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CNN Live Sunday
White House Reacts to Taliban Claims bin Laden Is Under Taliban's Control
Aired September 30, 2001 - 15:07 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get a sense of what the White House is watching and what kind of reaction the White House could have to the Taliban claim made today. Let's check in with our Kelly Wallace who's standing by at the White House. Kelly, hello.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Daryn. Well, we heard a couple of things from the Bush administration. Number one, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld saying he questions anything Taliban leaders say, pointing out that just a few days ago they said they didn't even know where suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden happens to be. The second message is that the administration will not be negotiating with and will not be turning over any evidence to the Taliban.
The message from the White House is that the Taliban know fully well what President Bush's demands are.
As for Mr. Bush he arrived back at the White House earlier Sunday afternoon after spending the weekend huddling with many of his National Security Council advisers at the presidential retreat at Camp David.
Mr. Bush did not take any questions from reporters but we know many of his advisers were out on the Sunday talk shows answering several questions including, again, the defense secretary who said he remains very skeptical that the Taliban will ever turn over Osama bin Laden.
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DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I doubt that they'll do anything about it. They've been rather adamant that they don't intend to do anything about it and have not done anything about it thus far. The question is to whether or not they have bin Laden and we keep talking about Osama bin Laden as though he's the problem. It is a very broad network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And the administration making clear it also wants any terrorist linked to the Al Qaeda network and also wants Afghanistan to shutdown any terrorist training camps in the country. Now while the administration will not publicly say one it's goals is toppling the Taliban regime we know from a memo widely reported this weekend that the administration would support any group that tries to remove the Taliban from power. And, again, on the Sunday talk shows the president's chief of staff, Andrew Card, saying the administration definitely wants the Taliban out of power if it continues to support terrorism.
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ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We're not about nation building here, we're about ridding the world of terrorists and making sure that no nation is a place where terrorists feel that they can get comfort and aid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: But in that same interview Card also refused to say which clues if any the U.S. prefers to take over power in Afghanistan again if the Taliban is removed from power.
The delicate balancing act here for the administration, Daryn -- it doesn't want or the administration doesn't want to anger Pakistan. Pakistan has been very cooperative with the White House and prefers the administration to focus its efforts on bin Laden and terrorists but not on any internal government change inside the country of Afghanistan. Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Kelly, I want to turn a corner here and focus on something that is happening here in this country and effecting people in the Washington, DC area. A lot of people still inconvenienced by the closure of Reagan National Airport. And we just heard from Andrew Card. I understood that he had comments today about the possibility of opening that airport once again?
WALLACE: Yes, he did. It's definitely an issue that is getting lots of attention here -- having a broad impact on the economy. Andy Card in that interview, Daryn, said that he was optimistic that the airport could be reopened. He said it's a delicate balancing act again between, you know, the concerns of security as well as certainly the economy and getting residents of the District of Columbia back to that airport.
Also Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, saying he favored reopening of the airport but with some enhanced security measures such as air marshals -- armed federal marshals on planes, other procedures that can be taking place on the ground. The defense secretary noting that that's where the measures need to be taken because he noted that if a plane gets up in the air they wouldn't really be able to do anything if such a plane would hit the Pentagon, the White House, et cetera. So lots of attention.
As for a timetable, Daryn, Andy Card wouldn't specify but there's a lot of feeling that we could get some decision announced this week. Daryn?
KAGAN: Meanwhile travelers trek out to Dulles or out to Baltimore.
WALLACE: That's right.
KAGAN: Kelly Wallace at the White House -- thank you so much.
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