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CNN Live At Daybreak
Signs of Normalcy Returning to Baghdad
Aired April 17, 2003 - 06:03 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: Signs of normalcy are returning to Baghdad.
CNN's Michael Holmes is in the Iraqi capital with the latest developments.
Good morning Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello once again, Carol.
Yes, some signs of normalcy; also some signs of police activity, if you like. In this case, it was the U.S. Marines. But what they were doing was not fighting the enemy per se, but getting a few crooks in-hand.
What has happened with the looting here has been several banks -- many banks had been hit by, essentially, criminals. They go in, they break open the vault, they take lots of money. And in this case, the U.S. Marines had a tip. They went along. They arrested several people, recovered a large sum of money, basically doing some hard- hitting police work there, taking several people into custody.
I was talking to a Marine the other day, who said that in another raid, they interrupted robbers, prevented the raid, shots were exchanged, and they managed to recover $3.6 million on that one, single occasion.
You mentioned earlier, Carol, the electricity situation here in Baghdad. It has been one of the main reasons behind the frustration levels among locals. Well, there is some good news, as you said. I'm told that six substations are back online, and they are putting out what they're calling rolling coverage. Some suburbs at a time will get power. Then the power will drop off. The supply will move to other suburbs, and that's happening around Baghdad. It's very small, but it is a start.
One thing they need to do at the big power stations themselves is jump-start the generators, and they don't have enough power to do that. There's the irony. So they're trying to get a line run down from Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's birthplace of course, just to provide enough power to kick-start those generators, and then the whole city will be fine.
Meanwhile, the demonstrations continue, perhaps the makeup of the demonstrators involved changing. It's been from the start days and days of people complaining about the power situation, the water situation, the lawlessness on the streets here, but we're also seeing something interesting develop. There are people in the crowds now that are holding up signs that refer to their favorite politician. And so, perhaps some grassroots political demonstrating going on, too; surely something that would never have been seen under Saddam Hussein Carol.
COSTELLO: Michael Holmes reporting live from Baghdad this morning thanks to you.
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 17, 2003 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Signs of normalcy are returning to Baghdad.
CNN's Michael Holmes is in the Iraqi capital with the latest developments.
Good morning Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello once again, Carol.
Yes, some signs of normalcy; also some signs of police activity, if you like. In this case, it was the U.S. Marines. But what they were doing was not fighting the enemy per se, but getting a few crooks in-hand.
What has happened with the looting here has been several banks -- many banks had been hit by, essentially, criminals. They go in, they break open the vault, they take lots of money. And in this case, the U.S. Marines had a tip. They went along. They arrested several people, recovered a large sum of money, basically doing some hard- hitting police work there, taking several people into custody.
I was talking to a Marine the other day, who said that in another raid, they interrupted robbers, prevented the raid, shots were exchanged, and they managed to recover $3.6 million on that one, single occasion.
You mentioned earlier, Carol, the electricity situation here in Baghdad. It has been one of the main reasons behind the frustration levels among locals. Well, there is some good news, as you said. I'm told that six substations are back online, and they are putting out what they're calling rolling coverage. Some suburbs at a time will get power. Then the power will drop off. The supply will move to other suburbs, and that's happening around Baghdad. It's very small, but it is a start.
One thing they need to do at the big power stations themselves is jump-start the generators, and they don't have enough power to do that. There's the irony. So they're trying to get a line run down from Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's birthplace of course, just to provide enough power to kick-start those generators, and then the whole city will be fine.
Meanwhile, the demonstrations continue, perhaps the makeup of the demonstrators involved changing. It's been from the start days and days of people complaining about the power situation, the water situation, the lawlessness on the streets here, but we're also seeing something interesting develop. There are people in the crowds now that are holding up signs that refer to their favorite politician. And so, perhaps some grassroots political demonstrating going on, too; surely something that would never have been seen under Saddam Hussein Carol.
COSTELLO: Michael Holmes reporting live from Baghdad this morning thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
