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CNN Live At Daybreak

War Recap; Iraqi TV Returns

Aired March 26, 2003 - 06:23   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: There has been a lot of activity on many fronts in Iraq in the past few hours. We want to capsulize everything for you to make it a little easier to understand.
Here is CNN's Renay San Miguel with a recap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): 8:55 p.m. Eastern, 4:55 a.m. in Iraq, explosions are heard in Baghdad and smoke is seen rising from Iraqi TV buildings and the Ministry of Information. Pentagon sources confirm Iraqi TV was the target of a coalition strike. Iraqi TV's satellite signal becomes intermittent and the station's domestic land signal is off the air for several hours.

11:42, the Associated Press reports a second officer has died from Sunday's grenade attack inside Camp Pennsylvania. The Air Force major died at an Army field hospital in Kuwait, according to the A.P.

2:07 a.m., CNN's Kevin Sites reports from Chamchamal in northern Iraq that coalition bombers have been pounding a ridge line in the area and have taken out at least one Iraqi command bunker.

2:56 a.m., CNN's Tom Mintier, at CENTCOM headquarters in Qatar, reports that the streets of Basra are now quiet. A British military spokesman tells Tom that overnight, Iraqi troops fired mortars at civilians in Basra to stop an uprising in opposition to Saddam Hussein. British troops used their own mortars and an air strike to stop the Iraqi troops' mortar fire.

3:10 a.m., CNN's Walter Rodgers, traveling with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, reports the 7th Cav is getting relatively close to Baghdad. But commanders have stopped their forward progress for the moment. Earlier, Walt reported hostile fire from Iraqi forces disabled two M1A1 Abrams tanks. No U.S. soldiers were injured.

4:05 a.m., the waterways leading to the port city of Umm Qasr are now clear of mines, according to British officers there. That will clear the way for a British ship bringing food and other humanitarian aid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, they're having a lot of developments and as we just reported, if you're just joining us, just shortly, a little while ago, we heard from a British reporter who is embedded with a British coalition unit outside of Basra. He says that they are seeing some surrendering of some of those irregular forces who had withdrawn into the city of Basra, hoping to seek the shielding, if you will, of the civilian population. Apparently some people giving up. Not clear how many at this hour. Not clear how significant it is. But that is the latest from Basra. It could be very important today.

Iraqi TV, as we mentioned, is back on the air after casks at its Baghdad headquarters.

For more on the comeback for Iraqi TV, Rula Amin joins us from Amman, Jordan -- Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, as you said, the Iraqis were quick to put that TV back on the air. It seems that this was a priority for them. They have been relying heavily on the TV. The government, Saddam Hussein, the president himself have been relying heavily on that TV in order to send their message. Saddam Hussein has been addressing his people twice on that television since the war started, yet last night the Iraqi information minister, Saeed al- Sahaf, also addressed the Iraqi troops, reading a message from Saddam Hussein.

Also, the Iraqi television had been used in order to boost out the morale among Iraqis, emphasizing the fact that some Iraqis have been putting up a very difficult fight for the Americans who have invaded their country, in their own words.

It seems that the government is trying hard to make sure that the U.S. message that this war is against the regime and is not against Iraqis as civilians, it's trying to counter that message by saying that the U.S. is after Iraq as a country and after Iraqis. And so they are emphasizing the fact that some civilians have been killed as a result of this war. They're emphasizing the fact that the U.S. troops are there in numbers, that they want to stay there for so long. They're trying to motivate not only the troops, but also Iraqi people in order to take a role in this fight -- Anderson.

COOPER: Rula, you are in Amman, Jordan and no doubt monitor the local television there, as well as satellite television throughout the region. I'm very interested to hear your perspective on how this story is playing on the various Arab television stations, satellite television stations, Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV, Lebanese TV and all the rest. I mean is that message that the coalition is trying to strike the regime and trying to change the regime as opposed to invading the country and attacking the people of Iraq, is that message getting out?

AMIN: Well, I'll tell you what, in the Arab world, a lot of people here are not very much strong supporters of Saddam Hussein. However, they were concerned at the beginning of the war for Iraqi civilians. That was their prime concern. But as the war progressed and then Iraqi television and the Iraqi government started putting on pictures of how the Iraqis have been reinstating the coalition forces, they were showing pictures of U.S. soldiers being captured, a lot of the focus had been shifted in the Arab street to how much resistance the Iraqis have been putting up.

Many people here in the Arab world, who are very sympathetic to Iraq and is taking, are taking Iraq's side this war, have been deeply impressed. They say they did not expect this level of resistance from the Iraqis and that's why this is actually boosting their morale. They feel that if this war goes on longer, if the U.S. troops goes into Iraqi cities, then there'll even be a harder and more difficult fight. And that's why the shift, the focus has been shifted to how much resistance the Iraqis have been putting -- Anderson.

COOPER: And has there been any outrage or any discussion of the tactics the Iraqi irregular forces, the Fedayeen, the Baath officials seem to be using, these irregular tactics, to say the least?

AMIN: Well, I'll tell you, I saw yesterday one program where the anchor was asking one analyst, he said, you know, the U.S. says some of the Iraqi soldiers, actually most of the Iraqi soldiers in the Iraqi Army are not fighting with their uniform on and they shouldn't have been doing so. And the analyst -- and he was reflecting a very common view here on the street -- is what do you expect from the Iraqis? The U.S. has such force. They have very advanced and sophisticated weapons. And so the Iraqis are entitled to do whatever in order to be able to fight back.

So in, on the street, it seems that they are very anxious to see how this war is progressing and how much resistance are the Iraqis putting -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Rula Amin live in Amman, Jordan, thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 26, 2003 - 06:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There has been a lot of activity on many fronts in Iraq in the past few hours. We want to capsulize everything for you to make it a little easier to understand.
Here is CNN's Renay San Miguel with a recap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): 8:55 p.m. Eastern, 4:55 a.m. in Iraq, explosions are heard in Baghdad and smoke is seen rising from Iraqi TV buildings and the Ministry of Information. Pentagon sources confirm Iraqi TV was the target of a coalition strike. Iraqi TV's satellite signal becomes intermittent and the station's domestic land signal is off the air for several hours.

11:42, the Associated Press reports a second officer has died from Sunday's grenade attack inside Camp Pennsylvania. The Air Force major died at an Army field hospital in Kuwait, according to the A.P.

2:07 a.m., CNN's Kevin Sites reports from Chamchamal in northern Iraq that coalition bombers have been pounding a ridge line in the area and have taken out at least one Iraqi command bunker.

2:56 a.m., CNN's Tom Mintier, at CENTCOM headquarters in Qatar, reports that the streets of Basra are now quiet. A British military spokesman tells Tom that overnight, Iraqi troops fired mortars at civilians in Basra to stop an uprising in opposition to Saddam Hussein. British troops used their own mortars and an air strike to stop the Iraqi troops' mortar fire.

3:10 a.m., CNN's Walter Rodgers, traveling with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, reports the 7th Cav is getting relatively close to Baghdad. But commanders have stopped their forward progress for the moment. Earlier, Walt reported hostile fire from Iraqi forces disabled two M1A1 Abrams tanks. No U.S. soldiers were injured.

4:05 a.m., the waterways leading to the port city of Umm Qasr are now clear of mines, according to British officers there. That will clear the way for a British ship bringing food and other humanitarian aid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, they're having a lot of developments and as we just reported, if you're just joining us, just shortly, a little while ago, we heard from a British reporter who is embedded with a British coalition unit outside of Basra. He says that they are seeing some surrendering of some of those irregular forces who had withdrawn into the city of Basra, hoping to seek the shielding, if you will, of the civilian population. Apparently some people giving up. Not clear how many at this hour. Not clear how significant it is. But that is the latest from Basra. It could be very important today.

Iraqi TV, as we mentioned, is back on the air after casks at its Baghdad headquarters.

For more on the comeback for Iraqi TV, Rula Amin joins us from Amman, Jordan -- Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, as you said, the Iraqis were quick to put that TV back on the air. It seems that this was a priority for them. They have been relying heavily on the TV. The government, Saddam Hussein, the president himself have been relying heavily on that TV in order to send their message. Saddam Hussein has been addressing his people twice on that television since the war started, yet last night the Iraqi information minister, Saeed al- Sahaf, also addressed the Iraqi troops, reading a message from Saddam Hussein.

Also, the Iraqi television had been used in order to boost out the morale among Iraqis, emphasizing the fact that some Iraqis have been putting up a very difficult fight for the Americans who have invaded their country, in their own words.

It seems that the government is trying hard to make sure that the U.S. message that this war is against the regime and is not against Iraqis as civilians, it's trying to counter that message by saying that the U.S. is after Iraq as a country and after Iraqis. And so they are emphasizing the fact that some civilians have been killed as a result of this war. They're emphasizing the fact that the U.S. troops are there in numbers, that they want to stay there for so long. They're trying to motivate not only the troops, but also Iraqi people in order to take a role in this fight -- Anderson.

COOPER: Rula, you are in Amman, Jordan and no doubt monitor the local television there, as well as satellite television throughout the region. I'm very interested to hear your perspective on how this story is playing on the various Arab television stations, satellite television stations, Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV, Lebanese TV and all the rest. I mean is that message that the coalition is trying to strike the regime and trying to change the regime as opposed to invading the country and attacking the people of Iraq, is that message getting out?

AMIN: Well, I'll tell you what, in the Arab world, a lot of people here are not very much strong supporters of Saddam Hussein. However, they were concerned at the beginning of the war for Iraqi civilians. That was their prime concern. But as the war progressed and then Iraqi television and the Iraqi government started putting on pictures of how the Iraqis have been reinstating the coalition forces, they were showing pictures of U.S. soldiers being captured, a lot of the focus had been shifted in the Arab street to how much resistance the Iraqis have been putting up.

Many people here in the Arab world, who are very sympathetic to Iraq and is taking, are taking Iraq's side this war, have been deeply impressed. They say they did not expect this level of resistance from the Iraqis and that's why this is actually boosting their morale. They feel that if this war goes on longer, if the U.S. troops goes into Iraqi cities, then there'll even be a harder and more difficult fight. And that's why the shift, the focus has been shifted to how much resistance the Iraqis have been putting -- Anderson.

COOPER: And has there been any outrage or any discussion of the tactics the Iraqi irregular forces, the Fedayeen, the Baath officials seem to be using, these irregular tactics, to say the least?

AMIN: Well, I'll tell you, I saw yesterday one program where the anchor was asking one analyst, he said, you know, the U.S. says some of the Iraqi soldiers, actually most of the Iraqi soldiers in the Iraqi Army are not fighting with their uniform on and they shouldn't have been doing so. And the analyst -- and he was reflecting a very common view here on the street -- is what do you expect from the Iraqis? The U.S. has such force. They have very advanced and sophisticated weapons. And so the Iraqis are entitled to do whatever in order to be able to fight back.

So in, on the street, it seems that they are very anxious to see how this war is progressing and how much resistance are the Iraqis putting -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Rula Amin live in Amman, Jordan, thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com