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CNN Live Today

The New Iraq: Baby Found in Box

Aired August 18, 2003 - 10:31   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our attention now to Iraq, where sabotage is one of the biggest enemies in the battle to bring stability to the troubled country.
CNN's Jane Arraf is in Baghdad, where half the city is without water after a pipeline explosion there.

Hello, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.

Residents are without water, maybe not half the city, but a substantial number of them after what happened to be either an explosion or some other act of sabotage on one of the main water pipes. Now they've cut off the water. It isn't flooding the streets anymore. But it has left perhaps a couple of hundred thousand people at this point without water supplies still.

Now further, north near that main oil pipeline to Turkey, they're still trying to bring those fires under control. That again was an act of sabotage, a much bigger one. Those exports, the oil exports from the northern oil fields to Turkey, have stopped. Now the main fire is out, but there are residual ones burning, sending those huge blooming pillars of black smoke out into neighbor something towns.

Sorry. Just on the last thing that we're following, cameraman killed by U.S. forces yesterday. The U.S. Army says it's investigating why exactly a soldier on a tank shot the Reuters cameraman in the chest as he was filming outside Abu Gray (ph). Now they may that he mistook him for someone who was holding up a rocket propelled grenade launcher. The cameraman stepped out of the car and lifted the camera to his shoulder. The soldier in the tank apparently thought that he was under threat and opened fire. His body is being sent home today -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Thank you, Jane. We'll check back with you later on.

We want to stay in Iraq, because there is one small sign of hope, one positive story to report there as well, despite all of the negative headlines, some of which we've just heard from Jane Arraf right now. British soldiers saved the life of a baby girl found in a padlocked box in the middle of a weapons cache. Now this infant was not breathing when she was found. However, the soldiers were able to revive her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Joining us now on the telephone is one of those soldiers. First Battalion Private Jonathan Hunt is joining us now.

And are you there, Private Hunt?

PVT. JONATHAN HUNT, BRITISH ARMY: Yes, hello.

HARRIS: This is an incredible story. Please, tell us exactly what happened. You found this baby in a padlocked box stacked among a bunch of weapons?

HUNT: Yes, that's correct, yes.

HARRIS: Well, tell us what happened when you got there and you got the box open.

HUNT: OK. We got there into the house, and we found the box, and there was a baby girl inside, wrapped up and tied up with string.

HARRIS: And the baby, as we understand it, was not breathing. So who was it who actually gave the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?

HUNT: That was me. I got one of the other guys to go and get a bottle of cold water for the baby while I tried to get the baby alive, because there was no pulse.

HARRIS: How long did it take you to do that?

HUNT: About a couple of minutes, maybe just under a couple of minutes.

HARRIS: And as I understand it, you have actually found the mother of this baby? What did she tell you?

HUNT: She was happy when the baby came around. She was very happy.

HARRIS: Did she tell you whether or not the baby was alive when she put it or when someone put it inside that padlocked box?

HUNT: No, she didn't say why or she didn't tell us why it was. We just found it when we were searching the house.

HARRIS: So where is the baby right now?

HUNT: Back with the mother, back with the mother. It's been to the hospital and back with the mother now.

HARRIS: And as I understand it, you and the boys there actually gave the little girl a name, right?

HUNT: Yes, her name is Rose.

HARRIS: And who picked the name Rose, and why?

HUNT: We though a lot when we picked the name Rose, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) has a rose, the rose of Lancashire. HARRIS: Private Jonathan Hunt, thank you very much for talking with us about this, and congratulations on saving a life. Nice work there. Great story.

HUNT: OK. Thank you very much.

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 August 18, 2003 - 10:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our attention now to Iraq, where sabotage is one of the biggest enemies in the battle to bring stability to the troubled country.
CNN's Jane Arraf is in Baghdad, where half the city is without water after a pipeline explosion there.

Hello, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.

Residents are without water, maybe not half the city, but a substantial number of them after what happened to be either an explosion or some other act of sabotage on one of the main water pipes. Now they've cut off the water. It isn't flooding the streets anymore. But it has left perhaps a couple of hundred thousand people at this point without water supplies still.

Now further, north near that main oil pipeline to Turkey, they're still trying to bring those fires under control. That again was an act of sabotage, a much bigger one. Those exports, the oil exports from the northern oil fields to Turkey, have stopped. Now the main fire is out, but there are residual ones burning, sending those huge blooming pillars of black smoke out into neighbor something towns.

Sorry. Just on the last thing that we're following, cameraman killed by U.S. forces yesterday. The U.S. Army says it's investigating why exactly a soldier on a tank shot the Reuters cameraman in the chest as he was filming outside Abu Gray (ph). Now they may that he mistook him for someone who was holding up a rocket propelled grenade launcher. The cameraman stepped out of the car and lifted the camera to his shoulder. The soldier in the tank apparently thought that he was under threat and opened fire. His body is being sent home today -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Thank you, Jane. We'll check back with you later on.

We want to stay in Iraq, because there is one small sign of hope, one positive story to report there as well, despite all of the negative headlines, some of which we've just heard from Jane Arraf right now. British soldiers saved the life of a baby girl found in a padlocked box in the middle of a weapons cache. Now this infant was not breathing when she was found. However, the soldiers were able to revive her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Joining us now on the telephone is one of those soldiers. First Battalion Private Jonathan Hunt is joining us now.

And are you there, Private Hunt?

PVT. JONATHAN HUNT, BRITISH ARMY: Yes, hello.

HARRIS: This is an incredible story. Please, tell us exactly what happened. You found this baby in a padlocked box stacked among a bunch of weapons?

HUNT: Yes, that's correct, yes.

HARRIS: Well, tell us what happened when you got there and you got the box open.

HUNT: OK. We got there into the house, and we found the box, and there was a baby girl inside, wrapped up and tied up with string.

HARRIS: And the baby, as we understand it, was not breathing. So who was it who actually gave the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?

HUNT: That was me. I got one of the other guys to go and get a bottle of cold water for the baby while I tried to get the baby alive, because there was no pulse.

HARRIS: How long did it take you to do that?

HUNT: About a couple of minutes, maybe just under a couple of minutes.

HARRIS: And as I understand it, you have actually found the mother of this baby? What did she tell you?

HUNT: She was happy when the baby came around. She was very happy.

HARRIS: Did she tell you whether or not the baby was alive when she put it or when someone put it inside that padlocked box?

HUNT: No, she didn't say why or she didn't tell us why it was. We just found it when we were searching the house.

HARRIS: So where is the baby right now?

HUNT: Back with the mother, back with the mother. It's been to the hospital and back with the mother now.

HARRIS: And as I understand it, you and the boys there actually gave the little girl a name, right?

HUNT: Yes, her name is Rose.

HARRIS: And who picked the name Rose, and why?

HUNT: We though a lot when we picked the name Rose, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) has a rose, the rose of Lancashire. HARRIS: Private Jonathan Hunt, thank you very much for talking with us about this, and congratulations on saving a life. Nice work there. Great story.

HUNT: OK. Thank you very much.

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