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9/11 Report: Mistakes Cited
Aired July 24, 2003 - 13:07 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another big story we're watching today: the mistakes that left America prey to 19 Arab terrorists who shocked the whole world on September 11, 2001. The most extensive look at government failures is out today, though parts have been deleted at the request of the Bush administration.
CNN's Jonathan Karl has more on our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The long-awaited report on the September 11 intelligence failures includes revelations about several missed opportunities that one of the reports the Democratic's co-author says could have allowed the FBI to uncover the 9/11 plot before it was too late.
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It would have been avoided if our agencies had been less turf protective, if they'd been more communicative, if they'd been more creative in their analysis of the intelligence information that they had and had had a little bit of luck.
KARL: But Graham's charges appears to be contradicted by the report itself: "This inquiry has uncovered no intelligence information in the possession of the intelligence committee prior to the attacks of September 11 that, if fully considered, would have provided specific advance warning of the details of those attacks."
No specific warning, but the nearly 900-page report reveals several blown chances to track the hijackers before they acted.
Exhibit A, hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Al Hazmi. Although the CIA knew about their ties to al Qaeda, they did not tell the FBI until three weeks before September 11. And it may have been possible for the FBI to track the hijackers. They come into contact with three people under FBI investigation after moving to San Diego in January 2000. And while living in San Diego, they actually rented a room in a house of an FBI informant.
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D-IN), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If FBI agents in San Diego are not aware of other information that the Bureau possesses, or the CIA has not informed the Bureau of information they have, then it's very difficult to protect our country in a coordinated manner.
KARL: But government sources tell CNN that the hijackers did not tell any of those under FBI investigation about the plot.
REP. RICHARD BURR (R-NC), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Hindsight's a wonderful tool, but I'm not sure that we understand the connection of the dots well enough to look at it and say, had we done this, this couldn't have happened. I don't think we reached that conclusion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARL: The most heavily censored part of the report is the part that deals with the question of whether or not foreign governments were aiding the hijackers. Sources that have seen the uncensored report say the part that is left out deals primarily with the country of Saudi Arabia, suggesting there is strong evidence that the Saudis, or people in the Saudi government, provided some heavy support for the hijackers themselves -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll talk have to talk about that more a little bit later. Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
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 July 24, 2003 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another big story we're watching today: the mistakes that left America prey to 19 Arab terrorists who shocked the whole world on September 11, 2001. The most extensive look at government failures is out today, though parts have been deleted at the request of the Bush administration.
CNN's Jonathan Karl has more on our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The long-awaited report on the September 11 intelligence failures includes revelations about several missed opportunities that one of the reports the Democratic's co-author says could have allowed the FBI to uncover the 9/11 plot before it was too late.
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It would have been avoided if our agencies had been less turf protective, if they'd been more communicative, if they'd been more creative in their analysis of the intelligence information that they had and had had a little bit of luck.
KARL: But Graham's charges appears to be contradicted by the report itself: "This inquiry has uncovered no intelligence information in the possession of the intelligence committee prior to the attacks of September 11 that, if fully considered, would have provided specific advance warning of the details of those attacks."
No specific warning, but the nearly 900-page report reveals several blown chances to track the hijackers before they acted.
Exhibit A, hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Al Hazmi. Although the CIA knew about their ties to al Qaeda, they did not tell the FBI until three weeks before September 11. And it may have been possible for the FBI to track the hijackers. They come into contact with three people under FBI investigation after moving to San Diego in January 2000. And while living in San Diego, they actually rented a room in a house of an FBI informant.
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D-IN), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If FBI agents in San Diego are not aware of other information that the Bureau possesses, or the CIA has not informed the Bureau of information they have, then it's very difficult to protect our country in a coordinated manner.
KARL: But government sources tell CNN that the hijackers did not tell any of those under FBI investigation about the plot.
REP. RICHARD BURR (R-NC), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Hindsight's a wonderful tool, but I'm not sure that we understand the connection of the dots well enough to look at it and say, had we done this, this couldn't have happened. I don't think we reached that conclusion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARL: The most heavily censored part of the report is the part that deals with the question of whether or not foreign governments were aiding the hijackers. Sources that have seen the uncensored report say the part that is left out deals primarily with the country of Saudi Arabia, suggesting there is strong evidence that the Saudis, or people in the Saudi government, provided some heavy support for the hijackers themselves -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll talk have to talk about that more a little bit later. Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
