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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Marines Move Into Central Tikrit
Aired April 14, 2003 - 06:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It appears Saddam's last stand wasn't. Although there were pockets of fierce resistance, Tikrit wasn't the intense battlefield the coalition had expected. U.S. Marines are now in the heart of the city, but it's not over yet.
Let's get an update now. Let's go live to the Pentagon and CNN's Kathleen Koch.
Good morning -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You know, Tikrit is not so much a strategically important city as it is symbolically important, being both Saddam Hussein's birthplace and then the last major city in Iraq that is not yet under coalition control, though it does appear that that fact is about to change.
The troops from the 1st Marine Expeditionary force moved into the city early this morning. They encountered some resistance, not very heavy, we are told. And that, as some 2,500 Iraqi Republican Guard and Fedayeen fighters were believed to be holed up in the city.
Now, as those forces went in, they got a lot of very heavy support from the air. As you can see there, Cobra attack helicopters swept the skies over the city; also F-18s were on watch, flying combat air support. The commander of that U.S. task force said that there were enough aircraft in the skies in and around Tikrit to -- quote -- "darken the skies."
But CENTCOM says that the city itself has not fallen yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. FRANK THORP, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: The battle isn't over yet, Tom. We have forces operating around the city, as well as inside the city, at this point. We're seeing a variety of different things in the city. We're seeing abandoned military equipment, Republican Guard, perhaps Special Republican Guard just quite frankly abandoned. We also are seeing some level of fighting, like we've seen in the past week or so, small, fierce, but a very localized kind of fighting. For those soldiers on the ground, though, it's got to be pretty tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: And Central Command has confirmed that the first fighter jet downed in the Iraqi war, it now believes, was actually hit by friendly fire. Now, this was an April 2 incident, an F-18, a Navy F- 18 Hornet from the USS Kitty Hawk. It was flying a bombing run near Karbala when it was apparently hit by a U.S. Patriot missile. The pilot of the single-seater jet, 30-year-old Lieutenant Nathan White of Mesa, Arizona, died in that incident -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Let's talk a little bit about the DNA sample that government officials are taking to Iraq to try to see if Saddam Hussein was indeed killed. Is there any update on when that will be done?
KOCH: Well, Carol, I think the first thing that they have to do is sort through the rubble at those two bombing sites and find some remains, and there is no indication yet that the U.S. military has had an opportunity to do that. And considering the size of the bombs that were dropped on both of those sites, it's very questionable what, if any, human remains will be there to be found.
COSTELLO: Understand. Kathleen Koch, thanks for the update. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired April 14, 2003 - 06:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It appears Saddam's last stand wasn't. Although there were pockets of fierce resistance, Tikrit wasn't the intense battlefield the coalition had expected. U.S. Marines are now in the heart of the city, but it's not over yet.
Let's get an update now. Let's go live to the Pentagon and CNN's Kathleen Koch.
Good morning -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You know, Tikrit is not so much a strategically important city as it is symbolically important, being both Saddam Hussein's birthplace and then the last major city in Iraq that is not yet under coalition control, though it does appear that that fact is about to change.
The troops from the 1st Marine Expeditionary force moved into the city early this morning. They encountered some resistance, not very heavy, we are told. And that, as some 2,500 Iraqi Republican Guard and Fedayeen fighters were believed to be holed up in the city.
Now, as those forces went in, they got a lot of very heavy support from the air. As you can see there, Cobra attack helicopters swept the skies over the city; also F-18s were on watch, flying combat air support. The commander of that U.S. task force said that there were enough aircraft in the skies in and around Tikrit to -- quote -- "darken the skies."
But CENTCOM says that the city itself has not fallen yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. FRANK THORP, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: The battle isn't over yet, Tom. We have forces operating around the city, as well as inside the city, at this point. We're seeing a variety of different things in the city. We're seeing abandoned military equipment, Republican Guard, perhaps Special Republican Guard just quite frankly abandoned. We also are seeing some level of fighting, like we've seen in the past week or so, small, fierce, but a very localized kind of fighting. For those soldiers on the ground, though, it's got to be pretty tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: And Central Command has confirmed that the first fighter jet downed in the Iraqi war, it now believes, was actually hit by friendly fire. Now, this was an April 2 incident, an F-18, a Navy F- 18 Hornet from the USS Kitty Hawk. It was flying a bombing run near Karbala when it was apparently hit by a U.S. Patriot missile. The pilot of the single-seater jet, 30-year-old Lieutenant Nathan White of Mesa, Arizona, died in that incident -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Let's talk a little bit about the DNA sample that government officials are taking to Iraq to try to see if Saddam Hussein was indeed killed. Is there any update on when that will be done?
KOCH: Well, Carol, I think the first thing that they have to do is sort through the rubble at those two bombing sites and find some remains, and there is no indication yet that the U.S. military has had an opportunity to do that. And considering the size of the bombs that were dropped on both of those sites, it's very questionable what, if any, human remains will be there to be found.
COSTELLO: Understand. Kathleen Koch, thanks for the update. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
