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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Under Attack: White House Morning Gets Going Quickly

Aired September 14, 2001 - 08:02   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we're going to check in with Major Garrett who joins us from the White House with some more details on what we can expect there later today. Garrett, what can you tell us?

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

ZAHN: Major Garrett - sorry about that. We've all been operating on limited hours of sleep here. So sorry.

GARRETT: There's no doubt - there's no doubt.

ZAHN: Good morning, Major.

GARRETT: Good morning, Paula. A very tall order for the president this morning at the National Cathedral trying to speak to a nation racked with grief but in the secular language of politics - not the religious language that so many other speakers will invoke.

Billy Graham, often thought of as not only as the pastor to America's presidents but a pastor to the entire Protestant country. There will be other members of other religious affiliations at the National Cathedral - as you mentioned, Former President Clinton, Former Vice President Al Gore, President Carter, President Ford.

Paula, we con not have an official White House confirmation that President George Herbert Walker Bush will be there. When we get that we'll make sure and bring that to you. We're also expecting to see in the audience at the National Cathedral former high ranking officials from Democratic and Republican administrations of yore as a sign of solidarity.

And the president will try to talk to the nation about why this happened, what we can draw from this as a country, how to look to the future - not only in a spiritual sense but also in a secular sense in how this political environment can be improved, how the political unity now so prevalent here in Washington and across the country can manifest itself and be used against those who have perpetrated terror against the United States. All of those things on the president's agenda in his remarks at the National Cathedral.

One person who is not expected to be at that prayer service and that service of remembrance - Vice President Dick Cheney - his absence indicative of the very high state of security around the White House. Vice President Cheney yesterday was sent to Camp David, the presidential retreat. Why? So the Vice President and President of the United States would not be in the same location at the same time.

We have some pictures I want to show you this morning, Paula, of the very high state of security around the White House. This morning as I came into the White House grounds I was met by police cars, camouflage, HUMVE military vehicles several blocks away from Washington, police officers, Secret Service agents, federal marshals checking IDs - not only mine but everyone else who tried to come toward the White House grounds. This perimeter much wider, much more extensive than I've ever seen around the White House in my time covering the White House.

Clearly an indication the Secret Service believes that this White House compound, the people who work in it, the media, the president and the extensive White House staff family need extra protection and many, many more precautions are being taken to afford them exactly that kind of protection.

After the National Day of Remembrance and Prayer at the National Cathedral President Bush will then fly to New York City to get a first hand look at the damage - the extensive horrific damage in Lower Manhattan. He will talk with the Governor of New York, George Pataki, a Republican, and the mayor - Mayor Guiliani.

He will also get a chance to extend his hand of thanks and gratitude and provide some spiritual sustenance to the firefighters, the police officers, the volunteers, the scores of New Yorkers who are assisting in the recovery efforts at that blighted area in Lower Manhattan. Paula?

ZAHN: Major, I saw the same thing here in New York late yesterday afternoon. I have never seen the police presence we've seen in this city. You probably remember there were some 90 bomb threats yesterday - all of them false, thank God. But I talked with a number of police officers that said the same thing.

I mean, they have formed a perimeter area around Central Park. And no one is even confirming where the president will land his helicopter I guess for very good reason.

I wanted to move on to something else, Major, to get your reaction to. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said publicly for the first time that Osama Bin Laden is a prime suspect in these multiple attacks. What are you hearing from the White House? Are you hearing any other administration officials saying that?

GARRETT: Well, administration officials told CNN yesterday that not only Osama Bin Laden but other organizations may in fact be involved. The question naturally arises, why would Secretary of State Powell in public point the finger so directly at the Osama Bin Laden organization? Well, one explanation that we're hearing here at the White House is as the United States' chief diplomat, Secretary of State Powell is, along with President Bush, working strenuously to marshal an international coalition against those the White House and the administration and the Government of the United States perpetrated these acts of terror.

And as the lead diplomatic spokesman for the United States it was left to him to begin this process of signaling to those who may have not made up their mind quite yet about whether or not they're going to join the United States in this very aggressive effort that the president has promised to root out and find the perpetrators of this terrorism and win, as he said yesterday, for the world the first war of the 21st Century.

So it's thought here at the White House appropriate the Secretary of State as the lead diplomat begin to send that signal around the world because he, of course, will be having many conversations with leaders of nations that the president will no doubt want to join this coalition once it is fully formed to wield the power he believes necessary to go after this terrorist cell. Paula?

ZAHN: Major, were you at the White House yesterday when the president spoke briefly with reporters from the Oval Office?

GARRETT: I was not, Paula. I was on my way back from Sarasota, Florida. If you will recall, I was with the president when all of this horrible, horrible news first broke. We were down in Sarasota, Florida. The president reacted. We were able to bring that news to you. The president then took off on Air Force One. The rest of the press corps was left stranded in Sarasota, Florida so I spent the better part of yesterday on an 18 hour bus ride back to Washington, DC.

I did see the president's remarks and I can tell you there were two very important themes expressed by the president. Number one, he said he saw an opportunity to do a favor for generations yet unborn in this country and across the world to win this war against terrorism. The White House wanted to send a signal that those - so many in America believe the world has changed forever and changed almost entirely for the worst.

The president wanted to get out in front and say, "No, perhaps not. Perhaps through all of this horror we can find one unifying goal to change the world for the better to bring out of this disaster something that might not only benefit this generation but generations to come."

It was a very firm message the president and his administration wanted to send. And, also, though this was not necessarily intentional, his emotions were drawn to the surface by a questioner who asked, "How is this effecting you personally, sir?" I'm sure the whole nation who watched yesterday saw the tears well up the president's eyes as he said, "I'm thinking about the families, I'm thinking about the children but I also have a job to do." And, as the president said, he intends to do it. Paula?

ZAHN: Major, I was struck by the very same thing as I watched the president's remarks - president's remarks. And then I know what my reaction to that was. And I have heard from many Americans that was oddly comforting to them because they could sense his absolute anger and sense of sorrow about what has happened here. GARRETT: It's worth pointing out, Paula, that this president finds himself in an absolutely unique position in American history. Many, many presidents have had to grieve and had comfort to comfort a nation at the loss of thousands of military personnel. But no U.S. president has ever had to confront so many civilian casualties - casualties who became casualties for one reason and one reason only - they were American civilians. No president has had to cope with that personal grief, that personal emotional trauma. This president is doing that not only personally but he's trying to help a nation through it as well as respond legislatively and internationally to that very, as he calls it - as so many in his administration call it, heinous it. Paula,?

ZAHN: One last question for you. President Clinton last night saying he was grateful that President Bush had gone through great efforts to get him back into this country. Tell us a little bit about the former presidents who have taken action against some of these regimes and how vulnerable they are and what it took yesterday to get them all safe and secure.

GARRETT: Well, Paula, I'm really not in a position to answer that question about President Clinton. It's obvious though that extraordinary efforts were taken to get President Clinton, who was in Australia, back in the United States and back swiftly.

I can't really illuminate the details of exactly that happened but clearly President Clinton was gratified that President Bush made all of the proper decisions to get him back here.

He clearly wanted to be in New York where he now has offices, wanted to share his own brand of commiseration with those who are trying to assist in the recovery and rescue efforts and also significantly add his voice of support to this president.

President Clinton knows as well as anyone in America how lonely and isolated a president can feel at a time like this and how much the support across party lines and especially from someone who used to sit in that very office can be. And I'm sure he wanted to provide that comforting - those comforting words if not in person at least within the borders of the United States.

ZAHN: All right, Major Garrett, thank you so much for the report. Glad you're back in Washington safely.

I should add we've learned that obviously Former President Bush shares the same vulnerability President Clinton did because of the actions taken during his administration against Iraq. And he is under the same kind of security watch that all the former presidents are at this hour.

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