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CNN Live Saturday
Hunt for bin Laden Intensifies
Aired March 08, 2003 - 14:00 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: We're going now to get the latest on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and any other stray al Qaeda running around around the world. Our national security correspondent David Ensor joins us now from the Pentagon with the latest on that -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Renay, there is an aggressive search under way today and had started basically last week for Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders who are believed to be in the area along the Pakistan/Afghan border. We understand from officials here at the Pentagon that a small number of forces from the joint special operations command, that's the command that is in charge of the Delta forces and SEALs and some of the other very low profile but sometimes very effective special operations forces, that some of those forces are now in the area working with others. Of course, the CIA and, above all, Pakistani intelligence and Pakistani military have been hard at this for some time now.
Now, the reason the search has intensified, as you mentioned, is because there is a lot of new evidence, material captured with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed last weekend, his laptop, his cell phones, even an address book, we understand. And the information that has so far been gleaned from rather a large amount of material caught with Mr. Mohammed leads them to be able to narrow down the search to a fairly small area, which we may be able to show on a map -- yes, we are showing it -- the northwest provinces that you see in the red here. Officials saying that despite reports to the contrary, they do not believe that Osama bin Laden will be found in Baluchistan, which you see in this map marked yellow.
The other thing that is in the materials that Mohammed had with him that is causing a lot of work this weekend, and has all week, is information that suggests that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may have been trying to plan attacks in the United States, possibly against hotels, bridges or apartment complexes. And there are a lot of names and addresses in the information as well, so the FBI and others are following up on leads, trying to make sure that they have all the people that they should under observation in the United States, and, for that matter, around the world -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: David, I have to ask you about this -- the story that broke yesterday morning regarding the possibility that Osama bin Laden's, two of his sons may have been captured. This regional governor in Pakistan isn't straying much from that story. Has there be any chance for you to check with U.S. officials on whether or not they've been able to confirm that at all? ENSOR: Yes. U.S. officials just say point blank that that story is not accurate. There just is a tremendous -- obviously a lot of interest in this subject. People would love -- people would like to know whether Osama bin Laden is going to be caught or not. It's closely followed. So there's a tremendous amount of rumors. There is probably some disinformation. There's an effort by some to perhaps try to flush out Osama bin Laden and others by putting information out that he's being closed in on, maybe make him move.
So it's a very unusual atmosphere. And it's an atmosphere in which journalistic organizations are jumping, perhaps, onto the wires or into the papers or on the air with sometimes only one source. That's what happened yesterday. And the long and short of it is, that story, according to U.S. officials I have spoken to, whose agencies are represented right there, that story is not accurate.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, we appreciate you checking on it, though. David Ensor live in Washington. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 8, 2003 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: We're going now to get the latest on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and any other stray al Qaeda running around around the world. Our national security correspondent David Ensor joins us now from the Pentagon with the latest on that -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Renay, there is an aggressive search under way today and had started basically last week for Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders who are believed to be in the area along the Pakistan/Afghan border. We understand from officials here at the Pentagon that a small number of forces from the joint special operations command, that's the command that is in charge of the Delta forces and SEALs and some of the other very low profile but sometimes very effective special operations forces, that some of those forces are now in the area working with others. Of course, the CIA and, above all, Pakistani intelligence and Pakistani military have been hard at this for some time now.
Now, the reason the search has intensified, as you mentioned, is because there is a lot of new evidence, material captured with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed last weekend, his laptop, his cell phones, even an address book, we understand. And the information that has so far been gleaned from rather a large amount of material caught with Mr. Mohammed leads them to be able to narrow down the search to a fairly small area, which we may be able to show on a map -- yes, we are showing it -- the northwest provinces that you see in the red here. Officials saying that despite reports to the contrary, they do not believe that Osama bin Laden will be found in Baluchistan, which you see in this map marked yellow.
The other thing that is in the materials that Mohammed had with him that is causing a lot of work this weekend, and has all week, is information that suggests that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may have been trying to plan attacks in the United States, possibly against hotels, bridges or apartment complexes. And there are a lot of names and addresses in the information as well, so the FBI and others are following up on leads, trying to make sure that they have all the people that they should under observation in the United States, and, for that matter, around the world -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: David, I have to ask you about this -- the story that broke yesterday morning regarding the possibility that Osama bin Laden's, two of his sons may have been captured. This regional governor in Pakistan isn't straying much from that story. Has there be any chance for you to check with U.S. officials on whether or not they've been able to confirm that at all? ENSOR: Yes. U.S. officials just say point blank that that story is not accurate. There just is a tremendous -- obviously a lot of interest in this subject. People would love -- people would like to know whether Osama bin Laden is going to be caught or not. It's closely followed. So there's a tremendous amount of rumors. There is probably some disinformation. There's an effort by some to perhaps try to flush out Osama bin Laden and others by putting information out that he's being closed in on, maybe make him move.
So it's a very unusual atmosphere. And it's an atmosphere in which journalistic organizations are jumping, perhaps, onto the wires or into the papers or on the air with sometimes only one source. That's what happened yesterday. And the long and short of it is, that story, according to U.S. officials I have spoken to, whose agencies are represented right there, that story is not accurate.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, we appreciate you checking on it, though. David Ensor live in Washington. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
