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American Morning
Canceled Flights
Aired February 02, 2004 - 07:04 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: New concerns about airline security prompted the cancellation of seven weekend flights. Yesterday, a Continental Airlines Washington to Houston flight was grounded, and six U.S.-bound flights were cancelled over the weekend.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live for us at Washington's Dulles Airport with more on this story.
Jeanne -- good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Homeland security officials say they do not anticipate any further cancellations, unless some new additional intelligence is developed. As you mentioned, a flight was cancelled yesterday from Dulles to Houston's airport. That's the seventh flight canceled. The six other international flight involving Continental, British Air and Air France.
Now, homeland security officials say that the intelligence was very specific as to date, as to flight numbers, as to airlines. It was not specific, however, as to a possible method of attack. And so, they looked at the broad range of possibilities. One, of course, is that these flights might be hijacked and used for suicide bomb, as they were on 9/11.
But they also were very cognizant of the other things that al Qaeda has been interested in, specifically in regards to weapons of mass destruction. And so, there was also consideration being given to the possibility that these flights might be used for the dispersal of biological or chemical weapons, or that they might be used to transport a radiological weapon. But, again, nothing specific in the intelligence pointing in any particular direction.
Yesterday, Senator Jay Rockefeller weighed in on the risk and the response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: We don't know how to protect against biological. Therefore, if there's any whiff -- I mean, any sense -- not whiff -- but any sense of biological, you play it safe, and the plane doesn't fly. And people are going to have to get used to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MESERVE: Now, a government official said yesterday that he would not be specific about the source of the intelligence, but he said it was similar to the source which led to the cancellation of flights over the Christmas holiday. He said the source of this information was considered to be credible and the information was corroborated by communications intercepts.
But, as I said, no further cancellations are anticipated at this time.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, 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 February 2, 2004 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New concerns about airline security prompted the cancellation of seven weekend flights. Yesterday, a Continental Airlines Washington to Houston flight was grounded, and six U.S.-bound flights were cancelled over the weekend.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live for us at Washington's Dulles Airport with more on this story.
Jeanne -- good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Homeland security officials say they do not anticipate any further cancellations, unless some new additional intelligence is developed. As you mentioned, a flight was cancelled yesterday from Dulles to Houston's airport. That's the seventh flight canceled. The six other international flight involving Continental, British Air and Air France.
Now, homeland security officials say that the intelligence was very specific as to date, as to flight numbers, as to airlines. It was not specific, however, as to a possible method of attack. And so, they looked at the broad range of possibilities. One, of course, is that these flights might be hijacked and used for suicide bomb, as they were on 9/11.
But they also were very cognizant of the other things that al Qaeda has been interested in, specifically in regards to weapons of mass destruction. And so, there was also consideration being given to the possibility that these flights might be used for the dispersal of biological or chemical weapons, or that they might be used to transport a radiological weapon. But, again, nothing specific in the intelligence pointing in any particular direction.
Yesterday, Senator Jay Rockefeller weighed in on the risk and the response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: We don't know how to protect against biological. Therefore, if there's any whiff -- I mean, any sense -- not whiff -- but any sense of biological, you play it safe, and the plane doesn't fly. And people are going to have to get used to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MESERVE: Now, a government official said yesterday that he would not be specific about the source of the intelligence, but he said it was similar to the source which led to the cancellation of flights over the Christmas holiday. He said the source of this information was considered to be credible and the information was corroborated by communications intercepts.
But, as I said, no further cancellations are anticipated at this time.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, 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.
