pennsylvania may have been headed for the capitol, others believe it was the white house. but in any event, no one was taking any chances. [ technical difficulties ] >> our audience that is joining us, it is now 11 eastern time. you are looking at a scene on the eastern steps of the capitol building. >> we begin with the singing of the national anthem. ♪ oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose brood stripes and t bright stars, through the

perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rocket's red glare ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ gave proof through the night ♪ that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ and the home of the brave

>> so randall pinkston the last time we saw this image, it was 12 years ago, it could be argue that in the days and months that have followed, unity is not a word that is very common in washington. >> reporter: that's true, but when it comes to 9/11, i think there is still a sense of unity, that the nation has to come together to fend off threats foreign and domestic. obviously there has been a lot of partisanship with respect to syria, but today we have democrats and republicans standing together to remember that horrible day. flag at half mast, and people coming buy stopped out of respect. >> randall this is somewhat of a

different observance of the september 11th attacks. but instead there have been some political speeches but not the type we have seen in years past, and yet it is just 12 hours after the speech by the president where he laid out his reason to pause in syria. where do we stand on that debate? >> well, as you know the senate has put off for a while, probably until next week at the earliest, any vote on authorizing the use of force in syria. and there are efforts underway to amend the amendment that was approved last week. some people want there to be more language dealing with providing assistance to forces fighting syria's assad, others want there to be time limits

placed on how long the u.s. will wait for those chemical weapons to come under international control. all of this, of course, is taking place against the backdrop of secretary kerry, who will be meeting with his counterpart in europe some time today or tomorrow. russia will be the intermediary i guess you would put it. and france is working at the un to come up with language that will likely be presented to the un security council. china russia have been arden opponents to any kind of language criticizing syria, but there may be some progress on that. at a minimum, everyone is hoping there will be an alternative to the use of force. president obama refusing to take the possibility off of the table, but saying last night in

his speech, which we all thought was going to be an argument for a military strike, that he is now wanting to give diplomacy a chance. >> in the days and weeks following the september 11th attacks, when the president went asking for power against afghanistan, congress was criticized for being a rubber stamp of the white house even on the issue of homeland security and the patriot act. has the war in iraq, and the situation in the days and years following september 11th, changed the political dialogue in washington with regards to whether or not we are sometimes quick to rush to judgment? >> yes, the short answer to your question is yes, there has been a change of the dialogue. however, it is difficult to say whether it is a function of the people now occupying the office, whether it is a function of the

rise of the tea party movement, or a function of the nation being wary of war after all of these years in both theaters of iraq and afghanistan. meanwhile we also have the development of the so-called arab spring that seemed to portend of the possibility of democracy breaking out. so complex issues, the president and congress trying to work through them. and here we are. >> randall thank you very much. throughout the day we have followed the events unfolding on this the 12th anniversary of the september 11th attacks. we took you to new york city where the names are still being read. it began shortly after 8:46 this

morning. and ever since they have been reading the names. they will continue to do so until all of the names have been read. we took you to arlington. we took you to the pentagon, where they unfurled the flag this morning at exactly 8:38, and we took you to shanksville, pennsylvania, where they continue to walk down to what is known as the rock, that is the area where flight 93 came down, and we heard those iconic words "let's roll,". and throughout the morning we have been listening to your voices as well, as you look back at 9/11 then and now. >> well, i think it was an awakening for our -- for our country. you know, we got lazy and got to thinking we were invincible, and we let our guard down, and some people a came over and basically punched us in the face. >> what 9/11 means to me is a lot of our freedom in any

united states is gone. and you do not feel safe in the united states now like you did before. >> it definitely had an impact on the culture in the united states. i don't know -- i don't really like how 9/11 is impacting like privacy and just how the american government has taken -- taken these steps to like prevent terrorism. ♪

>> welcome back to our live continuing coverage of september 11th, then and now. the names continue to be read at

the site where the twin towers collapsed some 12 years ago. they have been doing so since 8:46 this morning. they will continue reading the names for another hour and a half. we want to pause, though, we want to take time-out from our coverage right now to bring you up to date on some of the other stories making news at that hour. as the president pauses to actually mark the anniversary of 9/11, he is also taking a step back from his plans to launch an attack on

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>> the president every year on 9/11 goes to a local food bank and pitches in and helps out for a while. but as there is a pause, so there is a delay now in congress. you heard the president walking that fine line last night, on the one hand making a case for strikes against syria, and on the other hand saying wait a minute, hold on, we want to cool things down on any political and legislative front. we want to see howe this initiative that is brokered by russia plays out. much of what he said last night, very familiar, and everything that has come out of both secretary of state kerry and his presentation and the president's remarks and interviews, and various venues. the only thing that changed last night was the time of day and the venue.

the president can turn around that backsliding, frankly the loss -- that erosion of public support, and the loss of support from congress. there was supposed to be a vote today in the senate. that was postponed. the presidenting went forward with that speech last night anyway, a lot of folks sort of relieved. it would have been a bad vote for leadership. and everything is on hold now as we await the meeting in geneva. >> i want you to listen to senator rand paul, and then we're talk on the backside. >> all right. >> the possibility of a diplomatic solution is a good

thing, though we must proceed with caution. one thing is certain the chance for diplomacy would not have occurred without voices against a bombing campaign. if we had gone to war last week or the week before, we wouldn't be looking at a possible solution today. >> mike, it was during the build up to the war in iraq that so many people were saying wait give the united nations inspectors their chance to find out definitively to find out whether or not saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction and president bush was criticized for not waiting. >> we know they laid out their

dasey as it were. and he has a high degree of confidence that these chemical attacked did happen. and the president has sited time and time again the video. rand paul has presidential aspiration for 2016, turning the washington conventional wisdom on its head saying the threat of military strikes was not what brought assad and his regimes through the russians to the table for this proposal now that is being discussed to have those chemical weapons gathered and then destroyed. the president, john mccain, i spoke with him yesterday, and any number of senator down the line say it is quite the opposite of what rand paul is alleging. obviously rand paul very influential, particularly among

the tea party which now represents that traditional strain of american politics of isolationism. so one thing is clear, dell, not only is there a pause on capitol hill for the authorization that the president seeks, there is a pause on some of the completing resolutions. there with only be any voting. rand paul won't have an opportunity to vote against this any time soon. >> mike as we watch right now the live images coming from capitol hill, this of course, being speaker boehner talking about the september 11th anniversary, you cannot be, i guess, not struck that it is the white house on the line here, even though speaker boehner came out of that white house meeting and said that we as the united states -- speaking on behalf of the united states, the united states must do something because 1400 people were gassed

by the assad regime. is his speakership on the line as well? >> reporter: this is another in a long line of events, issues, pressure points that expose the divisions within the republican party. on the one hand you have the tea party, this resurgent conservative strain, everybody is fairly familiar with them saying let's say away from this, and then you have speaker boehner representing more establishment with john mccain saying we need to go forward. >> the gentleman approaching the podium now is the chaplain of house. he is no stranger to the military side and the congressional side of the debate, and also the spiritual side of the debate going on over syria. let's listen in.

>> -- for your sustaining providence. lord we're grateful that though evil seems to prosper , your powerful providence prevailed, for you remain behind the dim unknown, standing in the shadows to protect and sustain your children. we praise you, oh god, that what the enemy attempted to use for evil, you transformed it to bless us. motivate us, oh, god, to stride for greater unity, and to become more aware of the fragile nature of our lives, continue to comfort those who mourn, whose lives are imprinted with the

shocking images of september 11th. lord, incline our hearts to honor your name so that righteousness will exalt this land we love as you keep us from sin, which is a reproach to any people. repray in your sovereign name, amen. >> and mike, as i know that you can inform our audience, they are perhaps wondering why the gentlemen to the right of your screen was holding up that program. that of course being house majority leader harry reid. it is hot on this, the 12th anniversary -- it is hot down there in washington, correct? >> oh, yes. you heard the chaplain there, yeah, i feel like i'm standing

in a frying pan, or maybe even the surface of the sun. september 11th is not supposed to be like that. but all joking aside, the similarity is there is a blue sky, but it was a beautiful crisp day 12 years ago. let's listen to this gentlemen now. ♪ my home sweet home >> it's funny, mike, that you bring up how on that day on september 11th, it was perhaps a picture-perfect day that nobody can forget. in fact it was so unusual, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. and after that attack when all of the flights were grounded, those of us that were there -- those of us that were in new york remember the fact that you looked up and for the

first time it was so eerily quiet because there are no more planes in the sky. >> reporter: unimaginable, really. i was hear in washington, and dell we were talking about the chaotic, horrible scenes, the terror on people's faces, as the police were literally screaming for us to run for our lives another plane ten minutes out, and the let's roll folks on flight 93 who took over that plane and saved the lives of countless individuals in the capitol, that's where subsequent intelligence revealed that that plane was heading, and those of us in the capitol will always owe a debt of gratitude for those individuals.

and after the all clear, for lack of a better term, was given, the spontaneous gathering on the steps of the capitol when members of congress at each other throats, there they were shoulder to shoulder in that spontaneous version of "god bless america" that was quite moving. a genuine moment, dell? >> mike viqueira joining us from washington. we continue to watch the situation in washington as we continue to watch the situation in new york. you are looking at time square right now, where they have gathered to look and remember as well. mike as you describe the situation there in washington, you can only be reminded that at times this does appear to be a dysfunctional country, as we

debate things like a military strike in syria, we appear to be an extremely dysfunctional country, but it was on days like that day 12 years ago, david shuster that this country came together and for that moment in time it seemed the world realized it was time to take a look at why so many people were so angry. >> reporter: yeah, for a lot of people who were either there or covering it, you'll never forget i'm sure when they played the star-spangled banner at buckingham palace in london just hours after the attack. there were signs of solidarity all over the world. and a lot of people, their memories are not just of the tragedy at the trade center, but also at the solidarity that they

felt from people who -- many of whom had never been to the united states, but saw these images flickering on their television screens and couldn't help but feel badly for all of those involved. so it's a complicated and complex memory that everybody has. but never mind everybody who was here lower manhattan or the pentagon, or pennsylvania, but this was an event that played out largely on television. and so many memories that people have of that day are from the way it was playing out in front of them on their little screens or big screens, and that's another part that you hear from people, particularly younger people who say, hey, i was 10 yea years old, and i remember watching with my parents and seeing the building collapse and i didn't understand. those types of memories are

pretty remarkable, and days like today they all come out, and they are all reliving this all over again. >> david as i look at these images that we are broadcasting live from your site, the reading of the names, i think sometimes those in the broadcast community see things, and sometimes we ignore the obvious, and that is you have to be struck by the fact that somehow, some 200-plus years ago the founding fathers described this as a melting-pot society. the people that died on that day were from all ethic groups, and yet on that day, the world mourned together, and this city we call new york, and washington, and shanksville, pennsylvania, they all look back and reflect collectively as

opposed to individuals. is that a safe assessment? >> reporter: yeah, so much of the healing and memories are tied in with comradery and community, and realizing that they are part of something larger than just their own self interest or self interest of their families. so that's why you see all of the various organizations working together and the victim's families creating some incredibly strong bonds. we talk to someone who said her best friends are people she has met through this experience. and that sort of bond and working together as a community to process the grief and to try to figure out how to take this event and turn it into something that helps society, instead of making everybody really angry, that has been something of a glue that has brought a lot of different people not just from different religion and political

persuasions but also nationalities. people from more than 80 different countries lost their lives on 9/11. and all of that, i think colors the way people view this, that the people and -- when you talk to the survivors and people that have been through this, the people who seem to be doing the best are the ones that have had that sense of community, the connection to friends and family members, and support organizations, so they are not alone with their grief. the people who are having the most difficult times, clearly are the ones who have been trying to do this all by themselves, who have not reached out and participated in these community events or support organizations, or allowing their grief to envelop them and they are not getting much hell. and it's a clear reminder that when there is a tragedy of this magnitude, how much the

community plays a roll in helping everybody move on. >> and mike viqueira there is a dangerous some say -- and we are at an interesting point in time on this, the 12th anniversary, that as we look back, because there wasn't the huge celebration as there was in year five and ten, that time does heel all wounds, but is this a wound that should heel or should we always look back on this day, and if so why? >> dell, it is a day for reflection, and i'm standing here, and we have been talking about the gridlock, partisanship, and dysfunction that is gripping this town right now on both ends of pennsylvania avenue, and i think that a lot of people do think wishfully, and wish they could capture that moment that lead to the singing of "god bless america," as corny

as it may sound to some folks who are looking in from the outside, that was a genuine moment of unity, and it harkins back to the feeling you almost have as a child, dell, when you are learning the sesame street version of how a bill becomes law, or a civics class in high school, or you say the pledge of allegiance, it was just a genuine moment of unity, and folks wish we could go back to that. as something of a student of american history, you look back through the course of our country, and these debates have always raged. there has always been disagreement in congress. there are people who have been caned on the senate floor. i could go on and on. and so the key is, i think, for folks to sometimes take a step

back and a day like today, a day of reflection and remembrance, i would hope for my part that people take to heart and carry with them, through some of the debates that are ultimately going to come, and those debates will be pitched and angry, but if you can sort of keep that in the back of your mind, not a lecture, just a thought here, then i think everybody would be well served. >> mike thank you very much. and franklin and jefferson couldn't even stand being in the same room with each other. >> jefferson and adams. that's right. >> exactly. we continue our coverage on this the 12th anniversary of the september 11th attacks as we take a look at the situation then and now, and as we take you live to new york city where the names continue to be read. our day began this morning at