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American Morning

FBI Director Robert Mueller Made a Stop in Afghanistan Today

Aired January 23, 2002 - 09:08   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 ANCHOR: FBI director Robert Mueller made a stop in Afghanistan today. He had lunch there with FBI agents who are participating in the interrogations of hundreds of detainees still being held at the base.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us now from Kandahar with the latest -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Jack.

You know, it was very interesting that the director of the FBI shows up the day after the night in which John Walker transited through the area.

John Walker, to many Americans, has always been somewhat of a man of mystery. Last night, here at the Kandahar Airport, he was the invisible man. Even though we may have seen him, in the eyes of the 101st airborne of the U.S. Amry, he was not really there. Actually, I'm poking a little fun at some of the journalistic frustration that we endured last night. We saw the C-130 pull up here outside the airport, and we did see the entourage as he obviously left a short time later, but no confirmation came ever cam from the Army here. They did not want to step on the Pentagon; that's the real reason.

But you mentioned the FBI director. He was here. He had an important mission as well, to meet with the FBI agents that have been here for some time. They have a very important job, interrogating and quizzing the detainees, the Taliban and the Al Qaeda members here, and he was not shy about boasting about how proud he is of the work they've done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Around the world, the information that has been obtained from interrogations of Al Qaeda members that -- who have been detained here in Afghanistan as well as information gleaned from documents found in Afghanistan, and that information has prevented additional attacks against the United States facilities around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Now the FBI isn't the only intelligence-gathering branch here at the Kandahar Airport. There is also the CID from the Army, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and there's also the CIA, and all of those divisions, actually those departments, deserve some credit for the work that they have done. So there is a lot of intelligence-gathering that goes on on a daily basis here. There is actually a lot that goes on here at the Kandahar Airport -- Paula.

CAFFERTY: It's Jack, Martin.

Quick question, you mentioned the 101st airborne, how are they getting along as they try to settle in there and takeover operations from the Marine Corps?

SAVIDGE: Well, it's a slow transition. There's about -- I think 1,100 members of the 101st here as of the head count today. They are taking over for the Marines that are slowly moving on. Their mission is complete. The handover is going pretty well on a daily basis. The officers meet from both branches of the military.

We were out with Charlie Company today. Charlie Company is pretty important to us here at the airport terminal, because they're the ones out on the front line. They're the ones that essentially allow us to feel safe at night when we are sleeping. They're on the perimeter. They are going to be the first ones to feel incoming fire, if there is any. And they are going to be the first ones to lay it down to suppress when it comes in. Charlie Company in good shape settling in. Tomorrow, we're going to be live with them all day and all night, to show what it's like to be on front line in Afghanistan during the darkest of hours.

Jack, I apologize.

CAFFERTY: That's all right, Marty.

I look forward to that report coming up tomorrow. Martin Savidge, live in Kandahar this morning.

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