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CNN Live Today

Talk with Former El Al Chief Security Officer

Aired November 18, 2002 - 11:04   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: El Al says it receives threats every single day. Yesterday's security breach will, no doubt, prompt an extensive review of security procedures. Right now, we want to talk with Issy Boim. He is the former chief security officer of -- at El Al and joins us by phone from Houston with some insight into this particular incident.
Mr. Boim, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

BOIM: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I want to talk about what went wrong. But first, isn't this also a case of what went right in that people were able to subdue this man so quickly?

ISSY BOIM, FMR. EL AL CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER: Well, the system did prove, again, that everything is working. And to me nothing especially has happened, you see. What really happened is somebody tried to move to a stead (ph) that he's not supposed to move and he was actually detained immediately.

KAGAN: I guess what people are so surprised about, even though it's not really clear at this point what this man's intentions were, whether he was just an upset passenger or whether he actually did intend to hijack this plane. But with a security system as tight as El Al, just even the idea that someone could get this far with that on board his person, is that surprising to you?

BOIM: I think their security system did prove again that the screening did good job, because this guy, even though they say that he had a small knife, which I am not very sure about, but it doesn't matter, which means he was clean and clear to go on board.

Now, this is what we say, the next wing of security that must be on board, in order to actually to give security coverage to the passengers and to the flight.

KAGAN: This is a day where we're standing by waiting to hear an announcement from Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta about how the federal government is taking over the security systems, the screeners at American airports. Do you think that that's a good move? Is that nearly enough?

BOIM: I think that should encourage us to make our preparation faster and better and to make sure that we will have the capability to respond to any threat on the flight which means the crew on board or sky marshals should be prepared and be obtained (ph) to actually to perform security management.

KAGAN: And just real quickly, Mr. Boim, time and time again, when people are looking at how to make airlines here in the U.S. safer, they point to El Al. But having worked for El Al and that security system and worked with airlines here in the U.S., do you think that that's practical?

BOIM: It's practical because we are not talking about the system of screening. We are talking about to make sure that the flights, as the president promised to us a year ago, that every flight would be with sky marshals that would be able to respond in case of such a situation. So if the system will be organized on the ground, one hand, and on both, the second hand, I believe that our security system will prove sufficiency in the future.

Issy Boim joining us from Houston. Thank you so much, sir, for your insight.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 18, 2002 - 11:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: El Al says it receives threats every single day. Yesterday's security breach will, no doubt, prompt an extensive review of security procedures. Right now, we want to talk with Issy Boim. He is the former chief security officer of -- at El Al and joins us by phone from Houston with some insight into this particular incident.
Mr. Boim, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

BOIM: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I want to talk about what went wrong. But first, isn't this also a case of what went right in that people were able to subdue this man so quickly?

ISSY BOIM, FMR. EL AL CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER: Well, the system did prove, again, that everything is working. And to me nothing especially has happened, you see. What really happened is somebody tried to move to a stead (ph) that he's not supposed to move and he was actually detained immediately.

KAGAN: I guess what people are so surprised about, even though it's not really clear at this point what this man's intentions were, whether he was just an upset passenger or whether he actually did intend to hijack this plane. But with a security system as tight as El Al, just even the idea that someone could get this far with that on board his person, is that surprising to you?

BOIM: I think their security system did prove again that the screening did good job, because this guy, even though they say that he had a small knife, which I am not very sure about, but it doesn't matter, which means he was clean and clear to go on board.

Now, this is what we say, the next wing of security that must be on board, in order to actually to give security coverage to the passengers and to the flight.

KAGAN: This is a day where we're standing by waiting to hear an announcement from Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta about how the federal government is taking over the security systems, the screeners at American airports. Do you think that that's a good move? Is that nearly enough?

BOIM: I think that should encourage us to make our preparation faster and better and to make sure that we will have the capability to respond to any threat on the flight which means the crew on board or sky marshals should be prepared and be obtained (ph) to actually to perform security management.

KAGAN: And just real quickly, Mr. Boim, time and time again, when people are looking at how to make airlines here in the U.S. safer, they point to El Al. But having worked for El Al and that security system and worked with airlines here in the U.S., do you think that that's practical?

BOIM: It's practical because we are not talking about the system of screening. We are talking about to make sure that the flights, as the president promised to us a year ago, that every flight would be with sky marshals that would be able to respond in case of such a situation. So if the system will be organized on the ground, one hand, and on both, the second hand, I believe that our security system will prove sufficiency in the future.

Issy Boim joining us from Houston. Thank you so much, sir, for your insight.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com