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Security Watch: Cargo Concerns; Supreme Court Nominee Alito Courts Both Parties

Aired November 16, 2005 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: If you've flown lately, you know the drill: line up at security, have your carry-ons checked, get wanded, if you set them off. But you may be surprised to learn the same scrutiny doesn't apply to the cargo that may be flying in the belly of your plane. A new government report warns the Transportation Security Administration has to do more to plug holes in air-cargo security.
CNN's Drew Griffin discovered just how extensive they can be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): This is the line most passengers don't see, thousands and thousands of trucks a day lining up to bring millions of tons of cargo onto passenger planes, and how much of that gets inspected? How much of that even gets looked at before it's placed right into the belly of the plane you fly?

According to this Federal Aviation Administration inspector, on most of the flights this inspector oversees almost none.

(on camera): You've been in this business a while. Are we safer or just as vulnerable as 9/11?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In respect of the cargo, we're probably as vulnerable or maybe more vulnerable.

GRIFFIN: More vulnerable?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cargo still has a lot of loopholes where something can get on that airplane.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Fearing employer retaliation, the inspector has asked not to be identified.

As CNN crisscrossed the country over three months at airport after airport, we saw how easy it would be for terrorists to get explosives or lethal chemicals on to an airplane, to tamper with loads on cargo trucks, and how simple it was for us to drive down this road outside Chicago's O'Hare Airport and walk right up to the containers sitting outside a post office air-cargo facility.

(on camera): You could see anybody could come up to any of these and put anything inside them. These are unit-load devices that will be loaded into the bottom of a plane. We're standing outside O'Hare airport. This is where a federal airline official brought us because of the concern of safety.

(voice-over): And for the next three days we kept coming back to this spot and seeing the open gates and the cargo containers left unattended. A spokesman says the Postal Service relies on employees here to report any suspicious activity, and told CNN so many airlines need access to pick up and drop cargo, the gate is left open for convenience.

This other veteran airline employee has spent years on the tarmac working for a major airline. He doesn't inspect cargo, but he sees it being loaded onto planes every day. Like our inspector, he has asked his identity be concealed.

(on camera): From the time that 18-wheeler comes into the airport to the time the cargo is unloaded and placed on a plane, is there any government, airline, local police screening that's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None that I noticed. The only government agency that I ever see on a consistent basis that would inspect freight is if it's livestock related. Then it's somebody from the USDA.

GRIFFIN: So cows will get inspected, but large crates won't?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's from my observation, yes.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): What he observes on a daily basis is the complex world of airport-cargo operations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't open up a crate when it's right at the airport ready to be loaded just to look inside to see what's in there.

GRIFFIN (on camera): At the airport facility itself, we're not talking about any X-rays. You have not personally seen any bomb- sniffing dogs or anything like that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't. I'm not saying it's not there, but I've never seen it in my time doing this, and I've been doing this for many years.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): And this FAA inspector says trucks and cargo-holding facilities are often left unlocked.

The holes in air-cargo security may be a surprise to you but should be no surprise to Congress. For nearly a decade vice presidential commissions, congressional reviews and federal reports have pointed out the pressing need for more security in the cargo holds of planes. The 9/11 Commission looked again at air-cargo security. It concluded nothing changed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It created a huge risk for the American traveling public, because we thought it was quite easy, really, to get explosive devices into air cargo.

GRIFFIN: CNN has tried to find out from the Transportation Security Administration what percentage of air cargo is being inspected. TSA tells us the information is secret for security reasons. There might be another reason. It could also be embarrassing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The information we had, and this is now two, three years old, was that 5 percent or less of the air cargoes were being inspected. I hope more than that are being inspected now, but I don't think it's anywhere close to 100 percent.

GRIFFIN: What the airline industry likes to say is that 100 percent of cargo is screened.

James May is president of the Air Transport Association, a lobbying group that represents the major U.S. carriers.

(on camera): That does not mean inspected?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does not mean physically -- we do not physically inspect 100 percent of the cargo going aboard our planes. No, we don't.

GRIFFIN: What the airline industry does say is 100 percent of cargo is screened through the air industry's "Known Shipper" program.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In some cases it will be physical inspection. In some cases it will be explosives detection. In some cases it will be canine. In other cases it will be as all cargo going on passenger aircraft is -- comes from a Known Shipper program, it will be screened through the Known Shipper program.

GRIFFIN: In fact, the Known Shipper program is the backbone of air cargo security.

What is it? Mark Hatfield is federal communications director for the Transportation Security Administration.

(on camera): People on the inside would have been talking to us say it's a pencil whip situation. The paperwork is good, it goes on the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a process by which the airlines, the carriers actually are required to go through a series of steps to identify, and know and vet the shippers so that there's not any kind of mysterious entity out there.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The government allows more than 400,000 companies to certify their cargo is safe. Airlines, therefore, assume cargo from those shippers is safe, but TSA maintains the whole system is safe.

(on camera): In such a humongous system, how can any agency ensure that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No agency can, which is why it's vitally important that we're partnered with industry. GRIFFIN (voice-over): But the FAA inspector we talked to see flaws in the system. Some carriers are so lax in handling cargo, the inspector actually avoids flying on them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know about this, and I can choose which airlines and which planes I want to fly on. The general public doesn't know that there should be some serious concerns about how cargo is handled.

GRIFFIN: The TSA's Hatfield says the agency has 200 federal inspectors nationwide. They don't actually inspect any cargo. They just make sure the airlines are following the rules.

(on camera): And the only way the airline knows what's in those crates is a piece of paper?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my understanding. I am not aware of the process prior to the freight arrival to the airport, but when it gets to the airport, whatever was done to inspect that freight has been done.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Both the TSA and the air industry admit the system is far from foolproof, but say they are working on improvements, but neither expects cargo to ever get the same scrutiny as you and your bags.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would love to be able to sit here and tell you that we've got the technology and that we're doing that. That is the gold standard. But against millions of dollars of investment right now, we don't have the technology.

GRIFFIN: Technology may be the long-term solution, but in the short term, CNN's investigation has shown open gates, unattended cargo containers and unsecured truck routes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see that throughout the system there are opportunities for the terrorists to get at that container and to put explosives into it. And we're just not as alert to that as we ought to be.

GRIFFIN: Two weeks after our first visit we're back at this same mail facility at O'Hare.

(on camera): The gates remain wide open. And take a look at this, remember those unit-load devices we saw two weeks ago just sitting right out in the open? Here's some more. Outside the fence that's not even locked, open for anybody to get inside. An open invitation for terrorists here and throughout America's air-cargo system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Drew Griffin joins us live now, so the question remains, is there a solution?

GRIFFIN: The solution is simple, screen everything that goes on a plane, just like your luggage. But the implementation is what's hard. The industry is in financial trouble, doesn't want to hire any additional people or machines, and if the government stepped in to it, they says it would cot them three-point-some-odd billion dollars just to screen the cargo that goes in there. So we have financial considerations.

PHILLIPS: OK, but it all comes down to risk, obviously. So do people in the airline industry say there's a danger or there isn't a danger? Or do they admit to it?

GRIFFIN: What the airline industry likes to say, and has said for years and years and years, is, trust us, we have the safest transportation system ever. And it is very safe to travel on an airplane. But on 9/11, that trust, that faith, was broken. And the critics say we can't let another 9/11 happen in terms of air cargo. We have to act now. So something needs to be done to screen at least some of these holes in air cargo.

PHILLIPS: And it's a -- a lot of people might say how did you come across this story, even decide to investigate this? Was this something that you just heard people talking about in the industry? Did someone come to you, the source you had...

GRIFFIN: We had these people coming to us.

PHILLIPS: They basically said...

GRIFFIN: These are the people who check the planes, who look at the cargo, who see these holes every day. And they work for the government. And they said to us, come and see the holes that we see every day, people will be surprised how easy it could be for somebody to get a bomb on these planes.

PHILLIPS: Well, what you investigated, what, a couple months ago -- now it's on the front page of all the papers. It will be interesting. I know you're doing follow-ups, right?

GRIFFIN: Right.

PHILLIPS: We look forward to that. Thanks, Drew.

Well, more on, of course, "PAULA ZAHN NOW." That's at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, only here on CNN. Drew will have more information with regard to his report. That will be live in the 8:00 hour.

Oil industry bosses say that their companies didn't work with Vice President Cheney's secret energy task force, but an official White House document suggests otherwise. We'll have the details, ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Back now in B Control, we're talking about a White House document that appears to contradict testimony by top oil company executives to a Senate panel last week. Listen to this. According to "The Washington Post," the document shows that ExxonMobil, Conoco, Shell and B.P. officials met with vice president Cheney's energy task force in 2001, as it was working on a national energy policy.

Well, last week, top executives of some of the same companies told the Senate panel that their organizations did not participate in that task force. The White House says the task force's work is confidential. We're going to talk about this more, of course, coming up in the next hour.

Now, courting senators on Capitol Hill, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is making his case to members of both parties today. While Alito holds more one-on-one sit-downs with senators, the Democrats' leader is voicing some new concerns.

Congressional correspondent Ed Henry has been keeping an eye on all of this. He joins us now on Capitol Hill. More fall-out from that 1985 memo?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, as you mentioned, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid came out swinging today for the first time, saying he has serious concerns about this nomination. Saying that when you look at this 1985 memo in which Judge Alito, then a young lawyer looking for a promotion in the Reagan Justice Department, basically said he does not believe the Constitution protects a right to abortion.

If you put that together with Judge Alito's record on the 3rd Circuit as an appellate judge, Senator Reid basically says, this is one of the most conservative judges in the country. And he said this is why conservative activists have been popping champagne corks ever since Harriet Miers got dumped in favor of Judge Alito.

And he went on to say he thinks his record is downright extreme. And so when you put all that together, it really sounds like the opening strands of a possible filibuster. Democrats laying the groundwork when they use words like extreme.

Now, Senator Reid almost immediately said it's way to early to talk about a filibuster, we're not talking about extended debate or delaying this nomination. But they're starting to use those kind of code words. They're trying to jump on this 1985 memo that is going to set off some alarm bells -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, how is Alito defending himself, Ed?

HENRY: Well, what's interesting is almost the difference, night and day ,between the way he handles these one-on-one meetings that you mentioned and the way Harriet Miers handled them. Of course, they were a disaster back then. Now Judge Alito really appears to be his best -- his own best advocate.

Yesterday in the heat of this 1985 memo being revealed, he met with Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. She's the only woman on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Of course, she supports abortion rights. And she came out of that saying that she felt that the judge was very sincere in saying that his 1985 comments were really unrelated to the way he has acted as a judge.

And today Judge Alito, as you also mentioned, went in and met with Republican Olympia Snowe, another key moderate here. She is a Republican who supports abortion rights. She came out of there saying basically that the judge, once again, talked about stair decisis, which is basically Latin for you believe in legal precedent. That while he may, in fact, be personally opposed to abortion, he's not about to overturn Roe v. Wade. That's key, that's what a lot of moderate lawmakers in both parties want to hear.

And so at the end of the day, if he continues to sort of assuage some of the concerns of some of these moderates, it's going to be very hard for Democratic leaders to mount a filibuster -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, Ed, we've sort of laid out the facts and what both Republicans and Democrats are saying. You've got so many sources, you've been working this story -- you know, it's been an ongoing story for you, obviously for weeks and weeks. Any interesting take on this? Anything we haven't talked about or covered that you found interesting?

HENRY: Well, I do think it is interesting to see Judge Alito operate. Normally, when Harriet Miers was here, when you saw her off- camera in the hallways up here, she seemed very awkward and uncomfortable with the limelight. Judge Alito actually is also a little bit uncomfortable with the limelight. He seems almost nervous, always looking down, fiddling with his tie and what not.

But he also does seem a bit more confident, however, than Harriet Miers when he goes into these meetings. And what we're hearing from senators is that he really does seem to have a quiet confidence that he's qualified and that he is going to be able to answer their questions, not just one-on-one, but when those hearings come in January. This is someone who's going to be armed and ready -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed Henry, thanks so much.

HENRY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's all over the New York papers for days now. Tracking the phony firemen. Get the whole story next. LIVE FROM's got the news you want, all afternoon. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The manhunt is on in New York for the suspect in a chilling crime. Police believe he impersonated a firefighter, then held a woman captive and sexually assaulted her for half of a day. Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For weeks, he has been the topic of tabloid headlines. He's been featured on "America's Most Wanted," chatted about on Internet blogs. His whereabouts the subject of an intense police manhunt. He's Peter Braunstein, former "Women's Wear Daily" writer and book editor, now wanted in connection with a bizarre and brutal sexual assault.

ALBERTO BRAUNSTEIN, SUSPECT'S FATHER: It was just devastating, devastating. Because reading about it, my first thought was, anyone who could commit such a thing must be emotionally disturbed.

CARROLL: Braunstein's father runs an art gallery in New York City. He, like many here, read details of the sadistic attack, not knowing police were looking for his son.

CARROLL (on camera): Do you believe the allegations?

BRAUNSTEIN: To a certain extent, I have to say that I don't believe everything I read in the paper.

CARROLL: Detectives believe Braunstein allegedly bought a firefighter's uniform off the Internet. They suspect he wore it this past Halloween. And once on this street in Chelsea, police allege he set two small fires as a ruse to get inside the apartment of a former colleague who works at fashion publication "W" magazine. Police say Braunstein allegedly knocked out his victim with chloroform, bound her with tape, assaulted her for 13 hours, and disappeared.

CANDACE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: This particular type of predator did a number of things in the course of the assault. The planning, the bringing props, staying for an extended period of time with the victim. Shows a great deal of confidence. He probably is of above average intelligence.

CARROLL: Braunstein says his son has always been bright and confident. He says catching him won't be easy.

BRAUNSTEIN: He is going to try and play cat-and-mouse with the police, to see -- but how far can he go?

CARROLL: Police traced Braunstein to several locations in New York City. He checked into this mid-town hotel the day after the attack. He's been spotted in Times Square, and police suspect last week, he used his metro card to gain access to this West Village subway station.

Each day he eludes police, more details about his past come to light. At one time, he was a featured writer for an explicit Web site called GettingItOn.com, writing articles like this, titled "Commitment to Raunch," and "Wicked Women to Watch."

Photographer Nat Finkelstein, who worked with Braunstein, isn't surprised about the allegations.

NAT FINKELSTEIN, PHOTOGRAPHER: He hates women. He's abusive, he's nasty. There is at least six women that I do know of, including my own wife that he's even threatened.

CARROLL: Braunstein's father says his son had a temper, but he never thought him capable of hurting anyone. He doesn't expect to hear from Braunstein. They've been estranged for the past two years. Still, if, as police suspect, he's watching media reports, he has this message.

BRAUNSTEIN: I'm pleading with him to turn himself in, before something drastic or tragic happens.

CARROLL: He can only hope his son is listening.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, tornadoes tear through and leave a path of destruction through five states. We're going to have the latest from the disaster zone as soon as we come back. You're watching LIVE FROM.

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