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Interview With Scott McInnis
Aired October 30, 2003 - 14:16 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: With us on the phone, Representative Scott McInnis, Republican, Colorado. Congressman, kind of take us from the beginning. You were in your office working. You got word what was taking place?
REP. SCOTT MCINNIS (R), COLORADO: Apparently, the unauthorized entrance took place in the entry below our office. And so they have put us on a complete lockdown. They put us -- I guess, initially, we were advised that an incident was going down in the Cannon Office Building.
We put our staff -- we didn't know what was happening. Shortly thereafter -- we have a new alert system in place since September 11. So we receive a transmission from that for a lockdown.
So -- and the -- so our office doors are locked. The hallways are completely empty. There's no panic or anything like that. I think everybody's secure as long as they're in the office. The SWAT team has already been into our office. I mean, they looked everywhere in our office. I assume they're searching that thoroughly in every office and building.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, how many people would you say are in the Cannon House Office building?
MCINNIS: I have no idea. Right now, I have no idea. But in the usual course of business, you probably have, I would guess, over 1,000, but that's a guess. A lot of people. These are big buildings. They have about three -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) building has about 700-some- thousand square feet. World Trade Center had about a million square feet. We're about three-fourths of the World Trade Center, one building.
PHILLIPS: You get a lot of tourists also...
MCINNIS: We look for tourists to bring them into our office, but I think they'd already gone into other offices. There's nobody in the hallways, at least as we see out our doors.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, what's security like there? When you come to work every day you come up to the front. Tell me the regular procedure you go through and what a tourist goes through.
MCINNIS: I think we have excellent security. I used to be a police officer and I feel very comfortable with the security we have. Obviously, a staff that is well known. Our Congressmen, they -- Congressmen go through a different staff -- security procedure. I'm just not allowed to talk about that.
But the tourists -- the procedure they go through, is they -- just like going to the airport. They put their backpacks -- it is a public building. The taxpayers pay for this. We have a lot of people, a lot of tourists that like to come into the building.
So we try and make the entryway as inconvenient -- excuse me, as convenient as possible, while still maintaining security. And I think our Capitol Hill Police do a good job at that.
PHILLIPS: You talk about how good the security is. Try and help us understand how could this -- how this could have happened. Police are reporting, the Capitol Hill Police, that they did spot a revolver in a backpack right there in the screening system.
So, is it possible that someone, for a split second could turn their head and someone could grab it and take off that quickly?
MCINNIS: Well, there's a lot of activity that goes on around there. And keep in mind there may be a delay between the time the cam camera does the x-ray and flashes it on the screen.
You may have an officer looking right there, trying to determine exactly what it is, and all of a sudden this young person -- by your own description, it's apparently a young -- a young couple, they knew what was in that pack and they had an advantage.
I think our detection system worked pretty well. We detected it. They took off on a run. Frankly I think the Capitol Hill Police acted promptly, shutting down the facility. These kinds of incidents happen. I think quick detection is very important to it.
PHILLIPS: Representative Scott McInnis, Republican, Colorado, also former police officer. Sir, thank you very much for your time. We'll continue to check in with you.
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 October 30, 2003 - 14:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: With us on the phone, Representative Scott McInnis, Republican, Colorado. Congressman, kind of take us from the beginning. You were in your office working. You got word what was taking place?
REP. SCOTT MCINNIS (R), COLORADO: Apparently, the unauthorized entrance took place in the entry below our office. And so they have put us on a complete lockdown. They put us -- I guess, initially, we were advised that an incident was going down in the Cannon Office Building.
We put our staff -- we didn't know what was happening. Shortly thereafter -- we have a new alert system in place since September 11. So we receive a transmission from that for a lockdown.
So -- and the -- so our office doors are locked. The hallways are completely empty. There's no panic or anything like that. I think everybody's secure as long as they're in the office. The SWAT team has already been into our office. I mean, they looked everywhere in our office. I assume they're searching that thoroughly in every office and building.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, how many people would you say are in the Cannon House Office building?
MCINNIS: I have no idea. Right now, I have no idea. But in the usual course of business, you probably have, I would guess, over 1,000, but that's a guess. A lot of people. These are big buildings. They have about three -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) building has about 700-some- thousand square feet. World Trade Center had about a million square feet. We're about three-fourths of the World Trade Center, one building.
PHILLIPS: You get a lot of tourists also...
MCINNIS: We look for tourists to bring them into our office, but I think they'd already gone into other offices. There's nobody in the hallways, at least as we see out our doors.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, what's security like there? When you come to work every day you come up to the front. Tell me the regular procedure you go through and what a tourist goes through.
MCINNIS: I think we have excellent security. I used to be a police officer and I feel very comfortable with the security we have. Obviously, a staff that is well known. Our Congressmen, they -- Congressmen go through a different staff -- security procedure. I'm just not allowed to talk about that.
But the tourists -- the procedure they go through, is they -- just like going to the airport. They put their backpacks -- it is a public building. The taxpayers pay for this. We have a lot of people, a lot of tourists that like to come into the building.
So we try and make the entryway as inconvenient -- excuse me, as convenient as possible, while still maintaining security. And I think our Capitol Hill Police do a good job at that.
PHILLIPS: You talk about how good the security is. Try and help us understand how could this -- how this could have happened. Police are reporting, the Capitol Hill Police, that they did spot a revolver in a backpack right there in the screening system.
So, is it possible that someone, for a split second could turn their head and someone could grab it and take off that quickly?
MCINNIS: Well, there's a lot of activity that goes on around there. And keep in mind there may be a delay between the time the cam camera does the x-ray and flashes it on the screen.
You may have an officer looking right there, trying to determine exactly what it is, and all of a sudden this young person -- by your own description, it's apparently a young -- a young couple, they knew what was in that pack and they had an advantage.
I think our detection system worked pretty well. We detected it. They took off on a run. Frankly I think the Capitol Hill Police acted promptly, shutting down the facility. These kinds of incidents happen. I think quick detection is very important to it.
PHILLIPS: Representative Scott McInnis, Republican, Colorado, also former police officer. Sir, thank you very much for your time. We'll continue to check in with you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
