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American Morning

Interview with Sen. Richard Shelby (R)

Aired June 24, 2002 - 07:19   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Osama bin Laden is alive and well, and his terror network is going strong. That is the message from an al Qaeda spokesman this weekend, delivered in an audiotape broadcast on Arab television. The spokesman offers a chilling warning of plans to strike America again.

The White House downplaying the tape's significance, but congressional leaders say the information about bin Laden is consistent with U.S. intelligence reports.

Senator Richard Shelby is vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He is live with us this morning in Washington -- Senator, good morning to you.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Good morning to you, Bill.

HEMMER: You were saying over the weekend, and just to quote and borrow your words, you said that "al Qaeda could hit us any day," your words from yesterday. I know a lot of these areas are sensitive for very obvious reasons here. What evidence, though, do you have that indicates that al Qaeda could indeed hit America again some day very soon?

SHELBY: Well, I'll just speak in a general way, because we are privileged to information from time to time. We can't talk about the specifics. But it's obvious to everyone that a lot of the al Qaeda leadership dispersed, got away, and they all, around the world, they are trying to reassemble. And although they do not have the command structure that they did from the top, a lot of people we believe will act on their own.

Now, the question is: When will they strike, and where will they strike? We all hope it never happens. We hope that they are preempted by our people, by intelligence and law enforcement, from ever hitting us. But the reality of the situation is they will hit us again. Will it be next week? Will it be next month? Will it be next year? We are not sure. That keeps us on edge. It makes us anxious.

HEMMER: Senator, go back to my original question. Do you have evidence that al Qaeda is operating again on American soil, as we sit here and talk today?

SHELBY: Well, do I have evidence that they are operating and getting ready to stage an attack today? No, I don't have that. And I believe if we had that, our FBI and other people would preempt it. But there is a lot of information floating around that leads us to believe at times that there will be another attack. Could it be on our own soil? Could it be somewhere else where our interests are? We don't know that.

You know, the FBI director, the CIA director, George Tenet, others, Governor Ridge, have spoken to the same thing. The President has too. I think we should not panic, Bill, but we should be alert at all times that people will do us harm, and they will do irreparable damage to us.

HEMMER: Osama bin Laden, some describe him as the head of the snake. Hamid Karzai over the weekend talking with Wolf Blitzer on "LATE EDITION" just yesterday had some very strong comments about what he feels right now on maybe the whereabouts of bin Laden. Let's listen to it, and we'll talk about it in a moment here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT: I have no information as to where he is. Osama bin Laden must know that whatever acts of terror he thinks he can commit will not remain unanswered, and that his days are anyway numbered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: His days are numbered. Do you have confidence that Hamid Karzai and those working for him in Afghanistan, or Pervez Musharraf, the leader of Pakistan, has the ability to track down bin Laden, if he indeed is in that part of the world at this time?

SHELBY: Well, I am not sure, Bill. It's going to take a lot of people, unless we get lucky, to track down and capture or kill Osama bin Laden. He is like a snake. He is a diabolical man, and he has done a lot of damage to a lot of people, including his own people. But having said that, I believe he is alive today. I don't know where he is, and until we find him and until we see his body, I think it's best that we believe he is alive.

HEMMER: Let me jump around just a little bit here on Iraq. I want to show some poll numbers taken by the folks at Gallup and CNN and USA Today. When Americans were asked the question: Should the U.S. try to assassinate Saddam Hussein? Fifty-one percent say yes. Would you support such an attempt?

SHELBY: I think that it would be best, Bill, that the people of his own country, who have suffered so much under Saddam Hussein, take him out. In other words, overthrow him, kill him or whatever. Short of that, if we are in -- have a way to capture him or kill him, you know, so be it. But I don't know if we'll ever be in that position.

HEMMER: The Intelligence Committee hearings continue, many of which are behind closed doors. And oftentimes, Senator, the question has been asked: How do you balance what the public needs to know, which you have said time and time again you support that, and how do you protect the secrets of the country at a time where so many things are so very sensitive? Some people are wondering to know, myself included, is it even possible to strike this balance, knowing the leaks that came out a week ago?

SHELBY: Well, we have to strike a balance. There are a lot of things that have to be behind closed doors, because of sources and methods, the way we gather intelligence, who we gather it from and so forth, are so sensitive they should remain, you know, quiet within the agencies or the committees and go no further.

On the other hand, there are issues out there that will be driven by public opinion. And that is: How do we change for the better the FBI, the CIA, the NSA? How do we make Homeland Security work? The public has to be in the debate, but we do not need to compromise our intelligence to get it there. It is a dicey situation. But I believe at the end of the day, we will make it there. We'll have to.

HEMMER: And you think it's possible then?

SHELBY: I think it's possible.

HEMMER: Senator, thank you.

SHELBY: Thank you.

HEMMER: Richard Shelby, we'll talk again, I am certain.

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