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American Morning

9/11 Report Set for Release

Aired July 24, 2003 - 07:05   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: A joint congressional committee is set to release a final report on its 9/11 investigation. The CIA and the FBI expect to take the brunt of the criticism inside this report.
Bob Franken, a preview now live from Capitol Hill there.

Bob -- good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

And, as you know, there were nine open hearings and 13 closed secret hearings on this very, very sensitive subject among intelligence agencies. There will be competing points of view about the conclusions drawn in the 800-plus page report. Some will say that the intelligence agencies will be identified as not having had any specific warning that would have allowed them to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Others will say that, in fact, they were to blame, that there was such a terrible communication between agencies that the attack could have been prevented had that been approved.

There will be a particular focus on two of those who have been identified as hijackers of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. They are Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, who spent some time in San Diego. And we're being told that the report will say that they had had some contact with an FBI informant, but there was not enough information to identify them as members of this plot.

They will go on to say that one of the participants, one of them had participated in a conference in Malaysia in 2000, which has been identified in retrospect as a very important conference to plan terrorism. And yet, the CIA, according to the report, never communicated that to the FBI.

As far as this report is concerned, there is going to be quite a bit of blank space -- "redacted" is the term that they use -- information that was the part of a ferocious debate between the administration and the members of the Congress, trying to get information about Saudi Arabia out, but the information will remain classified. There is going to be criticism, as I said.

And among those who believe the report is an indictment of the intelligence community is the person who is now a presidential candidate who was chairman of this committee, Senator Bob Graham.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: The most startling conclusion for the American people will be that the tragedy of September the 11th could have been avoided. It would have been avoided if our agencies had been less turf-protective, if they had been more communicative, if they had been more creative in their analysis of intelligence information that they had, and had had a little bit of luck. We could have discovered the plot before September the 11TH and interrupted it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, the FBI, the various intelligence agencies are saying this report is really old news, that there have been many improvements in procedures since September 11. But the critics say there are many improvements that have not been made, and, in fact, there is still a dangerous lack of communication -- Bill.

HEMMER: Bob Franken from Capitol Hill.

One thing Bob mentioned there and in this report, it reveals that the CIA did not tell the FBI about two of these hijackers in San Diego until about three weeks before the attacks of 9/11 took place. How damaging is that information?

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama talked with me a few moments ago. I asked him about that very topic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Well, it happened because there was a lack of coordination between not only the FBI and the CIA in the instance you mentioned, but other instances throughout the work in the intelligence community. It's a lack of coordination. Sometimes, it's a lack of a clear mission. It's a lack of having a facility where all intelligence comes in to and is used and disseminated. We're hoping that the agencies will learn a lot from this joint investigation.

HEMMER: Learning a lot like what?

SHELBY: What went wrong, how they can improve themselves, how they can do things differently, and I believe in a lot of instances they will.

HEMMER: Nine hundred pages. Is there any one piece of evidence inside this report that you believe could be a smoking gun that may have prevented what happened on 9/11?

SHELBY: Bill, I don't believe that there's a huge smoking gun, but there's a lot of evidence and a lot of information that if put together at the proper time in a fusion center, collectively, perhaps could have made a difference.

HEMMER: Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat out of Florida, has been quite critical, talks about a number of areas that have been left out. He calls it -- quote -- "unnecessarily blanked out," a 28-page section of this report.

SHELBY: Well, I agree... HEMMER: How fair is that assessment, sir?

SHELBY: I think that's a fair assessment. I worked with Senator Graham and Congresswoman Pelosi and Congressman Goss regarding all of this investigation. I can tell you, I believe my own judgment is that they could have declassified a lot more of this report and let the American people see it.

HEMMER: Do you think in that case that we're not getting the full story?

SHELBY: You're not getting all of the story. You're getting a lot of it. But I can tell you you're getting more than bits and pieces, and the American people will put most of it together.

HEMMER: Yes, there was an intelligence briefing the president received on August 6 of 2001. That apparently was redacted as well. What is the damage? What is the harm out there within the intelligence community to put this information into this report and make it public?

SHELBY: Well, there's always the risk that you can declassify too much. In other words, you give away sources and methods, and you don't want to do that and you don't want to put anybody in harm's way that would have contributed to the intelligence success. On the other hand, where it's just going to be embarrassing and perhaps people just don't want to get out front on it, I think the American people have a right to know.

HEMMER: What is your assessment then? Would this have been embarrassing to the government? Or is this something that needs to be protected? Your conclusion on that is what?

SHELBY: Well, my judgment is it -- not all of it, but a lot more could be declassified. I can't talk about the details.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Senator Shelby from earlier today.

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 July 24, 2003 - 07:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A joint congressional committee is set to release a final report on its 9/11 investigation. The CIA and the FBI expect to take the brunt of the criticism inside this report.
Bob Franken, a preview now live from Capitol Hill there.

Bob -- good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

And, as you know, there were nine open hearings and 13 closed secret hearings on this very, very sensitive subject among intelligence agencies. There will be competing points of view about the conclusions drawn in the 800-plus page report. Some will say that the intelligence agencies will be identified as not having had any specific warning that would have allowed them to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Others will say that, in fact, they were to blame, that there was such a terrible communication between agencies that the attack could have been prevented had that been approved.

There will be a particular focus on two of those who have been identified as hijackers of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. They are Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, who spent some time in San Diego. And we're being told that the report will say that they had had some contact with an FBI informant, but there was not enough information to identify them as members of this plot.

They will go on to say that one of the participants, one of them had participated in a conference in Malaysia in 2000, which has been identified in retrospect as a very important conference to plan terrorism. And yet, the CIA, according to the report, never communicated that to the FBI.

As far as this report is concerned, there is going to be quite a bit of blank space -- "redacted" is the term that they use -- information that was the part of a ferocious debate between the administration and the members of the Congress, trying to get information about Saudi Arabia out, but the information will remain classified. There is going to be criticism, as I said.

And among those who believe the report is an indictment of the intelligence community is the person who is now a presidential candidate who was chairman of this committee, Senator Bob Graham.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: The most startling conclusion for the American people will be that the tragedy of September the 11th could have been avoided. It would have been avoided if our agencies had been less turf-protective, if they had been more communicative, if they had been more creative in their analysis of intelligence information that they had, and had had a little bit of luck. We could have discovered the plot before September the 11TH and interrupted it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, the FBI, the various intelligence agencies are saying this report is really old news, that there have been many improvements in procedures since September 11. But the critics say there are many improvements that have not been made, and, in fact, there is still a dangerous lack of communication -- Bill.

HEMMER: Bob Franken from Capitol Hill.

One thing Bob mentioned there and in this report, it reveals that the CIA did not tell the FBI about two of these hijackers in San Diego until about three weeks before the attacks of 9/11 took place. How damaging is that information?

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama talked with me a few moments ago. I asked him about that very topic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Well, it happened because there was a lack of coordination between not only the FBI and the CIA in the instance you mentioned, but other instances throughout the work in the intelligence community. It's a lack of coordination. Sometimes, it's a lack of a clear mission. It's a lack of having a facility where all intelligence comes in to and is used and disseminated. We're hoping that the agencies will learn a lot from this joint investigation.

HEMMER: Learning a lot like what?

SHELBY: What went wrong, how they can improve themselves, how they can do things differently, and I believe in a lot of instances they will.

HEMMER: Nine hundred pages. Is there any one piece of evidence inside this report that you believe could be a smoking gun that may have prevented what happened on 9/11?

SHELBY: Bill, I don't believe that there's a huge smoking gun, but there's a lot of evidence and a lot of information that if put together at the proper time in a fusion center, collectively, perhaps could have made a difference.

HEMMER: Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat out of Florida, has been quite critical, talks about a number of areas that have been left out. He calls it -- quote -- "unnecessarily blanked out," a 28-page section of this report.

SHELBY: Well, I agree... HEMMER: How fair is that assessment, sir?

SHELBY: I think that's a fair assessment. I worked with Senator Graham and Congresswoman Pelosi and Congressman Goss regarding all of this investigation. I can tell you, I believe my own judgment is that they could have declassified a lot more of this report and let the American people see it.

HEMMER: Do you think in that case that we're not getting the full story?

SHELBY: You're not getting all of the story. You're getting a lot of it. But I can tell you you're getting more than bits and pieces, and the American people will put most of it together.

HEMMER: Yes, there was an intelligence briefing the president received on August 6 of 2001. That apparently was redacted as well. What is the damage? What is the harm out there within the intelligence community to put this information into this report and make it public?

SHELBY: Well, there's always the risk that you can declassify too much. In other words, you give away sources and methods, and you don't want to do that and you don't want to put anybody in harm's way that would have contributed to the intelligence success. On the other hand, where it's just going to be embarrassing and perhaps people just don't want to get out front on it, I think the American people have a right to know.

HEMMER: What is your assessment then? Would this have been embarrassing to the government? Or is this something that needs to be protected? Your conclusion on that is what?

SHELBY: Well, my judgment is it -- not all of it, but a lot more could be declassified. I can't talk about the details.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Senator Shelby from earlier today.

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