Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Deadly Terror Attacks Rock Israeli Interests in Kenya

Aired November 28, 2002 - 22:00   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening again. There was a remarkable Thanksgiving moment today. You will see it in a moment, and it has nothing to do with a turkey that ended up less dry than you thought, or the creamed onions that actually had more taste than you thought.
The thanks was from a few hundred people who don't know much about Thanksgiving in America. People aboard an Israeli flight that started in Kenya and ended up in Tel Aviv. People who came perhaps a few yards away from becoming the latest victims of a terror attack. Aboard Arkia Flight 582, they cheered, they clapped and they sang -- a celebration worthy of any Thanksgiving.

And it was for good reason. Today they literally dodged a bullet -- the missiles of a terrorist. It is their Thanksgiving story that is on our minds tonight. And while we wish we didn't have to think about it, the implications of what happened today are on our minds, as well. And we will talk about them all tonight. They will be on our minds for a long time to come.

We begin tonight the whip in Kenya and the attacks -- more than one today in Kenya. Catherine Bond is in Mombasa for us -- Catherine, the headline.

CATHERINE BOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Day two for investigators searching through the debris at an Israeli tourist hotel in Kenya.

COOPER: Back to you in a moment. On to Israel now. The reaction when that plane touched down safely. Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem with that -- Matthew, a headline, please.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, also out of Mombasa, as you've been mentioning, that Israeli charter flight carrying more than 260 passengers, very narrowly avoids disaster.

Two missiles fired at the aircraft shortly after it takes off. We'll show you just how relieved that those passengers were to get back to Israel.

COOPER: All right. Iraq now in day two of the inspections. Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad -- Rym, the headline.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we visited a factory. The inspectors visit also a laboratory. Well, this is all under the international media's scrutinizing eye. We'll tell you more about what they saw and what we saw.

COOPER: All right. Rym, back with you in a moment. Back with all of you.

Also coming up tonight, some of the more fascinating characters we've met over the past year here at NEWSNIGHT. The people who lived through a different war and the thought that they were the enemy, even if they weren't. The Japanese--Americans and their remembrance of a place called Manzanar.

Tonight we also give thanks to someone who didn't always hear that when he really deserved it. One of the great photographers of the civil rights era -- Ernest Withers.

And the legend of Jesse James -- the Jesse James of the 21st Century.

The light stuff will come later. We begin with a day that none of us wanted, a day of terror.

Arkia Flight 582, the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa -- two names now linked together in our minds in two attacks against Israelis and those connected to Israelis in Africa.

What separates them is simple and devastating. In one attack everyone survived. In the other, everyone didn't.

And so we go back to Catherine Bond in Mombasa -- Cathy.

BOND: A picture is emerging here of what happened when about 150 tourists from Israel arrived at this resort on the Kenyan coast to begin their holiday yesterday morning.

They'd driven in coaches through the gates of this hotel behind me, and shortly after them was a four--wheel drive vehicle with three occupants -- three young men described by eyewitnesses here as to being non--Africans, as being brown in color.

And they rushed the gate, rushed the barrier, crashed through it, because they were refused entry by the hotel security, and drove their car down in front of the hotel.

When they reached there they detonated a powerful car bomb, which killed them and 13 others in the vicinity of the hotel -- Anderson.

COOPER: Catherine, has anyone been arrested? I take it the suicide bombers died. Has anyone been apprehended at this point?

BOND: Well, Kenyan investigators have been looking through the debris in front of the hotel, and they found the car parts scattered throughout the hotel compound. And they've also found some body parts, they say, which they assume belong to the suicide bombers.

The Kenyan police are also having a hard time confirming whether or not they have indeed arrested two suspects in connection with this attack. Either they have, and they don't want to tell people, or they haven't, but they don't want to disaffuse (ph) people now that that information or that story has gotten out -- Anderson.

COOPER: Who's leading the investigation into this? And is the U.S. involved in any way?

BOND: There was an American embassy investigator here working alongside Kenyan investigators. There were also some Israelis, I think here primarily to recover the bodies of the Israeli tourists who were killed -- two young boys from the same family and an Israeli adult, possibly a fourth Israeli. Some Israelis injured as well.

About nine Kenyans killed here, mostly workers at the hotel and entertainers who'd come to welcome guests.

So, we know that one American embassy official was here yesterday as an investigator. But the Kenyans are leading the investigation -- Anderson.

COOPER: Catherine, tell us about this second attack, the firing of, I believe, two missiles at an Israeli charter plane. What do you know about that?

BOND: Well it seems, on the same plane that the tourists who came to this hotel had arrived on, tourists leaving Kenya after their vacations, were taking off from Mombasa's international airport when their pilot noticed a slight bump and thought that perhaps the plane had hit a bird.

They then noticed two smoke trails to one side of the aircraft and realized that missiles had possibly been fired at them. Those rocket launchers seem to be the ones that were used to fire the missiles, filmed later by a Kenyan TV crew, and just sort of a kilometer or so from the airport runway.

So, the two attacks quite closely together, just within an hour, and hour--and--a--half of each other, and perhaps designed to be linked to one another -- Anderson.

COOPER: Catherine, we're looking at some of the pictures of those launchers. I cannot tell from the picture. Do you know what type of a -- I'm assuming that's a SAM. Do you know what kind it is?

BOND: We've heard that it's a SAM--7, the more primitive type of SAM missile rocket launcher, which is apparently readily available on the black market, on the arms market -- Anderson.

COOPER: Obviously, two coordinated attacks in the same city, in the same, in the same timeframe raises a lot of questions.

What are investigators looking at most right now?

BOND: Well, they're looking at the site where the car bomb exploded, because that's where most of the evidence is.

They can tell from the site of the explosion what type of explosives were used. They think it was plastic explosives, probably a fairly substantial amount. One policeman speculated as much as 500 kilograms of explosives was used.

And one Kenyan investigator held up yesterday what seemed to be a part of the detonator itself. It was perhaps a manual detonator. It was attached by a wire to a piece of metal encasing the bomb.

So they do seem to have found quite a number -- quite a bit of what caused the explosion. So I think they're looking at the pattern (ph) of the bombings. And they may be able to also look at who might have caused it -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Catherine Bond live in Mombasa, Kenya. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

From what the passengers say, you don't notice much out of the ordinary other than a bit of turbulence and some curious white stripes out of the window, as Catherine mentioned.

Only when they were completely safe did the passengers find out about the life--and--death drama they had just faced.

Their story now from Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Relief in Tel Aviv their aircraft survived the twin missile attack. Disaster over Mombasa was avoided.

On arrival, passengers were met by loved ones who made emotional scenes. They spoke of their flight from Kenya, so nearly brought to a violent end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a bomb. They told us at first that they think a bird stuck in the engine. But they didn't -- they knew from the start what was going on, and they didn't tell us through (ph) the flight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all the crew (ph) in the plane ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the crew in the plane was dealing just everything as usual.

CHANCE: A home video recorded in the final minutes of the flight shows Israeli warplanes escorting the airliner into Tel Aviv. Thirty--six hours after takeoff, passengers had only just been told what happened.

A missile tried to intercept us, says this woman. We were afraid we don't know how the plane will land.

Touchdown was met with celebration. Arkia Flight 582, a charter, took off from Mombasa on Thursday morning -- 262 risks on board.

Only seconds later, police say at least two missiles were fired at the plane from the ground. The plane was unscathed. What appeared to be missile launchers have been found nearby.

RAFI MAREK, PILOT, ARKIA FLIGHT 582: Right after takeoff from Mombasa, we were retracting the landing gear. We felt some bump which we had no idea at the time -- it was a very small bump -- we had no idea at the time what it was. And right after that we saw two white stripes, I think it was by, on the left, from the back of the airplane towards the front, which disappeared after a few seconds.

CHANCE: Some of these passengers had themselves been staying at the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, bombed just minutes after their plane came under attack -- escaping death twice in one day, far better, one said.

So many passengers told us that the reason they'd chosen Mombasa as a place to take their vacation is because they wanted to escape the violence and tension and bloodshed of Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: With Israeli officials now warning of more threats to their citizens overseas, those passengers said they just felt relieved they'd managed to get back alive -- Anderson.

COOPER: And, Matthew, there was more bloodshed, more attacks, inside Israel today. Tell us about the latest attacks in Israel and the results of the election for the Likud Party.

CHANCE: Indeed, there were -- there was more violence here in Israel. And those passengers flew back into the midst of it. Up (ph) in Beit Shean, a town in the north of Israel, a Palestinian gunman of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, opened fire on civilians outside a Likud Party office headquarters in that northern town, killing at least six Israelis. Quite an extended gunfight broken out there.

The violence both here in Israel and overseas, of course, overshadowing what's turned out to be an election victory for Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, in the leadership contest for the Likud Party. The election results showing that some 60 percent of party members have voted for Ariel Sharon, making him again the leader of the Likud Party, to lead that party into general elections here, scheduled at this point for January the 28th -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you very much. A busy, bloody day. Thank you.

To Iraq now. And while most of America had the day off, a team of U.N. inspectors did not. It was day two of inspections in Iraq. And while day one and day two have been quiet, it is anyone's guess as to what will happen after week one, or say, month one.

The latest on today's search from Rym Brahimi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRAHIMI: Four years later, inspectors are back. At least one inspector wore full protective gear as the team gathered samples from the compound -- a four--hour--long inspection. Journalists kept outside, but once the inspectors left, we were allowed in, Baghdad keen to prove claims Iraq has nothing to hide. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They took many samples, yes, from portable tanks, from fixed tanks and also from the ventilation system.

BRAHIMI: Al--Daura was an obvious site for the inspectors to visit. Once used to produce foot--and--mouth disease vaccines for livestock, the Iraqis admitted in 1995 that it had also been used to produce the lethal biological warfare agent botchulim (ph).

That led the previous inspectors to destroy most of the plant's equipment and place surveillance cameras there. The cameras are no longer working, and some of the remaining equipment has been transferred.

DIMITRI PERRICOS, U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: They're looking for some equipment that had been noted from the past activities, that they should be in the plant. And when we didn't find them, we asked the director of the plant.

BRAHIMI: He told them. Evidence of willing cooperation from the Iraqis so far. So, they left the factory for another facility to the north, where they found the equipment they'd been looking for.

Back at Al--Daura, only five of the plant's original 120 employees still work here. As children gather around the compound, this site is clearly not as sensitive as it once was. The inspectors realize far tougher challenges lie ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

While the other team of inspectors, the International Atomic Energy Agency people -- they're the nuclear experts -- they headed off to a mechanical factory. This was also, both of them obvious sites.

These are sites that have been suspected in recent reports as still continuing to produce some sort of weapons of mass destruction, so clearly a keenness there on the part of the inspectors to maybe disprove or confirm whatever fears there may have been in those reports -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Rym Brahimi live in Baghdad. I appreciate it very much tonight. Thank you.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll continue our look at today's terror attack and al Qaeda's missile capabilities.

And later, we'll bring back some of the interesting people we met this year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The question, of course, after today's attacks -- was it al Qaeda?

The investigation is in the earliest stage. We can at least take a look at some of the fingerprints that may be visible with the help of CNN's Mike Boettcher. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two missile launchers were found 300 meters from the end of the runway in Mombasa. The launchers appear to be variants of the Russian--designed SAM--7.

Al Qaeda's interest in surface--to--air missiles is clear from their own videotape archives, obtained exclusively by CNN last August. One video tape included this -- a lengthy and detailed video presentation of how to fire a SAM--7.

In another al Qaeda tape produced before the group was forced to flee Afghanistan, classroom instruction is applied in the field, putting (ph) al Qaeda operatives at a location believed to be in Afghanistan, take what appears to be a Chinese variant of the Russian SAM--7, known as a red cherry, assemble it, then actually fire it.

Al Qaeda had also committed their knowledge to paper. These manuals, discovered in an al Qaeda safe house after the fall of Kabul to coalition forces contained instruction in how to use several types of surface--to--air missiles, including American--made stingers.

Still, surface--to--air missile systems are not foolproof. If infrared guided missiles like the SAM--7 do not lock on to an aircraft's jet exhaust, the heat--seeking missiles will miss their target.

That was apparently the case in the failed Mombasa attack. And, in another failed attack last May in Saudi Arabia, in which investigators believe a Sudanese man with al Qaeda links fired at a U.S. plane as it took off from Prince Sultan airbase.

Kenyan officials blame al Qaeda for the Mombasa suicide bombing and missile attack. But in Beirut, Lebanon, a previously unknown group called the Army of Palestine claimed responsibility, saying it was meant to coincide with the November 29, 1947 United Nations decision that partitioned Palestine and allowed for the creation of Israel.

CNN has learned that anti--terror coalition intelligence sources are investigating whether this most recent attack is the work of several groups acting together. Attention is being focused on al Qaeda and Lebanese Hezbollah, which previously has been accused of launching attacks against Israeli targets outside the Middle East.

And according to those same sources, this man, Saif Al--Adel, whose name appears on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list is getting close scrutiny.

An al Qaeda operative with close ties to Lebanese Hezbollah, Al-- Adel is already wanted in connection with the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Coalition intelligence sources point out that if anyone had the experience and means to plan a combined attack in Africa, it is Saif Al--Adel. Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, terrorism, of course, tends to thrive in places that are very unstable. And Kenya is a place that has come up in our terrorism lexicon before.

Joining us now, someone who was involved in the aftermath of the Kenyan embassy bombing back in 1998, Mike Brooks (ph), once a member of the FBI joint terrorism task force, he is in Atlanta tonight.

Mike, thanks for coming in on Thanksgiving. I appreciate it.

Two attacks in the same city around the same time, is coordinated. What jumps out at you?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: The similarities between the bomb -- between the bombing at the hotel earlier today and the bombing in 1998 of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. Very similar, Anderson.

And the one -- and the bombing at the hotel, we saw a car with three occupants try to get in through a gate, stopped by a guard. And it drove around in front of the hotel for about 10 minutes and then rammed the gate, went through, pulled up in front of the lobby and then detonated the bomb that's apparently left a fairly large crater.

Then we go back to 1998. Almost the same kind of thing at the U.S. embassy. The truck laden with explosives tried to get into one gate at the U.S. embassy. It was turned away by guards, sent around to the rear where they actually are supposed to have deliveries.

When it got there, a security guard kept many people from getting killed, because he put the arm down and kept the -- on the gate -- and kept the truck from getting into the embassy.

What they wanted to do was to drive it in, drive it into the garage and have the embassy implode on itself.

Instead, the one person got out, started firing a weapon, threw a grenade, a flash--bang type concussion grenade over the fence, and then the other person in the truck detonated that bomb, just outside of the embassy and didn't get as close to the embassy as they wanted to.

A lot of similarities I see in the two methods that were used in 1998 and just recently at the hotel early this morning.

COOPER: And, I mean, again, the fact that they were able to carry out two attacks in basically the same timeframe suggests a certain level of coordination.

And also, the use of a SAM--7 is kind of frightening. I mean, the idea that these things are out there and can fall into the wrong hands. BROOKS: It is. Well, the SAM--7s are apparently on the black market. It's very, very easy to get.

And also, back in 1998, we saw a coordinated effort on the attack at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. And at the same time, almost simultaneously, at the U.S. embassy in Tanzania.

So, we saw, you know, again, two coordinated attacks. Is it both -- are they both al Qaeda? We know that the embassy was. Whether today's was or is a combination of Hezbollah and al Qaeda, I think we'll, that we'll find that out hopefully in the very near future.

COOPER: We've heard that two employees of the U.S. embassy from Nairobi are in Mombasa aiding in the investigation.

What do investigators look for now? What is key to find at this point?

BROOKS: Well, of course, right now the Kenyan CID will probably be the lead agency right now in this investigation. They are very good.

They've also, they've been taught crime scene procedures, investigative procedures by the FBI after the bombings in Nairobi and Tanzania, and they're going to be looking for a lot of different things.

First of all, there was a report earlier that said it was plastic explosives. We don't know that yet, unless they have already taken a residue sample and tested it to see exactly what kind of explosives were used.

In 1998 it was TNT that was used in both of the embassy bombings there. So, right now, I don't think we do.

There's a lot of things starting off now. Number one is to find out exactly who was responsible, who that was driving the trucks and who also it was that was firing the SAM missiles at the Israeli jet.

COOPER: And remind us, what was the fallout in 1998? I mean, who ended up being the lead instigators of the attack?

BROOKS: It was linked to al Qaeda. And there were people arrested and brought to justice and went on trial and found guilty in New York.

So, but it was linked specifically to al Qaeda.

COOPER: And those people were found to have cased the embassies for a long period of time. It was a lengthy operation.

BROOKS: Very lengthy. It was believed that they were there on the ground in Nairobi three to five years prior to that doing a target assessment, if you will, looking at the vulnerabilities of the U.S. embassy.

We know that they were across the street taking pictures, writing diagrams, drawing diagrams of the embassy for a long period of time.

It wasn't until after the bombing happened and people said, hey, I didn't realize these people were, what they were doing. We thought they were people just taking sketches.

So, again, you know, they were there a long time, ...

COOPER: Right.

BROOKS: ... and possibly could have been there a long time for this -- to plan this attack.

COOPER: All right. Mike Brooks, thanks very much.

BROOKS: All (ph) right (ph), Anderson.

COOPER: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, more on the attacks today with Michael Elliott of "Time" magazine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We've been joined many times before by someone who follows the twists and turns in the terror investigation from "Time" magazine. Michael Elliott joins now, and we appreciate it. Michael, thanks for coming in today.

MICHAEL ELLIOTT, EDITOR--AT--LARGE, TIME MAGAZINE: All right.

COOPER: We were talking before. You said this is a bad day. This is scary stuff.

ELLIOTT: This is, on about four different levels, I thought this is really, really bad. You've got these missiles against a passenger jet. The first time we've seen that.

There was a little incident in a Saudi air force base earlier in the ...

COOPER: Rocket (ph) ...

ELLIOTT: Exactly. But this is the first time in recent terrorist history that we've seen surface--to--air missiles used against a passenger jet.

You see the deliberate targeting of Israeli citizens outside Israel, which raises the whole war of civilizations scenario. The idea that Jews are targets anywhere in the world. That's pretty horrible.

Thirdly, there's this whole question of soft targets. I mean, frankly, there is no way that any of us can protect holiday hotels, resort areas in Africa, in Asia, Bali, Mombasa. There's no way that we can conceivably protect all those places.

And fourthly, which I think is quite significant, is that if you put this together with Bali, you see a pretty deliberate attempt, I think, to wreck local economies. Because tourism is, in many parts of the world, an absolute mainstay of the economy, in Southeast Asia, really the only thing that's working.

COOPER: Yes.

ELLIOTT: So, this was -- this is a really bad day (ph) ...

COOPER: And if I'm running the tourist industries in India and Thailand, I would be very scared tonight, because ...

ELLIOTT: Oh, absolutely.

COOPER: ... I mean, Israelis go there. Those are prime targets now.

ELLIOTT: Oh. Oh, absolutely. Somewhere like Goa, you know, I mean, one doesn't want to kind of -- has against (ph) this (ph). But, no, absolutely.

COOPER: A lot to talk about on this. The targeting of Israelis outside of Israel, ...

ELLIOTT: Yes.

COOPER: ... I mean, either this is al Qaeda, or this is, you know, another group, an anti--Israeli group, Hezbollah or something else. Or some sort of union of the two.

ELLIOTT: Any way you slice it, it's frightening. I mean, there have been terrorist incidents targeting Jewish institutions outside Israel before. There was the horrible bombing in Buenos Aires, you remember, of the Jewish community center a few years ago.

But what this seems to suggest without kind of any evidence ---- we're just kind of speculating here at the moment ---- but what this seems to suggest is a possibility of a link up between al Qaeda, that is to say the international terrorist organization that has essentially been a Saudi, Afghan, jihadist group on the one hand, possibly working with groups who have a much more rigorous and focused direction at Israeli targets. And that's really scary.

COOPER: Even if it's not a link, even if it's a purely al Qaeda operation, I think back to the last bin Laden recording, or alleged bin Laden recording and when you listen to what he ---- the reasons he cites for attacking these various targets, you know, the whole sort of U.S. and Saudi Arabia thing is now further down on the list and the Israel...

ELLIOTT: That's a really good point, because if you remember ---- if you go back to bin Laden's statements five to six years ago, frankly, the Israeli and Palestine dispute was pretty low down the list of the things he was concerned about. He was much more, you know, disspoiling Saudi Arabia, the presence of American troops there and so on and so forth. Now the Israeli--Palestine dispute is increasingly, in the communiques that we get from al Qaeda or that we think are from al Qaeda, it's front and center. And that's, of course, highly significant because that's the hot button issue around a large part of the Middle East at the moment. And it's a way of, frankly, it's a way of getting sympathy.

COOPER: Also interesting that, I mean, A, it happened on American Thanksgiving ---- I'm not sure if that was the intended date or whether it was the Israeli elections.

ELLIOTT: Right, Well the claim, as you know, in the communique is that it also coincided with the date of passage of U.N. resolution in 1947 or 48. I can't remember. And you've got the Likud primary that's ongoing and American Thanksgiving. So it's a kind of symbolic date two or three times over. So, no, I mean, these guys, you know ---- these guys certainly know how to press hot buttons.

COOPER: Yes. Certainly not a good day. Michael Elliott, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

Well still to come on NEWSNIGHT, some special people we met this past year. A photographer who chronicled the civil rights movement and America's hottest motorcycle maker.

And up next, some people with some painful memories of the Second World War.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, for the rest of the program tonight, we want to spend some time with some of the people we met over the past year of existence. Sort of ---- sort of like "Segment Seven" takes over the rest of NEWSNIGHT. These are people who made us think about things new or unfamiliar or just downright cool.

The people, in short, that we remember and want to give thanks to on this Thanksgiving. Not a bad way to end a difficult day overseas, but what we hope was a wonderful and peaceful day for you at home.

We begin about 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles, just a short of Independence and a mile west of Reward. There you find a spot in a valley with a Spanish name that means apple orchard, but to thousands of American who arrived there 60 years ago, the name Manzanar meant something else entirely. Sixty years ago, those same Americans were taken from their homes on the West Coast. They were shipped to Manzanar and places like it because they looked like the enemy and this was war.

Tonight, the country is once again at war and to some people, at least, an awful lot of Americans look like the enemy. So we are revisiting Manzanar tonight with three American who once lived there. A not so gentle reminder that 60 years ago feels lot closer now than it did just a year ago and Manzanar is still just short of Independence and not that far down the road.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAS OKUI, MANZANAR RESIDENT: I was 10. I was in fifth grade. BO SAKAGUCHI, MANZANAR RESIDENT: I was 16 in 11th grade.

SUE EMBREY, MANZANAR RESIDENT: I was 19. The U.S. Army came around into the area and posted notices on telephone poles and store fronts. They just said you've got to go and go. If you didn't go, they would probably arrest you and put you in jail. So what alternative did you have?

SAKAGUCHI: There was a caravan of several buses leaving from Burbank.

OKUI: Yeah.

SAKAGUCHI: And it rained that morning.

OKUI: All I know is when we got there, it was really gray and dark.

SAKAGUCHI: And the lady who was boarding the bus said, look, even the sky is crying for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time: Spring and summer of 1942. The relocation centers are supervised by the War Relocation Authority, which assumed responsibility for the people after they had been evacuated and cared for temporarily by the Army. The entire community bounded by a wire fence and guarded by military police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAKAGUCHI: Well, you know, you're an American, though you're of a different color and features from those from Europe. And so though you know you're an American and you're an American citizen, here we were being herded away into a desolate camp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Naturally, the newcomers looked about with some curiosity. They were in a new area, on land that was raw, untamed, but full of opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAKAGUCHI: Manzanar ---- those who have lived here had experienced all sorts of emotions and experiences. It was very significant; 220,000 people who lived in the United States.

OKUI: Anyone who was here, two things that they were denied were privacy and protection from the wind. It was always windy and there was never any privacy.

EMBREY: The lights used to follow us at night, remember that? As soon as you opened your door and you started out, the lights would follow you, either to the latrine or to a neighbor or wherever you were going, and then they would follow you back again. And I think that's what most people remember the most about camp, the searchlight at night (ph). And people keep saying that there were no guard towers, but there were eight of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are protecting ourselves without violating the principles of Christian decency. We won't change this fundamental decency no matter what our enemies do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMBREY: We got our three meals a day...

OKUI: Three meals a day...

(CROSSTALK)

EMBREY: ... but we had no freedom. We had no rights. We were there without any charge. Without a trial.

SAKAGUCHI: I don't remember these trees here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What department number were you in?

SAKAGUCHI: 11--7--4. It would be right about here.

OKUI: I remember the whole place was absolutely barren when we got here. Everything was bulldozed. There was nothing here.

EMBREY: The first night is kind of blanked out of my mind. We were lucky, because the others had to go out and, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) mattress (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with hey. But my brother had already done it for us, so when we got there my mother kind of sat down and said, oh, my, what a place. And that was it. She told me years later that she used to walk up to the apple orchards from block 20, which is quite a ways, every day, and cry under the trees.

SAKAGUCHI: September 11, I watched it on TV. I wasn't aware who had caused it. And then once we found out, I think, then we worried, because those were only special people who are brought into this country to try to destroy this country. And the average Muslim is probably a very loyal to this country.

EMBREY: I had heard FBI had gone into Detroit, where there is a large Middle Eastern population and had talked to people. And I thought, well, that's what happened on the night of December 7.

SAKAGUCHI: The Arab--Americans ---- or the Muslims were lucky. At least the president...

EMBREY: He did say that we have to not make them scapegoats, right.

SAKAGUCHI: That every Muslim is not a terrorist. I wish they would have said that about us.

EMBREY: No, not that president.

SAKAGUCHI: Emotions are emotions. And time changes people. And time tends to people forget.

EMBREY: But I hope, you know, Americans have learned ---- at least those who know about it have learned from the experience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Later on NEWSNIGHT, a modern day Jesse James.

And up next, a photographer who despite great danger ,chronicled the civil rights movement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: For a moment we want to introduce to someone who saw the civil rights era with camera in hand: Ernest Withers. Mr. Withers shot some of the most memorable and important pictures of that time. You'll recognize some of them. They are history many of you will recall.

You probably don't know much about the man who shot them, which was just fine for Mr. Withers. But not, we confess, with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

TONY DECANEAS, DIRECTOR, PANOPTICON GALLERY: I think one of the most powerful images is the image of Martin Luther King being arrested at Medgar Evers' funeral ---- the expression on his face is so pained. I knew the image, I'd seen it in "LIFE" magazine, probably, or "TIME" ---- and yet there had never been a connection between that and Ernest Withers.

And it turns out that Ernest often times had exposed rolls of film to UPI and AP stringers they would get the byline and Ernest got his money and he was happy with that arrangement. Was never envious of their fame. To him the message getting out was more important.

ERNEST WITHERS, PHOTOGRAPHER: This is the very beginning of the "I'm a Man" labor.

The black newspapers that didn't get white service, they hired me to go throughout the South when racial incidents occurred. The murder of Emmitt Till, the original bus ride, Martin Luther King. Even protests within our own city.

DECANEAS: A lot of Ernest's photographs are good, simply because he had the courage to take them. There were times when Ernest got beat up, his cameras were smashed, his film was destroyed. It never, ever got in the way of taking pictures.

WITHERS: Although I was frightened ---- that is something in terms of the level of responsibility that you have to stick to it until the end.

BEVERLY ROBERTSON, EXECUTIVE DIR., NATL. CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM: I believe he probably has somewhat comprehensive body of work on the movement today.

When you look at his pictures you feel as if you where there. Because he captures sort of everyday faces and images in such a powerful way that it places you right next to the person.

WITHERS: ... Elvis Presley.

DECANEAS: He also photographed the entire music scene in Memphis. He has pictures of Elvis Presley. Kind of cracked the myth that Elvis wasn't grateful to the black community. He was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with black musicians. Ernest has the photographs to prove it.

His photographs documenting the Negro Baseball Leagues ---- something that existed because of segregation and no longer exists because segregation was banned.

ROBERTSON: That's a big one.

I was the baby in the stroller with my dad. My family was very active. You had to demonstrate for my rights ---- the future rights of the next generation.

What I find striking is the facial expressions of the police officers. It's not one of, We're all glad we're out here together. I've had a lot friends and family that have seen photographs, and I hope when they look at the picture, they realize where we were in '61 at a people. Where we've come to today. The courage that it's taken to come this far. So it gives me pride.

I think it takes many, many years to understand the value of history and for us to understand the value of his work and for us to understand the value of the movement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think of you very often when I see your work around ---- how are you?

WITHERS: Fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look wonderful.

WITHERS: I can't find the fountain of youth! I'm looking for it.

DECANEAS: He lovers being a photographer, and he loves life. And the two just coincide. Fortunately, he's got long life genes and he's living to enjoy it.

WITHERS: I've made more than 6 million to 8 million pictures in a lifetime, and that's a lot of pictures. Each day that I'm Ernest Withers the photographer, I'll be expected to make pictures. So I'll be making pictures until I get 105. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Someone to be thankful for.

Next on NEWSNIGHT, another of our favorite characters from this year. Rev up the engines. Motorcycle maven Jesse James.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Finally tonight, one of our favorite "On the Rise" segments, where we meet entrepreneurs doing something new in a different way and even making some money occasionally. We'll meet a guy who ended up in "People" Magazine's "Sexiest People Alive" Issue last week. But, frankly, how hard is that?

Jesse James is turning out the kind of motorcycle that every James Dean wannabe in Hollywood seems to want and believe me, there are a lot of James Dean wannabes in Hollywood today.

He brings a sort of Wild West spirit to it all, something he just may have gotten from the renegade ancestor who shares his name.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSE JAMES, WEST COAST CHOPPERS: My name is Jesse James. This is West Coast Choppers.

I build motorcycles. I kind of build them, every one of them, like I'm building it for myself. It's hard for me to let them go, which means that I'm pouring a lot into it, you know. I'm doing everything just the way I like it. And I guess, you know, people think that's cool.

We make our own chassis, tanks, fenders, front end, exhaust, wheels. You know, everything but the motor and transmission we make right in the shop here. This is where I work up here. This is like kind of where I do my thing. This is like a blank sheet of canvas where I start.

I used to be a bodyguard. You know, one day came home and said, you know what? I really want to do something I love. And I never thought this would ever pay my bills. I rented a little corner of a friend of mine's shop, which was about the half the size of a garage. And I remember like two days after I was there, two of my friends came in, Jim and Fast Eddie (ph), and I remember exactly what they said. He'll be out of business in a month.

My first clients were a lot of just friends and acquaintances until like people I've never met or seen face--to--face would like send me a check. Did a bike for Shaq, Keanu Reeves, Goldberg, Tony Martin from the Falcons and then just a bunch of other people with lots of money.

Kid Rock and I have actually went back and forth for about a year and we've never really hooked up until finally, you know, a few weeks ago when he came down to see the shop. When someone that walks in here that's never been here and doesn't really know what to expect, it's like Willy Wonka and the motorcycle factory.

KID ROCK, MUSICIAN: Every time you see a bad--ass chopper pull up, everyone is going, is that a Jesse James? Is that a Jesse James? His name just is getting out there. It's all over, man. Guy's like a mini rock star at this point.

JAMES: I get like 20 people a day come in asking how much it is to build them a bike. Have to say they average between three, if I really like you, to like 125 grand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can buy a brand new Harley for $16,000. That's a down payment on one of these.

JAMES: Bill Harley and Willy (ph) Davidson aren't actually out there making the gas tanks for their bikes or they're not actually out there bending pipes and designing wheels and stuff like that. It's just a name. You know, if someone walks in that door with 100 grand tomorrow and wants a Jesse James bike, Jesse James is actually going to be making it.

It takes a few weeks, but that's so fulfilling. And then what even takes it a step further is when you could jump on it, and I'm going down the freeway and I feel the acceleration and the way the bike works and then I could look down and see my reflection in something that I made. How many people can say that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Not many. That is NEWSNIGHT for tonight. Have a great Thanksgiving. See you tomorrow.

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 November 28, 2002 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening again. There was a remarkable Thanksgiving moment today. You will see it in a moment, and it has nothing to do with a turkey that ended up less dry than you thought, or the creamed onions that actually had more taste than you thought.
The thanks was from a few hundred people who don't know much about Thanksgiving in America. People aboard an Israeli flight that started in Kenya and ended up in Tel Aviv. People who came perhaps a few yards away from becoming the latest victims of a terror attack. Aboard Arkia Flight 582, they cheered, they clapped and they sang -- a celebration worthy of any Thanksgiving.

And it was for good reason. Today they literally dodged a bullet -- the missiles of a terrorist. It is their Thanksgiving story that is on our minds tonight. And while we wish we didn't have to think about it, the implications of what happened today are on our minds, as well. And we will talk about them all tonight. They will be on our minds for a long time to come.

We begin tonight the whip in Kenya and the attacks -- more than one today in Kenya. Catherine Bond is in Mombasa for us -- Catherine, the headline.

CATHERINE BOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Day two for investigators searching through the debris at an Israeli tourist hotel in Kenya.

COOPER: Back to you in a moment. On to Israel now. The reaction when that plane touched down safely. Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem with that -- Matthew, a headline, please.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, also out of Mombasa, as you've been mentioning, that Israeli charter flight carrying more than 260 passengers, very narrowly avoids disaster.

Two missiles fired at the aircraft shortly after it takes off. We'll show you just how relieved that those passengers were to get back to Israel.

COOPER: All right. Iraq now in day two of the inspections. Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad -- Rym, the headline.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we visited a factory. The inspectors visit also a laboratory. Well, this is all under the international media's scrutinizing eye. We'll tell you more about what they saw and what we saw.

COOPER: All right. Rym, back with you in a moment. Back with all of you.

Also coming up tonight, some of the more fascinating characters we've met over the past year here at NEWSNIGHT. The people who lived through a different war and the thought that they were the enemy, even if they weren't. The Japanese--Americans and their remembrance of a place called Manzanar.

Tonight we also give thanks to someone who didn't always hear that when he really deserved it. One of the great photographers of the civil rights era -- Ernest Withers.

And the legend of Jesse James -- the Jesse James of the 21st Century.

The light stuff will come later. We begin with a day that none of us wanted, a day of terror.

Arkia Flight 582, the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa -- two names now linked together in our minds in two attacks against Israelis and those connected to Israelis in Africa.

What separates them is simple and devastating. In one attack everyone survived. In the other, everyone didn't.

And so we go back to Catherine Bond in Mombasa -- Cathy.

BOND: A picture is emerging here of what happened when about 150 tourists from Israel arrived at this resort on the Kenyan coast to begin their holiday yesterday morning.

They'd driven in coaches through the gates of this hotel behind me, and shortly after them was a four--wheel drive vehicle with three occupants -- three young men described by eyewitnesses here as to being non--Africans, as being brown in color.

And they rushed the gate, rushed the barrier, crashed through it, because they were refused entry by the hotel security, and drove their car down in front of the hotel.

When they reached there they detonated a powerful car bomb, which killed them and 13 others in the vicinity of the hotel -- Anderson.

COOPER: Catherine, has anyone been arrested? I take it the suicide bombers died. Has anyone been apprehended at this point?

BOND: Well, Kenyan investigators have been looking through the debris in front of the hotel, and they found the car parts scattered throughout the hotel compound. And they've also found some body parts, they say, which they assume belong to the suicide bombers.

The Kenyan police are also having a hard time confirming whether or not they have indeed arrested two suspects in connection with this attack. Either they have, and they don't want to tell people, or they haven't, but they don't want to disaffuse (ph) people now that that information or that story has gotten out -- Anderson.

COOPER: Who's leading the investigation into this? And is the U.S. involved in any way?

BOND: There was an American embassy investigator here working alongside Kenyan investigators. There were also some Israelis, I think here primarily to recover the bodies of the Israeli tourists who were killed -- two young boys from the same family and an Israeli adult, possibly a fourth Israeli. Some Israelis injured as well.

About nine Kenyans killed here, mostly workers at the hotel and entertainers who'd come to welcome guests.

So, we know that one American embassy official was here yesterday as an investigator. But the Kenyans are leading the investigation -- Anderson.

COOPER: Catherine, tell us about this second attack, the firing of, I believe, two missiles at an Israeli charter plane. What do you know about that?

BOND: Well it seems, on the same plane that the tourists who came to this hotel had arrived on, tourists leaving Kenya after their vacations, were taking off from Mombasa's international airport when their pilot noticed a slight bump and thought that perhaps the plane had hit a bird.

They then noticed two smoke trails to one side of the aircraft and realized that missiles had possibly been fired at them. Those rocket launchers seem to be the ones that were used to fire the missiles, filmed later by a Kenyan TV crew, and just sort of a kilometer or so from the airport runway.

So, the two attacks quite closely together, just within an hour, and hour--and--a--half of each other, and perhaps designed to be linked to one another -- Anderson.

COOPER: Catherine, we're looking at some of the pictures of those launchers. I cannot tell from the picture. Do you know what type of a -- I'm assuming that's a SAM. Do you know what kind it is?

BOND: We've heard that it's a SAM--7, the more primitive type of SAM missile rocket launcher, which is apparently readily available on the black market, on the arms market -- Anderson.

COOPER: Obviously, two coordinated attacks in the same city, in the same, in the same timeframe raises a lot of questions.

What are investigators looking at most right now?

BOND: Well, they're looking at the site where the car bomb exploded, because that's where most of the evidence is.

They can tell from the site of the explosion what type of explosives were used. They think it was plastic explosives, probably a fairly substantial amount. One policeman speculated as much as 500 kilograms of explosives was used.

And one Kenyan investigator held up yesterday what seemed to be a part of the detonator itself. It was perhaps a manual detonator. It was attached by a wire to a piece of metal encasing the bomb.

So they do seem to have found quite a number -- quite a bit of what caused the explosion. So I think they're looking at the pattern (ph) of the bombings. And they may be able to also look at who might have caused it -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Catherine Bond live in Mombasa, Kenya. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

From what the passengers say, you don't notice much out of the ordinary other than a bit of turbulence and some curious white stripes out of the window, as Catherine mentioned.

Only when they were completely safe did the passengers find out about the life--and--death drama they had just faced.

Their story now from Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Relief in Tel Aviv their aircraft survived the twin missile attack. Disaster over Mombasa was avoided.

On arrival, passengers were met by loved ones who made emotional scenes. They spoke of their flight from Kenya, so nearly brought to a violent end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a bomb. They told us at first that they think a bird stuck in the engine. But they didn't -- they knew from the start what was going on, and they didn't tell us through (ph) the flight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all the crew (ph) in the plane ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the crew in the plane was dealing just everything as usual.

CHANCE: A home video recorded in the final minutes of the flight shows Israeli warplanes escorting the airliner into Tel Aviv. Thirty--six hours after takeoff, passengers had only just been told what happened.

A missile tried to intercept us, says this woman. We were afraid we don't know how the plane will land.

Touchdown was met with celebration. Arkia Flight 582, a charter, took off from Mombasa on Thursday morning -- 262 risks on board.

Only seconds later, police say at least two missiles were fired at the plane from the ground. The plane was unscathed. What appeared to be missile launchers have been found nearby.

RAFI MAREK, PILOT, ARKIA FLIGHT 582: Right after takeoff from Mombasa, we were retracting the landing gear. We felt some bump which we had no idea at the time -- it was a very small bump -- we had no idea at the time what it was. And right after that we saw two white stripes, I think it was by, on the left, from the back of the airplane towards the front, which disappeared after a few seconds.

CHANCE: Some of these passengers had themselves been staying at the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, bombed just minutes after their plane came under attack -- escaping death twice in one day, far better, one said.

So many passengers told us that the reason they'd chosen Mombasa as a place to take their vacation is because they wanted to escape the violence and tension and bloodshed of Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: With Israeli officials now warning of more threats to their citizens overseas, those passengers said they just felt relieved they'd managed to get back alive -- Anderson.

COOPER: And, Matthew, there was more bloodshed, more attacks, inside Israel today. Tell us about the latest attacks in Israel and the results of the election for the Likud Party.

CHANCE: Indeed, there were -- there was more violence here in Israel. And those passengers flew back into the midst of it. Up (ph) in Beit Shean, a town in the north of Israel, a Palestinian gunman of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, opened fire on civilians outside a Likud Party office headquarters in that northern town, killing at least six Israelis. Quite an extended gunfight broken out there.

The violence both here in Israel and overseas, of course, overshadowing what's turned out to be an election victory for Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, in the leadership contest for the Likud Party. The election results showing that some 60 percent of party members have voted for Ariel Sharon, making him again the leader of the Likud Party, to lead that party into general elections here, scheduled at this point for January the 28th -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you very much. A busy, bloody day. Thank you.

To Iraq now. And while most of America had the day off, a team of U.N. inspectors did not. It was day two of inspections in Iraq. And while day one and day two have been quiet, it is anyone's guess as to what will happen after week one, or say, month one.

The latest on today's search from Rym Brahimi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRAHIMI: Four years later, inspectors are back. At least one inspector wore full protective gear as the team gathered samples from the compound -- a four--hour--long inspection. Journalists kept outside, but once the inspectors left, we were allowed in, Baghdad keen to prove claims Iraq has nothing to hide. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They took many samples, yes, from portable tanks, from fixed tanks and also from the ventilation system.

BRAHIMI: Al--Daura was an obvious site for the inspectors to visit. Once used to produce foot--and--mouth disease vaccines for livestock, the Iraqis admitted in 1995 that it had also been used to produce the lethal biological warfare agent botchulim (ph).

That led the previous inspectors to destroy most of the plant's equipment and place surveillance cameras there. The cameras are no longer working, and some of the remaining equipment has been transferred.

DIMITRI PERRICOS, U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: They're looking for some equipment that had been noted from the past activities, that they should be in the plant. And when we didn't find them, we asked the director of the plant.

BRAHIMI: He told them. Evidence of willing cooperation from the Iraqis so far. So, they left the factory for another facility to the north, where they found the equipment they'd been looking for.

Back at Al--Daura, only five of the plant's original 120 employees still work here. As children gather around the compound, this site is clearly not as sensitive as it once was. The inspectors realize far tougher challenges lie ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

While the other team of inspectors, the International Atomic Energy Agency people -- they're the nuclear experts -- they headed off to a mechanical factory. This was also, both of them obvious sites.

These are sites that have been suspected in recent reports as still continuing to produce some sort of weapons of mass destruction, so clearly a keenness there on the part of the inspectors to maybe disprove or confirm whatever fears there may have been in those reports -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Rym Brahimi live in Baghdad. I appreciate it very much tonight. Thank you.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll continue our look at today's terror attack and al Qaeda's missile capabilities.

And later, we'll bring back some of the interesting people we met this year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The question, of course, after today's attacks -- was it al Qaeda?

The investigation is in the earliest stage. We can at least take a look at some of the fingerprints that may be visible with the help of CNN's Mike Boettcher. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two missile launchers were found 300 meters from the end of the runway in Mombasa. The launchers appear to be variants of the Russian--designed SAM--7.

Al Qaeda's interest in surface--to--air missiles is clear from their own videotape archives, obtained exclusively by CNN last August. One video tape included this -- a lengthy and detailed video presentation of how to fire a SAM--7.

In another al Qaeda tape produced before the group was forced to flee Afghanistan, classroom instruction is applied in the field, putting (ph) al Qaeda operatives at a location believed to be in Afghanistan, take what appears to be a Chinese variant of the Russian SAM--7, known as a red cherry, assemble it, then actually fire it.

Al Qaeda had also committed their knowledge to paper. These manuals, discovered in an al Qaeda safe house after the fall of Kabul to coalition forces contained instruction in how to use several types of surface--to--air missiles, including American--made stingers.

Still, surface--to--air missile systems are not foolproof. If infrared guided missiles like the SAM--7 do not lock on to an aircraft's jet exhaust, the heat--seeking missiles will miss their target.

That was apparently the case in the failed Mombasa attack. And, in another failed attack last May in Saudi Arabia, in which investigators believe a Sudanese man with al Qaeda links fired at a U.S. plane as it took off from Prince Sultan airbase.

Kenyan officials blame al Qaeda for the Mombasa suicide bombing and missile attack. But in Beirut, Lebanon, a previously unknown group called the Army of Palestine claimed responsibility, saying it was meant to coincide with the November 29, 1947 United Nations decision that partitioned Palestine and allowed for the creation of Israel.

CNN has learned that anti--terror coalition intelligence sources are investigating whether this most recent attack is the work of several groups acting together. Attention is being focused on al Qaeda and Lebanese Hezbollah, which previously has been accused of launching attacks against Israeli targets outside the Middle East.

And according to those same sources, this man, Saif Al--Adel, whose name appears on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list is getting close scrutiny.

An al Qaeda operative with close ties to Lebanese Hezbollah, Al-- Adel is already wanted in connection with the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Coalition intelligence sources point out that if anyone had the experience and means to plan a combined attack in Africa, it is Saif Al--Adel. Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, terrorism, of course, tends to thrive in places that are very unstable. And Kenya is a place that has come up in our terrorism lexicon before.

Joining us now, someone who was involved in the aftermath of the Kenyan embassy bombing back in 1998, Mike Brooks (ph), once a member of the FBI joint terrorism task force, he is in Atlanta tonight.

Mike, thanks for coming in on Thanksgiving. I appreciate it.

Two attacks in the same city around the same time, is coordinated. What jumps out at you?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: The similarities between the bomb -- between the bombing at the hotel earlier today and the bombing in 1998 of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. Very similar, Anderson.

And the one -- and the bombing at the hotel, we saw a car with three occupants try to get in through a gate, stopped by a guard. And it drove around in front of the hotel for about 10 minutes and then rammed the gate, went through, pulled up in front of the lobby and then detonated the bomb that's apparently left a fairly large crater.

Then we go back to 1998. Almost the same kind of thing at the U.S. embassy. The truck laden with explosives tried to get into one gate at the U.S. embassy. It was turned away by guards, sent around to the rear where they actually are supposed to have deliveries.

When it got there, a security guard kept many people from getting killed, because he put the arm down and kept the -- on the gate -- and kept the truck from getting into the embassy.

What they wanted to do was to drive it in, drive it into the garage and have the embassy implode on itself.

Instead, the one person got out, started firing a weapon, threw a grenade, a flash--bang type concussion grenade over the fence, and then the other person in the truck detonated that bomb, just outside of the embassy and didn't get as close to the embassy as they wanted to.

A lot of similarities I see in the two methods that were used in 1998 and just recently at the hotel early this morning.

COOPER: And, I mean, again, the fact that they were able to carry out two attacks in basically the same timeframe suggests a certain level of coordination.

And also, the use of a SAM--7 is kind of frightening. I mean, the idea that these things are out there and can fall into the wrong hands. BROOKS: It is. Well, the SAM--7s are apparently on the black market. It's very, very easy to get.

And also, back in 1998, we saw a coordinated effort on the attack at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. And at the same time, almost simultaneously, at the U.S. embassy in Tanzania.

So, we saw, you know, again, two coordinated attacks. Is it both -- are they both al Qaeda? We know that the embassy was. Whether today's was or is a combination of Hezbollah and al Qaeda, I think we'll, that we'll find that out hopefully in the very near future.

COOPER: We've heard that two employees of the U.S. embassy from Nairobi are in Mombasa aiding in the investigation.

What do investigators look for now? What is key to find at this point?

BROOKS: Well, of course, right now the Kenyan CID will probably be the lead agency right now in this investigation. They are very good.

They've also, they've been taught crime scene procedures, investigative procedures by the FBI after the bombings in Nairobi and Tanzania, and they're going to be looking for a lot of different things.

First of all, there was a report earlier that said it was plastic explosives. We don't know that yet, unless they have already taken a residue sample and tested it to see exactly what kind of explosives were used.

In 1998 it was TNT that was used in both of the embassy bombings there. So, right now, I don't think we do.

There's a lot of things starting off now. Number one is to find out exactly who was responsible, who that was driving the trucks and who also it was that was firing the SAM missiles at the Israeli jet.

COOPER: And remind us, what was the fallout in 1998? I mean, who ended up being the lead instigators of the attack?

BROOKS: It was linked to al Qaeda. And there were people arrested and brought to justice and went on trial and found guilty in New York.

So, but it was linked specifically to al Qaeda.

COOPER: And those people were found to have cased the embassies for a long period of time. It was a lengthy operation.

BROOKS: Very lengthy. It was believed that they were there on the ground in Nairobi three to five years prior to that doing a target assessment, if you will, looking at the vulnerabilities of the U.S. embassy.

We know that they were across the street taking pictures, writing diagrams, drawing diagrams of the embassy for a long period of time.

It wasn't until after the bombing happened and people said, hey, I didn't realize these people were, what they were doing. We thought they were people just taking sketches.

So, again, you know, they were there a long time, ...

COOPER: Right.

BROOKS: ... and possibly could have been there a long time for this -- to plan this attack.

COOPER: All right. Mike Brooks, thanks very much.

BROOKS: All (ph) right (ph), Anderson.

COOPER: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, more on the attacks today with Michael Elliott of "Time" magazine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We've been joined many times before by someone who follows the twists and turns in the terror investigation from "Time" magazine. Michael Elliott joins now, and we appreciate it. Michael, thanks for coming in today.

MICHAEL ELLIOTT, EDITOR--AT--LARGE, TIME MAGAZINE: All right.

COOPER: We were talking before. You said this is a bad day. This is scary stuff.

ELLIOTT: This is, on about four different levels, I thought this is really, really bad. You've got these missiles against a passenger jet. The first time we've seen that.

There was a little incident in a Saudi air force base earlier in the ...

COOPER: Rocket (ph) ...

ELLIOTT: Exactly. But this is the first time in recent terrorist history that we've seen surface--to--air missiles used against a passenger jet.

You see the deliberate targeting of Israeli citizens outside Israel, which raises the whole war of civilizations scenario. The idea that Jews are targets anywhere in the world. That's pretty horrible.

Thirdly, there's this whole question of soft targets. I mean, frankly, there is no way that any of us can protect holiday hotels, resort areas in Africa, in Asia, Bali, Mombasa. There's no way that we can conceivably protect all those places.

And fourthly, which I think is quite significant, is that if you put this together with Bali, you see a pretty deliberate attempt, I think, to wreck local economies. Because tourism is, in many parts of the world, an absolute mainstay of the economy, in Southeast Asia, really the only thing that's working.

COOPER: Yes.

ELLIOTT: So, this was -- this is a really bad day (ph) ...

COOPER: And if I'm running the tourist industries in India and Thailand, I would be very scared tonight, because ...

ELLIOTT: Oh, absolutely.

COOPER: ... I mean, Israelis go there. Those are prime targets now.

ELLIOTT: Oh. Oh, absolutely. Somewhere like Goa, you know, I mean, one doesn't want to kind of -- has against (ph) this (ph). But, no, absolutely.

COOPER: A lot to talk about on this. The targeting of Israelis outside of Israel, ...

ELLIOTT: Yes.

COOPER: ... I mean, either this is al Qaeda, or this is, you know, another group, an anti--Israeli group, Hezbollah or something else. Or some sort of union of the two.

ELLIOTT: Any way you slice it, it's frightening. I mean, there have been terrorist incidents targeting Jewish institutions outside Israel before. There was the horrible bombing in Buenos Aires, you remember, of the Jewish community center a few years ago.

But what this seems to suggest without kind of any evidence ---- we're just kind of speculating here at the moment ---- but what this seems to suggest is a possibility of a link up between al Qaeda, that is to say the international terrorist organization that has essentially been a Saudi, Afghan, jihadist group on the one hand, possibly working with groups who have a much more rigorous and focused direction at Israeli targets. And that's really scary.

COOPER: Even if it's not a link, even if it's a purely al Qaeda operation, I think back to the last bin Laden recording, or alleged bin Laden recording and when you listen to what he ---- the reasons he cites for attacking these various targets, you know, the whole sort of U.S. and Saudi Arabia thing is now further down on the list and the Israel...

ELLIOTT: That's a really good point, because if you remember ---- if you go back to bin Laden's statements five to six years ago, frankly, the Israeli and Palestine dispute was pretty low down the list of the things he was concerned about. He was much more, you know, disspoiling Saudi Arabia, the presence of American troops there and so on and so forth. Now the Israeli--Palestine dispute is increasingly, in the communiques that we get from al Qaeda or that we think are from al Qaeda, it's front and center. And that's, of course, highly significant because that's the hot button issue around a large part of the Middle East at the moment. And it's a way of, frankly, it's a way of getting sympathy.

COOPER: Also interesting that, I mean, A, it happened on American Thanksgiving ---- I'm not sure if that was the intended date or whether it was the Israeli elections.

ELLIOTT: Right, Well the claim, as you know, in the communique is that it also coincided with the date of passage of U.N. resolution in 1947 or 48. I can't remember. And you've got the Likud primary that's ongoing and American Thanksgiving. So it's a kind of symbolic date two or three times over. So, no, I mean, these guys, you know ---- these guys certainly know how to press hot buttons.

COOPER: Yes. Certainly not a good day. Michael Elliott, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

Well still to come on NEWSNIGHT, some special people we met this past year. A photographer who chronicled the civil rights movement and America's hottest motorcycle maker.

And up next, some people with some painful memories of the Second World War.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, for the rest of the program tonight, we want to spend some time with some of the people we met over the past year of existence. Sort of ---- sort of like "Segment Seven" takes over the rest of NEWSNIGHT. These are people who made us think about things new or unfamiliar or just downright cool.

The people, in short, that we remember and want to give thanks to on this Thanksgiving. Not a bad way to end a difficult day overseas, but what we hope was a wonderful and peaceful day for you at home.

We begin about 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles, just a short of Independence and a mile west of Reward. There you find a spot in a valley with a Spanish name that means apple orchard, but to thousands of American who arrived there 60 years ago, the name Manzanar meant something else entirely. Sixty years ago, those same Americans were taken from their homes on the West Coast. They were shipped to Manzanar and places like it because they looked like the enemy and this was war.

Tonight, the country is once again at war and to some people, at least, an awful lot of Americans look like the enemy. So we are revisiting Manzanar tonight with three American who once lived there. A not so gentle reminder that 60 years ago feels lot closer now than it did just a year ago and Manzanar is still just short of Independence and not that far down the road.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAS OKUI, MANZANAR RESIDENT: I was 10. I was in fifth grade. BO SAKAGUCHI, MANZANAR RESIDENT: I was 16 in 11th grade.

SUE EMBREY, MANZANAR RESIDENT: I was 19. The U.S. Army came around into the area and posted notices on telephone poles and store fronts. They just said you've got to go and go. If you didn't go, they would probably arrest you and put you in jail. So what alternative did you have?

SAKAGUCHI: There was a caravan of several buses leaving from Burbank.

OKUI: Yeah.

SAKAGUCHI: And it rained that morning.

OKUI: All I know is when we got there, it was really gray and dark.

SAKAGUCHI: And the lady who was boarding the bus said, look, even the sky is crying for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time: Spring and summer of 1942. The relocation centers are supervised by the War Relocation Authority, which assumed responsibility for the people after they had been evacuated and cared for temporarily by the Army. The entire community bounded by a wire fence and guarded by military police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAKAGUCHI: Well, you know, you're an American, though you're of a different color and features from those from Europe. And so though you know you're an American and you're an American citizen, here we were being herded away into a desolate camp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Naturally, the newcomers looked about with some curiosity. They were in a new area, on land that was raw, untamed, but full of opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAKAGUCHI: Manzanar ---- those who have lived here had experienced all sorts of emotions and experiences. It was very significant; 220,000 people who lived in the United States.

OKUI: Anyone who was here, two things that they were denied were privacy and protection from the wind. It was always windy and there was never any privacy.

EMBREY: The lights used to follow us at night, remember that? As soon as you opened your door and you started out, the lights would follow you, either to the latrine or to a neighbor or wherever you were going, and then they would follow you back again. And I think that's what most people remember the most about camp, the searchlight at night (ph). And people keep saying that there were no guard towers, but there were eight of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are protecting ourselves without violating the principles of Christian decency. We won't change this fundamental decency no matter what our enemies do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMBREY: We got our three meals a day...

OKUI: Three meals a day...

(CROSSTALK)

EMBREY: ... but we had no freedom. We had no rights. We were there without any charge. Without a trial.

SAKAGUCHI: I don't remember these trees here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What department number were you in?

SAKAGUCHI: 11--7--4. It would be right about here.

OKUI: I remember the whole place was absolutely barren when we got here. Everything was bulldozed. There was nothing here.

EMBREY: The first night is kind of blanked out of my mind. We were lucky, because the others had to go out and, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) mattress (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with hey. But my brother had already done it for us, so when we got there my mother kind of sat down and said, oh, my, what a place. And that was it. She told me years later that she used to walk up to the apple orchards from block 20, which is quite a ways, every day, and cry under the trees.

SAKAGUCHI: September 11, I watched it on TV. I wasn't aware who had caused it. And then once we found out, I think, then we worried, because those were only special people who are brought into this country to try to destroy this country. And the average Muslim is probably a very loyal to this country.

EMBREY: I had heard FBI had gone into Detroit, where there is a large Middle Eastern population and had talked to people. And I thought, well, that's what happened on the night of December 7.

SAKAGUCHI: The Arab--Americans ---- or the Muslims were lucky. At least the president...

EMBREY: He did say that we have to not make them scapegoats, right.

SAKAGUCHI: That every Muslim is not a terrorist. I wish they would have said that about us.

EMBREY: No, not that president.

SAKAGUCHI: Emotions are emotions. And time changes people. And time tends to people forget.

EMBREY: But I hope, you know, Americans have learned ---- at least those who know about it have learned from the experience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Later on NEWSNIGHT, a modern day Jesse James.

And up next, a photographer who despite great danger ,chronicled the civil rights movement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: For a moment we want to introduce to someone who saw the civil rights era with camera in hand: Ernest Withers. Mr. Withers shot some of the most memorable and important pictures of that time. You'll recognize some of them. They are history many of you will recall.

You probably don't know much about the man who shot them, which was just fine for Mr. Withers. But not, we confess, with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

TONY DECANEAS, DIRECTOR, PANOPTICON GALLERY: I think one of the most powerful images is the image of Martin Luther King being arrested at Medgar Evers' funeral ---- the expression on his face is so pained. I knew the image, I'd seen it in "LIFE" magazine, probably, or "TIME" ---- and yet there had never been a connection between that and Ernest Withers.

And it turns out that Ernest often times had exposed rolls of film to UPI and AP stringers they would get the byline and Ernest got his money and he was happy with that arrangement. Was never envious of their fame. To him the message getting out was more important.

ERNEST WITHERS, PHOTOGRAPHER: This is the very beginning of the "I'm a Man" labor.

The black newspapers that didn't get white service, they hired me to go throughout the South when racial incidents occurred. The murder of Emmitt Till, the original bus ride, Martin Luther King. Even protests within our own city.

DECANEAS: A lot of Ernest's photographs are good, simply because he had the courage to take them. There were times when Ernest got beat up, his cameras were smashed, his film was destroyed. It never, ever got in the way of taking pictures.

WITHERS: Although I was frightened ---- that is something in terms of the level of responsibility that you have to stick to it until the end.

BEVERLY ROBERTSON, EXECUTIVE DIR., NATL. CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM: I believe he probably has somewhat comprehensive body of work on the movement today.

When you look at his pictures you feel as if you where there. Because he captures sort of everyday faces and images in such a powerful way that it places you right next to the person.

WITHERS: ... Elvis Presley.

DECANEAS: He also photographed the entire music scene in Memphis. He has pictures of Elvis Presley. Kind of cracked the myth that Elvis wasn't grateful to the black community. He was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with black musicians. Ernest has the photographs to prove it.

His photographs documenting the Negro Baseball Leagues ---- something that existed because of segregation and no longer exists because segregation was banned.

ROBERTSON: That's a big one.

I was the baby in the stroller with my dad. My family was very active. You had to demonstrate for my rights ---- the future rights of the next generation.

What I find striking is the facial expressions of the police officers. It's not one of, We're all glad we're out here together. I've had a lot friends and family that have seen photographs, and I hope when they look at the picture, they realize where we were in '61 at a people. Where we've come to today. The courage that it's taken to come this far. So it gives me pride.

I think it takes many, many years to understand the value of history and for us to understand the value of his work and for us to understand the value of the movement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think of you very often when I see your work around ---- how are you?

WITHERS: Fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look wonderful.

WITHERS: I can't find the fountain of youth! I'm looking for it.

DECANEAS: He lovers being a photographer, and he loves life. And the two just coincide. Fortunately, he's got long life genes and he's living to enjoy it.

WITHERS: I've made more than 6 million to 8 million pictures in a lifetime, and that's a lot of pictures. Each day that I'm Ernest Withers the photographer, I'll be expected to make pictures. So I'll be making pictures until I get 105. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Someone to be thankful for.

Next on NEWSNIGHT, another of our favorite characters from this year. Rev up the engines. Motorcycle maven Jesse James.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Finally tonight, one of our favorite "On the Rise" segments, where we meet entrepreneurs doing something new in a different way and even making some money occasionally. We'll meet a guy who ended up in "People" Magazine's "Sexiest People Alive" Issue last week. But, frankly, how hard is that?

Jesse James is turning out the kind of motorcycle that every James Dean wannabe in Hollywood seems to want and believe me, there are a lot of James Dean wannabes in Hollywood today.

He brings a sort of Wild West spirit to it all, something he just may have gotten from the renegade ancestor who shares his name.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSE JAMES, WEST COAST CHOPPERS: My name is Jesse James. This is West Coast Choppers.

I build motorcycles. I kind of build them, every one of them, like I'm building it for myself. It's hard for me to let them go, which means that I'm pouring a lot into it, you know. I'm doing everything just the way I like it. And I guess, you know, people think that's cool.

We make our own chassis, tanks, fenders, front end, exhaust, wheels. You know, everything but the motor and transmission we make right in the shop here. This is where I work up here. This is like kind of where I do my thing. This is like a blank sheet of canvas where I start.

I used to be a bodyguard. You know, one day came home and said, you know what? I really want to do something I love. And I never thought this would ever pay my bills. I rented a little corner of a friend of mine's shop, which was about the half the size of a garage. And I remember like two days after I was there, two of my friends came in, Jim and Fast Eddie (ph), and I remember exactly what they said. He'll be out of business in a month.

My first clients were a lot of just friends and acquaintances until like people I've never met or seen face--to--face would like send me a check. Did a bike for Shaq, Keanu Reeves, Goldberg, Tony Martin from the Falcons and then just a bunch of other people with lots of money.

Kid Rock and I have actually went back and forth for about a year and we've never really hooked up until finally, you know, a few weeks ago when he came down to see the shop. When someone that walks in here that's never been here and doesn't really know what to expect, it's like Willy Wonka and the motorcycle factory.

KID ROCK, MUSICIAN: Every time you see a bad--ass chopper pull up, everyone is going, is that a Jesse James? Is that a Jesse James? His name just is getting out there. It's all over, man. Guy's like a mini rock star at this point.

JAMES: I get like 20 people a day come in asking how much it is to build them a bike. Have to say they average between three, if I really like you, to like 125 grand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can buy a brand new Harley for $16,000. That's a down payment on one of these.

JAMES: Bill Harley and Willy (ph) Davidson aren't actually out there making the gas tanks for their bikes or they're not actually out there bending pipes and designing wheels and stuff like that. It's just a name. You know, if someone walks in that door with 100 grand tomorrow and wants a Jesse James bike, Jesse James is actually going to be making it.

It takes a few weeks, but that's so fulfilling. And then what even takes it a step further is when you could jump on it, and I'm going down the freeway and I feel the acceleration and the way the bike works and then I could look down and see my reflection in something that I made. How many people can say that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Not many. That is NEWSNIGHT for tonight. Have a great Thanksgiving. See you tomorrow.

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