Radio Workshop

News Update (Transcript)

by Collin Campbell

U-S forces say they have taken control of Baghdad's international airport. A military official said that 320 Iraqi soldiers were killed in heavy fighting around the airport overnight and about 2,500 of Iraq's elite Republican Guard soldiers surrendered to U-S Marines. One U-S officer was killed and his driver was wounded when their vehicle came under mortar fire from an Iraqi position outside the airport.

Another Marine Division is reportedly 10 miles from downtown Baghdad on the opposite side of the city from the airport. Allied military commanders say the positions achieved in last 24 hours give them a powerful grip on the capital city.

Allied air attacks on Baghdad continued today, with success on the ground forcing the military to limit targets to those inside the city.

Some of the pilots bombing targets in Baghdad are from the squadron that lost one of its members on Wednesday. The unidentified man was the first fighter pilot to be shot down during the Iraq war. Today, Captain Patrick Driscoll said the search and rescue mission for the pilot will be abandoned, but the squadron will continue to fight.

ACTUALITY - 12 SECONDS

IN: "It's always heart wreching …"

OUT: "they were all up flying again."

U.S. Central Command said the plane may have been brought down by a Patriot missile.

Arab TV broadcast images of a man resembling Saddam Hussein today addressing the Iraqi people and rallying a crowd. Hussein made one topical reference in the speech, to the capture of a U-S helicopter on March 23. U-S bombers dropped heavy payloads aimed at killing the Iraqi president on March 20 and American and British officials have expressed doubt about whether Hussein is still alive.

The economy lost 108,000 jobs in March, raising worries that the nation is closer to slipping into a recession than it has been for more than a year. The U-S employs fewer people than it has at any point since late 1999. This is the longest stretch without job growth in 20 years. The markets ended the day mixed, with the Dow up more than 36 points and the Nasdaq off 13.

A federal appeals court upheld the conviction of the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing today. Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life in prison without parole after two trials in 1998. Yousef fled the U-S on the night of the Feb. 26, 1993, bombing. He was then arrested in Pakistan in 1995.

FOR COLUMBIA RADIO NEWS, I'm Collin Campbell.