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President Obama Announces His Plan To Fight ISIS; Remembering 9/11; Anniversary of Attack on American Consulate in Benghazi

Aired September 11, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: So tonight with the new Iraqi government in place and following consultations with allies

abroad, and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.

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CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama discussing a plan last night for dealing with ISIL, or what we call ISIS. We`ve talked about them a lot

this year on CNN STUDENT NEWS. ISIS is a terrorist group. The name stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That`s what it wants. Its own

country based on its own severe interpretation of Islam. And Iraq and Syria are where ISIS has gained ground, taking over huge portions of land.

They`ve killed hundreds of civilians, they`ve brutally murdered a pair of American journalists. President Obama has been criticized for how he`s

handled the situation. Two weeks ago he said his administration didn`t have a strategy for dealing with ISIS. In last night speech to the

American public, he wanted to both lay out a strategy and get American support for it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve

American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a sturdy relentless effort to take out ISIL

wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partners` forces on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: One thing the president asked Congress for was the authority to give weapons and training to Syrian rebels. These are people who are fighting

the Syrian government in that nation`s civil war. And President Obama wants to help them fight ISIS as well. It`s not clear whether Congress

will vote to authorize that, especially so close to November`s midterm elections. Another issue is that some terrorists may be fighting alongside

the rebels.

Today is the 13 anniversary of a very dark day in American history. On September 11 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airlines. They

crushed two of them into the two World Trade Center towers in New York City, one of them into the Pentagon, one of them into a field in

Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed.

Yesterday, three congressional gold medals were presented. These are the highest awards that the U.S. Congress can give civilians. One medal will

go to each of the attack`s sites. There are also memorials nationwide today, and in anniversary ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial

and Museum in New York, the names of 2983 victims will be read. Their families will be able to visit the museum afterward. And it will be open

to the public tonight.

American flags flown at half-staff commemorate Patriot Day. It`s held every year on this date. It remembers the tragedy, the American resolve

and the heroes who gave their lives to save others.

Now, look at three powerful symbols of September 11.

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FRANK SILECCHIA, CONSTRUCTION WORKER: My job to go there from the very beginning was trying and help just finding one person alive. I found no

one. Not one. But what I did find was a symbol to help the families. As building (INAUDIBLE) forward, debris was like an atomic bomb. Our job was

to go in there and try and see if anybody was hurt or maybe we can save somebody, and I was damaged at that point, but I looked at to my right and

passed it across. And that made me drop to my knees in tears. For a short time, but allowed me to become renewed, give me hope. It`s something that

came from the debris, from the devastation. Evil destroyed that building and faith arose out of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truck was the first thing that I saw and it was absolutely devastated, and it sort of was a sign of what happened to the

company that the truck was unrepairable. It`s like half the company. We lost the captain or lieutenant and (INAUDIBLE) right down to the proby

(ph). You know, losing your brothers, your, you know, your coworkers, I think about at least, you know, once or twice a day. That was a vehicle

that carried the bravest men I know. The damage that was done to that truck is nothing compared to what it`s done, you know, in human loss. You

know, and you look at that truck how strong it is, it`s unbelievable how much damage it took.

DAVID BRINK, NYPD RET.: When we arrived here, the second plane had struck the tower before we were ready to go to one side to start to evacuate the

people. We were there for about approximately half an hour, you know, getting 200 to 300 people out of the North Tower, and that`s when the North

Tower started to collapse.

I was injured during the collapses, I was out of work for a week, and I went back on the following Tuesday, right down to the (INAUDIBLE). It was

very difficult to work. We were using our hands to move debris around. I was in need of a pair of gloves, and they were leather gloves that were

donated there. Once I put the gloves on, I noticed that somebody had written in black ink, it said thank you on them. It could have been from a

firefighter in California, it could have been from a school kid in Indiana, I don`t know. Just they were hearing spirit. They were here with me, and

they - the recovery effort, and that was their own little way of pitching in, and I appreciate that. Those simple words, thank you, circled. It

helped me get through that day and a lot of other days, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: There was another attack on Americans on this date. It happened in Libya in 2012. Terrorists stormed the U.S. compound in Benghazi. They set

fire to the main building. U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and IT expert Sean Smith died of smoke inhalation. Later that night, the militants

killed former U.S Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. The Obama administration initially said that a video making fun of Islam, a video

produced in the U.S. inspired that attack. But it later backed away from that saying the Benghazi assault was terrorism. The U.S. government also

came under criticism when it was reported that additional security had been requested for the Benghazi facility earlier that year. The secretary of

state at the time, Hillary Clinton and President Obama have both said they take responsibility for the attack. One suspect has been captured and

transported to Washington D.C. where he`s pled not guilty to helping the terrorists.

We are taking you coast to coast in today`s "Roll Call," and by that we mean Atlantic to Bering Sea. J.P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs,

Florida, good to see you Trojans out there. North Kingstown High School in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, we are saluting the Skippers in the Ocean

state. And Barrow High School in Barrow, Alaska. Welcome to you Whalers watching today. We`ve now announced all 50 states on our "Roll Call."

Keep your requests coming at cnnstudentnews.com

It was 200 years ago that Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner." The broad stripes and bright stars that inspired his poem had

been raised over Fort McHenry during the battle of Baltimore. In honor of the anniversary, 7,000 students met at the Fort this week, wearing red,

white or blue. They came together to form a human flag.

This was done 100 years ago, and a participant who was a month old then, joined in this event at age 100. That patriotic tribute brings us to the

end of our September 11, 2014 show. We thank you for watching and hope you`ll be here again tomorrow when CNN STUDENT NEWS returns. I`m Carl

Azuz.

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