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Obama Wants Review of Policy in Syria; Examining How ISIS Recruits Americans; Ukraine Bracing for New Battle; 911 Call Released in Washington School Shooting; World Trade Center Window Washers Rescued

Aired November 13, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking developments -- CNN has learned the Obama administration is rethinking its military strategy in Syria. Is removing Assad now on the table? Will that help defeat ISIS? Is it a step toward American troops being back in the fight? We hear from the White House this morning.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And the U.S. calling out Russia, accusing it of standing in the way of a cease-fire in Ukraine and trying to fuel a war. The claim follows reports that Russian troops have crossed Ukraine's border. We will take you live to the region.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Heart-pounding rescue, two window washers pulled to safety at the new World Trade Center building after they were trapped 68 floors above the ground. It's supposed to be the world's safest building. How did this happen?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It's Thursday, November 13th, I like the time to be accurate, a few clicks before 6:00.

CAMEROTA: I know you do. I know that.

CUOMO: But it's close. It's 30 seconds away. Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here. Up first, is the U.S. thinking about taking out Assad? Senior officials are telling CNN the president has asked advisers to review the strategy in Syria to determine if it is possible to defeat ISIS terrorists there without removing the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

CAMEROTA: But a member of the national security team is pushing back on report saying that any review is just part of ongoing discussions. All this as defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs prepare to testify this morning at a House hearing on ISIS. CNN's Elise Labott is following developments for us. She is live in our Washington bureau. What's the latest, Elise?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, President Obama said for years that President Assad of Syria should go but until now hasn't really linked his ouster to the campaign against ISIS.

Now the president and his advisers coming to the realization you are not going to defeat ISIS without a plan to get rid of him. The administration had hoped to go after ISIS in Iraq first and then take on Syria after those Syrian rebels are trained to go after ISIS and then Assad.

But with developments on the ground, the opposition could be obliterated by the time the U.S. pivots from Iraq back to Syria. When you look at allies in the coalition, they want a more coherent Syria strategy. I'm told by several officials there have been multiple meetings at the NSC in the last week, primarily focused on Syria.

Diplomats tell me that Secretary of State Kerry is trying to get everyone from allies to adversaries, including Russia and Iran, on the same page for a political road map that ultimately transitions President Assad from power. We're not talking about any military strike to get rid of him or anything like that.

I'm told there's also talk about expanding the train-and-equip program that's coming up for those rebels. But as you say, the White House is pushing back on the idea of a formal review. Take a listen to deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN RHODES, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: There's no formal or strategy review of our Syria policy. What there is, is a strategy for degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL that requires us to take a hard look at what we're doing on a regular basis. And as you know, we've had regular meetings that the president has joined with his national security team on this issue. And Syria has been an important subject at those meetings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: So call it a calibration; call it a review. One official to me called it a, quote, vigorous assessment. I think there's a realization they need to rethink how right now there is no linkage between the Syria strategy and the wider strategy to get rid of ISIL, or ISIS as we call it.

But the administration has that same old problem of needing to work with the opposition that's in disarray. This is going to take a lot of time, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Elise Labott, thanks so much for breaking it all down for us this morning.

Let's go over to Chris for more.

CUOMO: It takes even more time, Alisyn, when you don't know exactly what your objectives are. I can hear Senator John McCain screaming from his bed somewhere, "I told you, I told you."

Let's bring in General Mark Hertling. He's a CNN military analyst and the former commanding general for the U.S. Army, Europe and 7th Army.

Very good to have you, General. Thank you for joining us on NEW DAY. I'm only half joking about Senator John McCain. He's been saying this forever, that you cannot take on the bad guys in Syria without dealing with the big bad guy, in his estimation, Bashar al-Assad. What is this new realization of what should have been the obvious?

GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think you're right. I liked your impersonation, too, of Senator McCain, Chris.

But what I'd say is what we are seeing is, in fact, a recalibration of the strategy. There's an old adage in the military that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. We've learned a lot. The United States has learned a lot in the last two months as we've gone after ISIS. We have had some very good successes, some points of confusion. The campaign in Syria specifically.

While we've dropped bombs on ISIL targets in Syria, we've seen that that has, in fact, enabled the Assad regime to continue their fight with more rigor and robustness against the Free Syrian Army.

So there is a problem. You always have to recalibrate when you're in combat and when you're conducting these kind of things. We've learned a lot from General John Allen, my good friend, who's gone around the region, and his talk to allies, is you've got a complex situation not only with the enemy, but with the states around Syria and Iraq. You have to consider that as you bring together a coalition.

CUOMO: Is "recalibrate" too nice a word to describe this? Because about a year ago I sat across from President Obama, and he said, "Let's see what we're going to happen here with Syria, now that we're learning about what Assad may or may not have done with his own people and chemical weapons."

A few days later he said, "I'm going to bomb Assad. We're going to get him out of there." And Congress didn't want to did it; nobody wanted to do it.

Now we go fast-forward a year. Well, we don't want to do that, but we're going to remove him by some other means. And we're going to use Iran and we're going to use Russia? And get them on the same page when they support Assad and don't want anything to do with us? This sounds almost like crazy talk.

HERTLING: Well, and even some of the leaked reports from the anonymous people who have talked over the last few days about what's being considered, I don't think there's been any statements about removing Assad. I think there has been a situation where we've said, "Hey, we may need to do things differently," as we've seen some successes in Iraq and things are beginning to generate some momentum. Perhaps what we're doing in Syria is not the best way to approach ISIL in Syria.

It has nothing to do with Assad. I think we're leaping to conclusions that suddenly we're about ready to take out a brutal leader in this state.

But I think one of the things we've got to consider -- and I think this is always on the president's mind -- we've seen over the last ten years when you conduct regime change and you've taken out leaders, of countries, boy, you better be ready to put somebody in, in their place. And right now there is no leader in Syria that we could see that could take Assad's place.

So I think as we continue with this campaign, that's got to be at the top of the list.

And again using your impersonation of Senator McCain and what he wants to do, I'm not sure that's the smartest way to go about this. And we'll probably see a lot more of that during the committee meetings this morning with Secretary Hagel and General Dempsey.

CUOMO: So help us kind of conclude here with exactly what we're talking about. Because the reporting is that recalibrating; maybe Assad is part of the problem, and that we have to deal with that. What does it mean? If you're not going to take him out militarily, and if you're not going to really push for regime change, certainly not with Iran and Russia, who are arming and actively helping the guy, then what could you do? What's even a possibility?

HERTLING: Well, if I'm a military commander in some of these P.C. and D.C. meetings with the national security team, what I'm suggesting is our objective, our strategy is to defeat ISIL. That's got to remain the focus. That is our end-state, to have ISIL no longer existing.

We're again having some gains in Iraq. Some things have happened over the last couple days that seem like we're generating some momentum.

But then when you look at Syria and you say, "Hey, we've been going after ISIL targets in Syria, but that has only emboldened Mr. Assad to go after his other opponents."

CUOMO: Right.

HERTLING: Because we're basically taking on one of his opponents. So we may have to adjust how we go after ISIL in Syria, what we do.

And as you know, Chris, it's been a lot more difficult to vet, before we even get to training, some of the Free Syrian Armies. We've got to -- we've got to find out who the people are that will actually fight. And there's an ebb and flow within any terrorist organization about who's joining which and how they gain recruits. We're going to have to break through that. And that's going to be extremely difficult.

CUOMO: Boy, this is a good time to be on the sidelines, General, although we need good men like you helping us make the right decisions on the ground, as well.

HERTLING: That's kind of you.

CUOMO: General Mark Hertling, thank you very much.

HERTLING: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: It's just the truth. Just the truth, sir. Thank you for the perspective this morning -- Alisyn. CAMEROTA: Chris, we have a rare look into this morning how ISIS is

luring young western recruits. We have new details about how the terrorists solicited three Denver teenagers.

CNN's justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, has all the disturbing details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned hardened jihadists currently fighting with ISIS overseas had direct contact with three Denver teens: 15- and 17-year-old sisters and their 16- year-old friend, using social media to lure them to jihad.

DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, FEDERATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: These were role models to them and people they could be in contact with. And social media, which is both more immediate and allows you to immerse yourself in an extremist environment, being used as a recruiting platform.

BROWN: A law-enforcement official says some of the jihadist recruiters were westerners fighting in Syria. They were encouraging the girls to join ISIS, even giving them a road map of how to go from Denver all the way to Syria and eventually link up with the brutal terrorist group.

GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: They can interact in real-time with other people through tweets, and this is very immersive to them.

BROWN: In October, the teens made it halfway to Syria before they were stopped by authorities in Frankfurt, Germany. After the teens didn't show up for school, their parents alerted authorities, who found a treasure trove of information on the teen's social media profiles.

RITZ KATZ, SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP: It's literally a case study of radicalization through the Internet.

BROWN: The SITE Intelligence Group tracks international terrorists and analyzed the teens' online activity.

KATZ: The same girl that was asked one day, "How many hours of music you listen to on a daily basis," and she used to say, "I don't know. I can't count, but I dance and I listen to music hours and hours." Then a few months later she was asked how many hours of music you listen to. She said, "Music is forbidden."

BROWN: U.S. officials say this case is a unique opportunity to track efforts by terrorist groups to recruit westerners. ISIS members have successfully played a role recruiting several Americans online. SITE Intelligence says the Denver teens were communicating with both men and women recruiters.

KATZ: The girls were in communication with ISIS sisters online. Women that are dedicated to recruit women.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: And we want to bring in Pamela Brown now. It is just so hard to imagine that American teenagers are interested in that way of life. Have these teenagers in Denver been charged with anything?

BROWN: At this point they have not been charged. The case is ongoing. It's unlikely they will be charged. Because bottom line, the federal system just isn't equipped to handle this kind of system with juveniles. And that's a big issue.

You know, talking to law enforcement officials, they admit that their hands are really tied in that sense, because of the way the federal system is set up. And we're talking about federal officials, as well.

And also, I think that there's a sense in this case the parents were the ones to alert authorities. And I think the concern is that they are charged, that maybe that will deter parents moving forward to alert authorities...

CAMEROTA: Makes sense.

BROWN: ... if they suspect their child is up to something. Because parents really play the key role in all this.

CUOMO: Our system is set up to protect kids differently from the criminal justice system in general. So it's not expected to go that route. The bigger concern is going to be, well, if these girls were lured, how do we keep others from being lured? How real do they think the threat is of more of this?

BROWN: It's very real. Talking to law-enforcement officials, they say that it's an alarming problem. This is -- they're calling this, really, a phenomenon, because it's the perfect storm of issues. You have what's going on in Syria, the foreign fighters. You have just, you know, ISIS relying on social media as a recruiting tool, and then vulnerable youth in the U.S., who are on social media all the time.

And so that is creating this issue where you see these girls like what you saw in Denver, wanting to go over there and fight. In fact there are other cases similar to that around their ages we don't even know about, because they haven't been charged. So it's -- we don't know about them.

CAMEROTA: Wow. Incredible stuff. Pamela, thanks so much for breaking it down for us. Great to see you.

CUOMO: All right. Now to the Ukraine. Officials there tell CNN they are getting ready to defend themselves against a huge new offensive from pro-Russian separatists. The U.S. accusing Russia of undermining a cease-fire there by sending troops and weapons into the country again.

Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has the very latest Moscow. Matthew, what's the word?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, thanks very much.

Well, the Russians are categorically denying those allegations by the United States and NATO that they are fueling this conflict in eastern Ukraine. NATO said it has sighted Russian tanks, Russian artillery and Russian combat troops crossing from Ukraine -- sorry, crossing from Russia into Ukraine to those area held by the pro-Russian separatists.

The Russian officials that we've spoken to saying that is just propaganda and does not reflect the situation on the ground. But it follows international observers reporting in the past 48 hours that they've seen at least 43 military trucks coming from the direction of Russia, towards Donetsk, which is in eastern Ukraine, some of the them carrying heavy artillery pieces; others carrying multiple rocket launchers, perhaps of the kind that may have been used to shoot down the Malaysian airliner, Flight MH-17. Ad so very worrying military movements on the ground.

And as mentioned, everybody now just bracing for this region, which has been supposedly engaged in a truce since September, going back into full-scale conflict again -- Chris.

CUOMO: Matthew, any sense on that end about timing? Why now? Is it just that they feel they're being ignored because how the U.S. and the coalition is distracted with other matters? What is it?

CHANCE: I mean, that may play into it, certainly. But I think there's a bigger picture to think about from a Russian point of view. Which is that winter is coming. They've already annexed the Crimean Peninsula, remember last March. That peninsula can only be reached by sea. They want to establish a land corridor that would make it very easy for them to supply that region with food and fuel as the winter approaches. So that may be what the motivation is.

CUOMO: All right, Matthew, appreciate it. We'll stay with you on this.

A lot of other news this morning. Let's get you right to Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. Good morning, guys.

And good morning to you at home.

This morning, Navy officials are investigating an assault on three U.S. sailors caught on video in Turkey. Look at this. Military officials say the sailors were attacked by members of the Turkish Youth Union, who put bags over the sailors' heads and shouted obscenities. The parents of one of the soldiers spoke out about the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flesh reaction is fear and anger. But then the peace of God just comes in and gives you peace about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PEREIRA: American officials tell CNN the sailors are now safely back aboard the USS Ross destroyer.

House Republicans have pushed a vote to Friday to approve the Keystone Pipeline. The bill is sponsored by Republican Bill Cassidy, who's currently in a run-off for the Louisiana Senate against incumbent Mary Landrieu. Senate Democrats are no longer blocking legislation and will take it up next week. We're also hearing Democratic Party favorite Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is among those being considered for a Senate leadership post when elections are held today.

Chinese hackers at it again. They're accused of targeting U.S. weather systems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says four websites and some satellite feeds were compromised in October by a, quote, "Internet-sourced attack."

The National Weather Service was among the targets. This is just the latest in a series of hacking attacks being blamed on the Chinese, including that recent breach of the postal service's computer network, compromising the personal data of some 80,000 employees and several million customers.

Horrifying 911 calls have just been released from the deadly school shooting last month in Washington state. On the recording, a teacher pleading for help amid the chaos as a student armed with a gun took innocent lives one by one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have reports of gunfire.

PEREIRA (voice-over): Chilling newly-released 911 calls capture those terrifying moments during the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just ran out of the school. The door was right there, and I am out of the school right now.

PEREIRA: Students, teachers and staff flooding 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just left the cafeteria and guided students out the side door.

PEREIRA: As inside the cafeteria freshman Jaylen Fryberg shot five of his classmates, injuring one. Another died on the scene. Three later succumbed to their injuries.

MEGAN SILBERBERGER, TEACHER: We have many injured. Marysville- Pilchuck High School. We need emergency right away.

PEREIRA: And we're now hearing for the first time the heroic teacher who tried to stop Fryberg.

SILBERBERGER: Blood is everywhere. I do not see the gun.

PEREIRA: Before the 15-year-old turned the gun on himself.

SILBERBERGER: I need help, I need help now. He is wearing all black. I'm staring at him right now, sitting next to him. He is a high school student. I do not know how old he is. I tried to stop him before he shot himself.

PEREIRA: As word spread quickly around the community, frantic calls from parents began pouring in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got a phone call from my daughter from Pilchuck High School.

PEREIRA: Zoe Galasso's mother messaged her daughter, "Are you OK?" But the 14-year-old never responded.

MICHELLE GALASSO, MOTHER OF ZOE GALASSO: They finally -- finally had to tell us that our child had passed at the school. He took away the best things that I ever brought into this world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: That mother, Michelle Galasso, her child was one of the first to die in the cafeteria that terrible day. She says she forgives Jaylen Fryberg, the shooter. She says, quote, "I have to forgive, because I cannot waste my life hating or being angry." She also says that when she saw Jaylen Fryberg's mom, she went up and hugged her and told her that she loved her, because she realizes that mother is grieving, as well.

CAMEROTA: Gosh, it's so painful.

PEREIRA: Very painful.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, so many parents want answers to why. But you don't get those answers.

CUOMO: Right. And very often people misunderstand why they forgive. They're like how could you forgive? You forgive for you, so that you can go on with your life.

PEREIRA: Right.

CUOMO: And in many cases, they feel that's a way of not letting the person who did the bad thing...

PEREIRA: Win. Right.

CUOMO: ... continue to control over your life.

PEREIRA: It's a way to heal.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful, but it's so hard to do.

PEREIRA: It's hard to imagine it, too. We send our love. That's all we can do.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Michaela.

All right. Let's get over to meteorologist Indra Petersons. She's keeping track of all the latest forecast for us. You were right; it has turned cold.

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We were talking about it for a while, and I'm sure you're like when is it going to get here, right? "I can't wait."

Well, today if you're in the northeast, that cold air has finally made it. We're talking about a good 20-degree temperature drop that is expected today. New York City's highs only into the 40s. And it cools off even further as that cool air continues to linger.

That's not to say that that cold air is gone from the upper Midwest or the plains. Take a look at the numbers right now. Monroe (ph), 8 below. And everybody's been talking about Denver. They had a record high. Because it was so cold yesterday of just 6 degrees. You factor in the wind chill; right now it feels like 32 below. That bite is here, it is strong, and it's expected to last.

Places even in the south are talking about temperatures 30 degrees below average.

Into the northeast today, see, not as bad. Perspective, guys. Only about ten, 15 below average for us. But a low is developing so we are going to see some rain and even some snow showers into New England.

The big thing you need to know, is this going to last? Yes, we're going to be talking about that cold air lingering. Because here comes that next storm, meaning the temperatures, they're going to be staying cold for some time all the way even in through next week. We're talking about round two on the way. Oh, yay.

CAMEROTA: All right. Thanks so much, Indra.

All right. There was high drama in the sky at the World Trade Center yesterday. Two window washers dangling from the building. That is 68 stories up, what you're seeing on your screen. Yikes. But New York's bravest to the rescue. How did this happen at one of the supposedly safest buildings of the world?

CUOMO: And as you now know, we landed a comet going 34,000 miles an hour. We landed right on it, hurray! But can we stay there? Is the spacecraft that landed on that comet going to be OK? It nearly bounced right off. It's now hanging on by a thread. What can we do? We have the latest, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Two window washers are safe this morning, after a terrifying scene at One World Trade Center. Look at this. The two men were clinging to a dangling scaffold for more than an hour, hundreds of feet up in the air. This is outside the 68th floor of the new skyscraper. CNN's Erin Burnett asked one rescuer how they managed to cut through

the windows, which are supposed to be impenetrable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You put some laminate on it and some suction cups and you basically cut the door -- into the shape of a door. And you pull everything back one section at a time. Very, very slow. Very calculated.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: What was their condition when you got to them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they were good. They understood. We lowered them down -- Radio Squad 18 lowered them down a radio and some ropes, so we substantially tied them off. So the fire department had them secure on a rope. So they knew they were safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: The incident is prompting serious questions about how a problem could arise so quickly at the new building. It's only been a week since the first tenants moved in.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is live at One World Trade Center with more for us. Miguel, this was a nail-biter, watching this unfold live.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nail-biter, stomach-churning, heart-wrenching, whatever you want to say. People were staring up at this building in absolute fear out here.

Look, these rigs had been operating since June. They were installed last year. No problems so far. Now everything is on hold until there's an investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Frightening moments unfolding on the newly opened One World Trade Center. Two window washers trapped on a platform dangling 68 floors above the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm seeing two heads right now dangling over their scaffolding.

MARQUEZ: At about 12:40 in the afternoon, 41-year-old Juan Lizama and 33-year-old Juan Lopez were headed to the roof of the Freedom Tower when a cable on one side of the platform gave way. The workers pushed the emergency stop button, but the rig didn't come to an immediate stop, dropping it from horizontal to nearly vertical.

LT. WILLIAM RYAN, NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: They weren't going anywhere. You know, so they weren't panicking. But they had no options.

MARQUEZ: Within minutes, authorities on scene, the rescue begins. With another platform in place on the roof as a back-up plan, rescue workers use a diamond saw to cut through three layers of thick glass to reach the trapped workers.

After 90 heart-stopping minutes, they succeeded, pulling the men through the 68th-floor window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our people are trained for it. And they just amaze me every time with how good they are at it.

MARQUEZ: Officials credit police and fire departments and the workers themselves for being prepared for this dangerous rescue.

SHIRLEY ADEBOL, VICE PRESIDENT, 329J SEIU UNION: Had they not had the proper equipment and the proper training to handle a situation like this, we might have had a different ending to this story.

MARQUEZ: Upgrade Services, the company employing the workers, issued a statement saying, "Although all safety measures were exercised, the cause of the incident appears to be equipment failure."

Officials at Tractel, the company that designed, built and installed the window-washing rig, had no comment. Tractel also designed the scaffolding that collapsed at the Hearst Tower in midtown Manhattan last year, leaving two workers stranded more than 550 feet in the air before eventually being rescued.

The window washers have now been released from the hospital, lucky to be alive after dangling from the tallest building in America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now that scaffolding has been secured at the top of One World Trade Center. And the window on this brand-new building? It's been repaired with tape and some plywood.

Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: That sounds like MacGyver. Now how, Miguel, did these workers who were trapped on that scaffold manage to stay calm during the incident?

MARQUEZ: Well, the big thing was that the fire department was able to get a rope down to them, a single half-inch rope from the very top of that all the way down to them. It held a radio on at the very end of it and then two knots on there where they could secure themselves into. So if the scaffolding went, they would at least be on a completely different system and safe.

The fire department says, you know, these guys are trained up. They're used to handling this sort of stuff. They were on the radio with them the entire time, and they were good sports about it. Amazingly enough, just a little bit of hypothermia.

CUOMO: It was a really complex coordination that they had to do from the first responder standpoint. But is it true, Miguel, that they had been training on how to do this, just like ten days ago?

MARQUEZ: They had been training on this specific action in the event of this at this building, and they were looking at two different ways of going at it. Either through the window, which they eventually did. They were also setting up another scaffolding up on the top to bring it all the way down to them. That would have taken a heck of a lot more time -- Chris.

CAMEROTA: Wow. Scary stuff. Miguel Marquez, thanks for making us relive it this morning.

CUOMO: Now, every time we show the Freedom Tower, people are obviously moved by it because of what it represents, we get a lot of questions about why it looks like that, the architectural design.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: The eight sides weren't about how to make it look. They represent the eight sides of the original two towers. So that's why.

CAMEROTA: I didn't know that.

CUOMO: There's symbolism to it.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting. All right.

Meanwhile, more violent protests to tell about in Mexico, with demonstrators now setting fire to a major government building. When will the people there get answers about those dozens of missing students who may have been massacred?

CUOMO: And hanging by a thread -- no, not the window washers, they're OK now. It's the lander that isn't. Three different systems were designed to keep that lander on that speeding comet. All of them failed. So will it stay put? Can it stay put? Or is more than a decade of work hanging on by a thread, just like the lander? We have the very latest from mission control.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)