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American Morning

America Strikes Back: Anti-American Protests Taking Place in Pakistan; Space Agency Will Load Space Shuttle with 6,000 Flags

Aired October 12, 2001 - 11:35   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anti-American protests taking place in Pakistan. Today is the first Muslim prayer day since the U.S. bombing campaign in the skies over Afghanistan first started. The skies, though, at this point, are quiet thusfar today.

Let's check in overseas, Islamabad. CNN's John Vause watching not only the protests, but also the latest word from half a world away.

John, hello to you.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good evening, Bill, from Islamabad.

Before we talk about those protests, I'd like to bring you up to date with you a little bit of information we received a short time ago from Kandahar. We are told the situation there is all quiet. But obviously that situation changes minute by minute. So those airstrikes could resume at any time. We are waiting on word from that.

Let's go back to Pakistan nwo where it was not a quiet day. As you mentioned, there were Protests around the country, a very violent protest in the city of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan, nearly 10 million people. A few thousand people clashed with police. They threw stones. Police responded with tear gas.

Now we are being told tonight that five people were injured during this demonstration. We understand that they were shot by police. On that injured list, a 3-year-old girl who is in a critical condition. At these rallies, you often see children, you often see young boys carrying weapons, automatic rifles. We are also told that another three people were injured, possibly by men wearing black. That's all we know as to that.

Now, here in Islamabad, the capital, another rally. And there, the crowd was told that Pakistan is now at war with the United States. There we heard the chants of "al-jihad, al-jihad," the call for war.

Now, moving on to Rawalpindi, just outside the capital of Islamabad, I guess that was where we here at CNN experienced the anger that the Pakistanis have with this airstrike. They burned an effigy of CNN in front of us. Also at this rally, there were calls to use nuclear weapons. One of the speakers said, we have nuclear weapons, why don't we use them? I spoke with some of the demonstrators there, they reject out of hand the United States claim that bin Laden is a terrorist. This is what some of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Osama bin Laden -- America says he is a terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not terrorist. Americans are terrorist. Americans terrorists. We said that Americans are terrorist. Tony Blair is also a big terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe America doesn't have complete proof against Osama, or for that matter, against Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Now, also at that rally, we were told that President Musharraf, our translator told us, that President Musharraf was severely criticized by the speakers there. They said he has sided with the evil forces who are waging war on the Muslim world. They also leveled a serious insult against President Musharraf. They said he was a dog. It doesn't get much more insulting than that here in Pakistan.

As also, with regards to that rally, it was interesting to note that at that rally, though criticizing president Musharraf, two years ago today on that same street where we were, they were cheering him as he seized power here in a bloodless coup, very popular coup. It is interesting to see how times have changed in this very difficult time for President Musharraf -- Bill.

HEMMER: John, back to the people on the street, a bit more on this now. The president is saying they are dropping humanitarian aid, at the same time, trying to feed the Afghans that need the food.

Also, they are talking repeatedly, not only in Washington, but also in London, about the need to make sure that people understand this is a war that is fought against terrorists and not the Muslim people. When you talk to those people, do they get that message at all or not?

VAUSE: Not at all, not at all. But the thing to remember, these protests are very, very small. This is a country of 140 million people. And we are seeing groups of thousands take to the streets, not tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. They are a vocal, they are a militant minority, a very dangerous minority at that. But they are not accepting this call by George Bush that this is not a war against Islam. They believe that this is a war against them, and they are calling for Pakistan and for Muslims to fight back -- Bill.

HEMMER: And a great point, clarifying to, in a country of 140 million.

John Vause, thank you, live in Islamabad, where it is nightfall there. Back here in the U.S., the terrorists attacks of 09/11 left an estimated 6,000 dead and a patriotic spirit was reborn across the country. U.S. flags now line suburban streets and city sidewalks. We see them everywhere. But as the nation hoists them high, NASA is about to fly them a bit higher.

Next month, a space agency will load a space shuttle with about 6,000 flags, one for each person believed killed in the attacks of a month ago yesterday.

NASA administrator Dan Goldin with us now live to talk more about it.

Sir, hello to you. Nice to see you again.

DAN GOLDIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Good morning, Bill.

I wish we were talking about better circumstances.

HEMMER: I am absolutely on board that. Tell us where you got the idea, Dan.

GOLDIN: Well, I'm a native of New York, and I was watching Mayor Giuliani talk about the issues in New York. A lot of the people having a difficult time bringing to closure the fact that they have lost their loved ones and their remains may not be ever found, and the thought was the American flag stands for a lot of things. It stands for the stability of this country, the freedom we have, and in the future, it stands for the fact that terrorism is going to end, we're going to fight it, we're going to win and bring hope to people. And so we said, what better way to celebrate the lives that were lost than to fly the American flag to the peaceful International Space Station.

HEMMER: I think that's a great idea. You're a New Yorker yourself, and you were at ground zero recently. We have some pictures actually of your visit there. I have been there also. What struck you?

GOLDIN: What struck me was on television, you cannot feel the false sense, the smell, the sounds, the sights, the thousands of people working there. It was unbelievable. I just lost it. I just couldn't believe what one man and one human could do to another.

HEMMER: You make a very eloquent point. And we are all trying to figure it out ourselves. And I think when people go there, it is so difficult to put it into words, because no one has ever seen destruction on this scale before. Back to the flags. Are these full- scale flags?

GOLDIN: These flags are about six inches by four inches. I have one of these flags right here. I'll show it to the viewers. These are the flags we will take up to the station, and we have talked to Mayor Giuliani. We have been working with the Pentagon, the folks in Pennsylvania. We have asked them to identify the survivor that they would like us to send it to. We will bring them back. The shuttle Endeavor is going up November 29, and within about a month in a time the shuttle endeavor comes back, we'll have these flags to these wonderful people.

HEMMER: On a minor point, is there an issue of space on the shuttle when it comes to carrying extra payload cargo?

GOLDIN: Well, this is a priority, as much as anything else we're doing. So we're going to clear out space. The NASA people have remanifested the shuttle, and we're going to make volume available, weight available, and there will maybe be a little less clothes, a little less food to the astronauts, but I think they will understand. This is important to bring to closure.

HEMMER: Any reaction just yet? Have you heard from the families at all?

GOLDIN: I haven't heard from the families. But when I was in New York, and I met with the mayor, the fire commissioner, the police commissioner, the safety commissioner, it was a very emotional meeting. They were very, very appreciative. The folks at the Pentagon are appreciative. In fact, we are going to take two additional payloads. One will e the flag that flew over the Pentagon before the -- when the plane went into it, and the second is a flag that was recovered from the World Trade Center. So there will be additional payloads. And we are trying accommodate as additional material as they would like us to take.

HEMMER: All right, November 29, onboard Endeavor.

Dan Goldin from NASA. Have a good day.

GOLDIN: Thank you for what you are doing.

HEMMER: All right, much appreciated.

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