Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Government Warns Al Qaeda Operatives Living in U.S., Planning New Attacks

Aired June 16, 2003 - 08:08   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: The government has warned that al Qaeda operatives are living in the U.S. and planning new attacks. Now, "Newsweek" magazine says al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has provided details to investigators. That magazine reports on revelations about plans to blow up gas stations and try to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge.
Earlier today, I talked with one of the investigative correspondents on that story, Michael Isikoff, about how worried Americans should be about the threat right now in this country to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL ISIKOFF, "NEWSWEEK": One of the interesting aspects of this, while they have confirmed that these people who have been identified by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed were, in fact, al Qaeda operatives, were, in fact, working on plots in the United States, even after turning them, we have not been able to identify, or the Justice Department has not been able to identify others who they were working with.

Either they can't do so because they didn't know because al Qaeda is just so compartmentalized that these people didn't know others who were being, who had been dispatched to work on the same plots, or these people, these plots were, in fact, not as big a threat as they looked at first. It's just one of those, as one Justice Department official said, we don't know what we don't know and while we know that there were plots there, they haven't led to the real significant breakthrough that officials might at first have hoped.

HEMMER: Did you uncover any evidence that chemical or biological weapons were in the planning stages for al Qaeda here at home?

ISIKOFF: Not chemical and biological. Certainly we know, or U.S. intelligence has alleged that a al Qaeda operative, Jose Padilla, last year had come to the United States for a scouting operation. But most of the plots that had been identified by KSM and were found in his computer records were conventional plots like the blowing up of gas stations. It was attacks at the economic infrastructure of the country.

HEMMER: Why do you believe none of this was ever carried out?

ISIKOFF: Well, that is one of the more interesting questions. We do know that al Qaeda is patient. We do know that they spent many, many months, if not years, planning operations, scouting operations. And it may be that these things hadn't come to fruition yet, that all the elements weren't there.

It's -- another part that's interesting is the tactics being used by the Justice Department here. They believe they've nipped these plots in the bud. But they've done it in ways that are going to raise some eyebrows. No public charges have been filed against the al Qaeda operatives who've been identified. Nobody has been arrested. Essentially these people have been approached on the streets and turned and they are squirreled away, in some cases, in hotel rooms, living with FBI agents. All this is being done outside the orbit of the criminal justice system.

Nobody wanted defense lawyers involved. Nobody wanted any publicity to this. It's all being done quietly in secret.

HEMMER: You also talk a lot about the recruiting tactics right now for al Qaeda. You talk about Columbus, Ohio; Peoria, Illinois; South Florida. Is there a pattern that fits, geographically speaking?

ISIKOFF: Clearly they're going to take them wherever they can find them. What's interesting is these are all operatives deep in the heartland of the country, not the obvious places and not places where they would, you know, necessarily raise eyebrows.

In some cases they're naturalized citizens, getting back to the tactics. One thing that's important here, one of the threats that they've used to get these people to cooperate is expulsion from the country. Yet a couple of them were naturalized Americans. That's one reason Bush administration officials are talking about new legislation to strip naturalized Americans of their citizenship.

There are a lot of tactics and questions being used here that are probably going to raise some issues on the civil liberties front and some debate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Michael Isikoff, part of that article in "Newsweek" magazine, the cover story. KSM, by the way, is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He's the operative picked up in Pakistan several months back. It was based largely on his own computer records and cell phone records that have raised the questions right now in these interrogations and a large part of what that article is based upon.

Michael Isikoff with "Newsweek."

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





Planning New Attacks>


Aired June 16, 2003 - 08:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The government has warned that al Qaeda operatives are living in the U.S. and planning new attacks. Now, "Newsweek" magazine says al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has provided details to investigators. That magazine reports on revelations about plans to blow up gas stations and try to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge.
Earlier today, I talked with one of the investigative correspondents on that story, Michael Isikoff, about how worried Americans should be about the threat right now in this country to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL ISIKOFF, "NEWSWEEK": One of the interesting aspects of this, while they have confirmed that these people who have been identified by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed were, in fact, al Qaeda operatives, were, in fact, working on plots in the United States, even after turning them, we have not been able to identify, or the Justice Department has not been able to identify others who they were working with.

Either they can't do so because they didn't know because al Qaeda is just so compartmentalized that these people didn't know others who were being, who had been dispatched to work on the same plots, or these people, these plots were, in fact, not as big a threat as they looked at first. It's just one of those, as one Justice Department official said, we don't know what we don't know and while we know that there were plots there, they haven't led to the real significant breakthrough that officials might at first have hoped.

HEMMER: Did you uncover any evidence that chemical or biological weapons were in the planning stages for al Qaeda here at home?

ISIKOFF: Not chemical and biological. Certainly we know, or U.S. intelligence has alleged that a al Qaeda operative, Jose Padilla, last year had come to the United States for a scouting operation. But most of the plots that had been identified by KSM and were found in his computer records were conventional plots like the blowing up of gas stations. It was attacks at the economic infrastructure of the country.

HEMMER: Why do you believe none of this was ever carried out?

ISIKOFF: Well, that is one of the more interesting questions. We do know that al Qaeda is patient. We do know that they spent many, many months, if not years, planning operations, scouting operations. And it may be that these things hadn't come to fruition yet, that all the elements weren't there.

It's -- another part that's interesting is the tactics being used by the Justice Department here. They believe they've nipped these plots in the bud. But they've done it in ways that are going to raise some eyebrows. No public charges have been filed against the al Qaeda operatives who've been identified. Nobody has been arrested. Essentially these people have been approached on the streets and turned and they are squirreled away, in some cases, in hotel rooms, living with FBI agents. All this is being done outside the orbit of the criminal justice system.

Nobody wanted defense lawyers involved. Nobody wanted any publicity to this. It's all being done quietly in secret.

HEMMER: You also talk a lot about the recruiting tactics right now for al Qaeda. You talk about Columbus, Ohio; Peoria, Illinois; South Florida. Is there a pattern that fits, geographically speaking?

ISIKOFF: Clearly they're going to take them wherever they can find them. What's interesting is these are all operatives deep in the heartland of the country, not the obvious places and not places where they would, you know, necessarily raise eyebrows.

In some cases they're naturalized citizens, getting back to the tactics. One thing that's important here, one of the threats that they've used to get these people to cooperate is expulsion from the country. Yet a couple of them were naturalized Americans. That's one reason Bush administration officials are talking about new legislation to strip naturalized Americans of their citizenship.

There are a lot of tactics and questions being used here that are probably going to raise some issues on the civil liberties front and some debate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Michael Isikoff, part of that article in "Newsweek" magazine, the cover story. KSM, by the way, is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He's the operative picked up in Pakistan several months back. It was based largely on his own computer records and cell phone records that have raised the questions right now in these interrogations and a large part of what that article is based upon.

Michael Isikoff with "Newsweek."

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





Planning New Attacks>