American Morning
Pats and scans here to stay despite uproar, TSA chief says
Wondering where you'll be patted down when you head to the airport for Thanksgiving this week?
With the busiest travel day of the year approaching, we address the uproar over the full-body scanners and aggressive pat-downs with TSA Administrator John Pistole.
Sunday afternoon, Pistole said in a Politico statement that the procedures would be "adapted as conditions warrant" to make them "as minimally invasive as possible."
This morning, AM asks Pistole, what can travelers expect this week before they fly, especially children, after a cell phone video revealed a shirtless boy receiving a pat-down hit the Web.
TSA may change pilot screenings after body scan backlash
Passengers and pilots have already expressed discomfort with TSA’s revealing full-body scanners and too-close-for-comfort pat downs. Now, at least one is doing so publicly.
Over the weekend, a 31-year-old man refused a pat down at a San Diego airport. The cell phone video where he tells a TSA agent, don't "touch my junk," has gone viral.
Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano is speaking out, too. She writes a USA Today column defending pat downs and scanners and asking passengers for their patience.
This morning, TSA speaks to American Morning. TSA Administrator John Pistole, who meets with Napolitano today, tells AM’s John Roberts how TSA is changing its tone with passengers.
Pistole responds to passengers planning a "National Opt-Out Day" in protest of the scanners and Capt. Sully Sullenberger's recent comments that he doesn't understand the purpose of screening pilots.
Protesting airport body scanners, privacy group sues TSA
Flying the day before Thanksgiving?
Better be prepared to wait. Airport security lines may be getting even longer.
Outcries over the full-body security scanners continue with passengers, pilots and flight attendants choosing to opt out of the revealing scans for pat downs instead. One group calls for a day of protest against the scanners on Weds. Nov. 24, the busiest travel day of the year.
Another group says the Transportation Security Administration should remove the scanners from all airports. The group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a non-profit privacy advocacy group, is taking legal action against the TSA.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC, says the TSA should be required to conduct a public rule-making to evaluate the privacy, security and health risks caused by the body scanners. He talks with AM’s John Roberts today.
“The agency doesn’t have the legal authority to put these device in the airports," Rotenberg tells Roberts. "It was a very big step they took when they decided to make the body scanners the primary screening technique, and that’s what we’re objecting to."
In the full video, Rotenberg explains why freedom of religion and the Fourth Amendment should be examined in this case.
Pilot refuses full body scanners, questions security practicality
With all the responsibility they're already entrusted with, do full-body scanners make sense for commercial pilots?
The head of the pilot union at US Airways and the Allied Pilots Association president at American Airlines recommend that their pilots not go through the much-talked-about full body scanners, now in airports across the country.
They blame repeated doses of radiation.
Patrick Smith, commercial pilot and columnist of Salon’s AskthePilot.com, has refused body scans in the past and talks to Kiran Chetry on American Morning today. He says he agrees with the pilot groups refusing the scans, but not with their health-related reasoning.
Watch the interview to see why he thinks the body scanners are a plain waste of time for pilots.
Is your flight safe? : Passenger jets grounded over engine concerns
Multiple plane accidents made headlines last week. And, word today that Qantas, which had to emergency land a superjumbo jet last week after an engine blew, is grounding all A-380 jets.
Today, aviation analyst Peter Goelz, the former managing director of the NTSB, explains on American Morning what went wrong in each incident and what is concerning about the Qantas accident.
Goelz calls the engine blow on the Qantas jet "very disturbing." "Engines are designed to contain a failure such as this," he told AM's John Roberts.
Watch the full interview here.
The Teaser for Monday, November 1, 2010
"The Teaser” is a preview of the guests we have lined up for the next day – so you know when to tune in (and when to set your alarm!). Guests and times are always subject to change. We start at 5:00AM Monday and Tuesday and 3:00AM Wednesday for the latest elections results.
5:40AM Michael Scheuer, Former CIA Counterterrorism Analyst and headed the CIA's Osama Bin Laden, with the latest analysis on the cargo plane bomb threat. Was this a test run for a bigger plot?
6:24AM Ed Rollins, CNN Senior Political Analyst and Republican Strategist, Hilary Rosen, CNN Political Contributor and John Avlon, CNN Contributor and Columnist for the Daily Beast, on the midterm elections, we’ll look at close races across the country and what happens in the final hours.
6:40AM Paul Cruickshank, CNN Terrorism Analyst and Fran Townsend, CNN National Security Contributor, on the latest terror threat. How does the U.S. stop something like this from happening in the future? What are the risks to passengers; could we be flying on planes with bombs in the cargo hold?
7:10AM Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) Maryland and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman, on the midterm elections and the Democrats’ ability to maintain control of the House.
7:30AM Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, on Tuesday’s midterms. Is he worried the Republicans won’t do as well as expected? What’s happening in Alaska in the battle between Senator Lisa Murkowski and candidate Joe Miller?
8:24AM Amy Kremer, Chairman of the Tea Party Express, with one day until the midterms, what is the Tea Party Express doing as a last minute push before voters go to the polls? How influential will the Tea Party be in this election, has the organization lost any steam?
8:40AM Jeffrey Toobin, CNN Senior Legal Analyst and Adam Sessler, Host of G4 Network's "X-PLAY" and Editor in Chief, G4 Games Content, on Schwarzenegger v. Electronic Merchant Association/Entertainment Software Association. The case going before the Supreme Court Tuesday which will determine if states can keep kids from purchasing violent video games.
Have questions for any of our guests?
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E-mail your story ideas and questions to am@CNN.com.
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Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
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