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Interview With Martin Meehan
Aired October 30, 2003 - 14:23 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: SWAT teams going room to room, clearing the areas trying to get as many people out of the building and securing those who are still stuck inside their offices. Individuals like Congressman Marty Meehan on the phone with us now, representative, Massachusetts. Congressman, can you give us your personal story as this started to unfold today?
REP. MARTIN MEEHAN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I was in the Cannon Building actually, in the rotunda area, doing an interview with Congressman Peter King from New York. And we finished about 1:20. And we went downstairs immediately, and got out of the -- I got out of the Cannon Building because my office is in the -- but I wanted to go to the Capitol building.
And I did get out of the building although I noticed there were a lot of -- the security guards, seemed to be going to the doors and sort of cutting off the doorways.
Now when I got over to the Capitol five minutes later, the House, which had been in session, went into recess. I asked the Capitol Police and the people in charge over at the House what had happened. They said, well, there's been somebody who they think has a gun and we're going to go into recess now and take the Cannon Building and lock that up and we're asking people to stay in their offices.
PHILLIPS: And of course, all of this, in reaction to the new alert system, I'm being told, that was installed since 9/11. What can you tell us about that, Congressman? And do you feel it was very effective today, thus far?
MEEHAN: Obviously, when something like this happens, we're going to have to wait and see what the investigation determines.
But I can tell you this. Since September 11, and with all this intelligence that comes in, there's little doubt Washington, D.C. is one of the high-risk areas in the country.
And a lot of money's been invested, a lot of technology's been invested, and, you know, I have mixed feelings about it because these are the public's buildings. And millions of people come to Washington each year to go in and see their buildings, go in and see the Capitol Building.
So it seems to me that the alert system was a little slow in operating. But I think we're going to have to see how it happened. In other words, one would wonder why we have photographs of a revolver, yet two individuals got past the guard and ended up getting into the building.
But it's early at this point. We're going to have to have a complete investigation of that.
PHILLIPS: That's the question I've been asking also, Congressman, is if, indeed, they did spot a revolver in the backpack, why the delay? You would think there would be a quick reaction. What do you know about the systems there, up front?
MEEHAN: Well, they're alert systems that are supposed to alert the security people at all of the checkpoints around the Capitol immediately. In this case it would appear -- again, there needs to be investigation -- but it would appear the alert system was a little slow. Certainly slow enough to allow two individuals to grab the bag and disperse within the Capitol Building.
This system is such that -- it's unfortunate, in that people can't -- the public can't come and go in their buildings the way they used to be able to. But this incident demonstrates why we're in this situation and why there has to be so much increased security.
PHILLIPS: Congressman Marty Meehan from Massachusetts, we thank you so much for your time. We're glad you're safe in your office, as are many representatives there.
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 - 14:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: SWAT teams going room to room, clearing the areas trying to get as many people out of the building and securing those who are still stuck inside their offices. Individuals like Congressman Marty Meehan on the phone with us now, representative, Massachusetts. Congressman, can you give us your personal story as this started to unfold today?
REP. MARTIN MEEHAN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I was in the Cannon Building actually, in the rotunda area, doing an interview with Congressman Peter King from New York. And we finished about 1:20. And we went downstairs immediately, and got out of the -- I got out of the Cannon Building because my office is in the -- but I wanted to go to the Capitol building.
And I did get out of the building although I noticed there were a lot of -- the security guards, seemed to be going to the doors and sort of cutting off the doorways.
Now when I got over to the Capitol five minutes later, the House, which had been in session, went into recess. I asked the Capitol Police and the people in charge over at the House what had happened. They said, well, there's been somebody who they think has a gun and we're going to go into recess now and take the Cannon Building and lock that up and we're asking people to stay in their offices.
PHILLIPS: And of course, all of this, in reaction to the new alert system, I'm being told, that was installed since 9/11. What can you tell us about that, Congressman? And do you feel it was very effective today, thus far?
MEEHAN: Obviously, when something like this happens, we're going to have to wait and see what the investigation determines.
But I can tell you this. Since September 11, and with all this intelligence that comes in, there's little doubt Washington, D.C. is one of the high-risk areas in the country.
And a lot of money's been invested, a lot of technology's been invested, and, you know, I have mixed feelings about it because these are the public's buildings. And millions of people come to Washington each year to go in and see their buildings, go in and see the Capitol Building.
So it seems to me that the alert system was a little slow in operating. But I think we're going to have to see how it happened. In other words, one would wonder why we have photographs of a revolver, yet two individuals got past the guard and ended up getting into the building.
But it's early at this point. We're going to have to have a complete investigation of that.
PHILLIPS: That's the question I've been asking also, Congressman, is if, indeed, they did spot a revolver in the backpack, why the delay? You would think there would be a quick reaction. What do you know about the systems there, up front?
MEEHAN: Well, they're alert systems that are supposed to alert the security people at all of the checkpoints around the Capitol immediately. In this case it would appear -- again, there needs to be investigation -- but it would appear the alert system was a little slow. Certainly slow enough to allow two individuals to grab the bag and disperse within the Capitol Building.
This system is such that -- it's unfortunate, in that people can't -- the public can't come and go in their buildings the way they used to be able to. But this incident demonstrates why we're in this situation and why there has to be so much increased security.
PHILLIPS: Congressman Marty Meehan from Massachusetts, we thank you so much for your time. We're glad you're safe in your office, as are many representatives there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
