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CNN Live Sunday
Northern Alliance Agrees to U.N.-Sponsored Meeting
Aired November 18, 2001 - 17:05 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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush returning this evening to Washington after his trip to his ranch in Texas. And since the president left the White House on Tuesday, the war in Afghanistan has gone so well that Osama bin Laden is believed to be on the run and the Taliban's opponents are planning to form a new Afghan government. With what administration is thinking, here is CNN's White House correspondent Major Garrett.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJOR GARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yielding to intense U.S. pressure, the Northern Alliance Sunday agreed to a United Nations sponsored meeting to prepare for a multi-ethnic government in Afghanistan.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The purpose of meeting would be to be bring together a number of leaders representing different parts of Afghanistan, different ethnicities, different tribes, and see if we can get an interim government in place. And then stand at the broader government over time.
GARRETT: Filling the political vacuum is a top U.S. priority. The U.S. wants the Northern Alliance, made up of Uzbeks and Tajiks and backed by Russia and Iran, to share power with the majority Pashtuns, backed by Pakistan. Failure could trigger another Afghan civil war and jeopardize the coalition against terror.
On another front, top U.S. officials sound increasingly confident about zeroing in on Osama bin Laden.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We do believe that he continues to operate in a fairly narrow range. We think that the more that we are stripping away his protection, in a sense, stripping away the Taliban , stripping away the hard-core fighters that protect him, that we are beginning to narrow his possibilities for hiding.
GARRETT: But U.S. officials doubt bin Laden has a crude nuclear bomb, but say the terrifying possibility races the military stakes even higher. RICE: If ever it were clear that we are in a war of self- defense, this kind of information, that they are seeking a weapon of mass destruction just makes case that case even stronger.
GARRETT: But as the net tightens around bin Laden, Sunday's "Washington Post" reported that U.S. forces on ten different occasions in the past six weeks, failed to fire on top al Qaeda and Taliban operatives because commanders concerned about inflicting civilian casualties declined to give go ahead.
POWELL: There is always some creative discussion, I will call it, with respect to targeting, I'm very familiar with it. And I'm sure the Pentagon is able to resolve these questions as they come along.
GARRETT (voice-over): But the war is not the only top U.S. priority. Secretary of State Powell will deliver a key speech on Monday outlining the U.S. vision for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. There is no new U.S. plan, but there will be a stern call for the both sides to stop the violence and move swiftly to serious negotiations.
Major Garrett, CNN, Crawford, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KELLEY: And joining us now from the White House, where the president expected back this weekend, our own Kelly Wallace.
Kelly, the president back from the ranch and his meetings with the Russian president, what does the week ahead look like?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will be, Donna, a very busy week. On Monday look for the president to highlight two different things. No. 1: Humanitarian efforts to help the people of Afghanistan. The president will be convening a meeting of his cabinet. Andrew Natsios, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development just back from Afghanistan, we are told, will brief the president on efforts to get wheat and blankets to the people.
We also understand the president expected to announce that as many as ten thousand tons of U.S. wheat will soon be headed to the people of Afghanistan. On the second front, Donna, as you know, we are now in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The administration all along has said that the military campaign would continue during Ramadan. But we will see the president do an event tomorrow to highlight what aides say the administration sensitivities to Muslim countries.
He will be having a traditional Ishtar (ph) dinner here at the White House. That is the breaking of the fast after sunset during Ramadan. Some 50 ambassadors from Muslim countries will be joining the president here at the White House. Donna, the message is both events really, that this is a campaign, not against the people of Afghanistan, not against Islam, not against Muslims, but against terrorists and those who harbor them. So look for the president to highlight those messages tomorrow -- Donna.
KELLEY: Kelly, and as you probably saw the pictures on Friday, Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta and they shut it down after that security breach, the president will deal that as well this week. WALLACE: Absolutely. That is really the key event on the domestic front. Tomorrow he will be heading over to a local airport here in Washington, D.C. signing into law a bill which would really change security as we know it at the nation's airports.
A lot of the efforts in this bill already under way, strengthening cockpit doors, increasing the number of armed marshals on planes. But the real challenge, Donna, for the administration, hiring 28,000 federal employees who now will be responsible for screening baggage and passengers at the nation's airports.
It's going to take time, probably within a year. Because under this bill, you knew this was the big sticking point between Republicans and Democrats, the nation's airports will have federal employees doing all screening for three years. And then after that, airports could opt out and use private contractors or state or local law enforcement. So a big challenge getting all those workers up and running -- Donna.
KELLEY: Kelly, has the president or any of his folks put out any later statements about how the president feels about this last stunning week that happened in Afghanistan?
WALLACE: It's interesting. We really heard from the president in connection with his meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin. As you know, we was down in Crawford, Texas with the president, so we heard from Mr. Bush during his news conference here, and then of course, during a very interesting question-and-answer session in Crawford, Texas.
The president saying there has been progress. But he and his top aides have been very careful to say this war is not over yet, that it definitely going after the al Qaeda network, Osama bin Laden. So just because there have been dramatic break-throughs when it comes to the Taliban, more opposition groups moving in to key cities in Afghanistan, the message from the president is, not victory yet, and also the message is trying to get the Northern Alliance rebels to work very, very closely with U.N. sponsored efforts to build a U.N. sponsored efforts to build a coalition government. So those are the words we have heard from the president. Likely, though, Donna, to hear more from him in the days ahead.
KELLEY: You bet. Kelly Wallace from the White House. Thanks, as usual.
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