Airline Security: Nine Years after September 11
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New airline security measures are in effect and old ones are being re-examined in response to the Christmas Day bombing attempt. We hear about new rules, body scanners, behavioral profiling and a new source of potential terrorist bombers, Yemen. Also, Prime Minister Putin says Russia needs more offensive weapons to counter the US missile shield. On Reporter's Notebook, will the Republicans use the security issue during next year’s election campaigns?
Banner image: Passengers wait to check in at Baltimore Washington International Airport this morning in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Making News
Russian Prime Minister Putin Issues Arms Warning ()
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired three weeks ago, and the US and Russia are negotiating a new one. Today, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said America's defensive weapons have created an imbalance, requiring Russia to develop offensive weapons. Ellen Barry is in Moscow for the New York Times.
Guests:
- Ellen Barry: Correspondent, New York Times, @EllenBarryNYT
Main Topic
Airline Security: Nine Years after September 11 ()
Some $40 billion worth of security measures were defeated on Christmas Day when a man boarded an airplane with explosives sewn into his underwear. New procedures announced since Friday have already been revised as the Obama Administration struggles to reassure the traveling public. Today, the President vowed to "continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks" against the US. We hear what it's like now to fly into the US. Will high-tech scanners or behavioral profiling be the wave of the future? Is Yemen now a greater threat to the US than Afghanistan?
Guests:
- Ben Mutzabaugh: Travel Reporter, USA Today, @TodayInTheSky
- Rafi Ron: former Director of Security, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport
- Jay Stanley: Public Education Director, ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program
- Gregory Johnsen: PhD Candidate in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University
- Steve Coll: President and CEO, New America Foundation
Reporter's Notebook
Partisans Get Busy with Administration's Response to Terror ()
In the aftermath of the Christmas Day bombing attempt, the Obama Administration tried to reassure Americans that air travel was safe. But on Sunday, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano made herself a political target by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time in affirming that the system worked. Yesterday, she was singing a different tune. That 180-degree turn has been fodder for political finger-pointing, as Politico's Martin Kady notes.
Guests:
- Martin Kady: Deputy Congressional Editor, Politico, @mkady
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