Kabul Prepares For New Government
AARON BROWN, "NEWSNIGHT": And good evening again everyone. It's Friday. It's the Friday before Christmas. It's the Friday before a week off. This program tonight could be an adventure. I can't prove this, but it just seems to me that Christmas feels different this year. The weather here in the East has been remarkably warm for much of the last few weeks. No sign of snow. But it's not just the weather and it's not just here. Across the country, we talked with friends and we've gotten the sense that everything is more sober this year. Concern for the troops overseas, concern for the economy at home, and of course the scars of September 11th are still quite raw. And we haven't helped much around here, have we? The news over the last several weeks has been a bit tough to take, so we'll try to throw some fun into the mix tonight. After all, it is a Friday. But as always, and as it should be, the hard news comes first. In Kabul today, there was preparations for something that happens just hours from now. A new government takes over, at least for the short term. And there's also tonight some concern that U.S. warplanes hit tribal chiefs near Tora Bora, friends of the Americans, not terrorists and we'll look at that tonight as well. As for bin Laden, President Bush today said "he may have tried to slither out to Pakistan." He also said the country is safer than it was September 11th but the United States remains a target. And September 11th rushes back when you look at this picture, but something good did come from Ground Zero this week. In the relative universe we find ourselves in, the fires are out there and the death toll, which has slowly but steadily come down. It's down below 3,000 today. Now imagine that. Imagine thinking a death toll in the thousands could be anything other than horrific. We'll talk about the controversy over how to compensate the families victimized on September 11th tonight. This is troubling. We'll talk with two brothers who are unhappy about the way it's being handled. I also have Jason Bellini's final collaboration with MTV News in Afghanistan, and Bruce Morton tonight on whether Christmas this year is, in fact, different. And then there's this holiday travel piece that's a bit of an experiment for us. That's all we're going to say about that right now. We'll start as we always do with a whip around the world, the correspondents covering it. It starts at the Pentagon tonight and CNN's Bob Franken who has the duty. Bob, a headline please.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the cliche of the night, Aaron, is the more things change, the more they stay the same. And that could describe the day's story of the view of the war from the Pentagon.</s>BROWN: Bob, back with you shortly. Now, to Afghanistan, Kabul the capitol, where a government is preparing to take power. CNN's John Vause is there. John, a headline.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, on a bitterly cold morning here in Kabul, just a few hours from now that interim authority will take power, but the party may be short lived. There is an enormous job ahead.</s>BROWN: John, thank you. And next, to the White House, and the President's day today. CNN's Major Garrett is there. Major, a headline, please.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, the president who once referred to John Walker as a poor fellow, today called him an al Qaeda fighter, a terrorist in other words, and that's a label that no one, especially an American wants to wear right now. That it was applied by the commander-in-chief, who will hold John Walker's legal fate in his hands, make it all the more important.</s>BROWN: Major, thank you. Back with all of you shortly. We begin with the war and signs tonight that it's entering a new phase, certainly a more narrow focus and perhaps a whole lot riskier. U.S. troops are going into cafes and giving chase through the hills and mountains of Afghanistan. And today, after three days of quiet, U.S. warplanes bombed in eastern Afghanistan. There is some dispute over exactly what they hit, though apparently there is no doubt at the Pentagon, at least last time we checked. We turn once again to CNN's Bob Franken. Bob.</s>FRANKEN: And you talk about the new phase and that's how the Secretary of Defense described it today. But there are some remnants of the old phase, some old charges, old denials, but also according to the Defense Secretary, some new successes.</s>FRANKEN (voice over): As the dust settles from the all-out war in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that a methodical search through the debris has already made a significant contribution to the war on terrorism.</s>DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There has been information that has been gathered in Afghanistan that has directly resulted in the arrest of people across the world, at the other side of the globe, and undoubtedly have prevented other terrorist activities.</s>FRANKEN: Which countries? Which terrorist activities? Could the Defense Secretary be more specific?</s>RUMSFELD: No. I thought I did well.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: No, certainly can</s>RUMSFELD: I could but I won't.</s>FRANKEN: Rumsfeld did confirm that U.S. troops have joined the search through the hundreds of caves and tunnels, and that more are on the way for work that is very tedious and, at the same time, very dangerous.</s>RUMSFELD: The assumption is anyone in there is dead, but if you make that assumption you can get in an awful lot of trouble awful fast. So they're exercising a great deal of care and they're properly trained and they're doing a good job.</s>FRANKEN: They'll get some help from a new weapon, brand new. It was less than two weeks ago that an intense heat bomb was still being tested in the Nevada desert. It's called a thermoberic bomb.</s>EDWARD ALDRIDGE, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We skipped a laser- guided bomb into a tunnel an exploded it with a delay fuse and experienced a significant growth in over pressure for the tunnels and temperature. It's something that we would clearly have a need for in Afghanistan, and they're on their way over there.</s>FRANKEN: Ten are being sent. They'll be dropped into the caves and tunnels from F-15 jets, even as the air war is scaling back. There was a three-day lull before U.S. planes attacked a convoy near the town of Khost, not far from Tora Bora, and not far from a facility identified as a terrorist training camp. The attack they said here killed Taliban leaders, but on the ground some local officials claimed the dead were tribal elders on their way to the inauguration of Afghanistan's new government. Pentagon officials reject that possibility.</s>GENERAL PETER PACE, VICE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS: I'd like not to address the specific indicators that caused us to strike that particular convoy, but the intelligence that we gathered at the time indicated to us that this was, in fact, leadership and we struck the leadership, as we will do next time we get that kind of intelligence.</s>FRANKEN: Pentagon officials provided no identification, but all of this seems to be an indication that although the war may seem to be rolling back, the fog of war definitely has not. Aaron.</s>BROWN: Well the - you know, this story I heard it early in the afternoon that perhaps the wrong target was hit. Has there been any change in what the Pentagon's been saying through the course of the day, from the afternoon briefing until now?</s>FRANKEN: No. In fact, they're even more emphatic. First of all, they point out that the information is coming via the Islamic agency press, which they continuously point out is closely associated with the Taliban. Also they say, they have checked and rechecked and they just firmly believe this time that the targets that they hit were with ones that they set out to hit.</s>BROWN: We'll see what shakes tomorrow on that, thanks. Bob Franken at the Pentagon tonight. From Day One, there's been a concern that getting the Afghans to agree on a post-Taliban government would not be an easy thing to do, and it hasn't. But they did agree and tomorrow early, an interim government will take power in Kabul. If all goes well, it will be a tense moment, but it will be a peaceful one. The story takes place in the capitol, the ceremony does. CNN's John Vause is there. John, good morning to you.</s>VAUSE: Hello, Aaron. Well, there is a sense of hope and optimism here in Kabul. But as I said, there is a message up ahead to this new interim administration. Nine billion dollars is the price tag the U.N. and the World Bank puts on rebuilding the infrastructure in Afghanistan. It says that the money will be coming over the next five years, providing this interim administration and the governments which follow, can maintain the peace. In the short-term, $600 million just to reopen schools, improve the health care system, give seed to farmers, and improve the water supply; $20 million for the interim administration simply to go out and buy office equipment, to pay salaries, to buy everything from paper clips to pencils to desks and chairs. Now security here in Kabul for this swearing in ceremony is extremely tight. On the streets this morning, troops were lining the streets every 20 to 30 feet. They were stopping and checking every card. It's a very visible security presence. Not so visible, the British Royal Marines, who last night moved into the British Embassy. They say they will take up positions around Kabul during the ceremony. They say they'll have a low-key, a very low profile role for the next few days. They're of course the advance guard before the international stabilization force arrives. They say they're merely here to offer advice and to be on hand should the interim administration need their help. Also yesterday, a security sweep across Kabul, apart of that security sweep, bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in as well as security and heavily armed troops on checkpoints. There is also a number of diplomats who have arrived in the capitol, Kabul. Among the foreigners and the foreign dignitaries here, Tommy Franks, the Commander of the U.S. Central Command who led the bombing campaign which ultimately ousted the Taliban from power. Now one final thing, yesterday they did in fact solve one problem. Someone found a cassette tape with the Afghanistan National Anthem on it. They needed that cassette tape because they couldn't find enough musicians to play, to form the band to play the National Anthem. Now that National Anthem hasn't been heard for many, many years so it will be very interesting to see how many people here actually know the words. Aaron.</s>BROWN: That is an absolutely priceless anecdote there. You talked about troops lining the streets. Whose troops? Who are they? Who's commanding them?</s>VAUSE: These are the municipal authority troops. They're essentially the police, if you like. They wear the gray uniforms, not the fatigues of the Northern Alliance, although ultimately they do come under the umbrella we're told of the Northern Alliance. But these more, if you like, a civil authority rather than the hard and battle weary troops of the Northern Alliance who fought the war just a few weeks ago. They're heavily armed though. They carry RPGs and those Kalashnikov AK-47 rifles.</s>BROWN: And will many of the citizens of Kabul be allowed to watch it all?</s>VAUSE: Well that's the interesting point. They're expecting about 2,000 Afghan citizens who will actually be allowed in to watch the proceedings. They are making provisions to put this on television, although we're not quite too sure how that will work. Afghan TV isn't the most reliable source of communications in the country. It's a very difficult thing to try and get messages out to the population. But essentially, the vast bulk of the million population which makes up Kabul will not be able to see the proceedings which are taking place here today.</s>BROWN: John, thanks. John Vause in Kabul on a historic day in the Afghan capitol. We mentioned earlier the president took another jab at Osama bin Laden today. Tough words as well for world leaders who say one thing about terrorism and perhaps do another. "Thank you for your condolences," the president said. "I appreciate your flowers. Now arrest somebody if they're in your country." He also had a lot to say about the American Taliban John Walker. So we go back to the White House and CNN's Major Garrett who's on the lawn tonight. Major, good evening.</s>GARRETT: Good evening, Aaron. Senior administration officials tell CNN that as they deliberate what to do about John Walker's case, what they want to do is bring a case they can win in court. No real surprise there. But that has a lot of bearing on exactly what kind of case will be brought and exactly where. Will it be a military court? Will it be a civilian court? The administration is still debating that. The president took some questions today in the Oval Office about John Walker and a range of other topics and he actually made a little bit of news about the John Walker case.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The administration's heard from his lawyer and we told his lawyer that at the appropriate time, we'll let everybody know, including his family how we're going to proceed with Walker, as well as others that have become captured during this war.</s>GARRETT: Aaron, nobody knew that John Walker's attorney, James Brosnahan had been in touch with the White House Counsel. In fact, CNN learned that he was in touch with Alberto Gonzalez, the White House Counsel on Monday. Senior administration officials privy to those conversations tell us the conversation was about five minutes. It was serious, had no legal bluster in it, and was not a part of any posturing maneuver by Mr. Walker's attorney. Overall, the administration considers the conversation generally good. Here's one interesting note, Aaron. James Brosnahan is no mystery figure to people at this Bush White House. He was a lead prosecutor in the Iran Contra Scandal, and he handled the perjury case against Caspar Weinberger, a case that was nullified when, at the last minute, George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president, pardoned Cap Weinberger right before that case was to go to trial. Aaron.</s>BROWN: Well, the key thing as I listen to this was the change in tone. I mean, we've gone from an almost empathetic description from the president to a much harsher one. The president sending signals here?</s>GARRETT: The president knows, and his senior advisors know, that John Walker's peers or might we call them his former peers, the American public want the maximum charge brought, and they want that charge successfully prosecuted. That's why the administration is being very careful in the gathering of facts. Also, as they gather those facts, they're trying to extract more information from John Walker, dangling lesser charges in exchange for more information, a common prosecutorial tactic. We're not expecting any definitive word from the White House as to what will become judicially of John Walker for at least a week. Aaron.</s>BROWN: And, Major, this is probably unfair to ask you, so beg off if you might, if you wish, do we believe that his lawyer, Walker's lawyer has had any contact with his client at all?</s>GARRETT: I don't - I simply do not know.</s>BROWN: OK.</s>GARRETT: I've made several attempts to talk to James Brosnahan today. He declined to return my phone calls and said, issuing a broad statement just talking about his general efforts on Mr. Walker's behalf, no comments back to me. His bad luck, not mine.</s>BROWN: Thank you. I'm sorry to put you on the spot there.</s>GARRETT: That's all right.</s>BROWN: Have a good weekend, thank you.</s>GARRETT: All right.</s>BROWN: Major Garrett at the White House tonight. In a moment, health problems facing New York's firefighters who spend days, weeks, long day and weeks breathing the smoke at Ground Zero. More on that as NewsNight continues on the Friday before Christmas.