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CNN Saturday Morning News

Where Are Al Qaeda Terrorists in America?

Aired June 29, 2002 - 07:10   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Turning now to the war on terror, no one disputes that there are terrorists walking the streets of America. But identifying them, tracking them, and stopping them before they act is the challenge facing federal authorities now.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sources tell CNN: intelligence intercepts strongly suggest there is a network of al Qaeda at work in the United States. In a speech before the American Muslim Council, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the terrorist threat is nearly invisible.

ROBERT MUELLER, DIRECTOR, FBI: ... and the front lines are right here at home, in our own streets, in our own cities, and in our own neighborhoods.

ARENA: Mueller has admitted there are individuals in the U.S. under surveillance. Sources tell CNN: FBI field offices continue to watch an undisclosed number of people that are here legally and illegally for clues that could lead to so-called sleeper cells, terrorist units awaiting orders for future attacks.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The question is, where are these people? Are they in the fabric of this country? Are they citizens? Are they lying low to hit us again? I think we have to be concerned with all of that.

ARENA: Take, for example, Jose Padilla. He was on his way to the U.S., according to officials, as part of a plot to build and set off a radioactive dirty bomb. Law enforcement sources tell CNN it's highly unlikely he had the resources or skill to pull that off alone.

The FBI arrested Padilla before he could make contact with anyone here in the United States.

Sources say he called this man, Adam Hassoun of Sunrise, Florida, before his trip to the U.S. Hassoun is in custody for a visa violation. CNN has reported the two knew each other, even attended the same mosque in Florida.

But was Padilla counting on Hassoun to hook him up with other al Qaeda operatives that work in this country? That's what investigators are trying to find out.

PAUL BREMER, MARSH CONSULTING CHAIRMAN: That involves things like 24-hour surveillance. It may involve, where the courts will order it, wiretaps on people's phones or Internet connections and so forth.

ARENA: FBI officials around the country contacted by CNN have said they don't feel they have a, quote, "accurate view of the full extent of possible terrorists suspects in the U.S."

And some say the FBI doesn't even have the resources to keep an eye on the ones they do know about.

(on camera): Those officials also say making inroads into the Muslim community has been very difficult in some places. There remains an antigovernment, anti-law enforcement sentiment among many American Muslims. Changing that is obviously a top FBI priority.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now let's talk more about efforts to track terrorists in the U.S. and the latest threat warnings for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

Joining us from Washington this morning, our CNN security analyst, Kelly McCann.

Hi, Kelly.

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Kyra, how are you?

PHILLIPS: Good. Good to see you.

Well, let's talk about the FBI and the INS. They did a sweep of these stores owned by Pakistani nationals in malls nationwide. How did that go down? Why is that important? What have we learned and what could we learn from that?

MCCANN: There's a couple of things that are indications there, one of which, of course, is, we know that the -- some of the funds for al Qaeda are liquid in gold, silver, those kind of assets. And of course that's the trade that those kiosks basically, you know, sell to the public. So there's that issue.

There's also the issue of the money they make. Those kiosks are less accountable, in most cases, than, say, large retail chains, et cetera. So where that money goes, how they make it, it could be in some cases a cash-driven business. So that gives liquidity to more funds that could be sent out of the country.

It could also give a reason for an immigrant to show that he has employment. In other words, if it's legitimized, then on the papers that someone would have to submit to come here, they could be employed and show positive employment by, you know, lining up with one of those kiosks.

And then lastly, there could be at the outside reach a strategic reason, because malls are population centers, and there is those -- there are those that believe that the al Qaeda could use those to basically sense lucrative targets for population density.

PHILLIPS: You're talking about al Qaeda. Al Qaeda computers were seized last week, and they found information about public and private computer systems with regard to our country. How vulnerable are our computers right now?

MCCANN: Of course, the IT profession is booming, you know, but it is -- IT is inculcated throughout our society. It is actually part of our infrastructure, and that's what makes it so critical. So it could be used as a standalone attack, if, for instance, the Federal Reserve or the Pentagon or any of these systems were actually hacked into, and someone was to create chaos.

But also, it could exacerbate another attack. If another attack was to occur, and it was coincide -- it was coordinated with a Internet attack, it could make it very difficult for the emergency responders to get there and be very confusing.

SO it is a threat, but it's not a new threat, Kyra. It was known for a while that that's a vulnerability.

PHILLIPS: All right, you're talking about being vulnerable in emergencies. Fourth of July coming up. Lot of people are scared about Fourth of July. There's been talk about possible attacks. Seattle is being named a main target. Why?

MCCANN: Seattle keeps popping up on a lot of people's different scopes for a lot of different reasons. Of course, it's a huge port, there's an environmental thing going there, where there -- a lot of ships pass through there on their way to various ports that have -- not hazardous cargo, but environmentally dangerous cargo.

So it keeps kind of rearing its head. So that's why there's a focus there.

But, you know, we should remember why there is a July Fourth. It's Independence Day. And remember the people that made us independent, and remember that what America stands for is standing up. So I think that people should enjoy their holiday and actually, you know, be cautious and careful, of course, but, you know, live your life well.

PHILLIPS: Kelly McCann, thank you.

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