Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Al Qaeda Leader: Malls, Supermarkets; Banks All Potential Targets

Aired April 25, 2002 - 14:14   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Malls and supermarkets and banks, all potential terrorist targets according to a captured al Qaeda leader. But is it true and can the words be trusted? David Ensor with a look at that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abu Zubaydah, al Qaeda's top field commander, is talking. But the trouble is his 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 SECRETARY STUDIES CTR.: It's difficult to figure out if it's misinformation on his part. You know, is he, like you say, jerking everybody's chain by saying 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 interrogator 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 somebody who has hated the United States for so long, what could that button possibly be? 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, Ibn Shaykh al-Libi, 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.

VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: When you have people 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)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com