CNN Paula Zahn Now-Transcript

Interview

CNN Paula Zahn Now-Transcript

ZAHN: Well, they have made it very clear that they think this is an overreaction on the American public's part.

Ed Lavandera, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.

I want to share with you now some of the very first pictures we have of Andrew Speaker in the Denver hospital tonight. ABC News showed them a little bit earlier on this evening, after he spoke with "Good Morning America" about what he has gone through over the last several weeks.

Diane Sawyer, who did the interview, says, Speaker asked for forgiveness from the airline passengers he exposed, and says he has a tape recording that will confirm his story that authorities told him it was OK for him to travel.

Of course, we don't know what the circumstances are of why he would have taped those conversations. But he is an attorney, after all.

As if deadly drug-resistant germs aren't scary enough, this whole story points to a massive breakdown in our country's homeland security precautions. Listen to this. Not only did Andrew Speaker get on planes, even though his name was on a no-fly list. When he drove from Canada into the U.S. at Lake Champlain, New York, a border guard checked his passport and saw the quarantine order for him to be stopped and isolated. But can you believe this? The guard let Speaker come in because he didn't look sick.

What kind of message does this send to terrorists?

Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, which has just scheduled hearings for next week.

How did this happen, Congressman?

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, I think, clearly, you are correct. The system failed.

And what we want to look at is the difference between operational systems and coordination. We had two federal agencies that should have been in constant communication with each other. And, obviously, the system failed.

Mr. Speaker should not have been able to get into Canada and back into the United States undetected. So, our system did not work.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: But it also appears that this border agent did some freelance work here, and somehow decided, because we're told he didn't think Speaker looked too sick. He saw his name on the alert, but he still let him through.

THOMPSON: Well, that -- that is clearly not the protocol.

If the person was flagged on the computer, he should not have been allowed. We will look at that as one aspect of it. But the question is, how could Mr. Speaker land in Canada if he was on a no- fly list? The Canadian authorities should have been notified in a timely manner, so that, if he landed in Canada, he should have been detected there also.

So, there are a number of vulnerabilities that this situation has brought to our attention that we will look out and look for in the committee hearing.

ZAHN: So, if you're a member of a sleeper cell that is already here in the United States, or someone overseas watching this, how vulnerable do we appear to be? It seems that the system failed at -- at not only the -- one of the busiest port of entries between Canada and the United States; we couldn't even stop the guy from getting on an airplane in Italy.

THOMPSON: Well, that correct.

And we knew he was in Italy. So, clearly, it means that we will have to, from a top to bottom, look at our system. This hearing will be designed to look at exactly what happened, look at exactly what was supposed to have happened, and try to fix it. There are no excuses. But, in this situation, CDC and Department of Homeland Security should have been able, working together, in a coordinated fashion, to prevent this from occurring. And that's the purpose of the hearing this coming Wednesday.

ZAHN: We know Mr. Speaker's passport was swiped. And, at that point, immediately popping up a screen would be a warning that -- that this guy has a problem. So, we know, also, the border agent made a decision that, OK, he didn't look so sick. He let him go through.

But we also understand there's a more common problem of what's called lane flushing. And, to alleviate congestion at one of the fourth busiest ports of entries along the border, we understand that -- that some cars are allowed through much more quickly than others.

How familiar are you with that practice?

(CROSSTALK)

THOMPSON: Well, we heard that complaint recently. We have scheduled another hearing.

We're meeting with the secretary, Chertoff, this week to find out what the problem is -- too many incidents where something bad had happened occurring on his watch. And we're going to demand more accountability from the secretary in these situations and others.

ZAHN: We just heard Mr. Speaker apologize in an interview on ABC News, particularly to the passengers who were exposed to him on the flight. Do you buy that apology tonight?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, that's his personal opinion. He should not have put all those travelers at risk.

Our system should have not allowed him to travel. We now find out that there are two no-fly lists. We're not certain which no-fly list Mr. Speaker was put on. Was he on the terrorist no-fly list, or was he on the other no-fly list? We can't get verification from DHS on that.

So, there are a number of things that we are trying to get information on, also. And we have been told that some of it is classified. So, we hope, between now and our hearing on Wednesday, whatever the information shortcomings are, we will have it available to the committee members at that hearing.

ZAHN: And we will look forward to it being disclosed to the public down the road as well.

Representative Bennie Thompson, thanks so much for your time tonight. Appreciate it.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

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