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CNN Saturday Morning News

Iraq Hot On the Internet

Aired December 07, 2002 - 07:45   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. Well, the U.N. inspections in Iraq have been a hot topic online this week -- all things Iraq have been, in fact.
Let's go to AOL's online expert, Regina Lewis who is -- she's our adviser from New York on what's going on online. Thanks for being with us this morning, Regina.

REGINA LEWIS, AOL'S ONLINE ADVISER: Thanks, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All things Iraq have been very hot on the Internet this week, haven't they?

LEWIS: Absolutely. The U.N. inspections are the lead story on all major news web sites including cnn.com. A lot of people keeping track of the breaking news there. Of course there's also a lot of ancillary discussion in chat rooms and message boards with people weighing in all over the map saying things like I think they have weapons but we're never going to find them, why don't we just start the war. And you see thousands and thousands of those.

As this story unfolds, keep in mind that what you see in chat rooms and message boards is not sourced the way it is on major news sites, so there does tend to be speculation. You'll read things like I know someone in Iraq who's seen the document. So bear in mind again, it's not source material.

CALLAWAY: Also keeping track on some of the web sites, people are looking into -- I'm sure the U.N. web site has been -- hit very much this week.

LEWIS: Yes, un.org is a really neat site, it's in multiple languages and they actually have a twelve noon briefing out of the U.N. headquarters in New York and you can get a real play-by-play there of what's happening. It's just black and white, just the facts, but it can give you a sense of the scope of activity that's going on. Also, and this is a nice thing to see -- when something like this is maybe imminent danger for people serving the military community has very strong online networks. They keep in touch with each other the spouses of people serving in the military. And of course that e-mail from a loved one who's serving is -- is more valuable than ever right now.

CALLAWAY: You know, Regina, it's been news the last 24 hours about this so-called web site that al Qaeda was using to communicate with its members -- allegedly using -- I think it was something obscure like bikeforum.com or something like that -- it was immediately shut down after the attention was brought to it. Is there a lot of interest in that -- meaning, are there a lot of searches for al Qaeda, people looking for these type of web sites?

LEWIS: There are. The one thing I would say about that is its also trackable so people who are looking, if they're really evildoers they do so at their own risk and I think again if you've got authority you can take down sites like that and that's how it works.

CALLAWAY: Oh, I didn't mean evildoers; I just meant those who were curious. A lot of curious...

LEWIS: Oh, yes, no, but I'm saying that the people who were using that site if they were doing it with ill intentions, that's why the sites get pulled or people curious to learn more about al Qaeda, and the Middle East in general -- absolutely and those -- those things have been spiking for over a year now.

CALLAWAY: All right, Regina, thank you very much. Regina Lewis with AOL.

LEWIS: Thanks Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I was hoping you'd ask another question.

CALLAWAY: Oh, I'm sorry.

O'BRIEN: Because I'm busy trying to get some e-mail. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) if you could take this -- I haven't got it formatted right, but we've got a couple of e-mail questions which we're going to try to include here.

CALLAWAY: I'm sorry, Miles, I thought they told me to get out quickly you had something you had...

O'BRIEN: You just never know when you need to stall a little here on CNN.

CALLAWAY: I love live television.

O'BRIEN: Take a look at this, Chris; I'm sorry I haven't got it ready for you. Chris, take it as is. I apologize. Keith Cooper in New Orleans says this: "Why are the inspectors not looking at the Republican Guard bases? Surely if anyone in Iraq has control over these weapons it will be Saddam's most trusted divisions?"

Question we'll take to our experts in a moment.

Here's a question. But this is one that is of particular interest to me. "This morning I was taken aback by the role Miles O'Brien played on camera."

I was playing Miles O'Brien, actually. Anyway. "Mr. O'Brien clearly shows a bias. Instead of asking factual questions or even soliciting expert opinion, he frames his questions in the negative. He interviewed a former U.N. weapons inspector and clearly asks, 'Isn't this a sham?' Similarly framed questions were asked of a colleague reporting from Baghdad. Sincerely, F.L. Hagedorn."

Mr. Hagedorn, those such questions are legitimate questions and questions that are on, perhaps, a lot of people's minds this morning.

CALLAWAY: That's right. All right.

O'BRIEN: So there you have it.

CALLAWAY: And with that, we're going to take a break. More in a moment.

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 December 7, 2002 - 07:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. Well, the U.N. inspections in Iraq have been a hot topic online this week -- all things Iraq have been, in fact.
Let's go to AOL's online expert, Regina Lewis who is -- she's our adviser from New York on what's going on online. Thanks for being with us this morning, Regina.

REGINA LEWIS, AOL'S ONLINE ADVISER: Thanks, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All things Iraq have been very hot on the Internet this week, haven't they?

LEWIS: Absolutely. The U.N. inspections are the lead story on all major news web sites including cnn.com. A lot of people keeping track of the breaking news there. Of course there's also a lot of ancillary discussion in chat rooms and message boards with people weighing in all over the map saying things like I think they have weapons but we're never going to find them, why don't we just start the war. And you see thousands and thousands of those.

As this story unfolds, keep in mind that what you see in chat rooms and message boards is not sourced the way it is on major news sites, so there does tend to be speculation. You'll read things like I know someone in Iraq who's seen the document. So bear in mind again, it's not source material.

CALLAWAY: Also keeping track on some of the web sites, people are looking into -- I'm sure the U.N. web site has been -- hit very much this week.

LEWIS: Yes, un.org is a really neat site, it's in multiple languages and they actually have a twelve noon briefing out of the U.N. headquarters in New York and you can get a real play-by-play there of what's happening. It's just black and white, just the facts, but it can give you a sense of the scope of activity that's going on. Also, and this is a nice thing to see -- when something like this is maybe imminent danger for people serving the military community has very strong online networks. They keep in touch with each other the spouses of people serving in the military. And of course that e-mail from a loved one who's serving is -- is more valuable than ever right now.

CALLAWAY: You know, Regina, it's been news the last 24 hours about this so-called web site that al Qaeda was using to communicate with its members -- allegedly using -- I think it was something obscure like bikeforum.com or something like that -- it was immediately shut down after the attention was brought to it. Is there a lot of interest in that -- meaning, are there a lot of searches for al Qaeda, people looking for these type of web sites?

LEWIS: There are. The one thing I would say about that is its also trackable so people who are looking, if they're really evildoers they do so at their own risk and I think again if you've got authority you can take down sites like that and that's how it works.

CALLAWAY: Oh, I didn't mean evildoers; I just meant those who were curious. A lot of curious...

LEWIS: Oh, yes, no, but I'm saying that the people who were using that site if they were doing it with ill intentions, that's why the sites get pulled or people curious to learn more about al Qaeda, and the Middle East in general -- absolutely and those -- those things have been spiking for over a year now.

CALLAWAY: All right, Regina, thank you very much. Regina Lewis with AOL.

LEWIS: Thanks Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I was hoping you'd ask another question.

CALLAWAY: Oh, I'm sorry.

O'BRIEN: Because I'm busy trying to get some e-mail. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) if you could take this -- I haven't got it formatted right, but we've got a couple of e-mail questions which we're going to try to include here.

CALLAWAY: I'm sorry, Miles, I thought they told me to get out quickly you had something you had...

O'BRIEN: You just never know when you need to stall a little here on CNN.

CALLAWAY: I love live television.

O'BRIEN: Take a look at this, Chris; I'm sorry I haven't got it ready for you. Chris, take it as is. I apologize. Keith Cooper in New Orleans says this: "Why are the inspectors not looking at the Republican Guard bases? Surely if anyone in Iraq has control over these weapons it will be Saddam's most trusted divisions?"

Question we'll take to our experts in a moment.

Here's a question. But this is one that is of particular interest to me. "This morning I was taken aback by the role Miles O'Brien played on camera."

I was playing Miles O'Brien, actually. Anyway. "Mr. O'Brien clearly shows a bias. Instead of asking factual questions or even soliciting expert opinion, he frames his questions in the negative. He interviewed a former U.N. weapons inspector and clearly asks, 'Isn't this a sham?' Similarly framed questions were asked of a colleague reporting from Baghdad. Sincerely, F.L. Hagedorn."

Mr. Hagedorn, those such questions are legitimate questions and questions that are on, perhaps, a lot of people's minds this morning.

CALLAWAY: That's right. All right.

O'BRIEN: So there you have it.

CALLAWAY: And with that, we're going to take a break. More in a moment.

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