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CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: New York Security

Aired September 26, 2001 - 07:11   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Of course there is another sign that things have changed here since the terrorist attacks. Police are searching trucks and cars heading into Manhattan again today.

Anthony Johnson from CNN affiliate WABC joins us now from the Queensborough Bridge in New York -- Anthony, what are you seeing from your vantage point there?

ANTHONY JOHNSON, WABC CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Paula.

We have seen a lot of trucks come to this location right here. The police have set up a checkpoint and many of these trucks will pull up. You see the police officers standing right over there. They'll pull up, the police officer will stop them, just ask them to get out of the truck and then tell them to open up the back of the truck. When they do so, they take a quick look to see what's in the back. The driver explains whatever is back there as far as the material is concerned and then the driver just goes ahead and pulls off.

Now, this was all brought about yesterday as John Ashcroft was talking, the attorney general, telling people that there were reports that the terrorists might plan another attack using trucks carrying hazardous materials. We get a lot of those trucks traveling through the New York City area each and every day and because of those checkpoints yesterday, many streets and roadways and highways around New York City were backed up for as long as four or five hours.

And yesterday Mayor Giuliani, the man that everybody has gotten to know over the last couple of weeks, he instituted a new plan that is going to ban single occupancy vehicles from coming into Manhattan, especially the lower portion of Manhattan, where many, many roads are blocked off, including the Holland Tunnel, which is still closed since the terror attack. He's going to ban single occupancy vehicles from 6:00 a.m. until noon, and this is going to be taking place for the foreseeable future.

ZAHN: So, Anthony, we know as New Yorkers that for the most part folks don't like authorities messing with their commute. Have you been able to talk with any drivers to get reaction to this latest move?

JOHNSON: Well, we haven't gotten a chance to talk to many drivers. Of course, this just came out last night and early this morning, a lot of people now just starting to make their way to work. We've got to tell you, folks out here are probably going to be pretty upset at this idea. But watching some of these truckers as they came through the checkpoint, as they went back there and opened up their vehicles, they all did it with a smile.

So if that's the attitude New Yorkers are going to take, I think this is going to go off pretty well tomorrow. Of course, tomorrow is a Jewish holiday so that's why they're going to test the plan tomorrow to see how it works. And then come Friday we'll see how this is all going to come together when all of these New Yorkers start going back to work.

ZAHN: Yes, that's a much truer test, because much more people will be on the road, Anthony, right, on Friday?

JOHNSON: Oh, yes. That's definitely true. We just had a Jewish holiday that happened last week. There was a lot, a lot of people that weren't coming to work. Traffic was way down. And then again tomorrow another Jewish holiday. And then on Friday people will be coming back to work and you can look forward to Monday.

And then put on that, Paula, this is the time of year when we get a lot of traffic in New York City because of the upcoming holidays. We have gridlock alert days that start generally in November. So a bad situation looks like it's going to get a whole lot worse.

ZAHN: Well, Anthony, this may be the only year that people actually pray that we do have gridlock, because retail sales have been so far off the last couple of weeks.

Thanks for that update. We appreciate it.

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