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CNN TALKBACK LIVE
America Speaks Out: How Has Terrorism Changed Your Life?
Aired October 5, 2001 - 15:00 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROGER COSSACK, HOST (voice-over): Are you terrorized?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the things the terrorists want us to do is to live under a cloud, and to live with fear.
COSSACK: What do you fear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way we've run security at airports is that we've always tried to do it on who could do it the cheapest.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: The Centers for Disease Control has just confirmed the diagnosis of anthrax in a patient in a Florida hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is absolutely alarming the degree to which our rail system is open to everyone.
COSSACK: Has the threat of the terror changed the way you live?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSSACK: All right, welcome to TALKBACK LIVE: America Speaks Out. I'm Roger Cossack, in for Bobbie Battista.
Well, President Bush tells us to go about our business, but cautions us to stay alert. Well, stay alert for what? Has September 11 changed the way you live your life? I know it's changed the way I live mine.
Are you on the lookout for terrorists? Well, we've invited some radio talkshow host from across the country to share what their listeners are saying about living under the specter of war, terror and fear.
So, in Pittsburgh, Beth Smith, host of the "Beth Smith Show" on the American Urban Radio Network.
And in Boston, from Boston, Peter Blute, a radio talkshow host on WRKO.
In San Francisco, Bernie Ward, host of "The Bernie Ward Show" on KGO Newstalk-AM, 8:00 to 10:00. And in New York, Steve Malzberg. He's a talkshow host on WABC.
Steve, let's go from the bottom to the top. What are your listeners saying? This has been a particularly difficult week: We've had the airliners, we've had the bus attack, the anthrax. This has been a rough, rough week for Americans, and the world I suppose.
What do your listeners have to say?
STEVE MALZBERG, WABC TALKSHOW HOST: I think, well it's naturally the suspicion is aroused anytime you hear of anything, such as the bus attack, the box cutter was used, it was a man of a foreign origin with a foreign passport, who was, it turned out, here illegally. And naturally you start to wonder but why a greyhound bus in the middle of the night and start to wonder.
But, why a Greyhound bus in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. And then anthrax, the first known case in 25 years. Although it appears to be isolated, naturally the listeners are asking the question: Well where did it come from, and why right now for the first time in 25 years.
Look, I think what people in New York are doing is basically what people around the country are doing. They're trying to live their life as normally as possible. However, New Yorkers have always been street wise. They always know when to cross the street, what blocks to go down, what blocks not to go down; and I think they're doing the same thing on a larger scale.
Maybe they don't want to fly, maybe they don't want to be in this building or that building, if they can avoid it. But for the most part, I think New Yorkers are pretty much back to normal.
COSSACK: All right. Bernie, from KGO Radio in San Francisco. A different part of the country, the west coast, as far away from what happened in Washington and New York as we get.
What are your listeners saying?
BERNIE WARD, KGO RADIO TALKSHOW HOST: Well, they're not talking about any of those things. I haven't had a call on anthrax, or on the airplane, or on the bus.
What my listeners are concerned with are numerous things. They are concerned about the real threat to their civil liberties that this John Ashcroft represents. They're very concerned about this war, and how you're going to ever know it's going to end.
And they're also very interested in George Bush and how he seems to have changed so dramatically from September 10 to September 11, and they want to talk about that.
And then the biggest thing we talk about of all of those, is of course the economy in the tank, and all the people that have lost jobs out here in Silicon Valley. And what is going to happen with all of that. COSSACK: You know, that's kind of interesting that you describe a group of listeners who do not, apparently from what you described or how I discern it at least, don't feel that personally threatened, so that they can talk about George Bush and civil liberties, rather than getting on an airplane or fear from terrorists themselves.
Is that, do you think, because they're 3,000 miles away?
WARD: Well, nobody's -- flying out here is down, and people are not flying. And theaters are down, and San Francisco is getting buried by the fact that nobody is going to restaurants, and tourism is down, et cetera. So the impact and the concerns are there.
But my listeners at least are very concerned that this is going to be used as an excuse to expand powers of government that law enforcement's wanted for years, and they're very concerned about what that means to them in the long run, in terms of their privacy and what's going to happen, vis-a-vis the government through these laws.
COSSACK: Peter, how about your listeners? Are they concerned about civil liberties and their loss, or is this something that perhaps is unique to the San Francisco area?
What are your listeners talking about?
PETER BLUTE, WRKO RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It's a mixed bag. Some are concerned that this will expand the power of the government over average citizens' lives to an extent they are not ready for. On the other hand, many people want restored confidence. They want confidence going through their airports. They want confidence walking on the street, their water supply, all of the issues that we're hearing about.
So there really is genuine concern about what's happening, and I think a growing impatience in the land about when will America begin to show some progress in this fight against terrorism. So they are willing to give President Bush some time. They are patient, but they also want to make sure that the Osama bin Ladens of the world feel the terrible, swift sword of America's military.
COSSACK: You know, we have been told time and time ago by our administration that this is going to be a different kind of battle for us, that there may not these kinds of decisive battles that your talking about. Do your listeners understand that, that, you know, we may not have those kinds of events.
BLUTE: I think so. I think they know it's going to be the long haul, not the short haul, but certainly they there's some military operations under way, and they'd like to see some progress going after this Al Qaeda network that seemingly was able to come into the United States, unseen by our intelligence agencies, plot for five years and do the damage that they did. I think Prime Minister Tony Blair when he said that now it was 7,000 lives, but in the future it could be 70,000 lives, has really struck people's chord.
OK, Bev, your audience, you have a perspective an audience that perhaps is somewhat different from what we've heard described. Tell us what you're audience is saying.
BEV SMITH, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORK: Well, surprisingly, Roger, it's not that much different, we are as concerned as the people in San Francisco. As I was listening to Bernie, I thought maybe it plugged into our audience, because our audience is extremely concerned about Attorney General John Ashcroft, extremely concerned about the amount power he wants without the check and balance for Congress.
We are concerned about war. The majority of the men in my listening audience, African-American mean, have served both in Korea and Vietnam, and we are hearing the horror stories of war. So we are very cautious when it comes to saber rattling. We think John Wayne is dead, and we're not so sure we want his style of war to be revived. Another thing we're concerned about is whether or not we will be profiled again. Last night on my show, we talked to Pakistanis and Iranians, and they were, for the first time, feeling the kinds of things that my audience has felt, and that is discrimination because of their color.
So nightly on our show, there's a mixed bag...
(INTERRUPTED BY CNN COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT)
COSSACK: We're back here in Atlanta, of course, doing TALKBACK LIVE. Let's read some e-mails. Here's from Ken in Pinon Hills in California. He says: "What terrorizes me is sending our military to war and telling the rest of us to go on vacation and spend money."
Rebecca in Florida says: "Living in fear is exactly what terrorists are hoping Americans will do. We need to show them their scare tactics can't and won't scare us. I'm aware of the fact that they are out there, but I can't let them control how I live my life."
One more. Jane in Florida says: "I must say I'm not as free feeling as I was, nor are my worries the same. I do have a completely different set of worries. I have less personal ones and more political ones."
Let's go to our audience now. Let me ask you this. Obviously, this terror attack is something that give us all fear and scare. The government says they can protect us, but they may have to invade some of our civil rights. They say, "How much protection do you want? To get some of that protection, you may have to give up those things we have just learned to take for granted."
That's the way they have to protect us. They say they have to keep better control, better track of citizens. If we have nothing to fear, we have nothing to be afraid of. The question is: how much civil rights are you willing to give up, if any? Ken, what have you got to say?
KEN: I would certainly give up some of my civil rights because safety is first and utmost, not only for myself but my family, friends and neighbors. So without a doubt, I would.
COSSACK: What civil rights are you willing to give up? KEN: Whatever it would take to maintain safety in the country. I mean, within reason, you know. I just feel so strong about the safety of our families and our lives.
COSSACK: What -- let me play a lawyer trick on you. What if the government said tomorrow there's only way that we can be really effective. We have to listen in on everybody's conversation, and we have the ability to do that. We are going to listen in on your conversation because that way we will be able to hear whether or not people are plotting against us. And the rest of the people who are just talking to their family or their wives or their boss or whoever it may be, don't worry about it. But we will be listening to you. Would you be willing to go that far?
KEN: I think that's a bit unreasonable. As I said earlier, within reason, I think. But I think that's a bit unreasonable.
COSSACK: Let me go up here to Tom from New York. Tom, your feeling about that.
TOM: I don't feel that we should give up any of our civil liberties. Too many wars have been fought. Too many men have died in wars for our civil liberties and I think the government should give us the right to protect ourselves.
COSSACK: Tom, let me ask you this. We turn to the government in times of crisis like this, and we say, "protect us." And the government says, "to protect you, I have to keep better control of what is going on," the government says, "because that is the only way I can really do it. Perhaps we have to have national ID cards. Perhaps we have to give up the fact that we know that our phones are going to be listened to. But we will get better protection out of that. And this is a time of crisis.
TOM: I think if we give up one civil liberty, then it leads to others that will be taken away from us.
COSSACK: Edith?
EDITH: I believe we just ought to do a better job of the people that are coming in and out of our country. I don't think we need to give up any of our civil liberties. Maybe just to be safe. But I think the people that we are trying to track, if we just did a better job of tracking people coming into our country, we will do a lot better.
COSSACK: What people that are coming into our country?
EDITH: Foreigners. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen.
COSSACK: Everyone who comes into our country? People from England?
EDITH: I don't care where you're coming from.
COSSACK: If you're coming in, we've got to keep track of you. EDITH: We should keep track.
COSSACK: Let's see what Johnnie has to say. Johnnie?
JOHNNIE: I think until we get a handle on everything, some overreaction can be good. I can't image any of the families who lost loved in the buildings of the people on the planes saying, "I don't want my civil liberties taken away."
COSSACK: I want to go back to you. You indicated earlier -- you said you are listening group is concerned because your group is one that many people fight those wars, and profiling. How do you think your listeners feel about civil liberties versus protection?
SMITH: It dependents on what you are talking about when you protection. I think it's very interesting that your audience is willing to give up more and they don't understand that they are already giving up more. Our government right now, if they think you are a drug pusher, can come in on your cell phone and listen to everything you say. We have lost a lot of our rights already.
I think it's interesting that Americans are willing to suffer, when we are not looking at the government agencies that should have been in check. For example, in Florida. When the so-called terrorists, or the alleged terrorists wanted to take flight lessons, he only wanted to learn how to fly one way. The flight school contacted the authorities in Florida and they did nothing. So instead of talking about the average American citizen, we taught to have a job review.
We ought to take a look at the United States government that had a list of terrorists in this country and did nothing to track them down. And we ought to being to look at our country's foreign policy. That is what my audience is concerned about, a foreign policy. We saw the secretary of defense today in countries. We should have been in those countries a long time ago. We have a one-sided foreign policy in the Middle East. That must change. At the same time, we are taking over their oil wells. So my audience is very, very cautious about our foreign policy, wants to know about our government agencies.
You know, I'm an African-American, in case you couldn't tell, and as far as the Customs Department is concerned, black women in this country going outside of the country for pleasure, to Jamaica or Mexico, have been not only been detained by the Customs Department, but have been illegally searched and stripped and detained without rights of attorney. So we have already -- my group of people -- been affected by the loss of our civil rights. Hold up John Ashcroft. Hold up, Mr. Bush.
MALZBERG: Roger?
COSSACK: Peter, is that you?
MALZBERG: No, it's Steve.
COSSACK: Come on in, because I want to get a reaction from you -- from what your audience is feeling.
MALZBERG: First of all, as far as changing our foreign policy, I hear that more and more. It's very disturbing. It's disturbing for a number of reasons. First of all, when she talks about a one-sided policy in the Mideast, if you add up the number of dollars we give the Arab nations compared to what we give Israel every year, the Arab nations win hands down.
SMITH: No, they don't.
MALZBERG: Yes, they do. Excuse me. Did I interrupt you?
Egypt gets just as much if not more money than the state of Israel. Then you add all the other countries. And what is bothering a lot of people in this city is that to build a coalition, it seems like we are losing the moral high ground to an extent. Slavery exists in the Sudan. Sudan is a repressive, murderous regime. What did we do we? We stepped aside and did not vote in the United Nations the other day while the sanctions against Sudan were lifted.
What else are we doing? Chechnya. Their war with Russia. To get Russia, guess what we said? Chechnya, you are the bad guys now. Russia, you are doing a good thing. We are losing the moral high ground and we are expecting Israel, who took Scud missiles in the Gulf War and didn't retaliate, to now sit down with Yasser Arafat, who -- by the way, the new list of terrorist groups that our country put out today includes Hamas and they're right in the Gaza Strip. Yasser Arafat controls them. Yet Israel is being told to sit down and talk with Yasser Arafat at the same time their citizens are being blown up. We are losing the moral high ground here. That's very disturbing.
(CROSSTALK)
COSSACK: I'll tell you what. Let me give Bev a chance to respond and then I want to get to you other two. Go ahead, Bev.
SMITH: It's amazing to me how knee jerk his reaction is. He mentioned Israel. I did not. I think when we're talking about educating in a foreign policy in a world that is different than ever before, we need to know who the people are. We do not have diplomats in many of the countries that we are now doing business with. We need to change our attitudes. And I'll tell you something. I have family members who live in Demona (ph), which is right outside of Jerusalem. I am very concerned about how they will be treated, and whether or not they will be safe in Israel.
We need to reexamine the way we treat people. That's foreign policy. Maybe in New York they don't want to sit down and talk. But I can tell you that black or white, old or young, people are wondering whether or not we have done the right thing in our foreign policy. And if I were grading them, we would flunk. Our attitude has not been, let us look outside this country and let us understand that there are other people in the world. We do business with them. We did business with the Taliban.
Come on. Let's tell the truth. COSSACK: I want to jump in for a second because I want to get our other guest to have something. Peter, from your point of view, we've heard a very interesting change in this discussion, which is we have gone to the point of saying, "look, perhaps we should have been reviewing our foreign policy. Perhaps the way we have treated other people in this world has caused some of these problems. Do you get any of that?
BLUTE: I think that's absolutely wrong. Let's not blame America first, here. American foreign policy didn't cause the death of the these 7,000 innocent people, civilians in the World Trade Center, at the pentagon. Hatred of America, hatred of freedom, hatred of the west, hatred of our culture is what caused this. We have a serious problem out there in that there are people who want to destroy America. We have to be cognizant of that.
But it's not because of our foreign policy. We have been an honest broker in the Middle East, hosting peace conferences from Camp David to Bill Clinton's peace pull. We have been doing everything we possibly can to bring those two sides together. And yes, we have favored Israel to some extent because they were the only democracy in the region. And that's important. We are going to stand up for democracy. Let's not blame America first.
COSSACK: Bernie, I want to give you a chance to jump in. You have said that some of your listeners are also concerned about civil liberties and John Ashcroft's plans. Has there been any consensus or any talk about the fact that we've abandoned the moral high ground and perhaps trying to make a consensus with people that we shouldn't be?
WARD: I'm amazed at you as an attorney to ever say that if you don't have anything to fear, it's okay to let the government come in and look at you, listen to your phones, etc. I can't believe that anybody thinks that everybody that's in jail deserves to be there, or that we haven't had huge abuses of civil liberties in this country over the last 30 or 40 years, and that this is a concern we'd better have.
Also, in terms of foreign policy, it is not blaming America first to talk about context. My listeners want to talk about context. They want to talk about lifting sanctions against Pakistan and India for nuclear proliferation. They want to talk about our support for the Saudis and for the Emir of Kuwait and the repressive regimes that they represent because we want the oil that they can pump out of the ground.
We are very concerned about the context that this all occurs in. And to say then if you talk about context you are blaming America first, it's political correctness in reverse. It's an attempt to stifle the conversation.
(CROSSTALK)
MALZBERG: You should always be willing on change foreign policy. But not right now. Not in the face of what we just had happen. You can't do it now. Now is not the time. WARD: It should have been done a long time ago.
SMITH: It's dangerous not to have an open discussion.
COSSACK: Can I call a quick halt just for a second to this and let me get some reaction from our audience here. I want to hear what they have to say. Please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the foreign policy issue really is a very important question. I see a certain change in the foreign policy after September 11. In the haste of building a coalition, why is the U.S. collaborating with countries which run their own terrorist camps, which allow terrorist camps, terrorist activities to continue on their own soil.
And the U.S. is overlooking that right now in the pursuit of a short-term goal. To pursue Osama and to pursue the al Qaeda activities, the U.S. is collaborating with countries like Pakistan, where just recently there was a suicide bomber attack on legislative assembly building in Kashmir. And a group in Pakistan claimed responsibility for that.
BLUTE: Roger, can I answer that?
COSSACK: Go ahead.
BLUTE: During the Cold War, we fought a long battle against the Soviet Union and totalitarianism. Yes, we got into bed with some shadowy and shady characters from Afghanistan and elsewhere, but we did it for the overall goal to make the world a freer place. We succeeded there. Now we are facing a shadowy empire of people who are willing to commit untold acts of evil against our people. You bet we should find out where these people are -- no matter who we have to deal with -- and deal with them to respond to what they did to us.
(CROSSTALK)
COSSACK: Let me just hose you off for one second because I have to take a break. Let's take a break. When we come back, more from our guests, more from our audience. Let's flesh this subject all the way out. Stay with us.
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, do you need to see the evidence against Osama bin Laden. Take the TALKBACK LIVE online viewer vote at CNN.com/TALKBACK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSSACK: ...the government has not told us what the evidence is, although they have apparently successfully made their case to several other governments regarding why the government believes -- our government believes -- that Osama bin Laden was behind this attack. The question, I suppose, is should our government come forward and let the people know what the evidence is that they have, or is there any reason for us to know?
Bev, your audience want to know the evidence. Why?
SMITH: We want our country to do what Israel has done. We want our country to have an open hearing, an international hearing, to bring the terrorists into prime court because we are concerned. And one of the reasons that we are concerned -- I thought it was awfully curious, the gentleman who said the world truth. We have truth in our foreign policy. This guy has not taken a course in foreign affairs. You know that the Bush family has a history of a relationship with bin Laden. We've learned that Mr. Bush the father was in business with Sheik bin Laden, the father of Osama bin Laden. We have known about Osama bin Laden for a very long time.
So we think, bring him into the international arena. Hold court. Have the family members of the people who died charge him and let's hear the facts. America deserves to hear. We are America. This is our country. We have a right to know how it operates and what it does.
COSSACK: Peter, I want to hear what you have to say about this. Some would argue that perhaps this one of those times where the government can do what it wants to regarding evidence, because in fact this is a diplomatic time, this is a time of crisis. Obviously, if bin Laden was ever brought back to an American court and tried, if that is what happened, the government would have to come forward with the evidence just like they do in any other case. What is feeling? What is your listeners' feelings on this?
BLUTE: Let's be honest. This is less a judicial matter, a criminal matter, than is a military matter. We were attacked by a foreign power, such as they are, in a brutal and vicious way. We have got to respond in the same way. Tony Blair outlined sufficient justification for our cause without revealing national security secrets, which I think is appropriate not to do. Just what Tony Blair said the other day was sufficient reason in connection to Osama bin Laden. I don't know what people are looking for beyond that.
WARD: People are looking for -- first of all, Roger knows that they could never bring him back. Roger knows they could never bring Osama bin Laden back to this country and try him, because under discovery the American government would never reveal what it has and so there will never be a trial in this country.
BLUTE: Bernie, never say never. You don't know what the American government will do.
COSSACK: I want to just finish that, Bernie. And I'm not saying that what you are saying doesn't make a lot of sense. They may choose never to give up that evidence for national security reasons. But that's a different issue. The question is: if they did decide to try him...
WARD: There is not going to be a trial. This is going to be a guy they have to kill. And if you are going to go out and kill somebody, there is not going to be a trial. They are not going to let him go to an international court. They are going to go out and kill him. And if they are going to kill him in the name of me as an American or my listeners, my listeners want to know why he's being killed and...
(CROSSTALK)
COSSACK: Let me go to Steve now. Steve, go ahead.
MALZBERG: If your listeners can't understand why we're after him and why he might be killed, that doesn't say much for your listeners, I'm sorry to say. Let me say something in response to this.
BERNIE: We like to think a little bit more, Steve. Let me say something in return to that.
(CROSSTALK)
COSSACK: Let me let Steve finish. Hold on one second, Bernie. Let me let Steve finish.
(CROSSTALK)
COSSACK: Bernie, I understand. I'm a Californian. You've got to give me a break on this one. Steve, finish up and I'll get back to you, Bernie, I promise.
MALZBERG: I've never heard this George Bush -- George W.'s was a business partner with Osama bin Laden's father. I don't know where that comes from.
SMITH: It's in your history. Go look.
MALZBERG: But I'll tell you this. If we're going to talk about other presidents, Bill Clinton was the terrorist's friend. He gave Jerry Adams his first visa into this country. He had Yasser Arafat into the White House...
BLUTE: Jerry Adams is a terrorist?
MALZBERG: And he pardoned the FALN terrorists who killed people in this country.
(CROSSTALK)
COSSACK: Hold on one second. I want to give Bernie a chance to respond. Bernie, please.
BERNIE: First of all, we don't know if Osama bin Laden is a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or there's actually a state behind all of this. And there is a lot of evidence to suggest that there is.
So if Steve is so narrow-minded and shortsighted that all he wants to do is focus on that and wants to be so easily duped, that's fine. But if you want to make a case -- that's why you have go to make the case against Osama bin Laden. And if you don't have the case to make, it says that there are other things that have to be looked at or the real bad guys may get away. And second...
BLUTE: The case was sufficient enough to convince the leadership of Pakistan -- a Muslim country..
COSSACK: Let me hold you off for one second. We have a phone call -- we have a caller from New York and I want to let this caller speak for a second. Bashir from New York, please go ahead.
BASHIR: My name is Bashir. I'm from New York. I'm an Afghani American, and all of your panel is talking about evidence and evidence and Taliban is talking about the evidence and everything else. Taliban exactly knew what Osama bin Laden is doing in that country.
So Pakistani military intelligence knew exactly what he is doing in that country. They are all buying time and playing games by saying that we don't know anything, we need evidence. They knew this for years and years. So what they are doing for their own benefit, for their own gain, their own political gain and playing their own people by saying, "we need evidence. We cannot hand you Osama bin Laden." Talibans are nothing but thugs, thieves and robbers.
BERNIE: As is the Northern Alliance.
BASHIR: They are not freedom fighters of Afghanistan.
BERNIE: And neither are the Northern Alliance.
BASHIR: Also on top of all of that, what happen is we keep talking...
SMITH: Roger...
COSSACK: I think that's what we heard from Bashir. Certainly a -- go ahead, Bev. I'm going to give you a second and then I've got to go to the audience. Go ahead, Bev.
SMITH: Here's what I want people to understand. This is America. And we should be able to have an open discussion where we agree or disagree.
COSSACK: I think that's what we're doing.
SMITH: I'm not sure.
COSSACK: If this isn't an open discussion, I don't know what we are doing here.
SMITH: One of the talk show hosts took a low blow at one of the talk show hosts, and I don't think that's necessary.
COSSACK: I think after it's all over they'll shake hands.
SMITH: I think what we should be asking is what key role the United States played. And we should not be afraid to ask that question. We should raise issues of concern. The gentleman talked about the Taliban. Did he know that the United States supported the Taliban and may have supplied them with some of their weapons?
MALZBERG: So what? (CROSSTALK)
SMITH: If another one is going to ever die, then we'd better be sure that that person is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and I am not willing...
MALZBERG: There are 7,000 dead people a few blocks from here.
SMITH: I'm not even talking about that.
MALZBERG: I am.
SMITH: ...another life is lost. I'm wondering, did you ever fight in a war? Have you ever gone to war?
COSSACK: Bev, I don't know if he's gone. I don't know if you have gone. I don't think that is particularly relevant either way. I want to take a second because we have a visitor with us that I want to speak to for a second. Hello. You are a Sikh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
COSSACK: Is that a form of being a Muslim?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. It's actually a different religion that was started about 500 years ago by a guy that was trying to get the Hindus and the Muslims to stop killing each other.
COSSACK: Now, you wear a turban and you wear a beard. Have you felt any differently? Have you felt strangely? Have you felt people treating you differently since these events?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really. I have felt differently because I feel I need to reach out more. I realized that a lot of people don't know what I'm all about and I need to reach out and be more interactive with the community and learn from other people and show other people what else is out there so everybody understands where other people are coming from. And hopefully we can all get along better.
COSSACK: OK. Now let's talk to other people here in our audience. All right. Cindy, please.
CINDY: I think it's very important that the evidence be known. The reason is, the citizens of all the other countries, they need to understand this evidence. See it so that they then understand why their government is supporting us.
COSSACK: There's an argument to come out with the evidence and for everyone to hear it. I want to go out. I want to hear just a little bit more from the audience on this, on the issue of the evidence. Bob? Bob, you're sitting over there minding your own business.
BOB: I was pretty much minding my own business. I agreed with Cindy, but I thought I mentioned before that the government promised early on to produce evidence, and then changed their minds. I think that sequence of events is very damaging as far as the citizens of those other countries are concerned, and it makes me suspicious to that there are some other malefactors out there that are being de- emphasized.
COSSACK: Peter, I'm going to end up with you. We just have a few seconds left. Do you have a sense that perhaps your listeners are becoming more accustomed to what has happened and they are returning back to normal life at all?
BLUTE: I think there's a sense they want to go back to normal. They want to follow the sports teams. They want to go out to restaurants. But I think there is a concern, and they are growing impatient. They want some action to create a sense of security in America. At our airports but also everywhere else, for that matter.
COSSACK: Peter, I hate to cut you off but I have just been told we are out of business -- out of time and no more business. Our thanks to Bev Smith, Peter Blute, Bernie Ward and Steve Malzberg -- guys make up after the show -- for joining us. Thanks also to our studio audience and you at home. TALKBACK LIVE: America SPEAKS OUT returns Monday at 3:00 eastern. I'm Roger Cossack, in for Bobbie Battista. Go on out and enjoy your weekend.
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