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CNN Live Sunday

Protesters Hope to Stop War in Iraq

Aired March 16, 2003 - 18:34   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Across the U.S. many are still expressing anti-war sentiment even as the United States and Iraq move closer to battle. A large group turned out in downtown Chicago today for an opposition rally. The rally was one of many held this weekend in the U.S. and abroad protesting war.
Yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, demonstrators stood shoulder-to- shoulder along the curb voicing their opposition to passersby.

Well, are the pictures of the protests a good indication of public opinion here in the U.S.? Let's find out as CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider joins us from Washington with the results of a new CNN-TIME Magazine Gallup Poll. Bill, it's going to be a big day tomorrow. The United Nations and the American public becoming more or less supportive of the U.N.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Anderson, the U.N. has taken a big hit with Americans. As recently as January, Americans thought the U.N. was doing a good job, 50 to 42 percent, you see there on the left. But look at people's view of the U.N. now, 58 percent negative.

Gallup has been asking this question since 1953. This is the worst rating the U.N. has gotten in 50 years and before you jump to the conclusion that it's all Republicans and angry radio talk show hosts, I have some news. The U.N. took the biggest hit from the Democrats. The number of Democrats who think the U.N. is doing a lousy job is up by nearly 30 points since January.

Now, Americans wanted the United Nations to show its cards. If a new U.N. resolution is approved, no problem, overwhelmingly Americans say the U.S. should go to war, 78 percent. If the U.N. offers a resolution and the U.N. rejects the resolution, a majority of Americans still favors going into Iraq.

The most likely scenario right now is that the U.S. decides not to put the resolution to a vote at the U.N. What then? Well, take a look, then the public is split, 47 percent say go to war, 50 percent say don't go to war without any U.N. vote at all. Anderson, to the public, a U.N. vote means well we tried but no U.N. vote means we simply gave up.

COOPER: Interesting. Now, we've heard a lot from the French today. Christiane Amanpour had an interview with France's President Jacques Chirac. Do you get the sense that the French are losing the war of public relations here in the U.S.? SCHNEIDER: Well, here you can score one for the radio talk show hosts. France and Russia have threatened to veto another U.N. resolution that authorizes war, and guess what, unfavorable ratings of both Russia and France have doubled since last month, Russia from 26 to 52, France from 33 to 64, and notice France is less popular with Americans than Russia.

So, will we boycott French dressing and Russian dressing? We asked people what they thought about the idea of calling French fries "Freedom Fries" which is what they do in the House of Representatives. The public's view, it is not a sincere expression of patriotism. It's a silly idea and not the first one to come out of Congress, I might add.

COOPER: There are some who would point out that French fries are actually from Belgium originally but why split hairs at this point.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

COOPER: It will also be interesting to see whether in the long term that affects more than two million Americans who visit France each year. Let's see if it has any impact on tourism.

We know in the past there have been wars fought without the approval of the United Nations. Let's say the U.S. does what the public wants, puts the resolution before the U.N. and it fails then goes to war anyway. Do people see a big problem with that?

SCHNEIDER: There is a problem. I'm not sure people see it but there is a problem that the public is probably not aware of. If the U.N. rejects a war resolution and the U.S. goes to war anyway, it would violate the U.N. charter. It would be illegal under international law, whatever that is.

But, could the U.S. just go to war without any U.N. vote? Sure, it happens all the time. You see it on the screen. There was no U.N. vote to approve the French war in Algeria in the 1950s or the Vietnam War or the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan or the British war with Argentina over the Faulkland Islands or, most recently, the NATO war in Kosovo. It is much better to ignore the U.N. than to defy the U.N.

COOPER: Interesting, all right Bill Schneider thanks very much. Thanks for joining us from Washington.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

COOPER: Interesting poll.

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 March 16, 2003 - 18:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Across the U.S. many are still expressing anti-war sentiment even as the United States and Iraq move closer to battle. A large group turned out in downtown Chicago today for an opposition rally. The rally was one of many held this weekend in the U.S. and abroad protesting war.
Yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, demonstrators stood shoulder-to- shoulder along the curb voicing their opposition to passersby.

Well, are the pictures of the protests a good indication of public opinion here in the U.S.? Let's find out as CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider joins us from Washington with the results of a new CNN-TIME Magazine Gallup Poll. Bill, it's going to be a big day tomorrow. The United Nations and the American public becoming more or less supportive of the U.N.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Anderson, the U.N. has taken a big hit with Americans. As recently as January, Americans thought the U.N. was doing a good job, 50 to 42 percent, you see there on the left. But look at people's view of the U.N. now, 58 percent negative.

Gallup has been asking this question since 1953. This is the worst rating the U.N. has gotten in 50 years and before you jump to the conclusion that it's all Republicans and angry radio talk show hosts, I have some news. The U.N. took the biggest hit from the Democrats. The number of Democrats who think the U.N. is doing a lousy job is up by nearly 30 points since January.

Now, Americans wanted the United Nations to show its cards. If a new U.N. resolution is approved, no problem, overwhelmingly Americans say the U.S. should go to war, 78 percent. If the U.N. offers a resolution and the U.N. rejects the resolution, a majority of Americans still favors going into Iraq.

The most likely scenario right now is that the U.S. decides not to put the resolution to a vote at the U.N. What then? Well, take a look, then the public is split, 47 percent say go to war, 50 percent say don't go to war without any U.N. vote at all. Anderson, to the public, a U.N. vote means well we tried but no U.N. vote means we simply gave up.

COOPER: Interesting. Now, we've heard a lot from the French today. Christiane Amanpour had an interview with France's President Jacques Chirac. Do you get the sense that the French are losing the war of public relations here in the U.S.? SCHNEIDER: Well, here you can score one for the radio talk show hosts. France and Russia have threatened to veto another U.N. resolution that authorizes war, and guess what, unfavorable ratings of both Russia and France have doubled since last month, Russia from 26 to 52, France from 33 to 64, and notice France is less popular with Americans than Russia.

So, will we boycott French dressing and Russian dressing? We asked people what they thought about the idea of calling French fries "Freedom Fries" which is what they do in the House of Representatives. The public's view, it is not a sincere expression of patriotism. It's a silly idea and not the first one to come out of Congress, I might add.

COOPER: There are some who would point out that French fries are actually from Belgium originally but why split hairs at this point.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

COOPER: It will also be interesting to see whether in the long term that affects more than two million Americans who visit France each year. Let's see if it has any impact on tourism.

We know in the past there have been wars fought without the approval of the United Nations. Let's say the U.S. does what the public wants, puts the resolution before the U.N. and it fails then goes to war anyway. Do people see a big problem with that?

SCHNEIDER: There is a problem. I'm not sure people see it but there is a problem that the public is probably not aware of. If the U.N. rejects a war resolution and the U.S. goes to war anyway, it would violate the U.N. charter. It would be illegal under international law, whatever that is.

But, could the U.S. just go to war without any U.N. vote? Sure, it happens all the time. You see it on the screen. There was no U.N. vote to approve the French war in Algeria in the 1950s or the Vietnam War or the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan or the British war with Argentina over the Faulkland Islands or, most recently, the NATO war in Kosovo. It is much better to ignore the U.N. than to defy the U.N.

COOPER: Interesting, all right Bill Schneider thanks very much. Thanks for joining us from Washington.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

COOPER: Interesting poll.

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