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Tracking bin Laden; Is America Winning War on Terror?; New Book Explores World of Military Contractors

Aired September 12, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Tracking the Taliban, not just in Afghanistan -- their numbers and influence are growing next door in Pakistan.
CNN's Nic Robertson has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Watch as this man threatens our cameraman. 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 Quetta, a major Pakistani city, close to the Afghan border. Exactly what's happening here is explained to me by Pakistani journalist Amir Mir.

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

ROBERTSON (on camera): In Pakistan.

In Afghanistan, American intelligence officials say the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is also living in Quetta. 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 from the safety of Pakistan.

(voice-over): 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 turn a blind eye to the very men who kill their coalition partners across the border.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL SHAUKAT SULTAN, PAKISTANI MILITARY SPOKESMAN: Let me make it very clear that who so over says Mullah Omar is in Pakistan, we would very clearly like to know the -- the evidence, so that we can move against it.

ROBERTSON: But the Pakistanis are moving against some Taliban, in a way you would not expect, by making peace with them.

(on camera): Roughly how many soldiers do you have on each border checkpoint?

(voice-over): To get the details, I head to Pakistan's tribal border area.

GENERAL AZHAR ALI SHAH, PAKISTANI ARMY: And they will go and (INAUDIBLE) to you the border, once you go up there.

ROBERTSON: 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.

ALI SHAH: At night, they will put some IEDs somewhere on the road. And, later on, once the -- one of the convoy is going, they will just blast it off from the remote control and all that.

ROBERTSON: The Pakistani Taliban have been releasing attack videos reminiscent of Iraqi insurgent propaganda. Even their terror tactics, like IEDs, seemed honed in Iraq.

ALI SHAH: They also started resorting to -- which was a new phenomenon 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 evermore popular. So, they decided to negotiate, not fight.

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

LIEUTENANT GENERAL ALI MUHAMMAD JAN ORAKZAI, NORTH WAZIRISTAN MILITARY GOVERNOR: We have not struck the deal with the Taliban. It is with the -- all the tribes of North Waziristan Agency, which includes Taliban also, because they are living there. They are the people of that area.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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 around the quarter-million Afghan refugees they say are in Quetta.

ALI SHAH: Who is Taliban amongst them, and who is not Taliban amongst them? You can't differentiate, because everyone is having the same beard, the tape turban, the dress, salwar and kameez.

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

Nic Robertson, CNN, along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: The U.S. military swept into Afghanistan weeks after 9/11. The operation was and is called Enduring Freedom. More than 320 U.S. troops have been killed, more than 900 wounded. And, of that number, 342 returned to duty within 72 hours; 559 did not.

Tonight, at 10:00, live from Afghanistan, Anderson Cooper is on patrol with the U.S. Army on the front lines of the war on terror. And he wants to hear from you. Go to CNN.com and submit your questions about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Anderson will be joined by Nic Robertson and Peter Bergen to answer those questions. That's "A.C. 360," a special report, live from Afghanistan tonight at 10:00 Eastern. See it only on CNN.

All right, take a hike. And, well, maybe you can even just take the heat. Tourists go to Twentynine Palms, California, primarily to visit Joshua Tree National Forest. But U.S. Marines go there to train at the world's largest Marine base.

And CNN's Peter Viles has more on this new program called HEAT and how it gets Marines ready for the front lines.

Peter, give us the tour.

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, HEAT is not for the hot weather here, but it gets up to about 110. HEAT is Humvee egress assistant training, how to get out of a Humvee that has rolled over, often because it has been hit by a roadside bomb or come under attack or just hit some rough terrain.

It's a major problem for the U.S. military in Iraq: How do you get out of a Humvee? So, they have built this simulator behind me. There are four Marines strapped in there. They're being turned around and around. And, eventually, they will stop, which is what has happened right now. And they are going to have to climb their way out.

While they do that, I want to bring in a Marine who has been through this training before. This is Marine Corporal Stanley Domin.

Stanley, you have been through this a couple of times this morning. What is the challenge of getting out of there?

CORPORAL STANLEY DOMIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The challenge is being inside, not knowing where you are, you know, what the situation is, who is hurt, how to get out, because the doors have jammed. The body, you know, gets crumpled up.

And, also, your seat belt, you have it on. You have your weapon with the slings or your equipment on the gear. It's -- it gets stuck on everything that is inside of there. Right now, this is the prototype. It's actually empty, and it's still pretty hard to get out. So...

VILES: And your body weight is working against you. The blood is rushing to your head. It might be 110 degrees in there?

DOMIN: That's true. It's hotter -- always hotter inside, especially with your gear on. The blood is rushing to your head. You're -- you got a headache. You know, you can't see really well, because it's dark. It's upside down. And, you know...

VILES: I see we got a couple of your buddies who are making out of here. It looks like one of them, in the drill, anyway, is wounded. So, your buddy is going to have to climb over him, and then help him out of there, as we watch this drill.

DOMIN: Yes, it -- during these drills, sometimes, you run them dry. Sometimes, you run them with very -- various scenarios. It's...

VILES: It looks to me like, in this drill, we have got two wounded Marines in this upside-down Humvee.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get them up.

DOMIN: They're -- they're dragging them out. They're running around. They got to find their weapons. They got to take accountability and make sure everybody is OK.

They have to do security around the vehicle, to make sure that there's no ambushes or small-arms fire. Then, they -- then, they got to be -- supposed to be tending to the Marines as best they can. But, now, when they -- when they are actually out in Iraq, there would be more than one vehicle. So, the vehicle -- other vehicles would be rushing up to provide that security.

VILES: You would be getting some assistance at this?

DOMIN: And, then, they would continue to either destroy the vehicle, recover the vehicle, all the items that's in there, with the radios and the equipment. And they would be evacing their Marines as soon as possible.

VILES: As we said earlier, you went through this three times this morning. You got to sit out this one, so you could talk to us.

DOMIN: Yes.

VILES: If you're in Iraq and, God forbid, you're in a -- a Humvee rollover, do you think this drill will give you some sort of confidence that you will be able to get through it?

DOMIN: This is an incredible exercise. I definitely learned a lot.

I mean, just -- just like in the civilian world, you -- most people don't wear their seat belts when they drive, which is -- I was planning not to, because you get in and out a lot. But, you know, during this exercise, I will definitely make sure that my Marines and myself are wearing their seat belts.

VILES: Well, thanks for taking time with us.

This is Corporal Stanley Domin of 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines, a reserve unit out of the Philadelphia area, Betty. And they are due to deploy to Iraq in the next couple of weeks.

So, good luck, Corporal.

DOMIN: Thank you very much.

NGUYEN: Yes, valuable information...

VILES: Betty.

NGUYEN: ... being learned there today.

Thank you for that, Peter.

Well, ready or not, terrorists will come again. So say the people who track them. But how is the U.S. doing when it comes to stopping them?

Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, has more now, joining us from Washington.

Hi, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.

Intelligence sharing interoperability, home-grown terrorism, some of the areas in serious need of attention, according to homeland security experts summoned before a Senate committee today.

Richard Falkenrath, head of counterterrorism for the New York City Police Department and a former CNN security analyst, called for tighter controls on hazardous materials. He told the committee how the NYPD, as a test, tried to buy the ingredients used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD FALKENRATH, HEAD OF COUNTERTERRORISM, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: We did it with no difficulty whatsoever. We got the companies, in fact, to deliver to Brooklyn, in winter, bags and bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, tripping no wires. And we built it in a warehouse in Brooklyn. All right?

So, why are these companies sending ammonia nitrate to a warehouse in Brooklyn? Case in point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said preventing an attack with a weapon of mass destruction will continue to be his top priority.

The 9/11 anniversary is triggering assessments of what his department has and has not accomplished.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MESERVE (voice-over): Tankers of highly combustible liquefied natural gas pass close to Boston's city center. Security around them is tight, but the city's homeland security chief still worries.

CARLO BOCCIA, BOSTON DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY: They are incredible measures taken to protect that ship. Can I say to you that that ship is vulnerability-free? Absolutely not.

MESERVE: Security in the city has improved in five years. Still, Carlo Boccia wishes more was being done to safeguard truck and rail shipments of hazardous materials, to protect the city's mass transit system, to guard the historical sites and cultural institutions that define the city.

BOCCIA: These are symbols of what we are and what we come from. You know, to be able to have an enemy to be able to attack that is like attacking our soul.

MESERVE: Boccia says the city is safer, but not yet safe enough. It is a common theme all across the country. Some chemical plants have improved security, but others have not. And Congress has not passed comprehensive legislation to protect them. Cockpit doors are reinforced and some pilots armed. But most air cargo and airport employees are not screened.

New technology and more manpower protect the nation's borders, but the flow of illegal immigrants has not stopped. Billions have been spent to allow emergency workers from different agencies to talk to each other, but systems still failed in Hurricane Katrina. Whether it is port security, intelligence sharing or the readiness of the nation's health system, the story is the same, experts say. We are safer but not safe enough.

THOMAS KEAN, FORMER CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: It's totally inexcusable. And -- and there is a whole variety of people to blame in the administration. The Congress has not done as much as they should.

MESERVE: The secretary of homeland security acknowledges gaps, but says it will take more movement on several fronts to close them.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have a very clear plan of where we want to be over the next two years. And if we -- if -- if we don't get pushed -- pushed to backslide, and if we get the appropriate authority from Congress, we're going to complete the job in short order.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: This election may have refocused attention on the nation's security, but resources are limited. The list of potential targets is long, leading some experts to conclude, we will never truly be safe enough -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve -- thank you for that, Meserve. MESERVE: You bet.

NGUYEN: You want to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Rhode Island Republicans are choosing today between incumbent Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee and his much more conservative challenger, Stephen Laffey.

A Senator Laffey would please the party leadership more than a Chafee one, and, yet, they are backing Chafee, who has turned against them on everything from taxes to Iraq.

Our Dana Bash joins us from Providence to sort all of this out.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.

Well, you know, the incumbent from here, Lincoln Chafee, is about as moderate a Republican as you can find. You mentioned that he did vote against President Bush's tax cuts. He did vote against the Iraq war, the only Republican in the Senate to do that. He's for abortion rights, for stem cell research. He actually even voted against President Bush in the 2004 election.

He is more of a reliable vote for Democrats than many registered Democrats are. So, the question is, why is the White House, why is the national Republican Party, here in Rhode Island today, and have been for the past several days, trying as hard as they can to make sure that Senator Chafee is reelected and that he beats his Republican challenger, who is the mayor of Cranston, Stephen Laffey?

And the answer is, really, it comes down to simple math. Republicans, on a national level, say Rhode Island is really made up -- Republicans, I should say, only make up 10 percent of Rhode Island's voters, and that, if Senator Chafee, who is quite moderate, loses to the more conservative Stephen Laffey, then they say it will guarantee that they will lose this seat in November, that the Democrat will actually win.

So, the -- as far as Laffey goes, he is somebody who says, that is just fine. He says he doesn't need the national party, because they say that, if he wins, then, they are going to just pull out of here and give up on the seat altogether.

He is also getting some support, Betty, from some other outside Republicans. For example, the Conservative Club For Growth, they are very focused on electing Republicans who support tax cuts. They have been spending a lot of money in this state, trying to help Mayor Laffey, trying to get rid of Senator Chafee, as they have some other Republicans around the country.

So, this really -- this race boils down to a couple of, I think, big-picture questions. One is, if you ask Senator Chafee the heart and the soul of the Republican Party, he says he is part of the old- time Republican Party, not perhaps some the more conservatives that make up the national -- the party at a national level, but also the power of anti-incumbency fever this election year.

A lot of the people who we talk to in and around this state who say they don't want to vote for Senator Chafee, it's basically many of them. It comes down to a question of change. And they just want somebody new in Washington -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, the voters will decide.

Dana Bash in Province, Rhode Island for us -- thank you, Dana.

More on today's primaries ahead on CNN -- you can join Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" this afternoon at 4:00 moment Eastern, and for the live prime-time edition at 7:00 p.m. edition.

A soldier sacrifices. He has fought on two front lines. So, what does he think about where we are now, five years into the war on terror?

That's coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We have some breaking news out of Turkey to show you.

An explosion in southeastern Turkey killed at least seven people, wounded 10. Here, you see some video of that. It's not immediately known what caused this explosion. But authorities are looking at the possibility that it could have been a bomb left in a package.

Now, the area hit is Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city -- again, new video into CNN. And what you're looking at right now is an explosion that has happened in southeastern Turkey. It has killed at least seven people and 14 injured. We just got an update now, 14 now injured.

Our sister network CNN Turk is providing us with this information. Again, they don't know who caused this explosion, don't even know exactly the -- the cause of it, except they are looking into the possibility that a bomb may have been left in a package. Of course, we are going to continue to monitor this and bring you any developments as they warrant.

Two tours, two countries, two front lines in the war on terror -- Major Eric Egland has put his life on the line in both Afghanistan and Iraq, helping his comrades identify, avoid, and diffuse roadside bombs. Some of his Iraq experiences are recounted in a book called "The Blog of War."

Major Egland joins me now from Sacramento, along with wife, Ania.

Hi there. Thanks for being with us today.

MAJOR ERIC EGLAND, U.S. AIR FORCE RESERVE: Hi, Betty. Thank you for having us. NGUYEN: Sure.

ANIA EGLAND, WIFE OF MAJOR ERIC EGLAND: Hi.

NGUYEN: Major, let me ask you. You served both Afghanistan and Iraq. What is it that the American public doesn't know about what you other troops have experienced and are experiencing on the front lines?

E. EGLAND: I don't think they know nearly as much as I hope -- I wish they would know about the progress that's being made out there, about how the public support in Iraq is more and more strongly behind the newly elected democratic government, how significant the constitution and the -- the judges and the -- the civil institutions that -- that aren't conducive to headlines, but are very significant in developing the civil society that Iraq is moving towards. And the same -- on principle, the same thing is going on in Afghanistan.

NGUYEN: We were just talking about a little bit earlier with our Barbara Starr about the Anbar Province, and just the violence that has been taking place there. But, yet, when you arrived in Baghdad, you say that you were so surprised at how morale was for the troops there, and how high morale was.

E. EGLAND: Yes. Morale was sky high when I was there. And that stunned me.

Having followed it from the Pentagon, been -- working as a counterinsurgency analyst, I assumed that, in the areas where the roadside bomb threat was concentrated, where the casualties were the highest, that morale wouldn't be very high. But I will -- but I will tell you why. It's because the soldiers see all the good things that we're doing over there, the schools, the society, the hospitals, and the commerce and things like that.

But they also see what we're giving back to the enemy at night. And -- and those types of things don't get filmed. The attacks that the enemy does, they're very sophisticated at using the airwaves to get their message out and show what attacks they're doing. We don't do that. But we're still very effective at taking the fight to the enemy during the night.

NGUYEN: Well, I want to read you something that you wrote in this blog from January of 2005.

You wrote: "Moving into a hot area and preparing to stop resulted in competing questions dueling in my mind: Why would anyone get out of a perfectly good armored vehicle? And, at the same time, how perfectly good is that same vehicle when an RPG hits?"

You know, it's a serious situation. You're talking about hitting a hot area, facing possible attack. Yet, there is humor in that. I mean, is that your coping mechanism? Is that how you get through it?

E. EGLAND: Well, it is.

And -- and that is part of what -- what led me to write a lot, is, when I would get back from missions. And it's very emotional. And, so, it is. It's cathartic in a way, writing it down, and -- and thinking back, well, what were the thoughts in my head as we were in a -- in an area where there had been known to be quite a few attacks?

On one hand, your natural impulse is to say, hey, there is a lot of armor around me, and I like that. I will stay right in here.

(LAUGHTER)

E. EGLAND: On the other hand, the thought of a rocket-propelled grenades, if that were the -- if that -- if there were an attack pending, you would want to be as far away from that vehicle as possible.

So, yes, just the -- the sort of tactical, minute-by-minute thoughts, when you write them down, it -- it's -- it can be interesting to read later on, but it also helps you cope and keep an even emotional keel while you're there.

NGUYEN: And speaking of coping, got to talk to you lovely wife, Ania.

Let me ask you, Ania, because we get to how you have dealt with all of this, you have got to tell us about how you two met. It's quite an interesting story. And you pretty much fell in love right away.

(LAUGHTER)

A. EGLAND: Hi, Betty.

Yes, the story is -- it's really -- it's different than other stories. We met on -- on Internet, on (INAUDIBLE).com.

(LAUGHTER)

A. EGLAND: And we knew each other only three months. And Eric proposed to me after three days.

NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness.

A. EGLAND: And, after three months, we got married in Poland.

So, the whole story is a little bit different than the stories that you hear all the time.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

E. EGLAND: But -- but the lord works in mysterious ways.

NGUYEN: Doesn't he?

(LAUGHTER)

NGUYEN: OK. Let me ask you this, though, Ania. It had to have been hard to see your husband go off to war. How difficult was that for you? Because, in fact, he just returned 10 days before your first child was born.

A. EGLAND: That's right, Betty.

When I find out that Eric is going to go to Iraq in January 2005, I knew I would miss him, but I didn't know how much. Two weeks later, I find out I was pregnant with our first child.

So, going through pregnancy alone, knowing that my husband is in Iraq and worrying about his safety, it was difficult. But there were several factors that helped me to go through.

First, it was knowing that we both shared faith in Jesus Christ, and we knew that our lives are in his hands. Second was my family and friends. I would not do it without them.

NGUYEN: Yes. You need that support network.

Eric, let me ask you, you're now -- Is this true? -- expecting your second child, right?

E. EGLAND: We are.

NGUYEN: OK.

E. EGLAND: Yes. We have got a due date in late February, lord willing.

NGUYEN: Wow.

(LAUGHTER)

NGUYEN: Well, pre-congratulations to you.

A. EGLAND: Thank you.

E. EGLAND: Thank you.

NGUYEN: But let -- let me...

E. EGLAND: Ania -- Ania stole my cell phone. She won't let me call the deployment officer anymore.

(LAUGHTER)

NGUYEN: Well, that is what I was going to ask you.

E. EGLAND: No more volunteering.

NGUYEN: That being the case, would you go back?

E. EGLAND: I would, if called. But it's doubtful that I would be involuntarily recalled. I have always volunteered, since -- since 9/11, for the various deployments that I have done. But, yes, it's unlikely in the next year that I would be involuntarily recalled, just because of the way the cycles work.

NGUYEN: All right.

Five years after September 11, I -- I want to ask you this, in all seriousness now.

E. EGLAND: Mmm-hmm.

NGUYEN: You have been on the front lines, Afghanistan and Iraq. Do you feel like America is winning this war on terror? Are we as prepared as we should be five years after the fact?

E. EGLAND: I think we are winning.

And -- and the important thing is, we're against a tough enemy. So, it's going to continue to be a tough fight. But here is why I think we're winning. I think we're winning because we have taken the fight to the enemy. We have gone on the offensive. We have gone to Afghanistan. We have gone to Iraq.

Recently, al Qaeda announced that -- that Iraq is the central front of their war against us. And -- and I agree with that assessment. So, by going on the offensive, you take away the sanctuary. You take away the ability for them to plan and finance and fund. And you keep them on the run, because we saw what happened with 9/11.

It took them years to be able to do that. And they had to have sanctuaries. And they had to have places where they could freely operate around the world. And -- and, if we allow that, they're going to continue to plot an attack.

And I think that is directly the reason why. The fact that we have gone on the offensive is really the fundamental reason why they have been unable to attack us on our homeland in the last five years.

NGUYEN: Major, we're going to have to leave it there. Major Eric Egland, and his wife, Ania, thank you both. And, again, congratulations on that baby that you're expecting.

E. EGLAND: Thank you, Betty.

A. EGLAND: Thank you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Take care.

E. EGLAND: Bye-bye.

A. EGLAND: Bye-bye.

NGUYEN: Well, they have been on the attack and under attack. Coming up from the NEWSROOM, we will go inside the world of military contractors. They're on the front lines of the war on terror, but are they above the law?

And Anderson Cooper takes us inside the last-known residence of Osama bin Laden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We don't know where he is now, but, five years after 9/11, we know where Osama bin Laden has been.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" (voice-over): 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, Jalalabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Tonight at 10, live from Afghanistan, Anderson Cooper is on patrol with the U.S. Army on the frontlines of the war on terror and he wants to hear from you. Go to CNN.com and click on I-Report to submit your videotaped questions or just e-mail us your questions about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Anderson Cooper will be joined by Nic Robertson and Peter Bergen to answer those questions. That's "A.C. 360" special report, live from Afghanistan tonight at 10 Eastern. See it only here on CNN.

Another grim milestone in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says Sergeant First Class Meredith Howard was a victim of the deadliest suicide attack in the Afghan capital since the fall of the Taliban that happened on Friday. Her death is noteworthy for another reason. At 52, Sergeant Howard, a reservist, is the oldest female casualty of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She died along with another U.S. soldier, 43-year-old Staff Sergeant Robert Paul of Oregon.

Hired to fight, licensed to kill. More and more private military contractors are showing up on the frontlines of the war on terror. But most manage to stay under the radar. Robert Young Pelton spent three years with these shadowy figures. The result: his new book, "Licensed To Kill." The author joins us now from New York City. Thanks for being with us.

ROBERT YOUNG PELTON, AUTHOR: Hi, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well in your book, you called these private security contractors the new breed of warrior created by this war on terror. Why are they the new breed of warrior?

PELTON: Well, I use the term neomercenaries because they're not mercenaries in the classic sense, but they're essentially filling the gap that we created when we decided to rebuild the country inside an active war zone and we didn't have enough typical soldiers to take care of the security situation so we hired these contractors.

NGUYEN: We're looking at some video -- I should say pictures of those that are in your book. I have to ask you, when we talk about these warriors, these contractors who are hired guns, essentially, are they being used in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, per se?

PELTON: Yes, the people you're looking at are called campaigns. They're Afghan mercenaries working for what they call OGA, people like the CIA, and they're actively hunting bin Laden. That is a secret base quotation mark. That was actually inside Pakistan based on our GPS readings and their job is to hunt down what they call HVTs, high valued target, inside Pakistan and inside Afghanistan.

NGUYEN: How effective are they?

PELTON: Somewhat, somewhat, because they still have to liaison with the Pakistani intelligence network inside Pakistan and ISI is also known to harbor certain people like your last show about the Taliban actually living under Pakistani protection.

NGUYEN: You mentioned the CIA a little bit earlier. Who is hiring these folks, the CIA, the U.S. military, other countries? Where are they getting paid?

PELTON: Well, it's essentially -- if you're talking about the traditional security contractor, they are working for corporations. They're working for the U.S. government. They're keeping people alive as they go from appointments from where they live and there is also the covert side of things, in which the CIA hires people simply to guard their bases and guard their personnel when they meet with assets.

NGUYEN: Looking at some more pictures from the book. I got to ask you this, too, because you say in that book that they work outside legal constraints. How so? I mean, what is it that they can do that the military can't do?

PELTON: Well, first of all, they work for corporations and corporations are not subject to the same restrictions that the U.S. military is. So if a contractor gets into a shooting situation with Iraqi citizens, the typical response is to send those people home on the next plane.

NGUYEN: But don't they have missions just like the military to find and capture and kill these people that they're hired to do that?

PELTON: No. You'll find that there are people who consider themselves in that era, but the problem is that most security contractors work under a strict contract to keep people safe.

In terms of the CIA, they're working to actually help the CIA who is short-handed, protect their people, transport them and protect their bases. But they also do other things, whether it's intelligence gathering, even things as mundane as P.R., what they call cyops.

NGUYEN: All right. You know, the stories in your book are pretty captivating. I want to talk a little about 75-year-old. And that's important to note, 75-year-old Billy Waugh, interesting character.

PELTON: Well Billy Waugh is fascinating because he is the timeline. He is one of these guys with institutional memory. He tried to sign up when he was 16 or something after World War II, was one of the first special forces soldier and became a CIA operative, became a CIA contractor and actually tracked bin Laden in Kartoum, except he was not given a license to kill. He was a former assassin, but he was sent there under Cofer Black to surveil Osama bin Laden. And you know, he's a crusty old guy and he'll tell you, he'll hold up a little thing like this, saying one 10-cent bullet, we could have stopped the entire 9/11. And he's right. We many opportunities to kill bin Laden and he regrets them all.

NGUYEN: Talk about these private security contractors hired by corporations, hired by the CIA, as you mentioned. But who essentially is paying them? How much is this costing? Is it costing the American taxpayer?

PELTON: Yes, the GAO estimated about 15 percent of money towards reconstruction contracts goes toward security. It's a huge amount because we're trying to do basically construction work in a war zone. I was in Iraq last month and I was risking my life with contractors to guard gravel that was going to build the police station. So you can see how mundane some of these jobs are.

NGUYEN: You guarded gravel?

PELTON: Well the people that were killed in Fallujah were guarding empty trucks going to pick up kitchen equipment. Another company was delivering mattresses when they were killed. This is the mundane day-to-day life of the security contractors.

NGUYEN: Interesting stuff. Robert Young Pelton, author of "Licensed to Kill." We appreciate your insight. Thanks for spending a little time with us, appreciate that.

PELTON: Thanks, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well NASA calls it -- this is great, extra-vehicular activity. The rest of us call it a space walk. See the heavy lifting high above the earth. A live update on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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NGUYEN: Well, you can call it a construction job with a view. Two astronauts slit outside the International Space Station today for the first of three space walks on the schedule this week. But not everything went as planned.

CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg is here with all those details. Really, things don't go as planned in space, too, apparently?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, who knew, right? You got your home construction projects. If you drop something on the floor in that case, you can sort of search around with a flashlight. A little different story at 220 miles above the Earth.

NGUYEN: Good luck getting it, right?

SIEBERG: Yes. We'll get to what NASA is saying about that in just a second. In any case, this is the first of three planned extravehicular activities or space walks, in human speak. It started early this morning, about 5:00 a.m. Eastern time.

As you see, Joe Tanner, a veteran space walker emerging from the International Space Station up there, this is actually his sixth space walk. His partner for this was a rookie, a rookie space traveler. And this is also her first space walk. It is a woman. She is the sixth U.S. woman to perform a space walk. They got started very early, took about six-and-a-half hours or so.

They're basically bringing up a very large piece of furniture. That's what they keep calling it. It's than 17.5 ton, 45 foot long truss. It's going to be added on to the International Space Station. It's sort of this girder-like skeleton that's going to be expanding the digs up there, if you will. It's also got these massive solar arrays in there. A lot of complex work. Sort of tedious stuff up there. Joe Tanner, performing -- and we can see his helmet cam here. A lot of -- connecting some power, some what are called umbilical cords, basically protecting the solar arrays from the really intense heat and cold that's going on up there. Some sort of detailed, complex work.

At one point, he did sort of get caught off guard by a spring- loaded bolt that got away from him. It was a bolt and a washer and spring. You can see it there, this is an image from NASA.

They have since determined they believe it did not do any damage. You have to be very careful up there that it doesn't hit the space suits or any part of the orbiter itself. But at this point, they're pretty sure it was OK.

In any case, not too long ago I had a chance to talk to Joe Tanner about his working relationship with Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, the female astronaut.

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JOE TANNER, MISSION SPECIALIST: I told her when we first started training together, and I says, yes I have three space flights, five EVAs and I'm older than you, but that doesn't mean anything. Your job is to question everything I say and do.

HEIDEMARIE STEFANYSHYN-PIPER: There's nothing that says a girl can't be an astronaut, a girl can't be a diver, a girl can't be an engineer, a girl can't be a pilot, because we have proven you can do that. And if more of them see women in these types of roles and that they follow in their footsteps, I think that's great.

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SIEBERG: Incidentally, part of the reason there haven't been as many women conducting some of these space walks is those big, bulky space suits you see with those gloves makes it very hard to do stuff.

She's actually five foot ten, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper. So she fits into those space suits a little bit easier. They actually are not custom designed, they're very expensive, worth millions of dollars. They're not custom designed for each astronaut. So she has been a professional diver, she's got a lot of experience to draw upon as a rookie.

NGUYEN: And now she's no longer a rookie?

SIEBERG: No longer a rookie, that's right.

NGUYEN: I tell you that, that extra vehicular activity, it's had its ups and downs, especially with that little bolt. That could've been awful, had it punctured something, but good news there.

SIEBERG: Absolutely.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Daniel.

SIEBERG: You bet.

NGUYEN: Well, more of your email responses in just a moment. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. T

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NGUYEN: All right. Earlier, we asked you to hit send with a response to this question: does America's safety depend on winning in Iraq?

Here is what a few of you had to say.

Melinda in Florida writes, "We would have been safer with Saddam Hussein still in power. Iraq was a secular state under Saddam. Now it is a breeding ground for Islamic Fundamental terrorists. No, by far the biggest threat to our security is our president, George W. Bush."

And Josh responds, " This war has created endless hatred for America around the world, ruined our credibility and us into the largest national debt in the history of our nation."

It is time to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He is standing by in the Situation Room to tell us what coming up at the top of the hour.

Hi Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi Betty, thanks very much.

Unintended consequences. Iran's president rolls out the red carpet for Iraq's prime minister. What is going on? We'll take a closer look at the growing relationship between a top U.S. ally and a major U.S. foe.

Also, terror politics. Angry Democratic reaction on Capitol Hill for the president's 9/11 speech.

Plus, live in Afghanistan. A close look at the comeback of the Taliban. We have a CNN exclusive.

And American al Qaeda. A look at the Californian who turned to terror.

All that, Betty, coming up right here in the "SITUATION ROOM".

NGUYEN: We'll be watching. Thank you, Wolf.

Actress and activist Jane Fonda and feminist Gloria Steinem want you to listen to the new radio network. They will both be in the "NEWSROOM" tomorrow talking about the news and why they think you should listen. We will be back with the "Closing Bell" in just a moment.

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NGUYEN: More thoughts on our e-mail question today.

Time, now to head over to Ali Velshi and the "Closing Bell".

Hi, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, BUSINESS NEWS ANCHOR: Betty, good to see you.

It's a busy and pretty good day on Wall Street right now.

NGUYEN: Good.

VELSHI: Yes, we're looking at a DOW that's up about a hundred points right now. A couple of big pieces of news. First of all, oil prize are down again, down about a buck eighty five to $63.76 for a barrel of oil.

And the other thing is two major corporate shake-ups. Over at H.P. we've had an announcement that the chairman, Patricia Dunn, will be leaving at the end of January. That's of course following on all of the news about the pretexting, impersonating people, this investigation that H.P. did in to some of its board members.

And over at Bristol-Myers Squibb, the CEO is out, again, as a result of a long investigation. Wall Street's liking that shake-up news a little, and we're leaving with a good day. So, all in all, not a bad day for investors -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Sounds good, and that bell should be ringing any second now.

VELSHI: Right now!

Good to see you, and we will see you tomorrow afternoon. There is your bell on Wall Street. Over at the DOW, we're closing right now a hundred points higher to 11,496 from 99 points. Over on the NASDAQ, 41 points higher to 2,2014.

With that, let's take it over to Wolf Blitzer in the "SITUATION ROOM".

BLITZER: Ali, thanks very much.

And to our viewers, you're in the SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time.

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