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Pilgrimage to Ground Zero; President Bush to Take Part in Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; NORAD and NORTHCOM's Role

Aired September 11, 2006 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour of CNN NEWSROOM with an announcement. It was heard at this time five years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI (R), NEW YORK CITY: If you're south of Canal Street, get out, walk. And walk slowly, carefully. There are plenty of police around, but just walk directly -- if you can't figure out what else to do, just walk directly north.

That will get you out of the dangerous smoke area. That will also do us a big favor. It will open up those streets, because we're going to be moving a large number of ambulances and emergency personnel in and out of there all day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: New York mayor Rudy Giuliani telling people in lower Manhattan to -- it raises the hairs on your -- on your -- doesn't it?

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It does. Exactly what I was going to say.

HARRIS: Just telling folks to get out, to evacuate. He goes on to say he has never seen anything like this horrible, horrible situation.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, today, now, a pilgrimage to Ground Zero. You see a live shot there of all the families mourning and remembering their loved ones that were lost on that day. That will be coming up here in just a moment.

I believe we have Alina Cho standing by. We want to get straight to her.

Alina, something special about this year's commemoration. Family members are actually reading the names of their loved ones. What a tough, tough thing to do, and probably so very important to them.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is, Heidi. In years past the children and parents of the victims have done the honors. This year it's the spouses, partners, and significant others who are reading the names, and that will continue, we should mention, for the next -- at least the next 90 minutes or so.

This five-year anniversary, what struck me about it was that it has been a sad reunion of sorts. These thousands of family members who have come to the site known as Ground Zero, in addition to remembering their loved ones today, are reconnecting with other family members. They are hugging. They are comforting each other on this anniversary.

The ceremony here at Ground Zero began at about 8:40 Eastern Time. There were four moments of silence you'll recall, twice to mark the time that each tower was struck, twice to mark the time that each tower fell.

Now, this year, as I mentioned, the spouses, partners, and significant others are reading the names of the victims, all of them. It is a painstaking process -- 2,749 World Trade Center victims. The readings will take approximately four hours.

Now, among the dignitaries today, here today, the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, the governors of New York and New Jersey, and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been largely out of the public eye in recent years. But who could forget, he was such a source of strength for so many New Yorkers, for the nation, for the world in the days, weeks, and months after the attacks.

We should mention, Heidi, that tonight will also see the return of the tribute in light. For people who have not seen this, it is quite a spectacular sight to see. It is those twin beams of light that will shine high above ground zero, and those lights will be turned on at 7:00 tonight -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Tribute in light at 7:00 p.m. All right.

Alina Cho, thank you so much.

HARRIS: Well, let's take you to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, now. Just moments ago, the president arriving on Air Force One in Pittsburgh for the short trip to Shanksville aboard a helicopter. There he will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony and the memorial service there. That's where United Flight 93 crashed.

That's where CNN's Bob Franken is for us this morning.

Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Crashed in the field behind me which had been an abandoned strip mine, and now it is a very silent, very, very understated memorial to the heroism of those on board United Flight 93 who were able to divert it, cause it to crash into the ground here off the beaten track, as opposed to being on its mission, as far as the hijackers were concerned, to cause even further calamity by crashing it either into the White House or the Capitol.

Ceremonies marking this have just concluded. People are streaming out now. There was a public ceremony this morning, complete with the reading of the names of those on board the plane here and the various speeches from politicians. Now they are leaving. President Bush, as you pointed out, is on his way. He is going to lay a wreath in the field beyond me, which is later going to become a permanent memorial. Then he is going to have a private meeting with the families, and I mean private, before he moves on this day, where he is marking September 11th.

Now, when the plane crashed into the ground here, among those who had witnessed it was Rick King, a member of the volunteer fire department. Well, what he had to do was immediately come and be among the first to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK KING, SHANKSVILLE VOLUNTEER FIREMAN: The trees were smoldering, defoliated. There was a crater in the ground. I remember seeing a landing gear tire that was on fire, some small fires in the woods, just small brushfires.

You know, the ground was smoking. Debris everywhere, pieces of metal, paper, insulation, wiring. And I just looked around and no people. You know? And I'm thinking, where -- where are the people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: And just moments before those people had been on board United Flight 93 causing it to become a tragedy, but not a calamitous tragedy for the United States -- Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's Bob Franken for us in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Bob, thank you.

This grade school classroom you're about to see in a moment, pretty typical of what you'd find in your own neighborhood.

COLLINS: I'm sure you remember the incident that happened and where President Bush was on this day at the time that he received word, but it's that normalcy of the classroom pictures we're seeing right now, that innocence, it was such a jarring backdrop on the morning of September 11th. Here's how the drama unfolded as seen through the eyes of the teacher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAY DANIELS, TEACHER: Read these words the fast way. Get ready.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Playing.

DANIELS: That's playing.

Get ready.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Must.

DANIELS: Yes, must. He was listening at the time. And I knew when Andy Card came over and whispered in his ear he didn't pick up his book. That was my first signal that something is wrong, because he left me. Emotionally, he left.

He was supposed to pick up his book, because we were getting ready to read the story, and it took him awhile to pick up the book because he was gone. But he came back. And I always say he came back for the children and he came back for our nation.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are great readers.

DANIELS: Yes, they are.

BUSH: Very impressive.

Thank you all so very much for showing me your reading skills.

DANIELS: It wasn't nervous, "I don't know what to do" nervous. It was, "I've got to do something and I've got to do it now. And I have to leave." And very professional, very considerate, but "I've got a mission right now, and I've got to go and accomplish it."

BUSH: We'll talk about it later.

DANIELS: When he had to leave like he left, I had to explain to them in second grade terms that President Bush had to leave because there was something terrible that had happened in America, and he had to go and attend to business. So, part of us is hurting right now, so he has to go and attend to it.

The time is etched in my memory. The day is etched in my memory. The students are etched in my memory, the president, everybody in the room, they're all etched in my memory. And I see it all the time. I see it all the time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And what a tough job she had, too, to try to be as solid and as strong and comforting to those children when she really herself didn't have any idea what was going on, saying that the president came back for those kids.

HARRIS: Time and time again, as we remember the events of 9/11, I just keep asking myself, what would you have done, what would I have done if you were in so many of those circumstances? The president there getting word of his horrible attack on the country, what to do at that moment, and so many other times, the passengers on Flight 93. What would have you done? What would I have done?

I'm just reminded of all of that as we work through the timeline of the events of five years ago.

COLLINS: Hopefully we will never, ever have to find out and live through it again. HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: That is certainly the case. But, you know, when we're getting all of that intelligence, when the president receives word like this, it's likely that NORAD is involved.

HARRIS: That's right.

COLLINS: In fact, whenever there is trouble in the skies, like the 9/11 hijackings, NORAD is watching. And we have CNN's Jonathan Freed, who is standing by there at the NORAD Command Center in Colorado Springs.

Jonathan, remind us what exactly the role is of NORAD. They're watching everything all day and all night.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've set this up perfectly, Heidi, because since September 11th there has been an evolution here. Five years ago you had NORAD, which is the acronym that everybody is familiar with, watching the skies, watching air and space. But in the world after September 11th, it became clear that things needed to diversify, and the command NORTHCOM was instituted a couple of years ago.

And we're going to talk now to the deputy commander of NORTHCOM, Lieutenant General Joe Inge.

Thanks for joining us.

DEP. CMDR. LT. GEN. JOE INGE, NORTHCOM: Welcome.

FREED: So, NORTHCOM is not the acronym that people are as familiar with. Let's tell everybody exactly what its responsibilities are. It compliments NORAD.

INGE: As you just said, after 9/11, the nation's leadership decided that they needed a military command that would monitor the well-being of the nation. And we were stood up out of that and monitor, as you can see on our screens here, not only the air piece, which is primarily a NORAD mission, as you correctly said, but we look daily at the sea piece and the land piece.

In fact, you can see from our charts we're tracking the hurricanes, new tropical depression this morning. Fortunately, it looks like it will stay off the coast. And you see some displays there while we're working wildfires.

We've just had an infantry battalion return home from fighting wildfires in the Northwest. And even this morning we have five C-130 fire retardant aircraft up there that are working -- working fires.

FREED: So the integration of NORAD and NORTHCOM really speaks to a rethinking of the way the military needs to respond to the post-9/11 threat.

INGE: Absolutely. And even a step further than that. If you look at this plaque right here, you see it says "Interagency." It's important that we partner every day with other pieces of our government so that we are all of one voice, we're all of one piece, and we're positioned to support each other. And particularly, we, the military, most often support other government organizations as we work in the homeland.

FREED: And General, I want to ask you about something that I know is near and dear to you and to the people in your command. You want to say something about the importance of remembering.

INGE: I had -- I had friends killed when the plane hit the -- hit the Pentagon. I believe it is incredibly important that we, not only the military, but the American people, remember that day and remember that there are still threats to our nation. It is important that we be mindful, that we remember, but that we look ahead.

FREED: And General Joe Inge, deputy director of NORTHCOM, thank you very much. And thank you for allowing us exclusive access. We're the first network to actually go live from this new command center. We thank you for that.

INGE: It's our privilege to have you here.

FREED: All right.

And Heidi and Tony, back to you.

HARRIS: Jonathan, thank you.

Still to come, the 9/11 anniversary, and al Qaeda wants to have its say. The latest tape from Osama bin Laden's right-hand man. We'll tell you what's on it just ahead. It won't surprise you.

We'll be right back.

COLLINS: We'll also talk about where the U.S. stands in the war on terror with someone who has recently come back from Afghanistan, has been embedded with the troops, and has spoken with some of the military leaders.

His special perspective coming up on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

HARRIS: ... the sixth killed, a 12-year-old boy. Five police officers also killed in that attack, and this comes amid just this uptick in violence, particularly in the south of Afghanistan.

COLLINS: That's right. We've been watching and hearing more and more about it every day. We, of course, have some of our correspondents there.

Anderson Cooper is reporting from there. We'll be talking with Peter Bergen, also from Kabul -- you see that area highlighted on your screen now -- in just a few minutes about exactly what's happening. But, yes, 47 bombings already this year. Just on Friday another 14 Afghans killed.

HARRIS: That's right.

COLLINS: Two U.S. soldiers killed. It seems to go on and on.

HARRIS: So we'll continue to follow the developments there, and we'll get to Peter Bergen later this hour.

Right now we want to take you back to Washington and Capitol Hill.

Dana Bash was there as we remember 9/11 five years ago. She vividly remembers the scene in Washington, particularly after the attack on the Pentagon. And she joins us now.

Dana, describe those moments. Describe this unknown, the unknown of the question, is the Capitol next?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that was really the thing that was most frightening, of course, Tony, was the unknown, because, as you said, the Pentagon had been hit, and you could actually see the smoke billowing from the Pentagon just across the river. Those who were actually in the building, they could see that.

So there were a lot of reports. Those who were actually getting information, whose cell phones were working, reports of planes in the air, lots of planes in the air, because there were -- there were rumors and -- of all sorts going on that morning.

There was even a report, remember, of a car bomb down the street at the State Department. So, the big question was, if there is terrorism and if they are going after symbols of the United States, symbols of the United States government, could the Capitol be next?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: So I immediately left the building, went to the front of the Capitol and saw senators streaming out down the steps of the Capitol, staffers as well. My first thought was, "We need to get this information back and we need to get this on the air." So I called in and said that they were evacuating the Capitol.

Amazingly, a camera crew arrived. We were able to plug in to get a live picture of the Capitol up, but only for a second before the police started screaming at the top of their lungs, "Everybody run for your life! Run for your life! There's a plane that is heading for the Capitol! Run as fast as you can!"

And what was already a fearful situation turned into outright panic. To see a uniformed officer and to hear a uniformed officer say, "Run for your life!" and to see the fear in their eyes was something that I'll never forget. And there were shoes strewn all over the lawn outside the Capitol because people were running so fast they actually lost their shoes. And one of the things I remember was just immediately noticing that there was no plan.

There were senators wandering around. No idea where to go. Senator Robert Byrd, who at the time was third in line for the presidency, was 82 years old, wandering around with no staff.

There was no indication of where he should be at all, and it really took hours for them to come up with a -- with a scenario for the Senate leaders, the House leaders to be in a place where they were actually really secure. Certainly, that has changed by now, but it was really remarkable that there was just no plan at all for what some of the most powerful and most important members of our government should do in a situation like that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, what ended up happening throughout the day is that people started to gather just a few blocks away at the Capitol Police station. That is where members of Congress went. That's where members of the press went.

Eventually, about midafternoon, members of the leadership were taken to a secure location, and it was -- it wasn't until late in the day, Tony, probably around dusk, 5:30 or 6:00, that they all decided that what was most important was to show, from their point of view, to show the terrorists that the government can't be stopped in its tracks. So they all came back to the Capitol, and there was a moment of unity.

And I'm sure everybody remembers the scene of congressmen, of senators standing on the steps behind me, again, just to show unity. But there was an impromptu your rendition of "God Bless America," and that was a moment that I know myself and others around probably will never forget, and it's something that they're going to recreate, Tony, tonight at about 6:00.

There's a lot of partisanship right now, of course, going on two months before the election. Both sides talking about 9/11, trying to use the issue of terrorism to their political advantage, but at least momentarily that's going to stop for a short while they recreate that image and say "God Bless America" at about 6:00 tonight again on the steps of the Capitol.

HARRIS: Yes, it's going to be nice to get back to a few of those moments where everybody can stand side by side.

BASH: It will be brief.

HARRIS: Yes.

Hey, Dana, I have to ask you, what was going on just a few moments ago? We heard sirens behind you. We heard -- I don't know what was going on. Can you give us a clue? Is it just another event going on in Washington or...

BASH: Yes, there was no -- there was -- to be honest with you, I'm not sure the answer to your question...

HARRIS: OK.

BASH: ... because I don't think it was near here, and there was -- nobody even flinched here. I think it was just a typical...

HARRIS: Well, you guys are pretty...

BASH: ... a typical fire call, which you're right, on days like today, you hear that. I noticed that...

HARRIS: Exactly.

BASH: ... and I sort of -- it sent a shiver down my spine, but it -- but it was nothing.

HARRIS: OK. All right.

Dana Bash for us at the Capitol.

Dana, appreciate it. Thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

COLLINS: As we continue to follow our timeline, just a few moments ago, at 11:18 in specific, American Airlines did announce the loss of two aircraft: Flight 11, which we later found out hit the World Trade Center, and Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon, which is, of course, what Dana was just talking about. Then other flights across the country were grounded. Airline passengers stranded.

HARRIS: Just another reminder. I'm not sure to what extent you want to relive all of the moments, moment by moment, of the attacks on 9/11, but all day today Pipeline is offering this to you, playing CNN's original coverage of the September 11th's attacks, uncut, unedited, as it happened live on CNN television five years ago.

Just log on to CNN.com and click on "Pipeline."

COLLINS: You know, some of the reasons why you may want to do that are just helping to you remember what else was going on and how trivial some of the things were. We have on Pipeline some things that were happening with Michael Jordan, whether or not he was coming back.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: It was Fashion week happening in New York.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: Maternity clothes, what the new -- I mean, I was watching some of it, and it's amazing to see what else was happening and how it all just completely disappeared. HARRIS: What the world was like September 10th, and where we have been since.

COLLINS: And then the 12th.

Stay with CNN all throughout the day and into the night. We are going to continue to follow this story.

Primetime coverage begins at 8:00. Paula Zahn is live from Ground Zero with crucial questions that still linger all those years later.

9:00 Eastern, Wolf Blitzer is going to lead CNN's coverage of the president's primetime address from the Oval Office.

And then that will be followed by "LARRY KING LIVE," also from Ground Zero.

At 10:00 Eastern, Anderson Cooper live from Afghanistan. Lots of activity over there. He will have a firsthand look at what's really happening in the war on terror since 9/11.

HARRIS: Memorials at the Pentagon. Plus, vivid memories of the way it was. A live picture now of the Pentagon.

Our correspondent Jamie McIntyre looks back as the hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon where he was working. What was he doing that morning?

That's ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are looking live now at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. You will remember Flight 93 crashed into a field there.

President Bush arrived moments ago in Pittsburgh on Air Force One. He is headed to this scene with all of those beautiful flags flying and the people gathering to remember their loved ones on Flight 93. The president will be laying a wreath in about 15 minutes or so from now to remember that moment in particular.

Meanwhile, we want to go live to CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, where 184 people lost their lives there that day.

And Jamie, you were there. You have some incredible memories yourself of what happened that very day.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was, of course, an amazing day. And right now we're in the parking lot of the gas station across the street from the Pentagon. This is where pretty much everybody ended up and where I ended my day on that September 11th five years ago.

But the day started in my Pentagon office, the CNN Pentagon office, which is actually on the other side of the building on the outer ring, or the E ring.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: It was just after 9:30, and my CNN office was filled with people watching what was happening in New York. Not everybody at the Pentagon has a TV on their desk.

I suddenly began getting computer messages from colleagues at CNN. "Are you OK? Is everything all right?" I thought, why are they asking me that? Then I looked up at CNN, and I saw that my producer, Chris Plant (ph), who had just arrived at work, was reporting by his cell phone that an aircraft had hit the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A huge plume of smoke which continues to rise from the west side of the Pentagon.

MCINTYRE: I never heard or felt the impact. The building is that big.

I rushed out and back to get my first report on the air around 10:00, and I kept trying to call home, but the line was tied up with concerned friends who were calling my wife. Finally, she called me just as I was about to go on the air. "I'm OK," I said, just as Aaron Brown was introducing me.

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jamie McIntyre is there.

MCINTYRE: And I no sooner got started when he interrupted me.

And some people were...

BROWN: Jamie -- Jamie, I need to you stop for a second.

There has just been a huge explosion. We can see a billowing smoke rising, and I can't -- I'll tell you that I can't see that second tower.

MCINTYRE: And the bad day had just gotten much worse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Heidi, at that point I realized it was going to be a little while before I got back on CNN, so I decided it was time to leave the office. As I said, walked around the building, inspected the damage, took photographs, and spent the rest of the day here in this parking lot watching the activity across the road, watching the burning building. And talking to my producer, Chris (ph), who we both agreed that our lives would never be the same again after -- after the events of that day. And that certainly turned out to be the case -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, no doubt about that, Jamie.

Tell me this, if something, God forbid, should happen again like this, what do you see that has changed as far as the organization of getting out, the protection for you or for the other people inside the Pentagon? Would you feel differently today?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, you never know what's going to happen in this kind of event. It's pretty much unpredictable. But, boy, they've made a tremendous amount of changes. First of all, the Pentagon is undergoing renovation, so they're already doing things like strengthening the windows, but there are emergency exits that are marked everywhere with strips that guide you in the dark, glow in the dark strips that would guide you out of the building if you couldn't fiend your way. There are masks that are available for every person in the building in the event of a chemical or biological attack.

The warning system, the alert systems, are much more fine-tuned. Of course, the security is much greater, too. An entire road was moved after 9/11 to make sure that traffic couldn't get close enough to the building for a car bomb or something to go off and cause damage, so there's been a tremendous increase of security at the building, and, you know, we always felt safe at the Pentagon, and you feel pretty safe now, but, you know, as September 11th showed, even when you are in a fortress-like building where you think nothing can happen to you, something can happen.

COLLINS: Boy, you said it too. You think the Pentagon, you know, an arsenal. All right. Thanks so much for that, Jamie McIntyre, for that.

HARRIS: You know, when something bad happens, humans instinctively look to blame someone. A new poll from CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation asks, who you fault for 9/11. We polled about 1,000 adults. Turns out your blame is almost evenly split between the Bush and Clinton White Houses; 45 percent put a great deal or moderate amount of blame on the Bush administration, as can you see. That's up sharply from 2002. Nineteen percent blame the Clinton team a great deal, 22 percent a moderate amount. About a third say neither is at fault.

COLLINS: Taking advantage of the moment. Terror experts say it is no surprise al Qaeda has released a video timed to the 9/11 anniversary. The statement from the terror group's No. 2 man does not focus on the 2001 attacks, but Ayman Al-Zawahiri does speak about what he calls "new events."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA'S SECOND-IN-COMMAND (through translator): Your leaders are hiding from you the scale of the disaster that will shock you. You gave us every opportunity and every legitimacy to continue fighting you. We warned you repeatedly, and we offered you a truce. You ignored our calls and gave us every legitimate reason to fight you until you give in or surrender. We tell you not to concern yourselves with the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are doomed. You should worry about your presence in the Gulf, and the second place they should worry about is in Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Osama bin Laden five years after 9/11, he is still the most-wanted man in the world. His top deputy also at large, but others in al Qaeda have been captured or killed over the years. That led us to ask this -- where do things stand in the war on terror exactly?

Joining us to address just that, CNN's terrorism expert. Peter Bergen. He is in Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. We don't want to say too much more than that, Peter.

But let's get straight to this. We have had at least three that I can recall suicide attacks. We had one that we just announced here moments ago on CNN, another that happened on Sunday, and another Friday prior to that. We have seen sort of a strength and more attacks happening. Where do they stand?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Heidi, certainly standing here really on the frontline of the war on terror not far from the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan, earlier today this base where I'm standing was rocketed six times. Those rockets were somewhat ineffectual, but the soldiers fighting here are fighting the Taliban, they're fighting al Qaeda, Arabs, Chechens. They're fighting some criminal elements profiting from the drug trade, and certainly in Afghanistan the situation is deteriorating by any measure. IEDs have doubled in the last year. I was in Kabul last week when both the suicide attacks happened. One killed four Afghans and a British soldier. Another killed two American soldiers and something like 16 Afghans. That last one on Friday right off by the U.S. embassy exploded a massive car bomb. That is probably something like at least 45 suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, doubling the number from last year.

By the end of this year, I think we'll have, if present trends continue, you know, something like 70 or 80 suicide attacks in a country where suicide attacks were unknown pre-9/11 -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Peter, I want to bring something up here. You wrote an article for "The Washington Post" that came out yesterday. And here's what you wrote. I want to get your comment on this. You wrote, "Indeed the U.S. military and NATO are battling the Taliban on a scale not witnessed since 2001," when the war here began, of course, "and are increasingly fighting them in remote areas". You go on to say, "When I travelled in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, the Taliban threat had receded into little more than a nuisance, but now the movement has regrouped and rearmed." Why and how, Peter?

BERGEN: Well, I think there are several factors. One is the drug trade from which they're profiting. You know, 50 percent of this economy is the drug trade. That's a lot of money, billions of dollars. The Taliban is profiting from that. Also, contributions from the Middle East, according to U.S. military sources. Another factor is a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the Karzai government, reconstruction not being quite as successful as it perhaps should have been, in the view of many analysts. Also the fact that they have refuge in Pakistan. Where I'm standing, Heidi, is not far from the Pakistan border. That's where many of the attacks at this base come from. Most of the rocket attacks come from the Pakistani side.

And so the fact that a Taliban senior leadership is in Pakistan, according to intelligence sources we've talked to, including Mullah Omar, the leader of the -- the one-eyed cleric who leads the Taliban, is believed to be in a Qudar (ph), a major city in southwestern Pakistan. So all those factors together have produced this resurgence.

But I want to caution, this is not a strategic threat to the Karzai government. It's not a strategic threat to U.S. forces and NATO forces here. It's a major tactical problem. We've seen rising casualties, both U.S. casualties and NATO allies, particularly in the south. The fight is pretty intense. NATO commanders themselves saying that they're surprised about the intensity of the fight they're seeing in the south. U.S. military commanders I've spoken to in the last few weeks, who've served in Iraq, saying there's a difference here in Afghanistan. The Taliban are much more prepared to actually fight directly, and sort of in mass formations of up to 150 Taliban fighters. Now that's a very costly strategy for the Taliban; when they face a U.S. military in those size they take very significant casualties.

But this is resurgent, no doubt. According to U.S. military, 7,000, 10,000 Taliban fighters out there in the field right now.

COLLINS: Wow.

Quickly, Peter, before we let you go here, obviously, on the fifth anniversary of September 11th, important to note and remember Osama bin Laden still on the run, still don't know where he is, but there have been some successes to point out. Mohammed Atta was killed. He was one of the pilots in one of the planes. Abu Musab al- Zarqawi killed. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, we've heard the president talk about him and the information that they're getting from him down in Guantanamo.

What is next? What needs to happen to bring down this threat of the Taliban?

BERGEN: Well, I mean, certainly in terms of the Taliban, you know, finding their top leadership and arresting or capturing them. Certainly the same thing with Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, they're still out there very likely in the northern part of Pakistan up here, up on the Afghan-Pakistan border. You know, arresting those people, capturing those people, or killing those people remains a very, very important task, and, unfortunately, five years after 9/11, that has yet to happen, Heidi.

COLLINS: Peter Bergen coming to us from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Thank you so much, Peter.

HARRIS: And coming up, the winds of Hurricane Florence. We have a live report as the hurricane eyes Bermuda. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: 9/11, the world remembers. Our continuing coverage as we reflect, as we remember the events of five years ago. You're taking a look now at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 went down. A memorial there, a permanent memorial, to the courage of the passengers on board that plane. Let's roll, let's roll.

COLLINS: That's right, (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: And the president, due any moment now.

COLLINS: That's right. In just a few minutes, he's actually already arrived at the airport, probably en route by helicopter right now to this very area in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We will following the pictures as they come in, when the president goes to lay a wreath for the family members and those lost in Flight 93.

HARRIS: Five years ago today, the screams and sirens and disbelief filled the air of lower Manhattan. Today, silence.

President Bush, shoulder-to-shoulder with New York firefighters and police officers, heads bowed. They stood next to a door salvaged from a fire truck that was destroyed that morning.

Another solemn remembrance today at the World Trade Center site. Families clutched photos, fought back tears. The ceremony marked the moment the terrorists first struck.

COLLINS: Five years have passed, and some wounds have healed. Other damage, though, may not be fully known. Among the concerns, the air quality after the collapse of the towers. An internal memo from a New York City health official suggests lower Manhattan was reopened to residents too soon. According to the papers, the air may have contained hazardous substances like asbestos. Last week a medical study reported 70 percent of rescue workers at Ground Zero have developed serious respiratory illnesses. The report blames exposure to toxic dust.

HARRIS: About an hour ago, we saw Karl Penhaul being tossed about a little bit. We are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Florence.

COLLINS: And you can see all the movement there on your screen. Wow, it is certainly swirling and whirling in Bermuda. It's been doing so for the past couple of hours, in fact. A gust from the storm was measured at 111 miles an hour now. Last time we spoke about this, it was 90-something. So certainly increasing its strength. Forecasters expect that storm to continue its turn and to miss the U.S. coast, but not Bermuda.

HARRIS: Let's get you back now to CNN's Karl Penhaul. He's is in Southampton, Bermuda, where the worst of Florence is now being unleashed. Karl, give us an update, .

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, the hurricane is off the west coast of Bermuda as we speak now, and those winds have really picked up. It's difficult to know right now what we're getting hit with, whether it's rain or sea spray. I think it's actually a mix of the two. Because very, very heavy surf is being driven into the cliffs just about 20 yards away, smashing into the rock there. Some of the waves are coming over the tops of the cliffs, and the air is just getting mixed up with the sea surf and the rain.

So far, though, the police have said that there has been no damage or injuries to people. They say there's been no significant damage to structures, either. But they say one or two roofs have begun to peel off. Some trees are down, and one or two of the roads are blocked. But nothing particularly major. They say that Bermuda is faring much, much better than expected at this stage -- Tony.

HARRIS: Karl Penhaul, Southampton, Bermuda for us, tracking Florence. Karl, we appreciate it, thank you.

COLLINS: We will continue to watch that situation. Of course, we are your hurricane headquarters. But we want to go back to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for the Flight 93 memorial. You see people gathered there. We are awaiting the arrival of the president to that scene. We know is he already in the state, on the way over to Shanksville. We will bring it to you just as he arrives with a wreath-laying ceremony.

You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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COLLINS: Another quick shot here. As you can see, the people have all gathered among the flowers and the remembrances of those lost on Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Awaiting the president come out. We are hearing that he is there, waiting for some other family members who have not quite arrived. Doesn't want to start without them.

So we will bring that to you. He plans to lay a wreath in their memory. And we'll show you that when it happens.

HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is coming up at the top of the hour on CNN. Jim Clancy is standing by with a preview for us.

Hi Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.

Well, we're going to give you more of an international perspective as the world looks back five years later on September the 11th. We're going to have live reports from Baghdad, from Afghanistan. Also, we'll see how the rest of the world marked this day.

Plus, a former correspondent for the "Irish Times" talks with us about how international sentiment toward the United States has changed. And a closer look, you heard much about the clash of civilizations, the West against Islam. We're going to talk to an expert that says the clash is really inside Islam for its very soul.

Provoking ideas with an international perspective. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" coming up.

HARRIS: Jim, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: The New York Stock Exchange is just blocks away from Ground Zero, as you know. Such a financial impact from the attacks.

HARRIS: Yes, that's right.

Susan Lisovicz is there now with a closer look at how the attacks on September 11th affected the NYSE and the traders working there.

Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi and Tony.

Everybody was changed after that fateful day. One of them is Jimmy White, who has been a trader here at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for 30 years.

Never witnessed a day like this one. Five years ago at this time, Jimmy, you were fleeing for your life. The second plane had hit. You felt the building shake. There was a mass exodus out of this building.

JIMMY WHITE, BLUEPOINT SECURITIES: Pretty much a mass exodus. We tried to stay thinking that the first incident was a pilot in a small plane that had a heart attack. No one was quite sure yet what really happened. And everybody watching the monitors when that second plane hit and the building shook just about told everybody it was time to go. Get to your families.

LISOVICZ: One thing that I hear nonstop, Jimmy, is that how orderly and calm it was. It was almost as if the magnitude of the event had not really hit everyone. People couldn't really accept, even though they were seeing it with their own eyes, and you did see some terrible things.

WHITE: Absolutely. No one realized that it was a terrorist attack in the beginning. I mean, you see one plane hit the Trade Center, and people were actually saying, boy, the pilot must have had a heart attack, or the plane lost control. We couldn't figure it out. But when that second plane hit, the whole world changed.

LISOVICZ: And you were among the people who crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was just quiet, right, deadly quiet?

WHITE: It was kind of surreal like watching -- like watching a Rambo movie. You couldn't believe what you were seeing. As we were walking up the ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge, where the circle goes, is when the first building fell, and just thinking how many people just died at that moment was something that will never -- I'll never forget.

LISOVICZ: You were among the many, many people, though, who came back to work. WHITE: Absolutely. The 17th of September was very important day for all of us down here to show the world that we weren't going to be intimidated, we weren't going to lay back and live in fear. Coming back was the most important thing we could do.

LISOVICZ: Jimmy White, it's good to see you down on the floor still five years later. And that is the latest from here.

CNN NEWSROOM will continue in just a moment. You are watching the most trusted name in news. CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: All day today, "PIPELINE" is playing CNN's original coverage of the September 11 attacks uncut, unedited as it happened live on CNN Television five years ago. You can log on to CNN.com and click on "Pipeline" for that.

Five years after 9/11, though, a lot has changed. The country has been through so very much, but the American spirit persists, and life does go on.

HARRIS: That's right.

As we mark this solemn anniversary and look at some of the ways, well, we're moving forward. With 10,000 babies born each day in the United States, that's more than 18 million new bundles of joy since the attacks,

Americans have more money to spend these days. The average person's disposable income is up more than 9 percent in the last five years.

COLLINS: And New York, as you are looking at the screen there, the World Trade Center area, it's a safer and bigger city. Crime nearly 22 percent lower in the Big Apple than it was in 2001. Building permits way up, nearly 30 percent since the 9/11 attacks. So on this fifth anniversary of the national tragedy, we Americans look back and look ahead.

HARRIS: And once again, we're waiting to see the president. The president is in Pennsylvania. We expect him shortly in Shanksville. We understand he is probably on the ground there meeting with some family members of the victims.

We'll take a break. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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