The Ex-White House Press Secretary Just Tweeted A Gripping Play-By-Play Account Of What Happened On 9/11
September 11, 2001 is a day most Americans probably won’t forget — even though I was in second grade, I still remember that day’s events clearly. However, few remember it like ex-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who was with President Bush the entire day.
As he does every year, Fleischer took to Twitter to give a play-by-play account of what happened on 9/11 to remind everyone why it’s important to remember such a terrible day in American history.
Good morning. As I do every year on this day, I will do my best to recall what I saw on September 11, 2001.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
There was no Twitter then. But I will try to re-live history on twitter so others can know details of what happened behind the scenes.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
It all began as a normal day for the White House staff.
I woke up probably around or 6:00 (late for the WH, but we weren't scheduled to board the motorcade until after 8:00.)
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
It was a gorgeous day at the Colony Resort in Sarasota, FL. POTUS was scheduled to do an event at a local school to talk about education.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
President Bush started his day with a run. He spotted a reporter, Dick Keil of Bloomberg, who was also a runner, and asked him to join him.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
He then had his CIA briefing. The 2nd Intifata was underway so much of it was focused on the violence in the West Bank in Israel.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
However, in another part of the country, bad things were beginning to happen.
American Airlines flight 11 with 92 people aboard departs Logan Airport for Los Angeles.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
8:14am United Airlines flight 175 with 65 people on board takes off from Boston, also heading for LA.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
8:20 American Airlines flight 77 takes off from Dulles outside D.C. with 64 people aboard for LA.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
8:41 United Airlines flight 93 with 44 people on board takes off from Newark for San Francisco.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
8:46 Hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 is flown in2 the World Trade Center, killing everyone on board. Hundreds were killed in the tower
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
However, the POTUS and his team weren’t immediately aware of what was happening.
We pulled into the school and I got a page telling me a plane hit the WTC. Pagers were the fastest forms of instant messaging back then.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
The page was sent to me by Brian Bravo, a young aide in the WH press office. He heard about it bcause a friend in NYC called him.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
There was no more info than that. We didn't know if it was an accident or something else.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
But even with limited knowledge, the team knew it was time to act.
After POTUS shook hands with school officials, Karl Rove told him what happened. POTUS immediately went into a "holding room" to get info.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Everywhere POTUS goes, the military sets up a secure room w classified phones. I had never seen it used until that morning.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Pres Bush spoke with Condi Rice. No one knew yet if it was terrorism.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
But as more information reached them, the POTUS and his aides knew this was no longer an accident.
9:03 United Airlines Flight 175 is flown into the South Tower, killing all on board and hundreds more in the tower.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Here is a picture of me getting a second page about the second plane. That's how I learned about it. Advance man Mike Heath is next to me. pic.twitter.com/4JR1aHzPJo
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Chief of Staff Andy Card entered the room, interrupted POTUS, and whispered "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Bush remained in room 4 a few minutes, "listening" to the kids read, collecting his thoughts. The teacher&kids had no idea what was going on
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Michael Moore later made a move sharply critical of Pres. Bush for remaining in the room.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
The President went back into the hold to work the phones, speaking with VP, FBI Director, Condi and others. pic.twitter.com/F9Yi36L131
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
A TV was brought into the room and POTUS watched replays of the planes hitting the towers. pic.twitter.com/2fmA2wB9to
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Here is more of the scene in the hold. pic.twitter.com/5PAsogArwo
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
They knew they would have to act, but it was still unclear what they could do — and if they were even safe.
9:31 Bush spoke briefly to a gathering of teachers &kids in the gym. The Secret Service wanted to leave. Bush wanted to address the nation.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Bush called it "an apparent terrorist attack." The press later faulted his remarks, saying he appeared unsteady. https://t.co/t0JdHRst7A
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
9:33 Reagan airport tower calls Secret Service (USSS) 2say "an aircraft is coming at you and not talking to us." That was 1st threat to WH.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Seconds later, tower told USSS the aircraft was turning south, away from the WH.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
9:35 Bush departs Emma Booker school for Air Force One. USSS asked for triple blockades at intersections. Not just motorcycle units.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
There are always 2 identical limos in the motorcade. USSS played a shell game moving them around so it would be hard 2know which held POTUS.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
9:36 Over DC, American flight 77 turned west and began to circle back. USSS evacuates VP Cheney to the bunker under the WH.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
9:37 American flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, killing 59 aboard the plane and 125 inside the Pentagon.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
The President was told about the attack on the Pentagon in his limo enroute to Air Force One. I heard about it when I boarded the plane.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Even though the press had already been cleared by USSS, they and staff had all belongings searched before being let onto AFOne. pic.twitter.com/ajOYxYv3VR
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Sonya Ross of Associated Press later told Politico that bomb sniffing dogs "were drooling all [over] the luggage." No one objected.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Extra security measures were taken all over the U.S.
9:42 The Federal Aviation Administration for the first time in history grounded all flights into, out of, and over the U.S.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
9:45 The Capitol and the WH were evacuated. WH aides were told by USSS to run, not walk. Women were told to take off their heels and run.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Back in POTUS’s plane, it was still unclear exactly what was happening, which instilled panic in everyone.
9:45 I boarded AFOne with POTUS and spent much of the day in his cabin. I took verbatim notes of what he did and what he said. pic.twitter.com/XkYMm6PiQA
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
POTUS told his lead USSS agent, Eddie Marinzel, to be sure to get his wife and daughters protected. He didn't have time to call them yet.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
He called VP: "Sounds like we have a minor war going on here. I heard about the Pentagon."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Cheney told Bush there were still 3 aircraft missing. We knew 3 hit targets and thought there were still more attacks coming.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
About an hour after it was attacked, the South Tower collapsed.
9:59 The South Tower collapses.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
1/2 Bush turns to the staff with him and says, "We're at war. That's what we're paid for boys. We're going to take care of this."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
2/2 "When we find out who did this, they're not going to like me as President. Somebody's going to pay."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
We took off at an unusually sharp incline and way faster than normal. AFOne Pilot Mark Tillman later told me there was a report of a sniper.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
It turns out the "sniper" was one of ours. Part of the USSS counter-sniper team. It was one of many false alarms that day.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
POTUS and his team weren’t sure where they could safely land. Instead, they stayed in the air as they tried to figure out their next step.
We didn't have satellite TV on AFOne. When we flew over major cities, the TV reception came in depending on strength of a broadcast tower.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
As the reception would come and go, we could watch TV to get news of what was happening. It was frustrating. AFOne now has satellite TV.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
10:28 The North Tower collapsed.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Our plan was to return to DC, but the VP/USSS thought that was a terrible idea. We headed up to 45,000 feet and flew in a random pattern.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
10:32 POTUS was told of a call that came into the WH switchboard saying, "Angel is next". Angel was the code word for AFOne.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
By then, we had heard media report of a car bomb at State Dept/the mall was on fire. We were also told there were six hijacked aircraft.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
When flight 93 crashed in PA, the first report we got is it crashed "near Camp David." It was about 100 miles away.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Bush calls Cheney: "We're at war Dick and we're going to find out who did this and we're going to kick their ass."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Here's the scene in Bush's cabin as the security people are trying to decide where to fly. pic.twitter.com/0Rd7sZg6Ik
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
10:42 Bush is told his daughters are in "hardened location." Bush: "How did they take it?" USSS: "They wanted to stay in their apartments."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
And as the minutes ticked on, things just got worse.
Amazingly, as Bush would talk on the phone, the phone connection frequently was dropped. That's not supposed to happen on that plane. pic.twitter.com/7OdMLKc86m
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Even military communications were too jammed that day. It led to a major technological overhaul of AFOne.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Comms were dropping, AFOne had been threatened and nation was under attack. USSS and Col. Tillman were worried about an inside job.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Col. Tillman ordered Will Chandler of Air Force Security, to stand watch at base of steps leading up to the cockpit. No one was allowed up.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Colonel Tillman later told Politico that was something that had never been done before.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Worst case scenario was this was an attempt to decapitate the government, and that an insider might be involved.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
The military drills for how to survive a decapitation attack. They implemented several response measures that day, esp to keep POTUS safe.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
USSS later told Politico, "[Bush] fought with us tooth and nail all day to go back to Washington. We basically refused to take him back."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Here's more of the scene on the plane. The first two are in POTUS's office. The third is his bedroom off the office. It's a nice plane. pic.twitter.com/fA5MmX961Q
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Finally, after much debate, the team had a plan.
The decision was made to not go back to DC, but instead land at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
We needed to refuel, unload non-necessary passengers, pick up more food and POTUS wanted to address the nation.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Barksdale was in the middle of a major military exercise and was on high alert. No one was supposed to know we were going there.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
As we approached, we were escorted by F-16 fighter aircraft. (I don't know if this photo was enroute Barksdale or another time on that day.) pic.twitter.com/dSp1c8Lpmu
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Before we landed, the WH medical office distributed Cipro to the staff, just in case we had been hit by a biological attack. pic.twitter.com/l9miVPDtnb
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
As we were about to land, I went to the press cabin to brief. I told reporters they could not divulge our location.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
As i was talking, the TVs showed local coverage of the plane landing at Barksdale. Local media was there to cover the drill underway.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
So much for keeping our destination a secret. We landed around 12:05pm eastern.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Here's the scene on the runway at Barksdale. We never have security like this. pic.twitter.com/e0StWHSpf1
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
By now, it was only hours after the first attack, and there everything was still pretty chaotic.
12:25 Bush is in the Base Commander's (Lt. Gen. Tom Keck) office working the phones.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Calls VP: "I think it's important 4the people to see the government is functioning because the TV shows our nation has been blasted&bombed."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
"Government is not chaotic. It's functioning smoothly. We're going to get the bastards."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Bush then said to Cheney: "It's the new war. It's the faceless coward that attacks."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Meanwhile, Peter Jennings on ABC and Brian Williams on MSNBC criticized Bush for not returning to DC.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Jennings: "I don't mean to say this in melodramatic terms, but where is the President? Pretty soon the country needs to know where he is."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
"The country looks to the President on occasions like this 2b reassuring to the nation. Some Presidents do it well, some Presidents don't."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
And unsurprisingly, the panic caused a lot of false alarms.
As Bush was leaving to address the nation, Gen. Keck told him intell just came in about a high speed object heading toward Bush's ranch.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Bush had a staffer call to evacuate the ranch. Turned out to be a crop-duster. Just another of many false alarms that day.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Before boarding AFOne, Andy Card said non-essential personnel had to stay. That meant all the Congressmen and 1/2 the WH staff couldn't go.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Andy said it also meant that we needed to shrink the 13-member WH press pool to 3 people.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
I asked Andy to make it 5 reporters and he said fine, just do it.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
The reporters left behind were furious. One screamed, "Who's in charge?! The military or the civilians!?"
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
I felt bad for the press. It was the most newsworthy day of their lives and they were being left behind.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
But we didn't have our usual infrastructure or security. We didn't have time for extra people.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
Around 1:15, we were wheels up for Offut Airforce Base in NE, where Bush could convene a meeting of the Nat. Security Council on secure TV.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
I wasn't allowed to tell the press where we were going.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
1:25 on AFOne. Bush: "I want to go back home ASAP. I don't want whoever this is holding me outside of Washington."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
USSS: "Our people are saying it's too unsteady still."
Bush: "Cheney says not safe yet as well."
Andy:"Right thing is 2let the dust settle."— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2017
For now, that’s where Fleischer left off, but he’s sure to post more minute-by-minute updates throughout the day. Be sure to follow the whole things on his Twitter feed.