Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Is America Safer?

Aired December 27, 2003 - 18:36   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: So what does that mean to us, the public? Security terrorism expert and CNN contributor, Kelly McCann joins us by telephone.
Kelly, I'm sure you're familiar now with what the Secretary of Homeland Defense has said trying to be reassuring. Can you give us the bottom line? Given the orange alert, the cancelled flights, the investigation in various cities around the country, how safe are we?

KELLY MCCANN, CNN TERRORISM EXPERT (via telephone): I think we're safer than we've ever been, Carol. And people have to remember that we're always going to see this battle between countermeasure and threat. And as threat adapts and starts to overcome countermeasures, the new countermeasures are developed. It's going to be a continuing cylce that we just won't see the end of, Carol.

LIN: Well, but there seems to be mixed singles from the government. On the one hand, they raise the alert status. They do drills at the Pentagon, so that key government officials can go into hiding in case of an emergency. Flights are cancelled. But they're telling the public to go about its business.

It can lead to what we've called, threat fatigue, where people really don't know what to do. And perhaps as a result, maybe less prepared, should something happen.

MCCANN: Well, there is an ambiant threat. And there's an ambiant threat effect, where people start to feel a little bit embattled. But, as far as the government and what the drills they run, it's no different than business continuity.

In other words, a lot of corporations practice business continuity in the event there's some natural disaster. So, it just makes good tactical and strategic sense.

LIN: What is the government doing to make it safer for us to fly?

MCCANN: Well, if you count all the things, Carol, right now. You have higher saturation of air marshalls, you've got a much more combative passanger group. Passangers today won't stand for any kind of foolishness on planes. Reinforced cockpit doors, there's caps (ph) too now, which has other points of data that are evaluated before allowing someone on a flight. And then a 100 percent baggage screening.

That, plus the random kind of measures that are used. In fact, I understand that in the Air France flight that was allowed to come, there was actual physical searches of every passanger.

If you might remember about 3 weeks ago, al Qaeda, there was information that poined to al Qaeda perhaps using socks hung around the neck filled with explosives to get on planes, that physical search might have been in response to that.

Add to that, random canine sniffing and all of that, you've got a pretty secure picture.

LIN: When you take a look at your own personal picture, Kelly, what would you do, what would you not do these days?

MCCANN: I won't give it to them, Carol. The bottom line is, you've only got 1 life to live and this is the 1 we have. So to live it embattled and hunkered down is just not a type of lifestyle that I'd prefer and I hope that a lot of Americans wouldn't prefer it.

LIN: So, there's no place you wouldn't go. There's no mode of transportation you might avoid?

MCCANN: No, I think that you have to put in a good measure of common sense. I just returned from Baghdad, that's obviously dangerous, but there was a purpose for that trip. If people, basically, use what the government is telling them as guidlines. And if they say that they've produced all the kind of countermeasures that they can in response to a threat, than I think it's a fair bet to travel.

There are some things that you just can mitigate. And that's true in life. But the bottom line is, if we alter the way that we live our lives, they have in fact won. And we're just not ready to give that to them.

LIN: What do you make of what happened with these Air France flights? I mean, 6 to 8 flights either cancelled or delayed. Passangers interrogated. No official follow up by the French government. U.S. officials, though, chasing perhaps some people who didn't show up for those flight. What does that add up too?

MCCANN: There's a litle bit of back chatter, Carol, that maybe the French were a little bit early on the gun and let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. And that the security people were very interested in speaking with, didn't show.

One interesting note is, this whole holiday vacation has kind of pointed towards security people wanting to talk to air crew. Indicating that perhaps there are people that believe that al Qaeda may have infiltrated some air crews. I thought that was interesting.

But as we see this dynamic shift, I think you're going to see more draconian measures in some periods. And then it will, of course, relax when the threat recedes. But we're in this thing now, Carol.

LIN: All right. Well, a lot of information out there. At least the government is able to act on it. Thank you very much, Kelly McCann. MCCANN: Pleasure, Carol.

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 - 18:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So what does that mean to us, the public? Security terrorism expert and CNN contributor, Kelly McCann joins us by telephone.
Kelly, I'm sure you're familiar now with what the Secretary of Homeland Defense has said trying to be reassuring. Can you give us the bottom line? Given the orange alert, the cancelled flights, the investigation in various cities around the country, how safe are we?

KELLY MCCANN, CNN TERRORISM EXPERT (via telephone): I think we're safer than we've ever been, Carol. And people have to remember that we're always going to see this battle between countermeasure and threat. And as threat adapts and starts to overcome countermeasures, the new countermeasures are developed. It's going to be a continuing cylce that we just won't see the end of, Carol.

LIN: Well, but there seems to be mixed singles from the government. On the one hand, they raise the alert status. They do drills at the Pentagon, so that key government officials can go into hiding in case of an emergency. Flights are cancelled. But they're telling the public to go about its business.

It can lead to what we've called, threat fatigue, where people really don't know what to do. And perhaps as a result, maybe less prepared, should something happen.

MCCANN: Well, there is an ambiant threat. And there's an ambiant threat effect, where people start to feel a little bit embattled. But, as far as the government and what the drills they run, it's no different than business continuity.

In other words, a lot of corporations practice business continuity in the event there's some natural disaster. So, it just makes good tactical and strategic sense.

LIN: What is the government doing to make it safer for us to fly?

MCCANN: Well, if you count all the things, Carol, right now. You have higher saturation of air marshalls, you've got a much more combative passanger group. Passangers today won't stand for any kind of foolishness on planes. Reinforced cockpit doors, there's caps (ph) too now, which has other points of data that are evaluated before allowing someone on a flight. And then a 100 percent baggage screening.

That, plus the random kind of measures that are used. In fact, I understand that in the Air France flight that was allowed to come, there was actual physical searches of every passanger.

If you might remember about 3 weeks ago, al Qaeda, there was information that poined to al Qaeda perhaps using socks hung around the neck filled with explosives to get on planes, that physical search might have been in response to that.

Add to that, random canine sniffing and all of that, you've got a pretty secure picture.

LIN: When you take a look at your own personal picture, Kelly, what would you do, what would you not do these days?

MCCANN: I won't give it to them, Carol. The bottom line is, you've only got 1 life to live and this is the 1 we have. So to live it embattled and hunkered down is just not a type of lifestyle that I'd prefer and I hope that a lot of Americans wouldn't prefer it.

LIN: So, there's no place you wouldn't go. There's no mode of transportation you might avoid?

MCCANN: No, I think that you have to put in a good measure of common sense. I just returned from Baghdad, that's obviously dangerous, but there was a purpose for that trip. If people, basically, use what the government is telling them as guidlines. And if they say that they've produced all the kind of countermeasures that they can in response to a threat, than I think it's a fair bet to travel.

There are some things that you just can mitigate. And that's true in life. But the bottom line is, if we alter the way that we live our lives, they have in fact won. And we're just not ready to give that to them.

LIN: What do you make of what happened with these Air France flights? I mean, 6 to 8 flights either cancelled or delayed. Passangers interrogated. No official follow up by the French government. U.S. officials, though, chasing perhaps some people who didn't show up for those flight. What does that add up too?

MCCANN: There's a litle bit of back chatter, Carol, that maybe the French were a little bit early on the gun and let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. And that the security people were very interested in speaking with, didn't show.

One interesting note is, this whole holiday vacation has kind of pointed towards security people wanting to talk to air crew. Indicating that perhaps there are people that believe that al Qaeda may have infiltrated some air crews. I thought that was interesting.

But as we see this dynamic shift, I think you're going to see more draconian measures in some periods. And then it will, of course, relax when the threat recedes. But we're in this thing now, Carol.

LIN: All right. Well, a lot of information out there. At least the government is able to act on it. Thank you very much, Kelly McCann. MCCANN: Pleasure, Carol.

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