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CNN Live At Daybreak

Unhappy in Tikrit

Aired December 16, 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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No one said things would calm down, and they have not. It has been a tense day for U.S. troops in Saddam Hussein's hometown. The mood in Tikrit is glum and hostile and dangerous.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is live in Tikrit. We join him by videophone.

Hello -- Alphonso.

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, as you said, from Saddam Hussein's hometown, where all, Carol, is not 100 percent fine on the home front. Right behind me earlier on today, three U.S. service members injured in what the U.S. military calls an improvised explosive device, a roadside bomb, went off.

The news come just a couple of days after the weekend capture of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. And there has been a lot of excitement behind me with the U.S. troops that actually took part in that historic raid, because they knew that they had Saddam Hussein in custody, they weren't allowed to actually say anything until the news broke actually here on CNN.

And I asked one U.S. service member, who was out on that raid, what was it like finally being able to tell his friends and family that he took part in this raid?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEC. VICTOR COTA, U.S. ARMY: Like Christmas when you can't open your gifts and you had to wait until Christmas Day. That was the feeling. That you had the gifts right there, but you can't open them until the next day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: Now, we've been seeing some celebrations throughout Iraq of people happy knowing that the former Iraqi leader is now in U.S. custody. But there are some that feel otherwise, again right here in Saddam Hussein's hometown -- Iraqis lamenting the departure of their former leader from their very own hometown.

A CNN crew was out there and got some images of that, as well as a protest yesterday from Tikrit College -- protestors taking to the streets saying that they're not happy and they're not pleased that the person from their hometown was not only out of power, but in U.S. custody. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Alphonso Van Marsh reporting live from Tikrit this morning.

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 16, 2003 - 06:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No one said things would calm down, and they have not. It has been a tense day for U.S. troops in Saddam Hussein's hometown. The mood in Tikrit is glum and hostile and dangerous.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is live in Tikrit. We join him by videophone.

Hello -- Alphonso.

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, as you said, from Saddam Hussein's hometown, where all, Carol, is not 100 percent fine on the home front. Right behind me earlier on today, three U.S. service members injured in what the U.S. military calls an improvised explosive device, a roadside bomb, went off.

The news come just a couple of days after the weekend capture of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. And there has been a lot of excitement behind me with the U.S. troops that actually took part in that historic raid, because they knew that they had Saddam Hussein in custody, they weren't allowed to actually say anything until the news broke actually here on CNN.

And I asked one U.S. service member, who was out on that raid, what was it like finally being able to tell his friends and family that he took part in this raid?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEC. VICTOR COTA, U.S. ARMY: Like Christmas when you can't open your gifts and you had to wait until Christmas Day. That was the feeling. That you had the gifts right there, but you can't open them until the next day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: Now, we've been seeing some celebrations throughout Iraq of people happy knowing that the former Iraqi leader is now in U.S. custody. But there are some that feel otherwise, again right here in Saddam Hussein's hometown -- Iraqis lamenting the departure of their former leader from their very own hometown.

A CNN crew was out there and got some images of that, as well as a protest yesterday from Tikrit College -- protestors taking to the streets saying that they're not happy and they're not pleased that the person from their hometown was not only out of power, but in U.S. custody. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Alphonso Van Marsh reporting live from Tikrit this morning.

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