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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Robert Johnson

Aired December 01, 2002 - 11:12   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: After a smooth start last week to the Thanksgiving holiday travel season, well, today comes the big crunch. Millions are traveling back home on the same day, and it will be a test for travelers and for security personnel. CNN's Kathleen Koch has the latest from Reagan National Airport, just outside the nation's capital. Kathleen, we got an update on travel delays, but I am wondering if part of the delay is getting through security now.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, part of it is, but it is a relatively short delay, and we're talking about more travelers in the airport this year than last year, when travel was way down. AAA said 6 percent more people traveling this Thanksgiving by air than last year.

But if you want to talk about the security delays, let's go right to the source. Robert Johnson, who is the spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, is here with us. Robert, how are we doing nationwide at these security checkpoints, where we have, what, 44,000 new federal screeners in place?

ROBERT JOHNSON, TSA: TSA screeners are doing a great job this Thanksgiving week. They're moving people through the checkpoints, informing them of what is going on and making sure they get to their flights on time. So far we have seen everything running like clockwork in all of the airports around America. The wait times are low. In many cases, there is no wait at all, and people are barely getting enough time to take the metal out of their pockets before they get to the metal detectors.

KOCH: Now, what kind of contraband are you finding? Because I understand that some people still don't get it, that they can't bring knives, that they can't bring mace on board the plane, into the cabin?

JOHNSON: There are a lot of things that we intercept that can't get on flight today, and all of that can be found on TSATravelTips.us.

Mace is a big problem. It is something a lot of people carry. It looks like many other things in a toiletry bag. We slow down the line when we have to look for this. So don't bring your mace to the airport.

Knives are very common. We intercept tens of thousands of knives every day. This is a common buck knife. We see a lot of these. We turn them over to law enforcement.

The last thing that is a little big more concerning, the cigarette lighter you see right here. It is ready to light your cigarette, but it's also a switchblade. We'll get that to go right up there. You can see that that it is a concealed weapon, if you will. This is not going to get through.

Leave these things at home. If you'd like to continue to own them, don't bring them to the checkpoint, leave them on your dresser.

KOCH: Because these will be confiscated.

JOHNSON: Right.

KOCH: Robert Johnson with the TSA, thank you very much.

And Carol, as Robert said, the lines are moving well, we have seen them moving quite briskly here, so looking good at the airports right now, might be a different picture at the end of the day, so be sure to check back.

LIN: That's right. It looks pretty good so far behind you; nobody is there. Thanks so much, Kathleen Koch.

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 1, 2002 - 11:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: After a smooth start last week to the Thanksgiving holiday travel season, well, today comes the big crunch. Millions are traveling back home on the same day, and it will be a test for travelers and for security personnel. CNN's Kathleen Koch has the latest from Reagan National Airport, just outside the nation's capital. Kathleen, we got an update on travel delays, but I am wondering if part of the delay is getting through security now.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, part of it is, but it is a relatively short delay, and we're talking about more travelers in the airport this year than last year, when travel was way down. AAA said 6 percent more people traveling this Thanksgiving by air than last year.

But if you want to talk about the security delays, let's go right to the source. Robert Johnson, who is the spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, is here with us. Robert, how are we doing nationwide at these security checkpoints, where we have, what, 44,000 new federal screeners in place?

ROBERT JOHNSON, TSA: TSA screeners are doing a great job this Thanksgiving week. They're moving people through the checkpoints, informing them of what is going on and making sure they get to their flights on time. So far we have seen everything running like clockwork in all of the airports around America. The wait times are low. In many cases, there is no wait at all, and people are barely getting enough time to take the metal out of their pockets before they get to the metal detectors.

KOCH: Now, what kind of contraband are you finding? Because I understand that some people still don't get it, that they can't bring knives, that they can't bring mace on board the plane, into the cabin?

JOHNSON: There are a lot of things that we intercept that can't get on flight today, and all of that can be found on TSATravelTips.us.

Mace is a big problem. It is something a lot of people carry. It looks like many other things in a toiletry bag. We slow down the line when we have to look for this. So don't bring your mace to the airport.

Knives are very common. We intercept tens of thousands of knives every day. This is a common buck knife. We see a lot of these. We turn them over to law enforcement.

The last thing that is a little big more concerning, the cigarette lighter you see right here. It is ready to light your cigarette, but it's also a switchblade. We'll get that to go right up there. You can see that that it is a concealed weapon, if you will. This is not going to get through.

Leave these things at home. If you'd like to continue to own them, don't bring them to the checkpoint, leave them on your dresser.

KOCH: Because these will be confiscated.

JOHNSON: Right.

KOCH: Robert Johnson with the TSA, thank you very much.

And Carol, as Robert said, the lines are moving well, we have seen them moving quite briskly here, so looking good at the airports right now, might be a different picture at the end of the day, so be sure to check back.

LIN: That's right. It looks pretty good so far behind you; nobody is there. Thanks so much, Kathleen Koch.

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