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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Michael Weisskopf

Aired November 24, 2002 - 07:03   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get some perspective on this developing story. "Time" magazine, of course, has been following the FBI probe as well. Michael Weisskopf is a senior correspondent for "TIME"; he's joining us this morning from Washington. Thanks for getting up early and being with us this morning.
MICHAEL WEISSKOPF, TIME MAGAZINE: Pleasure.

CALLAWAY: I know that there have been some new developments in this that "Time" has uncovered. What is it?

WEISSKOPF: Well, first there are more things we don't about this story than we do. And that's not a new development, of course, but in addition to moneys that move from the Saudi princess, the Prince Bandar, who is the ambassador from Saudi Arabia to the United States, also paid about $15,000 in 1998 to the same individual, a Saudi national who was then living in San Diego.

He has been linked, this Saudi national, to a Saudi student, who befriended a couple of the hijackers. And parts we don't at this point are whether or not any of that money moved from the first Saudi national to the second one, this student, and from there to the hijackers. We do know that the student introduced the two hijackers that will -- people who eventually became hijackers -- to the Saudi -- Saudi community in San Diego, and also helped them with some rent early on, and the money apparently was repaid.

But, at this point the FBI has found no evidence that either these two Saudis had any knowledge of a hijacking plan -- plot.

CALLAWAY: Right, and I want to back up just a little bit, because you're right, it is complicated, and its kind of hard to connect all the dots, but what is not complicated is the fact that the prince and princess -- you know, there is this paper trail that they have given this money -- their excuse being that they give a lot of money to charity, could it be that they had no idea the intentions that this money would be used for?

WEISSKOPF: Well, there is a tradition among Saudis in this country, particularly the royal family, to help support poor students in this country, and it's not unlike the United Fund approach we have. You give money where it's needed, and you really don't know it's going, and that if anything, that is -- creates a problem, because very often the money may end up in unintended places. And from the start of the 9/11 investigation, the FBI has been concerned about that, that there are large pools of money given ostensibly for charity, to end up in the wrong hands.

CALLAWAY: Well, we know that this is straining relationships between the U.S. and Saudi government. What is it doing to the lawsuit now, this adding to the complications? I know there is some 15 new defendants about to be added to this, what are these new revelations going to have -- what kind of effect will they have on the lawsuit?

WEISSKOPF: This seems to a deepen suspicions in the media, and I'm not sure it's affecting bilateral relations in the same way. The U.S. government is extremely concerned about holding on to Saudi support, in the events of a possible Iraqi invasion, and the relationship at the very top is fairly unshakable -- that the FBI's interested in this things, nips at the heals of the Saudi government, it's hard to know how really much strain its causing.

CALLAWAY: Yes, what about -- what kind of affect on plans for U.S. lead attack on Iraq?

WEISSKOPF: The impact again, is probably on the margins at this point, there -- the Saudis have more important considerations, including the strong Islamic fundamentalism in their own society, and they're more concerned about that than any kind of encroaching FBI investigation.

CALLAWAY: You know, what it has to do though, is raise some questions about whether or not the U.S. government has done enough investigation into these connections, or are they turning a blind eye on this, and so they get past the situation with Iraq.

WEISSKOPF: Well, the FBI sources we have suggest that they did run this to ground, although the investigation is not complete. They did track funds from the -- from Princess Haifa, who is the wife of a Saudi ambassador here, they tracked it to a -- to this Saudi national, and it -- from the -- what they can tell, it pretty much ended there. The Saudi national appealed to the Saudi embassy in 1998, for help because he has four kids, a sick and pregnant wife -- asked for money...

CALLAWAY: ... right.

WEISSKOPF: ... and the money started flowing. At that point, it's not clear what happened to the money. The Saudi government when first -- when it's first contacted about this was alarmed in Washington, stayed up all night at the Riggs Bank, trying to see whether there was any counter sign of its checks.

CALLAWAY: Right.

WEISSKOPF: Went through about 25 percent of all its checks that year; they couldn't find any counter signing of checks. And so, this is an investigation that remains open simply because it's impossible to dot all the i's and cross all t's sometimes.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and the princess admits to giving the money for charitable reasons, as you mentioned, but this individual, apparently there's now evidence that he knew of the 9/11 plot.

WEISSKOPF: There's no evidence we know of the, of the Saudi national, one Osama Basnan. He has been deported, he was -- he had visa fraud problems in this country -- there's not evidence he knew in advance of this, of the 9/11 plot, nor is the student who actually befriended the would be hijackers.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you very much for being with us, Michael, a lot more to come on this story, right -- a lot more developments. Michael Weisskopf with "Time." Thanks, Michael.

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 24, 2002 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get some perspective on this developing story. "Time" magazine, of course, has been following the FBI probe as well. Michael Weisskopf is a senior correspondent for "TIME"; he's joining us this morning from Washington. Thanks for getting up early and being with us this morning.
MICHAEL WEISSKOPF, TIME MAGAZINE: Pleasure.

CALLAWAY: I know that there have been some new developments in this that "Time" has uncovered. What is it?

WEISSKOPF: Well, first there are more things we don't about this story than we do. And that's not a new development, of course, but in addition to moneys that move from the Saudi princess, the Prince Bandar, who is the ambassador from Saudi Arabia to the United States, also paid about $15,000 in 1998 to the same individual, a Saudi national who was then living in San Diego.

He has been linked, this Saudi national, to a Saudi student, who befriended a couple of the hijackers. And parts we don't at this point are whether or not any of that money moved from the first Saudi national to the second one, this student, and from there to the hijackers. We do know that the student introduced the two hijackers that will -- people who eventually became hijackers -- to the Saudi -- Saudi community in San Diego, and also helped them with some rent early on, and the money apparently was repaid.

But, at this point the FBI has found no evidence that either these two Saudis had any knowledge of a hijacking plan -- plot.

CALLAWAY: Right, and I want to back up just a little bit, because you're right, it is complicated, and its kind of hard to connect all the dots, but what is not complicated is the fact that the prince and princess -- you know, there is this paper trail that they have given this money -- their excuse being that they give a lot of money to charity, could it be that they had no idea the intentions that this money would be used for?

WEISSKOPF: Well, there is a tradition among Saudis in this country, particularly the royal family, to help support poor students in this country, and it's not unlike the United Fund approach we have. You give money where it's needed, and you really don't know it's going, and that if anything, that is -- creates a problem, because very often the money may end up in unintended places. And from the start of the 9/11 investigation, the FBI has been concerned about that, that there are large pools of money given ostensibly for charity, to end up in the wrong hands.

CALLAWAY: Well, we know that this is straining relationships between the U.S. and Saudi government. What is it doing to the lawsuit now, this adding to the complications? I know there is some 15 new defendants about to be added to this, what are these new revelations going to have -- what kind of effect will they have on the lawsuit?

WEISSKOPF: This seems to a deepen suspicions in the media, and I'm not sure it's affecting bilateral relations in the same way. The U.S. government is extremely concerned about holding on to Saudi support, in the events of a possible Iraqi invasion, and the relationship at the very top is fairly unshakable -- that the FBI's interested in this things, nips at the heals of the Saudi government, it's hard to know how really much strain its causing.

CALLAWAY: Yes, what about -- what kind of affect on plans for U.S. lead attack on Iraq?

WEISSKOPF: The impact again, is probably on the margins at this point, there -- the Saudis have more important considerations, including the strong Islamic fundamentalism in their own society, and they're more concerned about that than any kind of encroaching FBI investigation.

CALLAWAY: You know, what it has to do though, is raise some questions about whether or not the U.S. government has done enough investigation into these connections, or are they turning a blind eye on this, and so they get past the situation with Iraq.

WEISSKOPF: Well, the FBI sources we have suggest that they did run this to ground, although the investigation is not complete. They did track funds from the -- from Princess Haifa, who is the wife of a Saudi ambassador here, they tracked it to a -- to this Saudi national, and it -- from the -- what they can tell, it pretty much ended there. The Saudi national appealed to the Saudi embassy in 1998, for help because he has four kids, a sick and pregnant wife -- asked for money...

CALLAWAY: ... right.

WEISSKOPF: ... and the money started flowing. At that point, it's not clear what happened to the money. The Saudi government when first -- when it's first contacted about this was alarmed in Washington, stayed up all night at the Riggs Bank, trying to see whether there was any counter sign of its checks.

CALLAWAY: Right.

WEISSKOPF: Went through about 25 percent of all its checks that year; they couldn't find any counter signing of checks. And so, this is an investigation that remains open simply because it's impossible to dot all the i's and cross all t's sometimes.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and the princess admits to giving the money for charitable reasons, as you mentioned, but this individual, apparently there's now evidence that he knew of the 9/11 plot.

WEISSKOPF: There's no evidence we know of the, of the Saudi national, one Osama Basnan. He has been deported, he was -- he had visa fraud problems in this country -- there's not evidence he knew in advance of this, of the 9/11 plot, nor is the student who actually befriended the would be hijackers.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you very much for being with us, Michael, a lot more to come on this story, right -- a lot more developments. Michael Weisskopf with "Time." Thanks, Michael.

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