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American Morning

Hellfire Missile Believed to Have Struck and Killed One or More Al Qaeda Leaders Earlier This Week

Aired February 07, 2002 - 08:07   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: Up front this morning -- thank you, Daryn, see you in a little bit -- the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden. A U.S. military operation is under way this morning in the Tora Bora region to reach a location where a CIA Hellfire missile is believed to have struck and killed one or more al Qaeda leaders earlier this week. U.S. officials say there is a 10 to 15 percent chance Osama bin Laden could be among the dead, but they remain skeptical.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with the very latest -- good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, that 10 to 15 percent figure just simply indicates how uncertain they are about where Osama bin Laden is, and whether or not they possibly did kill him in this attack. The bottom line still remains nobody knows.

But in fact, U.S. intelligence and reconnaissance is keeping a much closer eye on southeaster Afghanistan right now. There are a couple of cave complexes in that region, complexes that Osama bin Laden has used in the past, where he has run to when he has been in trouble. So they are going to keep a very close eye on them just in case he returns there.

Now, this Monday attack by the Hellfire missile fired off a CIA drone did kill some senior al Qaeda leadership. The CIA is certain of that, but they don't know who. They attacked this convey, because it appeared to be senior al Qaeda leadership on the basis they were robed men. They were driving in the type of sport utility vehicles used by very senior al Qaeda leadership, including Osama bin Laden, but no one knows if he was there.

And right now, the U.S. military is trying to reach the area, send in a team to go on the ground and look and see if they can determine what exactly occurred -- Paula.

ZAHN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) certain now whether they got any members of the al Qaeda leadership.

STARR: They believe they did get some leadership, but they really have no idea if they got bin Laden or not. One official said, frankly, if we did, it would have been a lucky shot. ZAHN: Barbara, we have been talking about how we're going to track these Enron hearings that are going to take place today, particularly the one in the House today. We understand now that this story has touched the Pentagon. In what way?

STARR: It has indeed. Well, CNN has learned this morning that the general counsel of the Pentagon has ordered all elements of the DOD, the Defense Department, and all elements of the military to preserve all documents, all e-mails, all correspondence related to Enron. This comes because the Justice Department has written to the Pentagon and asked them to do this.

And we will read to you one phrase from the Justice Department to the Pentagon. It says that: "We believe that documents in possession of the Department of Defense, its staff and employees may contain information relevant to our investigation into the financial condition of Enron and statements made by Enron employees and agents relating to the financial condition and business interests."

Now, just let me add, here at the Pentagon that's very interesting. No one is claiming any wrongdoing, but it's interesting because Tom White, the man who is currently secretary of the Army, is a former high-level Enron executive. He had to sell his stock in Enron at what he says was a significant loss to join the military and become secretary of the Army.

And shortly after becoming secretary of the Army as a former Enron executive, Tom White got a lot of attention, because he said he wanted to push the notion of having military bases purchase their energy services from private industry, and of course, that's a business that Enron had been very heavily involved with. No suggestion of any wrongdoing at the moment, but the Enron story this morning has come to the Pentagon -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, Barbara, I guess in closing, what would be -- I mean, would there be any other reason why these documents would be held by, you know, Pentagon staff members?

STARR: Well...

ZAHN: I mean, would there be any other potential tie here?

STARR: Well, in fact, of course, as with much of the administration, what they are going to look for is to see what Pentagon officials may have held Enron stock. All of this is fully disclosed in their financial disclosures. So they are probably just going to go back, take a look at that.

They also want to take a look at Enron's -- any and all Enron contracts with the Pentagon and simply just make sure -- the real mission at the moment is to make sure that all documents related to Enron in the Pentagon are preserved. That everyone has been given the legal order by the top lawyer in the military, preserve Enron documents, don't destroy anything in case the Justice Department wants to take a look at them.

ZAHN: Interesting new development. Thanks, Barbara Starr, for bringing that to us -- appreciate it.

STARR: Sure.

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