terrorist attacks and reducing polarization. later, we will take you live to the remembrance ceremony at ground zero. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal." 21 years ago the united states was attacked with planes crashing into the world trade center, the pentagon and in pennsylvania. more than 2000 people died and our way of life in america was forever changed. on the 21st anniversary people from around the country and the world are remembering that fateful day and the people lost through commemoration and ceremony. where were you on 9/11? what do you remember most?

or you in one of the most affected areas? today, we want to hear your memories on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. we are going to open regional lines. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, you can call (202)-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is (202)-748-8001. keep in mind you can always text us at (202)-748-8003 and we are always reading on social media on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter @cspanwj and on instagram @cspa nwj. we are going to have a shortened show as we are going to give live to new york city to the 9/11 memorial at 8:40 a.m. we will have coverage of the september 11 commemoration ceremony at ground zero in lower

manhattan. later, we are going to go to the 9/11 service of remembrance. that will begin at 9:45 a.m. in pennsylvania. at 10:03 the names of the crewmembers will be read. this will end with a wreath laying and then we will be going to the white house. we want to know what your memories are of 9/11. where were you that day? were you here in washington? were you in new york? where you somewhere else in the country? what do you remember? all of us remember the evening of september 11 president george w. bush addressing the nation. here is what then president bush had to say. [video clip] pres. bush: today, our fellow

citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deadly terrorist attacks. the victims were in airplanes or their offices. secretaries and businessmen and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. thousands of lives were suddenly ended by people, despicable acts of terror. the pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. these acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. but they have failed. our country is strong. a great people have been moved

to defend a great nation. terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of america. these acts shattered steel but they cannot dent the steel of american resolve. host: the associated press has a story today talking about the ceremonies going around the country on the 21st anniversary and i will read a couple of paragraphs. americans are remembering 9/11 with moments of silence, readings of victim's names, volunteer work and other attributes, 21 years after the deadliest terrorist attack on u.s. soil. victims, relatives and dignitaries will convene sunday at the places where the hijacked jets crashed, the world trade center, the pentagon and a field in pennsylvania. other communities are marking the day with candlelight

vigils and other commemorations. some americans are joining in volunteer projects on a day federally recognized as patriot day and a national day of service and remembrance. the observance follows a fraught milestone last year. it came weeks after the chaotic ending of the afghanistan war. but this remains a point of inflection on the attack that killed nearly 3000 people, spurred a war on terror worldwide, and reconfigured national security policy. we want to know what you're remembrance of 9/11 was. what do you remember from that day? we start with bill calling from marietta, georgia. caller: yes, sir. thank you for taking my call. that particular day was a day of

remembrance and, if i remember correctly, i was sitting in the middle of a traffic jam. [laughs] i will be as brief as i can. this is an event i think all of us will never forget. i am 76-years-old. i have seen the assassination of president kennedy, the oklahoma bombing, and this would be the most horrifying thing. not only did it attack america, it attacked the whole world. i think this is the first time -- and i hate to say this, but i regret it deeply -- but at one time in our life we all came together as one.

we were one america. unfortunately, how often we forget we are still one america. unfortunately, we have had these evil sources that have attacked our democracy. we know who they are and most of us have, you know, tried to prepare ourselves for all sorts of other attacks. but when our own fellow citizens attack our own capitol as they did january 6, this here also is a very horrifying event. host: patricia calling from mountain home, arkansas. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. thank you for taking my call. host: go ahead. caller: [voice breaks]

we heard about it at the bank. all those people that were killed, there was no reason. my friend's son's fiance was killed. thank you. host: let's go to jim calling from bonita springs, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. there is only one day in the history of the world a steel structure building has collapsed due to fire and that was on 9/11 of 2001. the incredible thing about that is there were only two planes that took down three buildings. the third building, building 7, is continually ignored by the media. the 9/11 commission of report,

you can grab that pdf file and do a search for building 7 for the solomon building. it is not even dealt with in the whole report. there has been a significant cover-up of what happened on 9/11 and he goes to the top of the government, including the media, including c-span, and people should open their eyes and look at it at some point. it has been 20 something years now. it doesn't mean that it has gone away. this is an event that still dictates our life when we go to the airport, when we have lost our liberty, our security, and people should open their eyes. host: even 21 years after 9/11 there are reports of terrorist possibilities happening on this day. newsweek has an article about it

i want to bring to you this morning. a u.s. joint intelligence bulletin obtained by newsweek has warned foreign militant groups could exploit the upcoming anniversary of 9/11, one year since the u.s. military withdrew from the decades war launched in afghanistan in the wakes of the attacks. the bulletin, dated september 2 issued by the department of homeland security, federal bureau of investigation and national counterterrorism center, states three agencies expect foreign terrorist organizations and supporters will seek to exploit the 21st anniversary of 9/11 one year after the u.s. withdraw from afghanistan and the recent death of the al qaeda overall leader, which may inspire hve's. this comes from newsweek.

an intelligence bureau says foreign terrorists may still be planning to attack the united states. what are your memories of 9/11? where were you that morning? let's talk to rory calling from california. good morning. caller: good morning. i was working security, or i woke up, one building got hit, another got hit as i was watching tv. i was working at the federal building in laguna hills, california. everybody was called in. when i got there, people were being evacuated. others were coming in, federal agencies, i think the fbi was included, coming to look over everybody's shoulder. nobody came in and very few were able to leave because they had already been kicked out. it was a scary time and we got

word -- which turned out to be false -- three airlines in southern california had disappeared and they did not know where they were going. so, it was a very nervous time and being on security on a federal building that was very large, and when you are wondering if it is going to get hit by another airline. that is about it for me. host: let's go to barbara calling from winterville, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i remember 9/11. i had just a few minutes walked through the pentagon to deliver a report to be core donated for congress. as i walked out of the building a couple of minutes later that is when the event occurred. it was so chaotic that i was able to survive.

i prayed my way home and i am a survivor. host: where were you exactly when you saw or heard the planes hit the pentagon? were you still in the parking lot? were you already in crystal city out of the parking? or were you still want pentagon grounds? caller: i walked off the ground and i was at crystal city to get in my car to drive home. i was able to go through all of the emergency events going on. i sort of just prayed my way across the woodrow wilson bridge. when i looked back, i just saw a big ball of smoke and i was able to make it. i have been working at the pentagon since 1979. i was able to get out of the building. host: those of us who were here in washington that day -- i was

in the u.s. capitol -- we remember how chaotic it was, traffic shut down, how people abandoned their cars. how long did it take you to get home that night? caller: i would estimate it would take me 45 minutes to travel to fort washington, maryland. by the time i got to my vehicle i would say within an hour, because it was in the morning at a time that there was traffic, but i took some shortcuts through old town, virginia. i was able to thankfully go across the bridge. host: another thing i remember about washington was the entire cell phone system shut down. it was hard to reach anyone. were you able to reassure your family that you were ok since they knew you worked at the pentagon? did you lose any friends inside the pentagon? caller: yes, i did.

i knew quite a few individuals. i had not realized a lot of lives of people that i knew until president bush came over for a special ceremony and their pictures were posted outside the pentagon. being from north carolina my husband and children were in maryland. my husband did not know for hours that i had survived. in north carolina, my mom and dad said there were so many people calling it took days before my parents knew i was alive. host: thank you, barbara. we want to hear your memories of 9/11. we are opening up regional lines. that means if you are in the eastern time zone, your number is (202)-748-8000. if you are eastern or central, your number is -- mountain or pacific time zones, your number is (202)-748-8001. we are also reading on social

media on twitter @cspanwj and facebook.com/c-span. one of the enduring memories of the 9/11 attacks was congress coming together as one on the west front of the steps of the u.s. capitol to sing "god bless america." this was only hours after that and here is our memories of that day. [video clip] >> ♪ from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam god bless america my home sweet home ♪ god bless america my home sweet home ♪

[applause] host: let's look at some of the tweets coming from lawmakers this morning as we commemorate the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. here is one tweet from representative sharice davids that says, on the 21st anniversary of 9/11 we must never forget the lives lost from this tragedy and honor the brave first responders who risked their lives to help the community members. here is a tweet from representative hakeem jeffries who says, we will never forget the thousands of innocent lives lost that day or the sacrifices of the brave americans who fought overseas to keep us safe at home. here's a tweet from representative barry loudermilk who says, on the anniversary of 9/11 let's member the lives lost and continue to thank our brave

first responders who run into danger to help keep us safe. a tweet from the house republican caucus that says, 21 years ago our nation was forever changed. today we remember the thousands of lives lost senselessly in the september 11 terrorist attacks and we honor the brave service members and first responders that selflessly answered the call to serve. we want to know what your memories of 9/11 are. let's go to jeffrey calling from parkersburg, west virginia. good morning. caller: yes, am i on? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i lost my sister jacqueline young on the 89th floor. this is a sad day for our family and my mom was never the same after that.

god bless america and all the families that lost loved ones. host: abby calling from fredericksburg, virginia. caller: good morning. my story -- i am so sorry about that fellow -- but here's what happened to us. i was supposed to go to work that day and i was supposed to go to the pentagon was one of my stops. in the south pentagon, my boss -- she was not my boss -- my client, i had a consulting firm, she was a three-star general -- two-star rather. her bosses were killed in the south pentagon with over 110 people that day when the south pentagon was hit.

i was supposed to go to the south pentagon. it was canceled because of 9/11 because it was going to be in the afternoon. she lost both employers and luckily, she was not in that day. it was canceled to the following thursday. because of that appointment i was with my husband at about 8:30 in the morning, "the today show" was on and we saw the planes go by on television. matt lauer and katie couric thought, it's a plane and we will follow up. then they saw the planes going into the buildings, into the towers. suddenly, we were in my son's bedroom. my home office was next door and we sunk to the floor, to the rug

of his bedroom and watched. we could not believe what we saw. i started to see what was going on and it was like, oh my god moment. they sent my son eugene home from kaiser elementary. --tyler elementary. hundreds of people i worked with and i worked for law firms and a lot of agencies. host: let's go to lisa calling from arlington, virginia. caller: good morning although i am calling from arlington, virginia, during 9/11 i was a new york state resident working for the city of new york. on that terrible day i would go

through the trade center to get to my office, which was located in queens, new york. at the time of the actual event myself and a few colleagues were watching the news, getting breakfast downstairs in queens, new york. we watched the towers get hit. it was a difficult time, not just because the actual event, but we worked in children's services with 37 congregants throughout new york. we had children throughout those facilities and staff that worked 24/7. it was surreal for many reasons. obviously, professionally, but personally going home -- i lived

in yonkers, new york -- going home on the highways we were stuck on the white stone expressway until 4:00. if anyone is familiar with new york, you can watch the new york city skyline from there. i think the most salient memory i have -- and again, if you know about new yorkers, all of us from being on that bridge from the morning until it was over -- there was this sense of camaraderie among all of us sitting on the expressway in addition to folks going up to cars asking one another if they wanted food, mcdonald's. but as soon as the bridge opened up it seemed like a click.

the mindset of the hussle of new york happened again and all of us scrambled to get over the bridge. at the end of the day, all i remember is constant stories of friends, family leaving the towers, walking through brooklyn back to long island. a cousin of mine walked from downtown manhattan to jersey. my other cousin walked back to queens. one of my cousins was working at the stock exchange. she lost all of her residency documents. it was a very challenging time then and several years after if you worked in new york state, specifically in the boroughs of manhattan and right outside of that. those are my most prominent memories.

host: let's see some memories from our viewers who are texting in and talking about what they remember. here is one that says, i was in my living room watching the emergency broadcast of the trade centers under attack. i cannot believe we used this to attack a country that never attacked us. another says, i was taking my youngest to kindergarten driving back to the upper east side and a low-flying plane hit the south. the air smelled rancid for weeks. the photos of missing loved ones were posted everywhere. so many more sad memories etched in my mind. another that says, god bless us all on the anniversary of 9/11. i was at the break room for the military. we trained people from foreign military to fly jets.

another says, i was working on a construction project in downtown madison, wisconsin. a worker had a portable tv in his car and we had a plank while we completed our work day. -- playing while we complete our work day. we want to know what your memories are of the 9/11 attacks. vanessa is in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i was living in central america at the time. my mom called and got through. it was a very remote area. she told me to turn on the tv and i did in time to see the second tower get hit. living outside of the country we got our news from the bbc, which

showed very different coverage then what was being shown in the states. and i got that it was world war -- my mom told me, don't come back to this country. we were making preparations for my family to come down there to stay with us. seeing it from outside the united states was very different. i recall i thought it was world war iii. host: tricia calling from nashville, tennessee. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: hey, good morning. host: good morning. go ahead. caller: 9/11 i remember well. i was a flight attendant at the time. i was flying that day, scheduled to do a round-trip flight from

detroit, michigan to san francisco, a trip that i had done often. we were probably an hour or two into the flight and got word from the cockpit to have a briefing. we gathered in the galley and one of the pilots advised us one of the trade centers had been hit. at that time, they thought it was a small engine plane that had crashed into the tower. we had to gather our manuals and prepare for an emergency terrorist attack and had to monitor the aircraft. a lot of passengers, once the pilot made an announcement we were going to be diverging -- they had closed the airspace -- so all of those thousands of

planes in the air had 20 minutes to touch down at the nearest airport. we diverted to albuquerque, new mexico and we had a full 757. passengers did not know what was going on. we really did not know what was going on at the time. we had two unaccompanied minors with us, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old without parents. airspace was then closed for days. we scrambled to try to help the passengers and also being in a state of shock and worried for our own lives and those of our passengers and the world. not knowing fully what was going on. the crew, we did get off the plane and until we knew we were

going to be grounded for some time, we stood in the airport and watched the first tower fall. it was surreal. to this day i remember that. we ended up going to a hotel and stayed for four days in albuquerque. the hotel, restaurants, it was inundated with other passengers and people whose lives were on hold. host: we would like to thank all of our callers who called in for the first segment with the memories of 9/11. after the break, we will talk about a new survey of america's attitudes toward not 11 21 years later -- toward 9/11, 21 years later. dan vallone, the man who commissioned the poll, will also be with us. ♪

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fish, as catherine described, and because of that it is easy to spread diseases. announcer: douglas frantz and catherine collins with their book "salmon wars" tonight on q&a. you can listen to q&a and other podcasts on the free c-span now app. ♪ announcer: on august 16, 1977, 45 years ago, elvis pressley died at age 42. the autopsy found eight different drugs in his body. seven years earlier, he was with richard nixon in the oval office to offer his assistance in fighting the war on drugs. he asked for a special agent badge from the bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs.

a copy of the photo of president nixon and elvis on that occasion is the most requested from the national archives. our guest has spent a lot of her professional life telling the story of elvis and his well-known manager, colonel tom parker. she reveals the colonel was not an american and was not originally named tom parker. announcer: alana nash and her new book on this episode of book notes plus. book notes plus is available on the free mobile app or wherever you get podcasts. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with dan vallone of more in common u.s. here to discuss the recent survey on american's attitudes toward the 9/11 terrorist attacks 21 years later and its

mission to reduce polarization. good morning. guest: good morning. appreciate the chance to talk with you today. host: first of all, tell us about more in common u.s. what is your organization's goals? guest: we are a nonpartisan research nonprofit and we work to bring americans together so we can better solve our problems and make progress together. one of the ways we do that is we conduct unique public opinion research looking at issues of history, identity and belonging in america. and then we use those insights to try and surface areas of common ground and bring americans together on issues that have salient as a nation. host: your organization is called more in common u.s. does that mean there are affiliates outside the u.s.? guest: that is correct. we work as part of a multinational initiative and there are more in common teams in the u.k., france, germany and poland. and all of these countries we

work to counter the forces of polarization, the forces pulling societies apart, and try to to bring people together. in the u.s., we are best known for a report released a couple of years ago called "hidden tribes: a study of america's polarized landscapes." we looked at the exhausted majority. that term has gained traction in politics and in culture to describe how americans feel. folks can find all of our research at moreincommon.com. host: how long has your organization been in existence and where you get your funding from? guest: we are relatively new. we have been around about four years. we are funded primarily by large philanthropic actors and all the countries we work in. in the u.s., we have foundations who support us from across the ideological spectrum because we

try to work with americans across all segments of our population. host: let's talk about your new poll, remembering the post 9/11 america. what were you hoping to find out by doing the survey? guest: i appreciate the question and i should say we did not necessarily go into the survey trying to produce a set of results. we have been conducting a year-long study looking at how americans feel toward significant events in our national history. just last month we released a report that looks at memories and attitudes toward the civil rights movement of the 1950's and 1960's. we commissioned the survey with the international polling form yougov to look at american's memories of 9/11. we were trying to better understand, given the significance of 9/11, what memories do we have in common? where do our memories diverge? what should we do about it?

we felt like this was an important year to do the survey in particular because we are entering a window. we are more than a generation removed from the attack. one in four americans was born after 9/11 and that population will be the majority in a couple of decades. we are in a window where our collective memories of 9/11 will be shaped more by how we teach and learn about the attacks then what we remember from personal experience. it is really important moment for us to step back and say, what are our collective memories? host: what were the major findings of the survey? guest: we have a lot of interesting findings and we fielded the survey to a sample of americans representative of the adult population of new york and the adult population of muslim americans. i will highlight three topline findings that i think are interesting.

the first is around the significance of 9/11. we see that 9/11 remains one of the most impactful events in recent history, but it is receding into history. 56% of americans say the attacks changed their lives. but only 37% of generations feel this way. when we asked americans, what does never forget in the context of 9/11 mean? generation z is twice as likely to say they don't know. we can see the memories are growing weaker. the second major finding is around the complexity of memories we hold about 9/11. for example, muslim americans are more than twice as likely as the average american to associate the period after 9/11 with islamophobia. younger americans are less than half as likely as older americans to describe the country as united in the

aftermath of 9/11. we can see as the passage of time -- as time passes, we have a fracturing of our memories in addition to memories growing weaker over time. the third major point i highlight is how do our memories connect with our world today? in the survey we ask people the extent to which they feel accepted in america today. we found an interesting insight which is younger americans, again, those least likely to associate the aftermath of 9/11 with unity, are also among the americans least likely to feel accepted in the country today. so, 24% of generation z does not feel they are accepted and another 18% are not sure. that is important because how we feel in the moment influences how we remember the past. what we are seeing in the data is younger americans have a harder time remembering

solidarity because they do not feel that in the country today. host: what is the impact of that major gap between younger americans who don't remember the terror and the uncertainty of that day and older americans who remember either being there or watching it on television? what is going to be the major impact of that gap between those age groups? guest: sure. this is a key question. it speaks to why does this data matter? why is this important? it speaks to the fact -- it suggests we are losing our capacity to draw on shared lessons from 9/11. that is critical because, as a society, we are going to have to grapple with future crises. the lessons of 9/11 have a lot to do with how do we respond to fear? the fracturing we see in our memories is something we should be working to address because fear is not going away. in future crises, the extent to which we can draw on shared

lessons of 9/11 will significantly influence the extent to which we respond to fear with solity or allow ourselves to be divided against each other. host: let's let some of our viewers take part in the conversation. we are going to open up special lines for this part of the show. we are going to break it up by age. if you are under age 30, if you are under age 30, that means you are alive but you might have been really young on the days of 9/11, 2001, your number is (202)-748-8000. if you are between the ages of 30 and 49, between 30 and 49, your number is (202)-748-8001. if you are between ages 50 and 64, if you are my age between 50 and 64, we want to hear from you

at (202)-748-8002. if you are 65 and older, 65 and older, your number is going to be (202)-748-8003. let me run through it one more time. if you are under age 30, (202)-748-8000. between 30 and 49, (202)-748-8001. between 50 and 64, (202)-748-8002. and 65 and older (202)-748-8003. keep in mind you can always text us at (202)-748-8003 and we are always reading on social you on twitter @cspanwj and facebook at facebook.com/c-span. dan, as we said earlier, one in four americans currently today were born after the september 11 attacks. like you said, that number is

set to grow over half the population in 20 years. what should we be teaching people about 9/11? what are the lessons we absolutely must impart about what happened on that day? guest: i want to say also as much as we need to do more to educate younger americans, there is also work all of us, however old we are, to bring new perspectives into how we remember the attacks. but i think there is, broadly speaking, three points i would highlight. our survey found encouraging results on this front as well. when we asked americans, what does never forget in the context of 9/11 mean? the strong majority, close to seven in 10, said two things. first, the victims and their families. we should never forget. second, the sacrifices of first

responders. those immediately on 9/11 and in the years that have passed. those two points had brought agreement across the american population. the third one is the sense of unity. i want to say a more complex sense of unity because it is important we remember not all americans felt included in that sense of unity, particularly muslim americans. older americans much more likely to say we should remember the sense of unity the country experienced and that is a less salient memory for younger americans. host: let's go to our phone lines and let's start with steve calling from topeka, kansas on the 65 and older line. good morning. caller: good morning. my story is not directly related but i will say my attitude

toward 9/11 was very joyous and very sorrow. our wedding anniversary is 9/11, 1976. fast-forward 25 years to the hour. i had flowers to be delivered that morning. i was sleeping after the midnight shift. the doorbell rang, the flowers are outside, i expected it to be a joyous occasion with my wife. she is watching the tv as the planes are flying into the world trade center. i will never forget the mixed feelings i had in that moment. the tragic events and that is my story. host: dan, we hear a lot of stories about how september 11 has changed our memories of where we were and what we were

doing on that day. did your survey pick up on anything about how people are remembering where they were and what they were doing on that day? or two people remember back that far? guest: a number of research organizations have asked this kind of question. i think p did one lastew i think you -- pew did one last year. most americans are member what they were doing, where they were, who they were with when they saw the images on television. it has sunk deep into the consciousness of a lot of americans, particularly those old enough to be processing, engaging in it, may be to know somebody in new york or pennsylvania or the capitol that day. that is where you see some divergence. younger americans who perhaps don't have that personal memory,

you can see a gap emerging were older americans don't understand why a younger american might not have as visceral a reaction. you can see judgment seeping into how older americans look at younger americans and confusion with how younger americans feel toward, why our older americans judging them for not remember an event which, to them, happened a long time ago and was less personal? host: as far as the survey, you spoke specifically to new yorkers and talked to them about some of the issues they remember from 9/11. i want to bring up one thing i want you to respond to. as part of the survey, 54% of new yorkers say the country is safer today from foreign terrorism as it was before the attacks. 10 points higher than the national average of 45. why do new yorkers see the country as being safer than people outside new york?

guest: i think in the report there is an interesting -- and i almost want to use the word beautiful -- in this story. 68% say it is safer. new yorkers are the most likely to associate the period after 9/11 as america being strong and resilient. new yorkers are also the most likely to say one of the things we should never forget about 9/11 is the resilience of new york city and its residents. i think that is what explains why new yorkers feel the country is safer. they associate now 11 with a much stronger feeling of strength and resilience. i think that plays into the fact they feel we are better prepared than other americans do to prevent acts of terrorism from occurring. host: let's talk to a couple of new yorkers. jane is calling from brooklyn, new york. good morning. caller: how are you? host: i am great.

go ahead. caller: i just want to start by saying you're absolutely right. new yorkers are extremely strong and we will never forget 9/11 or the terrorists that did this to us. the feelings are awful, sick, angry, scared. you don't know what is going on. i was in my apartment that morning and i hear katie couric say, a small plane has hit the building. i am freaking out. i look out the window and i see the smoke and what have you. i run up to the roof and there are people already on the roof and we see the second explosion. it was awful. we are praying, crying. i want everybody to remember

those feelings and our memories of it are important. they do fade and they come back and you have nightmares. very emotional. i still feel sick about the whole thing and i do not know why they did this to us. i don't understand that still. do all the people in the world, i love you guys and i just want you to be happy and to look at this and remember and hopefully this never happens again. christopher grady was a friend and i miss him. we are stronger together, like we were that day. the flags are out, the people were out, and we were one. i don't think we have really lost it. i just think we have been up to a lot and never forget 9/11. host: go ahead and respond to her, dan. guest: i appreciate that, jane. has someone who is a new new

yorker i have gained appreciation for the strength, resilience and pain so many new yorkers carry. for me, i grew up in new hampshire. i was a high school student on 9/11. i remember when i first learned about the attacks. i was watching them on tv with fellow classmates. but in my memory the other thing i carry is my first visit to west point happened a month after 9/11. i was struck -- we had scheduled it in the summer, long before the attacks -- but when i visited in october what i was struck by was this overwhelming sense of solidarity. the sense that we are in this together. and i hear that a lot from new yorkers and i heard it again in jane's comments. i think it is something we have to hold onto as a nation and continue to invigorate in our memory as time passes from the event. host: let's talk to another new

yorker. we will talk to john calling from rochester, new york on the 30 to 49 line. caller: you mentioned west point. used to be able to just drive through the reservation and take care of this or that. 9/11 changed that. it has got to be hard to get through that post now. you guys just answered a question earlier that i was going to pose. you would like to thank that the security for the country is much better. for a little while that morning i remember katie couric -- actually, before going to work -- people figured this could not be nothing because we always heard the air defense command and the other elements. it was enough, it was enough to

bring that about. that is really all i wanted to say. thank you for taking my call. thank you for remembering. host: go ahead and respond, dan. guest: sure. we found in our survey one of the interesting insights when we asked people to recall the period after 9/11, the two themes across all generations and segments of population, one was fear of terrorism and heightened security measures. what we heard was a reiteration of that. we remember the extent to which security dramatically changed in the aftermath of 9/11. things like airport security, military installations suddenly transformed within the year is to be radically different from what they were prior to the attacks. host: one of our social media followers has a question. i don't know if you addressed,

this in the survey but i will ask. this follower wants to now, how much has the adoption of tabloid news reporting affected the 9/11 reporting? did your survey look at anything along those lines? guest: in this specific survey, unfortunately, we did not get at how different media presented 9/11 and how that influences responded's memories. we study polarization in the u.s. we released a report in trust 19 called perception gap about how we misunderstand each other. in that report, we did find a striking influence of media in terms of how we think about, in this context, those who have different political views. i think in any conversation we are having whether it is about

politics or even 9/11, the media landscape matters hugely. unfortunately, we have seen a fracturing in the american media landscape where there are clusters of more liberal media, conservative media, and folks converging in those ecosystems. i do not know how it applies to 9/11 but it is a salient consideration today. host: let's go back to our phone line and talk to brandon calling from palmdale, california on the under 30 line. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: we can hear you. go ahead. caller: appreciate it. great work you guys are doing. i am 27. i was in the first grade. i woke up in the morning and my

mother covered my eyes. the first thing she said, cover your eyes. i opened my eyes and the plane crashed into the building and she covered my face with a pillow and walking into the other room. [voice breaking] sorry, i am emotional. i went to school that day and that is all we watched on tv. as a child that scarred me but just enough to make me want to join the military. at 18 i joined the army. i did not do any tours in afghanistan, nothing like that, but i serve my country because i knew in my heart. i want to thank everybody who sacrificed that day. i have cousins in harlem. i pray to god they are alive. thank you for what you do.

god bless and appreciate the call. thank you. host: go head and respond. guest: i really appreciate the call and it speaks to one of the findings in the survey. we did ask americans the extent to which they associate patriotism with the aftermath of 9/11. we did find a lot of americans identify patriotism as being a salient part of their memory. this idea of rallying together as americans and recognizing what we have in common. there is complexity. patriotism is often described as a binary. you are either patriotic or unpatriotic, proud of the country or critical of the country. what we found is it is a blend. our memories of 9/11 are often a blend. there is profound sadness and pain alongside deep love and

solidarity. there is patriotism alongside a recognition that, in the case of 9/11, we often excluded muslim americans from this sense of unity. the complexity of patriotism stands out as one of the findings in our report. host: one of the things that surprised me in the report was the section that talked about the feelings of pride to be american, like you were saying. i want to show this to people on the screen. most americans feel proud to be american. republicans and older americans are more likely to say they are proud whereas gen z are least likely to feel proud. what explains those findings? guest: there is a lot that goes into why people feel a sense of pride in being american. studying social psychology, national pride has a lot of factors that contribute to it. i think in this context what we are seeing is the relationship

between pride in being american and feeling accepted in american society. we also show there is a strong relationship between feeling accepted and how someone feels proud to be american. the groups you listed, older americans, republicans are much more likely to say they feel accepted in society today. i think it speaks to the fact that if we want to cultivate a stronger shared sense of pride in being american, we need to work on this crisis of belonging our data suggest that we have in the nation, particularly among younger americans. host: i want to show that to the people quickly on screen. almost 1/5 of gen z are not sure they are accepted in u.s. society. why not? what is making them feel this way? guest: terrific question and i wish i had a great answer.

we did not actually look at that specific dynamic inwe did not ga set of findings we wanted to see. this was an exploratory survey for us. we did not anticipate we would find that relationship between younger americans feeling less accepted in society and feeling less national pride. it is one we should follow up with in the future survey. there is a lot going on. why do younger americans feel less accepted in society? host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to rich calling from ohio on the 65 and older line. caller: good to talk to you. it seems like we are trying to do a lot for 9/11 and, boy, we

were not going to let any bad people come into our country after 9/11. it was a good idea to do that. the thing is now we have open borders. some people want to do good for our country and some people don't. we are trying to keep ourselves independent. our energy independence -- big deal but it is everything in the world so we do not send money to bad countries to make bombs to blow us up. guest: i think this speaks to a finding that we see in this report and more in common has found in our research more broadly. solidarity is the best antidote. when it society experiences fear as humans we have two impulses.

one is to entrench away from those who are different, to reduce our circle of contacts to -- we have a prosocial orientation. we are -- it speaks to when we face crises of fear there is so much we can do to cultivate that sense of solidarity, to reach out across all segments and in doing so we find that is how we get the best results, how we can be the most successful in countering whatever adversary we might be fighting. host: let's talk to robin who is calling from michigan on the 50 to 64 line. caller: good morning.

hi. i'm a proud american. i am a republican. hi. host: robin, turn your television down and go ahead. caller: sure. hi. yes, hi. i have seen the twin towers and what happened, and i am very sensitive of the whole situation, the children, everything that happened. i pray every day, hoping that everything does not happen again . i am a republican. i'm proud to be american, and i'm sad about the situation. i'm a christian, and i love america. i pray for the world.

i am proud of what you guys do. i try to get on this station, and i am glad i finally got through and that i was able to tell you how i feel, and i am very saddened. i am very sensitive and this whole situation,. i pray every day for them and their families -- whole situation, i pray every day for them and their families. guest: thanks, robin. i appreciate you sharing that. one thing you mentioned to think about, which is in this research, we did not find as much polarization as we typically see between democrats and republicans. often times when we do public opinion research, we often see democrats and republicans having different responses.

63 percent of both democrats and republicans associate the aftermath of 9/11 with bipartisanship, so it speaks to this interesting finding, which is that 9/11 brings back so many different memories, so many different feelings. it also reminds us of the way that we do work together, even in national politics. we can have these memories of when people got these things done for the good of the nation. host: let's talk to dustin from west virginia. dustin is calling on the under 30 line. caller: i guess i just wanted to say -- i'm nervous -- i hope people who don't remember and do remember know that the shift into afghanistan that we took 20 years to get out of, the nsa --

it was saudi arabia that i'm pretty sure these people come from. the bipartisanship they used to lead us into a war we had no business in. we should have kept calm her head -- calmer heads. i think we lost a whole lot of freedoms that day. the camaraderie was really good. i wish the country was in that state, but we lost a lot of freedoms, i believe, that day, and i wish we could get some of them back. we wouldn't have been in a year for 20 years. -- a war for 20 years. guest: i appreciate the call. it speaks to something we

explored a little in this report. i encourage everyone to go to moreincommon.com. we looked at were memories of the war -- at memories of the war. what i would highlight is that we need to remember the context of fear. how do we deal with fear as a nation? on 9/11 we came together and responded well, coming together to create systems that did keep people safe. there were ways in which how we responded to fear might not be wise, and certainly we want to do better in the future, so how can we do that? how can we ensure that when a crisis strikes, we respond with

solidarity and make carefully considered decisions? host: in our first segment i talked about a newsweek report that showed that u.s. intel said that the 9/11 in verse three might inspire more homegrown violent extremists. in your report, you point out that more than half america grieved -- agreed that the country is safer today than it was. what is that split there? are people unsure if we are safer now than we were then? guest: i think this speaks to -- it is hard to isolate fear. fear of terrorism is the question we asked. is the country safer from

foreign terrorism today relative to before 9/11? people will answer influenced by by -- by how they feel. many people in this country feel afraid, whether it is the pandemic, the economy, or any of the other ways when people are uncertain about what will happen next. people are concerned about their safety, the safety of their loved ones. the folks who are most likely to say that the country is not safer today, it wasn't a democrat or republican split. it was independent. there is something not about politics going on in the data and it speaks to these broader issues of fear and does not feeling a strong sense of belonging and solidarity in the country. host: let's talk to melissa

calling from pocomoke, indiana. melissa, good morning. caller: good morning. i just agree with the fear factor. when the cowards attacked i was babysitting my friend's children while my children were in grade school and watching that made me think i needed to get my kids, find their dad. it was terrifying. we did not know what was going to happen. we were a military family. it did bring everybody together. it did solidify the country. it is sad that you had to have an attack that would do that. it should be taught. it should never be forgotten. we are a safer country and we

are not democrat or republican. we are american. that is first. first we are americans. when it comes to national security, i think most of us are in agreement and it is extremely important to remember today and what it meant and how we can learn from it. guest: i appreciate the call and something the caller just said about we should never forget and we should continue to learn about this -- how do we do that? we should actually learn about this i and the educationaln -- this in an educational setting. the net 11 memorial has a huge array of classroom materials,

things folks can do. we need to learn about 9/11 and add complexity to how we remember the aftermath of the attacks. we need to do more to address this crisis of belonging. i would point folks to a few organizations, welcoming america, mission continue, a veteran nonprofit that brings veterans together with their local communities. those are examples of many organizations trying to make us feel that sense of solidarity today. what is it we can do to strengthen our memories of 9/11? there was a news outlet that interviewed an emt who had been at ground zero on 9/11 last week. his name is jamie his son -- jimmy -- jamie has son.

-- jamie hasan. he said we needed a september 12 day to remember our solidarity. host: you did a study of muslim americans and i wanted to put on the screen one of the things you found in the survey and i want you to talk a little bit about it. muslim americans are more likely to say that mistreatment of muslim americans defined the period immediately after the 9/11 attacks. 60 4% of muslim americans compared to less than half of americans overall believe muslim americans feel a lot of

prejudice in america today. guest: this speaks to what i was saying about the need to add complexity to how we remember 9/11 because we want to remember this profound sense of unity, we want this story of camaraderie to inspire arrests today but that sense of unity did not extend to all people and we too often failed to live up to our best ideals and how we treated muslim americans. we see that very clearly in the data. muslim americans are much more likely to identify the mistreatment. all of us could do more to remember that. the other interesting finding we found in the data was him someone was likely to have muslim americans as friends or family, the more likely they were to agree that muslim americans face prejudice in the

country today. this speaks to the need to build relationships and make sure we have strong networks that connect us across race, party, religion, across all the ways in which we have different backgrounds as a nation more generally. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to elizabeth, calling from tampa, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to chime in there. i think the fear factor is definite across and how we learn as he mentioned. he is very good. there is another thing there. about how we learned, is it textbased or image-based? there is a discipline to sitting

down and reading a book versus watching a sound bite on tv. that difference comes down today to the attack on the capital. how are you going to process that information? at the moment in time it brings us all together, then depending upon the orientation and how you learn, how you interpret that, you have to do your research. there is a line in time where that shift changes, so you really have to do your research, and know and respect because the information is coming fast. it is coming in soundbites now. it is coming in ways that we will change our attitudes out of fear, lack of knowledge, and it is worth knowing how you interpret these situations and

how it is more dangerous and a sense -- in a sense. sit-down, read a book, do your research. like you said, fear is how we learn. guest: thank you, elizabeth. i think what you laid out speaks to something you brought up, jesse, earlier and the role how americans are getting their information. we have a fractured media landscape. we have social media and all of the ways that influences people's attitudes and understandings of what is going on in the country today. having something like the 9/11

museum and mario, people can get -- and memorial, people can get details about 21 years ago and how it has influenced american life. finding platforms where we can converge to look at a shared history of 9/11 becomes even more important the further the attacks received into time. host: for our viewers, you will see as pulling up images of the ground zero memorial while we are having this conversation. we will go straight to ground zero after the show is completed today. let's talk to miriam who was calling from texas on the 30 to 49 line. caller: good morning. i am hearing the conversation. i am thinking about the gen zers

and what they think about not being so patriotic compared to the rest of the group. i think the reason they are so unpatriotic is because of all the things they are watching. for example, all of the laws being targeted towards the lgbt, antiabortion, all of those rights that we usually tend to have, they are diminishing. one of the reasons why we had that terrorist attack was because people didn't like our west ideals their run of thing is that now in the present the gen zers probably didn't know about that because they did not know the full history of why they attacked us. republicans are electing people

who are taking our rights away. why should this generation feel more patriotic when they see attacks on immigrants, attacks on women, attacks on voting rights? i think that the gen zers are smarter than we think and i think they are seeing the whole picture. guest: thank you for calling in, miriam. i hesitate to describe gen z as unpatriotic. as i mentioned earlier, it is always more of a blend. it is a combination of many things, including pride in country and a willingness to criticize the country where we see failures. it is good to unpack patriotism. i don't think that younger americans are less patriotic.

it underscores for me the need to really respond to many events more with curiosity, to try to understand why this other segment of the population seems to be responding so differently from the way i am. it doesn't necessarily mean we need to agree. we are very diverse but if we respond with curiosity, we might be able to see this more complex picture of patriotism that is stronger than we think it is across all segments of our society. host: what should we be doing to reduce polarization in the united states as we remember 9/11? guest: that is a key question. i would suggest a three things all of us can be doing -- one, there is it so much happening in our society. we feel so intensely divided.

we have seen the consistently large majorities of americans to strive -- americans described the country as divided. we said " imagine the country 10 years from now. what would you like to see?" the word most people selected was united. trying to understand, trying to put ourselves in the perspective of others who are different doesn't mean we agree. divert -- two, diversify your relationships. try to build relationships with people who are different from you, have different backgrounds. it doesn't mean we all agree we'll have a more personal sense for how others are experiencing the country today and how they

remember things like 9/11. we need to continue and expand the way we carve out time as we are today to reflect on 9/11, to set aside so much of what consumes us on a day-to-day basis and think about what we remember from that day and talk about it as americans. host: let's talk to you on day - yolanda- . caller: i am calling to talk about my experiences. i am visiting the 9/11 memorials in shanksville, pennsylvania and the reflecting pool in new york. it has been immensely moving to think about the people who passed, those who gave their

lives on the battlefield in defense for their country, and those who are still with us today that defend the country in a multitude of ways, not only as military, but also those who are part of other aspects of their defense team. i'm someone who has had the opportunity to walk through a number of the airports across the country and to tell you the safety that i feel seeing the guards, seeing the agents, the dogs, everything that has been deployed as a result of this attack, i am extremely grateful as a citizen to know that the entire country is looking out for me host: goa -- for me. host: go ahead and respond quickly. caller: the power all of the

memorials have to move us, to help us remember those who were lost and continue to sacrifice for our country -- it speaks to the need to make those visits more possible for more people. it becomes more important that those who were not alive during the attacks to go to these sites, sit with them and spend time reflecting. host: we would like to thank dan vallone from more in common for coming to discuss their recent survey. thank you so much. as you can see on screen, people are gathering at ground zero for the national 9/11 commemoration sent roni -- ceremony. we will take you there live now for