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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With James Natter
Aired December 08, 2001 - 09:09 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Navy's newest guided missile destroyer, the USS Bulkeley, will be commissioned today in New York City.
And joining me from very near that ship is Admiral James Natter, who is the commander of the Navy's Atlantic fleet.
Admiral, good to have you with us this morning.
ADM. JAMES NATTER, COMMANDER, U.S. ATLANTIC FLEET: Good morning, thank you, it's great to be here.
O'BRIEN: Congratulations on the commissioning of a new ship. This is an incredibly high-tech vessel there, sort of of the same class, I guess, as the USS Cole, for folks in the audience who might remember that ship that had difficulties in Yemen.
I'm curious, while you're sitting there, if we could just pull back, if you could just give us a quick little overview of what this vessel has on it, and what it can put into play in a theater.
NATTER: Well, it is a very capable ship, and the taxpayers of this country can be very proud of it. It can launch Tomahawk missiles up to 700 miles against targets 700 miles from the sea. It has naval guns on it that can support troops ashore. It has surface-to-air missiles that are very effective against very fast air targets.
It is a very capable warship.
O'BRIEN: Admiral, I'm curious, the price tag for these, give or take a billion dollars?
NATTER: Oh, roughly, in round numbers. A little less, I think.
O'BRIEN: All right. You mentioned the taxpayers are getting their money's worth out of this. This is part of a series of these Arleigh -- what are they called, Arleigh...
NATTER: Arleigh Burke.
O'BRIEN: ... Burke class destroyers that are being built. How much is too much, when you get down to building destroyers such as this? NATTER: Well, obviously there's the issue of how much is enough, and I would leave that to the citizens of this country. Is it sufficient to be able to go over and attack Afghanistan and the people who conducted these terrorist attacks against our nation? And I think that the citizens of this country would tell you that this is a price worth paying.
O'BRIEN: All right. The -- you are in charge of most of the ships out there in the Arabian Sea, been involved in this action thus far. I assume you're a bit proud of your people out there. What are your thoughts this far into it, a little more than two months into the war on terror?
NATTER: Well, our sailors and Marines are very proud of the work they're doing. They take it as a personal attack, the attacks that we all suffered on the 11th of September. And their morale is very high, and they want to conduct this mission. As the president said, they fully understand it's not going to be a short effort. We're in this for the long haul, and we'll do whatever our nation needs us to do.
O'BRIEN: What -- you know, the whole issue of naval power and how the Navy can project U.S. forces, there's been debate back and forth as to how the Navy should be doing that, whether aircraft carriers are sort of a thing of the past. I suppose that this whole engagement might have changed that thinking.
NATTER: Well, it didn't change the thinking in my mind, but I hope it did with a lot of naysayers. There is no doubt that our carriers and all our ships in support of the Marines ashore are being very successful in the conduct of this war, and I think it really makes the case for a strong Navy, and I hope that our citizens are noticing that.
O'BRIEN: Tell us about the commissioning today in New York City. Obviously that's not a coincidence. Tell us the significance of all of that.
NATTER: Well, the Navy has had a very close relationship with the city of New York for years and years. We, as you know, sortied ships on the 11th of September out of Norfolk and had the USS George Washington with its aircraft launched from the George Washington right here off New York City by that afternoon.
We think it's appropriate to have the city share in some of the glory of commissioning a new ship. It's a big day. It's a very capable addition to our Navy. And I think all our citizens, especially the citizens of New York, should be proud of that.
O'BRIEN: All right, just quickly before you go, have you had a chance to get on board and see how she feels and how she handles?
NATTER: Well, as a matter of fact, I have. It was in Norfolk just last week, and I was aboard, met a lot of the crew. They were excited about coming to New York, and I'm sure I'm going to have to pry them out of this great city. But they'll go to sea. O'BRIEN: All right, admiral, we really appreciate your time. Good luck on the commissioning today. It's a happy day for anybody who wears Navy blue on a commissioning of a new ship, and we wish you well in that endeavor.
Admiral James Natter, who is the commander of the Atlantic fleet, in New York City beside his newest guided missile destroyer, the Bulkeley.
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