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CNN Live Today
Investigators Penetrate Atlanta Federal Buildings
Aired April 30, 2002 - 10:09 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Here in Atlanta, Georgia, federal agents say they were armed only with smiles and salesmanship when they easily exposed poor security measures at five federal buildings here in Atlanta. And lawmakers are going to take a critical look at their findings this hour here in Atlanta, where the undercover agents carried out this checkup that was post-9/11.
Our national correspondent Mike Boettcher takes a closer look.
Mike, good morning.
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MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Government Accounting Office special investigators were able to penetrate four federal buildings in Atlanta, one of those buildings is the Summit Building where I am standing now, and that is where this morning a hearing will be held. The House Government Reform Committee chaired this morning by Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia. He asked the GAO to test security at the federal buildings in Atlanta, and those agents were able to penetrate four, as I said.
They used falsified police identification in order to obtain government ID, in some instances obtaining ID that allowed them 24- hour access to federal buildings, also secret entry codes, as well, we are told by one GAO source, that the special agents were able to in some instances obtain court endorsements which would allow them to carry weapons inside a federal courthouse.
Now, the General Services Administration, which supervises security for federal buildings around the country, will be here to respond as well.
There was a similar test in 2000 around the United States testing the security of federal buildings. Again, there were failures in security then. This particular test was done post 9/11 at the request of Congressman Barr, but interestingly enough in that 2000 test, the report on that was found in an al Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.
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