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CNN Saturday Morning News
An Interview with Ben Venzke
Aired May 24, 2003 - 08:36 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it's time for your family vacation, you'll likely pack your camera, your swimsuit and other essentials. But should you also bring along a so-called go bag that can come in handy in case of a terrorist attack?
Ben Venzke is the co-author of "The Al Qaeda Threat: An Analytical Guide to Al Qaeda's Tactics and Targets."
And he joins us now from Washington with some tips on traveling in our code orange world.
So, Ben, what do you think about this go bag?
And I think you have one right next to you, don't you? BEN VENZKE, CO-AUTHOR, "THE AL-QAEDA THREAT": Yes, you know, this sort of came in fashion during the last orange alert, where there was a lot of talk about how you prepare your home and what do you do if you need to evacuate. And the concept of a go bag is if you're just going about your normal business at home or you're out at the office and suddenly within two or three minutes you're told you need to evacuate now, the idea is to have everything together so you can just grab that bag and go.
Fortunately, when you're traveling overseas you don't need anything as comprehensive as this because for the most part you're already traveling. You're already bringing a lot of stuff with you that you would need.
KOPPEL: Well, do me a favor, take out some of the things that are in the go bag and help us to understand perhaps what you think is most important to have with you under any circumstances.
VENZKE: Sure. I mean we see some of the things that we have set up here in the front. Most important, more than anything else, whether it's a go bag for domestically or for traveling overseas, is medication. Any kind of prescription drugs that you would be taking, other things that you might not have ready access to that you need to take on a regular basis. Generally when people travel they always took one or two extra days. But as we saw after 9/11, even in countries where you wouldn't generally have trouble flying back, there were delays. People couldn't get back into the United States.
So prepare for a week or so or maybe even more, in some cases, of keen medication you need.
A good thing, also, is to have is a cell phone. If your cell phone is going to work overseas, that's great. But what you might want to do is rent one in the locations where you're going to be traveling. If you have some kind of short wave radio or something that you can take with you that you're going to be able to get news reports in the country that you'd be traveling at. Anything that's going to help you stay informed is very important and allow you to communicate.
Generally, a flashlight, something like that, these things can be helpful, but depending on the load that you're packing, if you've got something small and compact you can put in it would be great. Most important is going to be actually planning, though, and knowing where you're going, a map of the area and understanding that if something does happen, who can you call? What are the phone numbers to the embassy? Where can you evacuate to? If you're staying at a hotel what are the exits of the hotel?
This doesn't cost anything, but it just takes some time to figure it out before your trip.
KOPPEL: We should say that the go bag is courtesy of the Red Cross and if folks are interested in getting one, they can go to their local Red Cross chapter.
But what are some of the things that are not in the go bag that you think are sometimes overlooked and that people should perhaps throw in the suitcase before they head out the door?
VENZKE: Well, when you're going overseas, you know, your travel documentation, all those basic things that a smart traveler would need. I think the things that tend to get overlooked are taking that time to find the right phone numbers for the embassy, to contact and register with the embassy, taking the time to understand the layout of the hotel and the immediate area where you're going to be staying.
If you're going for business meetings, to understand where those offices are, because if there is some kind of an emergency or crisis, be it a terrorist attack or a natural disaster such as the earthquake that we just saw in Alga, if you're trying to figure out where you are and where you're going in the middle of the crisis, it's too late. You need to sort of think through if something would happen to me now, what would I do? And then if that unfortunate situation does come up, you're going to be much better prepared to deal with it then.
KOPPEL: Now, what happens if, obviously these are very scary and unusual times that we're living in. But if somebody has a vacation planned overseas and they want to know what the latest information is in terms of threat risks, where do they go?
VENZKE: Well, what they should really be doing is taking a close look at the State Department Web page and the travel advisories that the State Department issues, the consular information sheets. It's a great resource for both any kind of emergency information or new threats that might exist, but as well as what's the state of health care, where can, if I get sick where can I go in these countries?
Also, in terms of health care, you know, we hear a lot about SARS and other things, the CDC is a great resource for advisories and information about health threats like SARS and other things. And you can actually, you can arm yourself with information of knowing where is it spreading, how is it spreading and is it going to impact my travel at all?
KOPPEL: Ben Venzke in Washington, D.C., thanks so much for getting up early this morning and hopefully helping out some people as they plan their holiday vacations.
Thanks.
VENZKE: 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 May 24, 2003 - 08:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it's time for your family vacation, you'll likely pack your camera, your swimsuit and other essentials. But should you also bring along a so-called go bag that can come in handy in case of a terrorist attack?
Ben Venzke is the co-author of "The Al Qaeda Threat: An Analytical Guide to Al Qaeda's Tactics and Targets."
And he joins us now from Washington with some tips on traveling in our code orange world.
So, Ben, what do you think about this go bag?
And I think you have one right next to you, don't you? BEN VENZKE, CO-AUTHOR, "THE AL-QAEDA THREAT": Yes, you know, this sort of came in fashion during the last orange alert, where there was a lot of talk about how you prepare your home and what do you do if you need to evacuate. And the concept of a go bag is if you're just going about your normal business at home or you're out at the office and suddenly within two or three minutes you're told you need to evacuate now, the idea is to have everything together so you can just grab that bag and go.
Fortunately, when you're traveling overseas you don't need anything as comprehensive as this because for the most part you're already traveling. You're already bringing a lot of stuff with you that you would need.
KOPPEL: Well, do me a favor, take out some of the things that are in the go bag and help us to understand perhaps what you think is most important to have with you under any circumstances.
VENZKE: Sure. I mean we see some of the things that we have set up here in the front. Most important, more than anything else, whether it's a go bag for domestically or for traveling overseas, is medication. Any kind of prescription drugs that you would be taking, other things that you might not have ready access to that you need to take on a regular basis. Generally when people travel they always took one or two extra days. But as we saw after 9/11, even in countries where you wouldn't generally have trouble flying back, there were delays. People couldn't get back into the United States.
So prepare for a week or so or maybe even more, in some cases, of keen medication you need.
A good thing, also, is to have is a cell phone. If your cell phone is going to work overseas, that's great. But what you might want to do is rent one in the locations where you're going to be traveling. If you have some kind of short wave radio or something that you can take with you that you're going to be able to get news reports in the country that you'd be traveling at. Anything that's going to help you stay informed is very important and allow you to communicate.
Generally, a flashlight, something like that, these things can be helpful, but depending on the load that you're packing, if you've got something small and compact you can put in it would be great. Most important is going to be actually planning, though, and knowing where you're going, a map of the area and understanding that if something does happen, who can you call? What are the phone numbers to the embassy? Where can you evacuate to? If you're staying at a hotel what are the exits of the hotel?
This doesn't cost anything, but it just takes some time to figure it out before your trip.
KOPPEL: We should say that the go bag is courtesy of the Red Cross and if folks are interested in getting one, they can go to their local Red Cross chapter.
But what are some of the things that are not in the go bag that you think are sometimes overlooked and that people should perhaps throw in the suitcase before they head out the door?
VENZKE: Well, when you're going overseas, you know, your travel documentation, all those basic things that a smart traveler would need. I think the things that tend to get overlooked are taking that time to find the right phone numbers for the embassy, to contact and register with the embassy, taking the time to understand the layout of the hotel and the immediate area where you're going to be staying.
If you're going for business meetings, to understand where those offices are, because if there is some kind of an emergency or crisis, be it a terrorist attack or a natural disaster such as the earthquake that we just saw in Alga, if you're trying to figure out where you are and where you're going in the middle of the crisis, it's too late. You need to sort of think through if something would happen to me now, what would I do? And then if that unfortunate situation does come up, you're going to be much better prepared to deal with it then.
KOPPEL: Now, what happens if, obviously these are very scary and unusual times that we're living in. But if somebody has a vacation planned overseas and they want to know what the latest information is in terms of threat risks, where do they go?
VENZKE: Well, what they should really be doing is taking a close look at the State Department Web page and the travel advisories that the State Department issues, the consular information sheets. It's a great resource for both any kind of emergency information or new threats that might exist, but as well as what's the state of health care, where can, if I get sick where can I go in these countries?
Also, in terms of health care, you know, we hear a lot about SARS and other things, the CDC is a great resource for advisories and information about health threats like SARS and other things. And you can actually, you can arm yourself with information of knowing where is it spreading, how is it spreading and is it going to impact my travel at all?
KOPPEL: Ben Venzke in Washington, D.C., thanks so much for getting up early this morning and hopefully helping out some people as they plan their holiday vacations.
Thanks.
VENZKE: 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
