The Retooling of the FBI

FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft unveiled an ambitious plan to overhaul the bureau and refocus more energy on preventing terrorist attacks. The FBI has come under intense criticism over concerns that it ignored important clues in the months leading up to the September 11th attacks.

"Events of September 11 marked a turning point for the FBI," according to Mueller. "It became clearer than ever that we had to fundamentally change the way we do our business."

The changes include shifting over 500 agents from criminal investigations to terrorism prevention; the hiring of hundreds of new agents; and better coordination amongst the different field offices that are working on terrorism prevention. It was that lack of coordination that led to several terrorism leads being ignored before 9/11.

This hour, we look at the new structure of the FBI. Will it make the country safer?

Guests:

Buck Revell, former deputy director of investigative and intelligence operations for the FBI

Elaine Shannon, criminal justice correspondent for Time Magazine, author of "The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Damaging FBI Agent in U-S History"

Senator Charles R. Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa