Anti-Taliban Commanders Give Ultimatum to Al Qaeda
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: But first this morning, want to begin with that deadline on the ground, the deadly ultimatum now facing Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda troops. Bob Franken at the Pentagon. And, Bob, there is a short history here in this conflict given cease-fires in the past. What is being said at the moment there in Washington?</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the census is, we'll believe it when we see it. We, being the administration officials, pentagon officials, in particular, talking about the proposed surrender at 10:30 this evening Eastern time, 8:00 a.m. on the ground over there of the al Qaeda forces who have been so vigorously defending the Tora Bora complex, defending what really amounts to the last major stronghold for al Qaeda and Taliban. And of course, there is a possibility or a hope, at least, in the minds of many people here that the intelligence reports that have placed Osama bin Laden in that complex turn out to be true. The surrender of the al Qaeda forces, not naming Osama bin Laden, is, as I said, scheduled for 10:30 this evening. And if it goes as planned, then everybody would begin scouring the caves, trying to see if in fact there were some secret areas there that were hiding some of the people who they so badly want here in the United States. And there is just a new reality on the ground in Afghanistan, that reality being that Taliban have virtually been eliminated, except for their small pockets of resistance and the armed troops who continue to take their weapons. That new reality has been reflected in the fact that U.S. Marines moved, for instance, have moved from their base about 55 miles south of Kandahar. Contingents of them are operating really quite close to Kandahar now, becoming more and more assertive in their efforts to try and round up those Taliban troops who are still carrying their weapons, trying to confiscate their weapons, blocking roads, participating in the search not only for Osama bin Laden, in case he's in that area, but also for the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar, in case he is in that area. The Marines becoming more and more of a force themselves. Of course U.S. special troops -- special operations troops have been involved in this throughout. One other interesting sign of the time here is the withdraw soon of the USS Kitty Hawk, the aircraft carrier that is going to be returning to Japan. It is going to leave two aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea off of Afghanistan. What was so interesting about the Kitty Hawk is that it was really not there to be an aircraft carrier but its huge amount of space was used as a staging area. It became a floating base, a floating country, so to speak, for some of the initial operations. But of course the reality is changing and the combat on the ground in Afghanistan. The truth also is is that the U.S. now has more land-based troops, not only in Kandahar, but in some of the countries around Afghanistan. So the war is taking on a new stage, but we are warned repeatedly that this is something that is going to go on for quite some time. Of course we've heard that repeatedly about the worldwide war on terror. But specifically, the war in Afghanistan is going to continue, we're told by officials here, it is not over by a long shot. All of that in the context of three months ago at exactly this time, as we just saw in ceremonies outside, the Pentagon was hit by one of the hijacked planes leaving 189 dead here, that includes the hijackers who were on board the plane -- 189 dead. Three months later, the Pentagon has returned to its normal business, even if those memories continue and will for a long time -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: All right, Bob, thanks. Bob Franken, at the Pentagon, we'll be back in touch later this morning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com