The CIA was similar, with several additional problems. By law they weren't allowed to operate in the U.S. By practice, they shared nothing with anybody else, especially the FBI. They would be discovered to have followed these guys into the States, filed a classified report, and not told anybody. Furthermore, half the work product these guys were generating was aimed at slanting or corrupting the information heading towards the White House. Not only didn't the right hand know what the left hand was doing, but half the time they were working at cross purposes.
As for the Secret Service, nobody told them shit.
When we landed in New York, I was greeted by Rudy Giuliani and the Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik. Rudy I had met a few times at Republican fundraisers and election meetings. Kerik I had never met before. Both men had been near the Twin Towers when they collapsed, Giuliani had actually been invited to the breakfast meeting at Windows on the World but had been delayed, and he had gotten there just as the North Tower was hit. Kerik had arrived afterwards, just in time for the South Tower to be hit. Both men had lost their vehicles to falling debris, and had run away to set up a nearby command post.
The two men looked tired and somber. We rode over in the Mayor's car, since the armored limousine the President rides around in was buried in the rubble. "How bad is it, guys?", I asked.
"Mister President, you will have to see it to believe it.", answered Rudy. "I simply don't have words to describe it."
"Mister President, I don't know if you believe in Heaven and Hell, but now I have seen Hell.", responded Kerik.
"Is there any hope? Not just for President Bush, but for anybody who was in there?"
Kerik bowed his head and shook it but didn't answer. Giuliani, sighed and said, "Very little, sir. If you didn't make it out before the buildings collapsed, you didn't make it out. We are still trying to figure out who was in there at the time, but so many of the companies that were there ... the records and computers are gone. It might take us weeks to find out who was there and who wasn't."
"What do you need? What can I do to get you what you need?", I asked.
Again, they shook their heads, but this time it was a more positive response. "Everybody is being extremely helpful. We are getting everything that is available.", said Rudy. He shrugged. "Money? This is going to cost a fortune."
I gave him a wry smile. "Spend the money. I work for the Federal government. We print the money, remember. We'll just have to print a little more."
Kerik added, "The only thing I can think of is more rescue dogs, you know, dogs specifically trained to search for people buried in avalanches and structure collapses. We simply don't have very many. We've had offers of help but with the airports shut down..." He shrugged in helplessness.
"I intend to get them up as soon as possible. This is not something that can last. I will be talking to the FAA about that on my way back to Washington.", I told them.
"You really fired the heads of the FAA, the FBI, and the CIA?", asked an incredulous Giuliani.
It had been all over the news yesterday. All three organizations, as well as the White House, had issued press releases that were brief – 'So-and-so resigned today at the request of Acting President Buckman. A-different-so-and-so was named temporary director.' All three were immediately run down and had microphones and cameras stuck in their faces. Louis Freeh had nothing to say; Jane Garvey was loudly irate and had protested her innocence; Paul Wolfowitz informed the world that I was the worst thing that had happened to American democracy since the British burned Washington in the War of 1812.
I nodded at Giuliani. "Yes I did. They may not have been personally to blame, but their organizations dropped the ball, and heads need to roll. Congress has already told me that they intend major hearings on this disaster, and I told them I intend to cooperate. Here's something else I want you two to think about, the both of you. What do we need to do to improve our response, not just here, but everywhere else, other cities? What can we learn from this? When this is at a point where you can sit down and think, put your smartest people on that. I can just about guarantee that is going to make national news, too."
First stop was Ground Zero, towering piles of rubble where the tallest buildings in New York had been. I was basically speechless. It's one thing to see it on television, but the reality was a smack in the face, and the smell, that I was never going to lose. There were television cameras around, and I know I said something appropriate, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was. I needed to watch it on the news later to find out.
After that we went to the command center, which was a beehive of people, many of whom were filthy and tired, all of whom were talking into phones and trying to get something done. That was where I found John Boehner and Harry Reid, and they looked as drained as the others. I shook their hands and they followed me as I trailed after the Mayor and the Police Commissioner into a conference room. A few other people followed me in, including the Fire Commissioner and the head of the New York City Office of Emergency Management, their version of FEMA. Giuliani had things under control, but the problem was massive, and most of the people there had friends who were inside the buildings when they went down. Loss of life, especially among the Fire Department, was enormous.
I don't know if it was worse than my first time or better. The total death toll was being estimated simply in the thousands. Impromptu memorials were sprouting up all over, as were walls with people hanging pictures of relatives and requests for information on them. It was incredibly chaotic. In some cases people were being reported as missing who never made it to work that day, or nobody had taken down the picture after they got home. They were beginning to get a handle on it, by setting up a clearinghouse for names, but it was slow going. Some of the financial firms which had been destroyed would need to consult emergency backup records in other locations.
I knew it would happen and that there had been nothing I could have done that would stop it, but it was just incredibly depressing regardless. John and Harry didn't say anything during the meeting, but several others commented that they had been quite helpful in reassuring people that resources would be made available, and occasionally suggesting ideas for that. I thanked them both.
Eventually things ran down, and I asked everybody to leave the room but Harry and John. They both nodded, and after everybody else filed out, John closed the door behind them, and then sat down heavily. There were bags under his eyes and under Harry Reid's eyes as well. "Gentlemen, you look like crap! Have you been able to get any sleep?", I asked.
"Not much, Carl. I dozed for a few hours last night in a chair in here.", admitted John.
"Same here, Mister President.", added Senator Reid.
"Harry, I think we can dispense with the titles. It's just the three of us, and you've been calling me Carl for a while now, usually with some other stuff added on.", I said with a wry smile. He snorted and smiled at that, but nodded. "Listen, I have to ask the question. The President, is there any chance?"
Both men sighed and looked at each other wearily. Harry answered first. "Not really. Almost nobody got out of there after the buildings collapsed. There's a few people trapped in the rubble in the subbasements, but they were down there to begin with. Up top? Nobody!"