Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Terror Threat

Aired December 26, 2003 - 06:35   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Air France resumes flights today between Paris and Los Angeles. It had canceled some flights because of fears that terrorists would commandeer a plane. The cancellations took care of that specific threat.
But as our Mike Brooks reports, U.S. officials are still worried about such a scenario.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Air France cancellations were the clearest sign that security officials in the U.S. and around the world are on high alert this holiday season. French police sources tell CNN several passengers were questioned from those flights, but no one was detained.

Why stop the flights? Credible intelligence of a threat, say U.S. officials. Also, interrogations of detainees, say intelligence sources, suggest that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda still hoped to pull off a large scale attack in the U.S. and that interest remains in using airplanes as a weapon, just like on 9/11.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Al Qaeda has always been interested in aviation, right. Long before 9/11 people affiliated with al Qaeda were planning to blow up a dozen American airline flights in Asia in the mid-'90s. So this has been a sort of obsession with them for a long time.

BROOKS: U.S. officials are also working with Mexican security officials to make sure flights entering the U.S. from there are safe. But these are not the only signs of code orange. Security at Los Angeles' LAX, mentioned in the intelligence, is extra tight. Curbside check-in is not allowed. The Energy Department's NEST teams, Nuclear Emergency Search Teams, are on high alert. Anti-aircraft missile batteries are positioned around Washington, D.C., all critical and costly symbols of a nation on high alert for the holidays.

Mike Brooks, CNN, Atlanta.

(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 December 26, 2003 - 06:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Air France resumes flights today between Paris and Los Angeles. It had canceled some flights because of fears that terrorists would commandeer a plane. The cancellations took care of that specific threat.
But as our Mike Brooks reports, U.S. officials are still worried about such a scenario.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Air France cancellations were the clearest sign that security officials in the U.S. and around the world are on high alert this holiday season. French police sources tell CNN several passengers were questioned from those flights, but no one was detained.

Why stop the flights? Credible intelligence of a threat, say U.S. officials. Also, interrogations of detainees, say intelligence sources, suggest that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda still hoped to pull off a large scale attack in the U.S. and that interest remains in using airplanes as a weapon, just like on 9/11.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Al Qaeda has always been interested in aviation, right. Long before 9/11 people affiliated with al Qaeda were planning to blow up a dozen American airline flights in Asia in the mid-'90s. So this has been a sort of obsession with them for a long time.

BROOKS: U.S. officials are also working with Mexican security officials to make sure flights entering the U.S. from there are safe. But these are not the only signs of code orange. Security at Los Angeles' LAX, mentioned in the intelligence, is extra tight. Curbside check-in is not allowed. The Energy Department's NEST teams, Nuclear Emergency Search Teams, are on high alert. Anti-aircraft missile batteries are positioned around Washington, D.C., all critical and costly symbols of a nation on high alert for the holidays.

Mike Brooks, CNN, Atlanta.

(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