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CNN Live Saturday
Americans Travelling Under Tight Security
Aired December 27, 2003 - 12:16 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.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Show up at any airport across the country and you'll see all the signs of a nation spending the holidays under threat level orange. Security remains tight, anxiety remains high. Americans travel amid concerns over another possible terrorist attack. CNN's Elaine Quijano is at Reagan National Airport near Washington -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Fredricka. Well, this may be a busy travel time of the year, but so far here at Reagan National Airport, things are looking like a typical Saturday. We have not seen yet, the holiday travel crush that officials are anticipating. If you take a look behind me, you'll see what I mean here,really not much in the way of long lines, no evidence of any delays, at check-in counters and security check points, here at National Airline and TSA employees appear to be moving people through rather quickly despite being under a heightened terror alert. Now, the lines that have been forming have been short with just five and 10 minute waits, but officials say that is most likely not going to be the case elsewhere. They say with terror threat level now raised to orange, people may be seeing longer waits, as well as, a multi-lateral approach to security at the nation's airports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: That's an extraordinary underpinning of the whole notion of Homeland Security, it's just not the federal government being there, but it's your state government, and your local government, and everybody else providing the kind of security that's appropriate under the circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, passengers that we spoke with said they were aware of the heightened security. Some people even choosing to get here three hours before their flight was scheduled to depart and others saying that they noticed a definite difference in the holiday rush this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can tell people have gotten used to traveling under the higher security and so people were prepared, taking their coats off and their shoes and baggage and everything else like that. So, I think we're getting smarter as we travel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting to the airport early, I was concerned about that. And parking was a problem; I think more people flew this holiday than last year. I was surprised at the number of people flying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Meantime on the boards, here at Reagan National, it looks like the flights, in and out, appear to be on time, for now. Nevertheless, officials say that people should plan on arriving 90 minutes before their scheduled departure, and some airlines are even telling people to arrive at least two hours in advance, just in case -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Elaine, at some airports, particularly LAX, curbside, check-in, and passenger drop-off, and pick-up were banned just before Christmas. How about there?
QUIJANO: Yeah, absolutely. Here, I can tell you, they've been very strict. We've seen a car towed away, and they always are strict with the proximity to the nation's capitol, here just over the Potomac. They are taking the same sorts of precautions that we have see, really, since September 11. If you are coming here to pick up someone, you can't really idle. They'll make you circle several times even if you say that you've somebody just five minutes away, they're very strict about that, they are towing cars here, and seen the bomb sniffing dog out. So, those heightened alerts -- those heightened precautions that they took, are still in effect very much so, here -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano, thanks very much, from Washington's Reagan National Airport.
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 27, 2003 - 12:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Show up at any airport across the country and you'll see all the signs of a nation spending the holidays under threat level orange. Security remains tight, anxiety remains high. Americans travel amid concerns over another possible terrorist attack. CNN's Elaine Quijano is at Reagan National Airport near Washington -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Fredricka. Well, this may be a busy travel time of the year, but so far here at Reagan National Airport, things are looking like a typical Saturday. We have not seen yet, the holiday travel crush that officials are anticipating. If you take a look behind me, you'll see what I mean here,really not much in the way of long lines, no evidence of any delays, at check-in counters and security check points, here at National Airline and TSA employees appear to be moving people through rather quickly despite being under a heightened terror alert. Now, the lines that have been forming have been short with just five and 10 minute waits, but officials say that is most likely not going to be the case elsewhere. They say with terror threat level now raised to orange, people may be seeing longer waits, as well as, a multi-lateral approach to security at the nation's airports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: That's an extraordinary underpinning of the whole notion of Homeland Security, it's just not the federal government being there, but it's your state government, and your local government, and everybody else providing the kind of security that's appropriate under the circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, passengers that we spoke with said they were aware of the heightened security. Some people even choosing to get here three hours before their flight was scheduled to depart and others saying that they noticed a definite difference in the holiday rush this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can tell people have gotten used to traveling under the higher security and so people were prepared, taking their coats off and their shoes and baggage and everything else like that. So, I think we're getting smarter as we travel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting to the airport early, I was concerned about that. And parking was a problem; I think more people flew this holiday than last year. I was surprised at the number of people flying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Meantime on the boards, here at Reagan National, it looks like the flights, in and out, appear to be on time, for now. Nevertheless, officials say that people should plan on arriving 90 minutes before their scheduled departure, and some airlines are even telling people to arrive at least two hours in advance, just in case -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Elaine, at some airports, particularly LAX, curbside, check-in, and passenger drop-off, and pick-up were banned just before Christmas. How about there?
QUIJANO: Yeah, absolutely. Here, I can tell you, they've been very strict. We've seen a car towed away, and they always are strict with the proximity to the nation's capitol, here just over the Potomac. They are taking the same sorts of precautions that we have see, really, since September 11. If you are coming here to pick up someone, you can't really idle. They'll make you circle several times even if you say that you've somebody just five minutes away, they're very strict about that, they are towing cars here, and seen the bomb sniffing dog out. So, those heightened alerts -- those heightened precautions that they took, are still in effect very much so, here -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano, thanks very much, from Washington's Reagan National Airport.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
