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CNN Live At Daybreak
Rocket Attacks on Palestine, Sheraton Hotels in Baghdad
Aired November 21, 2003 - 06:30 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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Two heavily-guarded hotels in central Baghdad were hit overnight by rockets. Iraq's Oil Ministry building also was targeted.
Our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, was inside one of the hotels in a room across from where one of the rockets hit. We are relieved to say that she joins us live right now.
Jane -- what did that sound like to you when it happened?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Carol, it was a huge blast. Now, we've heard blasts like that before, including the one that leveled the International Red Cross building, but this one actually was right across from my room.
It jolted many of us out of bed, and this is what a hotel room looks like, even a heavily-guarded hotel, after a rocket has ripped through it. You can see that some of it is entirely open to the air now. These rockets blasted in -- two of them in this particular room -- going through the concrete and plaster and completely leveling what was a glass and metal door there. Now, you can see shattered glass lying everywhere and these bits of metal, shattered furniture.
There was no one in this room at the time, but others weren't so lucky. In this hotel, the Palestine Hotel, one person was wounded, carried away covered in blood on a stretcher attached to an IV drip.
Across the street is another hotel, where several rockets also hit. What is believed to be a bell boy was wounded.
All of this caused by these. These are rockets. This is the nose cone of a rocket, and it's Russian-made Iraqi military. There are a lot of them around, and there were dozens of them that appeared to have been destined for use this morning, including across town at the Oil Ministry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 7:20 this morning, the Ministry of Oil was attacked by rockets. And what we know right now is it appears that there were eight rockets that penetrated the building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, there were no injuries at the Oil Ministry, but certainly those rockets in perhaps the most heavily-defended civilian building in Baghdad sent a very strong message -- Carol. LIN: All right, thank you very much, Jane Arraf, alive in Istanbul (sic).
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 21, 2003 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Two heavily-guarded hotels in central Baghdad were hit overnight by rockets. Iraq's Oil Ministry building also was targeted.
Our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, was inside one of the hotels in a room across from where one of the rockets hit. We are relieved to say that she joins us live right now.
Jane -- what did that sound like to you when it happened?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Carol, it was a huge blast. Now, we've heard blasts like that before, including the one that leveled the International Red Cross building, but this one actually was right across from my room.
It jolted many of us out of bed, and this is what a hotel room looks like, even a heavily-guarded hotel, after a rocket has ripped through it. You can see that some of it is entirely open to the air now. These rockets blasted in -- two of them in this particular room -- going through the concrete and plaster and completely leveling what was a glass and metal door there. Now, you can see shattered glass lying everywhere and these bits of metal, shattered furniture.
There was no one in this room at the time, but others weren't so lucky. In this hotel, the Palestine Hotel, one person was wounded, carried away covered in blood on a stretcher attached to an IV drip.
Across the street is another hotel, where several rockets also hit. What is believed to be a bell boy was wounded.
All of this caused by these. These are rockets. This is the nose cone of a rocket, and it's Russian-made Iraqi military. There are a lot of them around, and there were dozens of them that appeared to have been destined for use this morning, including across town at the Oil Ministry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 7:20 this morning, the Ministry of Oil was attacked by rockets. And what we know right now is it appears that there were eight rockets that penetrated the building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, there were no injuries at the Oil Ministry, but certainly those rockets in perhaps the most heavily-defended civilian building in Baghdad sent a very strong message -- Carol. LIN: All right, thank you very much, Jane Arraf, alive in Istanbul (sic).
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
