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CNN Live At Daybreak

American Soldier Dead in Iraq

Aired December 05, 2003 - 05:01   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We are just getting word that an American soldier is dead in Iraq, killed by one of those roadside bombs.
Let's go live to Baghdad to find out more.

Walter Rodgers is there -- hello, Walter.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

The target this morning was a U.S. Army convoy, three Humvees passing near a busy mosque in downtown Baghdad. Apparently it was a roadside bomb placed in the traffic island in the middle of the road.

One U.S. soldier killed, at least three Iraqis killed.

Whaleed Abdul Sattar (ph) was an eyewitness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHALEED ABDUL SATTAR (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I heard the large explosion on the main street. I saw American hummers. One was hit and the other pulled up a little further. Two injured soldiers got out of the vehicle and the American driver was dead and slumped over the steering wheel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Friday is, of course, the Muslim day of prayer. The streets were extraordinarily crowded and the bus upon which most of the victims were was just unfortunately too close to the U.S. military convoy. There was blood all over the bus. At least three Iraqis killed, according to police. Eyewitnesses, however, say at least six Iraqis were killed there. Between 12 and 13 others were taken to hospital.

This latest violence comes as U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld is expected here in Baghdad on a visit of Iraq today and over the course of the next couple of days. This appears to have been more than coincidence -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Which, of course, makes you nervous, because Donald Rumsfeld will surely ride in some kind of convoy.

I had thought, Walter, there was some effort there to change the way things are so that convoys wouldn't be so targeted.

Is there a move to do that, to make it safer to travel?

RODGERS: What we're hearing, of course, is that the Army is trying to upgrade the armor on these convoys, on the Humvees. But a Humvee is not an armored vehicle. In some respects, it's just a plastic jeep, not even as safe as your own automobile. And when these roadside bombs go off, these improvised explosive devices, they have enormous force and they may be stuffed with nails, shrapnel. They just cut right through an ordinary car. And a Humvee is all the more vulnerable.

That's why the U.S. is trying to upgrade the armor on these. But there's no protection for these vehicles to speak of from these roadside bombs, which the Iraqi insurgents use quite indiscriminately in civilian areas, even outside a mosque, as they did this morning. The aim is to kill Americans and they don't seem to care a lot if there happens to be an Iraqi bus with innocent civilians passing by -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Walter Rodgers reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Our Web site is staying on top of the Baghdad bus explosion. Click onto cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN, for more on this story. And we'll have new information on that Web site throughout your work day.

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 December 5, 2003 - 05:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We are just getting word that an American soldier is dead in Iraq, killed by one of those roadside bombs.
Let's go live to Baghdad to find out more.

Walter Rodgers is there -- hello, Walter.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

The target this morning was a U.S. Army convoy, three Humvees passing near a busy mosque in downtown Baghdad. Apparently it was a roadside bomb placed in the traffic island in the middle of the road.

One U.S. soldier killed, at least three Iraqis killed.

Whaleed Abdul Sattar (ph) was an eyewitness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHALEED ABDUL SATTAR (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I heard the large explosion on the main street. I saw American hummers. One was hit and the other pulled up a little further. Two injured soldiers got out of the vehicle and the American driver was dead and slumped over the steering wheel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Friday is, of course, the Muslim day of prayer. The streets were extraordinarily crowded and the bus upon which most of the victims were was just unfortunately too close to the U.S. military convoy. There was blood all over the bus. At least three Iraqis killed, according to police. Eyewitnesses, however, say at least six Iraqis were killed there. Between 12 and 13 others were taken to hospital.

This latest violence comes as U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld is expected here in Baghdad on a visit of Iraq today and over the course of the next couple of days. This appears to have been more than coincidence -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Which, of course, makes you nervous, because Donald Rumsfeld will surely ride in some kind of convoy.

I had thought, Walter, there was some effort there to change the way things are so that convoys wouldn't be so targeted.

Is there a move to do that, to make it safer to travel?

RODGERS: What we're hearing, of course, is that the Army is trying to upgrade the armor on these convoys, on the Humvees. But a Humvee is not an armored vehicle. In some respects, it's just a plastic jeep, not even as safe as your own automobile. And when these roadside bombs go off, these improvised explosive devices, they have enormous force and they may be stuffed with nails, shrapnel. They just cut right through an ordinary car. And a Humvee is all the more vulnerable.

That's why the U.S. is trying to upgrade the armor on these. But there's no protection for these vehicles to speak of from these roadside bombs, which the Iraqi insurgents use quite indiscriminately in civilian areas, even outside a mosque, as they did this morning. The aim is to kill Americans and they don't seem to care a lot if there happens to be an Iraqi bus with innocent civilians passing by -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Walter Rodgers reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

Our Web site is staying on top of the Baghdad bus explosion. Click onto cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN, for more on this story. And we'll have new information on that Web site throughout your work day.

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