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American Morning

Discussion with Gary Hart

Aired March 19, 2003 - 08:17   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: America is on alert for terrorism now that war in Iraq is perhaps only hours away. The U.S. intelligence community believes that al Qaeda is in the final stages of planning for large scale attacks, possibly including chemical, biological or radiological weapons. And the Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level from elevated to high risk.
And a little bit earlier this morning, I asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge about a report that says the U.S. is not adequately prepared for another terrorist attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: What Americans hopefully understand is that every single day since September 11, it hasn't just been the federal government -- and the federal government has been working to improve security -- but your governors and your mayors have, your local first responders, your law enforcement community, the private sector. Every single day there are actions taken in this country to help reduce the risk, to help reduce our vulnerability. Every single day there are actions taken to prevent a terrorist attack.

Are we aware, are we at the precise point where we can say we've got it all done? No, I'm not sure we'll ever be there. But we are far, far better prepared today than we were on September 10, 2001.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: With us now is former Senator Gary Hart.

He is a co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, which issued that report on America's readiness.

Good to see you in person for a change. Welcome.

GARY HART, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: A great pleasure.

Yes, thank you.

ZAHN: The Secretary said America is ready for potential retaliatory strikes. Do you think we are?

HART: Well, with all due respect to Secretary Ridge, I don't think we are. Senator Rudman and I co-chaired a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations last fall, one year after the first attack, and we concluded that America was still in danger and still at risk. I don't think a lot of progress has been made since October.

So I think this country is unacceptably vulnerable to continued attacks.

ZAHN: With the threats as broad and as unspecified as they are, what more could the government be doing?

HART: Well, I think it's a question of glass half empty, glass half full. Governor Ridge sees the glass half full. I think others of us who are talking to local law enforcement and public safety officials constantly hear we haven't received any money, we haven't received any training, any equipment, we've not been doing drills, our frequencies and communications systems are not compatible, we're not on the federal watch list, we don't know what's going on.

So from his view top down, I'm sure he's hearing good things. If he went out and talked to local law enforcement people, I think he might hear a different story.

ZAHN: I asked him that very specific question this morning and I asked him if he felt that the fiscal problems across the country in individual states were going to compromise security. He said not, that money was in the pipeline.

You don't buy that?

HART: Well, it's, it may be at the top of the pipeline. It has not gotten to local officials, at least the ones that I've talked to across the country. And even more than money, I think it's direction, as well. What kind of attacks might occur? How do we best prepare for those? And that's what they're not hearing from Washington.

ZAHN: What is your chief concern as we head into this countdown for this ultimatum for Iraq?

HART: I'm not an expert, but based on people that I've talked to, I would say biological attacks first, probably on multiple targets in the inner part of this country. Next, radiological...

ZAHN: Whoa, wait, wait. Wait a minute. You're saying going to the nation's heartland.

HART: Yes.

ZAHN: And what kind of attacks are you talking about possibly being unleashed?

HART: Oh, it could be botulism, any kind of highly communicable disease that could be spread fairly easily, I think.

ZAHN: Have you seen the evidence that would support that...

HART: No, no, no, no, no, no.

ZAHN: ... or is this just what you're hearing from people you're talking to in the intelligence community? HART: No, this is what I hear from people who are experts, and I'm not. It's the ease of disbursing or dispensing biological agents that I think concerns most people and that's why the federal government's beginning to inoculate some of their first responders. They must have some credible evidence that this threat exists, as well.

ZAHN: Can you really stop that threat?

HART: There is no, as Governor Ridge said, there is no hundred percent security. It's clearly a balance. But we're a long way from where we should be in terms of maximizing the domestic protection.

ZAHN: But there is no doubt in your mind that Americans are much more vulnerable once this war gets under way, not only vulnerable abroad, but particularly here at home?

HART: Oh, I think so. And that's not, again, not my opinion. It's the director of the CIA, the director of the FBI, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. All have said when we attack a sovereign Arab nation in the most volatile region in the world, the threat to this country will skyrocket.

ZAHN: Well...

HART: And I think it would not be surprising if the threat level went from orange to red some time in the next week or two.

ZAHN: I'd love to talk to you about presidential aspirations, but that'll have to happen on another day.

Senator Gary Hart, thanks for coming into the studio this morning.

HART: A great pleasure.

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 March 19, 2003 - 08:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: America is on alert for terrorism now that war in Iraq is perhaps only hours away. The U.S. intelligence community believes that al Qaeda is in the final stages of planning for large scale attacks, possibly including chemical, biological or radiological weapons. And the Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level from elevated to high risk.
And a little bit earlier this morning, I asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge about a report that says the U.S. is not adequately prepared for another terrorist attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: What Americans hopefully understand is that every single day since September 11, it hasn't just been the federal government -- and the federal government has been working to improve security -- but your governors and your mayors have, your local first responders, your law enforcement community, the private sector. Every single day there are actions taken in this country to help reduce the risk, to help reduce our vulnerability. Every single day there are actions taken to prevent a terrorist attack.

Are we aware, are we at the precise point where we can say we've got it all done? No, I'm not sure we'll ever be there. But we are far, far better prepared today than we were on September 10, 2001.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: With us now is former Senator Gary Hart.

He is a co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, which issued that report on America's readiness.

Good to see you in person for a change. Welcome.

GARY HART, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: A great pleasure.

Yes, thank you.

ZAHN: The Secretary said America is ready for potential retaliatory strikes. Do you think we are?

HART: Well, with all due respect to Secretary Ridge, I don't think we are. Senator Rudman and I co-chaired a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations last fall, one year after the first attack, and we concluded that America was still in danger and still at risk. I don't think a lot of progress has been made since October.

So I think this country is unacceptably vulnerable to continued attacks.

ZAHN: With the threats as broad and as unspecified as they are, what more could the government be doing?

HART: Well, I think it's a question of glass half empty, glass half full. Governor Ridge sees the glass half full. I think others of us who are talking to local law enforcement and public safety officials constantly hear we haven't received any money, we haven't received any training, any equipment, we've not been doing drills, our frequencies and communications systems are not compatible, we're not on the federal watch list, we don't know what's going on.

So from his view top down, I'm sure he's hearing good things. If he went out and talked to local law enforcement people, I think he might hear a different story.

ZAHN: I asked him that very specific question this morning and I asked him if he felt that the fiscal problems across the country in individual states were going to compromise security. He said not, that money was in the pipeline.

You don't buy that?

HART: Well, it's, it may be at the top of the pipeline. It has not gotten to local officials, at least the ones that I've talked to across the country. And even more than money, I think it's direction, as well. What kind of attacks might occur? How do we best prepare for those? And that's what they're not hearing from Washington.

ZAHN: What is your chief concern as we head into this countdown for this ultimatum for Iraq?

HART: I'm not an expert, but based on people that I've talked to, I would say biological attacks first, probably on multiple targets in the inner part of this country. Next, radiological...

ZAHN: Whoa, wait, wait. Wait a minute. You're saying going to the nation's heartland.

HART: Yes.

ZAHN: And what kind of attacks are you talking about possibly being unleashed?

HART: Oh, it could be botulism, any kind of highly communicable disease that could be spread fairly easily, I think.

ZAHN: Have you seen the evidence that would support that...

HART: No, no, no, no, no, no.

ZAHN: ... or is this just what you're hearing from people you're talking to in the intelligence community? HART: No, this is what I hear from people who are experts, and I'm not. It's the ease of disbursing or dispensing biological agents that I think concerns most people and that's why the federal government's beginning to inoculate some of their first responders. They must have some credible evidence that this threat exists, as well.

ZAHN: Can you really stop that threat?

HART: There is no, as Governor Ridge said, there is no hundred percent security. It's clearly a balance. But we're a long way from where we should be in terms of maximizing the domestic protection.

ZAHN: But there is no doubt in your mind that Americans are much more vulnerable once this war gets under way, not only vulnerable abroad, but particularly here at home?

HART: Oh, I think so. And that's not, again, not my opinion. It's the director of the CIA, the director of the FBI, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. All have said when we attack a sovereign Arab nation in the most volatile region in the world, the threat to this country will skyrocket.

ZAHN: Well...

HART: And I think it would not be surprising if the threat level went from orange to red some time in the next week or two.

ZAHN: I'd love to talk to you about presidential aspirations, but that'll have to happen on another day.

Senator Gary Hart, thanks for coming into the studio this morning.

HART: A great pleasure.

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