Ex-DHS Official: Body Scanner Image Won't Make 13 Year Old Boy Excited
Former Department of Homeland Security official Stewart Verdery said the full body scanners do not produce "the type of image that is going to make a thirteen year old boy very excited" during a debate on the privacy issues associated with increased airport security on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday.
"I think that T.S.A has reasonable guidelines in place that these screeners are detached from the people they are screening," he told CBS News' Nancy Cordes.
Verdery admitted that no technology is "fool proof" in detecting terrorist threats but that the TSA must use all of the tools at their disposal – regardless of privacy groups claims that machines such as the full body scan are invasive, expensive and not effective.
"The body scanner machine is not the best technology to get the current threat and it has this huge privacy set back," Michael German, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union told Cordes in response.
"Our liberty was hard won and we should not sacrifice it on the promise of better security," he said.
Watch the full debate above.
Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack
"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.
"I think that T.S.A has reasonable guidelines in place that these screeners are detached from the people they are screening," he told CBS News' Nancy Cordes.
Verdery admitted that no technology is "fool proof" in detecting terrorist threats but that the TSA must use all of the tools at their disposal – regardless of privacy groups claims that machines such as the full body scan are invasive, expensive and not effective.
"The body scanner machine is not the best technology to get the current threat and it has this huge privacy set back," Michael German, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union told Cordes in response.
"Our liberty was hard won and we should not sacrifice it on the promise of better security," he said.
Watch the full debate above.
Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack
"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.
Friend Says Abdulmutallab Was Not Extremist In London
CBS News' Sheila MacVicar spoke with a former friend and classmate of Christmas Day would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab early Wednesday. MacVicar was told Abdulmutallab showed no signs of extremism during his schooling in London.
The friend "says there was nothing that he saw here," MacVicar, appearing on "Washington Unplugged," told host Kimberly Dozier. "That his positions were not extreme. That he did not in any way raise eyebrows."
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Christmas Airplane Plot: The Blame Game
Democrats and Republicans are scrambling to parlay the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an international flight heading for Detroit, Michigan into political gains. "It's a bit of a blame game going on here," Politico.com's Josh Gerstein said on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday.
Gerstein told moderator CBS News' Wyatt Andrews that, in spite of the blame going around, the House of Representatives recently passed a bill that moved to ban some of the screening machines -- which might have stopped the suspected bomber from clearing security -- with bi-partisan support.
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Ex-Bush Official: Privacy Campaigners Have Fought Explosive Detection Machines
Stewart Baker, the second in command in President Bush's Department of Homeland Security, said the security system which allowed accused attempted plane bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to pass through security, board the plane and attempt to ignite an explosive substance on an international flight Christmas Day, should no longer be allowed in U.S. Airports, on "Washington Unplugged" Monday.
Stewart confirmed that there are several machines already existing in U.S. Airports which would have detected the chemical substance Abdulmutallab smuggled onto the flights.
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Bart Stupak: "No One Is Happy" with Senate Abortion Language
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) called Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson's abortion ammendment, which was added to the health care bill in the Senate this weekend "a hybrid" plan that "no one is happy" with.
"Its a dramatic shift in federal policy," he told John Dickerson on Monday's "Washington Unplugged." The congressman who was successful in his campaign to exclude abortion coverage from the public option or private plans which are paid for with federal subsidies in the House health care bill said he hopes Nelson's language would closer match his once the bill leaves conference.
"Maybe the senator has it somewhat correct in that the pro-life groups are not happy, the pro-choice groups are not happy," Stupak said of Senator Nelson's language.
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"Its a dramatic shift in federal policy," he told John Dickerson on Monday's "Washington Unplugged." The congressman who was successful in his campaign to exclude abortion coverage from the public option or private plans which are paid for with federal subsidies in the House health care bill said he hopes Nelson's language would closer match his once the bill leaves conference.
"Maybe the senator has it somewhat correct in that the pro-life groups are not happy, the pro-choice groups are not happy," Stupak said of Senator Nelson's language.
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Hatch: Senate GOP Dedicated to Stopping Health Bill
Senior Republican Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said his Democratic colleagues do not even know what is in the Senate version of the health care bill on "Washington Unplugged" Friday.
"They don't even know what, most of the Senators on the Democratic side have not even seen the bill," he told Bob Schieffer.
He lamented what he said were additional costs in the latest version of the health care legislation.
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"They don't even know what, most of the Senators on the Democratic side have not even seen the bill," he told Bob Schieffer.
He lamented what he said were additional costs in the latest version of the health care legislation.
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Schieffer Reacts to Lieberman's Sunday Surprise
CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer admitted that he was surprised by Senator Joe Lieberman's insistence on "Face the Nation" Sunday that he would not support a health care bill which includes the Medicare buy-in plan.
He was not the only one: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nevada) was apparently also startled.
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Knoller Unplugged: Obama Defends Peace Prize
"It sounded like President Obama was making the case that in fact war is very good for many things," CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller said of the president's Nobel Prize speech on "Washington Unplugged" Thursday. "That sometimes in order to get peace, you have to go to war."
It was obvious that the president was "aware of the apparent incongruity" of a war president receiving the peace prize, Knoller continued. "He did not back away from it. He defended it."
Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak, meanwhile, said while it was impressive to see a sitting U.S. President receive the prestigious award, he found the speech to be "unfocused" and "incoherent."
"It was given from a position of defensiveness," Mackowiak said. Watch the full program above.
"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.
David Martin: McChrystal Could Actually Get 40,000 Troops
CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin said on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday that General Stanley McChrystal should be able to make some progress against in Afghanistan thanks to the addition of new troops.
"I certainly think that that infusion of troops will allow us them to reverse the momentum of the Taliban in parts of the country at least," Martin said. He said that was especially true in Helman province, where the initial batch of troops will go as early as next week.
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Unplugged: Americans Have Heard Obama's Argument Before
The New York Times' David Sanger and CBS News Chief Political Consultant Marc Ambinder said on "Washington Unplugged" Wednesday that even as emphasis is placed on President Obama's deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan starting in the summer of 2011, there has been little discussion of the fact that the transition and withdrawal will like be very slow.
"There is certainly reason to skeptical about the ability to do the job in the timeframe he has described," Sanger told moderator Bill Plante. "On The Hill this morning the most interesting thing [Secretaries Gates and Clinton] were saying was, 'well the transition just begins in 2011.' But no one would say how long it would take and what at what pace."
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Obama's First State Dinner: The Fashion
In a beautiful tent on the White House's South Lawn, celebrities, politicians and journalists toasted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the Obama White House's first State Dinner.
CBS News' Nancy Cordes and Politico's Anne Schroeder Mullins and Patrick Gavin lamented that their invitations were "lost in the mail" but had plenty to say on "Washington Unplugged" on Wednesday.
The Obamas wanted "a larger than usual State Dinner," Gavin said. "President Bush held the one in 2005 indoors which limits you to about 150 guests or so but he wanted 320 guests or so which is why they had to construct that huge pavilion on the South Lawn. So the first thing we realize is most likely State Dinners going forward, depending on the delegation of the visiting country, will probably be on the South Lawn in a tent."
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Are Blue Dogs the "True Democrats"?
Blue Dog Democrat Jim Matheson (D-Utah) told CBS News' John Dickerson that members of the moderate Democratic coalition are the "true Democrats because we wear that label even when it may actually effect us in a negative way in our elections," on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday.
"At the end of the day if people want to question the Democratic credentials of the Blue Dogs," Matheson said, "I'll tell you what, by Blue Dogs running as Democrats we face a handicap in running in our districts. There are other people who by running as a Democrat they automatically win."
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Reid Seeks Momentum in Health Debate
On Saturday, the Senate will vote on whether to begin debate on the health care reform bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) earlier this week.
Reid "wants to get that wind under his belt before all these senators leave for Thanksgiving recess and don't see each other for another week or so," CBS News' Capitol Hill Correspondent Nancy Cordes said on "Washington Unplugged" Friday.
She said members of the Senate leadership are increasingly confident that they will get the sixty votes needed to start debate on the health care bill. Right now, Cordes said, Reid has the solid support of fifty-eight senators.
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Reid "wants to get that wind under his belt before all these senators leave for Thanksgiving recess and don't see each other for another week or so," CBS News' Capitol Hill Correspondent Nancy Cordes said on "Washington Unplugged" Friday.
She said members of the Senate leadership are increasingly confident that they will get the sixty votes needed to start debate on the health care bill. Right now, Cordes said, Reid has the solid support of fifty-eight senators.
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Fact Checking Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue"
Sarah Palin's new autobiography "Going Rogue" has recieved its share of media attention as well as a fair amount of criticism for including discrepancies with her own and her former campaign aides stories. CBS News' Scott Conroy, Republican Strategist Matt Mackoviac and the Huffington Post's Sam Stein debated these contradictions on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday.
The Huffington Post's Sam Stein recieved emails from former McCain aides which contradict some of Palin's claims in the book. "It's minor stuff but it gets to the credibility gap that is sort of plaguing Sarah Palin right now," he told moderator Nancy Cordes.
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Sharpton and Gingrich, Unlikely Allies, Talk Education
Reverend Al Sharpton, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have teamed up for a national tour to spotlight education reform, and the trio stopped by "Washington Unplugged" Monday to discuss why their efforts to encourage cooperation on the issue.
"I think you guys think if nobody walks away [with] a black eye that we did not have a meeting," Sharpton joked to CBS News' Fernando Suarez.
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