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CNN Live At Daybreak

John Walker Interviewed; Kandahar Airport Ready for Prisoners, Planes

Aired December 20, 2001 - 06:02   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we now have the complete exclusive interview with American Taliban fighter John Walker. It was given right after he was captured. Now initially, Walker expressed some reluctance to be interviewed, but with the camera rolling and the lights on, he did tell his story to CNN's Robert Pelton. And in this part of the interview, Walker talks about the start of the Taliban prisoner uprising that took place in Mazar-e Sharif.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JOHN WALKER: What happened was we spent the night under the basement, then they let us out one by one. They would search each one of us, then they tied us up, and they put us out on the lawn. So as they were taking us one by one, some of the last people to come out, again, they were -- I don't know, they were afraid or whatever. They did the same thing. They threw out a grenade and they -- anyway, somehow they started fighting with -- starting with a grenade, then one of them grabbed a kalashnakov from one of the Dostum army forces, and so the fighting began.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CALLAWAY: And we'll have a longer portion of the John Walker interview coming up later this hour. For more on John Walker and the latest on the Tora Bora cave searches that are going on, let's turn to CNN's Bob Costantini who's at the Pentagon. Good morning again Bob. What's the latest from there?

BOB COSTANTINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Catherine. There is tedious work amidst the rubble of the caves in Afghanistan, in the mountainous area in Afghanistan while the U.S. bombing halt continues. A cave to cave search on the ground in the Tora Bora region goes on with U.S. forces aiding alliance soldiers. They're looking for any remaining pockets of al Qaeda fighters not killed by the heavy U.S. bombing or signs that some may have escaped and where, and any clues to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. But in his briefing on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hinted that what he called anti-Taliban fighters may be losing discipline for the hard work of searching caves in the cold mountains.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: People in those anti-Taliban units may drift in or drift out as the circumstance may be. So the numbers do change. The battle -- the pitched battle that was going on for some period of time is not taking place at the moment. That does not mean it will not start up again. A good many of the caves and the tunnels have been closed, bombed, damaged, blown up -- a good many have not been.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTANTINI: Now the first part of what the secretary said there begs the question of whether U.S. military leaders will feel compelled to send more Special Forces into the mountains in the Tora Bora region to aid in the cave searches. As to the location of Osama bin Laden, Secretary Rumsfeld had nothing new to offer to reporters on Wednesday -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: And Bob, what's the latest from there on the debate on what American Taliban John Walker -- what kind of charges he should face.

COSTANTINI: Well President Bush will make the ultimate decision as to Walker's fate and sources at the White House are telling CNN that Mr. Bush is receiving recommendations from military leaders; from the Justice Department; and experts on cases such as Walker's. And those sources are telling CNN that the recommendations are leading away from charging Walker with treason. Of course, treason would carry a possible death sentence, but as one White House official told CNN's John King the administration does not want Walker to become some sort of media star.

And therefore the leanings and the recommendations at the White House right now are for charging Walker with aiding terrorists or terrorist organizations. Now each one of those counts would carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but again, the president will make the ultimate decision. He will have the final say and a decision, we understand, may come as late as -- as early as late this week.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you ...

COSTANTINI: Catherine.

CALLAWAY: ... CNN's Bob Costantini at the Pentagon this morning. Thanks Bob. Well a group of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners are now being held by the U.S. in a detention facility at Kandahar airport and as CNN's Mike Chinoy reports, investigators hope that the prisoners will be able to give some crucial information about Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like phantoms in the night, 15 fighters from al Qaeda and the Taliban emerge from the gloom blindfolded, their hands and feet bound, tied together, guarded by U.S. Marines. Their war against the United States ending here in the corrugated iron detention center at Kandahar airport.

The 15 were reportedly selected by the U.S. from hundreds of prisoners captured by anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan during the past two months -- chosen either because they were suspected of holding senior positions, or had useful information and insights about the workings of Osama bin Laden's terror network. On arrival, they were fingerprinted and processed by a team of FBI agents, then moved inside the compound.

Here, once day broke, Marines continued to reinforce the detention center. The prisoners put into individual holding areas surrounded by concertina wire. Even though their legal status remains unclear, they're being given the same rights under the Geneva Convention as prisoners of war.

MAJOR CHRIS HUGHES: They will be safeguarded, provided food, water, shelter, medical care. They're free to practice their religion and to meet with representatives from the international committee of the Red Cross.

CHINOY (voice-over): The next step for the FBI team is to determine how to handle the interrogation; how to be sure the not always overlapping needs of the U.S. military, the intelligence community, and the U.S. justice system are all met. It's not as easy as walking into a room and asking questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM KNOWLES: But it's far more complicated than that, because our whole purpose here now is when we operate overseas, we still operate under the same rules as we do in the United States and the detainees, while they are being held in accordance with the Geneva Convention and receiving all the treatments, we're still trying to decide who we want to talk to; who's got information; and we've got to figure out how we work by our laws over here under this particular matter. So we're -- there's constant coordination going on between the military with the FBI here and FBI headquarters in the Department of Justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHINOY (on camera): The arrival of the detainees highlights the way the conflict here in Afghanistan is changing, becoming less and less of a shooting war and more and more of a manhunt with the people held here simply pawns in the search for a bigger prize, Osama bin Laden and the terror network he directs.

I'm Mike Chinoy with the U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: The vanguard of multi national peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan arrive today with British troops and as CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports from Bagram, the peacekeepers are providing a sense of security even before they land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Afghanistan's foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah helps his family off the plane that brought them back to the country after months of living abroad. He feels his country is now relatively safe even for his small children. Returning from conversations with U.N. and British officials in London, Abdullah says a multi national security force will soon be in place with enough manpower to make his country even safer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOREIGN MINISTER: I think -- I think a reasonable number has been discussed, which we are satisfied with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITBECK (voice-over): Bagram airbase near Kabul is being readied for the arrival of those troops estimated to be at around 3,000 from several countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. MAJ. RAYMOND CORDELL, U.S. ARMED FORCES SPOKESMAN: Absolutely, they'll be landing right here. My understanding is this is probably the major operating runway propelling about 200 miles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITBECK: U.S. and British troops are running the airfield where military transport planes are already operating.

(on camera): With the political will in place and the logistical problems of moving thousands of troops in well under way to being resolved, it is only a matter of days before the multi national security force arrives in the country.

(voice-over): Afghan sources told CNN deployment should be well underway by this weekend when the new government will be installed. The new foreign minister says it is one more step towards the stabilization of his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDULLAH: Of course, there will be still challenges ahead of us, security and otherwise, but I think it will be difficulties that are meant to implement the agreement which was made there in Bonn, and implement it successfully and without (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITBECK: If that happens, Afghanistan might finally be on its way to ending its cycle of war. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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