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American Morning

Interview With Ray Kelly

Aired December 31, 2003 - 08:05   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New York's Times Square is jam packed with traffic right now. But in a few hours, it's going to be packed with people. More than three quarters of a million people are expected to greet in the new year in Times Square. Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered assurances yesterday to New Yorkers and visitors, as well, that the festivities will be safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: There's no specific threat that we know of to New York City. There are threats to every city. There are threats at this time of the year. We live in a dangerous world and we're trying to make sure that if we have -- if we make a mistake, we're making a mistake on the side of being overly cautious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Ray Kelly is the New York City police commissioner.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for coming in.

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Happy new year to you.

KELLY: Happy new year to you.

O'BRIEN: Always nice to see you.

I feel like we do this every year, we chat about security.

Do you think things are more risky this year, the risk being of a terrorist attack, than in previous years?

KELLY: Well, the country has gone to an orange alert level, so obviously we have to respond, as well. There's a lot of chatter out there, as we've heard, that's increased in volume. I think we're doing everything we can to make tonight's event a happy and a safe one.

O'BRIEN: I remember when we sat down and talked at the millennium celebrations and we went through a list of security measures. And I want to kind of read the list, because it seems like the same list this year, as well -- manhole covers are sealed shut; mailboxes and trash cans and newspaper boxes all taken out of there; plainclothes police officers; counter-snipers to watch over the rooftops; metal detectors on the street corners. Then chemical, biological and radiological contamination detection equipment.

Are you more concerned this year about that final thing on the list?

KELLY: I think we've refined our processes on examination of information. There's chatter out there about biological, chemical, radiological events possibly happening. So it's something that we're concerned about.

Are we more concerned about it than we were in the past?

I can't say we're more concerned about it, because we've been concerned about it certainly since September 11.

O'BRIEN: But there's no specific chatter about that on this day?

KELLY: There's no specific chatter, but there is chatter about that and there has been all along, just as there's chatter about New York, you know, all along. So we're doing, as I say, everything I think we reasonably can do.

O'BRIEN: The governor of New Jersey, James McGreevey, said that authorities are now concerned about emergency vehicles maybe used as part of an attack.

Do you think that's a valid concern? And is there information about that or is this sort of, OK, that makes good sense, that would be a clever thing for an attacker to do, so let's think about thwarting it?

KELLY: There's some information about that, but there's been information about that for a while. We've seen events like that using ambulances or using emergency vehicles in other parts of the world. So, yes, there is some discussion about that and we think it's prudent to watch those vehicles more closely now.

O'BRIEN: Just a moment ago, we heard from Michael Bloomberg, and he was saying, you know, enjoy your festivities. Keep an eye open, be smart, but do what you're going to do. And Congressman Christopher Shays, who's on the Select Committee for Homeland Security, said yesterday that he disagrees with that.

And here's exactly what he said: "Secretary Ridge says just do what you would normally do. I would say what do you normally do? If you normally go to Times Square, I would not do what you normally do." And, in fact, he went on to say he thought it was irresponsible that officials are not saying you've to take precautions, you should avoid packed crowds, things like that.

Do you disagree with his point?

KELLY: Yes, I think it's a classic case of letting the terrorists win. All of this information lacks specificity. You can't run your life like that. This information is always out there, these threats. I don't know what information he has. It's certainly not more than we have. So, you know, I think it's irresponsible for him to say that at this moment in time.

If you have specific information about a specific event, obviously you have to rethink what you're going to do. We don't have that. We're taking all necessary precautions.

O'BRIEN: Are you going to be in Times Square tonight?

KELLY: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: You are? Oh, I never go. Well, I'm a New Yorker but...

KELLY: Oh, come on, just once.

O'BRIEN: All those crowds. No. I like to be in bed by 8:30.

Commissioner Ray Kelly, as always, it's nice to see you.

KELLY: Good to be with you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in.

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 31, 2003 - 08:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New York's Times Square is jam packed with traffic right now. But in a few hours, it's going to be packed with people. More than three quarters of a million people are expected to greet in the new year in Times Square. Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered assurances yesterday to New Yorkers and visitors, as well, that the festivities will be safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: There's no specific threat that we know of to New York City. There are threats to every city. There are threats at this time of the year. We live in a dangerous world and we're trying to make sure that if we have -- if we make a mistake, we're making a mistake on the side of being overly cautious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Ray Kelly is the New York City police commissioner.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for coming in.

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Happy new year to you.

KELLY: Happy new year to you.

O'BRIEN: Always nice to see you.

I feel like we do this every year, we chat about security.

Do you think things are more risky this year, the risk being of a terrorist attack, than in previous years?

KELLY: Well, the country has gone to an orange alert level, so obviously we have to respond, as well. There's a lot of chatter out there, as we've heard, that's increased in volume. I think we're doing everything we can to make tonight's event a happy and a safe one.

O'BRIEN: I remember when we sat down and talked at the millennium celebrations and we went through a list of security measures. And I want to kind of read the list, because it seems like the same list this year, as well -- manhole covers are sealed shut; mailboxes and trash cans and newspaper boxes all taken out of there; plainclothes police officers; counter-snipers to watch over the rooftops; metal detectors on the street corners. Then chemical, biological and radiological contamination detection equipment.

Are you more concerned this year about that final thing on the list?

KELLY: I think we've refined our processes on examination of information. There's chatter out there about biological, chemical, radiological events possibly happening. So it's something that we're concerned about.

Are we more concerned about it than we were in the past?

I can't say we're more concerned about it, because we've been concerned about it certainly since September 11.

O'BRIEN: But there's no specific chatter about that on this day?

KELLY: There's no specific chatter, but there is chatter about that and there has been all along, just as there's chatter about New York, you know, all along. So we're doing, as I say, everything I think we reasonably can do.

O'BRIEN: The governor of New Jersey, James McGreevey, said that authorities are now concerned about emergency vehicles maybe used as part of an attack.

Do you think that's a valid concern? And is there information about that or is this sort of, OK, that makes good sense, that would be a clever thing for an attacker to do, so let's think about thwarting it?

KELLY: There's some information about that, but there's been information about that for a while. We've seen events like that using ambulances or using emergency vehicles in other parts of the world. So, yes, there is some discussion about that and we think it's prudent to watch those vehicles more closely now.

O'BRIEN: Just a moment ago, we heard from Michael Bloomberg, and he was saying, you know, enjoy your festivities. Keep an eye open, be smart, but do what you're going to do. And Congressman Christopher Shays, who's on the Select Committee for Homeland Security, said yesterday that he disagrees with that.

And here's exactly what he said: "Secretary Ridge says just do what you would normally do. I would say what do you normally do? If you normally go to Times Square, I would not do what you normally do." And, in fact, he went on to say he thought it was irresponsible that officials are not saying you've to take precautions, you should avoid packed crowds, things like that.

Do you disagree with his point?

KELLY: Yes, I think it's a classic case of letting the terrorists win. All of this information lacks specificity. You can't run your life like that. This information is always out there, these threats. I don't know what information he has. It's certainly not more than we have. So, you know, I think it's irresponsible for him to say that at this moment in time.

If you have specific information about a specific event, obviously you have to rethink what you're going to do. We don't have that. We're taking all necessary precautions.

O'BRIEN: Are you going to be in Times Square tonight?

KELLY: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: You are? Oh, I never go. Well, I'm a New Yorker but...

KELLY: Oh, come on, just once.

O'BRIEN: All those crowds. No. I like to be in bed by 8:30.

Commissioner Ray Kelly, as always, it's nice to see you.

KELLY: Good to be with you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in.

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