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CNN Live Today
Government Says Terrorists Hiding in Major U.S. Cities
Aired July 12, 2002 - 10:06 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: And turn now to the war on terror, and a new battle that may be brewing from within. The U.S. Government says that suspected terrorists are hiding in plain sight in major American cities.
Our Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena has more on these chilling signs of the times.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In some of America's biggest cities, including Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, groups of suspected al Qaeda operatives are being closely watched by the FBI, government sources say. Fewer than 100 in all CNN has been told. That's the most specific detail yet about the terrorist threat inside the U.S.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: There remains sleeper terrorists and their supporters in the United States who have not yet been identified in a way that will allows us to take preemptive action against them.
ARENA: Public statements such as these and word that investigators are convinced another attack is being planned raise an obvious question. How equipped is the U.S. to prevent another domestic attack?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: The reality is that as long as we are as free a society as America is, we are going to be vulnerable.
ARENA: The onus is mostly on the FBI because it is charged with collecting intelligence in this country. Changes are underway. Five hundred agents will be permanently shifted to counterterrorism. The FBI has new investigative flexibility, and agents in the field have more power to make decisions, but problems persist.
BRIAN JENKINS, RAND CORPORATION: We still have a long way to go on coordinating intelligence activities and cooperation among agencies in this country. This is a very complex government. There are many sources of collection. Bringing those all together is not a natural thing to do in the intelligence business.
ARENA: Analyzing the loads of information coming in every day is also a problem. One official says the FBI, "isn't even close when it comes to hiring the analysts needed to decipher important clues, and it will take several years to get there," another crucial element, computers.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: We are overhauling our technology as quickly as we can given how far we are in being behind the technology curve.
ARENA: Agents are still not able to perform sophisticated searches or functions necessary to connect intelligence dots, but an overhaul won't be complete for another two years. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the FBI is developing contacts within terrorist organizations.
JENKINS: It takes years to penetrate these organizations, and even then, terrorist attacks continue to occur.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (on camera): Officials again point out there is no specific or credible information about another attack against the United States, but then again, there wasn't any before September 11 either -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And, Kelly, what about a different story. What about this story that there was some kind of threat to oil refineries in the west? What are we hearing about that?
ARENA: The FBI tells us that there was some intelligence that came in about a week ago regarding Pasadena, California, information that came in saying that oil refineries would be attacked, possibly on July 12, today. The FBI contacted state and local authorities, but the problem is there aren't a whole lot of oil refineries in Pasadena, California.
In fact, there's one about 35 miles away, and so the FBI out of an abundance of caution, also passed that information on to Pasadena, Texas, where there do happen to be oil refineries. Again, the FBI says that it does not attach a whole lot of credibility to the intelligence but out of an abundance of caution, passing on the information to state and local authorities, officials in Pasadena, Texas, taking the information, doing what it can to secure facilities. No evacuations there but on a very high state of alert.
KAGAN: And those are the times in which we live. Kelli Arena in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much.
ARENA: You're welcome.
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