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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Kendall Coffey

Aired October 05, 2002 - 09:15   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: Attorney General John Ashcroft said that yesterday was a defining day in the fight against terrorism. Of course, he was referring to the three events of the sentencing of John Walker Lindh, the guilty plea from shoe bomber Richard Reid, and, of course, the announcement of the terror charges against the six people you just saw the report about.
Former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey joining us this morning from Miami to offer some insight on all three of these.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

Tell me your reaction to the al Qaeda suspects and what is their fate? What will happen now? This is -- seems to be almost a first, this is a little bit different than what we saw coming out of Buffalo, New York.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, it's different and it's similar. It's different in the sense that these are individuals who apparently decided to become part of some sort of jihad after 9/11. That's all the more troubling.

On the other hand, the similarity is that in both instances, you've got folks that apparently undertook some form of training. There isn't any specific evidence of a specific attack they were planning against the U.S. There isn't a particular modus that they could identify up to now.

But what the administration has done in both cases is say, We're not going to wait for an attack, we don't have to wait until we see something specific that they are about to do, because it might be too late. So rather than wait any more, they've got charges they can bring in Buffalo, in Portland, Oregon.

And the focus now is preemption and prevention of harm before it occurs.

CALLAWAY: Have the laws or just the attitude post-9/11 changed in this kind of situation?

COFFEY: Well, most of the laws that are being charged now were available, but clearly the philosophy has changed dramatically. It will never be business as usual again in terms of law enforcement, because again, traditionally the focus of agencies such as the FBI was investigating a crime after it occurred, making sure that you put together a case that would be a very effective, error-free prosecution.

Now they're much more aggressive in moving first. The important thing is to get people in handcuffs, in prison, before anything happens. And in some instances, if there's a tradeoff between a perfect prosecution after crime has occurred and the ability to prevent something happening, in every instance now they're going to focus on the side of prevention.

CALLAWAY: But Kendall, if these people, these six people are found guilty of possibly going to Afghanistan to fire weapons against U.S. soldiers, what is the maximum that could happen to them? What is, what is, what is the maximum that they could be charged with?

COFFEY: Well, certainly there's a potential life sentence in these cases. One of the things you can look at is the sentence that John Walker Lindh received yesterday...

CALLAWAY: Right.

COFFEY: ... because to some extent that tells you what the government thinks is a fair accountability for a U.S. citizen who...

CALLAWAY: That was 20 years, though.

COFFEY: That's 20 years. That's a very serious sentence. And my -- when you get a sentence like that, to some extent it can be a starting point for other plea negotiations if at some point some of these other defendants for -- in effect enter into plea negotiations, they could be looking at 20 years unless they can give prosecutors a darn good reason why less time than that is indicated.

CALLAWAY: What do you think about the 20 years for Walker Lindh?

COFFEY: I think it's fair. And yesterday's sentencing hearing had, I think, what was a very painful, almost a collision between a remorseful John Walker Lindh and the grief-stricken father of slain CIA agent Johnny Michael Spann. But I...

CALLAWAY: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he wasn't allowed to testify, was he?

COFFEY: Well, Spann spoke...

CALLAWAY: Yes, right.

COFFEY: ... the father was allowed to speak. And I'm glad the judge let he did. But I thought the judge handled it very well, because what he focused on was the fact there was no evidence that John Walker Lindh acted in a way that contributed to the death of Johnny Michael Spann.

CALLAWAY: Right.

COFFEY: And one of the things the judge said that I thought was so eloquent, is that one of the things that the heroic son died for was the values of this country, and those values include making sure that people are only punished for what the evidence shows they actually did.

CALLAWAY: well, certainly shoe bomber Richard Reid was -- had a different reaction in court yesterday.

COFFEY: I mean, that was incredible.

CALLAWAY: Yes, it was.

COFFEY: He's facing 60 years to life, he's almost mocking and smirking. From the standpoint of the Justice Department, it's a great victory, because he pleads guilty to everything, and they don't discount his accountability by five minutes.

On the other hand, it's kind of chilling, because you've got someone who is making it very clear he's not afraid at all of anything the U.S. justice system can do. And indeed, he acknowledges that he planned on getting on that plane, blowing up himself and everybody on it.

And the thought that you see sort of visually somebody like this knowing that they said they are a disciple of Osama bin Laden, they're a disciple of -- they're an enemy of the United States, the thought that there may be many more out there like him has got to be one of the most troubling things of all.

CALLAWAY: Very troubling. And it will be interesting to see how the six suspects arrested this week will be -- how they will be reacting in court.

Kendall Coffey, thank you for being with us this morning.

COFFEY: Thanks, Catherine.

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 October 5, 2002 - 09:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Attorney General John Ashcroft said that yesterday was a defining day in the fight against terrorism. Of course, he was referring to the three events of the sentencing of John Walker Lindh, the guilty plea from shoe bomber Richard Reid, and, of course, the announcement of the terror charges against the six people you just saw the report about.
Former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey joining us this morning from Miami to offer some insight on all three of these.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

Tell me your reaction to the al Qaeda suspects and what is their fate? What will happen now? This is -- seems to be almost a first, this is a little bit different than what we saw coming out of Buffalo, New York.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, it's different and it's similar. It's different in the sense that these are individuals who apparently decided to become part of some sort of jihad after 9/11. That's all the more troubling.

On the other hand, the similarity is that in both instances, you've got folks that apparently undertook some form of training. There isn't any specific evidence of a specific attack they were planning against the U.S. There isn't a particular modus that they could identify up to now.

But what the administration has done in both cases is say, We're not going to wait for an attack, we don't have to wait until we see something specific that they are about to do, because it might be too late. So rather than wait any more, they've got charges they can bring in Buffalo, in Portland, Oregon.

And the focus now is preemption and prevention of harm before it occurs.

CALLAWAY: Have the laws or just the attitude post-9/11 changed in this kind of situation?

COFFEY: Well, most of the laws that are being charged now were available, but clearly the philosophy has changed dramatically. It will never be business as usual again in terms of law enforcement, because again, traditionally the focus of agencies such as the FBI was investigating a crime after it occurred, making sure that you put together a case that would be a very effective, error-free prosecution.

Now they're much more aggressive in moving first. The important thing is to get people in handcuffs, in prison, before anything happens. And in some instances, if there's a tradeoff between a perfect prosecution after crime has occurred and the ability to prevent something happening, in every instance now they're going to focus on the side of prevention.

CALLAWAY: But Kendall, if these people, these six people are found guilty of possibly going to Afghanistan to fire weapons against U.S. soldiers, what is the maximum that could happen to them? What is, what is, what is the maximum that they could be charged with?

COFFEY: Well, certainly there's a potential life sentence in these cases. One of the things you can look at is the sentence that John Walker Lindh received yesterday...

CALLAWAY: Right.

COFFEY: ... because to some extent that tells you what the government thinks is a fair accountability for a U.S. citizen who...

CALLAWAY: That was 20 years, though.

COFFEY: That's 20 years. That's a very serious sentence. And my -- when you get a sentence like that, to some extent it can be a starting point for other plea negotiations if at some point some of these other defendants for -- in effect enter into plea negotiations, they could be looking at 20 years unless they can give prosecutors a darn good reason why less time than that is indicated.

CALLAWAY: What do you think about the 20 years for Walker Lindh?

COFFEY: I think it's fair. And yesterday's sentencing hearing had, I think, what was a very painful, almost a collision between a remorseful John Walker Lindh and the grief-stricken father of slain CIA agent Johnny Michael Spann. But I...

CALLAWAY: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he wasn't allowed to testify, was he?

COFFEY: Well, Spann spoke...

CALLAWAY: Yes, right.

COFFEY: ... the father was allowed to speak. And I'm glad the judge let he did. But I thought the judge handled it very well, because what he focused on was the fact there was no evidence that John Walker Lindh acted in a way that contributed to the death of Johnny Michael Spann.

CALLAWAY: Right.

COFFEY: And one of the things the judge said that I thought was so eloquent, is that one of the things that the heroic son died for was the values of this country, and those values include making sure that people are only punished for what the evidence shows they actually did.

CALLAWAY: well, certainly shoe bomber Richard Reid was -- had a different reaction in court yesterday.

COFFEY: I mean, that was incredible.

CALLAWAY: Yes, it was.

COFFEY: He's facing 60 years to life, he's almost mocking and smirking. From the standpoint of the Justice Department, it's a great victory, because he pleads guilty to everything, and they don't discount his accountability by five minutes.

On the other hand, it's kind of chilling, because you've got someone who is making it very clear he's not afraid at all of anything the U.S. justice system can do. And indeed, he acknowledges that he planned on getting on that plane, blowing up himself and everybody on it.

And the thought that you see sort of visually somebody like this knowing that they said they are a disciple of Osama bin Laden, they're a disciple of -- they're an enemy of the United States, the thought that there may be many more out there like him has got to be one of the most troubling things of all.

CALLAWAY: Very troubling. And it will be interesting to see how the six suspects arrested this week will be -- how they will be reacting in court.

Kendall Coffey, thank you for being with us this morning.

COFFEY: Thanks, Catherine.

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