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CNN Live Saturday
U.S. To Send Resue Workers To Iran
Aired December 27, 2003 - 16:06 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.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now to the U.S. efforts to help victims in Iran after that devastating earthquake. Seventy- three members of a Virginia Search and Rescue Team packed up and began their journey to Bam, the ancient city there, today. Even more American aid is on the way, including the first U.S. military flights to Iran in more than 20 years. Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Crawford, Texas, with the latest on this effort. Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CRAWFORD, TEXAS: Well, Fred, in a clear sign that the Bush administration is willing to put aside its differences with Iran to offer humanitarian assistance. We are told that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called the Iranian U.N. Representative Mohammed Sarif directly to offer assistance. Usually those communications between the United States and Iran are done through the Swiss.
But the Bush administration announcing today that it's going to be working with the United Nations as well as the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent to provide that type of assistance. We got some details today about what that entails. The White House released in a statement saying the United States will deploy civilian teams composed of more than 200 experts in urban search and rescue, emergency surgery and disaster response coordination, including medical response teams from Boston, Massachusetts, and local disaster response teams from Los Angeles, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia.
We're also told that disaster response teams will be working and drawn from U.S. Aid as well as FEMA and the state department. And the military is going to be delivering some supplies, 150,000 pounds of medical supplies from the bases in Kuwait. Earlier today, we heard from some of those fire and rescue officials out of Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're taking a 73-member team over there that have bring specialists, search and rescue specialists, dog teams, structural engineers. And we've got paramedics and doctors as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, all of this for what President Bush labeled once a member of the axis of evil. The big question here is whether or not this is going to open up formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. A States Department spokesperson saying that do not take this too far, that this is a humanitarian effort, that it does not have political meaning. He went on to say that they will not alter the tone or the intensity of the dialogue with the Iranians when it comes to other grave matters. As you know, those matters being of course, disarmament as well as cooperation with the war on terror -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, thank you very much.
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 December 27, 2003 - 16:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now to the U.S. efforts to help victims in Iran after that devastating earthquake. Seventy- three members of a Virginia Search and Rescue Team packed up and began their journey to Bam, the ancient city there, today. Even more American aid is on the way, including the first U.S. military flights to Iran in more than 20 years. Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Crawford, Texas, with the latest on this effort. Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CRAWFORD, TEXAS: Well, Fred, in a clear sign that the Bush administration is willing to put aside its differences with Iran to offer humanitarian assistance. We are told that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called the Iranian U.N. Representative Mohammed Sarif directly to offer assistance. Usually those communications between the United States and Iran are done through the Swiss.
But the Bush administration announcing today that it's going to be working with the United Nations as well as the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent to provide that type of assistance. We got some details today about what that entails. The White House released in a statement saying the United States will deploy civilian teams composed of more than 200 experts in urban search and rescue, emergency surgery and disaster response coordination, including medical response teams from Boston, Massachusetts, and local disaster response teams from Los Angeles, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia.
We're also told that disaster response teams will be working and drawn from U.S. Aid as well as FEMA and the state department. And the military is going to be delivering some supplies, 150,000 pounds of medical supplies from the bases in Kuwait. Earlier today, we heard from some of those fire and rescue officials out of Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're taking a 73-member team over there that have bring specialists, search and rescue specialists, dog teams, structural engineers. And we've got paramedics and doctors as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, all of this for what President Bush labeled once a member of the axis of evil. The big question here is whether or not this is going to open up formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. A States Department spokesperson saying that do not take this too far, that this is a humanitarian effort, that it does not have political meaning. He went on to say that they will not alter the tone or the intensity of the dialogue with the Iranians when it comes to other grave matters. As you know, those matters being of course, disarmament as well as cooperation with the war on terror -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
