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American Morning
High Alert
Aired February 10, 2003 - 08:08 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.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: But then we have the situation of course with the heightened security alert here in the United States and pilots flying over Washington are now facing new restrictions because of that elevated alert status now at the orange high level and intelligence indicating the possibility of attacks on the East Coast.
We have Jeanne Meserve now at the new Department of Homeland Security with more on what prompted the heightened alert and how long the U.S. might stay at this level -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jonathan, as you mentioned, new restrictions here in Washington, D.C. on generally -- general aviation in the airspace surrounding Washington, D.C. Other manifestations of level orange, you're going to see more air marshals on commercial flights, more Coast Guard patrols of ports around the country. But probably the most striking image that came in over the weekend was the picture of members of the Hercules Team. This is a special New York City Police Department team deployed with heavy weapons around a synagogue during services on Saturday.
This morning, Tom Ridge, the Secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security, talked about why there is concern about Jewish targets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The rhetoric around al Qaeda's justification for their evil, for their hateful and vengeful acts has begun to take a -- clearly it's taken an anti-Jewish tone to it. The fact that they targeted a hotel frequented by citizens of Israel, I think it's pretty clear that, and in some of the information we received, is that this is a group of Americans and a group of international citizens who right now seem also to be a target of al Qaeda's hatred and vengeance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti- Defamation League, was one of many Jewish leaders to whom the FBI reached out on Friday to give them a warning. Foxman says the warning was nonspecific in nature and he said for most Jewish institutions this was not a surprise. They have always felt that their soft targets, as he put it, were vulnerable. And most he said it stepped up security long before the thereat level went up to orange. And I should emphasize here that sources say the threat against Jewish institutions just one of many reasons why this threat level decision was made. Now in many cities around the country you did see some manifestations of the new security. In some places to the average citizen it wasn't visible. Here in Washington, D.C. they activated the Joint Operations Command Center. This coordinates the response between local agencies and the federal government. This activates a web of surveillance cameras around the country. So you may not always see that security, but in some cases the security personnel are seeing you.
Back to you -- Jonathan.
KARL: Jeanne, thank you very much.
Paula, those pictures of you know seeing synagogues essentially turned into armed encampments, eerie.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Eerie, and I know that a bunch of crews went out there and interviewed folks coming out of services and they were outraged.
KARL: Yes.
ZAHN: This is a place of worship and they end up in (ph) an armed camp.
KARL: Go to worship and you have to...
ZAHN: Yes, I felt the same way when I saw those pictures, it made me sick.
Thanks, Jonathan.
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 February 10, 2003 - 08:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: But then we have the situation of course with the heightened security alert here in the United States and pilots flying over Washington are now facing new restrictions because of that elevated alert status now at the orange high level and intelligence indicating the possibility of attacks on the East Coast.
We have Jeanne Meserve now at the new Department of Homeland Security with more on what prompted the heightened alert and how long the U.S. might stay at this level -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jonathan, as you mentioned, new restrictions here in Washington, D.C. on generally -- general aviation in the airspace surrounding Washington, D.C. Other manifestations of level orange, you're going to see more air marshals on commercial flights, more Coast Guard patrols of ports around the country. But probably the most striking image that came in over the weekend was the picture of members of the Hercules Team. This is a special New York City Police Department team deployed with heavy weapons around a synagogue during services on Saturday.
This morning, Tom Ridge, the Secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security, talked about why there is concern about Jewish targets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The rhetoric around al Qaeda's justification for their evil, for their hateful and vengeful acts has begun to take a -- clearly it's taken an anti-Jewish tone to it. The fact that they targeted a hotel frequented by citizens of Israel, I think it's pretty clear that, and in some of the information we received, is that this is a group of Americans and a group of international citizens who right now seem also to be a target of al Qaeda's hatred and vengeance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti- Defamation League, was one of many Jewish leaders to whom the FBI reached out on Friday to give them a warning. Foxman says the warning was nonspecific in nature and he said for most Jewish institutions this was not a surprise. They have always felt that their soft targets, as he put it, were vulnerable. And most he said it stepped up security long before the thereat level went up to orange. And I should emphasize here that sources say the threat against Jewish institutions just one of many reasons why this threat level decision was made. Now in many cities around the country you did see some manifestations of the new security. In some places to the average citizen it wasn't visible. Here in Washington, D.C. they activated the Joint Operations Command Center. This coordinates the response between local agencies and the federal government. This activates a web of surveillance cameras around the country. So you may not always see that security, but in some cases the security personnel are seeing you.
Back to you -- Jonathan.
KARL: Jeanne, thank you very much.
Paula, those pictures of you know seeing synagogues essentially turned into armed encampments, eerie.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Eerie, and I know that a bunch of crews went out there and interviewed folks coming out of services and they were outraged.
KARL: Yes.
ZAHN: This is a place of worship and they end up in (ph) an armed camp.
KARL: Go to worship and you have to...
ZAHN: Yes, I felt the same way when I saw those pictures, it made me sick.
Thanks, Jonathan.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
