Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Strike on Iraq: U.S. Army Soldier Held on Suspicion of Grenade Attack
Aired March 23, 2003 - 07:00 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: Good morning, welcome, I'm Paula Zahn, breaking news out of Baghdad and this hour we're going to share with you the shot, we're going to try to provide some context, but it is very difficult to determine what's going on actually it's day light hours and eventually we're going to get the live shot up but we are told that Al-Jazeera network, which is an Arab network, as well as other Arab news organizations, are reporting that Iraqis now are searching parts of the Tigris River.
They earlier indicated there might have been a downed coalition plane. They are searching for pilots and that's about all we can tell you at this hour as related to that.
Also there are reports of some new explosions being heard in Baghdad. Now once again we can see some photographers there and camera operators recording and it appeared as though some Iraqis were firing shots into the water. Really listening to give you more information on that but you're watching the same picture I'm watching and that's about all we can say.
Once again breaking -- more breaking news out of Baghdad as well, reports of new explosions being heard in Baghdad. All of this going on where there is shock and betrayal in Northern Kuwait today at Camp Pennsylvania. We'll keep an eye on this picture to see if that will give us any better insight into what is going on in Baghdad at this hour.
A U.S. Army soldier is suspected of a grenade attack against his fellow troops. Let's go to Bill Hemmer for the very latest on that -- Bill, any more information on that suspect?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, what we know right now Paula he's being held and he's being questioned. A member of the 101st Airborne Division and you can imagine right now at this point going forward there will be an investigation that will be launched within the 101st. A lot more on that throughout the day.
We're going to give you a little bit of what's happening throughout the day. Here now are our latest developments. In Baghdad, Paula, Iraq's vice president says his country has captured American prisoners and will show them on TV within hours.
That word came out several hours ago. Central Command saying that it denies any American troops so far have been captured. Also, the Northern city of Mosul and Kirkuk also coming under U.S. air attack a third straight night there. The U.S. says it has been unable to send any troops there to secure the critical oil wells in that region said to be still vulnerable at this point.
The Pentagon says the coalition has control of only one and not two strategic oil fields in Western Iraq on Friday we were reporting two days ago there was word that both fields known as H2 and H3 had been taken and secured. Now the U.S. says it only controls H3 which is close to the border with Jordan, further west than H2 is.
Control of these areas critical to protect Israel from Scud missile attacks, also a lot of speculation, Paula, that there could be -- could be weapons of mass destruction in one of the other of these airfields in Western Iraq.
Paula, good morning to you.
ZAHN: Good morning to you, Bill. Back to that picture out of Baghdad. Now in addition to Al-Jazeera network, that Arab network, Associated Press also reporting that there is a massive search underway in the Tigris River for a possible downed coalition pilot. Where the plane is, any speculation, about where the pilot ejected is still not clear at this hour.
You still see that black smoke billowing up from the skyline there. We do want to make sure to you or make it clear to you, no one is really too sure what the source of that shot it. You have to understand this is a very narrow shot.
Donald Rumsfeld cautioning all of us when we see these fixed location shots it is just giving us a small sliver of an idea of what is going on.
But there had been some speculation that what in fact the Iraqis have done is created some oil pools ringing the city and they have set those on fire to obscure coalition or allied air strikes.
Let's go to Barbara Starr, standing by at the Pentagon, to see if she can add to what we are seeing unfold in Baghdad at this hour. Are they saying anything at the Pentagon about the possibility of a downed coalition jet?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not at this point, Paula. It's very difficult to look at these pictures and understand exactly what may be going on in Baghdad as we speak. There had been reports out of Baghdad earlier today by Iraqi government officials that they were going to parade American and coalition POWs that they had captured.
Just a little while ago officials here telling us they had no reports of any downed aircraft of any coalition POWs. But these pictures have emerged from Baghdad. Now one key question would be whether or not there had been any daylight air missions over this region. Baghdad of course being one of the most heavily defended air spaces in the world. Coalition air craft had been pounding away at the air defenses and the radars for the last several days, they said they had made a lot of progress, there had been some day light missions over Baghdad in the last 24 hours. We're not clear at this time whether there had been any in the day light hours we are seeing now. So no clear word here as to exactly what may be going on.
ZAHN: Let's look at once again this cloud of black smoke, Barbara, and once again this is a fixed location. AT one point yesterday reporters in Baghdad were describing 15 such clouds. Tell us a little bit more about these oil filled trenches that could potentially be lighted to obscure; I guess it doesn't effect the operation of satellite guided weapons but other weapons.
STARR: It doesn't Paula. The Iraqis had dug these oil ditches over the last several weeks, filled them with oil, there was every expectation they would light them on fire basically to erect a sort of primitive air defense system around Baghdad, their belief being that it would obscure the ability of coalition aircraft to launch munitions against targets in Baghdad and you're exactly right. It does not effect satellite-guided weapons and in this campaign so far U.S. officials say they are using only these precision-guided weapons.
Now laser-guided weapons would be effected by this smoke and obscured very interestingly it's largely believed the Iraqis learned this lesson in the war in Kosovo, they watched the Serbs do this and thought it would have some effect.
It's also having a -- you know -- public relations effect -- these pictures of these huge oil fires around Baghdad. The Iraqis some Pentagon officials feel the Iraqis are attempting to gain a propaganda advantage, claiming that these fires are part of the damage that U.S. warplanes have inflicted, but pretty much what we are seeing by all accounts are these oil ditches put on fire, the type of smoke you see how it is dispersing in the sky.
It does appear to be that these are strictly oil ditches. Now let me go back and say these reports that the Iraqis may parade out POWs. Officials here saying at this time, aside from what these pictures are showing along the river in Baghdad this today they have no reports of any U.S. crews down but they're not discounting that the Iraqis may parade somebody out there.
They don't know who it might be; they say we should just be prepared for the option. They may put someone out there in some type of American military uniform but at this point they have no reason to believe that it is an actual American or coalition military member. They're just warning people to be prepared for anything that they feel the Iraqis might put on television. Again, not related to the pictures we're seeing of this possible search along the river in Baghdad today.
ZAHN: Barbara as you've been speaking we've been changing our sources of shot from Abu Dhabi TV to Al-Jazeera all basically showing the same thing. Small boats in the Tigris River apparently searching for what reportedly the Associated Press is a downed pilot earlier you could see from the banks of the river Iraqi and some of them didn't' appear to even be in uniforms; I saw one Iraqi soldier firing some shots into the river.
Come back to this royal Air Force aircraft returning from a mission and it being shot by a Patriot missile. Is that being confirmed at this hour and is that the only indication of a downed plane?
STARR: That has now been confirmed by U.S. and British military sources. This was a British Tornado aircraft returning from a mission over Iraq and was shot down accidentally by a U.S. Patriot missile closer to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border.
Now it should also be understood that search and rescue mission was launched, combat search and rescue, but officials saying it was clear -- it is clearly -- a recovery mission, looking for the wreckage, looking for the remains of any of the British servicemen on board, no real belief that anyone is alive.
That combat search and rescue mission remains ongoing at this hour.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr if you please stand by, we have General David Grange with us now from CNN Center with some insights into what we're all watching together here this morning. Shots of the Iraqis not only combing the riverbanks, but actually firing into the river, possibly searching, according to the Associated Press for a downed pilot.
General Grange, describe to us what you think we are seeing.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, something motivated all these people to almost get into a mob scene and start heading to different places within the city where they think a pilot went down. There's been no coalition report on this that I've heard and -- or anyone here. I hope that's not the case. It'll be a tough situation, no doubt about it.
ZAHN: And put in the context of the reports Barbara is talking about the Iraqis claiming that they were going to parade some POWs later today -- do you think this is all part of the strategy here?
GRANGE: Good chance that that's disinformation, they could take just about anyone that looks like an American or British nationality and put them in a military uniform, we know they have coalition uniforms, that was reported last week several times so they may try to do something like that, yes.
ZAHN: And General Grange, you were I'm not sure watching the shot about two and half minutes ago when we saw shots being fired into the water. Did you see that shot and if you did, could you glean anything from it? GRANGE: Yes, that doesn't really mean, Paula, that they had a site on a person. It may just be that they think something did go down in the river and they're just shooting wildly into the water in a fever of excitement. It doesn't mean they actually have anyone right there.
ZAHN: Come back to the report that Barbara just confirmed that indeed it was a patriot missile that may have shot down a British Air Force plane earlier today. How -- when that happens, how does that effect strategy, how does that change anything?
GRANGE: it's not going to change a whole lot; you have to -- you know there's -- there's over a thousand aircraft that have flown already, hundreds today, day and night, and they all have this identification friend or foe capability.
It could have been that did not go as planned and the Patriot unit thought it was, in fact, an enemy missile or aircraft, but this is going to happen -- fratricide is going to happen continually in this war -- hopefully at a small amount.
But the thing is a lot of pressure on the air defense system to stop anything coming into Kuwait so you can just imagine the pressure that those units are under to defend their comrades on the ground there.
ZAHN: General Grange, please stand by, because we're going to quickly update the folks that are just joining us about what they're watching unfold on live television signal from Abu Dhabi TV.
Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV plus Associated Press all reporting that the Iraqis are searching for the possibility of a downed pilot.
General Grange, as Barbara Starr just reported for the Pentagon, there are no reports that there has been the downed plane over Baghdad. We're going to keep our eye on that.
General Grange, I want to go back to Bill Hemmer in just a moment. A final thought on that big thick cloud of smoke we see billowing from the skyline there, or from the horizon.
GRANGE: Well there's several theories on this. One can be that they're setting fire to oil in ditches. Another could be that this is just again more disinformation to try to get international media to focus on more horrendous damage to the civilian infrastructure occurred than it actually did because of the billowing smoke, so it's hard to say.
ZAHN: General Grange please stay with us, I understand we have Tom Mintier up from Qatar at Centcom Headquarters. Tom, any clarification of what we might be watching unfold on live TV here out of Baghdad?
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No Paula, no clarification at all. For the past 24 hours there have been rumors that an American plane or a coalition aircraft was down inside Iraq; I'm sure that the commanders here are watching the pictures each time I see these pictures I see how extraordinary they are. What could top that?
And then these pictures from downtown Baghdad of shooting into the river and the fishing boats crisscrossing the Tigris River looking for the possibility of a downed pilot.
There have been indications to me earlier in the day that each time there is an accusation by the Iraqis that a coalition pilot is down or a plane is down they're simply not going to come out and confirm this and say that this is not true.
They say that no -- none of their planes are missing is what they said this morning, none of their pilots are missing, everything is accounted for and there have been no coalition losses over the hostile territory. So, that has been the stand, we have not been able to get any comment from Centcom regarding this latest incident that is alleged to have occurred over Baghdad but we expect later on this afternoon possibly we might hear something on this and several more hours before the next coalition briefing will be 10:00 at night here that was announced first thing this morning when the next briefing was going to be. Of course the first one yesterday when General Tommy Franks, but no indication that there was any credence to this report from U.S. or coalition forces here in Doha -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right Tom Mintier thanks so much we will be getting back to you I'm sure many times before that briefing at 2:00. Let's go back to Bill Hemmer standing by in Kuwait.
Bill, I know you can see the same picture I'm looking at now. This particular angle from Abu Dhabi TV really shows that column of black smoke which we are led to believe is there as a result of some sort of oil trench being lighted by the Iraqis.
Once again we're looking for confirmation of that, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, looks similar to the scene we saw yesterday, Paula, late in the evening before the sun went down in Baghdad. I have been able to get a glimpse of some of this video on CNN International watching it on the monitor here. That looks strikingly similar to last night but I believe this cloud of smoke, Paula is closer to the center of Baghdad than what it was last night.
Want to add one more thing, though, on this possibility that you were getting reports about a downed coalition aircraft or pilot missing. The Royal Air force here in Kuwait confirming with CNN they have no reports right now of any missing aircraft. So that doubles up of what Tom Mintier, reporting out of Qatar, said.
Back 12 years ago, during the Persian Gulf War, Paula, we heard these reports a lot coming out of Baghdad oftentimes without substance to follow whether this has any substance if something we'll wait and see. In the meantime we're checking in with our embedded journalists throughout the day, Paula.
Walter Rodgers again making more progress with the 7th Cav up through Central and Southern Iraq. Let's pick things up by way of telephone with Walt now. Walt, how's your progress? Good morning. WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Well, we've paused outside a city in South-central Iraq, the reason being there's every indication Iraqi army has now thrust the civilian population or elements of the civilian population in close to the Iraqi Army to forestall a 7th Cavalry march forward.
There had been skirmishes earlier in the evening last night and then throughout the night. What happened however was as the 7th Cavalry moved forward it decided to call in air cover -- air cover from Air Force jets that we've been hearing over head at the last minute that close air cover however was scrubbed, reason being U.S. Special Forces working closer to the city had determined that even though there had been an artillery barrage somehow Iraqi civilians had been moved into the area where an air strike was about to be called in so the commander of the 7th Calvary scrubbed the air strike.
Then we saw an Apache helicopter flying close to the vicinity, we though perhaps the helicopter was being brought in to attack the Iraqi unit on the ground, the remnants of a battalion. What happened, however, we later learned was that the Apache helicopter was flying protective cover for a Blackhawk helicopter and the Blackhawk helicopter was called in to evacuate wounded Iraqi soldier.
There were four prisoners of war taken this morning, three of them uninjured, a fourth one was injured and the United States Army called in an Apache helicopter to escort an evacuation Blackhawk helicopter to evacuate this Iraqi soldier to the rear and as I say the Army is not at this time calling in close air support -- that is, air craft to bomb the Iraqi positions up ahead. The reason being that there is the concern the Iraqis have brought civilians in close to themselves to forestall that air attack -- Bill.
HEMMER: Walter is that standard operating procedure when you have a wounded Iraqi soldier to be airlifted out of there during combat?
RODGERS: It's always been my impression that was the case and we saw the Medics working on this soldier a number of hours ago. I think it was the Special Forces, I'm not sure. However, four Iraqi prisoners were taken. Three of them were squatting on the ground in black uniforms, that is to say being interrogated by the Special Forces because they are trained in Arabic languages.
And then there was another Iraqi soldier a short distance away besides an armored personnel carrier with a big red cross on it. We knew he was wounded. A number of hours after that as soon as they could get the helicopter up a Blackhawk was brought up to evacuate the wounded Iraqi soldier and at that very same time, an Apache helicopter was brought up. We initially concluded it was to attack the position forward of us.
In point of fact the Apache was brought up to escort the Medivac helicopter to the rear -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Walter, yesterday we were talking about this time, you said you had not stopped for 61 hours. In the past 24 hours how much progress have you made. Can you tell us?
RODGERS: In terms of sleep or moving forward?
HEMMER: Moving forward, or both, if you'd like?
RODGERS: We did get a little sleep last night, actually we've moved forward. I talked to Lieutenant Colonel Terry Ferrel (ph), commander of 3rd Squadron 7th Calvary United States Army -- he said despite the battalion resistance in front of us that he is still ahead of schedule and that being the case I would expect this unit to move forward again.
We moved forward for a while this morning, then there was a fire that is to say the unit was fired upon, artillery was called in there was an enormous explosion in front of us and the Army artillery knocked out and ammunition storage depot and a fuel depot same time big plumes of black smoke.
The Army's cost about a mile away, I'm looking at it I can see it a mile in the distance, between me and the burning fuel and ammunition there is a platoon or more of Bradley's and M1 Abrams tanks and all they're doing is waiting for the order to go forward and punch out whatever is still out in front of this unit. We expect that order to come that is this Army is not going to sit here all nigh from everything I've been able to determine from Army sources -- Bill.
HEMMER: Be safe, Walt. Walter Rodgers, 7th Cav, moving up again through Central and Southern Iraq. And, Paula, just watching this videotape yet again from Baghdad about these reports about a coalition pilot being downed -- watching these weapons, these machine guns being fired in the Tigris River -- I cannot see any evidence from the water or the side of the bank of that river of anyone being in there.
Whether or not that'll the case is something we're all waiting to see but again this tape coming in just about 25 minutes ago; we'll watch it closely for you, as I'm sure you're doing the same back there in New York.
ZAHN: Yes, in fact, I want to go back to that shot right now so our audience members who are just joining us for the first time this morning can see what you're talking about. Abu Dhabi TV was providing a picture for us a little bit earlier showing these small fishing boats crisscrossing the Tigris reportedly as Bill just said looking for a downed pilot.
Iraqi troops firing at some sort of unidentified target into the river. Now, Centcom -- U.S. central Command officials have not announced any missing or captured U.S. soldiers -- you're not -- there we go to that shot.
As you can see, dozens of members of the media there, recording this action. Once again, though, it's very hard to put this in a context and it makes you wonder whether this is any part of a disinformation campaign when it was just announced by the Iraqi vice- president that shortly we will see American captives paraded on Iraqi television. Those who tried, he said, to invade and he said we will see the burnt armor and vehicles this is the place where they claim is 1650 kilometers from Baghdad so it's very difficult to glean any meaning from this but clearly they're firing at something in the water, Centcom not confirming that there is any downed plane.
We will keep our eyes peeled on that as well as that last shot you just saw before we went to the river shot of the downtown skyline of Baghdad off on the horizon a large plume of black smoke.
It is being pretty much -- well we can't say it's being confirmed by the Pentagon but Barbara Starr said one of the theories being thrown out is that some oil trenches ringing downtown Baghdad have been set on fire.
Back to Kyra Phillips now who joins us from onboard the U.S.S. Lincoln. Kyra, what's playing out there -- you are on one of five aircraft carriers involved in this part of the campaign. Kyra, take it away.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But that's what everybody's telling me around here is that the feeling is this could be internal propaganda.
ZAHN: OK, Kyra, you're on the air, can you hear us?
She doesn't hear us yet as we take a little pause here. Kyra Phillips is onboard the U.S.S. Lincoln. One more try here?
All right what we're showing you know is a bridge. I guess breaking out where we think this search is underway for the possible downed pilot over this bridge. I actually didn't' see the bridge in that shot but they tell me that was off to the right of your screen.
We are led to believe there are dozens of Iraqis, some of them in civilian clothes crisscrossing the Tigris River in riverboats or small fishing vessels looking for what the Iraqis claim is a downed coalition pilot.
Centcom headquarters is not confirming the existence of any downed plane. We'll keep you posted; someone suggested al little bit earlier this morning this could be part of a disinformation campaign at the time the vice-president of Iraq is claimed to shortly will be unveiling some American captives on Iraqi television.
Now I think we do have Kyra Phillips. Can you hear me now, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well I apologize for that. As you can imagine with breaking news happening and a lot of information coming from different sources I have a lot of people talking to me in my ear. I'm trying to make calls and find out as much information as I can as things are happening.
What I can tell you is that from the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln all pilots are accounted for from the carrier here. You can probably hear in the background right now a lot of aircraft through the day and through the night (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ZAHN: All right, there's nothing wrong with your television set, that signal has broken down once again but Kyra Phillips giving us some very important information saying that all pilots on board the U.S.S. Lincoln accounted for. This is a time when we see the Iraqis scouring the Tigris River basin looking for what they say is a downed coalition pilot.
Associated Press reporting that as well as Al-Jazeera TV. Back now to Bill in Kuwait City -- Bill.
HEMMER: Paula very disturbing incident for the U.S. military, members of the 101st Airborne Division, 1st Brigade early in the morning hours here in Kuwait.
Camp Pennsylvania in the desert a member of the 101st essentially attacking with grenades and small arms other members of his unit. That suspect said to be in custody right now held for questioning.
In addition there was one member of the 101st dead as a result, ten others were wounded, many of those Medivaced to an Army hospital and in addition to those two others wounded at the scene. They were treated and released.
Still trying to piece together the story, Paula. Jim Lacey is a reporter with "TIME" magazine. He was at Camp Pennsylvania near the scene at the time and Jim I believe you -- we have you by way of telephone right now.
Give us what you are learning right now about what may have went wrong about 1:30 a.m. local time here last night.
JIM LACEY, TIME MAGAZINE: I keep saying something went wrong is might be going a little too far -- we're talking one individual for whatever motivation managed to get himself four hand grenades and cut a certain number of command tents here released by military. He -- the initial attack was the -- a considerable amount of confusion for a couple of minutes.
There was a Scud alert at the exact same time so the soldiers really didn't know if they were under attack by Scuds or if they'd been attacked by terrorists or whatever. My tent was exactly the opposite, one over, from the explosion so I was on the scene with him about a minute, minute and a half. And, by the time I got there there was two soldiers lying wounded outside of their tent.
A lot of chaos and confusion in the early moments but what I did see was one major, two young Army captains, both of them wounded took immediate control of the entire situation, set up the security perimeters, make sure the wounded were getting medical treatment, got medics in there, got the Medivac vehicles over to get them to an aide station, called for the helicopters, did everything that anyone would expect.
It was actually an amazing thing to watch that these two young captains and this major were doing it when two out of the three of them were wounded and refusing all medical attention at the time to make sure all of their compatriots were taken care of.
HEMMER: Jim, with regard to the suspect, what's happening with him at this time? Has his identity been given out, and also has there been any motivation discussed within the 101st as to why he attacked his own men?
LACEY: His identity was known and they didn't give a complete check of people almost as soon as this was -- as the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) accountability to make sure no one was missing, no one was hurt. This soldier had been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) chain of command (UNINTELLIGIBLE) disgruntled, living up to expectations, had been told that he would be staying behind when the unit advanced into Iraq and he -- but no one expected anything of this manner to form and when he turned up missing and the -- grenades had gone off, people put two and two together and so they already had a suspect in mind even 15 or 20 minutes before they actually found him hiding in a bunker.
We cannot give his name. It's going to come out at a later date. I've been told we can say his name is of Arabic origin or Arabic sounding and people can make some informed speculation on that. He attacked officers and other soldiers that were not known to him personally so there's no reason to say that this was a disgruntled soldier or chain of command or he out for anybody in the chain of command. His motivation obviously went deeper than that. He's from an engineering battalion that's a side -- assigned tot his brigade only for operations in wartime. So most of the officers here he attacked he had probably had never met in his life and so any personal motivation can probably be discounted.
HEMMER: All right Jim thanks -- Jim Lacey, "TIME" magazine, as he said he was only a tent removed from when the firing, when the grenades were blasted off this morning inside Camp Pennsylvania.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Grenade Attack>
Aired March 23, 2003 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome, I'm Paula Zahn, breaking news out of Baghdad and this hour we're going to share with you the shot, we're going to try to provide some context, but it is very difficult to determine what's going on actually it's day light hours and eventually we're going to get the live shot up but we are told that Al-Jazeera network, which is an Arab network, as well as other Arab news organizations, are reporting that Iraqis now are searching parts of the Tigris River.
They earlier indicated there might have been a downed coalition plane. They are searching for pilots and that's about all we can tell you at this hour as related to that.
Also there are reports of some new explosions being heard in Baghdad. Now once again we can see some photographers there and camera operators recording and it appeared as though some Iraqis were firing shots into the water. Really listening to give you more information on that but you're watching the same picture I'm watching and that's about all we can say.
Once again breaking -- more breaking news out of Baghdad as well, reports of new explosions being heard in Baghdad. All of this going on where there is shock and betrayal in Northern Kuwait today at Camp Pennsylvania. We'll keep an eye on this picture to see if that will give us any better insight into what is going on in Baghdad at this hour.
A U.S. Army soldier is suspected of a grenade attack against his fellow troops. Let's go to Bill Hemmer for the very latest on that -- Bill, any more information on that suspect?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, what we know right now Paula he's being held and he's being questioned. A member of the 101st Airborne Division and you can imagine right now at this point going forward there will be an investigation that will be launched within the 101st. A lot more on that throughout the day.
We're going to give you a little bit of what's happening throughout the day. Here now are our latest developments. In Baghdad, Paula, Iraq's vice president says his country has captured American prisoners and will show them on TV within hours.
That word came out several hours ago. Central Command saying that it denies any American troops so far have been captured. Also, the Northern city of Mosul and Kirkuk also coming under U.S. air attack a third straight night there. The U.S. says it has been unable to send any troops there to secure the critical oil wells in that region said to be still vulnerable at this point.
The Pentagon says the coalition has control of only one and not two strategic oil fields in Western Iraq on Friday we were reporting two days ago there was word that both fields known as H2 and H3 had been taken and secured. Now the U.S. says it only controls H3 which is close to the border with Jordan, further west than H2 is.
Control of these areas critical to protect Israel from Scud missile attacks, also a lot of speculation, Paula, that there could be -- could be weapons of mass destruction in one of the other of these airfields in Western Iraq.
Paula, good morning to you.
ZAHN: Good morning to you, Bill. Back to that picture out of Baghdad. Now in addition to Al-Jazeera network, that Arab network, Associated Press also reporting that there is a massive search underway in the Tigris River for a possible downed coalition pilot. Where the plane is, any speculation, about where the pilot ejected is still not clear at this hour.
You still see that black smoke billowing up from the skyline there. We do want to make sure to you or make it clear to you, no one is really too sure what the source of that shot it. You have to understand this is a very narrow shot.
Donald Rumsfeld cautioning all of us when we see these fixed location shots it is just giving us a small sliver of an idea of what is going on.
But there had been some speculation that what in fact the Iraqis have done is created some oil pools ringing the city and they have set those on fire to obscure coalition or allied air strikes.
Let's go to Barbara Starr, standing by at the Pentagon, to see if she can add to what we are seeing unfold in Baghdad at this hour. Are they saying anything at the Pentagon about the possibility of a downed coalition jet?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not at this point, Paula. It's very difficult to look at these pictures and understand exactly what may be going on in Baghdad as we speak. There had been reports out of Baghdad earlier today by Iraqi government officials that they were going to parade American and coalition POWs that they had captured.
Just a little while ago officials here telling us they had no reports of any downed aircraft of any coalition POWs. But these pictures have emerged from Baghdad. Now one key question would be whether or not there had been any daylight air missions over this region. Baghdad of course being one of the most heavily defended air spaces in the world. Coalition air craft had been pounding away at the air defenses and the radars for the last several days, they said they had made a lot of progress, there had been some day light missions over Baghdad in the last 24 hours. We're not clear at this time whether there had been any in the day light hours we are seeing now. So no clear word here as to exactly what may be going on.
ZAHN: Let's look at once again this cloud of black smoke, Barbara, and once again this is a fixed location. AT one point yesterday reporters in Baghdad were describing 15 such clouds. Tell us a little bit more about these oil filled trenches that could potentially be lighted to obscure; I guess it doesn't effect the operation of satellite guided weapons but other weapons.
STARR: It doesn't Paula. The Iraqis had dug these oil ditches over the last several weeks, filled them with oil, there was every expectation they would light them on fire basically to erect a sort of primitive air defense system around Baghdad, their belief being that it would obscure the ability of coalition aircraft to launch munitions against targets in Baghdad and you're exactly right. It does not effect satellite-guided weapons and in this campaign so far U.S. officials say they are using only these precision-guided weapons.
Now laser-guided weapons would be effected by this smoke and obscured very interestingly it's largely believed the Iraqis learned this lesson in the war in Kosovo, they watched the Serbs do this and thought it would have some effect.
It's also having a -- you know -- public relations effect -- these pictures of these huge oil fires around Baghdad. The Iraqis some Pentagon officials feel the Iraqis are attempting to gain a propaganda advantage, claiming that these fires are part of the damage that U.S. warplanes have inflicted, but pretty much what we are seeing by all accounts are these oil ditches put on fire, the type of smoke you see how it is dispersing in the sky.
It does appear to be that these are strictly oil ditches. Now let me go back and say these reports that the Iraqis may parade out POWs. Officials here saying at this time, aside from what these pictures are showing along the river in Baghdad this today they have no reports of any U.S. crews down but they're not discounting that the Iraqis may parade somebody out there.
They don't know who it might be; they say we should just be prepared for the option. They may put someone out there in some type of American military uniform but at this point they have no reason to believe that it is an actual American or coalition military member. They're just warning people to be prepared for anything that they feel the Iraqis might put on television. Again, not related to the pictures we're seeing of this possible search along the river in Baghdad today.
ZAHN: Barbara as you've been speaking we've been changing our sources of shot from Abu Dhabi TV to Al-Jazeera all basically showing the same thing. Small boats in the Tigris River apparently searching for what reportedly the Associated Press is a downed pilot earlier you could see from the banks of the river Iraqi and some of them didn't' appear to even be in uniforms; I saw one Iraqi soldier firing some shots into the river.
Come back to this royal Air Force aircraft returning from a mission and it being shot by a Patriot missile. Is that being confirmed at this hour and is that the only indication of a downed plane?
STARR: That has now been confirmed by U.S. and British military sources. This was a British Tornado aircraft returning from a mission over Iraq and was shot down accidentally by a U.S. Patriot missile closer to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border.
Now it should also be understood that search and rescue mission was launched, combat search and rescue, but officials saying it was clear -- it is clearly -- a recovery mission, looking for the wreckage, looking for the remains of any of the British servicemen on board, no real belief that anyone is alive.
That combat search and rescue mission remains ongoing at this hour.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr if you please stand by, we have General David Grange with us now from CNN Center with some insights into what we're all watching together here this morning. Shots of the Iraqis not only combing the riverbanks, but actually firing into the river, possibly searching, according to the Associated Press for a downed pilot.
General Grange, describe to us what you think we are seeing.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, something motivated all these people to almost get into a mob scene and start heading to different places within the city where they think a pilot went down. There's been no coalition report on this that I've heard and -- or anyone here. I hope that's not the case. It'll be a tough situation, no doubt about it.
ZAHN: And put in the context of the reports Barbara is talking about the Iraqis claiming that they were going to parade some POWs later today -- do you think this is all part of the strategy here?
GRANGE: Good chance that that's disinformation, they could take just about anyone that looks like an American or British nationality and put them in a military uniform, we know they have coalition uniforms, that was reported last week several times so they may try to do something like that, yes.
ZAHN: And General Grange, you were I'm not sure watching the shot about two and half minutes ago when we saw shots being fired into the water. Did you see that shot and if you did, could you glean anything from it? GRANGE: Yes, that doesn't really mean, Paula, that they had a site on a person. It may just be that they think something did go down in the river and they're just shooting wildly into the water in a fever of excitement. It doesn't mean they actually have anyone right there.
ZAHN: Come back to the report that Barbara just confirmed that indeed it was a patriot missile that may have shot down a British Air Force plane earlier today. How -- when that happens, how does that effect strategy, how does that change anything?
GRANGE: it's not going to change a whole lot; you have to -- you know there's -- there's over a thousand aircraft that have flown already, hundreds today, day and night, and they all have this identification friend or foe capability.
It could have been that did not go as planned and the Patriot unit thought it was, in fact, an enemy missile or aircraft, but this is going to happen -- fratricide is going to happen continually in this war -- hopefully at a small amount.
But the thing is a lot of pressure on the air defense system to stop anything coming into Kuwait so you can just imagine the pressure that those units are under to defend their comrades on the ground there.
ZAHN: General Grange, please stand by, because we're going to quickly update the folks that are just joining us about what they're watching unfold on live television signal from Abu Dhabi TV.
Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV plus Associated Press all reporting that the Iraqis are searching for the possibility of a downed pilot.
General Grange, as Barbara Starr just reported for the Pentagon, there are no reports that there has been the downed plane over Baghdad. We're going to keep our eye on that.
General Grange, I want to go back to Bill Hemmer in just a moment. A final thought on that big thick cloud of smoke we see billowing from the skyline there, or from the horizon.
GRANGE: Well there's several theories on this. One can be that they're setting fire to oil in ditches. Another could be that this is just again more disinformation to try to get international media to focus on more horrendous damage to the civilian infrastructure occurred than it actually did because of the billowing smoke, so it's hard to say.
ZAHN: General Grange please stay with us, I understand we have Tom Mintier up from Qatar at Centcom Headquarters. Tom, any clarification of what we might be watching unfold on live TV here out of Baghdad?
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No Paula, no clarification at all. For the past 24 hours there have been rumors that an American plane or a coalition aircraft was down inside Iraq; I'm sure that the commanders here are watching the pictures each time I see these pictures I see how extraordinary they are. What could top that?
And then these pictures from downtown Baghdad of shooting into the river and the fishing boats crisscrossing the Tigris River looking for the possibility of a downed pilot.
There have been indications to me earlier in the day that each time there is an accusation by the Iraqis that a coalition pilot is down or a plane is down they're simply not going to come out and confirm this and say that this is not true.
They say that no -- none of their planes are missing is what they said this morning, none of their pilots are missing, everything is accounted for and there have been no coalition losses over the hostile territory. So, that has been the stand, we have not been able to get any comment from Centcom regarding this latest incident that is alleged to have occurred over Baghdad but we expect later on this afternoon possibly we might hear something on this and several more hours before the next coalition briefing will be 10:00 at night here that was announced first thing this morning when the next briefing was going to be. Of course the first one yesterday when General Tommy Franks, but no indication that there was any credence to this report from U.S. or coalition forces here in Doha -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right Tom Mintier thanks so much we will be getting back to you I'm sure many times before that briefing at 2:00. Let's go back to Bill Hemmer standing by in Kuwait.
Bill, I know you can see the same picture I'm looking at now. This particular angle from Abu Dhabi TV really shows that column of black smoke which we are led to believe is there as a result of some sort of oil trench being lighted by the Iraqis.
Once again we're looking for confirmation of that, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, looks similar to the scene we saw yesterday, Paula, late in the evening before the sun went down in Baghdad. I have been able to get a glimpse of some of this video on CNN International watching it on the monitor here. That looks strikingly similar to last night but I believe this cloud of smoke, Paula is closer to the center of Baghdad than what it was last night.
Want to add one more thing, though, on this possibility that you were getting reports about a downed coalition aircraft or pilot missing. The Royal Air force here in Kuwait confirming with CNN they have no reports right now of any missing aircraft. So that doubles up of what Tom Mintier, reporting out of Qatar, said.
Back 12 years ago, during the Persian Gulf War, Paula, we heard these reports a lot coming out of Baghdad oftentimes without substance to follow whether this has any substance if something we'll wait and see. In the meantime we're checking in with our embedded journalists throughout the day, Paula.
Walter Rodgers again making more progress with the 7th Cav up through Central and Southern Iraq. Let's pick things up by way of telephone with Walt now. Walt, how's your progress? Good morning. WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Well, we've paused outside a city in South-central Iraq, the reason being there's every indication Iraqi army has now thrust the civilian population or elements of the civilian population in close to the Iraqi Army to forestall a 7th Cavalry march forward.
There had been skirmishes earlier in the evening last night and then throughout the night. What happened however was as the 7th Cavalry moved forward it decided to call in air cover -- air cover from Air Force jets that we've been hearing over head at the last minute that close air cover however was scrubbed, reason being U.S. Special Forces working closer to the city had determined that even though there had been an artillery barrage somehow Iraqi civilians had been moved into the area where an air strike was about to be called in so the commander of the 7th Calvary scrubbed the air strike.
Then we saw an Apache helicopter flying close to the vicinity, we though perhaps the helicopter was being brought in to attack the Iraqi unit on the ground, the remnants of a battalion. What happened, however, we later learned was that the Apache helicopter was flying protective cover for a Blackhawk helicopter and the Blackhawk helicopter was called in to evacuate wounded Iraqi soldier.
There were four prisoners of war taken this morning, three of them uninjured, a fourth one was injured and the United States Army called in an Apache helicopter to escort an evacuation Blackhawk helicopter to evacuate this Iraqi soldier to the rear and as I say the Army is not at this time calling in close air support -- that is, air craft to bomb the Iraqi positions up ahead. The reason being that there is the concern the Iraqis have brought civilians in close to themselves to forestall that air attack -- Bill.
HEMMER: Walter is that standard operating procedure when you have a wounded Iraqi soldier to be airlifted out of there during combat?
RODGERS: It's always been my impression that was the case and we saw the Medics working on this soldier a number of hours ago. I think it was the Special Forces, I'm not sure. However, four Iraqi prisoners were taken. Three of them were squatting on the ground in black uniforms, that is to say being interrogated by the Special Forces because they are trained in Arabic languages.
And then there was another Iraqi soldier a short distance away besides an armored personnel carrier with a big red cross on it. We knew he was wounded. A number of hours after that as soon as they could get the helicopter up a Blackhawk was brought up to evacuate the wounded Iraqi soldier and at that very same time, an Apache helicopter was brought up. We initially concluded it was to attack the position forward of us.
In point of fact the Apache was brought up to escort the Medivac helicopter to the rear -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Walter, yesterday we were talking about this time, you said you had not stopped for 61 hours. In the past 24 hours how much progress have you made. Can you tell us?
RODGERS: In terms of sleep or moving forward?
HEMMER: Moving forward, or both, if you'd like?
RODGERS: We did get a little sleep last night, actually we've moved forward. I talked to Lieutenant Colonel Terry Ferrel (ph), commander of 3rd Squadron 7th Calvary United States Army -- he said despite the battalion resistance in front of us that he is still ahead of schedule and that being the case I would expect this unit to move forward again.
We moved forward for a while this morning, then there was a fire that is to say the unit was fired upon, artillery was called in there was an enormous explosion in front of us and the Army artillery knocked out and ammunition storage depot and a fuel depot same time big plumes of black smoke.
The Army's cost about a mile away, I'm looking at it I can see it a mile in the distance, between me and the burning fuel and ammunition there is a platoon or more of Bradley's and M1 Abrams tanks and all they're doing is waiting for the order to go forward and punch out whatever is still out in front of this unit. We expect that order to come that is this Army is not going to sit here all nigh from everything I've been able to determine from Army sources -- Bill.
HEMMER: Be safe, Walt. Walter Rodgers, 7th Cav, moving up again through Central and Southern Iraq. And, Paula, just watching this videotape yet again from Baghdad about these reports about a coalition pilot being downed -- watching these weapons, these machine guns being fired in the Tigris River -- I cannot see any evidence from the water or the side of the bank of that river of anyone being in there.
Whether or not that'll the case is something we're all waiting to see but again this tape coming in just about 25 minutes ago; we'll watch it closely for you, as I'm sure you're doing the same back there in New York.
ZAHN: Yes, in fact, I want to go back to that shot right now so our audience members who are just joining us for the first time this morning can see what you're talking about. Abu Dhabi TV was providing a picture for us a little bit earlier showing these small fishing boats crisscrossing the Tigris reportedly as Bill just said looking for a downed pilot.
Iraqi troops firing at some sort of unidentified target into the river. Now, Centcom -- U.S. central Command officials have not announced any missing or captured U.S. soldiers -- you're not -- there we go to that shot.
As you can see, dozens of members of the media there, recording this action. Once again, though, it's very hard to put this in a context and it makes you wonder whether this is any part of a disinformation campaign when it was just announced by the Iraqi vice- president that shortly we will see American captives paraded on Iraqi television. Those who tried, he said, to invade and he said we will see the burnt armor and vehicles this is the place where they claim is 1650 kilometers from Baghdad so it's very difficult to glean any meaning from this but clearly they're firing at something in the water, Centcom not confirming that there is any downed plane.
We will keep our eyes peeled on that as well as that last shot you just saw before we went to the river shot of the downtown skyline of Baghdad off on the horizon a large plume of black smoke.
It is being pretty much -- well we can't say it's being confirmed by the Pentagon but Barbara Starr said one of the theories being thrown out is that some oil trenches ringing downtown Baghdad have been set on fire.
Back to Kyra Phillips now who joins us from onboard the U.S.S. Lincoln. Kyra, what's playing out there -- you are on one of five aircraft carriers involved in this part of the campaign. Kyra, take it away.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But that's what everybody's telling me around here is that the feeling is this could be internal propaganda.
ZAHN: OK, Kyra, you're on the air, can you hear us?
She doesn't hear us yet as we take a little pause here. Kyra Phillips is onboard the U.S.S. Lincoln. One more try here?
All right what we're showing you know is a bridge. I guess breaking out where we think this search is underway for the possible downed pilot over this bridge. I actually didn't' see the bridge in that shot but they tell me that was off to the right of your screen.
We are led to believe there are dozens of Iraqis, some of them in civilian clothes crisscrossing the Tigris River in riverboats or small fishing vessels looking for what the Iraqis claim is a downed coalition pilot.
Centcom headquarters is not confirming the existence of any downed plane. We'll keep you posted; someone suggested al little bit earlier this morning this could be part of a disinformation campaign at the time the vice-president of Iraq is claimed to shortly will be unveiling some American captives on Iraqi television.
Now I think we do have Kyra Phillips. Can you hear me now, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well I apologize for that. As you can imagine with breaking news happening and a lot of information coming from different sources I have a lot of people talking to me in my ear. I'm trying to make calls and find out as much information as I can as things are happening.
What I can tell you is that from the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln all pilots are accounted for from the carrier here. You can probably hear in the background right now a lot of aircraft through the day and through the night (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ZAHN: All right, there's nothing wrong with your television set, that signal has broken down once again but Kyra Phillips giving us some very important information saying that all pilots on board the U.S.S. Lincoln accounted for. This is a time when we see the Iraqis scouring the Tigris River basin looking for what they say is a downed coalition pilot.
Associated Press reporting that as well as Al-Jazeera TV. Back now to Bill in Kuwait City -- Bill.
HEMMER: Paula very disturbing incident for the U.S. military, members of the 101st Airborne Division, 1st Brigade early in the morning hours here in Kuwait.
Camp Pennsylvania in the desert a member of the 101st essentially attacking with grenades and small arms other members of his unit. That suspect said to be in custody right now held for questioning.
In addition there was one member of the 101st dead as a result, ten others were wounded, many of those Medivaced to an Army hospital and in addition to those two others wounded at the scene. They were treated and released.
Still trying to piece together the story, Paula. Jim Lacey is a reporter with "TIME" magazine. He was at Camp Pennsylvania near the scene at the time and Jim I believe you -- we have you by way of telephone right now.
Give us what you are learning right now about what may have went wrong about 1:30 a.m. local time here last night.
JIM LACEY, TIME MAGAZINE: I keep saying something went wrong is might be going a little too far -- we're talking one individual for whatever motivation managed to get himself four hand grenades and cut a certain number of command tents here released by military. He -- the initial attack was the -- a considerable amount of confusion for a couple of minutes.
There was a Scud alert at the exact same time so the soldiers really didn't know if they were under attack by Scuds or if they'd been attacked by terrorists or whatever. My tent was exactly the opposite, one over, from the explosion so I was on the scene with him about a minute, minute and a half. And, by the time I got there there was two soldiers lying wounded outside of their tent.
A lot of chaos and confusion in the early moments but what I did see was one major, two young Army captains, both of them wounded took immediate control of the entire situation, set up the security perimeters, make sure the wounded were getting medical treatment, got medics in there, got the Medivac vehicles over to get them to an aide station, called for the helicopters, did everything that anyone would expect.
It was actually an amazing thing to watch that these two young captains and this major were doing it when two out of the three of them were wounded and refusing all medical attention at the time to make sure all of their compatriots were taken care of.
HEMMER: Jim, with regard to the suspect, what's happening with him at this time? Has his identity been given out, and also has there been any motivation discussed within the 101st as to why he attacked his own men?
LACEY: His identity was known and they didn't give a complete check of people almost as soon as this was -- as the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) accountability to make sure no one was missing, no one was hurt. This soldier had been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) chain of command (UNINTELLIGIBLE) disgruntled, living up to expectations, had been told that he would be staying behind when the unit advanced into Iraq and he -- but no one expected anything of this manner to form and when he turned up missing and the -- grenades had gone off, people put two and two together and so they already had a suspect in mind even 15 or 20 minutes before they actually found him hiding in a bunker.
We cannot give his name. It's going to come out at a later date. I've been told we can say his name is of Arabic origin or Arabic sounding and people can make some informed speculation on that. He attacked officers and other soldiers that were not known to him personally so there's no reason to say that this was a disgruntled soldier or chain of command or he out for anybody in the chain of command. His motivation obviously went deeper than that. He's from an engineering battalion that's a side -- assigned tot his brigade only for operations in wartime. So most of the officers here he attacked he had probably had never met in his life and so any personal motivation can probably be discounted.
HEMMER: All right Jim thanks -- Jim Lacey, "TIME" magazine, as he said he was only a tent removed from when the firing, when the grenades were blasted off this morning inside Camp Pennsylvania.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Grenade Attack>
