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Special Edition: War in Iraq Part II
Aired April 05, 2003 - 12:30 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: President Bush, of course, is tracking all of these late breaking developments in the war from Camp David this weekend, and in his weekly radio address, he said the United States and its allies will not stop until Iraq is free. Our senior White House correspondent John King is joining us live with more -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, in that radio address, an optimistic assessment of the war effort from the president. Mr. Bush saying the vise is tightening on the Iraq regime. He says U.S. troops, as they take control of more and more of Iraq, are bringing humanitarian aid. Mr. Bush says, though, the job will not be done until the Saddam Hussein regime is totally removed from power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: American and coalition forces are steadily advancing against the regime of Saddam Hussein. With each new village they liberate, our forces are learning more about the atrocities of that regime and the deep fear the dictator has instilled in the Iraqi people. Yet no crime of this dying regime will divert us from our mission. We will not stop until Iraq is free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Been up at the Camp David retreat since leaving the White House yesterday afternoon. We know he had a briefing from his national security team this morning. Mr. Bush using a secure video link up at Camp David to get the update on the latest developments, including the push of those forces into the center of Iraq earlier today. Mr. Bush not only tracking the war developments, he is preparing for a two-day summit Monday and Tuesday with the British prime minister, Tony Blair, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The two leaders will discuss the ongoing military operation, but because they believe the key moments are drawing near, as Secretary of State Powell put it, the liberation, the day of liberation is drawing near, they will spend a good deal of time, the president and the prime minister, talking about plans for running a post-war, post-Saddam Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John, do you get the sense from officials over there in Washington that this summit with Prime Minister Blair is almost sort of like a victory lap for the president?
KING: Well, they don't want to go that far, because they say, as these two leaders meet, they believe there still will be fighting in and around Baghdad. So they're being very careful in how they choose their words. They're voicing full confidence that very soon there will be no question, there will be nothing left of the Iraq regime, but they don't want to get overconfident just yet, because they believe there still could be some bloody battles ahead. And they also know full well that there are still many questions and many very complicated questions and controversial issues dealing with what a post-war Iraq would look like, how much of a role would the United States military take, how quickly would you transfer power to a civil authority, and then the bigger question, how more quickly could you transfer power into the hands of Iraqi citizens.
So a great number of complicated issues, and the White House is tempering its outward optimism because it knows there still could be some bloody battles ahead -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Urban warfare in Baghdad. Everyone always said that would be the hardest part. They're probably right. John King at the White House, thanks very much.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck is at what's being called a decontamination unit in southern Iraq, a U.S. unit, that is. He's joining us now on the videophone. Harris, what exactly does this unit do?
Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait to get the answer to that question. Harris, we're getting some technical problems with Harris' videophone. We'll fix that, we'll find out precisely what that unit is doing.
We're going to continue all of our developments. I want to show our viewers a live picture of Baghdad right now. It's night time. This is the time when there are explosions. Indeed in the past few minutes we heard a huge explosion not far from the Palestine Hotel in downtown Baghdad. That's where most of the foreign press core is based. According to eyewitnesses, that building was shaken physically by that latest explosion. We don't know what the target is, but the U.S. Air Force, the Navy, fighter pilots say they're going to be non- stop in trying to protect U.S. Army soldiers and Marines as they move ever closer towards the Iraqi capital. We're watching all of these developments, much more coverage of the war in Iraq in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. This is where it's home to some five million people. But many of those people are leaving right now. We're getting reports that thousands of residents of Baghdad attempting to flee the Iraqi capital, fearful of what's going on. U.S. troops poised around the southern outskirts of the city from the southwest and the southeast. Earlier today the Central Command says U.S. forces, armored columns actually moved inside, then left a move. Our Tom Mintier at the Central Command headquarters says it may have been designed to psychologically unease the Iraqi leadership, the Republican Guard units remaining in that capital. We're watching all of these developments. But certainly, central Iraq, Baghdad is not the only scene of activity, military activity. Let's get an update now on what's happening in northern Iraq. Our Brent Sadler is joining us now from the northern front. Brent, what's happening up north?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a lot happening up here, really. Heavy bombing in the last couple of hours. I am going to show you some extraordinary video we've just come back with of what it's like to be in a Special Force unit actually directing air strikes against front line Iraqi positions. We've been with the Special Forces for most of the day in this part of the northern front, I'm not telling you exactly where it is. But certainly at night time, here with the night scope, you can see these tremendous explosions.
I can tell you they were directing in B-52 bombers, F-15s, and the time it took those bombs from the high altitude B-52 bomber was less than a minute. The weapons where at least you could count about a minute before you saw the first flashes. There were several passes by the B-52, four bombing runs, seven bombs in each run, 500 pounds each weapon, about 14,000 pounds in weight in bombs across one ridgeline where there was several Iraqi positions. I saw secondary fires, possibly exploding ammunition, possibly heavy guns being destroyed.
And certainly, just as night fell I could see Iraqi soldiers on the ridgeline scattering before even those very heavy strikes came in.
Now, this is a part of the northern front, which is closest to Baghdad. Baghdad about 100 miles from this location. We've seen Special Forces directing air strikes in, in various sections of the northern front over the past couple of weeks. But that's the first time we've actually been with a unit, watching them call in those air strikes, using precise calculations and coordinates to bring that heavy bombardment on those front line Iraqi positions. The hope here among the Peshmerga fighters on the ground, Wolf, is that this may punch a hole towards Baghdad and enable Iraqi Kurds to liberate some towns not far from this location. Iraqis themselves liberating their own soil as the coalition forces led by the U.S., of course, make those dramatic strikes towards the center of Baghdad itself. So those are the latest developments from here -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brent, what can you tell us about the status of these important towns up in the north? Mosul, Kirkuk, and perhaps most important, Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's ancestral hometown, which is supposedly heavily guarded now, of course, by the remaining Republican Guard units, Special Republican Guard, his special security personnel? What, if anything, do you know about the status of those three locations in the north?
SADLER: Very important, Wolf. We're seeing the focus of the battle based in the south of Iraq, to the airport, to the west of the capital and that little push, that drive to the center of the capital today. But what you have here in the north is Saddam Hussein's northern army, maybe 100,000 strong still. Being seriously degraded over the past couple of weeks. Kirkuk and Mosul, still under Saddam Hussein's control, two major cities, key prizes for the coalition. They sit atop a third of Iraq's oil wealth.
We understand that U.S. forces, coalition forces have cut off a main supply route from Baghdad to Tikrit, that's Saddam Hussein's birthplace, bound to be very well defended, but it does cut off an escape route for the regime from Baghdad to Tikrit. But further up in the north here, the U.S. forces, through primarily air strikes, whittling away at those defenses. And what we've seen consistently over the past few days have been air strikes around a main road to Mosul, as well as my location here, which started tonight, but Mosul, a point of interest because Mosul is mostly a Sunnite area. Many officers who command the northern army come from Mosul. If Mosul falls first, I understand from Kurdish analysts on the ground here, that could be a very demoralizing strike against the officer core of Saddam Hussein's army here in the north. If Mosul falls, they could give up the fight and return home.
Kirkuk is something else. If the Peshmerga on the ground go for Kirkuk, that could antagonize Turkey and bring the Turks in. Kirkuk is one thing; Mosul seems to be the primary target. So too a northeastern corridor towards Baghdad from this direction. About an hour and a half, an hour and 15 drive from this location, an important town between here and Baghdad. So that gives you an idea of the problems that still lie ahead, because Iraqi forces, under Saddam Hussein's control, still have a huge swath of territory in northern Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Very interesting, Brent Sadler, our man in the northern part of Iraq, covering the story brilliantly for us. Thanks, Brent, very much.
Let's try to get in touch with CNN's Harris Whitbeck in southern Iraq. He's at a U.S. decontamination unit. Harris, if you can hear me this time, what exactly are you doing? Are the troops doing at that unit, where you are?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, earlier this morning, the commander here at the base lowered the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) level, the security level that had been put in place for several days, fearing a possible chemical or biological attack. That means that people can now go about their business without having to wear the protective chemical and biological suits. And we visited one of these units today, that is involved in making sure that the forces here are protected from possible attack.
These units, which are run by the Army, basically have sensors placed on perimeter of this base, and they're constantly checking the air quality, making sure that no chemical or biological agents are detected.
Now, these units can detect agents in the air from as far as five kilometers away. That makes the unit commanders confident that would give them enough time to sound an alert if anything should happen. But again, the base -- authorities here have lowered the level of -- the threat level here and they seem to think that so far the possibility of a threat is relatively low.
Now, Wolf, I do have some other bit of information for you. I don't know if you can see the group of gentlemen sitting around behind me. Those are pilots of two HH-60 helicopters who were on a mission relatively close to Baghdad, they've been flying for about nine hours. And as they were returning home, they were apparently engaged by two, what they think were two heat-seeking missiles. The pilots of these two helicopters did -- obviously did some very good flying there, some maneuvering, and were not hit. And the crew landed here safely. They're obviously very glad to be back on the ground. They say that they still have not been debriefed by their superior, so they don't have any more details that they can share with us at this time. But that's what's going on here at this recently secured air base in southern Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Harris, very briefly, before I let you go, those decontamination units, the sensors that they have, they're known for a lot of false alarms. Do they get a lot of false alarms that drive people over there with you a little crazy because they get nervous and then they just have to go ahead and step down as soon as they realize it's a false alarm?
WHITBECK: So far we haven't had that happen, Wolf. I can tell you that people obviously have been very concerned about that, and -- but again, people today were very glad to be able to get out of those chemical and biological warfare protection suits, which are very hot. It's getting very hot out here in the desert, so people were glad to be able to get out of those. No sense that there has been any false alarms in the last few days, just a general level of increased, increased state of alertness.
BLITZER: Harris Whitbeck, one of our embedded correspondents covering this war for us as well. Thanks, Harris, very much. We're bringing you live coverage of the war in Iraq here on CNN 24 hours a day, non-stop coverage. Stay with us, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: This was the scene in Baghdad not long ago, within the past hour or so, another huge explosion ripped through the heart of the Iraqi capital. We're watching all of these late breaking developments in Baghdad with U.S. troops, Marines, Army soldiers, southwest, southeast of the capital, moving ever, ever closer. We are watching that. We have much more coverage coming up.
We're also watching the impact that this war is having on children. We want to see what the impact is on them, and on the rest of us, how much do they understand? Our Beth Nissen visits a group of children when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures now coming from Baghdad. We presume this is downtown Baghdad you see here. Explosions were heard there a while ago, silent now, for now.
Well, unlike any generation before them, children are seeing the war on TV constantly and they are reading about it on the Internet. Now, they want -- maybe they need to talk about it. CNN's Beth Nissen sat down with some fifth graders in suburban Boston and did just that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the country, children like these fifth graders in Brookline, Massachusetts are talking about the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of my friends gave his father, who's in Kuwait, so I'm worried about him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to eliminate this tyrant who might wipe out a lot of people and kill many people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if we do kill Saddam (UNINTELLIGIBLE) kill like a lot of other people.
ESTHER KATTEF, 5TH GRADE TEACHER: I don't know if it's TV that's brought it into their living rooms or their kitchens or bedrooms, but they feel this war.
NISSEN: Child development experts say it is critically important for teachers and parents to give children an opportunity to talk about the battlefront photos they see in the newspapers, the battlefield scenes they see on television.
DIANE LEVIN, WHEELOCK COLLEGE: We need to let children know it's OK to talk about what they've heard, because they think maybe they shouldn't know about it or they are uncomfortable. So for a grown-up to say to a child, "have you heard anything on the news you want to talk about," by the time the child is around 8, saying, "have you heard about a war in Iraq," because children will have.
NISSEN: The key role for adults, to actively listen to children's fears and concerns. Many of these 10- and 11 year-olds are increasingly aware about the effects of the war of the people in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they bomb a house, they don't know how many people are in that house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was an Iraqi, I wouldn't say thank you for trying to kill Saddam, because they're killing many, many other people in the process. So I just think that's like horrible.
NISSEN (on camera): So you're concerned about the consequences of getting rid of...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think they should try to find Saddam instead of just bombing people.
NISSEN (voice-over): Veteran teachers say the U.S. military action against Saddam is greatly confusing to many children who have been trained since preschool in avoiding fights in conflict resolution.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think it would be easier, not simpler, easier to just talk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why can't we use our words is what Anna continues to say. LEVIN: I think a lot of children are trying to understand how grown-ups could fight like this. And I've been hearing that even among little children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This friend of yours, that you're worried about that might to have to go in service, where does he live?
NISSEN: While the conflict continues, child psychologists suggest that children avoid or watch only limited television coverage, with a grown-up, and that children be reminded that television reports are fragmentary, incomplete.
KATTEF: And it's important to say, I don't think we have all the information now. And let's wait until we hear more, because this is happening right now.
NISSEN: Happening half a globe away, yet still so close to young hearts and minds.
Beth Nissen, CNN, Brookline, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Hey, Wolf, on a personal note, I've got a fourth grader and a sixth grader at my house. And it's funny how they've been exposed to more violence on television than either you or I probably ever will be in our lives, and yet for them, at that young age, this war is so real, it strikes them very differently than the other things that they've gotten used to seeing on TV.
BLITZER: And it's something, Leon, that you and I know is going to live with them for the rest of their lives, these images, these pictures, just as when we were kids, we remember various experiences that had a deep impact on all of us. This war certainly will have a deep impact on all these young kids.
We have much more coverage coming up, non-stop coverage, 24 hours a day, live here on CNN. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll check the latest developments. Stay with us.
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Aired April 5, 2003 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush, of course, is tracking all of these late breaking developments in the war from Camp David this weekend, and in his weekly radio address, he said the United States and its allies will not stop until Iraq is free. Our senior White House correspondent John King is joining us live with more -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, in that radio address, an optimistic assessment of the war effort from the president. Mr. Bush saying the vise is tightening on the Iraq regime. He says U.S. troops, as they take control of more and more of Iraq, are bringing humanitarian aid. Mr. Bush says, though, the job will not be done until the Saddam Hussein regime is totally removed from power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: American and coalition forces are steadily advancing against the regime of Saddam Hussein. With each new village they liberate, our forces are learning more about the atrocities of that regime and the deep fear the dictator has instilled in the Iraqi people. Yet no crime of this dying regime will divert us from our mission. We will not stop until Iraq is free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Been up at the Camp David retreat since leaving the White House yesterday afternoon. We know he had a briefing from his national security team this morning. Mr. Bush using a secure video link up at Camp David to get the update on the latest developments, including the push of those forces into the center of Iraq earlier today. Mr. Bush not only tracking the war developments, he is preparing for a two-day summit Monday and Tuesday with the British prime minister, Tony Blair, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The two leaders will discuss the ongoing military operation, but because they believe the key moments are drawing near, as Secretary of State Powell put it, the liberation, the day of liberation is drawing near, they will spend a good deal of time, the president and the prime minister, talking about plans for running a post-war, post-Saddam Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John, do you get the sense from officials over there in Washington that this summit with Prime Minister Blair is almost sort of like a victory lap for the president?
KING: Well, they don't want to go that far, because they say, as these two leaders meet, they believe there still will be fighting in and around Baghdad. So they're being very careful in how they choose their words. They're voicing full confidence that very soon there will be no question, there will be nothing left of the Iraq regime, but they don't want to get overconfident just yet, because they believe there still could be some bloody battles ahead. And they also know full well that there are still many questions and many very complicated questions and controversial issues dealing with what a post-war Iraq would look like, how much of a role would the United States military take, how quickly would you transfer power to a civil authority, and then the bigger question, how more quickly could you transfer power into the hands of Iraqi citizens.
So a great number of complicated issues, and the White House is tempering its outward optimism because it knows there still could be some bloody battles ahead -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Urban warfare in Baghdad. Everyone always said that would be the hardest part. They're probably right. John King at the White House, thanks very much.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck is at what's being called a decontamination unit in southern Iraq, a U.S. unit, that is. He's joining us now on the videophone. Harris, what exactly does this unit do?
Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait to get the answer to that question. Harris, we're getting some technical problems with Harris' videophone. We'll fix that, we'll find out precisely what that unit is doing.
We're going to continue all of our developments. I want to show our viewers a live picture of Baghdad right now. It's night time. This is the time when there are explosions. Indeed in the past few minutes we heard a huge explosion not far from the Palestine Hotel in downtown Baghdad. That's where most of the foreign press core is based. According to eyewitnesses, that building was shaken physically by that latest explosion. We don't know what the target is, but the U.S. Air Force, the Navy, fighter pilots say they're going to be non- stop in trying to protect U.S. Army soldiers and Marines as they move ever closer towards the Iraqi capital. We're watching all of these developments, much more coverage of the war in Iraq in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. This is where it's home to some five million people. But many of those people are leaving right now. We're getting reports that thousands of residents of Baghdad attempting to flee the Iraqi capital, fearful of what's going on. U.S. troops poised around the southern outskirts of the city from the southwest and the southeast. Earlier today the Central Command says U.S. forces, armored columns actually moved inside, then left a move. Our Tom Mintier at the Central Command headquarters says it may have been designed to psychologically unease the Iraqi leadership, the Republican Guard units remaining in that capital. We're watching all of these developments. But certainly, central Iraq, Baghdad is not the only scene of activity, military activity. Let's get an update now on what's happening in northern Iraq. Our Brent Sadler is joining us now from the northern front. Brent, what's happening up north?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a lot happening up here, really. Heavy bombing in the last couple of hours. I am going to show you some extraordinary video we've just come back with of what it's like to be in a Special Force unit actually directing air strikes against front line Iraqi positions. We've been with the Special Forces for most of the day in this part of the northern front, I'm not telling you exactly where it is. But certainly at night time, here with the night scope, you can see these tremendous explosions.
I can tell you they were directing in B-52 bombers, F-15s, and the time it took those bombs from the high altitude B-52 bomber was less than a minute. The weapons where at least you could count about a minute before you saw the first flashes. There were several passes by the B-52, four bombing runs, seven bombs in each run, 500 pounds each weapon, about 14,000 pounds in weight in bombs across one ridgeline where there was several Iraqi positions. I saw secondary fires, possibly exploding ammunition, possibly heavy guns being destroyed.
And certainly, just as night fell I could see Iraqi soldiers on the ridgeline scattering before even those very heavy strikes came in.
Now, this is a part of the northern front, which is closest to Baghdad. Baghdad about 100 miles from this location. We've seen Special Forces directing air strikes in, in various sections of the northern front over the past couple of weeks. But that's the first time we've actually been with a unit, watching them call in those air strikes, using precise calculations and coordinates to bring that heavy bombardment on those front line Iraqi positions. The hope here among the Peshmerga fighters on the ground, Wolf, is that this may punch a hole towards Baghdad and enable Iraqi Kurds to liberate some towns not far from this location. Iraqis themselves liberating their own soil as the coalition forces led by the U.S., of course, make those dramatic strikes towards the center of Baghdad itself. So those are the latest developments from here -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brent, what can you tell us about the status of these important towns up in the north? Mosul, Kirkuk, and perhaps most important, Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's ancestral hometown, which is supposedly heavily guarded now, of course, by the remaining Republican Guard units, Special Republican Guard, his special security personnel? What, if anything, do you know about the status of those three locations in the north?
SADLER: Very important, Wolf. We're seeing the focus of the battle based in the south of Iraq, to the airport, to the west of the capital and that little push, that drive to the center of the capital today. But what you have here in the north is Saddam Hussein's northern army, maybe 100,000 strong still. Being seriously degraded over the past couple of weeks. Kirkuk and Mosul, still under Saddam Hussein's control, two major cities, key prizes for the coalition. They sit atop a third of Iraq's oil wealth.
We understand that U.S. forces, coalition forces have cut off a main supply route from Baghdad to Tikrit, that's Saddam Hussein's birthplace, bound to be very well defended, but it does cut off an escape route for the regime from Baghdad to Tikrit. But further up in the north here, the U.S. forces, through primarily air strikes, whittling away at those defenses. And what we've seen consistently over the past few days have been air strikes around a main road to Mosul, as well as my location here, which started tonight, but Mosul, a point of interest because Mosul is mostly a Sunnite area. Many officers who command the northern army come from Mosul. If Mosul falls first, I understand from Kurdish analysts on the ground here, that could be a very demoralizing strike against the officer core of Saddam Hussein's army here in the north. If Mosul falls, they could give up the fight and return home.
Kirkuk is something else. If the Peshmerga on the ground go for Kirkuk, that could antagonize Turkey and bring the Turks in. Kirkuk is one thing; Mosul seems to be the primary target. So too a northeastern corridor towards Baghdad from this direction. About an hour and a half, an hour and 15 drive from this location, an important town between here and Baghdad. So that gives you an idea of the problems that still lie ahead, because Iraqi forces, under Saddam Hussein's control, still have a huge swath of territory in northern Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Very interesting, Brent Sadler, our man in the northern part of Iraq, covering the story brilliantly for us. Thanks, Brent, very much.
Let's try to get in touch with CNN's Harris Whitbeck in southern Iraq. He's at a U.S. decontamination unit. Harris, if you can hear me this time, what exactly are you doing? Are the troops doing at that unit, where you are?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, earlier this morning, the commander here at the base lowered the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) level, the security level that had been put in place for several days, fearing a possible chemical or biological attack. That means that people can now go about their business without having to wear the protective chemical and biological suits. And we visited one of these units today, that is involved in making sure that the forces here are protected from possible attack.
These units, which are run by the Army, basically have sensors placed on perimeter of this base, and they're constantly checking the air quality, making sure that no chemical or biological agents are detected.
Now, these units can detect agents in the air from as far as five kilometers away. That makes the unit commanders confident that would give them enough time to sound an alert if anything should happen. But again, the base -- authorities here have lowered the level of -- the threat level here and they seem to think that so far the possibility of a threat is relatively low.
Now, Wolf, I do have some other bit of information for you. I don't know if you can see the group of gentlemen sitting around behind me. Those are pilots of two HH-60 helicopters who were on a mission relatively close to Baghdad, they've been flying for about nine hours. And as they were returning home, they were apparently engaged by two, what they think were two heat-seeking missiles. The pilots of these two helicopters did -- obviously did some very good flying there, some maneuvering, and were not hit. And the crew landed here safely. They're obviously very glad to be back on the ground. They say that they still have not been debriefed by their superior, so they don't have any more details that they can share with us at this time. But that's what's going on here at this recently secured air base in southern Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Harris, very briefly, before I let you go, those decontamination units, the sensors that they have, they're known for a lot of false alarms. Do they get a lot of false alarms that drive people over there with you a little crazy because they get nervous and then they just have to go ahead and step down as soon as they realize it's a false alarm?
WHITBECK: So far we haven't had that happen, Wolf. I can tell you that people obviously have been very concerned about that, and -- but again, people today were very glad to be able to get out of those chemical and biological warfare protection suits, which are very hot. It's getting very hot out here in the desert, so people were glad to be able to get out of those. No sense that there has been any false alarms in the last few days, just a general level of increased, increased state of alertness.
BLITZER: Harris Whitbeck, one of our embedded correspondents covering this war for us as well. Thanks, Harris, very much. We're bringing you live coverage of the war in Iraq here on CNN 24 hours a day, non-stop coverage. Stay with us, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: This was the scene in Baghdad not long ago, within the past hour or so, another huge explosion ripped through the heart of the Iraqi capital. We're watching all of these late breaking developments in Baghdad with U.S. troops, Marines, Army soldiers, southwest, southeast of the capital, moving ever, ever closer. We are watching that. We have much more coverage coming up.
We're also watching the impact that this war is having on children. We want to see what the impact is on them, and on the rest of us, how much do they understand? Our Beth Nissen visits a group of children when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures now coming from Baghdad. We presume this is downtown Baghdad you see here. Explosions were heard there a while ago, silent now, for now.
Well, unlike any generation before them, children are seeing the war on TV constantly and they are reading about it on the Internet. Now, they want -- maybe they need to talk about it. CNN's Beth Nissen sat down with some fifth graders in suburban Boston and did just that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the country, children like these fifth graders in Brookline, Massachusetts are talking about the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of my friends gave his father, who's in Kuwait, so I'm worried about him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to eliminate this tyrant who might wipe out a lot of people and kill many people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if we do kill Saddam (UNINTELLIGIBLE) kill like a lot of other people.
ESTHER KATTEF, 5TH GRADE TEACHER: I don't know if it's TV that's brought it into their living rooms or their kitchens or bedrooms, but they feel this war.
NISSEN: Child development experts say it is critically important for teachers and parents to give children an opportunity to talk about the battlefront photos they see in the newspapers, the battlefield scenes they see on television.
DIANE LEVIN, WHEELOCK COLLEGE: We need to let children know it's OK to talk about what they've heard, because they think maybe they shouldn't know about it or they are uncomfortable. So for a grown-up to say to a child, "have you heard anything on the news you want to talk about," by the time the child is around 8, saying, "have you heard about a war in Iraq," because children will have.
NISSEN: The key role for adults, to actively listen to children's fears and concerns. Many of these 10- and 11 year-olds are increasingly aware about the effects of the war of the people in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they bomb a house, they don't know how many people are in that house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was an Iraqi, I wouldn't say thank you for trying to kill Saddam, because they're killing many, many other people in the process. So I just think that's like horrible.
NISSEN (on camera): So you're concerned about the consequences of getting rid of...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think they should try to find Saddam instead of just bombing people.
NISSEN (voice-over): Veteran teachers say the U.S. military action against Saddam is greatly confusing to many children who have been trained since preschool in avoiding fights in conflict resolution.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think it would be easier, not simpler, easier to just talk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why can't we use our words is what Anna continues to say. LEVIN: I think a lot of children are trying to understand how grown-ups could fight like this. And I've been hearing that even among little children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This friend of yours, that you're worried about that might to have to go in service, where does he live?
NISSEN: While the conflict continues, child psychologists suggest that children avoid or watch only limited television coverage, with a grown-up, and that children be reminded that television reports are fragmentary, incomplete.
KATTEF: And it's important to say, I don't think we have all the information now. And let's wait until we hear more, because this is happening right now.
NISSEN: Happening half a globe away, yet still so close to young hearts and minds.
Beth Nissen, CNN, Brookline, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Hey, Wolf, on a personal note, I've got a fourth grader and a sixth grader at my house. And it's funny how they've been exposed to more violence on television than either you or I probably ever will be in our lives, and yet for them, at that young age, this war is so real, it strikes them very differently than the other things that they've gotten used to seeing on TV.
BLITZER: And it's something, Leon, that you and I know is going to live with them for the rest of their lives, these images, these pictures, just as when we were kids, we remember various experiences that had a deep impact on all of us. This war certainly will have a deep impact on all these young kids.
We have much more coverage coming up, non-stop coverage, 24 hours a day, live here on CNN. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll check the latest developments. Stay with us.
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