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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Forces Boldly Roll into Ancient Capital

Aired April 07, 2003 - 05:00   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Carol Costello here.
Into the heart of Baghdad -- just a little more than six hours ago, U.S. forces boldly roll into the ancient capital. Reuters is reporting 105 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are now in the city taking key positions. Reports say U.S. forces are near the capital's Al-Rasheed Hotel, the country's Information Ministry building as well as other government buildings.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces also have entered Saddam Hussein's presidential palace compound. Earlier today, a U.S. Army colonel was standing outside the palace with some of his troops. Says one Pentagon official, "We can go where we want when we want."

In northern Iraq, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade has been called into action for the first time in the war. In a predawn assault, the sky soldiers fired two Howitzer cannons at Iraqi soldiers for a solid hour near the city of Irbil.

British officials say the notorious Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali is dead. General Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin, ordered a deadly chemical attack in 1988 that killed 5,000 Kurds in northern Iraq. British officials say Ali was in his Basra home over the weekend when it was bombed by coalition forces.

President Bush leaves for Belfast, Northern Ireland just about two hours from now. He's attending a two day summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish prime minister. They'll decision Iraqi reconstruction as well we jumpstarting the peace process in Northern Ireland and in the Middle East.

And coming up, the latest on U.S. troops movements in Baghdad. We'll check in with Walter Rodgers, who is with the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry. A surreal message from the Iraqi information minister. Get his take on the coalition ground attack inside Baghdad. Plus, Iraqi citizens and their future, a look at the U.S. strategy after Saddam.

CNN's coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.

From the CNN Center, I'm Carol Costello.

Good morning to you and to Bill Hemmer in Kuwait.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Carol.

Welcome to another week on this Monday. And, wow, it's already been a day here throughout the region. Significant events overnight. U.S. forces operating in the heart of Baghdad earlier today. A live picture from the Iraqi capital as a show of force a short time ago.

Ron March is a writer embedded with the military. He works for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." He told us live here on CNN that commandos have destroyed a statue of Saddam Hussein sitting on top of a horse. This is one of the main parts in central Baghdad right along a reviewing stand where the military parades that we have seen in the past on videotape used to roll by in the Iraqi capital.

There is a lot to update our viewers on at this hour. Here's the situation as we have it. We've been monitoring that video out of Baghdad throughout a very fast moving night. An M1A1 Abrams tank parked at the entrance of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces earlier. Nearby, U.S. troops stand by with their armored vehicles. And despite those forces in the center of town, Iraq's information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, appeared for an impromptu news conference again today and it looked like he was literally standing on a sidewalk, on a street in Baghdad. Not only did he deny that U.S. troops had control of any Iraqi buildings, he said they were committing suicide by the hundreds.

Also back in New York, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for a special session of the Security Council to meet later today, 11:00 a.m. Eastern time, to talk about the issue if Iraq.

We want to give you a sense right now of what's happening and how U.S. troops moved into the heart of Baghdad in force earlier today. On the map you will see the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and the 3rd Infantry Division hit Baghdad from the west. The Marines then went in from the east. They surrounded Baghdad, as we reported last night, according to Walt Rodgers, late in the evening on Sunday. And today coalition forces again went in to hit their targets.

We want to get to Walt Rodgers straight away, breaking news yet again, southwest or west of the city of Baghdad. That is where we find Walt again -- Walt, good afternoon there.

What do you have?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello Bill.

Serious American casualties in the battle for Baghdad this morning. One of the things that we have discovered is that an Iraqi missile, some sort of missile slammed into the TOCC, the tactical operations command center for the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. Army sources have told CNN that the casualties are at least six wounded and four to six missing in action. That suggests very serve casualties when, as I say, and Iraqi missile hit the tactical operations center of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division in the south of Baghdad this morning.

Again, the incursion by the 2nd Brigade into Baghdad today much different than the two previous days. U.S. sources are now telling CNN that there are three Army battalions in the heart of Baghdad. They are not going in on just a foray today. Those three battalions are inside Baghdad to stay. There has been some trouble inside the city, according to one Army officer. Some U.S. soldiers tried to run up an American flag. That greatly incensed the citizens of Baghdad. It even stirred them and encouraged them to fight harder. The word has now gone out that any U.S. soldier, in some units, at least, who tries to run up a U.S. flag in Baghdad is going to get busted -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, Walt, this operations command center, I'm assuming that is the eyes and the ears on the ground for commanding certain units of the U.S. Army. Can you give us much more without revealing too much and sacrificing your position there?

RODGERS: Our position is not in danger at this particular moment, although we're expecting to be moving later. What is known at this point, and the Army has confirmed this to us, that the Iraqis fired a missile at a tactical operations center, a TOCC. That's the Army acronym. It was the TOCC for the 2nd Brigade, the 3rd Infantry Division. The missile slammed into the TOCC and it wounded at least six U.S. soldiers in that TOCC and additionally there are four to six said to be missing in action as a result of the blast.

That has caused U.S. Army soldiers throughout the command, or U.S. Army officers throughout the command to insist that their soldiers tighten up, not slack off. One soldier said -- one commanding officer said this battle is far from over and the evidence -- and that Iraqi missile strongly confirms that this morning.

Again, one very important thing to repeat, Bill, this foray into the city by the 3rd Infantry Division today, 2nd Brigade, is not just an armed reconnaissance. There are now three U.S. Army battalions in the heart of Baghdad itself. I've seen the map. It is the center of Baghdad. And they are going to stay and occupy that, according to sources in the Army here -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt, one more thing here. With this operations center, would it have been traveling through Iraq and defended by Patriot missile batteries, mobile Patriots along the way or was that not the case with this operations center?

RODGERS: My understanding of the way this works -- and remember, I've been floating in and out of the TOCC of the 7th Cavalry -- these are generally fixed positions. They move. It's a unit headquarters. It moves from one position to another in the course of the day.

When I say a missile, because careful. I'm not suggesting a ballistic missile here. We may be talking about nothing more than a large anti-tank missile or a surface to surface missile which was, again, for the Iraqis, a very fortunate tonight sighting. It hit a command center for the United States Army's 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division just south of Baghdad.

Casualties at this point. We can't be more specific than that -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt, one more thing here. What have you been told about resistance on the Iraqi side as these, some describe 70 M1A1 tanks, perhaps 60 Bradley fighting vehicles, which would be a huge amount of armored equipment, roll into the center of Baghdad? Resistance on the other side was what?

RODGERS: Well, yes, those are the same numbers we're hearing and the resistance varies. But one thing that greatly increased the resistance was when some young U.S. soldiers got into the heart of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and began flying American flags like conquerors. As soon as the command officers found out about that, they started screaming and said take those flags down. One officer said if I see anyone in my unit flying an American flag, boasting like a conqueror in the heart of Baghdad, that soldier will be busted out of the Army -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt, thanks.

Walt Rodgers, again, reporting south and west of Baghdad.

We will check in with Walt throughout the day, as we have now for the better part of three weeks running.

The news from Walt right now, though, six U.S. soldiers injured, six others listed right now as missing in action, again, from their posts south of the capital city -- Carol again now at the CNN Center.

COSTELLO: Yes, Bill.

We want to take you south and east of Baghdad right now and check in with Martin Savidge, embedded with the Marines -- Martin, what's it look like from your vantage point?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, about the same time that the U.S. Army was pushing in from the west, the U.S. Marines began pushing in from the east, specifically, the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines began driving on a bridge across the Tigris.

We understand there, though, they've run into some heavy opposition, include Iraqi artillery. We also understand that there may have been at least one armored personnel carrier stuck and that there are casualties and that the artillery continues to be a problem there.

From our vantage point here, we can hear, also, Marine artillery answering back, going off at a fairly steady pace. Also, a huge and heavy machine gun fire. You hear the rounds leaving the artillery pieces here and then hear them impacting not that far away and thud after thud after thud.

So it appears that there is opposition they're running across as they try to get over onto the western bank of the Tigris River here.

Now, keep in mind, the Tigris snakes around so there are many times you can end up crossing it. But at this particular juncture, and we're not clear exactly where it is, there is resistance that they're dealing with and that is the 3rd Marines, that is the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines right now. We're standing by for a reinforcing action that gets called upon -- Carol. COSTELLO: I notice you're speaking softly, Martin. You are safe, right?

SAVIDGE: Yes, yes, we are. We're not that far away from the fight, but far enough away that it's not going to be raining on us just right now as far as artillery.

COSTELLO: And, Martin, whenever we hear casualties, we want to know more. What can you tell us?

SAVIDGE: Well, I can't tell you any more than that. That is just what we have been told, that there have been some casualties. To get into it any more than that, I don't have the specifics as to, you know, obviously we aren't going with names and we don't have specific units involved.

COSTELLO: I don't know if you heard Walter Rodgers' report, but he said that some of the soldiers from the Army put up flags in the, in Baghdad, and, of course, that incensed any resistance that was there in the first place.

Can you tell us the psychological behind that and why American troops might want to do that, even though they know that their mission is not to occupy Baghdad?

SAVIDGE: Well, these are men that have been training and practicing and been readying themselves for warfare, for, obviously, in some cases, years. And there is a lot of pent up, I guess excitement, you could say. And they are very proud in their accomplishments and their achievements. And they're proud, obviously, for the nation in which they're fighting for. That is, of course, the United States and Great Britain.

So it has been shunned as far as many commanders, saying, look, this is not about conquering a nation, this is about liberating a people. And in previous instances where there have been reports of flags either being raised or being waved, those are quickly admonished and said that that's not what we're here for. This is for the Iraqi people, not for us to sit here and wave a flag in some sort of triumph.

So we haven't seen it with the Marines here. I have not witnessed it in any way, shape or form. These are just young men and women that are pumped up. They know that they may be in a fight and psychologically they are revved and ready to go -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I understand. One more question before I let you go. Do you see that the nature of the conflict is changing now?

SAVIDGE: Well, I think the nature of it is that in, as today exemplifies, it's becoming much more aggressive as far as trying to focus on Baghdad. We have been slowly moving up at certain areas of the eastern suburbs. And part of what we do, as far as the Marines and their role, is to act in a blocking position. There are a number of units that were off to the east of Baghdad of the Iraqi Republican Guard. There are a number of regular military units that were way off to the east on the Iranian border. And there has always been the desire on the part of the Marines to cut that avenue of reinforcement, perhaps, of the Iraqis off, which is why moving up on the eastern side is not only to encircle the city, but also to cut off any reinforcements from coming back into the city -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge with the Marines.

And as he said, they're meeting resistance as they try to cross a bridge over the Tigris.

Let's head back to Kuwait City and Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, Carol, listen, there's a lot of attention on Baghdad. But certainly Basra continues to be a very hot story, in the southeastern part of Iraq. About two hours ago, the British were reporting that the body of Chemical Ali had been found somewhere, perhaps in his own home in Basra. Again, that word coming out just a few hours ago.

It was over the weekend where we heard about a Baath Party headquarters being targeted by U.S. air strikes about two and a half days ago. The reports from yesterday had indicated that a large number of Baath Party members had been inside of that home. Quite possibly the general known as Chemical Ali, the man accused of gassing the Kurds 15 years ago, killing 5,000, was inside that home at the time, targeted and killed as a result.

The other story we're hearing about Basra is this. The British are saying that they now control most of that city. Still some pockets of resistance in what they described as the old part of town, but most of it right now under control of the British.

We're going to go get a reporter up in a moment on Basra. In the meantime, though, Central Command and Tom Mintier has a lot of news yet again there today.

Let's go to Tom right now and check in right now on what's happening there -- Tom, good afternoon.

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

We definitely have our plate full here. The last six hours, the pictures we've been seeing coming out of Baghdad nothing short of spectacular inside the palaces, on the streets, seeing the ability of the U.S.-led coalition to make their way into the city, seemingly at will.

Now, what we're hearing here at Central Command is that this may be a move in and move out operation, as it was over the weekend. But there seems to be some indications, much more visible, much deeper into the center of the city of Baghdad as the U.S. troops are moving around the city.

Not about capturing territory, according to U.S. officials here at CENTCOM, but about sending a psychological message. Over the weekend, the message was that we have the ability to bring our tanks and armed personnel carriers into your city so you can hear them. Well, early this morning they had air power over the city. The A-10s could clearly be seen flying low level over Baghdad and then the thunder of tanks coming into the city. Again, clearly sending a message.

Now, we did hear from the public affairs officer here at CENTCOM, calling this a raid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. FRANK THORP, U.S. CENTCOM SPOKESMAN: I wouldn't call them a probing action. But on the other end, I wouldn't call it a coming and staying. This would be an armored raid through the city, bringing down any resistance that we meet and also taking down any leadership capabilities that we see as we go through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: One thing Captain Thorp made it clear was that there may be tougher days ahead. Jubilation, celebration, as you heard, a little bit maybe too much bravado by some units of hoisting the American flag at locations in downtown Baghdad where that was quickly ordered to be stopped by the commanders, saying that we're here about the liberation of the people and not the occupation of territory.

So CENTCOM officials here indicating that this, indeed, was a raid, but it may be more difficult times ahead, a message that they have sent frequently.

Now, let's move down south to Basra. All along the coalition has indicated this is about removing the regime, not occupying or conquering cities. Another indication a part of that regime, at least, the man known as Chemical Ali, may have been removed over the weekend in a U.S.-led air strike on Basra on his residence.

Now, yesterday we did hear confirmation from CENTCOM officials that the bodyguard of Chemical Ali, his body had been found in the rubble of that residence. Today, British officials are saying that Chemical Ali and another head of the intelligence section in southern Iraq have been found and located in the rubble, as well.

Now, this, indeed, would be significant because Chemical Ali was put in charge by Saddam Hussein of defending southern Iraq, something that apparently did not go very well. This is also the man in 1988 who used poison gas against the Kurds in northern Iraq. And he's also the man who was the governor of Kuwait during the occupation before the Gulf War first.

So, British officials saying that it is quite probable that Chemical Ali is dead, that they have found his body in Basra, as British armor made their way into the city. But a full lock on confirmation still has not been developed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CAPT. AL LOCKWOOD, BRITISH CENTCOM SPOKESMAN: Well, obviously he was a man we were very keen to find and capture, if possible. But if this is, indeed, the case -- and I haven't had it confirmed yet through the military chain of command, but, indeed, the messages that I'm hearing, both here in the information center and from other sources, are that, indeed, they have found his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: If, indeed, it is true that Chemical Ali has been found dead, it is the first leadership target of opportunity, so to speak, that has been confirmed. There have been shadowy references in the past that targets of opportunity were seen and that strikes were launched, but we never have heard any conclusive results, as we're now hearing from Basra, that Chemical Ali himself may be dead -- back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Tom, thanks.

Tom Mintier watching things at CENTCOM.

There is a lot happening down there today and a lot to keep track of. We should hear more at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. That's the schedule again today, an hour and 40 minutes from now, and we'll get more also on the targets inside of Baghdad.

And we've heard about one of the main presidential palaces for Saddam Hussein, which centers right in the middle of that city just west of the Tigris River. Also hearing word about the information ministry, at least what's left of it, anyway, based on the number of cruise missiles that we have been told through CENTCOM that have gone into this building over the past two and a half weeks running. And the Al-Rasheed Hotel, interestingly enough, this is where in 1991 that journalists were housed for the first Persian Gulf War. It was in that hotel where CNN reporters Bernard Shaw and John Holliman and Peter Arnett were stationed for the first Persian Gulf War of January of 1991.

By the way, there is a tile mosaic, we are told, on the inside as you walk into that hotel, on the floor, of the first President Bush, George Bush number 41. Perhaps that was a targeting again today for the U.S. coalition forces to go in there.

The journalists working here in Kuwait tell us that the basement of that hotel is essentially a bunker where in the past large groups of Baath Party officials have congregated before in times of military attacks and perhaps again, we are told. Nothing to confirm on this right now, but they may have been taking refuge at this point today.

Much more on the targets inside of Baghdad. I'm certain we'll get it, Carol, when CENTCOM briefs a bit later today -- back to you now at the CNN Center.

COSTELLO: Yes, you mentioned a lot has happened this morning. Well, it has and we want to take you through it right now.

This is developments over the last, oh, several hours, on day 18 of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

At 7:00 a.m. local time, Baghdad residents wake to gunfire. At 9:30 a.m. local time, U.S. tanks shell -- U.S. tank shells, rather, rock the Iraqi capital. And less than an hour later, U.S. forces moved into a presidential palace compound.

At 10:30 a.m. local time, U.S. forces blew up a statue of Saddam Hussein in Zawrah Park (ph) and five minutes after that, the Iraqi information minister talks to reporters and denies U.S. forces have even advanced on Baghdad.

Now on the phone with us, Simon Robinson from "Time" magazine. And, Simon, you are inside Baghdad to the -- in eastern Baghdad? Is that right?

SIMON ROBINSON, "TIME" MAGAZINE: That's correct. The Marines this morning, probably around two hours ago, pushed into southeastern Baghdad, across a canal. They're in the suburbs of southeastern Baghdad now. The Army is in the west, obviously, as we just heard.

The bridge that they crossed had been partially destroyed by retreating Iraqi troops. And so they had to cross on foot. Infantry pushed across and now they have secured a perimeter of probably a couple of kilometers deep into those suburbs in southeastern Baghdad.

COSTELLO: I don't know if you're, if you're exactly in the same place, but Martin Savidge just reported a short time ago that Iraqi forces did open fire and there are casualties.

Do you know anything about that?

ROBINSON: There was an incident this morning near the bridge around 15 minutes before the infantry were about to punch out where an amtrac (ph) vehicle full of Marines was hit. The incident is still a bit sketchy. What happened, there's some suggestion that it might have been friendly fire from artillery, American artillery. There's also the suggestion that it could have been counter-battery fire from Iraqi forces in Baghdad.

Obviously there's going to be an investigation into that. It's a little bit unclear at this stage, but it did come in the middle of a very heavy American bombardment of artillery. So that possibility remains quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: Assuming that the Iraqis are somewhat fighting back, what kind of resistance are you seeing?

ROBINSON: I was, I'm now on the south, back on the south side of the bridge. I've just come back, having spent the last couple of hours on the north side of the bridge, or the northeastern side. There was very little resistance, to be honest. There was evidence of strong fortifications (AUDIO GAP) they've been abandoned and while there were some Iraqi, bodies of Iraqi soldiers, there weren't that many. There were, I saw perhaps a dozen.

So it looks like the Iraqi forces have withdrawn and the Marines encountered very little resistance.

COSTELLO: I hear the weather is changing, too. We can see a haze hanging over Baghdad right now. What is that like and how is it affecting troops?

ROBINSON: Well, compared to yesterday, it's probably helping them. Yesterday was very, very hot and the Marines that I'm embedded with traveling through the towns leading up to the suburbs of southeastern Baghdad were fighting in their chemical suits and it was extremely hot, temperatures over 100 degrees. So that was difficult. And there were some heat casualties during that fighting.

Today with the overcast conditions, it's probably easier for them.

COSTELLO: You were talking about chemical suits. So troops are still wearing them?

ROBINSON: In fact, this morning they took them off, based, I guess, on some intelligence that the threat level has gone down and also on their ability to fight. It is downgraded somewhat by, when it's really hot, by those suits. But as I'm looking around me now, I see Marines, at least, have taken -- most Marines have taken their chemical suits off for the first time since the beginning of this war, around 15, 16 days ago.

COSTELLO: I guess that surprises me because you would think as troops moved into Baghdad, the threat of the use of chemical weapons would increase.

ROBINSON: I'm not sure. I haven't yet talked to someone who can answer, give me the answer to why last night the decision, at least with this battalion of -- or this regiment of Marines, why the suits are off. There's, it did come after a day of heavy fighting and some heat casualties, as I mentioned.

Perhaps the intelligence is -- and I'm only surmising this -- that the threat level has gone down. But you're right. You would think as you got closer it would go up.

COSTELLO: And one last question before I let you go. Tell me what's happening right now and if you can see any civilians around where you are.

ROBINSON: There are some civilians, people coming out of the town on the southern side of the bridge that the Marines have taken this morning kind of looking on. And as I'm talking to you, I'm just a few hundred meters up the road. The Marines are building a bridge across the canal into the suburbs of southeastern Baghdad to replace that bridge that the Iraqis partially destroyed so that they can get vehicles across and move up further north.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you about that before you go. You say the Iraqis partially destroyed this bridge and we'd understood that they'd, you know, planted explosives in those bridges in preparation for doing something like this. Is that what happened? ROBINSON: It appears that at least the bridge that the Battalion 3-4 that I'm with was, it was certainly blown at one point. It had burns (AUDIO GAP). Other charges are still on there ready to be blown. I know there's another bridge to the north which I heard that had happened to, that there were explosives. It was wired up basically.

But it looks like perhaps the Marines secured the bridge before they were able to finish the job, perhaps (AUDIO GAP).

COSTELLO: All right, Simon Robinson, we'll let you get back to work.

Appreciate your time.

Let's head back to Kuwait City and Bill Hemmer.

HEMMER: All right, Carol, listen, we have focused an awful lot on Baghdad, and certainly that is the center of the story again today. But in the north there, the fighting does continue.

Jane Arraf by way of video phone now checking in.

I believe you're near the town of Mosul, Jane. Not quite sure how much more information outside of that. Fill us in. What's happening?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we're actually near a key junction that leads to Mosul and to Kirkuk. Now, we're on a ridge, a very wind swept ridge, with U.S. special forces who have been here since yesterday holding this down.

Now, there was a battle here yesterday that raged all day long with the special forces firing Javelin anti-tank missiles and launching bombs from F-14s to take out Iraqi tanks. Today they're still on this ridge and they're trying to move forward. They've sent up APCs, Humvees further up to see what it looks like.

They're not meeting any Iraqi resistance so far and what they're targeting is a key intersection. It's about two miles from here and it is almost halfway between those two major cities, Mosul and Kirkuk. On one side Mosul, on the other Kirkuk.

Now, it could be a while before they go down that road, even if they take that intersection. They just don't have a lot of forces here on the ground.

It's quite a sober atmosphere here today with the Kurdish fighters, Bill, following that friendly fire incident which happened just down the road from here. There were at least 45 people injured, at least 18 killed, all of them Kurdish. But there was some good news for the Kurdish fighters. It was the reported death of the man they know as Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan Majid, responsible for the gassing of Kurdish villages -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, Jane, listen, I understand as the coalition forces and the Kurds, as well, move throughout Iraq, there are large caches of ammunition that are found in numerous locations. I believe you have found one, as well. What happened with it?

ARRAF: I'm sorry, Bill, there has just been a -- we are just trying to figure out what that is there. There seems to be, just behind this front line here the Iraqis are engaging the special forces and we're hearing explosions off in the distance. We can't see it from here, but it's -- I don't know, Bill, if you can hear that loud series of explosions.

HEMMER: We certainly can, Jane.

ARRAF: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: Keep going so long as you feel safe and secure there.

ARRAF: I'm told that it appears to be an Iraqi vehicle that has been engaged by the special forces reconnaissance. They are up on a further ridge. They've been there all morning. This is actually the first fighting that we have heard. They seem to have thought that there, they wouldn't meet a lot of Iraqi resistance. They took out what could have been 10 tanks yesterday. There was very heavy air attacks, very heavy ground fire and the Iraqis essentially have been doing virtually nothing this morning. But we now are seeing some Iraqi resistance just ahead of that key intersection, which, as I say, goes to Mosul and Kirkuk.

Now, Bill, you had been asking about armaments caches. You might have been referring to what we were seeing in Mosul, which was huge explosions. Now, very dramatic ones, and that does seem to have been an ammunition depot that was bombed, accounting for those spectacular explosions. There has been a slow and steady attack on Mosul, on key military sites. But, again, forces here are in no hurry to take Mosul or Kirkuk. They just don't have the ground forces here following Turkey's rejection of allowing U.S. ground troops.

And the peshmerga, the Kurdish forces themselves can't do it alone because that would be the -- that would get Turkey involved sending in troops.

I'm just seeing what's going on behind me. We still have some special forces on the ridge. They have been looking through the sites of those Javelin anti-tank missiles to see what's going on further ahead. And there are spotters further up the road.

But as I said, the Iraqi forces seem to have engaged the reconnaissance group, the special forces reconnaissance mission that was just up the road, just ahead of that key intersection -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Jane, listen, I cannot see your image from my location here in Kuwait. I know you're on video phone. If it's possible, perhaps we can pan off, if it's not too far in the distance, and perhaps give our viewers a better idea of what you're witnessing there. And also, Jane, I don't want to keep you here if you don't feel safe or secure at this point. ARRAF: We're actually fine here. We're on this ridge, just behind the ridge, and we can take cover pretty easily if they do send artillery our way. But we will try to show you a little bit of what's happening.

Chris, I wonder if you could pan around and just give them an idea of what we're looking at?

It is, as I said, a very windswept ridge. It's about 20 miles out of the major Kurdish city of Irbil. We have the Kurdish peshmerga here, quite a few of them today. As I said, all of them quite sober after that horrifying incident yesterday of friendly fire.

You can see the topography here, Bill. It's very mountainous. And that's essentially what has slowed down the fighting and really why the U.S. special forces find the peshmerga so valuable.

Peshmerga means, as you know, those who defy death. And they are people who have fought in the mountains for decades. They know this land. They know the landscape. They know how to fight in the mountains. And the special forces have been using them to help them get a hole of this terrain.

HEMMER: Jane, Jane in this war right now...

ARRAF: It is fairly quiet...

HEMMER: ... the headline seems to change -- yes, the headline seems to change just about every hour and yesterday when that friendly fire incident went down, it was the headline for a period of, say, six to eight hours. Today now, 24 hours later, have you been able to tell as to whether or not that incident has thrown off any of the Kurdish fighters, any of the special forces operating there?

ARRAF: It's quite remarkable, Bill. The Kurdish fighters who essentially, as I say, have fought in the mountains, guerrilla warfare, they're trained to live on basically nothing. They are tough. I mean there is no disputing it. And I've been asking because I've been absolutely astounded at the fact that there isn't more emotion shown, that there isn't more anger shown, certainly.

But genuinely there seems to be none. They're extremely grateful to the Americans. They love the American forces. They want to fight more with them. They want more arms. They want to go further. And they see this as basically an inevitable casualty of war.

Now, peshmerga means those who defy death, but of course they don't expect to defy death from their allies, from the sky. But they do have seemed to have taken it quite matter of factly. Political leaders, as well, have been downplaying it, to the extent that they're saying that this is inevitable. It was a horrible mistake, but these things are bound to happen.

Now, one of the terrible things, as you know, Bill, about that friendly fire incident is that there were two casualties, the brother and the son of Massoud Barzani, who is the Kurdish leader in this part of Iraqi Kurdistan. He is revered and his brother was respected, as well. His brother was flown in critical condition to a U.S. Army hospital in Germany. The son was slightly injured.

As for the special forces, they were not aware of any American casualties in that horrible incident. They sent their medics here from this site, from this ridge, the special forces, to go and treat some of the wounded. And they described absolutely horrific scenes of people lying everywhere, debris strewn everywhere.

But possibly because there weren't any Americans involved, they, there wasn't really the level of emotion that there might have been -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Jane, thanks.

Jane Arraf, keep us posted by way of video phone on that road, connecting eventually to Mosul in the northern part of Iraq.

And to our viewers at home, if you're just joining us yet again, it has been another fascinating day of quick, happening developments throughout especially in the town of Baghdad. What we have seen videotape come to us at points, Carol, and I know you saw this a bit earlier today, that line of Iraqi soldiers who are essentially fleeing along the banks of the Tigris River, at times, peeling away their uniforms, peeling away their weapons and sometimes sticking them underneath trees, trying to get away from the fighting.

The developments are fast and furious, as they have so many times in the past three weeks. But yet again today we are seeing more and more movement toward the center of Baghdad and possibly some sort of resolution in this war that is not quite three weeks old -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It has been an extraordinary morning, Bill.

It is 5:35 Eastern time. We want to bring our viewers up to date now before you head off to work.

U.S. forces strike deep into the heart of Baghdad. Just about seven hours ago, U.S. forces boldly rolled into the ancient capital. Reuters is reporting 105 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are now in the city taking up key positions. Reports say U.S. forces are near the capital's Al-Rasheed Hotel, the country's information ministry building, as well as other government buildings.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces have also entered Saddam Hussein's presidential palace compound. Earlier today, a U.S. Army colonel was standing outside of the palace with some of his troops. Says one Pentagon official, "We can where we want when we want."

In northern Iraq, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade has unleashed a barrage of heavy artillery on Iraqi forces. CNN's Thomas Naibo (ph) is with the sky soldiers. He said the predawn assault lasted about an hour. It's the first time the 173rd has been called into action since the Vietnam War.

And according to British military officials, the body of the Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali has been found. Ali, whose real name is Ali Hassan al-Majid, is Saddam Hussein's cousin and he's reported to have ordered the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds back in 1988, killing about 5,000 people. Coalition forces bombed his home in the southern city of Basra over the weekend and killed him.

It will be a trifold summit for President Bush as he meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On their agenda, reviewing final battle strategies and post-war plans for Iraq, new peace efforts for Northern Ireland and a Middle East peace plan leading to the Palestinian state.

And we want to take you back inside Baghdad, where the fighting has been fierce.

Let's check in with Rym Brahimi to help us do that. She's in Jordan.

And I want to go over a few of these landmarks where American military forces are right now. The first, Zawrah Park.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zawrah Park, Carol, is a park that was actually in reconstruction about 15 days ago when the U.S.- led campaign began. It's a huge amusement park. Part of it was still working. A lot of families were going there, actually, even until the last day before the war began. And also it's next to the Zoo of Baghdad.

Now, all that is a huge area. It's quite vast, if you will. It stretches out -- Baghdad is quite a wide city, lots of wide avenues and broad streets. And it's not far from either the Rasheed Hotel or the presidential compound of the Republican Palace or from the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Information. All these are basically within 10 or -- 10 minutes driving range maximum.

Now, the Zawrah Park area, I understand from people I spoke to in Baghdad who just passed in front of that the other day, Carol, well, that's been more or less reduced to rubble. Not clear what the buildings, if all the buildings are still standing. But somebody described that area to me as being in a lot of rubble.

Basically we're having a city, Carol, that people I spoke to in Baghdad describe as a city in a state of war. It's just that there's a lot of confusion as to who is doing what in Baghdad. And if you speak to two people who just live in different neighborhoods, they don't know the same thing. One of them will tell you one thing and somebody will tell you something else -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Right. Let's go back to Zawrah Park for just a second, because there were two huge statues here that coalition forces took down, one a giant 40 foot statue of Saddam Hussein, correct?

BRAHIMI: Yes, that's absolutely right. They used -- of course, it's very difficult to describe and note which statues are where because there are so many statues of President Saddam Hussein. But that one particularly huge. There was also one near the monument, near the parade ground that I understand had been placed recently. That parade ground is the one with the two swords crossing each other like a sort of victory arch. And it was built to mark the victory -- or what President Saddam Hussein called the victory of Iraq over Iran in the war between the two countries.

Basically all these, Carol, including the Republican Palace, including the Ministry of Information, all these sites clearly symbolic sites for the U.S. to be raiding right now. Just a way of saying that they can go to these very, very symbolic sites that represent the sovereignty not only of Iraq, but probably the sovereignty or the leadership itself more than anything else -- Carol.

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Aired April 7, 2003 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Carol Costello here.
Into the heart of Baghdad -- just a little more than six hours ago, U.S. forces boldly roll into the ancient capital. Reuters is reporting 105 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are now in the city taking key positions. Reports say U.S. forces are near the capital's Al-Rasheed Hotel, the country's Information Ministry building as well as other government buildings.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces also have entered Saddam Hussein's presidential palace compound. Earlier today, a U.S. Army colonel was standing outside the palace with some of his troops. Says one Pentagon official, "We can go where we want when we want."

In northern Iraq, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade has been called into action for the first time in the war. In a predawn assault, the sky soldiers fired two Howitzer cannons at Iraqi soldiers for a solid hour near the city of Irbil.

British officials say the notorious Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali is dead. General Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin, ordered a deadly chemical attack in 1988 that killed 5,000 Kurds in northern Iraq. British officials say Ali was in his Basra home over the weekend when it was bombed by coalition forces.

President Bush leaves for Belfast, Northern Ireland just about two hours from now. He's attending a two day summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish prime minister. They'll decision Iraqi reconstruction as well we jumpstarting the peace process in Northern Ireland and in the Middle East.

And coming up, the latest on U.S. troops movements in Baghdad. We'll check in with Walter Rodgers, who is with the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry. A surreal message from the Iraqi information minister. Get his take on the coalition ground attack inside Baghdad. Plus, Iraqi citizens and their future, a look at the U.S. strategy after Saddam.

CNN's coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.

From the CNN Center, I'm Carol Costello.

Good morning to you and to Bill Hemmer in Kuwait.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Carol.

Welcome to another week on this Monday. And, wow, it's already been a day here throughout the region. Significant events overnight. U.S. forces operating in the heart of Baghdad earlier today. A live picture from the Iraqi capital as a show of force a short time ago.

Ron March is a writer embedded with the military. He works for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." He told us live here on CNN that commandos have destroyed a statue of Saddam Hussein sitting on top of a horse. This is one of the main parts in central Baghdad right along a reviewing stand where the military parades that we have seen in the past on videotape used to roll by in the Iraqi capital.

There is a lot to update our viewers on at this hour. Here's the situation as we have it. We've been monitoring that video out of Baghdad throughout a very fast moving night. An M1A1 Abrams tank parked at the entrance of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces earlier. Nearby, U.S. troops stand by with their armored vehicles. And despite those forces in the center of town, Iraq's information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, appeared for an impromptu news conference again today and it looked like he was literally standing on a sidewalk, on a street in Baghdad. Not only did he deny that U.S. troops had control of any Iraqi buildings, he said they were committing suicide by the hundreds.

Also back in New York, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for a special session of the Security Council to meet later today, 11:00 a.m. Eastern time, to talk about the issue if Iraq.

We want to give you a sense right now of what's happening and how U.S. troops moved into the heart of Baghdad in force earlier today. On the map you will see the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and the 3rd Infantry Division hit Baghdad from the west. The Marines then went in from the east. They surrounded Baghdad, as we reported last night, according to Walt Rodgers, late in the evening on Sunday. And today coalition forces again went in to hit their targets.

We want to get to Walt Rodgers straight away, breaking news yet again, southwest or west of the city of Baghdad. That is where we find Walt again -- Walt, good afternoon there.

What do you have?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello Bill.

Serious American casualties in the battle for Baghdad this morning. One of the things that we have discovered is that an Iraqi missile, some sort of missile slammed into the TOCC, the tactical operations command center for the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. Army sources have told CNN that the casualties are at least six wounded and four to six missing in action. That suggests very serve casualties when, as I say, and Iraqi missile hit the tactical operations center of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division in the south of Baghdad this morning.

Again, the incursion by the 2nd Brigade into Baghdad today much different than the two previous days. U.S. sources are now telling CNN that there are three Army battalions in the heart of Baghdad. They are not going in on just a foray today. Those three battalions are inside Baghdad to stay. There has been some trouble inside the city, according to one Army officer. Some U.S. soldiers tried to run up an American flag. That greatly incensed the citizens of Baghdad. It even stirred them and encouraged them to fight harder. The word has now gone out that any U.S. soldier, in some units, at least, who tries to run up a U.S. flag in Baghdad is going to get busted -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, Walt, this operations command center, I'm assuming that is the eyes and the ears on the ground for commanding certain units of the U.S. Army. Can you give us much more without revealing too much and sacrificing your position there?

RODGERS: Our position is not in danger at this particular moment, although we're expecting to be moving later. What is known at this point, and the Army has confirmed this to us, that the Iraqis fired a missile at a tactical operations center, a TOCC. That's the Army acronym. It was the TOCC for the 2nd Brigade, the 3rd Infantry Division. The missile slammed into the TOCC and it wounded at least six U.S. soldiers in that TOCC and additionally there are four to six said to be missing in action as a result of the blast.

That has caused U.S. Army soldiers throughout the command, or U.S. Army officers throughout the command to insist that their soldiers tighten up, not slack off. One soldier said -- one commanding officer said this battle is far from over and the evidence -- and that Iraqi missile strongly confirms that this morning.

Again, one very important thing to repeat, Bill, this foray into the city by the 3rd Infantry Division today, 2nd Brigade, is not just an armed reconnaissance. There are now three U.S. Army battalions in the heart of Baghdad itself. I've seen the map. It is the center of Baghdad. And they are going to stay and occupy that, according to sources in the Army here -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt, one more thing here. With this operations center, would it have been traveling through Iraq and defended by Patriot missile batteries, mobile Patriots along the way or was that not the case with this operations center?

RODGERS: My understanding of the way this works -- and remember, I've been floating in and out of the TOCC of the 7th Cavalry -- these are generally fixed positions. They move. It's a unit headquarters. It moves from one position to another in the course of the day.

When I say a missile, because careful. I'm not suggesting a ballistic missile here. We may be talking about nothing more than a large anti-tank missile or a surface to surface missile which was, again, for the Iraqis, a very fortunate tonight sighting. It hit a command center for the United States Army's 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division just south of Baghdad.

Casualties at this point. We can't be more specific than that -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt, one more thing here. What have you been told about resistance on the Iraqi side as these, some describe 70 M1A1 tanks, perhaps 60 Bradley fighting vehicles, which would be a huge amount of armored equipment, roll into the center of Baghdad? Resistance on the other side was what?

RODGERS: Well, yes, those are the same numbers we're hearing and the resistance varies. But one thing that greatly increased the resistance was when some young U.S. soldiers got into the heart of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and began flying American flags like conquerors. As soon as the command officers found out about that, they started screaming and said take those flags down. One officer said if I see anyone in my unit flying an American flag, boasting like a conqueror in the heart of Baghdad, that soldier will be busted out of the Army -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt, thanks.

Walt Rodgers, again, reporting south and west of Baghdad.

We will check in with Walt throughout the day, as we have now for the better part of three weeks running.

The news from Walt right now, though, six U.S. soldiers injured, six others listed right now as missing in action, again, from their posts south of the capital city -- Carol again now at the CNN Center.

COSTELLO: Yes, Bill.

We want to take you south and east of Baghdad right now and check in with Martin Savidge, embedded with the Marines -- Martin, what's it look like from your vantage point?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, about the same time that the U.S. Army was pushing in from the west, the U.S. Marines began pushing in from the east, specifically, the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines began driving on a bridge across the Tigris.

We understand there, though, they've run into some heavy opposition, include Iraqi artillery. We also understand that there may have been at least one armored personnel carrier stuck and that there are casualties and that the artillery continues to be a problem there.

From our vantage point here, we can hear, also, Marine artillery answering back, going off at a fairly steady pace. Also, a huge and heavy machine gun fire. You hear the rounds leaving the artillery pieces here and then hear them impacting not that far away and thud after thud after thud.

So it appears that there is opposition they're running across as they try to get over onto the western bank of the Tigris River here.

Now, keep in mind, the Tigris snakes around so there are many times you can end up crossing it. But at this particular juncture, and we're not clear exactly where it is, there is resistance that they're dealing with and that is the 3rd Marines, that is the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines right now. We're standing by for a reinforcing action that gets called upon -- Carol. COSTELLO: I notice you're speaking softly, Martin. You are safe, right?

SAVIDGE: Yes, yes, we are. We're not that far away from the fight, but far enough away that it's not going to be raining on us just right now as far as artillery.

COSTELLO: And, Martin, whenever we hear casualties, we want to know more. What can you tell us?

SAVIDGE: Well, I can't tell you any more than that. That is just what we have been told, that there have been some casualties. To get into it any more than that, I don't have the specifics as to, you know, obviously we aren't going with names and we don't have specific units involved.

COSTELLO: I don't know if you heard Walter Rodgers' report, but he said that some of the soldiers from the Army put up flags in the, in Baghdad, and, of course, that incensed any resistance that was there in the first place.

Can you tell us the psychological behind that and why American troops might want to do that, even though they know that their mission is not to occupy Baghdad?

SAVIDGE: Well, these are men that have been training and practicing and been readying themselves for warfare, for, obviously, in some cases, years. And there is a lot of pent up, I guess excitement, you could say. And they are very proud in their accomplishments and their achievements. And they're proud, obviously, for the nation in which they're fighting for. That is, of course, the United States and Great Britain.

So it has been shunned as far as many commanders, saying, look, this is not about conquering a nation, this is about liberating a people. And in previous instances where there have been reports of flags either being raised or being waved, those are quickly admonished and said that that's not what we're here for. This is for the Iraqi people, not for us to sit here and wave a flag in some sort of triumph.

So we haven't seen it with the Marines here. I have not witnessed it in any way, shape or form. These are just young men and women that are pumped up. They know that they may be in a fight and psychologically they are revved and ready to go -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I understand. One more question before I let you go. Do you see that the nature of the conflict is changing now?

SAVIDGE: Well, I think the nature of it is that in, as today exemplifies, it's becoming much more aggressive as far as trying to focus on Baghdad. We have been slowly moving up at certain areas of the eastern suburbs. And part of what we do, as far as the Marines and their role, is to act in a blocking position. There are a number of units that were off to the east of Baghdad of the Iraqi Republican Guard. There are a number of regular military units that were way off to the east on the Iranian border. And there has always been the desire on the part of the Marines to cut that avenue of reinforcement, perhaps, of the Iraqis off, which is why moving up on the eastern side is not only to encircle the city, but also to cut off any reinforcements from coming back into the city -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge with the Marines.

And as he said, they're meeting resistance as they try to cross a bridge over the Tigris.

Let's head back to Kuwait City and Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, Carol, listen, there's a lot of attention on Baghdad. But certainly Basra continues to be a very hot story, in the southeastern part of Iraq. About two hours ago, the British were reporting that the body of Chemical Ali had been found somewhere, perhaps in his own home in Basra. Again, that word coming out just a few hours ago.

It was over the weekend where we heard about a Baath Party headquarters being targeted by U.S. air strikes about two and a half days ago. The reports from yesterday had indicated that a large number of Baath Party members had been inside of that home. Quite possibly the general known as Chemical Ali, the man accused of gassing the Kurds 15 years ago, killing 5,000, was inside that home at the time, targeted and killed as a result.

The other story we're hearing about Basra is this. The British are saying that they now control most of that city. Still some pockets of resistance in what they described as the old part of town, but most of it right now under control of the British.

We're going to go get a reporter up in a moment on Basra. In the meantime, though, Central Command and Tom Mintier has a lot of news yet again there today.

Let's go to Tom right now and check in right now on what's happening there -- Tom, good afternoon.

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

We definitely have our plate full here. The last six hours, the pictures we've been seeing coming out of Baghdad nothing short of spectacular inside the palaces, on the streets, seeing the ability of the U.S.-led coalition to make their way into the city, seemingly at will.

Now, what we're hearing here at Central Command is that this may be a move in and move out operation, as it was over the weekend. But there seems to be some indications, much more visible, much deeper into the center of the city of Baghdad as the U.S. troops are moving around the city.

Not about capturing territory, according to U.S. officials here at CENTCOM, but about sending a psychological message. Over the weekend, the message was that we have the ability to bring our tanks and armed personnel carriers into your city so you can hear them. Well, early this morning they had air power over the city. The A-10s could clearly be seen flying low level over Baghdad and then the thunder of tanks coming into the city. Again, clearly sending a message.

Now, we did hear from the public affairs officer here at CENTCOM, calling this a raid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. FRANK THORP, U.S. CENTCOM SPOKESMAN: I wouldn't call them a probing action. But on the other end, I wouldn't call it a coming and staying. This would be an armored raid through the city, bringing down any resistance that we meet and also taking down any leadership capabilities that we see as we go through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: One thing Captain Thorp made it clear was that there may be tougher days ahead. Jubilation, celebration, as you heard, a little bit maybe too much bravado by some units of hoisting the American flag at locations in downtown Baghdad where that was quickly ordered to be stopped by the commanders, saying that we're here about the liberation of the people and not the occupation of territory.

So CENTCOM officials here indicating that this, indeed, was a raid, but it may be more difficult times ahead, a message that they have sent frequently.

Now, let's move down south to Basra. All along the coalition has indicated this is about removing the regime, not occupying or conquering cities. Another indication a part of that regime, at least, the man known as Chemical Ali, may have been removed over the weekend in a U.S.-led air strike on Basra on his residence.

Now, yesterday we did hear confirmation from CENTCOM officials that the bodyguard of Chemical Ali, his body had been found in the rubble of that residence. Today, British officials are saying that Chemical Ali and another head of the intelligence section in southern Iraq have been found and located in the rubble, as well.

Now, this, indeed, would be significant because Chemical Ali was put in charge by Saddam Hussein of defending southern Iraq, something that apparently did not go very well. This is also the man in 1988 who used poison gas against the Kurds in northern Iraq. And he's also the man who was the governor of Kuwait during the occupation before the Gulf War first.

So, British officials saying that it is quite probable that Chemical Ali is dead, that they have found his body in Basra, as British armor made their way into the city. But a full lock on confirmation still has not been developed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CAPT. AL LOCKWOOD, BRITISH CENTCOM SPOKESMAN: Well, obviously he was a man we were very keen to find and capture, if possible. But if this is, indeed, the case -- and I haven't had it confirmed yet through the military chain of command, but, indeed, the messages that I'm hearing, both here in the information center and from other sources, are that, indeed, they have found his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: If, indeed, it is true that Chemical Ali has been found dead, it is the first leadership target of opportunity, so to speak, that has been confirmed. There have been shadowy references in the past that targets of opportunity were seen and that strikes were launched, but we never have heard any conclusive results, as we're now hearing from Basra, that Chemical Ali himself may be dead -- back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Tom, thanks.

Tom Mintier watching things at CENTCOM.

There is a lot happening down there today and a lot to keep track of. We should hear more at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. That's the schedule again today, an hour and 40 minutes from now, and we'll get more also on the targets inside of Baghdad.

And we've heard about one of the main presidential palaces for Saddam Hussein, which centers right in the middle of that city just west of the Tigris River. Also hearing word about the information ministry, at least what's left of it, anyway, based on the number of cruise missiles that we have been told through CENTCOM that have gone into this building over the past two and a half weeks running. And the Al-Rasheed Hotel, interestingly enough, this is where in 1991 that journalists were housed for the first Persian Gulf War. It was in that hotel where CNN reporters Bernard Shaw and John Holliman and Peter Arnett were stationed for the first Persian Gulf War of January of 1991.

By the way, there is a tile mosaic, we are told, on the inside as you walk into that hotel, on the floor, of the first President Bush, George Bush number 41. Perhaps that was a targeting again today for the U.S. coalition forces to go in there.

The journalists working here in Kuwait tell us that the basement of that hotel is essentially a bunker where in the past large groups of Baath Party officials have congregated before in times of military attacks and perhaps again, we are told. Nothing to confirm on this right now, but they may have been taking refuge at this point today.

Much more on the targets inside of Baghdad. I'm certain we'll get it, Carol, when CENTCOM briefs a bit later today -- back to you now at the CNN Center.

COSTELLO: Yes, you mentioned a lot has happened this morning. Well, it has and we want to take you through it right now.

This is developments over the last, oh, several hours, on day 18 of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

At 7:00 a.m. local time, Baghdad residents wake to gunfire. At 9:30 a.m. local time, U.S. tanks shell -- U.S. tank shells, rather, rock the Iraqi capital. And less than an hour later, U.S. forces moved into a presidential palace compound.

At 10:30 a.m. local time, U.S. forces blew up a statue of Saddam Hussein in Zawrah Park (ph) and five minutes after that, the Iraqi information minister talks to reporters and denies U.S. forces have even advanced on Baghdad.

Now on the phone with us, Simon Robinson from "Time" magazine. And, Simon, you are inside Baghdad to the -- in eastern Baghdad? Is that right?

SIMON ROBINSON, "TIME" MAGAZINE: That's correct. The Marines this morning, probably around two hours ago, pushed into southeastern Baghdad, across a canal. They're in the suburbs of southeastern Baghdad now. The Army is in the west, obviously, as we just heard.

The bridge that they crossed had been partially destroyed by retreating Iraqi troops. And so they had to cross on foot. Infantry pushed across and now they have secured a perimeter of probably a couple of kilometers deep into those suburbs in southeastern Baghdad.

COSTELLO: I don't know if you're, if you're exactly in the same place, but Martin Savidge just reported a short time ago that Iraqi forces did open fire and there are casualties.

Do you know anything about that?

ROBINSON: There was an incident this morning near the bridge around 15 minutes before the infantry were about to punch out where an amtrac (ph) vehicle full of Marines was hit. The incident is still a bit sketchy. What happened, there's some suggestion that it might have been friendly fire from artillery, American artillery. There's also the suggestion that it could have been counter-battery fire from Iraqi forces in Baghdad.

Obviously there's going to be an investigation into that. It's a little bit unclear at this stage, but it did come in the middle of a very heavy American bombardment of artillery. So that possibility remains quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COSTELLO: Assuming that the Iraqis are somewhat fighting back, what kind of resistance are you seeing?

ROBINSON: I was, I'm now on the south, back on the south side of the bridge. I've just come back, having spent the last couple of hours on the north side of the bridge, or the northeastern side. There was very little resistance, to be honest. There was evidence of strong fortifications (AUDIO GAP) they've been abandoned and while there were some Iraqi, bodies of Iraqi soldiers, there weren't that many. There were, I saw perhaps a dozen.

So it looks like the Iraqi forces have withdrawn and the Marines encountered very little resistance.

COSTELLO: I hear the weather is changing, too. We can see a haze hanging over Baghdad right now. What is that like and how is it affecting troops?

ROBINSON: Well, compared to yesterday, it's probably helping them. Yesterday was very, very hot and the Marines that I'm embedded with traveling through the towns leading up to the suburbs of southeastern Baghdad were fighting in their chemical suits and it was extremely hot, temperatures over 100 degrees. So that was difficult. And there were some heat casualties during that fighting.

Today with the overcast conditions, it's probably easier for them.

COSTELLO: You were talking about chemical suits. So troops are still wearing them?

ROBINSON: In fact, this morning they took them off, based, I guess, on some intelligence that the threat level has gone down and also on their ability to fight. It is downgraded somewhat by, when it's really hot, by those suits. But as I'm looking around me now, I see Marines, at least, have taken -- most Marines have taken their chemical suits off for the first time since the beginning of this war, around 15, 16 days ago.

COSTELLO: I guess that surprises me because you would think as troops moved into Baghdad, the threat of the use of chemical weapons would increase.

ROBINSON: I'm not sure. I haven't yet talked to someone who can answer, give me the answer to why last night the decision, at least with this battalion of -- or this regiment of Marines, why the suits are off. There's, it did come after a day of heavy fighting and some heat casualties, as I mentioned.

Perhaps the intelligence is -- and I'm only surmising this -- that the threat level has gone down. But you're right. You would think as you got closer it would go up.

COSTELLO: And one last question before I let you go. Tell me what's happening right now and if you can see any civilians around where you are.

ROBINSON: There are some civilians, people coming out of the town on the southern side of the bridge that the Marines have taken this morning kind of looking on. And as I'm talking to you, I'm just a few hundred meters up the road. The Marines are building a bridge across the canal into the suburbs of southeastern Baghdad to replace that bridge that the Iraqis partially destroyed so that they can get vehicles across and move up further north.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you about that before you go. You say the Iraqis partially destroyed this bridge and we'd understood that they'd, you know, planted explosives in those bridges in preparation for doing something like this. Is that what happened? ROBINSON: It appears that at least the bridge that the Battalion 3-4 that I'm with was, it was certainly blown at one point. It had burns (AUDIO GAP). Other charges are still on there ready to be blown. I know there's another bridge to the north which I heard that had happened to, that there were explosives. It was wired up basically.

But it looks like perhaps the Marines secured the bridge before they were able to finish the job, perhaps (AUDIO GAP).

COSTELLO: All right, Simon Robinson, we'll let you get back to work.

Appreciate your time.

Let's head back to Kuwait City and Bill Hemmer.

HEMMER: All right, Carol, listen, we have focused an awful lot on Baghdad, and certainly that is the center of the story again today. But in the north there, the fighting does continue.

Jane Arraf by way of video phone now checking in.

I believe you're near the town of Mosul, Jane. Not quite sure how much more information outside of that. Fill us in. What's happening?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we're actually near a key junction that leads to Mosul and to Kirkuk. Now, we're on a ridge, a very wind swept ridge, with U.S. special forces who have been here since yesterday holding this down.

Now, there was a battle here yesterday that raged all day long with the special forces firing Javelin anti-tank missiles and launching bombs from F-14s to take out Iraqi tanks. Today they're still on this ridge and they're trying to move forward. They've sent up APCs, Humvees further up to see what it looks like.

They're not meeting any Iraqi resistance so far and what they're targeting is a key intersection. It's about two miles from here and it is almost halfway between those two major cities, Mosul and Kirkuk. On one side Mosul, on the other Kirkuk.

Now, it could be a while before they go down that road, even if they take that intersection. They just don't have a lot of forces here on the ground.

It's quite a sober atmosphere here today with the Kurdish fighters, Bill, following that friendly fire incident which happened just down the road from here. There were at least 45 people injured, at least 18 killed, all of them Kurdish. But there was some good news for the Kurdish fighters. It was the reported death of the man they know as Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan Majid, responsible for the gassing of Kurdish villages -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, Jane, listen, I understand as the coalition forces and the Kurds, as well, move throughout Iraq, there are large caches of ammunition that are found in numerous locations. I believe you have found one, as well. What happened with it?

ARRAF: I'm sorry, Bill, there has just been a -- we are just trying to figure out what that is there. There seems to be, just behind this front line here the Iraqis are engaging the special forces and we're hearing explosions off in the distance. We can't see it from here, but it's -- I don't know, Bill, if you can hear that loud series of explosions.

HEMMER: We certainly can, Jane.

ARRAF: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: Keep going so long as you feel safe and secure there.

ARRAF: I'm told that it appears to be an Iraqi vehicle that has been engaged by the special forces reconnaissance. They are up on a further ridge. They've been there all morning. This is actually the first fighting that we have heard. They seem to have thought that there, they wouldn't meet a lot of Iraqi resistance. They took out what could have been 10 tanks yesterday. There was very heavy air attacks, very heavy ground fire and the Iraqis essentially have been doing virtually nothing this morning. But we now are seeing some Iraqi resistance just ahead of that key intersection, which, as I say, goes to Mosul and Kirkuk.

Now, Bill, you had been asking about armaments caches. You might have been referring to what we were seeing in Mosul, which was huge explosions. Now, very dramatic ones, and that does seem to have been an ammunition depot that was bombed, accounting for those spectacular explosions. There has been a slow and steady attack on Mosul, on key military sites. But, again, forces here are in no hurry to take Mosul or Kirkuk. They just don't have the ground forces here following Turkey's rejection of allowing U.S. ground troops.

And the peshmerga, the Kurdish forces themselves can't do it alone because that would be the -- that would get Turkey involved sending in troops.

I'm just seeing what's going on behind me. We still have some special forces on the ridge. They have been looking through the sites of those Javelin anti-tank missiles to see what's going on further ahead. And there are spotters further up the road.

But as I said, the Iraqi forces seem to have engaged the reconnaissance group, the special forces reconnaissance mission that was just up the road, just ahead of that key intersection -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Jane, listen, I cannot see your image from my location here in Kuwait. I know you're on video phone. If it's possible, perhaps we can pan off, if it's not too far in the distance, and perhaps give our viewers a better idea of what you're witnessing there. And also, Jane, I don't want to keep you here if you don't feel safe or secure at this point. ARRAF: We're actually fine here. We're on this ridge, just behind the ridge, and we can take cover pretty easily if they do send artillery our way. But we will try to show you a little bit of what's happening.

Chris, I wonder if you could pan around and just give them an idea of what we're looking at?

It is, as I said, a very windswept ridge. It's about 20 miles out of the major Kurdish city of Irbil. We have the Kurdish peshmerga here, quite a few of them today. As I said, all of them quite sober after that horrifying incident yesterday of friendly fire.

You can see the topography here, Bill. It's very mountainous. And that's essentially what has slowed down the fighting and really why the U.S. special forces find the peshmerga so valuable.

Peshmerga means, as you know, those who defy death. And they are people who have fought in the mountains for decades. They know this land. They know the landscape. They know how to fight in the mountains. And the special forces have been using them to help them get a hole of this terrain.

HEMMER: Jane, Jane in this war right now...

ARRAF: It is fairly quiet...

HEMMER: ... the headline seems to change -- yes, the headline seems to change just about every hour and yesterday when that friendly fire incident went down, it was the headline for a period of, say, six to eight hours. Today now, 24 hours later, have you been able to tell as to whether or not that incident has thrown off any of the Kurdish fighters, any of the special forces operating there?

ARRAF: It's quite remarkable, Bill. The Kurdish fighters who essentially, as I say, have fought in the mountains, guerrilla warfare, they're trained to live on basically nothing. They are tough. I mean there is no disputing it. And I've been asking because I've been absolutely astounded at the fact that there isn't more emotion shown, that there isn't more anger shown, certainly.

But genuinely there seems to be none. They're extremely grateful to the Americans. They love the American forces. They want to fight more with them. They want more arms. They want to go further. And they see this as basically an inevitable casualty of war.

Now, peshmerga means those who defy death, but of course they don't expect to defy death from their allies, from the sky. But they do have seemed to have taken it quite matter of factly. Political leaders, as well, have been downplaying it, to the extent that they're saying that this is inevitable. It was a horrible mistake, but these things are bound to happen.

Now, one of the terrible things, as you know, Bill, about that friendly fire incident is that there were two casualties, the brother and the son of Massoud Barzani, who is the Kurdish leader in this part of Iraqi Kurdistan. He is revered and his brother was respected, as well. His brother was flown in critical condition to a U.S. Army hospital in Germany. The son was slightly injured.

As for the special forces, they were not aware of any American casualties in that horrible incident. They sent their medics here from this site, from this ridge, the special forces, to go and treat some of the wounded. And they described absolutely horrific scenes of people lying everywhere, debris strewn everywhere.

But possibly because there weren't any Americans involved, they, there wasn't really the level of emotion that there might have been -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Jane, thanks.

Jane Arraf, keep us posted by way of video phone on that road, connecting eventually to Mosul in the northern part of Iraq.

And to our viewers at home, if you're just joining us yet again, it has been another fascinating day of quick, happening developments throughout especially in the town of Baghdad. What we have seen videotape come to us at points, Carol, and I know you saw this a bit earlier today, that line of Iraqi soldiers who are essentially fleeing along the banks of the Tigris River, at times, peeling away their uniforms, peeling away their weapons and sometimes sticking them underneath trees, trying to get away from the fighting.

The developments are fast and furious, as they have so many times in the past three weeks. But yet again today we are seeing more and more movement toward the center of Baghdad and possibly some sort of resolution in this war that is not quite three weeks old -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It has been an extraordinary morning, Bill.

It is 5:35 Eastern time. We want to bring our viewers up to date now before you head off to work.

U.S. forces strike deep into the heart of Baghdad. Just about seven hours ago, U.S. forces boldly rolled into the ancient capital. Reuters is reporting 105 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are now in the city taking up key positions. Reports say U.S. forces are near the capital's Al-Rasheed Hotel, the country's information ministry building, as well as other government buildings.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces have also entered Saddam Hussein's presidential palace compound. Earlier today, a U.S. Army colonel was standing outside of the palace with some of his troops. Says one Pentagon official, "We can where we want when we want."

In northern Iraq, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade has unleashed a barrage of heavy artillery on Iraqi forces. CNN's Thomas Naibo (ph) is with the sky soldiers. He said the predawn assault lasted about an hour. It's the first time the 173rd has been called into action since the Vietnam War.

And according to British military officials, the body of the Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali has been found. Ali, whose real name is Ali Hassan al-Majid, is Saddam Hussein's cousin and he's reported to have ordered the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds back in 1988, killing about 5,000 people. Coalition forces bombed his home in the southern city of Basra over the weekend and killed him.

It will be a trifold summit for President Bush as he meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On their agenda, reviewing final battle strategies and post-war plans for Iraq, new peace efforts for Northern Ireland and a Middle East peace plan leading to the Palestinian state.

And we want to take you back inside Baghdad, where the fighting has been fierce.

Let's check in with Rym Brahimi to help us do that. She's in Jordan.

And I want to go over a few of these landmarks where American military forces are right now. The first, Zawrah Park.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zawrah Park, Carol, is a park that was actually in reconstruction about 15 days ago when the U.S.- led campaign began. It's a huge amusement park. Part of it was still working. A lot of families were going there, actually, even until the last day before the war began. And also it's next to the Zoo of Baghdad.

Now, all that is a huge area. It's quite vast, if you will. It stretches out -- Baghdad is quite a wide city, lots of wide avenues and broad streets. And it's not far from either the Rasheed Hotel or the presidential compound of the Republican Palace or from the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Information. All these are basically within 10 or -- 10 minutes driving range maximum.

Now, the Zawrah Park area, I understand from people I spoke to in Baghdad who just passed in front of that the other day, Carol, well, that's been more or less reduced to rubble. Not clear what the buildings, if all the buildings are still standing. But somebody described that area to me as being in a lot of rubble.

Basically we're having a city, Carol, that people I spoke to in Baghdad describe as a city in a state of war. It's just that there's a lot of confusion as to who is doing what in Baghdad. And if you speak to two people who just live in different neighborhoods, they don't know the same thing. One of them will tell you one thing and somebody will tell you something else -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Right. Let's go back to Zawrah Park for just a second, because there were two huge statues here that coalition forces took down, one a giant 40 foot statue of Saddam Hussein, correct?

BRAHIMI: Yes, that's absolutely right. They used -- of course, it's very difficult to describe and note which statues are where because there are so many statues of President Saddam Hussein. But that one particularly huge. There was also one near the monument, near the parade ground that I understand had been placed recently. That parade ground is the one with the two swords crossing each other like a sort of victory arch. And it was built to mark the victory -- or what President Saddam Hussein called the victory of Iraq over Iran in the war between the two countries.

Basically all these, Carol, including the Republican Palace, including the Ministry of Information, all these sites clearly symbolic sites for the U.S. to be raiding right now. Just a way of saying that they can go to these very, very symbolic sites that represent the sovereignty not only of Iraq, but probably the sovereignty or the leadership itself more than anything else -- Carol.

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