p.m. eastern. learn more at c- span.org/thecontenders. >> this morning, we mark the 10th anniversary of the nine sassou of attacks by showing oral histories -- 9/11 attacks by showing oral histories and hearing from callers. >> they hung up to perform their final act. they hugng up. todd, father of 2, a pregnant wife at home in new jersey, asked the phone operated a help join him in the lord's prayer.

then he said, let's roll. >> courage lies in every heart. on september 11, 2001, it was summoned and forty incredible men and women enter the call. they gave their lives. --answered the call. host: from shanksville, pa., as the nation reflects on the evens 10 years ago, september 11. -- on september 11. the flags are at half-staff. about 45 minutes ago, the president and mrs. obama departed the south lawn and route to new york city for the

site of ground zero -- en route to new york city for this type of round zero. they will also be in pennsylvania and washington, d.c. a live look from ground zero. we want to hear from you -- your comments, memories, stocks -- thoughts. call us at -- we will also take your e-mail journal@c-span.org. out twitter address is twitter.com/cspan. this is one of those mornings in which the headline in virtually every newspaper in the country is sharing the same story and the same sentiment. from the "new york post."

from the new york daily news. "proof thru the night." "the new york times" -- a sc ene of the new memorial. we will be live throughout the morning with services in new york city, shanksville, and here at the pentagon. all of us remembering what happened on that morning of september 11. we want to hear from you. we will also share with you some interviews and reflections about what happened 10 years ago and how it impacted the nation 10 years later. first up is ron running is from miami. good morning on the democrats line. caller: thank you so much for c- span. my heart is so heavy for what has happened. it has been 10 years. we do have to go to the exact

promise of what happens. as long as the palestinians suffer, there'll be more bin ladens. we have to stop -- all the -- solve the israeli-palestinian conflict peacefully. god bless america. host: thanks for the call. "the washington post." meanwhile, from the weekly standard -- paul wolfowitz

writes -- next is andrew on our republican line from houston, texas, on this 10th anniversary of 9/11. go ahead. you are on the air. caller: i would like to make a comment concerning the 9/11

attacks. host: rich, laurel, maryland, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i was in the service. i retired in 2006. one of the main reasons i might have retired was the war in iraq. i've started to look at 9/11 much harder. so many things bother me. why does it not look like a commercial aircraft went down in pennsylvania? wise says -- why does it not look like a commercial aircraft hit the pentagon? everything seems so shaky about that day. host: it was not a commercial jetliner, then what was it? caller: it does not matter.

it does not look like it, period. host: ryan in sterling heights, michigan. good morning to you. this is a special edition of "new york post." go-ahead. you are on the air. caller: this is brian, calling about the 9/11 incident. i still believe it was an inside job. i have been studying every piece of footage i could get my hands on for the last 10 years. my conclusion out of my research is that it was a distraction. the buildings coming down, the two tower is coming down was a distraction. host: what happened to the people on board those flights? caller: there is true that they were let off somewhere else. host: caller, i'm one to stop

you there. we're not going to spend the morning dealing with things that are completely fiction. we will deal with the facts and get your comments and reflections. caller: good morning. it is nice to speak with you today. can you hear me? hello? good morning? host: go ahead. caller: my memory is of september 9, 2001, c-span. i called during the 7:00 hour. you had a speaker who was advocating for the closure of overseas bases. i called in to voice my opinion that those overseas bases should not be called -- closed, that our presence abroad was important. 10 minutes after, you changed to a segment that involved a

spirited exchange between bill press and barbara olson, and i believe that was her last public appearance. host: she signed the guest book. she was heading out to los angeles on the morning of september 11. caller: that was always very striking to me. i was able to search out and see that in your online database. host: a 9/11 tally -- $3.30 trillion. a look at the price of the events of 9/11.

we conducted interviews with a number of people involved, including heather penny, a pilot for the d.c. air national guard, and her story before flight 93 went down. >> i realize this is a total hypothetical. you are flying over washington, d.c., and the potentially have to bring down an airplane may be in the nation's capital. in light of what was happening, did you give any thought to how you would have done that if it was over the city? >> for the large aircraft, it would simply be taking off the tail. i would essentially be a kamikaze engram my aircraft into the tale of the aircraft -- and ram my aircraft into the tail of the aircraft. you've only got one chance.

you do not want to reject and miss -- eject and miss. you have to be able to stick with it the whole way. we did the combat air patrol over d.c. there were plenty of other aircraft that we had to turn away. what we finally employed would be to thump them -- to fly in front of them and put out a flare or two. that flrae would -- flare would turn the other aircraft away. we would get on the victor frequency and try to communicate with the aircraft. 121.5 is a frequency that all pilots know about. it is called burghardt -- guard, if you get in trouble or you need help. on that frequency, you should be

able to talk to anybody. we would try to get them up on guard. >> so you were prepared to take your life is necessary to take them that plane? >> of course. host: we have conducted a number of interviews. we will show you some highlights during the day, including live coverage of ceremonies at ground zero and in shanksville, pa., and at the pentagon here in washington, d.c. here is a headline from the "l.a. times." a number of planes came from boston's logan airport. it remains brilliantly lit, but deep in the shadows. from the pittsburgh post- gazette, not far from shanksville, names etched in history -- the ceremony that took place honoring those who

died on flight 93. from the miami herald -- living with the new normal -- how new york and the world chain nged as a result. caller: we're attacked because of our support of israel. host: i will stop you there. let's watch the scene from ground zero in new york city.

we will continue to take you to the scene at ground zero as various events continue to develop their to the service is scheduled to begin at 8:30 eastern time. the president is scheduled to arrive in about 30 minutes. he will meet with family members of those victims who died on 9/11. harry is joining us from the uk. welcome to the program. good afternoon. caller: i was living in a small village in the west of wales. there were photos of the hijacking. i paid no attention. so, when we saw the second impact, we thought -- [unintelligible] the twin towers collapsing.

[unintelligible] the towers are gone. new yorkers try to rise. in your hearts, they are so near. they are just a step away remembered close may god hold them in his hands we wish new york, shanksville, and the pentagon all the best as the commemorate the lives lost -- they commemorate the lives lost. host: thank you for the call. service is taking place around the world as the world remembers what happens -- services taking

place around the world as the world remembers what happens. flags are at half staff. it is a morning quite similar to what we saw 10 years ago, bright sunshine in lower manhattan, but a very different sight at ground zero. the service will begin to remember those who died. imagine if the twin towers still dominated the skyline and the pentagon was still intact. imagine the number is 9 and 11 that anything -- meant nothing more than an emergency phone call. it is clear the world has changed. how much and how radically? good morning. thank you for floating back -- phoning back.

caller: my concern is about ground zero. it is a magnificent sight. concerned what the firefighters weren't involved or invited to the ceremony. if it had not been for the incident of the world trade center, they never would have been on the scene. i think it is kind of bad that they were not invited to the ceremony. i also want to say that it appears that -- i know they haven't been confirmed yet, but is a tax a person was to be coming in, -- these attacks that are supposed to be coming in -- does something have to hit us again before we take it seriously? any announcement of some type of

terrorist involvement should be taken very seriously, not "wait until something happens." host: you do not think the dhs, the fbi, cia are taking things seriously? they have been warning the public and following up to try and find out if there is any credibility to those threats. caller: i think they're taking it serious, but not serious enough to inform the public so that we can be aware. host: what more should be done? caller: i think they should announce -- hey, this is what we have heard. this is what is taking place. we need you to be watching and aware of what is going on. host: they have done that. we have had a news conference from a year blumberg. caller: than they come back and say that it has not been -- from mayor bloomberg.

caller: but then they come back and say that it has not been confirmed. it wanted to say that it as -- i did not want them to play it down. host: mark, go ahead, please. caller: good morning. i am so shocked that those who lost the lives of other americans did not take it serious. it was -- [unintelligible] to carry on that kind of act that took place. host: robert is next, los angeles. good morning. caller: good morning. 9/11 was a big tragedy for us,

like oklahoma was. it is a national tragedy. somebody did something to us on purpose. a handful of -- what were they from? saudi arabia? they made up a plan. those people were lucky. they got through and hurt us, americans.em we are still wasting money, 10 years later, still fighting. if we have the draft like we did in world war ii or vietnam, we would not be spending -- sending bodies over. we would have a private army. if you need a dog, join the military -- job, join the military. host: the names of those who

died at our -- died are on a waterfall. there will be a musical tribute tonight and remarks by the president. the scheduled event at the national cathedral has been moved to the kennedy center. we will have live coverage at about 8:00 p.m. eastern, 5:00 for our viewers and listeners on the west coast. garrett was planning for a congressional picnic on the south lawn of the white house. the president was scheduled to return at about noon time for the picnic. of course, the president was in sarasota, florida, for an education even. we get his reflections on what happened 10 years ago. i want you to go back to the moment you were writing this diary, this time line. you are husband. you are a father.

you worked with the president and the first family. what were you thinking? >> this was a historic occasion. negative, certainly. i needed to write down for history what occurred at the white house on that day. so much gets lost, as you well know, if people do not write stuff down. activityasn't my normal to keep a journal or anything, but the historic nature of that day just overwhelmed me. i had gone through probably as many emotions during the course of the day as anybody could possibly go through. thoughts of my family, obviously. mainly thoughts of the people in shanksville, who miraculously fought their way through terrible conditions and downed that plane. as far as i'm concerned, they

save my life -- saved my life. i am convinced that the white house is the symbol of this nation, even though the capitol building things that it is. i thought somebody would try to do something -- if somebody would try to do something and the white house is an image they would like to take them. i have fought through a great deal of remorse for the people who lost their lives in shanksville. i also feel they saved my life. if the time and had worked out, i would have been right in the south lawn when the airplane would have crashed into the white house. i felt that i needed to sit in compose my thoughts, both for history and also to calm down. i was pretty hyper. even though i was a good nine hours into the first crash that had occurred in new york.

i use that as a means to recalculate my day and start to think about the coming days, what would happen in the coming days, both to the workout, the united states government -- all of those things start coming through your mind. host: the recall a phrase or line that you wrote that stands out -- do you recall a phrase or a line that you wrote that stands out? >> i tried to keep it factual. the first thought was that we were going to war. there would be a state of war declared one way or another. who are the people who did this? what were their motives? by that time in the afternoon, there was plenty of speculation and what the -- speculation of who was responsible and what the

actions of the president and government would be. the president had not been the action that long. host: you saw president bush depart the white house on september 10. did a different george w. bush returned late afternoon september 11? >> yes. he made the transition to a wartime president to the president was one of the most affable people -- president. the president was one of the most affable people that i ever served at the white house, always laughing, joking, had nicknames for everybody, and knew a lot of the staff from when his father was the president. he knew the people and some of their family members. when he returned, he had a staff job -- had a stiff jaw. he was very focused, tremendously focused. i think, to that point, mrs.

bush, laura bush had been one of the primary focus is of his initiatives, which was taught good education. that is why she was down on capitol hill -- which was childhood education. his demeanor changed. he was still the same person personally, but his demeanor changed. he have a purposeful look in his eyes when he returned that even iing. host: gary walters, one of our oral histories of the events of 9/11. available at c-span.org. paying tribute to those who lost their lives in iraq and afghanistan. a photo from yesterday.

from "the new york times," a president of former president bill clinton, george bush, or bush, and joe biden. what are your thoughts this morning? caller: thank you for taking my call. i think there are three reasons that i call this the day of atonement. the first one is that we were so naive as to believe that there are not people out there who want to kill us. the second is our ignorance in not reading it in newspaper, because everything was in "the washington post" that indicated we were about to be attacked. the third is our organs for sending comedians over with -- is our arrogance for sending comedians over to tell jokes.

the president is saying you want to win the hearts and minds. you do not win the hearts and minds of people by making jokes about their women or their culture. host: mark from michigan. good morning. color them a good morning, c- span. good morning, america -- caller: >> morning, c-span. good morning, america. my father was a senior master sergeant in -- in the united states air force. it is called nomad. we have three defenses comes -- it is called no rarad. all of these defense systems were shut down on 9/11. this was an attack with 3767's @ were remote-controlled, just like drones -- three 767's that

were remotes to controlled, just like drones. the third one was supposed to hit the southern power, but it malfunctioned. there was no plane that hit the pentagon. it was a bomb. host: i will stop you at that point. we will leave it there. from "the new york times," "loss and hope." the first lady, laura bush, scheduled to testify on capitol hill, with a focus on education and literacy. she was in the room with senator ted kennedy shortly before the second plane hit the second tower. during her visit at the national

book festival last year and based on her book reflecting on the events of 9/11 are here is a former first lady laura bush with her oral history of what happened that morning. >> in the time it had taken to drive the two miles between the white house and the capital, the world as i knew it had changed. senator kennedy was waiting to greet me. we both knew when we met at the towers had been hit. without a word being spoken, we knew that there would be no briefing that morning. together, we walked the short distance to his office. he began by presenting me with a limited edition print. it was a copy of a painting he had created for his wife, victoria, and given to her on their wedding day. the print was ascribed to me and dated september 11, 2001. an old television was turned on

in the corner of the room. i glanced over to see the plume of smoke billowing from the twin towers. senator kennedy kept his eyes averted. he led me on a tour of his office, pointing out various pictures, furniture, memorabilia, even a framed note that his brother jack had sent to their mother when he was a child, in which he wrote, "teddy is getting fat." [laughter] the senator who would outlive his brothers by more than 40 years laughed at the note as he showed it to me, still finding it amusing. all the while, i kept glancing over at the blowing television screen. my skin was starting to crawl. i wanted to leave, define a was going on, to process what i was seen, -- to find out what was going on, to process what i was seeing. did not occur to me to say, senator kennedy, what about the

towers? i followed his lead. it was clear that i might dissolved into tears. senator judd gregg of new hampshire, the ranking republican on the committee, one of our very good friends, had played all board during mock debates at the ranch that previous fall -- al gore during mock debates at the ranch the previous fall. he arrived and invited us to sit and talk about anything other than the horrific images unfolding on the screen across the room. i was still trying to pay attention to him and the thread of conversation. it seemed completely unreal, sitting in this elegant, sunlit office, as an immense tragedy unfolded. we sat as human beings, driven by heat, flame, and searing heat, jumped from the top of the

twin towers to end their lives, and as firefighters prepared to climb the stairs. i have often wondered if it was ted kennedy tossed defense mechanism. if after so much tragedy, the combat death of his brother, the assassinations of his brothers, the deaths of nephews, including john, jr., whose body identified when it was pulled from the waters off of martha's vineyard -- if, after all those things, he simply could not look upon another grievous tragedy. host: from the national book festival, a former first lady laura bush reflecting on her memories of the morning of september 11. we'll have live coverage of the national book festival later this month on c-span2. "booktv" programming every weekend on c-span2. "unhealed wounds."

charlie is joining us. washington, d.c. good morning. caller: i had this been wondering -- i would not want to hear it again. the plane that was talked about

in pennsylvania -- a fellow described that on the radio. i was listening to the radio. he heard the noise, then saw the flames, and the plane came down after he seen the flames. i have never heard that interviewed again. i wondered if you had heard of that. do you know where it is? i just want to hear it again. host: you're talking about flight 93 that hit shanksville, pa.? i am not aware of that interview. caller: nobody seems to be. i was listening to the radio.

i don't know who the interview was. i hadn't heard the one person who heard it, too. we never heard it again. host: thank you for the call. sun,"the balitmortimore "one tragedy, two lices." -- lives." the iconic scene shortly before the twin towers collapsed. good morning. caller: my name is paul. i was a pilot -- i am still a pilot for the airlines. at the time our i was working well as -- at the time, i was working as a commuter pilot.

i finished my shift the evening of september 10. it was really bad weather. i could not get back to boston. i ended up having to go back to where my family lives in pennsylvania that evening. we spent a couple of days -- was going to spend it with my family. my mother woke me up to tell me about the airplane's hitting the towers. i could not get my head around it. i still cannot. i have never been able to understand what it takes for somebody to fly an aircraft into a building. it is just beyond my comprehension. it still stays with me today. the traveling public should know that will never happen again. we will not allow it. thank you. host: thank you. we're looking for your stories and reflections. where were you 10 years ago

today? as your life changed? from the hartford courant -- this is one of those moments where everyone in the country is carrying of a similar headline. the chicago sun-times -- just as seen from lower manhattan 10 years ago. from the times picayune, the remembrance. next, barbara in austin, teas. -- texas. good morning. -- well,ood morning, - bad morning. cnn had a special program. they interviewed different

people. i was astounded to hear george bush say that the most nervous moment of his presidency was when he had to throw out the baseball -- the first pitch about a month after sep 11. he emphasized that was the most nervous moment of my presidency, throwing out that baseball. i was just floored. the second thing is, when he said in that classroom with those children -- he told us the reason he did not immediately leave was that he was concerned about the children. i cannot stop wondering why he was not more concerned about the entire country at the point. it would have been easy to say, children, i am sorry. something has come up, i must leave. that would not upset them. he should have stuck to his job instead of sitting there while those children read "my pet goat."

those are the things that keep coming back to me. as far as my personal experience -- i was living in hawaii on september 11. it was very early in the morning. we felt so helpless. it was such a sad day. i remember calling in to c-span that day or the next day. people were calling in saying god had something to do with it. i do not have been the be a religious person. i cannot understand how anybody would believe in a god who would do something as horrible as that. they were calling in saying i know why god did this, so on. thank you. host: thank you. we're covering ceremonies in new york city, lower manhattan, the first of three major ceremonies taking place today, the president then traveling to somerset county, pa., the scene

of flight 93. 40 names etched in the marble. the ceremony took place, led by premier vice president joe biden and two former presidents, bill clinton and george bush -- led by vice president joe biden and two former presidents, bill clinton and george bush. we're getting your reflections on 9/1110 years later. -- 9/11 10 years later. caller: thank you for your patience. you'll probably get more than a few conspiracy theorists. you are dealing with graciously. my wife and i had lived in new jersey for about 11 years. and remember their work -- on a clear day you, from where we lived, there was an overlook where you could see the twin towers.

i remember that sometimes in the evenings on the weekends, you could drive close to new york city and there was a little restaurant right across the river from the twin towers. we would have a bite to eat. we would just go out and look. we would stand for an hour, an hour and a half looking out at new yorkng going oun in city. 9/11, we were in mexico on vacation. we considered going back home. we checked with the company we worked for. they said, if we need you, we can contact you. we started making our way from albuquerque west. we went through the indian pueblos. i was struck by -- as the new

progressed, you started seeing a proliferation of american flags in the pueblos. the hopi, navajo, other indian nations out there -- after they had been interest much in our history, for them to put the flags out really impressed me. from williams, arizona, we were going to take a train to the south rim of the grand canyon. there were people in our car from new jersey and long island. there is a reputation for being abrupt and rude, so on and so forth. we are all in their grief. -- all sharing our grief. a man came in and started playing guitar, the old woodie

guthrie standard, "this land is your land." we all broke down. the long islanders from new jersey did not seem so irritating anymore. we are american at our core, whatever else about us, there is something deep within us -- there is something special about being american. it is the only country that has been formally based on principle. they say it is "unjust," not un- french, un-german -- thety say it is "un-american." at the core, i am an american. host: thank you for sharing your

thoughts and reflection spirit we have been showing you the scene -- and reflections. we have been showing you the scenes. this is a mother of someone who died on flight 93. this is the mother of mark bingham who died 10 years ago. she is hugging an iraqi war rhetorveteran. she hugged him to thank him. joyce from illinois, democrats' line. good morning. caller: we had had sunday brunch with some friends. one person had just come back from working in hawaii. she was sharing her photographs

with us. they were of the bases. she started to scream as we left. we ran back in. she was crying that they had bombed pearl harbor. as a child of six, it was a very traumatic experience. going along the bus afterwards, everyone was talking about it. we went through the war, the trauma of all of that, the who had anof people oriental look and were assumed to be japanese, even though they were of other cultures. i woke up, had the tv on, they were showing the planes hitting the buildings, the tower. i thought, dear lord, it is happening all over again. it is appalling to think about it. teaching history for over 20 years, you live and relive time

periods of history and the things that occurred. i went in to teach that they. i look at some of my young people in the college class, who were from possibly those countries, pakistan, iran, and so forth, and i told them that story about being a child during world war ii, and how i have a school chum who was chinese. people broke their window because they said she was japanese. they had to put a sign up saying, we are chinese. i thought, oh, this cannot be happening again. i told him the story and i said, remember that everyone is not the same -- told them the story and i said, remember that everyone is not the same. you cannot condemn a people because they appear to be of a

certain race or religion. i hope people remember the things that happened during world war ii and remembering this horrible thing that happened 10 years ago. of all days, it is my wedding anniversary. of course i will never forget it, because of that and because of the experience i had at the time of pearl harbor. thank you. much -- thank you very much. host: you're looking up a waterfall, the tribute to those who died in manhattan of november 11. about 380 people were killed as a result of the debris that spewed from the world trade center. family members in attendance. the plane ihit shortly before 9:00, the second at 9:02.

much of that was carried on the cable and broadcast networks. there has been heightened awareness in the u.s. of a potential terrorist attack. there has been a strike in afghanistan at the u.s. military base, according to the associated press, where at least 80 soldiers have been injured. we're joined live on the phone by patrick quinn. thank you for being with us. what can you tell us? nearly 80 american soldiers wounded, several afghans killed. what happened? where? >> a massive taliban truck bomb, driven by a suicide bomber, tried to penetrate a combat post near the afghan capital. the bomb -- wounded 77

american soldiers and killed five afghans, including a 7- year-old girl. it damaged 100 shops or so in the neighborhood around it. the bomb was in a truck that was hauling firewood, a very large truck. we have not seen this many injured soldiers as far back as i can remember. this was a concerted attempt by the taliban to inflict a serious -- inflict serious injuries and deaths on u.s. troops. host: as somebody who has covered war in this region for so long, was this unexpected or to be expected based on the anniversary today? >> you ask nato and afghan

security forces -- u.s., nato, and afghan security forces have been on alert. there was a statement by the taliban to keep fighting american troops as long as they have troops here. they vowed to fight a long war. the attack was stymied by the fact that they did not penetrate the compound. this was larger than what we expected. thankfully, it did not kill that many people. for something this big, it could have been much worse.

host: including a 3-year-old girl killed in the attack. can you give us a sense of security, what you are seeing, hearing? guest: security in the capital is pretty tight. this attack occurred only an hour's drive from kabul. or listeners will probably remember the taliban attack last month where they shot down the u.s. navy helicopter, killing 30 special forces and u.s. navy seals. that was about 5 miles from where this explosion took place, just an hour's drive from the capital. capital is secure. the outskirts are different. even 10 years after the invasion, afghanistan is not a

safe place. it is quite dangerous. host: we are talking with patrick quinn of the associated press. nearly 80 american soldiers wounded in the attack. where is the taliban primarily located? are they training for these types of suicide missions? guest: the taliban are over -- are all over afghanistan. they are concentrated in the kandahar. and in the east, in pakistan. the insurgents are training, getting them weapons, maintaining safe havens just across the border in pakistan, in these lawless, tribal areas.

most of the ruling council is also located in pakistan. basically, they are rearming and training in a place where the united states has no troop presence. united states and the international coalition depends on pakistanis to deal with some of these insurgents. that relationship has not been good. host: on the eve of the 9/11 ceremonies around the world, an attack has taken place injuring 80 american soldiers. no u.s. casualties at this point, correct? guest: that is correct. there were no u.s. casualties. nato has lost about five soldiers in the attack. fighting is still going on. people are still losing their lives. no u.s. soldiers died.

host: thank you are much for your perspective, joining us from kabul. we'll take you live to the scene at ground zero -- a brilliant sunday morning. quite reminiscent of the sunshine that we all felt on the east coast on the morning of september 11, coming out just an hour before the first plane hit the first tower. ladyresident diand the first are in new york, where they will travel -- take place in a ceremony, then travel to shanksville, then back to washington, d.c. a musical tribute and remarks by the president tonight at kennedy center. live coverage here on c-span. your calls, comments, reflections, remembrances -- where you were and where we are today. "the washington post" has the plane hitting the pentagon. one year later, as it was rebuilt. the story is called, "americans

looked through different lives -- defense secretary donald rumsfeld came back for the bush administration and he reflected about where he was and what he remembers of 10 years ago today. >> you mentioned one story. it is -- there are two reasons i want to bring it up. you are the secretary of defense. you have a relationship with everybody else in the defense department. you are the mr. secretary, i assume. to anybody -- did anybody, you don -- anybody call you don? rummy? you had been rescuing people. you had been at the pentagon until 11:00. miss hunter asked if you had

called your wife. do you remember? guest: i do. when you say i was rescuing people, i helped out very briefly and then went back to my office. we had a tough day. the country had a tough day. hundreds -- thousands of people had been killed. the building was smoking and burning. they were still pulling people out of that charge remains of that -- charred remains of that area where the american airlines plane hit our building. i had gone back to the office. i wanted to keep the building opened. i did not want the terrorists to shut us down. we're trying to figure out if that would be possible. she looked at me and said, have you called mrs. r.? i said no.

she blurted out, not mr. secretary, not sir, she blurted out, "you son-of-a-bitch." and it was a stunner. i probably said, you have got a point. i have talked to my wife. she said, it never crossed my mind. we have been married 46 years ago. she knew where i was. i knew where she was. she had been at the defense intelligence agency, getting a briefing. and she did not have any doubt in her mind but that i had things i had to do. so, it was not a problem. tory clark was looking at it

as a wife and a spouse. it was a perfectly understandable reaction, i suppose. i do not know what i said, but i think i said, you have a point. host: that is from c-span's "q&a." in 2002, the the "new york post" took a photo of some who lost fathers and mothers as a result of 9/11. e are getting your calls and reflections. the president landed a short while ago in lower manhattan. he is meeting with family members and a private ceremony, then will participate in the public ceremony. mike from toledo, ohio. good morning. caller: hi, peter. i know this is not the usual c-

span "washington journal." i just got done watching the broadcast on the c-span video library from 2001, this day. you were at the desk there. i was wondering if you could give us your thoughts about what was theif you are allowed . that is what i was wondering if you could do. host: this is really a chance to reflect on where you were. we were on the air. the u.s. house was in a joint session. we ended our program at 9:00 in the morning on september 11 and had word that the first plane

had hit the tower. like so many, we thought it was a terrible crash. when the second plane hit, we knew was a different situation. we stayed on the air for the next several days. covering the president and the ceremonies that followed the events of that day. vivian joins us from fredericksburg, virginia. the democrats' line. caller: i remember that day, because i had just turned the radio on, and i said, is that true? he said yes. then i got a phone call from the school to comes pick up my grandson. i heard that the plane that hit the pentagon. i thought, oh, my god, my sister works there. i picked him up and took him

home and i turned off the tv because i did not want him to see that. i started calling my other sister to see if she had heard from the sister that it worked at the navy and next. we try for three hours to get a hold of her and i could not. i always wondered why there were so few people on those flights. like 93 only had 40 people, passengers and crew. and only 70 people total for the two planes that hit the world trade center? it just of their pay. -- it bothered me. i said i would never get on a plane. there was something not right. that big of a plane? i came from hawaii in 2000, and i had an overnight play of --

lay over because we did not have enough people to take us from san francisco to baltimore national. host: a lot has changed. the flight marshals are on those planes and security is much tighter. caller: true, but my question had always been, why were there so few people on all of those flights? hardly anybody. would they have left if they had been carrying fewer passengers? my question, why were there so few people on those flights? host: that is something that al qaeda took into account when figuring out there attack. you're looking at the scene from shanksville, pennsylvania. for the slabs of marble with 40 names etched in the marble. the president will be there today to lay a wreath, the

second stop in a series of visits as he travels to all three sites. he will conclude with his remarks at the kennedy center here in washington, d.c. at musical tribute that we will have live for you at 8:00 p.m. eastern. as well as on c-span radio, and from the "new york post." the construction, the liberty tower with a bright future for the world trade center site. bill is in massachusetts on the republican line. caller: i am a pilot. when we file a play it planned -- file a flight plan, we have to tell the number of people on board. and they are invariably refer to as souls on board. my call is primarily about the flight 93 memorial.

there is still a fund raiser going on. and the pilot before me, he was referring to a song. my song is from, it is from willie nelson. he sang a song called "angels flying too close to the ground." if he could change just a couple of words to that sound, so that it might be used as a fund- raiser for those heroes on flight 93. "angels flying too close to the ground." so sad. host: thank you for your call. you're looking at live scenes from lower manhattan. we had interviews with people involved, including david thomas in the pentagon. he lost a close friend and shared his story with us.

>> not enough is covered by the term victim when we talk about the pentagon of the twin towers with a field in pennsylvania, those brave people. in thatthink of anyone tragic day as a victim. of a victim is hit by a meteor when they are walking down the street, a victim of chance, or gets mugged and robbed, they are victims. the people who died on 9/11 were not victims. there were casualties of an act of war, an attack in my case on our military headquarters. so it was interesting that afternoon to still be trying to gell thatit would

people were trying to reconstitute the pentagon and 80 staff -- and navy staff, walking up to the navy annex, where the headquarters of the marines are. they are our brothers. they offered up space and we reconstituted the navy staff there. admiral thad allen was in charge of that, in concert with our forces, reconstituting an operating center. people stayed at the pentagon and try to reconstitute are operations. it was a magnificent display of what you do in a crisis.

train for it and you train for it and then to see it actually happened, it was magnificent. i mentioned i was on the quadrennial defense review. i report to congress. the secretary of defense's report was due at the end of september. in gallows humor, as we try to figure out what to do to help, they said, i guess that is it for the report. there will be a delay. that was a groundswell from the younger guys. it was such a motivating moment, a defining moment for who we are, when not only are we not going to delay it, we are going to turn it in on time, was the direction. not only are we going to turn it in on time, but we are going to read to a completely because the world has just changed for our defense. -- we're going to retool it

completely because the world has just changed. it was a grim reminder that this was our military headquarters. this is the united states. we're not going to let this stop us. we are better than that. of course we will work tomorrow but we have a job to do. it is just that harder? ok. host: the story of dave thomas, as we go from our oral histories. former president george w. bush, laura bush, the president and mrs. obama at the site of ground zero in lower manhattan.

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o say, can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

o say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave the land of the pfree and the home of the brave? of the brave? ♪ [applause] [military commands]

[bagpipes playing]

[bagpipes playing] [drum cadence sounding]

>> present arms. left face. forward, march. [water falling] >> 10 years have passed since a perfect blue sky turned into the blackest night. since then we have lived in sunshine and in shadow. although we can never unsee what happened here, we can see that children that have lost their parents have grown into adults,

grandchildren have been born, and good work and public service have taken root it to honor those we have lost. in all the years that americans have looked to the ceremonies, we have shared words and silences, the words of writers and poets expressing what is in our hearts, the silence giving us a chance to reflect and remember. and in remembrance of all those who died in new york in 1993 and 2001, at the pentagon, and in the field and our sheikh's phil, pa., please join in observing our first moment of silence. -- in shanksville, pennsylvania, please join in observing our first moment of silence. [bell ringing]

pff >> god is our refuge and strength. at very present help in trouble.

therefore, we will not fear. even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. though the mountains shake with its swelling, there is a river whose stream shall make glad the city of god. the place of the tabernacle of the most high. god is in the midst of her. she shall not be moved. god shall help her. just at the break of dawn. the nation's rage, the kingdom's removed, he utters his voice. the earth melts. the lord of hosts is with us. that got of jacob is our refuge. -- the god of jacob is our

refuge. he makes war is to the ends of the earth. he cuts the spear in two. he burns the chariot in fire. the still and know that i am god. i will be exalted among the nations, i will be exalted in the earth. the load of hosts is with us. the god of jacob is our refuge. >> today with our neighbors, our friends, our wives, husbands, citizens and parents, they're the ones they're rushed in to help. to thousand 983 innocent men, women, and children -- 2983

innocent men, women, and children. we have asked them to come here to speak the names out loud in new york, in washington, and in pennsylvania. they each had a face, all life cut short and to them. as we listen, red guard -- recall the words of shakespeare. let us not measure our sorrow by their worth. or that will have no end. [names recited]

[victims' names being recited] >> and my uncle.

big b, we miss you. we love you and your light shines through your beautiful grandchildren. >> and my uncle, we love and miss you. [victims' names being recited]

>> and my uncle. we miss you. >> and my beautiful daughter. we love you and miss you. [victims' names being recited]

>> and my best friend, my mentor, and my father. you would be proud. >> and my big brother. we miss you and we love you. [victims' names being recited]

>> last but not least, one of the best barbers and the world. we love you and mr. daley. -- and miss you daily. >> we love you. [victims' names being recited]

>> and my dad. >> and my sister. we love you, we miss you, and we will never forget you. [victims' names being recited]

>> i am here today in honor of my father and import a party employee of. >> and my godfather, a firefighter. [victims' names being recited]

>> and my father. >> and my brother. we love you. you will never be forgotten. [victims' names being recited] >> thank you for your courage, todd boehner. -- beamer. let's roll.

[victims' names being recited] >> it is and honor to say my brother's name. he is greatly missed and deeply loved every single day. >> father, we love you. you are my hero. [victims names being recited]

>> and my best friend, paul. we love you and miss you. give mom a kiss up there. to our first responders and military, thank you all very much. [applause] >> to my brother, anthony, we love you and we miss you.

[victims names being recited] >> and my brother-in-law, we miss you. there's not a day that goes by that we do not think of you. you always be in our hearts. we love you.

>> we will always remember you. [victims names being recited] [bell tolling]

>> president lincoln and understood the heartbreak of his country. he also understood the costs of sacrifice. he reached out to console those in sorrow. in the fall of 1864, he learned a will have lost five sons in the civil war -- a widow have lost five sons in the civil war. he wrote her this letter. "i have been shown a statement from the budget general of massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of

battle. i realize how weak any words of mine would be an attempt to because you from a loss so overwhelming, but i cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolations that may be ofnd in the bank's -- thanks the republic that they died tuesday. i pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of those lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have made so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. yours very sincerely and respectfully, abraham lincoln." [applause]

>> my father was on the 80th floor of the world trade center. i was 13 when i stood here in 2003 and read a poem about how much i wanted to break down and cried. since then, i have stopped crying, but i have not stopped missing my dad. he was awesome. my brother had just turned two when he passed. i try to teach him all the things my father taught me, how to catch a baseball, how to ride a bicycle, and to work hard in school. my dad always said how important was. we have moved to florida. i have got a job. i have enrolled in college. i wish my dad had been there to teach me how to drive, ask a girl out on a date, and to see me graduate from high school. there are a hundred other things i cannot even begin to name.

he worked in the environmental department and cared about our future. i know he wanted to make a difference. i admire him for that end would have liked to have talked to him about such things. i decided to become a forensic scientist. i hope that i can make my father proud of the young men that my brother and i have become. i miss you so much, dad. [applause] ♪

♪

♪ [water falling] [victims names being recited]

>> and my father. we love you, dad. we will never forgive you. >> and my father. we miss you. you are forever in our hearts. rest in peace. [victims names being recited]

>> and my father. we love you. >> and my dad. [victims names being recited]

[victims names being recited] >> and my kid brother. we love you and ms. siss you. >> and my father, who will always hold a special place in my heart. i love and miss you, daddy. [victims names being recited]

[victims names being recited] >> and my father. we love and miss you, dad. >> and my father. we love and miss you very much. [victims names being recited]

[water falling] [victims names being recited] >> and my uncle, peter. we love and miss you. >> and my uncle. we always an issue. we will always love you. we will see you later. -- we will always miss you. we will always love you. we will see you later. [victims names being recited]

>> and my brother, fdny. >> and my father. [victims names being recited]

[victims names being recited] >> and my brother, the naval

academy fighter pilot who fought with every ounce of strength he had to say passengers and crew. we miss you and we love you. >> my husband. frank, you will always be the missing puzzle in our family. internally yours. -- eternally yours. ♪ [victims names being recited]

[victims names being recited] >> and my niece. we love you and miss you always. you are forever in our hearts. >> my father, the best that i could ever have. we miss you. [victims names being recited]

>> and my brother, you will always be missed. >> and my father, we miss you and love you very much. [victims names being recited]

[victims names being recited] >> an my amazing and beautiful daughter, judy. judy, you gave us so much joy. we miss you so much. you will always be in our hearts.

we love you. >> and our son, lewis. a husband, a brother, and a loving father to christina and lauren. we love you and remember you. [victims names being recited]

>> and our mother. we love you and we miss you. >> and my nephew, kevin. your mother and three brothers love you very much. they miss you every day. [victims names being recited]

>> and our families hero, gary. the love in our hearts will bridge the distance to where you are. >> we still have heavy hearts. [victims names being recited]

>> and my father. i love you so much, daddy. we miss you more every day. i will always keep on loving you. >> and my uncle. we miss and love you. your spirit lives with us forever. [victims names being recited]

[victims names being recited] >> and my mother.

we love and miss you, mom. rest in peace. >> and my father, the port authority police lt.. we love you and miss you. we know you are always looking down on us. [victims names being recited] ♪ [victims names being recited]

>> and my husband. we miss you. we love you. you will always be in our prayers. >> and my uncle. we all love you. ♪ [victims names being recited]

[water falling] [victims names being recited] >> and my twin brother, my hero , a firefighter. he served our country as a marine, a new york city police officer and detective. he served our community as a boy scout leader.

john, we love you and miss you. we will always remember. may god bless our great nation. semper fi. >> and my father, a firefighter, who served our country with the united states air force and served our city as a new york city firefighter for 32.5 years. he was a great husband, father, brother, and friend. we love you, daddy, to infinity and back. we will never forget you. we will always love you. as joyce said, we have got your -- as you always said, we have got your cynthia marie lise connolly john e. connolly, jr. james lee connor jonathan m. connors kevin patrick connors kevin f. conroy

jose manuel contreras-fernandez brenda e. conway dennis michael cook helen d. cook john a. cooper julia t. cooper joseph john coppo, jr. gerard j. coppola joseph albert corbett alejandro cordero robert cordice >> and my father. we miss you and love you. >> and my father, john murray. ruben d. correa danny a. correa-gutierrez james j. corrigan carlos cortes kevin cosgrove

dolores marie costa digna alexandra costanza charles gregory costello, jr. michael s. costello asia cottom conrod k. cottoy martin john coughlan john gerard coughlin timothy j. coughlin james e. cove andre cox frederick john cox >> and my mother. we love you and miss you so much. we think about your every day and we know you are looking down on us smiling. >> and my father, james. we love you and miss you.

james raymond coyle michele coyle-eulau anne marie cramer christopher s. cramer denise elizabeth crant james leslie crawford, jr. robert james crawford joanne mary cregan lucy crifasi john a. crisci daniel hal crisman dennis cross kevin raymond crotty thomas g. crotty john crowe welles remy crowther robert l. cruikshank >> and my husband, alfred. we love you and we miss you

every day. you would be proud of our two boys. >> and my dad, martin and, from queens, new york, loved and missed as a father, husband, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend. i hope you are rocking and rolling with elvis. john robert cruz grace yu cua kenneth john cubas francisco cruz cubero richard j. cudina neil james cudmore thomas patrick cullen lll joyce cummings brian thomas cummins michael cunningham robert curatolo laurence damian curia paul dario curioli

beverly curry michael s. curtin >> and my father, nypd emergency service unit trochophore. we love and miss you more and down words can never say but we know your of looking down on us teaming with pride. >> and my sister, lucia. we love you and every day we may see more and more. you will always be in our hearts. patricia cushing gavin cushny john d'allara vincent gerard d'amadeo jack d'ambrosi

mary d'antonio edward a. d'atri michael d. d'auria michael jude d'esposito carlos s. dacosta caleb dack joao alberto dafonseca aguiar, jr. thomas a. damaskinos jeannine marie damiani-jones [moment of silence] >> the poet john donne wrote to, "it tolls for the."

to mark against the strikes of the fall of the two world trade center, but light 93 over pennsylvania, and now for the attack on the pentagon in washington, d.c. this year, we will hear the bell tolled six times. [bell tolling] [bell tolling] [bell tolling]

[moment of silence] >> there are those who say the freedom of man is nothing but a dream, well that are right. it is the american dream. in 1941, president franklin delano roosevelt to find for the world of the four freedoms on which the american dream is based. the first is freedom of speech and expression. everywhere in the world.

the second is the freedom of every person to worship god in his or her own way everywhere in the world. the third is freedom from want everywhere in the world. the fourth is freedom from fear anywhere in the world. that is our goal. our strength is in our unity of purpose. to that high concept, there can be no and save a victory. -- no end save victory.

>> my name is james smith, retired police officer. five years ago, with my daughter at my side, i told you about my wife and patricia's mother. we ran into the towers time and time again to save as many people as she could. she sacrificed all that she had and the richness of life that lay in front of her in order to save just one more person. she was killed when the south tower collapsed. since that time, patricia has grown and blossomed into a lovely 12 year-old, the very picture of her mother. she has her mother's smile and a sense of adventure. patrician now has two little brothers to share her zest for life. five years ago, we looked back to give years -- or words to our sorrow.

today, we choose to remember the joy she brought to all of us and we've out that she will always live in our hearts. -- we vow >> you will always be my hero and the pride of new york city. [applause] ♪

you can close your eyes it's all right i don't know no love songs and i can't sing the blues anymore this song sing and you can sing this song when i'm gone it won't be long before another day to have a good time

you can stay as long as you like so close your eyes you can close your eyes it's all right love songs know no and i can't sing the blues anymore but i can sing this song and you can sing this song when i'm gone [james taylor's "you can close your eyes"] ♪

[applause] patrick w. danahy love what you do and do what you love. in memory of them, we love you. vincent danz dwight donald darcy elizabeth ann darling annette andrea dataram lawrence davidson michael allen davidson

scott matthew davidson titus davidson niurka davila clinton davis wayne terrial davis anthony richard dawson calvin dawson edward james day jayceryll de chavez jennifer de jesus >> my dear friend lt. harry water maker and our courageous

son, welles, the man in the red bandana. [applause] >> and my brother charles gregory jones. we miss you dearly. nereida de jesus emerita de la pena azucena maria de la torre william thomas dean robert j. deangelis, jr. thomas patrick deangelis tara e. debek anna marjia debin james v. deblase

paul decola simon marash dedvukaj jason defazio >> and my uncle. although ritchie, we miss you and love you and we will never ever forget. god bless america. >> and my of gold and the godfather. we love and miss you and our family has not been the same since what happened. i know you are up their shining down on us watching the dallas cowboys, so give us a victory tonight in your honor. we love you. david a. defeo manuel del valle, jr. donald arthur delapenha

vito joseph deleo danielle anne delie joseph a. della pietra andrea dellabella palmina delligatti colleen ann deloughery joseph de luca francis albert demartini anthony demas martin n. demeo francis deming carol k. demitz kevin dennis thomas f. dennis >> and my husband, michael and joseph cunningham. liam and i miss you and love you today and all the days of our lives. >> and in honor of my father nypd truck two. we love you and miss you. please continue to watch over us.

jean depalma robert john deraney michael derienzo edward desimone iii andrew desperito cindy ann deuel jerry devito robert p. devitt, jr. dennis lawrence devlin gerard dewan sulemanali kassamali dhanani patricia florence di chiaro debra ann di martino michael louis diagostino >> and my father. i will always remember in my heart. >> and my beloved goddaughter.

we love you and miss you. matthew diaz nancy diaz rafael arturo diaz michael a. diaz-piedra iii judith berquis diaz-sierra joseph dermot dickey, jr. lawrence patrick dickinson michael d. diehl john difato vincent difazio carl anthony difranco donald difranco eddie a. dillard stephen patrick dimino >> and my brother, christopher newton carter. we love you and miss you.

you will remain in our hearts forever. >> and my sister. cassie, cannot believe it has been 10 years since i have seen your smile. you were one of the angels got had frozen on 9/11. you will ever be in our hearts. god also chose dad five years later. thank you to everyone who did the memorial. it is beautiful. william john dimmling christopher m. dincuff jeffrey mark dingle anthony dionisio george dipasquale douglas frank distefano ramzi a. doany john doctor, jr. john joseph doherty melissa c. doi brendan dolan

robert dolan, jr. neil matthew dollard james joseph domanico benilda pascua domingo alberto dominguez. >> and my father, who is a love that never dies. we love you so much and miss you. >> and our beloved father, lawrence davidson. you'd be so proud of your granddaughters. we love you. carlos dominguez jerome mark patrick dominguez kevin w. donnelly jacqueline donovan william h. donovan stephen scott dorf thomas dowd kevin dowdell mary yolanda dowling raymond mathew downey

frank joseph doyle joseph michael doyle randall drake stephen patrick driscoll charles drose mirna a. duarte luke a. dudek >> and my beautiful amazing mother. i love you and miss you. i hope you are proud of all of us and i know you are looking down smiling upon us. >> and my sister, bridget. you are a special angel sent by god, loved by all, taken but not forgotten. you are for ever in our hearts. christopher michael duffy firefighter gerard duffy

michael joseph duffy thomas w. duffy antoinette duger sareve dukat dunnek christopher joseph dunne richard anthony dunstan patrick thomas dwyer joseph anthony eacobacci john bruce eagleson robert douglas eaton dean phillip eberling margaret ruth echtermann >> and my brother. >> and my uncle. uncle dave, we love you, miss you, and we will never forget you. paul robert eckna constantine economos barbara g. edwards

dennis michael edwards michael hardy edwards christine egan lisa egan martin j. egan, jr. michael egan samantha martin egan carole eggert lisa caren ehrlich john ernst eichler eric adam eisenberg daphne ferlinda elder michael j. elferis mark joseph ellis valerie silver ellis >> and my father. there is not a day that goes by that i do not think about you. you will always be my best friend and my hero. i love you with all my heart and i could never have asked for a greater daddy than year. >> my love, my strength, we miss you. albert alfy william elmarry

robert l. ellsat edgar hendricks emery, jr. doris suk-yuen eng christopher epps ulf ramm ericson erwin l. erker william john erwin sarah escobauer jose espinal fanny espinoza bridget ann esposito francis esposito michael esposito william esposito ruben esquilin, jr. sadie ette barbara g. etzold >> and my love. big sister, katrina robert said. we love you and miss you so much. >> and my brother, michael.

you are loved and missed by all. eric brian evans robert evans meredith emily june ewart catherine k. fagan patricia mary fagan keith george fairben sandra fajardo-smith charles s. falconberg joey falconberg william f. fallon william lawrence fallon, jr. anthony j. fallone, jr. dolores brigitte fanelli battalion chiefjohn joseph fanning >> and my mother, karen.

in love and miss you. >> and my brother, john. we love you and miss you. kathleen anne faragher thomas farino nancy carole farley paige farley elizabeth ann farmer douglas jon farnum john g. farrell john w. farrell terrence patrick farrell joseph d. farrelly thomas patrick farrelly syed abdul fatha christopher edward faughnan wendy r. faulkner shannon marie fava bernard d. favuzza robert fazio, jr. ronald carl fazio

>> and for my family is loved one, ginnie. >> and for my father. we love and miss you so very much. keep watching over us. [moment of silence] [bell tolling] [bell tolling] [bell tolling] [bell tolling]