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CNN Live At Daybreak
Seven Marines Killed; Immigrant Hunt Raises Questions; Franks Savy
Aired January 10, 2002 - 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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk more about that KC-130 crash. Search teams at the wreckage site say there is little left of that military plane. Seven marines, as I said, were killed when the prop jet crashed into the side of a Pakistani mountain. CNN's Bob Costantini is live at the Pentagon this morning with more. Bob, what can you tell us?
BOB COSTANTINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol military officials say there is no indication the aircraft was brought down by enemy fire. That is leading them to sort of theorize that the crash was an accident perhaps caused by a mechanical problem. There are reports of witnesses in the area who say the plane was on fire before it crashed. The plane was a KC-130 Hercules tanker capable of refueling jets propeller aircraft in helicopters in the air.
Names of the seven marines on board the flight have been released and the list includes radio operator Sergeant Jeannette Winters, the first female U.S. soldier to die in operation Enduring Freedom, and they are mourning the losses at the Miramar, California Marine Corp Air Station where the crew was based.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
MAJ. T.V. JOHNSON, MIRAMAR BASE SPOKESPERSON: The Miramar community is deeply saddened. Our prayers and our thoughts are with the families who have lost. Right now our focus is providing support to them so that they can deal with that loss.
In the Marine Corps, we pride ourselves on taking care of our own and that doesn't just mean the folks who wear the uniform. That means the folks who stayed home while we forward deploy, and go forth and do the bidding of the nation.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COSTANTINI: The flight had originated in Jacobabad in Pakistan in made several stops before heading toward a base in Shamsi near the city of Quetta. It has not been disclosed if any of the stops were in Afghanistan. The tanker crashed into a mountainside killing all aboard.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the soldiers, but I want to remind them that the cause that we are now engaged in is just and noble. The cause is freedom.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COSTANTINI: U.S. and Pakistani recovery teams have reportedly reached the crash scene but they say that the area is very steep and rugged and they report that they are -- they are having difficulty doing any kind of work in the location. They are also reporting back that there is very little left of the aircraft -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Makes it so tough on the families. All right, thank you. Bob Costantini reporting for us live from the Pentagon. We have some more now on some of the victims of that KC-130 crash.
Sergeant Jeannette Winters was among seven marines killed in that plane crash in Pakistan. She was a radio operator who joined the Marines in 1997. Her family is now speaking out about their loss.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
MATTHEW L. WINTERS, JEANNETTE WINTERS' FATHER: Haven't (ph) seen the TV, I was listening to the radio practically, (ph) and -- but this still is a big shock, and I'm hoping that -- I know they had their job to do, and that's all I've got to say.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COSTELLO: Sergeant Winters was just 25 years old.
The Justice Department is beginning to investigate some 6,000 people from Arab and Middle Eastern nations in the United States. These people have overstayed their Visas and are on a deportation order.
As CNN's Susan Candiotti reports, critics charge the government with discrimination.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Critics call it ethnic profiling, targeting aliens from countries with active al Qaeda cells. But the government is unapologetic. The Justice Department is aggressively trying to track down 6,000 of 314,000 aliens under deportation orders for violating U.S. laws.
The 6,000 are from Arab and Middle Eastern countries. But if the government wants to get rid of potential terrorists, civil rights groups charge authorities are casting too narrow a net.
WADE HENDERSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE: Focusing only on a slice of those individuals, 6,000 of them, who happen to have Arab surnames, and suggesting that that is the answer to the problem of terrorism in this country is far too narrow and far too restrictive.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The Justice Department says its first priority is to protect Americans and adds, we will continue to focus investigative intelligence gathering and enforcement operations on individuals in the U.S. from countries with highly active al Qaeda networks to protect Americans. Since September 11, the attorney general has battled accusations of ethnic profiling after detaining hundreds of Middle Eastern and Arab men for questioning.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We remain a nation committed to welcoming America's friends from abroad, but we have a new determination not to see our welcome abused by America's enemies.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Targeting certain ethnic groups is only logical according to some former Justice Department officials.
GEORGE TERWILLIGER, FORMER DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: I really think that anybody that looks at this objectively will understand that there's a terrorism profile of which race is a part. There's not a racial profile to look for terrorists.
CANDIOTTI: In Arab American communities, there is anger.
ZIAD ASALI, AMERICAN-ARAB ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE: The fact that will single out because they're Arabs and Muslims is a particular concern to us. And it is, in our view, has much more negative baggage with it than the potential contributions of the security problem.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Would this new approach have prevented the attacks of September 11th? All 19 hijackers entered the country legally. Only three overstayed their Visas and none of them had been ordered to leave the country.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Back to the war front right now. As you probably know, General Tommy Franks is the head of the day-to-day military operations in Afghanistan. CNN's Aaron Brown takes a look at how Franks is doing his job.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: General Franks is both a warrior, but also a wise and expiring commander.
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those are nice words to hear coming from your boss.
RUMSFELD: He has my full trust and respect, and I know he has the trust and respect of the president of the United States.
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS: When you come out of the Jalalabad area ... BROWN: At age 56, and with practically no visibility prior to the beginning of the war, General Tommy R. Franks has moved to center stage as the man in charge of the day-to-day conduct of America's war against terrorism.
GEN. NORMAN SCHWARTZKOPF: So initial stages of the game, we were hitting the Republican Guard heavily, but we were hitting them with strategic type bombers rather than pinpoint precision bombers.
BROWN: At the start of the war, he seemed so averse to cameras and public attention. One of the first things he did was make clear he would not be the Norman Schwartzkopf of this war.
FRANKS: Well I suppose I'd begin sort of at the end by acknowledging that Tommy Franks is no Norman Schwartzkopf.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nor vice versa.
FRANKS: Nor vice versa.
BROWN: But slowly General Franks has become more accustomed, if not comfortable with all the attention. He's traveled a lot to Uzbekistan to Kandahar in Afghanistan, in the military's acronym his AO -- area of operations.
FRANKS: The secretary and our president have asked me to do a job. I believe that the American people have every right to expect me to do that job. I believe that it's important for us to think our way through and execute the strategy and the operations, which are important to our country.
BROWN: Actively seeking attention, however, is something Tommy Franks seems determined to avoid. After all, in a quote that must have pleased his ultimate boss, President Bush, the General is fond of saying "my business is a secret business".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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