Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Many Changes Made at Pentagon Since 9/11 Attack

Aired September 11, 2003 - 06:37   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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go live to the Pentagon now in Arlington, Virginia, for a preview of 9/11 observances there.
Skip Loescher live at the Pentagon, right across the Potomac from Washington.

Good morning -- Skip.

SKIP LOESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

No one who was here at the Pentagon, or for that matter anyplace else in Washington, will ever forget what it felt like that terrible day; 184 people died here. But really, had that airplane hit virtually any other building, the toll could have been much higher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOESCHER (voice-over): Plenty has changed at the Pentagon since the 9/11 attack two years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very strong building, and it performed extremely well.

LOESCHER: Ken Catlow (ph), who managed the renovation, says the Pentagon was already perhaps the most structurally-sturdy building in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably as close to a fortress as you're going to get.

LOESCHER: As luck would have it, the hijacked jetliner crashed into a newly-renovated area. That saves lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had already incorporated a lot of safety features, such as the blast-resistant windows, which held up marvelously.

LOESCHER: As did the steel-reinforced exterior walls, which kept that part of the building from collapsing for half an hour, giving some people inside time to escape.

Now throughout the Pentagon, workers are installing even stronger blast-resistant windows, more steel reinforcement, new sprinkler systems, better escape routes and special doors.

These are called wan (ph) doors. They're actually installed to control smoke transferring to the building. LOESCHER: Outside, beefed-up security is more evident. Mobile patriot missile batteries can be seen, as can military and Pentagon police with automatic weapons. Security at entrances for military and civilian Defense Department personnel and visitors is also tighter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

A bit later at the very moment the first trade tower was hit, the president will lead the nation in a moment of silence from the South Lawn at the White House.

We're live at the Pentagon. I'm Skip Loescher -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you. Skip Loescher reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired September 11, 2003 - 06:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go live to the Pentagon now in Arlington, Virginia, for a preview of 9/11 observances there.
Skip Loescher live at the Pentagon, right across the Potomac from Washington.

Good morning -- Skip.

SKIP LOESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

No one who was here at the Pentagon, or for that matter anyplace else in Washington, will ever forget what it felt like that terrible day; 184 people died here. But really, had that airplane hit virtually any other building, the toll could have been much higher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOESCHER (voice-over): Plenty has changed at the Pentagon since the 9/11 attack two years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very strong building, and it performed extremely well.

LOESCHER: Ken Catlow (ph), who managed the renovation, says the Pentagon was already perhaps the most structurally-sturdy building in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably as close to a fortress as you're going to get.

LOESCHER: As luck would have it, the hijacked jetliner crashed into a newly-renovated area. That saves lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had already incorporated a lot of safety features, such as the blast-resistant windows, which held up marvelously.

LOESCHER: As did the steel-reinforced exterior walls, which kept that part of the building from collapsing for half an hour, giving some people inside time to escape.

Now throughout the Pentagon, workers are installing even stronger blast-resistant windows, more steel reinforcement, new sprinkler systems, better escape routes and special doors.

These are called wan (ph) doors. They're actually installed to control smoke transferring to the building. LOESCHER: Outside, beefed-up security is more evident. Mobile patriot missile batteries can be seen, as can military and Pentagon police with automatic weapons. Security at entrances for military and civilian Defense Department personnel and visitors is also tighter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

A bit later at the very moment the first trade tower was hit, the president will lead the nation in a moment of silence from the South Lawn at the White House.

We're live at the Pentagon. I'm Skip Loescher -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you. Skip Loescher reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.