Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Historic Voting Winding Down In Iraq; Election Could Impact Timeline For Troops; What The Iraqi Vote Might Mean For Women

Aired October 15, 2005 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Balloting continues across Iraq at this hour.
From the CNN Center this, is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is October 15th, 9:00 a.m. at the CNN Center here in Atlanta, 4:00 p.m. in Baghdad. And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen, thanks for being with us today.

Historic voting is winding down in Iraq. Iraqis have about one hour left to vote for or against a new constitution and it will ultimately define the concept that democracy in that country. Today's voting has been relatively peaceful with only a few insurgent attacks. We'll have a live report from Baqubah, Iraq, in just a couple of minutes from now.

In Pakistan the death toll rises. Officials now say 38,000 people were killed by last weekend's devastating earthquake. Another 62,000 were injured. Meanwhile, international relief efforts have been slowed by rain and snow. Rescue workers have ended the official search for survivors.

And it looks like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to give Russia support to take a hard line stand on Iran's disputed nuclear program. Rice met with Russian president Vladimir Putin, in Moscow to persuade to either support efforts to bring Iran back to diplomatic talks or refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

And ten years ago it was the Million Man March. Today, crowds of people are packing the national mall in Washington for the Millions More Movement. Organizers say the daylong event will highlight ways to empower minorities and it includes a tribute to Hurricane Katrina victims.

HARRIS: Iraqi voters have one more hour to make their decision on a new constitution. Today's historic referendum is the crucial next phase in Iraq's painful transition from dictatorship to democracy. Its outcome could also determine how soon the 156,000 U.S. forces in Iraq can begin returning home. To understand what's at stake here, are the main bullet points of the referendum.

It simply asks for a yes or no vote on this question, do you approve the draft constitution of Iraq? The ballots are printed in both Arabic and Kurdish. Across Iraq there are 6,200 polling places to accommodate more than 15 million eligible voters. Unlike January's election, this time there is no overseas balloting of expatriates.

Some 500 international observers are in Iraq to monitor the vote with results expected in five days, if the referendum passes, the constitution is then ratified and the country moves on to the next phase, which is the December 15th election of the new parliament.

The new government will then be sworn in on December 31st, if the constitution does not pass, the entire process starts over. Parliament is dissolved and the new interim body will be elected December 15th. That interim parliament will have to draft a new constitution one year from now.

NGUYEN: So there you have it lined out. Now let's hit the ground in Iraq where CNN's Nic Robertson is standing by in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad. Nic what is the scene there? Have you seen a large turnout? There's only about an hour left?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The turnout has slowed down in the afternoon, but this morning lots of people were coming into the polling places. This particular polling station during the last election, very few people came to it early in the day. What we heard from election officials in the morning that after just four hours of voting already more people have turned out in this referendum, this vote on the new constitution than had turned out in the parliamentary elections back in January.

Since then, the voting has slowed a little bit. It is about half of the registered voters that turned out so far. That is more than in the last election. The reason officials say that more people have turned out, they say because security is better. The security is better because they learned a lot during the last elections in January.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Families, old and young, stream into a girls school to vote inside the classroom turned polling station for the day, lines lengthen as adults wait to pass their verdict in the country's new constitution. This Sunni man rejecting it. It will divide the country, he says. I'm voting yes from my heart, she says because we want stability. We want a new life and a good future for our kids.

(on camera): What's making elections here different this time is that people are actually turning out to vote? At about this time back in January in the parliamentary elections, very few people visited this polling station. It is now about 10:30 in the morning and already several hundreds of people have come to vote.

(voice-over): Security is tight. Both Iraqi police and the Iraqi army here better prepared, they say.

CPT. NAIM JABARI, IRAQI ARMY, (through translator): This referendum is much easier than the elections. A thousand times easier. That was the first time we went through something like that and in all honesty it was hard for us. This time we're ready. ROBERTSON (on camera): Like the last elections, roads are closed to traffic to stop car bombs getting to the polling stations. The concern this time that suicide bombers with explosives strapped to their bodies could try and come right up to the doors of the polling stations.

(voice-over): Despite about a dozen such suicide attacks in Baghdad, during the January balloting officials here appear remarkably confident.

HAFETH ABDEL AZZIZ, ASSISTANT GOVERNOR (through translator): During the last election I said we were frightened. The turnout would be 20 percent. We did exceed that. But this time the situation is great.

ROBERTSON: Much, it seems, has been learned from the last elections. U.S. troops who were heavily involved in planning and coordination, but will take a backseat election day also see improvements in Iraqi preparation.

COL. STEVEN SALAZAR, U.S. ARMY: And we're learning a great deal how to hire the right folks and how to get the ballots out, how to get information out to the voters. We had a great turnout for registration here.

ROBERTSON: 760,000 in this province, to be precise out of almost one million eligible voters. Last elections only one in three voted. This time, the assistant governor believes turnout will be better because his party has just negotiated a deal allowing revisions to the constitution.

AZZIZ (through translator): It brought support to those who were between yes and no. It gave the party more support. I think we will see 80 percent turnout.

ROBERTSON: Not long now to see which way the vote goes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Indeed, just less than an hour the votes will be counted in these rooms here at the poling station one of the late voters just casting his vote, putting his mark on the ballot paper right now. People here have less than an hour to come out to the polls now, Betty.

NGUYEN: Time is running out. Nic Robertson in Baquba, thank you for that -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well Betty, President Bush is keeping close tabs on the Iraqi vote from presidential retreat at Camp David. Let's get more from CNN White House correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. And you know the White House puts an incredible amount of emphasis on political milestones like we're seeing in Iraq especially in the recent weeks and months as Americans have really were down on the war in Iraq than ever before, turning on the idea of it being a good idea to go into Iraq in the first place.

The Bush administration points to Iraqis voting as the best way to fight terrorism that is besieging that country, but Bush officials know what Americans want to know when they look at pictures like this is what it's going mean for U.S. troops. When they can start coming home and the line at the White House is still not yet. Let's listen to White House Chief of Staff Andy Card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY CARD, CHIEF OF STAFF: I think that we're making significant progress, but the troops should not come home prematurely. That would be a terrible thing. They should stay there until the job is done. After all, we want the democracy in Iraq to take hold because it's important that democracy in Iraq take hold so people in Iran can see its impact and Syria and the other countries in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And you know when we talk to senior Bush aides, they say of all of the president's mounting troubles, whether it's the response to Hurricane Katrina, whether it is the revolt within its own party now over his Supreme Court pick or the worry about what could happen to his senior aid Karl Rove, it is the backdrop is always Iraq and it is the uncertainty that the down right tension in America over what is going happen in Iraq.

So it is days like today that don't happen very often, of course that the White House really relies on, good news, good pictures whether Iraqis are voting for or against the constitution. Days that point to democracy as a possibility is something that the White House really treasures as you can imagine, Tony.

HARRIS: White House correspondent Dana Bash for us. Dana thank you.

We want to know what you think this morning about the elections in Iraq. Do you think democracy will take hold over there? E-mail us your thoughts, our address WEEKENDS@CNN.com.

Less than one hour to go before the polls close in Iraq. How is Arab media covering the referendum. Our senior international editor Octavia Nassar is cover monitoring that coverage. He joins us in about five minutes.

NGUYEN: And political analyst Bill Schneider joins us next hour with his take on what the referendum can mean to future U.S. involvement in Iraq. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Take a look at this. This is inside one of the oldest barbershops in New Orleans' Seventh Ward. Take a look at this picture. This is what the place looks like today. Man, after Hurricane Katrina ravished the city, the before and the after through the eyes of noted New Orleans photographer Harold Baquet live tomorrow on "CNN Sunday Morning," 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone to CNN SATURDAY MORNING I'm Tony Harris. Here's a look at our top stories.

Polls in Iraq are scheduled to close in 45 minutes. Iraqis are voting yes or no on a draft constitution, but the populous is deeply divided over the new charter.

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an abortion for a pregnant inmate in Missouri. A federal judge had ordered prison officials to take the woman for an abortion today.

An unbelievable rescue in Maine, a handicapped woman fell into an abandoned well while trying to rescue her dog. Her husband who suffers from cerebral palsy, who is also recovering from a broken leg had to crawl down a road to call for help. The woman was finally pulled to safety after an hour in the chilly waters.

NGUYEN: The Arab world is closely watching the vote in Iraq. The outcome there either yes or no will have a profound impact on middle eastern countries and this time around there's a new kid on the block. Let's bring in our Senior Arab Affairs Editor Octavia Nasr and we'll get to that in a moment, Octavia. But a developing story right now, al Jazeera banned in Iraq, but if you're watching you might not know it.

OCTAVIA NASR, SENIOR ARAB AFFAIRS EDITOR: Right actually, they were trying to cover the story using experts and journalists and also some guests. They are able to do uplinks, but something happened only a few minutes ago, which we're trying to understand and confirm with al Jazeera to see if they are allowed to report out of Iraq or not yet. I don't know if the video is ready, but we will be showing you the video when it's ready but here's what happened.

All of a sudden we saw an al Jazeera reporter walk into a polling station right in the middle of Baghdad. The interesting thing about it and that's why I'd like you to see the video. Hopefully we'll be able to show it to you at some point, but the microphone doesn't have the al Jazeera logo on it.

So we're not sure if the people in the polling station knew they were talking to al Jazeera or if al Jazeera, obviously, on air, they didn't introduce themselves as al Jazeera, but here's the interesting twist. The reporter walks into a polling station and she asks the manager if he would come to the microphone. He said yes. Here, let's see if we have the video now.

Anyway, she says would you come to the camera and then he says yes. He came in and she asked him, as an Iraqi what do you think of the constitution. He said, look, I'm a manager here, I'm not supposed to have an opinion so I treat everybody equally, everybody is entitled to their opinion, and then he said my personal opinion, I don't think this constitution is going help Iraq in any way. Very interesting, very al Jazeera style. So al Jazeera is there again. NGUYEN: And this was the manager, the man overseeing the polling site.

NASR: Yes. And he said I am the manager, I'm not supposed to have an opinion and I am being objective and he said, but my personal opinion, I don't think this constitution is going to help Iraq in any way. Very interesting. Again, we're not sure if al Jazeera is allowed to broadcast out of Iraq at this point. Were they challenging the authorities? Did they get an approval? We're not sure and we're trying to find that out.

NGUYEN: OK, well al Jazeera aside. There is as we mentioned at the top a new kid on the block and this is an Iraqi station that is based there, this is the hometown folks.

NASR: Yes. It's called Al Arrafia (ph), which means the Iraq, this is the new name of the old television station Iraqi TV. They've been showing polling stations and they braved the threats and the violence that lurks all over Iraq and they went out and covered the story.

They have cameras almost everywhere. Here you're looking at pictures, which we collected only a few minutes ago. Women voting. You could see them there standing in line. Very interesting how it is trying to speak to Iraqis who are at those polling stations. They're asking them if they're going vote yes or no or if they voted, which way they went and they're asking them why.

The interesting element here is everybody they talked to voted yes for the constitution. All of them hailing the constitution as the way for freedom, for liberty and for equality and so forth. This has been the message that Shia and Kurds in Iraq have been trying to spread in Iraq, telling people that, look, a vote of yes for this constitution means more freedoms for you, freedom of expression, religion and also more liberties and also a better life. So it's going to be interesting to see if it will show the other side because that's the biggest question now.

This newfound freedom in Iraq and the station that has so many chances to prove itself and show the world everybody's focused on them now. So we'll see which way they're going go.

NGUYEN: Hey, quickly, I want to ask you about chat rooms. What's the biggest topic in those chat rooms?

NASR: Well the biggest topic is of course the constitution, but you're hearing a lot of skepticism on chat rooms. Usually the chat room that I personally monitor are the young crowds. There was a lot of chatter back in January around the elections. This time around not much chatter. They're not that interested it seems like. There is a lot of are you going to vote, I'm not interested, it's not worth it, too many dangers out there. A lot of that going on. You don't feel that patriotic feeling on the Internet as we saw back in January when the elections took place.

NGUYEN: True. There was a lot of excitement around that election. Today we're seeing even at some polling sites, not as many people are coming through as we saw last time around. We'll see how the numbers add up. Octavia Nasr, senior editor of Arab affairs here CNN. Thank you.

HARRIS: And you know it's not just a guy thing as you're seeing here in these pictures. Iraqi women are turning out in force to vote on the proposed constitution. What does it mean for them? We'll talk to a leading women's rights advocate live next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Brad Huffines at the CNN Weather Center with some improving news for the Northeast -- Brad.

BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes still raining but it is not raining as hard so that is an improvement. You're looking at live Doppler radar right now looking at Providence in fact the rain showers heaviest rains are continuing to move on out of the Providence. Let me show you what it looks like right now downtown and we're seeing according to our affiliate KPWBRI in Providence, rainy skies is still falling, rain is still causing wet streets and don't forget, watch out for the floodwaters in and across the northeast.

The other problem is that low-pressure area offshore causing this mess. Two areas of low pressure, today they begin to move north and consolidate and as the storm continues to consolidate and move up into portion of northern Maine.

Heaviest rains are going to be there, but the lingering effects especially in and around New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania where we've already seen tremendous amounts of rain with winds gusting 20 to 30 miles an hour today which could down trees and cause power outages, the windy weather will continue from Atlantic City up through Long Island. Again, Tony and Betty, it looks like the rain is not over yet for the northeast and the winds are just starting now for the southern New England.

HARRIS: Knocking those trees down.

NGUYEN: Oh yes. Causing all kinds of problems. Thank you Brad.

Well all morning long we have been asking you for your thoughts. Our e-mail question, there it is once again for you, do you think democracy will work in Iraq?

Well Doug in Charleston, West Virginia says, "Yes, if the world doesn't abandon them first. They need a helping hand and a strong shoulder. Now more than ever as they struggle to find their way out of the political dark ages."

HARRIS: And Katie in Boston writes, "No. Not because the people of Iraq don't want it but because there is an endless number of terrorist who make it their life mission to see that it fails."

NGUYEN: And Kevin in Ohio says, "I am confident that democracy will take hold in Iraq and it will endure until the American occupation ends and they are free to decide their own form of government." Very interesting there from Kevin today and of course we appreciate all your thoughts today. Keep them coming we'll be talking about them all morning long.

HARRIS: "Open House" is straight ahead. But coming up at the top of the hour women in Iraq.

NGUYEN: Does the draft constitution protect their rights? We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: In the news right now, Iraq's constitutional referendum is down to its final 30 minutes. More than 15 million people were eligible to vote yes or no for the draft constitution. If Iraqis approve the document, a permanent, new government should be in place by the end of the year.

In Pakistan, prayers today for the victims of last weekend's massive earthquake. The latest official death toll in Pakistan has been revised to 38,000.

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