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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Steven Kuhr
Aired March 01, 2003 - 15:38 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: After two weeks of a high orange terror alert level, the U.S. has stripped down to a more mellow yellow.
If the combination of real terror fears and hundreds of false alarms has your head spinning, you are not alone. Here to help us sort it out, Steven Kuhr. He is senior vice president of Kroll Associates in New York.
But first, before we get into what we were going to talk about before the news broke today, you worked emergency management for New York City and during the post-9/11 recovery. And I'm sure today's news that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is under arrest in Pakistan must hit close to home for you.
STEVEN KUHR, KROLL ASSOCIATES: Absolutely. I think this is a remarkable development in the war on terrorism. As an emergency manager from New York City, as a New Yorker, I think, we should all recognize the efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies for what they've done today.
The families of the victims of September 11 should certainly find a small modicum of comfort in this arrest.
But this does not mean we can let our guard down right now, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: OK, and which leads me to my next question.
As we heard for two weeks, we were an orange nation, now we are back down to yellow. But I'm wondering, the way things are designed right now, how long before Americans, you know, stop paying attention to these different terror alerts?
KUHR: Well, that would be a huge mistake. You know, we have traditionally had some way of communicating with the public throughout the years.
Back in the civil defense days and even now, with natural hazards, we communicate regularly, hurricane warnings, tornado warnings, threats to the public in those areas. They don't let their guard down.
We as a nation, and as a society, need to continue to take these threats seriously just as people in Tornado Alley do, just as people in our coastal south do. We need to continue to take these threats seriously and we need to have the necessary security and preparedness measures in place.
SAN MIGUEL: Is there a fear on your part that when the level is reduced to yellow, that people become complacent, thinking that that's normal? Yellow is still an elevated -- a high risk.
KUHR: Yes. You know, I'd like to parrot what a colleague and friend said yesterday in the "Washington Post." Peter LaPorte runs the Washington, D.C., Emergency Management Agency. He said we may be at condition yellow, but it's a very, very dark yellow, pretty close to orange. I like to call it taxicab yellow because in New York City, our taxicabs are really orange.
We have -- We have that level of yellow. In fact, New York City is still at level orange and hasn't reduced its threat level since September 11.
We cannot let our guard down. We have to make sure that we continue to persevere to take the necessary steps to protect our businesses, protect our government institutions and prepare our families.
SAN MIGUEL: One of my favorite documentaries from the 1980s was the "Atomic Cafe," Kevin Rafferty's film. And I was able to find a copy of it on DVD this week, and watching it. And I noticed a similarity kind of between what's going on now and what was going on back then, the idea that the government -- the government was trying to prepare people for the very worst.
And I'm wondering -- and even trying to make them feel good about the possibility of surviving a nuclear holocaust, the whole duck and cover type of situation there. And I'm wondering if you're seeing some similarities or differences between, you know, how the government is helping people prepare for a worst case scenario.
KUHR: Well, I remember back in the 1960s, being directed into the hallways or under a desk when we had shelter drills in our public school. Certainly, it's now understood that that was not a way to survive a nuclear exchange.
But some of the recommendations that have been made over the last few weeks, including the use of duct tape and plastic sheeting, which has gotten a lot of media, both positive and negative, these are issues that we should have in our arsenal, if you will, at home. Not necessarily to protect ourselves against chemical weapons or biological weapons, but for an all hazards disaster response type of kit.
If you're prepared for a natural disaster or technological disaster such as a fire or hazmat incident, then your family will be that much better prepared for an event.
A quick story for you: during the snow storm last week, this blizzard, my station wagon was destroyed by a snowplow. I went in, I got my duct tape and I got my plastic sheeting and I covered the windows up. I had a crisis, I dealt with it.
SAN MIGUEL: So it came in handy for you. Not in the way maybe you had originally thought, but at least it did come in handy.
You know, we had heard a lot of doomsaying going on in the advent of the new century, with the Y2K situation. You know, people were, you know, hoarding items and preparing -- certain people were preparing, like, you know, Y2K shelters. That was something that, you know, they were preparing for and didn't happen.
This kind of situation involves an event that did happen, 9/11, and you know, everybody seems to be trying to prepare themselves for the next big event.
KUHR: Yes, I think it's important, again, that we draw that connection between terrorism and other types of disasters.
In places where natural hazards exist, earthquake areas in the west coast, California, the American south and the Midwest tornadoes, people are prepared to react to those types of disasters, because they are inherent in those communities.
We need to do the same in our big cities and some of our suburban areas that might be victims of terrorist action. There is a direct connection between disaster preparedness and terrorism preparedness, and that's a philosophy that we convey to our clients and that we convey to the general public.
SAN MIGUEL: Steven Kuhr, senior vice president of Kroll Associates in New York, thank you for your time today. We appreciate it.
KUHR: Good to see you.
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 March 1, 2003 - 15:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: After two weeks of a high orange terror alert level, the U.S. has stripped down to a more mellow yellow.
If the combination of real terror fears and hundreds of false alarms has your head spinning, you are not alone. Here to help us sort it out, Steven Kuhr. He is senior vice president of Kroll Associates in New York.
But first, before we get into what we were going to talk about before the news broke today, you worked emergency management for New York City and during the post-9/11 recovery. And I'm sure today's news that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is under arrest in Pakistan must hit close to home for you.
STEVEN KUHR, KROLL ASSOCIATES: Absolutely. I think this is a remarkable development in the war on terrorism. As an emergency manager from New York City, as a New Yorker, I think, we should all recognize the efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies for what they've done today.
The families of the victims of September 11 should certainly find a small modicum of comfort in this arrest.
But this does not mean we can let our guard down right now, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: OK, and which leads me to my next question.
As we heard for two weeks, we were an orange nation, now we are back down to yellow. But I'm wondering, the way things are designed right now, how long before Americans, you know, stop paying attention to these different terror alerts?
KUHR: Well, that would be a huge mistake. You know, we have traditionally had some way of communicating with the public throughout the years.
Back in the civil defense days and even now, with natural hazards, we communicate regularly, hurricane warnings, tornado warnings, threats to the public in those areas. They don't let their guard down.
We as a nation, and as a society, need to continue to take these threats seriously just as people in Tornado Alley do, just as people in our coastal south do. We need to continue to take these threats seriously and we need to have the necessary security and preparedness measures in place.
SAN MIGUEL: Is there a fear on your part that when the level is reduced to yellow, that people become complacent, thinking that that's normal? Yellow is still an elevated -- a high risk.
KUHR: Yes. You know, I'd like to parrot what a colleague and friend said yesterday in the "Washington Post." Peter LaPorte runs the Washington, D.C., Emergency Management Agency. He said we may be at condition yellow, but it's a very, very dark yellow, pretty close to orange. I like to call it taxicab yellow because in New York City, our taxicabs are really orange.
We have -- We have that level of yellow. In fact, New York City is still at level orange and hasn't reduced its threat level since September 11.
We cannot let our guard down. We have to make sure that we continue to persevere to take the necessary steps to protect our businesses, protect our government institutions and prepare our families.
SAN MIGUEL: One of my favorite documentaries from the 1980s was the "Atomic Cafe," Kevin Rafferty's film. And I was able to find a copy of it on DVD this week, and watching it. And I noticed a similarity kind of between what's going on now and what was going on back then, the idea that the government -- the government was trying to prepare people for the very worst.
And I'm wondering -- and even trying to make them feel good about the possibility of surviving a nuclear holocaust, the whole duck and cover type of situation there. And I'm wondering if you're seeing some similarities or differences between, you know, how the government is helping people prepare for a worst case scenario.
KUHR: Well, I remember back in the 1960s, being directed into the hallways or under a desk when we had shelter drills in our public school. Certainly, it's now understood that that was not a way to survive a nuclear exchange.
But some of the recommendations that have been made over the last few weeks, including the use of duct tape and plastic sheeting, which has gotten a lot of media, both positive and negative, these are issues that we should have in our arsenal, if you will, at home. Not necessarily to protect ourselves against chemical weapons or biological weapons, but for an all hazards disaster response type of kit.
If you're prepared for a natural disaster or technological disaster such as a fire or hazmat incident, then your family will be that much better prepared for an event.
A quick story for you: during the snow storm last week, this blizzard, my station wagon was destroyed by a snowplow. I went in, I got my duct tape and I got my plastic sheeting and I covered the windows up. I had a crisis, I dealt with it.
SAN MIGUEL: So it came in handy for you. Not in the way maybe you had originally thought, but at least it did come in handy.
You know, we had heard a lot of doomsaying going on in the advent of the new century, with the Y2K situation. You know, people were, you know, hoarding items and preparing -- certain people were preparing, like, you know, Y2K shelters. That was something that, you know, they were preparing for and didn't happen.
This kind of situation involves an event that did happen, 9/11, and you know, everybody seems to be trying to prepare themselves for the next big event.
KUHR: Yes, I think it's important, again, that we draw that connection between terrorism and other types of disasters.
In places where natural hazards exist, earthquake areas in the west coast, California, the American south and the Midwest tornadoes, people are prepared to react to those types of disasters, because they are inherent in those communities.
We need to do the same in our big cities and some of our suburban areas that might be victims of terrorist action. There is a direct connection between disaster preparedness and terrorism preparedness, and that's a philosophy that we convey to our clients and that we convey to the general public.
SAN MIGUEL: Steven Kuhr, senior vice president of Kroll Associates in New York, thank you for your time today. We appreciate it.
KUHR: Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
