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American Morning
Military Update
Aired April 01, 2003 - 08:30 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Leon Harris from the CNN Center with a look at what's happening at this hour. Iraqi forces hold up near Kirkuk are coming under heavy bombardment. Several explosions were heard in the northern city this morning. U.S. troops want to secure that area and open up a new front toward for the push toward Baghdad to the south.
U.S. troops have been given orders would suggest that the focus on the ground war will soon shift to Baghdad. The capital and the cities to the south are coming under constant bombardment. That could soften up positions ahead of the coalition's advance.
More Iraqi soldiers are surrendering. Ben Wedeman reports that five Shiite Army recruits gave up today after six days of intense bombing near Kalak. One soldier said others wanted to follow, but they were fearful of government execution squads, which are under strict orders to kill any deserters.
Iraqi TV says that Saddam Hussein and his two sons are alive. The state-run network yesterday aired what it called some new footage of Saddam, Uday and Qusay. It was the first time the three of them shown together since the war began, but there is no way to verify exactly when this video was shot.
In other non-war news, health officials say that they are making some progress now against a mysterious and deadly illness. There's no cure for this disease called SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, but doctors say that most patients treated early with an anti-viral drug have recovered by 95 percent or so. Hong Kong has been the area hardest hit by this sickness, which has infected more than 1,600 people worldwide.
All right, now coming up here on the network. President Bush watching the war from the sidelines, saying coalition troops are moving closer to victory day-by-day. A live report from the White House is just ahead.
And a dramatic rescue at sea. Two U.S. Navy pilots are doing fine this morning thanks to some quick thinking. We'll have more on that story for you.
Plus, coalition air strikes intensity. We'll talk to a military analyst about the stepped up attacks. All that and much more is ahead as CNN's coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome. Glad to have you with us this morning. I'm Paula Zahn in New York. From the sea and from the air, U.S. missiles and bombs are aimed at targets in and around Baghdad. In the last 18 hours or so explosions have been heard across the southern part of the city. Witnesses say the firepower is some of the strongest sent into Baghdad since the war began. Iraq's Olympic headquarters was among the targets. Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, has claimed or said to have had a torture center there. Much of the fighting is in the cities and towns south of Baghdad. U.S. forces are trying to secure the area around Najaf to prevent attacks on supply lines.
Yesterday's shooting at a checkpoint was near Najaf. At least seven women and children were killed when U.S. soldiers fired on their van. Time to bring in my colleague now Bill Hemmer who's standing by in Kuwait City. Good morning again Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again Paula. A few of the developments from the area. The Pentagon right now, Barbara Starr is reporting that air strikes against Republican Guard positions southwest of Baghdad apparently dramatically reducing their effectiveness. Barbara says key units of the Baghdad and the Medina Divisions reduced to about 50 percent of their fighting power.
Also CENTCOM says it has not changed the rules of engagement after the suicide bombing incident of a few days ago and now the killing of seven Iraqi civilians, women and children, at a checkpoint. General Vincent Brooks says the U.S. is trying not to target civilians but he says Iraqi troops are more and more willing to use women and children as shields.
Also near Basra southeast, Christiane Amanpour now reporting that two Iraqi Seersucker missiles were fired at British positions there. One fired toward a British commando base, the other at a prisoner of war camp near Umm Qasr. No reports of injuries or damage there. More from Kuwait in a moment, Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much Bill. We're also checking in with our embedded reporters. We're trying to establish contact with Brent Sadler who is near Halabja, Martin Savidge is in Central Iraq and Alessio Vinci is near Nasiriyah.
Now to the White House. Let's get the very latest there from Dana Bash. Good morning Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Paula. Well at this hour, the Bush administration's top diplomat is headed to try to repair some diplomatic relations on two very important fronts. First, Secretary of State Colin Powell is headed to Turkey where he will try to repair relations that have been very strained over the past few months first of all, because of the fact despite the fact that the U.S. had offered about $15 billion to Turkey in aid in exchange for what the U.S. had hoped would be permission to use its military bases to open up a northern front in Iraq -- that didn't happen.
And now the secretary is going to talk about the problem that the U.S. sees in potentially having Turkish troops move down into northern Iraq. The secretary said that they are trying to desperately to make sure that doesn't happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to reassure Turkish leaders that we believe that the work we are doing there now should make it unnecessary for them to consider any incursions in the region. But at the same time, to hear their point of view and make sure that we have a common understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And the other trip that the secretary will be making will be to Brussels to meet with members of the EU and NATO to talk about the current war and also to begin to open up discussions about postwar Iraq and reconstruction there. As for the president, he has no public events today, but you see he had an event in Philadelphia on Monday with the Coast Guard, and we are told that he is going on Thursday to visit Camp LeJeune, the Marine base at Camp LeJeune, where he will once again rally the troops, talk about what he feels is the progress in the war and just a note on that.
In response to questions, fresh questions about Secretary Rumsfeld's war plan in today's newspapers, a senior administration official made clear that the president has tremendous faith in Secretary Rumsfeld and also in the war plan that is currently proceeding. And the senior administration official responding to questions of whether or not the White House was frustrated by once again fresh reports of criticizing the battle plan. The senior administration official said that the Pentagon is a big building filled with 1,000 colonels.
ZAHN: But certainly, Dana, they've got to know there are going to be plenty of questions being asked about whether the strategy will work.
BASH: That's right. They absolutely are and they have been questioned about it certainly over past week and time and time again, they sort of roll their eyes and say, how can you ask about questions about a battle plan that is only now 12 or 13 days old? That they say, as you heard the president say yesterday, feel is making great progress. The president is going to continue to talk about the progress that he feels is being made, the fact they have control of most of southern Iraq, western Iraq that they are bringing humanitarian aid in and he made clear that they feel at least in the days to come, that Baghdad might happen pretty soon.
ZAHN: Dana Bash, thanks so much. Let's to back to Bill, and Bill, as we make this transition I guess we should all keep in mind that a lot of these questions were raised after a commander in the field expressed some skepticism about the plan and perhaps underestimating some of these paramilitary forces.
HEMMER: Yes and also some questions now, Paula, are floating back there in the U.S. about the balance of troops in the distribution here. CENTCOM shooting that down. They say they're in charge right now of this war. Meanwhile, over Baghdad, quickly now Abu Dhabi television right now showing us images of some sort of fighter jets streaking across the sky over Baghdad. It is broad daylight now, just about 20 minutes before 6:00 local time in Baghdad. Some reports, Paula, from "Reuters" as well, a short time ago indicating that explosions are now being heard in the southern outskirts of Baghdad as well.
A couple of hours ago, the Iraqis came out and pointed a strong finger against the U.S. They believe that two busloads loaded with human shields en route to Baghdad from Amman, Jordan, were fired upon by U.S. warplanes overhead. The U.S. right now not confirming that. They say they're looking into it. But no verification yet from the U.S. side.
Rula Amin is live in Jordan. She is tracking this based on what Iraqis have said so far and more now. Rula, good evening there.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. It was one more day of bombing on Baghdad. The targets had included one of presidential palaces, Republican Guard positions, one telephone exchange and the building that houses Iraqi National Olympic Committee. This is a committee that is headed by Uday Saddam Hussein, the son of the Iraqi president and the U.S. says he used to torture Iraqi athletes in that building.
The Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf said this morning that 19 Iraqis have been killed and more than 100 were injured in the last 24 hours only in Baghdad. He had a long list of Iraqi cities that were being bombed and he said that there were more civilian casualties. And he dismissed the progress that the U.S. troops are making on the ground and this is how he described that progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED SAEED AL SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) defense and I also said I feel that this man is -- he is a bastard, one of the worst in fact, bastards, and he is always -- he's always lying. He's not -- I mean, he is - he has lied so much that he is not being taken seriously by all people. We think that the -- even the American opinion, American public, they feel that he is lying all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMIN: Now Iraqi officials are very defiant. They are hoping that if they are able to engage U.S. troops inside Iraqi cities, they will be able to inflict more damage on the U.S. troops - Bill.
HEMMER: Rula, thanks. Rula Amin reporting from Jordan. Once again, Paula, Abu Dhabi television - Abu Dhabi, rather, television in Baghdad showing that jet streaking across the sky. Major General Don Shepherd indicates it may look more look like a bomber based on the contrails, thick contrails out the back. But I think what it shows, again, yet again, is how the U.S. believes that they own the sky right now and can fly in broad daylight over the Iraqi capital out of the range of radar, out of the range of any anti-aircraft fire and again, a measure of confidence displayed there today by the U.S. We saw it yesterday with these F-15s diving very low, at low altitudes over the Iraqi capital. We're seeing it yet again today and more on that as we get it. Paula, back to you now in New York.
ZAHN: I guess, Bill, when you think about all of our guests today, they pretty much said the same thing. Keep our eyes on that air campaign.
HEMMER: Yes, it's so true.
ZAHN: Thanks Bill. We're going to go straight to northern Iraq where Kevin Sites has some news about an abandoned Iraqi Army barracks in the region. He reports now by way of videophone. Good morning.
KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula. It's been a little bit of a game for us every day. We're based in Chamchamal about 40 kilometers away from Kirkuk. And everyday we try to see how close we can get to Kirkuk. It's still occupied by the Iraqis. Today we were pretty lucky. We're about 23 kilometers away and that's paid off for us, because we can hear the sound of B-52 bombers and F-16 fighters flying overhead dropping their explosives on the city of Kirkuk.
This has been pretty heavy bombing. We've heard it most of the day. You can hear the loud, kind of thunderous roar of the B-52s. We've been able to see some contrails and actually see some of the smoke plumage coming up from the city. Now we're not sure exactly what they're bombing there, if they're military targets or if they're actually the outskirts of the city where Iraqi defenses were said to be because we can't see over the ridge into the city.
The Pesh Murga soldiers, that's the Kurdish fighters have keep at this point right here so we can't see over the ridge into the city, but we can hear the bombing going on. It's been quite heavy. Now, Paula, I'm in an area called Kalahanja (ph). It's a town that was under Iraqi occupation just a few days ago. The Iraqis pulled back towards Kirkuk, and we're in an abandoned military complex, and what we found here is just fascinating.
It's a microcosm of what it must have been like to be an Iraqi soldier living here. What we have over here is their version of a target (UNINTELLIGIBLE) basically. You can see the AK-47 holes in there. They don't seem to be very good shots. They're not grouped very well. This is a tanker battalion building that we're in right now, and this looks look one of their training aids. It shows a tank firing and the trajectory of the rounds going out.
And of course, Paula, you have the obligatory posters of Saddam Hussein. They're pretty much all over the place. And this is a tanker helmet, it's painted blue because it was probably for one of their training sessions. This is a pass my translator tells me for an Iraqi soldiered to leave the base. So quite a lot of fascinating items here. The complex itself is quite sprawling and it's in horrible condition. It's kind of crumbling, there's garbage in every room, rounds, lots of documents, all kinds of things, so it's going to be interesting to go through this very carefully, of course, to find out what kind of things are here and what type of work was actually done in this complex - Paula.
ZAHN: Kevin, do you have any way of knowing how long this building has been abandoned?
SITES: We don't. We were actually in Chamchamal when they pulled back from their defensive positions overlooking that city. That was just a few days ago, about four days ago. Coalition air strikes forced the Iraqis back into Kirkuk so we can only assume that this base itself had probably been used in one form or another by the troops since the Iraqis occupied this. And in fact, just outside the complex, there is a huge portrait of Saddam Hussein, it was painted on concrete, a big mural, and the Kurds took a bulldozer to it knocked it over when they actually - when the Iraqis pulled back towards Kirkuk.
So, I think this base probably had been occupied. I don't know what kind of activity they had here, but they did have tanks based over Chamchamal and this was a tanker battalion building that we're in right now, according to my translator. He was reading the Arabic on the wall. So, it probably was used, to what extent I'm not sure, though - Paula.
ZAHN: Kevin Sites, thanks so much. I guess it should come as no surprise the Kurds were trying to destroy any images left behind of Saddam Hussein. Coming up, we're going to check in with CNN military analyst General Don Shepherd for a look at what is actually happening on the battlefield. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back to our coverage as we get a picture right now of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. It's just a bit before 6:00 in the evening there. By the way, for those who are continuing to watch our coverage and gauge the hours on the clock, Baghdad last night moved an hour ahead of local time here in Kuwait. That accounts for the difference in the clock. But we should see the sun up there for about another hour before nightfall sets in.
Let's talk more about a subject you're going to be hearing an awful lot again today about the rules of engagement at these military checkpoints. As a result, not only the suicide bomb attack that happened on Saturday filling four U.S. soldiers, but the shootout that occurred yesterday killing seven women and children at a checkpoint in the town of Najaf. Major General Don Shepherd is back with us to talk about and give us an understanding for what happens at these.
And General, I've got to think right now all through the southern part of Iraq you're going to have countless numbers of military checkpoints set up by the U.S. and the British. What happens at these checkpoints if you're a civilian in Iraq trying to pass through?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPHERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, Bill, things have changed since the car bombing in Iraq. Now you have things such as rules of engagement, these are general common sense rules. You may defend yourself at any time, do not fire unless fired upon, do not engage in offensive operations unless directed by higher headquarters, this type of thing. But the procedures at the checkpoint are something that are issued at the local level.
One of the procedures that's been issued recently is do not assume that civilians are civilians and do not assume that vehicles that approach with white flags are really surrendering as a result of the suicide. And so what's taken place is a very unfortunate incident, which is still under investigation in which seven to 10 women and children were actually shot up after warning shots were fired and fired - and shots were fired into the engine.
So, Bill, they're going to be very, very cautious about implementing procedures, putting up barriers to slow down vehicles, et cetera. But, this is really going to slow down movement of vehicles throughout the theater. As we've seen in Israel, it's just impossible to check every car. But you don't want to approach those cars with large numbers of troops, sticking your head in there until you are sure there are no explosives and no malicious intent on part of those driving, and it's really tough, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, General, there was a reporter from "The Washington Post" who apparently witnessed a good portion of what happened yesterday. He says at the time there were no signs written in Arabic to indicate a military checkpoint was there. But that now is changing. Would you see something like this have a ripple effect across every military checkpoint, and why not? Doesn't it not make sense to post the signs in Arabic and have some sort of command for the Arabic language if, indeed, something like this is approaching a situation there?
SHEPHERD: It makes a lot of sense to do that, Bill, and I think that's the type of local procedure that you will see invoked as they gain control of these southern areas and they have more and more traffic. It makes sense to have signs in Arabic. It makes sense to have barriers up. It also makes sense to have free Iraqi forces and interpreters there to talk to people in the vehicles, so you don't get in these type of situations. These are terrible, terrible situations and everybody's on razor, you know, razor edge about things that are taking place, Bill.
HEMMER: The other thing General Brooks mentioned it changes the psychology of the engagement as well. I want to get a comment on that in a moment, but we're watching these pictures again somewhere in northern Iraq near the town of Irbil, I believe, where this - it looked - I call it a strike aircraft, but I don't think you think it that way. I think you more see it as a bomber. What does this say to you, broad daylight, flying at reasonably lower altitude.
SHEPHERD: Yes, well the original comments were that this was Baghdad. We since learned that it's Irbil. It makes perfect sense to me. There are thick contrails, probably by a bomber. Lots of bomber operations going on up north as they hit the forward areas of the Republican Guard and Iraqi Army deployed in that area. They're hitting trenches, they're hitting command posts. Some of it is dumb bombs, some of it is very smart bombs if they can get specific intelligence, Bill, but it indicates that up in that area they're not afraid of any radar-guided threat. There's probably some still some radar-guided threats down in Baghdad. Anything down there will be accompanied by jamming and harm missile shooting aircraft, high speed anti-radiation missile to protect anything going into that area.
HEMMER: Yes, let's get back to the psychology now, the rules of engagement for the U.S. military. If you're a soldier on the ground, General, if you're a member of the U.S. Marines, how are you thinking right now differently than you did, say, prior to Saturday afternoon, four days ago?
SHEPHERD: It really does change your psychology, Bill. Basically, U.S. forces, coalition forces have sympathy for the population there. You want them to surrender, you want to treat them nicely, you want to win their hearts and souls and now in the back of your mind you have to assume that every one of them is unfriendly, every one of them might have a weapon, every one of them might be a human shield. And so, it really works on your mind. What you want to do is embrace them and you cannot, Bill.
HEMMER: Major General Don Shepherd. Thanks again, Don. We'll talk again next hour. In a moment here, how has America changed since the attacks of September 11? Now 18 months later, we'll talk with a writer who has searched the country trying to find the answers. Back with that and more when we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back. It is through our embedded reporters that you're getting a pretty good idea of how this campaign is doing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in south central Iraq talking humanitarian supplies. Dr. Gupta, good morning. What's the latest from there?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Paula. We flew into south central Iraq just a couple of hours ago. Weren't really sure what we'd expect to find here. Just over my left shoulder lots of different pallets. A lot of these are what are known as MREs, meals ready to eat. But also, Paula, there are some pallets full of just humanitarian food supplies. I'm going to show you those in a minute.
Let me just show you as well. This particular location we are is called a logistical supply area, full of helicopters off to my right. Lots of these cargo helicopters. As we've been here for a couple of hours, they're coming in and out. There is no shortage of activity here, Paula. There have been some questions over the last couple of days just how busy areas like this would be. Well, they seem been very busy today, indeed.
Paula, let me show this to you as well. This is a bright yellow packet. People are probably going to be seeing a lot of these over the next several days. It says humanitarian daily rations and food gifts from the people of the United States of America. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) enough calories for one person for an entire day and the entire pallets that these particular rations are just behind me over here, as well, Paula.
That's all we're seeing here. It's just a big (UNINTELLIGIBLE) logistical supplier. Again, just very big, lots of supplies moving in, lots of staff moving in and out as well - Paula. ZAHN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. We'll be getting back to you a little bit later on this morning. Now meanwhile, as war is fought a world away, federal, state and local authorities face their own battle keeping Americans safe at home. President Bush said yesterday that the threat of domestic terrorism remains high.
Aired April 1, 2003 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Leon Harris from the CNN Center with a look at what's happening at this hour. Iraqi forces hold up near Kirkuk are coming under heavy bombardment. Several explosions were heard in the northern city this morning. U.S. troops want to secure that area and open up a new front toward for the push toward Baghdad to the south.
U.S. troops have been given orders would suggest that the focus on the ground war will soon shift to Baghdad. The capital and the cities to the south are coming under constant bombardment. That could soften up positions ahead of the coalition's advance.
More Iraqi soldiers are surrendering. Ben Wedeman reports that five Shiite Army recruits gave up today after six days of intense bombing near Kalak. One soldier said others wanted to follow, but they were fearful of government execution squads, which are under strict orders to kill any deserters.
Iraqi TV says that Saddam Hussein and his two sons are alive. The state-run network yesterday aired what it called some new footage of Saddam, Uday and Qusay. It was the first time the three of them shown together since the war began, but there is no way to verify exactly when this video was shot.
In other non-war news, health officials say that they are making some progress now against a mysterious and deadly illness. There's no cure for this disease called SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, but doctors say that most patients treated early with an anti-viral drug have recovered by 95 percent or so. Hong Kong has been the area hardest hit by this sickness, which has infected more than 1,600 people worldwide.
All right, now coming up here on the network. President Bush watching the war from the sidelines, saying coalition troops are moving closer to victory day-by-day. A live report from the White House is just ahead.
And a dramatic rescue at sea. Two U.S. Navy pilots are doing fine this morning thanks to some quick thinking. We'll have more on that story for you.
Plus, coalition air strikes intensity. We'll talk to a military analyst about the stepped up attacks. All that and much more is ahead as CNN's coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome. Glad to have you with us this morning. I'm Paula Zahn in New York. From the sea and from the air, U.S. missiles and bombs are aimed at targets in and around Baghdad. In the last 18 hours or so explosions have been heard across the southern part of the city. Witnesses say the firepower is some of the strongest sent into Baghdad since the war began. Iraq's Olympic headquarters was among the targets. Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, has claimed or said to have had a torture center there. Much of the fighting is in the cities and towns south of Baghdad. U.S. forces are trying to secure the area around Najaf to prevent attacks on supply lines.
Yesterday's shooting at a checkpoint was near Najaf. At least seven women and children were killed when U.S. soldiers fired on their van. Time to bring in my colleague now Bill Hemmer who's standing by in Kuwait City. Good morning again Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again Paula. A few of the developments from the area. The Pentagon right now, Barbara Starr is reporting that air strikes against Republican Guard positions southwest of Baghdad apparently dramatically reducing their effectiveness. Barbara says key units of the Baghdad and the Medina Divisions reduced to about 50 percent of their fighting power.
Also CENTCOM says it has not changed the rules of engagement after the suicide bombing incident of a few days ago and now the killing of seven Iraqi civilians, women and children, at a checkpoint. General Vincent Brooks says the U.S. is trying not to target civilians but he says Iraqi troops are more and more willing to use women and children as shields.
Also near Basra southeast, Christiane Amanpour now reporting that two Iraqi Seersucker missiles were fired at British positions there. One fired toward a British commando base, the other at a prisoner of war camp near Umm Qasr. No reports of injuries or damage there. More from Kuwait in a moment, Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much Bill. We're also checking in with our embedded reporters. We're trying to establish contact with Brent Sadler who is near Halabja, Martin Savidge is in Central Iraq and Alessio Vinci is near Nasiriyah.
Now to the White House. Let's get the very latest there from Dana Bash. Good morning Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Paula. Well at this hour, the Bush administration's top diplomat is headed to try to repair some diplomatic relations on two very important fronts. First, Secretary of State Colin Powell is headed to Turkey where he will try to repair relations that have been very strained over the past few months first of all, because of the fact despite the fact that the U.S. had offered about $15 billion to Turkey in aid in exchange for what the U.S. had hoped would be permission to use its military bases to open up a northern front in Iraq -- that didn't happen.
And now the secretary is going to talk about the problem that the U.S. sees in potentially having Turkish troops move down into northern Iraq. The secretary said that they are trying to desperately to make sure that doesn't happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to reassure Turkish leaders that we believe that the work we are doing there now should make it unnecessary for them to consider any incursions in the region. But at the same time, to hear their point of view and make sure that we have a common understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And the other trip that the secretary will be making will be to Brussels to meet with members of the EU and NATO to talk about the current war and also to begin to open up discussions about postwar Iraq and reconstruction there. As for the president, he has no public events today, but you see he had an event in Philadelphia on Monday with the Coast Guard, and we are told that he is going on Thursday to visit Camp LeJeune, the Marine base at Camp LeJeune, where he will once again rally the troops, talk about what he feels is the progress in the war and just a note on that.
In response to questions, fresh questions about Secretary Rumsfeld's war plan in today's newspapers, a senior administration official made clear that the president has tremendous faith in Secretary Rumsfeld and also in the war plan that is currently proceeding. And the senior administration official responding to questions of whether or not the White House was frustrated by once again fresh reports of criticizing the battle plan. The senior administration official said that the Pentagon is a big building filled with 1,000 colonels.
ZAHN: But certainly, Dana, they've got to know there are going to be plenty of questions being asked about whether the strategy will work.
BASH: That's right. They absolutely are and they have been questioned about it certainly over past week and time and time again, they sort of roll their eyes and say, how can you ask about questions about a battle plan that is only now 12 or 13 days old? That they say, as you heard the president say yesterday, feel is making great progress. The president is going to continue to talk about the progress that he feels is being made, the fact they have control of most of southern Iraq, western Iraq that they are bringing humanitarian aid in and he made clear that they feel at least in the days to come, that Baghdad might happen pretty soon.
ZAHN: Dana Bash, thanks so much. Let's to back to Bill, and Bill, as we make this transition I guess we should all keep in mind that a lot of these questions were raised after a commander in the field expressed some skepticism about the plan and perhaps underestimating some of these paramilitary forces.
HEMMER: Yes and also some questions now, Paula, are floating back there in the U.S. about the balance of troops in the distribution here. CENTCOM shooting that down. They say they're in charge right now of this war. Meanwhile, over Baghdad, quickly now Abu Dhabi television right now showing us images of some sort of fighter jets streaking across the sky over Baghdad. It is broad daylight now, just about 20 minutes before 6:00 local time in Baghdad. Some reports, Paula, from "Reuters" as well, a short time ago indicating that explosions are now being heard in the southern outskirts of Baghdad as well.
A couple of hours ago, the Iraqis came out and pointed a strong finger against the U.S. They believe that two busloads loaded with human shields en route to Baghdad from Amman, Jordan, were fired upon by U.S. warplanes overhead. The U.S. right now not confirming that. They say they're looking into it. But no verification yet from the U.S. side.
Rula Amin is live in Jordan. She is tracking this based on what Iraqis have said so far and more now. Rula, good evening there.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. It was one more day of bombing on Baghdad. The targets had included one of presidential palaces, Republican Guard positions, one telephone exchange and the building that houses Iraqi National Olympic Committee. This is a committee that is headed by Uday Saddam Hussein, the son of the Iraqi president and the U.S. says he used to torture Iraqi athletes in that building.
The Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf said this morning that 19 Iraqis have been killed and more than 100 were injured in the last 24 hours only in Baghdad. He had a long list of Iraqi cities that were being bombed and he said that there were more civilian casualties. And he dismissed the progress that the U.S. troops are making on the ground and this is how he described that progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED SAEED AL SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) defense and I also said I feel that this man is -- he is a bastard, one of the worst in fact, bastards, and he is always -- he's always lying. He's not -- I mean, he is - he has lied so much that he is not being taken seriously by all people. We think that the -- even the American opinion, American public, they feel that he is lying all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMIN: Now Iraqi officials are very defiant. They are hoping that if they are able to engage U.S. troops inside Iraqi cities, they will be able to inflict more damage on the U.S. troops - Bill.
HEMMER: Rula, thanks. Rula Amin reporting from Jordan. Once again, Paula, Abu Dhabi television - Abu Dhabi, rather, television in Baghdad showing that jet streaking across the sky. Major General Don Shepherd indicates it may look more look like a bomber based on the contrails, thick contrails out the back. But I think what it shows, again, yet again, is how the U.S. believes that they own the sky right now and can fly in broad daylight over the Iraqi capital out of the range of radar, out of the range of any anti-aircraft fire and again, a measure of confidence displayed there today by the U.S. We saw it yesterday with these F-15s diving very low, at low altitudes over the Iraqi capital. We're seeing it yet again today and more on that as we get it. Paula, back to you now in New York.
ZAHN: I guess, Bill, when you think about all of our guests today, they pretty much said the same thing. Keep our eyes on that air campaign.
HEMMER: Yes, it's so true.
ZAHN: Thanks Bill. We're going to go straight to northern Iraq where Kevin Sites has some news about an abandoned Iraqi Army barracks in the region. He reports now by way of videophone. Good morning.
KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula. It's been a little bit of a game for us every day. We're based in Chamchamal about 40 kilometers away from Kirkuk. And everyday we try to see how close we can get to Kirkuk. It's still occupied by the Iraqis. Today we were pretty lucky. We're about 23 kilometers away and that's paid off for us, because we can hear the sound of B-52 bombers and F-16 fighters flying overhead dropping their explosives on the city of Kirkuk.
This has been pretty heavy bombing. We've heard it most of the day. You can hear the loud, kind of thunderous roar of the B-52s. We've been able to see some contrails and actually see some of the smoke plumage coming up from the city. Now we're not sure exactly what they're bombing there, if they're military targets or if they're actually the outskirts of the city where Iraqi defenses were said to be because we can't see over the ridge into the city.
The Pesh Murga soldiers, that's the Kurdish fighters have keep at this point right here so we can't see over the ridge into the city, but we can hear the bombing going on. It's been quite heavy. Now, Paula, I'm in an area called Kalahanja (ph). It's a town that was under Iraqi occupation just a few days ago. The Iraqis pulled back towards Kirkuk, and we're in an abandoned military complex, and what we found here is just fascinating.
It's a microcosm of what it must have been like to be an Iraqi soldier living here. What we have over here is their version of a target (UNINTELLIGIBLE) basically. You can see the AK-47 holes in there. They don't seem to be very good shots. They're not grouped very well. This is a tanker battalion building that we're in right now, and this looks look one of their training aids. It shows a tank firing and the trajectory of the rounds going out.
And of course, Paula, you have the obligatory posters of Saddam Hussein. They're pretty much all over the place. And this is a tanker helmet, it's painted blue because it was probably for one of their training sessions. This is a pass my translator tells me for an Iraqi soldiered to leave the base. So quite a lot of fascinating items here. The complex itself is quite sprawling and it's in horrible condition. It's kind of crumbling, there's garbage in every room, rounds, lots of documents, all kinds of things, so it's going to be interesting to go through this very carefully, of course, to find out what kind of things are here and what type of work was actually done in this complex - Paula.
ZAHN: Kevin, do you have any way of knowing how long this building has been abandoned?
SITES: We don't. We were actually in Chamchamal when they pulled back from their defensive positions overlooking that city. That was just a few days ago, about four days ago. Coalition air strikes forced the Iraqis back into Kirkuk so we can only assume that this base itself had probably been used in one form or another by the troops since the Iraqis occupied this. And in fact, just outside the complex, there is a huge portrait of Saddam Hussein, it was painted on concrete, a big mural, and the Kurds took a bulldozer to it knocked it over when they actually - when the Iraqis pulled back towards Kirkuk.
So, I think this base probably had been occupied. I don't know what kind of activity they had here, but they did have tanks based over Chamchamal and this was a tanker battalion building that we're in right now, according to my translator. He was reading the Arabic on the wall. So, it probably was used, to what extent I'm not sure, though - Paula.
ZAHN: Kevin Sites, thanks so much. I guess it should come as no surprise the Kurds were trying to destroy any images left behind of Saddam Hussein. Coming up, we're going to check in with CNN military analyst General Don Shepherd for a look at what is actually happening on the battlefield. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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HEMMER: Welcome back to our coverage as we get a picture right now of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. It's just a bit before 6:00 in the evening there. By the way, for those who are continuing to watch our coverage and gauge the hours on the clock, Baghdad last night moved an hour ahead of local time here in Kuwait. That accounts for the difference in the clock. But we should see the sun up there for about another hour before nightfall sets in.
Let's talk more about a subject you're going to be hearing an awful lot again today about the rules of engagement at these military checkpoints. As a result, not only the suicide bomb attack that happened on Saturday filling four U.S. soldiers, but the shootout that occurred yesterday killing seven women and children at a checkpoint in the town of Najaf. Major General Don Shepherd is back with us to talk about and give us an understanding for what happens at these.
And General, I've got to think right now all through the southern part of Iraq you're going to have countless numbers of military checkpoints set up by the U.S. and the British. What happens at these checkpoints if you're a civilian in Iraq trying to pass through?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPHERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, Bill, things have changed since the car bombing in Iraq. Now you have things such as rules of engagement, these are general common sense rules. You may defend yourself at any time, do not fire unless fired upon, do not engage in offensive operations unless directed by higher headquarters, this type of thing. But the procedures at the checkpoint are something that are issued at the local level.
One of the procedures that's been issued recently is do not assume that civilians are civilians and do not assume that vehicles that approach with white flags are really surrendering as a result of the suicide. And so what's taken place is a very unfortunate incident, which is still under investigation in which seven to 10 women and children were actually shot up after warning shots were fired and fired - and shots were fired into the engine.
So, Bill, they're going to be very, very cautious about implementing procedures, putting up barriers to slow down vehicles, et cetera. But, this is really going to slow down movement of vehicles throughout the theater. As we've seen in Israel, it's just impossible to check every car. But you don't want to approach those cars with large numbers of troops, sticking your head in there until you are sure there are no explosives and no malicious intent on part of those driving, and it's really tough, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, General, there was a reporter from "The Washington Post" who apparently witnessed a good portion of what happened yesterday. He says at the time there were no signs written in Arabic to indicate a military checkpoint was there. But that now is changing. Would you see something like this have a ripple effect across every military checkpoint, and why not? Doesn't it not make sense to post the signs in Arabic and have some sort of command for the Arabic language if, indeed, something like this is approaching a situation there?
SHEPHERD: It makes a lot of sense to do that, Bill, and I think that's the type of local procedure that you will see invoked as they gain control of these southern areas and they have more and more traffic. It makes sense to have signs in Arabic. It makes sense to have barriers up. It also makes sense to have free Iraqi forces and interpreters there to talk to people in the vehicles, so you don't get in these type of situations. These are terrible, terrible situations and everybody's on razor, you know, razor edge about things that are taking place, Bill.
HEMMER: The other thing General Brooks mentioned it changes the psychology of the engagement as well. I want to get a comment on that in a moment, but we're watching these pictures again somewhere in northern Iraq near the town of Irbil, I believe, where this - it looked - I call it a strike aircraft, but I don't think you think it that way. I think you more see it as a bomber. What does this say to you, broad daylight, flying at reasonably lower altitude.
SHEPHERD: Yes, well the original comments were that this was Baghdad. We since learned that it's Irbil. It makes perfect sense to me. There are thick contrails, probably by a bomber. Lots of bomber operations going on up north as they hit the forward areas of the Republican Guard and Iraqi Army deployed in that area. They're hitting trenches, they're hitting command posts. Some of it is dumb bombs, some of it is very smart bombs if they can get specific intelligence, Bill, but it indicates that up in that area they're not afraid of any radar-guided threat. There's probably some still some radar-guided threats down in Baghdad. Anything down there will be accompanied by jamming and harm missile shooting aircraft, high speed anti-radiation missile to protect anything going into that area.
HEMMER: Yes, let's get back to the psychology now, the rules of engagement for the U.S. military. If you're a soldier on the ground, General, if you're a member of the U.S. Marines, how are you thinking right now differently than you did, say, prior to Saturday afternoon, four days ago?
SHEPHERD: It really does change your psychology, Bill. Basically, U.S. forces, coalition forces have sympathy for the population there. You want them to surrender, you want to treat them nicely, you want to win their hearts and souls and now in the back of your mind you have to assume that every one of them is unfriendly, every one of them might have a weapon, every one of them might be a human shield. And so, it really works on your mind. What you want to do is embrace them and you cannot, Bill.
HEMMER: Major General Don Shepherd. Thanks again, Don. We'll talk again next hour. In a moment here, how has America changed since the attacks of September 11? Now 18 months later, we'll talk with a writer who has searched the country trying to find the answers. Back with that and more when we continue after this.
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ZAHN: Welcome back. It is through our embedded reporters that you're getting a pretty good idea of how this campaign is doing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in south central Iraq talking humanitarian supplies. Dr. Gupta, good morning. What's the latest from there?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Paula. We flew into south central Iraq just a couple of hours ago. Weren't really sure what we'd expect to find here. Just over my left shoulder lots of different pallets. A lot of these are what are known as MREs, meals ready to eat. But also, Paula, there are some pallets full of just humanitarian food supplies. I'm going to show you those in a minute.
Let me just show you as well. This particular location we are is called a logistical supply area, full of helicopters off to my right. Lots of these cargo helicopters. As we've been here for a couple of hours, they're coming in and out. There is no shortage of activity here, Paula. There have been some questions over the last couple of days just how busy areas like this would be. Well, they seem been very busy today, indeed.
Paula, let me show this to you as well. This is a bright yellow packet. People are probably going to be seeing a lot of these over the next several days. It says humanitarian daily rations and food gifts from the people of the United States of America. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) enough calories for one person for an entire day and the entire pallets that these particular rations are just behind me over here, as well, Paula.
That's all we're seeing here. It's just a big (UNINTELLIGIBLE) logistical supplier. Again, just very big, lots of supplies moving in, lots of staff moving in and out as well - Paula. ZAHN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. We'll be getting back to you a little bit later on this morning. Now meanwhile, as war is fought a world away, federal, state and local authorities face their own battle keeping Americans safe at home. President Bush said yesterday that the threat of domestic terrorism remains high.
