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CNN Saturday Morning News

Baghdad, City in Chaos

Aired April 12, 2003 - 04:02   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Parts of Baghdad are still in chaos since the Iraqi government fell, and there is still looting and lawlessness.
We go now to CNN's Martin Savidge in the Iraqi capital for the latest on the situation there.

Good afternoon to you -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon. Good morning to you, Carol. And it is another day here in Baghdad.

There are some baby footsteps being taken to try to return this capital to a sense of normalcy. We went out for a drive this morning and spent several hours out on the streets. Still gunfire ringing out here, we had shots fired at us as we were driving around. And you do hear explosions, especially in the nighttime, a couple of huge explosions rocked the city. The military tells us actually it was part of their demolition efforts to get rid of some -- of all of the ammunition that is lying around.

Looting still a problem, not as bad as it has been, and, in fact, the U.S. Marines in this part of the city -- they control the eastern side -- are trying to step up their patrols, trying to increase their presence on the streets. They are sending out more armored personnel carriers, spreading themselves around, and also now sending out foot patrols, trying to reassure the public, give that image at least, that security is coming about.

But you also find the looters on the street, and some of them are armed. It is unclear at this particular point if they are shop owners trying to protect what they have, or if they are looters that want to make sure they can get whatever they can.

Another positive sign that we saw: some stores beginning to open, especially around the immediate area of the Palestine Hotel. The basic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moot -- that is milk, bread and meat that is on sale out on the streets. There are some long lines at some of these stores. The farther you get away from the City Center, the fewer stores that you see open. But still, that is a positive sign.

Lots of people on the streets again. Many will come up to you begging for food, begging for water, begging for money, and others begging to use the telephone. A lot of them have been out of touch with relatives that live in other parts of the world, including the United States, and are dying to try to tell them that they are alive and well, and obviously have survived the regime of Saddam Hussein. Another interesting tidbit today. The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, Charlie Company, out on patrol, when a man comes up and surrenders to them. Who was he? It turns out he was Saddam Hussein's plastic surgeon. He says that he did plastic surgery on Saddam Hussein and all of his family members, and claims that he knows now where they have all gone off to. He has quickly been taken to headquarters. He is cooperating. Intelligence officers hoping to learn some valuable information about where the regime may have dissolved off to.

Carol -- an interesting day...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Oh, my, that's an intriguing tidbit you just gave us. So do they believe he really is the plastic surgeon to Saddam Hussein's family? I mean, is this for real, or we just don't know yet?

SAVIDGE: Well, they're still trying to figure that out, but they do believe since the man turned himself in and seemed to have a lot of valuable information right away, they do think that he perhaps is legitimate. Of course, that's why you pass him off to the intelligence officers. And otherwise, why would he turn himself into the military if he didn't believe he had some valuable information? And he seemed quite eager to turn it over -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Intriguing. Martin Savidge, thanks very much. We'll get back to you throughout the morning. Thank you.

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 12, 2003 - 04:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Parts of Baghdad are still in chaos since the Iraqi government fell, and there is still looting and lawlessness.
We go now to CNN's Martin Savidge in the Iraqi capital for the latest on the situation there.

Good afternoon to you -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon. Good morning to you, Carol. And it is another day here in Baghdad.

There are some baby footsteps being taken to try to return this capital to a sense of normalcy. We went out for a drive this morning and spent several hours out on the streets. Still gunfire ringing out here, we had shots fired at us as we were driving around. And you do hear explosions, especially in the nighttime, a couple of huge explosions rocked the city. The military tells us actually it was part of their demolition efforts to get rid of some -- of all of the ammunition that is lying around.

Looting still a problem, not as bad as it has been, and, in fact, the U.S. Marines in this part of the city -- they control the eastern side -- are trying to step up their patrols, trying to increase their presence on the streets. They are sending out more armored personnel carriers, spreading themselves around, and also now sending out foot patrols, trying to reassure the public, give that image at least, that security is coming about.

But you also find the looters on the street, and some of them are armed. It is unclear at this particular point if they are shop owners trying to protect what they have, or if they are looters that want to make sure they can get whatever they can.

Another positive sign that we saw: some stores beginning to open, especially around the immediate area of the Palestine Hotel. The basic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moot -- that is milk, bread and meat that is on sale out on the streets. There are some long lines at some of these stores. The farther you get away from the City Center, the fewer stores that you see open. But still, that is a positive sign.

Lots of people on the streets again. Many will come up to you begging for food, begging for water, begging for money, and others begging to use the telephone. A lot of them have been out of touch with relatives that live in other parts of the world, including the United States, and are dying to try to tell them that they are alive and well, and obviously have survived the regime of Saddam Hussein. Another interesting tidbit today. The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, Charlie Company, out on patrol, when a man comes up and surrenders to them. Who was he? It turns out he was Saddam Hussein's plastic surgeon. He says that he did plastic surgery on Saddam Hussein and all of his family members, and claims that he knows now where they have all gone off to. He has quickly been taken to headquarters. He is cooperating. Intelligence officers hoping to learn some valuable information about where the regime may have dissolved off to.

Carol -- an interesting day...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Oh, my, that's an intriguing tidbit you just gave us. So do they believe he really is the plastic surgeon to Saddam Hussein's family? I mean, is this for real, or we just don't know yet?

SAVIDGE: Well, they're still trying to figure that out, but they do believe since the man turned himself in and seemed to have a lot of valuable information right away, they do think that he perhaps is legitimate. Of course, that's why you pass him off to the intelligence officers. And otherwise, why would he turn himself into the military if he didn't believe he had some valuable information? And he seemed quite eager to turn it over -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Intriguing. Martin Savidge, thanks very much. We'll get back to you throughout the morning. Thank you.

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