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CNN Live At Daybreak

Some Detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Say Osama Bin Laden Injured in Tora Bora

Aired April 18, 2002 - 05:04   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning our attention now to the search, the continuing search, I should say, for Osama bin Laden, CNN has now learned that some detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba say the terrorist leader was injured in Tora Bora. A tape of bin Laden released last December -- you remember this one, after the Tora Bora campaign -- it shows him moving his right hand while keeping his left arm still.

Then after that injury bin Laden apparently escaped. Certainly a hot topic at the Pentagon and the White House. Of course, a few days ago the "Washington Post" reported the Bush administration is actually blaming the Pentagon for the disappearing act.

As CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports, there are denials about that this morning.

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JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These new pictures of Osama bin Laden come from the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, which claims they show bin Laden last December, about the time the U.S. briefly thought it had him surrounded in Tora Bora. Bin Laden either escaped or was never there and the Pentagon insists it just doesn't know.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: In terms of any solid evidence, there wasn't any, there isn't now.

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld vigorously disputes a front page "Washington Post" report that the Bush administration has concluded bin Laden escaped at Tora Bora and that the failure to send more U.S. troops in pursuit was a major error.

RUMSFELD: We have seen repeated speculation about his possible location but it has obviously not been verifiable.

MCINTYRE: Last month, CNN reported some senior Pentagon officials believe the U.S. central commander, General Tommy Franks, miscalculated by relying too much on rival Afghan warlords instead of U.S. troops to block escape routes from Tora Bora. But the Pentagon's top military officer disagrees.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: make decisions like General Franks has to make every hour of every day, entails tradeoffs and risk. And I would say he's done a fine job to date.

MCINTYRE: Pentagon officials tell CNN recent interrogations of captured al Qaeda and Taliban fighters generally support the account that bin Laden was in Tora Bora in early December and slipped away with the help of local Afghans. But the Pentagon considers all the stories suspect.

RUMSFELD: We have had three or four, five different stories from the same detainees in any number of instances. They change their stories frequently.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Rumsfeld ridiculed critics of U.S. tactics at Tora Bora, some of whom are senior officers here at the Pentagon. Rumsfeld said while he couldn't answer the question of whether mistakes were made, he said, "I'm impressed that others can, from their pinnacles of relatively modest knowledge."

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

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