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CNN Live At Daybreak
Officials Unclear About bin Laden's Whereabouts; Marines Cautiously Helped Others in Mine Field
Aired December 18, 2001 - 06:01 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: And what will become of John Walker? The Bush administration is discussing whether the captured American Taliban fighter will be tried within a military or civil justice system. It's also possible Walker may not be tried at all. If he offers significant information, he could become a witness for the government testifying against al Qaeda leaders -- if those leaders are ever caught.
In the meantime Natalie Pawelski has the latest on the hunt for Osama bin Laden from the Pentagon. Good morning again Natalie.
NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol. Well over the weekend the word from Afghanistan was that Osama bin Laden was pinned down, surrounded in Tora Bora. Now we're hearing quite a different story.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
REAR ADMIRAL JOHN STUFFLEBEEM, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I'm not sure how close we ever really have been. We have narrowed it down to an area. Indicators were there and now indicators are not there. So maybe he still is there. Maybe he was killed or maybe he's left.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
PAWELSKI: Also either gone or killed, the Pentagon figures, al Qaeda forces that were fighting from these caves in Tora Bora, now abandoned, but still filled with munitions. As for the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, local officials in Afghanistan are saying they know where he is about 100 miles outside of Kandahar. And they say ethnic Pashtun forces are getting ready to attack, but the Pentagon says Omar's whereabouts are still a question.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There are still a lot of Taliban in the country and they're still armed, and it's going to take time and energy and effort and people will be killed in the process of trying to find them and capture them or have them surrender.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
PAWELSKI: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaking there while on route from Afghanistan to Brussels where he's meeting with other NATO defense ministers today. The war on terrorism tops the agenda. Meanwhile American Taliban John Walker is being held on an U.S. military vessel in the Arabian Sea together with an Australian and two non Afghan Arabs, all caught while fighting with the Taliban.
Walker's parents have hired a lawyer who says they've received no response to repeated requests for access and information. And the Pentagon has released the names of three Marines injured while clearing mines from Kandahar's airport. They are Sergeant Adrian Aranda of El Paso, Texas; Corporal Christopher Chandler of Aurora, Colorado. He had to have his foot amputated; and Lance Corporal Nicholas Sovereign of Battle Creek, Nebraska. The Pentagon says none of their injuries are life threatening and all three Marines have been evacuated to medical facilities outside of Afghanistan -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much Natalie Pawelski with the latest from the Pentagon and in the search for Osama bin Laden, CNN's Wolf Blitzer reports another mystery has been uncovered.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A small opening in a Tora Bora hillside provides a snapshot of what Afghan fighters and U.S. special operation forces were up against in fighting al Qaeda. CNN's exclusive pictures show a treasure trove of ammunition collected by Osama bin Laden.
Boxes of Chinese made heavy machine gun rounds are stacked nearly to the cave's ceiling. Nearby the walls of the cave are lined with mortar bounds. There's unspent ammunition inside and outside the cave. Despite widespread bombing destruction, these signs of recent activity and the lack of dead bodes indicate al Qaeda forces did not make this a last stand, but moved higher into the mountains.
It's estimated that 2,000 al Qaeda fighters took part in the battle for Tora Bora, but just a few have been found. A handful captured by Afghan forces were paraded before cameras today. One group interviewed by CNN said Osama bin Laden was seen in the area as recently as Saturday. But the truth is on one really knows where bin Laden is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUFFLEBEEM: Anybody's guess is the latest thinking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: U.S. airstrikes in the Tora Bora region have been suspended to allow cave to cave reconnaissance, and as the fighting dies down, so has the volume of radio traffic.
STUFFLEBEEM: In the last 48 hours there has been less to pull in to confirm one thing or another. So it has gotten quiet.
BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: There's a new symbol to help remind U.S. Marines in Afghanistan what they're fighting for. The Marines at Kandahar airport today raised the flag that had been found in the World Trade Center rubble. The flag was signed by relatives of the September 11th victims and firefighters and police officers who responded to the terrorist attacks.
The names of police officers who lost their lives September 11th and sailors killed on the USS Cole bombing were inscribed on the flag stars. Imagine that flying over Kandahar now. Well Natalie Pawelski just a few minutes ago gave an update on the three Marines injured in a landmine clearing accident. They are not in any danger of dying, which is good news, but CNN's Mike Chinoy has more from Kandahar airport as to what exactly happened that day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Explosions at Kandahar airport, but this time set by the Marines. Control blasts getting rid of some of the mines and other lethal ordinance that litter this place. Ironically, the technicians who prepared these explosions were the same ones who on Sunday rescued three Marines injured by a land mine including one soldier who lost his foot.
That incident happened here near an abandoned building at the end of the runway with Taliban anti-aircraft guns on the roof. The Marines had just searched it for ordinance when one of them stepped on a mine. As he lay in agony, the rescuers had to probe with knives for other devices before laying down a tape to reach him safely.
MICHAEL GATTIS, MARINE: Got to angle when you're probing, as far as if you do hit a body of the mine, that's what you're actually wanting to detect, not diffuse it, but the body and as long as you don't grip it tight, and it impacts up, you're fine. If you grip it tight and you're just jamming it in the ground with no technique, you're going to set it off.
STAFF SGT. MICHAEL LEURINI, MARINE: What you're dealing with is you could use lose your life at some time and once you come to terms with that, it makes the job a lot easier. And you know that your job is making other people safe and that's where we get our satisfaction.
CHINOY: The rescuers told us how they talked with the injured man, Corporal Chris Chandler from Camp Pendleton, California, who was later evacuated by helicopter as they worked their way forward.
GATTIS: We were talking to him to keep him conscious -- as far as asking where's he's from, ask him his name, how many brothers and sisters he had.
LEURINI: He was worried that we were going to hurt ourselves. You know, and my comment to him was we get paid $150 extra a month for that, so not to worry about it.
CHINOY: With bombs, rockets, grenades, fuses, and ammunition almost everywhere, controlled explosions, a regular occurrence, it's becoming clear that unexploded ordinance is the marine's most immediate security problem.
(on camera): The Marines say they're even concerned about mines being planted in craters on the runway -- craters like this caused by U.S. bombing. According to marine ordinance experts, there is concern that departing Taliban and al Qaeda fighters put land mines in these craters convinced the Marines might use them as foxholes.
UNIDENTIFIED MARINE: And that's the trick to mines -- a first indication that there's a mine field would be when one guy steps on one.
CHINOY: That's hardly the only security threat though, as the Marines reinforce their presence here. Thirteen planeloads of troops and equipment arrived on Sunday night, we're told there is still a danger from pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. With plans to reopen the airport runway moving ahead, the Marines will have to expand their security parameter and that means working through the surrounding mine fields whatever the risk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: That was Mike Chinoy reporting from Kandahar airport. And Mike was just pointing out how real the dangers still are inside of Afghanistan, but as real as those dangers are, so is the hope of a new Afghan government and CNN's Jim Clancy reports on the hope of Afghans who are now ready to dream about their future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was the view that we had, the sun began to peek through the mist that shrouded the city for the last day or so. The towering peeks surround the capital city, as you can see, dusted with snowfall. Now this isn't enough to compensate for the drought conditions, which have contributed to the dire humanitarian situation in the country. But it was enough to put on a spectacular sunrise display.
This is your reward for rising early in Kabul. Meantime down on the streets, Afghans will be marking the third and final day of the Eid al-Fitr holidays that mark the end of Ramadan. Already many of them counting down the days until the new interim administration takes office here on Saturday.
"We expect the incoming government will improve opportunities for jobs," said this man. "Most of our people have a lot of economic problems. And we hope the new government improves education -- the first thing the government should do is open the schools and rebuild them. Also, allow people freedom to do their work."
Another added, "with the help of God, the new government should free our country from the grip of foreign terrorists and begin the process of rebuilding."
(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: That was Jim Clancy reporting from Kabul.
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