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CNN Live At Daybreak

'International News Desk'

Aired February 04, 2004 - 05:34   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: Iraqi officials say the death toll from the blasts at two Kurdish Party headquarters has now risen to 107.
For more on the rising Iraqi death toll since the U.S. invasion, we turn to our senior international editor, David Clinch.

Does someone actually keep those numbers?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: The death toll of Iraqis?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CLINCH: Well, that's actually a very good question. We've done some reporting in the last few days on the death toll of Iraqis. There is no precise number on how many, but there is certainly an overwhelming sense amongst the Iraqi families that have lost people since the war ended of anger and frustration. Many of them looking for compensation from the United States for that.

And, also, you were reporting there that another U.S. soldier was killed yesterday. We've been sort of going up and down on whether violence has been getting better or getting worse. Just looking at the death toll for the U.S. soldiers, is has averaged out, again, at basically one U.S. soldier a day. And that's kind of a depressing figure to keep coming back to, but that's about the average that we're looking at there.

Now, we are hearing rumblings, though, of a possible compromise on the political side where you're looking at this problem of whether the hand over can happen by the end of July, or the end of June, I should say. Hearing some suggestion that the various factions, Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, are going to agree on some kind of three part presidency to go into place after this hand over and then elections after that. That's very much in the possibility stage...

COSTELLO: Three part presidency.

CLINCH: Well, there's only...

COSTELLO: So they would have three primaries?

CLINCH: ... a Kurd, a Sunni and a Shiite. Obviously that, you know, it's too early to say whether that will happen. But that's the kind of idea that they're looking at there.

Another story we're looking at today, this story in Pakistan of the scientist who sold nuclear equipment and...

COSTELLO: Secrets.

CLINCH: ... secrets to North Korea, Libya and Iran. He met with President Musharraf today. Now, this is a very awkward situation for President Musharraf. The scientist -- you see him there, Dr. Khan, a hero in Pakistan because he helped them build the bomb themselves. Now Musharraf is saying that Khan has accepted responsibility and wants clemency for everything that he did.

That may very well happen because that will get Musharraf out of the problem of having to send him to jail, a national hero to jail. But it is also...

COSTELLO: But won't that make his friends in the United States mad?

CLINCH: Right. Well, I'll come back at six and talk a little bit more about this, a very awkward situation for the U.S. He sold secrets to North Korea and yet he may get off. So that's interesting.

One other point, not really an international story, but one we've mentioned before, this Mel Gibson movie that's coming out? The "New York Times" is reporting today that he has decided to take out of the final version of the film the scene that was deemed by Jewish groups to be potentially very offensive, the one in which a curse, basically, is called down upon the Jews for killing Jesus.

We know that Israeli -- Jewish groups in Israel and elsewhere have been pushing hard for Gibson to take that scene out so.

COSTELLO: Interesting. And, of course, that movie comes out so everybody can see it on Ash Wednesday.

CLINCH: Right. And we'll, you know, this is one report that remains to be seen. But the "New York Times" reporting that he's taken that controversial scene out.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

All right, David, we'll see you the next hour.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

CLINCH: OK.

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 February 4, 2004 - 05:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iraqi officials say the death toll from the blasts at two Kurdish Party headquarters has now risen to 107.
For more on the rising Iraqi death toll since the U.S. invasion, we turn to our senior international editor, David Clinch.

Does someone actually keep those numbers?

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: The death toll of Iraqis?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CLINCH: Well, that's actually a very good question. We've done some reporting in the last few days on the death toll of Iraqis. There is no precise number on how many, but there is certainly an overwhelming sense amongst the Iraqi families that have lost people since the war ended of anger and frustration. Many of them looking for compensation from the United States for that.

And, also, you were reporting there that another U.S. soldier was killed yesterday. We've been sort of going up and down on whether violence has been getting better or getting worse. Just looking at the death toll for the U.S. soldiers, is has averaged out, again, at basically one U.S. soldier a day. And that's kind of a depressing figure to keep coming back to, but that's about the average that we're looking at there.

Now, we are hearing rumblings, though, of a possible compromise on the political side where you're looking at this problem of whether the hand over can happen by the end of July, or the end of June, I should say. Hearing some suggestion that the various factions, Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, are going to agree on some kind of three part presidency to go into place after this hand over and then elections after that. That's very much in the possibility stage...

COSTELLO: Three part presidency.

CLINCH: Well, there's only...

COSTELLO: So they would have three primaries?

CLINCH: ... a Kurd, a Sunni and a Shiite. Obviously that, you know, it's too early to say whether that will happen. But that's the kind of idea that they're looking at there.

Another story we're looking at today, this story in Pakistan of the scientist who sold nuclear equipment and...

COSTELLO: Secrets.

CLINCH: ... secrets to North Korea, Libya and Iran. He met with President Musharraf today. Now, this is a very awkward situation for President Musharraf. The scientist -- you see him there, Dr. Khan, a hero in Pakistan because he helped them build the bomb themselves. Now Musharraf is saying that Khan has accepted responsibility and wants clemency for everything that he did.

That may very well happen because that will get Musharraf out of the problem of having to send him to jail, a national hero to jail. But it is also...

COSTELLO: But won't that make his friends in the United States mad?

CLINCH: Right. Well, I'll come back at six and talk a little bit more about this, a very awkward situation for the U.S. He sold secrets to North Korea and yet he may get off. So that's interesting.

One other point, not really an international story, but one we've mentioned before, this Mel Gibson movie that's coming out? The "New York Times" is reporting today that he has decided to take out of the final version of the film the scene that was deemed by Jewish groups to be potentially very offensive, the one in which a curse, basically, is called down upon the Jews for killing Jesus.

We know that Israeli -- Jewish groups in Israel and elsewhere have been pushing hard for Gibson to take that scene out so.

COSTELLO: Interesting. And, of course, that movie comes out so everybody can see it on Ash Wednesday.

CLINCH: Right. And we'll, you know, this is one report that remains to be seen. But the "New York Times" reporting that he's taken that controversial scene out.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

All right, David, we'll see you the next hour.

CLINCH: All right.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

CLINCH: OK.

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