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CNN Live At Daybreak
Areas In, Near Baghdad Hit by Cruise Missiles
Aired March 20, 2003 - 06:32 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go to our Rym Brahimi, who is standing by in Baghdad. She's been watching the scene there, and it's been a rather serene scene belying the different tensions that are in the air right now.
Let's check with her right now and see what the very latest is from Baghdad.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you.
Well, the latest here we've just received from sources in Baghdad, there were 14 people that were injured in last night's air strikes and one person killed.
Now, we heard from the Iraqi information minister a little earlier on that the TV building, the radio building had been hit, as well as a building belonging to Customs. It's not clear where the casualties occurred. They could have occurred also in another area on the outskirts of Baghdad. We're hoping to hear more on that a little later, when the Ministry of Information officials take journalists on a tour of Baghdad and show them the sites that were attacked.
Now, the minister of information also told reporters that the Bush administration had admitted -- had openly admitted that it was an administration of assassins when they claimed that they were targeting a place where President Saddam Hussein was believed to be. The minister of information saying that the speech that was given by President Saddam Hussein and shown on Iraqi TV was in fact a response to those allegations by the U.S. administration to show the world, said the minister, that the U.S. was trying to assassinate the president, but that they failed.
Back to you.
HARRIS: All right, Rym, before we let you go, one last time, please give us an update of how many different sites the officials there are telling you were struck by those missiles launched last night.
BRAHIMI: Well, we know of at least four different sites for now, and again, this might be updated, this might change as we receive more information. But for what we know until now, the radio building, the TV building, the Customs building and apparently one area that seems to be a residential district. Again, this is something we're still checking on. The Ministry of Information says that the radio and TV building were hit, but nobody was in the building at the time.
But we do know from sources in Baghdad that all in all, 14 people were injured and one person was killed in those attacks last night.
Back to you.
HARRIS: All right, and, Rym, one last time now for that radio-TV building, do we know whether or not that building has been knocked and totally taken out of commission? Is the radio and TV operation actually working there in Baghdad?
BRAHIMI: Well, we're not clear exactly on what happened to that radio and TV building, how hard it's been hit. I know I've been listening to Iraqi radio for a number of hours now. It doesn't seem to have been interrupted.
There's also the speech of President Saddam Hussein was aired both on Iraqi television later on and on Iraqi satellite television as well as on the television known as Shabbat TV, which is run by the president's son. But of course, there's no way of knowing whether the fact that it didnt air immediately on Iraqi TV was because there was a problem there or because there was simply just nobody in the building at the time.
Again, we'll check on that and update you as soon as we have more on that.
Back to you.
HARRIS: Understood, and thank you, Rym. Make sure you get back to us as soon as you hear something more about that. Thank you very much -- Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.
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 20, 2003 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go to our Rym Brahimi, who is standing by in Baghdad. She's been watching the scene there, and it's been a rather serene scene belying the different tensions that are in the air right now.
Let's check with her right now and see what the very latest is from Baghdad.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you.
Well, the latest here we've just received from sources in Baghdad, there were 14 people that were injured in last night's air strikes and one person killed.
Now, we heard from the Iraqi information minister a little earlier on that the TV building, the radio building had been hit, as well as a building belonging to Customs. It's not clear where the casualties occurred. They could have occurred also in another area on the outskirts of Baghdad. We're hoping to hear more on that a little later, when the Ministry of Information officials take journalists on a tour of Baghdad and show them the sites that were attacked.
Now, the minister of information also told reporters that the Bush administration had admitted -- had openly admitted that it was an administration of assassins when they claimed that they were targeting a place where President Saddam Hussein was believed to be. The minister of information saying that the speech that was given by President Saddam Hussein and shown on Iraqi TV was in fact a response to those allegations by the U.S. administration to show the world, said the minister, that the U.S. was trying to assassinate the president, but that they failed.
Back to you.
HARRIS: All right, Rym, before we let you go, one last time, please give us an update of how many different sites the officials there are telling you were struck by those missiles launched last night.
BRAHIMI: Well, we know of at least four different sites for now, and again, this might be updated, this might change as we receive more information. But for what we know until now, the radio building, the TV building, the Customs building and apparently one area that seems to be a residential district. Again, this is something we're still checking on. The Ministry of Information says that the radio and TV building were hit, but nobody was in the building at the time.
But we do know from sources in Baghdad that all in all, 14 people were injured and one person was killed in those attacks last night.
Back to you.
HARRIS: All right, and, Rym, one last time now for that radio-TV building, do we know whether or not that building has been knocked and totally taken out of commission? Is the radio and TV operation actually working there in Baghdad?
BRAHIMI: Well, we're not clear exactly on what happened to that radio and TV building, how hard it's been hit. I know I've been listening to Iraqi radio for a number of hours now. It doesn't seem to have been interrupted.
There's also the speech of President Saddam Hussein was aired both on Iraqi television later on and on Iraqi satellite television as well as on the television known as Shabbat TV, which is run by the president's son. But of course, there's no way of knowing whether the fact that it didnt air immediately on Iraqi TV was because there was a problem there or because there was simply just nobody in the building at the time.
Again, we'll check on that and update you as soon as we have more on that.
Back to you.
HARRIS: Understood, and thank you, Rym. Make sure you get back to us as soon as you hear something more about that. Thank you very much -- Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
