Bush Recalls Emotions, Horror of Sept. 11

Sept. 11, 2006 — -- Charles Gibson spent time with President Bush aboard Air Force One on Sept. 7, and during their conversation, they spoke about Sept. 11, 2001.

The following is a portion of that discussion:

Gibson: Let me have you take me back five years to what it was like sitting on this plane on Sept. 11. What was the emotion like? What was the feeling like? Give me a sense of what it was.

Bush: There's a range of emotions. One from incredible sadness and horror as I looked right on that TV screen there and saw the World Trade Center buildings aflame. And saw, you know, people rushing in, saw the horror on people's faces. There was, you know, seeing the Pentagon burn, created a real sense of outrage as well, so I was heartbroken, horrified and mad. I'm mad because I recognize the people who attacked us, and we were going to do something about it.

There is a fog of war. It was hard to get information. Communication systems were not as good as they should have been. In other words, I couldn't get information, I couldn't find out where Laura was, I couldn't find out, you know, where, uh, trying to get a hold of the vice president at times, I was constantly in touch with him, but they would have trouble getting him. Or I found the secretary of defense finally, after a period of time, just, it was …

Gibson: Did you feel a bit of a prisoner on this plane? That it was all going on down there, and they were keeping you up here?

Bush: Well, you know I tried to get home and the Secret Service said, "You're not going home. Matter of fact, you're heading to Omaha, Neb., where we will put you in a bunker." … And it frustrated me because, you know, on the other hand I was able to stay in touch with people, you know. I had enough information to know what was going on. I was making command decisions. You know, for example, this will give you a sense of the fog of war … I got a guy came in here and he said, there, there's a plane heading towards your ranch, you know? And I said 'well, watch it carefully,' …