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. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the news today about the existence of a shadow government. Officials are saying the risk of a catastrophic attack by terrorists is great enough to implement a secret operations plan dating back to the Cold War that ensures the government will keep operating in the event of a crippling attack.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now from Washington with more details -- good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, throughout the Cold War, the government, of course, had standby plans in the event of a catastrophic attack, but it was within moments of the September 11 attacks that President Bush activated what is known as the Continuity of Government Plan.
Now, about 100 senior civilian officials in the government are at secure locations outside of Washington, D.C., ready to maintain essential government functions. Driving this, of course, is the potential fear of a catastrophic attack. One concern always is the potential for the detonation of a crude nuclear device somewhere in the nation's capital. Officials emphasize they have no evidence of a specific threat, but that's the nightmare scenario that they are dealing with.
This standby government is operating out of two secure locations within helicopter distance of the nation's capital. The personnel rotate every few weeks, we are told. President Bush, of course, put this all into action, activated the plan on September 11 just as the White House was being evacuated. And here at the Pentagon, there was immediate evidence that the plan had been put into place. Many officials immediately got on helicopters and headed for what is known as Site R, one of these two secure locations on the East Coast just north of Washington, D.C. And of course, President Bush himself conducted a secure video conference meeting with his top officials from a military bunker at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
The most visible part of entire effort, of course, over the last five or six months, has been Vice President Cheney, who continues to operate out of what we are told is a secure location.
What's different here now is it's readily apparent the Bush administration plans to continue this standby government as a routine matter. These officials will continue to operate at these secure locations, and they are looking at a number of improvements to make sure the government can maintain essential functions in things like finance, transportation and food production -- Paula.
ZAHN: We are going to break away from you for one moment. This is the president you see as he his getting ready to head off to Iowa, where he will be talking about retirement security a little bit later on today. We are just going to stay on this picture for a moment, Barbara, but I have another question to ask you. Is it a known fact in these local communities, where these shadow governments are -- is operating that this place exists?
STARR: Well, it increasingly is over the years, of course. Some of these sites are very well known in their local communities -- well known throughout the Cold War, of course, that military personnel would routinely show up, operate somewhere and then leave. And of course, it's worth remembering that the military for decades has maintained secure facilities across the country in a number of locations, and in fact, it's the diversification of these sites across the country that helps maintain, officials believe, the continuity of government. Of course, in a catastrophic situation...
ZAHN: All right, Barbara Starr...
STARR: ... you don't want everybody in the same place.
ZAHN: All right, appreciate that update. Thank you again for being with us on A.M. And the guidelines for this precautionary measure have been available to the government, as Barbara just mentioned, since the Cold War.
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