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CNN Live Saturday

Baghdad Tunes In

Aired April 19, 2003 - 13:47   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.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt there are many changes ahead for the people of Iraq. In Baghdad, they are already dishing up a whole new world thanks to satellite TV. CNN's Michael Holmes tunes in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a Baghdad street, a man can't quite believe what he has seen, a popular restaurant with something new on the menu. Without having to look over their shoulders, customers watch a news broadcast from another country on satellite TV. Television wasn't banned in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, as long as it broadcast only what he wanted people to see. This was illegal. In a city starved for facts and feasting on rumor, it is what people crave, information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel happy and free. We can have satellite now. Before when Saddam was in power, it was illegal.

HOLMES: Kareem Al Rubayi (ph) owns this restaurant and now proudly displays what he used to hide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I had to keep it a secret, hidden away from anyone who might see the receiver or the dish. And if it was seen, I would have been found guilty a crime, according to Saddam Hussein's regime and Ba'ath Party.

HOLMES: Kareem's (ph) brother, Mohammed, has become quite the entrepreneur. Instead of watching satellite TV, he's selling the receivers, smuggled in from the north, but soon to be brought in the front door rather than from the back of the truck. Three hundred dollars for a receiver and they are selling.

MOHAMMED AL RUBAYI, ENTREPRENEUR: Yes, I sell now.

HOLMES (on camera): What if you had to try to sell this one month ago?

M. AL RUBAYI: About one month ago, not -- I can't go. I can't speak. I have satellite. I can't speak.

HOLMES: People speak often about a return to normality here in Baghdad, but legal satellite television is not normal. It is something entirely new.

You seem very happy about satellite TV?

M. Al RUBAYI: Yes, I think so. I think I am very happy.

HOLMES (voice-over): Michael Holmes, CNN Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 April 19, 2003 - 13:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt there are many changes ahead for the people of Iraq. In Baghdad, they are already dishing up a whole new world thanks to satellite TV. CNN's Michael Holmes tunes in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a Baghdad street, a man can't quite believe what he has seen, a popular restaurant with something new on the menu. Without having to look over their shoulders, customers watch a news broadcast from another country on satellite TV. Television wasn't banned in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, as long as it broadcast only what he wanted people to see. This was illegal. In a city starved for facts and feasting on rumor, it is what people crave, information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel happy and free. We can have satellite now. Before when Saddam was in power, it was illegal.

HOLMES: Kareem Al Rubayi (ph) owns this restaurant and now proudly displays what he used to hide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I had to keep it a secret, hidden away from anyone who might see the receiver or the dish. And if it was seen, I would have been found guilty a crime, according to Saddam Hussein's regime and Ba'ath Party.

HOLMES: Kareem's (ph) brother, Mohammed, has become quite the entrepreneur. Instead of watching satellite TV, he's selling the receivers, smuggled in from the north, but soon to be brought in the front door rather than from the back of the truck. Three hundred dollars for a receiver and they are selling.

MOHAMMED AL RUBAYI, ENTREPRENEUR: Yes, I sell now.

HOLMES (on camera): What if you had to try to sell this one month ago?

M. AL RUBAYI: About one month ago, not -- I can't go. I can't speak. I have satellite. I can't speak.

HOLMES: People speak often about a return to normality here in Baghdad, but legal satellite television is not normal. It is something entirely new.

You seem very happy about satellite TV?

M. Al RUBAYI: Yes, I think so. I think I am very happy.

HOLMES (voice-over): Michael Holmes, CNN Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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