CNN Student News Transcript: September 12, 2007




(CNN Student News) -- September 12, 2007

Quick Guide

9/11 Remembered - Hear how some Americans marked the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Born on 9/11 - Find out why one Connecticut family has reason to celebrate on September 11.

The Hunt for bin Laden - Learn about security efforts taking place along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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September 11 Attacks
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz. Welcome to CNN Student News, your commercial-free source for news for the classroom. Here's what we've got lined up for you today. A day for memorials: America marks the anniversary of September 11, 2001, honoring those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks that day. A day for celebration: For these parents, 9/11/01 holds a different place in their family's history; it's the day their twin daughters were born. And a hunt for a terrorist: Troops are working to secure the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and searching the region for Osama bin Laden.

First Up: 9/11 Remembered

AZUZ: First up today, Americans pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the attacks of September 11, 2001. President Bush calls it the day that changed America forever, when terrorists hijacked and crashed four planes, killing thousands of people. And on the sixth anniversary of those tragic events, moments of silence and memorial ceremonies in cities across the country honored the victims of 9/11. Kate Bolduan has more on the anniversary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN REORTER: Four moments of silence in New York: two to mark when the jetliners hit the twin towers; two more to mark when they collapsed.

GOV. ELIOT SPITZER, NEW YORK: We feel today as we felt then, that we belong to one another. Not because we are inhabitants of the same city or same country, but because we are all part of the same human story.

BOLDUAN: Emotional tributes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.

ROBERT GATES, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: While time has the ability to heal wounds, to soothe anguished spirits, it can never fully dull the pain.

BOLDUAN: Alison and Jeff Crowther know that pain all too well.

JEFF CROWTHER, FATHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: I weep every day.

BOLDUAN: Their son Welles worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower. For months, the Crowthers knew little about how Welles died. Then they began hearing stories of a hero, identified by something Welles carried with him since childhood.

ALISON CROWTHER, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: This mysterious man in a red bandana who was calling out orders and saying, "Only help those you can help and follow me. I know the way." I read that and I said, Welles, I found you.

BOLDUAN: Welles stayed behind, leading, even carrying others to safety.

ALISON CROWTHER: When they are asked what made you follow him, what made you listen to him, they said he was very much in command. It was his voice, it was his eyes, we just knew we could follow him. And that was our Welles.

BOLDUAN: Welles Crowther, one of hundreds of heroes honored this Tuesday, September 11. In New York, I'm Kate Bolduan, for CNN Student News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Fast Facts

AZUZ: Here's a by-the-numbers look at some things you might not have known about September 11th:

More than 150: books that have been written about September 11, more than any single news event since World War II.

Six days: the time CNN went without commercials. ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC went without them for four days, and that was the longest commercial-free stretch since President Kennedy was assassinated.

116,000: the number of American flags sold by Wal-Mart on September 11, 2001.

Born on 9/11

AZUZ: Those are some pretty incredible statistics, and they help give an idea about the historical significance of September 11, 2001. Now when you think about that day, it can be hard to focus on anything other than the terrorist attacks. But there were other things going on, like a couple of new arrivals for one family in Connecticut. As Alina Cho explains, for them, September 11 isn't just a time for memorials. It's a time to celebrate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALINA CHO, CNN REPORTER: While lower Manhattan was in chaos, Lori Winthrop was in labor, husband Matt by her side, giving birth to twin girls. She was six weeks early. It was not supposed to happen on September 11.

LORI WINTHROP: That's all the TVs were on. All the TVs in all the rooms, and everybody was very focused on what was going on.

CHO: Except for the Winthrops.

MATT WINTHROP: All of the external things, 911, the World Trade Center, it just shot out of the camera. The doctor says to you, "All right, you're going to have babies today," and whoosh, everything went blank.

CHO: That was six years ago. Today, twins Sydney and Jennifer are celebrating their sixth birthday. But there will be no party on this day. Lori and Matt don't think it's appropriate. So the party will be on Sunday. Over the years, the girls, with the birthday no one could forget, have become local celebrities and have grown up in the public eye.

This year, they're entering the first grade. Along with reading and writing, they're also beginning to understand what happened the day they were born.

CHO: When you guys were born on September 11...

SYDNEY: We know. An airplane crashed into a building and some of mommy's friends died in there.

CHO: Lori says the girls, at first, thought they were responsible.

LORI WINTHROP: They figured they must have had something to do with it. So they thought, "Did we kill everybody?"

SNOW: And even now...

MATT WINTHROP: Born on September 11. Oh, when? '01? Then, there's a "that year." And there's about a three-second pause where there brain... oh, oh wow.

CHO: Lori envisions a day where people will eat cupcakes instead of cry on 9/11, the girls a constant reminder that something good did happen on that horrible day.

LORI WINTHROP: That's what they give back. Maybe they give back a little bit of happiness on what's supposed to be a sad day.

CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, Byron, Connecticut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

I.D. Me

LIZ KENNEDY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can ID Me! I'm a Southeast Asian country that's a little smaller than Texas. My leader, Hamid Karzai, is my first democratically elected president. My capital is Kabul. The answer: Afghanistan! It's home to almost 32 million people.

The Hunt for bin Laden

AZUZ: Now before those democratic elections, most of Afghanistan was controlled by the Taliban, an ultra-conservative Islamic group who made the country a safe haven for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The terrorist leader is still at large, and U.S. and Afghan forces are searching for him along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nic Robertson reports on efforts in the area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN REPORTER: This is the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan is right over there across the river. What the troops are doing at the border point here is helping seal the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over there in Pakistan is where the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate says that Taliban and al Qaeda have been regrouping. And if you look at the hillside up here, there's a footpath that runs along the hillside. The troops have heard reports that insurgents were passing along that track coming into Afghanistan. And if you look over there, there is no border fence, and that is a problem.

And by putting the border checkpoint here on this main road just inside Afghanistan, it allows the troops and the Afghan border police here to monitor anyone who can cross over from Pakistan into Afghanistan. And they say by doing that, they've interrupted the insurgents here, whoever they are: Taliban, al Qaeda, their allies in this area. They say they've stopped them getting food supplies from the local town.

The troops here have been attacked about a month ago at this base. There was a heavy firefight that lasted about half an hour. They killed several of the insurgents. They haven't had an attack like that here since. But this post here is significant and important because it allows them to control the road that the Taliban, their allies, al Qaeda and others might be and are, in some cases, using. They're able to search the vehicles for weapons, search for people who might be wanted using these roads.

They're also here not trying to start fights, not trying to start fights, not running around the mountains here, and it's very mountainous, to chase Taliban and al Qaeda. What they're trying to do is nation-building. Building schools, building health clinics, putting in micro-hydro electric power plants. You can see just behind me the power lines being built for one small hydro electric power plant. By providing this nation-building and this help to the community, they hope to send a message to the community, to support the central local government, and to stand up against Taiban and al Qaeda and others and not allow them to live in this area.

So this checkpost here is the furthest northeast troops can go by road. There are posts north of here, but because it's so mountainous, because the roads are so bad, they can only reach them by helicopter. And it is these checkposts and helping the community that will help create an environment that will stop al Qaeda, Taliban and others regrouping right around here. Nic Robertson, CNN, on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

AZUZ: Before we go, check out a security guard who's a real snake in the glass! If you think you can slither off with these sandals, think again. That snake isn't just for show. It's on guard duty! Those shoes it's protecting, they're covered in jewels and they're worth $124,000! So the store decided to employ the reptilian thief repellant. If you try to snatch this first class footwear, you might just be hiss-tory.

Goodbye

AZUZ: Brings a whole new meaning to snake-skin shoes. That's where we sign off for today. But we hope you'll tune in tomorrow for more commercial-free CNN Student News. Thanks for watching. I'm Carl Azuz. E-mail to a friend