CNN Moderator: You were in Moscow for the 1991 coup. What was the atmosphere on the streets? Was there widespread fear that Gorbachev's reforms could be undone?

Eileen O'Connor: Well, there was absolutely a great deal of fear that this could be the end of reforms. But the atmosphere on the streets was absolutely amazing right around the center of Moscow. Outside the center, life went on pretty much as usual. But, I remember going to the White House, where Boris Yeltsin was, and he held a small press conference declaring he would fight, and Gorbachev was not sick, as the coup plotters had said. Then, he left the building, and we followed him down the stairs, and he got up onto a tank that was one of the few tanks that was controlled by the Russian Confederation Security forces. The Russian Republic Security Forces, actually. And he then gave his statement that Gorbachev was not sick, and that this was an act against reform. And this old lady, as we were listening, came up beside me and said, "What is he saying?" And as I told her, she turned to another person and more and more people started to gather around the tank. And as he was talking, the tank from the coup forces started to roll in towards the White House. And all of these people who were listening to Boris Yeltsin then ran up to the bridge where these tanks were coming in and I saw this little old lady catch up to one of the tanks, and they were asking the soldiers, "What are you doing here?" And the soldiers themselves were not told the truth, they were told they were coming to keep the peace, that Gorbachev was sick. And this little old lady started telling the soldier what Boris Yeltsin had just said. And said, "Don't you realize, you're going to be fighting for them?" (Meaning the coup plotters) And then she screamed, "What would your mother say?" (Laugh) Which in Russia is a very powerful thing. And a lot of the tanks that came to fight against Boris Yeltsin and the White House, and some of them that circled the White House pointing their guns towards the Russian White House, came to point their guns eventually away from the White House -- having been convinced by people like this little old lady. And it was really very, very amazing, the spirit of the people who came to defend the White House. The crowds grew by the minute until there were tens of thousand around it.

Chat Participant: Do you feel that the excitement of democracy has been lost through hardship in Russia?

Eileen O'Connor: Yes. I feel that people have equated their hardships with democracy and they have felt neglected by the West. That they were slapped on the back and told well done, now you're a democracy, so be it. Be on your way. And were left to undergo this huge transition without much realistic support. There has been aid, billions of dollars of aid, but there has also been very great miscalculations on the part of the West, and of reformers in Moscow on how the reforms should be carried out. And that has meant that a few have gotten very rich and powerful while the majority suffers. And really, the way Russia stands right now, it's not a true democracy. So unfortunately people's high hopes have fallen a great deal.

Chat Participant: Do you believe that the US has invested too much in Yeltsin as opposed to other potential leaders?

Eileen O'Connor: Yes. I believe that the West has supported Boris Yeltsin too unconditionally. And has neglected other voices in Russia, and other factions of the government like the Duma, the parliament, that could be a more democratic form of a check or balance. The overwhelming support of Boris Yeltsin can be seen most graphically in the U.S. turning a blind eye to the Russian part in the war in Chechnya. Where tens of thousands of civilians were killed, some villages massacred, at the hands of Russian troops.

Chat Participant: [follow-up to question before last] What kind of miscalculations?

Eileen O'Connor: The West has miscalculated the extent of corruption and the effects of that corruption on reform. Likening it oftentimes to the robber-baron phase in US history. While it is much more systemic than that. The US also miscalculated the extent of the hardships on the Russian population by instituting very stringent monetary policy. Both of these things said one into the other where the privatization meant the selling off of Russian assets through fixed privatization schemes into the hands of a few; the attempts to keep down inflation meant that the Russian government borrowed through government bonds, giving massive interest rates. In turn, the people who owned the assets got rich by spending their money speculating on those bonds instead of investing in the assets they had bought in infrastructure and production, in labor, in all the things that would create a viable economy. So, once the government could no longer pay the debt on the bonds, which happened last August, everyone went broke, in effect. So that was, and the Russian population has been bankrupted to really scraping out an existence. It's amazing to see people buy one tomato, because that's all they can afford.

Chat Participant: Eileen, we in the West have heard much in the past few years about the miserable living conditions endured by many in Russia, but since the collapse of the Soviet Union has the quality of life really been in decline, or just in comparison to the US?

Eileen O'Connor: No, the quality of life has definitely declined. Because before, under communism, while the system itself was going bankrupt, and had it just teetered on, it would probably have come to this under communism, an older person's pension, for instance, could sustain them. And buy them milk and meat and cheese and medical necessities. But now, people really have a difficult time even eating. Hospitals have trouble feeding their patients. And it is very sad to see, especially among the older pensioners, the hard times that they are under. They often will go through the garbage to find more to eat.

Chat Participant: Eileen do the people of Russia blame the U.S. in any way for their present economic conditions?

Eileen O'Connor: Yes they do. And sometimes they say that the IMF reforms and the West's insistence on strict monetary policy is a plot to keep Russia down so that it cannot become an economic superpower to rival the United States. In addition, the West has criticized Russia and stopped Russia from selling arms and nuclear energy technology to various countries, saying it is not in everyone's vital interest. But Russians see that as an excuse, again, to prevent Russia from becoming a competitive trader of arms and high technology goods.

Chat Participant: What is the role of the Mafia is Russia now?

Eileen O'Connor: The mafia, unfortunately, is very strong in Russia. And when I use the word "mafia," I mean groups of criminal gangs. It is not as organized, perhaps, as the mafia as we knew it in the United States a hundred years ago. They are often as well competing business interests which are controlled by various criminal gangs. And unfortunately, some very influential people in the government have had ties to the mafia. Not, I might say, Boris Yeltsin. But some people around him.

CNN Moderator: First Gorbachev, then Yeltsin lost favor with the Russian people. Do Russians still have faith in any of their leaders?

Eileen O'Connor: That's difficult to say. The Russians are having a difficult time trying to find a leader they can all get behind. Not surprising, because it is such a diverse country. The most likely presidential contenders in the year 2000 will be Chernomyrdin, General Lebed, Yuri Lushkov, who is the mayor of Moscow, and Gregory Yavlinsky, who is a pro-reform parliament member. The one who will win, unfortunately, will probably be the one who is backed by the most powerful, i.e. richest, men in Russia -- because they own the access to the media channels. But it's very difficult to say, even now, who they will back at that time. They've changed horses a lot.

Chat Participant: Does Vladimir Zhirinovsky pose a major threat to stability in Russia?

Eileen O'Connor: No, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, by his own actions, has lost credibility with most Russians. Fighting with a priest in the Parliament, and other things considered "stunts" that he's done have really lost him his credibility, and therefore his influence. The more troubling Nationalist would be Alexander Lebed. But if he eventually is backed by the businessmen, he would be more of a puppet, in my opinion, to their interests, which would be capitalism -- but, an oligarchic type of economy where few people, mainly, control most of the assets.

CNN Moderator: You were in the Soviet Union in the last days of the Cold War. What was the attitude of the Soviets toward Western reporters? Did you feel uneasy?

Eileen O'Connor: No, in fact during the coup in '91 we were welcomed into the crowds around the White House. I spent time inside the White House during that time with Boris Yeltsin. In fact, I held up the phone to our TV set so that he and his aides could hear President Bush's statements from Kennebunkport and then I would ask for their reaction afterwards, because they had limited access to communications links. Then also, CNN was the only news outlet during those days, and we were broadcasting to a lot of government offices in all of the republics of the former Soviet Union because the coup plotters were putting "Swan Lake" on television. So, after the coup ended, as republics began declaring independence, I went from republic to republic, starting with Lithuania, which got their independence finally -- and I went to six republics in seven days. And as I entered the hotel in Kiev to get a few hours sleep before flying off someplace else, this man came running to me in the lobby, giving me this huge bear hug, and said "Eileen O'Connor! Oh my god! You're the lady from the White House! We loved you!" "You were the only place we could get any information!" And that was probably the best thing I could have heard, and made being a journalist and covering sometimes the nastier events in Russia -- riots or things-- it made it all worth it. That kind of sentiment coming from people. And in Lithuania, I had spent many days with the people barricaded inside the Parliament, as you saw on tonight's episode, before and during the attack on the radio station and around the Parliament. And when I went to Lithuania after the coup in August, Landbergis, came out of his office and took my hands in his and said, "We are free, we are free, I can't believe it, thank God we are free." And it still makes me cry when I think about his face and his words.

Chat Participant: What person that you know of came closest to predicting the fall of the Soviet Union (the way it happened)?

Eileen O'Connor: No one. I can't think of a single person, although you have to admit that "wisemen" of Kennan and Bohlen, by their own Cold War theory of isolation of Russia, so that economically it could not survive, in fact did help very much lead to its demise. Because even Gorbachev would admit that the dire economic situation lead to the idea of reform. So, no one predicted it, but it was certainly helped along by the policy of containment.

Chat Participant: What was the most terrifying experience you had while living in Russia?

Eileen O'Connor: There were a few. I was once held by a kid at gunpoint in Afghanistan, and kids and guns are never a good combination, because they don't realize the value of life as much as someone a bit older might. But I think probably the worst was right before I left -- when I was caught in the middle between one of the businessmen, Boris Berzovsky, and Alexander Korsekov, Boris Yeltsin's bodyguards, as they were battling for influence over the presidential election, and I was reporting on that. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that the embassy eventually offered my family and me safe haven in case I needed it.

CNN Moderator: You were the first Western journalist to interview (South) Korean President Kim Young Sam. Does Cold War antagonism still persist in Korea?

Eileen O'Connor: The feeling of the Cold War is very, very prevalent right at the demilitarized zone. To me, it's the closest thing that we still have to Checkpoint Charlie at the Berlin Wall. In effect it is a wall and that Cold War feeling where North Korean guards will stare you down across the line is still very much present. But just like in West Berlin, the amazing thing is that South Koreans really go on about their business and live their lives with this as a shadow over them, but not as the all-encompassing thing in their lives. They've learned to cope with this threat. And there too you see the collapse of the economic system through containment and a lack of trade and through central planning (the collapse of central planning). And that really creates a huge threat from the North. Because a desperate North is seen as a much bigger threat even than a stronger North was.

CNN Moderator: How do Russians see their country's role in the world's economy today?

Eileen O'Connor: They do not see their role as very large right now in the world economy, but they see their potential as very, very large. They have huge natural resources. They have an obviously large and willing labor force that would be cheaper than many in the West. And they feel, often, that with more open trade, they could do better economically and play a larger role in the international economic scene. Unfortunately, because of the corruption, there has been no will within the government and the Parliament, or not enough will to create the legal framework necessary for foreign investment, and that has really damaged them and stifled their growth.

CNN Moderator: What was the Russian people's reaction to the rebellion in Chechnya, Russia's first post-Soviet military challenge?

Eileen O'Connor: Chechnya, for many Russians, even more than Afghanistan, was their Vietnam. They didn't understand, really, why they were fighting that war. And the Russian military itself really fell apart during that war. I saw young soldiers taking drugs, out of uniform, totally demoralized; it was a very sad moment for the Russian military, certainly, and for many Russian people.

CNN Moderator: What is the attitude of ordinary Russians toward the Cold War today? Do they remember the Soviet Union as their moment of glory?

Eileen O'Connor: It depends how much they're suffering economically. Many people do look back nostalgically on the Soviet Union, because they felt that at least under communism someone cared about them.

Chat Participant: How effective do you think Russia can be as a diplomatic influence in world events, especially in the current Kosovo situation.

Eileen O'Connor: That's a very interesting question. The West has depended, especially the Clinton administration, has depended on Russia's acquiescence to Western interests in foreign policy matters. This time the West is dismayed, but is saying that it's not a problem. And with a weakened Russia, so dependent on Western aid, it may not be a problem now. But this is really seen as a slap in the face to Russians. To their fellow Slavs, and they feel it is too much of a Big Brother attitude by the United States, and it feeds their insecurities created by their loss of position as a superpower. So it may not be a problem now, but there could be a backlash in the future against American interests, particularly in foreign policy matters. I don't think they have a tremendous amount of influence on Milosevic because they have not been giving him aid, really. They could have an influence if they started to give him military aid, certainly. But that does not seem to be in the offing, and it's, while the White House denies it, it is interesting timing that the IMF has just approved more than 4 billion dollars of aid to Russia the day before Yevgeny Primakov travels to Belgrade. The White House denies any connection, but the week before we were saying that money was likely to come to the Russians now. So much can apparently change in a week.

Chat Participant: If something unforeseen would happen to Yeltsin, how would the power of democracy in Russia change?

Eileen O'Connor: The constitution has provisions that the Prime Minister would take over as President, but would have to call new elections within (and I might be wrong about this) within 90 days. Three months, twelve weeks I think. And so there would be a peaceful transition. The problem for democracy is that the constitution that Boris Yeltsin passed gave the presidency tremendous power. And the West supported this. So if that presidency gets into the hands of someone with less-than-democratic leanings, the future of democratic reforms in Russia would be in jeopardy.

Chat Participant: Has respect for Gorbachev returned, or is it gone forever?

Eileen O'Connor: That's gone forever. Unfortunately, that's gone forever, and it's very painful for him and for his family, because while he admits he made mistakes, he did do a tremendous good by beginning the process of democratization. But, for now, at least, for people in Russia, they blame him for starting something he couldn't finish. And then he had no overriding plan structured that would see them out of the reform process.

CNN Moderator: How did ordinary Russians react to the 1993 crisis between Yeltsin and the Russian parliament?

Eileen O'Connor: Ordinary Russians, they took sides, and it was very interesting. It wasn't as black and white as I think it was portrayed in the West. Oftentimes, people in the West view the people who were in the Parliament building as against reform, and that's not really true. They were against the pace of reform. But, people were still backing in those days, the majority did still back Boris Yeltsin. But he lost a lot of personal credibility with the people over that.

Chat Participant: How did living in the USSR change you?

Eileen O'Connor: I became more patient. I think I have more of a sense of humor. And it also changed me in that I appreciate what I have in life much more than I did before. And I marvel sometimes at myself and others getting caught up in petty concerns about a traffic jam or a line at the grocery store. When I have seen people struggle every day for freedom, economic survival, and just keeping their families fed and together and alive in many war zones that I've been in. So, I'd say it changed me very profoundly. But I was also so honored to have lived through the times there and from '86 to '97, I feel so lucky. And that's what living during those times has made me appreciate, and being in Eastern Europe when Ceausescu was ousted, and to see this history unfold before my eyes was incredible.

CNN Moderator: We have time for one more question.

CNN Moderator: You've reported from both Moscow and the White House. What is your sense of relations between the U.S. and Russia today? Are their leaders still wary of each other?

Eileen O'Connor: I think their leaders are still wary of each other. Probably more so than they were five years ago. But I think that the White House has the hope that the Russians feel it is in their greater interest to be partners with the West than to be opponents. And I think that the Russians feel the same way. At least for now.

CNN Moderator: Do you have any closing comments?

Eileen O'Connor: The thing about the Cold War, which I thought was summed up really well at the end of Perspectives, was that the battles that were fought involved real people. And while it was a clash of ideologies, it profoundly affected people's lives. And that was the tragedy -- although, hopefully out of this there have been some triumphs for many people, particularly in Russia and the former Soviet empire, who have hope now for a much better life and better possibilities.

CNN Moderator: Thank you, Eileen O'Connor.

Eileen O'Connor: Thank you! Take care!