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America's New War: White House Assembling Case Against bin Laden

Aired September 24, 2001 - 05:08   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to the White House and check in with Major Garrett. I don't think we need a phone for this one. I think we've got him on camera actually.

There he is -- good morning, Major. What's the word from there?

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

Well, as the president continues to build that international coalition against global terrorism, the administration is also assembling a case against the al Qaeda terrorist organization and its suspected ringleader, Osama bin Laden.

And on one of the Sunday talk shows, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in the near future, the United States will make that case public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We are hard at work bringing all the information together -- intelligence information, law enforcement information. And I think in the near future, we will be able to put out a paper -- a document that will describe quite clearly the evidence that we have linking him to this attack. But also remember, he has been linked to earlier attacks against U.S. interests that he is already indicted for -- earlier attacks against the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT: Those previous attacks that the secretary of state referred to, of course, are the 1998 terrorist bombings of the two U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and also Osama bin Laden is believed to have been behind the attack on the USS Cole.

Now, on Sunday, the president was at Camp David, where he spent the weekend. And he participated in a ceremony of some important significance in this country. You can see the raising of the Stars and Stripes to full-staff. That is in concurrence with a proclamation the president signed, saying that on September 23, all flags in the United States would again return to flying at full-staff. They had been flying at half-staff since the terrorist attacks on September 11. Certainly by no means does that end grieving in the United States or the sense of mourning about the thousands lost in New York and Virginia, but as the president and the White House tries to remind Americans over and over again, it is time to begin to return to a sense of routine in America, and that ceremony, a small signal that at least as far as the flag -- which has become such a potent symbol of unity and patriotism in the United States is concerned -- that is returning to its normal position high on the staff of every flagpole in the United States.

Leon, the president is back, as you said, at the White House. He starts off Monday, this day, with an important meeting with the Canadian prime minister, Jean Chretien. On Tuesday, he will meet the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi -- all a part of continued efforts on the part of the Bush administration to enlarge that international coalition against terrorism.

The administration is also looking for some tangible signs from the Saudi Arabian government that it intends to cut off all diplomatic ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. That's something the administration has been pressing for privately. They hope to receive some assurances that that will happen early this week -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thanks, Major.

Major, also we understand President Bush has also got a very important executive order that he's going to be signing today -- give us the latest on that.

GARRETT: Indeed. The president will be signing an executive order that will seek to do something that President Clinton tried to do, but wasn't entirely successful in accomplishing. That is freezing all known assets that might, in fact, flow to the al Qaeda terrorist organization and by extension, Osama bin Laden.

President Clinton signed another one of those executive orders trying to do the same thing. It didn't quite work in part because the financial streams that flow to al Qaeda are so diverse, so hard to track and in many cases unknown. Nevertheless, the president will, in signing this executive order, will at least try to slow down the flow of finances running to the al Qaeda terrorist organization.

It's part of a much more comprehensive effort the administration is undertaking dealing with financial assets in other countries, closing down bank accounts, tightening the flow of funds from non- governmental organizations, for example, that are sponsored by the United Nations to the terrorist organization. It's one of the many fronts, the administration saying, in this campaign against terrorism, not just military and not just diplomatic, but financial as well -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. Thank you very much -- Major Garrett reporting live from Washington this morning.

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