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American Morning

War in Iraq

Aired April 04, 2003 - 09:08   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: Now Paula, the question is at that airport what kind of probing is done at night, how does the U.S. find out about how fortified the city of Baghdad is and ultimately where is the special Republican Guard, this unit of 15,000, 20,000 soldiers exclusively assigned to protecting the interior of the city. All of these questions are at the Pentagon again today and that's where Barbara Starr is hanging out as well. Barbara, any answers on the previous questions raised?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are probably lots of answers, but the Pentagon is really still looking into all of this. What the focus really is here is what comes next. Now that U.S. forces are at the airport, that they are -- and they are on the edge of Baghdad, what is the next step? Every indication from the Pentagon is there is a very bold strategy in the works and that is to begin those probing attacks against key sites, key facilities in Baghdad.

Basically, not lay siege to the city, isolate the Saddam Hussein regime politically, militarily, declare it irrelevant, possibly, as you said earlier, even bring in an interim provisional authority before Saddam Hussein is gone. Irrelevant if he's still in his bunker, if the U.S. is basically controlling Baghdad from above on the streets. But at the Central Command briefing today earlier, General Brooks cautioned there is still plenty of serious fighting ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We still anticipate that special Republican Guard forces are operating from within Baghdad or on the outskirts of Baghdad. Some of those we may have encountered near the airport today with some very uncoordinated small unit attacks. I won't even call them counter attacks. They certainly came after we had possession of terrain and they were soundly defeated in each case. Not well integrated, not coordinated, but nevertheless there's a presence of force that is out there still.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And they do believe that the Republican Guard is continuing to disintegrate in key areas. However, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is now, we are told, encountering elements of the al Nida Republican Guard Division as it makes its way towards Baghdad on the eastern flight -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara, what about the leadership? What is the Pentagon saying right now given these statements we've heard almost every day and again we heard another one today attributed to Saddam Hussein, but there is still this controversy about this videotape, when was it shot, how old is it, was it fresh, was it not. What are they saying right now about the upper reaches of the Saddam Hussein government and its regime and where they may be at this point?

STARR: Well this, again, is a question of which there is very little certainty. There are certainly officials that have appeared before news conferences as it were or made verifiable recent statements on television those Iraqi officials, they know are alive. On the question of Saddam Hussein and his two sons, that is still open to debate in the U.S. intelligence community. There are some elements of the U.S. government that feel they have come to a fairly conclusive resolution on that matter and that those tapes were all made before the bombing began, before the war started.

Other elements of the intelligence community are a bit more cautious and saying they cannot reach a final conclusion. Until they know definitively, the assumption certainly is that someone is in control of the Iraqi regime, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE) uncertain exactly how that's playing out right now. Officials saying they simply do not know who exactly is in charge -- Bill.

HEMMER: Meanwhile, we continue to get these statements, Barbara, thanks. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

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 - 09:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now Paula, the question is at that airport what kind of probing is done at night, how does the U.S. find out about how fortified the city of Baghdad is and ultimately where is the special Republican Guard, this unit of 15,000, 20,000 soldiers exclusively assigned to protecting the interior of the city. All of these questions are at the Pentagon again today and that's where Barbara Starr is hanging out as well. Barbara, any answers on the previous questions raised?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are probably lots of answers, but the Pentagon is really still looking into all of this. What the focus really is here is what comes next. Now that U.S. forces are at the airport, that they are -- and they are on the edge of Baghdad, what is the next step? Every indication from the Pentagon is there is a very bold strategy in the works and that is to begin those probing attacks against key sites, key facilities in Baghdad.

Basically, not lay siege to the city, isolate the Saddam Hussein regime politically, militarily, declare it irrelevant, possibly, as you said earlier, even bring in an interim provisional authority before Saddam Hussein is gone. Irrelevant if he's still in his bunker, if the U.S. is basically controlling Baghdad from above on the streets. But at the Central Command briefing today earlier, General Brooks cautioned there is still plenty of serious fighting ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We still anticipate that special Republican Guard forces are operating from within Baghdad or on the outskirts of Baghdad. Some of those we may have encountered near the airport today with some very uncoordinated small unit attacks. I won't even call them counter attacks. They certainly came after we had possession of terrain and they were soundly defeated in each case. Not well integrated, not coordinated, but nevertheless there's a presence of force that is out there still.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And they do believe that the Republican Guard is continuing to disintegrate in key areas. However, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is now, we are told, encountering elements of the al Nida Republican Guard Division as it makes its way towards Baghdad on the eastern flight -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara, what about the leadership? What is the Pentagon saying right now given these statements we've heard almost every day and again we heard another one today attributed to Saddam Hussein, but there is still this controversy about this videotape, when was it shot, how old is it, was it fresh, was it not. What are they saying right now about the upper reaches of the Saddam Hussein government and its regime and where they may be at this point?

STARR: Well this, again, is a question of which there is very little certainty. There are certainly officials that have appeared before news conferences as it were or made verifiable recent statements on television those Iraqi officials, they know are alive. On the question of Saddam Hussein and his two sons, that is still open to debate in the U.S. intelligence community. There are some elements of the U.S. government that feel they have come to a fairly conclusive resolution on that matter and that those tapes were all made before the bombing began, before the war started.

Other elements of the intelligence community are a bit more cautious and saying they cannot reach a final conclusion. Until they know definitively, the assumption certainly is that someone is in control of the Iraqi regime, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE) uncertain exactly how that's playing out right now. Officials saying they simply do not know who exactly is in charge -- Bill.

HEMMER: Meanwhile, we continue to get these statements, Barbara, thanks. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

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