Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Terror in Baghdad
Aired August 20, 2003 - 05:02 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: Now on to our top story, terror in Baghdad. There was nothing unusual, no sign of what was imminent at the U.N. office in the Iraqi capital. A Japanese TV network was carrying this news conference when an explosion suddenly shattered the building. You can see the room went black and then smoky. Finally, faces could be made out, some of them bloody. A cement truck packed with explosives had blown up, killing 20 people and wounding 100. It's feared more bodies are still in the rubble.
And within the past hour, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke to reporters in Stockholm. He says the U.N. mission in Iraq will go forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: There are many other United Nations officials who remain in Iraq and we will continue our work. We should not be distracted noir deterred by this senseless and brutal act of violence. Those who killed our colleagues have committed a crime, a crime not only against the United Nations, but against Iraq itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now, as investigators search the rubble for clues, the U.N. considers its next step in Baghdad.
We take you live to the scene of the blast.
Rym Brahimi there with the latest -- and, Rym, I understand you've been talking with survivors today.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, I have, indeed. You can see just behind me, to my left, actually, the flag of the United Nations at half staff, and to my right you can see the rubble, basically what's left of Sergio de Mello, the U.N. envoy's, office. Now, I spoke to Sergio de Mello's spokesman, who was lucky enough to survive that, although he was injured, as well. He said that it was devastating. But despite the devastation, the U.N. is, indeed, determined to persevere in its goals.
Now, that doesn't mean that they know exactly what they're going to do, what the next step is. You have -- they've had a couple of meetings. They're going to have another meeting now to assess their situation, those of them that are here. They're taking the injured to Jordan, a neighboring country, as well, for treatment. And basically what we've been seeing all morning are relatives just trying to pour into the compound behind me to try and find out any news of their families that have been either injured or killed in the blast. They've been pouring in behind me. But you can probably see this, too, the area has been totally cordoned off by the U.S. military that is investigating and sifting through the rubble for more clues and more people, if you will -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and I understand people from around the world are calling in to see if their relatives are safe, because people of many different nationalities worked in that U.N. building.
BRAHIMI: That's right, Carol. You know, among the people who worked in that U.N. building, at least 50 percent of them were Iraqi local staff, and those are the people whose families are now coming in to try and find out anything about their relatives who were in there or their loved ones who were in there at the time of the blast. But 50 percent of them were international staff -- Americans, Filipinos, Kenyans, I mean you name it, from all over the world. And the spokesman of Sergio de Mello, the director of communications, Salim Lone, told me that he had been receiving since yesterday calls from everywhere, worried relatives asking about their loved ones that were here at the United Nations in Baghdad -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, but you heard Kofi Annan just a short time ago say that the U.N. staff will stay in Baghdad.
Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
Here's how the attack went down. The explosives laden cement truck was driven through a wire fence and into the side of the Canal Hotel. It exploded, blowing out a section of the building and blasting a six foot crater in the ground.
David Marshall, a U.N. attorney who was in the building at the time of the explosion, he describes what he went through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MARSHALL, U.N. LAWYER/EYEWITNESS: I was in a meeting on the second floor of the Canal Hotel and there was an extraordinary explosion, which blew me and those in the meeting off our seats against the wall. The roof collapsed. The lights went out and dust was everywhere. There was chaos in the building. We ran downstairs, two flights of stairs. And it was difficult getting out of the front of the building. The front of the building was covered in rubble. There were a number of bodies in the rubble. Those bodies were carried out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And you heard Rym say this, the diplomatic community is mourning the loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top United Nations envoy in Iraq. De Mello died in the Baghdad bombing at the age of 55. He was the U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights. A Brazilian native, he was married. He had two sons. He was the secretary general's representative in Kosovo. He also served as transitional administrator in East Timor and he was appointed the special representative in Iraq just last May.
The United Nations' flag was lowered to half staff in honor of de Mello. All 191 flags of U.N. member nations were also lowered. The U.N. secretary general calls de Mello the most brilliant colleague, the brightest, the best. One of de Mello's deputies also killed in the Baghdad blast. Rick Hooper was an American who worked in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.
President Bush says those who carried out the Baghdad attack are enemies of peace, but he vows their hatred will not prevail in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The terrorists who struck today have again shown their contempt for the innocent. They showed their fear of progress and their hatred of peace. They are the enemies of the Iraqi people. They are the enemies of every nation that seeks to help the Iraqi people. By their tactics and their targets, these murderers reveal themselves once more as enemies of the civilized world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You can get the latest details on this story, along with in depth analysis on our Web site, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
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 20, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to our top story, terror in Baghdad. There was nothing unusual, no sign of what was imminent at the U.N. office in the Iraqi capital. A Japanese TV network was carrying this news conference when an explosion suddenly shattered the building. You can see the room went black and then smoky. Finally, faces could be made out, some of them bloody. A cement truck packed with explosives had blown up, killing 20 people and wounding 100. It's feared more bodies are still in the rubble.
And within the past hour, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke to reporters in Stockholm. He says the U.N. mission in Iraq will go forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: There are many other United Nations officials who remain in Iraq and we will continue our work. We should not be distracted noir deterred by this senseless and brutal act of violence. Those who killed our colleagues have committed a crime, a crime not only against the United Nations, but against Iraq itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now, as investigators search the rubble for clues, the U.N. considers its next step in Baghdad.
We take you live to the scene of the blast.
Rym Brahimi there with the latest -- and, Rym, I understand you've been talking with survivors today.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, I have, indeed. You can see just behind me, to my left, actually, the flag of the United Nations at half staff, and to my right you can see the rubble, basically what's left of Sergio de Mello, the U.N. envoy's, office. Now, I spoke to Sergio de Mello's spokesman, who was lucky enough to survive that, although he was injured, as well. He said that it was devastating. But despite the devastation, the U.N. is, indeed, determined to persevere in its goals.
Now, that doesn't mean that they know exactly what they're going to do, what the next step is. You have -- they've had a couple of meetings. They're going to have another meeting now to assess their situation, those of them that are here. They're taking the injured to Jordan, a neighboring country, as well, for treatment. And basically what we've been seeing all morning are relatives just trying to pour into the compound behind me to try and find out any news of their families that have been either injured or killed in the blast. They've been pouring in behind me. But you can probably see this, too, the area has been totally cordoned off by the U.S. military that is investigating and sifting through the rubble for more clues and more people, if you will -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and I understand people from around the world are calling in to see if their relatives are safe, because people of many different nationalities worked in that U.N. building.
BRAHIMI: That's right, Carol. You know, among the people who worked in that U.N. building, at least 50 percent of them were Iraqi local staff, and those are the people whose families are now coming in to try and find out anything about their relatives who were in there or their loved ones who were in there at the time of the blast. But 50 percent of them were international staff -- Americans, Filipinos, Kenyans, I mean you name it, from all over the world. And the spokesman of Sergio de Mello, the director of communications, Salim Lone, told me that he had been receiving since yesterday calls from everywhere, worried relatives asking about their loved ones that were here at the United Nations in Baghdad -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, but you heard Kofi Annan just a short time ago say that the U.N. staff will stay in Baghdad.
Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
Here's how the attack went down. The explosives laden cement truck was driven through a wire fence and into the side of the Canal Hotel. It exploded, blowing out a section of the building and blasting a six foot crater in the ground.
David Marshall, a U.N. attorney who was in the building at the time of the explosion, he describes what he went through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MARSHALL, U.N. LAWYER/EYEWITNESS: I was in a meeting on the second floor of the Canal Hotel and there was an extraordinary explosion, which blew me and those in the meeting off our seats against the wall. The roof collapsed. The lights went out and dust was everywhere. There was chaos in the building. We ran downstairs, two flights of stairs. And it was difficult getting out of the front of the building. The front of the building was covered in rubble. There were a number of bodies in the rubble. Those bodies were carried out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And you heard Rym say this, the diplomatic community is mourning the loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top United Nations envoy in Iraq. De Mello died in the Baghdad bombing at the age of 55. He was the U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights. A Brazilian native, he was married. He had two sons. He was the secretary general's representative in Kosovo. He also served as transitional administrator in East Timor and he was appointed the special representative in Iraq just last May.
The United Nations' flag was lowered to half staff in honor of de Mello. All 191 flags of U.N. member nations were also lowered. The U.N. secretary general calls de Mello the most brilliant colleague, the brightest, the best. One of de Mello's deputies also killed in the Baghdad blast. Rick Hooper was an American who worked in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.
President Bush says those who carried out the Baghdad attack are enemies of peace, but he vows their hatred will not prevail in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The terrorists who struck today have again shown their contempt for the innocent. They showed their fear of progress and their hatred of peace. They are the enemies of the Iraqi people. They are the enemies of every nation that seeks to help the Iraqi people. By their tactics and their targets, these murderers reveal themselves once more as enemies of the civilized world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You can get the latest details on this story, along with in depth analysis on our Web site, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
