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American Morning

Interview With Phyllis Bennis, Susan Sarandon

Aired February 14, 2003 - 09:15   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As troops are massing in the Gulf region, protesters worldwide are mobilizing, hoping to prevent a war against Iraq. Millions of people are expected to join in protest all over the world this weekend, including right here in New York, and Maria Hinojosa is standing by, live in Midtown Manhattan with an outspoken anti-war activist, actress Susan Sarandon -- good morning.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. We're here inside a union building on 42nd Street, and this has become the headquarters of what they say is an international movement to stop a possible war in Iraq. The organization is called United for Peace and Justice, and joining me to talk about why they are anti-war activists, that is Phyllis Bennis, who is with the Institute for Policy Studies, and a Middle East expert, and Susan Sarandon.

Let's start with you, Phyllis. Why is this demonstration going to be any different than other anti-war demonstrations?

PHYLLIS BENNIS, INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: Well, the first reason is the breadth of it. Maria, there are going to be 550 cities around the country -- sorry, around the world. Cities from Reykjavik, Iceland to Johannesburg, South Africa to El Salvador to Australia. Every country in Europe, the capitals are going to be filled with protesters saying no to this war. In the United States, 225 or more cities -- those are just the ones we know about are having demonstrations. Ninety-two cities in the U.S. have now passed resolutions saying no to war, from Chicago to tiny little towns. You know, from Seattle to Florida, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baltimore all over the country. At the base level, people are saying, no, they don't accept these arguments.

HINOJOSA: Susan, there might be some people who say that they might not agree with this war, but they don't necessarily want to take to the streets, because they're worried about seeing -- being seen as unpatriotic. Why, as an American citizen, do you think it's important to stand out and step up now?

SUSAN SARANDON, ACTOR: First of all, that's a horrible thing to think that in America you would be afraid to take to the streets. I mean, what does that say right there about our civil liberties, this whole premise of saying you're either with us or against us has set a horrible precedent, and the fear and the hurt from the 11th has been hijacked into trying to make some leap about this war that is not in any way connected to the 11th, and we've had no evidence that it is. And as long as our representatives are not engaging in a healthy debate, I think it's important for the American people to exercise not only their right, but their responsibility to say we're not getting on to this preemptive strike which is a whole new thing. It's going to be very expensive. We've not been told enough about it. The case has not been made. We're not going to war on spec. And as a mom, I'm terrified. I live in New York. We saw what happened. I've just come back from France and India, all over Europe, and the rest of the world is not buying this. So we're acting alone, and it's going to make it much, much more dangerous, the world and the United States, if we start dropping bombs on Iraq without any reason.

HINOJOSA: And you're a New Yorker. Just very quickly, how do you deal with your own fears, with your own family in this moment? That is so difficult for so many of us.

SARANDON: It's very, very difficult. My kids started getting really anxious when we started bombing Afghanistan. You know, they understand that violence makes things more violent, that we're hated. In the beginning, people asked that question. Now, they're not asking anymore. And I think what people are saying now is don't escalate the violence. Don't undermine the U.N., don't undermine NATO. We need them. We need to be smarter about this. War is definitely the failure of diplomacy.

HINOJOSA: OK. Thank you so much. We're going to be here all day, Paula, as the activities prepare for a big demonstration here in New York, and as they've said, around the world -- back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you, Maria Hinojosa reporting from Midtown Manhattan.

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







Aired February 14, 2003 - 09:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As troops are massing in the Gulf region, protesters worldwide are mobilizing, hoping to prevent a war against Iraq. Millions of people are expected to join in protest all over the world this weekend, including right here in New York, and Maria Hinojosa is standing by, live in Midtown Manhattan with an outspoken anti-war activist, actress Susan Sarandon -- good morning.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. We're here inside a union building on 42nd Street, and this has become the headquarters of what they say is an international movement to stop a possible war in Iraq. The organization is called United for Peace and Justice, and joining me to talk about why they are anti-war activists, that is Phyllis Bennis, who is with the Institute for Policy Studies, and a Middle East expert, and Susan Sarandon.

Let's start with you, Phyllis. Why is this demonstration going to be any different than other anti-war demonstrations?

PHYLLIS BENNIS, INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: Well, the first reason is the breadth of it. Maria, there are going to be 550 cities around the country -- sorry, around the world. Cities from Reykjavik, Iceland to Johannesburg, South Africa to El Salvador to Australia. Every country in Europe, the capitals are going to be filled with protesters saying no to this war. In the United States, 225 or more cities -- those are just the ones we know about are having demonstrations. Ninety-two cities in the U.S. have now passed resolutions saying no to war, from Chicago to tiny little towns. You know, from Seattle to Florida, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baltimore all over the country. At the base level, people are saying, no, they don't accept these arguments.

HINOJOSA: Susan, there might be some people who say that they might not agree with this war, but they don't necessarily want to take to the streets, because they're worried about seeing -- being seen as unpatriotic. Why, as an American citizen, do you think it's important to stand out and step up now?

SUSAN SARANDON, ACTOR: First of all, that's a horrible thing to think that in America you would be afraid to take to the streets. I mean, what does that say right there about our civil liberties, this whole premise of saying you're either with us or against us has set a horrible precedent, and the fear and the hurt from the 11th has been hijacked into trying to make some leap about this war that is not in any way connected to the 11th, and we've had no evidence that it is. And as long as our representatives are not engaging in a healthy debate, I think it's important for the American people to exercise not only their right, but their responsibility to say we're not getting on to this preemptive strike which is a whole new thing. It's going to be very expensive. We've not been told enough about it. The case has not been made. We're not going to war on spec. And as a mom, I'm terrified. I live in New York. We saw what happened. I've just come back from France and India, all over Europe, and the rest of the world is not buying this. So we're acting alone, and it's going to make it much, much more dangerous, the world and the United States, if we start dropping bombs on Iraq without any reason.

HINOJOSA: And you're a New Yorker. Just very quickly, how do you deal with your own fears, with your own family in this moment? That is so difficult for so many of us.

SARANDON: It's very, very difficult. My kids started getting really anxious when we started bombing Afghanistan. You know, they understand that violence makes things more violent, that we're hated. In the beginning, people asked that question. Now, they're not asking anymore. And I think what people are saying now is don't escalate the violence. Don't undermine the U.N., don't undermine NATO. We need them. We need to be smarter about this. War is definitely the failure of diplomacy.

HINOJOSA: OK. Thank you so much. We're going to be here all day, Paula, as the activities prepare for a big demonstration here in New York, and as they've said, around the world -- back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you, Maria Hinojosa reporting from Midtown Manhattan.

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