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CNN Live At Daybreak
Iraqi Parliament Went into Emergency Session This Morning
Aired March 19, 2003 - 05:33 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: Well, under war clouds, the Iraqi parliament went into emergency session this morning. There was also a press conference.
We take you live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi, who was present at that press conference.
And more tough words coming out of Iraq this morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, indeed, just a little less than an hour ago the minister of information of Iraq, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, spoke to reporters. He warned the American people, warned the U.S. soldiers, he said the U.S. administration is lying to you and the realities you will find on the ground when you come into Iraq, if you do so, will be very different from what you're being told, especially warning those U.S. soldiers in Kuwait.
Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone in Iraq is Saddam Hussein. Iraq is protected by the almighty and by its own army. We urge them not to continue with their foolish act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: There was a little technical error there you may have noticed. This was not the minister of information. It was a member of the Iraqi parliament, a member of the national assembly. Now, that national assembly met in an extraordinary session this morning to address the ultimatum that was put forward by President Bush, rejecting that ultimatum. The members of the national assembly, 250 of them, approximately, most of them were present and rejected that ultimatum. A big show of loyalty to President Saddam Hussein.
They made a big pledge of allegiance to their president. And it's not the first one. In the past 24 hours, we've seen a lot of that. The ministers meeting with President Saddam Hussein dressed in military uniform, the main leaders of the ruling Baath Party and some military commanders, again, all of them rejecting that ultimatum.
As for the streets of Baghdad, Carol, well, it's a very eerie, eerie moment right now. In the evening, I went out to see what the mood was. A lot of what you see are just sand bags massed together in preparation for a defense of the capital maybe, and also a lot of shop windows that are now empty and closed -- Carol. COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live out of Baghdad this morning.
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
Aired March 19, 2003 - 05:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, under war clouds, the Iraqi parliament went into emergency session this morning. There was also a press conference.
We take you live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi, who was present at that press conference.
And more tough words coming out of Iraq this morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, indeed, just a little less than an hour ago the minister of information of Iraq, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, spoke to reporters. He warned the American people, warned the U.S. soldiers, he said the U.S. administration is lying to you and the realities you will find on the ground when you come into Iraq, if you do so, will be very different from what you're being told, especially warning those U.S. soldiers in Kuwait.
Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone in Iraq is Saddam Hussein. Iraq is protected by the almighty and by its own army. We urge them not to continue with their foolish act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: There was a little technical error there you may have noticed. This was not the minister of information. It was a member of the Iraqi parliament, a member of the national assembly. Now, that national assembly met in an extraordinary session this morning to address the ultimatum that was put forward by President Bush, rejecting that ultimatum. The members of the national assembly, 250 of them, approximately, most of them were present and rejected that ultimatum. A big show of loyalty to President Saddam Hussein.
They made a big pledge of allegiance to their president. And it's not the first one. In the past 24 hours, we've seen a lot of that. The ministers meeting with President Saddam Hussein dressed in military uniform, the main leaders of the ruling Baath Party and some military commanders, again, all of them rejecting that ultimatum.
As for the streets of Baghdad, Carol, well, it's a very eerie, eerie moment right now. In the evening, I went out to see what the mood was. A lot of what you see are just sand bags massed together in preparation for a defense of the capital maybe, and also a lot of shop windows that are now empty and closed -- Carol. COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live out of Baghdad this morning.
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
