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Clinton Stumbles Leaving 9/11 Event Early; Clinton's Health Discussed; Obama to Survivors: Your Strength is an Inspiration; New NYC Monument Will Honor First Responders; Johnson: Since 9/11 "We're on Constant State of Alert"; Clinton Describes "Sickening Experience" Of 9/11. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 11, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in New York. We're following breaking news of Hillary Clinton's leaving a 9/11 event early after feeling unwell. CNN has obtained new video showing Hillary Clinton stumbling as she leaves the 9/11 memorial ceremony earlier today here in New York.

The campaign says -- the Hillary Clinton campaign says she left the event early after feeling overheated. You can see her appearing to lose her balance as aides assist her into the car. Her motorcade have then took her to her daughter, Chelsea's nearby apartment. In a few hours later she left waving to the media. You see her walking out that door saying she felt great, when she was asked by a reporter how she's feeling. She's got a big smile there.

Right now, that video, a few hours ago. Let's bring in CNN's MJ Lee who's in New York. She's watching what's going on. Do we know precisely, MJ, what happened, what the campaign is saying in their official statements?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Hi, Wolf. What was supposed to be a quite day for Hillary Clinton has turned into a drama-filled day. We are outside of Chelsea Clinton's home. This is where Hillary Clinton was brought by her campaign after the campaign says she felt overheated. She left a little bit before noon and seemed okay to reporters that were waiting outside to get a glimpse of her. She even paused to take a photo with a little girl before getting in the van and she is now at her home in Chappaqua.

Remember, this was supposed to be a quiet day for Hillary Clinton. Nothing about it was supposed to be political. She had no other events other than her visit to the 9/11 Memorial planned for today.

Of course the episode this morning is raising more questions about her health, especially with her issue of her health, having become such a politically sensitive issue this campaign cycle. Certainly we will see Trump allies and some of Hillary Clinton's critics continue to raise more questions about the state of her health. The campaign insist that she is feeling fine but has not said anything more other than she was feeling overheated.

Also, one other thing to watch out for is whether this potentially changes her plans for the coming week. She was set to travel to the West Coast on Monday, tomorrow. So we will see if what happened today will end up affecting those campaign plans, Wolf.

BLITZER: MJ Lee reporting from New York. I want to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent to join us right now on the phone. Sanjay, thanks very much. The video, you've seen it, our viewers have now seen it several times as she goes into the van. She seems nearly to collapse. It's pretty disturbing when you see the video. What should we make of this?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's very noticeable, Wolf. No question when you watch that video. I think that if you're watching it now, you sort of see her standing there and she is having -- it looks like someone supporting her on the left side, you know, sort of helping her but she's standing there seemingly no problem. It's really when she starts to move towards the van that you really notice how unsteady she seems to be. And then clearly when she gets to the van, she has real trouble sort of stumbling into the van.

You know, when you look at this first, just looking at a video like anybody else, it's very hard for anybody to have too much speculation or conjecture around this. But I think one of the things, you know, you keep in mind is that common things are common when it comes to medical things like this. If someone -- you heard somebody who isn't feeling well in a hot setting, felt unsteady, unbalanced, you would think someone who has a component of dehydration, maybe low blood pressure, was it a little bit an underlying viral illness or something like that, those would be the things that immediately sort of come to mind especially as you point out, Wolf, sometimes later not that much later you do see her coming out and, you know, smiling, waiving obviously of her own accord, whatever, have seemed to be rather short lived.

BLITZER: Yes, she did come out and she was smiling and shook hands with some people around on the sidewalk there, outside of Chelsea Clinton's apartment, answered one question from a reporter, how are you feeling? She said great.

Hypothyroidism, seasonal pollen allergies, talk a little bit about that. Because that's what we're hearing from the campaign.

GUPTA: Well, you know, when you start to piece these things together and again, you know, when you're doing this, you sort of doing it retroactively, meaning, you seen what's happened and now you're trying to explain it.

Hypothyroidism. So people who have hypothyroidism will take a medication to increase their thyroid function. I think the reason the campaign is bringing it up is because they had described -- because she had described this feeling overheated.

Sometimes thyroid medication can make somebody feel overheated. You're giving excess -- extra, I should say, thyroid hormones. So that again in combination with the heat, withstanding in a particular position for a long time, all those things can add up.

With regard to allergy medication, you're talking about anti- histamines, typically decongestants. The decongestants says that they make you feel dry so your nose is not running anymore but it also makes your body sort of dry as well, meaning, the more likely to be dehydrated, more likely to have a low blood pressure.

Again, in isolation or in combination with the conditions of the event where she was at, those are plausible. But again, all of this, I want to be clear, still speculation. We just don't know. It doesn't appear that she went to a -- saw a medical profession or somebody after this episode. So we don't have any some real data which is what doctors would want.

BLITZER: Yes. Here in New York, it's above 80 degrees today. Earlier this morning, it wasn't that hot but it was still close to 80, maybe a little bit higher than 80 degrees. She was there for more than an hour that 9/11 Memorial event and she left early because apparently she wasn't feeling that great.

Here is a statement, Sanjay, that the Clinton campaign put out and I'm quoting it now. Secretary Clinton attended the September 11th Commemoration Ceremony for an hour and thirty minutes this morning to pay her respects and greet some of the family of the fallen. During the ceremony, she felt overheated so departed to go to her daughter's apartment and is feeling much better.

That's the statement that the campaign put out. You know, it's of concern, a lot of this is of concern, Sanjay, because the history -- there's a history there, back in late 2012, she did have a faintings felt, she did have a concussion, as we remember, and there was a blood clot that was discovered in her neurosurgeon, thrombosis as it's called between her brain and her skull. She's been taking medication, blood thinners, ever since. Could any of that be having an impact today?

GUPTA: I think the answer is yes. I think there's no question that you have to think about that. You ask, could it have an impact today and the answer is yes. Did it, does it? We don't know it. And because we don't know if there was kind of any medical testing today after this recent episode. But I think the first thing that you brought up was that she fainted in 2012, which why she found her -- she hit her head at that point and it was that blow to the head that also caused this blood clot to form in one of the blood vessel.

Now why'd she faint back then and she fainted again now? Again, it could very simply be common things in common,an episode of dehydration, going too long without drinking, having a very active schedule where, you know, these things again all add up, added to the medications that she may have been taking back then, has taking now, all those things add up.

So that's the first thing. She's fainted sounds like twice. In fact again, today was an actual fainting episode. The second thing is the sort of aftermath of the injury that she had to her brain into that blood vessel. You know, her doctors have been very clear on this and have said that there's no persistent side effects from that injury. She's on blood thinners as you point out. So somebody who's on blood thinners, you do worry that if they do have

a fall again or something, they're more likely to bleed. But the blood thinners themselves should not cause an episode like this.

BLITZER: Blood thinners, I mean, baby aspirin can be a blood thinner. She takes what's called Coumadin. Tell us about that.

GUPTA: Coumadin is a commonly taken blood thinner. It's a medication that's attractive because it could be taken orally. A lot of blood thinners have to be given injection or some sort. So this is one that can be taken orally.

And it's typically, you know, a medication that you do have to have your blood levels checked periodically to make sure that in fact you're getting enough of the medication, not too much of the medication and that your blood is sort of at the right level of clotting.

She's been on that. It sounds like for some time, (inaudible) has a history of being (inaudible) blood clots within the legs and you want to give blood thinners because the concern is they could break off and go to the lungs.

So even before the episode in 2012, to my understanding, if I'm working at her medical chart, the medical not I should say, was that she had blood thinners already.

BLITZER: And you say it looks like when she was trying to get into the van, she actually fainted, is that your conclusion based on the video we're all taking a look at, Sanjay?

GUPTA: I really -- I can't say. It's characterized that way I think by some folks who may have been closer. You can't tell. She definitely seems to stumble.

Again, what is striking when you watch the video and I'm not watching it right now myself, but if you can see it, Wolf, that she's standing, you know, with some assistance from somebody to her left but the standing, okay. It's really when she starts to move that she has trouble. And that would make sense, if she starts to move that she has trouble. And that would make sense, again, with somebody who's feeling imbalanced because of low blood pressure, dehydration, whatever, could be a multitude of different reasons. But that one would sort of spring to the top of the list.

I think, Wolf, as she's getting into the van, she sort of falls forward. She doesn't quite make it into the van initially. So I don't know what happened there if that was more of a stumble. I don't think anyone can tell from looking at that video that she fainted.

BLITZER: One quick question. She's supposed to fly off to California tomorrow. Out of an abundance of caution, if you were her physician, would you tell her, you know, maybe do some medical exams before you do that? Would you check her in or at least have a physician take a closer look? What would you do? GUPTA: Yes. I think -- I think I would. And this has less to do with the fact she's Hillary Clinton or a candidate for president but I think if you hear of anybody who's having this episode, it's a little bit unusual, maybe not surprising given again the heat of the day and the medications. But I think as you said out of an abundance of caution, you know, I'd probably want to make sure that her blood pressure, do routine EKG, check some basic lab values. And that's not, you know, in medicine, you have your strong suspicions. And I think again most common conclusion here is what we've been talking about.

But out of an abundance of caution and in an interest in thoroughness, you might want to check those other things. And if they check out fine, I think she had no problem traveling. But, you know, if I were Dr. Bardak, who's her doctor, or any of those doctors who'd be caring for her, I'd be wondering if there's (inaudible). We should probably just get some routine tests, given what had happened today.

BLITZER: Yes, that would be good advice from Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay is going to be with us throughout the afternoon as we cover this story. We have a lot more coming up. Let's take a quick break. We will resume our special coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. We're following the breaking news. Hillary Clinton seen stumbling as she left the 9/11 Memorial event earlier today, telling she wasn't feeling well. She looked fine as she left her daughter's apartment a few hours later but it sure to raise lots of questions about her health. There she is leaving Chelsea Clinton's apartment in New York City.

Let's talk about this with Rebecca Berg, CNN political analyst and Ryan Liza, also a CNN political commentator.

Rebecca, you obviously are anticipating -- all of us are anticipating, lots of questions now are being raised about Hillary Clinton's health, fair or not. The issue is certainly not going to go away. How should her campaign handle this?

REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, Wolf, the best way for her campaign to handle this would be in the way that they haven't handled questions like this so far and that's with the utmost transparency. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I should note, have not released their full health records which has been an ongoing question in this campaign.

And really, throughout the day, they have not been giving the press any sort of constant updates. It took them I think 90 minutes between Hillary Clinton leaving the 9/11 Memorial, and then before they were able to give the press any sort of indication as to her whereabouts or what had happened and even now we don't know if she has met with a doctor, what sort of test she's going through, if any, what she's doing at her home in Chappaqua?

And so really I think it would behoove them at this stage to just be transparent and tell people what's going on. Because certainly, this question is now going to be on voters' minds and it's going to be a topic of conversation.

BLITZER: The Hillary Clinton campaign certainly released more details about Hillary Clinton's health than the Donald Trump campaign has released about his health. They're both approximately the same age, she's what, 69 years old; he's 70 years old.

So Ryan, this is going to fuel though the conspiracy theories that have out there over these past several weeks that she's not in good health.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And, you know, I agree with just about everything Rebecca just said. Most of the conspiracy -- these conspiracy theories are just that, they're conspiracy theories, you know, there's one floating around based on a video of Clinton joking around. And so they were nothing that anyone should have taken seriously.

But now she's publicly had a bit of an issue here and transparency is the key here. The Clinton campaign didn't do so well today, frankly. They didn't allow the traveling press pool to leave with her. There was radio silence from the campaign when she left the 9/11 Memorial this morning and frankly, the press didn't know she was gone.

And so look, you know, we have -- there have to be somewhat understanding in a situation like this, it's hard to get information to the press. But this is now going to be a pretty significant issue. And going forward, what they need to do is explain exactly what happened, what her physicians believe happened here and make sure that the public knows that there's nothing more -- there's nothing more serious. Because I can guarantee you that Donald Trump and his surrogates will make an issue of this.

They made an issue of her health when there was no reason for concern. Now that there is something publicly concerning, it will be a top issue and transparency is the key for the Clinton campaign if they want to -- and they need to make sure, you know, the public understands what happened.

BLITZER: Well, you know, I've spoken to some people, Rebecca, who said the best thing for her to do is do a little news conference, explain what happened in her own words but also at the same time invite her physician to join the conversation and answer reporters' questions and give a precise accounting of what happened, which maybe not that significant, could be significant but maybe that would be the best way to show that presumably she's okay.

BERG: Sure. I think that would be a great idea, Wolf. And i think she and her campaign could certainly point out that candidates for president, vice president have dealt with health issues before. I mean, usually the norm is not for someone in their 30s or 40s to be running for president. The norm is for people much older than that to be running and so you're going to have had health issues over the course of your lifetime. Dick Cheney, he actually decided in 1996 not to run for president because he was worried his past heart attacks would be a campaign issue. But he ran in 2000 with really very few questions asked about his heart health.

Of course, during the Florida recount, he then had a fourth heart attack at his lifetime but still doing fine today. And so, she could very well point out that people have been in this position before, have been able to fulfill their offices. George W. Bush fainted when he was president and that was an issue for a short period of time and he came forward and just explained what had happened. He said and this is a great George W. Bush classic, "I hit the decks." He told people what happened and people moved on. And so I think that would be the very wise course of action for Hillary Clinton in this case as well.

BLITZER: And Ryan, you heard our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who's a neurosurgeon, he's an expert in these kinds of areas. He did say precisely that, you know what? Maybe out of an abundance of caution, she should have a complete checkup right now to make sure, for example, it's not at all connected to what happened at the end of 2012 which she fainted, she hit her head, she had a concussion and as a result, she had a blood clot between her brain and her skull and she's been taking some blood thinners ever since.

I think out of an abundance of caution, he's saying maybe she should delay her trip to California tomorrow and have a complete checkup

LIZZA: Yes. Look, out of an abundance of caution, I think it's very important for us as political commentators not to play doctor and not to think that we know exactly what happened here.

I noticed that Sanjay was very careful in not doing some kind of diagnosis from afar. This could be nothing or could be something serious. We, you know, don't know from a grainy video at a distance.

You know, as Rebecca pointed out George H.W. Bush famously fainted when he was in public in Japan in the late 80s or early 90s and George W. Bush choked on a pretzel in the White House and passed out and got a big bump on his head. Both of the incidents caused great public concern and turned out to be nothing in the end.

And so again, it goes back to this issue of transparency. You know, right now we have scant details, we're speculating about her incident in 2012 when she had a concussion and a blood clot. Her husband, after that happened, he publicly said, Bill Clinton publicly said that it took her about six months of serious work to get over that concussion. It was no small thing.

So we would obviously want to know if it's anything related to -- if this is related to that or as some reports are suggesting if it's related to her allergies. She has had some issues with allergies on the campaign trail recently. We don't know. So that's why it's so important that they need to come out very clearly with medical professionals and just explain exactly what happened here. That's the best way for them to go forward and for us to understand it. Because, you know, the worst thing in the world would be for issues like this to be hanging over the campaign.

And, you know, if she enters the White House and we don't know, we don't want to go back to the bad old days where we had presidents who entered the White House with medical conditions the public didn't know about.

BLITZER: That's good advice, Ryan Lizza, thanks very much. Rebecca Berg, thanks to you. You guys are going to stay with us as well.

And all of us, remember those very thick glasses that Hillary Clinton wore during those six months or so when she was recuperating from the blood clot. We're going to continue to follow the breaking news on Hillary Clinton. What this potential could mean for her campaign? Much more of the news, stay with us, we will take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're following breaking news. Hillary Clinton seen stumbling as she leaves the 9/11 Memorial ceremony earlier today in New York City. The Clinton campaign says she left the event early after feeling overheated. She had been there for about an hour and a half. As you can see, Clinton appears to lose her balance as aides assist her into the car. The motorcade then took her to her daughter, Chelsea's nearby apartment. And in a few hours later, she left that apartment as she actually walked outside, you see that video right there, she waved. She told reporters in response to a question she felt great.

She is now back at her home in Chappaqua, outside of New York City in Westchester. We will continue to follow the story, get more information. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be joining us up.

This is an important day. This is the day we remember the coordinated terror attacks of 9/11, 15 years ago that killed nearly 3,000 Americans and changed this country forever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In New York, families have gathered at the Twin Tower's Memorial Site to honor and read the names of the 2,753 people who died in the attacks on the world trade center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Janice Lee Blainy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Craig Michael Blass.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rita Blau.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Richard Middleton Blood.

BLITZER: The 40 victims of Flight 93 were honored with a moment of silence in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in that field where that plane went down.

And over at the Pentagon, President Obama addressed survivors and victim's families after a wreath laying ceremony and called on the country to honor their strength and resilience by going forward.

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: In the end, the most enduring memorial to those we lost is ensuring the America that we continue to be. That we stay true to ourselves. That we stay true to what's best in us. That we do not let others divide us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that a new monument will be built in New York City. The monument will be dedicated to the first responders and the survivors who continue to suffer from health issues related to the aftermath of the attack.

Let's bring in CNN's Rachel Crane. She's nearby the World Trade Center Memorial right now. Rachel, a lot of reflecting about this very, very important day 15 years ago, but many people discussing how 9/11 has changed and will continue to change national security. What's the latest on that front?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, today is, of course, a day of mourning and remembrance. And behind me stands the ultimate symbol of our country's resilience, a new tower stands occupied.

But of course today, folks feelings of fear for many Americans worrying that another major terrorist attack could be on the horizon. We spoke to the police commissioner earlier today who said that there is no immediate threat of a terrorist attack.

We also spoke to the secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, who said that the U.S. has never been a better equipped to handle a 9/11 style attack. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:30:11] JEH JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We're on a constant state of alert against not only the terrorist directed attack of the 9/11 type, but also terrorist inspired attacks, the so-called lone wolf, the home grown violent extremist of the type we've seen in San Bernardino and Orlando.

We're in a relatively new environment now where we've got to be concerned about the traditional threat as well as this new threat where al Qaeda, ISIL can literally reach into our homeland through the internet and social media to recruit and inspire people here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: And Wolf, Jeh Johnson went on to say it was those lone wolf style attacks that actually keep him up at night. Now of course the memorial here at Ground Zero is not the only one being held today to honor the victims and their families.

Many being held across the country, as you pointed out, one earlier today at the Pentagon that the president attended. This evening the tribute in lights will be visible from a 16-mile radius here in New York and those lights will dim at dawn -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Important day indeed. Rachel Crane reporting for us. Stay with us. We'll continue the breaking news coverage of Hillary Clinton's health, she was seen taking a stumble earlier this morning after leaving that 9/11 memorial service here in New York City. We'll take a quick break and be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from New York. We are following the breaking news, Hillary Clinton leaving a 9/11 memorial event earlier today here in New York City feeling unwell.

CNN has obtained new video showing Hillary Clinton stumbling as she leaves the 9/11 Memorial ceremony in New York. The campaign says she left the event early after feeling overheated.

[14:35:04]You can see her appearing to lose her balance as her aides assist her into the car. The motorcade then took her to her daughter, Chelsea Clinton's nearby apartment, and a few hours later she left the apartment, you see the video waving to reporters in response to a question she said she felt great.

CNN politics producer, Dan Merica, was part of the traveling press corps that was with her at this morning's event, the 9/11 memorial event. Dan is joining us on the phone right now. She's in Chappaqua at her home. What is the campaign saying about all of this?

DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICS PRODUCER (via telephone): It's a concern politically and health wise. Questions about Hillary Clinton's health have been festering on right wing web sites for months now and the video that you talked about her wobbling and needing to be helped into her van as she left the 9/11 memorial early, just kind of adds to that, and brings it more into the main stream as other people talking about it.

They're concerned about it in that regard, but they are also concerned for her health. She clearly tried to squash that when she left Chelsea Clinton's home apartment in Manhattan today. She walked out. She waved to the crowd.

A young girl kind of ran over to her from a restaurant nearby and said she was feeling great and a beautiful New York day. But that video is going to get I would imagine a lot less play than the one of her wobbling into the van, which is what concerns the campaign.

BLITZER: Is the campaign planning on putting her out there to speak to reporters, putting her physician out there to explain precisely what happened? Any indication, any of that is about to happen?

MERICA: We have no indication of that, but when these stories about her health began to bubble up, including medical records that were tampered with by her right wing web site. They had her physician put out another letter saying that she was healthy.

Hillary Clinton was asked about it by reporters on her plane this week. She said she was healthy and attributed her -- she had a coughing fit event in Ohio, she attributed it to seasonal allergies. This shows that this has been something that has been talked about for the last few weeks and months and the campaign has already had to respond to it. There's no indication that she is going to come out and release a statement or give a statement to the press or have her doctor come out.

But it's clearly something they have to address in the coming days about what exactly happened. They said that she got overheated, but the video shows her kind of wobbling into the car so there's going to be more questions that need to be answered.

She's supposed to fly to California tomorrow for a fundraiser in San Francisco and Los Angeles so we're expecting or hoping we'll see her, maybe get to talk to her sometime tomorrow on the plane.

BLITZER: As of now that trip is still scheduled, right?

MERICA: As of now that trip is still scheduled. The fundraiser has not been canceled. She has an event in Los Angeles and Las Vegas early next week. It's a full week of campaigning for her and as of now nothing has been moved around.

BLITZER: Dan Merica covers the Hillary Clinton for us. He is in Chappaqua where Hillary Clinton is right now as well. Dan, stay in touch with us. Get more news from the campaign we'll bring it to our viewers right away.

Just ahead, Hillary Clinton's interview with CNN, what 9/11 means to her, what her experience was like the days after the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I kept thinking what are we here for? It's not just if you're public service, what are we here on this earth for? What is the purpose, and I just feel so strongly, in part it is to, you know, do whatever we can with whatever skills and resources we have to help others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:32]

BLITZER: Earlier today Hillary Clinton left early from a 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero here in New York City saying she was overheated. We're tracking the breaking news. We're tracking the story for you. We're going to keep you updated on what we know.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to be with us as well. It's important to note that 15 years ago when planes struck the twin towers in Lower Manhattan, Hillary Clinton was then the junior senior senator from the state of New York.

In an exclusive interview with my colleague, Chris Cuomo, the Democratic presidential candidate looks back on that day and describes what she calls the sickening experience of 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Remind people where you were on 9/11 and what your earliest memory is of that day?

CLINTON: I got to the Senate, and by the time I got there, the Senate was being evacuated, Senate buildings, the capitol itself, so I gathered up my senior staff and we were just looking at each other with such total pain and confusion.

And we then of course learned about the second plane, we learned about what was happening in New York, got to a TV as quickly as possible to begin monitoring it. It was just a sickening experience, Chris.

And I went the next day, Chuck Schumer and I, we were one of the very few planes in the sky that day, the 12th, and we landed at LaGuardia, we were on a FEMA plane, and we took a helicopter and we went over, circled the burning pile.

And when we landed, we met up with governor and the mayor, and went walking toward Ground Zero, and as we moved further south and we saw this curtain of black smoke that was stretched across the island basically, occasionally it would be broken by a firefighter coming out.

[14:45:03]I remember one image so indelibly dragging his ax and it was as close to a depiction of hell that I've ever personally seen. There's a lot that I remember from those early days and from all the days after.

Because as an elected official, I felt such a responsibility to reach out and help everyone who had been affected by this terrible attack.

There weren't that many survivors, the ones who did survive were grievously injured. The loss of life was overwhelming. I went the armories and the piers to look at what was happening, how people were reacting.

It was also my job and the job of other elected officials to get our city and our state and our country what we needed. So I went back that night and Chuck and I had been at a big meeting with all the local state and federal officials.

When we got word, just shockingly that the White House had sent up a request for $20 billion, because of course the Pentagon had been hit. We were going to have to immediately start hardening our security and there wasn't one penny for New York.

And Chuck was trying to find his family. He hadn't seen his wife and children. I got the last train out of Penn Station, and got to Washington in the early morning, and went immediately home, changed, showered.

Got to the Senate where I began talking with my colleagues about what I had seen and what we were going to need in order to rebuild, and later that day, Chuck and I went with the two senators from Virginia to the White House.

And it was the four of us plus President Bush and his top officials and we were describing what we had seen, the day before he himself went, and President Bush said, what do you need?

And we said we need $20 billion. He said "You've got it." He meant it, and there were a lot of efforts to undo that pledge, starting almost immediately, but we were able to count on him.

And it meant a lot to help the families, the victims, the downtown, everything that needed to be rebuilt and give people home again. It did become very personal for me.

I saw so many problems that others weren't yet aware of, because I was listening and watching and one of the things was, what was happening to you know, the people in the neighborhoods, and particularly the people working on the pile.

Because it was clear they were being affected by this toxic brew of what had been bombed by the planes and was in the air, and unfortunately, the administration kept saying no, there's no evidence of that.

Well, you could see the evidence. You could smell and taste the evidence. So I became very passionate about helping everyone whose own health was going to be damaged because they had put themselves out to help.

When I met the families of the injured, you know, profoundly burned, in induced comas for months, the whole bottom half of a young woman's body pulverize by being hit with some piece from the plane, recently engaged, looking forward to somehow figuring out how she could walk at her wedding.

CUOMO: Her fiance refusing to leave, her begging him not to marry her, to move on with his life and him refusing to leave.

CLINTON: When I went to visit her, the first time in the hospital she was at the old Saint Vincent's Hospital originally, she was so profoundly injured, beautiful face, long hair, managed even through all the pain to display it kind of whimsical humorous personality.

And she desperately wanted to go on with her life, but she feared that she couldn't. I did everything I could to help her, because I keep thinking, what are we here for? It's not just what are we here if you're in public service. What are we here on this earth for? What is the purpose?

[14:50:00]And I feel so strongly and in part it is to do whatever we can with whatever skills and resources we have to help others, and the need was so great and so present in every place we went.

People hunting for their relatives, you know, I was working hard to set up the Victims Compensation Fund, and worked closely with Ken Feinberg and sometimes, Chris, we would have to, I'd have to send one of my staffers to go knock on a widow's door. She's still, after six months, could not get out of bed, and I would meet these shattered lives of people where they were broken, but I saw so many of them strengthen and show such resilience.

So I felt privileged, you know, whatever I could do was an honor, but it gave me an insight into the human spirit, and I like to think the spirit of New York and America that I wish every American could understand.

Because it's what makes us who we are, and how lucky, blessed we are to face terrible tragedies but to recover, to move forward, to keep thinking about the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton speaking with our own Chris Cuomo. That interview was taped Friday night. We're going to have more of that interview later this afternoon. Stay with us as our special 9/11 coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:27]

BLITZER: Welcome back. Take a look at some of the images from moments after 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. It's been 15 years since then nearly 3,000 were killed at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the crash of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

Today, we remember those we lost and those who survived. Many of you may be thinking about where you were on 9/11, a lot of us have been thinking that, how you felt, what you saw, who you lost.

Let's listen to some public officials who helped lead the country on that tragic day and the days that followed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNSON: I looked out my office window on 6th and 51st Street and first thing I saw was the smoke billowing out of the first tower against the backdrop of that beautiful blue sky.

At some point I looked up and saw the explosion, the second plane hitting. I was going back and forth between watching it visually out the window, and looking at it on TV.

The thing I'll never forget was to watch that first tower collapse. For those of us in New York the twin towers had been a permanent fixture on the skyscraper, the landscape for almost 40 years then.

MONSIGNOR JOHN DELENDICK, CHAPLAIN, NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT: When you first saw it, it's high, I really didn't comprehend it, yet it was, I thought it was debris at first. Then I saw arms and legs wave and I said oh, man, those are people.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: I had seen a man jump from the 101st floor, two people killed by debris, 200 yards maybe from me. The police with me didn't want me to go down because they thought it was too dangerous to go down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were right.

GIULIANI: But I had to get an assessment because I had -- people think about the attack, they forget the fact that I had to protect the rest of the city.

JOHNSON: You see the first tower collapse, it was almost a moment where my mind could not believe what my eyes were seeing. I kept wanting to see that tower emerge from the smoke and the dust, and of course that never happened. And it's a memory frankly that's burned into my mind. I'll never forget it.

DELENDICK: Going on the boat was quite a thing. There were very, I don't want to say upbeat when they were going, a lot of them were talking about how resourceful their husbands, their fathers were that they had a lot of rescue things in their pockets, they said they'll get out of this.

And when we got to the site, we'd gather on the corner of Liberty and West Street and they'd just look at the rubble, the immensity of it. That realization hit them that their loved ones were lost.

GIULIANI: We felt alone and the whole country rallied around us, Florida sent us people, Chicago sent us people. President Bush had FEMA up here within two hours, Joe Alba who is one of the unsung heroes of September 11.

All of a sudden, by the end of the day we felt embraced by the whole country. You can't believe how important that was to give me personal confidence and we could get through it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Tonight CNN Films has an in-depth look at the September 11th attacks. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's when I felt the danger. For the first time. It was called around you. I mean, every single cell of your body is telling you, shouldn't be here. It was radically different, the sediment, it was this white powder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got masks and extra shoulder and I want to go in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a few people here and there. And just kind of silence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, there's no word on casualties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have ammos straight down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The loss of life presumably profound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The "9/11, 15 Years Later" airs later tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.