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Nancy Grace
Credible Terror Threat to Washington, New York City; Remembering 9/11
Aired September 09, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A new terror threat against the United States now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very specific, credible threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quote, specific, credible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Al Qaeda possibly looking to strike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New terrorist threat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Specific and credible threat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Believed to involve three people and explosives such as a truck or maybe a car bomb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possible vehicle bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A vehicle laden with an explosive bomb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Potential al Qaeda plot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vehicles being used for the attack, as opposed to aviation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking for at least three people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A senior U.S. administration official tells CNN the individuals behind it have already arrived in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least two of the three alleged suspects are believed to be U.S. citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very specific, credible threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The intent of launching some kind of attack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will they raise the threat level?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The possibility of a terror plot against the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plot is real.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities are on high alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On or around the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RITA COSBY, GUEST HOST: And breaking news tonight. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, intelligence officials confirm a credible terrorist threat could hit the United States. U.S. officials fear vehicles carrying dangerous explosives, including possible dirty bombs, could target bridges and tunnels in the coming days.
While authorities tighten security, randomly searching cars and other suspicious items, investigators are now looking for three individuals believed to be involved in this terrorist plot that could be anywhere in this country. And sources say two of the suspects are American citizens.
For the very latest breaking news, let`s go to Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon. Chris, what`s the latest tonight?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rita. Right now, military, law enforcement and intelligence officials are all trying to run down information on this possible terrorist attack on the United States sometime this weekend.
They got this information from a very credible source, an informant, so to speak, in Pakistan. Intelligence sources say this is someone who provided credible information in the past. And the information he was giving them about this attack was fairly specific -- three men attacking New York and/or D.C., using a car or a truck bomb, specifically on or around the 9/11 anniversary. So a lot of information there, combined with the fact that he was a credible source led them to give a lot of credence to what he was saying.
The problem was what he didn`t say. Couldn`t give them an exact name, exact names of -- of names they may be flying under, when they may have entered the country, things like that. And so intelligence officials and law enforcement officials are still trying to piece this together and run this down. Of course, you`ve got the time element, too, in that the anniversary is Sunday.
COSBY: And Chris, I think one of the most significant points -- and we`re hearing now reports tonight that two of them may be Americans. And then there`s a report that maybe they came into the U.S. last month. Tell us about this American connection, which I think is so frightening.
LAWRENCE: Very frightening. But the thing is, Rita, that has been an al Qaeda goal for a long time now. Because we have increased security so much over the last, you know, eight, nine, 10 years, it is very difficult now for foreigners to come into the country, much more difficult than it was 10 years ago.
And so, al Qaeda has really begun recruiting American citizens, people who are in this country already legally. And they do so not only outside the country, but using the Internet, trying to recruit and sway people constantly and very aggressively over the Internet.
Of course, when you have American citizens, it makes it much, much more difficult for law enforcement officials. I am hearing, though -- I mean, Rita, when you talk to these guys, the people who track these threats, they will tell you the public would be shocked if they knew how much is out there, how many things they hear, how many threats that they hear, chatter, e-mails, things like that. All of it doesn`t get put out to the public because some of it is, frankly, nonsense. It never goes anywhere. There`s no possibility of it going anywhere.
What really, really, you know, lit the fire under this was the fact that they got all this information on Wednesday about a possible attack on Saturday or Sunday or Monday. That doesn`t give them a whole lot of time to piece this all together, to make some inroads, things like that. They had to make a very quick call about whether to put this out publicly and alert people ahead of time.
COSBY: Absolutely. And Julia Davis, former U.S. Homeland Security officer with national security background, you know, the words I`m hearing, too, from authorities, it`s a credible threat, it`s a substantial threat, it`s a specific threat. But then they also say it`s not confirmed. What`s your reaction to this lingo that you`re hearing?
JULIA DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICER: As average Americans, we have to realize that the government doesn`t want us to panic. But on the other hand, we have to realize that when they take it seriously enough to make this information public, we need to take this as a serious, credible threat.
COSBY: You bet. And Sheryl McCollum, the crime analyst, director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, you know, Sheryl, the other thing -- and I think Chris had a great point -- they are Americans. They could be anywhere in this country.
And the first thing I think about is the 9/11 attacks, I think of Mohammed Atta, who came into this country, one of the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks, lived in our country, spent time in our country. You know, even though he was hanging out in strip bars, of all things, in Boston and also down South, he was an American. How much more difficult does that make it for law enforcement?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: It is going to make it more difficult, but the thing we`ve got to remember, Rita, a lot of these security elements have already been in place. They`ve been watching people. So if there`s been somebody that`s been recruited, that person has been talking negatively about Americans and about the United States for an awful long time. People are noticing those people. So they`re going to make calls. Again, we`ve got information that they`re acting on quickly.
COSBY: And when you say that they`re acting on quickly -- that`s the problem, though, Chris. As you just said, they don`t have a big timeframe, and it`s a little bit nebulous. You know, it`s somebody coming in, it`s maybe a car bomb, maybe a vehicle bomb. But then who knows, it could be explosives. It could be a dirty bomb. It could be anywhere in America.
LAWRENCE: That`s right. But I think, Rita, the thing about this one was not only was it coming from a very credible source, according to intelligence officials, but that what we heard is actually pretty specific.
I mean, when you -- when they hear these things, they hear a lot of stuff that is a lot more ambiguous than that. The fact that it was three men, that they were targeting New York and/or D.C., that it was specifically going to be designed with a car or a truck bomb as the first option of attack, that is pretty specific for a lot of reasons, especially when it`s coming from a credible source.
When they say it`s not confirmed, what that means is they get this information from a credible source, then they start listening for a lot of al Qaeda chatter, other al Qaeda cells, e-mail, phone calls, wiretaps, things like that. And what they were looking for is other chatter to confirm what they heard.
COSBY: And Chris, by the way --
LAWRENCE: As far as I know, we haven`t --
COSBY: -- the other thing I understand, Chris --
LAWRENCE: -- they haven`t heard that.
COSBY: And Chris, the other thing I understand here is they didn`t hear a lot of chatter before this, and now suddenly, there`s this ramped-up chatter, which was sort of like 9/11.
LAWRENCE: That`s right. Coming just a few days before what you would think is the window of opportunity to attack, which obviously, you know, puts a lot of pressure on them. I don`t know if maybe it would have ramped up to this level if you didn`t have that time pressure there. If they heard the same thing but didn`t hear that this attack is going to be happening in three or four days, I don`t know if maybe you would have seen the same level of heightened security and the alerts that have gone out.
COSBY: And we have definitely seen a heightened alert all over the country, really, in major areas, New York City, Washington, D.C., outside the capital, New York Times Square. But really, everywhere in the country should be on alert because you never know what these guys -- they may be hinting at one thing, maybe putting out even false chatter. Sometimes that`s very difficult to discern.
You know, Julia Davis, former Homeland Security official, the other thing that I think is interesting that Chris hit on, that this is a source who has had a proven track record. And as someone -- I used to cover a lot of intelligence issues, still do quite a bit, and when you look at that, this is someone who has paid off before in a tip, right? So they can more bank on this one than some ambiguous source coming in, correct?
DAVIS: Absolutely. And especially since the bin Laden raid also confirmed that bin Laden was obsessed with striking on 9/11. So adding those factors combined definitely makes this that much more of a credible threat.
COSBY: Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst, how you to weed out a good tip, and how do you tell from someone who`s just sort of saying something from something that is absolutely solid or at least looks solid?
MCCOLLUM: Well, again, this person has given us good information before. And the details, the credibility is in the details. He knows the number of people. He knows two are Americans. He knows the cities that they`re looking at. He knows they`re no longer looking at aircraft, they`re looking at vehicles.
And I`ll tell you something. Last time, they used our stuff. It was our planes and our box cutters. So we`ve got to be very vigilant in looking at who`s looking at cars, trucks, who`s trying to rent something, who`s trying to buy something in New Jersey with cash and drive it over a bridge. It`s going to take all of us, Rita, to stay safe.
COSBY: And you know, Sheryl, one of the things I think is so heart- breaking -- here it is, it`s the 9/11 anniversary, it`s 10 years. This is a very somber, just such a difficult time for all of us in the country, so many emotions. But again, al Qaeda is capitalizing on that, isn`t it. They want the attention.
MCCOLLUM: They do. But let me tell you something. We`ve got some folks working for us that every second of every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year for 10 years has shut them down. We`re OK. They have done their jobs beautifully. They have stopped them every single time for 10 years, and they`re going to keep doing it. We are not stopping. And we are not afraid.
COSBY: No, and there`s some great people in our intelligence community --
MCCOLLUM: Amen.
COSBY: -- and I have a lot of faith in them, absolutely. Let`s go to Richard Roth, CNN U.N. correspondent, my buddy there. You know, you`re there at a place -- I bet there`s a lot of security around where you are. What`s the mood where you are outside and around the U.N.?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Officials have said that the security here has practically been doubled, and they were going to do that anyway because of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Now the entire world, it seems, will descend here in New York for the annual General Assembly high-level debate. That really kicks off September 19th.
So I have come into the U.N. building several times now over the last few weeks, and you see highly armed security, different divisions of New York police standing outside the U.N. I used to leave the U.N. at night, like it is now, and there wasn`t really that much visible outside. Now you`ll suddenly come across two policemen standing near a bush nearby. There`s definitely more eyes on this place. You have just so many high- level important people coming from all over the world.
The U.N. not far from the Ground Zero, as it is called, from the World Trade Center site. And the U.N. also honored those who lost their lives from over 90 countries in the towers today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first time in a long time we`ve heard the news, the buzzwords, "specific and credible."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S. officials are taking this threat seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And of course, that has everybody`s attention.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A new terror threat, al Qaeda possibly looking to strike 10 years to the day of the 9/11 attack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The worst terror attack ever on American soil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities are on high alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see something, say something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what we know about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Intelligence officials have specific, credible, but unconfirmed information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three individuals who might be involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Threat involves the possibility of a vehicle laden with explosives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With New York City and Washington as possible targets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re searching also for potential dirty bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York City is already on high alert.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you see something, say something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A major police presence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is being taken extremely seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See something, as the saying goes, say something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And breaking news tonight. We continue with a possible terror threat involving three American citizens, maybe two citizens, but authorities just getting the word in, putting many cities around the country on high alert.
Let`s continue with CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence. Chris, I want to ask about al Qaeda, the significance. Here we are, we`re heading into this 9/11 anniversary, very critical time. Osama bin Laden`s gone. Thank goodness we got rid of him. But now we still have Ayman al Zawahiri. He`s this number two who`s sort of taken over now.
Tell us about this and maybe the significance of why they may want to hit this particular weekend.
LAWRENCE: Well, Rita, let`s go back a few months to when the SEAL team conducted that raid in Osama bin Laden`s compound there in Pakistan. One of the key things that they pulled out of there was the revelation that Osama bin Laden was encouraging al Qaeda operatives to stage some sort of attack on the anniversary of September 11.
Now, we also knew there was some dissension in the ranks because not all the al Qaeda operatives agree with that line of thinking and some were not on board. There is -- there has been some chatter, according to some intelligence officials, that perhaps Ayman al Zawahiri is tied to this particular plot that was set up for this weekend.
COSBY: And how significant is that --
LAWRENCE: -- this alleged plot for this weekend.
COSBY: -- Chris -- how significant is it that the head guy now of al Qaeda may somehow be tied? That shows that there`s a big planning and a big importance, too.
LAWRENCE: You would think that, but remember back when everybody was saying bin Laden`s got diabetes, he`s on dialysis, he`s out of the picture, he`s not involved. Well, we came to find out he was very, very much involved. Ayman al Zawahiri, a lot of times, you would think he`s the number two. He`s got the same stature. But according to a lot of officials I speak with, he simply does not.
And although his name, again, has been mentioned in certain chatter, other officials I talked to say, Look, he`s been more concerned with staying alive than staging some big attack. So while possibly, yes, he accelerated some plan to coincide with this -- with this anniversary, other officials I speak to say, you know, they just don`t think he`s in that position at the moment.
COSBY: And let`s go to the callers. We`ve got Francine from North Carolina who`s on the line. Francine, what`s your question tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
COSBY: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to say that I, as a former soldier of the United States armed forces --
COSBY: Thank you for your service.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No problem. I would like to know -- I have two questions. First question is why is it so easy for foreigners to come into the U.S. and hard for U.S. citizens to enter into other countries (INAUDIBLE) And the other question is, I understand that 9/11 -- it was a devastating act for (INAUDIBLE) but it`s just -- it becomes very heightened during the time of 9/11. Why not bring home our U.S. soldiers and just focus on our country itself?
COSBY: Well, there`s a couple -- you got a couple questions there, first of all, Francine. But let me go -- let`s go to Susan Candiotti, CNN correspondent. And I think the caller, Francine, brings up a good point, the first one especially, where you talk about coming into this country. There was just a 9/11 commission report that came out that essentially said we still have a long way to go, that all these recommendations they made years ago -- we`re still a porous border, we`re still getting people in. We`re not ramped up enough, are we.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that`s certainly one of the things that they have pointed out. That is an issue that certainly everyone`s been trying to get their hands on for a long time -- their grip on it. They`re also trying to work off those communications, technically, that the radios don`t even work well enough, do they, between fire officials and law enforcement officials. They haven`t worked that out yet, Rita.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People in New York and Washington being told to stay alert.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just days before the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That Al Qaeda may want to mark 9/11 with another terror attack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This threat is emanating from Pakistan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S. intelligence officials intercepted communications from al Qaeda operative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Working assumption is the plot is real and the individuals behind it have already arrived in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three individuals may have entered the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York City is already on high alert with ceremonies set to take place at the World Trade Center site.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And breaking news tonight as we continue to talk about a possible terrorist strike. Sounds like something was significant in the works, and we are trying to discern what to do now, many cities around the country on heightened alert on this 9/11 anniversary.
Let`s go to James Ryder, 9/11 first responder, also a member of the New York Police Department. James, how voluminous is this in terms of security, any major city around the country? But in New York you`ve got the tunnels, you`ve got Times Square, you`ve got the bridges. How difficult is it to really maintain security here with this kind of a threat?
JAMES RYDER, 9/11 FIRST RESPONDER, RETIRED NYPD: The manpower of New York City Police Department has dropped, but that`s OK. It`s a very smart police department with a very good police commissioner and it will get through this. It takes every threat seriously until it`s proven otherwise. And we`ll do just fine. I`m confident.
COSBY: Yes, and they are -- I think they are phenomenal, but it is a massive, massive task. You`ve got to admit, you know, it`s a huge task to do, don`t you agree?
RYDER: Unlike anything else. Absolutely. And there are a lot of police officers that found out they weren`t going home today, I`m sure their families will miss them, but it`s for the right reasons.
COSBY: Absolutely. And we`re thankful that they`re out there.
Richard Roth, CNN U.N. correspondent, you know, the tip that we`re hearing -- it came from a tribal area in Pakistan, that porous Pakistan/Afghanistan border. I`ve been on the Afghan side. It is very, very difficult, very, you know, treacherous terrain, very hard for the U.S., even though we`ve got still boots on the ground there.
How significant is it that it came from Pakistan, that it looks like we`ve got an informant inside? And I guess the question from a relations standpoint -- remember, when Osama bin Laden, we`d go after him, we didn`t tell the Pakistanis because we didn`t trust them. How are the relations now between Pakistan and the U.S.? Is this a sign of improvement?
ROTH: I would say they`re somewhat diplomatically fragile. I think we`ll have to know by Monday whether something happens and who these people are and what their connections are. It`s sad that it may take an attack to provide intelligence agencies with some fresh meat to really -- in terms of information, to really trace it back, walk it back to find out perhaps since this will be the first significant attack, if it even took place, that they would be able to have some actionable intelligence to move after something like this happens.
The Pakistanis have constantly said that they are on the hunt for terrorists. The U.S. has certainly increased, whether it`s drone attacks, more surveillance. The U.S. needs Pakistan in that part of the world, a nuclear nation, constantly at odds with nuclear neighbor India. They`re constantly trying to patch things up. It`s really a frustrating situation. And Pakistan is not a favorite, I`m sure, of many people in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doesn`t have to be that large of an attack. A couple of individuals with handguns, explosives, assault rifles, vehicles carrying any number of incendiary or explosive devices could do a great deal of damage without having the sophistication of the planning that was required for 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at your world through the prism of September 11th.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really frightens me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The possibility of a vehicle laden with explosives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is being called a credible September 11th terror threat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tunnels, at bridges, subway stations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go again, a major police presence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They believe that this involves potentially three people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At check points just like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make sure you`re on the lookout.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police officers are not only visually scanning vehicles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep your eyes open, you see something as the saying goes -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But they`re also pulling aside trucks and vans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And breaking news tonight, America on alert with word of a possible terrorist attack. Beefed up security all over the country and including in major cities.
Let`s continue with Sheryl McCollum. She is a crime analyst.
Sheryl, I have to ask you about home grown terror. Because we hear, what I think is so troubling about all of this, is that two of them are Americans. We don`t know if they were born here, they came here just recently, or they have been here for a while, whatever the case is, this is, I always think, so concerning and we are seeing an increase of home grown terror in our country, right?
MCCOLLUM: Sure. We have seen it before, Oklahoma City with Timothy McVeigh. Again, these people tend to be extremely vocal. They have sent Facebook messages and e-mails, I mean, they have talked to friends at nauseam about their hatred for this country. If you know someone like that, report it. You don`t have to be right that they`re a terrorist, but give us somebody to look at. Let the people do their job who know how to scan these folks and profile what is going on or may be going on with them. They`re not trying to hide who they are at all. They`re truly not.
And I`m going to tell you again, if they come into this country, everything they`re going to use against us they have to get once they`re here. So they have got to obtain the car. They have got to obtain the things for the dirty bomb. They have got to obtain the truck. You know, come from here. So, please, pay attention when people are trying to buy things or rent things and you know there is just not something right.
COSBY: You know those are great points. Let`s go to Doctor Lee Van Oker (ph), emergency room physician.
Doctor Van Oker (ph), when you hear this and before we were talking about dirty bombs, talking about explosives, are emergency rooms prepared, I would assume this weekend, based on this threat, that we would also see hospitals also on alert?
DOCTOR VAN OKER, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Yes, actually they are. I mean, they prepare all year long for mass casualties, disaster, you know, natural disasters like floods and things, and they have these repertoires that they go over with first responders.
But even in this state of Maryland, our secretary of health just sent out an alert to all physicians to say, you know, these are the things to watch for. I mean, people worry about bioterrorism. So clusters of patients coming in with the same symptoms is a trigger you to report in things. So emergency medicine is not only our health care safety net, but it is our public health safety net too and we cooperate with homeland security.
COSBY: Let`s go to Leslie Suppinni, clinical psychologist. You know Leslie, you hear all this, you hear the dirty bombs you hear this. How do we take comfort? How do we stay calm?
You know we heard from Mayor Mike Bloomberg in New York City saying, you know, we have to still do our jobs. We have to go about business. I thought it was a great gesture. He took the subway despite some threats. He said I`m taking the subway. I`m not letting these terrorists take over. What do you say from a psychological standpoint?
LESLIE SUPPINNI, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think Mayor Bloomberg is doing the right thing. I think Governor Cuomo needs to do the right thing also and everybody needs to come forward who say state official who has any impact that can affect keeping the city stable and feeling relaxed and less panicked should do so. And that means being very highly visible. That means going out and doing what they normally do.
I also think people need to be prepared. You know, prevention is everything. So you need to sit and talk to your kids. I think schools need to come together with parents and teachers and talk to kids in groups, not just alone. Some parents don`t know when to say or what to do. So, there are a lot of things we can do differently this time that we weren`t able to prepare for last time.
And the biggest thing is communication. And some of these parents are going to have to turn their TVs off and talk to their kids privately and show them other activities. So we really need to be very careful about how we vocalize what is going on and not in sue panic.
COSBY: Absolutely. Then on the other hand, better be safe than sorry, sort of that balance. You know Richard Herman, defense attorney. You know, balancing, again, sort of also the rights of individuals. You know, people getting stopped, vans getting checked, people being pulled out of their cars, being questioned. You know some people saying, gosh, OK, this is my rights, you`re infringing on my rights. On the other hand, we got to prevent a terrorist attack, especially if we have credible information. How do you balance that?
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, we have to balance it, Rita, and nice to see you again. Listen, this environment is a powder keg right now in New York City. And while, you know, Mayor Bloomberg got on TV yesterday and Commissioner Ray Kelly and their mostly New Yorkers highly respect them.
But had they told you that just go about your ordinary business, how can you possibly do that when there are police almost on every corner there are bomb-sniffing dogs all over the place, roadblocks and road checks, there are sirens going off, there are lights going up and down the city, I mean, everybody is on edge.
And Rita, the families come every year down to 9/11, they read the names off of the departed loved ones and now this year they have to deal with even more anxiety and tension and threat. You know, it is one thing to say, don`t think of the color red, but that`s exactly what you think of. And here, you know, as resilient as New Yorkers are, it is a very uncomfortable situation. You`ve got police officers and 18, 19, 20 years old now patrolling, you know. This potentially could be a big problem this weekend. I hope not, and I hope that our intelligence is wrong and we get through this weekend, but -
COSBY: We all do.
HERMAN: It is a little scary, yes.
COSBY: You talk about the families. I want to bring in Brian Clark, a 9/11 survivor. He was in one of the World Trade Towers, one of the Twin Towers.
And you know Brian, your story is incredible. We`re hearing about all the security and everything else, I`m sure you`re thinking back at that day, 10 years ago. Tell us what happened to you.
BRIAN CLARK, 9/11 SURVIVOR (via telephone): Well, 10 years ago I was on the 84th floor of the south tower. The second tower to be hit, and at 9:03 I was still on that floor when the second plane went in about six floors below me. Our room just fell apart in an instant.
I had volunteered to be a fire marshal, safety marshal our floor, so I happened to have the flashlight in my pocket. From 17 minutes earlier when the first plane hit next door, and I shined it around the dusty, dark room and led six people out of our section of the floor into the stair well. We only went down three floors when we met a heavy set woman coming up the stairs who insisted that we not go any lower and I was then distracted by a banging noise inside the 81st floor. And as I went in on the 81st floor, all my friends started down with as well as the heavy set lady, all went up the stairs and died that day.
I was able to get inside the 81st floor and found a fellow buried, got him out of the rubble, learned his name was Stanley, we became brothers at that moment, and a total stranger at the moment, but back to the stairs we went and I shined my light down and I just knew I wanted to go and see if those flames were threatening or not. We dug through debris, and on the 74th floor we got through it and by about four minutes to 10:00 we got out of the building, out of the south tower and a couple of blocks out by trinity church, out of the building about four minutes when we turned around and it collapsed.
COSBY: You know, we just showed a picture of Stanley, you and Stanley, and amidst all the things we`re hearing and it is obviously concerning about all these terror threats, Brian, I think it is such a wonderful story how the two of you have bonded through a very difficult tragedy. The two of you have become good friends. This is the man you saved his life that day.
CLARK: Well, we, when anyone thinks of who are your friends, they`re really the people that you had an experience with or shared many experiences with, well, our experience was special and, yes, we are still good friends. One of us calls the other every couple of months and we stay in touch. We live some distance from each other, so it is not easy to be at each other`s homes or anything, but we certainly stay in touch.
COSBY: What a great story. Let`s go to the caller, Linda from Mississippi, on the line. Linda, what`s your question tonight.
LINDA, CALLER, MISSISSIPPI: Hi.
COSBY: Hi there.
LINDA: Hi. My question is what has happened to American patriotism? Just today on Facebook I had to report a page because it was talking against our country. It was talking against our troops. It was it had sexually explicit pictures of children and everything on it. What has happened? I was brought up, you love your country.
COSBY: You bet. And, Linda, this is the greatest country in the world. This is absolutely the greatest country in the world. And I feel blessed to be an American. I hope everybody else out there listening feels the same way. And we have to protect our freedoms too. Thank you for the call.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officials believe that while this plot may involve vehicles with bombs, they say they cannot rule out other means. A joint intelligence bulletin says al Qaeda has considered using attacks with small arms, homemade explosives and poisons.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New terror threat against the United States now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Specific, credible, but unconfirmed threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new terror threat against the United States, uncovered again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All hands on deck effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just learning that at least two of the three alleged suspects are believed to be U.S. citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police officers are getting a good look at the vehicles as they come by, one by one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the plot may involve car bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The possibility of a vehicle laden with explosives, either in New York or Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re ramping up more officers, putting more people on duty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cops in New York are inspecting trucks at all checkpoints around the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And using license plate readers to check on any suspicious vehicles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bag searches at these locations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to watch out where we go, what we do, who we are with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look out for anything unusual.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Local, state, government officials are telling Americans keep your eyes open.
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COSBY: And home grown terror, breaking news tonight with Americans on alert with word of a possible terror threat.
Let`s go to CNN`s Susan Candiotti. Susan, real quickly, I want to ask you about the fact that now cells are being told, OK, go out, do this attack, and y yet you`re sort of on your own when you want to do it, how you want to do it. There is a bit of a sort of autonomy if you will and I think that makes it more difficult for law enforcement, don`t you think?
CANDIOTTI: Well, it can be if that`s what happened here. But we don`t know the details of exactly what did. But certainly there is that possibility. And if that`s the case, then, yes, that certainly could be more dangerous.
You know, what we do know is that there are at least three people involved here. Exactly what those three people involved here, exactly what those three people each, what their role might have been for each one, whether they were all working together on a single mission, putting explosives in a car or in a truck, that`s the current information they`re working from right now, we don`t know. Were they supposed to be in the same vehicle, were they supposed to be in different vehicles?
It makes you think a little bit about the Nashibala assassin (ph) subway plot where in fact they had more than one backpack, at least three people that were said to be involved in that, two of them have pleaded guilty in that effort and they were going to go into three different subway stations. But, again, so little specifics are known about this particular threat that it is hard to say what the plan was and how dangerous it could have been and how far reaching it could have been and the different methods and what targets they were after.
COSBY: And James Ryder, 9/11 first responder. You just you heard from Susan, sort of all these details and yet no specific threat. How difficult is that as, you know, someone says someone with local law enforcement around the country? What do they look for specifically when it is so nebulous?
JAMES RYDER, 9/11 FIRST RESPONDER: After a while as a police officer, you need to or you`re trained to look for something that is out of the norm. Tragically with terrorism today, everything seems to be in the norm and that`s their want. They want to break out of their religion to make themselves look like they belong in a community until the time comes. We look for that as well and wee lie on intelligence to get the information we need.
COSBY: Let`s go Claudia from North Carolina on the line. What`s your question tonight?
CLAUDIA, CALLER, NORTH CAROLINA: Yes, ma`am. I`m from Stanford, North Carolina, close to Fort Bragg. Is there going to be a heightened alert all over the United States?
COSBY: That`s a great question. Let`s go to Julia Davis, former homeland security official. Julia, I think a lot of places, particularly military installations, Claudia is right near Fort Bragg, a major base, I think a lot of these places will be on extra security, don`t you?
JULIA DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: I believe so. We cannot get locked into thinking that we or assume we know exactly what is going to happen so we have to be vigilant and use common sense. Any targets of potential interest we have to keep our eyes open and military installations would definitely seem to be in that category.
COSBY: Let`s go to Jude from Indiana who is on the line. Jude, what`s your question tonight?
JUDE, CALLER, INDIANA: Hi, Rita.
COSBY: Hello.
JUDE: You look so beautiful tonight, by the way.
COSBY: Thank you. I`ll take all the compliments I can get. What`s your question?
JUDE: Well, I`m actually an Oklahoma City survivor. One of my questions is, my son is going back into military in October, I want to know did anybody from the military ask specifically is someone taking credit for this threat? Is anyone taking responsibility?
COSBY: That`s a great question. Let`s go to Susan Candiotti, CNN correspondent. Has there been anybody claiming responsibility, which sometimes happens trying to even boast that they had something to do with this threat, even if it is just putting all of us on alert, Susan?
CANDIOTTI: Well, certainly, Rita, what we do know is there has been a lot of chatter, a lot of chatter, even in the days and weeks leading up to this anniversary. And the latest chatter that intelligence officials are monitoring includes people saying that al Qaeda is now number one leader who is Ayman al-Zawahiri, is said to be behind this particular mission. Again, that`s just chatter at this time. It is not been confirmed but it is just one more piece of this puzzle.
And you know the other thing that is happening now, Rita, is that people working at the national counterterrorism center are working this data 24/7. They have bits and pieces of information to go with. And one of the things they try do is take all these data, for example, the names that they have been given and what we have been told about the names in this case is that they`re pretty common.
And so are they first names, are they last names that are common, are they, they`re looking at the possibility of being part of one name and see does it match up with anyone in their data banks? Who has been traveling to and from the United States lately? Imagine all those records they have to go through, all that data, but that`s what they`re, they have been doing around the clock, trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together.
COSBY: That is a massive task, Susan. To Richard Roth, CNN U.N. correspondent.
Your reflections, here it is 10 years later, Richard, and tell us about the ceremony that will take place this weekend.
ROTH: I was at home, there was about to be a meeting at CNN about the new nature of news, how we would cover it, because there was no news happening. And I was sent down to World Trade Center and I was there when the buildings collapsed and I ran from the cloud there and big ceremonies, the reading of the names again, tenth anniversary coming up on Sunday.
COSBY: All right, thank you very much. And tonight everybody, CNN heroes.
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PARNESS: September 11th was a very tough time for the fire department. I lost some friends, guys I went through the academy with. Then afterwards, people came from everywhere to help us out. It was incredible. You knew you weren`t alone.
CROWD: Thank you, guys.
JEFF PARNESS, CNN HEROES: As a New Yorker, to see that outpouring of kindness and outpouring of kindness and generosity is more powerful than the terror that happened. That really changed me.
I`m Jeff Parness and I just want to show the world that New Yorkers will never forget what people did for us following 9/11. Every year of the 9/11 anniversary, we take volunteers from New York and send them to some part of the country where folks had a disaster and help folks rebuild.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They pull up to town and it`s a culture shock.
PARNESS: Rebuilding homes or barns or churches, it`s our way to say thank you. Now more than half our volunteers are not from New York. People from all the small towns that we`ve helped, they keep showing up to help the next community. They`re from Louisiana, California, Indiana, Illinois. Every year you see more t-shirts from more locations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to pitch in as much as we can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After Katrina, we jumped on his bandwagon. This paying it forward thing is contagious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s like this big dysfunctional family reunion. Of all is the disaster survivors that get together and do a barn raising.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep banging nails and build something but it`s the relationships that help you heal.
PARNESS: It`s about using the 9/11 anniversary to celebrate the volunteer spirit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ll see y`all next year.
PARNESS: People say thank you for doing this. I said you want to thank me, show up on the next one.
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COSBY: And 10 years after the September 11th attacks, we remember those who lost their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today we`ve had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each of us that day was a victim.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw smoke coming out, everybody started running out. We saw the plane on the other side of the building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Violence that most of us had never even imagined in our life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there smoke everywhere. People were jumping out in the window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we suffer today in different ways from those September 11 moments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was another plane flying low. Before we know it, it`s just kamikaze into the other tower. It was horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is impossible to think of her as gone. And it will take a long time for me to absorb that. I know all of her friends feel that way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And even in the end, Barbara went down like the prize fighter she was using her most powerful weapon, her mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the ground beneath us trembled and our lives forever changed.
CHOIR SINGING: America, America god shed his Grace on thee
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COSBY: And tonight let`s stop to remember Army Sergeant first class Daniel Crabtree, 31 from Canton, Ohio killed in Iraq. An Akron university graduate with a degree in criminal justice. Awarded a bronze star, Purple Heart, army meritorious service medal. A police officer back home, he also served in s.w.a.t. Received the freedom of spirit award for youth drug prevention.
He loved kung fu, star wars and had one of the largest star wars memorabilia in Ohio. He even had a new star war novel dedicated in his honor. He leaves grieving parents Ronald and Judy, Brother Bill, Sister Deborah, Widow Casey, and daughter Meller. Daniel Crabtree, an American hero.
And as we head to this 9/11 anniversary and talk about the freedoms that we hold dear in this country, I want to share my American hero with all of you. My father, the quiet hero. Profiled in my best-selling book. He was a prisoner of war saved by U.S. troops.
Thank you to all our guests and our biggest thank you to you for being with us and inviting us into your homes. Good night, I`m Rita Cosby. And have a good and safe weekend.
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