Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Congressional Panel to Issue Report Analyzing 9/11

Aired December 08, 2002 - 17:41   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: When it comes to our national security, a congressional panel is actually issuing its final report analyzing what went right, what went wrong, prior to the September 11 attack. And a couple of recommendations are actually stirring up a lot of talk in Washington and around the country.
One is a new cabinet-level post for intelligence gathering and we are not talking about Homeland security; something completely different.

And, also, a super-secret domestic spy agency that could actually look into your lives and your records, all in the name of national security, which is why we invited CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks to join us today to talk more about this.

Mike, let's first talk about the spy agency, because I think that's what really catches our attention. It's supposed to be modeled after Britain's MI5. What is Britain's MI5, and how does it work?

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it's a domestic spy agency that operates within the U.K. and it was good during the Cold War -- World War II -- and now they also operate very effectively against the IRA. But, whenever something happens in England, they don't come after MI5 and say hey why didn't you prevent this bombing like they do, like they have, to the FBI.

The FBI here in the United States has been the domestic spy agency, if you will. They had a -- they had a two-prong attack. One of them was law enforcement and the other one was counter- intelligence. And I think they've been taking a kind of a bum rap if you will, especially after September 11.

Prior -- even prior to September 11 they were very proactive. You know, a lot of times they said well the FBI they didn't do a good job, they're only reactive. Well, I -- I beg to differ with that because I think they did do a fairly good job being proactive. I was assigned to them on a Joint Terrorism Task Force for six years, and there we were trying to be proactive -- we had a number of sources.

They -- you know -- they pay people for information, they do a fairly good job. If people knew all the preventions they actually had, I think they would take a -- they'd take a different story with the FBI and take a different view of them. But you know -- now -- is this -- would a spy agency like that work here in the United States? You know, civil libertarians would be all over an agency like this; they were -- they ere... LIN: what would they be able to do that -- that the FBI can't do...

BROOKS: That's what I'd like to know. You know, I don't think there's much that they could do because they're still civil rights that people have. And you know the civil libertarians were up in arms when the FBI and the Homeland Security talked about starting up a tips program that was going to be like a nationwide neighborhood watch...

LIN: Right that's where your neighbor can tell on you if they feel that you're acting suspiciously or the gasman...

BROOKS: Right, the gasman, the -- you know, the postman -- people driving trucks, the trucking association. You know, they were up in arms about that, saying well -- you know, people are going to be -- they're going to be spying on other people. They're going to be going in and saying hey I saw I saw something at someone's house. And it's going to get out of control.

LIN: Right.

BROOKS: And so would a spy agency like this be effective? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think -- I think the FBI does a fairly good job on the domestic side of things. Now if we look at other intelligence agencies like the CIA, defense intelligence agencies, and the NSA -- you know -- then we're talking about the cabinet level positions.

Now, can all these different groups work together effectively? There are 14 different intelligence groups in the United States both foreign and domestic.

Now, CIA, what do they handle? They handle basically all international intelligence. But sometimes they have a little creep into the domestic side too and the two overlap.

The FBI handles all domestic. And they also are charged with investigation of terrorism internationally. If you or I were overseas and we were the victims of a terrorist attack, the FBI would be the lead agency investigating that.

LIN: Let me stop you there. You've explained how it exists now. The cabinet-level post that you're talking about as having one individual be strictly responsible for intelligence gathering to make sure that the information is analyzed and goes to the right place. If you add this extra level, you already have Homeland Security, then you've got the FBI, then you've got the CIA, then you've got this additional intelligence-level cabinet post. Is that more efficiency or less efficiency?

BROOKS: Well, we see how -- you know -- would this be just another unwieldy government bureaucracy? That's what I think a lot of people are saying. Well, let's take a look at this now. You know, how effective are the groups working together. He or she -- whoever -- if they decide to do this -- whoever heads up this cabinet-level position will need to make sure that they're all playing together well. You know. And that's -- and that's been a -- you know a big point of contention that the FBI and CIA especially September -- post-September 11 -- everyone's talking about you know that they didn't do a good job before September 11 they didn't recognize a lot of the -- a lot of the keys.

They could have -- they could have prevented it. Could September 11 have been prevented? Probably not. You know -- but to put all these together in one cabinet-level position I don't -- that would be -- could get to be a little unwieldy especially you know with military, civilian, international -- it could -- it could really -- it could be very unwieldy.

LIN: All right, we shall see what happens. Thank you very much, Mike Brooks.

BROOKS: Thank you, Carol.

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 8, 2002 - 17:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: When it comes to our national security, a congressional panel is actually issuing its final report analyzing what went right, what went wrong, prior to the September 11 attack. And a couple of recommendations are actually stirring up a lot of talk in Washington and around the country.
One is a new cabinet-level post for intelligence gathering and we are not talking about Homeland security; something completely different.

And, also, a super-secret domestic spy agency that could actually look into your lives and your records, all in the name of national security, which is why we invited CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks to join us today to talk more about this.

Mike, let's first talk about the spy agency, because I think that's what really catches our attention. It's supposed to be modeled after Britain's MI5. What is Britain's MI5, and how does it work?

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it's a domestic spy agency that operates within the U.K. and it was good during the Cold War -- World War II -- and now they also operate very effectively against the IRA. But, whenever something happens in England, they don't come after MI5 and say hey why didn't you prevent this bombing like they do, like they have, to the FBI.

The FBI here in the United States has been the domestic spy agency, if you will. They had a -- they had a two-prong attack. One of them was law enforcement and the other one was counter- intelligence. And I think they've been taking a kind of a bum rap if you will, especially after September 11.

Prior -- even prior to September 11 they were very proactive. You know, a lot of times they said well the FBI they didn't do a good job, they're only reactive. Well, I -- I beg to differ with that because I think they did do a fairly good job being proactive. I was assigned to them on a Joint Terrorism Task Force for six years, and there we were trying to be proactive -- we had a number of sources.

They -- you know -- they pay people for information, they do a fairly good job. If people knew all the preventions they actually had, I think they would take a -- they'd take a different story with the FBI and take a different view of them. But you know -- now -- is this -- would a spy agency like that work here in the United States? You know, civil libertarians would be all over an agency like this; they were -- they ere... LIN: what would they be able to do that -- that the FBI can't do...

BROOKS: That's what I'd like to know. You know, I don't think there's much that they could do because they're still civil rights that people have. And you know the civil libertarians were up in arms when the FBI and the Homeland Security talked about starting up a tips program that was going to be like a nationwide neighborhood watch...

LIN: Right that's where your neighbor can tell on you if they feel that you're acting suspiciously or the gasman...

BROOKS: Right, the gasman, the -- you know, the postman -- people driving trucks, the trucking association. You know, they were up in arms about that, saying well -- you know, people are going to be -- they're going to be spying on other people. They're going to be going in and saying hey I saw I saw something at someone's house. And it's going to get out of control.

LIN: Right.

BROOKS: And so would a spy agency like this be effective? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think -- I think the FBI does a fairly good job on the domestic side of things. Now if we look at other intelligence agencies like the CIA, defense intelligence agencies, and the NSA -- you know -- then we're talking about the cabinet level positions.

Now, can all these different groups work together effectively? There are 14 different intelligence groups in the United States both foreign and domestic.

Now, CIA, what do they handle? They handle basically all international intelligence. But sometimes they have a little creep into the domestic side too and the two overlap.

The FBI handles all domestic. And they also are charged with investigation of terrorism internationally. If you or I were overseas and we were the victims of a terrorist attack, the FBI would be the lead agency investigating that.

LIN: Let me stop you there. You've explained how it exists now. The cabinet-level post that you're talking about as having one individual be strictly responsible for intelligence gathering to make sure that the information is analyzed and goes to the right place. If you add this extra level, you already have Homeland Security, then you've got the FBI, then you've got the CIA, then you've got this additional intelligence-level cabinet post. Is that more efficiency or less efficiency?

BROOKS: Well, we see how -- you know -- would this be just another unwieldy government bureaucracy? That's what I think a lot of people are saying. Well, let's take a look at this now. You know, how effective are the groups working together. He or she -- whoever -- if they decide to do this -- whoever heads up this cabinet-level position will need to make sure that they're all playing together well. You know. And that's -- and that's been a -- you know a big point of contention that the FBI and CIA especially September -- post-September 11 -- everyone's talking about you know that they didn't do a good job before September 11 they didn't recognize a lot of the -- a lot of the keys.

They could have -- they could have prevented it. Could September 11 have been prevented? Probably not. You know -- but to put all these together in one cabinet-level position I don't -- that would be -- could get to be a little unwieldy especially you know with military, civilian, international -- it could -- it could really -- it could be very unwieldy.

LIN: All right, we shall see what happens. Thank you very much, Mike Brooks.

BROOKS: Thank you, Carol.

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