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Length: 2:30
WOLF BLITZER: The number one election issue across
the United States, by all accounts, is Iraq.
Let's go live to CNN's Michael Ware.
He's joining us in Baghdad, Are people in Iraq --
whether Iraqis, U.S. military personnel -- are they
fascinated, as clearly we are, by the potential of
what could happen on this election day in the United
States?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it
doesn't have the sharp focus here in Iraq that,
clearly, it has back home in the United States.
Nonetheless, the American mid-term elections do hang
over all of the events here. In fact, they loom over
the war whether people are aware of that or not.
Certainly at a political level, within the upper
echelons of the Iraqi government, they're extremely
sensitive to the fluctuating moods leading into this
U.S. mid-term election.
However, on the streets, by and large, if Iraqis are
aware that an election is taking place, there's very
little understanding of exactly what it is.
CNN bumped into one fellow who said he hoped John
Kerry would win, for example.
Many of them feel that this somehow relates to
President Bush's presidency, but they can't take it
beyond that.
They do know, however, somehow or other, even though
they cannot explain it, what happens with this vote
does in some fashion affect what happens here in Iraq
-- Wolf.
BLITZER: What about the whole verdict, the guilty
verdict for Saddam Hussein?
The appeals process going forward now.
Is there an anticipation when he might be executed?
WARE: Well, it's anyone's guess, quite frankly, at
this stage. I mean clearly, this is uncharted waters
that the Iraqi government and its fledgling judiciary
are now navigating. So it's really impossible to say.
There's a lot of speculation that it could be early
next year. Some people say perhaps it could come
before that. However, most pundits expect that that
will be unlikely.
As you know, it's now entered the automatic appellate
section of this judicial process. There's no set time
frame, except for the fact once the decision is made,
execution is carried out within 30 days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Michael, thanks very much.
Michael Ware is our man in Baghdad.
Our man here in THE SITUATION ROOM is Jack Cafferty.
He's standing by with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I really like
Michael's stuff. He's terrific. Thanks, Wolf.
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Length: 3:04
WOLF BLITZER: Iraq by all
accounts the number one issue hovering over all these
elections in so many districts in the House as well
as the United States Senate.
Let's go to Baghdad right now. Our correspondent
Michael Ware is standing by. Michael, is there a
sense in Iraq right now that history could unfold in
the United States tomorrow with a direct impact on
the lives of so many Iraqis.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that operates
on a number of levels, Wolf. At the senior echelons
of the Iraqi government, yes, they're very sensitive
to the shifting moods within American domestic
politics. They're well aware of the possible
consequences of the midterm elections. However, in
the streets in Iraq, people are barely aware that the
poll is taking place. They certainly lack any real
understanding.
CNN bumped into one fellow yesterday who said he
hoped John Kerry would win. Certainly most people
seem to think that somehow or other President Bush is
running in this election. Either way, people still
know that if the election is taking place, somehow,
it's going to be impacting on the war here on the
ground in Iraq. They're just not sure how.
But for the average American soldier, who tonight
staring down the barrel of his M-4 rifle, looking at
an Iraqi street, waiting for any kind of attack --
and we have been hearing gun fire here now at 3:00
a.m. -- the election obviously means something, but
right now it's what in front of him that counts --
Wolf.
BLITZER: What about, Michael, the verdict yesterday
of Saddam Hussein getting the death sentence? How is
that impacting in terms of the violence right now in
the short term? In other words, how are the Saddam
loyalists, the Sunnis by and large, reacting?
WARE: Well, right now, significant parts on of the
country remain under this extremely tight curfew that
befell the capital Baghdad and two provinces largely
Sunni-dominated on the eve of the announcement of the
verdict. That curfew against vehicles and pedestrians
is due to lift in just a few hours.
Pedestrians first emerged just after dark -- dusk.
Vehicles should be back on the road tomorrow. That's
kept a lid on things, Wolf. However, we did see in
Saddam's former power base of Tikrit 2,000 people
take to the streets to demonstrate against the
verdict. But the number of people who actually
support Saddam now even in the Sunni community is
very, very small. Most of them are not sad to have
seen him gone. But they will continue to fight
against America for other reasons. Wolf?
BLITZER: Michael Ware reporting for us from Baghdad.
Michael thanks very much. Be careful over there. Lou,
he does an incredible job for us. Our entire team in
Iraq, these are courageous journalists. They're
risking their lives on a daily basis to bring us the
news.
DOBBS: Absolutely. Arwa Damon, John Roberts, Michael
Ware, just doing outstanding work. Thank you very
much.