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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Pentagon Pleased With Progress in Afghanistan; Is 14-Year-Old Responsible for Death of Army Sergeant
Aired January 07, 2002 - 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, "America Strikes Back": Visiting day in Afghanistan. Britain's prime minister and a U.S. Senate delegation get a first hand look. I'll speak with intelligence committee members John Edwards and Fred Thompson direct from Bagram Air Base.
Three months to the day after the start of military action, the Pentagon is pleased with the progress.
VICTORIA CLARKE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The Taliban no longer run the country. An interim government is in place to begin the restructuring of Afghanistan. We have debilitated the Al Qaeda forces.
BLITZER: The bombing has stepped up as U.S. forces try to finish the job.
REAR ADMIRAL JOHN STUFFLEBEEM, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: It most definitely was an ambush.
BLITZER: Could a 14-year-old been responsible for the killing of an Army Special Forces sergeant? And what makes a 15-year-old crash a plane into a Tampa office tower?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The terminology in the notes indicates that he has sympathy for Osama bin Laden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're standing by for comments from the parents of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Nathan Ross Chapman. He was killed Friday in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan, the first U.S. soldier to die of hostile fire since the United States began the war in Afghanistan. That was exactly three months ago today.
We'll bring you those comments shortly.
We'll also get to my interview with Senators Edwards and Thompson. They're over at the Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan. But, first, a quick check of the latest developments. U.S. war planes pounded Al Qaeda targets in eastern Afghanistan today. A pentagon spokesman says the air strikes are part of an ongoing operation to eradicate remnants of the terrorist network in Afghanistan.
The remains of the Army Special Forces Sergeant Nathan Ross Chapman are expected to arrive back in the United States tomorrow. The Special Forces member was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan Friday. His body is being flown to Seattle from Germany.
Nine United States senators met with Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai today including John McCain and Joe Lieberman. The senators described their talks as cordial and friendly. Their brief visit is part of a tour of central and south Asian countries.
The British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also in Afghanistan today. The first Western head of government to visit that country since the fall of the Taliban. Mr. Blair was scheduled to meet with Karzai, the U.N.'s special envoy to Afghanistan, as well as with British troops.
A spokesman says the visit is a signal of Britain's long term commitment to all of Afghanistan.
U.S. military officials say the teenager who crashed a small plane into a Tampa, Florida office building was not considered a threat. The 15-year-old pilot, Charles Bishop, was killed in the crash Saturday. He flew within 100 feet of MacDill Air Force Base, the headquarters of the command directing the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
President Bush is back at the White House after spending the holidays at his Texas ranch. Just before sitting down with his economic advisers the president said he'll renew his push for Congress to pass an economic stimulus plan. The president also said good progress is being made in the war in Afghanistan.
And now to that war where U.S. airplanes today carried out heavy air strikes against Al Qaeda targets. At the same time hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees are expected to be transferred very soon to a U.S. military base in Cuba.
CNN's Bill Hemmer is covering these developments in Kandahar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is perhaps the most sensitive operation to date. How do you transport 300 suspected Al Qaeda terrorist half way around the world to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?
We're being told here in Kandahar that military planners right now are reviewing their options. One is by ship, the other is by air. But sources indicate that trip my happen by air and it may come within a few days time. But certainly the military's being quite tight- lipped about this. The operation and the information is considered highly classified. In another part of Afghanistan, Nathan Chapman, a 31-year-old Green Beret shot and killed last Friday -- apparently tribal leaders in eastern Afghanistan right now are meeting. They believe the possibility a 14 year old boy may be responsible for the shooting death of Chapman.
We are told they're considering the possibility of handing him over to U.S. authorities but a final decision may not come until at least Tuesday morning.
In another region of Afghanistan the most intense air strikes now underway in eastern Afghanistan that we have seen in about a week's time.
This is the area known as Khost right along the Afghanistan Pakistan border. The Pentagon has warned that it has been worried about the possibility that Al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban fighters may possibly reassemble in this area. It's possible the target of the operation right now may be to flush those fighters out.
Bill Hemmer, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: As we mentioned, nine United States senators were in Afghanistan today getting a first hand assessment of the situation from the interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
The lawmakers flew in the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, the Afghan capital. Earlier, I spoke with two of the senators in the delegation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Senator Thompson, Senator Edwards, thanks very much for joining us.
Senator Edwards, what are you hearing right now about the possible whereabouts of Osama bin Laden?
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, I think that we've heard a lot of things. We've heard the officials in Uzbekistan who were there. They believe he's in Pakistan. We've gotten some further information here.
I think the reality is that we're stilling trying to locate him specifically and that we will find him. There's absolutely no question about that.
Talking to the men and women, Wolf, who are here who are involved in that effort leaves absolutely no doubt that we will find Osama bin Laden.
BLITZER: But, Senator Thompson, if he's already managed to get outside of Afghanistan into, let's say, Pakistan, doesn't that become much more complicated? SEN. FRED THOMPSON (R), TENNESSEE: No, I don't think really. In fact, if he's along the border there somewhere, as many people believe, it doesn't really matter that much as to whether he's on one side or the other of -- in that mountainous area. It's pretty much no man's land anyway.
I don't think we ought to overdose on Osama bin Laden. I think he'll be found just like John said. But this is a much bigger thing than that. We've got Taliban still going across the border there into Pakistan. We've got the Pakistanis trying to help us there. But because of the flair up with India they're taking people away from the border there, which is making the job much more difficult. So there's a lot of work to be done.
But the people that we've met here are -- really, really would make Americans proud. I wish all Americans could see the kind of job that our people are doing here.
BLITZER: How difficult is it to find Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Taliban, Senator Edwards?
EDWARDS: Well, I think he's going to be hard to find. He's indigenous to this place like Osama bin Laden. He knows how to blend with the people here. There are people here who are very, very friendly to him.
I think it's going to be a difficult task to find him. But, again, I think we will get that done.
Wolf, I do wish you could see the military men and women who are responding heroically here to what needs to be done. Their excellence has been extraordinary. And it's because of the work that they've done, because of America's presence here in Afghanistan -- Fred just pointed it out -- that we will ultimately be successful. But there is still a lot of work to be done.
The other important thing is we met with Chairman Karzai earlier today. And we do believe that with his leadership and with the help of America -- and it is critical that America stay committed and engaged in this region -- we believe we can make Afghanistan a place that's no longer a breeding ground for other Osama bin Ladens. And that's the reason it's important that we be engaged here and it's also important that we be engaged in this entire region.
BLITZER: But, as you know, Senator Thompson, Chairman Karzai is one thing but there are still a lot of warlords, bandits, all sorts of areas -- remote areas in Afghanistan where the cooperation might not necessarily be that strong with the United States. How serious of a problem is that?
THOMPSON: Well, I think it's going to be somewhat of a problem but many of them -- most of them -- from the major areas are being brought into the provisional government -- and even some of the toughest customers are being brought in and given some voice in it.
And I think that if the government is able to go forward the way it appears to be with some very outstanding people, by the way, and are able to form a military, which I think they desperately need and are going to have to have -- I think these isolated instances of these warlords who refuse to come into the fold will be mitigated. And they'll be able to go ahead and form their government and make sure that this doesn't serve as the seed for additional radical groups that pose a threat to the area and the entire world.
EDWARDS: Wolf, this is Senator Edwards.
BLITZER: Yeah?
EDWARDS: Just to add to what Fred just said, one of the most critical things that Chairman Karzai told us in our meeting with him earlier tonight was that it is the will of the regular Afghan people that this country be united. Well, that's critically important. Now we don't want to oversimplify this. This is a very difficult and complex situation.
It's not going to be done overnight. It's going to take a long- term commitment both by the leadership here and by the -- and by America and its allies. There's absolutely no doubt about that. But one of the most critical elements of that is that the Afghan people ultimately want the Taliban gone, they want Al Qaeda gone and they want to be united as a people.
BLITZER: That sounds, Senator Thompson, as if it's going to mean a long term U.S. military commitment to Afghanistan. The American public wants to know how long do you think the American forces will have to remain on the ground in Afghanistan?
THOMPSON: Well, our military presence is really comparatively minimal, all thing considered. And I don't think we'll have a strong military presence here for a very long period of time.
Most of the people we talked to here -- most of the American military -- emphasize that it's not the allies helping the Americans it's the Americans and the allies helping the Afghan people.
And what we need to do is to help them get on their own feet and take care of themselves. We're not going to have a strong military presence over here indefinitely but we are going to stay involved indefinitely. We've been a little bit too far removed and now we realize that a place on the other side of the world that most people have never heard of can pose a real threat to us.
And so we have to have some involvement, some intelligence and we need to help the people in this area in order to maintain their strength so they can take care of the job.
BLITZER: Senator Thompson...
EDWARDS: I want to add to what Senator Thompson just said. It's not only Afghanistan that's a potential breeding ground for terrorists and terrorist activity. Any place that's disrupted politically, that's weak economically -- the bottom line is these terrorists are going to go to the weakest link in the chain. That's why it's so important that America stay engaged not only in Afghanistan, which is critically important, but that we stay engaged in the entire region.
BLITZER: Senator Edwards, Senator Thompson, have a safe trip. We'll see you back here in Washington. Thanks so much for joining us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And more now on the U.S. military action in Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes today pounded what Pentagon officials call a hot bed of terrorist support in eastern Afghanistan. The strikes were similar to those carried out in recent days.
Military officials say the aim is to wipe out regrouping Taliban and Al Qaeda forces and hidden weapons. The focus of the attacks has been on an Al Qaeda base near the town of Khost. Officials say a major weapons cash including tanks, mortars and machine guns was also bombed there.
Joining us now with more on the military developments in Afghanistan, the former NATO supreme allied commander, the retired General Wesley Clark, now a CNN Military Analyst. General Clark, what's the purpose of all of these latest air strikes? It appeared as if there was a lull. Now it's starting up again.
GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think this is a matter of where the intelligence takes the force on the ground. And this was an area the U.S. hadn't been in with its allies much early on and now they've got intelligence. They've gone in there. We've got Special Forces on the ground. We had the reports that Al Qaeda was massing. It's a relatively large area. And when we went in there we found cashes of weapons and tanks and so forth.
And the most efficient way to deal with this is through air power and that's what's been used.
BLITZER: Yeah, we do have a map that the Pentagon released -- 1998 map -- of some of the terrains, some of the areas involved in these most recent air strikes.
So you can anticipate -- this is go along, see what you can find. If there are other targets of opportunity go ahead and bomb them. Is that the strategy?
CLARK: I think that's exactly what it is. This is reconnaissance-led activity. And wherever the information takes us, wherever we go and see things and then we're going to be dealing with them. And when it's heavy equipment like that you can't carry in the demolitions on your back to blow it up so the most efficient thing to do is call in the air power.
BLITZER: But, as you know, there are a lot of friendly forces out there -- Afghan people loyal to the new Afghan government, a lot of U.S. troops and international peacekeeping presence led by the British. The thought of having some friendly fire, as it's called euphemistically, that could be a very serious problem.
CLARK: Well, these operations have to be well coordinated and you have to know where other forces are. And that's really what the whole capabilities of the Green Berets are directed to because they've got a network of communications running from the top to the bottom of the country now. And most of the areas they can pretty much account for the people that they're working with.
And when they go into an area they pretty much know who's in that area that's been reporting through other Green Beret forces. And so this lets them take action.
BLITZER: One other thing about what Senator Thompson just said in the interview I had with him -- he suggested that some of those Pakistani forces on the border with Afghanistan may be deployed elsewhere given the tensions with India. Is that going to make looking for Osama bin Laden if he's slipped across the border into Pakistan so much more difficult.
CLARK: I think it is, Wolf. I think this is a continuing problem. We've known from the beginning that any rise in tensions between India and Pakistan would have a distracting effect in terms of this operation. And over the last several weeks the distraction has grown and grown and grown.
We had continuing rumors of troop re-deployments. We had some confirmation of it. We've had other Pakistanis say that no, the troops in this area haven't been re-deployed.
But the simple fact is it's a long border. Osama bin Laden is probably somewhere in that area of -- he's in Afghanistan I would say still and he's still angling on how to make his best move out. And so there is going to be a problem when troops are re-deployed. There's no doubt about it.
BLITZER: General Clark, as usual, thank you very much for your insight.
CLARK: Thank you.
BLITZER: And the parents of Sergeant Nathan Chapman will remember their son tonight in an exclusive interview here on CNN.
Will and Lynn Chapman will be the guests on "LARRY KING LIVE". That's at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
And turning now for more on that air crash investigation in Tampa, Florida. Over the weekend a 15-year-old pilot crashed a light plane into a high rise office building. Authorities say they found what appears to be a suicide note on the body of the pilot, Charles Bishop. CNN's Mark Potter is following the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're learning more about Charles Bishop's unauthorized flight from this airport in Clearwater to downtown Tampa, where he crashed a stolen Cessna 172 into the Bank Of America Plaza building killing himself. En route he crossed restricted air space at Tampa International Airport just as a Southwest Airlines 737 jet was taking off for New Orleans with 129 people aboard.
According to a company spokesman, the control tower called the jet pilots and told them to level off so the Cessna with the boy aboard could cross overhead. And indeed it did, about 1,000 feet away.
Southwest said the situation was always under control and at no time was safety compromised.
The boy then headed toward MacDill Air Force Base where he crossed the airfield there about 100 feet above the runway. Then he headed north toward Tampa where he crashed into the building. And then the calls to 911 came in to Tampa fire and rescue.
TAMPA FIRE AND RESCUE 911 RESPONDENT: Tampa Fire and Rescue. What's the address of the emergency.
CALLER: It's on the corner of Kennedy and Ashley. It's the Bank of America Building. A plane just flew into it.
TAMPA FIRE AND RESCUE 911 RESPONDENT: OK -- hold on. Thank you for your call. We have help on the way.
POTTER: Yesterday officials described Charles Bishop as a disturbed young man who wrote a suicide note in sympathy of Osama bin Laden. But today neighbors and teachers described an entirely different individual. They said he was a good kid, an honor student, who didn't cause trouble.
ANDREA PANARELLI, BISHOP'S TEACHER: he got along well with the students that sat around him, did well in group projects, in group work. This was something that was totally out of the blue. No one saw it coming. None of my students did, I didn't certainly.
POTTER: People who knew Bishop say they are just shocked by what happened. The authorities meanwhile are going through his computer to try to learn more about him. And the building in downtown Tampa has now been reopened with the damage described as minimal.
Mark Potter, CNN, Clearwater, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And, as we've been reporting, Charles Bishop stole that airplane and began that deadly journey. But, as CNN's Miles O'Brien reports, even heightened national security couldn't stop his apparent suicide mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Private planes, quieter airports, a small town mentality, everyone knew everyone, or so we thought. That was then.
JOHN KING, AVIATION SCHOOL OWNER: I think there was more intensity on the idea of making sure you know who you deal with. But eventually it's a matter of trust.
O'BRIEN: September 11 turned the world of general aviation upside down. While larger private planes were and still are under tighter security, owners of small private planes and flight school operators have adopted a new, more cautious approach.
LAWRENCE SILVERMAN, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR: We're always on the lookout for people with certain personalities, people that may be resistant tot he learning process, that may resist authority or the rule-making process, who may resist the extreme safety procedures and measures that we take.
O'BRIEN: Still, for people who are accustomed to the long gauntlet of security currently enforced at the big airports, security at general aviation fields like this one, DeKalb Peachtree in Atlanta, may seem at least on the surface to be lax. All that separates the general public from the airplanes here is this four foot fence.
Now since September 11 the gates for these fences have been padlocked but that would hardly be a deterrent for a determined terrorist. Nevertheless, there is a lot more security here than meets the eye.
Think of it as a neighborhood watch. Anything that is out of the norm gets a lot of attention. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has urged private plane owners to be more vigilant while asking the FAA for more tamper-proof pilots' licenses, a cross check between pilot files and FBI terror watch lists and for prospective students, tougher identification requirements and profiling.
PHIL BOYER, AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATIONS: To put up fences, bomb sniffing dogs, metal detectors at some 4,600 airports would be billions of dollars. I don't think the American public is calling for that.
O'BRIEN: But none of those measures would have stopped Charles Bishop from flying into a Tampa office building. The 15 year old washed planes in exchange for instruction and was trusted by his instructor.
LEONARD HARRIS, DEKALB PEACHTREE AIRPORT ASSOCIATION: You can't legislate sanity.
O'BRIEN: Bishop's fatal flight was more a breach of trust than security. A barbed wire fence as tall as the building he struck would not have stopped him. Tragically the crash demonstrates what private pilots have said since September, small planes that weigh less than an SUV and carry about as much fuel are simply not very good weapons of mass destruction.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Pressure is the case when president Bush gets back to business, the business of the economy. Our John King joins us in a moment with the latest from the White House. Plus a look at the psychology of suicide as we try to understand what made 15 year old Charles Bishop crash his small plane into a Tampa building. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. President Bush arrived back in Washington today and his first order of business was to meet with the Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to talk about the U.S. economy. Our Senior White House Correspondent John King has more on that meeting and other developments -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, some new reality greeting the president as he returned to the White House for the first time in the New Year. As you mentioned, he met with the Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, several members of the Cabinet, the vice president. The Bush economic team also on hand in that meeting in the Cabinet Room today to discuss both short term and long term economic challenges.
One of the new realities faced by this president as his new budget -- his State of the Union address. The continued negotiations with the Congress over an economic stimulus package is a year ago. We were talking about record surpluses in Washington. Now the president himself acknowledging this year and perhaps for years to come the government will be in the red, back to deficit spending.
The president will try to make the case this year as democrats blame the Bush tax cut for deficits. The president will make the case that's not what caused the deficit and that at least in the short term they are necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I said to the American people that this nation might have to run deficits in times of war, in times of a national emergency or in times of a recession. And we're still in all three. We had a national emergency, we're trying to win a war and we're in a recession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now this all part of the positioning on economic matters in this, a Congressional mid term election year. Mr. Bush over the weekend said he would raise taxes quote "over his dead body." Democrats haven't called for any tax increases but the Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle last week did say he believed it was the Bush tax cut not the war, not the recession that had turned Washington from surpluses to deficits.
So the positioning beginning even as the president vows he hopes for the short term to revive those negotiations over a stimulus plan in the short term -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John, what makes the president and his advisers believe that that economic stimulus package, which didn't get enough votes, the 60 votes necessary to beat a filibuster in the Senate is going to be, face any different reception this time around?
KING: Well, I wouldn't say that they believe it definitely will face a new recession. They believe though that the president is going to spend some political capital to try to bring that about. He is at 80 plus percent in all the polling. We saw him travel over the weekend. He will travel again tomorrow. His focus primarily on education in the short term tomorrow.
But they say the president is going to spend a little bit of that capital in the days and weeks ahead up through the State of the Union address at the end of this month, pushing the Congress, making the case that the Democrats are standing in the way of help to those thrown out of work in the past year or so.
The democrats, of course, have an argument of their own. They say they're willing to help but the president and the republicans want to give too much to business. So this debate continuing. It is a test of this president's personal popularity, whether he can transfer popularity as a wartime president into popularity to get things done here on the domestic front.
BLITZER: And, switching gears, John, the president once again was asked today about that U.S. Secret Service agent who was denied permission to board that American Airlines flight last week. What did he say differently today than he said before?
KING: What he said today was he wanted to await the results of the investigation before saying anything else. He said the agent was a good person, an upstanding man, but that this matter was being investigated not only by the airlines but also by the Secret Service itself. The president said he would withhold judgment until then. He did say if this agent was singled out because of his ethnicity though he would be mad.
BLITZER: John King, over at the White House -- thank you very much.
And our Jeanne Meserve has been following the story involving the U.S. Secret Service agent over these past several days. And she joins us now with some new developments -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on Saturday the CEO of American Airlines, Don Carty, got personally involved in the case of his captain and the Arab American Secret Service Agent Waleed Shater (ph), putting out a recorded message to his employees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON CARTY, CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINES: I've read the captain's report, the SOC report and have been briefed on our conversations with the BWI law enforcement officer involved. I am completely convinced that our captain acted appropriately and in the best interest of security on his airplane.
The judgment of an experienced pilot backed by SOC and law enforcement in Baltimore. This agent was not behaving appropriately and our captain simply was not going to let an angry man with a gun on his airplane. And I back that completely. And I will back any employee who makes the some kind of decision for safety and security decisions. Period, end of story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Carty noted that American have Muslim employees, customers and stockholders and said quote, "There is not now and there will never be a place for intolerance at American Airlines."
Well, as John King mentioned, President Bush was asked about this as it does involve a member of this Secret Service detail. Here's exactly what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: If he was mistreated because of his ethnicity I'm going to be plenty hot. That mean angry. And I know the man. I am most appreciative of his service to me and my wife. He is an honorable fellow but I don't know enough about the details of this particular incident. But I know that there is an investigation going on and I look forward to seeing it. I would be surprised if he was hostile. But I wasn't there so it's hard for me to comment on something which I did not see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: This afternoon, Christy Lopez (ph), an attorney for Walheed Shater (ph), said she agreed with the president. She said Carty had the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that her client was not an angry man with a gun -- that the only direct report that he had acted inappropriately had come from the captain. And Lopez says it appears they were paying lip service to the idea of respect and tolerance at American Airlines because it is not how they treated this agent.
Lopez says her firm has had more discussions with American. She would not comment on the substance but it is interesting to note that Carty in his statement went out of his way to mentioned the patriotism of the Secret Service agent. Carty said it was time to step back, cool down and hope such an incident doesn't happen again.
Shater's (ph) lawyers say American should institute training and procedures for its flight crews to make sure it doesn't happen again.
BLITZER: Well, does it look, Jeanne, like everybody is stepping down, cooling things down a bit or are there lawsuits, other recriminations in the works?
MESERVE: There are very mixed messages here. The fact that Carty went on the record with this very strong statement would indicate that there's still a standoff. But, as I said, he also in the same statement said he's a patriot, it's time to cool down. The lawyers have said -- the lawyer for Shater (ph) has said all along that he was more interested in a peaceful resolution to this. In the days ahead I hope we'll figure out exactly what they're doing.
BLITZER: Jeanne Meserve doing some excellent reporting on this subject, thank you very much.
MESERVE: Thank you.
BLITZER: And now let's check some of the other developments today in our "Newswire".
The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected an attempt by Terry Nichols to block state-level charges for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing. Nichols is already serving a life sentence after being convicted on federal conspiracy and manslaughter charges. He argued a state trial would amount to double jeopardy.
Jury selection began today in the trial of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother accused of drowning her five children in the bathtub last summer. Jury selection is expected to take more than a month.
In Atlanta today, a judge striped Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin of his phone privileges. Al-Amin, who formerly was known as H. Rap Brown, is charged with killing a sheriff's deputy. The judge ruled that Al-Amin tried to taint the jury pool by writing several public letters from jail and for speaking to "The New York Times" about his case.
And in Cambridge, Massachusetts, prosecutors continued building their case against the hockey dad accused of killing another father during a youth hockey practice. One witness testified she warned Thomas Junta to stop beating the victim by screaming -- quote -- "You are going to kill him." Junta maintains he was acting only in self- defense.
Coming up, I'll talk live with a presidential candidate from Colombia. She recounts her life under a terrorist regime. And we'll look at the latest developments in the U.S. war in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces have launched yet another round of attacks.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: This important programming note: Tonight, 7:00 Eastern, I'll host a CNN special investigation: an examination of the September 11 charities, "The Money Maze." Is your money going where it is supposed to be going?
Let's get a quick update now on the hour's latest developments: U.S. warplanes are pounding targets in Eastern Afghanistan. The intense airstrikes apparently are an attempt to flush out suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters trying to flee into Pakistan. A suspected terrorist training camp is located in the region.
Some high-profile visitors are in Afghanistan today. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, arrived at an air base near Kabul several hours ago for a brief visit. A spokesman says the British leader's trip signals Britain's long-term commitment to Afghanistan.
Mr. Blair's visit came just hours after a U.S. Senate delegation arrived in Afghanistan. Nine senators are included in the group. Among them: Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain. Their itinerary includes a meeting with the Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai. The stop in Afghanistan is part of the group's nine-nation tour of South and Central Asia.
There is word from Afghan tribal leaders that a 14-year-old boy may have been responsible for the killing of American soldier Nathan Ross Chapman. The special forces sergeant was the first U.S. soldier killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says the circumstances surrounding Chapman's death are being investigated.
The family of the teenaged boy who flew a plane into a Florida office building is speaking out. In a statement, Charles Bishop's family members say they are appalled and devastated over what happened. They say they had no indication that the boy would do what he did. Bishop killed himself Saturday when he crashed his plane into an office building in Tampa.
President Bush is back at the White House after a holiday break at his Texas ranch. And he's focusing on the U.S. economy. The first item on today's agenda was a meeting with the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, and the White House economic team. Mr. Bush and his Democratic foes are preparing for a battle this election year over taxes and spending.
The South American nation of Colombia is no stranger to terrorism, much of it believed to be tied to the drug trade and political corruption. A Colombian senator and presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt, has written a new book about her battle to rid her country of crime, terrorism and corruption. It's called "Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia."
The author joins us now from New York.
Ms. Betancourt, thank you so much for joining us.
How do you live with this terrorism, this corruption, this drug smuggling at a time when you are trying to run for the presidency of your country?
INGRID BETANCOURT, AUTHOR: Well, we cannot live in this situation. This is why we have to change it. And my purpose is to clean the system. I think that we have to understand that, if we allow this alliance between politics and drug traffickers, we are allowing terrorism, not only in Colombia, but also in the world.
BLITZER: Now, you are under death threat for some of the positions you have taken over these past several years as a senator. When you go out and campaign, how many security guards are surrounding you?
BETANCOURT: Well, I have 20 security bodyguards, but I lack the principal security, which would be a bullet-proof car. So I think this is kind of a fanfare, not only for me -- because I'm the only presidential candidate that doesn't have all I need for my security -- but it's also unfair for the people that are risking their lives to protect me, because they don't have the tools to protect me as they should have.
BLITZER: You have made a very painful decision. Your children are not with you in Colombia. You have sent them outside of the country because of the various death threats that you have received. How difficult a decision has that been?
BETANCOURT: It has been the most painful decision of my life. I haven't been able -- there has been six years since I sent them away. And there is not one day that I don't feel the pain of not having my children with me.
But, you see, at the same time, I feel that I am doing what I have to do, because this decision is also because I want to give them the right, the opportunity to come back to Colombia, but to a free Colombia, a free country, a country free of violence, free of corruption, free of drugs.
BLITZER: So, how often do you get to see your kids?
BETANCOURT: I see them -- it depends on the year. This year of campaign, it will be very difficult for me to see them. I saw them in Christmas. I hope I will see them in June. But it's very painful, because what I feel is that I am losing the best years of my children. And, at the same time, I think that I -- I hope that, by the example I am giving them, I hope they can also fight for their values and their principles. I want them to be proud of being Colombians.
BLITZER: But are they angry at you, their mother, what they might consider to be neglecting them because of your job, your political role in Colombia right now?
BETANCOURT: Today, they are teenagers. So, today, they are very proud of what I doing. And they are support me. But when they were children, they couldn't really express what they were feeling. But they would have nightmares. They would -- it was very painful, very difficult for us to be apart. I would say that this is the most difficult decision I have taken in my life.
BLITZER: I know that, over your political career, you have been deeply involved in fighting the corruption, all the other terrorists incidents, and the drug cartel in Colombia. You undertook a hunger strike, I believe in 1996, to protest what was going on in your country. Talk about that, if you will.
BETANCOURT: Yes. We had a president who was elected with the money of the drug traffickers. His name was Ernesto Samper. This was a very corrupted president. And he needed to be absolved by the Congress. So he paid the congressman, my colleagues. And I was witnessing all this.
So I did a hunger strike in my country in order to tell Colombians what was happening, that this was a fake judgment, that it wasn't a true trial. And I think that we managed to convey this message to Colombians. Today, President Samper has been absolved by the Congress, but he has not been absolved by the people of Colombia. BLITZER: What advice do you have for Americans who are watching the situation in Colombia, where terrorism, drug smuggling, corruption has been rampant? As you know, you have not been successful, meaning the authorities in Colombia, in eradicating this problem. What advice do you have for Americans who are worried, of course, about terrorism in this country?
BETANCOURT: In a very humble way, I would like to say to Americans that we all have to understand that, if we have -- if we want to struggle to combat and to stop terrorism and drug trafficking -- which is the same -- they are twins -- we have to understand that there is an alliance between politicians, corrupt politicians, and drug traffickers. And when those governments, those corrupt governments are in place, our duty is to combat them and to stop this alliance between politicians, political power and dirty money.
BLITZER: Ingrid Betancourt, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck in your campaign. Good luck in your life, indeed. It seems you have got a lot of problems going on over there. And good look, of course, with your new book, the title, of course: "Until Death Do Us Part."
Thank you very much for joining us.
BETANCOURT: Thank you.
BLITZER: Thank you.
And still to come: What could have prompted 15-year-old Charles Bishop to crash a plane into a Tampa building? That is one of the questions I will ask psychologist and radio talk show host Dr. Judy Kuriansky in just a few minutes.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Only minutes ago, the parents of Army Sergeant First Class Nathan Chapman held a news brief new conference in Fort Lewis, Washington. You will recall Chapman was a member of the Army special forces. He was killed Friday in an ambush in Afghanistan. The parents were asked about reports that a 14-year-old may have been responsible for killing their son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNN CHAPMAN, MOTHER OF NATHAN CHAPMAN: I would like to say that it doesn't matter how it happened. Nathan was doing an important job. Where he was was dangerous. And what happened makes no difference to us. We had faith in him. And it doesn't make any difference.
WIL CHAPMAN, FATHER OF NATHAN CHAPMAN: It could have been a 40- year-old, a 14-year-old. He is just as dead. And the admission isn't -- doesn't change by that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: This note: Wil and Lynn Chapman will be the guest of Larry King on "LARRY KING LIVE." It's an exclusive prime-time interview tonight, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific.
And it's not possible yet, if ever, we'll know what led 15-year- old Charles Bishop to fly a plane into a Tampa, Florida skyscraper over the weekend.
Joining us now with some thoughts on what might cause a ninth- grader to do such a thing is the psychologist, radio talk show host, Dr. Judy Kuriansky.
Dr. Judy, thanks for joining us.
Well, tell us, what might cause a 15-year-old to do such a thing?
DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, PSYCHOLOGIST: What seems to me to have happened in this particular case with this kamikaze kid is that he was looking for heroism and being some kind of anti-hero.
We know from his note, what has been reported by the investigators, is that he was sympathetic to Osama bin Laden. That, I think, is very crucial in this case. It's been called a suicide case. I don't think this is just a suicide. This is an act of aggression to take the plane into a building.
Granted, it was Saturday, but people could have been there. So, in that case, we have to look at: Why would a kid do this act of aggression? It's his way to get fame in an anti-hero kind of way. Osama bin Laden has been portrayed as brilliant. This was a kid who was an honor student. And he was teacher's pet. And so he was also brilliant and carried out a brilliant plan.
It has also been said that he called a friend and said, "Watch TV tomorrow night." That is another indication that this was his way of showing he is powerful; he is going to be as famous as Osama bin Laden.
BLITZER: What should parents and other loved ones be looking for? There must be some signs that a kid could be as disturbed, as angry as he is -- or she may be -- to want to commit suicide in this kind of desperate act.
KURIANSKY: Well, I think the typical profile is to look for something that is a change in their behavior. Besides being the loner and the misfit, it can be alone or with a gang of kids.
What's changed in their behavior? Are they sleeping differently, acting differently, speaking differently? Have they planned something? Do they seem to be secretive, is a major thing, because there were plans that this kid was doing. Also, what is outside that's changed in their life? This kid was moved a year before from Massachusetts in a private school down to Florida.
We don't know yet about his parents, but there obviously isn't a father in this situation -- so noticing a change in that way, too. And what is really important is, we always blame the parents and the teachers for not noticing. But friends really have to pay attention, too. And young kids need to know: Pay attention to what your friends are saying to you.
BLITZER: But, as you know, young kids, teenagers, they don't want to be tattletales. They don't want to be accused of betraying their friend, even when they suspect their friends may be up to no good.
KURIANSKY: Well, this is very true. But I think there needs to be classes in school about how to handle these situations as a friend, that you are not really betraying your friend; you are helping your friend.
And especially, I think now, people really -- classes and teachers and parents need to ask kids: How do you feel about this -- these terrorist characters? And notice what kids say about them. Have classes in school for even young children, because this has been a huge impact on young children. They are still suffering from all kinds of nightmares. And these kind of things are just happening three to six months after a major event and coming to light.
I am afraid to say that this may not be the only copycat kind of act, that there will be other anti-heroes like Saddam Hussein that kids may now be attracted to. "I'm going to be as powerful." This kid was taunting the government by flying purposefully south and then going north over the Air Force base. That is flying in the face of authority.
And I think, to that extent, too, the school was responsible, his flying school, for allowing him in a plane unsupervised.
BLITZER: Dr. Judy Kuriansky, thanks so much for your insight. We appreciate it.
And please stay with us for a complete check of the stories in today's "Newswire" -- plus, the new cars of 2002. We'll have a report from the International Auto Show, with a preview of Volvo's new SUV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Now checking these stories on today's "Newswire": Astronomers are celebrating a one-of-a-kind observation. They have taken optical images of a giant planet-like object and its parent star. The pictures were made with ground-based technology instead of a space telescope. The planet-like object is known as a brown dwarf. It's the closest such object ever observed around a star using direct imaging.
A federal judge in Washington deals Microsoft a double setback. She denies the company's request to delay court proceedings on an antitrust settlement proposal submitted by nine states. The judge also refuses to narrow the range of remedies suggested by those states.
Some experts who track the auto industry say Ford Motor Company may have to cut up to 20,000 jobs to become profitable again. The company plans to announce a massive restructuring program Friday. Ford has been plagued by a number of problems, including a fall-off in sales.
At the International Auto Show in Detroit, Volvo has announced that it is releasing its first sport utility vehicle -- among its features: night-vision technology.
We find out more from CNN's Jeff Flock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you may have thought that everybody made an SUV. Well, at least until today, it was everybody but Volvo.
I want to show what you happened over in the arena. And not too far from where we stand right now, a little earlier today, it was the unveiling of Volvo XC90 -- now Volvo in the SUV game.
I'm with who Christer Gustafsson, who is in charge of safety.
You said that you didn't care about being first. You just wanted to be best, in some sense.
CHRISTER GUSTAFSSON, VOLVO SAFETY ENGINEER: Yes, we have a long tradition in safety at Volvo. And if we do develop a car like this, of course we keep our leadership in safety.
FLOCK: Now, I want you to show me some of the features on this, take me inside this car. And in terms of the safety features, what have you got in here in terms of protection?
GUSTAFSSON: One example is the inflatable curtain, which is activated in side impact, but in rollover as well in order to protect the occupant from the impact
(CROSSTALK)
FLOCK: So it comes down from the ceiling, and even in the back seat, correct?
GUSTAFSSON: In the back seat, yes.
FLOCK: Wow, that's a lot of air bags.
GUSTAFSSON: Yes.
FLOCK: Now, another little feature, what does this middle seat do? This is for kids, right?
GUSTAFSSON: It's for kids.
FLOCK: Show me how that works.
GUSTAFSSON: Children's safety is as important as adults. And by adjusting this, you move the children closer to the parents, which they find very comfortable and
(CROSSTALK)
FLOCK: So, on your long trips, they can interact a little more easily.
GUSTAFSSON: Yes. That is what we know children will do.
FLOCK: And if you don't want to interact, you have got some entertainment up there, too, there.
Now, I know one thing, you may be the last in the SUV game, but, in some sense, you are the first, because your CEO showed us a picture over there of an old vehicle. It's a yellow one. What was that, now?
GUSTAFSSON: Military purpose.
FLOCK: You built that when, back when? The '40s, was it?
GUSTAFSSON: Back in the '40s, yes.
FLOCK: Is that right?
GUSTAFSSON: Yes.
FLOCK: Well, OK. So instead of being last in the game, Volvo is the first in the SUV game. I would like to get one of those old ones.
That is the latest from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit at this hour -- Jeff Flock reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: I want to get one of those old ones, too. Maybe they will release those. I'll bet you a lot of people would want to buy them.
Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE," which begins at the top of the hour.
Lou is standing by -- Lou.
LOU DOBBS, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Wolf, thank you very much.
Coming up next: We will have a live report from Afghanistan on the latest on the war against terrorism. I will be joined tonight by Richard Perle, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and with the Defense Study Group. We will also be going to the White House, where the president is pushing economic stimulus to the top of his agenda.
And from the Detroit auto show, I will be talking to the president and CEO of Chrysler, Dieter Zetsche -- all of that, a lot more coming up at the top of the hour. Please join us.
Now back to Wolf Blitzer in Washington -- Wolf. BLITZER: We certainly will, Lou. Thank you very much.
And a tribute to the Big Apple coming up: a look at the first cruise ship to dock in New York's harbor since September 11.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: One of the world's premier luxury ships got a big welcome back to New York today. The QE2, named for Britain's Queen Elizabeth, arrived in New York Harbor earlier today. Before docking, the ship made a ceremonial stop near the site of the World Trade Center. It's the first time a cruise line has resumed its schedule since the September 11 attacks.
Once again, this program reminder: One hour from now, 7:00 Eastern, I'll host a CNN investigation, an examination of September 11: "The Money Maze."
Until then, 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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