Connie Chung: Pearl forced to read propaganda

Chung

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- A videotape delivered to Pakistani officials last week showed the execution of kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. CNN's Connie Chung viewed a copy of that videotape and recounted what she saw Tuesday to CNN's Aaron Brown.

BROWN: Connie, the tape raises a number of issues, and I want to get to those -- but let's first talk about the tape itself, those parts of the tape that we're going to describe. What did you see?

CHUNG: I will not describe any portions of the tape that are graphic details. CNN has not received a copy of the tape. I simply viewed a copy of the tape. And it is CNN policy that we will not air, even if we did have the tape, any portions that are graphically describing or graphically depicting Daniel Pearl's murder.

Aaron, the tape runs 3 minutes and 15 seconds long. The original tape, as we know, runs 3 minutes and 50 seconds long. What I saw was an edited portion, I believe, 40 seconds missing. But I'm told through my sources that it is a legitimate tape, it is identical to the original with the exception of 40 seconds missing. It shows Daniel Pearl ... In addition, there are words that appear just below his face, such as Afghanistan, Kashmir, Palestine. And there are pictures superimposed next to his face that show bodies, funerals.

BROWN: So this is a produced...

CHUNG: The tape begins with Daniel Pearl saying...

BROWN: I'm sorry. So this is a somewhat produced tape...

CHUNG: Highly produced in many ways.

BROWN: Okay, Let's talk about what he says.

CHUNG: Daniel Pearl says, "My name is Daniel Pearl. I'm a Jewish-American." He then states his address. I'm reading it because I did take it verbatim and I want to get it absolutely correct. Later on, it's very, very clear that what he is uttering is pure propaganda that the terrorists demanded that he utter.

He talks about his heritage. He says, "My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am a Jew." Later on, looking at the camera, he says, "We've made numerous family visits to Israel." He says that there is a street called Heim Pearl Street, which was named after his great-grandfather, who was one of the founders of the town. Then, again, there is clear editing. And at this point, he is somewhat struggling to speak in the sense that you can tell that the terrorists have demanded that he utter these words.

He says, "Not knowing anything about my situation, not being able to communicate with anybody, and only now do I think about some of the people in Guantanamo Bay. They must be in a similar situation, and I have come to realize that this is the sort of problem that Americans are going to have anywhere in the world now." He then looks off camera, clearly under duress, saying, "We can't be secure. We can't walk around free as long as our government policies are continuing and we allow them to continue."

He then -- there's another edit -- again he looks at the camera and says, "We as Americans cannot continue to bear the consequences of our government's actions, such as the unconditional support of the state of Israel." It almost seems as if he is speaking from memory. He is not reading a text, but he is speaking from memory because he is struggling to remember what he is supposed to say. It clearly is pure propaganda. During this portion in which he is speaking it runs about a minute, 35-37 seconds. Then comes the graphic portion of the videotape which I will not describe out of respect for Daniel Pearl and his family. That runs about 50 seconds.

In the end, the videotape shows a picture of Daniel Pearl and there is a title that says, "The National Movement for the Restoration for Pakistan Sovereignty" In parentheses, NMRPS. Then -- a very sophisticated crawl is what we call it in television -- the words roll from the bottom of the screen to the top of the screen, and there are demands that the terrorist want to convey to whoever is viewing this videotape. And basically, the demands are that ...the Pakistanis who are being held in Guantanamo Bay be released, the immediate end of the U.S. presence in Pakistan, and the delivery of those F-16 planes that Pakistan had paid for but were not received. And then a clear threat to Americans who are here in Pakistan and that if these demands are not met then a similar situation of what happened to Daniel Pearl will happen again and again, and those words end with dot, dot, dot.

BROWN: Okay, Connie, let me know throw a couple of quick things at you and then one that is a little more complicated. You say he is clearly under duress, how do you know that?

CHUNG: He does not appear as if he is speaking terribly naturally. In the beginning portions, he is speaking a bit more naturally, as if he were just talking to someone off-camera, but later on he's struggling to say the words that he utters. And it clearly appears as if these are words that he doesn't want to speak.

BROWN: Now take a couple of seconds here and describe how he looks. Does he look like he has been beaten up? Does he look exhausted? Does he look clean shaven or unshaven? Give me a picture.

CHUNG: He is unshaven. He doesn't appear to have a growth of several days; it's very difficult to tell. He is not beaten in these particular excerpts in which he is speaking, but it is very difficult to tell. The quality of the tape is not very good. There are times when his hair is mussed and there are times when it is slicked back. He doesn't appear natural, certainly, but he doesn't appear as if he has been beaten.

BROWN: Okay, and here is the more complicated question, I think. This tape is a piece of evidence at this moment. What is it that investigators hope to get from it?

CHUNG: Sources tell me that investigators are studying the tape carefully in a scientific way, trying to look at the hands that are seen, the hands and the arms of someone who is actually appearing in the more graphic portions of the videotape. And they will compare those hands and those arms with those of the suspects who are currently being held in Pakistani custody.

Authorities, I am told, are trying to arrest seven other individuals they have named, hoping that these individuals will either become suspects or witnesses and they will compare their arms and their hands in a scientific way to those seen on the tape. Another very interesting part of this investigation that I learned tonight is that, as you saw the suspects Aaron, being moved from an armored car when they appeared in the court, they all had sheets over their heads. There was a reason for that. And the reason is once other suspects, or other witnesses, are brought into custody they will try to identify the suspects who are in custody. The suspects who are in custody will be put in a line-up. The authorities do not want anyone to have seen the suspects.

BROWN: A final question. We alluded to this earlier. We've talked about a piece of tape that has other video images on it, that has a crawl running up one side of it, that appears to have a number of edits in it. Clearly, at some level, this was a produced piece of video. This was not home video the way we tend to think of it.

CHUNG: That's right, Aaron. It is highly produced, though it is rough editing, and it's clearly a piece of propaganda ... I covered the American soldier who was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, and videotape was taken of him -- very clearly propaganda video. This is clearly propaganda video, and every portion of it is meant to send a message. And it is produced, highly produced, in the sense that there are words that appear on the screen, the way we would be able to do it on our television screen. But then again, it's very roughly produced.