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CNN Live At Daybreak
Saddam Videotapes
Aired April 24, 2003 - 06:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Saddam Hussein was known for his iron-fisted rule of Iraq. Well, this morning, we have exclusive home video that shows Saddam Hussein celebrating his birthday, walking with his wife and much more.
Rula Amin joins us live again from Baghdad with more pictures.
Good morning Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Carol, before we go to those video pictures let me tell you about Michael Speicher. He's the U.S. pilot whose plane was shot down in 1991 at the beginning of the Gulf War then. In the beginning, the U.S. believed that he was killed; then there were some clues that he may have survived the accident. So his status was changed to missing in action.
Now, in Baghdad, after the troops have gone in, they found his initials in one of the cells in one of Baghdad's prisons. We'll show you a picture of where his initials are. And this is a prison in Baghdad. The Army found those initials. They believe they may belong to him, and this may be an indication that he actually survived the accident.
If he is still alive or not, they can't tell yet, but they are certainly looking for him.
Now, on a different note, CNN has obtained some videos that show Saddam Hussein with his family, his private moments that Iraqis have not seen before on television.
One of those videos show Saddam Hussein celebrating his 50th birthday. Now, this was usually an occasion that was celebrated with elaborate festivities throughout the country, mostly organized festivities.
You can see there, he was cutting a huge cake. You can hear the children singing in the back, calling him, "Father, Saddam," that he is like the love in the heart, the light in the eyes. Behind him, some of his military aides, including his private secretary, Abed Mahmoud.
And you can see also one of his son-in-laws, Saddam Kamel (ph). He is the husband of his daughter, Ranelle Saddam Hussein (ph), daughter Ranelle (ph). He was later killed, along with his brother, Hussein Kamel (ph), when they both returned to Iraq after they had fled Iraq and exposed some of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.
In another video, we can see him walking with his wife, Sajida. Now, she is his cousin. He's been married to her since he was very young, and these are very rare footage, because usually Iraqis were not able to see such intimate pictures. They saw very little of Sajida on the public television, only in formal and official set-ups and very few times. Here, you can see him walking hand-in-hand with her in the northern part of the country in the winter of 1989.
Another video shows Saddam Hussein actually saying goodbye to Sajida as she was leaving to Cairo on an official visit. Again, in that video, he's saying goodbye. He's giving her a kiss on the cheek. Such pictures were not shown on Iraqi television. Iraqis have never seen him kissing his wife before.
You can see his son, Qusay, also saying goodbye to his mother, along with other members of the family. She went on a state visit to -- an official visit to Egypt, where she was received by the first lady there in Egypt.
Another video shows Sajida in her own social setting without her husband, and there, you can see also Queen Noor of Jordan. For a while, there were good relations -- there were good relations between Iraq and Jordan. The two countries are neighboring countries, and it seems that Queen Noor came here on a visit.
Some of the video that we have shows her in different occasions with Sajida, and again, it's a very social set-up. There is no official visit there. She's not -- Sajida is not doing anything like opening a charity or helping anybody. It's basically in her home having private visits, hosting parties.
And again, these are footage that Iraqis have never seen before, because she was kept off the screens of the public eye, off the screens of the public television and the newspapers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And again, Rula, it just seems so bizarre to see these pictures with Saddam Hussein doing normal things from all that we know of him.
I want to go back, though, to the initials found on that prison wall, apparently from Michael Scott Speicher. Do authorities know that those indeed are his initials? Are they sure?
AMIN: Well, they cannot be sure. However, it seems that they had enough clues to make them believe that these may be Michael Speicher's initials.
They have been looking hard for him for years, and they really are determined to find an answer to his fate -- if he's dead, if he's still alive. When his plane was shot down, he was 33 years old. Now, he's about 45 years old. So it's an episode that needs to be closed and his family needs to have some answers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Rula Amin, you'll have much more for us in the next half-hour. Many thanks to you. Rula Amin live from Baghdad this morning.
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 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Saddam Hussein was known for his iron-fisted rule of Iraq. Well, this morning, we have exclusive home video that shows Saddam Hussein celebrating his birthday, walking with his wife and much more.
Rula Amin joins us live again from Baghdad with more pictures.
Good morning Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Carol, before we go to those video pictures let me tell you about Michael Speicher. He's the U.S. pilot whose plane was shot down in 1991 at the beginning of the Gulf War then. In the beginning, the U.S. believed that he was killed; then there were some clues that he may have survived the accident. So his status was changed to missing in action.
Now, in Baghdad, after the troops have gone in, they found his initials in one of the cells in one of Baghdad's prisons. We'll show you a picture of where his initials are. And this is a prison in Baghdad. The Army found those initials. They believe they may belong to him, and this may be an indication that he actually survived the accident.
If he is still alive or not, they can't tell yet, but they are certainly looking for him.
Now, on a different note, CNN has obtained some videos that show Saddam Hussein with his family, his private moments that Iraqis have not seen before on television.
One of those videos show Saddam Hussein celebrating his 50th birthday. Now, this was usually an occasion that was celebrated with elaborate festivities throughout the country, mostly organized festivities.
You can see there, he was cutting a huge cake. You can hear the children singing in the back, calling him, "Father, Saddam," that he is like the love in the heart, the light in the eyes. Behind him, some of his military aides, including his private secretary, Abed Mahmoud.
And you can see also one of his son-in-laws, Saddam Kamel (ph). He is the husband of his daughter, Ranelle Saddam Hussein (ph), daughter Ranelle (ph). He was later killed, along with his brother, Hussein Kamel (ph), when they both returned to Iraq after they had fled Iraq and exposed some of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.
In another video, we can see him walking with his wife, Sajida. Now, she is his cousin. He's been married to her since he was very young, and these are very rare footage, because usually Iraqis were not able to see such intimate pictures. They saw very little of Sajida on the public television, only in formal and official set-ups and very few times. Here, you can see him walking hand-in-hand with her in the northern part of the country in the winter of 1989.
Another video shows Saddam Hussein actually saying goodbye to Sajida as she was leaving to Cairo on an official visit. Again, in that video, he's saying goodbye. He's giving her a kiss on the cheek. Such pictures were not shown on Iraqi television. Iraqis have never seen him kissing his wife before.
You can see his son, Qusay, also saying goodbye to his mother, along with other members of the family. She went on a state visit to -- an official visit to Egypt, where she was received by the first lady there in Egypt.
Another video shows Sajida in her own social setting without her husband, and there, you can see also Queen Noor of Jordan. For a while, there were good relations -- there were good relations between Iraq and Jordan. The two countries are neighboring countries, and it seems that Queen Noor came here on a visit.
Some of the video that we have shows her in different occasions with Sajida, and again, it's a very social set-up. There is no official visit there. She's not -- Sajida is not doing anything like opening a charity or helping anybody. It's basically in her home having private visits, hosting parties.
And again, these are footage that Iraqis have never seen before, because she was kept off the screens of the public eye, off the screens of the public television and the newspapers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And again, Rula, it just seems so bizarre to see these pictures with Saddam Hussein doing normal things from all that we know of him.
I want to go back, though, to the initials found on that prison wall, apparently from Michael Scott Speicher. Do authorities know that those indeed are his initials? Are they sure?
AMIN: Well, they cannot be sure. However, it seems that they had enough clues to make them believe that these may be Michael Speicher's initials.
They have been looking hard for him for years, and they really are determined to find an answer to his fate -- if he's dead, if he's still alive. When his plane was shot down, he was 33 years old. Now, he's about 45 years old. So it's an episode that needs to be closed and his family needs to have some answers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Rula Amin, you'll have much more for us in the next half-hour. Many thanks to you. Rula Amin live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
