Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
State Department Issues Travel Advisory Warnings
Aired December 01, 2002 - 08:06 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: We're going to head now to Crawford, Texas, for the latest for the very latest from the Bush administration in reaction to the new terror warnings that have been issued. Let's go to senior White House correspondent John King, who's standing by there with the latest. John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Catherine. U.S. officials, because of the attacks in Kenya, are now increasingly worried that terrorists may be shifting their targets, making civilians now, quote/unquote, softer targets, their targets, and that Americans might be next. Because of that, the State Department yesterday updating a travel warning already in place for the country of Yemen. That is a country U.S. officials believe many al Qaeda operatives when they fled Afghanistan, and have fled Pakistan, have tried to re-establish bases in Yemen. The State Department noting the bombing in Mombasa and the attempt to shoot down that Israeli airliner in Mombasa. Said that it feared there could be similar attacks in Yemen.
Here is a quote from the State Department advisory, says: "The U.S. government has received information the credibility of which has not yet been confirmed that similar attacks may also occur in Yemen." A separate bulletin issued by the State Department also warned about the East African nation of Djibouti, saying there could be similar attacks there as well. And in that advisory, the one mentioning Djibouti, the State Department said it worries now that because of all the increased security at U.S. embassies, at government installations in the United States, it worries that the terrorists may be shifting to civilian targets like hotels, like outdoor sporting events, like airplanes even.
So one fear in the U.S. government is, as the government responds in the war on terrorism, the terrorists now taking stock of the new security environment and changing their targets as well -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, thank you very much. That's John King with the president 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 December 1, 2002 - 08:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to head now to Crawford, Texas, for the latest for the very latest from the Bush administration in reaction to the new terror warnings that have been issued. Let's go to senior White House correspondent John King, who's standing by there with the latest. John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Catherine. U.S. officials, because of the attacks in Kenya, are now increasingly worried that terrorists may be shifting their targets, making civilians now, quote/unquote, softer targets, their targets, and that Americans might be next. Because of that, the State Department yesterday updating a travel warning already in place for the country of Yemen. That is a country U.S. officials believe many al Qaeda operatives when they fled Afghanistan, and have fled Pakistan, have tried to re-establish bases in Yemen. The State Department noting the bombing in Mombasa and the attempt to shoot down that Israeli airliner in Mombasa. Said that it feared there could be similar attacks in Yemen.
Here is a quote from the State Department advisory, says: "The U.S. government has received information the credibility of which has not yet been confirmed that similar attacks may also occur in Yemen." A separate bulletin issued by the State Department also warned about the East African nation of Djibouti, saying there could be similar attacks there as well. And in that advisory, the one mentioning Djibouti, the State Department said it worries now that because of all the increased security at U.S. embassies, at government installations in the United States, it worries that the terrorists may be shifting to civilian targets like hotels, like outdoor sporting events, like airplanes even.
So one fear in the U.S. government is, as the government responds in the war on terrorism, the terrorists now taking stock of the new security environment and changing their targets as well -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, thank you very much. That's John King with the president 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
