The Nation Remembers 9/11

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2:05The 9-11 attacks prompted a massive response from the US. 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 sent comms slapstown more claims about Iranian strikes as the US takes out more targets. We have the latest on the conflict. There isn't this perceived leverage. The maximum 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 have 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.

3:07Concerned 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 US 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, 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, 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

4:11Flight 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 830 in the morning and relatives are going to read the names

5:14of those killed on 911 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 JD 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 and 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've viewed it is, and we forego one of the most important parts of our ideology, which is the freedom to worship the way you want to worship all of a sudden the enemy is one of 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

6:18White House. The 16,000 pound beam lifted from the records 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 Mom Donnie 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

7:20away. 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 Sherry Sparaccio whose husband Tom was killed in the South Tower. I feel like if the families really feel we feel that we don't want someone at our world class Memorial Museum that sacred and hallowed, we feel that that person should respect our wishes. 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 a where his constituents. Now the family cited two main issues here. Mom Donnie's association with streamer Hassan Piker who notoriously said that America deserved 9-11. And then also his chief counsel, Ramsey Kassam, 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

8:25executive order, Mom Donnie actually handed that ceremonial pen to Kassam. But he has, as I said, rejected the families. Please 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 fiance, 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

9:26here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Well, I'm sure there are a lot of gatherings like that going on today all across the country. 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.joinedelateme.com slash wire and enter code wire to get 20% off. Instead of spending hours tracking down data broker websites and submitting removal, request individually, delete me. Does the hard work for you? Wire cutter named DeleteMe, it's top pick for data removal services. And individual plans start at just $8 a month. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for DeleteMe. Now to special discount for our listeners, get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to www.joinedelateme.com slash wire and use promo code wire at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is go to www.joinedelateme.com slash

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11:32and taking care of yourself shouldn't be complicated. Find and book the right doctor with ZockDock. Head to ZockDock.com slash wire to get started and check that appointment off your to-do list. That's zocdoc.com slash wire. The tragic events that unfolded 25 years ago changed the world forever. But they also gave rise to incredible unity as regular Americans stepped up to answer the call from firefighters to reservists and even civilians. Joining us now to talk about the US response to 9-11 is Tray Morris, a retired US Air Force colonel and B-52 aviator who is 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 was much like every other American in the United States going to work that

12:37morning. Living in Little Rock, Arkansas, driving to work, working at a telecom company there, and you'll get the phone call from my wife. Let me know about the first strike there for tower one. And then arriving at work and trying to digest all this information. We saw the second strike soon after. So there's so much unknown and uncertainty at that time. Yeah. And then you were called in to 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 end of the neck, by the beginning of the next day, which is a three hour drive from where I work. So I'm your regular citizen, Aaron, and I do my week, my one week and 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.

13:42Incredible. 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 to the pilots of 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 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. So you flew B-52 missions in Afghanistan. How many combat missions were you involved in? And what was that experience like? So two rotations. The first rotation was 14 combat missions.

14:44Every one of these missions takes about 15 hours to complete from the Ford 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 Northern Alliance or the freedom fighters of the Afghanis that really wanted to take back their country from the Taliban. So it was a very unique way we fought in that theater using the B-52s and B-1 bombers, by the way, is sort of a hammer to the needs of the special operations forces on the ground. Obviously, there was a real clear sense of mission, especially in the early days of these campaigns. What was that like being a part of these teams? Well, acting on the intelligence that we understood it was Al-Qaeda and really organized and funded by some of them. That gave us clear mission and clear direction, clear objective.

15:48So we knew that the objective for those first months was both dismantling the Taliban and hunting Al-Qaeda and looking for really global enemy number one. And I had the honor to lead a mission that did go after some have been lined as we cornered them into a cave complex in November. Now, of course, we're 25 years out. What comes up for you when you think back on that day? What what really like comes to the top after all these years? Well, it's really the way the Americans responded. I mean, we see that the terrorists found a vulnerability, but they didn't count on the spirit of the American people. And we all remember how we rallied and we bonded and we unified in the days and even months and years after. And so I think about that. And we talked about the B-52 with FD and N-Y on it. So as I grew in rank and was able to have the opportunity to adopt my own flagship to have an airplane with my own name on it, that's the airplane I chose was tail number 10-1008,

16:53which had FD and Y on it. And the reason I bring that up is every time I went out to fly, I was hoping that that would be the day I get to fly that airplane again. And I would get to see that that nose art on the side of that airplane. Amazing. But what an incredible sequence of events, terrible, horrible, also unifying, like you said. And 25 years later still carries the power for all of us and the weight. Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your time. Thank you. President Trump says there's no truth to reports that US fighter jets were damaged during strikes on a Jordanian air base Wednesday. The attacks come after Iran promised retaliation for US strikes on Iranian oil tankers. Joining us now is Steve Yates National Security expert at the Heritage Foundation. Great to have you back on. My pleasure. Thanks for having me back. So here we are on the anniversary of 9-11 talking about threats to the US coming from the Middle East. Now the president

17:57is pushing back on reports of this attack on this base in Jordan. How should we read this back and forth? Well, first and foremost, every communication from Tehran has to be treated as an influence operation. They make very broad claims and a lot of their strategy rests on being able to convince people of being able to do bigger things than they currently are able to do. Second, we are never going to get to zero with the kinds of threats they engage in. It's economic terrorism. So they only have to hit one or two things and sometimes just fire without even striking some of these targets. And that is left, I think, a lot of panic. I think really the message right now is, stay calm, don't panic. And sure, has panicked some of the shipping operators have panicked and that has led to the price of oil being a panic price. Now, the president also says that he thinks the war is going to come to an end right after the election. He says it's because Iran can't hold out anymore, but of course,

19:00there's the election timing as well. Does that timing sound about right to you given what you understand in the region? Well, I don't know why it couldn't end sooner or why it wouldn't go longer. I mean, I knew now that the Iranians believe that they have some political leverage by pressuring the United States because of the midterm elections, but the currency of that goes way down to zero. And I think that's what the president is referencing. Once passed the election, there isn't this perceived leverage. And really it comes down to you're starving your people. You have no fueled long gas lines in Tehran. The maximum pressure is going to work. It's really time for you to make 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

20:00the 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. Fairer unfair that clouds huge positive change on our border and a lot of big fundamental 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 action 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. The reporting that fuels this show is only

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