forgets the Hell Fighters' history, especially when he's at war. DONALDSON: As a commander, you know, you have second guess or you know is what you're doing worth it, and then you look back at what they did and it gives you that direction that you need to go on.

CHO: Sergeant Maharaj doesn't forget either.

MAHARAJ: A lot of people died for this unit, for this country. This is what I'm part of.

CHO: A unit that's home for now, until they are called to duty again.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That's all the time for this hour but coming up next, "THE CAPITAL GANG" and then at 8:00 Eastern on "CNN PRESENTS," "Under Fire," stories from the new Iraq. At 9:00, Larry King and tonight the tribute to the late, great Johnny Carson. And I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern tonight. Anderson cooper co-anchors with me live from Baghdad as the vote in Iraq gets under way.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired January 29, 2005 - 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: In Iraq, five hours and counting until the election begins and security forces are on alert. This as violence continues in Baghdad near the U.S. embassy and around the country.
And here in the United States, Iraqi expats see the vote as the dawning of a new day. Some of their stories straight ahead.

It's January 29 and you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

From CNN's global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin, and here's what's happening right now in the news. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone with a rocket. Two Americans are dead and five others wounded. More details on the attack coming up in just a moment.

In the meantime, attacks at the U.S. embassy and at polling stations in Iraq are seen as a violent prelude for what's expected to be a dangerous and historic day in Iraq tomorrow. But insurgents bent on undermining the vote vow to create a bloodbath.

And back in this country, winter has an icy grip on a new spot, the Southeast. A winter storm delivers freezing rain and sleet and ice from the Midwest to Georgia and the Carolinas. Travel is treacherous, at best, and hundreds of flights have been canceled. So far, at least two deaths are blamed on the storm.

Iraq's date with democracy is fast approaching. Right now, it is 2:00 a.m. in Iraq. In just five hours, voters will start heading to the polls to participate in the country's first free election in a half century. But turnout remains a big question especially in the face of a new bold attack by insurgents. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The explosion rocked the U.S. embassy complex in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified walled city within the city of Baghdad itself. Two U.S. personnel were killed, one civilian, one military. A number of other U.S. personnel were wounded. It was a rocket attack say U.S. military spokesmen. A rocket fired somewhere within the city of Baghdad by insurgents.

A number of polling centers have also been attacked over the last several hours. At least three Iraqi polling stations have been attacked. Five Iraqi personal have been wounded. Four of those have been Army, one of them Iraq -- an Iraqi police officer. The Iraqi security forces and the polling stations have become the prime targets of insurgents in these last days and hours leading up to Sunday's historic vote. They have become the prime target, and it is expected more will be hit as polls open 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning here in Baghdad.

Anderson Cooper reporting, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And CNN will be there live.

Now, what exactly will the Iraqis be voting on hours from now? Well, voters will be electing a 275-member national assembly, but it is a transitional assembly. The assembly will elect a president and two vice presidents. The president will then appoint a prime minister. The national assembly will also draft a constitution that Iraqis must vote upon in November.

Now because of the violence and threats and campaign of terror against Iraqi candidates and voters, Sunday's poll is unusual, to say the least. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour takes a close look at the main candidates and the extensive security now in place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This has been just a TV election campaign. The terrorists and their campaign have made sure of that. They even feature in these TV ads, but this one portrays a mounting popular resistance, a growing unity among Iraqis who will stare down their violence by going out to vote on Sunday.

This is just one of 30,000 polling stations around the country. Police are already outside. A bird's-eye view shows a massive lockdown already in effect across Iraq.

(on camera): Traveling in a helicopter across Baghdad, you can see that this is now a ghost town. Security is in full force.

(voice-over): From the window, you see miles and miles of empty roads. Barely a car is out on what is a normally bumper to bumper commuter streets and highways. The commander of all ground forces here does expect violence but hopes to cut down on the car bombs.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, COMMANDER, U.S. GROUND FORCES: Because of the ban on driving, we should be able to control to a better degree the vehicle-borne explosive device. There will probably be some suicide vests involved somewhere. And the enemy really wants to intimidate the people, so I think you will start early in the morning.

AMANPOUR: Amid this terror, ordinary Iraqis are expected to go out and choose from a bewildering array of 111 parties, 7,000 candidates and two elections, national assembly and provincial councils. AYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You have to elect the Iraqi list. It is the only list which can build a new and free and independent Iraq.

AMANPOUR: But the most powerful party is a coalition of Shiite groups, expected to win the most seats. And with that, some people fear that Iraq might become an Islamic republic.

ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM, SUP. COUN./ISLAMIC REV. IN IRAQ (through translator): Definitely not. Our goal is not to create an Islamic republic nor a religious government. Our goal is an Iraqi government.

AMANPOUR: The U.S. has made it clear that it won't stand for an Iran-style Islamic government but Hakim insists a new Iraq will have an Islamic identity, and he does not rule out clerics being in future governments.

AL-HAKIM (through translator): This will be a transitional phase. In the future, we will have more elections, and we shall see.

AMANPOUR: Even that possibility worries many Iraqis, especially the minority Sunnis who feel the U.S. war here has marginalized them while empowering the Shiites. Hard-line Sunnis have called for an election boycott, but moderates like veteran politician Adnan Pachachi think they have changed their minds in the past few days.

ADNAN PACHACI, IRAQI INDEPENDENT DEMOCRAT: Those people who decided not to take part in the election realize that the election is going to be -- is going to take place anyway and that they don't want to miss the vote completely.

AMANPOUR: With the prospect of a low Sunni turnout, the U.S. and Iraqi officials have swamped the airwaves with new ads designed to pull Sunnis into the process.

"Since when did our country become Sunni, Shiite, Arab or Kurd," says Abu Omar to his friend. "This is our Iraq, and it needs us all to take a stand. No one here wants this first free election to trigger Iraq's first civil war."

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, Iraqis living abroad already are casting their ballots in the historic election. Polling places opened yesterday in 14 countries. Five polling stations opened right here in the United States. Our Gary Nurenberg is monitoring the turnout in New Carrollton, Maryland. Thelma Gutierrez is in Irvine, California.

Let's start with you, Gary. What has the turnout been so far?

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good evening, Carol. The polls closed here an hour ago. A 1,000 Iraqis voted here today. Add that to yesterday's total, it comes to 1,500. Most of those we talked to seemed to be taking part happily. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG (voice-over): Iraqi voters, many of them Kurds from up and down the eastern seaboard, came to this cold Maryland parking lot after a long wait.

ABDULLAH AKU, IRAQI VOTER: More than 30 years Saddam has been like killing our people for no reason, you know. And we had no way to get our own government, so today is our victory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally, I mean, Iraq can get a taste of democracy.

NURENBERG: That taste today included having every voter searched and patted down. Dogs sniffed for explosives, a traffic checkpoint was established on a residential street outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's worth it because this is a future of our country. This is a freedom of our peoples.

NURENBERG: Parents brought children to watch them vote for the first time in their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're so very happy for you.

NURENBERG: As they left, voters encountered a small group of Americans who came to wish them well. Paula Halvorson's son, Andy, will soon be deployed to Iraq.

PAULA HALVORSON, ELECTION SUPPORTER: I believe in what we're doing there, and if I held my son back I would have no right to say I believe in this war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It strengthens my own enthusiasm and makes me more excited to play the role that I'll really have the privilege of playing over the next year.

NURENBERG: Naval Academy student, David Exner, has friends in the military.

DAVID EXNER, SUPPORTER: I know several of them are actually guarding the polling stations over in Iraq right now as we speak. And it's just a real privilege for me to be able to come out here and show the support for them and also for the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NURENBERG: Whether it was disenchantment with the election process or the difficulty for some of driving hundreds of miles to the nearest polling place, the majority of Iraqis eligible to vote in the United States didn't. For whatever reason, nearly 90 percent of eligible voters are choosing, Carol, not to take part. LIN: Interesting. All right, thanks very much, Gary.

Well, the polls are still open out on the West Coast. In fact, two hours and counting until they actually close out at Irvine, California. That's where we find CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

Thelma, turnout any better where you are?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, it's funny. It's actually quite the same as it is on the East Coast. In the first five hours that this polling spot was open, we are told that more than 1,000 people actually voted here today, 3,800 are registered to vote here. And organizers say they are very confident that they are going to have 99 percent turnout by the end of the day tomorrow, when it all ends. Many here that we talked to say that this was a great moment of victory for them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTTIERREZ (voice-over): They are Christian Assyrians and Shia Muslims, Kurds in their native dress, and Sunni Muslims, men, women, young and old, expatriates voting for a new Iraq. At the polling stations, applause broke out every time a ballot was cast. For these voters, it was the sound of victory. For people like Izra Hassani (ph), who had lost loved ones during Saddam Hussein's regime, it was a bittersweet emotional moment, long coming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just feel bad for the people who couldn't see it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTTIERREZ: Family traveled all the way from Portland, Oregon, just to be able to be here to vote. They came last week to register and then they had to fly back again today to actually vote. They talked of the sacrifice and they said that it could not be compared in any way to the sacrifice that their family members are actually making in Iraq to go out and vote. They say here, they're just putting a little bit of money and effort into it. There they're putting their lives at stake.

LIN: Well put. Yes, Thelma, did the folks you talked to at the polling place, who were casting their ballots, did they talk about the difficulty of having only five polling places in the United States for thousands of Iraqi expats who might want to register and vote?

GUTTIERREZ: Yes, Carol, they did. In fact, they said they are very convinced that if there were more sites open to people, that they're sure that the numbers would have been higher. They said it was enormously difficult to have to register in a spot, come all the way from, say, Portland or Arizona or Utah to California just to register. Turn around, get back on a plane, fly home and then return again the following week. Many of these people have families and they say it was not easy. It would have been a higher turnout had they had more spots near home.

LIN: You bet. One would think so. All right, thanks very much. Thelma Gutierrez live in Irvine, California.

In about 20 minutes, I'm going to go live to Michigan to talk with an Iraqi expat whose family also is planning to vote in Baghdad. We're going to gauge their experiences on the second day of voting.

In the meantime, last weekend, it was the Northeast and now it's the Southeast getting a blast of brutal winter weather. Freezing rain and sleet have turned roads into ice rinks and brought major metropolitan areas to a crawl. CNN's Sara Dorsey reports on the slippery scene in Atlanta, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Icy, wintry weather bears down on the Southeast, making for a beautiful picture, but a mess if you're out in it. Ice scrapers became a necessity. And some Georgia drivers learned snow tires would have come in handy, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was driving down the street. I was driving normally and all of a sudden, I went to lightly put my foot on the brake and all of a sudden, the car just started skidding, and I couldn't stop it.

DORSEY: Sixteen cars crunched in this pile-up in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville. Some stretches of interstate in and out of metro Atlanta closed, backing up traffic for miles. Those that were actually moving were doing it at a snails pace. Waiting is the name of the game today on the roads and at the airport. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International is open, but passengers are stranded because of canceled and delayed flights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We actually got a rental car in this whole time, but we can't go anywhere. I'm supposed to be in Savannah, Georgia, at 2:00 for a wedding and it looks like I'm not going to make it.

DORSEY: For snow-starved kids, though, the wintry mix was a delight, even welcomed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was crazy, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), crazy.

DORSEY: Sara Dorsey, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right. Straight ahead, securing the vote. It is a daunting task for men dressed as women to vehicle-borne IEDs. What might Iraqi and coalition face as civilians prepare to vote? I'm going to be talking with military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson.

Plus, he thought he was just minutes from death so he wrote a final farewell in his own blood. And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SGT. CARLA BEST, WOUNDED IN IRAQ: I just was like, OK, this is it. And I don't know. It was almost like I was OK, I'm going to die here in the middle of Iraq in the middle of some Iraqi road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Wounded in war. A road side attack left her knee destroyed. So has the war been worth it? Well, you might be surprised by this soldier's story.

You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: What a feeling it must be to cast your ballot for the first time. Even with much of Baghdad under lockdown, insurgents have attacked three polling places. And there are other election security concerns. Officials fear militants may use hundreds of missing Iraqi uniforms as disguises to launch attacks. And that's not all. CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joining me from Los Angeles with more on what voters can expect.

Ken, good to have you on this important evening.

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

LIN: What are your sources telling you about what sort of violence, what sort of tactics might be used leading up to those critical hours at those polling places in Iraq?

ROBINSON: Well, we've really seen a preview of it already, Carol, with the mortar attack into the Green Zone. The coalition is cutting off all travel. They're not going to allow vehicles to be driven during the day. There's going to be an extended curfew. So the only way -- one of the only ways to reach these polling places will be by mortars and rockets, as well as individual pre-cached suicide vests that could be used.

Is there any place in the country that you think is safer to vote than others?

ROBINSON: No. I think that they need to anticipate the unanticipated. You know, everyone has written off the north and the south and said that really the clear area of violence will be the Sunni Triangle. I think it's short-sided to think that way. I believe that they're going to go to the path of least resistance and those areas where less security because of a less fear of attack may be the primary areas to attack.

LIN: Well, Iraqi officials are estimating that 57 percent of 14 million people registered to vote in that country are actually going to turn out to vote. That's a much higher percentage than the safe old United States here.

ROBINSON: Yes, I mean, Americans should be ashamed because they've been undergoing attacks every day. They've been attacking suspected polling sites every day. And...

LIN: They were actually dummy sites, too, that security operations had set up to try to lure the insurgents out and declare themselves.

ROBINSON: Right. The tipping point, Carol, I think, is going to be in the morning. You know at 7:00 in the morning, Iraq time, the polls open. But many Iraqis may take a wait and see attitude, and if that's the time of day that they choose to start bombing and shelling, it could prevent. But I think you're going to see a lot of Iraqis vote.

LIN: You really do?

ROBINSON: I do.

LIN: Who's actually turning out? I mean, you know, we amongst ourselves here in the newsroom have asked ourselves, if it meant risking your life or even the life of your family, these insurgents have threatened to stake out these polling places, follow people home, kill the voters and their children. Who actually would risk their lives to turn out?

ROBINSON: Well, I think we in the west have forgotten what it's like to be free and what that cost. And I think that after years of the battered wife syndrome that Iraqis went through, they've got this moment in time now that is probably pretty special to them. Think how many members of the Iraqi police and Iraqi military continue to sign up when their brothers are assassinated every day...

LIN: So it's more than...

ROBINSON: ...and they still keep coming.

LIN: And it's more than just the money is what you're saying.

ROBINSON: Right.

LIN: All right, Ken Robinson, thank you very much. We'll see what happens. CNN, of course, is going to be live when those polls open up in Iraq.

In the meantime, right here in the United States, thousands of Iraqis are heading to the polls, voting in their first ever Democratic election. So straight ahead I'm going to talk with an Iraqi expatriate whose family in Baghdad is also planning to cast their ballots.

But coming up next, Michael Jackson fights back. Ahead of Monday's jury selection, the pop star prepares to send out his own message. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Do you remember that horrible train wreck that we've been covering all week out in Los Angeles? Well, one story that stands out above the others, a train wreck victim who wrote a love message to his wife and children in his own blood. A man only known to the public as John was pinned in wreckage of Wednesday's commuter train disaster that killed 11 people. He scrawled what he thought were his dying words in blood on a seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN ROBERT ROSARIO, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: I'm talking to him, and he has -- he's got some of the chairs -- obviously, the train is on its side and he's got some of the chairs sitting on top of him pinning him down. As I turn it up, I notice in what looked like blood and now I know it was blood, he wrote, "I love my children, and I love" -- I think he was writing his wife's name, Leslie or Liz. I don't what it -- I could barely make it out but he used his own blood thinking this was it. I mean this was his final outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well, we're happy to report that this man we know as John left a hospital Thursday and the public is clamoring to know more about him, but he is right now guarding his privacy and lucky to be alive.

Elsewhere across America tonight, in Somers, Connecticut the convicted killer who wants to die of lethal injection won't get his wish until at least Monday. The state has postponed Michael Ross' execution until then because of questions about whether his attorney has a conflict of interest. Ross himself has rejected all efforts to escape the death penalty for the killing of four women back in the 1980s.

And pop star Michael Jackson will release a video statement tomorrow to comment on leaks of grand jury testimony in his child molestation case. The statement will be on Jackson's website one day before jury selection is to start in his trial. The judge, who has imposed a gag order, cleared the statement.

So how do you keep them on the studio lot when they've seen the suffering world? Well, Angelina Jolie says going back to making movies is tough after doing something as rewarding as helping refugees. The actress and subject of juicy Hollywood gossip has been traveling the world as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Well, CNN's Richard Quest caught up with her at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does it annoy you when people want to talk about other matters and you want to talk about your work with the U.N.H.C.R. and I mean that there are an entire raft of things you and I could be sitting here talking about, some of them you won't talk about, some of them I'd to ask about, some of them you can't talk about, some of them we shouldn't talk about, some of them everyone would love us to talk about.

ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: The answer is no to everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Perhaps she was addressing the rumors that she and Brad Pitt were having an affair and that's what caused his breakup with Jennifer Aniston. Anyway for more on Angelina Jolie, you can go to CNN.com. The story is the most popular on the website this hour.

In the meantime, voters in Iraq head to the polls in just a few hours. But thousands of Iraqis have already cast their ballots right here in the United States. So straight ahead, I'm going to talk with one Iraqi American about his first Democratic vote.

And later, the Harlem Hell Fighters, they were the first all- black regiment to fight overseas more than 80 years ago. And today the regiment lives on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back, I'm Carol Lin and here's a look at what's happening right now in the news. An insurgent attack penetrated Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, killing two Americans. A rocket attack tonight on Iraq's U.S. embassy killed a service member and a civilian and wounded five other Americans. And with historic national elections just hours away, Iraq is essentially under marshal law. Iraqi police and the U.S. military have shut down bridges and banned motor traffic near polling sites. Restricted travel and imposed a nighttime curfew. Insurgents have attacked three polling sites in northern Baghdad.

It's still tentative, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plan to meet in the second week of February. Now, if it happens, it'll be their first meeting since Abbas won election earlier this month.

And it's no ordinary passenger flight. A jetliner from China has landed in Taiwan for the first time in 56 years. The island had banned Chinese airlines since Communists took over the mainland in 1949. Business ties between the two rivals sparked the change.

Voting in Iraq's historic election is a dream come true for many Iraqis and that feeling was apparent as voters cast their ballots in five cities across the U.S. today. CNN's Keith Oppenheim spent the day at the poll in Southgate, Michigan.

How are things going out there, Keith?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a pretty busy day here, Carol. You know yesterday there were more than 2,000 voters here in Southgate, Michigan, more than anywhere else in the country. Today, there were significantly larger crowds. In fact, take a look at some video from this afternoon, and you can see that there are some long lines at the security checkpoint, at times as many as 60 people waiting to get in to cast a ballot.

The people we spoke to were quite aware that while they are under heavy security here in Michigan, they can exercise their right to vote with relative ease and without great fear. But as far as their relatives in Iraq, we heard a steady theme that voters here are afraid their relatives at Iraqi polling centers could be attacked. Yet at the same time, they believe those relatives and all Iraqis have an obligation to take part in this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIAD KONJA, IRAQI VOTER: We're coming in, walking in. We're not even concerned about anything happening outside. But for them, they don't know if they going to go in, are they going to come out safe or not, alive or not. But still, they're doing it, and I am really concerned about them.

GENE DICKNOW, IRAQI VOTER: We fear for their safety, of course. That's the No. 1 concern. There's a lot rumors about, you know if you take the chance to vote, you may never make it, and some are willing to take that chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: The voters that we spoke to today are telling us about what they're doing. They are picking members of a 275-member national assembly that will have some big tasks ahead, including electing a president, two vice presidents and writing a constitution for Iraq later this year.

There were some Shiite Muslims who we spoke to in the Southgate polling center, Carol, and many of them told us that they were going to vote for slate number 169. That is the slate of candidates that is backed by the Shiite cleric, the Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, and he is a figure who is very much revered in the Shiite Muslim community of Southeast Michigan.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: You bet. This whole election setting the stage for potentially a Shiite dominated government in Iraq. The people that you spoke to who are casting their ballots out there, did they talk about family members at home and their concern for their family members' safety if they decide to cast their ballot tomorrow?

OPPENHEIM: Absolutely. I think that's really the thing that's really on their minds because here in the U.S., they feel that they live in a society where the freedom to vote is almost taken for granted by Americans, not so much by them because of their past in Iraq. But they know that the circumstances of this weekend are very dicey, and that for their relatives, it's a real chance in certain communities in Iraq to go out and vote. But they want them to do it.

LIN: You bet. All right, thanks very much, Keith Oppenheim for reporting in.

I was asking Keith about Iraqi expats here in the United States with families abroad. Nick Najjar is an Iraqi expatriate whom I've spoken to before about casting his ballot here in the United States. Nick has family also in Iraq. He's joining me from Southfield, Michigan.

Nick, have you already voted?

NICK NAJJAR, IRAQI AMERICAN: Yes, ma'am.

LIN: What did it feel like for you?

NAJJAR: I have two time in my life I was very happy, and I have a joy. One time when I came to USA, two -- three years ago, and the second time was yesterday when I went with my family and we voted.

LIN: It meant that much to you. I think as someone said earlier in our broadcast tonight that we Americans take freedom for granted. Your family is planning on casting their ballots tomorrow in Iraq. The insurgents have said that they are going to stake out polling sites, that they will follow people home, they will kill them and they will kill their children in front of them, if they decide to participate in this election. Are you worried about your family members? What are they telling you about their plans?

NAJJAR: You know it's definitely worried about it. That's normal. But, you know, there's 14 million Iraqis that are eligible to vote. I don't think the insurgents are going to go kill every Iraqi that's going to go vote. And plus, there are certain areas of that are more dangerous, more than just others. If you take south of Baghdad all the way to Basra, there's about eight or nine states that area all -- they have more freedom, less violence. And if you take north of Mosul, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and other Kurdish area, there's another four or five states that are more safe. The only triangle, the Sunni triangles, they are the one, Mosul, Baghdad, Anbar and the others, they are more dangerous there.

So I believe in 80 percent of Iraqis that are eligible to vote, they will go vote because they are more safe than others.

LIN: Now, I imagine when you went to vote, you got in your car, right, and you drove to the polling place and you cast your ballot.

NAJJAR: That's right.

LIN: How is your family planning on getting to the polls tomorrow in Iraq?

NAJJAR: Well, I spoke to them a couple of days ago. I didn't have a chance -- I didn't -- I cannot reach them. The phone number was disconnected. There is no communication between Mosul. My family live in Mosul, north of Baghdad -- north of Iraq. And there's no communication with them. I get a hard time to reach them. So two days ago, they were insisting they are going to go voting.

As I said yesterday in an interview, I said my family said if the United States send their sons and daughters, the Americans send sons and daughters to liberate us and they went 7,000 miles and they put their life in jeopardy every day, we are willing to take that risk.

LIN: Nick, this election could set the stage for a Shiite dominated government. What are your feelings about that?

NAJJAR: You know, I'm a Christian myself but I believe that anybody in Iraq, if it's a Shiite or a Sunni or Kurdish or Christian or a Syrian or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or anybody rule in Iraq, as long as they rule fairly, they're going to give the right to every community, every nationality...

LIN: But how confident are you of that, Nick, really? I mean realistically, I mean you are talking pie in the sky, the greatest of all dreams for Iraq. But realistically, there has been a boycott called for Sunnis to not participate in this election. The Iraqi government says some 57 percent of the registered voters are expected to turn out to vote. But that may not be the case. So are you concerned at all that this election may be viewed as illegitimate?

NAJJAR: No, I don't. I'm more optimistic than that. I have a lot more optimistic than what I hear in the news and what I think other people are thinking. I don't think it's going to be 100 percent perfectly, not even 50 percent maybe. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be -- the way we -- the election we have in the United States and the other part of the free western countries, this is the first experience. Iraqi people lived under a dictatorship for over 35 years. This is the first time in their history, in my lifetime, in my parents' lifetime we have an election. We have a chance to go vote and elect their members. There's going to violence. There's going to be -- it's not going to be perfect, everything. But still, I'm more confident. I'm more optimistic than -- the future of Iraq, years from today maybe four years or eight years or 10 years from today, Iraqi people, they're going to get better life than what they had before.

LIN: It is a beginning. Nick Najjar, thank you very much.

NAJJAR: I -- Carol, I'd like to say something.

LIN: Very quickly.

NAJJAR: This is -- I said this to the American people. I would like to thank every man and women in the uniform, the one that is serving Iraq. Without them, we don't have an opportunity today to have the election today to go vote for. Thank you very much.

LIN: Nick Najjar, thank you very much.

NAJJAR: Thank you.

LIN: In the meantime, separated by continents but united by hope, Iraqi expatriates are voting worldwide. Turn out was brisk in Amman, Jordan where hundreds of Iraqis poured into 11 polling centers across the city today. And in neighboring Syria, officials say the flow of voters increased, but many Iraqis turned up to vote without registering and that led to arguments and in some cases disappointment. Not as many exiles who could be voting are casting ballots in London. Nearly 31,000 have registered to vote in Britain but an estimated 150,000 exiles are eligible to vote there. And some are complaining the low turnout is depressing. Straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, she was wounded in the war in Iraq. But now she's barely able to walk. So after a personal visit by President Bush, how does this soldier feel about the war now? Her story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Every week at this time we like to give you a more personal glimpse of life on the front lines in Iraq. Well, today, we hear from a young woman who was seriously injured by one of those ubiquitous road side bombs. Her legacy is not one of bitterness but determination. Here's our Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Remember this one? We're going to be starting with the left.

BEST: Step up and then step down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Carla Best is here five days a week determined to walk again. A roadside attack on a mission in Iraq left her knee completely destroyed. She's in constant pain, still much better than she was at Walter Reed Hospital in November when the commander in chief dropped in.

BEST: He gave me a coin, and I almost cried because I'm a big coin collector. You know, in the military they give coins when it's a big deal. And when I got a coin from the president, that's the highest you can go.

BASH: Sergeant Best recalls the president as compassionate, telling her to be strong. But in his private visit, she noticed he was careful not to ask questions he may not want answers to.

(on camera): Did he say do you have the equipment that you need?

BEST: No. He didn't ask anything about that because I probably would have -- I would have gotten political on him. It was a civilian van that I got hurt in and had I been in a humvee, I probably wouldn't be in the position that I'm in.

BASH: Sergeant Best does not know why she was sent into the Iraqi night in an unarmored van. She will always know the sound of the explosion.

BEST: And I just was like, OK, this is it, and I don't know. It was almost like I'm OK I'm going to die right here in Iraq in the middle of some Iraqi road.

BASH: By chance she was medevacked where her brother, also in Iraq, was based. He held her hand.

ANTHONY EBELING, CARLA BEST'S BROTHER: I do remember her in a lot of pain, and you know it was hard because I couldn't do anything for her. So you are just staring at -- you know it's my older sister, and she wasn't -- you know she wasn't supposed to get hurt.

BEST: If I were there, I'd be telling my soldiers, you know, be behind this 100 percent because this is our job.

BASH: Fifteen surgeries later, the sergeant supports the mission, but questions the war plan.

BEST: Just too much eagerness to get in there, into Iraq, but now there's these insurgents around that are just knocking us on our asses.

BASH: She's not shy about her disdain for the defense secretary.

BEST: When that soldier got up and straight up asked him about the up-armored vehicles and his answer, that smug answer that he gave...

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: As you know you go to war with the Army you have.

BEST: I have a coin from Donald Rumsfeld, and at that moment, I started cursing and I said I wish I could give this coin back to that man.

BASH: Back in the hospital, an optimistic president promised her knee would be fixed. She knew that wouldn't happen. Now her parents want people to realize she's just one of over 10,000 wounded in Iraq, and caregiving takes a toll.

VICKIE EBELING, CARLA BEST'S MOTHER: You give up your job and you don't even think twice about doing it. But then the bills come in.

BASH: The daughter remains idealistic.

BEST: I wish that younger people would get out and vote and think about the impact because there's people in Iraq right now that the only way they can get out and vote is if another country comes in and stands guard for them.

BASH: And despite her doubts, after all she's been through, she has to believe the war is winnable.

BEST: God, I hope so. I don't want my injury to be for nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, to the side, 25.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And, Carol, when the president visited Sergeant Best in the hospital, he said that her injury would not be for nothing. He promised her that democracy would hold in Iraq. The first test of that promise is, of course, in little more than four hours from now when the polls open in Iraq. And the president is here at this hour, watching and listening, basically through his national security adviser, getting briefings on developments there. He got one today right after the U.S. embassy in Iraq was hit by a rocket. And despite the fact that this is critically important for the president politically and what it means for the tone of his second term, Mr. Bush did use his radio address today to argue that it is just a first step and the mission will continue -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Dana. I know you're going to be following the story out of the White House tonight and you'll be with us during our prime-time special at 10:00 Eastern. We'll see you then.

In the meantime, it may not be the biggest winter storm this year, but it sure is making a mess of the Southeast tonight and it's heading north. So when is the big thaw going to come? Your forecast is next.

And later, an emotional reunion for a National Guard regiment rich in history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: In parts of the Southeast, freezing rain and sleet are still falling, covering trees and power lines and roads in a thick sheet of ice. Orelon Sidney live in the CNN Weather Center with the latest on this storm.

Orelon, I can honestly say that I walk on water today. It just happened to be frozen.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, you're a mom. You do not all the time.

LIN: Oh my gosh, it was tough.

SIDNEY: Yes, it's tough and it's going to be tough tonight. But there is good news tomorrow. Temperatures are expected to be above freezing for most locations. In the mountains, that won't be such a sure deal but most locations will see highs above the freezing mark.

Here's one low-pressure system. Here's the second. Obviously, the one in the east has been the one we're most concerned with and that continues to bring us freezing rain from the Atlanta metro area up northeastward continuing into the Carolinas and into Virginia. Some of the heaviest locations now around Charlotte. Raleigh still going to pick up a little bit more freezing rain. That area in the pink is where we're most concerned because that is the actual icing area.

We have seen some snow as well. Newland, North Carolina has most that I've seen so far. They got 7 inches. And some of these locations, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia could get a little coating of ice on top of the snow. So it is not over yet. I have seen as much as an inch and a half of ice reported in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. That's a rural area. Most other locations through Georgia and the Carolinas I've been looking at, about a quarter to a half inch, maybe a little bit more in some areas.

For tonight, you can see as much as an additional quarter inch stretching from Northeastern Georgia into southern parts of Virginia. That's just the situation we're going to see as this area of low pressure heads up the coast and then out to sea by Monday.

The second area of low pressure out to the west. You're going to see a chance there for some heavy rain and some snowfall. But tomorrow it gets better. The low moves northeastward, the warm air moves in and the ice begins to melt -- Carol.

LIN: All right, good news indeed. Thanks Orelon.

SIDNEY: You're welcome.

LIN: Straight ahead tonight, the Harlem Hell Fighters. Today, soldiers from a regiment dating back 80 years, but first, here's Al Hunt to tell us what's ahead on "THE CAPITAL GANG."

Hi, Al.

AL HUNT, CO-HOST, "THE CAPITAL GANG": Hey, Carol. Congressman Marty Meehan just returned from Iraq and joins the Gang to look at the war, Condoleezza Rice's confirmation and Ted Kennedy's plan for troop withdrawal. And we'll talk to the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. and Anderson Cooper in Baghdad. All that and more next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: They're called the Harlem Hell Fighters, and the name certainly fits. These soldiers from Harlem, New York's 369th Infantry Unit fought a fierce German army during World War I. And for the last year, members have served in Iraq. But the challenge is the Harlem Hell Fighters have encountered throughout their history haven't always been on the battlefield. CNN's Alina Cho has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sergeant First Class Yogindra Maharaj is answering to a different title now that he's home, husband and father. Daughter, Cavita (ph), was born a month after dad was deployed.

YOGINDRA MAHARAJ, 369TH SUPPORT BATTALION: Well, She gave me a look like, who is this guy and why is he in my face? I say I'm your daddy, you know, come on.

CHO: Maharaj is one of 54 members of the 369th Support Battalion National Guardsmen also known as the Harlem Hell Fighters. All 54 returned home to their families Friday after a 10-month tour in Iraq. Maharaj was awarded the Bronze Star.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations. We're very proud of you. MAHARAJ: There's a lot of sweat that went into the colors and into the name the 369 Harlem Hell Fighters.

CHO (on camera): The 369th has been mobilized four times, right?

LT. COL. IRVING DONALDSON, 369TH SUPPORT BATTALION: Four times.

CHO (voice-over): Lieutenant Colonel Irving Donaldson is the commander of the Harlem Hell Fighters, the first all-black regiment to fight overseas. The 369th was formed in 1916 just before the U.S. entered World War I, when black soldiers were not allowed to fight with white soldiers.

DONALDSON: They didn't mind them sweeping floors. They didn't mind them cleaning stalls, didn't mind them doing any kind of service related activities. But they...

CHO (on camera): Fighting was a different story.

DONALDSON: Fighting was a different story.

CHO (voice-over): SO the 369th fought alongside French soldiers. But it was the Germans who nicknamed them the Hell Fighters.

DONALDSON: Because they kept pushing them back. Because the unit came from Harlem, they were known as the Hell Fighters from Harlem.

CHO: The Hell Fighters are also credited with bringing jazz to France.

(on camera): To introduce a whole genre of music is incredible.

DONALDSON: Yes, because it was picked up. It was very well received.

CHO (voice-over): Today, the 369th is a multiracial unit. But Colonel Donaldson never forgets the Hell Fighters' history, especially when he's at war. DONALDSON: As a commander, you know, you have second guess or you know is what you're doing worth it, and then you look back at what they did and it gives you that direction that you need to go on.

CHO: Sergeant Maharaj doesn't forget either.

MAHARAJ: A lot of people died for this unit, for this country. This is what I'm part of.

CHO: A unit that's home for now, until they are called to duty again.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That's all the time for this hour but coming up next, "THE CAPITAL GANG" and then at 8:00 Eastern on "CNN PRESENTS," "Under Fire," stories from the new Iraq. At 9:00, Larry King and tonight the tribute to the late, great Johnny Carson. And I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern tonight. Anderson cooper co-anchors with me live from Baghdad as the vote in Iraq gets under way.

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