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American Morning
Army's 3-7 Cavalry Has Crossed Euphrates River
Aired March 25, 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: Good morning. Welcome. I'm Paula Zahn. Thanks for joining us on this Tuesday morning. We are seeing firsthand this morning just what U.S. Troops are going through as they get closer and closer to Baghdad.
Our Walt Rodger is traveling with the Army's 3-7 cavalry. The column has now crossed the Euphrates River. Walter cautioned us a little while ago, it worth repeating here, it is not correct to strictly view this as a race to Baghdad. He points out reaching Baghdad is not the 3-7th's immediate goal. And the route they take northward is not necessarily headed to the capital city. We have seen some amazing pictures this morning a. As the sandstorm bears down on the region. We actually saw the taking of three Iraqis, prisoners, by the 3-7. Walt Rodgers will join us in a moment to bring us up to date.
Time to bring in Bill Hemmer who is in Kuwait City who already in the past hour, weathered a siren going off and then the all clear sign.
Bill, have you heard anything since then?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No, Paula. That's a good thing, it's been quiet. Normally there's a process here, were we'll be notified within the next 30 minutes as to what happened. Was it an Iraqi missile, was it a false alarm? We've had one of those, by the way. Or was it perhaps a missile that was considered useless or harmless, that either flew off into the desert too far and maybe hit the Persian Gulf as well. No clear word. A lot of developments to bring you up to date.
CNN's Gary Strieker, on board the USS aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt says the air mission changing from bombing to close air support for the Coalition forces on the ground.
You heard from Walt Rodgers, bad weather halting all operations from the air anyway from the carrier for the time being. Whether or not this weather condition shapes up later today or even tomorrow is something we're all waiting on here in Kuwait.
Coalition forces saying that Basra, a legitimate military target, not far away at the port city of Umm Qasr, the British commander reported as saying that port is now open and is secure. He expects the first ships could arrive within 48 hours bringing that all important humanitarian aid.
In Baghdad several hours ago, the vice president in Iraq has launched a blistering attack on his fellow Arab nations for not coming to Iraq's aid, in particular, he singled out Egypt for allowing the Coalition continue passing through the Suez Canal. He also singled out Jordan, too, for expelling recently Iraq's ambassador. And again, a lot of developments to follow throughout the hour and we will.
Those are just a few right now throughout the region from our reporters -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Bill.
We'll be betting back to you. Developments continuing to come to us from all over Iraq. We'll be checking in with embedded reporters bringing us extraordinary stories from Iraq.
We'll be hearing from Walt Rogers once again with the army's 3- 7th Cavalry getting closer to Baghdad. Ryan Chilcote in southern Iraq. Karl Penhall is south of Baghdad.
Lets get straight to the Pentagon for the latest now. Barbara Starr is the within to bring us up to date.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula. As we have seen these very compelling pictures of the 7th Cavalry pressing deeper into Iraq, there are a lot of issues confronting the Pentagon in the rear areas, the areas they have left behind. Fighting is still continuing all the way back to Basra. There is fighting in Nasiriya, in several stories. You're seeing some of the fighting here that British forces encountered back very far down the line in Basra. This is an area they moved through, they thought they secured. But all accounts, Iraqi militia fighters are reassembling and British authorities now say they will designate Basra as a military target and try and attack these militia forces.
Now, the reason this is becoming so critical and is becoming a fundamental benchmark for the U.S. military strategy, unless they secure Basra they will have problems getting humanitarian aid into Iraqi people. Coffee Annan the secretary-general of the United Nations, yesterday already saying that electricity and water supplies and been cut off in the city and there was a humanitarian crisis. British Prime Minister Blair this morning in London talked about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We should be clear that it is not military action that will create humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq. The humanitarian disaster is here and now. It's happening. It's actually been happening for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So really, the first public acknowledgement by either a U.S. or British leader that there is a humanitarian crisis now brewing this Iraq. And questions being raised about the strategy of moving to Baghdad and leaving militia fighting behind -- Paula. ZAHN: I also thought he implicitly acknowledged the amount of time and perseverance this campaign is going to take when he said that there will be resistance to the very end of this campaign. Did that strike you at all?
STARR: Well, it struck me as a very blunt statement by the prime minister. Now, U.S. military authorities have said for some days that all of this was expected. That they had planned for it. But clearly, when you look at pictures being presented by embedded reporters, there is fighting all the way up and down the line, virtually everywhere that U.S. And British forces are moving. Militia, the fedayeen, Republican Guard, everywhere. And as they press to Baghdad, they do expect to see more of it.
ZAHN: Let's come back to this vicious sandstorm for a moment and give you a chance to tell us a little bit more about how this might affect the movement of troops.
STARR: Officials here said earlier today, privately, that it may in fact delay things, the sandstorm, for some period of hours or at least until it lifts. The biggest problem for the military will be flying helicopters, assault helicopters and anti-tank helicopters in this sandstorm. What is going on right now, as the press to Baghdad continues, U.S. forces are assembling for the first major ground assault on the Republican Guard Medina division which is near Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.
Now, these Republican Guard troops, of course, are a movable target. You can't use precision weapons because they're not a fixed target. You are to use Apache helicopters, other ground forces and that's very tough to do in this sandstorm. They're continuing to press ahead. It's unclear when exactly they will confront the Medina division.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr, thanks so much.
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 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome. I'm Paula Zahn. Thanks for joining us on this Tuesday morning. We are seeing firsthand this morning just what U.S. Troops are going through as they get closer and closer to Baghdad.
Our Walt Rodger is traveling with the Army's 3-7 cavalry. The column has now crossed the Euphrates River. Walter cautioned us a little while ago, it worth repeating here, it is not correct to strictly view this as a race to Baghdad. He points out reaching Baghdad is not the 3-7th's immediate goal. And the route they take northward is not necessarily headed to the capital city. We have seen some amazing pictures this morning a. As the sandstorm bears down on the region. We actually saw the taking of three Iraqis, prisoners, by the 3-7. Walt Rodgers will join us in a moment to bring us up to date.
Time to bring in Bill Hemmer who is in Kuwait City who already in the past hour, weathered a siren going off and then the all clear sign.
Bill, have you heard anything since then?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No, Paula. That's a good thing, it's been quiet. Normally there's a process here, were we'll be notified within the next 30 minutes as to what happened. Was it an Iraqi missile, was it a false alarm? We've had one of those, by the way. Or was it perhaps a missile that was considered useless or harmless, that either flew off into the desert too far and maybe hit the Persian Gulf as well. No clear word. A lot of developments to bring you up to date.
CNN's Gary Strieker, on board the USS aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt says the air mission changing from bombing to close air support for the Coalition forces on the ground.
You heard from Walt Rodgers, bad weather halting all operations from the air anyway from the carrier for the time being. Whether or not this weather condition shapes up later today or even tomorrow is something we're all waiting on here in Kuwait.
Coalition forces saying that Basra, a legitimate military target, not far away at the port city of Umm Qasr, the British commander reported as saying that port is now open and is secure. He expects the first ships could arrive within 48 hours bringing that all important humanitarian aid.
In Baghdad several hours ago, the vice president in Iraq has launched a blistering attack on his fellow Arab nations for not coming to Iraq's aid, in particular, he singled out Egypt for allowing the Coalition continue passing through the Suez Canal. He also singled out Jordan, too, for expelling recently Iraq's ambassador. And again, a lot of developments to follow throughout the hour and we will.
Those are just a few right now throughout the region from our reporters -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Bill.
We'll be betting back to you. Developments continuing to come to us from all over Iraq. We'll be checking in with embedded reporters bringing us extraordinary stories from Iraq.
We'll be hearing from Walt Rogers once again with the army's 3- 7th Cavalry getting closer to Baghdad. Ryan Chilcote in southern Iraq. Karl Penhall is south of Baghdad.
Lets get straight to the Pentagon for the latest now. Barbara Starr is the within to bring us up to date.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula. As we have seen these very compelling pictures of the 7th Cavalry pressing deeper into Iraq, there are a lot of issues confronting the Pentagon in the rear areas, the areas they have left behind. Fighting is still continuing all the way back to Basra. There is fighting in Nasiriya, in several stories. You're seeing some of the fighting here that British forces encountered back very far down the line in Basra. This is an area they moved through, they thought they secured. But all accounts, Iraqi militia fighters are reassembling and British authorities now say they will designate Basra as a military target and try and attack these militia forces.
Now, the reason this is becoming so critical and is becoming a fundamental benchmark for the U.S. military strategy, unless they secure Basra they will have problems getting humanitarian aid into Iraqi people. Coffee Annan the secretary-general of the United Nations, yesterday already saying that electricity and water supplies and been cut off in the city and there was a humanitarian crisis. British Prime Minister Blair this morning in London talked about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We should be clear that it is not military action that will create humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq. The humanitarian disaster is here and now. It's happening. It's actually been happening for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So really, the first public acknowledgement by either a U.S. or British leader that there is a humanitarian crisis now brewing this Iraq. And questions being raised about the strategy of moving to Baghdad and leaving militia fighting behind -- Paula. ZAHN: I also thought he implicitly acknowledged the amount of time and perseverance this campaign is going to take when he said that there will be resistance to the very end of this campaign. Did that strike you at all?
STARR: Well, it struck me as a very blunt statement by the prime minister. Now, U.S. military authorities have said for some days that all of this was expected. That they had planned for it. But clearly, when you look at pictures being presented by embedded reporters, there is fighting all the way up and down the line, virtually everywhere that U.S. And British forces are moving. Militia, the fedayeen, Republican Guard, everywhere. And as they press to Baghdad, they do expect to see more of it.
ZAHN: Let's come back to this vicious sandstorm for a moment and give you a chance to tell us a little bit more about how this might affect the movement of troops.
STARR: Officials here said earlier today, privately, that it may in fact delay things, the sandstorm, for some period of hours or at least until it lifts. The biggest problem for the military will be flying helicopters, assault helicopters and anti-tank helicopters in this sandstorm. What is going on right now, as the press to Baghdad continues, U.S. forces are assembling for the first major ground assault on the Republican Guard Medina division which is near Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.
Now, these Republican Guard troops, of course, are a movable target. You can't use precision weapons because they're not a fixed target. You are to use Apache helicopters, other ground forces and that's very tough to do in this sandstorm. They're continuing to press ahead. It's unclear when exactly they will confront the Medina division.
ZAHN: Barbara Starr, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
