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. DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Still a lot more questions than answers this morning about the deadly airport shooting in Los Angeles. As you've probably heard by now, three people, including the gunman, were killed yesterday in a spray of bullets at the El Al ticket counter. At least four others were wounded.
The attack raises new questions about security at LAX and other major airports.
Joining us now from Orlando, Florida, aviation expert Michael Miller.
Michael, good morning. Thanks for joining us today.
MICHAEL MILLER, AVIATION EXPERT: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: You think that this isn't just a question of aviation security, just a flat out security question?
MILLER: Well, as happened on September 11, yesterday, aviation was used as a vehicle for terrorism or for a political statement. And I guess when you look at the incident that happened yesterday and the fact that it happened outside of airport security, there's really not a whole lot that the airport and the airline could have done different.
KAGAN: It's, I don't know if you were able to hear the interview we just had a few minutes ago with the transportation minister from Israel. He seemed to suggest that there is something more you could have done, that you shouldn't just be able to walk into an airport and walk up to a ticket counter. Maybe there needs to be security from the moment you are on the ground.
MILLER: Well, then again, maybe there should be security from the moment that you leave your house in the morning. I mean, Israel is facing a little bit of a different threat than we are right now, and we're used to a lot more of a mobility freedom in this country. Airports have been beefed up in terms of safety, security. Planes have been beefed up. All transportation, rail has been beefed up.
I mean I don't see where we can really revamp security to push it back toward the street, or else you might as well just line up people along the roadway and check them on the highway, because, you know, you're only talking about the first 10 feet of the terminal where people line up to check in. I don't really see where you could do more.
KAGAN: And, in fact, if you think about how it happened, this could have happened at a mall, at a bank, at a restaurant. The fact that it happened at an airport just might be a coincidence.
MILLER: I think it really is and not really totally a coincidence, because if you think about it, El Al, Israel Airlines, is basically the brand of Israel internationally. So it was a very big visible target. And the only place that you're going to see them is the airport. So, again, it was using transportation as a vehicle for attacking the U.S., partially, and also, I guess, Israel.
KAGAN: Yes, and I understand your point about El Al being a symbol of Israel. But here's the thing that I think really disturbs people this morning. It's also a symbol since 9/11 of what people have pointed to as an airline that gets it right. Oh, look, they know how to do security. And if even they are vulnerable at the ticket counter, I think that frightens a lot of people who are traveling across America.
MILLER: And maybe this should be a wake up call. I mean if you really look at the incident yesterday, this was an attack basically against Israeli interests in the United States. And we should expect that this type of event -- this is what the Bush administration is kind of warning us about. There will be incidents here. What can we do about them? We can be more vigilant.
I think the, I call on the administration to be a little bit more vigilant in educating us about the different types of threats and how we as Americans, whether we're traveling, going to the mall or elsewhere, how we can watch for the signs that are bells and whistles that should go off in our head. And maybe this should be a wake up call. I mean if you really look at the incident yesterday, this was an attack basically against Israeli interests in the United States. And we should expect that this type of event -- this is what the Bush administration is kind of warning us about. There will be incidents here. What can we do about them? We can be more vigilant.
I think the, I call on the administration to be a little bit more vigilant in educating us about the different types of threats and how we as Americans, whether we're traveling, going to the mall or elsewhere, how we can watch for the signs that are bells and whistles that should go off in our head. And right now I don't think we've been educated very well.
KAGAN: Well, also, I think there were some people who were very alert yesterday who helped bring a quick end to this in helping to subdue this man. So as we were pointing out before the break, there are some things that did work.
I want to ask you about James Hahn, the mayor of Los Angeles, just, this all comes within the wake of his unveiling this new plan to completely revamp and redo LAX, a $9.6 billion plan. Should that plan, in the wake of what happened, take into account this kind of event and change the way that you even check in at the ticket counter, if you could start from scratch in designing an American airport? MILLER: Yes, it should. As a matter of fact, any new airport construction or rail construction or downtown rail or bus terminal should be taking in new security realities. There should be increased surveillance, increased steps that people have to go through. Maybe that adds a few minutes to the travel time, but anybody who's not designing security into their airport or their rail station right now is making a big mistake because these types of incidents are really what we're going to see. That's what Israel sees every day. That's what the European major cities have seen for years with the IRA bombings in the U.K. and elsewhere.
This is a reality of life and if we don't plan for it, we're really kidding ourselves that it's not going to happen.
KAGAN: And we will pay for it.
Michael Miller joining us from Orlando, Florida, thank you for getting up early this day after the holiday.
MILLER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
