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CNN Live Saturday

Federal Government Warns Of New Terrorist Attack

Aired November 08, 2003 - 12:07   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.


FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well now the wider war against terrorism. The U.S. government is warning that al-Qaeda might try to hijack a cargo plane and fly it into nuclear power plant or a bridge. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at Reagan National Airport, today.
Kathleen, any signs of a response to these reported threats?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not really. At this point, this warning, that has gone out is put out by both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and it's the first warning of its sort going out, not only to the air cargo industry, but also to state and law enforcement -- state and local law enforcement agencies and to those who operate vital infrastructure facilities like dams, like bridges and nuclear power plants. And, it does say that the U.S. has learned that al-Qaeda might try to use cargo aircraft as weapons. A senior U.S. official told CNN separately on Saturday, that there has been chatter that suggests al-Qaeda might try to bring in these cargo planes, not from within the U.S., but from outside the country and then fly them into these infrastructure targets. And, this advisory has been put out, they're saying, quote, "out of an abundance of caution."

It was just earlier last month, October 1st, that three air cargo organizations came out with what they believed needed to be done to strengthen security when it came to air cargo. They wanted to see some real upgrades. Some of then things they were looking for is better perimeter security in the airport areas where the cargo planes load and offload.; random screening for anyone who has access to the cargo ramps; also, securing the planes, the FedEx, those UPS planes, while they are unattended on the ramp; and then also controlling access to cargo while it's sitting on the ramp, before it's loaded onto the planes. None of those security measures have been mandated yet and the Transportation Security Administration is hoping, by the end of the year, to have some concrete plans in place as to how to better upgrade cargo security.

Of course, much of this also comes to light as just a couple of months ago, this young man in September, flew -- put himself into a cargo crate and had a friend mail him from New York to Texas to his parents home there, and it -- that revealed a lot of vulnerabilities, a lot of concerns that terrorists themselves might try something like that, putting themselves in a cargo crate and then coming out while the plane was in mid-air and commandeering control of the plane and using it as a weapon. And, after that incident, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Tom Ridge, said that he believes that's one of the most important things that we need to look at, in the way of cargo security, and that is preventing anyone from using these planes as weapons -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Kathleen Koch from Reagan National Airport in Washington. Thank you.

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 8, 2003 - 12:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well now the wider war against terrorism. The U.S. government is warning that al-Qaeda might try to hijack a cargo plane and fly it into nuclear power plant or a bridge. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at Reagan National Airport, today.
Kathleen, any signs of a response to these reported threats?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not really. At this point, this warning, that has gone out is put out by both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and it's the first warning of its sort going out, not only to the air cargo industry, but also to state and law enforcement -- state and local law enforcement agencies and to those who operate vital infrastructure facilities like dams, like bridges and nuclear power plants. And, it does say that the U.S. has learned that al-Qaeda might try to use cargo aircraft as weapons. A senior U.S. official told CNN separately on Saturday, that there has been chatter that suggests al-Qaeda might try to bring in these cargo planes, not from within the U.S., but from outside the country and then fly them into these infrastructure targets. And, this advisory has been put out, they're saying, quote, "out of an abundance of caution."

It was just earlier last month, October 1st, that three air cargo organizations came out with what they believed needed to be done to strengthen security when it came to air cargo. They wanted to see some real upgrades. Some of then things they were looking for is better perimeter security in the airport areas where the cargo planes load and offload.; random screening for anyone who has access to the cargo ramps; also, securing the planes, the FedEx, those UPS planes, while they are unattended on the ramp; and then also controlling access to cargo while it's sitting on the ramp, before it's loaded onto the planes. None of those security measures have been mandated yet and the Transportation Security Administration is hoping, by the end of the year, to have some concrete plans in place as to how to better upgrade cargo security.

Of course, much of this also comes to light as just a couple of months ago, this young man in September, flew -- put himself into a cargo crate and had a friend mail him from New York to Texas to his parents home there, and it -- that revealed a lot of vulnerabilities, a lot of concerns that terrorists themselves might try something like that, putting themselves in a cargo crate and then coming out while the plane was in mid-air and commandeering control of the plane and using it as a weapon. And, after that incident, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Tom Ridge, said that he believes that's one of the most important things that we need to look at, in the way of cargo security, and that is preventing anyone from using these planes as weapons -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Kathleen Koch from Reagan National Airport in Washington. Thank you.

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