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CNN Live At Daybreak

Missile Mystery: Ship Now Under Armed Escort to Naval Base

Aired December 11, 2002 - 06:31   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: As you just saw live on CNN moments ago, Spain's defense minister held a news conference to talk about the drama on the high seas.
Our Al Goodman is at that news conference. He joins us live with the latest.

And it was a very dramatic interception -- Al.

AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: It was, indeed, Carol. I'm talking softly, because the news conference is still going on.

I'll (ph) tell you the most important thing is that the defense minister of Spain has just confirmed that the ship, So San, with the Scud missiles aboard is now under the control of a U.S. admiral in international waters. He would not say where the ship is going to. He said he knew where it was going, but he couldn't say.

He said the admiral (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in that area is what he identified as Admiral Keating (ph). The ship has been turned over by the Spanish frigate to the U.S. forces (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

This all started last Thursday when U.S. intelligence alerted the Spaniards who were patrolling those waters that this suspicious ship was on the way. And over the weekend, they worked out plans on what to do.

The Spanish intercepted the ship on Monday, two days ago, having to fire shots to try to get it to stop, then having to board it with armed soldiers by helicopter. And they discovered Scud missiles in the initial search of the hold. The ship reportedly was carrying (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Then on Tuesday, the U.S. forces arrived (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The defense minister of Spain has just said that there were 15 Scud missiles, complete Scud missiles on that ship. That 12 Scud missiles figure that we heard (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: I know you're listening, Al, so I didn't want to interrupt right now. Do you want to go back to the press conference now?

GOODMAN: As you wish, we can keep talking about this.

COSTELLO: OK. It makes you wonder how many more ships are out there like this that they're looking for. GOODMAN: Now, the thing the defense minister of Spain has portrayed is there is a high level of cooperation between the coalition forces that have been patrolling those waters, trying to make sure that material like this does not get through or that suspected al Qaeda members do not get through.

The defense minister said this ship was going to a Middle Eastern port. He would not identify it. White House officials have said that the port destination seemed to be Yemen.

He said the ship's previous stop -- its last port call was in China. He did not identify the port. But from the likes (ph) of this operation, it appears that there is a high degree of cooperation among coalition forces on land and sea trying to stop this kind of material -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Al, I'm going to let you get back to that press conference to see if you can gather anymore new information for us. Thank you very much for the update. We appreciate it.

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




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Aired December 11, 2002 - 06:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As you just saw live on CNN moments ago, Spain's defense minister held a news conference to talk about the drama on the high seas.
Our Al Goodman is at that news conference. He joins us live with the latest.

And it was a very dramatic interception -- Al.

AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: It was, indeed, Carol. I'm talking softly, because the news conference is still going on.

I'll (ph) tell you the most important thing is that the defense minister of Spain has just confirmed that the ship, So San, with the Scud missiles aboard is now under the control of a U.S. admiral in international waters. He would not say where the ship is going to. He said he knew where it was going, but he couldn't say.

He said the admiral (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in that area is what he identified as Admiral Keating (ph). The ship has been turned over by the Spanish frigate to the U.S. forces (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

This all started last Thursday when U.S. intelligence alerted the Spaniards who were patrolling those waters that this suspicious ship was on the way. And over the weekend, they worked out plans on what to do.

The Spanish intercepted the ship on Monday, two days ago, having to fire shots to try to get it to stop, then having to board it with armed soldiers by helicopter. And they discovered Scud missiles in the initial search of the hold. The ship reportedly was carrying (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Then on Tuesday, the U.S. forces arrived (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The defense minister of Spain has just said that there were 15 Scud missiles, complete Scud missiles on that ship. That 12 Scud missiles figure that we heard (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: I know you're listening, Al, so I didn't want to interrupt right now. Do you want to go back to the press conference now?

GOODMAN: As you wish, we can keep talking about this.

COSTELLO: OK. It makes you wonder how many more ships are out there like this that they're looking for. GOODMAN: Now, the thing the defense minister of Spain has portrayed is there is a high level of cooperation between the coalition forces that have been patrolling those waters, trying to make sure that material like this does not get through or that suspected al Qaeda members do not get through.

The defense minister said this ship was going to a Middle Eastern port. He would not identify it. White House officials have said that the port destination seemed to be Yemen.

He said the ship's previous stop -- its last port call was in China. He did not identify the port. But from the likes (ph) of this operation, it appears that there is a high degree of cooperation among coalition forces on land and sea trying to stop this kind of material -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Al, I'm going to let you get back to that press conference to see if you can gather anymore new information for us. Thank you very much for the update. We appreciate it.

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




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