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American Morning

Interview of Senator Patrick Leahy

Aired November 27, 2001 - 09:12   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: One domestic result of the war against terrorism has been new government rules on how to pursue accused terrorists. That includes the use of military tribunal to try suspected terrorists. That and other announcements have put Attorney General John Ashcroft on the hot seat.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says the attorney general owes the country explanation for these new law enforcement methods that he says go well beyond what was approved by Congress. Senator Leahy joins us now from Capitol Hill this morning.

Welcome. Delighted to have you with us this morning.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): Good to be with you.

ZAHN: Now, I know your committee is going to be sitting down with the attorney general mid-week next week. What are you going to ask him?

LEAHY: Well, we're actually going to have a hearing first this week and then go with him on a follow-up hearing next week. I want -- I want to know what is it that has changed so dramatically that we have to have all these sudden new powers.

Now, obviously we're all aware of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. We know the ongoing war in Afghanistan. We've seen the -- what may be the domestic terrorist attacks with the anthrax letters and all. But the attorney general came in after the September 11th and said he had to have this whole new package of laws because as soon as in place they could arrest terrorists.

Well, we passed those -- we passed those laws. And -- I don't know if we're getting two sounds in here or not. But we passed those laws. He -- but nobody's been arrested. Now, we can see is we had some new pronouncement of some new step that is going to be taken, I want to know what this does to protect us from terrorists, especially as it encroaches more and more on what most Americans see as being a basic constitutional liberties.

ZAHN: All right. Let's try to help everybody understand sort of the environment in which this is being exercised. Congress, on September 18th, passed an act of war. Do you believe that what the president is asking for, and the attorney general, goes far beyond what was approved by Congress on that date? LEAHY: I don't think there's any doubt that it goes far beyond it, and most members of Congress in both parties have said very strongly this goes way beyond what was there. That was a very specific thing, basically to authorize expenditure and the movement of troops and what-not against specific -- targets as I think -- Major Garrett pointed out in an earlier piece. He goes against Afghanistan, the Taliban, not against Iraq or anywhere else.

Now these were -- this was a very specifically-tied piece of legislation to support the president to make sure he could have the funding necessary to carry out the actions that have been carried out in Afghanistan.

Virtually all of us supported that, but I don't think anybody was saying, but also while you're doing it, let's alter our constitution just this once, just because we need it, just this once, and then we'll go back to what is a constitutional protections we've had for 225 years. Nobody voted for that.

ZAHN: On the very specific issue of military tribunals, here's what the president had to say yesterday from the rose garden. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It makes imminent sense to have the military tribunal option available. It makes sense for national security purposes, it makes sense for the protection of potential jurors, it makes sense for homeland security. It is the right decision to make, and I will explain to any leader who asks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So, Senator, this morning, are you essentially saying the president is wrong?

LEAHY: Well, let's see what he is saying. I mean, we've heard suggestions that we need these military tribunal because we can't try 2,000 Taliban leaders brought back to the United States. But that's nonsense. We're not going to bring back 2,000 Taliban leaders from Afghanistan. Nobody really realistically expects that.

We're going to use these military tribunals for the hundreds upon hundreds of people who have been locked up since September 11th, whose names aren't -- haven't been released, who been basically held in secret? No. We're not going to do it there. Where are we going to use this? Are we going to use it on the ground in Afghanistan? Well, then, nobody has a problem with that. Are we going to use it against terrorists here in the United States?

That is where the problem's going to be. That accomplishes nothing for us. It raises a real problem with the way this has been done. The convictions there could get thrown out by courts of appeals. That's certainly not going to make Americans feel very protected.

ZAHN: We'd love to have you come back --

LEAHY: We-- we've done this before. We've used our courts. We did it with Noriega, we did it with those who bombed the Trade Towers eight years ago. We've done it very successfully. Why change? Why not just trust our government to do it the right thing under established constitutional procedures?

ZAHN: We'd love to have you come back after you hold these hearings with the attorney general, but before we let you go, wanted to move on to the issue of anthrax letter that was sent to you. Any update for us this morning?

LEAHY: Not really. I mean, it's obvious looking at the envelope it's the same handwriting that was sent to Senator Daschle. I'm told it appears to contain an enormous amount -- I think someone in the FBI said billions of spores. We had somebody out who really just wants to kill people. And the sooner that person can be found, the better.

ZAHN: How confident are you that investigators are any closer to who this person might be than they were this time last week?

LEAHY: Well, I know they're doing a massive effort to find the person who did it. But I think we have to make an even stronger effort because where does he strike -- he or she strike next? How many billions of dollars have been lost already through our mail system and security systems and all. It's in the interest of the United States to find this person.

ZAHN: Senator Leahy. As always, good of you to join us. Appreciate your time this morning, and we'll be --

LEAHY: Good to be with you.

ZAHN: -- following those hearings closely.

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