Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

United States Now at Orange

Aired December 22, 2003 - 08:02   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: The United States is now at orange, or a high terror alert level, after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned yesterday that terrorists abroad are anticipating attacks that could rival or even exceed those of 9/11.
Earlier this morning, I spoke with Secretary Ridge and asked him what raising the threat level means for security measures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The threat was of such a nature this time that it was important to elevate the threat level from yellow to orange nationwide. We do have the capacity to pinpoint regions or even sectors of the economy. But, in addition to that, because this is the fourth time we've gone up, we have specific plans, specific actions, things that people will do over the next couple of weeks that will significantly enhance the security of this country.

The announcement yesterday was really giving notice to America. But it really set into play an action plan. I mean the people who know what to do have begun doing it yesterday at 1:30. There were very specific actions, specific plans, specific things that they are doing and will continue to do until we reduce the threats level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: As the homeland security secretary Ridge points out, the raising of the terror alert triggers specific plans of action.

Susan Candiotti is standing by for us this morning on Watson Island in Miami, Florida, to report on port security there -- Susan, good morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

You know, it was just a few weeks ago that homeland security chief Tom Ridge was here in Miami talking about improving security and offering another $2 million in federal grants to do that. The Seaport of Miami is one of the busiest in the world. Of course, you can see the cruise ships behind me. Four million passengers come through here each year. And in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, they said that they set a record yesterday for hdlg the single highest number of cruise ship passengers in one day, 15,000. So they're doing closer inspection of all those cruise ship passengers this day, as well as their luggage.

In addition to that, you're talking about nine million tons of cargo that comes through this port annually. All of these factors making this a potentially healthy target for terrorists.

Now, since September 11, of course, they've taken additional steps to make these ports safer. And when there is a heightened state of security, they also do other things. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection doing things, along with the Coast Guard, state and other local authorities, stepping up patrols through the water here, working longer hours, carrying out more operations to inspect cargo. They even have remote subs and dive teams to look under the ships, as well. And whenever there is a cruise ship in port, they don't allow any general traffic to come through. It used to be when a cruise ship would pull out you could pull alongside the boat and wave to people. No more ever since September the 11th.

And, also, since earlier this month, in terms of cargo ships, electronic manifests are required now before any cruise ship can come into port. So these, along with other measures, Soledad, are just some of the steps that authorities are taking to make sure that this seaport is safe.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Susan Candiotti for us this morning on Watson Island.

Susan, thanks.

For more now on the significance of the heightened threat level, let's go to Los Angeles, where we find terrorism expert Brian Jenkins of the Rand Corporation.

Brian, nice to see you.

Good morning and thanks for joining us.

BRIAN JENKINS, SENIOR ADVISER, RAND CORPORATION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right into it. There has been criticism in the past about the threat level rating being used too frequently. So several months ago they were a little more judicious and Secretary Ridge came out and said they had to be more careful about it. So the system now, he told us this morning, is more refined.

How, then, do we read this new warning? Is this much more serious than we've heard in the past?

JENKINS: Well, I think it is serious. It's based upon, it's based upon credible intelligence. It doesn't mean that there is an imminent event that we can predict, but certainly it is serious.

We are learning to live with this. This is something that we are going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future. The alert levels, as Secretary Ridge indicated earlier, are meant really to signal federal agencies, state agencies, the more than 18,000 police jurisdictions we have in this country, plus those in the private sector with security responsibilities, to implement the plans they have in place.

That's a costly thing to do, but we're learning how to do it more efficiently.

O'BRIEN: In addition to those sort of official things happening, how should the general public handle this information and these warnings? I mean what should we do?

JENKINS: Well, I don't think it's a matter of trying to determine what place to avoid or what place you may want to feel, try to feel most, to feel safest. It's not a matter of that. We have to keep in mind that the target of terrorism is not simply this place or that place. Those are locations. The target of terrorism is every one of us, our courage and the stoicism that comes with it. Our continued commitment to values that are important to us and for which this country stands.

That is a psychological battle. And, quite frankly, if you're going to change my life, it's going to take more than chatter.

O'BRIEN: Give me a little insight into this chatter. We heard from Secretary Ridge that it was redundant, coming from many sources. We heard that they were credible sources. Give me a sense specifically of what the information is saying and where it's coming from.

JENKINS: There's a high volume of information every day. There's just tons of information that pour in from sources all over the world. Some of it is gathered through intercepts. Some of it is passed onto us from friendly intelligence sources. And the analysts are faced with this every day, attempting to make some sense of this.

There are times when the sheer volume of that information goes up and also you take a look at the sources of the specific information. That, plus any sort of specificity with regard to targets or timing, near term timing, for example, which they're talking about on this particular occasion, allows them to make a judgment -- and the key word here is judgment -- about the threat level that they then use to justify increased security measures.

O'BRIEN: But if this is the most chatter, we heard them say in the press conference yesterday, since 9/11, why are we not seeing the terror alert raise to red, as opposed to orange?

JENKINS: Well, I think red would be reserved, really, for only those circumstances when there is something imminent and specific. We're not going to shut the country down in anticipation of a possible terrorist attack. I mean I think red would be reserved, for example, if something, if they had some specific information. For example, say a plane was hijacked over the Atlantic. Then I suppose some of the cities on the East Coast might go to a temporary red alert.

But as red alert is something that would exist for hours, not something that we'd put -- would put into place for any lengthy period of time.

O'BRIEN: Secretary Ridge this morning spoke about al Qaeda using planes as weapons. Have we improved airline security to the point where that is -- would be very difficult for an al Qaeda member to do? JENKINS: We have improved airline security, to be sure, although we worry about other forms of gaining control of aircraft, other ways in which they might use even general aviation aircraft to attack targets. To be sure, they do tend to stick to their play books. And in those play books, aviation plays an important role. This is an ability for them to either bring down an airliner or an airplane somewhere, to shoot at it with a missile, to plant a bomb on board or to hijack that plane and crash it into it. All of those are scenarios that they have tried in the past. And so, realistically, we have to accept those as possibilities.

Have we made it more difficult? Yes. Have we made it impossible? I'm never certain about that.

O'BRIEN: Terror expert Brian Jenkins for us this morning.

Brian Jenkins, thanks.

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 December 22, 2003 - 08:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The United States is now at orange, or a high terror alert level, after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned yesterday that terrorists abroad are anticipating attacks that could rival or even exceed those of 9/11.
Earlier this morning, I spoke with Secretary Ridge and asked him what raising the threat level means for security measures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The threat was of such a nature this time that it was important to elevate the threat level from yellow to orange nationwide. We do have the capacity to pinpoint regions or even sectors of the economy. But, in addition to that, because this is the fourth time we've gone up, we have specific plans, specific actions, things that people will do over the next couple of weeks that will significantly enhance the security of this country.

The announcement yesterday was really giving notice to America. But it really set into play an action plan. I mean the people who know what to do have begun doing it yesterday at 1:30. There were very specific actions, specific plans, specific things that they are doing and will continue to do until we reduce the threats level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: As the homeland security secretary Ridge points out, the raising of the terror alert triggers specific plans of action.

Susan Candiotti is standing by for us this morning on Watson Island in Miami, Florida, to report on port security there -- Susan, good morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

You know, it was just a few weeks ago that homeland security chief Tom Ridge was here in Miami talking about improving security and offering another $2 million in federal grants to do that. The Seaport of Miami is one of the busiest in the world. Of course, you can see the cruise ships behind me. Four million passengers come through here each year. And in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, they said that they set a record yesterday for hdlg the single highest number of cruise ship passengers in one day, 15,000. So they're doing closer inspection of all those cruise ship passengers this day, as well as their luggage.

In addition to that, you're talking about nine million tons of cargo that comes through this port annually. All of these factors making this a potentially healthy target for terrorists.

Now, since September 11, of course, they've taken additional steps to make these ports safer. And when there is a heightened state of security, they also do other things. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection doing things, along with the Coast Guard, state and other local authorities, stepping up patrols through the water here, working longer hours, carrying out more operations to inspect cargo. They even have remote subs and dive teams to look under the ships, as well. And whenever there is a cruise ship in port, they don't allow any general traffic to come through. It used to be when a cruise ship would pull out you could pull alongside the boat and wave to people. No more ever since September the 11th.

And, also, since earlier this month, in terms of cargo ships, electronic manifests are required now before any cruise ship can come into port. So these, along with other measures, Soledad, are just some of the steps that authorities are taking to make sure that this seaport is safe.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Susan Candiotti for us this morning on Watson Island.

Susan, thanks.

For more now on the significance of the heightened threat level, let's go to Los Angeles, where we find terrorism expert Brian Jenkins of the Rand Corporation.

Brian, nice to see you.

Good morning and thanks for joining us.

BRIAN JENKINS, SENIOR ADVISER, RAND CORPORATION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right into it. There has been criticism in the past about the threat level rating being used too frequently. So several months ago they were a little more judicious and Secretary Ridge came out and said they had to be more careful about it. So the system now, he told us this morning, is more refined.

How, then, do we read this new warning? Is this much more serious than we've heard in the past?

JENKINS: Well, I think it is serious. It's based upon, it's based upon credible intelligence. It doesn't mean that there is an imminent event that we can predict, but certainly it is serious.

We are learning to live with this. This is something that we are going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future. The alert levels, as Secretary Ridge indicated earlier, are meant really to signal federal agencies, state agencies, the more than 18,000 police jurisdictions we have in this country, plus those in the private sector with security responsibilities, to implement the plans they have in place.

That's a costly thing to do, but we're learning how to do it more efficiently.

O'BRIEN: In addition to those sort of official things happening, how should the general public handle this information and these warnings? I mean what should we do?

JENKINS: Well, I don't think it's a matter of trying to determine what place to avoid or what place you may want to feel, try to feel most, to feel safest. It's not a matter of that. We have to keep in mind that the target of terrorism is not simply this place or that place. Those are locations. The target of terrorism is every one of us, our courage and the stoicism that comes with it. Our continued commitment to values that are important to us and for which this country stands.

That is a psychological battle. And, quite frankly, if you're going to change my life, it's going to take more than chatter.

O'BRIEN: Give me a little insight into this chatter. We heard from Secretary Ridge that it was redundant, coming from many sources. We heard that they were credible sources. Give me a sense specifically of what the information is saying and where it's coming from.

JENKINS: There's a high volume of information every day. There's just tons of information that pour in from sources all over the world. Some of it is gathered through intercepts. Some of it is passed onto us from friendly intelligence sources. And the analysts are faced with this every day, attempting to make some sense of this.

There are times when the sheer volume of that information goes up and also you take a look at the sources of the specific information. That, plus any sort of specificity with regard to targets or timing, near term timing, for example, which they're talking about on this particular occasion, allows them to make a judgment -- and the key word here is judgment -- about the threat level that they then use to justify increased security measures.

O'BRIEN: But if this is the most chatter, we heard them say in the press conference yesterday, since 9/11, why are we not seeing the terror alert raise to red, as opposed to orange?

JENKINS: Well, I think red would be reserved, really, for only those circumstances when there is something imminent and specific. We're not going to shut the country down in anticipation of a possible terrorist attack. I mean I think red would be reserved, for example, if something, if they had some specific information. For example, say a plane was hijacked over the Atlantic. Then I suppose some of the cities on the East Coast might go to a temporary red alert.

But as red alert is something that would exist for hours, not something that we'd put -- would put into place for any lengthy period of time.

O'BRIEN: Secretary Ridge this morning spoke about al Qaeda using planes as weapons. Have we improved airline security to the point where that is -- would be very difficult for an al Qaeda member to do? JENKINS: We have improved airline security, to be sure, although we worry about other forms of gaining control of aircraft, other ways in which they might use even general aviation aircraft to attack targets. To be sure, they do tend to stick to their play books. And in those play books, aviation plays an important role. This is an ability for them to either bring down an airliner or an airplane somewhere, to shoot at it with a missile, to plant a bomb on board or to hijack that plane and crash it into it. All of those are scenarios that they have tried in the past. And so, realistically, we have to accept those as possibilities.

Have we made it more difficult? Yes. Have we made it impossible? I'm never certain about that.

O'BRIEN: Terror expert Brian Jenkins for us this morning.

Brian Jenkins, thanks.

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