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Congress Ending Hearings Into 9/11 Intelligence

Aired October 17, 2002 - 14:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As investigators in the sniper attacks probe the possibility of terrorism, Congress is wrapping up on a joint hearing into the attacks of September 11.
CNN national security correspondent David Ensor is monitoring this final open session of the joint congressional committee. He's got more on developments there.

We heard the language getting pretty hot out there -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. The nation's intelligence chiefs and law enforcement chief are in the hot seat today with this joint intelligence committee trying to get to the bottom of whether there was any way that U.S. intelligence or law enforcement could have stopped 9/11. They're focusing very much on the evidence we've heard about before, about two of the hijackers, Nawaq Alhamzi and Khalid Al-Midhar, and the fact that the CIA knew that they had attended a terrorist summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and knew that at least one of them had entered this country, but didn't pass that information on in the right sort of fashion to the FBI and the State Department and didn't put them on the watch list to be kept out of this country.

Some fairly sharp questioning on that matter. Here's one example from Senator Levin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: What reason specifically here -- I don't want just a general answer here that there was a lot of -- what reason was given specifically by the CIA person responsible for putting that name on the watch list is the failure to do so -- for not putting the name on the watch list.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Our judgment is in talking to everybody working at the time, that there were uneven standards, poor training, and we didn't give...

LEVIN: Is that specific failure?: All those reasons for that specific...

TENET: Yes, sir. We did not -- the people involved, the people who have access, who we have talked to acknowledge that there were uneven practices, bad training and a lack of redundancy. The fact that they were swamped does not mitigate the fact that we didn't overcome that with either redundancy, a separate unit or better training. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Senator Levin went on to ask for the names of the individuals at the CIA and other agencies that might have made mistakes. Each of the directors said they didn't have those names but would supply them later. So that issue of accountability of who made mistakes was very much part of the hearings today.

There was also a warning from Director Tenet. He said with the recent events in mind in Bali and Kuwait and elsewhere, Americans should realize that there is no magic-bullet way to stop this terrorism that's threatening U.S. soil. We live in a different world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TENET: No more sighs of relief. We're in this for a long time. We have to get about the business of protecting the country with the private sector, the chiefs of police, the state and locals now, because the threat environment we find ourselves in today is as bad as it was last summer, the summer before 9/11. It is serious. They have reconstituted. They're coming after us. They want to execute attacks. You see it in Bali, you see it in Kuwait. They plan in multiple theaters of operation. They intend to strike this homeland again. And we better get about the business of putting the right structure in place as fast as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: And Carol, privately, CIA officials underscore what the director said there. They say there's a lot of intelligence suggesting further attacks may be planned soon -- Carol.

LIN: Thank you very much, David Ensor, live from Washington.

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 October 17, 2002 - 14:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As investigators in the sniper attacks probe the possibility of terrorism, Congress is wrapping up on a joint hearing into the attacks of September 11.
CNN national security correspondent David Ensor is monitoring this final open session of the joint congressional committee. He's got more on developments there.

We heard the language getting pretty hot out there -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. The nation's intelligence chiefs and law enforcement chief are in the hot seat today with this joint intelligence committee trying to get to the bottom of whether there was any way that U.S. intelligence or law enforcement could have stopped 9/11. They're focusing very much on the evidence we've heard about before, about two of the hijackers, Nawaq Alhamzi and Khalid Al-Midhar, and the fact that the CIA knew that they had attended a terrorist summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and knew that at least one of them had entered this country, but didn't pass that information on in the right sort of fashion to the FBI and the State Department and didn't put them on the watch list to be kept out of this country.

Some fairly sharp questioning on that matter. Here's one example from Senator Levin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: What reason specifically here -- I don't want just a general answer here that there was a lot of -- what reason was given specifically by the CIA person responsible for putting that name on the watch list is the failure to do so -- for not putting the name on the watch list.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Our judgment is in talking to everybody working at the time, that there were uneven standards, poor training, and we didn't give...

LEVIN: Is that specific failure?: All those reasons for that specific...

TENET: Yes, sir. We did not -- the people involved, the people who have access, who we have talked to acknowledge that there were uneven practices, bad training and a lack of redundancy. The fact that they were swamped does not mitigate the fact that we didn't overcome that with either redundancy, a separate unit or better training. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Senator Levin went on to ask for the names of the individuals at the CIA and other agencies that might have made mistakes. Each of the directors said they didn't have those names but would supply them later. So that issue of accountability of who made mistakes was very much part of the hearings today.

There was also a warning from Director Tenet. He said with the recent events in mind in Bali and Kuwait and elsewhere, Americans should realize that there is no magic-bullet way to stop this terrorism that's threatening U.S. soil. We live in a different world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TENET: No more sighs of relief. We're in this for a long time. We have to get about the business of protecting the country with the private sector, the chiefs of police, the state and locals now, because the threat environment we find ourselves in today is as bad as it was last summer, the summer before 9/11. It is serious. They have reconstituted. They're coming after us. They want to execute attacks. You see it in Bali, you see it in Kuwait. They plan in multiple theaters of operation. They intend to strike this homeland again. And we better get about the business of putting the right structure in place as fast as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: And Carol, privately, CIA officials underscore what the director said there. They say there's a lot of intelligence suggesting further attacks may be planned soon -- Carol.

LIN: Thank you very much, David Ensor, live from Washington.

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