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A Tribute to 9/11 Victims, Remembrances at Ground Zero; Moammar Gadhafi's Son fled to Niger; Afghanistan Taliban Attack; Mom on a Mission; Florida, A Must-Win for GOP; The Names of 9/11

Aired September 11, 2011 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, HOST: So, listen, I have to ask you. Been asking people all day, for 9/11, where were you?

JON WERTHEIM, SENIOR WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: I was pushing my son who was then 2-months old around in Greenwich Village. And a mile and a half away we see a building burning. We were told, don't worry they're filming a movie there. We head home and by that time it's on every TV screen and just you know as trite as it sounds, one of those days you'll never forget.

LEMON: Jon Wertheim of sports illustrated, thank you very much. We appreciate it. And you can see all of Jon's work on sportsillustrated.com.

LEMON: It is the top of the hour, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm Don Lemon. I'm live in Tampa Florida. And we are here for the CNN Tea party national Republican debate that's going to happen on Monday night.

But, in the meantime, we are going to begin with the development story, again a sinus report for Moammar Gadhafi, his crumbled empire in Libya, his son, we're being told, Saadi, has a former soccer player and a notorious playboy fled to Niger. And we are going to be joined now by CNN's Ben Wedeman with the very latest on that.

Ben, what can you tell us?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. We know from the justice minister of Niger that Saadi, who is the third son of Moammar Gadhafi, 37 years old, pass traveled into that country with eight other so- called minor Libyan officials. They were granted refuge there on a humanitarian basis. So Saadi is not really the big fish that Libyan officials are hoping to catch. They're most interested in Saif al- Islam, his other brother and of course, the man they call the big fish, Moammar Gadhafi. Don?

LEMON: All right, CNN's Ben Wedeman. Thank you, Ben.

I want to move on now and talk about the 9/11 anniversary in New York, in Washington and Pennsylvania. A day of solemn remembrances on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. A moment of silence at ground zero this morning at 8:46. That's when American airlines flight 11 crashed into the north tower exactly ten years ago. The start of the worst terror attack in U.S. history. Now the site is a sacred memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who died that day. The footprints of the twin towers transformed into deep fountain. One by one the names were read aloud of the people who died. Ceremony was observed at the Pentagon as well a wreath laying at for the 184 people killed when American airlines flight 77 flew into the side of the building.

And in Shanks Ville, Pennsylvania, a ceremony at the site where United States airlines flight 93 went down in a field. The passengers had fought back against their hijackers. CNN's Poppy Harlow is in New York for us tonight.

Poppy, we've had ten years to prepare for this day, but now actually seeing those fountains where the twin towers once stood, the enormity it is simply overwhelming to many. What's it been like there today?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. I mean, even Don, you know for me, I moved here to New York, September 2001. So, this has sort to come full circle for me seeing this here, and I've been watching it all unfold since 8:00 a.m. when the president was here. Also joined by President Bush making remarks.

What stood out to me Don, about this morning was it was a beautiful, crisp September day just like September 11th ten years ago. The sky was blue. There were no clouds. It was really astonishing there for a few hours during the ceremony. Obviously, all of the names read. 2,606 Americans died in the towers right behind me.

And, also, there was something very important, Don going up, uptown from where we are now. That is where hundreds and hundreds of firefighters and their loved ones met for their memorial service. A lot of the fire fighters, the first responders were not invited to this ceremony because there wasn't room, so they gathered there.

There was an incredibly emotional moment. Katie Devlin, who is the daughter of a firefighter rescuing people on 9/11, who lost his life. She was just a young girl when it happened. She sang "amazing grace." And this was one of the key moments of today. Take a minute to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE DEVLIN, DAUGHTER OF A FIREFIGHTER RESCUING PEOPLE ON 9/11: I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind. But now I see.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Don, talk about a city, a country coming together for that girl, but also just for everyone on today, September 11th. I have to tell you from a personal standpoint being down here all day felt more hopeful than it really did somber. The memorial opened. Which just is astonishingly beautiful, these two pools filled with water. The names of the each of the victims etched out around the pools.

The family members let in for the first time today to go find their loved ones names. Many put their puts on them and etched their names into a piece of paper which they took home with them today. And for a father, who I just sat down with, Don, about half an hour ago, who lost his 25-year-old daughter here from Wisconsin.

He told me "I have a whole new family. I have a family of New Yorkers." We was with people that dug in the rubble searching for his daughter, Don. To hear a story like that, obviously he'll never get through the loss, but it's about people coming together and today I think was really, really about that. And you saw it play out here at ground zero. You saw it play out at the firefighters memorial, you saw it in Shanks Ville, Pennsylvania, and you saw it at Pentagon. It was very uplifting, Don.

LEMON: Hey, Poppy, stick with me just for a moment here as we look at some of the video of the memorial today. I think it's interesting you said that, because sitting at home and being with people as we're watching. Because as we see, we've seen a lot of images today of burning towers and of planes hitting buildings and what have you. And I think it's been a very depression day for people watching television and quite a juxtaposition of what you've said. If you were actually were at one of these memorials, quite frankly, you weren't seeing all the images from ten years ago. You were seeing the people who were there celebrating the lives of these people rather than all the deaths?

HARLOW: Exactly right. I'm so glad you bring that up because today, since I got down here, I wasn't watching television. I was watching the memorial play out. I was watching family whose went in to see their loved one's name. I was watching families who gathered at restaurants nearby to have dinner together. There was actually smiling going on. A lot of hugging. The father that I just told you about who lost his 25-year-old daughter Andrea brought me up to another man tom and said this is a man that I thank so much. This is a man that is part of my new family.

They know what they've lost and they do what they can with what they have. So, of course, it's somber. Of course it is heart wrenching, but for a lot of people I think today walking into that memorial, which, don, hasn't been opened until this morning, was a renewal for them. I really think it was. I can never know their pain but I can tell you that I saw some hope today.

LEMON: You know what? That's good, because a lot of us, as I said, felt very depressed watching all the images. And it's good that maybe the people that were there didn't feel at least that way in some way. Thank you very much, Poppy. Appreciate it.

Fighter jets scrambled today because of reports of suspicious activities aboard two domestic flights. Both landed safely and no further signs of trouble, but three people were taken into custody from a frontier airline flight from Denver after it landed in Detroit. F-16s also shadowed an American airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York after reports several passengers were behaving strangely. President Barack Obama traveled to all three sites of the 9/11 attacks and he is planning to pay tribute, further tribute tonight, at an event at the Kennedy center. Joining us now live is our Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin.

Jessica, what's ahead for the president tonight? I know the Kennedy center for president is ahead but does he have other things, other events to attend?

JESSICA YELLIN, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The big event is the Kennedy center event Don. And the first time we'll hear the president today speak in his own words. Previously we heard him only read from a psalm.

I'm told by an official here that his remarks will be about resilience. He will talk about Americans and what we've lost but also what we still retain. What hasn't changed about America is our character, our values, our way of life. And I'm told in preparation for the speech he studied different passages from the bible and some past speeches. He'll also make remarks about our men and women in uniform and how they have sacrificed the most in the last ten years. And how the three symbols, the most visible reminders of America's strength and resilience of those three symbols, those three places he visited today, ground zero, Shanks Ville and that site at the Pentagon. I'm told the remarks will last for about 10 to 15 minutes and they start in just about an hour, Don.

LEMON: And we're going to carry them here, Jessica Yellin, on CNN. You'll be able to see the president's remarks live. Jessica, thank you very much reporting from the White House.

Tea party candidates get ready for a big GOP debate on Monday night. But they're not alone. Democrats will be watching, too.

Next, we'll talk with Brad Woodhouse, communications director for the DNC and tea party Chairwoman Amy Kramer to preview the contenders.

And if you want to tweet me about this or you check me out on my blog or facebook, do it now. I'm looking at all of your comments, especially as it comes to what's happening with our debate Monday night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Here in Tampa we're a little more than 24 hours away from the Republican debate co-hosted by CNN and the tea party express. I'm joined here now by Amy Kramer. She is the chairwoman of the tea party express. Also Mark Preston is back. He is CNN's senior political editor and the Brad Woodhouse joining us from Washington, D.C. He is the communications director for the DNC, the Democratic National Committee.

Mark Preston, start with you. You have new information. What's the new information?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: You know Don we've been talking whether or not we'll see Michele Bachmann try to engage rick Perry in this debate on Monday night. Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann are fishing from the same pond's tea party voters. Perhaps Amy can talk more about that. What I've learned from two campaign aides, Michele Bachmann, expect her to contrast her record with Rick Perry, certainly her views with Rick Perry on three issues. Illegal immigration, Social Security and the mandate of the HVP vaccination that Rick Perry did when he was the governor of Texas.

LEMON: It sounds like she knows that she has to do something. So she's going to try to hit them hard, especially hit him hard come Monday night, tomorrow night, because, I mean, really, he took the wind out of her sails. She won the Iowa straw poll on the same day he threw his name into the ring and then, Amy, her poll numbers just started coming down.

AMY KREMER, CHAIRWOMAN, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Well, we are all excited to see them all come together and focus on these issues that are important to the tea party (inaudible) free market. So, I know that you know last week was his first debate, but we think that this debate, the people of this movement are so focused on the economy, and we believe we're going to be the ones to choose the next Republican nominee. And that's why this debate is so important.

LEMON: I want to talk to you about that. But first of all, what he said, what he said about what Michele Bachmann is going to have to do. What do, what do tea party members want to hear from the folks who are going to be on the stage? Is Michele Bachmann doing - is she playing to the people who - your constituents?

KREMER: What's interesting is that they both have been out on the front lines with the tea party movement I mean for a long time. Supporting us in a lot of things, been loud voices. We want to hear who has the best ideas and solutions to turn the economy around so that jobs are created again and so that we get pay down our debt and deficit. That's what people want to hear. Who is the candidate that can do that?

LEMON: OK. So Brad, again, we are going to talk more you said, you think you are going to pick the next president of the United States. Brad, I'm sure you would beg to differ with that. Do you believe tea party members are going to pick the next president of the United States?

BRAD WOODHOUSE, DNC COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR: No, don, I don't. I what I think Amy said was the tea party members will tick the Republican nominee for president and I can tell you from our perspective, we'd be thrill if the tea party pick the Republican nominee for president. The tea party is a portion of the Republican Party that wants to end Medicare, dismantle Social Security, continue giving tax breaks to the wealthy while the middle class is left on its own.

So you know and I think that's a lot of what you will hear tomorrow night. Now, with all due respect to Michele Bachmann, she has to make a move against Rick Perry. But, really, if you look at all of the debates, Don, and I think mark would agree with this. You've seen very little differences between these Republicans. They're really almost on a grand scale, they fairly impossible (ph). They all support the Ryan plan and Medicare. They all support some way or the other changing Social Security in ways that would harm it for future generations. So, we will be looking forward to see what they say tomorrow night, but it will be to appeal to the tea party and that will benefit us, we think.

LEMON: You say that's like it's a bad thing for democrat, but for members of the tea party it's not a bad thing what you said. And when I said that you know they're going to pick the next president of the United States, pick the Republican nominee. But you're thinking that's going to be the next president?

KREMER: Absolutely.

LEMON: Why do you say that, though? People say the tea party is a small fraction of voters?

KREMER: Actually, I disagree with that. There's a large number of people that associate and identify with this tea party movement. They may not call themselves tea party activists but they, too, want the economy reined in. They too want jobs created and there are independents and moderate it's, Democrats in this movement. And I think that we are going to choose the next Republican nominee, and the policies of President Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid simply are not working anymore. He's been in office three years. We had a democratic controlled Congress from 2006 until January of this year. They've done nothing. We can't continue down this road and that's what Americans are concerned about.

LEMON: I'm going to let Brad speak to that. Because Brad there is Democrats who are saying I'm going to get the e-mails and I'm going to get the tweets sort to saying, hey listen, the president has done a lot. More jobs were created under this president than created under President Bush. So, respond to what Amy said. Do you believe that the policies of the president are failing?

WOODHOUSE: Well, of course not. I mean, Don, remember, we were bleeding 750,000 jobs as month when the president came into office. We've actually created private sector jobs in this country for 18 straight months to tune of 2.4 million jobs. And one of the reasons the economy slowed down in recent months is we're bleeding a lot of government sector jobs in the state and local level.

And you know what? I'm sure the tea party cheers that, that laying off teachers, laying off police officers, laying off firefighters, university administrators, health care workers is not the way we'll turn the economy around. That's one reason the president has aid to states in the jobs plan to keep teachers on the job. It's not going to help our economy to lay off teachers no matter what the tea party says.

LEMON: OK. Amy, I see you're shaking your head but you are going to be on tonight. So, save it for later. Save it for a little later. We've got a long way, road to go here.

So, listen, thanks to all of you. It's great having these conversations and it's great being here, hearing the voice of, you know, the electorate in Florida and tea party members.

KREMER: We'll, we're excited to be having this debate if this movement is not a powerful movement.

LEMON: Bard, go ahead.

WOODHOUSE: Hey Don, we'll see you in Tampa tomorrow.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir. Remember, CNN along with the tea party express, co-hosts the debate among the Republican presidential candidates here in Tampa. That's Monday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

You know, Florida is a state that Republicans have to win in 2012. Well, we'll tell you why, and we'll preview tomorrow's debate with two party insiders. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I'm not the first one in everyone that Florida is a must win state for the GOP in 2012. But why, let's talk about it with Alex Castellanos. He's the Republican consultant and a CNN contributor. And then Dana Loesch. She is a top radio host and also a CNN contributor.

So Alex, why is Florida so important to Republicans.

ALEX COSTELLANOS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: You know, when it comes to the process it's critically important. Right now Iowa may pick the most conservative winner of that playoff game. New Hampshire may pick an establishment Republican. They may come down to South Carolina and Florida really to settle who comes out of the Republican nomination process.

DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What you're saying, really, a bellwether state.

LEMON: Meaning?

LOESCH: Well, usually the way Florida goes, so goes the nomination. You can't be the presidential for the GOP if you don't take Florida.

LEMON: And that's one reason Florida is - they're considering moving up the primary here. And that's causing consternation with the party, with the political system and also with the folks in the state. They may get punished and then they lose some delegates because of it. They said we are strong and mighty and should go before other states. Several, a lot of other states?

COSTELLANOS: And every state wants to be first, you know. There are only 49 other states, but they ought to have a special place in the process and are more representatives. But the problem right now, Florida I think would actually be giving up an opportunity to be at the finish line instead of the starting line of the process.

LEMON: But, if they're penalized for doing that, I mean doesn't that maybe Florida won't be the state that you have to win because they're going to lose some delegates? They're playing with fire, don't you think?

COSTELLANOS: They are playing with fire. But usually what happens is nobody that nobody wants to insult the state as the process goes on and usually some accommodation has worked out.

LEMON: What do you think?

LOESCH: I think it would be kind of a gamble. I hope they don't push it up. I really don't.

LEMON: Why?

LOESCH: Well, I just I think that Florida ends up having just kind of the ultimate say in who's going to be selected on the Republican side. And I just at this point, I really trust Florida's instincts. I don't want them to push it up. I want them to keep it as it is.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: All right. Let's get to the reason we're here and that is Monday night. Tomorrow night. The debate. I don't know if you heard what Mark Preston said. He spoke with some folks at the Bachmann campaign. Just going to hit Perry hard tomorrow. Do you think her message is right? Her messaging is right on?

LOESCH: I believe so. She does need to hit Perry hard, because his entire strategy up to this point has been to completely ignore her. He wants to focus as much attention on Romney as possible so he can be the non-Romney. Because until Perry got involved, it was Romney and everyone who wasn't Mitt Romney. And so, Perry's been taken a lot of the thunder away. So by ignoring her, he sort of pushing her out to the press.

LEMON: Is this a complete?

COSTELLANOS: Oh, that she does?

LEMON: She says, yes I'm going to go, hit him hard, but does it really matter?

COSTELLANOS: I think it does because right now, this could be a very good day for Mitt Romney. If Michele Bachmann takes on Perry and they get into a tug-of-war on this, splitting the conservative vote, then that center right vote all goes to Mitt Romney, but she doesn't have much choice. She's got to not only deal with Perry also demonstrate she's electable in a general election. What's holding her back is not that Republicans disagree. They think the same thing she does. They just don't think she can win in the fall.

LEMON: The chairwoman of the tea party express sat with me right where you guys' are sitting just a couple minutes ago and said the tea party is going to pick the next Republican presidential nominee and thus the next president. What do you think? LOESCH: Possibly. I think the tea party has been instrumental and not just pushing the Republican Party a little more to the right but also to the Democrats. They've been pushing Democrats. (Inaudible) is a moderate for crying out loud in the last election. I mean, this is, this just I think that the full influence of the grass roots movement, but it is a huge battle first and foremost with the establishment with the GOP, and they're out in full force. I've had so much off hit my inbox about Bachmann, Perry, about this person, that person. So it's been it's going to be a tug-of-war first with the establishment. Then with independents and the swing voters.

LEMON: This election, I think, is going to be way more interesting than the 2008 election. Do you disagree with that? I think in large part because of the tea party's influence.

COSTELLANOS: Because of the tea party's influence. But you know this is a big election in a lot of ways. The country's on the edge of an economic precipice. We don't know where we're going, how we'll dig ourselves out of a hole. A fear America's in decline, that we are going to leave our children something less that we've been left. That's something that never happened in this country before. That's why I think that the fight for having politically are so tough because it's very different ways on how we'll dig ourselves out.

LEMON: is that, when you said leave our children less than before, is that real or is that rhetoric? Because we've gone through bad times before. We've had unemployment.

COSTELLANOS: But never had confidence down and that's really important. But when you ask Americans on a survey now, do you think your children will have it better than you did, for the first time, more Americans think, no, our children are not than do. That doesn't happen in this country. This has always been the land of endless promise and limitless frontiers. And we believe we can do anything as Americans. And that's in doubt. We've lost confidence and I think frankly it begins at the White House at the top because our president is telling us only he can get us out. Only Washington can get us out. He's not doing what Reagan did which was telling us, the American people can get us out.

LEMON: I got to run. I think listen, on a political level, this has nothing to do with ideology, but I think as Americans today, if we don't know that we can get through any thing, we can survive anything and come out stronger on the other side.

LOESCH: We may have different marines to achieving ends but the same ends.

LEMON: Yes. Lives are important.

LOESCH: Absolutely.

LEMON: We want to leave our kids something. Thank you. We are going to talk to you guys more. Remember CNN along with the tea party express co-hosts the debate among the Republican presidential candidates here in Tampa, Florida. That's Monday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Four people arrested in Sweden for allegedly plotting a terror attack in the country's second largest city. That report and more and your top stories, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Richelle Carey at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Back to Don in Tampa in a moment. But first let's check our top stories.

Somber ceremonies today marked the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Francis Haroes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harvey L. Harold.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stephen --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CAREY: The names of nearly 3,000 people who died that day were read aloud at the site where the twin towers once stood.

The building's footprints, now deep fountains, beautiful fountains surrounded by names engraved in stone.

Observances also held today at the two other 9/11 sites. The Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. President Obama was on hand to lay wreaths at both locations.

The Swedish Security Services says it arrested three people overnight suspected of plotting a terror attack in the country's second largest city. Police are holding the four for probable cause of preparing attacks. The head of the security service warned last week that Islamic terrorism is the country's biggest threat.

Sweden -- Sweden, that is, has witnessed terrorism in the past. A suicide bomber wounded two people in the capital Stockholm last December. We all remember that.

And the Taliban isn't letting the 9/11 anniversary pass without a reminder of what they are cable of. A suicide bombing at a military base at eastern Afghanistan has wounded as many as 77 American troops and killed at least two Afghans.

Barbara Starr joins us by phone from Washington.

Barbara, we're just learning in the last few minutes specifically that the 77 injured are, in fact, American.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Richelle. U.S. Defense officials saying that they believe now that most of the 77 injured were, in fact, American troops. This is a small combat outpost, a relatively small post in central eastern Afghanistan in a place called Wardak Province that has seen a lot of fighting over the years.

For 77 people could to be injured, even minor injuries, that tells you the size and scope of the vehicle bomb that detonated at the front gate killing the suicide bomber and at least two others that were Afghan laborers by all accounts.

A top U.S. official saying this was a significant and high-profile attack. The Taliban did claim responsibility for it. It's an area of Afghanistan, as I said that has seen fighting, but there's no indication at this point that this attack, even though it occurred on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, yesterday, that it was associated with any of the terrorist threats that Americans are paying so much attention to here at home -- Richelle.

CAREY: And Barbara, has there been any chatter in recent days, recent weeks to give officials a heads up that something like this might be coming? Other than just the fact that it's 9/11?

STARR: Well you know, in this part of Afghanistan, Richelle, the eastern section, much like southern Afghanistan, it has really seen the bulk of the fighting over the years. I don't know that they had anything specific, but these kinds of suicide attacks, sadly, are growing increasingly common and troops are increasingly watchful for them.

Still remains to be seen how such a large suicide vehicle bomb got so close to a gate before it detonated and caused so much havoc -- Richelle.

CAREY: Seventy-seven injuries, two fatalities, Barbara Starr reporting from Washington.

Barbara, thank you so much.

Let's get back to Don Lemon in Tampa now -- Don.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Richelle, thank you very much.

Adam Smith is one of the best political editors in Florida. He's going to join me next with the inside scoop on this state and how it's trying to raise its political profile.

But first, I want to tell you about this. A New Orleans mom on a mission fighting for the rights of special needs kids. It all stems from the struggles she went through helping her own son.

CNN's education contributor Steve Perry has her story in tonight's "Perry's Principles."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): When Karran Harper Royal's oldest son Chris started kindergarten 20 years ago she got an earful from his teachers who didn't understand his behavior was masking ADHD.

KARRAN HARPER ROYAL, PARENT ADVOCATE: He's always getting putting out of classes, getting punished. They gave him all these negative messages. At some point, you know, that kid is going to explode.

PERRY: Things got so bad the New Orleans mom felt she had to take drastic action.

(On camera): You were at the point where you thought you had to quit your job?

ROYAL: To be there.

PERRY: Really?

ROYAL: Yes.

PERRY: Your plan is quit your job to go into the school with your child?

ROYAL: I went to the -- I was at school every day. They ended up making me a substitute teacher.

PERRY: Come on.

ROYAL: No, seriously.

PERRY (voice-over): Extensive testing showed Chris had ADHD and a high IQ, which meant he was learning disabled and gifted. Armed with the diagnosis, Karran made it her mission to get him the classroom resources he needed.

ROYAL: And so I started going to school board meetings. I prepared some documents to show them.

PERRY (on camera): They must have loved you?

ROYAL: They have come to love me.

(LAUGHTER)

ROYAL: They have come to love me.

PERRY (voice-over): She spent over a decade teaching other parents of special needs children how to navigate the system.

ROYAL: The reason I help parents now because I didn't have anybody there to help me. Make yourself an expert on what's going on with your child and work with the school. The school doesn't have all the answers.

PERRY (on camera): How's Chris doing now? ROYAL: Chris works here in New Orleans now as a professional musician. He travels around the world. He's very good at what he does.

PERRY: And he's happy.

ROYAL: And he says he's living the life he wants to live. He's very happy.

PERRY (voice-over): Steve Perry, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Florida is the top of the Republican universe as host of tomorrow's big debate and they'd like it to stay there.

Adam Smith joins me now. He is a political editor of the "St. Petersburg Times."

So let's start with this. It's a unique state. You know we talk about the I-4 corridor. Listen, I know why it's important. There is a reason that the Republicans are holding their convention this time in Florida.

ADAM SMITH, POLITICAL EDITOR, ST. PETERSBURG TIMES: Absolutely. The math -- the Democrats can win the presidency without Florida potentially. It's virtually impossible for the Republicans. They have to win Florida.

LEMON: Yes. They've got to win Florida. So it's important what they're going to do up on that stage on Monday night.

As we said, you are one of the best political editors here. The best political editor, we say, in Florida. What do you think about -- what do these guys have to do up onstage tomorrow night to really get people sort of engaged with them come tomorrow night?

SMITH: Well, I think for Rick Perry, there's going to be a lot of attention on Social Security.

LEMON: Yes.

SMITH: With Florida being Florida, that's a key issue. You've got one in six Floridians is a recipient of Social Security. So he's going to probably have to clean up his language a little bit.

LEMON: He's got some explaining to do, as I say.

SMITH: A little bit of explaining to do. Now what he just needs to do is make it clear that he's not going to tinker with existing beneficiaries.

LEMON: Yes.

SMITH: I mean there was a model, Marco Rubio, won the U.S. Senate, he made it clear during his campaign that he was going to tinker with it.

LEMON: Did you see the flyer that was for Perry and Romney that they had out, it was from the Romney campaign? Yes. Yes.

SMITH: Yes. The e-mail traffic.

LEMON: Yes. What do you think?

SMITH: Well, I think that Romney thinks he's very vulnerable. He's going to probably make the case that anybody who sounds so hostile to Social Security cannot win a general election.

LEMON: That's what I want to ask. I mean you have a lot of older voters here. A lot of people who are going to be -- not going to be, who do rely on Social Security. So that doesn't play well. I mean you said he's got some explaining to do. I think he has a lot of explaining to do.

SMITH: Well, it's how you phrase it. He probably has to be a little more artful. Make it clear that he's not talking about doing away with Social Security but he's talking more about protecting Social Security for future beneficiaries.

LEMON: Are Florida voters receptive to Michele Bachmann's message because she -- our Mark Preston, our senior political editor, just, you know, spoke to someone on her staff who said here what she's going to hit him on Social Security and other things. She's going to come at him hard tomorrow.

SMITH: Well, she hasn't. She sort of faded since Iowa. So she's got to do something to get her momentum back. She has got a lot of very strong support in Florida. I went to an even not far from here recently. She had about 1200.

LEMON: Yes.

SMITH: So that's not -- that's a big deal.

LEMON: All right, let's talk about something that is a big deal. Another big deal. Moving the Florida primary up. Is it fifth, right?

SMITH: The idea they're aiming to be fifth, after Iowa and New Hampshire.

LEMON: Where is Florida now?

SMITH: Right now they have -- they actually literally don't have a date.

LEMON: They don't have a date. OK. So they want to be fifth? So -- they are going to be penalized if they do it. They're going to lose some delegates. Do you think it's going to happen?

SMITH: I don't think they care so much about the delegates.

LEMON: Really? SMITH: They want a voice. They want to be -- you know, with the Republican leadership in the state says, this is the -- this is the state that is a microcosm of America. It's diverse, both ethnically, culturally, geographically, and they deserve to have a key say.

LEMON: Senior contributor Alex Castellanos said they are playing with fire if they're doing this by losing delegates. I mean, you know, the only problem with that is, if the delegates end up deciding --

SMITH: If this becomes a long, drawn-out delegate fight, which is potential, then you're going to have a lot of Floridians second guessing.

LEMON: Yes. But he also said -- it also precludes him from sort of coming in at the end having the same cleaning everything up?

SMITH: Well, I think mostly in modern history has been about momentum.

LEMON: Yes.

SMITH: And whoever has the most momentum cleans up. I think that's the calculation Republicans are making a mistake.

LEMON: Yes, but as my producer, a Floridian, says, the argument on the other side is that if the candidates, if the nominee's already chosen then what does it really matter?

SMITH: Exactly. Which was the case they used to have their primary late -- much later on and they were tired of not having any say.

LEMON: Can you quickly explain? I think a lot of people know about it. But others may not. The I-4 Corridor which is -- which is really supposed to be the area that everyone needs to win and it's sort of -- is it the demographics of the country or is that -- it's just important here in Florida to win the corridor?

SMITH: This is from Tampa, St. Petersburg all the way to Daytona, the center of the state, is your swing vote.

LEMON: Yes.

SMITH: Your independent voter sort of Mecca.

LEMON: Yes.

SMITH: And so it's -- winning Florida is all about winning the I-4 Corridor. In a Republican primary, Tampa Bay is the biggest market combined with Orlando. That's about 45 percent of the vote.

LEMON: Yes. And if you drive along the I-4 Corridor and you go -- all the TV markets there, there's a lot of political ads. And if you win those markets and you get the most ads there, I'm sure the TV and radio stations and newspapers who serve that corridor, they must love it. SMITH: They love it. And it's generally divided Florida, Southern Florida, typically Democratic. Northern Florida is conservative, Republican. I-4 Corridor, center Florida decides this election for the most part.

LEMON: All right. Stay right here and talk to me in the break. This is fascinating. But anyway, we've got to run. We've got to run. We've got to pay some bills now. Speaking of that. Again, we have a programming reminder for you. CNN along with the Tea Party Express will co-host the debate among the presidential Republican candidates right here in Tampa, Monday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, of course only on CNN.

You know people across America today remember the 9/11 terror attacks 10 years ago. A recap of the highlights straight ahead.

And we'll tell you about a new program used to better organize the names of the victims on the memorial at Ground Zero.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 our CNN Hero is a New Yorker who was deeply moved by the outpouring of help his city received after the attacks. In 2004 Jeff Parness established a nonprofit that sends volunteers from New York to rebuild other disaster-ridden communities. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: September 11th was a very tough time for the fire department. I lost some friends. Guys I went to the academy with. The day afterwards, people came from everywhere to help us out. It was incredible. You knew you weren't alone.

JEFF PARNESS, CNN HERO: The New Yorkers, that outpouring of kindness and generosity was more powerful than the terror that happened. That really changed me.

I'm Jeff Parness and I just want to show the world that New Yorkers will never forget what people did for us following 9/11. Every year on the 9/11 anniversary we take volunteers from New York and send them to some part of the country where they had a disaster and help folks rebuild.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) town. The tallest thing there is the Grain Silo. It's definitely a little culture shock.

PARNESS: Rebuilding homes or barns or churches. That's our way of saying thank you. Now more than half our volunteers are not from New York. People from all the small towns that we've helped to help the next community. They're from Louisiana and California, and Indiana and Illinois. Every year you keep seeing more T-shirts from more locations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've go to pitch in as much as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After Katrina, we just jumped on his bandwagon. This whole paying it forward thing is just contagious.

PARNESS: It's like this big dysfunctional family reunion of all these disaster survivors who get together and do a barn raising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're banging nails and building something, but it's the relationships that help you heal.

PARNESS: It's about using the 9/11 anniversary to celebrate that volunteer spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll see you all next year.

PARNESS: People say, thank you for doing this, and I say you want to thank me? Show up on the next one.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: To find out more about Jeff's work or to make a donation go to CNNHeroes.com and be sure to join the conversation on CNNheroes' Facebook and Twitter pages.

A complex program was used on the Ground Zero Memorial to group the names of 9/11 victims. Our tech reporter Katie Linendoll is next to tell us all about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Today the city of New York dedicated a memorial to the victims who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. But the names aren't in any kind of simple alphabetical order. The memorial's creators used a complex program to group the victims' names in a way that better reflects their lives and their relationships.

That's very interesting. Our tech reporter Katie Linendoll joins us now to explain it.

So how does this work and how do you know where to look for the names?

KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH REPORTER: Yes, hi, Don.

So surrounding the two memorial pools of water are 76 bronze plates with the name etchings of nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11. But as you noted, the names are not alphabetized. They're not placed in any grid or any sort of order. They're actually placed in meaningful adjacencies per the request of 1800 friends and family members.

That means people that had an instant bond or friends and family members will be grouped together. But this was only made possible by a very complex computer program.

And you might be saying to yourself, why was this so difficult to lay out? Well, understand not only do you have 76 of these very large bronze panels that have to be grouped, and then sub-grouped by the names, you also have to take into consideration typography.

Which names can span two panels? Names ending with a T cannot be followed with first names beginning with a J. Also how many names are going if you follow on a grid?

So the city of New York didn't know if this was possible. And Local Projects, a group here in New York City, that actually took on the project, hired a freelance computer programmer Jer Thorp, who I had the chance to speak with, and said how did you actually go about it and lay this out?

And he told me it took the algorithm about a month to create, and then six months later to actually make everything tweak and everything laid out to really create this human connection.

And what was amazing, with the success of the software showed something much deeper. We start to see all of these names that had much more meaning behind them. We take for example Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm. Seven hundred and four employees were loss. And this loss was so significant that these names take up half of the pools. The bronze slabs around one pool showing the impact of such a terrible event.

And then also two brothers, John and Joseph Vigiano, 34 and 36 years old, that were passed away that day. They were first responders but now, Don, they can be forever memorialized right next to each other on the bronze plating.

LEMON: So if you -- what do you do? Do you look for the company they worked for? What do you look for?

LINENDOLL: Yes. That's a good question because there are still 3,000 names to go for. And understand that they aren't grouped alphabetically. So there will be kiosks on site at the memorial but also even if you don't know anybody, I really encourage you to go on to the site. It's Name.911memorial.org. And it's so incredibly impactful to just be able to search these names and see their profile pop up and their picture. And as I said, every name has a true meaning behind it.

But also there is an app that was also created by the people that created the memorial. It is Memorial Guide. It is a free app. If you have a smartphone, it will help you find any names placed on the memorial, Don.

LEMON: All right, Katie Linendoll, we appreciate it. Thank you very much. And I'll see you again next weekend.

We want to tell our viewers that we're waiting the president. He's going to speak on the 9/11 anniversary. He's going to speak at a ceremony in Washington and we're going to carry it for you live.

In the meantime, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Our iReporters are sharing their experiences as they remember the 9/11 attacks today.

IReporter Kathi Cordsen took these photos of steel beams recovered from Ground Zero on display at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California. She says when she ran her fingers along the beams she was overwhelmed with emotion. She says that anniversary just brings back all the memories of that day.

And iReporter Julio Ortiz-Teissonniere visited two fire stations in New York City today. He says while the World Trade Center Memorial is being seen by millions around the world, many smaller intimate memorials are appearing in firehouses and neighborhoods throughout the city.

Neighbors came to visit the men on duty over this weekend. Some bringing flowers, some stopping to say thank you and remembering the firefighters who sacrificed so much for 9/11.