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TSA Cuts Screeners by 3,000

Aired September 30, 2003 - 14:33   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the deadline for the Transportation Security Administration to thin the ranks of airport screeners by another 3,000 positions. The TSA calls it "rightsizing." Sounds like a bit of little spin. They insist it will neither jeopardize the security nor inconvenience the travelers in any way, shape or form.
CNN's Mike Brooks is trying to cut through the spin for us and give us the real gouge on all this. Three thousand people? No matter which way you cut it, there's going to be fewer people out there. That doesn't always equate to less security does, it?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: No, you're going from 55,000 to 48,000. Now these 3,000 basically were removed or they're gone through attrition. And sources within the administration are telling me that most of these people have quit. That's a lot of people, Miles. When you figure they stood up this agency, the TSA, in two years they've done a lot to help bolster security aboard aircraft. Both screening, before you get on a plane, on the plane, enhanced cockpit doors.

But they're calling this a realignment. Now if you look at realignment, let's look at federal air marshals. They are an agency that is in the process of being realigned. They're going from the Transportation Security Administration to the Department of Homeland Security.

Now prior to 9/11, there were only 31 federal air marshals in the whole air system and all they flew were international flights. Now we have them predominantly on domestic and on some -- what they consider high-risk international flights.

How many we have right now total? We don't know. But they believe there are somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 air marshals. And as they transfer to the Department of Homeland Security, they're going to be under the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tom Ridge has said that there will be an additional 5,500 agents at their disposal.

Now I'm starting to hear grumblings from people that I knew back before I came to CNN at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I'm hearing from folks out in the street who are with Immigration and Customs that they're not happy about that because they said they didn't sign onto be federal air marshals.

But they're getting a pretty sweet deal because When they come in they're under a Class 1801 as a federal officer. Most of the agents of Immigration and Customs have four year degrees and are 1811 criminal investigators. So if they kind of put them into the whole mix with the 1811s, the new federal air marshals that were hired are getting a pretty sweet deal.

O'BRIEN: Bottom line, are we less safe are we going to wait longer?

BROOKS: I think right now, and I'm hearing this from the airline industry, they're saying we're safer than we have been in domestic flying than we have been in years. Whether this will have an effect with the upcoming holiday season, we don't know.

O'BRIEN: All right, Mike Brooks, thank you very much.

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 - 14:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the deadline for the Transportation Security Administration to thin the ranks of airport screeners by another 3,000 positions. The TSA calls it "rightsizing." Sounds like a bit of little spin. They insist it will neither jeopardize the security nor inconvenience the travelers in any way, shape or form.
CNN's Mike Brooks is trying to cut through the spin for us and give us the real gouge on all this. Three thousand people? No matter which way you cut it, there's going to be fewer people out there. That doesn't always equate to less security does, it?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: No, you're going from 55,000 to 48,000. Now these 3,000 basically were removed or they're gone through attrition. And sources within the administration are telling me that most of these people have quit. That's a lot of people, Miles. When you figure they stood up this agency, the TSA, in two years they've done a lot to help bolster security aboard aircraft. Both screening, before you get on a plane, on the plane, enhanced cockpit doors.

But they're calling this a realignment. Now if you look at realignment, let's look at federal air marshals. They are an agency that is in the process of being realigned. They're going from the Transportation Security Administration to the Department of Homeland Security.

Now prior to 9/11, there were only 31 federal air marshals in the whole air system and all they flew were international flights. Now we have them predominantly on domestic and on some -- what they consider high-risk international flights.

How many we have right now total? We don't know. But they believe there are somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 air marshals. And as they transfer to the Department of Homeland Security, they're going to be under the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tom Ridge has said that there will be an additional 5,500 agents at their disposal.

Now I'm starting to hear grumblings from people that I knew back before I came to CNN at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I'm hearing from folks out in the street who are with Immigration and Customs that they're not happy about that because they said they didn't sign onto be federal air marshals.

But they're getting a pretty sweet deal because When they come in they're under a Class 1801 as a federal officer. Most of the agents of Immigration and Customs have four year degrees and are 1811 criminal investigators. So if they kind of put them into the whole mix with the 1811s, the new federal air marshals that were hired are getting a pretty sweet deal.

O'BRIEN: Bottom line, are we less safe are we going to wait longer?

BROOKS: I think right now, and I'm hearing this from the airline industry, they're saying we're safer than we have been in domestic flying than we have been in years. Whether this will have an effect with the upcoming holiday season, we don't know.

O'BRIEN: All right, Mike Brooks, thank you very much.

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