[laughter] >> thank you, chairman lautenberg. first of all, i want to apologize.m not on the judiciary committee. the white house is very anxious to have all senators meet with the judge sotomayor before recess. i have been assigned a time at 3:15. that is, kind of, for life for her if she wins, which i think she will. so i have to excuse myself. i do that without any misgivings because this is frank lautenberg's passion and has been for years, really more than anybody. so i also welcome all of you, including governor rendell. i have never seen him in person. he's always on television. it is kind of exciting to meet somebody like that. [laughter] >> mr. chairman, you don't know how exciting it is. i work with him. >> now, i agree totally with senator lautenberg on the excitement of high-speed passenger rail, i spent 10-12 years either chairing or being ranking on the aviation subcommittee, this body. it's just occurs to me we are down now to a relatively few airlines with lots of problems. if you just look at the pattern of people's behavior, they want to use fast

i will do everything i can senator lautenberg to work with you to make sure that we can do this.ill, it's inevitable, it's part of america's destiny. i think the chair. >> and i apologize to the audience into the witnesses. >> thanks very much, senator rockefeller appear in your position as chairman of this committee is one that gives us encouragement that we can achieve this goal of ours and having a more important rio leyna to our transportation system and we thank you for your encouragement. senator hutchison. >> thank you mr. chairman. and am very pleased to be at this hearing and also to have the opportunity to have a texas presence at the hearing because you and i mr. chairman have worked for a long time on amtrak, keeping amtrak by bob and i will say we've had a very productive partnership and keeping the national part of amtrak also liable. and i think that is essential and now that we are beginning to see the possibility for high-speed rail, i think it becomes even more important to have the national part of the system also have the opportunity for high-speed rail to be

>> senator lautenberg said he will address a few issues in upcoming congressional hearings. first of all, airport cameras weren't working. it took an hour before officials were able to get backup cameras from continental airlines which actually showed the breach which led to this investigation. then, of course, there are those concerns over the tsa posts and how to control that. so senator lautenberg is saying this is an important lesson but also and expensive one, not just in resources but in the time, as this resulted in mass chaos. as we saw, alex, the coverage of this, you saw the pictures, mass of people for hours. >> people will not forget this incident for a long time to come. thank you very much, lynn. good to see you as always. >>> two more security incidents involving air travel. british police have arrested three people on a passenger jet for making verbal threats to staff. all three were removed from the plane yesterday before takeoff and british authorities searched the jet and said they didn't find anything dangerous. >>> an unrulely passenger on board an airtr

new jersey senator lautenberg said jiang's release says a message. >> there's a message out there that says don't dry it. don't try it. because if you do, we're going to catch you. >> at the time jiang allegedly slipped through security. the tsa screener that was supposed to be monitoring the checkpoint slip aped away. and as thousands of passengers were tied up for hours, officials said jiang himself left the airport just 20 minutes after the incident. >>> the christmas airline bombing attempt suspect has pleaded not guilty to all charges. umar farouk abdulmutallab appeared in court in detroit yesterday. he faces six federal charges, including an attempt to blow up a plane and an attempt to use weapons of mass destruction and that charge could get him life in prison if he's convicted. his defense didn't challenge the government's request to keep him in pretrial custody and his next court date has not yet been set. >>> republicans are pushing for a closer review of how would-be bomber abdulmutallab made it onto the plane. the ranking republican on the house homeland security committee

senator lautenberg says he wants all to learn from this expensive lesson so it doesn't happen again.et, michelle franzen, you're right on that. thank you so much. >>> two more security incidents involving air travel to share with you this morning. british police have arrested three people on board a passenger jet at london's heathrow airport for allegedly making verbal threats to staff. a police spokesman says all three were removed from the emirates plane yesterday before takeoff and british authorities searched that jet and say they didn't find anything dangerous. >>> and an unruly passenger on board an airtran flight forced the pilot to make an unscheduled stop in colorado. that flight was on its way from atlanta to san francisco when it diverted to colorado springs because a passenger had locked himself in the plane's bathroom. officials say the passenger was intoxicated. he was taken into custody after the plane landed. >>> ice turning many roadways around atlanta into virtual skating rinks. the latest blast of wintry weather is blamed for dozens of car accidents there on friday

by the gridlock which is present in this chamber, spoken about by senator menendez and senator lautenberg a few moments ago, by the filibusters which were being carried on by republicans. well, a few years ago, filibusters were being carried on by democrats, and president bush's judicial nominees were the subject of filibusters. the business about filibusters and about gridlock is a problem on both parties. it isn't a matter of bipartisan blame -- it's a matter of bipartisan blame. senator menendez commented about my willingness to reach across the aisle. i did that on the other side of the aisle, and do i that on this side of the aisle. when i came to the united states senate in 1980, there were many moderate republican senators who reached across the aisle. we had senator hatfield from oregon just discussing the distinguished presiding officer brought me greetings from senator hatfield, the senator from oregon, and senator packwood, also a moderate from oregon. senator danforth from missouri, senator wyker from connecticut, senator chafee from rhode island, senator stafford from vermont

new jersey senator frank lautenberg pushed for the surveillance video to be publicly released to help identify the suspect. he says the in love defense doesn't fly with him and thinks a harsher punishment should apply. >> did a stupid thing this was premeditated, that he looked for a chance to break into the system, and though apparently it was on a relatively benign mission, the fact of the matter is that what he did was a terrible injustice. >> security breach has raised questions for tsa and how airlines monitor video surveillance. the tsa agent is on administrative leave and could face disciplinary charges. jiang is set to appear in newark municipal court next week. alex? >> so, michelle, what do the airlines and tsa and lawmakers, what are they doing to make sure this doesn't happen again. >> they're looking at all the issues, how the video is maintained and kept. we could see congressional hearings out of this. we're also hearing that travelers also need to keep watch as well. >> yeah. okay. always be vigilant. thank you very much, michelle. >>> and two more security incidents i

we have new jersey senator frank lautenberg pushing for surveillance video to be publicly released. is he satisfied with the charge filed? >> he spoke out last night after the arrest. he said that he is not necessarily satisfied, although he's happy with the arrest, that it happened, and they were so quick about it. and he does not buy that love defense and says the suspect should face a harsher punishment for deliberately breaching security and creating costly hours of delays for travelers while authorities tried to find the suspect. >> because the message can't go out to terrorists or people who would do damage to our citizens that you can take a chance and sneak in. this has to be seen as the equivalent of a terrible crime. >> the senator is also demanding a review of procedures for tsa agents, the airline employees who work together to monitor surveillance video and also those checkpoints. the tsa agent is currently on administrative leave and could face disciplinary action for leaving his post. alex. >> okay, michelle franzen, thank you very much for that. >>> and two more secu

new jersey senator frank lautenberg pressed for the surveillance video to be released and says the arrest sends a message. >> there is a message that goes out there, said don't try it. don't try it because if you will, we're going to catch you. >> if convicted, jiang could spend up to 30 days in jail as well as pay a $500 fine. >>> and this latest incident is adding to the concerns about aviation security. this after the tsa ordered more full-body scanners to be deployed at airports across the country. along with president obama this week calling on homeland security and the energy department to develop better screening technology. joining me live now is clark kent irvin with the aspen institute and former inspector general at the department of homeland security. good morning again to you. >> good morning, alex. >> so, given these new parameters that the president called upon for janet napolitano and homeland security to put in place, do you think enough is being done right now in terms of aviation security? >> well, it's a step in the right direction, alex. certainly we need to redouble

new jersey senator frank lautenberg says his arrest sends a clear message. >> we're pleased that there's a message out there that says don't try it. don't try it, because, if you do, we're going to catch you. we're going to show we know how to stop this even though we miss them at the moment going in, but that good police work, trained officers know what to do to get to their -- to get to the target. >> at this time, he allegedly slipped through security. the tsa screener supposed to be watch together check point was not there. >>> this just in to hln, a suspecteded suicide bomber blamed for killing seven cia employees and contractors threatened revenge before he died. humam alba la which suggested it was revenge for an air strike. listen what he said here. >> we will never forget the blood of our leader, may god have mercy on his soul. it will remain that we take revenge for his death inside and outside america. it is a trust for every person who left everything for the sake of god whom he supported. >> stus spekt appeared in strid oh with a new leader of the pakistani branch. the suspe

barrasso, senator johnson, senator bennet, senator stabenow, senator bill nelson from florida, nor lautenberg, senator thune, senator mccain, and senator hutchison, and my co-chair in all of this, obviously senator inhofe. we are a bipartisan group. our numbers are growing every day. numbers of senators that say that we want to focus on the welfare of children and particularly orphans and come up with a better plan to respond to this humanitarian disaster as it relates to them. we are committed to the fundamental -- really almost a concept that i don't know how anyone could argue, but people do, but we, all of us understand that children actually belong in families. i know this is a difficult concept for some people in our country, in the international community to grasp, but children don't do well alone. children don't do really well in orphans no matter how well they are run. children really don't want to grow up in group homes, which we have thousands of children in our own country in group homes. actually, children want to grow up in families. this may be a startling concept for some, but

[laughter] >> senator lautenberg, on your way out the door, i want to thank you very much for this hearingand high-speed rail is critical. it's just really critical. i want to pick up on senator thune's comment about the funding. and senator thune, i wanted to pick up on your points about the funding because it's very critical. this $13 billion standing alone just can go so far. but in my state, we had an election about putting a $9 billion funding package and the people voted aye which is kind of remarkable given the latest votes that we had. so, you know, the people there really understand it. and our system -- and i think -- i bet most everybody in this room has been to my state. it will eventually connect sacramento, our state capital to san diego in the south. the first phase will be between los angeles and san francisco and points in between. i also want to point out the private sector has to be leveraged into this, too. in california we're working with the private sector so you take the $13 billion. you add the $9 billion from my state. hopefully billions from other states and hopef

lautenberg: i thank my colleague from pennsylvania. i congratulate him for having cast 10,000 votes. we all know senator specter so well that we know that 10,000 votes cast by him carried 10,000 thoughtful decisions. he's a lawyer of distinction and came to this senate and was accorded respect for his views. we have often listened to debates where senator specter participated, and his views were always, always respected by others and carried much weight. he and i have gotten along over the years very, very well. and i was pleased to see him have the courage to switch parties because of his belief in his -- how this body ought to function and we congratulate him for that as well. the only disagreement we had is whether or not the football team -- philadelphia, the eagles -- are more loved by people in the southern part of our state of new jersey or whether their loyalty is better appreciated by those from pennsylvania. it depends with me on what the record is. i'm sorry. excuse me. but we -- it's a pleasure to be serve with senator spec