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American Morning
Security Warning
Aired September 05, 2003 - 09:02 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With the second anniversary of 9/11 less than a week away, the Department of Homeland Security is issuing a new warning issue out about Al Qaeda. The agency said yesterday that the terror network may try to hijack airliners on international routes that go over the continental U.S.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live for us in Washington this morning.
Good morning to you once again, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They don't have the sort of specific information that would lead them to raise the nation's threat alert level, but the advisory says there is a growing body of credible evidence regarding Al Qaeda plans for a hijacking commercial aircraft. Some of those plans involve airliners that transit near or fly over the U.S., but do not land here. A homeland security officials say most of the flights that fit that description originate in Canada, and the U.S. has been working with that country in the past month to tighten up security. The advisory also says terrorist operatives have been studying which countries have the least stringent requirements for entry. That could determine which flights would be easiest to board, take control of and crash into targets in the United States -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne, if there's no specific threat, where is this information coming from? What's the source?
MESERVE: There's a lot of information in here, both about modes of attack and possible targets. I've been told by officials this was gleaned from communications intercepts, from materials seized in raids of Al Qaeda safehouses, and also from interrogations of Al Qaeda detainees, and the advisory does say recent arrests of Al Qaeda detainees may have disrupted or delayed some planned attacks, but it doesn't provide specifics on what those might have been -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne, thanks for that update. Homeland security Jeanne Meserve for us this morning.
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 September 5, 2003 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With the second anniversary of 9/11 less than a week away, the Department of Homeland Security is issuing a new warning issue out about Al Qaeda. The agency said yesterday that the terror network may try to hijack airliners on international routes that go over the continental U.S.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live for us in Washington this morning.
Good morning to you once again, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They don't have the sort of specific information that would lead them to raise the nation's threat alert level, but the advisory says there is a growing body of credible evidence regarding Al Qaeda plans for a hijacking commercial aircraft. Some of those plans involve airliners that transit near or fly over the U.S., but do not land here. A homeland security officials say most of the flights that fit that description originate in Canada, and the U.S. has been working with that country in the past month to tighten up security. The advisory also says terrorist operatives have been studying which countries have the least stringent requirements for entry. That could determine which flights would be easiest to board, take control of and crash into targets in the United States -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne, if there's no specific threat, where is this information coming from? What's the source?
MESERVE: There's a lot of information in here, both about modes of attack and possible targets. I've been told by officials this was gleaned from communications intercepts, from materials seized in raids of Al Qaeda safehouses, and also from interrogations of Al Qaeda detainees, and the advisory does say recent arrests of Al Qaeda detainees may have disrupted or delayed some planned attacks, but it doesn't provide specifics on what those might have been -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne, thanks for that update. Homeland security Jeanne Meserve for us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
