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CNN Saturday Morning News
Advice For People Who Want Escape Thoughts of Terrorism
Aired February 15, 2003 - 07:46 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.
HIEDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: For the past few days, people have been stocking up on the terror essentials from duct tape to canned food. Others just want to escape the thought of terror alerts altogether and security problems. For them, CNN's Bruce Morton has some advice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "The Washington Post" reported with war looming and terrorism a very live concern, Hollywood embraced the fantasy and escapism of "Chicago," giving the movie the most Oscar nominations: 13.
"Gangs of New York" was second. It's violent, but it's 19th century violence. Great pictures of old Manhattan. Weapons like knives and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Not a weapons of mass destruction in sight.
So some of us are escaping at the movies. Others are standing in line to stock up on, let's see, a three to five-day supply of water, food that won't spoil an doesn't need cooking, a first aid kit, a battery radio, a flashlight, oh, yes, and plastic and duct tape to seal up their house and make it weapons of mass destruction-proof.
Well, escapists, be careful which movie you choose. "The Hours," also nominated for best picture, is about depression and suicide. "The Pianist," another nominee, is about being a Jew under Hitler. Get too caught up in one of those and you may use the duct tape to hang yourself.
As for protecting you, well, back in the 1950s, school kids sang a song called "Duck and Cover." The idea was, duck under your desk when a nuclear bomb goes off nearby. That never happened, but research suggests ducking wouldn't have helped much, nor covering either.
And back in the 1950s, when Americans worried about the bombs, some people built bomb shelters in their backyards. President Kennedy said in 1961 that any prudent family should have a shelter. But a civil defense -- and that's what they used to call homeland security -- a civil defense pamphlet suggested that community and neighborhood shelters had distinct advantages, compared with a family shelter.
Home shelters never caught on big time. Some government buildings required shelters or basement corners where food was stored. And then the Cold War ended, and the Berlin Wall came down, and shelters were history.
So now, plastic and duct tape. And the level of fear this day is orange.
(on camera): I would have been perfectly safe a couple of years ago. Every window in my old (UNINTELLIGIBLE) house was painted shut. I had that fixed to enjoy spring breezes, which doesn't seem so smart nowadays. But duct tape, plastic, I don't know. Maybe I'll just run away to Chicago.
Bruce Mortin, CNN, at the movies.
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 15, 2003 - 07:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HIEDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: For the past few days, people have been stocking up on the terror essentials from duct tape to canned food. Others just want to escape the thought of terror alerts altogether and security problems. For them, CNN's Bruce Morton has some advice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "The Washington Post" reported with war looming and terrorism a very live concern, Hollywood embraced the fantasy and escapism of "Chicago," giving the movie the most Oscar nominations: 13.
"Gangs of New York" was second. It's violent, but it's 19th century violence. Great pictures of old Manhattan. Weapons like knives and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Not a weapons of mass destruction in sight.
So some of us are escaping at the movies. Others are standing in line to stock up on, let's see, a three to five-day supply of water, food that won't spoil an doesn't need cooking, a first aid kit, a battery radio, a flashlight, oh, yes, and plastic and duct tape to seal up their house and make it weapons of mass destruction-proof.
Well, escapists, be careful which movie you choose. "The Hours," also nominated for best picture, is about depression and suicide. "The Pianist," another nominee, is about being a Jew under Hitler. Get too caught up in one of those and you may use the duct tape to hang yourself.
As for protecting you, well, back in the 1950s, school kids sang a song called "Duck and Cover." The idea was, duck under your desk when a nuclear bomb goes off nearby. That never happened, but research suggests ducking wouldn't have helped much, nor covering either.
And back in the 1950s, when Americans worried about the bombs, some people built bomb shelters in their backyards. President Kennedy said in 1961 that any prudent family should have a shelter. But a civil defense -- and that's what they used to call homeland security -- a civil defense pamphlet suggested that community and neighborhood shelters had distinct advantages, compared with a family shelter.
Home shelters never caught on big time. Some government buildings required shelters or basement corners where food was stored. And then the Cold War ended, and the Berlin Wall came down, and shelters were history.
So now, plastic and duct tape. And the level of fear this day is orange.
(on camera): I would have been perfectly safe a couple of years ago. Every window in my old (UNINTELLIGIBLE) house was painted shut. I had that fixed to enjoy spring breezes, which doesn't seem so smart nowadays. But duct tape, plastic, I don't know. Maybe I'll just run away to Chicago.
Bruce Mortin, CNN, at the movies.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
