September 13, 2001: Open Lines - Callers Respond & React to 911, Day 3
Callers weigh in on whether the attempted airport boardings are deliberate acts designed to keep American planes grounded rather than genuine hijacking attempts. A caller theorizes the terrorists may have pre-booked hundreds of seats on the doomed flights to ensure low passenger counts, making the planes easier to overpower. Art reads a Washington Post article revealing that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson blamed the ACLU, feminists, and homosexuals for the attacks, drawing a sharp parallel between their religious extremism and that of the terrorists themselves.
Richard C. Hoagland calls to announce he is canceling his Bay Area UFO Expo appearance out of respect, and speculates that the passengers of Flight 77 may have also fought back since the plane struck the wrong side of the Pentagon. A New York police officer expresses frustration that off-duty officers are being turned away from volunteering at ground zero.
Key Moments
I have a feeling of pending trouble: Bell opens by telling the audience he has a feeling of something big and bad pending - the country is clearly headed to war and the attack on America itself isn't over.
Three hours sleep, glued to the coverage: Bell admits he has had only three hours of sleep since the attacks, that being so intimately involved in the calls and reports is affecting him, and that he believes it's affecting many listeners too.
Has anybody seen my husband?: Bell relays the heartbreaking CNN footage of New Yorkers begging for airtime with photographs of missing loved ones, and the reporter breaking down in tears at the end of the segment.
Cheering in the rain on the West Side Highway: A caller working on the West Side Highway at Houston Street describes pouring rain and crowds still standing out with signs, clapping and cheering as emergency workers go in and come out of the smoke.
Like a couple of missing teeth: Bell describes a CNN photograph of the New York skyline at a distance - the missing Twin Towers like a couple of missing teeth, smoke rising, a lightning bolt in the approaching storm behind.