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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Myers: All Chiefs Support the War Plan

Aired April 01, 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: You're looking at a live picture of downtown Baghdad. It's 2 a.m. in the morning there. This is when the residents have come to expect air raid sirens, anti-aircraft fire and U.S. bombs and missiles. We're watching the skies over Baghdad.
And this is a live picture of Kuwait City, which was targeted by two more Iraqi missiles earlier today. Neither caused any damage. One was intercepted by a Patriot air defense missile.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight live from Kuwait City.

Today the ring around Baghdad is closing in. In our headlines from the Persian Gulf, coalition and Iraqi forces are shoring up their respective battle lines, preparing for the assault on the capital, but at the same time the Pentagon's top brass is lashing out, firing back at armchair generals and reporters who question the war plans.

Those stories in just a moment, first a breaking story we're following back in the United States. CNN's Heidi Collins is in the CNN newsroom.

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Heidi. As we mentioned at the top of the program, the top brass stateside have launched a counterattack at critics of the U.S. war plan.

Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, now that news reports quoting anonymous officers in the field on the front lines in Iraq are fueling this criticism that perhaps the Pentagon sent too few troops to stop the war with Iraq, the frustration here at the Pentagon has reached the boiling point.

Today Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was asked about the "New York Times" report in which a colonel was quoted as saying that Rumsfeld wanted to have war on the cheap. Before he could answer, his top military adviser General Richard Myers, jumped to his defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: It is not helpful to have those kind of comments come out when we've got troops in combat. Because first of all they're false, they're absolutely wrong. They bear no resemblance to the truth and it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely, very courageously.

I've been in this process every step of the way, as well. There is not one thing that General Franks hasn't asked for that he hasn't gotten on a timeline that he asked for. And I wasn't because of a late signing. It might be because we didn't have, you know, a ship or something. But I mean, it's not -- it's been for mechanical reasons, not because of administrative reasons, I can guarantee you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld said while he had input into war plan it was the creation of general Tommy Franks and that everybody in the chain of command signed off on it, at the same time he said in no way was that to be seen as distancing himself from the plan.

Meanwhile, Rumsfeld attempted to put the focus back on what's happening in the war, noting that Republican Guard divisions around Baghdad have been pounded for days. He said some of the Republican Guard units from the north have been brought to the south to reinforce units in the south. He said those units have been badly weakened.

The process goes on. He said they're being attacked from the air. They're being pursued from the ground and Rumsfeld said in good time, they won't be there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

Let's move on now to the leadership of the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Since a March 20 air strike on a Baghdad compound bunker, the Iraqi president has only been seen on videotape.

So an announcement that Saddam Hussein would address his nation was seen as a chance to prove he's either alive and well or perhaps not. But appearing instead was Iraq's information minister, Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf, who read a brief statement he said was written directly by Saddam Hussein.

It calls on the Iraqis and others to sacrifice themselves in a holy war. The deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, later appeared on Lebanese television, vowing that Iraq would be victorious against U.S.-led invaders.

And vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan also went on Lebanese television, lashing out at Arab nations that have aided the U.S.-led coalition. He singled out the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud Al- Faisal who's called on Saddam Hussein to step down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN, IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): I tell you, you loser, you are too small to say any word about our leader, Saddam Hussein, or about our Arab nation. And you, and people like you, are the ones that have to leave our Arab land.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: So what does all this mean? Especially the no-show by Saddam Hussein? What does it all tell us? Can we read anything between the lines of the statement read on Iraqi television?

Joining me now, CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, who until very recently was in the Iraqi capital. He is now near the Iraqi border in Ruwayshid in Jordan.

Nic, what does it tell us?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I think it's very difficult to try and figure out why the Iraqi leader, President Saddam Hussein, didn't make this address himself. It's quite possible that he chose to not do it for security reasons. It's quite possible because there was such a religious connotation in the message that he felt that it was wasn't appropriate for him to do it.

He may, of course, just not plain -- not be available to come and do the interview. So that may also have been the reason.

But what was very, very, very clear, a very straightforward message, a very simple message to the Iraqi people and particularly to the religious-minded, the very faithful in Iraq that now there is a foreign invader their land. It is a religious duty, their religious responsibility to rise up in arms in a Jihad against that foreign invader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): The religious men with all their fatwas today they all concur that the invaders and the aggressors is what they are doing is an aggression on religion and self and on the Islamic nation.

Therefore, jihad is a duty and whoever dies will be rewarded by heaven. And God will be satisfied with their sacrifice. Take your chance. This is what God requested from you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now this type of message is going to resonate more with those who hold their religious teachings close to their heart. Likely the Iraqi leadership here appealing to the Shiia community in the south of Iraq. They're the majority in the south of Iraq, appealing to them to fight against the coalition forces at this time.

This is pretty much a new message that we're hearing from the Iraqi leadership. It was reinforced, as well, by Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, in his interview with a Lebanese broadcaster, saying that why did the coalition forces think that the Shiia would help them? He said that who informed them? Why did he think that because there was a revolt in 1991 following the Gulf War that it would happen this time?

He said that 1991 post-Gulf War revolt was not by the Shiia community, but by outside forces. Tariq Aziz said that the Shiia leaders were in line with the Iraqi leaders, that they were all one, they were all Iraqi people.

And Tariq Aziz went on to say that at this time Iraqi forces control the cities and they control all the areas in Iraq that they want to control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are confident that we will have victory. You ask me how? When you defeat the aggression, that victory, we are not going to go and confront them in the desert. We will be victorious in our land, on the aggressors and the invaders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, we've also heard from Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, from the defense ministry spokesman today, all saying the same thing, that Iraq will be victorious and that they control their cities at this time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson reporting live for us. Nic, thanks very much.

There's been additional fighting around Basra and there's talk about additional fighting not only near Baghdad, but directly in Baghdad. Let's take a look at today's battle lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over) In the crosshairs of allied forces, Iraq's two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra. First, Baghdad. The allies are focusing on the Iraqi capital. CENTCOM officials say battle plans call for a move on the city in the coming days and weeks.

Walter Rodgers, with the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry less than 60 miles away, says that unit is being reinforced by other troops freed up from elsewhere to join the push. But Pentagon officials say Iraqi Republican Guard divisions are also being reinforced, shoring up defensive positions south of the capital.

CNN has told General Tommy Franks the top allied commander has been given authority to decide when to move toward Baghdad.

In Basra, flares go up over the city. At least one large explosion is reported. CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports fierce fighting between British and Iraqi forces around the city.

The British are operating in the southern and western outskirts, but resistance is intense.

In south central Iraq, U.S. forces still trying to root out pockets of resistance around Nasiriyah with door-to-door searches by Marines and special operations forces, destroying buildings believed to house local commanders. In the north, Biara (ph) near the border with Iran. New pictures of the capture of a compound allegedly belonging Ansar Al Islam, a group linked by the U.S. to al Qaeda.

It's the first major battlefield operation where Kurdish forces fight side by side with U.S. special operations troops.

An American in that unit claims a startling discovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have found various documents, equipment, et cetera, that would indicate a presence of chemical and/or biological weapons.

BLITZER: In western Iraq an Iraqi official claims the U.S. warplane fires on two buses carrying human shields, including Americans. The Iraqi says many are injured. U.S. central command is investigating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Here's your chance to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you have confidence in the Pentagon's war plan?" 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 where you can read my daily online column. And I'm writing one every day from here in Kuwait: CNN.com/Wolf.

U.S. troops trying to isolate the city of An Najaf still face fierce resistance. U.S.-led troops moving north toward Baghdad have spent much of their time rooting out fighters of Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath Party and his loyal paramilitary militia, the so-called Fedayeen Saddam.

Members of the 101st Airborne Division made advances in the city today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ryan Chilcote with the 101st Airborne in the central city of Najaf, Iraq.

Well, the 1st Brigade, 2nd Battalion, better known as No Slack, sent more than 500 troops into the outskirts of An Najaf. The troops encountering no resistance moving from street to street, house to house with zero casualties.

An Najaf has, of course, been a problem for U.S. troops. There was a suicide bombing here not too long ago that killed four U.S. servicemen. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ryan Chilcote reporting from the 101st Airborne Division.

So far a U.S.-led assault on Baghdad from the north hasn't happened, in fact it's hardly gotten off the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Jane Arraf in Kalak. After a day-long lull, more bombing into the night of Iraqi positions behind, the Iraqi front line as well as the city of Mosul. And we're seeing and hearing loud explosions from that direction, as well as explosions from the major city of Kirkuk.

Now, this was to have been where there was going to be a second front, a northern front with tens of thousands of ground troops from Turkey. That hasn't happened, obviously.

The big obtrusion was the refusal to allow those troops, and so far it has been confined to bombing campaigns from the air. But U.S. forces are continuing to come into the north. Not in huge numbers, but at the Harir airfield, they're continuing to build up that base, securing the perimeter, they has very high security as well as patrolling and bringing in equipment such as armored vehicles and other equipment they need to bring in even more forces.

Iraqi missile, one of the very few fired into Kurdish-controlled territories. This one, near the administrative capital of Salaam Adim (ph), left a huge crater, missile fragments and some damage, but no injuries.

People in the small town have fled from the larger cities, thinking it was safer. It was a reminder that this war could take many unpredictable turns. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jane Arraf, reporting from north -- northern Iraq. Thanks, Jane, very much.

We have a lot of news coming up on the war in Iraq as well, as breaking news back in the United States, including this, a plane quarantined for fear of a deadly disease. We'll go live to San Jose, California, where some 140 people have been sitting on the tarmac for several hours. Have some of them have been infected with the mystery illness?

Plus, rescued from the Persian Gulf: a Navy crew plucked out of the water to safety. It's a dramatic development.

And the road to Baghdad apparently keeps getting shorter. The latest from the 7th Cavalry as it pushes the front lines forward.

All that, but first these striking images from the Associated Press.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As coalition troops advance on the ground, coalition aircraft continue to pound away at Iraqi targets.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is joining us now live. He's at an air base not far from Iraq. Gary, what's the latest?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, talk to Air Force pilots of this base and ask them what they're most proud of and most of them will say protecting the troops on the ground. They've been doing a lot of that.

The Air Force is saying the most recent bombing missions, 85 percent of them are being done to protect ground troops. Lots of sorties over the last 24 hours, a total of 2,000 over Iraq.

Now today we actually went out on a sortie with the Air Force; this is aboard HC-130. It's a refueling plane, but today its mission was to transport. They were taking seven helicopter mechanics to a base in Iraq. It's an Iraqi air base that was taken over by the coalition last week in Talil and they are now bringing helicopters and attack planes to the base for refueling and staging.

The idea down the road is to make it a permanent base as this war is fought for the coalition.

Aboard this plane that we went on, we want to cross Iraqi desert at an altitude of 250 feet. This is 400 miles per hour going 250 feet above the ground. The reason, to evade Iraqi radar. No coalition planes have been shot down, but shots have been fired with artillery by the Iraqis and the coalition wants to keep it that way that all of the coalition planes are safe.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman at a base not far from Iraq. Thanks very much, we'll be checking back with you.

Meanwhile, Jason Bellini is on the front lines as well. He's one of our embedded correspondents.

Jason, what are you seeing and what are you doing right now?

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I'm in Nasiriyah, the scene of extensive action taking place at this moment, and ongoing, it's an evening assault that's going on on the city.

So far we've seen cover helicopters firing from the sky, no rounds being fired taking key locations in this city by the Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And is it -- does it look like it's a serious firefight under way or just more of the same skirmishes, as far as you can tell?

BELLINI: Well, it's very hard to tell, but what makes this different, Wolf, is that this is an offensive action, a preplanned offensive action to deal with these problems that have been so ongoing. And we've been talking to our colonel here, who's told us that they're shifting strategy in how to deal with the problems of these militia groups and the new strategy is to an (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and extensive approach to go in and try to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BLITZER: All right, Jason, unfortunately, we're beginning to lose your connection, your phone connection. We'll be checking back with you, but Jason Bellini, one of our embedded correspondents, not far from Nasiriyah, reporting on a significant development there. We'll get back to Jason when we can.

We have much more coverage coming up on the latest developments in the war in Iraq, but first a story making headlines back in the United States right now, indeed a story making headlines around the world.

This plane was met by ambulances at the San Jose, California, airport earlier today after a flight from Tokyo. Five people on the plane complained of symptoms similar to SARS, the respiratory illness blamed for sickening 1,800 people in recent weeks.

We have live reports from San Jose and from the CNN medical -- our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, but let's start with CNN's Rusty Dornin. She's on the scene for us in San Jose.

Rusty, tell us what happened.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Flight 128 from Tokyo to San Jose is still sitting on the tarmac right at the gate. The passengers have been unloaded. They've gone through customs and hopefully gotten to their destinations.

And what we know is that during the flight, one of the passengers had complained of not feeling well and the pilot was informed. Now he followed a protocol that was instituted on March 14. He did alert the folks here on the ground when the plane did land, they did quarantine the plane. Apparently five people were exhibiting some of the symptoms of SARS.

One of the health officials here in Santa Clara County boarded the plane, determined that two of the people only had a dry cough. They did not think there was anything to do with SARS. They were cleared. Three people were taken by ambulance through the local medical center.

Now we spoke with several passengers as they came off the plane. Many of them said that they were not concerned. There was no panic on the plane, and even a passenger who was sitting very close to the three passengers in question said it was no big deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told us that they would be calling us in the next 10 to 14 days to see if we're still alive and well and if we had any symptoms, contact your doctors at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they gave us a little sheet that says it's a health notice and says...

(END VIDEO CLIP) DORNIN: There are 72 cases in the U.S. Only seven of those have been through close contact. The others had to go to the region. Still unclear whether these three people in the hospital were in the region or not. They say they are being evaluated -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Rusty Dornin on the scene for us in San Jose, thanks very much.

With more on SARS and the growing concern in the United States surrounding it, we go to our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. She's at the CDC center, at the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the CDC tells us this is not the first time they have taken six people off of planes in the U.S. because they are concerned that they have SARS.

What you see here in San Jose has indeed happened before and this, they say, is one of the reasons why SARS has not expanded in this country as it has in other countries.

Let's talk a little bit about what SARS is. The CDC says they are now 90 percent sure that it is caused by a never before seen strain of the corona virus. The corona virus also causes common colds and other diseases. They say now that they're almost completely sure that this their is a strain of the corona virus, they can get to work on trying to figure out what kind of antiviral drug might actually treat it.

Now here at the CDC today they gave us a tour of their emergency operations center. This is a center which is made to deal with just cases like this. At the EOC right now all they're doing is dealing with SARS. They're getting lots of phone calls, as you can imagine, from people all over the country saying I'm worried, do I have SARS?

In order to try to answer that question, let's take a look at what some of the symptoms of SARS are. Some of the symptoms are fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, chills, headache and body aches, respiratory difficulties and cough, and -- and this last part is so important -- and if you have traveled to a region where SARS is rampant.

In other words, if you've traveled to Hong Kong, if you've traveled to Hanoi, if you've traveled to Singapore. If you have not traveled to one of those countries and you don't have close contact to someone who has, then you probably do not have SARS -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen with the latest on this mysterious disease. Thanks very much, we'll continue to monitor what's going on, get updates as they become available.

Much more coverage of the war in Iraq, though. The Marines, the U.S. Marines, go door to door in the hunt for enemies and friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Saddam, no Saddam. Good, America. Good, America!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll take you to the front lines where civilians and fighters are hard to tell apart.

Plus, flares over Basra. Flares light up the sky over Iraq's second largest city. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A close call today for two crewmen of a U.S. Navy jet on the USS Constellation, the aircraft carrier.

After landing on the carrier, the S3D Viking veered off the deck and dropped into the Persian Gulf. The two crewmen ejected and were rescued by Navy divers, who were in a helicopter hovering nearby. Both suffered only minor injuries.

A crewman on the ship explained how the rescue was carried out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the wreckage and hovered over the wreckage and looked for the survivors. First we did not see any survivors and then we saw two survivors. Paster Diaz (ph) was our hoist operator in the back. He saw the two survivors and about the same time one of them came up on the radio and told us that he was right behind us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A Navy spokesman says the plane may have had brake problems or some other malfunction.

Nine American soldiers wounded in combat in Iraq arrived at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany earlier today. Also onboard the C-141 transport plane was 15 other troops who officials say are suffering from non-combat-related injuries. All were taken to a medical center.

The Pentagon says at last count, 46 U.S. military personnel have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, eight of them in non-combat situations. Sixteen Americans are listed as missing in action, and the number held by Iraq as prisoners of war stands at seven.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the Jeep (ph) teams of the 1st Battalion 7th Marines, much of Iraq is viewed through the sight of a gun. These highly mobile, heavily-armed Jeeps are one of the crucial units that have been hitting American forces and the supply lines.

This platoon, known as Cap Blue, prepares to move in on an industrial complex. The area's been looked at before, but this time the team has the risky job of going building to building. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we drop them off use your weapons to cover your dismounts. They don't need to do a detailed search. They just need to be hasty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marines on foot make forced entries into a maze of rooms and offices. It is something they have trained long and hard at, but this time it is real.

As the Marines push on to the next buildings, they are watched over by the mounted patrols. Next come warehouses, each one a potential dark hiding place for those trying to avoid the U.S. military sweep through the area.

The Marines encounter a group of Iraqi men, who are detained until they can be searched.

Even this has its risks. An officer tells a young Marine to make sure he hands over his own weapon, so that it can't be used against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any knives or anything on you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative, sir.

SAVIDGE: The searches are done methodically. The Marines are looking for military ID cards or papers that would suggest these men are more than just innocent civilians.

One man, using broken English, makes his feelings plain about the Iraqi regime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Saddam, no Saddam! Good America, good America!

SAVIDGE: In the end, Camp Blue pulls out, the only thing having been shot at them, a friendly wave good-bye.

Martin Savidge, CNN, with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, central Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And here's a look at today's most vivid scenes from the war.

Iraqis grabbed for aid packages as they were handed out in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan. That's right across the border from Kuwait. Despite the pandemonium, British officials say, the area is secure, and troops there have replaced their combat helmets with berets.

Pictures from Abu Dhabi TV show some of the damage done by fighting. Officials say U.S. special forces assisted Kurdish troops fighting Ansar al-Islam militants in northern Iraq.

The White House, meanwhile, is still looking for proof that Saddam Hussein is indeed alive. Officials say a statement read on Iraqi television earlier today did not provide that proof.

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

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a relatively low-key day here. We have not seen the president. He has a number of private meetings in the Oval Office, but no public events.

But on the point you just noted, the White House joining the Pentagon in what you might call an intriguing round of theater here. The White House almost daring Saddam Hussein to come out in some sort of a live broadcast to prove that he is still alive.

The White House noting that the videotaped statements by Saddam Hussein that have been shown on Iraqi television have no way of verifying that they have been taped since the war, and also noting this statement by the Iraqi information minister today, was initially billed as a speech from Saddam Hussein. Instead, the Iraqi information minister read what he said was a speech from the Iraqi leader.

White house officials almost, again, daring the Iraqi leader to come out and somehow prove he's still alive. Some in the White House believe perhaps Saddam Hussein was killed or at least seriously wounded in that cruise missile strike in the residential area the first night of the war.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, today saying when Mr. Bush constantly says that the days of the Saddam Hussein regime are numbered, that does not necessarily mean that the president believes the Iraqi leader himself is still alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As the president has always said, and members of the administration have said, when asked, and Saddam alive? we said, we don't know, because we do not know The fact that he failed to show up for his scheduled appearance today raises additional questions.

But I think it's also fair to say, given the fact that we don't know if he's alive or not, when the president refers or other people in the administration refer to Saddam Hussein this, or Saddam Hussein that, it's almost now a generalized term for the Iraqi regime, because we don't know if he's alive or dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Ari Fleischer also joining the top Pentagon officials today in offering yet another spirited defense of the U.S. war plan. His language, though, not as colorful as the language offered by General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called the critics of the plan, quote, "bogus."

Here at the White House, Ari Fleischer says the president believes steady progress is being made. Again, Wolf, the president had no public schedule today. That is the plan for tomorrow, no public events.

But on Thursday, Mr. Bush scheduled to travel to Camp Lejeune, a key Marine base here in the United States, to thank the troops there, thank the troops from Camp Lejeune who have been sent overseas, and most of all, the White House says, to thank the military families for their support as the war unfolds, Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much.

The 7th Cavalry on the road to Baghdad. The distance between U.S. troops and the Iraqi capital keeps getting shorter. We'll take you directly to the front lines.

Also, as John just mentioned, the Pentagon battle plan. It's come under fire for falling short of expectations. But do critics have it all wrong? We'll take a much closer look.

And Arab backlash. With the war provoking so much anger, will Americans be any safer after the war?

We'll have that and much more, but first, these images from the Associated Press.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Welcome back to CNN's continuing coverage of the war in Iraq.

The 7th Cavalry on the road to Baghdad. Our Walter Rodgers will have a report.

But first, for the latest headlines, let's go back to CNN's Heidi Collins in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta -- Heidi.

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Heidi.

I want to go back to our Jason Bellini. He's one of our embedded journalists. He is just outside Nasiriyah, the key southern Iraqi city, where there appears to be, Jason, some sort of military offensive under way? Update our viewers. Tell us what's going on.

BELLINI: That's right, Wolf. This is an offensive (UNINTELLIGIBLE) been planned. It's going on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- fire (UNINTELLIGIBLE) explosions (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BLITZER: All right, Jason, I'm going to interrupt you, because we got a bad connection. We're going to fix that connection. An important development happening in Nasiriyah. We're going to get that technical glitch worked out, and we'll get back to Jason Bellini in a few moments.

In the meantime, there are increasing signs U.S. forces soon may resume their journey on the road to Baghdad.

CNN's Walter Rodgers with the Army's 3-7th Cavalry has details. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing now are increasing indications both here on the ground and in other news reports that the focus of the land war will soon be Baghdad. Here's how we come to that conclusion.

First, there's that continuous pounding of the Medina Division by the Air Force south of Baghdad. The Medina Division, according to some sources, Air Force sources, has now been degraded by Air Force bombing by at least 50, perhaps upwards of 70 percent. That means the southern defenses of Baghdad have been weakened.

Again, gradually the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division has pushed northward. It crossed the Euphrates River yesterday below Al Hilla (ph), and the 7th Cavalry, again, as long -- as well as the 3rd Infantry Division, is now within 50 to 60 miles of the southern suburbs of Baghdad.

Again, all signs focused, especially with more and more U.S. troops coming ashore in Kuwait, the 4th Infantry Division, that there's going to be a major push toward Baghdad in the not-too-distant future.

The reason, of course, being, you can see all those troops coming ashore. They'll be pouring into Iraq. And, again, the Air Force bombing around Baghdad. Everything hints to a change in focus coming in the coming days and weeks on Baghdad. It will be the entire focus of the war, Baghdad will be the endgame.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CNN's Walter Rodgers, he's embedded. He's covering this war. He's moving closer, closer towards Baghdad.

And despite continued resistance in the south, the main battle line now appears to be, as we just saw, in central Iraq, with element of the 1st Marines, the Army's 3rd Infantry, and the 101st Airborne Division massing on one side, and Iraq's elite Republican Guard divisions on the other, many of them having repositioned from northern positions.

As coalition troops prepare for a push on Baghdad, why are they finding other cities so hard to capture? I'll ask our military analyst, General Wesley Clark.

And two Arab nations traditionally allied with the United States. The backlash to this war on the street, and why American leaders are worried.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we mentioned, the Defense Department is fiercely defending its plan amid criticism that it's seriously flawed. Here's what Joint Chiefs chairman General Richard Myers had to say in a briefing with reporters earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: It is not helpful to have those kind of comments come out when we got troops in combat, because, first of all, they're false. They're absolutely wrong, they bear no resemblance to the truth. And it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely, very courageously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now to talk a little bit more about the war strategy, our military analyst, retired Army General Wesley Clark.

Well, what do you make of what General Myers was just -- just said earlier today about the conduct of this war, the war plan, and the whole notion that criticizing it in the middle of a war is a bad idea?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, a couple of things, Wolf. First of all, I think the troops and all the people over there, the commanders, have done an absolutely superb job, a sensational job. And I think the results speak for themselves.

Secondly, I think it's very unfair and difficult for anyone to criticize a war plan without ever having been involved in the planning process and knowing what's going on. This happened to me when I was commanding in Kosovo, and there were people back here sharpshooting. And they didn't understand the circumstances. They didn't understand the reasons for going after Kosovo the way we did. And they didn't understand what was going to behind the scenes.

So I think that anybody that criticizes has to understand he probably doesn't have all the facts he needs.

Third, you know, it is a democracy, people are going to say what they tend to say. I have my sympathy so with the troops, I'll tell you that, because they've got a tough battle to fight, and I think they're doing it really well.

BLITZER: All right. Let's move on, general, talk about some other issues, specifically Saddam Hussein. He didn't make an appearance on television today. The other appearance is clearly videotape. We don't know if he's alive or dead. What do you make of all of this?

CLARK: My guess is, it -- and it's only a guess -- is that he's still there and in control, because I can't imagine that this state would hang together under all the pressure, given his personal rule of the state, if he weren't there somewhere. But he's a very cagey guy. He's watched Osama bin Laden play with us like this. He watched Osama bin Laden duck and keep people guessing.

He probably thinks that that's the way to string things along. And the fact that he announced he'd be at a press conference and doesn't show up, he's probably checking to see if the press conference is going to be struck by coalition air, whether he's safe. He's trying to find out how information about his location was reported to the coalition in the first place.

So he's got a lot of different games he's playing. I wouldn't want to operate on the assumption that he wasn't in charge.

BLITZER: And if he were dead, presumably, we would know about that in some sort of way.

What about the Iraqi cities in the south, in the center, Nasiriyah, Basra? They seemed so hard to capture, which raises the question, if those smaller cities, controlled by Shi'ites, are so hard to capture, what about the big ones, like Baghdad?

CLARK: Well, Wolf, urban fighting is very difficult. But there are some things to keep in mind here with the smaller cities. A, we're using -- we're trying to work against these cities in a way that we don't cause undue destruction, that we don't cause a lot of civilian casualties, and that we don't take a lot of risks ourselves.

So we're going at this thing in the most gentle possible way to avoid their interference to cities that -- the control of the cities, avoiding having that interfere with the operation against Baghdad.

The point of focus of the operation is still on Baghdad. That's the objective, and I think General Franks and the team over there have been very clear that they're going to maintain that focus. They're going to do only as much as is necessary right now in these other cities.

So I wouldn't read too much into the fact that it's slow going. That's not necessarily a bad thing at this point.

BLITZER: All right, general, stand by. I want to get back to you, but I want to have our viewers, who may want to catch up on all the latest developments, have a little bit of a recap.

For that, let's go to CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine eleven a.m. Eastern time, CNN's Martin Savidge, traveling with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, offers up new video of the Marines searching an industrial complex in south central Iraq. It's part of their campaign against paramilitary units, so-called death squads, that are disrupting coalition supply lines.

Eleven-oh-five a.m., CNN's Barbara Starr reporting from the Pentagon. General Tommy Franks, chief of the U.S. Central Command, has been given authority to decide when to move on Baghdad, without waiting for an OK from the president or the secretary of defense.

Eleven-fifteen a.m. Nine U.S. troops injured in combat arrive at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Noon Eastern time, 9:00 p.m. in Baghdad, Iraq's information ministry urges Iraqis to take their chance for immortality by fighting U.S.-led troops.

One-thirty p.m. Eastern time, four journalists who disappeared from a Baghdad hotel a week ago turn up safe in Jordan. A reporter and photographer from "Newsday" and two other freelance photographers are reported in good health.

Two-thirty-one p.m. Eastern, Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers says two Iraqi Republican Guard divisions around Baghdad have been reduced to about half their fighting capability by U.S. air, artillery, and ground attacks.

Two-fifty-eight p.m., Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in Turkey to talk about continued cooperation in the war in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Miles O'Brien with the latest development.

When we come back, it's called the Arab street, and it's plenty angry in two countries the U.S. is counting on for support. The backlash to this war in Egypt and Jordan when we return.

And three American journalists missing for the past week in Iraq. Find out their fate. All that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Objections around the world. American and British flags were burned at a demonstration in Cairo, just one day after the country's president warned the war in Iraq could produce 100 Osama bin Ladens. Protests also in Turkey, which borders Iraq to the north. This demonstration came shortly before the arrival of the secretary of state, Colin Powell.

Hundreds of Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan, voiced their opposition to the war, calling it a U.S. crusade against Islam. A number of children took part, and the protesters called for a boycott of American products.

And in Paris, the extreme climber known as Spider-Man scaled a 47-story building to protest the U.S.-led campaign. He told reporters, and I'm quoting now, "I find the war completely illegal."

Are the protests across the Middle East just the beginning of an Arab backlash?

For more on the fallout from the war in Iraq, let's go live to our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, most of the analysts believe that the longer the war goes, the more fallout there will be in the neighboring countries and in other Muslim countries.

It is clearly growing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): They are some of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in the Arab world. In Egypt, in Jordan, governments are allowing people to vent their anger at the U.S. while working hard to retain control.

SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I'm more than concerned. I think that there's -- we're on a very close edge in places like Egypt and Jordan and even Indonesia, other places, where the size of the demonstrations are about to overwhelm the ability of the government's police to control them.

ENSOR: A new factor this time is Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV, and the other satellite channels in the Middle East. They play and replay dramatic images of civilians presumably hurt by American forces.

GEOFFREY KEMP, NIXON CENTER: The danger to these regimes, I think, grows the longer this conflict goes on on television, day in, day out, throughout the Arab world. They're pretty well protected. But this is their worst nightmare, a protracted war on television, with the Arab street in uproar.

ENSOR: Some argue the Arab media, much of it under government influence or control, is trying to inflame opposition to the U.S., because other Arab governments, all of them undemocratic, do not want to see Saddam Hussein's regime fall. They don't like the implications.

AZIZ AL-TAEE, IRAQI-AMERICAN COUNCIL: There is a feeling in this government that if this dictatorship goes, we could be next. And so they're putting all their energy -- they don't show us on that TV, but all Syrian dictator, Egyptian, Saudi Arabia, all of them, putting a lot of resources in the media to try to prevent the fall of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: most expect neighboring governments to stay in power, but some worry about the cost. If the war goes on for long, governments friendly to the U.S. may have to consider using increasingly repressive measures to retain control, Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor, thanks very much for that report.

Missing in Iraq, a dangerous predicament, of course, these days. Now we know the fate of three American journalists. That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: They disappeared only a week ago, a group of journalists last seen at a Baghdad hotel. They are now safe and sound in Jordan.

"Newsday" reporter Matthew McAllester and photographer Moises Saman say they were seized by Iraqi security. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MCALLESTER, "NEWSDAY": We were in Abugrai (ph) Prison for seven or eight days. There were no specific charges. They -- it wasn't much fun, but we were not physically hurt. And we were very happy to be out.

But the single most important thing is that we understand that there were many people who were trying their very hardest to get us out, and I think I speak for everyone that we're all incredibly grateful. And we'll really quite, you know, happy to talk later, but we're -- we're a bit tired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Photographer Molly Bingham, who once worked for Vice President Al Gore in the White House, also made it out. Her family, needless to say, is relieved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was pretty stunned and just totally overjoyed. I could hardly believe the news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining me from Washington once again, Molly's cousin, Clara Bingham. We spoke earlier in the way. What have you heard from Molly, Clara?

CLARA BINGHAM, MOLLY BINGHAM'S COUSIN: Well, at 1:15 Eastern time, she called my uncle, Barry Bingham, and had a very brief conversation. She said that she was safe. They were just driving across the Jordanian border at that time. And she said that she had had a very rough week and had been in prison, and that was about all he got from her.

I think they may be speaking on the phone soon, but he was so overjoyed just to hear that she was alive. That was all he needed to know.

BLITZER: Did she say she was basically physically OK, though, even though...

BINGHAM: Yes, she said she was fine.

BLITZER: ... she must have had a harrowing experience?

BINGHAM: Exactly, she said that she was...

BLITZER: Well, that's the most...

BINGHAM: ... fine, and that...

BLITZER: ... that's the most important thing.

BINGHAM: ... she's safe.

BLITZER: Did she give any...

BINGHAM: Exactly.

BLITZER: ... details of specifically what happened? Did she say why they came and took her and these two other journalists into this prison?

BINGHAM: No, she didn't, and we still are assuming it's because they suspected she may have been a spy. She had two satellite phones and White House phone numbers in her address book, and that's the only reason why we can assume they did this instead of expelling her. But we've not gotten confirmation from her yet.

BLITZER: And any word on why they released these three journalists?

BINGHAM: No, that's what we are so curious about. And we -- I don't even know if they know themselves. But we're so thankful to all of the organizations, like the Committee to Protect Journalists and the ICRC and organizations like yours, CNN, for reporting about the fact that they were missing. And I wonder if maybe it was a confluence of events, or maybe the Iraqis just made their own decision to release them. We don't know.

BLITZER: Clara, congratulations to you, to the entire Bingham family. We are thrilled that Molly is out, these two "Newsday" reporters are out as well. Thank you very much...

BINGHAM: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: ... for joining us. We'll be speaking with Molly, hopefully very, very soon.

This just in, we are standing by for some sort of statement that we expect to be coming from the U.S. Central Command temporary headquarters at Camp Asalia (ph). That's right outside of Doha, Qatar. We don't know what it's all about. CNN, of course, will have coverage. That's expected in the next few moments. It will be coming up, of course, with Lou Dobbs. Stay tuned for that.

Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Remember, we've been asking you this question. Do you have confidence in the Pentagon's war plan? Sixty-one percent of you say yes, 39 percent of you say no. This is not a scientific poll.

That's it for me. Let's go to Lou Dobbs right now. I'll be back, Lou, in one hour, for two hours of special coverage with Paula Zahn. In the meantime, here's Lou.

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







Aired April 1, 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: You're looking at a live picture of downtown Baghdad. It's 2 a.m. in the morning there. This is when the residents have come to expect air raid sirens, anti-aircraft fire and U.S. bombs and missiles. We're watching the skies over Baghdad.
And this is a live picture of Kuwait City, which was targeted by two more Iraqi missiles earlier today. Neither caused any damage. One was intercepted by a Patriot air defense missile.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight live from Kuwait City.

Today the ring around Baghdad is closing in. In our headlines from the Persian Gulf, coalition and Iraqi forces are shoring up their respective battle lines, preparing for the assault on the capital, but at the same time the Pentagon's top brass is lashing out, firing back at armchair generals and reporters who question the war plans.

Those stories in just a moment, first a breaking story we're following back in the United States. CNN's Heidi Collins is in the CNN newsroom.

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Heidi. As we mentioned at the top of the program, the top brass stateside have launched a counterattack at critics of the U.S. war plan.

Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, now that news reports quoting anonymous officers in the field on the front lines in Iraq are fueling this criticism that perhaps the Pentagon sent too few troops to stop the war with Iraq, the frustration here at the Pentagon has reached the boiling point.

Today Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was asked about the "New York Times" report in which a colonel was quoted as saying that Rumsfeld wanted to have war on the cheap. Before he could answer, his top military adviser General Richard Myers, jumped to his defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: It is not helpful to have those kind of comments come out when we've got troops in combat. Because first of all they're false, they're absolutely wrong. They bear no resemblance to the truth and it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely, very courageously.

I've been in this process every step of the way, as well. There is not one thing that General Franks hasn't asked for that he hasn't gotten on a timeline that he asked for. And I wasn't because of a late signing. It might be because we didn't have, you know, a ship or something. But I mean, it's not -- it's been for mechanical reasons, not because of administrative reasons, I can guarantee you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld said while he had input into war plan it was the creation of general Tommy Franks and that everybody in the chain of command signed off on it, at the same time he said in no way was that to be seen as distancing himself from the plan.

Meanwhile, Rumsfeld attempted to put the focus back on what's happening in the war, noting that Republican Guard divisions around Baghdad have been pounded for days. He said some of the Republican Guard units from the north have been brought to the south to reinforce units in the south. He said those units have been badly weakened.

The process goes on. He said they're being attacked from the air. They're being pursued from the ground and Rumsfeld said in good time, they won't be there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

Let's move on now to the leadership of the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Since a March 20 air strike on a Baghdad compound bunker, the Iraqi president has only been seen on videotape.

So an announcement that Saddam Hussein would address his nation was seen as a chance to prove he's either alive and well or perhaps not. But appearing instead was Iraq's information minister, Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf, who read a brief statement he said was written directly by Saddam Hussein.

It calls on the Iraqis and others to sacrifice themselves in a holy war. The deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, later appeared on Lebanese television, vowing that Iraq would be victorious against U.S.-led invaders.

And vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan also went on Lebanese television, lashing out at Arab nations that have aided the U.S.-led coalition. He singled out the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud Al- Faisal who's called on Saddam Hussein to step down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN, IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): I tell you, you loser, you are too small to say any word about our leader, Saddam Hussein, or about our Arab nation. And you, and people like you, are the ones that have to leave our Arab land.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: So what does all this mean? Especially the no-show by Saddam Hussein? What does it all tell us? Can we read anything between the lines of the statement read on Iraqi television?

Joining me now, CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, who until very recently was in the Iraqi capital. He is now near the Iraqi border in Ruwayshid in Jordan.

Nic, what does it tell us?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I think it's very difficult to try and figure out why the Iraqi leader, President Saddam Hussein, didn't make this address himself. It's quite possible that he chose to not do it for security reasons. It's quite possible because there was such a religious connotation in the message that he felt that it was wasn't appropriate for him to do it.

He may, of course, just not plain -- not be available to come and do the interview. So that may also have been the reason.

But what was very, very, very clear, a very straightforward message, a very simple message to the Iraqi people and particularly to the religious-minded, the very faithful in Iraq that now there is a foreign invader their land. It is a religious duty, their religious responsibility to rise up in arms in a Jihad against that foreign invader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): The religious men with all their fatwas today they all concur that the invaders and the aggressors is what they are doing is an aggression on religion and self and on the Islamic nation.

Therefore, jihad is a duty and whoever dies will be rewarded by heaven. And God will be satisfied with their sacrifice. Take your chance. This is what God requested from you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now this type of message is going to resonate more with those who hold their religious teachings close to their heart. Likely the Iraqi leadership here appealing to the Shiia community in the south of Iraq. They're the majority in the south of Iraq, appealing to them to fight against the coalition forces at this time.

This is pretty much a new message that we're hearing from the Iraqi leadership. It was reinforced, as well, by Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, in his interview with a Lebanese broadcaster, saying that why did the coalition forces think that the Shiia would help them? He said that who informed them? Why did he think that because there was a revolt in 1991 following the Gulf War that it would happen this time?

He said that 1991 post-Gulf War revolt was not by the Shiia community, but by outside forces. Tariq Aziz said that the Shiia leaders were in line with the Iraqi leaders, that they were all one, they were all Iraqi people.

And Tariq Aziz went on to say that at this time Iraqi forces control the cities and they control all the areas in Iraq that they want to control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are confident that we will have victory. You ask me how? When you defeat the aggression, that victory, we are not going to go and confront them in the desert. We will be victorious in our land, on the aggressors and the invaders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, we've also heard from Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, from the defense ministry spokesman today, all saying the same thing, that Iraq will be victorious and that they control their cities at this time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson reporting live for us. Nic, thanks very much.

There's been additional fighting around Basra and there's talk about additional fighting not only near Baghdad, but directly in Baghdad. Let's take a look at today's battle lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over) In the crosshairs of allied forces, Iraq's two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra. First, Baghdad. The allies are focusing on the Iraqi capital. CENTCOM officials say battle plans call for a move on the city in the coming days and weeks.

Walter Rodgers, with the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry less than 60 miles away, says that unit is being reinforced by other troops freed up from elsewhere to join the push. But Pentagon officials say Iraqi Republican Guard divisions are also being reinforced, shoring up defensive positions south of the capital.

CNN has told General Tommy Franks the top allied commander has been given authority to decide when to move toward Baghdad.

In Basra, flares go up over the city. At least one large explosion is reported. CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports fierce fighting between British and Iraqi forces around the city.

The British are operating in the southern and western outskirts, but resistance is intense.

In south central Iraq, U.S. forces still trying to root out pockets of resistance around Nasiriyah with door-to-door searches by Marines and special operations forces, destroying buildings believed to house local commanders. In the north, Biara (ph) near the border with Iran. New pictures of the capture of a compound allegedly belonging Ansar Al Islam, a group linked by the U.S. to al Qaeda.

It's the first major battlefield operation where Kurdish forces fight side by side with U.S. special operations troops.

An American in that unit claims a startling discovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have found various documents, equipment, et cetera, that would indicate a presence of chemical and/or biological weapons.

BLITZER: In western Iraq an Iraqi official claims the U.S. warplane fires on two buses carrying human shields, including Americans. The Iraqi says many are injured. U.S. central command is investigating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Here's your chance to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you have confidence in the Pentagon's war plan?" 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 where you can read my daily online column. And I'm writing one every day from here in Kuwait: CNN.com/Wolf.

U.S. troops trying to isolate the city of An Najaf still face fierce resistance. U.S.-led troops moving north toward Baghdad have spent much of their time rooting out fighters of Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath Party and his loyal paramilitary militia, the so-called Fedayeen Saddam.

Members of the 101st Airborne Division made advances in the city today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ryan Chilcote with the 101st Airborne in the central city of Najaf, Iraq.

Well, the 1st Brigade, 2nd Battalion, better known as No Slack, sent more than 500 troops into the outskirts of An Najaf. The troops encountering no resistance moving from street to street, house to house with zero casualties.

An Najaf has, of course, been a problem for U.S. troops. There was a suicide bombing here not too long ago that killed four U.S. servicemen. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ryan Chilcote reporting from the 101st Airborne Division.

So far a U.S.-led assault on Baghdad from the north hasn't happened, in fact it's hardly gotten off the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Jane Arraf in Kalak. After a day-long lull, more bombing into the night of Iraqi positions behind, the Iraqi front line as well as the city of Mosul. And we're seeing and hearing loud explosions from that direction, as well as explosions from the major city of Kirkuk.

Now, this was to have been where there was going to be a second front, a northern front with tens of thousands of ground troops from Turkey. That hasn't happened, obviously.

The big obtrusion was the refusal to allow those troops, and so far it has been confined to bombing campaigns from the air. But U.S. forces are continuing to come into the north. Not in huge numbers, but at the Harir airfield, they're continuing to build up that base, securing the perimeter, they has very high security as well as patrolling and bringing in equipment such as armored vehicles and other equipment they need to bring in even more forces.

Iraqi missile, one of the very few fired into Kurdish-controlled territories. This one, near the administrative capital of Salaam Adim (ph), left a huge crater, missile fragments and some damage, but no injuries.

People in the small town have fled from the larger cities, thinking it was safer. It was a reminder that this war could take many unpredictable turns. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jane Arraf, reporting from north -- northern Iraq. Thanks, Jane, very much.

We have a lot of news coming up on the war in Iraq as well, as breaking news back in the United States, including this, a plane quarantined for fear of a deadly disease. We'll go live to San Jose, California, where some 140 people have been sitting on the tarmac for several hours. Have some of them have been infected with the mystery illness?

Plus, rescued from the Persian Gulf: a Navy crew plucked out of the water to safety. It's a dramatic development.

And the road to Baghdad apparently keeps getting shorter. The latest from the 7th Cavalry as it pushes the front lines forward.

All that, but first these striking images from the Associated Press.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As coalition troops advance on the ground, coalition aircraft continue to pound away at Iraqi targets.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is joining us now live. He's at an air base not far from Iraq. Gary, what's the latest?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, talk to Air Force pilots of this base and ask them what they're most proud of and most of them will say protecting the troops on the ground. They've been doing a lot of that.

The Air Force is saying the most recent bombing missions, 85 percent of them are being done to protect ground troops. Lots of sorties over the last 24 hours, a total of 2,000 over Iraq.

Now today we actually went out on a sortie with the Air Force; this is aboard HC-130. It's a refueling plane, but today its mission was to transport. They were taking seven helicopter mechanics to a base in Iraq. It's an Iraqi air base that was taken over by the coalition last week in Talil and they are now bringing helicopters and attack planes to the base for refueling and staging.

The idea down the road is to make it a permanent base as this war is fought for the coalition.

Aboard this plane that we went on, we want to cross Iraqi desert at an altitude of 250 feet. This is 400 miles per hour going 250 feet above the ground. The reason, to evade Iraqi radar. No coalition planes have been shot down, but shots have been fired with artillery by the Iraqis and the coalition wants to keep it that way that all of the coalition planes are safe.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman at a base not far from Iraq. Thanks very much, we'll be checking back with you.

Meanwhile, Jason Bellini is on the front lines as well. He's one of our embedded correspondents.

Jason, what are you seeing and what are you doing right now?

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I'm in Nasiriyah, the scene of extensive action taking place at this moment, and ongoing, it's an evening assault that's going on on the city.

So far we've seen cover helicopters firing from the sky, no rounds being fired taking key locations in this city by the Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And is it -- does it look like it's a serious firefight under way or just more of the same skirmishes, as far as you can tell?

BELLINI: Well, it's very hard to tell, but what makes this different, Wolf, is that this is an offensive action, a preplanned offensive action to deal with these problems that have been so ongoing. And we've been talking to our colonel here, who's told us that they're shifting strategy in how to deal with the problems of these militia groups and the new strategy is to an (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and extensive approach to go in and try to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BLITZER: All right, Jason, unfortunately, we're beginning to lose your connection, your phone connection. We'll be checking back with you, but Jason Bellini, one of our embedded correspondents, not far from Nasiriyah, reporting on a significant development there. We'll get back to Jason when we can.

We have much more coverage coming up on the latest developments in the war in Iraq, but first a story making headlines back in the United States right now, indeed a story making headlines around the world.

This plane was met by ambulances at the San Jose, California, airport earlier today after a flight from Tokyo. Five people on the plane complained of symptoms similar to SARS, the respiratory illness blamed for sickening 1,800 people in recent weeks.

We have live reports from San Jose and from the CNN medical -- our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, but let's start with CNN's Rusty Dornin. She's on the scene for us in San Jose.

Rusty, tell us what happened.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Flight 128 from Tokyo to San Jose is still sitting on the tarmac right at the gate. The passengers have been unloaded. They've gone through customs and hopefully gotten to their destinations.

And what we know is that during the flight, one of the passengers had complained of not feeling well and the pilot was informed. Now he followed a protocol that was instituted on March 14. He did alert the folks here on the ground when the plane did land, they did quarantine the plane. Apparently five people were exhibiting some of the symptoms of SARS.

One of the health officials here in Santa Clara County boarded the plane, determined that two of the people only had a dry cough. They did not think there was anything to do with SARS. They were cleared. Three people were taken by ambulance through the local medical center.

Now we spoke with several passengers as they came off the plane. Many of them said that they were not concerned. There was no panic on the plane, and even a passenger who was sitting very close to the three passengers in question said it was no big deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told us that they would be calling us in the next 10 to 14 days to see if we're still alive and well and if we had any symptoms, contact your doctors at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they gave us a little sheet that says it's a health notice and says...

(END VIDEO CLIP) DORNIN: There are 72 cases in the U.S. Only seven of those have been through close contact. The others had to go to the region. Still unclear whether these three people in the hospital were in the region or not. They say they are being evaluated -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Rusty Dornin on the scene for us in San Jose, thanks very much.

With more on SARS and the growing concern in the United States surrounding it, we go to our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. She's at the CDC center, at the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the CDC tells us this is not the first time they have taken six people off of planes in the U.S. because they are concerned that they have SARS.

What you see here in San Jose has indeed happened before and this, they say, is one of the reasons why SARS has not expanded in this country as it has in other countries.

Let's talk a little bit about what SARS is. The CDC says they are now 90 percent sure that it is caused by a never before seen strain of the corona virus. The corona virus also causes common colds and other diseases. They say now that they're almost completely sure that this their is a strain of the corona virus, they can get to work on trying to figure out what kind of antiviral drug might actually treat it.

Now here at the CDC today they gave us a tour of their emergency operations center. This is a center which is made to deal with just cases like this. At the EOC right now all they're doing is dealing with SARS. They're getting lots of phone calls, as you can imagine, from people all over the country saying I'm worried, do I have SARS?

In order to try to answer that question, let's take a look at what some of the symptoms of SARS are. Some of the symptoms are fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, chills, headache and body aches, respiratory difficulties and cough, and -- and this last part is so important -- and if you have traveled to a region where SARS is rampant.

In other words, if you've traveled to Hong Kong, if you've traveled to Hanoi, if you've traveled to Singapore. If you have not traveled to one of those countries and you don't have close contact to someone who has, then you probably do not have SARS -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen with the latest on this mysterious disease. Thanks very much, we'll continue to monitor what's going on, get updates as they become available.

Much more coverage of the war in Iraq, though. The Marines, the U.S. Marines, go door to door in the hunt for enemies and friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Saddam, no Saddam. Good, America. Good, America!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll take you to the front lines where civilians and fighters are hard to tell apart.

Plus, flares over Basra. Flares light up the sky over Iraq's second largest city. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A close call today for two crewmen of a U.S. Navy jet on the USS Constellation, the aircraft carrier.

After landing on the carrier, the S3D Viking veered off the deck and dropped into the Persian Gulf. The two crewmen ejected and were rescued by Navy divers, who were in a helicopter hovering nearby. Both suffered only minor injuries.

A crewman on the ship explained how the rescue was carried out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the wreckage and hovered over the wreckage and looked for the survivors. First we did not see any survivors and then we saw two survivors. Paster Diaz (ph) was our hoist operator in the back. He saw the two survivors and about the same time one of them came up on the radio and told us that he was right behind us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A Navy spokesman says the plane may have had brake problems or some other malfunction.

Nine American soldiers wounded in combat in Iraq arrived at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany earlier today. Also onboard the C-141 transport plane was 15 other troops who officials say are suffering from non-combat-related injuries. All were taken to a medical center.

The Pentagon says at last count, 46 U.S. military personnel have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, eight of them in non-combat situations. Sixteen Americans are listed as missing in action, and the number held by Iraq as prisoners of war stands at seven.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the Jeep (ph) teams of the 1st Battalion 7th Marines, much of Iraq is viewed through the sight of a gun. These highly mobile, heavily-armed Jeeps are one of the crucial units that have been hitting American forces and the supply lines.

This platoon, known as Cap Blue, prepares to move in on an industrial complex. The area's been looked at before, but this time the team has the risky job of going building to building. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we drop them off use your weapons to cover your dismounts. They don't need to do a detailed search. They just need to be hasty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marines on foot make forced entries into a maze of rooms and offices. It is something they have trained long and hard at, but this time it is real.

As the Marines push on to the next buildings, they are watched over by the mounted patrols. Next come warehouses, each one a potential dark hiding place for those trying to avoid the U.S. military sweep through the area.

The Marines encounter a group of Iraqi men, who are detained until they can be searched.

Even this has its risks. An officer tells a young Marine to make sure he hands over his own weapon, so that it can't be used against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any knives or anything on you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative, sir.

SAVIDGE: The searches are done methodically. The Marines are looking for military ID cards or papers that would suggest these men are more than just innocent civilians.

One man, using broken English, makes his feelings plain about the Iraqi regime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Saddam, no Saddam! Good America, good America!

SAVIDGE: In the end, Camp Blue pulls out, the only thing having been shot at them, a friendly wave good-bye.

Martin Savidge, CNN, with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, central Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And here's a look at today's most vivid scenes from the war.

Iraqis grabbed for aid packages as they were handed out in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan. That's right across the border from Kuwait. Despite the pandemonium, British officials say, the area is secure, and troops there have replaced their combat helmets with berets.

Pictures from Abu Dhabi TV show some of the damage done by fighting. Officials say U.S. special forces assisted Kurdish troops fighting Ansar al-Islam militants in northern Iraq.

The White House, meanwhile, is still looking for proof that Saddam Hussein is indeed alive. Officials say a statement read on Iraqi television earlier today did not provide that proof.

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

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a relatively low-key day here. We have not seen the president. He has a number of private meetings in the Oval Office, but no public events.

But on the point you just noted, the White House joining the Pentagon in what you might call an intriguing round of theater here. The White House almost daring Saddam Hussein to come out in some sort of a live broadcast to prove that he is still alive.

The White House noting that the videotaped statements by Saddam Hussein that have been shown on Iraqi television have no way of verifying that they have been taped since the war, and also noting this statement by the Iraqi information minister today, was initially billed as a speech from Saddam Hussein. Instead, the Iraqi information minister read what he said was a speech from the Iraqi leader.

White house officials almost, again, daring the Iraqi leader to come out and somehow prove he's still alive. Some in the White House believe perhaps Saddam Hussein was killed or at least seriously wounded in that cruise missile strike in the residential area the first night of the war.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, today saying when Mr. Bush constantly says that the days of the Saddam Hussein regime are numbered, that does not necessarily mean that the president believes the Iraqi leader himself is still alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As the president has always said, and members of the administration have said, when asked, and Saddam alive? we said, we don't know, because we do not know The fact that he failed to show up for his scheduled appearance today raises additional questions.

But I think it's also fair to say, given the fact that we don't know if he's alive or not, when the president refers or other people in the administration refer to Saddam Hussein this, or Saddam Hussein that, it's almost now a generalized term for the Iraqi regime, because we don't know if he's alive or dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Ari Fleischer also joining the top Pentagon officials today in offering yet another spirited defense of the U.S. war plan. His language, though, not as colorful as the language offered by General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called the critics of the plan, quote, "bogus."

Here at the White House, Ari Fleischer says the president believes steady progress is being made. Again, Wolf, the president had no public schedule today. That is the plan for tomorrow, no public events.

But on Thursday, Mr. Bush scheduled to travel to Camp Lejeune, a key Marine base here in the United States, to thank the troops there, thank the troops from Camp Lejeune who have been sent overseas, and most of all, the White House says, to thank the military families for their support as the war unfolds, Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much.

The 7th Cavalry on the road to Baghdad. The distance between U.S. troops and the Iraqi capital keeps getting shorter. We'll take you directly to the front lines.

Also, as John just mentioned, the Pentagon battle plan. It's come under fire for falling short of expectations. But do critics have it all wrong? We'll take a much closer look.

And Arab backlash. With the war provoking so much anger, will Americans be any safer after the war?

We'll have that and much more, but first, these images from the Associated Press.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Welcome back to CNN's continuing coverage of the war in Iraq.

The 7th Cavalry on the road to Baghdad. Our Walter Rodgers will have a report.

But first, for the latest headlines, let's go back to CNN's Heidi Collins in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta -- Heidi.

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Heidi.

I want to go back to our Jason Bellini. He's one of our embedded journalists. He is just outside Nasiriyah, the key southern Iraqi city, where there appears to be, Jason, some sort of military offensive under way? Update our viewers. Tell us what's going on.

BELLINI: That's right, Wolf. This is an offensive (UNINTELLIGIBLE) been planned. It's going on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- fire (UNINTELLIGIBLE) explosions (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BLITZER: All right, Jason, I'm going to interrupt you, because we got a bad connection. We're going to fix that connection. An important development happening in Nasiriyah. We're going to get that technical glitch worked out, and we'll get back to Jason Bellini in a few moments.

In the meantime, there are increasing signs U.S. forces soon may resume their journey on the road to Baghdad.

CNN's Walter Rodgers with the Army's 3-7th Cavalry has details. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing now are increasing indications both here on the ground and in other news reports that the focus of the land war will soon be Baghdad. Here's how we come to that conclusion.

First, there's that continuous pounding of the Medina Division by the Air Force south of Baghdad. The Medina Division, according to some sources, Air Force sources, has now been degraded by Air Force bombing by at least 50, perhaps upwards of 70 percent. That means the southern defenses of Baghdad have been weakened.

Again, gradually the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division has pushed northward. It crossed the Euphrates River yesterday below Al Hilla (ph), and the 7th Cavalry, again, as long -- as well as the 3rd Infantry Division, is now within 50 to 60 miles of the southern suburbs of Baghdad.

Again, all signs focused, especially with more and more U.S. troops coming ashore in Kuwait, the 4th Infantry Division, that there's going to be a major push toward Baghdad in the not-too-distant future.

The reason, of course, being, you can see all those troops coming ashore. They'll be pouring into Iraq. And, again, the Air Force bombing around Baghdad. Everything hints to a change in focus coming in the coming days and weeks on Baghdad. It will be the entire focus of the war, Baghdad will be the endgame.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CNN's Walter Rodgers, he's embedded. He's covering this war. He's moving closer, closer towards Baghdad.

And despite continued resistance in the south, the main battle line now appears to be, as we just saw, in central Iraq, with element of the 1st Marines, the Army's 3rd Infantry, and the 101st Airborne Division massing on one side, and Iraq's elite Republican Guard divisions on the other, many of them having repositioned from northern positions.

As coalition troops prepare for a push on Baghdad, why are they finding other cities so hard to capture? I'll ask our military analyst, General Wesley Clark.

And two Arab nations traditionally allied with the United States. The backlash to this war on the street, and why American leaders are worried.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we mentioned, the Defense Department is fiercely defending its plan amid criticism that it's seriously flawed. Here's what Joint Chiefs chairman General Richard Myers had to say in a briefing with reporters earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: It is not helpful to have those kind of comments come out when we got troops in combat, because, first of all, they're false. They're absolutely wrong, they bear no resemblance to the truth. And it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely, very courageously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now to talk a little bit more about the war strategy, our military analyst, retired Army General Wesley Clark.

Well, what do you make of what General Myers was just -- just said earlier today about the conduct of this war, the war plan, and the whole notion that criticizing it in the middle of a war is a bad idea?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, a couple of things, Wolf. First of all, I think the troops and all the people over there, the commanders, have done an absolutely superb job, a sensational job. And I think the results speak for themselves.

Secondly, I think it's very unfair and difficult for anyone to criticize a war plan without ever having been involved in the planning process and knowing what's going on. This happened to me when I was commanding in Kosovo, and there were people back here sharpshooting. And they didn't understand the circumstances. They didn't understand the reasons for going after Kosovo the way we did. And they didn't understand what was going to behind the scenes.

So I think that anybody that criticizes has to understand he probably doesn't have all the facts he needs.

Third, you know, it is a democracy, people are going to say what they tend to say. I have my sympathy so with the troops, I'll tell you that, because they've got a tough battle to fight, and I think they're doing it really well.

BLITZER: All right. Let's move on, general, talk about some other issues, specifically Saddam Hussein. He didn't make an appearance on television today. The other appearance is clearly videotape. We don't know if he's alive or dead. What do you make of all of this?

CLARK: My guess is, it -- and it's only a guess -- is that he's still there and in control, because I can't imagine that this state would hang together under all the pressure, given his personal rule of the state, if he weren't there somewhere. But he's a very cagey guy. He's watched Osama bin Laden play with us like this. He watched Osama bin Laden duck and keep people guessing.

He probably thinks that that's the way to string things along. And the fact that he announced he'd be at a press conference and doesn't show up, he's probably checking to see if the press conference is going to be struck by coalition air, whether he's safe. He's trying to find out how information about his location was reported to the coalition in the first place.

So he's got a lot of different games he's playing. I wouldn't want to operate on the assumption that he wasn't in charge.

BLITZER: And if he were dead, presumably, we would know about that in some sort of way.

What about the Iraqi cities in the south, in the center, Nasiriyah, Basra? They seemed so hard to capture, which raises the question, if those smaller cities, controlled by Shi'ites, are so hard to capture, what about the big ones, like Baghdad?

CLARK: Well, Wolf, urban fighting is very difficult. But there are some things to keep in mind here with the smaller cities. A, we're using -- we're trying to work against these cities in a way that we don't cause undue destruction, that we don't cause a lot of civilian casualties, and that we don't take a lot of risks ourselves.

So we're going at this thing in the most gentle possible way to avoid their interference to cities that -- the control of the cities, avoiding having that interfere with the operation against Baghdad.

The point of focus of the operation is still on Baghdad. That's the objective, and I think General Franks and the team over there have been very clear that they're going to maintain that focus. They're going to do only as much as is necessary right now in these other cities.

So I wouldn't read too much into the fact that it's slow going. That's not necessarily a bad thing at this point.

BLITZER: All right, general, stand by. I want to get back to you, but I want to have our viewers, who may want to catch up on all the latest developments, have a little bit of a recap.

For that, let's go to CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine eleven a.m. Eastern time, CNN's Martin Savidge, traveling with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, offers up new video of the Marines searching an industrial complex in south central Iraq. It's part of their campaign against paramilitary units, so-called death squads, that are disrupting coalition supply lines.

Eleven-oh-five a.m., CNN's Barbara Starr reporting from the Pentagon. General Tommy Franks, chief of the U.S. Central Command, has been given authority to decide when to move on Baghdad, without waiting for an OK from the president or the secretary of defense.

Eleven-fifteen a.m. Nine U.S. troops injured in combat arrive at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Noon Eastern time, 9:00 p.m. in Baghdad, Iraq's information ministry urges Iraqis to take their chance for immortality by fighting U.S.-led troops.

One-thirty p.m. Eastern time, four journalists who disappeared from a Baghdad hotel a week ago turn up safe in Jordan. A reporter and photographer from "Newsday" and two other freelance photographers are reported in good health.

Two-thirty-one p.m. Eastern, Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers says two Iraqi Republican Guard divisions around Baghdad have been reduced to about half their fighting capability by U.S. air, artillery, and ground attacks.

Two-fifty-eight p.m., Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in Turkey to talk about continued cooperation in the war in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Miles O'Brien with the latest development.

When we come back, it's called the Arab street, and it's plenty angry in two countries the U.S. is counting on for support. The backlash to this war in Egypt and Jordan when we return.

And three American journalists missing for the past week in Iraq. Find out their fate. All that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Objections around the world. American and British flags were burned at a demonstration in Cairo, just one day after the country's president warned the war in Iraq could produce 100 Osama bin Ladens. Protests also in Turkey, which borders Iraq to the north. This demonstration came shortly before the arrival of the secretary of state, Colin Powell.

Hundreds of Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan, voiced their opposition to the war, calling it a U.S. crusade against Islam. A number of children took part, and the protesters called for a boycott of American products.

And in Paris, the extreme climber known as Spider-Man scaled a 47-story building to protest the U.S.-led campaign. He told reporters, and I'm quoting now, "I find the war completely illegal."

Are the protests across the Middle East just the beginning of an Arab backlash?

For more on the fallout from the war in Iraq, let's go live to our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, most of the analysts believe that the longer the war goes, the more fallout there will be in the neighboring countries and in other Muslim countries.

It is clearly growing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): They are some of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in the Arab world. In Egypt, in Jordan, governments are allowing people to vent their anger at the U.S. while working hard to retain control.

SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I'm more than concerned. I think that there's -- we're on a very close edge in places like Egypt and Jordan and even Indonesia, other places, where the size of the demonstrations are about to overwhelm the ability of the government's police to control them.

ENSOR: A new factor this time is Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV, and the other satellite channels in the Middle East. They play and replay dramatic images of civilians presumably hurt by American forces.

GEOFFREY KEMP, NIXON CENTER: The danger to these regimes, I think, grows the longer this conflict goes on on television, day in, day out, throughout the Arab world. They're pretty well protected. But this is their worst nightmare, a protracted war on television, with the Arab street in uproar.

ENSOR: Some argue the Arab media, much of it under government influence or control, is trying to inflame opposition to the U.S., because other Arab governments, all of them undemocratic, do not want to see Saddam Hussein's regime fall. They don't like the implications.

AZIZ AL-TAEE, IRAQI-AMERICAN COUNCIL: There is a feeling in this government that if this dictatorship goes, we could be next. And so they're putting all their energy -- they don't show us on that TV, but all Syrian dictator, Egyptian, Saudi Arabia, all of them, putting a lot of resources in the media to try to prevent the fall of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: most expect neighboring governments to stay in power, but some worry about the cost. If the war goes on for long, governments friendly to the U.S. may have to consider using increasingly repressive measures to retain control, Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor, thanks very much for that report.

Missing in Iraq, a dangerous predicament, of course, these days. Now we know the fate of three American journalists. That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: They disappeared only a week ago, a group of journalists last seen at a Baghdad hotel. They are now safe and sound in Jordan.

"Newsday" reporter Matthew McAllester and photographer Moises Saman say they were seized by Iraqi security. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MCALLESTER, "NEWSDAY": We were in Abugrai (ph) Prison for seven or eight days. There were no specific charges. They -- it wasn't much fun, but we were not physically hurt. And we were very happy to be out.

But the single most important thing is that we understand that there were many people who were trying their very hardest to get us out, and I think I speak for everyone that we're all incredibly grateful. And we'll really quite, you know, happy to talk later, but we're -- we're a bit tired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Photographer Molly Bingham, who once worked for Vice President Al Gore in the White House, also made it out. Her family, needless to say, is relieved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was pretty stunned and just totally overjoyed. I could hardly believe the news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining me from Washington once again, Molly's cousin, Clara Bingham. We spoke earlier in the way. What have you heard from Molly, Clara?

CLARA BINGHAM, MOLLY BINGHAM'S COUSIN: Well, at 1:15 Eastern time, she called my uncle, Barry Bingham, and had a very brief conversation. She said that she was safe. They were just driving across the Jordanian border at that time. And she said that she had had a very rough week and had been in prison, and that was about all he got from her.

I think they may be speaking on the phone soon, but he was so overjoyed just to hear that she was alive. That was all he needed to know.

BLITZER: Did she say she was basically physically OK, though, even though...

BINGHAM: Yes, she said she was fine.

BLITZER: ... she must have had a harrowing experience?

BINGHAM: Exactly, she said that she was...

BLITZER: Well, that's the most...

BINGHAM: ... fine, and that...

BLITZER: ... that's the most important thing.

BINGHAM: ... she's safe.

BLITZER: Did she give any...

BINGHAM: Exactly.

BLITZER: ... details of specifically what happened? Did she say why they came and took her and these two other journalists into this prison?

BINGHAM: No, she didn't, and we still are assuming it's because they suspected she may have been a spy. She had two satellite phones and White House phone numbers in her address book, and that's the only reason why we can assume they did this instead of expelling her. But we've not gotten confirmation from her yet.

BLITZER: And any word on why they released these three journalists?

BINGHAM: No, that's what we are so curious about. And we -- I don't even know if they know themselves. But we're so thankful to all of the organizations, like the Committee to Protect Journalists and the ICRC and organizations like yours, CNN, for reporting about the fact that they were missing. And I wonder if maybe it was a confluence of events, or maybe the Iraqis just made their own decision to release them. We don't know.

BLITZER: Clara, congratulations to you, to the entire Bingham family. We are thrilled that Molly is out, these two "Newsday" reporters are out as well. Thank you very much...

BINGHAM: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: ... for joining us. We'll be speaking with Molly, hopefully very, very soon.

This just in, we are standing by for some sort of statement that we expect to be coming from the U.S. Central Command temporary headquarters at Camp Asalia (ph). That's right outside of Doha, Qatar. We don't know what it's all about. CNN, of course, will have coverage. That's expected in the next few moments. It will be coming up, of course, with Lou Dobbs. Stay tuned for that.

Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Remember, we've been asking you this question. Do you have confidence in the Pentagon's war plan? Sixty-one percent of you say yes, 39 percent of you say no. This is not a scientific poll.

That's it for me. Let's go to Lou Dobbs right now. I'll be back, Lou, in one hour, for two hours of special coverage with Paula Zahn. In the meantime, here's Lou.

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