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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Small Plane Causes Big Scare in Washington, D.C.
Aired May 11, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Lou, thanks very much. Good evening everyone. From Washington a high alert, tense moments as a plane heads towards the White House. Twenty-four minutes of fear. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: A threat from the sky. A mad rush out of the White House and Capitol building as a plane enters restricted airspace. Tonight, we take you inside a first-hand look at the scramble as it happened.
Two pilots in a small plane spark a crisis in the capital. Who are they? Where did they come from? Where were they going? And why did they fly so close to the White House?
When do you pull the trigger? Who lives? Who gets shot down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the public would have stood for anything -- us firing on commercial airliners in the past. But it's been proven that, yes, something, worse might happen.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight fly inside an F-15 fighter jet. And hear how pilots and their superiors make split-second life or death decisions.
And four warning flares fired at the intruder Cessna. But is there a better way? Tonight, a look at the new laser detection system designed to protect our nation's capital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; There's so many high value targets in this area. We need to do everything we can to protect it.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, D.C., a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360. "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And good evening again, everyone. We are live in Washington. For 24 minutes today, this city -- and much of the nation -- held its breath as a small plane headed toward the center of the capital. Twenty-four minutes, it comes out to about 1440 seconds, or for the average adult about 1680 heartbeats. At least for those who's hearts didn't stop cold thinking the unthinkable was about to happen again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): First concerns were raised at 11:50 a.m. A Cessna 150 heading south from Pennsylvania first enters restricted airspace around the capital.
11:58 -- the plane piloted by two men continues south at about 100 miles an hour.
One minute later, two F-16s are scrambled from Andrews Air Force base to intercept the plane.
12:01 -- attempts to contact the plane are unsuccessful. It is just 10 miles away and workers at the White House are ordered to evacuate. President Bush is not there, but Vice President Cheney is driven away.
Three minutes later, the Capitol is ordered evacuated. The threat level is now red.
By 12:05, 15 minutes into the incident, Air Force jets have reached the intruder firing flares to get the attention of the pilots.
Six minutes later, just three miles from the White House, the plane finally turns away to the west.
And minutes later, at 12:14, the all-clear is sounded. Workers in the Capitol, the White House and the rest of us can breathe again after just 24 minutes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, we have been learning more about the identity of the two men in the airplane, and why they did what they did. We're going to have that in a moment.
But we also want to examine tonight exactly what happened in those 24 minutes of fear. What went right and what went wrong. And how close did we come to a much more serious incident?
We'll begin in the heart of the city: the threat alert's at red and evacuations are under way. Here is CNN's Congressional Correspondent Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It started as a regular day. I was up here in our Senate booth researching a story when I heard someone shout, they are evacuating the Senate floor. I looked over at the TV monitor and saw this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chair will recess. Chair stands in recess.
JOHNS (voice-over): I turned to my producer and said get out. Get out now. I ran with my cell phone in my hand calling the news into the network. On the way out, I passed a Senate sergeant-at-arms and asked what is going on. He held up two fingers and said two minutes, get out. The police were shouting that it's not a drill and something about a threat from the air. Later we found what the threat was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was on a straight-in shot towards the center of the Washington area.
JOHNS: But at that moment, scrambling to get out of the building and for information, we had no idea what was going on.
(on camera): Perhaps the most intense moment for me and some of the people around me came when we emerged from that door of the Capitol and heard the sound overhead of aircraft. At first I thought the plane causing all this trouble had somehow gotten through the air defenses and all the people weren't out of the Capitol yet.
(voice-over): Not long after that we found out it was a fighter jet, I went on the air from my cell phone.
BLITZER: Joe Johns is up on Capitol Hill. Our congressional correspondent. Set the scene. What is happening there, Joe?
JOHNS (via telephone): Wolf, the first probably indication that we got of trouble here was a sudden evacuation of the United States Senate floor.
(voice-over): All over the Capitol complex, lawmakers, staffers, tourists were scrambling for the exits. 25,000 people work up here, but the evacuation took just five or six minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is scary. It is scary.
JOHNS: The congressional leadership was taken out first. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was physically picked up by her security detail.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) CALIFORNIA: They just pulled me out of my shoes.
JOHNS: Tourists looked especially shocked. A group of advocates for the disabled got caught up in it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Once all the people starting running we were concerned, because we couldn't go real fast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were on the fourth floor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Now we have had false alarms before, but it certainly never feels routine. Every time it happens, of course, you can't help but think about September 11, 2001 -- Anderson.
COOPER: And every time it happens, you got to take it seriously. Joe Johns thanks very much.
Just moments before the evacuation began at the Capitol, a similar rush at the White House. Now President Bush was not there, but the vice president was. He was quickly ushered away in a motorcade to a safe location. First Lady Laura Bush and former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who has been visiting the White House, were also quickly taken to unspecified safe locations.
Suzanne Malveaux was at the White House from the beginning of the scare until its end. Suzanne, what was it like?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Anderson, it was quite tense. It was quite confusing. We got a number of conflicting directions from folks, uniformed Secret Service, who were essentially saying either stay in the building or then get out. Also, we saw as well those with their guns drawn saying quick, leave, run, leave now. Immediately.
This was a point where many people took off. It's also the point where we could hear those fighter jets over head in the sky, scrambled to try to catch up with that small plane. We saw Vice President Dick Cheney's motorcade quickly leaving the White House grounds.
President Bush as you mentioned, of course, was not here. He was on a biking trip while all of this was going on -- Anderson.
COOPER: Well, I know the president was biking. He was not at the White House. But exactly where was he? How far away was he? And when away was he informed?
MALVEAUX: Well Anderson, it's very curious about this, because we have gotten new details really just within the last couple of minutes about how this all unfolded.
President Bush was just 16 miles away. He was on a bicycle ride. He left the White House about 90 minutes before all of this unfolded. But we are told that the president was not informed of this scare until after it was all over.
They say that first the president was off site so he was never in any danger. They said the protocols were in place to clear out the White House, to evacuate or at least to help try to secure those who were inside of the building.
And they said, third, because that plane took a turn to the west, that it never got close enough, really, for the kind of protocol to take into action whether or not the president would call for that plane to be shot down.
But we've learned as well after 9/11 the protocol has been that it does not require presidential authority. That call could have come from someone else in the administration who may have determined if the plane got too close to the White House that it would have been shot down -- Anderson.
COOPER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. We're going to have a lot more about who makes that call, exactly who has the authority. And how close was the plane to getting shot down today? I mean, it was three miles from the White House before it turned to the west. Some dramatic moments. We'll talk about that ahead.
Stomachs took a beating this afternoon while things were looking dicey. So did the stock market. Prices fell sharply on Wall Street on news that the airspace incursion. But then they came back up again after the all clear. The Dow Industrials ended the day up 19 points closing at 10,300, but it had been off 100 during those 24 minutes, during the air scare.
Well 24 minutes of fear, that's all it was. Coming up next, who are the guys that caused it all? The pilots. What were they think something? Why didn't they respond earlier?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raptor One copies. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See if they can't get us any indication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And from the air -- scrambling to intercept intruders, we're going to take you in the cockpit of an F-15 on a mission.
And later tonight on 360, the plane was only three miles from the White House. When would fighter pilots pull the trigger? Who makes the final call? We'll find out. This is a special edition of 360, "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back. We are live in Washington, continuing our special report on those 24 minutes today when American held it's breath. We've been learning a lot about the two men in that Cessna 150. They were heading for North Carolina, but wound up in restricted air space over Washington D.C., just three miles from the White House. And perhaps on seconds from being shot out of the sky when they finally turned away.
CNN's Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena has more on who they are and what's going to happen to them now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The two men who were aboard the Cessna were immediately taken into custody for questioning by the Secret Service and the FBI. After several hours, they were released, officials saying their intrusion into restricted airspace was an accident.
MEL GLICK, SMOKETOWN AIRPORT OWNER: I think they just made a mistake -- a big one.
ARENA: Law enforcement sources say it was mostly pilot error, combined with some radio difficulty that caused the problem. They wouldn't elaborate any further. The men were identified as Jim Shafer, a pilot and member of a small flying club, and Troy Martin, a student pilot. The Cessna they were flying is owned by the club, and friends say they were heading to an air show in North Carolina.
PHIL BOYER, AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSN.: You can do so without ever talking to anyone on a radio, with ever having -- without having -- have a flight plan if you don't want to as long as a day is as clear as it was today. They obviously then didn't plot their course on the map properly. A straight line between those two points takes you right by the Capitol.
ARENA: Both men were released and no charges are being sought at this time, but the FAA could impose civil fines. And there's a good possibility Shafer could have his pilot license revoked or suspended. But that's a detailed process, and one that could take some time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: And Anderson, a CNN producer got a chance to interview Troy Martin's dad this evening. He said that his son was aware of the no-fly zones and was concerned about them, telling his father that was the longest flight that he had ever taken. And I guess it's an understatement to say that those concerns were warranted.
COOPER: Yes, I can't imagine what this lesson was like inside that cockpit. Who was actually flying the plane -- do we know?
ARENA: We don't know. Law enforcement hasn't said. But at the end of the day it's the pilot, Jim Shafer, who could take control of that aircraft. It is his responsibility to do that. It is he that will be disciplined by the FAA regarding his license.
COOPER: And they did try to make contact on the radio with these guys, and that statement about the radio -- some slight radio problem. That's all they said so far about the radio.
ARENA: That's all they've said. They said that there was a portable radio -- they had problems operating the radio. There was never a radio communication from the Cessna to the military jets ever during the entire episode. There's been some discrepancy over whether they just weren't able to operate it properly or it was malfunctioning. That still a question that needs to be answered.
COOPER: All right, Kelli Arena, thanks very much.
We are following a lot of other stories across the country and around the world tonight. Let's check in with Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS.
Hey, Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hi, Anderson.
A bit of a disturbing update to a story we've been following now. Prosecutors say an Illinois father has now confessed to killing his eight-year-old daughter and her nine-year-old friend. Jerry Hobbs is being held without bond. Authorities say the ex-convict admitted to stabbing the girls multiple times. Hobbs' daughter Laura and her friend were found dead in a Zion park on Monday. In Washington: an FBI and Secret Service investigation. Both agencies are looking into Tuesday's incident in which a hand grenade was reportedly found about a hundred feet from President Bush as he delivered a speech in the nation of Georgia. Georgian officials say the grenade never posed a danger and was placed by someone who wanted to scare people and attract media attention.
Also in Washington, a bit of an odd political duo here, Senator Hillary Clinton and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich teaming up to promote some new healthcare legislation. The former political rivals are pushing for a bill that calls for electronic medical records, whose supporters say would cut down on prescription mistakes.
In Cairo, Egypt a new look at King Tut. Scientists say this is what the 19-year-old looked like when he died nearly 3,300 years ago. They used computer scanning to come up with the image. A lot of reaction to the image, by the way. At "PRIME NEWS TONIGHT" at HEADLINE NEWS yesterday, we were all thinking Boy George. But apparently word on the Internet today, a little bit of resemblance with Barbra Streisand. And it works. And if you see the picture it really does.
COOPER: Really? I'm going to have to look at it again in -- from certain angles, I guess. I'm sure she is thrilled by the way.
HILL: Oh, yes.
COOPER: Yes. Erica, thanks very much. We'll check in with you again in about 30 minutes.
Coming up next on this -- Barbra Streisand -- this special edition of 360, kicking into high gear. The early word out of Washington is that the system did just that. Kicked into high gear and worked like it should. But what's the procedure when the nation's capital goes on red alert? We're going to tell you that.
Also tonight, making the call to shoot down an intruder aircraft, a massive responsibility. No one wants it. And we'll tell you who had the final word and how close the pilots today were to getting shot down.
And a little later, lasers in the sky. An extraordinary look at the system being put in place to protect the nation's capital. We're covering all the angles. This is a special edition of 360, "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back. We are live in Washington, D.C.
For just a moment, what happened here in Washington had many of us thinking back to that day in September nearly four years ago. Since 9/11, much has, of course, changed, including how the government responds to a potential threat from above.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has a look at the coordinated security steps that went into play today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The FAA specialist at Potomac TRACON, an outlying radar center, monitors all traffic approaching Washington, D.C. He notices a plane entering the restricted air space that has left its flight plan, isn't squawking the correct transponder code, or isn't talking to air traffic controllers. The specialist alerts the National Capital Regional Coordination Center. Everyone -- Pentagon, Homeland Security, FBI, and other law enforcement -- are immediately cued to the violator and a call is made.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ADVISER: It's called a Noble Eagle conference call. It's a special conference call that the Department of Defense sets up, and then everyone involved in the air defense of the national capital region will get on that call -- the White House Situation Room, the Secret Service, Customs -- who owns the Black Hawks -- NORAD, FAA, lots of different agencies are on that call so that people can figure out what is going on, and both systems will try to intercept the errant aircraft.
KOCH: A coordinated response is decided. NORAD scrambles fighter jets. The Department of Homeland Security launches Black Hawk helicopters. Capitol Hill Police are put on alert. The senior duty officer at the Secret Service Command Center moves the White House alert level to yellow. Top officials are moved to safe locations. The FAA continues to try to communicate with the errant plane on an emergency frequency. If there's no response, the White House alert level goes to orange. Workers in the media are ordered to evacuate. Capitol Hill goes on high alert. Lawmakers are rushed to secure locations. If the plane continues, the White House hits high alert, red.
FALKENRATH: That means a terrorist attack is imminent in the judgment of the duty officer, and he needs to make those calls very, very quickly. You know, time is working against the system here because if you are three miles out and you are flying at 150 miles an hour, you're going to be there in 60 seconds. So, he has to make the decision.
KOCH: Meanwhile the U.S. Capitol is empty. Fighter jets intercept the violator, wiggling wings, dropping flares to get its attention. A Customs Service Black Hawk tries to direct and escort the plane to the nearest airport. If the plane diverts, it is followed to the ground. The pilot held, questioned, perhaps fined or punished with a loss or suspension of license. On the ground, alerts drop to normal.
But, if the plane continues, then comes the shootdown decision, with ground-based missiles or by the fighter jets, an as-yet untested scenario.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: So, that's the plan, and aviation officials here in Washington say that today the system did perform flawlessly. No terrorist, but a good dry run, proof the system works. Anderson?
COOPER: Kathleen Koch, thanks very much.
Joining me is CNN security analyst and former White House Homeland Security adviser, Richard Falkenrath, who you just saw in Kathleen Koch's piece. Welcome, Richard. Thanks for being with us.
Did it work today? I mean, did the security system work here in D.C.?
FALKENRATH: I think the air defense system worked just right. I mean, the plane was identified and it was intercepted and dealt with. It was a very deep penetration in the airspace, much closer than we ever want it to come. But, the overall air defense part of it seems to go just right.
COOPER: A deep penetration, but a penetration that was followed for a good part of the way by F-16s.
FALKENRATH: F-16s, and there's also terminal defenses here, ground-based missiles that could, in the end, defend the city if it had to come -- it came to that.
COOPER: Is there any way to have prevented the plane getting so close to the White House? I mean, three miles, as you said in that piece, 60 seconds away.
FALKENRATH: Well, there is a system that they are supposed to notify when people come into the restricted air space. They're supposed to file a flight plan and stick to it, and when there's deviation from the flight plan, the FAA is supposed to being aware of it pretty early, 30 miles out. They got in, much too close -- 15 miles out is where the no-fly zone begins, and they ultimately, were three miles out. That's really close.
COOPER: You have been in those rooms in the White House, discussing operations like this. What do you think they are doing right now? What are they assessing? What are they looking at about how things worked or didn't work today?
FALKENRATH: I have a feeling they are looking at the evacuation procedures. The evacuation procedures that we have were followed. The security officers on the job at the time probably did exactly what they were supposed to do.
COOPER: You're talking about the White House, Capitol Hill, Supreme Court?
FALKENRATH: Right. But I think they are going to ask themselves, again, tonight, if this happens again, do we really want the staffers from the three most important buildings in the nation rushing out into the streets. And this was a deep penetration, there's no question, and the security officers are paid to assume the worst. But still, this was a small plane with an F-16 right on top of it.
COOPER: So, what is the alternative, though, if they don't evacuate? What's the alternative?
FALKENRATH: Well, they alternative is to stay indoors. Stay where you are. And, which, in some cases, might a better thing to do. If this had been a chemical sprayer, or a biological weapon sprayer, actually you'd probably want to stay indoors.
COOPER: Because, suddenly, you would have all these people -- 25,000 people at the Capitol, milling around in the streets, outside.
FALKENRATH: That's right. Plus, it sends the wrong image. We never like to have an evacuation like this. It's the wrong image for a super-power to appear fearful and skittish, and no one likes to do this, ever. The security officers, I think, made the right decision. They saw what they saw. They knew the timetable was very tight. They took the action they are trained to take. But on reflection, I have a feeling people will start thinking, are these really the right procedures?
COOPER: Because this really -- I mean, it sort of happened once before -- the Reagan funeral, I mean, when we were all down here, you know, that air space came in. And, again, it was the exact same reaction, everyone told to get out, to run.
FALKENRATH: Right and that's a standard operating procedure. The various operations centers watch the skies and when something gets too close, this is what they are trained to do. So, they stuck to procedure and did what they were trained to do.
COOPER: All right. Interesting. We'll see if the procedures actually change. Richard Falkenrath, thanks very much.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Appreciate it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: When do you pull the trigger? Who lives? Who gets shot down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the public would have stood for anything -- us firing on commercial airliners in the past. But it's been proven that, yes, something worse might happen.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, fly inside an F-15 fighter jet and hear how pilots and their superiors make split-second life-or-death decisions.
And four warning flares fired at the intruder Cessna. But is there a better way? Tonight, a look at the new laser detection system designed to protect our nation's capital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are so many high-value targets in this area. We need to do everything we can to protect it.
ANNOUNCER: This special edition of 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to this special edition of 360 "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
At one minute till noon today, two Air Force pilots at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland were given the order to intercept the plane that had violated restricted airspace around the capital. Now, they had no way of knowing whether the threat was real or not. But that is exactly the kind of moment they have been training for. Recently Kyra Phillips got an exclusive look at the training firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aircraft to vertical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secret Service has been informed.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They call it the air war against terrorists. And this is the battlefield.
The potential enemy, a civilian aircraft under terrorist control. The strategy, to end every incident without firing a shot. But 9/11 spawned a new kind of war with chilling new rules of engagement. In this war, the military is forced to think the unthinkable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the public would have stood for anything -- us firing on commercial airliners in the past. But it's been proven, yes, something worse might happen. So we're just kind of an extension of the public will.
PHILLIPS: The Lieutenant Colonel T.G. Carazis (ph) and Major John Black of the 125th Fighter Wing are getting ready for a routine patrol in Southeast U.S. airspace. These Florida Air National Guard F-15 fighter pilots are battle ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check the back end of the gun. Make sure it is all hot and the bullets are loaded in the chambers. Check our heat seeker. Make sure that all looks good.
PHILLIPS: We're going along on a mission that shows what might happen if a commercial airliner is hijacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raptor One copies. (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: It doesn't take long before this mission is diverted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) contact this aircraft has failed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FAA, can you give me a mode 3 on that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5012, general.
PHILLIPS: Something is not right with a passenger plane over the Atlantic Ocean. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) this is (INAUDIBLE) battle commander. We have a NoRDO airliner.
PHILLIPS: NoRDO, no radio contact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a NoRDO aircraft that's (INAUDIBLE) airlines 409, Miami to Wilmington, metroliner.
PHILLIPS: Military intelligence and the FAA want to know everything about this airliner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the range. How far they think it would fly with 3400 pounds of gas.
PHILLIPS: Could this aircraft reach critical infrastructure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has deviated from the flight path.
PHILLIPS: These commanders take no chances.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This time. We have committed Raptor One, Flight 2 out of the Jaguar CAP.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Your mission, intercept, shadow, commit bulls eye, 100157. 21,500 track west.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Fighters now monitor Falcon Flight 401's every move. Then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The aircraft is now at squawk at 7500 squawk.
PHILLIPS: 7500 is the code for hijack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obtain permission for fighter to be intercept?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See if they can give us any indication who is in control of the aircraft.
PHILLIPS: Pilots attempt hand signals no response. Pilots rock their winning. Still no response.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should acknowledge with the ring arch, which he's not doing.
PHILLIPS: Two generals are brought in and briefed. One from the Canadian Air Force, one from the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Souls on board?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixteen: 14 passengers, two crew -- one Pakistani, one Saudi, one French, the others are presumed to be of United States descent. Fighters are on it now. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My concern is, we could have something else in this country. So, we're going to keep our focus on this thing. But we're also going to keep focus on the rest of the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The J-PAC has authorized the use of flares to get the pilot's attention.
PHILLIPS: Now is the final attempt to get this pilot to respond. If he doesn't, the order could come to shoot this aircraft down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have an engagement authority?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, we have engagement authority on line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raptor One copies. Flares are authorized.
PHILLIPS: Flares are released.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the guy realizes he's serious. Now he's coming left, following me.
PHILLIPS: The pilot finally responds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we should ever relax. We are going to have to continue to prosecute this enemy until they no longer present a threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Active air scramble. Active air scramble.
PHILLIPS: A new kind of war, a new way of fighting. A battle in which a commander's best choice may be the lesser of two evils. And the battle cry is, never again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: NORAD's intercept training takes place weekly. As a matter of fact, aircraft entering restricted airspace happens almost daily. Obviously, this incident got a lot more attention, because the plane was headed toward the White House.
And Anderson, just want to make one more crucial point. I listened to the White House briefing today, and a lot of reporters ask if the shootdown call was made by the president? It was not.
The pilot of that Cessna responded to the military's visual warnings, once those flares were dropped from the F-16. Other signals were given. The pilot of that Cessna got smart and allowed the strike fighter to guide them in for a landing. It was the best case scenario.
And Anderson, just now I just got off the cell phone actually with the pilot, with the major who was flying that F-16. And I asked him again did you get that call to possibly shoot that plane down. And he said no. He felt confident it was not a terrorist threat. He was not going to have to pull the trigger and it finally ended safe and soundly.
COOPER: Three miles from the White House. Kyra Phillips, thanks very much.
You heard that general in Kyra's piece ask if they have an engagement authority. That's the person designated to give orders to shoot down the plane. It is clearly a massive responsibility. A decision no one would want to have to make. The reality is someone has to make the call to pull the trigger. Here is CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just after 12 noon an F-16 fighter is captured on amateur video roaring across Washington's restricted airspace on its way to intercept a single-engine Cessna that was not responding to air traffic controllers.
Two F-16s from the D.C. Air National Guard were on 15-minute strip alert at nearby Andrews Air Force Base -- meaning they can launch in under 15 minutes.
The Cessna was first picked up on radar at 11:50 a.m. about 30 miles away, heading toward the U.S. Capitol. If the small prop plane had not finally responded to the flares dropped by the F-16s, it stood a good chance of being shot down.
FALKENRATH: It was descending rapidly. My sense is they would have been a shootdown order in about 30 to 90 seconds from when the plane actually turned around.
MCINTYRE: NORAD says in this case, no authorization for shootdown was ever given. But added, its pilots are quote, "equipped and ready to use lethal force if necessary."
Under rules of engagement in place before September 11, only the president or if he was unavailable, the vice president could order a civilian plane shot down. But after September 11, the authority was expanded to a limited chain of command that runs through the defense secretary, to the four star commander of the U.S. Northern Command, to lower ranking deputies.
The bottom line is that there is always someone ready to give the order if there's not time to get to the president, who in this case was riding his bicycle outside Washington at the time.
(on camera): The Pentagon wasn't evacuated because the small plane was not seen as much of a threat to a building that's been hardened since September 11. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld remained in his office area and, according to his aides, he was fully briefed and prepared to make any necessary decisions.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Coming up next on this special edition of 360, lasers in the sky to protect the nation's capital. A look at the warning system that is about to be unveiled for pilots so they will stop and turn.
Also tonight, protecting the president, the responsibility of the Secret Service. See what they face every day on the job.
Covering all the angles. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A beautiful picture of the White House as dusk is falling. The president is in residence at the White House at this moment. He was not there earlier today when a plane got within three miles of that building. It took two F-16 fighter jets and a Black Hawk helicopter to escort the single-engine Cessna out of restricted airspace today. Before the situation reaches that level, there will soon be another way to warn pilots that they are getting way too close for comfort. It begins next week and it involves laser beams.
CNN's Jean Meserve has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Red, red, green. Lasers pulsate into the night sky a short distance from the Capitol, warning pilots as far as 20 miles away to stop and turn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There so many high value targets in this area. It's the center of our government. We need to do everything we can to protect it.
MESERVE: The large hunk of restricted airspace above and around the capital region is intended to prevent another September 11-style attack from the air.
(on camera): About a dozen times a week pilots enter this restricted airspace, usually unintentionally.
(voice-over): During the funeral of President Ronald Reagan, there was a hasty evacuation of the Capitol when the governor of Kentucky's plane flew inside the zone. In other cases, if a transgressing pilot cannot be raised on the radio, fighter jets are scrambled to drop warning flares. If that doesn't stop them there is the possibility of a shootdown. The laser warning lights scattered throughout the restricted zone can be directed precisely at any plane warning pilot they have gone astray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We use a visual warning system. The aircraft turns around, we leave the fighters on the ground. Of all the other assets that we bring to bear, it could prevent a tragic situation.
MESERVE: Lasers used for different purposes have given pilots problems -- even injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Initially I noticed almost a flash blindness like would you have if you got really close to a flash camera.
MESERVE: But the warning system uses a different kind of laser beam perfectly safe according to pilots who've seen it from the air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you that it definitely doesn't hurt your eyes.
MESERVE: Pilots who have gotten briefings, but have not seen the system in operation, wonder whether the lasers will be visible in all conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are flying west in the afternoon and the sun is directly in your eyes, it will be very difficult to see anything else.
MESERVE: But officials say the distinctive pattern and colors stand out day and night -- except in low visibility conditions -- providing an easier, cheaper, safer way to warning those in the skies and protect those below.
For CNN's America Bureau, Jean Meserve, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And that system will be in place next week, they say.
Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins us at about, let's see, quarter to the hour with the latest news.
Hey, Erica.
HILL: Hi, Anderson.
Another wave of explosions and gunfire today in Iraq killing at least 69 people. And at least six of those attacks happened in Baghdad. The deadliest ones though struck north of the city. U.S. forces say there has been now an average of 70 attacks a day this month. That's up from 30 to 40 in February and March. U.S. Marines are currently fighting back against insurgents through a major operation near the Syrian border.
Near Los Angeles, California, a story we've been following here. The deaths of six people in a farm house, maybe a murder-suicide. Policemen say the body of a former policeman-turned-investigator was found with a handgun at his side. Officers say they're still investigating. They're not looking for a suspect in the shooting.
On now to Santa Maria, California, where actor Macaulay Culkin defends Michael Jackson. Today in court, the "Home Alone" star denies Jackson ever molested him, and says he never saw Jackson do anything improper with anybody. Culkin became friends with Jackson about 15 years ago. He was about nine-years-old at the time. Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy.
And runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, we know now she's checked herself into a treatment facility to address what a representative calls physical and mental issues. Now this comes as we learn a little bit more about her past troubles with the law. Here's a look at some images from her shoplifting arrest in the 1990s.
And that's at this time latest from HEADLINE NEWS -- Anderson.
COOPER: Yes. Not a great mug shot there.
HILL: Not so much, but who takes a good mug shot? I mean, come on -- except for Nick Nolte.
COOPER: Well, yes. But those ones in particular really jump out at you. You know, Erica, earlier you were talking about King Tut. They think they know what King Tut looks like. And you said it looks like Barbra Streisand.
HILL: Right. Right.
COOPER: We actually sort of -- well, we've done a little thing to see what -- there you go. That's what you think King Tut looks like.
HILL: And -- I mean, come on.
COOPER: Yes. Let's see as, Boy George. You said it was also, Boy George.
HILL: Boy George, yes.
COOPER: See there -- that I can...
HILL: You see Boy George. You get the Boy George, right? But the Babs not so much.
COOPER: Maybe from a different angle.
HILL: All right.
COOPER: All right. Erica, we'll see you again in about 30 minutes.
Let us find out what is coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
Hey, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Hi, Anderson. As you can see we're still getting set up here. Sorry about that person walking in front of the camera.
There are a lot of questions that are unanswered tonight. One of which is why wasn't the president informed of this incursion into this airspace until after the incident was over. Lots of questions being raised about how it was that this Cessna went so far off course. And our own Miles O'Brien who is an excellent aviator himself takes to the skies to show how easy it is for a plane to go off course. And tonight Anderson, when I came in on the shuttle I was talking to one of the Delta pilots that was saying, even though commercial airliners are allowed to go into this airspace, they sometimes are very confused by the clearances they are given from the FAA. So, there's a lot of stuff to address. And most importantly we're going to be talking with the top colonel at NORAD, who's going to help us better understand the process once the flares are fired to alert a plane that they are off course and in restricted airspace -- and then what happens next. We don't know how close it was to an action to be made to take down the Cessna.
COOPER: All right. "PAULA ZAHN NOW" starting in about 10 minutes. Thanks very much, Paula.
Coming up next in this special edition of 360. They are with the president when he's jogging and biking as he was today, and everywhere else he goes. A look at the Secret Service. How they protect the president day in and day out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM NICOPOULOS, RESTAURANT OWNER: I was standing outside when I heard the F-16s fly by, and then -- every -- you saw -- five minutes later people are being cleared out of the White House. Everybody scrambling from the restaurant down the street, Cosi, coming up our way. We're -- and you saw the Secret Service making a perimeter all of a sudden, and -- very exciting for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, when the security scare hit Washington, President Bush wasn't in the White House. He was on a bike in Maryland and he was not alone. Secret Service agents, of course, were at his side, and they were making sure that any threat that reached the capital did not reach him. This has been on of the most popular stories, all day, on CNN.com. Rudi Bakhtiar, of course, joins me from New York for an angle you won't see anywhere else. Rudi?
RUDI BAHKTIAR, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson.
Well, we found that there was a lot we didn't know about the men and women who protect the president and other dignitaries.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Whether they are jogging with the president, traveling overseas with him, or standing guard while he speaks, Secret Service agents are keeping a close eye on any possible threat.
Their mission to protect the president begins here at the Secret Service Training Academy in Beltsville, Maryland. For 11 weeks, trainees are given advanced training in physical protection techniques, control tactics, and protective intelligence investigation. Agents assigned to the president also participate in simulated crisis scenarios, like the kind that happened today in Washington. In those exercises, agents deal with what is called an AOP, which stands for an attack on principle. When there is a potential AOP, Secret Service agents have to cover and evacuate the president to the closest safe environment. They must do it any way they can.
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: You're under arrest, too. Secret Service.
BAKHTIAR: Hollywood tends to glamorize the role of a Secret Service agent, but there's no glamour in the real world. It's a job of patience, concentration and a level of dedication that could include the ultimate personal sacrifice. They must be ready at all times to act.
When John Hinckley, Jr. tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Secret Service agents pushed him into a limousine and sped away. One agent was shot and wounded. We know agents wear a microphone and ear piece so they can communicate with other agents. As for the sunglasses, they're worn to keep the sun out of their eyes so they can keep watch on any possible trouble, or troublemaker, in a crowd.
Also, we only see a few Secret Service agents together at any one time, but what you see is usually less than what you get. There are approximately 2,100 special agents employed by the Secret Service, and as of the year 2003, 34 employees have died in the line of duty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): And here's something I found really interesting, Anderson -- the Secret Service was founded, first, back in 1865, not to protect the president, but as a branch of the Treasury Department to investigate counterfeiting of U.S. currency. It was only back in 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York, that the Secret Service was assigned to the responsibility of protecting the president.
Today, its mission is twofold: protection of the president, vice president and some others, and the protection of our nation's financial systems.
COOPER: All right. Rudi Bakhtiar, thanks.
Coming up next on this special edition 360, today's security scare and memories of similar tension on another day here in the nation's capital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: We are being told to evacuate, actually, this location. This is where the line was for the last 12 hours or so. People here have been lining up, but as you can see, they have now evacuated the entire line. They're actually asking us to move on. We're the last people...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
COOPER: That's all right. No one exactly has been told -- can you tell us at all what's going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Not right now, sir. Please.
COOPER: OK. They're saying they can't tell us what's going on, but this line was full. There are about two hundred, some two hundred and fifty here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir.
COOPER: The first person here came at 5:00 a.m. They have been waiting to see, to line up, to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan. Literally, about a minute ago, this officer came, screaming, everyone get back, get back. As you can see, the entire line has been evacuated. All the people have sort of spread out over here. At this point, we really don't know what's going on. We're trying to get a sense. They are simply not just saying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way back to the street, please.
COOPER: As you can see, we're trying to figure out what is going on here. We'll try to get some more information, come back to you. But, literally, this just happened some one minute ago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And a very similar moment for a lot of people here, today, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess I was on duty with Wolf that day listening to you, and we couldn't even believe, after our state of fear was over, that a private pilot who chartered this plane frequently, who knew the airways pretty well, could make a mistake like that. I guess that's one of the things that we're going to learn tonight, about how easy it is for these planes to go off course and find out why that is.
Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Thanks, Paula.
END
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 11, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Lou, thanks very much. Good evening everyone. From Washington a high alert, tense moments as a plane heads towards the White House. Twenty-four minutes of fear. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: A threat from the sky. A mad rush out of the White House and Capitol building as a plane enters restricted airspace. Tonight, we take you inside a first-hand look at the scramble as it happened.
Two pilots in a small plane spark a crisis in the capital. Who are they? Where did they come from? Where were they going? And why did they fly so close to the White House?
When do you pull the trigger? Who lives? Who gets shot down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the public would have stood for anything -- us firing on commercial airliners in the past. But it's been proven that, yes, something, worse might happen.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight fly inside an F-15 fighter jet. And hear how pilots and their superiors make split-second life or death decisions.
And four warning flares fired at the intruder Cessna. But is there a better way? Tonight, a look at the new laser detection system designed to protect our nation's capital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; There's so many high value targets in this area. We need to do everything we can to protect it.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, D.C., a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360. "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And good evening again, everyone. We are live in Washington. For 24 minutes today, this city -- and much of the nation -- held its breath as a small plane headed toward the center of the capital. Twenty-four minutes, it comes out to about 1440 seconds, or for the average adult about 1680 heartbeats. At least for those who's hearts didn't stop cold thinking the unthinkable was about to happen again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): First concerns were raised at 11:50 a.m. A Cessna 150 heading south from Pennsylvania first enters restricted airspace around the capital.
11:58 -- the plane piloted by two men continues south at about 100 miles an hour.
One minute later, two F-16s are scrambled from Andrews Air Force base to intercept the plane.
12:01 -- attempts to contact the plane are unsuccessful. It is just 10 miles away and workers at the White House are ordered to evacuate. President Bush is not there, but Vice President Cheney is driven away.
Three minutes later, the Capitol is ordered evacuated. The threat level is now red.
By 12:05, 15 minutes into the incident, Air Force jets have reached the intruder firing flares to get the attention of the pilots.
Six minutes later, just three miles from the White House, the plane finally turns away to the west.
And minutes later, at 12:14, the all-clear is sounded. Workers in the Capitol, the White House and the rest of us can breathe again after just 24 minutes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, we have been learning more about the identity of the two men in the airplane, and why they did what they did. We're going to have that in a moment.
But we also want to examine tonight exactly what happened in those 24 minutes of fear. What went right and what went wrong. And how close did we come to a much more serious incident?
We'll begin in the heart of the city: the threat alert's at red and evacuations are under way. Here is CNN's Congressional Correspondent Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It started as a regular day. I was up here in our Senate booth researching a story when I heard someone shout, they are evacuating the Senate floor. I looked over at the TV monitor and saw this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chair will recess. Chair stands in recess.
JOHNS (voice-over): I turned to my producer and said get out. Get out now. I ran with my cell phone in my hand calling the news into the network. On the way out, I passed a Senate sergeant-at-arms and asked what is going on. He held up two fingers and said two minutes, get out. The police were shouting that it's not a drill and something about a threat from the air. Later we found what the threat was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was on a straight-in shot towards the center of the Washington area.
JOHNS: But at that moment, scrambling to get out of the building and for information, we had no idea what was going on.
(on camera): Perhaps the most intense moment for me and some of the people around me came when we emerged from that door of the Capitol and heard the sound overhead of aircraft. At first I thought the plane causing all this trouble had somehow gotten through the air defenses and all the people weren't out of the Capitol yet.
(voice-over): Not long after that we found out it was a fighter jet, I went on the air from my cell phone.
BLITZER: Joe Johns is up on Capitol Hill. Our congressional correspondent. Set the scene. What is happening there, Joe?
JOHNS (via telephone): Wolf, the first probably indication that we got of trouble here was a sudden evacuation of the United States Senate floor.
(voice-over): All over the Capitol complex, lawmakers, staffers, tourists were scrambling for the exits. 25,000 people work up here, but the evacuation took just five or six minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is scary. It is scary.
JOHNS: The congressional leadership was taken out first. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was physically picked up by her security detail.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) CALIFORNIA: They just pulled me out of my shoes.
JOHNS: Tourists looked especially shocked. A group of advocates for the disabled got caught up in it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Once all the people starting running we were concerned, because we couldn't go real fast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were on the fourth floor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Now we have had false alarms before, but it certainly never feels routine. Every time it happens, of course, you can't help but think about September 11, 2001 -- Anderson.
COOPER: And every time it happens, you got to take it seriously. Joe Johns thanks very much.
Just moments before the evacuation began at the Capitol, a similar rush at the White House. Now President Bush was not there, but the vice president was. He was quickly ushered away in a motorcade to a safe location. First Lady Laura Bush and former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who has been visiting the White House, were also quickly taken to unspecified safe locations.
Suzanne Malveaux was at the White House from the beginning of the scare until its end. Suzanne, what was it like?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Anderson, it was quite tense. It was quite confusing. We got a number of conflicting directions from folks, uniformed Secret Service, who were essentially saying either stay in the building or then get out. Also, we saw as well those with their guns drawn saying quick, leave, run, leave now. Immediately.
This was a point where many people took off. It's also the point where we could hear those fighter jets over head in the sky, scrambled to try to catch up with that small plane. We saw Vice President Dick Cheney's motorcade quickly leaving the White House grounds.
President Bush as you mentioned, of course, was not here. He was on a biking trip while all of this was going on -- Anderson.
COOPER: Well, I know the president was biking. He was not at the White House. But exactly where was he? How far away was he? And when away was he informed?
MALVEAUX: Well Anderson, it's very curious about this, because we have gotten new details really just within the last couple of minutes about how this all unfolded.
President Bush was just 16 miles away. He was on a bicycle ride. He left the White House about 90 minutes before all of this unfolded. But we are told that the president was not informed of this scare until after it was all over.
They say that first the president was off site so he was never in any danger. They said the protocols were in place to clear out the White House, to evacuate or at least to help try to secure those who were inside of the building.
And they said, third, because that plane took a turn to the west, that it never got close enough, really, for the kind of protocol to take into action whether or not the president would call for that plane to be shot down.
But we've learned as well after 9/11 the protocol has been that it does not require presidential authority. That call could have come from someone else in the administration who may have determined if the plane got too close to the White House that it would have been shot down -- Anderson.
COOPER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. We're going to have a lot more about who makes that call, exactly who has the authority. And how close was the plane to getting shot down today? I mean, it was three miles from the White House before it turned to the west. Some dramatic moments. We'll talk about that ahead.
Stomachs took a beating this afternoon while things were looking dicey. So did the stock market. Prices fell sharply on Wall Street on news that the airspace incursion. But then they came back up again after the all clear. The Dow Industrials ended the day up 19 points closing at 10,300, but it had been off 100 during those 24 minutes, during the air scare.
Well 24 minutes of fear, that's all it was. Coming up next, who are the guys that caused it all? The pilots. What were they think something? Why didn't they respond earlier?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raptor One copies. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See if they can't get us any indication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And from the air -- scrambling to intercept intruders, we're going to take you in the cockpit of an F-15 on a mission.
And later tonight on 360, the plane was only three miles from the White House. When would fighter pilots pull the trigger? Who makes the final call? We'll find out. This is a special edition of 360, "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back. We are live in Washington, continuing our special report on those 24 minutes today when American held it's breath. We've been learning a lot about the two men in that Cessna 150. They were heading for North Carolina, but wound up in restricted air space over Washington D.C., just three miles from the White House. And perhaps on seconds from being shot out of the sky when they finally turned away.
CNN's Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena has more on who they are and what's going to happen to them now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The two men who were aboard the Cessna were immediately taken into custody for questioning by the Secret Service and the FBI. After several hours, they were released, officials saying their intrusion into restricted airspace was an accident.
MEL GLICK, SMOKETOWN AIRPORT OWNER: I think they just made a mistake -- a big one.
ARENA: Law enforcement sources say it was mostly pilot error, combined with some radio difficulty that caused the problem. They wouldn't elaborate any further. The men were identified as Jim Shafer, a pilot and member of a small flying club, and Troy Martin, a student pilot. The Cessna they were flying is owned by the club, and friends say they were heading to an air show in North Carolina.
PHIL BOYER, AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSN.: You can do so without ever talking to anyone on a radio, with ever having -- without having -- have a flight plan if you don't want to as long as a day is as clear as it was today. They obviously then didn't plot their course on the map properly. A straight line between those two points takes you right by the Capitol.
ARENA: Both men were released and no charges are being sought at this time, but the FAA could impose civil fines. And there's a good possibility Shafer could have his pilot license revoked or suspended. But that's a detailed process, and one that could take some time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: And Anderson, a CNN producer got a chance to interview Troy Martin's dad this evening. He said that his son was aware of the no-fly zones and was concerned about them, telling his father that was the longest flight that he had ever taken. And I guess it's an understatement to say that those concerns were warranted.
COOPER: Yes, I can't imagine what this lesson was like inside that cockpit. Who was actually flying the plane -- do we know?
ARENA: We don't know. Law enforcement hasn't said. But at the end of the day it's the pilot, Jim Shafer, who could take control of that aircraft. It is his responsibility to do that. It is he that will be disciplined by the FAA regarding his license.
COOPER: And they did try to make contact on the radio with these guys, and that statement about the radio -- some slight radio problem. That's all they said so far about the radio.
ARENA: That's all they've said. They said that there was a portable radio -- they had problems operating the radio. There was never a radio communication from the Cessna to the military jets ever during the entire episode. There's been some discrepancy over whether they just weren't able to operate it properly or it was malfunctioning. That still a question that needs to be answered.
COOPER: All right, Kelli Arena, thanks very much.
We are following a lot of other stories across the country and around the world tonight. Let's check in with Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS.
Hey, Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hi, Anderson.
A bit of a disturbing update to a story we've been following now. Prosecutors say an Illinois father has now confessed to killing his eight-year-old daughter and her nine-year-old friend. Jerry Hobbs is being held without bond. Authorities say the ex-convict admitted to stabbing the girls multiple times. Hobbs' daughter Laura and her friend were found dead in a Zion park on Monday. In Washington: an FBI and Secret Service investigation. Both agencies are looking into Tuesday's incident in which a hand grenade was reportedly found about a hundred feet from President Bush as he delivered a speech in the nation of Georgia. Georgian officials say the grenade never posed a danger and was placed by someone who wanted to scare people and attract media attention.
Also in Washington, a bit of an odd political duo here, Senator Hillary Clinton and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich teaming up to promote some new healthcare legislation. The former political rivals are pushing for a bill that calls for electronic medical records, whose supporters say would cut down on prescription mistakes.
In Cairo, Egypt a new look at King Tut. Scientists say this is what the 19-year-old looked like when he died nearly 3,300 years ago. They used computer scanning to come up with the image. A lot of reaction to the image, by the way. At "PRIME NEWS TONIGHT" at HEADLINE NEWS yesterday, we were all thinking Boy George. But apparently word on the Internet today, a little bit of resemblance with Barbra Streisand. And it works. And if you see the picture it really does.
COOPER: Really? I'm going to have to look at it again in -- from certain angles, I guess. I'm sure she is thrilled by the way.
HILL: Oh, yes.
COOPER: Yes. Erica, thanks very much. We'll check in with you again in about 30 minutes.
Coming up next on this -- Barbra Streisand -- this special edition of 360, kicking into high gear. The early word out of Washington is that the system did just that. Kicked into high gear and worked like it should. But what's the procedure when the nation's capital goes on red alert? We're going to tell you that.
Also tonight, making the call to shoot down an intruder aircraft, a massive responsibility. No one wants it. And we'll tell you who had the final word and how close the pilots today were to getting shot down.
And a little later, lasers in the sky. An extraordinary look at the system being put in place to protect the nation's capital. We're covering all the angles. This is a special edition of 360, "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back. We are live in Washington, D.C.
For just a moment, what happened here in Washington had many of us thinking back to that day in September nearly four years ago. Since 9/11, much has, of course, changed, including how the government responds to a potential threat from above.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has a look at the coordinated security steps that went into play today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The FAA specialist at Potomac TRACON, an outlying radar center, monitors all traffic approaching Washington, D.C. He notices a plane entering the restricted air space that has left its flight plan, isn't squawking the correct transponder code, or isn't talking to air traffic controllers. The specialist alerts the National Capital Regional Coordination Center. Everyone -- Pentagon, Homeland Security, FBI, and other law enforcement -- are immediately cued to the violator and a call is made.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ADVISER: It's called a Noble Eagle conference call. It's a special conference call that the Department of Defense sets up, and then everyone involved in the air defense of the national capital region will get on that call -- the White House Situation Room, the Secret Service, Customs -- who owns the Black Hawks -- NORAD, FAA, lots of different agencies are on that call so that people can figure out what is going on, and both systems will try to intercept the errant aircraft.
KOCH: A coordinated response is decided. NORAD scrambles fighter jets. The Department of Homeland Security launches Black Hawk helicopters. Capitol Hill Police are put on alert. The senior duty officer at the Secret Service Command Center moves the White House alert level to yellow. Top officials are moved to safe locations. The FAA continues to try to communicate with the errant plane on an emergency frequency. If there's no response, the White House alert level goes to orange. Workers in the media are ordered to evacuate. Capitol Hill goes on high alert. Lawmakers are rushed to secure locations. If the plane continues, the White House hits high alert, red.
FALKENRATH: That means a terrorist attack is imminent in the judgment of the duty officer, and he needs to make those calls very, very quickly. You know, time is working against the system here because if you are three miles out and you are flying at 150 miles an hour, you're going to be there in 60 seconds. So, he has to make the decision.
KOCH: Meanwhile the U.S. Capitol is empty. Fighter jets intercept the violator, wiggling wings, dropping flares to get its attention. A Customs Service Black Hawk tries to direct and escort the plane to the nearest airport. If the plane diverts, it is followed to the ground. The pilot held, questioned, perhaps fined or punished with a loss or suspension of license. On the ground, alerts drop to normal.
But, if the plane continues, then comes the shootdown decision, with ground-based missiles or by the fighter jets, an as-yet untested scenario.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: So, that's the plan, and aviation officials here in Washington say that today the system did perform flawlessly. No terrorist, but a good dry run, proof the system works. Anderson?
COOPER: Kathleen Koch, thanks very much.
Joining me is CNN security analyst and former White House Homeland Security adviser, Richard Falkenrath, who you just saw in Kathleen Koch's piece. Welcome, Richard. Thanks for being with us.
Did it work today? I mean, did the security system work here in D.C.?
FALKENRATH: I think the air defense system worked just right. I mean, the plane was identified and it was intercepted and dealt with. It was a very deep penetration in the airspace, much closer than we ever want it to come. But, the overall air defense part of it seems to go just right.
COOPER: A deep penetration, but a penetration that was followed for a good part of the way by F-16s.
FALKENRATH: F-16s, and there's also terminal defenses here, ground-based missiles that could, in the end, defend the city if it had to come -- it came to that.
COOPER: Is there any way to have prevented the plane getting so close to the White House? I mean, three miles, as you said in that piece, 60 seconds away.
FALKENRATH: Well, there is a system that they are supposed to notify when people come into the restricted air space. They're supposed to file a flight plan and stick to it, and when there's deviation from the flight plan, the FAA is supposed to being aware of it pretty early, 30 miles out. They got in, much too close -- 15 miles out is where the no-fly zone begins, and they ultimately, were three miles out. That's really close.
COOPER: You have been in those rooms in the White House, discussing operations like this. What do you think they are doing right now? What are they assessing? What are they looking at about how things worked or didn't work today?
FALKENRATH: I have a feeling they are looking at the evacuation procedures. The evacuation procedures that we have were followed. The security officers on the job at the time probably did exactly what they were supposed to do.
COOPER: You're talking about the White House, Capitol Hill, Supreme Court?
FALKENRATH: Right. But I think they are going to ask themselves, again, tonight, if this happens again, do we really want the staffers from the three most important buildings in the nation rushing out into the streets. And this was a deep penetration, there's no question, and the security officers are paid to assume the worst. But still, this was a small plane with an F-16 right on top of it.
COOPER: So, what is the alternative, though, if they don't evacuate? What's the alternative?
FALKENRATH: Well, they alternative is to stay indoors. Stay where you are. And, which, in some cases, might a better thing to do. If this had been a chemical sprayer, or a biological weapon sprayer, actually you'd probably want to stay indoors.
COOPER: Because, suddenly, you would have all these people -- 25,000 people at the Capitol, milling around in the streets, outside.
FALKENRATH: That's right. Plus, it sends the wrong image. We never like to have an evacuation like this. It's the wrong image for a super-power to appear fearful and skittish, and no one likes to do this, ever. The security officers, I think, made the right decision. They saw what they saw. They knew the timetable was very tight. They took the action they are trained to take. But on reflection, I have a feeling people will start thinking, are these really the right procedures?
COOPER: Because this really -- I mean, it sort of happened once before -- the Reagan funeral, I mean, when we were all down here, you know, that air space came in. And, again, it was the exact same reaction, everyone told to get out, to run.
FALKENRATH: Right and that's a standard operating procedure. The various operations centers watch the skies and when something gets too close, this is what they are trained to do. So, they stuck to procedure and did what they were trained to do.
COOPER: All right. Interesting. We'll see if the procedures actually change. Richard Falkenrath, thanks very much.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Appreciate it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: When do you pull the trigger? Who lives? Who gets shot down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the public would have stood for anything -- us firing on commercial airliners in the past. But it's been proven that, yes, something worse might happen.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, fly inside an F-15 fighter jet and hear how pilots and their superiors make split-second life-or-death decisions.
And four warning flares fired at the intruder Cessna. But is there a better way? Tonight, a look at the new laser detection system designed to protect our nation's capital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are so many high-value targets in this area. We need to do everything we can to protect it.
ANNOUNCER: This special edition of 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to this special edition of 360 "Security Watch: Defending the Skies."
At one minute till noon today, two Air Force pilots at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland were given the order to intercept the plane that had violated restricted airspace around the capital. Now, they had no way of knowing whether the threat was real or not. But that is exactly the kind of moment they have been training for. Recently Kyra Phillips got an exclusive look at the training firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aircraft to vertical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secret Service has been informed.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They call it the air war against terrorists. And this is the battlefield.
The potential enemy, a civilian aircraft under terrorist control. The strategy, to end every incident without firing a shot. But 9/11 spawned a new kind of war with chilling new rules of engagement. In this war, the military is forced to think the unthinkable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the public would have stood for anything -- us firing on commercial airliners in the past. But it's been proven, yes, something worse might happen. So we're just kind of an extension of the public will.
PHILLIPS: The Lieutenant Colonel T.G. Carazis (ph) and Major John Black of the 125th Fighter Wing are getting ready for a routine patrol in Southeast U.S. airspace. These Florida Air National Guard F-15 fighter pilots are battle ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check the back end of the gun. Make sure it is all hot and the bullets are loaded in the chambers. Check our heat seeker. Make sure that all looks good.
PHILLIPS: We're going along on a mission that shows what might happen if a commercial airliner is hijacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raptor One copies. (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: It doesn't take long before this mission is diverted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) contact this aircraft has failed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FAA, can you give me a mode 3 on that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5012, general.
PHILLIPS: Something is not right with a passenger plane over the Atlantic Ocean. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) this is (INAUDIBLE) battle commander. We have a NoRDO airliner.
PHILLIPS: NoRDO, no radio contact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a NoRDO aircraft that's (INAUDIBLE) airlines 409, Miami to Wilmington, metroliner.
PHILLIPS: Military intelligence and the FAA want to know everything about this airliner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the range. How far they think it would fly with 3400 pounds of gas.
PHILLIPS: Could this aircraft reach critical infrastructure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has deviated from the flight path.
PHILLIPS: These commanders take no chances.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This time. We have committed Raptor One, Flight 2 out of the Jaguar CAP.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Your mission, intercept, shadow, commit bulls eye, 100157. 21,500 track west.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Fighters now monitor Falcon Flight 401's every move. Then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The aircraft is now at squawk at 7500 squawk.
PHILLIPS: 7500 is the code for hijack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obtain permission for fighter to be intercept?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See if they can give us any indication who is in control of the aircraft.
PHILLIPS: Pilots attempt hand signals no response. Pilots rock their winning. Still no response.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should acknowledge with the ring arch, which he's not doing.
PHILLIPS: Two generals are brought in and briefed. One from the Canadian Air Force, one from the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Souls on board?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixteen: 14 passengers, two crew -- one Pakistani, one Saudi, one French, the others are presumed to be of United States descent. Fighters are on it now. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My concern is, we could have something else in this country. So, we're going to keep our focus on this thing. But we're also going to keep focus on the rest of the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The J-PAC has authorized the use of flares to get the pilot's attention.
PHILLIPS: Now is the final attempt to get this pilot to respond. If he doesn't, the order could come to shoot this aircraft down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have an engagement authority?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, we have engagement authority on line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raptor One copies. Flares are authorized.
PHILLIPS: Flares are released.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the guy realizes he's serious. Now he's coming left, following me.
PHILLIPS: The pilot finally responds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we should ever relax. We are going to have to continue to prosecute this enemy until they no longer present a threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Active air scramble. Active air scramble.
PHILLIPS: A new kind of war, a new way of fighting. A battle in which a commander's best choice may be the lesser of two evils. And the battle cry is, never again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: NORAD's intercept training takes place weekly. As a matter of fact, aircraft entering restricted airspace happens almost daily. Obviously, this incident got a lot more attention, because the plane was headed toward the White House.
And Anderson, just want to make one more crucial point. I listened to the White House briefing today, and a lot of reporters ask if the shootdown call was made by the president? It was not.
The pilot of that Cessna responded to the military's visual warnings, once those flares were dropped from the F-16. Other signals were given. The pilot of that Cessna got smart and allowed the strike fighter to guide them in for a landing. It was the best case scenario.
And Anderson, just now I just got off the cell phone actually with the pilot, with the major who was flying that F-16. And I asked him again did you get that call to possibly shoot that plane down. And he said no. He felt confident it was not a terrorist threat. He was not going to have to pull the trigger and it finally ended safe and soundly.
COOPER: Three miles from the White House. Kyra Phillips, thanks very much.
You heard that general in Kyra's piece ask if they have an engagement authority. That's the person designated to give orders to shoot down the plane. It is clearly a massive responsibility. A decision no one would want to have to make. The reality is someone has to make the call to pull the trigger. Here is CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just after 12 noon an F-16 fighter is captured on amateur video roaring across Washington's restricted airspace on its way to intercept a single-engine Cessna that was not responding to air traffic controllers.
Two F-16s from the D.C. Air National Guard were on 15-minute strip alert at nearby Andrews Air Force Base -- meaning they can launch in under 15 minutes.
The Cessna was first picked up on radar at 11:50 a.m. about 30 miles away, heading toward the U.S. Capitol. If the small prop plane had not finally responded to the flares dropped by the F-16s, it stood a good chance of being shot down.
FALKENRATH: It was descending rapidly. My sense is they would have been a shootdown order in about 30 to 90 seconds from when the plane actually turned around.
MCINTYRE: NORAD says in this case, no authorization for shootdown was ever given. But added, its pilots are quote, "equipped and ready to use lethal force if necessary."
Under rules of engagement in place before September 11, only the president or if he was unavailable, the vice president could order a civilian plane shot down. But after September 11, the authority was expanded to a limited chain of command that runs through the defense secretary, to the four star commander of the U.S. Northern Command, to lower ranking deputies.
The bottom line is that there is always someone ready to give the order if there's not time to get to the president, who in this case was riding his bicycle outside Washington at the time.
(on camera): The Pentagon wasn't evacuated because the small plane was not seen as much of a threat to a building that's been hardened since September 11. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld remained in his office area and, according to his aides, he was fully briefed and prepared to make any necessary decisions.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Coming up next on this special edition of 360, lasers in the sky to protect the nation's capital. A look at the warning system that is about to be unveiled for pilots so they will stop and turn.
Also tonight, protecting the president, the responsibility of the Secret Service. See what they face every day on the job.
Covering all the angles. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A beautiful picture of the White House as dusk is falling. The president is in residence at the White House at this moment. He was not there earlier today when a plane got within three miles of that building. It took two F-16 fighter jets and a Black Hawk helicopter to escort the single-engine Cessna out of restricted airspace today. Before the situation reaches that level, there will soon be another way to warn pilots that they are getting way too close for comfort. It begins next week and it involves laser beams.
CNN's Jean Meserve has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Red, red, green. Lasers pulsate into the night sky a short distance from the Capitol, warning pilots as far as 20 miles away to stop and turn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There so many high value targets in this area. It's the center of our government. We need to do everything we can to protect it.
MESERVE: The large hunk of restricted airspace above and around the capital region is intended to prevent another September 11-style attack from the air.
(on camera): About a dozen times a week pilots enter this restricted airspace, usually unintentionally.
(voice-over): During the funeral of President Ronald Reagan, there was a hasty evacuation of the Capitol when the governor of Kentucky's plane flew inside the zone. In other cases, if a transgressing pilot cannot be raised on the radio, fighter jets are scrambled to drop warning flares. If that doesn't stop them there is the possibility of a shootdown. The laser warning lights scattered throughout the restricted zone can be directed precisely at any plane warning pilot they have gone astray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We use a visual warning system. The aircraft turns around, we leave the fighters on the ground. Of all the other assets that we bring to bear, it could prevent a tragic situation.
MESERVE: Lasers used for different purposes have given pilots problems -- even injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Initially I noticed almost a flash blindness like would you have if you got really close to a flash camera.
MESERVE: But the warning system uses a different kind of laser beam perfectly safe according to pilots who've seen it from the air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you that it definitely doesn't hurt your eyes.
MESERVE: Pilots who have gotten briefings, but have not seen the system in operation, wonder whether the lasers will be visible in all conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are flying west in the afternoon and the sun is directly in your eyes, it will be very difficult to see anything else.
MESERVE: But officials say the distinctive pattern and colors stand out day and night -- except in low visibility conditions -- providing an easier, cheaper, safer way to warning those in the skies and protect those below.
For CNN's America Bureau, Jean Meserve, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And that system will be in place next week, they say.
Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins us at about, let's see, quarter to the hour with the latest news.
Hey, Erica.
HILL: Hi, Anderson.
Another wave of explosions and gunfire today in Iraq killing at least 69 people. And at least six of those attacks happened in Baghdad. The deadliest ones though struck north of the city. U.S. forces say there has been now an average of 70 attacks a day this month. That's up from 30 to 40 in February and March. U.S. Marines are currently fighting back against insurgents through a major operation near the Syrian border.
Near Los Angeles, California, a story we've been following here. The deaths of six people in a farm house, maybe a murder-suicide. Policemen say the body of a former policeman-turned-investigator was found with a handgun at his side. Officers say they're still investigating. They're not looking for a suspect in the shooting.
On now to Santa Maria, California, where actor Macaulay Culkin defends Michael Jackson. Today in court, the "Home Alone" star denies Jackson ever molested him, and says he never saw Jackson do anything improper with anybody. Culkin became friends with Jackson about 15 years ago. He was about nine-years-old at the time. Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy.
And runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, we know now she's checked herself into a treatment facility to address what a representative calls physical and mental issues. Now this comes as we learn a little bit more about her past troubles with the law. Here's a look at some images from her shoplifting arrest in the 1990s.
And that's at this time latest from HEADLINE NEWS -- Anderson.
COOPER: Yes. Not a great mug shot there.
HILL: Not so much, but who takes a good mug shot? I mean, come on -- except for Nick Nolte.
COOPER: Well, yes. But those ones in particular really jump out at you. You know, Erica, earlier you were talking about King Tut. They think they know what King Tut looks like. And you said it looks like Barbra Streisand.
HILL: Right. Right.
COOPER: We actually sort of -- well, we've done a little thing to see what -- there you go. That's what you think King Tut looks like.
HILL: And -- I mean, come on.
COOPER: Yes. Let's see as, Boy George. You said it was also, Boy George.
HILL: Boy George, yes.
COOPER: See there -- that I can...
HILL: You see Boy George. You get the Boy George, right? But the Babs not so much.
COOPER: Maybe from a different angle.
HILL: All right.
COOPER: All right. Erica, we'll see you again in about 30 minutes.
Let us find out what is coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
Hey, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Hi, Anderson. As you can see we're still getting set up here. Sorry about that person walking in front of the camera.
There are a lot of questions that are unanswered tonight. One of which is why wasn't the president informed of this incursion into this airspace until after the incident was over. Lots of questions being raised about how it was that this Cessna went so far off course. And our own Miles O'Brien who is an excellent aviator himself takes to the skies to show how easy it is for a plane to go off course. And tonight Anderson, when I came in on the shuttle I was talking to one of the Delta pilots that was saying, even though commercial airliners are allowed to go into this airspace, they sometimes are very confused by the clearances they are given from the FAA. So, there's a lot of stuff to address. And most importantly we're going to be talking with the top colonel at NORAD, who's going to help us better understand the process once the flares are fired to alert a plane that they are off course and in restricted airspace -- and then what happens next. We don't know how close it was to an action to be made to take down the Cessna.
COOPER: All right. "PAULA ZAHN NOW" starting in about 10 minutes. Thanks very much, Paula.
Coming up next in this special edition of 360. They are with the president when he's jogging and biking as he was today, and everywhere else he goes. A look at the Secret Service. How they protect the president day in and day out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM NICOPOULOS, RESTAURANT OWNER: I was standing outside when I heard the F-16s fly by, and then -- every -- you saw -- five minutes later people are being cleared out of the White House. Everybody scrambling from the restaurant down the street, Cosi, coming up our way. We're -- and you saw the Secret Service making a perimeter all of a sudden, and -- very exciting for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, when the security scare hit Washington, President Bush wasn't in the White House. He was on a bike in Maryland and he was not alone. Secret Service agents, of course, were at his side, and they were making sure that any threat that reached the capital did not reach him. This has been on of the most popular stories, all day, on CNN.com. Rudi Bakhtiar, of course, joins me from New York for an angle you won't see anywhere else. Rudi?
RUDI BAHKTIAR, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson.
Well, we found that there was a lot we didn't know about the men and women who protect the president and other dignitaries.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Whether they are jogging with the president, traveling overseas with him, or standing guard while he speaks, Secret Service agents are keeping a close eye on any possible threat.
Their mission to protect the president begins here at the Secret Service Training Academy in Beltsville, Maryland. For 11 weeks, trainees are given advanced training in physical protection techniques, control tactics, and protective intelligence investigation. Agents assigned to the president also participate in simulated crisis scenarios, like the kind that happened today in Washington. In those exercises, agents deal with what is called an AOP, which stands for an attack on principle. When there is a potential AOP, Secret Service agents have to cover and evacuate the president to the closest safe environment. They must do it any way they can.
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: You're under arrest, too. Secret Service.
BAKHTIAR: Hollywood tends to glamorize the role of a Secret Service agent, but there's no glamour in the real world. It's a job of patience, concentration and a level of dedication that could include the ultimate personal sacrifice. They must be ready at all times to act.
When John Hinckley, Jr. tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Secret Service agents pushed him into a limousine and sped away. One agent was shot and wounded. We know agents wear a microphone and ear piece so they can communicate with other agents. As for the sunglasses, they're worn to keep the sun out of their eyes so they can keep watch on any possible trouble, or troublemaker, in a crowd.
Also, we only see a few Secret Service agents together at any one time, but what you see is usually less than what you get. There are approximately 2,100 special agents employed by the Secret Service, and as of the year 2003, 34 employees have died in the line of duty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): And here's something I found really interesting, Anderson -- the Secret Service was founded, first, back in 1865, not to protect the president, but as a branch of the Treasury Department to investigate counterfeiting of U.S. currency. It was only back in 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York, that the Secret Service was assigned to the responsibility of protecting the president.
Today, its mission is twofold: protection of the president, vice president and some others, and the protection of our nation's financial systems.
COOPER: All right. Rudi Bakhtiar, thanks.
Coming up next on this special edition 360, today's security scare and memories of similar tension on another day here in the nation's capital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: We are being told to evacuate, actually, this location. This is where the line was for the last 12 hours or so. People here have been lining up, but as you can see, they have now evacuated the entire line. They're actually asking us to move on. We're the last people...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
COOPER: That's all right. No one exactly has been told -- can you tell us at all what's going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Not right now, sir. Please.
COOPER: OK. They're saying they can't tell us what's going on, but this line was full. There are about two hundred, some two hundred and fifty here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir.
COOPER: The first person here came at 5:00 a.m. They have been waiting to see, to line up, to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan. Literally, about a minute ago, this officer came, screaming, everyone get back, get back. As you can see, the entire line has been evacuated. All the people have sort of spread out over here. At this point, we really don't know what's going on. We're trying to get a sense. They are simply not just saying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way back to the street, please.
COOPER: As you can see, we're trying to figure out what is going on here. We'll try to get some more information, come back to you. But, literally, this just happened some one minute ago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And a very similar moment for a lot of people here, today, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess I was on duty with Wolf that day listening to you, and we couldn't even believe, after our state of fear was over, that a private pilot who chartered this plane frequently, who knew the airways pretty well, could make a mistake like that. I guess that's one of the things that we're going to learn tonight, about how easy it is for these planes to go off course and find out why that is.
Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Thanks, Paula.
END
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