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U.S. Troops Closing in on Baghdad; British Forces Find Torture Chamber in Iraq
Aired April 03, 2003 - 14:02 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon to our viewers in North America. It's just after 10:00 p.m. here in Kuwait City, 11:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 2:00 p.m. over at the Pentagon, where the news is being made this Thursday, April 3. I'm Wolf Blitzer, in Kuwait City.
Coming up this hour, closing in on the capital. Coalition troops just miles outside of the city. We'll take you to the frontlines in about 60 seconds.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN studios in Washington, I'm Judy Woodruff.
Also this hour, lessons learned from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and applying them to the current war in Iraq. Report from our Kelly Wallace straight ahead.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
Also this hour, inside an alleged Iraqi torture chamber. This is what British forces found in the southern party of the country. The story is at the half-hour, but first, back to Wolf in Kuwait city.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Miles.
The Pentagon won't confirm it, but wire services are quoting U.S. forces in Iraq as saying the ground assault on Saddam International Airport is now underway. The airport is 12 miles from the heart of Baghdad, and the wires say there's been minimal resistance.
Take a look at this map. As we zoom in on Baghdad, special forces are well within the so-called red zone, an area where the Iraqis are reportedly more likely to use chemical weapons on U.S. and British troops.
CNN crews are imbedded with the military making their way north toward Baghdad and they too report only moderate resistance and few signs of Iraq's so-called Republican Guard divisions.
The Pentagon says the Guard is melting away, but officials there caution as well, fighting could still be serious. The worst fighting, indeed, could lie ahead. If you've been watching CNN, you've seen spell-binding and exclusive pictures and sound from the leading edge of the U.S. armored advance, courtesy of CNN's imbedded correspondent Walter Rodgers and our photographer, Charlie Miller. They're with the 3rd Squadron 7th Calvary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 3rd Squadron 7th Calvary remains on the distant outskirts of Baghdad and again, what we're seeing is small groups of Iraqi resistance fighters, 10 to 20, forming up in foxholes or taking shelter behind buildings, sticking their heads up occasionally, firing in the direction of the convoy.
Almost as soon as they do, certainly as soon as the soldiers aboard the tanks -- and you can see the tanks' elevated position up there -- as soon as you can see -- as soon as they see where the fire is coming from, they provide covering fire and overwhelmingly wipe out anything that's in the field.
We have seen, as I said, a force of 20 dead Iraqi soldiers in the field. We believe most of those have been taken out by the 3rd Infantry Division as it passed through, albeit in a different direction, earlier in the day.
Troubling news, of course, that each of those Iraqi soldiers had a gas mask on at the time and that, of course, portends, perhaps, greater difficulty as these U.S. Army units get closer to Baghdad.
Again, as we pass through some agricultural villages in the Mesopotamian delta, we did find some of the Iraqis were more than a little enthusiastic to see the 7th Calvary and the other U.S. Army soldiers coming through. The men would very guardedly flash us a thumbs up or give us a "V" for victory sign, but that being the case, it was very guarded until we got further and further away.
The further away we got from the Euphrates River and closer to Baghdad, ironically, the more enthusiasm we've encountered among some of the Iraqi farm families, particularly the children and some of the women.
I remember one woman who was waving very enthusiastically at the 7th Calvary moving through, and she was 400 yards back from the road.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: CNN's Walter Rodgers, embedded with the 7th Calvary, on the road toward Baghdad.
Baghdad isn't the only target for coalition forces in the north and in the town of Kalak, our Ben Wedeman reports hundreds of Kurdish troops are securing an 8-mile strength of road between Kalak and Mosul.
There were mild explosions today in the region and Wedeman is reporting the Kurdish fighters are in deep discussions with several American soldiers.
To Najaf now, a city now under control of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. military. But the control is coming with a price.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote tells us villagers are extremely uneasy about the military presence there. We'll talk to Ryan at the half-hour.
And to the south, in Basra, smoke rose over this southern Iraqi city earlier in the morning as a coalition tank and a truck could be seen entering the city. Britain says it's forces have seized Basra's key suburbs and were said to be consolidating their position there.
Let's go to CNN's Miles O'Brien for more, in Atlanta -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Wolf.
I'm joined by Major General Don Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force.
We've got a schematic, a kind of rough map of the City of Baghdad here, and I want to call your attention to things on both ends of the bottom portion, to our eyes, here.
This is Saddam International Airport. We just told you a little bit about what's going on there. And over there is the Rasheed (ph) Airport. These are probably -- well, we know already that this is very high on the list of targets for coalition forces, possibly the Rasheed (ph) might be another high target.
Why airports? Why so soon?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You want to control transportation into and out of a city and you want to control those airports so people can't fly in and out. You also want to control all bridges, all roads, check points, so that you know who is going and who is in and out of this city and can stop them if you don't want them to travel -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: We don't know what's going on there. At this point, there's a pitch battle apparently in progress as we speak. But do you suspect that this push will continue? At what point will there be an opportunity for coalition forces to retrench and resupply?
SHEPPERD: I think the forces are going to retrench and resupply on the outskirts of Baghdad. It's prudent, rather than just pushing right on into the center of Baghdad. They probably have to do that.
They also -- continual communications going on with the leadership of the Baath Party and the military, and they're trying to get them to switch sides without fighting.
O'BRIEN: All right, so here's Saddam International. That's the main presidential palace site. We're talking only 12 miles here. Probably the longest 12 miles of this journey.
SHEPPERD: Could be very ugly if you get into house-to-house fighting.
The closer you get to inside of Baghdad, the more really bad guys are in here.
O'BRIEN: All right, I want to talk a little bit about -- let's go to our Earthviewer.com satellite imagery and we're going to zoom in on a lake which, by the way, it shows up very, very clear, way up high here, this is from 22,000 miles up. Lake Tharthar. Let's zoom in on the palace complex there.
We saw some dramatic video of the seizing of this particular palace compound. It goes back to '93. Probably the second largest after his large palace compound in Tikrit.
The fact that the coalition forces were able to go in here to the shores of Lake Tharthar and seize this particular palace should say something. What does this tell you?
SHEPPERD: This is his largest palace in the entire country. It also is second only in size to his residential home up in Tikrit.
The ability to go in and seize his largest palace, or operate in his largest palace, like this special forces operation, says that they can go anywhere they want in the country -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's take a look at that tape. We're going to roll it, and I want to stop it a few times along the way, and you can sort of walk us through it. This was released at the Central Command briefing.
As we come in here, sort of gun-sight video, let's freeze it right now, if we can, Scott, and take a look at this right now. Do you have any sense of what kind of ordinance might be used?
SHEPPERD: Yes. Gunfire from a helicopter, machinegun fire, if you will, strafing this building. This is all based on very hard intelligence. They know who was in that building and it was occupied.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go forward now, and I can see a little bit more as this unfolds, as we get a kind of a wider shot. Take that -- let's freeze it, right now, Scott. I want to just point this one out.
This is one of those twin-rotor Chinook aircraft. Why the Chinook?
SHEPPERD: Yes. Special forces, because they've got to carry a bunch of troops in it, and it's the only helicopter big enough to carry a bunch of troops.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's move it along and we'll show you a little bit more about how this unfolded. You get the sense they didn't meet with much resistance here, based on what we're seeing here from this gun-sight video.
There you see that Chinook, that twin-rotored helicopter, right there on the ground of the compound. And from there, we're told they basically seized this palace. Didn't find much of consequence, however.
SHEPPERD: Yes. They're not wandering in here, looking around, see what they can find. They knew what they were after. Lots of intelligence. This was all done with night vision goggles, blacked out.
O'BRIEN: All right. Don Shepperd, thanks very much. Appreciate that.
Tharthar is a place to consider. Perhaps they found some stuff that might be useful later, some intelligence, but none of the regime targets, as we say, people close to Saddam Hussein.
SHEPPERD: Indeed.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's send it back to Judy.
WOODRUFF: Miles, just a quick question for you and General Shepperd. To what extent are coalition forces close to actually completely encircling Baghdad right now?
O'BRIEN: Good question.
SHEPPERD: My judgment is that they are not encircling Baghdad. They're on the south side.
The other thing, though, Judy, is special forces are throughout the country, controlling access roads, checkpoints all over, so the noose is tightening -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: OK. Just trying to back off and get a somewhat bigger picture, I guess, if you will, of where the coalition stands in terms of preventing people and troops from leaving, and machinery, and so forth, from leaving the capitol city.
Well, within the last hour, the Pentagon denied having anything to do with today's sudden blackout -- that's the first of the war -- in Baghdad. Before the lights went out, Iraqis got another chance to see Saddam Hussein on television, although, as always, we don't have any idea of where or when he was photographed.
CNN's Nic Robertson has been watching all these developments, as he has every day since this war got underway. He joins us from his observation post in Ruwaished, Jordan.
Nic, you've been watching Baghdad. This is the first time we have seen the power grid out in the city.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very significant.
Iraqi authorities say that it wasn't, Judy, the bombing. The coalition reaffirms that. It appears that Iraqi authorities may have shut down the power grid on the city. Now, according to sources in Baghdad, areas of the city shut down. First one side of the river, the east side, then the west side of the river was shut down. It does appear likely that it was the Iraqi authorities shutting down the power grid.
This is the first time they've done this and this may very well be an indication that they're beginning to feel now that Baghdad is under threat at this time. That's not clear that that was the reasoning and rationale, but certainly through all the aerial bombardment, it was very noticeable that all the lights stayed on in Baghdad. Iraqi officials not shutting off the electricity, but now they have done it, quite possibly because they fear the city now under threat.
Interesting today to look at those pictures of President Saddam Hussein. Seated on his right-hand side, the Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan. Not present in that meeting, apparently, Abid Hamoud (ph), a very close confidant of the Iraqi leader who is present in almost all the meetings.
Again, another interesting thing about this meeting, although we don't know when it was shot, and exactly where it was shot, that there were a lot of people present at the meeting, perhaps the biggest meeting of Iraqi officials, ministers, military chiefs, in with the Iraqi leader since the war began. We haven't seen a collection of Iraqi officials with President Saddam Hussein so big.
Certainly Iraqi officials today denying that coalition forces are so close to Baghdad. Indeed, making quite the reverse observation, as the Information Minister Muhammad al-Sahhaf saying that it was in fact Iraqi troops who were hunting down coalition forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUHAMMAD SAEED AL-SAHHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MIN.: The mercenaries today, they were surrounded, and they sustained heavy losses and big numbers of them have been killed, and they backed off to the same place -- to the same area which they have been surrounded. The battle is still going on and today we will give them the lesson they deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, just to reaffirm for journalist and reports still in Iraq that Iraqi authorities control the area around Baghdad, in the afternoon following that press briefing that the information minister gave, journalist were taken to Saddam International Airport, that's the main airport just 20 kilometers to the southwest of Baghdad.
When journalists went there, it did appear that Iraqi authorities had control over the airport. There didn't appear to be at that time any coalition forces. Certainly it would be a prime objective for the coalition very likely at this time to secure such an airfield.
And from my own experience, driving to and from that airport on a number of occasions, the airport is somewhat separated from the city of Baghdad, may very well be the sort of location that can be secured relatively easily in terms of small arms fire. It would of course be very much within artillery range of the city of Baghdad -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Nic, and we are, as we've been saying, having reports in the last hour or so of intense fighting in that area, varying reports about how much resistance the Iraqis are putting up.
Nic, I also want to ask you about something that Saddam Hussein, at least in a message from Saddam Hussein, we heard a couple of days ago, a message to the Shiites in his country who traditionally have not been supportive of him, but his urging them to rise up. What do you make of developments since then?
ROBERTSON: Well, very interesting to watch and hear what Ryan Chilcote, our reporter who is in Najaf, the most holy of the Shia cities in Iraq, and in the world, for the Shia community. Very important city, not only with military strategic importance, but what we've seen here today, the community coming out apparently to defend, if you will, or stop the soldiers getting close to the important sign of Ali (ph), the prophet's son-in-law.
But perhaps more critically, what we've seen here is that the leading cleric in the area, the grand ayatollah, Ali Al Sistani (ph), stepping in to tell the crowds to back down.
In many ways, this may very well be the response that Saddam Hussein, President Saddam Hussein, was not looking for. The Shia here backing down and accepting the coalition forces in their city. And this is something that will be listened and understood by Shia throughout Iraq at this time. The message coming from their religious leaders now is not to get in the way of coalition forces, and this will be hugely important at this time for the coalition as they move through southern Iraq, and it will be a message very clearly read by the Iraqi leadership and very well understood by the Iraqi leadership that the religious leaders within the Shia community are not standing by President Saddam Hussein at this time.
WOODRUFF: Nic Robertson, tell us that what has happened today in Najaf may very well be sending an important signal to the entire Shia community throughout Iraq, that this may not be isolated just to the one holy city of Najaf.
Nic, thanks very much. Nic Robertson, reporting from the Iraqi border with Jordan, on the Jordanian side.
Well, still to come this hour, the connection between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Iraq. Our Kelly Wallace, right after a break.
Also ahead, a U.S. military plane goes down. The search is on for the pilot. And now the United States is looking into whether it was shot down by friendly fire. The latest coming up.
And a little later, found: an alleged Iraqi torture chamber. Electrical wires, hooks hanging from the ceiling. We'll show you inside the basement of this southern Iraqi police station.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: You're looking live at Baghdad, downtown Baghdad, dark. The first time in two weeks, since this war started. The power is off. The electricity is off. Doesn't seem to be clear why. The Pentagon is insisting the Central Command did not target the power grid of the Iraqi capitol.
Let's check in now with Dexter Filkins of "The New York Times." He's one of the embedded journalists.
Dexter, I don't know where precisely you are. I don't know if you can tell us, but give us a sense of what you're seeing, what you're hearing right now, in this war?
DEXTER FILKINS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, I'm with the Marines. We're on the east side of the city. This is the big column of Marines that swung around and is trying to approach from the southeast. We're coming up Highway 6. We ran up Highway 6 today, probably 20 or 30 miles.
It was an amazing scene, just an incredibly warm reception from the Iraqis. Iraqis streaming out of Baghdad and the cities that we were approaching, but cheering as we went by. And I think what struck me is just, you know, I've been through a lot of Iraqi cities, and there's been a lot of doubt, and at the same time the emotions have been pretty muted because of that doubt, that the United States was really going to takedown Saddam, and I think the closer the United States gets to Baghdad, the more evident it is that that's going to happen.
So we've just -- today, I think what I saw was a big emotional outpouring.
BLITZER: So you're basically very close to the outskirts of the Iraqi capitol right now. I don't know if you're allowed to tell us, but approximately how close are those Marines to Baghdad right now?
FILKINS: Well, I think -- I have to say I personally am at the sort of front edge. I'm at the tip of the spear, I think. I'm probably as far forward as any of them. But I'm not sure exactly. My guess is, probably, you know, 20 miles from the beginning of the city itself. Not terribly far.
And I would think that probably by tomorrow, you know, we're going to start hitting the city limits. Because really, there was a big battle today about 10 miles back from where I was, in a town called Azizia (ph). It took about five hours, I'd have to say. They called in gunships and bombers and everything else. A lot of fighting. Drove through the town, there was a lot of stuff that was on fire. Talked to some people there.
So it's an interesting thing. I mean, the overwhelming majority of the Iraqis seem to be pretty darn happy that the Marines are coming up, but there's still some pretty intense pockets of resistance, and it wouldn't surprise me if we hit another one or two of those on the way.
BLITZER: You know, what you're reporting now for us, Dexter, is pretty important, because there had been a widespread anticipation, at least in the Bush administration, at the Pentagon, the Central Command, that Iraqis by and large would be relieved, would be thrilled, to see U.S. military personnel liberating their country.
But in the south, the Shia in particular, have been nervous about showing that kind of excitement. What you're saying is, you get closer to Baghdad, they seem to be pretty excited.
In the eastern part of Baghdad there's a pretty significant Shia population. Would you say most of the Iraqis you are seeing now are the Sunnis or the Shia?
FILKINS: No, they're Shia. And it's funny. I mean, it's exactly what you say.
There's been this reluctance and people will tell you this. They say, I can't give you my name. I don't like Saddam Hussein but, you know, if I tell you who I am and the guy comes back, he's going to come after me, so I can't do that.
I was just walking with a guy today who told me the same thing, but he said let me tell you, the day that Saddam falls, there's going to be clapping and cheering in the streets, and there's going to be a party and there's going to be music and, you know, go Marines, and I hope you get there really fast.
So I think -- I think it's, you know, if you could see what I saw today, which was amazing, the outpouring that we saw -- people, it's becoming more certain in their minds that this is going to happen, and so I think that they're feeling more free to express themselves.
BLITZER: It's a pretty amazing picture that you're painting for all of us, Dexter.
What about the vaunted Republican Guard divisions that were supposedly encircling the Iraqi capitol, standing in the way of those Marines? What happened to them?
Well, I think we hit a pretty good pocket of them today. Probably the front end of the Al Neda (ph) Division. My understanding is, is a lot of them have gone into Baghdad, have gone into southern Baghdad. Now, whether they're going to go there and hide or go there and fight, we're going to probably find that out in a couple of days.
But there was a pretty good pocket of them today, probably 500 or 600 guys, you know, the diehards, and I think they fought pretty hard, and it took the Marines today several hours to get rid of these guys, and they called in a lot of stuff, you know, bombs, B-52's, you know, F-18's, gunships, the whole thing, and there were a lot of tanks up there and there was a lot of fighting, I saw. I know some -- I think some Marines were wounded as well.
So, you know, they're not dead yet, I'll tell you that.
BLITZER: Dexter Filkins, of "The New York Times," reporting from the frontlines. He's embedded with U.S. Marines. They're moving closer towards the Iraqi capitol.
Dexter, thanks so much for establishing that phone contact with us. We'll hopefully be touching base with you several more times. Appreciate it very much.
And we've also been showing our viewers glimpses of how Arab television networks are covering the war in Iraq.
Now CNN's Daryn Kagan looks at how some of the region's newspapers are doing it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've come to one of the local newsstands here in Kuwait City to get a feel for how the local papers are playing the story today.
First to the "Kuwait Times." Once again, featuring a child on the cover. This a very sad picture. This is from the southern part of the country, and the caption explains that this child is sleeping on the floor of a hospital, an injured child, along with other members of her family who have been injured. But apparently in this particular hospital, there weren't enough beds, so the child sleeps on the floor.
A child also featured on the cover of "The Arab Times." This one is from near the town of Najaf, taken at a POW camp. This man is a POW and the caption explains that when he was captured, he was with his four-year-old son and the U.S. military didn't want to separate them, so they're together in captivity behind the barbed wire.
Also making news today, on the front page, on the bottom fold, the missile that Iraq tried to shoot at Kuwait yesterday but the Kuwait Air Force announcing it was able to shoot down that missile inside Iraqi airspace before it ever even entered Kuwait.
And just one more, a lighter note, on the back page. Both papers making a lot of room for sports. You've got the opening of the baseball season here. You have Randy Johnson, you have the Lakers, with Kobe Bryant, and a different type of international story, 500 days to the countdown of the Summer Games in Athens Greece -- the Olympics right around the corner, according to this paper.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: CNN's Daryn Kagan, here in Kuwait City. Daryn, thanks very much.
Judy, as I throw it back to you, that report we just got from Dexter Filkins of "The New York Times," confirming what several of the other embedded reporters have been telling us, that as they get closer to Baghdad, they're seems to be a greater receptivity, a warmth, on the part of the Iraqi people greeting those Marines, U.S. soldiers, as they get closer to the Iraqi capitol.
That's a significant development. We'll have to see if that holds up. But it was pretty interesting to hear his first-hand account -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: It is a significant development, Wolfe, but it's almost as if every day the war has gone on and it's become clearer what the likely outcome is, the people are feeling more and more comfortable to come up to U.S. troops, U.S. Marines, to say what their true feelings are.
But as you heard Dexter Filkins say to you, Wolfe, he said that this man said I'm not going to give you my name, because if Saddam Hussein comes back in power, I know what would happen to me.
So all these reactions very, very interesting. Important to have monitoring the populations reaction.
Still to come this hour, aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, where a missing Navy jet was last seen. And there's word today that it might have been shot down by friendly fire. We're on the aircraft carrier with the latest.
Also ahead, reporting from inside Basra for the first time, the British Army seizing key suburbs in that southern Iraqi city. We'll take you there.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange. On Wall Street, there is calm before the battle in Baghdad. I'll have details after this.
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Torture Chamber in Iraq>
Aired April 3, 2003 - 14:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon to our viewers in North America. It's just after 10:00 p.m. here in Kuwait City, 11:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 2:00 p.m. over at the Pentagon, where the news is being made this Thursday, April 3. I'm Wolf Blitzer, in Kuwait City.
Coming up this hour, closing in on the capital. Coalition troops just miles outside of the city. We'll take you to the frontlines in about 60 seconds.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN studios in Washington, I'm Judy Woodruff.
Also this hour, lessons learned from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and applying them to the current war in Iraq. Report from our Kelly Wallace straight ahead.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
Also this hour, inside an alleged Iraqi torture chamber. This is what British forces found in the southern party of the country. The story is at the half-hour, but first, back to Wolf in Kuwait city.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Miles.
The Pentagon won't confirm it, but wire services are quoting U.S. forces in Iraq as saying the ground assault on Saddam International Airport is now underway. The airport is 12 miles from the heart of Baghdad, and the wires say there's been minimal resistance.
Take a look at this map. As we zoom in on Baghdad, special forces are well within the so-called red zone, an area where the Iraqis are reportedly more likely to use chemical weapons on U.S. and British troops.
CNN crews are imbedded with the military making their way north toward Baghdad and they too report only moderate resistance and few signs of Iraq's so-called Republican Guard divisions.
The Pentagon says the Guard is melting away, but officials there caution as well, fighting could still be serious. The worst fighting, indeed, could lie ahead. If you've been watching CNN, you've seen spell-binding and exclusive pictures and sound from the leading edge of the U.S. armored advance, courtesy of CNN's imbedded correspondent Walter Rodgers and our photographer, Charlie Miller. They're with the 3rd Squadron 7th Calvary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 3rd Squadron 7th Calvary remains on the distant outskirts of Baghdad and again, what we're seeing is small groups of Iraqi resistance fighters, 10 to 20, forming up in foxholes or taking shelter behind buildings, sticking their heads up occasionally, firing in the direction of the convoy.
Almost as soon as they do, certainly as soon as the soldiers aboard the tanks -- and you can see the tanks' elevated position up there -- as soon as you can see -- as soon as they see where the fire is coming from, they provide covering fire and overwhelmingly wipe out anything that's in the field.
We have seen, as I said, a force of 20 dead Iraqi soldiers in the field. We believe most of those have been taken out by the 3rd Infantry Division as it passed through, albeit in a different direction, earlier in the day.
Troubling news, of course, that each of those Iraqi soldiers had a gas mask on at the time and that, of course, portends, perhaps, greater difficulty as these U.S. Army units get closer to Baghdad.
Again, as we pass through some agricultural villages in the Mesopotamian delta, we did find some of the Iraqis were more than a little enthusiastic to see the 7th Calvary and the other U.S. Army soldiers coming through. The men would very guardedly flash us a thumbs up or give us a "V" for victory sign, but that being the case, it was very guarded until we got further and further away.
The further away we got from the Euphrates River and closer to Baghdad, ironically, the more enthusiasm we've encountered among some of the Iraqi farm families, particularly the children and some of the women.
I remember one woman who was waving very enthusiastically at the 7th Calvary moving through, and she was 400 yards back from the road.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: CNN's Walter Rodgers, embedded with the 7th Calvary, on the road toward Baghdad.
Baghdad isn't the only target for coalition forces in the north and in the town of Kalak, our Ben Wedeman reports hundreds of Kurdish troops are securing an 8-mile strength of road between Kalak and Mosul.
There were mild explosions today in the region and Wedeman is reporting the Kurdish fighters are in deep discussions with several American soldiers.
To Najaf now, a city now under control of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. military. But the control is coming with a price.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote tells us villagers are extremely uneasy about the military presence there. We'll talk to Ryan at the half-hour.
And to the south, in Basra, smoke rose over this southern Iraqi city earlier in the morning as a coalition tank and a truck could be seen entering the city. Britain says it's forces have seized Basra's key suburbs and were said to be consolidating their position there.
Let's go to CNN's Miles O'Brien for more, in Atlanta -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Wolf.
I'm joined by Major General Don Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force.
We've got a schematic, a kind of rough map of the City of Baghdad here, and I want to call your attention to things on both ends of the bottom portion, to our eyes, here.
This is Saddam International Airport. We just told you a little bit about what's going on there. And over there is the Rasheed (ph) Airport. These are probably -- well, we know already that this is very high on the list of targets for coalition forces, possibly the Rasheed (ph) might be another high target.
Why airports? Why so soon?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You want to control transportation into and out of a city and you want to control those airports so people can't fly in and out. You also want to control all bridges, all roads, check points, so that you know who is going and who is in and out of this city and can stop them if you don't want them to travel -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: We don't know what's going on there. At this point, there's a pitch battle apparently in progress as we speak. But do you suspect that this push will continue? At what point will there be an opportunity for coalition forces to retrench and resupply?
SHEPPERD: I think the forces are going to retrench and resupply on the outskirts of Baghdad. It's prudent, rather than just pushing right on into the center of Baghdad. They probably have to do that.
They also -- continual communications going on with the leadership of the Baath Party and the military, and they're trying to get them to switch sides without fighting.
O'BRIEN: All right, so here's Saddam International. That's the main presidential palace site. We're talking only 12 miles here. Probably the longest 12 miles of this journey.
SHEPPERD: Could be very ugly if you get into house-to-house fighting.
The closer you get to inside of Baghdad, the more really bad guys are in here.
O'BRIEN: All right, I want to talk a little bit about -- let's go to our Earthviewer.com satellite imagery and we're going to zoom in on a lake which, by the way, it shows up very, very clear, way up high here, this is from 22,000 miles up. Lake Tharthar. Let's zoom in on the palace complex there.
We saw some dramatic video of the seizing of this particular palace compound. It goes back to '93. Probably the second largest after his large palace compound in Tikrit.
The fact that the coalition forces were able to go in here to the shores of Lake Tharthar and seize this particular palace should say something. What does this tell you?
SHEPPERD: This is his largest palace in the entire country. It also is second only in size to his residential home up in Tikrit.
The ability to go in and seize his largest palace, or operate in his largest palace, like this special forces operation, says that they can go anywhere they want in the country -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's take a look at that tape. We're going to roll it, and I want to stop it a few times along the way, and you can sort of walk us through it. This was released at the Central Command briefing.
As we come in here, sort of gun-sight video, let's freeze it right now, if we can, Scott, and take a look at this right now. Do you have any sense of what kind of ordinance might be used?
SHEPPERD: Yes. Gunfire from a helicopter, machinegun fire, if you will, strafing this building. This is all based on very hard intelligence. They know who was in that building and it was occupied.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go forward now, and I can see a little bit more as this unfolds, as we get a kind of a wider shot. Take that -- let's freeze it, right now, Scott. I want to just point this one out.
This is one of those twin-rotor Chinook aircraft. Why the Chinook?
SHEPPERD: Yes. Special forces, because they've got to carry a bunch of troops in it, and it's the only helicopter big enough to carry a bunch of troops.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's move it along and we'll show you a little bit more about how this unfolded. You get the sense they didn't meet with much resistance here, based on what we're seeing here from this gun-sight video.
There you see that Chinook, that twin-rotored helicopter, right there on the ground of the compound. And from there, we're told they basically seized this palace. Didn't find much of consequence, however.
SHEPPERD: Yes. They're not wandering in here, looking around, see what they can find. They knew what they were after. Lots of intelligence. This was all done with night vision goggles, blacked out.
O'BRIEN: All right. Don Shepperd, thanks very much. Appreciate that.
Tharthar is a place to consider. Perhaps they found some stuff that might be useful later, some intelligence, but none of the regime targets, as we say, people close to Saddam Hussein.
SHEPPERD: Indeed.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's send it back to Judy.
WOODRUFF: Miles, just a quick question for you and General Shepperd. To what extent are coalition forces close to actually completely encircling Baghdad right now?
O'BRIEN: Good question.
SHEPPERD: My judgment is that they are not encircling Baghdad. They're on the south side.
The other thing, though, Judy, is special forces are throughout the country, controlling access roads, checkpoints all over, so the noose is tightening -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: OK. Just trying to back off and get a somewhat bigger picture, I guess, if you will, of where the coalition stands in terms of preventing people and troops from leaving, and machinery, and so forth, from leaving the capitol city.
Well, within the last hour, the Pentagon denied having anything to do with today's sudden blackout -- that's the first of the war -- in Baghdad. Before the lights went out, Iraqis got another chance to see Saddam Hussein on television, although, as always, we don't have any idea of where or when he was photographed.
CNN's Nic Robertson has been watching all these developments, as he has every day since this war got underway. He joins us from his observation post in Ruwaished, Jordan.
Nic, you've been watching Baghdad. This is the first time we have seen the power grid out in the city.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very significant.
Iraqi authorities say that it wasn't, Judy, the bombing. The coalition reaffirms that. It appears that Iraqi authorities may have shut down the power grid on the city. Now, according to sources in Baghdad, areas of the city shut down. First one side of the river, the east side, then the west side of the river was shut down. It does appear likely that it was the Iraqi authorities shutting down the power grid.
This is the first time they've done this and this may very well be an indication that they're beginning to feel now that Baghdad is under threat at this time. That's not clear that that was the reasoning and rationale, but certainly through all the aerial bombardment, it was very noticeable that all the lights stayed on in Baghdad. Iraqi officials not shutting off the electricity, but now they have done it, quite possibly because they fear the city now under threat.
Interesting today to look at those pictures of President Saddam Hussein. Seated on his right-hand side, the Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan. Not present in that meeting, apparently, Abid Hamoud (ph), a very close confidant of the Iraqi leader who is present in almost all the meetings.
Again, another interesting thing about this meeting, although we don't know when it was shot, and exactly where it was shot, that there were a lot of people present at the meeting, perhaps the biggest meeting of Iraqi officials, ministers, military chiefs, in with the Iraqi leader since the war began. We haven't seen a collection of Iraqi officials with President Saddam Hussein so big.
Certainly Iraqi officials today denying that coalition forces are so close to Baghdad. Indeed, making quite the reverse observation, as the Information Minister Muhammad al-Sahhaf saying that it was in fact Iraqi troops who were hunting down coalition forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUHAMMAD SAEED AL-SAHHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MIN.: The mercenaries today, they were surrounded, and they sustained heavy losses and big numbers of them have been killed, and they backed off to the same place -- to the same area which they have been surrounded. The battle is still going on and today we will give them the lesson they deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, just to reaffirm for journalist and reports still in Iraq that Iraqi authorities control the area around Baghdad, in the afternoon following that press briefing that the information minister gave, journalist were taken to Saddam International Airport, that's the main airport just 20 kilometers to the southwest of Baghdad.
When journalists went there, it did appear that Iraqi authorities had control over the airport. There didn't appear to be at that time any coalition forces. Certainly it would be a prime objective for the coalition very likely at this time to secure such an airfield.
And from my own experience, driving to and from that airport on a number of occasions, the airport is somewhat separated from the city of Baghdad, may very well be the sort of location that can be secured relatively easily in terms of small arms fire. It would of course be very much within artillery range of the city of Baghdad -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Nic, and we are, as we've been saying, having reports in the last hour or so of intense fighting in that area, varying reports about how much resistance the Iraqis are putting up.
Nic, I also want to ask you about something that Saddam Hussein, at least in a message from Saddam Hussein, we heard a couple of days ago, a message to the Shiites in his country who traditionally have not been supportive of him, but his urging them to rise up. What do you make of developments since then?
ROBERTSON: Well, very interesting to watch and hear what Ryan Chilcote, our reporter who is in Najaf, the most holy of the Shia cities in Iraq, and in the world, for the Shia community. Very important city, not only with military strategic importance, but what we've seen here today, the community coming out apparently to defend, if you will, or stop the soldiers getting close to the important sign of Ali (ph), the prophet's son-in-law.
But perhaps more critically, what we've seen here is that the leading cleric in the area, the grand ayatollah, Ali Al Sistani (ph), stepping in to tell the crowds to back down.
In many ways, this may very well be the response that Saddam Hussein, President Saddam Hussein, was not looking for. The Shia here backing down and accepting the coalition forces in their city. And this is something that will be listened and understood by Shia throughout Iraq at this time. The message coming from their religious leaders now is not to get in the way of coalition forces, and this will be hugely important at this time for the coalition as they move through southern Iraq, and it will be a message very clearly read by the Iraqi leadership and very well understood by the Iraqi leadership that the religious leaders within the Shia community are not standing by President Saddam Hussein at this time.
WOODRUFF: Nic Robertson, tell us that what has happened today in Najaf may very well be sending an important signal to the entire Shia community throughout Iraq, that this may not be isolated just to the one holy city of Najaf.
Nic, thanks very much. Nic Robertson, reporting from the Iraqi border with Jordan, on the Jordanian side.
Well, still to come this hour, the connection between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Iraq. Our Kelly Wallace, right after a break.
Also ahead, a U.S. military plane goes down. The search is on for the pilot. And now the United States is looking into whether it was shot down by friendly fire. The latest coming up.
And a little later, found: an alleged Iraqi torture chamber. Electrical wires, hooks hanging from the ceiling. We'll show you inside the basement of this southern Iraqi police station.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: You're looking live at Baghdad, downtown Baghdad, dark. The first time in two weeks, since this war started. The power is off. The electricity is off. Doesn't seem to be clear why. The Pentagon is insisting the Central Command did not target the power grid of the Iraqi capitol.
Let's check in now with Dexter Filkins of "The New York Times." He's one of the embedded journalists.
Dexter, I don't know where precisely you are. I don't know if you can tell us, but give us a sense of what you're seeing, what you're hearing right now, in this war?
DEXTER FILKINS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, I'm with the Marines. We're on the east side of the city. This is the big column of Marines that swung around and is trying to approach from the southeast. We're coming up Highway 6. We ran up Highway 6 today, probably 20 or 30 miles.
It was an amazing scene, just an incredibly warm reception from the Iraqis. Iraqis streaming out of Baghdad and the cities that we were approaching, but cheering as we went by. And I think what struck me is just, you know, I've been through a lot of Iraqi cities, and there's been a lot of doubt, and at the same time the emotions have been pretty muted because of that doubt, that the United States was really going to takedown Saddam, and I think the closer the United States gets to Baghdad, the more evident it is that that's going to happen.
So we've just -- today, I think what I saw was a big emotional outpouring.
BLITZER: So you're basically very close to the outskirts of the Iraqi capitol right now. I don't know if you're allowed to tell us, but approximately how close are those Marines to Baghdad right now?
FILKINS: Well, I think -- I have to say I personally am at the sort of front edge. I'm at the tip of the spear, I think. I'm probably as far forward as any of them. But I'm not sure exactly. My guess is, probably, you know, 20 miles from the beginning of the city itself. Not terribly far.
And I would think that probably by tomorrow, you know, we're going to start hitting the city limits. Because really, there was a big battle today about 10 miles back from where I was, in a town called Azizia (ph). It took about five hours, I'd have to say. They called in gunships and bombers and everything else. A lot of fighting. Drove through the town, there was a lot of stuff that was on fire. Talked to some people there.
So it's an interesting thing. I mean, the overwhelming majority of the Iraqis seem to be pretty darn happy that the Marines are coming up, but there's still some pretty intense pockets of resistance, and it wouldn't surprise me if we hit another one or two of those on the way.
BLITZER: You know, what you're reporting now for us, Dexter, is pretty important, because there had been a widespread anticipation, at least in the Bush administration, at the Pentagon, the Central Command, that Iraqis by and large would be relieved, would be thrilled, to see U.S. military personnel liberating their country.
But in the south, the Shia in particular, have been nervous about showing that kind of excitement. What you're saying is, you get closer to Baghdad, they seem to be pretty excited.
In the eastern part of Baghdad there's a pretty significant Shia population. Would you say most of the Iraqis you are seeing now are the Sunnis or the Shia?
FILKINS: No, they're Shia. And it's funny. I mean, it's exactly what you say.
There's been this reluctance and people will tell you this. They say, I can't give you my name. I don't like Saddam Hussein but, you know, if I tell you who I am and the guy comes back, he's going to come after me, so I can't do that.
I was just walking with a guy today who told me the same thing, but he said let me tell you, the day that Saddam falls, there's going to be clapping and cheering in the streets, and there's going to be a party and there's going to be music and, you know, go Marines, and I hope you get there really fast.
So I think -- I think it's, you know, if you could see what I saw today, which was amazing, the outpouring that we saw -- people, it's becoming more certain in their minds that this is going to happen, and so I think that they're feeling more free to express themselves.
BLITZER: It's a pretty amazing picture that you're painting for all of us, Dexter.
What about the vaunted Republican Guard divisions that were supposedly encircling the Iraqi capitol, standing in the way of those Marines? What happened to them?
Well, I think we hit a pretty good pocket of them today. Probably the front end of the Al Neda (ph) Division. My understanding is, is a lot of them have gone into Baghdad, have gone into southern Baghdad. Now, whether they're going to go there and hide or go there and fight, we're going to probably find that out in a couple of days.
But there was a pretty good pocket of them today, probably 500 or 600 guys, you know, the diehards, and I think they fought pretty hard, and it took the Marines today several hours to get rid of these guys, and they called in a lot of stuff, you know, bombs, B-52's, you know, F-18's, gunships, the whole thing, and there were a lot of tanks up there and there was a lot of fighting, I saw. I know some -- I think some Marines were wounded as well.
So, you know, they're not dead yet, I'll tell you that.
BLITZER: Dexter Filkins, of "The New York Times," reporting from the frontlines. He's embedded with U.S. Marines. They're moving closer towards the Iraqi capitol.
Dexter, thanks so much for establishing that phone contact with us. We'll hopefully be touching base with you several more times. Appreciate it very much.
And we've also been showing our viewers glimpses of how Arab television networks are covering the war in Iraq.
Now CNN's Daryn Kagan looks at how some of the region's newspapers are doing it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've come to one of the local newsstands here in Kuwait City to get a feel for how the local papers are playing the story today.
First to the "Kuwait Times." Once again, featuring a child on the cover. This a very sad picture. This is from the southern part of the country, and the caption explains that this child is sleeping on the floor of a hospital, an injured child, along with other members of her family who have been injured. But apparently in this particular hospital, there weren't enough beds, so the child sleeps on the floor.
A child also featured on the cover of "The Arab Times." This one is from near the town of Najaf, taken at a POW camp. This man is a POW and the caption explains that when he was captured, he was with his four-year-old son and the U.S. military didn't want to separate them, so they're together in captivity behind the barbed wire.
Also making news today, on the front page, on the bottom fold, the missile that Iraq tried to shoot at Kuwait yesterday but the Kuwait Air Force announcing it was able to shoot down that missile inside Iraqi airspace before it ever even entered Kuwait.
And just one more, a lighter note, on the back page. Both papers making a lot of room for sports. You've got the opening of the baseball season here. You have Randy Johnson, you have the Lakers, with Kobe Bryant, and a different type of international story, 500 days to the countdown of the Summer Games in Athens Greece -- the Olympics right around the corner, according to this paper.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: CNN's Daryn Kagan, here in Kuwait City. Daryn, thanks very much.
Judy, as I throw it back to you, that report we just got from Dexter Filkins of "The New York Times," confirming what several of the other embedded reporters have been telling us, that as they get closer to Baghdad, they're seems to be a greater receptivity, a warmth, on the part of the Iraqi people greeting those Marines, U.S. soldiers, as they get closer to the Iraqi capitol.
That's a significant development. We'll have to see if that holds up. But it was pretty interesting to hear his first-hand account -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: It is a significant development, Wolfe, but it's almost as if every day the war has gone on and it's become clearer what the likely outcome is, the people are feeling more and more comfortable to come up to U.S. troops, U.S. Marines, to say what their true feelings are.
But as you heard Dexter Filkins say to you, Wolfe, he said that this man said I'm not going to give you my name, because if Saddam Hussein comes back in power, I know what would happen to me.
So all these reactions very, very interesting. Important to have monitoring the populations reaction.
Still to come this hour, aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, where a missing Navy jet was last seen. And there's word today that it might have been shot down by friendly fire. We're on the aircraft carrier with the latest.
Also ahead, reporting from inside Basra for the first time, the British Army seizing key suburbs in that southern Iraqi city. We'll take you there.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange. On Wall Street, there is calm before the battle in Baghdad. I'll have details after this.
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Torture Chamber in Iraq>
