Although New York City officials never received information about a possible attack on the World Trade Center from the White House, the intelligence might not have changed the city’s counter-terrorism security measures, former mayor Rudolph Giuliani told the Sept. 11 commission.
Giuliani said the information he did receive in intelligence briefings from federal officials focused on New York’s bridges, tunnels, and subways as likely targets. He also indicated that the security precautions that were taken anticipated suicide bombings rather than “aerial attacks.”
Angry family members of the trade center victims shouted at Giuliani from the audience. Some criticized him for not mentioning the problems police officers and firefighters had with their radios and a lack of communication.
Giuliani and members of the commission asked audience members not to concentrate on blame, but to focus on helping prevent such an occurrence from happening again.