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CNN Live At Daybreak
Kansas City, Missouri, Harley-Davidson Plant Workers Talk about the Times
Aired November 07, 2001 - 05:50 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You just might have noticed that I'm flying solo this week at this hour 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. Eastern, that's because my partner, Leon Harris, is out across America. He is stopping in different towns, different cities trying to get different opinions about what is happening with America's new war.
Yesterday, he stopped off in Kansas City, Missouri, to talk with some workers at the Harley-Davidson factory. Let's hear what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we continue our coast- to-coast here gauging of the hearts and minds of Americans, getting an idea of what they're thinking about as we continue this war against terrorism, we find ourselves now in Kansas City, Missouri. Not just anywhere in Kansas City, mind you, but in the middle, as you can see, of a Harley-Davidson assembly plant here.
And we're talking now with Brad Wilson who is the manufacturing engineer on this line which is the V-Rod line, correct?
BRAD WILSON, MANUFACTURING ENGINEER: That's correct.
HARRIS: By the way, this is, I believe, the first time we've seen the V-Rod on live national television, so thanks for the opportunity.
WILSON: My pleasure.
HARRIS: Listen, let me ask you first of all about the war effort that's underway right now in Afghanistan. A lot of people think that perhaps it's gone on too long without seeing any big results thus far. What do you think about that?
WILSON: I agree. I'm overall concerned with how long this is going to last, you know, and when it is over, our sense of -- our sense of the threat of terrorism is it still going to be around?
HARRIS: What about your sense of security, how you -- do you still have a sense of security or have you lost it after seeing everything that's been on the news of late? WILSON: Well, I've lost the sense of security. You know we think that as United States we're exempt from terrorist attacks like other countries are around the world, but you know, realistically, we're in the same position they are.
HARRIS: Yes, right.
WILSON: So it's opened my eyes to a lot of that.
HARRIS: All right, thanks a lot, Brad. Brad Wilson here who is the manufacturing engineer, which means he's the man on this line.
Here we go down -- further down the line, Mike Williams is joining us now.
Mike, what is your thought about it's like some of the news that we've seen here with the anthrax threats and the security threats on airlines and all, has that made you change your mind about how secure you feel and any plans you may have to travel or spend money?
MIKE WILLIAMS, HARLEY-DAVIDSON PLANT WORKER: I've been a little cautious on traveling to Milwaukee on business. I've tried to make meetings happen over video and on the speaker phone and that sort of thing, but there's still meetings that I have to go to and it's just a cautious thing. It concerns me, but life must go on and I don't want to change too much.
HARRIS: You're going to still follow through with big plans for the holidays? We've got Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up.
WILLIAMS: Yes, the holidays are for the kids, got to follow through with the holidays.
HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, Mike.
Let's run down here, see if we can catch up here with Debbie Gatson (ph) who's down here waiting with her nice Harley-Davidson T- shirt on.
DEBBIE GATSON, HARLEY-DAVIDSON PLANT WORKER: OK.
HARRIS: Debbie, let me ask you about the anthrax threat. We know that Kansas City had one and was very close to home with you.
GATSON: Right.
HARRIS: Did that frighten you at all? Did that make you change the way that you do anything in your life like opening the mail or traveling or anything?
GATSON: Well, it didn't make me change the way I do things, but it has made me more aware of my surroundings. I would not have believed that you know at one time that anything or anybody would try or attempt to destroy life as I know it. So I would say that because of this anthrax scare and because of 9-11, you know, I am more aware of my surroundings. And now today, I -- you know I don't think I'm far from things not happening to me, you know. I know now things can happen to me.
HARRIS: Yes, and a lot of people have gotten on the same page with you on that one, Debbie. Thank you very much.
Well, as you can see here in Kansas City, people seem to be getting the message about needing to be more concerned about things but not so concerned that they are not going to go on with their lives and continue on a normal basis. That's all for now from Kansas City. I'm Leon Harris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Leon packs his bags from there and he heads west. He'll be heading to Aurora, Colorado. He'll be talking with airline employees, and tomorrow we're going to be hearing some of what those airline employees have to say.
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