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CNN Live At Daybreak
International Wrap, Eye on World
Aired July 03, 2003 - 06:38 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: President Bush said "Bring them on." Overnight apparently they did. More U.S. troops wounded.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us with more on that part of the story.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol. Good morning.
Well, Iraq is very much still on the agenda for us today. I mean, we -- you know, we're not reacting to what President Bush said yesterday. I'm not sure that the groups who are in Iraq are reacting to what President Bush said yesterday. There were more attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, all over Iraq today, at least 9, 10 -- I think it's up to 10 U.S. soldiers wounded today.
A Humvee hit in Baghdad today, soldiers lying wounded in the streets. I mean, it's not exactly Somalia yet. Its far from that. But, you know, we're talking about Liberia and troops ought to be going there. These are already horrific scenes for the U.S. audience to look at...
COSTELLO: And after the Iraqis set that Humvee on fire, they actually cheered around the vehicle.
CLINCH: They cheered, and they didn't look too unhappy, too, either, as these U.S. wounded were being carted away by their colleagues in the streets. Again, not a crisis, but with President Bush saying, "Bring them on," to the attackers and the attacks are continuing, it's definitely a story we're keeping an eye on.
And Liberia, you know, as John King was saying here, I think that, you know, the question of why Liberia? Why would the U.S. send troops to Liberia? Somewhere in the triangle between President Bush just about to go Africa, which is obviously a factor, somewhere also in there is the do-the-right-thing response. The U.S. government is always traditionally looking at countries, you know, that they have a connection to. Liberia is definitely connected historically to the United States, wanting to protect the people.
And then also the question we were talking about earlier of the idea of a failed state not -- the U.S. not interested in seeing any state in any region of the world turn into a haven for terrorists, turned into a failed state. So...
COSTELLO: Well, and it's not often you have an indicted war criminal sitting there as president of a country. CLINCH: Absolutely. And Charles Taylor -- you know, President Bush, you know, is on record in his opinion about Charles Taylor, just like he is about Kim Jong Il. You know, there are some things which I think you would have to say are almost personal for President Bush about this Liberia story. There has been no announcement yet, but we're still waiting to see.
We have an interview with President Bush today. CNN International is interviewing him later today. He may make some comments about this, so we'll be watching.
And then another story, it's a little bit below the radar, but it caught my interest today. The U.N. World Meteorological Organization, the WMO, which normally is very conservative in its predictions and statements about the world's weather, put out quite an alarming statement yesterday about the world's weather, using phrases like "extreme climate change," "looking for more severe weather all over the world," "weather becoming more unpredictable."
We have a couple of pictures which help to illustrate this story of some of the weather patterns in the world today. In Australia today -- maybe you can see this, but this is...
COSTELLO: This is bad.
CLINCH: It's a Mir (ph) cat in the zoo in Sydney, and he's warming himself with a heat lamp there, and he's doing that because it's extremely cold. Now, it is winter in Australia right now, but apparently the coldest winter in an awfully long time.
And then separately in Italy today -- we've got some pictures and here is a still photograph of people cooling themselves in the fountains in Italy -- there is a heat wave in southern Europe today, Bulgaria. There are fires breaking out in Italy. It's way over 100. But interestingly, the Italian weather service saying yesterday Italy may be becoming a tropical country.
COSTELLO: You're kidding?
CLINCH: The weather pattern over the last few years has apparently changed so radically that Italy fits the pattern now of a tropical climate rather than a temperate European one. So...
COSTELLO: And might this bring up the whole issue of global warming once again?
CLINCH: It is. I mean, when you look at the weather here, it's been raining all spring. So, it's hard to say, but when you hear the U.N. say it, it's a little bit more concerning than somebody else saying it.
COSTELLO: Yes, we'll talk more with Chad about that.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Thanks, David. We appreciate 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 July 3, 2003 - 06:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush said "Bring them on." Overnight apparently they did. More U.S. troops wounded.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us with more on that part of the story.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol. Good morning.
Well, Iraq is very much still on the agenda for us today. I mean, we -- you know, we're not reacting to what President Bush said yesterday. I'm not sure that the groups who are in Iraq are reacting to what President Bush said yesterday. There were more attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, all over Iraq today, at least 9, 10 -- I think it's up to 10 U.S. soldiers wounded today.
A Humvee hit in Baghdad today, soldiers lying wounded in the streets. I mean, it's not exactly Somalia yet. Its far from that. But, you know, we're talking about Liberia and troops ought to be going there. These are already horrific scenes for the U.S. audience to look at...
COSTELLO: And after the Iraqis set that Humvee on fire, they actually cheered around the vehicle.
CLINCH: They cheered, and they didn't look too unhappy, too, either, as these U.S. wounded were being carted away by their colleagues in the streets. Again, not a crisis, but with President Bush saying, "Bring them on," to the attackers and the attacks are continuing, it's definitely a story we're keeping an eye on.
And Liberia, you know, as John King was saying here, I think that, you know, the question of why Liberia? Why would the U.S. send troops to Liberia? Somewhere in the triangle between President Bush just about to go Africa, which is obviously a factor, somewhere also in there is the do-the-right-thing response. The U.S. government is always traditionally looking at countries, you know, that they have a connection to. Liberia is definitely connected historically to the United States, wanting to protect the people.
And then also the question we were talking about earlier of the idea of a failed state not -- the U.S. not interested in seeing any state in any region of the world turn into a haven for terrorists, turned into a failed state. So...
COSTELLO: Well, and it's not often you have an indicted war criminal sitting there as president of a country. CLINCH: Absolutely. And Charles Taylor -- you know, President Bush, you know, is on record in his opinion about Charles Taylor, just like he is about Kim Jong Il. You know, there are some things which I think you would have to say are almost personal for President Bush about this Liberia story. There has been no announcement yet, but we're still waiting to see.
We have an interview with President Bush today. CNN International is interviewing him later today. He may make some comments about this, so we'll be watching.
And then another story, it's a little bit below the radar, but it caught my interest today. The U.N. World Meteorological Organization, the WMO, which normally is very conservative in its predictions and statements about the world's weather, put out quite an alarming statement yesterday about the world's weather, using phrases like "extreme climate change," "looking for more severe weather all over the world," "weather becoming more unpredictable."
We have a couple of pictures which help to illustrate this story of some of the weather patterns in the world today. In Australia today -- maybe you can see this, but this is...
COSTELLO: This is bad.
CLINCH: It's a Mir (ph) cat in the zoo in Sydney, and he's warming himself with a heat lamp there, and he's doing that because it's extremely cold. Now, it is winter in Australia right now, but apparently the coldest winter in an awfully long time.
And then separately in Italy today -- we've got some pictures and here is a still photograph of people cooling themselves in the fountains in Italy -- there is a heat wave in southern Europe today, Bulgaria. There are fires breaking out in Italy. It's way over 100. But interestingly, the Italian weather service saying yesterday Italy may be becoming a tropical country.
COSTELLO: You're kidding?
CLINCH: The weather pattern over the last few years has apparently changed so radically that Italy fits the pattern now of a tropical climate rather than a temperate European one. So...
COSTELLO: And might this bring up the whole issue of global warming once again?
CLINCH: It is. I mean, when you look at the weather here, it's been raining all spring. So, it's hard to say, but when you hear the U.N. say it, it's a little bit more concerning than somebody else saying it.
COSTELLO: Yes, we'll talk more with Chad about that.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Thanks, David. We appreciate 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.
