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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Aid Workers Arrive in Iran to Assess Humanitarian Damage of Earthquake
Aired December 30, 2003 - 05:11 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 have Kasra Naji on the phone right now. All morning long, actually, in the last 11 minutes we've been telling you about the death toll in Bam, Iran. Fifty thousand people could be dead, but more help is on the way in the form of U.S. aid workers -- Kasra, are U.S. aid workers in Bam now?
KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am, indeed, Carol. And the new thing here is that a group of about 60 Americans, members of a needs assessment team, have just arrived here in Bam. They are on their way to this camp to set up shop here. This is the first group of Americans who have arrived here to help with the aftermath of this devastating earthquake here.
They are here to do an assessment of the humanitarian needs now that the search and rescue operations are now giving way to a recovery. It's the fifth day since the earthquake. The U.S. Army has already sent plane loads of medical supplies and other supplies and the presence of the Americans here and the American Army help and aid is welcomed here already and has given rise to speculations that maybe something good might come out of this tragedy and that this could be the beginning of an improvement in the relations between Iran and the U.S.
In fact, we have the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, saying to the "Washington Post" today that, he says, these are his words, "Things are happening in Iran and we should keep the possibility of a dialogue with the Iranians at an appropriate point in future."
So the U.S. government is optimistic. Iranians have given very well -- a warm welcome to the Americans here. So it's all -- it could be that something might come out of this tragedy -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll see.
Kasra Naji live on the phone from Bam, Iran this morning.
We'll have more on that earthquake coming up.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote also in earthquake ravaged Bam.
We'll talk live to him about the search and rescue efforts.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Damage of Earthquake>
Aired December 30, 2003 - 05:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We have Kasra Naji on the phone right now. All morning long, actually, in the last 11 minutes we've been telling you about the death toll in Bam, Iran. Fifty thousand people could be dead, but more help is on the way in the form of U.S. aid workers -- Kasra, are U.S. aid workers in Bam now?
KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am, indeed, Carol. And the new thing here is that a group of about 60 Americans, members of a needs assessment team, have just arrived here in Bam. They are on their way to this camp to set up shop here. This is the first group of Americans who have arrived here to help with the aftermath of this devastating earthquake here.
They are here to do an assessment of the humanitarian needs now that the search and rescue operations are now giving way to a recovery. It's the fifth day since the earthquake. The U.S. Army has already sent plane loads of medical supplies and other supplies and the presence of the Americans here and the American Army help and aid is welcomed here already and has given rise to speculations that maybe something good might come out of this tragedy and that this could be the beginning of an improvement in the relations between Iran and the U.S.
In fact, we have the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, saying to the "Washington Post" today that, he says, these are his words, "Things are happening in Iran and we should keep the possibility of a dialogue with the Iranians at an appropriate point in future."
So the U.S. government is optimistic. Iranians have given very well -- a warm welcome to the Americans here. So it's all -- it could be that something might come out of this tragedy -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll see.
Kasra Naji live on the phone from Bam, Iran this morning.
We'll have more on that earthquake coming up.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote also in earthquake ravaged Bam.
We'll talk live to him about the search and rescue efforts.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Damage of Earthquake>
