, problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. my doctor said i could be doing more to breathe better and now i am. announcer: ask your doctor about lifestyle changes and once-daily spiriva. it is friday, september 11th eight years since the attack on america. new momentum may be for the senate's gang of six. the architects of bipartisan health care reform suggest president obama's speech may push them over the finish line. big government critics roll into new england today. the coast to coast bus tour ends with a big protest in washington this weekend. america's growing doctor shortage experts say any health care overhaul must address the

numbers problem or reform is doomed. i'm tony harris in the cnn new york studios. >> we start this morning with a security scare on the anniversary of the september 11th attacks. police sources tell cnn the incident on the potomac river near the pentagon was prompted by a training exercise. the coast guard says it is looking into the incident. our homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve and cnn national security contributor fran townsend joining us with the latest. watching the last hour of the show as i did and many around the country did as well, this was very disconcerting.

walk us through this. what happened here? >> the headline is the department of homeland security is now confirming that this was an exercise, that no shots of any variety live or blank were fired during this exercise. but it certainly looked like the real thing and sounded like the real thing. we could see on a camera a boat coming up the potomac river and challenging the zone. they tried to avoid the coast guard and did not pay attention to orders to stop. i listened to radio traffic and i heard a coast guardman say that ten rounds were expended. they said nothing about an exercise in their radio traffic. i can tell you that it didn't cause a flurry just in newsrooms but elsewhere. a federal source tells me that operation centers in the area had not been informed that any exercise was taking place. when they heard these reports they started drawing up contingency plans for what they were going to do about this

situation. they did get clarification from the coast guard in fairly short order that this was a training exercise. the same was not true for us. we were on the phone repeatedly with the ghost guard since before we oewent on the air fir to determine what was going on and it took a length of time before they could confirm to us this was not a real security incident. to have this happen on 9/11 where commemoration ceremonies were happening at the pentagon right next store quite amazing. you can be sure there will be a lot of high level demand for answers as to what in the world was going on here. >> i'm going to ask you to do me a favor here, we were doing the switchout between the two teams. i did not have your audio as you were explaining what actually happened here for everyone else who heard you, i apologize but just give me a snapshot of what happened here. i'm going need that information as we move forward with fran. >> you mean in terms of what was

happening on the river? >> yeah. what happened this morning with this training exercise? >> well, what happened is that we saw things happening on the water. we could see boats racing around. we were listening to coast guard radio traffic which was talking about an intruder who was not paying attention to orders to stop. they threatened him with various things. and they told him they would fire on him. we heard rounds have been exp d expended. we heard bang, bang, bang. we didn't know if it was a signal. it might appear in retrospect that was someone simulating gunfire for the purposes of the exercise. nothing about an exercise was said in the radio traffic and as i said, we were watching the visual. we were watching the boat zoom around on the potomac river. that's the way it went down. >> great. i apologize for that we were doing the switch out and it got a little confusing for us here in new york. our homeland security

correspondent serjeanne meserve. i should add as we bring in fran townsend. no shots in fact were fired says the department of homeland security. there are mistakes, some are big, some are small and then some a what is your response to this? >> people need to be held accountable. on american people, on viewers, on victims' families, there's no operational gain to have it done on 9/11. if you're going to do it, there are practices and procedures that based on our current understanding were not followed. you would have notified news organizations and the general public and notified federal agencies. you would have put in place so

that no one misperceived what was going on on the ground. it's just a problem. it's one of these, the american people expect better from their government eight years later. >> fran, look, the number of hats you have worn over the years you were for a period of time the assistant commandant of the u.s. coast guard, correct? >> that's right. >> i think you were starting to detail how this should have happened. where do you believe the breakdown was in all of this? >> it's interesting. if it was an internal coast guard exercise, it would have come up through the coast guard chain of command and then been told to the department of homeland security and either the department would have notified people, federal agencies, state and local authorities, or they would have directed the coast guard to do it it's difficult to know yet without the facts who dropped the ball but somewhere inside the department this ball got dropped and we need to understand where and how so that

doesn't happen again. it's uncanny what a similar situation this is to the buzz over lower manhattan months ago. the notion they could have made the same mistake twice this close together is unbelievable. jeanne meserve and i were talking about it. when someone said it could be a training exercise, we thought it was not possible. >> we understand the need and necessity for training exercises for the coast guard and anyone else involved in homeland security keeping the country safe but my goodness, how do you plan a training exercise on 9/11? >> it's the right question. i hope that the department of homeland security and united states coast guard are deciding who it is that will be put up there to answer that question publicly. i don't think there will be a good answer frankly. >> you know how washington works and how this big government bureaucracy works. is this a situation where we

haven't heard from officials yet because they're trying to figure out what happened here? >> that's right. i expect the president's homeland security adviser should have been notified. i'm quite sure that if the president of the united states by now has turned to john brennan and said what happened? who's responsible? what are we going to do about it? i imagine the homeland security adviser is very busy right now. >> all right. fran townsend, good to see you as always. thanks to jeanne meserve as well. that false alarm in washington. coming as a somber ceremony takes place for 9/11 victims at ground zero right here in new york. let's take you there live to our jason carroll. it's september 11th. our nation's security being questioned once again. >> reporter: absolutely, tony. you know, you talk to people about what has been done to better secure the country post- 9/11 and they'll tell you it has to do with better surveillance, better communication, things like that.

better intelligence. but what we wanted to do and what we did is we reached out to those who are experts in the field to talk to them about what exactly has been done post- 9/11 to better secure this country. in the months and years following 9/11 came the warnings -- >> thousands of dangerous killers are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs set to go off. >> reporter: president obama weighing in this year. >> al qaeda is actively planning attacks on the united states homeland. >> reporter: security experts say while osama bin laden's whereabouts are unknown, al qaeda is still plotting and planning. >> strategic thinkers. they're patient. they don't set their wrist watches like you and i do. >> reporter: tom ridge, the first head of the department of homeland security, says the department's creation in 2002 by president bush was key to better securing the country. >> right after 9/11 they said nobody connected the dots. today there are more dots

because there's more intelligence coming in. >> reporter: ridge says the department has improved communication between agencies. he points to the case in 2003 where a man was stopped entering the country at chicago's o'hare airport. a customs agent armed with guidelines from homeland security deported him for a visa violation. a year and a half later he blew himself up outside baghdad killing 166 people. ridge says their hard work paid off. some also say it's a bit of luck. >> i think that's fair. i think that's really fair. i'm convinced that the threat is real. >> reporter: terrorism expert ryan jenkins says al qaeda hasn't taken hole in the u.s. to date partly due to improved intelligence but also because american muslims seem resistant to al qaeda's radical ideology. jenkins warns that significant threat comes from smaller, homegrown groups. >> the difference between a band of amateurs being able to do

nothing and a small group being able to carry out a dangerous terrorist attack is having one determined technically competent leader. >> reporter: a point new york's city commissioner ray kelly knows well. >> it's important to remember that we've had eight plots against this city since september 11th. >> reporter: those plots centered on places like the bridge and subway system so-called soft targets considered more vulnerable because typically they have less security. last year new york city spent $300 million on joint terrorism task force receiving only $10 million from the federal government. >> we need money to help us continue the significant efforts that we've made in this city to protect it. >> reporter: and as we come out now, i think you're seeing some live pictures of the ceremony that is taking place down at ground zero. as i look at some of the family

members who come down here, tony, i think of something that a family member told me some time ago which was never again. she said never again did she want to see an attack like this on american soil and i think you know from having seen the speech you get a picture of what this country is doing to try to make sure that in fact it does not happen here again. >> jason carroll, well said. thank you. first time home buyers can get an $8,000 tax credit. one viewer has a question about it and our personal finance editor gerri willis joins us next with the answer. our parents telling us what to do... how to behave. now, all of a sudden, we're there, in that role, at that time in our lives where everyone and everything is depending on us. it's a scary feeling, but it's also a good one. especially when i'm confident someone's there for me.

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welcome back to cnn. look across the northeast. if you live in this area, you know what i'm talking about. this is a storm that seemed like a tropical storm or hurricane. certainly had gusty winds with it. area of low pressure hugging the coastline. in the meantime, it is pinwhe pinwheeling showers and thunderstorms into this area. thunderstorm watch until noon officially but they may extend that. power lines may be taken down across parts of south jersey. speaking of areas of low pressure, something wants to develop in this area here and the national hurricane center is getting inkwis it'sive into this. they could use the rain but for folks in houston, that may be something to worry about. speaking of houston. trying to bring in the space shuttle tonight again.

they couldn't do it last night because of thunderstorms. there will be thunderstorms around again today. we'll try to do that at about 5:00 and they may have trouble again. a bit of fog here. live shot from houston. rain on the lens there. heavier rain expected not only today but tonight and tomorrow as well. as this area of low pressure kind of does its thing here and it could become tropical. in the meantime, fred out here weakening. should die out here but until it goes completely bye-bye, we'll keep you posted on it. that's the latest. so i couldn't always do what i wanted to do. but 5 minutes ago i took symbicort and symbicort is already helping significantly improve my lung function. so today, i've noticed a significant difference in my breathing. and i'm doing more of what i want to do. so we're clear, it doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. my doctor said symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day.

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let's start our focus on reforming health care. key lawmakers are at work right now on a possible compromise. brianna keilar is outside of the office the senate finance committee chairman max baucus where the so-called gang of six is meeting. where do things stand right now? >> reporter: we're keeping an eye on this office over here to my left. you'll pardon me if i do a run because these senators could come out at any moment and we're going really want to pay attention to what they have to say. we're not expecting major developments today but the bipartisan group of three democrats and three republicans inside trying to work toward a compromise. here they come. let's take a listen.

>> we just had another extended session. it went very well. got additional information and scoring on medicaid issues that we've been talking about yesterday. we're getting now additional state by state numbers that we hope to have later today. we then hope to have a discussion with the governors now on monday. as i indicated yesterday, we hoped to do that today but we have to wait to get the state by state breakdowns which are not yet available to us. we do hope to have that later today. we also dealt extensively today with medical malpractice and are going to have a staff proposal based on the conversation we just had on monday. we'll be meeting again monday at

about 11:00 a.m. and that will be a key session to try to reach closure on the medicaid piece, medical malpractice, abortion, trying to make clear that federal funds will not be used to pay for abortion which is current federal policy. and we want to make sure that that's extended. so that's where we are. we'll meet again on monday at 11:00 a.m. >> did you make any progress at all on the illegal immigrant question? >> yes. we made very good progress on that. most of that was done yesterday. we think we've got a very strong policy to ensure people here illegally do not benefit from any of these initiatives. through the use of social

security numbers we would also recognize that there are some people who are here legal ly tht may not have social security numbers that may be able to produce other documentation for example visas to indicate that they are here legally. so that has not been locked down in terms of the final language but we went round and round with the best experts on this yesterday and i think there's high degree of confidence that we have an outline to prevent anybody here illegally from benefiting from these initiatives. >> when you say benefit, do you mean being able to get subsidies for insurance or what about being able to purchase insurance? >> you can't prevent someone from being able to purchase insurance. this is any federal assistance. >> if there was a co-op they

might be able to participate in a nonprofit health co-op? >> they would not get any government assistance. the health co-op functions like any other insurer in the exchange. they have to abide by the same rules and regulations as anybody else. what we're trying to prevent is anybody who is here illegally from getting any federal benefit. you cannot prevent someone from buying an insurance policy but it would not be legally assisted. >> would illegal immigrants qualify for subsidies from day one? >> that's something that's still left resolved. we have agreed that -- it's unresolved. we have agreed that anybody who is here legally will be subject to the requirements of the legislation. anybody that's here legally will be subject to the requirements of the legislation. >> you don't plan to do a five-year grace period?

>> we have not yet resolved that. that's another matter for monday. >> how much of the cost will states be expected to bear on medicaid expansion? >> that's still under discussion. we'll be having that conversation with the governors on monday but the federal government will bear the overwhelming share of the cost of those who are newly eligible. >> are you hearing a lot of reaction and are they negotiable in terms of prices at this point? >> you know -- >> i know everything is negotiable. >> you know, i would not want to negotiate in public on those matters. that would not be wise of me to do but there are discussions ongoing. >> are you getting pushback from industry? they were caught off guard by some of the fees they're being asked to take on. >> there was a negotiation well

before the chairman put out his proposal. >> you mean, the opportunity to do something? >> meaning there was a conversation well before the chairman put out his proposal. >> wednesday night the president discussed medicare and he feels there's a lot of waste, fraud and abuse and has been for years. feels that a significant of the amount of savings can come from dealing with that. do you feel that there's as much money in waste, fraud and abuse of medicare that you can have significant portions of the health care reform bill paid for while expanding coverage on a large scale? >> look, we all know there's significant waste, fraud and abuse. understand that the bigger elements of the pay for is negotiations with groups, hospitals, nursing homes, home

health care, the pharmaceutical drug industry, who are willing to make commitments on reductions in their future reimbursement in the hundreds of billions of dollars because when he recognize when you expand the universe of the population that's covered, they'll get substantial additional business. >> let's do this. let's do this. we've got some new developments that we need to get to right away with our kyra phillips in atlanta. we'll leave this moment here with senator kent conrad and talk to brianna keilar and debrief on what was said in a moment. we have new information about the training exercise on the potomac river. good to see you, kyra. a number of questions here. you've been on the phone with your sources and one of the first questions that comes to mind here, sort of top of mind,

were there any shots fired in this incident? >> bottom line, no. there was no live fire. there were no blanks. there were no shots fired of any kind. what it appears happened here, tony, and this is according to my sources that were directly involved with this training exercise is that everything is done on radio. you know this and i know this. i should make it clear. it was not a major exercise. you and i have covered major exercises showing every detail where everyone to the white house knows what's going on. the coast guard tells me this was a regular training evolution that they do all the time, every single day. big difference between a training evolution and a major exercise. therefore, the information was not passed on all of the way to the top all of the way to the top marks of the chain of command. so they thought, okay, we're

going through a regular training exercise. we're talking on the radio. we're going to go through this like it were a real life scenario. and from what it looks like right now, we in the media were listening to the scanners and we heard some key words, we heard some things that alarmed us. here we are on the anniversary of 9/11. the president is over at the pentagon. everybody kind of has terrorist activity on their minds. members of the media hear these key words. hear these phrases and boom hit the airwaves. now, according to one of my sources within the coast guard, we were on the air with this information possibly before even making contact with the coast guard to kind of check out what was going on here and the next thing you knew this had a domino effect and here we are right now. >> can i jump in with a

question. you are absolutely right. the suggest here is that we in the media doing what we do, which is understood by everyone in washington, it's not as though this is some kind of hidden secret that we listen to the scanners. >> we have to. we have to. >> that's what we do. i'm wondering here, is there any admission of a mistake by the coast guard here that it might have been a bad idea to run a training mission regardless of the size of it on 9/11. >> that's a very good point. i asked those questions. the thinking some will disagree within the organization, others feel that, okay, maybe we could have picked a different day. maybe we could have picked a location that wasn't too far from where the president was. the entourage that the president has. the secret service. the motorcade. it all didn't work out so well with regard to day and timing.

but i think that, you know, from the perspective of the military and i'm just saying from my experience, tony, and you know from your experience, like you and i every day get up. we do our job. we look at our rundown of what we have to do and sometimes we just go forward with what our responsibilities are and probably today and i think a lot of number of members of the coast guard think, okay, we probably could have done this at a different time and if we wanted to do it today, maybe at a different location. i think that's what's going through the minds of these folks now. bottom line, if you want to push this forward and look at the positive aspect here and this is what a number of my sources said, you know, we're learning lessons from this. this is teaching us, okay, we liked what happened in the training. we see how the outcome turned out here and what we can do differently to allow for better communication so all in all, everyone is going to become

better at their job whether you and me or the u.s. coast guard. >> a training commission with a huge if unintended teaching moment provided. >> there you go. isn't that what training is about? this was the perfect teaching moment. >> wonderful. thank you for jumping on this and getting on the phone with your sources there. kyra phillips in atlanta. see you next week. we're back in a moment. uuuuuuuuu

let's talk for a moment about our hero of the week. a boy scout from maryland took his eagle scout service project overseas to siberia.

>> i was abandoned at hospital number 20 at birth. i was adopted at 11 1/2 months old. >> the first time we saw alex, he was malnourished. we fell in love with him immediately. there's my son. >> hospital number 20 gave me a chance to survive. i wanted to give something back. i'm alex griffith and i'm building a playground at the hospital where i was adopted from. i've been a boy scout for five years. i wanted to build a playground for my eagle project. there was a swing with a wooden seat and a sand box which was a mutt p mud pit because of the rain. we had to design the playground and then we had to build it. volunteers from all over the

world helped build the playground. all of us adopted from russia have not and will probably never forget our birth place. >> translator: i like this playground because when you slide on it, all of the sadness goes away. >> everybody is possible if you don't give up. >> it makes me happy just being here. that's all i can say. >> find out more about alex and our other cnn heroes on our website. logon to cnn.com/heroes. coming october 1st, we'll announce the top ten heroes of 2009. we'll share more september 11th memorials coming up. ♪ you're the one

♪ who's born to care this life was protected... ♪ seems you've always been right there ♪ this life was saved... ♪ soothing sadness ♪ healing pain and this life was made easier... ♪ making smiles appear again because of this life. nursing. at johnson & johnson, we salute all those who choose the life... that makes a difference. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference - hello! - ha! why don't you try a home cooked meal... with yummy hamburger helper? oh! tada! fantastically tasty, huh? ummm, it's good. what would you guys like? hamburger helper. what?! one pound... one pan... one tasty meal!

our nation pausing to

remember the victims of neighbor nine. somber ceremonies under way at ground zero in new york. you are looking here at live pictures. the names of each of the 2,752 people killed on this site being read aloud. moments of silence marking the times the two hijacked airplanes hit and the twin towers collapsed. president obama took part at a wreath laying ceremony at the pentagon commemorating the plane crashing into the building. in his remarks the president said we're united not only in grief but in our determination to stand with one another. >> let us renew our resolve against those that perpetrated that barbaric act and plot against us still. in defense of our nation, we'll never waiver. pursuit of al qaeda and its

extremist allies we'll never falter. let us renew our commitment to those who serve in our defense, our courageous men and women in their uniform and their families and all those who protect us here at home. mindful of the work of protecting america is never finished, we'll do everything in our power to keep america safe. >> a solemn ceremony in pennsylvania remembering the flight and crew members of flight 93. they fought the hijackers to take control of the plane preventing it from hitting the white house or capitol. wall street opened for business today and with a moment of silence that with stocks at their highs for the year only fitting on this neighb9/11. susan lisovicz with me now for a look back at 9/11 then and now. good to see you. >> you know, i think that obviously 9/11 was a profound tragedy for us all but it was

also a profound shock to the financial system. stock market was closed for nearly one full week. when it reopened, terrible losses. but i think one of the lessons of 9/11 we certainly saw it born out on wall street is the tremendous grit and resilience of americans. traders to a person told me they felt it was their duty to come back to work to show america was back open, open for business. some of them war masks. they knew there was terrible fear, grief, but they prevailed. the market came back. and here we are today. eight years later at the highs for the year. >> many will tell you we have not only survived. we have thrived and this day evolved into something of a celebration. >> yes. it has. if you remember what happened in the immediate after math of 9/11, everybody came

together. you saw the worst of humanity and the best. i'm happy to tell you some of those elements still survive. we have pictures we just brought back from a trading floor in lower manhattan that related to fitzgera fitzgerald. every day on 9/11 for five years, they donate 100% of their proceeds to charity and engineer who i spoke to who literally rebuilt their computer network said that it used to be a very solemn day but the fact that it has survived, it's thrived and bigger than it was before, is a cause for celebration because it is giving back. $23 million just on 9/11 in the past five years to worthy causes. >> unbelievable. that idea of not just surviving but thriving is so important. what a message that is. i love seeing those pictures. susan, good to see you. good to be in your house.

let's update our top stories for you. a training exercise prompts a security scare on the potomac river near the pentagon. it happened minutes after president obama crossed river. word broke a coast guard vessel was trying to prevent a suspect boat from entering a security zone. officials say it was a training exercise. let's do this. is kyra ready right now? >> i'm ready, tony. >> good to talk to you again. >> everything is free flowing, isn't it. >> it's good. it's better. we love it this way actually. i know you're continuing to talk to your sources and you have some additional information on the story. >> a couple of things to add to the information that we talked about just a few minutes ago. first of all, i want to make the point, tony, that some folks were calling this a major exercise. my source is telling me in no way, shape or form was a major

exercise. a training evolution. something they do on a regular basis. 9/11 wasn't the best way to do it location wasn't the best location seeing it was so close to the pentagon, to the president of the united states, to the 9/11 ceremonies that were taking place. lesson learned there according to my sources. just to clarify a few things, no shots were fired, tony. there was talk about that. no live fire. no blanks. no shots were fired. the scanner radio, there were some reports that possibly someone came over the radio saying shots fired, shots fired. my sources telling me that was not the situation. possibly someone listening to the scanner could have been confused with someone saying bang, bang, bang as this training exercise was going forward. there was confusion about what was being said. when we listen to scanners, there are key words you listen for. there's an energy. there's a tone. there's a conversation.

and if you're having a training evolution going on, there will be certain words that you use. my sources telling me the words shots fired were never said so the confusion might have come with someone saying something close to bang, bang, bang over the radio. also, my source saying to me that they were not sure if members of the media including us at cnn had called them as soon as we heard what was going on. that possibly we had gone to air with what we were hearing on the radio before confirming anything with the coast guard. i'm told from our folks here that it is not the case. we did call the coast guard and the coast guard said we don't know what you're talking about. therefore, we went forward with what we were hearing within other sources that our correspondents have. we'll try to hammer out what exactly happened if indeed the coast guard denied this, if they

should just come straightforward saying this is what's going on. we're still trying to hammer this out. two different sides to the story. we did what we were supposed to do according to our folks in washington. >> can i sneak in a quick one here? at some point and maybe official dumb is putting this all together. i know on our end there in atlanta and here in new york we're putting together the facts as we know them as well in our reporting and handling of this story. i'm curious, anything on the schedule in the way of a news conference right now from the coast guard or someone from the department of homeland security? >> there was a discussion going on about a press conference that is going to happen possibly before the noon hour maybe right on the noon hour but they are figuring out exactly what they are going to say, who is going to be there but the word is right now a news conference from coast guard headquarters within the next 30 minutes or so. i should add also there were a

lot of questions about who knew about this training evolution. did folks at the white house know. did the secret service know. the department of homeland security know. so many people have been throwing out those various questions. what i'm being told is that this training evolution what was going on today did not go all of the way up the chain of command because in the eyes of the coast guard this was just another day of training. >> got you. all right. kyra, keep us honest on the timing of this news conference. i know you've got to prepare for your show this afternoon. would appreciate your help walking through all of this with us if it happens in the next hour. appreciate it. thank you. >> thanks, tony. >> we're back with more "cnn newsroom" in just a moment. said she liked your hair color? oh. she lied. [ clang ] ugh! whoops! whoo! okay, one-tone hair color -- totally washing you out. pbht! let's get your right color! nice'n easy with color-blend technology. in 1 simple step, get a blend of 3 tones. highlights, lowlights, and shine.

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you have choices. ask your doctor if symbicort is right for you. (announcer) if you cannot afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. are you watching your weight along with your budget? a lot of folks are these days. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta gets good advice on eating healthy on the cheap from an unlikely source. >> with the economy in a slump, families are struggling to make ends meet. you don't have to sacrifice good nutrition. where better to look for tips on healthy living on the cheap than a five-star french chef?

>> it's easy to find ways to eat for a budget which is not expensive good food. >> reporter: the world renowned chef says it's about doing all doing what works for you. >> chicken which is very inexpensive, instead of buying the chicken already cut or cooked, you buy it whole. and, therefore, you save a lot of money. if you -- if you want something healthy and something inexpensive, you have to think seasonal. if you want to ito mate toes in january, it's very expensive. if in january you eat your root vegetables, if you make a soup with a squash, it's going to be very inexpensive. hp how does this french chef extraordinaire stay healthy himself surrounded by top-notch cuisine all day long. >> before i leave the house, i have a little bit of dark chocolate, good quality. i leave my house around 10:00 and i walk through the streets

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by the year 2025, the american association of medical college estimates there will be a shortage of 125,000 physicians in the united states. about a third of them primary care doctor. here's cnn's ynez ferrere. >> reporter: dr. randy wexler has been a family physician in the columbus, ohio, area for the past 19 years. he sees up to 32 patients a day. >> every day i have a patient that is upset on how long it

took to get in or i have a message from a patient who can't wait until the next available appointment. >> reporter: over the years, the wait time for an office visit with him has grown exponentially. >> so few physicians, because they're so full, are taking new patients that for a patient to see me because i'm taking new patients is anywhere from 2 to 2 1/2 months. >> reporter: among factors contributing to the shortage of primary care doctors, population growth, aging patients, relatively low reimbursements and more female doctors who tend to work fewer hours. the association of american medical colleges forecast a shortage of 124,000 physicians by the year 2025. 46,000 of them primary care doctors. currently, there's a shortage of 16,000 primary physicians. especially in rural areas. a fifth of the states already have just one primary care physician per 1,300 people. the average general physician earns $161,000 a year.

on average, medical students graduate with at least $140,000 in debt. the health care bill in the house includes some provisions to address the shortage, but the doctors' group we spoke with said more needs to be done. >> if there are not enough physicians, health care won't function properly, and health care reform won't function properly. >> reporter: dr. wexler says primary doctors will help save money through prevention and early treatments. >> making sure patients have their flu shots, their pneumonia shots, their colonoscopy. make sure their cholesterol is controlled to appropriate levels, the blood pressure they didn't know they had was treated. and without primary care to coordinate that, to manage that, to look for that, those things get missed going by the wayside. >> reporter: costing more in the long run. and here's what we're working on for the next hour of "cnn newsroom" on this eighth anniversary of the september 11th terror attacks, we sit down with a world trade center

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time now for your midday reset. i'm tony harris in new york. it is 12:00 in washington, where a coast guard training exercise touches off a security scare. we have a coast guard news conference that is getting under way right now. let's take you to it live right now. >> -- as they normally do on channel 81, which is a marine frequency, a discrete coast guard channel that was apparently intercepted by a member of the public. their discussions were taken out of context. and what we've seen as a

reaction to a training exercise that really was just that. our people have to train. they do it on a routine and normal basis. we coordinate our training with the other federal agencies. we have very, very well-developed protocols for protection of the national capital region. this being a normal training exercise, preplanned, the coordination was minimal with other federal agencies. i want to re-emphasize that no shots were fired. there was no suspect vessel. there was no criminal activity. this was a preplanned, normal training exercise. i'm happy to take any questions that you might have. >> was there a discussion of shooting of guns on the frequency that led to this happening? >> on channel 81, which is an open frequency, but a coast guard discreet working

frequency, part of the protocol in their training is verbalization of gunfire and orders between the boats simulating what we would normally do if we were interc t intercepting a suspect vessel. that "bang, bang" was verbalized on the radio, but i want to re-emphasize that no shots were fired. no weapons were trained. no ammunition was loaded. this was strictly on the radio, a verbalization. that's a normal technique that happens all over the united states in major ports, where our people train to interdict criminal activity and potential terrorist threats. >> so somebody said "bang, bang" or were you -- >> no, somebody said "bang, bang" on the radio at the appropriate time in the radio exercise when the actual interdiction of the boat would have taken place. [ inaudible question ] the president was not in the area.

he had been at the pentagon earlier this morning. he was not near where this training exercise was taking place. there was no prenotification of secret service, to my knowledge, because this, as i said, was a routine, training exercise. >> i'm going to take the questions and shuffle them around. i promise to get to everybody. you. >> was today the best day to be doing this, september 11th, a lot of emotion out there, was today the best day? >> we will look at our procedures and our timing of this exercise. but i will tell you this -- we're charged with 7x24 365, all day, every day, all-weather security and safety on the maritime interests of the national capital region. we train every day. we have crews that are highly proficient, and this is a routine exercise. i don't think that our operational commander saw any reason not to train today. yes? >> can you explain again the --

you mentioned that there was a training about the -- [ inaudible [ inaudible ]? >> this is a frequency, but it is not endripted. anyone with a scanner, just like many police departments have their communications intercepted, this was intercepted. if we're involved in an actual operation with secret service or other federal agencies, we encrypt it on the radio, so it cannot be intercepted. but for normal, open training exercises, oftentimes we use clear channels and that's apparently what happened this morning. >> admiral, in many cases norad notify us when they will be doing flights over the city. why do they not do this at this point? >> this is a low-profile, normal training exercise that goes on every day as we train our people to handle the boats, handle the

security protocols. there's really no reasons for specific agency notification on an exercise that is this low profile. it's a routine, everyday exercise. other agencies, including norad, conduct exercises on a daily basis. it's only when they're affecting national airport or in close that it becomes noticeable to the public would they make those notifications. >> but we understand the faa actually called reagan national. >> as i said before, we have very well-defined security protocols in the national capital region. apparently what happened is due to press reports and uncertainty that was generated by press reports, the faa reacted by putting a ground hold on a small number of aircraft at reagan national until they could sort out the information. >> admiral, you mentioned that no weapons were trained. does that mean if i were standing on the shore of the potomac when this happened, i

would not have seen anybody holding any gun or pointing any gun at any other vessel? what would i have seen standing on the -- >> what you would have seen -- what you would have seen were four 25-foot response boats, they're colored orange. you've probably seen them out on the potomac before. they have automatic weapons. 7.624 weapons on the bow of the boat. simulating the interdiction they would have done for a suspect vessel, but would you not have heard gunfire. you would not had weapons points at anyone or anything of that nature. >> a follow-up. this took place, i understand, between the 14th street bridge and the memorial bridge. was there any thought of moving it downriver or upriver away from the activities going on at the pentagon all day long? >> first of all, the training activity quite removed, actually, from the pentagon,

okay? but the potomac presents us with challenges. for those boats to maneuver at high speed and do the training that they need to do, they need a fairly deep and fairly open portion of waterway. and that presents the best area, and that is the routine training area where they're normally -- where it normally takes place. >> admiral, was it a restricted zone for boats on the potomac day for either purpose, for either of the events for the ceremonies at the pentagon or because of training? >> no. that's -- for special events, we oftentimes will put a security zone in place, but this morning there was no security zone. there were no special precautions. this was strictly a normal training exercise. >> normal protocol, what other agencies would you be alerting that you were going to be doing this? >> if a security zone were established, it would be in close concert with the secret service, the park police, the

other district police and the other agencies, the law enforcement agencies here. as this was a normal training exercise, there was no coordination per se with other agencies. >> admiral, you say this is a normal training exercise. how often, then, would an exercise like this happen? does it happen every day? does it happen every week? and, also, is the coast guard concerned by the media reports in the way that this went down? >> first of all, our routine training exercises on the potomac area, the national capital region, take place approximately four times per week. and we do it on that frequency so that our crews can remain proficient. we've got a 7x24 response protocol here. to the second part of your question, yeah, this is very instructive for us. and we're going to back through this. we're going to review our own protocols, our own procedures. we're also going to look at how we engage the press, all of it,

we'll back through. we'll be open and transparent on how we do that. we may even ask some of you for advice on how we can preclude this type thing from happening again. >> instead of yelling "bang, bang, bang" did your folks say they had expended ten rounds? did they radio that? >> i don't have the transcripts of the radio. i can't conjecture on that. i think as part of the training, rather than fire actual rounds, our normal practice is to articulate the rounds being fired on the radio, so that the timing is proper for the rest of the execution of the maneuvers. so -- but i cannot tell you with any certainty whether or not that was verbalized. >> admiral, would that be something that -- >> hold on. hold on. >> admiral, would you consider keeping -- sensitive data, and secondly, is there any -- because of september 11th any additional security? >> i'm sorry, i couldn't hear the second half of your

question. it's too breezy. >> did you train on 9/11 on purpose because of the security, as an exercise? >> no. i think it's very important for our people to maintain proficiency. in retrospect, of course, we look at the sensitivity of 9/11. we're also going to look at our engagement with the press, our messaging on this. we're going to do a top-to-bottom review on it. we'll be transparent with our results. we are a learning agency. but i want to reiterate that our young people out there those boats are highly proficient and very professional. and this was executed exactly according to their training plan. this was not ad-libbing by anyone involved. this was sanctioned by higher levels in the operational command, preplained -- preplanned and executed, as it usually is, on a routine basis. >> is it a normal part of this exercise after the person articulates "bang, bang, bang"

to then say over the radio, "i've expended eight rounds, i've expended my rounds" to simulate it? i'm trying to get an idea. >> first of all, let me say, when they start this exercise, they first come on the radio, even though it's a coast guard working frequency, they announce "this is a drill. this is an exercise." they preclude all of their actions with that. and any other follow-on communications, yes, it's quite possible that they say "i've expended x number of rounds." but that would be strictly as part of the training scenario. [ inaudible question ] i can't confirm or deny that that was articulated. we'll back through this in time and find out exactly what was said, but as part of how we normally train, it's quite possible that it was articulated eight or ten rounds were expended. but that as i said before would

have been precluded before and after the evolution by saying "this is a drill." okay? >> last question to the man in the green. >> i'm sorry? >> do you normally -- do you normally talk with the other agencies when you're going to do something like this? because when i got down there, there were about ten police cars down there, and when i asked them if they knew what was going on, they said, no. we were reported that shots had been fired. >> what you see is a loop, the actual action, press reports and the uncertainty that was being generated by that because of the high profile of the press reports and the fact that other agencies, due to that uncertainty, reacted as they normally would. they dispatched units, and this is probably -- >> a follow-up. i know you're not issuing an apology. >> no, i am not issuing an apology, because although it's unfortunate that it escalated to this level, what you're seeing here is the result of a normal training exercise, such that when we have a threat or when we have a security issue in the

national capital region, all agencies can come together, under a secure communications protocol and execute security operations very professionally and successfully. >> admiral -- >> one more. >>-- you contradicted yourself today. first you said there was minimal notification to federal agencies and later you said there was no notification. could you clarify? who was notified in advance of this exercise? and why are local agencies not in the loop on this? >> well, first of all, to my knowledge, the information i have at this time, there was no specific notification of state or local law enforcement agencies. the reason is that, just like when the d.c. fire department trains they don't necessarily notify all other agencies. this was a routine, low-profile, normal training exercise that happened -- the radio intercept generated intense media coverage and interest, justifiably so, but i think what happened was

you saw this spiral out. >> other federal agencies were alerted in advance? >> no. as i said, to my knowledge, no federal agencies. >> if i can follow-up, your press office basically shut down. they would not answer any questions. they didn't return calls, from my experience today, and they wouldn't even confirm that it was a training exercise, even after a spokesperson told ap it was a training exercise. are you satisfied the with the way your agency handled this today? >> as i said before, we're going to back through this incident, we're going to look at the messaging, we're going to look at our press agencies, and we're going to find out how we can better do business to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. >> who green lights this? you said it was green lighted from above. >> we're not the operation commanders here. it is sector baltimore. the local station had a training plan. it was approved by sector

baltimore, as would routinely happen, and this exercise was executed, as would routinely happen. >> your command center here in washington, were they notified, the department of homeland security, were they notified in advance of this training exercise? >> no. nor would they normally be. we are a component agency of dhs. and this low-tempo, low-profile, normal training exercise does not garner national command and control. >> in the future, do you think you'll be notifying them about -- >> as i said, we are -- we are going to back through our procedure. we're going to -- we're going to take a good, hard look at what we did here today and ensure that if we need to modify procedures, if we need to mottfy notificati modify notification, we will do so in the future. >> do you have a recording of the radio chatter, and will you release it to the press? >> there are recordings of it, i'm not sure how much at this

point. i've not heard it personally. but i'm sure that in working with our press office, when they generate that, they'll be happy to talk to you about it. >> at any point in time were the words "this is a drill" used or would you make that known in the event that it was intercepted? >> although i have not heard the tapes, our normal procedure is to announce that this is a drill. i have no indication that that wasn't done. we have highly disciplined and professional young people operating these boats, and i would say, with some level of confidence, although i haven't heard the tape, that that would have been announced before and after the exercise was commenced. >> sir, if this happens four times a week, why has this never generated any -- >> i'm not sure why that is. i think someone probably intercepted a transmission on a coast guard discrete working frequency that caused them great concern, and i don't know where it went from there. whether it went to the press or to local public service agency.

i don't know at this point. we will find out. >> i'll be taking the rest of your questions off to the side. the admiral does have to get going. if you can please step off to the side, i'll get you the information. thank you. >> we've been listening to vice admiral john courier, coast guard chief of staff, answering a lot of questions, and probably have more as a result of that press conference. the coast guard promising a thorough review of the training exercise that caused so much confusion this morning. homeland security correspondent, jeanne meserve, live with us now from washington, with the very latest. and, jeanne, you were listening as well as i was there to the vice admiral, and he said, look, this was a ordinary training exercise, the kind of exercise that happens for the coast guard virtually every day, whenever it's scheduled. low-profile training exercises, all this was. and, yet, it turned into quite an event this morning. >> it did.

and for a couple of reasons. one, because of the day. this is 9/11. we knew that there were ceremonies under way at the pentagon today. the president apparently had left at this time this happened, but there were others. there were still ceremonies in place, taking place, so the day had special significance. and there's always been fear in some quarters that something might happen on a day like this. so, we -- as you could see, the overhead shot of the river, we could see here at cnn boats dashing around on the water, interceptions taking place. and when you listen to the radio traffic, there was no mention of a drill, no mention of an exercise in the portion we listened to. and i believe we have an excerpt of some of what we heard. let's play that for you. >> if you don't slow down, we're going to -- you will be fired upon. roger, roger midzone. >> there you could hear one

small part of it, they went on to say ten shots had been expended, we're going in to assess the situation. so, that is why there was some fear that something really serious was happening here. we did place calls to the united states coast guard. we asked them before we took anything to air, can you tell us what's happening here. and they couldn't tell us. they did not know what was happening. so, that's how it transpired. as it turns out, nothing did happen. and that's the wonderful news here. that this was simply an exercise. there wasn't any tragedy here. but the fact that it happened on 9/11, so close to a site where there was a commemoration, is raising a lot of eyebrows. >> okay, jeanne, let's leave it -- let's leave it there for right now. as i mentioned, a lot of questions still to be answered, and we're being promised a thorough review by the coast guard. jeanne, appreciate it, thank you. still to come, members of the so-called gang of six are still trying to come to an agreement to health care reform. we will get a live update.

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authorities in new haven to search for a missing yale university grad student. 24-year-old annie 11 wle was supposed to get married sunday. she was last seen tuesday at the university's medical school. >> general motors trying to win baucus mers and stay in business. now offering a 60-day moneyback guarantee. starting monday, new gms with less than a certain amount of miles can be returned for a refund. we'll get another check of our top stories in 20 minutes. a key group of senators is working on compromise to health care reform in a meeting wrapping up in the last hour, the so-called gang of six talked about several components -- medicaid, medical malpractice, abortion. quickly now to our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar. brianna, if you would, tell us what came out of the meeting? >> reporter: well, no major developments, tony. this was their last meeting of the week. they're going to be meeting again on monday. but you really get the sense the

timeline here is starting to tighten. max baucus, the chairman of the senate finance committee, from where all of these democrats and republicans hail, he said that he is going to be putting the finishing touch ies on a bill b the middle of next week or the end of next week by the latest. this is the time when the entire senate finance committee will start voting on, september 21st, and senator baucus said the window for republicans to come on board, for goims and republicans to find a bipartisan compromise, it's closing. >> it's understood that we have to start making decisions. because we need to get it put together monday for mark, early part of the week, or early part of next week. >> does that mean monday is the next day that you expect the six to sit down? >> monday is getting close. there's not much time after monday. you know, monday, tuesday, in there. >> reporter: so, monday is getting close. there's not much time after monday, senator baucus said.

and i ran in to senator olympia snowe, one of the key republicans in the so-called gang of six in the hallway right after he made those comments, and she wouldn't rule out that monday would work out, tony. but she certainly seemed to cast a lot of doubts on it. she said they're waiting for the nonpartisan congressional budget office to really crunch some numbers so they can ultimately just really know what they're dealing with. and also you mentioned medicaid. this is another issue. the way medicaid works, it's not just med cal money that goes to fund medicaid and this proposal right now before this committee is to expand the reach of medicaid. states also have to chip in. so, this group is going to be talking with governors, really just to see what is feasible for states who are so cash strapped at this point. so, she obviously saying that a lot of things still need to get done. she wouldn't rule out the middle of the week, but we'll certainly be watching, tony. >> okay, brianna keilar on capitol hill for us. thank you. more u.s. troops to

afghanistan? the senate armed services chairman says hold on.

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happening at the new york stock exchange and a look at the big board. boy, we started off in positive territory today, but some selling going on right now. just about three hours into the trading day. the dow is down 34 points, and the nasdaq -- at last check the nasdaq was down nine points. we'll be following these numbers throughout the day for you. coming monday in the "cnn newsroom," president obama planning what the white house is calling a major speech on the financial crisis. monday marks one year since the collapse of lehman brothers. that triggered last fall's global meltdown. the white house says the president will focus on the steps he's taken to restore the economy and commit his administration to unwinding the government's role in the private sector. what was it like inside the world trade center towers after the planes hit? we will find out from someone who knows all too well. e. it's personal. i have diabetes. rodney's kid too. so we're so proud to manufacture... the accu-chek® aviva meters and test strips...

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and let us help you choose the right plan. so call now, 1-800-232-7773/tty and find out about... an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. a personal health insurance advisor is waiting for your call an uplifting achievement. it's what we're talking about in our "what matters" segment in partnership with "essence" magazine. the october issue is on newsstands today, and it includes a story about a young pilot, kimberly anadike, she

flew a single-engine cessna in july. the journey makes her the youngest black female pilot on record to fly cross-country. she learned how to fly when she was just 12 through an after-school program for at-risk young people. she wants to be a cardiovascular surgeon when she grows up. you go, girl! the terrorist attacks of september 11th may soon be officially part of american public school curriculum. middle and high school students are expected to test the lesson plans this year, in several states including new york, new jersey, and california. the goal is to help students who may not remember the tragedy think critically about the attacks. it has been eight years since the terrorist attacks that changed america, but some who escaped the carnage of the world trade center say it feels like they just left the building. leslie has kkin 36th floor of t north tower when the first plane

hit. she wrote a book called "between heaven and ground zero." and she joins us live from virginia beach, virginia. leslie, it is so good so see you again. >> thank you. >> you were telling me a moment ago it's been three years. >> i think it's been three years, yes. >> since we last spoke? >> yes, yes. thank you very much for having me. >> oh, please, it's my pleasure. i want to get to how you're doing these days in a moment. but if you would, you know, this is one of those "then and now" interviews. so, how often do you think about this day and eight years ago? >> gosh, every day. every day. i was just, you know, having a conversation earlier and saying to someone that for the world, the time continues to move, and it's five years and six years and seven and eight years that goes by, but for me, it's every day is september 11th and september 12th. so, every day, i remember it. >> you write in your first book, "one minute i was in the stairs,

and the next oblivion." tell me more about that oblivion. >> you know, everything happened so fast, and everything was just beyond comprehension. i mean, it was the worst of the worst. and so in one minute, i was living my life. i was an executive for a very large insurance company, and then the next minute i was in this horrible reality that was really unimaginable. it was like being nowhere, and at the same time, you know, kind of absorbing all of this and seeing the most hideous things you can imagine. >> no, i won't go there. i was going to ask you -- well, i will. >> okay. >> is there an image that remains seared in your brain from that day? >> there are several. there are several. i think the most -- the one that i remember most was walking past

a woman who was trying to have a conversation. she was trapped, and she was trying to pass me a note. and she passed away in just in the middle of her sentence, never got the sentence out. and the look on her face and just the reality of how short life is, that we could be here one minute and gone the next is what stays with me most. and it's that -- it's her face and that realization that drives me. >> wow. we'll talk about what it's driving you toward in just a moment. >> uh-huh. >> you told our booker this morning, marilyn joseph, "it happened eight years ago, but i feel like i just got out of that building yesterday. it is my life. i live that every day." >> right. >> did you -- do you suffer from posttramatic stress disorder? >> i do, yes.

>> did you ever seek help in dealing with that, with your emotions surrounding that day eight years ago? >> i did. in the beginning the few years, the years that immediately followed 9/11, i did. i was committed to a psychiatric hospital, as most people already know. and i did see a psychiatrist and was heavily medicated for a very long time after 9/11. i still suffer from posttramatic stress disorder, but i'm not on the medication anymore, and i'm not seeing any psychiatrists. i'm just living free in my relationship with god and in faith that god is bigger than posttramatic stress disorder or anything else, and that's what works for me. >> very quickly, what's -- what's helped you, to the extent that you have turned the corner on this in your life? >> i'm sorry? >> what's helped you turn the corner on this very dark day that has led to, you know, a pretty difficult chapter of your life? >> uh-huh. >> what's helped you turn it around so that you can get up

and function from day to day? >> it's been my relationship with god and the people that god has put in my life to be a good support. i have an amazing pastor, a wonderful brother, good friends and a son who loves his mom, you know? in spite of his mom, you know? so, you know, god is just real in my life, in our relationship and in the people that he's put in my -- put in my life, and that's what's keeps me going. >> you've written two books "between heaven and ground zero" and "god has not forgotten about you." >> right. >> i assume they are available for purchase if they'd like to. very quickly, where can folks find your books? >> they can go to -- the quickest, easiest way is to go to amazon. they are also in bookstores. but go to amazon, it's quickest, easy. >> thank you. good to see you after all these years. you look fantastic. >> i do, don't? >> yeah, you do. stay strong.

>> life is good. thanks for having me. all right. >> thanks, leslie. >> bye. still to come in the "newsroom," more questions for you, still to come in afghanistan? welcome to our mcdonald's. yours? really? it's been our dream since we were kids. uh, that long, huh? why not? mcdonald's really supports entrepreneurs. they spend over $5 billion dollars... with businesses in communities like ours. you two really know your stuff. we've done our homework! time for breakfast. mom! not in front of the customers. wake up! wake up! - i just had the most amazing dream! - me too! opportunities inspiring big dreams. mcdonald's. so we did a nationwide on your side review. turns out it was more valuable than he thought.

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let's get to our top stories now. do you remember where you were eight years ago? the nation pauses today to remember the terrorist attacks of september 11th, 2001, with a

reading of names, the laying of wreaths, and moments of silence with the victims and heroes of that terrible day. gm says if you don't like it, bring it back for a full refund. the nation's largest automaker trying to lure customers back. if that new car has less than 4,000 miles and you are current on payments, gm will take it back no questions asked. and nasa engineers hoping the weather cooperates so space shuttle "discovery" can land in florida this afternoon. storm clouds thursday forced the shuttle into another day of orbit. if "discovery" can't land in florida, california's edwards air force base is available. the powerful chairman of the senate armed services committee, democrat carl levin, speaking out against sending more u.s. troops to afghanistan. he wants to bolster afghan forces instead. cnn's senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, joining me live from capitol hill. dana, look, this is an important voice weighing in on the u.s. role in afghanistan.

>> reporter: very important voice. as you said, he is the democratic chairman of the senate armed services committee, and he made clear that he believes, just like many other people around washington believe, that the commander, u.s. commander, in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal, is planning to recommend to the president to send additional combat forces to afghanistan. that's on top of what the president already approved back in february, about 20,000-plus additional troops. well, carl levin is making clear he wants to stop that from happening, and the reason, he says, in a very forceful speech on the senate floor, is because that's not the right way to go. the right way to go, before you send any additional u.s. combat troops, is to focus on the afghan security forces. listen to what he said -- >> we should increase and accelerate our efforts to support the afghan security forces in their efforts to become self-sufficient, delivering security to their nation. before we consider whether to increase u.s. combat forces

above the levels already planned for the next few months. >> reporter: now, following that speech, he came to the press gallery and talked to reporters in there, and he insisted he wasn't frustrated, but certainly sounded that way, tony, in talking about the fact that he simply doesn't think over the past six months or so, since a democrat has been in the white house and since he has been guiding the strategy in afghanistan, that there has been enough focus on securing -- or actually, increasing the security with regard to afghani military presence. >> yeah. >> reporter: he said there needs to be more equipment, there needs to be more training and that's where the focus should be. it's very interesting. this comes just one day after the house speaker voiced what we are hearing more and more from the left of the president's party, and that is that there simply isn't support for sending more troops to afghanistan, and the house speaker said bluntly she doesn't believe there is support in the country or in the congress for that matter. i asked senator levin if he agrees with that. he said that he agrees with that

in terms of public opinion, but that his motivation here is from the perspective of somebody who has a very important responsibility as the chairman of the armed services committee to try to guide the strategy there. i should say, he just came back from the region. he was there over the august recess. >> well, dana, this is very interesting, because the chairman has laid down a very important marker here. we'll see where the debate goes from here. our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, dana, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. he is a one-man sports franchise! a big honor today for the man many consider the greatest basketball player of all-time! . every gallon. every shoe. every book. every cereal. well, maybe not every cereal. but every stem. every stitch. every tune. every toy. pretty much everything you buy can help your savings account grow because keep the change from bank of america rounds up every debit card purchase to the next dollar and transfers the difference from your checking to savings account. it's one of the many ways we make saving money in tough times a whole lot easier.

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saving the nba from obscuritity in the early 1980s, it's michael jordan who often gets credited for taking the league to a whole new level. >> i think michael was an agent of change, because he came at a time when sports marketing was taking off. he came at a time when cable began to hit its stride. and he came at a time that globalization was something you read about but hadn't really achieved the status that people talk about it, and certainly hadn't reached into sports. and at all of those came together as it related to the nba at a time when michael jordan and the bulls were in this ascendency. >> reporter: the nba's extraordinary growth during jordan's career may have been from a confluence of events, but his impact on other businesses is undeniable. corporations like coca-cola and

chevrolet all benefitted from their association with jordan, but perhaps no company benefitted more than nike. >> if you ask michael, he will say he built nike. mars blackman with my main man, michael jordan. >> reporter: spark lee starred in the early ads with michael jordan and said they were groundbreaking. >> as far as african-americans are concerned, let's be honest, the faces of american companies, up to that point, had been aunt jemima and uncle ben. >> because the fear was that the white consumer would not buy a product with a black face on it. >> we were a running company. and he really helped us move into obviously basketball as a category, which, then, allowed us to move into several other categories as well that maybe he didn't play as direct role in, but gave us the confidence, the

resources and the opportunity to build our brand and our business around the world. >> reporter: while jordan was building his empire, some thought he should have used his power and influence to affect social change for african-americans. >> i think it bothered him, of course, nobody likes to be criticized, but i think one of the great things about michael is that he was comfortable being himself. and it's no one's place to determine how active you should be. >> reporter: today, jordan brand, a subdivision of nike, exceeds annual revenues of more than $1 billion per year, and his success opened doors for all athletes. >> here was a star who -- who was just transcendent which was great for marketing. and the good news for us was that other corporations followed the lead and changed the view of athletes, and i think that change has remained true to this very day. >> now, number 23 from north

carolina! michael. hey, larry, i got to tell you, the takeaway for me, from jordan's career is -- and i think this is an incredible message for young people, that if you are willing to make the sacrifices and you are willing to take first your god-given talent and work as hard as you can, you can move to the upper echelons of your chosen profession, whatever it is. and that, for me, is the takeaway from his tremendous career. >> i think that's a very good one, tony. when you think about -- we think of michael jordan and the greatness, keep in mind when he came out of college, he was not a great shooter. he worked on his jump shooting. he was not a great defender. he became the best in the league and the best of all-time. we don't give athletes the credit of the work that they put in to reach that talent and his competitive nature was something, too. i don't care fit was ping-pong, cars, no matter what it is. in "the chicago sun-times" this weekend about jordan on the golf

course. his competitive juices never ran out, and even in april when he was the hall of fame announcement was made for tonight, back in detroit he said then that i hate that i'm here. because i feel like i can still get dressed and go beat you guys. >> yeah, that is terrific. a quick story, you don't know this, larry, but i was up for the job of the host of "nba inside stuff" forever ago, a great show. ahmad rashad ended up getting the job and does a tremendous job to this day. i remember going to the offices in secaucus, new jersey, not far from here, the nba entertainment offices and asking the folks who were putting the show on the air. what is this show about? they said, are you kidding me? it's about that guy right there, it's about getting that guy, number 23, on television as often as we can in this show. >> that's right. >> that important to the league. larry, appreciate it. thanks for the thoughts on michael jordan going into the hall of fame later this evening. still to come in the "newsroom" -- would you be ready if somebody like 9/11 happened again? we've got some advice on how to get yourself better prepared.

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events marking the 9/11

anniversary. he took part in a wreath-laying ceremony honoring the people killed in the pentagon. in his remarks, the president said we are not only united in our grief, but also in our determination to stand together and stand up for the country. >> let us renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act and who plot against us still. in defense of our nation, we will never waivver, and we will never falter. let us renew our commitment to all of us who serve in our defense, the courageous men and women in uniform and their families and all of those who protect us here at home, mindful that the work of protecting is never finished, we will do everything in our power to keep america safe. >> friends read the names of the people killed in the attack on the world trade center. the ceremony paused for moments

of silence marking the exact times when the hijacked planes crashed into each of the twin towers and when the towers collapsed. when our country came under attack eight years ago, the immediate concern for most of us was the safety of our family. where were our spouses, our parents, our kids. were they all okay? today, we want to know if you're prepared for another disaster, whether it is a terrorist attack, a hurricane, fire, chemical spill, whatever. you need a plan. to help you get started, you can go to ready.gov, click on "make a plan" once you're there. great tips on how to stay in touch with the family, where to go, some things you need to have on hand. simple things that could make the difference. we also have a link to that site on our blog. go to cnn.com/tony. tell us if you have a plan or not and share your ideas. we are pushing forward now with the next hour of "cnn newsroom" with kyra phillips.