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CNN Live Today
Congressional Hearing on 9/11 Intelligence Getting Underway
Aired June 04, 2002 - 10:13 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, things will be sizzling on Capitol Hill today as lawmakers are taking part in joint hearings that will grill leaders of the FBI and the CIA. Basically, the U.S. intelligence community. The issue here, whether they overlooked clues and kept secrets that could have presented -- prevented, actually, the September 11 attacks.
Our congressional correspondent, Kate Snow, joins us with a preview of these hearings. Kate, I am wondering how much you can preview with something that will be behind closed doors.
KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can tell you a little bit about it, Daryn. You're right. I mean, the key thing is this week, they are going to start out not in the public view. They are going to be very private about this, they are going to meet in a very secret room, very secure room that is sound proof, as matter of fact.
And they are going to start out with some of the mundane stuff. They've got to work out how often they are going to meet over the next few months, and this is really a long-term effort. So, they are laying the ground work this week. They will start calling some of those key witnesses that you mentioned later on, probably later this month.
The main committee that is looking into this, Daryn, is a joint effort, it is a joint inquiry between the House and the Senate, and there are some key questions that they feel they want answered. One, you mentioned, were there missed clues regarding 9/11? And if so, who missed them, and when, and how, all those sorts of questions.
Number two, was there enough communication or a lack of communication between agencies. For example, the FBI and the CIA, were they sharing information back and forth?
And then finally, what needs to change, and that's a loaded question because is it something that needs to change internally within the agencies, or is it Congress that should step up and pass legislation. Now, it is a key question because Congress has oversight, not just over the FBI and the CIA, but over some 14 different agencies here in Washington that have some part in gathering U.S. intelligence, and critics have suggested that perhaps Congress should have done more over the past couple of decades to build support for that community, and to make sure that they were doing their job effectively. Senator Jon Kyl, who served on that intelligence panel earlier today spoke about that. He suggested that maybe Congress has erred too much in one direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON KYL (R-AZ), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It is interesting that congressional oversight produced a lot of restrictions on the CIA and the FBI. In past years we were very concerned about American's freedom, and so we tied the hands of our agencies. Now, everyone is saying, why don't you let them go do their job, why are they restricted by racial profiling, why couldn't they get a search warrant, and on and on. And you can't have it both ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now, Kyl is a Republican on this panel. On the other side of things, the top house Democrat is Representative Nancy Pelosi. She spoke about this same issue. She comes at it from a different perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: My concern with what the suggestions are of the director are that when the FBI, the CIA, or any other agency misses a glaring clue as to the danger that the American people are in, and then they say, well, now we have to spy more on the American people, that is part of our solution, I think that we have to be smarter, more clever, and protect the people in a way that also protects their civil liberties and our Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: It is not an easy balancing act, Daryn. And it is certainly not a question that Congress is going to solve today or tomorrow or even next week. They are all saying, all of the members of this committee, that this is an effort that is going to go on for months and months. In fact, Daryn, the committee is authorized to keep meeting -- they have funding until next February -- back to you.
KAGAN: They will have plenty to talk about. Kate Snow in Washington, thank you so much. We will check back with you in the next hour.
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