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CNN Live Saturday

Where Is Osama bin Laden?

Aired March 08, 2003 - 15:38   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Where is Osama bin Laden? And are authorities any closer to finding the world's most elusive terrorist? Armed with fresh leads from a top al Qaeda operative, U.S. and Pakistani forces are stepping up their search. Let's get the latest from CNN's David Ensor, who is live at the Pentagon -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And Fredricka, officials here at the Pentagon confirm that a small, a very small number of troops who are under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command, that's the command that is in charge of Delta Forces and SEALs, a small group of them have joined the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): An aggressive search for Osama bin Laden is underway, U.S. officials say as they and Pakistani officials race to take advantage of new leads.

MATT LEVITT, FRM. FBI INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: There's no question in my mind that we will catch bin Laden. It is only a matter of time.

ENSOR: The information is pointing to this part of Northwest Pakistan and Just across the border in Afghanistan. Narrowing the search, officials say, to a few Pakistani provinces and a small area along the Afghan side of the border.

Despite reports to the contrary, knowledgeable U.S. officials say they do not believe bin Laden is currently in the Southwest, the Baluchistan and Balochistan province of Pakistan. The new leads are coming from materials seized Saturday with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. His laptop, cell phones and address book. The president called him the mastermind of September 11.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed conceived and planned the hijackings and directed the actions of the hijackers. We believe his capture will further disrupt the terror network and their planning for additional attacks.

ENSOR: U.S. officials confirm Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is now talking and has begun giving his integrators information that is of some use. Wherever he is, officials say bin Laden must know he has never been in such danger since he escaped the closing noose in Tora Bora in December of 2001.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ENSOR: And while hopes are a little higher because of all the evidence that was obtained last weekend, we should perhaps point out, Fredricka, that officials we speak to who are working on this say they might be closer, but it still could take a long time to find Osama bin Laden. They don't know if they're about to find him in the next few days, or whether it's going to be quite some time yet -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, indeed, a painstaking process. Thanks very much, David.

Well, so how does bin Laden continue to seem to elude authorities? And will the U.S. ever catch up with its most wanted terrorist? Let's get some additional insight now from CNN security analyst Kelly McCann. Kelly, thanks so much for joining us.

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, so we know that it might be helpful in which to get some information or extract some information from newly captured Mohammed. But this search has to go high tech as well, doesn't it?

MCCANN: It absolutely does. I mean, you know, anything -- the whole intent when you're taken captive is to sit on perishable information until it becomes outdated. So virtually everybody who's engaging in any kind of combat knows that. So the trick is to move as quickly as possible on things that you can determine, and that's why we've seen an intensification just recently.

WHITFIELD: So paint a picture for us. How are long-term surveillance reconnaissance teams being used in this?

MCCANN: Well, don't forget that, you know, we've got small units out in the Northwest Province that are clandestinely placed who are daily looking through the rifle scopes, daily watching the kind of the trails and the footpaths, et cetera, to get kind of movements. They document them, they log numbers, they report back. And they're also doing signals intelligence searches, although the environment up there is hard, given the mountainous terrain and the radio wave propagation.

We've got imagery involved as well, with the Predators and look- down capability, as well as human intelligence. So it's certainly an all-source search if you will, Fred.

This piece of equipment you see right now is used with some sources in foot patrols. And basically what it does is, it allows a security patrol to direction find as they move, basically, vectoring them right to the adversarial unit, which is an incredible technological leap.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about authorities trying to get close to people who are, obviously, close to Osama bin Laden. It had been reported and has since been dispelled that two of his sons were in custody. If someone as close as, say, his children were taken into custody, it's not likely that they would talk. How much credence would there be put into the fact that they just might be able to extract some kind of information from people who are close to Osama bin Laden?

MCCANN: More importantly, Fred, I think the question is if it's Saad, his senior son that's involved with al Qaeda, it's discussed two different ways. One is that he would likely be near his father, and one is that he would likely not be near his father because he's coming up in the command -- in the chain of command, if you will.

WHITFIELD: But that would seem so obvious that it would almost seem as though people that close to him would not be in close proximity to Osama bin Laden.

MCCANN: Well, it's strange, you know. There's still a loving parent/son relationship there. And so, it goes to a very complex kind of environment, similar to, is he in the Northwest, which would be the ideological consistent thing for him to be in, in a rough place where he's living a hard life, or would he take the tactically consistent stance of being in a city, because that's very much unlikely what he would do.

So I mean, it's not as easy as people would think to put him in a particular place, and that's why we have got the assets we do looking for him.

WHITFIELD: We've heard President Bush and others say they want him dead or alive. But isn't it going to be worth the while of intelligence, more likely worth the while of intelligence to have him alive so they would be able to find other cells, find other people, those who just might be taking his place?

MCCANN: Think of the raid environment, Fredricka. If you thought that here's this man, very protected, you've got to put ground troops in a position to kill or at least take control of people protecting him. And then, do it fast enough so that he can't take his own life. Very, very difficult challenge. If you use Predator UAVs with Hellfire missiles, you're not going to have that kind of selectivity. If he's killed, then we could actually feed this whole kind of anti-Islam feeling with Iraq. It's very problematic.

If we capture him, then we've got this ever-present thing to deal with in the media where people are never going to be rid of Osama bin Laden. It's problematic any way you look at it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kelly, thanks very much. Good to see you.

MCCANN: You bet, Fredricka.

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 - 15:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Where is Osama bin Laden? And are authorities any closer to finding the world's most elusive terrorist? Armed with fresh leads from a top al Qaeda operative, U.S. and Pakistani forces are stepping up their search. Let's get the latest from CNN's David Ensor, who is live at the Pentagon -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And Fredricka, officials here at the Pentagon confirm that a small, a very small number of troops who are under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command, that's the command that is in charge of Delta Forces and SEALs, a small group of them have joined the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): An aggressive search for Osama bin Laden is underway, U.S. officials say as they and Pakistani officials race to take advantage of new leads.

MATT LEVITT, FRM. FBI INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: There's no question in my mind that we will catch bin Laden. It is only a matter of time.

ENSOR: The information is pointing to this part of Northwest Pakistan and Just across the border in Afghanistan. Narrowing the search, officials say, to a few Pakistani provinces and a small area along the Afghan side of the border.

Despite reports to the contrary, knowledgeable U.S. officials say they do not believe bin Laden is currently in the Southwest, the Baluchistan and Balochistan province of Pakistan. The new leads are coming from materials seized Saturday with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. His laptop, cell phones and address book. The president called him the mastermind of September 11.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed conceived and planned the hijackings and directed the actions of the hijackers. We believe his capture will further disrupt the terror network and their planning for additional attacks.

ENSOR: U.S. officials confirm Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is now talking and has begun giving his integrators information that is of some use. Wherever he is, officials say bin Laden must know he has never been in such danger since he escaped the closing noose in Tora Bora in December of 2001.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ENSOR: And while hopes are a little higher because of all the evidence that was obtained last weekend, we should perhaps point out, Fredricka, that officials we speak to who are working on this say they might be closer, but it still could take a long time to find Osama bin Laden. They don't know if they're about to find him in the next few days, or whether it's going to be quite some time yet -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, indeed, a painstaking process. Thanks very much, David.

Well, so how does bin Laden continue to seem to elude authorities? And will the U.S. ever catch up with its most wanted terrorist? Let's get some additional insight now from CNN security analyst Kelly McCann. Kelly, thanks so much for joining us.

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, so we know that it might be helpful in which to get some information or extract some information from newly captured Mohammed. But this search has to go high tech as well, doesn't it?

MCCANN: It absolutely does. I mean, you know, anything -- the whole intent when you're taken captive is to sit on perishable information until it becomes outdated. So virtually everybody who's engaging in any kind of combat knows that. So the trick is to move as quickly as possible on things that you can determine, and that's why we've seen an intensification just recently.

WHITFIELD: So paint a picture for us. How are long-term surveillance reconnaissance teams being used in this?

MCCANN: Well, don't forget that, you know, we've got small units out in the Northwest Province that are clandestinely placed who are daily looking through the rifle scopes, daily watching the kind of the trails and the footpaths, et cetera, to get kind of movements. They document them, they log numbers, they report back. And they're also doing signals intelligence searches, although the environment up there is hard, given the mountainous terrain and the radio wave propagation.

We've got imagery involved as well, with the Predators and look- down capability, as well as human intelligence. So it's certainly an all-source search if you will, Fred.

This piece of equipment you see right now is used with some sources in foot patrols. And basically what it does is, it allows a security patrol to direction find as they move, basically, vectoring them right to the adversarial unit, which is an incredible technological leap.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about authorities trying to get close to people who are, obviously, close to Osama bin Laden. It had been reported and has since been dispelled that two of his sons were in custody. If someone as close as, say, his children were taken into custody, it's not likely that they would talk. How much credence would there be put into the fact that they just might be able to extract some kind of information from people who are close to Osama bin Laden?

MCCANN: More importantly, Fred, I think the question is if it's Saad, his senior son that's involved with al Qaeda, it's discussed two different ways. One is that he would likely be near his father, and one is that he would likely not be near his father because he's coming up in the command -- in the chain of command, if you will.

WHITFIELD: But that would seem so obvious that it would almost seem as though people that close to him would not be in close proximity to Osama bin Laden.

MCCANN: Well, it's strange, you know. There's still a loving parent/son relationship there. And so, it goes to a very complex kind of environment, similar to, is he in the Northwest, which would be the ideological consistent thing for him to be in, in a rough place where he's living a hard life, or would he take the tactically consistent stance of being in a city, because that's very much unlikely what he would do.

So I mean, it's not as easy as people would think to put him in a particular place, and that's why we have got the assets we do looking for him.

WHITFIELD: We've heard President Bush and others say they want him dead or alive. But isn't it going to be worth the while of intelligence, more likely worth the while of intelligence to have him alive so they would be able to find other cells, find other people, those who just might be taking his place?

MCCANN: Think of the raid environment, Fredricka. If you thought that here's this man, very protected, you've got to put ground troops in a position to kill or at least take control of people protecting him. And then, do it fast enough so that he can't take his own life. Very, very difficult challenge. If you use Predator UAVs with Hellfire missiles, you're not going to have that kind of selectivity. If he's killed, then we could actually feed this whole kind of anti-Islam feeling with Iraq. It's very problematic.

If we capture him, then we've got this ever-present thing to deal with in the media where people are never going to be rid of Osama bin Laden. It's problematic any way you look at it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kelly, thanks very much. Good to see you.

MCCANN: You bet, Fredricka.

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