Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Army Continues to Investigate One of Its Own
Aired September 22, 2003 - 05:09 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: The U.S. Army continues to investigate one of its own. A Muslim chaplain is being held on suspicion of espionage and possible treason.
Pentagon correspondent Chris Plante has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain James Yee, an Islamic Army chaplain, was assigned for the last 10 months to the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, counseling many of the detainees being held there, including members of al Qaeda. Yee was taken into custody by federal authorities when he landed at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, returning from Guantanamo.
He has not yet been charged formally with any crime, but military and law enforcement officials say Yee was found to be carrying classified documents, detailed diagrams of the facility there, as well as notes on some of the detainees, many of whom are believed to be terrorists. The sources also said the chaplain carried written information about interrogations and the American interrogators working there.
KELLY MCCANN, SECURITY ANALYST: I would suggest to you that there is no reason at all that this captain should have ever had access to, for instance, or would have needed, diagrams of the detention facilities, etc., and certainly not the names of any interrogators or interviewers.
PLANTE: No one at Yee's family home in New Jersey was talking on Sunday. Yee, a Chinese-American, graduated from West Point in 1990 and became an air defense officer. But Yee left the Army, became a Muslim and moved to Syria to study Islam and Arabic for four years before returning to the U.S., rejoining the Army, this time as a Muslim chaplain.
He is seen here after the September 11 terrorist attacks offering what would appear to be a message of peace.
CAPT. JAMES YEE, U.S. ARMY: Islam, you know, is a big representor of justice. I mean anyone who commits a crime has to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not.
PLANTE (on camera): U.S. sources also tell CNN that Yee had made contact with radical Islamic elements inside the United States that were already being looked at by federal investigators. It's that contact, they say, that prompted authorities to take a closer look at Captain Yee.
Chris Plante, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 22, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Army continues to investigate one of its own. A Muslim chaplain is being held on suspicion of espionage and possible treason.
Pentagon correspondent Chris Plante has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain James Yee, an Islamic Army chaplain, was assigned for the last 10 months to the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, counseling many of the detainees being held there, including members of al Qaeda. Yee was taken into custody by federal authorities when he landed at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, returning from Guantanamo.
He has not yet been charged formally with any crime, but military and law enforcement officials say Yee was found to be carrying classified documents, detailed diagrams of the facility there, as well as notes on some of the detainees, many of whom are believed to be terrorists. The sources also said the chaplain carried written information about interrogations and the American interrogators working there.
KELLY MCCANN, SECURITY ANALYST: I would suggest to you that there is no reason at all that this captain should have ever had access to, for instance, or would have needed, diagrams of the detention facilities, etc., and certainly not the names of any interrogators or interviewers.
PLANTE: No one at Yee's family home in New Jersey was talking on Sunday. Yee, a Chinese-American, graduated from West Point in 1990 and became an air defense officer. But Yee left the Army, became a Muslim and moved to Syria to study Islam and Arabic for four years before returning to the U.S., rejoining the Army, this time as a Muslim chaplain.
He is seen here after the September 11 terrorist attacks offering what would appear to be a message of peace.
CAPT. JAMES YEE, U.S. ARMY: Islam, you know, is a big representor of justice. I mean anyone who commits a crime has to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not.
PLANTE (on camera): U.S. sources also tell CNN that Yee had made contact with radical Islamic elements inside the United States that were already being looked at by federal investigators. It's that contact, they say, that prompted authorities to take a closer look at Captain Yee.
Chris Plante, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
