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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Video of Damage of Kandahar and Attack Timeline

Aired October 08, 2001 - 07:08   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And just a quick programming note for you, this morning, in about five minutes or so, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will be joining us with one of the first updates we've gotten this morning about how effective this campaign has been overnight.

Let's go back to Bill Hemmer, who is rejoining us from Atlanta -- good morning, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Paula, good morning to you.

We want to show our viewers now at this time exclusive pictures coming out of the southern city of Kandahar, again, videotape taken by a crew working on behalf of CNN. It's the first images we have seen inside of Afghanistan and clearly it is during the day time, thought to be at daybreak earlier today.

Presently it's about 3:00, 3:30 in the afternoon local time in Afghanistan. We are told the streets are completely empty. Many people have left the city and those who remained behind, we're also told, clearly are in hiding at this time.

Now, as you look at this by way of video phone, it can be grainy and scratchy at times. But what we cannot say at this point is the damage that you may or may not see through this videotape, whether it happened before or after the attacks of yesterday and last evening.

We're told security extremely tight in many parts throughout Kandahar and of the areas that were hit, we're getting reports that people in the area have been told to stay away and they're being kept away by police on the ground there. The point of this videotape is quite clear -- Kandahar is one of the largest cities in Afghanistan. It is a virtual ghost town at this point.

We heard the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan earlier say that 20 are dead in Kandahar, unconfirmed reports, but they're saying 20 at this point are dead there. Unclear if there are casualties throughout other parts of Afghanistan. One report indicated in the capital city of Kabul that the four big hospitals there are reporting nobody has been admitted and no injuries reported as a result of the air strikes from last evening.

Again, exclusive videotape seen for the first time now, scenes inside of Afghanistan. And on the ground, Kamal Hyder, who's been reporting with us throughout the course of the last three and a half, almost four weeks tomorrow, talked about those strikes coming in four different waves set apart between anywhere 60 minutes to 90 minutes in between each wave.

The Taliban also saying at this point that Mullah Mohammed Omar and Osama bin Laden are alive and are safe. We will show you those pictures throughout the morning here. But in the meantime, the strikes began just after 12 noon Eastern time on Sunday.

And Jamie McIntyre, Military Affairs Correspondent at the Pentagon, watching the events unfold there. Now a timeline of what happened during the first military wave.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The attack began with a volley of roughly 50 cruise missiles from four U.S. Navy surface ships and two submarines, one American, one British. Some 25 strike planes from two U.S. aircraft carriers followed along with long range bombers, including U.S. Air Force B-52s and B1s flying from the British base at Diego Garcia.

A pair of B2 Stealth bombers flew from Whitman Air Force Base in Missouri, each capable of dropping 16 satellite guided bombs before landing at Diego Garcia.

The goal?

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: To make clear to the Taliban leaders and their supports that harboring terrorists is unacceptable and carries a price.

MCINTYRE: The missiles and planes hit dozens of targets across Afghanistan with concentrations near three major cities -- Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar, where the Taliban has its headquarters.

Pentagon sources say the targets included surface to air missile sites and early warning radars to ensure the U.S. has control of the skies. Suspected terrorist training camps that were carpet bombed by B1s and B52s. Taliban air fields and their aging MIG aircraft and an area in the north where the Taliban had a concentration of tanks and troops fighting the Northern Alliance. That's another part of the U.S. strategy.

RUMSFELD: And to alter the military balance over time by denying to the Taliban the offensive systems that hamper the progress of the various opposition forces.

MCINTYRE: The initial strikes did not target Osama bin Laden, but that may be next. Pentagon officials hint special forces could be sent in to capture or kill him.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I want to remind you that while today's operations are visible, many other operations may not be so visible. But visible or not, our friends and enemies should understand that all instruments of our national power as well as those of our friends and allies around the world are being brought to bear on this global menace.

MCINTYRE: While early reports indicate the military strikes were successful, the Pentagon insists they are only the opening shots in what will be a long war.

RUMSFELD: The fact is in this battle against terrorism, there is no silver bullet. There is no single thing that is going to suddenly make it, that threat disappear. Ultimately they're going to collapse from within.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Another unique aspect of the cooperation, humanitarian air drops. Two C-17s flying from Germany dropped more than 37,000 packaged meals to refugees in southern Afghanistan. Pentagon officials say the bombings will continue for at least a few days, with some strikes in the daytime hours to keep Taliban leaders on the run.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Just to pick up on the last point Jamie was talking about, we're going to take you live now to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. One of those C17s, a cargo transport plane, as just returned from a particular humanitarian aid drop. We're being told that in the eastern section of Afghanistan,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(voice-over): quite a number of people on the run there who needed food and where some, it is said, were facing the point of starvation. This videotape now from the C-17 coming back from its mission.

As Jamie mentioned in his report, there were more than 37,000 packages, packaged meals dropped overnight, part of a two-pronged approach the president detailed and outlined yesterday, part of that being military strikes and the other part being the humanitarian aid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(on camera): Last week, you may recall more than $320 million pledged from the White House to help the Afghan people, this just part of that initial wave of humanitarian support.

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