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American Morning
Latest Developments in Capture of Saddam Hussein
Aired December 15, 2003 - 07:31 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lots to talk about this morning. Bill Hemmer, in fact, on his way to Baghdad at this hour. So let's first take a look at some of the latest developments in the capture of Saddam Hussein.
We're now getting an exclusive look inside the so-called spider hole where Saddam Hussein was captured.
Nic Robertson was allowed inside. That's him right there. And apparently Saddam told U.S. troops when they came for him, "I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."
The commander of coalition troops in Iraq says the former dictator is talkative, though according to other officials, he isn't cooperating with interrogators.
And two car bombs exploded overnight at Iraqi police station near Baghdad. At least six Iraqis were killed. Eighteen were wounded.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, now that the U.S. has captured Saddam Hussein, will it make it any easier to capture the other most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden?
A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted after Saddam's capture shows 68 percent of Americans are confident that the U.S. will capture bin Laden.
(REPEAT OF A MIKE BOETTCHER REPORT)
COOPER: When American soldiers first uncovered the hole where Saddam Hussein was hiding, the former Iraqi leader raised his hands above his head and reportedly said, "I am Saddam Hussein. I'm the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."
The U.S. soldiers responded, "President Bush send his regards."
This exclusive video shows those U.S. troops celebrating near tanks after the raid in which they captured Saddam. They are members of the 4th Infantry Division.
Joining us now from Tikrit, the 4th Division commander, Major General Ray Odierno.
General, thanks very much for being with us this morning.
Congratulations to you and your troops.
How are you all doing this morning?
MAJ. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION: We're doing great, sir.
Thank you very much.
Everybody's doing fine. Of course, we're back out doing missions again today.
COOPER: Does it -- does this capture at all change the facts on the ground for you and your troops?
ODIERNO: I really don't think it does. What it does, it's a psychological victory, I think, for us. I think it's a psychological blow to the Iraqi people. But we still have insurgents on the ground still conducting operations. So all the soldiers must stay focused and mission oriented as we continue our mission here on the ground.
COOPER: There are still insurgents on the ground. Are they Saddam insurgents? I mean are the people -- the numbers of insurgents who were motivated by support for Saddam, for his former regime, are they still out there, as far as you can tell?
ODIERNO: Well, what I would say is you had a large majority who are probably on the fence and the capture of Saddam Hussein has probably moved them forward to probably waiting to move ahead and support the coalition forces now. I believe you had some hard core loyalists that really have nothing to lose and will probably continue to fight against the coalition forces.
COOPER: He had some $750,000 with him in $100 bills, we are told.
Do you have any sense or even a gut sense of whether he was actually using that money to fund attacks against Americans?
ODIERNO: I would say he was not. My guess is that money was there for his own survival and he would pay people so he could move around for protection and he probably used that just for his own good. I don't believe he was using that to pay any type of attacks. That was just so he could survive.
COOPER: You've been hunting for this man for quite some time now. You've been tightening the noose for several months. In the last weeks it got more intense.
At what point over the weekend did you realize you had actionable intelligence?
ODIERNO: Well, there's several times that over the last several months we've thought we've had actionable intelligence on several HVTs, both mid level managers and people such as Saddam Hussein. We thought we had a fairly good tip because of the individuals we were picking up. We were getting closer and closer to the people that we knew who were associated with him. And based on that, we thought we might have a good tip here. But you never really know until you actually get on the ground. So we never try to get too excited or too lulled about any tips we have. So we try to execute each raid the same.
I will say we were very pleased when we found out, in fact, we had captured him.
COOPER: Well, yes, you mentioned HVT, high value target, that's what you call them. At what point did your troops realize the HVT was actually Saddam Hussein? And, if you can, give us some insight. What exactly was their reaction?
ODIERNO: Well, first, as we first took him, captured him, of course, the word went out over all our nets that we had captured him, just for reporting procedures. And I think based on that, everybody then understood who we had. And I think, first, we still wanted to wait to ensure it was him, as everybody else did, because we have all heard he has body doubles and we wanted to make sure that it was him. So we kind of waited for final results.
But the soldiers were very pleased. they've worked extremely hard. And I want to do make that comment. The soldiers that we have here are so dedicated and loyal to their country and the hard work absolutely paid off. They still have a lot of work to do here, but it is some satisfaction that they were successful in this mission.
COOPER: Well, our best to you and all -- to all the men and women in the 4th I.D.
Thanks very much for your work.
Thanks -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, an ex-dictator and no casualties. It's hard to imagine that the White House could have produced a better script for the raid that resulted in the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and he joins us from Wilmington this morning to talk a little bit about Saddam's capture and what it means for Iraq's future.
Senator Biden, good morning.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DW), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Nice to see you.
Thanks for joining us.
BIDEN: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the big picture. What do you think happens in Iraq starting right now in the wake of the capture of Saddam Hussein?
BIDEN: Well, I think the general sentiment, I think what happens is those folks on the fence in Iraq not quite sure whether or not to, thinking the old guard's coming back and maybe not cooperate or cooperate with us, I think it tips the balance. I think we're going to see a lot more cooperation going after the insurgency. I think the insurgency will not stop. It will increase, probably. But I think among the population as a whole, I think we're going to find a greater degree of cooperation.
O'BRIEN: There is a report coming across the wires from the Associated Press saying that the arrest of Saddam Hussein has led to other key leaders of the insurgency, top regime figures, they're calling them, and they're saying, in fact, those prisoners are giving up, in turn, some other prisoners.
Do you expect to see -- do you -- first of all, do you know about this report? And, secondly, do you expect to see this sort of cascading effect, one prisoner giving up the next?
BIDEN: Well, I didn't know about the report, but it's kind of what I just said. It doesn't surprise me a bit. I think they're going to try to move on and now and try to save their own skins. And so the question is, as the general said, they're keeping, the military is keeping their focus on the mission. We should keep our focus on the mission. And the mission for us is to figure out how to put a stable government in place in Iraq and get American troops home as quickly and safely as possible. And that's sort of the next phase of this war.
The war is winding down. Now the fight to establish the peace is really under way. And even if there wasn't a single additional terrorist attack, putting Humpty Dumpty, that is, Iraq, back together again, is a multi-billion dollar, multi-thousand force task and we should not do it alone.
O'BRIEN: A better chance than ever now to internationalize the troops that are in Iraq?
BIDEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. And this will depend upon the president making sure his administration speaks with one voice instead of two, like it seems to have been done in the past, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, different points of view.
I think the president clearly, through his grasp and capability of, through significant efforts of diplomacy, significantly lowered the burden on American taxpayers and the threat to the lives of American soldiers by internationalizing this, getting other troops in, getting NATO in and stabilizing that country. That is the mission and this is a great day -- yesterday was a great day in the -- it was a big battle we won, but the war is not over, as the president said.
I'm confident it will be if we act wisely.
O'BRIEN: Iraqi officials have said that they want Saddam Hussein to stand trial in a human rights tribunal authorized recently, actually, by the Governing Council in Iraq.
Do you think that that's a good idea, to have him tried in Iraq by Iraqis?
BIDEN: It's a good idea if it can be done extremely professionally, with all the forensic evidence coming forward. Look, it seems to me this is an overwhelming good opportunity for the United States of America, with the help of the international community, to demonstrate to over 100 billion Muslims in the world that we went into Iraq, which I supported and still support, to take down a tyrant who was attacking and decimating Muslims.
This is not a war against Islam. And this is a phenomenal opportunity to showcase that through the Iraqis in Iraq, if it's done professionally. They need help. They'll need a lot of help in doing it. I hope we go slowly in the sense of doing it the right way.
O'BRIEN: Senator Joe Biden is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Nice to have you, Senator.
Thanks for joining us.
BIDEN: Thanks for having me.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.
BIDEN: Good 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 15, 2003 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lots to talk about this morning. Bill Hemmer, in fact, on his way to Baghdad at this hour. So let's first take a look at some of the latest developments in the capture of Saddam Hussein.
We're now getting an exclusive look inside the so-called spider hole where Saddam Hussein was captured.
Nic Robertson was allowed inside. That's him right there. And apparently Saddam told U.S. troops when they came for him, "I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."
The commander of coalition troops in Iraq says the former dictator is talkative, though according to other officials, he isn't cooperating with interrogators.
And two car bombs exploded overnight at Iraqi police station near Baghdad. At least six Iraqis were killed. Eighteen were wounded.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, now that the U.S. has captured Saddam Hussein, will it make it any easier to capture the other most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden?
A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted after Saddam's capture shows 68 percent of Americans are confident that the U.S. will capture bin Laden.
(REPEAT OF A MIKE BOETTCHER REPORT)
COOPER: When American soldiers first uncovered the hole where Saddam Hussein was hiding, the former Iraqi leader raised his hands above his head and reportedly said, "I am Saddam Hussein. I'm the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."
The U.S. soldiers responded, "President Bush send his regards."
This exclusive video shows those U.S. troops celebrating near tanks after the raid in which they captured Saddam. They are members of the 4th Infantry Division.
Joining us now from Tikrit, the 4th Division commander, Major General Ray Odierno.
General, thanks very much for being with us this morning.
Congratulations to you and your troops.
How are you all doing this morning?
MAJ. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION: We're doing great, sir.
Thank you very much.
Everybody's doing fine. Of course, we're back out doing missions again today.
COOPER: Does it -- does this capture at all change the facts on the ground for you and your troops?
ODIERNO: I really don't think it does. What it does, it's a psychological victory, I think, for us. I think it's a psychological blow to the Iraqi people. But we still have insurgents on the ground still conducting operations. So all the soldiers must stay focused and mission oriented as we continue our mission here on the ground.
COOPER: There are still insurgents on the ground. Are they Saddam insurgents? I mean are the people -- the numbers of insurgents who were motivated by support for Saddam, for his former regime, are they still out there, as far as you can tell?
ODIERNO: Well, what I would say is you had a large majority who are probably on the fence and the capture of Saddam Hussein has probably moved them forward to probably waiting to move ahead and support the coalition forces now. I believe you had some hard core loyalists that really have nothing to lose and will probably continue to fight against the coalition forces.
COOPER: He had some $750,000 with him in $100 bills, we are told.
Do you have any sense or even a gut sense of whether he was actually using that money to fund attacks against Americans?
ODIERNO: I would say he was not. My guess is that money was there for his own survival and he would pay people so he could move around for protection and he probably used that just for his own good. I don't believe he was using that to pay any type of attacks. That was just so he could survive.
COOPER: You've been hunting for this man for quite some time now. You've been tightening the noose for several months. In the last weeks it got more intense.
At what point over the weekend did you realize you had actionable intelligence?
ODIERNO: Well, there's several times that over the last several months we've thought we've had actionable intelligence on several HVTs, both mid level managers and people such as Saddam Hussein. We thought we had a fairly good tip because of the individuals we were picking up. We were getting closer and closer to the people that we knew who were associated with him. And based on that, we thought we might have a good tip here. But you never really know until you actually get on the ground. So we never try to get too excited or too lulled about any tips we have. So we try to execute each raid the same.
I will say we were very pleased when we found out, in fact, we had captured him.
COOPER: Well, yes, you mentioned HVT, high value target, that's what you call them. At what point did your troops realize the HVT was actually Saddam Hussein? And, if you can, give us some insight. What exactly was their reaction?
ODIERNO: Well, first, as we first took him, captured him, of course, the word went out over all our nets that we had captured him, just for reporting procedures. And I think based on that, everybody then understood who we had. And I think, first, we still wanted to wait to ensure it was him, as everybody else did, because we have all heard he has body doubles and we wanted to make sure that it was him. So we kind of waited for final results.
But the soldiers were very pleased. they've worked extremely hard. And I want to do make that comment. The soldiers that we have here are so dedicated and loyal to their country and the hard work absolutely paid off. They still have a lot of work to do here, but it is some satisfaction that they were successful in this mission.
COOPER: Well, our best to you and all -- to all the men and women in the 4th I.D.
Thanks very much for your work.
Thanks -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, an ex-dictator and no casualties. It's hard to imagine that the White House could have produced a better script for the raid that resulted in the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and he joins us from Wilmington this morning to talk a little bit about Saddam's capture and what it means for Iraq's future.
Senator Biden, good morning.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DW), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Nice to see you.
Thanks for joining us.
BIDEN: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the big picture. What do you think happens in Iraq starting right now in the wake of the capture of Saddam Hussein?
BIDEN: Well, I think the general sentiment, I think what happens is those folks on the fence in Iraq not quite sure whether or not to, thinking the old guard's coming back and maybe not cooperate or cooperate with us, I think it tips the balance. I think we're going to see a lot more cooperation going after the insurgency. I think the insurgency will not stop. It will increase, probably. But I think among the population as a whole, I think we're going to find a greater degree of cooperation.
O'BRIEN: There is a report coming across the wires from the Associated Press saying that the arrest of Saddam Hussein has led to other key leaders of the insurgency, top regime figures, they're calling them, and they're saying, in fact, those prisoners are giving up, in turn, some other prisoners.
Do you expect to see -- do you -- first of all, do you know about this report? And, secondly, do you expect to see this sort of cascading effect, one prisoner giving up the next?
BIDEN: Well, I didn't know about the report, but it's kind of what I just said. It doesn't surprise me a bit. I think they're going to try to move on and now and try to save their own skins. And so the question is, as the general said, they're keeping, the military is keeping their focus on the mission. We should keep our focus on the mission. And the mission for us is to figure out how to put a stable government in place in Iraq and get American troops home as quickly and safely as possible. And that's sort of the next phase of this war.
The war is winding down. Now the fight to establish the peace is really under way. And even if there wasn't a single additional terrorist attack, putting Humpty Dumpty, that is, Iraq, back together again, is a multi-billion dollar, multi-thousand force task and we should not do it alone.
O'BRIEN: A better chance than ever now to internationalize the troops that are in Iraq?
BIDEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. And this will depend upon the president making sure his administration speaks with one voice instead of two, like it seems to have been done in the past, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, different points of view.
I think the president clearly, through his grasp and capability of, through significant efforts of diplomacy, significantly lowered the burden on American taxpayers and the threat to the lives of American soldiers by internationalizing this, getting other troops in, getting NATO in and stabilizing that country. That is the mission and this is a great day -- yesterday was a great day in the -- it was a big battle we won, but the war is not over, as the president said.
I'm confident it will be if we act wisely.
O'BRIEN: Iraqi officials have said that they want Saddam Hussein to stand trial in a human rights tribunal authorized recently, actually, by the Governing Council in Iraq.
Do you think that that's a good idea, to have him tried in Iraq by Iraqis?
BIDEN: It's a good idea if it can be done extremely professionally, with all the forensic evidence coming forward. Look, it seems to me this is an overwhelming good opportunity for the United States of America, with the help of the international community, to demonstrate to over 100 billion Muslims in the world that we went into Iraq, which I supported and still support, to take down a tyrant who was attacking and decimating Muslims.
This is not a war against Islam. And this is a phenomenal opportunity to showcase that through the Iraqis in Iraq, if it's done professionally. They need help. They'll need a lot of help in doing it. I hope we go slowly in the sense of doing it the right way.
O'BRIEN: Senator Joe Biden is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Nice to have you, Senator.
Thanks for joining us.
BIDEN: Thanks for having me.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.
BIDEN: Good 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
