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American Morning

Target Las Vegas?

Aired December 29, 2003 - 09:06   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Las Vegas has been mentioned as a possible terrorist target. "The Washington Post" reporting on Friday, there may have been a plot to hijack an Air France plane and crash land it in Vegas. Sheriff Bill Young of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department live with us this morning to talk about this in preparations for the new year.
Sheriff, good morning to you. Thanks for your time there. Up early in Las Vegas.

What do you make of that "Washington Post" report. Did you hear anything along the lines about a hijacked plane coming to your city?

SHERIFF BILL YOUNG, LAS VEGAS METRO POLICE DEPT.: No, not really. You know, it's -- if you read that report carefully, it's a lot of speculation, and you know, unnamed sources. And you know, obviously we're on a flight path to Los Angeles, and you know, our names come up in almost every instance when it comes to terrorism, because of the profile of the city.

HEMMER: You sound like you're dismissing it completely. Are you?

YOUNG: No. You know, I take every threat seriously. However, you know, in the absence of specific knowledge of a specific threat to our community or a plot to actually crash an airliner into our community, you know, you can't take it as literal as some might. And you know, I read that report. And you know, checked and double checked with our intelligence sources, you know, both with the DHS and FBI, and yes, there's been some concern, obviously, about airliners and large high-profile cities, and we're one of those cities. And you know, we take every threat with concern. But...

HEMMER: Sheriff Christopher Cox over the weekend, a Republican in Congress, raised the issue about these terror warnings going out and putting what he seemed to allude to as undue stress on communities across the country. I don't know if you heard his comments or even can react to them, but do you believe that's the case when we go from yellow to orange, as we did a week ago?

YOUNG: No, you know, early on this year, you know, we had several changes from the alert level from yellow to orange. I think we had four in a very short period of time. And I know a lot of big city police chiefs such as myself expressed concern to federal law enforcement, and DHS and Secretary Ridge about that issue. And I'm very pleased with the way that they've handled that. I think that they've taken a lot of caution and care, and you know, they're not raising these alert levels just because they want to, or you know -- they have some intelligence information, I think it's important that we stay vigilant and our public knows that, you know, we need to pay attention to this.

HEMMER: What then does New Year's Eve look like in Vegas under orange alert, sheriff?

YOUNG: Well, you know, hopefully it will look just like it did last year. It will go off without a hitch. I have every confidence that it will. We've taken a lot of extra precautions. There's going to be some new and different things.

And you know, these terrorist groups are creative, cunning and evil people, and you know, of course they could do anything. However, we're ready for them, and you know, we've trained a lot. We've worked together as a community very closely with our hotel industry and tourism industry. The FBI has been just great here. We've got a great working relationship with them. All the local law enforcement and first responders have really joined together to make this community, I think, one of the safest tourist destinations in the world.

HEMMER: You raise a great point at the end. Ten seconds left here if you could, a quick answer on this one -- do you see tourists stay away when the warnings are increased?

YOUNG: I don't believe so. I think people go on and live their lives. If not, the terrorists win. And that's not what this country is about.

HEMMER: Good luck to you. Sheriff Bill Young, in Las Vegas, thank you.

YOUNG: Thank you.

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 December 29, 2003 - 09:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Las Vegas has been mentioned as a possible terrorist target. "The Washington Post" reporting on Friday, there may have been a plot to hijack an Air France plane and crash land it in Vegas. Sheriff Bill Young of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department live with us this morning to talk about this in preparations for the new year.
Sheriff, good morning to you. Thanks for your time there. Up early in Las Vegas.

What do you make of that "Washington Post" report. Did you hear anything along the lines about a hijacked plane coming to your city?

SHERIFF BILL YOUNG, LAS VEGAS METRO POLICE DEPT.: No, not really. You know, it's -- if you read that report carefully, it's a lot of speculation, and you know, unnamed sources. And you know, obviously we're on a flight path to Los Angeles, and you know, our names come up in almost every instance when it comes to terrorism, because of the profile of the city.

HEMMER: You sound like you're dismissing it completely. Are you?

YOUNG: No. You know, I take every threat seriously. However, you know, in the absence of specific knowledge of a specific threat to our community or a plot to actually crash an airliner into our community, you know, you can't take it as literal as some might. And you know, I read that report. And you know, checked and double checked with our intelligence sources, you know, both with the DHS and FBI, and yes, there's been some concern, obviously, about airliners and large high-profile cities, and we're one of those cities. And you know, we take every threat with concern. But...

HEMMER: Sheriff Christopher Cox over the weekend, a Republican in Congress, raised the issue about these terror warnings going out and putting what he seemed to allude to as undue stress on communities across the country. I don't know if you heard his comments or even can react to them, but do you believe that's the case when we go from yellow to orange, as we did a week ago?

YOUNG: No, you know, early on this year, you know, we had several changes from the alert level from yellow to orange. I think we had four in a very short period of time. And I know a lot of big city police chiefs such as myself expressed concern to federal law enforcement, and DHS and Secretary Ridge about that issue. And I'm very pleased with the way that they've handled that. I think that they've taken a lot of caution and care, and you know, they're not raising these alert levels just because they want to, or you know -- they have some intelligence information, I think it's important that we stay vigilant and our public knows that, you know, we need to pay attention to this.

HEMMER: What then does New Year's Eve look like in Vegas under orange alert, sheriff?

YOUNG: Well, you know, hopefully it will look just like it did last year. It will go off without a hitch. I have every confidence that it will. We've taken a lot of extra precautions. There's going to be some new and different things.

And you know, these terrorist groups are creative, cunning and evil people, and you know, of course they could do anything. However, we're ready for them, and you know, we've trained a lot. We've worked together as a community very closely with our hotel industry and tourism industry. The FBI has been just great here. We've got a great working relationship with them. All the local law enforcement and first responders have really joined together to make this community, I think, one of the safest tourist destinations in the world.

HEMMER: You raise a great point at the end. Ten seconds left here if you could, a quick answer on this one -- do you see tourists stay away when the warnings are increased?

YOUNG: I don't believe so. I think people go on and live their lives. If not, the terrorists win. And that's not what this country is about.

HEMMER: Good luck to you. Sheriff Bill Young, in Las Vegas, thank you.

YOUNG: Thank you.

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