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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Security Tightens in Washington and New York

Aired October 09, 2001 - 07:40   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Across the U.S., security has been tightened like a vise as a nervous nation tries to guard against the possibility of more terrorist attacks here at home.

We're monitoring the heightened security from several different positions and angles.

CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow live on Capitol Hill and national correspondent Martin Savidge at the Lincoln Tunnel in New York.

And we begin in Washington and more there with Kate -- good morning.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Capitol Hill police on a heightened state of alert here at the Capitol. Let me show you what they're doing. Over here you see this green fencing. It's called snow fencing. They've put that in to keep visitors contained in a certain area here on the grounds and then behind that you see some guards there. There's no cars coming through right now but that's where cars would come through. They have to have a permit to get past that guard shack there. Those guards have mirrors they're using to look underneath the cage of the car. They also have bomb sniffing dogs on hand and we're told that every Capitol Hill police officer now working at least 12 hours a day, many of them pulling double duty.

Now, to get inside the U.S. Capitol, you have to have one of these. I'm wearing mine now. It's a congressional I.D., a staff or a press I.D. will get you in, or you can be on a tour. Inside the Capitol, as we speak, they're working on the windows. They're going to do something to the inside of each and every window in the Capitol and the surrounding office buildings. They're putting a Mylar coating on. It's a bomb resistant, shatter resistant coating similar to what you would put on a car windshield, although much, much thicker than that. It's going to cost $12 million to line every window with that coating. It's part of a grander $86 million project to make this U.S. Capitol just a little bit safer, what they call the people's house.

Meantime, up in New York City, other efforts under way to make people safe there. Martin Savidge is at the Lincoln Tunnel -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kate.

New York City this morning operating at its highest level of security possible, Condition Omega. There are four levels of security for the city. Omega is top of the list. We are at one of the security checkpoints you may have heard of set up here in New York City. This is the Manhattan side of the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. There is an identical checkpoint on the Jersey side of the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel and similar checkpoints all across the major entranceways and exit ways to Manhattan.

The way it operates here is fairly simple. You can see the trucks and vans primarily pull up into this area. They are inspected by New York City as well as New York State Police. Everything checks out OK, then they're allowed to proceed into the tunnel itself.

Yesterday, New York Governor George Pataki announced the additional call up of several hundred National Guard troops. There are now troops stationed at the airports, at the major railway hubs and also at the bridges -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you.

All right, Marty and Kate, thank you to both of you.

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