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CNN Live At Daybreak

New Warnings About Possible Terrorist Attacks

Aired April 25, 2002 - 05:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There are new warnings this morning about possible terrorist attacks, one at home and one overseas. In this country, the FBI says there may be attacks against supermarkets or shopping centers. Officials caution the tip triggering the warning is unsubstantiated and there is no information about possible targets, timing or type of attacks. So it's the same deal as always.

This latest alert has not changed the nation's threat status. It remains at yellow and yellow is the middle range.

In that overseas alert, the State Department says American interests in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula could be at risk. The U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa closed its doors Tuesday after being warned of a possible attack.

Law enforcement officials say the information on the domestic threat came from Abu Zubaydah, the highest ranking al Qaeda leader in custody. U.S. officials have questions about his credibility in the past.

CNN's David Ensor looks at the difficulty terror war investigators face in getting to the truth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abu Zubaydah, al Qaeda's top field commander, is talking. But the trouble is is American interrogators are not sure whether to believe him. Information given by Abu Zubaydah led to last week's warning that a bank in the Northeast might be attacked. Zubaydah also claimed al Qaeda is seeking to build a so-called dirty bomb, designed to spread radioactivity over a wide area? True or deliberate lies designed to sow panic?

CINDY CAPPS, COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES: It's difficult to figure out if, in fact, it's misinformation on his part. You know, is he, like you said, jerking everybody's chain by saying, OK, a bank in the Northeast is going to explode on Thursday, whatever date? Or, in fact, is that true?

ENSOR: The same question applies in Kandahar, Afghanistan to what prisoners the U.S. is holding there are saying and again in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some congressional sources say the interrogations are not going well. The key, says former FBI integrator Cindy Capps, is know your target.

CAPPS: Every person has a button that can be pushed but you have to find the button. And in someone who has hated the United States for so long, you know, what could that button possibly be? You know, is he worried about his family? Is he worried about money? Is he worried about being thrown back to some other country in the Middle East to punish him? You know, what is the button?

ENSOR: The CIA and other U.S. agencies have a policy against using torture, but prisoners can be told if they don't cooperate they may be handed over to a less squeamish ally. One al Qaeda official, Ibin Sheikh al-Libi (ph), was in U.S. hands for a time. He is now reported to be in the hands of Egyptian justice, under interrogation using Egyptian methods.

U.S. officials refuse to describe what methods they use short of torture to coerce prisoners. But in 1988 Senate testimony, a senior CIA official said techniques included forcing the subject to stand for long periods, sleep, sound and food deprivation, isolation and climate changes.

TORIE CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: When you have people, as I said, who have been trained to resist, the expectations are that this will take a long time. It will be difficult. You will use appropriate means.

ENSOR (on camera): U.S. officials stress how important the work is. Abu Zubaydah could save many thousands of lives, says one official. That's if he decides to tell the truth.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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