Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Abu Abbas Caught

Aired April 16, 2003 - 08:33   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: We have been telling you about the arrest of Abu Abbas, the long-sought Palestinian terrorist who was captured in southern Iraq by U.S. special forces. He directed the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. During the hijacking, a 69-year-old Jewish American Leon Klinghoffer was shot and thrown in his thrown overboard.
Leon Klinghoffer's daughters, Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer are with us this morning.

Thank you very much.

What was your reaction when you heard the news?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were elated that this murderous terrorists was finally captured. A personal note, this meant a tremendous amount to us. You can imagine, it's been a long 18 years. Some people have long memories. Many people do. And now that he's captured, we'll feel even better if he is brought to a place where he can serve a sentence and be put behind bars for the rest of his life.

ZAHN: You were both involved in this 18-year long crusade to bring this man to justice. Was there a point where you thought he would never be found?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, (AUDIO GAP)...

... he and other people involved be brought to justice. Not just for a personal (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but for the broader scope of terrorism and what it means today. It's an important victory for our family, but it's also a statement that terrorists, no matter how many years go by, can't run and can't hide. They're going to be sought after and they're going to be made to be held accountable for their deeds.

ZAHN: Has this reopened terrible, terrible wounds for your family?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, those wounds are always there, and it's something that is sort of part of our life. I mean, the capture of Abu Abbas for us personally helps us to do what our mother tried to do when she came back from the cruise, which was to bring all of the terrorists to justice. So we've been persevering on that end. All of these years, we have not been sitting idly by. We've been lobbying our government, the Italian government, to pursue the terrorists. But it's hard, but we try to keep a balance in our personal lives, and also our mission to try to capture terrorists and educate people about the dangers of all this.

And I think in our father's case, it was a milestone situation. And countries didn't really pay attention to it at that time. It seemed far away from America, but now we know what's happened over these past 18 years, and I think the reality of the situation is very apparent.

ZAHN: We know how tirelessly your family worked as you've just described to nab this man. Without your efforts, do you think we'd hear about his arrest overnight? I mean, what of a difference do you think it has made?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope it makes a difference. That's what we do, we try to make a difference every day in any way we can. I know that's what our mother would want us to do if she could be here to do it. We feel it's part of her legacy that we can do this for her, as well as our families now.

And especially, I mean, 9/11 was a wake-up call to the world, but the wake-up call for us was 18 years ago when our father, who was just a regular person, anyone, got murdered in a wheelchair and thrown overboard. It could happen to anyone -- it happened to our family. It could be you. It could be anyone, anywhere at any time.

ZAHN: The violence of those pictures, I don't think, will ever leave anybody's mind. Lisa and Ilsa, thank you both for sharing your family's story with us. I know you didn't get much sleep last night after the news broke, so I appreciate you making the effort to drop by.

Good luck to your family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

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 April 16, 2003 - 08:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We have been telling you about the arrest of Abu Abbas, the long-sought Palestinian terrorist who was captured in southern Iraq by U.S. special forces. He directed the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. During the hijacking, a 69-year-old Jewish American Leon Klinghoffer was shot and thrown in his thrown overboard.
Leon Klinghoffer's daughters, Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer are with us this morning.

Thank you very much.

What was your reaction when you heard the news?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were elated that this murderous terrorists was finally captured. A personal note, this meant a tremendous amount to us. You can imagine, it's been a long 18 years. Some people have long memories. Many people do. And now that he's captured, we'll feel even better if he is brought to a place where he can serve a sentence and be put behind bars for the rest of his life.

ZAHN: You were both involved in this 18-year long crusade to bring this man to justice. Was there a point where you thought he would never be found?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, (AUDIO GAP)...

... he and other people involved be brought to justice. Not just for a personal (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but for the broader scope of terrorism and what it means today. It's an important victory for our family, but it's also a statement that terrorists, no matter how many years go by, can't run and can't hide. They're going to be sought after and they're going to be made to be held accountable for their deeds.

ZAHN: Has this reopened terrible, terrible wounds for your family?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, those wounds are always there, and it's something that is sort of part of our life. I mean, the capture of Abu Abbas for us personally helps us to do what our mother tried to do when she came back from the cruise, which was to bring all of the terrorists to justice. So we've been persevering on that end. All of these years, we have not been sitting idly by. We've been lobbying our government, the Italian government, to pursue the terrorists. But it's hard, but we try to keep a balance in our personal lives, and also our mission to try to capture terrorists and educate people about the dangers of all this.

And I think in our father's case, it was a milestone situation. And countries didn't really pay attention to it at that time. It seemed far away from America, but now we know what's happened over these past 18 years, and I think the reality of the situation is very apparent.

ZAHN: We know how tirelessly your family worked as you've just described to nab this man. Without your efforts, do you think we'd hear about his arrest overnight? I mean, what of a difference do you think it has made?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope it makes a difference. That's what we do, we try to make a difference every day in any way we can. I know that's what our mother would want us to do if she could be here to do it. We feel it's part of her legacy that we can do this for her, as well as our families now.

And especially, I mean, 9/11 was a wake-up call to the world, but the wake-up call for us was 18 years ago when our father, who was just a regular person, anyone, got murdered in a wheelchair and thrown overboard. It could happen to anyone -- it happened to our family. It could be you. It could be anyone, anywhere at any time.

ZAHN: The violence of those pictures, I don't think, will ever leave anybody's mind. Lisa and Ilsa, thank you both for sharing your family's story with us. I know you didn't get much sleep last night after the news broke, so I appreciate you making the effort to drop by.

Good luck to your family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com