9/11 Families of Flight 93 Not Forgotten
VELSHI: Welcome back to our breaking news on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi here at Ground Zero which was the scene of great jubilation all night, in fact. Now things are very much back to normal, aside from the fact that there's some barricades to allow the media to do its job. Construction has resumed on the site next to me. The newspapers are out. "The New York Post" perhaps capturing the mood around here overnight. It says, "Official, bin Laden dead. Got him. Vengeance at last. U.S. nails the bastard." Jason Carroll joins me now. He was with us -- he was here all night. Jason, you never got to sleep. There were at some point, there might have been a couple thousand people right here.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was incredible. I mean, you remember what it was like. I mean, the people were crammed into this area here.</s>VELSHI: Yes.</s>CARROLL: People of all different walks of life, all different ages. A lot of young people out here, but we also saw some veterans out here, some 9/11 widows that we spoke to as well, a lot of people coming out.</s>CROWDS:  USA, USA! VELSHI: President Obama was talking about the families of the victims. I just want to play for our audience what he had to say about the victims.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores. And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.</s>VELSHI: OK. Three themes that he hit on there. The unity of how Americans felt, how people reacted last night. You saw a lot of that displayed.</s>CARROLL: Yes.</s>VELSHI: The coming together. And the fact that he talked about the families of the victims. You spoke to a couple of them.</s>CARROLL: We did. And, you know, look, a couple of things. First of all in speaking to one of the widows whose husband was killed on the 101st floor, for her there was a sense of closure that she felt. That's why she also wanted to come down. She wanted to experience it.</s>VELSHI: Right.</s>CARROLL: But it was also a bittersweet moment for her because she never thought that there would come a day where she would actually feel like, hey, Osama bin Laden would be gone, and two, that there would be an actual celebration down at Ground Zero. But she really felt the need to come down here and take part of it.</s>VELSHI: That was quite something. It was a mix of emotions there, Jason. Also, we don't want to forget those people who went down on United Flight 93, the 40 people who died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, or near Shanksville. Jim Acosta is there for us this morning. Jim, what's the situation out there right now?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, it's a lot more subdued out here in Pennsylvania and I can tell you if we were just standing on an empty field a mile from here wouldn't mean very much. But obviously, we're standing on hallowed ground in the global war on terrorism. This is as you mentioned where Flight 93 went down, taking with it 40 passengers and crewmembers who were on board that aircraft that day. And not many people here so far this morning. What I can tell you is that some folks have come by and left a sign. There's a sign on this fence behind me, and it says "Osama bin Laden is dead, God bless America" signed by Don and Timmy. And so just one of the sentiments out here. But one of the things you have to remember about this site is that, you know, this was really one of the opening skirmishes in the war on terrorism as we all remember. And today and looking at everything that's happening across this country in New York, here in Pennsylvania and in Washington, just bring back a flood of memories. But remember on this flight, Flight 93, is where the passengers stormed that cockpit, forcing the hijackers to bring this plane down here. It is where Todd Beamer, remember him, he was one of the passengers on board, who apparently said, "let's roll" that became one of the battle cries of this war on terrorism. And so I think throughout the hours, as the day goes on, Ali, you will see more people out here. At this point, it's a lot more subdued. And one thing we do want to mention is that this land behind me is now going to become a national park. There are already National Park Service signs up. And right now, the national park is in the process of building a memorial that will stand on this ground and the opening section of that memorial is slated to open on September 11th, 2011, on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. So Shanksville or this plot of land just outside of Shanksville certainly not forgotten after what happened on September 11th, Ali.</s>VELSHI: Jim, you make a really interesting point about that being the opening salvo or one of the opening skirmishes on the war on terror because those people on United Flight 93 didn't know at the time that that was what was happening.</s>ACOSTA: That's right.</s>VELSHI: It became evident to them only on the flight. And, of course, they will not know that they were some of the first Americans to fight back on this attack on America, on September 11th, 2001, on this morning.</s>ACOSTA: That's right. According to -- that's right. And according to the 9/11 Commission, Ali, and all of these memories coming back as well, according to the 9/11 Commission, those passengers and crewmembers on board Flight 93, perhaps, saved the United States Capitol or the White House from destruction. It is thought that the hijackers on board that aircraft were going to crash that plane into either the Capitol or the White House. So they were certainly heroes that day, Ali.</s>VELSHI: Yes. All right. Jim Acosta in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Our coverage from around America and around the world continues on CNN AMERICAN MORNING. It's 26 minutes after the hour.