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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Jessica Lynch's Plane Lands at Andrews Air Force Base

Aired April 12, 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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Chilling discoveries by the troops. A warhead in the north.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had a green marking on it (UNINTELLIGIBLE) weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And in Baghdad, these vests signal danger.

Shootout at the Palestine Hotel. Iraqi resistance caught on camera.

Surrender. Saddam's top scientist turns himself in. Does he know where weapons are?

And homecoming. Private Jessica Lynch returns to U.S. soil. All this on day 24 of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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

KAGAN: And you're taking a live look at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland. It might not look like much is happening right now, but soon that will change. We're awaiting the arrival of Private Jessica Lynch along with 49 other wounded troops.

And hello from Kuwait City. I'm Daryn Kagan reporting. Wolf Blitzer is on assignment this evening. Today the U.S. may be closer to finding chemical weapons in Iraq. The latest this hour first. A warhead discovered in northern Iraq. A symbol on it suggesting the presence of chemical weapons. So far initial tests are inconclusive.

There's also new hope in the weapons hunt. Saddam Hussein's top science adviser surrendered today. Amir Al-Saadi was Iraq's point person for the last round of U.N. weapons inspections.

And happening live this hour, rescued POW Jessica Lynch returns to the U.S. She's been receiving treatment in Germany and will be taken to Walter Reed Medal Center in Washington, D.C. Private Lynch is en route to the U.S. along with 49 other injured troops. CNN will carry that arrival live. We're going to go ahead and begin in Baghdad. Let's go live to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. She is in the Iraqi capital. She has the latest news and some very compelling and very strong images on the casualties of war. Christiane, hello.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, hello from Baghdad. The Marines who have been stepping in to do some security at some of the most vulnerable locations such as hospitals here over the past few days of looting. Today a Marine was killed as he was guarding one of those hospitals. Apparently somebody walked by, pulled out an AK-47, shot and this Marine was killed.

Now, in addition, the Marines are trying to get the local police to help now and they have gotten at least one of the local police commanders to come back to work. And they are hoping to start some new patrolling in what has been a lawless capital for the last several days.

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): Baghdad wallows in the wreckage of war. Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles blown up on the city streets, cars and trucks still waving the white flag, lest they be mistaken for the enemy. And here right in the middle of a residential neighborhood, a missile, we're told a Sam II.

Marines are here to make sure it's safely towed away, and the people complain loudly about the fallen regime placing such targets in their midst. They said they were afraid of U.S. bombs dropped in this neighborhood, perhaps aiming for the missile.

(on camera): This is a deep crater caused by a bomb. And around what seems to be the remnants of some kind of vehicle. But just 20 yards away, there are private homes. And the doctors here tell us that they've received many more civilian casualties during this war than they did during the first Gulf War of 1991.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a shell to the abdomen. We open the abdomen, and have injury to the bowel.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): At this one hospital alone, doctors tell us they have received 500 civilians, with everything from slight to critical injuries, and they conducted 170 major operations in just 21 days of war.

DR. ABOUL MOHAMMED HAKEEM, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: In the first war, we didn't see such a huge number. This is number one. And secondly, the type of injuries here is more serious, as I note, than before.

AMANPOUR: And now, with the looting, Dr. Hakeem says he simply can't get the staff to come to work. Today, no anesthetists, no radiologists.

HAKEEM: But thank God, we cope. What to do.

AMANPOUR: That's because they brought their own guns to keep the bandits at bay. U.S. Marines have set up a position near another hospital. Children bring them flowers, and the Marines say they're trying to calm the fears of the past few chaotic days.

CPI QUENTIN MELROE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We let them know we're not here to harm them. We're here for peace now. That's our mission, is to give them security.

AMANPOUR: Inside the hospital filled with more war wounded, including this 5-year-old boy with a shrapnel wound to the head, the doctor says he's got mixed feelings. Relief that Saddam Hussein is gone, but a deep desire for more security.

DR. ABDUL KARIM YAKHGAM, NEUROSURGEON: When Mr. Bush and Blair and others decided to bomb to change the regime, should be planned immediately.

AMANPOUR: Down by the main Marine base, a group of Iraqis decided to make that demand more clear. Waving a banner, calling for a new order, and yelling for peace. At one point, it got ugly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here for your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) freedom. So back up right now!

AMANPOUR: In the end, though, calm prevailed with both the Iraqis and the Marines deciding that discretion is the better part of valor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And yet just a few hours after that scene over there, where there was some calm amongst the people, there was a firefight just to the left of us with Marines leaping into action against what they thought was a sniper from a house just across the river -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Christiane Amanpour. Everything from bullets to flowers as the welcome committee for the U.S. military in Baghdad. Christiane, thank you very much.

Well, throughout this war there has been the fear that Iraqi forces would use weapons of mass destruction. That has not happened so far, but today U.S. experts are trying to determine if a warhead that was discovered in northern Iraq contains a chemical agent. Our Thomas Nybo is in Kirkuk in northern Iraqi with the latest on that.

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THOMAS NYBO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): U.S. Army says it's been a busy day in the search for chemical weapons in and around the area of the Kirkuk military air field. They say there were a couple of key developments today. The first one dealing with the discovery of a possible chemical warhead. Now, there were mixed results on the tests. They were done in pairs, and the first pair of tests showed trace amounts of a nerve agent, the Army says. The second tests, which were conducted not too long, just moments ago. I'm standing a couple of hundred yards from the suspected warhead here. And I spoke with the public affairs officer traveling with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. I spoke with him before the second test.

MAJ. ROB GOWAN, U.S. ARMY: Elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade were clearing the air field, going from building to building, facility to facility. And they came across a weapon. They checked it. It appeared as though it would have some markings that indicated it was -- could be a chemical weapon. They came back later and checked it with some technical instruments and it did test positive for a nerve agent.

NYBO: Regarding those tests, they operate on a scale of zero to six with a device called the ICAM (ph). The first few tests that were conducted showed trace elements, registered at one. The second test ,which just happened a short while ago, showed no trace whatsoever. One of the testers says, though, you really can't tell with any certainty until they crack them open, crack open the warheads and examine them, and the 173rd doesn't have those tools. They're bringing in other teams with more sophisticated technology to answer that question.

Another development here was the presence of a former Iraqi air force official. I spoke with Major Gowan about this man and here's what he had to say.

GOWAN: An Iraqi gentleman has come forth, claiming to have some specific knowledge about possible chemical weapons that may be stored here on this air base. It appears as though the air base was evacuated hastily. A lot of indicators seem to say that the Iraqi forces that were here left very quickly.

NYBO: I read a U.S. Army intelligence summary, which essentially said this man was in prison during the time of Saddam Hussein's regime. And he was liberated with the fall of Kirkuk. He showed up at a security gate and said he had information regarding possible chemical weapons. More specifically, he said he knew of 120 missiles buried in a radius of about 30 miles. And he said of these 120 missiles, 24 of them have chemical munitions. This question also won't be answered for some time, but there are already U.S. Army teams out searching for those weapons.

Thomas Nybo, CNN, reporting from the Kirkuk military air field in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And we have yet another example of just how dangerous Iraq is. And this happened today. American Marines discovered a cache of vests. They were filled with explosives, of the type that are worn by suicide bombers. Our Jason Bellini has that story from Baghdad.

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JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's unisex, one size fits all. A nonreturnable garment, worn by those dressed to kill. Suicide vests. Fifty were found stored at an elementary school. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coat bomb. Suicide. Do you understand me? Of suicide. The volunteers use it.

BELLINI: Their detonators, simple, easy to use.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone of them, they all had laminated instructions tagged on here. So as long as the bomber can read, he can go carry out his mission.

BELLINI: The Marine explosives experts don't want us to show their faces, but want us to know the sophistication of the Iraqi suicides squads, unknown in number or location.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was centralized place where they dropped all of the stuff off. The bombers pick it up, carry off and go carry out their mission. The first time, this pretty much had a 30-second delay. You flip it on, pull this out, 30 seconds, it detonates.

BELLINI: Lieutenant Colonel Chris Conlin's Marines stand guard over these weapons while they await removal.

LT. COL. CHRIS CONLIN, U.S. MARINES: Destructive power, it would be kind of hard to estimate. It depends on where the guy is when it goes off. But certainly if he got into a crowded area, he could take out tens, twenties, thirties of people.

BELLINI: Here, they also found more than 200 other explosives of the more standard variety, the kind that go under cars, into briefcases and are used for booby traps.

(on camera): More haunting, what's not here. These empty hangers, suggesting the possibility that there are Iraqis wearing explosive vests, waiting to detonate themselves.

(voice-over): How many vests were districted before the Fedayeen fled? The Marines have no idea.

Jason Bellini, CNN, Baghdad, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And weapons weren't the only thing discovered in Baghdad today by the Army's 101st Airborne. Our Ryan Chilcote is in southern Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It's been a very busy day for the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade. This is only their second day in Baghdad. And it began, sadly, with the location of some remains, some human remains in an empty lot in southern Baghdad. The soldiers then positively identifying those remains as the remains of a U.S. serviceman. And a very dignified ceremony on the scene. The soldiers prayed for that serviceman, then evacuated the remains from that area. Just an hour later, a very different kind of mission. Acting on a tip from an informant, the soldiers raided a mosque, again in southern Baghdad. They had been told that they would find some 30 Fedayeen, the so-called Fedayeen paramilitary fighters inside. Instead they found some military garb, a first aid station, a weapon and some documents, including, very interestingly, some Syrian passports. That wasn't all of it. They also hit a Baath Party headquarters there, finding a Rolls Royce, and believe it or not, a Huey helicopter camouflaged in the backyard. Then later in the day, they found 13 surface-to-air missiles.

A series of disparate events; the common thread through all of it, really, is that the 101st Airborne has turned into a police unit, really policing the city of Baghdad.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, with the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade, in southern Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And from Ryan we want to take you right to Andrews Air Force base. This is where the plane, the C-17 that is carrying former POW Private Jessica Lynch is landing, along with 49 other wounded soldiers. They are coming to the Washington, D.C. area to get even more medical help.

Our Elizabeth Cohen is standing by. She's at Walter Reed Medical Center. This is where Jessica Lynch will eventually go to get the additional help -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Jessica and her comrades who are on that plane will be brought here to Walter Reed. It's about 45 minutes away from Andrews Air Force base, which is where that plane is that we're seeing now.

For Jessica Lynch, she has a long road of rehabilitation and recovery in front of her. What doctors are going to do first is they are going to assess the injuries that she has. For example, does she have neurological damage that would put her recovery in a whole different category? Can she bear any weight at all on those two broken legs? Sometimes people who have two broken legs will end up in a wheelchair temporarily for several weeks. She will need to strengthen her muscles, especially since she was lying down flat for so long, and also stretch out those muscles. And those are some of the issues that Jessica Lynch will face when she gets here to Walter Reed -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And Elizabeth, we're just getting word, as we're going to get a chance to watch some of the injured soldiers come off that plane, that Jessica, in fact, will be the second person off the plane. Not exactly who will be the first person, but of course, we're going to keep our cameras up and keep it live, and have the folks at home watch right along with us here.

A couple of questions for you, or just some things I want to bring up in our discussion. Jessica's family from West Virginia was actually able to go to Germany to see her, to meet with her, and then escort her back for this trip.

COHEN: Right. And that is so important. Military psychologists tell us that they want to get family around the person. Not necessarily immediately in the case of a POW. You notice that her parents did not go there immediately. She needed some time to what they call in military lingo, decompress without family around. But now her family is with her. The head of the Bethesda National Naval Center was just on our air talking about how once after a period of time has passed, having family and having other soldiers around is so important to talk about all the experiences that they went through -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, you mentioned the psychological aspects of this. Of course, that is one of the top considerations that comes into play here. I imagine just as she has a number of physical treatments that will need to take place, there will be psychological therapy as well to help her recover from the incredible ordeal that she has survived.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. And there probably has been psychological treatment already. Psychologists will simply talk to her about the experiences that she has been through. Again, they call it in military lingo, decompression. One of the things that they may also want to talk to her about is any guilt that she might have. They said sometimes people who are POWs and released, or really any soldier who is injured in a war, will have guilt about those who they left behind. For example, a friend of Private Lynch's was killed in this war, Lori Piestewa. She was killed in this war, and there is, of course -- it would be perfectly normal for Private Lynch to be feeling some guilt about that, to be feeling guilt about not being back there with her colleagues working in this war.

Daryn, there's an interesting point that military psychologists make about modern warfare. Up until the Vietnam War, war injured or any soldiers would come back home via ship. They would have weeks and weeks to talk to their other soldiers, to talk to their friends about what they had been through, to just play cards and to discuss. And they would have time to adjust to everything. Now, of course, it can be just a matter of hours before someone goes from a hospital in Germany back to the United States. She has made a relatively quick transition, going from POW, to patient, to now back in the United States. And they say that they need to work around that, because the transition is so quick these days, they need to keep her basically isolated from the rest of the world. They need to keep her isolated from the media, isolated from the spotlight so that she's just with her immediate family and her close friends and so that she doesn't get disoriented by all the attention -- Daryn.

KAGAN: You mentioned that there's other soldiers involved here, and I think it's important to remember that as well, not only the 49 other wounded troops that are on board that plane, with Private Lynch, but of course she was a member of -- and still is a member of the 507th Maintenance Unit out of Ft. Bliss, Texas. Lori Piestewa was just one of nine who lost their lives. And the timing of bringing Private Lynch back, very interesting here, Elizabeth, because it was just yesterday that the memorial service was held for the fallen soldiers at Ft. Bliss. Very emotional day for folks who weren't as lucky as Private Lynch's family in getting their loved ones back.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. And again, as the military psychologist told us, that is often a large part about what really soldiers want to talk about, is what happened to their friends, the sorrow that they feel at their loss, sometimes the guilt that they feel at their loss. That is the big part of the therapy that they go through once they are released.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, I want you to stay with us. Meanwhile, we're going to bring in a very close family friend of Jessica Lynch's family. This is Anita Lockhart. She is standing by with us from West Virginia. Anita, I want to say welcome for you on what I think is a very happy day for your community in West Virginia.

ANITA LOCKHART, FRIEND OF PFC LYNCH: Yes, it is. We're excited.

KAGAN: Can you share some of the feelings of the community beyond that?

LOCKHART: Everyone's just glad she's coming back to the States. We're really excited to see her get in here, and it's just great.

KAGAN: Of course, as we mentioned, many members of her family were able to go over to Germany, meet with Jessica, ride back with her on the plane. Have you had a chance to talk with any of those family members since they've had a chance to visit with Jessica?

LOCKHART: Yes. I have talked to Greg Jr. and I've also talked to Dee, the mom.

KAGAN: And are you able to share any of that conversation with us, or is that private?

LOCKHART: Most of it was private. Just that, you know, my big question was how's Jessie doing? And I always got the response that she was doing very well. So it's great.

KAGAN: That's good. How is mom and how are brother doing after having the chance to see their daughter and their sister?

LOCKHART: They were very excited. Very, very excited.

KAGAN: And they're traveling back with her. They should be on that plane that we will be watching.

LOCKHART: They are on that plane.

KAGAN: Very good. Of course, now we've mentioned that we've been talking this, that Private Lynch -- or Jessie, as you call her. We'll stick with Private Lynch out of term of respect here. But she has quite -- I don't want to say ordeal, but a few challenges ahead of her in getting back to her old self. But eventually she will be coming home to West Virginia. Any plans in the works to have a big welcome home celebration for her?

LOCKHART: There's a lot of talk about that, but nothing's been confirmed. Our only concern is that Jessie get home and get well. So, no. We -- I mean, just talk. Nothing confirmed.

KAGAN: Well, I imagine of all the things that your community has had to talk about over the last month or so, this is the fun part, this is the exciting part. It's the biggest thing that happens in this planning, a big surprise and welcome home for Private Lynch when she gets there. That will be a happier day indeed.

LOCKHART: Yes, it will.

KAGAN: Yes. We wish you well with that. And you're going to want to maybe break away and go watch those same pictures. They'll be very exciting for you and the members of your West Virginia community, to stand by and -- I don't know if you heard me say this, but Jessica is supposed to be the second person off the plane. So there's your inside information as you cheer your home town hero. OK. Anita Lockhart, joining us from West Virginia, thank you so much.

LOCKHART: Thank you.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, I don't know if you could hear that interview, but definitely from this close family friend, Anita Lockhart, I think a sense of relief. There's been a lot of worry that's been going into the last few weeks.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I think sometimes when you're going through an experience like this, as a close friend or a family member, you don't always recognize the ups and the downs that you've been through emotionally. I mean, this has definitely been a roller coaster of a time for everybody. So while there is obviously happiness that Private Lynch is coming home, probably people are also feeling to some extent a bit exhausted by the emotions of it all.

KAGAN: Absolutely. And as you were mentioning, this is far from over. Still quite a bit of rehabilitation to go for Private Lynch.

COHEN: Absolutely. I mean, with two broken legs, a broken arm, a broken foot, a broken ankle, a fractured disc and head lacerations, she definitely has work in front of her. In the family statement, they said today she does have a long rehabilitation in front of her, but she is obviously very tough. Part of the rehabilitation at first will be assessing how much, if any, she has any neurological damage. And then they will see if her legs can bear any weight. That's a very important thing for them to ascertain. And then slowly to get her up to bearing some weight and to doing physical therapy.

KAGAN: And she already has, I think, and help me with the count here, Elizabeth, I think she's had two or three surgeries while she was in Germany?

COHEN: Yes, she's had several surgeries. She had them to put pins and bolts in her broken arm and in her broken legs. And then she had another surgery to repair that fractured disc in her lumbar, in her lower spine.

KAGAN: And then have doctors talked about if she'll face perhaps more surgery now that she's going to be stateside? COHEN: We haven't heard anything about whether or not they need to do more surgery. They're probably waiting to say something until they can actually assess her. Of course, that's always a possibility. But the family has talked a lot about rehabilitation. And certainly the rehabilitation that is in front of her could be long. I was speaking with rehab specialists who said with those kinds of injuries, it's not a matter of days, it's not a matter of weeks, it's a matter of months.

KAGAN: Let's go to our folks who are standing by with us, waiting to see Private Lynch get off the plane, see her with their own eyes, let's talk about just how long this ordeal has been going on. Of course, as I mentioned, Private Lynch a part of the 507th Maintenance Unit out of Ft. Bliss, Texas. They were on March 23rd near an area of Nasiriyah. Basically took a wrong turn, and that turned out to be a fatal turn for a number of members of that company. For Private Lynch, it meant 10 days as a POW, basically sequestered away in a hospital, in an area that perhaps authorities would have never known where to find her, if it wasn't, we received word, if it was not for the work of one very brave Iraqi man whose wife worked at that hospital, who went to visit his wife, who was a nurse there, and discovered that this American woman was being kept, and risked his own life and the life of his family to go up to Marines and say, I know where one of your POWs is being held. And then went back a number of times to prove that he had the information, and to help Special Operations forces scout out and do the rescue, the incredible rescue, just to get Private Lynch back to safety.

COHEN: That's right, Daryn. In fact, in their statement today the family expressed gratitude not just to everyone in the U.S. military who rescued Jessica, but also to those Iraqis who led the Americans to where she was in the hospital.

KAGAN: Absolutely. As you mentioned -- you mentioned this family statement. We have -- this is what they released after the plane took off. I think the Lynch family is trying to walk a fine line of really wanting to show its gratitude, because there has been such an incredible amount of outpouring, coming, of course starting in their home town in West Virginia, across the state and all around the world. But also wanting to express that gratitude but also, at the same time, wanting, of course understandably, a sense of privacy as they try to get their daughter well. And I say -- I would describe this as about a two-page long statement. I'll just share with the audience just this first paragraph, where the Lynch family statement says, "Our family has been blessed by the tremendous outpouring of support for our daughter Jessie." People from across West Virginia, United States, everywhere in the world, offered comfort and aid. On behalf of Jessie, our family would like to offer our deepest and most sincerest thanks for this show of affection."

It's interesting, Elizabeth, to watch the family not only suddenly have to face a crisis, but suddenly be thrust into the public eye all across the world.

COHEN: What we're looking at right now, Daryn, is the transport plane which is holding Jessica Lynch and 49 others who were wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom. We are told that Private Lynch will be the fifth person off of that plane. Now, we haven't been given many details about the injuries on that plane, other than Private Lynch. But if they're anything like the injured who are at Walter Reed, where I am right now, there's a whole host of different injuries. Lots of orthopedic injuries. There will probably be gunshot wounds. Here at Walter Reed, they only have one in critical condition. Everyone else is in anything from good to satisfactory condition.

And we would expect that they would also on this plane have a whole array of injuries. I want to read also from that same family statement that Daryn was reading from. This is from the Lynch family: "Jessie's recovery continues and she is doing well. She is in pain, but she is in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough. We believe she will regain her strength soon. Our family is proud of Jessie." And certainly on that plane also her family is on there with her. So hopefully, we'll get a chance to see them as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Thank you for that updated information. So we're hearing now, Elizabeth, that Private Lynch will be fifth off the plane instead of second as we had originally heard.

COHEN: That's right. And right now you can see we're watching -- sorry, Daryn, we're watching the mechanics who have greeted this plane. This is at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland. It's about 45 minutes away from Walter Reed, which is where I am now, which is where Private Lynch and the others are headed. They will join 23 wounded who are at Walter Reed now. There are about 64 wounded who have been treated at the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. Again, we expect Private Lynch to be the fifth one off. She is joined by 49 other people and her family on that plane -- Daryn.

KAGAN: We will be keeping our eyes open for that as well. I think the part of the statement that you read there, Elizabeth, kind of brings up another interesting medical point, and that is where they talk about Jessie being in pain. When you hear the list of her injuries, it goes without saying that what she's going through must be incredibly painful. Have you had a chance to talk to any pain management experts about how they go through this for her?

COHEN: Yes, we talked to some doctors who said that pain management is obviously a huge, huge issue here. You want to manage the pain without, obviously, knocking anybody out. Again, those list of injuries are a broken arm, two broken legs, a broken foot, a broken ankle, a fractured disc, in her lumbar, or lower spine, and lacerations to the head. So pain management is a big issue here. It's interesting that they said she's in pain, so I guess the medicine may not be taking care of all of it.

Right now we see they are taking what appears to be cargo off the plane. It's coming off the plane before they actually take the passengers. What they do when the wounded come off of this plane is that they are put on ambulance buses and they are brought here to Walter Reed -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Elizabeth. We're going to have you stand by and watch those pictures. We're going to get in a little bit more news right now while we stand by. Actually, continue with the subject of Private Lynch. But keep the picture up. U.S. Marines rescued Private Lynch. It was a dramatic commando raid on a hospital in Nasiriyah. We were just talking about this a little bit. This liberation coming 10 days after her capture. That was back on March 23 by Iraqi forces. You might be wondering how this rescue took place. Here's a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What our portion was here was to haul Rangers and SEALs in this case in close to the Saddam hospital so they could execute their portion of the mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the six-minute call-out to the time we got on deck seemed like it took about four seconds.

SGT. PAUL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The city was lit up like a Christmas tree. There was a diversionary attack on the city, and they were doing their job. There was tracers arching through the air, artillery rounds impacting, fires everywhere. It was quite a show.

We clipped the wires. We had high tension wires on the way to the zone. Plane jerked hard right. Pilots recovered, and we kept going. Made our landing. Rangers were out, did a quick check to make sure the plane was intact. And took off, and finished the mission.

COL. STUART KNOLL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We departed that area and went back to our operating base, which, as I said, was several miles away. And we just waited there for hours, basically, until they had completed their portion of it.

CORPORAL DEVIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: While I was on downtime, tried to catch a couple of Z's. And got the word that we had to go extract them.

CAPT. KELVIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We were waiting on the extract call, and it came across that she had been found and all the other personnel had been found, also.

DEVIN: We landed, dropped the ramp in the back and they're in. So once we get everybody in, get a thumbs up from the guy coming in the back, get a quick head count, and we take off.

SGT. BRYAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Guy overheard myself and another guy talking about it. And he actually called us heroes, wanted to shake our hands. And that right there is what made it really set in that we did something right, we did something good. So we were pretty proud.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is an incredible story all the way around, for a chance to interview those helicopter pilots and hear them tell their story firsthand of how they actually went in and airlifted Private Lynch out of there. And as we were mentioning before, the story even before that, how the Marines were even tipped off that Private Lynch was being stashed in this makeshift hospital. We're keeping that picture up live for you constantly so that when Private Lynch does come off, and as we're told, she'll be the fifth person off, you'll see her as she makes it back to U.S. soil.

But first thing off the plane is cargo. Of course, the most precious cargo on board that plane, not only Private Lynch, but 49 others, the 49 other military who have been wounded in the war in Iraq. Let's bring our Elizabeth Cohen back in here. And Elizabeth, let's not forget, because there are 49 other families besides the Lynches, who are very excited today that their loved ones are making it home to U.S. soil for additional medical treatment. What do you know about the nature of those injuries?

COHEN: Daryn, they haven't told us the nature of the injuries of the people who are on the plane with Private Lynch. I imagine that they are the same spectrum of injuries of the wounded who are inside Walter Reed, where I am right now. Inside Walter Reed, one person is critical; the rest are in good to satisfactory condition. They have orthopedic injuries, they have broken bones, they have gunshot wounds. They have a whole variety of injuries. The same is also true at the Bethesda National Naval Center, where Marines and sailors have gone.

I was just thinking of something interesting. Here we are covering this event. Apparently, Private Lynch has been shielded to some extent to this national media attention. That's what psychologists want. They want her to be shielded. As a matter of fact, at one point apparently she asked her brother, did I make the local papers in Palestine, West Virginia? And he said, oh, yes, you did, and a lot more -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes, I would say that that would be an understatement, that she made the local papers. She made local papers all around the world. I can tell you, here in Kuwait City watching the papers every single day, she was on the front page just about every single day.

COHEN: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Go ahead.

COHEN: And I think it's interesting that you might sort of think on first blush, well, they would want her to know that she was being showered with attention and that America loves her and that she's considered a hero. And maybe they do want her to know that to some extent, but they really want to shield her from the spotlight. Because what they have found throughout history with POWs in the world wars, in Korea and Vietnam is that people need to be protected from all that attention. It makes it a lot easier to recover. She has gone in pretty quick succession from being in the United States to being in Iraq at war, to being a POW in Iraq, to being in a hospital in Germany, where she had several surgeries, to being flown back here just nine hours ago. So that is a lot for anyone to go through, especially someone in her condition, and who's had the experiences that she's had in Iraq -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely. And just to take it even a step before that, or a couple of steps. Think about it, she's a 19-year-old young woman. She is a year or two out of high school, from her prom. And within that, you know, she -- go ahead.

COHEN: Well, absolutely. I was thinking, when I was 19 I had trouble picking out what shirt to wear, let alone trying to get through being a POW and dealing with all of those injuries. I mean, she is obviously a very, very strong young woman. She has been through a lot for someone her age -- Daryn.

KAGAN: She has. And as I was going to say, just a year or two out of high school, she joins the Army to get money for an education. Her dream, to be a teacher. And as you were pointing out, Elizabeth, such a quick succession of events that leads us to where we are today. Not that it's for me to comment on, but I think that this is a smart decision to shield her. Because how would you even begin at this point -- or at some point it will be necessary, but how do you even begin to explain to this 19-year-old young woman the international celebrity that she has become pretty much overnight?

COHEN: Right, absolutely. That is a lot to deal with all at once. Here at Walter Reed, they have not come out and talked to the media today. They have said that they will not. They have said they will not be granting interviews even of their own doctors. They will be having a press conference at 10:00 tomorrow morning. So hopefully then we will learn more about her condition. But they are being very careful what they tell people here -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, I can tell you, one community, one state that will be tuned in to watch that news conference, and is probably watching just about every television set in the state of West Virginia right now, and those are all the folks that are supporting Private Lynch and her family, and have tried to live every moment of this very dramatic rescue. First the disappearance and then the rescue of the woman, the young woman that they consider their home town hero. So that's why we have our cameras not just only at Andrews Air Force base, but you, too, Elizabeth, at Walter Reed Medical Center and then also in West Virginia, the place that I would assume Jessica Lynch would eventually want to get back to, once she's feeling up to it.

COHEN: That's right. Absolutely. And that sort of brings up the subject of sort of a long term recovery. I was speaking to a Department of Defense psychologist, and I said, what happens when people go home, one year, two years, five years, 10 years later? What happens when POWs go home? Do they manage to deal with the situation, to deal with whatever happened to them while they were in captivity? And the psychologist said, you know, it's very interesting. People deal with it very differently. She said I know some Korean War POWs whose lives were pretty much ruined. Then again, I know some who got themselves together. Look at John McCain. She was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and he's now a U.S. senator and was a presidential candidate. So people deal with this experience very differently. And long term, a lot of it just has to do with what kind of lives they had even before they were taken captive as POWs. It depends really on their own psychological makeup -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, one thing that it appears -- couple of things that Private Lynch has going for her. She obviously has an incredibly strong spirit, otherwise wouldn't have gone off on the adventure in the first place, would not have thought as hard as she did and would not have been fighting for survival. So that's in her court, in her corner. Also it seems like there's a very strong support system. And that's just some of what we're going to talk about. We're going to have much more on this story. I want to remind you that "CNN PRESENTS" is putting together a special program for you, called "The Rescue of Jessica Lynch." It's going to be on tonight at 8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific, and for the millions of people that are fascinated with watching the Jessica Lynch story, as unfold, I think that would be a great viewing choice later today.

You were talking about how long this -- go ahead, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Oh, I was going to say, Daryn, I'm glad that you mentioned that support system, because that is so important, what kind of support system you come home to. And I think as we've seen through the press conferences that her family has had, through all the yellow ribbons tied around the trees in Palestine, West Virginia, that she obviously has a very, very strong support system.

Now, let's look at the kind of injuries that Private Lynch has and what she might expect when she gets here to Walter Reed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): It's a long list, the list of injuries Jessica Lynch sustained while in captivity in Iraq. She has fractures in her right arm, foot and ankle, and both legs and a fractured disc in her lumbar, or lower spine, according to the military, and she also suffered head lacerations. Lynch had several surgeries in Germany. Doctors put pins and bolts in her broken right arm and in both legs, and they repaired her fractured disc.

COL. DAVID RUBENSTEIN, LANDSTUHL MED. CENTER: Her physicians, her doctors anticipate that Private Lynch will continue to improve with time, although she will require extensive rehabilitative services.

COHEN: And the rehab won't just be physical. Even though she's reportedly in good spirits and is eating and sleeping well, psychologists say there's a mental process all POWs must go through with the help of counselors. It's called decompression in military lingo.

COL. BOB ROLAND, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY: Oftentimes, there are jumbled memories, or confusing things going on in their mind. And it's important to have them process that information and reintegrate it in a way that helps them to recover. And I suspect that Jessica is going through that process right now.

COHEN: Part of that process means staying away from the spotlight, at least for a while. Psychologists say POWs need to make a slow transition back to the real world.

LT. COL. ELSPERTH RITCHIE, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: When they come from that environment and they go to an environment that there are well wishers and stimuli and lights and sounds, that can just implode upon them. And they can actually become disoriented and confused.

COHEN: Where Jessica Lynch is in the decompression process is not known. What is known, however, is that Americans won't get to see much of their hero, as she starts her road to recovery, a road that won't be easy. But Private Lynch has already proven she knows how to do things that aren't easy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Rehab specialists tell me that ...

KAGAN: Well, that -- go ahead, Elizabeth, I'm sorry.

COHEN: Oh, thank you. Sorry, Daryn. Rehab specialists tell me that with the kind of injuries that Jessica Lynch had, rehabilitation is a matter of months, it is not a matter of just weeks or days -- Daryn.

KAGAN: In listening to the description of the injuries that this young woman has been through, it's difficult to listen without even flinching, Elizabeth, let alone thinking of the 10 days that she laid in that makeshift hospital. I don't think they make medicine, they make treatment that can substitute the iron will that this young woman apparently has.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, with those kinds of injuries that she had, you saw that whole long list. I mean, you can only imagine lying in an Iraqi hospital. We talked about pain control specialists. They probably didn't have any there. I just can't even imagine what kind of pain she was in, how she even kept up the will to live. And you're right. There's no pill, there is no drug that anyone invented that could substitute for the will that she has.

I want to read a little bit more from the statement that the parents, that the Lynch family issued today. They said: "We understand that Jessie was a soldier performing her duty, the same way thousands of other service members perform their duties every day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to every military member on the battlefield and at their duty stations. We pray for their safety." The Lynch family has made a very big point that this is not all about Jessica, it's about everyone who is fighting now or who has been fighting -- Daryn.

KAGAN: I think that's a really good point that you make there, Elizabeth. And not just Jessica Lynch here, but I think the Lynch family in total has been -- has handled this as such a class act. As you said, of course they are so thrilled that their daughter, that their sister, is OK and that she's coming back and getting good treatment, but they completely understand that she voluntary signed up for the Army, that she's a fighter, that she's going to make it, and that they are the lucky ones because they're getting their loved one back. And again, all the members of the 507th were not so lucky. And I mentioned that memorial service that took place yesterday at Ft. Bliss, Texas. I'm just going to go back to the statement from the family, who I think this plays off of what you were saying as well, Elizabeth, where they say: "We also offer our prayers to the families who have lost loved ones during this war, or loved ones still designated as missing in action or confirmed as prisoners of war. We know your hearts are broken, and we hope that you soon will find comfort."

The Lynch family is proabbly the only other family out there that can understand what those families who are still waiting for information to go through. There are still seven POWs, and a lot of information is still needed, and a lot of families are still hurting out there, Elizabeth, today.

COHEN: That's right. Now, Daryn, we're looking at the plane again. And they are hopefully going to be taking people off of this plane soon. Again, Jessica Lynch would be the fifth person coming off that plane. What happens next is that they will take these 50 wounded soldiers and put them on ambulance buses and bring them on a 45-minute trip from Walter Reed. So you can imagine what a trip this has been, from being a soldier in Iraq, to being a POW in Iraq, to being rescued, brought to Germany, several surgeries there, and then being put on a plane and now being put on a bus to come to Walter Reed. And right now she has her family with her, and I am sure that that is making a huge difference to be surrounded by your family. Because it must be just a great aid at this time, Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. You might be brave enough to go off to war and to survive what Private Lynch has, but when you've gone through what she has, there is no comfort like having your parents especially around with you. And you can never be too old to want your mom and your dad when you're going through something so traumatic.

The pictures that we're going to watch as the different wounded soldiers come off the plane, I imagine will be very much like we've seen at Ramstein. As you said, we're talking -- when you include Private Lynch, a total of 50 who will be brought off. All different types of wounds and injuries. Some will be able to walk off by themselves, if they can. And I know that's a point of pride, that they try to do. Obviously in the case of Jessica Lynch, that's not going to happen. She'd have to be brought off on a stretcher.

COHEN: Right, absolutely. She is clearly not able to walk. She still has two broken legs, the broken foot and a broken ankle. Daryn, when you mention that some of the wounded will be able to walk off, that will be very important once they get here at Walter Reed that some of them will be able to walk, go into each other's rooms, talk to each about the war, talk about what happened. Military psychologists tell me that that is just a very important part of the recovery process, to be able to talk not just to your family, who wasn't there, not just to the psychologists here, who also weren't in Iraq, but to the people who were in Iraq with you. They're the ones who know what it was like, and they are the ones who can share some of those experiences.

KAGAN: And let's talk a little bit, Elizabeth, about these medical centers that these soldiers have gone through. First of all, at Ramstein, you have the Landstuhl Hospital. This is the largest Army hospital facility in all of Europe. Gone there, and then to Walter Reed. Why brought to Walter Reed, of all the facilities? What do they have there that's going to help Jessica Lynch and these others?

COHEN: Well, Walter Reed is where Army wounded go. Wounded Marines and sailors go to Bethesda. But this is where Army wounded go, and this is a huge hospital, tertiary care center. They have every specialty you can think of. They have every bit of technology you can think of. So this is really a first class place for them to be. And in addition to all of that, they have the psychological services that returning soldiers and that returning POWs need. There are whole divisions of the military that specialize in nothing but helping returning POWs, helping them get back to a normal life, helping them digest everything that's happened to them. So those services are as important as the physical services that are offered.

KAGAN: And so the thinking is, I guess, once she and the others get to Walter Reed, this would be, for lack of a better term, like a one-stop shop? She'll be able to do her complete rehabilitation at this one medical center rather than moving on?

COHEN: Absolutely. This is, as you said, one-stop shopping. This is where they have the physical services. This is where they have the psychological services. As I said, people write Ph.D. theses on what to do when POWs return, what kind of therapy they need. And so they have the best and the brightest here to help people get through that experience. As we see now here on the ground at Andrews Air Force base, it appears that they are setting up a stretcher. We just saw a picture of an ambulance. And it appears that they will probably be getting ready to have these wounded come off.

Again, we're being told that Private Lynch will be the fifth casualty off of that plane. And we don't know if her parents will be right there with her, or if they'll be coming back later. And it will be interesting to see in what way they shield her sort of from the outside world in the beginning. It will be interesting to see if she'll be looking around or not. I noticed that there's not any media right there. They've definitely done their work at keeping everyone away from her. Our cameras are at some distance, as you can tell.

KAGAN: Well, this is one of those times when we try again to walk that fine line. Want to bring coverage to the millions of people who are so excited to see Jessica Lynch make it back to the States. On the other hand, we do want to be back so that we can respect the rights of Private Lynch and of her family. Couple notes on some things that you said there, Elizabeth. First of all, we don't know if her parents will be there. I can guarantee you they won't be far behind, if they're not right by her side when they bring her back. You're also talking about how they're going to shield her. I would imagine it will be some time before we see any type of interviews or news conferences with her.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I suspect that that will be some time. And her doctors don't even want to talk right now, so she definitely will not be talking right now. Again, I can't emphasize enough how much psychologists, military psychologists, emphasize that being kept out of the spotlight is so important for their psychological recovery, that this needs to be done slowly. Earlier today, Daryn, earlier we were talking about how in the old days, in World War I and World War II and Korea, people would be brought back by ships and they would have weeks and weeks to be just with their war comrades, that they were not subjected to the outside world. They were not subjected to media attention. And obviously now, it's better to have planes, but it does have the downside that it's just in a matter of hours before they're catapulted back into the world whether everyone wants to greet them and interview them and get to know them.

So in some ways, military psychologists are sort of nostalgic for the world in which it took several weeks to get back, because they say naturally speaking, psychologically speaking, these folks need time to readjust to being back in the real world. Not just POWs like Private Lynch, but all soldiers. They have been in a very different experience. They are now coming back to the real world. And that takes some adjustment, and not just the eight or nine hours that they just spent on their plane. It takes a lot longer than that -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, it kind of fits in how this war has played out. This will be a war that people will remember for a long time, if for no other reason but the instant technology that brought it into people's living rooms. They watched as it unfolded, and it's that same technology that has made Private Lynch an international celebrity overnight. And as you're saying, as with air travel, able to get her back in a matter of hours instead of a matter of days or weeks. And you're right, I think that time does have a big difference on how somebody like Private Lynch is able to recover.

One more note here, Elizabeth, on how much -- on how her family is trying to protect her and just maybe how much they're able to do that. I'm getting word, or it's been published that at least one major broadcast network plans to go ahead and make a movie about Private Lynch, whether or not the family intends to sell the rights to the story. So in this day and age of how the media is set up, in the end there's only so much that the family can protect her.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, she has a huge challenge in front of her, which is to protect her privacy. She's only 19. She's got a long life in front of her. And she will be known forever as Private Lynch who was taken POW in Iraq. It's going to be a huge challenge to protect her privacy at this point. People making movies even without her permission. She will become an icon. And that has both good and bad sides to it.

Let's talk a little bit more, Daryn, about when she gets to Walter Reed, what they will do. The first thing they're going to do is assess her injuries. They'll take a look at the surgeries that they did in Germany to see how it's going. In Germany, they put pins and bolts in her broken right arm and in her two broken legs. They also did surgery on her disc in her lower back. And they'll want to assess, does she have neurological damage? Is she able to bear any weight at all in those legs, which are in pink casts? We heard she got pink casts, just like she did when she was in third grade and needed a cast, they made it pink. They will also need to strengthen her muscles.

They probably started -- may have already started working on that. She was lying in bed for a very long time. I am told just now she's able to sit up for very short -- relatively short periods of time. She will also need to stretch those muscles. So she definitely has a long road in front of her, but if anyone can do it, it's her -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely. I think you'd have a tough time finding anybody who's going to bet against this young woman and her steely determination to survive and to improve and get better. Elizabeth, want to mention to our audience out there I have the honor of sitting in this chair tonight because our colleague, Wolf Blitzer, did his show earlier, got on a plane and went from Kuwait City to Doha, Qatar.

COHEN: Daryn?

KAGAN: And as we -- Elizabeth, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we're going to bring Wolf in in a second. He's in Doha, but as I understand it, they're just starting to unload the plane, so why don't you take it from here.

COHEN: That's right. They have taken the first casualty off of the plane. We cannot at this point see this person's face as they are surrounded by people. This person was taken out, as we can see here, on a stretcher. So this is patient number one of 50. These patients all need to be put on ambulances and taken here to Walter Reed.

As you can see, the person is strapped into the stretcher. They are surrounded by medical personnel. Now we can see the face on the right-hand side of our screen. There is a bandage I can see on this person's head. And right now, they are taking that person away. We are told that Private Lynch will be the fifth person off the plane. So that right there, that person was the first person. Now we are heading back to see when they take the second person off. Of course, all of these people have had their own histories, their own histories of how they were injured, of what kind of recovery they had, how they made the trip back from Iraq to Germany. Each of these persons has their own story.

And Daryn, now some military personnel are going back on the plane, presumably to get the second casualty off of that plane. These are people, who, you can imagine, you know, no one likes a nine-hour flight. It's never any fun to do a transatlantic flight. You can only imagine you're doing it injured on a stretcher. Now we are seeing the ambulance on the left hand side of our screen where they have put that first casualty. And we're waiting for them to take the second casualty off of that plane.

KAGAN: And Elizabeth, with what kind of fanfare are they doing it as each person is brought off?

COHEN: You know, it's interesting, Daryn. There really isn't any fanfare. As I said, they kept the media away. And this is being done. These people are trained to do this. It is a very simple, very direct operation from what I can see. They are taking folks off. There's a ramp that goes from the plane down to the tarmac. And then they get loaded onto the ambulances. These are people who have been trained to do this. And it is done in a very matter-of-fact way. These folks have just been through a long plane ride. They left Germany at 8:20 this morning Washington, D.C. time. They landed a bit past 5:00, and now they are taking them off and putting them on the ambulances for the 45-minute ride to Walter Reed.

KAGAN: All right, so we're one wounded soldier down. All with all due respect to the 49 others who are on this plane and their other families caring about them just as much as Jessica Lynch's family caring about her. Our information is that Jessica Lynch will be the fifth off this plane. So as we stand by and watch the others come off and wait for Private Lynch, I want to go ahead and bring my colleague, Wolf Blitzer in. And as I was mentioned, Wolf did his show here earlier, got on a plane, made it to Doha, Qatar, which is the headquarters for the Central Command for the coalition forces. And Wolf, why don't you jump in here?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, before I left, I had been speaking over the past several days, Daryn and Elizabeth, with senior U.S. military personnel. All of them stress one thing. The number one priority right now for the U.S. military, for General Tommy Franks and the Central Command is to find the other POWs. There are five others from the 507th Maintenance Company based at Ft. Bliss, like Jessica Lynch. They were captured. They have not been rescued.

They were desperately hoping that when they went into some of those military and intelligence prisons in and around Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq in recent days, they would manage to find these other POWs. All of them, as our viewers by now know, have been seen on Iraqi television. It was replayed on Al Jazeera and other networks as well. And they are desperately searching for these five POWs. They are also searching for the MIAs, those listed as missing in action. This is the highest priority for General Franks right now, especially now that the war is basically for all practical purposes have been achieved, in the sense that Saddam Hussein's regime has been removed from power.

But they're still looking. They still haven't found them. Their hopes still are high that they'll find the POWs and the MIAs and be able to reunite them with their families, just as Jessica Lynch has been reunited with her family, as we're seeing these pictures now so dramatically underscored on this long flight from Germany back to Andrews Air Force base outside of Washington, D.C. I got to tell you when I speak tomorrow with General Franks -- yes, go ahead, Daryn.

KAGAN: No, finish your thought. When you speak tomorrow with General Franks, you're going to talk about the POW issue, I imagine?

BLITZER: I'm sure we're going to talk about this, and I'm sure he's going to stay what I just said. Because all of his commanders are saying it. This is the top U.S. priority now, to find those POWs. They don't want to leave anyone behind. No POWs, no MIAs. And remember, a lot of these senior commanders, Daryn, went through Vietnam. They were young lieutenants during Vietnam, captains maybe, and now they're three and four-star generals and admirals. And they have a long memory. They know what happened during Vietnam, and they don't want to leave these young men and women behind. So they're going to do whatever they can. They're hoping that as they capture more senior Iraqi officials they'll get some information about these POWs and MIAs that will help them take them to the location where they may be.

So I just wanted to say, underscore as we watch these dramatic pictures from Andrews Air Force base, how significant this is for the military, for the U.S. military, for the top political and military leadership over at the Pentagon -- Daryn.

KAGAN: That's a very good point, Wolf. And as we try to do throughout the night, to point out that it's not just about Jessica Lynch. As proud as America is of her, there's still a lot of families out there that are still wanting, as you said, the same type of reunion to take place with their loved ones. Seven POWs total. The five from the 507th, plus the two Apache helicopter pilots, that helicopter that was down. They're still not accounted for as well.

Wolf is going to have much more from Doha, Qatar just ahead. That's going to do it for me here in Kuwait City. We're not going to forget about Jessica Lynch. As she comes off the plane, you're going to have complete live coverage right here on CNN. Elizabeth Cohen stands by in Washington, D.C., near Walter Reid Medical Center. Here's Thomas Roberts with the latest headlines.

(NEWSBREAK)

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Aired April 12, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Chilling discoveries by the troops. A warhead in the north.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had a green marking on it (UNINTELLIGIBLE) weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And in Baghdad, these vests signal danger.

Shootout at the Palestine Hotel. Iraqi resistance caught on camera.

Surrender. Saddam's top scientist turns himself in. Does he know where weapons are?

And homecoming. Private Jessica Lynch returns to U.S. soil. All this on day 24 of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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

KAGAN: And you're taking a live look at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland. It might not look like much is happening right now, but soon that will change. We're awaiting the arrival of Private Jessica Lynch along with 49 other wounded troops.

And hello from Kuwait City. I'm Daryn Kagan reporting. Wolf Blitzer is on assignment this evening. Today the U.S. may be closer to finding chemical weapons in Iraq. The latest this hour first. A warhead discovered in northern Iraq. A symbol on it suggesting the presence of chemical weapons. So far initial tests are inconclusive.

There's also new hope in the weapons hunt. Saddam Hussein's top science adviser surrendered today. Amir Al-Saadi was Iraq's point person for the last round of U.N. weapons inspections.

And happening live this hour, rescued POW Jessica Lynch returns to the U.S. She's been receiving treatment in Germany and will be taken to Walter Reed Medal Center in Washington, D.C. Private Lynch is en route to the U.S. along with 49 other injured troops. CNN will carry that arrival live. We're going to go ahead and begin in Baghdad. Let's go live to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. She is in the Iraqi capital. She has the latest news and some very compelling and very strong images on the casualties of war. Christiane, hello.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, hello from Baghdad. The Marines who have been stepping in to do some security at some of the most vulnerable locations such as hospitals here over the past few days of looting. Today a Marine was killed as he was guarding one of those hospitals. Apparently somebody walked by, pulled out an AK-47, shot and this Marine was killed.

Now, in addition, the Marines are trying to get the local police to help now and they have gotten at least one of the local police commanders to come back to work. And they are hoping to start some new patrolling in what has been a lawless capital for the last several days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Baghdad wallows in the wreckage of war. Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles blown up on the city streets, cars and trucks still waving the white flag, lest they be mistaken for the enemy. And here right in the middle of a residential neighborhood, a missile, we're told a Sam II.

Marines are here to make sure it's safely towed away, and the people complain loudly about the fallen regime placing such targets in their midst. They said they were afraid of U.S. bombs dropped in this neighborhood, perhaps aiming for the missile.

(on camera): This is a deep crater caused by a bomb. And around what seems to be the remnants of some kind of vehicle. But just 20 yards away, there are private homes. And the doctors here tell us that they've received many more civilian casualties during this war than they did during the first Gulf War of 1991.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a shell to the abdomen. We open the abdomen, and have injury to the bowel.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): At this one hospital alone, doctors tell us they have received 500 civilians, with everything from slight to critical injuries, and they conducted 170 major operations in just 21 days of war.

DR. ABOUL MOHAMMED HAKEEM, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: In the first war, we didn't see such a huge number. This is number one. And secondly, the type of injuries here is more serious, as I note, than before.

AMANPOUR: And now, with the looting, Dr. Hakeem says he simply can't get the staff to come to work. Today, no anesthetists, no radiologists.

HAKEEM: But thank God, we cope. What to do.

AMANPOUR: That's because they brought their own guns to keep the bandits at bay. U.S. Marines have set up a position near another hospital. Children bring them flowers, and the Marines say they're trying to calm the fears of the past few chaotic days.

CPI QUENTIN MELROE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We let them know we're not here to harm them. We're here for peace now. That's our mission, is to give them security.

AMANPOUR: Inside the hospital filled with more war wounded, including this 5-year-old boy with a shrapnel wound to the head, the doctor says he's got mixed feelings. Relief that Saddam Hussein is gone, but a deep desire for more security.

DR. ABDUL KARIM YAKHGAM, NEUROSURGEON: When Mr. Bush and Blair and others decided to bomb to change the regime, should be planned immediately.

AMANPOUR: Down by the main Marine base, a group of Iraqis decided to make that demand more clear. Waving a banner, calling for a new order, and yelling for peace. At one point, it got ugly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here for your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) freedom. So back up right now!

AMANPOUR: In the end, though, calm prevailed with both the Iraqis and the Marines deciding that discretion is the better part of valor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And yet just a few hours after that scene over there, where there was some calm amongst the people, there was a firefight just to the left of us with Marines leaping into action against what they thought was a sniper from a house just across the river -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Christiane Amanpour. Everything from bullets to flowers as the welcome committee for the U.S. military in Baghdad. Christiane, thank you very much.

Well, throughout this war there has been the fear that Iraqi forces would use weapons of mass destruction. That has not happened so far, but today U.S. experts are trying to determine if a warhead that was discovered in northern Iraq contains a chemical agent. Our Thomas Nybo is in Kirkuk in northern Iraqi with the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS NYBO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): U.S. Army says it's been a busy day in the search for chemical weapons in and around the area of the Kirkuk military air field. They say there were a couple of key developments today. The first one dealing with the discovery of a possible chemical warhead. Now, there were mixed results on the tests. They were done in pairs, and the first pair of tests showed trace amounts of a nerve agent, the Army says. The second tests, which were conducted not too long, just moments ago. I'm standing a couple of hundred yards from the suspected warhead here. And I spoke with the public affairs officer traveling with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. I spoke with him before the second test.

MAJ. ROB GOWAN, U.S. ARMY: Elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade were clearing the air field, going from building to building, facility to facility. And they came across a weapon. They checked it. It appeared as though it would have some markings that indicated it was -- could be a chemical weapon. They came back later and checked it with some technical instruments and it did test positive for a nerve agent.

NYBO: Regarding those tests, they operate on a scale of zero to six with a device called the ICAM (ph). The first few tests that were conducted showed trace elements, registered at one. The second test ,which just happened a short while ago, showed no trace whatsoever. One of the testers says, though, you really can't tell with any certainty until they crack them open, crack open the warheads and examine them, and the 173rd doesn't have those tools. They're bringing in other teams with more sophisticated technology to answer that question.

Another development here was the presence of a former Iraqi air force official. I spoke with Major Gowan about this man and here's what he had to say.

GOWAN: An Iraqi gentleman has come forth, claiming to have some specific knowledge about possible chemical weapons that may be stored here on this air base. It appears as though the air base was evacuated hastily. A lot of indicators seem to say that the Iraqi forces that were here left very quickly.

NYBO: I read a U.S. Army intelligence summary, which essentially said this man was in prison during the time of Saddam Hussein's regime. And he was liberated with the fall of Kirkuk. He showed up at a security gate and said he had information regarding possible chemical weapons. More specifically, he said he knew of 120 missiles buried in a radius of about 30 miles. And he said of these 120 missiles, 24 of them have chemical munitions. This question also won't be answered for some time, but there are already U.S. Army teams out searching for those weapons.

Thomas Nybo, CNN, reporting from the Kirkuk military air field in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And we have yet another example of just how dangerous Iraq is. And this happened today. American Marines discovered a cache of vests. They were filled with explosives, of the type that are worn by suicide bombers. Our Jason Bellini has that story from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's unisex, one size fits all. A nonreturnable garment, worn by those dressed to kill. Suicide vests. Fifty were found stored at an elementary school. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coat bomb. Suicide. Do you understand me? Of suicide. The volunteers use it.

BELLINI: Their detonators, simple, easy to use.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone of them, they all had laminated instructions tagged on here. So as long as the bomber can read, he can go carry out his mission.

BELLINI: The Marine explosives experts don't want us to show their faces, but want us to know the sophistication of the Iraqi suicides squads, unknown in number or location.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was centralized place where they dropped all of the stuff off. The bombers pick it up, carry off and go carry out their mission. The first time, this pretty much had a 30-second delay. You flip it on, pull this out, 30 seconds, it detonates.

BELLINI: Lieutenant Colonel Chris Conlin's Marines stand guard over these weapons while they await removal.

LT. COL. CHRIS CONLIN, U.S. MARINES: Destructive power, it would be kind of hard to estimate. It depends on where the guy is when it goes off. But certainly if he got into a crowded area, he could take out tens, twenties, thirties of people.

BELLINI: Here, they also found more than 200 other explosives of the more standard variety, the kind that go under cars, into briefcases and are used for booby traps.

(on camera): More haunting, what's not here. These empty hangers, suggesting the possibility that there are Iraqis wearing explosive vests, waiting to detonate themselves.

(voice-over): How many vests were districted before the Fedayeen fled? The Marines have no idea.

Jason Bellini, CNN, Baghdad, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And weapons weren't the only thing discovered in Baghdad today by the Army's 101st Airborne. Our Ryan Chilcote is in southern Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It's been a very busy day for the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade. This is only their second day in Baghdad. And it began, sadly, with the location of some remains, some human remains in an empty lot in southern Baghdad. The soldiers then positively identifying those remains as the remains of a U.S. serviceman. And a very dignified ceremony on the scene. The soldiers prayed for that serviceman, then evacuated the remains from that area. Just an hour later, a very different kind of mission. Acting on a tip from an informant, the soldiers raided a mosque, again in southern Baghdad. They had been told that they would find some 30 Fedayeen, the so-called Fedayeen paramilitary fighters inside. Instead they found some military garb, a first aid station, a weapon and some documents, including, very interestingly, some Syrian passports. That wasn't all of it. They also hit a Baath Party headquarters there, finding a Rolls Royce, and believe it or not, a Huey helicopter camouflaged in the backyard. Then later in the day, they found 13 surface-to-air missiles.

A series of disparate events; the common thread through all of it, really, is that the 101st Airborne has turned into a police unit, really policing the city of Baghdad.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, with the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade, in southern Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And from Ryan we want to take you right to Andrews Air Force base. This is where the plane, the C-17 that is carrying former POW Private Jessica Lynch is landing, along with 49 other wounded soldiers. They are coming to the Washington, D.C. area to get even more medical help.

Our Elizabeth Cohen is standing by. She's at Walter Reed Medical Center. This is where Jessica Lynch will eventually go to get the additional help -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Jessica and her comrades who are on that plane will be brought here to Walter Reed. It's about 45 minutes away from Andrews Air Force base, which is where that plane is that we're seeing now.

For Jessica Lynch, she has a long road of rehabilitation and recovery in front of her. What doctors are going to do first is they are going to assess the injuries that she has. For example, does she have neurological damage that would put her recovery in a whole different category? Can she bear any weight at all on those two broken legs? Sometimes people who have two broken legs will end up in a wheelchair temporarily for several weeks. She will need to strengthen her muscles, especially since she was lying down flat for so long, and also stretch out those muscles. And those are some of the issues that Jessica Lynch will face when she gets here to Walter Reed -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And Elizabeth, we're just getting word, as we're going to get a chance to watch some of the injured soldiers come off that plane, that Jessica, in fact, will be the second person off the plane. Not exactly who will be the first person, but of course, we're going to keep our cameras up and keep it live, and have the folks at home watch right along with us here.

A couple of questions for you, or just some things I want to bring up in our discussion. Jessica's family from West Virginia was actually able to go to Germany to see her, to meet with her, and then escort her back for this trip.

COHEN: Right. And that is so important. Military psychologists tell us that they want to get family around the person. Not necessarily immediately in the case of a POW. You notice that her parents did not go there immediately. She needed some time to what they call in military lingo, decompress without family around. But now her family is with her. The head of the Bethesda National Naval Center was just on our air talking about how once after a period of time has passed, having family and having other soldiers around is so important to talk about all the experiences that they went through -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, you mentioned the psychological aspects of this. Of course, that is one of the top considerations that comes into play here. I imagine just as she has a number of physical treatments that will need to take place, there will be psychological therapy as well to help her recover from the incredible ordeal that she has survived.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. And there probably has been psychological treatment already. Psychologists will simply talk to her about the experiences that she has been through. Again, they call it in military lingo, decompression. One of the things that they may also want to talk to her about is any guilt that she might have. They said sometimes people who are POWs and released, or really any soldier who is injured in a war, will have guilt about those who they left behind. For example, a friend of Private Lynch's was killed in this war, Lori Piestewa. She was killed in this war, and there is, of course -- it would be perfectly normal for Private Lynch to be feeling some guilt about that, to be feeling guilt about not being back there with her colleagues working in this war.

Daryn, there's an interesting point that military psychologists make about modern warfare. Up until the Vietnam War, war injured or any soldiers would come back home via ship. They would have weeks and weeks to talk to their other soldiers, to talk to their friends about what they had been through, to just play cards and to discuss. And they would have time to adjust to everything. Now, of course, it can be just a matter of hours before someone goes from a hospital in Germany back to the United States. She has made a relatively quick transition, going from POW, to patient, to now back in the United States. And they say that they need to work around that, because the transition is so quick these days, they need to keep her basically isolated from the rest of the world. They need to keep her isolated from the media, isolated from the spotlight so that she's just with her immediate family and her close friends and so that she doesn't get disoriented by all the attention -- Daryn.

KAGAN: You mentioned that there's other soldiers involved here, and I think it's important to remember that as well, not only the 49 other wounded troops that are on board that plane, with Private Lynch, but of course she was a member of -- and still is a member of the 507th Maintenance Unit out of Ft. Bliss, Texas. Lori Piestewa was just one of nine who lost their lives. And the timing of bringing Private Lynch back, very interesting here, Elizabeth, because it was just yesterday that the memorial service was held for the fallen soldiers at Ft. Bliss. Very emotional day for folks who weren't as lucky as Private Lynch's family in getting their loved ones back.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. And again, as the military psychologist told us, that is often a large part about what really soldiers want to talk about, is what happened to their friends, the sorrow that they feel at their loss, sometimes the guilt that they feel at their loss. That is the big part of the therapy that they go through once they are released.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, I want you to stay with us. Meanwhile, we're going to bring in a very close family friend of Jessica Lynch's family. This is Anita Lockhart. She is standing by with us from West Virginia. Anita, I want to say welcome for you on what I think is a very happy day for your community in West Virginia.

ANITA LOCKHART, FRIEND OF PFC LYNCH: Yes, it is. We're excited.

KAGAN: Can you share some of the feelings of the community beyond that?

LOCKHART: Everyone's just glad she's coming back to the States. We're really excited to see her get in here, and it's just great.

KAGAN: Of course, as we mentioned, many members of her family were able to go over to Germany, meet with Jessica, ride back with her on the plane. Have you had a chance to talk with any of those family members since they've had a chance to visit with Jessica?

LOCKHART: Yes. I have talked to Greg Jr. and I've also talked to Dee, the mom.

KAGAN: And are you able to share any of that conversation with us, or is that private?

LOCKHART: Most of it was private. Just that, you know, my big question was how's Jessie doing? And I always got the response that she was doing very well. So it's great.

KAGAN: That's good. How is mom and how are brother doing after having the chance to see their daughter and their sister?

LOCKHART: They were very excited. Very, very excited.

KAGAN: And they're traveling back with her. They should be on that plane that we will be watching.

LOCKHART: They are on that plane.

KAGAN: Very good. Of course, now we've mentioned that we've been talking this, that Private Lynch -- or Jessie, as you call her. We'll stick with Private Lynch out of term of respect here. But she has quite -- I don't want to say ordeal, but a few challenges ahead of her in getting back to her old self. But eventually she will be coming home to West Virginia. Any plans in the works to have a big welcome home celebration for her?

LOCKHART: There's a lot of talk about that, but nothing's been confirmed. Our only concern is that Jessie get home and get well. So, no. We -- I mean, just talk. Nothing confirmed.

KAGAN: Well, I imagine of all the things that your community has had to talk about over the last month or so, this is the fun part, this is the exciting part. It's the biggest thing that happens in this planning, a big surprise and welcome home for Private Lynch when she gets there. That will be a happier day indeed.

LOCKHART: Yes, it will.

KAGAN: Yes. We wish you well with that. And you're going to want to maybe break away and go watch those same pictures. They'll be very exciting for you and the members of your West Virginia community, to stand by and -- I don't know if you heard me say this, but Jessica is supposed to be the second person off the plane. So there's your inside information as you cheer your home town hero. OK. Anita Lockhart, joining us from West Virginia, thank you so much.

LOCKHART: Thank you.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, I don't know if you could hear that interview, but definitely from this close family friend, Anita Lockhart, I think a sense of relief. There's been a lot of worry that's been going into the last few weeks.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I think sometimes when you're going through an experience like this, as a close friend or a family member, you don't always recognize the ups and the downs that you've been through emotionally. I mean, this has definitely been a roller coaster of a time for everybody. So while there is obviously happiness that Private Lynch is coming home, probably people are also feeling to some extent a bit exhausted by the emotions of it all.

KAGAN: Absolutely. And as you were mentioning, this is far from over. Still quite a bit of rehabilitation to go for Private Lynch.

COHEN: Absolutely. I mean, with two broken legs, a broken arm, a broken foot, a broken ankle, a fractured disc and head lacerations, she definitely has work in front of her. In the family statement, they said today she does have a long rehabilitation in front of her, but she is obviously very tough. Part of the rehabilitation at first will be assessing how much, if any, she has any neurological damage. And then they will see if her legs can bear any weight. That's a very important thing for them to ascertain. And then slowly to get her up to bearing some weight and to doing physical therapy.

KAGAN: And she already has, I think, and help me with the count here, Elizabeth, I think she's had two or three surgeries while she was in Germany?

COHEN: Yes, she's had several surgeries. She had them to put pins and bolts in her broken arm and in her broken legs. And then she had another surgery to repair that fractured disc in her lumbar, in her lower spine.

KAGAN: And then have doctors talked about if she'll face perhaps more surgery now that she's going to be stateside? COHEN: We haven't heard anything about whether or not they need to do more surgery. They're probably waiting to say something until they can actually assess her. Of course, that's always a possibility. But the family has talked a lot about rehabilitation. And certainly the rehabilitation that is in front of her could be long. I was speaking with rehab specialists who said with those kinds of injuries, it's not a matter of days, it's not a matter of weeks, it's a matter of months.

KAGAN: Let's go to our folks who are standing by with us, waiting to see Private Lynch get off the plane, see her with their own eyes, let's talk about just how long this ordeal has been going on. Of course, as I mentioned, Private Lynch a part of the 507th Maintenance Unit out of Ft. Bliss, Texas. They were on March 23rd near an area of Nasiriyah. Basically took a wrong turn, and that turned out to be a fatal turn for a number of members of that company. For Private Lynch, it meant 10 days as a POW, basically sequestered away in a hospital, in an area that perhaps authorities would have never known where to find her, if it wasn't, we received word, if it was not for the work of one very brave Iraqi man whose wife worked at that hospital, who went to visit his wife, who was a nurse there, and discovered that this American woman was being kept, and risked his own life and the life of his family to go up to Marines and say, I know where one of your POWs is being held. And then went back a number of times to prove that he had the information, and to help Special Operations forces scout out and do the rescue, the incredible rescue, just to get Private Lynch back to safety.

COHEN: That's right, Daryn. In fact, in their statement today the family expressed gratitude not just to everyone in the U.S. military who rescued Jessica, but also to those Iraqis who led the Americans to where she was in the hospital.

KAGAN: Absolutely. As you mentioned -- you mentioned this family statement. We have -- this is what they released after the plane took off. I think the Lynch family is trying to walk a fine line of really wanting to show its gratitude, because there has been such an incredible amount of outpouring, coming, of course starting in their home town in West Virginia, across the state and all around the world. But also wanting to express that gratitude but also, at the same time, wanting, of course understandably, a sense of privacy as they try to get their daughter well. And I say -- I would describe this as about a two-page long statement. I'll just share with the audience just this first paragraph, where the Lynch family statement says, "Our family has been blessed by the tremendous outpouring of support for our daughter Jessie." People from across West Virginia, United States, everywhere in the world, offered comfort and aid. On behalf of Jessie, our family would like to offer our deepest and most sincerest thanks for this show of affection."

It's interesting, Elizabeth, to watch the family not only suddenly have to face a crisis, but suddenly be thrust into the public eye all across the world.

COHEN: What we're looking at right now, Daryn, is the transport plane which is holding Jessica Lynch and 49 others who were wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom. We are told that Private Lynch will be the fifth person off of that plane. Now, we haven't been given many details about the injuries on that plane, other than Private Lynch. But if they're anything like the injured who are at Walter Reed, where I am right now, there's a whole host of different injuries. Lots of orthopedic injuries. There will probably be gunshot wounds. Here at Walter Reed, they only have one in critical condition. Everyone else is in anything from good to satisfactory condition.

And we would expect that they would also on this plane have a whole array of injuries. I want to read also from that same family statement that Daryn was reading from. This is from the Lynch family: "Jessie's recovery continues and she is doing well. She is in pain, but she is in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough. We believe she will regain her strength soon. Our family is proud of Jessie." And certainly on that plane also her family is on there with her. So hopefully, we'll get a chance to see them as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Thank you for that updated information. So we're hearing now, Elizabeth, that Private Lynch will be fifth off the plane instead of second as we had originally heard.

COHEN: That's right. And right now you can see we're watching -- sorry, Daryn, we're watching the mechanics who have greeted this plane. This is at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland. It's about 45 minutes away from Walter Reed, which is where I am now, which is where Private Lynch and the others are headed. They will join 23 wounded who are at Walter Reed now. There are about 64 wounded who have been treated at the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. Again, we expect Private Lynch to be the fifth one off. She is joined by 49 other people and her family on that plane -- Daryn.

KAGAN: We will be keeping our eyes open for that as well. I think the part of the statement that you read there, Elizabeth, kind of brings up another interesting medical point, and that is where they talk about Jessie being in pain. When you hear the list of her injuries, it goes without saying that what she's going through must be incredibly painful. Have you had a chance to talk to any pain management experts about how they go through this for her?

COHEN: Yes, we talked to some doctors who said that pain management is obviously a huge, huge issue here. You want to manage the pain without, obviously, knocking anybody out. Again, those list of injuries are a broken arm, two broken legs, a broken foot, a broken ankle, a fractured disc, in her lumbar, or lower spine, and lacerations to the head. So pain management is a big issue here. It's interesting that they said she's in pain, so I guess the medicine may not be taking care of all of it.

Right now we see they are taking what appears to be cargo off the plane. It's coming off the plane before they actually take the passengers. What they do when the wounded come off of this plane is that they are put on ambulance buses and they are brought here to Walter Reed -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Elizabeth. We're going to have you stand by and watch those pictures. We're going to get in a little bit more news right now while we stand by. Actually, continue with the subject of Private Lynch. But keep the picture up. U.S. Marines rescued Private Lynch. It was a dramatic commando raid on a hospital in Nasiriyah. We were just talking about this a little bit. This liberation coming 10 days after her capture. That was back on March 23 by Iraqi forces. You might be wondering how this rescue took place. Here's a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What our portion was here was to haul Rangers and SEALs in this case in close to the Saddam hospital so they could execute their portion of the mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the six-minute call-out to the time we got on deck seemed like it took about four seconds.

SGT. PAUL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The city was lit up like a Christmas tree. There was a diversionary attack on the city, and they were doing their job. There was tracers arching through the air, artillery rounds impacting, fires everywhere. It was quite a show.

We clipped the wires. We had high tension wires on the way to the zone. Plane jerked hard right. Pilots recovered, and we kept going. Made our landing. Rangers were out, did a quick check to make sure the plane was intact. And took off, and finished the mission.

COL. STUART KNOLL, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We departed that area and went back to our operating base, which, as I said, was several miles away. And we just waited there for hours, basically, until they had completed their portion of it.

CORPORAL DEVIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: While I was on downtime, tried to catch a couple of Z's. And got the word that we had to go extract them.

CAPT. KELVIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We were waiting on the extract call, and it came across that she had been found and all the other personnel had been found, also.

DEVIN: We landed, dropped the ramp in the back and they're in. So once we get everybody in, get a thumbs up from the guy coming in the back, get a quick head count, and we take off.

SGT. BRYAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Guy overheard myself and another guy talking about it. And he actually called us heroes, wanted to shake our hands. And that right there is what made it really set in that we did something right, we did something good. So we were pretty proud.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is an incredible story all the way around, for a chance to interview those helicopter pilots and hear them tell their story firsthand of how they actually went in and airlifted Private Lynch out of there. And as we were mentioning before, the story even before that, how the Marines were even tipped off that Private Lynch was being stashed in this makeshift hospital. We're keeping that picture up live for you constantly so that when Private Lynch does come off, and as we're told, she'll be the fifth person off, you'll see her as she makes it back to U.S. soil.

But first thing off the plane is cargo. Of course, the most precious cargo on board that plane, not only Private Lynch, but 49 others, the 49 other military who have been wounded in the war in Iraq. Let's bring our Elizabeth Cohen back in here. And Elizabeth, let's not forget, because there are 49 other families besides the Lynches, who are very excited today that their loved ones are making it home to U.S. soil for additional medical treatment. What do you know about the nature of those injuries?

COHEN: Daryn, they haven't told us the nature of the injuries of the people who are on the plane with Private Lynch. I imagine that they are the same spectrum of injuries of the wounded who are inside Walter Reed, where I am right now. Inside Walter Reed, one person is critical; the rest are in good to satisfactory condition. They have orthopedic injuries, they have broken bones, they have gunshot wounds. They have a whole variety of injuries. The same is also true at the Bethesda National Naval Center, where Marines and sailors have gone.

I was just thinking of something interesting. Here we are covering this event. Apparently, Private Lynch has been shielded to some extent to this national media attention. That's what psychologists want. They want her to be shielded. As a matter of fact, at one point apparently she asked her brother, did I make the local papers in Palestine, West Virginia? And he said, oh, yes, you did, and a lot more -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes, I would say that that would be an understatement, that she made the local papers. She made local papers all around the world. I can tell you, here in Kuwait City watching the papers every single day, she was on the front page just about every single day.

COHEN: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Go ahead.

COHEN: And I think it's interesting that you might sort of think on first blush, well, they would want her to know that she was being showered with attention and that America loves her and that she's considered a hero. And maybe they do want her to know that to some extent, but they really want to shield her from the spotlight. Because what they have found throughout history with POWs in the world wars, in Korea and Vietnam is that people need to be protected from all that attention. It makes it a lot easier to recover. She has gone in pretty quick succession from being in the United States to being in Iraq at war, to being a POW in Iraq, to being in a hospital in Germany, where she had several surgeries, to being flown back here just nine hours ago. So that is a lot for anyone to go through, especially someone in her condition, and who's had the experiences that she's had in Iraq -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely. And just to take it even a step before that, or a couple of steps. Think about it, she's a 19-year-old young woman. She is a year or two out of high school, from her prom. And within that, you know, she -- go ahead.

COHEN: Well, absolutely. I was thinking, when I was 19 I had trouble picking out what shirt to wear, let alone trying to get through being a POW and dealing with all of those injuries. I mean, she is obviously a very, very strong young woman. She has been through a lot for someone her age -- Daryn.

KAGAN: She has. And as I was going to say, just a year or two out of high school, she joins the Army to get money for an education. Her dream, to be a teacher. And as you were pointing out, Elizabeth, such a quick succession of events that leads us to where we are today. Not that it's for me to comment on, but I think that this is a smart decision to shield her. Because how would you even begin at this point -- or at some point it will be necessary, but how do you even begin to explain to this 19-year-old young woman the international celebrity that she has become pretty much overnight?

COHEN: Right, absolutely. That is a lot to deal with all at once. Here at Walter Reed, they have not come out and talked to the media today. They have said that they will not. They have said they will not be granting interviews even of their own doctors. They will be having a press conference at 10:00 tomorrow morning. So hopefully then we will learn more about her condition. But they are being very careful what they tell people here -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, I can tell you, one community, one state that will be tuned in to watch that news conference, and is probably watching just about every television set in the state of West Virginia right now, and those are all the folks that are supporting Private Lynch and her family, and have tried to live every moment of this very dramatic rescue. First the disappearance and then the rescue of the woman, the young woman that they consider their home town hero. So that's why we have our cameras not just only at Andrews Air Force base, but you, too, Elizabeth, at Walter Reed Medical Center and then also in West Virginia, the place that I would assume Jessica Lynch would eventually want to get back to, once she's feeling up to it.

COHEN: That's right. Absolutely. And that sort of brings up the subject of sort of a long term recovery. I was speaking to a Department of Defense psychologist, and I said, what happens when people go home, one year, two years, five years, 10 years later? What happens when POWs go home? Do they manage to deal with the situation, to deal with whatever happened to them while they were in captivity? And the psychologist said, you know, it's very interesting. People deal with it very differently. She said I know some Korean War POWs whose lives were pretty much ruined. Then again, I know some who got themselves together. Look at John McCain. She was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and he's now a U.S. senator and was a presidential candidate. So people deal with this experience very differently. And long term, a lot of it just has to do with what kind of lives they had even before they were taken captive as POWs. It depends really on their own psychological makeup -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, one thing that it appears -- couple of things that Private Lynch has going for her. She obviously has an incredibly strong spirit, otherwise wouldn't have gone off on the adventure in the first place, would not have thought as hard as she did and would not have been fighting for survival. So that's in her court, in her corner. Also it seems like there's a very strong support system. And that's just some of what we're going to talk about. We're going to have much more on this story. I want to remind you that "CNN PRESENTS" is putting together a special program for you, called "The Rescue of Jessica Lynch." It's going to be on tonight at 8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific, and for the millions of people that are fascinated with watching the Jessica Lynch story, as unfold, I think that would be a great viewing choice later today.

You were talking about how long this -- go ahead, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Oh, I was going to say, Daryn, I'm glad that you mentioned that support system, because that is so important, what kind of support system you come home to. And I think as we've seen through the press conferences that her family has had, through all the yellow ribbons tied around the trees in Palestine, West Virginia, that she obviously has a very, very strong support system.

Now, let's look at the kind of injuries that Private Lynch has and what she might expect when she gets here to Walter Reed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): It's a long list, the list of injuries Jessica Lynch sustained while in captivity in Iraq. She has fractures in her right arm, foot and ankle, and both legs and a fractured disc in her lumbar, or lower spine, according to the military, and she also suffered head lacerations. Lynch had several surgeries in Germany. Doctors put pins and bolts in her broken right arm and in both legs, and they repaired her fractured disc.

COL. DAVID RUBENSTEIN, LANDSTUHL MED. CENTER: Her physicians, her doctors anticipate that Private Lynch will continue to improve with time, although she will require extensive rehabilitative services.

COHEN: And the rehab won't just be physical. Even though she's reportedly in good spirits and is eating and sleeping well, psychologists say there's a mental process all POWs must go through with the help of counselors. It's called decompression in military lingo.

COL. BOB ROLAND, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY: Oftentimes, there are jumbled memories, or confusing things going on in their mind. And it's important to have them process that information and reintegrate it in a way that helps them to recover. And I suspect that Jessica is going through that process right now.

COHEN: Part of that process means staying away from the spotlight, at least for a while. Psychologists say POWs need to make a slow transition back to the real world.

LT. COL. ELSPERTH RITCHIE, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: When they come from that environment and they go to an environment that there are well wishers and stimuli and lights and sounds, that can just implode upon them. And they can actually become disoriented and confused.

COHEN: Where Jessica Lynch is in the decompression process is not known. What is known, however, is that Americans won't get to see much of their hero, as she starts her road to recovery, a road that won't be easy. But Private Lynch has already proven she knows how to do things that aren't easy.

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COHEN: Rehab specialists tell me that ...

KAGAN: Well, that -- go ahead, Elizabeth, I'm sorry.

COHEN: Oh, thank you. Sorry, Daryn. Rehab specialists tell me that with the kind of injuries that Jessica Lynch had, rehabilitation is a matter of months, it is not a matter of just weeks or days -- Daryn.

KAGAN: In listening to the description of the injuries that this young woman has been through, it's difficult to listen without even flinching, Elizabeth, let alone thinking of the 10 days that she laid in that makeshift hospital. I don't think they make medicine, they make treatment that can substitute the iron will that this young woman apparently has.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, with those kinds of injuries that she had, you saw that whole long list. I mean, you can only imagine lying in an Iraqi hospital. We talked about pain control specialists. They probably didn't have any there. I just can't even imagine what kind of pain she was in, how she even kept up the will to live. And you're right. There's no pill, there is no drug that anyone invented that could substitute for the will that she has.

I want to read a little bit more from the statement that the parents, that the Lynch family issued today. They said: "We understand that Jessie was a soldier performing her duty, the same way thousands of other service members perform their duties every day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to every military member on the battlefield and at their duty stations. We pray for their safety." The Lynch family has made a very big point that this is not all about Jessica, it's about everyone who is fighting now or who has been fighting -- Daryn.

KAGAN: I think that's a really good point that you make there, Elizabeth. And not just Jessica Lynch here, but I think the Lynch family in total has been -- has handled this as such a class act. As you said, of course they are so thrilled that their daughter, that their sister, is OK and that she's coming back and getting good treatment, but they completely understand that she voluntary signed up for the Army, that she's a fighter, that she's going to make it, and that they are the lucky ones because they're getting their loved one back. And again, all the members of the 507th were not so lucky. And I mentioned that memorial service that took place yesterday at Ft. Bliss, Texas. I'm just going to go back to the statement from the family, who I think this plays off of what you were saying as well, Elizabeth, where they say: "We also offer our prayers to the families who have lost loved ones during this war, or loved ones still designated as missing in action or confirmed as prisoners of war. We know your hearts are broken, and we hope that you soon will find comfort."

The Lynch family is proabbly the only other family out there that can understand what those families who are still waiting for information to go through. There are still seven POWs, and a lot of information is still needed, and a lot of families are still hurting out there, Elizabeth, today.

COHEN: That's right. Now, Daryn, we're looking at the plane again. And they are hopefully going to be taking people off of this plane soon. Again, Jessica Lynch would be the fifth person coming off that plane. What happens next is that they will take these 50 wounded soldiers and put them on ambulance buses and bring them on a 45-minute trip from Walter Reed. So you can imagine what a trip this has been, from being a soldier in Iraq, to being a POW in Iraq, to being rescued, brought to Germany, several surgeries there, and then being put on a plane and now being put on a bus to come to Walter Reed. And right now she has her family with her, and I am sure that that is making a huge difference to be surrounded by your family. Because it must be just a great aid at this time, Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. You might be brave enough to go off to war and to survive what Private Lynch has, but when you've gone through what she has, there is no comfort like having your parents especially around with you. And you can never be too old to want your mom and your dad when you're going through something so traumatic.

The pictures that we're going to watch as the different wounded soldiers come off the plane, I imagine will be very much like we've seen at Ramstein. As you said, we're talking -- when you include Private Lynch, a total of 50 who will be brought off. All different types of wounds and injuries. Some will be able to walk off by themselves, if they can. And I know that's a point of pride, that they try to do. Obviously in the case of Jessica Lynch, that's not going to happen. She'd have to be brought off on a stretcher.

COHEN: Right, absolutely. She is clearly not able to walk. She still has two broken legs, the broken foot and a broken ankle. Daryn, when you mention that some of the wounded will be able to walk off, that will be very important once they get here at Walter Reed that some of them will be able to walk, go into each other's rooms, talk to each about the war, talk about what happened. Military psychologists tell me that that is just a very important part of the recovery process, to be able to talk not just to your family, who wasn't there, not just to the psychologists here, who also weren't in Iraq, but to the people who were in Iraq with you. They're the ones who know what it was like, and they are the ones who can share some of those experiences.

KAGAN: And let's talk a little bit, Elizabeth, about these medical centers that these soldiers have gone through. First of all, at Ramstein, you have the Landstuhl Hospital. This is the largest Army hospital facility in all of Europe. Gone there, and then to Walter Reed. Why brought to Walter Reed, of all the facilities? What do they have there that's going to help Jessica Lynch and these others?

COHEN: Well, Walter Reed is where Army wounded go. Wounded Marines and sailors go to Bethesda. But this is where Army wounded go, and this is a huge hospital, tertiary care center. They have every specialty you can think of. They have every bit of technology you can think of. So this is really a first class place for them to be. And in addition to all of that, they have the psychological services that returning soldiers and that returning POWs need. There are whole divisions of the military that specialize in nothing but helping returning POWs, helping them get back to a normal life, helping them digest everything that's happened to them. So those services are as important as the physical services that are offered.

KAGAN: And so the thinking is, I guess, once she and the others get to Walter Reed, this would be, for lack of a better term, like a one-stop shop? She'll be able to do her complete rehabilitation at this one medical center rather than moving on?

COHEN: Absolutely. This is, as you said, one-stop shopping. This is where they have the physical services. This is where they have the psychological services. As I said, people write Ph.D. theses on what to do when POWs return, what kind of therapy they need. And so they have the best and the brightest here to help people get through that experience. As we see now here on the ground at Andrews Air Force base, it appears that they are setting up a stretcher. We just saw a picture of an ambulance. And it appears that they will probably be getting ready to have these wounded come off.

Again, we're being told that Private Lynch will be the fifth casualty off of that plane. And we don't know if her parents will be right there with her, or if they'll be coming back later. And it will be interesting to see in what way they shield her sort of from the outside world in the beginning. It will be interesting to see if she'll be looking around or not. I noticed that there's not any media right there. They've definitely done their work at keeping everyone away from her. Our cameras are at some distance, as you can tell.

KAGAN: Well, this is one of those times when we try again to walk that fine line. Want to bring coverage to the millions of people who are so excited to see Jessica Lynch make it back to the States. On the other hand, we do want to be back so that we can respect the rights of Private Lynch and of her family. Couple notes on some things that you said there, Elizabeth. First of all, we don't know if her parents will be there. I can guarantee you they won't be far behind, if they're not right by her side when they bring her back. You're also talking about how they're going to shield her. I would imagine it will be some time before we see any type of interviews or news conferences with her.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I suspect that that will be some time. And her doctors don't even want to talk right now, so she definitely will not be talking right now. Again, I can't emphasize enough how much psychologists, military psychologists, emphasize that being kept out of the spotlight is so important for their psychological recovery, that this needs to be done slowly. Earlier today, Daryn, earlier we were talking about how in the old days, in World War I and World War II and Korea, people would be brought back by ships and they would have weeks and weeks to be just with their war comrades, that they were not subjected to the outside world. They were not subjected to media attention. And obviously now, it's better to have planes, but it does have the downside that it's just in a matter of hours before they're catapulted back into the world whether everyone wants to greet them and interview them and get to know them.

So in some ways, military psychologists are sort of nostalgic for the world in which it took several weeks to get back, because they say naturally speaking, psychologically speaking, these folks need time to readjust to being back in the real world. Not just POWs like Private Lynch, but all soldiers. They have been in a very different experience. They are now coming back to the real world. And that takes some adjustment, and not just the eight or nine hours that they just spent on their plane. It takes a lot longer than that -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, it kind of fits in how this war has played out. This will be a war that people will remember for a long time, if for no other reason but the instant technology that brought it into people's living rooms. They watched as it unfolded, and it's that same technology that has made Private Lynch an international celebrity overnight. And as you're saying, as with air travel, able to get her back in a matter of hours instead of a matter of days or weeks. And you're right, I think that time does have a big difference on how somebody like Private Lynch is able to recover.

One more note here, Elizabeth, on how much -- on how her family is trying to protect her and just maybe how much they're able to do that. I'm getting word, or it's been published that at least one major broadcast network plans to go ahead and make a movie about Private Lynch, whether or not the family intends to sell the rights to the story. So in this day and age of how the media is set up, in the end there's only so much that the family can protect her.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, she has a huge challenge in front of her, which is to protect her privacy. She's only 19. She's got a long life in front of her. And she will be known forever as Private Lynch who was taken POW in Iraq. It's going to be a huge challenge to protect her privacy at this point. People making movies even without her permission. She will become an icon. And that has both good and bad sides to it.

Let's talk a little bit more, Daryn, about when she gets to Walter Reed, what they will do. The first thing they're going to do is assess her injuries. They'll take a look at the surgeries that they did in Germany to see how it's going. In Germany, they put pins and bolts in her broken right arm and in her two broken legs. They also did surgery on her disc in her lower back. And they'll want to assess, does she have neurological damage? Is she able to bear any weight at all in those legs, which are in pink casts? We heard she got pink casts, just like she did when she was in third grade and needed a cast, they made it pink. They will also need to strengthen her muscles.

They probably started -- may have already started working on that. She was lying in bed for a very long time. I am told just now she's able to sit up for very short -- relatively short periods of time. She will also need to stretch those muscles. So she definitely has a long road in front of her, but if anyone can do it, it's her -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely. I think you'd have a tough time finding anybody who's going to bet against this young woman and her steely determination to survive and to improve and get better. Elizabeth, want to mention to our audience out there I have the honor of sitting in this chair tonight because our colleague, Wolf Blitzer, did his show earlier, got on a plane and went from Kuwait City to Doha, Qatar.

COHEN: Daryn?

KAGAN: And as we -- Elizabeth, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we're going to bring Wolf in in a second. He's in Doha, but as I understand it, they're just starting to unload the plane, so why don't you take it from here.

COHEN: That's right. They have taken the first casualty off of the plane. We cannot at this point see this person's face as they are surrounded by people. This person was taken out, as we can see here, on a stretcher. So this is patient number one of 50. These patients all need to be put on ambulances and taken here to Walter Reed.

As you can see, the person is strapped into the stretcher. They are surrounded by medical personnel. Now we can see the face on the right-hand side of our screen. There is a bandage I can see on this person's head. And right now, they are taking that person away. We are told that Private Lynch will be the fifth person off the plane. So that right there, that person was the first person. Now we are heading back to see when they take the second person off. Of course, all of these people have had their own histories, their own histories of how they were injured, of what kind of recovery they had, how they made the trip back from Iraq to Germany. Each of these persons has their own story.

And Daryn, now some military personnel are going back on the plane, presumably to get the second casualty off of that plane. These are people, who, you can imagine, you know, no one likes a nine-hour flight. It's never any fun to do a transatlantic flight. You can only imagine you're doing it injured on a stretcher. Now we are seeing the ambulance on the left hand side of our screen where they have put that first casualty. And we're waiting for them to take the second casualty off of that plane.

KAGAN: And Elizabeth, with what kind of fanfare are they doing it as each person is brought off?

COHEN: You know, it's interesting, Daryn. There really isn't any fanfare. As I said, they kept the media away. And this is being done. These people are trained to do this. It is a very simple, very direct operation from what I can see. They are taking folks off. There's a ramp that goes from the plane down to the tarmac. And then they get loaded onto the ambulances. These are people who have been trained to do this. And it is done in a very matter-of-fact way. These folks have just been through a long plane ride. They left Germany at 8:20 this morning Washington, D.C. time. They landed a bit past 5:00, and now they are taking them off and putting them on the ambulances for the 45-minute ride to Walter Reed.

KAGAN: All right, so we're one wounded soldier down. All with all due respect to the 49 others who are on this plane and their other families caring about them just as much as Jessica Lynch's family caring about her. Our information is that Jessica Lynch will be the fifth off this plane. So as we stand by and watch the others come off and wait for Private Lynch, I want to go ahead and bring my colleague, Wolf Blitzer in. And as I was mentioned, Wolf did his show here earlier, got on a plane, made it to Doha, Qatar, which is the headquarters for the Central Command for the coalition forces. And Wolf, why don't you jump in here?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, before I left, I had been speaking over the past several days, Daryn and Elizabeth, with senior U.S. military personnel. All of them stress one thing. The number one priority right now for the U.S. military, for General Tommy Franks and the Central Command is to find the other POWs. There are five others from the 507th Maintenance Company based at Ft. Bliss, like Jessica Lynch. They were captured. They have not been rescued.

They were desperately hoping that when they went into some of those military and intelligence prisons in and around Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq in recent days, they would manage to find these other POWs. All of them, as our viewers by now know, have been seen on Iraqi television. It was replayed on Al Jazeera and other networks as well. And they are desperately searching for these five POWs. They are also searching for the MIAs, those listed as missing in action. This is the highest priority for General Franks right now, especially now that the war is basically for all practical purposes have been achieved, in the sense that Saddam Hussein's regime has been removed from power.

But they're still looking. They still haven't found them. Their hopes still are high that they'll find the POWs and the MIAs and be able to reunite them with their families, just as Jessica Lynch has been reunited with her family, as we're seeing these pictures now so dramatically underscored on this long flight from Germany back to Andrews Air Force base outside of Washington, D.C. I got to tell you when I speak tomorrow with General Franks -- yes, go ahead, Daryn.

KAGAN: No, finish your thought. When you speak tomorrow with General Franks, you're going to talk about the POW issue, I imagine?

BLITZER: I'm sure we're going to talk about this, and I'm sure he's going to stay what I just said. Because all of his commanders are saying it. This is the top U.S. priority now, to find those POWs. They don't want to leave anyone behind. No POWs, no MIAs. And remember, a lot of these senior commanders, Daryn, went through Vietnam. They were young lieutenants during Vietnam, captains maybe, and now they're three and four-star generals and admirals. And they have a long memory. They know what happened during Vietnam, and they don't want to leave these young men and women behind. So they're going to do whatever they can. They're hoping that as they capture more senior Iraqi officials they'll get some information about these POWs and MIAs that will help them take them to the location where they may be.

So I just wanted to say, underscore as we watch these dramatic pictures from Andrews Air Force base, how significant this is for the military, for the U.S. military, for the top political and military leadership over at the Pentagon -- Daryn.

KAGAN: That's a very good point, Wolf. And as we try to do throughout the night, to point out that it's not just about Jessica Lynch. As proud as America is of her, there's still a lot of families out there that are still wanting, as you said, the same type of reunion to take place with their loved ones. Seven POWs total. The five from the 507th, plus the two Apache helicopter pilots, that helicopter that was down. They're still not accounted for as well.

Wolf is going to have much more from Doha, Qatar just ahead. That's going to do it for me here in Kuwait City. We're not going to forget about Jessica Lynch. As she comes off the plane, you're going to have complete live coverage right here on CNN. Elizabeth Cohen stands by in Washington, D.C., near Walter Reid Medical Center. Here's Thomas Roberts with the latest headlines.

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