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CNN Live Event/Special

Profiles of Victims, Heroes, Leaders From September 11

Aired September 11, 2002 - 15:00   ET

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

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back on this day of remembrance. I'm Paula Zahn joined by Aaron Brown this afternoon.
It's 3:00 here in New York City as the city gets prepared for yet another very non-public ceremony that will take place later today -- at least we won't be able to listen in on what the president has to say when he gets here.

ARRON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: It doesn't mean we won't try.

The president will arrive in New York around - a little after 4:00 and he'll make his way to ground zero or at least he's expected to make his way to ground zero about 4:30.

Family members who have stayed or who choose to come back will have an opportunity to meet privately with the president. They gathered -- so many of them -- this morning in that circle of honor as each of the 2,800 who died -- each of their names was read this morning and their family members walked down the long ramp.

In any case, they will have a moment to meet with the president today or several moments, if Shanksville is any indication.

The president went to Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- I assume you all know that now -- to lay a wreath and to talk with the family members there from United Flight 93.

They had come to mark this day in that field where that plane crashed a year ago today. And the president shared some time and some private words with them as well honoring what someone said -- I think it was Correspondent David Mattingly -- earlier who said was the first victory in the war on terrorism.

I thought that was well put, David -- thank you.

ZAHN: And they also referred to those very brave men and women who lost their lives in that desolate field as citizen soldiers.

BROWN: Yes.

ZAHN: And then as you could see the president work through the crowd you're reminded of just how comfortable he is trying to talk about the pain many of these families continue to suffer from on a daily basis. And then we need to remind you that as we mark today America is in the middle of a heightened state of alert. The country stands on guard today to prevent another such attack. We are at status orange, which signifies a high risk of attack. Antiaircraft missiles are stationed around Washington.

Vice President Cheney is spending the day at an undisclosed secure location. And U.S. military installations around the globe are at their highest state of alert.

BROWN: And one of those locations that is on the highest or darn near the highest state of alert -- Delta alert -- is in Afghanistan. Central Command put them on Delta alert, which is essentially an attack is imminent if not underway.

They're very nervous and they've been getting some chatter and so they're not taking any chances with the men and women there. They are very clearly on the front lines of this war on terror. They took some moments at Bagram -- the airbase there -- to commemorate what happened a year ago to their fellow citizens -- the event that brought them to Afghanistan.

We'll have a live report from that country so far away and yet so familiar to us in just a few moments.

ZAHN: We're following another story that we're not quite sure as how it's going to play out. Keeping a very close eye on Columbus, Ohio where a 41 story state office building has been evacuated. Officials are saying that bomb-sniffing dogs detected the scent of explosives from a van that was actually parked at a loading dock outside of this building.

They say they have a suspect in custody. We have no idea what that suspect is being held for right now but as soon as we have more details, we promise you that we will bring them to you.

BROWN: We would hope it's nothing -- to be honest, we hope it's nothing. We have spent much of the day so far talking about the what of a year ago and very little I guess talking about the why of a year ago but it's one of those questions that we're paid to answer.

Today seems so very much about what happened and to whom that to ask why bin Laden did this all or why al Qaeda believes all of that feels a bit alien but it is also important and it is the work that Mike Boettcher does.

And here is his report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraqi troops invade Kuwait and mass on the Saudi border. The Saudi king, fearing for his survival, asks the U.S. for help.

By August 7, 1990 American forces are on their way to turn back Iraq and protect the oil supply. But a devote and wealthy young Saudi named Osama bin Laden has other ideas.

He wants to use his battle-hardened warriors, the Mujahideen, who had fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, to protect Saudi Arabia and the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina from Saddam Hussein, a man he despises as a bad Muslim.

Dr. Saad Al-Fagih, a Saudi dissident, tells what happened next.

DR. SAAD AL-FAGIH, SAUDI DISSIDENT: He talked to the Saudi authorities, trying to convince them that he can -- he can arrange a plan to defend Arabia if the country cannot do it. He can bring all types of Mushahadeen (ph) to protect Arabia. And he even had written this plan and handed it over to the Saudi authorities.

He said that we don't need to rely on quote -- unquote -- infidels like the Americas to protect us.

BOETTCHER: But the Saudi government welcomes the Americans. Bin Laden, the son of a Saudi millionaire, finds himself a stranger in his own land.

FAGIH: He was actually harassed after giving this advice and he was put in house arrest -- asked not to leave Jordan at all.

So he thought since then that there is an American-Saudi conspiracy to control the land of Arabia. And that made a surge in his opinion against the U.S.

BOETTCHER: When bin laden joined the cause of Holy War in the 1980s, fighting against the communists who invaded Afghanistan, he was on the same side as America, which rewarded the Afghan resistance with money, weapons and training. But even then, says Fagih, bin Laden himself already deeply mistrusted America.

FAGIH: He decided to boycott all American stuff since 1982.

BOETTCHER: Bin Laden had become a leader of what were known as the Afghan Arabs -- men who came from various Arab countries to join the Jihad against the Soviets.

As the war was winding down in the late '80s, bin Laden formed al Qaeda, the based.

Rohan Gunaratna is the author of "Inside al Qaeda."

ROHAN GUNARATNA, AUTHOR, INSIDE al QAEDA: According to the founder charter of al Qaeda, published in March 1988 when al Qaeda was founded, it says that al Qaeda is the pioneering vanguard of the Islamic movements -- it is the spearhead of Islam.

BOETTCHER: And this so-called pioneering vanguard, which wanted to continue Holy War around the world, began to view America as the new enemy -- a modern version of Christian crusaders imposing its will on the Islamic world.

Then came the Gulf War and American troops in the Arabian Peninsula. They were the ones in effect now guarding the Muslim holy sites -- not Osama bin Laden. And to him that was unthinkable.

It would be years before bin Laden would formally declare war on America -- years spent in Sudan and Afghanistan building up a global network.

When al Qaeda did have this coming out party in May 1998, the goal was clear.

OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): By God's grace thanks to him we declared, as many scholars did, that it is mandatory that we struggle and do jihad to get the Americans out of the Arabian Peninsula.

And when we mention Jihad here we mean carrying the weapon and killing those Americans.

BOETTCHER: Less than 11 weeks later al Qaeda made good on its threat -- launching simultaneous suicide bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The date was August 7, 1998 -- eight years to the day that the first U.S. troops were sent to Saudi Arabia.

Then in 2000 came the attack of the USS Cole -- American targets but not yet on U.S. soil. That would change on 9/11.

GUNARATNA: Osama bin Laden's main reason to strike the United States was because Osama wanted to create Islamic states in the Arabian Peninsula in North Africa. And the United States was protecting -- was shielding -- those countries. The United States as the head of the snake was preventing those states from becoming Islamic.

BOETTCHER: At that 1998 meeting with journalists, Osama bin Laden was asked how he and al Qaeda hoped to take on the United States.

Bin Laden reminded journalists that his men had already helped defeat one super power, forcing it out of Afghanistan. Now they were ready to declare war on America and make it leave his homeland by any means necessary.

UNKNOWN MALE: If it's not clear to you what our strength is, it is clear to the Americans and Jews and they will withdraw from the Arabian Peninsula.

BOETTCHER: For Osama bin laden and al Qaeda, that would ultimately mean taking the war to America. Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BROWN: And correspondent Mike Boettcher joins us from Atlanta now to talk a little bit more about Mr. bin Laden and his troops, some of whom and some important players, in fact, are in custody -- Abu Zubaydah, Mr. Farouk, the Kuwaiti we talked about earlier today. Others have been killed in the war.

So what do intelligence sources tell you is the state of play for al Qaeda?

BOETTCHER: Well, they tell me the central core of al Qaeda is trying to reconstitute itself and, as a matter of fact, has. Some of those operating in the border areas with Iran also on the border areas with Pakistan and Afghanistan, but that thousands of al Qaeda members who were in Afghanistan have gone back to their home countries and have forged alliances, according to my sources, with terrorist groups on the ground, let's say, in Morocco or in Lebanon or some other part of the world in Southeast Asia and have formed what are being called super cells, which are independently acting cells that are carrying out their own missions.

And these cells would launch low to medium grade terrorist attacks but at the same time the core leadership of al Qaeda is still trying to pull off the big one, Aaron.

BROWN: Well, just -- I want to play with that idea for a second. All right -- so we have these small cells around in various parts of the world. One of the things that al Qaeda or al Qaida -- you take your pick. Every time I change it you seem to change it on me.

BOETTCHER: Sorry.

BROWN: One of the things that they were able to do is to supply financing. There's this very elaborate banking mechanism. None of these operations is cheap unless you think a half a million dollars is cheap and I don't.

So do these small cells have access -- forget the weapons for a second -- do they have access to money to buy the weapons?

BOETTCHER: Well, let me give you an example of what happened in Morocco. There was what is known as the Morocco cell, which was broken up. It was planning to attack U.S. and British ships in the Straits of Gibraltar.

Shortly after that attack was broken up and these people were arrested there was a guy in Western Union in Morocco who said, "Wait a second I recognize those guys." He saw them in the paper. He said, "They came in and got a lot of money via Western Union."

It turned out to be $300,000 worth coming from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

So there is access to money but also they have been trained and it's a matter of al Qaeda books to use quite various kinds of crime -- let's say, identity theft and other small white collar crime as well in order to raise money where they are at so they can be independent. That has been one of the tenants for these various cells operating around the world.

But there is still a lot of cash out there -- a lot of cash -- and that Moroccan cell really indicates that to me.

BROWN: Michael, thank you. Michael Boettcher joining us from Atlanta. Mike has been working this beat -- this terrorism beat -- long before most of us knew very much about al Qaeda or al Qaida, as you prefer.

ZAHN: Or al Qieda (ph) as Secretary of State commonly refers to it as.

BROWN: Anyway, it's just one of the many mysteries of this that was still live with. Judy Woodruff joins us from Washington today.

Judy, are you there?

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, I am here.

And, as you are talking about the war on terrorism, we should at this point talk a little more about somebody who has played a huge role in helping the United States in its war against al Qaeda. He is ironically, as someone has pointed out to us today, a man -- a leader of a country -- Pakistan. A name that George Bush as a candidate during one interview -- a much criticized interview, I should say -- then candidate George Bush couldn't remember his name.

Well, it turns out it was Pervez Musharraf -- of course, the President of Pakistan, former General Musharraf. He did go on to play a critical role in the war on terrorism.

He actually had to make a very critical choice after Septembar 11. It was whether to side with the hardliners in his own country who were sympathetic with al Qaeda or to side with the United States.

He did, as we know, go on to support the United States in a big way and he did so at great personal risk. He has been called names. He has been threatened with his life.

Our Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour takes a look at the man, Pervez Musharraf, at the decision he made and at the consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One year ago the president of Pakistan had a phone conversation with the president of the United States that would change his country's destiny.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: I condoned the loss of life in the United States and expressed our cooperation in fighting terrorism around the world.

AMANPOUR: For General Pervez Musharraf that would mean a radical change of course, abandoning Afghanistan's Taliban regime, providing U.S. military support and fighting Islamic militants at home.

In a national television address, bedecked in medals and military uniform, he told his people that he was not cow-towing to the United States but waging a brave national battle. He insisted that Pakistan's very survival depended on it. The only question -- would Musharraf himself survive? At the time he told us he was confident. MUSHARRAF: Those who are against whatever my government and myself -- I am doing -- are a very small minority. These are generally, if not all, really just extremists and they do not form the majority of Pakistan certainly.

AMANPOUR: Musharraf was right. Although there were some demonstrations against the war in Afghanistan, they never threatened to topple him. And one year later the general tells CNN that the moment was a golden opportunity.

MUSHARRAF: In many ways it did allow me to do a lot of things for the country because we were really going on a path of intolerance and extremism. So this gave me an opportunity of exposing the extremists and fanatics and move against them.

AMANPOUR: Musharraf says he remains committed but admits he has also paid a heavy price. Enraged Islamic militants have staged a series of attacks against U.S. and other western targets here and they have murdered the American journalist Daniel Pearl.

And in the midst of fighting the war on terror, Pakistan's old dispute with India over Kashmir nearly boiled over again, this time sending a shudder through the world since both countries are now nuclear powers.

How close was war?

MUSHARRAF: War was close but nuclear confrontation I would say was not close at all.

AMANPOUR: But with a threat on that front still looming and Pakistan stretched thin hunting al Qaeda on its Afghan front, perhaps it's no wonder this solid U.S. ally wants no part in what seems to be coming next.

As you know, the United States -- this administration -- is looking to Iraq for regime change. Is that a policy that you would support?

MUSHARRAF: Well, we don't -- frankly, I wouldn't like to get involved at all. I wouldn't like Pakistan to get involved in this at all. We have too much on our hands here internally and regionally. We wouldn't like to get involved anywhere outside.

AMANPOUR: Although Musharraf has survived backing the U.S. in Afghanistan, he says he's not prepared to risk a wave of Muslim anger that may be unleashed with a war in Iraq. Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WOODRUFF: And Christiane joins us now from Kabul where she has been there covering today's observances and the other goings on in that area. Christiane, setting Iraq aside for just a moment, what about those al Qaeda operatives who it has been reported in the United States have been crossing the border going back into Afghanistan? What are you hearing about that?

AMANPOUR: Well, conflicting reports from the military officials here. On the one hand some of the military senior officials we've talked to, including intelligence officials, say that it's no greater a threat than they expected at around this time. Other say that -- yes -- there does seem to be a little bit more regrouping, a little bit more of a challenge than they had expected about his time.

What's clear is that there is continued challenge and threat to the stability here and to the United States forces. And indeed the U.S. continues to conduct its military operations.

And, of course, this is linked directly to Pakistan because the top leaders of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar (ph) -- all of these people have not yet been found.

Many of them are believed to be hiding -- particularly the al Qaeda type -- in the Pakistan area. And it's up to Musharraf to try to hunt these people down. And he says he doesn't want anymore U.S. troops in there to come and help him out -- that the Pakistani forces are well capable of doing it.

But it's still an open question how long it's going to take to get all of these people and to really neutralize this threat.

WOODRUFF: Christiane, is it thought that Musharraf can stick with his position that he does not -- will not go along with the U.S. planning any sort of military action in Iraq?

AMANPOUR: Well, he was very adamant. We asked him every which way. We asked him if there was a UN resolution, if there was a coalition, if there was this, if there was that and he seemed very adamant at the moment. He just felt that -- at least this is what he told us -- that there simply is too much going on right now. He's juggling so many different things. And really his survival is also -- not really -- his survival is basically -- and that of his position -- is also in the balance.

On top of that -- he and current Afghan leaders believe that another war in another Muslim country would be seen at this time and be taken at this time rather badly they felt by members of the Islamic world.

So there are all sorts of things going on right now that make these leaders somewhat reluctant -- at least right now.

WOODRUFF: All right. Christiane is in Afghanistan today covering -- what's been a long day for her -- covering the ceremonies marking Septembar 11. Thanks, Christiane.

And now we want to go back to Paula in New York.

ZAHN: Thanks, Judy. And we're going to revisit Reagan National Airport right now where our correspondent Patty Davis is on the ground with some news out of Texas that's capturing a lot of attention at this hour. She's going to try to make sense of it for us. Patty, what have you got?

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A nervous day in the U.S. skies today. In fact, we're told that an American Airlines flight -- that is coming from Transportation Security Administration -- American Airlines Flight 1702, which started at Houston International -- was supposed to go to Dallas-Ft. Worth and on to National -- had to turn around and land back in Houston.

We're told that a passenger with an unidentifiable object concerned a federal air marshal onboard. We're told that TSA is saying there was no scuffle involved but the federal air marshal insisted that that plane come on back down and did turn around and land back at the Houston airport.

But no further action was required by the federal air marshal according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Now American Airlines confirming that indeed that plane did have two federal air marshals onboard. The plane landed safely at about 1:08 this afternoon Houston time. The passenger was removed from the aircraft at a remote location of the airport. The plane then taxied in for the passengers to be let off.

Now, interestingly enough, the Transportation Security Administration called me back and said, "Well, that plane was searched by authorities and, in fact, there was no weapon of any kind found onboard that plane on passengers or onboard that plane."

So a little confusing, conflicting information coming on -- out from the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies this afternoon. Paula?

ZAHN: So are we supposed to just pass this off as nerves or is there anybody out there saying this unidentified object was really, in fact, something that could have been harmful?

DAVIS: Well, for a federal air marshal to get involved and to be worried to the point that he would turn -- he or she would turn a plane around, I would say -- yes -- it was most likely something that -- believed they saw something that was harmful that potentially would not be allowed on an aircraft at this point.

So to take that kind of precaution -- yeah -- would be worried.

Now the question -- begs the question here -- if somebody like that did have an object that a federal air marshal would be concerned about, how could that have gotten through security?

At Houston International they do not yet have federal screeners in place -- still contract screeners from private contractors.

There was a study recently done -- undercover operations done showing that one in four weapons were still getting through those private screeners. The federal government has promised when the federal screeners come into those areas -- those passenger screening areas -- for that point to improve. So it begs the question -- how could that have gotten through? And, luckily, if indeed there was a weapon, there were federal air marshals onboard that flight. Paula?

ZAHN: All right -- keep us posted, Patty. An earlier report suggested today there is at least one federal air marshal on every commercial flight today.

Right now we're going to check in with Wolf Blitzer to bring us into the loop on this new state of alert we're in. We're at color orange which is -- what -- the second highest state of alert.

Good afternoon, again, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Paula. Yes -- there is one higher state -- that's red. The U.S. is not at that level. Orange -- a high state of alert. Clearly U.S. officials worried about the possibility of terrorist attacks on this first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

For many Americans, of course, immediately after that attack one year ago there was extreme sense of confusion and shock. But unbeknownst to most of us at the time U.S. military commanders immediately went into a counter attack mode.

Indeed as our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports, the U.S. military got ready for war very quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: By the time American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon the country knew the United States had gone to war but few people realized just how quickly the U.S. military was ready to counter attack.

From the start the intelligence community fingered Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda was the only group with the organization and cunning to carry out the hijackings.

That put Afghanistan, the al Qaeda sanctuary, directly in the crosshairs of the Pentagon.

LT. GEN. CHARLES WALD, U.S. AIR FORCE: I didn't think Septembar 11 would ever happen.

STARR: Lieutenant General Charles Wald, commander of all U.S. air forces in the Persian Gulf, was in the Pentagon that morning for meetings.

WALD: We were planning within a matter of -- actually it was in an hour that we started our broad planning to respond in some way.

STARR: Wald knew the U.S. could be in the air quickly, attacking Afghanistan with long range B-2, B-1 and B-52 bombers and ship- launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Everything was ready to go if the attack on the United States had continued.

Many Americans never knew that U.S. military forces around the world were ordered to an immediate wartime footing on 9/11 so they could defend themselves and launch immediate counter attacks.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This battle will take time in resolve but make no mistake about it -- we will win.

STARR: But the Bush administration wanted to make sure that this time the al Qaeda would be dealt a death blow.

While the Pentagon still burned, the planning was underway.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: One of the problems that that Clinton administration had faced is that there really weren't good targets, so to speak, in Afghanistan and nobody wanted to just go in with cruise missiles again and pound sand.

So Rumsfeld was sent off to start doing more detailed military planning -- develop better options. But we were already pretty clear -- the president was very clear in his mind that air power was probably not going to be enough and he needed to see other plans.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHEIFS CHAIRMAN: The first thing we had to do was understand that we were going to war in a landlocked country in central Asia -- halfway around the world. That's where the adversary at least initially was and we had to go after them.

How you do that was the big question.

If we could have put a very good plan together in 10 minutes and executed in 15 we would have done that probably.

WALD: But I also think we . . .

STARR: General Wald and his boss at Central Command, General Tommy Franks, knew that this war would have to be a coalition operation -- the U.S. needing to use airbases and command centers throughout the Persian Gulf to launch attacks against Taliban and al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan.

But first Wald had to find a way back to his South Carolina headquarters. He flew an F-16 from Washington -- the trip a chilling experience through empty skies.

WALD: It was one of the most eerie things I've ever seen in my life. The only radio calls we heard that day on the radio in the F fighter that we heard from the air traffic controllers were, "All aircraft in the United States land immediately or you will be shot down."

STARR: Allies were contacted across the region that afternoon . . .

WALD: I called the air chief from Saudi Arabia and told him that I would be coming, if he had any problem and he said, "No." STARR: As the move to retaliation began, the target list began to take shape. The Taliban enemy forces, never before contemplated at the Pentagon, for the first time, coming into focus for the United States.

WALD: They had tanks. They had fighter aircraft. They had an integrated air defense system, which we never thought they would. I mean, we think of the Taliban as very rudimentary, you know, almost backward. And in most ways, they are, except they did have the military assets to actually defend against an air attack.

STARR: The military launched its counter-attack 26 days later, on October 7, with shattering airstrikes and bombing runs. The United States would control the skies over Afghanistan within days, allowing Special Forces to move in on the ground, and call in more airstrikes against enemy armor and troop positions, delivering an initial victory to the U.S. military, which saw its headquarters attacked on 9/11.

But Chuck Wald says the men and women of the armed forces will never forget or forgive. For him, it is very personal.

WALD: These are murderers. They are cold-blooded murderers. We need to take care of people like that in the world.

STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And in just a few minutes, I'll speak with one of those firefighters who rushed into the Pentagon, this building right behind me, to do his best to try to rescue people inside.

In the meantime, back to you -- Paula.

ZAHN: Wolf, I didn't have a chance to ask you after the Pentagon ceremonies a little bit earlier today what the general reaction was there, not just from family members, but from Pentagon workers alike, and those that just came because they wanted to, in some way, honor the memories of those that lost their lives at the Pentagon.

BLITZER: I think the general reaction was extremely favorable. It was very moving. It was very dramatic.

And almost everyone here, in fact, everyone that I have spoken to over these past few hours since the first service in the morning, the second service earlier this afternoon, they are very pleased that the nation has come here at the Pentagon to pay tribute to those who lost their lives. And also to show that the U.S. military is back in action, both the symbolically as well as physically.

This building almost completely restored to what it was before, and perhaps, indeed, they say even better than it was before. And that it's just this whole process is just beginning as the U.S., potentially, prepares for yet a second front in this war.

ZAHN: Thanks Wolf. We'll see you a little bit later on. Earlier today, Aaron and I had the pleasure of spending a little bit of time with the former mayor of the city, Rudy Giuliani.

And just recently, he has been the toast of a different town, a very small town in Kentucky, not always a place where a true-blue New Yorker, like Giuliani, might fit in. And it's a testament to the staggering transformation of this one man, this one leader. Often, he has had the image along the way of being abrasive, petty, replaced with a model of instant strength and resilience for a city that needed nothing less.

Here is CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. It is Tuesday, September 11.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: A couple of live pictures in New York, including this one.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the morning of last September 11, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani woke up facing the end of what he thought might be the most memorable chapter of his life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I go vote?

GREENFIELD: New Yorkers were voting in a primary that day to choose the candidates to succeed Giuliani, and after nearly eight years in office, he'd be leaving City Hall to a decidedly mixed farewell.

MICHAEL TOMASKY, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: He was split right down the middle. In the hearts and minds of half of New York voters, he was a beloved, albeit lame-duck, incumbent, who had turned the city around, and whom they couldn't thank enough. In the hearts and minds of the other half, or perhaps slightly under half, they couldn't see him get out of town or out of City Hall fast enough.

GREENFIELD: Why this division when, under Giuliani, the crime rate in New York, always the central concern of its citizens, had plummeted so far that New York was the safest big city in the nation? And when the Wall Street boom had helped make New York not just safer, but richer, cleaner.

"New York" magazine's Michael Tomasky says one reason was a combustible mix of racial politics and Giuliani's combative personality.

TOMASKY: His treatment, perceived treatment, or actual treatment in several cases, of particularly the African-American community in New York, on some high-profile issues that black people tend to care about, like police shootings being the most obvious example.

GREENFIELD: But, Giuliani's style went beyond matters of black and white. MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI, NEW YORK: You never saw drugs being used in there, Carla (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really haven't, and I haven't seen anyone...

(CROSSTALK)

GIULIANI: Carla.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to me...

GIULIANI: Carla? Carla?

GREENFIELD: He delighted in meeting his critics head-on, more than once suggesting they might need psychiatric help. He went up against the city's cultural establishment, condemning what he considered obscene or sacrilegious art in public museums.

GIULIANI: I am against the use of public funds to desecrate religion.

GREENFIELD: Moreover, there were two life-altering personal matters that faced him.

GIULIANI: Politics, you know, it isn't as important as I thought it was.

GREENFIELD: His prospective Senate race in 2000 against Hillary Rodham Clinton was abandoned after he learned he was battling prostate cancer.

GIULIANI: It's been a very painful road.

GREENFIELD: And his marriage to actress-TV hostess, Donna Hanover, imploded under a wave of tabloid headlines linking him to another woman.

GIULIANI: Put your mask on. Put your mask on.

GREENFIELD: And then, that morning, the world changed.

GIULIANI: The situation is that two airplanes have...

GREENFIELD: In those first hours and days, Giuliani's voice and presence -- somber, calm, clear-eyed, unsentimental -- drew on all of his assets, and swept away all of his liabilities.

TOMAWSKY: He almost died on September 11. He was trapped in the lobby of a building, and the ash and soot and debris came tumbling very close to it. He was there. There is no question that he was there. And it was his presence at that press conference that day...

GIULIANI: We have hundreds of police officers and firefighters who are engaging in rescue efforts.

TOMASKY: ... that evening.

GIULIANI: We're going to keep praying and hoping that we save as many people as possible.

TOMASKY: And over the subsequent days, he was as shaken as everybody else, but he was in charge and reassuring to people.

GREENFIELD: Not everything changed, of course. when Giuliani flirted with the idea of extending his term in office...

GIULIANI: I'm going to meet with the candidate and talk to them about something that we can agree on.

GREENFIELD: ... or even repealing term limits, so he might run again. The political establishment said a firm, "no thanks."

GIULIANI: Bill, good luck.

GREENFIELD: But, what has changed is that this pro-choice, pro- gay-rights Republican is now one of the most sought after voices of the national and essentially conservative Republican Party. His endorsement -- he backed California's Bill Simon, who won the GOP gubernatorial nod last March; he is backing New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith in his primary battle now -- is as valued as anyone's, including the president's.

As for his own future, Giuliani will make millions of dollars a year as a speaker, consultant and author. But his long-term ambition is probably the same as it was more than 40 years ago.

TOMASKY: There is no question about it. He has wanted to be president of the United States since he was 18, 19 years old. And this is in the biographies. And, you know, he used to stand in front of the mirror and take the oath of office or some anecdote like that.

I see no reason to think that those plans are designs of change. And if anything, I guess after being named the Person of the Year by "TIME" magazine and the mayor of the world by everybody else that those plans have only solidified or intensified.

GREENFIELD: Jeff Greenfield, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And Jeff Greenfield sits right beside today to talk a little bit more about Rudy Giuliani.

OK, let's talk about that last little bit of your piece. There has been much speculation about where Rudy Giuliani goes after, as he even has admitted, after he makes some money in the private sector and decides to go back into public life, which he has not closed the door on.

GREENFIELD: No, quite the contrary. And it's an interesting phenomenon. You know, we have a gubernatorial race this year with Governor Pataki, who he disendorsed the first time and backed the Democrat, and now is solidly behind him. So, that's four years away. He could conceivably win against Chuck Schumer in 2004, or even Hillary again in 2006. But that's all speculative.

And this man is not a legislator. I mean, even when he was running -- thinking about running for the Senate, everybody -- friend and foe alike -- said he wouldn't want it. This guy, whether he's U.S. attorney or mayor, is an executive. He is not one of 100 people, for good or ill.

So, you know, the idea of any other job, whether than governor or president, doesn't make any sense in terms of his personality.

ZAHN: There has been talk in 2004, although the vice president says he is not going anywhere in 2004, if the president runs again, he expects to be on the ticket with him. People have talked about that possibility, and the possibility of his running for the presidency in 2008.

What are the chances of the second scenario?

GREENFIELD: First of all, this whole scenario is for people with too much time on their hands. I mean, it keeps people like me off the streets, but it's of no practical utility.

Now, having said that, the real Question here is, whether or not the Republican base would accept a man who is at odds with some of their fundamental tenets. I have always thought that it was no more likely that a Republican pro-choice politician would be on the ticket than a pro-life Democrat. We saw what happened to Tom Ridge, who was, in some ways, the more logical choice for G. W. Bush in 2000, but he is pro-choice.

On the other hand, you've got people like Paul Warrick, a prominent social conservative, saying you know, maybe we could live with him. And he has been out there endorsing conservative Republicans. He did back Bob Smith, who lost in New Hampshire last night.

But he is clearly, whatever his future intentions are, he is clearly putting a lot of markers out, saying, I am a loyal Republican. So, if I can bend and back these people who I disagree with on some issues, maybe in a few years, you might want to look at me.

ZAHN: And he has openly admitted in the last several weeks how much he misses public life at times.

GREENFIELD: He has one power left that I can attest to personally.

ZAHN: And that is?

GREENFIELD: He can still perform marriages.

ZAHN: Did he marry you?

GREENFIELD: Well, no, I married a woman. But I mean, he performed the marriage. I have to disclose...

ZAHN: As in, the marriage ceremony?

GREENFIELD: Yes, he did, and did it graciously. I have full disclosure. I don't think it's a conflict of my covering him politically, but I do want to acknowledge that.

ZAHN: We appreciate that full disclosure. Thanks for setting the record straight right here.

BROWN: That's one of those little known Greenfield facts. I didn't know that. I'm impressed.

GREENFIELD: Thank you.

BROWN: Our next "9/11 Hero" is about a life saved and a unique friendship born in the fire and the devastation at the Pentagon that morning one year ago today. Rescuer and rescued -- that would be a bond, wouldn't it -- all because of a voice that rang out in the darkness.

Here is CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Isaac Ho'opi'i sings with the Aloha Boys. His is the voice of an angel.

WAYNE SINCLAIR, PENTAGON ATTACK SURVIVOR: He's my hero, my guardian angel. That's what I call him. He's by guardian angel.

CROWLEY: A canine officer assigned to the Pentagon, Isaac was one of the first on the scene.

ISAAC HO'OPI'I, PENTAGON RESCUER: I ran up to the door and, gradually, people started just coming out -- male, female, black, white -- you couldn't tell. They were badly burned.

CROWLEY: No mask, no gloves and no protective clothing, Isaac plunged into the smoke.

HO'OPI'I: There was so much disaster inside -- walls, cubicles, tables, chairs -- it was just all blown to pieces, and some of the walls was caved in, so I had to take different routes. I got as far as I could where I felt the heat, the smoke. You couldn't see anything. I mean, you put your hand out, you couldn't see.

CROWLEY: But you could hear, and there were voices crying out from the other side of the wall of smoke.

Wayne Sinclair was unaware that his arms and ears and face were burning as he crawled on the shrapnel and glass on the floor of his Pentagon office. SINCLAIR: It was filled with smoke and fire, and we couldn't see anything. And outside, we heard a voice.

CROWLEY: It was Wayne Sinclair's angel.

HO'OPI'I: Hey, come to my voice. Come towards my voice. Head towards my voice. I'm over here. Can you hear me? I kept on yelling and yelling.

SINCLAIR: And he kept saying it over and over, and that is what guided us out of the smoke and fire to that safety. When I got outside, he was gone.

CROWLEY: They would not link their stories together for nearly a month. In the interim, Isaac struggled with his emotions.

HO'OPI'I: The biggest help that I really got is from my dog, you know. He worked every single day. He loves me unconditionally, doesn't say any word, except waggle his tail, be happy. And even if I tell him all my secrets, that he won't tell anyone.

CROWLEY: Like so many others who answered the call, Isaac was tortured with the "what ifs."

HO'OPI'I: And even knowing that those 198 people had died, you know, could I have made a difference by helping those people? What if? You know, what if I did this differently? Or what if I did that?

CROWLEY: Which is why, when Isaac and Wayne figured out their connection...

SINCLAIR: As soon as he mentioned his name, I knew it was him, because I could tell by his deep Hawaiian voice, you know. I could tell it was him.

CROWLYE: It was the rescued who threw a lifeline to the rescuer.

HO'OPI'I: And he looked at me and says, "Hey, Isaac, there's nothing in this world I can ever repay you or give you for saving my life." And that alone, just like, you know, I have been through a lot, and just listening to somebody, I just couldn't say anything. I said, hey, listen, I think you already have your life.

CROWLEY: A big, burly canine cop from Hawaii; a small, wiry computer guy from eastern Maryland.

HO'OPI'I: Hey, so how have you been?

SINCLAIR: Great, great.

CROWLEY: They talk frequently now, and this summer, Isaac went to Wayne's family reunion.

That day, they were intimate strangers. This year, they have become friends.

HO'OPI'I: Once again, Wayne.

SINCLAIR: OK.

HO'OPI'I: Aleeho molama funo (ph).

SINCLAIR: Yes, OK. Translation?

HO'OPI'I: It means, "Take care and best wishes, my friend."

SINCLAIR: Yes, you, too.

CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of "9/11: AMERICA REMEMBERS." I'm Wolf Blitzer at the Pentagon.

Joining me now is the assistant fire chief of Arlington County here in Virginia, where the Pentagon is located, Assistant Fire Chief James Schwartz.

You were one of the first firefighters on the scene exactly one year ago? Within minutes, you were here, right?

ASST. CHIEF JAMES SCHWARTZ, ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA FIRE DEPARTMENT: Correct.

BLITZER: What did you see, or what did your firefighters do?

SCHWARTZ: Well, in the early stages, obviously, we had a terrific fire in the building, brought by the aircraft, and then 6,000 gallons of jet fuel that ignited the building as it plunged into it. We also had a tremendous number of casualties out on this lawn that's now covered by all of these grand stands and everything for the celebration today. Hundreds of people that were trying to help their colleagues out of the building.

In the early stages, the firefighters that first arrived, realized they had a large fire to fight and many rescues in the building to try, in effect. But they also had a responsibility to those casualties that were on the lawn. And so, they began medical care there. And as more resources arrived on the scene, we were able to deploy them to the inside of the building.

BLITZER: Now, how many firefighters did you deploy here?

SCHWARTZ: In all, there were several hundred in those first couple of hours. Arlington County is a -- it's the smallest county in the country. Our fire department at the time was 282 firefighters, all of whom participate in one way or another with the response.

But we have a very good automatic aid system. We use fire and EMS resources from a lot of jurisdictions around the area. And we do that every day. We didn't make that up on September 11.

So, everybody is very finely attuned to the systems throughout each of the jurisdictions where we share resources, and we counted a lot on those other jurisdictions on September 11.

BLITZER: People don't realize that the Pentagon is not in Washington, D.C. It is in Arlington County, so it's your responsibility to deal with fires here at this huge building, this huge office complex.

What was the major lesson that you learned from that experience that hopefully will help you down the road?

SCHWARTZ: Well, as we go around the country talking about this particular incident, one of the things that we talk about is the relationships that have to be pre-established, you know, before a large incident like this. Our cooperative relationships with the FBI, as well as other federal agencies, were established long before 9/11.

So, when those agencies showed up, they understood our systems and we understood theirs. There was already a high degree of trust between them and between us. They knew they could rely on us, and we could rely on them.

So, there was no fighting for turf. There were no -- nobody was trying to edge anybody out of certain responsibilities. That led to an extremely cooperative and collaborative relationship throughout the 10 days that incident command was the responsibility of the Arlington County Fire Department.

BLITZER: It took 10 days to get that -- to put out that fire?

SCHWARTZ: No, the fire was actually put out by late in the afternoon of September 12, but obviously, we had a large rescue effort from the collapse that occurred early in the event on the morning of September 11. That's when the rescue teams were working for an additional eight days to try and find live victims, and obviously, we had a big responsibility to try and recover those that perished in the crash.

BLITZER: The hundreds of firefighters who were under your command, how did they do? Were there any serious injuries, any casualties?

SCHWARTZ: Actually, here at this particular incident, we had a couple of dozen minor injuries, and that was the extent of it. We paid a lot of attention from the very early stages to safeguarding all of the responders here on the incident scene. And as I say, we ended up with a couple of dozen minor injuries. I don't think anybody lost time as a result of injuries incurred here.

BLITZER: James Schwartz, thanks for joining us.

SCHWARTZ: My pleasure, thank you.

BLITZER: ... important day. Back To You Paula and Aaron.

BROWN: All right. So -- there we are. Every now and then if you are on television...

ZAHN: Since 6:00 this morning.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Somewhere in nine hours you're going to get caught, and we just did. We're going to take a short break, so our local cable operators can take care of a little bit of business.

ZAHN: And when we come back, we're going to have some final acts of love and bravery.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We're back with more of "AMERICA REMEMBERS."

It is still unfathomable to think that so many families from 9/11 saw their loved ones simply vanish that morning, not getting back any remains, any personal effects. A handful of people did get something from a loved one, something very different: a last message.

Here's CNN'S Maria Hinojosa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINJOSA, CNN CORRESONDENT: So many of us, especially New Yorkers, have found the profound meaning and lasting memory of our good-byes.

ON September 11, these three families said their regular good- byes to their loved ones but then, they had something more. One last message of love and hope or panic and fear.

6:30 in the morning September 11, Moises Rivas was off to work as a cook at Windows of the World on the top floor of the World Trade Center.

ELISABETH RIVAS: He gave me kisses at the door and said, "OK, Mama, I have to go, see you later, pick me up at 4:00." And that was it.

HINOJOSA: Elizabeth Rivas, the mother of 6, went to the laundromat. The soap operas on TV were suddenly interrupted.

RIVAS: I saw everything. I was calling him from the washing machine. I was calling him from my cell, and nothing came up.

HINOJOSA: Sixteen minutes after the first plane hit, Moises was somehow able to get a phone line out of the very top floor. It was 9:02 when his stepdaughter Linda answered.

RIVAS: So, I called Linda and said, "Linda, did Moises call?" And, she said, "Yes, Mommy. He said not to worry, he's okay, mommy. Not to worry. He's okay." And, I said, "What you mean, not to worry? What else did he say?" "He said, Mommy, he said love you no matter what happen, he love you."

HINOJOSA: Moises never called again, but those words were to Elizabeth a final act of love and bravery.

RIVAS: She said to me that he didn't sound worried. A lot of people, maybe they were screaming and crying and getting suffocate with the smoke and everything, and he tried to call me. He called me.

HINJOSA: Bob Harrington was the proudest father. His stunning 31 year old daughter Melissa, an international trade consultant, had just married an equally handsome young man, Sean Hughes. Life was good for them in San Francisco.

But, On September 11, Melissa was at a meeting at the Trade Center. It Was 8:55 a.m., a mere nine minutes after the attack, when the phone rang at her father's home in Massachusetts.

BOB HARRINTON: She was a little hysterical, and I couldn't understand what she was saying, So I Said, "Honey, you've got to slow down a minute and tell me what the problem is so I Can Help You Out."

HINOJOSA: As his daughter spoke, Bob turned on the TV. His heart split open. But, ever the father, he remained cool, and calmly told her to find an exit sign.

HARRINGTON: And I said, "You get to the stairwell and get out of that building as fast as you can." I told her that I loved her. She said, "I love you, too, Dad," And she said, "But You Have To Do Me A Favor. You have to call Sean and tell him where I am, and tell him that I love him."

HINOJOSA: Twelve minutes later, at 9:07, miraculously, Melissa was able to make a second call to her husband, asleep in San Francisco.

MELLISA HARRINTON (recording): Sean, It's Me. I just wanted to let you know i love you, and I'm stuck in this building in new york. there's a lot of smoke, and I just want you to know that I love you always.

HARRINGTON: When she called me, she was panic-stricken, but she thought she could get out of the building. But, when she talked to Sean, I could see in her voice that she knew she was going to die.

HINOJOSA: A father left to live with that gut-wrenching image, and yet he was one of so few, able to say goodbye, able to be a good father who gave advice to his little girl until the very end.

HARRINGTON: In one instance, it's good that I talked to her because I can always remember us exchanging "I love you, I love you, Dad." It's just painful sometimes, because you just don"t forget a girl like that. HINOJOSA: Bill Kelly loved to sail, loved the ocean, loved his four sisters, and after living in New York for a year, came to love the city.

And he loved his Park Avenue job for the Bloomberg Corporation.

But, on September 11, he was at Windows on the World. His family and friends had no idea he was there. Neither did a friend of Bill's, who sent out this e-mail message, that Bill received on the 106th floor on his Blackberry Pager.

MIMI DONEGAN: "Check out the news, a plane just hit the World Trade Center." And, my brother had e-mailed back to him, "I'm Stuck on the 106th floor... stuck."

HINOJOSA: And, that's at 9:10?

DONEGAN: 9:10, yes.

HINOJOSA: And then, 13 minutes of silence, from Bill's end, until 9:23, when another message was sent to his Blackberry.

COLLEEN KELLY: Then his boss writes, "Bill are you OK?" And, that's the one Bill responds to. He writes: "So far, we're trapped on the 106th floor, but apparently fire department is almost here."

The fact that he felt the fire department is almost here. he was very hopeful, because it means at 9:23 he still had hope.

HINOJOSA: For these sisters, the final communications have meant different things. Colleen says she became fixated.

KELLY: I Was really obsessed with messages, really obsessed, and really wanted to know everything that BILL Might Have Communicated. I think, for me, it was helping me accept his death and accept that he wouldn't be able to communicate anymore with us.

HINJOSA: But, For Sister Mimi, her peace came not with the last messages, but with the messages of his 30 years of life.

DONEGAN: Over Time, Col and I have talked about not overvaluing those messages, either. That really, trying to balance the value of messages he gave us all throughout his life, and that's what's really important. We're never going to know exactly what happened.

And I think for myself I've resolved in that I know he probably died that exact same way he lived his life. He died with honor. He died with courage. He died a gentleman and he died with a lot of love and a lot of faith, because that's how he lived.

HINOJOSA: And, those are the real lasting, impenetrable messages all the lost ones left behind.

Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: And welcome back to all of you and all of our viewers from around the world as we're joined now by CNN International.

As we continue to remember the tragic events of a year ago and we continue to look forward to all that has changed and all that will change in the months and years ahead because of it.

President promised to remember each life lost a year ago. He's already honored victims and heroes in ceremonies that have taken place earlier today, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. And now he makes his way to ground zero in New York.

We expect to see the president at ground zero in about 29 minutes. We expect give or take tonight will motorcade over there from the Hudson River on the west side of New York.

ZAHN: This of course the most visible symbol of those we lost and the strength America found on September 11, 2001. Once Mr. Bush gets to site he will take part in a wreath laying ceremony there. We will carry it live.

He is traveling, as always, under very tight security, particularly given the heightened state of alert we are in today perhaps even more so today because we are under an unprecedented Code Orange state of high alert for terrorism and this heightened anxiety also seemed to affect the way things were handled in Ohio.

Police there in Columbus now say they have evacuated a state office tower after a man inside the building told a worker that he was there to install a bomb. The male suspect is in custody. We don't know who he is at this hour. At a briefing a short while ago authorities said dogs actually detected substances used to make explosives, in a van right at the building's loading dock. State patrol so far says no explosives have been found.

BROWN: I'm sorry -- a quick wrap of sort of where we've been and where -- we will do that again watch me do this again. That's a quick wrap on where we've been and where we're headed. Goodness, Aaron.

I'm not far from ground zero. The New York Stock Exchange just ended a trading day shorter than usual. The markets shut down a year ago on this day. Many lives in the investment community were lost, Cantor Fitzgerald people, lots of others who worked down in lower Manhattan, worked in the financial services industry. The industry's been deeply affected by the events of a year ago.

CNN's Christine Romans was covering events back then, spent lots of time with us in those days.

It's good to see you again.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Aaron.

You know this is a really difficult day. When the closing bell rang here on Wall Street on a four hour trading session. By all accounts it was the most difficult day here since September 17, last year when the markets reopened after four closed days.

Ringing the closing bell on Wall Street today, were the widows of some of the traders who used to spend every day down here with us, who used to trade stocks and who were a part of this family that is the New York Stock Exchange. So, for the traders here on the floor, it wasn't the numbers on the board today. It was the memories of these folks that as you see their wives up there and exchange officials, it was very moving by all accounts.

In terms of the stock prices, not a very big move at all. The Dow down about 21 points on the day. It was interesting though, Aaron, earlier on in the session we saw buying come in here, and, a little more buying than could you expect to see. That's because some of the brokers and some of the companies that work down here were donating their commissions to charity and when their customers heard that, they started doing more trading than they normally would.

So a little bit of patriotic rally in the early going, fizzled a bit but down 21, not bad on a day when barely anybody was think about business. One interesting quote from a trader over here has been here sometime. He said, we are defiant. We will fight on and tomorrow we'll be back for business, a hundred percent. Back to you.

BROWN: Christine thanks, could be anything but a normal day down there for all of the reasons, including the ones you mentioned.

In the months following the 11th, we got to know the Vice President Dick Cheney as the man who wasn't there, the man someplace else, just in case the worst happens, the one who would keep things together from his undisclosed location in the event of what we didn't know, but could only imagine in our worst fears.

But, on the 11th, on this day a year ago, it was the president who was elsewhere traveling in Florida. The vice president was at the White House.

We have a report from our senior White House correspondent, John King now but before we roll the tape, again, a piece a little piece of business here, a word of warning: this story contains some of the strong pictures and you know which ones we mean from 9/11 and so if those things get to you and they get to lots of you, be warned and be careful.

Here's John.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He was here in his west wing office, suspicious at word a plane had struck the World Trade Center, watching TV, hoping his instincts were wrong.

DICK CHANEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a clear day. There was no weather problem and then we saw the second airplane actually hit in real time, and that was, at that moment you knew this was deliberate act, that it was a terrorist act.

KING: A call to the traveling president, urgent conversations with top aides and then a burst through the door.

CHENEY: My agent all of a sudden materialized beside me and said, "Sir, we have to leave now." He grabbed me and propelled me out of my office, down the hall, into the underground shelter in the White House.

KING: In White House shorthand, it is the PEOC, the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.

MARY MATALIN, COUNSELOR TO THE VICE PRESIDENT: I didn't know that it existed until I was actually down there, and I'm not sure I could find my way back there to this day.

KING: A Cold War relic deep underground, and the vice president's base of operations on the first day of a new war.

LEWIS LIBBY, VICE PRESIDENT'S CHIEF OF STAFF: There's only one reason we would be headed for the PEOC on a day when planes were attacking America. And at one point they came in and said there's a plane five miles out. Now, a plane five miles out traveling at 350 to 500 miles per hour doesn't take long to arrive and so that was a wrong bit of information that added to the drama.

KING: That was the plane that slammed the Pentagon. Then, a report of a plane over Pennsylvania headed for Washington. Twice, a military aide asks the vice president for authority to shoot it down.

JOSH BOLTEN, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The vice president said, yes, again, and the aide then asked a third time. He said, "just confirming, sir, authority to engage." And the vice president, his voice got a little annoyed then, said, "I said yes."

KING: It was a rare flash of anger from a man who knew he was setting the tone at a White House in crisis.

CHENEY: I think there was an undertone of anger there, but it's more a matter of determination. You don't want to let your anger overwhelm your judgment at a moment like that.

KING: Word that flight 93 had crashed in Pennsylvania was scrambled to find out if a military jet had shot it down. Aides frantically called the Pentagon.

ERIC EDELMAN, VICE PRESIDENT'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The vice president was a little bit ahead of us, actually. I think he was a step ahead of us. He said, sort of softly, and to nobody in particular, "I think an act of heroism just took place on that plane."

KING: The vice president and aides watched in horror as the first tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

CHENEY?: A remarkable moment, a very emotional moment for everybody.

MATALIN: Oddly, everything just stopped. Not for long, but it did stop totally at that moment. KING: And, the vice president said nothing?

MATALIN: No, but he emoted in a way that he emotes, which was to stop.

KING: Back to business included comparing notes on the tail numbers of planes still unaccounted for.

NORMAN MINETA, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: It was about 12:15, 12:20 when I said to the vice president, "Mr. Vice President, all the planes are down." And he said, "Great, thank you very much."

KING: A recommendation that it was too risky for the vice president to stay at the White House, a possible target.

EDELMAN: They wanted him to depart the White House to one of the alternate locations, undisclosed locations that we subsequently got to know pretty well.

KING: He said, no.

CHENEY: I had communications with the president, communications with the Pentagon, Secret Service and so forth, and we could continue to operate there. And, if I left, I'd lose all of that.

Lynne Cheney was a constant presence, leaning in at one point to tell the vice president their daughters were fine.

CHENEY: It's something you think about, but, again, it's not so much a personal consideration at that point. It may have been for people who didn't have anything to do.

KING: It was the bunker's first test in an actual emergency, a day of crisis not without a few hitches. The vice president wanted to track TV reports of the devastation and listen in on communications with the Pentagon.

MATALIN: You can have sound on one or the other and he found that technically imperfect in the 20th century.

KING: A few words with the president just before his address to the nation. The CIA director watched from the bunker, waiting for the president to convene a late-night meeting of the National Security Council.

CHENEY: I guess the thing I was struck by was the extent to which he had begun to grapple with these problems and to make decisions, that we were in a war on terror.

KING: A final word with the president, then a late night helicopter ride past the Pentagon.

LIBBY: I recall watching the vice president, who was staring out the window at the Pentagon and wondering what he may be thinking about the responsibilities that he will have in the future. A pretty sobering moment. KING: Did he ever say anything about any of that?

LIBBY: Not exactly his style.

KING: It is a memory he says has shaped every day in the long year since.

CHENEY: As we lifted off and headed up the Potomac, you could look out and see the Pentagon, see that black hole where they'd been hit, a lot of lights on the building, smoke rising from the Pentagon. And, you know, it really helped really bring home the impact of what had happened that day, that we had in fact been attacked.

KING: John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our senior White House correspondent John King joins us from ground zero.

John, not really a question, an observation first. There is a wonderful sense of history obviously in the White House to take those still photographs, which will last for all time during these incredibly important national moments. To see them today I haven't seen many of them. Thank you.

Now do you want a question or do you just want to talk about the president? I can do that.

Do you think it's change the relationship between the president and the vice president, this experience of the last year?

KING: Reinforced the importance of this vice president. He ran the day-to-day, minute-to-minute operations when the president was out of Washington, right after attacks.

He is perhaps the most influential voice beyond the president when it comes to the debate whether it is the war in Afghanistan perhaps the coming confrontation with Iraq and a reminder on this day after that flight over the Pentagon the vice president was talking about and remember that used to be his office. He was the defense secretary, looking down at that building. That was his first night in what came to be known as the secure undisclosed location.

If the vice president is keeping track of any of these moving ceremonies today he is doing that once again, from a secure, undisclosed location, a reminder one year later the threat from al Qaeda remains quite significant.

BROWN: Now let's talk about his boss for a second, the president who I'm told has just landed at JFK which is the beginning of that complicated process of moving the president into or towards ground zero. What do you expect now the next steps?

KING: No words from the president but plenty of symbolism and a lot of time for the president to spend some time with the families here. He will come here. He will be greeted first, excuse me, by the current mayor, the Governor Pataki and also the former Mayor Rudy Giuliani here at ground zero.

You will see the president and the first lady and we should have some pictures of the scene behind me. They will walk down the ramp we saw so many of the family members walk down this morning, a wreath laying ceremony there and then a moment of silence. The Westpoint Choir is here. They will sing "America the Beautiful," as the president and the first lady stand down there.

Family members of some of the first responders, the policemen, the firefighters, the emergency rescue workers who were here, the families who lost members of their family will be down there with the president, at the ground zero site and then the president will walk back up that ramp and have a larger meeting with some family members as well. The president will have some private time with them. He will lay the wreath here and pay tribute.

No words from the president during his visit here. It is meant to be a tribute to the families and the lives lost and of course then we will hear from the president and his address to the nation tonight in the 9:00 hour.

BROWN: John thank you, our senior White House correspondent John King who has been down at ground zero and when the president arrives there in 15 minutes or so, give or take, John will join us again.

Judy Woodruff is in Washington reporting on events there for us, today.

Judy, it's always good to see you.

WOODRUFF: Thanks Aaron.

As you know, as well as anyone, there were so many questions that arose in the immediate aftermath of the terror attacks but probably the most nagging was what about U.S. intelligence agencies? Why weren't they able to at least come up with some advance inkling that these attacks were coming, nevermind figure out a way to prevent them. Our national security correspondent David Ensor has taken a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): September 11 galvanized U.S. intelligence. At the National Security Agency, the nation's eavesdroppers, General Michael Hayden, the director, sent tens of thousands home for fear NSA headquarters could be a target. On a high floor of the headquarters building, linguists listening in on possible terrorists, could not be spared. The windows were blacked out, sources say so the team, many of them Arab Americans, could defend their country nonstop day and night.

At the Central Intelligence Agency, where the counter terrorism center has grown so large it has whimsical street names among the desks, intelligence officers camped out in their offices. Besides patriotism, what also galvanized some American intelligence officials was a nagging sense of doubt. Was there anything they could have done to stop the attacks of 9/11?

PETER BERGEN, AUTHOR, "HOLY WAR": It is indisputable that 9/11 was the largest intelligence failure in American history. There's just no disputing it.

ENSOR: It was a failure, in part, of imagination and deduction over many years. Going back to 1993, the first attack on the World Trade Center, the attack that revealed the terrorists' big ambitions. Then, in 1995, Philippines authorities investigating the group around Ramsey Yousef, later sentenced for the Trade Center bombing, warned the FBI of mideastern pilots training at U.S. flight schools.

AMB. PAUL BREMER, TERRORISM EXPERT: But, they also talked about the possibility of crashing an airplane into the CIA headquarters. One has to say there must have been a bit of a failure of imagination somewhere in our intelligence community to sort of imagine that this could happened.

ENSOR: By the mid-'90s more and more evidence is pointing to Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda group, evidence of possible involvement in the attacks that drove U.S. troops out of Somalia in 1993.

In 1996, Sudan offers to turn bin Laden over to Saudi Arabia for trial, but the Saudis do not want him, and President Clinton does not push the matter. Sudan throws bin Laden out. He goes to Afghanistan.

When two U.S. embassies in Africa are bombed in 1998, evidence quickly points to bin Laden's al Qaeda group. In September 1999, an unclassified study done for the CIA predicts quote, suicide bombers belonging to al Qaeda's martyrdom battalion could crash-land an aircraft packed with high explosives into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the CIA or the White House.

December '99, Ahmed Ressam is arrested at the Canadian border with a car load of bomb materials, headed he said, for Los Angeles Airport. He is later linked to al Qaeda.

January, 2000, the U.S. intelligence gets wind of a terrorist summit planned in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which a one-legged al Qaeda suspect named Tafiq Al Attash (ph), or Khallad (ph), meets, among others, these two future hijackers, Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi. The CIA sends the FBI an e-mail about the two men, but fails to put them on the watch list to be kept out of the U.S. The FBI does nothing, and the two men fly to California.

ROBERT BAER, FMR. CIA OFFICER: As soon as they arrived in the United States, they should have been put under surveillance. Financials should have been done on them. Their telephone should have been tapped to see if there was another network in place and as it turns out they were very sloppy and they contacted other members of the cell. You could have put it all together at that point.

ENSOR: There is even worse. U.S. government sources confirm to CNN that Almidhar and Alhazmi rented a room in this San Diego house from a man who was at the time an informant of the FBI. October 2000, comes the attack on the USS Cole, quickly linked to al Qaeda.

In February 2001, more than seven months before the 9/11 attacks, the nation gets a warning from George Tenet, the director of central Intelligence. Bin Laden, he says, has declared all U.S. citizens legitimate targets of attack.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Osama bin Laden and his global network of lieutenants and associates remain the most immediate and serious threat.

ENSOR: It was a clear strategic warning, but few Americans even noticed. No senators asked any questions about terrorism on that day.

BOB KERREY, FMR. U.S. SENATOR: From the president on down, we would say that terrorism wasn't as big a threat as in fact the CIA was telling us it was.

ENSOR: Trouble was, the CIA did not have the kind of details only a human source inside al Qaeda could give.

BOB BLITZER, FMR. FBI OFFICIAL: Human sources are so important because they can give you tactical warning, not strategic warning, tactical: when, where, what time, who's involved.

ENSOR: In July, Kenneth Williams, an FBI agent in Phoenix sends headquarters a five-page memo, saying many middle eastern men are taking flight training in Arizona, suggesting a nationwide investigation into whether it has something to do with terrorism.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: He made a recommendation that we initiate a program to look at flight schools. That was received at headquarters. It was not acted on by September 11.

ENSOR: On August 6, President Bush receives a CIA briefing which mentions the possibility that terrorists could hijack aircraft, no specifics. When revealed after the fact, the briefing puts the administration on the defensive.

RICE: There was no time. There was no place. There was no method of attack.

ENSOR: Then, on August 17, Zacarias Moussaoui is arrested by the FBI in Minnesota. The charge: an immigration violation. The reason: fear his flight training might have evil intent. FBI Minnesota tries to get permission to search Moussaoui's laptop computer. It fails, turning agent Colleen Rowley into a whistleblower.

COLLEEN ROWLEY, FBI AGENT: We have a culture in the FBI that there's a certain pecking order and it's pretty strong, and it's very rare that someone picks up the phone and calls a rank or two above themself.

ENSOR: On September 10, the National Security Agency records two cryptic communications from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia. "Tomorrow is zero hour," says one. "The match begins tomorrow," says the other. The intercepts are not translated until two days later, September 12. But by then, four hijacked planes had struck the two World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

BUSH: Two weeks ago, there was an act of war declared on America. No one could have possibly dreamed that it would come in the way it did.

ENSOR (on-camera): Why did no one dream it could come the way it did? One reason, a lack of CIA agents inside al Qaeda. Another, an NSA drowning in intercepts but short on translators. Then, there were the communications failures both within the FBI and throughout U.S. intelligence and another weakness some argue, not enough intelligence help from Saudi Arabia, where most of the hijackers came from, and not enough from Germany, where they first gathered.

ENSOR (voice-over): What needs to be done? For starters, CIA veterans say the U.S. must start spying inside allied countries, whatever the cost.

BAER: The Germans said, we can't watch them, they're political refugees. And they didn't watch them for the most part. We could have done that, independently, but I emphasize it over and over, we will get caught, and who pays the price shouldn't be the CIA. It should be the U.S. government.

ENSOR: Finally, from intelligence professionals, a warning. Connecting the dots before an attack is extremely difficult, no matter how much intelligence U.S. spies and technologies can collect.

JOHN GANNON, FMR. CIA OFFICIAL: All I can tell you is that, when you are dealing with a fire hose of information, you're constantly trying to connect, but you are also being forced to move forward. And the potential to miss is there.

ENSOR: So, there were things that U.S. intelligence could have done that might have prevented 9/11, and there are things that may yet need to be done to prevent future attacks, but intelligence officials warn Americans not to assume they can stop them all. David Ensor, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: David Ensor joins me now.

David, the American people, are not happy with the performance of the intelligence community. Congress is not happy with the performance of the intelligence community. Where does the congressional investigation stand right now?

ENSOR: Well, frankly it's dragged on a bit and hasn't reached any concrete conclusions at this point. They are planning to have open hearings later this month ranging from relatives of the victims to the director of Central Intelligence and the FBI director. It's not clear whether they will really come up with answers.

An increasing number of members in Congress now think there needs to be a blue ribbon commission to look further into this later. The intelligence community defends its efforts, though and says it you know it stopped a lot of attacks. It can't stop them all.

WOODRUFF: You were just telling me and pointing out that they have made a lot of changes in the intelligence community since all this happened. Are there going to be more changes and have these changes made any difference? Are we better equipped to prevent something in the future than we were a year ago?

ENSOR: No question we are better equipped. A lot more. Money has gone in. A lot more time and attention. The NSA has more translators. The CIA has more people on the ground. Look at how many they had on the ground in Afghanistan. At the same time, there clearly are more changes needed and a lot of debate about what they should be.

We would be safer in this country if we all carried national ID cards but what about civil liberties? We might be safer if we had a separate domestic intelligence gathering agency like the British have MI-5. But what about civil liberties?

There are also different proposals for reorganizing the intelligence community, maybe making the director of central intelligence, giving him more power. Right now he has almost no control no monetary control, over most of the intelligence community. Most people think that -- would be surprised to hear that. It's actually -- most of those agencies are actually run monetarily, which is what counts, by the Pentagon.

WOODRUFF: All right, David Ensor covering the intelligence community for us, our national security correspondent, thanks.

ENSOR: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: And now back to you, Paula in New York.

ZAHN: Thanks, Judy, appreciate it. We are going to try to get you some new information on this rather bizarre story out of Texas this afternoon. A plane that had taken off from Houston on its way to DFW, in Dallas was actually rerouted by an air marshal on board that plane. Let's go to Patty Davis who joins us from Reagan National Airport with the late details. What happened there?

DAVIS: Well, Paula a federal air marshal thought he saw passenger with a pocket knife. Those are not allowed on any flight. This was on board American airlines flight 1702. Earlier today that flight as you said was headed from Houston to DFW and then onto Nashville. The air marshal turned that plane, had that plane turned right around. It landed back in Houston.

Now the FBI tells CNN's Kelli Arena that that supposed pocket knife was instead a comb. The air marshal had simply made a mistake. Now it's an indication of just how nervous the U.S. aviation system is one year after September 11, after those terror attacks. Federal air marshals are out in force and they taking absolutely no chances!

Now the threat of a terror threat level was increased yesterday from Yellow to Orange. The Federal air marshals are all on the job. The Department of Transportation put them out in response to that. Obviously, much more increased vigilance but, some mistakes can be made along the way. The object that that Federal air marshal was concerned about, a comb --Paula.

ZAHN: Do we have any more information on how it was spotted? Did someone pull it out to use it or was it in a piece of luggage he saw open up? Do we know any of that yet.

ARENA: We don't have specific details but there's a lot of conflicting stories. Perhaps passengers saw it first, perhaps the Federal air marshal saw it. We just don't know at this point. And we don't know what kind of a comb it was that could have looked like a knife. We just don't have details on that yet. Paula.

ZAHN: All right, well it looks, this story strikingly different than it did about an hour ago when we first heard, started hearing some details of it. Nevertheless pretty scary deal for the 54 passengers on Board.

Thanks Patty. We'll come back to you a little bit later on his afternoon.

President and Mrs. Bush joined families at the crash site of United flight 93 a little bit earlier this afternoon in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and right now we're going to check in with Carol Lin who watched the president and first lady as they moved their way about the crowd and she joins us with a guest. Hi again Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh Paula that was a -- hi again Paula.

That was a very touching scene and one of the guests down at that memorial site with the president and first lady was Sandy Dahl and she was also one of the keynote speakers at today's memorial service. Sandy is the wife of Captain Jason Doll who was piloting flight 93 when it was taken over by hijackers. It is so good to see you Sandy.

SANDY DAHL, WIDOW OF FLIGHT 93 PILOT: Thank you.

LIN: Thank you very much for sharing your story. I know this has been a tremendous day for you and I'm just wondering for the ceremony this morning where you were speaking, what was it like for you to be down there?

DAHL: It was actually an honor to be able to represent everyone and I hope I did a fair representation of everyone. I wanted everyone to know there were seven crew members and 33 passenger heroes that day.

LIN: And you certainly got that message across in your talk. I'm told, you were here about a month ago visiting and you had some sort of an epiphany that gave you the idea that you wanted to speak at today's memorial service. What happened here when you were visiting?

DAHL: I did. I walked around in the field by myself and got on an airplane to go home and the speech just came to me so fast I couldn't write as fast as I was thinking and they'd already asked me to do a speech and I hadn't written it yet, but I did get my inspiration that day and I feel like I had help from Jason.

LIN: It is interesting what you were saying. You said we've learned nothing, if we've learned nothing else from this tragedy we have learned that our lives are short and there is simply no time for hate. Sandy if it was my loved one on that plane I think I would be filled with nothing but hate and rage for the people who did this. So what was the message that you were trying to get across to people?

DAHL: I think that our life is short and if we spend our time hating and raging we won't be able to go on and do good. Our relatives set an example for us and I believe we won't be able to go on, move forward and do good.

LIN: How do you go on and move forward? I mean how do you find the strength every day, especially leading up to this anniversary to make it through?

DAHL: Well, I can't change anything, not anything that happened in the past. All I can do is make changes for the future and I think for the most part how I got on as I try to honor Jason as much as I can and keep busy and that keeps my mind off things, places I don't want it to go.

LIN: How much do you really want to know about what happened on flight 93? How much do you really want to know about perhaps what your role of your husband was...

DAHL: Well, I learned a lot during the FBI tapes that I can't really discuss. I would like to see the cockpit voice recorder married to the black box, the movement of the aircraft. I'd like to see that eventually and I don't know if they're saving that for the Moussaoui trial or if that will come about later.

LIN: All right. Well, thank you very much Sandy Dahl for joining us today, really very touching remarks and it's good to see you.

DAHL: Thank you.

LIN: Good luck in the future.

DAHL: Thank you.

LIN: And with the foundation that you're starting, the fellowship.

DAHL: Thank you.

LIN: Paula, back to you.

It has been a really tough day for many of the relatives. Sandy's been out here before but for some of the relatives, Aaron, I'm sorry, for some of the relatives, it was their first visit here to the site and it was a pretty tough day -- Aaron. BROWN: Carol, thank you. Nice work out there today by the way. Carol Lin in Shanksville.

LIN: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, you're welcome.

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