Networks plan a full day of 9/11 broadcasts

Washington Post

Scott Pelley of "60 Minutes II" talks with President Bush in an interview that will air tonight. Only CBS got a Bush interview in connection with the Sept. 11 anniversary. CBS

The networks' expansive coverage will include prepared specials, some of which have been seen before, leading up to today's blanket coverage. There also is the possibility of a presidential address, which could shift program timetables at the last minute.

Here's what the major networks are planning.

ABC

ABC has labeled its anniversary coverage simply "9/11." The network broadcasts coverage 1:30 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. Peter Jennings' "World News Tonight" will pick up the coverage at 6 p.m., and four hours of prime-time programming will run until 10 p.m. Ted Koppel will wrap it all up on "Nightline."

Jennings will moderate "Answering Children's Questions," a town hall program similar to the one he hosted on the weekend after the attacks. Many of the same children and panelists are expected to return for the year-after follow-up.

Prime-time coverage will include Charles Gibson presenting a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the attacks and the government response. Jennings, in collaboration with USA Today, will break down the final 102 minutes of the Twin Towers and the life-and-death decisions that were made in that period. An investigative report asks whether the nation is safer now. Barbara Walters sits in on family counseling sessions. And Diane Sawyer reports on babies born to mothers who became widows that day.

CBS

CBS is calling its coverage "9/11: The Day That Changed America." The highlight of the network's programming will be the only interview granted in connection with the Sept. 11 anniversary by President Bush. The interview, conducted by correspondent Scott Pelley in the White House and aboard Air Force One, will air on "60 Minutes II" at 7 p.m..

CBS' "The Early Show" will run from 4 to 9 a.m., with Dan Rather joining Jane Clayson at Ground Zero in New York. Commemorative events from Washington, New York and Shanksville, Pa., where the hijacked United Flight 93 crashed, will be included in the coverage.

Live programming will extend into the day. The anchor will host a half-hour special from Ground Zero at 1:30 p.m. Hawai'i time. Coverage leads up to a one-hour edition of "The CBS Evening News With Dan Rather."

The network's much-praised and widely viewed special "9/11" is scheduled to be rebroadcast from 8 to 10 p.m. after "60 Minutes II."

NBC

NBC will air its anniversary package under the banner "America Remembers." News anchor Tom Brokaw was scheduled to launch the network's coverage yesterday with an expanded edition of "Dateline NBC."

Today will begin with "The Today Show," extended to six hours, from 1 to 7 a.m. The show will cover memorial services, and co-anchors Katie Couric and Matt Lauer will interview key people from Washington and New York. Questions will focus on homeland security, intelligence and airline safety.

From 7 to 10 a.m., Brokaw will assume the anchor chores, covering events around the country. The schedule includes a town hall gathering including rescue workers, victims' family members and survivors of the attacks.

From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Brian Williams takes up the coverage with a simulcast on MSNBC.

Brokaw returns for a one-hour "Dateline" scheduled at 7 p.m., speaking with air traffic controllers about Sept. 11.

From 8 to 10 p.m., Brokaw hosts the telecast of the "Concert for America," recorded Monday at Washington's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The network, in an effort to be sensitive to children's reaction to the topic, has engaged a child psychologist, Harold S. Koplewicz, as a consultant and on-air expert.