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American Morning

Government Memo Warns of Smuggled Terrorists

Aired May 14, 2002 - 07:02   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on to our big question of the hour: What is behind the July 4 terror alert? Well, according to the latest intelligence reports, terrorists may be planning an attack against U.S. nuclear power facilities to coincide with the country's birthday celebrations.

The Bush administration has increased security at power plants in response to the new threat. But who is behind it? National security correspondent David Ensor has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. officials say they did receive word from a foreign intelligence service that Islamic terrorists might be planning an attack on a U.S. nuclear power plant on or around July 4, the nation's birthday. But they stress they believe the information may not be reliable at all. It comes, officials say, from a foreign government that has been wrong in the past.

The first report on this in "The Washington Times" mentioned the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania as a possible target. U.S. officials, however, tell CNN the intelligence information did not name any particular nuclear power plant.

An official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the NRC "is not aware of any credible threat against a specific plant."

Another example of threat information that could be misleading: Are Islamic extremists stowing away on ships entering the U.S.? Probably not, but officials told CNN's Kelli Arena that an internal government memo suggested as many as 25 Islamic extremists could have entered the U.S. since March. U.S. officials say there is no evidence whatsoever to back up that assertion, but when another news organization reported the existence of the memo, officials confirmed the memo does exist.

(on camera): Since September 11, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have increased exponentially the amount of information they are gathering on possible terrorist threats, most of it later turns out not to be credible, not reliable. The question for U.S. policymakers and editors too is how good does information have to be before you put it out?

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Now for more on these latest terror threats, we go to CNN security analyst J. Kelly McCann in our Washington studios -- good morning -- good to have you with us again, Kelly.

J. KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Paula.

ZAHN: So, Kelly, how seriously do you take a warning like this that comes from a foreign intelligence service that David Ensor made quite clear wasn't 100 percent reliable in the past?

MCCANN: Well, we've got to consider all of the threats obviously, but you know, the danger, Paula, is of course when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. So they always assign some amount or some level of credibility based on corroborating information.

I don't think that they would have taken that as a stand alone. I think that what they have done is probably bounced it against other validated data that they've gotten perhaps from detainees or from other sources that gives it the priority that they're telling the public about.

ZAHN: How vulnerable are our nuclear power plants?

MCCANN: Well, certainly there are several levels of security. This is a guard force, of course, that has to screen the vehicles that come in and out and basically would do fixed-point surveillance detection and look outward and make sure, you know, that they're not being considered for target value. And then there's a react force that's highly trained and very highly qualified at the point of impact if it was a man-borne, if you will, assault.

Of course, the bigger problem is what Congressman Markey has been talking about, which is the light aircraft being crashed into a reactor, which wouldn't necessarily initiate a nuclear explosion, but could certainly create a dangerous, dirty environment. So we are vulnerable from the eccentric attack, if you will, just as we were on 9/11.

ZAHN: Well, how do you protect yourself from what you describe as a man-borne attack? I mean, is there really any way to prevent anybody from flying a small aircraft in this area? I understand obviously the changed air routes and don't allow them to fly within -- what -- five miles around the perimeter area of these plants. Is that enough?

MCCANN: Most of the work, Paula, is going to center around the investigative work that is on the front end of an attack. If you focus on the point of impact, it's quite difficult to stop something that that's close to culmination.

So good policing and a little bit more latitude than we have seen in the past for police agencies to aggressively go after people they suspect and basically run it to ground and follow leads, develop other leads that they can then follow and put people under surveillance. That's really where the body of this work has to be undertaken.

ZAHN: I wanted to move on to the issue of a high-level security briefing that will be held among officials of the southern command later today about this memo that has been circulated, saying that some 25 Islamic extremists have come into this country burrowed away on cargo ships. What is the significance of this piece of information?

MCCANN: The Sea-Land containers are problematic and have been for years to INS and to Customs. I mean, a lot of our corporate clients basically have problems with stowaways, if you will, who will, you know, secrete themselves inside these containers, and they arrive in the U.S., and they are illegal aliens.

They are quite large, so they'll sustain life. And you know, there is a very, very small, overall percentage that are screened. They don't go through each one of them. And that's tied directly to the bottom line, commerce. You don't want to hold up goods. People are waiting for things they have paid for.

And then there are perishable goods as well. For instance, coming from Columbia, you have flowers, and a lot of roses and those kinds of things must be moved through quickly. So there is a very, very small percentage that traditionally has been scrutinized to the level that we're talking about here.

More importantly about this particular report, Paula, is the fact that they were able to put a number on how many people may have gotten in. That connotes a very detailed piece of information. The methodology, of course, we always knew was a vulnerability, but to actually put a number on it and say 25 and not 26, not 27, not 40, tells us there is a little bit more validation that has taken place.

ZAHN: All right. In closing this morning, let's talk about the issue of suicide bombers. It wasn't long ago that the former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that this could be a technique exported to the United States. And there was an important story in a number of newspapers saying that U.S. officials are being -- getting prepared for this prospect. You brought a belt with you today. How much does it cost to make one of these things, and once again, how do you stop someone from using it?

MCCANN: I'll just hold it up here. I mean, it's a very small device as you can see. Basically I won't go into the methodology to make it or anything like that, but you can see the portability is the key. This would be the carrier, and this would be the actual device. And of course, this is inert. This is just a training device for demonstration purposes only.

They are very inexpensive to make. Most of the pieces would be readily available through electronic stores, et cetera. The biggest thing is that the initiator and the actual substance itself would again lead itself to vulnerability through investigation. That those are all controlled substances unless it's homemade, and then homemade means a little bit less reliable, possibly unstable. But it is a very, very serious concern. People shouldn't overreact, but of course, they can see that the portability and the ability to be self-directed, to make decisions as you walk to a place, make it a very treacherous kind of thing.

Nothing new. There is an old case, Ed Wilson, who is a former government employee, sold quite a bit of high explosives to the Libyans early on, and was there when they were making devices out of everything from calculators to videocassette recorders. So it is a problem, and we're going to have to look these things in the face.

ZAHN: All right. J. Kelly McCann, thank you for helping us go through a whole range of potential threats out there. But once again, as you said, we need to keep this all in perspective.

MCCANN: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks again for your time this morning.

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