weekend. >> today our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. >> well, it was a gorgeous day. the president arrived just as usual for an event, a reading

event in a small classroom to a crowd of a gym about education. >> welcome aboard. it's fox and friends, who minutes after 8, two after 5 out west. >> it was a regular, regular day. i started my day at bryant park at a fashion shoot. >> she has a little extra. >> it talks about... >> encouraging a reading program. california grand jury decided against investigating gary condit. >> it is our bet of the day. we are taking a time-out, plus a preview of the very latest fall tv show. you are watching fox friends. we are nuts about nuts.

>> i was in the battle cap. we were starting an exercise. we have a couple of those a year also because of the exercise we had the fighters on alert with a little extra gas with small weapons on board. >> the morning of the 11th i received a call from an individual who was the exercise coordinator asking if we had gotten a notification of a hijack situation approaching from the northeast.

>> a note was handed to me just as we were coming out of our video teleconference. boston center has a suspected hijacked airplane. i had put the f-15's at the national guard base on battle station and said we are holding out over the water can you get the permission. hijacker on the plane. don't know where it is. do not know where it is. >> what's going on?

>> we had a plane crash into the world trade center. >> the world trade center tower number one is on fire. >> an incredible plane crash into the world trade center here at the lower tip of manhattan. >> it is believed a 737 has crashed into -- speculation. took three floors out. joining us from fox report owen on the scene. where are you? >> i am on the roof of my building which is five blocks to the south of the world trade center. i am looking right now at the world trade center. there is a massive gaping hole on the second tower and it's about 15 stories from the roof. it's unbelievable to look at. there's a massive hole. (phone rings) >> fire department 408.

>> the plane obviously went in on one side and came out the other. this is horrible. >> right now let's hand it over to john scott. >> you can see the smoke. the smoke tower is growing. there is quite a bit of flames inside the building. walking into the studio that day i wear this wireless ifb we call it. i heard this very urgent voice in my ear and say john scott studio b now. it was a minute or two later we got the pictures up on the fox 5 helicopter. what could you say? the two towers are home at least during the day to upwards of

50,000 workers. fire t. looks like the plane was aiming towards the building. >> i was on the 67th floor when the >> i was on the 57th floor when the first plane hit. it took me a second or two to catch my breath. >> walking on b 4 going toward the parking lot. all of a sudden the whole floor, the whole building just rocked. it just rocked and through you. you just didn't know what happened. >> at 8:46, boom, there was this loud explosion, noise somewhere. didn't know exactly where. all i saw right up against the glass is fire, flames. just a big fireball. (sirens)

>> i am looking at something and all of a sudden it's ripped like it's paper because of whatever just passed through there. big heat comes blowing through the corridor that i am in. then there is silence for no apparent reason. i just turned looking toward jersey over the hudson and i see fireballs going down from the sides. i don't know what's happening. i don't know what's going on. >> debris raining down from 110 floors up. as you can see this is a clear blue sky day in manhattan. if this was an accident, it would be a needle in a haystack kind of accident. >> i was actually in new york in my office like everyone else.

like most other people i thought how could this possibly happen but never seeing the aptitude. >> secretary of state called in to say a plane had hit the trade center. i turned on the television and sat there wondering how can an airplane hit the world trade center it was a clear sky no weather problems? how can it happen. >> i was standing at my desk getting ready for my staff meeting down stairs with my senior people my second assistant came in and said a plane hit the world trade center. immediately my mind went to a twin engine plane at that time. i thought that's a terrible accident. >> i got a page the world trade center was hit by a plane. karl rove got to the president first and cold the president the plane has hit the world trade center. the president went directly into a holding room.

>> i called the president and said mr. president a plane has hit the world trade center. that's strange, a strange accident. i said that i would call him back when we had more information. >> first moments i called mayor giuliani right away and got a hold of him right after i got off the phone with rudy i called the president he was at florida at the educational conference. i was able to get him out of the conference and urge him to shut down the airspace over new york. >> walk down was very calm. people in the staircase were well behaved they were calm. occasionally somebody was anxious. but somebody in the stairwell would put their arm around them and say it's okay. we are doing fine. got around the mid 20s began to see firemen walking up the stairs and for the people walking down the sight of the firemen was a very calming experience. when i got into the lobby the full impact was beginning to

come. >> now you hear silence. it's a dead calm of dust and smoke and all of a sudden you hear people -- somebody starts screaming someone starts yelling someone starts saying -- you are hearing help, you are hearing please. one at a time you are hearing it. it just started and all of a sudden everybody started coming out what happened? what happened? what happened? >> as one of the volunteer fire marshals i grabbed my flashlight put a whistle around my neck and ran out of my private office into the larger office, and said come on everybody let's go there has been an explosion up stairs we have to move. >> elevator came we went down stairs. a crowd to get through a turnstile. security asked us where are you going? well, i saw fireballs coming we are getting out of here. no. go back to your office.

the building is secure. it is safe. >> strobe lights flashed normally sirens whooped a little bit and there was a clear announcement building two is secure. well that took a little bit of pressure off. i went for a walk to the east floor which is where our training floor is and walked up to the north wall and there were a lot of our people against the glass looking up to their left you could see the north tower, and very sadly at that moment what they were looking at was people jumping. >> it was all smoke and fire and the walls were caving. you couldn't even see the exit. you couldn't see the exit in style one. i am saying let's go. it looks like a clear shot home. you are going toward building two let's go. whoever can make it let's go.

>> are you there? okay, listen. hearing news reports a plane crashed into the other tower of the world trade center. actually right near us. we can see it clearly. it's right on our level, too. >> i had to listen to this on my answering machine. one jeff saying it's me. pick up. we screened our calls all of the time. that was 8:49. another message at 8:54. it was him again letting me know that i was going to be hearing on the news that the other tower had been hit. >> everyone is okay. it's pandemonium because we don't know what the heck happened there. so give me a call when you get this. okay? buy. >> he was eye level with tower one and he was watching people

jump to their death. after his tower was hit threes no pain and suffering. >> smoke on the top of the building. >> just stepped off the elevator on to 7th. two steps and the plane hit and had no idea what it was. a lot of the walls just disintegrated. the elevator doors blew out and flames shot out. so a few minutes after this happened it was obvious this was something worse than i originally thought it was. >> we have units on the way up now. fire on the 7th floor. >> i worked my way over to what i guess is the main exit stairwell. it was probably in the middle of the building. somewhere in the middle of the tower. and started going down 78 floors. we heard another noise and the building shook again not as much as the first time. that had to be the second plane hitting the other tower. somewhere in the 30s, 30s or 40s

first firemen and policemen started camming coming up. i finally made it down to the ground floor. we came outright in front of the plaza which is the area between the two towers where the fountain is. that was horrible. that was the worst scene. there were fires. there was debris falling from the towers. i saw bodies out there. right in front of the window right in front of me was a body strapped to an airplane seat. >> there was another one. we just saw -- we just saw another one. we just saw another one apparently go another plane just flew into the second tower. this raises -- this has to be deliberate brat, folks. we just saw on live television as a second plane flew into the

second tower of the world trade center. given what has been going on around the world, some of the key suspects come to mind osama bin laden. >> my first instinct was what is going on? how many planes are there? where are they coming from. who do i call for air support? i am the police commissioner i have 55,000 working for me. we are prepared for anything you could image. this was something you couldn't image. >> walked back down to my desk and the phone is ringing again. this time it's a young lady from chicago. are you okay? i am fine. for no apparent reason in mid sentence just happened to raise my head watching straight toward the statue of liberty. what i am seeing here is a big giant aircraft gray with red

letter on the wing coming straight eye contact eye level towards me. the next thing i know i dove under my desk huddled in the fetal position screaming, crying a plane crashed into the building. the plane coming straight cards me and the bottom wing went in my office door 20 feet from where i was under the desk. >> a lot of us came down the shaft and blew out everything elevator cables snap. when you hear a 40,000 pound elevator coming down the shaft hearing people screaming then all of a sudden you don't hear them screaming whatever was over there just died. there was silence. >> you have a second plane hit the tower of the world trade center. major fire. >> at 9:03 or whatever time it was when the second plane hit boom, boom, there was a double explosion. i learned later it was the plane hitting the building and then it

exploding. and for the next 10 seconds i t. >> the impact was so great and the sound it made was so loud i got temporarily deaf. i couldn't hear anything. it looked like a demolition crew came in and just knocked everything over. >> the building just continued to move left, left, left toward the hudson river, a long, long way. it felt like yards. whether it was or not, i don't know. the sensation was we are going too far we are going to fall over. something happened. i also knew in an instant it was terrorism. the room just fell apart from that second explosion. >> care tower about two-thirds of the way up. >> >> walls torn at jagged angles. door frames fell out of the walls. it was a mess. it was as if somebody opened

concrete staff and waived it into the air. it was yellow white stuff all over. >> i am crying. i am saying lord, i don't want to die. i don't want to die here. i have two little children. please, lord, save me. send somebody, anybody to help me. >> the building swayed forever one way then it came back to vertical and i snapped out of it and sobered upturned on my flashlight. >> i got a second page that a second tower had been hit. right away i knew it was terrorism. >> shortly after i got that page andy card walked in which spere into the president's right here the second tower has been hit we are under attack. i wrote on a legal pad don't say anything yet. i hold it up for the president to see. >> wendell goaler is at the white house rather make that sarasota. he is traveling with the

president. wendell what's the reaction from the president? >> the president is here promoting a reading initiative on the second day of a two-day trip to florida. he just finished reading to some children at the elementary school and was asked about the incident. he said he was aware of it and that he would have something to say about it later. >> it is beyond belief, both towers of the world trade center are burning. both have apparently been hit by

aircraft. >> my first reaction was to get down to the scene as fast as i could. as i was driving down emergency vehicles were going, obviously, flying down to the scene, and i jumped behind a police car and drafted it all of the way down and pretty much got two blocks. i got close to the tower and was shooting it but it was so tall i had to keep backing up to get a better shot. when i got the first shots i realized what was happening at the top of the towers. i look up people start shouting they are jumping. i look up just in time to see someone leap from what must have been the 108th floor.

they really must have felt like they had no other choice. the decision they made remains for me the most horrifying part of the whole tragedy. >> i realized there were jumpers and people lining up in the window wells, and i shot the first two that i saw and then turned off my camera, because i was over come with emotion. >> you are conscious of what's happening but it's sort of looking through the view finder is sort of an insulator. it's black-and-white. it's not color. >> two world trade center people trapped at this time. >> they knew early on they weren't going to be able to get the fire out. they wanted to get rescuers as quickly as possible as high as possible not concerned about the fire at that point. >> i heard a banging and a voice

screaming for help. help, help, i am buried. is anybody there. i can't breathe. help. >> don't leave me to die. somebody help me. >> the stranger's voice directed me come over here. >> even though he was responding i couldn't hear. so i tried to get out from under the desk. i realized i was covered up to my shoulder in debris. i had to peak through the rubble and i saw the bottom wing starts to burn. my greatest fear was this plane was going to ignite the fuel tank is going to explode. i was going to die. i crawled the entire length of the department through the lounge into the computer room into the communication room and i couldn't go further because there was a wall which was blocking. jump over it i am going to grab you. i got up from that prayer and i started punching, kicking as

hard as i can until a little hole appeared. he said i see your hand. you see my hand just yank me through. i jumped and i grabbed and i stuck my head through. >> i reached in, nothing happened. i said you must do this and up he went again and i reached in and somehow got under his arm or grabbed on to something and i lifted him up and over this barrier and we fell in a heap on the floor. >> this man gave me a head lock with all of his might he just pulled and yanked me right through that wall. it was like a super man yanked me through and i fell on top of him. i gave him a big hug and a kiss and i said you are my guardian angel. the lord sent you to save me. >> we started down the stairs. the inner wall had blown in. we could look through the cracks and you could see flames licking out the other side of the wall as we went down through this

area. >> we stopped at the floor because i couldn't breathe properly. i couldn't walk down. i was bloody, i was bruised and the leg wound was opening up. >> he went as low as the 44th floor, i know that as a empty hotel lobby until a security guard manning his booth looked at us wide eyed. probably surprised to see us. quickly said do you have telephone? my phones don't work but i will stay with this man if you get me help. >> the man was blind his back was open covered with blood. tell my wife my baby that i love them. send somebody up for me. the security guard stood like a hawk guarding that man. that man sacrificed his lifeguarding that man. while he was goiwe were going d officer came up. >> he left messages that he was fine and i called 911 and after some difficulty it took me three or four minutes to really get the message across that there was somebody down on the 44th

floor. i know they were overwhelmed that day. stanley and i went down to the plaza level without seeing a soul. nobody. on the plaza level we stared in awe at the plaza where the fountain is normally flowing and there's people coming and going. we know nothing about hijacked airplanes about the pentagon, none of this. we are ignorant of all of these facts. >> we got down to the ground floor, cops and firefighters and ems workers were there. debris was falling down. it looked like confetti on a ticker day parade. they were telling us to run, just go, run, run, run. they stayed back sacrificing themselves so that brian and i could live. order, all off-duty firefighters and off-duty officers are hereby recalled. by order of the city, all off-duty firefighters and all

off-duty officers are ordered by >> president bush is about to speak. he's in florida in what was supposed to be a joyous event at an elementary school but listen in. >> ladies and gentlemen, this is a difficult moment for america. i unfortunately will be back to washington after my remarks. secretary and the governor will take the podium to discuss education. i do want to thank the folks at the booker elementary school for their hospitality. today we have had a national tragedy. two airplanes have crashed into the world trade center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. i have spoken to the vice president, to the governor of new york, to the director of the fbi, and have ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the

victims and their families and to conduct a full scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act. terrorism against our nation will not stand. and now if you join me in a moment of silence. may god bless the victims their families and america. thank you very much. >> we saw the second airplane fly into the south tower of the world trade center. so we decided to scramble the f-16's out of langley air force base. >> traffic was crawling along looking through the radio talking about how washington, d.c. is also on high alert that is because they think that might be the next target. >> a group of people were sitting around the television

they were ready to throw our meetings. >> after the rush hour would normally have ended yet i got stuck in rush hour like traffic on the road to the west of the pentagon. >> we got a call that american airline 77 was a potential hijacked aircraft. >> as we sat down to have a meating for this client one of the people said, well, barbara olsen won't be here because she is on a plane to california. >> the plane took off at 8:10 in the morning. i had been in my office at the department of justice. one of the gals in my office and said barbara is on the phone. i was at first relieved to hear barbara on the telephone because panic strikes immediately. the next words out of her mouth were was tim my plane has been hijacked. >> we are watching all of this and trying to determine where they are.

>> >> the pilot had announced the plane had been hijacked. said it shortly after takeoff.

by this time the plane had been in the air for over an hour. they had been circling around for a while. she and the other passengers had been herded to the back of the airplane. i asked if they the hijackers knew she was calling. she said no, they don't know. she indicated they had used knives and box cutters to take over the plane. at some point we got cut off. i immediately called the command center of the department of justice to let them know that my wife was on a plane that had been hijacked. >> i keep driving i notice this plane coming in really fast and really low. i notice it's silver american airlines jetliner a passenger plane. a pretty big one. >> i told her in the first conversation that the two hijacked planes had hit the world trade center. her instincts were what can i tell the pilot? what can i do? i asked her where she was. she tried to tell me where she

was and what direction. >> flight 77 made a left turn heading back after it was hijacked. they came back over washington fairly high and did a left descending turn which gave him good visual visibility of the pentagon. >> i heard it before i saw it. i looked up directly in front of my field of vision parallel to the ground i saw a jet airplane with the silver paint job, with the red white and blue stripes under the windows. it was clearly an american airlines passenger jet come roaring by. >> did not know where that aircraft was. then just moments later that aircraft hit the pentagon. it hit washington, d.c. we were well south of there. >> it didn't veer from the course at all it was like a missile right into the side of

the pentagon. >> a huge fireball comes up in the air all kinds of smoke coming out. i could feel the actual impact of the explosion and even though my windows were up in in the car i could feel the heat from the fireball. >> david asman is joining us. john, we are hearing right now another explosion that has taken place at the pentagon. we have the heart of the financial district of america being attacked, now we understand that there is an explosion or has been an explosion in the pentagon. >> i began to hear reports of the explosion of the pentagon and i knew in my heart that aircraft. >> there has been an airplane crash an american airlines plane heading east possibly toward the pentagon. >> high visible smoek. -- smoke. >> it was instantaneous loud

noise the lights went out everything was black very heavy smoke debris piled on top of me. i am pinned in my chair at my desk. >> as i got closer a pile of debris what looked like a face. couldn't possibly be a live person. then i thought i saw it wink or blink. i yelled for help and from outside came the commander. >> it felt like a furnace in there. couldn't believe any one was alive. i saw captain thomas who was trying to pull some debris i looked up to my side and i saw mr. henson about 10 feet away inside a cave of debris. already my uniform is starting to melt my shoes are starting to melt. i am eager for him to get out of there. he said he can't budge. out of desperation i laid on my back under him put my feet over

my head and leg pressed as much as i could. >> pushing with my back and him pushing up with his legs managed to get most of the debris up enough to extra kate himself. >> i think the total thing took about 30 minutes. i didn't think i had very much time left when the rescue team came in. >> we couldn't get everybody out. >> my boss didn't make it. the whole section didn't make it. >> dc fire units going to our plan e, emergency plan which requires all off duty personnel to report back to the news station immediately. >> request that you evacuate the white house. >> the white house is being evacuated that comes to us from one of our fox producers in

washington. the white house is being evacuated. the pentagon as well. >> we have to pack up and go. >> planes just hijacked 20 minutes south of here and they are heading toward the capital. >> jim angle are you with us? >> streets around the white house were blocked.o there are vehicles on almost every block around the white house. as you know the white house is being evacuated. federal employees are standing on the street corners in and around the white house having left the building for fear of another attack. >> get back, get back. we have another inbound plane. >> as they brought me out i could see people running. people are crying, hurry up, get these people out. there's another one right behind. they must have had some input on the pennsylvania airplane. >> we were up over washington, d.c. and we are watching united 93 now start very gradually to take a flight path right towards

washington, d.c. and we were very concerned. >> this is the >> >> it was pointed toward washington. we had f-16's over washington, d.c. i was energized to start moving those fighters towards that aircraft. decided it would be wiser to keep the f-16's over washington, d.c. in case another aircraft were coming in from a different quadrant we didn't see. >> sir, we have to leave now. there's no chance for debate. took me out of the office down into the under ground. we got down to a place, a tunnel that is protected. when i got down into the tunnel

we saw the pentagon had been hit. that was on television. i called the president again. he was then headed toward the airport in florida and urged him not to return to washington because washington was now under attack. >> flight 93 was the only aircraft we could see on our radar at that particular time. it was slightly before or right around the time that the american airline 77 had hit the pentagon. we could see this aircraft flying around up in the ohio and pennsylvania areas. >> united airlines called me made a phone call to an operator. he had initially called to report a hijacking. this was a normal situation where the hijackers were going to return them to the airport and there was going to be some kind of demand made. >> i am on a flight from newark to san francisco. there are three guys on board that have taken over the plane

and they say they have a bomb, i am calling you from the air phone. then there was a long pause. mom, you believe me, don't you? yes, mark i believe you. who are these guys? there was another long pause. then mark aels voice came on the line, you believe me, don't you, mom. i said yes, mom, i believe you. who are those guys? then we were disconnected. >> leave a message. >> he told me immediately that he was on a plane that had been hijacked. he gave me a few details of what was going on and told me to call the authorities and he hung up. >> i said do you know who is flying the airplane? she said no i don't. we have all been herded to the

back. >> he knew there were two people in front of the plane who were hurt. they had flown first class. he couldn't see what was going on at that point. i told him immediately the world trade center has been hit and other airplanes have been hijacked. he paused and told the people sitting around him. he was alarmed anden he said my god it's a suicide mission. >> the plane turned around and started to dip they changed their course back to washington. >> in the third phone call i told him about the pentagon. he told me at that point he was putting a plan together to take back the airplane. i asked who was helping him. he said there's a group of us. >> we are back here getting hot water together to throw on them do you have any other ideas for them. >> they were going to rush the hijacker with the bomb and attack to the cockpit. he said it's what we have to do. it wasn't long after that that she heard him say ask the men

around him, are you ready? >> we are running to first class, i have got to go, bye. >> that was the last i heard. >> we know that the passengers made a rush on the cockpit a. we know that because the cockpit voice recorder they knew there was a movement afoot at the back. someone heard on the cockpit voice recording they are coming, they are coming. there was a tremendous flashing around of dishes and carts back and forth. >> this plane was 30 degrees it was rapidly go to 45 degrees the other way and rocking back and forth. i guess there was a flight going on and the airplane is rolling from right to left, from right to left. we heard blood screams i don't believe it was the passengers

screaming. >> they were rolling violently rolling back and forth. >> the hijackers were panicked. they were talking to each other do you want me to end it now. i believe that that was their signal that they were going to crash now because we are about to lose control of this airplane. >> i am absolutely convinced a 4th plane would have hit the capital but for those heros in pennsylvania. >> united 93, do you have information on that yet? >> yeah, he is down. >> he is down? >> yes. >> when did he land? >> he did not land. >> oh, he is down. >> somewhere northeast of camp david. >> authorities confirm a large plane crash 80 miles southeast of pittsburgh. you have to assume it's related to all of these goings on. >> i told brian, this is the lord's doing.

i am going to trinity church. he said look, i am coming with you. together we grabbed each other's hand and we started to run. surprisingly enough not even one piece of broken glass touched us. next thing i know we bumped into a priest. that's when he looked down he looked at me and said this man saved my life. i said to stanley, maybe you saved my life, too. he said i think that tower could go down. i said there's no way. that's a steel structure. i didn't finish the sentence. >> we started to run. we heard a strange sound like steel bending and creaking. the building started to implode. it came down like a pancake.

>> within a minute or two after he got the camera hooked up we set up to go reporting in the street that's when the first tower fell. >> we heard the rumble of thunder but it wasn't as loud as i expected it to be. >> get the camera up there. what shot is it? the max cam? >> oh my god. look, look, look. point that way. oh my god. >> just as i was about to go up -- as i was going up the stairwell on the church street side the building started going up. the fireman at the top said hit the deck. >> we are on church street we can't tell what happened. there has been a huge explosion. everyone is running for their lives literally. police, media. i see a woman pushing a baby

carriage. here comes the smoke. (sirens) >> i couldn't see anything because of all of the dust. all of the lights were out. >> after the south tower fell, that was the first time the panic set in. realized the south tower was hit second. now you have to worry about getting people out of the north tower as quickly as possible. >> i realized i was still alive. i didn't know i was alive or not. >> it's the whole tower. it's gone. holy crap. they knocked the whole freaking thing down. >> here comes some smoke. it's unclear what happened if the tower collapsed or what.

i think we better get out of this mess. i think we getter get out of this. >> we jumped in the truck with the camera. kept an inch or two crack in the door. >> oh my god. we might die here together you and me. >> you all right? >> we were in the dark literally. it was frightening. it was a frightening moment to have no connection to the outside world and have no idea what was going to happen next. >> we shouldn't be here, should we? >> everybody else (bleep) ran, cops and everything. >> i don't know what to do. we are in danger, bro. >> get out of the building. get out of the building. >> john. the scene is horrific. one of the two towers literally collapsed. i was making my way to the foot

of the world trade center suddenly walked up to an officer asking me about my press credentials. heard a loud blast, explosion, looked up and the building literally began to collapse before us. there was debris falling at least three quarters the height of the building, people in the entire perimeter began literally including myself to run for our lives. >> this is actually we believe debris from one of the planes that hit one of the towers from the world trade center. the fbi had roped this area off they were taking photographs and securing this area just prior to the huge explosion we all heard. >> everything just all of a sudden imploded. i ran as fast as i could all of a sudden the building had gone up with smoke. couldn't get out of the building because everything was locked up. then i came out and everything

was filled with ash. >> can anybody hear me? i am a civilian. i am trapped inside of one of the fire trucks underneath. >> stand by. >> i can't breathe much longer. save me. i am in a truck. i can barely breathe. please save somebody. (sirens) >> what happened? you were right there at the building? >> a lot of people trapped. >> emt. this guy needs help. >> can you tell us what you saw, what you heard. how do you feel? you all right? >> no, not at all. >> i feel bad approaching these people. they are covered. they are obviously in pain.

>> let's go. >> in the place where that plane hit the outer wall of the building, of course that building as you know is a series of concentric rings so when you hit the outer walls of the building those walls are down and you can see the gutted areas. >> the whole place blew. everything came down. couldn't see, couldn't breathe. terrible. i have never seen anything like it. i went through vietnam and i ain't never seen nothing like this. >> can they go? ? >> we have to. that's what we get paid for. as soon as we heard the explosion we ran out of new york state. >> back it up. back it up. >> here we go again.

here we go again. i don't know what's going on. but this -- the second building is collapsing, i believe. i don't know. i don't know. this happened before. >> back up. come over this way. we will. we can see the top of the building from here. oh, yeah. >> oh, there it goes, there it goes, there it goes. >> we do need to put it down now. i think i need to put it down now. here we go. >> we had a collapse of the second tower. everybody is running from there. >> you think you died three times people scream the building is coming down. all of a sudden you hear the rumbling on the floor of the west side highway. you think it's going to fall something is going to fall on you. you think you are going to die. >> we need the army in manhattan. >> eervery floor was trying to

a swing to make sure nobody was left behind. >> an experienced firefighter had a lot of fear and concern going into that building. that's what makes it such a heroic act. >> i got to the 6th floor all of a sudden this tremendous noise started went black the building was shaking. it was rocking and rolling. we were getting tossed around i knew the building was collapsing. i thought it was a matter of seconds before we are dead. >> we have a number of people trapped from the previous collapse. >> about 4 feet under. i don't know. >> all of a sudden i am laying at blackness and it is deathly silent. >> i am pinned. >> i was under 6 inches of debris. first few seconds i actually thought i was dead. saw nothing, heard nothing. i was covered. started calling maydays, calling for help.

>> it is my understanding that all of the bridges and tunnels in the city are cloels -- closed. >> they had pilots on his payroll i have to say that's what happened here but they seem to indicate this would have that signature. >> the fire continues to burn out of control at this hour. at this point no estimates from officials on the number dead. >> the shock of the airplane hitting the building went through the building and out into the area and they were bringing bodies out that had been injured. >> you don't want people hurt. that's the operational rule. >> focus on if anybody cried out or was calling out. >> the people were almost like a still life. they were in tact. it was very different. especially because i had already found a bunch of people who were

all burned up. there was this young women she was in civilian clothes very nicely dressed her clothes weren't burned. her name tag she was the easiest id i ever d because it was a chain around her neck. it was angela hoaks. being hit by a hammer. this is a beautiful young women she was going to leave that morning or something and go out to her life. she wasn't ever going to do that. >> a lot of volunteers were doing a terrific job helping to bring them out of the buildings. >> the president flew directly here from florida. he was all right. we flew for a couple hours on air force one. we were not told where we would land until the time came. there were jet fighters accompanying the president's aircraft. >> make no mistake, the united states will hunt down and punish

those responsible for these cowardly acts. >> by the time the president had gotten off the air force base nobody was going to tell the president that he couldn't come back. the first thing he said when he got onto the teleconference is i am coming back tonight. >> the city of new york and the united states of america is much stronger than any group of barbaric terrorists democracy, our rule of law, our strength and willingness to defend ourselves will ultimately prevail. >> today was supposed to be an election day at least a primary run off day in manhattan for those who would succeed the mayor. that has been canceled. >> it was the hardest thing i was trying to do to try to maintain composure. i am not trying to be macho or anything i felt that if i broke down and cried which i thought i was going to do many times it

wouldn't help anybody at home to process what was happening. i said a silent prayer and tried to keep going. >> i hate to wonder how many of your people were down at the base of the twin towers when it was collapsing. >> i am very concerned about this. i saw some of them rush in and go in and was with them. wrerp in -- we were in a building that was trapped for a while. >> thank god i am safe. i feel terrible for the people we lost whom i talked to 15 minutes before we lost them. and the city is going to survive. we are going to get through it. >> the only thing you could see from where we were is a big gouge in the earth and broken trees. nothing you could distinguish that a plane crashed there. >> just a few moenlts ago world trade center second building had collapsed.

we had been warned the building was in danger of collapsing. they said something was structurally very weak. >> there was a lot of innocent people died. all they did was a simple thing. all they did was come to work that morning. they didn't come to do battle. >> the people that went to vietnam knew what they were doing they trained for that. you don't expect that going to work at the pentagon. >> he was already very focused and calm. it was remarkable to me. he was not shaken in that sense. the one moment that i could see in his face and eyes was the famous picture of andy card telling him what happened. he had remarkable composure through the period. in fact he was rallying other people.

>> terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but cannot touch the foundation of america. these acts shattered steel but they cannot dent the steel of american resolve. none of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. >> what is t did was reaffirm t me this is a country worth living in and these are people worth defending and there are things in this world that you had to be willing to die for. >> i look back and see all of these firefighters and cops who sacrificed their lives because of me and i pick up the paper and i am looking back and i am seeing a memorial service and the kids are in tears. i tell myself, that could have been me. >> we share such a powerful experience and depended on each other that day perhaps for

survival. (chanting usa) ♪ >> live from america's news

headquarters, i am harris falkner. healthcare issues front and center on the campaign trail today. on an appearance on meet the press mitt romney talking about keeping some provisions of the healthcare law. >> i am not getting rid of all of healthcare reform. there are a number of things i like in healthcare reform i am going to put in place. one is to make sure those with preexisting conditions can get coverage. two is make sure the marketplace has coverage for whatever age they might like. >> campaigning in florida president obama slammed romney's team proposed plan for medicare. so here is the bottom line. their voucher plan for medicare would bankrupt medicare. our plan strengthens medicare. no american should have to spend their golden years at the mercy of the insurance company they should retire with the dignity tee and respect and the care

that they have earned. >> it was a day of back and forth. the romney campaign saying only one candidate in this race rocked medicare of 716 billion to pay for obama care barack obama. he has done nothing to reform medicare in the long hall and prevent it from going bankrupt. iraq vice president triggered deadly attacks in more than a dozen cities there. more than 90 people have been killed more than 300 people wounded. no groups claiming responsibility. they blame al qaeda. the vice president fled to turkey. the death squad sent after them. >> negotiators in chicago at this hour working to avert a midnight strike deadline set by the city's 25,000 teachers. pay and job security the key issues for them in their union. it would be the teachers first strike in 25 years. they would