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American Morning

War Rumbles On

Aired April 12, 2003 - 11:00   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 ANCHOR: A mission accomplished and a mission under way. Stay with CNN's unparalleled resources for a closer view of the war in the Iraq. This hour, we'll hear the pilot's story from the man who was at the controls during the Jessica Lynch rescue. We'll talk to Colonel Stewart Noel in a live interview in just a few minutes right here. We want to hear his story.
And we'll also look at the larger rescue mission that lies ahead, restoring Iraq's ability to care for the countless wounded. Hospitals are shattered and stripped, medical care weakened or paralyzed. We'll talk with the representative of the International Red Cross about all of that.

And the face of futility in Baghdad, even as the regime crumbled around him, Saddam's information minister spouted the party alive to amusement of some and now, some folks are marketing rather a mockery of him. We'll talk about that as well coming up.

Also ahead, a closer look at some of the more memorable images of the day. U.S. Army Private First-Class Jessica Lynch is now homeward bound and this is video that was shot about four hours ago as the former POW was taken aboard a transport plane in Germany. On her way now to Walter Reid Medical City in Washington, D.C. Family is flying along with her on the C-17.

And he who lives by the sword dies about it or at least his image does. Looters and vandals vent their wrath on anything bearing the image of their ruthless former leader. These are just some of the pictures we're getting in from Mosul in the north of Iraq.

Now, we are following a developing story coming out of Baghdad right now, and this is one that could reveal some critical details about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program. Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser, Lieutenant General Amer Al-Sa'adi, has reportedly surrendered to U.S. military authorities in the Iraqi capital. Now, you see him here. This is file videotape of a news conference. You may recall if you've been watching coverage through the weeks or months of all of this, he has been at these press conferences quite often.

Now, German television network, Zatavi (ph), says that Al-Sa'adi is repeating his longstanding claims that Iraq does not have banned weapons and the coalition's attack is unjustified. The U.S. Central Command says it has no verification of these reports, and as we try to independently confirm the story here at CNN, we'll keep you posted. We're also trying to get in some -- as a matter of fact, we're going to get some word on this right now. I'm told that we have Terry Taylor joining us right now on the phone. Terry is a former U.N. weapons inspector.

Are you there, Terry?

TERRY TAYLOR, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Yes, I am, indeed. Good morning.

HARRIS: Good morning. What do you make of this news here of a surrender?

TAYLOR: Well, if that is true, it will be a very interesting development. It remains to be seen as to whether indeed General Al- Sa'adi will actually still tell us the truth about what has happened. But he's certainly one of the leading people who are in position to know, having been associated with the weapons of mass destruction programs over the years. And from what we hear about him -- I always remember one press conference he gave, I think around last December, where he said, "Well, yes, had it not been for Desert Storm" -- that's the 1991 military operation that liberated Kuwait -- he said, "We were within two years of having a nuclear weapon." He's someone who really knows the ins and outs but it remains to be seen if he has indeed given himself up, whether he'll actually tell us what really went on.

HARRIS: Well, do you think that it's possible to crack him?

TAYLOR: Well, this is always challenging. Here is someone who's lived in a regime, which has layers of truth and lies and so on, and so he's used to operating under great pressure. So I think it'll be quite hard. I think we need to get others in the regime. He's nearly apex of it or will probably be one of the more robust holdouts on this matter.

HARRIS: Well, if that's the case then, why do you think he did turn himself in and why now?

TAYLOR: Well, I think he's got little alternative, has he? I mean if the leadership has crumbled, he's clearly -- probably, may even be or personally threatened for all I know. This is just my personal speculation not based on hard information. But he will be in threat and if he does give himself up to the coalition forces, he'll gain some form of security by doing that, I imagine.

HARRIS: Could he...

TAYLOR: My guess.

HARRIS: Well, couldn't he gain even more security for himself if he were to actually turn something over of any note or significance to those who are looking for any weapons programs?

TAYLOR: Well, one would think that but it depends how, you know, dedicated he remains to previous positions and the previous regimes and you know, the loss of face and everything that go along with that. He may hold out, but again, I'm just speculating until, you know, we know more about this.

HARRIS: Of course, and that's all that we can do at this particular point. Well, with him turning himself in now, do you think this could possibly set the stage or actually encourage others who may information to turn themselves in?

TAYLOR: If this is true in, indeed. I think that's -- it could be an encouraging development and it could be that others further down the chain who may be readier to come forward and be readier to give us more detailed information and perhaps with very recent experience of where things might be. So it could be the beginning of other people coming forward, if indeed they are alive and available.

HARRIS: Yes, I want to show one more picture if we can here of General Al-Sa'adi because I don't want folks to think that we're making light of the situation. But this is actually -- what we've got here is a playing card because Al-Sa'adi is one of 55 different individuals who have been identified in Iraq's leadership that the coalition is actually trying to track down right now. They're saying they want them either captured or killed. And this is the form in which they've issue the information on a deck of playing cards with different names and background information and all of those -- in that echelon of 55 different Iraqi leaders.

Terry, let me ask you this, of the other that may be on the list right now, who do you think will be the next most valuable person to have themselves in?

TAYLOR: Well, it's very hard to tell and I think I would rather not go into too much detail because we want to make sure that these people do come in and so I rather avoid mentioning a hierarchy, but one can think of others, such as General Hassan Amin, who you've often seen on television. He was the head of the National Monitoring Directorate, but handled the liaison between the U.N. inspectors and the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors who came in.

I think it's very important in this particular case or these particular individuals, we want them alive, you know. I mean your -- you mention that the people on the playing cards, alive or dead. Well, one can understand that in certain cases but I think people associated with the weapons of mass destruction program, I think we want them to come in. They've probably got something to offer. And I think it's very important that they do come in and offer updates and information. I think it's in their own personal interest to do that.

HARRIS: Well, it would be very interesting to see what they're able to glean from this man because as a matter of fact -- you may -- I'm sure you've been following all the news on the war on terror. It's been phenomenal to see the amount of information that we've been able -- that we've been able to glean from what authorities have gotten from certain figures, namely though, some of the key figures in the 9/11 bombings, the terror attacks here in the U.S. These are some pretty hardened figures in al Qaeda and they are beginning to talk, so it's quite possible that we might be to get -- might be hearing of information coming out of General Al-Sa'adi.

TAYLOR: Well, I certainly hope so, and I think this will have to be a very careful investigation, a very careful interviewing. And I'm sure the coalition forces and U.S. government and others involved will want to do this very carefully, and I don't think they want a knee- jerk over this one. They need to talk very carefully if indeed he is the person that's made himself available.

HARRIS: Exactly, exactly. Terence Taylor, former U.N. weapons inspector. Thank you very much, Terry. Nice to talk with you again, take care.

So what we want to let you know right now is that we're hearing that we may be getting some videotape of the process of General Al- Sa'adi turning himself in. And of course, once we get that, we'll turn that right around immediately and show it to you right here. In the meantime, let's go to Daryn Kagan standing by in Kuwait City -- Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Leon, good to hear from you once again. Let's go ahead and move on to Baghdad now. That's where troops are working to rain in widespread looting. Our Martin Savidge is in the Iraqi capital and he has more.

Marty, hello once again.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello, Daryn. We've been talking about the situation here. The question of lawlessness and security, a clear example of the problems that still exist was hurdled a short while ago just behind the Palestine Hotel here. Apparently, gunfire coming from the west against U.S. Marine positions that are located in the back of the hotel, and there was a lot of firing, most of it outgoing by the U.S. Marines. They don't take kindly obviously to anyone shooting in our position. So whenever they are fired upon, they tend top fire tenfold back at the same direction.

It sounded like you heard explosions, perhaps mortar fire as well as heavy machine gunfire, certainly, a lot of M-16 rounds that were headed down range, as they refer to it. And again, it seemed to be coming from across the Tigris River from the west here. And it lasted for about a good 10 minutes or so. Now, there's other noises that you hear in the city and that has people's heads switching and looking in different directions.

So, explosions also were heard. Clearly, it has come to an end now, because the Marines are in a much more relaxed position. But who was firing? What was their intention? Was it just simply to cause trouble, or it was something more sinister than that? Right now, we don't know. It's something that tends to blossom in Baghdad these days, which is seldom a dull time in this city.

But getting back, how do you deal with situations like this security-wise? Well, the Marines have gone on heavy patrols and added infantry patrol now, soldiers on foot, sort of the soldier on the beat, if you can call it that or the Marines on the beat. That's designed to try to quell some of the looting. Looting, though, has gone to a new extreme. People have begun looting in the city some of the museums that hold all of the antiquities here, and that is a tragic case now. People no longer looting for needs of food and clothing. They're now, apparently, looting because the looting is on. Opportunistic looting is how it's referred to by the military. They're trying to crack down on it, but at the same time, trying to secure a city and then be police officers. It's not an easy thing. That's why they're asking for police officers to return to their jobs. They are asking for civil servants to come back to work. They're trying to get this city back on its feet. There's some small indications today, with stores beginning to open, but when you have firefights in the midst of downtown Baghdad, well, let's face, it it's not going to give a lot of security to the people who live here -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Martin, of course, the days pretty much getting under way back in the States but here in the Persian Gulf, as the folks at home can see, nightfall is closing in. Do you think that things tend to blossom, as you say, when things get darker, especially in Baghdad?

SAVIDGE: Well, they do. There's a lot of danger obviously in Baghdad after dark. Very few people venture out at all. There's still sporadic gunfire. You can hear it now coming from a different direction. Nighttime's dangerous because you have a lot of U.S. troops on the move. They've got heavy equipment. They're moving around in a darkened city. There is no electricity in most parts of the city these days.

You have shopkeepers out there. They're nervous with their triggers -- or fingers on the trigger trying to protect their property. You tend to hear explosions. You tend to hear gunfire and you're not really certain who is shooting at what or where is it coming from. Darkness is not a good time near Baghdad. Daylight, a little bit better, but as you just heard, it's got its problem, too -- Daryn.

KAGAN: That it does. Martin Savidge in the capital of Iraq, in Baghdad. Thank you so much. As we move on, elements of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne on a patrol. They are attempting to bring order to the streets of Baghdad and they are the first, light infantry troops to arrive in the Iraqi capital. Our Ryan Chilcote is with them now. He joins us.

Ryan, hello.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Daryn. Well, a very busy day for the 101st, first, some sad news. The day began with the soldiers locating the remains of a U.S. serviceman in an abandoned lot, in an empty lot in southern Baghdad. They then positively identified those remains as the remains of a U.S. serviceman. That's something that we will not do. We will not identify that soldier until the soldier's family has been notified out of respect for them. The soldiers, then, after finding the remains, prayed for that soldier in a very dignified ceremony at the scene and evacuated his remains.

Just an hour after that, acting on a tip again -- that's how they found the body -- acting on a tip, again, they raided a mosque in southern Baghdad. They'd been told that they would find -- by an informant -- that they would find as many as 30 of the so-called Fedayeen paramilitary fighters inside some of them, according to the informant, injured and seeking -- or finding sanctuary inside that mosque. Well, they raided it and they didn't find any Fedayeen paramilitary with weapons. What they did find was a lot of military garb and a first-aid station, one weapon, and a large number of documents, including some interesting ones like a Syrian passport, really, a collection of disparate events and a very busy day for the 101st -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, it does sound like it was very eventful for the 101st, Ryan. It's not exactly the kind of environment where you make plans and stick to them, but what was the original agenda for the 101st today?

CHILCOTE: Well, the 101st really came in here thinking that they were going to route out Iraqi forces that might have remained in the city, and the -- as I mentioned earlier, the so-called Fedayeen paramilitaries. And they really haven't seen too much of that. What they have been seeing, the common thread, I think, in all of what they've been doing is really police work, almost detective work.

The day began with an inspection of a Ba'ath Party headquarters, which was very interesting. They went inside. By Iraqi standards, a very nice home with a swimming pool, a full bar inside. And believe it or not, in the backyard, this residential complex had an American Huey helicopter camouflaged in the backyard. Then, they went into town. They found several men with weapons. No explanation why they had those weapons. A couple hours later they, they found a weapons cache of 13 surface-to-air missiles. Then, like I mentioned, the raid and the identification of the U.S. servicemen's remains. A lot of work that really isn't too much like combat or, like, the work you would expect of a military force. All of it really relying on the local population, on working with the community here and picking up tips and then, going off and pursuing those leads. Not exactly something that you would expect an elite unit from the U.S. military to do, but very much the job that they will be doing here in Baghdad, Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, if nothing else, I think we learned to stretch our expectations of what is possible and what actually takes place out there in the field. Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad.

Ryan, thank you.

Heidi, back to you in Atlanta.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Daryn.

Coalition war planners have long said that Saddam Hussein's regime would likely make its last stand in his ancestral homeland of Tikrit, but after weeks of U.S. led bombardment, some coalition leaders are hopeful the town may collapse without much a fight. Let's get the latest developments now from the Pentagon and CNN's Barbara Starr, who is at the post this morning.

Good morning once again, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, as things move towards this final stage, a bit of resetting of U.S. troops on the battlefield. Now, the 4th Infantry Division is finally moving into southern Iraq from where it had been in Kuwait. And now that these 20,000 troops, the first of them are beginning to move into Iraq, it's freeing up other troops to do other things. And as Ryan said, now the 101st Airborne is in Baghdad, something like seven to 10,000 troops, we are told. They are very essential to helping to calm down the looting situation, providing additional boots on the ground as it were, for security and stability in the capital.

At the same time, members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, who had been in the Baghdad region, are now moving out. They are moving north towards Tikrit, as you said. This is shaping up to be possibly the last major battle of the war because Tikrit, of course, is the homeland of Saddam Hussein, and the people that are closest to him. The Pentagon is trying to figure out just what opposition will be in Tikrit, whether there is special Republican Guard and paramilitary forces there. Brigadier Vincent Brooks earlier this morning at the Central Command briefing talked about the situation in Tikrit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Tikrit is one of the areas where we still have concern that there may be presence of regime forces or some capabilities that still exist. And we have been relentless in our effort focused against the Tikrit area. This is not something new. This has been ongoing for some time, throughout the campaign, because we know that it is an area that has been important to the regime and that regime leaders are from in and around the Tikrit area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Officials are also concerned that once the U.S. military gets to Tikrit, they will again encounter these foreign fighters that are in Iraq. Non-Iraqis and the current estimate is there may be as many as 5,000 foreign fighters inside Iraq. But as the regime has fallen, officials say, there are signs those foreign fighters are trying to get out of the country and go back home -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Barbara, let me ask you quickly about something we've been talking about all morning. What are you hearing there about the possible surrender of General Al-Sa'adi, the top scientific adviser to Saddam Hussein?

STARR: Well, at this point, Heidi, I have to tell you, Pentagon officials say they have no confirmation of that report. Officials out of the U.S. Central Command say they have no confirmation. They are aware of the news media reports but they just aren't ready to confirm them one way or the other. They say they have no information about it.

COLLINS: All right. We, of course, will wait to hear more on that. Thanks so much, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning.

HARRIS: All right, coming up here, the mission to rescue Private Jessica Lynch. We're going to talk with one of helicopter pilots involved in that rescue. Colonel Stewart Noel is going to join us just ahead.

COLLINS: And later, the new Iraq, post-Saddam Hussein. Our Jeanne Moos takes a look at one of the more memorable figures of the old regime, the minister of disinformation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Private First-Class Jessica Lynch is on a military plane to the U.S. at this hour, due it arrive at Andrews Air Force Base later on today. She'll be taken to the Walter Reid Medical Center in Washington, and that is where we find CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, with the very latest.

Hi, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Heidi, several hours ago, Jessica Lynch and 49 other wounded service members left Germany. They are now in the air on the way to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. They will, then, go from Andrews Air Force Base right here to Walter Reid Army Medical Center. Earlier today, the family said -- the family issued a statement saying, "Jessica is in pain, but she is in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough." A military spokesman read the statement from the family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. MIKE YOUNG, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Jessie's recovery continues and she is doing well. She is in pain, but she is in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough. We believe she will regain her strength soon. Our family is proud of Jessie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Private Lynch will be coming here to Walter Reid with pins and bolts in her right arm and in both legs. She also suffered fractures in her right foot and in her right ankle and in a disc in her lower back. She will be -- doctors, of course, will be addressing those physical injuries. They will also be addressing psychological injuries -- I mean they will also be addressing psychological issues, going through a period of time called decompression where they'll ask her to talk about her experiences -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, standing by, waiting if that plane it arrive. Thanks very much --Leon.

HARRIS: Well, we've got some news coming into us right now, a developing story. CNN's Thomas Nybo is in Kirkuk, which is in northern Iraq, and Thomas has some new develops in the weapons hunt. He's joining us now by way of videophone embedded out there with the 173rd Airborne.

Thomas, can you tell us what you've been hearing out there?

THOMAS NYBO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Army says this is a very big day at the Kirkuk Military Airfield. What they say they have found, initial tests show the presence of a nerve agent on a warhead. Basically what happened -- I'm with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and they were going around yesterday securing the airfield, going from building to building. I don't know if you can see the building behind me, but it's a large storage facility. It's about the size of a large garage and what happened yesterday was, they went through, they found about 11 wooden boxes and one of them contained a warhead.

Now, at the time, they did not think that these might be possible chemical munitions. They took photos and then, they passed along these photos. And today, an engineer looked at these photos and noticed a green band on one of the warheads. Now, the Army says that this green band signifies a possible chemical weapon. So they came out, they sent out one of their guys with what is called an I-cam. This is a device, which detects chemical weapons if they're present. So they ran this device over the warhead and it showed trace amounts of a nerve agent in two spots, one in the middle of the warhead -- now, let me start by saying, I'm not sure if you're seeing the video yet, but this warhead is about the size a baseball bat. It's about as long as a baseball bat and as about as thick as a coffee can. And in the middle of it, there's a spot about the size of a quarter with a couple of screws that looks like you could fill it with something and this is where the first test was positive for a trace amount of a nerve agent, the Army says. And it also tested positive, they say, near the end of the warhead. I spoke with Major Rob Gowan, a public affairs officer who's traveling with the 173rd, about the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. ROB GOWAN, 173RD AIRBORNE BRIGADE: Elements of 173rd Airborne Brigade were clearing the airfield, going from building to building, facility to facility and they came across a weapon. They checked it. It appeared as though it had some markings that indicated it was -- could be a chemical weapon. They came back later and checked it with some technical instruments and it did test positive for a nerve agent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NYBO: Now, what I should tell you is that this device, the I- cam, it actually has six possible signals that let you know -- six being the strongest, zero being no presence at all. And this tested at one. Now, that is a relatively weak result. But I spoke with the Army, and they say, well, don't jump to any conclusions, because if there are nerve agents present, they're mainly inside and that could detect a small leak.

Now, I also spoke with Major Gowan about another development. What I -- what happened was we found out about this story. We were at the brigade headquarters, actually the battalion headquarters, and came upon an intelligence briefing that said essentially, there was an Iraqi man freed from prison and he showed up at the gate. He was supposedly the former pace commander here and he said he had some information, some important information about possible chemical weapons. And so they brought him in and a lot of what he said turned out to be true, not related necessarily to the chemical weapons. They are out trying to verify these claims. But he, essentially, said within a span of 18 miles, there were 120 missiles and of these 120 missiles, 24 possibly had chemical munitions. And I also spoke with Major Gowan about this development.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOWAN: An Iraqi gentleman has come forth claiming to have some specific knowledge about possible chemical weapons that may be stored here on this air base. It appears as though the air base was evacuated hastily. A lot of indicators seem to say that the Iraqi forces that were here left very quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NYBO: It's still very early in this process. The Army is taking a very cautious approach. These were initial tests. Essentially what's happened, the battalion has passed this along. They're bringing in the more sophisticated testing mechanisms. They're bringing in the better-trained experts, basically, taking it one step at a time. And that's the story here at the Kirkuk International -- the Kirkuk Military Airfield.

HARRIS: And Thomas, thank you very much for that. And while you were describing that munition, we actually were seeing the pictures of that. But one question here, or a couple of questions, actually -- no.1, is there any way to tell exactly how old this weapon is? Are they -- is it the belief right now that this is a weapon of a recent development and has actually been recently prepared or armed in any way? And secondly, that cache of 120 missiles, you say, this Iraqi citizen actually reported on, what's being done to go check that site out?

NYBO: Well, basically, I think they've been sending out search teams. One of the things that really struck me once I arrived here is how quickly the Iraqi soldiers appeared to have left their posts. Essentially, there are guns everywhere. A lot of the locals are carrying AK-47s. I'm staying here at the airfield. We came in here. The anti-aircraft guns were all set up, fully loaded. The ammo is all there.

Now, the building behind me, when I went in, I personally went in and looked at warhead. I can't tell in the stage of what it would take to fire this thing, but I do know that there was another box next to it, which contained a 13-foot long missile. Now, it appeared that the two could be joined. I'm not sure about that. The Army sources that I talked with weren't sure either.

HARRIS: All right, Thomas Nybo, thank you very much, really important news there. Thomas Nybo reporting from Kirkuk, the discovery there of a munition, a warhead there, that actually triggered a device that was testing for any sort of nerve agent. Still right now no confirmation of what exactly is inside this munition that the crew out there, the 173rd Airborne, has actually found, but we'll get back as soon as we learn more from Thomas Nybo, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) important story -- Heidi. COLLINS: That's right. Leon, former weapons inspector, Terry Taylor, is joining us in now. He's been listening in to this report that Thomas Nybo just gave us.

And Terry, I want to ask you -- we were talking briefly there about the testing process. The register of zero to six and how this missile, apparently, registered a one. Are there not several tests that this actually has to go through, and if so, what is that process that you know of?

TAYLOR: Well, certainly in testing -- I think an examination of the weapon itself, I'm not quite certain what it might be, but some kind of 122-millimeter rocket or something of that nature. I think an expert in chemical munitions, just simply by looking at it, has to be handled very carefully if indeed it is actually filled with chemical. It's one matter whether it actually does have a fully filled warhead or not, but the chemical itself will have to be fully tested. The devices they have in the field are for the protection of the troops, to give them warnings so that they can mask up if they need, too, to give them just general warning of the presence. So it doesn't do detailed analysis. But certainly you need some kind of field laboratory, which no doubt the exportation teams that they have will probably be on the ground pretty soon and will be examining that. I think this is the way this kind of information is going to come out, is by people coming forward now that the regime has clearly been dismantled and we're going to get more information like this coming in.

COLLINS: Terry, let me ask you, as a former U.N. weapons inspectors, if you were to have come up on this scene, as Thomas Nybo has described it, with the missile and with all of the ammunition left over and from what they could tell, the Iraqi soldiers vacating the area so quickly, what would you, at least at first make of that?

TAYLOR: Well, it's clearly -- it's highly suspicious that the prima facie case that this could indeed be chemical weapons but I mean you have to be so careful about this because with the kind of handheld devices that are at the forward edge in the field with the troops, that there false positives. So we need to look into it much more carefully. But I understand there may be other larger numbers around. What we're really after is a store of these things, not just one or two here and there. There must be stocks somewhere and that's what we're really looking for in the end.

COLLINS: All right, former U.N. weapons inspector, Terry Taylor, thank you so much for your input on that. And as we have just said, Thomas Nybo embedded with the 173rd Airborne, says that in Kirkuk, at Kirkuk Military Airfield, they have found a missile that has tested positive for chemicals. We, of course, will keep you up to date on all of that.

HARRIS: Yes. Also, he did mention as well, a report there that an Iraqi civilian, a citizen there, also coming up and saying that he has information of a cache, as -- perhaps as many as 120 other missiles there, which may be hidden somewhere in that same area. So we'll stay on top of that story and deliver to you any developments as we learn them here.

In the meantime, just ahead, battling chaos in Iraq. The larger rescue mission that lies ahead, asking the big question -- how will aid groups get the aid to those who need it most?

COLLINS: We'll talk to a representative of the International Red Cross right after the break. We are bringing you complete coverage of the war in Iraq right here on CNN.

HARRIS: And as continuing coverage of the war in Iraq, the war in Iraq is winding down, but the voices of dissent are getting louder. Plus, new deployment orders for Private Jessica Lynch. She is coming home this afternoon. And the deadly SARS virus continues its global run. These stories and more today at noon Eastern. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We're glad to have you folks with us this morning. We've got quite a bit going on, a couple of developing stories. The main one we have right now is coming out Baghdad, and this one is one that could reveal some very critical details about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program. Now, here's what we've heard this morning. Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser, Lieutenant General Amir Al-Sa'adi -- he's the gentleman there you see in the gray suit -- he has surrendered to U.S. military authorities and he did this in Baghdad a little while ago.

Now, you're seeing here not a video of the surrender itself. This is file videotape of a news conference. If you've been covering -- or watching our coverage of the story over the past couple of months, you may remember or recognize him from these news conferences that were held with Iraqi officials.

Now, German television network, Zatavi (ph), also says that Al- Sa'adi is repeating his longstanding claims that Iraq does not have any banned weapons and that the coalition's attack has been unjustified. The U.S. Central Command says it has no verification of these reports and we're trying to confirm more and more of this story.

Now, something else we've gotten from Central Command is this one picture of General Al-Sa'adi that we showed you earlier, and this was him on a -- what looked to be a playing card. I believe his number was the 7 of diamonds. Well, CENTCOM has issued out an entire deck of these cards. There are 55 different Iraqi leaders that they are looking for and they said that the order is to find them, capture them or kill them. Well, perhaps that word got through to General Al- Sa'adi, but whatever it was that has motivated him to do so, he has turned himself in. So we'll keep you updated on that story as we get more news here.

Now, let's go to Daryn Kagan, who is standing by in Kuwait City, for more continuing coverage of the war in Iraq -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Leon, there's a lot happening in this part of the world. First, we want to show you a live picture that we're getting in from Abu Dhabi Television. As night falls here in the Persian Gulf, things are getting tense once again in Baghdad. The pictures you're seeing show a fire. It's a building on fire that -- you might recognize that building. It's the Ministry of Information building and of course, that is a building where so many of those briefings came out of. The information minister, Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who for so long denied that there was even a war taking place in Iraq let alone that, in fact, that the then-current Iraqi regime was losing. We'll get more on that and the fires at the ministry information building out of Baghdad in just a moment.

Though -- first, though, we want to focus on something else, a very difficult problem in Baghdad. You've heard, of course, about the widespread looting and general anarchy that has left many of Iraq to be ransacked. Well, the International Committee of the Red Cross says that medical care has been especially undermined. We have with us now, Tamara Alrifai. She is with the International Red Cross and she's joining us to discuss about the most pressing needs facing the country and those urgent needs of medical care right now.

Tamara, thanks for being with us. First of all, the Red Cross found out only too personally just how dangerous the situation is in Baghdad, losing one of your key workers there on Tuesday.

TAMARA ALRIFAI, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS: Yes, absolutely. We are extremely distressed of that. Yes, one of our main people, who chose to stay in Baghdad over the war, was actually killed in a crossfire incident. So this is just to tell you that even when you're in a Red Cross car, you're not spared. And so, the message is anything is being looted, anything is being destroyed, and we see it. The team in Baghdad see the hospital being completely on the floor. There's absolutely nothing left inside the hospitals. The situation is very, very bad.

KAGAN: Yes, I think it's almost impossible for Americans that come to appreciate just how bad it is. Hospital beds being looted, not to mention the drugs and medical supplies. Patients afraid to be at hospital and then, doctors and health care workers afraid to show up to help them.

ALRIFAI: This is absolutely it. I mean I know that the main hospital yesterday, which is a complex of four hospitals, only had a few surgeons and one to two nurses for 16,000 beds, literally, so nobody's there. But the thing is, you barely had 300 patients, which means that, as you said, the people who are sick or the people who require help or the people who are wounded are making it to the hospital simply because if they leave their houses, the houses are going to be looted. And if they cross the city, they might be caught in the mess and so they just prefer to stay home.

And I was just talking on the phone with my colleague before I came here to the studio in Baghdad and he was telling me that he, himself, witnessed one boy bleeding to death in front of the hospital with the surgeon screaming that he had no more supplies or instruments to actually treat the boy, so the situation is terrible.

KAGAN: And it's gotten to such a level that the International Red Cross has called on the coalition forces, pointing to the Geneva Convention, saying you need do things like restore power, restore electricity and restore some sense of order so that things like medical care can take place, the basic needs for the Iraqi people.

ALRIFAI: Absolutely. The coalition forces are the only force that's present in Iraq right now. So it could be considered at least temporarily as an occupying force. And an occupying force does have the obligation under the Geneva Conventions to ensure that at least the minimum well being of the population is ensured. And so, minimum well being automatically means basic infrastructure -- water and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) medical treatment.

Yes, we have called in the coalition to try to physically protect those structures because otherwise it will just go on and on and people will be less and less able to survive.

KAGAN: I want to ask you about a different topic and that is of a concern to a lot of people around the world and that is the seven POWs that still are listed as missing in action. One role of the International Red Cross is to try to get in touch with those POWs and yet, given the state of things in Iraq, you find yourself in a very frustrating position.

ALRIFAI: Absolutely. We really, at this point, don't know who to get in touch with. And so...

KAGAN: You don't know who to talk to.

ALRIFAI: Until last week, we were in touch with the highest level of the Iraqi government over the POWs and the dialogue seemed very positive, very constructive.

KAGAN: At that point, what were they able to tell you?

ALRIFAI: Well, they were able to tell us, yes, OK, you will get access to them, etcetera. But today, to tell you the truth, we really don't know who to talk to. So we have started a search campaign on the radios, telling people in Iraq that whoever knows anything about those people, or whoever has a clue about who's detaining them or where they're being kept, please come to the ICRC in Baghdad and let us know and we'll interfere. Having said that, we very, very much feel the pain of the families of those people. So we really want to do whatever we can to find them.

KAGAN: There are at least seven anxious families back in the States that I'm sure appreciate your efforts as frustrating as they might be for you. Tamara Alrifai, thank you so for joining us from the International Red Cross. We appreciate it.

Leon, I'll toss it back to you. Actually, Heidi, we'll toss it back to you in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Daryn. We want to go back now to some of those pictures that we have been showing you momentarily about some of the fires that are burning right now in Baghdad. You are looking at some pictures from Abu Dhabi TV. The building that you see now with the domed windows there, actually, we have been told is a civilian home. Earlier, we were showing you the building of the information minister. We do know of a couple of fires obviously that are burning there. Now, we will, of course, keep our eye on them and let you know more as we learn it.

Let's go ahead and get the view now from the White House. We have CNN's Dana Cash standing by.

Good morning to you, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, first on the issue of the humanitarian situation going on in Iraq, Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, was asked about that situation yesterday in his briefing, and he said that the White House view is that there isn't necessarily a humanitarian crisis at this time. He said, that there are pockets of humanitarian problems. But he said, as far as they're concerned it is not widespread. Now having said that, they are clearly monitoring the situation and trying very hard to clear the way for the aid that is necessary to get in to Iraq. So they are certainly working on that here at the White House but they are not calling it a crisis at this time.

Now, as far as the president is concerned, he is at Camp David today. He is there for the weekend. He's been there every weekend since the war began. And before he left, he taped his weekly radio address. And he made clear that although the White House does see that the regime in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, is gone, there are still some dangerous days ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the last several days, the world has watched as the regime of Saddam Hussein began passing into history. We will always remember the first images of the nation released from decades of tyranny and fear. The conflict continues in Iraq and our military may still face hard fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, the president had some very emotional meetings yesterday, visiting two military hospitals. First, he awarded about 13 purple hearts. There you see him awarding one of them. In addition, he participated or witnessed two important meetings, two important ceremonies. He witnessed the U.S. citizenship, granting of citizenship to two U.S. Marines, that according to the president was very emotional and apparently, the Marine -- one of the Marines in that meeting broke down, sobbing because it was so emotional for him to getting his citizenship with the commander-in-chief there, especially coming back from Iraq injured.

Now, here today in Washington, just across the street at the Blair house, there have been meetings this morning about how to finance this war. The U.S. Treasury secretary, John Snow, meeting with some of his counterparts from Europe and elsewhere to try to figure out among many other questions what role the U.N. will have and exactly how they can figure out how to -- help to reconstruct the post war Iraq. That is something that is very difficult to figure out and among the things, that the U.S. is trying to decide, and to discuss with their counterparts in Europe, as whether or not they will forgive Iraq of the debt, millions of dollars of debt that they are owed -- Heidi.

COLLINS: A challenge indeed. All right, Dana Bash coming to us from the White House this morning. Thanks, Dana.

One quick programming note that we want to tell you about. Make sure you tune into "LATE EDITION" tomorrow. General Tommy Franks of the U.S. Central Command will sit down with our Wolf Blitzer to talk about the latest developments from the war in Iraq. That is Sunday at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific right here on CNN.

HARRIS: All right, in the meantime, we take a break. But coming up, what's next for the coalition forces? We'll have the latest on the military situation. Our military analyst, Major General Don Shepperd, is going to be joining us in just a minute.

COLLINS: CNN's live coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom continues right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We want to take a moment to get some military expertise on the situation in Iraq. For that we return to our retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd who joins us as a CNN military analyst this morning.

Thanks once against for your expertise, sir. I just want to ask about the troop movement from south to north that we have been talking about and seeing today. What is the mission now at this point in your eyes?

MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD (RET), U.S. AIR FORCE: Yes, many mentions across the country, Heidi, if I can give you an update on the map table here from south to north. The 4th Infantry Division, the lead elements meeting from Kuwait assembly areas into Iraq, starting to move up north up in the al Kut area up here. The Marines still engaged up here with getting the city turned over to them. Reportedly, some foreign fighters in al Kut complicating the negotiations.

The 101st Airborne lead elements being in the Baghdad area, which will relieve the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to go further north toward the Tikrit area here.

The final battle vestige of the regime perhaps in Tikrit. This may be a battle or it may be a melting away. All of this being hit by air power here.

Out of al Qaim earlier today, Special Forces in a phosphate factory, in a training area, an air defense headquarters, discovering two drones. This is a key area of crossing from Iraq into Syria.

Up in the northern area here, Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, all has vanished as far as fighting goes. However, at the Kirkuk Airport, a possible nerve agent discovered there to be decided later. And now, aid being flown in up here in the north as we capture airfields. Aid being flown in here and also in the south. Basically the only combat, the real combat left in Tikrit, and further in the Baghdad area as pockets are cleaned up, Heidi.

COLLINS: General Shepperd, you talk about al Qaim and the Special Forces that are being used there. Do you see Special Forces being used in this final battle at Tikrit as well?

SHEPPERD: Heidi, Special Forces are all over this country and have been for a long time. They've been a key element in General Franks' war plan. They go out and they conduct operations. They also gain intelligence and report back. They also have Special Operations from the Air Force assigned to them that can mark targets, so they are key everywhere. They will be a key at Tikrit as well they have been throughout country, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, very good. Major General Don Shepperd, thanks once again. I want to let you know what's coming up next hour right here on CNN. We'll take you to the streets of Baghdad, where U.S. troops are trying to slow down the looting. We'll take a look at some of the casualties of war, which included a damaged Baghdad hospital. And in our "Through The Lens" segment, we'll show you the images of war as captured by photographer, David Turnley (ph). That and more in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Central Command says U.S. forces in western Iraq have taken in custody a busload of men. These men had $600,000 and letters offering rewards for killing American soldiers.

8:11 a.m., Marines have searched Baghdad University, scene of a huge firefight Wednesday and found tons of ammunition. That from CNN's Martin Savidge. He also reports that a man who surrendered to Marines is telling them, he performed plastic surgery on Saddam Hussein and his relatives, and that he knows where Hussein's family has fled.

9:53 a.m., German TV reports Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser has surrendered to U.S. forces. General Amir Hamudi Al-Sa'adi is one of the 55 most wanted Iraqis whose pictures who have been handed out to U.S. soldiers on playing cards.

That brings us up to date at least to this particular moment, Daryn.

KAGAN: That it is. Leon, I'm going to step out of here just for an hour or so. Wolf Blitzer, the best in the business, is going to step right in, be here for an hour before he heads off to Doha. And I'll take up once again in the next hour.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Then, we will see you then in just about a -- little over an hour then and we'll see Wolf in the meantime. KAGAN: Great.

HARRIS: Thanks, Daryn, see you in a bit.

COLLINS: Coming up, one prominent Iraqi has been missing since the fall of Baghdad earlier this week, but he hasn't dropped out of the limelight. Our Jeanne Moos investigates what has happened to Iraq's minister of disinformation. That's ahead.

HARRIS: And we'll bring you complete coverage of the war on Iraq right here on CNN. Stay with us.

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Aired April 12, 2003 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A mission accomplished and a mission under way. Stay with CNN's unparalleled resources for a closer view of the war in the Iraq. This hour, we'll hear the pilot's story from the man who was at the controls during the Jessica Lynch rescue. We'll talk to Colonel Stewart Noel in a live interview in just a few minutes right here. We want to hear his story.
And we'll also look at the larger rescue mission that lies ahead, restoring Iraq's ability to care for the countless wounded. Hospitals are shattered and stripped, medical care weakened or paralyzed. We'll talk with the representative of the International Red Cross about all of that.

And the face of futility in Baghdad, even as the regime crumbled around him, Saddam's information minister spouted the party alive to amusement of some and now, some folks are marketing rather a mockery of him. We'll talk about that as well coming up.

Also ahead, a closer look at some of the more memorable images of the day. U.S. Army Private First-Class Jessica Lynch is now homeward bound and this is video that was shot about four hours ago as the former POW was taken aboard a transport plane in Germany. On her way now to Walter Reid Medical City in Washington, D.C. Family is flying along with her on the C-17.

And he who lives by the sword dies about it or at least his image does. Looters and vandals vent their wrath on anything bearing the image of their ruthless former leader. These are just some of the pictures we're getting in from Mosul in the north of Iraq.

Now, we are following a developing story coming out of Baghdad right now, and this is one that could reveal some critical details about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program. Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser, Lieutenant General Amer Al-Sa'adi, has reportedly surrendered to U.S. military authorities in the Iraqi capital. Now, you see him here. This is file videotape of a news conference. You may recall if you've been watching coverage through the weeks or months of all of this, he has been at these press conferences quite often.

Now, German television network, Zatavi (ph), says that Al-Sa'adi is repeating his longstanding claims that Iraq does not have banned weapons and the coalition's attack is unjustified. The U.S. Central Command says it has no verification of these reports, and as we try to independently confirm the story here at CNN, we'll keep you posted. We're also trying to get in some -- as a matter of fact, we're going to get some word on this right now. I'm told that we have Terry Taylor joining us right now on the phone. Terry is a former U.N. weapons inspector.

Are you there, Terry?

TERRY TAYLOR, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Yes, I am, indeed. Good morning.

HARRIS: Good morning. What do you make of this news here of a surrender?

TAYLOR: Well, if that is true, it will be a very interesting development. It remains to be seen as to whether indeed General Al- Sa'adi will actually still tell us the truth about what has happened. But he's certainly one of the leading people who are in position to know, having been associated with the weapons of mass destruction programs over the years. And from what we hear about him -- I always remember one press conference he gave, I think around last December, where he said, "Well, yes, had it not been for Desert Storm" -- that's the 1991 military operation that liberated Kuwait -- he said, "We were within two years of having a nuclear weapon." He's someone who really knows the ins and outs but it remains to be seen if he has indeed given himself up, whether he'll actually tell us what really went on.

HARRIS: Well, do you think that it's possible to crack him?

TAYLOR: Well, this is always challenging. Here is someone who's lived in a regime, which has layers of truth and lies and so on, and so he's used to operating under great pressure. So I think it'll be quite hard. I think we need to get others in the regime. He's nearly apex of it or will probably be one of the more robust holdouts on this matter.

HARRIS: Well, if that's the case then, why do you think he did turn himself in and why now?

TAYLOR: Well, I think he's got little alternative, has he? I mean if the leadership has crumbled, he's clearly -- probably, may even be or personally threatened for all I know. This is just my personal speculation not based on hard information. But he will be in threat and if he does give himself up to the coalition forces, he'll gain some form of security by doing that, I imagine.

HARRIS: Could he...

TAYLOR: My guess.

HARRIS: Well, couldn't he gain even more security for himself if he were to actually turn something over of any note or significance to those who are looking for any weapons programs?

TAYLOR: Well, one would think that but it depends how, you know, dedicated he remains to previous positions and the previous regimes and you know, the loss of face and everything that go along with that. He may hold out, but again, I'm just speculating until, you know, we know more about this.

HARRIS: Of course, and that's all that we can do at this particular point. Well, with him turning himself in now, do you think this could possibly set the stage or actually encourage others who may information to turn themselves in?

TAYLOR: If this is true in, indeed. I think that's -- it could be an encouraging development and it could be that others further down the chain who may be readier to come forward and be readier to give us more detailed information and perhaps with very recent experience of where things might be. So it could be the beginning of other people coming forward, if indeed they are alive and available.

HARRIS: Yes, I want to show one more picture if we can here of General Al-Sa'adi because I don't want folks to think that we're making light of the situation. But this is actually -- what we've got here is a playing card because Al-Sa'adi is one of 55 different individuals who have been identified in Iraq's leadership that the coalition is actually trying to track down right now. They're saying they want them either captured or killed. And this is the form in which they've issue the information on a deck of playing cards with different names and background information and all of those -- in that echelon of 55 different Iraqi leaders.

Terry, let me ask you this, of the other that may be on the list right now, who do you think will be the next most valuable person to have themselves in?

TAYLOR: Well, it's very hard to tell and I think I would rather not go into too much detail because we want to make sure that these people do come in and so I rather avoid mentioning a hierarchy, but one can think of others, such as General Hassan Amin, who you've often seen on television. He was the head of the National Monitoring Directorate, but handled the liaison between the U.N. inspectors and the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors who came in.

I think it's very important in this particular case or these particular individuals, we want them alive, you know. I mean your -- you mention that the people on the playing cards, alive or dead. Well, one can understand that in certain cases but I think people associated with the weapons of mass destruction program, I think we want them to come in. They've probably got something to offer. And I think it's very important that they do come in and offer updates and information. I think it's in their own personal interest to do that.

HARRIS: Well, it would be very interesting to see what they're able to glean from this man because as a matter of fact -- you may -- I'm sure you've been following all the news on the war on terror. It's been phenomenal to see the amount of information that we've been able -- that we've been able to glean from what authorities have gotten from certain figures, namely though, some of the key figures in the 9/11 bombings, the terror attacks here in the U.S. These are some pretty hardened figures in al Qaeda and they are beginning to talk, so it's quite possible that we might be to get -- might be hearing of information coming out of General Al-Sa'adi.

TAYLOR: Well, I certainly hope so, and I think this will have to be a very careful investigation, a very careful interviewing. And I'm sure the coalition forces and U.S. government and others involved will want to do this very carefully, and I don't think they want a knee- jerk over this one. They need to talk very carefully if indeed he is the person that's made himself available.

HARRIS: Exactly, exactly. Terence Taylor, former U.N. weapons inspector. Thank you very much, Terry. Nice to talk with you again, take care.

So what we want to let you know right now is that we're hearing that we may be getting some videotape of the process of General Al- Sa'adi turning himself in. And of course, once we get that, we'll turn that right around immediately and show it to you right here. In the meantime, let's go to Daryn Kagan standing by in Kuwait City -- Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Leon, good to hear from you once again. Let's go ahead and move on to Baghdad now. That's where troops are working to rain in widespread looting. Our Martin Savidge is in the Iraqi capital and he has more.

Marty, hello once again.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello, Daryn. We've been talking about the situation here. The question of lawlessness and security, a clear example of the problems that still exist was hurdled a short while ago just behind the Palestine Hotel here. Apparently, gunfire coming from the west against U.S. Marine positions that are located in the back of the hotel, and there was a lot of firing, most of it outgoing by the U.S. Marines. They don't take kindly obviously to anyone shooting in our position. So whenever they are fired upon, they tend top fire tenfold back at the same direction.

It sounded like you heard explosions, perhaps mortar fire as well as heavy machine gunfire, certainly, a lot of M-16 rounds that were headed down range, as they refer to it. And again, it seemed to be coming from across the Tigris River from the west here. And it lasted for about a good 10 minutes or so. Now, there's other noises that you hear in the city and that has people's heads switching and looking in different directions.

So, explosions also were heard. Clearly, it has come to an end now, because the Marines are in a much more relaxed position. But who was firing? What was their intention? Was it just simply to cause trouble, or it was something more sinister than that? Right now, we don't know. It's something that tends to blossom in Baghdad these days, which is seldom a dull time in this city.

But getting back, how do you deal with situations like this security-wise? Well, the Marines have gone on heavy patrols and added infantry patrol now, soldiers on foot, sort of the soldier on the beat, if you can call it that or the Marines on the beat. That's designed to try to quell some of the looting. Looting, though, has gone to a new extreme. People have begun looting in the city some of the museums that hold all of the antiquities here, and that is a tragic case now. People no longer looting for needs of food and clothing. They're now, apparently, looting because the looting is on. Opportunistic looting is how it's referred to by the military. They're trying to crack down on it, but at the same time, trying to secure a city and then be police officers. It's not an easy thing. That's why they're asking for police officers to return to their jobs. They are asking for civil servants to come back to work. They're trying to get this city back on its feet. There's some small indications today, with stores beginning to open, but when you have firefights in the midst of downtown Baghdad, well, let's face, it it's not going to give a lot of security to the people who live here -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Martin, of course, the days pretty much getting under way back in the States but here in the Persian Gulf, as the folks at home can see, nightfall is closing in. Do you think that things tend to blossom, as you say, when things get darker, especially in Baghdad?

SAVIDGE: Well, they do. There's a lot of danger obviously in Baghdad after dark. Very few people venture out at all. There's still sporadic gunfire. You can hear it now coming from a different direction. Nighttime's dangerous because you have a lot of U.S. troops on the move. They've got heavy equipment. They're moving around in a darkened city. There is no electricity in most parts of the city these days.

You have shopkeepers out there. They're nervous with their triggers -- or fingers on the trigger trying to protect their property. You tend to hear explosions. You tend to hear gunfire and you're not really certain who is shooting at what or where is it coming from. Darkness is not a good time near Baghdad. Daylight, a little bit better, but as you just heard, it's got its problem, too -- Daryn.

KAGAN: That it does. Martin Savidge in the capital of Iraq, in Baghdad. Thank you so much. As we move on, elements of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne on a patrol. They are attempting to bring order to the streets of Baghdad and they are the first, light infantry troops to arrive in the Iraqi capital. Our Ryan Chilcote is with them now. He joins us.

Ryan, hello.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Daryn. Well, a very busy day for the 101st, first, some sad news. The day began with the soldiers locating the remains of a U.S. serviceman in an abandoned lot, in an empty lot in southern Baghdad. They then positively identified those remains as the remains of a U.S. serviceman. That's something that we will not do. We will not identify that soldier until the soldier's family has been notified out of respect for them. The soldiers, then, after finding the remains, prayed for that soldier in a very dignified ceremony at the scene and evacuated his remains.

Just an hour after that, acting on a tip again -- that's how they found the body -- acting on a tip, again, they raided a mosque in southern Baghdad. They'd been told that they would find -- by an informant -- that they would find as many as 30 of the so-called Fedayeen paramilitary fighters inside some of them, according to the informant, injured and seeking -- or finding sanctuary inside that mosque. Well, they raided it and they didn't find any Fedayeen paramilitary with weapons. What they did find was a lot of military garb and a first-aid station, one weapon, and a large number of documents, including some interesting ones like a Syrian passport, really, a collection of disparate events and a very busy day for the 101st -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, it does sound like it was very eventful for the 101st, Ryan. It's not exactly the kind of environment where you make plans and stick to them, but what was the original agenda for the 101st today?

CHILCOTE: Well, the 101st really came in here thinking that they were going to route out Iraqi forces that might have remained in the city, and the -- as I mentioned earlier, the so-called Fedayeen paramilitaries. And they really haven't seen too much of that. What they have been seeing, the common thread, I think, in all of what they've been doing is really police work, almost detective work.

The day began with an inspection of a Ba'ath Party headquarters, which was very interesting. They went inside. By Iraqi standards, a very nice home with a swimming pool, a full bar inside. And believe it or not, in the backyard, this residential complex had an American Huey helicopter camouflaged in the backyard. Then, they went into town. They found several men with weapons. No explanation why they had those weapons. A couple hours later they, they found a weapons cache of 13 surface-to-air missiles. Then, like I mentioned, the raid and the identification of the U.S. servicemen's remains. A lot of work that really isn't too much like combat or, like, the work you would expect of a military force. All of it really relying on the local population, on working with the community here and picking up tips and then, going off and pursuing those leads. Not exactly something that you would expect an elite unit from the U.S. military to do, but very much the job that they will be doing here in Baghdad, Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, if nothing else, I think we learned to stretch our expectations of what is possible and what actually takes place out there in the field. Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad.

Ryan, thank you.

Heidi, back to you in Atlanta.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Daryn.

Coalition war planners have long said that Saddam Hussein's regime would likely make its last stand in his ancestral homeland of Tikrit, but after weeks of U.S. led bombardment, some coalition leaders are hopeful the town may collapse without much a fight. Let's get the latest developments now from the Pentagon and CNN's Barbara Starr, who is at the post this morning.

Good morning once again, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, as things move towards this final stage, a bit of resetting of U.S. troops on the battlefield. Now, the 4th Infantry Division is finally moving into southern Iraq from where it had been in Kuwait. And now that these 20,000 troops, the first of them are beginning to move into Iraq, it's freeing up other troops to do other things. And as Ryan said, now the 101st Airborne is in Baghdad, something like seven to 10,000 troops, we are told. They are very essential to helping to calm down the looting situation, providing additional boots on the ground as it were, for security and stability in the capital.

At the same time, members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, who had been in the Baghdad region, are now moving out. They are moving north towards Tikrit, as you said. This is shaping up to be possibly the last major battle of the war because Tikrit, of course, is the homeland of Saddam Hussein, and the people that are closest to him. The Pentagon is trying to figure out just what opposition will be in Tikrit, whether there is special Republican Guard and paramilitary forces there. Brigadier Vincent Brooks earlier this morning at the Central Command briefing talked about the situation in Tikrit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Tikrit is one of the areas where we still have concern that there may be presence of regime forces or some capabilities that still exist. And we have been relentless in our effort focused against the Tikrit area. This is not something new. This has been ongoing for some time, throughout the campaign, because we know that it is an area that has been important to the regime and that regime leaders are from in and around the Tikrit area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Officials are also concerned that once the U.S. military gets to Tikrit, they will again encounter these foreign fighters that are in Iraq. Non-Iraqis and the current estimate is there may be as many as 5,000 foreign fighters inside Iraq. But as the regime has fallen, officials say, there are signs those foreign fighters are trying to get out of the country and go back home -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Barbara, let me ask you quickly about something we've been talking about all morning. What are you hearing there about the possible surrender of General Al-Sa'adi, the top scientific adviser to Saddam Hussein?

STARR: Well, at this point, Heidi, I have to tell you, Pentagon officials say they have no confirmation of that report. Officials out of the U.S. Central Command say they have no confirmation. They are aware of the news media reports but they just aren't ready to confirm them one way or the other. They say they have no information about it.

COLLINS: All right. We, of course, will wait to hear more on that. Thanks so much, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning.

HARRIS: All right, coming up here, the mission to rescue Private Jessica Lynch. We're going to talk with one of helicopter pilots involved in that rescue. Colonel Stewart Noel is going to join us just ahead.

COLLINS: And later, the new Iraq, post-Saddam Hussein. Our Jeanne Moos takes a look at one of the more memorable figures of the old regime, the minister of disinformation.

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COLLINS: Private First-Class Jessica Lynch is on a military plane to the U.S. at this hour, due it arrive at Andrews Air Force Base later on today. She'll be taken to the Walter Reid Medical Center in Washington, and that is where we find CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, with the very latest.

Hi, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Heidi, several hours ago, Jessica Lynch and 49 other wounded service members left Germany. They are now in the air on the way to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. They will, then, go from Andrews Air Force Base right here to Walter Reid Army Medical Center. Earlier today, the family said -- the family issued a statement saying, "Jessica is in pain, but she is in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough." A military spokesman read the statement from the family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. MIKE YOUNG, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Jessie's recovery continues and she is doing well. She is in pain, but she is in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough. We believe she will regain her strength soon. Our family is proud of Jessie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Private Lynch will be coming here to Walter Reid with pins and bolts in her right arm and in both legs. She also suffered fractures in her right foot and in her right ankle and in a disc in her lower back. She will be -- doctors, of course, will be addressing those physical injuries. They will also be addressing psychological injuries -- I mean they will also be addressing psychological issues, going through a period of time called decompression where they'll ask her to talk about her experiences -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, standing by, waiting if that plane it arrive. Thanks very much --Leon.

HARRIS: Well, we've got some news coming into us right now, a developing story. CNN's Thomas Nybo is in Kirkuk, which is in northern Iraq, and Thomas has some new develops in the weapons hunt. He's joining us now by way of videophone embedded out there with the 173rd Airborne.

Thomas, can you tell us what you've been hearing out there?

THOMAS NYBO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Army says this is a very big day at the Kirkuk Military Airfield. What they say they have found, initial tests show the presence of a nerve agent on a warhead. Basically what happened -- I'm with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and they were going around yesterday securing the airfield, going from building to building. I don't know if you can see the building behind me, but it's a large storage facility. It's about the size of a large garage and what happened yesterday was, they went through, they found about 11 wooden boxes and one of them contained a warhead.

Now, at the time, they did not think that these might be possible chemical munitions. They took photos and then, they passed along these photos. And today, an engineer looked at these photos and noticed a green band on one of the warheads. Now, the Army says that this green band signifies a possible chemical weapon. So they came out, they sent out one of their guys with what is called an I-cam. This is a device, which detects chemical weapons if they're present. So they ran this device over the warhead and it showed trace amounts of a nerve agent in two spots, one in the middle of the warhead -- now, let me start by saying, I'm not sure if you're seeing the video yet, but this warhead is about the size a baseball bat. It's about as long as a baseball bat and as about as thick as a coffee can. And in the middle of it, there's a spot about the size of a quarter with a couple of screws that looks like you could fill it with something and this is where the first test was positive for a trace amount of a nerve agent, the Army says. And it also tested positive, they say, near the end of the warhead. I spoke with Major Rob Gowan, a public affairs officer who's traveling with the 173rd, about the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. ROB GOWAN, 173RD AIRBORNE BRIGADE: Elements of 173rd Airborne Brigade were clearing the airfield, going from building to building, facility to facility and they came across a weapon. They checked it. It appeared as though it had some markings that indicated it was -- could be a chemical weapon. They came back later and checked it with some technical instruments and it did test positive for a nerve agent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NYBO: Now, what I should tell you is that this device, the I- cam, it actually has six possible signals that let you know -- six being the strongest, zero being no presence at all. And this tested at one. Now, that is a relatively weak result. But I spoke with the Army, and they say, well, don't jump to any conclusions, because if there are nerve agents present, they're mainly inside and that could detect a small leak.

Now, I also spoke with Major Gowan about another development. What I -- what happened was we found out about this story. We were at the brigade headquarters, actually the battalion headquarters, and came upon an intelligence briefing that said essentially, there was an Iraqi man freed from prison and he showed up at the gate. He was supposedly the former pace commander here and he said he had some information, some important information about possible chemical weapons. And so they brought him in and a lot of what he said turned out to be true, not related necessarily to the chemical weapons. They are out trying to verify these claims. But he, essentially, said within a span of 18 miles, there were 120 missiles and of these 120 missiles, 24 possibly had chemical munitions. And I also spoke with Major Gowan about this development.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOWAN: An Iraqi gentleman has come forth claiming to have some specific knowledge about possible chemical weapons that may be stored here on this air base. It appears as though the air base was evacuated hastily. A lot of indicators seem to say that the Iraqi forces that were here left very quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NYBO: It's still very early in this process. The Army is taking a very cautious approach. These were initial tests. Essentially what's happened, the battalion has passed this along. They're bringing in the more sophisticated testing mechanisms. They're bringing in the better-trained experts, basically, taking it one step at a time. And that's the story here at the Kirkuk International -- the Kirkuk Military Airfield.

HARRIS: And Thomas, thank you very much for that. And while you were describing that munition, we actually were seeing the pictures of that. But one question here, or a couple of questions, actually -- no.1, is there any way to tell exactly how old this weapon is? Are they -- is it the belief right now that this is a weapon of a recent development and has actually been recently prepared or armed in any way? And secondly, that cache of 120 missiles, you say, this Iraqi citizen actually reported on, what's being done to go check that site out?

NYBO: Well, basically, I think they've been sending out search teams. One of the things that really struck me once I arrived here is how quickly the Iraqi soldiers appeared to have left their posts. Essentially, there are guns everywhere. A lot of the locals are carrying AK-47s. I'm staying here at the airfield. We came in here. The anti-aircraft guns were all set up, fully loaded. The ammo is all there.

Now, the building behind me, when I went in, I personally went in and looked at warhead. I can't tell in the stage of what it would take to fire this thing, but I do know that there was another box next to it, which contained a 13-foot long missile. Now, it appeared that the two could be joined. I'm not sure about that. The Army sources that I talked with weren't sure either.

HARRIS: All right, Thomas Nybo, thank you very much, really important news there. Thomas Nybo reporting from Kirkuk, the discovery there of a munition, a warhead there, that actually triggered a device that was testing for any sort of nerve agent. Still right now no confirmation of what exactly is inside this munition that the crew out there, the 173rd Airborne, has actually found, but we'll get back as soon as we learn more from Thomas Nybo, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) important story -- Heidi. COLLINS: That's right. Leon, former weapons inspector, Terry Taylor, is joining us in now. He's been listening in to this report that Thomas Nybo just gave us.

And Terry, I want to ask you -- we were talking briefly there about the testing process. The register of zero to six and how this missile, apparently, registered a one. Are there not several tests that this actually has to go through, and if so, what is that process that you know of?

TAYLOR: Well, certainly in testing -- I think an examination of the weapon itself, I'm not quite certain what it might be, but some kind of 122-millimeter rocket or something of that nature. I think an expert in chemical munitions, just simply by looking at it, has to be handled very carefully if indeed it is actually filled with chemical. It's one matter whether it actually does have a fully filled warhead or not, but the chemical itself will have to be fully tested. The devices they have in the field are for the protection of the troops, to give them warnings so that they can mask up if they need, too, to give them just general warning of the presence. So it doesn't do detailed analysis. But certainly you need some kind of field laboratory, which no doubt the exportation teams that they have will probably be on the ground pretty soon and will be examining that. I think this is the way this kind of information is going to come out, is by people coming forward now that the regime has clearly been dismantled and we're going to get more information like this coming in.

COLLINS: Terry, let me ask you, as a former U.N. weapons inspectors, if you were to have come up on this scene, as Thomas Nybo has described it, with the missile and with all of the ammunition left over and from what they could tell, the Iraqi soldiers vacating the area so quickly, what would you, at least at first make of that?

TAYLOR: Well, it's clearly -- it's highly suspicious that the prima facie case that this could indeed be chemical weapons but I mean you have to be so careful about this because with the kind of handheld devices that are at the forward edge in the field with the troops, that there false positives. So we need to look into it much more carefully. But I understand there may be other larger numbers around. What we're really after is a store of these things, not just one or two here and there. There must be stocks somewhere and that's what we're really looking for in the end.

COLLINS: All right, former U.N. weapons inspector, Terry Taylor, thank you so much for your input on that. And as we have just said, Thomas Nybo embedded with the 173rd Airborne, says that in Kirkuk, at Kirkuk Military Airfield, they have found a missile that has tested positive for chemicals. We, of course, will keep you up to date on all of that.

HARRIS: Yes. Also, he did mention as well, a report there that an Iraqi civilian, a citizen there, also coming up and saying that he has information of a cache, as -- perhaps as many as 120 other missiles there, which may be hidden somewhere in that same area. So we'll stay on top of that story and deliver to you any developments as we learn them here.

In the meantime, just ahead, battling chaos in Iraq. The larger rescue mission that lies ahead, asking the big question -- how will aid groups get the aid to those who need it most?

COLLINS: We'll talk to a representative of the International Red Cross right after the break. We are bringing you complete coverage of the war in Iraq right here on CNN.

HARRIS: And as continuing coverage of the war in Iraq, the war in Iraq is winding down, but the voices of dissent are getting louder. Plus, new deployment orders for Private Jessica Lynch. She is coming home this afternoon. And the deadly SARS virus continues its global run. These stories and more today at noon Eastern. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We're glad to have you folks with us this morning. We've got quite a bit going on, a couple of developing stories. The main one we have right now is coming out Baghdad, and this one is one that could reveal some very critical details about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program. Now, here's what we've heard this morning. Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser, Lieutenant General Amir Al-Sa'adi -- he's the gentleman there you see in the gray suit -- he has surrendered to U.S. military authorities and he did this in Baghdad a little while ago.

Now, you're seeing here not a video of the surrender itself. This is file videotape of a news conference. If you've been covering -- or watching our coverage of the story over the past couple of months, you may remember or recognize him from these news conferences that were held with Iraqi officials.

Now, German television network, Zatavi (ph), also says that Al- Sa'adi is repeating his longstanding claims that Iraq does not have any banned weapons and that the coalition's attack has been unjustified. The U.S. Central Command says it has no verification of these reports and we're trying to confirm more and more of this story.

Now, something else we've gotten from Central Command is this one picture of General Al-Sa'adi that we showed you earlier, and this was him on a -- what looked to be a playing card. I believe his number was the 7 of diamonds. Well, CENTCOM has issued out an entire deck of these cards. There are 55 different Iraqi leaders that they are looking for and they said that the order is to find them, capture them or kill them. Well, perhaps that word got through to General Al- Sa'adi, but whatever it was that has motivated him to do so, he has turned himself in. So we'll keep you updated on that story as we get more news here.

Now, let's go to Daryn Kagan, who is standing by in Kuwait City, for more continuing coverage of the war in Iraq -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Leon, there's a lot happening in this part of the world. First, we want to show you a live picture that we're getting in from Abu Dhabi Television. As night falls here in the Persian Gulf, things are getting tense once again in Baghdad. The pictures you're seeing show a fire. It's a building on fire that -- you might recognize that building. It's the Ministry of Information building and of course, that is a building where so many of those briefings came out of. The information minister, Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who for so long denied that there was even a war taking place in Iraq let alone that, in fact, that the then-current Iraqi regime was losing. We'll get more on that and the fires at the ministry information building out of Baghdad in just a moment.

Though -- first, though, we want to focus on something else, a very difficult problem in Baghdad. You've heard, of course, about the widespread looting and general anarchy that has left many of Iraq to be ransacked. Well, the International Committee of the Red Cross says that medical care has been especially undermined. We have with us now, Tamara Alrifai. She is with the International Red Cross and she's joining us to discuss about the most pressing needs facing the country and those urgent needs of medical care right now.

Tamara, thanks for being with us. First of all, the Red Cross found out only too personally just how dangerous the situation is in Baghdad, losing one of your key workers there on Tuesday.

TAMARA ALRIFAI, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS: Yes, absolutely. We are extremely distressed of that. Yes, one of our main people, who chose to stay in Baghdad over the war, was actually killed in a crossfire incident. So this is just to tell you that even when you're in a Red Cross car, you're not spared. And so, the message is anything is being looted, anything is being destroyed, and we see it. The team in Baghdad see the hospital being completely on the floor. There's absolutely nothing left inside the hospitals. The situation is very, very bad.

KAGAN: Yes, I think it's almost impossible for Americans that come to appreciate just how bad it is. Hospital beds being looted, not to mention the drugs and medical supplies. Patients afraid to be at hospital and then, doctors and health care workers afraid to show up to help them.

ALRIFAI: This is absolutely it. I mean I know that the main hospital yesterday, which is a complex of four hospitals, only had a few surgeons and one to two nurses for 16,000 beds, literally, so nobody's there. But the thing is, you barely had 300 patients, which means that, as you said, the people who are sick or the people who require help or the people who are wounded are making it to the hospital simply because if they leave their houses, the houses are going to be looted. And if they cross the city, they might be caught in the mess and so they just prefer to stay home.

And I was just talking on the phone with my colleague before I came here to the studio in Baghdad and he was telling me that he, himself, witnessed one boy bleeding to death in front of the hospital with the surgeon screaming that he had no more supplies or instruments to actually treat the boy, so the situation is terrible.

KAGAN: And it's gotten to such a level that the International Red Cross has called on the coalition forces, pointing to the Geneva Convention, saying you need do things like restore power, restore electricity and restore some sense of order so that things like medical care can take place, the basic needs for the Iraqi people.

ALRIFAI: Absolutely. The coalition forces are the only force that's present in Iraq right now. So it could be considered at least temporarily as an occupying force. And an occupying force does have the obligation under the Geneva Conventions to ensure that at least the minimum well being of the population is ensured. And so, minimum well being automatically means basic infrastructure -- water and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) medical treatment.

Yes, we have called in the coalition to try to physically protect those structures because otherwise it will just go on and on and people will be less and less able to survive.

KAGAN: I want to ask you about a different topic and that is of a concern to a lot of people around the world and that is the seven POWs that still are listed as missing in action. One role of the International Red Cross is to try to get in touch with those POWs and yet, given the state of things in Iraq, you find yourself in a very frustrating position.

ALRIFAI: Absolutely. We really, at this point, don't know who to get in touch with. And so...

KAGAN: You don't know who to talk to.

ALRIFAI: Until last week, we were in touch with the highest level of the Iraqi government over the POWs and the dialogue seemed very positive, very constructive.

KAGAN: At that point, what were they able to tell you?

ALRIFAI: Well, they were able to tell us, yes, OK, you will get access to them, etcetera. But today, to tell you the truth, we really don't know who to talk to. So we have started a search campaign on the radios, telling people in Iraq that whoever knows anything about those people, or whoever has a clue about who's detaining them or where they're being kept, please come to the ICRC in Baghdad and let us know and we'll interfere. Having said that, we very, very much feel the pain of the families of those people. So we really want to do whatever we can to find them.

KAGAN: There are at least seven anxious families back in the States that I'm sure appreciate your efforts as frustrating as they might be for you. Tamara Alrifai, thank you so for joining us from the International Red Cross. We appreciate it.

Leon, I'll toss it back to you. Actually, Heidi, we'll toss it back to you in Atlanta.

COLLINS: Thanks, Daryn. We want to go back now to some of those pictures that we have been showing you momentarily about some of the fires that are burning right now in Baghdad. You are looking at some pictures from Abu Dhabi TV. The building that you see now with the domed windows there, actually, we have been told is a civilian home. Earlier, we were showing you the building of the information minister. We do know of a couple of fires obviously that are burning there. Now, we will, of course, keep our eye on them and let you know more as we learn it.

Let's go ahead and get the view now from the White House. We have CNN's Dana Cash standing by.

Good morning to you, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, first on the issue of the humanitarian situation going on in Iraq, Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, was asked about that situation yesterday in his briefing, and he said that the White House view is that there isn't necessarily a humanitarian crisis at this time. He said, that there are pockets of humanitarian problems. But he said, as far as they're concerned it is not widespread. Now having said that, they are clearly monitoring the situation and trying very hard to clear the way for the aid that is necessary to get in to Iraq. So they are certainly working on that here at the White House but they are not calling it a crisis at this time.

Now, as far as the president is concerned, he is at Camp David today. He is there for the weekend. He's been there every weekend since the war began. And before he left, he taped his weekly radio address. And he made clear that although the White House does see that the regime in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, is gone, there are still some dangerous days ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the last several days, the world has watched as the regime of Saddam Hussein began passing into history. We will always remember the first images of the nation released from decades of tyranny and fear. The conflict continues in Iraq and our military may still face hard fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, the president had some very emotional meetings yesterday, visiting two military hospitals. First, he awarded about 13 purple hearts. There you see him awarding one of them. In addition, he participated or witnessed two important meetings, two important ceremonies. He witnessed the U.S. citizenship, granting of citizenship to two U.S. Marines, that according to the president was very emotional and apparently, the Marine -- one of the Marines in that meeting broke down, sobbing because it was so emotional for him to getting his citizenship with the commander-in-chief there, especially coming back from Iraq injured.

Now, here today in Washington, just across the street at the Blair house, there have been meetings this morning about how to finance this war. The U.S. Treasury secretary, John Snow, meeting with some of his counterparts from Europe and elsewhere to try to figure out among many other questions what role the U.N. will have and exactly how they can figure out how to -- help to reconstruct the post war Iraq. That is something that is very difficult to figure out and among the things, that the U.S. is trying to decide, and to discuss with their counterparts in Europe, as whether or not they will forgive Iraq of the debt, millions of dollars of debt that they are owed -- Heidi.

COLLINS: A challenge indeed. All right, Dana Bash coming to us from the White House this morning. Thanks, Dana.

One quick programming note that we want to tell you about. Make sure you tune into "LATE EDITION" tomorrow. General Tommy Franks of the U.S. Central Command will sit down with our Wolf Blitzer to talk about the latest developments from the war in Iraq. That is Sunday at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific right here on CNN.

HARRIS: All right, in the meantime, we take a break. But coming up, what's next for the coalition forces? We'll have the latest on the military situation. Our military analyst, Major General Don Shepperd, is going to be joining us in just a minute.

COLLINS: CNN's live coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom continues right after a quick break.

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COLLINS: We want to take a moment to get some military expertise on the situation in Iraq. For that we return to our retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd who joins us as a CNN military analyst this morning.

Thanks once against for your expertise, sir. I just want to ask about the troop movement from south to north that we have been talking about and seeing today. What is the mission now at this point in your eyes?

MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD (RET), U.S. AIR FORCE: Yes, many mentions across the country, Heidi, if I can give you an update on the map table here from south to north. The 4th Infantry Division, the lead elements meeting from Kuwait assembly areas into Iraq, starting to move up north up in the al Kut area up here. The Marines still engaged up here with getting the city turned over to them. Reportedly, some foreign fighters in al Kut complicating the negotiations.

The 101st Airborne lead elements being in the Baghdad area, which will relieve the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to go further north toward the Tikrit area here.

The final battle vestige of the regime perhaps in Tikrit. This may be a battle or it may be a melting away. All of this being hit by air power here.

Out of al Qaim earlier today, Special Forces in a phosphate factory, in a training area, an air defense headquarters, discovering two drones. This is a key area of crossing from Iraq into Syria.

Up in the northern area here, Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, all has vanished as far as fighting goes. However, at the Kirkuk Airport, a possible nerve agent discovered there to be decided later. And now, aid being flown in up here in the north as we capture airfields. Aid being flown in here and also in the south. Basically the only combat, the real combat left in Tikrit, and further in the Baghdad area as pockets are cleaned up, Heidi.

COLLINS: General Shepperd, you talk about al Qaim and the Special Forces that are being used there. Do you see Special Forces being used in this final battle at Tikrit as well?

SHEPPERD: Heidi, Special Forces are all over this country and have been for a long time. They've been a key element in General Franks' war plan. They go out and they conduct operations. They also gain intelligence and report back. They also have Special Operations from the Air Force assigned to them that can mark targets, so they are key everywhere. They will be a key at Tikrit as well they have been throughout country, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, very good. Major General Don Shepperd, thanks once again. I want to let you know what's coming up next hour right here on CNN. We'll take you to the streets of Baghdad, where U.S. troops are trying to slow down the looting. We'll take a look at some of the casualties of war, which included a damaged Baghdad hospital. And in our "Through The Lens" segment, we'll show you the images of war as captured by photographer, David Turnley (ph). That and more in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Central Command says U.S. forces in western Iraq have taken in custody a busload of men. These men had $600,000 and letters offering rewards for killing American soldiers.

8:11 a.m., Marines have searched Baghdad University, scene of a huge firefight Wednesday and found tons of ammunition. That from CNN's Martin Savidge. He also reports that a man who surrendered to Marines is telling them, he performed plastic surgery on Saddam Hussein and his relatives, and that he knows where Hussein's family has fled.

9:53 a.m., German TV reports Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser has surrendered to U.S. forces. General Amir Hamudi Al-Sa'adi is one of the 55 most wanted Iraqis whose pictures who have been handed out to U.S. soldiers on playing cards.

That brings us up to date at least to this particular moment, Daryn.

KAGAN: That it is. Leon, I'm going to step out of here just for an hour or so. Wolf Blitzer, the best in the business, is going to step right in, be here for an hour before he heads off to Doha. And I'll take up once again in the next hour.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Then, we will see you then in just about a -- little over an hour then and we'll see Wolf in the meantime. KAGAN: Great.

HARRIS: Thanks, Daryn, see you in a bit.

COLLINS: Coming up, one prominent Iraqi has been missing since the fall of Baghdad earlier this week, but he hasn't dropped out of the limelight. Our Jeanne Moos investigates what has happened to Iraq's minister of disinformation. That's ahead.

HARRIS: And we'll bring you complete coverage of the war on Iraq right here on CNN. Stay with us.

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