‘Meet the Press’ transcript for July 1, 2007

MR. TIM RUSSERT:  Our issues this Sunday:  the Bush White House refuses to answer congressional subpoenas about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ stewardship of the Justice Department and the president’s electronic surveillance program.  The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee calls this Nixonian stonewalling.  Are we headed for a constitutional crisis?  Our guests, the senior Democratic senator from Vermont, Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Then, the president admits defeat on immigration reform.

(Videotape)

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH:  A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn’t find common ground, and it didn’t work.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  The Democrats focus on race and poverty and some very interesting data about the political attitudes of evangelical Christians, Hispanic-Americans and young Americans.

With us, David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Tavis Smiley of PBS, Chuck Todd of NBC News, and Judy Woodruff of PBS’ “News Hour.”

And in our MEET THE PRESS Minute, CIA Director William Colby, from 1975, confronts the Family Jewels scandal of wrongful spying in an earlier era.

(Videotape, June 29, 1975)

MR. WILLIAM E. COLBY (Director, Central Intelligence ):  A number of our activities were unlawful in the past.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  But first, on Friday, two automobiles filled with explosives found on the street in London.  And this was the scene yesterday in Scotland’s Glasgow Airport after an SUV drove into the airport’s main terminal.  Five men are now in custody.  With us, the Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

Mr. Secretary, good morning.  Do we have any information linking these five men to an international terrorist organization?

SEC’Y MICHAEL CHERTOFF:  Well, let me begin, Tim, by reminding everybody that these events are literally unfolding minute by minute, so I can only give you the information we have now.  Right now I don’t think we can say definitively that there’s an international link and as far as the homeland is concerned, we do not see any specific connection to the homeland at this point in time.

MR. RUSSERT:  Will we increase the number of air marshals on flights to Britain and Scotland as a precautionary measure?

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  Well, we have been doing that, actually, for some period of time, dating back to last August, and we’ve continued to increase and to some extent mix up the flow of air marshals to Europe in general.  In the wake of what we’ve seen, of course, over the last couple of days, we will do some additional surging of our air marshal capabilities and some other personnel to the United Kingdom.

MR. RUSSERT:  Is there any chatter that you can detect regarding terrorism in the United States during this holiday period?

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  Well, I want to remind everybody that over the last few months, we have seen a number of public statements by al-Qaeda readers who are reminding us, if we needed to be reminded, that they are still intent on carrying out attacks against the West.  So that’s certainly something we’re mindful of.  As—at this moment, we don’t have a specific credible threat against the United States, but I think we’re going into this summer period with a heightened sense of awareness because there has been an increase in some of the public statements that have been made.

MR. RUSSERT:  Will we be taking some precautionary security measures because of some of the large crowds gathering in parts of our country for the Fourth of July?

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  We have put in place, Tim, some plans for this holiday week to have additional visible and some not visible security measures at our airports, at our mass transit, at our train stations.  We’ll be working with local authorities who’ll be taking their own steps.  This is partly a response to what’s unfolding in Britain and partly a recognition that we’re in a period when there’s a lot of travel and, therefore, we want to be sure that we’re taking every precaution necessary.

MR. RUSSERT:  Will we raise our threat level?

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  Well, our threat level for aviation is already at orange and for the rest of the country it’s at yellow.  We don’t see a reason to raise it now.  As I say, we have some pre-planned, additional security measures we have put into place and we’ll have in place this week.  But I think, given what we know now, we’re comfortable that we’re at the right posture.

MR. RUSSERT:  Mr. Secretary, considering the simplicity of putting together a suicide bomb by using an automobile, are you surprised that the United States has not been hit harder by this kind of device?

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  I want to remind you, Tim, we have been hit by this kind of device.  In 1996--in 1993, there was the World Trade Center bombing involving a car bomb.  There was, of course, the attack on the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.  That was a vehicle-borne explosive device.  Unfortunately, this country does have experience with it, and one of the reasons we’ve worked with communities to help them elevate their security with barriers and other kinds of detection equipment is because of precisely this kind of threat.

MR. RUSSERT:  How serious do you think this kind of threat will be in the years to come?

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  Unfortunately, I believe we’re going to see more vehicle bombs and more backpack bombs, as we’ve seen in Europe, and it’s something we have to be mindful of in this country.  But one of the great lessons, Tim, is, and it was borne out again a couple—in the last couple of days, vigilance by ordinary citizens and calling into the authorities when you see something suspicious is one of the best defenses we have.

MR. RUSSERT:  Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security, we thank you very much for joining us this morning.

SEC’Y CHERTOFF:  Happy to be on the show, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT:  And joining us now is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Good morning and welcome.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT):  Good morning, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT:  As you well know, you have issued subpoenas on the Bush White House regarding the eavesdropping, wiretapping put in place by the president after September 11^th.  Critics this morning will say, senator, that this plan is so essential to monitoring contacts between international terrorists and people here in the United States that subpoenas now is very, very counterproductive and could affect our anti-terrorism situation.

SEN. LEAHY:  Well, of course, that’s the kind of talking point that the White House has tried to put out, and they, the White House has chosen confrontation over cooperation.  I think that’s unfortunate.  Nobody on my committee, Republican or, or Democrat, is trying to subpoena the operations of what’s been done in wiretapping terrorists.  And I was a prosecutor for eight years. I believe in going after criminals, terrorists or anything else.  Use wiretaps, use search warrants, whatever.  What we’re asking is, what was the legal justification they tried to follow, when, for years, they were wiretapping ordinary Americans and everybody else without a warrant.  We have a FISA court.  We can, we can redesign the FISA law, if need be, if they need help to go after terrorists.

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