Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

International Wrap: Eye on World

Aired May 06, 2003 - 06:37   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 talk more about money, literally truckloads of cash, so much money that at least three tractor-trailers were needed to haul it away.
Who did it? Not David Clinch, but he is here to tell us from our International Desk.

Supposedly it was Qusay.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes. "The New York Times" reporting today that Qusay Hussein, Saddam Hussein's son, turned up at the Central Bank in Baghdad just the day before the bombings started, the U.S. bombings started in Baghdad, with a note from his father authorizing him to do so, which was all he needed apparently, to take up to almost a billion dollars in cash from the Central Bank in Baghdad, loaded it into trucks and drove off with it. Now, we...

COSTELLO: Yes, but the questions are: Where did it go? And what were they going to use it for?

CLINCH: Right. Well, first of all, we, CNN, has now been able to confirm that the money was taken from the Central Bank. We had U.S. officials confirming that to us. They are saying the investigation into who did it is still continuing. We do not necessarily know it was Qusay; still checking on that.

And then, of course, the question of: Where are they now? You can't run around the country with truckloads of cash.

Some of it may have been recovered. Hundreds of millions have already been recovered. We don't know if that's the same money. So, we're looking into that.

Another one of those stories that I think people will be talking about today is this dance mix -- we talked about this earlier -- of Mohammad Sahaf, you remember him, the information minister from Iraq. A British record company recording today a dance mix, a disco mix I suppose you would call it, featuring his comments from during the Baghdad war. We are getting our hands on that in London right now and...

COSTELLO: So, they're actually play this in discos, this song?

CLINCH: Well, I don't know. We know they've recorded it. Whether they'll actually -- British dancers are traditionally very fussy about what they'll dance to, but we're going to get a hand on it. We are less fussy. We're going to get a hand on it and play it for you later on.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, we've got to hear that.

CLINCH: And then, another story that's of interest, I think, for people, particularly Harry Potter fans. But again, coming from Britain today, this new Harry Potter book that's coming out later in the year, top secret apparently, you know, nobody is meant to know what's in it and how long it is or anything. Well, "The Sun" tabloid in Britain today reporting that two copies of the book were found in a field by one of their readers a few days ago, who brought them to the books. They have recovered them and have them in London...

COSTELLO: The books were found in a field?

CLINCH: Two copies of it, not too far away from the company that's publishing -- that's actually printing, I should say, the book later in the year.

COSTELLO: So, how long was the book?

CLINCH: Well, they -- to give them their due, "The Sun," very tabloidly normally, but they are not revealing any details. They've shown us the front cover and the inside, but not saying how long and not telling us anything about the plot. But still interesting. Good advertising on behalf of J.K. Rowlings, who is probably going to have more money than -- she already has more money than the queen. I don't know how much more money she can get.

COSTELLO: That's true. Thanks, David.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Very interesting.

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 May 6, 2003 - 06:37   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 talk more about money, literally truckloads of cash, so much money that at least three tractor-trailers were needed to haul it away.
Who did it? Not David Clinch, but he is here to tell us from our International Desk.

Supposedly it was Qusay.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes. "The New York Times" reporting today that Qusay Hussein, Saddam Hussein's son, turned up at the Central Bank in Baghdad just the day before the bombings started, the U.S. bombings started in Baghdad, with a note from his father authorizing him to do so, which was all he needed apparently, to take up to almost a billion dollars in cash from the Central Bank in Baghdad, loaded it into trucks and drove off with it. Now, we...

COSTELLO: Yes, but the questions are: Where did it go? And what were they going to use it for?

CLINCH: Right. Well, first of all, we, CNN, has now been able to confirm that the money was taken from the Central Bank. We had U.S. officials confirming that to us. They are saying the investigation into who did it is still continuing. We do not necessarily know it was Qusay; still checking on that.

And then, of course, the question of: Where are they now? You can't run around the country with truckloads of cash.

Some of it may have been recovered. Hundreds of millions have already been recovered. We don't know if that's the same money. So, we're looking into that.

Another one of those stories that I think people will be talking about today is this dance mix -- we talked about this earlier -- of Mohammad Sahaf, you remember him, the information minister from Iraq. A British record company recording today a dance mix, a disco mix I suppose you would call it, featuring his comments from during the Baghdad war. We are getting our hands on that in London right now and...

COSTELLO: So, they're actually play this in discos, this song?

CLINCH: Well, I don't know. We know they've recorded it. Whether they'll actually -- British dancers are traditionally very fussy about what they'll dance to, but we're going to get a hand on it. We are less fussy. We're going to get a hand on it and play it for you later on.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, we've got to hear that.

CLINCH: And then, another story that's of interest, I think, for people, particularly Harry Potter fans. But again, coming from Britain today, this new Harry Potter book that's coming out later in the year, top secret apparently, you know, nobody is meant to know what's in it and how long it is or anything. Well, "The Sun" tabloid in Britain today reporting that two copies of the book were found in a field by one of their readers a few days ago, who brought them to the books. They have recovered them and have them in London...

COSTELLO: The books were found in a field?

CLINCH: Two copies of it, not too far away from the company that's publishing -- that's actually printing, I should say, the book later in the year.

COSTELLO: So, how long was the book?

CLINCH: Well, they -- to give them their due, "The Sun," very tabloidly normally, but they are not revealing any details. They've shown us the front cover and the inside, but not saying how long and not telling us anything about the plot. But still interesting. Good advertising on behalf of J.K. Rowlings, who is probably going to have more money than -- she already has more money than the queen. I don't know how much more money she can get.

COSTELLO: That's true. Thanks, David.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: Very interesting.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.