T3 B1 EOP- Press Interviews of Staff Fdr- Internal Transcript- 8-29-02 60 Minutes II Interview of Ashley Estes- Bush Secretary- VP to PEOC Just After 2nd WTC Hit

8/14/2019 T3 B1 EOP- Press Interviews of Staff Fdr- Internal Transcript- 8-29-02 60 Minutes II Interview of Ashley Estes- Bush Secretary- VP to PEOC Just After 2nd WT

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THEWHITEHOUSE RECEIVEDO f f i c e of the Press Secretary M A Y 2 2 2 0 0 3

In terna l Transcr ip t Au gust 29, 2002 National Commission onTerrorist AttacksINTERVIEW OF

ASHLEY ESTES, PRESIDENT'S PERSONAL SEC R ETAR YB Y 60 MINUTES IIWest Wing

M S. ESTES: (In progress) I was here , and we l eave our TV on most of the t im e . W ehad seen the f i rs t p lane h i t . And i t was l ik e everybody else though t , wha t a horrible acc iden t ,how could that happen? A nd then I guess as the second plane h i t , even then i t 's not someth ingyou were ( i n a u d i b l e ) or i m a g i n e . And so it d idn ' t r ea l ly c l i ck e x a c t l y w h a t had happened .A nd t h e n I guess th e t h i n g that I heard a noise , l ike a k ind of l ike a b o d y b u m p in g a

door, or someth ing . And a t that point , I k ind of looked ou t in to a h a l lwa y and saw the VicePres ident wi th Secret Serv ice , tha t are a lways a round h im, but Secret Service th is t ime was - hadkind of l i fted him up , undernea th his a rms , and r u n n in g w i t h h im . I was l ike , th i s is not normal ,and why am I st i l l s i t t i n g here?A t tha t p o in t i t d id def in i t e ly reg is ter that th is was - - there w as s o m e t h i n g more to th is . Iguess m y phone w as st i l l r ing ing , because peop le were t ry ing to get in touch wi th th e Pres ident .I reme mber ge t t ing a phone ca l l I 'm a lm os t pos i t ive i t was Mayor G iu l ian i . I t mig h t have beenGovernor Pataki . I t was one of the two . A nd they were of course t ry ing to r each th e Pres ident .

And a t tha t po in t i t was such a hur r ied s i tua t ion .Q I was jus t goin g to le t her f in i sh pardon us, Ashley, i t ' s j u s t i f the c i rculus s tops,

we'l l be in good shape .M S . ESTES: W h e r e is i t?Q You d id g rea t thou gh , tha t was per f ec t .( In terrupt ion to in terv iew.)Q I 'll ask -- we'l l s tar t f rom here . You 're wa tch in g te lev is ion. You see there havebeen tw o exp los ions , or you t h i n k tha t i t' s may be pi lo t error or s o m e t h in g i n t o th e Trade Center .

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And then you hea r some thing aga ins t your off ice job. Is i t loud ? Is i t m o r e t h an j u s t a b u m p ?Does i t sound l ike a knock?M S . ESTES: I t was m o r e of a b u m p , i t was a de f in i t e s o m e bo d y h i t t i n g f u rn i tu re , or adoor or s o m e t h i n g . Y ou were so e v e r y t h i n g t h a t had jus t happened , i t was so u n r e a l , tha t y ouwere very aware of every no ise . A nd s o I j u s t k i n d o f peered around to look at w h a t the noisewa s , an d ( inaud ib le ) -- a l wa y s l o n g th e h a l l w a y s , and you ' re a c cus tomed to s e e in g t he m . But -- and t he y 'r e u s u a l l y w a l k i n g w i t h t he p r inc ipa l s , bu t t h i s t im e t he y h a d kind o f p u t t h e i r h a n d sundern ea th - - by the sides of his b o d y , an d we r e c a r r y i n g him r u n n i n g w i t h h i m .And so i t was obvious ly no t your normal s ight . A nd I w a s l ike , th i s is not a t a l l ord ina ry .

It w as obvious ly some thing b ig .Q So i t was l i teral ly you peaked y our head ou t the door , jus t to see w ha t the no isewa s , and you saw M S . ESTES: H im jus t ge t t ing car ried aw ay, bas ica l ly .Q Literal ly t he y h ad the i r hands unde r h im, an d they ' r e rushing down th e ha l l wi th

h i m .M S . ESTES: R u n n i n g w i t h h i m . A nd s o a t po i n t yo u kn e w t ha t t h i s was - - you a l w a y sta lk about in the W hi te House , I guess , the poss ib i l i ty o f i t be ing a rea l ly bad day . An d tha t ' sw h a t people ca l l it , a bad d a y . A nd I w a s pre t ty sure i t was a bad d a y .Q W e r e t he y s a y i n g a n y t h i n g , we r e t he y e xp l a i n i n g to h im w h a t w a s going o n ?M S . ESTES: No, i t was more of I t h i n k the se guys a re ob vio us ly ve ry w e l l t r a ine d ,

and th i s i s w ha t they ' r e he re fo r . An d th ey were do ing the i r job .Q Jus t evac ua t ing , no t and d id they say any th in g to you a s they ran by? W e r et hey t e l l i n g people , let's ge t go i n g?M S . ESTES: N o . O ne t h ing , obvious ly the re ' s a lo t of ca r ing people he re , an d t he y w e rewor r ied . B u t the i r job is to pro tec t th e people t h a t are the leaders , a n d w e ( i n a u d i b l e ) he r e,

h o p e f u l l y . B u t , no, i t was j u s t Q S o h o w d id y o u f i nd o u t tha t the re w a s s o m e t h i n g go i n g on? I m e a n , o bv i o u s l yy ou had a sense tha t some thing w as w r o n g , bu t w h e n d id someone ac tua l ly c o m e in and say,

A s h l e y , let 's go .M S . ESTES: I t was a weird day because so many u s u a l l y there's s o m e o n e tha t 's there 's a lot of senior s ta ff here . B ut t h a t day, in par t icular , there were a lot of people t r a ve l i n g ,there were some people t ha t we re do in g s i te surveys fo r d i f f e r e n t t h i n gs . A nd s o there were a lo tof - - the re weren ' t a s man y sen ior s taf f a r o u n d tha t would be ab le to - - and my phone wasr inging. An d so , of course , i t ' s my job to a n s we r . A n d I a n s we r e d th e p h o n e , and i t was I w i s h

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Q a n d r a n .MS.ESTES: Yes.Q A n o t h e r s taf fer to ld m e t h a t -- i t 's a m a z i n g to me t h a t people were t h i n k i n g so

q u i c k l y on their feet , l i te ra l ly -- but pe o ple we re be g in n in g to real ize, b e c a u s e y ou w a t c h e d onTV, how coordinated this seemed to be, th a t a s people were t ak in g off their shoes a n d r u n n i n g ,a m o n g s t y ou we re s ay in g to each other

M S. ESTES: Do n ' t c lump u p. Th at was the one t h i n g it was so horrible, a n d y o u jus t -- yo u kn e w that wh o e v e r h ad d o n e s o me th in g , an d co u ld d o s o me th in g l ike th a t , was ca pable ,a n d h a d t hou ght t h ro u g h w h a t w o u l d be the next step, or w h a t w o u l d be a n e v a c u a t i o n , howc ould y ou an d as y o u w e re r u n n i n g o u t , y ou jus t d id n ' t people w ere y ell in g, don ' t be n e a r th es u b w a y , or the metro. A n d t h e y j u s t d i d n ' t w a n t a n y o n e c lu m p i n g u p. They we re ye l l in g a t y o u ,take off your badge, that w a y y o u we re id e n t i f iable . I m e a n , a s you were f r a n t i c a l l y r u n n i n g , y ouwe re id e n t i f iable so you d i d .

I t h i nk we got in a group of three people, and someone still yelling, go past H street, orsomething . A n d o n ce we got past there, I re me mbe r t ry in g to ca l l m y parents f rom m y cellphone, a n d o f course th e coverage w a s and so I 'm not getting them. A n d then w e just endedu p w a l k i n g to an of f ice b u i l d i n g h er e, a n d k i n d of g o in g in there. A n d th e y we re wo n d e rf u l , a n dle t u s u s e thei r ph o n e s . A n d o bv io us ly e v e rybo d y t ha t d a y w a s incredible .

Q I 'm jus t going to t a k e y ou back , jus t a little b i t . I f you c a n remember th a t m o m e n t I c a n ' t i m a g i n e I 've had bad p l a n e rides, but I c a n ' t i m a g i n e a n y t h i n g b e in g m o re f r ig h te n in gth a n b e i n g told b y someone y ou k n ow , Secret Service, y ou k n o w , get g o in g , run , t a k e of f y o u rshoes, get m o v i n g . W h a t w a s g o in g th ro ug h yo ur min d ? W h a t we re y ou t h i n k i n g a b o u t a s youwere b e i n g told by the Secret Service to get m o v i n g ?

M S. ESTES: Y ou d i d n ' t t h i n k , y ou j u s t r a n . It was y ou jus t d id n ' t .Q N o t i m e to t h i n k . T he s taf fer t ha t I w as s pe ak in g o f before w a s s a y i n g th a t peoplewere even saying-tel l ing each other, like you said , d on ' t group together, there may be people

out in Laf a ye t te Park lo o kin g M S . ESTES: R i ght , people were w a i t i n g for a h ug e g ro up of people to be s t a n d i n g a lltogether. We've a ll a n d o bv io us ly , wo rk in g in the White House, you 're very y ou k n o ww ha t ' s going on out in the wo rld , a n d y o u ' v e w a t c h e d in Israel a n d yo u 'v e watch e d all the

s u i c i de b o m b i n g s , a n d t h i n g s l i k e th a t . A n d y o u ' v e t h o u g h t t h r o u g h a t th a t po in t y ou k n e wt h a t a n y t h i n g w a s possible, a n d th a t y ou j u s t w a n t to be c a r ef u l .

Q D o y o u re me mbe r how fa r you r a n ? I me an , we re y ou r u n n i n g for blocks? Wereyou r u n n i n g

M S . ESTES: W e p r o b ab l y ran to H Street.

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Q S o f rom here , t h a t ' s - - I 'm j u s t because t h i s w i l l be for an a u d i e n c e t h a t ' s no tc o m p l e t e l y f a m i l i a r .

MS.ESTES: Three, f o u r b l o c k s . I t w a s e i th e r H or I.Q P l e n t y , y o u r a n p l e n t y .MS.ESTES: P l e n t y .Q D i d y o u h a v e h i g h hee l s on t h a t d a y ?M S. ESTES: Yes, I did , of course . I n e v e r w e a r I'm a l w a y s p r et ty good about flats, orsom eth ing , and I had w orn se r ious hee l s tha t d a y . Needless to say , I had a few runs in the hose,

t h i n g s l i k e t h a t . I w o r e f l a t s fo r severa l days af te r the 11th .Q W h e n did you y ou s a id y ou t r ans fe r red th e Pres iden t ' s phones down to the Si tRoom . When w as the f i r s t t ime you spoke to o r heard the President ' s voice tha t day?M S . ESTES: I ha d w a t c h e d h i m o n T V , g i v e a s t a t e m e n t i n Florida. You get such

s t r eng th f ro m h i m , e s p e c i a l l y i f you k n o w w h a t kind o f person he is, and j u s t t ha t i t w a s Im e a n , w e w a t ch ed h i m .Q Did you h a v e to p a t c h t h r o u g h did you ever a c t u a l l y -- I 'm no t cer ta in how th i sw o r k s , s o I' m p r o b a b l y a s k i n g a v e r y d u m b q u e s t i o n . Y o u n e v e r sort of pa tched th rough a ca l l e r ,

and s a i d , Mr. Pres iden t M S . ESTES: I did n o t . On the day - - n o r m a l l y it ' s v e ry no t ve ry easy , but pret ty easyto d e t e r m i n e w h e r e t h e y a re and h ow to ge t in t o u c h w i t h th e m . B u t w i t h a l l t ha t w a s g o i n g on, i t

w a s - - y o u k n e w t h a t h e w o u l d n o t w a n t you to b e s i t t i n g t h e r e , a n s w e r i n g th e phone to f ind h i m ,if you w e r e no t s a f e y o u r s e l f , or you d i d n ' t he w o u ld w a n t you to worry abou t yourse l f , a nddeal w i t h i t a l i t t l e bi t l a t e r .Q D o y o u r e m e m b e r th e f i r s t t i m e y o u spoke t o h im p e r s o n a l l y ?MS.ESTES: I d o . H e w as he had come i n t o the Oval . A nd every i t real ly w a s

t h e re w a s n o o n e here . Karen h a d c o m e i n , and sh e h ad a c t u a l l y g o n e o u t s i d e t o w a t c h th eh e l ic op te r c o m e i n . A n d f o r s o m e r e a s o n , s h e w a s g o i n g t o m e e t u p w i t h th e m , a n d d i dn ' t m e e tu p w i t h t h e m . A n d I r e m e m b e r , a n y b o d y t h a t w a t c h e s th e h e l i c o p t e r l a n d on th e S o u t h L a w n , i t ' si nc r ed ib l e , and you a re so aw are o f w here you a re , and you ' re in the W hi t e House. People don ' t -- i t ' s in y o u r b a c k y a r d .

A n d f rom w here I s i t , you can see t h r o u g h t h e w i n d o w s , e v er y t i m e . And you knoww here he 's go ing , i f he ' s go ing to the R e s i d e n c e or the O v a l . T h a t d a y t h o u g h , i t w a s j u s t y ouk n e w a s yo u w a t c h e d it , you w e r e w a t c h i n g j u s t h i s t o r y . And as he w a l k e d a c ro s s the l a w n , a n dh e w a s c o m p l e t e l y by h im se l f , i t wa s s u c h a I j u s t fe l t so m u c h fo r h i m , be ca u s e yo u k n e w ho wm u c h he had on h is shou lde rs a t t ha t t i m e .

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B u t t h en as h e w a l k e d i n , h e was so d e t e r m i n e d . H is fa ce w as j u s t n o t r a t t l ed a t a l l . A n dh e sa id so me th ing sho r t. I r e m e m b e r i t was l ike e i t h e r , let 's go, or, o k a y . W h i c h h e s a y st h i n g s l ike t h a t a lo t , bu t he said i t , and t he re we re pe o ple t h e y h a d b e e n s e t t i n g up i n the O v a l ,because he was going to do the address t h a t n i g h t f ro m the re . Bu t t h e y ha d c le a re d o u t , so t h a the co u ld k ind o f wa lk in , a nd , o bv io us ly be in h i s office b y h i m s e l f .

A n d t h e n h e w e n t to t h e p r i va t e d i n i n g r o om . A n d t h e n K a re n a n d d i f f e r en t people metu p w ith h im t he re , a n d k i n d o f t a lke d to h im a b o u t w h a t h e w a s g o i n g t o say t h a t n i g h t . A n d t h e nI guess as he came through I t h in k he wa s go ing to the Re s ide nce , ma ybe to t he PEOC, I 'm notsure they were st il l doing all sorts of brief ings in the press brief ing room. I t h i n k SecretaryTho mpso n the y were kind of the At to rne y G e ne ra l , t he y we re t ry ing to I was t a l k i n g to anN SC press person, jus t out in the ha l l , a bo u t w ho w as in there an d w h a t th e word was, an d whe reth e Pres ide n t wo u ld be . An d h e wa lke d th ro u gh , a nd he ha d , a t t ha t po in t , t he re we re s e ve ra lsenior staff m e m b e rs w i t h h i m . I t was o bvio us ly my job is so m u c h is i t to not be a ro und .You're h e lp f u l whe n yo u sho u ld be . I d ef in i t e ly ju s t w a nte d to shr ink in to t he ba ckgro und the re ,be ca use yo u jus t wa nte d to be strong f o r h i m . Y o u d i d n ' t w a n t to b e t h e w i n k l i n k .

A n d I r e me mbe r h im s to pp ing , a nd jus t k ind o f to u ch ing yo ur a rms , a nd be ing , A shle y .And i t was h e didn ' t e ve n ha ve to say, but i t was he 's jus t got such a big he a r t .Q M e a n t a lot to y o u .MS. ESTES: Defini te ly.Q Did you w h a t t i m e -- did you s t a y l a t e r t h a t e v e n i n g b e c au s e of the address?M S. ESTES: W e d i d s tay la ter . W e w a t c h e d i t from ou t h e r e . A n d ac tu a l ly i t was

m u t e d , be ca use he w a s i n t h e r e , a n d t h e y h a v e to l e a v e t h e d o o r j u s t a t i n y bit cra cke d . A n d w ewere afraid th e e c h o o f h is s o u n d , a n d b e i n g l i v e . A n d h e w e n t , a n d t h e y h a d o n e --1 t h i n kon e m e e t i n g in the PEOC. A n d t h e n o n e t h i n g -- Secre tary Card is w o n d e r f u l , an d very h eh ad a c o m p le t e j u s t u n d e r s t a n d i n g of h ow h a r d th e n e x t co uple o f da ys we re go ing to be, an d itmade n o sense fo r everybody to s tay u p all night lo ng an d wo rry . I m e a n , yo u were going to bestressed o u t e n o u g h , a n d probably n o t s leep wel l . So we did s i t he re an d t a l k . There was a lo tof, w h a t w e felt l ike he re a t t he W hi t e Ho use , ve r sus w h a t t h e y were h e a r i n g o n t h e p la n e . B u t It h i n k w e pro ba bly we re h o me by 11:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m.

Q Did y ou see t h e Pre s ide n t o u t , did you n o good n i g h t o r a n y t h i n g ? I 'm j u s tt ry i ng to M S. ESTES: No, he d id the address. I t h i n k h e c a m e o u t he re for a m i n u t e , a n d t h e n h e

wal k ed d o w n th e C o l o n n a d e , l i ke he ' s do ne so m a n y t i m e s . B ut I t h i n k j u s t t h e on e t h i n g Ir e m e m b e r i s how u s u a l l y you see h im w a l k i n g d o w n th e C o l o n n a d e an d he ' s got staff , orso me bo dy the re . He was so by h i m s e l f . It wasj u s t - he j u s t was by h i m s e l f .

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Q Special day . So the next day, I can im agine your phon e was pre t ty busy. Jus tgive m e a sense I 'm not t ry ing to pry in to th e President's pr ivate phone ca l ls , but wh at k ind ofvo l um e , and I can im agin e everyone from the mayor , senators , world leaders .M S. ESTES: W e didn't I mean, obviou sly most of the New York cong ressional, andthen the governor and may o r w e were in constant contact w i t h . A nd then with the Attorney

General , the CIA Director and the FBI, S ecretary Po well and Secretary R um sfe ld , everyone was-- i t was a lot of s taff . And we were using our secure phones, wh ich norm ally we jus t use ourregular phone. And so much changed, because you cou ldn ' t use it was so everyone was sounsure about wha t whoever had do ne th is , you k n o w , capabi l i t ies were, tha t you didn ' t feelcomfortable using your In ternet , or you d idn ' t feel comfortable u s in g a non-secure l ine to t a lk ,anything about where h e was or wh at he was doing or w ha t the next plan was. And so there wasa lot of face to face com m unica tion.

Q N o w when th e President wants to reach s o mebo dy , does tha t also come throughyou? Does he sort of call over to you , and say, Ashley, get me the director of C I A ?MS.ESTES;-It defin i tely depends. Hehas -Q He can do i t himsel f .M S. ESTES: He can do it himself . He does a lot of the t ime use we'll get somebodyon the line, because esp ecially at tha t t ime , you never knew where people were, if they were in

press conferences or if they w ere in meet ings . And so i t wou ld be easier for me to get somebodyon the line probably.Q I 'm just there are some great anecdotes, for instance from aboard Air ForceOne, where you hear the President saying, get me the Vice President, I want to speak to the CIA

Direc to r . Any th ing l ike tha t? There was so m u c h h a p p e n i n g on the 1 2 th , th e 13th, th e 1 4 t h ,w he re s o me t h in g that s t icks out in y o u r m i n d , where th e Pres iden t sa id , I need to speak to Xperson, r ight now .M S. ESTES: There were so m a n y . I remember talking to Secre ta ry Rumsfe ld , and Imean I real ly there w ere just so many cal ls .Q That 's f ine . I ' l l be the v o l u m e w as u n b e l i ev ab l e . But there wasn ' t one M S. ESTES: And there were a lot of calls for people t ha t were in there meeting w i t h

h i m . So and so, there were a lways people updat ing in fo rm at ion . And you w o u l d i t was sohorrible to walk in a note, because obviously it 's so serious, and these important people I knew,and you're walking in and in te r rupt ing the meet ings , that you were co ns tan t ly walk ing in notesand updates .

Q I t's probably l ike an yth ing else. I had a job t ha t sort of like your not asimpor tan t , or even close to i t , but you h a v e to f igure ou t th i s n o t e mean s X, and he needs to seeth is r igh t th i s m o m e n t .

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M S . ESTES: D e f i n i t e l y . Lucki ly , everybody t h a t w e wo r k w i t h k n o w s t h a t they don' tw a n t to wa s te anyone 's t ime e i the r . And so I felt pre t ty conf iden t you def in i te ly doub le c h e c kto make sure t h a t you t hey unders t and w h a t you ' re about to y o u , I 'm going to w a l k in andinterrupt . And i f they sa id yes, you did i t .Q That makes absolute sense .( Interrupt ion to in terview .)Q Let's start with th e phone call ~ setting up of the phone ca l l with th e governor a ndthe mayor . You helped set up tha t phone ca l l?M S . ESTES: I did. I t was very complicated, because t here were so m a n y l ines even ift hey sa id , ca l l me on this num ber , you wo uld r ing and get a busy s ignal . There was a cons tan tcom m u n i ca t i on issue, a t least in the ear ly days . But we did set i t we did get i t to go t h r o u g h ,and made sure t ha t a ll sides could hear. T h e press w as already assembled in th e Oval kind ofaround h im, and he took the ca l l and t a lked abou t New York and w ha t he w as fee l ing .And Mrs . Bush came at one point . A lot of t imes she'l l c o m e t h rough j u s t ou r l i t t le backdoor, a nd come in and ch eck on him , or see w h a t he 's doing. But th a t day she was com ing tomee t him to go I t h ink t hey were go ing to see some of the vic t ims of the P e n t a g o n , at the burncenter . A nd so he was in the middle of the phone ca l l w hen sh e came in . There 's a ll these wires,a nd every th in g e lse . And so the door was open t h a t day , so you cou ld look in and wa tch h imdoing t h i n g s l ive .A nd I guess one of the reporters asked, how do you feel or w ha t a re you th ink ing abou t o rw h a t are you p r a y i n g a b o u t . A n d I t h i n k w h e n h e sa id , " I don ' t t h i n k abou t my se l f r igh t now ,"and he k ind of teared u p, w a t c h i n g h er f ace , a nd k n o w i n g t he i r r e la t i o n s h i p , she was so s t rong forh i m . A nd looking in and she was so proud , you could te l l , as we a l l were p roud , bu t j u s t w eget to see the side of h im t h a t so m a n y p e o p le in the pu bl ic see, bu t t h e y d o n ' t fu l ly u n d e r s t a n d .He 's a w onde rful leader, a nd so s trong, but he jus t has the biggest h ear t . A nd for them to be ableto see t h a t he w as go ing to do h i s job , bu t he ca red w ha t had h appen ed . I t was ju s t --1 t h inktha t ' s one of the de f in ing m o m e n t s .Q A lot of t i m e s it 's d i f f i cu l t to see a loved one get e m o t i o n a l . I t m a k e s you getemotional immedia te ly , whether i t ' s your mom or your sister or who e v e r it is. Did she M S . ESTES: I t h i n k sh e j u s t - - a t t h a t poin t , t he re w ere ju s t - - 1 t h i n k sh e j u s t w a n te d tobe st rong for h im . I remember sm il ing a t h im . Th ey ha ve a rea l ly neat re la t ionship , and they ' rea l w a ys kind of joking, a nd there 's a l i t t le bi t of banter . But she jus t smiled a t h im . I kno w t ha tsh e t h a t w as w h a t h e needed a t t h a t t i m e .Q So sh e w a s looking ou t t h a t door a t h i m ?

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M S . ESTES: Looking th roug h at him . A nd I don' t know that he was even aware tha t shewas out here, because there was so m u c h but I remember her coming back c o m i n g t h rough ,and they went to the back part , th e s tudy , when i t was all over and people were c lean ing up. Iwasn't back there then.

Q Did she say a n y t h i n g w h i l e he was MS. ESTES: She didn ' t . She j u s t - youk n e w she was t a k i n g it all in.Q Sure, just sort of smiled and w as --M S. ESTES: In an encouraging way.Q w h a t her husband was doing.M S. ESTES: She knew tha t that 's the way he felt , and i t was o kay.

Q Is there anyth inglha t I've left out? Is there one story that you, when you sit downwith your friends, you say, you can't believe --1 m e a n , al l of them are terrific, but is thereanything I haven't asked you about? Is there - we talked about the Vice President andwe'vetalked about your respon sibi l i ties , we talke d about the First Lady watching the President , theevacuat ion. A n y th in g we've left ou t that you can th ink of?MS. ESTES: No.Q Let me jus t one more t ime and then we' l l be all th rough . T he evacu at ion, justso I have a better sense of sort of how it worked. You're in the mess, watching the TV, and thensomeone first sort of says ca lm ly , oka y , we 're go ing to get of everybody is going to leave th e

W h i t e House?M S. ESTES: I had been in one part of the mess, and th en somebo dy had stuck their head

in , and said, hey, can you come here, or whatever . I th ink i t was Logan. He had been talking toth e Sit Room, and w e were t r yin g to, l ike I said, figure out how to make sure the phones andeverything w as taken care of, if we were not there. And so I stepped out, and at that point, rightwhen I stepped out and star ted talkin g to him , i t 's un c lear exa c t ly how i t happened , but Iremember people immediately started coming out of the Mess. A nd then there were people therejust saying --1 th ink Hector was there -- kind of j u s t - and at tha t point it was stil l - you weren ' trunning, you were wa lk ing ca lm ly out of the bu i ld ing , l ike they a lways tell you to do in anemergency or a fire. B ut then as we got up to the dr ivew ay tha t ' s when there were agents , and alot of h a n ds and you should take off your shoes and run.

Q An d were they obvious ly everybody w as l e a v i n g th e bui ld ing ca lmly , and thenth e agents were obviously being very professional.M S. ESTES: They were not in any way p a n i c k e d , b u t they were def ini tely very fi rm in

their - you need to take this ser iously, and you need to run . Don ' t f u l l around.

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Q Take those shoes off and get going . Very good , Ashley, that ' s ter r i f ic .END

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Documents

T3 B1 EOP- Press Interviews of Staff Fdr- Internal Transcript- 8-29-02 60 Minutes II Interview of Ashley Estes- Bush Secretary- VP to PEOC Just After 2nd WTC Hit