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CNN Sunday Morning

White House Remains Confident bin Laden Will be Found

Aired December 16, 2001 - 09:04   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Anti-Taliban forces once certain Osama bin Laden was in the Tora Bora mountains aren't so sure now. But moments ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell says the U.S. is still confident bin Laden will be found.

CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us live now from the Pentagon with the latest from there.

Hi, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well at this point, the U.S. Pentagon continues to operate under the assumption that Osama bin Laden is still holed up somewhere in the Tora Bora region of the White Mountains.

Now, as you pointed out, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke just a few minutes ago. And he said -- he commented again on those reports that the al Qaeda forces had been driven from their final hideout there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Wherever he is, we will get him; whether it takes one day, one week, two years, he will be brought to justice. It's important to note, though, that the Taliban is finished and al Qaeda is in the process of being finished off in Afghanistan, but our work is not done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Afghanistan, meeting with new leaders of the government there. It's his fourth stop on a five-country sweep through Europe and Central Asia. This stop though, kept secret for security reasons.

The secretary flew into Bagram Air Base near Kabul, where he spoke at length with the new interim leader, Hamid Karzai. Karzai thanking the United States, saying that it liberated Afghanistan for a second time.

Rumsfeld, meanwhile, emphasized the fact that U.S. forces there would not become an occupying force, that their sole purpose is to, as he said, root out terrorism and prevent terrorists in the future from being able to operate in Afghanistan. From there, the defense secretary heads to Georgia to speak with leaders before going to Brussels, where he'll be meeting with other NATO defense ministers, discussing, among other things, the future of the country of Afghanistan -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kathleen Koch from the Pentagon, thank you very much.

KOCH: You're welcome.

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