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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Paratroopers Drop Into Northern Iraq
Aired March 27, 2003 - 06:05 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, Northern Iraq, I want to show you the daytime pictures now of the 173rd Airborne Brigade during the daytime after they flew in under the cover of darkness last night securing an airfield in Kurdish-controlled territory. No incidents to report of right there, no ground fire taken at the time. This is a location about 40 miles north of the demarcation point that separates the Kurds from the Iraqis.
Also nighttime videotape on board that giant C-17 as the 1,000 members of the 173rd launched into Iraq earlier today.
One of those who jumped described his experience this way:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was able to see some of the soldiers as they were coming out, and it was a dark -- it was a moonless night, and we hit the ground pretty quick. And then right from there we just executed our on-the-ground mission and here we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That from one of the 1,000. It's comprised of 2,000, possibly more tonight. We'll just have to wait and see on that.
We're also going to have to wait and see at what point these cargo planes turn around and come back loaded with Bradley Fighting Vehicles, loaded with giant tanks and armored personnel carriers to come into that now secured airstrip.
CNN's Thomas Nybo is embedded with this group. He described the scenario as he saw it like this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS NYBO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've never experienced anything like it. These guys, they're 19, 20 years old. This is their first time in a situation jumping into combat. In fact, it was the first time that the brigade had done a combat jump since Vietnam.
It was absolutely electrifying. They actually had to strap me in with my camera at the back of the plane.
And all of the guys were gung-ho leading up the jump, and then the day of the jump and the minutes leading up to it, I spoke with a number of them, and you could see a little bit of fear in each and every one of their eyes. And then when the doors opened, the entire cabin filled with air just swirling around, and then did the hands countdown, and they started shooting people out. I don't know if you really got a sense of it with the video, but it lasted about one minute, and they got all but three...
COSTELLO: I'm sorry, we're going to have to interrupt that report to go live to Germany, because as we told you, there is a live press conference with three U.S. military members -- two Army, one Marine.
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 27, 2003 - 06:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, Northern Iraq, I want to show you the daytime pictures now of the 173rd Airborne Brigade during the daytime after they flew in under the cover of darkness last night securing an airfield in Kurdish-controlled territory. No incidents to report of right there, no ground fire taken at the time. This is a location about 40 miles north of the demarcation point that separates the Kurds from the Iraqis.
Also nighttime videotape on board that giant C-17 as the 1,000 members of the 173rd launched into Iraq earlier today.
One of those who jumped described his experience this way:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was able to see some of the soldiers as they were coming out, and it was a dark -- it was a moonless night, and we hit the ground pretty quick. And then right from there we just executed our on-the-ground mission and here we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That from one of the 1,000. It's comprised of 2,000, possibly more tonight. We'll just have to wait and see on that.
We're also going to have to wait and see at what point these cargo planes turn around and come back loaded with Bradley Fighting Vehicles, loaded with giant tanks and armored personnel carriers to come into that now secured airstrip.
CNN's Thomas Nybo is embedded with this group. He described the scenario as he saw it like this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS NYBO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've never experienced anything like it. These guys, they're 19, 20 years old. This is their first time in a situation jumping into combat. In fact, it was the first time that the brigade had done a combat jump since Vietnam.
It was absolutely electrifying. They actually had to strap me in with my camera at the back of the plane.
And all of the guys were gung-ho leading up the jump, and then the day of the jump and the minutes leading up to it, I spoke with a number of them, and you could see a little bit of fear in each and every one of their eyes. And then when the doors opened, the entire cabin filled with air just swirling around, and then did the hands countdown, and they started shooting people out. I don't know if you really got a sense of it with the video, but it lasted about one minute, and they got all but three...
COSTELLO: I'm sorry, we're going to have to interrupt that report to go live to Germany, because as we told you, there is a live press conference with three U.S. military members -- two Army, one Marine.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
