i would walk past the fire department, and so i could say hi to the firemen that i would see all the time. reporter: you were making breakfast for the girls in the kitchen. i was. we had gotten up early. it was anna claire s first day of preschool. i m diane sawyer, and it s tuesday september 11, 2001. i turned on the television to watch the news. reporter: this was your second day on the job? my second day on the job, yes. reporting to the pentagon for work. started out like a regular day. reporter: they are the stories of 9/11, forever linked by what happened that day. this is at the world trade center, and there has been some sort of explosion. reporter: 17 minutes later, the south tower hit. the plane hit one floor above you? yeah. and i realized if i had stayed up there, i would have been dead. what caught my attention was the fact that people that i knew
if this guy doesn t look like an arab terrorist, nobody does. i said three words. should i have said something else? what is more to the point than bewear of cockpit. i was in my office. one of the most horrific days in history. we clearly had a hijack in progress. they said, be prepared to shoot down the next hijacker. there was a report ten miles, 8 miles. this is their story. if it was going to hit anything, it was going to hit us. the footnotes of 9/11. tuesday, september 11, 2001, cloudless in the eastern united states. so begins the 9/11 commission report, on a day about to be fill wide dark skies. the first event of that day happened not in washington, boston or no, but here in portland, maine. u.s. airways ticket counter before 6:00 a.m., and dewy just checked in the first commuter flight to boston. as i stepped over the counter, i see these two fellows standing there. they are looking around. in the official report of the 9/11 attack, he is th
this guy doesn t look like an arab terrorist. nobody does. i said three words. should i have said something else? what is more to the point than beware of cockpit intrusion. they are the people who awoke september 11th living ordinary lives. i was in my office sitting in that chair. reporter: suddenly thrust into one of the most horrific days in this nation s history. they said we have some planes. we clearly had a hijack in process. they said be prepared to shoot down the next hijack track. and they report ten miles from the white house. nine miles. eight miles. reporter: this is their story. if it was going to hit anything, it was going to hit us. reporter: the footnotes of 9/11. tuesday, september 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless. so begins the 9/11 commission report on what was about to become a day filled with dark skies. the first event of that day happened not in washington, boston or new york, but here in portland, maine, at the
like an arab terrorist. nobody does. i said three words. should i have said something else? what is more to the point than be wear of cockpit intrusion. they are the people who aswoek september 11th living ordinary lives. i was in my office sitting in that chair. reporter: suddenly thrust into one of the most horrific days in this nation s history. they said we have some planes. we clearly had a hijack in process. they said be prepared to shoot down the next hijack track. and they report ten miles from the white house. nine miles. eight miles. reporter: this is their story. if it was going to hit anything, it was going to hit us. reporter: the footnotes of 9/11. tuesday, september 11, 2001, dawn temperate and nearly cloudless. so begins the 9/11 commission report on what was about to become a day filled with dark skies. the first event of that day happened not in washington, boston or new york, but here in portland, maine, at the us airways ticket counte
here at the pentagon around these two observances on sunday are at their highest level of alert. as always, thank you so much, nbc s jim miklaszewski with the latest. appreciate it. challenging america s invinceability and might and altered a presidency beginning with the man who occupied the oval office that day. it was a tuesday, september 11, 2001. yeah. i had a lot of memories that day. it was andy card whispers in my ear. in a school in florida. i was. and andy says, a second plane hit the world trade center. america is under attack. my first reaction was anger. how dare they do this to america. and then i looked at the kids. their innocence in contrast to the evil of the attackers was apparent to me and i just knew that my job was to protect them.