ABC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT {COVERAGE OF TERRORIST
ATTACKS} {TERRORIST ATTACKS} (TV)
Summary
This "ABC News Special Report" presents coverage of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, as aired on ABC affiliate KABC-TV (Los Angeles). This coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 12, as anchor Peter Jennings and reporter Lisa Stark discuss new proposed guidelines for airport security. Jennings then checks in with two reporters in airports that are still closed -- Brian Rooney at Los Angeles International Airport and Steve Osunsami at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport. Jennings moves on to an interview with Billy Rizzi, an electrician who was on his first day on the job at the World Trade Center the day before. He describes his reaction to the airplane's impact on the north tower and praises the demeanor of his fellow evacuees. Next, from lower Manhattan, George Stephanopoulos discusses the amazingly small amount of debris visible from the collapsed buildings; he explains that much of the towers' material has been pulverized, is underground, or has already been carted away. Jennings reports on continued flight cancellations and gives a brief update on the FBI investigation. From Florida Jeffrey Kofman describes part of that investigation, the bureau's tracing of the movements of Mohamed Atta, believed to be one of the hijackers. Terry Moran then reports from the White House on that building's transformation into a clearinghouse for information about the attacks, adding that the president and first lady are expected to make a public appearance in the afternoon at a blood drive. Next, Jennings shows live footage of Boston's Westin Hotel, where police in riot gear are conducting an investigation. He then interviews another survivor of the World Trade Center disaster, Susan Doyle from the north tower. After a firefighter describes the rescue of two Port Authority police officers from the World Trade Center rubble the previous night, Jennings talks to John Miller, who speculates on the Boston investigation, about which little is known. Miller then recalls John O'Neil, a former FBI terrorism expert who was recently hired by the World Trade Center and appears, in what Miller terms "a dark coincidence," to have perished there. In the following segment, Stephanopoulos interviews Jerry Schwartz, a Pennsylvania policeman who has come to New York to help in the rescue efforts. Schwartz describes the cooperative atmosphere at the site. Next, Jennings conducts a telephone interview with Jacqueline Gavagan of Brooklyn. Gavagan describes the search for her husband Donald, one of the missing workers in the World Trade Center. Explaining that she is seven months pregnant and has twins, she pleads, "I really need him home." John Miller then announces that the Boston police have confirmed that they are aiding the FBI at the Westin Hotel. Finally, Bill Blakemore stands on a rooftop looking down at the former World Trade Center. The reporter, who has covered a number of earthquakes, compares the atmosphere and work they evoke with the situation in New York at present. He emphasizes the difficulties for rescue workers in this case of filtering out background noise -- from jets, municipal trucks, helicopters, and vast numbers of public officials and volunteers -- in order to try to hear the sounds of people trapped in the rubble.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: September 12, 2001 Wednesday 9:30 AM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:66617
- GENRE: News
- SUBJECT HEADING: Disasters; Hijacking of aircraft; September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001; Terrorism
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 2001
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter Jennings … Anchor
- Bill Blakemore … Reporter
- Jeffrey Kofman … Reporter
- John Miller … Reporter
- Terry Moran … Reporter
- Steve Osunsami … Reporter
- Brian Rooney … Reporter
- Lisa Stark … Reporter
- George Stephanopoulos … Reporter
- Mohamed Atta
- George W. Bush
- Laura Bush
- Susan Doyle
- Donald Gavagan
- Jacqueline Gavagan
- John P. O'Neil
- Billy Rizzi
- Jerry Schwartz