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CNN Live At Daybreak

"Live from Baghdad," the Movie

Aired December 06, 2002 - 05:43   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's no accident that CNN is on the scene when news happens. Now Hollywood has captured one of our biggest moments, CNN's coverage of the bombing of Baghdad was a huge event in U.S. history and in our history.
CNN's Frank Buckley talked with the real life participants.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The television images from the first night of the war were broadcast around the world, but Bernard Shaw saw every moment of it with his own eyes.

BERNARD SHAW, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: Was I afraid, yes. Did I think I was going to die, possibly. And I resented being so, so far away from home and my family, but I had a job to do.

We're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.

BUCKLEY: Shaw and Peter Arnett and the late John Holliman were on the air for CNN together as the first bombs hit Baghdad on January 16, 1991.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And action.

BUCKLEY: As Shaw watched filmmakers recreate that night, he recalled what it was like on his end of the line as the war was getting underway.

SHAW: And I just happened to turn and glance out the window. I saw silver flecks coming down. I knew that was chaff. And after that, air raid sirens went on and antiaircraft batteries opened up.

If this was surgical bombing, I don't like being this close to the operating table.

BUCKLEY: Michael Keaton plays the role of CNN's senior executive producer in Baghdad, Robert Wiener.

MICHAEL KEATON, ACTOR: The folks at CNN say the decision to stay or leave is ours.

BUCKLEY: Wiener wrote the book and shares a writing credit on the film.

ROBERT WIENER, FORMER CNN PRODUCER: I was frightened. Bernie was frightened. I think we were all frightened.

BUCKLEY: But also satisfied, he says, that CNN was being broadcast around the world.

WIENER: That it was a moment in history, and not immodestly, my -- I wrote in my book, it was the journalistic equivalent of walking on the moon.

BUCKLEY (on camera): This is one of the rooms where that reporting took place, staged to appear as it did in 1991. CNN actually had a series of rooms on the ninth floor at the Al-Rashid Hotel. That allowed correspondents to look out one side of the building to see what was happening over there, then to cross here through the corridor to the other side of the building to see what was happening on that side of Baghdad. The filmmakers decided, however, not to go back to the original Al-Rashid. Instead, they came here to a sound stage in Culver City, California where they recreated the whole thing.

(voice-over): Same for the CNN newsroom. The filmmakers recreated CNN's global headquarters, circa 1991, as best as they could. Eason Jordan, CNN's president of news gathering, was one of the people in the newsroom coordinating the coverage.

EASON JORDAN, CHIEF NEWS EXECUTIVE CNN: We had serious doubts about whether they would survive. We had taken phone calls from President Bush, from Colin Powell, who was in basically running all the military operations, and Marlin Fitzwater as well, and all three of them said get your guys out of there or you're going to kill them.

BUCKLEY: The CNN team stayed. And Peter Arnett, the veteran war correspondent who would stay on the air with his colleagues for 17 straight hours that first night, says January 16, 1991 will stand out as an indelible experience.

PETER ARNETT, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bombing of Baghdad was the biggest story in a decade, and we had the unique opportunity to be there. We had the transmission communications available and there we went, and the whole world was listening.

SHAW: Whoa, holy cow, that was the large air burst that we saw.

BUCKLEY: Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And how odd, we may be on the verge of war again with Iraq.

You can watch "Live from Baghdad" tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on HBO.

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 December 6, 2002 - 05:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's no accident that CNN is on the scene when news happens. Now Hollywood has captured one of our biggest moments, CNN's coverage of the bombing of Baghdad was a huge event in U.S. history and in our history.
CNN's Frank Buckley talked with the real life participants.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The television images from the first night of the war were broadcast around the world, but Bernard Shaw saw every moment of it with his own eyes.

BERNARD SHAW, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: Was I afraid, yes. Did I think I was going to die, possibly. And I resented being so, so far away from home and my family, but I had a job to do.

We're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.

BUCKLEY: Shaw and Peter Arnett and the late John Holliman were on the air for CNN together as the first bombs hit Baghdad on January 16, 1991.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And action.

BUCKLEY: As Shaw watched filmmakers recreate that night, he recalled what it was like on his end of the line as the war was getting underway.

SHAW: And I just happened to turn and glance out the window. I saw silver flecks coming down. I knew that was chaff. And after that, air raid sirens went on and antiaircraft batteries opened up.

If this was surgical bombing, I don't like being this close to the operating table.

BUCKLEY: Michael Keaton plays the role of CNN's senior executive producer in Baghdad, Robert Wiener.

MICHAEL KEATON, ACTOR: The folks at CNN say the decision to stay or leave is ours.

BUCKLEY: Wiener wrote the book and shares a writing credit on the film.

ROBERT WIENER, FORMER CNN PRODUCER: I was frightened. Bernie was frightened. I think we were all frightened.

BUCKLEY: But also satisfied, he says, that CNN was being broadcast around the world.

WIENER: That it was a moment in history, and not immodestly, my -- I wrote in my book, it was the journalistic equivalent of walking on the moon.

BUCKLEY (on camera): This is one of the rooms where that reporting took place, staged to appear as it did in 1991. CNN actually had a series of rooms on the ninth floor at the Al-Rashid Hotel. That allowed correspondents to look out one side of the building to see what was happening over there, then to cross here through the corridor to the other side of the building to see what was happening on that side of Baghdad. The filmmakers decided, however, not to go back to the original Al-Rashid. Instead, they came here to a sound stage in Culver City, California where they recreated the whole thing.

(voice-over): Same for the CNN newsroom. The filmmakers recreated CNN's global headquarters, circa 1991, as best as they could. Eason Jordan, CNN's president of news gathering, was one of the people in the newsroom coordinating the coverage.

EASON JORDAN, CHIEF NEWS EXECUTIVE CNN: We had serious doubts about whether they would survive. We had taken phone calls from President Bush, from Colin Powell, who was in basically running all the military operations, and Marlin Fitzwater as well, and all three of them said get your guys out of there or you're going to kill them.

BUCKLEY: The CNN team stayed. And Peter Arnett, the veteran war correspondent who would stay on the air with his colleagues for 17 straight hours that first night, says January 16, 1991 will stand out as an indelible experience.

PETER ARNETT, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bombing of Baghdad was the biggest story in a decade, and we had the unique opportunity to be there. We had the transmission communications available and there we went, and the whole world was listening.

SHAW: Whoa, holy cow, that was the large air burst that we saw.

BUCKLEY: Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And how odd, we may be on the verge of war again with Iraq.

You can watch "Live from Baghdad" tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on HBO.

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