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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pre-Dawn Raid Today in Tikrit

Aired September 08, 2003 - 06:06   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: Before dawn today, more U.S. troops swooped in to several neighborhoods in Tikrit.
Let's get details on that now from our Jason Bellini, who is in Tikrit -- Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.

Well, just as the president was speaking, there were raids going under way here in Saddam Hussein's hometown. The raids netted four suspects. One of them (UNINTELLIGIBLE) where they discovered anti- American propaganda in the house that they raided, and they decided to take him for more information as well. The other three they say are suspected of planting these improvised explosive devices.

And here, we hear much more about the hunt for these types of individuals, the ones who are mounting these attacks on American soldiers, than we are hearing about the hunt for Saddam Hussein. That's still a priority here, of course, and they said it as recently as last week that he very well may be here and they are operating on the premise that Saddam Hussein is here.

These raids are still -- they're still mounting these raids trying to capture the people who are attacking them. They said they need to do that before they can do anything else.

And there is continued frustration, and we've been here now for -- we're going into our second week here, and we've seen quite a number of raids. And each time there is hope afterwards that this will be the one that stops some of the attacks from happening; that gives some time of peace.

Unfortunately here, another round of attacks with explosive devices hitting two vehicles. They were in a convoy on the road. And these improvised explosive devices are the same type that we've been seeing all along, the same type they're trying to eliminate from Iraq -- Fredricka.

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

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 8, 2003 - 06:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Before dawn today, more U.S. troops swooped in to several neighborhoods in Tikrit.
Let's get details on that now from our Jason Bellini, who is in Tikrit -- Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.

Well, just as the president was speaking, there were raids going under way here in Saddam Hussein's hometown. The raids netted four suspects. One of them (UNINTELLIGIBLE) where they discovered anti- American propaganda in the house that they raided, and they decided to take him for more information as well. The other three they say are suspected of planting these improvised explosive devices.

And here, we hear much more about the hunt for these types of individuals, the ones who are mounting these attacks on American soldiers, than we are hearing about the hunt for Saddam Hussein. That's still a priority here, of course, and they said it as recently as last week that he very well may be here and they are operating on the premise that Saddam Hussein is here.

These raids are still -- they're still mounting these raids trying to capture the people who are attacking them. They said they need to do that before they can do anything else.

And there is continued frustration, and we've been here now for -- we're going into our second week here, and we've seen quite a number of raids. And each time there is hope afterwards that this will be the one that stops some of the attacks from happening; that gives some time of peace.

Unfortunately here, another round of attacks with explosive devices hitting two vehicles. They were in a convoy on the road. And these improvised explosive devices are the same type that we've been seeing all along, the same type they're trying to eliminate from Iraq -- Fredricka.

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

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