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CNN Live At Daybreak

Guantanamo Bay Prepares for Prisoners; Tampa Crash Likely Suicide

Aired January 07, 2002 - 06:05   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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the war on terrorism. U.S. military personnel are preparing a maximum security detention center for Taliban and al Qaeda detainees at a U.S. Navy Base on Cuba's Guantanamo Base.

CNN's Bob Costantini is live at the Pentagon with more on this mission. Bob, tell us about it.

BOB COSTANTINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, U.S. soldiers have been given their orders and are shipping out for Guantanamo from seven bases around the country. Now some of those soldiers reportedly have already arrived there, but we're told when all is said and done over 1,000 will be deployed to the facility on the island of Cuba.

At Ft. Hood, Texas dozens of military police were on the move destined to go to Afghanistan first where the U.S. is holding over 300 al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mission so far is we're going to be going to the Center Command AOR (ph) to get some detainees and bring them back to Cuba.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a little bit about -- what does it feel like to be going on a mission like this to know you're actually now going to be part of the effort. How does it make you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fortunate to be picked for this mission, and we're very excited to go get the job done.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTANTINI: Meanwhile engineers and construction experts are going directly to Guantanamo because the U.S. must build a large maximum security prison on a relatively small base. What is there now is a detention center used mostly for processing Cubans seeking asylum. Eventually as many as 2,000 detainees could be held on the base.

The head of Afghanistan's interim government said Sunday the extra detention space may be needed since there are dozens of fighters refusing to give up.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) HAMID KARZAI, CHAIRMAN OF AFGHAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT: The common Taliban are just common people. They've all gone back to their homes and they're with their families. What was important was this hard- core of the radical terrorist elements who are within the Taliban and within the terrorists. Those were the people that for leading this war, that were leading this carnage against other people and they should be arrested. Some of them are arrested. We are looking for the rest of them, too.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTANTINI: Pentagon officials consider the detainees, some of whom of course are being handed over by the Afghan government, as dangerous, but that's why the base was chosen. On one side is the sea and the rest of it is surrounded by a mined no-man's land on Cuban soil.

And once prisoners arrive there, we are told they will be questioned further to determine if they have any more information about terrorist networks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Of course Bob, we've heard a lot about military tribunals. Could Guantanamo Bay be the site for them too since the detainees are already there?

COSTANTINI: Well Carol, when the idea of military tribunals was first floated by the Bush administration, Guantanamo was the one of the very first places suggested as where those trials could be held. The other place that was being considered would be a ship at sea and Guantanamo at least has land base facilities and is, as we mentioned, secure -- about as secure as a ship at sea being surrounded the way it is -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Bob Costantini reporting live for us from the Pentagon this morning.

Let's go to Tampa now for a very strange story. Tampa police are describing the teenaged pilot who crashed that Cessna into a Tampa high rise as a very troubled young man. Al Zimmerman of CNN affiliate Bay News 9 has the latest on the investigation. It's a strange story, Al.

AL ZIMMERMAN, REPORTER FOR CNN AFFILIATE BAY NEWS 9: Yes, it's certainly a strange story. The Bank of America building, the building that this boy hit is back behind me in the darkness there. A 15-year old boy and they're saying right now they found some notes that suggest this boy was committing suicide when he stole a Cessna soon after a flight lesson and ran it into the building early Saturday evening.

Of course, it's got to be tough on the family right now. But also tough on some people who work in that building. Just imagine being a woman who returns to work this morning who was just a few feet from the plane when it hit.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) SHANNON ESPINOSA (ph), BAY NEWS 9 CORRESPONDENT: Federal and state local agencies are all part of the investigation into Saturday night's plane crash. National Transportation Safety Board has done a preliminary review of the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flight path, what I saw on the radar, what I have from witnesses and everything else, the young man flew into the -- flew into the building. He had the aircraft under control according to all eyewitnesses.

ESPINOSA: Tampa police say this was a deliberate act. A handwritten note was found in the pocket of 15-year old pilot Charles Bishop. Tampa Police Chief Bennie Holder says the incident was not terrorist related, but the student pilot did support Osama bin Laden and the terrorist events of September 11th.

BENNIE HOLDER, TAMPA POLICE CHIEF: All indications are Charles Bishop was a troubled young man. He actually got along without help from anyone else.

ESPINOSA: But investigators are not sure about Bishop's target. Bishop was in the air for nine to 12 minutes and briefly passed through the airspace of MacDill Air Force Base. Lieutenant Colonel Rich McClain (ph) is from MacDill.

LIEUTENANT RICH MCCLAIN (ph): At that time we did not feel he was a -- MacDill did nothing to sort of speak to stop that airplane except try to contact him. We did contact Coast Guard helicopter, which you know about that.

ESPINOSA (on camera): The National Transportation and Safety Board says it'll take about six months to complete their investigation into this plane crash and because of this incident, several organizations will also be taking a closer look at security.

(voice-over): James Sole (ph) is the Director of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

JAMES SOLE (ph), DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT: Looking into this investigation, we'll be looking at things we need to do to bolster security in a lot of areas. We'll be looking again at those how ever many, 650, private, non-public fields and 140 or 150 public or private airports, which have access to the public.

ESPINOSA: The investigation is ongoing so ways will be looked at to reduce the opportunity for this to happen again. In Tampa, Shannon Espinosa (ph).

ZIMMERMAN: That's a colleague of mine. Shannon Espinosa (ph) with Bay News 9 here in Tampa. As you can see, a lot of people working on this story down here because they're still investigating why this 15-year old boy would run into the building, but again preliminary reports suggest that it was possibly a suicide. Again, the Bank of America building reopening in Tampa after a plane flies into it Saturday evening -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Any word from the boy's parents? I mean do they know that he was admiring Osama bin Laden?

ZIMMERMAN: You know it's one of those situations Carol, it appears where people look at it afterwards and say wow look what he was doing. But as far as any suggestion that he was doing this before, well no one thought there was a problem with it obviously, but now they say well, it appears there was.

COSTELLO: I'm sure the investigation will continue for some time to come. Thank you. Al Zimmerman reporting live for us from Tampa this morning from our friends at Bay News 9.

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