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Congressional Inquiry Tells of Terror Warnings
Aired September 19, 2002 - 10:12 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, the congressional hearing on 9/11. What did the intelligence community know, and when did they know it? Newly declassified information is offering a more complete picture of mixed signals, and muddled messages, in the days, months and even years leading up to the attacks. A second day of examination is now under way, and CNN congressional correspondent, Kate Snow, joins us from Capitol Hill with more on that.
Hi there, Kate?
KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.
Well, yesterday began with emotional testimony from two of the family members of the victims of September 11th, and then they moved on to the big news of yesterday, which was a report by this joint committee, indicating that there were missed clues, and we are looking now at a picture of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz who will be testifying here today.
But the big news yesterday that there were indications in the U.S. intelligence community, information about plots involving airplanes as weapons. and even that there were some indications prior to 9/11 that attacks may occur in the United States.
This morning, the committee is going to build on that report by asking two top administration officials about the information they received. One is Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who you just saw.
Right now, you are looking at the chairman of the committee, Bob Graham, on the right side of your screen there. The other person they will hear from this morning is Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
They are two officials that, the other chairman, Porter Goss, from the House side, refers to as consumers of U.S. intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PORTER GOSS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: This is a consumer report. We are going to ask consumers how they feel the intelligence community served them, and I think what you are going to find is that there has been a greater appreciation for intelligence since September 11th and perhaps that appreciation comes not because of the intelligence community wasn't doing as much as it should have been, it's that people were not listening as closely as they should have been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Again, the consumers he's referring to, the two men who will speak here this morning, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy State Department Secretary Richard Armitage. Deputy Secretary Armitage in prepared statements that we just received will say, are we satisfied we did all we could to prevent the attacks on 9/11 from happening? The answer of course is no.
He will go onto say that the State Department has taken steps since last September to try to improve intelligence sharing, including diplomatic reporting from overseas, but he cautions that the level of interaction with local law enforcement overseas, between the State Department officials overseas and local law enforcement, he says, is still not what it needs to be.
Fredricka, this is the second day of hearings, public hearings here on Capitol Hill, on the subject. They are planning to hold hearings for the next several weeks, up until Congress goes out of session for the November elections. We are looking at two to three hearings a week, and in fact, Fredricka, I am told this morning by the two chairmen that they're trying to hold hearings tomorrow. They are still working out who their guests might be, who they're witnesses might be tomorrow. There is some sensitivity to all of this. They are trying to get some officials tomorrow who have intelligence roles, who are in the intelligence-gathering business, if you will, U.S. officials, and its' unclear at this point whether those officials will be able to testify in public, in a public setting.
There is even some talk, Fredricka, that maybe they will conceal their identities. Perhaps they'll testify in shadow, or something to that affect -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, very busy, next few days and weeks. Thanks very much, Kate Snow from Capitol Hill.
SNOW: Absolutely,
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 19, 2002 - 10:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, the congressional hearing on 9/11. What did the intelligence community know, and when did they know it? Newly declassified information is offering a more complete picture of mixed signals, and muddled messages, in the days, months and even years leading up to the attacks. A second day of examination is now under way, and CNN congressional correspondent, Kate Snow, joins us from Capitol Hill with more on that.
Hi there, Kate?
KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.
Well, yesterday began with emotional testimony from two of the family members of the victims of September 11th, and then they moved on to the big news of yesterday, which was a report by this joint committee, indicating that there were missed clues, and we are looking now at a picture of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz who will be testifying here today.
But the big news yesterday that there were indications in the U.S. intelligence community, information about plots involving airplanes as weapons. and even that there were some indications prior to 9/11 that attacks may occur in the United States.
This morning, the committee is going to build on that report by asking two top administration officials about the information they received. One is Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who you just saw.
Right now, you are looking at the chairman of the committee, Bob Graham, on the right side of your screen there. The other person they will hear from this morning is Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
They are two officials that, the other chairman, Porter Goss, from the House side, refers to as consumers of U.S. intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PORTER GOSS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: This is a consumer report. We are going to ask consumers how they feel the intelligence community served them, and I think what you are going to find is that there has been a greater appreciation for intelligence since September 11th and perhaps that appreciation comes not because of the intelligence community wasn't doing as much as it should have been, it's that people were not listening as closely as they should have been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Again, the consumers he's referring to, the two men who will speak here this morning, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy State Department Secretary Richard Armitage. Deputy Secretary Armitage in prepared statements that we just received will say, are we satisfied we did all we could to prevent the attacks on 9/11 from happening? The answer of course is no.
He will go onto say that the State Department has taken steps since last September to try to improve intelligence sharing, including diplomatic reporting from overseas, but he cautions that the level of interaction with local law enforcement overseas, between the State Department officials overseas and local law enforcement, he says, is still not what it needs to be.
Fredricka, this is the second day of hearings, public hearings here on Capitol Hill, on the subject. They are planning to hold hearings for the next several weeks, up until Congress goes out of session for the November elections. We are looking at two to three hearings a week, and in fact, Fredricka, I am told this morning by the two chairmen that they're trying to hold hearings tomorrow. They are still working out who their guests might be, who they're witnesses might be tomorrow. There is some sensitivity to all of this. They are trying to get some officials tomorrow who have intelligence roles, who are in the intelligence-gathering business, if you will, U.S. officials, and its' unclear at this point whether those officials will be able to testify in public, in a public setting.
There is even some talk, Fredricka, that maybe they will conceal their identities. Perhaps they'll testify in shadow, or something to that affect -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, very busy, next few days and weeks. Thanks very much, Kate Snow from Capitol Hill.
SNOW: Absolutely,
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
