tonight on "nightline," breaking news. officials identify one suspected terrorist in the 9/11 anniversary plot. and a searing look back at that day ten years ago. >> move it! >> and the exclusive story of an air traffic controller rendered helpless as she realized the u.s. was under attack. plus, life lessons.

the children who were with president bush on the day he was told planes had flown into the twin towers. what they remember. and, the brave one. a young boy honors his father, the fallen hero he never knew. a special edition of "nightline" starts right now. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," september 9th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden, reporting from ground zero. it was here, ten years ago, that planes struck the twin towers, reducing the buildings to rubble and shaking our country to its core. in a chilling twist, authorities again believe terrorists have entered the u.s. and are planning an attack. i'm joined now by my colleague brian ross with the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: good evening,

cynthia. with tight security trying up traffic in new york and washington, the intense manhunt continues for the three men suspected of having been sent here to pull off a vehicle bomb plot in one of those two cities. tonight, abc news has learned that officials have now established the name of one person that appears to fit the description given by a cia informant. officials say they are per suing all leads to find that person, believed to be in the u.s., and to determine just who he is, cynthia. >> well, brian, while we're all praying tonight that authorities are able to thwart any attack, we are mindful of the lives that were changed by what happened here ten years ago. i know you have an exclusive interview with one such woman. >> reporter: this is a story of what happened that day in the air as t t hijackers commandeered the planes. it was the people in the air traffic control towers who first realized what was really going on. this sunday, danielle howell will be back at work at the same place she was on september 11th,

ten years ago. >> that will be a bit unnerving. it will -- i'm sure raise the hairs on my arms. >> reporter: danielle was in in the dulles air traffic control tower ten years ago, who saw and heard the horror unfold. >> the nightmares have faded. >> reporter: at 8:25, she handled the departure of american flight 77. a boeing 757 like this one, with 59 people and five hijackers on board. when we talked with her back then, danielle recalled it as just a normal radio transmission. american 77, dulles approach. and then i asked american 77 to contact the next controller. american 77, contact washington center, 120.65. good luck. 20 minutes later, as the

hijacked planes began their deadly coordinated mission, it was air traffic controllers around the country who were the fifit to realize it, starting with a strange transmission from american flight 11 out of boston. the voice of mohamed atta. >> we have some planes. just stay quiet and you'll be okay. >> reporter: american flight 11 hit the north tower of the world trade center seconds later. as controllers realized another flight out of boston was also hijacked. >> he just dropped 800 feet. >> that's at situation. >> reporter: it was united 175 hitting the south tower. >> another one just hit the building. >> wow. >> oh, my god. >> the whole building just came apart. >> reporter: then the drama shifted to washington, as the flight danielle handled, american 77, disappeared from radar and then headed back into the capitol. >> okay, he's 12 miles west, he's moving very fast eastbound. okay, guys, where ise now? 11 miles west. and it was just a countdown. >> reporter: the white house was told to evacuate.

>> you guys, please, all the way to eighth street, please. >> and itwent. six, five, four -- and i had it in my mouth to say three and all of a sudden the plane turned away. this must be one of our guys sent in, scrambled to patrol our capitol and to protect our president. and we sat back in our chairs and breathed for just a second. and the plane turned back. he continued the right hand turn, made a 360 degree maneuver. >> r rorter: big loop? >> correct. and we're telling the supervisor, he's turning back eastbound. >> reporter: the controller next to danielle was tom howell. >> and the turn kept going. and i yelled to john, i said, oh, my god, john, he's coming back. >> and we waited. and we waited. and your heart's just beating out of your chest. >> reporter: american 77 then

hit its target, the pentagon. >> it looks that aircraft crashed into the pentagon, sir. >> reporter: badly shaken, danielle left her job as an air traffic controller, taking a few years off. >> just to kind of get my thoughts back together, to get myself back on an even keel to make sure i was ready for duty. >> reporter: now, she says, she is ready. danielle married the air traffic controller who sat next to her that awful day, tom howell. >> having the bond of 9/11 is just an unspoken bond between us. >> reporter: and together, they have a daughter, tiffany, now 3 years old. and a symbol for danielle of all they and the country have been through. >> tiffany is the glimmer of hope. so, i hope that our nation also finds themselves feeling that way. that there is hope. that there is positive yet to be had in the world and yes, we do need to remember. because we learn from the past. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm brian ross, abc news.

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not before his generals at the white house. but in front of a group of second graders in a sarasota, florida, classroom. wide-eyed witntnses to history. now high school seniors, they remember. it started out as a morning of excitement and innocence. >> everyone had their hair done and new bows and everything. >> reporter: you got to school that morning, did you have new bows, too? >> i think i did. yeah. i remember coming to school being all excited and stuff and security checking you and if you were late you couldn't get in. >> reporter: the teacher, sandra kay daniels, taking her young students, just 7 years old, through the day's reading lesson for a special guest. the president of the united states. >> yeah. >> the kids had worked so hard. it was unbelievable. the president? come on. you're talking about the president of the united states of america coming to emma e. booker elementary school.

>> reporter: lazzaro got to shake his hand. do you remember that moment? >> yes, i do very vivid. i remember sticking my hand out and he looked at me and shook my hand briefly. >> reporter: the press was there, too. ann compton was in the room for abc news. >> everything was so relaxed. this was not a big pressure event. the kids were kind of bewildered by all the fuss around them. >> reporter: what few people in the room knew was that a plane had crashed into the world trade center. for now, the event at the school continued. >> and we were following our normal pattern of reading and the pettoat just happened to be the next story. >> reporter: the pet goat. it was while they were picking their books up that someone came in the room. >> yeah, it was like a transition time. >> the minute i saw andy card walk into that classroom, leaea over and whisper to the president, i knew something was direly wrong. nobody interrupted the president. not even in front of a classroom of second graders.

>> reporter: what did you see on the president's face? >> he looked anxious. he was looking at the camera, at the walls. >> very seriously concerned. >> he left the room. mentally, he was gone. >> reporter: you could see it? >> i could see it and i could feel it. he was gone. >> so, we kept going on with the lesson, not letting that kind of effect us. at the same time, you can tell something had changed but i didn't know what had changed. >> reporter: just what had been whispered in his ear? >> a second plane hit the second tower. america is under attack. >> reporter: for about seven minutes, the president remained with miss daniels' class. he was criticized by many people for staying. what did you all think about that? >> i think he was putting the mentally of the students befefe his, his own. and, you know, he didn't panic. so that we would remain calm. >> anybody do that? read more than you watch tv? that's great. >> he needed to stay calm if he

he would have freaked out, that's just the tone he would have set for the rest of the country. >> reporter: after leaving the classroom, the president went into the next room to be briefed on what was happening. and the secret service told mrs. daniels about the attata. >> and then i got my stuff together because had to come back over here to my 16 babies that were waiting and wondering what's happening to their teacher. >> reporter: so, you came back into this room. >> i told them something terrible had happened and president bush needs to go. >> reporter: did you say something to her? >> we just gave her hugs. >> she dropped a tear or two. >> what do you take away from the experience having been here that day with the president? >> being that i was in here, i wanted to know what was going onon and so it kind of matured us a little bit faster. >> you're feeling proud to be there with the president and be apart of history, but on the other hand, you know, you feel sorrow for the thousands of families that were destroyed on that day. >> one of the lessons that i had

to teach them really early was about terrorists and about mean people in the world. >> reporter: that wasn't in the lesson plan. >> that was not in the lesson plan. >> reporter: but a lesson all the same. frozen in this moment in time together. the next year, natalia wrote letter to the president. he wrote back. >> they called me up to the office. natalia, we have something for you. i was like, what? and they were like, the president sent you this letter. i was just like -- i have a letter from the president. pretty cool. >> reporter: but even all these years later, she still has trouble reading his handwriting. i read it for her. but remember, out of the evil done to america will come good. best wishes, george bush. well, that's a pretty special thing. so, all of you havee a special bond, i would think, having been together in such a public way. >> we were a familyefore all this happened. it's just being able to let the world see that we were a family. really kind of made it more

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good evening once again from ground zero in new york. the empty squares behind me here represent what used to be the base of the twin towers, now a memorial. if america lost its innocence on 9/11, the most innocent among us lost something even more precious, their parents. my co-anchor bill weir brings us the story of one little boy who knows the horror of that day all too well. despite never knowing his hero father. >> reporter: pat lyons wasn't the biggest guy on the new york city fire department team.

he wasn't the fastest. but he would not except defeat. and his comebacks at quarterback were the stuff of legend. that supreme confidence also put him on brooklyn's squad 252, an elite unit trained to rescue other firefighters. what kind of guy was he? how would you describe him? >> the best way i could describe pat would be when you see his face coming off the rig, he had his game face on and a toothpick in his mouth. that would sum it up. >> reporter: he was always a prudent soul, and parenthood took years of planning. >> pat was a huge miami dolphins fan. so there was this time when we were dating and we found these little tiny dolphin socks for a baby and we bought them. it was just a ha-ha, you know? and i tucked them away. and i knew exactly what i would do with those one day. >> reporter: he got those socks in the spring of 2001 and was giddy when they learned they'd

be having a son, a little quarterback. but a few weeks from irene's due date, pat got the call to work overtime on september 11th. it was a mayday call that sent him scrambling into the north tower. men were trapped on the 50th floor. irene was at work and on the phone with her brother. >> his voice was quivering and he said, "the tower just fell." so that's how i found out the tower fell. and i don't know if it was because i was pregnant or in shock, but i dropped the phone and i just went hysterical crying. and at that moment i knew thth this wasn't going to be good. >> reporter: his good friend artie was off that day b b rushed to lower manhattan as soon as he heard. you were hoping maybe to pull him out of there? >> everybody's mindset was like this -- nobody showed up here in a dump truck, nobody's leaving in a dump truck. >> reporter: after months of searching, pat's body was never found. and he was the last member of the department's football team to receive a memorial service,

seen in nfl films' "the bravest." >> in my heart, patrick john lyons will live on for now and for all eternity. dear family and friends, may i introduce you to the new love of my life, patrick matt lyons. >> this was for the football team hall of fame. >> reporter: this is that baby today. they say he walks just like pat, wets his fingers to throw a football just like pat. >> nice throw. >> nice throw. yes. >> reporter: even after being adopted as the bravest water boy. >> water. >> reporter: and hanging out withthis dad's buddy artie. even after years of visiting the firehouse -- >> we're here for breakfast. >> reporter: -- his mom often wondered how much h understood. >> this is the schedule on september 10th, and that's my dad's name. >> reporter: untntil the day little patrick announced he wanted to write this letter. >> dear dad. i just missed meeting you. you died on september 11th, 2001, and i was born 26 days

later on october 7th. >> very smart child. >> i want you to know that mommy is doing a great job of loving me and raising me in a happy home. every september 11th we go to your firehouse, squad 252. we get to o eat lots of donuts d see the e re truck. i see e every year, and every year i think it's so cool. i really like when people compare me to you. as i get older, everyone says i walk like you, run like you and have your crazy y nse of humor, too. i play flag football in the same league as you and at the same position as you, quarterback. mommy got married again and i have a dad, a brother and a sister. my dad plays sports with me and teaches me how to do things. i really love him. i know that you are in heaven and always watching over me. i think it is really cool that you wewe such a brave firefighter and that you died saving lots of people's lives. i feel so proud of you. i love knowing that you are a