US security rethinking airline screening

U.S. security officials will rethink the invasive airline passenger screening procedures that have caused a public uproar on the eve of the busy U.S. holiday travel season, Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole said on Monday.
"We're going to look at how can we do the most effective screening in the least invasive way knowing that there's always a trade-off between security and privacy," he told NBC's Today show while making the rounds on U.S. breakfast television.
But on CNN Pistole said, "In the short-term there will not be any changes."
Pistole's comments appeared to row back from the position he stated in a Sunday television interview in which he said the TSA had no plans to back away from the procedures.
The screening that has irked passengers and lawmakers in Congress relies on highly revealing full-body scanners and physical pat-downs for travelers who choose to opt out of the scans.
Pistole said security officials would consult government investigators who penetrated the TSA's previous screening procedures to determine how methods might be changed and still protect against a passenger who poses a security threat.
"If we did modify in some respect the type of screening that we do, how can we adjust that?" he said. "They were able to get through security because of the lack of thoroughness that we had."