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CNN Connie Chung Tonight

Washington Places America on High Alert

Aired September 10, 2002 - 20:00   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.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.

Tonight: A day before September 11, Washington warns, the U.S. faces a high danger of attack.

ANNOUNCER: Orange Alert: high risk of terrorist attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll do everything we can to protect the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: On the eve of the first anniversary of September 11, is the U.S. again a target for terror?

He knew it was coming, when, and how many there were. Tonight, for the first time: details on how Osama bin Laden watched and waited as his followers carried out their deadly terrorist attacks.

Is al Qaeda creeping back into Afghanistan? CNN's Christiane Amanpour from the streets of Kabul: 9/11 one year later.

Their sons were on duty and rushed to ground zero. They didn't make it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VIGIANO, FATHER OF JOE VIGIANO: There is no word in as closure. There is no such word as you get over it. You don't. The pain never goes away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, two fathers share their memories, their pride and their grief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE IELPI, FATHER OF JOHN IELPI: I know my son is in better hands now but I would rather have him in mine.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York: Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening.

Tonight, the United States is on high alert: a warning to law enforcement, the armed forces, and the American public that the nation faces an increased risk of terrorist attack. The attorney general today announced the move, raising the warning from yellow to orange, the government's second highest state of alert. It was prompted by new intelligence that al Qaeda may be planning something against the United States or U.S. facilities overseas.

Jeanne Meserve has the latest from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yellow turns to orange and domestic security is ratcheted up. Portable air defenses around arrayed around the capital region for an exercise are now being armed with missiles. All air marshals are ordered into the skies. Customs inspections at the borders are increased, but the threat is primarily overseas.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Information indicates that al Qaeda cells have been established in several South Asian countries in order to conduct car bombs and other attacks on U.S. facilities.

MESERVE: From separate sources: indications that al Qaeda could also be planning suicide attacks somewhere in the Middle East.

BUSH: The threats that we have heard recently remind us of the pattern of threats we heard prior to September the 11th. We have no specific threat to America, but we're taking everything seriously, obviously.

MESERVE: No change in the president's schedule Wednesday: He is slated to attend commemorative events at the Pentagon, Pennsylvania and New York. But Vice President Cheney, once again spending his nights at a secure and secret location, canceled a Tuesday night speech, delivering it on tape instead.

Overseas, Americans are being warned to be vigilant and embassies are heightening security. Some have already been closed because of the fear of attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: And this late word from a senior government official: Vice President Dick Cheney will be staying at that safe and secure location through the day tomorrow, instead of attending 9/11 commemorative events, as was originally planned -- Connie.

CHUNG: Jeanne, from what we understand, there is no word of any kind of attack on the U.S. mainland. But I do have a quote from a senior FBI official. I want to read it to you. He said: "Remember, last year, we thought, if there were an attack, it would be overseas. We were incorrect."

How likely is it that they will be wrong again?

MESERVE: Well, the government appears to have covered all its bases. It has warned that there could be an attack overseas or there could be an attack domestically. And let me tell you, the early indications are there is not going to be sniping from Capitol Hill.

I've talked to a couple of Democrats. They have seen the intelligence which led to this heightened-threat warning and they believe it is justified -- Connie.

CHUNG: Now, Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft both used four different words to describe what we should do. Tom Ridge said be wary and mindful and Ashcroft said be alert and be defiant. Do you have any idea of what the average American citizen should do?

MESERVE: Well, the other thing they've said is that Americans should be vigilant, should be watchful, and should report anything unusual to the authorities. They also are urging Americans to go about their business as usual, including attending commemorative events tomorrow.

If Americans do want to know more about what they should do, one homeland security official recommended to me that they look at the Red Cross Web site. That's www.RedCross.org. If you navigate around long enough, you will find a terrorism preparedness guide -- Connie.

CHUNG: And, finally, Jeanne, are we prepared better today we were a year ago?

MESERVE: We are certainly better prepared. Are we well enough prepared? Certainly not.

That's the result of a number of things: one, the enormity of the job of getting ready, bureaucratic inertia, bureaucratic infighting, and also money. There just has not been enough of it, particularly at the local level, to prepare properly.

CHUNG: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thank you. We appreciate it.

We also want to bring in national security correspondent David Ensor, who has information about where this new intelligence came from.

David, where did the intelligence come from?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, from a number of sources, Connie, but in particular and most significantly, from a senior al Qaeda operative who has been in the hands of another government for about two months now, according to U.S. officials, but who only recently has started to talk and tell what he knows.

And, in fact, the key information came Monday morning Washington time. What he said -- he is said to be the senior operator in al Qaeda in Southeast Asia. He was in charge of operations in that area. And it is from him that all this information has come about possible attacks against U.S. facilities, embassies and military facilities in that part of the world. So that is the key source.

There is also information about possible suicide bombing attacks in the Middle East from another al Qaeda source. And then there's a more general sense, Connie, from intelligence intercepts and a whole lot of difference information that U.S. intelligence has gathered that a lot of low-level al Qaeda types would love to do something, even on small scale, to blow something up tomorrow to commemorate the day the way they would like to commemorate it -- Connie.

CHUNG: I think the burning question is, is this source credible? Is it reliable?

ENSOR: U.S. officials say they do believe this man is telling them the truth. They have cross-checked the information he gave, very specific information, specific and credible information, they said, about exactly how specific targets were to be taken on.

They've cross-checked that with other intelligence they have. And they say it checks out. They believe it. And they're quite concerned by it, frankly.

CHUNG: But most of the information points to overseas threats. Why do the government officials tell us that we should be on alert here domestically?

ENSOR: Well, remember that a year ago today, there were great concerns at the CIA and other intelligence agencies about the possibility of an attack against U.S. targets overseas. And, in fact, the really big attack, of course, came here. So there is that lesson from the recent past.

And then there is, as I mentioned, the sort of sense from general intelligence gathering, various intercepts, that a lot of low-level types are talking it up. They would love to do something to try to attack the U.S. tomorrow, even if it's just a small-scale thing.

CHUNG: All right, David Ensor, thank you so much.

And to help us understand what is behind today's warning, we are joined from Washington by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Senator Bayh, thank you for being with us tonight.

Senator, you, along with other members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, were briefed today about the alert. And the question is, were you given information that goes beyond what we know publicly?

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: Connie, your report from David Ensor was remarkably accurate.

We were given information with regard to the source, corroboration of the information, other sources of intelligence that all comes together to paint a picture of a credible threat to American interests, most likely abroad. But we continue to know that their top target is here in the America heartland. And as we discovered very painfully a year ago, they still are capable of operating against us here.

CHUNG: Now, I think it's not really clear what the average citizen should do. We're told to go about our business. However, the president, of course, is giving a major speech at the Pentagon. He's going to be at ground zero. He's going to be at the location in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, the vice president is being spirited away into some secret location. Can you make any sense of what you would advise the average citizen to do?

BAYH: Connie, I would do three things tomorrow.

First, I would choose an appropriate way to express my empathy for those who lost loved ones in the attack, a moment of silence, something along those lines. Secondly, as the alert has reminded us, be vigilant to anything highly suspicious or out of the ordinary. But then, third, let's get on with our lives. And let's not give the terrorists the satisfaction of disrupting the American way of life and interrupting our freedoms any more than we possibly have to.

CHUNG: Senator Bayh, there is a report tonight from one of your colleagues, actually, on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Richard Durbin. And he says that he is stunned that the U.S. government, that the Bush administration, and specifically the Intelligence Committee -- community -- has not presented a comprehensive report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities. And he says that is necessary before any decision can be made. Are you aware of this?

BAYH: I wasn't aware of Senator Durbin's comments.

And I agree that it would certainly be helpful for the administration to discuss, in as great a detail as possible, the threat presented by weapons of mass destruction. But a lot of it is already in the public record, Connie. We know with absolute certainty that he has biological and chemical weapons capabilities. We know that he had advanced his nuclear program further than we had thought the last time the inspectors were there. And we know that he's desperately seeking to build upon that capability.

So, will we find a smoking gun that he's about to launch an attack against us using weapons of mass destruction? No, I don't think so. But even if there is a small chance that he would take those weapons and place them into the hands of suicidal terrorists for use against us, we have to ask ourselves the question: Is that an acceptable risk for America to run, particularly in light of the events of last September 11? My answer to that would be, no, it's not.

CHUNG: And, very quickly, there are reports that there are groups of al Qaeda members filtering back into Afghanistan. Shouldn't the United States complete the job in Afghanistan before invading Iraq?

BAYH: Well, I think we can do both, Connie. And if they are infiltrating back into Afghanistan, we have military personnel there who are going to be actively searching for them, just as they are attempting to reconstitute themselves in places like Yemen and Georgia and, in fact, Northern Iraq.

But the question we have to ask ourselves is -- what has really changed in the last year is the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of people like Saddam Hussein, combined with international terror groups who are willing to use those kind of weapons, even including suicide. That is what has changed. And we can't just do one or the other. We need to do both if we are really going to protect America.

CHUNG: So bottom line for you is that, even if we don't have what is called a national intelligence estimate, and even if al Qaeda members are filtering back into Afghanistan, you are saying you believe that the United States should go to war with Iraq?

BAYH: I think, once we've exhausted every other alternative, diplomatic, economic and covert, if there is simply no other way to prevent him from attaining a nuclear weapon in addition to the biological and chemical ones that he already has, I think, in the long run, that is unacceptable to our country. And, yes, we must act. And I believe we can do that while we are still fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan.

CHUNG: Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, thank you so much for being with us tonight.

BAYH: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: And still to come: two fathers' pain. Their firefighter sons decided to carry on the family tradition and made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11.

ANNOUNCER: Next: more proof of the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on America, the inside story of what bin Laden knew exactly one year ago -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is near sunset in Afghanistan on September 11. The night before and much of that day in the hours leading up to the attack, Osama bin Laden is observed in deep prayer and meditation. This, according to the accounts of men who were present, who were later interrogated by coalition intelligence officials.

As the hijackers board their planes in the United States, sources say only three people of those at the safe house in Afghanistan have exact knowledge of the attack, Osama bin Laden, his trusted military commander Mohammed Atef, and this man Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wanted by the U.S. since 1995 for his alleged role in a plan to blow up U.S. airliners flying from Southeast Asia.

By the time American Airlines Flight 11 slams into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, say those intelligence officials, bin Laden is sitting beside a short wave radio and waiting for news. He says nothing. As people gather around, there is a bulletin about the first plane.

This seems to agree with Osama bin Laden's version of events in this tape obtained by the U.S. government in Afghanistan and released last December.

OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): We had notification since the previous Thursday that the events would take place that day. We had finished our work that day, and had the radio on. It was 5:30 p.m. our time.

I was sitting with Dr. Ahmad Abu-al-Khair. Immediately, we heard the news that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We turned the radio station to the news from Washington. The news continued, and no mention of the attack until the end. At the end of the newscast, they reported that a plane just hit the World Trade Center.

BOETTCHER: Bin Laden begins weeping and praying, then shouts Allah Akbar, God is great, according to detainees who were present. Then, in a chilling sign of what is still to come, the coalition intelligence sources say Osama bin Laden raises his arm and lifts two fingers. This is perhaps what bin Laden's spokesman Suleyman Abu Ghaith is talking about in his account of what happened.

SULEYMAN ABU GHAITH (through translator): So I went back to Sheikh bin Laden who was sitting in a room with 50 to 60 people. I tried to tell him about what I saw but he made a gesture with his hands, meaning I know, I know.

BOETTCHER: Bin Laden himself also offers a clue to his behavior.

BIN LADEN (through translator): We were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them "be patient."

BOETTCHER: Bin Laden moves to an adjacent room with satellite TV. More people gather to watch with him and they begin to record coverage of the events, a tape which we found in the al Qaeda tape archives obtained by CNN. At this point, say the sources, bin Laden is silent. Then, cameras catch United Airlines Flight 175 as it crashes into the South Tower.

BIN LADEN (through translator): After a little while, they announced that another plane had hit the World Trade Center. The brothers who heard the news were overjoyed by it.

BOETTCHER: When the second tower is hit, bin Laden again prays and weeps, shouting Allah Akbar. Then he lifts three fingers. It becomes clear to the people in the room that he's signaling a third attack is to come, according to the intelligence sources. It does. American Airlines Flight 77 hits the Pentagon. BIN LADEN (through translator): Those young men said in deeds in New York and Washington speeches that overshadowed all other speeches made everywhere else in the world.

BOETTCHER: Once again, bin Laden prays, weeps, and shouts Allah Akbar. This time he lifts four fingers. Those beside him wait for the fourth attack. Only the select few know United Flight 93 has already been hijacked and pointed toward Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 93, I understand you have a bomb on board.

BOETTCHER: The passengers on United Flight 93 rushed the cockpit, prevent the hijackers from achieving their aim, and the plane crashes in a Pennsylvania field. Even as the fourth attack fails, the Twin Towers are collapsing, something Osama bin Laden, who once worked in his family's construction business, has been planning for.

BIN LADEN (through translator): Due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only. This is all that we had hoped for.

BOETTCHER: By now it is nighttime in Afghanistan. Bin Laden's followers again watch as he prays and weeps. They wait for him to raise his hand to indicate a fifth attack. He never does.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER: Again, this account comes not only from Osama bin Laden's own words, but from the accounts of two men who were with him that night who have been interviewed or rather interrogated by coalition intelligence agencies -- Connie.

CHUNG: Mike, it's chilling to know that Osama bin Laden was counting the planes off on his hand. What is the United States government going to do with this new information?

BOETTCHER: Well, the information will be used in the future if Osama bin Laden is ever captured. It's one more nail in a prosecution, one more bit of evidence they can use to say: "You knew everything. You counted down, one, two, three, four, as those planes went in there."

That, combined with the videotape that was released in November, would be pretty good prosecutorial material. But in terms of a current threat, it's really not of much value.

CHUNG: I think the thing that is disturbing all of us here is that the United States is now under a heightened state of alert. What are your sources telling you as for the reason why there is an increased threat level?

BOETTCHER: Well, noise has been talked about, this intelligence traffic that they're hearing. But Attorney General Ashcroft said today that it's based on the information from an al Qaeda operative. Now, this information must be pretty rock solid. And, in the past, there has been rock-solid information provided by a former al Qaeda operative who has been detained and is in custody by the coalition. And this information has stopped specific attacks in the past.

CHUNG: And just quickly, Mike, how does the U.S. know that these sources aren't just trying to create fear among us?

BOETTCHER: Well, a couple of my sources who are in the Middle East region say they believe, for example, Abu Zubaydah, one of the high-ranking people, has provided some disinformation and, as well, some good information.

But judging from the past performance of some of these other prisoners now, who really want to get out of their jam and want better treatment, want somehow to not be in custody anymore, that they're getting good information and it's rock-solid information.

CHUNG: Thank you, Mike Boettcher.

We also wanted to find out how the anniversary is being perceived in the land that harbored al Qaeda: Afghanistan. Is there more to fear from terrorists hiding in Afghanistan?

So we go now to CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, who joins us now from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Christiane, what are your sources telling you about the likelihood of an attack on the anniversary of 9/11?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the days preceding this anniversary, we had been warned by Afghan security, Afghan government officials, as well as U.S. special forces and other military sources here to expect something in these days and perhaps even on the anniversary of September 11, because, although they believe that al Qaeda and the Taliban have, as a big, organized structure, been smashed and put into disarray, they know that these people are still hanging around; there are still remnants of these groups here.

And, indeed, on Thursday last week, there was the biggest and most deadly attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. And that was that massive car bomb in Kabul, which killed and wounded scores of people. And almost simultaneously, there was a failed assassination attempt on the life of the president, Hamid Karzai, south of here in Kandahar.

Now, immediately, even though a full investigation has not been completed, the Afghans said that they believed that this was the work of the remnants of Taliban and al Qaeda. And, also, we understand that, as the U.S. continues its fight against these remnants -- U.S. special forces and other troops here -- that these groups are beginning, in small numbers, to infiltrate back into Afghanistan. CHUNG: Christiane, as you know, the Bush administration is talking about war with Iraq. Our question is, are there lessons that the U.S. should have learned from the attack on Afghanistan?

AMANPOUR: Well, when people here are asked -- especially Afghan officials -- "What do they think? Do they support another military intervention in Iraq?" they will say they have no sympathy for what they call the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein.

But they believe there is still a huge amount of work to be done in Afghanistan. For instance, the war on terror, they say, is not over. And we know that U.S. troops here are still hunting down and trying to fight the various pockets of resistance, al Qaeda and Taliban, that they find here, as well as trying to search for some of those big names that have not yet been rounded up.

So officials here say that, not only does the war on terror continue, but the objectives simply have not yet been made, and that, in any future operation, certainly they hope that success, full success in Afghanistan, should be a criterion and a test case for any future U.S. military action.

CHUNG: Tell me, Christiane, what is the mood there on the eve of 9/11?

AMANPOUR: Well, people here are incredibly aware that, had it not been for September 11, this country would not be free and liberated from the Taliban, as it is now.

Despite the difficulties that I mentioned, people are immeasurably better off since the Taliban have gone. So people are very aware of what happened there and what it means to Afghanistan. And there will be a commemoration in Kabul for the victims of September 11 on the day tomorrow.

But also here, they have been commemorating their own twin disaster: their legendary anti-Taliban resistance hero who was assassinated last year just two days before September 11. So they're very aware of this whole anniversary, obviously. And, really, the history and the experiences of the United States and Afghanistan are interlinked in this very sad manner.

CHUNG: Christiane Amanpour in Kabul, Afghanistan, thank you so much for being with us.

Still ahead: ground zero, the Pentagon, Shanksville. We will hear about security precautions planned for tomorrow.

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: They gave their lives doing their duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IELPI: My son loved helping people, loved helping people. And what better way to do it than in the New York City Fire Department?

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: One year later, their fathers struggle with grief and pride.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: We will continue.

(NEWS BREAK)

CHUNG: We'll be right back.

ANNOUNCER: Next: From the heart of a great city, the headquarters of a superpower's military, to a field in rural Pennsylvania: the battlefields of the attack against America one year later.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: As we have been reporting, the United States is on guard tonight: security tightened even further because of the high danger of a terror attack on the anniversary of September 11.

Three locations are of great concern, the locations of last year's attacks, where many Americans and President Bush will be gathering for memorial services tomorrow. What is it like there tonight?

With us now: Bill Hemmer at ground zero, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. And David Mattingly joins us from Altoona, Pennsylvania, near the site where the fourth hijacked airliner crashed into the ground.

Jamie, let's start with you.

Are security precautions increased at the Pentagon for tomorrow?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, tremendously have been increased overall, and especially for tomorrow, the event that will take place here today.

In a very unusual step, they made all of the people covering this event pick up their credentials in person and have to show a photo I.D. There were long lines out here. But there are chemical weapons detectors around the Pentagon. There are military police that have been ringing the Pentagon since September 11.

The whole security situation at the Pentagon completely changed. I have to say that, before September 11, security was actually kind of lax. As you walked in every day, you could see places where somebody might be able to penetrate the defenses. But you don't see that anymore. It's hard to even get close to the Pentagon anymore if you don't have all the proper credentials. CHUNG: All right, Bill Hemmer, let's go to you.

How about at ground zero?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Connie, this is essentially an enormous construction site. It's been that way now almost nonstop for the past year.

Tomorrow, though, that work will stop and everybody will pause to remember those who paid the ultimate price a year ago tomorrow morning. Much of the work that has gone on here, Connie, though, for the past year has dealt directly with the transportation aspect of ground zero. Two substantial subway lines have yet to reopen. We're told within a week, they will. Also, the PATH line that carried about 70,000 commuters from New Jersey into Lower Manhattan last year on the morning of the attacks, that, too, has substantial work ahead of it.

Interestingly, Connie, one thing you hear from some New Yorkers is that the construction job down here has been so good and so thorough and so sterile that some are worried that some people may not remember the devastation that we all saw a year ago tomorrow. Right now, it is a construction site. But, as I mentioned, tomorrow, that will come to a halt so we all can stop and remember -- Connie.

CHUNG: And, Bill, what about security precautions there?

HEMMER: Yes.

We have heard throughout the city tonight, with the increased alert, it's a bit difficult to get this city, frankly, cranked up a bit higher than it is already. You've got the U.N. speech on Thursday, with the president here in town. You have numerous patrols throughout the city. In fact, we saw a few military helicopters fly by here just about 30 minutes ago.

New York is on alert. But whether or not they can crank it up any more than they already have remains to be seen. This city is well on edge right now. In fact, if you go back just about two months ago, we were already getting police reports that numerous cars and trucks and street traffic coming into bridges and tunnels into Manhattan had already been checked. They're waiting for this day. And they say they are ready as well.

CHUNG: David Mattingly, stark contrast, I would imagine, to the town in Pennsylvania where you are. What about security precautions there?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are still expecting about 20,000 to 30,000 people out here tomorrow. And when they get here, they will see that there is some extraordinary security.

This is a remote area, where the plane crashed, but no one will be allowed to drive in here. Instead, they are going to have to park at remote parking lots that have been set up. Everyone will be bused in here. Everyone will be searched. All bags will be searched, bags that are even larger than 9-by-9 inches. They've got it down to a science: 9-by-9 inches will not be allowed to be carried in here.

On top of that, we've already had one security scare here. Monday morning, this entire area was evacuated because of a suspicious package. Authorities found a cooler. They looked inside, found no explosives, but they wouldn't tell us exactly what was in there. That was taken away and it's going to be examined at a state lab. So, add that suspicious package, the thousands of people coming in here on top of a presidential visit, it doesn't really matter what color of a alert that we are having. People here in Shanksville are going to be incredibly vigilant.

CHUNG: All right, Jamie McIntyre, you know, when you said that you thought the Pentagon security had become lax over the years, I was really surprised, because I remember, when I used to cover the Pentagon, it was always the most difficult place to get into.

But I would imagine, as you were saying, compared with a year ago, the security must be extraordinary today just for anyone to get into the Pentagon.

MCINTYRE: Yes. And, in particular, it's the addition of military police that keep people farther away from the Pentagon.

But the remarkable thing that happened today is that the secretary of defense authorized that air-defense-missile batteries around the Pentagon and other key military installations be armed with Stinger missiles. Now, as far as I can tell, this is the first time that they've deployed portable air defenses in Washington since the 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis, when Army guard crews manned Nike Ajax air- defense systems in Washington and some other cities in the United States.

So it's really a remarkable thing. Now, a lot of people assume, in Washington, that they could shoot down a plane, that there were already Stinger missiles at the White House or at the Pentagon. But we learned on September 11 that wasn't the case. But today -- tonight, really, for the first time, some of those missiles are ready to go, if there were another threat.

CHUNG: And are these missiles placed not only at the Pentagon area, to your knowledge, but other strategic areas in Washington? Because I know that the monuments were considered sensitive areas and, of course, the other landmarks in Washington, D.C.

MCINTYRE: Well, this is just a small step at this point, because, originally, this was just going to be an exercise that didn't even involve live ammunition.

But, because of the threat warnings, because of the anniversary of September 11, the secretary of defense made the decision today to, as long as they are going to have these Stinger missile launchers out there, you might as well have the missiles there, too, but, at the same time, have some very rigid rules of engagement, very strict limitations, because the last thing you want to have is an accidental or a mistaken firing of one of those missiles in what is a very busy air corridor right over the Potomac River here behind me. CHUNG: David Mattingly, I was surprised to learn that there are a great number of people who have come to the site there in Pennsylvania over the last year.

And are you standing in front of a memorial? I'm trying to make out where you are.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

What you see behind me is actually a temporary memorial that has been set up. Over the summer, about 1,000 people a weekend have been coming through here. And that is extraordinary for Shanksville, when you consider that it's a town of just 245 people -- so about 1,000 people here every weekend.

Many of them leave behind whatever memento that means something to them here at the site. You'll find that people have been taking rocks up from the fields by here to write something on them and leave them. Everything here, though, is preserved by officials in the county for use at a permanent memorial that is probably about five years away.

CHUNG: All right, Jamie McIntyre, I want to go back to you for just one second, because I know that you took a picture on the day on 9/11. And what happened to you subsequently is really quite a surprise to me.

MCINTYRE: Well, this was an extraordinary day. And a lot of people were very stressed.

And this picture that you see here I took from just over to my left. It shows the Pentagon. You can see the police tape in front of it. I was arrested by the Pentagon police for taking this picture, because the police officer thought that I was somehow violating the security. I think he really just didn't know what -- he knew he needed to do something.

He saw somebody taking a picture. He demanded my camera. I tried to explain that I was a credentialed member of the news media. And he arrested and handcuffed me briefly. But then he let me go when he realized that he really had no place to take me. And, by the way, that picture was -- a similar picture to that was already being shown live on CNN.

But I think it just sort of shows the stress that people were under, what they were going through that day. And, eventually, I got my camera back a couple of days later and retrieved the pictures from the digital card inside.

CHUNG: All right, back to you, Bill Hemmer.

How has that area changed, because it was clearly the financial district? It was filled with offices and what have you. How has it changed now a year later?

HEMMER: It changed substantially in the past year. But I will tell you, Connie, there was a survey done about a week ago that went around to try to find out the residential buildings around here, about the occupancy rates. And what they found, frankly, surprised a lot of people. If you think about what this place looked like in September and October and November of last year, some people said it was like a nuclear winter.

Well, a year later, some buildings, they are finding, are at 95 percent occupancy, some at 100 percent. Now, many small businesses paid the ultimate price. They went under because of a lack of business after the events of 9/11. In fact, the building we are on top of right now, the Merrill Lynch Building, with ground zero behind us, they are about 85 percent occupancy. Sure, they would like it higher. But, listen, the point down here is that it's not empty. And that is a strong signal just a year later of the attacks of last year.

Connie, quickly, I just want to mention one thing. Tomorrow, when these events get under way, the reading of the names will start about 8:45 Eastern time. This is a phone book. It's literally a phone book, 198 pages long, where 197 people will come to microphones tomorrow morning and read off every single person's name, one by one. And this is what it's all about tomorrow.

They say it may take as long as three hours once they get started tomorrow, Connie.

CHUNG: Oh, Bill, that will be very moving.

Thank you so much, Bill Hemmer, Jamie McIntyre and David Mattingly. We will be right back.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up: two fathers who lost their sons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IELPI: I just still have tremendous difficulty thinking that it's a year, that you're not going to see your loved one. It just -- it has not settled in. It has not settled in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: One year later.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: And finally tonight, we have a story about two men who trust each other with their lives. For years, they worked side by side through good times and bad. Now they share something that is so personal, so sad, that, when one man cries, the other will hold his hand.

I want to you meet these two men, who speak from their hearts, especially when they talk about their precious sons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you really want to talk about a hero, take a look at Joseph Vigiano.

And, Joe, stand up.

(APPLAUSE)

CHUNG (voice-over): Joe Vigiano was a hero long before September 11.

JOE VIGIANO, FIREFIGHTER: My father is one of, if not the most decorated New York City firemen in the history of the job. I got big feet, but I'll never fill his shoes.

CHUNG: So he didn't try. Instead of becoming a firefighter like his dad, Joe became a police detective.

JOHN VIGIANO: Joe was the one we thought was going to be a firefighter. He used to run around the house with his grandfather's helmet on throwing water on things and banging into things. Thank God he didn't start fires.

CHUNG: It was Joe's big brother who became the firefighter.

JOHN VIGIANO: I followed my father. He followed me. It was a great progression.

CHUNG: A father could not be more proud of his two sons.

But, on September 11, the unthinkable happened. His only children were on duty and rushed to ground zero. John's close friend and fellow firefighter Lee Ielpi also had a son who was on duty that day. Just moments after the north tower was hit, the young firefighter called his father.

IELPI: He said: "A plane hit it. I think they said it's a small plane. It didn't look like a small plane."

I said: "Oh, OK, John. Are you going?" And he said nothing. At that point, a tone went off in the background, which indicates there is a run coming in. A response is coming in.

He then said: "Dad, it's us. We are going to the Trade Center."

And, well, the last words I said to my son that morning was, "John, be careful."

He said, "OK, dad." And he went off.

CHUNG: None of their sons made it out.

(on camera): What do you miss most about your sons?

JOHN VIGIANO: Hugging them. Yes, that was it. Put my arm around them and hug them. My sons, from the time they were babies, would always come over and kiss their father. And they would kiss my firemen when they would come visit the firehouse or somebody would come to the house. They never had any complaint about that. You went over and they would hug you and kiss you. And they did it to me.

CHUNG (voice-over): For John Vigiano, his loss was unbearable. But he was able to share his grief with his friend. Lee and John fought many fires together, but now they were fighting back tears as they searched for their sons' remain in the rubble of what once was the World Trade Center.

(on camera): You were there day after day?

IELPI: Day after day.

CHUNG: Both of you?

IELPI: Yes, yes, yes. You have to be. That's it.

CHUNG: From morning until night?

IELPI: Well...

JOHN VIGIANO: I would get there at 7:30 and I'd leave there about 11:00, 12:00 at night.

IELPI: You had to pace yourself, because you knew the next day you had to be back, you know? Yes, that's what we did.

CHUNG: And your mission was to find your sons?

(voice-over): A mission captured by photographer Gary Suson.

GARY SUSON, PHOTOGRAPHER: I was shooting for all the grieving families, who wanted to know and understand what was going on during the recovery. It's the biggest honor of my life that firefighters entrusted me to do that.

CHUNG: On December 11, three months to the day after Lee Ielpi last spoke to his son, he received the news he had both been dreading and hoping for.

IELPI: I got a phone call at 11:30. I knew immediately, because it was a good friend of mine who's deputy chief. And, well, he said: "Lee?"

I said, "Yes, Paul."

He said: "Lee, we got your son."

I said: "OK. We'll be right in." We walked down the road into the site. It was about 40 feet below grade. My son was in a Stokes basket, which is a stretcher-type basket, with a flag over it.

JOHN VIGIANO: We found Joe in October.

CHUNG (on camera): But you never found John? JOHN VIGIANO: Not yet. No, he'll be identified. Don't know when.

Connie, there is a lot of sorrow. A day doesn't go by that you don't cry. These things are killing me, these interviews. I thought they would get easier. But, man, they got harder. But, no, there is no such word as closure. There is no such word as you get over it. You don't. The pain never goes away.

CHUNG (voice-over): Mingled with the pain, there are some living, breathing reminders of John Vigiano's son: the five children left behind.

JOHN VIGIANO: When I look at those boys, Joey, the oldest one, he's his father, spitting image. Jimmy, the middle boy, he's got his father's personality. He's got a little devil in him. The baby, we haven't figured him out yet. We just know he has got a temper. So that would be part of both of them.

Looking at my little girls, Nicolette, she's her father. The face is the same. And the baby has got his personality. So, yes, God gave us something. He gave us these kids.

CHUNG: These are just some of the memories John Vigiano will cherish forever.

JOHN VIGIANO: I got to play catch with my kids, 60 years old and play catch with your sons. Some fathers don't -- they don't take advantage of that now. I got to do it that day. Yes, I miss that.

CHUNG: John and Lee will always miss their sons. They say there is no such thing as closure. The pain will never go away.

IELPI: I know my son is in better hands now, but I would rather have him in mine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: New York's firefighters are still saying farewell to their fallen brothers. Today, one day short of a year after September 11, they held a funeral for Ladder 42's Peter Bielfeld.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Before September 11, 2001, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil was committed not by foreign agents, but by an American, a veteran of the Gulf War. Long after Oklahoma City buried its dead and cleaned up the rubble of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building, one image of that day, April 19, 1995, remained etched in the minds of millions of Americans, the image of Oklahoma City fire Captain Chris Fields carrying a baby from the rubble.

CHRIS FIELDS, OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I was wondering if there was anything we were going to be able to do to save this child. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I pretty well assumed the child was dead.

ANNOUNCER: At first, no one knew who the baby was. And she came to symbolize all of the 168 dead from that day. She was soon identified as Baylee Almon, killed a day after her first birthday, one of the 19 dead children at the building's day care center. But whatever happened to fire Captain Chris Fields? And what lesson from Oklahoma City may have saved lives on September 11 last year?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Whatever happened to fire Captain Chris Fields, who famously carried the lifeless body of 1-year-old Baylee Almon from the Oklahoma City bombing wreckage? He's still with the Oklahoma City Fire Department. Now a major, he runs a fire station. He also has served as a spokesman for the Protecting People First Foundation, a group founded by Baylee's mother, lobbying for the use of protective safety glass in high-profile buildings to reduce the risk of death or injury from flying glass. The use of such windows has been credited with saving lives at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: And, finally, we want to thank Dick Wolf Productions and also MoPo Productions for that moving footage of those firefighters. We appreciate their allowing us to use it.

And we'll see you tomorrow.

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