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America Recovers: Sen. Trent Lott Discusses New Airport Security Measures

Aired October 4, 2001 - 13:13   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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: If those kinds of proposals for economic aid take some time to get worked out and need congressional support, there was another of the president's ideas announced two days ago that came to fruition today.

For more on that, let's go to Kathleen Koch, at Reagan National Airport -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judy, what we have seen today is, basically, not a flood of passengers here today as this airport reopens for the first time in more than three weeks, but just a trickle. There are going to getting out about 110 flights today, which, compared to the 790 that normally go out, represents just a very small fraction.

But they say that they will be going out to eight different cities. Judy, very appropriately, the first flight both in this morning and the first flight departing where to and from New York City.

As people arrive at this airport, they are finding it very much changed, a very serious security presence in every direction. There are armed federal marshals from the special operations unit patrolling the airport, national guardsmen, K-9 units. Passengers as they arrive are told they cannot carry two bags onto the aircraft, but only one, in addition to a purse or a briefcase. Passengers are screened not just once before boarding, but twice.

And they've also changed the arrival and the departure routes to and from this airport. Instead of following the usual curving route out over the Potomac River, all aircraft now must follow a straight line that takes the aircraft further from the nation's capitol and also enables air traffic controllers and security officials to notice immediately any deviation from that flight path.

Another change that we're seeing here that we haven't yet seen at many other airports is the addition of more CTX screening machines. These are machines that screen checked backs, not carry-on bags -- screen them for not only weapons, but for bombs.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta this morning said that they are very expensive additions that the U.S. government will pay for. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN MINETA, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: This is one of the reasons why the president has given the responsible for all of this security to the Department of Transportation. Up to this point, it has been run by the airlines at the airports. So in order to even minimize the kind of investment they have to make into equipment -- and these CTX machines are very expensive -- we will now be assuming that responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: We're going to interrupt that report. I'm sorry, we will come right back.

Senator Trent Lott has been at the White House.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MINORITY LEADER: ... to find a way to get this job done. The problem is that we have some unrelated issues that are still being discussed, or that the senators may try to add to this bill, and we have to figure out how to deal with that, because if we start adding all kind of hitchhikers to this train, it will slow down or stop it. The important thing is to focus on aviation security.

We need to make sure the American people have confidence in the system. The secretary of transportation, Norman Mineta, is working on that. The president is taking actions to deal with that already. And we are looking at what additional laws will be needed. I hope that as the day progresses, we can come to an agreement as to how to proceed. But we are going to get this job done.

Also, I'm very pleased that we are going to be prepared to go next week to the counterterrorism legislation. And in one of the issues that was still discussed, the money laundering aspects of terrorism, an agreement has been worked out, as I understand it there, and that will be a part of how we proceed on counterterrorism. I'm not sure right now whether it will be a part of the bill or parallel. But we will deal with both of those issues hopefully early next week.

We did just have a discussion with the president about the need for an economic stimulus package. There seems to be growing agreement that we do need to do something more to stimulate the economy, and we are discussing parameters and principles that should be involved there. We want to make sure it is simple; that it has immediate effect that's positive, but not a long-term negative effect; and that whatever we do we will create jobs and cause growth in the economy.

And it was a good session. It's a part of a continuing discussion between the president of the United States and leaders of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats.

QUESTION: Senator, on airport security, what's the formula by which you deal with this federalization of security?

LOTT: That's the issue that's still being discussed. We want to make sure that the screening is done in a very reliable way, a professional way. Obviously, the screening that we've had at airports has not been good in the past. There are differing ideas about how to do that. There are those that advocate a public/private process. There are those that say let's just take over the current system; to me, that is very unattractive, because the current system is not working. You have to improve it.

There are now other ideas that are being considered. Is this something that should be on the Department of Justice or should this perhaps be at the Department of Defense? We want to make sure that this is not just a process where you look at the size of a bag, but also look at the risks involved, you know, from a law enforcement aspect.

And that is still part of the discussion that we're talking about. There's a cost factor involved. But I think we can workout an agreement, make some progress in that area, and continue to work with the administration. The House still is looking at it.

And by the way, the administration is doing a lot of this now by changing the standards and regulations, and executive orders may be put in place. So a lot of what needs to be done to make sure our aviation is secure is taking place. Some of it will probably require legislative action. And we are trying to distinguish between the two.

The biggest holdup, though, is the fact that we still have senators that are wanting to add other unrelated issues that run the gamut. You just name it. If we could find a way to put that aside and consider it in other ways, that would resolve about two-thirds of problem. Then we've got to continue to work to find the best way to deal with the screening proposition.

WOODRUFF: We're listening to Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, who has just been at the White House for a meeting. He's reflecting the fact that a number of Republicans, if not most Republicans, are not comfortable with the idea of a complete federal takeover of airport airline security.

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