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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview with former Hostage Terry Anderson
Aired April 17, 2004 - 09:00 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Renay San Miguel.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway. And if you're just waking up on the West Coast, it is 6:00 a.m. out there. Thanks to all of you for starting your day with us.
Here's what he have coming up for you.
An American soldier is the latest pawn of Iraqi insurgents in their battle against the coalition. We'll get the latest on that situation as other developments from Iraq come up.
(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)
SAN MIGUEL: This is -- you've been listening to the CPA's Dan Senor and Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, gamely returning to the podium there at the briefing room in Baghdad following giving everybody in the room there a scare after he appeared to be very close to passing out into his microphone just about 10 minutes ago. We will talk more about that in a second.
But first, just a quick wrap-up. A lot of the questions focusing on Fallujah and the standoff there. Dan Senor was talking about being very hopeful that the situation in Fallujah can be resolved, but the foreign terrorists have to leave.
Now we want to go to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon to talk more about what happened there with Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, very difficult to say, but a real heart-stopping moment for everybody watching the briefing, Renay. General Kimmitt apparently initially taken ill, and here, unfortunately, goodness, it looks like he is about to pass out. He does not loose consciousness, apparently. Dan Senor reaching to assist him.
General Kimmitt had already left the podium once, not feeling well, returned, and then clearly ill. But General Kimmitt, many of the journalists here in Washington, myself included, including those in Baghdad, know him well.
He is escorted off the podium. This is one of the toughest guys in the U.S. military. He is -- he works very, very long hours during the week. I can tell you that. His phone literally rings around the clock, if not reporters calling him as one of the chief spokesmen, phone calls all the time from the Pentagon.
Not sure what exactly happened to him here, but then he returned to the podium again. General Kimmitt, I suspect, is going to get a full medical checkup today, whether he wants one or not, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: I imagine. And we did have some tape of -- there you see once again him just kind of leaning into the podium...
STARR: Indeed, this...
SAN MIGUEL: ... and he looked -- I mean, he was looking very shaky and ashen and pale, and it looked like right before that happened, Barbara, you could hear him whispering to Dan Senor, you know, Make this the last question, or something along those lines. You could tell that he was feeling like...
STARR: In...
SAN MIGUEL: ... he was maybe about to pass out.
STARR: Indeed, and that is really quite surprising. General Kimmitt is well known, as I said, to many of us. This is a guy who is always full of energy, always working, always on the job. He really has a great deal of intellectual passion for what he is doing with the coalition. He is very, very devoted to his work. He is one of the generals who has a great deal of experience in this area. This is a guy who is always on the job, 24/7.
We just simply don't know what overcame him, whether he was having, you know, some sort of minor illness but decided to power through, as it were, and go on with the briefing, or, unfortunately, if it is something else. But what I can tell you is, I do believe, as I said, General Kimmitt is probably about handed over, escorted to the medic's office and about to get a full checkup.
SAN MIGUEL: No doubt about that. One can just imagine his workload, Barbara, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), as you have talked about. But he did come back and finish it up, took a few more questions, and acted to me as if, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I mean, he was coherent and clear and as if nothing had happened. But indeed, we will be getting more information from the CPA about that.
Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon, thank you for the information. We do appreciate it.
CALLAWAY: We want to tell you about a breaking story that CNN is following this morning. A blast has occurred, apparently a suicide bombing, wounding four people at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza. As you know, Gaza is the area where thousands of Palestinian workers pass through every day for their jobs inside of Israel.
This explosion, thought to be that from a suicide bomber, has left at least four people wounded. One person is apparently in critical condition. CNN is following the story. We will bring you all the details when we're able get them. But once again, a blast has occurred, apparently a suicide bombing at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza, four people injured, one apparently critical.
We have much more ahead coming up this hour, as if this hour has not been busy enough.
SAN MIGUEL: Exactly.
CALLAWAY: We'll of course have more on what we can find out about the brigadier general. Been a stressful time for him...
SAN MIGUEL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CALLAWAY: ... the last 24 hours.
And also, we're going to find out more about the U.S. soldier who was apparently taken hostage in Iraq. We're going to go to his home town for a live report from a reporter there, telling us what the reaction there in Ohio is.
SAN MIGUEL: And we're going to hear from one man who knows all too well the terror of being held captive himself. We'll get some insight from former hostage Terry Anderson about the hostages in Iraq. That's coming up right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CALLAWAY: Yellow ribbons and flags dot neighborhoods in the home town of the American soldier who's been kidnapped in Iraq. Residents in Batavia, Ohio, say that they are praying and waiting for the safe return of Private First Class Matt Maupin.
And CNN's Chris Lawrence is joining us now from that town with reaction. Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Catherine, it's been a very tough morning here in the area where Matt Maupin grew up and where hundreds of ribbons and flags are still posted in order to support him.
His friends and family have not heard or seen anything lately since that videotape aired Friday, and many say the hardest part is just the wondering if he's OK.
Now, last night, hundreds of people from around suburban Cincinnati gathered right here in order to rally in support of Matt Maupin and his family as well. Most of his friends there wore yellow ribbons or small pictures of Matt Maupin in order to show their support for the family.
Even though his immediate family did not attend, a close friend read a statement last night, basically telling everyone, have faith in Matt.
Now, just a few minutes ago, we spoke with another close friend of the family who says even though everyone is incredibly happy to hear that he's alive, they're horrified to see him held captive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIA SOUP, 4THETROOPS: It is devastating to know that this kid is stuck in that situation. But he's trained and he's strong and he's been -- he's the best. I mean, American soldiers are the best in world, and we have to believe that. We believe in him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: We've also learned that Matt Maupin's mother is holding up as well as can be expected. She got a big boost by having her youngest son come home. He is a U.S. Marine who was stationed in Florida, but he has been granted leave from his unit in order to come home to be with his mother at this time.
And we've also learned that U.S. Army counselors have been with the family ever since Matt Maupin disappeared a week ago, Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Chris, of course, home town and his family members know him better than anyone. What are they saying about his condition on the tape?
LAWRENCE: Well, they say -- they're very encouraged, actually. They said even though the men are armed behind him and standing behind him armed with guns, they did not directly threaten him. And what they looked at Matt Maupin on the tape, he looked frightened, he looked down a couple of times, but he did not appear to be roughed up or in bad physical condition. They are very encouraged by that.
CALLAWAY: I know, they just want him home. All right, Chris Lawrence, thank you very much.
Renay?
SAN MIGUEL: Former AP Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson knows what is like to be held captive. Anderson was taken hostage by Shi'ite militants in Lebanon nearly 20 years ago and held for nearly seven years. We talked with Terry about the Iraqi hostage situation.
When you first heard through the media that hostages were being taken in Iraq, civilian and now military personnel, what were your first thoughts?
TERRY ANDERSON, FORMER HOSTAGE (on phone): Well, I wasn't particularly surprised. I don't want to sound like I have the benefit of hindsight. But the conditions in Iraq are very similar to the conditions in Lebanon in the 1980s. There's no central government. It's total chaos. There's no army, there's no police force. And there are large numbers of armed radical men running around and women running around without any control.
Under those circumstances, it was almost inevitable that sooner or later some of them would try to take hostages.
SAN MIGUEL: And you mentioned the similarities there. I would like you to get to comment on what a French journalists and some Czechoslovakians who had been taken hostage and were released recently, what they are saying. And it appears that several groups, including former Saddam followers, Saddam loyalists, Islamic party members and followers of this Shi'ite cleric, all seem to be working together and passing the hostages from one group to another. Your thoughts on that tactic?
ANDERSON: Well, it seems to me apparent that there are a number of different groups doing the same thing, just reaching out and grabbing all the Westerners they can get. And whether or not there's any coordination among them is an open question. There doesn't seem to be any central direction, and there doesn't seem to be any coordination of demands.
Some of them are making ridiculous political demands, some of them are making military demands, so there isn't any one agenda going on here. There's a whole bunch of them.
Some seem to be very dangerous indeed. They murdered that Italian that killed some other people. Others are more reasonable. Hostages have been released over the last week or so, one by one, two by two.
So I don't think anybody's really in charge here. I think there is a whole bunch of small groups.
SAN MIGUEL: Which kind of leads to my next question. You were able to confront an official with Hezbollah, the Shi'a group in Lebanon responsible for your detention. And the official said that that time that the kidnappings were short-term actions to achieve short-term goals. Now this appears to be a new strategy with these groups in Iraq. Your thoughts on this strategic change?
ANDERSON: I don't think that they have any expectation of achieving the demands that they're putting forward, withdrawal of some countries' troops, the halt to the fighting. I think those are theater. Vicious theater, but theater.
I think probably the taking of hostages is more simply a way to strike at America and the coalition, to humiliate, to engender fear. And even, perhaps, a competition among the different groups there. Holding hostages somehow makes you look more powerful and more organized. I don't I think there is any rational plan behind it.
There can't be, because there isn't any way they can achieve their stated goals, their demands. We know that. There is no country involved there that's going to give in to any kidnapper and grant any of those demands, period.
SAN MIGUEL: You know, it's hard for us to imagine, for anyone to imagine, you know, except for those like you who have actually been in that situation, what those first hours and days following an abduction are like about when it's a kidnapping of this sort. What were those first hours and days like for you?
ANDERSON: Well, you can almost say, thank God for shock, because you are in shock, scared, of course, and you're totally frustrated and helpless. There is nothing you can do. You're just a piece of meat that somebody is going to use to bargain with. You're angry, of course at the humiliations and the bad treatment and the capture itself. You're sorry, sorry for your family, sorry you were dumb enough to get captured. There's always a certain amount of guilt, even though it's irrational, it's there anyway.
So you just -- you know, you just have to get through hour to hour.
SAN MIGUEL: And the importance of knowing, of believing that family, friends, and your government is working for your release.
ANDERSON: Sure. If the hostages have any access to news, and I don't know if it's true or not, we did sometimes, other times, for long periods, they wouldn't tell us anything. And they hear about efforts on their behalf, about support, it's helpful. Yes, of course it is.
SAN MIGUEL: You'll be watching, along with the rest of us, how this situation plays out. Terry Anderson used to work for the Associated Press and was held by Lebanese terrorists for seven years, nearly seven years. Thank you for your insight today. We do appreciate it.
And again, Terry Anderson was held from 1985 to 1991 by members of the Hezbollah group.
SAN MIGUEL: And what we can all use right now is some good homecomings. And CNN's Adaora Udoji is standing by with -- for us in New Jersey with a homecoming for some troops who served in Iraq.
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We're at Fort Dix in New Jersey, and they're planning a big homecoming celebration today for 160 National Guard troops who have just returned from Iraq. We'll have that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: In New Jersey, friends and family of troops serving in Iraq are surprised by a very special homecoming. CNN's Adaora Udoji joins us now live from New Jersey's Fort Dix with the details. Adaora?
UDOJI: Renay, indeed, this is one happy day for the folks here at Fort Dix. The 253rd Transportation Company has arrived. They are back. A tremendous amount of joy and relief, of course, this coming on the day when many newspapers in the area are showing the picture and the story, telling the story of Private First Class Maupin, who has been taken hostage in Iraq. Lots of thoughts and prayers going out to his family.
But the folks here at Fort Dix, 160 troops returning from Iraq after being there for a year. Incredibly, they were fortunate. Not one member of their unit seriously injured. And in two hours, they will see their family again for the first time in a year. They are planning a big celebration here. The governor, James McGreevey, will be here. As a matter of fact, he was also here to see them off when they went a year ago.
This group, their motto of the unit is, You Haul, You Call, and We Haul. They have been in Iraq carrying everything from beans to bullets as we've been talking about all week, or the Pentagon has been talking about all week. This is part is a rotation of 130,000 troops.
But again, the Pentagon saying this week that some of those troops scheduled to come home will not be coming home, their stay being extended. And one of those is a unit out of Wisconsin National Guard. The families there, very upset to find out that that unit will be -- their time in Iraq will be extended another four months. They are very upset, have been lobbying both President Bush and Congress to bring them back sooner.
Those family members being quoted as saying they support the war, but they feel that their family members are just mentally exhausted.
But here in Fort Dix, a very happy day, 160 troops, men and women, coming home to their families, where they will now begin a demobilization process for the next six or 10 days. They'll be on the base going through a transition, going through lots of transition-type reacquainting them with being back into the United States. And they will be here on the base but back to their families at home six to 10 days, although they will be seeing their families today, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Adaora Udoji, live from Fort Dix, New Jersey, with a happy homecoming there. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.
CALLAWAY: And there is still much more ahead on "CNN SATURDAY." Up next is "ON THE STORY," followed by "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" at 11. This week we'll look at two heroes facing down daunting odds, Christopher Reeve and Lance Armstrong. We'll have their stories. And at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time is "CNN LIVE SATURDAY," more from Iraq as well as the latest on the homecoming for troops at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as we just heard.
And we have run out of time.
SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. It's been a very...
CALLAWAY: That's it for me, I am Catherine Callaway.
SAN MIGUEL: I am Renay San Miguel. Thanks for staying with us for a very busy last hour from CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
CALLAWAY: Headlines are coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 17, 2004 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Renay San Miguel.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway. And if you're just waking up on the West Coast, it is 6:00 a.m. out there. Thanks to all of you for starting your day with us.
Here's what he have coming up for you.
An American soldier is the latest pawn of Iraqi insurgents in their battle against the coalition. We'll get the latest on that situation as other developments from Iraq come up.
(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)
SAN MIGUEL: This is -- you've been listening to the CPA's Dan Senor and Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, gamely returning to the podium there at the briefing room in Baghdad following giving everybody in the room there a scare after he appeared to be very close to passing out into his microphone just about 10 minutes ago. We will talk more about that in a second.
But first, just a quick wrap-up. A lot of the questions focusing on Fallujah and the standoff there. Dan Senor was talking about being very hopeful that the situation in Fallujah can be resolved, but the foreign terrorists have to leave.
Now we want to go to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon to talk more about what happened there with Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, very difficult to say, but a real heart-stopping moment for everybody watching the briefing, Renay. General Kimmitt apparently initially taken ill, and here, unfortunately, goodness, it looks like he is about to pass out. He does not loose consciousness, apparently. Dan Senor reaching to assist him.
General Kimmitt had already left the podium once, not feeling well, returned, and then clearly ill. But General Kimmitt, many of the journalists here in Washington, myself included, including those in Baghdad, know him well.
He is escorted off the podium. This is one of the toughest guys in the U.S. military. He is -- he works very, very long hours during the week. I can tell you that. His phone literally rings around the clock, if not reporters calling him as one of the chief spokesmen, phone calls all the time from the Pentagon.
Not sure what exactly happened to him here, but then he returned to the podium again. General Kimmitt, I suspect, is going to get a full medical checkup today, whether he wants one or not, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: I imagine. And we did have some tape of -- there you see once again him just kind of leaning into the podium...
STARR: Indeed, this...
SAN MIGUEL: ... and he looked -- I mean, he was looking very shaky and ashen and pale, and it looked like right before that happened, Barbara, you could hear him whispering to Dan Senor, you know, Make this the last question, or something along those lines. You could tell that he was feeling like...
STARR: In...
SAN MIGUEL: ... he was maybe about to pass out.
STARR: Indeed, and that is really quite surprising. General Kimmitt is well known, as I said, to many of us. This is a guy who is always full of energy, always working, always on the job. He really has a great deal of intellectual passion for what he is doing with the coalition. He is very, very devoted to his work. He is one of the generals who has a great deal of experience in this area. This is a guy who is always on the job, 24/7.
We just simply don't know what overcame him, whether he was having, you know, some sort of minor illness but decided to power through, as it were, and go on with the briefing, or, unfortunately, if it is something else. But what I can tell you is, I do believe, as I said, General Kimmitt is probably about handed over, escorted to the medic's office and about to get a full checkup.
SAN MIGUEL: No doubt about that. One can just imagine his workload, Barbara, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), as you have talked about. But he did come back and finish it up, took a few more questions, and acted to me as if, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I mean, he was coherent and clear and as if nothing had happened. But indeed, we will be getting more information from the CPA about that.
Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon, thank you for the information. We do appreciate it.
CALLAWAY: We want to tell you about a breaking story that CNN is following this morning. A blast has occurred, apparently a suicide bombing, wounding four people at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza. As you know, Gaza is the area where thousands of Palestinian workers pass through every day for their jobs inside of Israel.
This explosion, thought to be that from a suicide bomber, has left at least four people wounded. One person is apparently in critical condition. CNN is following the story. We will bring you all the details when we're able get them. But once again, a blast has occurred, apparently a suicide bombing at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza, four people injured, one apparently critical.
We have much more ahead coming up this hour, as if this hour has not been busy enough.
SAN MIGUEL: Exactly.
CALLAWAY: We'll of course have more on what we can find out about the brigadier general. Been a stressful time for him...
SAN MIGUEL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CALLAWAY: ... the last 24 hours.
And also, we're going to find out more about the U.S. soldier who was apparently taken hostage in Iraq. We're going to go to his home town for a live report from a reporter there, telling us what the reaction there in Ohio is.
SAN MIGUEL: And we're going to hear from one man who knows all too well the terror of being held captive himself. We'll get some insight from former hostage Terry Anderson about the hostages in Iraq. That's coming up right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CALLAWAY: Yellow ribbons and flags dot neighborhoods in the home town of the American soldier who's been kidnapped in Iraq. Residents in Batavia, Ohio, say that they are praying and waiting for the safe return of Private First Class Matt Maupin.
And CNN's Chris Lawrence is joining us now from that town with reaction. Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Catherine, it's been a very tough morning here in the area where Matt Maupin grew up and where hundreds of ribbons and flags are still posted in order to support him.
His friends and family have not heard or seen anything lately since that videotape aired Friday, and many say the hardest part is just the wondering if he's OK.
Now, last night, hundreds of people from around suburban Cincinnati gathered right here in order to rally in support of Matt Maupin and his family as well. Most of his friends there wore yellow ribbons or small pictures of Matt Maupin in order to show their support for the family.
Even though his immediate family did not attend, a close friend read a statement last night, basically telling everyone, have faith in Matt.
Now, just a few minutes ago, we spoke with another close friend of the family who says even though everyone is incredibly happy to hear that he's alive, they're horrified to see him held captive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIA SOUP, 4THETROOPS: It is devastating to know that this kid is stuck in that situation. But he's trained and he's strong and he's been -- he's the best. I mean, American soldiers are the best in world, and we have to believe that. We believe in him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: We've also learned that Matt Maupin's mother is holding up as well as can be expected. She got a big boost by having her youngest son come home. He is a U.S. Marine who was stationed in Florida, but he has been granted leave from his unit in order to come home to be with his mother at this time.
And we've also learned that U.S. Army counselors have been with the family ever since Matt Maupin disappeared a week ago, Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Chris, of course, home town and his family members know him better than anyone. What are they saying about his condition on the tape?
LAWRENCE: Well, they say -- they're very encouraged, actually. They said even though the men are armed behind him and standing behind him armed with guns, they did not directly threaten him. And what they looked at Matt Maupin on the tape, he looked frightened, he looked down a couple of times, but he did not appear to be roughed up or in bad physical condition. They are very encouraged by that.
CALLAWAY: I know, they just want him home. All right, Chris Lawrence, thank you very much.
Renay?
SAN MIGUEL: Former AP Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson knows what is like to be held captive. Anderson was taken hostage by Shi'ite militants in Lebanon nearly 20 years ago and held for nearly seven years. We talked with Terry about the Iraqi hostage situation.
When you first heard through the media that hostages were being taken in Iraq, civilian and now military personnel, what were your first thoughts?
TERRY ANDERSON, FORMER HOSTAGE (on phone): Well, I wasn't particularly surprised. I don't want to sound like I have the benefit of hindsight. But the conditions in Iraq are very similar to the conditions in Lebanon in the 1980s. There's no central government. It's total chaos. There's no army, there's no police force. And there are large numbers of armed radical men running around and women running around without any control.
Under those circumstances, it was almost inevitable that sooner or later some of them would try to take hostages.
SAN MIGUEL: And you mentioned the similarities there. I would like you to get to comment on what a French journalists and some Czechoslovakians who had been taken hostage and were released recently, what they are saying. And it appears that several groups, including former Saddam followers, Saddam loyalists, Islamic party members and followers of this Shi'ite cleric, all seem to be working together and passing the hostages from one group to another. Your thoughts on that tactic?
ANDERSON: Well, it seems to me apparent that there are a number of different groups doing the same thing, just reaching out and grabbing all the Westerners they can get. And whether or not there's any coordination among them is an open question. There doesn't seem to be any central direction, and there doesn't seem to be any coordination of demands.
Some of them are making ridiculous political demands, some of them are making military demands, so there isn't any one agenda going on here. There's a whole bunch of them.
Some seem to be very dangerous indeed. They murdered that Italian that killed some other people. Others are more reasonable. Hostages have been released over the last week or so, one by one, two by two.
So I don't think anybody's really in charge here. I think there is a whole bunch of small groups.
SAN MIGUEL: Which kind of leads to my next question. You were able to confront an official with Hezbollah, the Shi'a group in Lebanon responsible for your detention. And the official said that that time that the kidnappings were short-term actions to achieve short-term goals. Now this appears to be a new strategy with these groups in Iraq. Your thoughts on this strategic change?
ANDERSON: I don't think that they have any expectation of achieving the demands that they're putting forward, withdrawal of some countries' troops, the halt to the fighting. I think those are theater. Vicious theater, but theater.
I think probably the taking of hostages is more simply a way to strike at America and the coalition, to humiliate, to engender fear. And even, perhaps, a competition among the different groups there. Holding hostages somehow makes you look more powerful and more organized. I don't I think there is any rational plan behind it.
There can't be, because there isn't any way they can achieve their stated goals, their demands. We know that. There is no country involved there that's going to give in to any kidnapper and grant any of those demands, period.
SAN MIGUEL: You know, it's hard for us to imagine, for anyone to imagine, you know, except for those like you who have actually been in that situation, what those first hours and days following an abduction are like about when it's a kidnapping of this sort. What were those first hours and days like for you?
ANDERSON: Well, you can almost say, thank God for shock, because you are in shock, scared, of course, and you're totally frustrated and helpless. There is nothing you can do. You're just a piece of meat that somebody is going to use to bargain with. You're angry, of course at the humiliations and the bad treatment and the capture itself. You're sorry, sorry for your family, sorry you were dumb enough to get captured. There's always a certain amount of guilt, even though it's irrational, it's there anyway.
So you just -- you know, you just have to get through hour to hour.
SAN MIGUEL: And the importance of knowing, of believing that family, friends, and your government is working for your release.
ANDERSON: Sure. If the hostages have any access to news, and I don't know if it's true or not, we did sometimes, other times, for long periods, they wouldn't tell us anything. And they hear about efforts on their behalf, about support, it's helpful. Yes, of course it is.
SAN MIGUEL: You'll be watching, along with the rest of us, how this situation plays out. Terry Anderson used to work for the Associated Press and was held by Lebanese terrorists for seven years, nearly seven years. Thank you for your insight today. We do appreciate it.
And again, Terry Anderson was held from 1985 to 1991 by members of the Hezbollah group.
SAN MIGUEL: And what we can all use right now is some good homecomings. And CNN's Adaora Udoji is standing by with -- for us in New Jersey with a homecoming for some troops who served in Iraq.
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We're at Fort Dix in New Jersey, and they're planning a big homecoming celebration today for 160 National Guard troops who have just returned from Iraq. We'll have that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAN MIGUEL: In New Jersey, friends and family of troops serving in Iraq are surprised by a very special homecoming. CNN's Adaora Udoji joins us now live from New Jersey's Fort Dix with the details. Adaora?
UDOJI: Renay, indeed, this is one happy day for the folks here at Fort Dix. The 253rd Transportation Company has arrived. They are back. A tremendous amount of joy and relief, of course, this coming on the day when many newspapers in the area are showing the picture and the story, telling the story of Private First Class Maupin, who has been taken hostage in Iraq. Lots of thoughts and prayers going out to his family.
But the folks here at Fort Dix, 160 troops returning from Iraq after being there for a year. Incredibly, they were fortunate. Not one member of their unit seriously injured. And in two hours, they will see their family again for the first time in a year. They are planning a big celebration here. The governor, James McGreevey, will be here. As a matter of fact, he was also here to see them off when they went a year ago.
This group, their motto of the unit is, You Haul, You Call, and We Haul. They have been in Iraq carrying everything from beans to bullets as we've been talking about all week, or the Pentagon has been talking about all week. This is part is a rotation of 130,000 troops.
But again, the Pentagon saying this week that some of those troops scheduled to come home will not be coming home, their stay being extended. And one of those is a unit out of Wisconsin National Guard. The families there, very upset to find out that that unit will be -- their time in Iraq will be extended another four months. They are very upset, have been lobbying both President Bush and Congress to bring them back sooner.
Those family members being quoted as saying they support the war, but they feel that their family members are just mentally exhausted.
But here in Fort Dix, a very happy day, 160 troops, men and women, coming home to their families, where they will now begin a demobilization process for the next six or 10 days. They'll be on the base going through a transition, going through lots of transition-type reacquainting them with being back into the United States. And they will be here on the base but back to their families at home six to 10 days, although they will be seeing their families today, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Adaora Udoji, live from Fort Dix, New Jersey, with a happy homecoming there. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.
CALLAWAY: And there is still much more ahead on "CNN SATURDAY." Up next is "ON THE STORY," followed by "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" at 11. This week we'll look at two heroes facing down daunting odds, Christopher Reeve and Lance Armstrong. We'll have their stories. And at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time is "CNN LIVE SATURDAY," more from Iraq as well as the latest on the homecoming for troops at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as we just heard.
And we have run out of time.
SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. It's been a very...
CALLAWAY: That's it for me, I am Catherine Callaway.
SAN MIGUEL: I am Renay San Miguel. Thanks for staying with us for a very busy last hour from CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
CALLAWAY: Headlines are coming up.
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