instructive, something that we really need to continue to remember. announcer: tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span q&a. you can also find q&a interviews wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. 20 years ago, the world changed as cointreau airplanes smashed into the world trade center, the pentagon, and a field in pennsylvania. 2001, 1 of the worst attacks on the united states capitol. two decades later, we are still dealing with its aftermath. we as a country will never forget those we lost and how our lives changed forever.

our question to you this morning, what is the legacy of 9/11? we are going to open up regional lines for this conversation. that means that if you are in the eastern or central time zones, you're going to call (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is going to be (202) 748-8001. keep in mind you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. and we are always reading on social media, facebook, twitter, and you can follow us on instagram. the new york times describes the commemorations for 9/11 like this in their newspaper today. the loved ones cabin again and lower manhattan for moments of silence and the peals of the

bells. they pay tribute to those they lost 20 years earlier and listened as bruce springsteen saying about memory and loss. in pennsylvania, hundreds gathered in the clearing where i hijacked plane had crashed to hear a former president honor their relative sacrifice. in chicago, firefighters too young to remember september 11 climbed housings of steps to honor emergency responders. in nebraska, children sat on the shoulders of their parents and waved american flags to honor the victims of the tragedy that, to them, has only been history. for two decades, americans have mourned the attacks of september 11 that killed nearly 3000 people, a loss showed deep -- so deep it shook the united states to its core. but even though it has moved from fresh memory to the chronicles of history, the people gathered around the country and the globe said the wounds from 9/11 have remained fresh.

as the new york times said, the president at the time, president george w. bush traveled to shanksville, pennsylvania to speak at the flight 93 national memorial yesterday. in his speech, he contrasted today's political divisions to the sense of unity that happened after the attacks. here is what he had to say. george bush: so much of her politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment. it leaves us worried about our nation and our future together. i come without explanations or solutions. i can only tell you what i've seen. on america's day of trial and grief, i saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor's hand and rallied to the cause of one another. that is the america i know.

[applause] george bush: at a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely, i saw americans reject prejudice and embrace people of muslim faith. that is the nation i know. [applause] george bush: at a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, i saw americans reaffirm their welcome to immigrants and refugees. that is the nation i know. at a time when some viewed the rising generation is individualistic and i couldn't -- and decadent, i saw young people embrace an ethic of service and rise to selfless action. that is the nation i know. [applause]

george bush: this is not mere nostalgia. it is the truest version of ourselves. it is what we have been, and what we can be again. host: once again, there were commemorations all around the country yesterday, including here in washington, d.c., in virginia with the pentagon sits, and in new york and pennsylvania. we want to know what you think the legacy of 9/11 is. let's start with jesse he calling from texas. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i think the legacy of 911 -- shows that america loves each other and we love america but other countries don't love us for some reason. i really don't understand why.

all i can think of is the devil comes to destroy. host: do you remember where you were that day? caller: yes, i do. i was at my job. host: and do amber how you reacted and what happened that day? caller: well, i wasn't sad, i knew that god was in charge. my family was upset, my coworkers were upset. but i wasn't, because i knew god was in charge and the devil wants to kill and destroy. host: how did 9/11 change your life? did you have to do anything differently? did you have to make any adjustments in your life because of what happened on 9/11? caller: well, i had to console my family, especially my grandson. he was only nine, it was scary to him. i had to let him know that it's going to be ok.

he was ok from then on. it was a horrific time, it was horrible. host: did you end up watching most of the coverage on television? were you watching online? do you remember how you found out about it? caller: i was at my job, somehow we heard at my job about it. i don't know how we knew, because we were at work. host: let's go to james who is calling from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. james, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i've been watching lots and lots of documentaries on 9/11. you know a plane hit the empire state building in 1945? so when they built them 20 towers, they built it on that same thing. steel, glass and cement.

it was built with -- did you know how that was built? the twin towers? jesse? host: no, telus. caller: when they was at the school, and they hit, 93 was 14 minutes late. they are in the air with george bush and he is really kick back and comfortable. he said we need to ground these planes. we can get a hold of 93. bush said take it down. why won't he come and say that? why didn't you say he said that? this is not a conspiracy theory, jesse. he said that. host: do you remember where you were when you heard about 9/11? caller: yes, i do. i do. at that time i was shooting heroin. that was back in 2001 and i was mad because i couldn't get a

ride to get my dope. i said some jerk flew into the towers. then i see another one coming. i just want to go get my dope. i come back, i started watching it. i'm thinking, they are going to get these guys out of the basement. they are going to save these people. then i ended up going to prison, of course. i got locked up september 25, 2001. i ain't get out until 2007. but i remember i was just watching from the prison and i was always watching it. i was always looking down, and i seen a couple guys going over there. enlisting, going over. i'm like, i knew that guy. i grew up with that kid. i remember it like yesterday. i remember it. but then there is a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense, jesse. host: let's go to robert calling from missouri.

robert, good morning. caller: good morning. you know, the government covered up a lot of stuff. they knew what was going to come down, certain people. who can you believe? jets, the white house, the american people need to wake up. host: robert, are you saying that you think the american government knew that the planes were going to flame to the building and say anything? caller: they knew something big was going to happen and they were ill-prepared. you know it and i know it. host: where were you when you found out about 9/11? caller: i was home from texas at my parents house. they walked in the door and the first time they had a plane, they said well the second plane,

it's going in, and it sure did. that is a crying shame. our government let us down. host: robert, what changes have happened in your life because of 9/11? are you doing anything differently? caller: you know, yes. the difference is, i -- well. i saw the bad, the good, the ugly about afghanistan. you know, the u.s. government, the u.s. always thinks we can force our beliefs on other people. well, we can't. you know it, i know it. that's just how it operates. it has changed the world forever and it is tragic. you know, bush can stand there all day long, but bush is partially responsible for what happened that 9/11. host: let's go to jan from

florida. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what do you think the legacy of 9/11 is for the united states? caller: i think it's about freedom and knowing what to do. host: do you remember where you were when you found out about 9/11? caller: i was at home and i was getting ready for work. host: do you remember what happened after you found out? caller: i was shocked. i was just shocked. i had the tv off, but i found out at work that it happened. host: and what type of changes do you think have happened for the united states and for you,

personally, because of 9/11? caller: the changes? just the way america handles everything and just how shocking . there is no words to say. host: let's go to melanie who is calling from west haven, connecticut. melanie, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: yes, i'd like to talk about how i found out about the disaster of 9/11. i remember perfectly. i was at my second day at my job in connecticut and i was a single mom of two children at the time, aged seven and five, attending the same elementary school in stamford, connecticut.

i was a morning receptionist at my job, and in the reception room, it was just me and the coworker teaching the switchboard. that -- then, after the first plane struck, a male coworker ran through the lobby yelling a plane hit the trade centers. so my coworker and i at the computer scrambled on the internet to find whatever news we could, and of course, we were shocked and devastated. host: do you remember how people were talking back then? were people just confused, or they angry? what emotions do you remember from that time? caller: i remember some of my coworkers lived in new york city, and i remember them talking how they couldn't go home that day.

people were trying to get through on cell phones and couldn't to loved ones. host: melanie, there are some people out here in the united states now who were not alive when 9/11 happened. how do we explain the events of 9/11 to children and to teenagers who were not alive when it happened? caller: well, personally, as i said, my children at the time were seven and five. and even though they were that younger, i was a single mom and i was always helping with my children. and what happened was my job was in the morning as a receptionist. i left my job at noon and i first thought i was going to go home to my apartment and call my children's school to see what was going on. and eyes i was driving off of i-95, i decided i'm just going

straight to the school to see what is going on. so i got to the school, walked into the building with other parents. we were greeted by the school principal in the lobby who explained we have not made any announcement, the children do not know what is going on. and we are going to hold a full day of school. however, if you want to take your children home, feel free to sign them out. so i thought for a moment, do i want to do that? and it didn't take me long to feel i'm going to take my children home, i just want all of us home. so we brought the children down thinking what am i going to say to these two young children and, as i said, i'm open with my children. i said something bad has happened, planes have hit the

world trade center in new york city. this is a bad situation, and i just want us to go home together. my children didn't argue with me and when we went home, we locked the door and sat inside the apartment and had the tv on the rest of the day. so, i feel like to tell children who don't know or don't understand as best you can the history and what it means. host: with all the commemorations around the country yesterday, president joe biden visited all three crash sites. while he didn't have a speaking role in yesterday's ceremony, president biden released taped remarks on twitter. here's a little bit of what he said. biden: the days that followed september 11, 2001, we saw here was him everywhere.

in places expected and unexpected. we also saw something all too rare: a true sense of national unity. unity and resilience, the capacity to recover and repair in the face of trauma. unity in service. the 9/11 generation stepping up to serve and protect in the face of terror, to get those terrorists who are responsible. to show everyone seeking to do harm to america that we will hunt you down and we will make you pay. that will never stop. today, tomorrow, ever. we also witnessed the darker force of human nature. fear and anger. resentment and violence against normal americans. true and faithful followers of a peaceful religion. we saw national immunity banned. -- we learned that unity is the one thing that must never break. unity is what makes us who we are. america at its best.

to me, that is the central lesson of september 11. at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull of all that makes us human, and the battle for the soul of america, unity is our greatest strength. it doesn't mean we have to believe the same thing, but we must have a fundamental respect and faith in each other and in this nation. we are unique in the history of the world because we are the only nation based on an idea. an idea that everyone is created equal and should be treated equally throughout their lives. that is the task before us. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the legacy of 9/11. here is one that says "the terrorists won." another that says "i was in

biology lab in college. remember the teachers who i spoke too often turning the tv on, everyone looking at it with their biology goggles on in shock. i remember her asking me who we thought did it and i felt like i was teaching everyone who osama bin laden was. another says "september 11 brought with the rest of the world understood about terrorism to the american people." and another says "things i did differently after 9/11: i drive a lot more than i fly." we want to know what you think the legacy of 9/11 is for you and for the country. let's talk to randy, who is calling from new york. randy, good morning. caller: good morning, how are you doing today? host: just fine, go ahead. caller: what i was going to say is that we have some fairly close experiences. the fact that just prior to

9/11, my wife actually worked on the 96th floor of number one. as it occurred, we were both living in rochester. to see what was happening on tv, we had a firsthand experience. we knew that after 10:00, each of those 20 hours could hold up to 60,000 people each. and this was going to be devastating. to see the marks on the building , she felt that there was going to be a lot of people that were trapped because of the way that the planes hit the building and penetrated into the building. i watched the hockey game between the new york firefighters in the new york police men who commemorated the game for the 20th year. a lot of people don't know that

there has been almost twice as many people that have died of the effects of the building and the materials that were released during the building and the dust than actually had died during the accident -- not an accident, the terrorist attack. there is a lasting legacy and it is those people that went in there and rushed into help, or people that were in the area when this occurred. they are still feeling the effects of 9/11. host: randy, how confident are you in the u.s. government being able to prevent anything like 9/11 from ever happening again? caller: well, i think what happens is that we somewhat have become a little complacent. i mean, we had the attack in 1945 on pearl harbor and we thought that this could never possibly ever happen again.

that was on a different scale, it was a national scale. this was on an individual terrorist scale. it slipped under the crack. somehow they got in their. when they were trained, they never were trained how to land planes and how that would have raised quite a bit of stir on this. but the way that the planes were taken over, they knew how to do this when the flights were that full, when the plans were full of fuel. it is really sad and unfortunate, but i don't know if we would have ever expected that airplanes would be used as weapons of war. host: let's go to john who was calling from bristol, connecticut. john, good morning. caller: good morning. the generation sees terrorists

now, like the gentleman talked before me about, pearl harbor, oklahoma bombing's. 9/11. then the terrorist storming the capital on january 6. i don't know what this world is coming to. i don't think the government is ready for any of this. they don't connect the dots. obama didn't know nothing about january 6, that is amazing to me myself. it is a new world out there now. i just pray to god it gets better. host: john, do you remember where you were when you found out about the events of 9/11 and how you felt back then? caller: i was at mohegan sun building a high-rise. mohegan sun building a high-rise. everybody was running up on the casino saying new york is under attack. you want to stop working and huddled around a radio and just

listen to what is going on. host: john, how did the september 11 attacks to change things for you? or, did it change things for you? caller: i was hoping it would beef up security about who comes into the country and all that. but look what happened on january 6. there were people coming down to the capitol and you had all the information, but no one took it serious, you know? host: let's go to alexander, calling from brooklyn, new york. alexander, good morning. caller: good morning. i am a lifelong new yorker. for the first time yesterday i actually went to the memorial. ironically, i was working a

block away from the university that i was going to at the time that this happened. i've been thinking about this a lot, just about what this all means, particularly for new york city. being there last night, i saw so many people from around the country just coming to pay respect to other people, taking photographs as if it is an instagram moment. it was sad because i really felt like a part of new york city, hispanic, dark, certain people looking at me. i don't know. i have a sad feeling about the legacy of 9/11. c-span has done an amazing job of really trying to explain the whole complex situation in afghanistan.

when this happened in the university, they did what was called a community response. it was precisely for us to try to understand what happened. i think the memorials are beautiful, but there were just so many failures within the government, within the military. the agencies. bin laden was on the radar since 95. we had a bonding here in 93. somehow we didn't think that all of this was going to come back to us. and yet when the bombing happened in '933, nothing happened, and abide in -- osama bin laden was on the radar since '95. bush let him get away. i don't think we've learned any lessons.

as previous callers have said, some people say we haven't gotten attacked attack in 20 years. we got attacked. the capitol was an internal attack from extremists. and i think bush can come to terms with that and say, yes, we have national and internal terrorists, and we have a nation that is divided. and yet, that is not what i know. my new york city and everybody listening to this that knows new york city know that we have a robust culture from all parts of the world, and we live in unity. i went out friday night, they asked me for my vaccine at the bar i went into. there is no questions. gave them the id, people wore masks, they were respectful. we don't politicize. i'm not saying it's perfect, but we have muslims and we have

jewish communities, we have places from all over the world. i think that is the ideal of what this country is. host: earlier in the summer, c-span talked to members of congress about their experiences on 9/11. one of them was in washington democrat who told us about how the attacks influenced her career in public service. here is what she said. >> i had moved into a new house on september 10, 2001. so i was completely in boxes the morning of september 11. and of course, i'm here in seattle, so i got a very early morning call from a good friend of mine in new york saying are you seeing what is happening? have you seen what has happened? and i hadn't seen any of this because it was only on the west coast. and i remember sitting amidst all of the boxes, trying to find

the box that had -- at the time, i only had a nine inch television, trying to find the box that had the television so i could pull it out and plug it in, which i did. only to see the images flashing across the screen of what had happened in new york. the images of the terrorists who had committed the attack. and when they flashed on the screen i remember thinking to myself everything is going to change for people who look like me. and i also remember that i had just gotten my u.s. citizenship the year before, after a long time of waiting and being on a multitude of visas. and i just felt this moment of deep fear and insecurity about my own place in this country and people across the country who would be stereotyped and attacked in the wake of these

attacks because i know that history ensure enough, that is what happened. immediately, i started getting calls from across the community of arab americans, salvation asian americans, muslim americans who were being literally attacked, violently attacked. cabdrivers who were being attacked simply for wearing a turban. of course, there were early reports of -- being attacked in mesa, arizona and killed simply for wearing a turban. people were conflating turbans and hijabs with the terrorists. and so within a week, i had ended up starting an effort that initially i thought was going to be a short-term effort which was really too initially just establish washington state as a hate-free state. and to have all of our elected officials -- time, i was an activist. to have all of our elected

officials from the governor to congress members come out and declare washington as a hate-free state. and that happened. i was very scared for myself. at the time, i used to wear a lot of indian clothes, something i enjoy doing. i stopped doing that. i did not take my kiddo out with me. my child was very, very young, just four years old, 3.5 years old. i didn't go out on the street unless i had people around me. and as i started this work and ended up starting and leaving for 12 years what became the largest advocacy organization in washington state, i had death threats against me for what i was doing and it was a time of tremendous fear. but really, not just for me, for everybody i was advocating on behalf of. for people who were terrified to take their children to school.

so many parents and communities of color had to take their kids out of school. at the time i remember thinking that patriotism and fear combined are the most powerful way to suppress dissent. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the legacy of 9/11. here is one that says the legacy of 9/11, the terrorists didn't attack r;s or d's, black or white, gay or straight, they attack americans. here is another that says "imagine what we could accomplish if we stay united, together to preserve our planned and wildlife. growth foods that would keep us healthy and share around the world. build efficient homes. no one would be homeless, hungry or unhealthy. we can't enjoy our beautiful plant/kids." another says "the legacy of 9/11 is how we responded to it: as an arrogant power.

in lawton's goal was to get the u.s. in the decades of fruitless and expensive war. he succeeded. domestic extremism and decaying democracy. another says a friend who worked at a french restaurant in new york city on 9/11, the owner thought every time the planes crafting the towers was shown since they didn't speak english, that many planes were heading many buildings. it was really confusing about what was going on. we want to know from you what you think the legacy of 9/11 was. let's start with diane, who is calling from st. paul, minnesota. diane, good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that when 9/11 happened, 2001, i was on my way to taking my grandson to school, one of the most prestigious black schools for elementary children in minnesota. i was on the freeway.

and when the towers sit, we were listening to the radio, and when the towers hit, as a doggone, y'all got it. and my granddad are -- granddaughter said grandma, they just hit us. and that shocked me to my core. as an african-american, i was experiencing the glass ceiling with prejudice. i had to pull over to the side of the road and explained to my granddaughter, because we always work wok -- were woke about american history, and we always made sure the kids came home from school and they got the true history about america from when america first got here and who was already here. and i told her, i said you are

so right. i apologize. because they did hit us. and i said i've got to remember, i've got a nephew or two in the united states navy. they are experiencing discrimination because they are muslims with last names like mohammed. and that you are right, i didn't personalize this. i was just looking at the fact that america has been going around the world and has done so much to other races and other countries. so as a traveler, i have been to about 90 different countries and i have been to 17 of the 54 countries in africa and i could see some of the things that we have done in the past that have not been right. we assist nations who want to

become democracies, but there are a lot of people who don't want what we have. and i think that the legacy of it is that we've got to stop being nation judges. we need to get out of afghanistan because they are not going to accept our democracy. host: let's go to charles who is calling from richmond, virginia. charles, good morning. caller: yes, good morning. what i saw yesterday was probably one of the most beautiful sites that i've ever seen before. i remember because i was working at the airport, they shut down all the airports. what i saw yesterday was one of the most beautiful sites i've ever seen in my life, a democracy at work. it was our leadership. i'm actually a republican, but i

had to give it up to the leadership that we have in the united states of america. and something very strange happened. last week, it looked like new york city was washed and clean. it had a big flood, and people died. 911, yesterday came and was beautiful. and you saw how democracy works. i'm not even going to discuss any of the religious aspects of it all because there is nothing. there is no religious aspect. we were attacked by an evil group of people, evil men who don't like to see people get together. have you ever noticed that? when you see people singing and getting together and enjoying life, all of a sudden somebody

comes along and wants to destroy what you have. we have the most beautiful country on earth. we have freedom, we have democracy, and yesterday proved it. we are all types of people that got together and i have to give it up to joe biden and kamala harris. i'm glad she was with her husband, because she usually travels on her own. yesterday to me was like god had blessed new york city. cleaned it and blessed it. host: let's go to april who is calling from rock island, illinois. april, good morning. caller: i really appreciate the last gentleman, but i don't understand how anybody thinks that yesterday was a wonderful, beautiful experience.

911, 20 years ago, happened because bill clinton didn't do his job. when he was president. now, 20 years later, the taliban is in charge of afghanistan. they are wearing uniforms. they are flying our helicopters, using our guns. i'm so disappointed i can hardly even stand it. host: let's go to dan who is calling from arlington, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning to you and thank you for what you guys are doing it, remembering. i think that the thing that really leaps out at me is the legacy in the history of 9/11.

it is not what happened, that airplanes had towers or buildings, but what happened immediately thereafter. the courage, bravery, tenacity of the passengers and crew of flight 93. they knew what it is that they were facing. and unlike the military, who were sworn to protect and defend the constitution of the united states, these passengers and crew, regardless of religion, race, creed, color, ethnicity, came together as americans to fight back. and then come along with the firefighters in new york, the nypd officers, the port authority officers, emts and other first responders were up in pennsylvania and new york and washington. that gift of a great example, that gift of fighting back in a state of fear and uncertainty is a legacy that i hope we all in the united states take moving forward. thanks.

host: lee, michigan. morning. caller: yes. the whole thing is that it is three-one democrats versus republicans on your show. you have more democrat callers. like that squad member that was just on just race-baiting. talking about after 9/11, i couldn't wear my indian clothes. the democratic party is nothing but race, race. they have no good policies. all they do is race talk host:. do you have anything to say about the legacy of 9/11? caller: legacy of 9/11 is the democratic party is horrific and these callers are brainwashed because all they do is watch abc, nbc, cbs. wake up, you are being brainwashed by the democrat evil

empire. host: let's go to lorraine who was calling from washington, d.c.. good morning. caller: look, the way i see it is that it could happen again. it is great that we can unify after a horrific event, but we have got to unify before the horrific event. those individuals, those agencies that are protectors of the country, protectors of us, they need to work together. they can't be in here saying different things. this looks weird, that looks weird, but not coming together and doing something about it before some thing that happens. it happened with pearl harbor, it happened again january 6, and it happened with 9/11. could it happen again? sure, it can. in the legacy, he could happen to us. all those bad things that are going on overseas, that is awful. but all of it could come to our

shores, and it did on that day. i think he could happen again. host: let's talk to steve who is calling from topeka, kansas. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, steve. caller: 20 years ago yesterday was our 25 anniversary. we were married on 9/11, 1976. i will do the best i can to be brief, and that is on the 25th anniversary, our 20th anniversary, we were married in the morning. we were married at 10:00. i had flowers delivered and they were right on time. i walked out and they were delivered just as they were flying into the world trade center's. yesterday was our 40th anniversary. our sons were here. our one son, he was in english class and the rotc man walked in

and said the world trade center has been hit and walked out. and he left the teacher like, what did he say? the next hour, the government teacher had already prepared the library, seating and atv. the very next hour, they were all sitting in the library watching that in the school. every year, it is somewhat personal. a type of dark humor that i had flowers delivered. i picked flowers, i had them on the table. so, every year it is personal to me because it is my anniversary. that is something i can't break free of. i think even the lincoln assassination would have been something.

it is personal to me and also for the country. host: let's go to diane who was calling from san diego, california. diane, good morning. >> good morning. i come from a service family. not only military service, but once we get out of the service, we give back to our community. what do i think about 9/11? i say i cry. even though it has been 20 years, i remember that morning taking my son to school and before we left the house, he said mom, you've got to see this. and it was the towers and the planes. and he ended up joining the marines as soon as he turned 18. so i'll tell you something. i give 200% support to any

american that has given their all, and they give freely to anybody that comes along. because that is what it's all about. host: during the commemorations yesterday, vice president harris spoke in shanksville, pennsylvania and appealed for unity on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. here is what vice president harris had to say. harris: united in purpose. we will be prepared for whatever comes next. the 40 passengers and crew members of flight 93, as we all know, they didn't know each other. most of them didn't know each other. they were different people from different places. they were on that particular

flight for different reasons. but they did not focus on what may separate us. no. they focused on what we all share. on the humanity we all share. in a matter of minutes, and the most dire of circumstances, the 40 responded as one. they fought for their own lives and to save the lives of countless others at our nations capital. after today, it is my hope and prayer that we continue to honor their courage, their conviction, with our own. that we honor their unity by strengthening our common bonds. by strengthening our global partnerships.

and by always living out our highest ideals. this work will not be easy, it never has been. and it will take all of us believing in who we are as a nation. and it will take all of us going forth to work together. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the legacy of 9/11. here is one that says "i blame george bush for two major false. one, he is proud of 9/11, he ignores the cia telling us that bin laden would attack us using airplanes. two, bush attacked the wrong country, afghanistan in retribution. another says "one legacy of 9/11? 9/11 was a dry well that said that when fear is stoked, we will give up rights and even

scarier realities. were people lie often enough and those who want to believe it is real will. another tweet, the legacy of 9/11, the u.s. should not become entangled in senseless wars, especially in the middle east. the u.s. invaded and occupied iraq, a country that did not attack the u.s., causing consequences in iraq, afghanistan, and colossal foreign policy wonders. and one last tweet. more revenge attacks will be america's legacy by the families of the 40,000 who killed after 9/11. collateral damage as we searched for invisible bogeyman for profit arms dealers. maybe we should have given peace a chance. once again, we want to know what you think the legacy of 9/11 is. let's start with martin who was calling from miami, florida. martin, good morning. caller: hello?

host: go ahead. caller: hello, this is martin, yes. and my son served as a result to afghanistan and iraq. host: go ahead. caller: yes. and he went and then he came back but he was injured. and he died. as a result of this. and my youngest son went to afghanistan as a result. i was at home when that happened. and it scared me. they saw the federal building in

oklahoma city where we are from, and they saw the -- they saw the federal buildings fall and they got scared. but when they got 18, they responded and joined the military. but one passed away. he gave all. and i just, you know, commend him for doing what he did. and my other one as well. host: let's go to don who is calling from washington. good morning. caller: good morning. i was just going to say we were all in portland, oregon at the international airport.

i remember watching the f-16s take off and circle all-city for probably about a week, it seemed like. that was my day on that day. but i was wondering if you guys were going to show president trump's stuff. his speech yesterday. i tried to watch it on your internet and it would not play. so i was wondering if you guys might do that for us. thank you, god bless you. host: let's go to russell who is calling from south carolina. russell, good morning. caller: yes, good morning, america and jesse. i keep hearing people talk about all the terrible things that america did and somehow america had it coming that we would be attacked. as a veteran, i put my life on the line for america. and i'm also an african-american.

so when i look back at my history, america has done a lot of bad things to my people, but america did not deserve what happened on 9/11. innocent people going to work should never be attacked and killed. and for people to come on c-span and tried to down democrat because we care or somehow try to make it seem as though it was justified, it was not justified that america was attacked. we need to come together as a country. we need to stop attacking muslims, attacking democrats, and attacking people. remember, we are a country support freedom everywhere. we should support freedom in hong kong, we should support freedom in taiwan, and we planted seeds in afghanistan. i'm a veteran, and my son fought in afghanistan, was wounded in afghanistan. we planted seeds in afghanistan

that will continue to grow long past the time we are gone. and stop pointing fingers. you want to blame it on trump. you want to blame it on obama. you know what, we are americans. let's stand up together and face it together and move forward together. we are so easily conquered. the internet has the most conquered our people. we have people who all they do on the internet all day is talk idiotic receipt. host: let's go to joseph from manchester, connecticut. good morning. caller: how are you? host: go ahead, joseph. caller: i was just -- 20 years ago i was in elementary school, in the third grade. they made my classroom lockdown

and shelter-in-place in the closet. i wasn't sure what was going on. and then i came home and i found out. my father and my grandmother told me what was going on and i knew that the world had changed. i didn't know that the world had changed that much. that we would forever fix the way we traveled and forever change the way that we did things. how we judged certain people. arab-americans and everything for things that a select group of people did. and i have been really disappointed in my country for

the past 20 years. i mean, i'm 20 years old right now. -- 28 years old right now. i have been really disappointed in the way that we have reacted to 9/11 and i think that we could do better. host: let's go to who is calling from michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. as far as the legacy goes, i would like to count on mr. bush for observing his comments. his comments and basically, he was saying that we're more divided now than we were back then. and, you know, i think in his personal life, i think he feels a lot of remorse about some of the intelligence that he received to dick cheney and some of these other guys.

and, you know, i believe that mr. bush is an honorable man. i really do. that mr. bush is an honorable man. 'p or biden. i don't feel anything coming from those guys at all. and another point, too. i think americans are kind of naive, including myself about being attacked and about pain. you know, if you look at history and you look at the casualties that united states has suffered like in vietnam, 54,000, world war ii, 150,000, and then you look at russia, and they've suffered 26 million losses. so, i think it's time that, you know, we start getting the history books rewritten truthfully and we start taking a damn good hard look at what's going on around us. thanks.

host: coming up next, we'll talk with david corn and quin hillyer, again, about the impact of 9/11 and the political news of the day. following that, we'll go back to your telephone calls as we talk again about the legacy of 9/11, 20 years later. stick with us. we'll be right back. ♪

>> c-spanshop.org has a collection of products. browse to see what is new. your purchase will support our nonprofit operations. you still have time to order the congressional directory. go to c-spanshop.org. next week, watch c-span's january 6, views from the house, where 14 members of congress share stories of what they saw, heard, and experienced that day. >> representative gosar from arizona was objecting to the arizona slate of electors. at that moment i simply shouted out at the top of my lungs, this is because of you. i screamed it. >> the capitol police officers came into the chamber. they were being very loud.

they were making a lot of commotion. the doors to the chamber are typically open and all of the doors, they started shutting the doors. >> someone up in the chambers, in the gallery, a member, was yelling at the republicans to call trump and have trump call off his mob. >> there were a lot of freshmen i got to know during orientation that this was their first real experience as a member of congress. we were watching them and talking to my fellow colleagues about what we could try to do and stop this. >> watch january 6, views from the house, next week on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back.