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American Morning
Talk with Embedded Reporter in French Press Agency
Aired April 08, 2003 - 08:59 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: We're going to take you live to Baghdad now, where Marines are taking up a position all over the city.
Joining us on the phone now, Luke Hunt with the French Press Agency. He is with the 1st Marines embedded there, and he is going to let us know what he is seeing and he is being told.
Luke, what's the latest from there?
LUKE HUNT, FRENCH PRESS AGENCY: Well, at the moment, as you said, the Marines are teaching (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all the way around Baghdad. We're in the eastern suburbs, at the moment, vis a vis Dhala Rima (ph).
Coming in was quite a site. There's a lot of burned house suburbs completely gutted from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fighting, gutted tanks, civilian vehicles, trucks, buses. Name your vehicle, and it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) been burned out along the way.
ZAHN: What else have you seen?
HUNT: Several of the bridges were blown, but the military was able to cut across that by installing pontoons. They bulldozed across the river with dirt, and with the main bridges are able to cross by laying down steel plates over the area that was blown.
ZAHN: Luke, have you been met with any resistance as you moved with the 1st Marines?
HUNT: We've had a lot of resistance along the way. Nasiriyah, I think it's been well reported now, that was a hell of a fight between both sides. There has been a lot of artillery shelling at night. One instance we were shelled with eight rounds hitting within 300 meters of the camp. Now each shell was a kill circle of about 100 meters. In between, there's been a lot of people taken in as POWs, a lot of scattered firefights all of the way up and down Route 7, and then across the center, up to the Tigris River and into Baghdad.
ZAHN: And, Luke, finally, even though the Pentagon is saying it believes the Republican Guard is all but crushed, there is still concern about some of these Republican Guards operating in more independent units, more like snipers. What's the level of concern there about that?
HUNT: I think there is a high level of concern there about that. A lot of the Marines are extremely concerned that while the end of the invasion might be over, there is going to be a low level civil war fought with these people for quite some time yet. And rounding up those pockets of resistance will prove quite difficult, especially in Baghdad, where the areas are built up, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) are massive, and it's very easy to hide out.
ZAHN: That was Luke Hunt with the AFP, the French Press Agency, traveling with the 1st Marines, bringing us up to date with what he's seen recently in Baghdad.
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 April 8, 2003 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take you live to Baghdad now, where Marines are taking up a position all over the city.
Joining us on the phone now, Luke Hunt with the French Press Agency. He is with the 1st Marines embedded there, and he is going to let us know what he is seeing and he is being told.
Luke, what's the latest from there?
LUKE HUNT, FRENCH PRESS AGENCY: Well, at the moment, as you said, the Marines are teaching (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all the way around Baghdad. We're in the eastern suburbs, at the moment, vis a vis Dhala Rima (ph).
Coming in was quite a site. There's a lot of burned house suburbs completely gutted from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fighting, gutted tanks, civilian vehicles, trucks, buses. Name your vehicle, and it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) been burned out along the way.
ZAHN: What else have you seen?
HUNT: Several of the bridges were blown, but the military was able to cut across that by installing pontoons. They bulldozed across the river with dirt, and with the main bridges are able to cross by laying down steel plates over the area that was blown.
ZAHN: Luke, have you been met with any resistance as you moved with the 1st Marines?
HUNT: We've had a lot of resistance along the way. Nasiriyah, I think it's been well reported now, that was a hell of a fight between both sides. There has been a lot of artillery shelling at night. One instance we were shelled with eight rounds hitting within 300 meters of the camp. Now each shell was a kill circle of about 100 meters. In between, there's been a lot of people taken in as POWs, a lot of scattered firefights all of the way up and down Route 7, and then across the center, up to the Tigris River and into Baghdad.
ZAHN: And, Luke, finally, even though the Pentagon is saying it believes the Republican Guard is all but crushed, there is still concern about some of these Republican Guards operating in more independent units, more like snipers. What's the level of concern there about that?
HUNT: I think there is a high level of concern there about that. A lot of the Marines are extremely concerned that while the end of the invasion might be over, there is going to be a low level civil war fought with these people for quite some time yet. And rounding up those pockets of resistance will prove quite difficult, especially in Baghdad, where the areas are built up, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) are massive, and it's very easy to hide out.
ZAHN: That was Luke Hunt with the AFP, the French Press Agency, traveling with the 1st Marines, bringing us up to date with what he's seen recently in Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
