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Remembering 9/11; CNN Films' "9/11: Fifteen Years Later"; Race for the White House; North Korea Nuclear Test Triggers Worldwide Condemnation; Syrian Cease-fire to Start amid Sticking Points; Paralympian Takes Second Gold; Ground Zero Missing Flag Found. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired September 11, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Remembering 9/11: people in the United States and around the world pause for the lives lost 15 years ago, those terror attacks that changed the world.
In Syria, just a day away now from a planned cease-fire but victims there, they are skeptical.
And a bit of regret. Hillary Clinton revises a comment that she made about Donald Trump supporters.
From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast, September 11th. This day 15 years ago, it was a day that forever changed the United States and the world. Terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers in New York, into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and into a field in Pennsylvania.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed September 11th, 2001. The attacks and the aftermath have shaped the United States in many ways but also have unified America, if only for a while.
Remembrances began Saturday to honor the memories of those who died. New York firefighters held a service at the cathedral in the city for parishioners killed in the attacks.
Here's a look ahead at some of the services to be held today remembering 9/11. A ceremony will be held at Ground Zero in New York Sunday morning. Two moments of silence set to take place observing the moment each plane hit the towers, the first at 8:46 am, that is when the first plane struck the North Tower. And the other at 9:03 am, when the second plane struck the South Tower. At 9:37 am, a moment of silence will be held to commemorate the moment
that Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and then the crash of Flight 93 that happened in Pennsylvania. A moment there will be held to observe the moment of silence there at 10:03.
Live images now in New York. You can see it is still very early, again, 5:02.
But you see that the new World Trade Center there is aglow. That is the site where the old site of the Twin Towers once stood.
Keep in mind as we are just waking here in the United States, in Jerusalem, they are now remembering that city is home to the only memorial outside of the United States that lists the names of all 9/11 victims.
And our Oren Liebermann is live outside the city with more on what's happening in today's remembrance -- Oren.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, the ceremony wrapped just a few minutes ago, a very powerful ceremony talking about the commemoration, the memory of what happened on that day not only affecting Americans but Israelis as well.
The memorial called the 9/11 Living Memorial is right here behind me. You can see they're taking a photo right now. But right behind where they're taking the photo, right behind the Israeli flag and American flag, are wreaths laid today in commemoration of 9/11 and behind that a part of the Twin Towers.
Its own powerful commemoration a part of the Twin Towers donated by the city of New York. Just behind that, 14 engraved tablets, listing the names of every victim of 9/11.
Shortly after the ceremony ended today, there were flowers handed out and laid on those tablets with all of those names, nearly 3,000 names, affecting the Americans, of course, also here affecting the Israelis as a powerful commemoration of what happened on that day.
The ceremony started with the national anthem, the U.S. national anthem, and then quickly went in to a moment of silence.
Let us take a look at that moment of silence and pause on our own here just outside of Jerusalem for a moment.
Part of the group here, not only Israelis but also Americans is a group of 50 American police officers and sheriffs, who've come to commemorate the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
Here some of those were first responders in New York on 9/11 from the New York Police Department and the New York State Police.
And I asked the head of the delegation what is it like to be here, not to be in the U.S., on the 15th anniversary commemorating 9/11 outside of the U.S. here in Israel?
Here's what he had to say.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could not be prouder to stand with our police colleagues here in Israel to commemorate that anniversary and to know that they share our grief and they remember those men and women who died tragically on that terrible day, including 72 law enforcement officers, who died trying to save and help those innocent people that were in need.
This was, in fact, the deadliest day in American law enforcement history, 9/11.
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LIEBERMANN: A powerful point made by the American ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, who spoke a while ago. He said there's now a growing population of Americans and others who don't remember that day firsthand. He said --
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LIEBERMANN: -- it's incumbent upon us, upon everyone, to teach that generation, to teach each year of the new population and make them learn as if it was firsthand what it was like on that day on 9/11. A very powerful message, a very powerful ceremony here to commemorate -- George.
HOWELL: 12:05 in Jerusalem, where our Oren Liebermann is live.
Oren, thank you so much for being with us and showing us how people are remembering there in Jerusalem today.
As soon as the first plane crashed into the North Tower, most people started to run away from the chaos. That is what most of us would do. But first responders had a very different instinct. That day, they ran directly in to that disaster. They risked their own lives in order to save others.
Our John Berman brings us the story of a firefighter who is being remembered for the ultimate sacrifice that he made on that horrible day.
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FRANK SILLER, CEO & CHAIRMAN, TUNNEL TO TOWERS: We believe that he was in the south tower. He was never recovered. There's another, you know, another great person that -- that died that day.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a near perfect September morning. Firefighter Stephen Siller just finished his overnight shift with squad one, the elite unit trained to rescue other firefighters. Stephen was headed to play gulf with his three brothers.
SILLER: We were pumped up because we're four brothers getting together to play golf. Everybody very busy. Stephen already with five kids. And, you know, heard on the scanner what had happened and he turned his truck around.
BERMAN: The golf date would never happened. Stephen, who had dreamed of being a firefighter since he was a teen, turned his truck toward the Twin Towers, but could get only as far as the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. It was blocked. But that didn't stop him.
SILLER: Came to a screeching halt, got out calmly, put his gear on and started running through the tunnel. And that tunnel is nearly two miles long.
BERMAN: That heroic run, loaded down with more than 60 pounds of gear, became the driving force of the foundation created by his family in Stephen's honor.
SILLER: Want his kids to know that his dad was a hero. We didn't have any great lofty goals, you know, starting the foundation, but when a friend of his came up with the idea of running through the tunnel like he did, I was said, oh, my God, please -- it was -- you just know the right thing when you hear it.
BERMAN: The race, called Tunnel to Towers, is part of the nationally recognized Stephen Siller Foundation. It has raised more than $70 million.
SILLER: The whole day is just a great celebration of everybody's life that was lost that day.
BERMAN (on camera): Stephen would be turning 50 in November.
SILLER: November 15th he would have -- he would have -- he would have been turning 50, yes.
BERMAN: What kind of 50-year-old do you think Stephen would have made?
SILLER: I think he would have been a very young 50-year-old. Loved been a firefighter, so he'd still definitely be a firefighter. He would have had over 20 years already. He would have been able to retire. But he -- there's no way he would have retired.
He loved the challenge of being able to save people. Knowing Stephen, he probably liked the fear factor involved. You know, he had guts. He loved that brotherhood.
BERMAN: If you could talk to Stephen one more time, what would you tell him?
SILLER: I'm provide of you. All your siblings are. Your kids are. Your wife if. The whole community is. You really did something special, Steve.
BERMAN (voice-over): John Berman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOWELL: We are learning more also about how Americans feel about the 9/11 attacks today. A new CNN/ORC poll shows that half of Americans surveyed feel the terror attacks are at least somewhat likely around the 9/11 anniversary. That is up from 39 percent five years ago.
That poll also shows that 74 percent of those surveyed say they feel anger when they think about the 9/11 attacks. That is up 62 percent. Five years ago.
Later Sunday CNN will air the film "9/11: Fifteen Years Later." My colleague, Poppy Harlow, interviewed the film's executive producers and directors, Gedeon and Jules Naudet.
The brothers were following a firefighter that very day for a documentary when he responded to the attacks and they captured the only footage from inside the Twin Towers.
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JULES NAUDET, FILM DIRECTOR: You know, we're -- after filming three months with these amazing people, these first responders, the firefighters, filming from the inside, I think gives a unique point of view to -- especially this new generation, which is so visual.
And 15 years later, a lot of the new generation were either not born or were too young to remember it. And I think for people to see it, see from the inside where the firefighters lived, what they fought through to save, among -- about 20,000 people, something like that, it's amazing.
I think it gives you a renewed sense of -- I know, for me, have been grateful what they do -- what they do every day, but on that day in particular.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Jules, you've also said, "I didn't help anyone, I didn't save anyone, but I could film."
JULES NAUDET: That was the only thing I had.
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JULES NAUDET: I had my camera. I was -- you know, I was there, was that really a purpose, expect one that I could do, which was to document what was going on, without realizing that this would become a historic footage.
But I knew that the moment I would stop filming, I would go crazy because of the worry for my brother, the worry for what was happening. It was almost like a defense mechanism.
HARLOW: Yes, to keep filming.
It's also important to remember, Fifteen Years Later, the impact of 9/11 still lives on with all of the victims, all of the family members; no one that was in this city or this country will ever forget the firefighters and the first responders are still dealing with the effects, dying of cancer from the air they breathed that day.
I mean, this is still perpetuating.
GEDEON NAUDET, FILM DIRECTOR: Yes, it is incredible to -- for people to discover that 9/11 still kills, even today. And it's terrifying to -- for first responders that have to go to health check-up annually, that it's like a lottery for them. They never know what they're going to get, if it's going to be the red flag of this horrible cancer that already so many have died of.
I mean, just inside the wall of Metrotech, which is a FDNY headquarter in Brooklyn, you now have a special wall with 117 names of firefighters who passed away due to cancers, related to 9/11.
HARLOW: You've updated the film and you've gone back to speak with the family members of the victims who died, the first responders who died.
What strikes you the most from the stories they've shared with you now, 15 years after their unimaginable loss?
JULES NAUDET: I think unfortunately, we've lost another firefighter, the retired chief, who came back from home that morning to help, as he said, these were my city, my towers, my men and died recently of 9/11 cancers.
But I think one of the most inspiring story that we followed were the so-called legacy kids. These are children of firefighters who have died, either in the towers or because of 9/11, through cancers, and who have decided themselves to become firefighters.
When we follow three of them, one is Josephine Smith, the daughter of an amazing firefighter called Kevin Smith, and two others. And to show that level of dedication, to want to do the same thing that unfortunately cost their father, in that case, their life, is a tribute --
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HARLOW: It's remarkable. It's remarkable. To both of you -- and to you Gedeon first -- having been in the towers on 9/11, the day that they fell, how does that change how you experience this day every single year?
How do you experience 9/11 with that memory?
GEDEON NAUDET: With that -- it's very simple. Whenever I feel sad, depressed, worried, I think of that day and the courage of those first responders and it lift me up. And it works every time.
HARLOW: Really?
GEDEON NAUDET: When you've witnessed so much courage and heroism, there is no way you can complain about life or not want to find a solution. And that's... HARLOW: That's a pretty remarkable thing that that's what you take
away from it, not all of the loss and the pain and the horror but you saw the beauty and the resolve of people to save others.
GEDEON NAUDET: Yes.
JULES NAUDET: You always see that. I think that's a big lesson that we've learned, is that at the moment where the world seems the darkest, that's where you have this ray of light, this ray of hope that comes.
And for us it was these first responders that saved us or everyday Americans and -- or people who were in the towers saving each other and helping each other.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Be sure to watch the full episode of the Naudet brothers' film, "9/11: Fifteen Years Later." You can see it here on CNN at 6:00 pm in Hong Kong, 8:00 pm in London and 8:00 pm in New York.
A live image there of New York. This is CNN.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. Let's get a quick check with the weather, specifically here in the United States. A new study says it may get even worse in the near future. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here with more on that.
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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm going to give you an update out of what happened over East Africa. They had a magnitude 5.9 earthquake take place in Northwestern Tanzania and that shook 1 million people. In fact, some of them actually experiencing severe shaking throughout the course of the day.
And, unfortunately, there have been fatalities, 11 confirmed, 200 injuries being reported from this particular area as well. And the economic impacts will be felt throughout, in fact, could potentially reach into the millions in terms of U.S. dollars.
That earthquake occurred local time, there's some of the video coming in to CNN locally there in Tanzania, in the afternoon --
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VAN DAM: -- on Saturday. So getting some of the first images and visuals from that region.
HOWELL: Wow. Derek, obviously we'll stay in touch with you again as we're getting these images from what happened there. Thank you so much.
All right, George.
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HOWELL: America's choice 2016 and Hillary Clinton expressing regrets for a comment that she made about some of Donald Trump's supporters. The U.S. Democratic presidential nominee made the remark on Friday night at a fund-raising event in New York. Listen.
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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To be grossly generalistic --
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CLINTON: -- you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.
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CLINTON: The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.
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HOWELL: And then Trump fired back with this tweet, "Wow, Hillary Clinton was so insulting to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard- working people. I think it will cost her at the polls."
He also said, in other posts, that Clinton showed hatred for millions of Americans and that he respected all of her supporters.
Let's break down the particulars. Let's bring in the man who never sleeps, politics reporter Eugene Scott, live via Skype with us this day.
Eugene, always a pleasure to have you. Let's start by talking about Hillary Clinton's regret, saying that she regrets using the word "half" of Trump supporters, that they were part of a "basket of deplorables" but not really regretting the statement in itself.
Is that an apology?
And could that cost her votes?
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it doesn't seem like it's an apology. And we saw yesterday Tim Kaine said he didn't think she needed to apologize. But regarding whether or not it will cost her votes, I saw three main reactions when talking to voters about this yesterday.
One, there were people highlighting how quickly she released a statement, noting that she was wrong and compared it to Donald Trump, who does not have the best history of admitting that he is wrong when he gets a lot of criticism for his statements.
Secondly, I saw people who agree with former Secretary Clinton and believe that the Donald Trump campaign has created a safer space for people who discriminate against other people, based on race and religion and gender, in ways that we have never seen in a presidential election.
But, lastly, I saw quite a few independent voters, who would have found quite a few problems with what Hillary Clinton said and wished she would have characterized it very differently and found that she has not been the most sympathetic to people who see things the way that Donald Trump's voters do.
HOWELL: For those who question why we're focusing on Hillary Clinton's statement, keeping in mind that Donald Trump has made many, many statements that we have certainly focused and this is the latest and newest coming from the Democratic presidential candidate.
Let's also talk about this controversy surrounding Donald Trump, Eugene, the controversy over his appearance with former CNN host, Larry King, Trump saying that he agreed to be part of a podcast.
But that interview ended up airing on the Russian network, Russia Today. All of this playing into questions about whether Trump is cozying up with the Kremlin.
SCOTT: Yes, it was the second time within several days that Donald Trump attracted a lot of media attention for speaking somewhat favorably of Putin. You may recall that, just a few days before, he participated in a forum at NBC, where he called Putin "a strong leader."
And people who have been very frustrated with some of the policies and the role that Putin seeks to play in the world globally don't understand why Donald Trump hasn't been more critical of Putin.
And so it will be interesting to see if he pivots towards the rest of the election and speaking out against Putin or if we will continue to see more favorable language from him.
HOWELL: And then let's talk about the significance of this day, Eugene, 9/11 and two presidential candidates, both Clinton and Trump; New York is very much to the heart and soul of these individuals and their campaigns for sure. Let's talk about how they are marking the occasion.
SCOTT: Yes, I think this is the first presidential election since 9/11 where the two major party candidates have had such close personal ties to New York. As you know, Donald Trump built his business empire in New York and he is a native New Yorker.
And Hillary Clinton was the senator from New York during this time. And so when we see them both speak about terrorism and how that shaped their policies since 9/11, we also are hearing quite a few personal stories about their relationships with people and the community and businesses directly impacted by it.
And while both have ceased campaigning today, I think we will continue to see them speak about this issue throughout the rest of the campaign.
HOWELL: Eugene Scott, live for us via Skype in Washington.
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HOWELL: Eugene, we always, again, appreciate your insight and context on all the things that are happening. We'll chat again. Thank you.
The man who shot U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is now out of a Washington psychiatric hospital. Officials there released John Hinckley Jr. Saturday. A court order will allow the 61-year-old to live with his mother in Virginia. Officials say Hinckley is ready to reassimilate after years of treatment.
It's a picture that came to define an iconic moment in American history. On VJ Day 1945, a sailor and a woman in a nurse's outfit, they were photographed kissing in New York City's Times Square. They were celebrating the end of World War II.
The woman in the picture, Greta Friedman, died Saturday. She was 92 years old. Years ago, she said it wasn't even a romantic kiss so much as sheer joy in the fact that the war was over. Her son says that Greta passed away at an assisted living home in Virginia.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, we are less than a day away now from what could be the start of a cease-fire in Syria. Next, why civilians there are cautiously optimistic where more than five years of brutal warfare could be coming to an end.
Tanzania has been rocked by a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. What we know about the damage and the death toll still ahead. We are live from Atlanta to our viewers in the United States and around the world this hour. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM thank you for being with us, I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.
(HEADLINES) HOWELL: In North Korea the nuclear weapons program there is raising
new concerns after its fifth and biggest test that happened Friday. This latest explosion had a power -- a power of a 5.3 magnitude earthquake.
Now South Korea is calling for stronger sanctions. South Korea's foreign minister says the North's nuclear ability is advancing faster than anyone had realized.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): North Korea's nuclear capability is growing and speeding to a considerable level, considering the fifth nuclear test was the strongest in scale and the interval has quickened substantially.
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HOWELL: And South Korean officials are not the only ones upset over this latest round of nuclear testing.
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HOWELL (voice-over): You see there people coming in to protest, in fact even lighting an effigy on fire of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. World leaders around the world are also weighing in. CNN's Will Ripley has details on all of it from Tokyo.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The shockwaves are still being felt this weekend here in Japan, in South Korea and really, around the world after North Korea's surprise nuclear test on Friday, believed to be quite possibly its strongest yet, 10 kilotons.
The size of the explosion according to South Korean seismologist compared to 46 kilotons for the most recent test back in January, roughly twice the size. It just goes to shows how North Korea's nuclear program is rapidly advancing just like its missile program.
There were three successful missile launches last week and the week before that, a submarine-launched ballistic missile, very troubling for the United States, United Nations and others. And you heard that chorus of condemnation everywhere from Ban Ki-moon, to President Obama, to South Korea's president, President Park and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, all of them saying that North Korea needs to stop.
And even on Saturday, South Korea's top diplomat, the foreign minister saying that new stronger sanctions need to be imposed on the regime, but we've seen that sanctions thus far have not slowed or even had much of an impact at all noticeably on North Korea's weapons development.
Government officials, when I visited most recently in May, said they'd rather tighten their belts and go hungry than give up their nuclear and missile programs or slow the development that was ordered by their leader, Kim Jong-un, who says that this is the only way for North Korea to remain a sovereign state.
And him building this arsenal really is an insurance policy according to many analysts who don't expect a nuclear strike, but they say that having a nuclear arsenal and these successful tests lets Kim Jong-un project power domestically and internationally. It allows him to advertise his weapons technology, which could eventually put up - be put up for sale to terrorist organizations or other rogue states.
And they also feel it gives North Korea leverage internationally that if their arsenal becomes so strong, so large, that the U.S. and others will have no choice but to recognize North Korea as a full- fledged nuclear state, something that President Obama reiterated on Friday, absolutely won't happen -- Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.
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HOWELL: Will Ripley, thank you.
Firefighters are looking for three missing people after a bridge collapsed in Southeastern China. On Sunday, five people who were injured there have been rescued. Officials say that cars and a large truck were buried in the rubble and that people inside those vehicles fell down into the river below.
That bridge was being dismantled at the time it collapsed. An investigation is presently underway.
Airstrikes hit a market and other locations in rebel-held areas in Idlib, Syria, on Saturday. That is about 48 kilometers or some 30 miles southwest of the city of Aleppo. At least 58 people were killed --
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HOWELL: -- including a number of women and children. Some residents say that they saw high-flying jets before those bombs eventually fell.
A nationwide cease-fire in the brutal civil war in Syria is set to begin Sunday at sundown. That deal agreed upon by Russia and the United States. The Syrian government said it also supports the deal. State-run TV is acknowledging the agreement aims to find a political solution to the conflict.
And if the cease-fire holds for seven consecutive days, the United States and Russia say they will work closer together to fight terrorist groups. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more now from Geneva.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, there's really broad agreement from Secretary Kerry to Sergey Lavrov to U.N., to the opposition, but from everyone across the border, this is a good opportunity to turn the situation around and some of the suffering. But what could be some of the sticking points, the issues going
forward, the opposition concerned that there's no real sort of punitive measures to control Assad?
What's going to be done if he doesn't agree and doesn't comply with the steps here?
A concern on the Russian point of view, this breaking a part the delineation between terrorist rebel groups, Al-Nusra and the more moderate level groups have been fighting together on the battlefield, so getting them to separate, that's going to be tough as strong alliance is formed there.
And for the opposition, really going forward, if this is a success, then they're going to want to see what hasn't happened in the past, real pressure. It would have to come from Russia on Assad to go into political transition and leave power. This is the biggest concern going forward.
Russia hasn't done that in the past. The humanitarian effort in Aleppo, some confidence that can get going, the ceasefire can hold for a while, but in the past, these things have broken down fairly quickly and it's often been blamed, at least in the battlefield level, been blamed on the Assad government, control of the Assad government.
Precisely how does that work? Nic Robertson, CNN Geneva, Switzerland.
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HOWELL: Nic, thank you.
The victims of this conflict can't be blamed if they are skeptical about this cease-fire, given that they have seen so many of these different agreements come and go. And many are withholding their judgment for now, like this resident of Aleppo.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Mostly we are with it. It's in the general interest of the Syrian people to stop the rivers of blood. And stopping bloodshed is the first step. It's a good step.
But what's the guarantee that it will remain in place?
If it continues for seven or 10 days, then what happens after that?
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HOWELL: The Syrian army said that it is trying to gain ground against rebel-held areas in Aleppo before the cease-fire goes into effect.
More than 2,000 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean this weekend. The Italian coast guard reports the migrants were saved in 18 different operations coordinated by Italy.
Ships from Spain, from Ireland and from four nongovernmental organizations took part. They pulled migrants off more than a dozen inflatable vessels and off of a boat. The International Organization for Migration reports over 3,000 migrants, they've died in the Mediterranean in 2016 alone.
In Australia, a 22-year-old man has been charged with committing a terrorist act and attempted murder. Police say that the suspect repeatedly stabbed a 59-year-old man in a park in Sydney on Saturday. They say the suspect was inspired by ISIS to carry out that attack. Listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our terrorism investigation squad and other police have been conducting investigations overnight and that has culminated in that 22-year-old man being charged with committing an act of terror and with an attempted murder charge, both very serious charges.
We will be alleging before court that this was an act that was inspired by ISIS. It was a deliberate act yesterday. It resulted in a person receiving extremely serious injuries.
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HOWELL: The victim from that attack is in the hospital, presently in critical condition.
Rebels have freed 13 child soldiers in Colombia as part of the potential peace deal with the government. The FARC freed the youths on Saturday as part of the agreement to end a 52-year-old -- 52-year civil war, I should say. The International Committee of the Red Cross received the children.
Eight of them have been turned over to UNICEF Colombia, which says that they are in good health. The release comes ahead of an October referendum on whether to accept this peace deal.
Still ahead, she is nicknamed The Hurricane and she's a Paralympic champion yet again. We look at Team Great Britain's superstar -- still ahead.
Plus moments after the 9/11 attacks, this U.S. flag became a symbol of resilience in the face of complete devastation.
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HOWELL: How that --
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HOWELL: -- flag was discovered after it went missing for years.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
Let's talk about Hannah Cockroft, a Paralympic racing champion yet again at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, the British wheelchair athlete won the T-34 100-meter on Saturday. She won the same event in 2012, as well as the 200-meter. Here's a look at the athlete, whose nickname is The Hurricane.
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HANNAH COCKROFT, PARALYMPIC WHEECHAIR RACER (voice-over): I think people don't realize how much rivalry there is in wheelchair racing. Once you get off the track, we're all quite good friends.
But when you're on that track, you're racing, it's an individual sport. There's people hitting your hands off the rims; there's people trying to push you out of packs. It's a bit like being in a pack of lions and you've got to keep up or else you're going to be left behind.
My name is Hannah Cockcroft. I am a British wheelchair racer. I race in the T-34 category. T stands for track and the 34 stands for athletes with brain damage and cerebral palsy.
When I was born, I had two cardiac arrests. The first one happened about three minutes after my birth. And that damaged some parts of my brain. And the second one happened a week after my birth. And that damaged other parts of my brain.
And there is no one else in the world like me. The race chair is custom-built --
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COCKROFT (voice-over): -- to fit me. So the bucket is built to fit around kind of my lower body. I sit on my legs, which is incredibly uncomfortable.
There is the front wheel that's attached to kind of, I guess, bike steering and then something underneath like a triangle. But a lot of people notice we hit during the race, that actually does the steering for us when we're in a track race. So you're not missing pushes to go up and steer on the handle bar.
I hold the world record for the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters. I won two gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics.
London feels like it was yesterday and at the same time feels like it never happened. It changed the world for me and for every Paralympian. People started to look at us as actual athletes.
Wheelchair racing, it's my life. When I'm in the chair, I'm totally free. I'm independent and I can do anything that a person on their feet can do. If I put you in a race chair, I bet you can't go faster than me.
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HOWELL: Totally. Very best to Hannah.
It is a dream come true for German tennis player Angelique Kerber. She won the U.S. Open women's title and picked up her second major title, moving up to the first in the world rankings. CNN "WORLD SPORT" correspondent Patrick Snell has more now on her dramatic win.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 2016 is proving one special year for Angelique Kerber, who sealed a second grand slam crown on Saturday in a truly historic weekend for German tennis.
The reigning Australian Open champion and new top-ranked player in the world has added the U.S. Open title to her growing trophy cabinet after winning a three-set thriller against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in a dramatic final in the Big Apple.
Kerber was given a big test by Pliskova, who eliminated both Venus and Serena Williams en route to the final. But it would be the German who takes the first set 6-3. Angelique was 28 years of age when she won in Melbourne. That was her first slam title. This is her second, Karolina winning the second set. She was even 3-1 up in the decider, would you believe it. That's when Kerber upped her game, winning the last eight points of the match to seal the set 6-4.
And a second major title after 2 hours and 7 minutes of very intense tennis. What a season it's been for Kerber. Remember, she recently won a Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro and also reached the final at Wimbledon, too.
Meantime on Sunday, it's all eyes on the men's final when defending champ Novak Djokovic will continue his quest for a third title at Flushing Meadows. And he hopes a 13th grand slam title overall.
The Serbian world number one to his seventh U.S. Open final where he will face Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland. The man who beat him in the final of last year's French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. Wawrinka is going for his third grand slam crown as well -- Patrick Snell, CNN, Atlanta.
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HOWELL: Fifteen years ago, three firefighters raised an American flag moments after the 9/11 attacks, the picture then became a symbol of patriotism and a symbol of resilience but that flag went missing for many years. Next, how it was finally recovered.
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HOWELL: Live images this hour at 5:52 am, looking on to New York City there in Manhattan. And you see the new World Trade Center there aglow. That is the site where the Twin Towers once stood, again, destroyed 15 years ago this day.
The 9/11 attacks changed the United States and the world forever. Today, the nearly 3,000 people who died are being honored and they are being remembered.
One moment that became a symbol of the country's will was this image you see here, three firefighters at Ground Zero, raising the American flag in the middle of devastation. That flag, though, went missing for years, until now. CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the story.
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DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On 9/11, in the burning ashes of the World Trade Center, three firefighters raised an American flag. It was 5:00 pm on a day that changed history.
DAVID FRIEND, "VANITY FAIR": This picture became how we said "patriotism," post-9/11.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The iconic image embodied America's resilience. Featured in the 2013 CNN film, "The Flag," it was unfurled at Yankee Stadium. And traveled on board the U.S. aircraft carrier that launched the first airstrikes against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen so many grown men and women cry just by touching a piece of fabric. And of course it wasn't just a piece of fabric, was it?
FEYERICK (voice-over): Except it wasn't the right flag.
FRIEND: Somewhere between 9/11 and the Yankee Stadium ceremony, the flag went missing.
FEYERICK: The flag, taken by three firefighters from a yacht in the marina near Ground Zero disappeared hours after the photo was taken. Its fate remained a mystery until now. About 2,900 miles cross country in Everett, Washington, a stranger identifying himself as a former Marine named Brian, turned over the flag to local firefighters.
MARK ST. CLAIR, DEPUTY CHIEF, EVERETT POLICE DEPARTMENT: Brian was purporting the flag to be the missing 9/11 flag.
FEYERICK (voice-over): And so began a two-year process to confirm the flag was authentic and get it back home to the original owner. (on camera): There was a level of secrecy as to what you potentially had.
Why?
ST. CLAIR: I was concerned that there was the potential that a lone terrorist, if they believed there was an American icon in a city of 110,000 people, they might -- may want to either try to steal it or destroy it.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Lead detectives, Jim Massengale and Mike Atwood, created a sketch of Brian, hoping to ask him more questions. All they knew was that he was allegedly given the flag on Veterans Day --
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FEYERICK (voice-over): -- in 2007, by a man who had received it from a 9/11 firefighter's widow.
(On camera): Did you ever generate any satisfying leads?
MIKE ATWOOD, EVERETT, WASHINGTON POLICE: No, we did not.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The break came with forensic scientist William Schneck, who painstakingly analyzed photos, fibers and thousands of particles. Comparing them to original Ground Zero dust.
BILL SCHNECK, WASHINGTON STATE PATROL CRIME LABORATORY: The key things would be the composition of the building materials themselves. The concrete, the glass fibers, mineral wall, gypsum, all those were critical.
FEYERICK: Critical and ultimately conclusive. As detectives prepared it for the journey home, they asked a retired NYPD officer to make the final fold.
ATWOOD: He actually grabbed onto that flag, held it up to his face and smelled it. And turned and looked at me and said, "That's the smell that I remember from that day."
FEYERICK: The flag, back where it began 15 years ago.
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HOWELL: And again, a very ominous look at New York, just remembering what happened 15 years ago. We again see the new World Trade Center lit, that is the site where the Twin Towers once stood. Some 3,000 people lost their lives this day during the terrorist attacks happened again two planes hit the Twin Towers, one at 8:46 am, the other at 9:03 am.
A plane also struck the Pentagon. And then a plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. This is a day that the United States and many people around the world remember and grieve for the many lives lost.
We thank you for being with us this hour. I'm George Howell. Up next, "9/11: Fifteen Years Later." Stay with CNN.
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