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American Morning

Congress Looks Into Pre-9/11 Intelligence Snafus

Aired June 04, 2002 - 08:01   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 blame game takes center stage in the nation's capital today as congressional intelligence committees begin a joint hearing to look into whether the FBI and the CIA had information that might have prevented the attacks on September 11.

With more now on the hearings, let's turn to CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow, who joins us from Capitol Hill on yet another glorious day there.

Good morning, Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

ZAHN: Nice backdrop.

SNOW: Not so bad today.

Thank you.

A little cloudy today, but it's nice, Paula.

And we're expecting these hearings to get under way this afternoon. You're not going to see a whole lot. That's because, to start with, these won't be public hearings. They'll be behind closed doors. The main committee looking into the intelligence failures or problems revolving around 9/11 is a joint inquiry, a joint effort between the House and the Senate.

Now, the key questions that they want answered, obviously, number one, were there missed clues about 9/11, and if so, how many missed clues? What kind of lack of communication was there between agencies -- for example, the FBI and the CIA? Did they not share information? And then, finally, obviously, what needs to change and is that a congressional role? Does there need to be new legislation to try to change the way these agencies operate?

This committee not just looking at 9/11, and not just looking at the FBI and the CIA; they're also looking at 12 other intelligence agencies. There are 14 total that cover some form of intelligence or look at national security here in Washington. And they're going back not just to look at 9/11, but going back all the way to 1986, when the CIA first formed its counterterrorism task force. So they'll actually look at some other terrorist incidents, like the bombing of the USS Cole, for example.

And we're told that the committee wants to open things up to the public just as soon as they can. But as I mentioned, for now, it's going to be very private. They start meeting today.

Look over my shoulder. Right under the Capitol Dome -- we have some video we shot yesterday -- up on the fourth floor of the U.S. Capitol there is this little room that they built. That wing was added on in 1960. It is one of the most secure rooms, as you might imagine, in the United States Capitol. It is completely soundproof. It's routinely checked for listening devices to make sure nobody can eavesdrop inside the room.

It's down this hallway here. There's a private stairway there that goes up to the room and you can see that sign says "authorized personnel only." Obviously, they are only going to let people with high-level security clearances inside there today.

Paula, they used that same room, incidentally, back during the Watergate investigation. They interviewed a number of the Nixon administration officials inside that same room -- back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: I understand there's some pretty powerful artwork that encourages people not to have loose lips. I guess there's a poster...

SNOW: Some posters, yes.

ZAHN: ... that anguished sailor up in water to his neck, basically implying that what should we get...

SNOW: I think they date back to WWII, yes.

ZAHN: Exactly.

How long do you think these hearings will drag on?

SNOW: We think they're going to go for this whole month, July, skipping August for a little break, and then into September. But they're authorized to go all the way through next February -- Paula.

ZAHN: We'll be counting on you to keep us posted.

Thanks, Kate.

SNOW: OK.

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