tonight on q&a, she was the engineer of the historic fireboat john jay harvey on september 11 when it was called into service following the attacks on the twin towers. in her book, she tells the story of a community of mariners came to the rescue of thousands. >> the maritime evacuation that delivered nearly half a million people to safety is an incredible example of the goodness of people, that when you are given the opportunity, you have the tools and the skill set, you have the availability that people over and over again made the choice to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of fellow humans, and that is very instructive and something that we really need to continue to remember. >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern

on c-span's "q&a." you can also find "q&a" interviews wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ c-span wj. the "new york times" described the commemoration like this. "the loved ones gathered again for moments of silence and the peal of the bell paying tributes and listened as bruce springsteen sang about memory and loss. "in pennsylvania, hundreds gathered in a clearing where a highjackers -- hijacked plane crashed. in chicago, firefighters too long to remember september 11 climb thousands of steps to honor emergency responses to who have not lived past it. in nebraska, children sat on the shoulders of their parents and

waved american flags to honor the victims of a tragedy that to them, has only been history. for two decades, americans have mourned the attacks of september 11 that killed nearly 3,000 people, a loss so deep it shook the united states to its core. but even as time has passed, and the horrific days has moved from fresh memory into the chronicles of history then people who gathered around the country and the globe said the wounds from anaheim -- 9/11 have remained fresh. the president at the time of the 9/11 attacks, president george w. bush traveled to shanksville, pennsylvania, to speak at the national -- at the flight 93 national memorial yesterday. did he -- in his speech he contrasted today's political division to the sense of unity that happened after the attacks. here's what former president bush had to say. >> so much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger,

fear, and resentment. that leads us worried about pour nation, and our future together. i come with that 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 rally to the cause of one another. that is the america i know. [applause] at a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely, i saw americans reject prejudice and embraced people of muslim faith. that is the nation i know. [applause] at a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as

outsiders, i saw america reaffirmed their refugees. that is the nation i know. [applause] at a time when some view the rising generation is individualistic and deck tent, saw young people embrace an epic of service and rise to selfless action. that is the nation i know. [applause] this is not mere nostalgia, it is the true version of ourselves. it is what we have been and 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 who's calling from sherman, texas. jesse, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i think the legacy of 9/11 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. i only can think of the saying as the devil comes to kill and destroy. host: do you remember where you were that day? caller: yes, i do. i was at my job. host: and what do you remember how you reacted and what happened with you that day? caller: well, i wasn't sad. i knew that god was in charge but my family was upset. my coworkers were upset. but i wasn't. because i knew god is in charge

and the devil rushed to -- 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 consul mi had to let my 9-year-old son know that it's going to be ok, but i don't remember what all i said to him. but he was ok from then on. but it was a horrific time. it was horrible. host: did you end up watching most of the coverage on television or online? do you remember how you found out about it? caller: well, i was at my job, somehow we heard at my job about it. i don't know how they knew. because we were at work. host: ok. let's go to james, who's calling from pittsburgh, pennsylvania.

james, good morning. caller: oh, hey, good morning, jesse and good morning, america. thanks for taking my call, jesse. i've been watching lotses and lots of documentaries on 9/11. you know, a plane hit 'em pyre state building in 1945 and when they built them twin towers, they built them on that same thing, on steel glass cement when the attack, it was built with massive stuff. did you know how that was built? the twin towers? jesse in. host: no. tell us, james. caller: how about this? when they at the school, when they were at the school and they hit, right? and 93 was 14 minutes late. so they're in the air with airforce one. george bush really kicked back and he's like real comfortable and he says we need to ground these planes we can't get ahold of 93. bush said take it down!

why won't he come and say why would you take us down if why didn't he say he said that? this is not a conspiracy theory, jesse. he said that. host: so james, do you remember where you were when you heard about 9/11? caller: yes, i do. at that time, jesse, i was shooting herrion, ok? so -- heriorn. i couldn't get a ride to get my dope. and i said look, some jerk flew into the plane. and i seen another one come. and it's like we didn't know what's going on. and they're in the basement. they're going to save these people. i didn't know what was on but then i ended up going to prison, of course. i got locked up september like 25th, would be to. i didn't get out since 2007. but i remember i was just watching when i was in prison

and i was watching it like i watch -- i was always looking down. and i seen a couple of guys i know the kid was going over there. he was going over there and i'm like man, i know that guy. i grew up with that kid and his son goes over there. and i remember like yesterday, jesse. i remember it. but then it's a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense, jesse. host: let's go to robert who's calling from missouri. robert, good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. i just -- you know, the government, they covered up a lot of stuff there. they knew what was going to come down, learn people and they were going to guard the white house and they weren't even armed. so american people need to wake up, you know? host: so you with saying that the american government knew the planes were going to fly into the building and they weren't going to say anything?

caller: they knew something was going to happen and they were ill prepared you know it. they know it they've had too much research on 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 tower, it hit a plane going to and then danny said the second plane, well, it's going in and it sure did. you know, that's a crying shame. our government let us down. host: so 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 and, you know, iraq. you know, the u.s. government,

the u.s. is always think we could force our beliefs on other people. well, we can't, sir. you know it. i know it. and that's just how it operates. so, it's changed the world forever and it's tragic. but, you know, bush can stand there all day long, but bush is partially responsible for what happened at 9/11. host: let's go to jan who's calling from port richie, florida. jan, good morning. caller: good morning. host: jan, 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: so do you remember where you were when you found out about 9/11, jan? caller: oh, i was at home and i was getting ready for work. host: and can you remember what

happened after you found out? caller: i was shocked. i was just shocked and i didn't know what wirfs -- what i was doing. 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, jan, because of 9/11? caller: oh, the changes? just the way america handles everything. and it was just shocking. there's no words to say. host: ok. let's go to melanie who's calling from westhaven, connecticut. melanie, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, melanie.

caller: yes. i 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 greenwich, connecticut. and i was a single mom. my two children at the time were ages 7 and 5, 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 a coworker teaching me the switchboard. and after the first plane struck, a male coworker ran through the lobby yelling a plane hit the trade center. 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? were 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. you know, people were trying to get through on cell phones and couldn't to loved ones. host: now, melanie, there are some people out here in the united states now who weren't alive when 9/11 happened. how do we explain the events of 9/11 to children and to teenagers who weren't alive when it happened? caller: well, personally, you know, as i said, my children at

the time were 7 and 5 and even though they were that young, i was a single mom and i was always open 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 in stamford and call my children's school to see what was going on. and as i was driving north on i-95, i decided i'm just going straight to the school to see what's 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 announcements. the children do not know what's going on. and we're going to go into 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, you know, 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 they brought the children down to me and i'm thinking what am i going to say to these two young children? and as i said, i'm always opened with my children. i knelt down in front of them. i said something bad has happened. a plane had hit the world trade center in new york city. this is a bad situation. and i just wanted to go home together. my children didn't argue with me. and we went home. locked the doors inside, got inside the apartment. and had the tv on the rest of the day. so, i feel, you know, 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 biden visited all three crash sites. while he didn't have a speaking role in yesterday's ceremony, president biden released tape remarks on twitter. here's a few a little bit of what he said. president biden: the day that followed september 11, 2001, we saw heroism everywhere in places expected and unexpected. we also saw something all too rare, a true sense of national unity. youity -- unity and resilience in service, that 9/11 accepted up to protect and serve and to show everyone seeking to do harm to america that we will hunt you down and we will make you pay. and that will never stop.

today, tomorrow, ever. for protecting america. fear and anger, resentment and violence against muslim americans, true and faithful follow others a peaceful religion. we saw a national community bend. unity is the one thing that must never break. unity what is makes us who we are. america at its best. to me, that's the central lesson of september 11. is that at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull, all that makes us human, and the battle for the sole american, unity is our greatest strength. unity doesn't mean we have to believe the same thing. we must have a fundamental respect in 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 ekele 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's one tweet that says "the terrorists won." another tweet that says i was in biology lab in college. i remember the teacher that i talked to often with turning the tv on. everyone looking at it with their biology goggles on in shock. i remember her asking me who they thought did it and they felt like i was teaching everyone who osama bin laden was. another tweet says september 11 brought what the rest of the world understood about terrorism to the american people. and another tweet that says things i do 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's calling from fairport, new york. randy, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing today? host: just fine. go ahead, randy. caller: what i was going to say is that we have some fairly close experience, in fact, that just prior to 9/11, my wife actually worked with at the 96 floor of number one. and as this occurred, we were both living now in rochester, and to see what was happening on tv, you know, we had a first-hand experience after 10:00, each of those twin towers could hold up to 60,000 people each. and that 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, you know, the way that the planes hit the building and penetrated into the building. i watched the other night the game between the hockey game between the new york firefighters and new york policemen who were commemorated the game for the 20th year. and a lot of people don't know that there's been almost twice as many people that have died of the effects of the building and they -- materials that were released during the building and the dust that had actually indicted instead of the terror attacks in the building. so there is a lasting legacy and it's people who went in there and rushed in to help or people that were in the area when this occurred and, you know, are still feeling the effects of

9/11. host: how comfortable are you that the u.s. can prevent from this happening again? caller: we somewhat have become a little complacent we've had an attack. 1945 in pearl harbor. and we thought this would never possibly happen again. but that was on a different scale. that was a nation scale. this was an individual terrorist scale. and it slipped under the crack. somehow, they got in there and they were trained and when they were trained they never were trained how to land planes. i would think that would have raised, you know, quite a bit of stir on this. but, you know, the way that the planes were taking -- taken over, they knew how to do this when the flights were that full.

but the planes were full of fuel. and it's really, you know, it's 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's calling from bristol, connecticut. john, good morning. caller: hey, good morning. yeah, this is new -- the generation -- like the gentleman talked before. you have pearl harbor, oklahoma bombing, you have the 9/11, the terrorist stormed the capitol on january 6. i don't know what this world is coming to now. i don't think the government is ready for any of this. they don't connect the dots, you know? the -- that's amazing to me, myself. but, you know, it's a new world out there now. and i just pray that 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 and we were building a high-rise in connecticut, a casino and everybody was running up on the casino saying, you know, new york's under attack. and you ought to stop working and listen to -- huddle around the radio and listen to what was going on, you know? host: john, how did something -- the september 11 attack change things for you or did it change things for you? caller: well, i was hoping that they tighten up security about who comes into the country and intelligence and all that. but, you know, look what happened to january 6. you knew people were coming down to the capitol and you had all

their information but nobody took it serious, you know? host: all right. let's go to alexander who's calling from brooklyn, new york. alexander, good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. i've been a lifelong new yorker. for the first time yesterday, i went to the memorial. ironically, i was working a block away from in the university that i was going to at the time of this happened in cooper union. and i've been thinking about this a lot. just about what this all means, particularly for new york city. and being there last night, you know, i saw so many people, so many around the country just coming to pay respect for the people, just taking photographs at the lights as if to draw an instagram moment. and it was sad because i really

felt like a foreigner in my own city. i'm hispanic, dark, and were just certain people looking at me as if i didn't belong and i've lived here my entire life. 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. and when this happened in the university, it was called the cooper response community and precisely for to us try to understand what happened. and, you know, i think the memorials are beautiful, but they were just so many failures within the government, within the military, the agencies. i mean, bin laden was on the radar since 1959 -- 1995.

we left afghanistan in 1989. and somehow, we didn't think at all that this is going to come back to us. and yet when the bombing happened in 1993, nothing happened. and osama bin laden was in the radar since 1995. clinton had nine times to kill osama bin laden and yet he didn't. bush let him get away. and i don't think we've learned any lessons. and as callers from, you know, previous callers have said, some people will say we haven't gotten attacked in 20 years. we've got attacked. the capital one, an internal attack from extremists. and i think bush now can come to terms with that and say yes, we have national and internal terrorists and we have a nation that's divided. and yet that is not what i know. my new york city and everybody that's listening into this that knows new york city knows 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, in a bar that i went to. there's no questions. gave them my vax i.d., people were really. went out, nobody was wearing masks. we don't politicize and we all live, you know -- i understand it i'm not saying it's perfect, but we have muslims and we have jewish, the jewish community, we have people from all over the world. and i think that is the ideal of what this country is. host: well, earlier in the summer, c-span talked to members of congress about their experiences on 9/11. one of them was washington democrat who told us about how the attacks influenced her career in public service. here's what she said.

>> i had moved into a new house on settlement 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 oh, my god, are you seeing what's happening? have you seen what's happened? and i hadn't seen any of this because it was early on the west coast. and i remember sitting amidst all of the boxes, trying to find the box that had my, at the time, i only had a nine-inch television and trying to find the box that had the television so that i could pull it out, 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. stipe -- 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 and sure enough, that is what happened. immediately, i started getting calls from across the community of arab-americans, south asian americans, who were being literally attack, violently attacked, cab drivers who were being attacked simply for wearing a turban. of course, there was an early reports of people being attacked and killed simply for wearing a

turban. people were conflating turban and hijabs with the terrorists. and so within a week, i had ended upstarting an effort that initially i thought was going to be a short-term effort called hate-free zone that was initially established washington state as hate-free state. and to have all of our elected officials -- at the time, i was an activist not an elected official, to have all of our elected officials from the governors to the congress members come out and declare washington is a mate frey state. and that -- hate frey state. and that happened. i stopped wearing -- at the time, i used to wear a lot of indian clothes. it's something i enjoyed doing. i stopped doing that. i did not take my kiddo out with me at the time, my child was very, very young, just 4 years old or 3 1/2 years old. i didn't go out on the street unless i had people around me. and then as i started this work

and ended upstarting and leading for 12 years what became the largest immigrant advocacy organization in washington state, i had death threats against me for what i was doing. you know, it was a time of tremendous fear. but really, not just for me, for everybody that i was advocating on behalf of. people who were terrified to take their children to school. i mean, so many parents in communities of color had to take their kids out of school. and at the time, i remembered thinking that patriotism and fear combined are the most powerful way to suppress a sect. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the legacy of 9/11. here's one tweet that says the legacy of 9/11? the terrorists didn't attack blacks or white, gays or straights. they attacked americans.

here's another tweet that says imagine when we could accomplish if we stayed unite, work together, grow food that will keep us healthy and shared around the world, build efficient homes. no one will be homeless, hungry or unhealthy. we can enjoy our beautiful plants and kids. another tweet says the legacy of 9/11 is how we responded to it. as an arrogant, imperial power. bin laden's goal is to get the u.s. and expensive war. he succeeded. now empire has come home into the form ohlmiller franchised police, and decaying democracy. a friend who worked in a french restaurant in new york city on 9/11, the owner thought every time the plane crashed into the towers were shown that they didn't speak english that many planes were hitting many buildings it was really confusing about what was going on. won't to know from you what you

think the legacy of 9/11 was. let's start with diane who's calling from st. paul, minnesota. diane, good morning. caller: good morning. i was would just like to say that when 9/11 happened in 2001, i was on my way to taking my grandkids to school, it was the most prestigious black school for children. i was living in minneapolis. and when the towers hit, we were listening to the radio, joe madson and when the towers were hit, i said yeah, yeah, go, go, go! y'all got it and my granddaughter who's 8 years old looked at me and said gran marks they just hit us. and that shocked my to my core. because as an african-american, i was experiencing what is -- [indiscernible] the glass ceiling and all the

things that goes with presidents. so i had to pull over to the side of the road and explain to my gran daughter because we always were woke about american history because we know what's the history books was not true and we made sure kids when they got the true history about america from when america first got here and who was already here. and then on. and i told them. i said arya, i said you are all right. i apologize because they did hit us. and i said i got to remember. i got nephews who are in the united states navy because we're a navy family and they're already experiencing discrimination because they are muslims with last names like muhammad. and i had to think about that. and i said i do have a sister, working in the twin tour and i -- tower and i wonder what happened to her this morning. i said you're right. i was just willing at the fact

that america was going around the globe, a nation building and has done so much to other races and other countries. because i'm traveling. i have been to about 19 different countries and i've been to 17 of the 54 countries in africa and i can see some of the things that we have done in the past that has not been right. we can't nation build. and i feel that the legacy of it is that we got to stop building a nation building. i'm sorry that we left people in afghanistan but we need to get out of afghanistan because they're not going to step out of democracy. host: let's go to charles who's calling from richmond, virginia. charles, good morning. caller: yes, good morning. what i saw yesterday was one of

the most beautiful sites that i've ever seen before. what i saw were the -- and i remember that because i remembered the airport and they shut down all the airports and stuff like that. but what i saw yesterday was one of the most beautiful sites i've ever seen in my life. it was a democracy at work. it was our leadership. i'm a republican but i had to give it up to the leadership that we have in the united states of america. and it was strange. something's very strange happened. last week, it looked like new york city was washed and clean canned and because you didn't see none of that yesterday but they had the blood of new york city and people died. and then 9/11 yesterday came and the city 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's nothing there's no religious aspects. we were attacked by an evil group of people, an evil men who don't like to see people get together. you ever notice that? when you see people singing and getting together and enjoy life and all of a sudden, somebody comes along and wants to destroy what you have. we have the most beautiful place on earth. we have freedom. we have democracy. and yesterday proved it. we have all types of people that got together and i have to give it up to joe biden and kamala harris and her husband. i'm glad she was with her husband because she usually travels alone. and yesterday, to me was like god had blessed new york city.

he cleaned it in the flood and then blessed it. host: let's go to april who's calling from rock island, illinois. april, good morning. caller: i really appreciated the last gentleman, but i don't understand how anybody thinks that yesterday was a wonderful, beautiful experience. 9/11, 20 years ago happened because bill clinton didn't do his job. -- when he was. president. and now, 20 years later, the taliban in charge of afghanistan, they wore our uniforms. they're flying our helicopters. they're using our guns.

i'm so disappointed i can hardly even stand it. host: let's go to dan who's calling from arlington, virginia. dan, good morning. caller: hey, good morning to you and thank you for what you guys are doing, remembering 20 years ago today or yesterday, i guess. i think that the thing that really leaps out at me is the legacy and the history of 9/11 is not what happened as airplanes hit towers or buildings, but what happened immediately thereafter. and the courage, bravery, tenacity of the passengers and crew of flight 93. it 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 them along with the firefighters in new york, the nypd officers, the port authority officers, and other first responders both up in pennsylvania and new york and washington, that gift of a great example that gift of fighting back in the face of fear and uncertainty is a legacy that i hope that we all here to the united states take moving forward. thank you. host: let's go to lee who is calling from holland, michigan. lee, good morning. caller: yes. this whole thing is this even c-span here? it's 3-1 democrats versus republican on your show. you have more democrat callers. you have this squad member that was just on there and just race debating, talking about it's 9/11, i couldn't wear my indian clothes. everything the democrat party is

nothing about race baiting, they have no good policies. all they do is race talk and duck to duck about -- host: do you have anything to say about the legacy of 9/11? caller: yeah the legacy of 9/11 is the democrat party is horrific and these callers are brainwashed because all they do is watch abc, nbc, cbs. google, facebook, twitter, waning you're being brainwashed by the democrat evil empire. host: let's go to loreen who is calling from washington, d.c. loreen, good morning. caller: hello, jesse. how are you doing? the way i see it is it could happen again. it's great that we can unify after a horrific event. but defeat to unify before the -- we've got to unify better the horrific event. those agencies that with protective of us, they've got to work together. they can't be in this silo of seeing different things.

this is weird. that looks weird but not coming together and say let's do something about it before something bad happens. it happened in pearl harbor, january 6 and it happened with 9/11. can it happen again? sure, it can. so, and the legacy is it could happen to us. all those bad things that are going on overseas, you know, that's awful. but awful could come to our shores and it did on that day. i think it could happen again. host: let's talk to steve who's calling from topeka, kansas. steve, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you, jesse? host: i'm fine. go ahead, steve. caller: yeah, 20 years ago yesterday was tour 25th anniversary. briefly, i'll do the best i can to be brief and that is on the 25th anniversary, our 25th anniversary, we were married in the morning. we were in topeka and married at

10:00 and i had flowers delivered. they were right on time. i walked out and the flower was delivered just as if flying into the world trade center. so that every year in a sense was personal to me yesterday, we're in our 40th anniversary of 9/11 that our sons were here and i'm interested to hear what they were doing that morning. he had an english class. and an rotc man walked in and he said the world trade center has been hit and he walked out and he left the teacher like what did he say? and the next hour, he had a government teacher and already prepared the library, seating and had tv up there. so in the very next hour, they were all sitting in the library watching that in their school. so it was not -- so every year, i guess it's somewhat personal to us. it was a dark humor i always wondered if i had flowers

delivered a good thing. i had picked flowers. and i had them on the table so i didn't have to worry about that event. so every year, it's personal to me because that's our wedding anniversary that morning and certainly something i can't forget personally. i think everybody's touching on it nicely. lean the lincoln assassination would have been noteworthy for all the country. yeah, it's personal for me and also for the country. host: let's go to diane who's calling from -- diane who is calling from san diego, california. diane, good morning. caller: 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.

and you know even though it's been 20 years, i remember that morning taking my son to school and before we left the house, he said mom, you have got to see this and it was the tower and the plane and he ended up joining the marines as soon as he turned 18. so i'll tell you something. i give one -- i give 200% support to any american that has given their all and they give it freely to anybody that comes along. because that's what it's all about. host: during the commemorations yesterday, vice president kamala harris spoke in shanksville, pennsylvania and peelleed for unity on the 20 anniversary of

the 9/11 attacks. here's what vice president harris had to say. vice president 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 humidity -- humidity we -- humanity we all share. in a matter of minutes in the most dire of sir, the 40 responded as one.

they fought for their own lives and to save the lives of countless others at our nation's capitol. 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 ideal. 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's one tweet that says i blame george bush for two major faults. one six weeks prior to 9/11. he ignored the c.i.a. white paper telling us that bin laden would attack us using airplanes and two, bush attacked the wrong country afghanistan and the retribution. another tweet that says what is the legacy of 9/11? 9/11 was a dry run that taught us that when fear is stoked, we will give up rights and even scarier reality. they learned how to sell a lie and trump learned a lot repeat the lie often enough and those who want to believe it as real will. another tweet. the legacy of 9/11 -- u.s. should not become entangled in senseless wars, especially in the middle east. u.s. invaded and occupied iraq, a country that did not attack the u.s. cost and consequences of iraq, afghanistan and blood and treasure were colossal foreign policy blunder. and one last tweet.

no revenge attacks by the families of the 40,000 people we killed after 9/11. we search for invisible boogiemen for profits for arms dealers. maybe we should have given bace a chance after 9/11. we want to know what you think the legacy of 9/11 is. let's start with martin who is calling from miami, florida. martin, good morning. caller: hello? host: go ahead, martin. caller: yes. hello. this is monty. yes. and my son served -- my sun wen as a result -- my sun wen as a -- son went ads 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.

and he 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. but, yeah, they saw the -- what you call it? they saw the federal building in oklahoma city where we're from and they saw the -- they saw the, the federal buildings fall. and they got scared. but they when they got 18, they responded and joined the military. but one passed away. so, yeah.

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's calling from washington. don, good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. hey, yeah, i was just going to say where i was. i was in portland, oregon, at the international airport there. and i remember watching with the f-16's take off and circumstance tell whole city for probably about a week, it seemed like. and that was my day on that day. but i was wondering if you guys were going to show president trump's stuff there, his speech yesterday. i tried to watch it on you guys' internet and it would not play. and so i was wondering if you guys might do that for us thank you, jesse. god bless you. host: let's go to russell 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. i think -- i'm 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, 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 try to down democrats because we care or somehow make -- try to make it seem as though it was justified, it was not justified that america is

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 that should support freedom everywhere. we should support freedom in hong kong. we should support freedom in taiwan. and we planted seeds in afghanistan. my sons -- i'm a veteran and my son fought in that afghanistan. was wounded in afghanistan we planted seeds in afghanistan that will continue to grow long past the time we're gone. all of us and stop pointing fingers. you want to blame it on trump. you want to blame it on ahmad -- oklahoma. you -- abama obama. as long as we're d-wooded, we are so easily to be the cause of it the internet has almost conquered out people. we have people who all they want to do on the internet all day is

talk "idiocracy." host: let's go to joseph who's calling from manchester, connecticut. joseph, good morning. caller: how are you? host: go ahead, joseph. caller: yeah. 20 years ago, i was in elementary school in the third grade. and they made my classroom lockdown and shelter in place in a closet. and i wasn't sure what was going on. and then i came home when i found out. my father and my grandmother told me what was going on. and i knew that the world had changed. and i, i didn't know that the world had changed that much, that we would forever fix the way we travel and how -- forever

change the way that we did things. and that we judge certain people. because arab-americans and everything for things that a select group of people did. and i've been really disappointed in my country for, for the past 20 years. i'm past -- i'm 28 years old right now and i've been really disappointed in e.y. that we've reacted to 9/11 and i think we could do better. host: let's go toed who's calling from michigan.

todd, good morning. caller: yes, hey, good morning. as far as the legacy goes, mr. bush has been varying 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. i believe say the -- i can't say the same for trump 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, 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 >> this week, our series, january 6, views from the house, c-span sat down with lawmakers to recount their first-hand experiences on january 6 during the attack on the u.s. capitol. 14 members of congress shared stories about what they saw and experienced in the house chamber and as they escaped to a secure location. the series begins with oklahoma republican congressman mark mullen and democratic congers

been jason crow of colorado and tom allows key of new jersey. anyway six, views from the house -- weeknights at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> this week, on the c-span networks, secretary of state antony blinken testifies before to committees on the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. hearings begin monday at 2 p.m. eastern with the house foreign affairs committee and senate foreign relations committee will hear from secretary blinken. we'll have coverage of both hearings on c-span. on wednesday, the senate judiciary committee examines the fbi's handling of the former gymnastics physician and sex offender. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video live or on-demand anytime. c-span -- your unfiltered view of government.