Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Attack on U.S. Embassy in Syria; Astronauts at Work at International Space Station; On The Front Lines

Aired September 12, 2006 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: See the news unfold live in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is Tuesday morning, the 12th day of September. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

The front lines. Five years after 9/11, the resurging Taliban. We are live from Afghanistan.

COLLINS: Attack in Damascus. The U.S. embassy in Syria targeted. We'll have a live report.

HARRIS: And high hustle for a big home improvement project. Astronauts on the job this morning in the Space Station. You're in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A bold attack in Damascus. Gunmen try to storm the U.S. embassy in Syria today, but Syrian forces stopped them. Four of the gunmen were killed, a fifth was wounded. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says all American embassy staff are safe. She says it is too soon to know who is responsible for the attack. But Syrian officials suspect an al Qaeda linked group. CNN's Anthony Mills joins us now from Beirut, Lebanon.

Anthony, you have been following the situation in Syria for years I know. We've just heard earlier from our man at the State Department, John King, who says that they do not believe that these attacks were staged. This was a theory suggesting that the attack would help make the Syrian official -- security officials look good defending the U.S. embassy there. Your thoughts on that?

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, Syria traditionally exerts very strong security control on political dissent in any form, and especially fundamentalist groups and has done so for years. But within the last year and a half, there have been sporadic clashes between the Syrian security forces and fundamentalist groups in Syria.

Notably in June, just a few months ago, close to the Syrian ministry of information and state-run television, the Syrians said they foiled an attack there. A number of people were killed. And so we have seen these clashes. And some analysts argue that it betrays something of a weakness, a growing concern for the Syrian security services and, indeed, for the regime. Back in the early '80s, the Syrian regime put down a revolt by an Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood. It put it down brutally. But it did not, if you will, allay concerns, anger among Sunni Muslim groups in Syria at the ruling regime. And we're seeing many analysts say a manifestation of that anger coupled, of course, with growing anti-American sentiment in the region fueled, of course, especially by the military occupation of Iraq.

COLLINS: All right, Anthony, so this was a car explosion right near the walls of the U.S. embassy in Damascus. Four of the five attackers were killed. That fifth attacker, surely they will be questioning him and hoping to get to the bottom of the plan and the motivation for the attack.

MILLS: They certainly will be doing that. Of course, what exactly we will be told about it is another question. So far, the Syrian authorities are blaming this attack on a fundamentalist group Shundel Sham (ph). That translates as soldiers of the levand (ph). Sort of a broadly defined region here in the Middle East, including, among others, Syria and Lebanon.

And how exactly they will then tackle that remains to be seen. But that's what they are suggesting. And it would appear as though this attack falls into the category of these sporadic clashes between the Syrian security forces and this fundamentalist group.

However, it should be noted as well, that today's attack was very brazen. It targeted a U.S. embassy in Damascus, in the heart of the Arab world. It was a daylight attack. And certainly one of the most brazen so far.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Anthony, quickly before we let you go, say the name of the organization, the fundamentalist group, one more time. And have they actually claimed responsibility?

Looks like we may have lost -- oh, we can hear him. No, pardon me. It looks like we have lost Anthony Mills. We will follow that story for you and as we determine whether or not they have claimed responsibility in effect for the attacks near the U.S. embassy in Damascus.

Tony.

HARRIS: President Bush is clear on this. He calls Iraq the front lines in the war on terror. But the first battle ground after 9/11 was Afghanistan and today there is evidence that the deposed enemy, the Taliban, are making a comeback in finding safety across the border in Pakistan. Just minutes ago, Pakistan's president angrily lashed out at suggestions his country is turning a blind eye to a Taliban resurgence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN: Central gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to Taliban. This is a new element which has emerged. A more dangerous element because it has roots in the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So now let's get the view from that border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. You're about to see why many say this barren stretch is fertile ground for a Taliban comeback. Here's CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Watch as this man threatens our camera man. He and his friends don't want to be filmed. It's un-Islamic they say. Off camera they describe themselves as Afghan Taliban.

But these streets they brazenly stroll are not in Afghanistan. This is Qatar, a major Pakistani city, close to the Afghan border. Exactly what's happening here is explained to me by Pakistani journalists Amir Mir.

AMIR MIR, JOURNALIST: Pakistan is essentially for the Taliban. Almost their entire leadership of Taliban is hiding in Qatar.

ROBERTSON: In Pakistan.

In Afghanistan, American intelligence officials say the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is also living in Qatar. In London, senior British government officials say they are angry Pakistan has not rounded up the Taliban leadership who they say are planning and plotting and getting stronger in the safety of Pakistan.

Tensions are mounting. The British and American death toll at the hands of the Taliban is rocketing. Talking to Pakistani officials, I realize nothing incenses them more than insinuations they turned a blind eye to the very men who kill their coalition partners across the border.

LT. GEN. SHAUKAT SULTAN, PAKISTAN MILITARY SPOKESMAN: Let me make it very clear that who so ever says Mullah Omar is in Pakistan, we will very clearly like to know the evidence so that we can move against it.

ROBERTSON: But the Pakistanis are moving against some Taliban. In a way you wouldn't expect. By making peace with them.

Roughly how many soldiers do you have on each border check point?

To get the details, I head to Pakistan's tribal border area. The general in charge tells me the Taliban he targets are homegrown Pakistani Taliban and it's costing his soldiers dearly. Hundreds have been killed.

GEN. AZHAR, PAKISTANI ARMY: At night they will put some IEDs on the road and later on, once the comrades (ph) go (ph), they will just blast it off from the remote control (INAUDIBLE). ROBERTSON: The Pakistani Taliban have been releasing attack videos reminiscent of Iraqi insurgent propaganda. Even their terror tactics, like IEDs, seemed honed in Iraq.

AZHAR: They also started resorting to -- which was a new phenomena in this area, to the suicide killing.

ROBERTSON: In this mountainous border area where U.S. troops say Pakistani Taliban regularly cross into Afghanistan, Pakistani officials say Pakistani Taliban are growing ever more popular. So they decided to negotiate, not fight.

The Pakistani government is very keen to show the world that its new deal with the tribes in north Waziristan an work. That they can effectively put an end to any Taliban cross border raids going into Afghanistan.

LT. GEN. ALI MUHAMMAD JAN AURAKZAI, GOVERNOR NORTH WAZIRISTAN: We have not struck the deal with the Taliban. It is with the -- all the tribes of north Waziristan agency, which include Taliban also that are living there. They're the people of that area.

ROBERTSON: The governor tells me Pakistan will strike more deals like this. It seems they are taking care of their own problems first, apparently ignoring the Afghan Taliban on their soil. Indeed, Pakistani officials claim they can't spot them among the quarter million Afghan refugees they say are in Qatar.

SULTAN: Who's Taliban amongst them and who is not Taliban amongst them? You can't differentiate because everyone is having the same beard, the same turban, the same dress (INAUDIBLE).

ROBERTSON: Such cooperation hardly all goes (ph) well for the next five years. Afghan or Pakistani, all Taliban have a common ideology, driving Americans and other westerners out of Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now.

Nic, I know you had an opportunity to hear Pakistan's President Prevez Musharraf push back rather angrily. I don't think I overstated in saying that. Pushing back rather angrily against the assertion that the Taliban is operating with impunity in Pakistan, in Qatar, in particular. What was your reaction to some of what you heard from Pervez Musharraf today?

ROBERTSON: Well, it's a very, very sensitive issue for the Pakistani president, Tony. This implies that his country isn't doing enough to help the coalition here. The coalition in the war on terror's primary partner in Pakistan, Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, is the partner here. Both are expected to cooperate with the United States in the war on terror, in rounding up al Qaeda and, in particular, Taliban.

And the death toll for coalition troops here in Afghanistan has risen dramatically this year because the Taliban are operating here with greater strength and in greater numbers and the intelligence services of both the United States and Great Britain both say that the Taliban leadership are operating from within the safety and sanctuary of Pakistan. For President Musharraf, that is basically telling him he's not doing his job properly and that is a very, very sensitive issue for him.

HARRIS: So, Nic, assess for us this push back. What Pervez Musharraf said very clearly was that the problem is in southern Afghanistan, it is not in Pakistan. And square that with your reporting.

ROBERTSON: Certainly the Afghans here will tell you and the coalition troops who are fighting here as well will tell you that a lot of the foot soldiers that the Taliban use are locally recruited. They are Afghans. That's certainly not in any question whatsoever.

But up along this border area where the troops from the base that I'm at right now operate, and all the other bases along here that are very close to Pakistan, monitor this border area very closely and they're very clear about what they know. That there are Taliban crossing the border. That there are al Qaeda elements and they believe that these elements are in command and control position within the operating structure, directing the foot soldiers inside Afghanistan, if you will. And for all concerned on this side of the border, there's a direct correlation between the command and control across or along the border and the action that's here in Afghanistan.

HARRIS: Got you.

ROBERTSON: There really is no question about that viewed from this side of the border, Tony.

HARRIS: So let me ask you this. Folks at home might be asking themselves, OK, if all this is true, then why don't we have a situation now where coalition forces, NATO forces, along with Pakistani military elements, why don't we have a situation where they're all working together to launch an operation to root out the Taliban, whether it's Pakistani Taliban or Afghan Taliban, in Qatar and other areas of Pakistan. Why isn't that coordination going on right now and why don't we have an operation underfoot right now to root it all out?

ROBERTSON: Well, we've talked here about the sensitivities that are problematic for President Musharraf. That is one of the critical sensitivities for him. The Pakistani government has never really moved into these border areas before. These are traditionally, for centuries, been under tribal control. The Pakistani government is taking and putting more into control into that border area now than has ever been attempted and achieved before.

There's no doubt President Musharraf is doing that. He's taking a very big and bold step. But if he were to go further and took on border (ph) coalition troops, and particularly in this very religious area, we're talking here about British troops, Dutch troops, Canadian troops, maybe U.S. troops, Christian troops, moving them into a devoutly Muslim area, this would provide the religious extremists in the border area a massive ax to grind, if you will, against President Musharraf. He could expect, not unreasonably to expect, a very big backlash. The religious parties in Pakistan pose a political threat. They've become much more powerful in the last five years. They pose a political threat for President Musharraf. And if he were to bring coalition troops across the border into an area that he barely controls, he could expect the a very serious backlash.

Tony.

HARRIS: And, Nic, just because this is news in the last hour or so, the speech that -- the conversation from President Musharraf, let me have you respond to his assertion that the shift -- the central gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to the Taliban. What's your reaction to that statement from President Musharraf?

ROBERTSON: Well, to a degree, there's some semantics involved here. Certainly within Afghanistan at the moment, it is the Taliban who are doing the major part of the fighting. There are ooze becks (ph), chechens (ph) and Arabs in this border area. President Musharraf has talked about that himself, that there are al Qaeda elements and associated groups in this area.

But the Taliban are the sort of political and military grouping that are most native to Afghanistan. They are the group that can try and build the biggest support here. They are the government that were in government five years ago.

They are the group that are trying to throw out the current president, throw out the western troops here and return themselves to power and return this country to a very orthodox Islamic emirate. That's what they're trying to achieve. And the reason that the Taliban are much stronger and much bigger than al Qaeda is, this is their area, that's the banner they're fighting under, that's how they want to develop their support and, in their own terms, win their campaign.

Tony.

HARRIS: And we will leave it there for now. CNN chief international correspondent Nic Robertson. And, of course, Nic, thank you.

COLLINS: As American troops fight on the front lines, President Bush vows to push ahead in the war on terror. After paying tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, as you see here, the president spoke to the nation in prime time last night. He characterized the war on terror as a struggle for civilization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We face an enemy determined to bring death and suffering into our homes. America did not ask for this war and every American wishes it were over. So do I. But the war is not over and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Small force, massive undertaking, keeping the peace in Iraq and staying alive in the heart of an al Qaeda stronghold. We are live from Ramadi with some startling information next in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And I'm particularly, Heidi, curious of this next piece. Brilliant minds. We're talking about genius level here. I think it's because I'm operating at that level, Heidi.

COLLINS: I'm saying nothing. You certainly are, in your own mind.

HARRIS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is trying to find out how super smart people get that way. He shows us next in the NEWSROOM. This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

COLLINS: That was your brain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: So I think we have a little bit of good news/bad news here, best I can tell you.

HARRIS: What are you working on here, Heidi?

COLLINS: Hurricane Florence not as bad as we may have thought.

HARRIS: OK.

COLLINS: Damage not super significant.

HARRIS: Good.

COLLINS: But two more to follow. We're calling it the tropical trifecta (ph) and Chad Myers has all the latest.

Are you going to make bets on this?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Voters in nine states and Washington, D.C. are choosing candidates for November elections and political observers are watching to see if an anti-incumbent mood prevails. The primary drawing the most attention is in Rhode Island. Moderate Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee faces a tough challenge from conservative Stephen Laffey. He's the mayor of Cranston. The Republican party has thrown its weight and money behind Senator Chafee. It's already said it doesn't think Laffey could win in November.

COLLINS: The primary battle set the stage for a national fight for Congress, in fact, as Democrats struggle to wrestle control away from Republicans. Here's how it breaks down. Democrats must pick up six seats to regain control of the Senate in November, 15 seats to win a majority in the House.

Meanwhile, small force, massive undertaking. Keeping the peace in Iraq and staying alive in the heart of an al Qaeda strong hold. We are live from Ramadi with some startling information coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Quickly want to get you a check of the big board, Wall Street, inside the first hour of the trading day. The Dow up 38 points in early trading. Do we have a number on Nasdaq? What is it?

COLLINS: Coming, coming, coming. Wait for it.

HARRIS: Ah, Nasdaq, up 13. Just about 13.

COLLINS: That wasn't worth waiting for.

HARRIS: Still to come, Osama bin Laden's last known address. Our Anderson Cooper drops in for a visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Going down into what I thought was a bomb shelter, now appears there's perhaps some sort of a weapons storage facility because there's a RPG round down at the bottom and a mortar round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Bin Laden isn't home but we'll tell you what Anderson did find. You can see it in the NEWSROOM. CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The war on the terror, the defining theme of the Bush years. The president trying to reinvigorate support by taking his case to the American people.

To the White House now and CNN's Elaine Quijano.

Elaine, give us a really good sense of the reaction to the president's speech last night from both sides of the...

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Heidi. Certainly the White House, in the buildup the president's address on the 9/11 anniversary, had said that this is not going to be a political address. They said it was really going to be more reflective. And certainly it was, but there was also a very vehement defense of the president's national security policy. And that, of course, included discussion of Iraq.

Now, the president, after spending a highly emotional day at all three of the September 11th sites, spoke of unity and setting aside differences. But in a move that angered his Democratic critics, the president again tried to link Iraq and success there with security for Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not leave until this work is done. Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone. They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, almost immediately, some Democrats pounced on the speech. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York called it disappointing and said that the administration was politicizing 9/11. Senator Ted Kennedy said that the five year anniversary of the September 11th attacks was not the time to debate the president's Iraq policies.

On that point, Tony Snow, just a short time ago in the off-camera briefing, telling reporters that if, in fact, the president had not mentioned Iraq, that those same partisan Democrats would have come out and said that was essentially ignoring the main issue of the day. So, clearly, Heidi, with congressional midterm elections two months away, we can expect the back-and-forth on this issue to continue -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And also, Elaine, shortly after that comment the president made, he made another comment referring to Osama bin Laden, who he said refers to the Iraq -- excuse me, Iraq-U.S. war as the third world war, and that if the United States forces are defeated there, then America will be disgraced forever. Your comments on that?

QUIJANO: Well, exactly right. The president, in fact, in recent speeches has not shied away from mentioning Osama bin Laden, even quoting him to illustrate the seriousness of the terrorist threat. But the administration essentially continues to argue, Heidi, that al Qaeda has been weakened. Nevertheless, of course, Democrats say that the failure to capture Osama bin Laden is proof that the administration and, by extension, Republicans who have supported the administration, have mismanaged the terrorism fight -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Elaine Quijano coming to us from the White House this morning. Elaine, thank you.

HARRIS: Well, the bottom line now on the front lines. By the numbers, here's a breakdown of the American military in Iraq. The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has climbed back to about 138,000. U.S. marines make up about 22,000 of that number.

COLLINS: On duty and always under the gun, U.S. soldiers in the heart of an al Qaeda stronghold. A small force, but a large area. One, in fact, roughly the size of New Hampshire.

CNN's Michael Ware spent time embedded with those troops in the town of Ramadi. He's joining us now from Baghdad.

And in keeping with our theme, if you will, today, Michael, we're talking about being on the front line today. You have called Ramadi the al Qaeda front lines. MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. I mean, I've been going through Ramadi for three years now. And I've watched it devolve, much like the war in Iraq itself, as al Qaeda's jihad has infected the local Iraqi insurgent fight. And we see it no more better than in Ramadi.

U.S. military intelligence and American commanders there on the ground are very upfront. They say, this is the al Qaeda front line, al Qaeda owns the insurgency there. And it's from Ramadi and its surrounding areas that it directs much of the rest of its battle across the country. In fact, there's an area just north of Ramadi, across the Euphrates River, known as Jazeera (ph). This is the area the size of New Hampshire, which is only sprinkled with a few hundred American troops. But it is the al Qaeda in Iraq headquarters. It's the command and control center.

In fact, President Bush in his -- one of his most recent addresses referred specifically to Ramadi and al Qaeda's grand plan to use it as a toehold to build its global caliphate. Yet America is not sending enough troops there. The troops there, all they're really being asked to do is hold the line. As a result, they're being put in the meat grinder. As many as 100 U.S. soldiers and marines are dying there every year. That's not to mention casualties.

By and large, this al Qaeda headquarters remains undisturbed, simply because U.S. military does not have the troops to send them there. It's a gaping black hole in the president's war on terror -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, as far as logistics and tactical plans for moving troops there -- if that, in fact, is the military strategy -- I mean, lots of times it's a lot more complicated than that. How hard would it be to bump up the U.S. force in this area?

WARE: Well, it's a matter of moving chess pieces across the board, Heidi. I mean, given the fact that there is 138,000 U.S. troops here, I mean, you have to make decisions. I mean, in Ramadi, they describe their operations there, the American commanders, as an economy of force. Now, militarily, what that means is that you don't have enough troops to do the job you ultimately want to do. So you have to make decisions. You have to take risks. You have to make sacrifices, and take the pressure off here to put the pressure on there. So it is across all of Iraq.

As top American commanders will privately concede, to be honest, there is not enough troops here in Iraq. Whether you're for or against the war from the beginning or not, whether you're for or against the occupation of Iraq, the bottom line is for the mission that the president has set, there are not enough American boots here on the ground. This feeds al Qaeda; makes them stronger, not weaker. And we're seeing clear evidence of that. Not to mention the fact that it emboldens America's other stated ally, which is Iran, whose influence here not only competes with Americans, but often supersedes it -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Michael, I know you had an opportunity to spend some time with the troops. You were embedded with them. What is life like there for these troops in the combat outposts?

WARE: Look, I've been going out there for a long time. Honestly, both sides of the fence, with Iraqis and American troops. The Americans now are in a new state of the battle. It used to be a point where there was only a number of American outposts sprinkled throughout the city. I was there in November last year when al Qaeda hit all five American posts at once.

Now, that's how the battle has changed. There's a lot more posts, but they're smaller, dashed all over the city. But these are very basic places. The boys -- and, quite frankly, that's often what they are; it's filled with teenagers -- have to fight for themselves every day. They are in contact every single day, from car bombs, IEDs, rocket attacks, mortars, everything. This is about as remote and as front line as it gets -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Michael Ware coming to us from Ramadi today. Michael, thank you.

HARRIS: Five years after 9/11, his whereabouts unknown, but we do know where Osama bin Laden spent some of his time.

CNN's Anderson Cooper takes us on a visit to bin Laden's last known address.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Leaving Kabul isn't as easy as it once was. To drive Osama to bin Laden's last known residence, you now need a half dozen SUVs filled with armed guards. These days, no place is safe in Afghanistan.

(on camera): When the United States began bombing Afghanistan back in October of 2001, bin Laden was in the southern city of Kandahar. He then returned to Kabul and then began traveling down this road toward his compound closer to the Pakistan border in the town of Jalalbad.

(voice-over): It's about a six-hour journey through a countryside that's changed little in generations. A new road is being built, but life for ordinary of Afghans remains a struggle. When you finally get to Jalalbad, bin Laden's house isn't hard to find.

(on camera) This is the compound that was used by Osama bin Laden and several hundred other terrorists here in Jalalbad. It's -- it's been destroyed. It looks like it's been bombed. You know, a lot of the roofs are gone obviously. Locals say, though, however, that it wasn't bombed. It's just been looted.

This complex is about two acres. The entire thing is walled, as most of the complexes are in Jalalbad. There are about 70 rooms in it. There's cooking facilities in a little area that was a mosque.

(voice-over): There's not much left: a drain pipe perhaps for a sink or a toilet, broken bricks, a few shards of pottery. (on camera): There are actually two facilities bin Laden and his associates used as a headquarters here in Jalalbad. This is the second one. It's just a couple hundred feet away from the first complex.

In the corner of it over here, we've found this square hole. It's got a metal ladder going down. The walls are round. They're lined with brick and stone. I'm not sure what this was used for, so we're going to go down and check it out.

(voice-over): The ladder goes down nearly all of the way to the bottom. That's where we notice weapons, still clearly visible.

(on camera): Climbed down into what I thought was the bomb shelter. Now appears was perhaps some sort of a weapons storage facility, because there's an RPG round down in the bottom and a mortar round.

It's amazing that, nearly five years after this place was evacuated, there's still weapons laying around.

The significance of this place is this is the last place that Osama bin Laden was known to live here in Afghanistan. The Tora Bora Mountains on a clear day, they're visible from here. It's about a two, 2 1/2 drive to get there from there. From here, Osama bin Laden fled with his followers into those mountains and then disappeared.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORIST ANALYST: This is the place that he knew best. As the United States forces began really attacking Kabul, bin Laden fled here. Last known to be here November 30, 2001.

COOPER: Peter Bergen is a CNN terrorism analyst. He says it's impossible for us to try to reach Tora Bora.

BERGEN: It's now so dangerous in Afghanistan you can't go to Tora Bora. It's sort of a free fire zone, even if we have -- I know we have security here. But even if we had a lot of security it would still be a very dumb idea. Because what they do is it's one road, and they can see you going up that road. And by time you come back there's IEDs on the road.

COOPER: Bin Laden and the Taliban, which allowed him to operate here, may be long gone, but they remain popular in this part of Afghanistan.

"It was much better under the Taliban," says 17-year-old Abdullah. "It was more secure. Right now it's insecure. And the problems like lack of power, we didn't have them."

"The Taliban was much better than this government," 12-year-old Sadullah (ph) says. "Back then there was a clinic. There was power. Now there's not."

Nearly five years since bin Laden and the Taliban were driven from Jalalbad into the mountains of Tora Bora, it seems their memory and their power remain very much alive. Anderson Cooper, CNN, Jalalbad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Another reminder, Anderson Cooper is reporting this week on the war on terror from Afghanistan. Watch "AC 360" weeknights at 10:00 eastern, only on CNN.

COLLINS: NASA calls it an extra-vehicular activity. That Sounds serious.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: U.S. earthlings call it a space walk.

HARRIS: OK.

COLLINS: It's going on right now, a live update. I always love these cool pictures, don't you? On CNN, the most trusted name in news, or space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: What do you say, Heidi, to a little extra-vehicular activity?

COLLINS: Hmm. I'm not for sure.

HARRIS: A little naughty, a little naughty, a little naughty. Alas, it's a space walk, which is pretty exciting stuff, when Miles is explaining it. It's going on right now, a live update on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN (voice-over): Dads over 40 are at higher risk of fathering children with autism according to a study in the archive of "General Psychiatry". Researchers say a mother's age at childbirth appears to have little impact.

A survey of more than a million women revealed those with dense breast tissue are more likely to develop breast cancer than those with fatty breasts. The study funded by the National Cancer Institute suggests that doctors should consider breast density in identifying patients at greater risk for breast cancer.

The National Institute of Health says chubby toddlers have a good chance of turning into chubby adolescents. A study of more than a thousand kids found those who were overweight by age two were five times more likely to be overweight at 12. Judy Fortin, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: It is a construction site, probably not one that you're that familiar with seeing every day, but instead of hard hats they of course are wearing space suits.

HARRIS: Yes. Shuttle astronauts are on a space walk this morning, making renovations to the International Space Station. Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien is tracking all the action.

Miles, walk us through this. Tell us about these solar arrays.

O'BRIEN: This is a big deal. Thirty-five thousand pound piece of erector set, which has some huge solar arrays which will unfurl like some shades you might have on siding glass door windows.

Take a look at these live pictures from space. This is what the view is -- or was the view briefly of Heidi Piper's helmet cam. There you see up there where she was on the space station. There's Heidi, there's her space walking partner Joe Tanner. Joe Tanner is a veteran. This is his sixth space walk. This is Heidi's first.

And they are now about five and a half hours into this. They breezed through this thing, they are so far along on this particular space walk that they are working on tomorrow's things. Down there, by the way, did you see that wonderful view, Tony?

HARRIS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: That was the North Atlantic, streaming by them at 17,500 miles an hour, 209 miles below them. What a great shot. About 40 minutes ago, an interesting thing happened as astronaut Joe Tanner, the veteran space walker, lost a little piece of hardware. Listen up.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOE TANNER, ASTRONAUT: Houston alpha , it looks like we have lost the bolt and perhaps a washer. It looks like we have.

HOUSTON ALPHA: Houston -- or Atlantis, Houston, we copy. And we would just like to get confirmation from Joe about what direction he saw that bolt depart? Or the washer or any other information.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: You don't want to be a butter fingers in orbit, Tony and Heidi.

The idea here is to try to hang on to everything. Almost everything is tethered and bagged and everything,and you don't want to create little pieces of space junk because ultimately they could be a hazard some day for another spacecraft or another set of space-walking astronauts. So for now, we're going to call it Washer One because it really is...

HARRIS: Washer One.

O'BRIEN: Washer One is now in space, and will be tracked by NORAD.

HARRIS: And it's not like you can go to Home Depot and pick up another bolt or another washer. No, no, no it's a lot more complicated.

O'BRIEN: You can't do that, can't do that. No, not at all.

There will be two more space walks in this mission, one tomorrow, they will take a break and then do another one. And by the time it's all done, the hope is that the electrical production of the space station will be doubled. So, so far, so good.

COLLINS: Wow. That is huge. And, go Heidi. I just wanted to say, go Heidi.

HARRIS: Go Heidi.

O'BRIEN: You like Heidi.

COLLINS: I like her. Eileen Collins, I liked her, too.

All right, Miles, thanks so much for that.

O'BRIEN: All right.

COLLINS: The leaders of Iraq and Iran get together for a neighborly chat. Take a look at this interesting video. We'll talk about it, ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN NEW YORK: In the cooling housing market, flipping property isn't the jackpot it once was. Here's expert insight from money magazine.

STEPHEN GANDEL, MONEY MAGAZINE: Flipping, buying houses or apartments and then trying to sell them quickly for lots of money, has been popular for the past few years, but after 15 years of housing prices going up and up, it's unlikely that it's going to continue. For investing these days you should head back to the stock market.

MORRIS: Next week on "At This Age", the thirties. We'll tell you why investing in the market makes sense even when stocks are not soaring.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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