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American Morning
Unconfirmed Reports of Possible Attack in Saudi Arabia
Aired May 16, 2003 - 07:04 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Terror is our top story yet again this morning. And the threat against Westerners in Saudi Arabia not yet confirmed, but certainly it's being taken quite seriously, especially given the events of Monday night in Riyadh.
Live to the White House and Chris Burns for more on this today.
Chris -- good morning there.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill.
You and I have both spent time in the Gulf, and we do get those warnings every now and then. But especially this one coming on the heels of that triple car bombing that killed 34 people, including eight Americans, in Riyadh, that really does prick up the ears. In fact, a State Department official saying anything that says Saudi Arabia, we're all over.
Now, these warnings say that there are unconfirmed reports of possible attacks -- this is a public announcement by the State Department to the people living in the region -- and that it will happen in the near future. It could likely happen even in the Al Hamra district of Jeddah, which does house -- had housed U.S. American families. They have been moved out.
The terror threat announcement says they cannot certify the credibility of the threat. It came in the form of a phone call that did mention specifically that district. The terror threat also saying to maintain a high level of vigilance, and, of course, that's what they try to do day to day. But this does, of course, increase the vigilance among people living there.
Now, the FBI agents are on the ground. They arrived there yesterday. Of course, there was a bit of a blame game going on, where the U.S. officials say that they had sent their national security advisor, Steve Hadley, just days before that blast, talking about even one of those three compounds that was actually hit, talking about that there should be more security. Saudis saying that there was adequate security at the time.
However, even here at the White House yesterday during the daily briefing, the spokesman, Scott McClellan, said that the Saudis have been cooperating on terror, but they could do more -- Bill.
HEMMER: Chris Burns from the White House this morning.
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 May 16, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Terror is our top story yet again this morning. And the threat against Westerners in Saudi Arabia not yet confirmed, but certainly it's being taken quite seriously, especially given the events of Monday night in Riyadh.
Live to the White House and Chris Burns for more on this today.
Chris -- good morning there.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill.
You and I have both spent time in the Gulf, and we do get those warnings every now and then. But especially this one coming on the heels of that triple car bombing that killed 34 people, including eight Americans, in Riyadh, that really does prick up the ears. In fact, a State Department official saying anything that says Saudi Arabia, we're all over.
Now, these warnings say that there are unconfirmed reports of possible attacks -- this is a public announcement by the State Department to the people living in the region -- and that it will happen in the near future. It could likely happen even in the Al Hamra district of Jeddah, which does house -- had housed U.S. American families. They have been moved out.
The terror threat announcement says they cannot certify the credibility of the threat. It came in the form of a phone call that did mention specifically that district. The terror threat also saying to maintain a high level of vigilance, and, of course, that's what they try to do day to day. But this does, of course, increase the vigilance among people living there.
Now, the FBI agents are on the ground. They arrived there yesterday. Of course, there was a bit of a blame game going on, where the U.S. officials say that they had sent their national security advisor, Steve Hadley, just days before that blast, talking about even one of those three compounds that was actually hit, talking about that there should be more security. Saudis saying that there was adequate security at the time.
However, even here at the White House yesterday during the daily briefing, the spokesman, Scott McClellan, said that the Saudis have been cooperating on terror, but they could do more -- Bill.
HEMMER: Chris Burns from the White House this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
