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American Morning

America's New War: New Legislation Proposed in Light of Latest Terrorist Attacks

Aired September 21, 2001 - 14:24   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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, last night President Bush in his address to the nation talked of course not only about the threat of terrorism and what it means overseas, he talked specifically about Afghanistan, but domestically, he talked about -- he said to the American people: We want you to support the economy. The Congress, listening to that message, wanting to be helpful.

Our Jonathan Karl joining us now from the Capitol.

Jonathan, I think you're keeping an eye on several things today, not just the effort to bailout, if you will, the airline industry, but also to look at issues of homeland security.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely.

Let's take the first one first, which is this question of the assistance for the airlines. This going at almost blinding speed, Judy. As a matter of fact, the Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, just a few minutes ago came to floor of the Senate and said that he hopes to bring up for a final vote this whole airline bailout by 3:30 this afternoon, hopes to bring that up at 3:30 this afternoon, something that nobody really expected before the president's speech that they could actually get this through this week.

Let's recap exactly what we know about what is in the bill. First, there is of course the $5 billion in cash payments directly to the airlines, another $10 billion in loan guarantees.

And the new wrinkle here, the new thing is this question of victims compensation. One the one hand, those that have been victimized by these attacks can either tap into what's called a "victim's fund." There will be a special master appointed by the president. They would determine how much each victim would get.

Otherwise, if they don't do that they can actually sue in court. If they sue in court, the airlines under this bill would be protected, they would not have to pay out anything beyond what they are already covered for in their insurance.

Now, this is something -- this bill is a huge bill, the amount of money is not even specified. Nobody knows exactly how much these victims would be entitled to. Republicans raising concerns about that. But Democrats are very upset because, some Democrats, especially in the House, because there is nothing in this airline bailout that would help those 100 thousand or so people that have been laid off or about to be laid off by the airlines, nothing to ensure they have health insurance, a severance package, retraining, nothing like that.

Tom Daschle addressed that a little while ago. He said that although that is not in this bill, it's something the Senate and, we presume, the House would take up very soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), MAJORITY LEADER: This bill is really just the first installment of a series of other pieces of legislation that we have to address involving airlines and other issues. There has to be -- there has to be an effort to address all of those employees who have been laid off, and we will do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: So Tom Daschle saying, since then, that he hopes to bring up by 3:30 Eastern Time, have a quick debate and vote today on that issue.

Now, you also mentioned the issue of homeland security. We know the president has talked about new cabinet-level position which Tom Ridge would head up on homeland security. That is being met very receptively here on Capitol Hill, but several key senators want to go further than the president. The president talking about a cabinet- level position. Two key committee chairman in the Senate, Joe Lieberman of the Government Affairs Committee, and Bob Graham of the Intelligence Committee, saying that they would like to see something more, they want to see a position that is actually part of the cabinet, not just cabinet level, but something that is formally part of cabinet that is written into the law, and a position that would be confirmed by the United States Senate and not a temporary measure, but something that would become a permanent part of the federal government in the executive branch -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: And, Jonathan, as I understand it, what they want as well is they want support for this position; they want funds, they want staff, giving whoever the -- not whoever, but Governor Ridge, who will be the homeland security czar, if you will, the power to do something with the position.

KARL: Yes. This is not just a question of coordination. What the president's position, what he's talking about is coordinating the 40 or so agencies that have responsibility in this area. Well, the senators here -- the Senate leaders want more than just coordination, they want to have responsibility; they want that person to have their own budget, their own responsibility for what's happened, not simply a matter of trying to play traffic cop between federal agencies. They're talking about a whole infrastructure behind this position.

WOODRUFF: All right, Jonathan Karl at the Capitol.

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