April 11, 2004
Pre-9/11 Secret Briefing Said That Qaeda Was Active in U.S. By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID E. SANGER
ASHINGTON, April 10 — The classified briefing about Al Qaeda that President Bush received a month before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks reported that the terrorist network had maintained an active presence in the United States for years, was suspected of recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York, and could be preparing for domestic hijackings. But the briefing did not point to any specific time or place of attack, and did not warn that planes could be used as missiles.