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CNN Live Today

Reporting with U.S. Air Force

Aired April 02, 2003 - 11:44   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: Just a bit before 8:00 in the evening here in Kuwait, 24 hours ago at this time Gary Tuchman embedded with the U.S. Air Force in an airfield near the Iraqi border said there was absolutely a tremendous amount of sorties taking off from that airbase. Gary's back with us tonight by way of videophone.
Curious to know if that pace has still maintained itself at this point.

Gary, good evening.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good evening to you. Good morning to our viewers. Good afternoon to some of our other viewers.

And we want to tell you, the pace has absolutely kept up. This is the 14th night of air bombing campaign. Pilots at this base who I talk to, some are doing two or three missions a day. First few days most were doing one a day, so that gives you an idea. Many of the pilots here are now flying to an airbase in Iraq for refueling and staging. It's an air base that has been captured by the coalition. And it's very unusual, because when they get to that airbase, they're greeted, in a sense, by Saddam Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: This is Talil (ph), Iraq, the Talil (ph) Airbase, but there are no more Iraqis here. The coalition took over this base last week. It's now a major staging point. And you know you're in Iraq, when you drive down the road coming into the base, you see the portrait of Saddam Hussein. What's happened is the military personnel who have arrived here have taken out their markers and are writing messages on Saddam Hussein's portrait.

You can see the main one here on the bottom. And also messages like, "We won. April 1st, 2003."

Want to give you a look, there's a lot of security personnel here. You can look over there and you can see the military vehicles. These are Air Force security forces, with their rifles patrolling the entrance. There is a lot of fighting in this area. We're near the town of Nasiriyah. This base now is considered secure enough to make it a major staging point for the coalition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: With us now is Lieutenant Colonel Mike Webb. He is the pilot of one of these A-10s back here. And you've been to that airbase, right.

LT. COL. MIKE WEBB, U.S. AIR FORCE: I have. I've been to Talil (ph) Airbase.

TUCHMAN: By any chance did you go up to that portrait and put your graffiti on it?

WEBB: You bet I did. I'm a proud American, and I attacked the Saddam poster. I put my name and call sign right on his white sash.

TUCHMAN: We've been talking to you for the last couple of weeks. We talked to you on one of the first nights of the campaign. Has your work schedule increased, the number of sorties you're flying?

WEBB: Yes, it has. We went to two to three sorties a day. And the duration of the flights continue to extend as we get closer and closer to Baghdad.

TUCHMAN: Are you getting tired? This has been 14 straight days and nights of bombing?

WEBB: The fatigue was really heavy the first few days, but I think everyone is getting their second wind, and the spirit and morale of our fighting team is just outstanding, and so we're ready to keep it going.

TUCHMAN: That's a question lot of people ask me over and over again. How is morale of the pilots?

WEBB: I just talked to some enlisted folks before I came over here, and they are all 100 percent ready to go. They're giving every effort that they can.

TUCHMAN: I want to thank you for talking to us, Colonel. Appreciate the time.

Want to tell you this base near the Iraqi border is the largest fighter and attack wing in the ward theater. They are averaging between 250 and 300 sorties at this base alone every night of this campaign, except for two nights when the weather was bad.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Gary, thanks. Gary Tuchman, by way of videophone, embedded with the U.S. Air Force.

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 April 2, 2003 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Just a bit before 8:00 in the evening here in Kuwait, 24 hours ago at this time Gary Tuchman embedded with the U.S. Air Force in an airfield near the Iraqi border said there was absolutely a tremendous amount of sorties taking off from that airbase. Gary's back with us tonight by way of videophone.
Curious to know if that pace has still maintained itself at this point.

Gary, good evening.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good evening to you. Good morning to our viewers. Good afternoon to some of our other viewers.

And we want to tell you, the pace has absolutely kept up. This is the 14th night of air bombing campaign. Pilots at this base who I talk to, some are doing two or three missions a day. First few days most were doing one a day, so that gives you an idea. Many of the pilots here are now flying to an airbase in Iraq for refueling and staging. It's an air base that has been captured by the coalition. And it's very unusual, because when they get to that airbase, they're greeted, in a sense, by Saddam Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: This is Talil (ph), Iraq, the Talil (ph) Airbase, but there are no more Iraqis here. The coalition took over this base last week. It's now a major staging point. And you know you're in Iraq, when you drive down the road coming into the base, you see the portrait of Saddam Hussein. What's happened is the military personnel who have arrived here have taken out their markers and are writing messages on Saddam Hussein's portrait.

You can see the main one here on the bottom. And also messages like, "We won. April 1st, 2003."

Want to give you a look, there's a lot of security personnel here. You can look over there and you can see the military vehicles. These are Air Force security forces, with their rifles patrolling the entrance. There is a lot of fighting in this area. We're near the town of Nasiriyah. This base now is considered secure enough to make it a major staging point for the coalition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: With us now is Lieutenant Colonel Mike Webb. He is the pilot of one of these A-10s back here. And you've been to that airbase, right.

LT. COL. MIKE WEBB, U.S. AIR FORCE: I have. I've been to Talil (ph) Airbase.

TUCHMAN: By any chance did you go up to that portrait and put your graffiti on it?

WEBB: You bet I did. I'm a proud American, and I attacked the Saddam poster. I put my name and call sign right on his white sash.

TUCHMAN: We've been talking to you for the last couple of weeks. We talked to you on one of the first nights of the campaign. Has your work schedule increased, the number of sorties you're flying?

WEBB: Yes, it has. We went to two to three sorties a day. And the duration of the flights continue to extend as we get closer and closer to Baghdad.

TUCHMAN: Are you getting tired? This has been 14 straight days and nights of bombing?

WEBB: The fatigue was really heavy the first few days, but I think everyone is getting their second wind, and the spirit and morale of our fighting team is just outstanding, and so we're ready to keep it going.

TUCHMAN: That's a question lot of people ask me over and over again. How is morale of the pilots?

WEBB: I just talked to some enlisted folks before I came over here, and they are all 100 percent ready to go. They're giving every effort that they can.

TUCHMAN: I want to thank you for talking to us, Colonel. Appreciate the time.

Want to tell you this base near the Iraqi border is the largest fighter and attack wing in the ward theater. They are averaging between 250 and 300 sorties at this base alone every night of this campaign, except for two nights when the weather was bad.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Gary, thanks. Gary Tuchman, by way of videophone, embedded with the U.S. Air Force.

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