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American Morning
Air Security Breach
Aired October 21, 2003 - 07:16 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A 20-year-old college student is charged with carrying a concealed weapon onboard an aircraft -- a federal crime. According to the FBI, Nathaniel Heatwole admits that he placed box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay that resembled explosives on Southwest jets last month. The FBI says Heatwole calls his actions civil disobedience, aimed at improving air safety. And Heatwole attends Guilford College in North Carolina.
One of his professors, Rex Adelberger, joins us this morning from Greensboro.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for joining us.
REX ADELBERGER, GUILFORD COLLEGE PROFESSOR: Hi. Good morning to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
You're obviously one of Nathaniel's professors. But give me a sense of how well you know him personally.
ADELBERGER: Well, I've known him since he's been a first-year student at Guilford. I've taught him in four classes. We worked together setting up -- or rebuilding a ham radio shack that the college owns. It has a ham radio system. And so, you know, we've talked. I'm one of his academic advisors. He's also a political science major, as well as a physics major.
O'BRIEN: Give us a little insight...
ADELBERGER: So...
O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me for interrupting you there.
ADELBERGER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I was just going to ask you to give us a little insight into who this young man is.
ADELBERGER: Well, he's -- you know, when you first meet him, you'd think he's very quiet. He's not one who just sits there and talks all of the time. You have him in class, and he sits in the class quite quietly, and then hands you in homework that is just outstandingly well-done, where he's been able to explain why he's doing things, how he thinks. And he's an excellent writer. He works well with other students. They all want to be his lab partner, because he's very talented. O'BRIEN: He has...
ADELBERGER: And he's very good...
O'BRIEN: He has said that what he did was an act of civil disobedience; that he wanted to raise awareness of some of the problems on the airliners. Is this something that he discussed with you or other students as well?
ADELBERGER: Not that I know about. I've talked -- you know, we've talked in the class that we have with him about that, and he hadn't talked with any of the physics people about it, that I know about. And he certainly hadn't talked to me about it. I don't know if he's talked with anybody about it.
O'BRIEN: If his goal was...
ADELBERGER: It might be...
O'BRIEN: Forgive me, sir. I keep tripping over you. But I want...
ADELBERGER: That's OK, I can...
O'BRIEN: All right, well, thank you. I'm just going to keep going, then. I know that he obviously wanted to make a point. Now, of course, as you well know, he faces federal charges. He could be facing 10 years in prison. What you know of him, do you think he is well aware of what he was taking on when he decided to do this?
ADELBERGER: Yes, I think so. He's too well-prepared and well- thinking a person not to do that. I don't think this was an act that was done just sort of randomly. He's too clever. I just can't imagine him not knowing what the circumstances would be. I also don't -- the civil disobedience thing, I'm not so sure about either.
He's a science person, and what science people do for a living is they look at things around them and they wonder, you know, are they right? Do they work this way? And they do experiments. And I almost would like to think of this, you know, sort of a non-credit experiment that he might have done, trying to find out -- really show that something isn't right.
O'BRIEN: No credit, but...
ADELBERGER: And if that's civil disobedience...
O'BRIEN: ... a potential big downside for him, possibly. A quick question for you, and we don't have a lot of time.
ADELBERGER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: But I want to know what's been the reaction of the fellow students. Are they supporting him? Are they shocked? Do they just sort of have no opinion? Where do they stand? ADELBERGER: All sides -- there are students that think that what he did was absolutely right, and there are students -- you know, in his classes who think that. There are students who think that this was really pretty dumb, you know, because the costs are pretty high to him -- or the potential costs. And probably the largest part of the students have no feeling one way or the other. You know, they're -- they just are here to go to school. They are trying to get an education so they can earn a good living, and they're just really not involved in those kinds of things.
O'BRIEN: Well...
ADELBERGER: So, there are all three there.
O'BRIEN: Professor Adelberger, I thank you for your time this morning and for providing a little bit of insight on this young man for us. I certainly appreciate it.
ADELBERGER: OK.
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 21, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A 20-year-old college student is charged with carrying a concealed weapon onboard an aircraft -- a federal crime. According to the FBI, Nathaniel Heatwole admits that he placed box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay that resembled explosives on Southwest jets last month. The FBI says Heatwole calls his actions civil disobedience, aimed at improving air safety. And Heatwole attends Guilford College in North Carolina.
One of his professors, Rex Adelberger, joins us this morning from Greensboro.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for joining us.
REX ADELBERGER, GUILFORD COLLEGE PROFESSOR: Hi. Good morning to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
You're obviously one of Nathaniel's professors. But give me a sense of how well you know him personally.
ADELBERGER: Well, I've known him since he's been a first-year student at Guilford. I've taught him in four classes. We worked together setting up -- or rebuilding a ham radio shack that the college owns. It has a ham radio system. And so, you know, we've talked. I'm one of his academic advisors. He's also a political science major, as well as a physics major.
O'BRIEN: Give us a little insight...
ADELBERGER: So...
O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me for interrupting you there.
ADELBERGER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I was just going to ask you to give us a little insight into who this young man is.
ADELBERGER: Well, he's -- you know, when you first meet him, you'd think he's very quiet. He's not one who just sits there and talks all of the time. You have him in class, and he sits in the class quite quietly, and then hands you in homework that is just outstandingly well-done, where he's been able to explain why he's doing things, how he thinks. And he's an excellent writer. He works well with other students. They all want to be his lab partner, because he's very talented. O'BRIEN: He has...
ADELBERGER: And he's very good...
O'BRIEN: He has said that what he did was an act of civil disobedience; that he wanted to raise awareness of some of the problems on the airliners. Is this something that he discussed with you or other students as well?
ADELBERGER: Not that I know about. I've talked -- you know, we've talked in the class that we have with him about that, and he hadn't talked with any of the physics people about it, that I know about. And he certainly hadn't talked to me about it. I don't know if he's talked with anybody about it.
O'BRIEN: If his goal was...
ADELBERGER: It might be...
O'BRIEN: Forgive me, sir. I keep tripping over you. But I want...
ADELBERGER: That's OK, I can...
O'BRIEN: All right, well, thank you. I'm just going to keep going, then. I know that he obviously wanted to make a point. Now, of course, as you well know, he faces federal charges. He could be facing 10 years in prison. What you know of him, do you think he is well aware of what he was taking on when he decided to do this?
ADELBERGER: Yes, I think so. He's too well-prepared and well- thinking a person not to do that. I don't think this was an act that was done just sort of randomly. He's too clever. I just can't imagine him not knowing what the circumstances would be. I also don't -- the civil disobedience thing, I'm not so sure about either.
He's a science person, and what science people do for a living is they look at things around them and they wonder, you know, are they right? Do they work this way? And they do experiments. And I almost would like to think of this, you know, sort of a non-credit experiment that he might have done, trying to find out -- really show that something isn't right.
O'BRIEN: No credit, but...
ADELBERGER: And if that's civil disobedience...
O'BRIEN: ... a potential big downside for him, possibly. A quick question for you, and we don't have a lot of time.
ADELBERGER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: But I want to know what's been the reaction of the fellow students. Are they supporting him? Are they shocked? Do they just sort of have no opinion? Where do they stand? ADELBERGER: All sides -- there are students that think that what he did was absolutely right, and there are students -- you know, in his classes who think that. There are students who think that this was really pretty dumb, you know, because the costs are pretty high to him -- or the potential costs. And probably the largest part of the students have no feeling one way or the other. You know, they're -- they just are here to go to school. They are trying to get an education so they can earn a good living, and they're just really not involved in those kinds of things.
O'BRIEN: Well...
ADELBERGER: So, there are all three there.
O'BRIEN: Professor Adelberger, I thank you for your time this morning and for providing a little bit of insight on this young man for us. I certainly appreciate it.
ADELBERGER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
