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American Morning
Super Bowl XXXVI Paid Tribute to Victims of September 11th and Those on Front Lines
Aired February 04, 2002 - 07:06 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, a night for patriots on and off the field. Super Bowl XXXVI was the final game of the season for one of the most uniquely American sports and it also paid tribute to the victims of September 11, as well as those on the front lines past and present.
Singer Mariah Carey performed the national anthem to the backdrop of images of firefighters raising the American flag at ground zero alongside the infamous flag raising at Iwo Jima. Irish rock band U2 provided the half time entertainment while the names of the victims of the terrorist attacks scrolled on a giant screen behind them. And former Beatle Paul McCartney was also part of the entertainment and mused about the outcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL MCCARTNEY: Hey, but what about those Patriots? Come on, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?
MCCARTNEY: What about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think is going to happen, Paul?
MCCARTNEY: Big turnover, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you see? What do you think?
MCCARTNEY: Well, you know, before I came here a lot of people said who's going to win? I always heard it was going to be the Rams. They said but wouldn't it be great if a team called the Patriots could do it? Well, it would be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: And it was. The worldwide audience for the game included some real patriots, American soldiers overseas.
And CNN's Martin Savidge watched the game along with a group of U.S. troops in Kandahar. He joins us now with an update on that -- good morning, Marty.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula. Good afternoon from Camp Kandahar.
I think it's safe to say there are a number of soldiers wandering around here with sort of a post-Super Bowl hangover. No, I'm not talking about any alcohol. I was there. Believe me, I would have known. There was no alcohol. We're talking about sleep deprivation.
It all began, taking into account the post-game show or pre-game show, about midnight and went till about 7:30 in the morning and a lot of those soldiers had to stand out in 15 degree weather. Only a couple hundred had the good fortunate to be able to watch the game, but a happy couple hundred they were.
Now, in Kabul at the U.S. Embassy up there, as fate would have it, to show you what a small world it is, a marine guard up there by the name of Lieutenant Javier Diaz (ph) is the former college roommate of the quarterback of the New England Patriots. You can bet he was not putting his money on the Rams. He was betting somewhere else. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a Patriot pan?
LT. JAVIER DIAZ: Definitely. I'm sure am. I went to college with Tom Brady when I was at the University of Michigan. Awesome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does it feel to be watching it here?
DIAZ: It's great. All these marines are really excited. We had a great time and a lot of fun and they've worked hard to get to this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: One final thing, Paula. With the advent of the Super Bowl last night it is also the kickoff of television at Camp Kandahar here and a lot of people are thankful for that. Virtually, the soldiers have been living in a news blackout. We're at the end of the earth. And so a lot of them will now be able to watch you and CNN.
By the way, in the background, just to give you an idea, we've alluded there's not a lot to do in free time, those are journalists taking part in a friendly game of cards as the lights go out here in Kandahar -- back to you, Paula.
ZAHN: It looks like a pretty civil game. They look quite calm behind there, Marty.
All right, thank you so much for the...
SAVIDGE: It is. They're always civil.
ZAHN: All right, thank you...
SAVIDGE: Not that I have any time.
ZAHN: No, I know. We've been keeping you too busy to do that.
All right, take care, Marty. See you in our next hour.
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