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Powell Discusses Tenure at State; Iraqi-American Looks forward to Iraq Vote
Aired January 07, 2005 - 14:30 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: Checking stories "Now in the News." The U.N. says that by the weekend, every tsunami victim in Sri Lanka will probably have received at least some initial aid. Officials there say the bigger challenges for aid workers will come in the hardest hit areas of Sumatra, Indonesia and the Aceh province.
Opening statements are set for today in the court marshal case against Army Specialist Charles Graner. Graner is accused of being the ringleader in that Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Jury selection in the case wrapped up today with four officers and six enlisted men being chosen to decide Graner's fate.
The U.S. Supreme Court will be working without its leader when justices return from holiday recess on Monday. A court spokeswoman says that Chief Justice William Rehnquist is recovering from radiation therapy and a tracheotomy linked to his thyroid cancer. Rehnquist still hopes to administer the oath of office to President Bush on January 20th.
Skiing the fresh powder is one thing, but things are getting a little crazy in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Forecasters are predicting the Lake Tahoe region could see as much as eight more feet of snowfall within the next few days, making travel in that area pretty dangerous, at best.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell spent most of this week touring the tsunami disaster area. He wrapped up three-nation his trip in Sri Lanka today. As Powell represents the United States in this crisis, it's easy to forget his tenure in the Bush administration is coming to an end very soon. CNN's John King talked with Powell about his accomplishments and what the future holds. It's an interview you'll see only here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You are on this trip. Part of it is to assess the need, part of it is also to show American goodwill and compassion and generosity. In many ways, you're the face of America in a region that is devastated. And back in Washington, despite that, there is this chatter about Colin Powell, the odd man out, the only member of the war council not asked to stay in the second term. Does that affect you at all?
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's not a matter of being asked not to stay. The president and I determined that four years was enough. And I wanted to move on and that was fine. There's no fight there. This odd man out thing is an interesting story and it causes me to have amusing moments in the evening. But what I've tried to do is to serve the president, give him the best of my advice, serve the American people once more.
And I leave feeling pretty good about the things we've accomplished in the first term. We engaged in the war on terror, we got rid of dictators, we have increased development assistance, we've increased assistance to people who are in need and poverty, HIV/AIDS. So I feel pretty good about what we've accomplished in the first term...
KING: You say amusing moments. You've been at this a long time in a number of capacities. So you understand the Washington part of the game. But you're also a human being. Does it bother you at all?
POWELL: Yes, some days, I think that the accomplishments of the administration and not just my personal accomplishments, but what the administration has accomplished, with respect to free trade, with respect to development assistance, with respect to solving the problem of weapons of mass destruction in Libya, with respect to the good relations we have with China and Russia, and we've been able to expand NATO, we put a spotlight on Iran and North Korea and their nuclear weapons program.
So many terrific things have happened in the course of the past four years that I'm privileged to be a part of, that I hope in the future more attention will be given to these accomplishments and successes and not just what people think are not accomplishments only because we're not finished with the job yet. We're not finished with the job in Iraq.
People were arguing about Afghanistan a few months ago until they saw a free election there. They didn't think that would happen, but it did. And now the Afghan people have a freely elected president and they're going to have a freely elected parliament. They can have a democracy that represents the views of the people, desires of the people. That's what we're going to do in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now you can see more of John King's exclusive interview in about an hour on CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS" with Judy Woodruff. 3:30 Eastern.
PHILLIPS: Other news elsewhere around the world. The man that most believe a shoe-in for Palestinian president chose not to go to East Jerusalem today. Mahmoud Abbas says that the Israeli security around him would have been too much and too unnecessary. Palestinian election day, Sunday.
Already in the region, Jimmy Carter. He's leading a multinational team of election monitors. Tune in Monday at noon Eastern. We'll have the former president on with his observations and analysis.
Northern Italy, passenger train, freight train. They crashed head-on in thick fog today between Bologna and Verona. At least 13 passengers were killed, 50 injured. How it happened is under investigation.
And is this a face only someone's mummy could love? King Tut. Not the most handsome devil, at least not in this state. But Egyptologists in Cairo are x-raying and CAT-scanning the 3,000-year- old corpse trying to find out exactly how the boy king died. It's only the fourth time Tut's tomb has been opened since it was found intact more than 80 years ago.
Stay with CNN. More details on CSI Cairo next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The Iraqi election is generating enormous excitement among one group of people. They are Iraqi-American citizens, many of whom had to flee Iraq because of Saddam Hussein. Under the out-of- country voting program, thousands of Iraqis will be eligible to vote in the U.S. and from other countries. Polling sites are being set up in Detroit, Chicago, Washington, Nashville and Los Angeles.
Nick Najjar is an Iraqi-American and eager first-time voter. He tells us the experience of voting is a quote, "a gift from God." He joins us from Southfield, Michigan. Good to see you, Nick.
NICK NAJJAR, IRAQI-AMERICAN VOTER: Good to see you.
PHILLIPS: Tell me why you say this is a gift from God for you.
NAJJAR: Because in my lifetime and my parents' lifetime, we don't have that experience in Iraq. So for long, long time they don't have an experience to -- of a free-elected government, they have the right to go vote. In America we have it as a normal procedure in our life. We go every four years or every two years we vote for Congress, senators, local government. In Iraq we don't have that experience.
The only experience was Saddam Hussein, one person. You can vote for him, if you vote for him, yes or no. And he always used to win by 99.9 percent. So that's a gift from God because God help us now. In our lifetime, we're going to see an Iraqi people that have the right to go and vote and elect their own government.
PHILLIPS: And Nick, I was looking at the numbers. Anywhere from one to four million Iraqi expatriates worldwide. Will a majority of those individuals be able to get out and vote? Because I was reading papers have been destroyed, they can't necessarily always prove that they are Iraqi immigrants. Do you think enough will be able to get out to vote to make a difference?
NAJJAR: Honestly, there's very concern. I sat with the people that came from United Nations to Michigan and I met with them personally and I asked that question. A lot of people, they cannot prove they are Iraqi because when they left Iraq, they forced some people to run from Iraq or some of them, they lost their papers or some of them they destroyed it so the government didn't catch them there. So I don't know how they're going be able to prove every person is an Iraqi. For example, me, I have an American passport. Says place of birth is Iraq. But a lot -- part of my family, they have no proof of that.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know your sister and members of her family are still in Mosul.
NAJJAR: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Is she going to get out and vote? Does she feel safe and secure to get out and vote, and other members of her family, your family?
NAJJAR: I spoke to her about two weeks ago. They are very excited to go. I spoke to her a couple of days ago. They are very worried about the security. Because in Mosul, one of the troubled part of Iraq is. And I told her, she said, we are going to leave it to the election days and see how the security is going to be. If everything is OK, we'll leave, me and my husband and my kids. If not, we'll see what we're going to do. At this moment, they are in between.
PHILLIPS: So I'm curious, have you been studying all the candidates and who are you going to vote for?
NAJJAR: Actually, they know there's a list of the candidates and there's over 111 lists at this time, what I heard from United Nations, the people in charge. And there's about 111 lists and you are going to vote for the list you back up or the list you think are the most people qualified to run the country.
PHILLIPS: Where were you the day Baghdad fell, Nick?
NAJJAR: I was in my office. We have an office meeting and when we were watching TV, one of them, a number of my employees came to me and told me that Saddam's statue has fallen. It was April 9th, about 11:00 a.m. And we changed the meeting to the kitchen, we went to the kitchen. We were watching the news and CNN and TV. And at that time I saw that, it was a tremendous feeling, an experience -- I cannot describe my feeling that time. I went across the street and I bought champagne and a cake and I came in and we celebrated that.
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. And you are a Democrat, right, and you voted for Bush.
NAJJAR: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. Well, finally I guess, final thoughts, as I leave you today, as you get out and vote, what are you hoping for your sister, for her family, for Iraqis that they haven't had for so many decades, including you when you were there?
NAJJAR: You know, I hope one day the Iraqi people will be stable and they're going to be free to experience their feeling, to experience their thoughts (ph), they can say whatever they want to say like what we experience here in America and Western countries, the freedom countries. And they have the right to go pick the president without pressure. They can pick the national assembly. They can pick everybody. All the officials there without the pressure and they can voice their word and their thought and they can live and prosper like everybody else in the world the way like other countries in the world.
PHILLIPS: Nick Najjar, Iraqi-American, you are lucky to have I guess both cultures in your life. Thanks so much, Nick.
NAJJAR: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, here's the rundown on just who is eligible to vote in the Iraqi election outside of the country. First you must be an Iraqi citizen or entitled to reclaim Iraqi citizenship. Second generation Iraqi-Americans with an Iraqi father are also eligible to vote. Voters must be 18 years of age. And finally, voters must travel to a polling station a week before the election to register to vote.
The U.S. government has an obvious interest in the Iraqi election and the success of the out of country vote. Joining us from Washington is assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights, Michael Kozak.
Mr. Secretary, a pleasure to have you.
MICHAEL KOZAK, ACTING ASSISTANT SECY. OF STATE: A pleasure to be here.
PHILLIPS: So I'm curious, is Nick Najjar going to get to vote? Are all these other expatriates who want to vote, are they going to get the chance to vote and will it make a difference in this election?
KOZAK: I think it will make a big difference. What you saw with your previous guest, the attitude he was reflecting is one that we see with Iraqis both in and out of Iraq. The polling that we have shows that 84 percent of Iraqis are excited about this election, are intending to vote inside Iraq. And then because the interest outside was so strong, the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission decided just in November to create this out of country voting network.
They partnered with the International Organization for Migration, who is working for them, providing the technical expertise to set up the mechanism. IOM just did a similar job for out of country voting in the Afghan elections, and that was reasonably successful as well.
So, you know, as he was saying, Iraq has not had a real election in over four decades. But -- so there's going to be some running in -- technical problems, I would suspect. But I think the overall effort's moving forward very well and people are excited. And I think...
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about...
KOZAK: ... with any luck, most people will be -- who want to vote -- the people who want to vote will be able to vote. PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that. We're talking about now outside of -- overseas. Let's go in-country now and just talk about security. Major reality check here. You have got the commander of ground forces saying that there are four very crucial provinces out of the 18 that are just not secure. That you just can't vote. And when you add that up, I mean, that's half of the population of Iraq.
So when you take that into account, and I was reading the commander saying, they average 70 attacks on U.S. forces and Iraqi security every single day. Expecting that number to go up to about 85 before and on election day. Are you confident that this election will go forward? And will individuals that live there feel safe to get out and vote?
KOZAK: Yes, we're confident the election will go forward. The reason that you have such attacks right now is you have people who are trying to intimidate people from voting and are trying to deter the elections. I go back with my own experience in the mid-80s. We had a similar situation in El Salvador where there were the first free elections coming up in ages. The guerrillas were threatening to kill voters, to kill candidates, to kill polling station members.
And the lesson that was learned there was the -- it was not even so much a military problem. You can't guard every person everywhere all the time. But what worked in that case was the common people were so excited about voting, they came out. They stood in the sun for five hours and they braved -- they faced down the people who were trying to deprive them of their right to vote.
So that's one side of it and I think what's going to be fundamental at the end of the day will be the character and the strength, the desire on the part of the Iraqi people to vote and to face down the people that are trying to deprive them of that.
I also might note that at least for our reporting is that the Central Election Commission of Iraq is also making provision for some of the areas where there are particular security problems to allow people to vote in other districts or people are displaced from their cities that they'll be able to vote there.
So they are trying to make some accommodation for the areas that have the worst security problems. But I would emphasize again the real trick here is going to be for Iraqi citizens to just say, enough of this, and go forward and exercise their rights.
PHILLIPS: That's almost 9,000 polling places. Incredible responsibility for them and for military. Acting assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights, Michael Kozak, thank you so much for your time today, sir.
KOZAK: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: A little girl wanted to help the tsunami victims, but then something really upset her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt like I was going to get like all mad and steamy because sometimes that happens to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Oh, no. Find out why her attempt to sell cookies to help disaster victims almost fell victim to city hall.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: I'm technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Coming up, we're talking about camcorders and we'll show you how this one works without using any tape or discs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: I would have cleaned up my desk, had I known.
Well, now it's time for another installment of nerd nirvana. The Consumer Electronics show in Lost Wages. And boy, you could use some serious jack at the Consumer Electronic Show, with nary a craps table in sight.
CNN's technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg there to find out how these manufacturers of electronics have found ways for us to be -- part company with our hard-earned dead presidents. And today, we're talking about camcorders. You know, Daniel, that first Panasonic I got, I think I got it about 1983.
SIEBERG: Yes, do you still have it?
O'BRIEN: I do. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I guess maybe the Museum of Broadcasting will want it some day.
PHILLIPS: eBay.
SIEBERG: They might, it could be worth something, but maybe not.
O'BRIEN: Maybe not.
SIEBERG: Yes, we're talking about camcorders here. They have come a long way, as you have pointed out. And here at the Consumer Electronic Show, there are a ton of them on the show floor.
And joining us now to help us out is Eric Hagerman from "Popular Science." And Eric, truthfully, I was hoping you were going to bring technology to make me a little taller, but I think you know, we'll try and fit all this in.
This camera you've got here. Obviously, we have to talk about it. You wearing it. What's the whole idea?
ERIC HAGERMAN, "POPULAR SCIENCE" MAGAZINE: It's much more than a fashion statement, Dan. It's a hands-free digital video camera. You have your normal digital video camera here. Very tiny, it's weatherproof, it's a little rubberized, which is very cool. But this extra lens, you strap it onto your head or your bike helmet or your ski helmet or whatever and you hit this little button and you can get a picture -- get streaming video of all your crazy extreme sports or whatever.
SIEBERG: While you're wearing your suit, maybe, too.
HAGERMAN: Exactly. Exactly.
SIEBERG: Don't forget your helmet.
O'BRIEN: How long will it be? Hey, Eric, how long do you think it will be before you can walk down the street and just stream your walk down the street to the web?
HAGERMAN: I just did that last week, actually.
O'BRIEN: You did? How'd you do that?
SIEBERG: Miles, that's so last week.
HAGERMAN: It's already happened. That's all right.
SIEBERG: Yes, we're ahead here, Miles. We're in the future.
O'BRIEN: Excuse me. So sorry.
SIEBERG: All right. Now the next one. This one does not use a traditional camcorder or a tape or a DVD-type of a disc.
HAGERMAN: What's cool about this JVC camera -- this came out last November, by the way. It's about $1,200. It's a hard drive- based digital video camera. So the nice thing about it is this is the removable hard drive. Four gigabytes. You can take 90 minutes of DVD-quality video on here. If you're on a vacation or you're in Nepal for a week or something like that, you can buy extra ones of these, take them with you and just store it on there. They're fairly expensive. These cost $200 a pop, just this part.
O'BRIEN: Hey, Eric, it looks like a flash card, but it's not, right?
HAGERMAN: No, it's actually a hard drive.
SIEBERG: It is a mini hard drive, which is pretty amazing. And speaking of mini hard drives, this next one here -- I mean, you don't want to do this to your camera, you do not want to take the hard drive out.
HAGERMAN: Right. You don't want to take this out. This is an internal hard drive, if you can believe or not. It's less than an inch in diameter. I mean, hard drives are -- used to be, how many -- who knows how many times this size. But this is what's inside this Toshiba digital video camera. And this takes two hours of DVD-quality video, which is really nice.
This is a very early look at it. This won't be coming out until next holiday season. They don't have a price set on it yet. But it's a very cool thing. It also has a five megapixel camera in it, which means you can get like 11-by-14 prints of this. So you don't really need both a camcorder and a camera.
SIEBERG: Wow, that sort of does it all, doesn't it?
O'BRIEN: Yes, listen. Hey, Eric, how's the quality on the lenses on these little cameras? Are they pretty good?
HAGERMAN: It's pretty good, yes. We've got glass lenses and they're all pretty good.
SIEBERG: The last one, it looks more like a CD player than a camera.
HAGERMAN: Yes. This is from Sony, a company that is always giving us different form factors. So it's a digital video camera that you hold like a regular camera. It's got an LCD screen on the back. This is what you view to take the picture. There's nothing to look through. It burns your video straight to a DVD. And you can just pop this out and put it right in your computer and you're ready to edit or view or whatever.
O'BRIEN: So Eric, is tape dead?
HAGERMAN: Tape is pretty much dead, you know. It's bulky...
SIEBERG: Dead or dying.
HAGERMAN: ... it's expensive. And you know, they have -- the manufacturers have to make the products so much bigger to put the tape in.
SIEBERG: Everybody wants it smaller.
HAGERMAN: Right.
SIEBERG: Well, Eric, thanks for helping us out. Eric Hagerman from "Popular Science." That's it for us appearing on camera here.
O'BRIEN: So Daniel, how long will it be before we don't have any tapes kicking around here in the newsroom?
SIEBERG: A long time.
O'BRIEN: It's going be a while, I think.
SIEBERG: Yes. It might be a while.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of wishful thinking, don't you think?
SIEBERG: I think it kind of is. But you know, a lot of people do a lot of good stuff with those tapes, they work hard with them. So maybe they like to have them around.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Scotch and otherwise. All right. Thank you very much. Daniel Sieberg having fun out there, finding new ways to spend his money out there.
PHILLIPS: Oh, look who's talking.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you mean that was -- did you see me taking notes for my shopping list?
PHILLIPS: Daniel's supposed to be doing the interviews, and here's Miles, oh, oh, can I say something?
O'BRIEN: I need to know! Excuse me! Just had to get my notes together.
PHILLIPS: Our daily geek fest.
O'BRIEN: There is word today that a popular pundit, often seen right here on LIVE FROM and other cable news networks' programs, was on the Bush administration payroll. And none of us knew about it here.
PHILLIPS: We didn't know.
O'BRIEN: He was promoting one of their top priorities or paid to do just that. I'm going to talk with Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat of New Jersey about that in just a little bit.
PHILLIPS: Also ahead, King Tut surfaces. You don't want to miss this. Well, sort of. It's a rare look. Now, here's the deal. See these guys right here pulling out King Tut? We may know now how he died. The mystery may be unraveled.
O'BRIEN: Well, we know he was born in Arizona and moved to Caladonia.
PHILLIPS: All right, Steve Martin. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Topping the news this hour, an internal CIA report that is not kind to former director George Tenet. The report classified, but those who have read it tell it's a high-level recommendation that Tenet and several others be held accountable for failing to properly deal with the terror threat before 9/11. Tenet left the CIA under a cloud of controversy in June.
Still talking up tort reform. President Bush in Michigan today. He told an auto worker heavy crowd near Detroit there are just too many junk lawsuits in the system. Automakers are getting clobbered by asbestos-related illness lawsuits. The president hasn't endorsed a solution yet, but he does favor capping malpractice claims.
Skiers loving it. Everybody else, well, dealing with it. Another punch for the shovel-weary Northern Californians. Fresh snow already falling on Sacramento and points north. Another three to five feet expected in the Sierras. Best advice for the next four days? Stay home, hot chocolate, rinse and repeat.
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 7, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Checking stories "Now in the News." The U.N. says that by the weekend, every tsunami victim in Sri Lanka will probably have received at least some initial aid. Officials there say the bigger challenges for aid workers will come in the hardest hit areas of Sumatra, Indonesia and the Aceh province.
Opening statements are set for today in the court marshal case against Army Specialist Charles Graner. Graner is accused of being the ringleader in that Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Jury selection in the case wrapped up today with four officers and six enlisted men being chosen to decide Graner's fate.
The U.S. Supreme Court will be working without its leader when justices return from holiday recess on Monday. A court spokeswoman says that Chief Justice William Rehnquist is recovering from radiation therapy and a tracheotomy linked to his thyroid cancer. Rehnquist still hopes to administer the oath of office to President Bush on January 20th.
Skiing the fresh powder is one thing, but things are getting a little crazy in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Forecasters are predicting the Lake Tahoe region could see as much as eight more feet of snowfall within the next few days, making travel in that area pretty dangerous, at best.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell spent most of this week touring the tsunami disaster area. He wrapped up three-nation his trip in Sri Lanka today. As Powell represents the United States in this crisis, it's easy to forget his tenure in the Bush administration is coming to an end very soon. CNN's John King talked with Powell about his accomplishments and what the future holds. It's an interview you'll see only here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You are on this trip. Part of it is to assess the need, part of it is also to show American goodwill and compassion and generosity. In many ways, you're the face of America in a region that is devastated. And back in Washington, despite that, there is this chatter about Colin Powell, the odd man out, the only member of the war council not asked to stay in the second term. Does that affect you at all?
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's not a matter of being asked not to stay. The president and I determined that four years was enough. And I wanted to move on and that was fine. There's no fight there. This odd man out thing is an interesting story and it causes me to have amusing moments in the evening. But what I've tried to do is to serve the president, give him the best of my advice, serve the American people once more.
And I leave feeling pretty good about the things we've accomplished in the first term. We engaged in the war on terror, we got rid of dictators, we have increased development assistance, we've increased assistance to people who are in need and poverty, HIV/AIDS. So I feel pretty good about what we've accomplished in the first term...
KING: You say amusing moments. You've been at this a long time in a number of capacities. So you understand the Washington part of the game. But you're also a human being. Does it bother you at all?
POWELL: Yes, some days, I think that the accomplishments of the administration and not just my personal accomplishments, but what the administration has accomplished, with respect to free trade, with respect to development assistance, with respect to solving the problem of weapons of mass destruction in Libya, with respect to the good relations we have with China and Russia, and we've been able to expand NATO, we put a spotlight on Iran and North Korea and their nuclear weapons program.
So many terrific things have happened in the course of the past four years that I'm privileged to be a part of, that I hope in the future more attention will be given to these accomplishments and successes and not just what people think are not accomplishments only because we're not finished with the job yet. We're not finished with the job in Iraq.
People were arguing about Afghanistan a few months ago until they saw a free election there. They didn't think that would happen, but it did. And now the Afghan people have a freely elected president and they're going to have a freely elected parliament. They can have a democracy that represents the views of the people, desires of the people. That's what we're going to do in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now you can see more of John King's exclusive interview in about an hour on CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS" with Judy Woodruff. 3:30 Eastern.
PHILLIPS: Other news elsewhere around the world. The man that most believe a shoe-in for Palestinian president chose not to go to East Jerusalem today. Mahmoud Abbas says that the Israeli security around him would have been too much and too unnecessary. Palestinian election day, Sunday.
Already in the region, Jimmy Carter. He's leading a multinational team of election monitors. Tune in Monday at noon Eastern. We'll have the former president on with his observations and analysis.
Northern Italy, passenger train, freight train. They crashed head-on in thick fog today between Bologna and Verona. At least 13 passengers were killed, 50 injured. How it happened is under investigation.
And is this a face only someone's mummy could love? King Tut. Not the most handsome devil, at least not in this state. But Egyptologists in Cairo are x-raying and CAT-scanning the 3,000-year- old corpse trying to find out exactly how the boy king died. It's only the fourth time Tut's tomb has been opened since it was found intact more than 80 years ago.
Stay with CNN. More details on CSI Cairo next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The Iraqi election is generating enormous excitement among one group of people. They are Iraqi-American citizens, many of whom had to flee Iraq because of Saddam Hussein. Under the out-of- country voting program, thousands of Iraqis will be eligible to vote in the U.S. and from other countries. Polling sites are being set up in Detroit, Chicago, Washington, Nashville and Los Angeles.
Nick Najjar is an Iraqi-American and eager first-time voter. He tells us the experience of voting is a quote, "a gift from God." He joins us from Southfield, Michigan. Good to see you, Nick.
NICK NAJJAR, IRAQI-AMERICAN VOTER: Good to see you.
PHILLIPS: Tell me why you say this is a gift from God for you.
NAJJAR: Because in my lifetime and my parents' lifetime, we don't have that experience in Iraq. So for long, long time they don't have an experience to -- of a free-elected government, they have the right to go vote. In America we have it as a normal procedure in our life. We go every four years or every two years we vote for Congress, senators, local government. In Iraq we don't have that experience.
The only experience was Saddam Hussein, one person. You can vote for him, if you vote for him, yes or no. And he always used to win by 99.9 percent. So that's a gift from God because God help us now. In our lifetime, we're going to see an Iraqi people that have the right to go and vote and elect their own government.
PHILLIPS: And Nick, I was looking at the numbers. Anywhere from one to four million Iraqi expatriates worldwide. Will a majority of those individuals be able to get out and vote? Because I was reading papers have been destroyed, they can't necessarily always prove that they are Iraqi immigrants. Do you think enough will be able to get out to vote to make a difference?
NAJJAR: Honestly, there's very concern. I sat with the people that came from United Nations to Michigan and I met with them personally and I asked that question. A lot of people, they cannot prove they are Iraqi because when they left Iraq, they forced some people to run from Iraq or some of them, they lost their papers or some of them they destroyed it so the government didn't catch them there. So I don't know how they're going be able to prove every person is an Iraqi. For example, me, I have an American passport. Says place of birth is Iraq. But a lot -- part of my family, they have no proof of that.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know your sister and members of her family are still in Mosul.
NAJJAR: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Is she going to get out and vote? Does she feel safe and secure to get out and vote, and other members of her family, your family?
NAJJAR: I spoke to her about two weeks ago. They are very excited to go. I spoke to her a couple of days ago. They are very worried about the security. Because in Mosul, one of the troubled part of Iraq is. And I told her, she said, we are going to leave it to the election days and see how the security is going to be. If everything is OK, we'll leave, me and my husband and my kids. If not, we'll see what we're going to do. At this moment, they are in between.
PHILLIPS: So I'm curious, have you been studying all the candidates and who are you going to vote for?
NAJJAR: Actually, they know there's a list of the candidates and there's over 111 lists at this time, what I heard from United Nations, the people in charge. And there's about 111 lists and you are going to vote for the list you back up or the list you think are the most people qualified to run the country.
PHILLIPS: Where were you the day Baghdad fell, Nick?
NAJJAR: I was in my office. We have an office meeting and when we were watching TV, one of them, a number of my employees came to me and told me that Saddam's statue has fallen. It was April 9th, about 11:00 a.m. And we changed the meeting to the kitchen, we went to the kitchen. We were watching the news and CNN and TV. And at that time I saw that, it was a tremendous feeling, an experience -- I cannot describe my feeling that time. I went across the street and I bought champagne and a cake and I came in and we celebrated that.
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. And you are a Democrat, right, and you voted for Bush.
NAJJAR: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. Well, finally I guess, final thoughts, as I leave you today, as you get out and vote, what are you hoping for your sister, for her family, for Iraqis that they haven't had for so many decades, including you when you were there?
NAJJAR: You know, I hope one day the Iraqi people will be stable and they're going to be free to experience their feeling, to experience their thoughts (ph), they can say whatever they want to say like what we experience here in America and Western countries, the freedom countries. And they have the right to go pick the president without pressure. They can pick the national assembly. They can pick everybody. All the officials there without the pressure and they can voice their word and their thought and they can live and prosper like everybody else in the world the way like other countries in the world.
PHILLIPS: Nick Najjar, Iraqi-American, you are lucky to have I guess both cultures in your life. Thanks so much, Nick.
NAJJAR: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, here's the rundown on just who is eligible to vote in the Iraqi election outside of the country. First you must be an Iraqi citizen or entitled to reclaim Iraqi citizenship. Second generation Iraqi-Americans with an Iraqi father are also eligible to vote. Voters must be 18 years of age. And finally, voters must travel to a polling station a week before the election to register to vote.
The U.S. government has an obvious interest in the Iraqi election and the success of the out of country vote. Joining us from Washington is assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights, Michael Kozak.
Mr. Secretary, a pleasure to have you.
MICHAEL KOZAK, ACTING ASSISTANT SECY. OF STATE: A pleasure to be here.
PHILLIPS: So I'm curious, is Nick Najjar going to get to vote? Are all these other expatriates who want to vote, are they going to get the chance to vote and will it make a difference in this election?
KOZAK: I think it will make a big difference. What you saw with your previous guest, the attitude he was reflecting is one that we see with Iraqis both in and out of Iraq. The polling that we have shows that 84 percent of Iraqis are excited about this election, are intending to vote inside Iraq. And then because the interest outside was so strong, the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission decided just in November to create this out of country voting network.
They partnered with the International Organization for Migration, who is working for them, providing the technical expertise to set up the mechanism. IOM just did a similar job for out of country voting in the Afghan elections, and that was reasonably successful as well.
So, you know, as he was saying, Iraq has not had a real election in over four decades. But -- so there's going to be some running in -- technical problems, I would suspect. But I think the overall effort's moving forward very well and people are excited. And I think...
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about...
KOZAK: ... with any luck, most people will be -- who want to vote -- the people who want to vote will be able to vote. PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that. We're talking about now outside of -- overseas. Let's go in-country now and just talk about security. Major reality check here. You have got the commander of ground forces saying that there are four very crucial provinces out of the 18 that are just not secure. That you just can't vote. And when you add that up, I mean, that's half of the population of Iraq.
So when you take that into account, and I was reading the commander saying, they average 70 attacks on U.S. forces and Iraqi security every single day. Expecting that number to go up to about 85 before and on election day. Are you confident that this election will go forward? And will individuals that live there feel safe to get out and vote?
KOZAK: Yes, we're confident the election will go forward. The reason that you have such attacks right now is you have people who are trying to intimidate people from voting and are trying to deter the elections. I go back with my own experience in the mid-80s. We had a similar situation in El Salvador where there were the first free elections coming up in ages. The guerrillas were threatening to kill voters, to kill candidates, to kill polling station members.
And the lesson that was learned there was the -- it was not even so much a military problem. You can't guard every person everywhere all the time. But what worked in that case was the common people were so excited about voting, they came out. They stood in the sun for five hours and they braved -- they faced down the people who were trying to deprive them of their right to vote.
So that's one side of it and I think what's going to be fundamental at the end of the day will be the character and the strength, the desire on the part of the Iraqi people to vote and to face down the people that are trying to deprive them of that.
I also might note that at least for our reporting is that the Central Election Commission of Iraq is also making provision for some of the areas where there are particular security problems to allow people to vote in other districts or people are displaced from their cities that they'll be able to vote there.
So they are trying to make some accommodation for the areas that have the worst security problems. But I would emphasize again the real trick here is going to be for Iraqi citizens to just say, enough of this, and go forward and exercise their rights.
PHILLIPS: That's almost 9,000 polling places. Incredible responsibility for them and for military. Acting assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights, Michael Kozak, thank you so much for your time today, sir.
KOZAK: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: A little girl wanted to help the tsunami victims, but then something really upset her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt like I was going to get like all mad and steamy because sometimes that happens to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Oh, no. Find out why her attempt to sell cookies to help disaster victims almost fell victim to city hall.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: I'm technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Coming up, we're talking about camcorders and we'll show you how this one works without using any tape or discs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: I would have cleaned up my desk, had I known.
Well, now it's time for another installment of nerd nirvana. The Consumer Electronics show in Lost Wages. And boy, you could use some serious jack at the Consumer Electronic Show, with nary a craps table in sight.
CNN's technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg there to find out how these manufacturers of electronics have found ways for us to be -- part company with our hard-earned dead presidents. And today, we're talking about camcorders. You know, Daniel, that first Panasonic I got, I think I got it about 1983.
SIEBERG: Yes, do you still have it?
O'BRIEN: I do. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I guess maybe the Museum of Broadcasting will want it some day.
PHILLIPS: eBay.
SIEBERG: They might, it could be worth something, but maybe not.
O'BRIEN: Maybe not.
SIEBERG: Yes, we're talking about camcorders here. They have come a long way, as you have pointed out. And here at the Consumer Electronic Show, there are a ton of them on the show floor.
And joining us now to help us out is Eric Hagerman from "Popular Science." And Eric, truthfully, I was hoping you were going to bring technology to make me a little taller, but I think you know, we'll try and fit all this in.
This camera you've got here. Obviously, we have to talk about it. You wearing it. What's the whole idea?
ERIC HAGERMAN, "POPULAR SCIENCE" MAGAZINE: It's much more than a fashion statement, Dan. It's a hands-free digital video camera. You have your normal digital video camera here. Very tiny, it's weatherproof, it's a little rubberized, which is very cool. But this extra lens, you strap it onto your head or your bike helmet or your ski helmet or whatever and you hit this little button and you can get a picture -- get streaming video of all your crazy extreme sports or whatever.
SIEBERG: While you're wearing your suit, maybe, too.
HAGERMAN: Exactly. Exactly.
SIEBERG: Don't forget your helmet.
O'BRIEN: How long will it be? Hey, Eric, how long do you think it will be before you can walk down the street and just stream your walk down the street to the web?
HAGERMAN: I just did that last week, actually.
O'BRIEN: You did? How'd you do that?
SIEBERG: Miles, that's so last week.
HAGERMAN: It's already happened. That's all right.
SIEBERG: Yes, we're ahead here, Miles. We're in the future.
O'BRIEN: Excuse me. So sorry.
SIEBERG: All right. Now the next one. This one does not use a traditional camcorder or a tape or a DVD-type of a disc.
HAGERMAN: What's cool about this JVC camera -- this came out last November, by the way. It's about $1,200. It's a hard drive- based digital video camera. So the nice thing about it is this is the removable hard drive. Four gigabytes. You can take 90 minutes of DVD-quality video on here. If you're on a vacation or you're in Nepal for a week or something like that, you can buy extra ones of these, take them with you and just store it on there. They're fairly expensive. These cost $200 a pop, just this part.
O'BRIEN: Hey, Eric, it looks like a flash card, but it's not, right?
HAGERMAN: No, it's actually a hard drive.
SIEBERG: It is a mini hard drive, which is pretty amazing. And speaking of mini hard drives, this next one here -- I mean, you don't want to do this to your camera, you do not want to take the hard drive out.
HAGERMAN: Right. You don't want to take this out. This is an internal hard drive, if you can believe or not. It's less than an inch in diameter. I mean, hard drives are -- used to be, how many -- who knows how many times this size. But this is what's inside this Toshiba digital video camera. And this takes two hours of DVD-quality video, which is really nice.
This is a very early look at it. This won't be coming out until next holiday season. They don't have a price set on it yet. But it's a very cool thing. It also has a five megapixel camera in it, which means you can get like 11-by-14 prints of this. So you don't really need both a camcorder and a camera.
SIEBERG: Wow, that sort of does it all, doesn't it?
O'BRIEN: Yes, listen. Hey, Eric, how's the quality on the lenses on these little cameras? Are they pretty good?
HAGERMAN: It's pretty good, yes. We've got glass lenses and they're all pretty good.
SIEBERG: The last one, it looks more like a CD player than a camera.
HAGERMAN: Yes. This is from Sony, a company that is always giving us different form factors. So it's a digital video camera that you hold like a regular camera. It's got an LCD screen on the back. This is what you view to take the picture. There's nothing to look through. It burns your video straight to a DVD. And you can just pop this out and put it right in your computer and you're ready to edit or view or whatever.
O'BRIEN: So Eric, is tape dead?
HAGERMAN: Tape is pretty much dead, you know. It's bulky...
SIEBERG: Dead or dying.
HAGERMAN: ... it's expensive. And you know, they have -- the manufacturers have to make the products so much bigger to put the tape in.
SIEBERG: Everybody wants it smaller.
HAGERMAN: Right.
SIEBERG: Well, Eric, thanks for helping us out. Eric Hagerman from "Popular Science." That's it for us appearing on camera here.
O'BRIEN: So Daniel, how long will it be before we don't have any tapes kicking around here in the newsroom?
SIEBERG: A long time.
O'BRIEN: It's going be a while, I think.
SIEBERG: Yes. It might be a while.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of wishful thinking, don't you think?
SIEBERG: I think it kind of is. But you know, a lot of people do a lot of good stuff with those tapes, they work hard with them. So maybe they like to have them around.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Scotch and otherwise. All right. Thank you very much. Daniel Sieberg having fun out there, finding new ways to spend his money out there.
PHILLIPS: Oh, look who's talking.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you mean that was -- did you see me taking notes for my shopping list?
PHILLIPS: Daniel's supposed to be doing the interviews, and here's Miles, oh, oh, can I say something?
O'BRIEN: I need to know! Excuse me! Just had to get my notes together.
PHILLIPS: Our daily geek fest.
O'BRIEN: There is word today that a popular pundit, often seen right here on LIVE FROM and other cable news networks' programs, was on the Bush administration payroll. And none of us knew about it here.
PHILLIPS: We didn't know.
O'BRIEN: He was promoting one of their top priorities or paid to do just that. I'm going to talk with Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat of New Jersey about that in just a little bit.
PHILLIPS: Also ahead, King Tut surfaces. You don't want to miss this. Well, sort of. It's a rare look. Now, here's the deal. See these guys right here pulling out King Tut? We may know now how he died. The mystery may be unraveled.
O'BRIEN: Well, we know he was born in Arizona and moved to Caladonia.
PHILLIPS: All right, Steve Martin. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Topping the news this hour, an internal CIA report that is not kind to former director George Tenet. The report classified, but those who have read it tell it's a high-level recommendation that Tenet and several others be held accountable for failing to properly deal with the terror threat before 9/11. Tenet left the CIA under a cloud of controversy in June.
Still talking up tort reform. President Bush in Michigan today. He told an auto worker heavy crowd near Detroit there are just too many junk lawsuits in the system. Automakers are getting clobbered by asbestos-related illness lawsuits. The president hasn't endorsed a solution yet, but he does favor capping malpractice claims.
Skiers loving it. Everybody else, well, dealing with it. Another punch for the shovel-weary Northern Californians. Fresh snow already falling on Sacramento and points north. Another three to five feet expected in the Sierras. Best advice for the next four days? Stay home, hot chocolate, rinse and repeat.
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