Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Screening All Checked Bags at Airports United States One Step Closer to Reality
Aired December 02, 2002 - 05:21 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our attention now to airport security. Screening all checked bags at airports in the United States is one step closer to reality. Huge machines designed to detect explosives are being moved into place.
But as CNN's Kathleen Koch reports, some airports have a huge problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Van sized machines that weigh over a ton and cost over a million dollars, they're being rushed into airports nationwide to meet a year end deadline to screen all checked bags for explosives. But instead of the 2,200 explosive detection machines it originally hoped for, the federal government has been able to order just half that number, and after a letter to Congress pleading for more time to put them in, some airports, as many as 35, will get an extension.
ADM. JAMES LOY, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: We've lost time, lost budget and have some very, very real engineering challenges associated with many of the bigger airports. And if we need to press those on into the next calendar year, we will do that.
KOCH: The Transportation Security Administration won't say which airports won't make the original deadline. But Orlando, Dallas/Forth Worth, Phoenix and Seattle are said to be among those experiencing the greatest difficulty fitting the machines into their terminals. Most would like to see them incorporated behind-the-scenes in the airlines' baggage handling areas. But that raises yet unsolved issues of how to open locked bags that register positive for explosives -- the machines have a 30 percent false positive rate -- and who will be liable if locks are broken or items stolen.
DAVID STEMPLER, AIRLINE PASSENGERS ASSOCIATION: This is a big problem for airline passengers because most passengers would not like to have their bags opened out of their presence. They'll perhaps claim that things were taken, were disrupted, were broken.
KOCH: In addition to the larger machines, 5,000 handheld trace detection units are being put in place to check for explosives. A final concern that the resulting longer ticket counter lines could present a tempting target for terrorists. PAUL HUDSON, AVIATION CONSUMER ACTION PROJECT: Because we know since July 4 that ticket counter massacres are another serious possibility. And we've eliminated the National Guard at the airports and we now have lightly armed and unarmed security people.
KOCH: But the TSA has hinted it will be flexible to keep air travel moving.
LOY: There will not be two and three hour waiting lines at our airports. That's outside the formula of reasonableness. And we will balance those things as appropriate to meet the end of our calendar year goals.
KOCH (on camera): The TSA plans in the next few weeks to come up with some rules and procedures on who opens what suitcases when and where and who will be responsible for any items that are lost, broken or stolen.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Reagan National Airport.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Step Closer to Reality>
Aired December 2, 2002 - 05:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our attention now to airport security. Screening all checked bags at airports in the United States is one step closer to reality. Huge machines designed to detect explosives are being moved into place.
But as CNN's Kathleen Koch reports, some airports have a huge problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Van sized machines that weigh over a ton and cost over a million dollars, they're being rushed into airports nationwide to meet a year end deadline to screen all checked bags for explosives. But instead of the 2,200 explosive detection machines it originally hoped for, the federal government has been able to order just half that number, and after a letter to Congress pleading for more time to put them in, some airports, as many as 35, will get an extension.
ADM. JAMES LOY, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: We've lost time, lost budget and have some very, very real engineering challenges associated with many of the bigger airports. And if we need to press those on into the next calendar year, we will do that.
KOCH: The Transportation Security Administration won't say which airports won't make the original deadline. But Orlando, Dallas/Forth Worth, Phoenix and Seattle are said to be among those experiencing the greatest difficulty fitting the machines into their terminals. Most would like to see them incorporated behind-the-scenes in the airlines' baggage handling areas. But that raises yet unsolved issues of how to open locked bags that register positive for explosives -- the machines have a 30 percent false positive rate -- and who will be liable if locks are broken or items stolen.
DAVID STEMPLER, AIRLINE PASSENGERS ASSOCIATION: This is a big problem for airline passengers because most passengers would not like to have their bags opened out of their presence. They'll perhaps claim that things were taken, were disrupted, were broken.
KOCH: In addition to the larger machines, 5,000 handheld trace detection units are being put in place to check for explosives. A final concern that the resulting longer ticket counter lines could present a tempting target for terrorists. PAUL HUDSON, AVIATION CONSUMER ACTION PROJECT: Because we know since July 4 that ticket counter massacres are another serious possibility. And we've eliminated the National Guard at the airports and we now have lightly armed and unarmed security people.
KOCH: But the TSA has hinted it will be flexible to keep air travel moving.
LOY: There will not be two and three hour waiting lines at our airports. That's outside the formula of reasonableness. And we will balance those things as appropriate to meet the end of our calendar year goals.
KOCH (on camera): The TSA plans in the next few weeks to come up with some rules and procedures on who opens what suitcases when and where and who will be responsible for any items that are lost, broken or stolen.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Reagan National Airport.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Step Closer to Reality>
