Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Discussion with Peter Goelz

Aired December 31, 2002 - 11:12   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As of midnight, all checked bags are supposed to be screened for explosives.
CNN's Patty Davis is live at Reagan National Airport with a look at how the new baggage screening measures are going.

Is -- are things pretty smooth there, Patty, because people were worried about delays.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there were, and in fact, it's a pretty slow travel day, so that's certainly helping out. There are absolutely no lines here at Reagan National Airport, and Reagan is doing 100 percent bag check right now. So if this is how it's going to go at most airports, I think things will go pretty well. The bomb- detection equipment is in place, the screeners are in place just in time for tonight's midnight deadline to screen all checked bags screened by these electronic explosive detection machines, or with a trace detection machine that looks for explosive residue.

Now a handful of airports, about five of them, could not get these machines in place in time. They have a few, so they will be supplementing those with bomb sniffing dogs as well as hand searches. This could slow your trip down at the airport and TSA says make sure that you allow extra time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JOHNSON, TSA SECURITY: Security is no longer a spectator sport. You can't sit on the sidelines, show up at the airport late and go on autopilot, thinking this is going to be a hunky-dory experience. If you come prepared, you'll be better off, we can make the process easier for you, and it will be fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: Now some tips from the Transportation Security Administration, do not lock your bags, because if the screeners have to open them, they might just have to break your locks to get in there. Don't bring something like this, a block of cheese, in your checked luggage. This, the bomb detection machine sees as a dense object, a bomb, and the alarm goes off, it will be checked.

Another item, a fruitcake, I have nothing against Entemann's here or their fruitcake, but don't put it in your checked luggage. They also say chocolate, a big chocolate bar like this, the machine is going to alarm on that too, and they're going to have to open your bag and check it out. Other things, heavy items, the large items in your bag, spread them out so the machine can seek through them.

A big job here by TSA security screeners. They will now, starting tomorrow, be checking two million bags a day -- Carol.

LIN: A block of cheese, Patty?

DAVIS: Yes, in fact, I saw it. We were waiting at one of the scanning machines and a block of cheese set that machine off. So it's amazing.

LIN: OK, I've just known anybody to take cheese in checked bags, but good to warn anybody, you just never know.

Thank you very much, Patty Davis, live at Reagan National. Happy New Year, Patty.

DAVIS: Well, joining us to talk more about airport security and the new baggage screening measures is former NTSB managing director Peter Goelz. He is currently director of crisis communication for APCO Worldwide, a public relations company based in Washington.

Happy New Year.

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: Happy New Year to you.

LIN: So, Peter, I hear that if folks flew out to wherever they're spending the holidays around Christmastime, they're going to have a very different experience flying back, because of the new security measures, true?

GOELZ: Well, they'll have somewhat of a different experience. In many of the airports, the checking of the baggage is going to take place out of sight of the passengers, and they really won't experience any difference. At a number of the airports like Washington Reagan, the EDS machines are in the lobby areas and there will be a different process, but as Patty said, it's not a particularly heavy travel time. I think people are going to do just fine.

LIN: And it used to be they would randomly check inside bags, and if they found anything suspicious, they would drag you from the gate area down to the bowels of the airport. You would have to standby wait for them so you could watch them open your bag. That's no longer the case. They can open at will now.

GOELZ: They will be opening the bags at will out of your sight under TSA supervision, and they will be checking for explosive devices throughout the period, with or without your permission.

LIN: What do you make of how the process is going to actually work? Do you think it's going to be smooth, or what are things people need to look out for?

GOELZ: I think it will be smooth. I think this has been an enormous undertaking by TSA. Remember, none of this was in place four months ago, and starting tonight, you're going to have over 20,000 trained screeners. You've got 1,100 EDS machines in place, almost 5,000 trace detection devices in place. You're going to be checking, as Patty said, 200 -- two million bags a day. This is really an enormous undertaking that the government and their contractors, Boeing-Siemens (ph), have done.

And I think that if people use common sense and are tolerant, that there's going to be a good implementation of this program.

Remember, for the terrorists to be successful, two things have to take place. One is, we have an incredibly short memory, and we have an tolerance of inconvenience. I don't think people are going to be significantly inconvenienced tomorrow. I think we've got to remember why we're doing this and we've got to be understanding of what's being done.

LIN: Peter, I appreciate the security workers on the front lines of this war on terror searching bags and what not, but you know what, I've just seen way too much undercover video of airport workers going into bags and stealing things. So I think that's more likely to happen to me than for me to be, you know -- to die in a plane accident.

GOELZ: And there is great concern about that at TSA. There are all sorts of internal security devices, including constant filming and supervision. Are there going to be problems like that? There will be inevitably problems like that, but remember, airport screeners have all been checked. Their backgrounds have been run through criminal databases. I think that while there, while undoubtedly you know be some instances of theft, it's going to be far less than what we are expecting.

LIN: OK, let's hope so. Thank you very much, Peter Goelz. Happy New Year.

GOELZ: Thank you. Happy New Year to you.

LIN: Save travel.

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 December 31, 2002 - 11:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As of midnight, all checked bags are supposed to be screened for explosives.
CNN's Patty Davis is live at Reagan National Airport with a look at how the new baggage screening measures are going.

Is -- are things pretty smooth there, Patty, because people were worried about delays.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there were, and in fact, it's a pretty slow travel day, so that's certainly helping out. There are absolutely no lines here at Reagan National Airport, and Reagan is doing 100 percent bag check right now. So if this is how it's going to go at most airports, I think things will go pretty well. The bomb- detection equipment is in place, the screeners are in place just in time for tonight's midnight deadline to screen all checked bags screened by these electronic explosive detection machines, or with a trace detection machine that looks for explosive residue.

Now a handful of airports, about five of them, could not get these machines in place in time. They have a few, so they will be supplementing those with bomb sniffing dogs as well as hand searches. This could slow your trip down at the airport and TSA says make sure that you allow extra time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JOHNSON, TSA SECURITY: Security is no longer a spectator sport. You can't sit on the sidelines, show up at the airport late and go on autopilot, thinking this is going to be a hunky-dory experience. If you come prepared, you'll be better off, we can make the process easier for you, and it will be fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: Now some tips from the Transportation Security Administration, do not lock your bags, because if the screeners have to open them, they might just have to break your locks to get in there. Don't bring something like this, a block of cheese, in your checked luggage. This, the bomb detection machine sees as a dense object, a bomb, and the alarm goes off, it will be checked.

Another item, a fruitcake, I have nothing against Entemann's here or their fruitcake, but don't put it in your checked luggage. They also say chocolate, a big chocolate bar like this, the machine is going to alarm on that too, and they're going to have to open your bag and check it out. Other things, heavy items, the large items in your bag, spread them out so the machine can seek through them.

A big job here by TSA security screeners. They will now, starting tomorrow, be checking two million bags a day -- Carol.

LIN: A block of cheese, Patty?

DAVIS: Yes, in fact, I saw it. We were waiting at one of the scanning machines and a block of cheese set that machine off. So it's amazing.

LIN: OK, I've just known anybody to take cheese in checked bags, but good to warn anybody, you just never know.

Thank you very much, Patty Davis, live at Reagan National. Happy New Year, Patty.

DAVIS: Well, joining us to talk more about airport security and the new baggage screening measures is former NTSB managing director Peter Goelz. He is currently director of crisis communication for APCO Worldwide, a public relations company based in Washington.

Happy New Year.

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: Happy New Year to you.

LIN: So, Peter, I hear that if folks flew out to wherever they're spending the holidays around Christmastime, they're going to have a very different experience flying back, because of the new security measures, true?

GOELZ: Well, they'll have somewhat of a different experience. In many of the airports, the checking of the baggage is going to take place out of sight of the passengers, and they really won't experience any difference. At a number of the airports like Washington Reagan, the EDS machines are in the lobby areas and there will be a different process, but as Patty said, it's not a particularly heavy travel time. I think people are going to do just fine.

LIN: And it used to be they would randomly check inside bags, and if they found anything suspicious, they would drag you from the gate area down to the bowels of the airport. You would have to standby wait for them so you could watch them open your bag. That's no longer the case. They can open at will now.

GOELZ: They will be opening the bags at will out of your sight under TSA supervision, and they will be checking for explosive devices throughout the period, with or without your permission.

LIN: What do you make of how the process is going to actually work? Do you think it's going to be smooth, or what are things people need to look out for?

GOELZ: I think it will be smooth. I think this has been an enormous undertaking by TSA. Remember, none of this was in place four months ago, and starting tonight, you're going to have over 20,000 trained screeners. You've got 1,100 EDS machines in place, almost 5,000 trace detection devices in place. You're going to be checking, as Patty said, 200 -- two million bags a day. This is really an enormous undertaking that the government and their contractors, Boeing-Siemens (ph), have done.

And I think that if people use common sense and are tolerant, that there's going to be a good implementation of this program.

Remember, for the terrorists to be successful, two things have to take place. One is, we have an incredibly short memory, and we have an tolerance of inconvenience. I don't think people are going to be significantly inconvenienced tomorrow. I think we've got to remember why we're doing this and we've got to be understanding of what's being done.

LIN: Peter, I appreciate the security workers on the front lines of this war on terror searching bags and what not, but you know what, I've just seen way too much undercover video of airport workers going into bags and stealing things. So I think that's more likely to happen to me than for me to be, you know -- to die in a plane accident.

GOELZ: And there is great concern about that at TSA. There are all sorts of internal security devices, including constant filming and supervision. Are there going to be problems like that? There will be inevitably problems like that, but remember, airport screeners have all been checked. Their backgrounds have been run through criminal databases. I think that while there, while undoubtedly you know be some instances of theft, it's going to be far less than what we are expecting.

LIN: OK, let's hope so. Thank you very much, Peter Goelz. Happy New Year.

GOELZ: Thank you. Happy New Year to you.

LIN: Save travel.

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