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CNN Live At Daybreak
'International News Desk'
Aired April 24, 2003 - 06:50 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: Let's check in with David Clinch once again, our senior international editor. A lot to talk about this morning.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: Those initials on that Iraqi prison wall.
CLINCH: Right. I mean this is one of the stories that I think people are just going to be talking about today, you know, the story of Mr. Speicher, who's thought to have, possibly by the U.S., thought to have possibly been alive for a long time, possibly hopefully still alive, having gone down during the last Gulf War.
Now, what they found and what we've now got pictures of are the initials, which match his initials, in a prison where informers or spies, you could call them, told the United States, many, I think quite a few years ago, told the U.S. that they had seen Speicher in this prison at the time. So that's all we know. And as far as we know, that's all the U.S. knows at this point.
COSTELLO: So chilling to look at that.
CLINCH: It matches the intelligence they have.
COSTELLO: I'm confused about that H, though, I must say.
CLINCH: Yes, I mean when you look at it, it's not exactly clear that it is just simply "MSF." So, you know, we're looking at it closely. I'm sure they are looking at it closely, too.
COSTELLO: Understand. Talk about the Saddam look-alikes.
CLINCH: Right. Well, I told you earlier I'd talk about this. We have this great home video from Saddam Hussein, of course. But this is a video that Al Jazeera is showing today of a man who, in Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's hometown, who was stopped by the U.S. military and questioned because, as you can see, he looks quite like Saddam Hussein.
COSTELLO: Oh, he does.
CLINCH: Now, Al Jazeera says that he may, in fact, be a distant relative of Saddam's, which, of course, wouldn't be surprising in his hometown. But just think, he is probably one of many people in Iraq who look like Saddam Hussein. This individual, unfortunately for him, stopped by U.S. authorities. They did let him go, though. They don't think it's Saddam, and I think I agree with them. But there you go.
COSTELLO: Yes, he could have a good career here in the United States, though.
CLINCH: He could. As could...
COSTELLO: As a Saddam impersonator.
CLINCH: ... the real stand-ins for him, of course, if they ever turn up. That will be fascinating to see who those people really are.
COSTELLO: Absolutely.
David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK. All right.
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 24, 2003 - 06:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check in with David Clinch once again, our senior international editor. A lot to talk about this morning.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: Those initials on that Iraqi prison wall.
CLINCH: Right. I mean this is one of the stories that I think people are just going to be talking about today, you know, the story of Mr. Speicher, who's thought to have, possibly by the U.S., thought to have possibly been alive for a long time, possibly hopefully still alive, having gone down during the last Gulf War.
Now, what they found and what we've now got pictures of are the initials, which match his initials, in a prison where informers or spies, you could call them, told the United States, many, I think quite a few years ago, told the U.S. that they had seen Speicher in this prison at the time. So that's all we know. And as far as we know, that's all the U.S. knows at this point.
COSTELLO: So chilling to look at that.
CLINCH: It matches the intelligence they have.
COSTELLO: I'm confused about that H, though, I must say.
CLINCH: Yes, I mean when you look at it, it's not exactly clear that it is just simply "MSF." So, you know, we're looking at it closely. I'm sure they are looking at it closely, too.
COSTELLO: Understand. Talk about the Saddam look-alikes.
CLINCH: Right. Well, I told you earlier I'd talk about this. We have this great home video from Saddam Hussein, of course. But this is a video that Al Jazeera is showing today of a man who, in Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's hometown, who was stopped by the U.S. military and questioned because, as you can see, he looks quite like Saddam Hussein.
COSTELLO: Oh, he does.
CLINCH: Now, Al Jazeera says that he may, in fact, be a distant relative of Saddam's, which, of course, wouldn't be surprising in his hometown. But just think, he is probably one of many people in Iraq who look like Saddam Hussein. This individual, unfortunately for him, stopped by U.S. authorities. They did let him go, though. They don't think it's Saddam, and I think I agree with them. But there you go.
COSTELLO: Yes, he could have a good career here in the United States, though.
CLINCH: He could. As could...
COSTELLO: As a Saddam impersonator.
CLINCH: ... the real stand-ins for him, of course, if they ever turn up. That will be fascinating to see who those people really are.
COSTELLO: Absolutely.
David Clinch, many thanks to you.
CLINCH: OK. All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
