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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

America Recovers: Reagan National Airport Getting Ready for First Flight This Morning

Aired October 4, 2001 - 05:39   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Reagan National Airport is open for business again and the first flight is taking off in about 90 minutes. President Bush gave the official go ahead earlier this week on a visit to National. It is the last U.S. airport to reopen since the September 11 attacks, but it's expected to take two months before all the new security measures are in place and the airport returns to normal operations. But for now, National will handle only 190 flights a day. It's 24 percent of its normal business.

But we are going to give you a preview of what your experience is going to be like to go through Reagan National. CNN's Bruce Morton is actually going to be on the first flight out.

Bruce, what are you expecting?

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it's going to be the first U.S. Air flight that I'm booked on. You know U.S. Air and Delta both fly shuttles to New York out of this airport. They're both starting again this morning.

But this one isn't like your average shuttle, to say the absolute least. I know just about everybody I've seen here so far because so far everybody who's checked in for this flight is in the news business. There are a lot of camera crews. There are a lot of reporters. There are a lot of people saying, ha, your guys had the same idea, huh? That's kind of where we are.

Virginia's governor, Jim Gilmore, is supposed to be on this flight, haven't seen him yet. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting delegate to Congress of the District is here, she's also supposed to be on it, and the rumor is that New York's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will be there to welcome it.

But so far, it's all us newsies. There are a lot of armed U.S. Marshals here. There's a dog. There's just a lot of security people, but it's all gone fairly smoothly, partly because I think we all got here so early.

LIN: Were you warned...

MORTON: So far nothing unusual.

LIN: Were you warned to get there early? MORTON: Pardon?

LIN: Bruce, were you warned to get there early? What did folks tell you about how to prepare for taking this flight?

MORTON: Well, we were told not by the airline -- you know somebody at CNN talked to the airline and we were told to be here at 5:00, which we all were, and there was a crowd of cameras and reporters. And I think everybody in that crowd has checked in by now. If any real, normal, actual passengers show up, I assume that will be a little later but we haven't seen them yet.

LIN: All right, there may not be room on that flight. Are you expecting these armed federal marshals to be riding along with you?

MORTON: That's what we've been told, yes. I don't know whether these marshal who are all in uniform will be but the word is that there will be armed security people on these flights.

LIN: Do you see any National Guard presence at the airport?

MORTON: Not that I've seen, no.

LIN: All right. So anything unusual that you're seeing other than a flock of media getting ready to get on the same plane?

MORTON: Lot of newsies, lot of men with guns.

LIN: All right, well that's an interesting combination and usually not found at Reagan National, certainly not this early in the morning.

Thank you very much. Bruce Morton...

MORTON: Thank you.

LIN: ... going to be on that first flight. We'll see you later.

And in our next hour, Kathleen Koch will begin reporting live from Reagan National as it reopens following the terrorist attacks of September 11.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And you might got to wonder if any of those passengers on that flight with Bruce are going to be a little nervous this morning. There may be.

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