The Nation Remembers 9/11

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America remembers September 11th, 25 years after the deadliest terror attacks in U.S. history. We will never forget those we lost, and we will never forget the immortal heroes of September 11th. I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, September 11th. This is Morning Wire. The 9-11 attacks prompted a massive response from the U.S. We talked to one of the pilots called into service in the weeks that followed. One minute I'm managing people and telecom resources, and three weeks later, four weeks later, I'm over the skies of Afghanistan and combat missions. And CENTCOM slaps down more claims about Iranian strikes as the U.S. takes out more targets. We have the latest on the conflict. There isn't this perceived leverage. The maximum pressure. The pressure is going to work. It's really time for you to make your deal before it's too late. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. For generations, female athletes have fought for the right to compete on a fair and level playing field. Today, those opportunities are being threatened again. Athletes like Sophie Cunningham are speaking up and reminding the WNBA of a simple truth. Biological differences matter in sports. But the fight is bigger than one athlete or league. It's about protecting opportunities for the next generation of girls. Concerned Women for America, the largest Christian women's policy group in America, is standing up for female athletes and calling on organizations like the WNBA to remember what the W stands for. Join Concerned Women for America and add your name to the petition today. Go to ConcernedWomen.org slash wire. Today marks 25 years since the worst domestic attack in U.S. history. Terrorists killed nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11th, and changed this nation forever. Here with a look at those major commemorations and the controversy surrounding them is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. So Megan, you know, after 25 years, I'm sure we have some younger listeners who don't remember that day. So can you just remind us what unfolded that morning? Yeah, Georgia, you know, for me, I will never forget watching on television as the planes hit the towers after 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. And use them basically as weapons. So two targeted the World Trade Center towers, one hit the Pentagon, and of course, United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back. So in all, 2,977 victims were killed, not counting those hijackers. And that number included 343 firefighters. Afterward, as John said, our lives were different, and we knew it. The United States invaded Afghanistan. To dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban government that had sheltered it. At home, we got the Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security, and TSA, which permanently changed travel and domestic security. Really is remarkable to look back at that sequence of events. Just world-changing for all of us. Now today, commemorations for the lives lost that day and the heroes who rushed into the fray are taking place all over the country. What events are planned? Yeah, John. So the centerpiece will be the family-led ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan. That begins at 8.30 in the morning, and relatives are going to read the names of those killed on 9-11 and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Moments of silence are going to mark the exact times the planes struck and the towers fell. The plaza will then open to the public later in the day for the tribute in light beams at dusk. Vice President J.D. Vance will represent the White House there. Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and, of course, George W. Bush are also expected. And speaking of former President Bush, he held a remembrance event Wednesday with Condoleezza Rice in Dallas, and he reflected on how he tried to preserve what America is while at the same time trying to defend it. You know, it became clear to me that if this is an ideological struggle, which is what I viewed it as, and we forego one of the most important. Most important parts of our ideology, which is the freedom to worship the way you want to worship, all of a sudden the enemy has won a victory. President Trump, meanwhile, will be in Washington to mark the anniversary at the Pentagon, though he was also speaking about it a couple of days ago at the Tunnel to Towers event at the White House. The 16,000-pound beam lifted from the wreckage of the South Tower will forever testify to the courage and resilience and spirit of a city and a nation that saw our homeland struck, our towers knocked down, and stood back up stronger, more determined, and more united than ever before. In Shanksville, families will gather at the Flight 93 National Memorial, where bells will sound for the 40 passengers and crew. And then tonight, the twin blue tribute and light beams will rise over Manhattan. Now, as we reported earlier in the week, some of the planning around these events has caused some controversy, particularly in New York, where Mayor Mamdani is planning to preside. Over the Ground Zero commemoration, there have been calls for him not to attend. Is he still planning to attend? Yes, he is. So this began with a petition started by the 9-11 family members, and it's now passed 100,000 signatures, and basically it's asking him just to stay away. So former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Governor George Pataki have publicly backed that request. The families held a press conference Tuesday at City Hall, and this was. I feel like if the families really feel, if we feel that we don't want someone at our world-class memorial museum that's sacred and hallowed, we feel that that person should respect our wishes. And it's nothing against the mayor, it's just against the fact that we feel he wasn't even here. He was 10, he wasn't in this country, and I think he should really respect us as we're his constituents. Now, the family cited Mayor Giuliani as saying, Momdani's association with streamer Hassan Piker, who notoriously said that America deserved 9-11, and then also his chief counsel, Ramzi Qasem, represented an al-Qaeda operative who pleaded guilty in a separate terror case, and whose brother-in-law was one of those Pentagon hijackers. After signing the 9-11 executive order, Momdani actually handed that ceremonial pen to Qasem. But he has. As I said, rejected the family's pleas not to attend, and he says he will still be there as the first Muslim mayor to attend this official ceremony. Now, finally, Megan, this anniversary is very personal to all of us who are old enough to remember. What stays with you about that day, all these years later? You know, Georgia, for me, it's always connected to my anniversary because we got married only two months after that. And so we were only two months out from our wedding. And I had just gotten to work when I heard the news. So my fiancé, who is now my husband, of course, came back and picked me up. And there was a lot of fear and confusion because we didn't know what was going on. But we knew that, as we said, our world was changing. And that night, we went to a prayer vigil at our church. And now tonight, 25 years later, I'll be heading to a patriotic prayer gathering at our church here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Well, I'm sure there are a lot of gatherings like that going on today. Megan, thanks for reporting. Yeah, my pleasure. Your personal information isn't just sitting harmlessly online. In the age of AI, details like your phone number, home address, and relatives can give scammers, stalkers, and hackers exactly what they need to make a threat feel convincing. The idea that a stranger can piece together my life from information I never knowingly shared is reason enough for me to take it seriously. Most of us know that we should be doing more to protect ourselves. We simply do not know where to begin. Here's where. Go to www.joindeleteme.com slash wire and enter code wire to get 20% off. Instead of spending hours tracking down data broker websites and submitting removal requests individually, Delete.me does the hard work for you. Wirecutter named Delete.me, its top pick for data removal services and individual plans start at just $8 a month. 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To 9-11 is Trey Morris, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and B-52 aviator, who was among those called to respond in the weeks afterward. Colonel, first of all, thank you so much for your service, and thank you for coming on. And you're welcome. And again, thank you also for having me on. We wanted to talk to you because of your unique experience in response to 9-11. But first, let's start on that day. Where were you and why were you called into active duty? So my 9-11 experience. It was much like every other American in the United States going to work that morning. Living in Little Rock, Arkansas, driving to work, working at a telecom company there. And you'll get the phone call from my wife, letting me know about the first strike there for Tower One, and then arriving at work and trying to digest all this information. You know, we saw the second strike soon after. So there's so much unknown and uncertainty at that time. And then you were called into active duty really rapidly, correct? Can you unpack that for us? Yeah, for my company, I was probably about the third person called to active duty. And literally I'm at work, phone call, caller ID, it's the base, and I answer it. And yes, I have to report to the base by the beginning of the next day, which is a three-hour drive from where I work. So I'm your regular citizen airman. I do my one week in a month, two weeks a year. And here I am immediately called to duty. So here I am, one minute. I'm managing people and telecom resources. And three weeks later, four weeks later, I'm over the skies of Afghanistan and combat missions. Incredible. Wow. Now, your story also connects to some of the first responders in 9-11. Can you unpack some of that connection? Oh, yes. So there was a lot of connections between our unit and friends and family in New York City. And also being a reserve unit, two of the pilots on my crew were American Airlines pilots. So they had a deep personal connection to this also. And so through that, they would send us decals to put on bombs or FDNY hats. And so that connection grew to the point where we even had two aircraft adorned with FDNY and NYPD nose art that was specially created and painted on these aircraft just literally hours before the first combat mission. Amazing. Yes. So you flew B-52 missions. How many combat missions were you involved in and what was that experience like? So two rotations. The first rotation was 14 combat missions. Every one of these missions takes about 15 hours to complete from the forward operating location, as we call it, a small island in the Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia. And then you fly into country and you immediately connect with some kind of special ops person on the ground who is really partnering with what we call the NCOs. your deal before it's too late. Now, speaking of that political pressure, you know, a lot of cited the political cost to Trump and the GOP with the midterms coming up. How do you answer those concerns from a national security perspective? Well, whether I like it or not, I don't think national security tends to dominate elections. The last time that really was the case was really the 2004 election in the wake of 9-11. But now I think that people really feel the economic pressure with prices at the pump, the perception of inflation, which may have skyrocketed during the Biden administration and come down during Trump, but they feel a relative increase since the outbreak of hostilities with Iran. I just don't think there's enough time on the clock for that to go down. Fair or unfair, that clouds huge positive change on our border and a lot of big fundamental changes that are going to happen. And I think that's what's going to happen. things that were done to the president's credit and to his collaborators in the Congress. That is the message that this midterm convention should be pounding away. And we'll see whether it has that effect for the closing arguments. Right. Our team on the ground at the RNC has noted how much Trump and other Republicans are really hammering the benefits from a national security perspective of the actions he's taken. So that's an interesting take there. Steve, thank you so much for joining us. You got it. Take good care. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be right back. Make Halloween feel like magic all in one place. Shop Halloween decor now at Wayfair.com.