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Amazon Cargo Plane Overshoots Miami Runway, Catches Fire; U.S. Envoys Push For Peace During Visit To Russia And Ukraine; U.S. Strikes Three Iranian Tankers In Retaliation For Missile Attacks; Mom Charged In Toddler's Death Reportedly Followed The Lindsay Clancy Case; Photographer Revisits Interview He Did With CNN Shortly After 9/11. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 06, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Aircraft departed from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. CNN has reached out to Amazon for a comment.

Now Miami International Airport also issued a statement on what happened, saying that at approximately 2:00 p.m. today, Prime Air Flight 7598 overran Miami International Airport's diagonal runway and is disabled at the northwest end of the airport. And they also said that all runways and taxiways at MIA are currently closed as of 3:00 p.m., and a ground stop is in effect. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has responded.

Audio from ATC.com we have reviewed also seems to confirm what happened. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An American 1627 just to give you a heads up anyways, the airport is on an indefinite hold right now. Apparently an aircraft ran off the end of the runway and hit a vehicle on the perimeter road. So, it may be a while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy, and that is at Miami International, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1627, affirmative. It happened at Miami International.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Bianna, as you would expect, the ground stop is in effect at Miami International Airport due to this disabled aircraft on the runway according to that alert from the FAA. As whether the weather might have been a factor some thunderstorms were popping up over Miami around the time of the crash, but mostly to the north of the airport. There was a gust up to 70 miles an hour at the Miami airport around 2:15 p.m., but officials haven't said if weather conditions were a factor in this accident -- Bianna. BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Rafael, thank you.

Mary, I want to bring you in here. What does this look like to you? I know you're just getting these first images in reports. What comes to mind?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, the information that he just gave us about the weather crossing the airport and the wind, there was a SIGMET which is a weather warning to pilots in the area before this. It appeared to have passed, but the winds can be tricky as a weather front passes. They can change literally 180 degrees. Diametrically the opposite directions.

And then also this will bring into question the condition of the runway because while the plane, the information I'm getting is the plane did touch down at the end of the runway, it didn't, you know, miss the threshold and go halfway down the runway or anything like that. But you have to rely also on braking action. Can your plane get the brakes? Are the wheels just going to scrub just like on a wet highway?

And so that will be one of the conditions and one of the things that they will be looking at as the actual condition of the runway if the plane could actually slow down and brake. And then, again, and this has come up in so many accidents and incidents in airport, and that is the end of the runway. Is there any overrun area? Should there be overrun? This is a very busy airport. I mean, there's so much traffic around and obviously very important airport.

So they will also be looking at if it's sufficient runway overrun areas at the end of the airport runways, specifically for conditions exactly like this. So there's lots of things that investigators will be looking at and at this point, you know, no indication -- there was no emergency call. There was no indication that they had a malfunction of the aircraft, any control problems, any issues with their spoilers or flaps.

It is a 767 which is a bit older. You know, it's an older aircraft, but there was no indication they had a mechanical problem, aircraft problem or an emergency before they landed.

GOLODRYGA: So you're thinking here that this was a last minute matter once they landed. This runway number 30. Pete Muntean was on with us earlier in the last hour and said this is a rather long runway. What more do we know about it?

SCHIAVO: Well, and they had mentioned that it was a diagonal runway. But, you know, when you're landing in a storm or with a wet runway, it's the length of the runway that's also, you know, often very important. So you can get that time to brake, slow the plane, et cetera. In accidents I've worked in the past in wet runway conditions where there's been an overrun, it's been for all sorts of reasons, including in one accident in Little Rock, Arkansas, oh, man, 20, 30 years ago, they didn't set the spoilers.

They hadn't set the equipment right to help them slow down quickly. But there's no -- there was no mention of that here. And others it's simply the runway is too wet to get sufficient braking action because, you know, those tires and those, you know, the reversers and also brakes. There's three ways you slow down a plane, at least three ways. If that can't work on the runway, you're going to, you know, you have a risk of an overrun.

So there's lots of things to look at in the runway condition. And if the length is sufficient even to give you some extra wiggle room for braking, then the actual runway itself would be looking at the conditions on the surface of the runway.

[16:05:03]

GOLODRYGA: Could this possibly be, as the investigation unfolds, a mechanical issue with the plane or with the brakes?

SCHIAVO: It can be. Yes. And, you know, many of the times that we've talked, you know, on air in the past when we've had runway overruns, there have been difficulties with the aircraft. So it certainly could be that. And in some situations, you would not notice that literally to the moment you touched down, if you had a problem with the aircraft or there was any problem with how you would set the, you know, the spoilers, the flaps, any kind of the equipment on the plane.

That moment of touchdown is the moment when you know you're in trouble. And all this will be captured on the cockpit voice recorder and of course on the flight data recorder. But it can be a mechanical and it can also be a situation of how much water is on that runway.

Now, runways are grooved. There are, you know, they're intentionally constructed with grooves to have that water run off the runway. It's not -- the runways aren't constructed in such a manner that water will pool. There's a bit of an angle, too, with the runways that it goes on and off and with the plane. I just looked it up. It's 32 years old. So that will be an issue. Whenever you have a plane of that age, they will be looking very carefully at the maintenance.

They will be looking at any recent maintenance. They will be looking at all the settings on this plane that would have helped slow it down. And most importantly, what was the speed at which it was going when it touched down on that runway? So all those will be looked at by the investigators. And these investigators will have an answer very quickly because everybody is there. They can talk to the pilots. There are certainly a lot of witnesses around. And the two black boxes give them the answers. As soon as they download them, they'll know what happened.

GOLODRYGA: So under the theory that perhaps this could have been a mechanical issue or with the brakes, is that supported by the fact that there didn't appear to be any distress signal issued earlier by the pilots?

SCHIAVO: No, because, you know, if it's that kind of an issue, if it's an issue with the brakes or any problem getting, you know, if they -- if the settings on the aircraft, you know, you have to set your, you know, flaps at a certain setting, you have your spoilers, you have your thrust reversers, you have a lot of equipment that helps you slow down. There's lots of things that go into stopping a plane.

You know, unlike a car, there are a lot of things that go into it, and they might not have known that they had a problem until they -- the moment that they touched down, and that's when they would find out there's difficulty. And at that point, they don't really have time to call any kind of a warning. At that point, they just have to fly the plane and try to do the best they can.

GOLODRYGA: And try to land it.

SCHIAVO: And to land the aircraft.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, try to land it as safely as they can as well.

SCHIAVO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Thankfully, this was a cargo plane, so very limited number of passengers. But this is a major international airport. How long does a ground stop like this typically last?

SCHIAVO: Well, in this case they're going to have to assess the conditions of the runway, make sure there's no debris, what they call as free object debris, free object damage. They're going to have to walk that runway. They can use other runways, but they have to assess the condition overall of the airport. And they can't get in the way of the investigators.

Now, the investigators are going to have to get there before they can move the plane and do anything with the aircraft. So it's going to depend if any of the other runways, taxiways, operational areas, et cetera, are, you know, not 100 percent. And then also to operate a runway, you have to have the emergency equipment. And, you know, there's actually a call phone in every tower when there's an accident.

So if the equipment is all tied up at this accident, they have to be able to have that equipment ready to respond to any other accident. So it could be, you know, it could be hours. I don't think it will be days because it looks like they can clear the areas of the runway, but they have to have that equipment, some of that equipment available for any other plane that might come in and have a problem there.

GOLODRYGA: You see a number of emergency responders there on the scene. We'll continue to follow this story.

Mary Schiavo, thanks so much for getting in front of the camera as quickly as you have for us.

Thanks to Rafael Romo as well. We will bring you all of the latest developments as soon as we get them ahead.

Also today, White House negotiator Steve Witkoff says that he's confident of a, quote, "good resolution" that can be found after he and fellow envoy Jared Kushner wrapped up historic talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVE WITKOFF, WHITE HOUSE ENVOY: We came to see President Putin first. We needed to hear where he stood. We had good concrete conversation with him, which we advised President Zelenskyy and his team about.

[16:10:02]

Both sides have to come to a resolution here, and my job and Jared's job together is to bring the parties together to narrow the issues between them, to create good communication channels, and hopefully we began that process constructively in the last 48 hours, and we're confident that there'll be a good resolution here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: The talks come just a day after they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is in New Jersey, where the president is spending the weekend.

Julia, there doesn't appear to be any breakthrough. Do we hear Kushner and Witkoff are pushing for perhaps a return to trilateral talks at the same time?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That seems to be where the focus is now, on these potential trilateral talks. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had a weekend of diplomacy focused on bringing the war in Ukraine to an end, and they did say that they had substantive conversations, discussions with officials, and that there is hope that there might be these trilateral discussions, including the United States, Russia and Ukraine.

Their meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrapped not that long ago now. And as you mentioned, Witkoff did express some hope. He said that he does think that there will be a good resolution. This visit, though, it comes as the Ukrainian city has seen a barrage of Russian missiles in recent weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, WHITE HOUSE ENVOY: One thing Steve and I really thought would be productive is to go back to the trilateral format, which we're able to do about six months ago, and we've spoken with both parties. And so hopefully we'll have progress on that very soon. I think that's important to talk about the big issues, obviously, but also some of the de-escalatory issues that could be done as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And in a statement, Zelenskyy echoed some of that. I want to pull this up for you now. He said, in part, "We have grown stronger on the battlefield, and this allows us to be more confident in future discussions with the American and Russian sides. Whatever the format, we must do everything possible to ensure that trilateral meetings take place. We shall see what Russia agrees to. Unfortunately, it still feels too confident today to consider one format or the other."

That meeting came a day after the envoys met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow. That lasted for roughly three hours. And prior to this trip, President Donald Trump, who is spending his weekend here in New Jersey, at one of his properties nearby, he said that he was sending over great negotiators to essentially see what they can get done.

Previous attempts to find a lasting peace and end to Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine stalled last winter, and some of the key sticking points were major issues like territory and security guarantees. The White House says that next steps have been discussed and will be revealed in recent weeks -- in the coming weeks, I should say -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Julia Benbrook -- in the coming weeks. Julia Benbrook, thank you.

We want to bring you more on our breaking news out of Miami International Airport, where an Amazon cargo plane went off the runway after landing. More than 60 fire units have responded. A ground stop now in full effect. We'll bring you the very latest ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:10]

GOLODRYGA: We are monitoring a significant escalation in the war with Iran. The U.S. military says it sank three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships.

CNN's Oren Liebermann has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: What we're seeing over the course of the past week is a return to some level of open conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Several rounds now of strikes and retaliations between the militaries.

This isn't the same level, of course, as the beginning of the war in late February and early March, but it is the first sets of strikes we've seen between the U.S. and Iran in several weeks now. And that in and of itself is concerning, especially as neither Tehran nor Washington show any indication that they're about to make concessions, to get back to the memorandum of understanding that was supposed to end this war, or to get back to negotiations, even as some of the mediators have tried in the background, Oman, Qatar, to try to get some sort of diplomatic track going.

And that leaves the open question and a greater risk of escalation that could spread what we're seeing to the rest of the region. In this latest round over the weekend, Iran carried out attacks, missile attacks against two U.S. Navy warships operating in and around the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. retaliated by taking out three empty Iranian oil tankers.

What's really at play here is who controls the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has insisted that any sort of negotiated agreement leave them in control of part of it, or having some sort of authority over the Strait of Hormuz, which is something the U.S. has refused. Instead, the U.S. has tried to carry out and build up an operation to get oil flowing through the strait, and it has succeeded to some extent.

It requires tankers very often to go at night with their transponders off and with a U.S. Navy escort. And that appears to be that escort what Iran was targeting here when they fired at U.S. Navy warships.

[16:20:05]

But the U.S. isn't going to allow this Iranian targeting of U.S. warships without a response. And that's what we see playing out here. Meanwhile, the rhetoric from both sides, from the U.S. government, from the regime in Tehran, clearly indicates at least a willingness to keep on going if the attacks and the strikes continue. And that as there's a larger issue at play here of what authorities President Donald Trump is using to continue what many in his administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance, refuse to acknowledge is a war.

Vance was even asked, how much longer could this go? And he wouldn't put a timeline on it, which certainly seems to open up the potential for a forever conflict and since many in the administration refuse to acknowledge it as a war. But right now, with the ongoing strikes here and the exchanges of fire between the U.S. and Iran, we are back to that risk of a severe escalation in the region.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Oren Liebermann.

I want to bring in Kenneth Pollack, who's the VP for policy at the Middle East Institute, who also served as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution.

Ken, good to see you. So President Trump claims almost total control over the Strait of Hormuz. Yet, as we just heard, commercial ships are still facing Iranian fire and the potential of Iranian fire. How much military capability does Iran actually need to keep the strait commercially unsafe?

KENNETH POLLACK, VP FOR POLICY, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, this is a great question, Bianna. And the bottom line answer is not much, but I think the best way to think about the Strait of Hormuz right now is it's very much no man's land, right? People have compared this conflict to World War I for a variety of reasons. I think this is another good comparison, right? The Strait of Hormuz is an area like the lines between the trenches in World War I, where both sides can bring fire down, that both sides can attack each other, but neither side really controls it.

What you heard Oren make the point in his report is spot on. The U.S. has mounted an operation to bring tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, but to do so, it requires a lot of U.S. military assets. Destroyers on the surface, plenty of drones and manned aircraft in the air, satellites. It is a very big operation. And it is succeeding in getting some tankers through but it is nothing like normal. And of course there are conflicting claims between the Iranians, the Trump administration, and other sources about just how much is getting through the strait. It's clearly some oil, but it's also clearly not as much oil as the world needs.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And the Energy secretary conceded that clearly we're not where we were prior to the start of this war, February 28th. But more oil has been able to get through because of the U.S. naval presence. Now it's just a question of, is this the new normal? How long will U.S. naval ships be there to patrol the strait?

There has been significant change, though, in more pressure on Iran, no doubt, over the last few months in particular. Gulf oil is getting out while Iran's exports are blocked. Is Tehran, in your view, losing its strongest bargaining chip, and that is control over the strait?

POLLACK: So far no. So far they're able to exert a certain amount of control there. At the very least, they're able to exercise what's called sea denial, right? They're able to make it hard, make it difficult, make it dangerous for ships to pass through. That's different from sea control. That's what the U.S. Navy likes to have, where you actually control it and you decide who goes in or goes out.

Sea denial is much, much easier, right? It's exactly what we've seen in this conflict. Both sides have pretty effective sea denial. Both sides can make it very risky for ships of the other side to go through. They can't catch every single one, and they can get some of their own ships through. But this is, as you were pointing out, I think becoming the new normal because it's also increasingly seeming like neither side has much of an incentive to really escalate, to bring this thing to a head or to make significant concessions to bring it to an end.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. That leads me to my last question. Iran is facing mounting economic woes at home. America faces stretched deployments and an approaching midterm election. Who can afford to outlast the other?

POLLACK: This is the great problem with the situation that we've got ourselves into, right? We've got ourselves into a coercive of war of attrition. Those kinds of wars are very, very hard because each side gets to decide when it's had too much pain. And you know, this Iranian regime, we should recognize the new leadership in Tehran, they are more hard line. They are less interested in the Iranian economy.

They are less interested in what the Iranian people want. They are far more willing to use force to keep themselves into power or keep themselves in power, excuse me.

[16:25:05]

And what we've seen historically is that while blockades can work, they can inflict tremendous damage and tremendous pressure, it takes a long time, right? Many of the examples we have, it takes years to force a recalcitrant government to actually decide that they've had enough.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, a lot longer than the six to eight weeks the president first announced. Now we're into our sixth month -- seventh month actually.

Kenneth Pollack, thank you so much.

POLLACK: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: And back to our breaking news. An Amazon cargo plane went off the runway at Miami International Airport, reportedly striking multiple vehicles and catching fire.

We're back in minutes with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:07]

GOLODRYGA: All right, more on our breaking news out of Miami International Airport, where fire officials say an Amazon cargo plane went off the runway and struck multiple vehicles after landing.

I want to bring in CNN national correspondent Rafael Romo for the latest.

Rafael, what more are we learning?

ROMO: Bianna, in the last few moments, we have obtained a statement from Amazon confirming the cargo plane that went off the runway at Miami International Airport belongs to the company. And now Miami-Dade Fire Rescue says the aircraft struck multiple vehicles on a road surrounding the airport.

The Amazon statement says that an Amazon airplane operated by 21 Air experienced what the company called an incident while attempting to land at Miami International Airport. The statement from Amazon goes on to say the following, "We are working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened. Right now, our absolute priority is the safety, well-being and care of everyone involved. We're doing everything we can to support those affected."

Some of the images we have been seeing show a Boeing 767 cargo plane alongside a road. In a statement sent to CNN, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a statement confirming the flight, quote, "overran the runway" after landing at Miami International Airport around 2:00 p.m. local time. The FAA also added that the Boeing 767- 300 cargo aircraft departed from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Miami International Airport also issued a statement on what happened, saying that Prime Air Flight 7598 overran Miami International Airport's diagonal runway and is disabled at the northwest end of the airport. Audio from ATC.com we have reviewed also seems to confirm what happened. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An American 1627, just to give you a heads up anyways, the airport is on an indefinite hold right now. Apparently an aircraft ran off the end of the runway and hit a vehicle on the perimeter road. So, it may be a while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy, and that is at Miami International, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1627, affirmative. It happened at Miami International.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: The end of the ground stop may affect travel from and to multiple Latin American countries. Miami International Airport is a gateway to the region for multiple airlines. And let's remember this accident is happening the day on a holiday weekend when many people across the United States will be trying to fly home between today and tomorrow.

Now back to you.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Rafael Romo, thank you.

Coming up for us, a mother accused of killing her 2-year-old son. Her attorney says she had a psychotic break. Now a chilling new detail that she was texting about the Lindsay Clancy case just hours before her son's death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:37:34]

GOLODRYGA: An Illinois mother who was reportedly fascinated with the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is accused of killing her toddler. That is according to court documents, which show Corie Walsh charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors say she fatally strangled her 2- year-old son. Her attorney says Walsh was in the midst of a mental health crisis.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is covering the latest from New York.

Gloria, as we discussed earlier today, this is such a disturbing story. What else are you learning about this case?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we should warn viewers, Bianna, that the details of this story are upsetting. Police say that Corie Walsh, an Illinois mother in Frankfurt, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder last week after she allegedly strangled her 2-year-old son. Now, the toddler was found in the basement of the home where she lived by a neighbor who also found Corie Walsh in an upstairs bathroom, where she was attempting to hurt herself. There were three other children that were not -- that were not harmed at the time of the incident, and her husband, Corie Walsh's husband, was apparently out of the house and out of the state at the time of the incident.

Now, as you said, prosecutors have laid out the details of their investigation so far, and court documents show that witnesses told investigators that Walsh had become, quote, "very invested in the high profile case of Lindsay Clancy out of Massachusetts." As you know, Lindsay Clancy, the mother of three who was facing a triple murder trial last week, which ended in a hung jury and a mistrial.

Prosecutors say that Walsh was actually texting with friends about the Clancy case shortly before she allegedly killed her 2-year-old. Now we have gotten a response from an attorney from -- for Walsh, who said that this has been a tragedy for the family and that the family is now mourning the loss of that 2-year-old child. The attorney also said that Corie herself was, quote, "experiencing a psychotic episode at the time that this happened" and that it is their hope that through a thorough presentation and investigation of the facts, all of us will come to see this heartbreak of what it is.

What's interesting about that statement, Bianna, is that the mention of this psychotic episode, something very similar from what we heard during the Clancy trial.

[16:40:04]

The Clancy defense was that she had been in the throes of postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children. There's been so much discussion about the Clancy case, the issues raised around this case, and certainly a lot of perhaps fascination with what came out of that trial. But I think we will hopefully learn more about this incident out of Illinois. Walsh remains in custody, and she is expected back in court on Tuesday.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you.

And help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health. Just call or text 988.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:31]

GOLODRYGA: As the U.S. prepares to commemorate 25 years since the 9/11 attacks this week, CNN's Fredricka Whitfield revisited a powerful conversation she had with the photographer who spent months at Ground Zero. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I want to play you part of a conversation I had with photographer Gary Marlon Gere about nine months after 9/11. He took remarkable pictures in and around Ground Zero on behalf of the New York Fire Department, who also made him an honorary battalion chief. Here's some of that interview. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Gary, you say you hid behind the camera and you let your heart follow. Is that because you found that this was so emotionally overwhelming for you as a photographer to capture these images?

GARY MARLON GERE, 9/11 PHOTOGRAPHER: Yes. Well, trying to capture humanity in such an inhumane place as it was down in the hole, it was definitely the biggest challenge of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Gary Marlon Gere is with me now.

Gary, great to see you again. Thank you for being with us. You know, after all these years, I mean, as you look back and, you know, and reflect, I mean, number one, it does seem hard to believe it's been 25 years, doesn't it? But what has these 25 years been like for you?

GERE: Oh, it's, you know, it's been a roller coaster. It's been filled with ups and downs, some health challenges and struggles from post 9/11. Doing a lot of charity work with my imagery for fire department and 9/11 charities, and focusing on a new 9/11 themed off Broadway play that I wrote.

WHITFIELD: That is a lot. I mean, how about if we, you know, start with some of the pictures, you know, eight months of taking pictures on behalf of the fire department. Tell me about what that relationship became, what it was like and what, you know, kind of pulled you to keep going back to document all that had happened.

GERE: It came with a lot of fine print when I first was granted access to dig and to document, I didn't realize what I was getting into at a young age, but it came with fine print. It took an emotional toll on everyone. Everyone who worked down there. But for me personally, I developed a very strong relationships with numerous 9/11 FDNY families, relationships that are strong to this day and many of those men and women have made a positive impact on my life.

WHITFIELD: In what way the positive impacts the relationships?

GERE: Well, they taught me discipline at a young age. When I went into Ground Zero, I was pretty much a kid, and I had a boss at Ground Zero, different chiefs, and I learned the meaning of teamwork, unity, discipline. It was a very serious atmosphere down there. And even to this day, for example, the Geidel family, Gary Geidel was rescue one firefighter who passed away on 9/11. And I became very close with his family.

And regarding the play that I told you about, Mike Geidel, who is the last remaining of the three brothers, Ralph passed away of 9/11 cancer, Mike recently came to talk to the cast and also loaned us his Ground Zero tools and digging carhartts, and you know, that's a big thing for a 9/11 family member to do that.

WHITFIELD: It really is. And then, you mentioned health, you know, your own health struggles. We know and have heard a lot of the documented health struggles facing and experienced by a number of the firefighters and other first responders from 9/11.

Do you feel as though some of your, you know, health struggles over the years, there's a direct correlation to 9/11?

GERE: One million percent. Absolutely. When I was down there, first off, I was down there way too long for my own good. But we weren't thinking about that at the time. We thought that the air quality was safe. It turned out that it was not. I developed pulmonary lung issues, but I've been very, very proactive with it.

[16:50:04]

Many of my friends have passed away, but I get weekly intravenous vitamin C drips. It's weird to say that on national TV, but I get weekly intravenous vitamin C drips. I take holistic health care. You have to be proactive as a 9/11 vet if you want to extend your life. If you're not proactive, it -- it's not good.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you've been through a lot. It has taken a toll on so many. You also shared with us, you know, some video that you took in the subway tunnels after the attack. Let's revisit that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERE: You know, it takes a lot to scare me. And this, this is it. This is the path train. This is (INAUDIBLE) my way. I'm not that keen on going onto the train, but I'm going to do it real quick (INAUDIBLE). Because if the sun comes out --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And in the video, we hear you describing what you're seeing and I wonder 25 years later, as you look at that video with different eyes, a different perspective, what do you see?

GERE: I get scared. I think to myself, what were you doing down there? There was so much dust and ash down there, and I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I knew why I was there, I was there to document for future generations and to lay eyes with video and film on things that literally nobody could. A very few people could go down in the subway tunnels. It was like a post-apocalyptic museum down there, frozen from the morning of September 11th.

WHITFIELD: And you know, Gary, I wonder, what do you want people to reflect on now 25 years later? I mean, of course, there are many people who weren't even born, you know, who are, you know, don't have the same kind of perspective on it as those who lived it. So what is it that you want people to think about, pay tribute to, recall or remember if you did live through it?

GERE: Well, I mean, my focus primarily is on future generations. A very well-respected battalion chief said to me, and I agree with him, that the future generations need to learn from what happened in the past. And so that's what I think is important. 22, 23, 24-year-old people, they weren't even born when this happened. And so I think there is a small collective of torchbearers of September 11th that are preserving the memory of that. And I think it's very important.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like collectively there will be a feeling? I mean, I think everyone remembers like shortly after 9/11, even though many of us were still, you know, shocked and stunned that there was sort of a collective big hug, you know, strangers. We were all --

GERE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: There was a certain eye contact you had with people, even if you didn't know them, even when you were in the car driving by them. I mean, there was just, there was just a certain camaraderie or a feeling of comfort that we got from one another. Do you feel like there is something like that now or, you know, how would you describe, I guess, the interaction of, you know, just strangers today and what will be on this 25th anniversary?

GERE: Well, that's a completely different generation. There was no social media back then. There was -- these days everyone was walking with their heads buried in their phone. But back then, yes, you hit it right on. You hit the nail on the head. After 9/11, New York City and the country became united like a little town and very supportive of -- everyone was very supportive of one another. And it was very patriotic feeling.

Unfortunately, I do feel that a lot of that has passed for whatever reason. But I don't know if that answers your question.

WHITFIELD: No, it did, it did. It did. And maybe, maybe for a moment, you know, we will all be reminded of that and find ways to, you know, comfort one another again, whether it's --

(CROSSTALK)

GERE: Think this anniversary will be very strong.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I agree with you on that one.

GERE: I -- you know.

WHITFIELD: Well, Gary Marlon Gere, I'm sorry that you have endured, you know, physical and health setbacks along the way. It sounds like you have a pretty good formula going. So all the best on that. And great to be reunited with you again and sharing your reflections on this 25th anniversary.

[16:55:09]

GERE: True honor to be back on with you. And I think this will be a very poignant, very touching anniversary, and a wonderful time for people to reflect on those who were tragically lost on September 11th. So thank you for having me on.

WHITFIELD: Beautifully said. Thank you so much, Gary.

GERE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Hard to believe it's been 25 years. A day that changed the world.

All right. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Bianna Golodryga. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my colleague Omar Jimenez after a quick break.

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