9/11 Anniversary: Are We Safer?
NGUYEN: Tomorrow does mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and among today's many planned memorials is a wreath-laying ceremony this afternoon at ground zero in lower Manhattan. President and Mrs. Bush will be on hand for that event. Looking at live pictures of ground zero right now. You'll want to stay with CNN for extensive live coverage of today's memorial.</s>SANCHEZ: Escalating violence in Afghanistan in the south NATO led forces say they have killed 94 Taliban insurgents. In the west more than a 100 Taliban fighters raided a government compound killing two policemen and the governor of southeastern Paktia Province was killed today in a suicide bombing outside his office. A report from Kabul is just straight ahead.</s>NGUYEN: A hurricane is churning off the eastern seaboard and Reynolds Wolf has the details of Florence is her name.</s>WOLF: Absolutely. This is one big storm, this is the largest storm of the planet this time and it has maximum sustained winds are at 80 miles per hour and it's forecast has strengthen to a category 2 storm overnight and into the morning. In fact as we make our way into tomorrow, it looks like I'm thinking around 8:00, 9:00 in the morning the storm should pass just to the west of Bermuda. We are going to give you latest on the storm coming up in just a few moment, plus we will let you know how your weekend will round out weather wise and what to expect for the work week ahead. Back to you.</s>NGUYEN: Like the sound of that. Thank you Reynolds. While British Prime Minister Tony Blair is trying to keep the peace in the Middle East, a short time ago he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Yesterday he sat down with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The British prime minister says it is essential that both sides return to peacekeeping talks.</s>SANCHEZ: Time for inspection aboard the space shuttle "Atlantis" today. Crewmembers used robot cameras to try and search for any damage that was suffered during the liftoff. NASA managers say there may have been three dings to the shuttles thermal skin. Don't believe the damage is close to the severity that doomed the space shuttle "Columbia." We do run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING with in-depth coverage all morning long certainly when need be. Your next check of the headlines is coming up at 8:15 Eastern.</s>NGUYEN: Take a look at this. It is tennis with a twist. We will show you the new heart-pounding way to hit the courts. Looks like a lot of fun. From the CNN Center this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, September 10th, 8:00 am at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta and just after 4:30 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen.</s>SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. We want to thank you so much for being with us this morning. Violence is heating up in Afghanistan once again. Taliban attacks in the east and in the west, while in the south NATO-led troops take on insurgents in a major offensive. Journalist Tom Coughlan is joining us live from the Afghan capital of Kabul to bring us up-to-date. Boy it seems like all of a sudden we're talking about the same thing we were four and a half years ago. Tom.</s>TOM COUGHLAN, JOURNALIST: That's right Rick. We are talking about the same thing we were talking about four and a half years ago. The situation in Afghanistan in the south of the country at the moment is pretty critical, that's according to the general in charge of NATO, General James Jones. He said that the country was facing decisive moments a few days ago. Four hundred and twenty Taliban have been killed in the south of the country in the past week, and some of the worst fighting we've seen since 2001. A major offensive led by NATO forces there in the south. Operation called Operation Medusa. That led to 94 Taliban deaths overnight, in heavy fighting, heavy exchanges of fire. We have also seen the death of the governor in central Afghanistan today to a suicide bomb and also attacks on more than a hundred Taliban fighters on a police station in the west of the country that was this afternoon.</s>SANCHEZ: When we use the word resurgence, which all of us over here are using when describing the story we can't help, but think how can there be resurgence unless something happened to precipitate it. Perhaps military officials lowered their guard or something? Is there any way of putting our finger on what may have precipitated this resurgence?</s>COUGHLAN: Well, there are many theories on this. One clear thing that you can point to in the redevelopment that's gone out here in Afghanistan since 2001 is that there was a big distraction from Afghanistan in 2003. Well that distraction continues today. That's the war in Iraq. Iraq is seen by many here as having drawn resources away from the redevelopment work here. The reconstruction particularly in the south of the country and could have energies from the world's super power, the United States, on Iraq and that's one of the results of that. One of the repercussions for that and may be the resurgence we now see in the Taliban here in the south.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes the old too much going on all at once theory. Tom Coughlan we thank you for bringing us up to date on that situation there. Betty over to you.</s>NGUYEN: And if you are just joining us, President and Mrs. Bush will be in New York later today to commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11. It is one of many memorial events planned around the country. CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House with the latest on all of this. Good morning to you, Elaine.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Betty. That is right this afternoon President Bush and the first lady will head to ground zero for a wreath-laying ceremony. It's really the start of two days of somber commemorations of the 9/11 anniversary, but it's intersecting at an interesting time politically as well. We're just two month away from the congressional mid-term elections. Republicans and Democrats are both trying to convince American voters that their party can keep the country safe. Now already this past week we've seen President Bush layout his views in a series of speeches on the war on terror. He's defined the enemy and given a progress report in the terrorism fight and also urged Congress to pass legislation dealing with military trials for terror suspects. Well, today, amid Democratic criticism that the country is less safe, the president's Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend insisted the administration has learned the lessons of 9/11.</s>TOWNSEND: They were safer, but there's more to do. There's more to do to secure the country. We've made enormous progress, both giving the tools to the people who need them like the Patriot Act and the terrorist surveillance program, but the president has also enhanced the intelligence community and the law enforcement community adding resources where they're needed most to prevent the next attack.</s>QUIJANO: Now Democrats argue that the president and Republicans who supported him have mismanaged the terrorism fight. So as we go through the couple of days here Betty it's a delicate balancing act for the White House, which is mindful of trying not to appear as though it's politicizing the September 11th anniversary. As for the president and his activities after the wreath laying today he'll have a couple of activities in New York including breakfast with New York city firefighters, tomorrow he will go to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as well as the Pentagon and of course tomorrow he'll deliver remarks in a prime time oval office address to the nation. White House press secretary Tony Snow says it will be a reflective speech and not a political address. Betty.</s>NGUYEN: Well let's talk about politics for a minute. Two of the most powerful Republicans in the Senate are headed to Guantanamo Bay today. Talk to me about their mission and what they plan to do.</s>QUIJANO: Well that is exactly right. The top Republicans in the Senate, Senator Bill Frist and Mitch McConnell are heading to Guantanamo to get what they say is a first-hand look basically at the detainee situation there, but it's coming at a time when they're trying to push through the president's legislation on detainees and how they should be tried, the administration feels in military courts. Now it has run into some opposition, the president's proposal has from some moderate Republican senators. Senators John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham. There are concerned about a provision that would bar detainees from being classified evidence against them. The White House says talks are ongoing but it's very likely, Betty that we're going to be hearing more about this in the days ahead. Betty.</s>NGUYEN: CNN's Elaine Quijano at the White House for us this morning. Elaine thank you. CNN's prime time coverage of the 9/11 anniversary begins at 8:00 eastern with "Paula Zahn Now." Then at 9:00 Wolf Blitzer leads our coverage of the president's prime time address followed by "Larry King Live" from ground zero. And at 10:00 Eastern Anderson Cooper is live on the ground in Afghanistan with a first-hand look at what's really happening there in the war on terror.</s>SANCHEZ: This weekend more than a thousand people visited the Pentagon, 184 people died there on 9/11. A solemn marker is posted outside that says we will never forget.</s>NGUYEN: A new CNN poll reveals growing pessimism in the aftermath of 9/11. The fifth anniversary of the attacks is accompanied by strong feelings, 85 percent of those surveyed confessed feeling sad, 74 percent are still angry, 44 percent are afraid and 43 percent say they harbor feelings of vengeance. The Bush administration likes to remind Americans that there hasn't been a terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9/11. Even so, significantly more people today believe the country will never be back to normal. The latest poll shows 70 percent now feel that way compared to more than 50 percent in the years immediately after the attack.</s>SANCHEZ: One of the biggest changes after the attacks is the country's security, but is it enough? What do you think? Are we safer since 9/11? E-mail us at WEEKENDS@CNN.com and we'll read some of your responses on the air later in the newscast. Also "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" will tackle the issue of America's security coming up at 11:00 Eastern. Hear from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also see Wolf Blitzer's exclusive interview with Democratic Senator John Kerry. All of this beginning in less than three hours.</s>NGUYEN: Our coverage of the 9/11 anniversary does continue next hour. I'm going to talk with a counselor about the ongoing mental health problems for the first responders at ground zero. What is being done today to help them deal with tomorrow?</s>SANCHEZ: The connection between a busy doctor's office and a new school year coming up at the bottom of the hour. Why you may be waiting longer to get that appointment with your physician.</s>NGUYEN: In just five minutes, tracking hurricane Florence. Find out if the storm will impact the U.S. Mainland.