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CNN Live Today

Sunday Marked Deadliest Day in Iraq

Aired November 03, 2003 - 10:01   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The new Iraq, new measure of its deadly instability. This time yesterday Americans were first learning of the most deadly day yet in the post-war country. Nineteen Americans died in three separate attacks. The deadliest, the apparent attack on the military helicopter.
Let's get the view today from Baghdad. That's where our Matthew Chance is in the capital with and the latest. Matthew, hello.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Daryn. It's been a terrible weekend for U.S. forces on the ground here. The coalition warnings over the past few weeks and days that there would be an upsurge in attacks against their personnel have become tragically accurate with that downing that you mentioned of a U.S. helicopter, Chinook helicopter, carrying U.S. soldiers to Baghdad International Airport where they would have been transferring out of the country to take the R and R.

It's an attack which has caused a loss of 16 lives of U.S. servicemen. Twenty others have been left injured, 16 of those 20 have been flown to U.S. military medical facility in Germany earlier today to receive treatment from the facilities that they have there.

Rhonda Cornum is the commander of that medical center in Germany. Let's listen what she had to say to the reporters there earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RHONDA CORNUM, LANDSTUHL MEDICAL CENTER: We did have 16 people so far evacuated and admitted to Lanstuhl. Of those 16, 11 were admitted to ICU, five are sufficiently stable to be on the ward.

The actual medical condition of people in the ICU is still under -- being evaluated as we speak. Currently everyone is considered stable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Well, the big questions now, how did this happen and who is responsible for it?

One of the things the coalition say they're trying to do is improve their level of intelligence gathering which is so far been unable to predict specific incidents like this. They say they're accelerating the pace of training Iraqi personnel in the armed forces and Iraqi police personnel, as well, to get people out there with the local knowledge, the local language skills, who would be more easily able to identify who is responsible for carrying out these attacks -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Matthew, another question. Where the explosives are coming from?

CHANCE: Well, it's not altogether clear. But if it was a shoulder launched missile, which is what the eyewitnesses who witnessed this attack say it was that brought down this helicopter, then coalition officials have already made it clear over event weeks that this country is more or less saturated with those kinds of weapons and other weapons, as well.

They say there are more weapons here than it is humanly possible to protect and to safeguard, many hundreds of surface to air missiles that were kept by the regime of Saddam Hussein that are spread out across the chaos this country since the fall of his regime.

And so if some of those peps were to fall into the hands of these insurgents, whoever they are, that may not be able to be a surprise for the coalition.

KAGAN: Matthew Chance, in Baghdad. Matthew, thank you for that.

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 November 3, 2003 - 10:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The new Iraq, new measure of its deadly instability. This time yesterday Americans were first learning of the most deadly day yet in the post-war country. Nineteen Americans died in three separate attacks. The deadliest, the apparent attack on the military helicopter.
Let's get the view today from Baghdad. That's where our Matthew Chance is in the capital with and the latest. Matthew, hello.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Daryn. It's been a terrible weekend for U.S. forces on the ground here. The coalition warnings over the past few weeks and days that there would be an upsurge in attacks against their personnel have become tragically accurate with that downing that you mentioned of a U.S. helicopter, Chinook helicopter, carrying U.S. soldiers to Baghdad International Airport where they would have been transferring out of the country to take the R and R.

It's an attack which has caused a loss of 16 lives of U.S. servicemen. Twenty others have been left injured, 16 of those 20 have been flown to U.S. military medical facility in Germany earlier today to receive treatment from the facilities that they have there.

Rhonda Cornum is the commander of that medical center in Germany. Let's listen what she had to say to the reporters there earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RHONDA CORNUM, LANDSTUHL MEDICAL CENTER: We did have 16 people so far evacuated and admitted to Lanstuhl. Of those 16, 11 were admitted to ICU, five are sufficiently stable to be on the ward.

The actual medical condition of people in the ICU is still under -- being evaluated as we speak. Currently everyone is considered stable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Well, the big questions now, how did this happen and who is responsible for it?

One of the things the coalition say they're trying to do is improve their level of intelligence gathering which is so far been unable to predict specific incidents like this. They say they're accelerating the pace of training Iraqi personnel in the armed forces and Iraqi police personnel, as well, to get people out there with the local knowledge, the local language skills, who would be more easily able to identify who is responsible for carrying out these attacks -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Matthew, another question. Where the explosives are coming from?

CHANCE: Well, it's not altogether clear. But if it was a shoulder launched missile, which is what the eyewitnesses who witnessed this attack say it was that brought down this helicopter, then coalition officials have already made it clear over event weeks that this country is more or less saturated with those kinds of weapons and other weapons, as well.

They say there are more weapons here than it is humanly possible to protect and to safeguard, many hundreds of surface to air missiles that were kept by the regime of Saddam Hussein that are spread out across the chaos this country since the fall of his regime.

And so if some of those peps were to fall into the hands of these insurgents, whoever they are, that may not be able to be a surprise for the coalition.

KAGAN: Matthew Chance, in Baghdad. Matthew, thank you for that.

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