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American Morning
America's New War: Latest Developments
Aired September 28, 2001 - 10:00 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: In Afghanistan, a mission of high stakes and low expectations. A Pakistani delegation of Muslim clerics and government officials meets with Taliban leaders to again urge the surrender of Osama bin Laden. It is the second such trip to Afghanistan, as the urgency grows, so does the threat of U.S. military action.
In the United States, the trial of the suspected terrorists. CNN has obtained the final writings linked to at least two of the accused hijackers. One law enforcement source shares the words that may have driven them to unspeakable action at World Trade Center.
And life after those attacks. The first National Guard troops could be in place at the nation's airports as early as today. Scrambling to action after President Bush issues marching orders, the drive home, how much life in America has changed.
We begin this hour in Islamabad. The city serving as the diplomatic bridge between the rest of the world and Afghanistan. But that stand is growing more wobbly.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us now with the very latest on the Pakistani mission to the Afghan city of Kandahar. Christiane?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are eagerly awaiting the results of that mission. We don't even know whether they've got back yet. The Foreign Ministry officials haven't told us yet. Indeed, if they are not back yet, it's dark, and that means they probably won't come back until tomorrow. We are still waiting for word on exactly what they accomplished, if anything.
They were, as part of their mission, going to try to persuade the Taliban to release two Americans and some Australians and Germans, international aid workers who'd been held since August, and are on trial on charges of trying to trying to proselytize Christianity in Afghanistan. The Pakistan delegation is trying to get those people released, as least as a gesture of goodwill; as well as trying to again impress upon the Taliban that they really must do more than they are doing right now.
Now, in Pakistan itself, the government has been really bracing for all sorts of actions that may show a lot of opposition to its policy of standing with the United States. There were more demonstrations today in Islamabad and in other parts of this country. But in general, the government is saying that it pretty much fell flat. There were several thousands people out on the streets in these various cities, and there were spirited demonstration. However, they were not the violent demonstrations that we saw last week. And they were not at all disorderly. Just very peaceful, if a little loud.
On another issue, the increasingly alarming humanitarian situation inside Afghanistan. Aide officials have told us how very worried they are about potentially hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, facing severe hungry very shortly. And they are doing all they can to try to put in some kind of aid route. So tomorrow, they are going to send in a lot of aid, they say, by truck, by four wheel drive, and by mule, trying to get it to to the most needy inside Afghanistan.
Paula?
ZAHN: And Christiane, in advance of any potential military strike, what is being done on the Pakistani side in that regard?
AMANPOUR: In regard of the humanitarian crisis, Pakistanis are allowing the U.N. to check out those border positions where they might be able to preposition humanitarian aid, if there is a humanitarian crisis. Well, there is one. But if there are millions of people who try to come across the borders.
But apart from that, there is no sign of opening the borders yet.
ZAHN: all right. Christiane Amanpour, thanks so much for that report.
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