Today Special Edition: America on Alert: 11:00 hr

Transcript

Event Date(s): 09/17/2001 | Event Location(s): Today New York Studio; New York City, New York | Description: Today Show 11:00 Hr Segment List and Description (In Order of Appearance): CNBC:s Ron Insana Discusses the Early Stock Market Trading (From 10:00 hr): In live two-way remote interview with Couric in Today New York Studio and Insana at the New York Stock Exchange; Insana comments on the large sell off of stocks by investors. Insana says many US companies are planning to buy back their stock. Insana says there were a lot of back orders for people to sell stocks since the market has been closed for four days in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The New York Stock Exchange is Ready To Re-Open as Businesses Settle into New Offices in Aftermath of the Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center (From 09:00 hr): The New York Stock Exchange will open for the first time in the aftermath of the collapse of the World Trade Center. INT NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK MS: Low shot of an American flag hanging inside the New York Stock Exchange. DISSOLVED SHOTS: Stock traders, electronic stock boards and tracking shot of unmanned equipment seen. EXT DAY NEW YORK CITY MS: In interview man says it is good to see that some things are getting back to normal. INT MS: Brief panning shot of the New York Stock Exchange interior. EXT DAY MS: Exterior shot of New York Stock Exchange seen as camera tilts down to earth moving machine on street. MS: Tracking shot of exposed communication wires on street. INT NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE WS: Monitors on wall. MS: Tracking shot of workers on floor testing equipment. WS: Overhead shot of floor. INT NEW YORK CITY MS: Men move boxes inside office at the emergency law firm offices of Sidley, Austin, Brown and Wood. MS: Staff members sitting at table. MS: In interview man says it won't be comfortable but we will have offices. EXT DAY WS: Smoke rising from the disaster area around what was once the World Trade Center. INT MS: In interview man says there was wonderful wood paneling at the World Trade Center adding but the people are the law firm not the offices. MS: Workman spackling wall seen. MS: Sidley, Austin, Brown and Wood sign in hallway and entrance doors to office seen. BRIEF CUTS: Desks with computers on them and cellular telephones on floor. MS: In interview Sidley, Austin, Brown and Wood's Tom Smith says it is amazing what you can get in this city almost overnight. WS: Men standing in office. MS: Smith says," I think being in business and having a place to go to, having a desk, and having the computers and telephones is psychologically going to be most important." EXT DAY MS: Exterior panning shot of office building. CU: Picture of missing law office employee Rosemary Smith seen. INT WS: American flag hanging over office building lobby from balcony. (No sign off.) [Commercial break] Interview with First Albany Asset Management’s Hugh Johnson (Live): Katie Couric interviews in live cross – talk with Johnson in Albany, NY about the stock market [Commercial Break] Former Senator and Presidential Candidate Gary Hart Discusses a Report on Domestic Terrorism (From 8:00 hr): In a live two-way remote interview with Couric in Today New York Studio and former Senator, presidential candidate and co-chairman of the US Commission on National Security in the 21st Century, Gary Hart, in Denver, Colorado; Hart discusses the commission's findings on combating domestic terrorism in the wake of the worst terrorism attack in US history. INT DENVER, COLORADO MS: Hart says,"The commission was created by President Clinton and then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, 14 Americans: four former members of Congress, former senior military officers, diplomats, a former secretary of defense, James Schlesinger, and others. And we had the mandate to conduct the most comprehensive review of US national security since World War II. Among the members of the panel were almost 300 years of public service and a great deal of experience in this area...Our first report, and these were all public reports, came out September 15th, 1999, almost two years to the day before this tragedy last week. And our very first finding was that Americans would likely lose their lives on American soil, possibly in large numbers. And consequently, we issued our final report on January 31st of this year, recommending that a national homeland security agency be created that consolidated all of the federal agencies that have responsibility for protecting our homeland." Hart comments on the creation of a Presidential cabinet level agency on domestic security using the US Coast Guard, US Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies." [Commercial Break] Heartbreaking Story of Two Good Friends Who Both Boarded the Ill Fated Flights American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 (From 8:00 hr): Now the heartbreaking story of two best friends. Last Tuesday, Paige Hackel and Ruth McCourt planned to fly from Boston to Los Angeles, but they couldn't get on the same flight, so Paige boarded American Airlines Flight 11, while Ruth and her four-year-old daughter Julianna McCourt (ph) got on United Airlines Flight 175. Both doomed flights crashed into the World Trade Center. Ruth's husband is David McCourt, her mother is Paula Scott, and her brother, Ron Clifford. And in Newton, Massachusetts, Paige's husband, Alan Hackel, and Paige's mother, Marjorie Farley (ph), join us as well. STILLS: Terrorist victims Ruth McCourt and Paige Hackel. INT TODAY NEW YORK STUDIO MS: David says, "Well, the thing I remember most about, I'll always remember most about my wife is the love and manifestation of that love that she gave to my daughter, who was a loving daughter and reflected my life's, my wife's love. She was very sensitive to other people's feelings, and I just, at this time, juxtapose it to other children in a world who are brought up with hate and bigotry. And Julianna was taught to be respectful by her mother, to respect all life, gardening, animals, and especially other children. And they--they were beautiful. And I can say the terrorists have torn our hearts out--torn our hearts out, but they're not going to break our spirit. And in some way, we want to perpetuate the goodness that Julianna has shown us, our family, into an educational fund to teach tolerance and learning and cooperation." STILLS: Ruth and her daughter Julianna McCourt. INT NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS MS: Alan Hackel, husband of American Airlines Flight 11 victim Paige Hackel, says, "Yes, she was. And our hearts are broken, and, David, my heart goes out to you also. I feel so pained. I'm especially grieving, of course, my beautiful wife, Paige. She has so many great spiritual beliefs. Her favorites were love is my gift to the world, and it truly was. She loved everybody, unconditionally...She felt that she led the path of kindness, and that she also felt that she forgave everyone, including herself..." STILL: Ruth and Paige standing together. INT TODAY NEW YORK STUDIO MS: Ruth McCourt's brother Ron Clifford says he was in a near by hotel when the planes hit the World Trade Center and adds, "After the first explosion, I saw this woman come through the haze badly burnt, and Jenny Ann, who we're all praying for now, and I know she's going to make it. And on the floor, we said the Lord's Prayer, and I realized when she said, "Holy Mother of God," that she was Catholic, and I wanted to pray with her and help her and comfort her. And her sister called me and said, you know, `Thanks for getting my--my sister out.' And I think her sister got me out. When I got out and saw the carnage, I was--I was shocked. You know, we had immigrated to this country to have a better life and just to see it all just, you know, fall away with this is incredible." MS: Ruth's mother Paula Scott says her daughter would have provided comfort to those on the plane. STILLS: Julianna McCourt. INT NEWTON MS: Paige's mother Marjorie Farley says, regarding how she would like her daughter remembered, "She was a woman that was so exceptional. We kind of knew she was special from the time she was three. But I picture her on the plane comforting other people, because that's what Paige did her whole life. She truly always found good in people. She was an amazing woman." [Video Feed Goes to Black – Video returns at 11:26:25] Today returns at 11:30:12 Live Shots of the World Trade Center and Al Roker presents the weather for the day Today Show returns at 11:34:50 Attack On America: A Look at "Team Bush" (From 8:00) As so many historians and political analysts have observed, the crisis and the action President George W. Bush takes will forever define his presidency. But, of course, no president makes decisions alone. They rely on trusted advisers, sometimes a tiny handful. Here's a look at the people closest to the president, and the people we expect he will lean on heavily in the coming months. INT WASHINGTON, DC MS: Gangel reports live on-camera in studio. (EJ=5:29) INT CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND 3 MS: President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell seated at table seen. EXT DAY WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON, DC WS: Then-President George Bush walking outdoors with then Defense Secretary Cheney, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Powell and then Vice President Dan Quayle seen. INT ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA MS: Current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld speaking at press conference at the Pentagon. STILL: Rumsfeld with then-President Gerald Ford. EXT DAY WASHINGTON, DC MS: Rumsfeld speaking at an outdoor press conference. EXT DAY MS: Tracking shot of then presidential candidate George W. Bush's campaign bus driving on highway. INT MS: Vice President Cheney signing campaign placards. MS: Cheney exits George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. INT ARLINGTON MS: Zoom in on Rumsfeld at podium as Senator John Warner and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Hugh Shelton stand near. GFX: Insert still of Powell on cover of "Time" magazine and photograph layout seen. INT WASHINGTON, DC MS: Secretary of State Powell stands at press conference podium at the State Department. EXT DAY WASHNGTON, DC MS: Rumsfeld walks outdoors to press conference. INT CAMP DAVID MS: (Meet The Press; NY-MTP-20010916-0001) Clip of Cheney speaking during interview. INT MS: In interview former White House Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein says, "I think this is really an "A" team. I think on the foreign policy side, they are clearly the first team, the all-stars." INT MS: In interview former presidential advisor David Gergen says, "This president is now going to be served extraordinarily well by the choices he made, both when he selected a vice president, and when he selected his cabinet, by having one of the best foreign policy teams we've seen in Washington in awhile. How well they perform now in the days ahead, of course, is going to be a big test." INT MS: In interview historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says, "I think there's an incalculable strength for President Bush in the fact that this team has worked together before. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses. They've worked in the Mideast before. They know how to tease one another, and, indeed, strangely they, of course, worked with President Bush's father, so he can trust them absolutely. There's no time in this situation for spring training, for getting a team together and figuring out the lay of the land. They know that already. It's just an credibly fortunate situation that they are there at this time, in this place." EXT DAY (CIRCA OPERATION DESERT STORM; EARLY 1990s.) 4 MS: Then-President George Bush standing with Quayle, Powell and Cheney seen. MS: Powell in fatigues shakes hands with US soldiers. MS: Then-President George Bush stands with Defense Secretary Cheney in mess tent. WS: Then-President Bush concluding press conference and walking away with Cheney, Powell, Quayle and others at White House. EXT DAY WASHINGTON, DC WS: President George W. Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and others exit building. BRIEF CUTS: Bush and Rice seated at table and Bush introducing and greeting Rice at podium. STILLS: Then-President Bush walking with then-National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. Bush seated near Scowcroft and Rice. INT MS: In interview Goodwin says, "What I think what's so important about having Condoleezza Rice, who has not had that long experience with President Bush that some of these other people have had, is that she has obviously gained his trust and that means that she can bring some new information, some different ways of thinking about it and a different mix and rhythm to this older team that has worked together in the past. You need it mixed up at the same time as you want the experience from the past." STILLS: Rice, Bush with other advisors. INT MS: Panning shot of Bush and Rice seated with others during meeting. EXT DAY WASHINGTON, DC MS: Pan in on Card standing outdoors. INT SARASOTA, FLORIDA 2001-09-11 WS: At Emma E. Booker Elementary School; Card seen whispering in President Bush's ear about the recent terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, New York as camera zooms in. INT WASHINGTON, DC MS: Bush's political advisor Karl Rove seated as camera pans to White House advisor Karen Hughes. MS: Tracking shot of Hughes walking to press conference podium. MS: Front view of Hughes standing at podium. INT OVAL OFFICE 2001-09-13 MS: Bush speaking on telephone to New York City, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and New York Governor George Pataki (unseen) says, "I want to thank you very much for your leadership and dedication." INT WASHINGTON, DC 2001-09-14 MS: During speech at the National Cathedral; Bush says, "This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing." INT MS: Goodwin says, "I think what we don't see from the outside is that perhaps, even more important than laying out options and helping with decisions, the inner circles are part of a team which makes a president feel he is not going alone in these momentous moments." INT WASHINGTON, DC WS: Bush and cabinet officials seated at large table. MS: US Attorney General John Ashcroft standing at podium. EXT DAY WASHINGTON, DC MS: Bush shakes hands with Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller as Ashcroft stands near. STILLS: Bush and Mueller. INT WASHINGTON, DC CU: Central Intelligence Agency George Tenet testifying before Congressional hearing. MS: Tenet testifying. INT MS: Tenet seated with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat during photo-op. STILL: Bush and Tenet. INT WASHINGTON, DC MS: Tenet testifying before Congressional hearing. INT MS: Gergen says, "I don't think any intelligence agency could have picked up entirely on this, but we have to say that somewhere across the American government there was a failure of intelligence, and it's going to be investigated by Congress and some people may get bloodied. I hope it is not George Tenet; he's a good man. I think he's been a good director of the CIA, and he also enjoys the confidence of President Bush and that's very important here." INT WASHINGTON, DC MS: Tracking shot of Tenet walking in hearing room. MS: Tenet walking in hallways. EXT DAY WASHINGTON, DC WS: President George W. Bush and former President Bush walking outdoors with others. BRIEF CUTS: Shots of President Bush and his father at various events with former First Lady Barbara Bush. EXT DAY WASHINGTON, DC 2001-01-20 MS: Newly inaugurated President Bush and his father seen with First Lady Laura Bush near podium. INT MS: Goodwin says, "The importance of President Bush's father being there for him at this time, probably cannot be overestimated because he can absolutely trust that the advice coming from the father is totally what he wants for himself, not coming from some other source." INT MS: Gergen says, "George Bush Sr. knows the Middle East extraordinarily well. He has spent a lot of time working through this, and I think that his advice is going to be invaluable to the president in the days ahead." BRIEF CUTS: Various clips of George Bush seated with men in native Arab dress. EXT DAY (CIRCA OPERATION DESERT STORM) WS: Overhead shot of then-President George Bush shaking hands with US soldiers. STILLS: George Bush outdoors and close up on face. INT WASHINGTON, DC 2001-09-14 MS: President Bush, First Lady Laura Bush; former President George Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush in pews. INT WASHINGTON, DC MS: Gangel reports live on-camera in studio and participates in live x-talk with Couric in Today New York Studio. Amateur Filmmaker Lucia Davis Describes Her Situation on the Day of World Trade Center Collapse (From 8:00hr): Lucia Davis is a filmmaker who was out shooting on the streets of Manhattan Tuesday morning when the World Trade Center was attacked. Soon she found herself documenting her own life and death situation. EXT DAY NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK (:05) WS: Live shot of an American flag waving at the disaster site where the World Trade Center stood. INT TODAY NEW YORK STUDIO MS: Lauer reports live on-camera. (ej=1:06) EXT DAY NEW YORK CITY WS: Home video footage of the World Trade Center tower collapsing from street level. WS: Camera tilts down as people on sidewalk begin to run from the approaching cloud of dust and debris. MS: Tracking shot of store doors as off-camera woman tells an unseen amateur filmmaker Lucia Davis to get inside the building. MS: Man seen standing by doors. MS: Shaky footage. WS: Huge debris cloud gathering outside shop seen. INT TODAY NEW YORK STUDIO MS: In live interview in Today New York Studio, Davis says, "I live in the neighborhood, and I saw what was happening on television, and I decided that I needed to go down and see for myself what was going on on the street. I headed out with my camera. I kept going further and further. I saw the first building go down, documented the people reacting to that. Kept going further, knew that the second building would come down and sure enough it did. And then this huge plume of smoke and probably pulverized glass and ash started coming down the street toward me, and I kept filming...Well, I think you see my gut reaction here. My gut reaction was one of total fear, and that my life had been saved. I did not know what it was that I was looking at outside. I'd never seen anything like that. It's totally black. It's really and truly horrifying. It looked like a war situation, and I've never been in a war situation before." 8:47:35 (EJ=1:06) EXT DAY NEW YORK CITY WS: Home video footage of the World Trade Center tower collapsing from street level. WS: Camera tilts down as people on sidewalk begin to run from the approaching cloud of dust and debris. MS: Tracking shot of store doors as off-camera woman tells an unseen amateur filmmaker Lucia Davis to get inside the building. MS: Man seen standing by doors. MS: Shaky footage. WS: Huge debris cloud gathering outside shop seen. INT TODAY NEW YORK STUDIO MS: Davis says, "I am not sure what would have happened to me. I think I might have lost my eyesight had I not been pulled into the store, had I not ducked in. I may have died. I'm not sure what it's like to consume that amount of glass and dust. I don't think it's a good thing. So I'm definitely grateful to be here today and to be whole and healthy." Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani of the Islamic Supreme Council of America Discusses the Horrific Terrorist Attack on the US (From 8:00hr): In live two-way remote interview with Couric in Today New York Studio and Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani of the Islamic Supreme Council of America in Detroit, Michigan; Kabbani denounces the terrorist attacks on the US and calls them an attack against Islam and peace. INT DETROIT, MICHGAN MS: Kabbani says, "I was being wakened up by my wife, and I was looking at the television, and it was a very, very sad situation which struck us all as Muslims, and I began immediately contacting our scholars, and Muslim scholars in the United States and abroad, and all of them, they denounced this and said this is horrible things that has to happen. And really my eyes are in tears always on that situation... I think a real diplomatic situation with Muslim countries around the world and--and Arab countries, especially, to come together with the United States to put a plan in order to attack these extremists or else it will be very difficult without the help of the Arab countries and the Muslim countries around the world...Of course. I urge all our members of Islamic Supreme Council of America, and many Muslims that I know in the United States and abroad, to come with every tip they have, with every information that they have in order to tell the different agencies about it and inform them as soon as possible in order to avoid any harassment for the Muslim community, as it happened to me personally when I was coming back from Washington for the National--for International Cathedral, the day of-the day of prayers. I was being invited by the president to attend that ceremony, and I was coming back on the way back on Saturday, and there was two cars going back and forth behind us in Pennsylvania Turnpike, and then suddenly police came, and they stopped us. And they said that we have to check your papers and everything. And we were not speeding or anything. So they left us in the car for 15 minutes, and they came and they said, `We have received a call from our headquarters that there was something fishy here, and we apologize, but this is your papers back.'"