NEW YORK - September 11th, 2001: Never Forget (AD-FREE RE-RELEASE):

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Today we are re-releasing our earlier episode about the 9-11 attacks, completely ad-free, because Courtney and I want to memorialize the victims and the events of that day in any way that we possibly can. This is a re-release of our episode from 2021, so you'll hear us discussing the 20th anniversary of the attacks, but that's because this episode was recorded and released over four years ago. It's kind of crazy to think that we've been doing this show for that long. Tomorrow we will be back with a brand new episode of Murder in America, telling some 9-11 stories that we feel haven't gotten enough representation in the media over the years. But anyways, let's get into this re-release of the episode, and Courtney and I's thoughts and love and good energy is with anyone who knew someone or loved someone affected by these horrific events. Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at We cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. It is 8 a.m. in Salisbury, North Carolina, 7 a.m. in Chicago, 5 a.m. in Calaveras County, California, where the news is being made on this Tuesday, September 11th. Mr. Roker, it is such a pretty morning, isn't it? It's a perfect fall morning here, although it's not fall yet. It's still a perfect summer morning. Miles and miles of sunshine. Miles Davis. We're going to put miles out there today. Nice as it can be across the Northeast. Rough seas still from the chop from that hurricane. But other than that, it's kind of quiet around the country. We like quiet. It's quiet. It's too quiet. It's September 11th, 2001 in New York City. Like the news reporter stated, it was quiet. A little too quiet on this day. It's September 11th, 2001 in New beautiful Tuesday morning. Thousands of New Yorkers wake up and start getting ready for the day. They make their coffee, put on their clothes, grab a bite to eat, and kiss their loved ones before heading off to work. Their family members wave them goodbye as they walk out of the door for the very last time. 2,973 people nationwide would leave their homes that morning completely unaware that this would be their very last day on earth. Because at 8 46 a.m American Airlines flight 11 would crash into the north tower of the World Trade Center. At 9 03 a.m United Airlines flight 175 would crash into the south tower of the World Trade Center. At 9 37 a.m American Airlines flight 77 would crash into the Pentagon. And at 10 03 a.m United flight 93 would crash into the ground in Pennsylvania. In less than two hours nearly 3 000 Americans would lose their lives and our country would face the most devastating and deadly terrorist attack in United States history. Today, September 11, 2021 is the 20th anniversary of the day that changed America forever. A day that we will never forget. This is the story of September 11, 2001 and you're listening to Murder in America. ♪♪ ♪♪ It's the morning of September 11th, 2001, and our story starts at the Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Many people are in a hurry, rushing to make American Airlines Flight 11, a flight leaving for Los Angeles at 7.59 a.m. 92 people pile into the aircraft that morning, including the captain, John Oganowski, age 50, his co-pilot, Thomas F. McGinnis, age 42, nine flight attendants, and 81 total passengers. And as the plane takes off down the runway, no one has any idea that five of the passengers on board are members of a terrorist group called Al-Qaeda. The first 13 minutes of the flight went smoothly. Some people were looking out the window as the plane flew over Massachusetts. Others were chatting with their neighbors, and some even took a little nap. But two of the passengers, sitting in seat 2A and 2B, were patiently waiting for the perfect moment to start their reign of terror. At 8.13 a.m., air traffic control instructs the pilots to make a 20-degree right turn towards Los Angeles. As the aircraft makes the turn, the two passengers signal at each other that it's time. They can't wait to see what happens next. They get up from their seats with weapons in hand, walk over to flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui, and violently stab them. They then walk over to passenger Daniel Lewin and slash his throat. The rest of the Al-Qaeda members then get up from their seats and storm the cockpit, killing both pilots immediately. And they now have full control over the aircraft. The Boston air traffic control, completely unaware of what's happening on the plane, radios into the pilots, instructing them to climb to 35,000 feet. But they're met with silence. American 11, climb and maintain the level 350. American 11, Boston. At this point, chaos has erupted throughout the airspace, as people begin to realize that their plane is being hijacked. At 8.19 a.m., flight attendant Betty Ong runs to the back of the plane and places a call to American Airlines. Hello? My name is Betty Ong. I'm number three in the back. The cockpit's not answering. Somebody stabbed a business class. And I think there's mace that we can't breathe. I don't know. I think we're getting hijacked. Which flight are you on? I'm number three on flight 11. Okay, you're on the flight assembly? Yes. And the cockpit is not answering their phone. Our number one is got stabbed. Our first class galley flight attendant and our purser is stabbed. And we can't get to the cockpit. The door won't open. Can anybody get up to the cockpit? I think the guys are up there. They might have found their way up there or something. Nobody can call the cockpit. We can't even get inside. The supervisor on the other end of the call does her best to keep Betty calm. And she places a call to an emergency number to report the hijacking. American Airlines emergency line. Please state your emergency. Hey, this is Nidhi from American Airlines calling. I am monitoring a call in which flight 11, the flight attendant is advising our reps that the pilot, everyone's been stabbed. Flight 11? Yep. They can't get into the cockpit is what I'm hearing. Okay. I have a flight attendant on the line with one of our agents. Okay. He's still on with security. Okay, Betty? You're doing a great job. Just stay calm, okay? Okay, we're contacting the flight crew now. We're also contacting ATC. Okay. They are in the cockpit with the pilot. At 8.21 a.m., the leader of the terrorist group, Mohammed Adda, disables the aircraft's transponder, which tracks the location of the airplane. But the airline can still track flight 11 through a primary radar. And they see that at 8.24 a.m., the plane changes direction. And instead of heading towards Los Angeles, it's heading towards New York. Around this time, Adda, the leader of the group, tries to make an announcement to the passengers. But instead, he transmits the message to air traffic control. Is that American 11 trying to call? Buddy? What? We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be okay. We're turning to the airport. What? What's the problem? What's the problem? And who's trying to call me here now? American 11, are you trying to call? Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If he tries to make any move, he'll danger himself and the airplane. Just stay quiet. Mohammed Adda could hear the commotion of the passengers on board. And he knew that if he told everyone that they'd be safe as long as they remained calm, that he and his men would be safe. The members could successfully execute their plan. But as we all know, the group didn't have plans to safely land the plane. Because at 8.26 a.m., the group makes a sharp 100-degree turn towards New York City. the Hudson River, knowing that it would lead them to Manhattan. At 8.34 a.m., Otta again tries to radio to the passengers of the plane, but instead accidentally sends a message to air traffic control. At this point, the North American Aerospace Defense Command is sending out alerts that Flight 11 has been hijacked. But since the aircraft's transponder has been turned off, they were having a hard time finding its exact location in the sky. At 8.44 a.m., Flight 11 begins descending quickly towards Manhattan, and the passengers on board know that things are not going to end well. As the plane speeds up, the aircraft's transponder is turned off. As the plane speeds towards the city, many passengers begin crying with their loved ones. They say their goodbyes, and they even say a quick prayer, knowing that these will be their final moments. Another flight attendant on Flight 11 named Amy Sweeney called the airline officials and gave them seat numbers and descriptions of all of the hijackers. Her last words in this phone call were, quote, I see water and buildings. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. End quote. At the World Trade Center, hundreds of people step inside the North Tower that morning, ready to start their workday. It was an average Tuesday. They walk through the front doors of the building and take the long elevator ride up to their floor. They step out, greet the receptionist, and start their day just like any other. They're in meetings, answering important phone calls, and rushing to meet deadlifts. But their busy workday is interrupted when many people on the upper floors of the North Tower begin to notice that a plane is flying fairly close to the city. Many people stop what they're doing and watch in disbelief, saying, planes aren't supposed to fly that low, right? They continue to watch, assuming that the plane will soon reach a higher altitude. But it never does. As the plane gets closer and closer to the North Tower, the people on the upper floors realize that the plane is flying very, very low. But it's coming straight towards them. And at 8.46 a.m., before they're even able to react, the plane plummets into floors 93 through 99, instantly killing everyone on board the plane and hundreds of people in the North Tower. "This is uh, off 355 Jermaine. I guess you got this already. We got a plane crash into the World Trade Center. You aware of that? You have a plane that crashed into the World Trade Center in Manhattan?" "World Trade Center in Manhattan." "A few moments ago, something, uh, literally a plane crashed into the tower of the World Trade Center. I just saw a plane from the inside. You can see the smoke, uh, coming out of the, uh, of the tower. You have no idea what it was. It was a tremendous boom. Just a few moments ago, you can hear around the emergency vehicles heading towards the scene. Now, this could have been a, uh, an aircraft, or it could have been something internal. Uh, it appears to be something coming from the outside, uh, due to the, uh, nature of the, uh, opening, uh, on about the hundredth floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center." "We're reaching the North Tower." "We can use this out of, uh, downtown Manhattan. A plane has allegedly crashed into the World Trade Center. Details at this hour, very sketchy. Just a few moments ago, allegedly a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We don't have any reports of what type of plane, what perhaps the carrier was, how many injuries are there right now. Police and fire units are being dispatched to the scene as we speak." The world soon said that toilet number one is on fire. The whole outside is going to, it's just a huge explosion. Oh my God, dude. What is up with that? That's the building? Yes. Holy man! All right, life-saving, life-saving eyes. Roll every available handiwork you've got to this position. The rescue team is responding, guys. I can tell you, as we are looking here at the north side, at the north face of tower number one, the gash that is in the building runs from about 10 stories up to about 15 stories, going from right to left. And now we have quite a bit of smoke and flame pouring out of the eastern side of tower number one. And at this point, Jeff, that is all we have. We are still looking at smoke billowing out of tower number one. It's 8.52 here in New York. I'm Brian Gumbel. We understand that there has been a plane crash on the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade Center. We understand that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We don't know anything more than that. We don't know if it was a commercial aircraft. We don't know if it was a private aircraft. We have no idea how many were on board or what the extent of the injuries are right now. As first responders rushed to the World Trade Center, calls started to come in from inside the North Tower. You see, the plane destroyed three stairwells inside the building, thus trapping over 1,300 people on floors 92 to 110. And as fire and smoke filled the rooms of the upper floors, the people trapped inside were beginning to panic. Some even started breaking the windows, trying to get some air. Within the first 10 minutes of the crash, there were 3,000 911 calls placed from inside of the tower. One of the first calls that dispatch received was from a man named Christopher Hanley, who was attending a work conference at the Windows on the World restaurant, located on the 106th floor of the building. There were 100 other people at this conference. Yeah, hi, I'm on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center, we just had an explosion. 106 okay we have smoke and it's pretty bad we can't get down the stairs all right we had about a hundred people up here do not leave okay there's a fire or an explosion or something in the building all right i want you to stay where you are yes all right we're there we're coming up to get you all right we're on the way just sit tight all right just sit tight we're on the way. All right. We don't have the audio for the next call, but a woman named Melissa Hughes placed a call to her father from the North Tower. She was in hysterics and told her dad that she was on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center. Her father did his best to keep her calm and told Melissa to find an exit sign and take the stairs down the building immediately. Little did he know that the stairs were already obliterated and that there was no way Melissa could escape that day. Melissa's father hoped that she would make it out alive but as he watched the news coverage he knew that things were not looking good. So the two said their I love you's and goodbyes before they both hung up the phone. This would be their very last conversation. Jim Gardenberg had worked at the World Trade Center for years but four days before 9-11 he would accept another job offer that paid a little better. On the morning of September 11th he kissed his three-year-old daughter and his pregnant wife goodbye, and he left for his very last day of work at the World Trade Center's North Tower. When his wife Jill got to work that morning, she noticed she had a message on her answering machine from her husband. Jill immediately calls Jim back, and although he sounded frantic on the voicemail, she said that he was very calm when he answered the phone this time and he tells his wife, quote, there's a fire. I'm gonna be okay. Don't worry. I'm behind a desk and I'm crouched on the floor. Everything's going to be fine, end quote. But everything would not be fine. Jim was on the 86th floor, six floors beneath where the plane had hit, but he would never make to make it out alive that day. - On the ground, hundreds of people in New York watched in disbelief as smoke and fire billowed from the building. Video footage from this day shows chaos all throughout New York City. In front of the Trade Center, first responders rushed to the scene and bystanders stood wide-eyed as paper from inside the tower rained down and covered the streets. - It is Tuesday morning, the 11th of September, and you will not forget this date. Law enforcement soon started clearing people from the area. One, because of the falling debris. And two, because of the people jumping from the building. We heard a big bang and then we saw smoke coming out and everybody started running out and we saw the plane on the other side of the building and there was smoke everywhere and people are jumping out the windows. Over there, they're jumping out the windows, I guess because they're trying to see themselves. I don't know. And if you go over by there, you can see the people jumping out the window. They're jumping out the window right now. Oh my God. All right, ma'am, thank you. Many people that were on the scene. The people on the ground that day said that they will never forget the sound and images of the jumpers hitting the pavement. As the fire and smoke filled the rooms of the North Tower, people inside began to hang out of the windows. Windows that they had broken themselves to get oxygen. There are countless images of people hanging outside of their office window, waving their shirts around, hoping that somebody would come to their rescue. When the fire on their floor would continue, they would get too close and the oxygen became limited. These people were faced with an unthinkable decision to burn and suffocate to death inside of the building or to jump off of the building to their death. And many people would choose the latter. The thought of even having to make that decision illustrates just how terrible the conditions were inside of the building. Some sources say that the temperatures on some of the floors reached upwards of 1,000 degrees Celsius. 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and that some employees inside of the buildings had to stand on their desks because the floors were so hot. There are many pictures and videos online taken of people that jumped off the upper floors of the World Trade Center. Some held hands with a co-worker as they jumped, not wanting to be alone as they fell to their death. Others jumped by themselves, and some even tried to make makeshift parachutes with their clothing. It's reported that their fall would take 10 whole seconds. 10 seconds of falling through the air, knowing that you're about to die. One Manhattan resident watched a woman jump from the tower and later said, quote, she had a business suit on. Her hair was all askew. This woman stood there for what seemed like minutes. Then she held down her skirt, and then she jumped. Then she stepped off the ledge. I thought, how human, how modest, to hold down her skirt before she jumped. I couldn't look anymore. End quote. The images of these jumpers are ingrained in the minds of Americans still to this day. Images that we will never forget. It's estimated that nearly 200 people jumped to their death that day. And while the identities of the jumpers are still unknown, their bravery will never go unnoticed. Below the towers, people watched as thousands of pieces of paper rained down from the sky. I know it sounds strange, but if you look at the photos from that day, there was seriously paper everywhere from the office buildings inside of the towers. Along with paper, dust, debris, smoke, and absolute chaos filled the streets of Manhattan. Strangers were embracing each other and crying together as they watched people jump to their deaths. And many people were doing everything in their power to help those in need. At first, many people believed that this was all a horrible accident. That a plane must have lost control and just hit the tower. And while New Yorkers and the rest of the country were trying to comprehend what had just happened, another plane was on its way towards the World Trade Center. United Airlines Flight 175. This aircraft, like Flight 11, had departed from Logan International Airport in Boston and was headed to Los Angeles. The pilots were 51-year-old Victor Saraceni and 38-year-old Michael Horrocks. In total, there were 21 people in the plane. The plane was the first to land on the airport. The plane was nine crew members and 65 passengers aboard. And amongst these five passengers were five members of Al-Qaeda. At 8.37 a.m., Flight 175 was cruising at 31,000 feet when air traffic control contacted the pilots, letting them know that Flight 11 had been hijacked. A few minutes later, the pilots contacted New York to let them know about the suspicious transmission that they heard from Flight 11. This would be the very last contact that the pilots would be able to contact. With air traffic control. Because shortly after, sometime between 8.42 and 8.46, the hijackers would take over Flight 175. Two of the terrorists would storm the cockpit, immediately murdering both pilots, while the other three terrorists begin moving all passengers toward the back of the plane. As soon as the hijackers take over Flight 175, Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Center 's North Tower. And tragically, most of the people working at the Air Traffic Control Center are so preoccupied with Flight 11 that they fail to notice that Flight 175 has turned off the aircraft's transponder. It isn't until 8.51 a.m., about five minutes later, that they finally notice that the aircraft has deviated from its initial route. And 175, recycle your transponder and squawk code to 1470. The controller realizes that the aircraft has most likely been hijacked. But at this point, it's far too late because at 8.57 a.m., Flight 175 takes a sharp turn towards New York City and starts descending at 10,000 feet per minute. At this point, everyone on board can sense that they are not going to make it out of this alive. And many of the passengers on board are still alive. The passengers begin to call their loved ones. One being a man named Ryan Sweeney, who at 8.59 a.m. leaves a voicemail for his wife, Julie. I know it's a little bit hard to hear, so if you didn't get that, he says, quote, This is a voicemail that I listen to every 9-11, and every single time, it makes me cry when I hear it. Another passenger on board, named Peter Hansen, decided to call his dad. Dad, we are on the plane. It's being hijacked. I think they've taken over the cockpit. An attendant has been stabbed, and someone else up front may have been killed. The plane is making strange moves. Call United Airlines. Peter's dad, Lee, would call for help, but was met with a call from his dad. He was met with terrifying news after he heard about the first hijacked plane. Peter Hansen was on Flight 175 with his wife, Sue, and two-year-old daughter, Christine. Peter had finally gotten some vacation time at his job and decided to take his family on a trip to Disneyland. It was their daughter, Christine's, first time on an airplane. Christine Hansen would be the youngest victim of 9-11. But before their plane crashed. Peter would call his dad one last time. Passengers are throwing up and getting sick. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we're going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it will be very fast. In Peter's last moments, he held his family in his arms. And the last thing his father heard him say was, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God." And then the sounds of. People screaming. And then. Silence. After the first tower was hit, many people assumed that the crash at the World Trade Center was a horrible accident. But at exactly 9:03 a.m., as millions of people were watching the live news coverage of the towers, they noticed another plane come into view. The plane was getting close. Too close to the World Trade Center. And then suddenly, it crashes directly into the South Tower and explodes. If you look out your window right now, can you see a guy about 4,000 feet, about 5 east of the airport right now? Yeah, I see him. Is he descending for the building also? He's descending really quick too, yeah. Well, that's. He's 500 feet now. He just dropped to 800 feet in like one week. Another one just hit the building. Wow. Wow, another one just hit it hard. Another one just hit the road face. The whole building just came apart. Holy smokes. And it was at that very moment that everybody knew that this was no accident. This was a terrorist attack. It does not appear that there's any kind of an effort up there yet. Now remember. Oh my God. Oh my God. That looks like a second plane. That's terrible. I didn't actually see a plane go in. That just exploded. We just saw another plane coming in from the side. You did. That was out of my view. Yes, and that's the second explosion. You could see the plane come in just from the right-hand side of the screen. So this looks like it is some sort of a concerted. Arriving at the scene, Jim Friedle in Hoboken said, It appeared to back sharply and smash directly, perhaps purposefully, into. Oh my goodness. Oh God. There's another one. Oh. Oh my goodness, there's another one. It seems to be on purpose. Oh my goodness. Is that a plane? Now it's obvious, I think, that there's a second plane just. Okay. Where do you get your knowledge from? How much time do you have in a pilot? Oh, there's another. Oh, no. Okay. A false explosion. An explosion, multiple explosions, ladies and gentlemen. We just saw another explosion. Obviously. Yes. We're just watching it again. It's the first time. This is now. This is the other tower, ladies and gentlemen. Another explosion at tower number two of the World Trade Center just happened live on our air. You're over in Chelsea. Did you hear the explosion from your position? Yes, we did. As a matter of fact, we heard it and. Because I was just like standing there pretty much looking out the window. I didn't see what caused it or if there was an impact. So you have no idea right now? Oh, there's another one. Another plane just hit. Oh, my God. Another plane has just hit another building. Flew right into the middle of it. Explosion. Oh, my God. It's right in the middle of the building. This one into the east tower? Yes. Yes. Right in the middle of the building. And right now, that. Yes, that was definitely looked like it was on purpose. You saw a plane? Yes, I just saw a plane go into the building. Okay. Okay. Go ahead. I say the whole takes about. Let's say six, seven floors were taken out. And there's more explosions right now. Hold on. People are running. Hold on. Hold on just a moment. We've got an explosion inside. The building's exploding right now. You've got people running up the street. Hold on. I'll tell you what's going on. Okay. Just put Winston on pause there for just a moment. The whole building just exploded for more. The whole top part. Okay. The building's still intact. People are running up the street. Oh, am I still connected? Winston, this would support probably what Libby and you both said, that perhaps the fuselage was in the building that would cause a second explosion such as that. That's what just happened then. That would certainly. People are running up. We're getting word that perhaps. Okay, hold on. The people here are. Everybody's panicking. All right. Winston, you know. Winston, let me put Winston on hold for just a moment. Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I'm in front of a diner right now. Well, Winston, you know what? If you could give us a call back. I just don't want to panic here on the air. Let's just take some of our pictures from NewsChopper 7. Now. Out of the building. You say that emergency vehicles are there, understandably so. But, of course, the major concern is human loss. I mean, do you know if there were many people in the building? Oh, another one just hit. Something else just hit. A very large plane just flew directly over my building, and there's been another collision. Can you see it? Yes. I can see it on the shot. Oh, my God. Something else has just. You know what? We just saw a plane circling the building. It is in the other building. We just saw a plane circling the building a second ago on the shot right before that. I think there may have been another impact. Can you tell? I just heard another very loud bang, and a very large plane that might have been a DC-9 or a 747 just flew past my window, and I think it may have hit the Trade Center again. To be honest, Elliot, I didn't get the impression that it was that big a plane. It looked big from here. I did see a plane go by a second ago, though, and it has now. Yes. impacted the building. I'm trying to see if it's the different tower. What it is, it's the other tower. I think it may have been. I believe the first one was World Trade Center 1, and it looks, from what I'm seeing on the television, like it may have been the second building. We're going to see. This is a piece of tape, and we may actually see another plane enter the picture here in a second. I wonder if there are air traffic control problems. Let's go back to Jennifer Oberstein, who was talking to us a second ago. Jennifer, did you see this happen? Hello? Jennifer? Did you just see this happen, Jennifer? Not. I've never seen anything. It looks like a movie. I think it's a movie. It's a movie. I saw a large plane, like a jet, go immediately, headed directly into the World Trade Center. It just flew into it, into the other tower, coming from south to north. I watched the plane fly into the World Trade Center. It was a jet. It was a very large plane. It was going south. It went past the Ritz-Carlton Hotel that's being built and Battery Park. It flew right past it, almost hit it, and then went in. This is so shocking, of course, to everybody watching. After the second tower was hit, President George W. Bush would go on to make this statement. President Bush is now speaking about the situation here in New York City at the World Trade Center. We're trying to bring you his comments live as best we can quickly here. To hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand. And now, if you'll join me in a moment of silence. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. President Bush speaking from an elementary school in Florida. May God bless the big friends and families in America. Thank you very much. Brief comments in which apparently we didn't catch the beginning of it, but he was talking about this being a terrorist attack and talked about getting the folks responsible. Flight 175 had plowed through the World Trade Center's South Tower, killing all 65 people on board and most of the people on Floor 77 through 85. When the first tower was hit, many people in the South Tower began to evacuate. I feel like that's what anyone's reaction would be after seeing your twin tower in flames. But unfortunately, as the people began to evacuate, the port authorities who supervised the building made a public announcement, telling everyone to go back to their offices and that their building was secure. Some people had even made it all the way downstairs into the lobby and then were told to make their way back up to the top. One man named Ernie Falk, who delivered packages in the building, said that he heard the plane hit the North Tower and he immediately made the run for outside. On his way out, he heard people being told, quote, the building is secure. The safest place is inside. Stay calm and do not leave. End quote. Many people decided to ignore the port authorities and evacuated the building anyways. And this decision would end up saving their lives. Unfortunately, though, hundreds of people would listen to the authorities, and they made their way back up to the floors that would get hit by the second plane just minutes later. But unlike the North Tower, the South Tower actually had a usable stairwell after the crash. Because the plane didn't hit directly in the center of the building, stairwell A would allow a number of people to get to safety that day and save their own lives. One of these people was a man named Keating Crown. He, along with 200 others, were at the 78th floor sky lobby that very day, directly where the plane would hit. At 9.03 a.m., nearly all 200 people in the room would die in a blink of an eye. And all that was left was Keating and about 14 others. Luckily, though, he was just out of reach from the plane's impact. Keating then ran down 78 floors with a broken leg and was loaded into an ambulance. There were hundreds of people that were above floor 77 when the plane hit the building, and only 18 of those people would successfully evacuate the South Tower that day, one being Keating Crown himself. Another one of the 18 survivors above floor 77 was a man named Brian Clark, who was the executive vice president at a brokerage firm on the 84th floor. He and his colleague, Ron DeFrancisco, felt the entire building sway from the crash that had hit the floors beneath them, and they knew immediately that they needed to evacuate. By total chance, they randomly chose to head down stairwell A. On their way down, they heard a muffled voice behind a collapsed wall, and they end up rescuing a man named Stanley Premnath. The three continued down the stairs, But keep in mind, they were having to pass through the floors that were just hit by the plane. And as they make their way down, the smoke started getting thicker and thicker. so much so that people were actually running up Stairwell A, hoping to get to the roof so that a helicopter could save them. Ron decided to go upstairs with a group of people, but Brian and Stanley kept heading down, knowing that that would be their only way out. And eventually, they made it to safety. Ron made it all the way up to the 91st floor. And then he started to panic and make his way back down the stairs. He later stated, quote, I wanted to see my wife and kids again, end quote. So at that point, he and a group of people began to make their way down Stairwell A again. And as they made their way down, the smoke and the fire got more and more intense. When the smoke was too much to handle, Ron would lay on the floor, gasp for air, get back up, and keep running down the stairs. Luckily, he too made it out alive. All of the people that we just mentioned were among the very few that would escape the upper floors of the South Tower. And as people were running out of the building, firefighters were heading into the building. Almost every single first responder in the city, whether they were off duty that day or not, were called that morning to the World Trade Center. And when they arrived, hundreds of them began making their way up to the top floors of the building. The burning towers, without giving it a second thought. Peter Hayden, the division chief for Lower Manhattan, later stated, we had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in deep trouble. But we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try rescue them. We had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try rescue them. You can tell by the stress in his voice that the conditions inside the towers were bad. But they kept making their way up the floors regardless, looking for people to rescue. At the same time, the firefighters on the outside of the towers watched as dozens of their friends and colleagues entered the burning building. I'm sure that as they watched, they would say a quick prayer, hoping that they would get to see them again. But all of those hopes would immediately disappear at 9.59 a.m. The firefighters on the ground would hear a sound, almost like an explosion. And when they look up to see what's happening, they watch in horror as the South Tower begins to collapse. And they know right then and there that hundreds of their fellow firefighters, their co-workers and friends, are dead. The firefighters on the outside of the building run for their lives. Unfortunately, some were killed by the fire. The entire country would watch in disbelief as the South Tower collapses, killing nearly 800 people in a single moment. This is a 911 call of a man named Kevin Cosgrove, who was on the phone with dispatch as the tower collapsed. Warning, it is incredibly hard to listen to. Mine's Cosgrove. I must have called about a dozen times already. What's Cosgrove? This is as close as we can get to the base of the World Trade Center. You can see the firemen assembled here, the police officers, FBI agents. And you can see the two towers, a huge explosion now, raining debris on all of us. We better get out of here. Do you know how much fire equipment they've been able to move up on to those upper floors? Oh, it's just coming down, Pat. It is just coming down. Watch the right side. It's exploding. It's ripping apart. It is billowing. Pat, the debris is flying. I'm going to run. Okay. Good. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. The building, we can say, is not where it was 10 minutes ago. Lower Manhattan is simply completely enveloped in smoke, visibility is zero. You can hardly breathe. It looks like a nuclear war happened here. You can't see the sky at all. It's all gray. Right now I'm on Broadway in Leonard Street, and I'm in a crowd where we are escaping an enormous cloud of dust and debris. Ladies and gentlemen, there are times in our lives that are life-changing, where your life can never be the same, and this appears certainly to be one of them. At 9.59 a.m., just 56 minutes after the plane hit the building, the South Tower collapsed. And as the building fell, thousands of people started to run from the cloud of debris that was billowing towards them. Many people aren't able to escape the cloud in time and are forced to hide under cars and inside of nearby restaurants. People of all ages are running as fast as they can to get away from the cloud. But it soon catches up to them. And what was once a beautiful sunny day quickly turns into a pitch black nightmare. As people emerge from the cloud of debris, they are coughing, unable to see, hear, or breathe. And they're covered from head to toe in gray ash. Chaos and debris fill the streets of Manhattan. But just before the South Tower collapsed, another tragedy occurred in Arlington, Virginia, at the Pentagon. While all eyes were on New York City's World Trade Center, another plane had been hijacked, American Airlines Flight 77. The flight departed from Washington Dulles Airport at 8.20 a.m. and was set to arrive in Los Angeles. Onboard the plane were pilots Charles Berlingame and David Charlebois, along with four other crew members and 58 passengers. And, once again, amongst the random passengers on the plane that day were five members of Al-Qaeda. About 20 minutes into the flight, at 8.43 a.m., Air Traffic Control instructs the pilots to climb to an altitude of 35,000 feet, to which they do. A few minutes later, they're instructed to turn 10 degrees to the right. American 77, turn 10 degrees to the right of extra traffic. Turn right, American 77. And this would be the very last contact with the pilots from Flight 77. Because soon after this, the terrorists would hijack the plane. Unlike the first two planes, the hijackers don't kill or stab anyone. Instead, they shove the pilots, crew members, and passengers to the back of the plane. Once they have control of the aircraft, they start making their way towards Washington, D.C. Air Traffic Control would attempt to make contact with the plane at 8.56 a.m., but they were met with no response. American 77, so direct to Falmouth. Direct to Falmouth, American 77. It isn't until the second flight, the second plane hit the World Trade Center that they realized that Flight 77 had been hijacked. But there is some major confusion going on within air traffic control at this point, and they seem to be getting their aircrafts mixed up. Soon after this, Flight 77 takes a sharp turn towards Washington, D.C. Can you tell me if we know for sure it was American 11 that went into the trade zone? We think that's who it was. Okay. And we're missing another flight. Which flight are you missing? 77. And when was the last time you knew for sure something about him? He was in, wait a minute, he's out of Dulles. Okay, and? Dulles, L.A., and they both apparently have been hijacked. Everyone assumed that the hijacked plane was on its way to the White House, but instead, it took a last-minute detour towards the Pentagon. Air traffic is moving away. Moving away from the White House? Yeah, six outposts to the White House, BV. Deviating away. Deviating away. You don't have a tight aircraft, so you don't know who he is. Nothing. Nothing. We're here to find him, but so I have no clue. Fighter jets were sent out to take down the plane, but they were too late, because at 9.37 a.m., Flight 77 would crash into the western side of the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on board and 125 people inside of the building. Terror was quickly spreading, and now that the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense was hit, no one in America felt safe. The flight was delayed, but it was a close call to the United States of America. The first flight of the United States of America was a close call to the United States of America. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. We're looking at a live picture from Washington, and there is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon. It would appear that there has been another major explosion, this one in the nation's capital. You are looking at it now. You are looking at a scene of apparent blast aftermath. There is smoke in the air over the Pentagon. We don't know whether this is the result of a bomb or whether it is yet another aircraft that has targeted. Two hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade Center, and one had crashed into the Pentagon. But as you know, our story doesn't end there. There would be one more aircraft that would get hijacked, and it would be the United Airlines Flight 93. Flight 93 left from Newark International Airport and was on its way to San Francisco on the morning of September 11, 2001. On board were pilots Jason Dahl and Leroy Homer, along with five flight attendants and 37 passengers. Among the passengers were four members of Al-Qaeda. The aircraft takes off 25 minutes late, at 8.42 a.m., just minutes before the first plane hit the World Trade Center. At 9.02 a.m., the aircraft reaches 35,000 feet in altitude, and everything is going smoothly. At 9.23 a.m., the aircraft received an ominous message from the ground that stated, quote, Beware of any cockpit intrusion. Two aircrafts hit World Trade Center, end quote. And just five short minutes later, at 9.28 a.m., the hijackers would storm the cockpit, and a struggle ensues over the aircraft's controls. As the pilots fight off the attackers, pilot Leroy Homer is able to get a message through to air traffic control. Somebody call a police. What you just heard were the pilots' calls to the airport, and the pilots screaming, Mayday, mayday, get out of here. Two of the terrorists continue to fight with the pilots, as the other two send the passengers and crew to the back of the plane. The air traffic control realizes that Flight 93 has quickly descended, so they try to make contact with the pilots. At 9.32 a.m., the leader of the terrorist group tried sending a message to the passengers, but instead sends it to air traffic control. United 93. United 93. It's not for sure, and it just descended. What's that? I just can't, it looks like he just sent it there. United 93, verify 3-5-0. United 93, verify your portable 3-5-0. United 93, Cleveland. United 93, if you hear it, Cleveland Center, identify it, please. If you couldn't hear that, he says, Ladies and gentlemen, here's the captain. Please sit down. Please remain sitting. We have a bomb on board, so sit. The air traffic controller then reports the hijacking, but at this point, the aircraft has changed directions and is headed directly for Washington, D.C. At 9.39 a.m., the terrorist leader sends out another accidental message to air traffic control. United 93, please sit down. If you remain sitting, we have a bomb on board. So, yeah. Once again, he says, This is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board. We are going back to the airport to have demands. Please remain quiet. By 9.42 a.m., the FAA has demanded that all planes in the United States were to cut their route short and land at the nearest airport. Every airline in the United States was shut down, and over 4,500 planes were making immediate landings all over the country. Every plane except for Flight 93. At this point, people on board were starting to make calls to their loved ones. One man named Tom Burnett placed a call to his wife, Dina. After watching the news, Dina was relieved to see that her husband was calling. She thought that this meant he was safe. But as soon as she answered, she learned that her worst fears had come true. Tom was extremely, extremely intelligent and always very matter-of-fact. And when Dina answered the phone, he told her everything. He said, we're on Flight 93. Someone's hijacked the plane. There's two people up front that are injured. Call the authorities immediately. And then he hung up the phone. Tom calls Dina back a few minutes later, hoping to get some information about what's happening. Keep in mind, no one on board knows anything about the other hijackings. And many people are scared, but they're hopeful that they will make it. For the next few minutes, we're going to use interviews from a documentary called The Tragic Story of Flight 93, which I highly recommend watching. In this documentary, Tom's wife, Dina, explains what happens next. I then told him about both towers of the World Trade Center being hit. And he relayed that information to the people around him. We're being hijacked up and down the East Coast that they had all originated on the East Coast. Tom instructed his wife to give him all information possible. About the hijackers. Tom then relayed that information to the people around him. And a few minutes later, he would call his wife again. On this phone call, Dina told him about the plane hitting the Pentagon. And it was at this moment when Tom started discussing the idea of overpowering the hijackers. A few minutes later, Tom would call Dina for the fourth and final time. And he told her that they were about to overtake the hijackers. It frightened me terribly. And I. pretty much yelled into the telephone for him to sit down, be still and be quiet and not draw attention to himself. And he yelled back and he said no. I was so afraid for him. And I wanted to help. And that's what I had been told so I wanted to pass it on. But I am so very glad he did not take my advice. He rarely did. Tom would be one of the few people on board Flight 93, heroes who started forming a plan against the terrorists. In their last words to one another, Dina would say this. I told him that I loved him and asked if there was anything else I could do. He said, pray, Dina. Just pray. Another passenger on board Flight 93 was 27-year-old Elizabeth Wainio. And she decided to call her mom, Esther. Esther had already seen the news about the hijacking. So when Elizabeth called, she had already prepared herself for the worst. In the documentary, Esther says this. Fortunately, I had been watching on that little TV so I had some mental preparation. And I was able to be unselfish instead of just crying and thinking about myself. and wanting to cling to her, I was to to love her you know and help her become peaceful with the inevitable the only way I could tell she was agitated is she had shallow breathing at the beginning of the phone call it was real short and choppy and I wanted to help calm her down and so I I said look Elizabeth let's I've got my arms around you and I love you let's just be together here so I said let's just let's just look out the window at the beautiful blue sky and take some deep breaths together and we did and it was amazing because within just a few breaths she was calm and so we were together and a lot of the time we were quiet and it was just peaceful between us no crying no hysteria no yelling and I think that's a perfect example of Elizabeth's unselfishness that in the midst of all of that she could be thinking about the impact of it on us the two sat on the phone together for a while before Elizabeth told her mom that she knew this would be harder on them than it would be on her and that was a beautiful thing she did say she called my mother Omi and Ben's mother grandmom and she said that she knew Omi and grandmom were waiting for her and they both were dead it made me feel clear that she was really going through a transformation while we're on the phone I just feel like she was really releasing her life and going to wherever she had to go and again we were quiet she ended the phone call by saying that she knew her grandmothers would be waiting for her in heaven it was excruciating I think you know mother feels like you're supposed to be able to keep your children safe I could love her but I couldn't keep her safe Elizabeth and her mom ended the phone call knowing that it would be their very last time speaking to one another a few other passengers on board were able to leave voicemails to their loved ones here is 38 year old Lauren grand Colas leaving a message for her husband you "hey honey are you there Jack pick up sweetie okay well I just wanted to tell you I love you we're having a little problem on the plane I'm totally fine I just love you more than anything just know that and you know I'm you know I'm comfortable and I'm okay for now it's a little problem so I just love you please tell my family I love them too bye honey next passenger Linda Gronlund calls her sister leaving heard this message Elsa it's Lynn I only have a minute I'm on United 93 and it's been hijacked by terrorists say they have a bomb apparently they flown a couple of planes into the World Trade Center already and looks like they're gonna take this one down as well mostly I just wanted to say I love you I'm gonna miss you and and please give my love to my dad and mostly I just love you and I just wanted to tell you that I don't know if I'm gonna be interested to tell you that again or not um all my stuff is in the safe the uh the safe is in my closet in my bedroom the combination is you push C for clear and then 0913 and then uh and then it should and maybe pound and then it should unlock I love you and I hope I can talk to you soon bye and lastly flight attendant Cece Lyles calls her husband and leaves him a message hi baby I'm maybe you have to listen to me carefully I'm on a plane that's been hijacked I'm on the plane I'm calling from the plane I want to tell you I love you please tell my children that I love them very much and I'm so sorry babe I don't know what to say there's three guys they've had that complaint I'm trying to be calm we're turned around and I've heard that there's planes have been been going into the World Trade Center I hope to be able to see your face again baby I love you one man on board flight 93 was a man named Todd Beamer Todd was a father of two with another baby on the way and he knew that calling his pregnant wife would cause a lot of stress on her and the baby so instead he talked to a woman named Terry at an emergency call center Todd explained everything to Terry and she did her best to try and keep him calm in the documentary Terry said the following and I asked him if he wanted to speak to his wife if he wanted me to connect him but for any reason if he didn't make it off that plane would I call her and let her know in his family how much he loved them and I told him I would everyone was calm until the plane started to take a dive and fly erratic then you can hear a lot of commotion an awful lot of commotion you can tell the difference when someone is screaming for their life and that's what I felt they were screaming for their lives I could hear that I could hear the screams the crying the hollering the total commotion that was the worst part of my entire conversation with him was hearing um the commotion of those passengers around this time everyone on the plane knew that they didn't have much time left so Todd asks Terry if she would recite the Lord's Prayer with him I hear their voices often something I'll never forget lastly a man named Jeremy Glick who was on flight 93 decided to call his wife Liz in the documentary Liz says that when Jeremy explained what was happening she began to scream in panic then the two just started saying I love you back and forth for several minutes that's all that they could get out the words I love you back and forth for several minutes that's all that they could get out the words I love you but soon after this Liz saw on the news that the South Tower had collapsed Jeremy then told his wife about how the people on board were planning to attack the hijackers and he asked her if she thought if it was a good idea I hesitated for a minute before I told him but you know I really trusted him I trusted his strength it was valuable information for him to have you know to be able to make a decision um you know most times hijacking they land the plane or they blow it up and this was a completely different type of hijacking you know I remember thinking in my mind say I give him the wrong information and uh you know it causes him to die or something like that and there really wasn't a lot of time you know there really wasn't another option after seeing what I had seen in New York and then finally I think I told I think I said honey you need to do it for the next few minutes Jeremy and Liz expressed their love for one another and said their goodbyes he then told her he was going to put the phone down and that they were going to put their heroic plan into action he actually didn't end up hanging up the phone so Liz could still hear everything going on in the background but she couldn't bring herself to listen to what was going to happen next after Jeremy Glick put the phone down he Todd Beamer Tom Burnett and many others on flight 93 began grabbing anything on board that they could use as weapons and suddenly Todd Beamer can be heard on the phone saying his famous quote let's roll as the group attempted to take back the plane many people that were still on the phone with their loved ones said that after Todd yelled let's roll all they could hear were screams Liz Glick couldn't stand to hear the last moments of her husband's life so she handed the phone over to her dad he said he'll be back you take the phone and she couldn't uh couldn't listen anymore so uh I took the phone and um it was probably 45 seconds of silence a series of screams kind of like a like a roller coaster uh diving I mean just a mass of people with a with a scream and I'm hoping that Jeremy or someone's going to come back and say we got them or something the passengers on board flight 93 put up one hell of a fight the hijackers attempted to stop them by rolling the plane from side to side hoping to knock them off balance but they kept fighting the hijackers knew that the passengers were close to taking control of the aircraft and instead of letting that happen they decided to run the plane into the ground at 10 03 a.m flight 93 would crash into a field in shanksville pennsylvania killing all 44 people on board although it's unclear what the terrorist target was it's widely assumed that they planned on hitting washington dc's capital building but they were never able to do so solely because of the brave men and women on board flight 93 united 93 there is a report of black smoke in the last position i gave you it hit the ground that's speculation only although united flight 93 would be the last attack on september 11th it wouldn't be the last tragedy it would be the last tragedy because back in new york at 10 28 a.m millions of people watched as the world trade center's north tower collapses killing everyone that was still trapped inside and there's you can see perhaps the second tower the front tower the top portion of which is collapsing good lord there are no words i'm about a block away and there was several people that were hanging out the windows right below where the plane crashed when suddenly you saw the top of the building start to shake and people began leaping from the windows in the north side of the building you saw two people at first plummet and then a third one and then the entire top of the building just blew up and splinters of debris are falling on the street where i'm right now there's a thick plume of smoke and you can see crowds of people including emergency service workers and police officers running from the scene screaming a lot but i i think it's important as people join us as they do in moments like this they are coming in all the time that there have been attacks in two american cities new york and in washington the trade centers here in new york have been hit by airplanes in washington there has there is a large fire at the pentagon the pentagon has been evacuated and there's you can see perhaps the second tower the front tower the top portion of which is collapsing good lord you there are no words you can see large pieces of the building falling you can see the smoke rising you can see a portion of this the the side of the building now just being covered on the right side as i look at it covered in smoke this is just a horrific scene and a horrific moment the president who is in florida today is a man who is going to be the president of the state of the state is in route back to the white house he took off a short time luckily many of the firefighters that were in the north tower evacuated when officials radioed in that the south tower had collapsed some however never heard the evacuation order and were still trapped inside one of the chiefs even ran throughout the north tower's stairwell yelling on a bullhorn all firefighters get the fuck out an action which saved many of their lives but at the end of the day 23 new york police officers died 37 members of the port authority police department were killed 343 new york firefighters died and around 2740 new york civilians had died and after the attack people were frantic trying to call their loved ones to make sure that they were safe but because of the overload of calls throughout the city many cell phone networks crashed and thousands of people were left completely in the dark about the fate of their loved one i can tell you the reaction on the street there are people sobbing there are people frantically trying to dial their cell phones many of them don't know that service has been cut off everybody is sharing what little information they have with each other but i can tell you that people are very very frightened all right thank you kelly edwards reporting live from downtown where so many thousands and thousands of people are waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones after the world trade center south tower completely collapsed the north in flames there are a lot of people waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones for more than a year and a half and i know that there are a lot of people waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones i know that there are a lot of people waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones for more than a year and a half and i know that there are a lot of people waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones for more than a year and a half and i know that there are a lot of people waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones for more than a year and a half and i know that there are a lot of people waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones for more than a year and a half and i know that there few months, New York was covered in missing persons flyers. People desperate to find their friends and family. A lot of people even tried contacting hospitals in New York City, but a number of doctors reported that they didn't receive nearly as many patients as they thought they would that day. Because sadly, despite a few cases, most people either escaped the towers with minor injuries or they didn't escape at all. In the days following the attack, search and rescue missions worked tirelessly trying to find people that were still alive among the rubble, and they ended up finding 18 people that lived. But as the days went on, finding victims that were alive was becoming less and less likely. For the next nine months, search and rescue teams, along with 300 canine units from around the world, were brought to Ground Zero to try and recover the bodies. Search and rescue workers would dig through 1.8 million tons of debris. Among the rubble, they would find 22,000 body parts. But only 60% of the people killed in the towers would be identified. The other 40% were among the body parts of people who will never receive a proper burial. Their families will never get the closure they deserve. But to this day, victims are still being identified. Recently, two victims' DNA were identified, giving their family closure 20 years later. While the entire nation did its best to heal from this horrible tragedy, many people had the same questions. How did this happen, and why? On that morning, 19 hijackers snuck box cutters and fake bombs onto our nation's trustable airlines. They took control of our planes, killed thousands, and terrorized our nation. And as this day took most Americans by surprise, the members of Al-Qaeda had actually been carefully planning this attack for years. Their leader, Osama bin Laden, was the first to be killed. He was the first to be killed. Osama bin Laden had actually been calling Muslims to kill Americans since 1992. To try and explain why Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda hated America so much is quite the task. And the truth is, there is no simple explanation. However, in layman's terms, in 1988, while fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda, which means the base in English, an extremist militant group whose goal was to wage global jihad. While the term jihad has many different meanings, we can assume that bin Laden and Al-Qaeda used the term to mean holy war. Essentially, what this means is that the group wanted to defend and strengthen the Islamic faith, defend Muslims under attack, and punish enemies that attacked Islamic countries. The U.S., at the time, was Al-Qaeda's main target. In the year 1998, Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda released their second fatwa, or a formal ruling or position on Islamic law, that called for violence against America. The fatwa stated quote, "We, with God's help, call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on Muslim Ulema soldiers, youth and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's U.S. troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson." End quote. Obviously, American leaders were concerned by this, but they had no idea how capable Al-Qaeda was of carrying out a mass-scale terrorist attack. It was around this time when an Islamic extremist named Khalid Muhammad began throwing around the idea of a planes operation in America. In 1999, after bin Laden stated that he was going to move the battle to American soil, Khalid Muhammad started plotting the attack and recruiting his members. Four of the recruits agreed to be the pilots of the hijacked airplanes, and one of Khalid Muhammad's recruits was a man who would become the leader of the hijackers, a man named Muhammad Atta, and his story is not one that you'd expect. Muhammad Atta was born on September 1st, 1968 in Egypt. He was raised in the country in a small community and he studied architecture at Cairo University from which he graduated in 1990. After graduating in Egypt, Muhammad decided to continue his studies in Hamburg, Germany at the Hamburg University of Technology. It was there in Germany where he first met Marwan El-Shehi Ramzi bin al-Shaib and Ziad Jarrah, future conspirators of the 9/11 attacks. It is interesting to note that when you look at the history of all four of these men, almost none of them came to Germany as radicalized Islamists. Muhammad Atta was simply a student when he arrived in Germany, but after being drawn to a specific mosque in Hamburg that adhered to a fundamentalist militant version of Islam, he began to become radicalized. Marwan El-Shehi came to Germany on a scholarship to study marine engineering and Ziad Jarrah came over from Lebanon to attend junior college. While living in Germany, Ziad had a girlfriend who was a medical student and he even worked a summer job at a paint shop factory for Volkswagen. They all seemed to be pretty normal. The group met three to four times a week to discuss their anti-American and anti-Israel views. During these discussions, they argued amongst one another about the best way that they could fight for their cause. And it wasn't until one day after a chance meeting with a stranger on a train that they were put into contact with an al-Qaeda operative in Germany and they were convinced to go to Afghanistan. The four traveled to Pakistan soon after this meeting where they were instructed by the al-Qaeda operative to meet up with a man named Umar al-Masri. But once they arrived, they found out that there was no such man. The name was actually a code word that instructed Taliban officials to bring the men to Afghanistan where, after some convincing, the four men agreed to join al-Qaeda and fight the holy war against America. While in Afghanistan, the men met with Osama bin Laden himself and swore their allegiance and loyalty to him. Mohammed Atta was handpicked by bin Laden to lead the terrorist attacks in America and after some discussion of strategy, planning, and goals, the four men headed back to Germany. It was here in Germany where they first attended flight school and learned how to pilot planes. One of the groups that joined the Al-Qaeda Army was the Al-Aqsa Army, and the Al-Qaeda Army was the Al-Qaeda Army. One of the group's instructors in Germany recommended that they continue their flight school studies in America and thus three of the four members headed off to the U.S. to complete their training. And these four were horrible, but they were mostly just soldiers taking orders from the real mastermind behind the attack. The real idea for the attack came from a man named Khalid Muhammad. Khalid has had his hand in a number of terrorist attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which would have been the first terrorist attack in the history of the world. Khalid was a member of Al-Qaeda and a close associate of Osama bin Laden's. The plan to hijack planes and create chaos in America was first suggested to bin Laden in 1996 by Khalid. According to the September 11 Commission, Khalid envisioned a plan where radical Islamist militants would hijack 12 airplanes on both the east and west coasts of America and crash the planes into selected targets. These targets at the time were the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the Prudential Tower in Boston, Massachusetts, the White House and the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, California, and the Columbia Center in Seattle, Washington. Bin Laden criticized the plan at first, believing that it was too elaborate. It should be noted that in as far back as December of 1998, the director of Central Intelligence Counter-Terrorist Center reported to then-President Bill Clinton that Al-Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the U.S., including training personnel to hijack aircrafts. But the U.S. government at the time didn't do much. In late 1998 and early 1999, Bin Laden and Khalid met a number of times to discuss a new plan. Bin Laden had approved Khalid's planes operation, but they had to narrow down their targets. While Bin Laden wanted to target the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and the Pentagon, which he believed would lead to a collapse of the federal government, Khalid pushed for the destruction of the World Trade Center. And thus, the plan for 9/11 was born, and it was soon after, when the four men from Germany traveled over, met with Bin Laden, and were selected as a few of the operatives that would carry out the attack. So, back to Afghanistan. After their meetings with Bin Laden, their discussions of the attacks and their selections as leaders of the assault, Mohammed, Ziad, and Ramzi headed back to Hamburg to obtain their new passports, claiming that their old ones were lost in order to obtain U.S. visas. Marwan, too, headed back to his home country to obtain a new passport and visa. However, the U.S. government did not approve of the U.S. visa. However, the U.S. visa. However, the U.S. government did not approve the U.S. visa. However, the U.S. visa as well. While back in Germany, the three attempted to present themselves as "less radical." They stopped attending extremist mosques, changed up their physical appearance, and distanced themselves from friends and acquaintances. In 2000, all members that were to be involved in the September 11th attacks began moving to the United States. Some members first settled in California. While living in the San Diego area, a few members had season passes to SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo. A few other future hijackers regularly visited Cheetahs, a local strip club, and at times, members would drive to Las Vegas for the weekend in a Toyota that they had purchased. It was also in California where some members took their first flight lessons. They only took one lesson, then decided afterward to carry out their training at a different flight school. The instructor of that first California flight school would go on to say in an interview, "The first day they came in here, they said they wanted to fly Boeing, so we said, 'You have to start slower. You can't just jump right into Boeing.'" In March of 2000, Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of the plot, contacted the Academy of Lakeland in Florida and said the following in an email: "Dear Sir, we are a small group of young men from different Arab countries. Now we are living in Germany since a while for study purposes. We would like to start training for the career of airline professional pilots. In this field, we haven't yet any knowledge, but we are ready to undergo an intensive training program. We are in a state of emergency right now, and we are ready to start training for the future of our country." Mohammed apparently sent a similar message to 50 to 60 different flight schools across America. Let's fast forward. At this point, 12 of the 19 future hijackers are living in Florida. In about three weeks before September 11th, the targets that the groups were told to destroy were assigned to four teams. All of the targets had code names. The United States Capitol was nicknamed the "Faculty of Law." The Pentagon was dubbed the "Faculty of Fine Arts." And the World Trade Center was referred to as the "Faculty of Town Planning." In mid-2000, Mohammed, Ziad, and Marwan, the three men who had personally met with Bin Laden, came over from Germany after their visas had been approved and settled in Venice, Florida. By the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, all three had finished flight school and knew how to operate large planes. The day of terror was rapidly approaching, and they were all getting excited to die. While studying for the attacks, most of the hijackers watched training and promotional videos, took flight lessons, and became familiar with planes. But this wasn't enough. Chillingly, the future hijackers in the months before September 11th took multiple flights in first class so they could study the layout of the large planes and to see exactly how flight procedures were handled in the U.S. Hundreds of Americans during this time flew with the future hijackers, and no one had any idea that they were in the air with them. But while in Florida, when they had some free time, what did these future hijackers do? It's somewhat surprising. A few of the hijackers, including the man that would eventually crash the plane into the south tower of the World Trade Center, named Marwan El Shehi, allegedly spent hundreds of dollars at a time on sex toys and porn. Another hijacker worked as a stock boy at a local warehouse. They, at times, visited Lowe's, Target, the pharmacy, and even, at times, the beach. A select few of the hijackers even purchased gym memberships and worked out frequently. Why? Because they were to be the muscle hijackers, or the ones that would take over the planes using physical force. Chillingly, at one point in his life, Muhammad Atta, the ringleader himself, had been an urban planner who claimed that he hated office buildings. It should also be noted that, eerily, the community where several of the hijackers lived was named Delray, Florida. And in July of 2001, just over a month or so before 9/11, Delray, the city, was selected to win the title of All-American City. Sadly, though, right under the surface in Delray that summer was anti-American hate. Before we get to the night of September 10th, I want to point something out. I've always thought that the date 9/11 was chosen as some sort of a symbol, a cry for help. After all, you dial 911 in America to reach emergency services. I've also always thought that it was crazy, too, how the 11 and 9/11 is almost reminiscent of the Twin Towers. One and one standing side by side, just like the World Trade Center. But, as it turns out, the date wasn't pegged for its symbolic value. Mohammed Atta decided on 9-11 for allegedly two reasons. One, it was the week after Labor Day, and as people were returning to work, the airports wouldn't be as crowded. Also, 9-11 that year fell on a Tuesday, and Mohammed assumed that as it was a weekday, the airports wouldn't be as crowded, the planes wouldn't be as full, and it would be easier to hijack a somewhat emptier flight than a full one. In the days before September 11th, the hijackers laid low. Most stayed in hotels on the East Coast, some visited ATMs, and others said goodbye to their loved ones. Allegedly, one of the hijackers even hired an escort from a local agency in Boston. But on the evening of September 10th, all of these future terrorists engaged in the same behavior. Following instructions, they washed their bodies and shaved off excess hair. They were also instructed to, quote, forget this world. It's hard to imagine what those 19 men were feeling at the time. Not only were they about to commit suicide, but they were also about to commit mass murder. No matter how they all felt, though, or where they were staying, all 19 men went to bed that night for the very last time, then woke up early the next morning and headed to the airport. That morning, all 19 hijackers checked in for their flights, headed through security, and made it to their departure gates with no issues. No one noticed the box cutters that they had smuggled on board, or the fake bombs. One of the most chilling images that emerged in the wake of 9-11 was a photo of the hijackers walking casually through the security screening in the airport. Nobody had any idea what these men were about to do. And in an infuriating twist, a number of the hijackers, while going through airport security, were selected for additional screening procedures. But the only thing that these procedures guaranteed was that the selected person's check bag, was kept off of their next flight until it was confirmed that the passenger had boarded. In addition, a few of the hijackers were deemed suspicious by the customer service representative at the check-in counter. And even though these men raised suspicions, once again, the only repercussion that they faced was that their check baggage was kept off of their flight until the passenger had boarded. And finally, one of the hijackers set off both metal detectors at the security checkpoint that they were passing through. Even though security camera footage that was seized and scoured by a few of the hijackers, the hijackers were not able to get to the check-in counter. The hijackers were not able to get to the check-in counter. The security authorities later showed that the hijacker had a suspicious item in his back pocket. The agent at the security checkpoint didn't notice it and allowed the hijacker through the checkpoint and into the airport. Mohamed Adda and Abdul Amari both flew that morning from Portland, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts. It was at the Logan Airport in Boston where they would board flight 11. At the same airport in Boston was another team waiting to board their flight. Mohamed Adda took a phone call from Marwin, the soon-to-be pilot of the plane that would run into the South Tower, a short time before boarding their flights. This would be their last communication. It was soon after this call when all 19 hijackers would board their planes and take off into the skies. The impact that 9-11 had on the world was massive. First of all, not even a month passed after the events of 9-11 before the U.S. Army invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to squash Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. This military engagement would end up becoming the longest war in United States history. As I'm sure many of you guys already know, the last U.S. Army troops just left Afghanistan a few weeks ago. The military engagement ended in absolute chaos and the U.S. Army went to war. During the war, more than 6,000 Americans were killed and roughly 44,000 Americans were wounded. After the 9-11 attacks, many government agencies were formed, including the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The TSA, or Transportation Security Administration, was also formed. Before, airlines were left to hire their own private security officials to conduct pre-flight security checks. Now, that task is left up to the government, and the restrictions on passengers are much more stringent. And finally, Americans lost their privacy to some degree. U.S. intelligence agencies became much bolder. They began spying on normal Americans. They collected emails, texts, phone calls, sometimes from individuals with no connections to terrorists or terrorism. Some people have become angry with these practices, while others have asked the question, what do I have to hide? The world that day was changed forever, in just a matter of hours. And the world will never be able to go back to where it was before 9-11. It's a sad fact, but that's just reality. But no matter what, we want to end today's episode with a few survival stories from 9-11, of people that should have died that day, but didn't. Only by pure luck. A man named Joseph Lott, was supposed to be at a work conference at the Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower that morning. But before that meeting, a colleague named Elaine Greenberg gifted him with a red and blue tie. Joseph was flattered by her gift and went to put the tie on. But Elaine told him that if he was going to wear it, he needed to go change shirts because it didn't match. So Joseph went all the way back to his hotel, changed shirts, and then made his way back to the North Tower. As he walked inside the building and approached the elevator, he felt Flight 11 hit the tower. Elaine Greenberg and the 100 other people at the conference would die in the tower that day. Joseph Lott would escape, all because he went to change his shirt. Another man named Michael Lominaco was a chef at the Windows of the World restaurant. He was supposed to clock in that morning at 8:30 am, but he was running behind because he made a quick stop to get a new pair of glasses that morning. Over 70 of his colleagues would die in the towers, but Michael's life was spared. A woman named Monica O'Leary was laid off the day before the attacks, on September 10th, 2001. And although at the time it seemed like a very low point in her life, it ended up saving her life. Because the next day, right where she worked, the plane hit the towers, and all of her former colleagues would die. David Pett would survive the attacks on the World Trade Center because he offered to walk a client downstairs to the security desk. He would have normally made his assistant do it, but she was 8 months pregnant, so he did it instead. David would make it out of the towers alive that day, but all of his colleagues would perish. Nicholas Raynor was supposed to be on American Airlines Flight 11, but he ended up missing the flight because he sprained his ankle hiking right before. Interestingly enough, Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the popular cartoon show Family Guy, one of our favorite shows, was supposed to be on United Airlines Flight 175 that day, but his travel agent had accidentally told him the wrong time for his departure. When he arrived at the gate that morning, they informed him that he had just missed the flight. The next thing he knew, he saw the plane that he was supposed to be on crashing into the World Trade Center across TV. Official Philip Smith would later say that the plane that hit the Pentagon hit at the strongest point of the building with the least amount of people, and that if the hijacker would have hit any other wedge on the building, he could have killed up to 5,000 people. A crew of firefighters led by Captain Jay Jonas were evacuating the towers when they made the heroic decision to help an injured woman named Josephine Harris. As they stopped to help her, the tower collapsed. But because of their exact position, they were able to make it out alive. Dozens of others had similar stories to this one. Like the people who slept in that morning because the New York Giants game was the night before. Or the employees who decided to take the next elevator up the towers because it was already too full. Or even people who decided to stop and look at the Manhattan skyline for a few minutes that morning. All of these stories are from people who, without even realizing, made a decision to make that day that would save their lives. So the next time you're sitting in annoying traffic, or you lost track of time, or you stopped for a bite to eat, remember that wherever you are in life is exactly where you're meant to be. A man named Garrett Graft wrote a book about 9/11 and in his research, he stated, "One theme that never ceases to amaze me: the sheer randomness of how the day unfolded. Who lived, who died, who was touched, who escaped. One thousand times a day, we all make arbitrary decisions. Which flight to book, which elevator to board, whether to run an errand or stop for coffee before work. Never realizing the possibilities that an alternate choice might have meant. In the 18 years since 9/11, each of us have made literally one million such decisions. Creating a multitude of alternate outcomes will never know." Ground Zero used to be a site of disaster, where rubble and debris filled the streets. Now, 20 years later, it serves as a beautiful memorial remembering what happened on that tragic day in September of 2001. In place of where the World Trade Center once stood are now two twin memorial pools, and the names of every 9-11 victim are inscribed into the bronze parapets around it. Every year, thousands upon thousands of people come to visit to pay their respects. Next to some of the names are flowers and memorabilia that family members will leave from time to time. For some of the families whose loved ones were never identified, this memorial is the only closure that they will ever have. But despite all the hatred and horror that occurred at the World Trade Center on 9-11, there is now a sense of peace that resides over the memorial. Although we normally tell stories about Americans murdering each other, we thought it was important to tell you one of America's most prolific murder stories, especially on its 20th anniversary. 9-11 was my first memory ever. I was only four years old when it happened, but I remember all of it. I remember it as a memory of my life. I remember it as a memory of all of my loved ones crying and the collective sadness that it left on everyone. I hope today, 20 years later, you can reflect on all that was lost on September 11, 2001. All of the people who went into work that morning and never made it back home. Think of their friends and family members and what they're going through today. Think of the first responders who ran into the burning buildings while everyone else was running out. The pilot on Flight 93, Jason Dahl, was married to a woman named Sandy, who, after the attacks, said, If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short, and there's no time for hate. 9-11 is a great reminder that our days are not promised, and that everything can change in the blink of an eye. So enjoy every moment you're given. Be kind to one another. Tell your friends and family how much you love them. And never take your life for granted. To end today's episode, instead of saying our usual catchphrase and discussing the paranormal and everything, I'm just gonna end the podcast with outro music and then place, at the very end of this edit, a minute of silence. So if you're listening, don't turn the podcast off yet. Listen to the silence for a minute before you start your next activity or whatever show you're going to listen to next, and use that minute to relax. And, uh, America. Those lives that were lost. It's Colin here, signing off. And Courtney. And we'll, uh, we'll see you on the next one, everybody. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 To be continued. Thank you.