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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

U.S. 7th Calvary Faces Sandstorm; Medical Crews Kept Busy; Will Iraq Use Chemical Weapons?

Aired March 25, 2003 - 17:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Blinded on the battlefield: a sandstorm slows the troops, but also hides them from Iraqis.
Nightmare in Nasiriyah: as the fierce battle stretches on, civilians get caught in the crossfire.

Reports of a rebellion in Basra. Have coalition attacks led to an uprising?

All this as Baghdad braces for an invasion on day six of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from Kuwait City, with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

BLITZER: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad, still under Saddam Hussein's control, but soon it could be a city under siege.

Here in Kuwait, reinforcements ready to move into Iraq to begin the next stage of the ground war.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight live from Kuwait City. Let's start out with today's most vivid pictures from the battlefield.

Despite blinding sandstorms, the U.S. Army 3-7th Cavalry crossed the Euphrates River and continued on toward Baghdad. CNN's Walter Rodgers reports that sandstorm helped the troops by making it harder for the Iraqis to target them.

The Pentagon has released these pictures and announced that U.S. paratroopers, operating under the cover of night, seized an Iraqi desert landing strip.

And coalition troops are on patrol in Umm Qasr. U.S. central command says the port city is under coalition control despite sporadic fighting and it will start using the ports to deliver humanitarian supplies in a matter -- in a matter of days.

We have much news coming up, but first a look at the battle lines, where the fighting is most fierce.

CNN's Walter Rodgers reports -- we're going to fix that technical problem and get back to that report. The sandstorm, though, it's been whipping across a broad swathe of the Iraqi desert, and it's being driven by winds of more than 30 miles an hour with gusts in some places, get this, clocked at 60 miles an hour.

The blowing sand is expected to linger through Wednesday, with forecasters saying the storm should die down by Wednesday night in Iraq.

The U.S. Army's 3-7th cavalry is just 60 miles right now south Baghdad. It crossed the Euphrates River during a major sandstorm. CNN's senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers, who's embedded with the 3-7th, filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What we're showing you is the convoy in which we're riding, heading north, again, in the general direction of north in a very strong sandstorm.

It's like being in a blizzard except, unfortunately, the sand doesn't melt as the snow does. Now this gives some temporary military advantage to both sides, although the greater military advantage falls to the Iraqis.

The American advantage in crossing the Euphrates River bridge this morning was -- it was like a smoke screen. The sand was like a smoke screen and so they couldn't begin shooting at us very accurately and consequently under those circumstances they didn't have a chance to reload, re-fire, reposition, re-aim.

The 7th cavalry had to run something of a night ambush on both sides of the road last night, crossing one of the canal bridges that preceded the Euphrates River and that fight, was as I say, more than significant. There were machine gun tracer bullets going out on either side of the road. Every Bradley -- every tank was firing.

Imagine looking out into total darkness in an agricultural area. You can't see more than 40 or 50 meters without night vision goggles and you know there are people out there. We had no idea how many people were out there, but it turned out to be several hundred, 300, 400 Iraqi dismounts, that's infantry soldiers were out there shooting at the 7th Cavalry's convoy last night.

I have to change microphones. I wanted one which would give you more ambient sound, as opposed to the direct sound of my narration.

Again, we're traveling in a convoy in the general direction north...

BLITZER: We're going to interrupt this report from Walter Rodgers to go listen to Secretary of State Colin Powell right now.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

BLITZER: All right. You were watching secretary of state and the -- Secretary of State Colin Powell and the foreign minister of Spain, Ana Palacio. They are both, obviously, close allies in the war against Iraq. Spain, one of the Security Council members that supported the United States aggressively in the build-up to this war.

The secretary of state himself the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the retired U.S. Army general who led the fighting during the first Persian Gulf war, cautioning reporters to remember this is only day six, only day six of this war. He thinks the military campaign is going along, continuing quite well.

We're going to continue to monitor this situation, monitor the comments, bring you additional news, of course, as it's made.

Earlier we attempted to tell you where the new battle lines are being drawn. We have that report right now, especially where the fighting is most fierce.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over_ The tip of the spear, the most forward deployed U.S. combat unit has regrouped in central Iraq, just north of Najaf, about 60 miles south Baghdad. That is the Army's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry which today pitched through a withering sandstorm, engaged in a huge firefight at a bridge over the Euphrates River and crossed that bridge.

CNN's Walter Rodgers reports those U.S. troops took a lot of mortar and small arms fire, but outflanked the Iraqis and killed at least 300 Iraqi soldiers.

But the sandstorm has now slowed their progress and between them and the capital, the Medina division of Iraq's elite Republican Guard.

In the south, CNN is told U.S. and British forces are now in control of the port city of Umm Qasr and are reinforcing control of a line stretching from Umm Qasr to that point south of Baghdad.

But some of the toughest ground battles are still taking place in the south. U.S. Marines are engaged in heavy fighting with Iraqi paramilitary groups, some said to be wearing civilian clothing in Nasiriyah.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports the bodies of two Marines killed in Nasiriyah today arrived at a medical unit and one U.S. soldier was reportedly wounded by friendly fire there.

Also in the south, British military officials say the city of Basra is now a legitimate military target after Iraqi paramilitary units and the regular army division continued fighting there.

And a British embedded reporter tells CNN there's a popular uprising in Basra, Shiite Muslims there striking out against Iraqi troops.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's now been about six weeks...

BLITZER: in southern Iraq CNN's Ryan Chilcote with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, reports sandstorms forced the helicopters to land right where they were. In the north, CNN's Ben Wedeman reports the city of Mosul was shaken by explosions for the fourth night in a row.

At a drop point kept secret by U.S. briefers, U.S. paratroopers float in under the cover of darkness to secure an airfield.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Meanwhile, allied medical units are in forward positions and they're attempting to treat the wounded as quickly as possible. As you just saw our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is with the American Marine unit known as the Devil Docs. He's joining us now live via videophone.

Those Devil Docs are quite busy today, aren't they, Sanjay?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, no question about it, Wolf. They are very busy.

You can see behind me it's early in the morning here, about 1:30 now, and this has been the pace, really, all day. I'm in a room called the jump room. This is a room that actually moves with the troops and takes care of patients who don't necessarily need operations, but still need care.

Interestingly, this room is divided into two spots. One spot takes care of the Iraqi soldiers, the other spot taking care of coalition forces. On the Iraqi side there are armed guards at all times within the room, two armed guards, one on either side. There is also a constant flurry of intelligence agents, as well as translators coming in to try and get as much information as possible from the Iraqi soldiers.

Most of the patients here are doing well. There are 10 Iraqis and six coalition forces. But just a minute ago, we heard that two more American soldiers are on the way in, inbound as they say in medical lingo. And we're going to keep you posted on that, as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Sanjay, the doctors that are there, are most of them reservists who have been activated for this war or are they career military officers?

GUPTA: That's an interesting question. I think it's probably about half and half because I've gone around asking some of the folks, as well. And the man who designed all of the forward resuscitative surgical suites actually is full-time military now and he's been that way for several years.

Several of the doctors and general surgeons are reservists now and were brought in specifically for this particular conflict. But I think it's probably a mix of about 50-50.

BLITZER: How do you compare, Sanjay, the medical capabilities, the medical medicine, if you will, to civilian medicine, especially emergency room treatment, which you are very personally familiar with? GUPTA: You know, when it comes to trauma, when it comes to taking care of things emergently, I think that the resources they have out here are very adequate to be able to do that.

But the only sort of weight limiting steps to all this is being able to do more definitive operations later on down the line. For instance, if there's an abdominal operation necessary to try to remove a bullet from the abdomen, that can certainly be done, a life will be saved. But the more definitive operations that may be needed later on will need to be done somewhere else.

The FRSS, the forward resuscitative surgical suite, is designed to save lives and then move patients back to more definitive care -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he's with the so-called Devil Docs. Those are Navy doctors, they're attached to this Marine unit. They're moving up, they're moving up in Iraq, central Iraq, obviously moving all of the way towards Baghdad. Obviously, at the same time dealing with a lot of casualties, not only U.S. casualties, but Iraqi POW casualties -- casualties, as well.

Sanjay be careful. Thanks very much.

Just a few minutes ago we had live coverage of the secretary of state, Colin Powell, speaking to reporters together with the Spanish foreign minister. The secretary was also asked about a key development that's unfolding right now in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Listen to what Secretary Powell said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POWELL: Those photos yet, I have heard reports of an uprising in Basra. I can't confirm the reports, and I cannot tell you how large it is or what success it may or may not be having. We'll have to wait and see how that situation unfolds.

We know that some orders are flowing into Basra are not enough and we have humanitarian organizations within our military and our civil side of our government standing by to help. And international organizations are standing by to help.

And as soon as the security situation resolves itself and as soon as the port of Umm Qasr is cleared so that ships can come in with humanitarian supplies, we're confident we can reverse the situation very quickly. But it is a matter of utmost concern to us and to the coalition leaders, military leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you what conclusion you come to, either here or in the talks in New York, about the role of the U.N. and the future government of Iraq?

POWELL: We're having discussions about this within our administration and Foreign Minister Palacio and I discussed it and I'm sure I'll be discussing it when I see Foreign Secretary Jack Straw tomorrow evening.

We're in an early stage of discussion. There will be a role for the United Nations. President Bush and President Aznar and the Portuguese prime minister and the British prime minister all said so when they had their meeting in the Azores not too long ago.

And we're now working with Secretary-General Annan and our Security Council colleagues to determine what kind of role should be played by the U.N., what authorities are needed, how to do it in a way that will make sure that the gains of the coalition military action are harvested and that it helps put in place a new government of the Iraqi people and for the Iraqi people and by the Iraqi people, to paraphrase a great American.

So we're working closely with the U.N. and the Security Council members as we start to structure what resolutions might be required in the future, beyond the oil for food resolution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The secretary of state, speaking only a few minutes ago just outside the State Department where he received the Spanish foreign minister. The secretary saying it's still unclear what precisely is happening in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, whether reports of an uprising have, in fact, occurred. He's getting those reports, of course, as all of us.

We're going to have much more on the situation in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, coming up later this hour.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military says Marines have secured a hospital in Nasiriyah -- that's just north of Basra -- serving as a staging area for Iraqi paramilitary forces. The Marines captured some 170 Iraqis, scores of weapons and, get this, some 3,000 chemical suits with masks.

As allied forces draw closer to Baghdad there are fresh concerns that Iraq may and the word is "may," resort to chemical weapons. Let's go live to our national security correspondent, David Ensor. He's checking in with all of the sources on what precisely is going on, on this key element -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESONDENT: Well, Wolf, those 3,000 chemical suits in Nasiriyah underscore a very important thing about chemical weapons, literally, the danger of blowback.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over) In southern Iraq, British forces have found gas masks in abandoned Iraqi positions, heightening concerns among coalition forces approaching Baghdad that the Iraqi may plan to use chemical weapons, since as the Iraqis should know, U.S. and British forces do not use them.

U.S. officials say some intelligence indicates a red line may have been drawn around the capital, with Republican Guard units ordered to use chemical weapons once U.S. and allied troops cross it.

There is also, intelligence officials say, suggesting Republican Guard units have been issued artillery shells containing chemical agents.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There has been intelligence, perhaps who knows how accurate they are. Shattering a system that suggests that the closer that coalition forces get to Baghdad, the greater the likelihood and that some command and control arrangements have been put in place.

ENSOR: In Baghdad, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz repeated his government's stand, it does not have any kinds of weapons of mass destruction.

TARIQ AZIA, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: When they started to talk about the weapons of mass destruction, we know and we always knew that that was fabrication and lies.

ENSOR: Experts say Saddam Hussein's forces will likely try to hold out in Baghdad for as long as possible without using the weapons his government insists it does not have, hoping to build international pressure on the U.S. and Britain to back down.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ALALYST: In that sense, any use of chemical weapons would be counter-productive to Saddam, because it would only galvanize international opinion around the United States.

ENSOR: But if the coalition forces cannot be deterred that way, then says Ken Pollack, all bets may be off.

POLLACK: He will use chemical warfare to prevent the United States from taking Baghdad and to inflict as many casualties as he can on U.S. forces and hope that that will convince the United States to start for war.

ENSOR: But U.S. and allied forces are well equipped and trained against weapons.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Without offering details, joint chiefs chairman General Myers says the U.S. has a plan for how to respond to such attacks if they should come -- Wolf.

BLITZER: The expectation is that if they are going to be used they would be used in the battle of Baghdad, is that what the experts are telling you, David?

ENSOR: That's right and the intelligence evidence that they have suggests that it is the three Republican Guards units that are in the Baghdad area that have chemical shells and have orders to use them if a line is crossed.

Now this intelligence is mixed and as you heard Secretary Rumsfeld say it's chatter, it's not totally authoritative, but it is causing quite a bit of concern -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Understandably so. David Ensor, our national security correspondent, thanks very much.

Here's your chance to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our Web question of the day is this, "Do you think Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast, please vote at CNN.com/Wolf.

While you're there I'd like to hear from you. Send me your comments, I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online columm: CNN.com/Wolf.

Iraq is holding at least seven American prisoners of war and at least that many U.S. forces are considered now officially missing in action.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is updating us now on how the families are coping. He's joining us live from Fort Bliss, Texas -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, since this news broke on Sunday morning that 12 soldiers here from Fort Bliss were taken into custody. Five of them are now confirmed prisoners of war. The fate of seven others is still very much up in the air. And the hearts and minds of many of the people here at Fort Bliss, Texas, are with the soldiers, awaiting the word of what might or might not have happened.

So this is a situation where many families are dealing with a very difficult situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over) News comes quickly from the Iraqi battlefield, but not fast enough for the families of seven prisoners of war and at least seven others whose fate is unknown.

They know their loved ones are in danger, but uncertainty ignites anxiety and that makes this ordeal tougher to handle.

David Williams' son is one of the apache helicopter pilots captured by Iraqi soldiers. He knows there's nothing he can do for now.

DAVID WILLIAMS SR, FATHER OF POW: It's very difficult, but it's something that I know I have enough support from friends and family and through God, I asked for support that I'll be able to make it, along with our family.

Twenty-year-old Jessica Lynch is part of the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas. Five of her fellow soldiers are confirmed POWs; she's listed as missing. All her family can do is hope.

Lynch's family finds comfort, though, in knowing she wanted to be a part of the war effort.

DON NELSON, FRIEND OF MIA: She was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about going to Kuwait. You know, everybody else was worried about her, but she said, "There's nothing to be worried about. I've been trained to do a job and I'm going to do it. Very proud that she did.

LAVANDERA: In Edgar Hernandez' home town of Mission, Texas, yellow ribbons decorate the street where his family lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's heartbreaking, but at the same time you feel a sense of pride. The community is coming together and pulling for the family.

LAVANDERA: As these families wait for news from the frontlines, they look at the pictures of their loved ones in captivity and try hard to imagine what they must be thinking.

DAVID WILLIAMS SR., FATHER OF POW: He seemed to be in good spirits and, you know, I'm sure he doesn't like being there, but I'm sure, you know, the situation, he'll make the best of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Now there is a lot of uncertainty going on, as you might imagine, Wolf. And one of the concerns that military officials are starting to express is we've heard over the last couple of days from many of the families that have been affected by this. Military officials are describing a sense of concern that perhaps they worry about what some of these families might be saying publicly and how that might be interpreted or used as propaganda by Iraqi forces.

So the -- they're very concerned about what a lot of the families are saying publicly at this point -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Lavandera at Fort Bliss, thanks very much for that information.

I want to go immediately to the Pentagon. That's where our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by. She's got a late-breaking and important development -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, first reports are just coming into the Pentagon at this hour of a massive new landing engagement in southern Iraq, officials saying that they have now encountered a very significant Iraqi landforce. They are engaged, they are continuing to be engaged in ground combat at this hour and initial reports they caution, lead them to believe they may have killed anywhere between 300 and 500 Iraqi forces.

This is all taking place near Karbala in the south, somewhere near Karbala and the city of Najaf. What they don't know at this point is exactly what ground force they have run into. They believe that the first elements of the Medina Republican Guard division are near Karbala but this unit that they have run into may also be a very large encampment of these Fedayeen fighters that we have been talking so much about. When asked if those type of irregular or paramilitary forces would be assembled in such a large group, one official said, Look, there could be thousands of them out there. So possibly, 300 to 500 Iraqis killed in this ongoing ground combat engagement at this hour. Officials saying so far, they have no reports about any U.S. killed or wounded -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And Barbara, did you say -- maybe I missed it. Which -- which Iraqi Army units were involved in this battle at Karbala, which is further -- it's not exactly in the south -- that's already central Iraq, not far from Baghdad if our viewers know the geography. We'll put a map up and show them where Karbala is.

But which army units of the Iraqis are engaged in this battle?

STARR: Well, this is all taking place somewhere south of Karbala, several miles south of Karbala. It's not on this map, but there is another town called Najaf. And they have run into this enemy formation, they believe somewhere between Karbala -- south of -- there we go -- south of Karbala and Najaf. This about 95 miles from Baghdad.

Now that town of Karbala, which is 50 miles south of Baghdad, is the place they believe that the encampment of the Medina Republican Guard Division is located and they were awaiting their first combat contact on the ground with the Medina Republican Guard Division.

Now they've run into this formation; they are engaged in this ground battle. But sources here saying the first reports are sketchy and they simply don't know what they've run into. They don't know if they've run into the first element of the Medina Republican Guard Division or a huge formation of these Fedayeen irregular, paramilitary forces that are so loyal to the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Very initial reports coming into the Pentagon at this hour, Wolf.

BLITZER: It sounds, Barbara, as if this may be shaping up, at least to date, as the biggest actual firefight battle of this war so far. Is that the impression your sources are giving you?

STARR: That is the impression we're getting.

This -- if their first reports are correct that they're giving us, 300 to 500 Iraqi fighters killed, I don't think we're aware at this point of any other ground engagement that has been so significant.

Now, it's important to remember, of course, the weather is very poor in Iraq today. So there can be no air strikes called in; helicopters can't really fly. They can't call in any kind of attacks on these ground formation. All of this taking place ground to ground. We are told that the U.S. has lost combat vehicles to ground fire.

We do not know at this hour. They say no immediate reports of any U.S. casualties or injuries, but officials here very strongly emphasizing these are first reports and they are awaiting more information from the battlefield.

BLITZER: All right. Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent, breaking news on CNN on this program right now. A serious battle under way near Karbala. That's south of Baghdad. U.S. Troops engaging in -- with Iraqi forces, unclear which Iraqi forces -- perhaps, perhaps, the Republican Guard and the Medina element of the Republican Guard.

We're going to continue to get more information from Barbara. We'll get analysis later from our military analyst. A major battle unfolding right now in central Iraq on the road to Baghdad.

Outside of actual combat, though ,one of the most serious threats facing U.S. troops in battle, of course, is fatigue.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining us live from the CNN Newsroom to talk about it. Elizabeth, fatigue, most people when they think about war, don't think about fatigue.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I mean, you can only imagine what they must be feeling. They're going sometimes for days and days without sleep.

Military experts are looking at some new and old approaches to help keeping the troops stay alert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): They catch sleep anywhere they can. A tank, a fox hole, the deck of a ship. And as CNN's Walter Rodgers found out, they're the lucky once. As least they're horizontal.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been no horizontal sleep of any sort for 60 hours. You don't sleep. You really don't sleep out here. Of course, you're on an adrenaline high, but racing across the desert these are the young men who know how to burn the candle at both ends.

COHEN: How do troops continue to do their jobs on so little sleep?

It's a problem that's plagued armies for centuries and it's more important today than ever as night vision technology allows for all- night fighting.

There are several practical solutions to fatigue. Cat naps are one of them. And the Air Force and Navy go one step further. They offer their pilots amphetamines, dexadrine, called "go-pills" in military lingo.

The Air Force has studied another option: a prescription drug called Provigil. It's for narcoleptics, and Air Force researchers have found that it keeps troops awake and alert without many of the side effects of amphetamines. But it's not being used in the war.

Also being studied: caffeine. Since it's not practical to drink a cup coffee while driving a tank, Army researchers have put caffeine in snack bars, and they've studied caffeinated chewing gum.

But so far none of the songs being distributed to the troops, so they rely on adrenaline and nap anywhere they can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: An Air Force expert tells me that for every 24 hours that someone goes without sleep, they have a 25 percent decrease in their cognitive abilities -- Wolf.

BLITZER: How controversial -- these amphetamines -- sounds pretty dramatic, but giving them to pilots, this sounds controversial.

COHEN: That's right.

Some people are concerned that amphetamines would make a pilot jumpy, might impair his judgment. However, I was talking to this Air Force fatigue expert and he said, Look, I've been on the back of planes with fatigued pilots who weren't taking anything and I've been on the back of planes with fatigued pilots who were taking amphetamines, and he said I'll take the pilot taking amphetamines every day.

BLITZER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, our medical correspondent, with an important story on the impact of fatigue in this war.

And as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues, here's CNN's Miles O'Brien with a look at what's happened so far today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Recapping developments from in the past few hours:

5:44, CNN's Walter Rodgers traveling with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry says elements of the 7th Cav have crossed the Euphrates River to a fierce sandstorm and under Iraqi fire.

6:00 a.m., the British military says the city of Umm Qasr and its port are now firmly under coalition control.

7:00 a.m., British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces he'll visit the U.S. tomorrow to meet with President Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

8:45 a.m., Dr. Sanjay Gupta with the Marine Devil Docs says two huge medical tents have been blown over by fierce sandstorms.

9:00 am, U.S. Central Command says trenches in Baghdad are being have filled with oil and set aflame in an apparent attempt to provide cover against coalition attacks.

1:22 p.m. Eastern, 9:22 p.m. in Iraq, British Pool reporter Richard Gaisford, embedded with the United Kingdom troops in Basra, reports a popular uprising by Shiia residents against Iraqi troops. U.S. officials say it's more like chaos than anything else. 1:30 p.m., dolphins trained to hunt for mines at the Coronado naval base in California arrive in the port of Umm Qasr to support U.S. Navy demining operations.

1:55 p.m., 11 U.S. troops injured in Iraq arrive for treatment at Rammstein Air Base in Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That's CNN's Miles O'Brien reporting on the latest developments -- developments that occurred today. Let's move on now and talk about the soldiers injured in this war. Other families are waiting for word on loved ones who have been wounded on the battlefield.

But now I'm joined by Jennifer Grubb in El Paso, Texas. Her husband James is with the Army's 507th Maintenance which was ambushed over the weekend near Nasiriya. He was shot while several of his fellow soldiers were taken prisoner.

Jennifer, thanks so much for joining us. What is the army telling you about the condition of your husband?

JENNIFER GRUBB, WIFE OF WOUNDED SOLDIER: They said that he has been seriously injured, and he will more than likely have to undergo surgery.

BLITZER: Where is he right now?

GRUBB: I have no clue.

BLITZER: Is it -- you haven't obviously, had a chance to talk to him if he's in that serious condition, am I right.

GRUBB: Yes, I have. Yes, I have.

BLITZER: Well what did he say to him when you spoke to him.

GRUBB: He said he was shot in each arm. He was shot in one leg and he had shrapnel in the leg he was not shot in.

BLITZER: What was his spirit? Did he sound as if he's going to make a nice recovery?

GRUBB: Yes. He was fine. He could get up and walk around and he could speak on the phone.

BLITZER: I know you're holding your child over there as well. This must be an incredibly difficult ordeal for you. Did you ever assume that with your husband going over and the maintenance unit that he was in that he would be wounded in action?

GRUBB: No. Never.

BLITZER: What was the specific nature of his work?

GRUBB: I'm sorry?

BLITZER: What kind of work does he do in the army?

GRUBB: He is a diesel mechanic.

BLITZER: A diesel mechanic. So was he with those other soldiers who were taken prisoner by the Iraqis? Was that's the same 507th Maintenance Unit.

GRUBB: Yes, it is.

BLITZER: And he was injured in that same firefight, is that right?

GRUBB: Yes.

BLITZER: So, how does this affect you? What's going through your mind as you try to absorb this very difficult time? Thank god your husband is alive.

GRUBB: I'm thanking god my husband is alive, but I'm still feeling for the soldiers who were captured. I know we've been in this maintenance company for two years and they're like family to us.

BLITZER: Well, you have a strong family unit over there. Good luck to you. Good luck to your husband. Good luck to all members of the 507th.

Jennifer, thanks very much for joining us.

GRUBB: Thank you.

BLITZER: Well, we want to check in with CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti. She's in Georgia. Now she's outside the home of Ron Young's family, one of two Apache helicopter pilots being held by Iraq.

Susan, what can you tell us about the initial attempt to rescue the men?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll tell you about that after I let you know that a steady stream of visitors has kept this family fuzzy throughout the day. A day that was punctuated by a phone call to the parents of Ron Young from the army telling them about these two attempts to rescue both Ron Young, Jr., as well as his fellow pilot, David Williams. Both attempts, unfortunately failed. This happened, as you'll recall, at the Apache Longbow fell down to the ground because of a mechanical problem.

And the two attempts -- during those two attempts to rescue both pilots, the rescue crews came under heavy ground fire that in one case was so heavy that one of the rescue helicopters apparently started to catch fire. Now, the Army pilots were then surrounded by Iraqis. The Army told Young's parents that the pilots managed to stay hidden for a time, but, of course, eventually they were captured. Army told Young's father that the failed rescue attempt took a great toll on his fellow soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD YOUNG SR., FATHER OF POW: They said that they -- the whole battalion was really upset because they had to leave them two guys behind and I'm sure they did. I think they did what they had to do to try to get them. It was just they are coming against overwhelming odds at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Back at the house during the day a stranger delivered to the family a POW/Missing in action flag and the city donated both an American flag and a flag pole that's was installed by prisoners of the Douglas County jail. Now, At the base of the pole into the wet cement, a family friend wrote into that cement, "United we stand Chief (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Officier Ron Young," and the date of his capture. They are touched by all of the support they're receiving from the country and throughout the world. And hopes this will all lead to the safe return of all the POWs.

Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope, Susan Candiotti, thanks very much for that report. Our heart goes out to all of these families, of course.

I want to get back to the breaking news story that we reported just a few minutes ago. Our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon reporting that a huge battle is now under way, perhaps the largest battle of this war to date, near Karbala, that's not all that far away from Baghdad itself.

I want to bring in our military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Major General Don Shepperd.

You heard Barbara's report. This sounds like the biggest battle to date, the estimate 300 or more Iraqi soldiers have been killed.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Yes. Wolf, this is starting to make sense. Now, remember the Apaches that went down the other day on the attack the 11th helicopter regiment from the 5th Core went in ask they received extremely heavy fire. This was in the vicinity between Najaf and Karbala. Karbala is about 50 miles south of Baghdad and Najaf is about 95 miles south of Baghdad. And that's going on in the vicinity of Najaf. We had big sandstorms there so it's likely they'll be using cover in the, Iraqi I side to move during the sandstorms. Now, three to 500 dead.

It sounds like we could also be encountering the southern most element of the Medina Division, that is a division south of Baghdad. The helicopters ran into the second -- the Second Brigade of the Medina Division. A brigade is two to 3,000 troops. And it sounds three to 500 like these could be major elements of that division. It also could be a large collection of the Fedayeen that is fading into the towns that are being crossed through to harass the supply lines from the rear such as Nasiriyah and the other towns. We don't know which and probably will not find out until the weather clears, Wolf.

BLITZER: The weather is a factor, it obviously (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Iraqi military ability to see and fight. And it also has a direct impact on the U.S. ground forces who are moving in. They can't necessarily call in the kind of air support whether from Cobra or Apache helicopters or from A-10s to help them as the armor, the APC, the armored personnel carrier, or the heavy tanks move up.

SHEPPERD: That's exactly right. Weather is the friend and foe of both sides. It prevents visibility, it prevents air power in many cases especially when strong winds are working. But this is not unknown. The U.S. Military has the ability to fight in night, in day and all kinds of weather and all kinds of sand and through the smoke fire being lit around Baghdad. So we thought about this for along time. No matter what we encounter, U.S. forces basically will have the advantage over the Iraqis. But it's very logical to me that the Iraqis would take advantage of the sandstorm to get close to the United States forces and take advantage of the bad weather.

BLITZER: General Shepperd, we will touch back with you later, thanks very much for that analysis. Once again, CNN reporting breaking news, our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon that a huge battle is under way now near Karbala just north of Najaf on the road to Baghdad. Perhaps 300 to 500 Iraqi soldiers unclear from which unit whether Republican Guard or from the Fedayeen Saddam Unit, the irregulars, unclear who they're fighting right now, but this is now being built perhaps as the largest battle so far in the war in Iraq.

We'll give you continue to check all of those developments and get back to Barbara Starr and get back to our other reporters.

The president says Allied forces are moving forward in Iraq. And he wants the U.S. Congress to move forward with his new plan to pay for the war.

Let's go live to our senior White House correspondent, John King -- John.

JOHN KING, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president wants the Congress to act quickly in and get him that war emergency spending bill within three weeks. That would be very quick for the U.S. Congress, but Mr. Bush says that is necessary. He needs that money at a time the war is at a critical junction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): The president says Coalition troops are on a steady advance, but face more dangerous days just ahead.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're fighting an enemy that knows no rules of law, that is willing to kill in order to continue to reign of fear of Saddam Hussein.

KING: This Pentagon visit was to officially up veil a nearly $75 billion emergency war spending plan and to push the Congress to pass it quickly. BUSH: The money will cover the current cost of fueling of ships and aircraft, of tanks and of airlifting tons of supplies into the theater of operations.

KING: The emergency budget request covers six months spending. And is based on a rough Pentagon estimate that the most intense initial combat base will run about 30 days. But as forces prepare for decisive battles in Baghdad, the administration is shying away from any official timetable.

BUSH: We cannot know the duration of this war, yet we know its outcome. We will prevail.

KING: Mr. Bush promised food and medicine will soon be delivered to the Iraqi people. And National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was at the United Nations to discuss long-term humanitarian effort. And the U.S. plans for the running a post-war Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now there are huge stockpiles of humanitarian supplies, but little of it is flowing into Iraq as yet despite a promise by the president that that aid pipeline would be open by now. The White House says Iraq is to blame. The White House blaming Iraq's mining of a key harbor, other steps by the Iraqi regime, says the blame lies solely with Saddam Hussein, not with any bad coalition planning -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at White House, thanks. Important developments unfolding this, of course, as well.

Remember "Our Web Question of the Day" is this: do you think Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons? Please vote at cnn.com/wolf.

Continuing coverage of the war in Iraq including the changing public opinion in the United States. That's coming up immediately when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I just want to update our viewers on a breaking story. A huge battle is under way, perhaps the largest battle to date in the war in Iraq near Karbala on the road to Baghdad.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reporting perhaps as many as 300 to 500 Iraqi soldiers already killed in this battle. Unclear the extent of U.S. coalition casualties. We're monitoring this story. We'll have updates, of course, as we get them.

And as we watch the dramatic and rapid changes in the war, we're also watching American reaction. CNN's Maria Hinojosa is in New York with a look at what some people are saying -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN URBAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there were no demonstrations here in Times Square either for or against this war. But across the country very mixed, very divided, very strong opinions about this war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA (voice-over): The news is inescapable. War is in the air. In bright, quick streaks across the Times Square zippers and big, black type on the pages of the daily newspapers, people can't seem to keep their eyes off it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel personally that there's propaganda that exists on both sides. U.S. spin as well as Iraqi spin. I just hope it gets over quickly and our guys get home.

HINOJOSA: Now that those fuzzy green images have been replaced by the all-too clear images of war, real war. By the sad, scared faces of civilians caught in war. By the frightened looks of American POWs and soldiers racing into danger. And of ordinary people caught in the crossfire and on the run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of, you know, comes, you know, home. You know, it's personal now. When you see people initially it's easy when the war is not here to think that the war is almost like a game, like a video game.

But now that you see people are involved, you see names and these are our families, they are mothers, fathers, childrens, wives so it becomes personal.

HINOJOSA: All feeding the war at home, the constant debate on both sides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before it's just a paper war, but now that you actually see American names and casualties, it gives you the feeling that, you know, these are real people over there. Fighting for a cause that I don't personally believe in and I don't think they should be there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know bad was bad before and we know war is bad now and unfortunately we knew there would be some casualties.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA: Now in terms of the polls, still strong support for the war. Sixty-seven percent say they support the war, 31 percent are against. But 67 percent of Americans say they are closing watching this war. Many of them, perhaps, strengthening or changing their opinions depending on what they see -- Wolf.

BLITZER: In New York City, Maria, they come to see a lot -- expect a lot of these demonstrations. Is it unusual today that there were apparently no significant demonstrations?

HINOJOSA: Well, you know, Wolf, if you would have asked someone several months ago if demonstrations would have become the typical thing in New York, probably people would have who could have believe that? But yes, it is something of a respite. There have been demonstrations here in Times Square since the war began. So it is calm today. There are lots and lots of tourists, lots and lots of police just in case, though.

BLITZER: All right. Maria Hinojosa, our reporter in New York. Thank you very much, Maria.

The war of course is the subject of many newspaper editorial cartoons. CNN's Jeannie Moos will be taking a look -- takes a look at some of them in a segment we're calling "Drawing Fire."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNIE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saddam Hussein's recent TV appearances are "Drawing Fire" from those who draw for a living. "But you had the makeup artist executed," says a cartoon in the "Honolulu Star-Bulletin."

From the "Cincinnati Post," "Victory will be ours -- how was that take?"

Several cartoonists were taken with Saddam's resemblance to Groucho Marx. If you're hooked on the war coverage, you'll appreciate Walt Handelsman's view, "Mom and Dad are embedded with the troops."

Al-Jazeera and Saddam Hussein make for not such strange embedded fellows in the "Oregonian" while Al-Jazeera is portrayed as a buzzard by cartoonist John Cole because the Arab network showed footage of dead American soldiers.

As for all those embedded reporters rattling off military lingo...

CHRIS KLINE, FOX NEW CORRESPONDENT: Returning Iraqi AAA...

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The cash missions, the close air support missions...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then at a distance we can see the FLRS rockets.

MOOS: Cartoonist Stuart Carlson depicts a jargon-spewing reporter with a viewer's laconic comment, "Good to see he hasn't been co-opted."

Overseas, the "Daily Tribune" in the Philippines showed a missile with the caption, "Say hello to American democracy."

The French paper "Le Monde" portrayed Iraqis greeting Coalition tanks by waving skulls. The caption reads, "The overjoyed crowd."

And from the "Christian Science Monitor", a kid watching the bombing says, "Gosh, I sure hope nobody ever liberates us."

"USA Today" showed Oscar spitting on American POWs. The Dixie Chicks drew fire from the "Dallas Morning News." "Using pigeons to test for poison gas is bad enough, but calling us Dixie Chicks, that hurt."

As for filmmaker Michael Moore's anti-war comments...

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: Shame on you, Mr. Bush!

MOOS: "The New York Post" depicts Moore as a missile. "Incoming!"

Jeannie Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on "Our Web Question of the Day." Remember we've been asking you this, do you think Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons? Seventy-nine percent of you say yes, 21 percent of you say no. Remember this, is not a scientific poll.

And please stay with CNN throughout the night for up to the minute war coverage. Much more coming up on the huge battle unfolding right now south of Baghdad.

Until then thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Kuwait City. I'll be back in one hour for two hours of special coverage with Aaron Brown. For the latest, though we hand it over right now to Lou Dobbs who's going to continue our coverage of the war in Iraq.

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





Will Iraq Use Chemical Weapons?>


Aired March 25, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Blinded on the battlefield: a sandstorm slows the troops, but also hides them from Iraqis.
Nightmare in Nasiriyah: as the fierce battle stretches on, civilians get caught in the crossfire.

Reports of a rebellion in Basra. Have coalition attacks led to an uprising?

All this as Baghdad braces for an invasion on day six of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from Kuwait City, with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

BLITZER: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad, still under Saddam Hussein's control, but soon it could be a city under siege.

Here in Kuwait, reinforcements ready to move into Iraq to begin the next stage of the ground war.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight live from Kuwait City. Let's start out with today's most vivid pictures from the battlefield.

Despite blinding sandstorms, the U.S. Army 3-7th Cavalry crossed the Euphrates River and continued on toward Baghdad. CNN's Walter Rodgers reports that sandstorm helped the troops by making it harder for the Iraqis to target them.

The Pentagon has released these pictures and announced that U.S. paratroopers, operating under the cover of night, seized an Iraqi desert landing strip.

And coalition troops are on patrol in Umm Qasr. U.S. central command says the port city is under coalition control despite sporadic fighting and it will start using the ports to deliver humanitarian supplies in a matter -- in a matter of days.

We have much news coming up, but first a look at the battle lines, where the fighting is most fierce.

CNN's Walter Rodgers reports -- we're going to fix that technical problem and get back to that report. The sandstorm, though, it's been whipping across a broad swathe of the Iraqi desert, and it's being driven by winds of more than 30 miles an hour with gusts in some places, get this, clocked at 60 miles an hour.

The blowing sand is expected to linger through Wednesday, with forecasters saying the storm should die down by Wednesday night in Iraq.

The U.S. Army's 3-7th cavalry is just 60 miles right now south Baghdad. It crossed the Euphrates River during a major sandstorm. CNN's senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers, who's embedded with the 3-7th, filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What we're showing you is the convoy in which we're riding, heading north, again, in the general direction of north in a very strong sandstorm.

It's like being in a blizzard except, unfortunately, the sand doesn't melt as the snow does. Now this gives some temporary military advantage to both sides, although the greater military advantage falls to the Iraqis.

The American advantage in crossing the Euphrates River bridge this morning was -- it was like a smoke screen. The sand was like a smoke screen and so they couldn't begin shooting at us very accurately and consequently under those circumstances they didn't have a chance to reload, re-fire, reposition, re-aim.

The 7th cavalry had to run something of a night ambush on both sides of the road last night, crossing one of the canal bridges that preceded the Euphrates River and that fight, was as I say, more than significant. There were machine gun tracer bullets going out on either side of the road. Every Bradley -- every tank was firing.

Imagine looking out into total darkness in an agricultural area. You can't see more than 40 or 50 meters without night vision goggles and you know there are people out there. We had no idea how many people were out there, but it turned out to be several hundred, 300, 400 Iraqi dismounts, that's infantry soldiers were out there shooting at the 7th Cavalry's convoy last night.

I have to change microphones. I wanted one which would give you more ambient sound, as opposed to the direct sound of my narration.

Again, we're traveling in a convoy in the general direction north...

BLITZER: We're going to interrupt this report from Walter Rodgers to go listen to Secretary of State Colin Powell right now.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

BLITZER: All right. You were watching secretary of state and the -- Secretary of State Colin Powell and the foreign minister of Spain, Ana Palacio. They are both, obviously, close allies in the war against Iraq. Spain, one of the Security Council members that supported the United States aggressively in the build-up to this war.

The secretary of state himself the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the retired U.S. Army general who led the fighting during the first Persian Gulf war, cautioning reporters to remember this is only day six, only day six of this war. He thinks the military campaign is going along, continuing quite well.

We're going to continue to monitor this situation, monitor the comments, bring you additional news, of course, as it's made.

Earlier we attempted to tell you where the new battle lines are being drawn. We have that report right now, especially where the fighting is most fierce.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over_ The tip of the spear, the most forward deployed U.S. combat unit has regrouped in central Iraq, just north of Najaf, about 60 miles south Baghdad. That is the Army's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry which today pitched through a withering sandstorm, engaged in a huge firefight at a bridge over the Euphrates River and crossed that bridge.

CNN's Walter Rodgers reports those U.S. troops took a lot of mortar and small arms fire, but outflanked the Iraqis and killed at least 300 Iraqi soldiers.

But the sandstorm has now slowed their progress and between them and the capital, the Medina division of Iraq's elite Republican Guard.

In the south, CNN is told U.S. and British forces are now in control of the port city of Umm Qasr and are reinforcing control of a line stretching from Umm Qasr to that point south of Baghdad.

But some of the toughest ground battles are still taking place in the south. U.S. Marines are engaged in heavy fighting with Iraqi paramilitary groups, some said to be wearing civilian clothing in Nasiriyah.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports the bodies of two Marines killed in Nasiriyah today arrived at a medical unit and one U.S. soldier was reportedly wounded by friendly fire there.

Also in the south, British military officials say the city of Basra is now a legitimate military target after Iraqi paramilitary units and the regular army division continued fighting there.

And a British embedded reporter tells CNN there's a popular uprising in Basra, Shiite Muslims there striking out against Iraqi troops.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's now been about six weeks...

BLITZER: in southern Iraq CNN's Ryan Chilcote with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, reports sandstorms forced the helicopters to land right where they were. In the north, CNN's Ben Wedeman reports the city of Mosul was shaken by explosions for the fourth night in a row.

At a drop point kept secret by U.S. briefers, U.S. paratroopers float in under the cover of darkness to secure an airfield.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Meanwhile, allied medical units are in forward positions and they're attempting to treat the wounded as quickly as possible. As you just saw our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is with the American Marine unit known as the Devil Docs. He's joining us now live via videophone.

Those Devil Docs are quite busy today, aren't they, Sanjay?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, no question about it, Wolf. They are very busy.

You can see behind me it's early in the morning here, about 1:30 now, and this has been the pace, really, all day. I'm in a room called the jump room. This is a room that actually moves with the troops and takes care of patients who don't necessarily need operations, but still need care.

Interestingly, this room is divided into two spots. One spot takes care of the Iraqi soldiers, the other spot taking care of coalition forces. On the Iraqi side there are armed guards at all times within the room, two armed guards, one on either side. There is also a constant flurry of intelligence agents, as well as translators coming in to try and get as much information as possible from the Iraqi soldiers.

Most of the patients here are doing well. There are 10 Iraqis and six coalition forces. But just a minute ago, we heard that two more American soldiers are on the way in, inbound as they say in medical lingo. And we're going to keep you posted on that, as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Sanjay, the doctors that are there, are most of them reservists who have been activated for this war or are they career military officers?

GUPTA: That's an interesting question. I think it's probably about half and half because I've gone around asking some of the folks, as well. And the man who designed all of the forward resuscitative surgical suites actually is full-time military now and he's been that way for several years.

Several of the doctors and general surgeons are reservists now and were brought in specifically for this particular conflict. But I think it's probably a mix of about 50-50.

BLITZER: How do you compare, Sanjay, the medical capabilities, the medical medicine, if you will, to civilian medicine, especially emergency room treatment, which you are very personally familiar with? GUPTA: You know, when it comes to trauma, when it comes to taking care of things emergently, I think that the resources they have out here are very adequate to be able to do that.

But the only sort of weight limiting steps to all this is being able to do more definitive operations later on down the line. For instance, if there's an abdominal operation necessary to try to remove a bullet from the abdomen, that can certainly be done, a life will be saved. But the more definitive operations that may be needed later on will need to be done somewhere else.

The FRSS, the forward resuscitative surgical suite, is designed to save lives and then move patients back to more definitive care -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he's with the so-called Devil Docs. Those are Navy doctors, they're attached to this Marine unit. They're moving up, they're moving up in Iraq, central Iraq, obviously moving all of the way towards Baghdad. Obviously, at the same time dealing with a lot of casualties, not only U.S. casualties, but Iraqi POW casualties -- casualties, as well.

Sanjay be careful. Thanks very much.

Just a few minutes ago we had live coverage of the secretary of state, Colin Powell, speaking to reporters together with the Spanish foreign minister. The secretary was also asked about a key development that's unfolding right now in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Listen to what Secretary Powell said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POWELL: Those photos yet, I have heard reports of an uprising in Basra. I can't confirm the reports, and I cannot tell you how large it is or what success it may or may not be having. We'll have to wait and see how that situation unfolds.

We know that some orders are flowing into Basra are not enough and we have humanitarian organizations within our military and our civil side of our government standing by to help. And international organizations are standing by to help.

And as soon as the security situation resolves itself and as soon as the port of Umm Qasr is cleared so that ships can come in with humanitarian supplies, we're confident we can reverse the situation very quickly. But it is a matter of utmost concern to us and to the coalition leaders, military leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you what conclusion you come to, either here or in the talks in New York, about the role of the U.N. and the future government of Iraq?

POWELL: We're having discussions about this within our administration and Foreign Minister Palacio and I discussed it and I'm sure I'll be discussing it when I see Foreign Secretary Jack Straw tomorrow evening.

We're in an early stage of discussion. There will be a role for the United Nations. President Bush and President Aznar and the Portuguese prime minister and the British prime minister all said so when they had their meeting in the Azores not too long ago.

And we're now working with Secretary-General Annan and our Security Council colleagues to determine what kind of role should be played by the U.N., what authorities are needed, how to do it in a way that will make sure that the gains of the coalition military action are harvested and that it helps put in place a new government of the Iraqi people and for the Iraqi people and by the Iraqi people, to paraphrase a great American.

So we're working closely with the U.N. and the Security Council members as we start to structure what resolutions might be required in the future, beyond the oil for food resolution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The secretary of state, speaking only a few minutes ago just outside the State Department where he received the Spanish foreign minister. The secretary saying it's still unclear what precisely is happening in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, whether reports of an uprising have, in fact, occurred. He's getting those reports, of course, as all of us.

We're going to have much more on the situation in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, coming up later this hour.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military says Marines have secured a hospital in Nasiriyah -- that's just north of Basra -- serving as a staging area for Iraqi paramilitary forces. The Marines captured some 170 Iraqis, scores of weapons and, get this, some 3,000 chemical suits with masks.

As allied forces draw closer to Baghdad there are fresh concerns that Iraq may and the word is "may," resort to chemical weapons. Let's go live to our national security correspondent, David Ensor. He's checking in with all of the sources on what precisely is going on, on this key element -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESONDENT: Well, Wolf, those 3,000 chemical suits in Nasiriyah underscore a very important thing about chemical weapons, literally, the danger of blowback.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over) In southern Iraq, British forces have found gas masks in abandoned Iraqi positions, heightening concerns among coalition forces approaching Baghdad that the Iraqi may plan to use chemical weapons, since as the Iraqis should know, U.S. and British forces do not use them.

U.S. officials say some intelligence indicates a red line may have been drawn around the capital, with Republican Guard units ordered to use chemical weapons once U.S. and allied troops cross it.

There is also, intelligence officials say, suggesting Republican Guard units have been issued artillery shells containing chemical agents.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There has been intelligence, perhaps who knows how accurate they are. Shattering a system that suggests that the closer that coalition forces get to Baghdad, the greater the likelihood and that some command and control arrangements have been put in place.

ENSOR: In Baghdad, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz repeated his government's stand, it does not have any kinds of weapons of mass destruction.

TARIQ AZIA, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: When they started to talk about the weapons of mass destruction, we know and we always knew that that was fabrication and lies.

ENSOR: Experts say Saddam Hussein's forces will likely try to hold out in Baghdad for as long as possible without using the weapons his government insists it does not have, hoping to build international pressure on the U.S. and Britain to back down.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ALALYST: In that sense, any use of chemical weapons would be counter-productive to Saddam, because it would only galvanize international opinion around the United States.

ENSOR: But if the coalition forces cannot be deterred that way, then says Ken Pollack, all bets may be off.

POLLACK: He will use chemical warfare to prevent the United States from taking Baghdad and to inflict as many casualties as he can on U.S. forces and hope that that will convince the United States to start for war.

ENSOR: But U.S. and allied forces are well equipped and trained against weapons.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Without offering details, joint chiefs chairman General Myers says the U.S. has a plan for how to respond to such attacks if they should come -- Wolf.

BLITZER: The expectation is that if they are going to be used they would be used in the battle of Baghdad, is that what the experts are telling you, David?

ENSOR: That's right and the intelligence evidence that they have suggests that it is the three Republican Guards units that are in the Baghdad area that have chemical shells and have orders to use them if a line is crossed.

Now this intelligence is mixed and as you heard Secretary Rumsfeld say it's chatter, it's not totally authoritative, but it is causing quite a bit of concern -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Understandably so. David Ensor, our national security correspondent, thanks very much.

Here's your chance to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our Web question of the day is this, "Do you think Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast, please vote at CNN.com/Wolf.

While you're there I'd like to hear from you. Send me your comments, I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online columm: CNN.com/Wolf.

Iraq is holding at least seven American prisoners of war and at least that many U.S. forces are considered now officially missing in action.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is updating us now on how the families are coping. He's joining us live from Fort Bliss, Texas -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, since this news broke on Sunday morning that 12 soldiers here from Fort Bliss were taken into custody. Five of them are now confirmed prisoners of war. The fate of seven others is still very much up in the air. And the hearts and minds of many of the people here at Fort Bliss, Texas, are with the soldiers, awaiting the word of what might or might not have happened.

So this is a situation where many families are dealing with a very difficult situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over) News comes quickly from the Iraqi battlefield, but not fast enough for the families of seven prisoners of war and at least seven others whose fate is unknown.

They know their loved ones are in danger, but uncertainty ignites anxiety and that makes this ordeal tougher to handle.

David Williams' son is one of the apache helicopter pilots captured by Iraqi soldiers. He knows there's nothing he can do for now.

DAVID WILLIAMS SR, FATHER OF POW: It's very difficult, but it's something that I know I have enough support from friends and family and through God, I asked for support that I'll be able to make it, along with our family.

Twenty-year-old Jessica Lynch is part of the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas. Five of her fellow soldiers are confirmed POWs; she's listed as missing. All her family can do is hope.

Lynch's family finds comfort, though, in knowing she wanted to be a part of the war effort.

DON NELSON, FRIEND OF MIA: She was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about going to Kuwait. You know, everybody else was worried about her, but she said, "There's nothing to be worried about. I've been trained to do a job and I'm going to do it. Very proud that she did.

LAVANDERA: In Edgar Hernandez' home town of Mission, Texas, yellow ribbons decorate the street where his family lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's heartbreaking, but at the same time you feel a sense of pride. The community is coming together and pulling for the family.

LAVANDERA: As these families wait for news from the frontlines, they look at the pictures of their loved ones in captivity and try hard to imagine what they must be thinking.

DAVID WILLIAMS SR., FATHER OF POW: He seemed to be in good spirits and, you know, I'm sure he doesn't like being there, but I'm sure, you know, the situation, he'll make the best of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Now there is a lot of uncertainty going on, as you might imagine, Wolf. And one of the concerns that military officials are starting to express is we've heard over the last couple of days from many of the families that have been affected by this. Military officials are describing a sense of concern that perhaps they worry about what some of these families might be saying publicly and how that might be interpreted or used as propaganda by Iraqi forces.

So the -- they're very concerned about what a lot of the families are saying publicly at this point -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Lavandera at Fort Bliss, thanks very much for that information.

I want to go immediately to the Pentagon. That's where our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by. She's got a late-breaking and important development -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, first reports are just coming into the Pentagon at this hour of a massive new landing engagement in southern Iraq, officials saying that they have now encountered a very significant Iraqi landforce. They are engaged, they are continuing to be engaged in ground combat at this hour and initial reports they caution, lead them to believe they may have killed anywhere between 300 and 500 Iraqi forces.

This is all taking place near Karbala in the south, somewhere near Karbala and the city of Najaf. What they don't know at this point is exactly what ground force they have run into. They believe that the first elements of the Medina Republican Guard division are near Karbala but this unit that they have run into may also be a very large encampment of these Fedayeen fighters that we have been talking so much about. When asked if those type of irregular or paramilitary forces would be assembled in such a large group, one official said, Look, there could be thousands of them out there. So possibly, 300 to 500 Iraqis killed in this ongoing ground combat engagement at this hour. Officials saying so far, they have no reports about any U.S. killed or wounded -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And Barbara, did you say -- maybe I missed it. Which -- which Iraqi Army units were involved in this battle at Karbala, which is further -- it's not exactly in the south -- that's already central Iraq, not far from Baghdad if our viewers know the geography. We'll put a map up and show them where Karbala is.

But which army units of the Iraqis are engaged in this battle?

STARR: Well, this is all taking place somewhere south of Karbala, several miles south of Karbala. It's not on this map, but there is another town called Najaf. And they have run into this enemy formation, they believe somewhere between Karbala -- south of -- there we go -- south of Karbala and Najaf. This about 95 miles from Baghdad.

Now that town of Karbala, which is 50 miles south of Baghdad, is the place they believe that the encampment of the Medina Republican Guard Division is located and they were awaiting their first combat contact on the ground with the Medina Republican Guard Division.

Now they've run into this formation; they are engaged in this ground battle. But sources here saying the first reports are sketchy and they simply don't know what they've run into. They don't know if they've run into the first element of the Medina Republican Guard Division or a huge formation of these Fedayeen irregular, paramilitary forces that are so loyal to the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Very initial reports coming into the Pentagon at this hour, Wolf.

BLITZER: It sounds, Barbara, as if this may be shaping up, at least to date, as the biggest actual firefight battle of this war so far. Is that the impression your sources are giving you?

STARR: That is the impression we're getting.

This -- if their first reports are correct that they're giving us, 300 to 500 Iraqi fighters killed, I don't think we're aware at this point of any other ground engagement that has been so significant.

Now, it's important to remember, of course, the weather is very poor in Iraq today. So there can be no air strikes called in; helicopters can't really fly. They can't call in any kind of attacks on these ground formation. All of this taking place ground to ground. We are told that the U.S. has lost combat vehicles to ground fire.

We do not know at this hour. They say no immediate reports of any U.S. casualties or injuries, but officials here very strongly emphasizing these are first reports and they are awaiting more information from the battlefield.

BLITZER: All right. Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent, breaking news on CNN on this program right now. A serious battle under way near Karbala. That's south of Baghdad. U.S. Troops engaging in -- with Iraqi forces, unclear which Iraqi forces -- perhaps, perhaps, the Republican Guard and the Medina element of the Republican Guard.

We're going to continue to get more information from Barbara. We'll get analysis later from our military analyst. A major battle unfolding right now in central Iraq on the road to Baghdad.

Outside of actual combat, though ,one of the most serious threats facing U.S. troops in battle, of course, is fatigue.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining us live from the CNN Newsroom to talk about it. Elizabeth, fatigue, most people when they think about war, don't think about fatigue.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I mean, you can only imagine what they must be feeling. They're going sometimes for days and days without sleep.

Military experts are looking at some new and old approaches to help keeping the troops stay alert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): They catch sleep anywhere they can. A tank, a fox hole, the deck of a ship. And as CNN's Walter Rodgers found out, they're the lucky once. As least they're horizontal.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been no horizontal sleep of any sort for 60 hours. You don't sleep. You really don't sleep out here. Of course, you're on an adrenaline high, but racing across the desert these are the young men who know how to burn the candle at both ends.

COHEN: How do troops continue to do their jobs on so little sleep?

It's a problem that's plagued armies for centuries and it's more important today than ever as night vision technology allows for all- night fighting.

There are several practical solutions to fatigue. Cat naps are one of them. And the Air Force and Navy go one step further. They offer their pilots amphetamines, dexadrine, called "go-pills" in military lingo.

The Air Force has studied another option: a prescription drug called Provigil. It's for narcoleptics, and Air Force researchers have found that it keeps troops awake and alert without many of the side effects of amphetamines. But it's not being used in the war.

Also being studied: caffeine. Since it's not practical to drink a cup coffee while driving a tank, Army researchers have put caffeine in snack bars, and they've studied caffeinated chewing gum.

But so far none of the songs being distributed to the troops, so they rely on adrenaline and nap anywhere they can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: An Air Force expert tells me that for every 24 hours that someone goes without sleep, they have a 25 percent decrease in their cognitive abilities -- Wolf.

BLITZER: How controversial -- these amphetamines -- sounds pretty dramatic, but giving them to pilots, this sounds controversial.

COHEN: That's right.

Some people are concerned that amphetamines would make a pilot jumpy, might impair his judgment. However, I was talking to this Air Force fatigue expert and he said, Look, I've been on the back of planes with fatigued pilots who weren't taking anything and I've been on the back of planes with fatigued pilots who were taking amphetamines, and he said I'll take the pilot taking amphetamines every day.

BLITZER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, our medical correspondent, with an important story on the impact of fatigue in this war.

And as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues, here's CNN's Miles O'Brien with a look at what's happened so far today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Recapping developments from in the past few hours:

5:44, CNN's Walter Rodgers traveling with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry says elements of the 7th Cav have crossed the Euphrates River to a fierce sandstorm and under Iraqi fire.

6:00 a.m., the British military says the city of Umm Qasr and its port are now firmly under coalition control.

7:00 a.m., British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces he'll visit the U.S. tomorrow to meet with President Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

8:45 a.m., Dr. Sanjay Gupta with the Marine Devil Docs says two huge medical tents have been blown over by fierce sandstorms.

9:00 am, U.S. Central Command says trenches in Baghdad are being have filled with oil and set aflame in an apparent attempt to provide cover against coalition attacks.

1:22 p.m. Eastern, 9:22 p.m. in Iraq, British Pool reporter Richard Gaisford, embedded with the United Kingdom troops in Basra, reports a popular uprising by Shiia residents against Iraqi troops. U.S. officials say it's more like chaos than anything else. 1:30 p.m., dolphins trained to hunt for mines at the Coronado naval base in California arrive in the port of Umm Qasr to support U.S. Navy demining operations.

1:55 p.m., 11 U.S. troops injured in Iraq arrive for treatment at Rammstein Air Base in Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That's CNN's Miles O'Brien reporting on the latest developments -- developments that occurred today. Let's move on now and talk about the soldiers injured in this war. Other families are waiting for word on loved ones who have been wounded on the battlefield.

But now I'm joined by Jennifer Grubb in El Paso, Texas. Her husband James is with the Army's 507th Maintenance which was ambushed over the weekend near Nasiriya. He was shot while several of his fellow soldiers were taken prisoner.

Jennifer, thanks so much for joining us. What is the army telling you about the condition of your husband?

JENNIFER GRUBB, WIFE OF WOUNDED SOLDIER: They said that he has been seriously injured, and he will more than likely have to undergo surgery.

BLITZER: Where is he right now?

GRUBB: I have no clue.

BLITZER: Is it -- you haven't obviously, had a chance to talk to him if he's in that serious condition, am I right.

GRUBB: Yes, I have. Yes, I have.

BLITZER: Well what did he say to him when you spoke to him.

GRUBB: He said he was shot in each arm. He was shot in one leg and he had shrapnel in the leg he was not shot in.

BLITZER: What was his spirit? Did he sound as if he's going to make a nice recovery?

GRUBB: Yes. He was fine. He could get up and walk around and he could speak on the phone.

BLITZER: I know you're holding your child over there as well. This must be an incredibly difficult ordeal for you. Did you ever assume that with your husband going over and the maintenance unit that he was in that he would be wounded in action?

GRUBB: No. Never.

BLITZER: What was the specific nature of his work?

GRUBB: I'm sorry?

BLITZER: What kind of work does he do in the army?

GRUBB: He is a diesel mechanic.

BLITZER: A diesel mechanic. So was he with those other soldiers who were taken prisoner by the Iraqis? Was that's the same 507th Maintenance Unit.

GRUBB: Yes, it is.

BLITZER: And he was injured in that same firefight, is that right?

GRUBB: Yes.

BLITZER: So, how does this affect you? What's going through your mind as you try to absorb this very difficult time? Thank god your husband is alive.

GRUBB: I'm thanking god my husband is alive, but I'm still feeling for the soldiers who were captured. I know we've been in this maintenance company for two years and they're like family to us.

BLITZER: Well, you have a strong family unit over there. Good luck to you. Good luck to your husband. Good luck to all members of the 507th.

Jennifer, thanks very much for joining us.

GRUBB: Thank you.

BLITZER: Well, we want to check in with CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti. She's in Georgia. Now she's outside the home of Ron Young's family, one of two Apache helicopter pilots being held by Iraq.

Susan, what can you tell us about the initial attempt to rescue the men?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll tell you about that after I let you know that a steady stream of visitors has kept this family fuzzy throughout the day. A day that was punctuated by a phone call to the parents of Ron Young from the army telling them about these two attempts to rescue both Ron Young, Jr., as well as his fellow pilot, David Williams. Both attempts, unfortunately failed. This happened, as you'll recall, at the Apache Longbow fell down to the ground because of a mechanical problem.

And the two attempts -- during those two attempts to rescue both pilots, the rescue crews came under heavy ground fire that in one case was so heavy that one of the rescue helicopters apparently started to catch fire. Now, the Army pilots were then surrounded by Iraqis. The Army told Young's parents that the pilots managed to stay hidden for a time, but, of course, eventually they were captured. Army told Young's father that the failed rescue attempt took a great toll on his fellow soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD YOUNG SR., FATHER OF POW: They said that they -- the whole battalion was really upset because they had to leave them two guys behind and I'm sure they did. I think they did what they had to do to try to get them. It was just they are coming against overwhelming odds at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Back at the house during the day a stranger delivered to the family a POW/Missing in action flag and the city donated both an American flag and a flag pole that's was installed by prisoners of the Douglas County jail. Now, At the base of the pole into the wet cement, a family friend wrote into that cement, "United we stand Chief (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Officier Ron Young," and the date of his capture. They are touched by all of the support they're receiving from the country and throughout the world. And hopes this will all lead to the safe return of all the POWs.

Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope, Susan Candiotti, thanks very much for that report. Our heart goes out to all of these families, of course.

I want to get back to the breaking news story that we reported just a few minutes ago. Our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon reporting that a huge battle is now under way, perhaps the largest battle of this war to date, near Karbala, that's not all that far away from Baghdad itself.

I want to bring in our military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Major General Don Shepperd.

You heard Barbara's report. This sounds like the biggest battle to date, the estimate 300 or more Iraqi soldiers have been killed.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Yes. Wolf, this is starting to make sense. Now, remember the Apaches that went down the other day on the attack the 11th helicopter regiment from the 5th Core went in ask they received extremely heavy fire. This was in the vicinity between Najaf and Karbala. Karbala is about 50 miles south of Baghdad and Najaf is about 95 miles south of Baghdad. And that's going on in the vicinity of Najaf. We had big sandstorms there so it's likely they'll be using cover in the, Iraqi I side to move during the sandstorms. Now, three to 500 dead.

It sounds like we could also be encountering the southern most element of the Medina Division, that is a division south of Baghdad. The helicopters ran into the second -- the Second Brigade of the Medina Division. A brigade is two to 3,000 troops. And it sounds three to 500 like these could be major elements of that division. It also could be a large collection of the Fedayeen that is fading into the towns that are being crossed through to harass the supply lines from the rear such as Nasiriyah and the other towns. We don't know which and probably will not find out until the weather clears, Wolf.

BLITZER: The weather is a factor, it obviously (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Iraqi military ability to see and fight. And it also has a direct impact on the U.S. ground forces who are moving in. They can't necessarily call in the kind of air support whether from Cobra or Apache helicopters or from A-10s to help them as the armor, the APC, the armored personnel carrier, or the heavy tanks move up.

SHEPPERD: That's exactly right. Weather is the friend and foe of both sides. It prevents visibility, it prevents air power in many cases especially when strong winds are working. But this is not unknown. The U.S. Military has the ability to fight in night, in day and all kinds of weather and all kinds of sand and through the smoke fire being lit around Baghdad. So we thought about this for along time. No matter what we encounter, U.S. forces basically will have the advantage over the Iraqis. But it's very logical to me that the Iraqis would take advantage of the sandstorm to get close to the United States forces and take advantage of the bad weather.

BLITZER: General Shepperd, we will touch back with you later, thanks very much for that analysis. Once again, CNN reporting breaking news, our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon that a huge battle is under way now near Karbala just north of Najaf on the road to Baghdad. Perhaps 300 to 500 Iraqi soldiers unclear from which unit whether Republican Guard or from the Fedayeen Saddam Unit, the irregulars, unclear who they're fighting right now, but this is now being built perhaps as the largest battle so far in the war in Iraq.

We'll give you continue to check all of those developments and get back to Barbara Starr and get back to our other reporters.

The president says Allied forces are moving forward in Iraq. And he wants the U.S. Congress to move forward with his new plan to pay for the war.

Let's go live to our senior White House correspondent, John King -- John.

JOHN KING, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president wants the Congress to act quickly in and get him that war emergency spending bill within three weeks. That would be very quick for the U.S. Congress, but Mr. Bush says that is necessary. He needs that money at a time the war is at a critical junction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): The president says Coalition troops are on a steady advance, but face more dangerous days just ahead.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're fighting an enemy that knows no rules of law, that is willing to kill in order to continue to reign of fear of Saddam Hussein.

KING: This Pentagon visit was to officially up veil a nearly $75 billion emergency war spending plan and to push the Congress to pass it quickly. BUSH: The money will cover the current cost of fueling of ships and aircraft, of tanks and of airlifting tons of supplies into the theater of operations.

KING: The emergency budget request covers six months spending. And is based on a rough Pentagon estimate that the most intense initial combat base will run about 30 days. But as forces prepare for decisive battles in Baghdad, the administration is shying away from any official timetable.

BUSH: We cannot know the duration of this war, yet we know its outcome. We will prevail.

KING: Mr. Bush promised food and medicine will soon be delivered to the Iraqi people. And National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was at the United Nations to discuss long-term humanitarian effort. And the U.S. plans for the running a post-war Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now there are huge stockpiles of humanitarian supplies, but little of it is flowing into Iraq as yet despite a promise by the president that that aid pipeline would be open by now. The White House says Iraq is to blame. The White House blaming Iraq's mining of a key harbor, other steps by the Iraqi regime, says the blame lies solely with Saddam Hussein, not with any bad coalition planning -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at White House, thanks. Important developments unfolding this, of course, as well.

Remember "Our Web Question of the Day" is this: do you think Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons? Please vote at cnn.com/wolf.

Continuing coverage of the war in Iraq including the changing public opinion in the United States. That's coming up immediately when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I just want to update our viewers on a breaking story. A huge battle is under way, perhaps the largest battle to date in the war in Iraq near Karbala on the road to Baghdad.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reporting perhaps as many as 300 to 500 Iraqi soldiers already killed in this battle. Unclear the extent of U.S. coalition casualties. We're monitoring this story. We'll have updates, of course, as we get them.

And as we watch the dramatic and rapid changes in the war, we're also watching American reaction. CNN's Maria Hinojosa is in New York with a look at what some people are saying -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN URBAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there were no demonstrations here in Times Square either for or against this war. But across the country very mixed, very divided, very strong opinions about this war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA (voice-over): The news is inescapable. War is in the air. In bright, quick streaks across the Times Square zippers and big, black type on the pages of the daily newspapers, people can't seem to keep their eyes off it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel personally that there's propaganda that exists on both sides. U.S. spin as well as Iraqi spin. I just hope it gets over quickly and our guys get home.

HINOJOSA: Now that those fuzzy green images have been replaced by the all-too clear images of war, real war. By the sad, scared faces of civilians caught in war. By the frightened looks of American POWs and soldiers racing into danger. And of ordinary people caught in the crossfire and on the run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of, you know, comes, you know, home. You know, it's personal now. When you see people initially it's easy when the war is not here to think that the war is almost like a game, like a video game.

But now that you see people are involved, you see names and these are our families, they are mothers, fathers, childrens, wives so it becomes personal.

HINOJOSA: All feeding the war at home, the constant debate on both sides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before it's just a paper war, but now that you actually see American names and casualties, it gives you the feeling that, you know, these are real people over there. Fighting for a cause that I don't personally believe in and I don't think they should be there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know bad was bad before and we know war is bad now and unfortunately we knew there would be some casualties.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA: Now in terms of the polls, still strong support for the war. Sixty-seven percent say they support the war, 31 percent are against. But 67 percent of Americans say they are closing watching this war. Many of them, perhaps, strengthening or changing their opinions depending on what they see -- Wolf.

BLITZER: In New York City, Maria, they come to see a lot -- expect a lot of these demonstrations. Is it unusual today that there were apparently no significant demonstrations?

HINOJOSA: Well, you know, Wolf, if you would have asked someone several months ago if demonstrations would have become the typical thing in New York, probably people would have who could have believe that? But yes, it is something of a respite. There have been demonstrations here in Times Square since the war began. So it is calm today. There are lots and lots of tourists, lots and lots of police just in case, though.

BLITZER: All right. Maria Hinojosa, our reporter in New York. Thank you very much, Maria.

The war of course is the subject of many newspaper editorial cartoons. CNN's Jeannie Moos will be taking a look -- takes a look at some of them in a segment we're calling "Drawing Fire."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNIE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saddam Hussein's recent TV appearances are "Drawing Fire" from those who draw for a living. "But you had the makeup artist executed," says a cartoon in the "Honolulu Star-Bulletin."

From the "Cincinnati Post," "Victory will be ours -- how was that take?"

Several cartoonists were taken with Saddam's resemblance to Groucho Marx. If you're hooked on the war coverage, you'll appreciate Walt Handelsman's view, "Mom and Dad are embedded with the troops."

Al-Jazeera and Saddam Hussein make for not such strange embedded fellows in the "Oregonian" while Al-Jazeera is portrayed as a buzzard by cartoonist John Cole because the Arab network showed footage of dead American soldiers.

As for all those embedded reporters rattling off military lingo...

CHRIS KLINE, FOX NEW CORRESPONDENT: Returning Iraqi AAA...

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The cash missions, the close air support missions...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then at a distance we can see the FLRS rockets.

MOOS: Cartoonist Stuart Carlson depicts a jargon-spewing reporter with a viewer's laconic comment, "Good to see he hasn't been co-opted."

Overseas, the "Daily Tribune" in the Philippines showed a missile with the caption, "Say hello to American democracy."

The French paper "Le Monde" portrayed Iraqis greeting Coalition tanks by waving skulls. The caption reads, "The overjoyed crowd."

And from the "Christian Science Monitor", a kid watching the bombing says, "Gosh, I sure hope nobody ever liberates us."

"USA Today" showed Oscar spitting on American POWs. The Dixie Chicks drew fire from the "Dallas Morning News." "Using pigeons to test for poison gas is bad enough, but calling us Dixie Chicks, that hurt."

As for filmmaker Michael Moore's anti-war comments...

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: Shame on you, Mr. Bush!

MOOS: "The New York Post" depicts Moore as a missile. "Incoming!"

Jeannie Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on "Our Web Question of the Day." Remember we've been asking you this, do you think Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons? Seventy-nine percent of you say yes, 21 percent of you say no. Remember this, is not a scientific poll.

And please stay with CNN throughout the night for up to the minute war coverage. Much more coming up on the huge battle unfolding right now south of Baghdad.

Until then thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Kuwait City. I'll be back in one hour for two hours of special coverage with Aaron Brown. For the latest, though we hand it over right now to Lou Dobbs who's going to continue our coverage of the war in Iraq.

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