Panic at the White House on 9/11: ‘Nightline’s’ Terry Moran Remembers
I was at the White House that morning. Secret Service agents burst into the press area, hollering at people to “Leave — now!”
Outside, a surreal scene: The iron gates of the White House grounds were flung open, and people were running, fleeing, onto Pennsylvania Avenue. Women were told to take off their heels — and run. So we ran, reporters, West Wing officials, tourists swept up in the panic.
A couple of blocks and we stopped, bewildered and shaken. Then we saw the thick black smoke rising into that impossibly blue sky from across the river, where the Pentagon burned.