Remembering 9/11

As dawn breaks on the East Coast Sunday, Americans are pausing to mark the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.

On Sunday, New York City plans to observe moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. to mark the times that each hijacked jetliner struck the twin towers, and at 9:59 a.m. and 10:29 a.m., for the times each tower collapsed.

More than 600 family members who lost brothers or sisters will read the victims' names at the site, while Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice all planned commemorative readings.

In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is scheduled to be present at a memorial service where Flight 93 crashed into the ground in Somerset County. It is believed passengers and flight attendants who had heard about the disaster in New York overcame the hijackers.

On Saturday, about 1,500 people turned out at the Pentagon for a public viewing of the spot where a hijacked plane crashed four years ago.

The one-day event commemorated the anniversary of the attack that killed 184 people. Previously, only families of victims and groups with reservations were allowed at the site.

President George W. Bush plans to mark Sunday's fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks by remembering the victims of that tragedy and Hurricane Katrina.

"Our greatest resource in such times is the compassionate character of the American people, because even the most destructive storm cannot weaken the heart and soul of our nation," the president said in his weekly radio address. "America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it."

The anniversary comes as eight in 10 people in the United States think the threat from terrorism is about the same or has grown worse than it was at the time of the attacks.

The CBS poll found that about half of Americans think the threat is at the same level and three in 10 say it has grown worse.

Additionally, six in 10 said they have confidence in the government's ability to protect citizens from terrorism, down from seven in 10 who felt that way before Hurricane Katrina hit.

A CNN USA Today-Gallup poll finds people are evenly split on whether they are satisfied with the way things are going in the war on terrorism, with 51 percent satisfied and 49 percent dissatisfied.

Four in 10 say their life changed after Sept. 11 and they do not expect it will return to normal, according to the poll.

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Author: NBC10/AP