Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / What we know about Trump's decision to switch Air Force One planes
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Join me now here at the Family Table. CBS News
- 0:02Speaker 1: Homeland Security corresponder Nicole Skanga for more on her new
- 0:05Speaker 1: reporting about security concerns about the Katari jet that was
- 0:10Speaker 1: given over to President Trump and converted into the new,
- 0:12Speaker 1: brand new Air Force One. Also with US CBS News
- 0:15Speaker 1: National security contributor Sam Vinagrad, who may weigh in on that.
- 0:18Speaker 1: But we'll certainly lean on her as we frequently do
- 0:20Speaker 1: about the latest activity with the Iran war. But Nicole,
- 0:23Speaker 1: let's start with you. What do we know?
- 0:25Speaker 2: Major? Let's talk about what we know and what we
- 0:27Speaker 2: don't know.
- 0:27Speaker 3: What we know is what people are not saying.
- 0:29Speaker 2: Yes, the Secret Service advised President Trump to leave Turkey
- 0:33Speaker 2: on the older Air Force One instead of this new
- 0:36Speaker 2: Katari donated plane often referred to as the bridge plane,
- 0:41Speaker 2: that he had flown into Ankara. We know that the
- 0:44Speaker 2: older Air Force One has long established secure communications, sophisticated
- 0:49Speaker 2: defensive systems what is called diversion technology, established to misdirect
- 0:54Speaker 2: incoming missiles. We know the decision was also tied to
- 0:58Speaker 2: ensuring that the President could make and the Iranian conflict
- 1:01Speaker 2: from the air if needed. That the old Air Force
- 1:04Speaker 2: One has, in essence a secure airborne command center, much
- 1:08Speaker 2: like a situation room in the air. We also know
- 1:12Speaker 2: that this decision would not have been made without sign
- 1:15Speaker 2: off from the White House Military Office, the likes of
- 1:18Speaker 2: Brigadier General Garrett Hoffman as well as his military aid.
- 1:22Speaker 2: Now what we don't know is exactly what the newer
- 1:26Speaker 2: Katari donated Boeing seven four seven eight has in terms
- 1:30Speaker 2: of capabilities and does not have. And part of the
- 1:33Speaker 2: reason we're not hearing exactly what it does not have is,
- 1:36Speaker 2: of course, many of the officials and sources we're speaking
- 1:38Speaker 2: to have concerns about national security as well as the
- 1:42Speaker 2: president's own protective security. But it does raise several important
- 1:46Speaker 2: questions moving forward, like will the President keep that new
- 1:49Speaker 2: Katari donated Air Force one on future travel? Is he
- 1:54Speaker 2: going to only use it in lower risk environments? And
- 1:57Speaker 2: is this sort of a one time precaution during the
- 2:00Speaker 2: Rannian conflict or does it point to broader concerns about
- 2:04Speaker 2: perhaps how the construction and equipment of this new Air
- 2:07Speaker 2: Force one was hurried along over the past year. Lest
- 2:11Speaker 2: we forget, it usually takes six to ten years to
- 2:14Speaker 2: build an Air Force one style military plane. This one
- 2:18Speaker 2: was outfitted and I believe just a year.
- 2:20Speaker 1: Right, and the President said the quiet part out loud yesterday,
- 2:24Speaker 1: he's the number one target from Iran. And then this
- 2:27Speaker 1: switch occurred, which at least indicates that there was something
- 2:31Speaker 1: of concern and this older plane was better equipped. That
- 2:36Speaker 1: seems to be a rational conclusion.
- 2:38Speaker 2: And what we seem to be hearing from sources is
- 2:40Speaker 2: while it wasn't one specific credible threat, the president has
- 2:44Speaker 2: faced a series of credible threats in the past from
- 2:48Speaker 2: Iran and other foreign adversaries, and that we are now
- 2:51Speaker 2: in new territory amid this ongoing war and by the way,
- 2:56Speaker 2: deteriorating ceasefire.
- 2:58Speaker 1: Sam, you've been on Air Force one and you have
- 3:00Speaker 1: been part of these conversations with the US President.
- 3:03Speaker 3: Your thoughts, let's put this in then. Never have I
- 3:05Speaker 3: ever category, never have I ever heard the US President
- 3:09Speaker 3: flew on an Air Force one plane. They're multiple, by
- 3:11Speaker 3: the way, on an Air Force one plane and then
- 3:13Speaker 3: security officials said, actually it's not that secure, let's put
- 3:16Speaker 3: you on an old one. So never have I ever
- 3:18Speaker 3: heard that before, and I really hope I don't again.
- 3:20Speaker 3: Because Boeing refers to the Air Force one fleet as
- 3:25Speaker 3: a flying oval office not only does the Air Force
- 3:30Speaker 3: one fleet have ongoing connectivity, it has these advanced security protocols,
- 3:34Speaker 3: It has four thousand square feet of interior space. It
- 3:38Speaker 3: is basically not just a flying oval office, a flying
- 3:40Speaker 3: White House. And it is also self sufficient, and this
- 3:44Speaker 3: is really important. The actual Air Force one fleet can
- 3:46Speaker 3: refuel and air they don't need even if they have
- 3:49Speaker 3: to make an emergency stop, they don't need help from
- 3:52Speaker 3: partnering governments or self sufficient. And now we have a
- 3:55Speaker 3: situation where we have a plane that was donated from
- 3:57Speaker 3: a foreign government, was used by foreign officials, have been
- 4:00Speaker 3: on foreign soil, and ostensibly the White House cut corners
- 4:04Speaker 3: to try to get this operational on frankly unrealistic timeline.
- 4:09Speaker 3: And as a security official, I take a step back
- 4:11Speaker 3: and say, why would you want to rush something as important.
- 4:14Speaker 3: It's not just the president's safety, but over one hundred
- 4:17Speaker 3: other people that are flying with the President that are
- 4:20Speaker 3: really critical to our national security.
- 4:21Speaker 1: Now the President flew back on that Katari donated Air
- 4:24Speaker 1: Force one from England, but that is clearly a much safer,
- 4:28Speaker 1: lower profile, lower risk situation. SAM In about less than
- 4:32Speaker 1: two minutes, we have talk about what we have seen
- 4:34Speaker 1: in the headlines today with the Iran conflict and strikes
- 4:38Speaker 1: back and forth.
- 4:39Speaker 3: What we've seen is a resumption of this tip for
- 4:41Speaker 3: tat reciprocal trading of fire we've seen the United States,
- 4:45Speaker 3: but at an elevated level, certainly at an elevated level,
- 4:48Speaker 3: across a broader range of targets, a faster pace, and
- 4:51Speaker 3: the United States has conducted those strikes throughout various parts
- 4:55Speaker 3: of Iran, really concentrating to a large degree on the
- 4:58Speaker 3: coastal areas, but then moving inlane, and Iran has, like
- 5:01Speaker 3: it has in the past, escalated attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait,
- 5:04Speaker 3: where CBS Reporting and other outlets have reported the US
- 5:09Speaker 3: had started moving folks back in both in terms of
- 5:11Speaker 3: military personnel diplomats. I've spoken to oil companies that have
- 5:16Speaker 3: also kind of resurged their personnel on the ground because
- 5:19Speaker 3: we thought the ceasefire was in effect. So we've seen
- 5:22Speaker 3: this resumption of fire between the two countries as well
- 5:25Speaker 3: as really an escalation and targeting. While importantly our traditional
- 5:30Speaker 3: mediators cut that as well as other countries like Turkey
- 5:33Speaker 3: and Saudi Arabia are trying to stay to both sides.
- 5:36Speaker 3: Let's take a beat, Let's try to negotiate.
- 5:38Speaker 1: It really hard to do that.
- 5:39Speaker 3: They're trying really hard. But at this point the question
- 5:42Speaker 3: is where is their credibility and confidence by either party
- 5:46Speaker 3: that both anyone's committed to the seasfire. Certainly Iran was
- 5:49Speaker 3: striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and even
- 5:52Speaker 3: before that, the actual control of the Strait of Hormuz
- 5:57Speaker 3: was not what President Trump laid out verbally. Is really
- 6:00Speaker 3: iron trying to call the shots literally and figuratively.
- 6:03Speaker 1: Sam Vinigred, Nicole Skanga, thank you so very very much.