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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

America Strikes Back: Anti-Taliban Forces on Verge of Victory

Aired November 14, 2001 - 17:00   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.
ANNOUNCER: Today on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: "America Strikes Back."

Opposition forces now control most of Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The idea that this has been some kind of tactical retreat is just the latest Taliban lie. They are in total collapse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: But the U.S.-led military campaign is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got a long way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: As more evidence surfaces linking Osama bin Laden to the September 11th attacks, Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders stay one step ahead of their pursuers. With that hunt intensifying, we'll look at the role of special forces, as "America Strikes Back."

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Start nearly unthinkable differences in Afghanistan. Only a few days ago, anti-Taliban forces were reluctant warriors. Now they appear to be on the verge of a stunning victory.

Hello from the CNN war room here in Washington. I'm Wolf Blitzer. We have several major developments to bring you this hour.

First, the rapid retreat of the Taliban. Why a quick end to their rule creates some concern inside the White House.

Later, a charity's surprise change of heart. The American Red Cross takes a dramatic step and bows to criticism.

Also, a theory about the crash of American Airlines flight 587. We'll demonstrate the dangers of a specific kind of turbulence. We're also standing by waiting for a live briefing from the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board. You're looking at a live picture just outside of John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. When that briefing begins we'll go to it live, but right now let's get the latest developments of the day. Here is Joie Chen in Atlanta -- Joie.

JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, we do want to update our viewers on what's been going on today. Osama bin Laden allegedly implicating himself in the September 11th terror attacks in a videotape which was acknowledged publicly for the first time today.

The British government has released transcripts, although not the actual video from it. There are statements in which bin Laden speaks up, and we quote here -- "avenging the killing of our people and the battle being moved inside America."

The Pentagon has released video of some of the latest U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan. Officials say current targets include caves and tunnels where Taliban and Al Qaeda forces might be hiding. In a reflection of how untraditional this war is, the White House says caves are now more important than capital cities.

This official tells CNN that anti-Taliban forces are largely in concern of the northeastern city, Jalalabad and the airport in that Taliban stronghold city Kandahar. A Pentagon spokesman says he cannot confirm either report, but he did say the war is going badly for the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the State Department says it has no firm information on the fate of two U.S. Aid workers who were being held by the Taliban in Kabul on charges of proselytizing. The father of one of the women says he has been told they are now being held in Kandahar.

Aides to President Bush say the Afghan campaign will be a dominating topic while Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife join the first couple at their ranch in Crawford, Texas. Mr. Putin arrived on Marine 1 from Waco, Texas, just about half an hour ago.

And the Red Cross is changing its widely criticized policy on the money it raised after the September attacks. Today board chairman David McLaughlin announced all the $543 million Liberty Fund will go to victims of the attacks. Now, originally the Red Cross had planned to set aside some of the money for future use. We'll continue to watch an update as developments warrant. Now let's go back to Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks, Joie. The Pentagon reports a gun battle today between Taliban and anti-Taliban forces at the airport in the southern city of Kandahar. But sources in the region tell CNN no gunfire could be heard. The bazaars were open. People were moving about the city that is considered the stronghold of the Taliban.

CNN's David Ensor has been following this story all day. He joins me now live with the latest. What are you hearing? What's going on in Kandahar? DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation is extremely fluid throughout the south of Afghanistan and up near Jalalabad. We should first say that, Wolf. Things are changing fast. There are feints and counterfeints. There is fighting that is ebbing and flowing.

But having said that, knowledgeable U.S. officials that I speak to regularly, and that have not proved wrong in the past, tell me that Jalalabad is substantially under the control now of anti-Taliban forces. These are Pashtun tribal leaders, who are not part of the Northern Alliance, but are now fighting against the Taliban control in that city and have largely got control of it, according to the sources I've been speaking to.

BLITZER: I want to put up on our map, David, as you tell us what you're hearing -- and we have a telestrator here. We can show our viewers what we're talking about. Kabul, of course, is the capital right here. That has been taken by the Northern Alliance, the anti- Taliban rebels. Jalalabad, right to the east, that's where you're reporting now, what?

ENSOR: That the anti-Taliban forces have also taken control of that city. Now, that's a critical strategic city, because it controls the pass through which many of the roads between Pakistan and the capital of Kabul have to go.

BLITZER: And it's right along the border, of course, between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now, in Kandahar, which -- down here -- this is the stronghold. This is where the Taliban have been most firmly entrenched. What are you saying about Kandahar, and specifically the airport, the critical airport just outside of Kandahar?

ENSOR: U.S. officials that I speak to tell me that Kandahar airport, which is actually really more like an airstrip, is under the control of anti-Taliban forces. These, again, are tribal, Pashtun tribal forces that have, these officials say, risen up and taken control of that airstrip. They also say that there is sporadic fighting in the streets of Kandahar. Sporadic. It ebbs and flows.

BLITZER: I want to show our viewers, as you're talking also, some videotape that was shot from the Al Jazeera TV network, the Arabic television channel. What they're suggesting is that there's some passionate resistance. These are Taliban fighters.

ENSOR: Well, the officials I speak to say the city is firmly under the control, still, of the Taliban. They at least control most of the neighborhoods. But there are parts of the city where there are anti-Taliban forces fighting, and there is sporadic gunfire. Clearly, the situation is somewhat in flux. Taliban is still in control, but these officials I speak to say they do not think the Taliban will retain control of that city for too much longer.

BLITZER: And our viewers also saw the very passionate resistance. These are demonstrators in Kandahar, who are expressing their outrage, obviously, at what's going on. Loyal followers of Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.

ENSOR: That's right. Now, officials also tell me that pro- Taliban forces, some of them, are fleeing in a southwesterly direction, away from Kandahar towards an area that is mostly desert and low hills. And it's not clear to the officials I speak to whether these forces intend to sort of retreat and regroup, and come back at the anti-Taliban forces, or whether they are retreating in disarray.

BLITZER: And briefly, David, as far as Kabul and other major towns in the north that Northern Alliance have taken in recent days, they seem to be consolidating their positions quite well.

ENSOR: They are. Although I did speak to one official who said he thought that the Northern Alliance had stretched itself a bit. And that if there were a counterfeint against Kabul, they might not have the forces they would need. Of course, they would have the U.S. Air Force.

BLITZER: And the U.S. bombing strikes continue full speed ahead. No letdown on that, right?

ENSOR: Not as I understand, no.

BLITZER: Continued demonstration of U.S. air power, which U.S. officials insist was critical in setting the stage for these remarkable developments over the past few days. Your sources have been pretty surprised by what's happened on the ground.

ENSOR: It's been moving very, very fast. I should stress also, Wolf, that at the Pentagon today, they were underscoring that even if the Taliban regime collapses, there is still a tremendous amount of work to do. They have to get the Al Qaeda and Taliban -- it Won't be easy.

BLITZER: David, thank you very much.

I want to go now just outside of JFK Airport in New York. The NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, briefing reporters on the crash of American Airlines flight 587.

MARION BLAKEY, NTSB CHAIRWOMAN: Information, both from the crash site today, as well as other information that we are bringing in from elsewhere. When last we all spoke, we were all concerned about the question of the flight data recorder, what shape it was in and what we were going to be able to recover from it.

At this point, what we are learning from the flight data recorder is that the data are recoverable. In fact, we have had the manufacturer repair the problem, and we are reading out the data as we speak, in Washington. So we hope it will have good information for you very shortly, on the specific technical characteristics of the flight.

(17:27:44)

BLACK: But we certainly will be looking for any other information on that, because it certainly is something of interest to us. But right now there's nothing but the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BLAKEY: Thank you. We will break again at 8:30 tonight after the progress meeting.

BLITZER: Marion Blakey and George Black of the National Transportation Safety Board briefing reporters, briefing all of us, on the latest of their investigation into the crash of American Airlines flight 587.

A couple of the points that Marion Blakey made: The flight data recorder, she says, is now in good shape. They should be getting some precise information from that shortly. She'll give us that information when it is available. The engines, both G.E. engines, she says, will eventually be sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they will be engaged in what she calls a tear-down operation. They'll be inspecting those engines very carefully.

Perhaps the most significant development, saying that what's called wake turbulence -- the fact that this American Airlines plane took off shortly after a JAL, Japan Airlines 747 took off. It was only about a minute, 47 seconds behind the JAL 747. She says there's still -- they don't know if what they call wake turbulence contributed to the crash, but she said they are looking at it very, very closely.

The two airplanes were about 5 miles apart. I want to bring in Bob Francis right now. He's a former vice chairman of the NTSB. When you heard this briefing, Bob, what went through your mind, the new points that they made?

BOB FRANCIS, FMR. NTSB VICE CHAIRMAN: Well, the first one, overwhelmingly important, is that the flight data recorder has good data on it. And that's going to lead us to be able to look at things like where did the rudder come down, what kinds of forces were on the plane at various times, how much G force came from the wake, how did the pilots react to it, how did the aircraft roll, and whatever happened to it. So that's enormously important, if there's good data on the recorder. That's going to help a lot on this.

BLITZER: The fact that in the so-called debris trail that developed off the Rockaways, the fact that the tail was found first, what does that immediately suggest to you?

FRANCIS: Well, the issue was kind of how did it come down and what were the winds like? And one of the things we found in TWA was that heavy things obviously fall down more quickly than things that have some buoyancy to them. So that you've got to be a little careful on that. Obviously, it is unusual to find that vertical stabilizer so soon. You know, whether that is because it broke off for some reason having to did with the wake turbulence, whether it had to do with forces that were generated by the pilots controlling the airplane in some way, one doesn't know. But, again, I think the recorders can tell us a lot of that.

BLITZER: And Marion Blakey of the NTSB did stress repeatedly no evidence of any sabotage or criminal action, no evidence of any bomb right at this point, although, of course, they still cannot rule any of that out.

Stand by for a moment, because I want to the bring in another guest. Investigators are looking more closely at what we call wake turbulence as a possible cause of the crash.

Earlier, Don Wylie, the owner of an aviation safety training company, took one of his own planes up to test this idea out, taking off the in wake of another plane. Don Wylie joins us now live by telephone -- he's in Houston -- to show us the results of his simulation.

Mr. Wylie, thank you very much.

Let's take a close look at the video of your plane, first of all from the outside. Walk us through these pictures that we are seeing right now.

Mr. Wylie, can you hear me? Mr. Wylie, are you there? Mr. Wylie, just tell us what we are seeing in these pictures that you took earlier today, these video pictures underlining what we call wake turbulence.

DON WYLIE, AVIATION SAFETY TRAINING: Yes, I am here. This is Don Wylie.

BLITZER: Yes, Don, go ahead. Can you see these pictures that we were showing our viewers?

WYLIE: Yes, I just saw part of them, Wolf. Go ahead.

BLITZER: From the outside, we were seeing the plane in what appears to be wake turbulence. Describe what we are seeing.

WYLIE: OK.

What you are seeing is the wake turbulence of a T-34, an airplane that, of course, generates much less wake, considerably less wake than a 747. But you can see very profound effect it has another T-34, a similar sized airplane. It's representative of the rolling tendencies and the loading on the flight controls of the airplane that is in the wake.

BLITZER: And what you do, of course, is you train pilots how to deal with these kind of extreme situations. We have some other video that you shot earlier today as well from inside the cockpit of your plane. Describe in sort of layman's terms how a pilot would pull out of this kind of turbulence.

WYLIE: Well, the recovery from that kind of turbulence is dependent on two things. One is getting out of the turbulence. Now, the turbulence isn't that big. Typically, those wakes are 6-8 feet in diameter and that's all. But while you are in them and they are working on the airplane, you are at a distinct disadvantage. When you are ejected laterally out of that wake, then you have to know what to do to recover.

BLITZER: You know, we heard from Marion Blakey of the NTSB that the American Airlines Flight 587 and the JAL 747, they were only about, what, she said one minute, 45 seconds apart at that point. How close -- is that dangerously close for these two big planes to be as they take off?

(CROSSTALK)

WYLIE: The industry, of course, is compressed. They're trying to get the traffic in and out. I don't think it's sufficient. The Boeing tests -- and I believe we showed those earlier today -- those wakes were detected all the way back intensely, still intense, up to eight and 10 miles behind the generating airplane. That is, in my opinion, insufficient separation.

BLITZER: So what you are saying is that they should be a lot further apart on takeoff in order not to even create the possibility of this sort of wake turbulence.

WYLIE: In a perfect world, absolutely. Now, better education as -- to all the pilots as to the effects of that turbulence and the characteristics of the turbulence would be very helpful also.

BLITZER: All right, Mr. Wylie, thank you very much.

Very briefly, I want to go back to Bob Francis.

What should the NTSB and the FAA do about this potential problem? And, of course, Marion Blakey didn't know if the wake turbulence was the cause of this crash, although they are looking at it very closely, she says.

FRANCIS: Well, I think you have got to look at what the data tells us when we get the recorder and when we have done more work on the radar.

The issue of wake turbulence is not a new one. And, obviously, the more spacing you have, the better off you are. On the other hand, you don't have serious problems due to wake turbulence in our system. And there are thousands and thousands of aircraft that are up there every day using the separations that have been out there for a number of years without a whole lot of problems.

So I think, before we start changing separations and making them -- putting more distance in there, we should be very sure that we are going with factual stuff and that it has to do with something very serious that happened. BLITZER: OK, Bob Francis, thank you very much. Don Wylie, earlier, thank you very much.

And we will continue, of course, this coverage of the crash of Flight 587.

When come back, we will get back to America's new war on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Osama bin Laden allegedly implicates himself and all but admits to being behind the September 11 attacks in a new videotape. Excerpts were revealed today for the first time, although the tape itself is believed to be almost a month old.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Tony Blair asserted the evidence against Osama bin Laden is more convincing than ever.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The intelligence material now leaves no doubt whatever of the guilt of Osama bin Laden and his associates.

CANDIOTTI: Without offering details about the latest evidence against the 19 allegedly responsible for September's attacks, the prime minister said authorities now have evidence linking the majority of the hijackers to al Qaeda. The prime minister also claims a senior bin Laden associate has admitted to have trained some of the hijackers -- that new evidence in hand, Mr. Blair says, since October 4.

Blair saved his strongest comments to describe excerpts from an unbroadcast video of bin Laden taped, he said, on October 20, a tape in which the British prime minister says bin Laden takes responsibility for September 11.

BLAIR: And I quote: "If avenging the killing of our people is terrorism, let history be a witness that we are terrorists."

Mr. Speaker, they are terrorists. And history will judge them as such.

CANDIOTTI: British officials insist they do not have the videotape, but have seen it. On its Web site, the British government publishes more excerpts.

Quote: "Bush and Blair don't understand any language of force. Every time they kill us, we kill them so the balance of terror can be achieved." And this: "The bad terror is what America and Israel are practicing against our people. And what we are practicing is the good terror."

Attorney General John Ashcroft says he has not seen the videotape either.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I certainly don't need any additional evidence, knowing what I know about the -- about the operation and the -- and the tragedy of September 11.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: In additional excerpts attributed to Osama bin Laden and read to CNN by a U.S. official, bin Laden is asked whether the Afghan people are suffering because of his presence in Afghanistan. Bin Laden replies -- quote -- "It is jihad. And jihad is mandatory for all Muslims."

Finally, bin Laden is asked to describe the attacks of September 11. And he calls them -- quote -- "great by all measures" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Susan, do they say why they are not releasing the actual videotape?

CANDIOTTI: No, they are not saying why they're not releasing it. And it's unclear whether the British government has its hands on the tape. They do say one of their officials has seen it. And it reportedly has been distributed to Osama bin Laden's closest supporters.

BLITZER: Susan Candiotti, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Britain's Defense Ministry says bin Laden is on the move in Afghanistan, but by the time they pinpoint a location, it's often too late.

Here with some insight into the difficult hunt for bin Laden is David Isby of "Jane's Intelligence Review."

Thank you once again for joining us.

DAVID ISBY, "JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW": Hello. Thank you.

BLITZER: David, how difficult is it to find Osama bin Laden right now, with his Taliban backers apparently on the run?

ISBY: He is going to be very difficult to find. I think an example was seen in the Kosovo campaign in 1999, when we had a difficult time both locating and targeting large military targets, such as missile launchers.

He is literally a needle in a haystack, with one civilian vehicle moving across country. He needs help. He reportedly doesn't speak any of the languages in Afghanistan. And any reasonable terrorist at this point might have what they call an E&E plan: escape and evasion.

BLITZER: Is it for sure that he is still inside Afghanistan right now?

ISBY: No one knows, I believe, whether Osama bin Laden is in Afghanistan.

Of course, if he fled, it is a very porous border. If he has a good E&E plan known to only a few close associates, he may be able to get across to a safe house in Pakistan and be smuggled from there. I don't know if there is any way we have to ensure he could not do this. However, the fact is that he doesn't know any of the languages. That fact is, now there is an awful lot of Afghans looking to turn him in, secure their own position with the new government. It certainly would count against him.

BLITZER: The hunt for Osama bin Laden continues, as the hunt for Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban. Do we assume that they are together right now? Or are they moving their own separate ways?

ISBY: I wouldn't assume that at all.

Mullah Omar may, for example, be going to his home in the southern part of Oruzgan Province, where he still has some authority as the local boy made good. Since the Taliban seemingly is splintering as a Pashtun wide movement, there is likely, however, still to be local resistance against the Northern Alliance and other groups in places where they can rally resistance.

BLITZER: We have heard over these past several weeks of these caves, the network of caves inside Afghanistan. Is it realistic to assume he could hide out presumably for a long time, Osama bin Laden, in those caves?

ISBY: Certainly he could, although he won't plan any terrorist outrages while in them.

Most of them, though, do not have large storage. If so, someone has had to have filled his water jugs. And those are the prime sort of human intelligence sources you want to locate: people who will put stockpiles in caves for a six-month stay.

BLITZER: And as the defections develop -- and we have heard a lot about Taliban defections -- presumably someone is going to want to pick up the million dollars, or the $25 million that the U.S. government is offering for Osama bin Laden.

ISBY: The reward is important. Also, so is the momentum.

If, right now, we can build on that with fresh human intelligence, that's what we need to track him down, get him before his trail goes cold.

BLITZER: David Isby, of "Jane's Intelligence Review," thank you very much for joining us.

ISBY: You're welcome.

BLITZER: We're going to take another quick break. When we come back, we will go out to the Western White House, the meeting, the summit between Presidents Putin and Bush. We'll have details.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

President Bush is hosting a special guest at his Texas ranch, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders will continue their summit, which began yesterday at the White House.

CNN's John King is in Crawford, Texas. And John is joining us now live.

What is going on at the ranch, John?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the look is very casual and informal, but the sense of urgency is apparent.

The Russian president arrived at the Bush ranch not that long ago. Mr. Bush gets to drive on his ranch. And, trust me, he likes that. Mr. Bush drove out in a white pickup truck, greeted the Russian president and his wife, flying aboard a Marine helicopter that usually carries the U.S. president.

You see the Bushes greeting the Putins here, posing for photos there -- then into the Bush pickup -- Mr. Bush joking with reporters that he thanked President Putin for the rain, rare in Texas, although not completely rare at this time of the year -- a quick drive around the ranch there -- but in discussions, U.S. officials say a great sense of urgency because of the fast-changing situation on the ground in Afghanistan -- the military strategy fast changing as well -- one senior U.S. official telling us a short time ago that up to 80 percent of the country is now out of at least firm Taliban control.

Because of that, the United States believes a much smaller circle in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network to hide in -- adjustments in the military strategy being made -- and before he came here to Crawford, President Putin in Houston saying it was critical that the allies press on, find those now taking refuge in the mountains -- the vice president making that case back in Washington today as well.

One thing that concerns the administration, Wolf, as the U.S. and Russian presidents continue their deliberations, is that, if the Taliban falls, that some will say: Why not bring the military campaign to an end? The administration, in conjunction with President Putin and Prime Minister Tony Blair, a calculated, concerted effort to communicate to the public here in the United States and around the world that the fall of Taliban is only one goal, and indeed a secondary goal of the military operation, that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda remain the No. 1 target -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King in Crawford, Texas, thank you very much. And the women of Kabul are now free to lift their veils. But what else will the end of Taliban rule mean for all Afghan women? We will talk to the executive director of Aid Afghanistan when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Parades in the streets of the Afghan capital, men shaving their beards and a gradual pullback of burkas -- coming out from behind the veil, some women, no longer fearing punishment by the Taliban, are showing their faces.

Joining us now for the women's perspective on this liberation of Kabul, Hassina Sherjan Samad. She's the executive director of Aid Afghanistan.

Hassina, thanks for joining us.

And what's your sense? Is this such a dramatic change right now or is it just a modest little change?

HASSINA SHERJAN SAMAD, EXEC. DIR., AID AFGHANISTAN: No, it's a very dramatic change and very delightful to see that women are free again.

BLITZER: And will they take off their burkas? Will they start going to school? Will they start working?

SAMAD: They have already been taking off their burkas, we heard, in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul as well. And the Northern Alliance have already announced that women can go back to school and they can work again.

BLITZER: This will change -- presumably, if this continues throughout all of Afghanistan, this will change the society for, presumably, a long time.

SAMAD: This will definitely change the society. It will actually restore women's right and women's freedom and their dignity that has been taken from them during the Taliban's time.

BLITZER: Are all the leaders now of the various Northern Alliance factions fully on board as far as lifting the veil, if you will, with women?

SAMAD: You know, I'm pretty sure that they are. During the time that the Mujahedeen were in Kabul, the veil was not ordered by the government that it should be a mandatory thing for the women to wear. So I'm assuming that they have no problem. Veils have always been part of the culture in Afghanistan, but it has never been imposed by the government.

BLITZER: And, as far as health care is concerned, there should be some dramatic breakthroughs in that area as well.

SAMAD: Yes, of course. BLITZER: Because the Northern Alliance is ready to -- with the Taliban being defeated, if you will, the health care situation will improve.

SAMAD: Of course. The women are free to work. So that means that all 40 percent of the women who were the doctors in Kabul are free to go back to work.

BLITZER: Hassina, unfortunately, we don't have much time. But I want to thank you. But we will have you back. We'll talk about the women of Afghanistan. Our viewers are very interested in this subject.

SAMAD: Thank you. Thank you very much.

BLITZER: Thank you very much.

The Red Cross bows to critics over distributing donations. We'll have that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" comes you way at the top of hour. Let's go to New York for a preview.

Here's Lou -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Wolf, thank you very much.

Coming up on "MONEYLINE": the Northern Alliance making major advances in Afghanistan. We will be joined tonight by former Defense Secretary William Cohen to discuss the war's progress and America's new relationship with Russia. Russia refusing to cooperate with OPEC: The cartel agrees to cut production, but only if Russia and other non- OPEC producers go along. We will have the latest for you from Vienna.

And a stunning reversal by the American Red Cross: The Red Cross says it will give 100 percent of the money raised for its Liberty Fund to aid the families of victims of September 11. I will be talking with David McLaughlin, the chairman of the American Red Cross -- all of that and more coming right up on "MONEYLINE."

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou. We will be watching.

And we will have our own closing piece now on the Red Cross situation.

CNN's Hillary Lane takes a look at the new pledge from the Red Cross to help those affected by attacks on America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY LANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Red in the face, the American Red Cross is making apologies and changes.

HAROLD DECKER, INTERIM CEO, RED CROSS: We deeply regret that our actions over the past eight weeks have not been as sharply focused as America wants and the victims of this tragedy deserve.

LANE: The charity now says all of the $543 million donated to its Liberty Fund will flow to victims of the September 11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, RED CROSS AD)

DR. BERNADINE HEALY, FORMER PRESIDENT & CEO, RED CROSS: In this time of need, the American Red Cross is profoundly grateful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LANE: This campaign of highly visible public service announcements featuring President Bernadine Healy and celebrities had led donors to believe that all of the money was going to victims of the attacks. But last month, Healy was forced out as questions mounted over whether the Red Cross was using those donations to bolster its coffers.

So far, the Red Cross has helped 25,000 families, spending $137 million to date. It has stopped soliciting new contributions and is even offering to refund money to angry donors.

(on camera): While the Red Cross has been at the center of criticism from victims, their families and from elected officials, the anger has stretched to many of the charities involved, as those in need have complained it's been too difficult to access the money.

(voice-over): Last week, Congress began hearings.

ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN, WIDOW: I don't think contributors to the various September 11 funds thought that their donations would be caught up in so much red tape.

LANE: Some families said having to approach charities one by one made them feel like beggars. By the end of the month, those in need should be able to fill out one application and register in one database shared by nearly all of the 200 charities providing September 11 assistance, an approach spearheaded by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who had harshly criticized the Red Cross and is now praising it.

ELIOT SPITZER, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Why it took this long to get here, I don't know. But I applaud them for reaching the right decision, because it will vindicate the public's trust in the Red Cross. It will vindicate the public's belief that the money that was given will go to benefit victims of September 11. And that is exactly what should happen.

LANE: The Red Cross plans to disburse half of the Liberty Fund by year-end, and then, lessons learned, in January detail how the remaining money will be spent.

Hillary Lane, for CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: I'll be back in one hour with more coverage, including an interview with a retired Marine general, Richard Neal. He'll be here in the CNN "War Room."

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. CNN's coverage of America's new war continues with "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That begins right now.

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