. >>> still ahead - from baghdad to basra, beyond the borders. iranies prepare for this -- iraqis prepare for this week's elections. >> i'm nick schifrin in a rainy room after an historic day, the first time two popes became two saints in the catholic church history, the first time two popes celebrated mass together, and perhaps the largest crowd in st peter's square. >>> an historic day for catholics around the world. two popes sainted in vatican city. st.. peter's square was filled with followers to witness the event. we begin with nick schifrin, live in rome. i hate to see that it's raining there, hopefully it was clear for the ceremony today. >> reporter: yes, absolutely it was extremely clear for the ceremony even though the rain has come together. it was a day of firsts, celebrations for two towering figures in the 20th century history and an opportunity for pope francis to develop two messages - one of unity and one of striving for improvement on a personal level and for the church itself. [ singing ] >> reporter:. >> reporter: in front of

the daylight is dark in my life. >> basra could be one of the richest cities. many thousands of barrels of oil lie under the ground. basra's budget in 2012 was 3 billion, money for water, sewerage and electricity. most people have given up waiting for the promises to be kept and want to know where the cash goes. >> people in basra and others have never had possible drinking water from their tapsment that's despite promises from the authorities. one of the reasons is because of corruption. >> this is a candidate and says the government does not give enough money to basic infrastructure projects. >> when the central government gives the local government money, it starts. >> pro-government politicians say the country is struggling with a legacy of saddam hussein. the battle against corruption can be won. >> in the time of saddam hussein, he concentrated on the killing or the spirit of our country. we expect results soon. >> this woman and her granddaughter who walk to fill her bucket of water. iraq's democratic system must seem a long way away. >> time to look at

i forget the name of the party down there but it is a derivative party having the governorship in basra. so they expect their votes will be counted fairly and that it te would actually be uprising in iraq were the election not to be free and fair. now a lot of asterix on the numbers. there's lots of things that go on and that's always something to watch very carefully who is being disqualified and why and what has been the justification and does the qualification of the candidate have any relationship to the statements that have been made by the head of his party's likely. not only relative to the government but to the people that control the application commission. this is one of the few places where the ruling coalition is not necessarily in charge of what is going on. and then of course as we discuss what goes on in the post election formation can also get squarely. >> following the election is there a delay with being able to implement the government and who will be the key player influencing the negotiations and the first government to dispute that negotiation. >> i were to point o

he grew up in basra. his journey from the middle east to america's midwest is a classic tale of an immigrant seeking freedom and fortune. literally. >> i was a champion. i beat every champion in iraq in my way. >> this chicago cab driver dominated. from 1968 to 1976 estaifan shilatia was the national champion in the weight class. he could not represent his country beyond its borders because of his religion. born a christian in a muslim country. >> every time i step in the ring, sometimes they boo me. >> they boo you because you were a christian. >> right. my family say estaifan shilatia, don't stay here, you are a good boxer, run away from the country. you be a good boxer. >> in iraq, estaifan shilatia was seen as an outsider on two counts. he is christian and an assyrian, a proud ethnic group that trieses its heritage to ancient babylon, as estaifan shilatia reminds his passengers. >> we were the first to believe in jesus. we speakera may abbing. >> estaifan shilatia had to keep his christianity cit. in

including cities like basra. >> so for iraqis heading to the polls, it's not just sectarian challengesthere are regional ones as well. >> iraqi president is showing the rare public appearance at a hospital in germany where he is being treated. the ballot he is passing is for the first parliamentary elections since 2011 when the u.s. pulled out of iraq. these elections are seen as crucial. voting in some regions is expected to be difficult. in places like anbar, there's intense fighting between the army and members of the islamic state in iraq and the levant. tribal leaders control post of anbar, including the city of ballujah. sunnis accuse the shia-led government of mistreating them. during a rally, protesters accuse the prime minister nouri al-maliki of being a puppet of iran. maliki's problems do not end there. leaders in the gulf accuse the government of discriminating against sunni. nouri al-maliki blames saudi arabia and qatar for helping armed groups. the last summit on syria in march underscored the political divisions between iraq and its sunni neighbours. >> translation: send

the majority population concentrated in the east and southern iraq, including cities like basra, generating 40% of iraq's oil revenues. let's speak to an editor-in-chief inside iraqi politics. joining us from the kurd anian capital. no single party is expected to win the elections currently taking place, to win a majority of the elections going on in iraq. can up explain the system of proportional representation? >> sure, so the way it works is that iraq is divided into 18 districts. one district for each province. there are 328 seats in the parliament. three more than in 2010. they are divided roughly according to population. what will happen is that the parties - what they'll do is they are allowed to register as coalition blocks or run as parties. the most important groups ran as coalition blocks. nouri al-maliki's block is called the state of law coalition. another competing one lead by the islamic supreme council is the block of the citizen, and so on. each of these is made up of a variety of different parties, and then after the election, they will form a larger block even among these

in the present presenting the information back to our headquarters in austin to last through two in basra and research organizations and potentially set up a conference called chris to talk to them so that they could talk to. some members of the family members are here. so they can cope with dial up. the best clues about what exactly happened on board dynamics to seventy nine it's lined in every corner of that box. finding these data however means finding the plane first there are questions about the weather and vivid with that. the doctoral work in finance and it may be snowed in addition expat. but i'm fat. this is the case of simple mathematics and watch the reason. listen the lines to contagion has supported its findings to the nearest thing. if the city ukrainian officials cited the killing of anti government protest is in the capital kiev and have already took place under the direct leadership of ousted president viktor yanukovich the country's interior ministry also released a video allegedly showing police office is shaping up for testers in the third request of the ukrainian pros

ggs.housands of e did thekfired when he operation in basra. are doing everything they can to maintain a high degree of control in iraq. my view of what iran is trying to do is they are trying to keep the air world week so they can -- weak, so they can advance their interest. you have a week government -- dependent onment iranian support to survive. >> we live in a world of high-tech. a world of drones. the world of a different kind of war. >> enhanced medications. >> the world of cyber world fair -- -- cyber warfare. long-range ballistic missiles connected to weapons of mass destruction and a rogue regime. >> that's the biggest threat? >> i think. it is apparent that iran is moving in this direction. >> to we believe that both of them have long-range ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear? >> we don't know. i don't know. we have the people working on this. >> the fear you have is long-range missiles that have the potential to carry weapons of great destruction. >> right. it has been great work on this on long-range capabilities. it is not j

unseat prime minister maliki and that backfired when he did the charge of the nights operations in basra and took over operations in sadr city. my personal view of what iran is trying to do in the arab world is i believe thatter trying to keep the arab world perpetually weak so they can continue to advance in interest. what you saw in iraq is sort of a meas blah model for iraq where you have a weak government that is dependent on iranian support to survive. >> rose: we live in a world of high-tech. we live in a world of drones, of a different kind of warfare. >> instantaneous communications. >> we live in the world of the possibilities of cyb erp warfare. it's the whole range of capabilities that are important. i think there's an emergent capability, long-range ballistic missiles connected to -- >> that's the biggest threat. >> rose: let me stop you there. do we believe both have long-range ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear-- >> we don't know-- i mean, i don't know. obviously, i'm shiewrp we have the best people working on this. >> rose: let me stay with it. but the fear you have

we have reports now from the oil rich region of basra. >> they make tea for the family. it's not as easy as it looks. the water is undrinkable, and it's been this way for decades. >> you can never drink it. it's assault y an salty and if r face your eyes burn. >> reporter: she said life was better before. >> we lived a good life in the 60's. it's not like that for the children now. as the situation changed we changed two. >> reporter: the father of the house was forced to leave the police force after he suffered a clot to the brain three years ago. he pays his bills but the water is bad, the daily electricity the blackouts continue, and i can't afford the medical treatments he receives. >> my life is dark. i can't explain my feelings. we have poor electricity, and the water is foul and polluted. even daylight is dark in my life. >> reporter: it could be one of the richest cities in the world. around three-quarters of iraq's estimated 441 barrels of crud oil lay under the ground in this region. money for water, sewerage and electricity the infrastructure. but most people

basra is considered relatively safe but security forces are on maximum alert. baghdad's airspace is closed to commercial flights, shops and offices are shut and there's a 10pm curfew. in places like anbar province, there's intense fighting between the iraqi army and members of the islamic state in iraq and the levant, an al-qaeda affiliate. the aid group doctors without borders says more than 380-thousand people have fled the recent violence in anbar and other parts of iraq. some of the displaced say they might not be able to vote. >> we the displaced people in shaqlawa area don't know where the polling centres are. the high electoral committee has not yet declared the exact location of polling centers." >> with nearly 9,000 candidates vying for 328 seats, polling day though is just the beginning of the process. analysts say forming a government will be the big challenge, due to the diverse nature of iraqi society. >> when you have so many opponents inside the political process you must sit down with them and make negotiations, even if they are not with your et

. >> basra could be one of the richest cities in the world, around three-quarters of iraq's estimated billion barrels of crude oil lie under the ground in this region. basrah's budget in 2012 was $3,000,000,000, money for water, sewerage and electricity infrastructure. most people have given up waiting for the promises to be kept and they want to know where the cash goes. >> reporter: people in this neighborhood in basrah and many others across the city have never had potable drinking water from their taps. >> that's despite repeated promises from the local authorities. one of the reasons they say is because the corruption. >> abdullah latif is a candidate. he says the government doesn't give enough money towards basic infrastructure projects. >> translator: when the central government gives local government money, the stealing starts. the corruption we suffer here in basrah is like in a lot of cities in iraq. >> pro-government politicians say the country is still struggling with the legacy of saddam hussein but the battle against corruption can be won. in the time of saddam hussein,

all so far removed from theare the land stop of basra.im a christian from iraq. 35 years later they are still happily married. >> from that time until now, my ring on my hands. >> reporter: the same ring you are wearing today? >> the same ring i wear today. same thing every day is in my hand. i put it in my right hand, you know why? my hands is a broke. >> reporter: your left hand is broke from box something. >> i can't put it on on the left hands. >> reporter: after arrived in chicago, estefan got back in to the ring this, time as a professional. he signed up with a big-time promoters, the former heavyweight champ ernie terrelle. as an american pro he won five boughts and lost two. but by then, he was pushing 30. and the last five, the one that broke his hand, and his nose, was enough for his young wife. >> she said, look, i want your face straight. i don't want to you fight no more. >> reporter: now estefan's only fights are with chicago's tangled traffic and its brutal winters of this is how he supports his family. after years of worki

need to get some of the kurdish parties, some of , as muchnces parties as i need to get parties from basra to be involved. this is where he is coming from. if you look at it from a purely binary way, it will not work. if you look at it in two stages, government and elections, i think you can see it. >> let me pick up on that if i can. one of the large goals the in 2004, 2005had was bringing people together. solidarity inss the shia community, less sunnirity in the community, kurdish community, that may actually be a better outcome. withes what you are saying party formation. there have to be people in opposition. it is perhaps one of the outcomes we should hope for out of this election. it is not the people come together into blocks, but that none of the blocks proves sustainable and there is a process by which people of all variety come together. there are lots of shia and opposition, lots of sunnis in the government, and we move into organizationian for iraqi politics. >> yes. that is what i am saying, in a way. it is necessary for us to evolve into one in which the policies of the issue

successful in 2000 we moved against the shia, lease three different shia militias who were more in basrahooting in baghdad but it was popular with the sunnis, popular with the shia. and certainly helped him in his election. but at the time something which i never do acknowledged is that he could only do that with u.s. forces backing up iraqi forces to do, and he didn't ask if you just that i'm doing it and expected us to be there. this is now what, 2014, is that going to happen again? i don't know. the point is if he can't do it, they're not going to do anything before the election because the risk is too great. if he thought he could replicate that incident, then he would do it because it would have a huge blowback, a huge positive push on his chances. but the risk of losing, of not winning, is huge. the risk of high cost to the iraqi military and against the rumors in baghdad when we were there was that there had been fighting going on. ever coming get up and wouldn't talk about it and they weren't doing well. i don't know what the truth is. i suspect that's probably, that there is a l

get some of the provinces' parties such as anbar or the others as much as i need to get parties from basra to be involved in the government formation. i think this is where he's coming from. if you look at it from a pure binary way, it won't work. but if you look at it as two stages, one for the election and one for the government formation, i think it can resolve the issue. >> we only have a couple minutes. why don't we just pick up on that, if i can. >> sure. >> one of the large goals the united states had in sort of 2004, 2005 was bringing people together. what i might take from your last comment is, actually, if there's less solidarity in the shia community and less solidarity in the sunni community and in the kurdish community, that may actually lead to better outcomes. and it goes to what you were saying with the party formation. there have to be people in opposition. is perhaps one of the outcomes we should hope for out of in this election -- out of this election is not that people come together into blocs, but that none of the blocs prove sustainable, and there is a process by whic

album coming out when i did that arabic album we fundraise for a couple of iraqi kids that were from basra from my father's own town who had a congenital disease and we raise money to get them to go and have surgery and get cured so that was during the process of recording and a lot of the artists are of arab origin on the album it's all in arabic it's called they're not just the project so i want to continue their humanitarian work and when we release the project we're doing a video for a song called and within that we're raising money for one hundred children who need new limbs who are amputees. technology to sort of do limbs that are easily produced within syria or outside of syria and turkey and things like that so we're slowly putting the project together right now i can't really give full details but it's it's very important for us to use our art to be able to channel that power that we develop making music into direct change as opposed to just fund raising and throwing money at something i'd rather see that directly affect somebody that needs to use it in the past that nine eleven p