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American Morning

20th Hijacker

Aired November 05, 2003 - 09:32   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: Now let's talk a little bit about the 9/11 attacks. A new theory emerging now about those attacks. Some government investigators think they know who was to have been the 20th hijacker.
Kelli Arena's been tracking this story. She's live in Washington D.C. for us this morning.

Kelli, good morning.

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.

It's been one of those mornings, trying to check in with a variety of sources on this story, which first appeared in "USA Today" this morning. Basically, the bottom line is that there is information that is uncorroborated, that there were, in fact, 20 individuals in the United States at one time who were intended to be the 20 hijackers. One of those individuals, it is believed, left the country before that attack for some undisclosed reason.

Now, I have to emphasize here, this is an operating theory that some investigators at the FBI are looking into. The information is uncorroborated. There is no hard evidence to back this up. In fact, I've been told by a variety of government sources that this information did not come from senior al Qaeda leadership in custody. That would include people like Khalid Shaikh Muhammad and Ramsey Bin Al Shiba (ph), who admitted to being part of the planning of that September 11th attack. And here's the hitch, Soledad, that there's no name, there is no identity attached to this individual.

When I spoke to Bill earlier, he said well can we assume (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and I said, well, wait a minute, we haven't seen anything to suggest that, and that's why, it's because there is no qualifying information that has been attached to this person, at least according to the sources that we've spoken to. They say that they have information about a 20th individual. That's all they know. Again, not a theory that is unanimously held.

And the bottom line here is that two years after that attack, investigators still do not have all of the answers. I mean, that is what is most apparent here, that there are so many questions tat remain unanswered about September 11th and exactly how that attack was pulled off, and it's vital information, obviously, if the FBI intends to prevent another attack just like it.

O'BRIEN: Obviously disagreements in the intelligence community about the identity of the 20th, alleged 20th... ARENA: No, there's no identity, Soledad. That's the new information.

O'BRIEN: So there's no identity.

ARENA: Right, they don't have an identity attached to this person.

O'BRIEN: I guess my question is, are you also saying -- are they saying that there may not be a 20th hijacker, also?

ARENA: Right, right. That's why I said it was a theory. It's an operating theory, that there was another individual who was supposed to be the 20th hijacker. And as you know, the discussion about the 20th hijacker has gone on since day one. There were five people on every other plane except one. On one, there were four. The FBI and other intelligence officials do have information that Ramsey Bin Al Shibah, who is a senior al Qaeda operative who is in custody, had tried several times to gain entry into the United States, but was denied a visa every time.

There was also some discussion of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is also in custody and facing, you know, facing a trial, who's also believed at one point to maybe -- he was intended to be the 20th hijacker. All of those theories have been ruled out. They were all theories. This one, as well, is an operating theory, that there was another individual who was in the country, who left the country, uncorroborated information, they don't have it, you know, right, you know, concretely at this point, and, in fact, there are several members of the FBI who say we don't buy it. We don't think that there was a 20th. We think that Bin Al Shibah tried to get in, couldn't, and they it was 19. So until they know concretely, all we can say is this is something they're looking into and leave it at that.

O'BRIEN: Very complicated. But thanks for explaining it for us, Kelli. Appreciate it.

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 November 5, 2003 - 09:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's talk a little bit about the 9/11 attacks. A new theory emerging now about those attacks. Some government investigators think they know who was to have been the 20th hijacker.
Kelli Arena's been tracking this story. She's live in Washington D.C. for us this morning.

Kelli, good morning.

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.

It's been one of those mornings, trying to check in with a variety of sources on this story, which first appeared in "USA Today" this morning. Basically, the bottom line is that there is information that is uncorroborated, that there were, in fact, 20 individuals in the United States at one time who were intended to be the 20 hijackers. One of those individuals, it is believed, left the country before that attack for some undisclosed reason.

Now, I have to emphasize here, this is an operating theory that some investigators at the FBI are looking into. The information is uncorroborated. There is no hard evidence to back this up. In fact, I've been told by a variety of government sources that this information did not come from senior al Qaeda leadership in custody. That would include people like Khalid Shaikh Muhammad and Ramsey Bin Al Shiba (ph), who admitted to being part of the planning of that September 11th attack. And here's the hitch, Soledad, that there's no name, there is no identity attached to this individual.

When I spoke to Bill earlier, he said well can we assume (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and I said, well, wait a minute, we haven't seen anything to suggest that, and that's why, it's because there is no qualifying information that has been attached to this person, at least according to the sources that we've spoken to. They say that they have information about a 20th individual. That's all they know. Again, not a theory that is unanimously held.

And the bottom line here is that two years after that attack, investigators still do not have all of the answers. I mean, that is what is most apparent here, that there are so many questions tat remain unanswered about September 11th and exactly how that attack was pulled off, and it's vital information, obviously, if the FBI intends to prevent another attack just like it.

O'BRIEN: Obviously disagreements in the intelligence community about the identity of the 20th, alleged 20th... ARENA: No, there's no identity, Soledad. That's the new information.

O'BRIEN: So there's no identity.

ARENA: Right, they don't have an identity attached to this person.

O'BRIEN: I guess my question is, are you also saying -- are they saying that there may not be a 20th hijacker, also?

ARENA: Right, right. That's why I said it was a theory. It's an operating theory, that there was another individual who was supposed to be the 20th hijacker. And as you know, the discussion about the 20th hijacker has gone on since day one. There were five people on every other plane except one. On one, there were four. The FBI and other intelligence officials do have information that Ramsey Bin Al Shibah, who is a senior al Qaeda operative who is in custody, had tried several times to gain entry into the United States, but was denied a visa every time.

There was also some discussion of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is also in custody and facing, you know, facing a trial, who's also believed at one point to maybe -- he was intended to be the 20th hijacker. All of those theories have been ruled out. They were all theories. This one, as well, is an operating theory, that there was another individual who was in the country, who left the country, uncorroborated information, they don't have it, you know, right, you know, concretely at this point, and, in fact, there are several members of the FBI who say we don't buy it. We don't think that there was a 20th. We think that Bin Al Shibah tried to get in, couldn't, and they it was 19. So until they know concretely, all we can say is this is something they're looking into and leave it at that.

O'BRIEN: Very complicated. But thanks for explaining it for us, Kelli. Appreciate it.

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