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American Morning

Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge Has Issued New Security Alert

Aired December 04, 2001 - 07:17   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: As we reported, homeland security chief Tom Ridge has issued a new security alert. How are people reacting to this alert? Are they doing anything differently? Let's see what commuters here in New York are saying.

CNN's Michael Okwu joins us from Penn Station. Much of a reaction there at this hour this morning Michael? Good morning.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, good morning.

There is always a reaction. New Yorkers always have something to say. Now this is, of course, the third such warning issued by the homeland security chief since September 11 and we are understanding from so many of the people who are coming, who are arriving to New York here from Penn Station, that there is a very mixed reaction. Some people are saying that it really, really does concern them, that they may not want to follow through on their holiday travels and other people saying look, you have to continue your life as it is. You cannot change anything.

Now, I want to show you what commuters here at Penn Station are arriving to when they first get off the ground into New York City, a stack of papers, as always. Now, back about a month and a half ago or so, the "New York Post" had a very big blaring headline reading, "Red Alert!" Of course, the headlines this morning are about the fighting in the Middle East and specifically at the home of Yasser Arafat.

And back here on page eight today, there is a little headline, "U.S. Goes On High Alert for Holiday Terror." Not exactly the prominence that it had over about a month and a half ago, but certainly in there. And New Yorkers are reading this material.

I'm joined now by Elizabeth Falcone (ph), who came in all the way from Long Island this morning. About an hour commute?

ELIZABETH FALCONE: Yes.

OKWU: What did you think when you heard about Tom Ridge's alert? What was your first reaction?

FALCONE: It's scary but I think that we have to be vigilant and we can't just look the other way and think that it's going to go away.

OKWU: Will it change your plans at all in terms of what you want to do for the holiday season?

FALCONE: No. We don't travel on the holidays so it's not going to change anything.

OKWU: OK. Well, I appreciate you talking to us.

FALCONE: Thank you.

OKWU: Take care.

FALCONE: You, too.

OKWU: Paula, that is essentially the mood we're getting from pretty much everyone. They're scared, they're concerned, but they're not going to change their lives -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Michael Okwu, thanks so much.

U.S. intelligence sources say there are no specific threats, no specific dates for possible attacks behind these latest warnings. Ridge says Americans should stay alert.

And the homeland security director joins me now from the White House lawn. Welcome back. Glad to have you with us this morning, Mr. Ridge.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: Thank you, Paula. Nice to join you this morning.

ZAHN: Thank you.

So the "Washington Post" is reporting this morning one of the factors behind your issuing this alert is that U.S. intelligence officials now realize that, in fact, Osama bin Laden might be further along in his development of nuclear weapons than previously thought. Is that true and is that what drove this latest warning?

RIDGE: Well, first of all, we know that bin Laden has publicly stated that he would try to secure whatever weapons possible to undermine the American way of life. So the fact that he seeks these kinds of weapons is not news to the intelligence community.

What really precipitated the alert was the convergence of information received over the past several days that all the analysts concluded unanimously rose to a level above a norm, that got us over a threshold that said mindful of the president's direction, that when you get credible evidence of potential attacks, just share that information with the public. And that's exactly what we did.

ZAHN: You say U.S. intelligence officials have known for some time that he was in the business of at least trying to develop a nuclear weapon. But the "Washington Post" is reporting this morning that the new information is that he is closer to building a dirty bomb, you know, a crude radiological device, than previously thought. Did you know about that all along or is that news? RIDGE: Well, we know, we know he has sought information about biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear weapons. We know that in safe houses in Afghanistan there were crude designs of nuclear weapons. We also know that the information that was uncovered was information that you can probably get over the Internet.

So again, we have to be prepared for all eventualities. But that report that you relate to in the "Washington Post" has absolutely nothing to do with our going on alert again and just reminding America that since September 11 there have been three occasions when the analysts within our intelligence community have taken a look at the information and say this is something serious here. We have to go out and remind the public.

And coupled with the convergence of several very important religious observations of Ramadan and Hanukah and Christmas. And based on that information we went public.

ZAHN: I know that one of the considerations you have to make, and I suppose, I don't know, maybe you at this point think you're in a lose-lose situation. You make the alert and some people accuse you of over reacting. You don't make an alert and if something happens then you're accused of not protecting people.

Let me quickly read to you something that was in the "Boston Globe" that I'd love for you to respond to about the three sets of warnings you all have made.

"The terrorist warnings from the government feel like live scrolls, interrupting the already scary programming of getting through the day as the nation gets through the war. Yes, we want to know if something bad is about to happen, but vague references to unnamed dangers heighten terror rather than alertness."

RIDGE: Well, every day we have to make judgments about the credibility of the information we receive. And the fact is is that only on three occasions was there total agreement within the intelligence community that the information received from multiple sources was credible enough to remind America one more time that we are at war and that we need to be vigilant.

And as the president says, it's not an alert to stop your life. It's just a signal to add your eyes, your ears with courage and optimism to effort to combat the war. And that's precisely what we've done. And I dare say that if in the weeks and months ahead there is absolute agreement within the intelligence community that we need to remind America again that we're at war against bin Laden and al Qaeda, you'll probably see me at the White House giving the same briefing.

ZAHN: All right, Governor Ridge, as always, good to see you.

RIDGE: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you so much for spending some time with us here this morning.

RIDGE: Thank you very much.

ZAHN: Glad to have you with us.

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