Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Event/Special

America Under Attack: Pentagon Sits Wounded

Aired September 14, 2001 - 02:25   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.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Now normally, if the U.S. was planning any kind of a reprisal for this, the contingency plans would be being made fast and furiously within the Pentagon. But that building, the seat of military power in the United States, is a wounded building right now. One damaged, of course, by one of the suicide plane pilots as he plowed into that building on Tuesday.

Our Mark Potter is there in the Pentagon with the latest -- Mark.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning, again, Jim. There was a little bit of a drama earlier here today at the Pentagon as workers, as they have been for 24 hours a day, continued to go through the rubble. A sizable blaze, which you can see here, broke out. Officials thought that they had the area under control, had the fire under control, originally. But they had one that there were some hot spots, still, that could flare up. And as you can see, it happened again. As you can also see, right at this moment, it didn't take firefighters very long to get the blaze out. It took only about 25 minutes. The workers were able to get out of the area in time, and we're told that no one was hurt.

So at this early morning hour -- as you can see from this live picture -- the fire is out and workers continue to sift through the debris looking for victims and for the voice and data recorders, the so-called black boxes from the American Airlines' 757 jet which hit the building Tuesday morning. Pentagon officials estimate that about 190 people were killed here, including the passengers on the aircraft.

Now if we can show you a graphic that we have -- that we put together -- if we have that, it shows that where the plane hit right -- you can see here -- it badly damaged one of the five sides of this world famous military complex. That area damaged not only by the impact, but by the very intense fire. About half the building was shut down as a result of that incident, although we can see tonight that some of the corridors have been reopened.

We're told, however, that the building is fully operational with many workers, however, having to double up their offices.

Meanwhile, on CNN's Larry King Live, the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said that whenever the U.S. decides to respond to the terrorist attacks, it will be a long-term campaign, and should not be seen as near retaliation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't think of it as retaliation. I don't think of it as punishment, I think of it as self defense. The United States of America has every right to defend itself. And that is what it is about. It is consciously saying that countries and entities and people who actively oppose the United States and damage our interests by acts of violence, acts of war, are our enemies. And they are people in organizations and entities and states that we have every right to defend ourselves against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: Now, here at the Pentagon, we can tell you that President Bush is considering activating as many as 50,000 military reservists. They would be, we are told, involved in the disaster recovery effort. They would also be assisting the National Guard pilots who have been flying combat air patrols around the country, or who have been on standby at bases around the country.

Secretary Rumsfeld said that those combat air controls continue in the Washington DC, New York City corridor. And that at 26 bases around the country, pilots are on a 15-minute standby. A Pentagon official cautions that if those reservists are called up, it should not be read by the citizens of this country as a sign that a U.S. military attack is imminent. Back to you.

CLANCEY: All right. Mark Potter reporting there live from the Pentagon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com