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CNN Live At Daybreak

Rumsfeld's Trip to Iraq

Aired September 05, 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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is getting to rub it in, so to speak. He has been visiting 4th Infantry Division troops in Tikrit. That's Saddam Hussein's ancestral hometown.
Let's get more on Rumsfeld's trip to Iraq.

Our Jason Bellini is in Tikrit with more on that -- hello to you, Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredericka.

Well, very heavy security, as you might expect, during the Secretary's visit. We saw coming up the Tigris River behind me Apache helicopters all morning here. Also on the streets, one of the main thoroughfares going through Tikrit, they shut down the lanes so that people couldn't even come within probably a kilometer of the military base.

Now, this base had come under attack just a couple nights before, six mortars fired at it. Fortunately, none of them landed very close. That led to a big firefight. Dramatic video of that from just the other day.

Now, his message here when he meets with troops and he meets with commanders at the base is that they're going to get more help, but that help is going to be coming from the Iraqi people themselves, former military, people that they recruit, they train for the police, for the army, for the new police, for the new army and for the civil defense corps. Right now there are about 50,000 people in those three forces. They hope to get another 100,000 within the next several months, up to 100,000.

So that's one of the main objectives that, on this visit, is to emphasize that that's where some of the help is going to be coming from because of all the bad news that's come out of here, how dangerous it has been. That's why many believe this new measure to try to help support them here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Jason, with Rumsfeld's security detail, is it thought that he got a realistic view of security there? BELLINI: That's interesting. I read that when he flew into Baghdad, he saw the lights on all over Baghdad and he said it sounded like Chicago, his hometown. He came here during the day time and on the base he's going to have very high security around him, as I said before. So he'll, it's a fairly brief visit and meeting with the troops inside of the palaces, not really touring the streets and seeing the people or seeing the people who are out walking the beat. Most likely considered too dangerous a situation for him to do that -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jason Bellini, thanks very much, from Tikrit.

Well, when you get a chance to fire up your computer this morning, be sure to keep up with the latest on Iraq and other places on our Web site. The address is cnn.com. AOL keyword is 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 September 5, 2003 - 05:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is getting to rub it in, so to speak. He has been visiting 4th Infantry Division troops in Tikrit. That's Saddam Hussein's ancestral hometown.
Let's get more on Rumsfeld's trip to Iraq.

Our Jason Bellini is in Tikrit with more on that -- hello to you, Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredericka.

Well, very heavy security, as you might expect, during the Secretary's visit. We saw coming up the Tigris River behind me Apache helicopters all morning here. Also on the streets, one of the main thoroughfares going through Tikrit, they shut down the lanes so that people couldn't even come within probably a kilometer of the military base.

Now, this base had come under attack just a couple nights before, six mortars fired at it. Fortunately, none of them landed very close. That led to a big firefight. Dramatic video of that from just the other day.

Now, his message here when he meets with troops and he meets with commanders at the base is that they're going to get more help, but that help is going to be coming from the Iraqi people themselves, former military, people that they recruit, they train for the police, for the army, for the new police, for the new army and for the civil defense corps. Right now there are about 50,000 people in those three forces. They hope to get another 100,000 within the next several months, up to 100,000.

So that's one of the main objectives that, on this visit, is to emphasize that that's where some of the help is going to be coming from because of all the bad news that's come out of here, how dangerous it has been. That's why many believe this new measure to try to help support them here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Jason, with Rumsfeld's security detail, is it thought that he got a realistic view of security there? BELLINI: That's interesting. I read that when he flew into Baghdad, he saw the lights on all over Baghdad and he said it sounded like Chicago, his hometown. He came here during the day time and on the base he's going to have very high security around him, as I said before. So he'll, it's a fairly brief visit and meeting with the troops inside of the palaces, not really touring the streets and seeing the people or seeing the people who are out walking the beat. Most likely considered too dangerous a situation for him to do that -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jason Bellini, thanks very much, from Tikrit.

Well, when you get a chance to fire up your computer this morning, be sure to keep up with the latest on Iraq and other places on our Web site. The address is cnn.com. AOL keyword is 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