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American Morning
Forty Tomahawks Fired From Six Ships
Aired March 20, 2003 - 08:00 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: U.S. officials say they have no reason to believe it was a double. They continue to analyze the videotape to get a sense of whether this was aired live or pre-taped.
Forty Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from six U.S. warships. Two Stealth fighters dropped bombs. The strikes were based on intelligence that indicated the location where Hussein was believed to be holding a meeting and one of those locations, a private home, was targeted. The Red Cross is now reporting one person killed, 14 injured.
Let's go back to Bill Hemmer in Kuwait City -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, thanks.
Good morning, again, and good afternoon again from Kuwait.
Air raid sirens sounding throughout the afternoon here in Kuwait City. Troops in the desert rushing to put on gas masks and protective chemical suits. The missiles, apparently, though, did not carry any chemical or biological weapons.
Also, an official at the Pentagon reports that a small aircraft flew across the Kuwaiti border and crashed within site of a Marine position in the desert. Officials quite concerned because they believe Iraq has converted some small planes to carry chemical weapons.
ZAHN: Baghdad is a city at war but at the moment it does not appear to be a city under attack, at least not where our cameras are stationed. But missiles have struck the city and the question is did they kill the man in charge? Bill?
HEMMER: Yes, Paula, here in Kuwait Iraqi missiles have landed in the north. We're getting air raid warnings with some regularity over the past three and a half hours. Quiet now, though. I want to point that out. The all clear has been given. Precautions also are being taken against the possibility of some sort of chemical or biological weapon.
I'm Bill Hemmer again live in Kuwait City. A double broadcast today from here in the desert and also back in New York, as well -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.
Good morning to you all. We appreciate your joining us this morning.
We start off this morning by catching up with one of our reporters, Kyra Phillips, who is embedded on the USS Constellation -- Kyra, we had heard reports coming from you just 15, 20 minutes ago of a confirmation that something has been dropped on Iraq.
Can you clarify that for us this morning?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I sure am.
Actually, I'm going to ask Brian to head over here so you'll be able to see the F-14 Tomcat getting ready to launch off the USS Abraham Lincoln here. It's all a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yes, that is right. I have been reporting that bombs have been dropped in Iraq and it was by an F-14 similar to this one that you're seeing right now, that's just about to launch.
I cannot confirm where exactly those bombs dropped, but I can tell you -- one moment -- stay with me. It's about to launch.
ZAHN: Kyra, as we stay with this picture, explain to us what folks on board the USS Lincoln will be expected to do in the days to come.
PHILLIPS: Like I was saying, that was the F-14 Tomcat that just launched off the carrier there. Paula...
ZAHN: All right, we just lost Kyra.
We hope to get back to her in a little bit.
Just a quick recap at the moment. We wanted to go back to that information that Iraq did fire several surface to surface missiles into Kuwait. One of those taken out by a U.S. Patriot missile battery. The other two fell in the desert. No official confirmation of this, but just based on our reporting from our embeds, who are alongside various divisions of the armed forces in Kuwait, no one appears to have been injured as a result of that.
We're going to stand by for a second.
Who do we have up now?
Nic Robertson standing by in Baghdad to give us a better sense of what happened in Baghdad overnight -- Nic, good morning.
What's the latest from there?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula.
Iraqi hospital sources here are saying that 14 people were injured, one person killed in the missile attacks overnight. They also say, Minister Mohammed al-Sahaf, the information minister, says that the TV and radio stations here were hit. He also said that a customs building was hit, along was residential area south of the city.
One group of journalists was taken on a tour of the south of the city this morning. They reported that they had not been able to see any signs of damage in the particular area they went to.
Also, Minister al-Sahaf saying that the United States said its target was President Saddam Hussein and that they're not ashamed to say that they fired 40 missiles at him in 40 different areas. Mr. al- Sahaf saying that this is a clear indication the United States are assassins.
However, he went on to say that they failed because President Saddam Hussein was able to go on television, speak to the world and prove that he was still alive.
It is very interesting to note part of what President Saddam Hussein had to say was that Iraq's goal was to make sure that the United States lost their patience, that they should lose hope in what they are driven to do and that they should go their lowest level and give up, and indication here the Iraqi leader hopes to undermine support for the campaign against Iraq and perhaps bring it to a hasty conclusion.
Very interesting here, as well, throughout the day on Iraqi television we're seeing pictures of President Saddam Hussein at various different times over the last number of years. Those pictures being played out repeatedly on Iraqi television. And in the city here, the streets very, very quiet, very little traffic around at this time. On a normal day at this time, Paula, the streets would be busy. The shops at this time still boarded up. The city very much a city the people bracing for what everyone here fears is to come probably much worse -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic, the Pentagon is not confirming at this hour what exactly it hit in Baghdad overnight. You say the Iraqis are saying, based on a television appearance, it is proof that Saddam Hussein is alive because he was able to go on television. I know U.S. officials are analyzing that tape to see if, indeed, it was produced live or pre-taped.
Can you add anything to that?
ROBERTSON: Well, we know that on the first day after the Gulf War in 1991 when that began, on the 17th of, the morning of the 17th of January, President Saddam Hussein went on television at that time. It was, his broadcast at that time was preceded by the, at that time, information minister, Lafet Jassem (ph). President Saddam Hussein's appearance on television again this day was preceded by the appearance of Information Minister al-Sahaf.
It is very difficult to say with certainty exactly when the broadcast was made. Certainly President Saddam Hussein referred to today, the 20th of March. That seems to be an indication that it was today. He did look perhaps older and certainly less relaxed, much more under pressure than he normally does in many of the broadcasts where we normally see him meeting with officials he seems very relaxed.
It did sound like President Saddam Hussein and there's no -- and certainly that is the, that is what Iraqi officials here want the world to believe, that it was President Saddam Hussein. So at this time here in Baghdad, there's nothing to imply that it wasn't him at this stage -- Paula.
ZAHN: Finally, Nic, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hune is referring to last night's so-called decapitation attack as a warning shot and he says it's part of the effort to deal with part of a dispersed command and control in Iraq.
Give us a sense of what the U.S. military is up against, along with the British here, in trying to locate key members of the Iraqi military, in addition to the political leadership of Saddam Hussein.
ROBERTSON: It's likely to be a very, very difficult job, particularly President Saddam Hussein. His security have whereabouts are better guarded than anyone else in this country. Meetings, locations of meetings are always secret. They are played out on Iraqi television, but it's never clear when those meetings take place. It's very difficult to get up to date intelligence information there. It's, what Iraqi officials have been telling us is that what they believe that's been going on in the last number of weeks is an intense psychological warfare campaign against them.
The talk of shock and awe bombing that's supposed to, the complication that Iraqi, Iraq should give in before, that its soldiers should put down their weapons, all of it is part of a -- it appears to be part of a psychological campaign and this targeting of the Iraqi leader and thereby putting pressure on him to appear on television as the deputy prime minister did yesterday when rumors circulated that he was dead or had defected, again, it all puts pressure on Iraq's leadership here to perhaps perform in the way that the West wants them to do, to be forced into a position where they have to respond and show that they are in good condition.
And if the shock and awe tactics of an intensive campaign of bombing are to be effective, the prelude to that seems logical to be an intensive period of psychological pressure. It's likely to make shock and awe have a much greater impact -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson joining us from the Iraqi capital this morning.
As we go back to Bill, Bill, once again, about the only thing we can confirm in absence of a Pentagon briefing right now is what the Red Cross is telling us, that 14 people were injured last night in Baghdad as a result of this initial strike, one killed. The Jordanian foreign ministry confirming it, indeed, was a Jordanian citizen -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, and, Paula, as you point out, there's a lot we do not know right now. But what we do know is that this attack did take place prior to that 48 hour ultimatum's expiration, about 90 minutes, in fact, maybe two hours before that ultimatum deadline was reached. Now the questions are why and there are strong theories out there right now. And there is some reporting that gives us now a better indication about possibly some of the intelligence the U.S. military or the CIA may have had at the time.
David Ensor is working his sources in Washington. Our national security correspondent now can fill us in on what he's learning as to why it went when it did -- David, hello.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Well, first of all, let me just say that U.S. intelligence officials are expressing some guarded optimism this morning that they may have killed some of the senior leadership of the Iraqi government. Now, that may not include, they say, Saddam Hussein. They believe the tape that was run on Iraqi television probably was, indeed, the Iraqi leader himself. That's obviously being looked at very closely. The leader, Saddam Hussein did use today's date in his discourse. He didn't look as unruffled as usual. So the presumption is that he is probably still alive.
But as I say, U.S. intelligence officials believe, they are optimistic that in the strikes last night they did kill some of the Iraqi leadership.
Now, what led to this, I am told, is that director of Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, went in to see the president, to tell him, as one official put it, we have intelligence which gives us some optimism that we have a fix on some of the top leadership, possibly including Saddam Hussein. And it was when the president was presented with that opportunity that he made the decision to move ahead with these early strikes prior to the overall full scale invasion of Iraq that has been expected and presumably is still in the offing.
One other thing I can tell you, there are reports in the newspapers this morning, in some of the papers, that there is intelligence, useful intelligence coming from some of the Iraqis who were ordered to leave -- these are diplomats -- ordered to leave certain countries in the last couple of weeks. That some of these diplomats have been interviewed, have been warned there could be consequences for them if they don't cooperate and are providing useful information about weapons of mass destruction.
U.S. intelligence officials confirming some of those interviews have, no doubt, occurred. In most cases, being conducted by the host countries, not the United States. But they say there is no mother lode of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, at least not so far -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, back to this story about tracking Iraqi leaders. Do your sources tell you any sort of time frame, how long they think they may have had them in their sights?
ENSOR: They're not being very specific about it, Bill, but one gets the sense talking to U.S. intelligence officials that this was an opportunity that they felt might not last very long, that they felt that they had some of the senior leadership very clearly identified in a particular location, that it might or might not include Saddam Hussein, that this was a target that they really thought the president ought to consider changing his plans and hitting early, as was done with these cruise missile attacks that we see here.
So it was a target with a limited shelf life to it, as they put it. It was a target that had to be hit or it might not be there much longer -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good reporting.
David, thank you.
David Ensor reporting, our national security correspondent, working his sources in Washington, D.C.
More when we get it.
Here's Paula again -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.
Back now to Kyra Phillips, who is on board the USS Lincoln, where she just moments ago confirmed she saw some F-14 Tomcats taking off.
What can you tell us now?
PHILLIPS: Yes, Paula, as a matter of fact, just as you tossed to me, it looks like it was an F-18 that just landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln. A number of aircraft have been landing after taking off on missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Right now at this time I could tell you that seven aircraft are on their way back, seven aircraft did drop bombs over Iraq. Where exactly they dropped bombs I can't tell you, but I can confirm that so far all the strike fighters on their way back after performing missions have all dropped their ordinance.
I can tell you what they are doing exactly right now is conducting DCA, which is defensive counter air. They are looking for air to air targets, in other words, Iraqi aircraft in the air that may be coming at coalition aircraft.
Also, these missions include photo reconnaissance. They're looking for SAMs, surface to air missiles, AAA, any kind of threat to coalition aircraft. And as I've been reporting, they're coming back without the bombs, which means that they have found targets which they believe to be a threat and therefore have dropped the bombs.
I could tell you right now -- that's another F-18. Another F-18 that just came back from a mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom landing here on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The tempo has been picking up since this morning, since the president of the United States came out and said that, indeed, the U.S. is at war with Iraq. It started out slowly. The missions you just saw, a couple at a time. Now it's increasing. The tempo is picking up. But there is one thing I can tell you, Paula, is this is definitely just the beginning. As I've been spending time with the F- 14 Tomcatters getting to know other squadrons here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the tempo will continue to pick up and at any time we could see massive air strikes, a lot more intense than what you are seeing right now.
Of course, the element of surprise a crucial asset in any type of war time operation and that is what they're banking on right now.
So what's happening right now is pretty slow and pretty normal procedure for this type of operation. So we have a lot in store and no doubt a lot to tell you as the minutes tick on -- Paula.
ZAHN: Kyra Phillips reporting from on board the USS Lincoln.
And one of the more interesting facts we've learned this morning, this, the targeted so-called decapitation attacks last night were not what were originally planned. David Ensor reporting that the head of the CIA shared some information with the president last night, basically said that that particular opportunity had a very short shelf life. They had optimism that they had a fix where some of the top Iraqi political leadership was, including Saddam Hussein, and some of the top military commanders.
It is not clear at this hour of the 14 wounded last night that the Red Cross is confirming how many of those were members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The one confirmed fatality we can talk about has, in fact, just been confirmed by the Jordanian foreign ministry. It was a Jordanian citizen.
We're going to take a short break here.
Still to come, the war in northern Iraq, the Kurds have controlled territory there for years, but could the war cost them what they've gained? We're going to hear from Middle East expert Kenneth Pollack straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back to our Strike On Iraq coverage.
Joining us right now, Senator John McCain, from Washington, D.C.
Good morning, Senator.
First off, your reaction to the so-called decapitation attack last night in Baghdad.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, obviously the CIA and other agencies had information that Saddam Hussein was at a location and this was an opportunity to remove the leadership of Iraq, which as you know is a very tight and closed circle. And I think it was worth the risk. I think it also indicates the United States commitment to shortening this war and minimizing casualties by changing their entire strategy to take care of this sort of target of opportunity. And so obviously, apparently it didn't succeed, but I think it was certainly a risk worth taking.
ZAHN: Yes, we're trying to make sense of that now, Senator McCain, because we are hearing from David Ensor, our national security correspondent, that there is so-called "guarded optimism" that the attack may have killed several senior Iraqi leaders.
MCCAIN: Well, if they did, I think it's an important success because as you know, Saddam Hussein has confined the leadership of his country to a few family members and a few intensely loyal individuals. And if those people are taken out, then it would be incredibly disruptive to the chain of command, their ability to transmit orders and would also maybe send a lesson to the others in positions of leadership that their best option is to get this conflict concluded as quickly as possible.
ZAHN: You just said you believed it was worth the risk of sort of changing the military game plan when CIA Director Tenet go this information that there was an opportunity, perhaps, to hit some of this leadership. The British defense secretary this morning describing that attack last night as a warning shot and then he went on to say this attack was part of our overall effort to deal with this part of a dispersed command and control in Iraq.
What are the risks of this kind of attack when, in fact, the leadership could be fanned out all over that country?
MCCAIN: The only risk I know, Paula, and you're going to have a lot smarter military experts than me on the program already and will, but it seems to me that there's a minimal risk here. It seems to me that it's not going to significantly impact our ability to carry out the shock and awe operation, which will be coming shortly. It was a target of opportunity. We took that opportunity. Apparently we didn't get Saddam Hussein. But I think the psychological effect, you know, the old Joe Lewis line, he can run but he can't hide, may have some psychological effect on the leadership of this country.
ZAHN: Senator, when you say apparently we didn't get Saddam Hussein, the Pentagon is not confirming that at this hour.
Have you been given information that would support that, that Saddam Hussein is still alive?
MCCAIN: No, I have no information but some people that I've talked to said it's unlikely that they got him. I hope they did. And, you know, that question is going to come up in the course of the program. Saddam Hussein has been seen in uniform. The conflict has been authorized that he is clearly a combatant in this exercise and for us to go after him, in my view, is not an assassination attempt, it's a military operation.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, our reporter on the ground in Baghdad, is saying the Iraqi officials are using that video we've just seen of Saddam Hussein's statement last night once the attacks got under way as proof that he is still alive. But apparently a lot of analysis is being done of that tape to see if it was pre-taped or exactly when it was done. There seems to be no doubt that that is not a double, that that was, indeed, Saddam Hussein talking last night.
Anything else you want to add to that?
MCCAIN: No, but I do want to say again the time for debate on this issue is over. We want to support the men and women who are going to do a magnificent job under very difficult circumstances. We support them and their mission and the president of the United States. And they know that. And it's important to them as they undertake these very arduous and very dangerous tasks that lie ahead of us.
ZAHN: When you say the time to debate is over, I know you heard the same remark Senator Tom Daschle made the other day that most of us heard.
Do you have reason to believe that debate will be shelved until the end of these military operations?
MCCAIN: I do. I believe that all people in the Congress and throughout the country will rally behind the men and women, their mission and the president of the United States. And that's something that is important for us to do.
ZAHN: Do you think it was a mistake for Senator Tom Daschle to have made such pointed remarks on the eve of war?
MCCAIN: I wouldn't have made those comments. But I don't usually, having on occasion said a thing or two that perhaps I shouldn't have, I'm reluctant to discuss the remarks of others. But I think now we're all going to get behind the president and we're going to pass a resolution, I'm sure, today that will be a hundred to nothing supporting what's going on and we'll put that and other remarks behind us.
ZAHN: All right, well, the media does have a way of remembering those remarks and handing it right back to you, right? We're not going to remind you of any of those this morning.
MCCAIN: Thank you.
ZAHN: Senator John McCain, thank you for spending some time with us this morning.
MCCAIN: Thank you, Paula. Thank you.
ZAHN: Back now to Ken Pollack, who is one of our experts who's basically going to be working around the clock now, who has written a book called "The Threatening Storm," an in depth analysis of the history of Iraq and what might happen as a result of this military campaign.
Ken, good morning.
KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Good morning, Paula. ZAHN: First off, what are you hearing about the effectiveness of the so-called decapitation attack last night, a very carefully calibrated attack based on information that CIA Director George Tenet got about the positioning of several members of the key Iraqi leadership and perhaps Saddam Hussein himself?
POLLACK: Honestly, Paula, I'm hearing the same thing that you all are reporting, which is that at this point in time we just don't know. The intelligence community doesn't think that they got Saddam Hussein. They felt that they had good information, that it was a good shot to take. The president said let's try it. I think that absolutely was the right thing to do.
If it had worked, it might have ended the war in one fell swoop without all of the death and destruction that we may see that may follow.
They don't know what they accomplished. There is hope that even if they didn't get Saddam Hussein, they were able to hit a meeting of senior Iraqi commanders and so did some damage to Iraq's chain of command. But they don't even know whether or not that's true.
ZAHN: According to David Ensor, our national security correspondent, there is guarded optimism that, indeed, perhaps they did give, get several key members of Saddam Hussein's leadership. If that is the case, what kind of impact would that have on Saddam Hussein?
POLLACK: Well, certainly I think that it'll put a little bit more fear into Saddam Hussein. It'll get him moving a little bit more. I think the biggest thing for Saddam Hussein, though, is that if we did come close, if the U.S. strike did come close to him, maybe it missed him but maybe it did get other senior leaders, it is going to create a sense in Saddam Hussein that someone in my inner circle is talking to the Americans.
And that may be the most important impact of all, because that will make Saddam Hussein even less trusting, even more paranoid, even more determined to keep things to himself, and that's going to further impair his ability to direct the conduct of this war.
ZAHN: You're a man who has studied everything Saddam Hussein basically has done over the last 40 years. What would he be inclined to do if he feels really boxed in here?
POLLACK: Well, typically when Saddam feels boxed in he lashes out. Typically if he does believe that there's any kind of a leak in his inner circle, if he thinks that there is someone who is feeding information to the Americans, he will start shooting people. Anyone who he has any suspicion might possibly be that mole, might possibly be that informant, will get shot. And chances are what that will do is, first of all, he will probably kill a lot of people who weren't talking to us. But it will also stir all of the other Iraqis around him. It will make them that much more concerned. It will make them that much more fearful and what it could do is it might convince some of the people around him to actually move against him. But if he is just out there shooting anybody who looks at him sideways, they might decide, you know what, I don't know when my time is going to come up, it could be at any moment given this guy's mood, better to just get rid of him.
So it's the kind of things that breeds dissension in the highest ranks of Saddam's leadership, which can only be to our benefit.
ZAHN: Ken Pollack, thanks so much for joining us.
Now we'd love for you to stick around with us all morning long so we can continue to get your perspective.
Ken Pollack of the Sabine Center.
Just a quick reminder, when Ken was talking about some of the pressure that Saddam Hussein might be feeling at the moment, we can now confirm that there are 17 Iraqi soldiers now in the custody of the Kuwaiti police who have surrendered and Barbara Starr at the Pentagon confirming this morning that even more Iraqis have surrendered in the last hour or two.
We're going to take a short break.
CNN's Strike On Iraq coverage continues.
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Aired March 20, 2003 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials say they have no reason to believe it was a double. They continue to analyze the videotape to get a sense of whether this was aired live or pre-taped.
Forty Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from six U.S. warships. Two Stealth fighters dropped bombs. The strikes were based on intelligence that indicated the location where Hussein was believed to be holding a meeting and one of those locations, a private home, was targeted. The Red Cross is now reporting one person killed, 14 injured.
Let's go back to Bill Hemmer in Kuwait City -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, thanks.
Good morning, again, and good afternoon again from Kuwait.
Air raid sirens sounding throughout the afternoon here in Kuwait City. Troops in the desert rushing to put on gas masks and protective chemical suits. The missiles, apparently, though, did not carry any chemical or biological weapons.
Also, an official at the Pentagon reports that a small aircraft flew across the Kuwaiti border and crashed within site of a Marine position in the desert. Officials quite concerned because they believe Iraq has converted some small planes to carry chemical weapons.
ZAHN: Baghdad is a city at war but at the moment it does not appear to be a city under attack, at least not where our cameras are stationed. But missiles have struck the city and the question is did they kill the man in charge? Bill?
HEMMER: Yes, Paula, here in Kuwait Iraqi missiles have landed in the north. We're getting air raid warnings with some regularity over the past three and a half hours. Quiet now, though. I want to point that out. The all clear has been given. Precautions also are being taken against the possibility of some sort of chemical or biological weapon.
I'm Bill Hemmer again live in Kuwait City. A double broadcast today from here in the desert and also back in New York, as well -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.
Good morning to you all. We appreciate your joining us this morning.
We start off this morning by catching up with one of our reporters, Kyra Phillips, who is embedded on the USS Constellation -- Kyra, we had heard reports coming from you just 15, 20 minutes ago of a confirmation that something has been dropped on Iraq.
Can you clarify that for us this morning?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I sure am.
Actually, I'm going to ask Brian to head over here so you'll be able to see the F-14 Tomcat getting ready to launch off the USS Abraham Lincoln here. It's all a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yes, that is right. I have been reporting that bombs have been dropped in Iraq and it was by an F-14 similar to this one that you're seeing right now, that's just about to launch.
I cannot confirm where exactly those bombs dropped, but I can tell you -- one moment -- stay with me. It's about to launch.
ZAHN: Kyra, as we stay with this picture, explain to us what folks on board the USS Lincoln will be expected to do in the days to come.
PHILLIPS: Like I was saying, that was the F-14 Tomcat that just launched off the carrier there. Paula...
ZAHN: All right, we just lost Kyra.
We hope to get back to her in a little bit.
Just a quick recap at the moment. We wanted to go back to that information that Iraq did fire several surface to surface missiles into Kuwait. One of those taken out by a U.S. Patriot missile battery. The other two fell in the desert. No official confirmation of this, but just based on our reporting from our embeds, who are alongside various divisions of the armed forces in Kuwait, no one appears to have been injured as a result of that.
We're going to stand by for a second.
Who do we have up now?
Nic Robertson standing by in Baghdad to give us a better sense of what happened in Baghdad overnight -- Nic, good morning.
What's the latest from there?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula.
Iraqi hospital sources here are saying that 14 people were injured, one person killed in the missile attacks overnight. They also say, Minister Mohammed al-Sahaf, the information minister, says that the TV and radio stations here were hit. He also said that a customs building was hit, along was residential area south of the city.
One group of journalists was taken on a tour of the south of the city this morning. They reported that they had not been able to see any signs of damage in the particular area they went to.
Also, Minister al-Sahaf saying that the United States said its target was President Saddam Hussein and that they're not ashamed to say that they fired 40 missiles at him in 40 different areas. Mr. al- Sahaf saying that this is a clear indication the United States are assassins.
However, he went on to say that they failed because President Saddam Hussein was able to go on television, speak to the world and prove that he was still alive.
It is very interesting to note part of what President Saddam Hussein had to say was that Iraq's goal was to make sure that the United States lost their patience, that they should lose hope in what they are driven to do and that they should go their lowest level and give up, and indication here the Iraqi leader hopes to undermine support for the campaign against Iraq and perhaps bring it to a hasty conclusion.
Very interesting here, as well, throughout the day on Iraqi television we're seeing pictures of President Saddam Hussein at various different times over the last number of years. Those pictures being played out repeatedly on Iraqi television. And in the city here, the streets very, very quiet, very little traffic around at this time. On a normal day at this time, Paula, the streets would be busy. The shops at this time still boarded up. The city very much a city the people bracing for what everyone here fears is to come probably much worse -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic, the Pentagon is not confirming at this hour what exactly it hit in Baghdad overnight. You say the Iraqis are saying, based on a television appearance, it is proof that Saddam Hussein is alive because he was able to go on television. I know U.S. officials are analyzing that tape to see if, indeed, it was produced live or pre-taped.
Can you add anything to that?
ROBERTSON: Well, we know that on the first day after the Gulf War in 1991 when that began, on the 17th of, the morning of the 17th of January, President Saddam Hussein went on television at that time. It was, his broadcast at that time was preceded by the, at that time, information minister, Lafet Jassem (ph). President Saddam Hussein's appearance on television again this day was preceded by the appearance of Information Minister al-Sahaf.
It is very difficult to say with certainty exactly when the broadcast was made. Certainly President Saddam Hussein referred to today, the 20th of March. That seems to be an indication that it was today. He did look perhaps older and certainly less relaxed, much more under pressure than he normally does in many of the broadcasts where we normally see him meeting with officials he seems very relaxed.
It did sound like President Saddam Hussein and there's no -- and certainly that is the, that is what Iraqi officials here want the world to believe, that it was President Saddam Hussein. So at this time here in Baghdad, there's nothing to imply that it wasn't him at this stage -- Paula.
ZAHN: Finally, Nic, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hune is referring to last night's so-called decapitation attack as a warning shot and he says it's part of the effort to deal with part of a dispersed command and control in Iraq.
Give us a sense of what the U.S. military is up against, along with the British here, in trying to locate key members of the Iraqi military, in addition to the political leadership of Saddam Hussein.
ROBERTSON: It's likely to be a very, very difficult job, particularly President Saddam Hussein. His security have whereabouts are better guarded than anyone else in this country. Meetings, locations of meetings are always secret. They are played out on Iraqi television, but it's never clear when those meetings take place. It's very difficult to get up to date intelligence information there. It's, what Iraqi officials have been telling us is that what they believe that's been going on in the last number of weeks is an intense psychological warfare campaign against them.
The talk of shock and awe bombing that's supposed to, the complication that Iraqi, Iraq should give in before, that its soldiers should put down their weapons, all of it is part of a -- it appears to be part of a psychological campaign and this targeting of the Iraqi leader and thereby putting pressure on him to appear on television as the deputy prime minister did yesterday when rumors circulated that he was dead or had defected, again, it all puts pressure on Iraq's leadership here to perhaps perform in the way that the West wants them to do, to be forced into a position where they have to respond and show that they are in good condition.
And if the shock and awe tactics of an intensive campaign of bombing are to be effective, the prelude to that seems logical to be an intensive period of psychological pressure. It's likely to make shock and awe have a much greater impact -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson joining us from the Iraqi capital this morning.
As we go back to Bill, Bill, once again, about the only thing we can confirm in absence of a Pentagon briefing right now is what the Red Cross is telling us, that 14 people were injured last night in Baghdad as a result of this initial strike, one killed. The Jordanian foreign ministry confirming it, indeed, was a Jordanian citizen -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, and, Paula, as you point out, there's a lot we do not know right now. But what we do know is that this attack did take place prior to that 48 hour ultimatum's expiration, about 90 minutes, in fact, maybe two hours before that ultimatum deadline was reached. Now the questions are why and there are strong theories out there right now. And there is some reporting that gives us now a better indication about possibly some of the intelligence the U.S. military or the CIA may have had at the time.
David Ensor is working his sources in Washington. Our national security correspondent now can fill us in on what he's learning as to why it went when it did -- David, hello.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Well, first of all, let me just say that U.S. intelligence officials are expressing some guarded optimism this morning that they may have killed some of the senior leadership of the Iraqi government. Now, that may not include, they say, Saddam Hussein. They believe the tape that was run on Iraqi television probably was, indeed, the Iraqi leader himself. That's obviously being looked at very closely. The leader, Saddam Hussein did use today's date in his discourse. He didn't look as unruffled as usual. So the presumption is that he is probably still alive.
But as I say, U.S. intelligence officials believe, they are optimistic that in the strikes last night they did kill some of the Iraqi leadership.
Now, what led to this, I am told, is that director of Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, went in to see the president, to tell him, as one official put it, we have intelligence which gives us some optimism that we have a fix on some of the top leadership, possibly including Saddam Hussein. And it was when the president was presented with that opportunity that he made the decision to move ahead with these early strikes prior to the overall full scale invasion of Iraq that has been expected and presumably is still in the offing.
One other thing I can tell you, there are reports in the newspapers this morning, in some of the papers, that there is intelligence, useful intelligence coming from some of the Iraqis who were ordered to leave -- these are diplomats -- ordered to leave certain countries in the last couple of weeks. That some of these diplomats have been interviewed, have been warned there could be consequences for them if they don't cooperate and are providing useful information about weapons of mass destruction.
U.S. intelligence officials confirming some of those interviews have, no doubt, occurred. In most cases, being conducted by the host countries, not the United States. But they say there is no mother lode of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, at least not so far -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, back to this story about tracking Iraqi leaders. Do your sources tell you any sort of time frame, how long they think they may have had them in their sights?
ENSOR: They're not being very specific about it, Bill, but one gets the sense talking to U.S. intelligence officials that this was an opportunity that they felt might not last very long, that they felt that they had some of the senior leadership very clearly identified in a particular location, that it might or might not include Saddam Hussein, that this was a target that they really thought the president ought to consider changing his plans and hitting early, as was done with these cruise missile attacks that we see here.
So it was a target with a limited shelf life to it, as they put it. It was a target that had to be hit or it might not be there much longer -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good reporting.
David, thank you.
David Ensor reporting, our national security correspondent, working his sources in Washington, D.C.
More when we get it.
Here's Paula again -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.
Back now to Kyra Phillips, who is on board the USS Lincoln, where she just moments ago confirmed she saw some F-14 Tomcats taking off.
What can you tell us now?
PHILLIPS: Yes, Paula, as a matter of fact, just as you tossed to me, it looks like it was an F-18 that just landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln. A number of aircraft have been landing after taking off on missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Right now at this time I could tell you that seven aircraft are on their way back, seven aircraft did drop bombs over Iraq. Where exactly they dropped bombs I can't tell you, but I can confirm that so far all the strike fighters on their way back after performing missions have all dropped their ordinance.
I can tell you what they are doing exactly right now is conducting DCA, which is defensive counter air. They are looking for air to air targets, in other words, Iraqi aircraft in the air that may be coming at coalition aircraft.
Also, these missions include photo reconnaissance. They're looking for SAMs, surface to air missiles, AAA, any kind of threat to coalition aircraft. And as I've been reporting, they're coming back without the bombs, which means that they have found targets which they believe to be a threat and therefore have dropped the bombs.
I could tell you right now -- that's another F-18. Another F-18 that just came back from a mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom landing here on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The tempo has been picking up since this morning, since the president of the United States came out and said that, indeed, the U.S. is at war with Iraq. It started out slowly. The missions you just saw, a couple at a time. Now it's increasing. The tempo is picking up. But there is one thing I can tell you, Paula, is this is definitely just the beginning. As I've been spending time with the F- 14 Tomcatters getting to know other squadrons here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the tempo will continue to pick up and at any time we could see massive air strikes, a lot more intense than what you are seeing right now.
Of course, the element of surprise a crucial asset in any type of war time operation and that is what they're banking on right now.
So what's happening right now is pretty slow and pretty normal procedure for this type of operation. So we have a lot in store and no doubt a lot to tell you as the minutes tick on -- Paula.
ZAHN: Kyra Phillips reporting from on board the USS Lincoln.
And one of the more interesting facts we've learned this morning, this, the targeted so-called decapitation attacks last night were not what were originally planned. David Ensor reporting that the head of the CIA shared some information with the president last night, basically said that that particular opportunity had a very short shelf life. They had optimism that they had a fix where some of the top Iraqi political leadership was, including Saddam Hussein, and some of the top military commanders.
It is not clear at this hour of the 14 wounded last night that the Red Cross is confirming how many of those were members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The one confirmed fatality we can talk about has, in fact, just been confirmed by the Jordanian foreign ministry. It was a Jordanian citizen.
We're going to take a short break here.
Still to come, the war in northern Iraq, the Kurds have controlled territory there for years, but could the war cost them what they've gained? We're going to hear from Middle East expert Kenneth Pollack straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back to our Strike On Iraq coverage.
Joining us right now, Senator John McCain, from Washington, D.C.
Good morning, Senator.
First off, your reaction to the so-called decapitation attack last night in Baghdad.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, obviously the CIA and other agencies had information that Saddam Hussein was at a location and this was an opportunity to remove the leadership of Iraq, which as you know is a very tight and closed circle. And I think it was worth the risk. I think it also indicates the United States commitment to shortening this war and minimizing casualties by changing their entire strategy to take care of this sort of target of opportunity. And so obviously, apparently it didn't succeed, but I think it was certainly a risk worth taking.
ZAHN: Yes, we're trying to make sense of that now, Senator McCain, because we are hearing from David Ensor, our national security correspondent, that there is so-called "guarded optimism" that the attack may have killed several senior Iraqi leaders.
MCCAIN: Well, if they did, I think it's an important success because as you know, Saddam Hussein has confined the leadership of his country to a few family members and a few intensely loyal individuals. And if those people are taken out, then it would be incredibly disruptive to the chain of command, their ability to transmit orders and would also maybe send a lesson to the others in positions of leadership that their best option is to get this conflict concluded as quickly as possible.
ZAHN: You just said you believed it was worth the risk of sort of changing the military game plan when CIA Director Tenet go this information that there was an opportunity, perhaps, to hit some of this leadership. The British defense secretary this morning describing that attack last night as a warning shot and then he went on to say this attack was part of our overall effort to deal with this part of a dispersed command and control in Iraq.
What are the risks of this kind of attack when, in fact, the leadership could be fanned out all over that country?
MCCAIN: The only risk I know, Paula, and you're going to have a lot smarter military experts than me on the program already and will, but it seems to me that there's a minimal risk here. It seems to me that it's not going to significantly impact our ability to carry out the shock and awe operation, which will be coming shortly. It was a target of opportunity. We took that opportunity. Apparently we didn't get Saddam Hussein. But I think the psychological effect, you know, the old Joe Lewis line, he can run but he can't hide, may have some psychological effect on the leadership of this country.
ZAHN: Senator, when you say apparently we didn't get Saddam Hussein, the Pentagon is not confirming that at this hour.
Have you been given information that would support that, that Saddam Hussein is still alive?
MCCAIN: No, I have no information but some people that I've talked to said it's unlikely that they got him. I hope they did. And, you know, that question is going to come up in the course of the program. Saddam Hussein has been seen in uniform. The conflict has been authorized that he is clearly a combatant in this exercise and for us to go after him, in my view, is not an assassination attempt, it's a military operation.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, our reporter on the ground in Baghdad, is saying the Iraqi officials are using that video we've just seen of Saddam Hussein's statement last night once the attacks got under way as proof that he is still alive. But apparently a lot of analysis is being done of that tape to see if it was pre-taped or exactly when it was done. There seems to be no doubt that that is not a double, that that was, indeed, Saddam Hussein talking last night.
Anything else you want to add to that?
MCCAIN: No, but I do want to say again the time for debate on this issue is over. We want to support the men and women who are going to do a magnificent job under very difficult circumstances. We support them and their mission and the president of the United States. And they know that. And it's important to them as they undertake these very arduous and very dangerous tasks that lie ahead of us.
ZAHN: When you say the time to debate is over, I know you heard the same remark Senator Tom Daschle made the other day that most of us heard.
Do you have reason to believe that debate will be shelved until the end of these military operations?
MCCAIN: I do. I believe that all people in the Congress and throughout the country will rally behind the men and women, their mission and the president of the United States. And that's something that is important for us to do.
ZAHN: Do you think it was a mistake for Senator Tom Daschle to have made such pointed remarks on the eve of war?
MCCAIN: I wouldn't have made those comments. But I don't usually, having on occasion said a thing or two that perhaps I shouldn't have, I'm reluctant to discuss the remarks of others. But I think now we're all going to get behind the president and we're going to pass a resolution, I'm sure, today that will be a hundred to nothing supporting what's going on and we'll put that and other remarks behind us.
ZAHN: All right, well, the media does have a way of remembering those remarks and handing it right back to you, right? We're not going to remind you of any of those this morning.
MCCAIN: Thank you.
ZAHN: Senator John McCain, thank you for spending some time with us this morning.
MCCAIN: Thank you, Paula. Thank you.
ZAHN: Back now to Ken Pollack, who is one of our experts who's basically going to be working around the clock now, who has written a book called "The Threatening Storm," an in depth analysis of the history of Iraq and what might happen as a result of this military campaign.
Ken, good morning.
KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Good morning, Paula. ZAHN: First off, what are you hearing about the effectiveness of the so-called decapitation attack last night, a very carefully calibrated attack based on information that CIA Director George Tenet got about the positioning of several members of the key Iraqi leadership and perhaps Saddam Hussein himself?
POLLACK: Honestly, Paula, I'm hearing the same thing that you all are reporting, which is that at this point in time we just don't know. The intelligence community doesn't think that they got Saddam Hussein. They felt that they had good information, that it was a good shot to take. The president said let's try it. I think that absolutely was the right thing to do.
If it had worked, it might have ended the war in one fell swoop without all of the death and destruction that we may see that may follow.
They don't know what they accomplished. There is hope that even if they didn't get Saddam Hussein, they were able to hit a meeting of senior Iraqi commanders and so did some damage to Iraq's chain of command. But they don't even know whether or not that's true.
ZAHN: According to David Ensor, our national security correspondent, there is guarded optimism that, indeed, perhaps they did give, get several key members of Saddam Hussein's leadership. If that is the case, what kind of impact would that have on Saddam Hussein?
POLLACK: Well, certainly I think that it'll put a little bit more fear into Saddam Hussein. It'll get him moving a little bit more. I think the biggest thing for Saddam Hussein, though, is that if we did come close, if the U.S. strike did come close to him, maybe it missed him but maybe it did get other senior leaders, it is going to create a sense in Saddam Hussein that someone in my inner circle is talking to the Americans.
And that may be the most important impact of all, because that will make Saddam Hussein even less trusting, even more paranoid, even more determined to keep things to himself, and that's going to further impair his ability to direct the conduct of this war.
ZAHN: You're a man who has studied everything Saddam Hussein basically has done over the last 40 years. What would he be inclined to do if he feels really boxed in here?
POLLACK: Well, typically when Saddam feels boxed in he lashes out. Typically if he does believe that there's any kind of a leak in his inner circle, if he thinks that there is someone who is feeding information to the Americans, he will start shooting people. Anyone who he has any suspicion might possibly be that mole, might possibly be that informant, will get shot. And chances are what that will do is, first of all, he will probably kill a lot of people who weren't talking to us. But it will also stir all of the other Iraqis around him. It will make them that much more concerned. It will make them that much more fearful and what it could do is it might convince some of the people around him to actually move against him. But if he is just out there shooting anybody who looks at him sideways, they might decide, you know what, I don't know when my time is going to come up, it could be at any moment given this guy's mood, better to just get rid of him.
So it's the kind of things that breeds dissension in the highest ranks of Saddam's leadership, which can only be to our benefit.
ZAHN: Ken Pollack, thanks so much for joining us.
Now we'd love for you to stick around with us all morning long so we can continue to get your perspective.
Ken Pollack of the Sabine Center.
Just a quick reminder, when Ken was talking about some of the pressure that Saddam Hussein might be feeling at the moment, we can now confirm that there are 17 Iraqi soldiers now in the custody of the Kuwaiti police who have surrendered and Barbara Starr at the Pentagon confirming this morning that even more Iraqis have surrendered in the last hour or two.
We're going to take a short break.
CNN's Strike On Iraq coverage continues.
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