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CNN Live Saturday

Taliban Claims Shooting Down Unmanned Surveillance Plane

Aired September 22, 2001 - 14:00   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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN's continuing coverage of America's new war. I'm Judy Woodruff in Washington. It is Saturday, September the 22nd.

Also joining me again this hour are Martin Savidge in New York and Daryn Kagan, who's at the CNN Center in Atlanta. And we want to first go to Daryn, who has the latest developments -- Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Judy, we're going to start out this hour's development, the latest from ground zero. The work at ground zero grinds forward this hour, more cranes and more equipment now on site. As the recovery efforts continue, five more funerals are scheduled today for New York firefighters.

Also, government officials confirmed to CNN there was a desperate struggle between passengers and the hijackers aboard United flight 93. That is the flight that was going from New York to San Francisco and crashed in Pennsylvania. Officials say the plane's voice recorder picked up sounds of shouting before the plane went down.

And, as tensions increase and refugees head toward Afghanistan's border, the United Arab Emirates today cut all diplomatic ties with the Taliban, blaming the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden.

More developments and latest news ahead. Right now, we go back to Judy in Washington.

WOODRUFF: Well, Daryn, let's go over to the Pentagon now for the latest on U.S. military planning, and the Taliban claims that an unmanned surveillance plane has been shot down. CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us now with the latest on that -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judy, the U.S. not shedding much light on those claims by the Taliban, that they have shot down an unmanned surveillance aircraft over -- northwest of Kabul, with antiaircraft guns they captured from the Soviets back in the 1980s.

The U.S. does have two types of these unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, as they're called. Here's a picture of one type. And there are two types in its inventory and they are vulnerable because they fly at relatively low altitudes. They fly at a relatively low speed, and they have absolutely no defensive capability. But an official here at the Pentagon will say only that they will not comment on operational matters, and they will not be drawn into responding to every statement that comes out of the Taliban.

They are saying very little about many things here at the Pentagon. Silence is obviously the word here. They are very anxious to preserve secrecy, believing that this is a valuable tool in this war.

For instance, B-52 bombers were dispatched last night from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Cameras recorded their departure, but officials at the Base won't disclose where they're going; neither will officials here. They are saying very little about any of their troop deployments.

Even when Turkey today announced that it will allow U.S. transport planes to use its air space and its air bases to respond to the terrorist attack, U.S. officials had no response. This, in part, in keeping with the policy to allow countries who are assisting the U.S. to say so in their own time and in their own way.

There is concern on the part of the U.S. about the role Saudi Arabia will agree, or not agree, to play in all of this. CNN analyst, retired General Wesley Clark, talked about that earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, CNN ANALYST: I think this is more of a political issue than it is a military issue. Of course, that's a great command center there. It's relatively new, and it would be very useful. But there are other ways to command and control the forces.

What's important to watch here is the extent of Saudi Arabian support for the effort as a whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Because the Pentagon is saying little, it is no particular surprise that there will not be any briefings over here at the Pentagon today. We do expect tomorrow, however, to hear from the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He will be appearing on some of the Sunday talk shows.

Judy, back to you.

WOODRUFF: Jeanne, when you talk to reporters there at the Pentagon who have covered that building for a long time, how different is it this time when they say they are giving so little information out from previous military actions?

MESERVE: Veteran reporters with whom I've spoken said they have seen nothing like this in the past. There is a virtual code of silence here. People just simply will not talk, even people who have been reliable sources are choosing not to speak this time around. It's really quite a different situation than we've had in the past at the Pentagon. And it will be difficult for us in the weeks ahead. WOODRUFF: All right, Jeanne Meserve at the Pentagon.

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