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CNN Live Sunday
Christian Churches Targed In Iraq; New Intelligence Suggests Financial Districts Targeted By Terrorists
Aired August 01, 2004 - 11:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Matthew, give us a better sense as to where this district is. You mentioned a Christian church there, which there aren't that many in the Baghdad area. Give us a sense as to the location.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Karati (ph) district as it's called here, which is a middle class neighborhood. It's mixed between residential areas and commercial areas. It's where the national theater is situated. So it has that sort of cultural focus in the Karati district. It's also where there are a good number of Iraq's, minority Christian community. Today is, of course, Sunday. There may have been people attending that church, which police believe was targeted in this. But, you know, all over Iraq, there are explosions going on like this car bomb attack, improvised explosive devices being set off on the road, roadside bombs, in other words. Every day, Iraqis from all denominations, all faiths, all ethnic groups are living under this kind of explosive threat from the insurgents Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew, until today, is this an area that had been relatively untouched by violence?
CHANCE: I'm not altogether sure whether there had been any explosions in this area - this exact area. But certainly we haven't seen Christian churches targeted throughout the many months of this burgeoning insurgency here in Iraq. If that is the target, that may well be considered to be a negative development in this ongoing insurgency here.
WHITFIELD: And is it your understanding that this Christian church was mostly attended by Iraqi Christians or were there foreign Christians, visitors, maybe some non-government agency workers who were Christian who had been attending that church as well?
CHANCE: It's not known for being a church that's attended by the diplomatic, perhaps, community here or the foreign Christians that may be in town, although I'm sure it would be open to them. The fact is there is a sizable minority of Christians in Iraq. It's a significant minority. Many thousands of people here are Christian. It seems to have been one of the main Christian churches in Baghdad. Police saying that, of course, it may well have been the target in this blast. We'll have to see to get confirmation of that, though.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, what is your sense as to how Iraqi police and even emergency workers have been able to handle this volume of tragedy? CHANCE: Well, when the first blast took place, they seemed to have arrived, the Iraqi police, the Iraqi ambulance teams and rescue workers, they seemed to have arrived at the scene relatively quickly to try and clear away the dead and injured to try and move the public away from the area, which inevitably attracts, obviously, people when there is this kind of explosion. They're trying to cordon off the area when that second car bomb exploded as well.
And so it seems that there was a calculation in the minds of the insurgents who put these car bombs in place to perhaps target the police, the security forces, the rescue workers, knowing that they would be in the area when that second car bomb went off. Indeed, the Iraqi police and the other emergency services in this country associated with the interim Iraqi government have repeatedly been targeted by Iraqi insurgents groups. They're seen as collaborators by those insurgents. Only a few days ago in the town of Baqubah (ph) to the north of Baghdad, 70 people were killed in another very serious bombing in which the main target were recruits to the Iraqi police force. So the Christian church may have been one target, according to the police, but at the same time I think we have to consider that the police themselves may also have been the target here.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew, it seems in recent weeks, it appears as though the primary targets of these types of attacks have been Iraqis, whether they be civilians or Iraqi police, is that right?
CHANCE: It certainly seems to be the case that the insurgents make their case, saying that they're targeting collaborators with the U.S.-backed government here, the Iraqi interim government. But the fact is, like we saw in Baqubah and like I'm sure we're going to see here on the ground in Baghdad when we get details of the casualties from these two blasts, it is ordinary Iraqis that seem to be bearing the brunt of this increasingly violent and nasty insurgency, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance, thanks for that live report coming from Baghdad. Now that we have reports of two very sizable explosions taking place in what Matthew describes as the Karati district. It's near a Christian church and this apparently, this community, is a place where the Iraqi minority Christian community lives. And Matthew, I understand you're still with us. Let me continue going with you. Give me a sense now, what the rescue efforts have been like there. All right, looks like Matthew Chance is gone. Sorry about that, for a report coming from Baghdad.
Law enforcement officials here in the states are warning about a new and serious threat against public and private buildings in New York City. We get details now live from CNN's Ali Velshi in New York. Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the idea of a car bomb very much at the front of the mind of security officials here in New York. In fact, though it wasn't officially stated, that is one of the things that security officials are being warned about. The leads are not specific enough about the time or the method of an attack to raise New York's official terror threat level from where it's been since September 11th. But security directors around the city have been given some specific direction.
Now, the United Nations, the direction is that the al Qaeda might be planning attacks on either corporate headquarters, financial institutions or international organizations, the UN taking the threat very seriously. They've beefed up patrols outside their building. Security as you know Fredricka in New York already beefed up because the Republican convention is coming here at the end of August.
Heavily armed police force, Hercules troops, part of the city's anti-terror operation, are already deployed city-wide. The New York police department has been conducting large-scale drills at various points in Manhattan. This threat doesn't specifically cite Wall Street or New York's financial district, but that's an already tense part of the city. It's heavily guarded, because it's home to corporate and financial headquarters. Landmark buildings like the New York Stock Exchange, which you're seeing here, are fully barricaded. Traffic to surrounding streets has been cut off since the September 11 attacks.
Sources we've spoken to say - seem to say that there's a strong suggestion of a suicide element to this plan. Police are asking building managers in New York to be extra vigilant about people and vehicles entering their buildings in the wake of the 1993 World Trade bombing, in which explosives in a vehicle were involved. Security checks of cars with cameras and mirrors and dogs have increased. Officials now telling buildings also to lock access to roofs and maintenance rooms and to closely monitor their HVAC systems Fredricka, the heating and ventilations systems, suggesting a fear of infiltration into buildings by someone who might try to circulate contaminants through the building's ventilation system.
So again, not sure how serious the threat is, but police have issued a warning to building managers and security directors around the city to be extra careful about someone trying to hit corporate headquarters, financial institutions, or international organizations. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Ali, is there any expectation that we might hear from someone from the White House today or maybe even Tom Ridge?
VELSHI: This is, in very -- in typical fashion, there's a lot of stuff fluctuating out there. We've got reported word that we were going to hear from Tom Ridge, that he was going to be in New York. CNN is still trying to get confirmation on whether that's happening. We do seem to think he's not coming to New York, but we may get word from the director of homeland security in Washington this afternoon. We will keep a close eye on that. Of course, if it happens, CNN will bring it to our viewers live. Fred?
WHITFIELD: Ali Velshi, thanks very much for the report from New York.
Now back to our top story, coming out of Baghdad now, these pictures coming in, showing the aftermath of not one but two very sizable explosions taking place in Baghdad, specifically in what's called the Karati district and the first explosion was a car bomb. It that took place near a Christian church and this is a community apparently where many minority Iraqi Christian people live.
And apparently, when Iraqi police and emergency crews responded to the first explosion, then a second car bomb then went off, causing several injuries and potentially even deaths. We don't know the exact figures right now. But as you can see from these pictures, a number of people who appear to be injured and a number of Iraqi police officials along with coalition forces who have come out there to respond to help aid those who have been injured.
No explanation as to why this particular area was targeted. As I said, it take place near a Christian church and apparently, near a national theater there. As far as we know, this is about the first time that a Christian church has been targeted in this area. There are several thousand Iraqi Christians, primarily living in this community. But no explanation as to why this particular target, targeted area took place today.
But clearly, the strategy of the attackers was to try to cause as much damage and harm as possible by having one car bombing and then a second to take place once help arrived. And these pictures you're seeing are pictures we're just now getting in, showing the devastation in the area and showing, obviously, a lot of chaos in the response to these teams trying to offer as much aid to those who have been wounded as well as try to put out these fires caused by these two massive explosions.
It's unclear at this point from our report from Matthew Chance earlier, whether this Christian church is primarily attended by Iraqi Christians or if, in any way, any foreigners who are living in this area or conducting work in Baghdad who are Christian, who are also attending this church. These explosions taking place in what's called the Karati district, near a Christian church and near the national theater there in Baghdad.
These two explosions are the aftermath of what you're seeing of two explosions taking place in Baghdad in what we know to be the Karati district. It's a middle class district that houses the city's national theater and apparently, what's known as the Assyrian Christian church. There are several thousand Iraqi Christian whose live in this community and also attend this church and it's believed these explosions took place as many people were attending services there.
First, an explosion, a huge explosion rocked the area, then Iraqi police and emergency crews quickly tried to descend on the area, trying to offer whatever help they could to those who have been injured. And then, as those emergency workers were on the ground, a second car bomb explosion took place. Our Matthew Chance is in Baghdad and rejoins us now with the very latest. Matthew?
CHANCE: Fredricka, thank you very much. We have not much more detail than we gave you a few moments ago on these two devastating attacks in central Baghdad. Let's go over what we do know, because we do know, at this point, because it is a very chaotic and confusing scene, as you can see from the images that are coming from this area, a short distance from where I'm standing right now. It seems that about a half hour ago, a car bomb exploded in the Karati district of central Baghdad. It's a mixed area, ethnically and religiously. It's an area where there are commercial buildings as well as residential buildings. Police tell us that it seems that a Christian church was the target of that first car bomb. It's obviously Sunday today, tat Christian church a place of worship for very many of the minority Christian community in this city.
As police moved in to cordon off the area, to try and take the casualties out of the danger zone and of course to keep the general public away from the area, a second car bomb went off. The police, we're told, were cordoning off a suspicious car when that car exploded. And so it seems that the insurgents, knowing that they may well attract -- or would attract the security forces, the emergency services to the scene of that explosion, actually prepared a second car bomb, perhaps to target the police and the emergency workers as well.
Now we know there are casualties from both of these car bomb attacks. What we don't know is the level of those casualties. We're in constant touch with the health ministry here and the emergency workers on the scene to try and gauge the level of carnage that they've been wrought in these attacks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Give me a sense, Matthew, as to the scale of the emergency workers that are able to respond. Already this has been an area where the hospitals, Iraqi police have been clearly strained because of other recent insurgents attacks. But now how are they able to handle this?
CHANCE: Well, they're certainly getting a lot of practice, because it's a grim reality of life in Iraq and the Iraqi capital of Baghdad as well as other cities and towns across the country, that these kinds of explosions, bomb attacks, roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices, have become a sort of routine of the everyday threat that ordinary Iraqis have to face.
Now, because of that, the Iraqi police, the Iraqi security forces, have become relatively accustomed to getting to the scene as quickly as possible, taking away the casualties to the hospitals, to the morgues, when necessary as well. And I think it's because of that this second blast you may find was particularly damaging because the emergency workers, the police, may well have been caught up in that secondary car bomb that was prepared to go off some minutes, about 10, 15 minutes after that first bomb detonating, causing such havoc on the streets of Baghdad, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, I'm seeing some wire copy that it's explaining with a little bit more detail that the first explosion took place directly outside an Armenian church in that very same neighborhood and that second blast then was targeted outside that Christian church. What's the proximity of these two churches, do you know?
CHANCE: We don't know at this point whether there are two churches. It's very difficult to get information on the ground. Obviously, Armenians are Christians. We know at least one church was targeted. That was targeted by the first car bomb. We've got that straight from the police. There may be some confusion, either on our end or on the end of those news agency wires that you're quoting about the involvement of a second church. But our understanding from the police that we've spoken to here in Baghdad is that the first car bomb targeted a church. The second car bomb was a suspicious vehicle being cordoned off by the Iraqi police which detonated as they were in the process of making it safe.
WHITFIELD: So while they were cordoning off that area, particularly around this vehicle that was suspicious, are they giving any details as to what raised the flag about that suspicious vehicle?
CHANCE: We haven't had any details about that yet, unfortunately, Fredricka. But you know, it's an extremely negative tactic, extremely negative development in this insurgency if, indeed, the Christian church was found to have been the target of at least this first car bomb, perhaps the second car bomb as well. If Christian communities are being targeted now in Iraq, that's an extremely negative and worrying dimension, new dimension in this increasingly bloody insurgency.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, some current wire reports are indicating that at least two people were killed. But clearly, because of the volume of these two explosions, it's presumed that the death toll is going to be much greater.
CHANCE: Well we'll wait and see for that because who knows how many people have been killed, who knows how many casualties there have been as a result of these blasts. Certainly, the blasts were extremely large as well. Much will depend on how many people there were, of course, in the vicinity. We'll have the more firm information on that as soon as it comes through us from the country's health ministry.
But I might add as a footnote, that the car bombers, the people who are planting these devices in the streets of Iraq, all over the country, are prepared to inflict extremely serious casualties, indeed. Just a few days ago, in the town of Baqubah (ph) to the north of the Iraqi capita of Baghdad, 70 people, mainly Iraqi civilians, were killed when an enormous car bomb exploded outside a police recruitment center. The target then were young men, lining up to sign up to the interim Iraqi police forces. But as a result of the power of the blast, very many ordinary Iraqis lost their lives as well.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, can you give us a sense as to where the Karadi district is in relation to the green zone that we've come to known as a protected area where coalition forces and now Iraqi government officials are staying and doing business.
CHANCE: It's some distance from the green zone. Perhaps, let me just look behind me, perhaps two kilometers on the ground, a mile or so away from the perimeter of the green zone. But certainly, those American officials inside the green zone, the U.S. Army personnel stationed all over the city, would have heard these explosions extremely easily. The explosions were so powerful, they actually rocked the building here at the hotel that we're staying here in central Baghdad and we're about a half mile away from the explosions itself. So an extremely powerful pair of blasts. But not blasts that appear to have been immediately targeting the green zone or the U.S. officials and U.S. military personnel that are based out of that area.
WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance. We're going to take a short break and then on the other side of that break, we're going to continue our conversation with you on these breaking stories. Two massive explosions taking place in Baghdad involving two, possibly two Christian churches and car bomb explosions. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK):
WHITFIELD: Back to our breaking story we're following for you. You're looking at pictures that are just now coming in of the wounded being taken in Baghdad to already strained hospitals. This is the result of a pair of car bombs that took place in Baghdad about 45 minutes apart. It happened in a middle class district known as Karadi. And it's most notable because of the national theater in that area and it also is home to many. perhaps even several thousand Iraqi Christians. Our Matthew Chance has been following this for us all morning. He joins us again from Baghdad with the very latest on the rescue efforts there. Matthew?
CHANCE: Fredricka, thank you and we'll just get to the rescue efforts in a moment but I've had some other information come if from the Iraqi police that we've been speaking to. I think what we were talking about was correct. You were quoting those news agencies. It seems that two churches in that area of Karadi were targeted by car bombs.
We understand that at least in one of the churches, a mass was going on inside the church at the time of the explosion. Eyewitnesses at the scene have reported to us that they saw members of that congregation running from the church, screaming, some of them bleeding, some of them obviously extremely badly injured. We don't have any further details on the number of casualties coming from inside of that church. But we're in close touch with the authorities to try and get that information for you.
Here's a more disturbing or another aspect of this disturbing attack. It seems, according to the police, that a third church, a third church has also been targeted so far today. We don't know how it's been targeted. We don't know if the targeting was successful and some kind of attack was actually -- actually took place or whether that attack was thwarted. But what I can tell you is that according to the Iraqi police, three churches in Baghdad have come under - have been targeted. Two of them have come under attack, according to the Iraqi police, that adding obviously a very unnerving dimension to this bloody insurgency, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew this would be new information about this possible third church. Are officials giving you a sense as to whether that third church is in that same district, that same area?
CHANCE: It's not clear. It's not clear at all, Fredricka. We know that two churches in the same area, the one, the car bomb exploded outside of it. We understand the other car bomb was near the second church as well, both very close to each other because of the Christian connections of this Karadi district.
Police so far have not given us any information whatsoever on the third church, except to say that it was targeted. We don't know whether the targeting was successful, whether anybody was injured. Again, no further details on the number of casualties inside the church, but I can still hear right now that the emergency workers, the ambulances, the police going towards that area. We understand there were casualties amongst the congregation. Again, eyewitnesses talking to us about people running out of the church service, the mass that was underway, blood streaming from them. So we'll have more details on that, hopefully, in the minutes ahead, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And once again, if we could just recap exactly what happened. Earlier today, one car bomb exploded and then as you've reported, Iraqi police and emergency officials were on their way. They were cordoning off what they believed to be a second potential car bomb, a suspicious vehicle. They cordoned that off and then it exploded? Is that how it went?
CHANCE: Yes, that's right. I was just looking at my watch to see when it took place. It's still under an hour since these two explosions which rocked the center of Baghdad actually took place. The first one, a car bomb, exploding according to police near a church, a Christian church in the Karadi district, a middle class neighborhood where there is a significant Christian community living. That church, apparently there was a mass going on inside. Eyewitnesses at the scene seeing people running from the church, obviously suffering a good deal of casualties.
As police moved to the scene to seal off the area to move the public away, they identified a second vehicle which they believed to be suspicious. They were in the process of cordoning off that vehicle. They hadn't cordoned it off yet but they were in the process of doing that when that exploded as well. We now understand that that second car was outside of the second church in the same area of the Karadi district. We're also told by police just to recap that a third church has been targeted in some way in Baghdad today.
WHITFIELD: And in the pictures that we're seeing, Matthew, in addition to seeing Iraqi police and what appears to be a fire engine, we're also seeing coalition forces who seem to be trying to keep the peace there. Can you give us a sense, since the interim government has essentially taken most control, what kind of role are coalition forces playing in incidents like this now?
CHANCE: I think they're still playing a very big role. They're giving the Iraqi interim government nominal control. They're allowing the Iraqi security forces to take the lead in some operations, certainly in response to these kinds of bomb attacks. But when they're as serious as this, they're very quick to play as much of a backup role as they can. As we've been speaking, I've been hearing U.S. helicopters circling over the scene of this blast. They're also seeing the coalition forces, U.S.-led, of course, moving to the area, perhaps in an attempt to provide assistance. We don't know that, perhaps in an attempt to secure the area in some other way, to allow the Iraqi emergency workers to go about their work and to extract the dead and injured and to get them to treatment as soon as possible.
WHITFIELD: And clearly, that makes it all that much more difficult, doesn't it, Matthew, while there are a lot of civilians there who want to help, who try to assist in any way they can, at the same time it makes it more difficult for the emergency workers, doesn't it?
CHANCE: Of course, particularly as there are so many multiple car bombs, multiple explosions in the same place. It was bad enough after the first one, of course, emergency workers hurrying to the scene to try and do whatever they could do to help the victims of that first blast. But eing caught up in the second blast as well, apparently obviously is a new danger or an inevitable danger, perhaps when you come to these kinds of scenes. It's always the thoughts in the minds of people, emergency workers, reporters, people who go to these scenes to try and respond to the blasts that there could be a second explosion. It seems in this case that there was.
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance reporting from Baghdad, thanks very much for the update.
So as you've heard Matthew reporting now, two massive explosions taking place in what's known as the Karadi district, a middle class district, mostly inhabited by Iraqi Christians there. The explosions involved two car bombs and they all apparently targeted -- at least this is the most recent information coming from Iraqi police sources there, targeted at least three churches, two of which are Christian churches. CNN will continue our coverage on this throughout the morning as we get more information.
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Aired August 1, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Matthew, give us a better sense as to where this district is. You mentioned a Christian church there, which there aren't that many in the Baghdad area. Give us a sense as to the location.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Karati (ph) district as it's called here, which is a middle class neighborhood. It's mixed between residential areas and commercial areas. It's where the national theater is situated. So it has that sort of cultural focus in the Karati district. It's also where there are a good number of Iraq's, minority Christian community. Today is, of course, Sunday. There may have been people attending that church, which police believe was targeted in this. But, you know, all over Iraq, there are explosions going on like this car bomb attack, improvised explosive devices being set off on the road, roadside bombs, in other words. Every day, Iraqis from all denominations, all faiths, all ethnic groups are living under this kind of explosive threat from the insurgents Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew, until today, is this an area that had been relatively untouched by violence?
CHANCE: I'm not altogether sure whether there had been any explosions in this area - this exact area. But certainly we haven't seen Christian churches targeted throughout the many months of this burgeoning insurgency here in Iraq. If that is the target, that may well be considered to be a negative development in this ongoing insurgency here.
WHITFIELD: And is it your understanding that this Christian church was mostly attended by Iraqi Christians or were there foreign Christians, visitors, maybe some non-government agency workers who were Christian who had been attending that church as well?
CHANCE: It's not known for being a church that's attended by the diplomatic, perhaps, community here or the foreign Christians that may be in town, although I'm sure it would be open to them. The fact is there is a sizable minority of Christians in Iraq. It's a significant minority. Many thousands of people here are Christian. It seems to have been one of the main Christian churches in Baghdad. Police saying that, of course, it may well have been the target in this blast. We'll have to see to get confirmation of that, though.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, what is your sense as to how Iraqi police and even emergency workers have been able to handle this volume of tragedy? CHANCE: Well, when the first blast took place, they seemed to have arrived, the Iraqi police, the Iraqi ambulance teams and rescue workers, they seemed to have arrived at the scene relatively quickly to try and clear away the dead and injured to try and move the public away from the area, which inevitably attracts, obviously, people when there is this kind of explosion. They're trying to cordon off the area when that second car bomb exploded as well.
And so it seems that there was a calculation in the minds of the insurgents who put these car bombs in place to perhaps target the police, the security forces, the rescue workers, knowing that they would be in the area when that second car bomb went off. Indeed, the Iraqi police and the other emergency services in this country associated with the interim Iraqi government have repeatedly been targeted by Iraqi insurgents groups. They're seen as collaborators by those insurgents. Only a few days ago in the town of Baqubah (ph) to the north of Baghdad, 70 people were killed in another very serious bombing in which the main target were recruits to the Iraqi police force. So the Christian church may have been one target, according to the police, but at the same time I think we have to consider that the police themselves may also have been the target here.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew, it seems in recent weeks, it appears as though the primary targets of these types of attacks have been Iraqis, whether they be civilians or Iraqi police, is that right?
CHANCE: It certainly seems to be the case that the insurgents make their case, saying that they're targeting collaborators with the U.S.-backed government here, the Iraqi interim government. But the fact is, like we saw in Baqubah and like I'm sure we're going to see here on the ground in Baghdad when we get details of the casualties from these two blasts, it is ordinary Iraqis that seem to be bearing the brunt of this increasingly violent and nasty insurgency, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance, thanks for that live report coming from Baghdad. Now that we have reports of two very sizable explosions taking place in what Matthew describes as the Karati district. It's near a Christian church and this apparently, this community, is a place where the Iraqi minority Christian community lives. And Matthew, I understand you're still with us. Let me continue going with you. Give me a sense now, what the rescue efforts have been like there. All right, looks like Matthew Chance is gone. Sorry about that, for a report coming from Baghdad.
Law enforcement officials here in the states are warning about a new and serious threat against public and private buildings in New York City. We get details now live from CNN's Ali Velshi in New York. Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the idea of a car bomb very much at the front of the mind of security officials here in New York. In fact, though it wasn't officially stated, that is one of the things that security officials are being warned about. The leads are not specific enough about the time or the method of an attack to raise New York's official terror threat level from where it's been since September 11th. But security directors around the city have been given some specific direction.
Now, the United Nations, the direction is that the al Qaeda might be planning attacks on either corporate headquarters, financial institutions or international organizations, the UN taking the threat very seriously. They've beefed up patrols outside their building. Security as you know Fredricka in New York already beefed up because the Republican convention is coming here at the end of August.
Heavily armed police force, Hercules troops, part of the city's anti-terror operation, are already deployed city-wide. The New York police department has been conducting large-scale drills at various points in Manhattan. This threat doesn't specifically cite Wall Street or New York's financial district, but that's an already tense part of the city. It's heavily guarded, because it's home to corporate and financial headquarters. Landmark buildings like the New York Stock Exchange, which you're seeing here, are fully barricaded. Traffic to surrounding streets has been cut off since the September 11 attacks.
Sources we've spoken to say - seem to say that there's a strong suggestion of a suicide element to this plan. Police are asking building managers in New York to be extra vigilant about people and vehicles entering their buildings in the wake of the 1993 World Trade bombing, in which explosives in a vehicle were involved. Security checks of cars with cameras and mirrors and dogs have increased. Officials now telling buildings also to lock access to roofs and maintenance rooms and to closely monitor their HVAC systems Fredricka, the heating and ventilations systems, suggesting a fear of infiltration into buildings by someone who might try to circulate contaminants through the building's ventilation system.
So again, not sure how serious the threat is, but police have issued a warning to building managers and security directors around the city to be extra careful about someone trying to hit corporate headquarters, financial institutions, or international organizations. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Ali, is there any expectation that we might hear from someone from the White House today or maybe even Tom Ridge?
VELSHI: This is, in very -- in typical fashion, there's a lot of stuff fluctuating out there. We've got reported word that we were going to hear from Tom Ridge, that he was going to be in New York. CNN is still trying to get confirmation on whether that's happening. We do seem to think he's not coming to New York, but we may get word from the director of homeland security in Washington this afternoon. We will keep a close eye on that. Of course, if it happens, CNN will bring it to our viewers live. Fred?
WHITFIELD: Ali Velshi, thanks very much for the report from New York.
Now back to our top story, coming out of Baghdad now, these pictures coming in, showing the aftermath of not one but two very sizable explosions taking place in Baghdad, specifically in what's called the Karati district and the first explosion was a car bomb. It that took place near a Christian church and this is a community apparently where many minority Iraqi Christian people live.
And apparently, when Iraqi police and emergency crews responded to the first explosion, then a second car bomb then went off, causing several injuries and potentially even deaths. We don't know the exact figures right now. But as you can see from these pictures, a number of people who appear to be injured and a number of Iraqi police officials along with coalition forces who have come out there to respond to help aid those who have been injured.
No explanation as to why this particular area was targeted. As I said, it take place near a Christian church and apparently, near a national theater there. As far as we know, this is about the first time that a Christian church has been targeted in this area. There are several thousand Iraqi Christians, primarily living in this community. But no explanation as to why this particular target, targeted area took place today.
But clearly, the strategy of the attackers was to try to cause as much damage and harm as possible by having one car bombing and then a second to take place once help arrived. And these pictures you're seeing are pictures we're just now getting in, showing the devastation in the area and showing, obviously, a lot of chaos in the response to these teams trying to offer as much aid to those who have been wounded as well as try to put out these fires caused by these two massive explosions.
It's unclear at this point from our report from Matthew Chance earlier, whether this Christian church is primarily attended by Iraqi Christians or if, in any way, any foreigners who are living in this area or conducting work in Baghdad who are Christian, who are also attending this church. These explosions taking place in what's called the Karati district, near a Christian church and near the national theater there in Baghdad.
These two explosions are the aftermath of what you're seeing of two explosions taking place in Baghdad in what we know to be the Karati district. It's a middle class district that houses the city's national theater and apparently, what's known as the Assyrian Christian church. There are several thousand Iraqi Christian whose live in this community and also attend this church and it's believed these explosions took place as many people were attending services there.
First, an explosion, a huge explosion rocked the area, then Iraqi police and emergency crews quickly tried to descend on the area, trying to offer whatever help they could to those who have been injured. And then, as those emergency workers were on the ground, a second car bomb explosion took place. Our Matthew Chance is in Baghdad and rejoins us now with the very latest. Matthew?
CHANCE: Fredricka, thank you very much. We have not much more detail than we gave you a few moments ago on these two devastating attacks in central Baghdad. Let's go over what we do know, because we do know, at this point, because it is a very chaotic and confusing scene, as you can see from the images that are coming from this area, a short distance from where I'm standing right now. It seems that about a half hour ago, a car bomb exploded in the Karati district of central Baghdad. It's a mixed area, ethnically and religiously. It's an area where there are commercial buildings as well as residential buildings. Police tell us that it seems that a Christian church was the target of that first car bomb. It's obviously Sunday today, tat Christian church a place of worship for very many of the minority Christian community in this city.
As police moved in to cordon off the area, to try and take the casualties out of the danger zone and of course to keep the general public away from the area, a second car bomb went off. The police, we're told, were cordoning off a suspicious car when that car exploded. And so it seems that the insurgents, knowing that they may well attract -- or would attract the security forces, the emergency services to the scene of that explosion, actually prepared a second car bomb, perhaps to target the police and the emergency workers as well.
Now we know there are casualties from both of these car bomb attacks. What we don't know is the level of those casualties. We're in constant touch with the health ministry here and the emergency workers on the scene to try and gauge the level of carnage that they've been wrought in these attacks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Give me a sense, Matthew, as to the scale of the emergency workers that are able to respond. Already this has been an area where the hospitals, Iraqi police have been clearly strained because of other recent insurgents attacks. But now how are they able to handle this?
CHANCE: Well, they're certainly getting a lot of practice, because it's a grim reality of life in Iraq and the Iraqi capital of Baghdad as well as other cities and towns across the country, that these kinds of explosions, bomb attacks, roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices, have become a sort of routine of the everyday threat that ordinary Iraqis have to face.
Now, because of that, the Iraqi police, the Iraqi security forces, have become relatively accustomed to getting to the scene as quickly as possible, taking away the casualties to the hospitals, to the morgues, when necessary as well. And I think it's because of that this second blast you may find was particularly damaging because the emergency workers, the police, may well have been caught up in that secondary car bomb that was prepared to go off some minutes, about 10, 15 minutes after that first bomb detonating, causing such havoc on the streets of Baghdad, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, I'm seeing some wire copy that it's explaining with a little bit more detail that the first explosion took place directly outside an Armenian church in that very same neighborhood and that second blast then was targeted outside that Christian church. What's the proximity of these two churches, do you know?
CHANCE: We don't know at this point whether there are two churches. It's very difficult to get information on the ground. Obviously, Armenians are Christians. We know at least one church was targeted. That was targeted by the first car bomb. We've got that straight from the police. There may be some confusion, either on our end or on the end of those news agency wires that you're quoting about the involvement of a second church. But our understanding from the police that we've spoken to here in Baghdad is that the first car bomb targeted a church. The second car bomb was a suspicious vehicle being cordoned off by the Iraqi police which detonated as they were in the process of making it safe.
WHITFIELD: So while they were cordoning off that area, particularly around this vehicle that was suspicious, are they giving any details as to what raised the flag about that suspicious vehicle?
CHANCE: We haven't had any details about that yet, unfortunately, Fredricka. But you know, it's an extremely negative tactic, extremely negative development in this insurgency if, indeed, the Christian church was found to have been the target of at least this first car bomb, perhaps the second car bomb as well. If Christian communities are being targeted now in Iraq, that's an extremely negative and worrying dimension, new dimension in this increasingly bloody insurgency.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, some current wire reports are indicating that at least two people were killed. But clearly, because of the volume of these two explosions, it's presumed that the death toll is going to be much greater.
CHANCE: Well we'll wait and see for that because who knows how many people have been killed, who knows how many casualties there have been as a result of these blasts. Certainly, the blasts were extremely large as well. Much will depend on how many people there were, of course, in the vicinity. We'll have the more firm information on that as soon as it comes through us from the country's health ministry.
But I might add as a footnote, that the car bombers, the people who are planting these devices in the streets of Iraq, all over the country, are prepared to inflict extremely serious casualties, indeed. Just a few days ago, in the town of Baqubah (ph) to the north of the Iraqi capita of Baghdad, 70 people, mainly Iraqi civilians, were killed when an enormous car bomb exploded outside a police recruitment center. The target then were young men, lining up to sign up to the interim Iraqi police forces. But as a result of the power of the blast, very many ordinary Iraqis lost their lives as well.
WHITFIELD: Matthew, can you give us a sense as to where the Karadi district is in relation to the green zone that we've come to known as a protected area where coalition forces and now Iraqi government officials are staying and doing business.
CHANCE: It's some distance from the green zone. Perhaps, let me just look behind me, perhaps two kilometers on the ground, a mile or so away from the perimeter of the green zone. But certainly, those American officials inside the green zone, the U.S. Army personnel stationed all over the city, would have heard these explosions extremely easily. The explosions were so powerful, they actually rocked the building here at the hotel that we're staying here in central Baghdad and we're about a half mile away from the explosions itself. So an extremely powerful pair of blasts. But not blasts that appear to have been immediately targeting the green zone or the U.S. officials and U.S. military personnel that are based out of that area.
WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance. We're going to take a short break and then on the other side of that break, we're going to continue our conversation with you on these breaking stories. Two massive explosions taking place in Baghdad involving two, possibly two Christian churches and car bomb explosions. We'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: Back to our breaking story we're following for you. You're looking at pictures that are just now coming in of the wounded being taken in Baghdad to already strained hospitals. This is the result of a pair of car bombs that took place in Baghdad about 45 minutes apart. It happened in a middle class district known as Karadi. And it's most notable because of the national theater in that area and it also is home to many. perhaps even several thousand Iraqi Christians. Our Matthew Chance has been following this for us all morning. He joins us again from Baghdad with the very latest on the rescue efforts there. Matthew?
CHANCE: Fredricka, thank you and we'll just get to the rescue efforts in a moment but I've had some other information come if from the Iraqi police that we've been speaking to. I think what we were talking about was correct. You were quoting those news agencies. It seems that two churches in that area of Karadi were targeted by car bombs.
We understand that at least in one of the churches, a mass was going on inside the church at the time of the explosion. Eyewitnesses at the scene have reported to us that they saw members of that congregation running from the church, screaming, some of them bleeding, some of them obviously extremely badly injured. We don't have any further details on the number of casualties coming from inside of that church. But we're in close touch with the authorities to try and get that information for you.
Here's a more disturbing or another aspect of this disturbing attack. It seems, according to the police, that a third church, a third church has also been targeted so far today. We don't know how it's been targeted. We don't know if the targeting was successful and some kind of attack was actually -- actually took place or whether that attack was thwarted. But what I can tell you is that according to the Iraqi police, three churches in Baghdad have come under - have been targeted. Two of them have come under attack, according to the Iraqi police, that adding obviously a very unnerving dimension to this bloody insurgency, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew this would be new information about this possible third church. Are officials giving you a sense as to whether that third church is in that same district, that same area?
CHANCE: It's not clear. It's not clear at all, Fredricka. We know that two churches in the same area, the one, the car bomb exploded outside of it. We understand the other car bomb was near the second church as well, both very close to each other because of the Christian connections of this Karadi district.
Police so far have not given us any information whatsoever on the third church, except to say that it was targeted. We don't know whether the targeting was successful, whether anybody was injured. Again, no further details on the number of casualties inside the church, but I can still hear right now that the emergency workers, the ambulances, the police going towards that area. We understand there were casualties amongst the congregation. Again, eyewitnesses talking to us about people running out of the church service, the mass that was underway, blood streaming from them. So we'll have more details on that, hopefully, in the minutes ahead, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And once again, if we could just recap exactly what happened. Earlier today, one car bomb exploded and then as you've reported, Iraqi police and emergency officials were on their way. They were cordoning off what they believed to be a second potential car bomb, a suspicious vehicle. They cordoned that off and then it exploded? Is that how it went?
CHANCE: Yes, that's right. I was just looking at my watch to see when it took place. It's still under an hour since these two explosions which rocked the center of Baghdad actually took place. The first one, a car bomb, exploding according to police near a church, a Christian church in the Karadi district, a middle class neighborhood where there is a significant Christian community living. That church, apparently there was a mass going on inside. Eyewitnesses at the scene seeing people running from the church, obviously suffering a good deal of casualties.
As police moved to the scene to seal off the area to move the public away, they identified a second vehicle which they believed to be suspicious. They were in the process of cordoning off that vehicle. They hadn't cordoned it off yet but they were in the process of doing that when that exploded as well. We now understand that that second car was outside of the second church in the same area of the Karadi district. We're also told by police just to recap that a third church has been targeted in some way in Baghdad today.
WHITFIELD: And in the pictures that we're seeing, Matthew, in addition to seeing Iraqi police and what appears to be a fire engine, we're also seeing coalition forces who seem to be trying to keep the peace there. Can you give us a sense, since the interim government has essentially taken most control, what kind of role are coalition forces playing in incidents like this now?
CHANCE: I think they're still playing a very big role. They're giving the Iraqi interim government nominal control. They're allowing the Iraqi security forces to take the lead in some operations, certainly in response to these kinds of bomb attacks. But when they're as serious as this, they're very quick to play as much of a backup role as they can. As we've been speaking, I've been hearing U.S. helicopters circling over the scene of this blast. They're also seeing the coalition forces, U.S.-led, of course, moving to the area, perhaps in an attempt to provide assistance. We don't know that, perhaps in an attempt to secure the area in some other way, to allow the Iraqi emergency workers to go about their work and to extract the dead and injured and to get them to treatment as soon as possible.
WHITFIELD: And clearly, that makes it all that much more difficult, doesn't it, Matthew, while there are a lot of civilians there who want to help, who try to assist in any way they can, at the same time it makes it more difficult for the emergency workers, doesn't it?
CHANCE: Of course, particularly as there are so many multiple car bombs, multiple explosions in the same place. It was bad enough after the first one, of course, emergency workers hurrying to the scene to try and do whatever they could do to help the victims of that first blast. But eing caught up in the second blast as well, apparently obviously is a new danger or an inevitable danger, perhaps when you come to these kinds of scenes. It's always the thoughts in the minds of people, emergency workers, reporters, people who go to these scenes to try and respond to the blasts that there could be a second explosion. It seems in this case that there was.
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance reporting from Baghdad, thanks very much for the update.
So as you've heard Matthew reporting now, two massive explosions taking place in what's known as the Karadi district, a middle class district, mostly inhabited by Iraqi Christians there. The explosions involved two car bombs and they all apparently targeted -- at least this is the most recent information coming from Iraqi police sources there, targeted at least three churches, two of which are Christian churches. CNN will continue our coverage on this throughout the morning as we get more information.
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