♪ ♪ ♪ now axd two-hour fox news specil event. it was a towering landmark that said new york. >> i think the city of new york came to love it. i certainly did. >> a symbol of economic might. >> the world trade center was not appreciated as architecture. >> and a charter to the enemies

of freedom. staggered by 9/11, america vowed to fight back. >> the real me is to get out there and kick some ass. >> and rebuild. >> and not to rebuild these buildings would be to give the terrorists exactly what they were looking for. >> a decade later. it's a story of rebirth. >> what we wanted to do was to find a way to reflect that so many people died on the tenth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11, there will be a dedication. the rising buildings are already changing the skyline.

ice ana-inspiring flight, symbolizing freedom and hope. it's one thing the terrorists didn't count on. they only know they caused destruction. america is about creation. for the next two hours we will look closer into what's going on here, what it was, what it will be and how americans are not only climbing back the chrysler building, completed in 1930. the empire state building, 1250 feet, completed 1931. >> the competition for the world's tallest building is really a part and parcel of the

history of the sky scraper and especially the romance ever the skyscraper. >> carol willis is the curator of new york's skyscraper museum. >> the skyscraper is an urban building that contains the the commodity of space that can be used for businesses or residences or hotels and tourism in the kind of economic mix of a city, a great city like new york. >> when the great depression struck, companies and the arc text they hired scaled back their more grandiose plans. the empire state remains the tallest skyscraper in new york, not to mention the world, for more tn 40 years. but my mid-century people were thinking to build big again." there had been plans to develop some sort of world trade center in lower manhattan since the 1940s, but it wasn't until the early '60s that the location of the world trade center was finally agreed upon. >> essentially it was the electronics district for new york city, called radio row. that's what had to be displaced

to create the world trade center. >> dr. sarah henry, chief curator of the museum of the city of new york. >> so it was extremely disruptive, and there was a lot of screaming from people whose businesses were there. >> i used to be shopping there. >> former mayor ed kotch. >> the people who operated those businesses said this is not a depressed economic area, we do very, very well. of course, the reverse argument was that there will be tens of thousands of new jobs compared to the hundreds that are there as a result of the redevelopment of the area. >> also unhappy was lawrence ween, owner of the empire state building. it would top it by 100 feet. he knew if that happened his property would lose prestige. so he got together with other

lobbyists to make the twin towers shorter. >> i think a lot of people were professionally connected to the building. the skyline was the central mass. >> but the world trade center plan, backed by, among others,ñi the governor, rockfeller and his brother, had too much momentum to be stopped. it was overseen by an interstate agency who assembled it on the hudson river using the procedure of eminent domain n1966 the construction began. the excavated rock was used to extend it farther into the river. >> the excavation of two world record-breaking towers with very deep foundations. so they are now excavating for the creation of the world center, and they used that excavated material to create battery park city. >> the world trade center was designed as a complex of high rise building with the

centerpiece being the twin towers. when the north tower was completed in 1972, it stood 1368 feet. replacing the empire state budding as the tallest skyscraper in the world. the south tower was a little shorter. the architect drew up hundreds of conscientious before his plans were accepted. >> it's interesting to trace the critical opinion of the world trade center, which started out rather excited at the ambition and the scope and the minimalist expression of modernism. once the complex was completed, it was rather negative. the architectural community, i think, began to just simply ignore the towers rather than to appreciate them for their great moment in american history. >> donald trump agrees.

>> the world trade center was not appreciated as architecture, but in my opinion it was appreciated as substance. it was big, it was powerful, it was bold. it really represented a stronger time for the country. >> there were people who thought they were too stark, there's nothing on mental about them, but i think the city of new york came to love them. i certainly did. >> going to the top of the trade center became a part of the experience of new york. the idea of seeing out to infinity had a very popular reception. so the idea of tourism and going to the top of e trade center was -- became a part of the experience of new york. >> early in the morning of august 7, 1974, a french tightrope walker took the experience one step further. he managed to stretch aware from one tower to the other and

stayed up there 45 minutes, making 8 crossings before being arrested by authorities. when he performed his stunt the twin towers had only been standing for one year. construction was still going on in the rest of the complex. the last building finished, seven world trade center was completed in 1987. it was built by the developer, larry silverstein and he had a bigger prize in mind. >> i remember looking up at the twin towers and saying wouldn't it be fantastic some day to own those buildings? >> one day he would get his wish and learn to be careful what you wish for. in the meantime the towers assumed the iconic status. >> this is new york when you fly over and you see the two towers coming up out of the ground, so to speak, you know you are home. >> hollywood recognized that too as is made clear in the 1976 remake of king kong. in the original 1933 film, the

great april climbed the empire state building. so naturally in the new version it would scale the world trade center. it was now a quick cut to the world trade center that most clearly shouted new york. the towers were featured prominently in "working girl" and "home alone 2" and others." seven homer simpson got into the act. >> once the sun goes down, all the weirdoes turn crazy. >> it was pulled from sinned indication after 9/11. >> al is the executive producer. >> people thought just the site of the towers would be unpleasant. >> there's one simpson's moment that is especially spooky today. >> there's a visual in it where it says visit new york, nine dollars a day. and the numeral 9 unfortunately is next to the picture of the tower that looked like an 11. it's uncanny. it's like we are predicting 9/11. it's just a testament to the

power of coincident. >> with so much attention the world trade center became not just a trade center of new york but a symbol of massic economic power. this also made it a target. that's next.

>> the twin towers quickly became global symbols of american financial might.

islamic extremists saw that, too. on february 26, 1993, a group of muslim extremists tried to destroy the towers by detonating a truck bomb beneath the north tower. their plan make the north tower collapse and bring down the south tower with it. that ambitious plot failed, but six people died. more than 1,000 were injured, and the cleanup and rebuilding cost half a billion dollars. >> the attack of '93 was an e-opener. there after, however, measures were taken that were extraordinary. >> the port authority rethought and revamped security at the tower and life eventually returned to normal. while workers at the world trade center went back to their jobs, the terrorists went back to the drawing board. in 1996 osama bin laden issued a

fattwah, declaring war on america. but no one thought he would succeed in writing down a great symbol. >> the 1993 bombing was indicative of what was to come. that was not a success, relatively speaking, for them and that gave them an inspiration to go further. >> meanwhile the new york governor, george pitachi, decided to private advertise the towers. larry silver seen, who dreamed of owning the tower, almost missed the 2001 deadline. >> i got hit by a car, had a broken pelvis in twelve places and i suddenly woke up on the 27th or 28th day of january, and said, my god, get my -- turn off the morphine and get my guys in here we have to frame the final bid and get it in. >> his bid, 3.$2 billion.

that did the trick. >> the 26th day of july, 2001, the governor gave me a massive pair of scissors, cardboard scissors, with which to cut the ribbon when we took title to the twin towers. >> it seemed like the culmination of his career. little did he know two months later everything would change.

>> on tuesday, september 11, 2001, united airlines 175 and flight 71 departed from boston. they were headed to los angeles,

but they both turned south toward new york city. al-qaeda terrorists had taken over. >> at 8:46:00 p.m. flight 11 crashed into the tower. >> it crashed into the side of the building, at least three-fourths taken out. >> it looked like something out of a movie. there's a huge hole in the side of tower number 1. >> at 9:03:00 a.m. with the world now watching, flight 175 crashed into the south tower. >> we just saw another one, another plane just flew into the second tower. >> and at 10:30:00 a.m., both towers were on the ground. >> there it foes, there it goes. there it goes! we do need to put it down now. we need to put it down now. here we go! >> america, offer a prayer. >> a few thousand people died. early fierce were that the number could be in the tens of

thousands. >> the loss of life here is going to be enormous. >> but a lot of people died that day. one of the most amazing survival story comes from the man trying to rebuild the towers, larry silverstein. >> every morning i spent at the trade center meeting with tenants and usually having breakfast meetings at windows. >> what a place to have discussions like that, on the windows of the world. >> that morning, on the morning of 9/11, my wife had made an appointment for me with the dermatologist and i'm sitting there saying, sweetheart, cancel the dermatologist, i have so much to do downtown, i'm going to the world trade center. she got angry. i said don't get angry, don't get angry. and yes, dear, and your wife gets upset with you, you can't let that happen so i said whatever you want me to do, i will do. >> his wife stubbornness saved his life. he was far away when the world trade center was the site of the

biggest mass murder ever committed in this country. 2,753 died at ground zero. another 244 at the pentagon and aboard flight 93 that passed near thanksville, pay. all together 2,977 died. the images and the events of that day still have the power to shock and anger. it was the end of the world trade center and the beginning of a war on terror. it was also the beginning of something else, a growing determination that this city and this nation would not let this attack stand. >> this is an attack on america, an attack on american values. an attack on everything we stand for in this country. and not to rebuild these buildings would be to give the

terrorists exactly what they were looking for. >> but while america attacked al-qaeda within weeks and repaired the pentagon within months, it took a lot longer to rebuild at ground zero. seemed everyone affected by the attacks wanted a say on how to revitalize and rebuild the area while remembering the victims. >> first of all, the most important thing that took some time that needed to happen is that there needed to be an open debate about what ought to be rebuilt at the world trade center. people needed an opportunity to get out their views and for people ultimately to come together. that is what happened after about a three or four year period. >> jenna is the world trade center project director. >> it was also tricky, as it always is, dealing with so many different governments, with governments changing. i think you felt with four

governors on one side of the river and four governors on the other side of the river? >> we had state government in new york, state government in new jersey, state government in new york and changes at the port authority. but ultimately, people did come together in support of this great plan for a new world trade center. >> one world trade center, the freedom tower, will be the center piece of the rebuilt complex. it is to reach just as high as the original north tower with the antenna it will be even tower. a floorious and symbolic 1776 feet. tower 2 will be 1339 feet, tower 3, 1170 and tower 4, 977. the first building, including tower one, should open in 2013, they tell us. the twin towers and the victims who died in them will not be forgotten. as you will see, the rebuilt complex will include a memorial

plaza and museum. the whole site, buildings and all, will take up 16 acres of prime lower manhattan real estate. as the world trade center rises, larry silverstein remained the man at the top. since 2006 this 80-year-old has been overseeing the new construction from the 38th floor of the new building 7. that makes sense. remember, he built the original building number 7 almost 25 years ago. silverstein said he wants to ensure that each structure is special. he wants the complex to have the same cultural and economic impact that rockfeller center had on midtown manhattan when it opened. >> at one site you will have six architectural gems. we will get it done and done with a quality to a level

new yorkers look at and say they have done a hell of a good job. >> as folks watch the skyscrapers of the new world trade center rise, they naturally look to the top. but the most important thing is a solid foundation. that's next after the break.

you can watch the skyline change every day as the buildings go up. and everybody is seeing what this site will become. >> thousands are working on site to get the world trade center

completed. while off-site two guys are trying to make it easy to visualize the end product. >> if a picture is worth a thousand words, a model is worth a million is what we like to say. >> these men work at a model-making firm. they aren't the models you used to make in your garage. their work is extremely precise, holding up to close scrutiny. >> a scaled model, especially one that we make, it doesn't get clunky or heavy when it's reduced to a smaller scale. >> they start with architectural plans, put them on a computer and shrink them down to a scale that fits on a taken he will top. to build the model they use tools that you probably have in your garage, and others that are fansier, such as this laser. a beam is 6,000 of an inch or the width of a human hair.

they said physical models give the client a real clear view of size and layout, as far as any architectural problems. >> flat drawings can lie or maybe there's a dishonesty that we feel about a flat drawing or rendering, where a physical model allows freedom. there's an honesty and a connection with something real. there's a reality to it. >> in press conferences, models are what always draws in the camera. >> it allows a viewer to look from above, look from below, walk around 360. it's a physical item that can be held in a hand and can't be replaced with a rendering or even a beautiful animation. >> they build models. back at the site workers are busy constructing the real thing. they all know you can't build something this big without a

solid foundation. >> people don't realize that it's a very perishable item because of the way that it broke. >> michael isn't talking about mangos and pineapples, he's talking about concrete, which very simply put, is manmade rock. >> you want the material to combine together. it has a short window from when it's in its liquid state until it begins to set. >> he said he's tense these days delivering concrete to the site. one world trade center will need 200,000 cubic yards of concrete and it will be some of the strongest ever produced. >> there's a lot of pride in that job. >> john is the president of the concrete company. >> the challenges that it poses because of the level of quality control is unlike any building has had before. >> the payishable nature of

concrete means the place where they need it can't be far from the place where they produce it. >> there's a rule called a 90-minute rule, which is the time that the concrete is mixed at a batch plant until it's ultimately dispensed from the truck. >> the plant is less than five miles from the world trade center. but throw in new york city traffic, a tunnel, a toll, and the crowded streets of lower manhattan, and there's a lot that can go wrong. at the world trade center this day, things got messy. >> i had a problem. >> i got to drain some water out. >> i don't think there will be any project that can parallel this job. this is a once-in-a-lifetime project. >> along with the cement naturally comes the steel.

>> everybody knows what is happening. the surveying, the anchor bolts and make sure they were placed properly so this column slides right down. >> what we saw working today, they are called a raising guide. >> we caught up with construction crews last winter as they prepared to raise the first vertical piece of tower 2. one of thousands pieces of steel that are part of rebuilding at ground zero. >> it's a huge milestone. anytime the site makes a drastic change, there is a great deal of preparation that goes in. communication with everyone working in the area. they have to be exact. there is very little tolerance with respect to the alignment. >> after arriving by truck,

workers lift and load this steel, about 100,000 pounds of it total, into an area they describe as the world trade center's east bathtub, which won't be a hole in the ground for too much longer. >> while new yorkers watch the new buildings go up, a group of painters capture the progress from a unique perspective. >> it's like being in a horror film and i was painting and drawing the entire day. >> i started crying immediately. everybody has that first moment where you go, oh, my god. >> more on that when we return.

>> no one ever expected the twin towers to collapse as they did on 9/11. even more effort is going into making the new world trade center safer and stronger than

the old. >> 20% more than the code requires. it's a sprinkler system that's designed to work under any circumstance. sheer walls that are at least two feet in thickness. >> so much of this project you had to be able to convince people that you are going to be safe here and the safety measures are unparalleled from everything that i have read. >> the standards that we developed in the structure of it building, which are totally beyond cold, is inherent in each of the designs of each building we are building here. all the buildings are built to the gold standards. >> i actually was doing work in the office, you know, helping to create a structural design for this tower. >> megan is a structural engineer who works on tower 4. she's one of many who makes sure the buildings meet their high standards. >> my responsibilities have

shifted to the field now, now that it's under construction. >> she reviews the reinforced concrete every step of the way, make sure it's all done according to specifications. a project like this stretches the capabilities of engineers, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. >> the hours that i have spent and the depth to which i have been involved, and the insides and the outside, you know, the guts of what went into the building, you can't come out of the other end of that experience without having that really feel like a piece of you. humbling to be able to be a part of this. people from all different fields that are coming together to see this happen and see the rebuilding tapes. >> other people are looking at the project in a very different way. larry silverstein has set up an artist colony in tower 7,

overlooking ground zero so a group of painters can record their vision of the towers rising. >> these are the footprints and this is part of the memorial. >> diane specializes in city scapes. on 9/11 diana was at home in brooklyn and from there she watched the attacks. >> i started crying immediately. i guess everybody has that first moment where you go, oh, my god. >> almost ten years later she's committing to canvas the resurrection of the site. >> i really want to be able to capture what is going on there, some of the change. every day i come up, it's completely different. >> but ground zero is changing so quickly that it's hard for diana to keep her painting up-to-date. >> this is a painting i've been working on for a month or so. >> wow. >> painter todd stone saw the attacks unfold from his studio

just blocks from the studio. >> i painted the world trade center for 15, 20 years. i was in my studio that day during the attack. the jet came over my head. >> the first jet. >> i hit the floor because i thought it was a guided missile. i witnessed the second attack in the lens finder of my camera. >> he snapped this picture from his camera. >> it was like being in a horror film. i was painting and drawing the entire day. >> he felt the need to paint even through the day. >> i knew what i had seen that day and i felt a tremendous burden to try to get that work out and it was sickening work to do to paint the murder of all those people that i had witnessed. where my heart broke was watching the people on the roof of the trade center starting to jump and knowing that we were powerless to help them. i think about those people. they haunt me.

>> the people who died here, i try to make them as beautiful as i can. >> he went to painting a site only with loss to a landscape bursting with hope. >> what i've been painting is what is not there. now for the first time they are the footprints of what is not there. it's been memorialized. for me i feel like we've turned a corner. >> what is going on down there is just so amazing. and it's so mind-boggling. how all those projects could come together. >> it seems all very uplifting at this point. >> the artists aren't the only ones to get the birds-eye views. silverstein invited wounded warriors to view the site. 23-year-old corporal from georgia had never seen the twin towers or ground zero before. >> to be able to be here and see it finally is pretty moving. when i look at that it

definitely reminds you who is what we are fighting for. it's because they took our twin towers and killed thousands of our people, brothers, sisters, mom, dad. >> she joined up in 2007 as a military police paratrooper and last year she lost a leg to an iud in afghanistan. >> i actually want to go back. i'm trying to set that up now. i wasn't supposed to leave like that. >> then there's lute -- lieutenant frederic simpson from florida. taliban shot him. >> the first attack on our country. i guess if joining the military and doing a good job meant that in some small way i would contribute to that never happening again, then i mean it would be worth it. >> i have been a lot of places in the united states and lived in a lot of places.

this is probably the first time in a long time that i have really been amazed. i guess it was mostly because, you know, there's so much damage inflicted on america, but america just kind of shrugs and has all these resources it just pulls together and keeps living and breathing and being happy and doing what we have to do to ve a good life. >> as the wounded warriors watched the buildings rise, workers at ground zero say what they are creating here is not just a moment orial to the dead, but a tribute to all the soldiers who fight to keep us safe. ♪ from the mountains to the prairies ♪ >> but pilgrams don't have to visit to get a flames of what happened on 9/11. they say thank you, it's a traveling exhibit. it's the largest flag recovered after the attack. >> jeff is the founder of the

"new york says thank you" foundation. >> it was hanging in the building south of the world trade center. when the south building collapse, the flag was shredded to pieces. >> it is now the official 9/11 flag being stitched up across the nation using material from flags damaged in other disasters. >> we are part of american history. it's so good. >> it's like a pleasure to be here. we are only a young age. usually older people would be doing this stuff so we are part of history at a young age. >> and firefighter john wallace oversees the exhibit. >> the 343 guys that we lost is one of the reasons why i do this. just helping and never for getting about those guys and their families and their kids. this is a wonderful thing. to keep their memory alive, if

you will, for me and everybody else who helped us after 9/11, all the support that new york got. >> grab the end of that. good job. great. thank you. >> so they literally created a scenic piece of american history that was destroyed on the worst day of modern history and brought it back to life seven years later. that's the real story about connecting us all. >> americans came to know the world trade center as a collection of skyscrapers where thousands worked and visited. but for new yorkers it was also a major transportation hub with 15 train lines running underneath those towers. when we return, the magnificent new hub under construction. it's an architectural marvel, you go next if you had a

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>> the world trade center wasn't just a business hub, it was a commuter hub, one of the busiest in all of the country. before the attacks of 9/11, 15 new york city subway lines and new jersey's rail connection to manhattan ran underneath the complex. when the tower collapsed, 80,000 commuters had to find now ways to get in, out and around the city. while it took years to start the rebuilding of the towers, a temporary train station opened in just 16 months. the port authority wanted its permanent station to become a city landmark. that's where the world renown spanish architect comes in. >> we have to think it is not only a station, but circulation. >> he's talking about his design.

the $3.4 billion transportation hub at the new world trade center. >> it will be very much a place of gathering. >> a place of gathering, you said, not just of movement but a place to come together? >> yes. a place where you arrive to the city or you go out of the city. almost a symbol. >> one of the main goals for the transit system is to bring new business to the lower manhattan area. but 9/11 and the proliferation of terrorists attacks around the globe have made them think about possible future attacks. >> after september 11 everybody realized that public transportation, it was also a possible target. >> he isn't allowed to reveal exactly what security will be in place at the new station, but at his home he showed us a model of the hub, revealing some of the

smaller, yet significant details of the project. >> it appears as if every sense, all of your senses have been taken into consideration as this structure is coming together. >> yeah, yeah. >> what is feels like, what it smells like. >> or even the sound. imagine the sound when you walk in a place and you hear your own steps. >> he's using natural light as a structural element in the look and feel of the building. he said the use of light is also a powerful symbol to bring hope and vitality to a place once covered in darkness. he showed us more in a 3d virtual video. >> a these are the study of the movement of the sun around the building and in the building which i think is very, very important. here you see the main hope. >> this is overwhelming, almost. >> and look at how the roof opens. it's important to see that. in order to avoid the greenhouse effect we have to have a

mechanism that brings the whole building from one side to another became kind of open to the sky, to the sky of new york. >> the upper level of the station will be a thoroughfare of a half a million square feet of commercial and retail space. the plan calls for the underground to be column-free for more light, visibility and openness. even though the station is huge, the design is extremely people friendly. >> you can find your way around? >> yes. >> without signs? >> that is very important. >> that's a challenge. >> in a way you understand getting down and going to the train and getting up and going toward the city. so we are trying to take away as much hindrances as possible. >> from street level it will look like a dove taking flight. >> this is a view in the night. we would like to have it in the middle of the city, alan tern in the middle of the city. >> alan tern? >> yeah, yeah. >> and part of that is we are still free here and here's a

symbol of our freedom. >> as i say, a sign of hope. >> one family that believes in this hope is the kamage family. they are looking forward to the completion of the buildings. before the attacks, window washer rocco, originally from eastern europe, was a beloved figure at the world trade center. >> this windows we do by hand. windows on the world and observation deck, build be 2. >> a lot of people like to do golf or something to just relax and take their mind off of things. my father's hobby was his job. >> nice and clean. >> his son remembered how he loved being up there. >> good morning! >> there was times he threw his hands up in the air and said i'm the king of the world trade center, you know because he felt like because he was always on top of it it was like his, like

he owned it. >> i can't see upstate new york from here, and connecticut. >> then came the horror of 9/11. >> i turned on the radio and every, you know, every radio station was talking about it. they said that it hit tower 1 and i know that my father was in tower 2. right away i started calling my mother and i kept driving to work. and my mom said don't worry, he's in the other tower. he's going to be fine. 15, 20 minutes later i find out that the second tower got hit. i called my mom again and she was actually on the line with my dad and she didn't pick up. i called again and she picked up because they got disconnected and they said daddy is okay, daddy, i just got off the phone with daddy and he's on the 105th floor. >> rocco couldn't get down. >> years go by and he's not forgotten and he won't be forgotten. not by any of us that new him and loved him.

and i'm looking forward myself to when they finish it. >> the kamage family will always think of their father when they see the gleaming towers of the new world trade center. but the center piece of the site, it's heart and soul, will be the memorial plaza and museum. what they will look like, what will be on display and the controversy surrounding them when we return.