Following is a transcript of the interview Fox News Channel anchor Shep Smith conducted with New York Times London Bureau Chief Steven Erlanger.
I doubt that you\’ll need me to explain what it says about Steven Erlanger:
SHEPARDSMITH: Joining us now from Paris is Steve Erlanger, he\’s the Londonbureau chief for the New York Times. Steve, what can you tell usabout this warning from the authorities there of a possible secondWestern attack to come?
STEVEERLANGER: Well, we need to be careful in the moments after such athing–
SMITH:You don\’t have to tell me that.
ERLANGER:Well, that\’s, that\’s — I hope — true. And there are warnings, evenMI5, the head of MI5 which is like the British FBI, gave a speechyesterday in which he warned that al-Qaeda in the middle east wasplanning larger attacks including against London. It\’s very hard,it\’s very easy to draw lines through all these things and to makethem one, but there\’s no question that this attack and this sense ofa cell in France, that it wasn\’t just two brothers, that they hadfriends and accomplices,has shaken people very, very badly. Andthere\’ll be lots of questions about why intel didn\’t know what wasgoing on, did they take these brothers seriously enough, could thishave been prevented? The magazine, Charlie Hebdo, had been a major…
SMITH:I\’m very curious about, you said we need to be careful. On whatmatter did you think we were not careful, based on what you just saidand what we reported, Mr. Erlanger?
ERLANGER:I mean, frankly, I have not been listening very, very carefully toyou —
SMITH:Uh huh. So you just said that because why?
ERLANGER:No, no, no. I\’m not getting in a fight with you.
SMITH:That\’s good.
ERLANGER:I\’m simply saying that — Look, you asked me to come and talk to you.I\’m telling you what I think I know.
SMITH:Well, you told me that you thought we need to be careful and what Ican report to you, sir, is we\’re being very careful.
ERLANGER:I\’m sorry, sir, either you\’re going to let me talk or you\’re not. Iguess you\’re not.
SMITH:Steve Erlanger, from the New York Times. It\’s nice to speak with you,thanks very much.
To paraphrase Animal House\’s Dean Wormer: pompous and ignorant is no way to go through life.
Any questions, Steve?
