Elizabeth:President Bush was in Florida when the attacks occurred. He returned to the White House late in the day.
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[00:-1.00]And we’re going now to White House news... White House... ABC News White House Correspondent Josh Gershtein. Good Morning Josh.
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[00:-2.00]Josh Gershtein:Good Morning Elizabeth. The President did spend much of the day crisscrossing the country for security reasons,
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[00:-3.00]and then as you said he returned to the White House. He took to the airwaves just after 8:30 pm eastern time,
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[00:-4.00]speaking to the American people from the Oval Office. He said the American way of life and our very freedom had come under attack.
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[00:-5.00]He refused...he referred to the attacks today as "Evil, despicable" acts of terror.
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[00:-6.00]The President tried to give voice to what he said was "a quiet unyielding anger" being felt by many Americans.
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[00:-7.00]The President said, "The acts of mass murder we saw today may have shattered steel, but cannot shatter the steel of American resolve."
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[00:-8.00]He referred to the heroism of rescue workers and vowed that those responsible for these attacks would be brought to justice.
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[00:-9.00]And in what was perhaps the most interesting comment he said,"that no distinction would be made between the terrorists and those who harbor them."
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[00:10.00]That quite possibly to, say, a country like Afghanistan, which has given shelter to a man like Osama bin Laden.
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[00:11.00]And the President wrapped up his remarks with a Bible verse from Psalm 23 saying, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil,
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[00:12.00]for you are with me." A very somber, a very mournful, and a very prayerful President Bush tonight, Elizabeth.
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[00:13.00]Elizabeth:Jim there’s been a great deal of effort by both President Bush and members of Congress to send a message loud and clear to anyone in the world that this government is up and operating.
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[00:14.00]Josh:Oh, the President made that quite clear tonight, and we expect tomorrow morning that as many government agencies as possible will get back into operation.
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[00:15.00]We expect President Bush to meet with Congressional leaders.
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[00:16.00]White House officials describing the President’s emotions as even-keeled,
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[00:17.00]saying he’s been exhibiting steely resolve they do not use the word anger, just preferring to say tough determination and resolve.
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[00:18.00]The President obviously adjusting his schedule for the next few days.
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[00:19.00]He will remain here in Washington. And they say he will have events that reflect the gravity and solemnity of what took place in the last 24 hours.
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[00:20.00]Elizabeth:Alright Josh Gershtein, thank you so much. Stand by for us if you will.
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[00:21.00]There were two attacks as we’ve been telling you. One was at the World Trade Center,
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[00:22.00]the other was at the Pentagon and despite heavy damage at the Pentagon it is scheduled to open today.
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[00:23.00]Even as officials deal with what appears to be a staggering death toll.
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[00:24.00]ABC Jim’s Schuto is live at the Pentagon. Jim, they’ve already updated it from 100 to possibly 800 fatalities?
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[00:25.00]Jim Schuto:Well, Elizabeth, there have been a lot of estimates of casualties, but there was a press conference here with the Arlington Fire Chief a short time ago,
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[00:26.00]and he actually backed off that 800 figure. Earlier in the day he’d given an estimate of between 100 and 800 dead possibly here at the Pentagon,
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[00:27.00]but he said a short time ago that that 800 figure is a high-end estimate.
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[00:28.00]Really all they know right now is 67 people who were on that plane definitely died,
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[00:29.00]from there they’re really just speculating at this point.
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[00:30.00]The Pentagon is still on fire. Just a few moments ago we saw flames breaking through the roof of the Pentagon.
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[00:31.00]The firemen do what is called trenching, where they break open the roof to get access to the flames when they do that,
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[00:32.00]it provides more oxygen, the flames jump up. But you can see them again behind me now,
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[00:33.00]spraying the roof with water. As you mention before though, this is still an active building.
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[00:34.00]We received a call just about a half hour ago from someone in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Crisis Action Team and he said the just on his team, [00:34.50]
[00:35.00]there are 500 to 1000 people at work right now in the building.
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[00:36.00]And tomorrow morning the Pentagon is going to be open for business.
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[00:37.00]A small part of it, about a third of it is going to be closed off, but still it’s going to be in business tomorrow and it is in business right now.
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[00:38.00]People working. They say that the search and rescue for victims is being suspended now while they try to control the flames.
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[00:39.00]One and two make the building safe because this is an unsteady building, they’re peeling away the layers to make sure the search and rescue workers are not in danger as they look, possibly for survivors.
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[00:40.00]The Fire Chief saying again in this press briefing that he still has hope that there are survivors inside, but he says it could take as long as a week,
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[00:41.00]search and rescue and also search and recovery of any bodies.
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[00:42.00]Elizabeth:Alright, alright, Jim Schroeder stand by. We’ll check in with you as the evening progresses as well,
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[00:43.00]or as the morning now. As Americans watched in horror yesterday, so did most of the other people around the world.
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[00:44.00]ABC’s Jim Routin has the view from overseas.
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[00:45.00]Jim Routin:As word moved across the Atlantic to here in Europe and beyond, the first focus was on Afghanistan.
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[00:46.00]Where officials of the Taliban government not only condemned the attack,
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[00:47.00]but insisted that Osama bin Laden is forbidden to use the country as a base for terrorism and is in no position to do so.
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[00:48.00]Though he’s believed to have planned previous terrorism from there. In the Middle East,
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[00:49.00]"We are completely shocked. Completely shocked."
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[00:50.00]Yassir Arafat offered condolences from the Palestinian people to America.
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[00:51.00]A sympathy not shared by more militant Palestinians in Jerusalem or these Muslims celebrating in Lebanon.
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[00:52.00]Generally, from leaders of Palestinian militant groups there were denials of responsibility,
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[00:53.00]but condemnations of U.S. policy in the region.
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[00:54.00]"We call upon the American administration to review their attitudes and their policies toward the Palestinian question because this policy arouses the anger and the hatred of our people."
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[00:55.00]Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his condolences, then at U.S. request,
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[00:56.00]canceled major military maneuvers by the Russian Air Force. There was heightened security at American embassies around the world,
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[00:57.00]including Berlin, where German citizens brought flowers to the gate as a memorial.
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[00:58.00]And as air traffic into and out of London’s Heathrow airport was delayed, flights to the U.S. were canceled indefinitely,
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[00:59.00]British Prime Minister Tony Blair had this to say, "This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today.
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[-1:00.00]It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life and we,
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[-1:-1.00]the democracies of this world, are going to have to come together,
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[-1:-2.00]to fight it together, and eradicate this evil completely from our world."
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[-1:-3.00]Elizabeth:That was ABC’s Jim Routin on the worldwide reaction to what happened yesterday morning here in New York City and in Washington, D.C.
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[-1:-4.00]Recapping the latest on this unprecedented terrorist attack on the United States,
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[-1:-5.00]a massive and grim search for survivors and bodies is underway in New York after two hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers.
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[-1:-6.00]The impact of the crashes eventually caused both of the 110-story towers to collapse, to implode. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,
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[-1:-7.00]mayor of New York City said the number of causalities could be quote, "more than most of us can bear."
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[-1:-8.00]Officials say establishing a final death toll could take weeks.
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[-1:-9.00]At the Pentagon, investigators fear as many as 800 people were killed, although that figure may be downgraded a bit as we heard from Jim Shuto on the scene there.
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[-1:10.00]Another, excuse me, another hijacked jetliner slammed into the building shortly after the two jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center Towers.
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[-1:11.00]The military is responding by putting its forces around the world on the highest alert.
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[-1:12.00]And an aircraft carrier due to come home from the Persian Gulf war has been ordered to remain in that area indefinitely.
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[-1:13.00]In an address from the Oval Office President Bush said that, "Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror."
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[-1:14.00]He vowed to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
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[-1:15.00]There were... and here is some more information on what is happening in Washington and in New York today.
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[-1:16.00]Congress and federal offices in the nation’s capital will, in fact, be open this morning.
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[-1:17.00]They are trying to send a very strong message to those around the world that this government is open and operating.
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[-1:18.00]However, stock markets will be closed and there will only be limited postal deliveries around the country.
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[-1:19.00]Schools in both Washington and New York have canceled classes for today,
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[-1:20.00]and all airline flights have been canceled until at least noon eastern time tomorrow, something that has never been done,
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[-1:21.00]done by the FAA, done shortly after those hijackings and those crashes. For those of you seeking information on family members who may have been victims, a hotline has been set up,
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[-1:22.00]that number is 18003310075. Again, 18003310075. If you have any information on the terrorist activity, you can go to the website set up by the FBI,
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[-1:23.00]that website is www.iscfbi.gov. And, there were, of course, many immediate, and strong, swift demands for a response for yesterday’s attacks, among them making the demands, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eigelberger,
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[-1:24.00]who spoke earlier this evening with ABC’s Peter Jennings.
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[-1:25.00]Peter Jennings:Afghanistan has been a country in absolute turmoil, just riddle with violence for more than a decade, and the United States was party to that in many cases.
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[-1:26.00]What could the United States do now to a government in Afghanistan that would make it,
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[-1:27.00]make life any worse for them than it is already?
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[-1:28.00]Lawrence Eigelberger:By destroying that government, or by destroying the the infrastructure of that government.
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[-1:29.00]Look, I understand that particularly in a case like Afghanistan, you have a hundred and fifty years of this kind of instability.
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[-1:30.00]That doesn’t mean, what it does mean, I think though, is that if we’re going to judge these issues precisely with the kinds of questions you’ve asked,
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[-1:31.00]much as they have to be asked and we then decide that because there is not a lot that can be done,
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[-1:32.00]that we shouldn’t do anything. I think that’s the wrong approach, and I think if the terrorists and the government who house them are made to pay prices for it and again I can’t believe that the government in Kabul would take kindly to having its government building blow up under them or over them.
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[-1:33.00]I think there are things we could do.
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[-1:34.00]Jennings:You do mean, I gather then, among other things, attacking the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, where the Taliban,
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[-1:35.00]from which the Taliban rules, and perhaps a city like Candelhar,a large city in the south...Full scale attacks on the cities?
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[-1:36.00]Eigelberger:Sir?
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[-1:37.00]Jennings:Full-scale attack’s on Afghan cities?
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[-1:38.00]Eigelberger:I would do it. Look, I understand that I’m one person saying this,
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[-1:39.00]and everyone else will be horrified by it, but what I’m, the point I’m trying to make here is I think we now need to understand that this is a war,
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[-1:40.00]we will have lost some tens of thousands of people I suspect. And I think we must make it clear to the rest of the world that we’re going to be, if you will,
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[-1:41.00]somewhat irrational in our response.
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[-1:42.00]Jennings:I mean neither to agree or disagree with you. I hope you understand that.
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[-1:43.00]Eigelberger:I understand, I understand.
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[-1:44.00]Jennings:But you are suggesting that the United States now fight on the same level as the people who committed these acts.
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[-1:45.00]Eigelberger:You betcha. You betcha. When you fight a war, that is what you do.
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[-1:46.00]Elizabeth:Very strong remarks from former Secretary of State Lawrence Eigelberger, speaking earlier this evening with ABC’s Peter Jennings.
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[-1:47.00]We want to put up one more time, that website in case anyone out there has any information that might help them find out who was in fact behind this attack.
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[-1:48.00]The website for any tips like that, any information for the government, set up by the FBI is www.isccfbi.com and, again,
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[-1:49.00]there is a 1800 number you can call to find out any information about family members who might have been victims, friends or family members.
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[-1:50.00]Osama bin Laden quickly emerged as a prime suspect in this attack, and Sen.
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[-1:51.00]Orin Hatch said intelligence officials told him people on at least one of yesterday’s airplanes appear to have been associated with Osama bin Laden.
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[-1:52.00]U.S. officials have long feared what bin Laden might do. Here’s ABC’s Brian Roth with more.
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[-1:53.00]Brian Roth:Commercial airlines have been a part of many of the terrorist schemes tied to today’s prime suspect, Osama bin Laden.
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[-1:54.00]According to federal court records filed by prosecutors in New York, terrorists working for bin Laden have often received training as pilots.
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[-1:55.00]Some with U.S. pilot’s licenses for large jets. In fact some pilots say the turn the second plane seems to have made in hitting the World Trade Center would be difficult for an amateur to carry out.
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[-1:56.00]"I think we have to start looking for people who are trained to fly these planes, people who knew what they were doing because no pilot would ever fly into the...
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[-1:57.00]As for bin Laden, after tracking him through his cell phone for several years,
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[-1:58.00]American intelligence officials reportedly lost track of him last year."
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[-1:59.00]People at NSA told me that they had been able to eavesdrop on Osama bin Laden for a long period of time.
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[-2:00.00]Then all of a sudden, it all went silent, they weren’t able to track him anymore.
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[-2:-1.00]Federal prosecutors say bin Laden has a track record of making good on his threats and just three weeks ago,
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[-2:-2.00]the Middle East Broadcasting company reported the latest warning from bin Laden and him followers.
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[-2:-3.00]That the coming weeks would bear significant surprises, during which American and Israeli interests world wide would be targeted.
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[-2:-4.00]"Men must send their sons to the battlefields and the fighting quarters, so that they can be prepared militarily for the religion of Muhammad to triumph."
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[-2:-5.00]That was three weeks ago in the Afghan desert. Brain Ross, ABC News, New York.
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[-2:-6.00]Elizabeth:We are going to turn now to pictures of the search and rescue operations underway at this moment at the site of the collapsed World Trade Center Towers.
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[-2:-7.00]as close to ground zero as our crews can get. We hundreds, perhaps thousands of emergency workers are braving extraordinarily dangerous conditions to fight fires and to search for any signs of life.
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[-2:-8.00]We have heard reports that a number of survivors have been, in fact, pulled from the rubble.
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[-2:-9.00]Other reports we’ve been getting in are that people were actually trapped inside that rubble and were using cell phones to call 911 to call for rescuers to call for help.
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[-2:10.00]As you can see, an eerie scene in lower Manhattan. There is no electricity in much of this area,
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[-2:11.00]the area is lightened by portable flood lights they have brought down,
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[-2:12.00]whole blocks of bulldozers and trying to clear away wreckage, it could take weeks.
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[-2:13.00]However, they say to find the exact number of victims in this disaster.
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[-2:14.00]Less than two hours after the hijacked jets plowed into those two towers, the two towers crumbled to the ground.
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[-2:15.00]ABC’s Robert Krulwich explains why.
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[-2:16.00]Robert Krulwich:Why did the towers collapse as quickly and as suddenly as they did?
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[-2:17.00]Engineers from the original firms that built the towers, told ABC that they can only guess at this point,
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[-2:18.00]but they believe, that the collisions themselves, the plane hitting building number one and the plane that smashed into building number two by themselves they did not cause the collapse.
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[-2:19.00]It was the fire, they say, the intense fire and heat from the explosions that brought the buildings down.
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[-2:20.00]Temperatures inside could have built up to 15,1600 degrees Fahrenheit.
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[-2:21.00]At that temperature, steel loses its strength and steel beams connect every floor to the outside walls.
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[-2:22.00]As it got hotter, the beams got weaker and the hot air inside began to press and pull on the outside walls until the outside walls just buckled,
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[-2:23.00]snapped and released the top floor which feel on the floor below and the entire building sinks in a straight vertical,
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[-2:24.00]the floors falling faster and faster down.
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[-2:25.00]Until, you notice, every floor in the building is gone.
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[-2:26.00]Viewed from another angle you can see the same thing,notice the aerial stays vertical, just stays straight as it sinks into the building,
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[-2:27.00]there’s no buckling or tipping, just straight down.
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[-2:28.00]And this happened in both buildings, the first tower, too, stayed straight as it went down,
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[-2:29.00]each floor falling on top of the other. So the reason the towers went so quickly is because all the floors were literally hanging onto the skin.
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[-2:30.00]And once the skin went, the buildings went, too. Robert Krulwich, ABC News.
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[-2:31.00]Elizabeth:And a terrible sight, indeed, bringing you up to date with the very latest of what we know
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