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American Morning

General Petraeus' Report; McCanns Claiming Their Innocence; New Sweetener Study; Veterans React to Petraeus's Report; Pentagon Tribute

Aired September 11, 2007 - 08:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of experts are saying it's because of low interest rates and the access to inexpensive and easy credit that got us into this mess in the first place. So while a lot of investors are betting and hoping for an interest rate cut next Tuesday from the federal reserve, we have fed officials saying don't put your bets on just yet, it might not actually happen. So we are keeping our eye on fed rates and interest rates and the markets for the next week. We'll keep you posted on it.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Round two.

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS: What I provided was an assessment. I'm not an optimist or a pessimist anymore. I'm a realist and Iraq real hard.

CHETRY: The top general and diplomat from Iraq head to the senate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Petraeus is going to try to make the administration's case. That's his job.

CHETRY: Plus, soldiers who fought in Iraq give us their own report.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think that the surge had anything to do with the substantial improvements.

CHETRY: A view from the home front and the frontlines on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome. It's Tuesday, September 11th, 2007. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you from Washington. I'm John Roberts. As we get ready for as we said round two in General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker's testimony. The first part begins in an hour and a half and the second part this afternoon. We'll have it all for you and a little bit of analysis this morning on what impact they've had on Capitol Hill so far.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, it's six years since the attacks on America and we're getting a sense of how Americans are feeling on this anniversary. In fact, we're about 45 minutes away now from some of the remembrances taking place down at ground zero in New York. There's a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll that asked Americans if they think the U.S. is safer today than it was before 9/11. 38 percent said yes, we are safer. 29 percent about as safe and 32 percent feel we are less safe.

When asked who's winning the war on terrorism, 31 percent say the U.S. is and 19 percent believe the terrorists are, nearly 50 percent say neither side is winning.

Osama Bin Laden trying to taunt America once again. This time on 9/11. A newly released tape early this morning appears to show Bin Laden honoring one of the hijackers. This is the second Bin Laden tape in a week. On it, he speaks for 14 minutes and then it's followed by the video of the hijacker's will. CNN is trying to confirm that the video is authentic. The voice and the picture, though, seem to be identical to the one released last week.

Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I asked homeland security adviser Fran Townsend if the U.S. will ever catch Osama Bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAN TOWNSEND, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISOR: Catching Bin Laden is a huge priority for us and American military and intelligence assets are deployed against that. I'm confident that eventually we are going to get him but we've had many successes against the network and that is what is really important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Townsend also says the capture of other leaders has been important and part of disrupting terror attacks in the U.S. and around the world -- John.

ROBERTS: Today, it's the senate's turn to hear from and question the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. The answers may help the republicans on the bubble make up their minds. Does it put them in the president's camp or push them over to the anti-war side?

Earlier this morning, we heard from Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Senator John Cornyn. They're going to hear testimony from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), CHMN., FOREIGN RELATIONS CMTE.: Is the reality will be what is going to happen on the ground next Monday and next Tuesday and next Wednesday and next month and I don't see anything that the surge is done to lead me to believe that the central purpose of the surge, which was to bring political reconciliation, meaning the Sunni stop killing the Shia and vice versa and stability to that region is anywhere in the offings.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Senator Cornyn told us a while ago that the testimony so far is a reaffirmation for him at least that the strategy is working in Iraq. He was also very critical of an advertisement in yesterday's "The New York Times" by the organization Moveon.org which called General Petraeus General Betray Us.

Congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins me now. What is the impact of this testimony so far other than what we heard from Senator Cornyn this morning?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know John, it's going to be very tough to turn around the intense anti-war sentiment that a lot of the squishy republicans, if you will, they're feeling back home. If a republican is looking for cover in this testimony yesterday, they found it. They found a general who is saying there is progress being made and they found a general who is now talking about troops coming home.

So the story line has changed but the reality is the policy really hasn't changed. We all knew that the so-called surge, 160,000 troops, that that would have to come down regardless at some point. He is accelerating that a little bit. The policy really hasn't changed very much.

Having said that, this is all politics and all perception. It is going to be a lot harder for democrats to convince those skittish republicans to vote for them on the withdrawal with a general with four stars on his soldier saying that's a policy for defeat.

ROBERTS: Yesterday's hearings provided a couple of moments when General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker's microphones didn't work and then Skelton and Burton on the Foreign Relations Committee and Skelton getting caught dropping the F bomb on a microphone he didn't know was open. How do you expect today's audience is going to differ from what we saw yesterday?

BASH: No disrespect to the distinguished members of the house, but this is going to be very different. We're going to have star powers. Two different committees where we have five presidential candidates that are well-known, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain. We also have the chairman, Joe Biden, and of course Chris Dodd.

They are going to be playing to their various constituencies on this critical issue to their candidacies of course but a lot more skepticism I think especially from republicans like John Warner and Richard Lugar and they have been very vocal in recent months against the president's policy against this very policy that General Petraeus is the author of and is going to come and talk about progress with.

ROBERTS: Certainly going to be interesting to watch. Dana Bash, thanks very much.

CHETRY: Another terror scare in Germany. Security tight at the American air base at Spangdahlem after someone called in a bomb threat last night. The person apparently threatened to blow up the base. German police are working on tracing the call and comes just a week after three were charged with plotting to blowup western targets in Germany.

And former Secretary of State Colin Powell says in an upcoming interview terrorism is not the biggest issue of our time. Talking to "GQ" magazine, Powell says immigration issues are more important. He also painted a picture of the occupation that was not quite as rosy as Former Defense Chief Donald Rumsfeld, also interviewed for the magazine. In fact, Powell in the article describes the way it was handled as, "the big mistake."

ROBERTS: New pictures in of U.S. nuclear experts arriving in North Korea today. They will spend five days checking out North Korea's nuclear facilities looking for the best way to disable them. This is all considered a good sign that North Korea is going to follow through on its agreement to shut down its nuclear program.

And Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is giving back $850,000. The money was raised by Norman Hsu who is under investigation now for allegedly violating election laws. Hsu is accused of reimbursing donors for their campaign contributions in order to get around limits on donations.

CHETRY: Time to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning. Our Jacqui Jeras is tracking extreme weather and also big cool down in the Midwest.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, a new message from the parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann. Monita Rajpal is live in London at our World Update desk with more for us.

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.

Gerry McCann, Madeleine's father, posted a message, he posted a blog on the Web site created for Madeleine shortly after she disappeared. On the message he said he and his wife Kate had nothing to do with her abduction. Of course, this comes, as we understand now, that Portuguese police have filed and given in most of the papers -- most of the papers that are part of the investigation to Portugal's prosecutor, who will then go through all of the information that the police have to determine whether or not there's enough evidence, enough information to charge the McCann's, whether or not there is not enough information for police to go back to search for more or just not to do anything at all.

Of course, right now, once all the papers have indeed been handed over to the Portuguese prosecution office, that will be then determined.

This is all happening as there are conflicting reports over the DNA that was found in the car that was rented by the McCann's. There are some reports saying the DNA that was found was a true match to that of Madeleine McCann, but other reports are saying it's not a full sample. In fact, it may have been just a partial sample which means it could have been transported from clothing or from toys. That conflicting information the prosecutor's office will have to be determined at this time -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Monita Rajpal for us at the World Update desk, thank you -- John.

ROBERTS: There is new research out on one of the most common artificial sweeteners around, aspartame. That is in thousands of foods and drinks and has been for years but is it safe? It's a question people have been asking for a long time. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta with the details of one new study about it. What did the study find, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is interesting. As you mentioned, this is one of the most popular artificial sweeteners out there. It's been around for a long time. Lots of different products you mentioned John, chewing gum and various candies and sodas and even flavored waters have this ingredient aspartame. It is controversial for more than a decade now.

The study you mentioned was funded by Ajinomoto, the company that makes aspartame. That is worth pointing out. They actually hired an independent lab to actually look at this product and try to determine its safety. They concluded that it is safe and the doses that people typically take and that it -- it is not associated with weight gain which is another concern about this particular product that these type of sweeteners can cause actually weight gain. This is the company that makes the product.

We decided to actually try and look at the broad amount of evidence out there and try to put it together for you. The American Dietetic Association has 200 studies regarding aspartame they talk about and they also conclude that it is safe in terms that it doesn't produce cancer nor does it seem to be associated with weight gain. The FDA is really looking at this since 1981. Also concluding that it's safe. The company, you know we talked to them about this specifically. They said they conducted these studies but because they wanted to put the most current rumors to rest about this particular product -- John.

ROBERTS: Sanjay, when a company itself funds a study, even if it's an independent laboratory, can be assured that is the real deal? What about the other sweeteners on the market like Splenda comes to mind? Are those considered safe as well?

GUPTA: First of all, with regards to the study, that is exactly why we decided to look at the other studies that exist from other laboratories not associated with the particular company that makes aspartame. Again, there is 200 studies at the American Dietetic Association site and the FDA has been looking at this since 1981.

There are other sweeteners out there. You can see a list of them on the screen everything from saccharin to sucralose. These are the type of sweeteners out there and they have also been somewhat controversial. With regards to saccharine, specifically, 20 years ago the FDA proposed a ban on saccharine. There was concern that it was linked to bladder cancer and in fact, congress passed an act the Saccharine Labeling Act which put a ban on it at the time. 25 years later and 30 studies later it appears to be safe and does not appear to have any links to bladder cancer.

Sucralose which is the bottom one on that study, is known as the brand name Splenda. That's been widely studies, about 100 different studies, looking to possible relationships to cancer and obesity. Again, it appears to be safe based on the hundred studies, many of them independent studies. Now, the dose I should point out with aspartame that would need to cause any kind of problem is about 50 milligrams per kilogram, that's about 15 to 20 cans of soda a day which is quite a bit -- John.

ROBERTS: Yes, you don't want to be drinking that but there are probably some people who do. Dr. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: Mitt Romney robbed. Your quick hits now. The presidential candidate spokesman says there was a break-in at campaign headquarters in Boston. Several computers and a TV gone. Romney says it does not appear to be politically motivated.

Several anti-war protesters made a scene at the Petraeus hearing yesterday. Capitol Hill police said they were shouting in the seats and in the hallway. Cindy Sheehan was one of nine people arrested and one other protestor was charged with assault on a police officer.

Well we've heard from protestors. We've also heard from the general but what do soldiers who have fought in Iraq have to say about the war and the current strategy? We're going to talk to some veterans and get a view from the frontlines still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Just over an hour's time, senators will get their chance to hear from General David Petraeus, Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. After their testimony yesterday, I had the chance yesterday to talk with some soldiers who served in Iraq and get their perspective on it. Here is what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: One of the biggest complaints by critics is this surge was supposed to give breathing space to the Iraqi political machine to enable it to engage in this process of reconciliation, yet they have failed and therefore because they have failed the surge has failed. What do you say?

CAPT. ROSE FORREST, VOTEVETS.ORG: The surge is a military solution. I was stationed in Ramadi, capital of Anbar and I saw the big improvements that took place in al Anbar and those were diplomatic changes. Those were changes with the army and the marines working with local leaders, building a local police force that had nothing to do with the surge, so I don't think that the surge had anything to do with the substantial improvements made in al Anbar.

ROBERTS: Has the surge done anything then?

That's a long pause before an answer!

STAFF SFT. DAVID BELLAVIA, FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE FOR FALLUJAH: I will jump in on what you were saying but I think it's, without a doubt, that the surge has accomplished something. The point of the matter is Rumsfeld was about the D.O.D. having the end an-all solution to what is going on in Iraq. Agriculture and department of labor coming in today and people understand the key to Iraq might not be -- obviously, its instability but they don't have a central bank and when a soldier wants to cash a check he has to hitchhike and go home to Kirkuk and these are issues but centrally when you look at the surge you're seeing bad guys.

CAPT. VERNICE ARMOUR, MARINE CORPS HELICOPTER PILOT: The infrastructure you're talking about but if the military and policing power isn't there to what you go back to, get the chicken or the egg, where do we start and how do we get there?

SGT. KAYLA WILLIAMS, SERVED WITH 101ST AIRBORNE: I thought Ambassador Crocker made really good points too about how Saddam completely destroyed of all the institutions and all of the organizations other than the bah party and what the military presence hopefully is doing is allowing some of those institutions to take root.

ROBERTS: Captain Forrest, you were a mortuary officer when you were over there. You accompanied the bodies of soldiers and marines who died fighting this war in Iraq. Did you ever say to yourself as you saw the body count mount, is it worth it? How long can this go on?

FORREST: Actually, when I would home at night I had to pass by a detention facility where we kept suspects and insurgents until they were interrogated and I would hear them singing their prayers and I began to feel that I could understand why somebody could categorically hate a group of people. Because I was so upset and I put that blame on the Iraqi people. The more I got to get out with the community and work with more people, I saw there's a lot of good people in Ramadi who wanted to make their community better and I think that through those situations, working with those people, building schools and hospitals, I did have hope we can do good in Iraq and we can succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Some thoughts from veterans of this Iraq war. CNN will have live coverage as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker testify again today and that should happen around 9:30 eastern time this morning.

CHETRY: Beefing up security, your quick hits now. The Homeland Security Department announcing some new rules today for private planes. Pilots coming from overseas will be required to give passenger names and birth dates an hour before take off so that custom agents have time to check the names against terror watch list. There's a similar rule taking effect for commercial planes in February.

CNN also has learned the three terror suspects arrested in Germany last week may have known they were being watched. A source close to the investigation says that suspects overheard a police officer say they were on a federal watch list while at a traffic stop. Still they were arrested before they could carry out any plan.

And it's a milestone for the Apple iPod. It was reached earlier than expected. Ali Velshi will have the story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-three minutes past the hour now. Ali Velshi is "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS" and talking about his favorite subject, iPhone.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Am not talking about that. I said I'm done talking about Apple. We talked about the price cut and last week, Apple announced it sold 100 million iPods and now announced it has sold 1 million iPhones in 74 days since the iPhone was launched, that's what it took them to sell 1 million of them. It took them -- how long did it -- it took them two years to sell 1 million iPods.

So this is the speed at which this has been going. They cut the prices on the iPhones last week from $599 for the eight gig version to $399 meant to accelerate the sales so apparently it's going to work. That's quite a number, a million of these things people were buying and adopting even at that expensive price. The million was sold before they slashed the price.

CHETRY: It seems a little bit more tried and true. Before the iPod, you were asking people to shift technology in a huge way and everyone carrying around CD players.

VELSHI: Now everyone knows how the iPod and iPhone works. It will be a while and folks if you want one of those I phones you can get it for less money. I'm not talking about this again this week! It is over! No more Apple and no more iPhone or iPod.

CHETRY: Likely story. Thanks Ali.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360" airs weeknights 10 p.m. Eastern. Anderson Cooper is here with a look on what is his program tonight.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Kiran, tonight and all week from Iraq we're checking the facts on the ground so you can make up your own minds about the war. We have a team of CNN's best along with us covering what is working and what isn't. With 160,000 American troops trying to hold the country together. 360 tonight, 10:00 p.m. eastern, live from Baghdad -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Thank you, Anderson. Here is a look at a story coming up you can't miss. Two tiny miracles amid the nightmares of 9/11, John.

ROBERTS: You'll meet a set of twins born on September 11th, 2001. What do their parents remember about the day the twins were born? We'll have that story for you and more when AMERICAN MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Huge American flag draping the side of the Pentagon this morning on this sixth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. We'll be checking with our Barbara Starr in a couple of minutes what is going on there at the Pentagon and progress on that memorial to the 184 victims of the September 11th attack on the Pentagon.

CHETRY: Here's a live look right now as well at Ground Zero in New York City where you still see the construction site where we will be rebuilding the freedom tower. About 15 minutes from now the moment of silence when the first plane struck the north tower. A big of change here as well. The Ground Zero ceremonies this morning will not take place at the actual site. It's an active construction site. Instead across the street at a park. They are still allowing the families to descend down into the ramp to the bedrock that many of them still consider hallowed ground.

ROBERTS: Welcome back. Thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It is Tuesday, September 11th. I'm John Roberts in Washington, D.C.

CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.

ROBERTS: Today, the senate hears testimony from and puts questions to the U.S. Commander in Iraq General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. General Petraeus says he will recommend sending home 2 ,000 troops this month and possibly another 5,000 in December and reduce the total number of troops in Iraq to 130,000 from the current level of 160,000 by the middle of next July.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETRAEUS: I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level of brigade combat teams by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains that we have fought so hard to achieve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: However, General Petraeus did not make any predictions about more troops coming home after next summer. He says he does not want to project too far in the future. He says that's a conversation in six months time or so.

Democrats on the panel stayed away from criticizing Petraeus at the hearing but Republicans still angry about attacks on the general leading up to his testimony. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. IKE SKELTON (D), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: General Petraeus who sits here before us is almost certainly the right man for the job in Iraq. But he's the right person three years too late and 250,000 troops short.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), RANKING MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: It's an outrage that we spent the last week prepping the ground, bashing the credibility of a general officer whose trademark is integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Particularly nasty ad against General Petraeus calling him General Betray Us was posted in yesterday's "New York Times" sponsored by Moveon.org, the liberal Web site. It may have fueled the republicans' answer and subdued the democrats from harsh attacks yesterday -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, a powerful bomb diffused by police in Turkey this morning, that bomb planted in a van in a crowded section of Ankara. Police used bomb-sniffing dogs to locate that vehicle.

And Israeli forces and Palestinians exchanging fire today in northern Gaza. A Palestinian rocket hit an Israeli army base wounding as many as 69 soldiers. Many of them were sleeping at the time. Israel retaliated. Palestinian sources say the Israeli shell hit a house but that there were no serious injuries.

ROBERTS: This morning at the Pentagon, a ceremony will honor the 184 people who died there on September 11th, six years ago.

Our Barbara Starr is live outside the Pentagon for us. What is planned for today, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, just over an hour from now, there will be, of course, a moment of silence at 9:38 in the morning when American Airlines flight 77 struck this building.

Six years later John, the memories for the people who were here that day, including myself and other members of the Pentagon press corps, still very intense and very personal. When you look behind me at the Pentagon rebuilt, it is amazing to remember what happened that day. That roof line collapsing, holding for 30 minutes though to allow thousands of people to escape.

This was a place where Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld simply refused to leave. He refused to shut down the Pentagon so that it will really be written in military history this place, under attack, stayed open that day. Everyone was here. The next day, thousands of people showed up to work.

This was a place where the motto was no retreat, no surrender, and six years later, I must say, John, those memories for everyone who was here that day remain very intense, very personal.

As you said a few minutes ago, the Pentagon memorial is under construction for the 184 people who died here. They hope to have it open by this time next year -- John.

ROBERTS: Barbara, it was remarkable how quickly they rebuilt the Pentagon after that attack. Why has it taken now six years and a total of seven years for this memorial to be in place?

STARR: Well, it's a bit of a different story. The rebuilding of the Pentagon, of course, was funded by the government. And it was a real goal that they set. They wanted this building rebuilt and people back in their offices to show the world, frankly, that the Pentagon was not going to be impacted, not going to be hurt by a terrorist attack.

The memorial is being privately funded. It is a private foundation. It is going to cost $22 million. They have $14 million raised already. They're working a way at it. They hope to get more funds of course to finish it off but this really is a labor of love from the families and the survivors of the attack here, trying to get the money together to finish off the memorial.

ROBERTS: It's a memorial elegant in its simplicity as well. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: The first moment of silence will be marked in lower Manhattan the next few minutes when loved ones will honor the lives lost when the twin towers came down. This anniversary is bittersweet for one family whose memories of this day are quite different for most.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is in lower Manhattan right now with their story.

Good morning, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, good morning to you.

As thousands of family members pause to remember what happened on 9/11 six years ago, one family in Greenwich, Connecticut is doing the same but they are also celebrating because on this day, exactly six years ago, they got the ultimate gift.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): While lower Manhattan was in chaos, Lori Winthrop was in labor, husband Matt by her side, giving birth to twin girls. She was six weeks early. It was not supposed to happen on September 11th.

LORI WINTHROP, DAUGHTERS BORN ON 9/11/01: That's all the TVs are on. The TVs, all of the TVs and all of the rooms and everybody was very focused on what was going on.

CHO: Except for the Winthrop's.

MATTHEW WINTHROP, DAUGHTERS BORN ON 9/11/01: All of the external things on 9/11.

L. WINTHROP: Disappear.

M. WINTHROP: World Trade Center, it just, it shot out of the camera. The doctor said you're going to have babies today and everything went blank.

CHO: That was six years ago. Today, Sidney and Jennifer are celebrating their sixth birthday but there will be no party on this day. Lori and Matt don't think it's appropriate. So the party will be on Sunday. Over the years, the girls with a birth date no one could forget have become local celebrities and have grown up in the public eye.

WINTHROP: Thank you.

CHO: This year, they're entering the first grade. Along with reading and writing, they're also beginning to understand what happened the day they were born.

(on camera): When you guys were born on September 11th.

WINTHROP: We know! A airplane crashed into a building.

WINTHROP: A building.

WINTHROP: And some of mommy's friends died in there.

CHO (voice-over): Lori says the girls, at first, thought they were responsible.

L. WINTHROP: So they figured they must have had something to do with it so they thought did we kill everybody?

CHO: And even now.

WINTHROP: Born on September 11th.

WINTHROP: When?

WINTHROP: '01.

WINTHROP: Then there is that year? And about a three-second pause where we already know but their brain, oh, wow!

CHO: Lori envisions a day where people will eat cupcakes instead of cry on 9/11. The girls, a constant reminder, that something good did happen on that horrible day.

L. WINTHROP: That's what they give back. Maybe they give back a little bit of happiness, what is supposed to be a sad day.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: Lori Winthrop is always mindful that her twins were born on 9/11. In fact, she often says in order for a soul to come into this world, another soul has to pass, but she says so many souls did not have to pass on that day, Kiran. She says there only needed to be room for two.

CHETRY: Wow. What a touching story. Do the Winthrop's say they ever wish their kids were not born on September 11th so they could change things?

CHO: Lori Winthrop, it's interesting you say that Kiran, says if she could do it all over again she would not have the twins on 9/11 of course but she says it was not her choice, it was God's choice and she often says for her to question that is really insensitive. She says the real tragedy, the real terrible nature of that day is what happened to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, not what happened to her. She received a gift.

CHETRY: When you see the two of them, it just shows you how, you know, how many years have gone by. They were tiny little newborns and now they're running around and talking. It's very cute.

Alina, thanks for bringing us that story.

CHO: My pleasure.

ROBERTS: Kiran, anniversaries can be painful and sometimes trigger memories that you would rather forget but modern medicine may be able to help. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from Atlanta with the latest on the thousands of people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder over 9/11 and what might be done to help them. Good morning.

GUPTA: Good morning.

Unfortunately, a lot of evidence now growing body of research after 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan about post-traumatic stress disorder but there's also new technologies and new thoughts on how best to deal with it.

A couple of very interesting ones. First of all, just using a medication known as propranolol which is a blood pressure medication, at the time of the event, at the time of the trauma, there's a lot of research shows if you give this medication, what it does, it sort of reduces that adrenaline surge that is often associated with the traumatic event and, as a result of reducing that, it sort of keeps the memories from getting seared if you will, into the brain. It's sort of new in terms of its applications but a lot of people focusing on this in terms of giving this medication even in an emergency room to take away some of the possible PTSD symptoms later on.

Also really quick, John, also using video game technology. It sort of interested at looking at this myself. I covered the war in Iraq for several weeks out in the spring of '03. They took me on this video game chamber, sort of surrounded your head and gave you sort of the auditory and visual sensory stimuli and it really took you back to these places. It was powerful. I went through it myself. The idea is reintroducing you to the traumatic events you may better learn how to deal with it. These are the emerging applications we've heard of.

ROBERTS: In terms of the medications are they effective years after the event or need to be applied soon after the event?

GUPTA: With regard to propranolol, which is this blood pressure medication, it does appear to be needed at the time of the event so this may not be something of use of people suffering years later now from PTSD from 9/11. But it's gotten to the point now where E.R. doctors are thinking about giving it in the emergency room after someone has had a traumatic event to reduce the effects of post- traumatic stress disorder later on in life.

ROBERTS: Some interesting stuff. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as always, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ROBERTS: The 9/11 commission topping your quick hits. Today in Washington, the former chair of the commission will provide their views in the progress and implementing the recommendations of the commission. They say, "We still lack a sense of urgency in this country in the face of grave danger."

A new internal report shows that the department of Veterans' Affairs distorted how long veterans forced to wait for medical care. The veterans' health innings says 95 percent of patients got an appointment within 30 days. The actual number, though, was 75 percent.

Marking the exact moment when our country changed forever. The nation remembers 9/11 with a moment of silence next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: There you see pictures this morning of remembrances of September 11th. The top left-hand corner is the west side of the Pentagon where at 9:37 six years ago, American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the building. The top right is the white house. I was walking into the white house literally the very moment that the plane hit the Pentagon and the chaos that erupted, Kiran, at that moment was just something that is seared into your memory forever.

CHETRY: Absolutely. Also near the bottom left-hand corner, we are seeing some the singing. We are hearing the sounds of the singing taking place at the ceremony down at the park across the street from ground zero. Some of the families really wanted to be able to be back at the site, however, now it's an active construction site so they did need to hold that ceremony across the street. They are going to be allowing a bit later, though, families to descend down into the area down a ramp and pay their respects. Hallowed ground for those who lost loved ones.

The bottom right, by the way, is St. Patrick's cathedral, also in New York, further up town around 50th Street and Fifth Avenue and that is where they will be having services is today as well to remember those who died on September 11th.

ROBERTS: You can see in the upper right-hand corner of your screen the color guard coming out of the White House as they have done every year at 8:46 this morning. There will be a ceremony to mark a moment of silence. President Bush should be involved in that, as well as other White House staff. I can recall back to the very first time they did that, it's quite a moving ceremony there on the south lawn of the White House.

One of so many ceremonies that will be taking place across the country this morning and though we do not have a live picture of it, there will also be another ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 9:55 this morning when flight 93 hit the ground. There is President Bush and the first lady coming out of the south portico of the White House along with Vice President and Lynne Cheney.

And what are we seeing at Ground Zero, Kiran?

CHETRY: We see the beautiful sounds of the bagpipers and hear them as we see members of the firefighters and police lining up as well and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, of course, the drums there. Let's listen in a bit.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Today marks the sixth anniversary. New Yorkers and as Americans, we 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. At this time, please join us and all New Yorkers in a moment of silence.

On that day, we felt isolated, but not for long and not from each other. New Yorkers rushed to the site, not knowing which place was safe or if there was more danger ahead. They weren't sure of anything, except that they had to be here. Six years have passed and our place is still by your side. As the poet William Blake wrote centuries ago, can I see another's woe and not be in sorrow, too?

CHETRY: So we're hearing from Mayor Bloomberg, as well as other New York politicians and dignitaries as they hold the services in remembrance of the September 11th attacks. AMERICAN MORNING is going to take a quick break and we will be right back.

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CHETRY: It's time to meet a CNN hero. Three months ago, suspected terrorists in Scotland slammed into the Glasgow airport and their car bursting into flames. What happened next has turned a baggage handler, who happened to be on a cigarette break, into a CNN hero.

Meet John Smeaton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN SMEATON: 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: Breaking news today. A car on fire has been driven into the Glasgow Airport in Scotland.

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

SMEATON: It was just, ah, that couldn't be. It was unfathomable. I was in this area here. And I seen a gentlemen 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 is going to help. I ran up and I try to kick the guy. And my friend, Michael, he had done the exact same thing as me.

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

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 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 back 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.

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CHETRY: Well to nominate a hero of your own, visit our Web site, CNN.com/heroes

ROBERTS: Here a quick look now at what the "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.

CHETRY: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM." 9/11 anniversary ceremonies this morning, live coverage.

A new taped message said to be from Osama Bin Laden praises a 9/11 hijacker.

The Iraq war and the forecast for a troop draw down. The American military commander for Iraq questioned today by senators.

Mugging suspect. Police say this woman brought her newborn along for the crime. "NEWSROOM" top of the hour on CNN.

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ROBERTS: Pictures from Ground Zero this morning as they are proceeding, as they do every year, with the reading of the names of the 2,750 people who died in the attack on the world trade center towers there in New York City. 8:46 was when the first plane hit the buildings. 9:30 this morning, they will have a memorial over at the Pentagon to honor the 184 people who died in that attack and later on this morning, Shanksville, Pennsylvania for the people aboard flight 93. And you know Kiran, even six years on, it never ceases to move the entire nation when these ceremonies take place.

CHETRY: You're absolutely right. And each year you remember the first year age September after September 11th, the wind was brutal that day blowing. Today, we have dreary weather. It was sort of fitting to see the raindrops falling on a pool of water there at the park.

Also, Mayor Bloomberg responded to pleas from several of the family members of people killed and is permitting the families to enter the trade center site today to lay flowers on a small area cleared of construction equipment. That is now an active construction site is why the ceremony are taking place across the street at a nearby park.

ROBERTS: And as Mayor Bloomberg told you earlier, this is probably the last time they will be able to hold these ceremonies in the pit because there will be full-blown construction site above ground this time next year.

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