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CNN Live At Daybreak
Most Wanted Deck of Cards
Aired April 24, 2003 - 05:53 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: When you hear that the queen of diamonds and the seven of hearts are in U.S. custody, it sounds more like "Alice In Wonderland" than the latest news from Iraq.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more on perhaps the hottest war related item, that most wanted deck of cards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one thing to call a spade a spade. But it seems weird calling wanted Iraqis...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The four of clubs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The nine of clubs in the infamous deck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the queen of spades in the deck of the most wanted.
MOOS: These days, what's most wanted is the deck itself. Love that camouflage backing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband just bought four sets online.
MOOS: On eBay, there are hundreds of offers for the deck of death, manufactured by various card companies. Don't be fooled by imitations, genuine, actual, the real thing. Actually, the Defense Department put out only 200 decks back when the cards were introduced at a Central Command briefing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that include the former information minister, because every pack needs a joker?
MOOS: Nope, not in a real decks. But some entrepreneurs have added him as a bonus. Saddam may have lost the real war, but in the card game war, Saddam's a winner. An intelligence officer dreamed up the cards so troops could get familiar with the men and one woman they're after.
(on camera): Sees weapons of mass destruction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would they have a woman doing that?
MOOS: Well...
(voice-over): The military figured it would be easier to refer to, say, the eight of hearts, rather than difficult to pronounce Arabic names.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night I scored two Barzas Ibrahim Assan al-Tikritis (ph) for just one Abd Al-Baki Abd Al-Kareem Abdallah Al- Sanoun (ph).
MOOS: For the military, such playing cards are nothing new. In WWII, spotter cards were used to teach airplane shapes and silhouettes of ships. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lepan (ph) used cards in survival training.
LT. COL. DAVE LEPAN: Because it showed, you know, the kind of plants you could eat if you were out in the wild.
MOOS: As far back as the Civil War playing cards were used to identify leaders.
The Iraqi cards sell for as little as six bucks. Or you can print out your own from the Defense Department Web site.
(on camera): This is a cheap way to make a deck of cards.
(voice-over): At the great USA flags Web site, they sold 600,000 decks in eight days, more than one a second. People keep asking me for mine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we get a deck?
MOOS (on camera): Well, I don't have -- we had to order these special just to do this story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK.
MOOS (voice-over): There we were in Times Square playing Three Card Monte, searching for Saddam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eenie-meenie-miney-moe. I got him! Yes!
MOOS: Send her to Iraq. Saddam is not the kind of dictator who gets lost in the shuffle.
(on camera): Find Saddam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right there.
MOOS: We'll see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's just a bizarre kind of world, isn't 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 24, 2003 - 05:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: When you hear that the queen of diamonds and the seven of hearts are in U.S. custody, it sounds more like "Alice In Wonderland" than the latest news from Iraq.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more on perhaps the hottest war related item, that most wanted deck of cards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one thing to call a spade a spade. But it seems weird calling wanted Iraqis...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The four of clubs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The nine of clubs in the infamous deck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the queen of spades in the deck of the most wanted.
MOOS: These days, what's most wanted is the deck itself. Love that camouflage backing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband just bought four sets online.
MOOS: On eBay, there are hundreds of offers for the deck of death, manufactured by various card companies. Don't be fooled by imitations, genuine, actual, the real thing. Actually, the Defense Department put out only 200 decks back when the cards were introduced at a Central Command briefing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that include the former information minister, because every pack needs a joker?
MOOS: Nope, not in a real decks. But some entrepreneurs have added him as a bonus. Saddam may have lost the real war, but in the card game war, Saddam's a winner. An intelligence officer dreamed up the cards so troops could get familiar with the men and one woman they're after.
(on camera): Sees weapons of mass destruction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would they have a woman doing that?
MOOS: Well...
(voice-over): The military figured it would be easier to refer to, say, the eight of hearts, rather than difficult to pronounce Arabic names.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night I scored two Barzas Ibrahim Assan al-Tikritis (ph) for just one Abd Al-Baki Abd Al-Kareem Abdallah Al- Sanoun (ph).
MOOS: For the military, such playing cards are nothing new. In WWII, spotter cards were used to teach airplane shapes and silhouettes of ships. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lepan (ph) used cards in survival training.
LT. COL. DAVE LEPAN: Because it showed, you know, the kind of plants you could eat if you were out in the wild.
MOOS: As far back as the Civil War playing cards were used to identify leaders.
The Iraqi cards sell for as little as six bucks. Or you can print out your own from the Defense Department Web site.
(on camera): This is a cheap way to make a deck of cards.
(voice-over): At the great USA flags Web site, they sold 600,000 decks in eight days, more than one a second. People keep asking me for mine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we get a deck?
MOOS (on camera): Well, I don't have -- we had to order these special just to do this story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK.
MOOS (voice-over): There we were in Times Square playing Three Card Monte, searching for Saddam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eenie-meenie-miney-moe. I got him! Yes!
MOOS: Send her to Iraq. Saddam is not the kind of dictator who gets lost in the shuffle.
(on camera): Find Saddam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right there.
MOOS: We'll see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's just a bizarre kind of world, isn't 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
