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CNN Saturday Morning News

Will al Qaeda Leader Talk to U.S. Authorities?

Aired January 05, 2002 - 11:26   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: Lawyers for Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt have asked a federal judge to throw out the Pentagon's rules for media coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Flynt claims the rules prevent him from sending a correspondent to cover the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY FLYNT, MAGAZINE PUBLISHER: When the American people turn on their television, they look at a map of Afghanistan and they see the faces of a half a dozen reporters in the various cities giving their reports. They assume that they're reporting on the war, but we all know that they're far removed from the front lines. And that is what this issue is about: not going to Afghanistan, but having access to report on the troops and the battlefront.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A lawyer for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says there's nothing stopping Flynt from sending a reporter to Afghanistan, but the government is not obligated to help him cover the news.

Well, that's just one issue that we've been talking about with regard to the war. We're going to bring in once again our military analyst, Major Shepperd -- Major General Don Shepperd.

How are you doing General?

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Morning, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well you know I have to ask you about that, I can't let it go. What do you think about this whole controversy coming about with Flynt and sending a correspondent from Hustler over to Afghanistan?

SHEPPERD: Well Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing" I think, Kyra. The media has access over there. You guys know how to get it. He should know how to get it, too. He's free to do it. He's got to work this out with the Pentagon. It should not be a major problem in America today.

PHILLIPS: I don't know, I think the guys over there might enjoy a few free magazines if they sent a correspondent.

SHEPPERD: Well, I'll let that one go.

PHILLIPS: OK, very good, you're being professional.

All right, let's get onto serious business. Let's talk about the detainees in Kandahar, specifically Osama bin Laden's right-hand man for ruling these training camps.

Let's talk about the intelligence that the U.S. military may be able to get from this man. Do you think he'll talk?

SHEPPERD: I don't know if he'll talk or not, but I tell you we will encourage him to talk over a long period of time. We got a lot of patience. And the way we handle high-profile people such as this, is we isolate them from the rest of the prisoners.

You add solitary confinement, if you will, but we isolate them so he doesn't have support of the other prisoners. And over a long period of time, we make him assured that it's in his interest to talk, because if he doesn't talk, he might face the death penalty.

He might be sent back to some place that's going to put him to death. He doesn't want to go. That he would be putting other people in jeopardy, his family, this type of thing, and it's very much like you see on TV, long-term interrogation of a person that finally convinces the person that he's better off to talk than to remain silent.

So I think he's got a lot of information and there will be a lot of people really concentrating on getting it from him, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So information from al-Libi, could it be so powerful that it could determine the next move in this war?

SHEPPERD: Well I suppose it could, but I mean he's just one person in a worldwide series of cells out there, many of which are independent. So he knows a lot about what he's been doing. How much he knows about the entire network out there is problematical.

I'm not sure that he can give us the key to everything that's happening around the world, but he can sure give us information on the al Qaeda, where it came from, how it operates, perhaps where bin Laden is likely to go, maybe even Mullah Omar. We want him and we want the information that he's got and we want it bad, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now specifically, we'll talk about the next move. Is this war going to continue in Afghanistan for quite a while? A lot of people are talking, are looking at other countries, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen. But is that way too soon, is it way too soon to talk about another country right now?

SHEPPERD: No it is not. It's very clear that these things will go on in parallel around the world, and many of them will not be military. We're all focusing on bombs and military for obvious reasons. That's what's on our TV screens and in front of us. It's the most exciting and visible thing. But much of this will be law enforcement and diplomatic around the world. We got heroic diplomats and State Department people doing things we can't imagine in some very difficult and dangerous places, getting information that we'll be going after. And that's going on at the same time as Afghanistan, much of it not seen, and much of it won't be announced unless the countries where it's going on decide to announce it.

But clearly we're going to be in Afghanistan a long time. You can see how dangerous and disorganized it is. You can imagine what it's going to be like to reconstruct that country with a system of laws, commerce and an economy from scratch, to gain the hearts and minds of the people, to provide security all around the countryside.

It's very difficult and we will be there helping the international community do this for a long, long time. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned the word dangerous. Can we just talk for a moment about Nathan Chapman, the first American soldier to die in this war? He was a Green Beret. Normally, now they're talking about an ambush situation here. Does someone like Chapman operate as an individual or in a group?

SHEPPERD: Well the Special Forces that he is a part of are basically small teams, 10 to 12 people is a basic Special Forces team if you will. On the other hand, sometimes they're sent out as individuals to do things. In this case, it appears that he was part of an operation that reportedly, at least, included some Delta Force members and also some CIA members. So he's probably a liaison with them.

But they are sent out into harm's way. We have people to do this. They go behind enemy lines in dangerous territory. They're well aware of the risk. They're backed up by quick reaction forces, but we've got young kids in America that go out and do these things. Thank goodness, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, absolutely. General Don Shepperd, thanks so much.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

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