Butterflies (Billy goes public)

September 25, 2001

Rooftop of the CNN Center

Atlanta, Georgia

The cameras and the recorders click on. I’m standing on the middle of the rooftop. Brian and Nick, my cameramen, are setting up. I’m speaking into a walkie-talkie.

ME: Can you hear me? Michael! Can you hear me?

I turn to my cameramen.

ME: Do we have a boom mic or a handheld?

BRIAN: I’ve got a lapel.

My walkie-talkie squawks.

MICHAEL: Roger that.

ME: You can hear me?

MICHAEL: Loud and clear.

ME: Can you hear me on the rooftop mics?

MICHAEL: Like you’re standing next to me.

ME: Excellent! Tell Richard we’re ready as soon as . . .

BILLY: Look out below!

Everyone looks up. There’s a muffled chorus of surprise from Nick and Brian and Billy lands with a profound THUD.

BRIAN: Holy crap!

NICK: He . . . he . . . he . . .

BILLY: Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare ya’.

BRIAN: Holy crap!

ME: Billy!

BILLY: Hey, Tim.

MICHAEL: Five minutes, Tim.

BILLY: Five minutes? We’re doing this in five minutes?

ME: Yeah, you’re cutting it a little short.

BILLY: Oh man . . .

Billy starts exhaling long, deep breaths. He’s shaking his hands from his wrists.

ME: You okay?

BILLY: How many people watch CNN? Everybody?

ME: It’s going to be okay. It’s just you, me, Brian, and Nick.

BILLY: And the bossy walkie-talkie.

There’s a soft CLICK as I turn the walkie-talkie off.

ME: Now it’s just us. Here’s how it’s going to go. I’m wearing an ear piece. They’re going to cue me when it’s time to start the interview. I’m going to introduce you. And then you’re going to fly from over there and you’re going to land right here beside me. Make it look nice. Graceful, like an air-ballet. Land like Superman. This is the first time the world’s going to see you. And I want them to see you. I want them to see you fly, I want them to see you land, and I want them to see you smile.

BILLY: Okay.

ME: And then it’s just going to be me and you. We’re going to talk.

BILLY: Okay . . .

ME: Be relaxed. Be yourself. If you want to be funny, be funny.

BILLY: What are we going to talk about?

ME: Same things we talked about on Sunday. Who are you? What do you want to do? People saw you on September 11^th. What were you doing? What have you been doing since then?

BILLY: I did some work at a soup kitchen in . . .

ME: Save it for when we’re on air.

BILLY: ‘Kay. Where are your sound people? Aren’t there supposed to be sound people?

ME: After Michael – he’s the man with his foot on my neck – saw the security footage of you landing here and flying off, he installed microphones and motion sensors all across the rooftop. He wants us to conduct all our future interviews right up here. As soon as you land, the mics and the cameras will kick on.

BILLY: Really.

ME: Yep.

BILLY: Sneaky, sneaky.

ME: So anytime you’re on this rooftop, everything you say and/or do will be recorded. That’s why you don’t see any mics – okay, that’s the two minute warning. Why don’t you zip over to that building. I’ll wave you over.

BILLY: Okay . . .

ME: Hey. It’s just me and you. There’s no-one else. It’s just me and you talking.

BILLY: ‘Kay.

Billy flies off. I tighten my tie and check my cuffs. The voice in my ear piece counts down and I hear the in-studio transition. Brian and Nick scuttle closer to me. They’re swaying under the weight of the handheld cameras. I smile big.

ME: Thanks John. Tim Craine here, on the roof of the CNN Center. I’ve left the comfy confines of our studio to introduce you to one extraordinary young man . . .

The rest can be seen in the CNN archives, on YouTube, or any of the dozens of documentaries that have been made about the boy.

9/25/01 – Billy goes public

TC