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CNN Live Today

Attack On America: All Airports Closed

Aired September 12, 2001 - 12:38   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well you know this is the perfect point to check in on a few airports. We've got our reporters spread out this morning.

Kathleen Koch is standing by at Dulles airport. And we've got our Ed Lavandera, he's in Dallas, and Bill Delaney is standing by at Logan airport, which is the point of much scrutiny today. Start with Bill. Bill.

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, much scrutiny. This airport is still closed Leon, and closed indefinitely, but I want to say at that beginning of our report here, a rapidly developing situation, a local television station now reporting that the FBI has identified all suspects, and is about to make arrests. We can't confirm that, it is being broadcast, however on a usually reliable local station here in Boston. What we also know of course has been reported throughout the morning.

A car was taken from Logan airport central parking garage overnight, brought to FBI processing facility, as Mike Boettcher mentioned earlier. That car being gone over. Interesting material Mike Boettcher called it. It's being called more specifically by law enforcement sources here, an Arab language training manual for flying a big airplane. That car as well as seats from Logan airport being gone over at an FBI processing facility. The seats being gone over, seats from the airport, for possible DNA evidence of who may have been involved with this.

As I say, rapidly developing situation out here at the still closed Logan Airport. Back to you.

HARRIS: Bill, let me ask you more about this information about the FBI being about to make some arrests right now. Does this mean FBI has pretty much wrapped up what they are doing there at the airport, is that what you are hearing?

DELANEY: This is a difficult situation, we want to be careful, there was a press conference here, just ended about a half hour ago, when a special agent in charge, Charles Prowdy of Boston absolutely refused to be drawn in on any questions about the ongoing investigation. There are many strands to this story, including newspaper reports that several Arabs have been ID'd who may have been involved in the hijacking, including two carrying Middle Eastern passports, one known to be trained pilot. That report out there from reliable law enforcement sources as well.

But FBI and state and local police officials absolutely refusing, really quite stone faced to be drawn on any of these questions at the press conference that ended 20 minutes ago. Yes, there is a report out there just in the last few minutes from a usually reliable local television station here, but all of that denied earlier. The FBI saying they had nothing to tell us, that this was an ongoing investigation. And as I say half an hour ago gave us no indication anything was about to break here. Leon.

HARRIS: That's actually about what you would expect FBI to say and do. Thank you very much, Bill Delaney, that could turn out to be significant news breaking soon for us. We'll get back to you later. Let's go now to Dallas, where Ed Lavendera is live there. Over to you, Ed.

ED LAVENDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, Dallas-Ft. Worth International airport, is the second largest in the country, 2300 flights a day originate from here. So usually this place is buzzing with passengers, and crews moving in and around, and the humming of airplanes flying overhead. But this place has been left completely deserted outside of the intense security scene we've seen here today.

This is an American Airlines terminal. It has been completely shut down as crews are doing security sweeps of the buildings. 152 airplanes are sitting on the tarmac here at DFW waiting for the queue to take off again. We have spoken to several airport and airline officials throughout the morning, saying a lot of their crews have completely rested. So when they do get the go ahead, crews will be able to move ahead.

But there are a lot of airplanes out of place. So that when the government gives the official go ahead to move forward with taking off again, that it could take a little bit of time to get a lot of the planes back into position. But they said this in a lot of ways is just like a severe storm, and that the airplanes and all airlines will be able to get moving ahead quickly. Leon back to you.

HARRIS: Ed Levendara in Dallas. Kathleen Koch at Dulles airport.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, as you can see behind me, this huge normally bustling international airport is a barricaded ghost town. You see no one except media, except police officers moving around at this airport. When you look out on the tarmac, the tarmac where normally at this time of day there would be dozens of flights landing, planes lined up waiting to take off. There's nothing, not a ground crew, there is no human movement. The parking lot to my right is filled with cars but no people, no one dragging their suitcases out, no one rushing to catch a flight. It is truly a very eerie sight.

Now of course this is the airport where the doomed flight number 77, American Airlines flight 77, departed from, and then cut that huge gash into the Pentagon. Very near here is the Dulles Marriott where we have had some families meeting there. They began arriving yesterday morning, a few more this morning. They have been meeting with grief counselors, with chaplains.

American Airline has also established a set of people coming in, some 75 airlines employees who have come in and they are actually dispersing out to go to the homes of some of the families of the passengers who were killed in this deadly collision at the Pentagon. To help them cope, to support, to do whatever they can.

Now as the preceding reporters mentioned, when these airports open on up, security will be very tight. I know Kelly at the White House referred to the possibility of actually having marshals on the aircraft. That will be very difficult undertaking when you consider in the United States. Generally on an average day we have 35 to 40,000 flights landing and taking off, 4 to 5,000 in the air at any time. So that will be hugely difficult.

Another thing that will make the opening of the airports perhaps experience some delays, not the issue of the aircraft being out of position but the fact that these airports are now going to have to meet the new more stringent security measures before they can safely open up. Leon.

HARRIS: Thank you very much, Kathleen Koch reporting to us live from Dulles National airport. Let's go to Paula in New York. Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Leon, I'm going to take you directly back to Daytona Beach. Looking at some interesting pictures from the Daytona International airport. We are told a bomb squad is thoroughly searching the cargo hold of a Continental jet. We don't know a whole a lot about it but our understanding is that the luggage in this plane for whatever did not make its connection. We do not understand at this moment how this might be connected to the other stories coming out of south Florida.

We know according to Mike Boettcher, 10 FBI agents were searching two houses in Vero Beach, Florida, in what appeared to be part of the investigation of the deadly terrorists attacks against the United States. We know that the FBI in Miami issued a national bulletin for law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for two cars.

The bulletin did not mention whether the vehicles were linked to Tuesday's attacks. This also comes on the heels of report that a south Florida couple is indicating they may very well have trained several of the hijackers. Some men that might have trained with them a year ago.

So once again, we don't know exactly what the connection of this bomb squad search of the Daytona International airport has to these other Florida stories, but to me, Daryn, one of the most interesting things is what Mike Boettcher was reporting about that car. That FBI agents actually seized from a Boston parking garage outside of Logan airport there. He is reporting some interesting materials have been seized from there.

Bill Delaney going further, his sources telling him that some Arab training manuals on flying a big plane were found in that car, so all of this will become clearer in the hours to come as Bill Delaney reported early on. Lots of small bits of information that are very difficult to thread together and dangerous to thread together at this point.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, another thing from David Ensor. He pointed out earlier this morning when talking to him. This very difficult balance for government officials, they didn't want information from their investigations to leak out yet they realize American people are very hungry for information.

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