NBC News - Iraq War - 2003-03-20 - 11:35 p.m. (E)

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Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Mix 929 coverage you can count on.

[0:05] >> As American forces advance through the

[0:07] Iraqi desert, there are reports of

[0:09] fierce fighting in the north and the

[0:11] south. Tonight, reports of the first

[0:13] casualties of war. 16 American and

[0:15] British soldiers killed in a helicopter

[0:18] crash.

[0:26] This is an NBC News special report.

[0:30] target Iraq. Here is John Seagenthaler.

[0:34] >> Good evening everyone. Tonight, the

[0:36] terrible risks of war have hit home. The

[0:38] first coalition casualties, 16 American

[0:41] and British soldiers were killed when a

[0:43] Marine seight helicopter crashed in

[0:46] Kuwait. It is the second day of

[0:48] America's second war in the G Gulf. 7:35

[0:52] Friday morning in Baghdad. Other

[0:54] developments now, huge huge explosions

[0:56] have been reported in the southern town

[0:57] of Bazra and the northern town of Mosul.

[1:00] Bombs fell earlier today on Baghdad,

[1:02] doing intense damage. And here at home,

[1:05] the biggest anti-war protest the nation

[1:07] has seen. Thousands of people gathered

[1:09] in Chicago, shut down the city's famous

[1:12] Lakeshore Drive, staging a march in the

[1:14] middle of rush hour. However, at this

[1:16] hour, all of that is overshadowed by the

[1:18] devastating news that 16 American and

[1:21] British soldiers are dead. NBC's Carl

[1:24] Rochelle is at the Pentagon with more on

[1:26] the story. Carl. John. It's a CIT CH46

[1:29] Marine Corps helicopter believed to be

[1:32] returning from the Iraqi area into

[1:34] Kuwait. It went down. It was not, we are

[1:37] told, enemy fire. That it perhaps was

[1:39] weather related, perhaps a mechanical

[1:42] problem, conceivably a pilot error.

[1:44] There were 16 people on board. All 16

[1:47] were killed. Now the US is only

[1:49] confirming the deaths of the US

[1:51] personnel. The British policy is that

[1:53] they don't confirm the death, but we are

[1:55] told that all 16 on board believed to be

[1:58] the four person Marine Corps crew and 12

[2:01] British Marines who were on board the

[2:03] helicopter when it went down all killed

[2:05] in that tragic accident. The first

[2:07] casualties of the war. John, I might

[2:09] point out the CH46. It's a C9

[2:11] helicopter. It's the twin rotor, one on

[2:13] the front, one on the back. It is the

[2:15] standard Marine Corps helicopter for

[2:17] transporting troops on to almost any

[2:20] kind of location, but it's an older

[2:22] helicopter. It's been in the inventory

[2:23] for 30, perhaps even 35 or 40 years. Uh

[2:27] there have been some mechanical problems

[2:28] in the past. They have been taken care

[2:30] of supposedly and uh the Marine Corps

[2:33] has moved forward. They'd like to

[2:34] replace it with newer machines, but not

[2:36] uh not clear exactly how old this

[2:38] particular helicopter was. But we are

[2:40] being told that it did not go down as a

[2:43] result of enemy fire and apparently not

[2:45] from friendly fire either. Mechanical,

[2:47] weather related, or possibly pilot

[2:49] difficulties. Again, John, all 16 on

[2:51] board, four US Marines, and supposedly

[2:54] 12 British Marines killed in that crash.

[2:56] John,

[2:57] >> we could hear more on this later

[2:58] tonight, but what about the fate of

[3:00] Saddam Hussein? What are they saying

[3:01] about the Pentagon right now? Well, the

[3:03] Pentagon is saying little about it, but

[3:05] I have talked to government sources

[3:07] about that and they still say even at

[3:09] this late hour that they do not know for

[3:12] sure whether he is dead or alive. These

[3:14] sources said that Saddam Hussein,

[3:16] members of his family and part of the uh

[3:19] the leadership of the Iraqi military,

[3:22] some of the senior leadership were in

[3:24] that bunker in Baghdad. They had a

[3:26] pretty good fix on it yesterday when CIA

[3:28] director George Tennant went to the

[3:30] White House. I make that day before

[3:31] yesterday now went to the White House

[3:33] and briefed President Bush on it. They

[3:36] decided to target that area. I was told

[3:38] that they hit what they targeted with

[3:40] roughly three dozen Tomahawk cruise

[3:42] missiles and bombs, bunker buster bombs

[3:45] from two F-17 fighters. They are still

[3:48] having difficulty getting a total

[3:49] readout on who killed who was killed and

[3:52] who wasn't. But I was told that the fact

[3:53] that we saw Saddam Hussein on videotape

[3:56] on Iraqi television is not an indication

[3:59] that he is still alive. John

[4:00] >> NBC's Carl Rochelle at the Pentagon.

[4:02] Carl, thank you very much. And the

[4:04] invasion of Iraq, of course, has begun.

[4:06] The ground invasion. Let's go now to

[4:08] NBC's David Bloom, who's with the Third

[4:10] Infantry Well into Iraq. David, uh,

[4:13] generally, can you give us your

[4:15] location?

[4:18] >> We can say, John, that we're in southern

[4:19] Iraq. That's about all that we can say.

[4:21] I mean, essentially what happened was uh

[4:23] around 8:00 last night, local time, and

[4:26] it's now about 7:40 a.m. here in

[4:29] southern Iraq, we began the movement

[4:31] with artillery strikes. Those were

[4:33] followed by uh the artillery strikes, I

[4:36] should tell you, were at two Iraqi

[4:38] observation posts that they were trying

[4:40] to wipe out. So they couldn't get word

[4:41] back to Baghdad as to where this large

[4:44] American force from the US Army's Third

[4:46] Infantry Division, 250 tanks, some

[4:49] 20,000 soldiers was coming through.

[4:51] We're literally with the the vanguard of

[4:54] this force. We're up into southern Iraq

[4:57] now and other elements of the force are

[4:59] catching up with you. If I can ask my

[5:00] cameraman, Craig White. Craig, if you

[5:02] can pan around now. Craig's going to try

[5:05] to pan around with our camera here. So,

[5:06] it might be a little bit herkyjerky on

[5:08] this video phone, but I want to show you

[5:10] what we're seeing out here. As I said,

[5:12] you can see some fuelers, you can see

[5:14] some uh medic vehicles, you can see

[5:17] Bradley's and Humvees, and you can also

[5:19] see a command and control station here.

[5:22] Basically, we're out at the lead edge of

[5:24] this force and the other elements of the

[5:27] force are gradually coming toward us,

[5:29] rolling along toward us and then they're

[5:31] all going to link up out here and then

[5:33] they'll decide where to go in terms of

[5:36] what route to take to Baghdad based upon

[5:38] the opposition that they face as well as

[5:41] based upon uh the the possible collapse

[5:43] of the Iraqi regime if indeed they did

[5:46] successfully target Saddam Hussein. Now,

[5:48] I want to pass on a bit of news to you.

[5:50] What these soldiers are hearing on their

[5:52] radios, and again I caution, it's just

[5:54] that what the soldiers are hearing on

[5:56] their radios, is that the 11th division

[5:59] of the regular Iraqi army has

[6:02] surrendered, has signed capitulation

[6:04] documents, has decided to surrender

[6:06] rather than fight. I mean, we should

[6:08] caution that that is just merely what

[6:10] the soldiers are hearing on the radios.

[6:12] There's no reason to doubt that. But I

[6:14] think what we can say is that it's very

[6:15] possible that this Iraqi armored

[6:18] division, which they did indeed expect

[6:20] to surrender, that they did not expect a

[6:22] fight. Remember, there are three regular

[6:24] army Iraqi divisions in southern Iraq.

[6:26] They've been convinced all along that

[6:28] those soldiers, uh, conscripts mostly,

[6:31] did not have the desire to fight this

[6:33] American force, that they would not be

[6:35] the the heart of the opposition that

[6:37] they would face. Rather, that's the

[6:39] Republican Guard and the Special

[6:40] Republican Guard. Those are the much

[6:42] more heavily armed forces that are

[6:44] encircling Baghdad. But certainly that

[6:45] would be good news for the American

[6:47] forces if one of those three Iraqi

[6:49] divisions in southern Iraq has indeed

[6:51] surrendered. John, back to you.

[6:53] >> And David, we're getting the sense that

[6:55] of course that you're moving ahead a bit

[6:57] faster with the the third infantry than

[6:59] had been expected. Is this all because

[7:01] the campaign started with the initial

[7:03] attack on the leadership target in

[7:06] Baghdad and that meant that the ground

[7:08] campaign started a little sooner as

[7:10] well?

[7:12] I think that there's no question, John,

[7:13] that that's the case. That they moved up

[7:15] the timetable for the ground invasion

[7:18] because not only of the fact that they

[7:20] had this target of opportunity, as the

[7:22] military says, they were calling it the

[7:24] the pre-battle phase with these cruise

[7:26] missile strikes on the military

[7:28] leadership targets in Iraq. But in

[7:30] addition to that, because Iraq then

[7:32] responded with the Scud or Elsimude

[7:35] missile attacks and there were the

[7:37] threats of the chemical munitions

[7:39] perhaps being used against these forces

[7:41] in southern Kuwait, the commanders

[7:42] decided it was much better to just push

[7:44] this force into southern Iraq and get

[7:47] the ground phase of this battle going as

[7:49] well.

[7:50] >> There's clearly a lot of optimism at the

[7:52] White House and the Pentagon tonight.

[7:54] David, what's the mood of the troops

[7:56] there?

[7:59] Well, I would say that they're very

[8:01] upbeat uh for a couple reasons. First of

[8:03] all, because they encountered only light

[8:05] opposition, which is what they expected.

[8:07] Remember, their mission early on was to

[8:09] take out these two Iraqi observation

[8:12] posts, each of which contained about 30

[8:14] Iraqi soldiers. They hit it with

[8:16] artillery first. Then about half an hour

[8:18] later, the force that we're in right now

[8:20] stormed across the border. literally the

[8:22] first force to cross into Iraq and they

[8:25] headed straight for those Iraqi

[8:26] observation posts to make sure that

[8:28] there were frankly no Iraqi soldiers

[8:30] there that were still alive. There were

[8:32] infantry forces prepared to engage them

[8:34] in action but as far as we know they did

[8:36] not have to do so. They've taken no

[8:38] casualties. At one point we passed the

[8:40] smoldering remains of these Iraqi

[8:42] observation posts. Again, the critical

[8:44] thing for them was to make sure that the

[8:46] Iraqi soldiers did not relay back to

[8:48] Baghdad the position of this large

[8:50] mechanized infantry force moving into

[8:53] southern Iraq because that might give

[8:54] away some details of the strategy that

[8:57] these forces plan to employ because of

[8:59] course there are a number of different

[9:00] routes they could conceivably take

[9:02] heading up toward Baghdad. Now, as to

[9:04] the morale of the forces, it's also

[9:06] bolstered by these reports of the

[9:08] capitulation or surrender, at least that

[9:10] that's what we think that it is, of this

[9:12] 11th division of the Iraqi regular army.

[9:15] Well, it was not unexpected. It's still

[9:17] good news for these soldiers. In

[9:19] addition, remember the third infantry

[9:21] division has been here longer than any

[9:23] other forces in the Persian Gulf region.

[9:25] Some of these soldiers have been here

[9:26] now going on 6 months. As we've said

[9:28] repeatedly, they became convinced that

[9:30] the only way to go home was to get their

[9:32] boots and their tanks and their Bradleys

[9:34] into Baghdad. So, the fact that this

[9:36] mission is now underway is in some

[9:38] senses a great relief. Couple that with

[9:40] the fact that they've faced very little

[9:41] opposition thus far and they're feeling

[9:43] very good, John.

[9:44] >> All right, NBC's David Bloom who is

[9:47] standing by with the Third Infantry

[9:48] Division somewhere in southern Iraq.

[9:51] David, thank you very much. Of course,

[9:52] all of this being watched very closely

[9:54] at the White House. Let's go now to

[9:55] NBC's Campbell Brown who's at the White

[9:57] House tonight. Campbell, bring us up to

[9:59] date.

[10:00] >> Well, John, let me follow up just on

[10:02] what David was reporting. Um,

[10:04] administration officials earlier today

[10:07] um had said that there was some optimism

[10:10] that there were discussions going on

[10:12] with members of the Iraqi leadership

[10:14] about uh possible uh surrender. They

[10:18] were trying not to get too hopeful about

[10:20] this and not really commenting on it

[10:22] beyond that. But one official telling me

[10:24] tonight there is nothing we would love

[10:26] more than to win this without a major

[10:28] fight. The president is in for the

[10:30] evening uh retired to the White House

[10:32] residence. He is getting an evening

[10:34] phone call each night now from defense

[10:37] secretary Donald Rumsfeld giving him

[10:39] updates as well as his national security

[10:41] adviser conda rice. Uh so we may know

[10:44] more again from White House officials

[10:46] tomorrow as to whether or not this

[10:48] initial strike on the um compound where

[10:50] they believe Saddam u may have been

[10:52] along with members of his family and

[10:55] whether or not these uh troops are

[10:57] indeed surrendering. I also want to give

[10:59] you reaction John to the other issue

[11:00] that Carl Rochelle was reporting about

[11:02] earlier. We've seen the White House

[11:04] tonight really go from a feeling of of

[11:08] um of being pleased with the progress

[11:10] they were making to being a little more

[11:12] restrained with the news of that

[11:14] helicopter crash and the sign of uh

[11:16] first American casualties in this

[11:18] conflict. Um the president had nothing

[11:22] public on his schedule tomorrow. Uh but

[11:24] we do know he is um planning to meet

[11:27] with congressional leaders here at the

[11:28] White House and then we'll be going to

[11:30] Camp David for the weekend. I wouldn't

[11:31] be surprised if we do in fact hear him

[11:34] uh offering some words to the families

[11:36] of those soldiers. John

[11:38] >> Campbell, before we go on, I I just

[11:39] wanted to ask you one question about

[11:41] Saddam Hussein and what they're saying

[11:42] about the fate of Saddam there at the

[11:44] White House tonight.

[11:46] >> Not a lot. And I think that in in and of

[11:48] itself is worth noting. um because there

[11:51] has been uh very little information

[11:53] coming out of either the White House,

[11:55] the Pentagon, the State Department or

[11:56] intelligence sources uh all have been

[12:00] you unified in um being very cautious in

[12:03] their assessment um and and I think

[12:07] clearly that signals that um this would

[12:10] be such a major breakthrough um that

[12:12] they don't want to get out uh or raise

[12:15] the expectations I guess too high or get

[12:17] out too far in front of themselves. said

[12:19] they're being very careful with their

[12:21] assessment. Uh, and we may not even know

[12:23] as early as tomorrow, but I think it'll

[12:25] be something uh for us to closely watch

[12:27] over the next couple of days.

[12:28] >> All right, Campbell Brown at the White

[12:29] House. Campbell, thank you very much. We

[12:32] turn now to NBC's Dennis Murphy with

[12:34] more on that chopper crash, the first

[12:36] casualties of this war, and the rest of

[12:38] the day's news in Operation Iraqi

[12:40] Freedom from Baghdad to Washington to

[12:42] Kuwait City.

[12:44] If yesterday felt like a rehearsal for

[12:46] war, today was the real thing. And

[12:49] tonight, there are real casualties. The

[12:52] first US deaths in Gulf War II. Military

[12:55] officials tell NBC News that a US Marine

[12:58] helicopter, a CH46 C knight with four

[13:02] Americans and 12 British troops aboard,

[13:04] has crashed in Kuwait during an

[13:06] operation. Reports are sketchy, but it's

[13:09] believed there are no survivors.

[13:12] There were two other helicopter

[13:14] incidents today, but no one was injured

[13:16] in those. It was a long day of air

[13:18] warfare.

[13:20] US aircraft carrier teams are working

[13:23] through the night, launching bomber

[13:24] pilots on missions over Iraq.

[13:26] >> So, they were shooting at us, but uh

[13:29] they didn't get us today. Late tonight,

[13:32] there are fresh reports of huge

[13:33] explosions in the sky over Bazra, the

[13:36] principal Iraqi city in the south, not

[13:38] far from Kuwait, and also in Mosul, a

[13:40] major oil city to the north, near the

[13:42] Kurd safe haven.

[13:47] Earlier this evening, parts of central

[13:49] Baghdad were burning out of control. A

[13:51] government ministry run by one of Saddam

[13:53] Hussein's sons, a presidential palace, a

[13:56] home of one of Saddam's wives,

[13:59] Republican guard strongholds, all hit in

[14:01] a brief but ferocious assault from US

[14:04] cruise missiles and 2,000 lb penetrating

[14:07] bombs. Peter Arnett, reporting for

[14:10] National Geographic Explorer and NBC

[14:12] News, described the view from his window

[14:14] as thunderous explosions lit up the

[14:16] night sky shortly after 9:00 p.m.

[14:18] Baghdad time. Big explosion

[14:22] near the presidential palace. You will

[14:25] hear those explosions now.

[14:27] >> It's the second attack on Baghdad in 16

[14:30] hours. Missiles launched from sea. Smart

[14:34] bombs dropped from stealth war plananes

[14:36] like this one.

[14:37] >> US officials said they intend to hit the

[14:39] apparatus of Saddam's Stalin estate like

[14:42] a boxer.

[14:44] >> Punch hard, step back, pause, and see if

[14:47] it needs another one.

[14:50] It's daylight now in Baghdad and few

[14:52] people are coming out to look at the

[14:53] devastation wrought so far on pockets of

[14:56] their city. Defense Secretary Donald

[14:58] Rumsfeld said today the big violent

[15:00] display is just beginning.

[15:02] >> What will follow will not be a repeat of

[15:04] any other conflict. It will be a of a

[15:07] force and scope and scale that has been

[15:11] beyond what has been seen before.

[15:17] To the south, US Army howitzers slammed

[15:20] shell after shell into Iraq from the

[15:22] Kuwaiti border. And then the ground war

[15:25] was on. US Army and Marine units are in

[15:28] Iraq tonight, pushing north in

[15:30] coordination with British troops.

[15:33] >> Some forces are coming under light fire.

[15:36] So far, one coastal Iraqi town has been

[15:39] taken.

[15:40] The Iraqis also fired some mortar and

[15:43] rockets to no effect at US troops that

[15:45] haven't moved out yet on the Kuwaiti

[15:47] side. NBC's Dana Lewis with 101st

[15:50] Airborne joined the soldiers as they put

[15:53] on gas mass while a horn honked out a

[15:55] warning of another missile attack.

[15:57] Scenes like this were repeated many

[15:59] times today along the Kuwaiti front.

[16:03] >> The war began yesterday at dawn Iraqi

[16:06] time with the first air raid. A total

[16:08] fake out, a directed lightning attempt

[16:11] to kill Saddam Hussein and his top

[16:13] leaders.

[16:15] Anti-aircraft fire over Baghdad was

[16:17] followed moments later by an orange

[16:19] fireball at what was described as a

[16:21] target of opportunity. A private home

[16:24] outside Baghdad where electronic

[16:26] intelligence gathering had eavesdropped

[16:28] on a meeting of top ranking senior Iraqi

[16:31] military as well as Saddam and possibly

[16:33] both his sons Kus and Uday.

[16:37] The compound was flattened by a barrage

[16:40] of cruise missiles and two bunker buster

[16:42] bombs designed to slam into subterranean

[16:45] chambers and explode.

[16:49] A few hours later, Saddam Hussein

[16:51] appeared on tape on Iraqi TV, denouncing

[16:54] the president as Bush Jr., a criminal.

[16:57] But some US officials wondered whether

[16:59] the subdued man with the unfamiliar

[17:01] glasses reading listlessly from a line

[17:03] pad was actually Saddam or a double.

[17:07] Tonight, some analysts believe this is

[17:09] Saddam, but think the message may have

[17:11] been taped before the first air raid. So

[17:14] the question remains, is Saddam dead or

[17:17] alive?

[17:18] As US-led forces under the cover of

[17:21] artillery barges make their way toward

[17:23] Baghdad and provincial cities,

[17:25] propaganda leaflets explaining to the

[17:27] Iraqis how to surrender are being

[17:29] printed and air dropped by the millions.

[17:32] If the Iraqis do make a stand, it is

[17:34] likely military strategists think that

[17:36] it will happen in Baghdad, the sprawling

[17:38] city of 5 million people, an ancient

[17:41] capital enshrouded tonight in smoke and

[17:44] paralyzed by a fear it's hard to

[17:46] imagine.

[17:48] You could hear the air raid sirens in

[17:50] Kuwait City today where the sun is now

[17:53] just coming up. And NBC's Don Teague is

[17:55] in Kuwait City. Don, first of all, have

[17:58] you had anything like the harrowing

[18:00] experience you had yesterday in Kuwait?

[18:03] >> Uh well, unfortunately, yes. We thought

[18:06] those were basically over for the day.

[18:08] Uh but around midnight last night,

[18:10] Kuwait time, the air raid siren uh

[18:13] alarms went off again. and everyone went

[18:15] back to the masks and that was followed

[18:17] by three more incidents overnight. So,

[18:19] not that you could really sleep well

[18:21] with what's going on in and around this

[18:23] country anyway, but uh I'm sure there

[18:26] were many many sleepless nights tonight

[18:28] as basically every hour was punctuated

[18:30] by air raid alarms throughout this city.

[18:33] >> And talk about the precautions that be

[18:35] that are being taken there if there was

[18:37] a chemical or biological attack.

[18:41] Well, of course, everyone who has access

[18:43] to them has gas masks like this one.

[18:45] This is the one that a standard issue

[18:47] for NBC. U most of the journalists here

[18:51] from other networks and from around the

[18:52] world have similar equipment, protective

[18:55] gear. As for the city itself, well,

[18:57] there are decontamination centers set up

[18:59] by the US military, also the Kuwaiti

[19:01] military and some European countries as

[19:03] well, uh, with expertise in

[19:05] decontaminating large numbers of people

[19:07] and equipment if necessary. Uh, the the

[19:10] major precaution here really is this

[19:12] idea of getting people to shelter,

[19:15] giving them advanced warning if there's

[19:16] any sort of missile attack, and telling

[19:18] people to stay indoors and not come out

[19:21] until the all clear has sounded. And

[19:23] fortunately, every air raid siren has

[19:25] been followed by an allclear within a

[19:27] few minutes.

[19:27] >> Don, what's the assessment there of the

[19:30] performance of the Patriot missiles when

[19:32] uh Iraqi missiles were fired into Kuwait

[19:35] yesterday for you?

[19:38] >> Well, you know, it's a source of a lot

[19:40] of discussion before all of this

[19:41] happened here in Kuwait in particular.

[19:44] That was the hope was that they would

[19:45] provide protection for the 2 million

[19:48] people who live here. Uh that seems to

[19:50] be the case. What the US military is

[19:52] saying is uh confirming that at least

[19:55] three uh incoming missiles were fired

[19:58] from Iraq. It's still unclear exactly

[20:00] which type of missiles those were. Uh

[20:03] but the military is saying that at least

[20:05] two of them were shot down by Patriot

[20:07] missiles. They are confirming that

[20:09] another one of those missiles uh the

[20:11] inbound missiles from Iraq came down in

[20:15] the desert near an area of US troops. We

[20:17] haven't been able to determine if it was

[20:19] shot down or if it came down on its own

[20:21] or perhaps broke apart. But even if it's

[20:24] two out of three, that seems to be

[20:25] better odds than in 1991 when, as we

[20:28] learned after the fact, the Patriots

[20:30] weren't as effective as advertised.

[20:31] >> Well, we wish you a quiet day in Kuwait

[20:34] there. Don Teague reporting. Don, we'll

[20:36] talk to you a little later. Now, all day

[20:38] and into the night, we've seen the

[20:40] pictures and the explosions in the skies

[20:42] over Baghdad and heard the sounds of the

[20:44] furious and focused bombing campaign

[20:47] going on there and all across Iraq.

[20:49] What's it like to live through attacks

[20:51] like that? Well, NBC's John Hockenberry

[20:53] has been listening to the voices from

[20:55] Iraq.

[20:57] A city in night vision green

[21:02] and thunder

[21:05] to observers thousands of miles away.

[21:07] Baghdad sits under an angry sky tonight

[21:10] as it did 12 years ago.

[21:12] As they did then the voices from Baghdad

[21:15] must speak over explosions.

[21:22] >> Some of those voices are familiar. and

[21:24] multiple anti-aircraft bursts.

[21:26] >> Reporter Peter Arnette back at his

[21:28] well-known perch at top a Baghdad hotel.

[21:31] >> Now we hear the sounds of aircraft blow

[21:34] over the city. Aircraft low over the

[21:36] city.

[21:38] Big explosion

[21:41] near the presidential palace. You will

[21:43] hear those explosions now.

[21:47] >> But there are other voices from other

[21:49] parts of a nation under attack. It's a

[21:52] symphony of various sounds.

[21:54] >> New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins

[21:56] in southern Iraq looking for and finding

[21:59] shock and awe.

[22:01] >> I was in Afghanistan for the war there

[22:03] and I I have to say that this makes

[22:05] Afghanistan seem almost like a tea

[22:07] party. The amount of firing that's going

[22:10] on here just just exceeds that by an

[22:13] order of magnitude. It's just

[22:14] extraordinary.

[22:16] Reporters in Baghdad like Neil Connory

[22:18] of ITN News watch and wait, seeking

[22:21] safety to witness history.

[22:23] >> Then we heard at least two explosions,

[22:25] massive explosions. There is a building

[22:28] I can see now still on fire. All uh all

[22:31] floors, flames coming out from all

[22:33] floors of that building.

[22:34] >> There's reporter Lindseay Hilum who

[22:36] speaks of a city poised and pausing

[22:39] between attacks. I wouldn't say it was

[22:41] exactly deserted and I think many people

[22:43] are staying home

[22:44] >> and many of those ordinary Iraqis

[22:46] wondering is the worst, as the Pentagon

[22:48] insists, really yet to come.

[22:51] >> I think people were rather surprised.

[22:52] They thought, "Oh, this is going to be

[22:53] it. We're going to feel like the whole

[22:55] world is falling down on our heads." But

[22:57] it wasn't like that. Certainly not in

[22:59] the center of Baghdad.

[23:00] >> But perhaps it was like the whole world

[23:02] falling down to one voice.

[23:06] >> The mother of all Baghdad voices, Saddam

[23:08] Hussein himself.

[23:10] bunkered down, knowing that every rumble

[23:13] and fiery explosion is looking for him.

[23:18] >> From somewhere, perhaps near Baghdad, he

[23:20] taunts President Bush,

[23:24] >> and he insists he hasn't been silenced

[23:28] yet.

[23:30] >> As we mentioned, the ground invasion of

[23:33] Iraq has begun in force. Joining us now,

[23:35] Vice Admiral Dennis McInn, NBC News

[23:38] military analyst. And Admiral, let's

[23:40] start with what we know and what we

[23:41] don't know about this ground invasion.

[23:42] >> I think that's really key, John, because

[23:44] what we do know is what we are getting

[23:46] from uh people on the ground in some

[23:48] television cameras up here in the

[23:50] vicinity of Baghdad. Mostly the effects,

[23:52] but not in a detailed way of some of

[23:54] those strikes by tomahawk missiles and

[23:56] manned aircraft. What we know is down

[23:59] along the border of Kuwait and Iraq uh

[24:03] also reported by people on the ground

[24:05] embedded uh journalists and also from uh

[24:08] observations from camera gear down

[24:10] there. What we don't know is what's

[24:13] going on out here in the western part of

[24:15] Iraq, what is happening inside the city

[24:17] limits, any other types of uh of special

[24:20] operations force activities. We've got

[24:22] to remember that there are basically

[24:24] four campaigns going on. There's a

[24:26] special operations campaign in which

[24:28] covertness is absolutely absolutely

[24:31] essential to success. There's an air

[24:33] campaign which we've talked about quite

[24:34] a lot. The ground campaign which is

[24:36] getting underway apparently very

[24:38] successful down here in the southern

[24:40] part of Iraq. And then finally the

[24:42] psychological operations campaign.

[24:44] >> Well, let's talk about the southern part

[24:45] of Iraq there. Are you surprised by the

[24:47] lack of Iraqi opposition?

[24:49] >> I'm really not. I don't think the key

[24:51] centers of gravity that the Iraqi regime

[24:54] such as they are which that still is

[24:56] uncertain are willing to defend down

[24:58] here. There's been a lot of discussion

[25:00] about the divisions within the various

[25:03] sections of Iraq and I believe that uh

[25:06] the expectation and appropriately so was

[25:08] that in the southern part of Iraq there

[25:10] would be the least amount of opposition.

[25:13] >> It is sounding again tonight like it's

[25:15] still a possibility that the US may have

[25:17] gotten Saddam Hussein. What do you make

[25:18] of all this? I think that it could be a

[25:21] possibility, but I think that the

[25:23] commander, General Franks, and his uh

[25:25] great team out there are going to go

[25:27] with the assumption that uh the campaign

[25:30] timelines need to proceed as planned.

[25:32] They need to seize opportunity as it

[25:34] presents itself in the southern part of

[25:36] Iraq, take as many key critical nodes uh

[25:39] nodes of transportation, uh the city of

[25:42] Basra for example, communication, and

[25:44] then also to encounter whatever Iraqi

[25:47] resistance there may be. at the same

[25:49] time continuing the attacks against key

[25:52] leadership, command and control and

[25:53] communications up in the north.

[25:55] >> Seems to be going well.

[25:56] >> Absolutely. That's my assessment, John.

[25:58] >> All right, Admiral. Thanks very much.

[25:59] We'll talk a little later. Now, it

[26:01] became a household name during the last

[26:03] Gulf War, the Patriot Missile. At that

[26:06] time, it was a new and according to the

[26:08] Pentagon pinpoint accurate missile

[26:10] defense system, but it never quite lived

[26:12] up to its reputation. A new and improved

[26:15] version is back. Is it ready for round

[26:17] two? Here's Rob Stafford.

[26:23] >> These are the Patriots designed to shoot

[26:25] down and destroy incoming Iraqi missiles

[26:28] which might be carrying chemical or

[26:30] biological agents. And today when Saddam

[26:33] Hussein fired at US troops in Kuwait,

[26:36] the Patriots were called to action. US

[26:38] officials say they hit their targets.

[26:41] >> Two missiles have landed in Kuwait this

[26:43] morning.

[26:45] >> Scott. Scott. Okay, we see the Scud

[26:47] >> in the last Gulf War. At first, the

[26:49] Patriot was touted as a stunning

[26:51] success.

[26:52] >> 42 Scuds engaged, 41 intercepted.

[26:57] >> You have to rebuild the house.

[26:59] >> Others thought it was not the defender

[27:00] the government hoped it would be. It

[27:02] turned out the Patriot often exploded

[27:05] without hitting its target. It didn't

[27:07] stop missiles bound for Israel. And it

[27:09] was a patriot that failed to stop the

[27:11] incoming Scud that hit this army

[27:13] barracks, killing 28 American soldiers.

[27:16] Phil Coyle is the former assistant

[27:18] secretary of defense. He headed all

[27:20] Pentagon weapons testing from 1994 to

[27:23] 2001. He says the new Patriot, which has

[27:26] undergone a massive redesign, is better.

[27:28] >> The latest version of of the Patriot,

[27:31] uh, so-called PAC 3, is faster than the

[27:35] old Patriots. It's a very fast missile.

[27:37] Uh, it has better guidance and control

[27:39] systems than the old one did, and it has

[27:42] a wonderful radar, a very uh, special

[27:44] radar that has great range and

[27:47] resolution power.

[27:48] >> Coyle says in testing, the upgraded

[27:50] Patriots hit their targets 45% of the

[27:53] time, but they've never been used before

[27:55] in combat until now.

[27:57] >> The war uh, in Iraq came before the army

[28:01] had completed uh, the test program with

[28:05] real Scud missiles. How they continue to

[28:08] perform could mean the difference

[28:09] between life and death. Not only for the

[28:12] soldiers in the Gulf, but also for the

[28:14] people of Kuwait, Turkey, Saudi Arabia,

[28:17] Qatar, Bahrain, Israel, and Jordan.

[28:20] >> Even though the the Patriot isn't

[28:23] perfect, uh it will definitely be better

[28:26] than nothing.

[28:28] >> It's Rob Stafford. Now, the State

[28:30] Department got some welcome news from

[28:32] Turkey today, but is it too little too

[28:34] late? NBC News correspondent George

[28:36] Lewis is in Turkey with more on that

[28:38] story. George.

[28:42] >> John. Turkeykey's parliament approved

[28:44] the overflight rights that the US was

[28:47] looking for for its planes so that US

[28:49] planes operating off of carriers in the

[28:52] uh Mediterranean and out of Europe could

[28:55] fly directly over Turkey into northern

[28:57] Iraq. The question you raise whether

[28:59] it's too little too late uh remains to

[29:02] be seen. uh the uh US progress in Iraq

[29:05] has been so rapid. The question now is

[29:09] will the the approval by parliament of

[29:12] the Turkish airspace do much good? The

[29:14] the answer is probably yes because what

[29:17] the US needs to do is ferry large

[29:20] numbers of troops into northern Iraq

[29:22] once airfields are secured there so that

[29:24] it can keep the peace. Uh there's been a

[29:26] very tense situation in northern Iraq

[29:28] between the Turks and the Kurds. The US

[29:31] wants troops on the ground to kind of

[29:33] stabilize that situation. John,

[29:35] >> give me an idea of what the the mood is

[29:38] in Turkey with regard to the United

[29:40] States. George, now

[29:44] >> we have been talking to a number of

[29:45] people uh around this town where we are

[29:48] in Diarbacher in eastern Turkey and in

[29:51] other cities and the mood is almost

[29:53] uniform. The Turks do not want war, but

[29:56] now that it's begun, they seem resigned

[29:58] to the fact that Turkey should

[30:00] participate. Turkey has been a long ally

[30:03] of the United States, a 50-year

[30:05] relationship in NATO. Uh the Turks feel

[30:08] that they need to go along with the US

[30:10] on this now that the war has begun.

[30:13] >> All right, NBC's George Lewis in Turkey.

[30:15] George, we'll get back to you a little

[30:16] later as well. We have word.