Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

President Charles Taylor Remains in Power

Aired July 08, 2003 - 05:32   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.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Liberia, President Charles Taylor remains in power, even though he said he'd step down and accept exile in Nigeria. Meanwhile, a U.S. assessment team is in the capital of Monrovia.
So is our Jeff Koinange -- Jeff, what is happening there today?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, this is day one for the humanitarian assessment mission. The 32 members of the military and advisers, experts in everything from water purification to preventive medicine to construction to logistics were out here barely 24 hours ago.

Now, as we speak, they are meeting with various members of non- governmental organizations, or NGOs, the few remaining aid workers on the ground. These aid workers are going to brief them on how desperate, how deplorable the situation is on the ground.

They were out there. In about a couple of hours time they literally hit the ground running. And you can imagine for a moment, Kris, over 100,000 displaced Liberians here in the capital of Monrovia alone. They had fled fighting in the countryside, seeking shelter, seeking refuge. And I can tell you the situation is deplorable at worst and miserable at best.

They are holed out in abandoned buildings, abandoned schools, at the local national stadium. There's very little or no running water here in Monrovia, very little food. There's no medicine to speak of.

So this team today underground on their first day will have to literally hit that ground running. And people here on the ground are saying they literally have their work cut out for them.

There's a lot of work to do in the coming days, in the coming weeks, so that they can determine in terms of numbers of troops coming in, in terms of numbers of -- quantity of medicine, quantity of food, and, of course, quantity of water -- Kris.

OSBORN: About that water, Jeff, one of the difficulties you were describing relates very much to diseases and cholera, in part, which is part of why I understand the assessment team includes some water purification experts.

How tough a task is that? I mean how can the water be purified there?

KOINANGE: Very, very tough, Kris, not only the water, but let's talk about the disease that you mentioned. Yesterday, it was a really hot day. At night it rained all night long. This is basically the rainy season. You can just imagine every tropical disease under the sun. This is the perfect breeding ground for it -- from cholera to typhoid to malaria. That's going to be a very difficult task because there is a lot of disease in those camps, in those displacement areas. And purifying that water will be a difficult task.

They'll have to -- one part of the assessment is to bring in water purification instruments so that they could purify the water, get it to the people before the disease sets in and decimates these people -- Kris.

OSBORN: Absolutely.

Jeff Koinange, thank you very much.

We'll check back with you.

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 8, 2003 - 05:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Liberia, President Charles Taylor remains in power, even though he said he'd step down and accept exile in Nigeria. Meanwhile, a U.S. assessment team is in the capital of Monrovia.
So is our Jeff Koinange -- Jeff, what is happening there today?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, this is day one for the humanitarian assessment mission. The 32 members of the military and advisers, experts in everything from water purification to preventive medicine to construction to logistics were out here barely 24 hours ago.

Now, as we speak, they are meeting with various members of non- governmental organizations, or NGOs, the few remaining aid workers on the ground. These aid workers are going to brief them on how desperate, how deplorable the situation is on the ground.

They were out there. In about a couple of hours time they literally hit the ground running. And you can imagine for a moment, Kris, over 100,000 displaced Liberians here in the capital of Monrovia alone. They had fled fighting in the countryside, seeking shelter, seeking refuge. And I can tell you the situation is deplorable at worst and miserable at best.

They are holed out in abandoned buildings, abandoned schools, at the local national stadium. There's very little or no running water here in Monrovia, very little food. There's no medicine to speak of.

So this team today underground on their first day will have to literally hit that ground running. And people here on the ground are saying they literally have their work cut out for them.

There's a lot of work to do in the coming days, in the coming weeks, so that they can determine in terms of numbers of troops coming in, in terms of numbers of -- quantity of medicine, quantity of food, and, of course, quantity of water -- Kris.

OSBORN: About that water, Jeff, one of the difficulties you were describing relates very much to diseases and cholera, in part, which is part of why I understand the assessment team includes some water purification experts.

How tough a task is that? I mean how can the water be purified there?

KOINANGE: Very, very tough, Kris, not only the water, but let's talk about the disease that you mentioned. Yesterday, it was a really hot day. At night it rained all night long. This is basically the rainy season. You can just imagine every tropical disease under the sun. This is the perfect breeding ground for it -- from cholera to typhoid to malaria. That's going to be a very difficult task because there is a lot of disease in those camps, in those displacement areas. And purifying that water will be a difficult task.

They'll have to -- one part of the assessment is to bring in water purification instruments so that they could purify the water, get it to the people before the disease sets in and decimates these people -- Kris.

OSBORN: Absolutely.

Jeff Koinange, thank you very much.

We'll check back with you.

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