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Observing 25 Years Since The Worst Terror Attack On U.S. Soil; Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), Is Interviewed About New Legislation Aims To Support 9/11 Survivors, Responders. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 11, 2026 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Juliet, we will see you in 25 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

BROWN: All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

And this morning America marks 25 years since one of the darkest days in our history. A day that forever changed the nation. The September 11th terror attacks. That very tragic Tuesday morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planes. Two of those planes crashed into the twin towers in New York City. One crashed into the west side of the Pentagon and another in a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. By the end of the morning, nearly 3,000 lives were lost. It remains the deadliest terror attack on American soil. South CNN's Brynn Gingras, who is at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza where the World Trade Center is once stood, is joining us. Brynn, it's been such an emotional morning, especially for all of those who remember those what happened 25 years ago. And 25 years later, this tragedy still resonates so deeply with so many of us.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, if I had a penny for every moment someone said, oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been a quarter of a century. It feels like it happened yesterday. That's what I just keep on hearing today on the plaza. It is still such a place with heavy, heavy emotion when you are actually standing out here.

All morning long, we have been watching families, individuals walking by placing roses into the etched names of the memorial reflection pools. We've been seeing families cross, crying at the moment that they know they lost their loved ones or hearing the name of the loved ones that they've lost. It's been quite an emotional day and for some reason it's so strange, Wolf. But I'm not the only one who feels this way.

For some reason, the 25 year anniversary, it's hitting very hard this year. There's a lot more emotion, sometimes anger, more anger about what happened, what transpired here and for our entire nation 25 years ago. Listen, we've heard six of those moments of silences, the bells ringing. The next one we will hear will be the first time we have heard it and we will continue to hear it at the anniversary each year. And that is the one that is going to toll for the lives lost from first responders, from people who came here who have since passed away from 9/11 related illnesses.

And we talked to a lot of people who said that this is such an important moment to be a part of the ceremony to reflect on those people because thousands of lives, more people's lives have been lost from illnesses related to 9/11, from the recovery effort than on the day itself.

[11:04:57]

I do want to hear from one woman who lost her husband. She comes once in a while, not every year. It's not a thing she does every year with her children. But her daughter was two years old when her husband passed away. She said she received a number of phone calls that day as her husband tried to assure her that he was going to get out of the South Tower, and he never did. I asked her, you know, how do you remember going forward? What do you tell people to keep his memory alive? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMY CHEDEL, HUSBAND WAS KILLED ON 9/11: Fun living. That's what I tell my children every day. Live every day to the fullest. Do good. Like we're in a luck. I feel fortunate that we can do good and we can help others. That's the only way that I found to heal and to survive from something like this. (END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: So, yes, Wolf, if you can imagine the emotion still so heavy here at the memorial site. And it really is going to be a moment when that seventh bell tolls again for the people who have lost their lives since that tragic day from 9/11 related illnesses. And we are standing by for that at about 12:30 or so. Wolf?

BLITZER: So, so heartbreaking indeed. Brynn Gingras, thank you very, very much. Pamela? BROWN: One of the people who lost their life at Ground Zero was Welles Crowther. He became known as the man in the Red Bandana and helped several others escape the South Tower before it collapsed. He was there initially as a private equity employee, and then he switched gears into his volunteer firefighter role that he had also signed up for.

And this week, President Trump posthumously awarded Crowther with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I spoke with Welles' mother, Alison Crowther, about her son's legacy. Here's our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Alison, thank you so much for being here with us. I want to just start by asking what this means to you, that now, 25 years after that horrific day, Welles has been honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.

ALISON CROWTHER, RECEIVED SON'S POSTHUMOUS MEDAL OF FREEDOM: It's just -- it just is incredibly beautiful thing that Welles has been remembered in this way. It will be treasured by our family for generations to come. This recognition of what he did, it just means the world to me and to our family.

BLITZER: Take us back to how you learned about Welles' heroic actions on that day.

CROWTHER: Well, it was, it took quite a while. We didn't know anything for a very long time. And then Wells was finally recovered on March 19th of 2002. But it wasn't until I read the article in "The New York Times" that they put out for Memorial Weekend, that weekend called Fighting to Live as the Towers Died. I read the article and sure enough, there were the references, Ling Young and Judy Wein, referring to this mysterious man wearing a red bandana, putting out fires, saying, if you can save others, you know, if you can help others, do so. If you can get up and walk, do so. Now, come on and follow me. I know the way. And I looked at that and I said, Welles, I found you. I just knew that was him.

BROWN: Wow. Tell us more about that, the red bandana, its symbol, and the legacy that the man in the red bandana leaves behind for you and your family.

CROWTHER: Well, it started as a very innocent thing. We were getting dressed for church one morning, and Welles was about seven or eight. My husband always carried a bandana in his back pocket, no matter where he went. But he always -- he was a banker, and so he always wore business suits and always had a tied, properly folded handkerchief in his breast pocket.

So Welles, who idolized his father, said, daddy, could I have a handkerchief like you for my jacket? And my husband said, sure. So he went in, pulled out a white handkerchief, and he just happened to grab a red bandana, and he went to Welles and he folded the handkerchief and put it in his breast pocket, said, don't touch this. It's for show. Here's a bandana that's for blow, to blow your nose, for messy jobs. And that's simply how it began.

The Sunday before September 11th, we were going out to dinner with Welles, walking across the street from his apartment to his favorite restaurant, and he pulled out of his back pocket that red bandana wrapped around his wallet and comb. I said, Welles, are you still carrying that thing? You're working on Wall Street now. What are you doing? You're in finance. Why do you still have that red bandana?

And he didn't say a word, smiled and put it in his back pocket. Later, we learned after 9/11, that he -- one of his co-workers said the same thing. Welles, why do you have that on your desk? And Welles picked up that red bandana like this and said, with this red bandana, I'm going to change the world.

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BROWN: Oh, wow, chills. And he did. I just want to emphasize, he wasn't just someone who worked on Wall Street. He was a volunteer firefighter, right? Tell us about why he wanted to do that and serve others in that way.

CROWTHER: There was a history of volunteer firefighting in my husband's family, and my husband was a member of Empire Hook and Ladder Company, a volunteer company. All of the Rockland County Fire Departments are volunteer. And so Welles just followed in his father's footsteps. And so that day, Welles, I like to say he took off his equities trader hat and, and put on his firefighter helmet and went to work. And my husband says the same thing. It's, you know, what we say about Welles. It was simply that he was simply doing his job that day.

BROWN: Wow, what a hero. And now he is getting this honor. So well deserved. And Alison, as we mark 25 years since 9/11, we're all thinking about you and your family and the others who lost their lives and all the grief that still happens on this day. Thank you, Alison.

CROWTHER: Yes. Thank you very much for having me on. Yes. And my heart goes out to all of the families, all the other families who lost their loved ones that day, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well, 2,977 people, the September 11th death toll is hard to comprehend. Almost 3,000 lives cut short. And as we were just talking about insurmountable grief just gripping the nation as their friends and families watched in war. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLEN SARACINI, WIFE OF VICTOR SARACINI, UNITED 175 CAPTAIN: I put the T.V. on and that's when I saw Victor's plane crashing into the South Tower. And I remember falling into the wall. And it was just that kind of a reality when time sort of stands still for a minute. I thought, how do I tell the girls? How do I tell the girls that this was their dad and he's not going to come home?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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STEVE BUSCEMI, ACTOR: The world has changed. The moments fade, but the memories endure. Never forget isn't a slogan to New Yorkers, it's a promise to those we lost, to those they left behind, and to those left who lived. We remember their stories and share them to keep the memory alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: And we're back remembering 9/11, 25 years later. That video was part of a tribute posted by New York Governor Kathy Hochul this morning. It was narrated by the actor, Steve Buscemi, who is also a former New York City firefighter. Governor Hochul is joining us right now. Governor, thanks very much for being here on this very solemn day. What's your message as we remember 9/11?

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Well, I just left the reading of the names of the victims and my message is this. We are always united around tragedies and you think about the heroic activities of people saving strangers and supporting each other and comforting each other on that day and the day after and many days after that. But it seems like we have an opportunity here on this 25th anniversary to rekindle that sense of oneness, that pride of being an American, the sense that we can represent different faiths and different ethnicities and different places where we come from. But we all have this common bond and let's rekindle that at this time.

That's my message to Americans and New Yorkers. As I saw a lot of pain this morning, I hugged a lot of families and saw little babies that never knew their grandparents. And it's a hard time for New Yorkers, but we really do come through in the toughest of times together, more united.

BLITZER: You wrote a very important article for "The New York Post," Governor, describing the stories of New Yorkers who, as you put it, turned pain into purpose. The men and women you featured in this article also all lost a loved one in the 9/11 attacks, but went on to choose a life serving their community in very different ways. Tell us about this and what the words never forget mean when talking about these new these New Yorkers.

HOCHUL: These people are living the message of never forget. They're the children of individuals who were lost parents and carrying on in their tradition, whether it's going into health care or firefighting service or being a police officer or going into just one of the helping professions. That is how they never forget the fact that people that were true heroes were lost that day or just people innocent going to their jobs, as we still do every day. And so that's the lesson of this.

That's why I wanted to feature the individuals who didn't just talk about the slogan. It wasn't about a branding. It's never forget. It is about living that message and how we can embody that in our daily lives. And I featured three individuals who are doing just that. And so proud to meet a young police officer who carried on in his father's footsteps and his mother was a police officer. They met on the force.

And I hugged her a couple days ago at a ceremony commemorating those lost from the Port Authority. And those are the stories that touch your soul. They just take us back of the sometimes the insanity of everyday news and what's happening and, you know, all the incoming from Washington in particular, and you step back for a minute and you realize what matters. It's the love of family, the love of community, the love of country that brings us together. BLITZER: Here's a moment, Governor from earlier. You can see the former mayor, Rudy Giuliani, shaking hands with the current mayor, Zohran Mamdani. What's your reaction to seeing this? After everything we've heard from Giuliani and so many others over these past few days and weeks?

HOCHUL: What happens in a moment like this? And I was literally standing right there, all the animosity seems to melt away. It's really hard to harbor hard feelings towards someone, even despite what you may have said days earlier. When you're surrounded by an environment, the reflecting pool and the names inscribed in the stone and the families that are looking so sad and so distraught, you can't harbor those hard feelings toward each other.

[11:20:16]

This is a moment of common humanity. And that's what I saw on display when people who may say things in the moment, but at that moment, we are united.

BLITZER: Good point. This week you signed very important legislation, Governor, that is aimed at further supporting 9/11 victims, responders and surviving family members. What's the significance of these new laws and what kind of impact do you hope they have?

HOCHUL: Well, it's a continuation of a journey for these families. I mean, the number of people lost since that actual day is astounding. The number of funerals I have gone to personally, state police officers who succumbed to an illness literally decades later. So I put more money toward a program to make sure we could be testing all the individuals.

There were literally 2,000 samples that had not been properly tested because they ran out of money. So I stepped up with the money, and I wanted to make sure that we also are very transparent. If there's information to be known about that day, everybody has a right to know. They have a right to know. The surviving family members have a right to know. So our business is still unfinished. These families still need us. We're never walking away. A milestone like the 25th anniversary does not mean we're done. It means the journey continues.

BLITZER: Earlier this week, Governor, New York City released thousands of pages of documents that showed officials knew the air, the air around ground zero was certainly not safe to breathe. They assured the public otherwise. What's your to people who feel like they were let down by their public officials.

HOCHUL: They were let down. People trusted the information that came out of the highest authority on the ground and in Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency and the head of it, basically has admitted that the information was wrong. And so many people relied on that. Imagine if the EPA had said, it's not safe to come back right now. You would have had other government officials, a governor and a mayor and others saying, OK, we're not ready yet. Let's make sure the air quality is safe and thousands of lives could have been saved. And that's the harsh reality of what was released by the mayor just this week.

BLITZER: And all these years later, people are still dying from the illnesses they got during the course of breathing that air. Today, there's also, as you well know, Governor, ramped up security for both 9/11 and the beginning of the Jewish High Holidays. What's the state, the state of New York, doing now to try to ensure that everyone's safety today and this weekend will be secure?

HOCHUL: Well, it is hard to have to say this, but we have to do even more to stop the spread of hate crimes, anti-Semitism in particular, as we've seen a spike in hate crimes over the last year and more than half of them are directed at Jewish New Yorkers. They have a right to be safe going into a synagogue to observe the holidays, whether it's going to taking your child to a yeshiva and dropping them off or walking down the street.

So I've allocated over $70 million, a tripling of the money that had been allocated just a few years ago to give to synagogues and places that need to be secure, money for security cameras, different lighting, different ways that people can feel safer.

In addition, I created buffer zones. There is now a 50-foot buffer to protect people who are going to their services, protecting them from harassment and antagonistic comments from protesters. That was important as well. I also have state police going to all of our locations, enhanced patrols from Buffalo, where you're from, Wolf, as I am all the way down to Long Island.

We're there to help this community know we have their backs. We know it's a heightened time of anxiety. It should be a joyful time celebrating the New Year. And I as governor will do everything I can to protect the Jewish community here in New York.

BLITZER: And we are grateful to you for that. Governor Kathy Hochul, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

HOCHUL: All right. Thanks, Wolf.

[11:24:26]

BLITZER: And a quick message to all of our Jewish viewers here in the United States and indeed around the world, celebrating the Rosh Hashanah Holiday New Year starting tonight and through this weekend as we say, L'shana Tovah or Happy New Year. Wishing you good health, happiness and peace in this next year. And we hope you have a very, very safe time as you celebrate with your loved ones, you go to services over the weekend. And it's good to see police cars and police officers outside so many synagogues all over, all over the country right now. It's very important indeed. Appreciate it very, very much.

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[11:29:50]

BLITZER: As we remember and reflect on the horrific attacks on September 11th. Now, 25 years ago, there are millions who were not yet born or were simply too young to remember.