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CNN CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT
Zero Hour For Iraq Arrives
Aired March 19, 2003 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad right now. It is seconds away from 4:00 a.m. there. And time is up.
In just seconds, Saddam Hussein's deadline will pass. The question now is, when will President Bush order U.S. troops into Iraq? It is 48 hours since he told Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his two sons to flee Iraq. It is now zero hour.
Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.
There is no sign in Baghdad right now of military activity by either side. But neither government today doubted there soon will be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is not a short -- this will not be short. If he decides to finish his invasion, then it will be short. But if he does not, then it will not be a short matter. As my colleague Mr. Sahab (ph) said, this will not be a picnic for him. It will be a bloody war and it will take a long time.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The American people understand that, if force is used, lives may be lost, indeed. I think there's no question the country understands that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: President Bush has given formal notice to Congress of his intent to send U.S. troops into combat. His writers are working on the address he will deliver to the nation after he gives the order. He met today with the National Security Council and held meetings on homeland security, which we'll get to a little later.
U.S. forces today continued heading north toward the border with Iraq on Kuwait's Highway 80, the road to Baghdad. Along with British troops, American soldiers today moved into the demilitarized zone that extends six miles into southern Iraq from the Kuwaiti border. Altogether, the U.S. and Britain have more than a quarter-million ground troops deployed around Iraq, almost 175,000 massing on the Kuwaiti border, including the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, 82nd Airborne, and 101st Airborne; 20,000 from the 3rd Infantry were ordered closer to the border today.
Hundreds of fighter jets are also at the ready, carrying some of the 3,000 bombs expected to fall during the first massive attack. Some of those jets are part of the aircraft carrier battle groups there, each including submarines, cruisers, destroyers, and more.
In the Persian Gulf right now, there are three battle groups, the USS Constellation, Abraham Lincoln, and Kitty Hawk; in the Mediterranean, the Harry S. Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. The first objectives on the ground are expected to include, in the north, seizing Iraqi oil fields to prevent their destruction or sabotage, and, in the south, seizing the Iraqi port city of Basra.
U.S. bombs already fell today, technically part of the ongoing patrols of the southern no-fly zone, but clearly an effort to suppress Iraqi anti-aircraft capabilities. And there are already reports of some Iraqi troops surrendering. We'll outline the strategies in just a bit.
In Baghdad tonight, it's been quiet. Shops have been shuttered and fortifications are in place around the city: trenches, sandbags, and oil fires.
A short time ago, I spoke on the phone with CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, one of the very few broadcast journalists still in Baghdad tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Nic, yesterday, when we talked to you, you were at the Ministry of Information. And, today, you have moved. We can't see you. Can you tell us why?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in Pentagon -- open Pentagon briefings, there's been talk about what could be targets if and when the war starts. And government ministries are one such location. So we deemed it prudent to move away from the government ministry building. And that's why you're not seeing us on camera.
CHUNG: Are you concerned about your safety and those of others around you?
ROBERTSON: CNN has a very good experienced team here: Ingrid Formanek, the producer, Bram Bochati (ph), the cameraman, and Rym Brahimi, my colleague and correspondent here.
We are doing everything we can to make sure that we maintain our safety at all times. Safety is our primary concern. And it continues to be a concern all the time as we go through this. But, at this time, as I speak, we feel that our safety is in the best shape that it could be, given the circumstances. And we will continue to do everything to make sure that we stay safe. And we will do our best to cover the story.
CHUNG: With the deadline so perilously close, I can only imagine that the anxiety has reached a level that's almost indescribable.
ROBERTSON: Indeed, many people here have been so fearful that this event is coming that, for many people, it's really almost a relief that the time has arrived and it's going to happen. Of course, having said that, people are tremendously worried and tremendously scared about how they're going to survive. This is a city of five million people. And many of them cannot afford to take their families out or have nowhere to take them to. So, of course, many people staying here, and they do wonder how they'll be able to feed their families and keep them safe at this time. And, also, it's true to say there is still a feeling of anger among some people that they're being invaded.
CHUNG: But, Nic, there are those who would believe that the Iraqi people will welcome the American soldiers and even the Iraqi soldiers will put down their arms. You're finding evidence of the ordinary person truly angry at the United States?
ROBERTSON: People are so concerned about what will happen in the time after the bombing. What will happen? Will there be civil disorder? Will their family -- will their houses be looted? Will there be discrimination? Will old scores be settled? Will it be a very bloody revolt? And for that reason, they're very scared about what's going to happen.
But they're also angry, because they have pride in their country and they don't want it to be invaded. It's a mixture of many emotions, as well, for many people, feeling that this particular president has not brought them anything that they would desire, has brought them initially a wealthy country. But they've seen that dissipate and they've seen the country turned into a very poor place.
CHUNG: Nic, there were rumors earlier that Tariq Aziz was either dead or had expelled himself voluntarily from the country. How was that -- what can you tell us about that, because we actually did see him at a news conference moments later?
ROBERTSON: Incredible how the Iraqi government quickly reacted to this. We've seen them do this before. When there are rumors that they don't like, they respond quickly. And they did this again on this occasion, and Tariq Aziz saying, expect more rumors, expect more disinformation.
And what we were hearing from him and we've heard from other Iraqi officials, they believe that this war is as much a psychological operation against them, the leadership, and against the Iraqi people. And it's something they've been trying to resist. And, of course, now they know it's absolutely critical that nobody thinks the leadership here is wavering, that nobody should believe for one moment that there is a crack in the regime here, and that President Saddam Hussein may step aside or his key lieutenants may step aside. So, they're absolutely responding swiftly to that.
And we heard similar things from the information minister earlier in the day, who was responding, if you will, with his own psychological warfare, telling the coalition troops that their soldiers and officers should open their eyes, because their governments are lying to them, because, when they come to Iraq, they'll be defeated, that the battle won't be a picnic, as they are told, so a psychological war raging in both directions here, Connie. CHUNG: Nic, as the deadline passes, is there a feeling that Saddam Hussein is indeed in Baghdad, still in Iraq?
ROBERTSON: It's so difficult to say where he is. Back in 1991, during the Gulf War, the president of Iraq was rumored to move between different houses, civilian houses in the city, not staying in his huge luxurious palaces, those huge ornate buildings that he's built around the city and around the countryside, choosing to travel in an unmarked car, with just one close guard with him. And so, tonight, it's not possible to say where he is.
CHUNG: Nic Robertson, be careful. Thank you for being with us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: An extraordinary job under extraordinary conditions.
These are anxious times, not just for Nic in Baghdad, his wife and two children watching at home, but also for the other CNN journalists in Baghdad and their colleagues from other news organizations. And we're all too aware that, for each reporter's family that is fighting fear with hope tonight, there are hundreds and thousands of military families doing the same.
Of course, the go order ultimately comes from the commander in chief. At the White House tonight, CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, could the president give the order to start the war any minute now?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Connie, he certainly could.
This has really been an extraordinary day for the president and really for everyone, as we've experienced this countdown to the ultimatum deadline and now this wait for war. He could make that decision for the U.S. to strike, invade Iraq, at any moment. The president today met twice with his National Security Council, also with his top Pentagon brass, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
We are told that he was given the final details of the war plan and essentially told about the conditions on the ground, the weather conditions, as well as these forward troop movements, all of these factors that will help him determine what is the best time, the optimum time, for the U.S. to strike. Once those military commanders say that now is the best time, then, of course, the commander in chief will give the go ahead and that's when it will all begin -- Connie.
CHUNG: Suzanne, this is clearly the gravest decision a president could make, to send Americans into war. Was it different at the White House today?
MALVEAUX: Well, White House aides tell us that the president is comfortable with his decision, that he is at peace with it. We did not see the president today publicly. We will not see the president publicly until he's in the Oval Office addressing the American people, saying that, yes, this country has gone to war.
The president did issue a statement, a letter to members of Congress, as required, explaining why it is that he feels that diplomacy has failed. I am quoting here. He said: "Reliance by the United States on further diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq, nor likely lead to the enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq."
And it is notable to say that White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that the president believes that the American people are ready for war, that they have even accepted the reality that there will be a loss of life -- Connie.
CHUNG: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House tonight, thank you.
As we've reported, the invasion is now solely a military matter. One of the factors in determining when it gets under way is the weather, sandstorms with winds of more than 30 miles an hour that have struck in Kuwait, where the bulk of the invasion force is.
And joining us now from Kuwait City is CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Wolf, has it cleared up any from those sandstorms?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's definitely cleared up now. It's still the middle of the night over here. Earlier in the day, it was pretty bad. When you went outside, you could see the sand sort of hovering over the entire horizon. And up north, along the border between Kuwait and Iraq, the sand was pretty visible, affecting U.S. military readiness, military preparedness.
It doesn't affect the air war as much as it would affect a potential ground war, especially assault helicopters, tanks. The sand could play havoc with a lot of the ground equipment. And, as a result, the troops don't like to fight in the sand. But they do have some capabilities. And, by all accounts, the weather is definitely improving. They don't think the sandstorms are necessarily going to be much of a factor tomorrow or the day after.
CHUNG: All right, one more question about the conditions there, and then we'll get to the troops.
I'm told that tonight is the fullest, the biggest part of the moon, the brightest part of the moon. And so I was wondering, that is not a desirable situation.
BLITZER: You're right, Connie, because the U.S. wants to have complete air dominance over the Iraqis. And the United States has sophisticated equipment to fly at night, to be -- so they can see everything that's going on at night. The Iraqis won't necessarily be able to see U.S. bombers, other planes moving in. So, when you have a full moon, that's not necessarily the most advantageous time to go into action.
But the troops tell me, the commanders tell me that they're ready to move virtually under any of these kinds of circumstances and that they're ready to move almost at a hair's notice. They've been training for this. They've been waiting for this. It looks like it's going to happen. It looks like it's going to happen very soon. It might be the next few hours. It might be another day or two, but it certainly is going to happen. And the only decision is precisely when.
We'll know when it happens, obviously, because we'll be hearing those bombs drop and we'll be seeing a lot of that on TV.
CHUNG: Wolf, as we talk to you, we're looking at a live picture in Baghdad.
Now, the question is, have U.S. troops made it all the way to the border? Are armored vehicles all there or are they still moving north?
BLITZER: Some are still moving north, but there's a huge, huge contingent. And the biggest is right here in Kuwait in the northern part of Kuwait along the border. They're ready. They've got their APCs, their armored personnel carriers. They've got the heavy armor, the battle tanks. They're up there with the helicopters, the support equipment.
The U.S. Air Force and the Navy have warplanes in the region, five aircraft carriers and a lot of bases from which to depart and take off with their so-called smart bombs, the satellite-guided bombs, the so-called JDAMs. And, in the first 24, 48 hours, you're going to see a lot of those bombs dropped on strategic targets, various targets throughout Iraq. And, of course, you can't do that very quietly.
But the troops are still on the move. And, by all accounts, up in the northern part of Kuwait, there's been traffic jams up there, as U.S. troops get ready to move directly into the southern part of Iraq.
CHUNG: Wolf, what about the chemical and biological potential of having an attack? Do the soldiers feel prepared?
BLITZER: They're absolutely prepared. They've been training for this. They have really terrific equipment, the state-of-the-art equipment. They have early-warning detection equipment. The U.S. has been watching very carefully to see if there are any indications the Iraqis are going to use the artillery that they have or the short- range missiles, the FROGs, or if they have any Scud missiles left. So they're watching.
And if there were any hard evidence, any hard signs that they were about to launch chemical or biological warheads, the U.S. would definitely not wait for that. They'd move in immediately. And so they're watching all of this very carefully. And they can detect it.
But the equipment that the troops have on the ground is excellent equipment, from the gas masks to the entire body protection. So they've been trained to fight in that kind of equipment. I've spoken to a lot of the U.S. military personnel. They're confident they can do the job if that happens.
CHUNG: All right, Wolf Blitzer, that's reassuring to know -- Wolf Blitzer in Kuwait City tonight.
Now to the Pentagon, where CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us.
Now, Jamie, before the ultimatum expired, U.S. military forces had attacked some Iraqi artillery sites. Why? And was this actually the beginning of the war?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, not unless you consider all of the strikes in the no-fly zone part of the ongoing war that's been going on.
These were all struck under the rules of engagement for the southern no-fly zone, which specifically state that Saddam Hussein cannot reinforce his forces in the south that could possibly threaten Iraq's neighbors. So, under that justification, the U.S. went and took out a number of targets, including some air defenses, some radars, but in particular those long-range artillery pieces that were on the Al Faw Peninsula, within range of U.S. troops in Kuwait. And they also took out a surface-to-surface missile launcher that seemed to be a threat, too.
Clearly, though, this is not just normal strikes in the no-fly zone. These were taking out threats against U.S. troops on what appears to be really the eve of the invasion, whether it's literally the eve or figuratively the eve.
CHUNG: Jamie, wouldn't it be prudent for the United States to delay a bit, because of the sandstorms, because the element of surprise is gone anyway, and so that might throw the Iraqis off?
MCINTYRE: Well there could be -- there are arguments for delay, and some of the ones you just stated, also, the idea that you could give more time for the psychological impact, for those Iraqi troops to think about what they might be up against in the U.S. military.
On the other hand, the U.S. wants to get this over with. They've got everybody poised and ready to go. You can only keep troops at that level of having essentially the trigger cocked for so long. So they're going to move in as soon as the commanders on the ground believe that all of the conditions are about as favorable as they're going to get. It's a matter of days, certainly not more than a week.
CHUNG: Just quickly, in about 10 seconds, Jamie, 17 Iraqi troops surrendered. Was that significant?
MCINTYRE: Well, it was a psychological victory, obviously, a small number. But the U.S. is hoping it's the beginning, a trickle of what will become a flood of Iraqi troop surrenders.
CHUNG: All right, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you. And still ahead: the mission ahead for top-secret teams in Iraq.
Stay with us.
ANNOUNCER: Next: the war plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're ready to go. We're just waiting for the word from the president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the president says go, look out. It's hammer time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Awesome airpower, an armada of warships, and hundreds of thousands of troops poised on the Iraqi border. When the order is made, how will the U.S. strike Iraq?
CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: A live picture from CNN's camera atop Iraq's Ministry of Information building, looking south over downtown Baghdad, where it's now 21 minutes past zero hour, 20 minutes past the deadline President Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down. He has not.
And now President Bush, with the advice of his military advisers, is deciding how and when to go into Iraq. A massive aerial assault will be part of the first strike.
And joining us now is CNN's military analyst, U.S. Air Force Major General Don Shepperd, a veteran fighter pilot involved in planning during the first Gulf War.
Thank you, General, for being with us.
RETIRED MAJOR GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: My pleasure, Connie.
CHUNG: All right, when the war starts, what will happen?
SHEPPERD: All right, basically, a quick-situation thing, the United States forces and the coalition forces are waiting and watching Iraq. We're looking at them with AWACS, airborne warning and control system aircraft, Joint STARS watching ground movement, Rivet Joint listening to the talk.
In addition, you have three carrier battle groups, as you said in your earlier report, between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, two carrier battle groups in the Mediterranean. Some of these can be moved south into the Red Sea. You have ships moving into the Red Sea and also the Persian Gulf to be able to launch Tomahawk strikes. Early on, what is likely to be seen is Tomahawk strikes against the early-warning radars and outlying targets, clearing the way for B-52 bombers with cruise launch missiles, with B-2 bombers, the stealth bombers, the stealth fighters, F-117s, hitting more key targets closer in with heavy air defense, softening up the air defenses.
CHUNG: What would those key targets be?
SHEPPERD: Well, the key targets would be leadership -- first of all, air defense early-warning radars, then fixed-missile sites and the associated radars, and then the leadership targets, known concentrations of leadership targets, command posts in the Baghdad area, as well as outlying areas, and then suspected weapons of mass destruction and troop concentrations as well -- all of this designed to clear the way, because the whole idea is to move forces out of the Kuwait area, out of a northern front, and move in toward Baghdad.
CHUNG: All right, so forces will -- troops will be coming up towards Baghdad this way?
SHEPPERD: Indeed.
We have troops massing in Kuwait right now. And the idea is for those troops, basically, to move up toward Baghdad. The way they will move, of course, is the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, which is the wet area of the country, if you will. Also, other forces will move in the western part. You have to secure western Iraq, so that the Scud- launch area from the previous war will not be able to launch into Israel. You have to secure western Iraq. You have to have a northern front, basically to come south toward Baghdad. The idea is
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: But how will the northern front come here? Because Turkey is not allowing the U.S. to use bases.
SHEPPERD: Yes.
Turkey is really important. And it's a problem. We're trying to get Turkish airspace right now for coalition forces, through diplomatic efforts. They can be flown in. Lighter forces can be flown in, airborne-type forces, into airfields in this area. Also, follow-on forces could come from ships in the Mediterranean over land, if that's approved later on, for basing.
CHUNG: All right, but, if that airspace is not -- if we're not allowed to use that airspace, what happens?
SHEPPERD: All right.
The other things that are available to you is, you can come across Israel and across Jordan to get in. From the Red Sea, of course, you can come across Saudi Arabia. And, of course, you can come from ships down here. And all the land-based aircraft in Saudi Arabia and other states in the Gulf can carry out this war plan. We've known from the beginning, from a U.S. standpoint, that we might not be able to get Turkish bases or Turkish airspace, so other plans have been put into effect. CHUNG: All right, General, there were reports that troops were going to -- American troops were going to come into Basra, take it over, and the image would be cheering Iraqi citizens, welcoming the Americans in.
SHEPPERD: Great idea, better not plan on it.
The idea is, we would love to kill no one and destroy no infrastructure. We'd love to have everyone surrender in this outfit. The problem is, you can hope for that, but you'd better be prepared for the worst and assume that everyone there is going to shoot at you.
CHUNG: And what is the worst-case scenario?
SHEPPERD: The worst-case scenario would be that Saddam and his commanders unleash chemical and/or biological weapons of mass destruction against coalition forces.
CHUNG: And that could happen as early as this Basra force?
SHEPPERD: It could happen any time you cross the border. And that was the reason today for clearing out these artillery pieces that were in range of massing coalition forces down here.
CHUNG: All right, General, I thank you so much for being with us.
SHEPPERD: My pleasure.
CHUNG: "The New York Times" today reported on another aspect, a top-secret aspect of the U.S. invasion. "The Times" report said secret teams of intelligence agents and disarmament experts will go in to find and destroy the biochemical weaponry Iraq still denies possessing.
"Times" reporter Judith Miller broke this story. And I spoke to her earlier from Kuwait City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Judy, you reported in today's "New York Times" that the U.S., when the war begins, will embark on an extraordinary, unprecedented expedition. Can you describe this search-and-destroy mission?
JUDITH MILLER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, Connie, as soldiers advance on the field towards Baghdad, they will actually be accompanied by technical experts, scientists, intelligence analysts, who will, at the same time, be kind of hunting for unconventional weapons -- that's chemical and biological weapons and even some radiological weapons -- as the war is actually going on.
So, in effect, you'll have two wars going on or two campaigns: one, the ground campaign with the soldiers; and, two, this incredible hunt for weapons of mass destruction, which is unlike, as you pointed out, anything the United States has ever done before. CHUNG: Judy, is this a risky mission?
MILLER: This is a very risky mission. But war is risky. And the scientists and the technical experts are taking no greater risk than the soldiers who they are accompanying in the field.
It's risky for everyone here. It's risky for the Kuwaitis. It's risky for the Kurds in Northern Iraq, for the journalists, because nobody knows what Saddam Hussein is going to do. Those of us who've watched him for a long time had a feeling of what he might have done before he understood that this really is the end game. So, for us, for those who fancy themselves amateur psychologists, there is really very little way to read his intentions. And we know what he's capable of.
CHUNG: Can you describe this mission, exactly how it's going to work? How will they know what locations to go to?
MILLER: Well, there's been years now of experience of identifying suspect sites. This was done by international inspectors, both UNSCOM, which was the first international inspection agency, and most recently by UNMOVIC.
But, on top of that, the administration itself has been collecting just a slew of information from defectors, who've continued to come across the Iraqi border, from intelligence sources and methods, from satellites, from intercepts. You saw a little of this when Colin Powell made his impressive speech to the United Nations. So, there's a lot of suspect sites.
In fact, one person in Washington told me that the list could total more than 1,400 of these sites, which means that those people on the ground who are hunting for them may be very, very busy in the coming weeks and months.
CHUNG: Will the scientists actually be able to test the samples to see if they are biological or chemical weapons?
MILLER: Well, one of the novel pieces of equipment that the administration is fielding during this campaign are two mobile labs that will actually be able to analyze and test the material that the scientists bring back with them from the field, and within just a few hours -- actually, less than 24 hours -- be able to give the people on the ground an assessment of what that material is, with a 90 percent degree of confidence.
That's really amazingly good technology. So the administration has invested heavily in getting the technological base and infrastructure out there in the field, so that it can quickly determine whether or not the scientists and the experts have actually found what they call a smoking gun.
CHUNG: Now, Judy, I understand that the Pentagon is so determined to find these weapons that they're really -- it's really quite an ambitious effort. And they even believe that they can get to Iraqi scientists to question them about what is there. MILLER: Yes.
The scientists, almost everyone believes, is going to be the key to finding weapons of mass destruction. It is the scientists and the military planners and Saddam's military people who know where this stuff was made, who know who participated in making it, and who know where it may be being stored.
CHUNG: Judith Miller, thank you for your reporting.
MILLER: Thanks very much, Connie. Good luck.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Now, ground troops, of course, are not the only ones who will be fighting this war.
Tonight, CNN's Gary Strieker is in the Mediterranean on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which launched about 100 sorties a day against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War and is expected to launch some of the first strikes when the U.S. attacks Iraq. And he joins us now by phone.
Gary, you just got out of a meeting with the commanders. What have they told you about a possible strike?
GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Connie, they've told us that the situation here is actually business as usual. There's nothing unusual that's going on.
On the ship, up on the flight deck, the squadrons are checking and rechecking aircraft. In about half-an-hour they're going to start launching and recovering planes, as usual. And everything here appears to us to be normal. They're loading dummy bombs, practice bombs, as well as live ordnance, as usual. And all of this could change, of course, they point out, if and when they get the instructions to launch attacks -- Connie.
CHUNG: Now, we've been told that combat pilots have been asked to sleep during the day and stay awake during the night. That's a clear indication, though, that they're making preparations to make strikes during the evening?
STRIEKER: Yes, it's not just the combat pilots. It's the entire ship, actually, that's now been converted to nighttime operations.
And the purpose of this is to make sure that airstrikes, when they do take place, will be carried out in a continuous way. There are actually two aircraft carriers here in the Mediterranean: the Harry S. Truman, as well as the Roosevelt. The Truman has stayed on daytime ops and the Roosevelt is now on nighttime operations.
We're eating breakfast at 6:00 p.m. and dinner at 6:00 a.m. And everyone is sort of walking around sort of zombified now, because this is the first day that we've actually done this. But, in a day or so, it will seem normal. And the purpose of this is so that, between the two battle groups, there are eight squadrons of fighter jets on these two carriers. They'll be able to launch sorties 24 hours a day, morning, noon, and night. And that'll be a continuous round of attacks on Iraq when that begins, Connie.
CHUNG: Gary, I can't imagine. I don't know how anyone can sleep, how anyone can eat. How is all of this affecting the troops? Are they fearful or are they pumped?
STRIEKER: They're pumped. They're armed and ready to go, as they say. We've talked to quite a few people here. And the general feeling among most of them, certainly, is that they're very, very glad that a decision has finally been made to do something, because they've been tooling around here in the Mediterranean within a box of coordinates, just biding their time, waiting for decisions to be made, including overflight rights and whether or not we're actually going to war, of course.
And now a decision has been made and people are very glad that that's happened. And you can see that operations are taking place on a routine basis. People are checking and rechecking planes. They're doing the flight ops. But there's a much more intense atmosphere here today. And we've talked to people about it and they all say they're anxious, where there's a little bit of nervous anxiety. But the word anxiety and anxious, you hear that a lot.
But morale is very high. Many people have never been in combat before, so they're standing by to see what that's all about. They're certainly not on the front line on the ground, like the Marines and the Army troops. But they feel like they're very much a part of this war planning. And the operations will be very personal to them. And they're armed and ready to go, Connie.
CHUNG: All right, CNN's Gary Strieker, thank you for being with us.
Now, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has a late development -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Well, Connie, there's a lot of activity that's going on here at the White House.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer just briefed reporters, wrapping up what he says is the President's day, that he spoke with Secretary Rumsfeld and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Myers, earlier today. He then went to the residence, we're told, where he had dinner with the first lady. He then received a very important telephone call from his chief of staff, Andy Card.
Andy Card had earlier talked with the head of the CIA, George Tenet, asked him if there was any evidence at all that Saddam Hussein had left the country. He said, no, there was not. That is when Card called the president and told him. This is really what is seen, White House officials saying that this is his final act of defiance.
When asked whether or not the president would speak to the nation this evening, we have been told to be flexible, to stay flexible. There is still a lot of activity inside of the White House. The president is at the residence. I asked, what is the president's mood at this moment this evening? And Fleischer said -- he said that the American people are ready, the military is ready, and the cause is just, that the president feels confident in his decision -- Connie.
CHUNG: All right, Suzanne Malveaux.
Take a deep breath and we move on. We'll be back with more news in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: You're looking at CNN's live picture of the skies over downtown Baghdad right now, 36 minutes after the hour, zero hour, the deadline for Saddam Hussein to step down or be forced out.
While the world waits to see how and when the U.S. will launch its invasion of Iraq, the true suspense in this war lies not on the borders, but in the heart of Iraq. No one knows what will happen once the U.S. troops get closer to the capital. But Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has thousands of Republican Guards, Special Republican Guards, and bodyguards also protecting him.
Our CNN national security correspondent, David Ensor, has been looking at the options that Hussein can take.
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DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Will Saddam Hussein fight at the border or pull back to fight in the streets of Baghdad? Will he try to survive or attack with chemical weapons and try to go down as an Arab martyr? Only he knows for sure.
But former CIA analyst Judy Yaphe says, one way or another, the man she's analyzed for so many years will try to kill a lot of Americans.
JUDY YAPHE, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY: I think his theory is: I will do as much as I can to make it as ugly as possible for the Americans. I still believe that they have a Vietnam syndrome lingering, that, once they see body bags -- because they will. This is not Kuwait. This is Iraq. This is Baghdad. We Iraqis know how to fight in the streets. Those Americans can't handle this.
ENSOR: Military analysts say the Iraqi leader may order dams breached to flood the Tigris and Euphrates river plains. Some believe he may force thousands of Iraqi civilians, women and children, out onto the roads, creating a human buffer between the Americans and his forces, and then wait for U.S. troops in the streets of Baghdad and surrounding villages.
RET. LT. GEN. DAN CHRISTMAN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think what is of most concern to commanders, though, is the hunkering-down in the villages and neighborhoods themselves that will force house-to-house fighting. And the goal, the strategy, he seems to be pursuing is that he is going to create this fortress Baghdad, what I keep calling the Mesopotamian Stalingrad.
ENSOR: Then, if the end appears near, military analysts fear Saddam Hussein may order the use of the very weapons of mass destruction he insists he does not have.
CHRISTMAN: My instinct is, if he decides to use chemical weapons, it will be in a last-case Armageddon scenario.
ENSOR (on camera): The analysts we spoke to agreed on this: There are likely to be some surprises for American troops, as well as for the Iraqis.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Although the worst fighting is expected around Baghdad, the first fighting will be on the borders.
CNN's Brent Sadler joins us now from Northern Iraq in Kurdish- controlled territory, just four miles north of the northernmost Iraqi troops will be at tonight, what could soon become actually the front lines -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Connie.
Yes, right at the front line here of the Kurdish forces. That road you can see through our nightscope lens here, that road is a main artery into Kirkuk, the oil-rich capital of what the Kurds would hope would be part of their regional government in the future in a federal Iraq. But Kirkuk, of course, is where we believe that Saddam Hussein has laid explosives to detonate those oil wells. And if the soldiers on the ground over there ignore President Bush's warning, it's from this area here down this road that we could see those oil wells burning, should they be detonated and blown up.
Now, peshmerga guerrilla fighters are in this area. I was speaking to them just before coming on air. They have radios. They're listening to the news. They tell me that they are looking forward to the start of a U.S.-led invasion, zero hour passed less than an hour ago. They're sitting here watching and waiting, like we are. The peshmerga fighters are also telling me that their they are also heartened by news that 17 Iraqi soldiers apparently surrendered to U.S. forces on the Kuwait-Iraqi border.
The peshmerga guerrillas here, the Kurdish forces also telling me that they do not feel afraid. They say it is Saddam Hussein who should be feeling afraid right now -- back to you, Connie.
CHUNG: CNN's Brent Sadler inside Iraq, just four miles from Iraqi troops.
We'll be back with more news in just a moment. ANNOUNCER: Next: The nation readies for war and the threat of terrorism on the home front.
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MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: There is a two-front war here. One is on the streets of our cities and one is overseas.
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ANNOUNCER: Homeland security precautions from coast to coast.
Plus: why our food may be a prime target -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: It is now 42 minutes past the zero hour. There's no sign that a U.S. offensive has begun. And, as we speak, you're listening to the call for prayer. You can hear it in the background, an ominous sound.
And U.S. officials are on the defensive in homeland security, we should tell you. They continue to step up security measures, with border patrols and increased security at potential terrorism targets. Today, former Senator Gary Hart suggested that, despite the new security measures, plenty of dangers remain.
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GARY HART (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Senator Rudman and I co- chaired a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations Last fall, one year after the first attack. And we concluded that America was still in danger and still at risk. I don't think a lot of progress has been made since October. So, I think this country is unacceptably vulnerable to continued attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: The Homeland Security Department raised the threat level to orange immediately after President Bush gave his ultimatum.
But, today, Secretary Tom Ridge said, even now, Iraqi terrorists are not the biggest fear.
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TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The primary concern is still al Qaeda. The United States is still their primary target. But, again, we're worried, under these circumstances, the notion that there might be Iraqi agents or Iraqi surrogates or people that would use this opportunity as a cover or rationale to do something to harm this country, to undermine our way of life. That's still a possibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHUNG: We're going to check in on security measures around the country tonight; CNN's Jason Carroll in New York's Times Square, Jeff Flock in Chicago, and Charles Feldman in Los Angeles.
We begin now with Patty Davis on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
Patty, is security being tightened in Washington?
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Connie, it is very visibly tighter here in Washington, D.C.
At the U.S. Capitol, you see heavily armed police. Here on Washington's Mall, you see an increased number of police. And they're working longer hours. The goal here is to keep those monuments safe and to keep them open. But, over at the White House, that has been closed to tours. It had been open only to school tours. Now it is open to no tours at all. Pedestrians have been pushed back from an expanded perimeter. They're no longer allowed to get to the gates on Pennsylvania Avenue and look at the White House. That started with that orange alert.
Now, Secret Service agents are also wearing their gas masks on their belts. So far, though, tourism officials here in Washington D.C. say that it has not impacted the numbers, the hotel occupancy numbers, the numbers of tourists visiting the city, although one school system in Virginia has banned schools from coming into D.C. for field trips, as well as New York for field trips.
Tourists, though, that we talked to today say they are certainly cognizant of the fact that there could be a terrorist attack during this time, but they are not letting it frighten them away -- Connie.
CHUNG: Patty Davis in Washington, thank you.
CNN's Jason Carroll is in New York.
And, Jason, I understand the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, went to the White House today, met with President Bush and Secretary Ridge, basically to ask for more money.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
That was one of the main topics of discussion, definitely about money, New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, looking ahead, saying that he's going to need federal dollars in order to pay for the massive security effort that's under way right here in New York City, that operation called Operation Atlas. Connie, we've seen evidence of Operation Atlas already in effect here in Times Square. We've seen emergency vehicles, hazardous material units.
As for the rest of the city, there's been stepped-up patrols at the bridges, at the tunnels, at the subways, at national landmarks. Several hundred officers from the New York City Police Department are participating in Operation Atlas. Members of the National Guard have been called out to help out with this effort as well. The mayor is estimating it's going to cost the city $5 million a week in order to pay for this effort, the mayor saying that this is a special city, a city with special needs. He also says that New York is a place that symbolically represents everything that would be attractive to terrorists -- Connie.
CHUNG: Jason Carroll, thank you, in New York City.
Jeff Flock is our Chicago bureau chief. And Jeff is at the Sears Tower.
I understand we have heard before that the Sears Tower was feared to be a terrorist target -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: Indeed, they're focusing in Chicago, Connie, on perceived targets. One of them is the Sears Tower. Perhaps you see it behind me, tallest building in the United States. Particularly after 9/11, a lot of people that work up there very scared.
And we want to show you what it looks like in the daylight and tell you what they're doing: specifically, putting up cement barricades, red, white, and blue ones, that would forestall any bomb- laden vehicles from driving too close. In addition, all folks that enter the Sears Tower go through a magnetometer. Bomb-sniffing dogs are used. They X-ray every shipment that comes to the building.
Another perceived target: O'Hare Airport in Chicago. It is the world's busiest. We spent a good bit of time out there today watching a sign flash that greets every car that approaches the airport, saying that it is subject to a random search. Many of those cars we saw today being pulled over by Chicago police officers, having their trunks opened, look underneath them, go through the car, so a lot of those searches already going on out at O'Hare Airport.
One final note in Chicago: The mayor here today asked that Chicago be declared a no-fly zone, just the way it has, for example, at Disneyland. He has been rebuffed by federal authorities so far, though, saying that they think there isn't enough threat here to declare this a no-fly zone. We'll continue to watch it, Connie -- back to you.
CHUNG: All right, Jeff Flock in Chicago.
Quickly now to Charles Feldman to tell us about Los Angeles, on and above ground -- Charles.
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Connie, the Academy Awards right now are still scheduled to go on, on Sunday. If they do, no red carpet for celebrities, no fans in the bleachers, the tightest security ever for the Academy Awards, if they go on Sunday. That's still being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
At LAX, thought to be high on the list for potential terrorism, extraordinary security measures, both with officers in uniform and out of uniform: Special airspace restrictions have been imposed over the nuclear reactors that are nearby Los Angeles and over Disneyland, thought to be a potential terrorist target.
And, for the first time, LAPD, today only, got through funding for 1,000 special protective suits, suits that the cops here say they've needed for quite some time -- Connie.
CHUNG: Charles Feldman, Jeff Flock, Patty Davis, Jason Carroll, thank you all.
We'll be right back with more news.
ANNOUNCER: Next: Two Marines, twin brothers, wait for the order to go to war. Their family prays for their boys' safety.
CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: We told you earlier there are almost 175,000 troops massed along Kuwait's border with Iraq. One of them is 20-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Randy (ph) Montes, attached to a British tank company. Another is Montes's twin brother, Rene (ph), seen here shortly before shipping out, now with Echo Company.
Their parents, Erick and Sandra, join us now from Los Angeles.
Thank you so much for being with us.
Sandra, it is well past the zero hour for Saddam Hussein. What's going through your mind at this moment?
SANDRA MONTES, MOTHER OF U.S. MARINES: Well, I was asking my husband just a little while ago how he was feeling. And I'm very at ease. I'm very peaceful. And I don't have any anxiety at all.
CHUNG: How is it that you have that confidence? Because, my goodness, if my son were there, I think I'd be nervous all the time.
S. MONTES: Yes. And I can see the anxiety in people. But my faith in the lord -- I have a very strong faith in the lord. I trust in him. And I've -- we've raised our sons that way. And we were taught very well in our church God's word. So that's where we get our strength.
CHUNG: That's good.
Erick, I know your sons are in two different divisions. They both are in Kuwait. Have they been able to find each other?
ERICK MONTES, FATHER OF U.S. MARINES: No, they haven't. In fact, we received a letter from Rene yesterday. He was eating breakfast and one of the sergeants said to him, how are you doing, Montes? And he looked up and he was wondering, where I know this sergeant from? And before he say anything, the sergeant said, I'm with 3rd (INAUDIBLE) Corps. I'm with your brother.
And so, no, they haven't seen each other, but he knows he's there somewhere in the same camp.
CHUNG: And they're probably on the lookout for each other.
E. MONTES: Yes. They're looking for each other.
CHUNG: Yes. Sure.
Sandra, do you believe that your sons think that President Bush is doing the right thing?
S. MONTES: I believe so. They didn't want to hear any protests and stuff like that. And they're for the president. They're ready to do what they have to do. And you don't hear them complaining or griping about what the president's decisions are.
CHUNG: And, Sandra, one of your sons actually did tell you he didn't want to go to war. That must have sort of made your stomach turn, knowing that he had to go.
S. MONTES: Well, it just made me realize -- the way he said it to me is, I don't want to go, but I'll go. And he explained to me that, who wants to go to war? Nobody wants to go to war. But they have to do what they have to do. And he was -- he believed it. So, he made me realize that it's not a game. It's something serious.
CHUNG: All right, Erick and Sandra, thank you so much for being with us.
S. MONTES: Thank you.
CHUNG: And, of course, all of our prayers are with you and all the other soldiers out there.
S. MONTES: Yes. Thank you, Connie.
E. MONTES: Thank you.
CHUNG: All right.
Still ahead, we'll get the latest and find out what's happening in Baghdad almost 60 minutes after zero hour.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: We will be right back with a look at the top developments one hour from President Bush's deadline for Saddam Hussein to go.
This is a live picture from Baghdad, no activity going on right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Live pictures of Baghdad right now, almost exactly an hour since the deadline for Saddam Hussein to end his 24-year reign as the leader of Iraq.
He's vowing defiance, preparing for war. But so is the U.S., moving thousands of troops towards Iraq. The White House reiterated that the U.S. will disarm Iraq at a time of its choosing. The next time President Bush addresses the nation, he will announce that the U.S. has begun waging war against Iraq.
And tomorrow, we'll have the very latest on Iraq.
Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news, for all the late developments.
And coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE": Senators John McCain and Dianne Feinstein on the showdown with Saddam Hussein.
And that's our program for tonight. I thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night and we'll see you tomorrow.
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