Summary

One in this series of newscasts anchored by Peter Jennings. This special edition covers observations of the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and reports on the status of the United States's continuing "war against terror." The program beings with descriptions of anniversary observations across the nation and abroad: memorial services in Washington, D.C. at the White House, the Pentagon, and Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia; at Ground Zero in New York City; in Western Pennsylvania; in St. Louis, Missouri; at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts; at U.S. military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan; in London, England; and in Sydney, Australia. Jennings then presents the following correspondents' reports. Don Dahler's piece, "9/11: Two Years Later: The Children," covers the recitation of victims' names by children at the Ground Zero ceremony and talks to one reader, Alex Selwyn, whose father was killed at the World Trade Center. Pierre Thomas's report, "Analyzing the Tape," looks at the newly released videotape of Osama bin Laden and audio tape of bin Laden's "deputy" Ayman al Zawahiri and includes commentary from former FBI counterterrorism chief Skip Brandon and Al Quds editor-in-chief Abdel Bari Atwan. Hillary Brown's "Going After Arafat" looks at Israel's threats to exile Yasser Arafat from Israeli-occupied territory and includes commentary from Ha'aretz newspaper columnist Danny Rubenstein, Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurei, and Michael Tarazi, a legal advisor to the Palestinian Authority. Jennings then presents an abbreviated version of Brian Ross's "controversial" news investigation, aired in full on the 9/11/2003 edition of "Primetime Thursday" in which an ABC News team smuggled depleted uranium into the Port of Los Angeles, California. The report includes footage of the team's activities in Jakarta, Indonesia as well as video of the shipment's progress as it left Indonesia and entered the United States; commentators include Tom Cochran of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Professor Graham Allison of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), and Asa Hutchinson, Undersecretary for Homeland Security. Jennings then presents Claire Shipman's story "9/11: Two Years Later: Behind the Wire," a review of the issues surrounding the detention of 660 prisoners of the war in Afghanistan at the Army's Delta Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The report includes commentary from Major General Geoffrey Miller, Commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo; sketches of the prison camp by William Hennessy; Department of Defense photographs of the prison; remarks from the National Journal's Stuart Taylor; and excerpts from some detainees' letters home. The program concludes with Dan Harris's "9/11: Two Years Later: Starting Over," a look at the lives of those who lost life partners on September 11, 2001. Includes commercials (including New York Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer for Preparation H).

Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Marc Haas and Helen Hotze Haas Foundations, 2003/2004.