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CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: Saudis Allow U.S. to Use a Military Base

Aired September 28, 2001 - 07:07   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With the Taliban refusing so far to hand over Osama bin Laden, there has been a lot of speculation about a possible U.S. military strike.

And for that we turn to our senior White House correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Paula.

And here in Washington, the FBI for the first time saying directly that some of the 19 suspects in the September 11 suicide hijackings have been linked to Osama bin Laden. But if the Pentagon has a timetable for a military mission to seize bin Laden, it is not letting on. The Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says, quoting now, "We're not leaping into this. We're moving into it in a measured way."

More on this now from our national correspondent Bob Franken at the Pentagon -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it's been such a consistent message and one that members of the administration, particularly here at the Pentagon, say bears repeating simply because it comes in the face of the very visible military deployment around the world. Every day reports of additional armed forces being called or dispersed. Yesterday, again, another 600 plus reservists called to duty, part of that 35,000 reservists mobilization.

So we're seeing all that and the administration is going to great pains to suggest that they don't want to do anything until they are ready to do anything. But as the outgoing chief of staff of the military suggested, it will happen some time soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. HUGH SHELTON, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Soon we're going to ask them to take on a tremendous responsibility as they embark on one of the most difficult missions that the military has ever been given. It will require every bit of their courage, their intellect and their warrior spirit to hunt down and destroy the groups that are the enemies of the civilized world.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FRANKEN: Difficult, John, because it is non traditional, to use the word that is so often used, this war against terrorism, complicated and one that the authorities, the military, people here say they won't do until they're ready to do it, until they've identified their target, know what they're going to do and against whom they're going to do it.

KING: And Bob, on virtually every issue in town, on whether it is airport safety, whether it is the military patrolling the skies watching domestic flights as they fly over the United States, we're trying to figure out how does the government draw the line. A great deal of discussion yesterday about new rules of engagement, combat air patrols, if and when they can intercept, and even in extraordinary cases shoot down a commercial jet liner.

How do officials over there strike this balance between safety and not alarming people?

FRANKEN: The view is when these things come out, and there's a concern expressed, as there was, that people will react too quickly, for instance, in the case of the shooting down of a commercial jet liner. There is now a situation where the president, if he cannot be reached in what is called an extraordinary circumstance, cannot be reached, then lower level generals could issue the order to shoot down a commercial jet liner in those extraordinary circumstances, raising fears that somebody would act too fast before, in fact, it was necessary and something would be shot down needlessly.

There is a concern in our society in general that perhaps in the anger and the outrage that has followed the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, perhaps people are pushing the line a little bit in exercising authority, investigators perhaps forgetting civil liberties sometimes when they're taking people into custody or questioning them; military responses, that type of thing. There is a concern expressed among members of Congress that there has to be care still given to protecting civil liberties.

Authorities are very aware of the concerns over this and every chance they have they at least preface their remarks about action by saying they want to protect the American way of life, is the way they put it, including the civil liberties that accompany it.

KING: Bob Franken at the Pentagon, thank you very much this morning.

And across the country today, the nation's governors are calling National Guard troops to duty to patrol major airports. That's one of the president's proposals. He made those yesterday at a rally in Chicago, an attempt by Mr. Bush to restore public confidence in air travel and loosen the financial squeeze on the major airlines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And one of the great goals of this nation's war is to restore public confidence in the airline industry, is to tell the traveling public, get on board, do your business around the country, fly and enjoy America's great destination spots, go down to Disney World in Florida, take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta went to Chicago for that rally yesterday but he didn't go on Air Force One. The Secretary flew commercial and he joins us this morning from Baltimore-Washington International Airport, where he is preparing to board another flight this morning.

Mr. Secretary, where are you off to today?

NORMAN MINETA, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Good morning, John.

No, I did my travel yesterday so I don't have to do it today. But we're trying to make sure that we have the safety and the security of the airplane and the airport secured so that the American traveling public will feel comfortable in flying.

KING: And help us strike the balance through a great debate, the president asking governors to call up the National Guard, believing that a uniformed presence will make people feel more secure. Where do you draw the line? Is there a point at which that might even prove alarming, that the passengers might think if they have the National Guard here and all these armed people they must be scared there's still a threat?

MINETA: No, on the other hand, I think the reaction is that it gives the people a lot more encouragement and a feeling of security at the airport environment. I think one of the problems that we've had is the lack of confidence of the traveling public about the security in terms of flying. And so what the president is trying to do is to say look, it is safe to fly. Carry on, do your business and let's board the flights.

KING: Some criticism, for the first time, perhaps, even a bit of partisanship yesterday, many in Congress saying that they don't believe the president's proposal goes far enough, Democrats promising when this moves to Capitol Hill, and you are a Democrat, sir. You know many of these members well even though you're in the Republican president's cabinet. They think that the federal government should federalize those airport security check-ins. Do you expect that to be changed in the Congress? Will the administration fight if the votes are there to do that?

MINETA: John, it would take about 28,000 to 30,000 people compared to where it is right now in order to do an extensive screening process at the airport. And there's no guarantee that just federalizing this workforce makes the screening process any better.

So what we have done is to take over the whole area of the background investigation, the training, the testing of the screeners as well as increasing the kind of things that we're doing during the screening process. Then we will be hopefully setting up new employees coming in based on higher standards and a pay scale probably equivalent to a GS8 or a GS9. Ad what I envision is a public non- profit corporation like at JPL or Oak Ridge and be able to hire these people and have them not as civil servants, but as contractor employees closely overseen by federal employees.

KING: And Mr. Secretary, help us understand the timetable here. Obviously we will see National Guard troops as early as today in many major airports. But the big ticket items, things like fortified cockpit doors, the cameras the president spoke of in the passenger cabin and in the cockpit so the pilots can see what's going on, on the plane, how long will it take to actually implement those steps?

MINETA: Well, in terms of some of the temporary measures, the bolting of the inside of the cockpit door, these kinds of things can be done relatively quickly. But the retrofit of the cockpit door itself would probably take -- will take longer. And the cost to the airlines will be tremendous. So the president has set aside approximately $3 billion so that we can do the retrofitting of the aircraft. It may be video cameras so that the pilot will be able to see what's going on in the cabin environment. There'll be equipment changes relating to the transponder and the communications gears.

So there are a number of things that would be considered and it will be taking a little time to do that. But the air marshals on board the airplanes will give the kind of security I think that the passengers are looking for.

KING: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta joining us this morning from the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Thank you very much for your time, sir.

The Secretary's presence in Baltimore today a reminder that Reagan National Airport here just across in Virginia from Washington, D.C. remains closed because of its proximity to the Capitol and the White House.

And as we throw it back to you in New York, Paula, I want to show you a picture of a beautiful sunrise here in Washington today. We are closing the week in Washington. It's a little chilly, but it's a beautiful day -- Paula.

ZAHN: Awfully pretty to look at.

Thanks, John.

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