LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, an historic speech from President Bush. We'll have reaction from four members of the U.S. Senate. Plus, Lisa Beamer, whose husband was one of the heroes on flight 93, she was in the House chamber for the address. We'll talk with her, as well ad in New York, World Trade Center survivor Michael Hingson. Blind since birth, he walked down from the 78th floor with his guide dog. All that and lots more next on LARRY KING LIVE.
We're with you an hour late, of course, because of this historic address tonight by the president. Back at our regular time tomorrow night, and we will be live throughout the weekend as well.
We begin with, on Capitol Hill, Senators Joseph Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee and a vice-presidential candidate of his party. Senator John Warner, Republican of Virginia, ranking member armed services, former secretary of Navy. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, member of select intelligence committee, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, ranking member of the Commerce Committee subcommittee on aviation.
::: SEN. JOHN WARNER (R-VA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
::: SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R), TEXAS
::: SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT), GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS CHAIRMAN
::: SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA), SELECT INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
::: LISA BEAMER, HUSBAND TODD WAS FLIGHT 93 HERO
KING: Thank you, Lisa. Lisa Beamer from Capitol Hill.
Let's swing now to our New York bureau and Michael Hingson. He's been blind since birth. He guested with us a week ago last Friday, told a dramatic story of being guided down from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center, 78 floors down, by his dog, Roselle, who you see with him onset, and a colleague.
Michael, did you watch the president's speech?
MICHAEL HINGSON, BLIND SURVIVOR OF WTC: I did indeed.
KING: What did you think?
HINGSON: I was very impressed. There were several things that I was very pleased about, and I think most everyone in the world who is peace-loving has to be pleased about. I think the most important thing that he said tonight, in terms of where we go from here is, we are going bring our enemies to justice, or we are going to bring justice to our enemies. So he's made it very clear that one way or another we will address this.
KING: Michael, do you feel lucky?
HINGSON: I feel very blessed. I feel blessed to have survived and come down, to have a dog like Roselle, and to hear the speech tonight and to hear no more bickering, that people are unified. We need that.
KING: It's been a week and two days. Have your feelings changed at all? What a beautiful dog. Have your feelings changed at all about the attacks?
HINGSON: No. I am -- I am sure that we're going to bring the right people to justice over this. It's a very sad situation. I still mourn the firemen and all the people who were lost. I rejoice that we have the ability to deal with this. And we will, I know.
KING: You know, so many Americans, Michael, are scared and anxious, and the president maybe held that tonight in such strong fashion as to alive that fear somewhat, but how do you feel? I mean, being blind adds to the circumstances of -- are you scared?
HINGSON: I think that it would be silly for any of us not to be scared for the entire world. I think that having concern and having some fear about all of this is certainly a natural thing, but I also think that we must also have the confidence and the conviction of knowing that our fear is well placed. And if we are concerned and afraid about the right things, and know that we can move forward from here, and know that we have the will and the conviction for the long haul, then we can see ourselves through our fear.
KING: Did you notice any wear and tear on the dog from this experience?
HINGSON: I have not. She's done extremely well. I talked to some of the people from Guide Dogs for the Blind (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about her and the whole issue of what kind of lasting effects can a dog have, and as they pointed out, dogs tend to focus on the moment and don't analyze like we do, so she really isn't going back and thinking about, "what about this World Trade Center thing, if I go back into New York sometime?"
KING: How did you obtain her?
HINGSON: She's my fifth dog, actually, from Guide Dogs. There's a training process that we go through, and when the last dog, Linnie, retired some two years ago, I had scheduled a time to go back up to San Rafael and get her.
KING: And Michael, I understand you spoke to some Japanese journalists today, and it was rather spiritual, right?
HINGSON: It was. They asked a lot of spiritual questions, and I think you touched on some of it just a moment ago, about faith keeping us and seeing us through. And they asked some of the same questions, about, "Where is God in all this?" and "do you believe that God blessed you?"
And my response was, "I believe God blessed me and that God is with all of us, in our own ways and in his own way, for each of us."
KING: Thank you, Michael. Be well.
HINGSON: Thank you. I will. You too.
KING: Michael Hingson.
::: RET. GEN. ALEXANDER HAIG, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE
::: SAMUEL BERGER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER
::: ADM. ROBERT NATTER, COMMANDER IN CHIEF, U.S. ATLANTIC FLEET
::: CAPT. RICHARD FECKLER, USS VELLA GULF
::: BISHOP T.D. JAKES, MET WITH PRESIDENT BUSH TODAY
::: REV. ROBERT SCHULLER, FOUNDER, CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL
::: SHERYL CROW, MUSICIAN/ARTIST
Excerpt from Larry King Live found at:
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/20/lkl.00.html
