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Helicopter Downed in Iraq; Iraq Prepares for Elections; Commander in Northern Iraq: Iraqi Forces will be Crucial to Elections

Aired January 28, 2005 - 13:00   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Taking down Iraq's insurgency. Three major arrests announced as the country counts down to election day.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Thelma Gutierrez in Southern California, where 390 Iraqi expatriates are expected to vote over the next three days.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Pointing the way to the bodies. Illinois police say they've stopped a serial killer who preyed on women.

O'BRIEN: Plus, traditional exercise isn't the only option for Americans who want to lose those extra pounds. We'll explain why shopping, cleaning and just plain fidgeting can be good to your health. I'm just going to keep moving like this all day long today.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

O'BRIEN: For the second time in three days, a U.S. military helicopter down in Iraq. This time it's a two-seater. It's called a Kiowa Scout, the military of the Bell Jet Ranger, much smaller than the Super Stallion that crashed on Wednesday, which is, after all, the largest helicopter in the west.

There's no word yet on casualties. Today's crash happened a little more than an hour ago, southwest Baghdad, the location.

Some insights on all this from CNN military analyst Don Shepard.

General Shepard, good to have you with us, obviously very early.

First of all, let's show an image of this helicopter, which we've been able to pull off the Internet. This is a much smaller helicopter involved in scouting missions, reconnaissance missions, kind of light attack duty, if you will. Very early to say as to whether it went down by accident or was put down by some sort of rocket-propelled grenade or the like.

DON SHEPARD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Indeed, Miles. The Kiowa is a two-place aircraft. It's single engine. It can be configured to carry six troops on the outside or four litters. If you remember the movie "Black Hawk Down," you could have people riding on the side. There were some early reports that there were three people in this aircraft when it went down, so it could have been somebody riding on the outside.

O'BRIEN: All right. Still very early to say, as we know, whether it was an accident or not.

But let's -- let's point out what we said the other day when we were talking about the crash of that much lager helicopter, that terrible toll. Helicopter operations on a good day are a very dangerous thing in a place like Iraq.

SHEPARD: They are, indeed. We make it look easy because of the training and the expertise of the crews. But helicopters, by their nature, are harder to fly than conventional aircraft.

They also operate low to the ground so when something happens you don't have as much time to react as you do in an aircraft. They don't have ejection seats. And by their very nature, they are somewhat unstable.

So they're -- also when they fly close to the ground -- much more vulnerable to shoulder-fired missiles and also ground fire of any kind. So don't know why this one went down, but they are -- they are, indeed, dangerous than fixed wing aircraft.

O'BRIEN: OK. But everything in the context of this impending election we are looking at very closely. General Shepard will be back several times all throughout the day and into the weekend as we continue our coverage of this historic Iraqi election -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Trepidation, jubilation, intimidation, they're all in abundance in the final day and a half before the first free elections in Iraq in half a century.

As you know if you've been watching CNN, Iraqis abroad are voting already and thrilled to be doing so. We'll get to that in just a minute.

But first, displays of confidence from election officials in Baghdad, defiance from insurgents. Both insist they're prepared for sunrise Sunday.

Here's CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days to go before a country goes to the polls, trying to shake off decades of dictatorship and months of insurgency.

And three significant arrests giving a much needed boost to Iraq's beleaguered government. Top Iraqi officials announcing that three top lieutenants of the terror mastermind, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have been arrested. One of them is said to be the head of Zarqawi's operations in Baghdad. Even as two car bombs within minutes of each other rocked this battered capital. This one exploded outside a police station in a Baghdad suburb, killing four and wounding several others.

A short while later and a few hundred meters away, another suicide car bomber slammed his vehicle into a blast wall outside a school that's been designated as a polling center, detonating himself. No one was killed in this incident.

Meanwhile, several thousand miles and a world away, Iraqis were dancing their way to what they're hoping will be a new democracy. These are Iraqi expatriates living in Australia. And they became the first to cast their votes ahead of the crucial Sunday poll.

Many here, like 47-year-old Yokana Hamas (ph), agrees this has been a long-time coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long, long time. We've been waiting for a long time to this day.

KOINANGE: But many outside Iraq still seem reluctant to go out and vote. Only a quarter of the estimated one million Iraqi expatriates registered to vote in 14 countries around the world.

In neighboring Iran, Iraq's largest population outside the country is expected to vote in numbers. Many here are Shias, long suppressed by years of Saddam Hussein's rule. Some here are hoping Sunday's poll proves a turning point.

"We have come today to vote for a future of Iraq, aimed at having an Islamic republic," she says.

Back in Iraq, it's a different story, at least on paper. The Independent Electoral Commission says just under 13 million Iraqis have registered to vote, and it expects a high turnout.

But just how many local voters will eventually turn out is still questionable, especially as polling centers like these two schools, targeted late Thursday in Baghdad, continue to be attacked.

(on camera) Some families living near schools have left home to stay with relatives in case there's violence on polling day, while others are stocking up on food because of the extended curfew, the heightened security and the overall uncertainty.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, the expats, in one word, ecstatic.

That's Southgate, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, one of five U.S. Cities where an estimated 25,000 Iraqi voters will have their say between now and Sunday. The other cities: Chicago, Nashville, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Thelma Gutierrez joins us from the L.A. site, actually the former El Toro Marine Base in Orange County.

Hi, Thelma.

GUTIERREZ: Hi there, Kyra.

Well, this is the only site on the west coast. So we've talked to people who are traveling from all over the west just to come here to vote.

Thirty nine hundred people are expected to vote here within the next three days. This polling site opened about three hours ago.

So far, though, things have been a little bit on the slow side. Of course, it is a Friday. People are at work. Those numbers are expected to pick up in a big way tomorrow and Sunday.

But we talked to one poll worker who said that he believed that fewer than 100 people have shown up today to cast their vote at this former El Toro Marine base.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I drive 17 hours. And I'm ready. If it were not 17 hours, 100 hours I would go drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the first time in our lives that people can vote and be free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel the democracy. We feel the freedom. We feel like we're living like any people in other country. This is what we're feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a good feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great feeling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Now, the room broke out in applause this morning as the first person cast her vote about 7 a.m. She was an engineer from California who said that she wanted to be part of history.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: No doubt you've had a chance to be a fly on the wall, so to speak, Thelma, and hear all the conversation among all these voters. A lot of them, did they flee Iraq and did they suffer under the regime of Saddam Hussein? I imagine that most of them did.

GUTIERREZ: Well, it's interesting. We followed a family from Portland, Oregon, who came here last week, just to register to vote. They were going to go through it all over again. They will be here tomorrow.

They had lost a family member. They said that's the exact reason that they're here, that they made the sacrifice to be here. And many of the other Iraqis that we had talked to had said the same thing. Each one had lost a family member.

Others who were born -- or rather in Iraq but raised here in the United States say that they're doing it for a better future for the people there.

PHILLIPS: Thelma Gutierrez, thanks so much.

Well, CNN is your source for comprehensive coverage, of course, of the Iraqi vote, beginning this evening with a two-hour special anchored by Christiane Amanpour, Anderson Cooper in Baghdad, Paula Zahn and Aaron Brown in New York. And that starts at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 Pacific.

And tomorrow and Sunday tune in any time for live reports from Iraq and beyond, coverage you'll see only on CNN -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: The president of the United States is in Greenboro, West Virginia today. We've got some tape that is feeding in now.

I don't believe that is a live signal. But in any case -- it is a live signal. I apologize. I was told something else a moment ago.

That's the president talking in a Republican retreat there in Greenboro, West Virginia, talking about the Republican agenda. We're listening to it. Should any news develop out of it, we'll keep you posted on it.

Well, from rehearsal to the real thing, CNN's Nic Robertson goes along on a raid aimed at snaring insurgents before they can strike. It's a mission fraught with peril and the possibility of a mistake.

Also ahead on the program, he's been charged with one murder, and police say he's confessed to seven more. The latest on grim efforts to figure out how many victims may have fallen to an alleged serial killer in Illinois.

And a small town reels after a first grader is found dead outside her school. Even more upsetting, the man who is accused of the murder.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Crime beat. An Illinois serial killer case gets tougher to stomach with each emerging detail. Police say a man has confessed to killing eight women and dumping or burning their bodies. He's in jail, and residents of sleepy Peoria are learning what kind of man they called their neighbor.

Eric Philips now with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Covered up by a tarp, Larry Bright led authorities around his Peoria County, Illinois, home, pointing out where they should dig for evidence. The search unearthed bone particles and the incinerated remains of at least one person, also a device that authorities say appears to have been used to burn bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I can say is, it's just kind of scary. You know, to know that somebody that would be in the neighborhood that would be, you know, capable or even doing anything like this. Whatever it may turn out to be.

PHILIPS: Authorities say it turns out she was living next door to a serial killer, one who possibly murdered six women and could be responsible for incinerating the bodies of four others who are still missing.

KEVIN LYONS, PEORIA COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: Based upon evidence gathered throughout this investigation, it is apparent now to us that the majority of the victims, dead or missing, of that list of 10 have a connection to Larry D. Bright and that he has murdered them.

PHILIPS: Police say all 10 women are African-American with a history of prostitution or drug use. The six who were found dead all strangled, asphyxiated or died of drug overdose.

So far, Bright's only charged with the first-degree murder of 40- year-old Linda Neal. Neal's body was discovered last September along a rural road outside of Peoria.

HARRISON NEAL, LINDA NEAL'S FATHER: The detectives, they worked so hard on that case, and they did a wonderful job. And the bottom of my heart, I thank them very much for the work that they did.

KEVIN ARMSTRONG, LINDA NEAL'S BROTHER: We need to get a guilty plea or a guilty verdict out of it. Then everything will be closed then.

PHILIPS: Bright remains in jail without bond.

Eric Philips, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Let's get back to our focus on Iraq here.

Mosul, Iraq is something of a microcosm of that country's tensions and conflicts. Just today, extremists bombed a polling place at a primary school, opened fire on an ambulance, but U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are making strides, as well, detaining more than 300 suspects and seizing numerous weapons stockpiles just in the past three weeks.

I'm joined now by the commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Brigadier General Carter Ham.

General Ham, good to have you with us. Will this be a really election or only an election in show?

BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: This will be a real election in Mosul. In less than a day and a half, the people of Mosul will have an opportunity that they have not had in over a generation.

And as the opportunity is to select their own leaders. There's going to be problems. We know that that will be the case. We're working very hard with the Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government, and the Independent Electoral Commission to solve those problems and make the elections as safe as they can be.

But come 7 a.m. in the morning on the 30th of January, there are going to be elections in Mosul.

O'BRIEN: General, you and your forces have to be bracing for the worst. What is your biggest concern on the cusp of this election?

HAM: Well, the concern are the attacks that are likely against the actual polling sites and the people -- the Iraqi people who are moving to those sites to vote.

I think, as you know, vehicle traffic has been -- has been restrained inside the city of Mosul. The governor imposed that last night. There is no vehicle movement inside the city. That helps to a degree.

There is good Iraqi security forces at the polling sites, but nonetheless, as people move from the homes to the sites, there is some risk, and we're working hard to mitigate that.

O'BRIEN: General, we're joined here by Major General Don Shepard, retired U.S. Air Force, our military analyst. He has a question for you.

Go ahead, General Shepard.

SHEPARD: Hey, General Ham, best wishes for you and your troops for what looks like is going to be a busy weekend. I've got a question on the -- on the insurgents. Who are these guys? Are they former regime loyalists? Are they criminals? Are they foreign jihadists? And whoever they are, who is directing them in your area, is your best guess?

HAM: I think General Shepard, you've got it right. There are three different groups. There are criminals who are doing this just -- just for money, to create the lack of security.

There are former regime elements, Ba'ath Party members who want to see a return to their life of prestige and power and influence inside Iraq.

And then there are religious extremists who would like to see a Taliban-like organization in control in Iraq, which means nobody is in control and they're allowed to do whatever they would like for the future.

What is a little concerning to me is over the past couple of months we have seen a level of cooperation to a degree between these various groups. And that's concerning to me. I don't think it's -- I wouldn't go so far as to say it's what you would call, you would call in military terms command and control, but there is some level of cooperation that is concerning.

O'BRIEN: General Ham, let me ask you this. One of the big X factors here, aside from how the voters themselves will react, is how the Iraqi forces will perform or not perform.

And based on what I've been seeing, it's a rather spotty record on how they turn out and how they're prepared. Can you really rely on the Iraqi forces come election day?

HAM: Yes. I think we can. Certainly, two months ago, the middle of November, when the police were put under pressure in Mosul and they failed, there's no question about that. And there are not very many police present.

But the Iraqi forces that have been stood up in Mosul, that have come to the city from other parts of the country at the order of the ministry of interior and the ministry of defense, have shown their mettle over the past couple of weeks and have made a difference.

You referenced earlier an attack on a polling station that occurred south of Mosul earlier today. Well, the security forces that were there, the Iraqi security forces, stayed throughout that attack. They didn't abandon their stations, and did not lose control of that polling site. I think that's a heartening signal.

O'BRIEN: General, that is a heartening signal. We're glad to hear that. I know that if we had this conversation three or four weeks ago, you might not have even predicted there would be an election. The fact that the election is upon us says something about the whole situation in Iraq.

Is it -- is it accurate to say that the situation has improved, or is this just a desire to do an election, regardless of what the situation there is on the ground?

HAM: Very clearly, the situation in Mosul has dramatically improved over the past two months, and the credit for that goes to the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government.

There is a very noticeable difference today with Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi special police from the minister of interior that are present, interacting with the people on the city -- in the city streets. And it brings to the average Iraqi in Mosul a confidence that their government, that their security forces are engaged in protecting them, and that's very helpful.

We'll be there, to be sure, and we'll be there, ready to assist the Iraqi security forces, should they find themselves in a situation that's beyond their capability. But this is Iraqi led and controlled, and that's the way it should be.

O'BRIEN: General Carter Ham, thank you for your time. We wish you and the men and women under your command a safe election in Iraq. We wish you well as you do everything you can to allow that election to go off with some degree of freedom. Thank you very much.

A gift from God. That's how one Iraqi-American describes voting in the upcoming election. We'll talk with him about taking part in this landmark event.

And then get up. Get off the couch. Walk around, for Pete's sake. It could be a good thing for your body. We'll give you the skinny on how ants in your pants may affect your weight.

And if this deal goes through, the resulting company will cover everything from dandruff to potato chips. Not even a close shave on that one. We'll have more on the rapidly expanding corporate umbrella of Procter and Gamble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, two big household names are coming together. Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette.

David Haffenreffer joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for all the details on this -- David.

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, David. Thanks so much.

We want to take you live now just south of Miami, a live picture that we have here via our affiliate WSBN.

We're not quite sure of all the details right now, but we can tell you about 30 migrants have been stranded on this little island just off the coast of Miami. That's according to U.S. border patrol.

And now we understand the patrol boats are responding and, just a few by few. You can see a couple of them here with a baby and another small child, taking them off the island. Not quite sure where we're going to transport them to.

It's not clear where the migrants are from right now. Earlier, we did see the same news helicopter showing the men and women lying down on the island's beach. Not quite sure why they were doing that either. But it's not clear if they had come by themselves or they had been brought by smugglers.

But a very remote little island just off the south of Miami, about 30 migrants there. Now U.S. patrol boats taking them off. We'll keep you updated on the details of that story.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 28, 2005 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Taking down Iraq's insurgency. Three major arrests announced as the country counts down to election day.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Thelma Gutierrez in Southern California, where 390 Iraqi expatriates are expected to vote over the next three days.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Pointing the way to the bodies. Illinois police say they've stopped a serial killer who preyed on women.

O'BRIEN: Plus, traditional exercise isn't the only option for Americans who want to lose those extra pounds. We'll explain why shopping, cleaning and just plain fidgeting can be good to your health. I'm just going to keep moving like this all day long today.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

O'BRIEN: For the second time in three days, a U.S. military helicopter down in Iraq. This time it's a two-seater. It's called a Kiowa Scout, the military of the Bell Jet Ranger, much smaller than the Super Stallion that crashed on Wednesday, which is, after all, the largest helicopter in the west.

There's no word yet on casualties. Today's crash happened a little more than an hour ago, southwest Baghdad, the location.

Some insights on all this from CNN military analyst Don Shepard.

General Shepard, good to have you with us, obviously very early.

First of all, let's show an image of this helicopter, which we've been able to pull off the Internet. This is a much smaller helicopter involved in scouting missions, reconnaissance missions, kind of light attack duty, if you will. Very early to say as to whether it went down by accident or was put down by some sort of rocket-propelled grenade or the like.

DON SHEPARD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Indeed, Miles. The Kiowa is a two-place aircraft. It's single engine. It can be configured to carry six troops on the outside or four litters. If you remember the movie "Black Hawk Down," you could have people riding on the side. There were some early reports that there were three people in this aircraft when it went down, so it could have been somebody riding on the outside.

O'BRIEN: All right. Still very early to say, as we know, whether it was an accident or not.

But let's -- let's point out what we said the other day when we were talking about the crash of that much lager helicopter, that terrible toll. Helicopter operations on a good day are a very dangerous thing in a place like Iraq.

SHEPARD: They are, indeed. We make it look easy because of the training and the expertise of the crews. But helicopters, by their nature, are harder to fly than conventional aircraft.

They also operate low to the ground so when something happens you don't have as much time to react as you do in an aircraft. They don't have ejection seats. And by their very nature, they are somewhat unstable.

So they're -- also when they fly close to the ground -- much more vulnerable to shoulder-fired missiles and also ground fire of any kind. So don't know why this one went down, but they are -- they are, indeed, dangerous than fixed wing aircraft.

O'BRIEN: OK. But everything in the context of this impending election we are looking at very closely. General Shepard will be back several times all throughout the day and into the weekend as we continue our coverage of this historic Iraqi election -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Trepidation, jubilation, intimidation, they're all in abundance in the final day and a half before the first free elections in Iraq in half a century.

As you know if you've been watching CNN, Iraqis abroad are voting already and thrilled to be doing so. We'll get to that in just a minute.

But first, displays of confidence from election officials in Baghdad, defiance from insurgents. Both insist they're prepared for sunrise Sunday.

Here's CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days to go before a country goes to the polls, trying to shake off decades of dictatorship and months of insurgency.

And three significant arrests giving a much needed boost to Iraq's beleaguered government. Top Iraqi officials announcing that three top lieutenants of the terror mastermind, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have been arrested. One of them is said to be the head of Zarqawi's operations in Baghdad. Even as two car bombs within minutes of each other rocked this battered capital. This one exploded outside a police station in a Baghdad suburb, killing four and wounding several others.

A short while later and a few hundred meters away, another suicide car bomber slammed his vehicle into a blast wall outside a school that's been designated as a polling center, detonating himself. No one was killed in this incident.

Meanwhile, several thousand miles and a world away, Iraqis were dancing their way to what they're hoping will be a new democracy. These are Iraqi expatriates living in Australia. And they became the first to cast their votes ahead of the crucial Sunday poll.

Many here, like 47-year-old Yokana Hamas (ph), agrees this has been a long-time coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long, long time. We've been waiting for a long time to this day.

KOINANGE: But many outside Iraq still seem reluctant to go out and vote. Only a quarter of the estimated one million Iraqi expatriates registered to vote in 14 countries around the world.

In neighboring Iran, Iraq's largest population outside the country is expected to vote in numbers. Many here are Shias, long suppressed by years of Saddam Hussein's rule. Some here are hoping Sunday's poll proves a turning point.

"We have come today to vote for a future of Iraq, aimed at having an Islamic republic," she says.

Back in Iraq, it's a different story, at least on paper. The Independent Electoral Commission says just under 13 million Iraqis have registered to vote, and it expects a high turnout.

But just how many local voters will eventually turn out is still questionable, especially as polling centers like these two schools, targeted late Thursday in Baghdad, continue to be attacked.

(on camera) Some families living near schools have left home to stay with relatives in case there's violence on polling day, while others are stocking up on food because of the extended curfew, the heightened security and the overall uncertainty.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, the expats, in one word, ecstatic.

That's Southgate, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, one of five U.S. Cities where an estimated 25,000 Iraqi voters will have their say between now and Sunday. The other cities: Chicago, Nashville, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Thelma Gutierrez joins us from the L.A. site, actually the former El Toro Marine Base in Orange County.

Hi, Thelma.

GUTIERREZ: Hi there, Kyra.

Well, this is the only site on the west coast. So we've talked to people who are traveling from all over the west just to come here to vote.

Thirty nine hundred people are expected to vote here within the next three days. This polling site opened about three hours ago.

So far, though, things have been a little bit on the slow side. Of course, it is a Friday. People are at work. Those numbers are expected to pick up in a big way tomorrow and Sunday.

But we talked to one poll worker who said that he believed that fewer than 100 people have shown up today to cast their vote at this former El Toro Marine base.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I drive 17 hours. And I'm ready. If it were not 17 hours, 100 hours I would go drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the first time in our lives that people can vote and be free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel the democracy. We feel the freedom. We feel like we're living like any people in other country. This is what we're feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a good feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great feeling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Now, the room broke out in applause this morning as the first person cast her vote about 7 a.m. She was an engineer from California who said that she wanted to be part of history.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: No doubt you've had a chance to be a fly on the wall, so to speak, Thelma, and hear all the conversation among all these voters. A lot of them, did they flee Iraq and did they suffer under the regime of Saddam Hussein? I imagine that most of them did.

GUTIERREZ: Well, it's interesting. We followed a family from Portland, Oregon, who came here last week, just to register to vote. They were going to go through it all over again. They will be here tomorrow.

They had lost a family member. They said that's the exact reason that they're here, that they made the sacrifice to be here. And many of the other Iraqis that we had talked to had said the same thing. Each one had lost a family member.

Others who were born -- or rather in Iraq but raised here in the United States say that they're doing it for a better future for the people there.

PHILLIPS: Thelma Gutierrez, thanks so much.

Well, CNN is your source for comprehensive coverage, of course, of the Iraqi vote, beginning this evening with a two-hour special anchored by Christiane Amanpour, Anderson Cooper in Baghdad, Paula Zahn and Aaron Brown in New York. And that starts at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 Pacific.

And tomorrow and Sunday tune in any time for live reports from Iraq and beyond, coverage you'll see only on CNN -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: The president of the United States is in Greenboro, West Virginia today. We've got some tape that is feeding in now.

I don't believe that is a live signal. But in any case -- it is a live signal. I apologize. I was told something else a moment ago.

That's the president talking in a Republican retreat there in Greenboro, West Virginia, talking about the Republican agenda. We're listening to it. Should any news develop out of it, we'll keep you posted on it.

Well, from rehearsal to the real thing, CNN's Nic Robertson goes along on a raid aimed at snaring insurgents before they can strike. It's a mission fraught with peril and the possibility of a mistake.

Also ahead on the program, he's been charged with one murder, and police say he's confessed to seven more. The latest on grim efforts to figure out how many victims may have fallen to an alleged serial killer in Illinois.

And a small town reels after a first grader is found dead outside her school. Even more upsetting, the man who is accused of the murder.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Crime beat. An Illinois serial killer case gets tougher to stomach with each emerging detail. Police say a man has confessed to killing eight women and dumping or burning their bodies. He's in jail, and residents of sleepy Peoria are learning what kind of man they called their neighbor.

Eric Philips now with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Covered up by a tarp, Larry Bright led authorities around his Peoria County, Illinois, home, pointing out where they should dig for evidence. The search unearthed bone particles and the incinerated remains of at least one person, also a device that authorities say appears to have been used to burn bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I can say is, it's just kind of scary. You know, to know that somebody that would be in the neighborhood that would be, you know, capable or even doing anything like this. Whatever it may turn out to be.

PHILIPS: Authorities say it turns out she was living next door to a serial killer, one who possibly murdered six women and could be responsible for incinerating the bodies of four others who are still missing.

KEVIN LYONS, PEORIA COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: Based upon evidence gathered throughout this investigation, it is apparent now to us that the majority of the victims, dead or missing, of that list of 10 have a connection to Larry D. Bright and that he has murdered them.

PHILIPS: Police say all 10 women are African-American with a history of prostitution or drug use. The six who were found dead all strangled, asphyxiated or died of drug overdose.

So far, Bright's only charged with the first-degree murder of 40- year-old Linda Neal. Neal's body was discovered last September along a rural road outside of Peoria.

HARRISON NEAL, LINDA NEAL'S FATHER: The detectives, they worked so hard on that case, and they did a wonderful job. And the bottom of my heart, I thank them very much for the work that they did.

KEVIN ARMSTRONG, LINDA NEAL'S BROTHER: We need to get a guilty plea or a guilty verdict out of it. Then everything will be closed then.

PHILIPS: Bright remains in jail without bond.

Eric Philips, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Let's get back to our focus on Iraq here.

Mosul, Iraq is something of a microcosm of that country's tensions and conflicts. Just today, extremists bombed a polling place at a primary school, opened fire on an ambulance, but U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are making strides, as well, detaining more than 300 suspects and seizing numerous weapons stockpiles just in the past three weeks.

I'm joined now by the commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Brigadier General Carter Ham.

General Ham, good to have you with us. Will this be a really election or only an election in show?

BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: This will be a real election in Mosul. In less than a day and a half, the people of Mosul will have an opportunity that they have not had in over a generation.

And as the opportunity is to select their own leaders. There's going to be problems. We know that that will be the case. We're working very hard with the Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government, and the Independent Electoral Commission to solve those problems and make the elections as safe as they can be.

But come 7 a.m. in the morning on the 30th of January, there are going to be elections in Mosul.

O'BRIEN: General, you and your forces have to be bracing for the worst. What is your biggest concern on the cusp of this election?

HAM: Well, the concern are the attacks that are likely against the actual polling sites and the people -- the Iraqi people who are moving to those sites to vote.

I think, as you know, vehicle traffic has been -- has been restrained inside the city of Mosul. The governor imposed that last night. There is no vehicle movement inside the city. That helps to a degree.

There is good Iraqi security forces at the polling sites, but nonetheless, as people move from the homes to the sites, there is some risk, and we're working hard to mitigate that.

O'BRIEN: General, we're joined here by Major General Don Shepard, retired U.S. Air Force, our military analyst. He has a question for you.

Go ahead, General Shepard.

SHEPARD: Hey, General Ham, best wishes for you and your troops for what looks like is going to be a busy weekend. I've got a question on the -- on the insurgents. Who are these guys? Are they former regime loyalists? Are they criminals? Are they foreign jihadists? And whoever they are, who is directing them in your area, is your best guess?

HAM: I think General Shepard, you've got it right. There are three different groups. There are criminals who are doing this just -- just for money, to create the lack of security.

There are former regime elements, Ba'ath Party members who want to see a return to their life of prestige and power and influence inside Iraq.

And then there are religious extremists who would like to see a Taliban-like organization in control in Iraq, which means nobody is in control and they're allowed to do whatever they would like for the future.

What is a little concerning to me is over the past couple of months we have seen a level of cooperation to a degree between these various groups. And that's concerning to me. I don't think it's -- I wouldn't go so far as to say it's what you would call, you would call in military terms command and control, but there is some level of cooperation that is concerning.

O'BRIEN: General Ham, let me ask you this. One of the big X factors here, aside from how the voters themselves will react, is how the Iraqi forces will perform or not perform.

And based on what I've been seeing, it's a rather spotty record on how they turn out and how they're prepared. Can you really rely on the Iraqi forces come election day?

HAM: Yes. I think we can. Certainly, two months ago, the middle of November, when the police were put under pressure in Mosul and they failed, there's no question about that. And there are not very many police present.

But the Iraqi forces that have been stood up in Mosul, that have come to the city from other parts of the country at the order of the ministry of interior and the ministry of defense, have shown their mettle over the past couple of weeks and have made a difference.

You referenced earlier an attack on a polling station that occurred south of Mosul earlier today. Well, the security forces that were there, the Iraqi security forces, stayed throughout that attack. They didn't abandon their stations, and did not lose control of that polling site. I think that's a heartening signal.

O'BRIEN: General, that is a heartening signal. We're glad to hear that. I know that if we had this conversation three or four weeks ago, you might not have even predicted there would be an election. The fact that the election is upon us says something about the whole situation in Iraq.

Is it -- is it accurate to say that the situation has improved, or is this just a desire to do an election, regardless of what the situation there is on the ground?

HAM: Very clearly, the situation in Mosul has dramatically improved over the past two months, and the credit for that goes to the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government.

There is a very noticeable difference today with Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi special police from the minister of interior that are present, interacting with the people on the city -- in the city streets. And it brings to the average Iraqi in Mosul a confidence that their government, that their security forces are engaged in protecting them, and that's very helpful.

We'll be there, to be sure, and we'll be there, ready to assist the Iraqi security forces, should they find themselves in a situation that's beyond their capability. But this is Iraqi led and controlled, and that's the way it should be.

O'BRIEN: General Carter Ham, thank you for your time. We wish you and the men and women under your command a safe election in Iraq. We wish you well as you do everything you can to allow that election to go off with some degree of freedom. Thank you very much.

A gift from God. That's how one Iraqi-American describes voting in the upcoming election. We'll talk with him about taking part in this landmark event.

And then get up. Get off the couch. Walk around, for Pete's sake. It could be a good thing for your body. We'll give you the skinny on how ants in your pants may affect your weight.

And if this deal goes through, the resulting company will cover everything from dandruff to potato chips. Not even a close shave on that one. We'll have more on the rapidly expanding corporate umbrella of Procter and Gamble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, two big household names are coming together. Procter & Gamble is buying Gillette.

David Haffenreffer joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for all the details on this -- David.

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, David. Thanks so much.

We want to take you live now just south of Miami, a live picture that we have here via our affiliate WSBN.

We're not quite sure of all the details right now, but we can tell you about 30 migrants have been stranded on this little island just off the coast of Miami. That's according to U.S. border patrol.

And now we understand the patrol boats are responding and, just a few by few. You can see a couple of them here with a baby and another small child, taking them off the island. Not quite sure where we're going to transport them to.

It's not clear where the migrants are from right now. Earlier, we did see the same news helicopter showing the men and women lying down on the island's beach. Not quite sure why they were doing that either. But it's not clear if they had come by themselves or they had been brought by smugglers.

But a very remote little island just off the south of Miami, about 30 migrants there. Now U.S. patrol boats taking them off. We'll keep you updated on the details of that story.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

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