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American Morning

General Calling Shots in War in Afghanistan from United States

Aired January 11, 2002 - 07:20   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The war in Afghanistan taking place halfway around the world, but the general who's calling all the shots is doing a lot of it from right here in warm and comfortable the United States of America, more specifically, the Sunshine State of Florida.

He is heading up the U.S. Central Command.

CNN NEWSNIGHT'S Aaron Brown sat down with General Tommy Franks for an extended visit.

Aaron joins us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a preview of part two of their conversation, which, Aaron, I guess comes up tonight. Are we in good hands with this guy?

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I thought we were in very good hands with this guy and I think that when viewers watch tonight, or if they saw last night, I think they'll come away with an extraordinary sense of comfort. This is a man who is not especially comfortable with reporters or with publicity, but as he walked us through the command center, took us into that room where much of the war is run with its computers and its high tech maps and talked to us a good deal about what technology is able to do in running this war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Can we talk about what the maps are on the wall?

GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER, CENTRAL COMMAND: Sure.

BROWN: OK. FRANKS: All that you're seeing up there right now is the map of Afghanistan, surrounding countries and the major cities. Now, obviously since we're going to show this to a few million people, we have taken off the graphics that we superimposed and which I showed you upstairs that show where the aircraft in flight are located at any point in time, where the ships at sea are, where our ground elements may be. And we track that in real time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But make no mistake, war as it's run these days is not some sort of video game, as the General pointed out. Last night we talked a good deal about the state of the war, the hunt for bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the risks to Americans. In the segment that we'll run tonight, it's a little more personal. We'll talk to the General about his experiences in Vietnam, his first posting back in 1967 as a second lieutenant and the differences between then and now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRANKS: I think if one thinks about Vietnam and asks the question did we have a decision of the state? Oh, yes. Did we have military capability? One could argue, but I would posit yes. Did we have the will of the people? This is a different time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The General acknowledges that for him it's a fortunate time, to be running a war with virtually everyone in the country behind him, rooting him and his young soldiers, the men and women of the armed forces, rooting them on -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: Aaron, the General said, I saw part one of the interview, he said that he along with many of us first learned of the events at the World Trade Center by watching you here on CNN. I remember you working this story virtually around the clock for weeks and weeks and weeks. And now it's the four month anniversary of that event and I'm just curious what it's all done to you.

BROWN: Oh, Jack, you know, some day I'll sit back and figure that all out. I think, as you know, I mean those of us who are in the business of reporting the news hope that at some point in our lives we will get a great story to tell and on September 11 I found myself, most unexpectedly, I guess, with the biggest story of a lifetime and the opportunity to tell it.

What it all means to me, professionally it's been fascinating and personally, like every citizen, like every New Yorker and every parent, it has been extraordinarily painful.

CAFFERTY: Indeed.

Aaron, we'll look forward to part two of the interview with the General tonight. Thanks for joining us this morning, early morning for you, from Atlanta, Georgia. Aaron Brown.

BROWN: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: You can see part two of Aaron's interview with General Tommy Franks at 10 o'clock Eastern Time. From Vietnam to the war on terrorism, NEWSNIGHT will give you a look at the man inside the General's uniform. So check it out.

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