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American Morning
Crowds Try to Pull Down Saddam Statue in Kirkuk
Aired April 10, 2003 - 08:35 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 are going to go back to Baghdad now and our own Martin Savidge, who made the run to the Iraqi capital with the U.S. Marines yesterday, in fact, was with us live on the air as the Marines approached Baghdad University and came under fire.
Martin, I know you remain calm, but it was -- we were all very concerned about your welfare yesterday when you were making a report at a time that the vehicle you were traveling in was broken down on the street.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you, Paula. The good news is both -- all of us are safe and the vehicle is up and running again. So that is a positive thing at this particular point.
Let me tell you what's going on. We left the Marines this morning and now have moved into Baghdad outright. But before we left the Marines, we went on an interesting region under their control with some unusual tourist spots along the way, one of them being a presidential palace, one of Saddam Hussein's many palaces, this one located on the eastern side of the banks of the Tigris River, and what a palatial place it is, complete with manicured gardens and opulence throughout the entire inside.
However, one big exception, they've dropped a big bunker buster bomb right on top of it. That destroyed much of the interior on the lower floors, but the upper floors, though, still has very expensive furnishing, all sorts of luxuries you could possibly imagine. Anything I guess that you would want to put in a palace is there, much of it still very much intact. How long it's going to stay there. The building right now is being watched over by the Marines.
Then we moved on down the street. Right next door, who is his neighbor, well, former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. We went into his home as well. Again, and the Marines are searching these homes to see if they can find the whereabouts of any of the regime leaders at this particular point.
One thing interesting about Tariq Aziz, a lot of his furniture when we first got there was covered up with sheets and blankets, as if somebody was protecting it like they had gone on a long vacation and come back. That is hard to imagine at this particular point.
And the last thing we saw on the tour was, well, the trying to topple of another Saddam Hussein statue, a very big statue, dressed in a military uniform, right arm raised up in the air. First, they tried a tank to bring it down. Then they blew it up with C-4. Well, the statue didn't quite come down, but Saddam Hussein definitely has a new look -- Paula.
ZAHN: Martin, I know you had heard an awful lot about the opulence of these palaces before you got there. What was your reaction when you walked inside for the first time about the scale of it and the architectural detail?
SAVIDGE: Well, I think what strikes you most is, first of all, the architecture on the outside is quite phenomenal. These are extensive buildings that are almost like multiple buildings linked together. And then on the inside, of course, every modern convenience furniture, a lot of it Oriental in design, very expensive, lacquer furniture. There was a Baby Grand, a white Baby Grand Steinway Piano that's now collapsed on the floor because of the bombings, elevators in many of the buildings, huge grand staircases, lots of gold in the bathrooms and everywhere else.
And then the conveniences and items that they had was surprising because having spent so much time in the countryside and on the outskirts of Baghdad, seeing how the regular Iraqi people have been living with next to nothing, and yet, these palaces were lacking nothing at all. They had everything and more -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, Martin, finally, for people who weren't with us yesterday when you were reporting live from almost literally on the campus of Baghdad University, just quickly describe what happened and what is the status of the university today.
SAVIDGE: Well, what happened was, is the Marine convoy came pulling into Baghdad, pushing up around the east. We had been met by the same crowds, the joyous welcome and a lot of smiling, happy faces, pulled down another street that right went right beside Baghdad University, and suddenly RPG missiles began flying, heavy machine gunfire coming from a number of buildings there on the campus, and the Marines began responding not in kind. They multiplied it by a factor of 10. So we were caught in the middle of this firefight, because we had decided to run along with the lead element to see the jubilation. We didn't expect a battle, and it was quite a heavy fight.
We at one point were dragged all over the streets of Baghdad. We were under tow at the time, and then dragged literally through the wall on the campus as lead vehicles punched in to deliver a Marine infantry on the ground, and they fought their way to the buildings. They obviously were very successful, because that same campus became our -- or I should say the Marines' headquarters, where we bedded down last night. It was only until daylight came up that they were going to investigate who exactly they killed, how many and who the opposing force may have been. By the time we left, they still hadn't confirmed what it was -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, well, Martin Savidge, glad to see you with your feet firmly planted on the ground there. Thanks so much. We'll be getting back to you a little bit 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 April 10, 2003 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to go back to Baghdad now and our own Martin Savidge, who made the run to the Iraqi capital with the U.S. Marines yesterday, in fact, was with us live on the air as the Marines approached Baghdad University and came under fire.
Martin, I know you remain calm, but it was -- we were all very concerned about your welfare yesterday when you were making a report at a time that the vehicle you were traveling in was broken down on the street.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you, Paula. The good news is both -- all of us are safe and the vehicle is up and running again. So that is a positive thing at this particular point.
Let me tell you what's going on. We left the Marines this morning and now have moved into Baghdad outright. But before we left the Marines, we went on an interesting region under their control with some unusual tourist spots along the way, one of them being a presidential palace, one of Saddam Hussein's many palaces, this one located on the eastern side of the banks of the Tigris River, and what a palatial place it is, complete with manicured gardens and opulence throughout the entire inside.
However, one big exception, they've dropped a big bunker buster bomb right on top of it. That destroyed much of the interior on the lower floors, but the upper floors, though, still has very expensive furnishing, all sorts of luxuries you could possibly imagine. Anything I guess that you would want to put in a palace is there, much of it still very much intact. How long it's going to stay there. The building right now is being watched over by the Marines.
Then we moved on down the street. Right next door, who is his neighbor, well, former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. We went into his home as well. Again, and the Marines are searching these homes to see if they can find the whereabouts of any of the regime leaders at this particular point.
One thing interesting about Tariq Aziz, a lot of his furniture when we first got there was covered up with sheets and blankets, as if somebody was protecting it like they had gone on a long vacation and come back. That is hard to imagine at this particular point.
And the last thing we saw on the tour was, well, the trying to topple of another Saddam Hussein statue, a very big statue, dressed in a military uniform, right arm raised up in the air. First, they tried a tank to bring it down. Then they blew it up with C-4. Well, the statue didn't quite come down, but Saddam Hussein definitely has a new look -- Paula.
ZAHN: Martin, I know you had heard an awful lot about the opulence of these palaces before you got there. What was your reaction when you walked inside for the first time about the scale of it and the architectural detail?
SAVIDGE: Well, I think what strikes you most is, first of all, the architecture on the outside is quite phenomenal. These are extensive buildings that are almost like multiple buildings linked together. And then on the inside, of course, every modern convenience furniture, a lot of it Oriental in design, very expensive, lacquer furniture. There was a Baby Grand, a white Baby Grand Steinway Piano that's now collapsed on the floor because of the bombings, elevators in many of the buildings, huge grand staircases, lots of gold in the bathrooms and everywhere else.
And then the conveniences and items that they had was surprising because having spent so much time in the countryside and on the outskirts of Baghdad, seeing how the regular Iraqi people have been living with next to nothing, and yet, these palaces were lacking nothing at all. They had everything and more -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, Martin, finally, for people who weren't with us yesterday when you were reporting live from almost literally on the campus of Baghdad University, just quickly describe what happened and what is the status of the university today.
SAVIDGE: Well, what happened was, is the Marine convoy came pulling into Baghdad, pushing up around the east. We had been met by the same crowds, the joyous welcome and a lot of smiling, happy faces, pulled down another street that right went right beside Baghdad University, and suddenly RPG missiles began flying, heavy machine gunfire coming from a number of buildings there on the campus, and the Marines began responding not in kind. They multiplied it by a factor of 10. So we were caught in the middle of this firefight, because we had decided to run along with the lead element to see the jubilation. We didn't expect a battle, and it was quite a heavy fight.
We at one point were dragged all over the streets of Baghdad. We were under tow at the time, and then dragged literally through the wall on the campus as lead vehicles punched in to deliver a Marine infantry on the ground, and they fought their way to the buildings. They obviously were very successful, because that same campus became our -- or I should say the Marines' headquarters, where we bedded down last night. It was only until daylight came up that they were going to investigate who exactly they killed, how many and who the opposing force may have been. By the time we left, they still hadn't confirmed what it was -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, well, Martin Savidge, glad to see you with your feet firmly planted on the ground there. Thanks so much. We'll be getting back to you a little bit 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
