Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

America's New War: Afghanistan's Ruling Taliban Engaged in Military Battle with Other Afghans

Aired September 25, 2001 - 09:21   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Afghanistan's ruling Taliban are already engaged in a military battle with other Afghans.

CNN's Chris Burns is in Northern Afghanistan with the opposition group known as the Northern Alliance.

Chris, what's the latest from there?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, there's more fighting reported along a front, about 30 miles north of the capital Kabul. The Northern Alliance claims to have taken several villages, killed six Taliban fighters and seized a number of weapons and ammunition. The Taliban not saying anything about that. No way to confirm it independently, but the Taliban does admit that they have lost some ground in the north, somewhere north of a very strategic town called Mashar Ar-Sharif (ph). Now if that town is taken by the Northern Alliance, they will have consolidated quite a bit of their holdings up in the north, and they would then move on toward the capital. The capital being important not only for the Northern Alliance, but also potentially for the United States.

There is a very important military -- former Soviet military base that is just north of Bagram (ph). That is just north of the capital, Kabul. That could serve as a base for U.S. operations against any potential terrorists targets within Afghanistan. So progress as seen by the Northern Alliance, which would very much like to be an ally and play a role in any kind of a U.S. action.

On the humanitarian side, a dire situation developing. The United Nations saying it will resume its shipments to the north and east. That is where the Northern Alliance holds a lot of territory. They pulled their workers out of there in the last week or so, after the attacks in the United States, fearing war breaking out here. They're now resuming those shipments.

However in the south, they're complaining that the Taliban have seized some 400 tons of food, and seized control of their offices, their communications, apparently putting themselves on a potential war footing -- Paula.

ZAHN: Chris, it is not clear here what kind of help the Northern Alliance is enjoying at this moment. Can you confirm whether any of the people you've talked with have said that they're getting any intelligence help from the United States?

BURNS: Yes, what I'm getting from sources within the Northern Alliance is that they're exchanging information from the United States, as high as the State Department and national security department level on a nearly daily basis. That's what they are telling me. And if that is true, it must have to do with intelligence. They're also of course hoping that eventually they'll get some kind of aid. They are getting cheap weapons -- ammunitions from the Russians. After all, all of their hardware here is former Soviet hardware, so they do need that from the Russians.

As far as intelligence, they're hoping to get more of that from the United States, perhaps even material aid, and most of all, when you talk to commanders, and we talked to commanders on the front, they say what they need more than anything else is U.S. airpower -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Chris Burns, thank you so much for that update.

It's time for me to head directly back to Washington D.C., where John King is standing by. I don't know whether this caught your ear, John, but he was saying what the Northern Alliance needs is material aid from the United States. Is there any reaction from the administration on that, if it is likely to come, and if so, when?

KING: No promises as yet anyway of any direct U.S. aide to the Northern Alliance, although U.S. administration officials were quite optimistic yesterday, when they heard word that there were continuing discussions and intensifying discussions between the Northern Alliance and Russia about Russia offering military supplies to the Northern Alliance. So that is one thing to watch in the days ahead.

And here in Washington, we're all watching the economy this morning. Outside the White House today after breakfast with the president, we saw Republicans and Democrats alike, the Congressional leaders, in a bipartisan spirit, promising to work with each other on an economic stimulus package in the days and week ahead. Here the Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Democrat on the right, the Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, Republican on the left.

Now as they debate what the government should do to try to help the struggling economy, one voice they will listen to quite closely is one of the Federal Reserve board chairman Alan Greenspan. He will be on Capitol Hill this morning, offering his assessment of the economic impact of these tragic terrorist strikes and awaiting the chairman, CNN's Financial News Tim O'Brien -- Tim.

TIM O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. The chairman will be testifying behind closed doors. In fact, it isn't even testimony. It's more of brain-storming session. The economy has been soft for a long time. The problem has been corporate spending, down with corporate profits, and as a result, business not been investing in factories and equipment, which is good for economy, instead, laying off workers, which is bad for the economy.

Throughout all of this, consumer confidence and consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy, has been quite strong. It's been the mainstay of the economy. Now there are indications that consumer confidence is on the way down. This is even before the September 11th strikes. Without that, we could be headed for a recession that is both deep and wide. So what to do? The questions that Greenspan will be discussing with senators will turn not only on what to do, but when to do it. Greenspan testifying last week said, if we move too quickly, it could have inflationary pressures and hurt down the road. So what to do, and when to do it, that's the topic this morning.

KING: Tim O'Brien on Capitol Hill for us. We will check in later today to see what people are saying about what Mr. Greenspan said behind closed doors.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com