Money manager Gabelli speaks here of bombings, the stock market, local companies

The head of $23 billion-in-assets money manager Gabelli Asset Management left Laguardia Airport Tuesday on an 8 a.m. flight to Nashville. Within minutes, his travel-mate's digital pager delivered the news that the World Trade Center was under attack.

"Never in your wildest dreams, except for plots in a made-for-TV movie, would we be vulnerable to our own version of The Maginot Line and you can create your own bomb," Mario Gabelli said in a press conference at the new downtown Nashville Library. He was at the library to address members of the United Way's Alexis de Tocqueville Society, which is composed of members who give at least $10,000 annually to the charity.