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CNN Live Saturday

Two Explosions Heard Near Iraqi National Museum

Aired June 28, 2003 - 16:02   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: First, this just in to CNN. Two explosions have been heard in Baghdad near the Iraqi National Museum. U.S. soldiers are guarding the facility. Coalition forces say the explosions came as a red Volkswagen approached their tanks' location. Witnesses say two men in the car threw grenades at the tank, trying to hit it. The grenades missed, and struck a small office building instead. There are no reports of casualties.
More now on the dangers in Iraq and the fate of two missing American soldiers. Their bodies have been found outside of Baghdad. Both are believed to have been captured and killed by hostile forces, possibly loyal to Saddam Hussein. CNN's Chris Plante is at the Pentagon with details -- Chris.

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. The bodies of two soldiers that had been listed since Wednesday as missing were found today, a location approximately 20 miles north and west of Baghdad. The two soldiers, Private First Class Kevin Ott, 27 years old of Columbus, Ohio, and Sergeant First Class Gladimir Philippe, 37 years old of Lyndon, New Jersey, seen here in this photograph. I do not currently have a photograph of Private First Class Ott. The two bodies found killed as a result of what we're told is hostile fire, foul play. The search had been going on since Wednesday, when the two failed to respond to radio calls from their colleagues. This was deemed suspicious enough that a search party went out to look for them. That search continued from Wednesday until this morning when the bodies were discovered.

We've learned a couple of details during the course of the day, including the fact that a number of raids took place associated with the search. There was an unmanned aerial vehicle, very high-tech surveillance aircraft used in the search, along with Apache helicopters -- Blackhawk helicopters, members of the 4th Infantry Division, and the search included some house-to-house searches, which turned up some private belongings yesterday, belonging to the two soldiers. Four people at that location, four Iraqis at that location were taken into U.S. custody. They're still in U.S. custody. A total of 12 people have been taken into custody during the course of the search.

And the father of Sergeant First Class Philippe came out this morning and spoke to some news cameras after learning the bad news of his son's death, and expressed his concern not only for his son but for the ongoing operation in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RENISSE PHILIPPE, FATHER: I'm concerned about (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Every time (UNINTELLIGIBLE) what happened. But every day, you know, people die. People die. So what's going to happen? The government says the war is over, but the war is not over. That's what I say. People die every day. Almost every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLANTE: Clearly, the war is on some level at least, still ongoing. Casualties continue to mount. This is number 22 or number 23 killed as a result of hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1 -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Plante at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

Well, the two soldiers were part of the U.S. forces cracking down on pockets of resistance in Baghdad, resistance which these most recent explosions show has been growing in different ways. Our Ben Wedeman has the latest on the violence in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A blaze in Baghdad. A ministry of education warehouse burns out of control. A series of fires broke out Saturday around the city, raising the specter of another attempt to undermine the U.S.-led coalition's already faltering efforts to establish order.

As fires flare in Baghdad, U.S. forces came under attack yet again. Friday night, a patrol in the northern suburb of Saader City (ph) was ambushed, leaving one American soldier dead and at least four wounded. And to the northwest of Baghdad, U.S. forces found the remains of two soldiers who had been missing since Wednesday.

(on camera): Increasing attacks against coalition forces, sabotage against oil pipelines and the electricity system; now the coalition has to deal with arson in Baghdad.

(voice-over): One of Baghdad's few fire trucks not looted after the war finally showed up to put out this fire. But by then it was too late. The damage had already been done.

The head of Baghdad's civil defense, Ali Sayid, says his men can barely keep up with these fires.

"Our initial information indicates this fire was intentionally set by people, some of whom have been brought in for questioning," he says.

Elsewhere, a warehouse at the Baghdad sign company smolders. A facility severely looted, now completely out of business.

Across the battered Iraqi capital Saturday, one fire erupted as soon as another was put out. Against this grim background, the coalition's provisional authority remains, in the words of one official, highly optimistic.

Friday evening, the head of the provisional authority, Paul Bremer, attended the first performance of the Baghdad Symphony Orchestra since before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. A small glimmer of normality as ordinary people struggle to stop their city from being engulfed in violence, flames and uncertainty.

Ben Wedeman, 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 June 28, 2003 - 16:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: First, this just in to CNN. Two explosions have been heard in Baghdad near the Iraqi National Museum. U.S. soldiers are guarding the facility. Coalition forces say the explosions came as a red Volkswagen approached their tanks' location. Witnesses say two men in the car threw grenades at the tank, trying to hit it. The grenades missed, and struck a small office building instead. There are no reports of casualties.
More now on the dangers in Iraq and the fate of two missing American soldiers. Their bodies have been found outside of Baghdad. Both are believed to have been captured and killed by hostile forces, possibly loyal to Saddam Hussein. CNN's Chris Plante is at the Pentagon with details -- Chris.

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. The bodies of two soldiers that had been listed since Wednesday as missing were found today, a location approximately 20 miles north and west of Baghdad. The two soldiers, Private First Class Kevin Ott, 27 years old of Columbus, Ohio, and Sergeant First Class Gladimir Philippe, 37 years old of Lyndon, New Jersey, seen here in this photograph. I do not currently have a photograph of Private First Class Ott. The two bodies found killed as a result of what we're told is hostile fire, foul play. The search had been going on since Wednesday, when the two failed to respond to radio calls from their colleagues. This was deemed suspicious enough that a search party went out to look for them. That search continued from Wednesday until this morning when the bodies were discovered.

We've learned a couple of details during the course of the day, including the fact that a number of raids took place associated with the search. There was an unmanned aerial vehicle, very high-tech surveillance aircraft used in the search, along with Apache helicopters -- Blackhawk helicopters, members of the 4th Infantry Division, and the search included some house-to-house searches, which turned up some private belongings yesterday, belonging to the two soldiers. Four people at that location, four Iraqis at that location were taken into U.S. custody. They're still in U.S. custody. A total of 12 people have been taken into custody during the course of the search.

And the father of Sergeant First Class Philippe came out this morning and spoke to some news cameras after learning the bad news of his son's death, and expressed his concern not only for his son but for the ongoing operation in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RENISSE PHILIPPE, FATHER: I'm concerned about (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Every time (UNINTELLIGIBLE) what happened. But every day, you know, people die. People die. So what's going to happen? The government says the war is over, but the war is not over. That's what I say. People die every day. Almost every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLANTE: Clearly, the war is on some level at least, still ongoing. Casualties continue to mount. This is number 22 or number 23 killed as a result of hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1 -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Plante at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

Well, the two soldiers were part of the U.S. forces cracking down on pockets of resistance in Baghdad, resistance which these most recent explosions show has been growing in different ways. Our Ben Wedeman has the latest on the violence in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A blaze in Baghdad. A ministry of education warehouse burns out of control. A series of fires broke out Saturday around the city, raising the specter of another attempt to undermine the U.S.-led coalition's already faltering efforts to establish order.

As fires flare in Baghdad, U.S. forces came under attack yet again. Friday night, a patrol in the northern suburb of Saader City (ph) was ambushed, leaving one American soldier dead and at least four wounded. And to the northwest of Baghdad, U.S. forces found the remains of two soldiers who had been missing since Wednesday.

(on camera): Increasing attacks against coalition forces, sabotage against oil pipelines and the electricity system; now the coalition has to deal with arson in Baghdad.

(voice-over): One of Baghdad's few fire trucks not looted after the war finally showed up to put out this fire. But by then it was too late. The damage had already been done.

The head of Baghdad's civil defense, Ali Sayid, says his men can barely keep up with these fires.

"Our initial information indicates this fire was intentionally set by people, some of whom have been brought in for questioning," he says.

Elsewhere, a warehouse at the Baghdad sign company smolders. A facility severely looted, now completely out of business.

Across the battered Iraqi capital Saturday, one fire erupted as soon as another was put out. Against this grim background, the coalition's provisional authority remains, in the words of one official, highly optimistic.

Friday evening, the head of the provisional authority, Paul Bremer, attended the first performance of the Baghdad Symphony Orchestra since before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. A small glimmer of normality as ordinary people struggle to stop their city from being engulfed in violence, flames and uncertainty.

Ben Wedeman, 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