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American Morning

War on Terror

Aired June 23, 2003 - 07:16   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: It may be one of the most chilling pieces of evidence of al Qaeda activity in the U.S. post-9/11. Thirty-four-year-old Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver and naturalized citizen, has pleaded guilty to being an al Qaeda operative. He had been helping in a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge. Investigators say Faris is cooperating with the government.
"TIME" magazine actually has details this week of communications between Faris and al Qaeda. "TIME" correspondent Elaine Shannon joins us now from Washington.

Elaine -- good morning.

ELAINE SHANNON, "TIME" MAGAZINE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Explain to us how it's detailed in "TIME" magazine of how the government actually took Faris and turned him into a double agent to help use him to get information on al Qaeda.

SHANNON: Well, they found out about him from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was the chief operating officer of al Qaeda and was captured back on March 1. It didn't take long to get the name Faris out of him. So, they found Faris. They had already talked to him right after September 11. They had him in their files. They knew exactly where he was.

So, they didn't take long to get to him, and they basically made him an offer he couldn't refuse -- either he could go to jail or be an enemy combatant and be in limbo for a long time, or he could help himself and help the United States, which he chose to do. So, he flew to Virginia. They put him up in a safe house. He kept his cell phone, and he made calls and e-mails to his contacts in al Qaeda for them.

KAGAN: Which certainly helped out. I also understand -- you know, we've talked a lot about the plot for the Brooklyn Bridge, but there also was another plot brewing, and that had to do with a train or a potential train wreck near Washington, D.C.

SHANNON: There were a bunch of plots, but these are two that the authorities had heard about before. They just couldn't put a name on it. In about February, March of 2002, there was quite concern about a quite serious train derailment plot here in the Washington area, possibly involving also trying to explode some toxic chemicals near the tracks. I don't know if they figured out that there were any, but that was the idea. And there was quite a scramble about that. There was also, in the fall of 2002, talk. They got word of a serious threat on the bridge, and they got word that somebody in the Midwest and somebody in Ohio possibly was involved in it. But they didn't have a name until they got Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and he gave them the name.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, Elaine, you hear about these plots with the Brooklyn Bridge, with the train, these other plots, and the government is cutting a deal with this guy. He is going to be sentenced on August 1. He'll get, what, maybe 20 years?

SHANNON: That's the maximum, yes.

KAGAN: And why does the government cut a deal with somebody who wanted to do things like this?

SHANNON: Well, he was a perfect operative for al Qaeda, because he's a U.S. citizen and able to travel around pretty well and there wasn't anything criminal on him. But on the other hand, he's a perfect operative for the U.S. government. Of course, he's blown now, so he's no longer that. But he's not high enough so that you can't cut a deal with him. And yet, he was in there. He met Osama bin Laden, he met Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and he met other people. He can describe them. He can describe people that we know only by their jihad names and maybe some other identifying details. And he can help us put those people into our border watch systems, and that's terribly important.

KAGAN: And do your sources tell you there are others like him out there?

SHANNON: Well, General Ashcroft -- Attorney General Ashcroft has testified that they have cut deals with about 15 people in this country, and he said he wasn't including Faris in that group. So, there are probably some others he's not including, too.

And this is a classic way that law enforcement tries to penetrate antagonistic organizations, whether it's the mafia or terrorists, is to get somebody who is on the inside, flip them, and make them what they call a RIP, a recruitment in place.

KAGAN: Interesting details. It's in this week's "TIME" MAGAZINE. ELAINE Shannon in Washington -- Elaine, thank you.

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 June 23, 2003 - 07:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It may be one of the most chilling pieces of evidence of al Qaeda activity in the U.S. post-9/11. Thirty-four-year-old Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver and naturalized citizen, has pleaded guilty to being an al Qaeda operative. He had been helping in a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge. Investigators say Faris is cooperating with the government.
"TIME" magazine actually has details this week of communications between Faris and al Qaeda. "TIME" correspondent Elaine Shannon joins us now from Washington.

Elaine -- good morning.

ELAINE SHANNON, "TIME" MAGAZINE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Explain to us how it's detailed in "TIME" magazine of how the government actually took Faris and turned him into a double agent to help use him to get information on al Qaeda.

SHANNON: Well, they found out about him from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was the chief operating officer of al Qaeda and was captured back on March 1. It didn't take long to get the name Faris out of him. So, they found Faris. They had already talked to him right after September 11. They had him in their files. They knew exactly where he was.

So, they didn't take long to get to him, and they basically made him an offer he couldn't refuse -- either he could go to jail or be an enemy combatant and be in limbo for a long time, or he could help himself and help the United States, which he chose to do. So, he flew to Virginia. They put him up in a safe house. He kept his cell phone, and he made calls and e-mails to his contacts in al Qaeda for them.

KAGAN: Which certainly helped out. I also understand -- you know, we've talked a lot about the plot for the Brooklyn Bridge, but there also was another plot brewing, and that had to do with a train or a potential train wreck near Washington, D.C.

SHANNON: There were a bunch of plots, but these are two that the authorities had heard about before. They just couldn't put a name on it. In about February, March of 2002, there was quite concern about a quite serious train derailment plot here in the Washington area, possibly involving also trying to explode some toxic chemicals near the tracks. I don't know if they figured out that there were any, but that was the idea. And there was quite a scramble about that. There was also, in the fall of 2002, talk. They got word of a serious threat on the bridge, and they got word that somebody in the Midwest and somebody in Ohio possibly was involved in it. But they didn't have a name until they got Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and he gave them the name.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, Elaine, you hear about these plots with the Brooklyn Bridge, with the train, these other plots, and the government is cutting a deal with this guy. He is going to be sentenced on August 1. He'll get, what, maybe 20 years?

SHANNON: That's the maximum, yes.

KAGAN: And why does the government cut a deal with somebody who wanted to do things like this?

SHANNON: Well, he was a perfect operative for al Qaeda, because he's a U.S. citizen and able to travel around pretty well and there wasn't anything criminal on him. But on the other hand, he's a perfect operative for the U.S. government. Of course, he's blown now, so he's no longer that. But he's not high enough so that you can't cut a deal with him. And yet, he was in there. He met Osama bin Laden, he met Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and he met other people. He can describe them. He can describe people that we know only by their jihad names and maybe some other identifying details. And he can help us put those people into our border watch systems, and that's terribly important.

KAGAN: And do your sources tell you there are others like him out there?

SHANNON: Well, General Ashcroft -- Attorney General Ashcroft has testified that they have cut deals with about 15 people in this country, and he said he wasn't including Faris in that group. So, there are probably some others he's not including, too.

And this is a classic way that law enforcement tries to penetrate antagonistic organizations, whether it's the mafia or terrorists, is to get somebody who is on the inside, flip them, and make them what they call a RIP, a recruitment in place.

KAGAN: Interesting details. It's in this week's "TIME" MAGAZINE. ELAINE Shannon in Washington -- Elaine, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.