inflation helped market prices double in the first seven of those 30 years. so now we have the arab spring, from tunisia to egypt to libya, repressive dictators are being toppled by people power. there's no doubt this is great news. but remember, all other arab regimes have manage the to remain in power. from jordan to iran, to saudi arabia, increasing subsiddyes might delay popular resentment but won't change the troops on the ground. even democracy will succeed if the under lying statistics i am proves. ten years on from 9/11, the arab world remains in denial. a recent study shows the majorities in all muslim states think arabs were not responsible for the attacks of september the 11th. three out of four egyptians hold that belief for example.

that is simply nonsense. instead of bizarre conspiracy theories, the arab world needs to focus on the dire statistics they highlighted almost a decade ago. the arab spring is a first step for those countries that it has touched. but it needs to be a spring board for 300 million arabs to look deep within and address the fundamentals that the leaders have neglected for decades. education, women's rights and economic reforms, jobs and real freedom. and we will be right back. >> it was a form of hysteria. we'll look back in disbelief of what we've done in the last ten years. it's astonishing.

[ doorbell rings ] hello there. i'm here to pick up helen. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ]

mom? ♪

what makes us number one in motorcycle insurance? we love bikes. we love riders. and most of all, we love to ride.

perfect hair every time. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. hello, i'm fredericka whitfield in atlanta, our top story, it is a day of remembrance on this tenth an verse rery of the 9/11 terror attacks. in new york the sound of bagpipes at the new 9/11 memorial. the names of 2800 people who died in the world trade center attacks were read and moments of silence were held for when the towers were hit and when they

fell. and vice president joe biden helped lead the memorial services for the victims of the attack at the pentagon. the troops placed wreaths at the memorial there. 184 people were killed when the hijacked american airlines jet liner struck the building. and then in shanksville, pennsylvania, a memorial service when united airlines flight 93 plunged to the gound there. they are believed to have prevented the hijackers from flying the plane into the u.s. capitol. president obama laid a wreath to honor the 40 victims on that flight. i'll be back with much more of our special coverage at the top of the hour. now back to fareed zakaria gps. >> obviously the united states and the world have seen great changes in the more than 5 million minutes that have passed since 9/11/01. now i want to look at the bigger picture at how the world has

changed and to help me do that, three special guests, francis, one of the world's preeminent minds and rory stuart, a member of the british parliament who has served as a british governor of an iraqi province and familiarously walked across afghanistan in the winter of 2001 and wrote a book about it. ishadd mangi described as osama bin laden's worst nightmare, welcome. frank, a year after 9/11, i remember reading an essay by you whether or not history had started up again. to give people context. you're familiarous for having written an essay called the end of history, which you argued that the collapse of the soviet union meant the big contest of ideas that had animated the western words for hundreds of years was at an end and people were basically liberal democracy had won.

in the essay a year after 9/11, you said history hasn't yet started up again. do you still feel that way, the rise of radical islamic terrorism and al qaeda all that, in your mind this isn't history starting up again? >> i think absolutely we are going to look back in a few decades and see this as a blip, a kind of footnote. i think osama bin laden got very, very lucky on september 11th when these media ready strikes. it then generated this huge american overreaction in terms of the invasion of iraq, it led to a decades worth of turmoil. in the end, big historic alley vents are driven by social movements. this terrorist group represented by al qaeda, it's very marginal. >> is it a blip because when you look at the muslim world closely

as you do, there was before 9/11 and after a great deal of radicalism, right? >> there was. frankly there continues to be. the reality is that when out of the mouth of say a soldier in fort hood, a muslim soldier in ft. hood come the words god is great and some say islam has nothing to do with this as he is spraying bullets across the fellow soldiers. you wonder, what do the moderates have to hide? even if it is a blip, the fact is that the denial that is so deep seated in the moderate consciousness raises suspicions among nonmuslims and makes the problem worse than it ought to be. >> lori, when you think about this, looking back historically, how do you think history will cold 9/11? >> i think in the end this is a very distorted, strange form of

religious section, the bin laden form of islam. we have had cal vannism and these things don't last in the end because human nature doesn't tolerate it. this form of fanaticism is not kpatable with the way that an afghan or egyptian lives their daily life. i think it can be sustained for a decade, two decades, three decades, but in the end it can't settle into a permanent human condition. >> frank, you said in that essay as i remember, one of the reasons that you didn't think that al qaeda and the rise of radical islam -- was that communism you worried the whole world could go communist, italy could have turned communist in

the '40s or france. with islam there is a defineable limit. it has no appeal to nonmuslims but now you're saying what the arab spring says you it doesn't have that much appeal to arabs either? >> i think the big problem that form of islam is not really compatible with the ability to generate technology and innovation and this sort of thing. i think there is a kind of universalism to the as spiration to live in a world when you're open to these ideas and able to move and be susceptible to you know, all of the opportunities for education and everything else that the modern world poses. so it's not just the -- not just being culturally muslim. you cut yourself off from the good things about the modern world. >> this is something -- i was just in afghanistan recently and i was up in the mountains with

those fighting in the jihad against the soviet union. what is so striking how much they hated the modern world and how uncomfortable they were with modern kabul. we are fighting for nine years and doing this and all of these guys are watching stupid television programs. this is not the afghanistan for which we fought. there sense is that it has been defeated and what they are being defeated by is the forces of global modernty. >> we'll talk about what 9/11 did to america when we come back.

ask me. if you think even the best bed can only lie there. ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america. ask me about my tempurpedic advanced ergo. ask me about having all the right moves. these are real tempur advanced ergo owners. find one for yourself. try your friends on facebook. see what they have to say unedited.

ask me what it's like to get a massage any time you want. tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ask me why i'm glad i didn't wait until i'm too old to enjoy this. start asking real owners. treat yourself to the ultimate sleep experience and save up to $400-during the tempur ergo savings event. plus, visit tempurpedic.com for full details on our 4 years special financing. don't wait-the tempur ergo savings event ends october 16. visit tempurpedic.com now. temur-pedic the most highly recommended bed in america.

and we are back discussing the world after 9/11 with francis and roy stewart of the british parliament. frank, when we look back historically, will we look at 9/11 as the moment that american decline began, that the united states extended itself in this vast series of wars, spent $2 trillion in some ways bankrupt, if not bankrupt itself but exploded the federal budget and china moved on and india moved on and brazil moved on?

>> i think that shift was something that was going to happen regardless of 9/11. i think 9/11 played a role because i think the united states took that unipolar moment and thought it was going to last forever. it made a crucial mistake in invading iraq in response. couldn't have done that without september 11th. that led to this decline and prestige of american democracy and american idea around the world. >> what does it look like to you? does this seem like a replay of britain in its toward the end of its empire? is the iraq war the bora war? >> it's terrible because i think it was a form of hysteria, we'll look back in disbelief, not just iraq but also afghanistan. it's astonishing, ten years after 9/11 to still be spending $125 billion a year, have

135,000 troops on the ground, to have generals still saying this year will be decisive year, give us more time. it will seem completely bizarre and american optimism which was always the great trademark used in the most grotesque way to say we just need more troops and we can crack this one. it's the terrible exposure of all of emotional energy which to some extent maepd the united states great. now tearing it to pieces in foreign affairs over the past decade. >> as a muslim, i must say that 9/11 was a horrible way to introduce america to islam, but in -- on reflection, i don't think anything less than a cat clix would have woken america up. 9/11 woke us up to what happens in islam affects countless lives

outside the fold. we need much more honesty in this conversation. it is a time deeply subfused with fear, much more so than immediate days after 9/11. >> when you look at afghanistan, if the united states were to withdraw, taliban would gain some supremacy and some parts of the afghanistan, probably southern afghanistan and you would have presumably the nightmare of government or ruling structures that would be radical islamics and deny women education and do all kinds of things that are in way of sharia law. >> but the demons are completely misleading. we tried to make a relative barren country, which is one of 40 countries we need to worry

about, much less important than pakistan or egypt, enter a threat to global security. all of these funny words, islam, failed states, governance, are deeply misleading. it's a hypnotizing jargon. >> when you look at the united states's role in the world right now, even though there is this rise of the rest, united states is still the single largest economy, the single most powerful military player, still the agenda setter. what do you think it should do so ten years from now we won't look back and say this was another wasted decade? >> i think the absolute priority is to get our own basically financial house in order. all of the problems we face, the long-term deficit and potential weakness of the dollar, these are all solvable problems and the problem right now is a

dysfunctional political system but more important actually, political culture that can't get to the solutions that are clearly there. and i think that until you establish that domestic basis for the american, you know, presence in the world, it's probably better not to extend american power unduly because i think you'll then hasten a future decline. >> isn't that the sort of lesson of britain? the reason i ask you was it very difficult for britain to pull back. everyone looked to them every time there was a crisis. >> i think you're right. the united states did have some records of that. but the danger of the united states going forward is the tend ens a of extremes and lurch from troop increase to withdrawal. the real key, i would imagine, is for the united states to invest in the state department and expertise and develop a

patient moderate foreign policy, to try to follow up perhaps what president obama has been trying to do in libya in terms of defining how to do something that falls short of total intervention, military occupation but goes beyond sanctions. what tools are available to the united states? and to try to resist the temptation of american think tanks and american universities to push you in up to your neck again and again in places you don't need to be. >> roy stewart, frank fukuyama, thank you all, we'll be back. ♪ there's not y can't do ♪now you're in new york ♪ one hand inhe air for the big city ♪ ♪treet ligh, g dreams all looking pretty♪ ♪ no place in the wod that cacompar♪ ♪ put your lighters in their ♪ everyby y yeah, yeah ♪ yea yeah ♪ in new yk

♪ concre jungle where dreams are made of ♪ ♪here's nothing y c't do ♪ now u're in w york ♪ these streets will make you feel and-new ♪ ♪ big ligh will spire yo ♪ hear orew york ♪ ♪ new york

aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. our question this week from the gps challenge is, in september of 2001, in which of these nations was a large candlelight vigil held for the victims of 9/11? was it a, iran, b, iraq, c, north korea or d saudi arabia. stay tuned and we'll tell you the correct answer. go to cnn.com/gps for ten more questions. while you're there, check out or website, you'll find smart interviews and takes from favorite experts. you can follow us on twitter and facebook. this week's book of the week is

a report. the u.n. development report. it's an extraordinary snapshot of the region and will give you insight into the conditions that fueled arab terrorism. we have a link on our website. now for the last look. take a look at wilson nyoma, he's a warrior and his 9/11 story will amaze you. growing up in enoosaen, no electricity phones or running water or roads, he dreamed of becoming a doctor. incredibly, he found his way to college in the united states. and on september 11th, 2001, he was in new york city, many months later back in kenya he told his tribe about what ha happened. many didn't know about the september 11th attacks. they were horrified and felt compelled to act to soothe the

pain. on june 3rd, 2002, they traveled to accept a gift of cow, the most precious gift they could give. 14 of them in total. some villagers held up banners that read, we give these cows to help you. there was one hitch. the u.s. had logistical and monetary problems getting the cows to america. it was going to cost much more than they were worth. the masi couldn't understand why the americans had accepted their heart felt gift but wouldn't take possession of them. on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, all was made rights. then american ambassador and masi agreed the american capital would stay and they offered a thank you gift in return. scholarships for 14 boys and girls to go to local schools. they have been fruit it will and musty plied.

because the original 14 were specially blessed, the entire herd is considered sacred. and none may ever be slaughtered. . the correct answer to our gps challenge question was a, a candlelight vigil was held in iran days after the september 11th attacks. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. you're now in the cnn newsroom this sunday september 11th, i'm fredericka whitfield. a day of remembrance on this tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. in new york the sound of bagpipes during services at the new 9/11 memorial. the names of the 2900 people who died in trade secenter attacks were also read and moments of

silence were held at the exact times the towers were hit and when they fell. families gathered to etch the names of their loved ones and president barack obama and former george w. bush helped lead the commemoration there. >> ten years ago at 9:37 a.m. the pentagon was attacked. >> and vice president joe biden helped lead the memorial services for victims of the attack on the pentagon and troops placed wreaths at the memorial there. 184 people were killed when the hijacked american airlines jet liner struck the building. ♪ for amber waves of grain >> in shechkzville, another memorial service for the victims who died when united airlines flight 93 plunged to the ground. they are believed to have prevented the hijackers from flying the plane into the u.s. capitol in washington. president obama laid a wreath to honor the 40 victims on that

flight. as we watch this morning solemn ceremony at ground zero, we also got a good look at the new freedom tower. its construction is part of new york's effort to remember the events of 9/11 and to rebuild after such a monumental tragedy. cnn's poppy harlow talked with the engineer in charge of freedom tower construction. he has a unique perspective. >> reporter: imagine building the world trade center. only to watch it come crashing down. >> it was frightening and devastating and hard to understand from my point of view as an engineer who was involved in building and involved in these buildings that this could ever happen. >> you didn't think they could come down? >> we didn't think this could conceivably happen. it was beyond belief. >> reporter: imagine building it all over again. >> that's the tower trauma steel. >> reporter: that's been mike's

reality since september 12th, 2001, the day after the 9/11 terror attacks when he came down to ground zero to aid in the recovery efforts. >> reporter: as you watch the towers fall on 9/11, was there any question in your mind that they would be rebuilt and you would be here doing it again? >> no, not -- i'm an optimist so -- >> reporter: for the past ten years he's been overseeing the massive rebuilding giant. his ties to the area go back to his childhood when he worked for a neighborhood hardware store making deliveries on these very streets in lower manhattan. after graduating from college with a degree in engineering, he started working here, building the original world trade center as a project engineer on tower five. >> it was monumental. i think it was by far much more dramatic than anybody ever would conceive of on paper. >> reporter: but rebuilding what

was lost is perhaps more challenging today in the midst of one of the most crowded cities in the world with subways running right through the construction site. >> we are literally building 7 or 8 different projects in one site. >> reporter: six years after the rebuilding began, he and 3500 are working at a rapid clip. does it mean more the second time around in a way? >> it means more in terms of what our experiences -- collective experiences have been to see and look back. that's really it. i think we need to close that time, that door. >> reporter: why do you come here every day? >> this needs to be done. >> reporter: new york needs this? >> new york needs this and our country needs it. >> reporter: there's one day he

doesn't come. september 11th. >> still haven't recovered? >> bring it back every year whenever it comes back, it takes you right back. >> reporter: fredericka, the one day mike man ella is not here is today. he can't be here it is too difficult. i have been watching the goings on this morning here at ground zero since they began at 8:00 this morning and it has been an astonishing site. behind me you see the american flag, this is the place where 2,606 americans lost their lives. thousands of new yorkers and people from across this country, people from across the world were here today to remember those lost. it was an incredibly beautiful ceremony. what really struck any, fredericka, was what this morning was like, a clear, crisp blue sky just like september 11th, 2001. we listened to the names read of those who lost their lives and one young man stood out, peter

negron. he lost his father when he was a young boy ten years ago. listen to what he had said about his father. >> i wish my dad had been there to teach me how to drive and ask a girl on a date and seen me graduate from high school. and 100 other things i can't even begin to name. >> reporter: and that's just one of the thousands and thousands of stories. today was a day that will live in history and a day that meant so much for the people here watching what it was, just like every year, very difficult but also a real sense of peace as they open up the memorial behind me and for the first time the families that lost their loved ones fredericka, got to walk in there and touched with their hand the name of their loveds one all around the beautiful pools. >> incredible poignant moments especially for family members that could be there today. from this day forward, for anyone that wants to go to

that 9/11 memorial, they will have to reserve a ticket. it doesn't cost anything but you can't just walk up. thanks so much. first in new york then the pentagon then soon after tragedy in a remote field in shen shanksville, pennsylvania. cnn's david mattingly is at the memorial site right now. what are people saying and feeling there? >> reporter: fredericka, millions could have been watching the ceremony as it transpired in front of the cameras today. but everything here today seemed so personal. there was a lot of talk as weech heard in the past about the courage and sacrifice for the men and women aboard flight 93. but today a lot of attention was being paid to their family members and the loss that they are feeling today. the emotions from ten years ago in some cases still very raw and

still unresolved and it was also very clear that over the years, over the last decade that so many people have become close to these family members, have identified with the stories of their loved ones and they too were sharing in that loss today. that includes former pennsylvania governor tom ridge. >> ten years ago today many of us stood upon a nearby field and we were angry. and we were heart broken. and as the days and weeks and months unfolded, your story to us became known. and we wondered, would we? could we? had we been in your place shown the same resolve, the same self-lessness and same astonishing valor? >> and that's probably the same question that so many americans have probably asked as they've boarded flights wondering if

they would have been able to find the courage to stand up to hijackers on their plane. >> david mattingly, thanks so much from shanksville, pennsylvania. on twitter and facebook, a little while ago i asked you to share your thoughts as you watched today's 9/11 anniversary events unfold. gail writes, she was struck by the dichotomy of the pain and the success of the 9/11 children. and this from carlos greer, my facebook wall, to hear the kids sing america the beautiful put everything in perspective for me. tears started to roll at this point. thanks tore sending your thoughts on twitter as well. check your sunday paper, many comics focus on 9/11 and remembering the heroes who perished ten years ago today. here's the comic hi and lo is, you can find more on cnn.com and we'll be back with other stories that we're watching here from the newsroom. i remember the days before copd.

my son and i never missed opening day.

but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. [ whistle ] with copd, i thought i might miss out on my favorite tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

just a day away from an event that could have a significant impact on the presidential race, it's the cnn tea party debate in tampa florida. cnn deputy political director paul stein houser is there. how might this debate affect the race? >> reporter: it could be influential. it was just five days ago that

texas governor rick perry and former massachusetts governor mitt romney, number one and two in the polls, when they sparred at the debate in california over jobs and over social security. so we could see round two right here monday night, tomorrow night between those two candidates, a lot at stake for them. what about the other six on the stage? this could be an opportunity for a michele bachmann or make ron paul or one of other candidates to have a breakout moment. some people are saying this is turning into a two-person race. our debate tomorrow night gives an opportunity to change that kind of dynamic. >> why would this debate be considered different? a debate that potentially a candidate could say i could change things around for myself? >> reporter: it could give them a moment to break out and kind of undo that and give an opportunity to go after one of the other candidates. this is a first ever tea party debate. here's a sneak peek of how it works tomorrow night, fred.

>> there's eight podiums here and wolf blitzer will be the moderator. we'll have about 1,000 people in the audience on monday night and about 100 or so will be down here in the red zone asking questions. we're going to take questions from some of our tea party watch party remotes in virginia and arizona and ohio. don't forget, you guys at home can also participate with our social media component. you can ask questions via twitter and facebook and cnn.com. >> reporter: fred, you can see we've got the bus behind us. we are ready for tomorrow night. >> we are ready to see it all unfold. thanks so much, paul. be sure to tune in tomorrow night as cnn the tea party express and other tea party groups co-host the republican candidates debate. it is in tampa, florida, the site of the 2012 national convention, that's monday night. the debate that is, 8:00 eastern time. home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online...

[ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. great! did i mention no hands in the bundler? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. [ doorbell rings ] hello there. i'm here to pick up helen. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪

other stories we're following, police in sweden arrested four people believed to be plotting terror attacks. this is the coastal city of goaten berg, the suspects were in the preparation stage of an attack. no other details are given yet. police say they had probable cause to put the suspects in jail. this in today from afrg, a suicide attacker set off a truck bomb at the entry gate to a

coalition base. at least two afghan civilians are dead and 80 nato personnel are hurt. the taliban claims responsibility. suzanne malveaux is in afghanistan. what more can you tell us about the suicide bombing? >> reporter: well, fred, obviously there was a sense of anxiety and anticipation about this day. it was relatively quiet at the military base where i am. it was on the eve of 9/11 that you had the attack. it was at a combat outpost where somebody drove up a truck, exploded a bomb there, quite a powerful bomb, two afghan civilians died. a lot of people, fred were injured as you had mentioned. 77 from the national coalition. most of them americans, we're told. 25 afghan civilians also injured. we're told they are minor injuries and could have been a

lot worse. we had a chance to talk to general john allen, the main person in charge on the ground here in afghanistan. he gave us an exclusive interview to talk about first of all what this explore and taliban attack means but also why we're here ten years later after the 9/11 attacks, still in afghanistan. >> this attack was a high profile attack, it was a pretty significant suicide vehicle bomb. but they have been ejected from the population in so many places around the country. that their only ability to influence the battle field on many occasions is simply high profile attack. that's how we view this particular attack. >> ten years from the september 11th attacks, why are we still here? >> we're here because afghanistan must be left as a sovereign nation, a member of the international community governed by a democratic government that ultimately dispenses the rule of law and is not a platform for foreign

terrorism, is not a platform ultimately to launch attacks on the united states ever again on the west and upon the thousands and thousands of innocent people who have suffered as a direct result of al qaeda and taliban's ideology. >> reporter: and fred, general allen says look, there is going to be a terrorist threat, the threat of the taliban as well. it is something we will always be fighting but essentially the goal, the mission here now is to train the afghans to take over their own security. certainly by the time of the end of 2014, that is when it's slated that most u.s. as well as nato troopses, combat troops are slated to come home. >> suzanne malveaux, thanks so much from kabul. ten years after 9/11, memories of the attacks are still fresh in the minds of so many survivors. >> i was crawling on my hands and knees and reaching out then going a little bit farther. and everything i touch burned

me. >> a 9/11 survivor recalls the attack on the the pentagon and his i am probable escape out of that burning rubble next. [ hayden ] what if there was a makeup that didn't just hide your breakouts... but actually made them go away. neutrogena skin clearing makeup has our proven blemish fighting formula so it clears your breakouts. now that's beautiful. neutrogena®.

it's been ten years since the 9/11 attacks but memories of the horrific day are still fresh for nefrn survivors. the sights and sounds of the attacks are vivid and haunting.

barbara starr has the story of one who was in flight 97 when it crashed. >> dennis johnson was my division chief, odessa moore was our budget analyst. >> reporter: john yates remembers his pentagon co-workers killed in the attack. on that morning, how close were you? where were you here? >> i was standing about 6 feet inside this wall. >> reporter: and then american airlines flight 77 hit the pentagon, a fire ball headed right for yates and his co-workers. >> my greatest fear in life was at hand. always been afraid to die in a fire. >> reporter: he knew the hallways intimately, it was knowledge that saved him. >> i was reaching out and going a little bit farther and everything i touch, burned me.

>> reporter: yates suffered burns over more than 30% of his body, because he worked in a renovated stronger section of the building, most of the long pentagon hallways remained intact. >> it's the length of this hallway behind all of this that you have basically crawled through the flame and the smoke? >> and some of the debris. then i heard a voice and this voice just said, go out through this one particular door down it's clear down there. i just started crawling towards that voice. >> reporter: the pentagon has improved the odds of surviving a disaster. the pentagon director of facilities shows us the latest. >> every suite has two escape routes. >> reporter: right in the cnn office, we have a breakaway window, there are cases of breathing masks in the hallways and continuous illumination tape to show escape routes in heavy smoke. facing outside, 2,000 pound

blast resistant windows held in place by steel. some were already in place on 9/11 and they held just feet from the devastation. >> if a plane hits and there is a bomb, the wall does not collapse? hopefully. >> hopefully. >> reporter: yates will tell you he survived the burns but the attack challenged his soul. >> i was standing in the middle of five people and i'm the only one who survived. >> john yates, how are you? >> good, you? >> reporter: john had to close out his dead colleague's security files when he came back to work months later. >> it is the hardest thing i've done. >> reporter: he will not run from the memories. >> i can't escape it. you know, i get up in the morning and turn the light on in the bathroom and shave and see my face and see my burns. i take a shower and i see it every single day, i live with

it. but it's not who i am. >> fred, i think here at the pentagon for those of us who were in the building that morning, that's really what this day is all about. it is remembering what happened here but you can't escape it. when you come to work at the pentagon as we do in the press area, you know, this is a building that never shut down. it didn't fall or collapse. it stayed open and it was rebuilt within a year and so many of those who were injured did come back to work. so many military people who served on the front lines back here working one more time. this is a place where this cycle goes on. fred? >> and barbara, in about an hour or actually within the next hour, president obama will be making his way there at the pentagon. i know this is a day that comes with mixed feelings for you as well because 9/11 is also your birthday. as you were in the pentagon on that tragic day ten years ago,

there just have to be a lot of things that flood through you on a day like today. >> you know, they do but as a journalist covering the military for cnn, what really sticks is the name and faces of the troops i have met over the years, their families and the sacrifices that they have made. 9/11 proved i think, fredericka, to be just the first link in a long chain of honor service dignity, grace, whatever you want to call it on the part of the troops that have served in the war zone. their service goes on often unrecognized day after day, week after week. we are awaiting the president. he will lay a wreath here and some of the ceremonies at least for this year will draw to a close but we will always remember. barbara starr, thanks so much. ten years since al qaeda's attacks on the united states and ten years since the u.s. president declared a war on

terror and ten years living with an elevated threat level. are we safer than we were pre- 9/11? paul is at ground zero in new york city right now. what about that, paul? is al qaeda a greater threat now than before 9/11? >> reporter: well the threat fredericka is not as acute on 9/11. as you can see the flashing lights behind me, there's still a threat today. there's evidence of some sort of plot perhaps coming from pakistan from al qaeda over that. that information is not corroborated at this point at this moment but they still have a safe haven in pakistan. there are recruits going to the training camps in pakistan and giving them opportunities to recruit them and train them in bomb making training and send them back to the west. they still have a safe haven there. the drone strikes have been damaging to the organization that bin laden is dead and

they've been able to promote fresh blood through the ranks in the tribal areas of pakistan like train people indoors so they weren't prone to the drone strike. the threat has grown more defrag meanted and diffuse. there's a group in yemen that's the most immediate threat now to the united states. also, there's really this home grown threat now, lone wolves, not linked to al qaeda but inspired by their ideology that may launch attacks. al qaeda is encouraging this at the moment. >> isn't that the difficult part then, identifying the root of the threat even though osama bin laden is dead and lieutenants in al qaeda are dead but still there are many strands of terrorism that seem to be viable? >> well that's absolutely right. it's very difficult to identify the threats.