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American Morning

Interview with Sen. Richard Shelby, Senate Intelligence Committee

Aired April 18, 2002 - 08:25   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The "Big Question" at this hour, what does the latest bin Laden tape reveal? With CNN now reporting that the al Qaeda leader may have been injured last December during military operations in Tora Bora, does this latest tape shed any new light on bin Laden's health and whereabouts?

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has seen the tape in its entirety. He joins us now from Washington.

Good of you to join us, Senator. Thanks for your time this morning.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: So, Senator Shelby, you have seen the entire tape. What is its intelligence value?

SHELBY: Well, that will probably remain to be seen because the intelligence community will be continuing to evaluate the whole tape for any messages, hidden or otherwise. But what I got out of it, Paula, was a confirmation beyond any doubt that the al Qaeda was very complicit in the planning and the execution of the events of September the 11th.

There's been a lot of denial about this, especially in the Islamic world. But if you see this tape and you hear the words, although they had to be translated for me, you go away without any denial anymore. There can't be denial if there's any objectivity at all.

The other parts of the tape, part of it was continuing to rally the troops, showing events of September the 11th and otherwise trying to let the people know, that is, their terrorist groups, that they were doing well. I think it was a morale building thing overall.

ZAHN: You say this tape leaves no question in your mind that Osama bin Laden was absolutely responsible for what happened on September 11. What, in your judgment, was the single most indicting thing on this tape?

SHELBY: Well, to me, Paula, was its, it was basically the last will and testament of one of the participants in the September the 11th events in New York. And what he was saying is what he was basically going to do. And he was going through the ritual knowing that he was going to lose his life in the events to come.

I don't know how any rational person could see the tape and be in denial anyway again.

ZAHN: All right, let's go on to the actual production of this tape. There have been various reports that it is a tape that's been, you know, juxtaposed in a number of odd ways. Was that clear to you when you watched it?

SHELBY: Absolutely.

ZAHN: Sequences were a little off?

SHELBY: Absolutely, Paula. It probably was not as professional as what you see at CNN or any of the other networks every day by a long shot. It was probably a cut and paste job to get it out to their terrorist groups and try to get it on the air to rally their followers. It lacked a lot of professionalism. But I think the gist of it was to try to let their own people know how well they were doing and how well that they were still around.

ZAHN: When do you think this tape was recorded?

SHELBY: Paula, it'd just be my judgment from what I've been told that they thought perhaps before Christmas, some time in November. But we'll have to wait and see what continuous evaluation by the intelligence community would bring.

ZAHN: Someone was making the analysis this morning that Osama bin Laden looks different in this latest tape that was released from earlier tapes, and we're going to try to roll some of that old tape just to see what your observations were because you've seen them all.

SHELBY: OK.

ZAHN: What did you notice?

SHELBY: Well, I noticed a drawn, tired, probably someone with a lot of pressure on him, which we've been putting. Perhaps he's been wounded. There's been a lot of speculation regarding that. But he doesn't look as robust as he did several months before.

ZAHN: In fact, CNN has been told by a number of sources that they do believe that Osama bin Laden was injured in Tora Bora. Do you have any reason to believe those accounts?

SHELBY: Well, there's a lot of stories to that effect, but as far as total confirmation, we don't have that. But perhaps he was.

ZAHN: "Time" magazine was reporting earlier this week that there is in the works a plan to possibly extract him from Pakistan if he successfully has gone there. Is that a distinct possibility, in your mind? SHELBY: Well, I would hope so. Any way, anywhere we could find him we're going after him, if it's in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or somewhere else. I have to believe myself that he's either in Afghanistan or along the border in Pakistan. He is on the run, make no mistake about it. And as I've said before, we're big in the hunt.

ZAHN: And Senator Shelby, a final question for you. Do you think Tommy Franks blew it in not nabbing Osama bin Laden? There was a lot of attention in a report yesterday that suggested that somehow our forces misjudged the cooperativeness of our Afghan allies and that blew our chance to get Osama bin Laden early on.

SHELBY: Well, this is Monday morning quarterbacking. I think General Franks has shown a lot of leadership and has got a good team on the ground there. But some things, sometimes you don't tighten the noose. In this case, obviously, they didn't. But I think that they're professional. You've got to go with them and you've got to support them.

ZAHN: All right, as always, good to have you on on AMERICAN MORNING.

SHELBY: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Senator Richard Shelby. Love to have you back as soon as you get even more firm information about the value of these tapes. Thanks again for joining us.

SHELBY: Thank you.

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