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CNN Saturday Morning News

CNN Asks Citizens About War on Terror

Aired September 14, 2002 - 08:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House says the terror alert system will remain at code orange, the second highest of five levels, for the foreseeable future. An administration official is saying the threat level is reevaluated daily.
CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve explains all this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The recommendation has been made to increase the national threat level, currently classified at elevated risk, to a heightened state of alert.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Moving the threat level up to orange might have been the easy part.

RANDY LARSEN, SECURITY EXPERT: It's much easier to go up based on intelligence information than to move back down, because what happens if you move back down at 6:00 tonight and at 8:00 there's a major attack? It sort of makes you look foolish.

MESERVE: But staying at orange presents problems, too. Keep it there too long and there's a risk the threat alert system could appear meaningless. And there's the matter of stress to the public psyche and public budgets. Preliminary survey data from the National League of Cities shows that although more than 50 percent of cities used increased caution after the alert was issued, 35 percent had no increased concern and most of them went about business as usual because they didn't feel the alert was relevant to them.

Some non-federal emergency managers complain the federal government didn't give them a game plan for moving the threat level up and they question whether there is one to move it down either. Some experts concur the threat system is still a long way from what was envisioned.

DAVID HEYMAN, STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: You need to have plans, you need to have resources and you need to have, you know, training, and all of those things take time and we just aren't there yet.

MESERVE (on-camera): For now, the threat level is staying right where it is. The Office of Homeland Security anticipates no change for at least another week.

Jeanne Meserve CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: So as we just heard Jeanne say, another week of orange alert. How are people reacting? What do they think about this?

Let's go right to CNN's Patty Davis. She's actually joining us this morning from the Washington Monument, where, I'm assuming, tourists are abound.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, ever since that color code changed earlier this week, U.S. Park Police here, on the Washington Mall grounds, have doubled the number of officers they have around the Washington, the monuments, all of them here in Washington, D.C.

But what's that really meant to tourists? And, in this case, what's it meant to Washingtonians?

We're joined by a bunch of joggers here from, actually, Alexandria, Virginia, Woodbridge, Virginia, who are on the Washington Mall this morning, enjoying a beautiful morning.

What has, what is the color code terror alert at this point? What did it go to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what I know it went from a yellow up to orange. And I really haven't seen too much of a change other than a little bit more police. But, you know, we haven't been restricted in any of the access that we hadn't already had after last year in the terrorist attacks.

DAVIS: Now, what are you guys noticing that's different up here as you're jogging along the Washington Mall today? What's different?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really haven't seen much difference. It's, you know, this is how it's always been ever since last year. I mean there's police around every once in a while, but it's kind of the same.

DAVIS: Now, what's that meant to you, this change in the color code?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really hasn't meant all that much, to echo what she said. I think the biggest difference obviously came last September 11 and since that time we've just been used to the security and the, you know, all the police around.

DAVIS: So you've been a little more vigilant?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DAVIS: Now, how about you? What's different for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's kind of, to me, it's when you get the ozone red alert you really don't pay attention to it. You hear about it and you know that something's different, but you really go around your normal day activities, with it in the back of your mind, but really it doesn't, I don't think it's changed the way I live any other way.

DAVIS: Now, does it concern you that you live right here in Washington, D.C., kind of in the thick of things?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think about it every once in a while, that we're actually in a pretty prolific area, whatever, that everybody kind of focuses on, but it doesn't really affect me as much, no.

DAVIS: All right, great.

A bunch of joggers here on Washington's National Mall. Now, a very unscientific survey that we did -- in fact, I think that's the president's helicopter flying overhead -- a very unscientific survey that we did a little bit earlier here on Washington's Mall. Two, only two out of five people actually knew that the color code had changed to orange. So we have some pretty smart joggers here with us this morning -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right. You know, Patty, what does it look like to you? I know you've been there a while. The crowds look like they're about the same? I know that area and the Mall are very popular with people that congregate on Saturday mornings.

DAVIS: It's very popular, that's true. Actually, it's pretty sparse here this morning. But it still is pretty early, so that may be a factor here. But it may be that we're seeing fewer people show up for that alert. And we're going to talk to people throughout the day and kind of gauge if that is the case -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, look forward to hearing from you, Patty. It looks like a beautiful day up there.

CNN's Patty Davis joining us from the Washington Monument.

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