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CNN Live Saturday

U.S. Intelligence had Two Terrorists on 'Watch List'

Aired September 15, 2001 - 16:20   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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Eileen O'Connor has been follow the threads of the investigation after Tuesday's attacks and Eileen joins us now with a major development -- Eileen.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a disturbing development, really, Judy. U.S. officials are confirming that U.S. Intelligence had at least two people on a watch list. They informed the FBI about Khalid al Mihdhar and Salim al Hazmi.

Al Hazmi lived with his brother Nawak al Hazmi at a San Diego apartment. Al Mihdhar was a frequent visitor at that apartment. Neighbors described them as quiet. They often swam in the pool. They would come and go at times that were a little suspicious but people didn't think anything of them.

Apparently they were, though, on a watch list. And U.S. intelligence say they did inform the FBI because Al Khalid had actually been captured on videotape according to one source, meeting with a suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole. So all of these men associated with the bombing of the USS Cole. And that, of course, has ties to Osama bin Laden.

So these man, despite the fact that they were on this watch list, were living in San Diego, traveled, as my sources indicate, on to Phoenix. And one of them, then they met up with a man named Tani Hanjour (ph) and he, as we know, received flight training in Scottsdale, Arizona.

We also know that these men purchased tickets on the Dulles flight. That is the flight that actually went into the Pentagon. So those people: Two hijackers, at least, that we know of, who actually went on the Pentagon flight, that Dulles flight that went into the Pentagon, were being watched before by U.S. intelligence, had told the FBI that these were people to watch because they were already associated with that bombing of the USS Cole -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Eileen, to be on a watch list means the FBI is suspicious but they don't have enough evidence to do anything about it?

O'CONNOR: Well, they are suspicious and they are to be monitoring their developments. But some reports say that some $50 thousand worth of credit card receipts for airline tickets were found in one of these residences, or a hotel room that was used by them, so there were some suspicious things going on and they met with a man and actually lived with a man, Tani Hanjour, who was receiving flight training in the United States. So this is a bit suspicious if they were on a watch list and were able to travel so freely -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Eileen, the question keeps a rising. If so much information is now surfacing in the, 2, 3, 4 days after Tuesday's attacks about these people, why wasn't it clearer before that these people could pose a terrible danger?

O'CONNOR: Well a lot of people say hindsight is 20/20. There are a lot of disparate pieces of information. This is a very large country and there are a lot of people. The other thing, Judy, in tracking the threads of this investigation, what has been so frustrating for us, and what law enforcement officials say have been so frustrating for them is that these men all use very similar names, very similar spellings. And they're also using cut outs, and that means they're using people who actually die, the names of people who actually died.

So that makes things increasingly difficult. For instance, we know, in this case, that there were two men on that watch list: Khalid al Mihdhar and Salem al Hazmi. Now, al Hazmi had a brother, Nawak al Hazmi. All of this very confusing, and it was Nawak al Hazmi who actually rented the apartment. So it is only his name that shows up on the lease. And that is how they get around it.

WOODRUFF: All right. Eileen O'Connor following the investigation. We can only imagine how much pressure there is on all these investigators at the FBI and elsewhere.

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