to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by wnet ( bell tolls ) ( bell tolls ) >> sreenivasan: on this special edition for saturday, september 11th: the nation commemorates the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possle by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith.

leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking ce of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contrutions to your

pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. on a tuesday morning, 20 years ago today, the unimaginable unfolded. 19 terrorists, later identified as members of al qaeda, hijacked four commercial flights. they flew two anes into new york city's world trade center twin towers,rashed a third into the pentagon, and then-- thwarted by passengers-- the fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field near shanksville, pennsylvania. 2,977 people lost their lives in the attack, as the world watched on live television. the phrase "never forget" quickly became conneed to 9/11 and today, we are remembering it with the stories of some of ose we lost, and from survivors and eyewitnesses. we begin with the 20th anniversary ceremonies.

♪ ♪ ♪ ( anthem ) >> sreenivasan: 20 years on, under a bright blue sky that looked just as it did on september 11th, 2001, mourners gathered on the hallowed ground that is now a memorial to those who died in the nation's worst terrorist attack. president joe biden and first lady jill biden stood side by side with former presidents barack obama and bill clinton and their wives, as bells marked the moments planes struck the world trade center, and when the towers collapsed. >> and my uncle, firefighter christopher michael misulo. >> sreenivasan: children who never knew their parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts, stood before the invited guests as family members and friends held up photos of those they lost in the attack.

>> and you will forever live in us. we miss you, and love you. ( bell ) >> sreenivasan: as the reading of the thousands of names continued in new york city, vice president kamala harris and former president george w. bus honored the memory of the 40 people on board the hijacked united airlines flight that passengers and crew members forced down in a field near shanksville, pennsylvania. speaking first, president bush recalled his experience in office 20 years ago, and challenged americans to consider the dangers of domestic terrorism today. >> in the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks, i was proud to lead an amazing, resilient, united people. when it comes to the unity of ameca, those days seem distant from our own. on america 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. >> sreenivasan: vice president harris said the flight 93 heroes sacrificed their lives for future generatns, and she too returned to theme of unity. >> on the days that followed september 11, 2001, we were all reminded that unity is possible in america. we were reminded it is possible we were also reminded that unity is imperative in america. it is essential to our shared prosperity, to our national security, and to our standing in the world. >> sreenivasan: president biden laid a wreath at the flight 93 memorial later in the day, and then stopped at a local firehouse, where he praised the remarks by former president bush. >> for those kids i just took had a picture with, some of them had trump hats.

i think, for them, the issue is going to be, the next four, five, six, ten years, demonstrate that democracies can work, or not? >> sreenivasan: from pennsylvania, the president headed to the pentagon for his third ceremony. in new york city, after the memorial at ground zero concluded, former president donald trump made a surprise visit to a police statioand a firehouse near his home in trump tower. he did not attend the morning ceremony. at the pentagon this morning, a flag unfurled across the west side of the building, where terrorists crashed american airlines flight 77, killing 125 people inside the pentagon and 59 others on board the plane. ( bell tolls ) >> colonel canfield d. boone. >> sreenivasan: the secretary of defense, himself a veteran of the war in afghanistan that followed the 9/11 al qaeda attacks, offered another

reminder that the country must "never forget." >> as the years march on, we must ensure that all our fellow americans know and understand what happened here on 9/11. and in manhattan, and in shanksville, pennsylvania. (♪ "taps" ♪) >> sreenivasan: tonight, new york city will again see the tribute in light-- two beams of light marking the memory of twin towers, all who perished, and the thousands who raced to the scene. >> sreenivasan: for more on today's commemorations, and the latest national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: on the morning of 9/11, photojournalist jennifer brown, who was working for the "star ledger" newspaper, now a part of new jersey advanced media, raced to the ferry terminaln her hometown of jersey city after hearing reports that a plane had craed into the world trade center. from her vantage point across the river from manhattan, she photographed the towers before

they fell, as they fell, and after. she covered the ferries evacuating people from new york city across the river to new jersey. since 2001, she's documented the stories ofurvivors and families of those who died for the remembrance project. we met in jersey city, where she's returned to the same spot every year to take photographs. so, what brought you to this spot on that day? >> i turned the tv on and saw that the first tower had been hit. and i called the desk and told them i was going to head down, because, you know, the twin towers were, you know, they were part of the skyline for us. that area of the city is kind of li an extension of our neighborhood. so, i hopped in the car, drove around the corner, and, from the time i had left my house till i got where i could visibly see the towers, the second plane had hit. i pulled over. i made some photographs from up on the hill.

and, you know, still at this moment, i'm just thinking about getting as close as i can safely and making photographs. so, i drove down, and it was very calm down here. there weren't a lot of people. you know, one of the first photographs i took were of the office workers flooding out of these buildings and just seeing the looks on their faces, the concern, t-- the trauma of watching it unfold in real-time. one photograph that stands out in my mind is, there was a gentleman, you know; he had his young child in a stroller, and he was just standing, watching. and that was very profound to me. my son at the time was three, and i remember thinking, this is going to change everything, especially for the next generation of people, including that child and-- and my son. >> sreenivasan: you were even here and were taking photos when one of the towers fell. >> yes.

thinking as someone who works for a newspaper, i thought, what's jersey city's role going to be in the broad scheme of things? and then, i started to see the ferries and the boats coming, ani thought, we're a direct line for people to evacuate. so, i was just waiting and waiting and waiting for a ferry to come. and just as that ferry docked, i don't know, just-- i knew something was going to happen. and you could hear it. you could hear the rumble of the tower collapsing as it pancaked down on itself. each level, you could-- you could hear rumble. it was like a "shhhh," and then kind of a pounding sound. and then, at that moment, people started to get off the ferry. and-- and so, i had a wide angle lens, and i was photographing them. and you could see that there was

only one tower in the background of those photos, and there was that plume of smoke from the first tower coming down. and it just enveloped all of lower manhattan, could not see any land mass. it came out into the water. and that was probably the most frightening thing was, i just didn't imagine anyone could survive that cloud of smoke. >> sreenivasan: when you started the morning, there were two towers here. >> yes. >> sreenivasan: they were smoking. and by the time you finished your assignment, the entire skyline of new york had changed. >> it had changed, yeah. it seemed to go by incredibly fast. but also, you know, when those towers came down, it was almost like in slow motion. you know, for me, the camera has always kind of been a separation between me and what's happening. but i think this really made me realize what it feels like to be a victim of something like this, because it was also happening to me. i mean, i s there documenting

it, but it was happening to me, to my country, to my city, to my friends, to my colleagues. and so, you think about it in a different way. >> sreenivasan: metropolitan detroit has long been home to the largest concentration of arab americans in the u.s. and while the community had already experienced prejudice, negative stereotypes and government surveillance, the attacks of 9/11 made things worse. justice department statistics point outhat acts of violence and hate crimes against muslims and arab americans increased. two decades later, the community there is showing how the events of 9/11 were a catalyst to combat stereotypes by organizing and building a stronger cultural identity.

newshour weekend's christopher booker has the story. >> reporter: the spices from syria, the sweets from lebanon, and the nuts from turkey can transport anyone walking through the doors of hashem's roastery and market-- sights and smells commonly found in markets of istanbul, doha, or tehran, all coming from a shop in dearborn, michigan. this is one of three locations in the detroit suburbs. the original, started in 1959, is in lebanon. and while the story of this family-owned market has similar beginnings to other small businesses, in the last 20 years, it's taken on a greater meaning for c.o.o. adam hashem. >> i'm sure my brothers probably feel the same way. we just thought this was a business. when 9/11 happened, you know, something grew inside of me that said, "hey, we have something beautiful here, and we can do a lot of beautiful things with this." >> reporter: hashem's parents immigrated to michigan from lebanon in 1977. born in 1983, he was a freshman in college on 9/11. >> so, before 9/11, i was just

a, you know, a normal student, you know, living a normal life. when 9/11 haened, it was immediate prejudice and immediate judgment. >> reporter: from stares on the street, to stops at the airport, hashem's america has been different since 9/11. he says it's a country where he's regularly scrutinized, questioned and suspected. but, hashem says something else has also happened. >> with every destruction comes a revitalization of something beautiful and new. and so, that event brought us all closer together for fear of being de-- deported, fear of, you know, being judged or attacked. my mom wears a scarf on her head, so, like, fear of her going to the grocery store, being mugged because she's identified as a muslim-- these things have unified us. >> reporter: for hashem, this unity is coming through food, the market becoming a place ere dearborn's disparate yet growing arab population can not only find staples from where they came, but new connections to where they are.

>> we're not just showcasing food; we're using food to showcase culture. and connecting those cultures is the most important thing for us. you know, we have afghani pine nuts, bui bet you will not find them in the country. it took me six months to fly them in here, and, like, they had to pay off politicians, and military checkpoints. and they-- they didn't know-- they almost didn't want to do the deal anymore. so, you know, we have iranian pistachios. you know, there's-- there's a lot of stuff that you have in this store that makes it unique and provides an experience. guess what that is? red velvet! >> what! >> red velvet, yeah! >> i'll take a birthday cake. >> reporter: it's not just in the market; it's also through social media. earlier this summer, hashem teamed up with abe obeid on his project, halal food junkie, an instagram account that reviews and promotes halal food. so, you ys go to cities and basically kind of go and test out the food, the halal food, and kind of create a bit of a

travel guide to halaeating in the u.s. >> and that's it. so, we staed in dearborn, righ but because most of dearborn is already our-- our base and already understand what we're doing and know us maybe on a personal level, we decided to start a tour and go out to do it. and so, because now we go out to do it, we're seeing different cultures and different people. and we're seeing different ethnicities, including white americans, that come up to us and say, "hey, what are you eating?" >> reporter: the halal food junkie instagram account has over 34,000 followers, and each post get tens of thousands of views. >> ...rashida talib. >> hi! >> we're at the terrymelt. >> reporter: do you think you would be in this place had the events of 20 years ago not happened >> probably not. i don't have to do this. it is my responsibility and my duty because we're all brothers, and we're all one. we're building this network of people, traditional and

nontraditional arabs, that are helping unify again. so, it all goes back to the same theme. and so, because me and halal food junkie are able to reach so many people and do these tours, we're going to reach a lot of people with this unifying idea, and we're using good food to do it. this is-- this is part of journey. this is what we have to do. >> let's go! this guy just skulked it! >> it's good. >> sreenivasan: as soon as the planes hit the world trade center, thousands of firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical workers rushed to lower manhattan. many of them lost their lives trying to rescue people trapped inside the towers. among the survivors were three new york police officers:

bill beaury, mark demarco, and detective dan mcnally. they were inside the world trade center complex when the towers came down. we partnered with retro report, a non-profit news organization that uses history to inform the present, to tell their story. >> a plane has just crashed int the world trade center here in new york city. >> at 8:46 a.m., american airlines flight 11 crashed into the world trade center north tower, building one. it was one of four planes hijacked by 18 al qaeda terrorists that day. at first, it seemed a tragic accident-- an airplane off course. >> as i'm watching this trying to figure out, do i have to go to work? the second plane hit, and i saw it on tv. and that was it. >> al i seen is this huge fireball coming out of tower two, out of the south tower. and for a second i didn't know what it was. i thought maybe just the

building blew up. >> i ran downstairs, and i'm looking southand both towers are on fire. and it was stunning. >> sreenivasan: with the second catastrophic strike, it became clear that the country was under attack. new york city mounted its largest rescue effort in history, dispatching more than 2,000 firefighters, medical workers, and police officers to lower manhattan. >> it was a little hard getting through the streets because there was debris all over. coming up on the of the building from thelane hitting it. >> you have to remember, the north tower is fully engulfed. it's-- it's-- people are jumping out of the windows. i did not look. i was not going to look. i'm very protective of my psyche. i only need to see what i need to see in situations like this. and-- but you can-- you couldn't close your ears. >> sreenivasan: rescue workers rushed in to help the more than 16,000 people still inside putting their own lives on the line. officers bill beaury and mark demarco, and their team, entered the north tower, tower one.

>> we ended up at stairwell c, and we started our climb up. >> we were running into other people and i sai "follow the wall down. when you get outside, try not to panic but run." all of a sudden the lights nt out. the building went dark, ceiling panels were falling down. >> it sounded like a freight train going by. >> and the whole place is shaking like an earthquake. the radio started getting very active. >> it looks like it's totally glowing red on the inside. it's inevitable. >> i don't think this has too much longer to go. >> sreenivasan: at 9:59 a.m., the 110-story south tower, tower two, crashed down in just 10 seconds. >> and that's when a little bit of shock started setting in because we knew what these buildings looked like. we knew how long it took them to put them up. and for-- for something like that to come down in a matter of seconds, it was just mind bog

length. you couldn't wrap your head around it. one of the officers outside, he put over the radio, he said, "everyone who is in tower one, evacuate immediately. get the hell out of there." >> sreenivasan: bill beaury, saved civilians from certain death ushering them from the stairway and lobby. the men then made their way from the north tower to the adjacent building number 6. there they met mcnally and his partner. then-- >> one plane collided with one twin tower. oh, my god. >> it's collapsing! it's collapsing! watch out, it's collapsing! >> the north tower is coming down. >> oh, my god! >> and we put our heads down, and we held on to each other and we tried to become as small as we possibly could. >>could. >> sreenivasan: the 110 story north tower landed on building

six, only a few feet from where demarco and mcnally were huddled. >> i had a respirator, and that became very clogged very quickly, and i couldn't breathe. and you start really panicking when you can't breathe. alof a sudden, it was silent. and you're like, wow. i survived. >> started moving my fing scmiers toes. and i said, i guess that's a good sign." after i got my winds, i figured i was alive. >> i don't know how long we were there, or how long we were in that spot. but we ended up getting up and we all met up. >> we were able to climb out the windows out to the outside mezzanine level, which was facing west street. the bridge was all collapsed. everything was dead silent-- no cars, no birds, nothing.

>> sreenivasan: mcnally, beaury, and demarco searched in vain for three n.y.p.d. officers who moments before had been right there with them, a search that would continue for months on end. >> they couldn't find mike curtain, john delaria, or danny richards and we didn't find them until the following string. they were buried under the world trade center. and they couldn't have been more than 20 feet behind us when the tower came down. and that was-- that was the focus of the rest of my days there, was making sure that people knew exactly where i thought these guys were, you know, so that we could recover theibodies. and to this day, i still-- i don't understand why i'm still here. there's a guiltiness about it. because there re a lot of them that were more talented, just

better people thn me. and they didn't make it. i was able to come home. i was able to see my family. i was able to see my kids grow up. and a lot of them didn't. >> sreenivasan: before we go, we want to honor the memory of gerard coppola, known as rod, a wnet engineer who was killed at the world trade center on september 11, 2001. rod was at work that morning, managing and maintaining the station's first digital transmitter on top of tower one.

rod coppola was 46 years old. that's all for this special 9/11 edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made ssible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural

differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

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