we've got the guy doing the shouting. . >> i was up there, trying to say something about how we cared about them and the country was supporting him, and a guy kept screaming, i can't hear you, i can't hear you. ♪ [ dr. ling ] i need to get the results from the m.r.i. see if the blood work is ready. review ms. cooper's history. and i want to see katie before e goes home. [ male announcer ] with integrated healthcare solutions from dell,

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>> i can hear you! >> (cheers) >> i can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people-- (cheers) >> the people who knocked these buildings down, will hear all of you soon! >> >> all right a lot of people look back at that and say, what was the president responding to, i can hear you. and it's this brave and

sitting next to me, he he was there and on your day off. you didn't have to come in, didn't have to come in and you were among the rescuers there trying to look for buddies, anyone, any survivor and you were there when the president came there. and what, what made you say that? >> well, i couldn't hear him (laughter) >> and i couldn't hear him and it just, you know, guys were starting to get a little fitting with the sound and i needed for something, we need today hear him so bad. three or four days later, and after that, i didn't realize there was any connection, but then his response was, it's a historic moment now. it kind of called and shaped his presidency at that time to do what we need today do to get this, this problem solved in so many ways.

>> now, it was a few days after the the attacks, a lot of you guys were bone tired, a lot of you had been up for days, and there was no one to be found. what was going through your mind? >> well, it was, it was frustrating. first of all, i came down the night of september 11th, i was retired and i wanted to make that clear so that the true heroes, the rescue workers were at it all day and to be drained of what was happening in front of them just to get these, save these people and get the lives out. it was getting frustrating and then i understand earlier in the day they heard the pass alarms going off and wish the pass alarms could have lasted for days to find loved ones and after the days you thought maybe you were going to be part of saving a life and that's something we're all about. you know, but not even a -- not even a pet, no signs of life. >> neil: and-- >> i know there was a few in

the beginning, but they were so lucky, those people, but when you think of the devastation, who could have survived something like that. >> neil: you know, rocko, ten years out and all of these events being planned at ground zero today, tomorrow, no firemen have been invited what do you think of that? >> and i look down and i look down at the site and it's pretty heart felt to see that this is finally getting near its end in terms of memorializing the people that died here and i know it's controversial not to invite us, but it's not a big area and as many firefighters that deserve to be here, but i think there should be a special day, you know, i know there's a rendezvous pass in a couple of weeks and i think that should be the day for the the firemen and should be a day set aside for the rescue workers, not only the firefighters, how about the construction workers. >> neil: the mayor was saying, barely enough room, i'm paraphrasing, enough room for

the family and among the arguments not inviting the clergy. >> listen, he's got a job to do as well. i think that the people who lost their loved ones are the utmost of importance. they need to be here. as long as they're satisfied for tomorrow, i'm happy with that. as far as-- . you know, i'm looking this and i mentioned to the mayor, it's a big area, it's a big area. you know, you invite the firemen, 9,000 firefighters. >> neil: yeah. >> there's the retired firefighters. you know, when does the list, you know, i'm not -- i don't want to sound like the firemen shouldn't be there, because i bleed firemen red and we have to come to our senses with, this is not that big of an area, neil, i don't think and looking at it in this perspective, i thank fox news letting me look at it from this standpoint. >> neil: are you kidding? the other way around. >> and it's really amazing, but i think it's going to be

tight. i really do. >> where are you going to be tomorrow? >> i'll probably be watching it on tv and you know, keeping the thoughts of everybody who died and especially the rescue workers, because you know, the rescue workers fight goes on. we forget about the military in this aspect. >> neil: absolutely right. >> i have two kids in the military right now and you know, i try to get the word out about the firefighters, this may be a plug, but we are he' still the fight is going on and rescue workers and construction workers, you know, the death toll is going to go up, if we don't focus on the ailments that these guys and the construction workers and some of the people in the close surrounding area breathed it in, 2500 contaminants known in the area. >> neil: the least we can do is help them out. >> yeah. >> neil: they helped us, you guys. are you very much, very much. >> thank you. >> neil: without you, you know, telling the president to speak up, we might have never had that historic moment. it takes an italian to do that, you realize that

(laughter) >> rocko, thank you very much. >> not at all. >> neil: and when we come back, rocco was mentioning the firefighters and how some of them might be a little upset and that's probably putting it mildly not being included in a lot of events. we've got the former fire department commissioner joining us and also john ashcroft, stick around. we're from ground zero. more after this. i know you're worried about making your savis last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here -- to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you.

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♪ >> welcome back everybody. we are at what is now infamously become known as ground zero. you hear a lot about the reflection pools, ponds, and these are the footprints. this is one of them, for what used to be the two towers that made up the world trade center. there are two of them just like this.

and they actually just got these up and running, but in the last few days and of course, as for the official ceremonies that will begin tomorrow. but it all occurs ten years after the fact, with a new heightened terror watch. we don't know much more than what we've gotten from homeland security and mayor bloomberg and officials in washington who have just said, they are looking for men of pakistani origin who are fluent in arabic and english who might be looking at car bombs and the like and probably be targeting the cities of new york and washington d.c. again, the threats keep coming, but they just, in the abundance of caution as mayor bloomberg was telling me, they have to follow-up on it and all the guys need to be is right once as president bush so often said and then of course you have a disaster. it was an issue i raised with the former attorney general don ashcroft who commended new yorkers for their vigilance in

light of this very latest threat. >> new yorkers are a hard and crusted group and tend to say, oh, here he we go again. what do you say? >> well, i think that new yorkers should be be credited with being alert, vigilant citizens. it wasn't long ago that new yorkers detected a vehicle that had the components or the stuff from which an improvised explosive device could be developed and engineered. so while new yorkers may appear to be sort of unaffected on the outside, it's clear to me that they're willing to participate as defenders of the freedoms that we enjoy in this country by being alert and reporting things that are out of line. and i give new yorkers the tip of my hat, it's something that we encourage all citizens to be involved in ten years ago, in the after math because we were so worried about the rekrur sense of terrorist events. and when we look at all of these terrorist events that

have been disrupted, the citizens have played a fundamental and vital role in almost every disruption. so, i think they're to be credited and by being alert, he they help devalue the threat. meaning, they diminish the threat. and anytime we act as if there is no threat, we'll signal to the terrorist that this is probably a time when you might be more successful and that's a signal that none of us want to send and so, i take the threat seriously, but -- and i believe new yorkers do, but they don't take it in a way that has them caving in, to the objective of the terrorists. >> all right. former attorney general john ash krofcroft ashcroft. from that was born the expression in manhattan if you see something, say something. that's sort of become the buzz word for anything unusual, you report it. of course, it can kind of fall on deaf ears because almost

everything you see in manhattan, no offense, is a little unusual, but again, hope springs eternal that people learn from that. a fellow who really-- here, i am honored to have him with us, thomas is it a former fire department commissioner in this fine city of new york and he joins us right now. commissioner, i'll start right off with the controversy du jour, if you don't mind, that's the mayor not inviting the firemen, leaving aside the clergy for the ceremonies tomorrow. >> i don't get it. i've been to all the ceremonies, they've always been small, it's never been a ceremony that the fire department in general, and you know, in big ways, want to participate in. the guys are personal and hate the political baloney and the phoneies that jump on all of these things just to get a picture taken, but they want to be with their family and their guys and want to remember and respect them and they've done it in their own firehouses through the city. this year, i don't know who the group is, that says the

fire department wants to participate, but i'm not so sure it's a big group of firefighters. there have been families that have come over year and that's what they want today do and then they would go to the firehouses later. so, i don't know what, what the mix is and what the big stink is, but-- >> when you hear that the mayor, as he he was trying to tell clergy individuals were upset, look, i'm going to catholic churches and episcopalian ministers and i'm going to mrabbis and muslim leaders around the city and i'm going to visit firehouses and, but for this event, and the limited space, i'm looking at the space commissioner, i think you could fit everybody, but i'm a horrible judge of space and i usually put my in-laws in a side room. having said that, i'm wondering, if they can't make room for that-- >> i don't know why you can't make room for it.

i don't think many will be coming. and should have been a gesture made to the guys. there's mow security and issues and everybody invited make sure they're told beforehand. who knows what's going on behind the scenes about it. >> neil: i'm thinking if there are 3000 families affected and the victim's families are there, by definition. the mayor's people are saying well, a lot of them are port authority, police, families anyway and so in fact they're represented in at that respect. >> absolutely, any family that wanted to participate has never been turned away and i am he' sure weren't turned away. we had 343, 347 the police all of those folks here and most families i've seen over the years don't want to be here. this year might be special because i'm sure he they want to see the memorial and they don't want to wait. because they've heard about it, and it's phenomenal, i think the way they brought the dignity to the names the way they're inscribed on the bronze and lighting underneath and that might be the increase this year and may have said

something to a firefighter in the firehouse, gets annoyed and ten guys might want to go with the family. that's how it is, the guys have never, have never walked away from those families, you know. so whatever that family wants, the guys want to do. so maybe they normally go to the firehouse, this year they want to go here. . i'm mayor the mayor had a tough time. >> neil: you're a magnanimous to the commissioner. and my image of thousands running away from the collapsing building, you guys running in. i know it's part of your job, but i'd be the barney fife guy running the other way. remarkable. >> that's a small thing to do and we want people to be running away. our job is to try and help people get out. so everybody can get out on their own, that's a good thing, but we did a phenomenal job that day. and i can't say enough about people who knew what they were going into. it's different when you don't know. if you know, we had people who had gotten may days and told

evacuate and they said, no, i just got a call from so-and-so, ten floors higher, kept going. >> i'm not leaving. >> that's something special. >> commissioner, thank you, a real honor. >> thank you. >> neil: all right. after this, we responded to this, remember, when president bush said at the time, i hear you and pretty soon, the folks who brought these buildings down will hear you. a brave soldier who went through that battle half a world away, and got badly wounded, and is here to tell the story and is grateful for the experience.

♪ >> welcome back everybody. it's ground zero.

it's where it all started. where it all went down. two giant skyscrapers went down. 3000 people losing their lives. more than 700 from the state of new jersey, this right now the scene in liberty state park in new jersey where a little later, this next hour, we're going to be hearing from governor chris christie, who with other dignataries is going to be dedicating a memorial in honor of all the new jerseyens who lost their lives that fateful day. 767, but i'll check that, but it was a, a disproportionate amount. the interesting thing about chris christie on that day, is he had just been appointed in the attorney general's office and he was to meet with john ashcroft later to confirm the fact that they would need him right away in an appointment that many say would launch his political career as a prosecutor and later, as a rampaging governor who many people want to see run for president. he's ruled that out.

back here at ground zero now, and the heroes after this event, the soldiers who went to take the battle to usama bin laden and the taliban and al-qaeda. jared martinez stands out among them, he was wounded in iraq, sadly wounded and so many operations it doesn't bear repeating and you would think with all he's been through, he would be bitter, angry, but in the countless appearances i've had with him over the years, he's always upbeat and every time i find myself whining about an ache or headache and i think about what he's been through and i shut up and he reminds me, neil, you should shut up. and jr martinez, joins us, and jr has become a soap opera star which bothers me, jared, good to see you, how are you doing. >> i'm doing good, neil, always good to see you. >> neil: same here. >> you know, you and i chatted about this over the years and a lot of folks say that taking

this fight to iraq was extending the battle plan, way beyond what was necessary and you've always argued just the opposite, but these arguments fester yet again on this 10-year anniversary, what are you saying? >> you know, it's being a soldier, one thing he we always do, we all volunteer to serve in our armed forces and to, you know, volunteer, to sacrifice to go overseas and whatever our commander-in-chief says, he feels we need to be that's where we go. however, i mean, it's been ten years and now, having been home for eight years, and having witnessed countless amount of service members who not only lost their lives, but a lot of lives being altered and family's lives being alter add and you start to kind of wonder, now, did he we kind of rush too soon? and you know, but at the end of the day, i mean, what i focus on it, i focus on there's only so much we can

really do while the men and women are over there it's now take care of the men and women when they come home and help them transition being everyday americans and gave them the same opportunity i've been given throughout my career. >> neil: and we have to take care of our troops not only wounded, but those who served and their spouses, very tough being a military spouse, but we tend to get short shrift, don't we? >> no, it's easy, easy to forget. there's a lot of things going on in our world today and you know, it's one thing about 9/11, being ten years ago, i remember i was in high school when i was a senior in high school looking up at the tv and seeing, you know, i lived 1500 miles away from new york city and how my, not knowing how my life was going to be affected by the tragedies happening in new york, let alone the 3000 people who, you know, innocent lives taken on that day. so, i mean, it's ease toy forget, but you know, it's important for, you know,

people like yourself to have, me on, which i'm grateful for or other, you know, individuals that were in the service and that have paid a price, that have served or actively, continuously, wounded or given their life. a family of a loved one who has given their life and it's important to be vocal and share and we're still here and exist. even though this war is happening thousands of miles away, it's happening because of people like me that are in your back yard and we have to be reminded and show that support to our men and women and their families. >> neil: thank you for all of your service, like i say, the only thing i represent is your soap opera success and i'll leave it that. >> neil: and my friend, very, very good seeing you, thank you for all you have adone for the country. jr martinez, iraq war vet. we've got a lot more coming up. you ever wonder what happened with president bush right after he got the news about the second tower going down, air force one, where was it

going, where did he want it to go. the battle behind the scenes? we've got the air force one pilot here and only here. more after this. [ male announcer ] each of these photos was taken by someone on the first morning of their retirement. it's the first of more than 6,000 sunrises the average retiree llee. ♪ as we're living longer than ever before, prudential's challenge is to help everyone have the retirement income they'll ne to enjoy every one of their days. ♪ prudential. bring your challenges. not a mammal in this household isilling to lay claim to its origin. but now is not the time for blame.