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CNN Live At Daybreak
9/11 Commission Holds Public Hearing Relating to Border, Aviation Security
Aired January 26, 2004 - 06:22 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington, D.C. over the next two days, the 9/11 Commission holds its seventh public hearing relating to border and aviation security.
CNN's Paul Courson joins us live.
PAUL COURSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
How are you, Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: I'm good.
How are you?
All right, well, what is expected to happen? This 10 member commission will hold its hearings.
Who might be testifying?
COURSON: Well, the commission consists of 10 members who were commissioned by the families of the victims on board the jet liners that crashed in the September 11 attacks. Jane Garvey, former Federal Aviation Administration chief, is among those who may testify.
You remember that the hijackers came into the country on visas that were issued in a valid fashion. They used their own names. They were issued legitimately. The questions on Capitol Hill today, Fredricka, probably concern whether the procedures and policies of issuing those visas should be called into question, the documentation behind granting those visas for the hijack suspects to have come into the country.
It'll also focus today, the hearings, on the security at the airports, whether the screening was adequate. A lot of this seems to be already on the record. But what they're trying to do is to fully document any shortcomings that existed then to see if they still exist today -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, in fact, a former INS commissioner, James Ziglar, is among those who will be asked a few questions. It's not likely he will actually defend the position of, I guess, these loopholes in the process of administering these visas.
COURSON: The INS commissioner, the former commissioner, Ziglar, will testify that as far as he knows, it was up to the discretion of officials as to whether to allow Mohamed Atta, one of the suspected pilots in the hijackings to have come back into the country at a time his visa was being reviewed for a status change. It'll, again, be a procedural discussion on Capitol Hill as to whether procedures were followed, whether that discretion perhaps had too much latitude and whether there ought to be some changes made for the future.
WHITFIELD: And obviously there have already been a lot of changes that have been put into place and, you know, aviation security is one of those that has gotten a major overhaul.
What's, you know, really the point of having these hearings at this juncture, if already so many changes have been put into place?
COURSON: There has been quite an overhaul of aviation security. Before the September 11 attacks, of course, the airports were pretty much set up to intercept bombs or some of your more dangerous weapons, when hijackers were in those days generally hijacking planes for ransom or some sort of political cause or such like that, instead of them as missiles, as we saw in the September 11 attacks.
Security has been upgraded since then. They're still looking a little bit earlier than the airport equation to see if people are allowed into the country who may be on terror watch lists or some other procedural issue that could keep them out and prevent any future attacks.
WHITFIELD: All right, Paul Courson, thanks very much.
We'll be watching over the next two days.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aviation Security>
Aired January 26, 2004 - 06:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington, D.C. over the next two days, the 9/11 Commission holds its seventh public hearing relating to border and aviation security.
CNN's Paul Courson joins us live.
PAUL COURSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
How are you, Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: I'm good.
How are you?
All right, well, what is expected to happen? This 10 member commission will hold its hearings.
Who might be testifying?
COURSON: Well, the commission consists of 10 members who were commissioned by the families of the victims on board the jet liners that crashed in the September 11 attacks. Jane Garvey, former Federal Aviation Administration chief, is among those who may testify.
You remember that the hijackers came into the country on visas that were issued in a valid fashion. They used their own names. They were issued legitimately. The questions on Capitol Hill today, Fredricka, probably concern whether the procedures and policies of issuing those visas should be called into question, the documentation behind granting those visas for the hijack suspects to have come into the country.
It'll also focus today, the hearings, on the security at the airports, whether the screening was adequate. A lot of this seems to be already on the record. But what they're trying to do is to fully document any shortcomings that existed then to see if they still exist today -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, in fact, a former INS commissioner, James Ziglar, is among those who will be asked a few questions. It's not likely he will actually defend the position of, I guess, these loopholes in the process of administering these visas.
COURSON: The INS commissioner, the former commissioner, Ziglar, will testify that as far as he knows, it was up to the discretion of officials as to whether to allow Mohamed Atta, one of the suspected pilots in the hijackings to have come back into the country at a time his visa was being reviewed for a status change. It'll, again, be a procedural discussion on Capitol Hill as to whether procedures were followed, whether that discretion perhaps had too much latitude and whether there ought to be some changes made for the future.
WHITFIELD: And obviously there have already been a lot of changes that have been put into place and, you know, aviation security is one of those that has gotten a major overhaul.
What's, you know, really the point of having these hearings at this juncture, if already so many changes have been put into place?
COURSON: There has been quite an overhaul of aviation security. Before the September 11 attacks, of course, the airports were pretty much set up to intercept bombs or some of your more dangerous weapons, when hijackers were in those days generally hijacking planes for ransom or some sort of political cause or such like that, instead of them as missiles, as we saw in the September 11 attacks.
Security has been upgraded since then. They're still looking a little bit earlier than the airport equation to see if people are allowed into the country who may be on terror watch lists or some other procedural issue that could keep them out and prevent any future attacks.
WHITFIELD: All right, Paul Courson, thanks very much.
We'll be watching over the next two days.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aviation Security>
