Summary

This "ABC News Special Report" presents coverage of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, as aired on ABC affiliate KABC-TV (Los Angeles). This coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 12, as anchor Peter Jennings interviews commodities trader Marvin Jackson, who was on the thirty-sixth floor of World Trade Center tower one when it was attacked. Bob Woodruff in Pakistan then reports that several journalists have tried to get into Afghanistan to file a report, adding that the Taliban leadership has outlawed any media presence in the country. Next, Claire Shipman at the White House says that President Bush is currently meeting with his national-security advisors to discuss the administration's next step. Jennings then asks ABC aviation expert Lisa Stark whether she has any update on the state of air travel. Stark says that, although air-traffic control will be up and running at noon, airlines and airports will be asked to make their own judgments about when to begin flying again. Jennings then welcomes Stephen Newman, who was in a cab on the way to his Wall Street financial firm when the first plane crashed immediately above him. Jennings interrupts Newman to go live to the cabinet room, where President Bush declares the terrorist attacks an act of war. After Bush's speech, Jennings speaks with reporters Terry Moran and Linda Douglass and military analyst Tony Cordesman about the significance of the speech. Next, reporter John McWethy, in his office at the Pentagon, discusses his difficulty in gaining re-entry into the building; he also mentions that authorities are placing the death toll in the building close to 220, rather than at about 800 as previously reported. Jennings then plays a segment of an earlier interview between Diane Sawyer and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who firmly declares, "This is a war that will be fought on many fronts." The tape ends as Jennings cuts to Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.) as he prepares to speak from the Senate floor.