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Possible War in Iraq Sparks Massive Protests

Aired February 17, 2003 - 13:40   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The power of protest: world leaders now weigh their decisions on Iraq against a massive show of opposition to a war.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa live in New York, just one of the many cities that saw demonstrations this weekend.

Maria, I couldn't believe the video -- it was massive. I mean, the first kind of scene like this, so far.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well you know what, Kyra; organizers here in New York are overwhelmingly excited by the turnout this weekend.

They were very concerned that because they had not been given the permit to march in front of the United Nations, as they had wanted, that perhaps that would affect the turnout, but it appears that tens of thousands of people didn't care about that, or the cold weather, or the fact that they were nowhere near the stage.

They wanted to make sure that their voices were heard. Over 100,000, says the NYPD.

Organizers put it close to half a million.

In Los Angeles, larger crowds there than organizers had predicted, with Hollywood stars taking to the stage there.

In San Francisco a different bent to the protests -- an artistic bent. With the folks making the shape of a peace dove and smiling face -- I don't know if we have that for you, but that was a lot of coordination. And, in Denver, protesters who took to the streets there did have some encounters with the police who ended up using tear gas to disperse some of the crowds, but a lot of people in the antiwar movement feeling energized, saying that they had been dismissed before as small and voiceless and unimportant.

While they don't feel that way this morning, but one organizer said to me this morning, they may have changed history but it does not mean that they had -- may have reversed the road to war with Iraq -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Maria, a couple of questions. First of all, are the -- these are not all people that think Saddam Hussein should stay in power, right?

HINOJOSA: You know what, I didn't find one person who says that they support Saddam Hussein. Quiet the contrary. Everybody says, look, he's a dictator, he's horrible, he's bad for his people.

But, are we an imminent threat in this country from Saddam Hussein, they would ask, and then they would say, is it worth the risk of thousands of civilian causalities on both sides to get Saddam out? They just said they have to exhaust all of the possibilities for a diplomatic solution rather than going for war, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And kind of going through the crowd, I know you had a chance to talk to a lot of people, how diverse was this crowd? I mean, are these the -- the lawyers who work 15 hours a day and they decided to take a day off and come out and protest a war?

HINOJOSA: You know what, Kyra? It's as diverse as New York itself. I mean, there was this amazing moment when I was standing there doing this live shot and all of a sudden this woman in a full- length mink coat walks by with her anti-war poster and then just behind her there was a woman who had a -- a little sign that said "Librarians for Peace," and other people who said -- you know -- had their PTA organizations up.

There were clearly some people who had said, look, they've been protesting war since the 1960s. But I found a lot of people, working class, middle class folks, who had never been to demonstrations, a lot of young people who were saying this is the first time, and when I would ask them why, a lot of them just said that they feel very insecure at this moment, that the possibility of a war means that they feel more vulnerable in New York, and that getting out and doing something made them feel more positive in the anxiety of living in this Code Orange that we've been facing here and all across the country -- that just getting out and doing something made them feel better and safer and more positive, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Maria Hinojosa, I'm surprised she showed up in a mink, that one protester. She could have started a whole other protest within the protest!

HINOJOSA: They left her alone.

PHILLIPS: No ketchup?

HINOJOSA: She was fine.

PHILLIPS: All right, Maria Hinojosa, live from New York, thanks so much.

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 February 17, 2003 - 13:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The power of protest: world leaders now weigh their decisions on Iraq against a massive show of opposition to a war.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa live in New York, just one of the many cities that saw demonstrations this weekend.

Maria, I couldn't believe the video -- it was massive. I mean, the first kind of scene like this, so far.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well you know what, Kyra; organizers here in New York are overwhelmingly excited by the turnout this weekend.

They were very concerned that because they had not been given the permit to march in front of the United Nations, as they had wanted, that perhaps that would affect the turnout, but it appears that tens of thousands of people didn't care about that, or the cold weather, or the fact that they were nowhere near the stage.

They wanted to make sure that their voices were heard. Over 100,000, says the NYPD.

Organizers put it close to half a million.

In Los Angeles, larger crowds there than organizers had predicted, with Hollywood stars taking to the stage there.

In San Francisco a different bent to the protests -- an artistic bent. With the folks making the shape of a peace dove and smiling face -- I don't know if we have that for you, but that was a lot of coordination. And, in Denver, protesters who took to the streets there did have some encounters with the police who ended up using tear gas to disperse some of the crowds, but a lot of people in the antiwar movement feeling energized, saying that they had been dismissed before as small and voiceless and unimportant.

While they don't feel that way this morning, but one organizer said to me this morning, they may have changed history but it does not mean that they had -- may have reversed the road to war with Iraq -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Maria, a couple of questions. First of all, are the -- these are not all people that think Saddam Hussein should stay in power, right?

HINOJOSA: You know what, I didn't find one person who says that they support Saddam Hussein. Quiet the contrary. Everybody says, look, he's a dictator, he's horrible, he's bad for his people.

But, are we an imminent threat in this country from Saddam Hussein, they would ask, and then they would say, is it worth the risk of thousands of civilian causalities on both sides to get Saddam out? They just said they have to exhaust all of the possibilities for a diplomatic solution rather than going for war, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And kind of going through the crowd, I know you had a chance to talk to a lot of people, how diverse was this crowd? I mean, are these the -- the lawyers who work 15 hours a day and they decided to take a day off and come out and protest a war?

HINOJOSA: You know what, Kyra? It's as diverse as New York itself. I mean, there was this amazing moment when I was standing there doing this live shot and all of a sudden this woman in a full- length mink coat walks by with her anti-war poster and then just behind her there was a woman who had a -- a little sign that said "Librarians for Peace," and other people who said -- you know -- had their PTA organizations up.

There were clearly some people who had said, look, they've been protesting war since the 1960s. But I found a lot of people, working class, middle class folks, who had never been to demonstrations, a lot of young people who were saying this is the first time, and when I would ask them why, a lot of them just said that they feel very insecure at this moment, that the possibility of a war means that they feel more vulnerable in New York, and that getting out and doing something made them feel more positive in the anxiety of living in this Code Orange that we've been facing here and all across the country -- that just getting out and doing something made them feel better and safer and more positive, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Maria Hinojosa, I'm surprised she showed up in a mink, that one protester. She could have started a whole other protest within the protest!

HINOJOSA: They left her alone.

PHILLIPS: No ketchup?

HINOJOSA: She was fine.

PHILLIPS: All right, Maria Hinojosa, live from New York, thanks so much.

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