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American Morning

Bush Warned of Possibility of al Qaeda Hijacking

Aired May 16, 2002 - 07:03   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: "Up Front" this morning, the White House is confirming that weeks before the September 11 attacks, President Bush was warned about the possibility that the bin Laden terror network could try to hijack a U.S. airliner.

Senior White House correspondent John King joins us now with more -- good morning, John. How much of a surprise was this that the administration is now admitting they had gotten this briefing in August?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, a surprise that in this disclosure we received late last night that the White House now acknowledging for the first time that the word "hijacking" was specifically raised in the president's intelligence briefings in the weeks prior to the September 11 attacks.

We are told this happened in the timeframe of late last summer in the July to August timeframe, including the time Mr. Bush was on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. We see him here. We are told in his daily intelligence briefing by senior administration official sources, the CIA warned that Osama bin Laden was plotting attacks against the United States or U.S. interests overseas. And that in that report to the president, there was a specific warning that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network might attempt to hijack a U.S.-based airliner or airliners.

Now, White House officials are telling us there was no speculation at all about using an airplane as a bomb or as a weapon. It happened, of course, on September 11, and no specific credible information about a hijacking of any sort.

Other sources also saying a hijacking was just one of a range of options listed as the possible method the al Qaeda network might choose for an attack on the United States. The White House saying the relevant agencies were notified. That would include the Justice Department, the Transportation Department and aviation industries.

The administration saying it did all it could, but this of course, will be added to an already blossoming debate in the Congress about whether there were other hints that an attack might have been coming and should the government have done more.

Again, the White House saying there was no specific warning, but the biggest surprise in this revelation is that we do now have confirmed that the word "hijacking" was linked to al Qaeda in an intelligence report given to the president in the weeks just prior to the September 11 attacks.

ZAHN: And what does this mean for the head of the CIA, John? We have heard Senator Shelby call for his resignation before. It is now obvious that not only did George Tenet see this briefing, he also signed off on it.

KING: Well, this is a briefing that comes from the CIA director directly to the president, his national security adviser and one or two other top officials here at the White House, including Vice President Cheney. Of course, this president has constantly defended George Tenet, and you could make the case that here, perhaps it was vague, perhaps it was unspecific, but there was at least a mention in the intelligence of this possibility.

Others will say if you had the mention of the possibility, why didn't we do more about it, whether to combat it here at home or to learn about it overseas? That will be added to the debate in the weeks and months ahead. This president, though, has consistently stood by George Tenet and says he believes he gets the best advice he can from the CIA director.

ZAHN: All right. John King, thanks for the update.

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