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American Morning

Interview with Irwin Redlener

Aired October 23, 2002 - 07:46   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: With the serial sniper still at-large, police are asking D.C. area residents to be calm but vigilant in the face of the chilling warning from the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: Your children are not safe anywhere at any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So, what can parents do to keep their kids safe and help them handle their fears during this siege?

Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and president of the Children's Health Fund joins us now.

Welcome back.

DR. IRWIN REDLENER, PRESIDENT, CHILDREN'S HEALTH FUND: Good morning.

ZAHN: If you were a parent in Montgomery County and you found out that your local municipality knew about this very specific threat but didn't tell you, would you be upset?

REDLENER: Well, I am very concerned about the timing of when parents get informed, because particularly when there's a time of crisis like this, parents do need to feel like they have the information, that they are in control as much as possible, so they can be involved in making the decisions about what's best for their children.

This is a very heavy responsibility for any public official to take on alone without making sure that all parents are appropriately informed.

ZAHN: And there has been a pretty broad threat that this community has been living with for weeks now, but this was a very specific threat we just heard.

REDLENER: Well, it's a specific and dangerous threat. And the thing that is true about it is that it's not just an idle threat, because there has already been a shooting of a young child, a 13-year- old. So, that he's already crossed this threshold, the sniper has, and so we know that that's not only possible, but likely that he could strike out again at children. So, I do think this is not something to be taken lightly. Of course, nobody is taking it lightly, but this issue of when to share the information with parents is a very critical one. I would advise public officials to be right out there with this kind of threat, where children's safety is specifically threatened by somebody like this sniper.

ZAHN: And of course, it's a very personal choice that a parent has to make. We know the Richmond schools are closed for two days, Montgomery County opening up today under this Blue Code alert.

REDLENER: Sure.

ZAHN: Walk us through the judgments parents have to make now that they have this information.

REDLENER: Right. Well, first of all...

ZAHN: What do you do?

REDLENER: Nobody knows the exact right answer to this. This is unclear about what to do. But what parents should do is assess for themselves the level of risk that they think their children are under and make appropriate decisions based on what they know about their children and their own family.

So, this is really, at some level, up to the parents to say, I'm very concerned about this. I want to stay home with you today and not have you go to school.

Whether or not the officials close the schools is a whole other level of message that is going to have to be taken locally. What we hope, though, is that the schools do not remain closed indefinitely. It may be a very long time before the sniper is caught and the threat is completely over.

In the meantime, we have to be really careful about the messages we're sending to ourselves, to our children and to society in general.

ZAHN: But as a parent, I mean, there's nothing that strikes fear more in your heart than the thought that your child could potentially be hurt. If you're not feeling calm yourself, how do you communicate to your child that the police are doing everything they can to try to keep them safe?

REDLENER: Well, one of the things...

ZAHN: It's a pretty treacherous slope, isn't it?

REDLENER: It's a terribly difficult task for parents, but it's time for parents to act as calm and as in control as they possibly can, even if they acknowledge the fact that they are also upset and nervous about things.

It's important that they be able to look at their children and say, look, the authorities are doing everything they can. There's a very bad fellow out there. They're going to catch him eventually. In the meantime, we have to take some appropriate precautions; you do as kids, and we do as a family.

And I think that kind of message of reassurance by parents who feel like they are in control to a certain degree is really the most important message we can give to people.

The other thing, of course, is for parents, as well as children, to minimize the exposure to this.

ZAHN: Sure.

REDLENER: We don't have to be watching 24 hours a day, listening to people talking about the theories, the possibilities, the dangers. Let's get the information, make a decision and get on with it.

ZAHN: Yes, you really need to edit, don't you?

REDLENER: Very much so.

ZAHN: Dr. Irwin Redlener, thank you...

REDLENER: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: ... for your expertise this morning -- appreciate it very much.

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 October 23, 2002 - 07:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With the serial sniper still at-large, police are asking D.C. area residents to be calm but vigilant in the face of the chilling warning from the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: Your children are not safe anywhere at any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So, what can parents do to keep their kids safe and help them handle their fears during this siege?

Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and president of the Children's Health Fund joins us now.

Welcome back.

DR. IRWIN REDLENER, PRESIDENT, CHILDREN'S HEALTH FUND: Good morning.

ZAHN: If you were a parent in Montgomery County and you found out that your local municipality knew about this very specific threat but didn't tell you, would you be upset?

REDLENER: Well, I am very concerned about the timing of when parents get informed, because particularly when there's a time of crisis like this, parents do need to feel like they have the information, that they are in control as much as possible, so they can be involved in making the decisions about what's best for their children.

This is a very heavy responsibility for any public official to take on alone without making sure that all parents are appropriately informed.

ZAHN: And there has been a pretty broad threat that this community has been living with for weeks now, but this was a very specific threat we just heard.

REDLENER: Well, it's a specific and dangerous threat. And the thing that is true about it is that it's not just an idle threat, because there has already been a shooting of a young child, a 13-year- old. So, that he's already crossed this threshold, the sniper has, and so we know that that's not only possible, but likely that he could strike out again at children. So, I do think this is not something to be taken lightly. Of course, nobody is taking it lightly, but this issue of when to share the information with parents is a very critical one. I would advise public officials to be right out there with this kind of threat, where children's safety is specifically threatened by somebody like this sniper.

ZAHN: And of course, it's a very personal choice that a parent has to make. We know the Richmond schools are closed for two days, Montgomery County opening up today under this Blue Code alert.

REDLENER: Sure.

ZAHN: Walk us through the judgments parents have to make now that they have this information.

REDLENER: Right. Well, first of all...

ZAHN: What do you do?

REDLENER: Nobody knows the exact right answer to this. This is unclear about what to do. But what parents should do is assess for themselves the level of risk that they think their children are under and make appropriate decisions based on what they know about their children and their own family.

So, this is really, at some level, up to the parents to say, I'm very concerned about this. I want to stay home with you today and not have you go to school.

Whether or not the officials close the schools is a whole other level of message that is going to have to be taken locally. What we hope, though, is that the schools do not remain closed indefinitely. It may be a very long time before the sniper is caught and the threat is completely over.

In the meantime, we have to be really careful about the messages we're sending to ourselves, to our children and to society in general.

ZAHN: But as a parent, I mean, there's nothing that strikes fear more in your heart than the thought that your child could potentially be hurt. If you're not feeling calm yourself, how do you communicate to your child that the police are doing everything they can to try to keep them safe?

REDLENER: Well, one of the things...

ZAHN: It's a pretty treacherous slope, isn't it?

REDLENER: It's a terribly difficult task for parents, but it's time for parents to act as calm and as in control as they possibly can, even if they acknowledge the fact that they are also upset and nervous about things.

It's important that they be able to look at their children and say, look, the authorities are doing everything they can. There's a very bad fellow out there. They're going to catch him eventually. In the meantime, we have to take some appropriate precautions; you do as kids, and we do as a family.

And I think that kind of message of reassurance by parents who feel like they are in control to a certain degree is really the most important message we can give to people.

The other thing, of course, is for parents, as well as children, to minimize the exposure to this.

ZAHN: Sure.

REDLENER: We don't have to be watching 24 hours a day, listening to people talking about the theories, the possibilities, the dangers. Let's get the information, make a decision and get on with it.

ZAHN: Yes, you really need to edit, don't you?

REDLENER: Very much so.

ZAHN: Dr. Irwin Redlener, thank you...

REDLENER: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: ... for your expertise this morning -- appreciate it very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.