1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:13,430 --> 00:00:16,265 Hi, Boston Center, TMU. We have a problem here. 4 00:00:16,350 --> 00:00:18,894 We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York. 5 00:00:19,895 --> 00:00:24,441 On September 11, 2001, America came under attack. 6 00:00:25,067 --> 00:00:27,986 -Is this real-world or exercise? -No, this is not an exercise. 7 00:00:28,070 --> 00:00:31,365 Killing thousands of Americans, more than we lost at Pearl Harbor. 8 00:00:31,448 --> 00:00:33,408 This was an act of war. 9 00:00:33,492 --> 00:00:36,620 I felt very much that we had indeed seen the face of evil. 10 00:00:37,329 --> 00:00:41,917 This was a well-organized attack to severely damage our country. 11 00:00:42,626 --> 00:00:44,127 This just in to our newsroom: 12 00:00:44,211 --> 00:00:46,797 a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. 13 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,384 It was a defining 24 hours that shaped a presidency, 14 00:00:50,467 --> 00:00:51,510 the country 15 00:00:51,593 --> 00:00:52,761 and the world. 16 00:00:52,845 --> 00:00:54,847 We'd never had a crisis quite like this. 17 00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:56,306 Of course we all were hurting. 18 00:00:57,307 --> 00:00:59,142 We all were terrified. 19 00:01:04,815 --> 00:01:06,275 Twenty years on, 20 00:01:06,358 --> 00:01:09,653 those at the heart of government relive an historic day. 21 00:01:09,736 --> 00:01:11,947 That 747 is not looking right. 22 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:14,408 Every plane had become a missile. 23 00:01:14,491 --> 00:01:17,035 They're flying to the Capitol! Everybody go away… 24 00:01:17,119 --> 00:01:21,290 They were coming after Washington. One of the targets might well be the White House. 25 00:01:21,832 --> 00:01:24,626 With every minute of this extraordinary day captured… 26 00:01:24,710 --> 00:01:27,546 The inner sanctum of the inner sanctum, 27 00:01:27,629 --> 00:01:31,717 and the pilot is worried that someone could try to conduct an inside job 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,051 and take down Air Force One. 29 00:01:33,135 --> 00:01:35,387 …and exclusive new interviews… 30 00:01:35,470 --> 00:01:37,264 We're watching on TV. 31 00:01:37,347 --> 00:01:38,974 There was nothing that could be done 32 00:01:39,057 --> 00:01:41,935 from the center of power of the greatest power on Earth. 33 00:01:42,019 --> 00:01:45,147 We needed to move the president. He could be a sitting duck. 34 00:01:46,064 --> 00:01:50,485 This is the story of 9/11 as it's never been told before. 35 00:01:50,569 --> 00:01:53,947 Did we miss something? Could we have connected the dots better? 36 00:01:54,031 --> 00:01:56,700 3,000 people died on your watch. 37 00:01:56,783 --> 00:01:59,244 By definition, you didn't do enough. 38 00:01:59,328 --> 00:02:00,829 America's under attack. 39 00:02:01,538 --> 00:02:03,332 And I'm watching a child read. 40 00:02:03,957 --> 00:02:08,377 The one emotion that became harder and harder for him to keep in check was anger. 41 00:02:08,877 --> 00:02:12,049 You know, the first plane was an accident. The second one was an attack. 42 00:02:12,132 --> 00:02:14,218 And the third one was a declaration of war. 43 00:02:54,258 --> 00:02:55,509 Hey. Just warming up. 44 00:02:55,592 --> 00:02:57,219 Come on, Stretch. Come on. 45 00:02:58,679 --> 00:02:59,721 Come on, Stretch. Let's go! 46 00:02:59,805 --> 00:03:01,348 "Come on, Stretch. Let's go." 47 00:03:03,559 --> 00:03:05,394 That was his nickname for me. 48 00:03:05,477 --> 00:03:08,814 And so I put down my cup of coffee and, I guess, my notepad 49 00:03:08,897 --> 00:03:12,067 and took off and caught up with him, and off we went. 50 00:03:13,402 --> 00:03:15,863 He runs a 5K in 22-and-a-half minutes? 51 00:03:17,739 --> 00:03:20,617 It was really a surreal experience. 52 00:03:22,536 --> 00:03:25,289 There was a Secret Service agent running right behind us, 53 00:03:25,372 --> 00:03:29,835 and another on a bicycle, with a submachine gun, in front of us. 54 00:03:32,212 --> 00:03:34,047 Stretch Keil, Bush found out, 55 00:03:34,131 --> 00:03:37,467 had been an NCAA all-American cross-country runner. 56 00:03:37,551 --> 00:03:41,680 And then he was, "I can't believe I invited him to go running for me." 57 00:03:41,763 --> 00:03:43,348 And the Bushes are very competitive. 58 00:03:43,432 --> 00:03:45,559 They don't let their grandkids beat them at checkers. 59 00:03:45,642 --> 00:03:47,144 So here he is, inviting somebody 60 00:03:47,227 --> 00:03:49,646 who he thinks is gonna beat him running on the golf course, 61 00:03:49,730 --> 00:03:51,565 and that's what he was preoccupied with. 62 00:03:52,941 --> 00:03:54,693 How far did you go, altogether? 63 00:03:54,776 --> 00:03:56,486 -About four and a half. -Four and a half miles? 64 00:03:56,570 --> 00:04:00,073 Well, he spurred me on to new heights. 65 00:04:00,574 --> 00:04:02,326 I knew he'd come back and brief you all, so… 66 00:04:03,493 --> 00:04:05,662 Yeah. He held his pace from the moment we left. 67 00:04:05,746 --> 00:04:07,247 -Thank you, Stretch. -Can we talk about tax cuts? 68 00:04:07,331 --> 00:04:08,332 Not right now. 69 00:04:10,125 --> 00:04:11,835 I remember saying to him, 70 00:04:11,919 --> 00:04:15,005 "When you get back from the run, we'll do the CIA briefing, 71 00:04:15,088 --> 00:04:16,923 and then we're going over to the Emma E. Booker School, 72 00:04:17,007 --> 00:04:18,550 and it should be an easy day." 73 00:04:18,634 --> 00:04:21,261 …degrees at 8:00. It's Tuesday, September 11th. 74 00:04:21,345 --> 00:04:24,223 Primary day. And the polls are open in New York City. 75 00:04:24,306 --> 00:04:27,226 As Hurricane Erin remains well offshore, we'll have sunshine today. 76 00:04:27,309 --> 00:04:30,479 Giants lose their opener in Monday Night Football in Denver. Yankees… 77 00:04:30,562 --> 00:04:34,107 What I remember most about the morning of September 11th, 78 00:04:34,191 --> 00:04:37,361 it was absolutely spectacular weather. 79 00:04:38,278 --> 00:04:42,491 Warm, not humid, skies were clear. 80 00:04:42,574 --> 00:04:45,744 That kind of good weather gives everybody a little burst of energy. 81 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:51,041 You know, one of those late summer days. 82 00:04:52,334 --> 00:04:54,837 The humidity of August is gone. 83 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,047 It doesn't yet feel like fall. 84 00:04:58,757 --> 00:05:03,220 I never sit around in weather like that where I don't think back to that day. 85 00:05:16,942 --> 00:05:20,612 Good morning. American 11 with you. Passing through 1-niner-0 for 2-3-0. 86 00:05:20,696 --> 00:05:22,781 American 11, turn 20 degrees right. 87 00:05:23,782 --> 00:05:28,871 On 9/11, I was in my office at the White House initially, 88 00:05:29,454 --> 00:05:31,373 taking a briefing from the CIA. 89 00:05:31,999 --> 00:05:36,712 There had been a report that al-Qaeda was getting ready to do something. 90 00:05:38,422 --> 00:05:42,593 I don't think the intelligence was of sufficient specificity at that point 91 00:05:42,676 --> 00:05:44,887 that you could say, "Well, this is what they're gonna do." 92 00:05:45,512 --> 00:05:48,765 American 11, climb. Maintain flight level 3-5-0. 93 00:05:51,059 --> 00:05:52,895 American 11. Boston. 94 00:05:55,314 --> 00:05:57,900 This is Boston. I turned American 20 left, and I was going to climb him. 95 00:05:57,983 --> 00:05:59,651 He will not respond to me now. 96 00:06:00,903 --> 00:06:05,991 That summer, I think people described it as a summer of chatter. Of 2001. 97 00:06:07,159 --> 00:06:10,787 We had a supervisors' meeting scheduled for 10:00 that morning, 98 00:06:10,871 --> 00:06:15,709 and one of the things on my agenda for agent safety purposes was to say, 99 00:06:15,792 --> 00:06:17,336 "If you're flying with your family, 100 00:06:17,419 --> 00:06:19,546 one of the intel things that's coming up are hijackings. 101 00:06:19,630 --> 00:06:23,133 So just be aware of what's out there," you know. 102 00:06:23,217 --> 00:06:24,218 But… 103 00:06:26,011 --> 00:06:27,971 Is that American 11 trying to call? 104 00:06:28,055 --> 00:06:29,306 We have some planes. 105 00:06:29,389 --> 00:06:33,477 Just stay quiet and we'll be okay. We are returning to the airport. 106 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,479 American 11, are you trying to call? 107 00:06:38,315 --> 00:06:42,110 While American Airlines Flight 11 has just been hijacked, 108 00:06:42,194 --> 00:06:45,697 in Florida, the president heads to an elementary school 109 00:06:45,781 --> 00:06:48,825 after receiving his daily intelligence briefing. 110 00:06:48,909 --> 00:06:50,911 There was nothing out of the ordinary in the briefing. 111 00:06:52,621 --> 00:06:55,123 There were certainly no threat assessments. 112 00:06:55,207 --> 00:06:58,418 There was absolutely nothing in the briefing about terrorism. 113 00:06:59,419 --> 00:07:04,091 But al-Qaeda, by far, was the number one issue that was covered in those sessions. 114 00:07:05,092 --> 00:07:09,388 There was no clarity about where or when or how. 115 00:07:09,471 --> 00:07:15,477 It was just a lot of chatter about something big about to happen. 116 00:07:20,691 --> 00:07:22,860 AP Network News. I'm Rita Foley. 117 00:07:22,943 --> 00:07:26,738 A plane apparently has crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. 118 00:07:26,822 --> 00:07:29,157 We go live now to New York and our Robyn Walensky. 119 00:07:29,241 --> 00:07:30,742 Robyn, what can you tell us? 120 00:07:30,826 --> 00:07:32,953 Smoke is billowing out of the building 121 00:07:33,036 --> 00:07:35,289 from the upper floors of Tower 1. 122 00:07:35,372 --> 00:07:38,250 You can see the smoke for miles and miles. 123 00:07:38,333 --> 00:07:41,920 The plane actually seems to be in the building. 124 00:07:42,004 --> 00:07:45,382 We turned on the televisions in the solicitor general's office. 125 00:07:45,465 --> 00:07:50,637 The commentary was confused. People did not know what had happened. 126 00:07:50,721 --> 00:07:52,931 When they did speculate that it was an airplane, 127 00:07:53,015 --> 00:07:55,475 they speculated that it maybe was an accident. 128 00:07:55,559 --> 00:07:58,645 I'm sorry. You gotta go. Go! You gotta clear. Let's go. 129 00:07:58,729 --> 00:08:01,190 Let's go. Gentlemen, let's go. Go, go, go. 130 00:08:02,691 --> 00:08:05,861 My wife, Barbara, had boarded a plane that morning. 131 00:08:06,945 --> 00:08:09,364 She'd put off her trip from September 10th 132 00:08:09,448 --> 00:08:13,702 because my birthday was September 11th, and she wanted to wait one more day. 133 00:08:14,870 --> 00:08:17,748 I began to have this sense of dread. 134 00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:22,044 What about her airplane? Where is that plane? 135 00:08:27,799 --> 00:08:31,345 As the presidential motorcade approaches the school in Florida, 136 00:08:32,135 --> 00:08:35,307 the shocking news from New York is starting to filter through. 137 00:08:36,892 --> 00:08:40,604 I don't recall it being a very long ride to the school. 138 00:08:40,687 --> 00:08:43,524 But on the way, I called a very close friend in New York 139 00:08:43,607 --> 00:08:46,777 to tell him that I had just gone running with the president. 140 00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:51,073 And his voice sounded strange the minute he picked up the phone. 141 00:08:51,156 --> 00:08:53,408 And he said a plane just hit the World Trade Center. 142 00:08:54,743 --> 00:08:59,498 He said, "And my brother-in-law just moved to a new office in that building. 143 00:08:59,581 --> 00:09:01,166 We're all trying to reach him." 144 00:09:04,670 --> 00:09:05,671 In the press van, 145 00:09:05,754 --> 00:09:09,675 the Secret Service agent we were with had left his two-way radio open. 146 00:09:09,758 --> 00:09:12,094 And over it, we heard someone say 147 00:09:12,177 --> 00:09:15,973 that Condoleezza Rice was waiting on a secure line to talk to the president 148 00:09:16,056 --> 00:09:17,432 when he got to the school. 149 00:09:17,933 --> 00:09:21,520 Suddenly, there was this palpable element of tension in the air. 150 00:09:28,110 --> 00:09:31,238 The president finished shaking hands and went into the holding room. 151 00:09:31,321 --> 00:09:33,949 There are secure phones set up in that holding room. 152 00:09:34,032 --> 00:09:38,328 It's protected by the Secret Service. It's set up everywhere the president goes. 153 00:09:38,412 --> 00:09:41,748 And Condi Rice, the national security adviser, was on the phone. 154 00:09:42,958 --> 00:09:45,919 My assistant came in and said, "A plane has hit the World Trade Center." 155 00:09:46,003 --> 00:09:49,756 I said, "Well, that's a strange accident." And I called the president. 156 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:51,466 Yeah, I thought it was pilot error. 157 00:09:51,550 --> 00:09:56,638 I couldn't imagine anything other than a lousy pilot getting lost. 158 00:09:56,722 --> 00:09:58,515 In other words, just an accident. 159 00:09:59,558 --> 00:10:03,061 He'd been told a small twin-engine prop plane crashed into one of the towers 160 00:10:03,145 --> 00:10:04,313 of the World Trade Center. 161 00:10:04,897 --> 00:10:09,568 I was concerned, but I did not think of it as a national security threat. 162 00:10:09,651 --> 00:10:13,822 And I didn't think that it should disrupt the president's day. 163 00:10:14,698 --> 00:10:17,784 First thing that comes into a Secret Service agent's mind, 164 00:10:17,868 --> 00:10:19,661 "Is the president in any danger here?" 165 00:10:19,745 --> 00:10:23,790 "Is there direction of interest toward the president any way whatsoever?" 166 00:10:23,874 --> 00:10:27,794 The decision was made that the president's not in any danger at this moment. 167 00:10:27,878 --> 00:10:30,756 So we decided to allow him to go on with the event. 168 00:10:31,465 --> 00:10:33,175 Good morning. Hi. 169 00:10:33,258 --> 00:10:34,510 -Hi. -How are you? 170 00:10:34,593 --> 00:10:35,969 I remember when he came in. 171 00:10:36,053 --> 00:10:38,680 Even as a seven-year-old, you know who the president is, right? 172 00:10:38,764 --> 00:10:44,102 And I remember even feeling, that young, kind of, like, starstruck and giddy, 173 00:10:44,186 --> 00:10:45,729 like I'm going to Disney World or something. 174 00:10:45,812 --> 00:10:48,232 And I put my hand over my heart. 175 00:10:48,315 --> 00:10:51,777 Like, when you think about patriotic things when you're that little, you know-- 176 00:10:51,860 --> 00:10:55,280 You do the Pledge of Allegiance every day. And I literally put my hand over my heart. 177 00:10:55,364 --> 00:10:57,074 -Get ready. -"Cane." 178 00:10:57,157 --> 00:10:58,992 -Yes, "cane." Get ready. -"Can." 179 00:10:59,076 --> 00:11:00,202 Yes, "can." Get ready. 180 00:11:00,285 --> 00:11:02,663 I am right here at the foot of the World Trade Center. 181 00:11:02,746 --> 00:11:04,915 This, apparently, was a commuter plane. 182 00:11:04,998 --> 00:11:06,708 It looks, from what we're seeing, 183 00:11:06,792 --> 00:11:10,087 that it might have actually gone through one side and out the other. 184 00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:11,505 It could well have been. 185 00:11:11,588 --> 00:11:16,844 It hit with such force that the whole neighborhood really shook. 186 00:11:16,927 --> 00:11:19,012 Joining us now on the line is an eyewitness 187 00:11:19,096 --> 00:11:20,806 who is in the Empire State Building. 188 00:11:20,889 --> 00:11:22,391 Bob Bradley, what do you see? 189 00:11:22,474 --> 00:11:24,017 I saw this plane. 190 00:11:24,101 --> 00:11:27,896 It didn't look like he was out of control, like there was any trouble with the plane. 191 00:11:27,980 --> 00:11:30,524 It didn't swerve. It just landed directly in the building. 192 00:11:30,607 --> 00:11:32,442 Like he wanted to fly into the building. 193 00:11:33,652 --> 00:11:35,946 It's my responsibility to verify 194 00:11:36,029 --> 00:11:40,033 that we have all the proper communications established for the president. 195 00:11:40,659 --> 00:11:44,037 I asked my team if they could find a television. 196 00:11:45,914 --> 00:11:50,419 I was calling the White House Situation Room to talk to my senior duty officer. 197 00:11:50,502 --> 00:11:54,423 So I was chatting with him on the handset 198 00:11:54,506 --> 00:11:58,510 and watched, as the rest of the country was watching, 199 00:11:58,594 --> 00:12:02,973 at 9:03, when the second aircraft 200 00:12:03,056 --> 00:12:05,809 impacted into the second World Trade Center tower. 201 00:12:18,030 --> 00:12:21,742 Oh, my God! Oh, my God! 202 00:12:23,911 --> 00:12:27,206 -Oh, my God. -Oh, no. 203 00:12:27,289 --> 00:12:29,124 Oh, my God! 204 00:12:29,208 --> 00:12:34,588 When the second plane hit, there was an audible gasp of air in the room. 205 00:12:36,548 --> 00:12:38,467 It was two realizations, right? 206 00:12:38,550 --> 00:12:40,761 One, the immediate death toll. 207 00:12:42,513 --> 00:12:46,725 And then the fact that this was an attack on America. 208 00:12:56,235 --> 00:12:59,112 The other thing going through my mind at that moment was… 209 00:13:00,948 --> 00:13:04,868 "What are the chances of a plane coming and crashing into the school 210 00:13:04,952 --> 00:13:06,161 where we were at?" 211 00:13:11,542 --> 00:13:13,168 -Get ready. -"Smile." 212 00:13:13,252 --> 00:13:14,586 Yes, "smile." 213 00:13:14,670 --> 00:13:16,964 Sound it out. Get ready. 214 00:13:17,047 --> 00:13:18,674 "Smile." 215 00:13:18,757 --> 00:13:20,259 -What word? -"Smile." 216 00:13:20,342 --> 00:13:22,845 Yes, "smile." Read these words… 217 00:13:22,928 --> 00:13:26,640 Now it hits me, as I'm standing there next to the president, 218 00:13:28,225 --> 00:13:32,229 that he's the only one that doesn't know the second plane has hit the building. 219 00:13:34,606 --> 00:13:37,943 And it seemed like an eternity. It probably only lasted two minutes. 220 00:13:38,026 --> 00:13:41,905 And that was when the chief of staff made the decision to walk in 221 00:13:41,989 --> 00:13:44,074 and just go ahead and whisper it in his ear. 222 00:13:44,783 --> 00:13:47,119 Andy Card comes up behind me and says, 223 00:13:47,202 --> 00:13:50,372 "Second plane has hit the second tower. America's under attack." 224 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:53,375 And I'm watching a child read. 225 00:13:55,169 --> 00:14:00,257 I was studying him intently, and his mouth was kind of drawn and tight. 226 00:14:02,968 --> 00:14:06,805 For just a brief moment, there was sort of a startled look in his eyes. 227 00:14:06,889 --> 00:14:08,473 You're literally seeing 228 00:14:09,183 --> 00:14:13,395 the mindset of the president of the United States play out on TV. 229 00:14:14,188 --> 00:14:16,815 Everything he thought he was about as a president 230 00:14:16,899 --> 00:14:18,567 is changing right in front of you. 231 00:14:19,318 --> 00:14:21,069 This is all happening in real time. 232 00:14:21,153 --> 00:14:24,198 -"But." Get ready. -"But the…" 233 00:14:24,281 --> 00:14:27,784 If you're leading an organization during a crisis, 234 00:14:27,868 --> 00:14:32,956 it's really important to set a tone and not to panic. 235 00:14:34,249 --> 00:14:36,418 I didn't wanna lurch out of the chair 236 00:14:36,502 --> 00:14:38,462 and scare the classroom full of children. 237 00:14:38,545 --> 00:14:39,755 And so I waited. 238 00:14:42,216 --> 00:14:45,385 We felt that we needed to move the president 239 00:14:45,469 --> 00:14:47,721 and just get him out of there. 240 00:14:47,804 --> 00:14:49,431 He could be a sitting duck. 241 00:14:50,974 --> 00:14:54,937 If somebody was able to plan flying into the Twin Towers, 242 00:14:55,020 --> 00:14:58,273 they were certainly able to figure out where the president was. 243 00:15:03,779 --> 00:15:08,075 We have got to consider that this situation could escalate, 244 00:15:08,867 --> 00:15:12,955 so I'm pulling my guys to the left of the stage, 245 00:15:13,038 --> 00:15:16,208 and we are planning to evacuate the building. 246 00:15:16,291 --> 00:15:20,337 "But one day a car robber came…" 247 00:15:20,420 --> 00:15:23,632 This is gonna become a battle with the president, I knew, 248 00:15:23,715 --> 00:15:26,009 because, of course, he's not gonna wanna leave. 249 00:15:27,302 --> 00:15:32,015 The lesson of a crisis, besides projecting calm, is to say something. 250 00:15:32,975 --> 00:15:37,229 People all across the country just in disbelief and shock and horror. 251 00:15:38,063 --> 00:15:41,942 There's always a void, and into that void comes, 252 00:15:42,025 --> 00:15:46,238 in this case, what turned out to be a psychological tsunami. 253 00:15:48,031 --> 00:15:52,536 Place them under your chairs, and thank you so much for coming today. 254 00:15:53,203 --> 00:15:57,708 So I got up and calmly left and went back into the holding room. 255 00:15:58,876 --> 00:16:00,169 I'll talk about it later. 256 00:16:00,252 --> 00:16:03,714 The first thing I said was, "Get the FBI director on the phone, 257 00:16:03,797 --> 00:16:05,382 get a line open to the vice president, 258 00:16:05,465 --> 00:16:07,885 get a line open to the White House Situation Room." 259 00:16:07,968 --> 00:16:11,471 And to Dan Bartlett, I said, "Get some remarks written for the president." 260 00:16:12,764 --> 00:16:16,351 This was a mad scramble to pull together as much information we could 261 00:16:16,435 --> 00:16:20,314 in order for the president to say enough 262 00:16:20,397 --> 00:16:24,902 to demonstrate that he's got his arms around what's unfolding. 263 00:16:26,486 --> 00:16:27,905 And none of us had this playbook. 264 00:16:27,988 --> 00:16:31,533 It's not like there's a thing, they say, "Okay, this is happening now. 265 00:16:31,617 --> 00:16:35,162 Crack this open and it's gonna give you the playbook of how to deal with this." 266 00:16:35,871 --> 00:16:36,997 Wasn't there. 267 00:16:40,459 --> 00:16:44,171 I asked the president, "With whom would you like to speak to first?" 268 00:16:44,755 --> 00:16:47,549 And I said, "Sir, I have the vice president." 269 00:16:48,926 --> 00:16:51,386 That first conversation mainly dealt with, 270 00:16:51,470 --> 00:16:54,389 "Are we going to describe it as a terrorist attack?" 271 00:16:56,183 --> 00:16:58,810 He and I both agreed an apparent terrorist attack. 272 00:16:59,853 --> 00:17:04,441 And that sort of set the stage for everything that follows from that. 273 00:17:05,817 --> 00:17:07,108 To me and Dick Cheney, 274 00:17:07,194 --> 00:17:11,323 it was pretty obvious that this was a well-organized attack 275 00:17:11,406 --> 00:17:13,406 to severely damage our country. 276 00:17:18,872 --> 00:17:20,582 I was in the office. 277 00:17:20,665 --> 00:17:23,669 My assistant came in, said, "Barbara's on the phone." 278 00:17:24,294 --> 00:17:26,713 I was relieved she was alive. 279 00:17:26,797 --> 00:17:31,218 But she told me immediately that her plane had been hijacked, 280 00:17:31,301 --> 00:17:33,595 and then the line went dead. 281 00:17:34,763 --> 00:17:36,223 This is John Thomas, Ops Manager. 282 00:17:36,306 --> 00:17:39,726 I think we need to let everybody know this right away. 283 00:17:39,810 --> 00:17:43,063 American 77 was just west of Charleston, West Virginia, 284 00:17:43,146 --> 00:17:44,648 and disappeared off our radar scope. 285 00:17:44,731 --> 00:17:46,984 We now believe that aircraft may have been hijacked. 286 00:17:47,067 --> 00:17:48,485 What with the World Trade Center, 287 00:17:48,569 --> 00:17:51,363 we could have another loose aircraft out there somewhere. 288 00:17:52,406 --> 00:17:55,158 President Bush, he knew Barbara. 289 00:17:55,242 --> 00:17:58,954 She was on television just two days earlier, defending him. 290 00:17:59,037 --> 00:18:02,791 President Bush is right. Kids have got to learn to read, or they're lost. 291 00:18:02,875 --> 00:18:06,503 The education issue is a centerpiece of his agenda. He's got an… 292 00:18:06,587 --> 00:18:11,175 And his whole leadership of his administration knew who Barbara was. 293 00:18:12,759 --> 00:18:14,970 Unaware of this third hijacking, 294 00:18:15,053 --> 00:18:19,224 in Florida, the president and his aides are still scrambling for information 295 00:18:19,308 --> 00:18:20,851 about the first two attacks. 296 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:23,187 Everybody was working the phones, 297 00:18:23,270 --> 00:18:25,230 trying to ascertain what was happening. 298 00:18:25,898 --> 00:18:28,358 Typically, at a time of hot, breaking news, 299 00:18:28,442 --> 00:18:31,945 the press has access to a lot of things that the government doesn't, 300 00:18:32,029 --> 00:18:34,114 'cause the press has cameras everywhere. 301 00:18:35,282 --> 00:18:41,330 What TV stations are now broadcasting on the air is really important information. 302 00:18:43,457 --> 00:18:45,709 A rebroadcast came on, 303 00:18:45,792 --> 00:18:48,670 and the president whipped around to see where Dan was pointing, 304 00:18:48,754 --> 00:18:50,297 as the plane hit the tower. 305 00:18:50,797 --> 00:18:54,760 And you could feel the tension as people were stopping working the phones 306 00:18:54,843 --> 00:18:57,679 to look, all of a sudden, for the first time for us. 307 00:18:59,515 --> 00:19:01,266 There was just total disbelief. 308 00:19:01,350 --> 00:19:03,852 And we went from a very calm, beautiful day 309 00:19:03,936 --> 00:19:06,897 to one in which our world changed dramatically. 310 00:19:09,942 --> 00:19:13,695 While the president absorbs the horror of the attacks in New York… 311 00:19:15,989 --> 00:19:18,825 the crisis is escalating in America's skies. 312 00:19:21,203 --> 00:19:22,788 We took steps at that point 313 00:19:22,871 --> 00:19:25,874 to limit the amount of aircraft that could actually get airborne. 314 00:19:26,458 --> 00:19:28,710 I ground-stopped everything in the country. 315 00:19:28,794 --> 00:19:31,797 We had over 4,000 aircraft airborne. 316 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,842 I knew, at least I surmised, 317 00:19:34,925 --> 00:19:39,054 that this was not the act of a deranged hijacker. 318 00:19:39,137 --> 00:19:41,932 That this was a concerted action by a group of people. 319 00:19:42,516 --> 00:19:46,019 As air traffic controllers deal with an unprecedented situation, 320 00:19:46,103 --> 00:19:48,313 a fourth plane's cockpit is breached. 321 00:19:48,397 --> 00:19:50,607 United 93. That traffic for you is one o'clock. 322 00:19:50,691 --> 00:19:52,442 Twelve miles eastbound, 3-7-0. 323 00:19:52,526 --> 00:19:54,695 Negative contact. We're looking. United 93. 324 00:19:54,778 --> 00:19:55,779 Hey! 325 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,077 Mayday-- 326 00:20:02,953 --> 00:20:04,413 You got United 93? 327 00:20:04,496 --> 00:20:05,789 It looks like he descended. 328 00:20:05,873 --> 00:20:07,457 United 93, verify 3-5-0. 329 00:20:07,541 --> 00:20:09,710 Do you have United 93 south of Chardon? 330 00:20:09,793 --> 00:20:11,920 We hear some funny noises. We're trying to get him. 331 00:20:12,004 --> 00:20:13,589 -Do you have him? -No. 332 00:20:14,548 --> 00:20:18,385 With United 93 the latest plane to be hijacked, 333 00:20:18,468 --> 00:20:21,013 President Bush prepares to address the nation, 334 00:20:21,096 --> 00:20:23,974 still uncertain as to the full nature of the attacks. 335 00:20:24,057 --> 00:20:27,352 Ladies and gentlemen, this is a difficult moment for America. 336 00:20:28,312 --> 00:20:30,647 Today we've had a national tragedy. 337 00:20:31,315 --> 00:20:33,233 This is the air traffic command center, 338 00:20:33,317 --> 00:20:35,569 the TMO on duty in the West area. 339 00:20:35,652 --> 00:20:40,282 I need to have all traffic management units do an inventory 340 00:20:40,365 --> 00:20:42,242 of all airborne traffic. 341 00:20:42,326 --> 00:20:45,662 Ensure that you do not have any aircraft that are not accounted for. 342 00:20:45,746 --> 00:20:49,249 I had my staff ask all the facilities in the country 343 00:20:49,333 --> 00:20:53,086 to identify for us any aircraft that they deemed suspicious. 344 00:20:53,170 --> 00:20:57,299 I actually considered closing the airspace at that point, 345 00:20:57,382 --> 00:21:02,095 but I hesitated, thinking about the chaos that would ensue. 346 00:21:03,347 --> 00:21:08,227 Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center. 347 00:21:08,310 --> 00:21:09,937 Barbara got back on the phone, 348 00:21:10,020 --> 00:21:13,690 and I had to tell her about the two airplanes 349 00:21:13,774 --> 00:21:15,901 that had been flown into the World Trade Center. 350 00:21:15,984 --> 00:21:18,612 We exchanged a couple of words of affection, 351 00:21:18,695 --> 00:21:20,364 and the line went dead again. 352 00:21:25,536 --> 00:21:27,663 And now, if you'd join me in a moment of silence. 353 00:21:32,334 --> 00:21:35,128 Please sit down. Keep remaining sitting. 354 00:21:35,212 --> 00:21:36,964 We have a bomb on board. 355 00:21:37,047 --> 00:21:39,132 Calling Cleveland Center. You're unreadable. 356 00:21:39,216 --> 00:21:40,217 Say again, slowly. 357 00:21:40,300 --> 00:21:45,222 United 93 may have a bomb on board. 358 00:21:45,305 --> 00:21:46,932 Can you give additional information 359 00:21:47,015 --> 00:21:48,183 why you believe there may be a bomb? 360 00:21:48,267 --> 00:21:50,060 He's screaming that on the frequency. 361 00:21:50,143 --> 00:21:51,186 Okay. 362 00:21:51,687 --> 00:21:54,565 I've gone from a classroom with a child reading 363 00:21:54,648 --> 00:21:59,194 to believing America's under attack in a pretty brief period of time. 364 00:22:00,362 --> 00:22:04,157 May God bless the victims, their families and America. Thank you very much. 365 00:22:11,206 --> 00:22:14,751 We have got to leave Sarasota and get the president to a safe place. 366 00:22:14,835 --> 00:22:17,588 We're gonna get to the plane as quickly as we can, 367 00:22:17,671 --> 00:22:22,384 because the safest location for the president at this time, 368 00:22:22,467 --> 00:22:26,138 until we know what's going on, is to get him up in the air. 369 00:22:27,181 --> 00:22:30,851 We immediately exited, went to the motorcade, 370 00:22:30,934 --> 00:22:34,104 and the call was made: We're gonna go at a high rate of speed. 371 00:22:34,188 --> 00:22:38,483 We're gonna shut the intersections down with physical barriers 372 00:22:38,567 --> 00:22:42,070 to make sure suicide attacks, everything, is not a concern. 373 00:22:44,323 --> 00:22:47,784 It really hit me when I was in the limousine heading out to Air Force One. 374 00:22:47,868 --> 00:22:51,038 I was immediately surrounded by serious protection. 375 00:22:51,872 --> 00:22:54,625 We were going like the bat out of proverbial hell. 376 00:22:54,708 --> 00:22:57,085 And I looked to my left, and I realized 377 00:22:57,169 --> 00:23:01,340 we were bracketed by four police cars, two in front and two in back. 378 00:23:01,423 --> 00:23:03,217 You know, sort of covering our flanks. 379 00:23:03,300 --> 00:23:04,676 The Secret Service said, 380 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,471 "We were worried about a car bomb intercepting the motorcade, 381 00:23:07,554 --> 00:23:10,807 and we wanted to cause the bomb to go off 15 or 20 feet further away 382 00:23:10,891 --> 00:23:13,560 and give the president a greater chance of survivability." 383 00:23:15,229 --> 00:23:16,772 Sort of a sobering moment. 384 00:23:19,983 --> 00:23:22,402 With concerns growing over the president's safety… 385 00:23:24,988 --> 00:23:29,117 the vice president, too, now gets even closer protection. 386 00:23:30,244 --> 00:23:31,453 The door burst open, 387 00:23:31,537 --> 00:23:36,750 and one of my Secret Service agents, Jimmy Scott, came in rapidly. 388 00:23:36,834 --> 00:23:40,963 He put one hand, his right hand, on my belt in back, 389 00:23:41,046 --> 00:23:42,673 the other hand on my shoulder, 390 00:23:42,756 --> 00:23:47,302 and literally picked me up and moved me towards the door. 391 00:23:48,011 --> 00:23:51,723 The agent had told me that there was a plane coming in. 392 00:23:51,807 --> 00:23:55,936 It was unclear how far out it was, but at 500 miles per hour, 393 00:23:56,019 --> 00:23:58,939 it doesn't take long for something to arrive on your doorstep. 394 00:23:59,606 --> 00:24:01,233 Huntress ID. How can I help you? 395 00:24:01,316 --> 00:24:05,320 Our latest report, the aircraft VFR six miles southeast of the White House. 396 00:24:05,404 --> 00:24:06,905 Six miles southeast of the White House? 397 00:24:06,989 --> 00:24:08,615 Yep. Six southwest. 398 00:24:09,283 --> 00:24:11,285 Jimmy took me out into the hallway, 399 00:24:11,368 --> 00:24:13,787 down the stairs in the West Wing. 400 00:24:13,871 --> 00:24:16,707 The agent was instructed to take us down 401 00:24:16,790 --> 00:24:19,668 towards what they call the PEOC, the emergency center. 402 00:24:20,169 --> 00:24:22,421 I knew Jimmy, and I knew these guys are trained. 403 00:24:22,504 --> 00:24:25,549 And if he's moving like that, I'd better follow. 404 00:24:25,632 --> 00:24:27,509 I didn't have much choice, anyway. 405 00:24:28,260 --> 00:24:29,428 Aircraft is moving away. 406 00:24:29,511 --> 00:24:30,929 Moving away from the White House? 407 00:24:31,013 --> 00:24:32,222 -Yeah. -Deviating away. 408 00:24:32,306 --> 00:24:34,057 You don't have a type of aircraft, don't know who he is? 409 00:24:34,141 --> 00:24:36,602 Nothing. So I have no clue. None. 410 00:24:36,685 --> 00:24:39,855 And there was a lot of confusion as to what was happening, 411 00:24:39,938 --> 00:24:42,441 a lot of confusion as to where the planes were. 412 00:24:42,524 --> 00:24:43,859 Part of the problem, at that point, 413 00:24:43,942 --> 00:24:47,362 was to discern, what is the scope of this attack? 414 00:24:47,863 --> 00:24:50,449 With an unknown plane now over the Capitol, 415 00:24:50,532 --> 00:24:55,787 air traffic controllers enlist a cargo aircraft, call sign Gofer 06, 416 00:24:55,871 --> 00:24:57,331 to try to identify it. 417 00:24:57,831 --> 00:25:00,250 Gofer 06, traffic is eleven o'clock 418 00:25:00,334 --> 00:25:02,252 and five miles northbound, fast moving. 419 00:25:02,336 --> 00:25:03,921 Type and altitude unknown. 420 00:25:04,004 --> 00:25:06,840 Gofer 06. We have the traffic in sight, twelve o'clock. 421 00:25:06,924 --> 00:25:08,383 Do you know what kind it is? Can you see? 422 00:25:08,467 --> 00:25:10,219 Looks like a 757, sir. 423 00:25:11,345 --> 00:25:14,056 The first item that comes to mind is, 424 00:25:14,139 --> 00:25:16,725 they're coming after Washington, not only New York. 425 00:25:16,808 --> 00:25:19,436 That traffic is still in a descent now, 426 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,231 and looks like he's rolled out northeast bound. 427 00:25:22,731 --> 00:25:25,359 You don't have time to say, "Oh, my goodness. What's happening to us?" 428 00:25:25,442 --> 00:25:27,986 Every plane had become a missile. 429 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,088 -Washington, this is Gofer 06. -Gofer 06, go ahead. 430 00:25:46,171 --> 00:25:48,841 It looks like that aircraft crashed into the Pentagon, sir. 431 00:25:53,887 --> 00:25:56,223 -See what happened up there? -Yeah. It went into the Pentagon. 432 00:25:56,306 --> 00:25:57,683 Looks like it went into the Pentagon. 433 00:25:58,308 --> 00:25:59,476 Plane into the building. 434 00:26:01,895 --> 00:26:04,731 I went into the Situation Room 435 00:26:04,815 --> 00:26:07,276 to try to reach the National Security Principals… 436 00:26:07,943 --> 00:26:10,153 -Keep going back. -…going back. Keep going back. 437 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:16,159 Colin Powell was in Peru for an Organization of American States meeting. 438 00:26:16,243 --> 00:26:20,205 They said George Tenet, the CIA director, had already gone to a bunker. 439 00:26:20,289 --> 00:26:22,499 And they said, "We can't reach Secretary Rumsfeld. 440 00:26:22,583 --> 00:26:24,501 His phone is just ringing and ringing and ringing." 441 00:26:24,585 --> 00:26:27,671 And we looked on television, and a plane had hit the Pentagon. 442 00:26:30,090 --> 00:26:33,802 Then I called the president. He said, "I'm coming back." 443 00:26:33,886 --> 00:26:37,139 And I did something I had never done before and would never do again. 444 00:26:37,222 --> 00:26:39,391 I raised my voice at the president of the United States. 445 00:26:39,474 --> 00:26:42,186 I said, "Stay where you are. We're under attack." 446 00:26:42,769 --> 00:26:45,564 Okay, all units responding over to the Pentagon, 447 00:26:45,647 --> 00:26:46,773 you need to be careful. 448 00:26:46,857 --> 00:26:48,942 Possible terrorist attack. 449 00:26:49,860 --> 00:26:53,488 It was at that moment that I realized we were at war. 450 00:26:53,989 --> 00:26:57,075 You know, the first plane was an accident, the second one was an attack, 451 00:26:57,159 --> 00:26:59,620 and the third one was a declaration of war. 452 00:27:00,829 --> 00:27:01,955 Oh, my goodness. 453 00:27:02,039 --> 00:27:04,666 We're looking at a live picture from Washington, 454 00:27:04,750 --> 00:27:07,669 and there is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon. 455 00:27:08,837 --> 00:27:13,217 I'm sitting in a government office, two miles from the Pentagon. 456 00:27:13,884 --> 00:27:16,386 I knew what was coming, and then I saw it. 457 00:27:16,470 --> 00:27:20,182 And then I knew that my greatest fears were true. 458 00:27:20,682 --> 00:27:24,686 That that had to be the American Airlines plane that Barbara was on. 459 00:27:25,938 --> 00:27:28,857 We don't know whether this is the result of a bomb 460 00:27:28,941 --> 00:27:30,692 or whether it is yet another aircraft 461 00:27:30,776 --> 00:27:35,280 that has targeted a symbol of the United States' power. 462 00:27:36,114 --> 00:27:37,908 It was a helpless feeling, 463 00:27:37,991 --> 00:27:41,745 that this incomprehensible thing had happened to this country. 464 00:27:41,828 --> 00:27:46,667 It was a dreaded sense of horror. 465 00:27:52,089 --> 00:27:55,759 When I got word that American 77 had struck the Pentagon, 466 00:27:55,843 --> 00:27:58,011 that's when I shut down everything. 467 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,517 The order was to land all aircraft at the nearest airport, 468 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,311 regardless of their final destination. 469 00:28:06,395 --> 00:28:09,022 Stand by. Everybody, stand by. This is the Command Center. 470 00:28:09,106 --> 00:28:11,692 The Command Center requests, as soon as possible, 471 00:28:11,775 --> 00:28:14,570 they want all aircraft on the ground. 472 00:28:14,653 --> 00:28:19,366 All aircraft, regardless of destination, land as soon as possible. 473 00:28:20,284 --> 00:28:24,746 That was the last step that I could take to get control of the airspace. 474 00:28:24,830 --> 00:28:27,708 I thought, "Well, if we get everyone out of the air, 475 00:28:27,791 --> 00:28:29,960 we'll be able to deal with the few that are left." 476 00:28:30,043 --> 00:28:33,922 I couldn't imagine there would be that many left that may be a problem. 477 00:28:34,756 --> 00:28:36,341 It would appear now, that 478 00:28:36,425 --> 00:28:39,887 perhaps this nation is under attack 479 00:28:39,970 --> 00:28:42,014 from some unknown source. 480 00:28:42,097 --> 00:28:44,183 I would say, without question. 481 00:28:44,266 --> 00:28:46,768 We're looking at pictures here, now. 482 00:28:46,852 --> 00:28:50,022 Looking at Washington, we're seeing from the Executive Office building, 483 00:28:50,105 --> 00:28:52,524 which is being evacuated now, along with the White House-- 484 00:28:52,608 --> 00:28:56,445 we're seeing columns of smoke across the river at the Pentagon rising. 485 00:28:56,528 --> 00:29:02,534 I remember it just looked chaotic, watching it from home. 486 00:29:02,618 --> 00:29:05,537 I knew I had to get to the office, but I didn't know how to get there. 487 00:29:06,121 --> 00:29:08,540 They were shutting down downtown Washington. 488 00:29:08,624 --> 00:29:12,836 I was on the phone with my chief of staff, who ran my office at the White House, 489 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:17,299 and she said, "Karen, I've gotta go. They're telling us to run." 490 00:29:17,382 --> 00:29:18,592 And I said, "Well, then go!" 491 00:29:20,093 --> 00:29:22,012 The assumption was that 492 00:29:22,095 --> 00:29:24,223 one of the targets might well be the White House. 493 00:29:24,306 --> 00:29:29,061 And the Secret Service told everybody to evacuate. 494 00:29:29,144 --> 00:29:32,356 -Everybody, back. -Everybody not essential, let's go! 495 00:29:32,940 --> 00:29:34,399 This is the real thing. Let's go. 496 00:29:35,442 --> 00:29:39,780 The intensity and the volume of the voices kept escalating. 497 00:29:39,863 --> 00:29:42,866 The calls for us to get moving, to get out, to get out. 498 00:29:47,079 --> 00:29:49,373 Scatter, scatter. Please go home. 499 00:29:49,456 --> 00:29:52,501 I remember making eye contact with a woman 500 00:29:52,584 --> 00:29:55,546 who's part of the Secret Service, and I remember her screaming at me, 501 00:29:55,629 --> 00:29:57,548 "Take off your heels and run." 502 00:29:59,049 --> 00:30:01,635 That 747 is not looking right. 503 00:30:01,718 --> 00:30:05,264 Twelve o'clock high. He's turning hard. Shit. 504 00:30:05,347 --> 00:30:06,890 -Hold it. -They're flying to the Capitol! 505 00:30:06,974 --> 00:30:09,560 Everybody go away from the Capitol. 506 00:30:09,643 --> 00:30:14,565 The streets of Washington, there were cars stopped in the middle of the road, 507 00:30:14,648 --> 00:30:16,692 still running, doors open. 508 00:30:16,775 --> 00:30:19,820 People were running everywhere. There was smoke. 509 00:30:23,282 --> 00:30:24,408 It was Mad Max. 510 00:30:24,491 --> 00:30:27,077 …all of you, back and away. 511 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,955 Do you copy? You need to move back and away. 512 00:30:30,789 --> 00:30:34,459 As America's skies close for the first time in US history 513 00:30:35,252 --> 00:30:36,837 and fear grips the Capitol, 514 00:30:37,588 --> 00:30:40,757 a further threat now causes concern for the president's safety. 515 00:30:41,967 --> 00:30:44,136 As we arrived at the airport, 516 00:30:44,219 --> 00:30:49,183 we began to get intel that Air Force One could be a target. 517 00:30:52,227 --> 00:30:56,315 There could be someone at the end of the runway that could be a threat. 518 00:30:57,357 --> 00:30:59,318 Someone with a stinger missile 519 00:30:59,401 --> 00:31:01,361 or some kind of high-powered rifle, even. 520 00:31:03,864 --> 00:31:05,949 There was an incredible push 521 00:31:06,033 --> 00:31:09,536 to get everybody on the plane as quickly as possible. 522 00:31:09,620 --> 00:31:12,998 They are yelling at us, "Move it, move it, move it," to board more quickly. 523 00:31:15,417 --> 00:31:19,880 I do remember actually feeling scared as I ran up the steps 524 00:31:19,963 --> 00:31:22,007 and having the disjointed thought, 525 00:31:22,758 --> 00:31:26,136 "I've never been scared being with a president before." 526 00:31:31,517 --> 00:31:35,521 I remember some of the air force personnel greeting me at the door, 527 00:31:35,604 --> 00:31:37,356 and they were shaken badly. 528 00:31:40,692 --> 00:31:42,653 So Colonel Tillman said to me, 529 00:31:42,736 --> 00:31:45,239 "I can turn around and fly the other direction, 530 00:31:45,322 --> 00:31:50,786 but it'll be the steepest takeoff you will ever see a 747 take, 531 00:31:50,869 --> 00:31:53,580 and you need to make sure the president's sitting down." 532 00:31:54,456 --> 00:31:56,500 I said, "I'll take care of that. Just do it." 533 00:31:57,751 --> 00:31:59,878 The decision was made to go ahead and rotate 534 00:31:59,962 --> 00:32:02,089 to counter the threat at the end of the runway 535 00:32:02,923 --> 00:32:05,175 and to max perform the aircraft. 536 00:32:05,259 --> 00:32:06,343 So we used full power. 537 00:32:06,426 --> 00:32:09,596 The plane was extremely light, minimal passengers. 538 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,266 The goal was to get airborne, move away fast. 539 00:32:13,267 --> 00:32:18,105 My seat was 20 yards or so away, and I'm standing there, 540 00:32:18,188 --> 00:32:20,858 and I'm the only one who's not seated with a seat belt. 541 00:32:21,984 --> 00:32:24,570 So, I'm standing there with the president, 542 00:32:24,653 --> 00:32:29,241 and the engines just screamed, and we were screaming down the runway. 543 00:32:30,075 --> 00:32:33,078 And I'm going, "This is unbelievable. The plane doesn't take off like this." 544 00:32:33,161 --> 00:32:39,751 And I put my foot against the president's desk and my backside against the bulkhead 545 00:32:39,835 --> 00:32:42,254 and just pressed myself in there. 546 00:32:42,337 --> 00:32:45,048 The president, he leaned over with his arm. 547 00:32:45,132 --> 00:32:51,013 And we were taking off at an angle that I never want to experience again. 548 00:32:52,931 --> 00:32:55,100 I went partially weightless. 549 00:32:56,310 --> 00:32:59,229 I mean, I was petrified. 550 00:33:04,818 --> 00:33:07,279 It was a very emotional experience for everybody. 551 00:33:08,155 --> 00:33:10,616 I tried to be cool, calm and present. 552 00:33:11,116 --> 00:33:14,119 But some people were hyperventilating or-- 553 00:33:14,203 --> 00:33:16,079 "But what are we gonna do?" 554 00:33:16,163 --> 00:33:19,333 And kind of contagious with fear, 555 00:33:19,917 --> 00:33:23,378 and I didn't want that to infect the decision-making process 556 00:33:23,462 --> 00:33:25,589 that the president was gonna have to go through. 557 00:33:25,672 --> 00:33:27,883 So we did keep some people away. 558 00:33:29,384 --> 00:33:31,011 I was just trying to gather information 559 00:33:31,094 --> 00:33:33,931 so I could then begin to make rational decisions. 560 00:33:35,015 --> 00:33:38,101 The president said to me, "I want you to call George Tenet"-- 561 00:33:38,185 --> 00:33:40,187 the director of CIA, my boss-- 562 00:33:40,270 --> 00:33:45,192 "and I want you to tell George that I want to be the first to know 563 00:33:45,275 --> 00:33:48,445 if he learns anything about who did this." 564 00:33:50,113 --> 00:33:52,991 With the president desperate to learn more about the attacks, 565 00:33:53,659 --> 00:33:55,911 he immediately faces a new challenge. 566 00:33:56,662 --> 00:33:58,914 We had real problems aboard Air Force One that day 567 00:33:58,997 --> 00:34:00,541 with the communications equipment. 568 00:34:01,124 --> 00:34:04,378 The phone that was supposed to connect the president to the vice president 569 00:34:04,461 --> 00:34:08,297 and others in the bunker below the White House kept conking out. 570 00:34:09,299 --> 00:34:12,427 I remember the president holding the phone out in endless frustration. 571 00:34:15,222 --> 00:34:18,391 So we would not have full-time communications. 572 00:34:19,935 --> 00:34:23,647 TV reception. Air Force One didn't have satellite TV. 573 00:34:24,147 --> 00:34:25,940 And so we could get TV coverage 574 00:34:26,024 --> 00:34:30,737 as we would fly over cities where the ground-based antenna 575 00:34:30,821 --> 00:34:33,614 put out a sufficiently strong, powerful-enough signal 576 00:34:33,699 --> 00:34:36,201 that we could pick it up at 40,000 feet in the sky. 577 00:34:37,119 --> 00:34:40,330 As we're going through these different local TV zones 578 00:34:40,414 --> 00:34:43,041 and it'd be on, it'd be flickering and-- 579 00:34:43,125 --> 00:34:46,253 What was eerie about it is that it wasn't a constant picture. 580 00:34:47,545 --> 00:34:49,672 The TV came on, we were all riveted to it 581 00:34:49,755 --> 00:34:52,217 because we were getting new, fresh information. 582 00:34:52,717 --> 00:34:55,679 And then, as we would fly along and the signal would fade, 583 00:34:55,762 --> 00:34:58,307 the screen on the TV would fade to gray. 584 00:35:00,058 --> 00:35:03,729 Amazing to think that one of the worst places to be to get information 585 00:35:03,812 --> 00:35:07,316 was the place where information should have been set up, by design, 586 00:35:07,399 --> 00:35:10,360 to flow the best to the president of the United States. 587 00:35:11,778 --> 00:35:13,071 Now, by chance, 588 00:35:13,155 --> 00:35:16,742 just 73 minutes after the attacks began, 589 00:35:16,825 --> 00:35:19,745 the television signal on Air Force One holds steady 590 00:35:19,828 --> 00:35:21,413 long enough for a picture to form. 591 00:35:29,087 --> 00:35:31,924 Take two. Take two, in two, one. 592 00:35:32,007 --> 00:35:34,551 This is as close as we can get to the base of the World Trade Center. 593 00:35:34,635 --> 00:35:38,639 You can see the firemen assembled here, the police officers, FBI agents. 594 00:35:38,722 --> 00:35:41,016 And you can see the two towers-- 595 00:35:41,099 --> 00:35:45,312 Huge explosion now raining debris on all of us. We better get out of the way! 596 00:35:47,272 --> 00:35:48,732 Oh, no! 597 00:35:48,815 --> 00:35:51,401 -Oh, my God! -Oh, no! 598 00:35:54,530 --> 00:35:55,948 Oh, God! 599 00:35:57,199 --> 00:36:00,827 Oh, shit. Oh, man. 600 00:36:00,911 --> 00:36:02,287 Oh, man! 601 00:36:04,748 --> 00:36:07,626 -Oh, sh-- -Go! Come on! 602 00:36:08,669 --> 00:36:10,295 Look out behind you. 603 00:36:13,674 --> 00:36:15,092 Oh, shit. 604 00:36:24,893 --> 00:36:28,730 Those images are seared in my mind. 605 00:36:30,065 --> 00:36:33,068 There was no noise on Air Force One except the plane flying. 606 00:36:37,573 --> 00:36:38,866 I was horrified. 607 00:36:40,534 --> 00:36:41,577 And it was sickening. 608 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,872 -Stay right where you are. -Stay where you are, man. 609 00:36:44,955 --> 00:36:46,415 Stay where you are. 610 00:36:47,416 --> 00:36:50,294 We were all transfixed, you know? 611 00:36:50,377 --> 00:36:54,214 All you could do was watch in horror, and nobody said anything. 612 00:36:55,757 --> 00:36:57,176 Just the thought of all the deaths 613 00:36:57,259 --> 00:37:00,053 that could have taken place in that one instant. 614 00:37:02,514 --> 00:37:07,978 What I saw was a man who was doing his level best 615 00:37:08,061 --> 00:37:10,647 to keep all the various emotions in check. 616 00:37:13,358 --> 00:37:18,155 The one emotion that I think became harder and harder for him to keep in check 617 00:37:18,238 --> 00:37:19,239 was anger. 618 00:37:21,283 --> 00:37:22,826 This brewing of… 619 00:37:24,703 --> 00:37:26,371 "You think you're gonna get away with this?" 620 00:37:28,665 --> 00:37:30,542 I knew if we were under attack, 621 00:37:30,626 --> 00:37:33,670 my job as president was to protect the country. 622 00:37:34,296 --> 00:37:38,467 And I didn't know who they were yet. 623 00:37:38,550 --> 00:37:41,512 One thing on the to-do list was to kick their ass. 624 00:37:45,390 --> 00:37:47,559 I wanted to go home to DC. 625 00:37:47,643 --> 00:37:49,436 I'm commander in chief, 626 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,774 and I wanted to be at the center of the action. 627 00:37:54,691 --> 00:37:56,360 I said, "We can't do that. 628 00:37:57,903 --> 00:38:02,199 Until we can secure the White House and DC, 629 00:38:02,282 --> 00:38:04,701 we're gonna have to go someplace else." 630 00:38:04,785 --> 00:38:09,957 There's no way we're gonna take him into an unsecured area. 631 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:13,293 I suggested we go west, not east. 632 00:38:13,377 --> 00:38:18,924 All of a sudden, I feel the plane turning away from northeast. 633 00:38:19,591 --> 00:38:23,762 And I called Andy, said, "Andy, let's get to DC." 634 00:38:23,846 --> 00:38:26,306 He said, "It's highly recommended we don't." 635 00:38:27,224 --> 00:38:30,811 I told the president we're gonna go to Barksdale Air Force Base, 636 00:38:30,894 --> 00:38:33,063 get a little more information of what's going on. 637 00:38:33,146 --> 00:38:35,274 We can tape a message for the American people. 638 00:38:35,941 --> 00:38:37,401 They're already under an exercise 639 00:38:37,484 --> 00:38:40,237 calling for them to be on the highest level of alert. 640 00:38:41,113 --> 00:38:44,825 But the president was adamant that he wanted to go back to Washington. 641 00:38:44,908 --> 00:38:46,159 He was telling me, 642 00:38:46,243 --> 00:38:49,997 "I am the president of the United States. We are going back to Washington, DC." 643 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:53,917 And I said, "You don't wanna make that decision right now. 644 00:38:54,001 --> 00:38:56,336 I don't think you wanna make that decision right now. 645 00:38:56,420 --> 00:38:57,713 I think we have to know more." 646 00:38:57,796 --> 00:39:00,841 And he said, "I am making the decision right now!" 647 00:39:01,967 --> 00:39:04,136 I had a conversation with the president, 648 00:39:04,219 --> 00:39:09,183 and my recommendation was, to him, that he not come back yet. 649 00:39:10,058 --> 00:39:12,436 Washington was under attack, as well as New York, 650 00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:16,398 and that it was important for the two of us, the president and vice president, 651 00:39:16,982 --> 00:39:18,567 to stay separate. 652 00:39:19,651 --> 00:39:23,030 Andy Card on the plane and me on the phone 653 00:39:23,113 --> 00:39:25,407 pretty well persuaded him, 654 00:39:25,490 --> 00:39:26,617 "Not yet. Not yet." 655 00:39:27,367 --> 00:39:28,660 Because we just didn't know. 656 00:39:30,204 --> 00:39:33,207 There was no doubt in my mind, and in theirs, 657 00:39:33,290 --> 00:39:35,334 that I was the commander in chief. 658 00:39:35,417 --> 00:39:39,505 That's why it was vital that I have a team of people who understand 659 00:39:39,588 --> 00:39:42,841 the chain of command and the role of the president. 660 00:39:43,425 --> 00:39:44,676 But, needless to say, 661 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,931 continuity of government became an essential element for the security forces. 662 00:39:50,015 --> 00:39:52,226 We were just very happy that the president agreed 663 00:39:52,309 --> 00:39:56,522 not to really force the issue to go back to Washington, DC, 664 00:39:56,605 --> 00:40:01,902 and that when we went to Barksdale, it would give us a chance to regroup, 665 00:40:02,486 --> 00:40:06,657 and we could put a plan together on what we were gonna do. 666 00:40:06,740 --> 00:40:09,159 …865. We have the traffic below us. 667 00:40:09,243 --> 00:40:11,245 Number 56865, Cleveland Center, roger that. 668 00:40:11,328 --> 00:40:14,164 I have a question for you. We have a Boeing 757. 669 00:40:14,248 --> 00:40:17,751 Can you see him up there, sir, and tell me an altitude if that's able? 670 00:40:17,835 --> 00:40:19,127 Southeast bound. 671 00:40:19,211 --> 00:40:20,420 We've got him. 672 00:40:20,504 --> 00:40:22,965 He's behind us and only about a thousand feet above us. 673 00:40:25,467 --> 00:40:29,513 There is now only one known hijacked flight remaining in the sky. 674 00:40:30,180 --> 00:40:33,475 Controllers track it by talking to another plane. 675 00:40:33,559 --> 00:40:36,186 Okay, he's descending. He's getting closer to our altitude. 676 00:40:36,270 --> 00:40:37,521 We have him in sight, yes. 677 00:40:37,604 --> 00:40:40,107 Number 56865, I advise you to stay away from that aircraft. 678 00:40:40,190 --> 00:40:42,025 Go north fast as you can. 679 00:40:43,485 --> 00:40:46,530 But it's not just controllers struggling with limited information. 680 00:40:46,613 --> 00:40:49,658 It's also those inside the White House bunker. 681 00:40:50,284 --> 00:40:52,327 It was very much the fog of war. 682 00:40:53,245 --> 00:40:56,456 There were specific flight numbers being thrown around 683 00:40:56,540 --> 00:40:58,876 of flights that were of concern. 684 00:40:58,959 --> 00:41:02,713 We were getting regular reports about how many were still in the air, 685 00:41:02,796 --> 00:41:04,756 how many were unaccounted for. 686 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:06,633 Plane going here and a plane going there. 687 00:41:06,717 --> 00:41:10,429 I had reports that a car bomb had gone off at the State Department. 688 00:41:11,013 --> 00:41:13,390 Was a lot of information flying around, 689 00:41:13,473 --> 00:41:15,225 and a lot of it's not valid. 690 00:41:16,018 --> 00:41:17,227 Okay, what's he doing now, sir? 691 00:41:17,311 --> 00:41:20,480 It appears he might be turning a little to the north. Does that concur? 692 00:41:21,023 --> 00:41:24,401 That's concurred. Looks like he's rocking his wings now. 693 00:41:24,943 --> 00:41:28,280 The principal anxiety in the bunker was 694 00:41:28,363 --> 00:41:32,075 how many planes were out there that had been weaponized by terrorists 695 00:41:32,159 --> 00:41:35,204 and were headed for other targets around the United States, 696 00:41:35,787 --> 00:41:37,456 and how do we deal with it? 697 00:41:37,539 --> 00:41:39,416 Because we had no idea. 698 00:41:40,167 --> 00:41:42,085 He's rocking back and forth. 699 00:41:42,169 --> 00:41:43,212 Thank you, sir. 700 00:41:44,546 --> 00:41:47,090 You don't find it written in any manual, 701 00:41:47,174 --> 00:41:49,801 what to do in a situation like this. 702 00:41:50,511 --> 00:41:56,058 Essentially, we were flying by the seat of our pants at that point. 703 00:41:56,850 --> 00:41:59,144 I was sitting right across from the vice president 704 00:41:59,228 --> 00:42:01,313 when the military aide came in 705 00:42:01,396 --> 00:42:06,944 and reported that another flight was headed south toward Washington. 706 00:42:07,027 --> 00:42:09,488 It was presumed to be a hijacked flight. 707 00:42:09,571 --> 00:42:12,241 Turned out to be, I think, United 93. 708 00:42:13,742 --> 00:42:19,915 He asked the vice president for permission for military aircraft to engage. 709 00:42:20,832 --> 00:42:24,837 That's when the vice president used a very military term. 710 00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:26,630 "Take the track." 711 00:42:27,798 --> 00:42:29,883 Everybody in the room knew what that meant. 712 00:42:30,509 --> 00:42:32,135 "Shoot down that aircraft." 713 00:42:33,178 --> 00:42:37,391 There was a silence as people absorbed 714 00:42:37,933 --> 00:42:40,310 the order that had just been given. 715 00:42:41,270 --> 00:42:44,231 I got on the phone and talked with the president. 716 00:42:44,314 --> 00:42:46,900 Got his approval that that's what we wanted to do. 717 00:42:47,901 --> 00:42:49,945 We didn't know how many more planes were in the sky, 718 00:42:50,028 --> 00:42:51,613 how many were hijacked. 719 00:42:51,697 --> 00:42:53,198 I made the decision. 720 00:42:54,241 --> 00:42:56,159 Was I happy about it? No. 721 00:42:56,243 --> 00:42:58,954 But was I comfortable in making the decision? Yes. 722 00:42:59,663 --> 00:43:01,915 United Nine-Three. Have you got information on that yet? 723 00:43:01,999 --> 00:43:03,292 Yeah, he's down. 724 00:43:03,375 --> 00:43:04,793 -He's down? -Yes. 725 00:43:04,877 --> 00:43:06,670 When did he land? Because we have confirmation-- 726 00:43:06,753 --> 00:43:08,422 He did not land. 727 00:43:08,505 --> 00:43:09,631 He's down-down? 728 00:43:09,715 --> 00:43:12,092 Yeah, somewhere up northeast of Camp David. 729 00:43:12,759 --> 00:43:16,597 One of the watch standards came in and said, 730 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,391 "The track has been eliminated." 731 00:43:19,474 --> 00:43:22,519 And the vice president said, "The plane's down?" 732 00:43:22,603 --> 00:43:25,063 And he said, "The track's been eliminated." 733 00:43:25,147 --> 00:43:29,568 The vice president looked at me, and he said, "Did we take that track?" 734 00:43:30,194 --> 00:43:31,945 And I said, "I don't know." 735 00:43:34,781 --> 00:43:39,995 We had every reason to believe that, in fact, we had taken down that aircraft. 736 00:43:40,996 --> 00:43:43,624 As the occupants of the bunker try to establish 737 00:43:43,707 --> 00:43:47,753 whether United 93 has been brought down by their own actions, 738 00:43:47,836 --> 00:43:50,506 suddenly their focus turns again to New York. 739 00:43:50,589 --> 00:43:52,633 An hour ago, there were people at the gas pumps 740 00:43:52,716 --> 00:43:55,135 who turned to look at the smoke coming from the city. 741 00:43:55,219 --> 00:43:57,387 Folks stepping out of bodegas and stores to look. 742 00:43:57,471 --> 00:43:59,389 Now people are gathering in large groups. 743 00:43:59,473 --> 00:44:03,227 In fact, in one corner, I saw a group of people actually holding hands and praying. 744 00:44:03,310 --> 00:44:05,354 As I stand on the Manhattan Bridge, which is closed-- 745 00:44:05,437 --> 00:44:07,147 It is open to pedestrian traffic. 746 00:44:07,231 --> 00:44:10,943 Some people are walking across, but there's just no way for them to… 747 00:44:11,527 --> 00:44:15,155 As I look out, something is-- It looks as though the building is going-- 748 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:16,448 Is that the building going down? 749 00:44:16,532 --> 00:44:18,492 Is that the second building of the World Trade Center going down? 750 00:44:18,575 --> 00:44:22,287 Yes, that is the second tower. That is the second… 751 00:44:32,381 --> 00:44:36,677 It didn't implode even. It just melted. 752 00:44:40,097 --> 00:44:44,518 My brain could not process what I was seeing. 753 00:44:46,478 --> 00:44:50,399 This was a major attack on the United States. 754 00:44:51,859 --> 00:44:57,197 And it was pretty clear-cut that this was gonna be a very heavy loss of life. 755 00:44:58,824 --> 00:45:00,701 That was a searing moment. 756 00:45:00,784 --> 00:45:04,746 We're watching on TV, and there was nothing that could be done 757 00:45:04,830 --> 00:45:08,166 from the center of power of the greatest power on Earth. 758 00:45:11,712 --> 00:45:14,089 But from that room, we needed to figure out 759 00:45:14,173 --> 00:45:17,676 what we could do to help prevent anything further from happening. 760 00:45:19,219 --> 00:45:21,513 At this moment of national tragedy, 761 00:45:21,597 --> 00:45:23,682 from Air Force One to the bunker, 762 00:45:24,266 --> 00:45:26,935 the government is struggling to regain control. 763 00:45:27,769 --> 00:45:31,607 The communication devices down there were inept. 764 00:45:31,690 --> 00:45:32,858 If we had a screen-- 765 00:45:32,941 --> 00:45:34,651 We couldn't tell what was going on outside 766 00:45:34,735 --> 00:45:36,653 because if we had our visual, we had no sound. 767 00:45:36,737 --> 00:45:38,405 If we had sound, we had no visual. 768 00:45:39,072 --> 00:45:40,282 And it was terrifying. 769 00:45:40,365 --> 00:45:44,494 The country didn't know what was going on, and we didn't know. 770 00:45:45,162 --> 00:45:48,707 And it's a very scary time. 771 00:45:50,292 --> 00:45:53,086 The government was not well prepared for this moment. 772 00:45:54,338 --> 00:45:58,050 The bunker itself was antiquated. 773 00:45:58,133 --> 00:46:02,262 The furniture and technology were probably at least 20 years old. 774 00:46:04,348 --> 00:46:08,644 I remember the commander of the bunker facility pulling me aside 775 00:46:08,727 --> 00:46:12,648 when the oxygen in the bunker started to get dangerously low 776 00:46:12,731 --> 00:46:14,399 because there were too many people. 777 00:46:15,484 --> 00:46:18,904 Everybody started dozing off. I'm like, "Something is wrong here." 778 00:46:18,987 --> 00:46:22,115 Well, we had exhausted our oxygen 779 00:46:22,199 --> 00:46:25,118 and were breathing in our own CO2 and such. 780 00:46:25,202 --> 00:46:26,912 We were, like, poisoning ourselves. 781 00:46:29,039 --> 00:46:33,252 We ended up having a lot of people leave and go someplace else. 782 00:46:33,335 --> 00:46:34,753 We didn't need you in that site. 783 00:46:35,838 --> 00:46:39,633 As the administration battles with the limitations of the bunker, 784 00:46:39,716 --> 00:46:42,594 word of an imminent threat to Air Force One comes in 785 00:46:42,678 --> 00:46:45,138 and is immediately shared with the president. 786 00:46:46,932 --> 00:46:50,227 There was a call that said, "Angel's next." 787 00:46:50,894 --> 00:46:53,355 And Angel was the code word for Air Force One. 788 00:46:54,982 --> 00:46:56,567 A shiver goes through everybody. 789 00:46:57,568 --> 00:46:59,820 Who's got the code word for Air Force One? 790 00:47:01,363 --> 00:47:05,033 So when Air Force One's pilot, Colonel Tillman, heard about this, 791 00:47:05,117 --> 00:47:08,912 he posted at the base of the steps that lead up to the cockpit 792 00:47:08,996 --> 00:47:11,206 an air force security officer 793 00:47:11,290 --> 00:47:14,001 with instructions that no one is to go upstairs. 794 00:47:15,419 --> 00:47:17,129 Think about that. 795 00:47:17,212 --> 00:47:20,007 The inner sanctum of the inner sanctum, 796 00:47:20,090 --> 00:47:24,011 and the pilot is worried that someone in the president's circle 797 00:47:24,094 --> 00:47:27,431 could try to conduct an inside job and take down Air Force One. 798 00:47:30,767 --> 00:47:34,438 We're trying to figure out exactly how we could be attacked. 799 00:47:34,521 --> 00:47:37,274 At this point, it was to assume the worst case. 800 00:47:37,357 --> 00:47:40,694 Somehow, we're gonna be attacked airborne. So we had to be ready for it. 801 00:47:42,279 --> 00:47:44,740 Once we found that the president was a target, 802 00:47:44,823 --> 00:47:46,408 we take no chances. 803 00:47:47,659 --> 00:47:49,745 We've taken all the weapons away, we believe, right. 804 00:47:49,828 --> 00:47:52,080 We've done everything we can to. 805 00:47:52,164 --> 00:47:53,165 But you never know. 806 00:47:54,082 --> 00:47:55,834 The president's in the front of the aircraft. 807 00:47:55,918 --> 00:47:59,379 You have staff and Secret Service in the center of the aircraft, 808 00:47:59,463 --> 00:48:02,090 and the media and all the guests are in the back of the aircraft. 809 00:48:02,174 --> 00:48:05,886 So, we had the agents come up to the front of the aircraft 810 00:48:05,969 --> 00:48:08,597 and stand close to the president's cabin 811 00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:11,391 and make sure no one could come up to the front of the aircraft. 812 00:48:12,476 --> 00:48:16,522 Even your most senior White House staff members were not allowed to come up there 813 00:48:16,605 --> 00:48:18,398 unless the president called them up there. 814 00:48:20,192 --> 00:48:22,903 As security is tightened onboard, 815 00:48:22,986 --> 00:48:26,532 there are still real fears about an external attack. 816 00:48:28,575 --> 00:48:31,036 Air Force One is filing a random route, by the way. 817 00:48:31,119 --> 00:48:32,120 Okay. 818 00:48:32,204 --> 00:48:34,456 We don't know where they've decided to go, 819 00:48:34,540 --> 00:48:36,583 but they still don't have a fighter escort. 820 00:48:36,667 --> 00:48:38,168 -They still do not? -That's correct. 821 00:48:38,252 --> 00:48:39,378 Holy cow. 822 00:48:44,258 --> 00:48:45,717 In that moment, 823 00:48:46,885 --> 00:48:48,303 there was a bull's-eye on us. 824 00:48:48,387 --> 00:48:53,892 And we certainly don't know the scope of this entire attack. 825 00:48:55,394 --> 00:49:01,191 We don't know if we're in the beginning of it, the middle, or near the end of it. 826 00:49:03,610 --> 00:49:06,780 Most people would say one of the safest places you'd ever feel 827 00:49:06,864 --> 00:49:09,157 would be with the president of the United States. 828 00:49:09,241 --> 00:49:11,410 It was the first time that really came under question. 829 00:49:11,952 --> 00:49:14,830 You're like, "Maybe this is not the best place to be." 830 00:49:18,709 --> 00:49:20,836 And then, all of a sudden, we get this radio call. 831 00:49:20,919 --> 00:49:24,214 It was a flight of two F-16s. "We are your cover." 832 00:49:24,298 --> 00:49:27,593 And that was the greatest feeling ever because they're our folks, 833 00:49:27,676 --> 00:49:30,095 and they're coming up and joining on the wing. 834 00:49:32,681 --> 00:49:35,142 I was kneeling on one knee, 835 00:49:35,225 --> 00:49:40,439 my arm on the ledge beneath the windows, looking out. 836 00:49:42,649 --> 00:49:46,361 I'm sure people think that Air Force One's followed by fighter planes all the time, 837 00:49:46,445 --> 00:49:48,822 but very rarely in the United States. 838 00:49:50,073 --> 00:49:51,283 And, I mean… 839 00:49:56,580 --> 00:49:57,623 That really hit home. 840 00:49:59,499 --> 00:50:01,502 It just wasn't-- 841 00:50:01,585 --> 00:50:05,839 It just wasn't something that I'd contemplated. 842 00:50:05,923 --> 00:50:08,717 Why does Air Force One need a fighter escort? 843 00:50:13,597 --> 00:50:16,141 It turns out it was a terrible series of errors. 844 00:50:16,975 --> 00:50:20,687 The caller never used the word "Angel." They said, "Air Force One is next." 845 00:50:21,271 --> 00:50:25,234 One of the intelligence officers did what came routine to them. 846 00:50:25,317 --> 00:50:27,152 They used the word "Angel" 847 00:50:27,236 --> 00:50:30,113 and passed that down to the bunker underneath the White House, 848 00:50:30,197 --> 00:50:31,532 where the vice president was, 849 00:50:31,615 --> 00:50:34,743 who passed it up to the president, saying, "Angel is next." 850 00:50:36,703 --> 00:50:40,541 The amount of information that is wrong 851 00:50:40,624 --> 00:50:43,961 when you are in a moment of crisis, the filters are down, 852 00:50:44,044 --> 00:50:48,382 people let information through just in case, is staggering. 853 00:50:54,137 --> 00:50:57,266 We have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning 854 00:50:57,349 --> 00:51:00,894 in Western Pennsylvania, a Boeing 767 jet. 855 00:51:00,978 --> 00:51:03,772 We don't know if this is somehow connected 856 00:51:03,856 --> 00:51:07,276 to what has gone on in New York and Washington. 857 00:51:07,359 --> 00:51:11,947 As the public learns that a fourth plane has crashed, United 93, 858 00:51:12,030 --> 00:51:14,199 the administration is still trying to discover 859 00:51:14,283 --> 00:51:16,243 if its actions have brought it down. 860 00:51:16,326 --> 00:51:20,414 I remember the vice president being on the phone with the Pentagon, saying, 861 00:51:20,497 --> 00:51:24,334 "You must know whether or not you engaged a civilian aircraft." 862 00:51:24,418 --> 00:51:27,296 And they kept saying, "We can't confirm. We can't confirm." 863 00:51:28,797 --> 00:51:33,135 The Pentagon must have scrubbed that question every which way 864 00:51:33,218 --> 00:51:36,513 to make sure we were getting the right answer. 865 00:51:37,973 --> 00:51:41,852 Finally, we were told, "No, we did not shoot it down." 866 00:51:43,395 --> 00:51:45,272 United 93 had, in fact, crashed 867 00:51:45,355 --> 00:51:48,025 well before any shoot down order was even issued. 868 00:51:48,775 --> 00:51:53,030 It was the passengers, not the government, who had confronted the hijackers. 869 00:51:53,864 --> 00:51:57,951 As it turned out, the passengers onboard 870 00:51:58,035 --> 00:52:01,705 were able to move more quickly and effectively than we could. 871 00:52:02,915 --> 00:52:06,168 People rushing the cabin, sacrificing their own life 872 00:52:06,251 --> 00:52:08,462 to save the lives of a lot of people. 873 00:52:08,545 --> 00:52:13,175 And I still marvel at that kind of character. 874 00:52:15,093 --> 00:52:18,722 Every time I think about it, it just makes me tear up 875 00:52:18,805 --> 00:52:23,477 about the sacrifice that they made that day in Shanksville. 876 00:52:36,907 --> 00:52:38,492 Jim Kallstrom, 877 00:52:38,575 --> 00:52:42,037 former official of the FBI in the New York office, is on the air. 878 00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:43,622 Jim, what do you think? 879 00:52:43,705 --> 00:52:47,793 Well, my first thought is of the tremendous casualties. 880 00:52:47,876 --> 00:52:50,128 The death toll is just overwhelming. 881 00:52:50,212 --> 00:52:52,464 It's a day that, 50 years from now, 882 00:52:52,548 --> 00:52:54,007 our children will be taught about, 883 00:52:54,091 --> 00:52:58,387 when we went to war on American soil with terrorism. 884 00:52:58,887 --> 00:53:01,056 I realized, by the way, just as you mentioned it, 885 00:53:01,139 --> 00:53:03,141 something else that is very important at the moment. 886 00:53:03,225 --> 00:53:05,602 And again, I don't mean to say this in melodramatic terms. 887 00:53:05,686 --> 00:53:07,271 Where is the president of the United States? 888 00:53:07,354 --> 00:53:09,898 The president of the United States led-- I know we don't know where he is. 889 00:53:09,982 --> 00:53:12,568 But pretty soon the country needs to know where he is. 890 00:53:15,529 --> 00:53:18,448 America's largest city is devastated, 891 00:53:19,616 --> 00:53:21,743 its military headquarters burning 892 00:53:23,161 --> 00:53:26,415 and its president now a long way from home. 893 00:53:32,129 --> 00:53:35,048 Instead of going to DC, we went to Shreveport, Louisiana. 894 00:53:36,550 --> 00:53:38,927 Frankly, there was some humor during this day, 895 00:53:39,011 --> 00:53:41,013 and one of them was when we landed, 896 00:53:41,096 --> 00:53:46,143 I thought we were coming out of a Dr. Strangelove set on a movie. 897 00:53:46,226 --> 00:53:48,228 They were having a bomber drill. 898 00:53:48,312 --> 00:53:51,148 So, we had loaded bombers. 899 00:53:51,231 --> 00:53:53,525 And we're put into some kind of vehicle. 900 00:53:55,194 --> 00:53:57,696 There was no armored limousine for the president. 901 00:53:57,779 --> 00:54:03,785 A blue Dodge minivan pulled up to take the leader of the free world to safety. 902 00:54:04,953 --> 00:54:08,248 I don't think I've ever seen a president of the United States ride in a minivan. 903 00:54:11,543 --> 00:54:16,548 And there was a military driver who apparently was so scared 904 00:54:16,632 --> 00:54:18,675 that he just took off out of there. 905 00:54:20,093 --> 00:54:23,180 We're flying down the tarmac, 906 00:54:23,263 --> 00:54:25,307 and I told the sergeant driving, I said, 907 00:54:25,390 --> 00:54:27,309 "Man, I don't think there's any al-Qaeda on this base, 908 00:54:27,392 --> 00:54:30,521 so why don't we just take our time and get to the headquarters." 909 00:54:31,355 --> 00:54:33,899 That was the most danger I'd been in all day. 910 00:54:37,528 --> 00:54:39,696 And we get to the commander's office, 911 00:54:39,780 --> 00:54:41,073 and we go in there. 912 00:54:41,156 --> 00:54:42,574 He had very good communications. 913 00:54:42,658 --> 00:54:44,868 We communicated back to Washington, DC. 914 00:54:45,994 --> 00:54:48,497 The conversations back are really to understand, 915 00:54:48,580 --> 00:54:50,165 "What other intelligence are we seeing? 916 00:54:50,249 --> 00:54:51,500 What else should we know? 917 00:54:51,583 --> 00:54:55,254 And are any of our enemies trying to take advantage of this?" 918 00:54:56,880 --> 00:54:59,174 This is a period of great uncertainty. 919 00:54:59,258 --> 00:55:02,386 And as we began to heighten our defenses, 920 00:55:02,469 --> 00:55:05,097 we wanted to make sure that the Russians understood 921 00:55:05,180 --> 00:55:07,641 we weren't aiming any of that weaponry at them. 922 00:55:09,560 --> 00:55:13,522 I was concerned that the Soviets had an exercise underway that day. 923 00:55:13,605 --> 00:55:17,943 And we didn't want to have them misunderstand 924 00:55:18,026 --> 00:55:19,486 what was happening over here. 925 00:55:20,654 --> 00:55:23,699 If we alert our forces and the Russians alert theirs, 926 00:55:23,782 --> 00:55:25,242 and we alert and they alert, 927 00:55:25,325 --> 00:55:28,453 it's not long before you're actually at a state of war 928 00:55:28,537 --> 00:55:30,122 when things just start to happen. 929 00:55:32,249 --> 00:55:36,295 A lot of this defense business is automatic. 930 00:55:37,171 --> 00:55:40,215 It's built to minimize human error, 931 00:55:40,299 --> 00:55:45,512 and that obviously has the tandem effect of excluding humans 932 00:55:45,596 --> 00:55:49,057 when they need to be inserted into the process. 933 00:55:50,767 --> 00:55:54,938 So I had a phone call with President Putin, and 934 00:55:55,022 --> 00:55:59,818 I said, "Mr. President, our military forces are going to be going up on alert." 935 00:55:59,902 --> 00:56:02,821 And he said, "Don't worry. Ours will be coming down. 936 00:56:02,905 --> 00:56:04,448 We've canceled exercises." 937 00:56:04,531 --> 00:56:07,576 And I remember thinking, or almost chuckling to myself, 938 00:56:07,659 --> 00:56:11,872 "Of course you know that our forces are going up on alert. You can see it." 939 00:56:11,955 --> 00:56:16,960 But recognizing right at that moment that the Cold War was truly over. 940 00:56:17,044 --> 00:56:20,172 Putin had reacted in the right way. 941 00:56:24,510 --> 00:56:26,094 In a crisis of this magnitude, 942 00:56:26,178 --> 00:56:30,057 it's essential that leadership continually try to reassure the people. 943 00:56:30,140 --> 00:56:34,520 And I don't think you can overdo it. 944 00:56:36,104 --> 00:56:38,023 In the immediacy of a crisis. 945 00:56:38,690 --> 00:56:40,609 And so, therefore, it was essential 946 00:56:40,692 --> 00:56:45,405 that I speak on a regular basis as we gathered facts. 947 00:56:48,492 --> 00:56:51,954 I was looking at him with a reporter's eye but also as an American. 948 00:56:52,996 --> 00:56:54,957 I wanna reassure the American people… 949 00:56:56,834 --> 00:56:59,545 the full resources of the federal government… 950 00:56:59,628 --> 00:57:03,340 I found myself looking at his face as much as I was listening to the words. 951 00:57:05,634 --> 00:57:08,512 And I think that was probably true of most of the people in that room, 952 00:57:08,595 --> 00:57:09,847 reporters or not. 953 00:57:12,099 --> 00:57:14,518 I won't say he looked haunted, 954 00:57:15,310 --> 00:57:19,690 but the severity of what was happening registered clearly on his face. 955 00:57:21,817 --> 00:57:23,193 God bless. 956 00:57:27,239 --> 00:57:29,241 Then we were off again. 957 00:57:31,493 --> 00:57:34,162 But ABC's Ann Compton is on the telephone. 958 00:57:34,246 --> 00:57:37,416 We may be scrambled out of here-- Are we leaving? 959 00:57:37,499 --> 00:57:40,252 Okay, Peter, so we are leaving, and I think-- 960 00:57:40,335 --> 00:57:43,422 -Where you going, Annie? -Peter, I have no idea. 961 00:57:43,922 --> 00:57:46,133 Still insisting on a return to Washington, 962 00:57:46,884 --> 00:57:50,262 President Bush orders a quick departure from Barksdale. 963 00:57:50,846 --> 00:57:52,681 I remember getting into Air Force One. 964 00:57:52,764 --> 00:57:54,433 They shut those doors quick. 965 00:57:56,476 --> 00:57:57,769 And we're airborne. 966 00:58:00,564 --> 00:58:02,733 I wanted to go back to Washington. 967 00:58:02,816 --> 00:58:04,693 And there were some objections. 968 00:58:04,776 --> 00:58:07,446 He was telling me, "We're going back to Washington, DC," 969 00:58:07,529 --> 00:58:09,531 and kind of ordering me. 970 00:58:09,615 --> 00:58:10,824 And I'm saying, 971 00:58:10,908 --> 00:58:14,912 "I really don't think you wanna make that decision right now," again, 972 00:58:14,995 --> 00:58:18,957 which I had repeated over and over and over and over to him. 973 00:58:19,666 --> 00:58:22,878 Boy, he got angry with me. He got very, very angry with me. 974 00:58:24,880 --> 00:58:27,174 I might have chewed him out a little bit. 975 00:58:27,257 --> 00:58:29,009 But I wanted to get home. 976 00:58:29,801 --> 00:58:34,348 But I was being told by the security apparatus that it's unsafe. 977 00:58:35,390 --> 00:58:38,685 I remember him saying, "I'm not gonna run from these guys." 978 00:58:39,269 --> 00:58:41,355 He wanted to fight. He was ready to fight, right? 979 00:58:42,564 --> 00:58:45,526 As supervisors, you've got to be able to tell the president no. 980 00:58:46,610 --> 00:58:50,155 By law, Air Force One flies at the discretion of the Secret Service. 981 00:58:50,239 --> 00:58:53,575 So we had to explain to him it's our job 982 00:58:54,243 --> 00:58:57,829 to keep the office of the president of the United States safe, 983 00:58:57,913 --> 00:59:00,666 and it's really not your call. 984 00:59:02,626 --> 00:59:04,211 Yeah, he was fit to be tied. 985 00:59:06,630 --> 00:59:10,300 And he basically acquiesced more than approved. 986 00:59:12,094 --> 00:59:14,513 The most important thing is that we were then able to go 987 00:59:14,596 --> 00:59:17,891 where we could have even better security and communication. 988 00:59:19,017 --> 00:59:21,687 Offutt Air Force Base is an hour and 15 minutes north, 989 00:59:21,770 --> 00:59:24,314 and there are facilities there that will allow us to bring together 990 00:59:24,398 --> 00:59:27,150 all the important officials of the government together 991 00:59:27,234 --> 00:59:29,570 in a secure video conference. 992 00:59:29,653 --> 00:59:31,280 Now the president was not happy about this 993 00:59:31,363 --> 00:59:34,575 and made it clear that this was their last dodge. 994 00:59:34,658 --> 00:59:36,201 So, quicker the better. 995 00:59:41,290 --> 00:59:45,169 How the president now spends his time today, 996 00:59:45,252 --> 00:59:47,546 what he is seen to do, is absolutely vital. 997 00:59:47,629 --> 00:59:50,007 Not just to the country, but to him. 998 00:59:50,090 --> 00:59:51,466 It's a critical time for him. 999 00:59:51,550 --> 00:59:56,471 He said that the nation is being tested. The new president is being tested as well. 1000 00:59:57,222 --> 00:59:59,725 The main thing he has to do, for most Americans, 1001 00:59:59,808 --> 01:00:02,102 is communicate to them that he's in charge, 1002 01:00:02,186 --> 01:00:04,938 that he intends to take control of this situation 1003 01:00:05,022 --> 01:00:08,567 and, as he said, hunt down the people who are responsible for it 1004 01:00:08,650 --> 01:00:09,651 and punish them. 1005 01:00:14,823 --> 01:00:17,576 I saw how America was reacting. 1006 01:00:17,659 --> 01:00:20,162 You know, I'm really not a very angry person, 1007 01:00:20,245 --> 01:00:23,040 but I was angry that people killed Americans. 1008 01:00:24,958 --> 01:00:27,503 But you can't make rational decisions when you're angry. 1009 01:00:28,378 --> 01:00:30,547 As president, it's really important you don't decide 1010 01:00:30,631 --> 01:00:35,260 till you fully understand the environment and the facts. 1011 01:00:37,262 --> 01:00:39,389 The president asked to see me in his office. 1012 01:00:40,390 --> 01:00:41,558 Alone, he said. 1013 01:00:42,976 --> 01:00:46,647 President then looked at me and said, "Michael, who did this?" 1014 01:00:49,608 --> 01:00:52,194 I told him that I had not seen any intelligence 1015 01:00:52,736 --> 01:00:55,531 that would take us to a perpetrator, 1016 01:00:55,614 --> 01:00:58,617 so he was gonna get my best estimate, right? 1017 01:00:58,700 --> 01:01:03,372 Not finely analyzed intelligence. 1018 01:01:03,455 --> 01:01:06,041 And he said, "I understand the caveat, now move on." 1019 01:01:06,834 --> 01:01:09,378 It's a very, kind of, George Bush thing to do. 1020 01:01:10,087 --> 01:01:14,341 So I said, "Mr. President, there are two nation-states 1021 01:01:14,842 --> 01:01:17,010 who have the capability of doing this. 1022 01:01:17,094 --> 01:01:18,929 Iran and Iraq. 1023 01:01:19,012 --> 01:01:21,932 But neither one of them has anything to gain, 1024 01:01:22,015 --> 01:01:24,268 so I don't think it was one of them." 1025 01:01:24,351 --> 01:01:28,063 I told him that I thought when we got to the end of the trail, 1026 01:01:28,146 --> 01:01:32,317 we would find al-Qaeda, and we would find bin Laden. 1027 01:01:32,401 --> 01:01:35,362 And I told him, "Mr. President, I am so confident in that, 1028 01:01:35,445 --> 01:01:37,489 that I would bet my children's future on it." 1029 01:01:40,492 --> 01:01:44,955 Then he just sat there for almost five minutes. 1030 01:01:48,917 --> 01:01:50,252 My job changed. 1031 01:01:52,504 --> 01:01:56,300 Let me rephrase that. My job became crystal clear. 1032 01:01:57,301 --> 01:02:02,890 I thought, "If it's al-Qaeda, what do we need to do to bring them to justice?" 1033 01:02:10,689 --> 01:02:15,569 When we got to Offutt, one of the first things the president said is, 1034 01:02:15,652 --> 01:02:17,738 "I wanna go back to Washington, right now." 1035 01:02:19,656 --> 01:02:23,577 So, the idea was, "Let's go down into the bunker, get briefed." 1036 01:02:24,203 --> 01:02:26,747 But it was on his mind from the moment he arrived. 1037 01:02:26,830 --> 01:02:28,248 "I wanna go back to Washington." 1038 01:02:29,041 --> 01:02:30,959 Ann Compton, who's been with the president all day, 1039 01:02:31,043 --> 01:02:33,879 is on the phone from Nebraska. 1040 01:02:33,962 --> 01:02:35,547 And we don't wanna lose her, if we can have her. 1041 01:02:35,631 --> 01:02:36,924 Annie, can you hear me? 1042 01:02:37,007 --> 01:02:39,885 -Yes, Peter, I can, and-- -What are you doing in Nebraska? 1043 01:02:39,968 --> 01:02:42,804 Well, we didn't know where we were till we landed. 1044 01:02:42,888 --> 01:02:46,642 President Bush is here at the home of the Strategic Command, 1045 01:02:46,725 --> 01:02:49,311 and he has disappeared down the rabbit hole, Peter. 1046 01:02:49,394 --> 01:02:53,106 Down through a red brick, small building, 1047 01:02:53,190 --> 01:02:54,983 down into an underground bunker, 1048 01:02:55,067 --> 01:02:59,112 where the president is going to chair a National Security Council meeting 1049 01:02:59,196 --> 01:03:00,656 by teleconference. 1050 01:03:01,698 --> 01:03:03,700 Here he was at Offutt Air Force Base, 1051 01:03:03,784 --> 01:03:06,411 and all of this was going on, and he couldn't get back. 1052 01:03:06,495 --> 01:03:08,914 And he was really, kind of, caged. 1053 01:03:10,207 --> 01:03:13,001 That was the sense I had of his frustration. 1054 01:03:13,669 --> 01:03:17,130 He couldn't be where he needed to be. 1055 01:03:18,423 --> 01:03:19,758 Throughout the morning, 1056 01:03:19,842 --> 01:03:23,554 the moves to protect the president have compromised his access to information. 1057 01:03:24,221 --> 01:03:27,057 But now, 75 feet underground 1058 01:03:27,140 --> 01:03:30,018 and six hours since the first plane struck, 1059 01:03:30,102 --> 01:03:32,563 he finally receives up-to-date intelligence. 1060 01:03:33,730 --> 01:03:39,194 George Tenet was on the screen and was briefing the president 1061 01:03:39,278 --> 01:03:43,031 about information that we had uncovered 1062 01:03:43,115 --> 01:03:45,117 just in the last few hours. 1063 01:03:45,200 --> 01:03:46,952 Did we know it was al-Qaeda? 1064 01:03:47,035 --> 01:03:48,787 We thought we did. 1065 01:03:48,871 --> 01:03:52,666 The CIA director confirmed that we did. 1066 01:03:53,667 --> 01:03:57,963 George said, "We know that al-Qaeda did this." 1067 01:03:58,046 --> 01:04:02,176 He said, "Mr. President, we'll confirm in the morning, but we know." 1068 01:04:02,259 --> 01:04:04,595 And the president said, "How do you know?" 1069 01:04:04,678 --> 01:04:06,555 And that was when George said 1070 01:04:06,638 --> 01:04:11,602 those manifests had people who were on our watch list. 1071 01:04:16,190 --> 01:04:19,610 The president turned around and looked at me. 1072 01:04:19,693 --> 01:04:23,113 And I could tell by the look on his face that he was saying, 1073 01:04:23,197 --> 01:04:26,825 "I thought I told you that I wanted to be the first to know." 1074 01:04:27,409 --> 01:04:29,745 And it was a look of disappointment in me. 1075 01:04:31,872 --> 01:04:35,334 President Bush practically came through the television screen, and he said, 1076 01:04:35,417 --> 01:04:37,503 "We are at war against terror, 1077 01:04:37,586 --> 01:04:41,298 and from this day forward, this is the priority of our administration." 1078 01:04:43,050 --> 01:04:45,135 That was the first thing he said to all of us. 1079 01:04:46,386 --> 01:04:49,097 I did need to make sure that they knew who was in charge. 1080 01:04:49,181 --> 01:04:51,099 I'm not suggesting anybody was peeling off, 1081 01:04:51,183 --> 01:04:55,854 but teams function better when the leader, in this case, asserts himself. 1082 01:04:55,938 --> 01:04:59,107 And I wanted them to know that we needed a plan to deal with it 1083 01:04:59,191 --> 01:05:01,276 and that everybody had a role to play. 1084 01:05:02,444 --> 01:05:06,657 I remember him saying to the FBI director, 1085 01:05:06,740 --> 01:05:08,700 "Your job just changed. 1086 01:05:09,660 --> 01:05:15,499 You're accustomed, at the FBI, to catching the bad guys after a crime is committed. 1087 01:05:15,582 --> 01:05:20,838 Your job is now to prevent the terrorists from launching another attack." 1088 01:05:22,589 --> 01:05:24,883 I called George Tenet's executive assistant, 1089 01:05:24,967 --> 01:05:28,303 and he told me the information that CIA had developed 1090 01:05:28,387 --> 01:05:31,974 on al-Qaeda that day was embargoed from leaving the building. 1091 01:05:32,850 --> 01:05:37,145 And I said in a very loud voice, and with some swear words, 1092 01:05:37,229 --> 01:05:40,232 "Embargoed from the president of the United States?" 1093 01:05:41,692 --> 01:05:43,402 Long pause at the other end. 1094 01:05:43,986 --> 01:05:45,946 And I said, "Just send it to me right now." 1095 01:05:46,029 --> 01:05:47,614 And I slammed the phone down. 1096 01:05:52,286 --> 01:05:56,790 The president specifically asked George if he thought there would be more attacks. 1097 01:05:57,499 --> 01:06:01,879 And George Tenet told the president, "I think we're done for today." 1098 01:06:03,630 --> 01:06:08,719 When the president had heard all the information that he was presented, 1099 01:06:08,802 --> 01:06:10,929 and he was done asking questions, 1100 01:06:11,013 --> 01:06:15,142 he stood, he slapped his hand on the table, 1101 01:06:15,225 --> 01:06:17,186 and he says, "We're going home." 1102 01:06:19,980 --> 01:06:22,107 I decided to go back to Washington. 1103 01:06:23,483 --> 01:06:25,611 The idea was to give a speech to the nation. 1104 01:06:26,904 --> 01:06:29,740 And giving a speech to the nation 1105 01:06:29,823 --> 01:06:34,203 from a bunker in the middle of Nebraska was not my vision of leadership. 1106 01:06:35,537 --> 01:06:38,081 I said, "If I'm gonna give a speech to the nation, 1107 01:06:38,165 --> 01:06:41,293 it's gonna be from Washington, DC. And I'm coming home." 1108 01:06:45,631 --> 01:06:50,219 On the way back, the president came back on Air Force One, 1109 01:06:50,302 --> 01:06:52,471 stopping first in the Secret Service cabin, 1110 01:06:52,554 --> 01:06:54,806 thanking them, patting them on the shoulder. 1111 01:06:54,890 --> 01:06:57,476 And he stopped at the door to the press cabin. 1112 01:06:57,559 --> 01:07:01,271 He waved away our reporters' notebooks. Didn't wanna be quoted. 1113 01:07:01,355 --> 01:07:04,233 And then he said, "We're gonna get those thugs." 1114 01:07:06,735 --> 01:07:09,821 And I'm looking out the window of Air Force One, 1115 01:07:09,905 --> 01:07:12,950 and it's this beautiful, golden afternoon. 1116 01:07:13,575 --> 01:07:16,245 And there was this sense that the worst is over. 1117 01:07:17,996 --> 01:07:20,374 It was a day full of a lot of sadness. 1118 01:07:22,125 --> 01:07:25,879 And I knew that Mother and Dad would be worried about how I was feeling. 1119 01:07:25,963 --> 01:07:27,756 And I finally found 'em. 1120 01:07:28,382 --> 01:07:30,092 And Mother got on the phone, 1121 01:07:30,175 --> 01:07:32,094 and I said, "Mother, where are you, by the way?" 1122 01:07:32,177 --> 01:07:33,929 She said, "We're outside Milwaukee." 1123 01:07:34,012 --> 01:07:36,139 I said, "You gotta be kidding me. What're you doing there?" 1124 01:07:36,223 --> 01:07:37,975 She said, "You grounded our plane." 1125 01:07:39,017 --> 01:07:41,562 And so… It was typical Mother. 1126 01:07:41,645 --> 01:07:44,022 And was I concerned about 'em? You bet. 1127 01:07:44,106 --> 01:07:46,358 But once I knew they were safe, I was fine. 1128 01:07:48,527 --> 01:07:51,071 The president felt a sense of relief, 1129 01:07:51,154 --> 01:07:54,533 a sense of, "I'm excited to get back to Washington." 1130 01:07:54,616 --> 01:07:58,370 I think a lot of folks felt a sense of relaxation that it was over. 1131 01:07:58,453 --> 01:08:01,707 And I felt like, "I don't know if we really know what's going on," right? 1132 01:08:01,790 --> 01:08:04,793 I mean, we feel that way, that it's over. 1133 01:08:05,627 --> 01:08:08,547 We do have the escort from the F-16s, 1134 01:08:08,630 --> 01:08:11,383 but do I really know the whole terrorist event's over? 1135 01:08:12,926 --> 01:08:15,262 The concerns of the Secret Service deepen 1136 01:08:15,345 --> 01:08:17,345 when new intelligence suddenly emerges, 1137 01:08:18,055 --> 01:08:19,349 raising tensions again. 1138 01:08:21,977 --> 01:08:22,978 Flying back, 1139 01:08:23,060 --> 01:08:27,816 CIA headquarters securely faxed a package of materials to Air Force One. 1140 01:08:28,901 --> 01:08:30,652 There was a piece of intelligence 1141 01:08:30,736 --> 01:08:35,616 that had been provided to us by a European intelligence service 1142 01:08:35,698 --> 01:08:42,162 that said that what happened that morning was the first of two waves of attacks 1143 01:08:42,247 --> 01:08:43,457 against the US homeland. 1144 01:08:45,917 --> 01:08:50,087 Was this all part of their plan to get us back to Washington 1145 01:08:50,171 --> 01:08:52,799 so that the second wave could happen? 1146 01:08:54,384 --> 01:08:59,264 The president had just gone through the worst attack on the United States 1147 01:08:59,348 --> 01:09:00,682 in American history. 1148 01:09:01,433 --> 01:09:04,685 And here, his intelligence briefer was showing him a piece of intelligence 1149 01:09:04,770 --> 01:09:07,856 that suggested that there might be a second wave coming at us. 1150 01:09:09,024 --> 01:09:13,028 He didn't say anything that suggested that this hit him hard, 1151 01:09:13,111 --> 01:09:16,198 but I could tell just by the look on his face. 1152 01:09:18,283 --> 01:09:22,371 I spent a lot of time worrying about further attacks. A lot. 1153 01:09:22,453 --> 01:09:24,206 We felt pretty secure. 1154 01:09:25,165 --> 01:09:26,750 And all of a sudden… 1155 01:09:29,294 --> 01:09:33,465 a group of killers was able to penetrate our so-called defenses 1156 01:09:33,549 --> 01:09:37,094 and kill 3,000 people in one moment's notice. 1157 01:09:40,095 --> 01:09:42,890 As the prospect of further attacks occupies the president, 1158 01:09:44,475 --> 01:09:47,938 the effects of the initial strikes continue to unfold. 1159 01:09:48,479 --> 01:09:52,359 A third building in the World Trade Center complex is in danger of collapse. 1160 01:09:52,984 --> 01:09:55,237 Here we go. There it goes. 1161 01:09:56,697 --> 01:09:57,698 Shit. 1162 01:09:58,699 --> 01:10:01,994 Are we-- Is this-- Were there people down there? 1163 01:10:05,914 --> 01:10:09,126 A third World Trade Center building has now collapsed, 1164 01:10:09,209 --> 01:10:11,378 the 47-story building number seven. 1165 01:10:11,461 --> 01:10:13,881 CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick is there. 1166 01:10:13,964 --> 01:10:15,841 Suddenly everyone started screaming, 1167 01:10:15,924 --> 01:10:18,635 people started running, panicking because it looked like-- 1168 01:10:18,719 --> 01:10:22,014 it looked like just a wall of dust coming for us. 1169 01:10:23,807 --> 01:10:26,560 The fear on the streets of New York 1170 01:10:27,269 --> 01:10:30,480 is matched by the mood of many aboard Air Force One. 1171 01:10:30,564 --> 01:10:34,026 I think, just based upon the unknown, 1172 01:10:34,109 --> 01:10:38,363 I did have a few moments of real concern that I would never see my family again. 1173 01:10:41,658 --> 01:10:45,287 Precautions were being taken on many levels 1174 01:10:45,370 --> 01:10:49,708 that had me and, I'm sure, others concerned 1175 01:10:49,791 --> 01:10:51,919 that we might not make it through the day. 1176 01:10:53,754 --> 01:10:58,342 I remember Colonel Dick Tubb, who is the White House doctor, 1177 01:10:58,425 --> 01:11:02,054 he kind of went around to all of us and was giving us these pills. 1178 01:11:02,137 --> 01:11:04,806 I looked at him. I said, "Doc, what's this?" 1179 01:11:04,890 --> 01:11:06,850 And he says, "It's Cipro. Just take it." 1180 01:11:07,809 --> 01:11:11,480 Cipro is a prophylactic against anthrax. 1181 01:11:11,563 --> 01:11:13,565 But we had to be ready for everything. 1182 01:11:14,733 --> 01:11:15,859 So I take the pills. 1183 01:11:17,110 --> 01:11:18,946 I kinda looked around and I said, 1184 01:11:19,029 --> 01:11:21,865 "I didn't see anybody else take all the pills." 1185 01:11:21,949 --> 01:11:23,867 And so I looked down, and I picked it up, 1186 01:11:23,951 --> 01:11:28,038 and it says, "Take one pill each day for the next seven days." 1187 01:11:28,121 --> 01:11:29,540 I'd just taken all of them. 1188 01:11:30,791 --> 01:11:37,381 And I said to myself-- and I went, "You dumb SOB. You just killed yourself." 1189 01:11:37,464 --> 01:11:39,466 I literally thought I'd just killed myself. 1190 01:11:40,259 --> 01:11:44,429 Obviously, I came out the other end of this okay. 1191 01:11:44,513 --> 01:11:50,936 And so it became a recurring joke about me attempting to OD on Air Force One on 9/11. 1192 01:11:54,481 --> 01:11:57,818 As concerns over a second wave of attacks linger, 1193 01:11:58,777 --> 01:12:01,613 more shocking news filters through to Air Force One. 1194 01:12:02,406 --> 01:12:06,994 An extraordinary piece of information on the Pentagon crash. 1195 01:12:07,077 --> 01:12:10,747 Our understanding is that Barbara Olson was on the plane. 1196 01:12:11,456 --> 01:12:16,461 A frequent commentator on CNN and the wife of Solicitor General Ted Olson. 1197 01:12:17,588 --> 01:12:23,010 When word is broken on the media that Barbara Olson has died, Ted Olson's wife, 1198 01:12:23,635 --> 01:12:29,141 it was the one moment where it was sorta hard to keep it together. 1199 01:12:30,350 --> 01:12:31,602 It was… 1200 01:12:34,563 --> 01:12:35,856 so personal. 1201 01:12:41,612 --> 01:12:44,573 Most of the people who worked in the White House knew Ted Olson 1202 01:12:44,656 --> 01:12:46,033 and Barbara Olson. 1203 01:12:46,617 --> 01:12:50,913 I remember Harriet Miers was a good friend of hers. 1204 01:12:50,996 --> 01:12:53,540 And when we learned the news, with all the things going on, 1205 01:12:53,624 --> 01:12:56,126 saw the president walk over and put his arm around Harriet 1206 01:12:56,210 --> 01:12:58,545 to comfort her in her moment of grief. 1207 01:13:04,760 --> 01:13:07,137 I went to bed that night around midnight, 1208 01:13:07,221 --> 01:13:11,934 and there was a note on the pillow from Barbara. 1209 01:13:14,311 --> 01:13:19,149 "Ted, I love you more than I ever thought it possible to love. 1210 01:13:26,698 --> 01:13:30,702 You are my best friend, lover, everything to me. 1211 01:13:30,786 --> 01:13:33,872 Happy 61st birthday. 1212 01:13:35,249 --> 01:13:39,628 And know that I am thinking of you as you read this. 1213 01:13:39,711 --> 01:13:45,425 Sleep well, and I will celebrate with you on Friday. 1214 01:13:45,509 --> 01:13:46,969 All my love, Barbara." 1215 01:13:52,182 --> 01:13:55,269 Almost nine hours after leaving Florida, 1216 01:13:56,687 --> 01:13:59,231 and having flown over 3,000 miles, 1217 01:14:00,691 --> 01:14:04,319 the president finally arrives at Andrews Air Force Base 1218 01:14:05,445 --> 01:14:07,614 just outside Washington. 1219 01:14:10,200 --> 01:14:13,453 The routine was to get off of Air Force One, get on Marine One. 1220 01:14:13,537 --> 01:14:16,665 There's always a sense of aura, delight. Not anymore. 1221 01:14:18,792 --> 01:14:22,337 You could actually feel just a cold, hard tension. 1222 01:14:25,591 --> 01:14:29,845 There was a palpable sense of fear in the air. 1223 01:14:32,347 --> 01:14:34,141 There are two Marine Ones. 1224 01:14:34,224 --> 01:14:35,976 One is kind of the dummy one. 1225 01:14:36,059 --> 01:14:38,604 You're supposed to not know which one the president's on. 1226 01:14:38,687 --> 01:14:40,856 I was on the second one, 1227 01:14:40,939 --> 01:14:45,402 and I wanted a sign that said, "No, he's on the other one." 1228 01:14:48,405 --> 01:14:51,408 We'd fly at treetop level, zigzagging, 1229 01:14:53,076 --> 01:14:57,164 because it would be harder for a stinger missile to find us, I guess. 1230 01:14:59,708 --> 01:15:02,503 And we zigzag, and we get down to the Potomac River, 1231 01:15:02,586 --> 01:15:06,006 and you see the smoke billowing out of the Pentagon. 1232 01:15:10,219 --> 01:15:14,264 It was a surreal moment because the Capitol was vacant 1233 01:15:14,348 --> 01:15:18,936 except for military checkpoints on major thoroughfares. 1234 01:15:19,561 --> 01:15:22,272 And the Pentagon was smoldering in the background. 1235 01:15:23,148 --> 01:15:25,025 And it was a war zone. 1236 01:15:26,193 --> 01:15:29,780 And it's an image I'll never forget. 1237 01:15:30,989 --> 01:15:34,368 Meant I was a wartime president, and I was heading into the zone. 1238 01:15:37,246 --> 01:15:39,373 The president looked out his window, 1239 01:15:39,456 --> 01:15:43,502 and he said, "The mightiest building in the world is on fire. 1240 01:15:43,585 --> 01:15:46,129 That's the 21st-century war you just witnessed." 1241 01:15:48,924 --> 01:15:51,385 He said it out loud to no one in particular. 1242 01:15:52,469 --> 01:15:54,471 He was collecting his thoughts. 1243 01:15:57,266 --> 01:15:59,268 This was a different kind of war. 1244 01:16:00,310 --> 01:16:05,774 In the past, America had fought war against nation-states. 1245 01:16:05,858 --> 01:16:10,070 They had a capital. They had armies-- standing armies or navies. 1246 01:16:10,153 --> 01:16:14,533 In this case, we're at war with a shadow state. 1247 01:16:19,329 --> 01:16:21,164 The president and I had talked 1248 01:16:21,248 --> 01:16:23,417 about him addressing the nation that night. 1249 01:16:24,418 --> 01:16:25,961 I just remember him feeling like 1250 01:16:26,044 --> 01:16:28,839 it looked like he was just being chased around the country 1251 01:16:28,922 --> 01:16:33,760 and that that did not project the strength and reassurance that people needed. 1252 01:16:33,844 --> 01:16:35,762 And so, he was frustrated by that. 1253 01:16:38,098 --> 01:16:41,894 The president needs to move forward in a determined fashion… 1254 01:16:46,231 --> 01:16:47,482 to deal with the enemy. 1255 01:16:53,614 --> 01:16:55,240 When you speak from the Oval Office, 1256 01:16:56,575 --> 01:16:57,743 it's a big deal. 1257 01:16:59,328 --> 01:17:01,246 We started working on it pretty quickly. 1258 01:17:03,373 --> 01:17:07,503 Presidential addresses to the nation typically have a bit more time, 1259 01:17:07,586 --> 01:17:10,005 you know, days to be put together. 1260 01:17:10,088 --> 01:17:12,049 And this had to be done in hours. 1261 01:17:14,801 --> 01:17:20,807 There were pretty tense moments getting ready for the address to the nation. 1262 01:17:22,643 --> 01:17:25,145 Clearly tired and stressed-out people 1263 01:17:25,229 --> 01:17:27,564 trying to figure out what the next steps were. 1264 01:17:28,565 --> 01:17:32,653 This was the first attack on the territory, 1265 01:17:32,736 --> 01:17:35,822 the sovereign, homeland territory of the United States, 1266 01:17:35,906 --> 01:17:37,366 since the War of 1812. 1267 01:17:39,952 --> 01:17:43,580 I felt very much that we had indeed seen the face of evil. 1268 01:17:44,373 --> 01:17:48,961 And any moment, it looked as if there might be another attack. 1269 01:17:51,713 --> 01:17:54,132 The country was still in shock. 1270 01:17:54,216 --> 01:18:00,806 And there was a real struggle or tension about, is it reassurer in chief? 1271 01:18:01,682 --> 01:18:06,228 Or commander in chief? Do we need to start hitting the war drums? 1272 01:18:08,188 --> 01:18:11,984 The speech, I think, at the beginning, had more reassurance than he wanted. 1273 01:18:12,067 --> 01:18:14,736 He wanted a little bit more steel, which is what he got. 1274 01:18:16,029 --> 01:18:18,574 President basically has to set the tone, 1275 01:18:18,657 --> 01:18:20,909 and George Bush did. 1276 01:18:21,618 --> 01:18:22,995 He knew what he wanted. 1277 01:18:24,371 --> 01:18:29,585 The changes were necessary to avoid what happened to us on 9/11. 1278 01:18:29,668 --> 01:18:31,253 To minimize the risk. 1279 01:18:33,172 --> 01:18:36,300 The job of a president is to protect the American people from harm. 1280 01:18:38,260 --> 01:18:42,472 Some presidents don't need to worry about that, and some do. 1281 01:18:42,556 --> 01:18:44,892 Turns out I was one that did. 1282 01:18:46,935 --> 01:18:48,187 Two minutes. 1283 01:18:50,189 --> 01:18:52,274 It was very emotional for me 1284 01:18:52,357 --> 01:18:55,402 to see the president coming back into the Oval Office. 1285 01:18:57,487 --> 01:18:58,697 He was different. 1286 01:19:00,490 --> 01:19:03,869 He was a war president. 1287 01:19:09,750 --> 01:19:10,751 Dead fly. 1288 01:19:10,834 --> 01:19:13,045 -One minute. -Thank you. 1289 01:19:13,629 --> 01:19:15,964 I remember thinking, 1290 01:19:16,048 --> 01:19:19,051 "Gosh, I was in that office, the Oval Office, three days ago. 1291 01:19:19,134 --> 01:19:20,802 And wow. 1292 01:19:20,886 --> 01:19:26,892 The curtains are the same. Carpet is the same. Nothing's the same." 1293 01:19:31,355 --> 01:19:32,940 Good evening. 1294 01:19:33,023 --> 01:19:37,194 Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, 1295 01:19:37,277 --> 01:19:39,863 our very freedom came under attack 1296 01:19:39,947 --> 01:19:43,617 in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. 1297 01:19:44,826 --> 01:19:49,081 The victims were in airplanes or in their offices. 1298 01:19:49,164 --> 01:19:54,253 Secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers, 1299 01:19:54,336 --> 01:19:57,256 moms and dads, friends and neighbors. 1300 01:19:58,298 --> 01:20:02,886 There were certain things that we felt he had to say immediately. 1301 01:20:02,970 --> 01:20:06,390 Things that he wouldn't get a second chance to say. 1302 01:20:06,473 --> 01:20:08,183 And the Bush Doctrine, 1303 01:20:08,267 --> 01:20:12,020 "If you harbor a terrorist, we'll treat you as a terrorist," 1304 01:20:12,104 --> 01:20:13,730 was one of those things. 1305 01:20:15,065 --> 01:20:16,817 We understood that this was bold. 1306 01:20:16,900 --> 01:20:18,777 That it had implications. 1307 01:20:19,444 --> 01:20:22,739 And so I took the sentence out 1308 01:20:22,823 --> 01:20:26,034 and took it to him, and I said, "Do you want to say this?" 1309 01:20:26,118 --> 01:20:29,872 And he said, "Yes. I have to say it now." 1310 01:20:30,789 --> 01:20:34,293 The search is underway for those who were behind these evil acts. 1311 01:20:35,127 --> 01:20:36,545 I've directed the full resources 1312 01:20:36,628 --> 01:20:39,298 of our intelligence and law enforcement communities 1313 01:20:39,381 --> 01:20:43,260 to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. 1314 01:20:44,511 --> 01:20:49,600 We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts 1315 01:20:49,683 --> 01:20:51,018 and those who harbor them. 1316 01:20:52,644 --> 01:20:58,233 The inclusion of the Bush Doctrine in the president's speech was an open question 1317 01:20:58,317 --> 01:21:01,403 in the minutes before the speech was given, 1318 01:21:01,486 --> 01:21:04,656 because it's a very big deal 1319 01:21:04,740 --> 01:21:09,119 for the United States to announce that if you're harboring terrorism, 1320 01:21:09,203 --> 01:21:12,122 you are now an enemy of the United States. 1321 01:21:13,999 --> 01:21:17,377 Killing thousands of Americans, more than we lost at Pearl Harbor. 1322 01:21:18,712 --> 01:21:19,963 This was an act of war. 1323 01:21:22,090 --> 01:21:23,675 I was the guilty party. 1324 01:21:23,759 --> 01:21:28,931 I wanted to be as aggressive as necessary in order to achieve our objective. 1325 01:21:29,014 --> 01:21:30,807 And that was to keep the country safe. 1326 01:21:30,891 --> 01:21:34,728 Of course we all were hurting. We all were terrified. 1327 01:21:34,811 --> 01:21:38,440 War is not something you wanna get into if you can avoid it. 1328 01:21:39,775 --> 01:21:42,110 But we tend to be an aggressive nation. 1329 01:21:43,195 --> 01:21:45,572 Especially when we have been aggressed against. 1330 01:21:47,866 --> 01:21:51,453 When I'm asked about some of the things we did with speed, 1331 01:21:51,537 --> 01:21:54,790 I want to say to people, "What would you have done?" 1332 01:21:56,208 --> 01:21:58,544 We didn't have time for a lot of consultation 1333 01:21:58,627 --> 01:22:00,671 about how we were gonna handle it. 1334 01:22:02,965 --> 01:22:05,050 None of us will ever forget this day, 1335 01:22:05,717 --> 01:22:08,345 yet we go forward to defend freedom 1336 01:22:08,428 --> 01:22:12,641 and all that is good and just in our world. 1337 01:22:13,308 --> 01:22:17,688 Thank you. Good night. And God bless America. 1338 01:22:20,440 --> 01:22:23,777 Nobody knew then where this was going to end up. 1339 01:22:25,904 --> 01:22:30,200 But, one way or another, we were going into battle as a nation. 1340 01:22:33,412 --> 01:22:36,707 How, where, and what that would be, 1341 01:22:36,790 --> 01:22:38,166 how long it would take, 1342 01:22:39,376 --> 01:22:43,088 how big or how small the effort would be, were the things that nobody knew. 1343 01:22:46,842 --> 01:22:49,678 We did everything we knew to do. 1344 01:22:49,761 --> 01:22:53,473 But 3,000 people died on your watch. 1345 01:22:54,975 --> 01:22:58,312 Did we miss something? Could we have connected the dots better? 1346 01:22:58,395 --> 01:23:00,314 It just gnaws at you. 1347 01:23:00,397 --> 01:23:02,357 And you can never quite get over it 1348 01:23:02,441 --> 01:23:05,068 because, by definition, you didn't do enough. 1349 01:23:05,152 --> 01:23:06,862 The attack took place. 1350 01:23:09,489 --> 01:23:11,783 You know, I've thought about it a lot. 1351 01:23:12,284 --> 01:23:13,785 If there's more we could've done, 1352 01:23:13,869 --> 01:23:16,205 I'd like somebody to point it out to me what it is. 1353 01:23:18,498 --> 01:23:21,210 You can only act on the intelligence you got. 1354 01:23:22,711 --> 01:23:27,007 There was a onetime, vague mention of terrorists using airplanes, 1355 01:23:27,090 --> 01:23:29,718 but it was not actionable intelligence. 1356 01:23:33,680 --> 01:23:36,475 Okay, thank you very much. Let's go, guys. 1357 01:23:37,184 --> 01:23:38,352 Thank you. Let's go. 1358 01:23:40,646 --> 01:23:43,190 All right. Sad day. 1359 01:23:45,400 --> 01:23:46,401 Thanks. 1360 01:24:03,126 --> 01:24:06,505 After the longest three days of his presidency, 1361 01:24:06,588 --> 01:24:09,299 George Bush flies into downtown Manhattan 1362 01:24:09,383 --> 01:24:13,554 to see for himself the scene of devastation for the first time. 1363 01:24:15,722 --> 01:24:20,018 As we approached New York, probably five, eight miles out, 1364 01:24:21,562 --> 01:24:24,398 the smoke was blowing south. 1365 01:24:26,608 --> 01:24:30,612 And the cabin of that helicopter became filled 1366 01:24:30,696 --> 01:24:34,199 with this awful, awful smell. 1367 01:24:36,410 --> 01:24:39,371 You know, burnt plastic, burnt rubber. 1368 01:24:39,454 --> 01:24:42,624 And… And… 1369 01:24:45,335 --> 01:24:46,712 human bodies. 1370 01:24:49,798 --> 01:24:51,258 No one says a word, 1371 01:24:51,341 --> 01:24:56,471 and the pilot of Marine One circles that pillar of smoke. 1372 01:24:58,932 --> 01:25:02,936 And we can look down and see the rescue workers. 1373 01:25:04,146 --> 01:25:08,442 And then we go over and we land down by Wall Street. 1374 01:25:13,989 --> 01:25:18,619 We were the first group that had been down to Ground Zero 1375 01:25:18,702 --> 01:25:21,538 other than emergency services personnel. 1376 01:25:29,338 --> 01:25:31,882 It was almost like Pompeii. 1377 01:25:35,886 --> 01:25:40,140 A sandwich cart abandoned, covered with this dust. 1378 01:25:40,224 --> 01:25:41,433 Sandwiches still in it. 1379 01:25:43,268 --> 01:25:47,940 Meals still sitting on tables from several days before. 1380 01:25:49,691 --> 01:25:52,361 It was just like everything had been frozen in time. 1381 01:25:58,450 --> 01:26:00,494 It was like going into hell. 1382 01:26:01,620 --> 01:26:05,749 There was a fog of-- There was a stench of death. 1383 01:26:07,125 --> 01:26:09,294 Sloshing through water… 1384 01:26:10,879 --> 01:26:14,508 It was really, really overpowering. 1385 01:26:23,934 --> 01:26:28,814 After we left Ground Zero, we went to the Jacob Javits Center. 1386 01:26:29,648 --> 01:26:32,776 And we stop, and the Secret Service opens the door. 1387 01:26:32,860 --> 01:26:35,737 And the president gets out, and the advance man is there, 1388 01:26:35,821 --> 01:26:37,406 and president says, "What's this?" 1389 01:26:38,198 --> 01:26:42,452 "We've gathered some of the families of the policemen and firemen 1390 01:26:42,536 --> 01:26:46,874 and emergency workers that are missing down at Ground Zero. 1391 01:26:49,334 --> 01:26:51,211 We thought you could say something to them." 1392 01:26:55,090 --> 01:26:58,385 It was unbelievably disheartening in many ways 1393 01:26:58,468 --> 01:27:00,971 because there were families 1394 01:27:01,054 --> 01:27:04,183 who were waiting for their loved ones to come out of the rubble. 1395 01:27:05,142 --> 01:27:08,645 And I had just seen the rubble and knew that nobody was coming out. 1396 01:27:11,106 --> 01:27:14,985 And so my job there was to provide comfort as best as I could 1397 01:27:15,068 --> 01:27:18,906 to people who hoped for the impossible. 1398 01:27:21,325 --> 01:27:23,702 The last person I saw was Arlene Howard. 1399 01:27:25,120 --> 01:27:27,664 Arlene held this badge. 1400 01:27:29,708 --> 01:27:33,879 Her son, George, was off duty that day, 1401 01:27:33,962 --> 01:27:36,465 but when things started rolling, he showed up. 1402 01:27:36,548 --> 01:27:40,719 Got up, put on his uniform, and went into those buildings and died. 1403 01:27:41,887 --> 01:27:45,641 And she took the badge from his corpse, from his dead body, 1404 01:27:45,724 --> 01:27:48,268 and gave it to the president of the United States and said, 1405 01:27:48,352 --> 01:27:50,103 "I"-- 1406 01:27:50,187 --> 01:27:51,855 "I want you to always remember." 1407 01:27:55,692 --> 01:27:59,196 It meant never forget. Never forget the victims. 1408 01:28:00,864 --> 01:28:03,617 It took 20 years 1409 01:28:03,700 --> 01:28:08,080 for the date to become meaningless to a lot of people. 1410 01:28:10,499 --> 01:28:14,795 And yet, to the people that went through it, it's not. 1411 01:28:14,878 --> 01:28:18,131 And that badge reminds us it's not a meaningless date. 1412 01:28:21,051 --> 01:28:24,721 Personally, I think it strengthened my faith. 1413 01:28:24,805 --> 01:28:27,516 And it certainly strengthened my faith in the American people, 1414 01:28:27,599 --> 01:28:30,102 because I saw America at its best.