Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

House to Vote on Divisive Aviation Security Bill

Aired November 01, 2001 - 10:01   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On Capitol Hill, let's go there now, where Jonathan Karl is standing by. And members of the House expected, again, to vote on sweeping new changes in aviation security.

Here's Jonathan. Jonathan, good morning.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, this is an unusual situation up here, and one of the few times where, right before a vote, you have a situation where both sides truly do not know how this vote will come down. It's really is going down to the wire. Republican vote counters saying it could come down to one or two votes either way -- either for that Democratic version of the aviation security bill, that would make those baggage screeners at airports federal employees; or the Republican version, which would allow the president to decide either to use federal employees or to hire out to the private contractors.

Now with that in mind, with the closeness in mind, the president is meeting with 15 Republicans, many of them true fence-sitters on this issue later this morning at the White House to try to use some presidential persuasion to get them to go for the Republican version of the bill.

And Democrats are in full campaign mode up here. The Democratic -- one of the key Democratic players, the whip, the Democratic vote counter, David Bonior was on CNN this morning saying they need to -- the Congress needs to pass the Democratic version of this bill, not only for the sake of aviation security, but for the sake of the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID BONIOR (D-MI), MINORITY WHIP: This is a good bill; it needs to get to the president quickly so we can secure our airlines, so people feel secure and safe so they start to fly again. This is the first, really, piece in our economic stimulus package that we need. If we don't get people into the air doing the business around the country, the economy will continue to suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: But Republicans say the best way to secure the airports is do what most Europeans countries do, and do what the country of Israel does, which is simply to allow private companies, private contractors to be allowed to come in and do the baggage screening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRISTOPHER COX (R-CA), POLICY CHAIRMAN: In the late 1990s, Israel switched from the system in which it was all nationalized to a system in which they had strong national government participation, but also an arm's-length relationship with the people who worked at the airport so they could more toughly regulate them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: Private companies would make it easier, Cox and other Republicans say, to fire employees that don't do well, to hire new employees, to have more strict regulations, easier hiring and firing.

But Bill, what's interesting here, the president is getting into this game very late, but very aggressively, trying to push for that Republican version. But he's fighting this battle with one hand tied behind his back. That's because the president has said that he would not veto the Democratic version. If the Democratic version passes, he says he'll sign it.

Now, usually when a president gets involved in a battle like this, his most powerful tool is a threat of a veto, but the president not doing that this time.

HEMMER: Jonathan, clearly throughout this we can see politics in this argument. But I'm wondering, given the events of 9/11, how politicians are either cranking up or cranking back on how they appeal in a political way.

KARL: Well, they had cranked way back on virtually every other issue that's come up since September 11. But on this one, it really looks more like a full-style campaign. Democrats very much getting involved in this, very critical of the Republican leadership, although refraining from criticizing too much the president himself. They've directed their criticism at people like Tom DeLay, the No. 3 Republican in the House who has led the battle for the Republican version of this bill.

But this is an intense lobbying campaign. This looks more like the old-style politics, pre-September 11 politics, than anything we've seen since that day.

HEMMER: You're right. Jonathan, thanks, on Capitol Hill.

Let's go down Pennsylvania Avenue now to the White House. Again, as Jonathan mentioned, the president says he will not veto something he disagrees with on this bill. But Major Garrett is tracking the latest from there now.

Major, good morning to you. What is being said from your position there?

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning, Bill. The president is due it meet, within the next hour and a half, with about a dozen House Republicans. Some of them remain undecided on the key question of how to vote on airline security. The president will add a little bit of a personal lobbying touch to those members who are here.

Conversations this morning with top House Republican aides and even some Democrats. There is a general sense that probably, in all likelihood, when the vote is taken later on today, the House Republicans will win, but very, very narrowly. Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri told me a little bit ago, you know, a week ago when we started this campaign against the House Republican leadership, we didn't think we had a chance of prevailing in the House. Now the best Republicans can hope for, she says, is a weak victory. House Republican leadership aides also tell CNN they expect a narrow victory in the House.

The president will be very glad to have that narrow victory, but as Jonathan accurately pointed out, not having the veto threat on the table has made the vote-getting much, much more complicated. And it's an open question, Bill, exactly what position the president will find himself in once the House bill is merged with the Senate bill.

You have a rather lopsided outcome in those two chambers: 100 to nothing on the Senate side, and a narrow, in all likelihood, House victory on the House side. How does that put the president in a negotiating position to get more of what he want from the House bill and less of what he doesn't like from the Senate bill? That remains an open question.

HEMMER: Major, if I can turn you a second here to the whole issue of propaganda. It came out of the White House earlier today that there will be a major offensive launch in this area overseas, really picking up steam next week. What's the intention here? And what are the pitfalls the White House has seen thus far in its own message getting out, not only in the U.S. but, specifically, overseas?

GARRETT: Well, Bill, if you'll allow me a point of proprietary pride here, CNN first reported this yesterday afternoon that there will be an intensive and very heavily supervised -- from the highest levels of the U.S. and British government -- coordinated communication strategy here in the United States from the White House, from 10 Downing Street in London, and also from Islamabad, Pakistan -- a 24- hour communications nerve center in all three areas so the coalition led by the United States can not only drive the message about what the war on terrorism is really all about, but be more responsive to Taliban accusations of civilian casualties, to Taliban contentions that they've scored a military victory, or any unrest throughout the larger Muslim and Arab world.

The United States and the British government have concluded that up until now they have done a poor job of combating the propaganda from the Taliban. They won't say openly that they're losing the propaganda war, but there is intense concern about potential erosion of support for the coalition effort, not only in Europe, but through the wider Muslim and Arab world. So this is a strategy designed to put more of the U.S. and coalition message out there, particularly on a real-time basis. What they have found here in Washington, Bill, is often the Taliban will make an accusation, make some sort of statement; most of Washington, if not all of it, is dead asleep, not able to respond. So things stay out in the region for five, six, seven hours either un-rebutted or un- dealt with. That's not going to happen any more. In all of the time zones from Pakistan to London, to Washington, they're going to be responded to immediately in hopes, the U.S. believes, that it can balance the scales in the propaganda campaign.

HEMMER: And a very interesting strategy, too. We all know propaganda is a key element to any war that goes on. Major, thanks. Good reporting yesterday afternoon. Major Garrett at the White House.

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