CNN "Campbell Brown" - Transcript

Floor Speech

BROWN: And Washington is getting involved here. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced an investigation is now under way.

And Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, also among those on the federal level demanding some answers now, she's joining us tonight to talk about this.

Senator, welcome to you.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA: Well, hello, Campbell.

I know you would know that you wouldn't to be sitting on that sardine of a plane with a baby on your lap.

BROWN: You can imagine? As a mother, when I heard these stories, it made me crazy.

But I know you're hearing from a lot of people because this happened in your state. But we have heard stories like this over and over again happening all over -- all over the country. Why? Why does it keep happening?

KLOBUCHAR: I don't know. The airlines have not been that crazy about our bill. And we want to get this done. Senators Snowe and Boxer have taken the lead on our Commerce Committee. I'm one of the co-sponsors.

We want to get this passenger bill of rights through Congress soon, because time and time again -- in June, 278 planes alone were left on the tarmac for more than three hours. Oftentimes, airlines do allow passengers to go into the terminal. And they can do better than three hours if they want. But at least let's set a minimum standard, so people can have a rule to look to and say, well, maybe we should get these passengers off early because there's a law that says they can't stay on for more than three hours.

These passengers were on there for six hours. The toilet was smelly. I have talked to constituents from my office who knew were only -- were only an hour-and-a-half away from the Twin Cities. And they're sitting on that plane, knowing how close they are to that airport. It was just crazy.

BROWN: You, I know, reached out to the two airlines involved here, Continental and Express Jet, asking them to clarify their conflicting stories about why the passengers were treated this way. Have you heard anything?

KLOBUCHAR: We haven't heard anything back yet. I know that they have apologized to the passengers. They have given them a $200 flight credit and a $50 certificate.

But this doesn't change it for other passengers going forward. And what we're hoping will happen is, we can pass this passenger bill of rights and we can get to the bottom of what when on here. Our airport officials at the Rochester Airport said these passengers could have come into the airport. So we really want to get this clarified.

BROWN: And I know you're also asking the FAA to respond. What should they do? What can they do? Are there consequences, could there be, for the airlines?

KLOBUCHAR: It's possible that there could be consequences because of rules that were violated that the airline didn't follow, and we want to get to the bottom of that.

But most of all, this just shouldn't keep happening. First it was JetBlue, then this. These small commuter planes with passengers sitting there, it's like common sense has gone out the window, but they couldn't open any windows. So, we need to change this.

BROWN: So we keep hearing about the passenger bill of rights, but beyond setting minimums, I guess, on the hours they can hold you on a plane, explain to us, briefly, if you can, just what it would really do in terms of giving people some relief, that -- sort of the commonsense relief that people are craving.

KLOBUCHAR: Well, first of all, it would provide that if passengers are stuck on a plane, there has to be food. There has to be toilets that are working.

Second of all, set the minimum of standards. Have a hot line so passengers can call about delays. And once you set these standards, I think the airlines have been and will be doing better. So, it doesn't mean -- you could let somebody onto the terminal in half-an-hour, an hour. But if we have the standards, imagine, those pilots on that plane would have realized, we just can't keep these people on this sardine can all night. We have to figure this out or we're going to be violating the law.

So, the main thing about this is to say, we need a passenger bill of rights so they can't keep messing around with people. (CROSSTALK)

BROWN: It's been two years, though, since this bill was introduced. Why hasn't it passed already? What are we waiting for, just another horrible episode?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, it has gone through our Commerce Committee.

And what's happened here is that it's part of the FAA reauthorization, which is really important, as you look at what happened over the Hudson River this last week, because it also contains updated safety measures for our airports, an updated air traffic control system. So, the good thing to do here would be to combine these safety measures with the passenger bill of rights and get this through Congress, so we can really go into the next generation of air travel.

Our country does not have the most updated equipment at our airports and we need to change that.

BROWN: You're absolutely right. It's a huge issue.

Senator Amy Klobuchar joining us on this tonight to talk about it.

Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you so much, Campbell. I will think of you the next time I see a baby on an airplane.

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