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CNN Live At Daybreak
The Brink of War: International Wrap
Aired March 18, 2003 - 05:48 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: Right now, though, I'm at our international desk to check in with David Clinch to check on our -- on our troops overseas.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right, we are ready. I mean we've got this deadline now, we've been ready for a long time, we've got all our best reporters in the field. Christiane Amanpour is in the region. We've got Brent Sadler, as you saw, in northern Iraq. We've got Walt Rodgers and others embedded with the U.S. troops. They are so close to Iraq, they can smell it. I mean we're right there.
COSTELLO: Well let's pause and talk...
CLINCH: But we're also in Baghdad.
COSTELLO: Right, and I wanted to talk about that, because you know Rym Brahimi is there reporting live and...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... you know I'm sure some of our viewers are afraid for her.
CLINCH: Right, Rym Brahimi and Nic Robertson both still in Baghdad for us, our crew is still there. It is a very dangerous situation, and we've assessed it. You know we've made every possible accounting that we possibly can for the safety of our reporters. And that is the No. 1 concern for us, not what we report, but that our reporters are safe. They are safe so far. We're assessing it every moment and we will make that decision as we keep going, but they're staying and reporting until decided otherwise.
COSTELLO: And these are passionate people and they want to stay.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Yes.
CLINCH: And again, we have made every assessment we can possibly make to make sure that safety is of a primacy for our reporters.
COSTELLO: And another problem, well I don't know if it's a problem, but things could change at any time.
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: It's such a fluid situation.
CLINCH: This gap, I mean we have less than 48 hours, 40 hours now, less than 48 hours in this ultimatum. This calm before the storm is actually a very difficult time. We've got to watch out for any information we might get about whether Saddam Hussein will go into exile. Of course he's saying, and officials say, he won't, but I'm not sure whether we need to believe him or not. We just need to be on our toes watching out for any information about whether or not he may decide to go into exile.
And also this question of a preemptive attack, whether that might happen or not happen, we don't know, but we have to be prepared for it and our reporters need to be prepared for it as well.
COSTELLO: Got you. David, thank you very much. I know you're busy.
CLINCH: OK. Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Let you get back to work.
CLINCH: Thanks.
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 March 18, 2003 - 05:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, though, I'm at our international desk to check in with David Clinch to check on our -- on our troops overseas.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right, we are ready. I mean we've got this deadline now, we've been ready for a long time, we've got all our best reporters in the field. Christiane Amanpour is in the region. We've got Brent Sadler, as you saw, in northern Iraq. We've got Walt Rodgers and others embedded with the U.S. troops. They are so close to Iraq, they can smell it. I mean we're right there.
COSTELLO: Well let's pause and talk...
CLINCH: But we're also in Baghdad.
COSTELLO: Right, and I wanted to talk about that, because you know Rym Brahimi is there reporting live and...
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: ... you know I'm sure some of our viewers are afraid for her.
CLINCH: Right, Rym Brahimi and Nic Robertson both still in Baghdad for us, our crew is still there. It is a very dangerous situation, and we've assessed it. You know we've made every possible accounting that we possibly can for the safety of our reporters. And that is the No. 1 concern for us, not what we report, but that our reporters are safe. They are safe so far. We're assessing it every moment and we will make that decision as we keep going, but they're staying and reporting until decided otherwise.
COSTELLO: And these are passionate people and they want to stay.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Yes.
CLINCH: And again, we have made every assessment we can possibly make to make sure that safety is of a primacy for our reporters.
COSTELLO: And another problem, well I don't know if it's a problem, but things could change at any time.
CLINCH: Right.
COSTELLO: It's such a fluid situation.
CLINCH: This gap, I mean we have less than 48 hours, 40 hours now, less than 48 hours in this ultimatum. This calm before the storm is actually a very difficult time. We've got to watch out for any information we might get about whether Saddam Hussein will go into exile. Of course he's saying, and officials say, he won't, but I'm not sure whether we need to believe him or not. We just need to be on our toes watching out for any information about whether or not he may decide to go into exile.
And also this question of a preemptive attack, whether that might happen or not happen, we don't know, but we have to be prepared for it and our reporters need to be prepared for it as well.
COSTELLO: Got you. David, thank you very much. I know you're busy.
CLINCH: OK. Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Let you get back to work.
CLINCH: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
