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"Chairman Kean asked why the President stayed in the education event when he got word
ofthe second plane hitting the World Trade Center.
The President said he saw the first crash. Halfway into the event, Andy (Card) walked in
and whispered to him about the second plane, and that America was under attack. He
was collecting his thoughts. He stayed in the event, he thought, for about 4 or 5 minutes.
His instinct was to be calm, not have the country see a rattled president in a high moment.
The country was under attack. He was trying to understand what that means. He was
looking at the press corps and saw them on their telephones. He felt he should project
calm and strength, until he could understand better what was happening.
He went out He called the Vice President He called Governor Pataki. He thought he
also called FBI Director Mueller. He worked on the initial remarks. He thought it was
important to keep his body language calm in the face ofdanger. As the president, he was
conscious that ''people react offme."
Chairman Kean asked what immediate decisions the President thought he needed to
make.
The President said he was pressured to get on the plane. Made some quick remarks and
blasted out ofthere. Asked again about decisions, the President mentioned his calls to
the Vice President. He also called Condi. He wanted to check on his wife. There were
all kinds ofrumors. One was that the Capitol was under attack. His wife Laura was
supposed to be on Capitol Hill that morning. He was concerned about his family.
He remembered the Vice President saying, 'Don't come home.' Rice said that too. It
was his duty to protect the continuity of the presidency. Ifsomething happens to the
President in an emergency, there would be even more chaos. The Secret Service was
aware ofthis too.
He talked to the Vice President as he was arriving at Air Force One, or on Air Force One,
about rules ofengagement. The Vice President advised him not to come back. He asked
him to authorize this - he (the VP) was at the PEOC then. Get in an operational position.
The Vice President is rushing to the PEOC. After the Vice President gets there, the
President and the Vice President talked about rules ofengagement.
The President understood this from his experience in the Texas Air National Guard. He
had been trained to shoot down planes. He understood generally how this worked - one
plane would lock on, one would ID. He understood the consesquences for the pilot, how
a pilot might feel to get the order to shoot down a US airliner. It would be tough. "