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American Morning

Navy Jets Slam Karbala

Aired March 31, 2003 - 08:10   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Time now to check in with Walt Rodgers. He is embedded with the 3-7 Cav in central Iraq. He joins us now. Walter, what is the latest from there?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. A short while ago, two F-18 Hornets, Navy carrier jets, slammed into Karbala. They dropped more than a few bombs, they knocked out an artillery position, an artillery battery which had been harassing U.S. troops.

The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy have controlled the air throughout this conflict, and for the past almost 18 hours, day and night, we have heard the air force jets flying above us, the Navy jets flying above us. That has had the basic effect of keeping the Iraqis gone to ground, as it were. That is to say, they hear those jets overhead and they don't stick their heads up at all because they know that when they do, the Navy jets and the Air Force are going to pound them.

Having said that, there was a very serious fight south of us -- or actually east of us, 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division was -- the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division had to fight its way across the Euphrates River again, fighting -- going across the Euphrates River, it encountered some opposition. It has now established a very firm beachhead on the north side of the Euphrates, and that being the case, again, the Iraqis find themselves very much on the defensive. We have a situation here where the Iraqis are hiding in cities, seeking sanctuary there, embedding their artillery and their surface to air missiles inside the cities. The allied forces, particularly the American Army, is trying to lure them out of the cities. That is not happening, because the Iraqis know that once they come out, the air cover overhead is going to pound them -- Paula.

ZAHN: Walt, what are you able to share with us about the concerns of the 3-7 Cav in the days to come?

OK, I think we've lost Walt Rodgers. We'll try to get back with him a little later on this morning.

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 31, 2003 - 08:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Time now to check in with Walt Rodgers. He is embedded with the 3-7 Cav in central Iraq. He joins us now. Walter, what is the latest from there?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. A short while ago, two F-18 Hornets, Navy carrier jets, slammed into Karbala. They dropped more than a few bombs, they knocked out an artillery position, an artillery battery which had been harassing U.S. troops.

The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy have controlled the air throughout this conflict, and for the past almost 18 hours, day and night, we have heard the air force jets flying above us, the Navy jets flying above us. That has had the basic effect of keeping the Iraqis gone to ground, as it were. That is to say, they hear those jets overhead and they don't stick their heads up at all because they know that when they do, the Navy jets and the Air Force are going to pound them.

Having said that, there was a very serious fight south of us -- or actually east of us, 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division was -- the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division had to fight its way across the Euphrates River again, fighting -- going across the Euphrates River, it encountered some opposition. It has now established a very firm beachhead on the north side of the Euphrates, and that being the case, again, the Iraqis find themselves very much on the defensive. We have a situation here where the Iraqis are hiding in cities, seeking sanctuary there, embedding their artillery and their surface to air missiles inside the cities. The allied forces, particularly the American Army, is trying to lure them out of the cities. That is not happening, because the Iraqis know that once they come out, the air cover overhead is going to pound them -- Paula.

ZAHN: Walt, what are you able to share with us about the concerns of the 3-7 Cav in the days to come?

OK, I think we've lost Walt Rodgers. We'll try to get back with him a little later on this morning.

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