All language subtitles for NG.9.11.One.Day.In.America.1of6.First.Response.720p.WEB.h264.AAC.MVGroup.Forum_Track03

MAN: Alright, come
on down this way.

Paul?

Yeah, let's get out
the way we came in!

(overlapping chatter).

MAN: Come on.

Come on back, everybody down.

Durrell?

Yeah, right here.

Are you ready for this?

Go out the way we came in!

(overlapping chatter).

MAN: Right here!

(overlapping chatter).

Yeah. We got it.

(overlapping chatter).

Watch out!

That's the way outta here.

Got a light?

(overlapping chatter).

No, no. Come here.

(overlapping chatter).

We gotta get everybody out!

Let's go! Let's go!

Let's get some lights.

Let's go. Don't panic.

PFEIFER: Many people ask me,
"What was it like that day?"

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Command post,
tower one.

All units,
evacuate the building.

Command post to all units.

MAN (over radio):
Command post to all units.

PFEIFER: And I think
what they're asking is,

"What was it like
to be part of history?"

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: And then I
tell them my story.

(radio chatter)

PFEIFER: And I tell
them that there was signs
of devastation everywhere.

But there were
also signs of hope.

And at this extraordinary
time in history,

those little moments
of caring for another

were the difference
between life and death.

(rumble)

(theme music plays).

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

SIMPSON (over radio):
It's two minutes before
the top of the hour.

AP Network News,

good morning,
I'm Ross Simpson.

Air Jordan is apparently
ready for take‐off.

Former NBA superstar,
Michael Jordan,

is on his way
back to the NBA.

President Bush is going
to get an ear full from

Republican members
of Congress when he hosts

the annual congressional
barbecue tonight
at the White House.

The President visits
a school today to tout his
education proposals before

heading back to Washington.

Barbara Bush
travels to Capitol Hill...

CLIFFORD: I woke up at 6:00
to the ringing of a phone,

the meeting that I
was supposed to attend was
moved from The Marriott,

mid‐town, to
The Marriott at World Trade.

MAN: Watch your step please.

Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning.

Morning. Thank you.

Watch your step, please.

CLIFFORD: This meeting
was very important

and I shared a lot of
the details with Ruth,

my sister and she said,

"Ron, you know, stand out."

And I said,

"Look I have a
new suit and a nice,

bright yellow tie."

And Ruth thought
that was perfect for

this, this meeting.

And taking the ferry
across in the morning,

walking through
where the boats are,

there was a man with a
glass of champagne, you know,

cheering people and
he passed a comment

that I had a good suit on.

You know he said,
"That's a good suit."

So I felt very confident
that things looked good,

not a cloud in the sky.

Let's get this
meeting over with.

(PA chatter).

KEVIN: I worked
at the hotel that was
between the two towers and

I was a production chef.

The Greenhouse
Restaurant at the back of

the hotel was all glass,

so when you'd look up
you had the two towers

going up and
when you looked out

you had the courtyard.

And the first time I saw 'em I
was going in for an interview.

It was like love
at first sight.

They're massive.

And they go
literally into the sky.

And I remember
thinking to myself,

"This is where I wanna be."

MAN (over radio): At all.

MAN (over radio): Two alpha.

Please notify caught
at the response, 10‐4

PFEIFER: I was
a Battalion Chief
in the First Battalion.

(radio chatter).

PFEIFER: And my
responsibility was
for the tip of Manhattan.

I'm the first one in my
family to be a firefighter.

My, my father was a letter
carrier in the Post Office and

after I became a firefighter,

uh, a number of
years later my,

my brother joined
the Fire Department too.

Kevin was three,
three years younger than
me so there was always this

looking up to
the older brother.

You, you know sibling
um, I'm following in
your footsteps and uh,

and every now and
then I'll, I'll do you.

(laughs).

(radio chatter).

PFEIFER: Battalion Chief
was just a great rank.

It allowed me to step back
a little bit and yet at the
same time to be connected

to our firefighters.

FIREMAN: S‐5 Fox,
it's pretty full.

I don't think it goes into.

These babies
are all locked up.

We have to start
forcing things.

PFEIFER: And that morning
I had 20 years and six days
in the Fire Department.

In other words I could've
retired six days earlier
cause I had my 20 years in,

but I was enjoying being
in the Fire Department so much

that I didn't even
think about retiring.

FIREMAN: All there was,
was just a connection,
a bunch of connections.

PFEIFER: Alright.

PFEIFER: And then we
get a call for a gas leak

on the corner of
Church Street and Lisbernard.

MAN (over radio):
Two alpha, two alpha.

PFEIFER: The gas leak's right
here, right along side this.

The case line's, looks
like a six inch gas main.

FAHEY: That day I was working
as the aide to Chief Pfeifer.

And that was a position
that I had only done,

like, once or twice.

PFEIFER (over radio):
John, we have uh,

several manhole
covers that have blown.

FAHEY: Being a Battalion Aide
is a very important job,

but I was
always the truck guy.

I loved being in the
truck cause you get
to break down doors,

break windows.

It was like being a big kid.

Listen, we were
never looking forward to
people's houses burning down,

that wasn't it.

But you did look
forward to going to fires,

you know, it was your job,
it's what you were paid to do.

And, and, the, the feeling
you got was very intense

and while it was going on,

definitely, I've been in
a lot of scary situations.

But when it was done,
you couldn't wait
for the next one.

♪ ♪

ONG: They wanna know
who's been stabbed, who,

and I don't know but
Karen said he got stabbed.

ONG: Can anybody
get up to the cockpit?

Can anybody get
up to the cockpit?

CLIFFORD: When I got to
The Marriott I was early.

I mounted the steps
that led up to the hotel.

People were generally
just fussing about,
walking about and uh,

just preparing for their day.

First thing I wanted to
do was go to the bathroom,

check my hair,
check my tie,

make sure I looked
good for this meeting.

So when I came back out,
I still had time to spare.

I walked around the lobby
of the World Trade Center.

Always in awe of the
tree of life windows.

And then I walked back and
sat down in the hotel lobby.

KEVIN: I go into work,

it was already
open for breakfast.

A very, great busy
day cause we had, like,
two parties that day.

MAN: Hey, we got
pepper mill, please?

KEVIN: So I cooked all
the pasta and the sauces
for the banquet parties

and I was stacking it.

I'm in the walk‐in
refrigerator, doors close.

I guess it's like,
like a sealant.

Like, you really can't
hear what's going on outside.

There could be
people right outside
the refrigerator talking,

I can't hear a thing.

(overlapping chatter)

(overlapping chatter)

(overlapping chatter)

MAN: Gas leak right here.

(overlapping chatter)

(plane engine)

Holy (bleep)!

Holy (bleep)!

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Go to
World Trade Center.

MAN (over phone):
The World Trade Center,
tower number one is on fire.

All around the side of
the building there was
just a huge explosion.

PFEIFER: That's something big,

it looks like an
American Airline.

That looked
like a direct attack.

MAN: Looked like what?

MAN (over radio):
World trade center for two 60.

Send every
available ambulance,

everything you've got to
the World Trade Center, now.

PFEIFER: Oh, my God!

(sirens)

(sirens)

We have a number
of floors on fire,

it looked like the plane was
beaming towards the building.

Transmit a third alarm,
gonna have the staging area.

Right.

West Street.

I have the third alarm
side of me, it's that area,

second alongside to
the left of the building.

PFEIFER: I
remember sitting in the
car with sirens blaring,

air‐horns from
the engines and the trucks

and lights on.

I remember saying to myself,

"Let me slow
down my thinking."

Realizing I was going
to the largest fire of

my life and initially
I was gonna be in command.

(sirens)

(sirens)

FAHEY: As we pull
onto the West Side
highway and I look up it,

it was overwhelming.

FAHEY: That went clear
through the (bleep) building.

I could see that the whole,

the, the plane went
directly through the building

and I see that there's
gaping holes in tower one.

So the, the ride seemed
like an eternity, you know.

My mind was racing.

It was an extremely
frightening feeling.

It, it really was.

(sirens)

PFEIFER: We pulled up right
in front of the North Tower

and there was
a lot of broken glass.

MAN: Did you get
that notice there?

PFEIFER: No.
Just hold that door.

PFEIFER: I got out of the car,

I put on my gear and
I walked into the lobby.

And as I walked
in I saw two people to
my right, badly burnt.

MAN: The plane hit
the top of the building,
looked like 78th floor.

PFEIFER: My instinct
was to help them but I
knew that wasn't my job.

My job was to take command

and I knew we had firefighters
who would come in and, and

take care of them.

FAHEY: As we walked
in we found out that all
the jet fuel went down the

elevator shafts and
blew out the whole lobby.

So anybody standing in the
path of that blast was dead.

You know, I, maybe 20, 30
people I just seen, you know,

basically burnt to
death on the floor.

PFEIFER: It was
pretty horrific.

(overlapping chatter)

(overlapping chatter)

(overlapping chatter)

(phone ringing)

MAN (over phone): Yeah.

MAN: Scott?

(overlapping chatter).

Look at it, straight
into the building.

Oh, my God!

(overlapping chatter)

MAN: I, I don't know.
There were two explosions.

WOMAN: I saw a plane in there.

MAN: A plane and
two explosions.

Both at once.

MAN 2: I don't know how he
could fly so damn low, man.

MAN: I don't know,
I don't want that
to be a suicide plane.

(overlapping chatter).

CLIFFORD: People
were running around and I
could start to smell kerosene

from the hotel lobby.

So I walked over to
the revolving doors
and I looked out.

♪ ♪

I couldn't figure out
what was happening.

And I saw this
woman coming through the
haze with her hands out.

And I, I just couldn't
figure out for the life of me,

like, what was
wrong with her.

And as I went closer to her

and as she walked to me I
could see that she was badly

burnt and I could see that
she was still smoldering.

So I, I brought her
into the lobby and I
sat her down by the wall.

She said she
couldn't see and uh,

that there was a ball of
flame and her eyes were burnt,

like pretty much burnt shut.

So after,
after a minute or two um,

after I could get her
calmed down a little bit

I asked her her name.

She said her name was
Jennieann Maffeo and she said
she was on her way to work.

And then she said,

"Holy Jesus,
Mother of God,
don't let me die."

She said, "Help me.
Don't let me die. Help me."

TARDIO: Chief!

We haven't
found an elevator yet.

PFEIFER: You don't
have an elevator yet?

Did you get that?

(overlapping chatter)

Any of the elevators working?

TARDIO: We haven't
found one that's working.

PFEIFER: Captain Tardio
came back to me and

said he couldn't find an
elevator that was working.

So that meant that
firefighters had to climb

and to the top
would be 110 stories.

TARDIO: Elevators,
we got none.

Where are you going?
Nothing running.

MAN: No.

TARDIO: Find out, see
if you can get freight,

anything going up.

Use something.

FIREMAN: Jimmy! Jimmy!

PFEIFER: And as firefighters
came in they came in quietly.

There was noise from
the equipment we carry,

but they didn't say a lot.

They were thinking
about what lied ahead.

And they thought about
how they would handle it

and I can remember
one lieutenant

coming up to me uh,
lieutenant from engine 33,

not saying a word
and we looked at each other

wondering if each of
us was gonna be okay.

And then I told
that lieutenant,

as I told many other
officers that came in.

I said,
"Take your firefighters,

go upstairs, as you go
up evacuate the building

and then go up
to the 70th floor
where you'll regroup

so we could rescue
those that are trapped."

The lieutenant
turned around,

took his firefighters
and as he turned around and

started to go upstairs
that was the last time
I saw my brother, Kevin.

(overlapping chatter)

MICKEY: We had
a long way to go.

But when I was 18 I
joined the Marine Corps

and I remember in Boot Camp,
the, run back in my head a

jingle that we used to, to
say when we were marching.

"One, two, three, four,
I love the Marine Corps."

And that's what I, that
popped in my head when I
was climbing the stairs,

that old jingle from the
Marine Corps in Boot Camp.

It, it just came right back.

It was amazing cause I hadn't
thought about that, in like...

(laughs).

In over 30 years
and then it just all
came back to me and you know,

and it helped me get through.

It helped me climb
those stairs.

The stairways are
relatively narrow

but everybody handled
themselves very well.

Nobody panicked.

People were thanking us,

"Thanks for
doing a great job."

And I just said to the guys,

"This is gonna
be a tough day.

But we're
gonna get through it."

MAN: A (bleep) plane's
hit the World Trade Center.

Something happened at
the World Trade Center
and it's not good.

Mike and I are here, yeah,
we're both standing here,

we're looking right at it.

It's (bleep) believable.

So, you trying to call?

Mike, Mike, there's
three floors down.

Hey, hey. See it falling.

Right, I love you, bye.

I uh, we uh, I got
somebody up here we're fine.

Right, bye.

Mike, let's go
check it out, come on.

This stuff is gonna fall,
let's get out of here.

Mike, you're gonna get killed.

Mike, you're gonna get killed!

Mike! Mike!

REPORTER (over TV): Traveling
on the ground in the area of

the World Trade Center and he
heard an explosion and...

(overlapping chatter)

As we look at live pictures
of the World Trade Center.

An airplane
crashing into the side
of the World Trade Center.

This happening, as
far as I can tell...

MAN: It's a plane,
it's crashed into it.

WOMAN: A plane crashed into
it? I wonder who did that?

♪ ♪

KEVIN: I'm in
the walk‐in refrigerator
for a good 15 minutes.

The door's closed and when
I come out of the refrigerator

there's nobody there.

There's no kitchen staff,

there's no waiters,
there's just nobody there

and I'm like,
"Where's everybody at?"

You know,
"Where's everybody at?"

I look at into the
chef's office and I notice
the ceiling is cracked,

there's a crack in the wall,

there's a little bit of water
coming down and then a guest

comes in from the restaurant
and I go to tell him, like,

"You can't be here."

You know,
"You gotta go back out."

But I already notice he
had a crazed look in his eye.

And then he's like,
"Just go look.

Just go look."

As I'm pushing the door
open there's something
caught in the door.

But I'm looking
at it thinking, it's
like a dead animal.

So I'm like, "What is this?"

You know, "What is this
dead animal doing here?"

And I look closely
and it's an arm.

And then I get ready
to go back in and he said,

"No, no, no, no.
Go outside and look."

(muzak plays)

(smoldering flames)

As I look
around the courtyard
there's nobody there.

And I saw burning pieces
of metal everywhere.

I saw pieces of luggage.

I had no idea
where they came from.

I look around the corner,

and there's, there's,

there's bodies everywhere.

As, as far as I can see.

It's like just
broken up bodies,

like that's all I can see.

Maybe 100 bodies
broken up into little pieces.

Just arms and legs and
heads and everything
and like um, so like

right away I'm freaking out.

And then um, some,

a body comes
falling out of the sky and
lands right in front of me.

Just boom!

Like loud and just
like breaks up when it
hits the ground and then,

like a friend of mine,

Abdul, like I don't even
know where he came from.

He's like,
"Did you see that Kevin?

Did you see that?"

And it's like,
"Yeah, I saw that."

So now we're trying
to figure out how to get out.

He was saying, and
probably correctly so,

"Never get on the elevator."

And I remember
thinking to myself,

"It's only two stories,

I would be downstairs
before you know it."

And I remember pressing a
button thinking to myself,

"If the door opens
up I'm getting on it."

I pressed the button,
the door opens up.

I look at it.

"Abdul" I says, "Come on,
you coming, you coming."

And he says "No."

And he goes the other way
and I get on the elevator
and he never made it out.

FARADAY (over radio):
You're listening to live
continuous coverage of a

plane crash into the

World Trade Center
this morning.

This is 1010 Wins
WINS New York,
I'm James Faraday.

For more on the story, 1010
Wins News man, Lee Harris.

HARRIS (over radio):
Good morning and it
is not a good morning in

New York City.

A major disaster.

A plane crash into
the World Trade Center.

We're on the line
with 1010 Wins account
executive, John Fleisher,

a witness to
terrible unfolding scene.

John could you maybe just
recap for those just joining
us on what happened and.

CLIFFORD: When I was on
the floor with Jennieann I
held her hand and I yelled,

you know,
numerous times for EMS,

for Emergency Services,
for help.

Nobody was coming.

People were just running by,

one after another, and,
and I, I got concerned.

So I ran into the bathroom,

pulled a clean plastic
bag and I filled it with

water and patted
Jennieann down with it.

And I could see
that Jennieann's clothes
were fused into her skin.

And...

when we were on
the floor and when there
was no emergency services,

help or aid coming,

um, Jennieann was getting
more and more concerned
that she was going to die.

She said, "Sacred heart
of Jesus, save me.

I don't want to die."

And I said,
'Are you Catholic?'

She said she was.

So I said to her,
'Let's say the Lord's Prayer.'

Our Father,
who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on
Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this
day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those
who trespass against us.

And lead us not
into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

REPORTER (over radio):
Wednesday's time, 9:02.

We have been talking
to John Fleischer,

account executive at 1010.

Right now, we're gonna
switch over to Kye Kendall.

He saw the whole
thing transpire.

REPORTER 2 (over radio):
From his vantage point on
14th Street, and, again,

we're talking about
a plane crash into the

World Trade Center.

Kye, what did you see
and what can you see now?

KENDALL (over radio):
Well, I saw the plane
come from overhead...

(explosion)

MAN: Oh, no, no no!

KENDALL (over radio): A
woman from the other building.

(overlapping chatter).

(screams)

MAN: Please don't
go over there!

What did he say?

Let's go, let's get
the (bleep) outta here!

Get the (bleep) outta here.

(sirens)

(sirens)

(overlapping chatter).

Oh, look at those people!

Look!

OFFICER: Oh, no stopping.

OFFICER: God damn!

(helicopter humming)

REPORTER (over radio):
And what you are
seeing is both towers

of the World Trade Center
on fire.

A second plane the size
of a passenger jet flying
into the second tower of

the World Trade Center.

And this is a horrible
tragedy unfolding in
New York City on this,

well, I wanna say bright,
sunny morning.

Joan, obviously the
situation has been growing

worse as you've
been watching it.

How much worse does it
appear to be than initially?

(overlapping chatter).

(crashing debris)

MCGOVERN: Stay together.

FIREFIGHTER: Alright.

MCGOVERN: Stay together.
Let us know what's going on.

A second plane
just hit (bleep)...

(overlapping chatter).

CHIEF: The other tower,
the other tower.

PFEIFER: We knew
at that moment that our
problem just doubled in size.

(radio chatter).

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: So, at that point
we met in a football huddle.

And the Deputy Chief
of the Division,

Chief Pete Hayden,
gave us an order.

Half of us would stay
in the North Tower,

the other half will
proceed to the South Tower.

(overlapping chatter).

MCGOVERN: Pete, want me
to head up this operation?

PFEIFER: Then it was my turn.

It's my turn to go stand
in front of Chief Hayden.

(overlapping chatter).

JONAS: Our orders
were to go upstairs
in the North Tower for

search and rescue.

And one of the firemen
from Rescue One looked up.

He said, "We may
not live through today."

And we stopped, and we
thought about what he said.

I said,
'You're right. We may not.'

And we stopped and
we took the time to shake
each other's hands and

wish each other good luck,

and, "It's great knowing you."

And, "Hope I see you later."

Out of all those guys
I was surrounded by,

I'm the only one that's alive.
They all died.

(overlapping chatter).

JONAS: So, I
walked over to where
my guys were standing by,

the guys from ladder 6.

(overlapping chatter).

JONAS: And I say to 'em,

"It's alright, guys.
Here's the deal.

It's a raw deal, but
this is what we have to do."

(overlapping chatter).

JONAS: "We have to
go upstairs for search and
rescue in this building."

(overlapping chatter).

JONAS: And, uh, the
last thing I told 'em was,

"They're trying
to kill us, boys.

Let's go."

(overlapping chatter).

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Is
this guy hooked up?

FAHEY: Yeah.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Command Post
to battalion seven.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Command Post
to battalion seven.

FAHEY: The
repeater radio system got

knocked out when
the first plane hit.

(overlapping chatter).

So, Chief Pfeifer's
having a horrible time trying
to get in touch with anybody

on the upper floors.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Not gonna not
use your radio, turn,
there's a little knob.

Turn it and just
remove the radio.

I'm gonna take
it off a second.

FAHEY: And that's when
he sent me back out to see

if I could grab
the repeater radios.

(sirens)

When I stepped
outta the building,

it was absolute
chaos at this time.

(overlapping chatter).

FAHEY: People
trying to go out,
firemen trying to come in.

(overlapping chatter).

FAHEY: And I look up,

and there were
hundreds of people
hanging on to the building.

♪ ♪

That's one o' the things
that sticks with me every day.

♪ ♪

MAN: Where?
It's possible there is.

Look, look, look, another man.

Oh, God Almighty!

Oh, God Almighty!
Oh, God! Jesus!

FAHEY: I can't imagine

being in those people's shoes,

having to make the choice of
either burning to death or,

I mean, jumping,
and knowing you're dying.

Horrible.

That's absolutely horrible.

Poor people.

WOMAN: Oh my God! Oh!

(screams).

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(thud)

(radio chatter).

(thud)

(radio chatter).

(thud)

(radio chatter).

PFEIFER: When we
heard the crashing sound,

it was something that
we never heard before.

We're gonna cancel out.

Get the repeater on.

Put your radio to Channel Two.

(radio chatter).

(thud)

PFEIFER: Ooh, but we
knew exactly what it was,

every time it happened.

Another life being lost.

(thud)

And it would rattle us
for a couple seconds.

But it was almost
motivating us to push even

further to get to the
people that were trapped.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: And I
grabbed the PA system
and made an announcement,

to "Wait, if you can.
We're coming."

MAN (over radio): I may just
come over to the Hudson,

the Hudson River K.

(inaudible)
at the Hudson River.

Understood.

(radio chatter).

WOMAN (over radio): Standby
(inaudible) on 106th floor,
this floor is crumbling.

People are trapped
at that location.

(radio chatter).

KENNEDY: In 1993, we were able
to rescue people off the roof,

so, having experienced
this somewhat before,

we kinda thought
that was gonna be the

same game plan.

And I had so much confidence
in the skill of this pilot

flying this helicopter,

that I was, like,
"If there's somebody there,

we're gonna be
able to get them off."

(radio chatter).

KENNEDY: But as we're
approaching, you could
start to see the size and

scope o' this.

MAN (over radio):
Just standby.

Just standby one, we get...

(radio chatter).

KENNEDY: The first
thing we did was survey
the rooftops of both the

North and the South Tower.

MAN (over radio):
Command Post on here?

Command Post?

KENNEDY: The South Tower,

the amount of smoke
that was billowing up
and coming over the roof,

just it was,
it was outta play.

(radio chatter).

WOMAN (over radio): People
are hanging from the windows

about five feet from the top.

There's at least
50 people hanging on.

KENNEDY: We proceeded
over to the North Tower,

and there was an opening
by the northwest corner.

(radio chatter).

KENNEDY (over radio):
We're taking a look at the

northwest corner
of the north building.

KENNEDY: I could make out the
little pebbles on the roof.

I could see
the individual pebbles,
that's how close we were.

KENNEDY (over radio):
They're all hanging on
the side of the building

on the Church Street side.

KENNEDY: We continued
circling the towers.

If we coulda
saw somebody there,
we woulda made a try,

but there was nobody up there.

My heart just sunk
into my stomach,

and I'm looking out the
window of the helicopter,

and I'm seeing people.

I'm seeing mothers,
I'm seeing fathers,

I'm seeing brothers,
I'm seeing sisters,

literally standing
on the damaged portion
of the building,

what looked
like white napkins,
handkerchiefs, tablecloths,

and they were waving
them to let us know we
need to assist them.

"We need assistance.
Can you help us?"

And there were so many,

and there's
nothing you can do,

but you're witnessing it,
you're watching it.

And I was reading those
facial expressions and
those look in the eyes.

And I'm sure they
were looking back at us and

they maybe were reading
our facial expressions
that it was bad.

It was very bad.

SIMPSON: There was
nothing he could do for us.

I think we actually waved
to him and that was it,

and then they flew away.

(radio chatter).

SIMPSON: So, I told everybody
to call their families.

I called John, my fiancé.

My voice shook.

And John, asked me what
was going on, and I said,

"John, we're on
the 89th floor.

We're trapped here.

The door to the
stairwell is jammed shut
and we can't get out,

and I don't know
when it'll get fixed.

I don't know what will happen.

But we are trapped
on the 89th floor."

I think at that time,

when we were
making our phone calls,

there were probably a lot
of people throughout the

World Trade Center
making similar phone calls,

calling friends,
family, loved ones,

and communicating probably

fear, anxiety and love.

I think all of those
emotions were just running
rampant throughout everybody.

REPORTER (over radio): The
FBI is looking at reports that

there was a plane hijacking
before the crashes,

and while we don't
have any reports of
casualties at this time,

looking at the scene,

the gaping holes
in both towers,

the smoke and the flames,

it is reasonable to
assume that there has
been massive loss of life

in New York City this morning.

And this makes the
World Trade Center bombing
of about nine years ago look

like a relatively
minor incident.

CLIFFORD: After
the second plane hit,

a rumble came
through the lobby.

I can remember standing
up in shock wondering,

"What the hell is that?"

I knelt down beside
Jennieann again,

and I said to her, you know,

"We should try and
get outta here if we can."

And, around the
same time, pieces of
ceiling were falling,

and the vapor
was getting thicker.

You know, you could,
you could see a haze,

a grey haze with the kerosene
smell was developing more,

and people were just
panicking and running.

And somebody said help
was on the way, but we
had to walk for the help.

The help was on the opposite
side of the highway.

And as I entered
the street, um, a,

a fireman approached me,

with a white helmet.

I always remember him.

And he just said,

"Jesus," he said,

"For (bleep) sake get
outta here as fast you can.

Run!"

And so I asked Jennieann
if she could run,

and she said she could,

and so our group ran across
the West Side Highway.

(sirens)

(sirens)

ANCHOR (over TV):
Give the locations that
saw the second plane,

that I guess is a
vantage point issue...

(chatter continues)

(sirens)

CLIFFORD: While
they were packing
Jennieann into the ambulance,

I leaned over
and said to her,

"You're gonna make it.

You gotta make it now."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

REPORTER (over radio): As
you see is down on Broadway.

Randy, what is
your vantage point?

What can you see from there?

RANDY (over radio): We are at
52 Broadway on the 17th floor.

As I look out, I see
smoke pouring out of the...

CLIFFORD: All I
knew was I'd been
through something horrific,

and all I wanted to
do was just go home,

have a shower,
go back to life.

And it was
probably 20 minutes
when the phone rang,

and it was my
sister's husband, David.

David McCourt.

David asked me if
I knew where Ruth was.

Ruth was a little bit
over a year‐and‐a‐half
younger than me.

We were very close.

Juliana was
Ruth's daughter,

the most loveliest
child you could imagine.

And David caught
me by surprise.

I'm, like, "David, like, why
don't you know where she is?"

ANCHOR (over TV): Watch the
second plane hit the building,

we'll watch it enter on
the right portion of the...

CLIFFORD: And he said,

"Ron, they were
going to California.

They were on the
plane that left Boston,

United 175."

I think I got...

I think I got down on
my knees and I cried,

and I couldn't believe,
like, that, you know?

I was literally saying the
Lord's Prayer with this woman

on the ground of the
World Trade Center,

you know,
when my sister's plane hit.

One of the most special
people were killed.

This was my world,
never to be the same again.

(distant sirens)

SIMPSON: The smoke
was so thick,

it was hard to see.

But I was trying not to
think too much about the fear.

So, I would go
out and check the door,

and it was always jammed.

And then the
one time I did go out,

there was a sudden
pounding on the door.

And I saw these two white
hands coming through.

And then the door opened,
and the smoke went out,

and there were two men
standing there in helmets,

with flashlights and an axe.

They had come to rescue us.

They told us to get out,
go downstairs and run.

And they went up to
rescue more people,

and I also learned that
they did not survive.

They were such
good, brave souls.

I do call them "angels,"

because I
think that they were,

and they were doing
everything they could

that day to make sure that
people got out of the tower,

and, as I said,

they went up when
they should have gone
down to save themselves,

but they didn't.

They went up, and put
themselves back in harm's way,

just to save other people,

so I do think
they were angels.

They were true heroes.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Every firefighter
and every first responder

knew this was dangerous.

(overlapping chatter).

(radio chatter).

PFEIFER: They saw the smoke

and the flames coming from
the top of the building,

but they also knew
that people were in
their greatest moment of need.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: And they
made a personal decision

to go into
the building to rescue lives.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: But in the
lobby of the North Tower,

we had our
Fire Department Chaplain,

Father Mychal Judge, and
I could see his lips moving.

(overlapping chatter).

PFEIFER: Because
he was praying.

It was almost like there's
something bad about to happen.

(overlapping chatter).

REPORTER: You, two.
And two and two, one.

This is as close
as we can get to the base
of the World Trade Center.

You can see the
firemen assembled here,

the police officers,
FBI Agents,

and you can see
the two towers.

A huge explosion now
raining debris on all of us.

(overlapping chatter).

(screams).

MAN: Every cell
in my body said,

"Get out of here."

(overlapping chatter)

MAN: And he's telling
me to cut his leg off.

WOMAN: Put it over your face.
Oh my God!

(cries).

MAN: Nobody is
coming to save us.

We have to get out of
this building on our own.

(overlapping chatter).

REPORTER: There is
still one more aircraft
somewhere that is...

WOMAN: I took the phone
and I heard Mark's voice.

He said, "Mom, I just
wanna tell you I love you.

There are three
guys on board who've
taken over the plane,

and they say they have a bomb.

You believe me
don't you, Mom?"

(radio chatter).

JONAS: He was on the radio,

he was talking
to me, and he said,

"I'm coming for you, brother.
I'm coming for you."