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American Morning
Interview With Madeleine Albright
Aired March 20, 2003 - 07:20 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Operation Iraqi Freedom is now underway.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright supports the war but believes it could have been avoided.
She joins us now from Ann Abortion, Michigan to talk a little bit about the potential fallout of the conflict.
Welcome.
First off, your reaction to the first strikes we saw overnight.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, hello, Paula, and my reactions are that it is actually a very sad day that we have had to go in this direction. Obviously, we are all very supportive of our troops who, in watching what has been going on, are quite brilliant. I am especially interested in the USS Constellation, having been on that aircraft carrier. And I just think that this is a difficult war. The president has already warned us that it's going to be longer then people think.
I hope very much that that part of it can get over as quickly as possible and that we are able to move into the reconstruction phase.
ZAHN: It is not clear exactly what those missiles hit last night in Baghdad. Certainly a decapitation attack is something other presidents have tried. The president you served under tried a similar thing to try to get rid of Osama bin Laden.
Just your reaction to starting off the campaign with that?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I can imagine what it was like when, according to the news, CIA Director Tenet came in and told the president that there was the potential of getting Saddam Hussein very early on. Obviously, one of the very difficult parts of this war is going to be trying to figure out what the end of Saddam Hussein is. Will he actually die or will he take exile or captured? And I'm sure that they were very enticed by the fact that one of the major goals here of removing Saddam Hussein could be done so early.
We obviously have been told that this war was going to begin in a different way. So it must have been a very important decision for the president to make.
ZAHN: We're just beginning to hear some international reaction. The French this morning saying they are expressing deep concern over the military operations in Iraq. They hope that "which has just begun will end as soon as possible." They say officials continue to be particularly attentive to the security of French people abroad and are following the developing situation with the greatest attention.
Clearly, in a rebuilding of Iraq, the French are going to play some kind of a role.
Where do you see the relationship going between the United States and France?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think it's absolutely essential to rebuild the relationship. We cannot have a spat between us and one of our best allies. And I hope very much that the diplomacy that is, should be taking place at this point is in terms of trying to rebuild those relationships. We need everyone as we rebuild Iraq. I hope very much that this administration will understand that the United Nations has to have an important role in the rebuilding and that, in fact, they go to U.N., as we did with Kosovo, in order to try to get more support for a rebuilding and potentially the idea of some ii authority in there so that it's not just the United States.
ZAHN: President Putin making some stinging remarks today about the beginning of this campaign. He said that the military campaign should be halted as soon as possible. He said, "If we allow the law of the fist to replace international law by which the strong are always right and has the right to do anything," and then he goes on to say this was a major political mistake.
How much of a fallout do you think we'll see in that relationship between Russia and the United States?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I'm kind of surprised at the vehemence of that particular statement because President Bush has had a very good relationship with President Putin, one that he has put a great deal of effort into. I hope, again, very much that these kinds of initial statements can be mitigated as time goes on to try to rebuild the relationships because for me, Paula, one of the most important fallouts of the war is that potentially we have damaged a whole series of not only bilateral, but multilateral relationships that are necessary for the United States to exist in a more secure world.
So once the war has started, obviously, in many ways, the Pentagon takes over and the military routine takes place. And it is up to the diplomats now to do everything they can to rebuild the relationships in support of what we're doing and in support of what has to happen next
ZAHN: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state during the Clinton administration, thanks so much for your time this morning.
We really appreciate your dropping by.
ALBRIGHT: Thank you, Paula, for your coverage.
ZAHN: Thank you.
Back to Bill now, who joins us from Kuwait City -- Bill. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, you mentioned the strong words from Vladimir Putin earlier today directed at the White House, directed at the military strikes now under way. Last night the American people in a four minute address did hear from the president. If what's happening this morning, front lawn of the White House and CNN's John King today -- John, hello.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill, from the White House.
President Bush returned to the Oval Office from the White House residence about 35 minutes ago now. A day long series of urgent meetings with military planners, also a day long series of phone calls around the world, we are told, from President Bush. At 6:00 a.m. this morning, now about 90 minutes ago, Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, walked from the west wing to the White House residence to brief the president on overnight developments.
We are told by a senior administration official that the president is well aware of the criticism from President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders but that he is "undeterred" and that the campaign will continue.
Now, as you noted, it was in a four minute address to the American people last night that Mr. Bush announced the first wave of the attack was under way. Mr. Bush saying selected targets were being hit in the first wave, but he also made clear that when the full force of this operation swings under way, the United States will use overwhelming military force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but victory. My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the dramatic decision to advance the start of this campaign by as much as 48 hours came at this meeting right here. You see Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld, Chairman Richard Myers, George Tenet, the CIA director, heading into an afternoon meeting here at the White House. It started at about 3:20 p.m., 3:20 p.m. in the Oval Office. It ran till about 7:20 p.m. At that meeting, the CIA director, George Tenet, told Mr. Bush the CIA had reason to believe that it had an intelligence lock on Saddam Hussein and other key members of the Iraqi leadership. The military planners told Mr. Bush they could launch a strike almost immediately if he gave the OK. Mr. Bush gave the approval at that meeting. The strikes were launched, of course. It was later when the president told the American people the attacks were under way. This morning, curiously, the White House says it is still waiting for an assessment from the intelligence community to determine whether that tape of Saddam Hussein on Iraqi TV was, indeed, authentic, whether it, perhaps, was recorded prior to the strikes. The White House officials tell us that assessment is under way. Mr. Bush again in the Oval Office at this hour. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld among his urgent visitors this morning.
Officials tell us it could still be 24 hours, perhaps even more, before we see the full wave of this military action -- Bill.
HEMMER: John King on the front lawn.
John, thanks.
We will hear from Ari Fleischer later today. You'll see that briefing here live on CNN and certainly there will be a multitude of questions about where we are going now as a country in terms of this military action.
Back to Paula now in New York -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.
We're going to take a short break here, but our coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom will continue. Joining us right out of the break will be Rym Brahimi in Baghdad. We've got Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the ground in Kuwait and Kevin Sites joining us from northern Iraq.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: For those of you that are just joining us here on AMERICAN MORNING, here are some of the latest developments at this hour.
Iraqi missiles fell on Kuwait today. Patriot batteries took out one of those missiles. No injuries are reported. Saddam Hussein the target of a U.S. decapitation attack involving 40 Tomahawk missiles fired from six different U.S. warships. He has since addressed the Iraqi people. As John King just reported at the White House, an analysis of that tape is being done to figure out whether it was pre- taped or done live.
Hospital sources in Iraq report 14 people were killed. One killed in the strikes. The Jordanian foreign ministry is now confirming among those dead was one of their own.
Back to Kuwait now with Bill -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you, Paula.
Here in Kuwait City, the Pentagon also saying a small Cessna plane, that's how they describe it, crossed from Iraq into Kuwait and crashed near a Marine position, possibly Camp Commando, the forward location for the U.S. Marines. Iraq's information minister claims U.S. missiles and bombs hit only an empty building and did kill one civilian, as Paula just mentioned. Iraq is also shelling Kurdish held areas in northern Iraq.
ZAHN: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Paula Zahn.
Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Hello, Paula.
Just to let you know right now in the background you might be able to hear it, the air raid sirens going off yet again in Kuwait City. Just to update you in case the viewers are just joining us, it was about three hours ago when we heard the first of three waves all come and go, the all clear finished after each wave. But now yet again there is another air raid siren.
What this means right now quite unclear. We do not know. But again, you can hear it in the background. When we get more information on this, you'll hear it first -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, Bill, if you're given any
Indication by our people on the ground there that you need to get our, you're going to head for that parking garage that CNN employees have headed to a number of times today already, right?
HEMMER: Yes, we certainly will. Our colleagues, we're about 60 strong here in the hotel in Kuwait City. And a number of them, dozens of them went down to that parking garage earlier today.
Listen, we have a full staff here which allows us with technical experts to tell us when we need to take cover and when it's OK. They're in constant contact with us, Paula, and our gas masks, our bulletproof Kevlar vests are not too far from our reach. We are not taking many precautions. Although half a world away it seems quite dangerous right now to viewers back in the U.S., we are doing everything we can to make sure that we are safe.
The sirens are still under way right now, Paula. Not quite sure what it means right now, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
ZAHN: All right, we will come back to you for that.
In the meantime, little U.S. military activity has been reported in the hours since missiles struck Baghdad in an operation intended to take out Saddam Hussein. We're not sure exactly how effective that mission has been.
Let's turn to Barbara Starr for more on that at the Pentagon -- Barbara, do we know what those missiles hit?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't at this point, Paula, but events are moving very quickly here this morning.
Officials now confirming that special forces are in southern Iraq conducting reconnaissance missions. They call it preparing the battlefield, clearly moving to key sites to get ready for more military action, which could unfold over the next 24 hours.
We are also told to expect to see continue air strikes in southern Iraq, all part of the effort to prep the battlefield before the full invasion, the full air and ground campaign begins.
Officials are confirming at least two missile launches, indeed, towards Kuwait. They do not think at this point they were Scuds. In fact, what they are confirming to us is these were short range surface to surface ballistic missiles. They believe one of them was an al- Samoud missile or a variant of the al-Samoud. Of course, that being the type of missile that the Iraqis had been destroying in recent days, but they had not destroyed their entire inventory. At least one of those missiles successfully intercepted by a U.S. Patriot missile launched out of Kuwait.
Officials also confirming details, more details of the report of that small Cessna aircraft that flew over a Marine Corps position in Kuwait and then crashed. Officials saying eyewitness accounts tell them that that Cessna circled for about five minutes before it crashed. They do not know if there was a pilot on board. They do not believe at this point that there were any chemical or weapons of mass destruction munitions on board because the all clear was sounded.
In addition, Paula, CNN has learned that the strike last night on Baghdad may not really have been all that much of a surprise, since late last year intelligence officials, the CIA and other military intelligence officials had been studying architectural drawings of key sites in Baghdad that they believe Saddam Hussein might run to when he finally felt the pressure.
They had looked at these drawings, they had looked at the sites, they had a good idea of exactly what types of munitions they wanted to fire at them to give them their best chance of destroying those sites. Yesterday the CIA believed they were ready to move and they did move against those targets. Not clear yet. Still waiting for the results of last night's attack -- Paula.
ZAHN: Barbara, I wanted to add to that in some reporting I've just seen from our own wire service saying that U.S. government officials have acknowledged that a private home outside of Baghdad had been specifically targeted. They had had some optimism that Saddam Hussein might be there, plus members of the Iraqi leadership.
Once again, before we hear this news conference this morning, we really don't know what was hit. We just have this Red Cross information to go on that one Jordan citizen was killed, 14 wounded.
Is there anything else you can add to that this morning?
STARR: Well, all we can tell you, Paula, is it's very clear that covert reconnaissance had been going on for several days. They were keeping watch. They felt they had an idea where the leadership might be. But experience has taught the U.S. military, especially look at the Osama bin Laden effort to find him, very, very tough to find one man on the move.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr, thanks so much.
We will be coming back to you often this morning.
Back to Bill now in Kuwait City.
HEMMER: Thank you, Paula.
Just so our viewers know, don't hear the sirens right now. That's a good thing.
Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, that's where we find CNN's Kevin Sites. He's in that Kurdish controlled territory where apparently there was some type of military action a few hours ago -- Kevin, what do you have for us?
KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, just to give you a little perspective, Chamchamal is midway between Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk. This is the farthest west that we can go right now that is still Kurdish controlled territory. About two kilometers behind me are Iraqi forces. Now, it's been a fairly interesting day so far. The area that we're in right now, which is Kurdish controlled, is armed with only a few men. They have small weapons here, AK-47s. But earlier today, the Iraqi forces fired off an artillery round, which just seemed to go into the air. We didn't see where it landed. Then shortly after that a mortar round, an .82 millimeter mortar.
Then there was some small arms fire after that. It was quiet for a little bit and then perhaps about an hour or an hour and a half ago, another mortar round. And my partner, Bill Skinner here, who's been shooting for us, was walking across the road at one point and they opened fire with Dushka machine guns and some of those rounds hit behind him on the road just as he was crossing.
Now, there's nothing military significant here and the town of Chamchamal is all but empty. Everyone's evacuated. They're as close to the lines as you can possibly get and they're fearful of a biological or a chemical attack. So most of the people have evacuated. It's not really clear why the Iraqis were shooting here. It may be just harassment fire, basically not liking the fact that there were some media in the area.
However, we did think one round went towards Chamchamal. We did a little reconnaissance over there and tried to find out where it might have landed and have not seen anything yet, no damage there. But it did make it a bit of an exciting morning.
HEMMER: All right, Kevin, thanks.
Kevin Sites again in northern Iraq there in that Kurdish controlled territory. Let's bring in Don Shepperd, our military analyst, right now, who will ride out this entire military conflict just like he did during the Afghanistan campaign.
Don, it is said that this was some sort of decapitation strike. Is the implication in that title quite obvious, this was directed at the head of the Iraqi leadership?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Bill, the follow of that is correct. It appears what happened is 42 Tomahawk missiles launched from two destroyers, two cruisers and two submarines operating between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
In addition, 117 Stealth fighters, reportedly two of them, dropping GBU-27 penetrator bombs on the targets, on at least two targets, perhaps four targets.
We're still sorting all this out. We're waiting for the Pentagon to confirm all of these details.
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Aired March 20, 2003 - 07:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Operation Iraqi Freedom is now underway.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright supports the war but believes it could have been avoided.
She joins us now from Ann Abortion, Michigan to talk a little bit about the potential fallout of the conflict.
Welcome.
First off, your reaction to the first strikes we saw overnight.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, hello, Paula, and my reactions are that it is actually a very sad day that we have had to go in this direction. Obviously, we are all very supportive of our troops who, in watching what has been going on, are quite brilliant. I am especially interested in the USS Constellation, having been on that aircraft carrier. And I just think that this is a difficult war. The president has already warned us that it's going to be longer then people think.
I hope very much that that part of it can get over as quickly as possible and that we are able to move into the reconstruction phase.
ZAHN: It is not clear exactly what those missiles hit last night in Baghdad. Certainly a decapitation attack is something other presidents have tried. The president you served under tried a similar thing to try to get rid of Osama bin Laden.
Just your reaction to starting off the campaign with that?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I can imagine what it was like when, according to the news, CIA Director Tenet came in and told the president that there was the potential of getting Saddam Hussein very early on. Obviously, one of the very difficult parts of this war is going to be trying to figure out what the end of Saddam Hussein is. Will he actually die or will he take exile or captured? And I'm sure that they were very enticed by the fact that one of the major goals here of removing Saddam Hussein could be done so early.
We obviously have been told that this war was going to begin in a different way. So it must have been a very important decision for the president to make.
ZAHN: We're just beginning to hear some international reaction. The French this morning saying they are expressing deep concern over the military operations in Iraq. They hope that "which has just begun will end as soon as possible." They say officials continue to be particularly attentive to the security of French people abroad and are following the developing situation with the greatest attention.
Clearly, in a rebuilding of Iraq, the French are going to play some kind of a role.
Where do you see the relationship going between the United States and France?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think it's absolutely essential to rebuild the relationship. We cannot have a spat between us and one of our best allies. And I hope very much that the diplomacy that is, should be taking place at this point is in terms of trying to rebuild those relationships. We need everyone as we rebuild Iraq. I hope very much that this administration will understand that the United Nations has to have an important role in the rebuilding and that, in fact, they go to U.N., as we did with Kosovo, in order to try to get more support for a rebuilding and potentially the idea of some ii authority in there so that it's not just the United States.
ZAHN: President Putin making some stinging remarks today about the beginning of this campaign. He said that the military campaign should be halted as soon as possible. He said, "If we allow the law of the fist to replace international law by which the strong are always right and has the right to do anything," and then he goes on to say this was a major political mistake.
How much of a fallout do you think we'll see in that relationship between Russia and the United States?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I'm kind of surprised at the vehemence of that particular statement because President Bush has had a very good relationship with President Putin, one that he has put a great deal of effort into. I hope, again, very much that these kinds of initial statements can be mitigated as time goes on to try to rebuild the relationships because for me, Paula, one of the most important fallouts of the war is that potentially we have damaged a whole series of not only bilateral, but multilateral relationships that are necessary for the United States to exist in a more secure world.
So once the war has started, obviously, in many ways, the Pentagon takes over and the military routine takes place. And it is up to the diplomats now to do everything they can to rebuild the relationships in support of what we're doing and in support of what has to happen next
ZAHN: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state during the Clinton administration, thanks so much for your time this morning.
We really appreciate your dropping by.
ALBRIGHT: Thank you, Paula, for your coverage.
ZAHN: Thank you.
Back to Bill now, who joins us from Kuwait City -- Bill. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, you mentioned the strong words from Vladimir Putin earlier today directed at the White House, directed at the military strikes now under way. Last night the American people in a four minute address did hear from the president. If what's happening this morning, front lawn of the White House and CNN's John King today -- John, hello.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill, from the White House.
President Bush returned to the Oval Office from the White House residence about 35 minutes ago now. A day long series of urgent meetings with military planners, also a day long series of phone calls around the world, we are told, from President Bush. At 6:00 a.m. this morning, now about 90 minutes ago, Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, walked from the west wing to the White House residence to brief the president on overnight developments.
We are told by a senior administration official that the president is well aware of the criticism from President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders but that he is "undeterred" and that the campaign will continue.
Now, as you noted, it was in a four minute address to the American people last night that Mr. Bush announced the first wave of the attack was under way. Mr. Bush saying selected targets were being hit in the first wave, but he also made clear that when the full force of this operation swings under way, the United States will use overwhelming military force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but victory. My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the dramatic decision to advance the start of this campaign by as much as 48 hours came at this meeting right here. You see Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld, Chairman Richard Myers, George Tenet, the CIA director, heading into an afternoon meeting here at the White House. It started at about 3:20 p.m., 3:20 p.m. in the Oval Office. It ran till about 7:20 p.m. At that meeting, the CIA director, George Tenet, told Mr. Bush the CIA had reason to believe that it had an intelligence lock on Saddam Hussein and other key members of the Iraqi leadership. The military planners told Mr. Bush they could launch a strike almost immediately if he gave the OK. Mr. Bush gave the approval at that meeting. The strikes were launched, of course. It was later when the president told the American people the attacks were under way. This morning, curiously, the White House says it is still waiting for an assessment from the intelligence community to determine whether that tape of Saddam Hussein on Iraqi TV was, indeed, authentic, whether it, perhaps, was recorded prior to the strikes. The White House officials tell us that assessment is under way. Mr. Bush again in the Oval Office at this hour. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld among his urgent visitors this morning.
Officials tell us it could still be 24 hours, perhaps even more, before we see the full wave of this military action -- Bill.
HEMMER: John King on the front lawn.
John, thanks.
We will hear from Ari Fleischer later today. You'll see that briefing here live on CNN and certainly there will be a multitude of questions about where we are going now as a country in terms of this military action.
Back to Paula now in New York -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.
We're going to take a short break here, but our coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom will continue. Joining us right out of the break will be Rym Brahimi in Baghdad. We've got Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the ground in Kuwait and Kevin Sites joining us from northern Iraq.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: For those of you that are just joining us here on AMERICAN MORNING, here are some of the latest developments at this hour.
Iraqi missiles fell on Kuwait today. Patriot batteries took out one of those missiles. No injuries are reported. Saddam Hussein the target of a U.S. decapitation attack involving 40 Tomahawk missiles fired from six different U.S. warships. He has since addressed the Iraqi people. As John King just reported at the White House, an analysis of that tape is being done to figure out whether it was pre- taped or done live.
Hospital sources in Iraq report 14 people were killed. One killed in the strikes. The Jordanian foreign ministry is now confirming among those dead was one of their own.
Back to Kuwait now with Bill -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you, Paula.
Here in Kuwait City, the Pentagon also saying a small Cessna plane, that's how they describe it, crossed from Iraq into Kuwait and crashed near a Marine position, possibly Camp Commando, the forward location for the U.S. Marines. Iraq's information minister claims U.S. missiles and bombs hit only an empty building and did kill one civilian, as Paula just mentioned. Iraq is also shelling Kurdish held areas in northern Iraq.
ZAHN: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Paula Zahn.
Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Hello, Paula.
Just to let you know right now in the background you might be able to hear it, the air raid sirens going off yet again in Kuwait City. Just to update you in case the viewers are just joining us, it was about three hours ago when we heard the first of three waves all come and go, the all clear finished after each wave. But now yet again there is another air raid siren.
What this means right now quite unclear. We do not know. But again, you can hear it in the background. When we get more information on this, you'll hear it first -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, Bill, if you're given any
Indication by our people on the ground there that you need to get our, you're going to head for that parking garage that CNN employees have headed to a number of times today already, right?
HEMMER: Yes, we certainly will. Our colleagues, we're about 60 strong here in the hotel in Kuwait City. And a number of them, dozens of them went down to that parking garage earlier today.
Listen, we have a full staff here which allows us with technical experts to tell us when we need to take cover and when it's OK. They're in constant contact with us, Paula, and our gas masks, our bulletproof Kevlar vests are not too far from our reach. We are not taking many precautions. Although half a world away it seems quite dangerous right now to viewers back in the U.S., we are doing everything we can to make sure that we are safe.
The sirens are still under way right now, Paula. Not quite sure what it means right now, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
ZAHN: All right, we will come back to you for that.
In the meantime, little U.S. military activity has been reported in the hours since missiles struck Baghdad in an operation intended to take out Saddam Hussein. We're not sure exactly how effective that mission has been.
Let's turn to Barbara Starr for more on that at the Pentagon -- Barbara, do we know what those missiles hit?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't at this point, Paula, but events are moving very quickly here this morning.
Officials now confirming that special forces are in southern Iraq conducting reconnaissance missions. They call it preparing the battlefield, clearly moving to key sites to get ready for more military action, which could unfold over the next 24 hours.
We are also told to expect to see continue air strikes in southern Iraq, all part of the effort to prep the battlefield before the full invasion, the full air and ground campaign begins.
Officials are confirming at least two missile launches, indeed, towards Kuwait. They do not think at this point they were Scuds. In fact, what they are confirming to us is these were short range surface to surface ballistic missiles. They believe one of them was an al- Samoud missile or a variant of the al-Samoud. Of course, that being the type of missile that the Iraqis had been destroying in recent days, but they had not destroyed their entire inventory. At least one of those missiles successfully intercepted by a U.S. Patriot missile launched out of Kuwait.
Officials also confirming details, more details of the report of that small Cessna aircraft that flew over a Marine Corps position in Kuwait and then crashed. Officials saying eyewitness accounts tell them that that Cessna circled for about five minutes before it crashed. They do not know if there was a pilot on board. They do not believe at this point that there were any chemical or weapons of mass destruction munitions on board because the all clear was sounded.
In addition, Paula, CNN has learned that the strike last night on Baghdad may not really have been all that much of a surprise, since late last year intelligence officials, the CIA and other military intelligence officials had been studying architectural drawings of key sites in Baghdad that they believe Saddam Hussein might run to when he finally felt the pressure.
They had looked at these drawings, they had looked at the sites, they had a good idea of exactly what types of munitions they wanted to fire at them to give them their best chance of destroying those sites. Yesterday the CIA believed they were ready to move and they did move against those targets. Not clear yet. Still waiting for the results of last night's attack -- Paula.
ZAHN: Barbara, I wanted to add to that in some reporting I've just seen from our own wire service saying that U.S. government officials have acknowledged that a private home outside of Baghdad had been specifically targeted. They had had some optimism that Saddam Hussein might be there, plus members of the Iraqi leadership.
Once again, before we hear this news conference this morning, we really don't know what was hit. We just have this Red Cross information to go on that one Jordan citizen was killed, 14 wounded.
Is there anything else you can add to that this morning?
STARR: Well, all we can tell you, Paula, is it's very clear that covert reconnaissance had been going on for several days. They were keeping watch. They felt they had an idea where the leadership might be. But experience has taught the U.S. military, especially look at the Osama bin Laden effort to find him, very, very tough to find one man on the move.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr, thanks so much.
We will be coming back to you often this morning.
Back to Bill now in Kuwait City.
HEMMER: Thank you, Paula.
Just so our viewers know, don't hear the sirens right now. That's a good thing.
Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, that's where we find CNN's Kevin Sites. He's in that Kurdish controlled territory where apparently there was some type of military action a few hours ago -- Kevin, what do you have for us?
KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, just to give you a little perspective, Chamchamal is midway between Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk. This is the farthest west that we can go right now that is still Kurdish controlled territory. About two kilometers behind me are Iraqi forces. Now, it's been a fairly interesting day so far. The area that we're in right now, which is Kurdish controlled, is armed with only a few men. They have small weapons here, AK-47s. But earlier today, the Iraqi forces fired off an artillery round, which just seemed to go into the air. We didn't see where it landed. Then shortly after that a mortar round, an .82 millimeter mortar.
Then there was some small arms fire after that. It was quiet for a little bit and then perhaps about an hour or an hour and a half ago, another mortar round. And my partner, Bill Skinner here, who's been shooting for us, was walking across the road at one point and they opened fire with Dushka machine guns and some of those rounds hit behind him on the road just as he was crossing.
Now, there's nothing military significant here and the town of Chamchamal is all but empty. Everyone's evacuated. They're as close to the lines as you can possibly get and they're fearful of a biological or a chemical attack. So most of the people have evacuated. It's not really clear why the Iraqis were shooting here. It may be just harassment fire, basically not liking the fact that there were some media in the area.
However, we did think one round went towards Chamchamal. We did a little reconnaissance over there and tried to find out where it might have landed and have not seen anything yet, no damage there. But it did make it a bit of an exciting morning.
HEMMER: All right, Kevin, thanks.
Kevin Sites again in northern Iraq there in that Kurdish controlled territory. Let's bring in Don Shepperd, our military analyst, right now, who will ride out this entire military conflict just like he did during the Afghanistan campaign.
Don, it is said that this was some sort of decapitation strike. Is the implication in that title quite obvious, this was directed at the head of the Iraqi leadership?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Bill, the follow of that is correct. It appears what happened is 42 Tomahawk missiles launched from two destroyers, two cruisers and two submarines operating between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
In addition, 117 Stealth fighters, reportedly two of them, dropping GBU-27 penetrator bombs on the targets, on at least two targets, perhaps four targets.
We're still sorting all this out. We're waiting for the Pentagon to confirm all of these details.
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