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9/11 Remembered; Osama bin Laden Sends a Message; General Petraeus Facing Criticism in the Senate

Aired September 11, 2007 - 11:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Here with CNN you're informed.
I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is back tomorrow.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007. Here's what's on the rundown.

Six years ago today, America under attack -- the horror and chaos of 9/11 has faded, the grief has not.

A 9/11 message said to be from Osama bin Laden. He heaps praise on a hijacker.

The Iraq War commander facing skeptical senators this hour. Live pictures now of David Petraeus. Can he diffuse demands for an immediate withdrawal?

Selling war strategy in the NEWSROOM.

The nation pausing to mark the sixth anniversary of September 11th. Ceremonies this morning in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Because of construction at Ground Zero, the ceremony in New York is actually taking place at a nearby park.

A live shot there of the reflection pool. People traditionally throw flowers into it to remember their loved ones.

At the White House, President Bush took part in a moment of silence honoring the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the terror attacks.

The Pentagon also remembering those who lost their lives when a hijacked jetliner slammed into the huge building. A wreath laying ceremony part of the events at the Pentagon.

Another ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- honors there for the passengers and crew who died when United Flight 93 crashed into a field.

Six years ago today, shock and horror as Americans watched their homeland under attack.

CNN's Alina Cho is with us now live from New York, and what a day it is. I noticed some rain coming down there a little bit earlier -- Alina. ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and a lot of people, Heidi, were wondering whether that would keep family members away. But certainly it hasn't. There are family members here from all over the country. The ceremony well underway here. It started at 8:40 a.m. Eastern time.

Important to note that for the first time -- and you mentioned this a bit earlier -- but for the first time the ceremony is not being held at Ground Zero, but rather it is being held in a nearby park just about a block away. The reason is because Ground Zero, which is below me, is an active construction site. So that is what is different this year.

But there is much that is the same, including the fact that, as in years past, there have been four moments of silence, as there was today, twice to mark the times that each tower was struck, twice to mark the times that each tower fell.

Also today -- we've been hearing this throughout the morning -- the names of the victims were read -- all 2,750 of them will be read today. It often takes several hours -- four hours, to be exact. And this year, in a departure, those names will not be read by family members, but rescue and recovery workers instead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: Today marks the sixth anniversary of the day that tore across our history and our hearts. We come together again as New Yorkers and as Americans to share a loss that can't be measured and to remember the names of those who can't be replaced. This year we have asked those who responded to the tragedy to help us lead the ceremonies -- both the men and women in official uniform and the volunteers who said those are my neighbors, let me help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Family members, as they have been able to do in years past, are able to descend this ramp, which is behind me, to the lowest level of Ground Zero, where they're able to lay flowers and have a moment of reflection. And there is a small reflecting pool there, as there is every year.

But New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, suggested earlier today that this may be the last year that family members will be able to do that, simply because, remember, this is an active construction site. And Bloomberg suggested that that ramp may not be here next year because, hopefully, you will see some more progress in the rebuilding effort.

And speaking of that, a lot of people asking the question why, six years later, we haven't seen more progress at Ground Zero.

I can tell you, Heidi, I was here last year and I'm looking down on Ground Zero today. There has been progress. The Freedom Tower, which will be the centerpiece of the rebuilding effort, is now at street level. There are 600 workers who come here every day, hundreds of pieces of heavy equipment.

So the work continues. And, remember, this is a massive, massive effort -- $16 billion on 16 acres. Some have likened it to building a Rubik's cube. Certainly one of the most complex construction efforts in U.S. history. And that, in order to do it right, in order to do it safely, say planners, will take some time.

COLLINS: Yes. No question about that.

All right, CNN's Alina Cho bringing us the picture today on September 11th from New York.

Alina, thank you.

T.J. Holmes is standing by now in our news room. You've been working this story, T.J. , on that V.A. Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, some good news to report,, at least. Some people are being allowed back in after a bomb threat was called in to this hospital a little earlier this morning, about 7:45 local time, a Bay Pines V.A. Healthcare System in St. Petersburg.

Well, they had to move all the patients out of the hospital while this building and all the buildings on this campus were searched. There are some 30 buildings there. And now, we understand, some of the buildings on the outside, around the main hospital have been given the all clear. Some people are going back in. But the main hospital still has not been given the all clear.

You're looking at pictures here from a little earlier and you can see a lot of the hospital staff, a lot of the patients, even, just having to be moved out and kind of milling about outside at the hospital.

Also, some critical care patients could not be moved immediately. So while this bomb threat was going on, some of the essential employees and some of those critical care patients had to be left inside those buildings for the time being while the place was being checked out for this bomb scare.

Don't know a lot of the details surrounding the call, exactly what the caller said. But it was serious enough -- they took it serious enough that, in fact, they were checking it out.

And I'm just getting word now in my ear, that, yes, in fact, the all clear for this entire hospital, this whole facility -- 30 buildings, 300 acres -- has been given the all clear after this bomb threat. So we just want to tie this up for you and let you know that the all clear has been given -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, T.J., thanks so much. Good news there. Appreciate it.

HOLMES: Yes. COLLINS: A new message from Al Qaeda on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It includes an audio recording reportedly from Osama bin Laden of -- over a photo of him. A voice identified as bin Laden introduces a last testament from one of the 9/11 hijackers. Waleed al- Shehri was on the plane that slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video.

A bomb threat forces tightened security at a U.S. military base in Germany. Cars and trucks entering the U.S. Air Force's Spangdahlem Base coming under closer scrutiny today. This after an anonymous caller threatened to blow up the base. Just last week, German police said they foiled a terror plot aimed at U.S. military installations in Germany.

The Iraq report card -- testing the claims. Next stop, the CNN Fact Desk. We'll bring that to you.

The war in Iraq -- the military perspective. We'll also bring you insight from the man who served as the nation's highest ranking officer. General Richard Myers will be joining us.

Iraqi detainees on the increase. U.S. troops watching over crowded detention centers trying to change the culture inside.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: News just in to CNN now. Important new developments to a story we first told you about last week regarding alleged military activity between Israel and Syria.

CNN Chief International Correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, has been checking into this story for us from London now -- Christiane, if you can hear me, what about this latest incident?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been quite a lot of speculation about what happened between Israel and Syria last week. Sources now are telling me that, in fact, Israel did conduct a military strike against Syrian territory; that this was an air strike; that it, perhaps, involved some Israeli ground forces, but perhaps as forward air controllers directing the strike or perhaps as bomb damage assessment troops afterwards.

But nonetheless, that on the night of Wednesday of last week into Thursday, the Israeli Air Force did launch an air strike against Syrian territory. This is what a source in the region is telling me. And other sources also are confirming this.

When I put this to CNN's Barbara Starr, her sources -- multiple sources inside the U.S. government and the U.S. military confirm that Israel did conduct a rare air strike inside Syria and that "It has left a big hole in the desert."

In terms of what the target was, there has been some speculation. But the consensus at this moment seems to be that it could have been against some known weapons that were either coming into Syria or that were being transshipped from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah.

Sources saying to me that, in fact, this has been a pattern of activity, this kind of transshipment of weapons through Syria to Hezbollah over the last several years, with no action or retaliation taken against it.

Now, we're asking officials about more details. But so far, the Israeli government and the military -- the IDF -- are not saying anything beyond the bare bones of what they've said already about it. They will not give any details. They will not talk about this. There is, to an extent, a great deal of military censorship over this particular issue inside Israel right now.

The Syrians have been going around the region now putting -- putting their the story across, saying that they are protesting the violation of their airspace and saying that they want to take this to the Security Council.

The United States is saying that they are quite happy to have this message sent loud and clear to Iran and Syria -- that, if there is a need, Israel can carry out these kinds of hits, can go in and out of that airspace, conduct a hit and get out, and that this is a message that they want to send to Iran and to Syria loud and clear.

Now the Europeans, apparently, are involved to some part. Apparently there were messages -- "calming messages" -- sent by Israel to Syria before this strike. And, apparently, this was sent via the European chief diplomat, Javier Solano. Their office is not confirming that, only to say that Solano, since the attack, has been the conduit between the Israeli and Syrian foreign ministers, urging calm and urging cool heads to prevail -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. I'm reading another here, too, that says something like Israel realizes the quiet after the storm could be the quiet before the storm.

I know you'll be watching this story very closely for us.

Christiane Amanpour, thanks so much. Live from London from us today.

This morning, General Petraeus front and center once again. The top military commander in Iraq returns to Capitol Hill. His progress report could shape the future U.S. role there.

CNN's Congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is on Capitol Hill -- Dana, how is today's Senate testimony going to be different from yesterday's testimony? We know there will be several presidential candidates in the room, at least.

DANA BASH, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And it is already very different in terms of the atmospherics and the kinds of questions that General Petraeus is getting, especially, Heidi, from Republicans.

We just saw General Petraeus and the ambassador there get essentially a lecture from one of the most vocal Republican critics of the war, Senator Chuck Hagel, who asked where is this going and asked when and if they will know that sort of enough is enough in terms of the blood and treasure of American soldiers.

Now, this is sort of all on the heels of General Petraeus yesterday and today saying that, yes, that he believes and is recommending that the troop levels come down by the summer of next year. But that is the surge -- so-called surge level of troops.

So what he is saying is that troop levels will be down to 130,000 or so. That's where it started this year. And what he is -- first of all, take a listen to what General Petraeus said today, the theme that he is giving to members of Congress about the projections beyond that that he says he simply can't give.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: It would be premature to make recommendations on the pace of such reductions at this time. In fact, our experience in Iraq has repeatedly shown that projecting too far into the future is not just difficult, it can be misleading and even hazardous.

In view of this, I do not believe it is reasonable to have an adequate appreciation for the pace of further reductions and mission adjustments beyond the summer of 2008, until about mid-March of next year. We will, no later than that time, consider factors similar to those on which I based the current recommendations, having by then, of course, a better feel for the security situation, the improvements in the capabilities of our Iraqi counterparts and the enemy situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now that essentially is not flying with the top Republican here on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, who a few months ago bucked the president and said it is time to talk about drawing down troops. He made very clear in his opening statement that he does think now is the time to start planning beyond the so-called surge levels, to have a real plan for the American people and for Congress, he said, that should -- that be could be implemented effectively and rapidly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R-IA), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: The surge must not be an excuse for failing to prepare for the next phase of our involvement, whether that is a partial withdrawal, a gradual redeployment or some other option. We saw in 2003, after the initial invasion of Iraq, disastrous results of failing to plan adequately for contingencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now another interesting moment was questioning by the chairman, Senator Joe Biden, one of the several presidential candidates we are going to see involved in these hearings today. He asked the general and the ambassador whether or not if, in fact, the level of violence is where it is now next March -- and next March is the time that they said that they would reassess the troop levels -- if, in fact, the general could see asking for no troops to come home. And the general was careful, cautious about answering what he called a hypothetical. But he also said that would be -- he would be hard-pressed to do that -- Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN's Dana Bash watching the proceedings alongside us today.

Dana, thanks so much for that.

Also, want to let the viewers know that you can count on CNN throughout the day to bring you the best coverage and analysis of the Iraq War progress report. Even if you're not in front of the television, you can still watch the hearings live on your computer. You just go to CNN.com and you'll find live coverage there throughout the day.

The war in Iraq -- the military perspective. We'll hear from the man who served as the nation's highest ranking officer. General Richard Myers joins us shortly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Progress in Iraq.

Are the initial troop withdrawals -- 5,000 home before Christmas -- really a change in plan or the same rotation schedule repackaged in a nod to critics?

CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is at the Fact Desk once again for us -- good morning to you there, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Heidi.

The question that we're fact checking this hour is, are the troop withdrawals announced by General Petraeus the beginning after major drawdown of U.S. troops or are they the routine rotations?

Here's what General Petraeus said when asked about the significance of the cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETRAEUS: First of all, what I recommended was a very substantial withdrawal -- five Army brigade combat teams and Marine expeditionary units and two Marine battalions represent a very significant force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: One of the things you have to understand when you look at these rotations is that the Marine units that are mostly operating in the Anbar Province are on, generally, seven month deployment schedules. And these Marines who are in Anbar who will be coming home this month, part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, they're going to move to their ships in the Persian Gulf. They could have been kept there as a call forward or a reserve force. But the commander decided to go ahead and send them hope with their ships on scheduled. But, again, they were scheduled to come home.

The big wrinkle here is the addition of a brigade to come out before the end of December. And we believe that will come from the Baghdad area. What we don't know is exactly which unit is involved, so we can't tell you if it's beyond their normal rotation. But one thing to remember is a lot of the troops that were already in Iraq for 12- month tours got extended to the possibility of 15-month tours. It may be that the brigade coming home in December is at the end of its regular 12 month, but it's not going to have to stay the full 15- months. And that is a slight speeding up of the schedule.

But, Heidi, for the rest of these rotations that are going to on into the summer to end those surge troops, those are pretty much what was in the pipeline before the general made his announcement.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, for us at the Iraq Fact Desk.

Jamie, thanks so much for that.

Now we want to take a moment to get the view of a career military man. Richard Myers is a retired Air Force general. He, of course, served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He's joining us from our Washington bureau today.

General, thanks for being here. We appreciate your time and your service.

I want to begin with asking you and taking you back six years ago, when you were chairman, when this war first began. When you look at the situation today, does it match up in any way with what you might have envisioned it to be all that time ago?

GEN. RICHARD MYERS (RET.), FORMER JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: In some respects, it certainly matches up. In other respects, it doesn't. You know, I think you have to understand that, you know, what you're trying to do in Iraq is a very, very difficult job. The military was given a lot of the work to do, I think has done it quite well. But the adversary gets a vote. And we saw that in February of '06 in the Al Qaeda bombing of the mosque in Samarra to stimulate sectarian violence. And that sectarian violence increased and that's why I think we're in the position we are today with the surge, in both terms of security and trying to make political progress and economic progress.

COLLINS: There are some who say that was when it really went to hell in a hand basket, if you will.

I also want to take a moment to listen in to some of the sound that we are getting from General Petraeus' testimony this very morning, where he sort of echoes the same thing that was emphasized yesterday.

Listen with me, if you would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETRAEUS: While noting the situation in Iraq remains complex, difficult and sometimes downright frustrating, I also believe that it is possible for us to achieve our objectives in Iraq, over time, though doing so will be neither quick, nor easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I'm sure you've been listening closely over these past couple of days. Has any of his testimony surprised you?

MYERS: No, not really. I've tried to stay pretty much up to speed on the situation there and his testimony is not surprising. I have looked at his slides. They indicate that, indeed, the security situation has improved since the additional troops were sent in and a little different strategy was employed.

The disappointing part, of course, is that the political progress has not kept pace. And it's going to take both of those -- a better security situation and political progress -- to make real, real gains in Iraq.

COLLINS: Well, as a military man and knowing full well the morale and the hard work of our men and women serving in Iraq, there must be some incredible frustration. We seem to see such a divide between the military goals and the political goals.

As the military commander, how do you look at that? How do you work through the fact that we are hearing over and over again the Iraqi government is not stepping up to the plate and trying to defend and secure their own country?

MYERS: Well, I think one of the things you have to do is try to help mentor the Iraqi government, particularly the leadership, the cabinet and the parliament, to some extent, to help them through the hard challenges and compromises they're going to have to make.

You know, we did that through the Dayton Accords for the situation in the Balkans. And while they're not analogous, we now have, with the three entities that were in the Balkans fighting each other, we now have one unified military. It took, you know, over a decade to get to that point. But that's where we are.

I think General Petraeus is right and Ambassador Crocker is right, that there will be progress in Iraq if we stick with it. But right now it's got to be focused on the political progress to keep up with the security gains that have been made.

COLLINS: I was actually listening to him a little while ago and he was being questioned about that very thing, talking about federalism, saying that he'd actually seen some of that happening with the Sunnis and that that was encouraging to him. MYERS: Right. And I think, you know, he's -- I think he reported he saw it both at the lower levels -- kind of a bottoms up approach -- as well as sort of top down, and that's encouraging. He did say it was encouraging and I think that should be encouraging to all of us that the Sunnis have -- it now looks as if they're throwing their lot in with trying to make Iraq a better place and becoming accustomed to being, perhaps, a minority in the government there.

COLLINS: As you look back over your time, General Myers, what would be your biggest regret with the way things went under your command?

MYERS: Well, you know, when you put your 20-20 hindsight glasses on, there are lots of decisions where you could have gone left and went right. So I mean there's lots of those.

And, you know, I think probably the way we organized right after major combat, how quickly we went to civilian authority in Iraq, because the situation at the time looked like it was pretty benign. I mean right after major combat, until August of '03, there was not much of any kind of fight, let alone an insurgency. And then it built up over time. And so you make decisions based on the facts you have at the time.

If you look back you can say, gee, we should have anticipated this, we should have anticipated that, some of which we did, some of which we didn't do very well. But the problem was always going to be a hard problem.

And I would say the other thing I would say is that to have success in Iraq, we have to use all instruments of national power, perhaps international power. And we've been relying for a long time on the military instrument of power and less on the other instruments of national power. And one of my regrets is not articulating that well enough to get everybody pulling at the wagon like the military is.

COLLINS: Do you sometimes wish were you still in charge?

MYERS: No. There are very competent people in charge and those were very challenging years. This is the anniversary of 9/11. 9/11 defined my tenure as chairman, certainly. They were fulfilling years in many ways, but, no, it was time for me to go. General Pace has done a terrific job. Admiral Mullen who takes over on 1 October will do a terrific job. That's the good news about our U.S. military. There are lots of officers men and women that do these jobs.

COLLINS: Well, we certainly appreciate your time here certainly on the sixth anniversary of September 11th. General Richard Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, again thank you.

MYERS: Thank you.

COLLINS: Remembering the lost. Vowing to remain vigilant against terrorism. In New York, rescue and recovery workers are reading the names of those lost. Live pictures for you there. This scene on the White House lawn now a little less than two hours ago. President Bush and the First Lady, the Vice President and his wife observing a moment of silence.

And at the Pentagon, more tributes to those who died. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace laying a wreath. Gates says the U.S. will stop at nothing to protect its people and its values.

Want to shift gears now for just a moment. T.J. Holmes is working on another story for us about a helicopter crash out of Florida, I believe. Right, T.J.?

HOLMES: Just off the coast there, Sarasota, Florida. Yes, just south. The helicopter went down in the water. What you're seeing is some of the pictures here, a couple of the boats involved, we presume here, in the rescue efforts.

What we're told from the sheriff's office there in Sarasota County is that three people were on board this helicopter when it did in fact go down in the water. We haven't been able from the pictures we're seeing been able to spot that helicopter or any parts of it in that water, but we are told that three people were on board.

They have now been taken ashore but not sure of their conditions just yet. Certainly they're getting looked at but no word if there are casualties just yet. But three people on board, three victims but not sure of their condition, do not know where this helicopter took off from, and not sure where it was going or what it was doing.

And certainly don't know the circumstances surrounding it going down, what might have been going on. But we'll keep our eye on it here. As we get more information you know we'll pass it along to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Great, T.J. Holmes, thanks so much. Today's daily dose. A helmet-to-helmet collision. An NFL player possibly paralyzed. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the latest on Kevin Everett.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We do have new details regarding Kevin Everett's condition this morning. He does remain in intensive care. He does remain under sedation. He is on a breathing machine. We know that he has some touch sensation in his body, but has very little, if any, movement.

Doctors are grim about his prognosis and likelihood that he would be able to walk again. That much we know this morning. I want to just point out a couple of things to you. When he was actually took that hit on the football field, you could see that there. Within 15 minutes he was actually transported to the hospital where he was immediately given medication to try and reduce the swelling in the spinal cord.

He also got scans, a cat scan, a MRI scan, and X-rays to try and determine exactly what happened to his spinal canal. Surgeons then found in fact he had broken a bone in his neck. I want to show you where. It's sort of this area, pretty high up in his neck between the third and fourth bone. Some of that disk material was actually pushing on his spinal cord.

Doctors remove that disk material and actually put a fusion there between two of the bones. Then actually also from the back side they also removed some of the bone that was pushing on his spinal canal and created a fusion there as well. That is all to try and stabilize his spinal canal and make sure that he doesn't have continued injury to his spinal cord.

While the operation is over, Kevin Everett still has a long ways to go, he is still at risk for blood clots, he is still at risk for pneumonia. As I mentioned, he is still on the breathing machine. So, many concerns still for him over the next few days and few weeks. The likelihood of him being able to walk again is obviously a question that many people are asking this morning.

Based on all the data that exists today regarding these types of injuries, it is unlikely that he'd be able to walk. He may regain some movement and rehabilitation is going to be the name of the game for him for quite some time. There is also some question about how can we prevent these sorts of injuries or injuries to the brain in the future.

Let me show you a new sort of helmet, that's getting some enthusiasm out there. It is not being used in the NFL but it is being used in a few college football teams right now. That's the helmet there, it actually has these sensors in there that tell someone on the sideline exactly how much of a hit someone has just taken.

And they can give that information back to trainers and to physicians, and may even be available to the lay public so parents could watch at home on a home computer just how hard a hit the helmet has taken, how hard their child's brain has taken a hit just over the previous few minutes. So, that might be some interesting new information.

Obviously a lot of people focused on Kevin Everett this morning, however. We'll keep you posted on his progress as those details come forward. Back to you.

COLLINS: To get your daily dose of health news online, you can logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address CNN.com/health.

BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Pausing here to remember 184 souls lost. I'll have that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: At the Pentagon right now, a simple image says it all -- the American flag hanging in tribute. A ceremony this morning honoring those who died there six years ago today. Live now to Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, what else is taking place there this morning to mark the 9/11 attacks? STARR: Well, Heidi, inside this building right now up and down the hallways where many offices lost people in the attacks six years ago, workers, military people, civilians, pausing to remember in sort of private ceremonies in you will inside their offices.

A little while ago of course though at 9:37 in the morning, east coast time, a moment of silence and the formal ceremony outside at the attack site where every year for the years that have passed since now, the families and friends and government officials gather right where American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building killing 184 people here. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, General Peter Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pausing to remember offering their very brief remarks.

But like you and I chatted earlier this morning, it may be six years ago, but for the people who were here that day, so many of the people still in this building, it really seems like it was just a moment ago, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, very understandable, even for you, I'm sure as well. Barbara Starr, thanks so much.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: General Petreaus back on Capitol Hill today. The Iraq War, back under the microscope. Today, he's testifying before two Senate hearings. Among the lawmakers attending, five presidential candidates from both parties. Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq joined by the Chief U.S. diplomat there, that's Ryan Crocker. Both men are expected to face tougher questioning than yesterday's House hearings.

Petraeus assured lawmakers that U.S. military goals in Iraq are being met, and Iraqi security forces are growing more independent. He also outlined plans to bring home up to 30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer.

At the heart of the war debate, public sentiment. A solemn majority of Americans, 63 percent, continues to oppose the war. That's according to the latest CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll. It also found public sentiment over the war has changed little since the start of the year. In August, one in three Americans said they supported the war. Compare that to 31 percent in January.

Happy homecoming for a soldier, big surprise for his girlfriend. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marry me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please say yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Sergeant Roy Starbeck (ph) proposed to Tanya Roberts (ph) at Fort Lewis, Washington last night. Starbeck was one of 260 soldiers from 3-2 Striker Brigade. Welcome back from Iraq. The entire brigade will return in the next couple of weeks. Isn't that great? Year-long deployment was extended to 15 months. More than 40 of the brigade's 3,800 soldiers died in action.

It happened here, an elderly woman savagely mugged. Police say one attacker brought along her new-born baby, the second was pregnant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they punched her first, they then threw bleach on her. And it's my understanding that they actually, after getting the purse from her, they struck her again in the face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A hard-hearted crime brings outrage and disbelief this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A rare visit, a team of U.S. nuclear experts in North Korea today, the delegation joining other experts from China and Russia. They'll inspect North Korea's main nuclear complex. It is part of an international agreement. North Korea disables its nuclear facility by the end of the year and gets economic aid and political concessions in return.

The search for aviator Steve Fossett resuming this morning in the Nevada desert. Search crews fielding thousands of tips from people using Internet satellite imaging to scan the search zone. Right now, rescuers are focusing on a 50-square mile area near the airstrip where Fossett took off eight days ago. Officials holding out hope he can be found alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. CYNTHIA RYAN, CIVIL AIR PATROL: I just heard about some poor teenager that survived a car wreck for a week, so -- and some 76- year-old lady who lasted for two weeks. Yes, I'm very confident in his ability to survive this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Fossett's wife is offering her thanks to all of those involved in this search and her first public comments, Peggy Fossett says she's hopeful there will be, in her words, a successful resolution to the search.

Want to take a moment now to talk with Hala Gorani. In about 15 minutes, "YOUR WORLD TODAY" will begin. She will have all the news from the international viewpoint.

Hi there, Hala. HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi.

At the top of the hour, hope you can join us for "YOUR WORLD TODAY." We're going to be covering those Petraeus hearings from all angles. We'll be speaking with the junior Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey. We'll be asking him what he makes of the Petraeus comments on Capitol Hill.

And on this 9/11 anniversary of his state as it marks the somber date, we'll also be speaking with the spokesperson for Nouri al Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, of course, Ali al-Gabag (ph). We're going to be asking him also about those Petraeus and Crocker hearings and what his government is ready to do in order to move forward in Iraq.

Also, another foiled terrorist plot in Germany. That is a question today. A phone-call threat against a U.S. military installation has been reported. Were we close to an attack? We'll be taking you to Germany for that story and much more.

We'll be bringing you the world on "YOUR WORLD TODAY" top of the hour. Heidi, for now, back to you.

COLLINS: All right Hala, thanks so much. We'll be watching.

An 88-year-old woman brutally beaten, bleach thrown in her face. The accused, the mother of five and her pregnant friend. The story from Kumi Tucker (ph), she's with New York affiliate WNYT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOMINIQUE LUCAS, ACCUSED OF MUGGING 88-YEAR-OLD: First of all, I ain't do nothing. I have nothing to say.

KUMI TUCKER, WNYT REPORTER: You didn't do it?

LUCAS: I didn't do nothing.

TUCKER: Well, they say that you threw bleach at the old lady?

LUCAS: Well, I didn't throw bleach in the old lady's face. I did not throw bleach in her face. I would not do that to no old lady. I don't do no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) like that. I have a grandmother, I wouldn't want nobody to do that to my grandmother, for real.

TUCKER: And you're pregnant.

LUCAS: And I'm pregnant on top of that. I'm due in three weeks. Think I'm going to be out here trying do something to an old lady? And I'm pregnant, I have nobody to take care of my kids. I don't have time for this.

TUCKER (voice-over): Police say Dominique Lucas and Tiffany Tolliver followed an 88-year-old Rotterdam woman four miles home from the store and attacked her before taking her purse. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was punched several times. She was -- she had bleach thrown into her eyes, which blinded her. Then, she was possibly punched after they removed the purse as well.

TUCKER: Police say the women took off, leaving the elderly victim lying in a pool of blood at the Victoria Apartments in Rotterdam Saturday evening. Authorities say the pair still had blood on their clothing when they went on to use the victim's credit card to buy hundreds of dollars worth of clothes.

LUCAS: Right now, I'm not -- they implicating me, I'm not involved in that. I didn't ...

TUCKER (on camera): So, it's the other woman.

LUCAS: Yes.

TUCKER: And you didn't have anything to do with it.

LUCAS: I didn't have nothing to do with it, I didn't have nothing to do with it.

TUCKER: Lucas cried in court and began shrieking and complaining of pain. She was taken away in an ambulance. Police say the other woman, Tiffany Tolliver, had a 2-week-old child with her when she was arrested Saturday and had left a 17-month-old child home alone during the attacks. The 21-year-old woman had nothing to say as she went into court, but she talked on her way out.

(on camera): She said you did it.

TIFFANY TOLLIVER, ACCUSED OF MUGGING 88-YEAR-OLD: Hey, I'm someone's wife, I'm a mother, and I have five beautiful kids. I have nothing to worry about. Person who has a good life like that, would they mess it up?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The elderly woman suffered temporary vision problems after the bleach attack. She is now recovering.

al Qaeda's latest message for Americans. Osama bin Laden praising a 9/11 hijacker on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A new message from al Qaeda on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Word just a few minutes ago, a technical analysis by U.S. intelligence indicates it is Osama bin Laden on the audio recording. On it, bin Laden introduces a last testament from one of the 9/11 hijackers. bin Laden praises Khalid al Shehri (ph), he was on the plane that slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

In June, a terrorist targeted the Glasgow Airport in Scotland. What happened next turned a baggage handler into a CNN hero.

Meet John Smeaton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN SMEATON, CNN HERO: Well, I seen a 4 x 4. Well, it crashed into the side of the door in the terminal building. And I'm thinking to myself, well, that's a bad accident.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: A car on fire has been driven into the Glasgow Airport in Scotland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is being treated as a terrorist incident.

SMEATON: We said, ah, that couldn't be. It was unfathomable. I was in this area here. And I seen a gentleman coming from the passenger side of the vehicle. And the police officer came from across the road and the guy just started punching the policeman. And all I could think of doing was going to help.

I ran up and I try to kick the guy. And a man, Michael, he had done the exact same thing as me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't just stand there, so I just went and punched and kicked him and I ended up breaking my leg in the rumble.

SMEATON: He was lying on the ground. I was really worried about an explosion from the vehicle, and I thought, we need to get Michael and myself away from the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could see the flames in the car, and as I'm sitting here, the driver of the car, he throws out petrol. And that's when John Smeaton starts pulling me back. John Smeaton saved my life.

SMEATON: My life has changed from one extreme to another. I enjoy my quiet, mundane, happy life.

This is my uniform, this is my T-shirt, my trousers.

I'm a supervisor in the baggage sortation area. When you check your bag in, I'm on the other end of the conveyor belt.

You know, it really does bewilder me why everybody thinks I've done such a big thing. But at that time, I just thought it was my duty.

Democracy's all about compromise and getting on with things. You should be brought up to treat people as they come. And if these people think they're going to keep the British people down, then they've got another thing coming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: John Smeaton is just one example of an every day hero, people whose spontaneous acts of courage save lives. To check out other incredible stories, you can visit CNN.com/heroes where you can also nominate a hero of your own.

Remembering September 11th. Public opinion changing the six years since the attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is up next with news happening across the globe and here at home on the sixth anniversary of September 11th.

I'm Heidi Collins.

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