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American Morning
New Intelligence
Aired January 29, 2003 - 09:38 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In that address last night, Paula, the president talked about and proposed this new idea here. Essentially it would create a new intelligence agency. The office designed anyway, the idea is improve the communication between the FBI, the CIA and other agencies.
Our national security correspondent David Ensor now is in D.C. and has been looking into this issue, and joins us with more on this.
David, what are you finding out?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, officials say an interagency task force is holding its first meeting today to work out the details behind the president's announcement on the new terrorist threat center. The task force from the CIA, the Pentagon, Justice Department, homeland security. The president wants the center up and running as soon as possible, and they have work out first where will it be, how large the staff will be, all of the details. The center is designed to solve a problem, as you mentioned, made obvious by the 9/11 attacks, the CIA and the FBI don't always tell each other everything that they know, and that the domestic and foreign intelligence has not been integrated. It's supposed to breakdown the barriers, officials say.
The decision to put George Tenet, the director of Central Intelligence, in charge of the new center is a notable endorsement of Tenet and the CIA from a president whose aides had first talked of replacing Tenet who is, after all, a holdover from the Clinton administration.
Mr. Bush has clearly grown comfortable with Tenet, who is an energetic, clever, people person, and briefs the president almost every morning on the terrorist threat level to Americans.
The new center may be established at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, officials say, or there would be a decision to put it nearby in Virginia at a separate facility , in which case the CIA- run counterterrorism center, which gathers all foreign intelligence on Osama bin Laden and his men, would also move to that facility outside the CIA.
The president's announcement is a clear order to the CIA, the FBI and all of the others never again to allow one of their number not to know what the other is doing. Now, that runs counter to traditional Washington bureaucratic instincts, and it's going to be fascinating, Bill, to see whether it works or not.
HEMMER: Have you been able to perceive much resistance of this David or not at this point?
ENSOR: Well, clearly, at the CIA, they are pleased. They see this as an endorsement of their agency and their leader. There may be some grumbling in some of the other agencies. I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet.
HEMMER: All right, more to come. David, thank you. David Ensor in D.C. Back to Paula again in New York.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 29, 2003 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In that address last night, Paula, the president talked about and proposed this new idea here. Essentially it would create a new intelligence agency. The office designed anyway, the idea is improve the communication between the FBI, the CIA and other agencies.
Our national security correspondent David Ensor now is in D.C. and has been looking into this issue, and joins us with more on this.
David, what are you finding out?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, officials say an interagency task force is holding its first meeting today to work out the details behind the president's announcement on the new terrorist threat center. The task force from the CIA, the Pentagon, Justice Department, homeland security. The president wants the center up and running as soon as possible, and they have work out first where will it be, how large the staff will be, all of the details. The center is designed to solve a problem, as you mentioned, made obvious by the 9/11 attacks, the CIA and the FBI don't always tell each other everything that they know, and that the domestic and foreign intelligence has not been integrated. It's supposed to breakdown the barriers, officials say.
The decision to put George Tenet, the director of Central Intelligence, in charge of the new center is a notable endorsement of Tenet and the CIA from a president whose aides had first talked of replacing Tenet who is, after all, a holdover from the Clinton administration.
Mr. Bush has clearly grown comfortable with Tenet, who is an energetic, clever, people person, and briefs the president almost every morning on the terrorist threat level to Americans.
The new center may be established at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, officials say, or there would be a decision to put it nearby in Virginia at a separate facility , in which case the CIA- run counterterrorism center, which gathers all foreign intelligence on Osama bin Laden and his men, would also move to that facility outside the CIA.
The president's announcement is a clear order to the CIA, the FBI and all of the others never again to allow one of their number not to know what the other is doing. Now, that runs counter to traditional Washington bureaucratic instincts, and it's going to be fascinating, Bill, to see whether it works or not.
HEMMER: Have you been able to perceive much resistance of this David or not at this point?
ENSOR: Well, clearly, at the CIA, they are pleased. They see this as an endorsement of their agency and their leader. There may be some grumbling in some of the other agencies. I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet.
HEMMER: All right, more to come. David, thank you. David Ensor in D.C. Back to Paula again in New York.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
