the secret service. and air force base personnel. air force personnel and if you ask colonel tillman the pilot of air force one. even if the president had ordered him to go back to washington he wasn t going to do it. brian: what was your role in your mind what are you saying to yourself what is ari fleischer press secretary be the president s spokesperson at a time when everyone is making their own conclusions. brian, did i something unusual that day. normally go to air force one and get in your seat in the staff cabin. i spent virtually the entire day in the president s cabin taking verbatim notes recognizing what a day of history this was. ainsley: we are at war. thank you, ari, for being with us. steve: we have about a dozen first responders here today who were there working in new york city on 9/11. all right. thank you. ainsley: 24 minutes after the top of the hour. still ahead tunnel 2 towers ceo and our friend frank siller joins us live in our studio audience coming up
now, get ready to speed read your way through the news. first, the incredibly dangerous winter storm that is pummeling a chunk of the nation. snow and ice snarling traffic. 1600 flights cancelled. yesterday it paralyzed parts of the nation. ice paralyzing parts of texas. snow piling from washington to new york to new jersey. icy roads causing a 24 car pile-up. not over. tonight a repeat expected. more snow and ice are on the way to many of theist same places. and now to air force one on its way to south africa. on board president and mrs. obama. former president and mrs. george w. bush and former secretary of state hillary clinton. they will attend a memorial service for former south african president nelson mandella. during the flight with the obama mass in the president s cabin. bushes in the medical office and president clinton in the senior staff cabin. president bush spent 90 minutes in the press cabin. they are traveling to south africa separately.
cabin, and secretary clinton retired to the senior staff cabin. and president clinton, former president carter, they re coming separately on different flights. so many world leaders. it is going to be very interesting, not only from a security standpoint, but just logistically, you have world leaders who do not communicate with the united states. yes, you do, and i think that is extraordinary. and by the way, these guys are making a 17-hour flight. it shows you how much they want to be here. the president of brazil will be here, she will speak. the representative from the highest official from china will speak. and remember, china has a huge influence in africa now, almost taking over america s involvement. and the dalai lama will be there and raoul castro will be there. raoul castro. mandela was very close to fidel
the winter storm is pummeling a chunk of the nation. snow and ice, 1,600 flights canceled. yesterday it paralyzed parts of the nation. in the northeast, snow piling up from washington to philadelphia to new jersey. and in new york, icy roads costing a 24-car pileup. and not over. only the a repeat expected. more snow and ice are on the way to many of the same places. and now to air force one on its way to south africa. on board president and mrs. obama, form he president mrs. george w. bush, hillary clinton. they will attend a memorial service for nelson mandela. during the flight the obamas were in the president s cabin. the bushes in the medical office and second clinton in the senior staff cabin. president bush spent 90 minutes in the press cabin. former presidents jimmy carter