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American Morning

Interview with General Jim Mattis, Commander, Marine Task Force 58

Aired December 14, 2001 - 08:28   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: Marines from Camp Rhino were on the move. Hundreds of leather necks rode through downtown Kandahar earlier today on their way to take control of the city's airport.

General Jim Mattis, the commander of Task Force 58, as those Marines are formally known, joins us now to explain this new mission -- thank you very much for joining us, sir. If you...

GEN. JIM MATTIS, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE 58: You're welcome, Paula.

ZAHN: Yes, we know there's a little bit of a delay here. If you would, describe to us what else the Marines will be doing, now that they are in Kandahar.

MATTIS: Well, my mission here is to secure the airport, and the Marines did that during the night, as you mentioned. Last night, we moved in. We've got to get the runway in better condition here, so we can open it up. We'll get just the runway open and see what we need to do with it from there.

ZAHN: I know you were searching for mines and booby traps. Did you soldiers find any?

MATTIS: Paula, the Marines found enough explosions -- explosives out here to have a big Fourth of July celebration. That it's just the ground is covered with it. The buildings have explosive in it. So we're being pretty careful and pulling it all together, and we'll take care of it, get it all cleaned up.

ZAHN: What are your chief concerns for the safety of your Marines right now?

MATTIS: Well, I don't have any big concerns right now. We met with Mr. Karzai. I met personally with him and Governor Sherzai several nights ago in Kandahar in preparation for this. Their troops have been supportive of us. The people have been waving to us, even at 2:00 o'clock in the morning, as we went through town. No big concerns. We're alert. Nobody's getting complacent, but I don't see any big problems right now.

ZAHN: You talked a little bit about the challenge of trying to get the airport open airport. If things go as planned, when do you think it will be up and operating?

MATTIS: Well, it's dark again now, and so there may still be some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) around here, but I think in a day or two, we'll have it wide open for use.

ZAHN: General Jim Mattis, thank you for bringing us up-to-date on what the Marine mission there is in Kandahar. Best of luck to you and your men and women -- thank you so much.

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