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American Morning

Taliban Tale

Aired September 26, 2002 - 09:31   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: The parents of John Walker Lindh say that no matter what has happened to their son, they are standing by him. Walker Lindh was captured last December after a prison uprising. In July, he pleaded guilty to helping the Taliban. Lindh is expected to get 20 years when he's sentenced on October 4. In an interview with "People" magazine, Lindh talked pretty openly about the family and their son's long road home.
Betsy Gleick, assisting managing editor of "People" magazine joins us.

Good morning.

BETSY GLEICK, ASST. MANAGING EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Hi.

ZAHN: I think it's interesting to note that John Walker Lindh's father said that in spite of the fact that his son may be spending the next 20 years of his life in prison, he wouldn't change anything. Why?

GLEICK: There is a mystery at the heart of this family saga, which is, how did this privileged, upper-middle class, extremely bright kid wind up in terrorist training camps in Afghanistan? And as a parent, one would think that the parents would question their own actions.

ZAHN: But they don't anywhere in this article?

GLEICK: Well, John's father really does not. John's mother, now, in retrospect, Marilyn Walker, says that if she could do it all over again, she wouldn't have let him go at age 17 to study Arabic in Yemen. But basically, the family, on the eve of the sentencing, is trying to present a really united front, and is trying to show that they love and support their son, no matter what. And they are doing it to such an extent that they are not questioning anything at all.

ZAHN: So in a way, you are saying they are in a sense of denial. I guess the question I have for you, is there are so many Americans out there who believe it is because of their irresponsibility as parents that their son ended up with this fate. Do they respond to that criticism?

GLEICK: They really don't. We asked them and asked them, and they say, we love our son, we support our son, he is a seeker. That's what his mother says. He was a spiritual seeker. But at the same time, she says there was no void. He wasn't running from family problems. This is a question we all have that happens in family problems. The parents have split up. They insist that he was already converting to Islam before they split up, and that he's just a certain kind of seeker.

ZAHN: So I'm just wondering if the mother now acknowledges maybe the mistake was allowing him to go on this spiritual quest, if that is that it went wrong or is there a certain point later -- how do you describe what happened to this kid later on?

GLEICK: They are not describing it. The most the mother will say, is oops, we shouldn't have sent him to Yemen at age 17. But even there, she insists that she really looked into it, that she consulted with people, that she was told it wouldn't be dangerous, that it was the best place for him to study the particularly classical form of Arabic he wanted to learn if order to read the Koran. And he is still a devout Muslim if jail. And that's fine with them. That's not really the issue. The issue isn't his religious beliefs, but the fact that at some point this very gentle soul, as they describe him, decided to take up arms.

They are trying -- they feel that he has been demonized. They released to "people" magazine extraordinary family photos, showing this gorgeous kid, and this -- opening his Christmas presents and cuddling his baby sister, and you know, an ordinary American childhood.

ZAHN: But still no rational explanation from the parents as to why things went so horribly wrong for their son?

GLEICK: Absolutely not. I think for "People" is what makes it this really fascinating family saga. Because in certain ways, he is familiar to many of us. He is bright. He's not the first American to have gone on some kind of spiritual quest.

ZAHN: Sure. But they don't end up fighting with the Taliban.

GLEICK: Exactly. And what they say is that had 9/11 not happened, none of this would have happened, that he wouldn't have been caught up in this vortex of events. And that may be, except he was at a terrorist training camp and he met with bin Laden.

ZAHN: Yes, that's one little fact you can't leave out in trying to fully appreciate this story.

Betsy Gleick, thank you so much. Looking forward to seeing the interview in "People" magazine. Appreciate your time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 26, 2002 - 09:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The parents of John Walker Lindh say that no matter what has happened to their son, they are standing by him. Walker Lindh was captured last December after a prison uprising. In July, he pleaded guilty to helping the Taliban. Lindh is expected to get 20 years when he's sentenced on October 4. In an interview with "People" magazine, Lindh talked pretty openly about the family and their son's long road home.
Betsy Gleick, assisting managing editor of "People" magazine joins us.

Good morning.

BETSY GLEICK, ASST. MANAGING EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Hi.

ZAHN: I think it's interesting to note that John Walker Lindh's father said that in spite of the fact that his son may be spending the next 20 years of his life in prison, he wouldn't change anything. Why?

GLEICK: There is a mystery at the heart of this family saga, which is, how did this privileged, upper-middle class, extremely bright kid wind up in terrorist training camps in Afghanistan? And as a parent, one would think that the parents would question their own actions.

ZAHN: But they don't anywhere in this article?

GLEICK: Well, John's father really does not. John's mother, now, in retrospect, Marilyn Walker, says that if she could do it all over again, she wouldn't have let him go at age 17 to study Arabic in Yemen. But basically, the family, on the eve of the sentencing, is trying to present a really united front, and is trying to show that they love and support their son, no matter what. And they are doing it to such an extent that they are not questioning anything at all.

ZAHN: So in a way, you are saying they are in a sense of denial. I guess the question I have for you, is there are so many Americans out there who believe it is because of their irresponsibility as parents that their son ended up with this fate. Do they respond to that criticism?

GLEICK: They really don't. We asked them and asked them, and they say, we love our son, we support our son, he is a seeker. That's what his mother says. He was a spiritual seeker. But at the same time, she says there was no void. He wasn't running from family problems. This is a question we all have that happens in family problems. The parents have split up. They insist that he was already converting to Islam before they split up, and that he's just a certain kind of seeker.

ZAHN: So I'm just wondering if the mother now acknowledges maybe the mistake was allowing him to go on this spiritual quest, if that is that it went wrong or is there a certain point later -- how do you describe what happened to this kid later on?

GLEICK: They are not describing it. The most the mother will say, is oops, we shouldn't have sent him to Yemen at age 17. But even there, she insists that she really looked into it, that she consulted with people, that she was told it wouldn't be dangerous, that it was the best place for him to study the particularly classical form of Arabic he wanted to learn if order to read the Koran. And he is still a devout Muslim if jail. And that's fine with them. That's not really the issue. The issue isn't his religious beliefs, but the fact that at some point this very gentle soul, as they describe him, decided to take up arms.

They are trying -- they feel that he has been demonized. They released to "people" magazine extraordinary family photos, showing this gorgeous kid, and this -- opening his Christmas presents and cuddling his baby sister, and you know, an ordinary American childhood.

ZAHN: But still no rational explanation from the parents as to why things went so horribly wrong for their son?

GLEICK: Absolutely not. I think for "People" is what makes it this really fascinating family saga. Because in certain ways, he is familiar to many of us. He is bright. He's not the first American to have gone on some kind of spiritual quest.

ZAHN: Sure. But they don't end up fighting with the Taliban.

GLEICK: Exactly. And what they say is that had 9/11 not happened, none of this would have happened, that he wouldn't have been caught up in this vortex of events. And that may be, except he was at a terrorist training camp and he met with bin Laden.

ZAHN: Yes, that's one little fact you can't leave out in trying to fully appreciate this story.

Betsy Gleick, thank you so much. Looking forward to seeing the interview in "People" magazine. Appreciate your time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com