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PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:
September the 11th is a...

was a monumental day
in our nation's history.

It was a significant day

and it was obviously...

It changed my presidency.

Uh, I went from being a President that was

primarily focused on domestic issues

to a wartime president.

Something I never anticipated,

nor is something I ever wanted to be.

I started my morning off
with a morning run.

And I can remember running
on a golf course of this resort

where I was staying,
and it was pretty dark.

And, uh, I'm sure some of the people
associated with the hotel

looked out the window
and saw these headlights

illuminating a path for a runner saying,

"Who is this nut out there running?"

So I went for a good long run.

Got back and got a, uh...

my security briefing,

and I remember clearly that, uh...

of how normal it seemed.

I mean, I can't remember the exact topics,
but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

And then went to the school
to tout a, to tout this curriculum.

It was all part of our plan
to highlight education reform.

NEWSCASTER: This just in to our newsroom,

a plane has crashed
into the World Trade Center.

Let's get this live update
from 1010 WINS correspondent...

PRESIDENT BUSH: I had been notified

that a plane had hit
the World Trade Center.

At first, I thought
it was a, um, light aircraft.

And my reaction was,
"Man, either the weather was bad,

or something extraordinary happened
to the pilot."

I then informed
some of my staff members to,

you know, provide help to New York City.

Whatever help they needed
to take care of this incident.

And then walk into the classroom.

-TEACHER: Good morning.
-PRESIDENT BUSH: Good morning.

TEACHER: I have brought with me
the most wonderful guest.

Would you please stand and recognize

the President of the United States

-President Bush?
-PRESIDENT BUSH: Good morning.

The classroom was full of kids,

uh, who were, uh, reading.

TEACHER: Read this word
the fast way. Get ready.

-STUDENTS: Mat.
-TEACHER: Yes, mat.

-TEACHER: Get ready.
-STUDENTS: Cat.

TEACHER: Yes, cat. Get ready...

PRESIDENT BUSH: And in the back
of the classroom was a full press corps,

and staffers and some adults.

And I'm intently listening to the lesson.

TEACHER: Read these words
the fast way. Get ready.

-STUDENTS (off screen): May.
-TEACHER: Yes, may.

And I felt a presence behind me.

-TEACHER: Get ready.
-STUDENTS: May.

TEACHER: Yes, may...

PRESIDENT BUSH:
And Andy Card's Massachusetts accent,

uh, was whispering in my ear,

"A second plane has hit the second tower.

America is under attack."

(indistinct chatter)

WOMAN (off screen):
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

PRESIDENT BUSH:
My first reaction was anger, you know.

"Who the hell would do that to America?"

And then I immediately
focused on the children.

And the contrast, um,
between the notion of an attack

and the innocence of children
clarified my job.

And that's to protect people.

Instantly after that the press corps
started getting the calls.

And it was like watching a silent movie.

In the back of the room,
reporters were on their cell phones.

They were getting the same message I got.

Which meant that a lot of people
would be watching

my reactions to this crises.

So I made the decision
not to jump up immediately.

I didn't want to...
and leave the classroom.

I didn't wanna rattle the kids.

(indistinct chatter)

I wanted to project a sense of calm.

TEACHER (off screen): ...get ready.

STUDENTS: She played
with her goat in her...

PRESIDENT BUSH: I was immediately escorted
out of the classroom to the holding room,

and, um, started making some phone calls.

And watched footage from New York City.

NEWSCASTER: A major disaster
in New York City this morning.

Both towers of the World Trade Center
have been hit by aircraft.

Both are in flames.
Both suffered explosions.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Obviously
I was horrified like everybody else,

but unlike everybody else

I had a job to do
at that particular moment.

I had been in enough crises
as governor to know

that the first thing
the leader of an organization

or state or a country's gotta do
is project calm.

Because if a leader's not calm,

it's likely many, many others
won't be calm either.

So I hastily scribbled a statement.

And went into a classroom full of parents

who were expecting to hear
the President say,

"Man, what a great reading program
you have,"

and instead heard the President say,
"America has been attacked."

MAN (off screen):
Please ensure all cell phones

and pagers are off at this time.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is a, difficult moment for America.

A lot of times the President
is placed in a bubble or a capsule.

In this case I was able to see
the reactions of our fellow citizens.

The shock, the concern.

The horror, the worry.

Today we've had a national tragedy.

Two airplanes have crashed
into the World Trade Center

in an apparent terrorist attack
on our country.

And I didn't linger much in the classroom
after I'd given my statement

because the Secret Service
was anxious to get me on the move.

I was immediately
whisked away from the school.

Put into the armored limo
that always follows the President,

and we're flying down the highway.

Many of the senior members of my team
who were in the West Wing

were hustled into what's called the PEOC,

a underground bunker in the White House.

Condi Rice was there.
'Course Vice President Cheney was there.

And so, I immediately
tried to make contact with them, and did.

Although I must tell you,

the communication system
was not very effective.

I told 'em, you know, "Stay put."

They'd be hearing from me,
and I'd be heading home.

And Condi calls me
from the secure bunker and says,

"A third plane has hit the Pentagon."

NEWSCASTER:
Also, there is a fire and an explosion

at the Pentagon this morning.

The very seat of our nation's defense.

Apparently, uh, been targeted
for another terrorist attack...

PRESIDENT BUSH: I remember thinking,
the first one was likely an accident,

the second one was an attack,

and the third plane
was a declaration of war.

DISPATCH (over radio): Ambulances,
fire equipment and police are...

OFFICER: Move it! Come on!

NEWSCASTER: I can tell you right now,
it looks like a war zone.

PRESIDENT BUSH: The first task at hand
was to respond to the attacks,

and to prevent other attacks
from happening as best as we could.

I got to the base of the plane and...

the whole situation looked different.

People were armed.

Stewardesses at the top of the stairs...

were sad and concerned and frightened.

I remember giving 'em
a big hug and saying,

"Everything will be all right."

And I said, "Let's go to Washington."

I wanted to be in Washington DC
as the commander in chief

at a time of war.

And I needed to be, uh,
you know, in the capital.

Making the decisions necessary
to protect the homeland

and recover from the initial attacks.

Once we got on that plane,
they cranked Air Force One up,

and took up, straight up.

PILOT (over radio): I got Air Force One
over here in the Brewton sector

and he's about, uh,
five minutes from Crestview,

and we don't know
what he's gonna do when he gets there.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER (over radio):
All right, thank you.

PILOT: All right.

PRESIDENT BUSH:
We're headed toward Washington

and I feel the plane bank.

And Andy Card,

Eddie Morenzo, the head
of the Secret Service came and said,

"You're not going back to Washington."

I said...

"What the hell you talking about, man?
I'm the President of the United States.

We're going back. I need to be in the...
I need to be there."

NEWSCASTER: And President Bush
is not returning to Washington.

The White House is not saying
where he is heading,

but the President
was out of Washington at the time.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I wasn't happy about it.

I told him, I said,
"We're going to Washington."

And then, they held their ground.

Because they felt it would be
irresponsible for me

to head back into a city
that had just been attacked

when, in fact, we didn't know
what else might come.

PILOT (over radio): I got Air Force One
over here at the Brewton sector

and he's been given clearance
up to Crestview

to go where anywhere he wants to.

So be on standby.
He may be heading your way.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER (over radio): Okay.

PILOT (over radio): Okay.

PILOT:
He's about five minutes from Crestview,

we don't know
what he's gonna do when he gets here.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
All right, thank you.

PILOT (over radio): All right.

PRESIDENT BUSH:
When the third plane hit the Pentagon,

the magnitude of the attacks...

grew dramatically.

I came to the conclusion
that we were at war.

NEWSCASTER: Developments coming
fast and furious this morning.

The White House has been threatened
with a terrorist attack.

The West Wing of the White House
has been evacuated as a precaution.

These incidents are happening
so quickly relatively speaking,

that my first focus was,
"What can we do to stop attacks?"

And "How are we to respond
to those that happened?"

NEWSCASTER: If I can break in
for just a moment,

this late word just coming in to us,

the FAA has closed off
all airports across the country.

No take offs, no landings now.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We realized that the enemy
was using commercial aircraft,

aircraft to attack us.

NEWSCASTER:
All airports nationwide, shut down.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And the best way
at that point in time

to protect our country was to,
was to force every airplane down.

And therefore, any airplane left up
would be viewed as potentially hostile.

Not only was I having trouble
communicating with people on the ground,

the images of the attacks were kinda
flickered back and forth on the TV,

I was very frustrated, of course.

We'd be flying through these TV zones
and you'd see images of 9/11,

of the incidents on 9/11.

And then as we got out of the coverage,
they'd die off.

(siren wailing)

There was, uh, there was
a lot of sadness on Air Force One.

We had seen the images
of people dying and we...

and I just knew that the heartbreak,

um, that, uh...

was ravaging families.

The most powerless I ever felt
was when I was watching

people jump to their death on TV,

and there's nothing I could do about it.

We didn't know if there were other planes
that had been hijacked.

So the first decision
I made on Air Force One

was to give our Air Force orders
to shoot down commercial aircraft

that did not respond
to, uh, to orders to land.

It would have been awfully difficult

for an Air Force pilot to shoot down

a commercial airliner full of,
full of our citizens.

And, uh, and yet,
that was a decision I made

because I thought it was the best way

to protect the country
at that point in time.

I was informed that, um,

that the fourth plane,

Flight 93 went down in a field
in rural Pennsylvania.

And for a moment I thought,

"That plane might have gone down
because of the order I had given."

It took a while for us to get
the information on Flight 93.

But eventually we learned that...

about the heroics of the passengers
on that airplane.

It became apparent
we were facing a new kinda enemy.

This was, this is what war was like
in the 21st century.

(all yelling)

(rumbling)

(wailing)

You really don't know what it's like
to be a wartime president

until the moment occurs.

I never campaigned on, you know,

"Please elect me, I'll be the kinda
wartime chief you'll be proud of."

The war came upon us unexpectedly.

And at that point in time,

uh, you just deal with the issues.

And there's certain gravity, of course,
that comes when you start making decisions

that uh, involve life.

This wasn't one of these moments
where you...

where you're gonna weigh the consequences
or think about the politics.

You decide.

And, uh...

I, uh...

I made the decisions
as best I could in the fog of war.

But I was determined.

Determined to protect the country.

And I was determined
to find out who did it and go get 'em.

PILOT (over radio): Okay, officer,
Air Force One, westbound,

needs radar contact 25-77.

OFFICER (over radio):
Yeah, don't question him

about where he's going.

Just watch him and there's
no flight plan in right now.

We're not gonna put anything in.

-PILOT: Copy that.
-OFFICER: Thank you.

PILOT: Yeah.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I was frustrated I wasn't
at the command center in Washington.

I was frustrated
that I was flying around the country.

I was frustrated we had been attacked,

and I was frustrated
the communication system

wasn't working any good.

But in a moment of crisis like this,

it's important not to be frustrated.

It's important to be focused
on the task at hand,

which was to gather information...

and make decisions.

In this case on how to protect the country
and respond to the attacks.

NEWSCASTER:
Then the President was actually moved.

We don't know where the President is.

He was out of Washington
at the time of these terror attacks.

He was in Florida and then he was moved.
We heard... We were told...

PRESIDENT BUSH: One of my concerns,

like the concerns
of other husbands and or wives was,

"Was-was my spouse okay? Was Laura okay?"

And my second concern was,
"Were our girls okay?"

Took a while to find her.
She was in a secure location.

And, uh, it was awesome
to hear her comforting voice.

And she had talked to the girls.

And they were secure. So I was...

That was a relief for me.

As I flew around, it dawned on me
that we're the only plane left.

I looked out the window
and we had armed escorts.

You don't want the President flying back
into an environment that is dangerous.

And if something were to happen to me,

um, that'd been a major blow
for the terrorists.

Because they would have...

they would have killed
the President of the United States

in a time of war.

And so, I, uh, I said, "All right."

Reluctantly said, "All right,"

and we headed to Barksdale Air Force Base
in Shreveport, Louisiana.

PILOT (on radio):
Uh, you got anything on 151?

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (on radio): No,
you can have whatever you need, brother,

'cause we don't have anybody
in the air over here.

PRESIDENT BUSH:
We landed in Barksdale and it was surreal

because Barksdale was in the midst

of a exercise,

uh, that utilized armed bombers.

And so, we landed on this base
full of armed bombers

that were being heavily guarded by,
you know, armed troops.

And it was like flying
in the midst of a combat zone itself.

And we got in a vehicle,

and the kid driving the thing is going,
it felt like 100 miles an hour.

I mean, we're bouncing along,
and charging along.

Finally, I told the guy,
I said, "Slow down.

I mean... Al-Qaeda's not here."

Uh...

That's about as humorous
a moment as the day had.

The American people
are getting inundated with...

pictures of collapsing buildings

and smoldering Pentagon.

People jumping to their death.

There's just unspeakable horror
on their TV screens,

and they needed to know
that their President was one, safe.

And two, along with the government,
on top of the situation.

NEWSCASTER: All major branches
of the United States government

evacuated this morning.

The Pentagon has been evacuated

along with the West Wing
of the White House, the Capital...

REPORTER: The scene here is just one

right out of one of those movies
you'd see in Hollywood,

people walking around with tears.

Holding their heads, looking up
at what's left of the World Trade Center.

Just shaking their heads in disbelief.

It's a scene just of utter chaos
and just wondering

what happened to those folks
in the Trade Center.

NEWSCASTER 1: We do expect
to hear from President Bush shortly.

We told you he's not
returning to Washington.

NEWSCASTER 2: ...is not in Washington.

He's currently in Louisiana,
and will have something to say...

(camera shutter clicking)

PRESIDENT BUSH: I made my statement,
they refueled the airplane.

We trimmed down the traveling party
on Air Force One

and we're headed to Offutt Air Force Base.

BUSH (on TV): Freedom itself
was attacked this morning

by a faceless coward.

And freedom will be defended.

The full resources
of the federal government

are working to assist local authorities

to save lives and to help
the victims of these attacks.

Our military at home and around the world

is on high alert status.

The resolve of our great nation...

is being tested.

But make no mistake.

We will show the world
that we will pass this test.

NEWSCASTER: That is President Bush.

Now that, by the way,
just to point out what is going on,

was actually taped earlier.

The President made that statement.
It was videotaped. We just heard it.

And then the President was actually moved.

He apparently is being
obviously well protected...

PRESIDENT BUSH: The decision was made
to go to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska

by the military and the Secret Service

because they figured
this was the safest place for me to be.

Very secure bunker there.
There's a lot of communications there.

When we landed in Nebraska,
we got hustled off to the secure bunkers.

They had a conference room in it

and I had assembled
my national security team

via the video conferencing tools
at Offutt.

And I got a report for how each department
was responding to the crises.

My question was, "Who did it?"

Head of the CIA George Tenet
believed it was Al-Qaeda.

Had the earmarks of an Al-Qaeda attack.

But Tenet wasn't that definitive yet.

So my first indication
it could be Al-Qaeda

was during the National Security meeting
in Offutt Air Force base.

It's during this moment
that I made the decision,

"I'm going back to Washington,"

over the objections
of just about everybody else.

I'd had it. I said, "I need to get home."

A lot had developed.

It was important to wrap the day up
with the presidential speech

assuring people that the government
was functioning and responding,

and that we would
take the appropriate actions necessary

to protect our country.

And I damn sure wasn't gonna give it
from a bunker in Nebraska.

I wanted to give it from the Oval Office.

I didn't want the enemy to have
the psychological victory

of a president speaking from a bunker
in the heartland of our country.

And not speaking from the capital
that had been attacked.

So I told the head of the Secret Service
and others, "I'm coming home."

And they prepared the flight
and off we went.

PILOT (over radio): Air Force One,
we would like to lower, please.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER (over radio):
Air Force One departing

one-five for seven thousand.

Air Force One turn left at the end.

Contact ground point 8.

PILOT (over radio): Air Force One copies.

There will be possibly
one or two fighter-type aircraft

landing on the east runway
just after our arrival.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Air Force One. Request approved.

NEWSCASTER: President Bush arrived
back in Washington a few moments ago

to a, essentially, a silent city.

Washington, D.C. much like the lower part
of Manhattan has been closed down.

PRESIDENT BUSH: As we lifted off of...

out of Andrews Air Force Base
on Marine One,

I could see the smoke of the Pentagon.

And, uh...

I remember... thinking,

"Here I am the commander in chief
in a war zone."

We'd been attacked by an enemy,
right here in the heart of our capital.

The Marine One pilot took evasive action

flying this thing
as if we are in a war zone.

And, uh, we came pretty close
to the Pentagon.

It was an eerie sight to look down.

The contrast was unbelievable.

Between a vibrant city and a city
that had been shut down

'cause of the attack.

NEWSCASTER:
President Bush is back at the White House.

He went directly to the Oval Office.

We're now told will be speaking
about an hour from now at 8:30.

Live continuing coverage on...

PRESIDENT BUSH:
There was a debate in Washington

about whether or not
we should declare war.

And, uh, I made the decision
not to declare war that night.

I did make it clear that we were gonna,

we were gonna protect the homeland,
we're gonna bring justice.

I headed, headed back
to the White House to the PEOC.

Vice President was there

and a couple of other
senior staffers were there.

And I saw Laura.

Gave the big hug

and, you know, we didn't
need to say a lot. The hug did it.

The hug was all that was necessary.

PRESIDENT BUSH (on TV): Good evening.

Today, our fellow citizens,

our way of life, our very freedom

came under attack

in a series of deliberate

and deadly terrorist acts.

These acts of mass murder
were intended to frighten our nation

into chaos and retreat.

But they have failed.

PRESIDENT BUSH (narrating):
You know, I felt I needed

to strike the right balance

between comforting and grieving

and going on the offense.

PRESIDENT BUSH (over TV):
The search is underway

for those who are behind these evil acts.

We will make no distinction
between the terrorists

who committed these acts
and those who harbor them.

PRESIDENT BUSH (narrating):
So the Oval Office speech

was as close to a declaration of war,

uh, as we could get without declaring war.

PRESIDENT BUSH (on TV):
This is a day when all Americans

from every walk of life unite
in our resolve for justice and peace.

America has stood down enemies before,

and we will do so this time.

PRESIDENT BUSH (narrating):
I had had a long day.

I knew I needed rest.

And I couldn't sleep,

I was thinking about the images.

Thinking about what I needed to do.

Thinking about the day.

Thinking about the next day.

And I heard a guy breathing heavily.

And it's, "Mr. President. Mr. President.

You've got to come now.
The White House is under attack."

I grab Laura.

I grab Barney the Scottish terrier.

Spot, the springer spaniel follows,
and off we go.

Agents in front of us. Agent behind us.

And Laura and me.

People armed with automatic weapons,

and, uh, we're hustling along.

And, finally get back
into the secure bunker.

And a Air Force enlisted personnel

comes walking around this console.

I said, "What the hell's going on?"

He said, "Oh, don't worry Mr. President.
It's one of ours."

Uh, I think it was an F-16 fighter was...

that had been protecting the capital
was flying back to Andrews

and had the wrong transponder signal on.

And so, the whole system
thought it was the final aircraft

coming to the White House.

And so, a day that began
in Florida with a jog,

ended with Laura, me, Barney and Spot

trudging back upstairs
to get in our own bed

and finally get some rest.

I don't think I could
have possibly understood.

I don't think it was possible
to anticipate, um, the days ahead.

I knew they'd be emotional.

I knew they'd be consequential.

And I knew I had to do my job,

but I wasn't exactly sure
how they would unfold.

On September the 12th,

after recovering
from the initial shock of the day,

people realized
that we were in a different kind of war.

This is a group of thugs
who used American assets

to kill thousands of citizens
on our own soil.

That was a new reality.

One of the things that changed
on September the 11th

is the notion that we're
protected by oceans.

In the past, uh,

conflict would take place in remote lands.

We felt pretty secure at home.

It became apparent
that the shock was profound.

People were afraid to go to work.

People were afraid to leave their homes.

Airlines weren't flying.

The banks were closed.

I mean, our society
in many aspects just shut down.

The task at hand was,
one, to recover from the attacks.

Save lives in the rubble if possible.

Dig through the damage done.

And secondly, was to

begin to help the nation
to heal psychologically.

Going to the site of the, of the death.

In other words, going to the Pentagon
was part of the healing process.

Thank you, sir. I appreciate you coming.

Thank you.

How are you?

Thank you, sir.

I appreciate you being here.

I was deeply concerned
that a second wave, a second attack

as a result of some sleeper cells
in the United States

would inflict tremendous
psychological damage.

I knew we felt we could recover
from the first wave of attacks,

but a second wave of attacks would have
been obviously unbelievably devastating

and so we were, we were deeply concerned
about further attacks.

(indistinct chatter)

What became apparent to me is,

is that we needed more information
on Al-Qaeda.

It became apparent to everybody.

At some point in time
in the immediate aftermath of the attacks,

uh, I, uh...

I thought about,
"Why didn't we know this?"

I knew we needed to figure out
what went wrong

and so prevent other attacks.

But I didn't wanna start
the finger pointing

and, you know,
say to our intelligence communities,

"You fouled up.

You should have caught this.
Why didn't you know?"

My attitude was
that we now have a job to do.

And that is to go find these people
and bring 'em to justice.

And therefore,
we needed our intelligence community

looking forward, not backward.

There was a lot of speculation
about whether or not Iraq

was involved in the attacks
or not involved in the attacks.

As I recall the first real discussions
about Iraq and their involvement,

or potential involvement in the attacks
took place on Sept the 15th at Camp David.

And I, uh, I made the decision
that we would, uh,

deal with Iraq later on.

The task at hand was, uh...

Al-Qaeda, which was in Afghanistan.

I felt it was important
to go on the offense.

(man speaking Arabic)

(speaking Arabic)

PRESIDENT BUSH: As I said,
"We're gonna bring 'em to justice

before they hurt us again."

We will find them.

(speaking Arabic)

During that period of time
uttered the rather infamous phrase,

"Osama bin Laden, dead or alive."

(speaking Arabic)

People criticized me for that,

even some maybe some in my own household
for being a little blunt.

But...

at that point in time, I was...

determined...

to send a message to the enemy,

to our allies and to our own country

that the United States would be relentless

in our pursuit of justice.

September the 11th affected my presidency,
and it caused, uh,

it caused me to make many decisions.

Some of which were
extremely controversial.

All of which were designed
to protect the homeland.

I didn't have a strategy.

I was living day by day.

I'd realized on September the 11th
I was a wartime president.

On September the 12th I acted in my duties
as a wartime president.

NEWSCASTER: President Bush
has just now landed in New York City

and then he will be transported
to Ground Zero

to view the death and destruction
caused by Tuesday's terror attack.

PRESIDENT BUSH:
We headed down into the site itself.

The site being...

the place where the Twin Towers had stood.

(helicopter blades whirring)

From the air it looked like,
you know, a giant scar.

But when I actually got to the site...

it was like walking into hell.

There was still smoke in the air.

Water on the ground.

It was dim.

It was dark.

There was no light.

And, uh, all your senses were on alert.

And it was...

it was a...

it was a... ugly scene.

(inaudible dialogue)

And there were...

firefighters and policemen and women
and rescue workers

lining the way in.

(indistinct chatter)

I decided I was gonna shake every hand.

(inaudible dialogue)

MAN (off screen):
Ladies and gentlemen, the President...

PRESIDENT BUSH:
I, uh, looked in everybody's eye.

I could see bloodshot eyes
from people that were working overtime.

CROWD (chanting):
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA...

PRESIDENT BUSH: As I worked my way down,

people started saying,
you know, "You get 'em."

In other words,
kind of a palpable bloodlust.

-(inaudible dialogue)
-(crowd cheering)

MAN (off screen): USA!

PRESIDENT BUSH: These workers...

these workers were interested
in finding out

whether or not we were gonna go

and find that enemy
and bring 'em to justice.

That's what they wanted to know.

MAN: Hit 'em hard, George, hit 'em hard.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Just before
I got up on this pile of rubble

that turned out to be a, uh...

a destroyed fire truck,

somebody handed me a megaphone.

(crowd cheering)

CROWD: USA! USA! USA!

PRESIDENT BUSH:
I didn't have any prepared remarks.

But I knew I could cobble
something together in front of the crowd

that would comfort and reassure them.

(inaudible dialogue)

Thank you, all.

MAN (off screen): Go get 'em, George!

PRESIDENT BUSH: I, uh,
I want you all to know...

MAN (off screen): Louder.

PRESIDENT BUSH: It can't go any louder.

(laughter)

I want you all to know that America today,

America today, is on bended knees

in prayer for the people
whose lives were lost here,

for the workers who work here,

for the families who mourn.

This nation stands
with the good people of New York City,

and New Jersey and Connecticut...

PRESIDENT BUSH (narrating):
I was up there trying to say something

about how we cared about 'em, and...

uh, the country was supporting them.

And a guy kept screaming,
"I can't hear you. I can't hear you."

And, uh...

I-I-I yelled back through the megaphone,

"I hear you. The world hears you.

And the people who did this
will soon hear from us."

I can hear you,
the rest of the world hears you

and the people...

(crowd cheering)

And the people
who knocked these buildings down

will hear all of us soon.

(crowd cheering)

CROWD: USA! USA! USA!

USA! USA! USA!

PRESIDENT BUSH: The terrorists never won.

They may have thought they won.

They inflicted terrible damage
on people's lives and on our economy,

but they were never going
to defeat America.

They, uh, they just didn't understand us.

They didn't know that we're a nation

of compassionate, kind people
who are very courageous,

and would not yield
to their barbaric tactics.

On September the 11th,
thousands of our citizens lost their lives

and I vowed that day
that it wasn't gonna happen again.

I was in a restaurant in Dallas
eating dinner with Laura.

The Secret Service told me

I had a phone call
from the White House coming in,

uh, in about 20 minutes.

I decided to take the call at the house.

And President Obama called me,

told me that Osama bin Laden
had been killed.

And my response was, I congratulated him,

and the special operators
that conducted a very dangerous mission.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Good evening.

Tonight, I can report
to the American people and to the world

that the United States has conducted
an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And so, I was grateful.

I didn't feel any great sense
of happiness, uh, or jubilation.

I felt a sense of closure.

And I felt a sense of gratitude
that justice had been done.

Eventually September the 11th will be,

you know, a date on the calendar,
it'll be like Pearl Harbor Day.

For those of us who lived through it, um,

it'll be a day we'll never forget.