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CNN Live At Daybreak
Wake-Up Call: 'Bin Laden' Tape
Aired February 12, 2003 - 06:06 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To the Hill now in D.C. There is sure to be more talk about this tape today, so we've put in a "Wake-Up Call" to our State Department producer, Elise Labott. She's on the phone from Washington this morning.
Good morning -- Elise.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK, the first question I have, Secretary Powell talked about the tape before Al Jazeera released it. Why did he choose to do that?
LABOTT: Well, officials tell us that Secretary Powell heard about the tape earlier this week, and the U.S. obtained it through some intercepts. They do believe it to be authentic. And Secretary Powell knew Al Jazeera was going to put -- Al Jazeera was going to put it out at some point. He didn't know when. And during a phone conversation with CIA Director George Tenet yesterday decided to make it public.
It was a deliberate attempt to bolster the U.S. argument that Iraq has ties to bin Laden. The administration feels the tape confirms what the secretary said last week during his presentation at the U.N. Security Council that Iraqi intelligence officers have offered safe haven to al Qaeda operatives, that there is an al Qaeda cell operating in northern Iraq with Iraqi support, and that this tape proves the connection is there, and that those contacts suggest they could cooperate in the future, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, Elise, I have a question. You know, nothing is ever black and white. The tape pretty much makes clear, though, that Osama bin Laden doesn't have a great love for Saddam Hussein, but he was speaking to the Iraqi people. So, the question: Does this really help the U.S. position or not?
LABOTT: Well, it's exactly true what you say. It kind of depends on your perspective. There's no proof in the message of any support by Osama bin Laden of Saddam Hussein; just of the Iraqi people as Muslims. And Osama bin Laden even suggests he wouldn't mind if Saddam Hussein disappears.
So, the conclusive link that the U.S. says is a bit of a reach, but the tape is still very chilling. It's a call to arms, if you will, by Osama bin Laden to the Muslim people to rise up against the U.S. And he talks at great length about Iraq, suggesting how Iraqi forces can fight U.S. forces, and he suggests that he and his followers have a common cause with the Iraq Baath Party.
And so, U.S. officials say this common cause is hatred with the United States, and that could scare a lot of people.
COSTELLO: Definitely so. Elise Labott, thanks for your insights this morning from the Hill. We'll let you get on to work.
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 February 12, 2003 - 06:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To the Hill now in D.C. There is sure to be more talk about this tape today, so we've put in a "Wake-Up Call" to our State Department producer, Elise Labott. She's on the phone from Washington this morning.
Good morning -- Elise.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK, the first question I have, Secretary Powell talked about the tape before Al Jazeera released it. Why did he choose to do that?
LABOTT: Well, officials tell us that Secretary Powell heard about the tape earlier this week, and the U.S. obtained it through some intercepts. They do believe it to be authentic. And Secretary Powell knew Al Jazeera was going to put -- Al Jazeera was going to put it out at some point. He didn't know when. And during a phone conversation with CIA Director George Tenet yesterday decided to make it public.
It was a deliberate attempt to bolster the U.S. argument that Iraq has ties to bin Laden. The administration feels the tape confirms what the secretary said last week during his presentation at the U.N. Security Council that Iraqi intelligence officers have offered safe haven to al Qaeda operatives, that there is an al Qaeda cell operating in northern Iraq with Iraqi support, and that this tape proves the connection is there, and that those contacts suggest they could cooperate in the future, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, Elise, I have a question. You know, nothing is ever black and white. The tape pretty much makes clear, though, that Osama bin Laden doesn't have a great love for Saddam Hussein, but he was speaking to the Iraqi people. So, the question: Does this really help the U.S. position or not?
LABOTT: Well, it's exactly true what you say. It kind of depends on your perspective. There's no proof in the message of any support by Osama bin Laden of Saddam Hussein; just of the Iraqi people as Muslims. And Osama bin Laden even suggests he wouldn't mind if Saddam Hussein disappears.
So, the conclusive link that the U.S. says is a bit of a reach, but the tape is still very chilling. It's a call to arms, if you will, by Osama bin Laden to the Muslim people to rise up against the U.S. And he talks at great length about Iraq, suggesting how Iraqi forces can fight U.S. forces, and he suggests that he and his followers have a common cause with the Iraq Baath Party.
And so, U.S. officials say this common cause is hatred with the United States, and that could scare a lot of people.
COSTELLO: Definitely so. Elise Labott, thanks for your insights this morning from the Hill. We'll let you get on to work.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
