[R-G] Ricardo Alarcon on CNN

Thu Sep 13 11:02:38 MDT 2007

CNN

SHOW: THE SITUATION ROOM 7:00 PM EST

September 12, 2007 Wednesday

TRANSCRIPT: 091203CN.V16

SECTION: NEWS; Domestic

LENGTH: 7170 words

HEADLINE: Castro: I Know the Real Truth Behind 9/11; Bush to Address  
Nation Tomorrow

BYLINE: Wolf Blitzer, Jessica Yellin, Michael Ware, Jack Cafferty,  
Candy Crowley, Brian Todd, Morgan Neill, Carol Costello, Jeanne Moos,  
Morgan Neil, Mary Snow, Abbi Tatton

GUESTS: Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Ricardo Alarcon

[...]

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Now a look at some stories from around the world, Fidel Castro is  
joining those conspiracy theorists in alleging a cover-up about 9/11.  
Let's go to our Havana Bureau Chief Morgan Neill for a little closer  
look -- Morgan.

MORGAN NEILL, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, in the latest essay  
attributed to Fidel Castro, the ailing leaders writes that the world  
has been deliberately misled about just what happened on September  
11th. In a somewhat rambling article Castro writes that the Pentagon  
was struck that day, not by an airplane, but by some kind of projectile.

Apparently unaware of or unconvinced by DNA evidence found at the  
site, Castro says that the passengers and the crew of that plane were  
never recovered. Castro also writes that the basements of the Twin  
Towers were filled with some 200 tons in gold bars and that shoot to  
kill orders had been given to stop anyone trying to go near that  
gold. Now Castro's comments fall a bit short of a conspiracy theory  
and that we're never told why the world has been misled about what  
happened on September 11th, only that it is so. The Cuban leader  
hasn't appeared in more than a year and articles like this one have  
become the main means to which he communicates both with the Cuban  
people and with the world.

BLITZER: Morgan Neil, our man in Havana, thank you very much. And  
earlier, I spoke with Cuba's third highest ranking official, the  
President of the Cuban National Assembly. I asked Ricardo Alarcon if  
he really believes there's a conspiracy regarding the 9/11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICARDO ALARCON, PRES., CUBAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: Castro was referring  
to various allegations by scientists, by even journalists that  
suggest that contradictions between the date that has been published  
or known about those events, the fact is that following investigation  
on that event as far as I know, didn't take place. Immediately after  
9/11, the attention was diverted towards the international arena,  
unfortunately.

BLITZER: Well, let me interrupt President Alarcon. Let me interrupt.  
Because they did find the bodies, the DNA of the passengers from  
American Airlines flight 77 at the Pentagon. They did find wreckage  
of that American Airlines flight. That was all widely reported, and  
by even suggesting that there was a projectile or some sort of bomb,  
it's raising questions about President Fidel Castro.

And if you're standing by your president on this, it's raising  
questions at least in the minds of a lot of people around the world,  
including some who are friendly with Cuba, what is going on over there?

ALARCON: Well, again, he was referring to a comment and analysis made  
by others that are a fact that now have been discussed even in your  
country. And the basis of that would be a solo investigation. The  
presentation of every detained and every individual that may have  
been responsible by acts or by omission of what happened.

BLITZER: Because even Osama Bin Laden, in this most recent videotape  
that just came out the other day, he takes credit for 9/11. He says,  
we did it. We sent those 19 hijackers there. They have all those  
martyr videotapes that they have released.

Are you suggesting, and let me be precise, is President Fidel Castro  
suggesting that al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden are not responsible for  
what happened on 9/11?

ALARCON: No, he didn't say that. He didn't suggest that. It appears  
that this guy, Mr. Bin laden, has recognized, has said not only in  
the last tape, not in one area, that they were involved. But that was  
-- he was referring, if I am not wrong, specifically, Mr. Bin Laden,  
to the twin towers action or the destruction of these towers. It  
appears that they have recognized this group. We don't have any name  
for them. We don't have a way to confirm such information but it  
appears according to the tapes have been produced or presented.

BLITZER: Because this is going to raise questions about whether or  
not President Fidel Castro is really in touch with reality.

But let me move on and talk about his health right now. There have  
been a lot of rumors over the past weeks, especially in Miami and  
south Florida that he's already dead. When was the last time you  
personally saw President Castro?

ALARCON: The last time was in touch with him personally was more than  
a week ago because I traveled to Montreal and I just returned from  
the city. But I was in touch with him yesterday when he was working  
on that long article that was published today.

BLITZER: So you can say for sure he is alive. Is he making progress  
in his recovery? Because, as you know, we haven't seen him in a long  
time. How is his health right now?

ALARCON: Well, my information is that he's doing pretty well. I am  
not a physician, but I understand that he's going through his  
recovery process in the way that is normal.

BLITZER: Why not let us see him? Why not let the world get some  
pictures of him? What's wrong with that?

ALARCON: I think that's a private matter, if you want to be  
photographed or you want to appear in front of lights or if you are  
forced to follow a certain discipline of rehabilitation, exercise and  
so on. For that situation, it's better to spend more time reading and  
writing, as he's doing.

BLITZER: All right. Let's talk about the Cuban five. These are five  
Cubans who have been convicted here in the United States of  
conspiracy to commit espionage. They're serving long prison  
sentences. There's an international campaign to get them out. Danny  
Glover, the American actor, is now involved on behalf of their cause.  
We have had a debate on our program, THE SITUATION ROOM, in recent  
weeks, on this.

Why not let the judicial process in the U.S. continue its way?  
There's an appeal before the courts right now. A judge is going to  
make a decision in the next few months. Do you believe that they will  
get a fair hearing as this appeal process goes forward?

ALARCON: So far, they haven't got a fair hearing. This case was tried  
in Miami. Wolf, in those days, when they were discussing the venue  
for that trial, you were day in and day out covering the story in  
that very same city. Everybody saw around the world, how illegality  
and violence was prevailing in the world. And at the same time, the  
people were denied a change of venue for their trial. It was the  
beginning of a very clear case of miscarriage of justice and  
prosecutorial misconduct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Ricardo Alarcon, speaking with me from Havana earlier.