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CNN Live At Daybreak
Iraqi TV Back in Action
Aired March 26, 2003 - 05:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the latest war developments at this hour.
Iraqi television back on the air around the world. That's after a coalition missile strike hit its Baghdad headquarters. Its satellite signal just gained full strength about 30 minutes ago. It's been on the air within Iraq for a couple of hours now.
In northern Iraq, coalition air strikes today attacked a key Iraqi defense position. CNN's Kevin Sites reports the strikes left an Iraqi bunker in ruins near the city of Chamchamal. The position guards the road to Kirkuk. He says another bunker is damaged.
A second U.S. soldier has died from wounds suffered in a grenade attack blamed on a fellow soldier. Thirteen others were wounded in that weekend attack in Kuwait. The suspect, Army Sergeant Asan Akbar, is now at a military jail in Germany awaiting formal charges.
In Seoul, South Korea, demonstrators scaled a McDonald's 18 foot tall golden arches and unfurled an anti-war banner today. One protester wearing a George Bush mask -- you saw him up there -- he was brandishing a toy machine gun. Others tried to get into the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Police eventually arrested 30 people.
The Pentagon says coalition forces killed as many as 300 Iraqis Tuesday in a fire fight in the Euphrates Valley east of Najaf. A sandstorm prevented the U.S. forces from calling in air support.
And the U.N. Security Council is succeeded to meet today. Many Arab countries expected to ask the U.N. to condemn the coalition war against Iraq. A debate on reinstating the United Nations Oil For Food program for Iraq is also set for today. That program suspended last week when U.N. personnel were [pulled out of Iraq.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And there is a lot going to be happening over the next hour or two. We've been having some bombing strikes up north. Kevin Sites has been telling us about that.
Let's tell you what's coming up in our coverage on the war in Iraq.
We're going to touch base with our embedded reporters along the front lines for real time updates. Also, we'll check in on the humanitarian aid that's accumulating in Kuwait and the prospects for it getting to Iraq and how the war is playing among editorial cartoonists around the world. CNN's Jeanne Moos will recap some of those that are drawing fire. COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Welcome back.
You're looking at live pictures out of downtown Baghdad as Operation Iraqi Freedom enters day seven. Just want you to know that a Tomahawk missile hit the Iraqi TV station earlier today. But at this hour, Iraqi television up and running, at least by satellite.
COOPER: And as you see in that picture, sandstorms, it looks like they're affecting Baghdad, as well, as we've been hearing from our economics all across Iraqi. A lot of sandstorms slowing things down somewhat at this hour.
Good morning.
It is 1:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast of the United States. Today is Wednesday, March 26, in case you didn't know.
From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Anderson Cooper.
COSTELLO: And I'm Carol Costello.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
Time now for an early briefing on stories that will be news later today.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in the United States this afternoon for war meetings with President Bush at Camp David. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet today to discuss getting relief aid into Iraqi as soon as possible. And anti-war protesters are set to hit the streets again today in several cities across the country.
COOPER: First we want to give you a visual sense of exactly where coalition forces are right now in the war zone, as close as we can tell you, at least. We have an animated map here to help us do that.
Check this out, U.S. and British forces have been making their way farther north into Iraq. They have been moving fast. They are moving far. In the last 24 hours, there has been fighting, a lot of fighting -- Najaf, Karbala, Nasiriya, as well as in Basra. And in the last couple of hours, there have been casks in northern Iraq near Kirkuk.
COSTELLO: Now we want to give you another perspective from the front lines.
Phil Smucker is a reporter for the "Christian Science Monitor." He's joining us live by phone. He's with the U.S. Marines in Iraq.
And, Phil, just remind us again that you are not an embedded reporter. You're on your own. From your vantage point, what do you see?
PHIL SMUCKER, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": Well, we've just moved to some forward positions. We're with the First Battalion of the 5th Regiment of the Marines 1st Division. And just about five minutes ago, we were hearing a lot of outgoing -- the Marines are shooting .81 millimeter mortars. There's not close contact and at the moment we're not taking any incoming fire. But certainly this is the closest we've come to the front combat and it looks like they're moving ahead but we stopped as soon as this shooting started.
COSTELLO: Can you tell us at all where you're located?
SMUCKER: We're about 100 miles south on the main highway. It's an unfinished highway. It goes between the Tigris and Euphrates River in the direction of Baghdad.
COSTELLO: And you said...
SMUCKER: So, if you look at it, it's right across from Najaf. If Najaf is the Army column coming up towards Baghdad, then we're the Marine column coming up further...
COSTELLO: Well, don't be too specific...
SMUCKER: ... further to the -- sorry.
COSTELLO: Don't be too specific. We don't want exact specifics.
SMUCKER: OK.
COSTELLO: You said the Marines were shooting. What are they shooting at, do we know?
SMUCKER: They're shooting at apparent elements of the Army or irregular forces. It's unclear at the moment. We just got to this position where they're shooting. There are three huge columns going up. There's no secret what's approaching Baghdad. And the, obviously the fighting in Najaf is on a parallel. So it's a three pronged attack coming up the Tigris and we're in the middle and the other side is over on the Euphrates.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the weather, shall we, because we just saw live pictures out of Baghdad and it looks like the sandstorm is getting worse.
SMUCKER: Well, actually, I think people around here would say it's a lot better today. Yesterday, some of the experienced veterans fighting and training in the Arab world said the sandstorm yesterday was the worst they've seen ever. It was intense and it ended with a huge thunderstorm, which washed a lot of the dust and sand out of the sky.
Now it's, the visibility is low and I will tell you, it's only about 200 meters. But yesterday, if you can imagine, it was just 20 meters. So today is much better and people can function and there's no dust in the eyes. COSTELLO: Phil, do you see any civilians around?
SMUCKER: Well, we're, actually we don't. So I assume that what they're shooting at are probably members of the Iraqi Army. But it's hard to say. The reason that this, I believe that this highway has been chosen by the Marines as their major thrust is because it's not along population centers and the Iraqi military has shown in the last several days that they can (AUDIO GAP) and they will defend urban centers.
But there are no urban centers on this road. And so it's going to be very difficult to stop the Marines from approaching Baghdad on this unfinished highway between the Euphrates and Tigris.
COSTELLO: And, Phil, as we said before, you are not an embedded reporter. You sort of got there on your own and you're sticking with that Marine unit. You've heard about this red line around Baghdad. Doesn't that worry you personally?
SMUCKER: What do you mean, the red line before they use...
COSTELLO: Supposedly they're going to use chemical weapons. We don't know that as of yet. But does that worry you?
SMUCKER: Well, we have gas masks and chemical suits. So we're as prepared as the U.S. military. So I don't say that I'm in any more danger than anyone in the military. And besides which, I'm not shooting a gun and I'm not right on the front lines. So I think that gives me maybe a better chance of surviving.
COSTELLO: Well, we've already heard of some journalists who were not embedded being killed in the combat there. I just wondered how you managed to get to where you are so far.
SMUCKER: Well, the Marines have been awful kind to us. They've been helping us leap frog ahead. There's a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Marines who has been quite helpful in assigning us to units. But we're with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 5th Regiment. These are the two most decorated contingents within the entire Marine Corps. This is the spearhead of the -- these have been the spearhead of Marine fights in Guadalcanal, going back to WWII, and these guys are, you know, the best and brightest of the Marine Corps.
So I think we're with some good units and they'll protect us.
COSTELLO: All right, Phil Smucker, thanks for joining us and bringing us those vivid accounts. And you keep your head down and stay safe -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, we have just gotten in some new video. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I was told it's video from Baghdad of some scenes of people being taken away from sort of rubble areas. Some of it may be somewhat disturbing. This is the latest video, sort of aftermath. Don't know if this is the aftermath of coalition bombing or of, you know, of anti-aircraft fire that has fallen back to the ground. We just simply can't say exactly what it's the aftermath of, but clearly there is some rubble, burning structures, as well. We saw that person being carried away. This is the latest video coming out of Baghdad at this moment.
We want to check in with Ryan Chilcote, who all along has been traveling with the 101st Airborne Division 3rd Brigade. He is literally in the war zone, as he has been all along -- Ryan, what's the latest where you are?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I guess it all depends on where you are on the battlefield, the facts of this sandstorm. I heard that last reporter saying that today is slightly better than yesterday, no dust in the eyes. Well, not the case where we are. We're at a forward operating base with the 101st Airborne in southern Iraq and it is blowing. I mean it is just blowing sand like even worse than yesterday. Visibility, I'm guessing no more than 10 meters, 10 yards. And this is, this is a real problem.
The entire aviation, all of the helicopters of the 101st Airborne have been grounded. They've been grounded since yesterday morning. In fact, some of the helicopters that were already out on missions had to land where they were at the time because it just came up so violently and so quickly that they had no choice but to put their helicopters down where they were, whether it was a friendly place or a not friendly place. And that's been a real issue for the 101st, is making sure that those helicopters are secure and then get back to if not this base, some base nearby.
I have to say that this has pretty much paralyzed the 101st Airborne's ability, offensive abilities. They really can't do much. I mean they specialize in air assault and air assault means moving troops to the battlefield via helicopter and projecting combat power, as they like to put it, with their attack helicopters, destroying Iraqi targets with their Apache attack helicopters. None of that is flying today.
It's also bad because really without those helicopters up there, it's a lot easier for the, for Iraqi forces to move around, quite frankly. Even with the fixed wing aircraft from the Air Force that are flying around, it's difficult to keep eyes on the ground of what the Iraqi forces are doing because they might be able to see through, you know, say the fog of war, smoke, a lot of that kind of stuff, but they can't see through, in a lot of cases, this kind of, these kind of sandstorms that are so low on the ground.
COOPER: Ryan...
CHILCOTE: So it's -- go ahead.
COOPER: Ryan, we have been hearing, you know, a lot about sort of sniping from these irregular forces, these Fedayeen, these sometimes Republican Guard or the Baath officials. How secure is the area you are in right now? I know it's probably some sort of a forward position. How secure is it? Have you taken any incoming fire?
CHILCOTE: Yes, well, this is an enormous -- just to explain where I am -- it's in a forward operating base. It began as a FARRP, a forward area rearming and refueling point, just basically a gigantic gas station and arms depot for helicopters. It's now grown into, over the last three days, this enormous forward operating base where the 101st can, you know, sort of project out its troops and helicopters.
How secure? Well, they're doing their best to secure it. It's a big chunk of territory and so that requires a lot of troops. And today and yesterday make it very difficult because basically, you know, with literally 10 yard visibility, it's very easy for these irregular Iraqi forces or sometimes they're called militia, basically groups of three to 10 Iraqi soldiers that can, that are armed with nothing more than, say, an RPG. It's very easy for them to infiltrate, or would be easy for them to infiltrate because you just can't see them.
So -- and, you know, this is a really desolate area. So if it's clear outside like it was, say, three days ago, it's very difficult for the base to be infiltrated because you have those attack helicopters up there roaming around looking for targets. And it's hard to hide. There's no shelter. There's no ground cover.
But now, I mean there is perfect ground cover. There's no helicopters in the air and there's, and the soldier on the ground, he can't see farther than 10 meters in front of him. So this is a concerned time. Not at this base, but a base, another base, they actually detained several Iraqis yesterday for suspicious activities. They don't know exactly what they were doing, but they were close to a base, and that made them very concerned. So they picked them up and they're going to interrogate them.
COOPER: And, Ryan...
CHILCOTE: Here yes...
COOPER: Sorry, go ahead.
CHILCOTE: Here yesterday there was a group that they interrogated and searched, but let go, also nearby. And they have found and heard some individuals, according to the commanders in the 187th Regiment, the Third Brigade, like you said, that I'm embedded with, they have heard and seen some individuals just outside the base. They look like they're monitoring, you know, the convoy routes and monitoring the base security and perhaps preparing an attack.
But there has not been the confirmed mortar attack on the base yet.
COOPER: OK, Ryan, and we've got to go. But just very briefly, you told us a couple hours ago, just to give viewers a sense of how bad the sandstorms are, one young soldier in the 101st was on his way to the latrine, I believe, got lost for several hours?
CHILCOTE: Yes. He went to the latrine just next to his tent at about 3:30 in the afternoon and they found him at about two o'clock in the morning in an entirely different part of the base.
COOPER: Unbelievable.
All right, Ryan Chilcote with the 101st, thanks very much -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That is unbelievable. Well, the weather is much different in northern Iraq. It's kind of cold and rainy up there and it has not prevented air strikes this morning.
Let's go live there to Kalak and Brent Sadler with what's happened so far this morning -- good morning, Brent.
BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
As you say, high winds here and the weather's closed in over the past few hours. Not raining, but pretty murky behind me over those Iraqi front lines. However, earlier this morning we did see a significant change in airborne tactics against Iraq's northern defense line. Repeated strikes, six, according to my colleague Kevin Sites in Chamchamal, who witnessed these air strikes targeting all the Iraqi positions on top of a strategic ridge line which overlooks a route, a major route into the oil producing city of Kirkuk.
Now, it seemed that the air strikes were targeting a bunker complex on the ridge line but there were also some very large detonations, plumes of smoke behind the ridge and that could well be connected to attempts to soften up that area in terms of the depth of defense behind what we see on the ridge lines, which is dotted with soldiers. Behind those ridge lines, Kurdish intelligence tells me there are artillery pieces, rocket launchers and other such equipment that could strike Kurdish towns like Irbil, in range, certainly well within range of Kalak, the area I'm in now. And that these villages and towns have been largely emptied of all population even before the first bombs fell in the liberation of Iraq by the allied coalition forces.
And so we saw a significant change in tactics here, a softening up of targets, if you will, in these areas. And that really will doubtless please the Kurdish military commanders here and, indeed, the wider Iraqi opposition, who've been meeting in Salahudin (ph), the Kurdish stronghold, which is about an hour from my position here. Iraqi opposition groups really voicing concern that they really want to be involved in the fight to a greater extent than they already are.
What are they already doing? Well, I can tell you Kurdish forces, special forces are working alongside U.S. special forces personnel, helping to identify targets for U.S. forward air controllers, pinpointing, for example, those strikes we saw this morning.
Also, the Kurdish special force groups have been working to try and encourage defections in the Iraqi front lines, as well as really trying to foment the possibility of uprisings. And this is specifically where the leaders of the four main opposition groups say they can come in, by the U.S. really coordinating with them for them to use their contacts as Iraqis inside Iraq to try and really give confidence to opposition groups in cities like Kirkuk and Mosul and, of course, in Basra, where we've seen a popular uprising. Iraqi opposition saying they are ready, willing and very much want to take part in what they call the fight to defeat Saddam Hussein -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Brent Sadler reporting live from Kalak in northern Iraq.
COOPER: All right, it's about 20 past five o'clock.
Let's check in with Bill Hemmer, who is live in Kuwait City -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, Carol, hello.
First day, day seven right now, the first time we have talked, anyway, on this Wednesday. There is a lot to talk about, especially in the southern part of Iraq. We'll discuss Basra at great length throughout the day here. And we'll also talk about this Iraqi television signal knocked off the air just before daybreak in Baghdad.
Chris Plante at the Pentagon is watching developments there. A Tomahawk cruise missile, we're told, hit that site. But since that time it's changed yet again -- Chris, hello.
Good morning to you back there.
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Bill. It was a number of cruise missiles from Navy ships that knocked Baghdad TV off the air, along with a couple of precision guided bombs from U.S. war planes. It didn't keep them off the air for very long. They're back up and running, as we can see, at CNN in Atlanta, back up on the satellite and broadcasting in Baghdad again.
No doubt that the U.S., if they want to keep them off the air, will go back in and find where the signal is coming from and knock them off the air once again. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was an ongoing back and forth issue.
But meanwhile there's a lot going on in the south. Over the last 24 hours we've had the 7th Cavalry find themselves in combat with several hundred Iraqi irregular troops, who apparently rushed the armored convoy, largely on foot, some of them in small light vehicles with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.
No casualties whatsoever reported by the 7th Cavalry, but 150 to 200 Iraqis killed in that clash. Some of the numbers are a bit all over the place, but the official count right now, 150 to 200. Also down near Nasiriya yesterday, the Marine Corps found themselves being fired on by people inside of a hospital building that was flying the Red Crescent flag, the Red Crescent being the equivalent of the Red Cross. This, of course, would be another violation of the Geneva Conventions. But when the Marines finally did take the building, they discovered a cache of weapons there, took about 170 prisoners of war. Most importantly, they found about 3,000 chemical weapons suits, protective suits and gas masks, raising the question, of course, why would a country that claims not to have any chemical or biological weapons be sending their troops out into the field with chemical suits.
Also, as was mentioned a short time ago, it's believed by U.S. intelligence, or at least there are indications that have come to light in U.S. intelligence that the Iraqi leadership may have passed out orders to Republican Guard units surrounding Baghdad -- six Republican Guard divisions there -- instructing them to use chemical weapons if the coalition forces pass an invisible red line drawn around the city.
So a lot going on. The sandstorm is keeping some people at bay, but a lot of units continue to move into position around Baghdad. And, you know, the big battle still lies ahead -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hey, Chris, go back to this whole idea about these chemical suits being found in that hospital in the southern part of Iraq. We also know about caches of weapons that have been found in different areas of the country. Sometimes, it's our impression, that they're being blown up, exploded there.
What are the rules for that when it come to looking for weapons of mass destruction, possibly being hidden in some of these warheads that the coalition forces are coming across?
PLANTE: Well, you know, I mean the hunt for a special, for -- excuse me -- for weapons of mass destruction is largely a special operations function. Special operations units have been fanning out across the country in the west and the north throughout the country to, in an effort to seize those suspected sites.
There was one suspected site seized the other day and given that we haven't really heard back anything in the way of detail as to the presence of weapons of mass destruction, there the only conclusion we can draw is that they were unsuccessful, the coalition forces, in finding those weapons at that location.
The rule is that if you believe that weapons of mass destruction are at a location, this is not a place that you want to bombard from the air. You don't want to detonate these weapons and put them up into the atmosphere, spread them around. The Iraqis are known to keep them in residential areas and populated area. They're known also to keep them in mosques, hospitals. The hospital was a classic example from yesterday's episode. And the idea is to go in and seize them on the ground on foot, not just so they don't spread them into the atmosphere through aerial bombardment, but also so they can show the world that the regime of Saddam Hussein was all along keeping weapons of mass destruction and lying to the U.N. and to the world about it -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Chris, thanks.
Chris Plante at the Pentagon.
Back here in Kuwait City right now, more tough news for the 101st. You might remember that fratricide incident early Sunday morning in Camp Pennsylvania. Another member of the 101st Airborne Division has died as a result of his wounds suffered, inflicted by a member of his own group. It is Major Gregory Stone, age 40, out of Boise, Idaho. The suspect in this case, Sergeant Asan Akbar, a combat engineer, has since been flown to Mannheim, Germany. He is said to be right now in military confinement, awaiting formal charges.
But, again, Major Stone now the second fatality as a result of that incident early Sunday morning. In addition, 15 others wounded at Camp Pennsylvania, as well.
There are other developments -- back to Carol, quickly, for that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's certainly so. We want to talk more about that TV station in Baghdad that was apparently hit by a Tomahawk missile, but somehow Iraqi television is managing to broadcast pictures live throughout the world.
Let's go to Rula Amin in Amman, Jordan. Rula has been in Iraq for a long time before going on to Jordan now. And I just wondered, do you know where the television station is located in Baghdad?
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the television station is located very close to the information ministry in a neighborhood that is full with civilian buildings. There's a theater close by. There are houses, residential places. And so maybe this is, this was a reason why it hasn't been hit before.
We know that Baghdad came under very heavy bombardment overnight in the early hours of the morning. We just got fresh pictures from the sites, some of the sites that were hit. You can see pictures of the damage caused there. We still don't know a very accurate assessment of all the targets that were hit.
But the most significant target is probably the TV station. Now, the Iraqi government have been relying heavily on the television station in order to convey its message to its own people. Saddam Hussein, since the beginning of the war, has been on television twice, addressing his people, addressing his troops.
Last night, the Iraqi information minister, Saeed al-Sahaf, was also addressing the troops and reading a message sent by the president.
And so the Iraqis are relying very heavily on this TV station in order to put their version of the events, why is this war taking place and how is it proceeding. They are very, they are emphasizing a lot on the fact that there has been heavy resistance to the U.S. forces. They're trying to make the point that the Iraqi people are not welcoming the U.S. forces and that they don't see them as liberators.
The Iraqi television also has been the one to bring the first pictures of the U.S. soldiers who had been captured.
So for the Iraqis, it's very important to keep this TV station up and running. They probably have been expecting the TV station to be hit and that's why they were prepared to put it back on the air very quickly -- Carol. COSTELLO: And, Rula, not to confuse our viewers, but those pictures we just saw from Iraqi television, were those file pictures? Were they live pictures? What were they? They were filed from yesterday, I'm just being informed.
Another thing I wanted to ask you, Rula, is by keeping Iraqi television on the air, it kind of worked both ways. The United States was able to get some information off Iraqi television, as well.
AMIN: That is a point that's worth mentioning because we noticed that the Iraqi TV station was hit. However, the satellite station that was on the top of the information ministry broadcasting from there, for a while was not there. Last night I was watching that satellite station for a while before it was off the air.
And it seems that, as you said, they're trying to cut the local TV station that is transmitting to the Iraqi people while keeping the one that's transmitting to the world. However, we have to understand that the Arab world, people on the streets in the Arab world are also glued to the Iraqi TV pictures, because they are very surprised by the resistance that the Iraqis have been putting up. Many people have not been expecting this level of resistance.
And so while in the beginning of the war, in the first day they were all concerned about the Iraqi civilians and the impact of and the damage of the war on those civilians and they were very sad and very down.
In the last few days, it seems that they are more focused on the resistance the Iraqis are putting and they keep on pointing how little the Iraqis have in terms of weapons and sophistication of weapons that the U.S. has and how the will of the Iraqis to fight have been able to do something.
This is something that the Arab newspapers have been pointing to, as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So is this sort of feeding anti-American sentiment then?
AMIN: I don't know if it's feeding -- I mean the anti-American sentiments here are high because many here don't buy the justification for this war and they see also that the U.S. is very strong, the weapons are very sophisticated, they hear about how effective these weapons are, the 2,000 kilograms, the missiles.
But in a way they have not been expecting this resistance and that's why they are surprised, I can say excited about it, because they feel -- for a while they have felt so impotent that they have not been able to stop this war and they have the expectation that when the U.S. troops will start rolling in Iraq, Iraq was going to fall very quickly.
However, they still see Saddam Hussein on television. They see that his troops have been able to capture U.S. soldiers. Yesterday and the day before they saw an Iraqi farmer, an old man -- that was the Iraqi version of events -- that an old man with an old rifle had been able to down an American Apache helicopter.
And so people were talking about these stories, relaying them to each other, very surprised -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, of course, we should mention that much of that could just be Iraqi propaganda.
Rula Amin reporting live from Amman, Jordan.
Thanks very much.
We're going to take a quick break.
We'll be back with much more right after this.
COMMERCIAL
COOPER: All right, let's take a look at what is happening at this hour.
British forces say the port city of Umm Qasr is now secure. Coalition dive teams -- you're seeing some of them right there -- have been clearing the waterway of hidden mines. That will continue. The first shipment of humanitarian aid is expected to pass through the port tomorrow.
Iraqi TV is back on the air, as Carol was talking about earlier, after a coalition military strike at its Baghdad headquarters. Its global satellite signal returned to full strength about an hour ago and that is after its local signal was repaired a couple hours after the strike.
A second U.S. soldier has died from wounds suffered in a grenade attack blamed on a fellow soldier. Thirteen others, you'll remember, were wounded in Sunday's attack in Kuwait. The suspect, Army Sergeant Asan Akbar, is now at a military jail in Germany awaiting formal charges.
Coalition aircraft targeted more Iraqi positions in northern Iraq this morning, as we've been telling you for the last couple hours. They pounded a ridge outside the northeastern city of Chamchamal, possibly destroying a command and control bunker beside a road leading to the major oil producing center of Kirkuk.
Vigorous demonstrations in many parts of the Middle East denouncing the U.S.-led war in Iraq. This was the scene yesterday in Damascus, Syria. U.S. ally Britain was also the target of much vocal wrath.
COSTELLO: And coming up in this hour of our coverage of the war in Iraq, we'll have more details for you on the U.S. coalition air strikes aimed at the offices of Iraqi TV. Also, we'll check in with CNN's Tom Mintier at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar. He'll have more on the reported uprising by Iraqi citizens in the city of Basra. Plus, we'll update you on the efforts to get humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. Our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now. COOPER: Well, so much is happening at this hour. We want to try to get some military expertise, give you an overview of what is going on.
For that, we turn to our military desk and CNN's Renay San Miguel with Brigadier General David Grange -- Renay, good morning.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Anderson.
We haven't spent a whole lot of time talking about the northern part of Iraq and the northern strategy, but as you've been reporting all morning long, CNN's Kevin Sites seeing a lot of activity in those mountain ridges up near Chamchamal.
Joining us now is CNN military analyst Retired Army General David Grange.
Good morning to you.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning.
SAN MIGUEL: We're going to start with some satellite imagery courtesy of Earthviewer and Digitalglobe.com.
Tell us a little bit about, you know, what do you think the northern strategy is on the part of the coalition?
GRANGE: Well, I think what's going to happen, Renay, is that as the buildup of special operating units get into the theater -- and right now I don't think the majority of them are there yet -- they'll continue to call in air strikes on known Iraqi positions, both regular army and Republican Guard.
And I think the reason you don't see a push with Kurdish forces against Iraqi positions is because they want a coherent drive. They don't want it piecemeal. And so they haven't got enough support in there yet to do that the way they want to.
SAN MIGUEL: And as we can tell, there are also some mountain ranges up here. I don't know how much more difficult that would make things on the part of strategizing and getting any land forces up there. But there seems to be some natural cover up there.
GRANGE: Well, actually, the terrain favors the Kurds. The air fields are critical to get in the stuff to support them, you know, the military equipment and power. But it's mainly the power comes from radio calls, American observers supporting Kurd advances.
SAN MIGUEL: We have some video, actually, of some of those air strikes that CNN's Kevin Sites and his crew caught today.
What about coordinating the Kurdish rebels up there with the coalition forces? It's almost like what happened in Afghanistan, getting the Northern Alliance to work with the coalition up there, almost but not quite. GRANGE: Yes, almost, but not quite. And the reason that it's not the same, exactly the same thing, you're going against, I think, a more robust enemy force. They're not running around in large convoys up and down roads. You have some very substantial positions. There's some Republican Guard units in the area behind the regular army units that are not quite as tough and disciplined, but they're there nonetheless.
And so if you're going to do a drive, you want to make sure its successful. You want to make sure you have the resources in place to win.
SAN MIGUEL: OK, let's show everybody on the map here what kind of Iraqi forces we're talking about that might be in the north.
GRANGE: Well, in the north, you have regular army units all around the line, the so-called line between Kurdish positions and the Iraqi Army positions. Behind those, to soften the backbone, is the Republican Guard units.
SAN MIGUEL: OK.
GRANGE: And they are up, they go all the way back, they fall all the way back into Tikrit and on down to Baghdad, where you have the substantial number of Republican Guard units.
SAN MIGUEL: OK. Now, you mentioned Baghdad, the coalition closing in on that. We have been told, one of the biggest battles of the effort so far happening near Najaf. We're starting, the coalition seems to be reaching that outer range of defense of Baghdad.
GRANGE: I believe so. The coalition forces pushed through Najaf with the Third Infantry Division and the 3-7th Cav that everyone's talking about up to a line, an outer defensive line, you might say, between Karbala, al-Hillah and al-Kut. And it's that 100 mile, 80 mile or so line of outer defenses of the Republican Guard units. And now you have coalition forces pushing up towards that line. The Third Infantry Division as well as the -- towards the outer defenses that I just mentioned.
SAN MIGUEL: OK. And this is, you know, very key here because the Medina division very highly regarded. Just also a lot of talk about whether or not there is going to be any kind of -- if there is going to be any kind of chemical weapons used or anything, you know, the feeling is maybe we're going to see that. Maybe we could see that coming up soon.
GRANGE: Well, maybe. I mean the equipment was issued to Iraqi forces to include Atropine, which, you know, would protect you against nerve agent if you were hit with nerve agent. So the possibility is there. Of course, the statement is they don't have chemical weapons.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes, exactly.
GRANGE: But the troops involved here, the coalition troops are prepared for that. The problem is the civilians. SAN MIGUEL: Got you.
We've got a lot to talk about in the morning.
We'll be back in an hour and we'll visit with you then.
Gen. David Grange, thanks for joining us.
GRANGE: OK, thank you.
SAN MIGUEL: Back to you -- Anderson and Carol.
COOPER: All right, thanks.
Actually, General Grange, if you could just, I just want to ask you one question about something you talked about, I think, about 24 hours or so ago on this program. And there have been a lot of developments in Basra, and in particular word from British coalition forces that there may be some sort of an uprising going on in Basra.
How significant is that from a military standpoint?
GRANGE: Very significant. And the reason I say that, it's a very large city. I believe it's over a million people. And so to go in and selectively take out paramilitary forces, the Fedayeen and other security forces that have infiltrated and are integrated into the civilian population, you need civilian support as well as military support to take this down, get this town free of this yoke of Saddam's thugs.
And so you need civilian support. And that may, then, cause a rippling effect throughout the cities in southern Iraq.
COOPER: And this is really the first time we've seen that kind of uprising, if it is, in fact, happening. And I remember yesterday on the program you said that the strategy was not to get sucked into street to street fighting by coalition forces, but to drive a wedge between the irregular forces -- the irregular Iraqi forces and the Iraqi civilian population. And it seems, from all the reports in the last couple of hours, that that is what's going on.
I just want to read you this quote from a British colonel, Chris Vernon, who talked about, they seized a Baath Party official from, apparently from his office or some sort of complex.
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Aired March 26, 2003 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the latest war developments at this hour.
Iraqi television back on the air around the world. That's after a coalition missile strike hit its Baghdad headquarters. Its satellite signal just gained full strength about 30 minutes ago. It's been on the air within Iraq for a couple of hours now.
In northern Iraq, coalition air strikes today attacked a key Iraqi defense position. CNN's Kevin Sites reports the strikes left an Iraqi bunker in ruins near the city of Chamchamal. The position guards the road to Kirkuk. He says another bunker is damaged.
A second U.S. soldier has died from wounds suffered in a grenade attack blamed on a fellow soldier. Thirteen others were wounded in that weekend attack in Kuwait. The suspect, Army Sergeant Asan Akbar, is now at a military jail in Germany awaiting formal charges.
In Seoul, South Korea, demonstrators scaled a McDonald's 18 foot tall golden arches and unfurled an anti-war banner today. One protester wearing a George Bush mask -- you saw him up there -- he was brandishing a toy machine gun. Others tried to get into the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Police eventually arrested 30 people.
The Pentagon says coalition forces killed as many as 300 Iraqis Tuesday in a fire fight in the Euphrates Valley east of Najaf. A sandstorm prevented the U.S. forces from calling in air support.
And the U.N. Security Council is succeeded to meet today. Many Arab countries expected to ask the U.N. to condemn the coalition war against Iraq. A debate on reinstating the United Nations Oil For Food program for Iraq is also set for today. That program suspended last week when U.N. personnel were [pulled out of Iraq.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And there is a lot going to be happening over the next hour or two. We've been having some bombing strikes up north. Kevin Sites has been telling us about that.
Let's tell you what's coming up in our coverage on the war in Iraq.
We're going to touch base with our embedded reporters along the front lines for real time updates. Also, we'll check in on the humanitarian aid that's accumulating in Kuwait and the prospects for it getting to Iraq and how the war is playing among editorial cartoonists around the world. CNN's Jeanne Moos will recap some of those that are drawing fire. COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Welcome back.
You're looking at live pictures out of downtown Baghdad as Operation Iraqi Freedom enters day seven. Just want you to know that a Tomahawk missile hit the Iraqi TV station earlier today. But at this hour, Iraqi television up and running, at least by satellite.
COOPER: And as you see in that picture, sandstorms, it looks like they're affecting Baghdad, as well, as we've been hearing from our economics all across Iraqi. A lot of sandstorms slowing things down somewhat at this hour.
Good morning.
It is 1:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast of the United States. Today is Wednesday, March 26, in case you didn't know.
From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Anderson Cooper.
COSTELLO: And I'm Carol Costello.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
Time now for an early briefing on stories that will be news later today.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in the United States this afternoon for war meetings with President Bush at Camp David. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet today to discuss getting relief aid into Iraqi as soon as possible. And anti-war protesters are set to hit the streets again today in several cities across the country.
COOPER: First we want to give you a visual sense of exactly where coalition forces are right now in the war zone, as close as we can tell you, at least. We have an animated map here to help us do that.
Check this out, U.S. and British forces have been making their way farther north into Iraq. They have been moving fast. They are moving far. In the last 24 hours, there has been fighting, a lot of fighting -- Najaf, Karbala, Nasiriya, as well as in Basra. And in the last couple of hours, there have been casks in northern Iraq near Kirkuk.
COSTELLO: Now we want to give you another perspective from the front lines.
Phil Smucker is a reporter for the "Christian Science Monitor." He's joining us live by phone. He's with the U.S. Marines in Iraq.
And, Phil, just remind us again that you are not an embedded reporter. You're on your own. From your vantage point, what do you see?
PHIL SMUCKER, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": Well, we've just moved to some forward positions. We're with the First Battalion of the 5th Regiment of the Marines 1st Division. And just about five minutes ago, we were hearing a lot of outgoing -- the Marines are shooting .81 millimeter mortars. There's not close contact and at the moment we're not taking any incoming fire. But certainly this is the closest we've come to the front combat and it looks like they're moving ahead but we stopped as soon as this shooting started.
COSTELLO: Can you tell us at all where you're located?
SMUCKER: We're about 100 miles south on the main highway. It's an unfinished highway. It goes between the Tigris and Euphrates River in the direction of Baghdad.
COSTELLO: And you said...
SMUCKER: So, if you look at it, it's right across from Najaf. If Najaf is the Army column coming up towards Baghdad, then we're the Marine column coming up further...
COSTELLO: Well, don't be too specific...
SMUCKER: ... further to the -- sorry.
COSTELLO: Don't be too specific. We don't want exact specifics.
SMUCKER: OK.
COSTELLO: You said the Marines were shooting. What are they shooting at, do we know?
SMUCKER: They're shooting at apparent elements of the Army or irregular forces. It's unclear at the moment. We just got to this position where they're shooting. There are three huge columns going up. There's no secret what's approaching Baghdad. And the, obviously the fighting in Najaf is on a parallel. So it's a three pronged attack coming up the Tigris and we're in the middle and the other side is over on the Euphrates.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the weather, shall we, because we just saw live pictures out of Baghdad and it looks like the sandstorm is getting worse.
SMUCKER: Well, actually, I think people around here would say it's a lot better today. Yesterday, some of the experienced veterans fighting and training in the Arab world said the sandstorm yesterday was the worst they've seen ever. It was intense and it ended with a huge thunderstorm, which washed a lot of the dust and sand out of the sky.
Now it's, the visibility is low and I will tell you, it's only about 200 meters. But yesterday, if you can imagine, it was just 20 meters. So today is much better and people can function and there's no dust in the eyes. COSTELLO: Phil, do you see any civilians around?
SMUCKER: Well, we're, actually we don't. So I assume that what they're shooting at are probably members of the Iraqi Army. But it's hard to say. The reason that this, I believe that this highway has been chosen by the Marines as their major thrust is because it's not along population centers and the Iraqi military has shown in the last several days that they can (AUDIO GAP) and they will defend urban centers.
But there are no urban centers on this road. And so it's going to be very difficult to stop the Marines from approaching Baghdad on this unfinished highway between the Euphrates and Tigris.
COSTELLO: And, Phil, as we said before, you are not an embedded reporter. You sort of got there on your own and you're sticking with that Marine unit. You've heard about this red line around Baghdad. Doesn't that worry you personally?
SMUCKER: What do you mean, the red line before they use...
COSTELLO: Supposedly they're going to use chemical weapons. We don't know that as of yet. But does that worry you?
SMUCKER: Well, we have gas masks and chemical suits. So we're as prepared as the U.S. military. So I don't say that I'm in any more danger than anyone in the military. And besides which, I'm not shooting a gun and I'm not right on the front lines. So I think that gives me maybe a better chance of surviving.
COSTELLO: Well, we've already heard of some journalists who were not embedded being killed in the combat there. I just wondered how you managed to get to where you are so far.
SMUCKER: Well, the Marines have been awful kind to us. They've been helping us leap frog ahead. There's a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Marines who has been quite helpful in assigning us to units. But we're with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 5th Regiment. These are the two most decorated contingents within the entire Marine Corps. This is the spearhead of the -- these have been the spearhead of Marine fights in Guadalcanal, going back to WWII, and these guys are, you know, the best and brightest of the Marine Corps.
So I think we're with some good units and they'll protect us.
COSTELLO: All right, Phil Smucker, thanks for joining us and bringing us those vivid accounts. And you keep your head down and stay safe -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, we have just gotten in some new video. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I was told it's video from Baghdad of some scenes of people being taken away from sort of rubble areas. Some of it may be somewhat disturbing. This is the latest video, sort of aftermath. Don't know if this is the aftermath of coalition bombing or of, you know, of anti-aircraft fire that has fallen back to the ground. We just simply can't say exactly what it's the aftermath of, but clearly there is some rubble, burning structures, as well. We saw that person being carried away. This is the latest video coming out of Baghdad at this moment.
We want to check in with Ryan Chilcote, who all along has been traveling with the 101st Airborne Division 3rd Brigade. He is literally in the war zone, as he has been all along -- Ryan, what's the latest where you are?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I guess it all depends on where you are on the battlefield, the facts of this sandstorm. I heard that last reporter saying that today is slightly better than yesterday, no dust in the eyes. Well, not the case where we are. We're at a forward operating base with the 101st Airborne in southern Iraq and it is blowing. I mean it is just blowing sand like even worse than yesterday. Visibility, I'm guessing no more than 10 meters, 10 yards. And this is, this is a real problem.
The entire aviation, all of the helicopters of the 101st Airborne have been grounded. They've been grounded since yesterday morning. In fact, some of the helicopters that were already out on missions had to land where they were at the time because it just came up so violently and so quickly that they had no choice but to put their helicopters down where they were, whether it was a friendly place or a not friendly place. And that's been a real issue for the 101st, is making sure that those helicopters are secure and then get back to if not this base, some base nearby.
I have to say that this has pretty much paralyzed the 101st Airborne's ability, offensive abilities. They really can't do much. I mean they specialize in air assault and air assault means moving troops to the battlefield via helicopter and projecting combat power, as they like to put it, with their attack helicopters, destroying Iraqi targets with their Apache attack helicopters. None of that is flying today.
It's also bad because really without those helicopters up there, it's a lot easier for the, for Iraqi forces to move around, quite frankly. Even with the fixed wing aircraft from the Air Force that are flying around, it's difficult to keep eyes on the ground of what the Iraqi forces are doing because they might be able to see through, you know, say the fog of war, smoke, a lot of that kind of stuff, but they can't see through, in a lot of cases, this kind of, these kind of sandstorms that are so low on the ground.
COOPER: Ryan...
CHILCOTE: So it's -- go ahead.
COOPER: Ryan, we have been hearing, you know, a lot about sort of sniping from these irregular forces, these Fedayeen, these sometimes Republican Guard or the Baath officials. How secure is the area you are in right now? I know it's probably some sort of a forward position. How secure is it? Have you taken any incoming fire?
CHILCOTE: Yes, well, this is an enormous -- just to explain where I am -- it's in a forward operating base. It began as a FARRP, a forward area rearming and refueling point, just basically a gigantic gas station and arms depot for helicopters. It's now grown into, over the last three days, this enormous forward operating base where the 101st can, you know, sort of project out its troops and helicopters.
How secure? Well, they're doing their best to secure it. It's a big chunk of territory and so that requires a lot of troops. And today and yesterday make it very difficult because basically, you know, with literally 10 yard visibility, it's very easy for these irregular Iraqi forces or sometimes they're called militia, basically groups of three to 10 Iraqi soldiers that can, that are armed with nothing more than, say, an RPG. It's very easy for them to infiltrate, or would be easy for them to infiltrate because you just can't see them.
So -- and, you know, this is a really desolate area. So if it's clear outside like it was, say, three days ago, it's very difficult for the base to be infiltrated because you have those attack helicopters up there roaming around looking for targets. And it's hard to hide. There's no shelter. There's no ground cover.
But now, I mean there is perfect ground cover. There's no helicopters in the air and there's, and the soldier on the ground, he can't see farther than 10 meters in front of him. So this is a concerned time. Not at this base, but a base, another base, they actually detained several Iraqis yesterday for suspicious activities. They don't know exactly what they were doing, but they were close to a base, and that made them very concerned. So they picked them up and they're going to interrogate them.
COOPER: And, Ryan...
CHILCOTE: Here yes...
COOPER: Sorry, go ahead.
CHILCOTE: Here yesterday there was a group that they interrogated and searched, but let go, also nearby. And they have found and heard some individuals, according to the commanders in the 187th Regiment, the Third Brigade, like you said, that I'm embedded with, they have heard and seen some individuals just outside the base. They look like they're monitoring, you know, the convoy routes and monitoring the base security and perhaps preparing an attack.
But there has not been the confirmed mortar attack on the base yet.
COOPER: OK, Ryan, and we've got to go. But just very briefly, you told us a couple hours ago, just to give viewers a sense of how bad the sandstorms are, one young soldier in the 101st was on his way to the latrine, I believe, got lost for several hours?
CHILCOTE: Yes. He went to the latrine just next to his tent at about 3:30 in the afternoon and they found him at about two o'clock in the morning in an entirely different part of the base.
COOPER: Unbelievable.
All right, Ryan Chilcote with the 101st, thanks very much -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That is unbelievable. Well, the weather is much different in northern Iraq. It's kind of cold and rainy up there and it has not prevented air strikes this morning.
Let's go live there to Kalak and Brent Sadler with what's happened so far this morning -- good morning, Brent.
BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
As you say, high winds here and the weather's closed in over the past few hours. Not raining, but pretty murky behind me over those Iraqi front lines. However, earlier this morning we did see a significant change in airborne tactics against Iraq's northern defense line. Repeated strikes, six, according to my colleague Kevin Sites in Chamchamal, who witnessed these air strikes targeting all the Iraqi positions on top of a strategic ridge line which overlooks a route, a major route into the oil producing city of Kirkuk.
Now, it seemed that the air strikes were targeting a bunker complex on the ridge line but there were also some very large detonations, plumes of smoke behind the ridge and that could well be connected to attempts to soften up that area in terms of the depth of defense behind what we see on the ridge lines, which is dotted with soldiers. Behind those ridge lines, Kurdish intelligence tells me there are artillery pieces, rocket launchers and other such equipment that could strike Kurdish towns like Irbil, in range, certainly well within range of Kalak, the area I'm in now. And that these villages and towns have been largely emptied of all population even before the first bombs fell in the liberation of Iraq by the allied coalition forces.
And so we saw a significant change in tactics here, a softening up of targets, if you will, in these areas. And that really will doubtless please the Kurdish military commanders here and, indeed, the wider Iraqi opposition, who've been meeting in Salahudin (ph), the Kurdish stronghold, which is about an hour from my position here. Iraqi opposition groups really voicing concern that they really want to be involved in the fight to a greater extent than they already are.
What are they already doing? Well, I can tell you Kurdish forces, special forces are working alongside U.S. special forces personnel, helping to identify targets for U.S. forward air controllers, pinpointing, for example, those strikes we saw this morning.
Also, the Kurdish special force groups have been working to try and encourage defections in the Iraqi front lines, as well as really trying to foment the possibility of uprisings. And this is specifically where the leaders of the four main opposition groups say they can come in, by the U.S. really coordinating with them for them to use their contacts as Iraqis inside Iraq to try and really give confidence to opposition groups in cities like Kirkuk and Mosul and, of course, in Basra, where we've seen a popular uprising. Iraqi opposition saying they are ready, willing and very much want to take part in what they call the fight to defeat Saddam Hussein -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Brent Sadler reporting live from Kalak in northern Iraq.
COOPER: All right, it's about 20 past five o'clock.
Let's check in with Bill Hemmer, who is live in Kuwait City -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, Carol, hello.
First day, day seven right now, the first time we have talked, anyway, on this Wednesday. There is a lot to talk about, especially in the southern part of Iraq. We'll discuss Basra at great length throughout the day here. And we'll also talk about this Iraqi television signal knocked off the air just before daybreak in Baghdad.
Chris Plante at the Pentagon is watching developments there. A Tomahawk cruise missile, we're told, hit that site. But since that time it's changed yet again -- Chris, hello.
Good morning to you back there.
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Bill. It was a number of cruise missiles from Navy ships that knocked Baghdad TV off the air, along with a couple of precision guided bombs from U.S. war planes. It didn't keep them off the air for very long. They're back up and running, as we can see, at CNN in Atlanta, back up on the satellite and broadcasting in Baghdad again.
No doubt that the U.S., if they want to keep them off the air, will go back in and find where the signal is coming from and knock them off the air once again. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was an ongoing back and forth issue.
But meanwhile there's a lot going on in the south. Over the last 24 hours we've had the 7th Cavalry find themselves in combat with several hundred Iraqi irregular troops, who apparently rushed the armored convoy, largely on foot, some of them in small light vehicles with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.
No casualties whatsoever reported by the 7th Cavalry, but 150 to 200 Iraqis killed in that clash. Some of the numbers are a bit all over the place, but the official count right now, 150 to 200. Also down near Nasiriya yesterday, the Marine Corps found themselves being fired on by people inside of a hospital building that was flying the Red Crescent flag, the Red Crescent being the equivalent of the Red Cross. This, of course, would be another violation of the Geneva Conventions. But when the Marines finally did take the building, they discovered a cache of weapons there, took about 170 prisoners of war. Most importantly, they found about 3,000 chemical weapons suits, protective suits and gas masks, raising the question, of course, why would a country that claims not to have any chemical or biological weapons be sending their troops out into the field with chemical suits.
Also, as was mentioned a short time ago, it's believed by U.S. intelligence, or at least there are indications that have come to light in U.S. intelligence that the Iraqi leadership may have passed out orders to Republican Guard units surrounding Baghdad -- six Republican Guard divisions there -- instructing them to use chemical weapons if the coalition forces pass an invisible red line drawn around the city.
So a lot going on. The sandstorm is keeping some people at bay, but a lot of units continue to move into position around Baghdad. And, you know, the big battle still lies ahead -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hey, Chris, go back to this whole idea about these chemical suits being found in that hospital in the southern part of Iraq. We also know about caches of weapons that have been found in different areas of the country. Sometimes, it's our impression, that they're being blown up, exploded there.
What are the rules for that when it come to looking for weapons of mass destruction, possibly being hidden in some of these warheads that the coalition forces are coming across?
PLANTE: Well, you know, I mean the hunt for a special, for -- excuse me -- for weapons of mass destruction is largely a special operations function. Special operations units have been fanning out across the country in the west and the north throughout the country to, in an effort to seize those suspected sites.
There was one suspected site seized the other day and given that we haven't really heard back anything in the way of detail as to the presence of weapons of mass destruction, there the only conclusion we can draw is that they were unsuccessful, the coalition forces, in finding those weapons at that location.
The rule is that if you believe that weapons of mass destruction are at a location, this is not a place that you want to bombard from the air. You don't want to detonate these weapons and put them up into the atmosphere, spread them around. The Iraqis are known to keep them in residential areas and populated area. They're known also to keep them in mosques, hospitals. The hospital was a classic example from yesterday's episode. And the idea is to go in and seize them on the ground on foot, not just so they don't spread them into the atmosphere through aerial bombardment, but also so they can show the world that the regime of Saddam Hussein was all along keeping weapons of mass destruction and lying to the U.N. and to the world about it -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Chris, thanks.
Chris Plante at the Pentagon.
Back here in Kuwait City right now, more tough news for the 101st. You might remember that fratricide incident early Sunday morning in Camp Pennsylvania. Another member of the 101st Airborne Division has died as a result of his wounds suffered, inflicted by a member of his own group. It is Major Gregory Stone, age 40, out of Boise, Idaho. The suspect in this case, Sergeant Asan Akbar, a combat engineer, has since been flown to Mannheim, Germany. He is said to be right now in military confinement, awaiting formal charges.
But, again, Major Stone now the second fatality as a result of that incident early Sunday morning. In addition, 15 others wounded at Camp Pennsylvania, as well.
There are other developments -- back to Carol, quickly, for that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's certainly so. We want to talk more about that TV station in Baghdad that was apparently hit by a Tomahawk missile, but somehow Iraqi television is managing to broadcast pictures live throughout the world.
Let's go to Rula Amin in Amman, Jordan. Rula has been in Iraq for a long time before going on to Jordan now. And I just wondered, do you know where the television station is located in Baghdad?
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the television station is located very close to the information ministry in a neighborhood that is full with civilian buildings. There's a theater close by. There are houses, residential places. And so maybe this is, this was a reason why it hasn't been hit before.
We know that Baghdad came under very heavy bombardment overnight in the early hours of the morning. We just got fresh pictures from the sites, some of the sites that were hit. You can see pictures of the damage caused there. We still don't know a very accurate assessment of all the targets that were hit.
But the most significant target is probably the TV station. Now, the Iraqi government have been relying heavily on the television station in order to convey its message to its own people. Saddam Hussein, since the beginning of the war, has been on television twice, addressing his people, addressing his troops.
Last night, the Iraqi information minister, Saeed al-Sahaf, was also addressing the troops and reading a message sent by the president.
And so the Iraqis are relying very heavily on this TV station in order to put their version of the events, why is this war taking place and how is it proceeding. They are very, they are emphasizing a lot on the fact that there has been heavy resistance to the U.S. forces. They're trying to make the point that the Iraqi people are not welcoming the U.S. forces and that they don't see them as liberators.
The Iraqi television also has been the one to bring the first pictures of the U.S. soldiers who had been captured.
So for the Iraqis, it's very important to keep this TV station up and running. They probably have been expecting the TV station to be hit and that's why they were prepared to put it back on the air very quickly -- Carol. COSTELLO: And, Rula, not to confuse our viewers, but those pictures we just saw from Iraqi television, were those file pictures? Were they live pictures? What were they? They were filed from yesterday, I'm just being informed.
Another thing I wanted to ask you, Rula, is by keeping Iraqi television on the air, it kind of worked both ways. The United States was able to get some information off Iraqi television, as well.
AMIN: That is a point that's worth mentioning because we noticed that the Iraqi TV station was hit. However, the satellite station that was on the top of the information ministry broadcasting from there, for a while was not there. Last night I was watching that satellite station for a while before it was off the air.
And it seems that, as you said, they're trying to cut the local TV station that is transmitting to the Iraqi people while keeping the one that's transmitting to the world. However, we have to understand that the Arab world, people on the streets in the Arab world are also glued to the Iraqi TV pictures, because they are very surprised by the resistance that the Iraqis have been putting up. Many people have not been expecting this level of resistance.
And so while in the beginning of the war, in the first day they were all concerned about the Iraqi civilians and the impact of and the damage of the war on those civilians and they were very sad and very down.
In the last few days, it seems that they are more focused on the resistance the Iraqis are putting and they keep on pointing how little the Iraqis have in terms of weapons and sophistication of weapons that the U.S. has and how the will of the Iraqis to fight have been able to do something.
This is something that the Arab newspapers have been pointing to, as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So is this sort of feeding anti-American sentiment then?
AMIN: I don't know if it's feeding -- I mean the anti-American sentiments here are high because many here don't buy the justification for this war and they see also that the U.S. is very strong, the weapons are very sophisticated, they hear about how effective these weapons are, the 2,000 kilograms, the missiles.
But in a way they have not been expecting this resistance and that's why they are surprised, I can say excited about it, because they feel -- for a while they have felt so impotent that they have not been able to stop this war and they have the expectation that when the U.S. troops will start rolling in Iraq, Iraq was going to fall very quickly.
However, they still see Saddam Hussein on television. They see that his troops have been able to capture U.S. soldiers. Yesterday and the day before they saw an Iraqi farmer, an old man -- that was the Iraqi version of events -- that an old man with an old rifle had been able to down an American Apache helicopter.
And so people were talking about these stories, relaying them to each other, very surprised -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, of course, we should mention that much of that could just be Iraqi propaganda.
Rula Amin reporting live from Amman, Jordan.
Thanks very much.
We're going to take a quick break.
We'll be back with much more right after this.
COMMERCIAL
COOPER: All right, let's take a look at what is happening at this hour.
British forces say the port city of Umm Qasr is now secure. Coalition dive teams -- you're seeing some of them right there -- have been clearing the waterway of hidden mines. That will continue. The first shipment of humanitarian aid is expected to pass through the port tomorrow.
Iraqi TV is back on the air, as Carol was talking about earlier, after a coalition military strike at its Baghdad headquarters. Its global satellite signal returned to full strength about an hour ago and that is after its local signal was repaired a couple hours after the strike.
A second U.S. soldier has died from wounds suffered in a grenade attack blamed on a fellow soldier. Thirteen others, you'll remember, were wounded in Sunday's attack in Kuwait. The suspect, Army Sergeant Asan Akbar, is now at a military jail in Germany awaiting formal charges.
Coalition aircraft targeted more Iraqi positions in northern Iraq this morning, as we've been telling you for the last couple hours. They pounded a ridge outside the northeastern city of Chamchamal, possibly destroying a command and control bunker beside a road leading to the major oil producing center of Kirkuk.
Vigorous demonstrations in many parts of the Middle East denouncing the U.S.-led war in Iraq. This was the scene yesterday in Damascus, Syria. U.S. ally Britain was also the target of much vocal wrath.
COSTELLO: And coming up in this hour of our coverage of the war in Iraq, we'll have more details for you on the U.S. coalition air strikes aimed at the offices of Iraqi TV. Also, we'll check in with CNN's Tom Mintier at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar. He'll have more on the reported uprising by Iraqi citizens in the city of Basra. Plus, we'll update you on the efforts to get humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. Our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now. COOPER: Well, so much is happening at this hour. We want to try to get some military expertise, give you an overview of what is going on.
For that, we turn to our military desk and CNN's Renay San Miguel with Brigadier General David Grange -- Renay, good morning.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Anderson.
We haven't spent a whole lot of time talking about the northern part of Iraq and the northern strategy, but as you've been reporting all morning long, CNN's Kevin Sites seeing a lot of activity in those mountain ridges up near Chamchamal.
Joining us now is CNN military analyst Retired Army General David Grange.
Good morning to you.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning.
SAN MIGUEL: We're going to start with some satellite imagery courtesy of Earthviewer and Digitalglobe.com.
Tell us a little bit about, you know, what do you think the northern strategy is on the part of the coalition?
GRANGE: Well, I think what's going to happen, Renay, is that as the buildup of special operating units get into the theater -- and right now I don't think the majority of them are there yet -- they'll continue to call in air strikes on known Iraqi positions, both regular army and Republican Guard.
And I think the reason you don't see a push with Kurdish forces against Iraqi positions is because they want a coherent drive. They don't want it piecemeal. And so they haven't got enough support in there yet to do that the way they want to.
SAN MIGUEL: And as we can tell, there are also some mountain ranges up here. I don't know how much more difficult that would make things on the part of strategizing and getting any land forces up there. But there seems to be some natural cover up there.
GRANGE: Well, actually, the terrain favors the Kurds. The air fields are critical to get in the stuff to support them, you know, the military equipment and power. But it's mainly the power comes from radio calls, American observers supporting Kurd advances.
SAN MIGUEL: We have some video, actually, of some of those air strikes that CNN's Kevin Sites and his crew caught today.
What about coordinating the Kurdish rebels up there with the coalition forces? It's almost like what happened in Afghanistan, getting the Northern Alliance to work with the coalition up there, almost but not quite. GRANGE: Yes, almost, but not quite. And the reason that it's not the same, exactly the same thing, you're going against, I think, a more robust enemy force. They're not running around in large convoys up and down roads. You have some very substantial positions. There's some Republican Guard units in the area behind the regular army units that are not quite as tough and disciplined, but they're there nonetheless.
And so if you're going to do a drive, you want to make sure its successful. You want to make sure you have the resources in place to win.
SAN MIGUEL: OK, let's show everybody on the map here what kind of Iraqi forces we're talking about that might be in the north.
GRANGE: Well, in the north, you have regular army units all around the line, the so-called line between Kurdish positions and the Iraqi Army positions. Behind those, to soften the backbone, is the Republican Guard units.
SAN MIGUEL: OK.
GRANGE: And they are up, they go all the way back, they fall all the way back into Tikrit and on down to Baghdad, where you have the substantial number of Republican Guard units.
SAN MIGUEL: OK. Now, you mentioned Baghdad, the coalition closing in on that. We have been told, one of the biggest battles of the effort so far happening near Najaf. We're starting, the coalition seems to be reaching that outer range of defense of Baghdad.
GRANGE: I believe so. The coalition forces pushed through Najaf with the Third Infantry Division and the 3-7th Cav that everyone's talking about up to a line, an outer defensive line, you might say, between Karbala, al-Hillah and al-Kut. And it's that 100 mile, 80 mile or so line of outer defenses of the Republican Guard units. And now you have coalition forces pushing up towards that line. The Third Infantry Division as well as the -- towards the outer defenses that I just mentioned.
SAN MIGUEL: OK. And this is, you know, very key here because the Medina division very highly regarded. Just also a lot of talk about whether or not there is going to be any kind of -- if there is going to be any kind of chemical weapons used or anything, you know, the feeling is maybe we're going to see that. Maybe we could see that coming up soon.
GRANGE: Well, maybe. I mean the equipment was issued to Iraqi forces to include Atropine, which, you know, would protect you against nerve agent if you were hit with nerve agent. So the possibility is there. Of course, the statement is they don't have chemical weapons.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes, exactly.
GRANGE: But the troops involved here, the coalition troops are prepared for that. The problem is the civilians. SAN MIGUEL: Got you.
We've got a lot to talk about in the morning.
We'll be back in an hour and we'll visit with you then.
Gen. David Grange, thanks for joining us.
GRANGE: OK, thank you.
SAN MIGUEL: Back to you -- Anderson and Carol.
COOPER: All right, thanks.
Actually, General Grange, if you could just, I just want to ask you one question about something you talked about, I think, about 24 hours or so ago on this program. And there have been a lot of developments in Basra, and in particular word from British coalition forces that there may be some sort of an uprising going on in Basra.
How significant is that from a military standpoint?
GRANGE: Very significant. And the reason I say that, it's a very large city. I believe it's over a million people. And so to go in and selectively take out paramilitary forces, the Fedayeen and other security forces that have infiltrated and are integrated into the civilian population, you need civilian support as well as military support to take this down, get this town free of this yoke of Saddam's thugs.
And so you need civilian support. And that may, then, cause a rippling effect throughout the cities in southern Iraq.
COOPER: And this is really the first time we've seen that kind of uprising, if it is, in fact, happening. And I remember yesterday on the program you said that the strategy was not to get sucked into street to street fighting by coalition forces, but to drive a wedge between the irregular forces -- the irregular Iraqi forces and the Iraqi civilian population. And it seems, from all the reports in the last couple of hours, that that is what's going on.
I just want to read you this quote from a British colonel, Chris Vernon, who talked about, they seized a Baath Party official from, apparently from his office or some sort of complex.
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