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CNN Saturday Morning News

Will U.S. Be Attacked by Terrorists Again?

Aired May 25, 2002 - 08:11   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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: New York City is on one of those terror alert things. Now, here's what you do. If you see anything suspicious, you make a note of it and you send it off to Washington and it should get to President Bush some time within the next couple of years. So that's all you've got to do and then you'll be fine.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, as you can see, the constant string of terror alerts has become fodder for comedians. But the threat of another attack is a serious reality.

Joining me now to talk more about this, CNN security analyst Kelly McCann.

Kelly, good to see you.

KELLY MCCANN, SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk about all these terror alerts that are coming out. Is this just a reaction to the criticism Bush is taking about not addressing the warning that was received before 9/11?

MCCANN: I don't think so. I think that, of course, anyone that's, you know, second guessing that, you know, is a little bit off the mark anyway. But what this really is is it's about infrastructure. And we know that in talking to the detainees and in looking at their training manuals and also student notes of al Qaeda who had gone through training. And truthfully, U.S. forces and other foreign forces always, always target infrastructure.

And infrastructure is bridges and subways and transportation systems, etc.

Now, the way they've chosen to do it and the way that they've chosen to try to terrify us, if you will, is, of course, the three dimensions of attack. They've used an air asset, the airplanes. They've talked about ground assaults, ground attacks, suicide bombers, etc., car bombs, things like that. And now today it's reported that, you know, they're thinking about sea borne or water borne attacks, scuba type attacks.

If you think about the impact on a nation when you put out that kind of information or disinformation, it can tax the law enforcement organizations and the military to the point where you've reduced their mass, their ability to center on a particular problem and then make a significant difference.

So this very well might be part of the contingency planning that al Qaeda did as they modeled, success re the success of previous forces against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and when that failed, the contingency planning, what if we are conquered and what if there are people in captivity, what kind of information, what kinds of things can we do to get control of the U.S. and mitigate its force.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kelly, try and give us all a peace, a little bit of peace of mind here. How are these infrastructures being protected and are they being protected differently from the way they were being protected before? We never really heard about divers in years past.

MCCANN: No, you're right. And you should have peace of mind. I mean what I just ran on about is just military fact. It's military tactics, techniques and procedures of all militaries, worldwide. The Spetsnaz used to come to the U.S. under the guise of being Olympians and look at our infrastructure. We've done the same worldwide. Other forces we -- everybody does that.

So people shouldn't be necessarily nervous about the fact that we have determined that they would attack infrastructure. Of course they would. It's the ability for them to significantly do it that should be the thing that makes people uneasy. And to the extent possible, the U.S. has created a more uncertain environment for these people to have successful attacks against us here at home.

Now, you'll never negate the total possibility. That's unrealistic. But can we make a more uncertain environment for these people, who aren't afraid of dying, aren't afraid of being jailed, but are definitely afraid of failure? Yes, we can and we are doing that.

So people should have a great Memorial Day weekend. They should remember those who have gone before us, be with family and live this life because it remains the one they get.

PHILLIPS: Kelly, airports. I was noticing, for example, here in Atlanta, the National Guard is no longer there yet I find in New York they're still there. I was in Paris, there are guards there. Are there airports that are safer than others?

MCCANN: Oh, absolutely. Just even pre-9/11 you can remember, Kyra, flying, there'd be signs posted going to some places that would say the FAA doesn't recognize this particular place as a secure airport. Sure there is.

The standard that we're attempting to apply here differs from the standard they'll apply in Paris, differs from the standard they'll apply in Tel Aviv and on and on. So, yes, there are significant differences. But we can't control the global air transport industry. So people will do well to travel to those countries that basically mimic or emulate what we do because it is a higher standard.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kelly McCann, CNN security analyst. You're going to join us again at 9:30, is that correct?

MCCANN: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: OK, very good. Kelly is going to be here. Also, Tony Karon from Time.com. Send us your e-mails and get ready to call in. These two gentlemen are going to answer any type of question you may have on the terror alerts and terrorism in general.

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