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American Morning

U.S. Soldiers on Second Day of Recon in Baghdad

Aired April 06, 2003 - 08:00   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 CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, folks. Leon Harris here in the CNN newsroom and our coverage of the war in Iraq continues now with a look at what's happening at this hour.
U.S. Central Command says that it's investigating reports of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq. A BBC correspondent says a U.S. warplane dropped a bomb near a U.S.-Kurdish convoy, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others. We'll have much more on this story just ahead. Stay with us.

U.S. soldiers now rolling through Baghdad for a second day of reconnaissance missions intended to keep the pressure upon the Iraqi regime. The troops will be protected by coalition warplanes conducting 24-hour surveillance over the capital. Central Command says at least 2,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded when U.S. forces entered the city yesterday.

U.S. Marines are battling remaining pockets of resistance as they advanced north towards Baghdad. Martin Savidge says that members of the 1st Battalion Fifth Marines encountered some stiff resistance on that same road just 48 hours before his unit came through.

Iraqi authorities in the meantime have reportedly imposed a travel ban into and out of Baghdad, according to Reuters. This ban will be in effect from 6:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and it starts tonight. But U.S. Central Command says the lockdown on Baghdad is not going to affect any military operations.

Well, days after she was rescued from Iraq Army PFC Jessica Lynch is being reunited with her family today. Lynch's parents, her brother, her sister left for Germany yesterday and that's where the 19-year-old is going to be recovering from some injuries that she suffered in Iraq. She will be there for a few more days.

Now coming up here on the network, coalition forces on the ground have a choke hold on Baghdad and they're being backed up by Close Air Support. We'll talk some strategy with our military analyst just ahead.

And reports of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq, there are at least ten fatalities. More on that coming up as well.

Plus, the first American service woman killed in the war in Iraq. We'll hear what her friends and her family had to say.

All that and much more ahead as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now with Bill Hemmer in Kuwait. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Leon, thanks again. Good morning and good afternoon from Kuwait City. I'm Bill Hemmer. Good to have you with us on this Sunday.

A number of developments yet again today as you can imagine. Central Command says it has information that a Russian convoy attacked in western Iraq is still moving toward the border with Syria. That convoy said to be carrying Russian diplomats trying to get out of Iraq. Not clear who may have hit that convoy. There are reports of injuries but CNN cannot confirm it.

A U.S. and Iraqi ambassadors in Moscow have been urgently summoned now to the Foreign Ministry. We'll keep a very close track of this with Jill Dougherty back in Moscow.

In northern Iraq right now, a coalition warplane reportedly bombed a U.S. and Kurdish convoy. BBC reporter John Simpson and he is a veteran says he saw the bomb land just 10 feet away. He says at least ten people are dead and we are hearing that a quote, "very senior political leader for the Iraqis Kurds may have been hurt."

Also Central Command says between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqis were killed yesterday alone, Saturday during fighting in and around Baghdad. Walt Rogers reports for the second straight day now also that units of the Third Infantry have made another foray into the heart of Baghdad today.

I want to bring in Heidi Collins again riding with us today back at the CNN Center. Heidi, good to see you again on this Sunday. Good morning back there in Atlanta.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you, too, Bill. Thanks so much.

Let's take a look now at some of the other late war developments. U.S. Central Command says Special Operations Forces have taken control of several roads in western Iraq. CENTCOM says it's part of an effort to stop the movement of ballistic missiles as well as leaders of the Iraqi regime.

And British officials say three British battle groups are pushing into the center of Basra. Over the weekend British Forces raided the homes of people suspected of belonging to the Fedayeen fighters or to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

No war zone would be complete without mail call and the U.S. military is doing everything it can to get letters to the troops. The Postal Service is chartering two 747-cargo jets to deliver 750,000 pounds of mail each week to troops in the Mideast. Hopefully very uplifting to them.

Bill, back over to you.

HEMMER: . Yes, so true. Heidi, thanks. We'll check in in a couple of minutes with you. In the meantime though, to our viewers, I want to let you know what we're watching right now. The situation in Iraq. Our reporters again spread out throughout the entire battlefield. Martin Savidge again with the 1st Battalion 7th Marine southeast of the city. Jane Arraf is near Erbil in northern Iraq, the scene of the deadly friendly fire incident we just mentioned. And Jill Dougherty again checking in from Moscow for more reaction and information as she gets it as to that Russian diplomatic convoy again as it was headed toward the border with Syria.

First stop for us this hour though. Back to the Pentagon and Patty Davis. And Patty good morning there.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill. U.S. Central Command said this morning that it is investigating that possible friendly fire incident near Mosul that reportedly has killed some U.S. Special Forces and Kurdish troops. That attack apparently occurred, U.S. Central Command says, around 4:15 a.m. this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCE BROOKS, CENTRAL COMMAND: We do have some initial reports of an engagement that occurred in the north that involved some coalition forces and also some Peshmerga with whom we've been conducting operations in the north. We don't know the specifics or the circumstances at this point. As with every other report like this, we'll dig into it. Find out what the contributing circumstances are and try to come to some degree of closure on not only what happened, but also if there are things we need to learn from it. How it happened and what we can do to prevent it from happening again, if indeed we had some involvement in that. So, that is something that is still underway, that is ongoing and it's a very fresh report as well so it is going to take a little while before we get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: Now, if this was a friendly fire incident it would be the fourth such incident in this war. Central Command also today clarifying another incident, this one, they're saying was friendly fire. April 3, three U.S. troops were killed, five wound when an F- 15E Strike Eagle, a U.S. aircraft dropped a bomb on coalition forces. They say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding that friendly fire incident.

Now, Central Command also today saying that it is investigating another report, a Russian convoy filled with Russian diplomats in western Iraq. It says that that convoy is still moving and it says it was aware that that convoy was where it was at the time of that apparent attack.

Now, the U.S. forces and coalition forces continue to pound Baghdad and to try to isolate it. Air missions flying 24 hours a day, seven days a week Central Command says over Baghdad to support coalition ground troops. Now, coalition tanks again rolling through Baghdad on Sunday; first as reconnaissance missions and then as a show of support -- a show of force and support for those troops. Two to 3,000 Iraqi fighters killed or wounded Saturday when those troops went and pushed through Baghdad -- Bill.

HEMMER: Patty listen, the Iraqis have been saying for weeks that thousands and thousands of Arab fighters are reporting for duty within the borders of Iraq. There was talk about the "foreign fighters" as CENTCOM refers to them at the briefing today. What more do we know about what the U.S. is coming across right now in Iraq?

DAVIS: Well, the U.S. Central Command says it did come across a facility in which Egyptian and Sudan fighters were killed. There were also some captured and this is in Saman Pac (ph). They are saying that indeed, they believe that there is some terrorist links simply from where they're from and what it appears they were doing. They were able to attack and destroy Central Command says some tanks, some armored personnel vehicles as well as some buildings and they do believe that it is likely that there perhaps were some terrorist connections here -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Patty thanks. Patty Davis again at the Pentagon. We'll check back in a bit later today.

Now Heidi again at the CNN Center.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. There have been many war developments overnight, as you might imagine. We want to share some of them with you now. Some highlights from our reporters. We begin with Walter Rodgers with the 3-7 Cavalry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Army sources have told CNN that more armed reconnaissance missions are planned for inside the heart of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Yesterday, the previous day, the Second Brigade Third Infantry Division rolled reconnaissance tanks units through the city. Again, we can expect according to the Army more of this kind of U.S. muscle flexing. It's an attempt to show the Iraqis that the old regime has fall upon. More importantly it's an attempt to take out any pockets of resistance that the Iraqis may put up. Not necessarily an indication that the United States is going to occupy Baghdad en masse. What we are seeing however, are plans what are call-- that the Army is calling SASO, which is an acronym that stands for Security And Stability Organizations.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Marines continue to push up from the southeast into the suburbs of Baghdad. That's a different route and a different sort of fight that the Army has been seeing on the west side as they move forward. The Fifth Marines about 24, 48 hours ago in this very area did run into in some problems with Iraqi opposition. Now, the First Battalion Seventh Marines' task with the same job, following on and clearing out any resistance if they find. That's what they've been doing for the past 24 hours.

They are not only doing it with their armored personnel carriers, we understand there are tanks and air support as well and we certainly know that there's been artillery; a lot of artilleries at times coming from the U.S. Marines in support of the action that's tacking place...

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

COLLINS: CNN's Martin Savidge.

For now we will send it back to Bill in Kuwait -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi listen, trying to get a lot more information on what is happening -- that happened several hours ago in northern Iraq near the town of Erbil.

Jane Arraf is back with us. A word of friendly fire, word of Kurdish soldiers traveling with U.S. servicemen as well.

Jane, what more have you found out.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are here actually on the front line on the ridge with American Special Forces who have been working with those Kurdish soldiers. They're just up from where that friendly fire incident appeared to have taken place.

Now, as we drove up there were charred vehicles still smoldering, some of them. But they all appeared to be land cruisers, those four wheeled drives. There weren't any military vehicles in evidence.

And here on the ground, the Special Forces are saying that they have not heard of those American casualties, so far. They have believed that they were all Kurdish casualties. Including according to hospital sources in Erbil, a senior military commander. He's part of the Kurdish military command in this part of northern Iraq. His name is Wajeed Barsani. Now he appears to have been wounded and he is the younger brother of the leader. They refer to him as president of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which controls this part of northern Iraq, a very serious blow for the Kurdish leadership.

Now what's happening on this ridge is very dramatic. Earlier this morning these front line troops were advancing toward the front lines when they saw Iraqi tanks. Now, they didn't have air cover at the time so they have retreated further back beyond another Ridge. And we are on one of the main roads out of the major northern Iraqi city Erbil. They are now on this ridge and they've been calling in air strikes on the Iraqi tanks. So far, they have hit four tanks and two armored personnel carriers with a combination of 2,000-pound bombs dropped from F-14's that they have been calling in as well as Javelin antitank missiles. The battle is still going on.

There's a lull at the moment, but clearly there's going to be more fighting to come -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right Jane, thanks.

Jane Arraf, again working that story on the northern front for us. And again, we'll try to piece together more information as to what happened as a result of that convoy traveling earlier today. And when we get it, certainly we'll pass it along to you.

But for now back to Heidi in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. Let's get a strategic perspective now on the latest war developments. We are joined this morning from Denver by Retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner. Hello again to you Colonel Turner.

COL. MIKE TURNER (RET.), AIR FORCE: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and just begin by kind of geographically looking at the coalition troops. Where are they focusing their efforts right now?

TURNER: Well, General Brooks this morning alluded to sort of the modus operandi if you will, of downtown Baghdad and it really begins to model the southern cities. They are going to be very deliberate about where they go and they will have specific targets and locations and buildings that they will begin to look at. But again we saw today the second instance of reconnaissance in force. So at the same time that we are seeking out specific targets for command and control, as it becomes clear that this regime is really beginning to crumble at an accelerated pace. We will also periodically, in addition to targeting the specific buildings, continue to run these reconnaissance missions to indicate to the Iraqi people and as many people as can, that we are in complete control of the situation in downtown Baghdad.

COLLINS: I would be interested to know then what your assessment would be of the resistance that the coalition troops have faced so far. And who's calling the shots at this point?

TURNER: Who's calling the shot is anybody's guess. Right now it does not appear to be any kind of cohesion or command and control -- centralized command and control of these forces. These forces were trained to rely very tightly on that command and control. The loss of the head of the snake, if you will is catastrophic for the forces that have been trained in this manner.

Resistance, in my judgment -- obviously, I don't want to imply that this has been an easy battle, but resistance does not appear to be the kind of cohesive resistance we would have expected from the Republican Guard if it was being controlled by a central authority. It has broken down now into a series of street fight, which is again could be very, very dangerous and very violent. But they are seemingly unrelated and uncoordinated and that is -- that's good for coalition forces. It indicates that we're moving very fast as one of the briefers mentioned the other day, staying inside the decision loop. So we're making decisions that forces them to react. I would say things are going very well again for the second day.

COLLINS: It sounds like you might think it would be fair to say that the coalition expected more resistance in that so called Red Zone around Baghdad than they have met so far. As far as the Republican Guard goes, where are they?

TURNER: If I -- looking at what I am looking at on television right now, it appears to me that the Republican Guard has either willfully dispersed or has been forced to disperse or basically abandoned their positions. General Brooks mentioned the Adnon, possibly elements of the Hammurabi that are moving around inside the city, but again his description of those elements were units in disarray. And that's really not surprising. And he also mentioned that we specifically are looking for yet lower elements of command and control to even disperse those smaller units even further by destroying their command and control at the lower level and the mid level. So as that process continues you'll see it begin to evaporate even more and sort of just blend into the city, I suspect.

COLLINS: All right. Retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner coming to us from Denver today. Thank you.

TURNER: Thank you.

COLLINS: And now back to Bill in Kuwait.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi listen. Some very sad news right now we have to report about one of our colleagues. NBC Anchor and well- known correspondent David Bloom has dialed -- died, rather, while on assignment inside of Iraq. It was not a combat death we were told. NBC's "Today" program just reported that Bloom died of a pulmonary embolism.

He was co-anchor of "Today's" weekend program for three years running now. He also covered the White House prior to that. Colleagues will tell you he was extremely dedicated to his profession and extremely respected as well. He was one of the most -- the hardest workers you would find on any beat and on any story. And above all that, he was a good guy, too. David Bloom was 39 years old. He would have turned 40 next month. He is survived now by his wife and three daughters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Now, let's recap the major war developments over the last few hours. Here's Leon Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: 1:14 a.m., CNN's Rym Brahimi reports that Baghdad residents endured another night of heavy bombing. This as Iraqi authorities announced that all entrances to Baghdad would be closed from 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. effective Sunday night.

1:55 a.m., CNN's Martin Savidge reports Marines are slowly moving through the southeast suburbs of Baghdad and says he has seen a burned out U.S. tank and a lot of Iraqi bodies. Evidence that forward elements are seeing heavy resistance.

3:13 a.m., from CNN's Kathleen Koch, Pentagon officials say that U.S. forces will operate when they want, where they want despite any closure of entrances to Baghdad.

5:40 a.m., Tom Mintier reports the bodyguard of Chemical Ali, a top Hussein aid, accused of gassing Kurdish villagers in 1988 has been found dead in the rubble of an air strike that destroyed Ali's home. There is no word on Ali's fate.

6:33 a.m., CNN's James Martone reports from northern Iraq, where the BBC reports a U.S. warplane mistakenly dropped a bomb on a U.S.- Kurdish convoy. The report says at least ten people died and many more were injured.

6:36 a.m., Iraq's information minister says in fighting around Baghdad's international airport, Iraqi forces killed 50 coalition troops and destroyed or severely damaged 16 tanks.

7:01 a.m., U.S. Central Command says the coalition force is growing stronger every day and that the outcome of the Operation Iraqi Freedom is not in doubt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Now let's fast forward to the present moment, the situation right now inside of Baghdad where the focus of this war has now shifted. We'll talk about strategy with Ken Pollack; author of "The Threatening Storm" Ken is back with us in our D.C. bureau.

Good to have you back, Ken, and I wish I could say happy Sunday but this is war and the news today has not been good in a number of different locations. But I want to talk specifically at this point just about what's happening inside Baghdad. If it is possible for you to get inside of Saddam Hussein's head if he is still in charge of anything regarding his military. What is his strategy to defend the capital city?

KEN POLLACK, AUTHOR: Well first of all, you said it right. We don't know if Saddam is alive, if he is capable of functioning but for a moment let's assume that he is. Right now he's basically got three broad options and none of them are particularly good.

One is stay in Baghdad. He is well dug in there. He's got his most loyal troops around him. Try to regroup the Republican Guard as best he can. You heard that there are elements of at least three Republican Guard Divisions that U.S. Central Command believes are still functioning in and around Baghdad. He seems to be clearly trying very hard to reset those forces to mount some kind of defense of Baghdad.

Option two is try to flee to Tikrit, his homeland, his hometown where support for Saddam will be strongest. And one of the problems he has in Baghdad is probably of the people of Baghdad won't be too sorry to see him leave. On the other hand, in Tikrit he can find a lot of public support. The problem he's got is he's got to get to Tikrit. And as best we can tell, U.S. forces have blocked off all the exits from Baghdad

And the third one is try to flee out to Iraq's western tribes. Those tribes are among the most loyal to Saddam. He might believe that they could find shelter with them. That they would give him sanctuary of some kind, maybe even allow him to flee off to Syria where there are reports that his family and other high-ranking regime families have already been sent. There as well, he's got a problem. He's got find his way out to the tribes and then when he gets there, he has got to make sure the tribes don't betray hem because the U.S. will put tremendous pressure on the tribes to give him up. None of these options are particularly good.

HEMMER: And Ken listen, if you just look at the numbers. If true that 3,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed on Saturday, yesterday alone in one day of fighting in and around Baghdad. The walls of the room are closing in quite quickly. If that is the case, do you see a point where he cuts and runs? Does he follow the Baath Party leaders to Syria, or is that possibly not even an option right now.

POLLACK: Well, I think as you're pointing out, his options to run are pretty limited. I don't think that any Iraq expert really thought there was a high likelihood that Saddam would run. It is not really his style. It is now what we have seen from him in the past. And now we have got to be thinking about the alternative and you've heard U.S. Central Command talking about it.

The alternative, which is that Saddam begins at some point to decide that the game is up. That he has lost it. That his regime is domed and under those circumstances, the most likely course of action for him is probably to try to lash out and inflict as much damage as he possibly can on people. And I think that's why you heard U.S. Central Command saying that they are very concerned about looking for Iraqi ballistic missiles trying to head out to the west where they can be fired against Israel.

HEMMER: All right listen; Central Command also said that right now they are saying no substantial movement right now. Hang on Ken, one second, I'm sorry. Paul Wolfowitz who is right now speaking in D.C. -- I believe he's headed in for a talk show. We'll listen in Washington.

QUESTION: We will be asking what more to disarm Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction, they haven't been used, they haven't been found? What are your feelings? What do you say to those people, those critics?

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, we're in the middle of a war. In fact, we're just at the very beginning of the third week of this war and it really is much too soon to draw conclusions. We've made progress, continue to make progress. But there's a lot of work to be done and there some real dangers that still lie ahead including the possibility that those weapons might be used.

The incredibly brave young men and women who are fighting this war have their hands full fighting it. And when this regime is gone and it's going to go, it's on its way out, then we will have time to look carefully and with time for those things that we are sure are there.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

WOLFOWITZ: When this regime is gone and when the Iraqi people are no longer terrorized by this regime and are free to express themselves and free and able to set up a new government for Iraq. And when the American people and the whole world are no longer threatened by those weapons of mass destruction or the possibility that they will be given to terrorists.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary (OFF MIKE)

WOLFOWITZ: We can't be -- we can't say that anyone should take a leading role. By definition if you're going to have a government or even a transitional authority that represents the legitimate views of the Iraqi people that the Iraqi people has to decide. But what we want to make sure is that all Iraqis are free to participate in building the future government of their country.

There have been very important groups, including the Iraqi National Congress that have been struggling for the freedom of Iraq and northern Iraq and abroad for many years, but there are many people inside the country who are still living in fear of the regime and not able to express their views. So we need a process that brings everyone together.

QUESTION: And Mr. Secretary how many more troops might be needed o be deployed to complete the war. And how many might be needed before in the first phase of the post-Saddam (OFF MIKE)?

WOLFOWITZ: These are things you can't know and you learn as you proceed. The force continues to grow on a daily basis and we will keep sending troops as long as they're needed and we'll see what happens.

QUESTION: What can you tell us about the status of Baghdad right now?

WOLFOWITZ: Sorry.

HEMMER: All right. That's Paul Wolfowitz on his way to make the rounds on the talk shows back in Washington, D.C. And you are sure going to start to hear a lot of talk right now about a postwar Iraq and how that takes shape. We'll talk about it next hour here on CNN as well.

But quickly back to Ken Pollack. I want to pick up one more topic about defending Baghdad.

The Iraqis, Ken, had talked for so long about the ring of steel surrounding their capital, but knowing how the U.S. military has essentially penetrated these units like butter. Are you starting to think the ring of steel was never even established in the first place?

POLLACK: Yes -- I think that there is -- I think there it is increasingly apparent Bill that the Iraqis were caught off guard by the quickness of the U.S. advance. This was something that we saw from the Iraqis in 1991. They just underestimated how quickly and how powerful U.S. forces can move.

And I think that we caught them -- U.S. forces caught them before they can actually establish the defenses of Baghdad that they'd expected. I think that they thought that they had probably more time to build up those defenses. All of a sudden they found the U.S. Third Infantry Division, U.S. Marine Division at their gates and they are now scrambling to try to put something in place and they're having a tough time of it.

HEMMER: Now, Ken thanks. Ken Pollack, author of "The Threatening Storm," apologize about the interruption they're talking about a post war Iraq though.

Next hour, Jane Pervez, writer for the New York Times. She is here in Kuwait. She is talking about this and we shall too, next hour.

But for now, here's Heidi again in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. Coming up next, we are going to talk more about Baghdad and the battle for Baghdad. It's all coming up right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Good morning, Leon Harris here in the CNN news room and here is what's happening at this hour. U.S. Central Command says it's investigating reports of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq. Kurdish officials say that at least 12 people were killed and several others were hurt when a U.S. warplane dropped a bomb on a U.S. Kurdish convoy. We'll have more on this story coming up in just a few minutes. And the Pentagon is also saying now it will operate when and where it wants to in Baghdad. That's in response to reports that Iraq has imposed a nighttime curfew in the capital. Live pictures of that capital city you see right there. Iraq says it's now forbidding any travel in Baghdad from 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 a.m.

U.S. Marines are cautiously advancing north toward Baghdad after heavy fighting overnight. Martin Savidge is embedded with the First Battalion, Seventh Marines and he says that evidence was visible. His unit came across a burned U.S. tank that was abandoned in the road.

Well, British forces, they are advancing closer to central Basra. Now British military says three battle groups are nearing the city's center. Basra's been the scene of some fighting with the Iraqi paramilitary fighters. Britain says there is no time line for securing that southern city right now.

The U.S. military says the bodyguard of Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali has been killed in a coalition air strike. The warplane struck al Majid's villa in Basra yesterday. Saddam's cousin, also known as Chemical Ali, is accused the ordering of use of chemical weapons against Kurds back in 1988. His fate is unknown.

Coming up right here, innocent Iraqi civilians caught in the crossfire. We'll take a closer look at a hospital inside of Nasiriya.

And President Bush monitoring events from Camp David as he prepares for a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. We'll go live to the White House. Plus a family reunion, former POW Jessica Lynch gets a special visit while recovering from her injuries.

All of that and much, much more ahead as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.

HEMMER: Leon, thanks again and good morning and good afternoon from Kuwait City. I'm Bill Hemmer or this Sunday.

CNN's Jane Arraf reporting in northern Iraq again today telling us that Special Ops have not heard of any Americans killed in the friendly fire incident. Troops were apparently advancing toward Iraqi positions when Special Ops called in air support. There had been bombs dropped on Iraqi positions there as well. Jane tells us several tanks so far have been destroyed. A BBC reporter, John Simpson very close to that convoy at the time. He said he saw the bomb land 10 feet away, killing at least 10. Most said to be Kurdish. John Simpson apparently suffered some type of injury as well.

Central Command says between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqis were killed yesterday alone in fighting in Baghdad. And Walter Rodgers reporting now for the second straight day, unit of the 3rd Infantry Division made another forway -- foray, rather, into central Baghdad.

Time to bring in Heidi Collins yet again at the CNN Center. Heidi, good morning back there.

COLLINS: Good morning to you, Bill. We are going to go ahead and check some of the other war developments now.

While U.S. Marines and soldiers push farther into Baghdad, someone's looking out from above. The Air Force says it has begun keeping two planes over the capital around the clock in what's called Close Urban Air Patrol. If the planes see targets, they can call in attack planes.

During his daily briefing CENTCOM spokesman General Vincent Brooks says life is returning to normal in some areas that are under coalition control now. He says children have returned to school in the town of Najaf and elsewhere school supplies found in a warehouse near Basra have been distributed.

The family of rescued Private Jessica Lynch has been reunited with their injured daughter. Jessica's parents, brother and sister were flown by the military from West Virginia to Germany. She is being treated at Landstuhl Hospital there. And I'm sure they're very happy about that.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: What a homecoming that must be eventually when she gets back to West Virginia. Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

HEMMER: I want to get inside of Basra and the southeastern part of the country, southeastern Iraq. There were reports today that the British have penetrated deep into the heart of that city.

Richard Gaisford is with the British military. He's been embedded for several weeks now and joins us for an update on what's been happening there.

Richard, what do you have?

RICHARD GAISFORD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill you're absolutely right. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards led a raid into Basra today. It was supposed to be just that, but they've ended up staying. They are very close to the city's center now. They are not actually into Basra's old town itself, which geographically would be the center of the city; but they're just on the edge of that. They now entered the urban area of Basra and I have to say they haven't found that much resistance.

They have been fired upon by members of the Fedayeen, this radical militia that works alongside the Army, but no cohesive organized military resistance when they rolled into town. Now, they've taken a squadron of tanks down. That's 14 tanks, a company of infantrymen, and armored fighting vehicles as well.

We are told that 300 Iraqi soldiers have been injured or killed in this particular attack this morning. And the British are staying they hadn't planned to. They thought the fall of Basra might take some time, but now it appears the city itself is falling. And I can tell you the people are looting shops in Basra now. So, the regime itself appears to have almost totally crumbled.

HEMMER: Richard, just to follow that up here quickly, you're saying Basra right now is falling, is that how you see it or is that what the British military are saying?

GAISFORD: No, I think if you look at geographically their position and the fact they've managed to stay there, it's a very strong case. The city itself is falling, but it can't be said that it has completely fallen. I believe the Iraqi military that's been left in the city has retreated into the maze of street which is the old town. They haven't actually put up a fight as thought that they would. This is only the militia, the radical force of the Fedayeen that have been involved in any fighting today.

So far, it would be unfair to say that the city itself has totally fallen into British and coalition hands. But I think the process is well under way and many confident smiles here. And this is a process that is working very quickly indeed. Much quicker than anyone had ever planned. As I say, today's operation was supposed to be a raid. It's just that they've ended up staying, Bill.

HEMMER: All right Richard, thanks. And listen, keep us posted, will you? Richard Gaiford -- Gaisford rather -- inside of Basra with the British military. It could be a substantial development, as we get longer into the day here on Sunday.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, we now know the Iraqis are implementing some sort of curfew between the evening hours of 6:00 PM and the morning hours of 6:00 AM, which would effectively, if it works anyway, keep civilians from coming and going from the Iraqi capital.

We also know of a number of explosions yet today. For more here's Rula Amin watching it from her post in eastern Jordan.

Rula, good afternoon, there.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill. Relatively it was a quiet night in Baghdad. However, as soon as the day broke the raids were resumed. There were more explosions heard and sound of very close artillery, especially on the outskirts of the town, the capital Baghdad.

Now, the Iraqi officials are saying is that it's the U.S. troops who are on the run. In the morning the Information Ministry took the journalists to an area called Adura, this is like about 5 kilometers south from the capital. There they said there was a battle that took place on Saturday. They said they have been able to destroy eight Abram's tanks. However, the pictures show one tank. The Iraqis are saying that four American soldiers were killed there and that they have managed to overcome the troops that were trying to get into Baghdad.

The Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf had another briefing this morning. He said that all reports of U.S. troop successes in trying to push toward and inside Baghdad is just propaganda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER: We push them; they run away to the back, we're pounding them. They disappear in the depths back. When we stop pounding them they push some of their units towards Saddam International Airport. We notice that those units only for be filmed and for propaganda. Hollow, empty propaganda purposes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMIN: Now, on the streets of Baghdad, very few residents are on the streets. Most civilians are in their homes or have fled town. We can know -- we do know from people we have spoken to in Baghdad that there are more security forces on the streets, whether it's Republican Guard, the ruling Baath Party militia or Fedayeen Saddam who are usually dressed in black uniforms. Very strong clues to Iraqis in Baghdad that the battle will be soon in their own neighborhoods -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Rula. Rula Amin again, watching that from eastern Jordan.

Earlier today at Central Command they did indicate that at times, maybe 20, possibly 30 vehicles spotted moving back toward Baghdad. But still according to CENTCOM anyway, no significant or large formations coming back to the Iraqi capital.

Heidi, back to you now at the CNN Center. COLLINS: All right. Bill, we are going to hit some good news today. There was actually an incredibly joyous reunion in Germany this morning. The family of PFC Jessica Lynch finally saw her face- to-face. The reunion was at the hospital in Landstuhl where she is recovering from wounds she suffered in Iraq.

Our Matthew Chance is there; live in Germany with the very latest.

And Matthew, I just cannot imagine that plane right ride from West Virginia to German, it must have seemed like forever for her family.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I agree with you, it must have. But you know, we're not being given any access at the moment to the family to witness the undoubtedly strong emotional scenes of happiness and relief that must be going on in this Landstuhl medical facility. Behind me, the U.S. Army officials saying this is an intensely private moment, a private day or so they're going to allow the family to spend with Jessica Lynch, that teenage former prisoner of war who was rescued so dramatically by U.S. Special Forces.

Jessica is of course, still just extremely sick. Recovering from her injuries, in a stable done condition we are told; but still has two legs that are broken, a right arm that is broken and apparently has an ankle broken as well as injuries to her back on which she's been operated on and to her face. She has apparently lacerations to her face. Initial reports also spoke of her having gunshot wounds or stabbing winds. It was a little unclear though.

And it's got even more clear over the -- unclear over the course of the last few days because even though the medical officials here stress that they didn't find any gunshot wounds, U.S. officials in Doha at CENTCOM, have been saying that they have found bullet wounds on her, Jessica's body. We're expecting some kind of statement of clarification. We are told we will get that statement over the course of the next few hours to get to the bottom of exactly what the nature is of her wounds.

What many of us though are waiting for more than anything else is hearing Private Lynch speak herself; because remember, she's just 19. And there's still a lot of uncertainty exactly over how she fell into Iraqi hands and indeed how she was treated when she was in the custody of Iraqi forces. So that's something a lot of people in the states back home and around the world are very concerned about, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes indeed, everyone is. I'm wondering Matthew, if there's been any plan or any talk of actually hearing from the family after they have, as you say, their private moments with Jessica, much deserved. Any idea if they'll come out a little bit later on today to speak to the media.

CHANCE: Well, there's nothing scheduled I have to say for later today. As I mentioned the U.S. military officials who are sort of protecting the family from the media that's gathered outside is saying that the next day, perhaps the next day or two they'll treat as sort of private time. They say they hope to arrange some kind of media facility, some kind of press conference, perhaps on Tuesday of this week coming. But nothing is scheduled; nothing is firm at this stage. And you know, those plans may change here. So, we are standing by.

COLLINS: Very good, all right. Matthew Chance live in Germany this morning. Thank you.

Lori Piestewa and Jessica Lynch were roommates and best friends at Fort Bliss in Texas. But while the rescue of Lynch is being celebrated in her hometown of Palestine West Virginia, in Tuba City, Arizona people are mourning the loss of Piestewa, the first U.S. service woman killed in the war. Our Rusty Dornin has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lori Piestewa was said to have a mind of her own. So it was no surprise to those close to her when she joined the Army. Seen here with her family gathered close before she went to Iraq, Piestewa said her biggest concern was about her two young children.

LORI PIESTEWA: The biggest concern to me is like knowing that my family is taken care of.

DORNIN: Racked by anxiety for nearly two weeks when she was reported missing, Lori's family gathered close again. This time to mourn a woman her brother called our Lady Warrior.

WAYLAND PIESTEWA, BROTHER: Our family is very proud of her. We know she is our hero as you've heard before. We are continuing to believe that. We will hold that in our hearts forever and she will not be forgotten.

DORNIN: Lori Piestewa grew up in the searing heat of the Arizona Desert. A Hopi Indian living on the Navajo Reservation here in Tuba City. People here joked that everyone in this community of 9,000 is related. So when Piestewa was reported missing, the whole town wanted to help.

When her death was announced three Tuba City residents said they wanted to celebrate Piestewa by giving the 23-year-old a walk of life, complete with the flag she so loved.

Tisha Charlie was a year ahead of Piestewa in school.

What was she like in high school?

TISHA CHARLEY, FORMER CLASSMATE: She was always energetic, she was always happy. I'll always remember she was the happiest person I've ever seen. She was always outgoing you know, supporting her friends.

DORNIN: Her friends included Jessica Lynch. Her roommate at Fort Bliss. Piestewa's family even met Lynch before the two women deployed. The young soldier's body may not be returned for days, but when a gentle snow fell as the Hopi chairman spoke to reporters, it was a sign to the Native Americans here that her spirit was not far away.

WAYNE TAYLOR, HOPI TRIBAL CHAIR: In the Hopi belief when one is deceased, they come back home, they visit the family, their community through the moisture. And this was what happened just a while ago and so I think we were very blessed today.

DORNIN: Spontaneous memorials don't always last long here ripped to shreds by the desert winds. But along the red rock mesa, a more permanent tribute to Lori Piestewa, one that can be seen by all those who enter and leave her hometown.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Tuba City, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The bodies of eight other soldiers were recovered with Lori Piestewa. Six were also members of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Now we're back here live in Kuwait City, we are still trying to track down more details on what happened about this Russian diplomatic convoy that apparently was heading out of Baghdad earlier today in the direction of Syria when it came under some sort of fire. I don't know if it was bullets or bombs from the air. But Central Command is now saying that no -- their initial reporting anyway indicates that no coalition forces were operating in the area at the time of the incident. And they also are indicating that this is territory controlled by the Iraqi government. That's the word from CENTCOM down in Qatar.

Let's get the view though from Moscow. Jill Dougherty, are bureau chief checking in again and she's been working her sources in Moscow.

What do you have, Jill? Good afternoon there.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Bill of course, the question still is and nobody seems to be able to answer it at this point, who exactly fired on that convoy. But you have to also note the statement by U.S. Central Command that they were aware of the fact that this convoy, Russian diplomats would be moving out of Baghdad and basically knew where they would be heading. That's from the U.S. side.

Now it's being described as a convoy carrying diplomats, but we know that it also had journalists. In fact, we just spoke to RTR, Russia's government-owned station, No. 2 station here. And they said they had a crew of three including their lead correspondent who was leaving Baghdad. He was replaced by another correspondent. And we do understand that there were other journalists aboard. In any case, they came under fire as they were leaving for the Syrian border. Not known exactly how many people were injured, we're still looking into that and trying to get some type of confirmation. The U.S., for its part says that it is looking into it and is very concerned. In fact, the U.S. ambassador along with the Iraqi ambassador was called over to the Russian Foreign Ministry and told very seriously by the Russian side that they wanted to know what happened. And most of all, they wanted to provide any help to the people who were in that convoy. But the latest word coming from the U.S. side is that that convoy, the Russian convoy carrying the ambassador, other diplomats and apparently journalists is still headed out of the country, out of Iraq and on its way to the Syrian border.

HEMMER: Jill, thanks. Jill Dougherty again in Moscow on that. When we get more, certainly we'll try and track it down for you.

In the meantime it was about this time yesterday when Barbara Starr was reporting out of the Pentagon about this Urban Close Air Support that now is going to be in the skies above the city of Baghdad on a 24-hour basis.

Let's talk with Colonel Mike Turner again back with us live in Denver, U.S. Air Force, retired. Back with us today as a military analyst.

Colonel, good to have you back.

TURNER: Thank you.

HEMMER: I know yesterday when this news first broke there was not a whole lot known about the procedure, the method or what will happen there. But can you give us and our viewers an idea how this UCAS, as the military terms it will be working?

TURNER: Well, it's interesting. This didn't exist in Desert Storm, so it's been possibly developed in the interim, possibly even specifically for Iraqi Freedom.

Close Air Support is the operation of friendly aircraft in very close proximity to friendly ground troops. It requires an extraordinary level of coordination between either a forward air controller in the air that's operating very low and slow in the proximity of the operation, or specifically, with the ground liaison officer. It can't use precision-guided munitions per se, or at least it couldn't when I was doing that job because those are against fixed targets generally.

It can be very precisely delivered, non-guided ordinance that uses precision systems on board the aircraft itself. For example, head's up displays so it will show you accurately where the bomb will fall or where the canon will fire; maybe some television-guided systems or weapons systems that have been developed since Desert Storm.

But the key to this is the de-confliction and the coordination with ground elements that's absolutely essential. And you can see from some of the friendly fire incidents that you're reporting this morning that that is an element of Close Air Support and in an urban environment that becomes exponentially more dangerous. They have to be very careful about how they do this.

HEMMER: Gary Tuchman is reporting from his air base in the Iraqi border that at least two planes will be in the air at all times; and again, on a 24 hour basis. You are talking Colonel about a city of 5 million people. Talk about the dangers and the possibility that civilians may become victims as a result of this?

TURNER: Well obviously, as you compress the civilian population and in and around the coalition and the enemy forces, that that becomes a real factor. I believe it was the Air Force operations chief from Central Command yesterday that suggested that the size of the ordnance will come down. Five hundred pound bombs would seem to me to probably be the biggest ordinance that they could deliver in that kind of an environment. They probably aren't going to be delivering area munitions like cluster bombs, anything like that, specifically because they're concerned about civilian populations.

And how you do strafe with the canon can be problematic because you have ricochets. So, I'm sure they thought this out very carefully because it can be very, very dangerous. It was not even a concept that we would have considered 12 years ago. So there have obviously been developments in the precision of the delivery platform and the precision of the ordinance itself, and also in the speed of the information flow and the connection between the ground elements and the airborne elements.

Twenty-four hour coverage is necessary because the key to Close Air Support is immediacy, to put that ordnance on target. To immediately affect the ongoing skirmish or ground battle between the two sides. So that's very important. It's a very complex process.

HEMMER: And in a city environment like Baghdad, the sprawling city in the central part of the country, trying to get those emerging target too. Clearly a target of this operation in the way.

Thank you Colonel. Colonel Mike Turner live in Denver.

TURNER: Welcome.

HEMMER: We'll talk again next hour.

All right, here's Heidi again in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. Coming up, shaping Iraq after the war. Is the U.S. headed for another confrontation with the United Nations? We'll look at the issue just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Who will shape the future of Iraq after the war? The United Nations and European leaders are jockeying for position with the U.S. Is the U.S. on a collision course once again with the U.N. over this issue?

Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a CNN analyst on Iraq served as charge d'affairs there. He joins us now from Washington this morning. Hello to you, sir. Thanks for being here.

JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER AMBASSADOR: Good morning. How are you this morning?

COLLINS: I'm great. I am wondering about a couple of things. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice just the other day said, "Having given the life and blood to liberate Iraq, the coalition will have the lead role in rebuilding the country after the war."

What are the objectives of the postwar reconstruction in your eyes?

WILSON: Well, I think initially it will be the pacification of the country and the rooting out of all the resistance and that's clearly a military task. In the first instance, I think the U.S. military will have the lead. The first battle that needs to be fought is between the Pentagon and the State Department over the civilian administration reporting channels. But initially, I suspect it will be the military pacification, deliver of humanitarian supplies and that's where I think you'll start to see partnerships develop between the United States and military command and civilian authorities and our erstwhile allies, the Europeans, and of course, the United Nations.

There's a large role for the international community in this; but I think it will be more of a partnership of role rather than the U.N. asserting any leadership at least in the first or two phases -- first or second phase.

COLLINS: I'm also curious to know what your take is on the difference of opinion between Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell. You may have heard on the very same day that she said what she said about giving life and blood. Colin Powell also said that in his eyes, he expected the United Nations to have a major role. He didn't define what it was, but do you see some dissension there?

WILSON: I think it's more a question of timing. When does the U.N. come in and play that partnership role? Now, my own sense is that it probably should be sooner rather than later, just because the humanitarian demands will be considerable and those are the first victories that we need to chock up after the battle for Baghdad. We cannot afford not to be responsive to the humanitarian demands and needs of the population. A liberated population is not going to feel very happy about its liberation if a week from now they're hungry, they're sick, their kids have diarrhea, their hospitals are overflowing.

So that's going to involve a pretty significant effort on the part of everybody. And the organization that has historically been best able to handle a lot of the logistics related to that has been the United Nations.

COLLINS: What about Tony Blair? Where do you think he'll be coming from on this very question? WILSON: Well, I think Prime Minister Blair has advocated for United Nations participation, a significant way as well as for European participation. One of the other things that should come out of this, is it's an opportunity to rebuild relationships between erstwhile estranged allies as well as between the United States and the United Nations after the fight over the second resolution.

COLLINS: All right. Ambassador Joseph Wilson coming to us today from Washington, D.C. Thanks for your time.

WILSON: My pleasure.

COLLINS: And now back to Bill in Kuwait City.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Do you remember that hospital in Nasiriya where Jessica Lynch was rescued late on Tuesday? Now, back in a moment here with Jason Bellini. He is back on the scene there inside the town. We'll check in to find out what's happening today in terms of security and more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon Harris here in the CNN news room. Our coverage of the war in Iraq continues in just a moment. But first, here's a look at what's happening at this hour.

Kurdish officials say at least 12 people have been killed and dozens more injured in an apparent friendly fire incident. This happened in northern Iraq. We'll have much more on this story just ahead.

But now in a separate incident, Central Command says there are indications that friendly fire is to blame for the deaths of three American service members, five others were wounded in the incident involving an F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft and ground forces. This happened on Thursday. No word on where it happened though.

Iraq has reportedly imposed a nighttime curfew in Baghdad. Reuters reports that this ban would prohibit travel in the capital from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.

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 6, 2003 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, folks. Leon Harris here in the CNN newsroom and our coverage of the war in Iraq continues now with a look at what's happening at this hour.
U.S. Central Command says that it's investigating reports of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq. A BBC correspondent says a U.S. warplane dropped a bomb near a U.S.-Kurdish convoy, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others. We'll have much more on this story just ahead. Stay with us.

U.S. soldiers now rolling through Baghdad for a second day of reconnaissance missions intended to keep the pressure upon the Iraqi regime. The troops will be protected by coalition warplanes conducting 24-hour surveillance over the capital. Central Command says at least 2,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded when U.S. forces entered the city yesterday.

U.S. Marines are battling remaining pockets of resistance as they advanced north towards Baghdad. Martin Savidge says that members of the 1st Battalion Fifth Marines encountered some stiff resistance on that same road just 48 hours before his unit came through.

Iraqi authorities in the meantime have reportedly imposed a travel ban into and out of Baghdad, according to Reuters. This ban will be in effect from 6:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and it starts tonight. But U.S. Central Command says the lockdown on Baghdad is not going to affect any military operations.

Well, days after she was rescued from Iraq Army PFC Jessica Lynch is being reunited with her family today. Lynch's parents, her brother, her sister left for Germany yesterday and that's where the 19-year-old is going to be recovering from some injuries that she suffered in Iraq. She will be there for a few more days.

Now coming up here on the network, coalition forces on the ground have a choke hold on Baghdad and they're being backed up by Close Air Support. We'll talk some strategy with our military analyst just ahead.

And reports of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq, there are at least ten fatalities. More on that coming up as well.

Plus, the first American service woman killed in the war in Iraq. We'll hear what her friends and her family had to say.

All that and much more ahead as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now with Bill Hemmer in Kuwait. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Leon, thanks again. Good morning and good afternoon from Kuwait City. I'm Bill Hemmer. Good to have you with us on this Sunday.

A number of developments yet again today as you can imagine. Central Command says it has information that a Russian convoy attacked in western Iraq is still moving toward the border with Syria. That convoy said to be carrying Russian diplomats trying to get out of Iraq. Not clear who may have hit that convoy. There are reports of injuries but CNN cannot confirm it.

A U.S. and Iraqi ambassadors in Moscow have been urgently summoned now to the Foreign Ministry. We'll keep a very close track of this with Jill Dougherty back in Moscow.

In northern Iraq right now, a coalition warplane reportedly bombed a U.S. and Kurdish convoy. BBC reporter John Simpson and he is a veteran says he saw the bomb land just 10 feet away. He says at least ten people are dead and we are hearing that a quote, "very senior political leader for the Iraqis Kurds may have been hurt."

Also Central Command says between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqis were killed yesterday alone, Saturday during fighting in and around Baghdad. Walt Rogers reports for the second straight day now also that units of the Third Infantry have made another foray into the heart of Baghdad today.

I want to bring in Heidi Collins again riding with us today back at the CNN Center. Heidi, good to see you again on this Sunday. Good morning back there in Atlanta.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you, too, Bill. Thanks so much.

Let's take a look now at some of the other late war developments. U.S. Central Command says Special Operations Forces have taken control of several roads in western Iraq. CENTCOM says it's part of an effort to stop the movement of ballistic missiles as well as leaders of the Iraqi regime.

And British officials say three British battle groups are pushing into the center of Basra. Over the weekend British Forces raided the homes of people suspected of belonging to the Fedayeen fighters or to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

No war zone would be complete without mail call and the U.S. military is doing everything it can to get letters to the troops. The Postal Service is chartering two 747-cargo jets to deliver 750,000 pounds of mail each week to troops in the Mideast. Hopefully very uplifting to them.

Bill, back over to you.

HEMMER: . Yes, so true. Heidi, thanks. We'll check in in a couple of minutes with you. In the meantime though, to our viewers, I want to let you know what we're watching right now. The situation in Iraq. Our reporters again spread out throughout the entire battlefield. Martin Savidge again with the 1st Battalion 7th Marine southeast of the city. Jane Arraf is near Erbil in northern Iraq, the scene of the deadly friendly fire incident we just mentioned. And Jill Dougherty again checking in from Moscow for more reaction and information as she gets it as to that Russian diplomatic convoy again as it was headed toward the border with Syria.

First stop for us this hour though. Back to the Pentagon and Patty Davis. And Patty good morning there.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill. U.S. Central Command said this morning that it is investigating that possible friendly fire incident near Mosul that reportedly has killed some U.S. Special Forces and Kurdish troops. That attack apparently occurred, U.S. Central Command says, around 4:15 a.m. this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCE BROOKS, CENTRAL COMMAND: We do have some initial reports of an engagement that occurred in the north that involved some coalition forces and also some Peshmerga with whom we've been conducting operations in the north. We don't know the specifics or the circumstances at this point. As with every other report like this, we'll dig into it. Find out what the contributing circumstances are and try to come to some degree of closure on not only what happened, but also if there are things we need to learn from it. How it happened and what we can do to prevent it from happening again, if indeed we had some involvement in that. So, that is something that is still underway, that is ongoing and it's a very fresh report as well so it is going to take a little while before we get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: Now, if this was a friendly fire incident it would be the fourth such incident in this war. Central Command also today clarifying another incident, this one, they're saying was friendly fire. April 3, three U.S. troops were killed, five wound when an F- 15E Strike Eagle, a U.S. aircraft dropped a bomb on coalition forces. They say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding that friendly fire incident.

Now, Central Command also today saying that it is investigating another report, a Russian convoy filled with Russian diplomats in western Iraq. It says that that convoy is still moving and it says it was aware that that convoy was where it was at the time of that apparent attack.

Now, the U.S. forces and coalition forces continue to pound Baghdad and to try to isolate it. Air missions flying 24 hours a day, seven days a week Central Command says over Baghdad to support coalition ground troops. Now, coalition tanks again rolling through Baghdad on Sunday; first as reconnaissance missions and then as a show of support -- a show of force and support for those troops. Two to 3,000 Iraqi fighters killed or wounded Saturday when those troops went and pushed through Baghdad -- Bill.

HEMMER: Patty listen, the Iraqis have been saying for weeks that thousands and thousands of Arab fighters are reporting for duty within the borders of Iraq. There was talk about the "foreign fighters" as CENTCOM refers to them at the briefing today. What more do we know about what the U.S. is coming across right now in Iraq?

DAVIS: Well, the U.S. Central Command says it did come across a facility in which Egyptian and Sudan fighters were killed. There were also some captured and this is in Saman Pac (ph). They are saying that indeed, they believe that there is some terrorist links simply from where they're from and what it appears they were doing. They were able to attack and destroy Central Command says some tanks, some armored personnel vehicles as well as some buildings and they do believe that it is likely that there perhaps were some terrorist connections here -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Patty thanks. Patty Davis again at the Pentagon. We'll check back in a bit later today.

Now Heidi again at the CNN Center.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. There have been many war developments overnight, as you might imagine. We want to share some of them with you now. Some highlights from our reporters. We begin with Walter Rodgers with the 3-7 Cavalry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Army sources have told CNN that more armed reconnaissance missions are planned for inside the heart of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Yesterday, the previous day, the Second Brigade Third Infantry Division rolled reconnaissance tanks units through the city. Again, we can expect according to the Army more of this kind of U.S. muscle flexing. It's an attempt to show the Iraqis that the old regime has fall upon. More importantly it's an attempt to take out any pockets of resistance that the Iraqis may put up. Not necessarily an indication that the United States is going to occupy Baghdad en masse. What we are seeing however, are plans what are call-- that the Army is calling SASO, which is an acronym that stands for Security And Stability Organizations.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Marines continue to push up from the southeast into the suburbs of Baghdad. That's a different route and a different sort of fight that the Army has been seeing on the west side as they move forward. The Fifth Marines about 24, 48 hours ago in this very area did run into in some problems with Iraqi opposition. Now, the First Battalion Seventh Marines' task with the same job, following on and clearing out any resistance if they find. That's what they've been doing for the past 24 hours.

They are not only doing it with their armored personnel carriers, we understand there are tanks and air support as well and we certainly know that there's been artillery; a lot of artilleries at times coming from the U.S. Marines in support of the action that's tacking place...

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

COLLINS: CNN's Martin Savidge.

For now we will send it back to Bill in Kuwait -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi listen, trying to get a lot more information on what is happening -- that happened several hours ago in northern Iraq near the town of Erbil.

Jane Arraf is back with us. A word of friendly fire, word of Kurdish soldiers traveling with U.S. servicemen as well.

Jane, what more have you found out.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are here actually on the front line on the ridge with American Special Forces who have been working with those Kurdish soldiers. They're just up from where that friendly fire incident appeared to have taken place.

Now, as we drove up there were charred vehicles still smoldering, some of them. But they all appeared to be land cruisers, those four wheeled drives. There weren't any military vehicles in evidence.

And here on the ground, the Special Forces are saying that they have not heard of those American casualties, so far. They have believed that they were all Kurdish casualties. Including according to hospital sources in Erbil, a senior military commander. He's part of the Kurdish military command in this part of northern Iraq. His name is Wajeed Barsani. Now he appears to have been wounded and he is the younger brother of the leader. They refer to him as president of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which controls this part of northern Iraq, a very serious blow for the Kurdish leadership.

Now what's happening on this ridge is very dramatic. Earlier this morning these front line troops were advancing toward the front lines when they saw Iraqi tanks. Now, they didn't have air cover at the time so they have retreated further back beyond another Ridge. And we are on one of the main roads out of the major northern Iraqi city Erbil. They are now on this ridge and they've been calling in air strikes on the Iraqi tanks. So far, they have hit four tanks and two armored personnel carriers with a combination of 2,000-pound bombs dropped from F-14's that they have been calling in as well as Javelin antitank missiles. The battle is still going on.

There's a lull at the moment, but clearly there's going to be more fighting to come -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right Jane, thanks.

Jane Arraf, again working that story on the northern front for us. And again, we'll try to piece together more information as to what happened as a result of that convoy traveling earlier today. And when we get it, certainly we'll pass it along to you.

But for now back to Heidi in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. Let's get a strategic perspective now on the latest war developments. We are joined this morning from Denver by Retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner. Hello again to you Colonel Turner.

COL. MIKE TURNER (RET.), AIR FORCE: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and just begin by kind of geographically looking at the coalition troops. Where are they focusing their efforts right now?

TURNER: Well, General Brooks this morning alluded to sort of the modus operandi if you will, of downtown Baghdad and it really begins to model the southern cities. They are going to be very deliberate about where they go and they will have specific targets and locations and buildings that they will begin to look at. But again we saw today the second instance of reconnaissance in force. So at the same time that we are seeking out specific targets for command and control, as it becomes clear that this regime is really beginning to crumble at an accelerated pace. We will also periodically, in addition to targeting the specific buildings, continue to run these reconnaissance missions to indicate to the Iraqi people and as many people as can, that we are in complete control of the situation in downtown Baghdad.

COLLINS: I would be interested to know then what your assessment would be of the resistance that the coalition troops have faced so far. And who's calling the shots at this point?

TURNER: Who's calling the shot is anybody's guess. Right now it does not appear to be any kind of cohesion or command and control -- centralized command and control of these forces. These forces were trained to rely very tightly on that command and control. The loss of the head of the snake, if you will is catastrophic for the forces that have been trained in this manner.

Resistance, in my judgment -- obviously, I don't want to imply that this has been an easy battle, but resistance does not appear to be the kind of cohesive resistance we would have expected from the Republican Guard if it was being controlled by a central authority. It has broken down now into a series of street fight, which is again could be very, very dangerous and very violent. But they are seemingly unrelated and uncoordinated and that is -- that's good for coalition forces. It indicates that we're moving very fast as one of the briefers mentioned the other day, staying inside the decision loop. So we're making decisions that forces them to react. I would say things are going very well again for the second day.

COLLINS: It sounds like you might think it would be fair to say that the coalition expected more resistance in that so called Red Zone around Baghdad than they have met so far. As far as the Republican Guard goes, where are they?

TURNER: If I -- looking at what I am looking at on television right now, it appears to me that the Republican Guard has either willfully dispersed or has been forced to disperse or basically abandoned their positions. General Brooks mentioned the Adnon, possibly elements of the Hammurabi that are moving around inside the city, but again his description of those elements were units in disarray. And that's really not surprising. And he also mentioned that we specifically are looking for yet lower elements of command and control to even disperse those smaller units even further by destroying their command and control at the lower level and the mid level. So as that process continues you'll see it begin to evaporate even more and sort of just blend into the city, I suspect.

COLLINS: All right. Retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner coming to us from Denver today. Thank you.

TURNER: Thank you.

COLLINS: And now back to Bill in Kuwait.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi listen. Some very sad news right now we have to report about one of our colleagues. NBC Anchor and well- known correspondent David Bloom has dialed -- died, rather, while on assignment inside of Iraq. It was not a combat death we were told. NBC's "Today" program just reported that Bloom died of a pulmonary embolism.

He was co-anchor of "Today's" weekend program for three years running now. He also covered the White House prior to that. Colleagues will tell you he was extremely dedicated to his profession and extremely respected as well. He was one of the most -- the hardest workers you would find on any beat and on any story. And above all that, he was a good guy, too. David Bloom was 39 years old. He would have turned 40 next month. He is survived now by his wife and three daughters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Now, let's recap the major war developments over the last few hours. Here's Leon Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: 1:14 a.m., CNN's Rym Brahimi reports that Baghdad residents endured another night of heavy bombing. This as Iraqi authorities announced that all entrances to Baghdad would be closed from 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. effective Sunday night.

1:55 a.m., CNN's Martin Savidge reports Marines are slowly moving through the southeast suburbs of Baghdad and says he has seen a burned out U.S. tank and a lot of Iraqi bodies. Evidence that forward elements are seeing heavy resistance.

3:13 a.m., from CNN's Kathleen Koch, Pentagon officials say that U.S. forces will operate when they want, where they want despite any closure of entrances to Baghdad.

5:40 a.m., Tom Mintier reports the bodyguard of Chemical Ali, a top Hussein aid, accused of gassing Kurdish villagers in 1988 has been found dead in the rubble of an air strike that destroyed Ali's home. There is no word on Ali's fate.

6:33 a.m., CNN's James Martone reports from northern Iraq, where the BBC reports a U.S. warplane mistakenly dropped a bomb on a U.S.- Kurdish convoy. The report says at least ten people died and many more were injured.

6:36 a.m., Iraq's information minister says in fighting around Baghdad's international airport, Iraqi forces killed 50 coalition troops and destroyed or severely damaged 16 tanks.

7:01 a.m., U.S. Central Command says the coalition force is growing stronger every day and that the outcome of the Operation Iraqi Freedom is not in doubt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Now let's fast forward to the present moment, the situation right now inside of Baghdad where the focus of this war has now shifted. We'll talk about strategy with Ken Pollack; author of "The Threatening Storm" Ken is back with us in our D.C. bureau.

Good to have you back, Ken, and I wish I could say happy Sunday but this is war and the news today has not been good in a number of different locations. But I want to talk specifically at this point just about what's happening inside Baghdad. If it is possible for you to get inside of Saddam Hussein's head if he is still in charge of anything regarding his military. What is his strategy to defend the capital city?

KEN POLLACK, AUTHOR: Well first of all, you said it right. We don't know if Saddam is alive, if he is capable of functioning but for a moment let's assume that he is. Right now he's basically got three broad options and none of them are particularly good.

One is stay in Baghdad. He is well dug in there. He's got his most loyal troops around him. Try to regroup the Republican Guard as best he can. You heard that there are elements of at least three Republican Guard Divisions that U.S. Central Command believes are still functioning in and around Baghdad. He seems to be clearly trying very hard to reset those forces to mount some kind of defense of Baghdad.

Option two is try to flee to Tikrit, his homeland, his hometown where support for Saddam will be strongest. And one of the problems he has in Baghdad is probably of the people of Baghdad won't be too sorry to see him leave. On the other hand, in Tikrit he can find a lot of public support. The problem he's got is he's got to get to Tikrit. And as best we can tell, U.S. forces have blocked off all the exits from Baghdad

And the third one is try to flee out to Iraq's western tribes. Those tribes are among the most loyal to Saddam. He might believe that they could find shelter with them. That they would give him sanctuary of some kind, maybe even allow him to flee off to Syria where there are reports that his family and other high-ranking regime families have already been sent. There as well, he's got a problem. He's got find his way out to the tribes and then when he gets there, he has got to make sure the tribes don't betray hem because the U.S. will put tremendous pressure on the tribes to give him up. None of these options are particularly good.

HEMMER: And Ken listen, if you just look at the numbers. If true that 3,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed on Saturday, yesterday alone in one day of fighting in and around Baghdad. The walls of the room are closing in quite quickly. If that is the case, do you see a point where he cuts and runs? Does he follow the Baath Party leaders to Syria, or is that possibly not even an option right now.

POLLACK: Well, I think as you're pointing out, his options to run are pretty limited. I don't think that any Iraq expert really thought there was a high likelihood that Saddam would run. It is not really his style. It is now what we have seen from him in the past. And now we have got to be thinking about the alternative and you've heard U.S. Central Command talking about it.

The alternative, which is that Saddam begins at some point to decide that the game is up. That he has lost it. That his regime is domed and under those circumstances, the most likely course of action for him is probably to try to lash out and inflict as much damage as he possibly can on people. And I think that's why you heard U.S. Central Command saying that they are very concerned about looking for Iraqi ballistic missiles trying to head out to the west where they can be fired against Israel.

HEMMER: All right listen; Central Command also said that right now they are saying no substantial movement right now. Hang on Ken, one second, I'm sorry. Paul Wolfowitz who is right now speaking in D.C. -- I believe he's headed in for a talk show. We'll listen in Washington.

QUESTION: We will be asking what more to disarm Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction, they haven't been used, they haven't been found? What are your feelings? What do you say to those people, those critics?

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, we're in the middle of a war. In fact, we're just at the very beginning of the third week of this war and it really is much too soon to draw conclusions. We've made progress, continue to make progress. But there's a lot of work to be done and there some real dangers that still lie ahead including the possibility that those weapons might be used.

The incredibly brave young men and women who are fighting this war have their hands full fighting it. And when this regime is gone and it's going to go, it's on its way out, then we will have time to look carefully and with time for those things that we are sure are there.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

WOLFOWITZ: When this regime is gone and when the Iraqi people are no longer terrorized by this regime and are free to express themselves and free and able to set up a new government for Iraq. And when the American people and the whole world are no longer threatened by those weapons of mass destruction or the possibility that they will be given to terrorists.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary (OFF MIKE)

WOLFOWITZ: We can't be -- we can't say that anyone should take a leading role. By definition if you're going to have a government or even a transitional authority that represents the legitimate views of the Iraqi people that the Iraqi people has to decide. But what we want to make sure is that all Iraqis are free to participate in building the future government of their country.

There have been very important groups, including the Iraqi National Congress that have been struggling for the freedom of Iraq and northern Iraq and abroad for many years, but there are many people inside the country who are still living in fear of the regime and not able to express their views. So we need a process that brings everyone together.

QUESTION: And Mr. Secretary how many more troops might be needed o be deployed to complete the war. And how many might be needed before in the first phase of the post-Saddam (OFF MIKE)?

WOLFOWITZ: These are things you can't know and you learn as you proceed. The force continues to grow on a daily basis and we will keep sending troops as long as they're needed and we'll see what happens.

QUESTION: What can you tell us about the status of Baghdad right now?

WOLFOWITZ: Sorry.

HEMMER: All right. That's Paul Wolfowitz on his way to make the rounds on the talk shows back in Washington, D.C. And you are sure going to start to hear a lot of talk right now about a postwar Iraq and how that takes shape. We'll talk about it next hour here on CNN as well.

But quickly back to Ken Pollack. I want to pick up one more topic about defending Baghdad.

The Iraqis, Ken, had talked for so long about the ring of steel surrounding their capital, but knowing how the U.S. military has essentially penetrated these units like butter. Are you starting to think the ring of steel was never even established in the first place?

POLLACK: Yes -- I think that there is -- I think there it is increasingly apparent Bill that the Iraqis were caught off guard by the quickness of the U.S. advance. This was something that we saw from the Iraqis in 1991. They just underestimated how quickly and how powerful U.S. forces can move.

And I think that we caught them -- U.S. forces caught them before they can actually establish the defenses of Baghdad that they'd expected. I think that they thought that they had probably more time to build up those defenses. All of a sudden they found the U.S. Third Infantry Division, U.S. Marine Division at their gates and they are now scrambling to try to put something in place and they're having a tough time of it.

HEMMER: Now, Ken thanks. Ken Pollack, author of "The Threatening Storm," apologize about the interruption they're talking about a post war Iraq though.

Next hour, Jane Pervez, writer for the New York Times. She is here in Kuwait. She is talking about this and we shall too, next hour.

But for now, here's Heidi again in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. Coming up next, we are going to talk more about Baghdad and the battle for Baghdad. It's all coming up right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Good morning, Leon Harris here in the CNN news room and here is what's happening at this hour. U.S. Central Command says it's investigating reports of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq. Kurdish officials say that at least 12 people were killed and several others were hurt when a U.S. warplane dropped a bomb on a U.S. Kurdish convoy. We'll have more on this story coming up in just a few minutes. And the Pentagon is also saying now it will operate when and where it wants to in Baghdad. That's in response to reports that Iraq has imposed a nighttime curfew in the capital. Live pictures of that capital city you see right there. Iraq says it's now forbidding any travel in Baghdad from 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 a.m.

U.S. Marines are cautiously advancing north toward Baghdad after heavy fighting overnight. Martin Savidge is embedded with the First Battalion, Seventh Marines and he says that evidence was visible. His unit came across a burned U.S. tank that was abandoned in the road.

Well, British forces, they are advancing closer to central Basra. Now British military says three battle groups are nearing the city's center. Basra's been the scene of some fighting with the Iraqi paramilitary fighters. Britain says there is no time line for securing that southern city right now.

The U.S. military says the bodyguard of Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali has been killed in a coalition air strike. The warplane struck al Majid's villa in Basra yesterday. Saddam's cousin, also known as Chemical Ali, is accused the ordering of use of chemical weapons against Kurds back in 1988. His fate is unknown.

Coming up right here, innocent Iraqi civilians caught in the crossfire. We'll take a closer look at a hospital inside of Nasiriya.

And President Bush monitoring events from Camp David as he prepares for a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. We'll go live to the White House. Plus a family reunion, former POW Jessica Lynch gets a special visit while recovering from her injuries.

All of that and much, much more ahead as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.

HEMMER: Leon, thanks again and good morning and good afternoon from Kuwait City. I'm Bill Hemmer or this Sunday.

CNN's Jane Arraf reporting in northern Iraq again today telling us that Special Ops have not heard of any Americans killed in the friendly fire incident. Troops were apparently advancing toward Iraqi positions when Special Ops called in air support. There had been bombs dropped on Iraqi positions there as well. Jane tells us several tanks so far have been destroyed. A BBC reporter, John Simpson very close to that convoy at the time. He said he saw the bomb land 10 feet away, killing at least 10. Most said to be Kurdish. John Simpson apparently suffered some type of injury as well.

Central Command says between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqis were killed yesterday alone in fighting in Baghdad. And Walter Rodgers reporting now for the second straight day, unit of the 3rd Infantry Division made another forway -- foray, rather, into central Baghdad.

Time to bring in Heidi Collins yet again at the CNN Center. Heidi, good morning back there.

COLLINS: Good morning to you, Bill. We are going to go ahead and check some of the other war developments now.

While U.S. Marines and soldiers push farther into Baghdad, someone's looking out from above. The Air Force says it has begun keeping two planes over the capital around the clock in what's called Close Urban Air Patrol. If the planes see targets, they can call in attack planes.

During his daily briefing CENTCOM spokesman General Vincent Brooks says life is returning to normal in some areas that are under coalition control now. He says children have returned to school in the town of Najaf and elsewhere school supplies found in a warehouse near Basra have been distributed.

The family of rescued Private Jessica Lynch has been reunited with their injured daughter. Jessica's parents, brother and sister were flown by the military from West Virginia to Germany. She is being treated at Landstuhl Hospital there. And I'm sure they're very happy about that.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: What a homecoming that must be eventually when she gets back to West Virginia. Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

HEMMER: I want to get inside of Basra and the southeastern part of the country, southeastern Iraq. There were reports today that the British have penetrated deep into the heart of that city.

Richard Gaisford is with the British military. He's been embedded for several weeks now and joins us for an update on what's been happening there.

Richard, what do you have?

RICHARD GAISFORD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill you're absolutely right. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards led a raid into Basra today. It was supposed to be just that, but they've ended up staying. They are very close to the city's center now. They are not actually into Basra's old town itself, which geographically would be the center of the city; but they're just on the edge of that. They now entered the urban area of Basra and I have to say they haven't found that much resistance.

They have been fired upon by members of the Fedayeen, this radical militia that works alongside the Army, but no cohesive organized military resistance when they rolled into town. Now, they've taken a squadron of tanks down. That's 14 tanks, a company of infantrymen, and armored fighting vehicles as well.

We are told that 300 Iraqi soldiers have been injured or killed in this particular attack this morning. And the British are staying they hadn't planned to. They thought the fall of Basra might take some time, but now it appears the city itself is falling. And I can tell you the people are looting shops in Basra now. So, the regime itself appears to have almost totally crumbled.

HEMMER: Richard, just to follow that up here quickly, you're saying Basra right now is falling, is that how you see it or is that what the British military are saying?

GAISFORD: No, I think if you look at geographically their position and the fact they've managed to stay there, it's a very strong case. The city itself is falling, but it can't be said that it has completely fallen. I believe the Iraqi military that's been left in the city has retreated into the maze of street which is the old town. They haven't actually put up a fight as thought that they would. This is only the militia, the radical force of the Fedayeen that have been involved in any fighting today.

So far, it would be unfair to say that the city itself has totally fallen into British and coalition hands. But I think the process is well under way and many confident smiles here. And this is a process that is working very quickly indeed. Much quicker than anyone had ever planned. As I say, today's operation was supposed to be a raid. It's just that they've ended up staying, Bill.

HEMMER: All right Richard, thanks. And listen, keep us posted, will you? Richard Gaiford -- Gaisford rather -- inside of Basra with the British military. It could be a substantial development, as we get longer into the day here on Sunday.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, we now know the Iraqis are implementing some sort of curfew between the evening hours of 6:00 PM and the morning hours of 6:00 AM, which would effectively, if it works anyway, keep civilians from coming and going from the Iraqi capital.

We also know of a number of explosions yet today. For more here's Rula Amin watching it from her post in eastern Jordan.

Rula, good afternoon, there.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill. Relatively it was a quiet night in Baghdad. However, as soon as the day broke the raids were resumed. There were more explosions heard and sound of very close artillery, especially on the outskirts of the town, the capital Baghdad.

Now, the Iraqi officials are saying is that it's the U.S. troops who are on the run. In the morning the Information Ministry took the journalists to an area called Adura, this is like about 5 kilometers south from the capital. There they said there was a battle that took place on Saturday. They said they have been able to destroy eight Abram's tanks. However, the pictures show one tank. The Iraqis are saying that four American soldiers were killed there and that they have managed to overcome the troops that were trying to get into Baghdad.

The Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf had another briefing this morning. He said that all reports of U.S. troop successes in trying to push toward and inside Baghdad is just propaganda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER: We push them; they run away to the back, we're pounding them. They disappear in the depths back. When we stop pounding them they push some of their units towards Saddam International Airport. We notice that those units only for be filmed and for propaganda. Hollow, empty propaganda purposes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMIN: Now, on the streets of Baghdad, very few residents are on the streets. Most civilians are in their homes or have fled town. We can know -- we do know from people we have spoken to in Baghdad that there are more security forces on the streets, whether it's Republican Guard, the ruling Baath Party militia or Fedayeen Saddam who are usually dressed in black uniforms. Very strong clues to Iraqis in Baghdad that the battle will be soon in their own neighborhoods -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Rula. Rula Amin again, watching that from eastern Jordan.

Earlier today at Central Command they did indicate that at times, maybe 20, possibly 30 vehicles spotted moving back toward Baghdad. But still according to CENTCOM anyway, no significant or large formations coming back to the Iraqi capital.

Heidi, back to you now at the CNN Center. COLLINS: All right. Bill, we are going to hit some good news today. There was actually an incredibly joyous reunion in Germany this morning. The family of PFC Jessica Lynch finally saw her face- to-face. The reunion was at the hospital in Landstuhl where she is recovering from wounds she suffered in Iraq.

Our Matthew Chance is there; live in Germany with the very latest.

And Matthew, I just cannot imagine that plane right ride from West Virginia to German, it must have seemed like forever for her family.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I agree with you, it must have. But you know, we're not being given any access at the moment to the family to witness the undoubtedly strong emotional scenes of happiness and relief that must be going on in this Landstuhl medical facility. Behind me, the U.S. Army officials saying this is an intensely private moment, a private day or so they're going to allow the family to spend with Jessica Lynch, that teenage former prisoner of war who was rescued so dramatically by U.S. Special Forces.

Jessica is of course, still just extremely sick. Recovering from her injuries, in a stable done condition we are told; but still has two legs that are broken, a right arm that is broken and apparently has an ankle broken as well as injuries to her back on which she's been operated on and to her face. She has apparently lacerations to her face. Initial reports also spoke of her having gunshot wounds or stabbing winds. It was a little unclear though.

And it's got even more clear over the -- unclear over the course of the last few days because even though the medical officials here stress that they didn't find any gunshot wounds, U.S. officials in Doha at CENTCOM, have been saying that they have found bullet wounds on her, Jessica's body. We're expecting some kind of statement of clarification. We are told we will get that statement over the course of the next few hours to get to the bottom of exactly what the nature is of her wounds.

What many of us though are waiting for more than anything else is hearing Private Lynch speak herself; because remember, she's just 19. And there's still a lot of uncertainty exactly over how she fell into Iraqi hands and indeed how she was treated when she was in the custody of Iraqi forces. So that's something a lot of people in the states back home and around the world are very concerned about, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes indeed, everyone is. I'm wondering Matthew, if there's been any plan or any talk of actually hearing from the family after they have, as you say, their private moments with Jessica, much deserved. Any idea if they'll come out a little bit later on today to speak to the media.

CHANCE: Well, there's nothing scheduled I have to say for later today. As I mentioned the U.S. military officials who are sort of protecting the family from the media that's gathered outside is saying that the next day, perhaps the next day or two they'll treat as sort of private time. They say they hope to arrange some kind of media facility, some kind of press conference, perhaps on Tuesday of this week coming. But nothing is scheduled; nothing is firm at this stage. And you know, those plans may change here. So, we are standing by.

COLLINS: Very good, all right. Matthew Chance live in Germany this morning. Thank you.

Lori Piestewa and Jessica Lynch were roommates and best friends at Fort Bliss in Texas. But while the rescue of Lynch is being celebrated in her hometown of Palestine West Virginia, in Tuba City, Arizona people are mourning the loss of Piestewa, the first U.S. service woman killed in the war. Our Rusty Dornin has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lori Piestewa was said to have a mind of her own. So it was no surprise to those close to her when she joined the Army. Seen here with her family gathered close before she went to Iraq, Piestewa said her biggest concern was about her two young children.

LORI PIESTEWA: The biggest concern to me is like knowing that my family is taken care of.

DORNIN: Racked by anxiety for nearly two weeks when she was reported missing, Lori's family gathered close again. This time to mourn a woman her brother called our Lady Warrior.

WAYLAND PIESTEWA, BROTHER: Our family is very proud of her. We know she is our hero as you've heard before. We are continuing to believe that. We will hold that in our hearts forever and she will not be forgotten.

DORNIN: Lori Piestewa grew up in the searing heat of the Arizona Desert. A Hopi Indian living on the Navajo Reservation here in Tuba City. People here joked that everyone in this community of 9,000 is related. So when Piestewa was reported missing, the whole town wanted to help.

When her death was announced three Tuba City residents said they wanted to celebrate Piestewa by giving the 23-year-old a walk of life, complete with the flag she so loved.

Tisha Charlie was a year ahead of Piestewa in school.

What was she like in high school?

TISHA CHARLEY, FORMER CLASSMATE: She was always energetic, she was always happy. I'll always remember she was the happiest person I've ever seen. She was always outgoing you know, supporting her friends.

DORNIN: Her friends included Jessica Lynch. Her roommate at Fort Bliss. Piestewa's family even met Lynch before the two women deployed. The young soldier's body may not be returned for days, but when a gentle snow fell as the Hopi chairman spoke to reporters, it was a sign to the Native Americans here that her spirit was not far away.

WAYNE TAYLOR, HOPI TRIBAL CHAIR: In the Hopi belief when one is deceased, they come back home, they visit the family, their community through the moisture. And this was what happened just a while ago and so I think we were very blessed today.

DORNIN: Spontaneous memorials don't always last long here ripped to shreds by the desert winds. But along the red rock mesa, a more permanent tribute to Lori Piestewa, one that can be seen by all those who enter and leave her hometown.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Tuba City, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The bodies of eight other soldiers were recovered with Lori Piestewa. Six were also members of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Now we're back here live in Kuwait City, we are still trying to track down more details on what happened about this Russian diplomatic convoy that apparently was heading out of Baghdad earlier today in the direction of Syria when it came under some sort of fire. I don't know if it was bullets or bombs from the air. But Central Command is now saying that no -- their initial reporting anyway indicates that no coalition forces were operating in the area at the time of the incident. And they also are indicating that this is territory controlled by the Iraqi government. That's the word from CENTCOM down in Qatar.

Let's get the view though from Moscow. Jill Dougherty, are bureau chief checking in again and she's been working her sources in Moscow.

What do you have, Jill? Good afternoon there.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Bill of course, the question still is and nobody seems to be able to answer it at this point, who exactly fired on that convoy. But you have to also note the statement by U.S. Central Command that they were aware of the fact that this convoy, Russian diplomats would be moving out of Baghdad and basically knew where they would be heading. That's from the U.S. side.

Now it's being described as a convoy carrying diplomats, but we know that it also had journalists. In fact, we just spoke to RTR, Russia's government-owned station, No. 2 station here. And they said they had a crew of three including their lead correspondent who was leaving Baghdad. He was replaced by another correspondent. And we do understand that there were other journalists aboard. In any case, they came under fire as they were leaving for the Syrian border. Not known exactly how many people were injured, we're still looking into that and trying to get some type of confirmation. The U.S., for its part says that it is looking into it and is very concerned. In fact, the U.S. ambassador along with the Iraqi ambassador was called over to the Russian Foreign Ministry and told very seriously by the Russian side that they wanted to know what happened. And most of all, they wanted to provide any help to the people who were in that convoy. But the latest word coming from the U.S. side is that that convoy, the Russian convoy carrying the ambassador, other diplomats and apparently journalists is still headed out of the country, out of Iraq and on its way to the Syrian border.

HEMMER: Jill, thanks. Jill Dougherty again in Moscow on that. When we get more, certainly we'll try and track it down for you.

In the meantime it was about this time yesterday when Barbara Starr was reporting out of the Pentagon about this Urban Close Air Support that now is going to be in the skies above the city of Baghdad on a 24-hour basis.

Let's talk with Colonel Mike Turner again back with us live in Denver, U.S. Air Force, retired. Back with us today as a military analyst.

Colonel, good to have you back.

TURNER: Thank you.

HEMMER: I know yesterday when this news first broke there was not a whole lot known about the procedure, the method or what will happen there. But can you give us and our viewers an idea how this UCAS, as the military terms it will be working?

TURNER: Well, it's interesting. This didn't exist in Desert Storm, so it's been possibly developed in the interim, possibly even specifically for Iraqi Freedom.

Close Air Support is the operation of friendly aircraft in very close proximity to friendly ground troops. It requires an extraordinary level of coordination between either a forward air controller in the air that's operating very low and slow in the proximity of the operation, or specifically, with the ground liaison officer. It can't use precision-guided munitions per se, or at least it couldn't when I was doing that job because those are against fixed targets generally.

It can be very precisely delivered, non-guided ordinance that uses precision systems on board the aircraft itself. For example, head's up displays so it will show you accurately where the bomb will fall or where the canon will fire; maybe some television-guided systems or weapons systems that have been developed since Desert Storm.

But the key to this is the de-confliction and the coordination with ground elements that's absolutely essential. And you can see from some of the friendly fire incidents that you're reporting this morning that that is an element of Close Air Support and in an urban environment that becomes exponentially more dangerous. They have to be very careful about how they do this.

HEMMER: Gary Tuchman is reporting from his air base in the Iraqi border that at least two planes will be in the air at all times; and again, on a 24 hour basis. You are talking Colonel about a city of 5 million people. Talk about the dangers and the possibility that civilians may become victims as a result of this?

TURNER: Well obviously, as you compress the civilian population and in and around the coalition and the enemy forces, that that becomes a real factor. I believe it was the Air Force operations chief from Central Command yesterday that suggested that the size of the ordnance will come down. Five hundred pound bombs would seem to me to probably be the biggest ordinance that they could deliver in that kind of an environment. They probably aren't going to be delivering area munitions like cluster bombs, anything like that, specifically because they're concerned about civilian populations.

And how you do strafe with the canon can be problematic because you have ricochets. So, I'm sure they thought this out very carefully because it can be very, very dangerous. It was not even a concept that we would have considered 12 years ago. So there have obviously been developments in the precision of the delivery platform and the precision of the ordinance itself, and also in the speed of the information flow and the connection between the ground elements and the airborne elements.

Twenty-four hour coverage is necessary because the key to Close Air Support is immediacy, to put that ordnance on target. To immediately affect the ongoing skirmish or ground battle between the two sides. So that's very important. It's a very complex process.

HEMMER: And in a city environment like Baghdad, the sprawling city in the central part of the country, trying to get those emerging target too. Clearly a target of this operation in the way.

Thank you Colonel. Colonel Mike Turner live in Denver.

TURNER: Welcome.

HEMMER: We'll talk again next hour.

All right, here's Heidi again in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill. Coming up, shaping Iraq after the war. Is the U.S. headed for another confrontation with the United Nations? We'll look at the issue just ahead.

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COLLINS: Who will shape the future of Iraq after the war? The United Nations and European leaders are jockeying for position with the U.S. Is the U.S. on a collision course once again with the U.N. over this issue?

Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a CNN analyst on Iraq served as charge d'affairs there. He joins us now from Washington this morning. Hello to you, sir. Thanks for being here.

JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER AMBASSADOR: Good morning. How are you this morning?

COLLINS: I'm great. I am wondering about a couple of things. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice just the other day said, "Having given the life and blood to liberate Iraq, the coalition will have the lead role in rebuilding the country after the war."

What are the objectives of the postwar reconstruction in your eyes?

WILSON: Well, I think initially it will be the pacification of the country and the rooting out of all the resistance and that's clearly a military task. In the first instance, I think the U.S. military will have the lead. The first battle that needs to be fought is between the Pentagon and the State Department over the civilian administration reporting channels. But initially, I suspect it will be the military pacification, deliver of humanitarian supplies and that's where I think you'll start to see partnerships develop between the United States and military command and civilian authorities and our erstwhile allies, the Europeans, and of course, the United Nations.

There's a large role for the international community in this; but I think it will be more of a partnership of role rather than the U.N. asserting any leadership at least in the first or two phases -- first or second phase.

COLLINS: I'm also curious to know what your take is on the difference of opinion between Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell. You may have heard on the very same day that she said what she said about giving life and blood. Colin Powell also said that in his eyes, he expected the United Nations to have a major role. He didn't define what it was, but do you see some dissension there?

WILSON: I think it's more a question of timing. When does the U.N. come in and play that partnership role? Now, my own sense is that it probably should be sooner rather than later, just because the humanitarian demands will be considerable and those are the first victories that we need to chock up after the battle for Baghdad. We cannot afford not to be responsive to the humanitarian demands and needs of the population. A liberated population is not going to feel very happy about its liberation if a week from now they're hungry, they're sick, their kids have diarrhea, their hospitals are overflowing.

So that's going to involve a pretty significant effort on the part of everybody. And the organization that has historically been best able to handle a lot of the logistics related to that has been the United Nations.

COLLINS: What about Tony Blair? Where do you think he'll be coming from on this very question? WILSON: Well, I think Prime Minister Blair has advocated for United Nations participation, a significant way as well as for European participation. One of the other things that should come out of this, is it's an opportunity to rebuild relationships between erstwhile estranged allies as well as between the United States and the United Nations after the fight over the second resolution.

COLLINS: All right. Ambassador Joseph Wilson coming to us today from Washington, D.C. Thanks for your time.

WILSON: My pleasure.

COLLINS: And now back to Bill in Kuwait City.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Do you remember that hospital in Nasiriya where Jessica Lynch was rescued late on Tuesday? Now, back in a moment here with Jason Bellini. He is back on the scene there inside the town. We'll check in to find out what's happening today in terms of security and more right after this.

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LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon Harris here in the CNN news room. Our coverage of the war in Iraq continues in just a moment. But first, here's a look at what's happening at this hour.

Kurdish officials say at least 12 people have been killed and dozens more injured in an apparent friendly fire incident. This happened in northern Iraq. We'll have much more on this story just ahead.

But now in a separate incident, Central Command says there are indications that friendly fire is to blame for the deaths of three American service members, five others were wounded in the incident involving an F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft and ground forces. This happened on Thursday. No word on where it happened though.

Iraq has reportedly imposed a nighttime curfew in Baghdad. Reuters reports that this ban would prohibit travel in the capital from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.

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