Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
9/11: The World Remembers; United Airlines Flight Diverted
Aired September 11, 2006 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's now 9:00 Eastern. President Bush walks into Emma Booker Elementary school in Sarasota, Florida. He's there to launch a new national reading campaign by visiting with Sandra Kay Daniels' second grade class.
At this time, the Pentagon reacts to the attack on the World Trade Center by raising its own alert level to Threatcon Alpha. That's just one level above normal and still three levels below the highest alert, Threatcon Delta. Alpha indicates a terrorist threat exists but it is still unpredictable. Delta means an attack has already taken place.
One of the top executives from American Airlines learns they have lost communication with Flight 77. Flight 77 is the plane that will hit the Pentagon. The loss of communications, coupled with the crash of Flight 11 in New York, pushes American Airlines to ground all flights in the Northeast.
The ground stop for departures is soon followed by United Airlines. While United and American ground their outgoing flights, there are still more than 4,000 planes in the air over the United States.
Now, at 9:01 Eastern, President Bush, still at Emma Booker Elementary, takes a call from then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. It's then he's told American Airlines Flight 11 has hit the north tower of the World Trade Center.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And welcome back to our continuing coverage of the fifth anniversary of 9/11. I'm Anderson Cooper.
I'm coming to you this morning from a forward operating base run by the U.S. military by the 10th Mountain division, very close to the Pakistan border. I can't give you the exact location for the safety of the soldiers on this base.
They were about to have a ceremony commemorating the fifth anniversary of 9/11. All the soldiers had gathered here at the -- just about 10:00 or -- well, actually, about 20 minutes ago now. As soon as the ceremony was about to begin, we were actually live on air. There was an incoming round very close to this base. It is a common occurrence here.
While there has been much debate about the war in Iraq and whether that is the central front of the war on terror, there is no debate, this is the front line on the war on terror. The soldiers here every day are going out on patrols and they are encountering -- they are encountering an enemy. They are seeing al Qaeda fighters, they are seeing Uzbeks and Chechens and Arab fighters. They are hearing them, they are seeing them, they are killing them.
They are also seeing Taliban, a resurgence of the Taliban, increasingly using al Qaeda-style tactics of suicide attacks, vehicle- borne suicide attacks and IEDs. They took -- they have taken, so far, five incoming rounds over the last 30 minutes or so. They have been returning fire with this Howitzer, as well as with some mortars.
We'll have more from this forward operating base tonight on "360."
Let's go back to Soledad in New York -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Anderson. Thanks.
Let's continue to follow the 9/11 timeline now.
It's 9:05 a.m. It's that moment that President Bush is informed that the second tower has been hit.
He is reading to a group of elementary school students in Sarasota, Florida, and the White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, walks up to him and whispers in his ear, "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."
You can see on the videotape of that moment the president's face becomes more grim as he watches the children in Kay Daniels' second grade class.
CNN's John Zarrella is at the Emma E. Booker Elementary school in Sarasota this morning.
Hey, John. Good morning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And right now the students here are gathered in the cafeteria for an assembly, a memorial assembly. They are going to hear a taped message from the president. It lasts about a minute and a half, two minutes, and it will be primarily focused on education, which is what he was here to deliver a speech on five years ago.
Of course, that did not happen. He was in Kay Daniels' class, as you mentioned, when he got the word.
We had an opportunity to talk with Kay Daniels extensively about her recollections of what happened at that moment.
(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)
ZARRELLA: Now, the students that were in that classroom are in middle school now, but many of them have returned here this morning to be a part of this program. And Kay Daniels told me that she's written to the president on a couple of occasions in the last five years and has received correspondence back from the president. But she would not say what was in those correspondence -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: John Zarrella in Sarasota, Florida, this morning. Thanks, John -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's now just about 9:08 in the morning, and five years ago the FAA was still unable to find American Flight 77. At first controllers thought it had crashed because the transponder had turned off, making it all but invisible to radar. But as word of the other hijackings reached those controllers in a different sector, Indianapolis Center, they began looking for the plane, but they looked to the West. That plane actually turned around and headed to the east. We know that now.
They also were looking for a possible crash site because they believed it might have crashed already. But it remained missing until it appeared over Washington, ultimately diving into the Pentagon.
Still to come, the man who first informed President Bush that the second twin tower had been attacked. Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card will join us right after a break.
But first, here's Rosemary Dillard. Her husband died on board American Airlines Flight 77. It's the last time she ever saw him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEMARY DILLARD, HUSBAND DIED ON AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 77: We were rushing, because I think the flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15, I think. So we were really having to rush.
He was in a really good mood. We were laughing all the way to the airport. He was just up.
And we get to the airport, he gets out and I hugged -- and we hugged and we kissed. And I tell him, "Remember, you said you'd be back by Thursday."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian is at Logan Airport this morning, five years to the day from which two airplanes left and made their way toward the World Trade Center, plowing into the two towers. They would have done that already this time five years ago.
He joins us live there now -- Dan.
Dan, can you hear me?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, we are going live using broadband technology. Since 9/11 restrictions, it was the only way we could go live inside Terminal B. This is where Flight 11 -- American Airlines Flight 11 took off from.
Now, the 9/11 attacks stunned not only the nation, but the world. Imagine the shock for the ticket agent who said he had an up-close encounter with Mohamed Atta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice over): Michael Tuohey, now a retired US Air ticket agent, can't forget the feeling when he heard about the second plane attack. It was around 9:05 a.m.
MICHAEL TUOHEY, TICKET AGENT: I was right. This guy was a terrorist. My mind shot immediately back to that look in his face and the feeling of contempt and anger.
LOTHIAN: It was 9/11 mastermind Mohamed Atta. Tuohey had checked Atta and terrorist Abdul Aziz al Omari on to a connecting flight from Portland, Maine, to Boston. The agent was suspicious at the time, but it was only a gut feeling. They would help to hijack the American Airlines flight, haunting Tuohey for years.
TUOHEY: I'm saying, "Mike, you looked this devil right in the eye." I mean, "He was straight -- standing in front of you. You didn't recognize him. You did, but you didn't."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Tuohey says he struggled with those thoughts for years, but he no longer blames himself because he realizes there's nothing more he could have done -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian in Logan Airport.
Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Just after 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time five years ago, White House chief of staff Andrew card informed President Bush that the second tower had been attacked in New York. The president was visiting a second grade classroom in Sarasota, Florida.
President Bush's former chief of staff, Andy Card, joins us this morning. He's at the White House.
It's nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.
ANDREW CARD, FMR. WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: You whispered into the president's ear, "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."
What was going through your mind as you passed that word along to the president?
CARD: Well, I didn't have a lot of time to think about the words before I spoke them. I stood outside the door to the classroom and learned that it had not been in fact a small engine prop plane that crashed into the World Trade Center tower, but it was a commercial jetliner and that, "Oh, my gosh, another jetliner just crashed into the other tower." My first reaction was to the horror that must have been felt by the passengers on those planes. And then I thought about the responsibilities that the president would have and wondered how I should tell the president what had happened.
There was a nanosecond of thought, but I decided I would pass on two facts and then make one editorial comment. And I would not be in a position to have the president ask me a question or have a discussion with me about it.
So I opened the door to the classroom and I looked over and I saw the press pool. There was still a conversation going on in the classroom. Then the conversation broke.
I walked up to the president and bent over and whispered into his right ear that a second plane had hit the second tower. "America was under attack." Two facts, one editorial comment.
I then stepped back from the president so that he couldn't ask me a question or enter into a debate, and I thought the president reacted with entire cool, calm and collectiveness, and he did not introduce any fear to those students, nor to the world that would be watching him through the lenses of the press corps. And when he emerged from that room, I watched as he met the responsibilities of his oath of office, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and to be the commander in chief.
S. O'BRIEN: It really was an amazing moment to watch that videotape and to see everybody's face who now knows fall. And you could see the jaws get tight as they sort of go about the next step.
The president stayed on with the students. Why not make up some excuse for the second graders and yank him out? He got -- as you well know, he got a lot of criticism for staying on to read with the students. Why do that?
CARD: Well, I think the president did the right thing at the right time. I don't know that he could have done anything else during that brief period of time but to make sure that there was no disruption to the classroom, no disruption to those students, and no fear expressed either to the students, nor to the world.
And I thought it was appropriate that he collected his thoughts, while we in the other room were working very diligently to learn as many facts as possible. And when the president came into that holding room that was outside of the classroom, he was very much the commander in chief and ready to meet the awesome responsibilities that he had.
S. O'BRIEN: 9:30 a.m., the president addresses the nation and talks about what he knows. And then just minutes later, Flight 77 slams into the Pentagon. What was going through your mind at that time?
CARD: Well, I knew that we were under -- truly under attack and that we were at war. I expected that the enemy was a terrorist enemy and probably UBL. We didn't know what other attacks might be looming, and we heard about other planes and there was a lot of fog of war. I was focused on getting the president to a safe place, i.e., Air Force One, where he had excellent communication and could be in touch with the White House, the Situation Room, the Pentagon and the people that he had to talk to meet his responsibilities.
He also had to reach out to world leaders. And we tend to forget that. He had to make sure that world leaders did not react in the wrong way to an attack on the United States and presume that we were ready to attack the rest of the world.
We were not. We were, in fact, looking to protect Americans and to preserve that constitutional government that the president headed.
S. O'BRIEN: Andrew Card, former White House chief of staff, thanks for talking with us. Appreciate it.
CARD: Thank you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: AMERICAN MORNING'S coverage of the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks continues in just a moment.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: It's now just about 9:17. Actually, it's a little bit past that. Let's go back a few minutes five years ago this moment.
Both towers of the World Trade Center had been hit by hijacked planes at this point. It's at this moment that the FAA orders all New York area airports shut down. Eight minutes from this moment, the FAA command center in Herndon, Virginia, would issue a nationwide ground stop.
At about 9:18 a.m., just a few minutes ago, five years ago on Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange is in the process of being evacuated. The stock exchange normally begins trading at 9:30, but the attacks on the World Trade Center have, to say the least, thrown the financial district into disarray.
Andy Serwer joining us on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with more -- Andy.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Miles.
Only about 10 minutes to go until trading begins here. An emotional day. And you're right, at this point five years ago it was very clear that something was very, very wrong, although it was unclear the extent of the damage.
Employees from the NYSE -- there are 5,000 people working here -- began to evacuate at this point, although not all of them did. At 9:30 trading did not open as usual. Trading was delayed. At 9:58, trading was -- it was decided there would be no trading on that day. And, in fact, the exchange was locked down.
All the people who had not left at that point were required to stay in the building because conditions outside were unsafe, and it was unclear if there would be additional terrorist attacks. This lockdown continued until about 1:00 or 1:30 in the afternoon, at which point Mayor Giuliani and Dick Grasso, the head of the exchange at that point, believed that it was safe for people to leave and they did so.
The exchange then was closed the rest of the week for four days, the longest it had been closed since the depression. It did not reopen until the 17th, Monday, the following week, at which point it was the largest decline, 684 points, the largest one day decline in the history of the exchange.
So, a lot happened here. Anxious to get the trading day under way here. And it looks like business as usual, though if you talk to people you can see that it is -- it is a special day here.
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Are people at all jittery about the market today? Is it just a somber day?
SERWER: You know, I don't think they're jittery. I think they're people who are somber. I think they are well aware at 9:29 we are going to have a moment of silence. That will bre bring everyone together. And I think that will be a very, very emotional moment that will remind every one of the gravity of this day.
M. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer on the floor of the exchange.
Thank you -- Soledad.
SERWER: Thanks, Miles.
S. O'BRIEN: It's coming up to 9:25 a.m., and on this day, at this moment, five years ago, American Airlines Flight 77 still lost. Its transponder, which is what allows radar to see it more clearly, had been turned off by the hijackers. The FAA tells controllers in the Washington area to begin searching their scopes for so-called primary radar targets.
In a few minutes, 9:32, controllers at Dulles airport will spot a primary target headed eastbound at a high rate of speed. And at this moment, five years ago, United Flight 93, still being flown by the pilots, Jason Dahl and Leroy Homer, about this time, they got a message from the airline. It's warning them of a possible cockpit intrusion.
As they are processing that, the takeover begins. Likely, they say, at 9:28 a.m., Flight 93 is over eastern Ohio at the time.
Today, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, which is where Flight 93 ended, they're remembering those brave passengers who fought back against the hijackers. It's also where AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is live. Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And when Deena Burnett in San Ramon, California, got a call from her husband, Tom, it is believed that that was the first cell phone call that was put out, the first call from United Flight 93.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEENA BURNETT, HUSBAND WAS ON FLIGHT 93: When he called, I was very excited to hear from him. And I just said, "Tom, you're OK?" And he said, "No, I'm not."
He told me his flight number. He said that the airplane had been hijacked, that they were trying to get into the cockpit. He said they've already knifed a guy and he asked me to call the authorities. Then he hung up the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And as we know, that flight -- that flight we know landed in the field here in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, instead of landing in New York and a much worse tragedy -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Thanks, Bob -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: We are just getting word -- we have exclusive access to NORAD's command center this morning at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. And as we pause to remember what happened five years ago, our correspondent there, Jonathan Freed, is here to tell us that they are actually tracking an aircraft with some suspicious activity associated with it.
Jonathan, what can you tell us?
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles.
We were here with the exclusive access here into the NORAD/NORTHCOM command center. We heard this information come over a hard line from the FAA at the same time the people here in the command center did.
What I can tell you is that a United Airlines flight -- I know that it's an Airbus 319 which was going from Atlanta to San Francisco is now diverting to Dallas. Now, the reason for this is twofold.
Before the aircraft left, Miles, they found a piece of baggage that's been described to me as a backpack in the baggage hold that did not correspond to any passenger on the manifest for that aircraft. In and of itself, not necessarily a big deal. That piece of baggage was removed. In flight, however, a flight attendant found a BlackBerry device that does not belong to anybody on board. That in and of itself, they're telling me here, not necessarily unusual. People can forget cell phones, BlackBerrys, that kind of thing all the time. But today being September 11th, and state of readiness being what it is, and these two events happening regarding the same flight, the idea here is, let's err on the side of caution, ask this aircraft to divert.
It's going to Dallas, supposed to land there within the next 20 minutes or so. And then they'll go through a routine re-screening of all the passengers on the aircraft security-wise. They are hoping that everything is not any -- any more sinister than it appears and that the flight will be able to continue on its way -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So, Jonathan, this flight is what airline? Where was it headed?
FREED: It's a United flight heading from Atlanta to San Francisco, now diverting to Dallas. And I'm told it could be on the ground in Dallas within the next 15 to 20 minimums or so.
M. O'BRIEN: And the bag that is suspicious, you say it is in the cargo hold or is it in the -- is it a carry-on bag?
FREED: OK, good. Let's clarify this.
They found a piece of baggage before the plane left Atlanta described to me as a backpack, in the cargo hold. And they said, wait a minute, this bag doesn't belong to anybody that's supposed to be on this flight. It could have just been left there by mistake, perhaps not offloaded from the previous flight. It was removed.
And then in flight, after the plane had left Atlanta, a flight attendant discovered a BlackBerry that doesn't belong to anybody on the plane.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, OK. So, the suspicious bag, the bag that wasn't connected to anybody on the plane is not on the plane?
FREED: That's correct. And what triggered a higher level of activity here is the fact that there were two, what could be two innocent events, but two things happening on the same aircraft and today being September 11th. That's the reason that this center exists here, and this is an example, they're saying, of the changes that have been implemented and the lessons that have been learned in the last five years.
They're hard-wired into the FAA and air traffic control in a way at that they were not five years ago. The ability for them to respond quickly has been heightened. And again, they're cautioning the plane will probably land and it was just somebody's BlackBerry that was left behind and hopefully continue on its way. But nobody can afford to take any chances these days, especially on today's date -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's just talk a little bit about the military response here. I assume they scrambled fighters. Are there fighters that are escorting that aircraft right now?
FREED: I'm glad you asked me that. I was about to get to it. No, as of now, no fighters have been scrambled. Let me just double- check off camera.
That is correct, no fighters have been scrambled as of now. So, again, the watchword here is "caution." We have two things that in and of themselves are routine, could be routine, normally routine, could be innocent. But when these two things happen the same flight, today, of all days, they say it's better to err on the side of caution, inconvenience some passengers for a short while, rescreen the aircraft and hopefully just send everybody on their way -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: OK, so this runs the gamut from my lost BlackBerry to something very sinister. And at this point, especially on this day, probably on any day -- and maybe the NORAD people can confirm this, on any day would they bring this plane down?
FREED: I'm being asked, and let me just ask off camera to our friends here, on any day, would they -- could they -- if it were not September 11th, would this plane be diverted normally?
Yes, it depends on the circumstances. It depends on the circumstances. I think today, the date being what it is, everybody's level of readiness being higher, today, Miles, and the fact that you have two events, that, again, could just be innocent events that happened to the same aircraft, erring on the side of caution.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Jonathan Freed, we're glad you are there. Keep us posted.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Now it's coming up on 9:33. Five years ago now, flight controllers at Dulles Airport have finally spotted the faint radar target that is American airlines flight 77. Moving in excess of 500 miles an hour and within about four minutes from now, five years ago, would crash into the Pentagon, killing 189.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon with more -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: and five years ago, Miles, I was in the building. My first inclination was to stay in the Pentagon to report the story, but very quickly after the plane hit, I realized I had to get out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Before I left my Pentagon office, I took a picture of the smoke filling the empty hallway. Outside, Rumsfeld's car stood ready to whisk him away, but he never left. I snapped another photo as loud speakers warned another plane was heading to the Pentagon. It never came.
The sky was blue and cloudless as the smoke plume grew. By the time I got to the crash site, the side of the building had already collapsed.
(on camera): All that's left of the original damage is this blackened piece of limestone that's been engraved as a memorial. But on that day, this entire area was covered with thousands of tiny shards of aluminum, all that was left of the jetliner.
(voice-over): I took pictures of the plane pieces next to a yellow fire hose, what looked like a cockpit window, and a twisted chunk of fuselage.
(on camera): As I left, I took this fateful picture, and was promptly arrested. When I took the picture, I was standing here in the south parking lot, the police officer handcuffed me for violating the Pentagon ban on photography. Seems as silly now as it did then, but I wrote him a letter, said no hard feelings, invited them for a tour of CNN.
(voice-over): I sent along a picture of me on the air reporting later in the day after he had to let me go. He never responded.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: And, Miles, five years later, one change besides carrying a still camera, I always carry a video camera with me wherever I go.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, so do I, Jamie. It's a good idea. You never know.
Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and I do, too. And I wonder if that's a question we can put to Ari Fleischer. He's back with us this morning. Of course he's a former White House press secretary with President Bush, really from almost every moment from when the president found out about the hit on the World Trade Center until he was addressing the nation later that day.
You just heard the reports, we have been talking about this backpack that was found and taken off a United flight, and then also a BlackBerry that apparently on this flight no one has seemed to claim. And so they're bringing that plane back around. Is this the kind of thing that brings it right back for you again?
ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Well, it all depends. You know, my first thought is at what point here do you notify people high up in the command. Does somebody tell the president about this? And the answer is no, at this early stage. The fear here, of course, is the BlackBerry is used to trigger something, if there is something inside the backpack.
S. O'BRIEN: For people who don't know, it's a little handheld electronic device. And that of course was one of the reasons that they were concerned about key chains and the electronic things, because they can be used as a trigger to some kind of explosive device. FLEISCHER: That's exactly right. And so the first question you have is what did they find in the backpack, which is now off the aircraft? Authorities in Atlanta would be going through that immediately with bomb-sniffing dogs and with remote devices to see whether there's not anything to worry about inside that backpack. That's the piece of news we're all going to wait for on this story.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it must be terrifying to, on this particular day, to see something as innocuous really as...
FLEISCHER: Think about the passengers aboard that plane on September 11th, 2006 who just got diverted.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it must be just horrifying for them.
Let's talk a little bit about five years earlier. You have pictures that were taken by the White House photographer. What was happening? Let's start showing some of these photographs. I want you to describe for me what was going on. You told me you started taking notes.
FLEISCHER: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Why? Did you know this was...
FLEISCHER: I always took notes. Everything about the president's meetings that I attended. That way I could fill my staff in on what was going on. On September 11th, I took notes especially because of the history of the day. And what you could see in the previous picture was me standing by the president, looking at my notes. He's on the phone. I don't know at that moment who he was on the phone with.
In the picture you have now, we're obviously all riveted to the TV screen that's on Air Force One. We had spotty TV coverage, because Air Force One at that time didn't have satellite TV.
S. O'BRIEN: And you're flying around, moving the president. The Pentagon has been hit, and you're not going back.
FLEISCHER: That's correct. We heard about the Pentagon on the way to Air Force One in the motorcade. We boarded Air Force One and went straight into the president's cabinet to start taking notes. That's when we heard about the fourth plane. The first report being, Soledad, it went down near Camp David. That was the first report the president got. The worst thing was we didn't know what was next.
In retrospect, four aircraft, it was over. On that day, we had reports of additional aircraft that hadn't yet landed, that could still be missiles in the sky. We had report of an unidentified aircraft headed toward the president's ranch. It was fear about what was next. Of course there was a report about what was wrong about Air Force One could be next. There was a report that was wrong about the State Department being hit by a car bomb, a lot of fear over the unknown.
S. O'BRIEN: Ari Fleischer, thanks again for sharing some of your experiences -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at some live pictures now as the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, the vice president, Dick Cheney, with a moment of silence there at the Pentagon today.
Obviously past the moment of silence. It's now a little past 9:37. At this moment, five years ago, the eyes of millions are glued to the horror in New York. The FAA is in a state of chaos, giving an order to ground all flights in the U.S. It's too late, though. By the time they find American Airlines flight 77, which didn't crash and did not continue to the West. It's now flying at 530 miles an hour, up the Potomac River, straight toward the Pentagon, the next terrorist target.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: It's now 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and we're continuing to take you through the actual timeline of events from five years ago this morning. Three targets now have been hit, both towers of the World Trade Center plus the Pentagon, all hit by passenger jets. All are now on fire. And it's at this moment that the FAA does something it has never done before in U.S. history. It orders a complete shutdown of all flight operations at the nations' airports. It halts all air traffic of any kind. It effectively begins to clear the skies.
Time is now running out for people who are trying to escape the twin towers. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is down at Ground Zero this morning.
It was a scene of panic and confusion at this time five years ago -- Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And yes, Soledad, five years later, it is quite an emotional scene here at the site now known as Ground Zero. Hundreds, if not thousands, of family members are here, many of them clutching photos and bringing flowers.
The ceremony has been under way now for about an hour, and this year, the spouses, the partners and significant others are reading the names of the victims. In all, there are 2,749 World Trade Center victims. Six hundred and 58 of them worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services company.
But by sheer luck, the company's CEO, Howard Lutnick, was not there. Instead, he was taking his son to his first day of kindergarten. And somehow, when he heard the news, he made his way downtown, he fought his way to the front door of the North Tower.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHO (on camera): You started asking people who were coming out, what floor were you on?
HOWARD LUTNICK, CANTOR FITZGERALD: Because I figured if one person was from my floors, that meant there were other doorways and other people were getting out. It wouldn't be possible for just one person to get out. Then lots of people were getting out. So I just had to hear one person say they were from one of the high floors from the 101 to 105, where our offices were.
So I was grabbing people. And they would say, I'm from the 56th floor or from the 68th floor. And I got as high as the 92nd floor when the other building collapsed, and it changed everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Changed everything, indeed. Howard Lutnick then described the sound he heard when the South Tower collapsed. He also described what he saw. And, Soledad, we will hear much more from Howard Lutnick in the next few minutes.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Alina, thanks.
One of the legacies of the 9/11 attacks, a new NORAD facility. Jonathan Freed is there for us this morning, exclusive access, and just moments ago, updated us on a breaking news story. Let's follow up.
Hey, Jonathan, good morning.
FREED: Good morning again, Soledad. I can give you the update right now. On the screen behind me, we are tracking the aircraft in question. It is United Airlines Flight 351. It is descending from an altitude of about 7,500 feet and it is between three and five minutes out of the Dallas Airport right now. It's an Airbus 319. Now, it left Atlanta bound for San Francisco today, and a couple of events have come together to cause there to be some concern -- at least caution, anyway -- about this flight.
I will remind you, before it left Atlanta, a bag was found, a backpack was found in the cargo hold, that wasn't seen to belong to anybody who was listed to be on that flight. That bag was removed. The flight went on its way. These things can happen. Seemed innocuous enough. Once in the air, however, a flight attendant, Soledad, found a BlackBerry device that did not belong -- that did not belong to anybody on the plane.
So, today being September 11th, the fact that they found a backpack on board that wasn't supposed to be there and then a BlackBerry that doesn't seem to belong to anybody, they decided to err on the side of caution. And it was a decision that initiated -- that originated, rather, with the airline itself and with the crew.
Since September 11th, crews are empowered to make certain decisions now that used to be more of a group thing before. And the collective decision was, look, let's just divert, we'll screen the aircraft, security-wise, again. The decision was to go to Dallas.
And now a look over here. How far is the aircraft from Dallas now, guys, would you guess?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say it's almost on deck.
FREED: Almost on deck. I'm told the aircraft is almost on the ground in Dallas right now. Another thing, Soledad, that I can tell you about -- and this is sort of the anatomy of how these things are analyzed here.
We are listening into the FAA. They are hardwired here to ATC and the FAA -- ATC being Air Traffic Control -- in a way they were not five years ago. And one of the things that was discussed was that at one point there was a voice change on the radio from the aircraft. And somebody thought that perhaps it sounded like a foreign national voice. However, a quick check with the airline confirmed that, no, the cockpit is secure, and that both of the pilots are American nationals and who they are supposed to be -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Jonathan Freed for us at the new NORAD facility there, because CNN got exclusive access today.
Thanks, Jonathan, for the update -- Miles.
FREED: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: It's 9:45 a.m. By now, millions are watching the dramatic events unfold on television five years ago. There's rumor and there's speculation about more hijacked jets, about more possible targets. It's now that the White House and Capitol are ordered evacuated, several other buildings in Washington as well. Hundreds pour into the streets of D.C. No one knows how many planes, how many targets.
Let's take a look at the flight tape, the radar tape from that day as it plays in time, in sync with what happened five years ago. At this point, over to your left, you see American Airlines Flight 77. It was never there. That is on the radar tape. It's JUST an artifact of the fact that they couldn't find it. And for some reason, the computer lists it as still being in there. We know it isn't, of course.
What you're seeing up here, of course, is United Airlines Flight 93, as it begins its U-turn. Patrollers aware, at this point, that there is trouble on board the plane. Those same controllers in Cleveland Center were concerned also about a Delta Airlines flight that was transcontinental, that they thought also might be a target. That distracted them somewhat from focusing on United Flight 93.
In any case, the passengers on 93, as they realized this hijacking was taking place, made contact with loved ones. And because of all that had transpired at the Twin Towers and at the Pentagon, they knew what was going on. And as a result, there was a very different outcome. CNN's Dana Bash was then a producer on Capitol Hill for us, and at that point, there was word that a plane was headed to Washington. A lot of rumors associated with it. What do you remember about that day, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, the Pentagon is probably only a couple miles, maybe even less, as the crow flies, that way behind the Capitol. And senators and staffers who were inside this building, the Capitol, could actually see the smoke billowing up from the Pentagon across the river.
Yet there was a debate for several minutes, at least, about whether or not to evacuate or just to keep everybody in the building. But by the time I got into to the door there in the middle of the Capitol, it was very clear what they had decided because the Capitol police started to scream, everybody get out of the building, everybody evacuate. We're evacuating this building right now.
I ran across the plaza here to the Senate side and I saw senators and their staffers streaming out of the building, down the steps of the Capitol. And they put us all right here. We're just about 100 yards from the building, as you can see. And we were kind of frozen here, not knowing what the plan is or where to go. But I can tell you, very shortly thereafter, that chaos turned into total panic, because the police were getting on the radio that a plane was actually headed for the Capitol. And they started screaming at the top of their lungs, run, run for your life, a plane is coming!
And we actually saw a plane very close to the ground. Turns out we believe it was communications plane that had just taken off from Andrews Air Force Base. But people were running, miles, so fast that they actually ran out of their shoes. There were shoes strewn all over the lawn here as people were running.
And one thing that I will never forget, one image I will never forget, is seeing Senator Robert C. Byrd, then at the time about 82 years old -- he was president pro temp. That means he was third in line to be president. He was wandering around here without any staff, without any clear direction on where to go. And it just really solidified in my mind there was no plan for some of the high-ranking officials in my government. That's one thing I remember. And obviously, that's changed.
M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash, fascinating. Thank you very much. As the world remembers the attacks of September 11th five years ago today, our coverage tonight.
But first, we hear from Army Specialist April Gallups (ph). September 11th was her first day back after maternity leave. She brought her 10-year-old (sic) son Elijah with her to sign him up for day care. Before she could, though, the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed just 50 feet from where she sat. Minutes later, buried under the debris, April couldn't find her baby son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was thinking about, you know, what about my son? You know, where is he? I can't see him. And then he stopped crying. So that motivated me to try to get out from under the debris that I was covered under, thinking OK, I've got to find my son, I've got to find my son. So my last resort was, before the rest of the stuff collapsed down, and I would have been trapped and dead in there, I made one last-ditch effort. I just reached down my hand, just by sheer chance, reached down. I felt, you know, a shirt, and it was Elijah's onesy. I just pulled him up, and then I just put him over my shoulder, and then we got out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: At this time, five years ago, plans for the first offensive against al Qaeda were taking shape, not in the Pentagon, but in an airplane, a hijacked airplane. Take a look at our flight explorer data. We're replaying the flight data information from that day, the radar track information, synced up to five years ago. United Airlines flight 93, now clearly hijacked, clearly headed toward Washington, perhaps the U.S. Capitol, perhaps the White House. The passengers, through cell phones and satellite phones, becoming aware of what was going on and what the fate of this plane might be, deciding at this moment to take action.
It all ended, of course, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where we find AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken this morning -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: It's five years ago, it was just minutes before flight 93 would crash into the ground in that field in back of me. But in San Ramon, California, Deanna Burnett was getting one last phone call from flight 93.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEENA BURNETT, HUSBAND DIED ON FLIGHT 93: On his fourth and final phone call, he told me that they were waiting until they were over a rural area to take over the airplane. I believe after he hung up the phone, he led the crew members and passengers down the aisle, went into the cockpit. I know from listening to the cockpit voice recorder, we could hear the passengers and crew members charging down the aisle, grabbing one of the meal carts and trying to get into the cockpit. Subsequently, we could hear one of the hijackers being murdered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Deanna Burnett talking about her last conversation with her husband, Tom Burnett, just before they took over the plane and stopped it from an even more tragic ending in Washington, causing it to crash into this field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken, in Shanksville. Thank you very much -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: At this time, five years ago, chaos has engulfed Lower Manhattan. People there do not know what we know now five years later, that the South Tower is on the verge of collapse. For millions of Americans who are glued to their TV sets, for thousands of people who are trying to run out of Lower Manhattan, the collapse of the South Tower means death for everyone inside.
AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is live for us this morning near Ground Zero.
Alina, good morning again.
CHO: Soledad, good morning to you.
In all, there were 2,749 World Trade Center victims; 658 of them worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services company. On any other day, the company's CEO, Howard Lutnick, would have been at his desk, but on this day, five years ago, he instead was taking his son for his first day of kindergarten. When he heard the news, he raced down to the Towers and not long after that, the South Tower collapsed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUTNICK: We heard the sound. It was -- sounded like a combination of a jet engine and the sound in the movie Titanic, when the Titanic broke, the sort of horrible metal bending sound. And it was so loud, I didn't know what was going on. But we started running. And over my shoulder was this giant tornado. It was the collapse of two World Trade Center that created that monstrous film of black smoke. And it -- how much did I run? Maybe 30 yards before it just engulfed me, and then I was lying on the ground under a car in absolute pitch-black, trying to hold my breath, not to breathe, thinking, I can't believe I'm going to die. I was outside, I was safe, and now I'm going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Of course, Howard Lutnick survived that day, but his brother, Gary, did not. He was among the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died in the North Tower five years ago. And today, many of those surviving family members, Soledad, are here to remember their loved ones. The ceremony here at Ground Zero has been under way for about 90 minutes now, and it will continue until about 12:30 this afternoon
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Alina, thanks.
And here's what was happening right now, five years ago, part of the Pentagon is now burning. The incident commander orders the area around the crash site evacuated immediately. The reason, there is a fear of a possible collapse. In fact, two minutes after that evacuation order is given, the collapse happens. Part of the Pentagon, the base of all U.S. military operations, comes crashing to the ground.
Jamie McIntyre is reporting this morning from the Pentagon for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (on camera): September 11, an army of reporters watched the aftermath of the attack on the Pentagon. Now Mike Walter was driving on this road and had a first hand look.
What do you recall about that day?
MIKE WALTER, PENTAGON CRASH WITNESS: I just remember being stuck in traffic. I remember seeing the jet above me and starting to bank, and then it started screaming toward the Pentagon, a huge explosion, gigantic fireball, and I was just sitting there in stunned disbelief.
It's like a cruise missile with wings went right there and slammed right into the Pentagon.
MCINTYRE: Now your description on CNN five years ago, comparing the impact to like a cruise missile hitting the building has shown up on Internet conspiracy sites. What do you say to the doubters?
WALTER: Well, there's no doubt in my mind, it was an American Airlines jet. What I was trying to say that day to you, was that this pilot, whoever was piloting that jet, had turned it into a weapon. I mean, there was no doubt about it, it was aiming for the Pentagon; it was a weapon of destruction.
MCINTYRE: Now You're a reporter, but that day, you didn't have a cell phone?
WALTER: That's true. I didn't have a cell phone, and I didn't have a camera, and now I have one that does both, and I wish I had this on September 11th.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: And, Soledad, five years later, once again, an army of reporters is here across from the Pentagon to cover the events of the anniversary.
S. O'BRIEN: Jamie McIntyre for us. Jamie, thanks -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: It's now 9:57 a.m., a minute past that. But five years ago this moment, President Bush departs Florida in Air Force One. At this point, his destination uncertain. The idea was to climb as quickly as possible, gain as much speed, and then make a determination. Before the end of the day, Air Force One would stop at no less than two Air Force bases. And then finally, once a combat air patrol was established over Washington and there were no other planes in the sky anyway, the president returned to Washington, Air Force One escorted by fighter jets.
At that same moment, the president took off, the passenger revolt began on United Airlines flight 93. This flight was late to depart, and the hijackers, four of them, did not move as quickly as the others, and so many of the passengers got word of what was happening on either satellite or cellular phones. The passengers decided to try to take control of the airplane. Their revolt saved the U.S. Capitol or the White House undoubtedly.
9:58, five years ago this moment, both towers of the World Trade Center are burning. People are jumping to their deaths. Police and firefighters have run into the towers in a desperate attempt to help.
S. O'BRIEN: It is absolute chaos on in the streets of Lower Manhattan, and it seems like the horror cannot get any worse, and then suddenly it does. The seemingly impossible is happening -- the South Tower begins to come down.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
