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American Morning

Interview With Riley Family

Aired March 25, 2003 - 08:23   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: Seven Americans being held as POW's in Iraq. Sergeant James Riley is one of five U.S. Soldiers captured when Iraqi forces ambushed an Army supply convoy near Nasariya. James' parents Jane and Athol and his sister Katherine join us now from New Jersey. Thank you for being with us. Good morning.
Jane, when is the last contact you had with the military about your son and his condition?

JANE RILEY, POW'S MOTHER: Well, the military representative has been with us off and on for the last day. We haven't really heard any more about his condition other than he's a POW.

ZAHN: Have you been given any idea about who might be holding him?

J. RILEY: No.

ZAHN: Take us back to the moment you found out about your son had indeed been captured and taken as a POW

ATHOL RILEY, POW's FATHER: Well, that was on Sunday in the afternoon. A co-worker of my wife had seen it on America Online, a picture that she recognized as being him. And then about an hour later the major banks from the military arrived to tell us he had in fact been captured.

ZAHN: So I assume by now you all have seen the picture. Jane, how did your son look to you?

J. RILEY: He looked slightly plumper than when I had seen him in July. Other than that, other than needing a shave and looking tired like anybody else would be his condition seemed to look pretty good from the one still picture we've seen.

ZAHN: And have you been given the opportunity to see the video and...

J. RILEY: No.

ZAHN: OK. And is that anything you're interested in seeing?

J. RILEY: Yes, because so many other people have seen it. And we want to be informed. You can't make a decision about anything unless you have all of the information.

ZAHN: Katharine, your mother just said it was a long while ago that she last saw your brother. When's the last time you spoke with him?

KATHERINE RILEY, POW's SISTER: Last time we talked to him was in February. My sisters in the hospital and we were keeping him updated on her.

ZAHN: Give us an idea of how your whole family's hanging in there, Katharine. This has got to be very tough for you.

K. RILEY: It's tough. But we have each other. We have our family and our friends and we pray. And we just take it day by day. If we have to, minute by minute.

ZAHN: Your son has been serving in the Army for over 13 years now. When he told you that he could potentially be headed off to Iraq, what were his feelings, what were your feelings?

A. RILEY: Well, he joined the Army and would have been going to the first Gulf War but it finished before he got there although he had orders to go. They were canceled. So he's been in Korea twice and Saudi Arabia and various other places. So it's part of his job.

ZAHN: Jane, just a final question to you as a mom. We spoke with another mother of a POW And she said her mother's intuition almost gave her a signal that something had gone wrong just about the time shortly after he had been taken prisoner. Did you have any of those kind of senses?

J. RILEY: No, none at all.

ZAHN: Well, we wish your family the very best. We know this is a very trying time as you wait for information. I know that General Tommy Franks says he hopes that the International Red Cross will be making some kind of contact with all of the POWs soon and our hearts go out to you. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

J. RILEY: You're welcome.

A. RILEY: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 25, 2003 - 08:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Seven Americans being held as POW's in Iraq. Sergeant James Riley is one of five U.S. Soldiers captured when Iraqi forces ambushed an Army supply convoy near Nasariya. James' parents Jane and Athol and his sister Katherine join us now from New Jersey. Thank you for being with us. Good morning.
Jane, when is the last contact you had with the military about your son and his condition?

JANE RILEY, POW'S MOTHER: Well, the military representative has been with us off and on for the last day. We haven't really heard any more about his condition other than he's a POW.

ZAHN: Have you been given any idea about who might be holding him?

J. RILEY: No.

ZAHN: Take us back to the moment you found out about your son had indeed been captured and taken as a POW

ATHOL RILEY, POW's FATHER: Well, that was on Sunday in the afternoon. A co-worker of my wife had seen it on America Online, a picture that she recognized as being him. And then about an hour later the major banks from the military arrived to tell us he had in fact been captured.

ZAHN: So I assume by now you all have seen the picture. Jane, how did your son look to you?

J. RILEY: He looked slightly plumper than when I had seen him in July. Other than that, other than needing a shave and looking tired like anybody else would be his condition seemed to look pretty good from the one still picture we've seen.

ZAHN: And have you been given the opportunity to see the video and...

J. RILEY: No.

ZAHN: OK. And is that anything you're interested in seeing?

J. RILEY: Yes, because so many other people have seen it. And we want to be informed. You can't make a decision about anything unless you have all of the information.

ZAHN: Katharine, your mother just said it was a long while ago that she last saw your brother. When's the last time you spoke with him?

KATHERINE RILEY, POW's SISTER: Last time we talked to him was in February. My sisters in the hospital and we were keeping him updated on her.

ZAHN: Give us an idea of how your whole family's hanging in there, Katharine. This has got to be very tough for you.

K. RILEY: It's tough. But we have each other. We have our family and our friends and we pray. And we just take it day by day. If we have to, minute by minute.

ZAHN: Your son has been serving in the Army for over 13 years now. When he told you that he could potentially be headed off to Iraq, what were his feelings, what were your feelings?

A. RILEY: Well, he joined the Army and would have been going to the first Gulf War but it finished before he got there although he had orders to go. They were canceled. So he's been in Korea twice and Saudi Arabia and various other places. So it's part of his job.

ZAHN: Jane, just a final question to you as a mom. We spoke with another mother of a POW And she said her mother's intuition almost gave her a signal that something had gone wrong just about the time shortly after he had been taken prisoner. Did you have any of those kind of senses?

J. RILEY: No, none at all.

ZAHN: Well, we wish your family the very best. We know this is a very trying time as you wait for information. I know that General Tommy Franks says he hopes that the International Red Cross will be making some kind of contact with all of the POWs soon and our hearts go out to you. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

J. RILEY: You're welcome.

A. RILEY: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com