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CNN Live Event/Special
Terror Threats To Financial Institutions In NYC, New Jersey, Washington D.C.
Aired August 02, 2004 - 11:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We've been listening in to President Bush from the Rose Garden of the White House, making a number of announcements in light of the 9/11 Commission report. Also the increased terror threat, making among the announcements that he will ask Congress to create a position of a National Intelligence Director. And many other announcements, as well.
We'll get to more of those, but right now, we have Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City also holding a news conference. So, let's listen in to the mayor.
(BEGIN LIVE NEWS EVENT)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: And the mayor this morning at 9:30 pressed the button, ringing the bell to open the stock exchange, another symbol of the strength of this great city and this great country.
And we were just over where we broke ground on a new headquarters for the Bank of America, that right across the street is going to be building a magnificent new skyscraper, a symbol of our defiance of those who would have us live in terror or live in fear.
Have every confidence that this city has the best law enforcement, the best security teams anywhere in the world. And the mayor and the commissioner are doing whatever it takes. And understand, as well, that whatever the state has to do to be supportive in working with the federal administration, we will do so that you can go about your lives, as New Yorkers, with confidence, with absolute peace.
So, just enjoy the greatest city in the world on this, a great day, in this wonderful city. Thank you.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK CITY: We'll be happy to take questions. Yes, Miss?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) unspecified targets. What does New York expect (INAUDIBLE) added security (INAUDIBLE)?
BLOOMBERG: Well, I'll let the police commissioner answer in more specificity. But we haven't changed anything in the sense that we have known, certainly since 9/11, that New York City represents to the world some freedoms that other people find threatening. And that we will always be a target. We have, as you know, for the last two-and-a-half years, stayed at level orange. We have, with the help of the governor, maintained presence of troops and police throughout this city. Every day, the deployment and the strategies are different to keep people guessing. We have not walked away from anything.
What you see different now is simply that there are some specific things mentioned. And so, certainly, we will make sure that the people who provide security in those buildings take extra precaution, but it is certainly a good wake-up call to everybody in every building. Just because your name wasn't on the list doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions. And the more precautions you take, the safer you will be.
Commissioner, you want to add something?
RAYMOND KELLY, POLICE COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY: I think you'll see, you might say, more of the same that we've done, but we've increased it also in certain locations.
You'll see more vehicle checks. We're doing vehicle checks kind of along 57th Street for southbound traffic. Also along Canal Street -- additional checks south of Canal Street. Certainly in the vicinity of the New York Stock Exchange, around the buildings that were mentioned. There were four Citicorp buildings of interest. You'll see increased police presence at those locations.
We've increased our coverage in the transit system. We're doing our TOMs, our train order maintenance exercises, we've increased that, as well, and plain-clothed (ph), we're covered.
So, you'll see, I think, a lot of the things we've done we've shifted them somewhat. We've increased the number of vehicle checks so that we -- we normally do.
Well, we're still also working on the cost. I don't want to get into specific numbers. We'll have to do some of the things that we're doing on street time on overtime, so that will increase it somewhat, but I'd rather stay away from specific numbers.
Both.
I don't remember, quite frankly. We have a rapidly developing situation.
BLOOMBERG: I think the answer is we are number one going to provide the security that we believe the public needs, and then we'll figure out how to pay for it. Certainly more homeland security funds from Washington would be an enormous help...
(END LIVE NEWS EVENT)
WHITFIELD: We apologize for some audio problems -- you're seeing out of New York there with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly talking about the new security restrictions imposed after the heightened advisory targeted alerts now for New York, New Jersey, as well as D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 2, 2004 - 11:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We've been listening in to President Bush from the Rose Garden of the White House, making a number of announcements in light of the 9/11 Commission report. Also the increased terror threat, making among the announcements that he will ask Congress to create a position of a National Intelligence Director. And many other announcements, as well.
We'll get to more of those, but right now, we have Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City also holding a news conference. So, let's listen in to the mayor.
(BEGIN LIVE NEWS EVENT)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: And the mayor this morning at 9:30 pressed the button, ringing the bell to open the stock exchange, another symbol of the strength of this great city and this great country.
And we were just over where we broke ground on a new headquarters for the Bank of America, that right across the street is going to be building a magnificent new skyscraper, a symbol of our defiance of those who would have us live in terror or live in fear.
Have every confidence that this city has the best law enforcement, the best security teams anywhere in the world. And the mayor and the commissioner are doing whatever it takes. And understand, as well, that whatever the state has to do to be supportive in working with the federal administration, we will do so that you can go about your lives, as New Yorkers, with confidence, with absolute peace.
So, just enjoy the greatest city in the world on this, a great day, in this wonderful city. Thank you.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK CITY: We'll be happy to take questions. Yes, Miss?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) unspecified targets. What does New York expect (INAUDIBLE) added security (INAUDIBLE)?
BLOOMBERG: Well, I'll let the police commissioner answer in more specificity. But we haven't changed anything in the sense that we have known, certainly since 9/11, that New York City represents to the world some freedoms that other people find threatening. And that we will always be a target. We have, as you know, for the last two-and-a-half years, stayed at level orange. We have, with the help of the governor, maintained presence of troops and police throughout this city. Every day, the deployment and the strategies are different to keep people guessing. We have not walked away from anything.
What you see different now is simply that there are some specific things mentioned. And so, certainly, we will make sure that the people who provide security in those buildings take extra precaution, but it is certainly a good wake-up call to everybody in every building. Just because your name wasn't on the list doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions. And the more precautions you take, the safer you will be.
Commissioner, you want to add something?
RAYMOND KELLY, POLICE COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY: I think you'll see, you might say, more of the same that we've done, but we've increased it also in certain locations.
You'll see more vehicle checks. We're doing vehicle checks kind of along 57th Street for southbound traffic. Also along Canal Street -- additional checks south of Canal Street. Certainly in the vicinity of the New York Stock Exchange, around the buildings that were mentioned. There were four Citicorp buildings of interest. You'll see increased police presence at those locations.
We've increased our coverage in the transit system. We're doing our TOMs, our train order maintenance exercises, we've increased that, as well, and plain-clothed (ph), we're covered.
So, you'll see, I think, a lot of the things we've done we've shifted them somewhat. We've increased the number of vehicle checks so that we -- we normally do.
Well, we're still also working on the cost. I don't want to get into specific numbers. We'll have to do some of the things that we're doing on street time on overtime, so that will increase it somewhat, but I'd rather stay away from specific numbers.
Both.
I don't remember, quite frankly. We have a rapidly developing situation.
BLOOMBERG: I think the answer is we are number one going to provide the security that we believe the public needs, and then we'll figure out how to pay for it. Certainly more homeland security funds from Washington would be an enormous help...
(END LIVE NEWS EVENT)
WHITFIELD: We apologize for some audio problems -- you're seeing out of New York there with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly talking about the new security restrictions imposed after the heightened advisory targeted alerts now for New York, New Jersey, as well as D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
