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CNN Live At Daybreak
Disclosure Bush Received General Warning Before 09/11 Prompting Criticism of Missed Signals
Aired May 17, 2002 - 05:04 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: That disclosure that President Bush received a general warning before September 11 about the potential for al Qaeda hijackings is, of course, prompting criticism of missed signals.
CNN's David Ensor looks at the terror roadmap that led to the World Trade Center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1994, French authorities foiled an attempt by some Algerians who had hijacked a plane to use it to knock down the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In 1995, the Philippine authorities notified the U.S. a suspect had told them Ramsey Yousef, the man behind the first World Trade Center bombing, was plotting to hijack an aircraft and use it to hit CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. In February of last year, CIA Director George Tenet warned Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda was the most immediate and serious threat to the United States.
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: As we have increased security around government and military facilities, terrorists are seeking out softer targets that provide opportunities for mass casualties.
ENSOR: Starting in last May, through the summer of 2001, U.S. intelligence officials say they warned the White House al Qaeda was planning a major attack against the U.S. In late July, the Phoenix office of the FBI sent a memo urging headquarters to investigate Middle Eastern men who were students in U.S. flight schools. The memo said Osama bin Laden's followers could be planning to use the training for some sort of terrorism.
Then, in the first week of August in Crawford, Texas at the president's ranch, the CIA briefer warned Mr. Bush that among other possibilities, al Qaeda might hijack aircraft. The CIA did not suggest a suicide plane attack, as it had no intelligence suggesting such a tactic.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There was no time, there was no place, there was no method of attack. It simply said these are people who train and seem to talk possibly about hijackings.
ENSOR: U.S. officials say in that intelligence briefing more than one hijacking plot was mentioned, including British information about a 1998 plot to hijack a plane and demand freedom for the blind sheikh, Omar Abdel Rahman, in jail for involvement in the first World Trade Center bombing and a failed plot to bomb other New York landmarks.
Finally in mid-August, a Minnesota flight school told the FBI that Zacarias Moussaoui was seeking training to fly but not to land a 747. Moussaoui was arrested. The Minneapolis FBI sought and was refused permission to search Moussaoui's laptop computer for clues. In his own handwriting, the agent wrote a theory of his in the margin.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: In one of the notes, the agent at, in Minneapolis mentioned the possibility of Moussaoui being that type of person that could fly something into the World Trade Center.
ENSOR: Despite what we now know about the August Crawford briefing, back on September 11 aboard Air Force One, when White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was asked had there been any warnings the president knew of, Fleischer responded "no warnings."
(on camera): With the advantage of hindsight it is now possible, then, to go in and select key signals from the huge mass of intelligence gathered by the U.S. in the months and years since September 11, signals which might have helped the U.S. prevent the attacks.
But U.S. officials strongly argue that it's not fair to blame them or the president for being unable to do so before September 11.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So let the politics begin. On Capitol Hill, the Democrats have questions about the terror warnings, questions Republicans say have a definite political undercurrent.
Here's CNN Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats pounced on the reports, not with accusations, but with questions, pointed questions.
REP. DICK GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: I think what we have to do now is to find out what the president, what the White House knew about the events leading up to 9/11 and when they knew it and most importantly what was done about it at that time.
KARL: Senator Hillary Clinton quoted Thursday's "New York Post" headline.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Questions raised by one of our newspapers in New York, with the headline "Bush Knew." The president knew what? My constituents would like to know the answer to that and many other questions, not to blame the president or any other American, but just to know.
KARL: Echoing the White House, Republicans said congressional intelligence committees received briefings similar to the president's and that there was no specific threat about anything remotely like the September 11 attacks.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: There's no smoking gun there. These were general, older warnings.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MI), MINORITY LEADER: For us to be talking like our enemy is George W. Bush instead of bin Laden, that's not right.
KARL: Republicans accuse Democrats of playing politics with September 11.
REP. DICK ARMEY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: I am disappointed in the deplorable, unconscionable way the Democrats are trying to make this a political issue. This was a national tragedy that was met by a courageous administration with conviction and action that was both expeditious and effective.
KARL: The Senate's top Democrat demanded to know why the White House waited so long before acknowledging the president had been briefed about the possibility of terrorist hijackings before September 11.
SEN. THOMAS DASCHLE (D-SD), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Why did it take eight months for us to receive this information? And secondly, what specific actions were taken by the White House in response?
KARL (on camera): The controversy has raised the stakes for the joint House-Senate Intelligence Committee investigation that is expected to hold its first hearing in June. But it has also increased calls for a broader national commission to look into what went wrong on September 11.
Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And sticking to the theme of political repercussions, Vice President Dick Cheney also had a warning for the Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Basically, what I want to say to my Democratic friends in the Congress is that they need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions, as were made by some today, that the White House had advance information that would have prevented the tragic attacks of 9/11.
Such commentary is thoroughly irresponsible and totally unworthy of national leaders in a time of war. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted just hours ago shows President Bush's popularity has not taken a huge hit because of the terror warning story. But about a third of the respondents to the poll say they now feel less favorable towards Mr. Bush. And I don't think we've heard the end of that. I think this will go on and on, don't you?
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