Dan Rather

"It was a lot of hard work, some team play and, yes, some luck," Rather told AP, but he feels he may have had an edge since he had interviewed Saddam once before in 1990. The anchorman was in Iraq on Monday, and was told at 8 a.m. EST that Saddam was willing to grant the interview. After two hours spent going through security, Rather and executive producer Jim Murphy met with Hussein.

"We made a point of saying to him that we keep our word," Rather added to AP. "We do what we say we will do and won't do what we say we won't do. They came out of that with the experience that we are who we say we are."

CBS posted a report about the interview on its Web site Monday, where it said that among the many things discussed, Hussein challenged President Bush to a live debate on their nations' differences.

The full interview will air Wednesday on 60 Minutes II at 9 p.m. ET.