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CNN Live Event/Special

CNN HOTLINE: Los Angeles' Feelings Toward Attacks

Aired September 20, 2001 - 01:22   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a call from -- do we have a caller in Canada -- I saw up there. Did he go away?

CALLER: No.

CAFFERTY: There we are. Jim in Ontario, how are you doing?

JIM: Good. How are you?

CAFFERTY: Good. What can I help you with?

JIM: I just had a comment.

CAFFERTY: Go ahead.

JIM: I was just looking, like watching this whole thing unfold the other night, and I thought it seems kind of strange with all the technology we have in North America why we can't seem to develop some sort of technology that when the plane was up in the sky, that we could've actually brought the plane back or take control of the plane from the control tower or something.

CAFFERTY: That's a good point. There are also a couple of other things that I was reading about using the technology you're asking about, where perhaps access to the cockpit could only be done by -- with a -- with a fingerprint ID. There's actually ways that they can read -- a sensor can read a person's eyeball and identify you that way.

But, there are -- there are ways to certainly improve the ability to not lose control of airplanes once they're in the air, and your idea of somehow activating an automatic pilot computer that would return the plane to its base or whatever is something that I'm sure they'll be looking at.

Larry Elder is with us from Los Angeles and Larry, I'm sorry I had to cut away from you for awhile. He's a radio talkshow host on KBC and we get -- we get kind of wrapped up in the East Coast reaction to this because the target cities were Washington and New York City.

But Los Angeles is the second largest metropolitan area in the United States and you work out there, you live out there, and I'm interested in the sense of reaction to all of this on the part of the people. Are they afraid? Is there noticed uptick in the security of freeway systems, things like Los Angeles International Airport.

Talk to me about your town and the people in it and how they're feeling about this.

LARRY ELDER, KBC RADIO TALKSHOW HOST: Well, I think all of the above Jack. The whole city has been affected. Remember, all four of those planes were bound for California -- three of which were bound for Los Angeles. So, there are a number of people who are dead, who have had connections with California.

Airline travel is down. It's down to probably about 30, 40 percent of normal. There's a trunkcaded schedule for the airlines. LAX has real tight security now. You can't do curbside check-in. You have to park your car quite a distance away, so people simply aren't flying.

Also, over the last several days, as was the case around the country I suppose, there are all sorts of fundraisers. My own station, KBC, raised about a million and a half dollars for the families of the victims and that kind of thing happened all over. And so, but there is a sense of getting back to normal. I think -- I'm hearing more joking than I did a few days ago.

It seems like more people are getting out. People are going to the ball games. Unfortunately, like Washington, we -- unlike Washington we don't have a football team anymore, but we are going back to baseball. So, we're struggling to try to get back to normal, but of course, nothing is ever going to be normal.

Haven't you noticed Jack, when you drive by a big building now, you kind of notice, you tilt a little bit and just kind of have like a freaky little dream for a moment. I think that kind of thing is what people out here are going through, as well as all over the country I suppose.

CAFFERTY: You mention football, the -- a couple of things on football. The NFL canceled the games last weekend. They are going to play the full 16 game slate though, and the NFL officials, I see, late this afternoon have agreed to a new contract. Why is there no football team in your city? We used to have the Los Angeles Rams and we had the Los Angeles Raiders. Now, you've got nothing out there.

ELDER: Now we -- now we have nothing. Remember the Rams came from Cleveland.

CAFFERTY: Right.

ELDER: Lakers came from Minnesota. The Dodgers came from Brooklyn. We only have a few indigenous home grown LA teams in the first place. So we ...

CAFFERTY: The Angels, I guess, right?

ELDER: Yes, yeah the Angels are one of them, so we can't complain too much when another team steals ours. We don't have a big team here and frankly, I think the NFL needs LA more than LA needs the NFL.

CAFFERTY: Sure.

ELDER: Sooner or later I'm sure they'll come to the table and make a deal and we'll have a team.

CAFFERTY: Here in New York, Ann Gray (ph) is on the phone or Andrea (ph). How are you doing tonight?

ANDREA GRAY (ph): I'm fine. How are you?

CAFFERTY: I'm good. What can I help you with?

GRAY (ph): OK. I've got a question, I'm very curious about the movie industry.

CAFFERTY: Oh. What -- in what way? What are you curious about?

GRAY (ph): I'm just concerned about movies being made about terrorism. Would this give a terrorist ideas, practically?

CAFFERTY: That's a good question, and let me get Larry involved in talking about that since he's out there.

Within a matter of hours, I think, after this thing happened, somebody started talking about these action movies and the -- what was the one Bruce Willis where terrorists took over ...

ELDER: Right.

CAFFERTY: ... the skyscraper, "Die Hard," and somebody, Arnold Schwarzenegger things and all the violence in films. Are they talking about out there and if so, in what context in light of what's happened?

ELDER: Well, they sure are Jack. You're right, there were a couple of movies apparently on the board with plots not unlike what happened in New York. Those movies have been scrapped. There is a great deal of concern about sensitivity about making movies that do not stereotype Arabs all as terrorists.

So, yeah, Hollywood immediately went to work and tore up some scripts and are writing some new ones. I suspect Jack, they'll be a whole bunch of people coming to the table with a script for Flight number 93 where those courageous passengers downed that plane and prevented that plane from running into a much more important target and perhaps hurting a lot more people.

There'll be a movie about that, you can be sure.

CAFFERTY: All right Larry, we're going to go into a station break. I'll turn you loose. I appreciate your joining us here on night number five of this new enterprise. You're a welcome addition and glad to have you back anytime.

ELDER: Well, thanks a lot Jack and don't worry about that gas station attendant. He needs to sell that gas to somebody, so he doesn't want that gas to stick in the ground. Don't worry about it.

CAFFERTY: Say goodnight, Larry.

ELDER: Good night, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Talk to you later. Larry Elder from Los Angeles.

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