Synopses & Reviews
September 11, 2001, will be eternally frozen in our memories. Where we were; what we thought; what we felt; what we heard; and especially what we saw will stay with us forever. It was a day -- defined for each of us in an instant -- that we will share with our children and our grandchildren in the years to come. In words and images -- and on a full-length DVD --
What We Saw captures those moments.
Dan Rather's Introduction sets the stage for an introspective look at the catastrophic events of September 11. What We Saw follows a day that started out like any other but ended in silence and sorrow -- from the first interviews by phone with eyewitnesses to a plane crashing into Tower 1 of the World Trade Center to the Towers of Light tribute, six months later.
As the world came to a halt that September morning, Dan Rather and his colleagues at CBS News worked tirelessly to provide detailed, accurate coverage of that day and the days that followed. Not only are the events that shook America's biggest city and its capital closely documented, but the tragedies that occurred elsewhere are also examined, from the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to the repercussions felt in a small New Jersey commuter town.
Among the contributors are Jules Naudet, a French filmmaker who was working on a documentary about New York City firefighters when his subjects were called into service that September morning; Newsweek's Anna Quindlen, whose thoughts turn to a young family likely headed on vacation aboard United Airlines Flight 175, The New Republic's David Grann, who captures the feeling of hopelessness felt by the families searching for missing loved ones; and CBS's Ed Bradley, who describes the volunteers who flocked to Manhattan with an overwhelming desire to help.
Each moment of September 11 and its aftermath is portrayed with candor and honesty by the CBS News correspondents, photographers, camera operators, and journalists who were there. What We Saw is an invaluable documentary of a day that changed our world forever.
Synopsis
This unique historical record of the events of September 11, 2001, analyzes how the nation came to understand the tragedy--and survive--through still photography, a collection of narratives and essays from survivors and journalists who covered the events, and a special full-length DVD documenting the event with coverage from the CBS News Archives. 30 photos. 10 screen grabs.
Table of Contents
Contents Introduction -- Dan Rather, CBS News
Chronology of Events
Transcript of Bryant Gumbel, CBS News
THE NUMBERS by Bryan Charles
Jules Naudet, documentary filmmaker
Transcript of Dan Rather, CBS News
Transcript of Jim Stewart, CBS News
Transcript of Peter Maer, CBS Radio News
Harold Dow, CBS News
DEATH TAKES HOLD AMONG THE LIVING by Pete Hamill
Steve Hartman, CBS News
Transcript of Cynthia Bowers, CBS News
FLYING BLIND: ON THAT FATEFUL DAY, TWO AIRLINES FACED THEIR DARKEST SCENARIO by Scott McCartney and Susan Carey
Transcript of Carol Marin, CBS News
A WIDOW'S WALK by Marian Fontana
EYE OF THE STORM: ONE JOURNEY THROUGH DESPERATION AND CHAOS by John Bussey
Transcript of Pamela McCall, CBS Radio News
THE WAY DOWN by Michael Wright with Carl Fussman
A DAY OF TERROR: A CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; LIVE IMAGES MAKE VIEWERS WITNESSES TO HORROR by Caryn James
AMERICANS TUNE IN AND STRESS OUT by Howard Kurtz
Byron Pitts, CBS News
THE INNER STRENGTHS OF A VULNERABLE CITY by Kurt Anderson
SMOKE AND STENCH CANNOT MASK THE STRENGTH TO REBUILD by Pete Hamill
IN CHARGE by Elizabeth Kolbert
LIBERTIES: A GRAVE SILENCE by Maureen Dowd
Scott Pelley, CBS News
NEW YORK DISPATCH: FAMILY ROOM by David Grann
IMAGINING THE HANSON FAMILY by Anna Quindlen
CITY OF GHOSTS by Tom Robbins and Jennifer Gonnerman
Ed Bradley, CBS News
NOT JUST ANOTHER SEPTEMBER SATURDAY by Manny Fernandez, Darragh Johnson, and Neely Tucker
Steve Kroft, CBS News
David Letterman interviewing Dan Rather, CBS News
Portraits of Grief, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Bill Geist, CBS News