Ken Berwitz
PETER KING: I\’m extremely concerned because what thepresident is telling us is not true. We cannot vet the refugees from Syria.There are no databases to work against. There are no government records. Andwhen I talk to people involved in the vetting, they have no confidence at allin the people that are being allowed in. There\’s no way. People talk aboutthorough vetting, there is no vetting as a practical matter. That is thereality.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Hold on a second. There is vetting.
KING: There is not.Mika –
BRZEZINSKI: There are face-to-face interviews. There\’s healthscreenings. Often it takes two years for a family to get here.
KING: Mika,you\’re entirely wrong. You are wrong, you are wrong.
BRZEZINSKI: Actually, sir,I think you\’re wrong.
KING: I met with the people doing the interviews. I\’mtalking to the people involved in the highest levels of government. They tellus that they have no confidence at all. This is not proper vetting. I\’m tellingyou that.
BRZEZINSKI: But the vetting is happening whether you like it or not.
KING: No, it is not a real vetting. You can\’t vet if you have nothing to baseit against. You are wrong, Mika. You are 1,000 percent wrong, W-R-O-N-G.
BRZEZINSKI: So meeting face-to-face and screening them and interviewing them andoften making them wait months and years – that is not a vetting process?
KING:That is not vetting. That is not vetting. No, it is not. You cannot vet unlessyou have material to base it –
BRZEZINSKI: So should we say, \’Syrians, stay outof America, you\’re not welcome here?\’
KING: Mika, we\’re not saying Syrians.We\’re saying these refugees. Unless we know who the refugees are, we cannot beallowing them in. My job is to protect Americans, not to feel good aboutmyself, not to say that I\’m doing something humanitarian. If Americans getkilled because we are letting people in because they are not properly vetted – they cannot be properly vetted. How many times am I supposed to tell you this,Mika? You are wrong. They cannot, and it puts American lives at risk.
