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CNN Live Today

Airport Security

Aired September 30, 2003 - 11:13   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the deadline for the Transportation Security Administration, TSA, to further streamline its airport screener positions. Now, by streamlining, we mean that TSA has announced that it's cutting some 6,000 screener positions in order to, quote, unquote, "right-size" its work force now. According to a TSA news release, the number of screener positions has been reduced from 55,000 in March to about 48,000 now.
Joining us to talk about the cuts and about airport security overall is former NTSB managing director Peter Goelz. He is currently vice president for crisis communications at Apco Worldwide, which is a PR firm in Washington.

Peter Goelz, thank you very much. Good to see you again. Thanks for coming back to talk to us about all of this.

Let's talk about these cuts right now. More cuts are to be announced today. Does that mean we're going to be less safe. Do we think we had been overstaffed at the beginning or what?

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: I don't think we can say we're going to be less safe. But clearly, TSA is under a budgetary crunch. They're cutting back. By the end of next year, they will be down to 45,000 full-time employees. When they say they're right- sizing it, that's really kind of half the answer. They do need more part-time employees. They're hiring part-time employees at Los Angeles airport, because they have a crunch at certain times of the day that full-time employees just can't meet. But I think the budgetary constraints that TSA is facing need to be monitored pretty carefully.

HARRIS: All right, if I am a member of the traveling public -- and I am --and I happen to see and read headlines now that say TSA now is cutting back and the TSA has budget problems, what am I supposed to take from that and feel safer about?

GOELZ: Well, I think you've got a better work force. But the jury is still out. GAO, the Government Accounting Office, has just released a preliminary evaluation. And what it said was that we really don't know whether the federalized workforce is doing a better job than the privatized workforce that was there before. Material is still getting through.

The thing I'm most concerned about is the cutback in money that's spent on researching the next generation of detection equipment. These checkpoints are running off of 10-year-old equipment. We need the next generation that reduces human error. HARRIS: How many airports would you say, Peter, are still operating with some of this old technology you talked about? And I know I think you've written that some of this technology is 15, 20 years old. How many of the big airports are still using outdated technology right now?

GOELZ: Well, there's been very few pieces of equipment that have been certified recently. We're talking about all of 429 airports are using equipment that was certified in the 1990s. We need to move forward. TSA had a $75 million research budget. It's been cut dramatically.

GOELZ: You say that you still have not determined whether or not the old private screening services are better than this government- funded one right now. How come we don't know that right now?

And Also, let me ask you this as well, in addition to that, I have been reading that some airports have been asking about going back to an old private system. What do you know about that?

GOELZ: Well, that's right, Leon. When we federalized the airport security services, five airports were left out, and kept their old private security forces, including San Francisco and Kansas City. Those are two pretty good sized airports. Sometime this year, there has to be an evaluation to see whether, in fact, the private security forces did a better job or not as good job as the federal forces.

And in 2004, airports are allowed to petition TSA to say we'd like to go back to the private screener force that we had before or an enhanced one, and many airports have made inquiries about that process. So I think the whole issue of who mans the screeners -- who mans the checkpoints, who pays the screeners is still an open question.

HARRIS: All right. Finally, in the final analysis then, in your estimation, how close is the government to getting the whole system right? The balance of right number of workers, right number of full- time workers, right number of part-time workers, right amount of and right placement of proper technology? On balance right now, how close are they to getting it right?

GOELZ: TSA has done an extraordinary job in terms of getting itself set up and operating. I would say that they are getting there. They need some more time, and particularly, they need some more money.

HARRIS: That's almost always the case.

GOELZ: Unfortunately.

HARRIS: Peter Goelz, thanks much. Appreciate it. We'll talk with you soon.

GOELZ: Thank you, Leon.

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 September 30, 2003 - 11:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the deadline for the Transportation Security Administration, TSA, to further streamline its airport screener positions. Now, by streamlining, we mean that TSA has announced that it's cutting some 6,000 screener positions in order to, quote, unquote, "right-size" its work force now. According to a TSA news release, the number of screener positions has been reduced from 55,000 in March to about 48,000 now.
Joining us to talk about the cuts and about airport security overall is former NTSB managing director Peter Goelz. He is currently vice president for crisis communications at Apco Worldwide, which is a PR firm in Washington.

Peter Goelz, thank you very much. Good to see you again. Thanks for coming back to talk to us about all of this.

Let's talk about these cuts right now. More cuts are to be announced today. Does that mean we're going to be less safe. Do we think we had been overstaffed at the beginning or what?

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIR.: I don't think we can say we're going to be less safe. But clearly, TSA is under a budgetary crunch. They're cutting back. By the end of next year, they will be down to 45,000 full-time employees. When they say they're right- sizing it, that's really kind of half the answer. They do need more part-time employees. They're hiring part-time employees at Los Angeles airport, because they have a crunch at certain times of the day that full-time employees just can't meet. But I think the budgetary constraints that TSA is facing need to be monitored pretty carefully.

HARRIS: All right, if I am a member of the traveling public -- and I am --and I happen to see and read headlines now that say TSA now is cutting back and the TSA has budget problems, what am I supposed to take from that and feel safer about?

GOELZ: Well, I think you've got a better work force. But the jury is still out. GAO, the Government Accounting Office, has just released a preliminary evaluation. And what it said was that we really don't know whether the federalized workforce is doing a better job than the privatized workforce that was there before. Material is still getting through.

The thing I'm most concerned about is the cutback in money that's spent on researching the next generation of detection equipment. These checkpoints are running off of 10-year-old equipment. We need the next generation that reduces human error. HARRIS: How many airports would you say, Peter, are still operating with some of this old technology you talked about? And I know I think you've written that some of this technology is 15, 20 years old. How many of the big airports are still using outdated technology right now?

GOELZ: Well, there's been very few pieces of equipment that have been certified recently. We're talking about all of 429 airports are using equipment that was certified in the 1990s. We need to move forward. TSA had a $75 million research budget. It's been cut dramatically.

GOELZ: You say that you still have not determined whether or not the old private screening services are better than this government- funded one right now. How come we don't know that right now?

And Also, let me ask you this as well, in addition to that, I have been reading that some airports have been asking about going back to an old private system. What do you know about that?

GOELZ: Well, that's right, Leon. When we federalized the airport security services, five airports were left out, and kept their old private security forces, including San Francisco and Kansas City. Those are two pretty good sized airports. Sometime this year, there has to be an evaluation to see whether, in fact, the private security forces did a better job or not as good job as the federal forces.

And in 2004, airports are allowed to petition TSA to say we'd like to go back to the private screener force that we had before or an enhanced one, and many airports have made inquiries about that process. So I think the whole issue of who mans the screeners -- who mans the checkpoints, who pays the screeners is still an open question.

HARRIS: All right. Finally, in the final analysis then, in your estimation, how close is the government to getting the whole system right? The balance of right number of workers, right number of full- time workers, right number of part-time workers, right amount of and right placement of proper technology? On balance right now, how close are they to getting it right?

GOELZ: TSA has done an extraordinary job in terms of getting itself set up and operating. I would say that they are getting there. They need some more time, and particularly, they need some more money.

HARRIS: That's almost always the case.

GOELZ: Unfortunately.

HARRIS: Peter Goelz, thanks much. Appreciate it. We'll talk with you soon.

GOELZ: Thank you, Leon.

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