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9/11 Remembered; War on al Qaeda; Huge Gas Hike
Aired September 11, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Two major stories this hour. Somber remembrances of September 11, 2001, ceremonies today in Washington, New York and the Pennsylvania countryside.
Plus, dangerous Hurricane Ike getting bigger and heading for Texas.
Those stories, our primary focus today in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is a time of solemn reflection across this country, the seventh anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Official ceremonies taking place on hallowed grounds -- the World Trade Center site in New York, the Pentagon, and a remote field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed by terrorists who turned jetliners into missiles.
We take you first to Ground Zero. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the tearful ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: At this time, please join us and all New Yorkers in a moment of silence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Mourners observed four separate moments of silence commemorating the precise times two hijacked jetliners crashed into the Trade Center towers, along with the times the twin towers fell. 2,751 people were killed on this spot.
The names of each of those victims were read aloud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maria A. Bear (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yolena Bellalospy (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nina Patrice Bell (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And my father, Carlton Bartals (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Also speaking today, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led New York through the tough times following the terrorist attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NEW YORK MAYOR: For seven years we've come back here to be together to feel how the entire world is linked in our circle of sorrow, and mostly to remember those we loved who are never lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The Pentagon marking the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by dedicating a victims' memorial.
Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr was at the ceremony and she joins us live.
Barbara, I can't wait for your reflections on what the ceremony was like for you. We talked to Jim Laychak, a man you probably have met, I'm sure, who headed the effort to make this day happen, and he couldn't have been happier with the unveiling of the memorial.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's what you see here, Tony, in and amongst all the tears today, a lot of smiles. Seven years later, the memorial dedicated, the first of the major memorials at one of the attack sites of the 9/11 attacks.
And behind me I think you can still see family members making their way through the memorial, having a look, friends, family, co- workers, at some of the 184 benches, trees and reflection pools that are part of this site now being dedicated. And, of course, the keynote speaker here today was President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Seven years ago at this hour, a doomed airliner plunged from the sky, split the rock and steel of this building, and changed our world forever. The years that followed have seen justice delivered to evil men and battles fought in distant lands, but each day on this year -- each year on this day our thoughts return to this place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: And Tony, as we continue to look the memorial, it will open to the public tonight at 7:00. Until then, family and friends will continue to have a private look at the memorial.
You know, this is now after 9/11, of course, one of the most secure buildings in America, but just outside there where the memorial is located, it will be open around the clock, and they expect one to two million visitors a year to make they're way through this area -- Tony.
HARRIS: Barbara, a quick question. Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld was there at the ceremony this morning. He said those of us who were there at the Pentagon seven years ago share a bond that we will never forget, because you were there when the building shook.
You were there when the building shook. What do you remember?
STARR: Well, I think just -- to be honest with you, being utterly dumbfounded at the beginning, not fully realizing for the first few seconds what had happened. But very quickly, security people came running down hallway yelling, "Get out! Get out! Get out! We've been hit! Get out now!"
And within seconds, the hallways started being full of people. About 20,000 people work in the building making they're way, of course, out of exits, out of all five sides.
You know, Secretary Rumsfeld came back this morning to deliver some remarks, and he said, describing this, quoting a poet, that this is a place that became acquainted with the dark. And indeed, it was a very dark day.
But really what has come out of that is this incredible memorial where 184 lives are remembered. Everyone from an older man named Max Beilke, who died in this building, he was the last combat soldier out of Vietnam as a young man, 35 years ago, to Michele Heidenberger, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77. Her children and her husband were here today remembering her, remembering her life full of smiles, and delighted that there will be a place where Michele and all of the other victims of that terrible day will be remembered forever -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Barbara, thank you for remembering.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.
Barbara, thank you.
President Bush launched the war against terrorism soon after the 9/11 attacks. Today "The New York Times" reports the president secretly approved orders in July allowing U.S. Specials Forces to conduct raids inside Pakistan without prior approval from Pakistan's government, rooting out al Qaeda and hunting 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson reports on Pakistan's battle along its border with Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, last seen together in early 2003, in pictures that intelligence experts say could have been taken in the mountains of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. It raises the question: Are al Qaeda's leaders seeking sanctuary here?
(on camera): It's so sensitive that neither Pakistani nor Afghan officials will admit they might be in their territory. However, two sources have told me that Zawahiri regularly travels between the two countries, meeting with Taliban leaders. As recently as June this year, he was in Paktika and Kunar provinces in Afghanistan, as well as crossing into Pakistan's tribal areas known as agencies (ph).
(voice-over): Pakistan's interior minister, Rahman Malik, believes Zawahiri never comes far into Pakistan.
RAHMAN MALIK, PAKISTAN'S INTERIOR MINISTER: So he's moving in Amman. And, of course (INAUDIBLE), because these are very difficult times, and that's why I requested (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTSON: Bin laden, who appears in far fewer al Qaeda releases than Zawahiri, is proving far harder to track.
HAMID MIR, ANCHOR, GEO TV: They tried to follow the footsteps.
ROBERTSON: Hamid Mir was the last journalist to interview Osama bin Laden. That was November 2001. He's been searching for him since.
MIR: One of the bodyguards of Osama bin Laden who escaped with him, Abu Hamza al-Jaziri (ph), (INAUDIBLE) in 2005.
ROBERTSON: Mir is a respected anchor in Pakistan, a local authority on al Qaeda who says, after hiding with tribesmen, bin Laden began regrouping al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan when the United States invaded Iraq.
MIR: He contacted some people in Pakistan, some people in Middle East, and some people who were hiding in different parts of Afghanistan. And they were invited to the (INAUDIBLE) rally in Kunar Province. And there, the first ever formal meeting of al Qaeda was held after 9/11.
ROBERTSON: But as U.S. and British fors began to gain a foothold in Afghanistan, the al Qaeda leader had to move. In October 2004, according to bin Laden's guard, bin Laden was almost killed by British troops in south Afghanistan.
MIR: He told me that -- how difficult it was to save (ph) the life of Sheikh Osama bin Laden, and he told me the whole story, how it happened and how more than 30 bodyguards of Osama bin Laden had lost their lives.
ROBERTSON: After that, Mir says he lost bin Laden's trail, but it has shown him a pattern. He tries to stay away from security forces. No telling if he's tried to find sanctuary in the Taliban enclaves in Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson joining us live from Islamabad.
And Nic, here we are sitting here talking with you on the seventh anniversary of 9/11. Would you bottom-line this for us, please?
Where are we in terms of this hunt to find and to bring to justice Osama bin Laden? And have you noticed any change in approach now that Musharraf is out and a new government in Pakistan is in place?
ROBERTSON: Well, the new government here says that it will be more proactive, that they will tell the people of Pakistan that the Taliban and al Qaeda and the border region are their problem, because there have been Taliban suicide bombs around Pakistani cities killing civilians. So the government here wants to explain to the people of Pakistan that they need to fix this problem and deal with it.
The last president here, General Pervez Musharraf, didn't do that. That's how the government says they're going to be more proactive and tackle the Taliban problem.
The reality of the situation on the ground though is that this is going to be a very tough challenge for them. They say that while U.S. air strikes, coalition air strikes coming across the border are killing civilians inside Pakistan, this works against them trying to do that.
The area along the border has allowed pockets where the Taliban are now free to roam, where al Qaeda are free to roam with them, and this really means that trying to get Osama bin Laden, trying to get Ayman al-Zawahiri is tougher, because it's very difficult to go into those areas. And that's a frustration for U.S. troops across the border. Afghanistan is becoming far more deadly for the coalition because those Taliban and al Qaeda elements can hide out in Pakistan, go across the border, and strike coalition troops -- Tony.
HARRIS: That is frustrating.
Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson for us.
Nic, as always, thank you.
Seven years after the horrific attacks on the United States, far fewer Americans are worried about another strike. A new poll shows concern about an impending terror attack, at its lowest level since 9/11.
Just 30 percent of respondents think an attack on American soil is likely sometime over the next several weeks. That's down 11 points since last year and 30 points since the first anniversary of 9/11. Americans appear to give little credit to President Bush for keeping the country safe. Only 37 percent believe the president and his policies are the main reason there hasn't been an attack in the last seven years.
A developing story for you in the NEWSROOM. The Chunnel shut down now, and probably for the next 24 hours.
Fire breaking out on a cargo train seven miles inside the Chunnel. That is the 30-mile tunnel under the English Channel connecting England and France.
The train shuttling trucks and their drivers from the French side. Officials say no passenger trains were in the Chunnel, no injuries. Crews are checking on any damage to the Chunnel. Hurricane warnings going up a short time ago for much of the Texas Gulf Coast. Ike is on the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, in some communities people have seen a nearly 40 cent hike in gas prices in a single day. What is going on here?
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.
Poppy, we've seen a huge spike here in the Atlanta area. What is going on?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. I mean, imagine driving up to the gas station and gas being 40 cents more than it was the day before. You've got to fill up a truck, that's a lot of money.
HARRIS: Yes.
HARLOW: It is a shock for a lot of Americans at the pump right now. We have some regional reports of sharp spikes in gas prices. This is all at a time when oil prices have been sliding.
Take a look at that map there. Indianapolis, gas up 40 cents this week at some stations. Louisville, local news said there a 30 cent spike. And one of our colleagues in Atlanta, as you just said, Tony, noticed a 24 cent rise at her local gas station. Also 20 cents in Cincinnati.
So, really, what gives here? You know?
Some might think it's because Hurricane Ike is gaining strength in the Gulf, as we've been telling you all day long. But actually, experts say the price spikes are a residual effect of Hurricane Gustav. You remember that one? It landed in Louisiana, Tony, more than 10 days ago, so it's just factoring in right now.
HARRIS: Ten days later?
HARLOW: Yes, 10 days later. It's pretty shocking, right?
HARRIS: Yes, but, I mean, I would think we would have seen the move before now. Why are we just seeing it now, yes, 10 days later?
HARLOW: It's a great point, Tony, but you've got to think of oil and gas as two separate things. Oil, as everyone know, gets pumped up from the ground. Gas comes from a refinery after you process that oil.
A lot of refineries have had operation disruptions in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. In some cases, they evacuated people as a precautionary measure. That slowed down production. In other cases, there was actual damage to those refineries. So they have to get them back on line.
Marathon Oil -- that's a giant oil company -- says it needs to raise prices because several of its refineries in the Midwest are operating on limited capacity. That's because they're not getting as much crude delivered up from that Gulf region. So it really has a broad effect here.
We talked to an oil expert, Tom Kloza. He's from OPIS, and he tells us he thinks that the production delays caused by Gustav are to blame. But keep in mind, we are far from being out of the woods.
Hurricane Ike, because of that right now, more than 95 percent of the oil production in the Gulf is shut in. And as we've seen with Gustav, it may be a couple days before we see that impact on gas prices -- Tony.
HARRIS: Man. OK, Poppy. This spike, a lot of folks not happy about this.
Poppy Harlow of CNN.com with the "Energy Fix" today.
Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
HARRIS: Hey, some news just in to CNN. We've just received word that police have arrested Kanye West, the rap guy, the rap star.
Kanye West arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. And for what, you ask? Vandalism.
What's behind all of this? Again, police telling us that Kanye West arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for vandalism. We'll try to get more information on this story.
John McCain and Barack Obama visit Ground Zero together later today to remember the victims of September 11th. This morning, McCain attended a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's believed that the terrorists on United Flight 93 might have intended to crash the airplane into the United States Capitol. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people at work in that building when that fateful moment occurred could have been destroyed, along with a beautiful symbol of our freedom. They and very possibly I owe our lives to the passengers who summoned the courage and love necessary to deprive our depraved and hateful enemies their terrible triumph.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Barack Obama issued a statement on the 9/11 anniversary. He said, "We will never forget those who died. We will always remember the extraordinary efforts of our firefighters, police and emergency responders, and those who sacrificed their own lives on Flight 93 to protect their fellow Americans."
Sarah Palin back home in Alaska for the first time since becoming John McCain's running mate. The home state crowd cheered Palin and her husband as they stepped off the plane in Fairbanks yesterday. Later today, Palin attends a ceremony for her son Track, who is being deployed to Iraq.
And you can see more on both VP candidates in the Special Investigations Report. Tune in to "Revealed" this Saturday and Sunday night, with Sarah Palin at 9:00 Eastern and Joe Biden at 10:00.
You know, we often hear the term "Post-Traumatic Stress" as it relates to war. It's also a condition that affects many who survived the attacks on 9/11. One man shares his story with us.
That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get a market check now. New York Stock Exchange, New York City. As you can see, the Dow is down 37 points. It's been a mostly down week so far. A lot of triple digit losses on the day, for much of the week. We're going to check in with Susan Lisovicz and get the latest information on the markets for you in just a couple of minutes.
The New York Stock Exchange joining the nation in marking the seventh anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks. Financial traders paused for a few minutes just before the opening bell this morning. A few blocks away at a tearful ceremony at Ground Zero, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the attacks as the day our world was broken. The names of each of the 2,751 people killed at the World Trade Center were read aloud and four separate moments of silence were observed marking when each plane hit and each tower fell.
You know, a man famous in punk rock circles for his connection with the band, The Ramones, and his own band, Roach Motel, was one of the folks living in lower Manhattan during the September 11th attacks. George Tabb ran from his TriBeCa apartment just four blocks away with his wife and dog and saw all of the carnage that day. People jumping out of windows. His apartment condemned because it was so full of dust and debris. A day that has permanently affected his life and his health in many ways. He joins us now with his dog.
Because the dog, named Scooter, there he is, is a big part of his story and he can't go anywhere without him.
GEORGE TABB, PTSD PATIENT AFTER SEPTEMBER 11TH: Absolutely.
HARRIS: George, maybe let's start there.
Hey, Scooter, good to see you.
You literally can't go anywhere without Scooter?
TABB: I can go other places without Scooter, but I like to go everywhere with Scooter and that's why he's here today actually.
HARRIS: Well, George, tell us why he's so important to you.
TABB: Well, scooter is very important because we both escaped 9/11 together from that fiery mess that the terrorists brought in. It was horrible. And I had been sick with different diseases, beside PTSD, that we'll talk about. I got a bunch of other illnesses, physical illnesses.
HARRIS: But the point about -- that's important to make about Scooter is that he was helpful to your recovery and he was coming back from --
TABB: Yes, he was. Yes, he did. He was very helpful to my recovery. Being sick a lot, being in the hospital a lot with different surgeries for different genetic diseases that I've got from 9/11, Scooter was there and helped me feel better because he knew where the pain would be and licked there. And I found that to be so helpful that I wanted to share that with others.
HARRIS: Nice.
TABB: And through the St. Vincent's Hospital here in New York City, through my friend and therapist Bob Kupferman (ph), and my shrink, David Gordon (ph), they got me involved with the pet therapy program, where I bring Scooter to visit sick patients.
HARRIS: Well, Scooter couldn't be cuter.
Let's talk for a moment about the post-traumatic stress disorder. We most often associate that with people who come back from war. Describe the symptoms you were living with and to the extent that you're still living with symptoms.
TABB: I'm still living with symptom. I still have the nightmares, you know, which are terrible. Like giant buildings chasing me or monsters or . . .
HARRIS: Giant buildings actually chasing you? You see that sometimes?
TABB: Yes, I do. And I had nightmares of the carnage and different things representing those buildings. And I wake up screaming. I still wake up scared out of my mind. When I hear airplanes, I'm very -- I get very nervous. Helicopters. Police sirens.
But through the help of St. Vincent's and through their PTSD health program -- which was funded by "The New York Times," by the way, did a great thing by funding them I learned -- it is behavioral therapy. They taught me to listen to sirens, not as a sound of danger, but the sound of people helping each other.
HARRIS: Right. And, George, what do you think about on a day like today? Another anniversary?
TABB: I think it's sad that Americans don't know the extent of how much still downtown people are still sick. How many people downtown are still affected by the events of that day. How many people are poisoned. How many people are dealing with terrible, terrible illnesses. How police and firefighters cannot talk about it because their pensions are being threatened, who want to talk about this and how sick they are but can't get their pensions.
HARRIS: But, George, what about your emotions? Are you -- seven years later, are you angry? Are you -- have you made some kind of peace with this?
TABB: I was very angry for a long time and very depressed and even locked up a couple times for being so depressed about it. But now, with the help of the pet therapy program and just myself and my friend, Monica, which her and I are starting an organization called the Whirlwind Condition, which is online, where we're trying to raise awareness of people being sick from 9/11.
By being an activist and by doing all this stuff, I'm feeling a lot better. I feel like I'm taking control of the situation. I'm able to fight back. To sort of say, and make things better for the world. And that way the PTSD doesn't get me as bad. I found that sitting around idly and just worrying about it and not doing anything was the worst thing for it.
But by taking action, with my dog, Scooter, here, and I'm doing something good for -- giving back. Like John McCain said in his speech, although I'm voting for Obama, McCain said that when young people, when they become part of something bigger than themselves, it brings a lot of joy. And that's absolutely the truth.
HARRIS: Well, George, thanks for sharing the story. Your amazing story.
TABB: Thank you.
HARRIS: And our thanks to Scooter there.
TABB: Oh, thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: And, George, we wish you all the best.
TABB: Thank you. You too.
HARRIS: Thank you.
TABB: Thank you. Bye-bye.
HARRIS: Moments ago a moment of silence in the Senate chambers.
Just wanted to share these pictures with you from Capitol Hill of another moment of silence as Congress, the Senate, observes the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Let's talk again about Hurricane Ike, our other big story today, as it heads towards Texas. Fear of a storm surge growing and with good reason. We'll explain to you what a surge can actually do.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hurricane Ike prompting mandatory evacuations today. They're in place now for parts of Harris County -- that's Houston -- as well as Galveston County. Buses have been ferrying the elderly and people with medical needs to higher ground for quite a while now. A hurricane warning is up for much of the Texas coastline.
First responders ready to roll. They are converging on coastal Texas today to help with Ike. Aubrey Mika Chancellor is with affiliate WOAI.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUBREY MIKA CHANCELLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): First responders come ready, armed with pillows and suitcases. This group just arrived from Nebraska.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just happy, you know, to help out and do our part.
CHANCELLOR: Fort San Antonio is the staging area. We've seen this place fill up three times just this year. But this time it's different. There are more bus, more ambulances and mobile command units from all over the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all the weather reports that we're seeing on the all (ph) station, is that this one could be the one where these guy are actually called into action.
CHANCELLOR: Some buses have already been called into action. Only News 4 was here as hundreds of buses left Fort San Antonio, all heading for Corpus Christi. Others are still here, waiting to find out where they'll go.
MIKE MINCHEW, AMBULANCE DRIVER: We drove about 13 hours to get here. That's 720 miles.
CHANCELLOR: Mark Minchew (ph) drove his ambulance all night from Alabama. He, like so many others here, is now hoping to get a little bit of sleep before getting his deployment orders.
MINCHEW: We're holding right now and waiting to be dispatched out to wherever we may need to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. Let's get to Chad Myers now.
Chad, you know, we just talked a moment ago about storm surge and promised folks that we would explain it a little bit because it is such a huge component to the storms and capable of doing so much real damage.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is the bubble of water that is basically sucked under a hurricane. It's a low pressure. The air kind of gets sucked in. But it's also a wind event as well.
Think about like you're holding a cup of hot coffee and you blow across the top to kind of get it to cool off. Well, those waves that your breath is making kind of goes to the other side of the cup.
Well, that's kind of what's going on here. The wind is kind of trying to blow the tops off the waves here and that blows the water in one direction. It's already blowing the water into Biloxi. It's already blowing the water into places like U.S. Highway 90 down here across parts of southern Louisiana. That hit all that hard by Gustav.
The water is coming up threw the bayous now and through the ditches. And also back up on the other side, Biloxi has about six inches of water between six and 12, depending on the tide, over Highway 90 there as well. So this surge is already taking place, although this isn't the storm surge that really kills people. This is the now -- this is our hurricane impact zone from FEMA here with the track of where it is right now.
Look at this, Tony. That's $87.8 billion worth of estimated damage. And let me tell you, they were right on the money with Gustav. They were right on the money with this estimate that they had. So I suspect that they're probably right on the money here as this storm turns right around. Houston, Texas, being right there.
So it's all about this bubble of water that is generated here, that comes onshore with the leading edge of the eye. And even ahead of the eye at times. So as this storm continues to push this water, this bubble gets pushed up on shore, up on shore, up on shore. And then at the very last minute, when the eye comes on shore, there's another increase. It could be 10 feet increase of water as it splashes over the top of these barrier islands here from Galveston down towards Freeport, and that's where we're most concerned about. And that's why we are not sending anybody to those barrier islands. All of our crews will be inland and not there because it's just not safe.
HARRIS: That makes sense.
All right, Chad, appreciate it. Thank you.
MYERS: You bet.
HARRIS: I want to turn your attention to Haiti now. A country in our hemisphere, teetering, literally teetering. Food and fresh water is said to be running dangerously low in the hardest hit city of Gonaives. The U.N. says plenty of supplies are coming into the country, but washed out roads keeping them from the people who so desperately need them. Haiti battered by four killer storms leading to a medical crisis.
CNN's Karl Penhaul looks at the toll in Gonaives. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The cries of Haitian babies, itching with rashes, in pain from diarrhea after days of wash in filthy flood water. Joseph Beshline (ph) trudged miles through mud to get emergency treatment for her nine-month-old daughter, Jan (ph).
"She's got a lot of rashes and is covered in spots. And now she's got a genital infection," she tells me.
Running this clinic in one of Gonaives most devastated neighborhoods is Dr. Efrahen Fahaldo (ph), from international aid group Doctors Without Borders. Cuban medical relief workers are also here, even though their own island has been ravaged by Hurricane Ike. There's no sign of any Haitian government medics.
"This is a really critical situation. These people's lives have just collapsed. There's terrible contamination. Even before these people faced chronic illnesses, now things have just got dramatically worse," he says.
From bad to heart-wrenching. Babies wail. These doctors are doing their best to the cure infections, abscesses and rashes. Adults hobble through with open, now infected wounds, suffered during the killer storms.
"I'm seeing such extreme suffering. These people just can't go home to a clean house or three meals a day or even clean drinking water," he says.
And this is exactly the dilemma. The doctors will patch those patients up inside the hospital and then they'll come out to this. There's a lot of flood water still in the streets and these people's homes are full of mud. And so the conditions are ripe for fresh infections and even epidemics.
Aid is arriving in Gonaives, but thousands of storm survivor are still cooking out in the open, sleeping in the debris of their homes, and wandering miles in knee-deep water. It's survival of the fittest.
On the clinic floor, 75-year-old Suzanne Ima (ph) is wheezing her last breaths. She came through the floods unscathed, but her son says the stress of trying to survive is killing her.
FRANCOIS CHARLES, SON OF DEAD PATIENT, (through translator): My mother was so upset by the flood, everything she had just washed away. That drove her blood pressure through the roof. Now I have no money to bury her.
PENHAUL: It's left to it hospital maintenance man to pronounce her dead. Even in death, there's little dignity. The doctors must battle to care for the living and leave families to figure out how to bury their dead.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Gonaives, Haiti. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: My goodness. If you would like to get involved in relief efforts for those already affected by Hurricane Ike in Cuba, Haiti, the Turks and Caicos, elsewhere, visit CNN.com's Impact Your World page. There you will find links to groups providing food and shelter to people in need. The address again is CNN.com/impact.
How exactly would John McCain or Barack Obama change the fight against terrorism? We've got answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, today is the last 9/11 anniversary in which President Bush will be leading the country in the battle against terrorism. What lies ahead? Just what would John McCain or Barack Obama do differently to protect the country from terrorism?
CNN's Josh Levs joins me now to break down their homeland security plans, particularly timely.
Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. We're going to jump right into this. You know you hear a lot about it and a lot of people have a broad sense of what each man is about in this respect. But what do they have specifically?
All the analysis of what they would do when it comes to Homeland Security are based on their web sites. This is John McCain's right here. He leads with a strong military in a dangerous world. This is Barack Obama's. He leads with protecting our chemical plants.
Now I noticed this really interesting article today in the "L.A. Times" that says McCain and Obama largely agree on anti-terror issues. So I've been looking into how much do they agree? We have our own election center where we've broken this down.
Let's go to a graphic. I'm going to show you some key places, some major issues when it comes to fighting terrorism that they do agree on. Actually, this is the second one. So we'll start with major differences. That's fine.
We're going to start right here. This is really two places where they disagree but we're told in a lot of other ways there's a lot of agreement. They do disagree on whether the Iraq War was part of the fight against terrorism. We hear that every day, Tony, as you know.
And the second one that we're listing there, a Supreme Court decision. It's actually really significant. That involves how you treat prisoners who are captured in the fight against terrorism. They have different perspectives on that. But when it comes to whether to close Guantanamo Bay, they agree on that. When it comes to the Patriot Act, they agree on that. Also, in the end, FISA, they agree on that. So I spoke with an analyst this morning. Let's go to our next graphic here. And I said to him, look, what is the deal here? Do they really agree or do they disagree overall? And what he told me, he's the head of an agency at George Washington University that follows all this.
And do we have this graphic? I'll just tell you. And he told me, you know what, in the end, there hasn't been enough talk about specifics when they come to what their policies are. So he's not even able to tell us how you would actually break down how they would go about achieving a lot of these things.
They do, he says, have very different postures with respect to diplomacy and facing the world. So that's where he sees the big difference. But the truth is, when it comes to how they would tackle the most controversial issues we hear about, like Guantanamo Bay, like those laws, Tony, we're hearing a lot of overlap there.
HARRIS: That's because the devil's in the detail. And folks don't want to get pinned down on details just yet, it seems?
LEVS: That's right. Exactly. Not only that, but, you know what, the campaign is not designed to do that. And this is one of the problems. When you have these debates and have all these little sound bites, they're not designed to get so specific. And all the analysts I'm seeing, reading and talking to saying the same things, when you get to specifics, you're not seeing the differences.
HARRIS: All right, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: You got it. Thanks.
HARRIS: Millions of memories and billions of dollars are at stake at Ground Zero. What will emerge?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristin A. Irvine Ryan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my brother, firefighter Thomas J. Foley. Tommy Boy, you will live in our hearts forever.
HARRIS: Family members remembering their loved ones this day. Seven years to the day of those horrendous 9/11 attacks.
You know, efforts to build a permanent memorial and rebuild the World Trade Center site, plagued, just plagued by delays. CNN's Maggie Lake looks at the future of Ground Zero and what's at stake.
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MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): From the promise at New York's Ground Zero -- to the reality. Seven years after the destruction of the twin towers, the World Trade Center site remains a 16 acre construction zone. A place of pilgrimage for New Yorkers and world tourists who wait for something to rise from the ashes of September 11th.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel it's an embarrassment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel that they should really build the buildings. It's all almost, what, like seven years?
LAKE: The wait could be a long one. The $16 billion rebuilding project is years behind schedule and massively over budget. Larry Silverstein, the private developer who owned the lease on the original twin towers, spoke to us from his office overlooking the site. He says his efforts to build three of the five new towers have been hampered by a tangled web of government bureaucracy.
LARRY SILVERSTEIN, WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE DEVELOPER: Frustrated. It's the simplest way to describing it. We're ready to go and have been ready to go. What we need is the infrastructure to be put into place, to permit us to build these three buildings.
LAKE: The infrastructure Silverstein is referring to is the transportation hub, which runs under the entire World Trade Center site. It must be finished before construction on the memorial and sky scrapers can continue. Urban developers say nothing this complex has ever been attempted before.
MITCHELL MOSS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: There are competing interests. It's not just a matter of office buildings. We want to have a memorial that's important. We want to have commercial development to generate revenues. And then we have to have transportation there. There's only 16 acres. So we're trying to fit so much into so little.
LAKE: Silverstein claims the delays have cost him tenants. In July, financial giant Merrill Lynch abandoned plans to move its headquarters into one of the planned Silverstein towers. But Joe Daniels, head of the September 11th Museum and Memorial Foundation, says there is more than just money at stake.
JOE DANIELS, NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11TH MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM: When I know that the interests of the world and the eyes of the world will be looking at this site, seeing how New York healed itself and was rebuilt and there's going to be a focus on the memorial.
LAKE: The Port Authority admits the project is way over budget, but declined our offers to comment on the delays. That will change at the end of the month when the agency is expected to release a revised timetable. The victims' families are hoping that, at the very least, the memorial can open in time for the 10th anniversary. Critics say that's a long shot.
Maggie Like, CNN, New York.
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HARRIS: And CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Fredricka Whitfield.
