Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Times Square Security for New Year's
Aired January 01, 2004 - 06:30 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, what a night it was -- Times Square filled with people ringing in the new year.
And, oh, what a crowd. Close to one million people were in and around Times Square, and some are still there this morning.
Former Iraqi prisoner of war Shoshana Johnson helped New York's mayor begin the new year. She says she wasn't concerned at all about terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHOSHANA JOHNSON, FORMER POW: I have my daughter here. My sister brought my nieces. My entire family is here. So, if I'm able to come out here and have a good time and feel safe, I don't see why anybody else shouldn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, let's get more on that security for Times Square.
Our Maria Hinojosa joins us live on the phone from the Big Apple.
Good morning -- Maria. You must be exhausted.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. I'm really energized, let's just say that.
Now, you know, Carol, it was one of the biggest parties New York City has ever given to celebrate a new year, and it went without a hitch.
But perhaps, Carol, what's most symbolic is that in the face of high terror alerts that three-quarters, if not a million, people would put their desire to live life to its fullest in direct response to all of the government's messages about fear and terror.
On the one hand, you had Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays saying he wouldn't be in Times Square for anything, and on the other hand you had thousands of people defying that fear and having a pretty wonderful time while doing it. And many said, in fact, that was an empowering way to star the new year.
New York City Mayor Bloomberg said with the numbers of tourists that perhaps New York City is back as a premier tourist destination. Many of the New Yorkers I spoke to said they wanted to hug those tourists for coming back and showing their love for New York City as their city, too.
Now, New York City officials can be proud as well. The extraordinary and unprecedented security measures paid off. No major problems reported by the police. You had almost a million people, almost all of them searched by metal detectors and watched by counterterrorism snipers, as well as rooftop snipers. Many of them -- many of these revelers were standing next to undercover police, some of them with radiation detectors on their bodies, and people thrilled, absolutely thrilled to see former POW Shoshana Johnson, who is Panamanian-American and has her family here in Brooklyn.
Now, just about a half an hour after the celebration, the cleanup crews arrived here in Times Square, and they got to work clearing away 2,000 pounds of multi-colored confetti. Now, some of them were pretty happy to be doing their jobs, sweeping up Times Square. We saw some of them even dancing as they were doing their jobs.
All of the garbage cans are gone from Times Square as a security measure, but I've got to tell you that the streets here look pretty clean from what I'm able to see after having a million people here. Just a little bit of confetti swirling in the air and it looks pretty good.
So, we start the new year right here in Times Square -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, happy new year, Maria Hinojosa, and thank you for that report.
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 January 1, 2004 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, what a night it was -- Times Square filled with people ringing in the new year.
And, oh, what a crowd. Close to one million people were in and around Times Square, and some are still there this morning.
Former Iraqi prisoner of war Shoshana Johnson helped New York's mayor begin the new year. She says she wasn't concerned at all about terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHOSHANA JOHNSON, FORMER POW: I have my daughter here. My sister brought my nieces. My entire family is here. So, if I'm able to come out here and have a good time and feel safe, I don't see why anybody else shouldn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, let's get more on that security for Times Square.
Our Maria Hinojosa joins us live on the phone from the Big Apple.
Good morning -- Maria. You must be exhausted.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. I'm really energized, let's just say that.
Now, you know, Carol, it was one of the biggest parties New York City has ever given to celebrate a new year, and it went without a hitch.
But perhaps, Carol, what's most symbolic is that in the face of high terror alerts that three-quarters, if not a million, people would put their desire to live life to its fullest in direct response to all of the government's messages about fear and terror.
On the one hand, you had Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays saying he wouldn't be in Times Square for anything, and on the other hand you had thousands of people defying that fear and having a pretty wonderful time while doing it. And many said, in fact, that was an empowering way to star the new year.
New York City Mayor Bloomberg said with the numbers of tourists that perhaps New York City is back as a premier tourist destination. Many of the New Yorkers I spoke to said they wanted to hug those tourists for coming back and showing their love for New York City as their city, too.
Now, New York City officials can be proud as well. The extraordinary and unprecedented security measures paid off. No major problems reported by the police. You had almost a million people, almost all of them searched by metal detectors and watched by counterterrorism snipers, as well as rooftop snipers. Many of them -- many of these revelers were standing next to undercover police, some of them with radiation detectors on their bodies, and people thrilled, absolutely thrilled to see former POW Shoshana Johnson, who is Panamanian-American and has her family here in Brooklyn.
Now, just about a half an hour after the celebration, the cleanup crews arrived here in Times Square, and they got to work clearing away 2,000 pounds of multi-colored confetti. Now, some of them were pretty happy to be doing their jobs, sweeping up Times Square. We saw some of them even dancing as they were doing their jobs.
All of the garbage cans are gone from Times Square as a security measure, but I've got to tell you that the streets here look pretty clean from what I'm able to see after having a million people here. Just a little bit of confetti swirling in the air and it looks pretty good.
So, we start the new year right here in Times Square -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, happy new year, Maria Hinojosa, and thank you for that report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
