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American Morning
Authorities Warn of Possible Terror Threat in New York City; Massive Power Outage Hits Southern California; Near Record Floods Drown NY and PA; The President's Jobs Plan; New 9/11 Terror Threat; "Lights Out" on Millions of Americans; Texas Wildfire 30 Percent Contained; Arrest Warrant Issued for Gadhafi; 9/11 Survivor Stories; 9/11 Memorial Update
Aired September 09, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Terror threat, New York and Washington on alert this morning. Both cities again potential targets for an attack. Officials are urging calm and vigilance as they hunt for three people and possible vehicle bombs.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): In the dark, a massive blackout in Southern California, Arizona, and Mexico. Millions still without power. School has been canceled. Air and road travel an absolute mess.
ROMANS: Floodwaters rising, levees on the brink from New York to Maryland. Rivers still cresting. Tens of thousands forced to flee their homes, and the death toll is climbing this morning.
COSTELLO: And still spreading, wildfires in Texas expected to grow even larger as firefighters struggle to gain the upper hand. Nearly 1,400 homes destroyed on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And good morning. It's Friday, September 9th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Ali Velshi has the day off today.
COSTELLO: Happy Friday to you. But we do have to tell you about this bit of breaking news. New information that Al Qaeda may want to mark 9/11 with another terror attack. The feds alerting local authorities about a specific and credible threat. New York and Washington on high alert this morning as senior administration officials saying they're looking for at least three people, one of them an American citizen, and the plot may involve car bombs.
That's a live picture of the World Trade Center site where authored authorities have been put on high alert. Just minutes ago we spoke with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We do have a big city and, obviously, it's an open city. That's why we're functioning and a successful city. But we need the public's help. We need them to be vigilant. The mayor said last evening he urged the people to go about their business.
But what we say is to look at your world through the prism of September 11th. Everyone's life changed somewhat as a result of that horrific event. So look at your situation, see if there's anything different, see if there's anything of a suspicious nature, and give us a call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We're covering the story from all angles. Susan Candiotti here in New York City and CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend, she's in Washington for us. Fran, let's start with you. Specific, credible, but unconfirmed. What exactly does that mean?
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Carol, let's work backwards. Right now people need to focus on the fact that it's unconfirmed. And that's what federal officials have stressed to me.
"Specific" and "credible" I think has people rightly nervous. What it means is, yes, they have specific information, things like Washington or New York, vehicle bombs. That's what the "specific" refers to. "Credible" means that they think that the source it came from was in a position to accurately report the information, but "unconfirmed" means they're looking for corroboration, talking to foreign allies, talking to people in custody, their custody and overseas to try and corroborate that information.
And what you're hearing from Commissioner Kelly is, officials are asking for Americans to be helpful, to be alert, to be vigilant and talk to federal and local officials if they see something suspicious.
COSTELLO: Fran, this is supposedly an Al Qaeda plot, but we thought Al Qaeda was all but busted.
TOWNSEND: Yes. Al Qaeda leadership, what officials have been saying is Al Qaeda leadership is badly damaged. That's true, the killing of bin Laden, several big leaders and capture of al Muritania several days ago, they are very much crippled. But that doesn't mean they don't have any operational capability. We see from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group in Yemen, in North Africa, these operational affiliates do continue to have this capability, and they clearly are determined to try to hurt us.
COSTELLO: OK, so I'm going to ask you this -- how concerned should we be?
TOWNSEND: Look, I thought we ought to take some real comfort from the fact that you not only heard about it early, they're working on it and you've got the local police departments engaged in trying to help both defeat it and gather additional intelligence.
The one thing most concerning to me, we heard from Commissioner Kelly this morning that the three individuals, at least one of which is a U.S. citizen, officials tell us, they haven't identified. That's a very difficult problem, especially for the U.S. citizens. Americans cross our borders pretty easily. That's a real challenge for them, and that's why you're hearing officials ask for Americans' help.
COSTELLO: Fran Townsend many thanks to you.
ROMANS: All right, now to Susan Candiotti. The governor, the mayor, the FBI, they're all saying remain calm, but keep your eyes open. I feel like we've been that way 10 years.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a good thing.
ROMANS: Right. So what do we know about how they're reacting in New York and in the specific cities to this threat?
CANDIOTTI: Well certainly in New York and, obviously, in Washington, too, authorities have taken steps already. And, of course, they already had security beefed up because this is the 10- year anniversary of 9/11 now, this weekend. And so they have additional police presence in all the important places where you would think they would be, at tunnels, at bridges, subway stations, this kind of thing, looking at people, searching packages, stopping vehicles, that kind of thing.
And it's important that they do this, they said, because they want to make sure that they've got all -- everyone on alert, all eyes out there looking for anything that might be suspicious. People who were standing there taking pictures too long at a landmark, asking unusual questions about certain areas or security at a certain place. And so that's why it's important that they keep these things in mind.
And why? In part, for example, because we all remember what happened in Times Square just a couple years ago. Faisal Shahzad pleading guilty to putting together a car bomb. It didn't work, thank goodness, the way it was supposed to work, but this time they are looking in advance because of this information that they have, to keep an eye out for vehicles that might have bombs.
Now they're not limiting themselves to a specific area or specific vehicle.
ROMANS: Or kind of vehicle.
CANDIOTTI: Exactly. And part of the problem, as Fran discussed as well, is that there are no really specific names that they're looking at. One government official said they're very common names, but the idea of being, they don't have specific people they're looking at right now. That, of course, further complicates matters.
ROMANS: I guess it's up to you. If you see anything suspicious no matter where you are in the country, we don't know even that these people will limit their threat to New York and Washington. They don't know that for sure. CANDIOTTI: Exactly. You can't back yourself into a corner and just look at certain things and certain places. Obviously authorities have to broaden it out so investigators keep their minds open.
ROMANS: I think it's clear we talk about how over and over Al Qaeda's been dismantled and hobbled over the past 10 years, right. So a highly emotional time like 9/11 would logically be a heightened sense of alert for all of us because they would get more -- I don't know, they would get more power out of a hit right now, don't you think some.
COSTELLO: It would be a possible rejuvenation for them. But they are weakened. And I must say Americans have become pretty good after looking after themselves in these instances. You mentioned "The New York Times," incident and that certainly was because a citizen saw something suspicious and said something.
ROMANS: The Times Square bombing. Somebody saw a smoking car on the street and said this is not right. Thanks so much, Susan Candiotti.
COSTELLO: Now it's your turn to talk back on one of the big questions of the day. The question for you today, how has 9/11 changed you? Even now a decade later it's hard to put into words exactly what 9/11 means to us. That day both the pain and the glory of humanity were on display, unfiltered and in real time.
A warning for you, though -- you have not seen some of these images in a long time and they might be a little upsetting. Watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just in, you are looking at, obviously, a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center. We have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently a plane or helicopter hit part of the Pentagon and fell as you take a look at the pictures there. I must say every time we hear a plane coming up overhead, it gets a little nervous where we are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning north of the Somerset County airport which is in western Pennsylvania.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just told him have a good day at work, and I haven't heard from him since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been very hard. We're grieving. It's an insurmountable type of pain.
GEORGE BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Either you're with us or you are with the terrorists.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Looking back, we'd like to know for our talk back question today, how has 9/11 changed you? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: Also breaking this morning, California officials are urging residents to conserve electricity. Millions are still in the dark after a massive power outage struck parts of southern California, Arizona, even parts of northern Mexico. The blackout happened Thursday. CNN's Casey Wian joins us live from San Diego now. Good morning, Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. There's actually good news for some of the customers affected by this massive blackout since yesterday afternoon. San Diego Gas and Electric says 710,000 customers, that's not people, that's customers, individual or homeowners, businesses, are now have their power restored of about 1.4 million customers affected by this blackout.
In terms of the number of people that were affected by this massive outage and still being affected that stretched from southern Orange County into Arizona, across the border into Mexico, the estimated total according to the California grid system operator, is five million people. If you can imagine what that must have been like yesterday afternoon as traffic was snarled throughout this region all the way through southern California. From south Orange County to the Mexican border, people were saying it was an absolute traffic nightmare.
Now one of the biggest concerns that a lot of folks in this area had initially was because of the proximity to September 11th, the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a lot of people were worried this could be a terrorism-related event. That was immediately and quickly knocked down as a cause. What the cause is being blamed on right now is a single worker who was working on a substation near Yuma, Arizona, and because all of this power grid in this area is closely interconnected, something went wrong there. Officials still don't know what it was, something went wrong and it knocked out power to people throughout this region. It was a massive inconvenience for millions of people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost a lot of information on the computer and then it came back on suddenly and I re-entered the data, and then, boom, it went out again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was so damn hot in the house. The air was off, my dogs are running around, what's going on. I said, only thing we can do is get out of the house, go to a restaurant, have something to eat where the air is on and then kick back until the air gets -- until the power gets put back on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: Now, other problems caused by the power outage include flight delays. Many schools in this area will be closed today. There was even a spill of raw sewage because sewage treatment plants lost power and so in some areas, residents are being asked to boil water until the power is restored. They're also being asked to conserve electricity as the power slowly goes back on. Officials say the grid is still very fragile and they don't want any sudden surges causing problems again, Christine.
ROMANS: Wow, it certainly highlights the vulnerability of our grid system. No question when you have five million people without power like that and you're still trying to figure out how to fix it. Casey Wian, thanks, Casey.
COSTELLO: I want to know who the employee was that tripped up the line.
ROMANS: I want to know why one can take five million out of power. You look at the blackout in New York City a few years ago, that was unbelievable as well. It just shows you our thirst for energy and how it's kind of, I hate to say it, like with gum and string and the whole system is really creaking under the demand.
COSTELLO: True. I'm just wondering who that employee was. I would be so embarrassed.
(LAUGHTER)
Still to come this morning, it's some of the most devastating floods ever in parts of the northeast. We're talking New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. All parts of those states underwater. Mary Snow will have a live report for us.
ROMANS: The Obama jobs plan, too ambitious? Too expensive? Not ambitious enough? We'll ask one of the president's top economic advisers how it will work, whether it can even pass the House, and will it create jobs? It's 12 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Widespread flooding is crippling parts of the northeast and mid-Atlantic. President Obama ordering federal aid to Pennsylvania and New York this morning. And in Maryland, hundreds of people are being forced to evacuate their homes. Here's the scene in Upper Marlboro, nearly two dozen people had to be rescued from high waters. Things are even worse in Pennsylvania and Luzerne County, 70,000 residents have already evacuated.
Mary Snow is in hard hit Wyoming, Pennsylvania. She joins us now with the latest. Good morning, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. We're on the Eighth Street Bridge in Wyoming. Half of this bridge is now under water. The Susquehanna River crested last night, but if you just take a look and see how strong this current remains, the water is still 16 feet above flood stage and those homes, some of them, you can see, the water is up to the second story of the home.
The County Commissioner is saying potentially thousands of homes may be damaged in this county. And joining us is the Mayor of Wyoming, Bob Boyer. Mr. Mayor, thanks for joining us. Do you think the worst is over?
MAYOR BOB BOYER, WYOMING: I would say that we're in a period where what's happened so far, we're being our downward spiral, the next 24 hours I think will be a very telling period.
SNOW: Did this caught - catch you off guard?
BOYER: Yes. It was a very fast rising river. The evacuation notice was given yesterday and then it was cut in half at 4:00 and it was a very fast developing emergency.
SNOW: And people could still be out of their homes for days?
BOYER: Yes. I would say the next 24 hours is going to be a very critical time and we're hoping to see the flood - floodwaters recede over the weekend.
SNOW: All right. Mayor Boyer, thank you for your time.
BOYER: Thank you.
SNOW: And Christine, so far, officials say they do not have any reports of any serious injuries or fatalities - Christine.
ROMANS: All right. We're thankful for that. Mary Snow, thanks, Mary, in Wyoming, Pennsylvania.
COSTELLO: So, Reynolds Wolf, help out Mayor Boyer. No rain expected for Pennsylvania?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It looks like they're going to be in pretty good shape for today in terms of the additional rainfall. The problem is, is what they already have on the ground, what they already have in the rivers and the streams and the lakes that already exist.
Some of the good news, that they are dodging a bit of a bullet. As we go to our computers, you can take a look and notice some of the heaviest rainfall way off in the far right corner of the screen. That is going to be drifting offshore, but still some residual showers possible. Certainly not of the magnitude of what they've had over the last 48 hours, though.
Take a look at that. Everywhere where you happen to see a little bit of that white and that dark purple, that's where you have anywhere from 6 even 10 inches of rainfall and thankfully we can expect, again, not to be quite as heavy for today. But still the flood threat does exist. Everything you see there in parts of the northeast, every area shaded in that greenish color is where you have a flood warning or a flood watch.
That should be the situation through the weekend. All right, guys. That's the latest. Let's pitch it back to you in the studio.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
ROMANS: All right. Up next, the president's plan to create jobs and jolt, as he says, the economy. Can it work and what will be left of it after Congress gets through with it? We'll ask Gene Sperling, one of the president's top economic advisers.
COSTELLO: And a glimpse behind the walls. Deb Feyerick has a preview of the 9/11 memorial before it opens to the public.
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ROMANS: Right now, President Obama's American Jobs Act has a $447 billion price tag, prompting some Republicans to refer to it as Stimulus 2. The question this morning, can it work, will Congress pass it and what will the measure look like when and if it does pass?
Let's ask Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He's live at the White House. Good morning, Gene.
GENE SPERLING, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Good morning.
ROMANS: The president said this is a jolt to the economy, you're not calling it a stimulus for obvious political reasons, but how important is it to you that you stimulate the economy here?
SPERLING: Well, there is no question that 9.1 percent unemployment, projections of growth over the next 18 months at below three percent, is nowhere near good enough for this president and more importantly, is nowhere near good enough for the American public. They want action.
It doesn't make sense for us to sit on our hands and not act when we have the power to give this recovery so much more strength and momentum.
You know, I just saw out that one of John McCain's former economic adviser, Mark Zandi, put out an analysis suggesting that if this plan passed, growth would be two percent higher. What that means that instead of weak or moderate 1.5 percent growth, you could be at 3.5 percent growth or four percent growth. He said it would be up to 1.9, nearly two million more jobs next year.
Imagine 150,000 - 180,000 more jobs that we could create by passing the president's American Jobs Act, what that means for teachers, for small business, for veterans. We have the power to do that and we can do that in a context in which we make clear that in the long term, we're going to pay for every penny and bring the deficit down.
And if we can do this, I think it will do so much for long-term confidence as well as the short-term momentum that we need in this economy desperately right now.
ROMANS: Gene, do you - so you guys aren't putting out your specific job or GDP targets with this jolt to the economy, if it were to pass as a - as a whole, but would you agree that it would create a couple million jobs if Congress passes the way you want?
SPERLING: Well, you know, we had enough faith in our plan that we are willing to put it out and let those who are independent make those judgments. We've seen estimates from 1.3 million jobs next year to up to four million.
ROMANS: Right.
SPERLING: I think the type of things that we heard from Mark Zandi and others seem very reasonable to us, but I think what's -- but I think anybody at home I think would say, whether it's 150,000 jobs next year, a month, two million jobs, 1.5 million jobs, let's take action.
ROMANS: But you might not -
SPERLING: We can get people back to work. And, look, the things the president put out yesterday were strong, but they have a lot of bipartisan appeal if people put politics to the side.
ROMANS: But you might -
SPERLING: I was happy to hear Speaker Boehner respond that these ideas merit consideration. That's the type of response we need. That's what we need is to work together.
ROMANS: Right.
SPERLING: We can do something to make a huge difference.
ROMANS: Merit - merit consideration is not - yes, this is a great idea. Let's do it right now for the good of America. I mean, the American consideration -
SPERLING: That would have been better.
ROMANS: American consideration doesn't mean you're going to get, Gene, everything you want.
SPERLING: That would have been a better response.
ROMANS: So what in here do you think is the most important from your perspective and what you believe is needed in the economy, I mean, is its payroll tax cuts? I mean, is that something you need? Is it the infrastructure spending? Is that going to be what you want to get here? Because you probably are not going to get everything. That's what the Monday morning quarterbacks are saying, you're not going to get everything.
SPERLING: Well, look, we believe people should pass the American Jobs Act in its entirety. Of course, it's a democracy. Of course, we're willing to work with those who want to be constructive, as long as we're trying to have the type of impact in creating up to two million jobs and increasing growth.
But I think, you know, let me just explain why I think all of these pieces are important. Who doesn't believe we shouldn't cut costs for small businesses, give them incentives to hire? Who doesn't think that the typical American needs more money in their pockets to deal with gas and food prices and be the customers for those small businesses so they can expand and hire?
ROMANS: What people are worried about is how much money we've already spent.
SPERLING: Who doesn't think -- hold on one second.
ROMANS: And it's just adding to the debt and actually a drag longer term and they want to make sure that these things are going to really work.
SPERLING: Two points. One, there will - is nothing that will be worse for our long-term deficit than to take a risk of this economy - of this recovery not taking hold. Nothing would be worse.
And, secondly, the president made very clear he's going to pay for every penny, not just pay for every penny, but do a larger deficit reduction plan to pay for all of the American Jobs Act and has enough additional deficit reduction that we will not only bring our deficit down, we will finally get our debt going down a percentage of our economy and we're going to put that out in detail and the president even gave the date, September 19th, he would do that and be able to see the whole thing.
ROMANS: Will you come back and tell us all about it on the 19th? I mean, because he's -
SPERLING: You have my commitment.
ROMANS: He took the Tea Party. He said I see you, and I will race you. That's what he did last night with the deficit reduction and what he said is going to be the long-term strategy. I mean, that's - come back and tell us exactly when you can tell us how bold that be.
SPERLING: We're not trying to see or race anyone. We're trying to bring everyone together and do what the American people want.
People are hurting. A lot of people are hurting now. We have the capacity. We have the ability -
ROMANS: Right.
SPERLING: -- to take bold action that can make a huge difference for this recovery for people's lives, for jobs, and growth.
ROMANS: OK
SPERLING: We should do it.
ROMANS: Touche. It's not a poker game and you're absolutely right. It's a - it's a real problem.
OK. Thanks. Gene Sperling at the White House.
SPERLING: Thank you.
ROMANS: Thanks, Gene.
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, the other side of the Jobs Bill debate. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will join us live. We'll ask him if Republicans can work with the president's plan.
And two men who nearly died on 9/11 talk about how they survived and how they've coped 10 years after the Towers fell.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROMANS: Top stories. New York and Washington on alert right now for a possible attack 10 years to the day of 9/11. A senior administration official saying they are looking for at least three people, one is a U.S. citizen and the plot may involve car or truck bombs.
COSTELLO: Millions of Americans still without power, massive outages plaguing parts of southern California, Arizona, even parts of northern Mexico.
Workers scrambling to turn the lights back on. Officials in California are urging all residents to conserve energy to ease the strain on the power system. The outage is being blamed on a tripped up power line that stretches from California to Arizona.
The 34,000 acres of land in Texas has been eaten up by wildfires. The Bastrop County fire is 30 percent contained, but fire officials say it has the potential to grow. Nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed. About 5,000 people were forced to evacuate. They're being slowly allowed to return home.
Brand new this morning, Interpol, the international police agency, has now issued arrest warrants for fallen Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi along with his son Saif Al Islam Gadhafi and his brother and also his brother-in-law, who served as the regime's intelligence chief. All three men are accused of a campaign of murder and torture against civilians. ROMANS: Security will be tight as New York remembers the victims of 9/11. You're looking at a live picture from ground zero right now. Ten years ago, when the twin towers were attacked, Michael Belfantee was -- Benfante was in a meeting on the 81st floor of the north tower.
Flight 77 crashed into the building -- into that building, just four floors above where he was. Michael has written a book about his experience that day, it's called "Reluctant Hero." He's with us in the AMERICAN MORNING studio.
We're also joined by John Yates in Washington. He works at the Pentagon and watched a lot of his co-workers die on 9/11 while somehow he escaped. Thank you both of you for being here. I can't believe it's been 10 years.
I can't believe we're talking about 10 years on. John, how does it -- how does it feel to you, 10 years later, still difficult to go to work for you sometimes? You're still at the Pentagon, and you to put one foot in front of the other every day?
JOHN YATES, 9/11 SURVIVOR: Yes. Good morning, Christine. It's not a struggle every day, but there are days when I do have some -- something will happen. Not necessarily, you know, related to September 11th, a plane will fly over as I'm walking in and it will startle me and it takes me back to that day. But I've never - not gone into the office. I've always, always gone in.
ROMANS: Do you feel like you're working through any post- traumatic stress from all that, even 10 years on? Do you feel like this thing is still with you?
YATES: Christine, it will always be with me. You know, I still see a therapist ever since December of 2001 when I started seeing her. She has helped me work through my post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
And it's the skills and the processes that we've developed for me over the years, that allows me to get through times like this and when something like, again, I hear a plane over it doesn't happen all the time, but it does help me.
ROMANS: You know, Michael is here with me in the studio. You were caught on camera after you escaped from Tower One. CBS was there, CBS News. I want to listen to the clip with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
ROMANS: And talk about it. This is you right after the terror attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Light flash out my window, my whole doorway entrance to my office blew open. My office was freaking out. I told them to calm down, get to the center of the office. Everybody was fine on my floor and we just started heading down the stairs. I stopped at like 68 and there's a woman in a wheelchair and I got her in the wheelchair and carried her down the steps and carried her down 68 floors, man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: How do you feel when you see that clip? Who is the guy there and the guy today?
MICHAEL BENFANTE, 9/11 SURVIVOR: Well, a lot of people don't realize about that clip, is just before that, I witnessed, you know, probably one of the worst horrors of my life, saw people jumping from the towers.
So I'm trying to get my mind wrapped around that and this camera in my face. It was two completely different realisms so to speak. I was visibly upset, but as far as who -- how I was then and who I am now, you know, I'm basically the same person.
I'm just kind of rearranged and I think the gentleman said in -- down there in Washington, you know, post-traumatic stress disorder, when it's happening to a person, you usually don't realize it. I didn't realize it for sure.
You have different ways of dealing with it. And I can't say that the way I've dealt with it was the correct way because like I said, you don't know what's happening to you.
But now, you know, after writing the book and being able to get my story out and being able to tell everyone the full story, just not about the guy carrying the woman down in the wheelchair, it's been a cathartic experience for me, it's been very uplifting.
ROMANS: Do you think about the people you saw in the stairwell in the tower? I mean, some of them you'll never know what happened to them?
BENFANTE: Right. You know, that's -- one thing that will stay with me for the rest of my life, on my way down, I must have passed about 75 to 100 firemen and, you know, people try to label me a hero.
I was just doing what I was raised to do, so to speak, I grew up doing, trying to think of others and helping others. Those men, those firemen, they knew what was going on around them. They knew the terror that surrounded them.
They knew what they were facing, but yet they still went up, they still charged up those stairs to try to help others and try to save people and I think it was because of their actions and the countless acts of other people that saved so many lives that day.
ROMANS: John, one of the things about your story, the Pentagon that I find so compelling is like so many other people you survived and others who were right there with you didn't.
That's what's really even 10 years on, this survivor guilt, it must be -- it must be something to this day that you think of as you see each of these anniversaries that on our worst day, it is still something that people who didn't make it would give anything to have the chance at?
YATES: Well, yes, Christine, you're right. You know, I've went back into the building. I go down to the -- near the attack site multiple times a week. I walk past a memorial that was erected right at the -- on the second floor.
And I see the pictures of my co-workers and friends who died that day and yes, I think about it, you know. I mean, one minute I'm standing there talking to them and the next minute, you know, I'm -- we're all in hell and I was fortunate enough to survive.
So I don't forget about them. I think about them multiple times during the week every time I walk by. I look at every single one of the pictures and I just remember them and the good times that we had, you know, when we worked together.
ROMANS: John Yates and Michael Benfante, thank you both for coming by today. It's so raw. It's just really is raw, but we're really just really pleased to make your acquaintance this morning and we hope that you guys can both have a peaceful weekend. Carol --
BENFANTE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Transforming a once dusty construction site into a lush garden and museum, Deb Feyerick shows us what's being done to make the 9/11 Memorial ready for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what the 9/11 Memorial looked like a year ago. This is what it looks like today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really has exceeded expectations.
FEYERICK: As head of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Joe Daniels has witnessed every step of the transformation.
(on camera): When this opens, it will be the first time in ten years the public has had access to this place. What do you expect that to be like?
JOE DANIELS: I think it's going to be pretty special. I think so much of the public from around the world has those last images in their mind, of towers falling and that ninth-month recovery period that was hell on earth here.
To come back and know that you were standing in the very spot where the recovery took place and it's been transformed into a place really of beauty, I think people will really have a special feeling about it.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Where the World Trade Center towers once stood, there are now two massive granite reflecting pools. DANIELS: It doesn't make a sound until the water hits 30 feet below. So when you're over there you really don't hear it. It's when you step up to the names you feel like there's this envelope of white noise around you and it really helps reinforce that separation that you're in a special place when you hear the sound of the water falling.
FEYERICK: In the center of the plaza is the survivor's tree nursed back to health by recovery workers.
DANIELS: This tree was here at the World Trade Center on 9/11, 95 percent destroyed in the collapse of the towers. It was literally a stump. It tells the whole story right here, beaten up, but still surviving.
FEYERICK: And then there's the museum.
DANIELS: You can see how we're reflected in the glass. This was a specific element that was tested by the architects.
FEYERICK (on camera): So you can feel a connection.
(voice-over): It sits three stories down beneath the two memorial pools and will open next anniversary.
DANIELS: Those are the two structural try dents from the north tower. We brought those back a couple years ago and the entire museum was built around them. Even in the collapse there's this image that lots remember well of a potato chip of some of these tridens still standing.
FEYERICK: After years of very public battles and outright controversy, the memorial is finally coming together.
(on camera): Do you ever sometimes sit at your desk and go, what now?
DANIELS: Most of the time. We see every day there's some challenge that needs to be overcome.
FEYERICK: When all is said and done, what do you think you'll be most proud of?
DANIELS: I think it's this building of a place that is going to bring people together. You know, those days after 9/11 were historic, the feeling of unity from across this country that lasted for a while. This is a place hopefully that will remind people of that.
FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And a programming note for you, be sure to join us for "9/11 Ten Years Later" starting Sunday at 8:00 a.m. eastern on CNN. We'll have special live coverage of the remembrance events throughout the day. Still to come this morning, the president's jobs plan. Will Republicans cooperate or try to kill it? We'll ask a House Majority Leader Eric Cantor when he joins us live in two minutes. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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COSTELLO: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
The president's jobs plan, it has a $447 billion price tag with tax cuts for American workers and small business owners and spending on transportation and infrastructure. President Obama presenting the measure to the American people last night and also before a joint session of Congress. He challenged Congress 17 times to pass his jobs plan right away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we'll meet ours? The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So the question this morning, can Republicans get on board?
Let's ask the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He's joining us live from Capitol Hill.
Good morning, sir.
REP. ERIC CANTOR, (R-VA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning.
COSTELLO: You know, stopping the political circus sounds nice, but some Republicans didn't even bother to go to the president's speech last night. And you all, Democrats and Republicans, sat on your opposite sides. And to be frank, Congress doesn't have a great record of getting things done of late. So without finger pointing, can you tell the American people that this circus can really end and the country can move forward?
CANTOR: Well, I heard plenty in the president's speech last night where I think that there is a lot of room for commonalty and we can get something done quickly. There are things that are directed towards small business people to help them begin to get back into job creation again, so the middle class can get back to work. There are proposals in the president's speech that talk about increasing trade, so our manufacturers can see some increase in business to create more jobs. There's, I think, a lot of room for us to work together.
I hope that the president is willing to do what the vice president has said this morning, and that is to work with us in terms of choosing the things that we can agree on together and get them done quickly. Let's set aside the things in the bill that maybe we can't agree on.
So again, it's in that spirit of working together and building consensus that I hope the president can join us.
COSTELLO: So, see, you mentioned a few things that Republicans have long liked. Can you mention one thing in the president's plan that Republicans perhaps don't like that could be agreed upon?
CANTOR: Well, the things that we don't like are the things that probably we should set aside and begin to work out here. But again, there's plenty of room for agreement. The president talked about trying to get rid of some of the red tape so that the permitting process could work for road building. We have that in our job creator's agenda in the ability for us to see a better way for business to work here and get Washington out of the way. We have --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But again, sir, those -- those are things that Republicans have long liked. What about things like the infrastructure bank or maybe some tax hikes on the wealthy? Could those things possibly be part of this bigger plan?
CANTOR: Again, I think that what Washington needs and what the American people need is for us to find some agreement here. And there are plenty of things that we can agree on. For instance, the need for infrastructure spending? Sure, we believe that states have moneys right now, but Washington has tied up their ability to use those moneys, and we want to straighten out the system before you start spending more. And we don't support the idea of creating a Fannie and Freddie for roads and bridges and an infrastructure bank. We believe that you can do that and facilitate a better flow of funds to construction projects by fixing the current system. So there's plenty of us to work on together.
And I think instead of trying to accentuate where differences are -- because good people can disagree -- let's try to produce results so the middle class can get back to work in this country.
COSTELLO: So does that mean -- I just want -- I just want it to be clear so people understand. Does that mean the infrastructure bank is completely out in your mind?
CANTOR: It doesn't mean -- what it does not mean is that we won't work to try and get more money flowing to construction projects, because we believe that our roads and bridges are in need of repair. And there needs -- there are transportation needs that need to be addressed here in this country. We don't believe the mechanism of an infrastructure bank is the answers because what that does is it takes it out of the purview of oversight and it doesn't allow the taxpayers, who are funding this, to see what is going on. We believe we ought to increase transparency for the flow of capital to the projects, but let's not go and create another type of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for roads and bridges which is essential what the infrastructure bank would be.
COSTELLO: What about the payroll tax holiday? Is that something you could swallow?
CANTOR: I was interested to hear that the president supports now the employer side of the payroll tax. Again, what the Republican plan for job creators is about is to try to provide incentives for business people to begin to hire again. And although we would like to see much more certainty and permanency in the proposals, because what the president is talking about is a very temporary help, it is something that we certainly would support. And that is to give employers, small business people, some tax relief so they can begin to hire again.
COSTELLO: What about the people who work for those people?
CANTOR: Well, again, there is a payroll tax holiday in effect now. It was part of a package that we voted on and supported last December. And it is something that's certainly in the mix. And, as you know, Republicans don't believe that we should allow taxes to go up, especially in times like this.
COSTELLO: Even if it means a type of tax cut for the middle class, for working Americans?
CANTOR: That's exactly my point. We don't believe that we ought to be taxing anyone or increasing their burdens, especially in times like this.
COSTELLO: Eric Cantor, many thanks for joining us this morning. We hope some sort of compromise can be made somewhere --
(LAUGHTER)
-- between Democrats and Republicans --
CANTOR: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: -- because the country sure wants you guys to do that. Thank you so much.
CANTOR: Thank you.
ROMANS: All right, time for today's "Roman's Numeral." 13.5 percent is the number, 13.5 percent. If Ali was here, he would say it had something to do with gold. But here's a hint. It's why President Obama is stressing the importance of building this nation's infrastructure. Tell you after the break.
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ROMANS: All right, for this morning's "Roman's Numeral" Friday post-jobs plan edition --
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: -- the number is 13.5 percent. Folks, that is the unemployment rate last month for construction workers.
COSTELLO: Wow.
ROMANS: Worse than the national average. When you look in some categories, like brick layers and stone masons, it's approaching 25 percent unemployment. Of course, those are the folks who build our bridges, our roads, our highways. They fix our schools. So all of that feeds into the president's push for infrastructure spending and getting people back to work.
COSTELLO: We asked to you to talk back on one of the other big stories of the day, I should say. The question for you this morning, how has 9/11 changed you?
This from Iliana (ph). "I woke in one world and went to sleep in a different one. I was 11 and preparing for the world and it became scarier, fearsome and chaotic. I am part of an entire generation of children and young adults directly affected by the attacks. I was in no way ready for the state of war that would follow us for a decade. My life is different because I learned the value of strength and the true face of evil."
This from Todd. "I'm a retired military member and I was proud to see all of the flags flying on cars, posted on buildings, and songs written in support of all the people who died or responded. However, it didn't take long for those flags to become tattered and eventually disposed of. I don't understand why our patriotism is so short-lived and only seems to exist during emergencies."
And this from Sarah. "I will not let 9/11 change me. Then they win."
Keep the comments coming, Facebook/Americanmorning. I'll read more later on in the show.
ROMANS: All right, ahead next hour, another developing story this morning. Rescues from elevators and rides, people spending a dark night in a sweltering desert, millions without power across two states and two countries, the latest on the southwest blackout and the effort to get everyone back online.
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