WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Bill Hemmer is in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He has reaction to the release of the bin Laden videotape, and the latest on the Afghan government reports about where Osama bin Laden may be hiding.</s>BILL HEMMER, CNN, KANDAHAR: The reports and rumors about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts continue to swirl about here in Afghanistan. The Afghan defense ministry telling CNN that bin Laden is alive, and is now hiding out, seeking refuge from a radical Islamic group in the country of Pakistan. However, when CNN contacted that group's leader, who, by the way, has been in custody with Pakistan for the past three months, he simply scoffs at the reports and says they are simply not true. But again, the rumors and the reports, almost on a daily basis, continue to come in. Here in Kandahar, the detainees continue to come in as well. Early Thursday morning, at 2:00 a.m., a C-130 landed here in Kandahar, delivering 20 more detainees, suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members. What's critical about this group, according sources here at the base, is that they all were picked up and nabbed along the Afghan-Pakistani border. At this time, they are being processed and questioned. Certainly, investigators want to find out what information they may have about bin Laden, and also what information they may have about senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Also in Kandahar, here with the U.S. Marines, there continues to be some reaction now to that bin Laden videotape released just yesterday. The reaction, though, however, is somewhat muted. Marines say there is nothing new on the tape. They haven't changed their minds, and their operation and mission will change despite what bin Laden may be saying. With the U.S. Marines, Bill Hemmer, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Rumors Swirling About Osama bin Laden's Whereabouts