Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
CIA Leak: Call for Investigation
Aired September 30, 2003 - 06:02 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 Democrats are calling for a special counsel. The White House says no need, we'll cooperate. But the story of the CIA operative and the leak is more than a whodunit. As Elaine Quijano reports, it's politics now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not clear what exactly she did at the CIA; only that she worked for the agency and that her name was revealed in a nationally-syndicated column in July, after someone leaked it.
ROBERT NOVAK, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: They asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else.
QUIJANO: Valerie Plame is the woman in question, the wife of former Ambassador Joe Wilson, a man who openly questioned a White House claim that Iraq tried to obtain uranium from Niger. Wilson was sent there to investigate, but found no such evidence and said so. The White House later backed off the assertion.
JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER AMBASSADOR: They attempted to discredit the messenger who brought the message by dragging my wife into the public square.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That is not the way this White House operates. The president expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct.
QUIJANO: But Democrats are demanding an investigation to determine whether someone in the White House broke the law in making her name public, and whether she or any of her possible contacts are in danger.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Leaking the name of a CIA agent is tantamount to putting a gun to that agent's head.
QUIJANO (on camera): The Justice Department has launched an inquiry into the matter, and the White House says it will cooperate. But the Bush administration has no plans for an internal probe or to ask for an independent investigation.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And we have some reaction now to the leak. Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Detroit for a U.S. Arab economic forum. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's a serious matter. Not only do you put her at risk or any undercover agent at risk by letting it be known that they are an agent, but you also put the sources they have worked with over the years at considerable risk. So, we take this very, very seriously, and I'm sure that Director Tenet and Attorney General Ashcroft will be looking at this, as will the White House, as a very serious matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And former CIA Director James Woolsey is also emphasizing the seriousness of this leak, but he says oftentimes through quick intervention, crucial information can be kept from the public, even after reporters get access to it. He made those comments on CNN's "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES WOOSLEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Well, I wish it hadn't happened, but I think the objective in these cases is not to blame the journalist but rather the leaker. I had occasion more than once when I was director of Central Intelligence to go to major media news outlets and explain that a story that they were about to run, something they were checking with us, if it included a particular fact or two could endanger someone's life. And I was successful on several occasions -- well, each time I asked in having the relevant material withheld.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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 30, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Democrats are calling for a special counsel. The White House says no need, we'll cooperate. But the story of the CIA operative and the leak is more than a whodunit. As Elaine Quijano reports, it's politics now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not clear what exactly she did at the CIA; only that she worked for the agency and that her name was revealed in a nationally-syndicated column in July, after someone leaked it.
ROBERT NOVAK, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: They asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else.
QUIJANO: Valerie Plame is the woman in question, the wife of former Ambassador Joe Wilson, a man who openly questioned a White House claim that Iraq tried to obtain uranium from Niger. Wilson was sent there to investigate, but found no such evidence and said so. The White House later backed off the assertion.
JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER AMBASSADOR: They attempted to discredit the messenger who brought the message by dragging my wife into the public square.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That is not the way this White House operates. The president expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct.
QUIJANO: But Democrats are demanding an investigation to determine whether someone in the White House broke the law in making her name public, and whether she or any of her possible contacts are in danger.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Leaking the name of a CIA agent is tantamount to putting a gun to that agent's head.
QUIJANO (on camera): The Justice Department has launched an inquiry into the matter, and the White House says it will cooperate. But the Bush administration has no plans for an internal probe or to ask for an independent investigation.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And we have some reaction now to the leak. Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Detroit for a U.S. Arab economic forum. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's a serious matter. Not only do you put her at risk or any undercover agent at risk by letting it be known that they are an agent, but you also put the sources they have worked with over the years at considerable risk. So, we take this very, very seriously, and I'm sure that Director Tenet and Attorney General Ashcroft will be looking at this, as will the White House, as a very serious matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And former CIA Director James Woolsey is also emphasizing the seriousness of this leak, but he says oftentimes through quick intervention, crucial information can be kept from the public, even after reporters get access to it. He made those comments on CNN's "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES WOOSLEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Well, I wish it hadn't happened, but I think the objective in these cases is not to blame the journalist but rather the leaker. I had occasion more than once when I was director of Central Intelligence to go to major media news outlets and explain that a story that they were about to run, something they were checking with us, if it included a particular fact or two could endanger someone's life. And I was successful on several occasions -- well, each time I asked in having the relevant material withheld.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
