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American Morning
9/11 Commission Discredits 9/11-Iraq Link Claim
Aired June 17, 2004 - 08:00 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: The terror will not let up in Iraq. Another bombing in Baghdad. The numbers of dead and wounded enormous.
New pictures of an al Qaeda training camp in action. Do they prove the terrorist group is still alive and healthy?
And many questions about the safety of a city park in Texas after four people drowned in a public water garden.
Those stories all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Other stories this hour, the final session, the public session of the 9/11 hearings starting today in Washington. A number of myths expected to be dispelled today, much like yesterday, including what the military was ready to do on whether or not it was ready to shoot down civilian airplanes on the day of the attacks. We'll keep you updated on that story as we move throughout the morning.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg says the Saudi government is doing everything it can to help find an American held hostage in the kingdom. But the situation appears grim. Paul Johnson's family now begging for his release. We're going to hear their words, coming up in just a moment.
HEMMER: Also, on a much different topic, Sanjay is back today -- information that may be of interest to many men. If you're feeling down or depressed, there might be a simple explanation as to why. That's why we call it a tease.
O'BRIEN: Oh, Billy, I'm sorry.
HEMMER: Sanjay is coming up in a moment here.
Thank you.
O'BRIEN: You can talk to me about it any time you want.
HEMMER: And to my friend -- Jack.
Thank you very much. O'BRIEN: Jack, you, too. Share.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up in "The Cafferty File," Madonna says she wants to change her name. And we'll tell you which body part men can now ensure, and it's not what you're thinking.
O'BRIEN: How do you know what we were thinking, Jack?
CAFFERTY: Because I know you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack.
CAFFERTY: I mean I can tell. I mean look.
O'BRIEN: Moving on -- why do I ask questions? Why? Why?
Thanks, Jack.
At least 35 people killed by a car bomb in Iraq today. An SUV that was packed with explosives detonated outside an Iraqi Army recruitment center in Baghdad. One hundred thirty-eight people injured in this latest deadly act leading up to the handover of power, just two weeks away now. Today's attack is the deadliest since 47 people were killed four months ago, also at an Army recruiting center.
Three U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday in rocket attack on a military base.
Also, as the June 30 handover date approaches, Iraq expects to issue warrants for Saddam Hussein and 62 associates.
One reason the U.S. went to war in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein was involved with al Qaeda. It's been discredited now by the 9/11 Commission. Members of the panel spoke with us earlier and confirmed that Osama bin Laden apparently got no help from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Indeed, polls show that some 60 percent or so of the public believed that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. That just isn't the case. And, indeed, the president of the United States said so in September of last year. And so it's mystifying, in fact, how this myth continues to be perpetrated, but the fact of the matter is that this bipartisan commission, after 18 months of investigation, has found no credible evidence that Iraq was involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The focus of the Commission's final hearing today is what went on after the planes hit on September 11. Testimony is expected to get under way in just a moment for this last day of hearings. You're looking at a picture, a live picture of the committee hearing room. It's expected to talk a lot and focus a lot about the level of confusion at the FAA. Today, animations of flight patterns and audio recordings will also be released. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers will be questioned about the military readiness to deal with the emergency.
Again, this is the last public hearing before the Commission issues that final report next month.
HEMMER: As the U.S. gets ready for a new offensive against al Qaeda, this in the Afghan-Pakistan border region, a new videotape now suggests that terror group may still be active in that region.
Nic Robertson is live in London looking into this with more now -- Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Good morning.
Well, one of the reasons that experts believe this tape may be credible, may be new pictures of al Qaeda in training, is that it was handed over to a representative of the Al Jazeera broadcast network inside Pakistan. This same representative had received similar tapes from al Qaeda in the past. That is just one reason why experts believe there's a possibility this is new material. But Al Jazeera, certainly the first that broadcast it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): According to Gulf broadcaster Al- Jazeera, the first to receive these pictures, this is al Qaeda training inside Afghanistan or the nearby tribal region of Pakistan, tests of physical fitness, including leapfrogging, reminiscent of pre- September the 11th al Qaeda training videos.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This material appears to be new material. We haven't seen it before. It also strongly suggests it was shot in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
ROBERTSON: On the tape, two grainy nighttime pictures of what Al-Jazeera says is a nighttime attack on a government building in Afghanistan showing dead combatants and, glowing under the camera's infrared illumination, a man Al-Jazeera identifies as al Qaeda field commander Abu-Leith al-Libi.
If authentic, and we have no independent verification of that, the pictures raise the possibility U.S. aims to deny al Qaeda the time and space to train in and around Afghanistan are failing. Intelligence experts believe al Qaeda is still actively recruiting.
BERGEN: The significance of this material is that the al Qaeda in the Afghan-Pakistan tribal areas feel sufficiently confident, as it were, to actually film some of their operations and film some of their training.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Indeed, U.S. Marines operating inside Afghanistan have said that they've come up against as many as perhaps 100 enemy combatants at one time. And other security sources inside Afghanistan say they believe that there are some very large groups of what they describe as Taliban and anti-coalition elements working there inside Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good report. Nic, thanks. Nic Robertson in London -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The family of American hostage Paul Johnson speaking out publicly, pleading for his safe return. With today's global media reach, their words being heard around the world, including in Saudi Arabia. And they hope that that will help save Johnson's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL JOHNSON III, SON OF HOSTAGE: I just plead with the Saudis to please do whatever you take. If you've got to -- we're all human. Just please. He's done a lot for your country. I respect your country. I respect everything that everybody's done. And I just want to see my father brought home safely. And the Saudis, you can make it happen.
I want to say I know that the group of men that got my father, you guys are probably fathers and just please let him come home and be a grandfather. And this is Paul Marshall Johnson IV. My father gave me his name and I honor my father so much, I gave him, my son, his name. And I just want a safe return and I'm optimistic with the Saudis can get him home safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: So exactly who are Paul Johnson's captors? What are they trying to achieve? Brian Jenkins has extensive insight about such groups. He's a senior adviser on the terrorism with the Rand Corporation. He joins us live from Los Angeles this morning. Brian, nice to see you, as always.
BRIAN JENKINS, TERRORISM EXPERT, RAND CORPORATION: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula. That's what the leader, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin has said the name of the group is. Why on the Arabian Peninsula as opposed to in Saudi Arabia?
JENKINS: Well, the Arabian Peninsula is a geographic expression. Saudi Arabia is a political expression. And the name of the group implies that the group does not accept the Saudi ruling family as the legitimate rulers of the territory. They regard the Saudi leaders as confederates of the infidels, as apostates. And so the term that they use in their title is an expression of their beliefs.
O'BRIEN: The videotape of Paul Johnson, when we first saw it, obviously the main goal is, to some degree, terrorize this poor man who's held hostage. But, let's talk about other goals, maybe even other primary goals for this group. Is it to bring down, eventually, the Saudi royal family? JENKINS: That certainly is their eventual objective. They hope to do so by creating terror among the Westerners who are working in Saudi Arabia, which, in turn, they hope will bring about their withdrawal. And they believe that without that prop, that the Saudi government will be destabilized. So these images that we see are intended to do that.
But they're also intended to be a recruiting poster to take advantage of much of the antipathy that is felt throughout the Arab world toward the United States as a consequence of events in Iraq, to take advantage of that to say look, we are doing something about this, we are striking back, this is a recruiting poster.
O'BRIEN: We have seen Paul Johnson III -- just moments ago we saw him holding his little son on his lap, Paul Johnson IV, and he said I named him -- my father named me after himself and I'm going to name my -- I named my son after my father to honor him. A professor of Middle Eastern studies who we spoke to not long ago said that he expects there will be no mercy shown on this man, Paul Johnson.
As awful as that prediction is, do you believe that he's right?
JENKINS: Well, you know, I'm very, very reluctant to speculate on the outcome of hostage situations. Certainly we all pray for a resolution of this that will bring Mr. Johnson home safely. But the fact, the reality is we are dealing with men who do not hesitate to kill and therefore we simply have to be realistic. We don't know how this is going to turn out.
O'BRIEN: The State Department released a statement and, in part, that statement says "American citizens are strongly urged to depart." It goes on and on. There are some Saudi officials who say statements like that actually send the wrong message. What do you think?
JENKINS: Well, certainly the terrorists see those statements as confirmation of the correctness of their strategy and as evidence of weakness on our part. Keep in mind that their mind set, their belief is that the United States, when confronted with terrorism in Lebanon, the death of the Marines in the suicide bombing there in 1983, the U.S. withdrew. That as a consequence of terrorism in Aden we withdrew from Yemen. That as a consequence of losses in Somalia, we withdrew from there in 1993.
It's part of al Qaeda's mind set that if you confront Americans with terrorism, they will retreat. And certainly they will see that State Department announcement as evidence of that.
At the same time, that State Department statement may be intended to encourage the Saudis to take more vigorous action against the terrorists and to improve the security for Americans who still remain within the country.
O'BRIEN: Terrorism expert Brian Jenkins with the Rand Corporation joining us this morning. Brian, thanks. Nice to see you, as always.
JENKINS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour now. With Bill Clinton poised to promote his autobiography, talk of a vast right-wing conspiracy is back in a new documentary film. It's called "The Hunting of the President," claiming to show a campaign to destroy the former president.
A quick clip from that film now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT")
JOE CONASON, SALON.COM: Do we really want a country where right- wing millionaires and, you know, unethical lawyers can put together an attempt to have a coup d'etat against a twice elected president over nothing? Over what turned out to be nothing, really, except a sex lie and a phony financial scandal? I don't think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The film is written and directed by Harry Thomason. He's with us now live here in New York. And Susan McDougal, also, who, you will recall, went to jail rather than cooperating with Whitewater investigators.
Good morning to both of you.
Nice to see you here.
HARRY THOMASON, DIRECTOR AND SCREENWRITER, "THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT": Thank you.
HEMMER: The premier happened last night in New York City, the headline. Bill Clinton was there. His reaction to your film was what?
THOMASON: Well, he was still speaking to me when it was over, so I guess it was pretty good.
HEMMER: You take that as a good sign?
THOMASON: Right. And I'm...
HEMMER: What did he say?
THOMASON: Well, he just said, you know, I think you've told a good solid story here. When I started the film, I knew I would be accused of being a friend of Bill Clinton's, so how could I -- how could it be -- have any value at all? And so I told him, "I'm never going to discuss this film with you. You can see it when it's finished." And I...
HEMMER: So from beginning to the end, you did not talk about this?
THOMASON: Over two years I did not talk to him about that film.
HEMMER: Is that so? How did you reconcile your friendship in terms of credibility for putting the film forth, knowing that you're close friends?
THOMASON: Well, I mean I knew that charge would come up. And so I didn't talk to him, because I didn't want the press to say well, he probably told you what to do. Number two, I told him we couldn't ignore his transgressions. And he said, you know, you're doing the same thing I would do, go ahead. And so that's what I did. And then we, with the narrative of the film, we tried not to introduce any bias into the film. Other people come in and express opinions, but we, as the narrators of the film, do not express opinion, because we feel we can defend the facts.
HEMMER: Susan, is it true you have not seen him since 1985? Is that a fact?
SUSAN MCDOUGAL, FORMER CLINTON ASSOCIATE: You know, I think that is the last time I saw him. I had...
HEMMER: You talked on the phone one time, at least, is that right?
MCDOUGAL: That's -- yes, that's true.
HEMMER: What did he say last night when you saw him for the first time, then?
MCDOUGAL: You know, he walked on stage as the lights came up from the film, a very dramatic entrance. And he was on stage talking to the crowd probably 30 minutes, 45 minutes, a history of American politics, from the beginning of the country until today. It was an extraordinary talk...
HEMMER: But did you talk one-on-one with him?
MCDOUGAL: Yes. But what I was going to say is he said a lot of things about me that were just really incredible for me to listen to. So when I went back to say hello to him, I was already sort of overcome with all the kind things he had said while he was on that stage in front of all of those people. And so it was just sort of, you know, a thank you at that point.
HEMMER: Harry, as the director of this film, you point a finger at the media throughout this film. Are you accusing journalists of reporting inaccuracies? Are you -- what is the premise that you offer from the media standpoint?
THOMASON: Oh, I'm basically saying that in the '90s, right at the explosion of the -- of all the media outlets that the press was somewhat led around by the nose and was told what to report and what to think.
HEMMER: Are you suggesting we weren't doing our job?
THOMASON: I'm suggesting you weren't doing your job.
HEMMER: Is it, isn't that an easy target? I mean in every White House since the beginning of time you've heard at different times presidents come out and accuse the media for their own problems.
THOMASON: Oh, I wasn't accusing -- we don't accuse the media for the problems. We just show how -- you know, here's the best example. Think of it as the NFL. Think of the news media as NFL. Well, in the 1970s and '80s, half the people that played in the NFL couldn't play because there were only half as many teams, and they weren't good enough to make the cut. The same thing happened to the media. There was an explosion of places that needed media people and a lot of people that shouldn't have been reporting were all of a sudden on the air reporting, and they weren't capable.
HEMMER: So you're saying the expansion of national media has contributed to the feeling of the story?
THOMASON: That's right.
HEMMER: How do you then -- how do you address the transgressions that you mentioned a moment ago?
THOMASON: Oh, well, we're -- we point out what he did and what traps he walked into. We don't let him off at all. There are people that are friends of his, like Paul Begala, that talked in the film about their feelings.
HEMMER: He apparently told Dan Rather of CBS News it was a terrible moral error, talking about Monica Lewinsky -- I did something for the worst possible reason because I could.
Did he not -- hang on one second. I'm getting an interruption here in my ear. Is there a problem? OK.
Why don't we put this on pause. I'm not quite sure what's going on, but here's Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, we've got some breaking news to bring to you, which is why we're interrupting briefly, if we may.
We want to take you right to the 9/11 Commission. As we mentioned, they're just getting under way. And they're talking about Flight 11. Riveting testimony yesterday. Let's listen in to what they are saying this morning.
PHILIP ZELIKOW, 9/11 COMMISSION STAFF: "Well, we have some planes." The next transmission came seconds later.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MOHAMED ATTA, 9/11 HIJACKER: Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make moves, you'll endanger yourselves and the airplane. Just stay quiet.
(END AUDIO CLIP) ZELIKOW: Hearing that transmission, the controller told us he then knew it was a hijacking. The controller alerted his supervisor, who assigned another controller to assist him and redoubled efforts to ascertain the flight's altitude.
Because the controller didn't understand the initial transmission, the manager of Boston Center instructed the Center's quality assurance specialist to "pull the tape" of the radio transmission, listen to it closely and report back.
Between 8:25 and 8:32, in accordance with the FAA protocol, Boston Center managers started notifying their chain of command that American 11 had been hijacked.
At 8:28, Boston Center called the command center in Herndon, Virginia to advise management that it believed American 11 had been hijacked and was heading towards New York Center's air space.
By this point in time, American 11 had taken a dramatic turn to the south.
At 8:32, the command center passed word of a possible hijacking to the operations center at FAA headquarters. The duty officer replied that security personnel at headquarters had just begun discussing the hijack situation on a conference call with the New England regional office.
The Herndon Command Center immediately established a teleconference between Boston, New York and Cleveland Centers, so that Boston Center could help the others understand what was happening.
At 8:34, the Boston Center controller received a third transmission from American 11.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ATTA: Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ZELIKOW: In the succeeding minutes, controllers were attempting to ascertain the altitude of the southbound Flight 11. Military notification and response.
Boston Center did not just follow the routine protocol and seek a military...
O'BRIEN: You're listening to a 9/11 Commission staffer who is explaining and playing some of those pretty incredible audiotapes coming, those transmissions of Flight 11 as it is in the process of being hijacked.
Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon for us and has been listening in on this testimony and the reading of the notes from this staffer.
As much as we have heard about this, Barbara, of course, when you actually hear that transmission, it is chilling.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, indeed, it is, and it is even more stunning. The Commission is saying the voice you are hearing, they strongly believe, is the voice of Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers, one of the key masterminds on that day.
The recording is not terribly clear, so let's just reconstruct for our viewers what that voice, believed to be Mohamed Atta, says.
In his first transmission, he says, "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you will be OK. We are returning to the airport."
In his second transmission that the FAA monitors, Mohamed Atta says: "Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you will endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."
And the final transmission: "Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."
The first time, it is believed, the world hears the voice of Mohamed Atta on September 11.
But, Soledad, this is just the beginning of what we will hear throughout the day at this Commission hearing. There will be extensive testimony about the response by the FAA, the response by the United States military, the confusion that emerged that morning, how stunned and unprepared the federal government was to deal with this and unprepared on the key question of whether or not the military could and would be able to and had the rules to shoot down a civilian airliner over the United States.
You will hear that Vice President Dick Cheney authorized a shoot down, but that there was confusion about transmitting that order. There was concern by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the pilots in the sky knew what their exact rules were and you will learn later today that the Secret Service also ordered planes into the sky on the morning of September 11 to protect the White House and the Capitol.
Finally, you will learn again about the time line and the tragedy that the planes, these fighter aircraft, simply could not get anywhere in time to stop these hijackings. When the Pentagon was hit, the nearest fighter aircraft were more than 100 miles away -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon with some analysis of that.
Again, just absolutely chilling listening to those tapes.
We're going to get back to that hearing and also get more analysis of that.
We've got to take a short break, though, first.
We're back in just a moment.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
We've been listening to a staffer from the 9/11 Commission releasing for the first time audiotape of what is believed to be the voice of Mohamed Atta, the first time we hear him talking about the Flight 11 has been taken over. Really pretty graphic and very chilling audiotape.
The presentation is being made before the commissioners this morning.
We're going to go back to that in just a little bit; also get some analysis just ahead with Barbara Starr.
As you can see, they're showing a map and trying to reconstruct the day of September 11 and exactly what happened that day.
The focus for the Commission this morning is to really take a look at military preparedness and also explode some of the myths about whether or not the military could have gotten planes in the air in time to intercept the hijackers.
That's the Commission staffer there who's been making his report.
We've got to take a short break.
When we come back in just a moment, we're going to update you on this story, our top story, of course, this morning.
And we'll get back to you with more on that in just a moment.
Stay with us, everybody.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 17, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The terror will not let up in Iraq. Another bombing in Baghdad. The numbers of dead and wounded enormous.
New pictures of an al Qaeda training camp in action. Do they prove the terrorist group is still alive and healthy?
And many questions about the safety of a city park in Texas after four people drowned in a public water garden.
Those stories all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Other stories this hour, the final session, the public session of the 9/11 hearings starting today in Washington. A number of myths expected to be dispelled today, much like yesterday, including what the military was ready to do on whether or not it was ready to shoot down civilian airplanes on the day of the attacks. We'll keep you updated on that story as we move throughout the morning.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg says the Saudi government is doing everything it can to help find an American held hostage in the kingdom. But the situation appears grim. Paul Johnson's family now begging for his release. We're going to hear their words, coming up in just a moment.
HEMMER: Also, on a much different topic, Sanjay is back today -- information that may be of interest to many men. If you're feeling down or depressed, there might be a simple explanation as to why. That's why we call it a tease.
O'BRIEN: Oh, Billy, I'm sorry.
HEMMER: Sanjay is coming up in a moment here.
Thank you.
O'BRIEN: You can talk to me about it any time you want.
HEMMER: And to my friend -- Jack.
Thank you very much. O'BRIEN: Jack, you, too. Share.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up in "The Cafferty File," Madonna says she wants to change her name. And we'll tell you which body part men can now ensure, and it's not what you're thinking.
O'BRIEN: How do you know what we were thinking, Jack?
CAFFERTY: Because I know you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack.
CAFFERTY: I mean I can tell. I mean look.
O'BRIEN: Moving on -- why do I ask questions? Why? Why?
Thanks, Jack.
At least 35 people killed by a car bomb in Iraq today. An SUV that was packed with explosives detonated outside an Iraqi Army recruitment center in Baghdad. One hundred thirty-eight people injured in this latest deadly act leading up to the handover of power, just two weeks away now. Today's attack is the deadliest since 47 people were killed four months ago, also at an Army recruiting center.
Three U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday in rocket attack on a military base.
Also, as the June 30 handover date approaches, Iraq expects to issue warrants for Saddam Hussein and 62 associates.
One reason the U.S. went to war in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein was involved with al Qaeda. It's been discredited now by the 9/11 Commission. Members of the panel spoke with us earlier and confirmed that Osama bin Laden apparently got no help from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Indeed, polls show that some 60 percent or so of the public believed that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. That just isn't the case. And, indeed, the president of the United States said so in September of last year. And so it's mystifying, in fact, how this myth continues to be perpetrated, but the fact of the matter is that this bipartisan commission, after 18 months of investigation, has found no credible evidence that Iraq was involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The focus of the Commission's final hearing today is what went on after the planes hit on September 11. Testimony is expected to get under way in just a moment for this last day of hearings. You're looking at a picture, a live picture of the committee hearing room. It's expected to talk a lot and focus a lot about the level of confusion at the FAA. Today, animations of flight patterns and audio recordings will also be released. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers will be questioned about the military readiness to deal with the emergency.
Again, this is the last public hearing before the Commission issues that final report next month.
HEMMER: As the U.S. gets ready for a new offensive against al Qaeda, this in the Afghan-Pakistan border region, a new videotape now suggests that terror group may still be active in that region.
Nic Robertson is live in London looking into this with more now -- Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Good morning.
Well, one of the reasons that experts believe this tape may be credible, may be new pictures of al Qaeda in training, is that it was handed over to a representative of the Al Jazeera broadcast network inside Pakistan. This same representative had received similar tapes from al Qaeda in the past. That is just one reason why experts believe there's a possibility this is new material. But Al Jazeera, certainly the first that broadcast it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): According to Gulf broadcaster Al- Jazeera, the first to receive these pictures, this is al Qaeda training inside Afghanistan or the nearby tribal region of Pakistan, tests of physical fitness, including leapfrogging, reminiscent of pre- September the 11th al Qaeda training videos.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This material appears to be new material. We haven't seen it before. It also strongly suggests it was shot in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
ROBERTSON: On the tape, two grainy nighttime pictures of what Al-Jazeera says is a nighttime attack on a government building in Afghanistan showing dead combatants and, glowing under the camera's infrared illumination, a man Al-Jazeera identifies as al Qaeda field commander Abu-Leith al-Libi.
If authentic, and we have no independent verification of that, the pictures raise the possibility U.S. aims to deny al Qaeda the time and space to train in and around Afghanistan are failing. Intelligence experts believe al Qaeda is still actively recruiting.
BERGEN: The significance of this material is that the al Qaeda in the Afghan-Pakistan tribal areas feel sufficiently confident, as it were, to actually film some of their operations and film some of their training.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Indeed, U.S. Marines operating inside Afghanistan have said that they've come up against as many as perhaps 100 enemy combatants at one time. And other security sources inside Afghanistan say they believe that there are some very large groups of what they describe as Taliban and anti-coalition elements working there inside Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good report. Nic, thanks. Nic Robertson in London -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The family of American hostage Paul Johnson speaking out publicly, pleading for his safe return. With today's global media reach, their words being heard around the world, including in Saudi Arabia. And they hope that that will help save Johnson's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL JOHNSON III, SON OF HOSTAGE: I just plead with the Saudis to please do whatever you take. If you've got to -- we're all human. Just please. He's done a lot for your country. I respect your country. I respect everything that everybody's done. And I just want to see my father brought home safely. And the Saudis, you can make it happen.
I want to say I know that the group of men that got my father, you guys are probably fathers and just please let him come home and be a grandfather. And this is Paul Marshall Johnson IV. My father gave me his name and I honor my father so much, I gave him, my son, his name. And I just want a safe return and I'm optimistic with the Saudis can get him home safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: So exactly who are Paul Johnson's captors? What are they trying to achieve? Brian Jenkins has extensive insight about such groups. He's a senior adviser on the terrorism with the Rand Corporation. He joins us live from Los Angeles this morning. Brian, nice to see you, as always.
BRIAN JENKINS, TERRORISM EXPERT, RAND CORPORATION: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula. That's what the leader, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin has said the name of the group is. Why on the Arabian Peninsula as opposed to in Saudi Arabia?
JENKINS: Well, the Arabian Peninsula is a geographic expression. Saudi Arabia is a political expression. And the name of the group implies that the group does not accept the Saudi ruling family as the legitimate rulers of the territory. They regard the Saudi leaders as confederates of the infidels, as apostates. And so the term that they use in their title is an expression of their beliefs.
O'BRIEN: The videotape of Paul Johnson, when we first saw it, obviously the main goal is, to some degree, terrorize this poor man who's held hostage. But, let's talk about other goals, maybe even other primary goals for this group. Is it to bring down, eventually, the Saudi royal family? JENKINS: That certainly is their eventual objective. They hope to do so by creating terror among the Westerners who are working in Saudi Arabia, which, in turn, they hope will bring about their withdrawal. And they believe that without that prop, that the Saudi government will be destabilized. So these images that we see are intended to do that.
But they're also intended to be a recruiting poster to take advantage of much of the antipathy that is felt throughout the Arab world toward the United States as a consequence of events in Iraq, to take advantage of that to say look, we are doing something about this, we are striking back, this is a recruiting poster.
O'BRIEN: We have seen Paul Johnson III -- just moments ago we saw him holding his little son on his lap, Paul Johnson IV, and he said I named him -- my father named me after himself and I'm going to name my -- I named my son after my father to honor him. A professor of Middle Eastern studies who we spoke to not long ago said that he expects there will be no mercy shown on this man, Paul Johnson.
As awful as that prediction is, do you believe that he's right?
JENKINS: Well, you know, I'm very, very reluctant to speculate on the outcome of hostage situations. Certainly we all pray for a resolution of this that will bring Mr. Johnson home safely. But the fact, the reality is we are dealing with men who do not hesitate to kill and therefore we simply have to be realistic. We don't know how this is going to turn out.
O'BRIEN: The State Department released a statement and, in part, that statement says "American citizens are strongly urged to depart." It goes on and on. There are some Saudi officials who say statements like that actually send the wrong message. What do you think?
JENKINS: Well, certainly the terrorists see those statements as confirmation of the correctness of their strategy and as evidence of weakness on our part. Keep in mind that their mind set, their belief is that the United States, when confronted with terrorism in Lebanon, the death of the Marines in the suicide bombing there in 1983, the U.S. withdrew. That as a consequence of terrorism in Aden we withdrew from Yemen. That as a consequence of losses in Somalia, we withdrew from there in 1993.
It's part of al Qaeda's mind set that if you confront Americans with terrorism, they will retreat. And certainly they will see that State Department announcement as evidence of that.
At the same time, that State Department statement may be intended to encourage the Saudis to take more vigorous action against the terrorists and to improve the security for Americans who still remain within the country.
O'BRIEN: Terrorism expert Brian Jenkins with the Rand Corporation joining us this morning. Brian, thanks. Nice to see you, as always.
JENKINS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour now. With Bill Clinton poised to promote his autobiography, talk of a vast right-wing conspiracy is back in a new documentary film. It's called "The Hunting of the President," claiming to show a campaign to destroy the former president.
A quick clip from that film now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT")
JOE CONASON, SALON.COM: Do we really want a country where right- wing millionaires and, you know, unethical lawyers can put together an attempt to have a coup d'etat against a twice elected president over nothing? Over what turned out to be nothing, really, except a sex lie and a phony financial scandal? I don't think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The film is written and directed by Harry Thomason. He's with us now live here in New York. And Susan McDougal, also, who, you will recall, went to jail rather than cooperating with Whitewater investigators.
Good morning to both of you.
Nice to see you here.
HARRY THOMASON, DIRECTOR AND SCREENWRITER, "THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT": Thank you.
HEMMER: The premier happened last night in New York City, the headline. Bill Clinton was there. His reaction to your film was what?
THOMASON: Well, he was still speaking to me when it was over, so I guess it was pretty good.
HEMMER: You take that as a good sign?
THOMASON: Right. And I'm...
HEMMER: What did he say?
THOMASON: Well, he just said, you know, I think you've told a good solid story here. When I started the film, I knew I would be accused of being a friend of Bill Clinton's, so how could I -- how could it be -- have any value at all? And so I told him, "I'm never going to discuss this film with you. You can see it when it's finished." And I...
HEMMER: So from beginning to the end, you did not talk about this?
THOMASON: Over two years I did not talk to him about that film.
HEMMER: Is that so? How did you reconcile your friendship in terms of credibility for putting the film forth, knowing that you're close friends?
THOMASON: Well, I mean I knew that charge would come up. And so I didn't talk to him, because I didn't want the press to say well, he probably told you what to do. Number two, I told him we couldn't ignore his transgressions. And he said, you know, you're doing the same thing I would do, go ahead. And so that's what I did. And then we, with the narrative of the film, we tried not to introduce any bias into the film. Other people come in and express opinions, but we, as the narrators of the film, do not express opinion, because we feel we can defend the facts.
HEMMER: Susan, is it true you have not seen him since 1985? Is that a fact?
SUSAN MCDOUGAL, FORMER CLINTON ASSOCIATE: You know, I think that is the last time I saw him. I had...
HEMMER: You talked on the phone one time, at least, is that right?
MCDOUGAL: That's -- yes, that's true.
HEMMER: What did he say last night when you saw him for the first time, then?
MCDOUGAL: You know, he walked on stage as the lights came up from the film, a very dramatic entrance. And he was on stage talking to the crowd probably 30 minutes, 45 minutes, a history of American politics, from the beginning of the country until today. It was an extraordinary talk...
HEMMER: But did you talk one-on-one with him?
MCDOUGAL: Yes. But what I was going to say is he said a lot of things about me that were just really incredible for me to listen to. So when I went back to say hello to him, I was already sort of overcome with all the kind things he had said while he was on that stage in front of all of those people. And so it was just sort of, you know, a thank you at that point.
HEMMER: Harry, as the director of this film, you point a finger at the media throughout this film. Are you accusing journalists of reporting inaccuracies? Are you -- what is the premise that you offer from the media standpoint?
THOMASON: Oh, I'm basically saying that in the '90s, right at the explosion of the -- of all the media outlets that the press was somewhat led around by the nose and was told what to report and what to think.
HEMMER: Are you suggesting we weren't doing our job?
THOMASON: I'm suggesting you weren't doing your job.
HEMMER: Is it, isn't that an easy target? I mean in every White House since the beginning of time you've heard at different times presidents come out and accuse the media for their own problems.
THOMASON: Oh, I wasn't accusing -- we don't accuse the media for the problems. We just show how -- you know, here's the best example. Think of it as the NFL. Think of the news media as NFL. Well, in the 1970s and '80s, half the people that played in the NFL couldn't play because there were only half as many teams, and they weren't good enough to make the cut. The same thing happened to the media. There was an explosion of places that needed media people and a lot of people that shouldn't have been reporting were all of a sudden on the air reporting, and they weren't capable.
HEMMER: So you're saying the expansion of national media has contributed to the feeling of the story?
THOMASON: That's right.
HEMMER: How do you then -- how do you address the transgressions that you mentioned a moment ago?
THOMASON: Oh, well, we're -- we point out what he did and what traps he walked into. We don't let him off at all. There are people that are friends of his, like Paul Begala, that talked in the film about their feelings.
HEMMER: He apparently told Dan Rather of CBS News it was a terrible moral error, talking about Monica Lewinsky -- I did something for the worst possible reason because I could.
Did he not -- hang on one second. I'm getting an interruption here in my ear. Is there a problem? OK.
Why don't we put this on pause. I'm not quite sure what's going on, but here's Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, we've got some breaking news to bring to you, which is why we're interrupting briefly, if we may.
We want to take you right to the 9/11 Commission. As we mentioned, they're just getting under way. And they're talking about Flight 11. Riveting testimony yesterday. Let's listen in to what they are saying this morning.
PHILIP ZELIKOW, 9/11 COMMISSION STAFF: "Well, we have some planes." The next transmission came seconds later.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MOHAMED ATTA, 9/11 HIJACKER: Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make moves, you'll endanger yourselves and the airplane. Just stay quiet.
(END AUDIO CLIP) ZELIKOW: Hearing that transmission, the controller told us he then knew it was a hijacking. The controller alerted his supervisor, who assigned another controller to assist him and redoubled efforts to ascertain the flight's altitude.
Because the controller didn't understand the initial transmission, the manager of Boston Center instructed the Center's quality assurance specialist to "pull the tape" of the radio transmission, listen to it closely and report back.
Between 8:25 and 8:32, in accordance with the FAA protocol, Boston Center managers started notifying their chain of command that American 11 had been hijacked.
At 8:28, Boston Center called the command center in Herndon, Virginia to advise management that it believed American 11 had been hijacked and was heading towards New York Center's air space.
By this point in time, American 11 had taken a dramatic turn to the south.
At 8:32, the command center passed word of a possible hijacking to the operations center at FAA headquarters. The duty officer replied that security personnel at headquarters had just begun discussing the hijack situation on a conference call with the New England regional office.
The Herndon Command Center immediately established a teleconference between Boston, New York and Cleveland Centers, so that Boston Center could help the others understand what was happening.
At 8:34, the Boston Center controller received a third transmission from American 11.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ATTA: Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ZELIKOW: In the succeeding minutes, controllers were attempting to ascertain the altitude of the southbound Flight 11. Military notification and response.
Boston Center did not just follow the routine protocol and seek a military...
O'BRIEN: You're listening to a 9/11 Commission staffer who is explaining and playing some of those pretty incredible audiotapes coming, those transmissions of Flight 11 as it is in the process of being hijacked.
Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon for us and has been listening in on this testimony and the reading of the notes from this staffer.
As much as we have heard about this, Barbara, of course, when you actually hear that transmission, it is chilling.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, indeed, it is, and it is even more stunning. The Commission is saying the voice you are hearing, they strongly believe, is the voice of Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers, one of the key masterminds on that day.
The recording is not terribly clear, so let's just reconstruct for our viewers what that voice, believed to be Mohamed Atta, says.
In his first transmission, he says, "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you will be OK. We are returning to the airport."
In his second transmission that the FAA monitors, Mohamed Atta says: "Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you will endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."
And the final transmission: "Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."
The first time, it is believed, the world hears the voice of Mohamed Atta on September 11.
But, Soledad, this is just the beginning of what we will hear throughout the day at this Commission hearing. There will be extensive testimony about the response by the FAA, the response by the United States military, the confusion that emerged that morning, how stunned and unprepared the federal government was to deal with this and unprepared on the key question of whether or not the military could and would be able to and had the rules to shoot down a civilian airliner over the United States.
You will hear that Vice President Dick Cheney authorized a shoot down, but that there was confusion about transmitting that order. There was concern by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the pilots in the sky knew what their exact rules were and you will learn later today that the Secret Service also ordered planes into the sky on the morning of September 11 to protect the White House and the Capitol.
Finally, you will learn again about the time line and the tragedy that the planes, these fighter aircraft, simply could not get anywhere in time to stop these hijackings. When the Pentagon was hit, the nearest fighter aircraft were more than 100 miles away -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon with some analysis of that.
Again, just absolutely chilling listening to those tapes.
We're going to get back to that hearing and also get more analysis of that.
We've got to take a short break, though, first.
We're back in just a moment.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
We've been listening to a staffer from the 9/11 Commission releasing for the first time audiotape of what is believed to be the voice of Mohamed Atta, the first time we hear him talking about the Flight 11 has been taken over. Really pretty graphic and very chilling audiotape.
The presentation is being made before the commissioners this morning.
We're going to go back to that in just a little bit; also get some analysis just ahead with Barbara Starr.
As you can see, they're showing a map and trying to reconstruct the day of September 11 and exactly what happened that day.
The focus for the Commission this morning is to really take a look at military preparedness and also explode some of the myths about whether or not the military could have gotten planes in the air in time to intercept the hijackers.
That's the Commission staffer there who's been making his report.
We've got to take a short break.
When we come back in just a moment, we're going to update you on this story, our top story, of course, this morning.
And we'll get back to you with more on that in just a moment.
Stay with us, everybody.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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