Thread by @AriFleischer

7:59am September 11, 2001

American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 people on board takes off from Boston to Los Angeles.

8:14am

United Airlines Flight 175 with 65 people on board takes off from Boston to Los Angeles.

8:15am

I left my room at the Colony Resort to get into my car in the motorcade. The motorcade was scheduled to leave the hotel at 8:30 for a 20-minute drive to the Emma E. Booker Elementary School.

8:30am

President Bush had gone for an early morning run and then had his morning intelligence briefing. He boarded his limo and we took off for the school. As the radio in my car said, "All cars, all stations - Trailblazer has departed."

8:20am

American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Dulles Airport outside Washington, DC with 64 people on board for Los Angeles.

8:41am

United Airlines Flight 93 with 44 people on board departs from Newark, NJ for San Francisco.

8:46am

United Airlines flight 11 is flown by hijackers into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all on board and many more inside the building.

Moments later as the motorcade pulled up to the school, I received a text from Brian Bravo in the WH press office alerting me to the news that an airplane has flowin into the Twin Towers. (No smart phones then. Just pagers and cell phones.)

I hopped out of my car and headed for POTUS to tell him. The President was shaking hands with the principal of the school and others who were there to meet him. After he finished shaking hands, Karl Rove gave the President the news.

Here’s who greeted President Bush upon his arrival:

Btw, pictures like the one above or the flight list of who was on AFOne are from the “mini”, a detailed pocket-sized booklet that has every detail of the potus’s travel schedule. I have tons of them, from every trip I was on. Here’s the cover from that day:

Everywhere presidents go, a holding room is set up, protected by the USSS (Secret Service) with secure phone lines pre-installed. POTUS went into the hold to talk on the phone with national security advisor Condi Rice. At that point, all of us presumed an accident occured.

Bush told Condi to gather all the details and he told her to make any resources available to NY that were needed. We didn't know the extent of the damage and hoped it was caused perhaps by a small plane that went off course for some reason.

Bush left the hold and entered Room 301 of the Emma E. Booker Elementary school to read to the kids and to hear how well they were able to read.

9:03am

United Airlines flight 175 is flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all onboard and many more inside.

Moments later, I got another page from Brian Bravo, this one telling me the second tower was hit. I knew right away it had to be terrorism. (Next to me in this picture is Mike Heath, great guy and lead advance man for the trip.)

I was in the classroom with POTUS, perhaps 15 feet away, ao the left of the President. Andy Card and others remained in the hold working the phones. Seconds later, Andy walked in and whispered in the president's ear, "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."

(Btw, I just got an email from a high school teacher in Knoxville, TN telling me he uses my tweets on this day to teach his students about what happened. Thank you Mr. Cain. Your message means a lot to me.)

The President remained in the room for several more minutes, gathering his thoughts. Later, he was criticized for not reacting faster and leaving the room right away. Film maker Michael Moore made a big deal out of this in a movie.

After several minutes, Bush left room 301, thanked the teacher and the students, and went into the holding room to gather more information about what he now knew was an attack on our country.

Here's the scene in room 301 before he left:

Here's the scene in the holding room:

A TV was brought into the room and POTUS watched the replays of the planes hitting the towers. The phone he is on is a secure phone, designed so no adversaries can listen in on his calls.

POTUS was scheduled to address a larger group of school officials/students in the gym. We scrambled to write remarks for the President, w what little information we had at the time. With a few brief notes, the President prepared for what would be the 1st of 3 speeches that day.

9:31am

Bush entered the gym and gave brief (less than 2 min) remarks. He used the word "folks" to describe the attackers and called what happend in NYC an "apparent terrorist attack". Critics said Bush was unsteady.

Here's his speech.

The USSS wanted to get out of there. They have many ways of knowing if there is any kind of threat to POTUS, but they wanted to get airborne. We hussled into the motorcade immediately after Bush spoke and headed to the airport, intending to return to Washington.

9:37am

Hijackers on flight 77 fly the plane into the western side of the Pentagon, killing everyone on board and 125 military and civilian personnel inside. A portion of the Pentagon went up in flames.

Around 9:45am

We boarded AirForce One for Washington. Security personnel were tense. You could feel it. Although the press and others had already been "swept" to be sure they weren't boarding the plane with weapons/bombs, they were swept again.

Instead of going to my usual seat in the staff cabin, I went into the President's cabin and started to take detailed notes of what Bush said. As we boarded, he told the USSS to be sure to get his wife and daughters protected. He heard about the Pentagon enroute the airport.

He got the VP on the phone, who at this point had been evacuated from his office and was in the bunker underneath the WH, known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. (PEOC)

"Sounds like we have a minor war going on here. I heard about the Pentagon," Bush said.

When we boarded, we knew three planes had been hijacked and had been used to attack three targets. My notes show we were told, I don't know by whom, "There are 3 aircraft still missing." That meant six potential attacks could happen.

Bush directed the VP to call the congressional leadership to given them a briefing and added, "We're at war. That's what we're paid for boys. We're going to take care of this. When we find out sho did this, they're not going to like me as President. Somebody's going to pay."

9:54am

Air Force One takes off from Sarasota.

10:07am

The cockpit of Flight 93 is heroically broken into by passengers who realized their lives were lost, but who having learned on airplane phones of the previous hijackings, were determined to take back control of the plane. It crash landed into a field in Shanksville, PA.

The 9/11 commission was never able to reach a conculsion about the target of flight 93. Some evidence said it was the US Capitol building. Other evidence said it was the White House. No one will ever know for sure, but we do know the passengers on that flight saved us all.

I learned years after 9/11 how dangerous our departure appeared to be from Sarasota. AFOne's pilot, Col. Mark Tillman, received a report of a sniper at the end of the runway. He changed directions for take off and took off at an exceptionally sharp upward angle.

The report turned out to be false.

Here are a few of the interviews Colonel Tillman has given recounting the day from his perspective. Well worth watching and reading:

google.com/search?q=mark+…

A couple more:

spectrumnews1.com/wi/madison/new…

history.com/news/september…

Approx 10:20am

Fighters were scrambled to escort AFOne, but we also wanted an AWACS plane, they for some reason didn't arrive. POTUS authorized the shoot down of commercial aircraft that didn't respond to the order to land.

10:28am

The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

Unlike most Americans who were watching every second on TV, communications aboard AFOne, amazingly, was poor. TV reception was old and spotty. We didn't have satellite TV, which meant we were only occassionally able to watch live TV when a ground antenna signal was strong.

And of immense frustration, the phone system kept cutting out, even between the President and officials in the PEOC. They system was overwhelmed, which was not supposed to happen to AFOne.

When the phones were working, POTUS spoke to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and to the VP. Andy Card noted that AFOne was flying at an exceptionally high 45,000 feet. "They claim we can outrun anybody."

10:32am

POTUS was on the phone with the VP and turned to his milaide, Air Force Lt. Col Tom Gould, (the man with the nuclear football) saying a call just came into the WH switchboard saying "Angel is next."

"Angel" was the codeword for AirFore One.

Bush continued, "They think there were six hijacked aircraft." Bush noted that DoD had not yet gone to DefCon 3 as ordered and he noted a report about a bomb at the State Department.

"We're at war Dick," Bush said to Cheney, "and we're going to find out who did this and we're going to kick their ass."

As a result of the "Angel is next" call, Col. Tillman instructed a member of the Air Force Security Force 2stand guard at the steps leading 2the cockpit. No one was allowed without approval.

Imagine that - on the most protected plane in the world, the pilot feared an inside job.

Here's more of the scene from the President's cabin:

I have no idea what this photo is about. I don't know who I was talking with or why I was sitting at the President's desk.

Our intention still was to fly to return to Washington. USSS and VP Cheney strongly opposed our return. The last thing USSS wanted was to land the President at a known location, especially when we thought there were more hijacked aircraft in the sky. Bush wanted to get back.

Colonel Tillman later told me that even if Bush ordered him to return to DC, he wouldn't do it. His job and the USSS's legal responsibility is to keep POTUS safe. If that meant overriding/ignoring the President's instructions, they were prepared to do so.

Andy Card and other security officals told Bush the best thing to do would be to go to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. It would allow him a chance to address the nation, collect additional information, and regroup. Bush agreed.

One of the lessons of AirForce One is how many initial reports we received were wrong. The media reported there was a car bomb at the state department. They reported a fire on the mall in Washington. Neither was true.

We were told there were six planes hijacked, AFOne was threatened on the ground and in the sky, that the plane that went down in PA went down "near Camp David", and POTUS was later told an unidenfitied aircraft was flying toward his ranch, leading to its evacuation.

To this day, when there is breaking news, especially big dramatic news, my first reaction is to pause, think and wait for more facts to come in. It's a lesson learned.

In the back of AF One were 13 reporters. They were covering the biggest story of their lives and they too had families and were worried. This is a picture of Sonya Ross @sonyagal of A.P., right after one of the towers went down. ABC's @AnnCompton is in the 2nd row.

Here's a story written years later by USA Today's Judy Keen, who was also on board:

startribune.com/aboard-air-for…

(I have no record of what I said to the press that day. If any reporters have copies of pool reports or transcipts of what I or Gordon told you, please send them to me. Thank you!)

I must have gone back to my seat in the staff cabin between 11:00 and noon. My notes don't begin again until we landed at Barksdale, right around noon. We asked reporters not to disclose where we were going, due to USSS concerns.

But as we were landing, the TVs, which picked up local news shows, showed our plane's arrival live. It turned out a local TV affiliate was at the base covering a drill underway and they filmed AFOne landing. So much for secrecy. I told the press they could report our location.

(I have a prior committment from now to 1:00. I will pick up the tweeting around 1:00)

Approx noon:

We landed at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, LA. They were in the middle of an annual B-52 drill involving nuclear weapons. Security could not have been higher.

We didn't have any of the normal items that are set up ahead of POTUS visits, such as armored cars, motorcades, not to mention the army of USSS that pre-deploys. Everthing, including POTUS' vehicle, were arranged last minute.

Bush recounted later that the most dangerous moment of his day was how fast the young airman was driving his vehicle. He told the driver to slow down, otherwise he might kill his commander in chief.

12:25pm

Bush was in the office of Gen. Tom Keck, the base commander, on the phone with the VP.

"We're at Barksdale AFB, being well treated," Bush said. "I see four aircraft are lost."

Bush continued, "I think it's important for the people to see the government is functioning because the TV shows our nation has been blasted and bombed. Government is not chaotic. It's functioning smoothly. We're going to get the bastards."

"It's the new war. It's the faceless coward that attacks," Bush told Cheney.

12:40pm

My notes don't show who Bush said this to, but he said, "I cant' wait to find out who did it. It's going to take a while and we're not going to have a little slap on the wrist crap."

12:55pm

Bush called NY Senator Chuck Schumer, saying, "It's a sad day for America. My condolences to to everyonen in New York. The government is functioning. We'll come together. God bless."

Bush also called Defense Sec. Rumsfeld, saying,"It's a day of national tragedy and we'll clean up the mess and then the ball will be in your court and [incoming Chief of Staff] Dick Myers court to respond."

1:05

Gen. Keck told the President he just received intell from Stratcom saying a high speed object was heading for Bush's ranch in Texas. Bush immediately ordered the ranch evacuated.

It turned out to be a harmless crop duster.

Btw, here's what my hand-written notes looked like:

Bush gave his second speech of the day to the nation, from a makeshift room set up at the last minute.

americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbus… (2 mins)

"The resolve of our great nation is being tested, but make no mistake. We will show the world that we will pass this test.

God bless."

Here's the scene as we left Barksdale for AFOne. I never before and never since saw Air Force Security personnel armed and guarding the plane like this.

Before we left, Andy Card told me that we were leaving behind anyone non-essential. That meant all the Members of Congress on board, half the WH staff, and Andy said, ten reporters, meaning only 3 would remain.

Knowing the needs of the press (radio, wire, print, TV, still photog), I asked Andy if we could make it 5. Fine he said. Just get it done.

I huddled with press aide, Gordon Johndroe, and went over the list of who could stay and who could go.

On the biggest news day of their lives, no reporter wanted to be left behind. But I had to throw eight reporters out of what must have felt like a life raft to them.

I decided to allow the AP to remain (@sonyagal), ABC News @AnnCompton, photographer @dougmillsnyt, along with...

...cameraman George Christensen and soundman Erik Washington.

The eight left behind were not happy. A Time Magazine reporter who later went to work for Pres. Obama, screamed, "Who's in charge? The military or the civilians?"

It turns out the reporters, along with the congressmen and WH staff, left behind at Barksdale were lucky, at least compared to the dozens of reporters stranded in Sarasota. The Barksdale crew got flown back to DC by the AirForce. The Sarasota crew had to drive themselves back.

1:20

Our next destination, which we did not announce to the press, was Offut AFB in Nebraska. It was a large, safe facility that also had the technology for POTUS to convene a National Security Council meeting on secure video.

Bush called Cheney:

"Let's have a 4:00 NSC meting. Our focus should be to find these people and get them."

Bush added, "i can assure you I'd like to come home now. Tonight would be great."

1:25

Bush turned to Andy Card. "I want to go home ASAP. I don't want whoever did this holdign me outside of Washington."

The lead USSS agent, Eddie Marenzel, replied, "Our people are saying it's too unsteady still."

Bush: " Cheney says it's not safe yet as well."

Andy: "The right thing is to let the dust settle."

2:25

Bush called Mayor Guiliani and NY Gov. Pataki: "Our sympathies are with you and the people of New York. I know your heart is broken and your city is strained. Anything we can do to help you, let me know."

Bush also warned them of the possibility of a second wave. We were told there would be a second wave attack. It wasn't a question of if. It was a question of when.

2:58

Bush turned to Eddie Marenzel (USSS): "We need to get back to Washington. We don't need some tinhorn terrorist to scare us off. The American people want to know where their dang president is."

Throughout the day, many in the media, especially Peter Jennings at ABC and Brian Williams at NBC, were highly critical of Bush for not returning to DC.

Here's a couple clips from Peter Jennings:

Jennings: "The country looks to the president on occasions like this to be reassuring to the nation. Some do it well. Some don't," Jennings intoned, implying Bush failed.

3:10

We landed at Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska, where Bush would convene a meeting of the National Security Council.

When we landed, we parked next to a doomsday plane.

The doomsday plane is a modified 747 which, during the cold war, flew 24/7, 365 days a year as an airborne command center, capable of launching a nuclear counterstrike in case a Soviet first strike destroyed all ground-based command and control centers.

It was not exactly the type of thing you wanted to see on a day America was attacked.

Instead of going through the main entrance to the bunker facility at @Offutt_AFB, we entered through a small, remote building that led to a staircase that descended deep into the earth.

Here's the scene of POTUS during the NSC meeting:

4:15

POTUS wraps up the NSC meeting and leaves the command center.

4:26

Bush tells his milaide it's time to get back to Washington.

The USSS would have preferred that Bush spend the night at Offut. However, they also acknowledged that no planes were in the sky any longer and sufficent combat air patrols were in place for POTUS to return. We also knew we would have a fighter escort for the trip back.

But as we were leaving, a report came in saying two flights from foreign nations had not responded to the order to turn around. Either the reports turned out to be wrong, or the planes got the message and turned around. We were leaving.

4:30

The President called the First Lady, who had been removed to an undisclosed location.

"I'm coming home. See you at the White House. I love you. Go on home. If I'm in the White House and there's a plane coming my way, all I can say is I hope I read my Bible that day."

4:33

We took off for DC. Apparently, we left so fast that the fighter pilots assigned to protect us didn't get the word and had to hurry to take off and catch up to us.

For the best read I’ve ever seen of all the events that took place on 9/11, read garrettgraff.com/books/the-only… by @vermontgmg. He did a superb job piecing together stories from scores of eyewitness to that day.

(Apologies for spelling Offutt Air Force Base incorrectly on prior tweets. It has two “f”s and two “s”s.)

5:05

POTUS spoke to Karen Hughes about what he wanted to say in his address to the nation that night. "We will find these people and they will suffer the consequences of taking on this nation. We will do what it takes. Everyone must understand this will not stand," Bush said.

He told Karen to write about his gratitude to the many foreign leaders who had called to express their support for the US and to say the world was uniting against terrorism.

Bush called Solicitor General Ted Olson to express his condolences for the loss of his wife Barbara, who was aboard flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon.

He called his father, who was stranded in Milwaukee. The plane he was in was ordered to land, just like all the rest.

Throughout the day, AFOne was accompanied by fighter pilots, which never happens for flights in the U.S. Here are the views from inside AFOne:

I didn't know it at the time, but on several occassions, unidentified aircraft headed toward us at high speeds. Pilots intercepted them and made them land. A lear jet was "in the wrong place at the wrong time," in one instance.

I went to the back of the plane to tell reporters Bush would address the nation from the Oval Office at 8:30pm. I gave them the outline of what the President would say. They asked me who attacked and even though we thought it was Bin Laden/Al Qaeda, I couldn't say it yet.

6:42
Air Force One lands at Andrews Air Force Base

Marine One can take several different routes from Andrews to the White House. The most majestic route is to enter DC from the northeast, flying low over the Capitol, down the Mall, banking right at the Washington Monument and onto the WH lawn. That was the route we took on 9/11.

As we flew over the Mall and approached the Washington Monument, the President could see the Pentagon, still smoldering after the attack. “The mightiest building in the world is on fire. That’s the 21st century war you just witnessed,” he said aloud, to no one in particular.

6:54
Marine One touched down on the South Lawn of the White House.

Here's the scene as the President after he entered the Oval Office, where he was greeted by top staff in the private dining room off the Oval Office:

The President's Oval Office address to the nation was scheduled for 8:30. He needed to prep and he also wanted to get to the residence to see Mrs. Bush. I left to visit with my staff in the press office.

While many reporters were stranded in Sarasota, there were many other White House reporters who gathered in my office to learn about what happened that day and to ask questions. Here's the scene from my office: