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White House Downplays Phoenix Memo; Powell to Release Terror Report

Aired May 21, 2002 - 10:01   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: Up first on CNN, the so-called "Phoenix memo" and its rise from the ashes of September 11. The FBI memorandum warned that Arabs were undergoing flight training at aviation schools across the United States and that the potential of a terrorist plan was very strong. But that warning stalled before reaching FBI leaders or the president.

CNN White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace has more -- good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, the latest development -- we are learning that FBI director Robert Mueller and attorney general John Ashcroft were advised about suspicions raised by that FBI agent in Phoenix a few days after the September 11 attacks. The agent very concerned that Middle Eastern men tied to Osama bin Laden could be taking flight classes in the United States. But that the attorney general and the FBI did not notify the president or his National Security Council team.

Now, talking to another Justice Department official who said that the attorney general does not believe that he was briefed in any specificity or about the details of that memo until about a month ago, and the message from the White House is that President Bush only heard about that memo just recently, and it still is not clear if he has actually seen the written document.

But, that all being said, officials here at the White House, officials over at Justice, even at FBI are really down-playing the significance here, saying that immediately, immediately after the September 11 attacks, it was obvious that individuals could have been taking flight classes in the United States, and so there was an immediate focus on flight schools in the United States.

Still, I can tell you, Carol, Ari Fleischer, the president's spokesman, was asked repeatedly at his daily briefing this morning with reporters about whether the president is concerned that he did not find out, or was not made aware about this memo until very, very recently. And Fleischer said that president was briefed right after September 11 that the focus was on these flight schools, and so they are not really spending a lot of time focussing on exactly when this memo was brought to the attention of the president, that the Congress now is looking at exactly what the administration knew before September 11 and how it handled that information.

On that front, we know that the attorney general, John Ashcroft, will be meeting with the committees looking into what the administration knew before September 11 to go over the handling of documents. We know the administration has turned over some 180,000 plus documents from the CIA and the FBI to the Congress.

We also know, Carol, that FBI Director Robert Mueller and the FBI agent who wrote that memo, Kenneth Williams, will be going up to Capitol Hill later today to meet with the judiciary committees. Those committees potentially having some questions more about the memo, about how it was handled, how who that information was given to. So lots of developments we are following, but for now, the White House really saying that right after the September 11 attacks, FBI, law enforcement, CIA, looking at flight schools in the United States, no matter what any memo said or when it reached the White House -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse. Kelly Wallace reporting live from the White House this morning. Thank you -- Leon.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, with that in mind, the world is indeed a dangerous place, and that is the message that is going to be underlined in a couple hours from now by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is going to be releasing a report identifying countries which offer aid or refuge to terrorists. State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel joins us now. She has got a preview for us of the secretary of state's report -- good morning, how are you?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Very well, Leon. Thank you. This is an annual report. In fact, this is a copy of last year's, it is called the "Global Terrorism -- Patterns of Global Terrorism." But in fact, this year's -- we are not going to be getting a hard copy. We are told by State Department officials that there really -- no surprises in this year's report other than the fact, obviously, this is the first one to come out since September 11, and the world has changed quite a lot since then.

What we are going to see in this report, as we have in previous years are the lists of various groups the U.S. say sponsors acts of terrorism. We are also going to see a country by country explanation as to how those countries have fought terrorism, what acts of terrorism have happened there, as well as the list that's known as the state sponsors of terrorism. Again, no changes on or off any of those lists, or in those countries for that matter.

What is different this year, we're told by State Department officials, is that they are using, for the first time, two case studies to really illustrate how the international community has cooperated with the United States to work together to fight terrorism. One of those examples is Italy. Now, in January, Italian authorities were tracking what they said was an al Qaeda cell operating in Italy, and what they did is they actually went to, they had followed many terrorists they said who were attending what's known as the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan. They tracked these terrorists, and they actually believed that they prevented an attack on the U.S. embassy in Rome and at various U.S. installations across the country, and eventually arrested a man by the name of Sami Ben Khemais Essid. Italian authorities say he was a recruiter for al Qaeda and directed this plot, which they say was contemplating using poisonous gas against U.S. citizens. They have a quote from a conversation they recorded on March 14 of last year, in which Khemais says, "the product is better, it is more efficient because this liquid, as soon as you open it, it suffocates people."

Now the second example in this year's report is in the country of Singapore. Last December, Singaporean authorities believe that they thwarted a plot that was directed not only against the U.S. embassy and other U.S. interests, but also against U.S. ships which were docked both at the harbor in Singapore.

They believe that these individuals were also linked to al Qaeda. They alerted the U.S. embassy and warned them, and they -- as a result, were able to help the U.S. embassy to take preventative measures.

The U.S. ambassador to Singapore, Frank Lavin, is quoted in this year's report saying that, "for ten days, the U.S. embassy task force knew we were the target of a massive terrorist attack, but no one took unscheduled leave or even missed a day."

Leon, in order to make sure that the terrorists weren't tipped off that the U.S. embassy was aware, was on to this plot, and as a result, Singaporean authorities were able to arrest these individuals and they actually have them detained right now, pending trial.

Just two examples that the State Department wants to highlight to show how, since September 11, Leon, the international community has really bonded together to help fight terrorism around the world -- Leon.

HARRIS: Yes, Andrea, I can't help but notice, though, that those two examples you mentioned happened to be two cases that were successful. Are there any other cases that may be mentioned in this book that may not have been, that could be possible lessons?

KOPPEL: Well, certainly any instances in which the attack was actually carried out, and so the State Department is not trying to isolate cases or to lead anyone to believe that they have been able to prevent each and every attack against or planned attack against Americans, but they do believe that as a result of September 11, the entire international community has come on guard and realized that if they don't work together, they are not going to have very much success because these cells, as we have since learned since September 11, are located almost on every continent and in almost every country.

HARRIS: Got you. Exactly. Andrea Koppel, thank you very much. Check back with you later on.

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