We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York and we need you guys to, we need
someone to scramble semestix scenes or something up there.
Newly released recordings from September the 11th provide a rare glimpse into the attacks.
Good evening, I'm Peter Mansbridge and this is The National. Chilling audio tapes from
US air traffic controllers reveal the depth of chaos and confusion on that morning.
How did that day change you personally?
A feature interview with the Prime Minister as the anniversary of 9-11 approaches.
I'm now the person responsible for, you know, for being vigilant against this kind of event.
Plus... We can't deal with it, we're only human and it's only by God that we can stay
strong.
The search for a missing three-year-old boy in British Columbia and details about the
suspect.
Just days before the 10th anniversary of 9-11 and there is a new source of concern in the
United States tonight. Counter-terrorism officials say they've received a specific, credible,
but still unconfirmed threat against New York and Washington.
Details are sketchy, but as you can imagine, no one is taking chances with the anniversary
just around the corner.
This all comes as new audio recordings of 9-11 were released. Some never-before-heard
voices trying to make sense of the madness. The CBC's David Common is at ground zero
tonight. David?
Peter, we've heard some 9-11 recordings before, but today's release fills in the blanks and
gives us a full picture of the chaos.
The first sign of trouble comes as a flight attendant in the air uses a phone to alert
those on the ground.
Our number one is in staff and our five is in staff.
Five minutes later, hijacker Mohammed Atta speaks out from the cockpit of the same aircraft.
We have some planes, just stay quiet and you'll be okay. We're turning to the airport.
They never do, and the next two hours of tape paint a picture of confusion and disbelief.
They are going to handle this for the concerned hijacking.
Nineteen minutes after the flight attendant's call, air traffic controllers notify the military
at NORAD.
We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York and we need you guys to, we need
someone to scramble semesthex beams or something up there.
The military at first thinks it's a drill.
It's not real world.
It's real world hijack.
Cool.
The seriousness has not yet set in and controllers have lost contact with the plane.
No idea where he's going.
840 AM, six minutes before the first plane hits the tower, fighters are put on alert,
but don't take off.
I don't know where I'm scrambling these guys to.
I need a direction, destination.
Meanwhile, the first tower is now burning and civilian controllers call headquarters,
which seems unaware.
Just get me somebody who has the authority to get military in here now.
A minute later, controllers in New York look out their window.
Another one just hit the building.
Wow.
The whole building just came apart.
The interceptors are now in the air, but out over the Atlantic, sent to chase a plane that
has already crashed.
We need to take those fighters and put them over Manhattan.
At NORAD, Major Kevin Nassipani turns the fighters around.
I'm going to take the fighters from Otis and try to chase this guy down if I can find him.
928 AM, passengers on United 93, which later crashes in Pennsylvania, are fighting with
hijackers in the cockpit.
Washington.
At the same time, air defense techs worry political leaders haven't grasped the severity.
Washington better get on the move.
And I'd have the President airborne, wherever.
In the high-speed chaos, controllers still don't know where the hijacked planes are.
They lost radar with me.
They said somewhere, the last time I talked to them, they said it was east of York,
and I don't even know what state that is.
938 AM, a military transport spots American Airlines 77.
It looks like that aircraft crashed into a Pentagon, sir.
Within seconds, NORAD's Nassipani scrambles misdirected fighters to Washington and New York.
I don't care how many windows you break.
But permission to shoot down planes comes more than two hours after the flight attendants' first alert.
The region commander has declared that we can shoot down aircraft that did not respond to our directions.
By then, the last plane had crashed.
And Peter, you might be wondering why this is coming out now.
Well, the 9-11 Commission didn't have time to review all of these recordings before it had to issue its report in 2004.
But some of its staffers kept at it, completing their work just days before the anniversary.
All right, David, thanks very much.
David's at ground zero tonight.
Well, you can hear the full audio recordings released today.
Just go to cbcnews.ca slash 9-11.
While you're there, take a look at some of the other special reports, including Truth and Lies,
the interactive Fifth Estate feature connected to tomorrow night's program.
It's got exclusive new details about Osama bin Laden's last days and his secret compound.
Communities across the hockey world gathered today in tribute to the Russian team killed in yesterday's plane crash.
In the team's hometown, church services were held and President Dmitry Medvedev visited the crash site.
There was support as well from other players in the league.
Many are volunteering to play for the team this year.
Today, the league said it will find new players in the next few days.
The Prime Minister welcomed the Conservative caucus back to Ottawa today,
and Stephen Harper made it immediately clear what his priority will be when Parliament resumes.
Our senior correspondent Terry Malofsky watched it unfold.
Terry.
Well, Peter, sometimes the news is what did not happen.
Stephen Harper did not give his troops the usual rah-rah, go-get-em pep talk.
Instead, he made a very short and very cautious statement on the economy.
The caucus was ready with a rousing reception. After all, Harper's riding high while the opposition's looking for leaders.
Yet he seemed to throw cold water on the occasion, saying the economy's doing OK, but trouble may be ahead.
Since July 2009, the Canadian economy has created nearly 600,000 net new jobs.
But Harper did not bask in the applause for long. He immediately added the bad news.
But unfortunately, as we have been reminded this summer, the global economy remains very fragile.
Fragile is Harper's standard word for a floundering world economy,
and the same concern was evident when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, heading for a ministerial summit in France,
warned that some countries are not keeping their promises to cut debt.
We want to stay the course. I've had that discussion several times this week.
There are some who are of a different view. So we'll have, I'm sure, an engaging discussion in Marseille.
An engaging discussion, meaning that there's deep disagreement about what to do to avert a double-dip recession. Peter.
Terry's on Parliament Hill tonight. Thanks, Terry.
Well, as we've seen recently, there are also big disagreements about what to do with the economy south of the border,
especially how to create jobs. Tonight, Barack Obama unveiled his latest plan to the U.S. Congress,
and our senior Washington correspondent, Neil MacDonald, has the details. Neil.
Well, Peter, nearly one in ten Americans is out of work, and really the government's toolbox is just about empty.
Members of Congress, especially the Republicans, will not allow any more big stimulus spending, and interest rates just can't go any lower.
Still, Americans expect their president to create jobs, and the campaign for next year's election has already begun.
The President of the United States.
Tonight, Obama posed an obvious question.
The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.
And he offered a plan of sorts.
Everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both Democrats and Republicans,
including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.
Actually, Obama's proposals are relatively trifling. His main thrust is more tax cuts, which will just starve the government further,
but which should please Republicans.
The fact is, though, Congress today began a search for $1.5 trillion in cuts by December.
That's $1.5 trillion with a T, Peter, and massive cutbacks definitely don't create jobs.
Alright. Thanks, Neil. Neil Macdonald in Washington.
Well, one more economic note. A new survey suggests many Canadians are living paycheck to paycheck.
In a poll taken by the Canadian Payroll Association, 57% of Canadian workers say they'd be in trouble if payday was delayed even by a week.
Among young adults, 18 to 34, that number jumps to 63%.
But single parents are even worse, with 74% saying they'd have financial difficulty if their paycheck was late.
The textbooks on human evolution may have to be rewritten.
Scientists in South Africa say these two-million-year-old fossils are from a previously unknown species, and they're related to you.
Plus, the Prime Minister's candid interview about 9-11 and the lingering suspicions that the hijackers came through Canada.
There will always be an element in any country of people who want to blame their problems on somebody else,
who want to say, well, it didn't really happen here, it must have come from somewhere else.
The fact of the matter was, that's not the case.
All that's coming up on The National.
A world of news at your fingertips.
The CDC News app, the only news app you need.
All over the world, cities are learning from other cities.
Smarter technologies cut response times in Madrid, while monitoring water systems in Washington, D.C.
Built off analytics that predict traffic in Singapore, and help prepare for flooding emergencies in Rio.
With 2,000 projects underway, IBM is helping make cities smarter.
I'm an IBM-er. Let's build a smarter planet, city by city.
Our world is on sale, only until September 15th. Book now at AirCanada.com.
A van dia may cause a serious heart attack, congestive heart failure, or even death.
If you or a loved one took a van dia and suffered any of these serious injuries, call now.
Injured Canadians may be entitled to a cash award and medical expenses.
If you or someone you know took a van dia and lived in Canada and suffered a serious heart attack, congestive heart failure, or death,
1-800-722-3578 for your free legal consultation.
In British Columbia tonight, dozens of police and hundreds of volunteers have spent a second day searching for 3-year-old Keenan Hebert.
It's believed the boy was abducted from his home in Sparwood.
And tonight, investigators are on the lookout for a 46-year-old man with an extensive criminal record.
Chris Brown is in Sparwood with the latest. Chris.
Well Peter, Keenan Hebert has now been missing for almost two days.
The entire community has mobilized to try to find the little boy, but so far there's no sign of him or his alleged abductor.
You stay in line with them, okay? And we're going to just go slow and just look for clues.
People in Sparwood are lining up shoulder to shoulder.
Yeah, just walk easy and we got her.
Hunting for anything that could lead them to the missing little boy.
Yeah, it's enormous. I mean we have a huge amount of people from the community have turned out to help.
It's sad and it's creepy that some man is around town stealing little kids.
That is the sickening possibility that someone snuck into Keenan Hebert's bedroom overnight Tuesday and took him.
Police have named this man as their prime suspect.
46-year-old Randall Peter Hopley, possibly driving a 1987 Toyota Camry 4-door brown in colour.
Hopley had just gotten out of jail only days before.
His criminal record goes back two decades and includes more than a dozen break-and-enters.
Most worryingly, there's also a conviction on sexual assault and an allegation of attempted child abduction.
Extensive efforts were made to locate Mr. Hopley that were unsuccessful and to this date here he has not been located.
Keenan's dad appeared calm and remarkably clear-headed when he spoke about his family realizing their boy was gone.
It's a sick feeling to your gut and we knew what we needed to do next. It was 911 and let them do their job.
It's 100% hopeful that Keenan will be back here safely.
There are lots of people in Sparwood and beyond now working to ensure that happens.
I've known Keenan since he was born so that's the toughest part. He was a little baby.
I'm terrified for the family and it just breaks my heart.
The family home here remains behind police tape. It's considered a crime scene.
Some people in Sparwood are upset that they weren't given any kind of notice that the suspect was back in the community after serving jail time.
But mostly people here are just consumed with the effort to find that little boy. Peter?
Chris Brown in Sparwood, BC for us tonight. Thanks Chris.
A couple of health notes now. Remember those recent walnut recalls? Well they've been expanded again.
The recall now includes several pre-packaged nuts as well as fruit and other snacks.
The concern is possible E. coli contamination. No illnesses have been reported.
You can find a link to the full recall list at cbcnews.ca.
And British authorities are lifting the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men.
The ban was introduced in the 80s when AIDS was at its height in the West.
A one-year ban will now be in effect. Canada's two blood collection agencies say they are open to a similar change in this country.
New analysis on some very old bones is throwing into question the accepted theories of where we come from.
One scientist calls the findings a snapshot of evolution in action.
So what's all the fuss about? We asked Kelly Crowe to find out.
Were these hills near Johannesburg the place where our early ancestors came down from the trees,
started using tools, became less ape-like and more human-like?
A group of South African scientists believe it is.
A claim based on the discovery of two of the most complete skeletons ever found.
An adult female and a young male. Creatures that died almost two million years ago.
Members of a previously unknown species, Australopychithus sediba.
So there's the distal leg bone, or tibia.
After three years of study, scientists now think these are the bones of a direct ancestor of modern humans.
The first thing I thought was, wow, look at that thumb.
David Begun has seen a model of the hand.
This thumb is incredibly long. It's longer than my thumb. It would come out to about here.
But the brain doesn't match.
It doesn't have the brain that you would normally associate, that we have traditionally associated with a tool maker.
In other words, the brain is too small for the hand, contradicting traditional theory that first the brains got bigger,
then the hands evolved to make tools.
Is this a human ancestor or is this some other branch of the tree that died off?
Great question. Right now we don't know.
This is Homo erectus. And you can see that the brain is much, much larger.
Homo erectus is believed to be a direct ancestor to humans, but what came before that, no one knows.
Was it Australopychithus sediba, as the researchers claim? Other paleoanthropologists say, probably not.
Most of my colleagues and I would be among them don't think that this calls into question everything else
that's been concluded before.
Despite the controversy, there's excitement about the emerging details, how arms and legs worked,
clues in the teeth about what they ate.
But whether these creatures were early human ancestors or an evolutionary dead end
depends on where Australopychithus sediba eventually lands on the family tree.
Kelly Crowe, CBC News, Toronto.
The evolution of a legendary rock band is the subject of the opening film of the Toronto International Film Festival tonight.
U2 walked the red carpet at the gala opening.
The documentary from The Sky Down follows the band through trial and triumph
during the making of their 1991 album, Ashtung Baby.
I think probably the reason we're still here as a band is because
we went through that moment in Berlin in 1991 where we sort of ended
all the people loved about our band and began afresh and risked it all.
The festival is widely considered to be the kickoff to the Oscar season.
It runs for the next 11 days.
The Prime Minister on the 9-11 anniversary,
Stephen Harper reveals new information about a border security deal with the United States.
I think we're going to get a good action plan coming out of this very shortly.
Very shortly?
Yeah, I'm optimistic it will be coming pretty soon.
The full interview with the Prime Minister next on The National.
But first let's check today's markets.
The TSX lost 36 points and the Canadian dollar shed a quarter of a cent closing at $1.01.26 US.
In the US, the Dow dropped 119 points.
Oil finished just above $89 a barrel.
That's down 29 cents.
Are you ready to save up to 95% on what you want most?
Then try quibbids.com, an exciting new way to shop for products like iPads,
MacBooks, HDTVs, cameras, appliances, and more.
Quibbids is a unique auction website.
Each auction starts at zero.
When someone places a bid, the price increases by as little as one cent.
On quibbids, you can save up to 95% off retail.
That's qibids.com.
Goodquibbids.com now.
And that's it for today's show.
Thank you for watching.
I'm Michael.
Disfunctional.
Neurotic.
And codependent.
Morning.
Then there's his patient.
Michael's here, Dr. Stroper.
I resent everyone I don't know for talking to me.
Small talk.
Small talk, yes.
What the hell?
This is the story of an unconventional friendship.
You must know every inch of that guy's brain.
Is he okay with you writing it all up in a book?
I'm not sure.
And that, my friends, is our business plan for the next three years.
Very impressive, Bill.
I think the board will be very happy.
I think it's weak.
Well, what makes you think that you have...
First of all, I think you guys should have done your homework.
Your projections are off.
Your valuations are laughable.
Your acquisition strategy is wrong-headed.
I'm out.
Release your inner dragon.
Wednesday at 8 on CBC.
Brought to you in part by Cadillac.
So I spend a lot of my time worrying about things
that most people care about, too.
Money.
The question I get most often about Kevin is, is he for real?
There's a reason they call me Mr. Wonderful,
because I always tell the truth.
The Lang and O'Leary Exchange, weeknights at 7 Eastern
on CBC News Network.
I was sitting there at home, seeing the kind of the second plane
and the towers fall with my wife.
And I remember telling to Laureen,
this is going to change the course of history.
Stephen Harper, talking about his first thoughts
on the morning of 9-11, 10 years ago.
As part of our 10th anniversary coverage this week,
we wanted a conversation with the Prime Minister
about how he feels it changed him and the country.
And you see all the cameras we got every day.
These are the back gardens of 24 Sussex Drive
along the banks of the Ottawa River,
the official residence of Canada's Prime Ministers.
Stephen Harper has been living here for more than five years now,
and like the two Prime Ministers before him,
still dealing with the fallout of that fateful day.
Prime Minister, you know, I was kind of surprised this week
when I read a survey that suggested that most Canadians
still feel that the war on terror can't be won.
That Afghanistan wasn't worth the cost
and that the world is not a better place 10 years later.
Would you agree with that?
Well, I wouldn't agree with all of that.
I certainly think in terms of Afghanistan,
the international community went into Afghanistan,
and despite some well-known failures there,
the fact of the matter is today Afghanistan is not a safe harbor
for terrorists to launch attacks in other parts of the globe.
War on terror, can it be won?
You know, the truth of the matter is there's so many different possibilities,
manifestations of terrorism.
I think it is a case that we will have to be perpetually vigilant,
and we'll have to have appropriate security apparatus,
intelligent apparatus that is trying to identify plots
or terror events before they happen.
How about the world being a better place?
A better place?
Well, look, I tend to think the world's a better place
when I look at the course of my lifetime.
You know, the fact that we have a much wealthier world,
a globalized economy, a lot of people who were in poverty 10 years ago
are not in poverty today.
You know, we don't have the Soviet menace that we once had.
So I think in many ways the world is a better place.
Is the world a perfect place? Absolutely not.
The world is still a very dangerous place in very many parts of the planet,
and a lot of those things, because of the age in which we live,
become direct threats to us.
You mentioned how you were sitting at home that day on 9-11,
and you were watching it with your wife.
You were a private citizen then.
Things have changed a lot in your life in 10 years.
How did that day change you personally?
Well, you know, it's funny, Peter.
I was a private citizen, but I was at home.
I was actually a bit under the weather, is the truth of the matter,
but I was just in the kind of first phases of my leadership campaign
to return to politics.
And, you know, I think it changed us all in that it just made us aware
of how vulnerable we really can be if we don't keep our guard up.
Now then, of course, I was truly a private citizen.
That's very different now.
I'm now the person responsible for being vigilant against this kind of event.
That's a big responsibility some days.
And how much of your day does that consume?
And I ask you that because I've talked to a number of people
who are kind of in one way or another related to the security aspect
of this country, and they talk about how you are adamant
about intelligence briefings.
And they don't say this in a bad way.
They say it in a way that they respect, that you want intelligence
and your heart in the briefings in terms of demanding information.
Is that a fair assessment of you on this role?
Well, Peter, the one thing about being Prime Minister is a million things
come across your desk, and I try and stay well briefed on, you know,
most things.
At the same time, I try not to get too far into the weeds on anything.
And that's really how I handle security intelligence matters.
I do get briefed regularly.
It would be hard for me to put a percentage on it, but, you know,
it's a part, certainly a part of something I do every week,
a significant amount of hours every week.
It wasn't long after you became Prime Minister that the security
establishment was able to tap into what was a serious threat.
Right.
And more than a dozen people were arrested in Toronto,
and some of the horror stories associated as to what they were
planning in terms of blowing up Parliament, assassinating leaders,
including the Prime Minister.
How do you deal with that?
Not yourself, because I assume some of that comes with the territory,
but you've got to come home here and talk to your family.
One assumes they're witness to that.
They've heard about it.
They've seen it.
What do you say?
Well, you know, it's probably more difficult for them than for me,
because I fully understand it.
For them, you know, they're not as aware.
You know, I don't give out detailed information to anybody.
They're not as truly aware of the threats as I am.
And sometimes the unknown and sometimes also just the burden of
the personal security, I think, bothers them a little bit more
than it bothers me.
But, you know, that's ultimately what you worry the most about
on all this is your family.
Let's move it to how it's changed the country,
and you touched on this.
It's interesting because I've been reading this book.
It's not out yet, but it's Richard Gwynn, you know, the author.
It's volume two of his book on Sir John A. McDonald.
And it's basically from Confederation onward.
And it's a fascinating book with all kinds of new disclosures,
certainly new to me.
But one of the things I find interesting is the goal that seems
to be driving McDonald is to ensure that that tug south doesn't
happen, that the United States, many of its leaders,
were openly saying they wanted Canada as part of their territory.
It's interesting reading it now, though, with times considerably
different, challenges very different on this country.
And yet you wonder, especially in the post-911 world,
whether we have lost some of that independence from the U.S.
I don't.
No, I don't think so at all.
I think what we try and do as Canadians is we try to use our
independence, our sovereignty intelligently for our own benefit.
Look, obviously when we share a border with the United States,
and they have certain security concerns,
most of which I think are quite valid,
it's incumbent upon us, if we want true interaction with them,
to respond to their concerns and to try and work with them on
joint systems around the border.
I think this just makes common sense.
If we wanted to be entirely isolated from the United States,
we wouldn't have to do that.
But we don't want that.
So, look, I think we just use our independence intelligently.
I think we've seen through this entire last couple of years of
the recession the ability of Canada to set its own policies
and have its own results, even when the United States may be on
a different and frankly a less good track than this country.
But on the security front, where do we draw the line in terms of
where the decision is ours and ours solely,
that it isn't a joint decision?
Well, I think things around the border are either going to be
joint or they're going to be one side, in this case,
the United States imposing something on us.
So that's why I think it makes sense.
And previous governments have agreed it makes sense for us to work,
for us to work with them.
Look, I think when we're sitting down with the United States on
these latest sets of negotiations around the security perimeter,
we have certain legal bottom lines in terms of certain rights,
charter protections that are expected, certain privacy rights.
And those are the bottom lines for us.
I think we've got an administration in the United States that also
understands and has some sympathy for our bottom lines as well.
The U.S. ambassador was interesting in an interview he gave the other
day with Taunda McCharles of the Toronto Star.
He kind of wondered aloud, or more than wondered,
he basically said that the U.S. is more focused,
more concerned on security than Canada is.
Do you think that's right?
I think it is true.
I would say that probably eight, nine years ago that was probably extreme.
The United States security was all they were focused on,
and that was not so much the case in this country.
I think we've stepped up our game in terms of security.
I think the Toronto 18 plot that you mentioned is, quite frankly,
an example of the heightened sense of security and action on the
security front in this country.
At the same time, I do think things have started to come a bit back
into balance in the United States.
Many Canadians feel there is this perception in the States that we
don't, you know, we're lax on security.
And they're unsure as to whether that's really changed since 9-11.
Every once in a while you're here and elected a U.S. official,
you know, talk about how, in their view, the 9-11 hijackers came from Canada.
Everyone knows completely false.
But those perceptions still exist ten years on,
on the part of some people who clearly shouldn't have.
How has that happened?
Why have we not been able to turn that page?
Well, I think we have made progress, Peter.
I don't think many knowledgeable people think that.
In fact, you know, I think to the extent we used to be perceived as
lax on security, I think that's diminished considerably.
Will it ever go away?
Probably not.
There will, you know, there will always be an element in any country
of people who want to blame their problems on somebody else,
who want to say, well, it didn't really happen here.
It must have come from somewhere else.
The fact of the matter was that's not the case.
So I just think that's, there's always going to be a segment like that.
But do I think that really reflects the views of American decision-makers?
I don't think so.
I guess if it doesn't, then we must have some chips at the table
on these discussions about the new security perimeter
in the sense that American officials, if they believe,
what you're suggesting, that we have, that we're different on the security front
than they thought we were, that must help us in these negotiations.
I think we're going to get a good action plan coming out of this very shortly.
Very shortly?
Yeah, it will be, I'm optimistic it will be coming pretty soon.
This year?
And it will be pretty comprehensive.
We've had good discussions with the Americans.
And on both security and the trade fronts,
I think our ambition to do something is pretty high.
Now, this is a pretty wide-ranging deal, one assumes, here.
Yeah, yeah.
The U.S. Ambassador, to take his words once again,
thinks that perhaps both sides should have been more forthcoming
or should be more forthcoming about what's being discussed, what's being agreed.
Well, there's been lots of consultation with business and other community leaders.
But look, we haven't finished even the action plan yet,
so we have to put that together, and then we'll go from there.
And then once we have the action plan, then obviously we'll be, if necessary,
having to put specific individual measures up for debate and votes.
But look, I think Canadians, you know, I think Peter, Canadians,
long ago crossed the threshold where they said that cooperating with the U.S.
or trading with the U.S., that these things somehow are sellouts of Canada.
I think Canadians are way past that.
When we come back, sharp words from this Prime Minister
about a former Prime Minister's interpretation of 9-11.
With a look to the future, led by Peter Mansbridge and our team of renowned journalists,
CBC News is your most extensive source for in-depth, full 9-11 coverage.
CBC News. We remember. You'll never forget.
Why save your baby's cord blood at LifeBank?
We found that at LifeBank the staff was very courteous and professional.
It was great dealing with them. Made the process very easy.
For more information, visit LifeBank.ca.
We're glad we did.
Until September 13th, the Rona Countdown is on.
Two weeks of 40 to 50% in savings.
40 to 50% off a new product every day.
Plus, more great savings throughout the store.
Until September 13th, Rona.
Doing it right.
Hello.
Introducing new one-a-day Fruity Essentials.
A complete adult multivitamin in a great-tasting gummy.
Helps to maintain bones, immune function, and your inner child.
New one-a-day Fruity Essentials. Gummies for grown-ups.
Hi, I'm Mike Holmes.
SOS is the largest orphan-focused charity in the world.
And let me tell you, I've seen it firsthand, and they know how to make it right.
Unfortunately, around the world, HIV and AIDS has left millions of children orphaned.
Even kids as young as seven and eight years old are living all alone and barely surviving.
Many of them don't.
Ten-year-old Ellie and his eight-year-old brother Moses were found begging for food
because they didn't know what else to do.
These two little boys are all alone, hungry, and scared.
They're very vulnerable to all the bad that's here.
That means if someone wants to come and take them, they can take them.
If they want to abuse them, they can abuse them.
If they want to take things from them, they'll take it.
I just can't imagine two children living alone.
These two boys wake up every day and fend for themselves.
They probably wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for their neighbors.
There's no one to make them breakfast before they go to school.
They don't even go to school.
No one to wash their clothes.
No one to look after them when they're sick.
And no one to tuck them in at night and say, I love you.
I'd like to think that this was just a one-of-a-kind story, but it's not.
For about a dollar a day, you can sponsor a child through S.O.S. Children's Villages.
You can give children, just like Ellie and Moses, a safe, clean home,
good food, and a loving S.O.S. mother.
That's not a lot of money.
We buy a coffee, we buy a donut.
That's not a lot of money to help one child's future from this day forward.
I build houses, and I build houses for the future, for the people.
S.O.S. really is doing the same thing.
They're building a foundation for the young kids for the rest of their lives, and that I'm behind.
We're not asking you to solve the world's problems,
but you can be the solution for one child.
Please, don't wait. Make it right.
One other question on how the country's changed,
and I guess it's a question of values, and it in some way relates back to something you said earlier,
that your assessment that the gap between the first world, the rich world, and the third world, the poor world,
has perhaps narrowed somewhat in the last ten years.
At least with certain countries.
With certain countries.
Nine years ago, right now, I interviewed the then Prime Minister, Zhang Caicheng,
and his remarks on the first anniversary were seen by some as a suggestion that we'd somehow brought this on ourselves.
This is just two sentences here of what he said.
I do think that the Western world is getting too rich in relation to the poor world,
and necessarily we look upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy, and with no limits.
And the 11th of September is an occasion for me to realize it even more.
He got pretty criticized for those remarks.
He deserved it.
He did?
Yeah, absolutely.
And nobody who was killed on 9-11 deserved it remotely.
It was a terrible thing that has nothing to do with wealth versus poverty.
It has to do with, in this case, a particular hateful ideology that has attacked people around the world,
not just affluent societies like our own, but some pretty poor places.
I think the people killed in Indonesia and India.
The fact that Afghanistan became a failed state, where people just essentially lived in not just poverty, but brutality.
To the point where an Islamic fascist regime literally invited international terrorists to set up camp in the country.
I think that that kind of situation obviously bred a threat.
And that's why we are so worried when we look around the world now at other places where the same thing could happen.
I think you know some of them, Somalia, Yemen, that are there at that kind of stage.
That's the kind of thing I think we really have to worry about, where you have not just poverty,
but poverty and literally lawlessness becomes the nature of the state.
I do think it's in our broader interests and the right thing to do to try and help people and help countries so that they don't get into that situation.
That's why we obviously are helping with the famine in East Africa.
That's why we're so involved in Haiti, not to have that kind of a state in our own backyard.
So I think those kinds of situations are very dangerous.
A couple of closing questions.
Where's the major threat to us as a country right now? Where does it come from?
Well, you know Peter, there are a number of threats on different levels.
But if you look at, if we're talking about terrorism, I mean the major threat is still Islamism.
There are other threats out there, but that is the one that I can tell you occupies the security apparatus most regularly.
In terms of actual terrorist threats.
Now, as we've seen in Norway, terrorist threats can come out of the blue.
They can come from something completely different.
And there are other groups and individuals that, if given the chance, would engage in terrorism.
But that one is probably still the major one.
But it's diffuse.
You know, it ranges all the way.
When people think of Islamic terrorism, they think of Afghanistan, or maybe they think of some place in the Middle East.
But the truth is, that threat exists all over the world.
We've seen some recent bombings in Nigeria.
Domestic Nigerian terrorism.
And homegrown Islamism as well?
Homegrown is also something that we keep an eye on.
In terms of how you counter that, a number of clauses were brought in 2001.
They were sunsetted in 2007.
Your last government tried to bring those back, preventative arrest and the other one.
Will you try to bring those back in the new government?
That is our plan.
We think those measures are necessary.
We think they've been useful.
And as you know, they're applied.
They're applied rarely, but there are times when they're needed.
Why are they needed now?
Well, as I say, I don't think the threats have gone away, Peter.
We've become better at identifying them and thwarting them.
But they certainly have not gone away.
And I do think that there are times where extraordinary tools are necessary.
Is the threat any less because we're out of the combat role in Afghanistan now?
No. No.
Because there was this sense in some of the earlier messages from al-Qaeda
where you're there unless you get out, you're targeted.
We were a target anyway.
Al-Qaeda and people who represent those kinds of organizations,
it's not a single organization, as you know, they hate people like us regardless.
It doesn't matter whether we're in Afghanistan or not.
We're not being attacked because we were in Afghanistan.
We're in Afghanistan because we were attacked on September the 11th.
How has the country changed, in your view,
when you look at Canada on the world stage in 2011?
How is it different than it was in 2001?
Well, you know, I think this country, you've heard me say this before,
I think this country has become more self-confident in the past 10 years.
That's probably got more to do with the relative performance of our economy,
other little things like Canada's, maybe not so little Canada's success in the Olympics.
But I also think the other thing that's changed, partly because of 9-11 and so many other things,
is Canadians increasingly realize we live in a global community.
And I think Canadians have become more engaged,
not just, you know, willingness to do what we did in Libya,
but also the big assistance you see for Canadian activities in places like Haiti from the population.
I think Canadians are more dedicated to service here and around the world.
That's something we're actually going to be recognizing in this country,
September the 11th as a national day of service,
because it begins with the people in Dandur who put up foreigners during the shutdown of the air transport system,
and also to recognize obviously the contributions of our military people.
Last question, and I guess it's probably the question on the minds of most Canadians as they go to bed this week.
Are we safer? Are we actually safer as a people today than we were 10 years ago?
Peter, I think we are, and it might seem to people, I can understand why it seems to people that we aren't,
because prior to 9-11, I don't think Canadians, Americans, most people,
were aware of the range of terrorism threats against us.
An irony there in our case, because as you know, we had our most serious terrorist incident in 1985,
long before 9-11, the Air India bombing.
Ten years ago we weren't worrying about it, and it was an enormous threat.
And a lot of things could have happened, because the focus that should have been there was not.
Today, we are much more focused on it.
We are much more concerned about it.
We're much more able to detect and thwart terrorism than before.
But it's obviously because we have heightened awareness that we think we're less safe.
But I think the threat was really when we didn't have that awareness.
Prime Minister, thanks very much.
Thanks for having me.
The Prime Minister mentioned a moment ago Gander, Newfoundland, a community that took in 7,000 passengers
that were stranded when U.S. airspace was closed.
Tomorrow on The National, Rex Murphy brings us the story of how Gander's kindness
is being remembered a decade later with a very poignant gift.
And this Sunday, September 11th, The National will be in New York City for the commemoration ceremonies.
Wendy Mesley will bring you our special coverage.
Some of our viewers might remember this.
Provincial police watched the highways, stopping cars at roadblocks.
In each case, they approached gun in hand.
We'll tell you what happened on this day back in 1952 and why this footage made history.
We'll be right back.
If you have any serious injuries, call now.
Injured Canadians may be entitled to a cash award and medical expenses.
If you or someone you know took Avandia and live in Canada and suffered a serious heart attack,
congestive heart failure or death, 1-800-722-3578 for your free legal consultation.
We'll be right back.
You can tell me anything you are a true exception in my life.
It sounded like she said she was in love.
I then told her all the things that I thought I better keep inside.
Our world is on sale only until September 15th.
Book now at AirCanada.com.
Hi, I'm Mike Holmes.
SOS is the largest orphan-focused charity in the world.
And let me tell you, I've seen it firsthand and they know how to make it right.
Unfortunately, around the world, HIV and AIDS has left millions of children orphaned.
Even kids as young as seven and eight years old are living all alone and barely surviving.
Many of them don't.
Ten-year-old Ellie and his eight-year-old brother Moses were found begging for food
because they didn't know what else to do.
These two little boys are all alone, hungry and scared.
They're very vulnerable to all the bad that's here.
That means if someone wants to come and take them, they can take them.
If they want to abuse them, they can abuse them.
If they want to take things from them, they'll take it.
I just can't imagine two children living alone.
These two boys wake up every day and fend for themselves.
They probably wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for their neighbors.
There's no one to make them breakfast before they go to school.
They don't even go to school.
No one to wash their clothes.
No one to look after them when they're sick.
And no one to tuck them in at night and say, I love you.
I'd like to think that this was just a one-of-a-kind story, but it's not.
For about a dollar a day, you can sponsor a child through SOS Children's Villages.
You can give children, just like Ellie and Moses, a safe, clean home,
good food, and a loving SOS mother.
That's not a lot of money.
We buy a coffee, we buy a donut.
That's not a lot of money to help one child's future from this day forward.
I build houses, and I build houses for future, for the people.
SOS really is doing the same thing.
They're building a foundation for the young kids for the rest of their lives, and that I'm behind.
We're not asking you to solve the world's problems,
because you can be the solution for one child.
Please, don't wait. Make it right.
This is about the sixth time it seems to have been late.
He's captured the hearts of many, many Canadians.
It's a crinkled page, but it makes it easier to turn.
I just think he's the world's greatest storyteller.
The way he can paint a picture in my mind, it's just unbelievable.
You get involved with his family, Orly and Dee.
It quite binds the country together. It's small-town Canada.
There's a little CBC in all of us. Yours to celebrate.
So I spend a lot of my time worrying about things that most people care about, too. Money.
The question I get most often about Kevin is, is he for real?
There's a reason they call me Mr. Wonderful, because I always tell the truth.
The Lang and O'Leary Exchange, weeknights at 7 Eastern on CBC News Network.
Last night we had a big northeast storm, and when we get up this morning,
we were dumbfounded by what we saw.
No kidding. Enormous icebergs found their way into the bay near Hamden in northern Newfoundland overnight.
They're believed to have been part of a massive island device that broke off a glacier in Greenland last summer.
Newfoundland holds a special place in the hearts of many people who were caught up in the September 11 attacks.
As we mentioned, thousands of airline passengers descended on the community of Gander after their flights were diverted from the U.S.
As the CBC's Paul Hunter reports, the people of Gander received special honors today in Washington.
They are the enduring images from Canada of that terrible day 10 years ago.
The airport in Gander, Newfoundland, jammed with planes and people, diverted and stranded when airspace everywhere closed after the 9-11 attacks.
Gander's population of 9,000 nearly doubled instantly as Newfoundlanders took thousands into their homes.
Larry, it's Peter. Oh, Peter, how are you doing? Fine, how's everything?
Ten years later, Larry and Peter are still friends.
Larry Shepard in Newfoundland and Virginia's Peter Thompson, a former top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan,
who was flying to Washington that day and ended up as a guest in the Shepard's home.
Peter stayed in this room here when he visited us.
To this day, when Peter Thompson speaks of Newfoundland, he gets tears in his eyes.
It was a period of distress for us, and there were helping hands from Canada.
Today, some of those Newfoundlanders came to Washington for an in-person thank you and were reminded Americans will never forget.
The people of Gander, Canada, are our world's better angels.
Recognition from Congress was among the tributes for Gander here this week, all of it accepted with typical Newfoundland humility.
Free beds and food for thousands? It was nothing, they say.
We weren't asked to do it. We weren't told to do it. We wanted to do it.
A feeling humbly echoed by Larry Shepard.
I don't know. It's just a thing to do. We're like having visitors.
And as it turns out, Americans liked being those visitors.
As Peter Thompson puts it, Gander set the bar high when it comes to hospitality.
It brought out the very best in human nature and how all human beings should take care of each other, help each other whenever possible.
Beef and turkey and ant.
And so ten years after this, a bond born on that terrible day lives in the hearts of those who made Gander home for a while.
Yeah, let's stay in touch, Larry. Best to Audrey and the kids.
Okay, thank Peter. Say hello to Kim. Take care.
Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington.
This year marks the 75th anniversary for the CBC. We've been looking through the archives.
Take a look at what we found.
This week, our cameramen all over the world went to get the news where and when it was happening.
Fifty-nine years ago today, a notorious gang of bank robbers broke out of Toronto's Dawn Jail.
The hunt for the Boyd Gang was the subject of the CBC's first televised news report.
These men are dangerous. Within hours, 2,000 police had begun the hunt, and the unofficial word was shoot to kill.
With music and a dramatic reenactment, it looked more like a movie than a news report.
And the anchor? That's right, Lorne Green, who was known as the voice of doom.
And another big television anniversary today.
Forty-five years ago, this day, television audiences watched James T. Kirk and the Star Trek explore the universe for the very first time.
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
The first episode of Star Trek aired in 1966 in the midst of the space race.
Although the original series was only on for three seasons, it has resulted in television spin-offs and movies to this day.
You know, we should get that old newsreel music.
Oh, God. That's really nice. Good for you.
So what's that? What's that? I get the shirt, but...
This gay drum roll is the captain's log.
How many weather people do you know happen to have a Star Trek outfit in their TV co-op show?
I don't want to know. Really, I don't want to know anymore.
Except tell me about Churchill. It's 18 degrees so go for it.
I'll tell you about Churchill. Thanks very much. Now I've got to try and do this with a log under my arm.
Temperatures today in the Prairie provinces.
Well, it will go down in the
angels of CBC history, weren't you?
Really nicely records fell from BC,
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon broke
a record previously set in 1981.
And yeah, the records fell all the way out
to Red Lake, Ontario, Kenora, Sioux lookout.
There is some weather to be found in
the inland sections of the North Coast.
Rain warnings remain in effect,
but the rain is gradually
taking paper off. That's the good news.
Outside of that area of rain in BC,
there is quite literally not a cloud to be
found Alberta into Saskatchewan into Manitoba.
It remains really quite hot,
even up to Churchill, Manitoba,
and that heat is gradually making its way
in towards northwestern Ontario,
southern Ontario. The cloud,
the cool temperatures giving way a little
bit as we go through the next 24 hours.
Slightly warmer weather and some clouds
especially of Nova Scotia around this.
Yeah, this is Hurricane Katia.
Still a cat one affair.
Not going to bring anything in the rain
in the way of wind and rain to Nova Scotia,
but definitely the coastal sections,
the South Coast, Nova Scotia,
picking up some very high swell.
Outside of that temperatures not bad
in Atlantic Canada.
Great improvement.
Southern Quebec, Southern Ontario and Thunder Bay.
Another beautiful fine day for you guys.
Western half of the country doing
the 30s nary a cloud to be found.
It's beautiful even out on the West Coast.
Chance of a risk of a shower in through
Whitehorse and Yellowknife.
You too may even see some wet stuff.
Peter back to you.
You know I have no words to describe
my thoughts at this moment.
Good thank you very very nice.
Nice blouse, nice log.
Thank you.
Good night Claire.
Claire Martin of the CBC News
Weather Center in Vancouver.
For this Thursday night, I'm Peter Mansbridge.
Thanks for watching.