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American Morning

Liberia in Crisis

Aired July 21, 2003 - 09:04   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: I want to get to Monrovia, Liberia. Jeff Koinange now with us to talk about not only U.S. Marines arriving there to help protect the U.S. embassy, but also the fact over the weekend, if you watched the news, rebels moving right to the heart of the capital city of Monrovia.
Jeff, what do you have? What's the situation there now?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you right now, the last 10 minutes (INAUDIBLE) all around the U.S. embassy here in Monrovia. Some of them falling beyond the perimeter, a wall into the sea. You can actually see the mortar falling into the sea. We are now in a secure building as we speak. About three dozen journalists and aide workers told to move out of the general area (INAUDIBLE) because of our safety. These mortars have been raining down. We hear about 100 yards from the U.S. embassy, one motor landed near a group of people, unconfirmed reports say five people are dead right now.

And of course, the gunfight continues to echo throughout the streets of Monrovia. The situation is extremely fluid. We are now in a bunker until the mortar fire eases, and that's all we can tell you about the latest right now.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Jeff, if you look back over the past three days, is this the worst you've seen it?

KOINANGE: Mortar fire was maybe about a couple hundred yards. This time, maybe 50, 60 meters into the sea, and you could hear it (INAUDIBLE) was unbelievable. Very loud (INAUDIBLE) now stepped up a bit. So yes, it's becoming more and more intense by the moment.

HEMMER: All right, Jeff, stay safe there. Jeff Koinange taking cover in Monrovia, this after a weekend where the violence continued in that country. Much more when we get it.

Jeff, thanks for the update there.

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 July 21, 2003 - 09:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get to Monrovia, Liberia. Jeff Koinange now with us to talk about not only U.S. Marines arriving there to help protect the U.S. embassy, but also the fact over the weekend, if you watched the news, rebels moving right to the heart of the capital city of Monrovia.
Jeff, what do you have? What's the situation there now?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you right now, the last 10 minutes (INAUDIBLE) all around the U.S. embassy here in Monrovia. Some of them falling beyond the perimeter, a wall into the sea. You can actually see the mortar falling into the sea. We are now in a secure building as we speak. About three dozen journalists and aide workers told to move out of the general area (INAUDIBLE) because of our safety. These mortars have been raining down. We hear about 100 yards from the U.S. embassy, one motor landed near a group of people, unconfirmed reports say five people are dead right now.

And of course, the gunfight continues to echo throughout the streets of Monrovia. The situation is extremely fluid. We are now in a bunker until the mortar fire eases, and that's all we can tell you about the latest right now.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Jeff, if you look back over the past three days, is this the worst you've seen it?

KOINANGE: Mortar fire was maybe about a couple hundred yards. This time, maybe 50, 60 meters into the sea, and you could hear it (INAUDIBLE) was unbelievable. Very loud (INAUDIBLE) now stepped up a bit. So yes, it's becoming more and more intense by the moment.

HEMMER: All right, Jeff, stay safe there. Jeff Koinange taking cover in Monrovia, this after a weekend where the violence continued in that country. Much more when we get it.

Jeff, thanks for the update there.

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