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CNN Live Today
Coalition Closing on Baghdad
Aired April 04, 2003 - 11:06 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: Karl Penhaul, embedded with the Army's Fifth Corps, just south of the Iraqi capital, not quite sure exactly where. And again, to our viewers, we can't tell you where, even if we know, so long as the military and the units have not approved it.
Karl, I understand there's a firefight ongoing there. What's happening tonight by way of telephone?
Good evening.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, yes.
Hopefully we should have a little bit of video now to show the events of the day. I can actually tell you I'm in the city of Assamaway (ph) in central Iraq. It's before dawn here. U.S. troops, mainly from the 82nd Airborne Division, backed by Apache attack helicopters, stormed into the city of Assamaway (ph), and their aim was to smash a local stronghold of the Fedayeen paramilitary militia. The firefighting lasted for most of the day. Resistance from the Iraqi side was somewhat limited. The firepower from the U.S. side was absolutely tremendous. They brought in artillery fire, Apache helicopter fire, ground fire, the tanks, the Bradleys. Still, the smoke is still burning in various parts of the city after the strikes in the various districts.
There was also a number of POWs, prisoners taken by the U.S. forces. They tell me that today alone, they have taken in the region of 20 to 25 prisoners of war. They also say that scores of Iraqi Fedayeen fighters have been killed, although they haven't elaborated on the precise numbers of that.
I should also mention, though, that in the crossfire, a number of civilians have also been injured and one was, in fact, killed. A number of women were receiving medical treatment at night. A couple of them had been medevaced (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for more intensive treatment.
HEMMER: Karl, do you know -- do you have the information as to the Iraqi forces? Are they special Republican Guard? Are they considered Republican Guard? Or are they just regular Army soldiers?
All right, I'm not sure if we have Karl. Karl Penhaul, if we can get you back, certainly would like to talk to you again. When we get that signal re-established. In the meantime, Martin Savidge is popping up. He's with the Marines southeast of Baghdad.
Marty, good evening. What's happening there? MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you, Bill.
Darkness has descended on the convoy here. We're going to show you some footage that we shot earlier on the roof. We left Al Kut this morning, heading in a northwesterly direction now. We're now going to be shortly approaching the outskirts of Baghdad itself.
This road, this highway that runs from Al Kut up to Baghdad was thought to be heavily involved with the Republican Guard at one point, the Baghdad Division specifically. All we saw were indications of battles in the past. There have already been Marine units up this highway. There were signs that there had been fighting. T-72 tanks blown up, artillery units blown on their side. Also armored personnel carriers and trucks blown up. There were indications of fortifications that may have been planned to be used by the Republican Guard that were standing abandoned. An oil facility, it's not clear if that was an oil tank or what it was, blowing in the early evening air.
And also lot of uniforms piled up on the side of the road. We've seen this ever since we crossed the border into Iraq, where you have distinctive Iraqi green uniforms piled up at the side of the road, indicating whoever was wearing them that they should get rid of those uniforms and maybe put on more civilian clothing. We did not see people though, other than villagers. We traveled through the villagers, we traveled through the towns. The military convoys have become a point of curiosity. People will line the roads, waving, thumbs up in the air, others shouting in limited English, if they know it, saying welcome, saying hello. Somebody was even shouting "I love you" as we went by. And for the most part, it does seem to be a genuine wave that you get from a lot of people as you drive through the villages and towns. Not saying everyone feels that way. But that certainly was the appearance you got as you took the road north from Al Kut this evening -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, it's nightfall. I know oftentimes the unit digs in for the night. Do you have any indication of when you'll stop or where you will stop tonight?
SAVIDGE: Well, we're pulled over right now, but that is never an indication that you are bedding down for the night. Could be that they are just taking a temporary cause to let other units go through. Right now, we're watching as big M1-A1 Abrams tanks pass by. Sometimes there's a priority as far as vehicles. It could be we just pulled aside to let a tank go through, or it could be the unit will bed down for the night. Even if they do bed down for the night, there's no guarantee you get a full night's rest. Often you're up before the sun and moving again -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, Scott Nelson's embedded with the Marines as well. He works for "The Boston Globe." He was on here last hour. He was reporting that the Al Nida division has now been destroyed as well. And also earlier today we got a report that 2,500 members of the Baghdad Division had surrendered. Is there any verification from your position as to either of these stories being true? SAVIDGE: Well, we haven't been able to verify that significant number of 2,500 prisoners of war. I have not seen any indication of that. Usually, you would have to see them somewhere. They are usually gathered from the backs of trucks. Many times prisoners of war are transported in those vehicles with bags over their heads. We haven't seen anything like that. Maybe it's possible they're sequestered somewhere; we have not just passed by. As far as the other indications of the other Republican guard units, it's hard to say. I mean, the uniforms didn't have identification on them that we can see. What was interesting is that sometimes we saw pieces of armor on the back of tank haulers, as if they were trying to get it out of the fight. Well, they didn't succeed. The tank hauler and the tanks were destroyed in place -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, thanks. Martin Savidge, by way of videophone with the Marines, moving from that road in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, toward, as Marty just described, the outskirts of the city. Marty, thanks for checking in.
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 4, 2003 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Karl Penhaul, embedded with the Army's Fifth Corps, just south of the Iraqi capital, not quite sure exactly where. And again, to our viewers, we can't tell you where, even if we know, so long as the military and the units have not approved it.
Karl, I understand there's a firefight ongoing there. What's happening tonight by way of telephone?
Good evening.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, yes.
Hopefully we should have a little bit of video now to show the events of the day. I can actually tell you I'm in the city of Assamaway (ph) in central Iraq. It's before dawn here. U.S. troops, mainly from the 82nd Airborne Division, backed by Apache attack helicopters, stormed into the city of Assamaway (ph), and their aim was to smash a local stronghold of the Fedayeen paramilitary militia. The firefighting lasted for most of the day. Resistance from the Iraqi side was somewhat limited. The firepower from the U.S. side was absolutely tremendous. They brought in artillery fire, Apache helicopter fire, ground fire, the tanks, the Bradleys. Still, the smoke is still burning in various parts of the city after the strikes in the various districts.
There was also a number of POWs, prisoners taken by the U.S. forces. They tell me that today alone, they have taken in the region of 20 to 25 prisoners of war. They also say that scores of Iraqi Fedayeen fighters have been killed, although they haven't elaborated on the precise numbers of that.
I should also mention, though, that in the crossfire, a number of civilians have also been injured and one was, in fact, killed. A number of women were receiving medical treatment at night. A couple of them had been medevaced (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for more intensive treatment.
HEMMER: Karl, do you know -- do you have the information as to the Iraqi forces? Are they special Republican Guard? Are they considered Republican Guard? Or are they just regular Army soldiers?
All right, I'm not sure if we have Karl. Karl Penhaul, if we can get you back, certainly would like to talk to you again. When we get that signal re-established. In the meantime, Martin Savidge is popping up. He's with the Marines southeast of Baghdad.
Marty, good evening. What's happening there? MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you, Bill.
Darkness has descended on the convoy here. We're going to show you some footage that we shot earlier on the roof. We left Al Kut this morning, heading in a northwesterly direction now. We're now going to be shortly approaching the outskirts of Baghdad itself.
This road, this highway that runs from Al Kut up to Baghdad was thought to be heavily involved with the Republican Guard at one point, the Baghdad Division specifically. All we saw were indications of battles in the past. There have already been Marine units up this highway. There were signs that there had been fighting. T-72 tanks blown up, artillery units blown on their side. Also armored personnel carriers and trucks blown up. There were indications of fortifications that may have been planned to be used by the Republican Guard that were standing abandoned. An oil facility, it's not clear if that was an oil tank or what it was, blowing in the early evening air.
And also lot of uniforms piled up on the side of the road. We've seen this ever since we crossed the border into Iraq, where you have distinctive Iraqi green uniforms piled up at the side of the road, indicating whoever was wearing them that they should get rid of those uniforms and maybe put on more civilian clothing. We did not see people though, other than villagers. We traveled through the villagers, we traveled through the towns. The military convoys have become a point of curiosity. People will line the roads, waving, thumbs up in the air, others shouting in limited English, if they know it, saying welcome, saying hello. Somebody was even shouting "I love you" as we went by. And for the most part, it does seem to be a genuine wave that you get from a lot of people as you drive through the villages and towns. Not saying everyone feels that way. But that certainly was the appearance you got as you took the road north from Al Kut this evening -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, it's nightfall. I know oftentimes the unit digs in for the night. Do you have any indication of when you'll stop or where you will stop tonight?
SAVIDGE: Well, we're pulled over right now, but that is never an indication that you are bedding down for the night. Could be that they are just taking a temporary cause to let other units go through. Right now, we're watching as big M1-A1 Abrams tanks pass by. Sometimes there's a priority as far as vehicles. It could be we just pulled aside to let a tank go through, or it could be the unit will bed down for the night. Even if they do bed down for the night, there's no guarantee you get a full night's rest. Often you're up before the sun and moving again -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, Scott Nelson's embedded with the Marines as well. He works for "The Boston Globe." He was on here last hour. He was reporting that the Al Nida division has now been destroyed as well. And also earlier today we got a report that 2,500 members of the Baghdad Division had surrendered. Is there any verification from your position as to either of these stories being true? SAVIDGE: Well, we haven't been able to verify that significant number of 2,500 prisoners of war. I have not seen any indication of that. Usually, you would have to see them somewhere. They are usually gathered from the backs of trucks. Many times prisoners of war are transported in those vehicles with bags over their heads. We haven't seen anything like that. Maybe it's possible they're sequestered somewhere; we have not just passed by. As far as the other indications of the other Republican guard units, it's hard to say. I mean, the uniforms didn't have identification on them that we can see. What was interesting is that sometimes we saw pieces of armor on the back of tank haulers, as if they were trying to get it out of the fight. Well, they didn't succeed. The tank hauler and the tanks were destroyed in place -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, thanks. Martin Savidge, by way of videophone with the Marines, moving from that road in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, toward, as Marty just described, the outskirts of the city. Marty, thanks for checking in.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
