well, michelle mall kin here in two minutes to take a closer look. gretchen: just days before her wedding a student disappears, vanishes. run away bride or victim of a crime? our slogan from jerry in nebraska, to start my day, i get my coffee brewing and turn on the tv for some "fox & friends" viewing. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- steve: the show is not only from our world headquarters but also from here at the ground zero site. as you can see, i'm back up on the roof of the building across from the site where it was eight short years ago that those two planes crashed into those two buildings and changed everything. of course, thousands are gathering at ground zero later

this morning to remember the victims of the world trade center attacks eight years later. the program starts officially at 8:40 eastern time with a rendition of "the star-spangled banner." then at 8:46, as there has been every year since there will be a moment of silence to observe when the first airplane struck the north tower. another at 9:30 when the south tower was struck. new york city mayor michael bloomberg and several family members will be among those reading the names of the victims. then at 9:59, a moment of silence will march when the south tower fell, followed by one at 10:29 for the fall of the north tower. and then the program ends at 12:30. and brian and gretchen, i got to tell you. they have had pretty good weather over the last eight years as they commemorate 9/11. but today it is a very, very windy, damp, rainy, raw day here in lower manhattan. brian: and it will be for the next couple of days, steve.

also, when you think about what's going on there, year in and year out last year with the election year, at the conventions, we talked about going down into the site, in the footprints where the towers once stood. that's not happening anymore. slowly but surely they're beginning to rebuild. do you get the sense as you look around there? steve: remember last year when the family members looked out on the site behind me, they said "it's a pit." well, this year they're saying it's no longer a pit. in fact, they're making a lot of progress. man, is it windy today. brian: i can hear it. steve: in fact, the memorial, some of the people behind the memorial were able to say yesterday that it would be ready for the 10th commemoration in 2011. but they've still got a lot to do. but they have the feel. brian: and it will be different. you have vice president biden there, not dick cheney and not george bush. so there's a different feel to

it eight years later. we'll check in with you in a matter of moments. first, let's get the news. gretchen: let's get to some of the headlines. it is friday. house speaker nancy pelosi says she sees little support from congress to boost troop levels in afghanistan. that means -- makes her the highest ranking democrat to signal opposition to the administration's handling of the war. general stanley mcchrystal, the top commander in afghanistan, expected to put in a formal request this month for as many as 40,000 troops. ' long with other commanders say without more troops, the u.s. mission will fail. the white house says one million jobs were saved or created thanks to the $787 billion stimulus. the report from the council of economic advisors is preliminary. so the number not final. republicans are calling it fiction. the number pales to the six million americans currently collecting unemployment benefits and the estimated eight million who have run out of benefits, who, by the way, are not included in those final numbers. an intensive f.b.i. search

underway for missing yale grad student. this is a mystery. annie lee last seen at a research lab on campus. authorities say the 24-year-old was preparing to get married this weekend but her apartment remains empty and there's been no word from her. >> first we thought, ok, maybe she run away from the coming wedding. but then it's like more than 48 hours and nobody has seen her. gretchen: the campus newspaper reports lee swiped her i.d. card at the lab tuesday morning about 10:00 a.m., but then she left her purse, her credit cards, her cash in her office three blocks away. experts now say one dose of the h1n1 vaccine, the swine flu vaccine, may be enough now to combat the virus. originally officials thought it would take multiple shots. research suggests the swine flu vaccine is safe. mean tile, health secretary is

calling for americans to get the other flu shot, the real flu shot, right now. h1n1 has been getting the publicity, it's important to not lose sight of the fact that seasonal flu takes its toll year in and year out. gretchen: 36,000 americans die every year from just the regular flu. if you're in the market for a nice apartment in new york city, there's one going on the market today for a poultry $9.9 million. can you have bernie madoff's place in manhattan's tony east 60's. so write your check to the u.s. marshal service. they'll be collecting the proceeds to pass on to victims of madoff's ponsy scheme. and those are your headlines. when that's all divided up, it sounds like a lot but it won't be because there's so many victims. brian: as steve is down at ground zero, 9/11, a bunch of towers will soon stand as it begins to rise and we mark eight years since that fatal day. let's talk about what is happening domestically, health

care reform. gretchen, first off, when you talk about health care reform, you talk about a bill that's supposed to get done by the end of this year, that president barack obama is staking his presidency on it, and there's optimism it's going to get done if you listen to senator harry reid. gretchen: originally they wanted this done by september. now harry reid saying thanksgiving is his drop dead date. a lot of democrats feeling the momentum. they are predicting passage on it. the big question, though, remains about this government-run option. it appears that nancy pelosi is still pushing that pretty hard. steny hoyer, the guy right underneath her, may be vague little give on that. there's a little war brewing between the two of them, i think. brian: can i start a bill without it? yeah. the speaker says there's no line in the sand. listen to what they're doing in the senate finance committee. people are optimistic that's where the bill will come from. according to senator max baucus, the president's speeches breathed new life into

what is going on and what rer doing. the president is talking about what we are talking about. that is helpful. we're close to being in sync. steve, do you think this will get done? steve: well, the president hopes so. the democrats hope so. but then at the same time you got to wonder about the disconnect. because you look at the polls and a majority of americans say, you know, we're not so sure this is a good idea to be doing right now. you know what? i was reading something. there is a death panel. there absolutely is a death panel. and it's in washington. and it is the senate finance committee. because they're the ones who are going to kill off the house bill and the public option. really. when you think about it. brian: part of the gang of six in the committee is senator enzi. he was on greta's show last night and talked about a lot of work still needs to be done. >> we have until tuesday night to finish up any negotiation that we're doing. we're still asking some pretty basic questions. one of them is in the area of medicaid. the governors have been really

upset about the way that they would have additional costs thrust on them. we tried to find some ways to reduce those costs. we promised that we would talk to the governors again. we haven't talked to the governors again. we haven't gotten the numbers back yet from c.b.o. on exactly what the costs are so that they can be broken down state-by-state. some of the states are going to have a tremendous increase in costs. gretchen: so a lot of unanswered questions still remain. remember, that original report that came out from the c.b.o., which is a nonpartisan group, said that health care was going to cost a tremendous amount of money. at least this type of reform that was being proposed. gretchen: i think the president of the united states might have gotten himself in trouble last night because he said, i will not sign any bill that raises the deficit by a single dime. oops. goodbye house bill. and everyone agrees the congressional budget office is nonpartisan, their numbers matter. and they say it's going to add -- all the plans to the

deficit. a lot of things go by the way side then. steve: i think they could call it the dime standard. after the president did say "not by one dime is it going to go up." but how would they do that, exactly? how are they going to pay for it? they're talking about, well, you know, we can raise hundreds of billions of dollars by eliminating waste in medicare and medicaid. wait a minute. the government already runs that program so if they multiply that by 10 or 100, wouldn't that just multiply the corruption and the waste and all that other stuff? what's that about? gretchen: that's a really good question. the other question is, if they had known about all of this waste going on for this long, why didn't they get rid of it a long time ago. those are our taxpayer dollars. anyway, the experts still seem to be differing on exactly how much this is going to cost and whether or not it will, in fact, increase our deficit. let's listen.

brian: we don't have it yet. gretchen: basically what we just said. the experts disagree. some say it's -- here it is. >> premiums or co-payments, automatic reductions in benefits, increases in revenues. there's a fairly limited universe of things you can do. >> there are no such bills at the moment. of course, the congress will have to adjust their bills to meet that pledge. brian: a great line last night. he said, "that speech was great, wonderfully delivered. and it was the biggest -- free lunch speech he's ever heard in his life. everybody gets everything. it's not going to cost you everything. meanwhile, as written in the "new york times" today, he said, "if you go by the dime standard, the bill would add $220 billion to the deficit." so if it's going to add $220 billion to the deficit and the

c.b.o. says that, then you have to kill the house bill or you have to go back on what you just told the joint session of congress on wednesday night. steve: that's exactly right. that'sy called essentially the senate finance committee the death panel because they're going to have to kill the house standard. by the way, it's really starting to rain down here. brian: you're beginning to complain. if you're a weather guy -- gretchen: it's only 11 minutes after the top of the hour. brian: don't worry about it. you'll bead. let's talk about our favorite backpedal of the day. do you have one? gretchen: do we have to do the motion of going backwards? brian: let's do the moonwalk. shall we? gretchen: does nancy pe losely know how to do that? brian: i think so the bill that comes out of the house will be a bill that has a public, a government-run option. is that so? here's the speaker. yesterday. >> i don't think you ever really go into a negotiation and say that some things are

nonnegotiateable. brian: oops. ok. gretchen: remember that one day where she changed her mind three times? i think it was last week. she was for it, against it and then for it again by 5:00. brian: but the c.i.a. still lies to her. steve, stay right there. you're going to have special guests commemorating this awful day from eight years ago at 9/11, right downtown. meanwhile, straight ahead here -- gretchen: are rail systems in danger of a terrorist attack? michelle malkin with an exclusive look at how president obama's policies what she says, could be endangering national security. brian: i'm on a train every day. then this undercover video of two acorn workers teaching people to skirt taxes and prostitution charges. now those workers fired. more details of the corruption caught on camera. luci: i'm luci romberg. i'm a free runner... ...national champion gymnast... ...martial artist... and a stuntwoman. if you want to be incredible, eat incredible. announcer: eggs. incredible energy for body and mind.

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brian: developing the export modest of the f-22 raptor. other countries have shown interest in buying the aircraft which could help preserve u.s. jobs. if approved, the defense will provide a modified jet that provides technology. foreign sales were banned on this in 1988 because of this very elite stealth technology. neen while, g. smmplet trying to drive-in sentive by offering a money back guarantee. bring your new car back within 60 days and you get a full refund with cash for clunkers over. it's an attempt to keep people coming to showrooms. gretchen? gretchen: thanks. today marks the eighth anniversary of the september 11 attacks. is our security still at risk? fox news contributor michelle malkin has the exclusive on how the obama administration is undermining rail security. that means trains, michelle. right? >> yeah. mass transit in particular,

gretchen. and we know that al qaeda operatives have targeted u.s. rail systems over the last several years. many people have been arrested and implicated. in fact, earlier this summer a man pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy and gave details to our federal agents about a plot to bomb a long island railroad train in the new york subway system. so, look, we know it's not a matter -- it's a matter of when. and the question, is the obama administration on the proper war footing? and i think the answer is no. i've talked to several sources in the government who are very concerned about the fate of a unit called the office of security strategy and special operations. they were under amtrak. and they were formed under the bush administration. it was created, really, with the brain child of the then

inspector general fred wiederhold. these guys have collectively hundreds of years of experience. hundreds of hours of training, specialized training in counterterrorism, advanced marksmanship, close-quarters training. and now i think as a result of cronyism and power-grabbing unions this unit has been effectively neutered. by the way, i contacted amtrak and they have not responded to my questions about the fate of the unit. gretchen: what you're saying is that since, what, since the beginning of the summer this sort of task force unit that you believe was responsible for keeping the train and the railway systems safe since the original 9/11, that since early summer they have been in effective, have been told they're not wanted anymore? >> yeah. and the timing is, to me, quite suspicious as well. i have heard from my sources that, for example, their long

arms were put under lock and key. and this happened at about the same time that there were two abrupt departures. it has been reported by conservative media sources, "examiner," "the american spectator" about the very strange departure. he was the inspector general. and he had been investigating and blowing the whistle on the fact that the law department at amtrak had been meddling with his independent office as it conducted probes and financial audits. and there was an outside legal report by a law nirm washington, d.c., that charles grassley made public earlier this summer that basically condemned the law department for undermining the independence and effectiveness of the inspector general. and as i say, it was that inspector general, fred wiederhold and another bush administration official at the amtrak -- they were

irresponsible. they are both gone now. gretchen: i know you're going to keep following that story and stick around as well. you saw it here first, undercover video showing acorn workers teaching people to cheat on their taxes. michelle malkin on why it could be a case of coordinated corruption, not just an isolated incident. and this is why you should never walk behind a horse. "fox & friends". new crest pro-health enamel shield

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brian: we showed it to you first right here yesterday. the left wing group acorn caught in a scandal big time. video shot shows acorn workers telling an alleged prostitute how to change her job title on her taxes. listen. >> the type of business of service you provide. let me make sure there's a code

for it, ok? >> a code for prostitution? >> i have to have a name and a code number. >> i don't know if there's going to be a code -- >> i'm going to get my list. >> then we can get the right tax code? >> yes. >> that's wonderful. >> your business is a performing artist. which you are. so you're not lying. a little play on words. you're a performing artist. so stop saying prostitute. gretchen: and if you can imagine, it actually gets worse. acorn staffers also taught the couple thousand claim illegal under-aged girls as depend yents on their taxes. >> you're taking care of them. >> ok. >> so you can use that as a dependent. >> what if they're making money because they're performing tricks, too? >>if they're making money and they're underage, be sure nobody know anyway. >> what? >> shouldn't let anyone know anyway. >> that's what happens. we tell the bankers and they kick us out.

brian: we're back with michelle malkin. you've been all over this case and this group for a while. steve is also down at ground zero. steve: michelle it looks as if acorn could use a good lawyer. i know they haven't had one since the president left. that looks so crazy. just the attitude, the employee seems so casual. like they do that stuff all the time. >> well, this is their housing counseling. they've specialized in this kind of business for years and years under the -- years. under the bush administration the acorn administration received money to run the organization. i tip my hat for an inside look at what our tax dollars are paying for. that's what people really have to understand here. they are funding this. 40% of acorn revenue comes from government money. and it really is time to crack

this nut and open up the books on financial disclosure to see how this money is being used. as you said in your tease, i believe this is coordinated corruption. and in culture of corruption, i have an entire chapter that gives an overview of how this enterprise and this racket works. acorn housing corporation is just one, one, of many tent kells in this network. gretchen: but who's going do it? by all accounts this is absolutely mind-blowing video. and yet you probably won't see it in the mainstream media. the mainstream media didn't really cover acorn and the voter fraud allegations before the election. and now you have this. so who's going to do something about it? >> well, that's what we're here for. you know, the chapter in my book goes into baltimore acorn in particular. i'm very familiar with how they operate. in my chapter i open up the case.

earlier this year, this is the office that was involved in going out there and breaking into homes to try and lobby for president obama's mortgage counseling and mortgage subsidy expansions. so as i say, there really needs to be a look comprehensively at this. and there are some republicans who are on it. there was a government oversight in the house side report that looked at some of these shah nonbegans and the fact that acorn and so many of its afill yats have evade -- affiliates have evaded i.r.s. laws. there are millions of debt on tax liens. brian: it's all in the book "culture of corruption" which is still a bestseller and even surprised you, i imagine, michelle on the velocity of the sales being made. this book keeps unfolding and the news keeps building into your book. thanks for getting up early and sharing your exclusive story. >> thanks, guys. brian: steve, stay right there. coming up straight ahead, eight

years after the 9/11 attacks, u.b.l. is still out there. we'll tell you where the search stands. a live report from afghanistan. gip and charlie sheen wants a meeting at the white house. he's demanding to see the president, asking for a 9/11 investigation because he's one of those truther guys. brian: then happy birthday to the man that sung the national anthem last night at the football game, harry connick jr. he is 42 today. (announcer) time brings new wisdom new aches and pains, ...and new questions about which pain reliever is right for your body. tylenol 8 hour works with your body, with one layer that dissolves quickly... ...one layer that lasts all day ...and no layers that irritate your stomach the way that ibuprofen can. it's tough on your body pain. not on your body.

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save money. live better. walmart. gretchen: if you're just waking up -- oh, it's brian. brian: that was the voice of gretchen doing a story -- gretchen: no. it's half past the hour. brian: can we make it 28 minutes before the top of the hour? the enemy is still out there, oseoseose. -- osama bin laden. first off, connor, people are saying, how can this guy stillen out there and are we any closer? can you answer either one of those questions? >> well, brian, president obama, like president bush before him, has vowed to find osama bin laden. but eight years on there appears to be little evidence as to where he is. the working assumption according to western intelligence officials is that

-- [no audio] brian: we'll see if conor comes back out on that. there's two reports. one in "the guardian" today. the word is that it's the six of them left in the hierarchy with al qaeda. they're having a lot of trouble getting recruits. they're in total disarray. a lot of the credit belongs to the pakistan troops and the u.s. drones missiles. two bombings yesterday alone. it is destroying their relationship with the taliban because they're saying, al qaeda, if you weren't here, we would not be getting hit from above. and it's also hurting the ranks of the recruits because they're saying what kind of lifestyle is this. conor, can you hear us now? unless there's a real long delay, i'm going to take that as a no. so, conor, we'll check in with you again. i know you worked hard putting together the question that america wants answered. and that is, where is bin

laden? how closer are we to getting him? gretchen: it's hard to believe eight years after 9/11 we are still looking for this guy, whether or not he is even alive or not, and whether or not he is still the figurehead. has somebody else taken over control? the bottom line is al qaeda is still there. brian: look for him to cut a tape because does he it every time around this time around. a famous actor believes 9/11 was an inside job, that, yes, george bush took down the towers himselves and killed 3,000 plus americans. gretchen: are you talking about charlie sheen? brian: he's demanding an investigation. gretchen: apparently he is not as close to president obama as you might think because he is demanding a meeting with him now. but the president has not agreed to see him. why? because as brian said, charlie sheen is one of these conspiracy guys that believes -- i think they're called the truthers. right? they signed this petition believing that 9/11 was an inside job. and this brings up that green czar who had to step down last week, van jones.

he was also, according to a petition that he signed, a truther, a believer in the fact that 9/11 could have been an inside job. let's listen to charlie sheen. brian: so charlie sheen says, "come on, man, the 9/11 report is a work of fiction." i personally am amazed by this. what was his. he wife's name? gretchen: denise richards? i'm surprised you don't remember that name. brian: i looked at ian. ian remembers all that stuff, behind camera one. she was indicating that charlie sheen a little off his rocker. this is more proof of it. let's see if he gets a shot with obama. he says it's up to the president to be on the right side of history, the 9/11 report with all the c.i.a., with everybody involved in it,

they made it up. gretchen: what's scary is that charlie sheen not alone in believing this. brian: he's got rosie o'donnell. gretchen: and he had van jones, apparently, who was working inside the white house, amazingly so. let's get to some of your other headlines for a friday. cars carried away like beach balls. take a look at this video. thunderous rain and hail hammered the tourist town of sew done i can't, arizona. -- sedona, arizona. the storms triggering flash floods. the impact will be felt for weeks. thankfully no reports of anyone being injured. president obama thinks the release of the lockerbie bomber was a mistake. during a phone call with british prime minister gordon brown the president expressed his disappointment despite speculation that britain struck an oil deal with libia, brown insists the decision was entirely up to the scottish government. yet another czar is going to the white house. harvard professor cass

sunstein. he's supposed to provide guidance in the drafting of federal regulations. there are virtually no guide lins for him, however. there's concern he'll push a radical animal rights agenda. the president has also apointed harris sherman to become an agriculture undersecretary. he's currently colorado's natural resources director. after confirmation he'll be in charge of the national forests plus farm and range restoration programs. the teen football player who died after a high school practice in kentucky likely had a temperature of 109 degrees. that's according to a heat stroke expert who testified at the trial. and it was in its seventh day yesterday. coach jason stinson charged with reckless homicide in the death of the 15-year-old who collapsed after a three-hour practice in heat. a mandatory break was never taken. up to 10 players reportedly showed signs of heat stroke that day. paula abdul wishing ellen degeneres good luck on "american idol." despite a rocky exit from the show the former judge called

ellen "wildly funny and talented in her own rights." the self-proclaimed "idol" fan announced she's going to be the fourth judge. the ninth season of "idol" starts in january. warning to anyone walking behind a horse. check out this. whoops. maybe he shouldn't have slapped the horse on the backside. how many teeth did he have left after that? brian: he got up? just walked right on in the parade. gretchen: there's another hazard walking that closely. brian: right. and i can think of it. >> hello. brian: 22 minutes before the top of the hour. the nfl season kicked off last night in pittsburgh. ben roethlisberger leading the champs to an o.t. victory. let's look at the first quarter. steelers outstanding safety

polamalu. then the steelers block a field goal attempt. good turned bad because polamalu got an m.c.l. sprain. eeble out two to four weeks. meanwhile, big ben tossed the strike to santonio holmes. then collins returns the favor to justin gauge. fourth quart he ben to hines ward. ward though would cough it up. forcing overtime. who would think a veteran would do that. but in the overtime the steelers made it all good. here's the biggest story. "fox & friends" got a shoutout. listen to this play. listen to al michaels call it as he sees it. >> and here goes white. will get stood up by "fox & friends." [laughter] don't ask me how i came up with that. >> they better give us a promo is all i got to say.

brian: jane skinner who married the commissioner of football. cris collinsworth goes ton say they should give us a plug, as you know, for the plug that they just gave us. so i know our ratings have quadrupled because of that play. so let's promote cris collinsworth. he does a show on hbo, on the nfl network and does that for nbc. we're even. meanwhile, straight ahead, a story you won't believe. after her amazing gold medal win, people started wondering allowed if she was a he. well, there are reports and tests now confirm that south african teenage running sensation caster seminea is a homophrodite having both male and female organs. the 18-year-old could be stripped of the gold medal. her competitive future is now in limbo. i'm torn to this. gretchen: why? brian: they received the test results but will not release them until november. gretchen: why are you torn?

brian: because it's not her fault that she's got an extra set of organs. right? and yet she can run really fast. and she wants to compete. it's not like she's trying to have two sets of organs. gretchen: this will be a very difficult decision. technically she is half man. whether or not that makes it legal for her to run as a woman will be up to that organization. it won't be an easy decision. brian: if you are forced to run against other homophrodites, you have a field of what, 10? n? it p rodi itt wl. rodi 6 c13d w=oadrñ asca s, 1i cappl? geatmagi reen f a..

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brian: the tea party express will come to its official stop at the nation's capital tomorrow. tens of thousands of people from across the country expected to gather to protest what they say is out of control government spending, gretchen. gretchen: and with us now from boston is selena owen, traveling with the express since its kickoff in sacramento, and the communications director for the tea party express, levi russell. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. gretchen: thanks for getting up so early. so you started on this mission way back in sacramento. you have traveled across the country with the tea party express. why? >> i feel that i am compelled to do this. i see what's happening in our country, with our administration. i am a political activist, a citizen leader.

and when my husband and i found out about tea party express, we knew that we had to get involved. we had been involved a little bit with some political movements. and we knew we couldn't miss this for anything. brian: levi, how is the perception as communications director of the tea parties changed since it's started? >> you know, we've come a long way. yesterday was our 30th rally, in albany. we've come thousands of miles. over the past 12 days or so we have been in front of 50,000 to 60,000 people. think it's gaining a massive amount of legitimacy as this momentum continues. keep in mind this whole movement really started just earlier this year in february. so it's still in its infancy but is already coming to national prominence. think there's a lot more to come. gretchen: so the goal was to go through 17 states, starting in california. you're going to end with a huge rally in d.c. so selena, tell me what you expect at that rally. >> well, i expect for people all over the country who love

america to be there and to just express their sentiments to our government, that this movement is totally for the people, by the people. and we want to just express our feelings and our heartfelt desires of what we believe is best for america. i suppose there will be some opposition there. but that's what makes america what it is. it's a free country. everyone's free to express their own views. but so far it's been a wonderful ride. brian: and levi, a lot of people say, hey, george bush would have had a lot of deficit spending. he financed the war on a supplemental budget. why are you just coming out now? >> you know, that's one of the most common arguments that we hear against this type of a movement that seek to marginalize it. the proof is in the groups that are actually coming out to these rallies by the thousands. we had 10,000 people come out to joliet, just outside of chicago. for many of these folks, nine out of 10 of them, this is the

first time they've ever been politically involved. so the case is that thevenow been growing frustrated enough with the administration that is working against the will of the people that they're feeling it's time to get out there and do something about it. so that's a new thing for a lot of the folks that are coming to these tea party rallies. gretchen: i guess the final question would be, selena, whether or not you think the administration has listened at all to the tea parties. >> well, i believe the proof will be in the pudding. it's something you cannot ignore. this is not a fad. i've heard too many stories from too many people. i know it's not going to go away. it's a mushroom effect from the april 15th tea party rally that took place across the country. and because i know the people that we're working with and how they are mobilizing to be able to express this to our government, government will hear it. whether or not they will listen is another story. brian: selena owens, levi russell, thanks good luck on

this final stop in the nationwide tour on your tea party express. thank you. gretchen: we first showed you this yesterday. a new photo of 9/11 mastermind kahlid sheik mohammed. you thought that was osama bin la laden. an expert will examine if this fote yes makes you any less safe. brian: one congressman calling for czars to be dragged before congress and confirmed before they start working. he'll join us next hour. this is "fox & friends." . luke: moving my mind and my hands at world record speed. i'm luke myers. if you want to be incredible, eat incredible. announcer: eggs. incredible energy for body and mind. (guitar music)

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san antonio steve new picture of the 9/11 master mind looks like osama bin laden has made its way into extremist web sites.

so with eight years on the attacks of the world trade center and the pentagon, have we become complacent when it comes to dealing with terrorists? here to answer this question is fox news terror analyst walid phares. good morning to you walid. >> good morning to you. steve: walid, when you look at this picture, and apparently it was taken at gitmo, we had not seen a picture of him at gitmo. in fact, they had only allowed courtroom artist to sketch him before. but this photograph was taken by the international red cross, given to his family, and now, let's face it, this is going to be used for propaganda purposes to enlist and recruit more terrorists. >> well, look, the very fact that it was taken at gitmo, that is a facts. and then used through his family, of course, into the networks on chat rooms and web sites, what does that tell us. it tells us that he is still

reacting and interacting with the jihady network outside. because the mere fact that this picture was posted with the fact that he looks like bin laden, want him to look like bin laden means there is a political role that the network is giving to khalid sheik mohammed. they are trying to tell the u.s. government and court and juries of the future that be careful this is a leader and anything that would go wrong with him, we will -- you. it's a well-thought process. steve: you think the fact that he looks like bin laden with the beard -- by the way, gitmo must not be such a bad place because he looks very healthy and very well-fed. but you are saying that the fact that he looks like bin laden is no accident? >> well, he is the one who has has -- nobody forced him. he grew that beard and the dress the way he wanted. and, of course, the picture was

sent with his intention to the other side. once on the other side, this picture is going and has been used extensively and eventually at the end of the day days or years from now it may be used as rallying organization whatever his fate is going to be. steve: sure, when the international red cross takes these photographs and gives them to the family, isn't there some obligation not to release them to the public as they have done? wouldn't they give them to the family, once they are out of gitmo. even if they have obligation themselves not to release it or give them to a third party, it's done. what is important about it, is the fact that they have seen terrorists being released the megrahi case.

he is too important. steve: i'm down here at ground zero and a lot of people on this 8th anniversary after the 9/11 attacks are going why don't we have bin laden yet? >> we don't have bin laden because he is not moving. because he is in hiding. that's the price of north seeing bin laden too many videotapes, audiotapes, because he made a choice. is he most likely physically not able to leave and therefore he doesn't want to give us the gift of being captured alive. steve: walid phares, terrorism expert. we thank you for joining us down in the bureau in d.c. >> thank you. steve: i'm going to be here at the world trade center site all morning long. in about two minutes, new york city mayor michael bloomberg will join me here. the president claims his health care bill will not cover illegal immigrants. but is that true? how would they be prevented from cashing in? we're going to report. you're going to decide.

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steve: good morning, everybody. it's friday, september 11, 2009. eight years ago today the world as we know it changed forever as the united states was attacked. terrorists killed 2819 people in cold blood. today, we honor their sacrifice as we continue to fight for freedom and democracy. gretchen: corruption caught on camera. we first showed you this yesterday. acorn workers teaching people how to cheat taxes. is this an isolated incident or part of something a lot bigger? brian: this man rescued from taking a big fall. what happened? that story coming up. also our slogan this hour from tom in vermont. i can't watch network news. it just seems to fizzle. i love "fox & friends" because they always sizzle. [captioning made possible by fox news channel]

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪ steve: hi, everybody, live from ground zero on the southern tip of manhattan, i'm steve doocy. it is hard to believe that it was eight years ago since those two airplanes crashed into those two buildings that had stood just behind me. and, for years, there was just a great big hole in the ground back there. but now they are making progress. they are actually saying that perhaps by the 10th anniversary they will have the memorial built as was planned. but, brian and gretchen, as we come to you live from ground zero this morning, a lot of people are wondering, you know, are we safer these days than we were back then? well, the answer is yes. there is a lot more security, obviously, at airports and public places and stuff like that. but people are worried that we have become a little complacent. in just a moment we are going to

be talking to mayor michael bloomberg who is making his way up to the tenth floor here at two world trade center, the building we are at right now. gretchen: so many people want to know what the schedule of events are today. they are going to be tuning in to see as those families come back to the site. here is the schedule right here. steve: that's right. the program, gretch, starts at 8:40 eastern time with the rendition of the star spangled banner. at 8:46, there is going to be a moment of silence to observe when the first plane struck the north tower. there will be another at 9:03 to mark when the south tower was struck the mayor and several family members will be among those reading the names of the victims. then at 9:59, a moment of silence will mark the moment when the south tower fell followed by one at 10:29 for the fall of the north tower. the program ends then at 12:30. just 30 minutes after noon

today. and, of course, you are going to see a lot of it right here on fox. in a moment we will talk live to the mayor. gretchen, i understand you have got some headlines. brian: everyone remembers where they were that day. on the air and planes hit after that we are going to look back about a 20 minute look what it was like that day eight years ago. steve doocy, hold on, tell us what else is happening, gretchen. gretchen: eight years after 9/11 current and former u.s. intelligence officials say most of al qaeda's leadership has been wiped out. the decision by president bush in july of 2008 to increase drone attacks into tribal territories in pakistan apparently paid off. about 53 drone attacks have killed over 480 foreign militants, including top al qaeda leaders since last year. still though, the terror group remains a determined adversary and has gained some of its strength by recruiting even some of us americans. well, you saw it here first on "fox & friends." undercover video showing two acorn workers in baltimore

telling a woman, posing as a prostitute, to put down performance artist on her tax forms as far as her job description. the video, shot by independent filmmakers who gave the video to fox news. acorn complained it was just a smear. then they actually fired both of these employees that you are seeing here. acorn also got into trouble last year with phony voter registrations. now the question becomes will there be any follow through from the justice department. hear what our own judge, judge napolitano has to say about this coming up in just 20 minutes. nasa hoping weather conditions hold up today so space shuttle "discovery" can land at kennedy space center. they scrapped yesterday's landing, lots of wind and rain out there. if the weather does not improve, the shuttle will head out west at edwards air force base in california. a new edition to fox family. it's not a baby. it's john stossel award winning journalist joining the fox news and fox business network.

stossel comes to us from abc's 2020. he have a weekly prime time program on the fox business network called appropriately stossel. plus, he will host a series of specials right here on the fox news channel. look for his debut before the end of the year. and those are your headlines today. brian: approved that hiring at the very last minute this morning and able to leak out a press release. john stossel in the morning. i know you two don't get along. watch that friction on the couch. steve: he is fantastic. that's a great edition. brian: let's talk about the health care proposal and, steve, as you are down there, we are talking about people that have switched their positions. i think a lot of focus has been on the house needs committees. they go we are not going to have a public option. the president has pulled back on that. have other people pulled back on the public option? gretchen: are you talking about house speaker nancy pelosi? >> she has a line in the sand, remember? if it's not there, she is not

voting for it. gretchen: she usually appears to be pretty firm on how she thinks about issues. there is a little cog -- difference going on. >> i believe that a public option will be essential to our passing a bill in the house of representatives. >> i don't think you ever really go into a negotiation and say that some things are nonnegotiable. brian: that's a little bit of a change of position. steny hoyer, the majority leader has already said i prefer it but i would sign something without it. steve: yeah. the amazing thing is that steny and nancy, you have noticed they are not on the same page. brian: nope. steve: i know they have been rivals for many, many years. now it's a little disconcerting on tuesday night she came out and said we are absolutely going to have the public option. then they said you know what? we don't have to have it. i'm telling you we have got to

have it clearly, you have got to wonder who they are taking their cues from. the president in his big address backed away from it as well. he said we always wanted that but if it doesn't happen this time the idea of reforming health care is a grander goal. gretchen: looks like a power pull here. powerful politician and sticking to her guns. i'm sure she has had many closed door meetings with the president who has said we may have to give on the public option. none the less they believe the health care reform will be passed. first they said by september now harry reid saying we hope this get done by thanksgiving. which is two months away from now. brian: i keep going back to what everyone saying is on the shelf. we know liberals are for health care reform. republicans feel there needs to be cost control as well as access but increased access but they feel like they are not in the fray. what about the blue dogs?

what about people like alcee hastings. came out from florida saying great speech. i think it moved the issue but i think in two weeks we will be right back where we were before the speech. other blue dogs said i'm still concerned about cost controls. republicans likely to switch like senator susan collins said i'm really concerned about the $900 billion it's going to cost. it was a great speech. it got a lot of press. people watched, people commented, but did anything really change? steve: one thing did change. that was, you know, congressman joe wilson, the guy from south carolina who said you lie, well one thing that changed was his perspective. he did say yesterday that he -- he apologized. actually, that was the night before and the white house did accept it but yesterday he said i will not be muffled -- muzzled. his opponent has raised

$700,000, the democrat has for his war chest. and now joe wilson has come out and he said, you know what? i need help, too. he is soliciting donations on hesitate web site. gretchen: yeah. so we will continue to monitor that. one good suggestion for the president might be to just put together a one-page primmer. here are my -- here is my health care reform plan. because even after the tenth speech on health care wednesday night. brian: 29th speech. gretchen: i'm not sure americans know still what the plan is. we should have lanny davis. remember, the democrat, he came on our show and said he didn't get the plan and he was a democrat. i wonder if he gets it now. that will be interesting. brian: here is the chain. for the first time president obama said it's his plan. and what i want to see in my plan. it was always well, we want health care reform. but now he is taking ownership on it and he seemed optimistic

yesterday as he wove in now he said support of nurses for health care reform. but at nine minutes after the hour, we are waiting on mayor mike bloomberg. is he going to be joining steve live downtown. and i believe, steve, you are going to have a bunch of gusts as you tell -- guests as you tell us what happened 9/11 attacks. gretchen: one things about health care reform is whether or not illegals will be covered under government-run health care. so is what the president said the other night that they won't be? our political panel debates those details next. brian: as joe wilson still says i think i was right. i shouldn't have yelled it out. a man was trapped in sewage drain 15 feet below ground. the amazing rescue straight ahead.

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steve: on this 9/11 we are live at the world trade center site and joining us right now is mayor michael bloomberg. good morning to you, sir. >> steve, good morning. steve: a lot of progress in the last year. last year it was described by many as a pit. there are things growing out there. >> i'm glad you noticed that some people don't seem to notice it. but, yes, it's a very complicated project. perhaps the most difficult construction project anybody has ever tried in what you are trying to do in a small space in a short time with lots of government agencies involved. we are making progress. the 9/11 memorial will be at least at ground level and people will be able to walk on it two years from now. freedom tower is going up behind me. we are working on trying to get the money and tenants for other buildings down here. downtown manhattan is doing well. there are more hotel rooms. double the population. lots of new businesses down here. steve: i remember as you remember the day after 9/11,

9/12/2001. people were predicting that new york city would become a fortress city. guys with submachine guns and people wouldn't want to work in sky scrapers like the ones behind us anymore. >> you don't think that was sensationalism by the press do you? i would be outraged if that were the case. of course it didn't happen. new york is safer today than it has ever been. the thing we have got to remember we do live in a dangerous world. we have young men and women in iraq and afghanistan and other places around the world fighting and sadly dying to protect you and me. we have cops on our streets throughout this city and throughout this country who have to fight against too many guns on the streets we do live in dangerous world. unbalanced we are safer today than we have ever been. >> what do you make of this national day of service? congress has declared the 9/11 is a national day of service and people are supposed to go out and paint park benches and stuff like that. some are saying that they are politicizing 9/11 that we can do

that any day and we should not distract by commemorating. >> if they can do it, why aren't they doing it these people would rather talk than do something. congress passed this edward kennedy service bill and the president called for people to do things yesterday we had an event here. 17 mayors from around the country. you are going to see a lot of cities do what new york city is doing. having a service group that helps volunteers find out where they can go and help organizations need volunteers get them. steve: on this 9/11 down in washington, d.c. there, the big debate is over health care. i know you are a smart business guyened a politician as well. democrats say they are going to pass something. they probably will pass something. but, will it be much? >> well, number one, i think they have to pass something because you got a democratic president, democratic congress. democratic senate. and do they sort of have to deliver something? i think the president deserves a lot of credit for taking on an issue, which we all talk about and nobody has got the courage to face.

there is no easy answer. and it's congress has got to write the laws. the president can con joel and recommend and give great speeches. congress has got to figure out some ways to take care of the people in this country. we have got to stop and take a look why we spend 2 or $3,000 more per capita in western europe and have a life expectancy two to three years less. are we doing the right kinds of things with the money we are spending. it's also true that there are people who don't get the kind of care they need. and we're a compassionate society. we have to find ways to help them. steve mayor michael bloomberg, we know you have a busy morning down here on ground zero. >> sad day to remember but also a day to look forward with optimism. america is going to be better than ever before. mayor, thank you very much. brian over to you. brian: much controversy made over whether or not the current health care bill expands coverage to illegals. especially one in the house. should we require proof of citizenship to get government health aid. our panel wants to look at this

and i'm going to look at them. sam the editor of "new york times" review and author of death of conservatism. john fund did not write that book. is he a columnist for the "wall street journal." heather higgins is the vice president of independent women's voice. what is the deal, john fund, let's begin with you with illegal immigrants and the house health care reform bill? are they going to be covered in a public option? are they even mentioned? >> well, the best buy word in washington is walsh what they do, not what they say. the president and the democrats in congress say illegals will not be covered but every time an amendment was put up in committee, asking for verification measures to be included, in other words, if you are going to get health insurance, there is health coverage, you have to prove you are a citizen. that was voted down. so i say let's look at experience. not what the law says but what the law actually applies on the ground. in california, my home state, 1/3 of all medicaid paid for pregnancies are to illegal

aliens. that's a general accounting number office number. brian: heather, way in. do you see illegals forced to getting insurance. >> this is a bit like the definition of the word is technically, semantically obama was correct. first off he wasn't even referring to house bill 3200. he was saying my plan which i believe now two and a half pages of nonspecifics. and even in the house bill 3200, they have a specific provision in there saying that no affordability credits, which is washington speak for subsidies will go to illegals. the reality is two things. one, we know there is definitions of having the public plan be available to them as part of the exchange where they would have to buy this insurance and, secondly we know that texas pandz medicaid but it specifically puts in there that you can't check for immigration -- immigrant and residency. the important thing here is the dog that didn't bark. if the public plan really is just paid for by private dollars. we -- you know that the immigration law would be really

upset that illegal immigrants would be forced to pay for it, so you know they are being violent that they expect there is a -- brian: put it in illegal immigrants will be no problem. >> john and heather both have points. you can kind of put it in technically. you can say, for instance, as the president said there won't be allowed to buy the package, to be included in the package. but, we know this is part of the basic debate about health care is there is a lot of insurance that's available to people who don't really pay for it this was always a defense of not having a system that there was catastrophic insurance. any poor person here will a have that available. brian: stay right there. republicans are calling for tort reform. president obama promised something. what did he promise? wecally come across the aisle with tort reform? more than 30 czars in the obama administration. one congressman wants all to go through a formal confirmation process. that congressman in 30 minutes here. instead of $5 per person for fast food,

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brian cost of medical malpractice lawsuits. listen. >> i don't believe medical malpractice reform is a silver bullet. i talked to another doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. [ applause ] >> so i'm proposing that we move forward on range of ideas about how to put patient's safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine. brian: is the president prepared to reform medical malpractice insurance? tort reform. that would make republicans feel happy. let's start with you, heather, do you think the president, when he talked about president bush's pilot programs that he would

proposed in his administration that maybe he is going to going to go for? do you think the president will follow through on it this. >> no. the democratic party made it they're there at the behest of the trial lawyers. not going to take this on. howard dean. they don't want to go here. we already have test projects. they are called states. we know what really works. texas, for example, implemented up believable tort reforms. particular things they are not talking about. cutting on the caps that can be paid. it has made hundreds of millions of dollars of difference. brian: further reform that in other words you don't hit lotto if a court rules in your favor you get someone of a human settlement. therefore a lot of lawyers go it's not worth my time to work on a contingency basis? what do you think, sam? the president went on the record. he has to do something. >> going on the record is important and making the statement is the first step. you know, as we said during the break, i'm a believer in what william f. buckley said about ronald reagan when his critics thought he was expanding too much in california and reagan

said he wouldn't. he said rhetoric proceeds action. we now have the statement. i think he is going to take some sorts of steps. heather is right that there are many programs in place, that he is not acknowledging, he pushed the ball on important issue. since we are ordering 1/7 of our expand it demonstration projects for tort reform. why don't we do it couple states try out the public option there. let's pick a couple states, try mandated insurance there. why don't we expand this demonstration project. >> brian: didn't they do that in tennessee and wouldn't it a miserable failure. >> it has been a huge problem where it has been tried where ignoring the demonstration projects we have. if you just took health ware by itself. that 16% of the economy. that is larger than the entire economy of britain. and we're planning on doing that with a few house committees in a

rushed way. >> in less than six weeks. >> i appreciate that this gentleman, our president has put these in words. but our experience with his words and his actions is that he is almost a reverse barometer. transparency bills that aren't red. he says no earmarks we get an earmark bill. no lobbyists we get czars and lobbyists all over the place. it almost makes me nervous that he has now muttered these words. >> i disagree with that analysis. though i do agree about the czars. when did we suddenly rediscover for liberals and democrats to say that the government is the enemy. this is what franklin roosevelt and john f. kennedy did. they saw the institutions of government as the permanent government that needed to be worked around. the czars make me very uncomfortable. >> not exactly a friend of constitutional i don't like that. is it goes back to the new deal when fdr could not get this

dramatic like brew crazy because it slowed everything down. kept things in place. fdr ran around them by creating the alphabet soup of agencies. we don't need that now. brian: thanks for showing off for us for two blocks. your breaks were just as fascinating. great panel two, great topics. i'm going to toss to a lovely woman in the hall. gretchen: thanks very much, brian. i'm actually in one of the green rooms. beautiful new green room here at fox. tell you about these stories coming up. tax dollars pay to keep homeland security running with very few questions asked. is the cash being used to protect you or wasted on bureaucratic projects? how about 117 million on 17 duplicate projects. who is watching the money we are. we first showed you this amazing video yesterday. acorn workers teaching people to cheat on their taxes. we know they have been fired. but did acorn break the law and should they face penalties? the judge is here with his ruling.

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i know landscaping, but i didn't know how wireless could help my business. i just don't know how wireless can help my business. tara showed me how i could keep track of my employees in the field and get more jobs done faster. i was blown away. i'm blown away. only verizon wireless has small-business specialists in every store to help you do business better. we should get you a hat. now buy any blackberry, like the new tour, at our lowest prices ever, and get one free. gretchen: welcome back. half past the hour. 7:30 eastern time. two lives pictures of course on this day of remembrance as america remembers 9/11 eight years later. on the left of your screen you see the life shot from shanksville, pennsylvania. that's of course where one of

the planes went down eight years ago. on the right side of your screen ground zero, new york city where finally, brian, they are beginning to rebuild in the site where the twin towers once stood. >> steve has been there and telling us what's happening. meanwhile in shanksville, pennsylvania. this year they there is a lot of talk about the memorial that's been built there because the people that owned the property and there has been different issues there and governor tom ridge, who was here became homeland security secretary was governor back then. he will be at that site. when you think about 9/11 marking eight years. you really think of three sites the pentagon, ground zero, and then shanksville where flight 93 went down and those families will be there. steve: brian and gretchen, speaking of families, this year there will be 115 family members who have been invited to actually go out and step on to the memorial plaza. that's the first time that's happened. now down here at ground zero at 8:46, there will be a moment of silence.

the mayor will call for it and then church bells throughout manhattan are going to ring. and then begins the very long process of reading all of those names. all of those americans who died eight years ago today. gretchen: all right. so we'll continue to vowr special coverage today as we remember 9/11. in the meantime, we're going to cover a couple other news stories for you. fox news tracking your taxes. like national defense during the cold war, virtually anything labeled homeland security seems to get through congress with very little scrutiny. brian: until now. for example, $171 million is going out to 17 duplicate programs. william la jeunesse continues his series on tracking your taxes. what do you mean, william? >> well, you know, brian, after 9/11, there were two magic words if you wanted money. terrorism and disaster. and many powerful congressman saw an opportunity to raid the

homeland security cookie jar to build these huge preparedness centers in their district despite the fact that mr. there zim larr facilities elsewhere we already paid for. the result in many cases it's wasting your money. the fbi and border patrol have their own academies while the federal law enforcement training center in georgia trains other police. and the national fire academy emergency management institute first responders. why did congressional locate 132 million this year for the multi state national domestic preparedness consortium? 57 million for the center for domestic preparedness in alabama. or 10 million for the national institute for hometown security in kentucky. 8 million more the five state rural domestic preparedness consortium. 7 million for the center for catastrophe preparedness and response. 40 million for the advanced trading center in west virginia. 1.7 million for the national center for counter terrorism and cyber crime in vermont. that's in addition to the almost

4 million already put into the cyber security center at the university of texas and the cyber security center in north carolina. now, if that sounds like overkill, it is. and that's the point. congress is using earmarks to build these redundant centers that basically are doing the same thing. and many feel, you know what? we're paying twice. once for the center to maintain it and then for the tuition for the cops and the firemen around the country to attend. that's what one homeland security official told me today. later today, you guys, we are going to talk about another program under homeland security. you know on 24 you see the ctu, the big war room. guess what, every town, city, and burrow in america now wants one. and we are building them. crazy. back to you. brian: yeah, when money matters, it is crazy. thanks a lot, william. 24 minutes before the top of the hour. other things happening in the world. evidence lines for your friday. house speaker nancy pelosi says

she cease little support from congress to boost troop levels in afghanistan. that makes her the highest ranking democrat to signal opposition to the administration's handling of the war. general stanley mccrystal, the top commander in afghanistan is expected to put in a formal request this month for as many as 40,000 more troops. he, along with other commanders, say without more trooches the u.s. mission will fail there. brian? brian: so nancy pelosi is now a general. cancer stricken boy who ran awhy it avoid chemo is celebrating this morning. chemotherapy pay treatments for daniel houser are over and they doctors say they can't see tumors in x-rays. they also credit strict diet with victims in his recovery. >> a lot of it is nutrition. a lot of it is how you take care of the body and feed it what it needs and don't feed it what it don't need. brian: doctors say hawzer isn't completely in the clear and could undergo radiation

treatments still. gretchen: recommended that men get the gardasil vaccine. it has been approved for use in women. it guards gefns the human papilloma virus known as hpv. now they are saying it could protect men as well. this is an important announcement. brian? brian: if you are in the market for a nice apartment in new york city. there is one going on the market for $9.9 million. you can have bernie madoff's place in manhattan. in the east 60's. >> tony place. brian: shows you how little i have of visiting this place. tony. east 60's. write your check. judge, i haven't introduced you yet. gretchen: that's another tony. brian: the u.s. marshal wants the check. they will be collecting the proceeds tomorrow victims of popsy scheme. send it to will fong so we can buy some players. gretchen: a 39-year-old public

works employee fell into sewage vault and was trapped. three workers had to slide into the vault, rescue him and vifd back up. he suffered two broken legs but found to be ok. brian: michael jordan will be enshrined into the basketball hall of fame. david robinson, john stockton and coaches jerry sloan and riffian stringer will be going. in. gretchen: i said there was a tony coming up. he is here because of this story. we showed you this video first. acorn officials coaching an undercover pimp and prostitute, how to lie and cheat the irs. >> the type of business and such you provide. let me make sure there is a code for it, ok? >> a code for prostitution? >> you may have to name it something else. >> we can do this. how about if you want to do that, ok, you have got other

amusement and correct cracial services. >> -- recreational services. >> we could probably classify recreational services. >> classify it not as prostitution. >> exactly. >> but as recreation. >> no, no. performing arts. >> your business is a performing arts if anybody asks you. which you are. ok? so you are not lying. >> do not ever, ever, whatever provision you are in, be proud of it. brian: not shot by fox news cameraman. independent film makers shot it and gave it to us. gretchen: judge andrew napolitano is here to dissect this for us. good morning. >> good morning, guys. gretchen: this is outrage just the video, that call yourself a performer and also suggest that young girls they could have them

illegally. >> noble fated criminal charges. >> i'm not sure -- they committed a crime called criminal facilitation. if you and i talk about how to rob a bank, there is no crime. if you tell me you are interested in robbing the bank and i tell you how to do it and suggest ways to do it and encourage you to do it, i have facilitated your robbing the bank. i have told you how to commit the crime. and that conversation itself is criminal. look, these people went into this acorn place and said we want to run a house of prostitution. we want to bring 13-year-old girls into the house of prostitution. brian: from el salvador and borrow money from a bank in order to buy the house. can you tell us how to do it? and then the woman from acorn, holding herself out as an an accountant whose salary is funded by the federal government, by the taxpayers, proceeds to tell her how to do it. so the conspiracy that she entered into, the agreement to

break the law involves a whole host of illegal activities. welfare of a minor. bringing underaged women into the country for immoral purposes. bringing women into the country for immoral purposes. violating the immigration laws. bank fraud, filing false documents with the irs. there is half a dozen to nine, depending on how you break this down. brian: judge analyst, called on camera. no fbi agent commissioned this sting. what has to happen for these two to face justice? prosecution? >> the federal prosecutors in baltimore, maryland have to open up a grand jury investigation into the misuse and abuse of federal funds by suggesting crime. brian: fire brian. >> firing them is not going to stop this from happening again and doesn't undo the attitude that exists at this place that will help you break the law.

>> if you want to unravel the onion and see what else is underneath. gretchen: what are the chances that that grand jury will actually happen? gretchen: i would think this is a political decision. gretchen: yeah, that's my question. >> and all prosecutors are appointed by -- federal prosecutors are appointed by the president. this will be somebody who will have to decide do i want to embarrass acorn or protect the taxpayers for were this kind of quus of their money. you will beth judge. >> i will who will you be? brian: i will be brian. that might not be true. many peter johnson jr. is here with his prescription for truth. plus,. brian: more than 30 czars none of them approved by congress. we talk to congressman who wants them all to answer very tough questions.

brian: i really enjoy this music. no lyrics. - hello. - hi!

i'm finally going to get a flat panel for my home theater. - ( cheering ) - ( laughs ) thank you. what should i get? uh, you. you should check out our new leds. the picture's better than life. okay, but i don't want to pay too much. don't worry about it. we'll match those other stores' prices. and we'll deliver and hook it up for free. okay. last question. if you guys are here, who's in the stores? you

>> if you are among the hundreds of millions of americans who already have health insurance through your job, or medicare or medicaid, or the v.a., nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage of the doctor you have. [ applause ] let me repeat this. nothing in our plan requires you to that i think what you have. gretchen: health care plan maybe houston you will be required to pay. brian: peter johnson jr. is here

with prescription for truth. >> thank you, thanks, brian. i am going to over the next few days be exploring that issue and i have come to the conclusion just in terms of this study the president's speech that the obama big gov care means higher premiums for private insurance. recipients. higher deficits for america over the next 20 years, and higher taxes for all americans. and so we're going to look at each aspect of that particular issue. higher premiums, higher deficits, and higher taxes. in terms of premiums, there is one study that shows that privately insured people, about 85% of americans will suffer about a thousand dollar increase in their premiums, based on this plan. based on increased taxes, costs, and fees that insurance companies are going to be paying. with regard to deficits, the congressional budget office says already that there is going to

be a 240 billion-dollar deficit. that doesn't even count the so-called half trillion dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse that somehow is going to be recovered under this plan. even though the president hasn't said how. another group, called the lewin group says that in the out 10 years. 10 years out from now, we are going to suffer a trillion dollars in deficits on top of the 240 and the 500 billion that we may not be able to recoup. then there is higher taxes. so we're going to be talking about that. >> it's interesting. because the one thing that the president did not get specific about the other night was costs. >> there was nothing about costs. and, brian, you made reference to that. brian: deficit neutral. >> free lunch speech. i heard what you said and you are right on point earlier. can we have a one-page piece of paper? i know we have got -- i know we have got 47-minute speech full of recrimination, vilification. attacks on town hall attendees

and the republican party that misinformers, disinformers, serial misinformers. they are part of a scare tactics. they are lying. you are liars. apart from being liars, can we see a plan with numbers? what's it going to cost? who is it going to protect? and we're not seeing that so i'm going to be looking at the numbers over the next few days, deficits, taxes and premiums. gretchen: break out the calculator. i know you want to give a special tribute. >> i saw steve doocy down at ground zero this morning, and have been brought to our dear friend father michael judge who was the fire department chaplain. and he was our dear family friend. he baptized blanch and veronica who you see there he married my wife blanch and i. and, unfortunately, i had a hand in him being appointed the chaplin of the fire department. he gave his life for all of us and so we pay tribute to him on

this sad day. gretchen: thank you so much. peter johnson jr. and we will see you soon. >> thank you. gretchen: president obama surrounds himself with czars. who is investigating them? one congressman says i want to meet them, check out their background and confirm them myself. he will join us. . . introducing a transformation in hair care. new aveeno nourish plus. only aveeno has harnessed the power of active naturals' wheat complex in formulas that target and fortify the weakest parts of hair, proven to help visibly repair damage in just three washes. - for stronger, shinier-- - hair with life. announcer: write a new story for your hair. the new aveeno nourish plus collection. that's the beauty of nature and science.

gretchen: welcome back. president obama as a boy to more than 30 czars who have been a major influence on public policy. even though they are not, it positions -- even though there are cabinet positions, they do not need to be confirmed. brian: joining us now is congressman patrick mchenry.

why do you believe in line in the sand needs to be drawn down? >> i think it should have been done a long time ago. the constitution is clear, the advice and consent of the knesset -- senate needs to be made through a process with congress. they seem to be making some pretty big decisions, whether it is the health-care czar, the green czar, or the international climate change czar, carol browner, who is working with the epa. what is apparent is the obama administration has done what previous administrations have done, but in a wider way. they are spending more money.

they want the government to take over health care. there were just a couple of czars in previous administrations, but he has dozens. gretchen: some wonder if these are just friends of his, or whether or not they are people who are truly working in the capacity that they are needed i have been waiting for republicans to speak out against this. you seem to be the first person to bring this to the nation's attention that you have a problem with it. what kind of support have you had from other republicans and democrats? >> i have got a great cop -- feedback from my colleagues. i think you will see other republicans jump on board that these czars must testify on capitol hill in be held accountable. republicans need to be vocal

about what they are for, what they are against. the idea that i got about the czars came from my town hall meetings. that is why i am coming back, fighting for them. brian, which winning -- brian: which wedding czar did you discuss before you were married? >> i believe that question to my fiancee. thank you. brian: i hope to be invited to the wedding. gretchen: at the top of the hour, geraldo rivera joined us for in 9/11 commemoration. brian: and we will take you through the event of 9/11. gretchen: top democratic leaders like nancy pelosi are not so sure we should be adding more

troops.

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steve: good morning, everyone. in december 11, 2009. eight years ago the world stood still as the u.s. was attacked. 2819 people killed in cold blood. today we commemorate their loss as we continue to fight for their freedom. gretchen: in his big speech to congress, president obama gave lawmakers three chances to prove they were serious about reform. new gingrich is here to grain the speech. brian: she went days missing before her meeting -- wedding, and this photograph is the last one of her police are searching for a yale graduate student. is it cold feet?

welcome to "fox and friends." [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- steve: america remembers. it was eight years ago today that everything changed. there used to be two skyscrapers behind me, but today they are finally making progress on filling in the pits. they are actually building stuff. it is this hour that the first plane struck. the program this morning begins at 8:40 with a rendition of the star spangled banner. then at 8:46 there will be a moment to commemorate the striking of the north tower. three minutes after 9:00, a

commemoration for the second self tower. -- south tower. the program ends at 12:30 this morning. it is a very rainy day. in just about three minutes, geraldo rivera, whose life changed as well on 9/11, will be with us. brian: i understand 115 relatives of those who lost loved ones on 9/11 will be there, as well as local officials. gretchen: let's do some of your quick headlines. the white house said 1 million jobs were saved or created thanks to the $787 billion

stimulus, and that comes from the council of president advisers. christina romer does caution that the report is preliminary, and republicans are calling the number fiction. they say it pales to the 6 million currently collecting unemployment benefits, and the 8 million who have run down of benefits. a new picture of the 9/11 mastermind looking a lot like usama bin laden has made its way to extremist websites. eight years later, have we become complacent when dealing with terrorism? our terrorism analyst joined us later to explain why khalid sheikh mohammed purposely looks like usama bin laden. >> his picture is being sent on purpose. the victory is being used extensively. days, years from now, it could

be used as an element of mobilization. gretchen: the reason he believes we have not captured usama bin laden is because he is not moving around where he could be easily discovered. president obama believes the release of the lockerbie bombing was a mistake. he expressed his disappointment over a conversation with prime minister brown. an intense fbi search under way for this missing yale grad student, annie le. she was last seen at a research lab on tuesday. she was getting ready to be married this weekend but there has been no word from her. >> first we thought she ran away from the wedding. now it is more than 48 hours and no one has seen her.

gretchen: the campus newspaper reports that she used her identification card that left her purse in her office which was three blocks away. experts say one those of the h1n1 vaccine could be enough to battle the virus. new research suggests this one flu vaccine is also safe. in the meantime, hhs secretary kathleen sebelius calling for americans to get their seasonal flu shot as well. >> even though h1n1 has been getting the publicity, it is important not to do site of the fact that the seasonal flu takes its toll you're in, year out. gretchen: after weeks on the road, the tea party express makes its final stop at the nation's capital. one woman has been traveling

from sacramento and she told us why she felt she wanted to get on board. >> when my husband and i -- found out about this, we knew we had to be involved. we had been involved with some political movements, but we knew we could not miss this. gretchen: thousands are expected to be in attendance at the final rally tomorrow. brian, when you think about commemorating 9 -- brian: when you think about commemorating 9/11, you think about geraldo rivera, steve doocy, colin powell will be holding a commemoration. geraldo, where were you? >> i was in malibu living the

good life. then everything changed. within a couple of weeks, i quit cnbc and came to work for fox and became a war correspondent. steve, this is personal for you. in your home town, a lot of parents did not come home. >> i owned the newspaper in that town in new jersey in the head one of the highest casualty rates, where all of the cantor- fitzgerald bankers lived. steve: we are here today obviously to remember those 3000 people who died, but there are a lot of people in this country who are starting to forget about it. you do not hear the term "war on terrorism" anymore.

>> i understand how time heals all wounds, but what is good about 9/11, is that it forces us to recall that worst attack ever. it was a brilliant, a brutal terrorist attack wiping count so many, scoring the nation for a number. -- scarring the nation for ever. -- forever. ironically, if this had been the weather years ago, and they never would have carried off the attack. they would have been navigating by sight, but they had a crystal clear day. steve: that man under the

umbrella is vice president joe biden. he is here as a representative of the executive government. today there will be 119 9/11 relatives who will be paired with city officials. >> it looks like that walkway has been cut in. the memorial is finally aboveground. you know how angry i and how long this has taken. at least now we see visible signs of progress. as the building progresses, the wounds will begin to be healed. if we can show our ingenuity, our defiance, and restore our skyline -- it is not as good as getting usama bin laden, who is elusive and managed to stay alive, unfortunately.

but we have to continue to pursue him, and we need to continue the fight in afghanistan. otherwise, they will just continue to build the base, use the national structure to arm themselves and get ready for an attack. i maintain that it was hour occupation -- our occupation of afghanistan that has caused us not to the attack in the last eight years. brian: there are some reports today that usama bin laden hierarchies -- some of these predator drones are starting to turn the town's away from al qaeda because of the attacks. this might be the time when the usama bin laden could be exposed. should we take any credence in that? >> as joan attacks are being

administered, they are an amazing weapon that is taking out some of the top tier of the organization. you alluded to this, but the last time i was in afghanistan, the survey of people i took, 60% of them wanted to negotiate with al qaeda. they wanted al qaeda in the government. as the president faces this democratic opposition to his proposal to escalate the war over there, i think so, too, the afghan government is thinking about negotiating with the taliban. i'm not so sure that that is a bad idea. gretchen: nancy pelosi seems to not be in favor of increasing the " troop levels in afghanistan to continue the war on terror. stanley mcchrystal apparently is going to ask for 40,000 more

troops. where do you fall on that? >> i wish nancy pelosi would defer to the military commanders. i remember when the politicians were running the war in iraq. we were getting our butts kicked, suffering casualties that were not necessary because of our back for deployment. when general petraeus took over, that were turned. i believe the combination of petraeus, mcchrystal and afghanistan can win this thing. and i believe political leaders catering to their hard core base aren't giving us a great disservice, the president, military officials. they are the ones that need to tell us what the double image should be. steve: he is going to be with us this entire hour as we commemorate 9/11 today. gretchen:, rest was given three opportunities to prove that they

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we speak innovation. introducing the all-new taurus sho from ford. drive one. gretchen: president obama laid out his plan for health care reform, but our next guest says he gave himself three of the kennedys to show himself serious about reform. newt gingrich is here this morning. you say there were three opportunities that the president laid help during the speech wednesday night and now the key will be whether or not he actually followed through. the first one got a lot of press to get it had to do whether or not illegal immigrants would be covered under his health care plan. >> the reforms i am proposing would not cover those here

illegally. gretchen: we know what one congressman from south carolina thought about that, but what is your impression? >> for a lot of members sitting there, one that exact amendment was offered up in the ways and means committee, it was defeated by the democrats. so the first place the president could prove he was sincere was by supporting an amendment that would make it, in fact, a requirement that you be legal. either you have a visa, green card, or be a citizen or legal resident. that provision was defeated, which is why many members of the house were skeptical. gretchen: let's talk about medicare and medicaid fraud. according to the president if we just get rid of all of this waste and fraud, we will be able

to pay for his health care reform plan. >> the waste and inefficiencies in medicare and medicaid will play for most of this plan. -- pay for most of this plan. >> it is impossible. there is a book called "stopped paying the crooks" and it describes about $80 billion in medicare theft. the problem is, the president does not want to touch them, but he wants to take away coverage from senior citizens in middle america and give that to the other people. we think that is wrong, but if the president wants to deal with these crooks, we have some members who could be able to show him some ways to save a billion dollars a year. that would do quite a lot for his plan.

gretchen: sound like a good idea to me. let's talk about tort reform. the president seemed to extend an olive branch to republicans by saying, i acknowledge, it exists. >> defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. gretchen: what kind of grade did he get for that? >> [laughter] i agree with what he said, and they had in mind an american trial lawyer proposal. wayne oliver has been working with quite a number of people. texas past dramatic reforms. they have brought 4000 doctors into the state and has saved millions of dollars. if the president wants to pass reform, the need to everyone willing to give him the votes, but that would require a split with the trial lawyers.

gretchen: thank you for being our guest. now he wanted your great on the president's speech. log on to foxnews.com. we cannot forget where we worked eight years ago. we will take you through the advance of 9/11.  ♪ anyone can prove they're strong once.

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brian: welcome back. steve, you are down at ground zero. i know vice-president joe biden is on location? steve: that turn, the memorial service will be beginning in 20 minutes from now. joe biden is here at ground zero. of course, we are thankful that he made the trip here from

washington, but you know what? i think a lot of people would have liked to see the president. he is at the pentagon, but they would like to see the president here in new york. he was here a couple of days ago for walter cronkite's eulogy. brian, it is somewhat surprising, -- brian: it is somewhat surprising, but he did have an address, talking about how everyone is from new york today. to honor and the victims and their families, we want to show you what happened eight years ago today. gretchen: this footage may be difficult to watch, just a warning. ♪

>> we have a tragic alert. a plane crashed into the world trade center here at the lower tip of manhattan. brian: at least three floors taken out. and joining us right now is one of the producers. what do you know, what do you see? >> i am on the roof of my building and i am looking right now at the world trade center. there is a massive, gaping hole

in the second tower. it is about 15 stories from the roof. it is unbelievable. you can see and emergency vehicles heading to the scene. there are tons of people in the streets. i do not see any evidence of what could have crashed. all i see is this massive hole. >> you are looking at the north building on the twin towers of the world trade center in manhattan. these are coming to you live. debris raining down from 110 floors up. as you can see, it is a clear day in manhattan. if this was an accident, it would be a needle in a haystack.

>> there was another one. we just saw another one. we just saw another one -- another airplane just flew into the second tower. this has to be delivered. we just saw on live television a second airplane fly into a second tower of the world trade center. given what has been going on around the world, some of the key suspects come to mind, your usama bin laden. who knows? eric sean is with us. i know you have a lot of

sources at the fbi and what not. >> i was out of breath as i was walking down fifth avenue. i heard the airplane flying low, unusually low over fifth avenue making the right. i do not have any reports on what type of airplane and the world trade center, but people looked up and it hit the building. >> it is a tragedy. it is disgusting. i am wondering, are these pilots terrorists themselves? are there terrorists in the cockpit holding a gun to his head? you can speculate completely about how this happened.

obviously, it takes a lot of training and expertise to fly an aircraft. when there is a boeing 737 or a small cessna. you have to wonder the possibility, with the type of scenario in the cockpit. >> we are traveling with the president. wendell goler are, what is the reaction from the president? >> the president is here promoting a reading initiative on his second day of a two day trip in florida. he was asked about the incident and said he was aware of it. he said he would have something to say about it later.

>> and let's bring in david b. miller, our correspondent. he has an eye witness with him. >> i am a few blocks away. the only way to get near the buildings is on put right now. the scene is horrific. you have people streaming down of the area, people in shock. people working nearby who cannot believe what happened. many of them remember the terrorist attack years ago on the world trade center. for many of them, this is just the end of reminder of that. as i was walking downtown, i stopped to speak to a woman here. she used to work in the world trade center. i'm going to give her the telephone and she is going to describe what she saw this morning. >> i heard a loud rumbling, and when i looked up in the air on

fifth avenue, there was an airplane going into the world trade center and flames were coming out, smoke billowing in the air. tons of people were running down folsom st., running each other over. i made my way back to my office, when i got upstairs, i looked out the window to see what was going on and the second tower went into flames. from one minute to the next. >> when we saw that second aired plane slammed into the second tower intentionally, clearly, you got to believe this is a terrorist attack. we have a terrorism expert with us. is it too early to speculate about suspects? >> one thinks that this could be one of the most terrifically planned incident in annals of terrorism against the u.s.

think about it. look outside. look how clear it is? how could you miss the twin towers? jon: it brings to mind -- everyone hate to those metal detectors at the airport, and passing through them is almost a joke these days, but it seems something is going to change if you can make this kind of statement and kill as many people as are likely to be in this scenario. >> no matter how this turns out, this is going to be a day that lives in infamy. it will result in changes in and security that the country has never seen before. >> president bush is about to speak in florida and what was supposed to be a joyous event. >> today we had a national

tragedy. two airplanes have crashed into the world trade center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. i have spoken to the vice- president, to the governor of new york, to the director of the fbi, and i have ordered the full resources of the government go to help the victims and their families, and to conduct a full- scale investigation to hunt down and find those folks who committed this act. terrorism against our nation will not stand. now if you will know me in a moment of silence -- join me in a moment of silence.

>> we are going to be looking at an enormous death toll. 50,000 people work in those two buildings. john fund from the "wall street journal" is with us. were you in the area when the planes had? >> i was across the street in my office building. i heard an incredible sonic boom and i looked up, and there was already smoke and flames poured and held the building. 15 minutes later, the second one, the second tower. >> what about injuries? >> the most terrible thing about this is, 15 minutes ago, bodies started dropping from the top floor of the tower closest to the highway, about five or six. it is absolutely terrible. they have two choices, be burned in flames or jump.

it was quite tragic. >> let me bring into our conversation. >> i just want to give you some late breaking information, perhaps one of the greatest fears, that there is another terrorist attack. since those two plane crashes within 20 minutes of each other, where all of manhattan has been sealed off, this is probably unprecedented. manhattan has been sealed off. the hudson river bridges and tunnels have been sealed. clearly, there is an attempt right now to thwart any further acts of terrorism. manhattan is in lock down.

>> we are hearing right now of another explosion taking place at the pentagon. we have the heart of the financial district of america being attacked. now we understand there is an explosion in the pentagon, the heart of the military command center. it cannot get much worse than this, let us hope. >> you have to believe this happened again, a large airliner, perhaps i death, perhaps part of the widespread plan, apparently slamming into the area around the pentagon. they have not struck at america. they have struck individual

places in america, but this country will go on. we want to go to washington for the outlook. brit hume, this raises questions about america's response, and i guess that response will not be immediate. >> the one thing we are seeing is this series of evacuations from various buildings around washington. i think it is important to say, we have no reason to believe that the white house, for example, was facing any immediate threat. they will also be evacuating capitol hill. nothing has happened to either of those places but this is one of those days where we can say things will not be the same here in the u.s. this is the kind of terrorist attack that experts have warned about, but some of us thought could not happen on such a scale. this is a remarkable.

>> as we watch these pictures, the world trade center, 110 stories, literally starting to fall. >> the whole tower is gone! >> i hope i live. it is coming down on me. here it comes. i am getting behind a car. i need to find some people who need some help. are you ok? you were inside the building? >> i was getting ready to search

and the building collapsed. >> how did you get out? >> we just walked toward the light. >> what can you tell us? >> one of the two towers literally collapsed. i was making my way to the foot of the world trade center and suddenly an officer was questioned me about my credentials and we heard a loud explosion. we looked up, and the building literally began to collapse. there was debris falling about three-quarters the height of the building. people in the entire perimeter, including myself, started to run for our lives. >> those steel girders, as strong as they are, have allowed a way to support.

by and the structural engineer, but i am guessing they gave way. a loss of life will be enormous. >> may god help those victims and families and all those lost today. >> can you tell me what you saw? >> unbelievable. the spore woman. >> indicted 93, are you still here? united 93, do you hear cleveland? >> this united flight 93 crash. >> from the size of the impact

crater, the angle of attack needed to be about straight down. >> there were not many houses that went down over there. the whole thing is unbelievable. >> this is clearly a national catastrophe. there will be in a response from the white house. wendell goler has been traveling with the president. >> the president left sarasota, fla. a short time ago, convened a meeting with his national security advisers including the vice-president, cia, nsa, fbi, and in new york governor pataki. after the two attacks, he was briefed by his national security adviser condoleezza rice, who telephoned him. he was actually reading to some children when the second attack occurred.

his chief of staff interrupted him and told him about the attack. >> i want to bring into the conversation the former secretary of state. general, in a time like this, how does america respond prudently, with the proper amount of caution, and with whatever force me to be applied? >> first, we have to know the full limits of this tragedy. it is unprecedented, of course. above all, we need to stay united and calm, and be ready to take resolute action when the perpetrators are uncovered, and we have many indicators of precisely who they are, this was too broadly in terrorist attack to be just a few crazies. this is a terrorist movement and we know where they are located. i obviously, as a nation, we are

going to have to take action against them. >> there is a ghooes! we need to put it down now. here we go. [sirens] >> america, offered a prayer. -- offer a praryer. yer.

brian: incredible to see that all again. we were just down the road when that occurred. below you, while we were reliving those moments, what is taking place behind you? steve: right now i can hear from across the west side highway, the drum band getting ready into position in just a moment. in just a moment, a moment of silence will be observed. the president and first lady will be on the south lawn of the white house. here in new york, michael bloomberg will call for it. there is the south portico of the white house where people have gathered. it will also be observed in shanksville, pennsylvania. gretchen: of course, we will have the moment of silence in 30 seconds. we are waiting for president

obama and michelle obama to make their way out for that moment. brian, these are all the president's advisers waiting for him, acknowledging our history eight years ago. steve, there are a number of people here in new york that the president had been in attendance here in new york. he was in town earlier. now here is the president of the united states and first lady. [bell rings] [bell rings]

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brian: the president heads back to the white house. for many, memories will start flooding back. and this is mere bloomberg. >> sandra day o'connor said this. we do not accomplish anything in this world alone --

gretchen: the mayor of remembering eight years ago today. he is live at ground zero in new york. we just saw the president. he will later visit the pentagon, of course, where another airplane slammed into the building. we also have a reporter in shanksville, pa. good morning. >> good morning. hundred have already made their way here, having a moment of silence, and dozens more are expected today for an emotional anniversary. thousands will gather at the temporary memorial site that you see here that marks the spot where the plane crashed to honor the 40 people who died aboard flight 93. as you take a look around here, within process, angels, symbolizing the victims, poems,

notes, marking the nation's darkest day, set up by family members and friends of the victims. there will be a ceremony here starting at 9:45 in the morning. colin powell is the keynote speaker. former homeland security director tom ridge will also be here to address the crowd. also, a major announcement. this site will be recognized as the final resting place for a final resting place to preserve their memory. you may remember plan for the moral has been in the works because the land is privately owned, that is until two weeks ago when it was announced that the government acquired the land and will open up in the morning on the 10th anniversary. it is one of those things where you see strangers hugging each other, it is difficult, but now

some good news that all of these artifacts will not go into a permanent memorial that will open on 2011. back to you. brian: of course, if that airplane did not go down, it could have gone into the white house or capitol building. the other place where the airplane hit -- the pentagon. gretchen: and jennifer griffin, who often covers what happened at the pentagon, is with us. >> the president will be making his way over to the pentagon after that moment of silence at the white house. there will be a moment of silence here. admiral mullen will also speak. secretary gates is also expected to speak at 9:07, when that airplanes struck the pentagon behind me.

this area, known then as memorial park is where we will be gathering. is somewhat of a low-key ceremony this year. last year they dedicated the moral behind me. what is interesting about this memorial is each of the victims is memorialized, from the youngest on this time, all the way to the oldest. it is very stunning when you drive past at night because each of these, which is effectively a tombstone, looks as if it is levitating. another striking fact is that the pentagon was rebuilt in its entirety within one year and people here are extremely proud of how quickly they got that back up. elsewhere in the nation, and 9/11 is simply an anniversary,

the people who walk through this building remembered it every day as we are still fighting two wars. brian: we often forget that. the story also goes that donald rumsfeld was helping people in the hallways. thank you, jennifer. those voices that you heard in our coverage was a wreck leventhal. gretchen: he was one of our chief reporters on the scene. on the bottom of the screen we are showing the names of all of those americans who lost their lives. let's go now to ground zero where we are with rick leventhal and geraldo rivera. steve: rick, no reporter was closer to the buildings when they came down. we were talking about how quickly the pentagon was rebuilt. a lot of people in new york are saying, what is taking so long? >> we are seeing the first signs

of progress. many people were wondering why this was not taking shape, but now it is starting to. that is tower one, which is actually now above ground. it will reach 1700 776 feet, but that will not be until 2013. -- 1776 feet, but bathat will not be until 2013. steve: geraldo, you had a brilliant idea. if eight years ago the weather was like this, it probably would not have happened. >> the wind is pretty gusty. they are almost calling in a tropical depression. these pilots were only semi-

skilled. they could see the towers perrin the visibility was fine. my brother is a human -- union steam fitter. they put the sprinkler system in the world trade center. they were waiting for the sprinklers, not knowing what was calling the fire. of course, it was more than any sprinkler system could have dealt with. steve, as we look across the street -- steve: as we look across the street at some of the volunteers reading the many names -- and as we mentioned, we are running the names of the victims on the bottom of the screen today. when we were watching the videotape of that date eight years ago, you are both talking about, however member on 9/11,

9/12 how there were so many rumors? in the early reporting, they were trying to figure out how many people could possibly be in the world trade center at the moment the airplane hit. there were some very high estimates. >> we were hearing 25,000. after they fell, we were hearing stories that people had walked away from the building. we have to look through all that stuff. we have to be careful about what we reported that date. >> but the scope of the disaster was absolutely bone chilling. not only did we have this extraordinary attack but it seemed like half a community had been wiped out. i remember rudy giuliani and other officials, they helped to steady the world.

he assumed the mayorship, and a lot of those people simply said that his tenure was extended. the city responded lot better in the immediate aftermath then it did in the process of getting a compromise after compromise on what they would do on this piece of property. i wish they'd would have put donald trump in charge on day one. >> we watched everyone drop what they're doing to help as they could. you go into the scene to try to rescue anyone who might still be alive and could be rescued. it was remarkable. but there was that uncertainty, not knowing how many airplanes were in the sky and what else might be coming. even when the towers fell, not knowing what was happening. it was one babble that these towers could fall to the ground.

>> how about the image that the 20 or so people decided that leaping to their doctor was preferable to being burned alive? that is an image that will haunt the american people forever the same way that pearl harbor affects so many. brian: just add to that, think about those people who thought, i could burn alive or jump to my death. the next time people feel empathy for being waterboarding, they should think about that. that is a good comparison. these people plotted to kill us. >> is the one story that i cannot really watch. i can not watch it without feeling a wave of the motions. >> we all made the decision to go easy honchoing that video after the initial reports. we have been very prudent about

shelling that footage -- steve: we only showed once a year. >> to see it today, it moves me to tears. brian: what our viewers are saying by the thousands as, thank you for showing us, thank you for reminding us what this day is all about. >> it is important that we do not forget. steve, in so many places they are trying to move on but we have to remember what happened here. >> again, it happened in large part because the entire nation, afghanistan, was taken over by a terror group that could use the resources of that nation's states to arm itself, train itself. that is the