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American Morning
Interview With Bob Baer
Aired January 06, 2004 - 08:06 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 Saudi man could face up to 15 years in prison after three small pyrotechnic devices were found in his backpack when he arrived in the U.S. The man was arrested on Saturday at Boston's Logan Airport after arriving on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany.
To talk about this and other security issues, we are joined now by CIA Officer Bob Baer.
He's in our Washington bureau.
Nice to see you, Bob.
Thanks for being with us.
BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
How concerned should we be about this, the fact that this Saudi man was able to get through Riyadh into Frankfurt and then on into Boston Logan Airport? Is this indicative, in your mind, of really the tip of the iceberg, that there's a huge problem here?
BAER: Well, not a huge problem. But what it tells me, it's inadequate equipment. Normally the detectors in an airport will pick this up. There's a change in color on the x-rays. That concerns me, that they could get gunpowder onto an airplane.
But, on the other hand, pyrotechnic devices are not going to pierce the skin of an airplane and bring it down.
O'BRIEN: Let's turn and talk about British Airways Flight 223. Obviously, this has been a similar flight that's been canceled, delayed. It's sort of been a little bit of a nightmare for the folks who are trying to make it here to the U.S.
Is the problem essentially this flight manifest, that the consulate -- that they basically need to know who's on this flight and that ergo that's the delay in time and that there's no real way to fix this until you can get the names on that manifest much faster?
BAER: Oh, there's a way to fix it. The Israelis have done it and they've done it very well. They know everybody who gets on an airplane before they set -- you know, before they get on it. You know, they check their credit cards, they check their identities, where they stayed. They know who gets on their airplanes. We don't in the West.
I mean you can buy a ticket at the last minute with a stolen credit card and get on an airplane with a forged passport and presumably bring it down. The problem is with the airlines and local security, and it's inadequate, at least now.
O'BRIEN: So what needs to happen, then, before they can finally give that Flight 223 the all clear and it can start traveling as it's supposed to?
BAER: They've got to clear the passenger list a lot faster. They've got to give airport authorities, U.S. authorities a couple hours advanced notice. They can look at the names and if there's a suspect named, they can go to the airport, pull these people aside and question them, but not delay the airplane. The airlines have got to speed up the manifests and not let last minute passengers on the airplanes.
O'BRIEN: Bob Baer, a former CIA officer, joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, Bob.
Happy New Year to you.
BAER: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us.
BAER: Happy New Year.
Thank you.
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 January 6, 2004 - 08:06 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 Saudi man could face up to 15 years in prison after three small pyrotechnic devices were found in his backpack when he arrived in the U.S. The man was arrested on Saturday at Boston's Logan Airport after arriving on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany.
To talk about this and other security issues, we are joined now by CIA Officer Bob Baer.
He's in our Washington bureau.
Nice to see you, Bob.
Thanks for being with us.
BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
How concerned should we be about this, the fact that this Saudi man was able to get through Riyadh into Frankfurt and then on into Boston Logan Airport? Is this indicative, in your mind, of really the tip of the iceberg, that there's a huge problem here?
BAER: Well, not a huge problem. But what it tells me, it's inadequate equipment. Normally the detectors in an airport will pick this up. There's a change in color on the x-rays. That concerns me, that they could get gunpowder onto an airplane.
But, on the other hand, pyrotechnic devices are not going to pierce the skin of an airplane and bring it down.
O'BRIEN: Let's turn and talk about British Airways Flight 223. Obviously, this has been a similar flight that's been canceled, delayed. It's sort of been a little bit of a nightmare for the folks who are trying to make it here to the U.S.
Is the problem essentially this flight manifest, that the consulate -- that they basically need to know who's on this flight and that ergo that's the delay in time and that there's no real way to fix this until you can get the names on that manifest much faster?
BAER: Oh, there's a way to fix it. The Israelis have done it and they've done it very well. They know everybody who gets on an airplane before they set -- you know, before they get on it. You know, they check their credit cards, they check their identities, where they stayed. They know who gets on their airplanes. We don't in the West.
I mean you can buy a ticket at the last minute with a stolen credit card and get on an airplane with a forged passport and presumably bring it down. The problem is with the airlines and local security, and it's inadequate, at least now.
O'BRIEN: So what needs to happen, then, before they can finally give that Flight 223 the all clear and it can start traveling as it's supposed to?
BAER: They've got to clear the passenger list a lot faster. They've got to give airport authorities, U.S. authorities a couple hours advanced notice. They can look at the names and if there's a suspect named, they can go to the airport, pull these people aside and question them, but not delay the airplane. The airlines have got to speed up the manifests and not let last minute passengers on the airplanes.
O'BRIEN: Bob Baer, a former CIA officer, joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, Bob.
Happy New Year to you.
BAER: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us.
BAER: Happy New Year.
Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
