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CNN Live At Daybreak
Mortar Attacks Under Way Again on U.S. Embassy in Liberia
Aired July 22, 2003 - 05:31 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: Mortar attacks are under way again at this hour on the U.S. Embassy in Liberia.
We want to go live to Monrovia now.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in the basement of the American embassy -- tell us what's going on, Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I can tell you, the mortar fire has died down a little bit now and they have actually let us out of the basement. We are going upstairs to where we usually have our live shots. And we're also thinking of venturing out because the Ministry of Defense here in Liberia is about to hold a major press conference. We're expecting them to tell us that they are pushing the rebels back and also that the death toll is somewhere upwards of 600. That's what the government is estimating, although aide workers say that could be much lower, although they have no way of verifying. The government is going to tell us the death toll is high and that they are pushing the rebels back -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Pushing the rebels back, you know, everybody's waiting for Charles Taylor to step down, but that's not likely to happen any time soon, is it?
KOINANGE: No time soon, Carol. In fact, the president's office did issue a statement this morning saying they did not initiate this latest attack, it was the rebels who initiated it, all they're doing is defending themselves. That's what the government is sticking to their point, let the world know that all they're doing is defending themselves, defending the people of Monrovia, and they're going to try all they can to push the rebels back.
In fact, we can hear the sound of .50 caliber gunfire off in the distance, maybe about a mile or so from where I'm standing. It looks like the government is definitely engaging the rebels as we speak. We don't know how far they're going to push them, but we'll find out more when we go to this press conference with the Ministry of Defense -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and it sounds as if you want to get there, so we'll let you go and you'll join us again in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
Jeff Koinange reporting live from Monrovia, Liberia 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 July 22, 2003 - 05:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Mortar attacks are under way again at this hour on the U.S. Embassy in Liberia.
We want to go live to Monrovia now.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in the basement of the American embassy -- tell us what's going on, Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I can tell you, the mortar fire has died down a little bit now and they have actually let us out of the basement. We are going upstairs to where we usually have our live shots. And we're also thinking of venturing out because the Ministry of Defense here in Liberia is about to hold a major press conference. We're expecting them to tell us that they are pushing the rebels back and also that the death toll is somewhere upwards of 600. That's what the government is estimating, although aide workers say that could be much lower, although they have no way of verifying. The government is going to tell us the death toll is high and that they are pushing the rebels back -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Pushing the rebels back, you know, everybody's waiting for Charles Taylor to step down, but that's not likely to happen any time soon, is it?
KOINANGE: No time soon, Carol. In fact, the president's office did issue a statement this morning saying they did not initiate this latest attack, it was the rebels who initiated it, all they're doing is defending themselves. That's what the government is sticking to their point, let the world know that all they're doing is defending themselves, defending the people of Monrovia, and they're going to try all they can to push the rebels back.
In fact, we can hear the sound of .50 caliber gunfire off in the distance, maybe about a mile or so from where I'm standing. It looks like the government is definitely engaging the rebels as we speak. We don't know how far they're going to push them, but we'll find out more when we go to this press conference with the Ministry of Defense -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and it sounds as if you want to get there, so we'll let you go and you'll join us again in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
Jeff Koinange reporting live from Monrovia, Liberia 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
