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CNN Live Sunday
White House Offers Help to Indonesia
Aired October 13, 2002 - 18:01 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Indonesia is calling the attack the worst act of terrorism in its history and the White House is now offering to help. We'll have more from Washington in a moment. We begin our coverage with CNN's Atika Shubert. She arrived in Bali shortly after the blast and joins us now with the latest -- Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, yesterday we saw the hospitals were simply overwhelmed by this disaster but there was some relief overnight for some of the under-equipped hospitals here. Australian planes were able to evacuate some of the most critically injured getting them to better facilities in Darwin, Australia. Now Australia is, of course, where many of the victims were from, so Australia has been giving as much help as it can. As you mentioned one American citizen has also been confirmed killed in the attack.
Now, throughout the day we'll be updating you on how victims are coping but our other focus will, of course, be as you mentioned on the investigation and seeing what steps exactly Indonesia plans to take. Now in the past Indonesia has been criticized for dragging its feet on terrorism, denying for a long time that there existed at all a terrorism network in the country, and certainly this blast has shocked many people here and really brings it to reality.
Now, the Chief Security Minister Yudhyono and the chief of police did meet late into the night and they will be attending an emergency cabinet meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri today, so we'll be waiting for a statement from them on where the investigation will be going -- Anderson.
COOPER: Atika, you have been working this story really since it happened. I talked to you last night. Let me ask you how organized is the investigation at this point? I mean a lot of the pictures we're seeing seems very disorganized. We see bodies laying about. We see people just kind of walking around. What is the scene like? Do authorities seem to be capable of handling this on their own?
SHUBERT: I would say the authorities are certainly doing their best to investigate it and at best to deal with the many injured and the dead at the hospitals. Now the scene at the hospital is certainly a bit chaotic. They're just simply overwhelmed. The scene at the blast site is a little better organized. We do see a number of police teams, you know, going through the evidence, sifting through the wreckage looking for any clues.
But it has to be remembered, Indonesia's law and order situation here is weak. The security forces here are not as experienced with these kind of investigations and they may be needing help. In fact, in the past, Indonesia has said when it needs help it does ask for appeals from the U.S. and from other nations for intelligence coordination, et cetera.
So there is a little bit of confusion that does appear on the ground, but investigators are confident they will soon have clues. Now one of the interesting things to point out is that the chief security minister has said they do have a good idea who carried out this attack but they need public support to act against these people, so we're hoping for more clarification on that today, whether he is actually referring to some of these al Qaeda linked groups that have been known to operate in the country -- Anderson.
COOPER: You raise an interesting point. I mean even though these groups have been known to operate, Indonesian authorities have, my understanding is, often denied they had any problem with militants at home. Are they now changing their tune?
SHUBERT: That's right. I mean this is really a big shock to many Indonesians simply because the government has for so long said that no terrorist network exists here and particularly not an al Qaeda linked terrorist network. Now, this is an example that it is in fact working in Indonesia, and Indonesia is in danger.
Now this is a very sensitive issue here because it is the world's largest Muslim nation, so acting against Islamic militant groups and in particular arresting Islamic leaders that may have been involved is very sensitive and the government is very aware that it could cause a public backlash. So there seems to be acknowledgement by the government that they will have to act against these groups but they're doing so cautiously. They don't want to see a public backlash and that's what they're trying to avoid.
COOPER: All right, Atika, you've been working the story for a long time. We appreciate you joining us now with the latest. Thanks very much, Atika Shubert live in Bali.
Bali, of course, is a popular destination for many tourists, especially Australians and many of them are among the bombing victims as Atika mentioned. Australia's air force is now bringing survivors home for treatment and special flights on air carrier Qantas, which is the Australian airlines are expected to help bring home many of the walking wounded. CNN's John Vause has more now on the evacuations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Australian government has described the attacks as a national tragedy and is vowing to track down those responsible, sending agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization as well as federal police to Bali to help the Indonesian authorities. But the first concern is to get the injured home. Four C-130 planes have been sent to Bali to bring home more than 100 Australians who were badly hurt in the blast, 60 of those considered to be in a serious condition.
Among the missing, seven members from an Australian rules football team from Perth celebrating a premiership win. Bali is a popular tourist destination for thousands of Australians, many of those now trying to get home. Qantas, the national carrier, is scheduling extra flights to cope with that demand.
Both the Indonesian and the Australian government says there was no warning, no credible information, no evidence that a terrorist attack was being planned, but Australia has been very supportive of the United States war on terror as well as the U.S. President George W. Bush's campaign against Iraq. Still, the prime minister here says that support will continue.
JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: This incident was a brutal reminder that the world has, in fact, to face the challenge of terrorism. The warnings of the last year or more that terrorism could touch anybody anywhere at any time have been borne out by this terrible event.
VAUSE: The prime minister says there is no specific evidence to indicate that Australians were targeted in this attack and says any response will be measured but powerful. John Vause CNN, Sydney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, the U.S. is promising now to help Indonesia with the investigation into those bombings. The questions to be answered, of course, are the attacks linked to al Qaeda, and if so, is al Qaeda regaining strength? CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from the White House with more -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, President Bush has been making his case against Saddam Hussein and Iraq in his war on terror but today focusing on Indonesia, the president saying about the bombings, and I'm quoting here, calling it "a cowardly act designed to create terror and chaos." The real concern from administration officials is that this may show that al Qaeda is expanding its reach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH BOYCE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO INDONESIA: There has been problems in Indonesia of late involving signs that al Qaeda may have been involved in activities here and indeed some more details in the last few weeks that we have brought to light that indicate that their presence here that we always suspected is, in fact, one that we can now more or less confirm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now the Bush administration has sent an FBI team to help investigate to find out just who is responsible for these bombings. These bombings have happened just three days after the State Department issued a worldwide alert telling that Americans may be targets of terrorists.
Now, U.S. officials believe they have seen the deadly work of al Qaeda just within the last week, that French tanker that was blown up in Yemen very much like the attack against the USS Cole just two years ago, those two marines that were ambushed in Kuwait, and also recently released audiotapes of Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenant again threatening attacks against the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: What happened last week with the tanker, what happened with the shooting of the marines in Kuwait, now in Indonesia, I think these are indications that a lot of things are coming together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: U.S. officials are fearing basically that al Qaeda is becoming a more dangerous network, that it's becoming more difficult to contain. The Bush administration believes that this latest bombing is simply another piece of evidence to show why the United States needs to expand its war on terror -- Anderson.
COOPER: Suzanne, obviously this bombing is a human story and a strategic one. Is there some concern in the White House though that it might become a political story as well, that it will be used in some way by those who oppose President Bush's policies toward Iraq as saying look you're not spending enough time focusing on al Qaeda?
MALVEAUX: Well certainly that's a very good point. I mean every time you take a look at one of these terrorist attacks, it's another example to say well here terrorist here, you haven't taken care of al Qaeda here, whether it's in Yemen, whether it's in Afghanistan, any other region in the world. There have been a lot of critics who have said look, we don't need to go to Iraq that we are taking on too much at this time. This may be another example that they may use against the Bush administration.
COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much.
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 13, 2002 - 18:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Indonesia is calling the attack the worst act of terrorism in its history and the White House is now offering to help. We'll have more from Washington in a moment. We begin our coverage with CNN's Atika Shubert. She arrived in Bali shortly after the blast and joins us now with the latest -- Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, yesterday we saw the hospitals were simply overwhelmed by this disaster but there was some relief overnight for some of the under-equipped hospitals here. Australian planes were able to evacuate some of the most critically injured getting them to better facilities in Darwin, Australia. Now Australia is, of course, where many of the victims were from, so Australia has been giving as much help as it can. As you mentioned one American citizen has also been confirmed killed in the attack.
Now, throughout the day we'll be updating you on how victims are coping but our other focus will, of course, be as you mentioned on the investigation and seeing what steps exactly Indonesia plans to take. Now in the past Indonesia has been criticized for dragging its feet on terrorism, denying for a long time that there existed at all a terrorism network in the country, and certainly this blast has shocked many people here and really brings it to reality.
Now, the Chief Security Minister Yudhyono and the chief of police did meet late into the night and they will be attending an emergency cabinet meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri today, so we'll be waiting for a statement from them on where the investigation will be going -- Anderson.
COOPER: Atika, you have been working this story really since it happened. I talked to you last night. Let me ask you how organized is the investigation at this point? I mean a lot of the pictures we're seeing seems very disorganized. We see bodies laying about. We see people just kind of walking around. What is the scene like? Do authorities seem to be capable of handling this on their own?
SHUBERT: I would say the authorities are certainly doing their best to investigate it and at best to deal with the many injured and the dead at the hospitals. Now the scene at the hospital is certainly a bit chaotic. They're just simply overwhelmed. The scene at the blast site is a little better organized. We do see a number of police teams, you know, going through the evidence, sifting through the wreckage looking for any clues.
But it has to be remembered, Indonesia's law and order situation here is weak. The security forces here are not as experienced with these kind of investigations and they may be needing help. In fact, in the past, Indonesia has said when it needs help it does ask for appeals from the U.S. and from other nations for intelligence coordination, et cetera.
So there is a little bit of confusion that does appear on the ground, but investigators are confident they will soon have clues. Now one of the interesting things to point out is that the chief security minister has said they do have a good idea who carried out this attack but they need public support to act against these people, so we're hoping for more clarification on that today, whether he is actually referring to some of these al Qaeda linked groups that have been known to operate in the country -- Anderson.
COOPER: You raise an interesting point. I mean even though these groups have been known to operate, Indonesian authorities have, my understanding is, often denied they had any problem with militants at home. Are they now changing their tune?
SHUBERT: That's right. I mean this is really a big shock to many Indonesians simply because the government has for so long said that no terrorist network exists here and particularly not an al Qaeda linked terrorist network. Now, this is an example that it is in fact working in Indonesia, and Indonesia is in danger.
Now this is a very sensitive issue here because it is the world's largest Muslim nation, so acting against Islamic militant groups and in particular arresting Islamic leaders that may have been involved is very sensitive and the government is very aware that it could cause a public backlash. So there seems to be acknowledgement by the government that they will have to act against these groups but they're doing so cautiously. They don't want to see a public backlash and that's what they're trying to avoid.
COOPER: All right, Atika, you've been working the story for a long time. We appreciate you joining us now with the latest. Thanks very much, Atika Shubert live in Bali.
Bali, of course, is a popular destination for many tourists, especially Australians and many of them are among the bombing victims as Atika mentioned. Australia's air force is now bringing survivors home for treatment and special flights on air carrier Qantas, which is the Australian airlines are expected to help bring home many of the walking wounded. CNN's John Vause has more now on the evacuations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Australian government has described the attacks as a national tragedy and is vowing to track down those responsible, sending agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization as well as federal police to Bali to help the Indonesian authorities. But the first concern is to get the injured home. Four C-130 planes have been sent to Bali to bring home more than 100 Australians who were badly hurt in the blast, 60 of those considered to be in a serious condition.
Among the missing, seven members from an Australian rules football team from Perth celebrating a premiership win. Bali is a popular tourist destination for thousands of Australians, many of those now trying to get home. Qantas, the national carrier, is scheduling extra flights to cope with that demand.
Both the Indonesian and the Australian government says there was no warning, no credible information, no evidence that a terrorist attack was being planned, but Australia has been very supportive of the United States war on terror as well as the U.S. President George W. Bush's campaign against Iraq. Still, the prime minister here says that support will continue.
JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: This incident was a brutal reminder that the world has, in fact, to face the challenge of terrorism. The warnings of the last year or more that terrorism could touch anybody anywhere at any time have been borne out by this terrible event.
VAUSE: The prime minister says there is no specific evidence to indicate that Australians were targeted in this attack and says any response will be measured but powerful. John Vause CNN, Sydney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, the U.S. is promising now to help Indonesia with the investigation into those bombings. The questions to be answered, of course, are the attacks linked to al Qaeda, and if so, is al Qaeda regaining strength? CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from the White House with more -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, President Bush has been making his case against Saddam Hussein and Iraq in his war on terror but today focusing on Indonesia, the president saying about the bombings, and I'm quoting here, calling it "a cowardly act designed to create terror and chaos." The real concern from administration officials is that this may show that al Qaeda is expanding its reach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH BOYCE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO INDONESIA: There has been problems in Indonesia of late involving signs that al Qaeda may have been involved in activities here and indeed some more details in the last few weeks that we have brought to light that indicate that their presence here that we always suspected is, in fact, one that we can now more or less confirm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now the Bush administration has sent an FBI team to help investigate to find out just who is responsible for these bombings. These bombings have happened just three days after the State Department issued a worldwide alert telling that Americans may be targets of terrorists.
Now, U.S. officials believe they have seen the deadly work of al Qaeda just within the last week, that French tanker that was blown up in Yemen very much like the attack against the USS Cole just two years ago, those two marines that were ambushed in Kuwait, and also recently released audiotapes of Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenant again threatening attacks against the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: What happened last week with the tanker, what happened with the shooting of the marines in Kuwait, now in Indonesia, I think these are indications that a lot of things are coming together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: U.S. officials are fearing basically that al Qaeda is becoming a more dangerous network, that it's becoming more difficult to contain. The Bush administration believes that this latest bombing is simply another piece of evidence to show why the United States needs to expand its war on terror -- Anderson.
COOPER: Suzanne, obviously this bombing is a human story and a strategic one. Is there some concern in the White House though that it might become a political story as well, that it will be used in some way by those who oppose President Bush's policies toward Iraq as saying look you're not spending enough time focusing on al Qaeda?
MALVEAUX: Well certainly that's a very good point. I mean every time you take a look at one of these terrorist attacks, it's another example to say well here terrorist here, you haven't taken care of al Qaeda here, whether it's in Yemen, whether it's in Afghanistan, any other region in the world. There have been a lot of critics who have said look, we don't need to go to Iraq that we are taking on too much at this time. This may be another example that they may use against the Bush administration.
COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
