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CNN Live Today
Mourners Pay Respects to Reagan Following Elaborate Ceremonies; G-8 Leaders Pledge to Help Africa; Bush Says Bitterness Over with French
Aired June 10, 2004 - 11:00 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.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Up first this hour on CNN, a live picture from the Capitol rotunda where a silent, solemn vigil is taking place on Capitol Hill, the nation saying good-bye to Ronald Reagan.
Thousands are filing past Mr. Reagan's casket in the Capitol rotunda to pay their respects. Reagan will lie in state at the Capitol until tomorrow morning.
Dignitaries and diplomats will gather at the state funeral for Ronald Reagan tomorrow. But today ordinary Americans have their chance to honor the country's 40th president.
Our Ed Henry is on Capitol Hill with more on that.
Ed, good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
I spoke a short while ago with Senator Edward Kennedy, who was obviously one of the many people at the rotunda ceremony last night.
He said it brought back a lot of painful memories about his own brother's state funeral. And he said he understands the grief that Nancy Reagan is feeling right now, which we saw play out last night in one dramatic moment after another.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): Ronald Reagan's final trip to Washington was filled with eloquence and reminders about his time in the capital city.
His casket arrived at a familiar spot, Andrews Air Force Base, to the strands of a familiar tune.
The horse-drawn caisson journeyed from near the White House to the west front of the Capitol, the very spot where Mr. Reagan was sworn in as president in 1981.
Then the 700-pound casket was lifted into the rotunda of the Capitol, site of Reagan's second swearing in, because of bad weather, where he now lies in state.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER: This Capitol building is the right place to honor a man who so faithfully defended our freedom and so successfully helped extend the blessings of liberty to millions of people around the world.
HENRY: The thousands of people who lined Constitution Avenue were also paying their respects to the president's first lady, who cared for her husband during his long battle with Alzheimer's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you, Nancy!
HENRY: Her influence was seen in the meticulous planning, everything from a 21-gun salute to a 21-jet flyover with a missing man formation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was quiet. It was ceremonial. It was regal. It was beautiful.
HENRY: Before escorting Mrs. Reagan to the casket, Vice President Cheney wished her well.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When these days of ceremony are completed, the nation returns him to you for the final journey to the west.
And when he is laid to rest under the Pacific sky, we will be thinking of you as we commend to the almighty the soul of his faithful servant, Ronald Wilson Reagan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: And Daryn, this morning there are still thousands of people waiting to file past that casket. You can hear sirens in the background. There have been motorcades coming through all day, various dignitaries also wanting to file by.
And each person that comes through is getting a souvenir card. It's printed on heavy paper with the presidential seal on the top. It says "the honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan." It has his birth date and the day he died, the nation's 40th president. It notes that he's lying in state on June 9, 10 and 11 -- Daryn.
KAGAN: I want to talk a little bit about the service that will take place tomorrow.
Four thousand seats available in the National Cathedral, and yet 3,000 of those already spoken for. I understand there's quite a scramble for others who want to be part and be there for that service.
HENRY: Absolutely. There are members of Congress who want to be there, who might not be able to fit in. They're trying to, you know, obviously accommodate the diplomatic corps.
We're going to see a lot of lawmakers. We're going to see a lot of dignitaries from around the world. The initial number was 20 heads of state.
Now we understand there's even live pictures of Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader, moving through the rotunda. He just a little earlier ago, he was in the office of the current Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. And now we understand he's moving through the rotunda.
We've seen these live pictures throughout the day. Again, a lot of average people from all across the country wanting to show their respects. And then a lot of famous people that we all have seen in politics and out of politics wanting each to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And from as many years in Washington, I'm sure Bob Dole and Ronald Reagan's paths crossed many times, as well as Mrs. Dole, Senator Dole, working in the Bush -- in the Reagan administration.
HENRY: Absolutely. She was a cabinet secretary. Obviously, now a senator from North Carolina.
Also you have President Bush currently in the White House, his father having been the vice president for Ronald Reagan. Obviously, a lot of ties within the Republican Party, people wanting to come forward and pay their respects.
KAGAN: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Ed, thank you for that.
A programming note for our viewers: CNN's live coverage of the state funeral for Ronald Reagan begins tomorrow 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific.
President Bush will travel to the capital later today to pay his respects to Ronald Reagan. First, though, he is wrapping up business at the G-8 summit in Georgia.
That's where we find our John King, covering the meeting. He's joining us live from Savannah.
Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.
And later today we may hear some of the president's thoughts about the eulogy he will deliver tomorrow morning as part of the funeral of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Bush will have a news conference here in Savannah after wrapping up the G-8 summit being held nearby on Sea Island.
The leaders in their main session today are focusing on the scourge of AIDS, poverty and famine in Africa. Several African leaders invited to join the discussions here.
The G-8 in past has promised help and promised money. They're essentially fine-tuning that plan in the past to try to speed up AIDS medicine, to speed up ways to eradicate hunger and poverty.
And before the main session began today, though, the president sat down with one of his chief critics, a man with whom he says he is a friend but has had considerable tension, especially over the war in Iraq, the French president, Jacques Chirac.
Both men met in Paris just a few days ago. They said they wanted to put the bitterness of the debate over going to war behind them. But already here at the G-8 summit, we see more friction, a bit of a tug of war between these two presidents.
Mr. Bush just yesterday, and again in Chirac's presence this morning, said he would like to explore an expanded role for the NATO alliance, at least in training the new Iraqi military and new Iraqi security forces.
Mr. Chirac yesterday said he was quite skeptical of that approach, didn't think NATO should have a role in post-war Iraq.
So the two men meeting this morning, shaking hands. Mr. Bush saying friends can disagree and still be friends.
But the NATO summit, Daryn, is coming up in just a few weeks. NATO is an organization that operates on consensus. If one of the countries says no, it is hard to get a plan to the finish line.
Mr. Bush with some lobbying to do, perhaps some more at least contentious diplomacy. They say the bitterness is behind them with the French president -- Daryn.
KAGAN: As we mentioned, President Bush will be leaving Sea Island, Georgia, and heading to Washington for the Reagan funeral. I would imagine, John, that he's not the only world leader who will be making that trip.
KING: He is far from the only world leader making that trip. A great number of dignitaries invited to the funeral. Several of the G- 8 leaders here will go on to the funeral, as well.
And Daryn, when you look at the dignitary list, I think one of the most fascinating things, you see leaders from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, all countries that were in the Soviet bloc when Ronald Reagan was president, all free democracies now in Eastern Europe.
So there will be a flare, if you will, visible evidence in the presence of those leaders to what many believe was Ronald Reagan's greatest legacy, his standing up against what he liked to call the evil empire.
KAGAN: John King in Savannah, Georgia. John, thank you for that.
Coming up we have for a CNN exclusive, our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour talks live. She is speaking with Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. That is coming up right after a break, when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm christiane amanpour in London. And for the next few minutes, we will concentrate and focus on Afghanistan. And we'll speak to the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, about the challenges that lie ahead for the upcoming elections, landmark elections that are scheduled for September. But that are right now in doubt because of so much violence.
Indeed, Mr. Karzai has been in the United States at the Sea Island G8 Summit, meeting with President Bush and other world leaders. And even as he was there, one of the worst attacks against foreign workers in Afghanistan took place.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Just last night, gunmen killed 11 Chinese construction workers and wounded several others in the northern town of Kunduz. Last week the aid agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres, suspended its operations in Afghanistan after five of its workers were ambushed and killed.
The Taliban claims responsibility and vows to keep killing Americans and other foreigners as the militants continue their campaign to disrupt reconstruction, force the international community to abandon Afghanistan, and discredit president Hamid Karzai and his government.
The U.S. has warned the Taliban would increase their attacks before Afghanistan's landmark elections scheduled for September, elections in which women will participate and also stand for office.
Since the U.S. routed the Taliban in 2001, Afghan officials have complained publicly that there has not been enough international security forces to clamp down on warlords as well as the Taliban and other militants.
A U.S. government report recently said that while the Bush administration's rhetoric on Afghanistan is positive, promised reconstruction efforts are not getting the attention or the funding they need.
With far less than half Afghanistan's 10 million eligible voters registered, there are fears now that the election could be severely jeopardized unless more international forces pour in to provide security. Absent that, many Afghans say the elections would just cement the power of the warlords and the drugs mafia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Joining us now from Chicago is President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
Thank you for joining us.
I want to ask you, Mr. President, what precisely do you think needs to be done to stop the kind of violence that we're seeing there and to ensure greater security in Afghanistan?
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: Well, we predicted, ma'am, violence prior to elections in Afghanistan by terrorists and those who do not want Afghanistan to see success or to have free, democratic elections.
If you remember, just prior to the constitutional loya jirga, when we were preparing members for that and having elections for that, there was an increase in violent attacks against Afghanistan by terrorists. And now, too, we predict that the attacks prior to the election in Afghanistan will increase, especially on soft targets like the unfortunate incident last night in Kunduz.
But the fact remains that the Afghan people are very keen on having elections, and we will certainly reach the day when we will have elections in the country.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Karzai, do you believe that there are enough forces to maintain security in Afghanistan right now and, most especially, to ensure that registration goes ahead and that the polls are successfully protected if the elections are held in September?
KARZAI: Well, so far we have registered 3.5 million voters for election. And the U.N. is expanding its operations for registration of voters in Afghanistan. As it expands, we will see more of the registration take place. Of the registered voters, over 32 to 33 percent are women, and the rest are men.
With regard to more security forces for the elections in Afghanistan, definitely we need more security assistance forces for elections in Afghanistan. We hope that the NATO deployment which is being considered will take place before elections in parts of the country where we do not have enough security forces. And I also hope that we'll have enough of the Afghan national police and national army to be deployed before the elections.
If we do not provide the Afghan people with an environment of free voting and free choice of their candidates to vote for, definitely the Afghan people will have difficulties in casting their vote in the manner that they like.
AMANPOUR: Mr. President, can you tell me what date those elections are scheduled for? There's been a lot of different interpretations on when they may be held. What date do you have them scheduled for?
KARZAI: The joint Afghan-U.N. election commission has set the month of September for elections. With regard to the exact date of the elections, they will have to decide in the month of September as to which date they will like to have the elections done.
AMANPOUR: You know that they were originally scheduled for this month -- for June -- and for various reasons, logistic reasons, security reasons, they have been postponed. Can you say right now for certain that they will not be postponed again and that they will be held in September?
KARZAI: The original postponement from June to September was not done for security reasons. It was done because the registration of voters would have not been complete. The prediction was that you would have up to -- from 8 million to 10 million voters. And now we will continue the registration to whatever number of voters we eventually will get for the country.
But September is the date that we have in mind. And I would very much want elections to take place in September. The work done by the Afghan election commission and the U.N. -- the joint commission between the two is going on. Signs are that we will have enough of the voters registered, and the mechanics of elections are in place. So for now, I see no reason at all for further postponement.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Karzai, a U.S. government report -- the GAO report -- has basically said that a lot of the violence that's going on is undercutting not only the democratization process but also reconstruction, and it's threatening stability in Afghanistan. Do you agree with that?
KARZAI: I don't agree with that. The Afghan people are very adamant to have this country turn into a nice country for them and a country in which they will have economic opportunities and a country in which they'll have the right to vote and select their governments and with proper institutions of the government there.
KARZAI: The biggest hope for Afghanistan is the people of Afghanistan and their desire for a good life. That's why they were such keen and very willing partners with the international community.
Whether we will have trouble reaching that point, yes, of course. Whether we have trouble today, yes, of course. But our troubles are decreasing and not increasing.
The security incidents that you have in Afghanistan today are not going to be a hurdle for our people's progress toward a better future. They will remain with us for a number of years to come, as they are in the countries around us, as they are in the region.
I think by that standard, keeping Afghanistan's 30 years of war and anarchy and total destruction, Afghanistan is doing very, very well, keeping the situation in mind two years ago and the environment in the region.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Karzai, that may very well be the case, but we also hear very frequently from Afghan people themselves that they are concerned about security. That's their number one priority. They're very concerned about elections cementing the power of various regional warlords and the such. And they're concerned that attacks by the Taliban and these killings, not just of foreigners but of Afghans as well, are threatening their ability to move forward as they want.
What are you going to do, or what can be done to basically beat back the militants if you don't have the international forces there right now, and the army, your army, is not yet fully up and ready?
KARZAI: Yes, we would definitely need more of the international security force assistance in Afghanistan. The attacks that we have today, of course, are a source of concern for us, and are a source of concern for the Afghan people.
But these attacks cannot and will not be able to derail the process that we have for stability and more peace in Afghanistan and institutionalization of the country. There is no way that terrorists can stop that process. This process, has begun, is on its way. Whether terrorists or other elements that may want to have Afghanistan destabilized or the progress slowed down or stopped will definitely not succeed.
The movement, the mindset of the Afghan people is for progress. There was a survey done by Asia Foundation some time back in which security was second on the minds of the Afghan people.
KARZAI: Economy was now first on the minds of the Afghan people. And this way, Afghanistan is showing signs of confidence toward a better future, of course.
Whether we in Afghanistan...
QUESTION: Mr. President?
KARZAI: I would like to finish this.
Whether we in Afghanistan would require more of the international assistance to definitely go toward a better future, yes. Economic and reconstruction and assistance and security is what we need from the international community to continue with us.
QUESTION: Very briefly, I want to ask you, you're meeting officially with President Bush in a bilateral meeting next week. Will you ask for more troops? You've just said twice in this interview that you want more troops. Will you ask for more?
KARZAI: We'll be asking for more assistance from the United States, especially in economic areas, in the reconstruction areas, and in institution-building in Afghanistan.
The U.S. has already done a lot for us for which we are very, very grateful. The people of Afghanistan will thank the American people for the help that we have received from them.
But we'll be asking NATO to deploy in Afghanistan as it has been promised, as the Afghan people expect. And if there is more assistance in terms of security from the United States, and if we need it, of course, we would welcome it.
QUESTION: And finally, Mr. President, you are in Washington. You'll be going to the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan. Everybody remembers what a significant role President Reagan's administration played in Afghanistan in the '80s, providing Stinger missiles, turning the tide which finally saw off the Soviet Army. Can you just tell me what your thoughts are on the death of President Reagan, and his significance in Afghans' history?
KARZAI: Yes, Christiane. Very good question. I'm glad you asked this.
President Reagan is remembered by the Afghan people as a man that enabled Afghanistan to fight for its independence against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; that helped Afghanistan free itself; and that by doing that, really got the destruction of the former Soviet Union and the communist regime that it was trying to impose on Afghanistan and in the neighborhood of Afghanistan.
KARZAI: We in Afghanistan remember President Reagan very, very fondly, and we have tremendous respect for him. He's been a very good friend and ally on Afghanistan. I would convey this through you to Mrs. Reagan, that she and her husband are remembered well in Afghanistan, and we wish her all the best.
AMANPOUR: Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, thank you very much for joining us.
I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. The news continues on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Our thoughts are going out to the waterlogged folks in Texas, especially around the Fort Worth area.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Scott Peterson's behavior and his alibi come into question in court. We are taking you live to California for the latest on the Peterson trial. That is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 10, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Up first this hour on CNN, a live picture from the Capitol rotunda where a silent, solemn vigil is taking place on Capitol Hill, the nation saying good-bye to Ronald Reagan.
Thousands are filing past Mr. Reagan's casket in the Capitol rotunda to pay their respects. Reagan will lie in state at the Capitol until tomorrow morning.
Dignitaries and diplomats will gather at the state funeral for Ronald Reagan tomorrow. But today ordinary Americans have their chance to honor the country's 40th president.
Our Ed Henry is on Capitol Hill with more on that.
Ed, good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
I spoke a short while ago with Senator Edward Kennedy, who was obviously one of the many people at the rotunda ceremony last night.
He said it brought back a lot of painful memories about his own brother's state funeral. And he said he understands the grief that Nancy Reagan is feeling right now, which we saw play out last night in one dramatic moment after another.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): Ronald Reagan's final trip to Washington was filled with eloquence and reminders about his time in the capital city.
His casket arrived at a familiar spot, Andrews Air Force Base, to the strands of a familiar tune.
The horse-drawn caisson journeyed from near the White House to the west front of the Capitol, the very spot where Mr. Reagan was sworn in as president in 1981.
Then the 700-pound casket was lifted into the rotunda of the Capitol, site of Reagan's second swearing in, because of bad weather, where he now lies in state.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER: This Capitol building is the right place to honor a man who so faithfully defended our freedom and so successfully helped extend the blessings of liberty to millions of people around the world.
HENRY: The thousands of people who lined Constitution Avenue were also paying their respects to the president's first lady, who cared for her husband during his long battle with Alzheimer's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you, Nancy!
HENRY: Her influence was seen in the meticulous planning, everything from a 21-gun salute to a 21-jet flyover with a missing man formation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was quiet. It was ceremonial. It was regal. It was beautiful.
HENRY: Before escorting Mrs. Reagan to the casket, Vice President Cheney wished her well.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When these days of ceremony are completed, the nation returns him to you for the final journey to the west.
And when he is laid to rest under the Pacific sky, we will be thinking of you as we commend to the almighty the soul of his faithful servant, Ronald Wilson Reagan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: And Daryn, this morning there are still thousands of people waiting to file past that casket. You can hear sirens in the background. There have been motorcades coming through all day, various dignitaries also wanting to file by.
And each person that comes through is getting a souvenir card. It's printed on heavy paper with the presidential seal on the top. It says "the honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan." It has his birth date and the day he died, the nation's 40th president. It notes that he's lying in state on June 9, 10 and 11 -- Daryn.
KAGAN: I want to talk a little bit about the service that will take place tomorrow.
Four thousand seats available in the National Cathedral, and yet 3,000 of those already spoken for. I understand there's quite a scramble for others who want to be part and be there for that service.
HENRY: Absolutely. There are members of Congress who want to be there, who might not be able to fit in. They're trying to, you know, obviously accommodate the diplomatic corps.
We're going to see a lot of lawmakers. We're going to see a lot of dignitaries from around the world. The initial number was 20 heads of state.
Now we understand there's even live pictures of Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader, moving through the rotunda. He just a little earlier ago, he was in the office of the current Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. And now we understand he's moving through the rotunda.
We've seen these live pictures throughout the day. Again, a lot of average people from all across the country wanting to show their respects. And then a lot of famous people that we all have seen in politics and out of politics wanting each to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And from as many years in Washington, I'm sure Bob Dole and Ronald Reagan's paths crossed many times, as well as Mrs. Dole, Senator Dole, working in the Bush -- in the Reagan administration.
HENRY: Absolutely. She was a cabinet secretary. Obviously, now a senator from North Carolina.
Also you have President Bush currently in the White House, his father having been the vice president for Ronald Reagan. Obviously, a lot of ties within the Republican Party, people wanting to come forward and pay their respects.
KAGAN: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Ed, thank you for that.
A programming note for our viewers: CNN's live coverage of the state funeral for Ronald Reagan begins tomorrow 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific.
President Bush will travel to the capital later today to pay his respects to Ronald Reagan. First, though, he is wrapping up business at the G-8 summit in Georgia.
That's where we find our John King, covering the meeting. He's joining us live from Savannah.
Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.
And later today we may hear some of the president's thoughts about the eulogy he will deliver tomorrow morning as part of the funeral of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Bush will have a news conference here in Savannah after wrapping up the G-8 summit being held nearby on Sea Island.
The leaders in their main session today are focusing on the scourge of AIDS, poverty and famine in Africa. Several African leaders invited to join the discussions here.
The G-8 in past has promised help and promised money. They're essentially fine-tuning that plan in the past to try to speed up AIDS medicine, to speed up ways to eradicate hunger and poverty.
And before the main session began today, though, the president sat down with one of his chief critics, a man with whom he says he is a friend but has had considerable tension, especially over the war in Iraq, the French president, Jacques Chirac.
Both men met in Paris just a few days ago. They said they wanted to put the bitterness of the debate over going to war behind them. But already here at the G-8 summit, we see more friction, a bit of a tug of war between these two presidents.
Mr. Bush just yesterday, and again in Chirac's presence this morning, said he would like to explore an expanded role for the NATO alliance, at least in training the new Iraqi military and new Iraqi security forces.
Mr. Chirac yesterday said he was quite skeptical of that approach, didn't think NATO should have a role in post-war Iraq.
So the two men meeting this morning, shaking hands. Mr. Bush saying friends can disagree and still be friends.
But the NATO summit, Daryn, is coming up in just a few weeks. NATO is an organization that operates on consensus. If one of the countries says no, it is hard to get a plan to the finish line.
Mr. Bush with some lobbying to do, perhaps some more at least contentious diplomacy. They say the bitterness is behind them with the French president -- Daryn.
KAGAN: As we mentioned, President Bush will be leaving Sea Island, Georgia, and heading to Washington for the Reagan funeral. I would imagine, John, that he's not the only world leader who will be making that trip.
KING: He is far from the only world leader making that trip. A great number of dignitaries invited to the funeral. Several of the G- 8 leaders here will go on to the funeral, as well.
And Daryn, when you look at the dignitary list, I think one of the most fascinating things, you see leaders from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, all countries that were in the Soviet bloc when Ronald Reagan was president, all free democracies now in Eastern Europe.
So there will be a flare, if you will, visible evidence in the presence of those leaders to what many believe was Ronald Reagan's greatest legacy, his standing up against what he liked to call the evil empire.
KAGAN: John King in Savannah, Georgia. John, thank you for that.
Coming up we have for a CNN exclusive, our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour talks live. She is speaking with Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. That is coming up right after a break, when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm christiane amanpour in London. And for the next few minutes, we will concentrate and focus on Afghanistan. And we'll speak to the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, about the challenges that lie ahead for the upcoming elections, landmark elections that are scheduled for September. But that are right now in doubt because of so much violence.
Indeed, Mr. Karzai has been in the United States at the Sea Island G8 Summit, meeting with President Bush and other world leaders. And even as he was there, one of the worst attacks against foreign workers in Afghanistan took place.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Just last night, gunmen killed 11 Chinese construction workers and wounded several others in the northern town of Kunduz. Last week the aid agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres, suspended its operations in Afghanistan after five of its workers were ambushed and killed.
The Taliban claims responsibility and vows to keep killing Americans and other foreigners as the militants continue their campaign to disrupt reconstruction, force the international community to abandon Afghanistan, and discredit president Hamid Karzai and his government.
The U.S. has warned the Taliban would increase their attacks before Afghanistan's landmark elections scheduled for September, elections in which women will participate and also stand for office.
Since the U.S. routed the Taliban in 2001, Afghan officials have complained publicly that there has not been enough international security forces to clamp down on warlords as well as the Taliban and other militants.
A U.S. government report recently said that while the Bush administration's rhetoric on Afghanistan is positive, promised reconstruction efforts are not getting the attention or the funding they need.
With far less than half Afghanistan's 10 million eligible voters registered, there are fears now that the election could be severely jeopardized unless more international forces pour in to provide security. Absent that, many Afghans say the elections would just cement the power of the warlords and the drugs mafia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Joining us now from Chicago is President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
Thank you for joining us.
I want to ask you, Mr. President, what precisely do you think needs to be done to stop the kind of violence that we're seeing there and to ensure greater security in Afghanistan?
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: Well, we predicted, ma'am, violence prior to elections in Afghanistan by terrorists and those who do not want Afghanistan to see success or to have free, democratic elections.
If you remember, just prior to the constitutional loya jirga, when we were preparing members for that and having elections for that, there was an increase in violent attacks against Afghanistan by terrorists. And now, too, we predict that the attacks prior to the election in Afghanistan will increase, especially on soft targets like the unfortunate incident last night in Kunduz.
But the fact remains that the Afghan people are very keen on having elections, and we will certainly reach the day when we will have elections in the country.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Karzai, do you believe that there are enough forces to maintain security in Afghanistan right now and, most especially, to ensure that registration goes ahead and that the polls are successfully protected if the elections are held in September?
KARZAI: Well, so far we have registered 3.5 million voters for election. And the U.N. is expanding its operations for registration of voters in Afghanistan. As it expands, we will see more of the registration take place. Of the registered voters, over 32 to 33 percent are women, and the rest are men.
With regard to more security forces for the elections in Afghanistan, definitely we need more security assistance forces for elections in Afghanistan. We hope that the NATO deployment which is being considered will take place before elections in parts of the country where we do not have enough security forces. And I also hope that we'll have enough of the Afghan national police and national army to be deployed before the elections.
If we do not provide the Afghan people with an environment of free voting and free choice of their candidates to vote for, definitely the Afghan people will have difficulties in casting their vote in the manner that they like.
AMANPOUR: Mr. President, can you tell me what date those elections are scheduled for? There's been a lot of different interpretations on when they may be held. What date do you have them scheduled for?
KARZAI: The joint Afghan-U.N. election commission has set the month of September for elections. With regard to the exact date of the elections, they will have to decide in the month of September as to which date they will like to have the elections done.
AMANPOUR: You know that they were originally scheduled for this month -- for June -- and for various reasons, logistic reasons, security reasons, they have been postponed. Can you say right now for certain that they will not be postponed again and that they will be held in September?
KARZAI: The original postponement from June to September was not done for security reasons. It was done because the registration of voters would have not been complete. The prediction was that you would have up to -- from 8 million to 10 million voters. And now we will continue the registration to whatever number of voters we eventually will get for the country.
But September is the date that we have in mind. And I would very much want elections to take place in September. The work done by the Afghan election commission and the U.N. -- the joint commission between the two is going on. Signs are that we will have enough of the voters registered, and the mechanics of elections are in place. So for now, I see no reason at all for further postponement.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Karzai, a U.S. government report -- the GAO report -- has basically said that a lot of the violence that's going on is undercutting not only the democratization process but also reconstruction, and it's threatening stability in Afghanistan. Do you agree with that?
KARZAI: I don't agree with that. The Afghan people are very adamant to have this country turn into a nice country for them and a country in which they will have economic opportunities and a country in which they'll have the right to vote and select their governments and with proper institutions of the government there.
KARZAI: The biggest hope for Afghanistan is the people of Afghanistan and their desire for a good life. That's why they were such keen and very willing partners with the international community.
Whether we will have trouble reaching that point, yes, of course. Whether we have trouble today, yes, of course. But our troubles are decreasing and not increasing.
The security incidents that you have in Afghanistan today are not going to be a hurdle for our people's progress toward a better future. They will remain with us for a number of years to come, as they are in the countries around us, as they are in the region.
I think by that standard, keeping Afghanistan's 30 years of war and anarchy and total destruction, Afghanistan is doing very, very well, keeping the situation in mind two years ago and the environment in the region.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Karzai, that may very well be the case, but we also hear very frequently from Afghan people themselves that they are concerned about security. That's their number one priority. They're very concerned about elections cementing the power of various regional warlords and the such. And they're concerned that attacks by the Taliban and these killings, not just of foreigners but of Afghans as well, are threatening their ability to move forward as they want.
What are you going to do, or what can be done to basically beat back the militants if you don't have the international forces there right now, and the army, your army, is not yet fully up and ready?
KARZAI: Yes, we would definitely need more of the international security force assistance in Afghanistan. The attacks that we have today, of course, are a source of concern for us, and are a source of concern for the Afghan people.
But these attacks cannot and will not be able to derail the process that we have for stability and more peace in Afghanistan and institutionalization of the country. There is no way that terrorists can stop that process. This process, has begun, is on its way. Whether terrorists or other elements that may want to have Afghanistan destabilized or the progress slowed down or stopped will definitely not succeed.
The movement, the mindset of the Afghan people is for progress. There was a survey done by Asia Foundation some time back in which security was second on the minds of the Afghan people.
KARZAI: Economy was now first on the minds of the Afghan people. And this way, Afghanistan is showing signs of confidence toward a better future, of course.
Whether we in Afghanistan...
QUESTION: Mr. President?
KARZAI: I would like to finish this.
Whether we in Afghanistan would require more of the international assistance to definitely go toward a better future, yes. Economic and reconstruction and assistance and security is what we need from the international community to continue with us.
QUESTION: Very briefly, I want to ask you, you're meeting officially with President Bush in a bilateral meeting next week. Will you ask for more troops? You've just said twice in this interview that you want more troops. Will you ask for more?
KARZAI: We'll be asking for more assistance from the United States, especially in economic areas, in the reconstruction areas, and in institution-building in Afghanistan.
The U.S. has already done a lot for us for which we are very, very grateful. The people of Afghanistan will thank the American people for the help that we have received from them.
But we'll be asking NATO to deploy in Afghanistan as it has been promised, as the Afghan people expect. And if there is more assistance in terms of security from the United States, and if we need it, of course, we would welcome it.
QUESTION: And finally, Mr. President, you are in Washington. You'll be going to the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan. Everybody remembers what a significant role President Reagan's administration played in Afghanistan in the '80s, providing Stinger missiles, turning the tide which finally saw off the Soviet Army. Can you just tell me what your thoughts are on the death of President Reagan, and his significance in Afghans' history?
KARZAI: Yes, Christiane. Very good question. I'm glad you asked this.
President Reagan is remembered by the Afghan people as a man that enabled Afghanistan to fight for its independence against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; that helped Afghanistan free itself; and that by doing that, really got the destruction of the former Soviet Union and the communist regime that it was trying to impose on Afghanistan and in the neighborhood of Afghanistan.
KARZAI: We in Afghanistan remember President Reagan very, very fondly, and we have tremendous respect for him. He's been a very good friend and ally on Afghanistan. I would convey this through you to Mrs. Reagan, that she and her husband are remembered well in Afghanistan, and we wish her all the best.
AMANPOUR: Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, thank you very much for joining us.
I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. The news continues on CNN.
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