Democracy Now! March 15, 2002

9:01-9:06 HEADLINES MILOSEVIC CROSS-EXAMINES NATO LEADER AT HAGUE GUEST: LJILJANA SMAJLOVIC, is a leading Serbian journalist with the weekly magazine NIN. She joins us by phone from Belgrade. 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 ROBERT MUGABE OF ZIMBABWE: DEMON OR DEMONIZED? In Zimbabwe incumbent President Robert Mugabe has been declared the winner in last weekends presidential elections. This week, the headlines in the corporate media in the US and Western Europe were awash with condemnations of the elections. Headlines like Zimbabwes Stolen Vote Mugabes False Victory and Washington Doesnt Recognize Zimbabwe Election Results. But despite the headlines in the western press, many of the election observers from African nations say the election result is legitimate. An observer team from the Organization of African Unity called the poll transparent, credible, free and fair. Namibia called the election "watertight, without room for rigging," and Nigerian observers said they had seen nothing that threatened the integrity of the poll. Still, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvingari has declared the election one of the greatest frauds of modern elections. GUEST: AMBASSADOR SIMBI MUBAKO, is Zimbabwes Ambassador to the United States. He is also a law professor and he lectures frequently in the US and around the world. This past winter he taught a course at Williams College in Massachusettes on political history of southern Africa. GUEST: TREVOR NCUBE, is publisher of the Zimbabwe Independent, a weekly newspaper in Harare. 9:20-9:21 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:40 RALPH NADER: A DEMOCRACY NOW INTERVIEW ABOUT FUEL EFFICIENCY, ANTHRAX, AFGHANISTAN, HEALTHCARE, AND THE CORPORATE ELITE The Senate stood by the high-powered vehicles of suburbia this week and refused to impose tougher fuel economy standards. Instead, they voted overwhelmingly for a much weaker provision supported by the auto industry. The bill would have increased fuel economy standards for the first time in 17 years, during which time gas-guzzling SUVs have exploded onto US highways. Even though the proposal gave automakers 14 years to comply with the standards, automakers staunchly resisted the measure, as they have almost all regulatory changes, from mandatory seat belts to air bags. Well yesterday, consumer advocate and former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader stopped by our firehouse studios to talk about everything from last years elections, to his take on the so-called war on terrorism in Afghanistan, to the vote on fuel economy in the Senate. GUEST: RALPH NADER, consumer advocate, founder of Public Citizen CONTACT: www.citizen.org www.citizenworks.org www.essential.org www.idealist.org 9:40-9:41 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:41-9:58 RALPH NADER: A DEMOCRACY NOW INTERVIEW ABOUT FUEL EFFICIENCY, ANTHRAX, AFGHANISTAN, HEALTHCARE, AND THE CORPORATE ELITE GUEST: RALPH NADER MUSIC: 6-ZIMBABWE by Bob Marley & the Wailers from Survival 20-IF IT WERE UP TO ME by Holly Near from Edge 40-GROUND ON DOWN by Ben Harper from Fight for Your Mind End- IF IT WERE UP TO ME by Holly Near 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS