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American Morning

Williamsburg Bridge Incident Does Not Appear to Be Terror Related

Aired March 28, 2003 - 09:17   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: We're trying to get a clearer picture of some breaking news out of New York this morning. The Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan, has been closed in both directions after reports of suspicious activity.
At least three men arrested. Police boats and helicopters continue to search the area. Let's turn to Mike Brooks at CNN Center as we say on this picture to find out what he has learned about what's going on down here. Good morning, Mike.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, again, Paula. I just got off the phone with New York City Police Department and they're telling me that apparently there were three men from Massachusetts who decided to go out to the Williamsburg Bridge and decided to climb the bridge.

Now after further investigation, they believe that there may not be packages involved right now. The bridge is still shut down while they finish their investigation. And they also tell me, Paula, that there may have been alcohol involved with these three men when they decided to go out and climb the bridge.

So they're still looking, though. They're still investigating to make sure that they've got everything taken care of. But right now, it doesn't look like it's terror related -- Paula.

ZAHN: Well, we are happy to hear that. But, Mike, as we stay on this picture for a moment, I think we need to give our audience context of why New York would even react to this. The police were originally told they saw these three guys, they are carrying some packages, they lost sight of them, and then they saw some of them climbing into the superstructure of the bridge. This city is on high alert, and describe to us why they would react as swiftly as they did to this?

BROOKS: Well, as we know, Paula, many cities, including New York, have been putting extra police patrols around tunnels, bridges, a lot of different icons. The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, those kind of things. And with the war going on right now, law enforcement officials around the country feel that there could be some kind of retaliation by some sleeper cells, by some independent actors against bridges, tunnels, those kind of things.

And the information and the intelligence had been coming from the FBI and the joint terrorism task force. So that's why they reacted so quickly to this and shut the bridge down.

Now, again, the Department of Transportation worker saw these people initially, thought that they did have some kind of packages, and then alerted law enforcement, who responded very quickly and shut the bridge down. And that's why they're still making sure that there is nothing involved in this. But they do not believe right now, Paula, that it's terrorist related.

ZAHN: And you say they now believe alcohol might have been involved. You certainly would have to have a blurred mental state to try to climb this bridge at this time of high alert.

BROOKS: Well, after an all-night drinking binge, people do strange things. And these people decided that they thought climbing the Williamsburg Bridge was a good idea, apparently.

ZAHN: Well, we're all breathing a sigh of relief here this morning for those of us who live here. We know there's been tremendous concern about all the bridges leading in and out of the city. And while no one is too happy to be dumb enough to do what these men are alleged to have done, we're glad that that's all it is. Mike Brooks, thanks for getting that information to us so quickly.

BROOKS: All right, Paula.

ZAHN: Appreciate it. Back to Bill now in Kuwait City.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It sounds like three guys had a little too much time on the lower east side last night into the early morning hours of Friday. Good news, anyway, to hear you and Mike talk about the situation there seems to be pretty much under control.

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Aired March 28, 2003 - 09:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're trying to get a clearer picture of some breaking news out of New York this morning. The Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan, has been closed in both directions after reports of suspicious activity.
At least three men arrested. Police boats and helicopters continue to search the area. Let's turn to Mike Brooks at CNN Center as we say on this picture to find out what he has learned about what's going on down here. Good morning, Mike.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, again, Paula. I just got off the phone with New York City Police Department and they're telling me that apparently there were three men from Massachusetts who decided to go out to the Williamsburg Bridge and decided to climb the bridge.

Now after further investigation, they believe that there may not be packages involved right now. The bridge is still shut down while they finish their investigation. And they also tell me, Paula, that there may have been alcohol involved with these three men when they decided to go out and climb the bridge.

So they're still looking, though. They're still investigating to make sure that they've got everything taken care of. But right now, it doesn't look like it's terror related -- Paula.

ZAHN: Well, we are happy to hear that. But, Mike, as we stay on this picture for a moment, I think we need to give our audience context of why New York would even react to this. The police were originally told they saw these three guys, they are carrying some packages, they lost sight of them, and then they saw some of them climbing into the superstructure of the bridge. This city is on high alert, and describe to us why they would react as swiftly as they did to this?

BROOKS: Well, as we know, Paula, many cities, including New York, have been putting extra police patrols around tunnels, bridges, a lot of different icons. The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, those kind of things. And with the war going on right now, law enforcement officials around the country feel that there could be some kind of retaliation by some sleeper cells, by some independent actors against bridges, tunnels, those kind of things.

And the information and the intelligence had been coming from the FBI and the joint terrorism task force. So that's why they reacted so quickly to this and shut the bridge down.

Now, again, the Department of Transportation worker saw these people initially, thought that they did have some kind of packages, and then alerted law enforcement, who responded very quickly and shut the bridge down. And that's why they're still making sure that there is nothing involved in this. But they do not believe right now, Paula, that it's terrorist related.

ZAHN: And you say they now believe alcohol might have been involved. You certainly would have to have a blurred mental state to try to climb this bridge at this time of high alert.

BROOKS: Well, after an all-night drinking binge, people do strange things. And these people decided that they thought climbing the Williamsburg Bridge was a good idea, apparently.

ZAHN: Well, we're all breathing a sigh of relief here this morning for those of us who live here. We know there's been tremendous concern about all the bridges leading in and out of the city. And while no one is too happy to be dumb enough to do what these men are alleged to have done, we're glad that that's all it is. Mike Brooks, thanks for getting that information to us so quickly.

BROOKS: All right, Paula.

ZAHN: Appreciate it. Back to Bill now in Kuwait City.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It sounds like three guys had a little too much time on the lower east side last night into the early morning hours of Friday. Good news, anyway, to hear you and Mike talk about the situation there seems to be pretty much under control.

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





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